Our Fate

Sacrifice

The three of us were leaping through the branches trying to cover ground as quickly as possible. Shion was still knocked out which I didn't mind since I didn't have to listen to her bickering.

As we kept moving forward, three Shuriken whizzed past us. I glanced behind me to see two of the enemies following us. The blue haired and purpled haired one.

"Damn it," I muttered under my breath before looking over at Neji who already had his eyes on me.

"(Y/n), you and Sakura go on ahead with Lady Shion. I'll stay behind and deal with them."

"Are you sure?" I called out over my shoulder and he nodded his head. "Alright but be careful!"

He started to slow down his pace while Sakura and I picked up the pace leaving Neji behind to fend for us.

As Sakura and I were leaping from each branch, my bright red eyes would dart around our surroundings. I stayed right next to Sakura and we kept the same pace in case I needed to move forward or back if something or someone were to appear.

An arrow whizzed past me and stuck itself on the bark of a nearby tree. I stopped and turned around to face the direction that the arrow came from.

"Again with the arrow!" I screeched at Taruho who made his appearance from within the bushes.

"Are you sure you're not trying to kill me?" I jumped off the branch and walked towards Taruho with Sakura following suit.

"Of course not. I was merely trying to gain your attention."

"What are you doing here?" I hastily asked changing the subject although not giving him much of my attention since I would keep glancing over to his shoulder.

"I'm here to save Lady Shion." He placed his hands in a hand sign and a blinding white light engulfed his body. The light started to die out after a few seconds and standing before us was a complete replica of Shion.

"Taruho...did you transform into her?" Asked Sakura in complete shock.

He nodded his head and I followed up with a question, "Did she have another vision?"

"...Yes. And I will gladly die for her, so please let me take her place."

Sakura and I hesitantly looked at each other, unsure of the idea. Yeah, she saw his death but we wanted to try to prevent it and find another way to all of this.

After having pleading to us to have him as her double, we reluctantly agreed. But we had to move fast since we already wasted time.

"Quick throw her in a bush or something!" I urgently said. Sakura fumbled on where to set her down but I decided to take matters into my own hands. I quickly yanked Shion away from Sakura and threw her in a nearby bush to hide her.

"(Y-Y/n)!" Exclaimed Sakura, surprised by how carelessly I handled Shion.

"What? I'll leave a clone with her." I created a shadow clone and sent it to hide inside the bush and stand guard.

"Let's go now. Taruho just close your eyes and pretend you're asleep unless you want me to knock you out."

Taruho obliged and got on Sakura's back and closed his eyes.

Sakura and I went above ground and continued leaping through the large forest.

A rustle of leaves were heard behind us and as I looked over my shoulder, I saw the purple haired male right in my face and I flinched in surprise.

He reached for my neck, but I blocked his hand with my arm. He grabbed my wrist and from within the collar of his shirt, a long dark purple snake appeared.

"Anesthetic Jutsu!" He yelled out as the snake rushed towards me, but I grabbed it and crushed it with my bare hand.

"I don't need another snake bite. One was enough." Three more appeared, but only two of them tried to strike me while the other one ended up biting Sakura's neck.

"Sakura! Go!" She quickly leapt away through a cluster of leaves and I hoped that she would be fine despite the bite she received.

"What did you do to her?" I asked while slicing the second snake in front of my face and having a purplish black liquid splatter onto our faces.

"Oh nothing except paralyze her."

I yanked my arm away and stepped back. I wiped off the running liquid that was on my face as I looked over my shoulder. I needed to get to them and fast.

"It's too late now."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I was just trying to separate you from that pink haired girl and you fell for it! I had a clone prepared in advance. The priestess is about to die!" He cackled and I turned away from him and started to retreat in the direction that Sakura headed.

"You're not getting away!" He shouted behind me.

'Found them!' I saw all three of them in sight, but Sakura was on one knee with her back against the enemy and from within her hand, an antidote slipped out. She stayed there, unmoving until she started to fall with the antidote.

I created a shadow clone to catch Sakura but as I did, my Sharingan caught sight of some movement from the corner of my eyes. I looked over my shoulder and felt something bite my neck. But not just there. On my right leg and left arm as well.

The liquid rapidly entered my body and veins began to pulse. My body was slowing down.

I landed right behind the enemy who was already beginning the process to kill the fake Shion. I lifted my arm up to throw a punch but the poison wad quicker and had already taken over. My arm wouldn't move forward and neither would any other muscle. My entire body was static.

The purple haired clone turned around with a smirk on his lips. He gazed into my eyes and thrusted his scalpel into my abdomen.

My eyes widened at the wincing pain that I was experiencing and I coughed up some blood that spilled onto the bark of the tree branch. He kicked me in that exact spot and sent me flying across the area into someone's arms.

I was caught by Neji but the impact of my back crashing against his chest caused him to fall too. We both fell to the ground, but he wrapped his arms around me and broke my fall. I stayed on top of him staring at the sky and watching from a distance as the enemy fled, unable to move or say anything.

Neji sighed underneath me as he lifted me up and we  ended up heading back with Sakura, my clone, and a dead Taruho seated against the tree.