131 Invasion - 2

It was difficult for her not to panic as she ducked into the narrow alleyways with a unit of five shinobi on her tail. Tama weaved between buildings cleverly, knowing the area like the back of her hand, yet for all of her evasive maneuvers she could not shake them.

'Up there!' She jumped abruptly, nearly missing her target, and scrambled up a fire escape to the top of an office building, 'If I go downtown I can lose them for sure!'

In seconds they joined her on the rooftop, fed up with her antics. Tama backed away from them with cautious steps, nearing the edge of the building.

With no warning she leapt over the side, dropping down beyond their sight. A flagpole on the side of the building was her salvation as she grabbed it on her way down, and swung herself neatly to the concrete of the alley below.

Her athletics put Sato and Lee both to shame, but she admitted they were nearing her level of mobile-artistry thanks to their rigorous training.

Tama commanded herself not to get distracted as she wove into the nearby complexes, swerving in and out of streets, her pursuers long gone. She'd make sure not to pick up any more of them.

High on adrenalin, she scaled a telephone pole and raced along the wire, wanting to get a view of the local area and hopefully her friends, "Lee, Tenten, where are you two?"

While running along the cable she looked off to her left at the business district, observing in the distance buildings crumbling in the wake of a monstrous serpent.

In her terror, she nearly lost her footing. She returned to the ground, not wanting to see what other horrors were visible from that height. She was becoming frantic because she had not found any Leaf ninja. If she did not come up with a new plan she would still be in danger.

'I'll just see if I can find mom and dad then, if someone else hasn't…' She reasoned, fearing for their safety, 'I don't want them to be in the middle of working when some ninja bursts in on them and-'

Three ninja surrounded her and forced her to stop with a hail of shuriken. Tama dodged, alarmed that they had caught her off her guard.

They too were Sound ninja, and she was growing increasingly tired of seeing them. She swallowed the lump in her throat, desperately trying to concentrate.

"It's pointless to struggle…" The shinobi to her right had an almost friendly voice, "You should come quietly if you don't want to die. We've had reports about you running amuck. It's about time you call it quits, missy."

She steeled her nerves and took an offensive stance that matched Lee's perfectly, "I think you should know that I've never declined a fight from anyone!"

Tama picked up a piece of loose pipe to block the volley of shuriken thrown her way and leapt back, swiping the pipe at the ninja who had snuck up behind her. He knocked away her improvised weapon and she grappled with him, listening to the cracking noise as his arm was removed from its socket, 'I can't hold out much longer! They may be pushovers in taijutsu, but not in everything!'

Fortune smiled down upon her at long last.

Lee and Tenten came careening down from a nearby rooftop, taking on the last two ninja. A hail of knives and sickles stopped one of the sound ninja in his tracks, hitting the backs of his legs. Lee delivered an award-winning kick to the fool who chose to remain rather than flee. Even with his arm in a sling he was able to deal considerable damage.

Tama also knocked out her own opponent and grinned at her saviors, tremendously happy to actually see friendly faces amidst the chaos.

"Tama! We have to head for cover and escort any stragglers to safety before more of them get here!" Tenten was beside her a moment later, giving her a rundown of the details, "Where were you? We looked everywhere for you!"

"I…thought you went ahead without me." She admitted, very sheepish and cross with herself.

Lee shook his head, "Never, Tama-chan! Gai-sensei trusted us with your safety and we will not fail him!"

She glad to hear it. She should've known better from the start. She was out of practice as a ninja and she should not have panicked. Tama followed close behind them as they moved on with kunai out and at the ready.

A small explosion knocked a brick wall over and a Sound nin fell to the ground unconscious with black snakes coiled around his neck. They paused, watching in confusion as Anko appeared, looking pleased with her handiwork.

She glanced over to them and raised an eyebrow at the sight of them, "What are you three gawking at? Hurry it up so we can get to the barracks already!" It sounded as if she had been expecting them but they couldn't be too sure.

Tenten chuckled weakly and she followed after the jounin with Lee and Tama in tow, wondering what exactly Anko had been doing on her own.

"Tenten, Lee, I…" Tama felt her chest clench painfully, "I'm worried about Sato-kun and my parents! Is it right for us to just leave them behind?"

"All of the injured were evacuated from the stadium immediately, Gai-sensei said," Lee repeated, almost parrot-like, "Sato-kun will be perfectly fine!"

"But my parents…they work near the business district and I saw a giant snake over there crushing everything!" Tama couldn't help the frightened pitch of her voice, "I don't know if they're still there or not."

Anko paused briefly and looked to Tama, "Everyone in that district has already had a chunin guide them away from the fighting…well, should've had a chunin lead them away. Everyone who was available to escort civilians to safety is already over there. But let me tell you something kid…" Tama gave Anko her full attention, "You better get used to seeing snakes, because the king of them is responsible for this mess."

*

Naruto and Haku had leapt the wall of the stadium without delay, desperate to catch up to Gaara. They hadn't gotten very far from the arena before they were stopped by enemy ninja.

"Sound." Haku muttered lowly, glancing over to his friend beside him, "Are they responsible?"

The blonde boy cracked his knuckles, glaring at the four shinobi blocking their path, "Even if they aren't, do we have a good enough reason not to kick their asses?"

Haku saw his point and threw a round of senbon to distract them, while Naruto and three of his shadow clones ravaged the unprepared enemy ninja. The fight hadn't lasted long, but it had wasted time and Naruto couldn't help but feel the pressure begin to mount, 'Why is this happening now? If we don't find Gaara soon he may lose control again!'

"Naruto-kun," The blonde boy looked to Haku beside him as they raced out of the city and into the woods beyond, "I know this isn't helping now, but I confess I'm the one responsible for Gaara's rage, I think."

Naruto frowned at him, "I guessed as much. But I don't give shit what you two were fighting over! If we don't find him he could get killed!"

"I swear I'll never let it happen again," Haku vowed, pushing aside his doubts, "I know now that he was truthful and I had no right to judge his family…I just-"

"I know, Haku," Naruto interrupted, his voice quiet, "He has what we don't. He's lucky. But none of that's gonna matter if that demon gets loose from his seal."

The dark haired boy fought back a shiver, recalling Gaara's outburst at the end of his match. He followed behind Naruto, hoping they'd catch him before it could happen again.