It did not take her long before she reached higher altitude, the winds were in her favour as they propelled her forward.

She could smell the scent of burnt wood in the air and occasionally waves of a fishy scent - blood.

From above, she could see the Nara army from afar, slowly marching through the road roughly carved out in the middle of the forest, the Hyuga army was not far away; from their formation, she could tell what they were trying to do - they were beginning to set up their fortifications at the edge of the forest, with men on either side; they were planning to attack from three sides.

She needed a diversion, some way to make the Nara army retreat without alerting the Hyuga army.

Temari bit her lip and dipped herself downwards, the fan beneath her feet began to dive towards the advancing Nara army; as she dove towards the ground, she could hear the faint sounds carried by the wind - it was not the Nara army, and it was not the Hyuga army either.

Nevermind, she thought to herself, the danger is straight ahead.

With one final breath, she leapt from her fan, folding it back into a steel baton as she does.

Gracefully, she flipped and stopped right before the vanguard of the Nara army. Before any soldier could react, Temari caught her folded fan in her hand and looked up to a puzzled, startled man with his sword in his hand.

"Take me to Lord Nara," she said.

"Who are you?" The officer arched an eyebrow as he looked at her from head to toe.

"Now." She stared coldly at the man on the horse.

The officer turned and whispered a few words to the man next to him. "Take this person to Lord Shikamaru. We stop for a while to sort out this ruckus."

Two soldiers held Temari by the shoulder and ushered her through an army of puzzled men, all of them staring as she cascaded through their ranks.

"My lord," she was brought before a horse as the soldiers roughly pushed her knees onto the mud beneath her feet. "This ... person stopped our soldiers and demanded to see you."

She looked up and smiled at her husband, whose eyes widened as he saw her unmistakable eyes.

He leapt off his horse and crouched down, gently holding her shoulders as he helped her up.

"What are you doing here?" He wiped the dirt off her face, his eyes still bewildered with surprise from seeing her.

"Shikamaru, the Iwa army," she looked at him sternly as she led him aside, away from the soldiers. "They're going to attack the Mountains. We must go back before it's too late."

"And the Hyugas?" Shikamaru's smile faded, his lips thinned.

"They're at the edge of the forest, preparing to attack once you set foot out of the forest."

Shikamaru sucked his teeth. "I'm sure they have scouts monitoring our movement but they would need time to report to Neji."

Temari nodded. "We need something to stall them."

Shikamaru closed his eyes in thought for a brief moment before turning to the man standing next to him. "I need a hundred archers."

"Yes, my lord."

"Tell them to hide themselves in the trees as we fall back to the Nara mountains, if the Hyugas start to move towards us, tell them to shoot the officers first."

"And if they were discovered, my Lord?"

"Take explosive tags and blow up some trees, that ought to buy us more time." He frowned painfully. "Tell them their families will be well taken care of."
The man obliged solemnly and nodded. Shikamaru turned back to Temari, holding her hands in his.

"Shikadai?"

"I've ordered Yome to lock him with herself in my room." His frown relaxed for a bit as he sighed softly in relief.
"My mother?"
"She's safe for now - but she wouldn't listen to me, nor would the council."
Shikamaru shook his head and took Temari's hand in his. "We must go back now."

"You must go back," said Temari, as she leaned forward and spoke softly into his ear.

"I will buy us some more time, more time to bring the troops back."

Shikamaru could feel a vein popping at the side of his head. "No."

"You know how fast the Hyuga Army can advance."
"Neji wouldn't hesitate to kill you."

"Who said I'd let him?" Temari smiled at her husband. "I'm just slowing him down, I'll leave right after - besides, I have an idea."

She covered the side of her face as she whispered into Shikamaru's ear.

The stern expression on his face relaxed a tiny bit. "I don't like that idea."

Temari nodded firmly. "I won't die, not without you."

Reluctantly, Shikamaru let her hand go.

"Now go," said Temari, as she opened her fan and threw it above her head.

As she leapt, she landed on its surface and glided away.

Shikamaru looked at her as she flew towards the south, where the Hyuga Army was situated.

"Tell the men to follow her," he said to his officer. "Make sure she's safe."

"My lady," she lifted her head as she handed her infant son back to the wet nurse.

"Lady Nara has sent us a message," the officer handed the note to Ino, who quickly glanced through it.

Iwa army heading towards the Mountain from the North.

"Damn it," she cursed softly as her husband entered the room. "Leave us alone."

"What's wrong?" Sai approached his wife and sat down next to her.

Ino handed Sai the note, he read the note silently and placed it back into her palm soon after.

"I'll arrange for the men to mobilize at once," Sai replied as he stood up and headed towards the door.

"Wait," Ino raised her hand and Sai stopped. She frowned for a brief moment and took a deep breath.

"Ask our men to standby," she said firmly. "We wait."

"For what?" Sai stared at Ino, realising that he probably should not have said anything.
"For Shikamaru to return." Ino shot a sharp glance at Sai, before softening and sighed softly. Ino held his hand in hers. "Do what you have to do, Sai."

Sai nodded and gave her a gentle pat on the hand before leaving the room.

Ino turned her gaze upon a small dove she kept in the room. She walked towards the cage and opened its door.

The little dove looked at its mistress as Ino slowly raised her hand and closed her eyes.

The next second, Ino collapsed onto the ground.

The little dove blinked intently and flew out of the window, it did not rest until it reached high above the clouds, pass the mountains.

Through its bead-like eyes, it saw an army of hundreds gathering around the foot of the mountain. The observant little bird turned back and at the peripheral of its vision saw something that it was not expecting to see.

A bannerless army, covered in dark armour and robes - an army that it did not recognise.

But she did recognise someone.

Hastily, it flapped its wings as hard as it could and returned to the room, the cage it called its home.

The little bird closed its eyes.

The next second, its mistress opened her eyes and gasped for air. She sat up and straightened her robes before barging out of her room.

"My Lady," the servants were startled as she did.

"Where's Sai?"
"Master Sai is heading to the barracks..." Before the servant could say anything, Ino ran and disappeared at the turn of the corridor.

It took Ino a little while before she reached the barracks, her husband was there, ordering the officers to man the walls and to mobilize the men.

"Sai," he turned as her voice rang in his ears; his wife was there panting, dirt covering her socks as she did not manage to put on shoes before she headed out to the muddy grounds of the barracks.

"Fetch some shoes," he turned to a servant standing nearby before walking up to Ino. He led her to a nearby bench, a slight frown on his face as he saw Ino's face covered with worry.

"Sai, there's no time - the Iwa army's at the foot of the mountains, and there's another army," she took a deep breath. "Sasuke."

Sai's lips thinned as he heard that very name escaped from her lips.

"You must hide, Sai." Ino held his face with both of her hands. "He mustn't find you here."
Sai made no response, tears began to well up from the rim of her clear blue eyes.

"I'll hold him off, I'll see what he wants," Ino said. "You stay in the room with Inojin."

"Beautiful-"

"Listen to me!" Sai jolted as Ino shouted, tears streaming down her face. Sai raised his hand and gently wiped her face.

"I'll go," said Sai. "I'll make sure everything is well prepared for Shikamaru-san, and then I'll go be with our son."

Sai stood up after pressing a kiss on Ino's hand, the servant handed him a pair of fresh socks and shoes.

He knelt back down and took off the dirty socks from her feet. Gently, Sai put on the new socks and fitted the shoes on Ino's feet.

"There," he smiled at her as he helped her up. "Beautiful, as always."

Ino smiled back and wrapped her arms around him. "I love you."

Sai gave her a gentle pat on her back and pressed a kiss on her cheek.

His horse snorted as they advanced in the forests - Sasuke tried to recall the time he had been to the Mountains, only to realised he had never been here before.

He wondered how it would feel once everything was under his rule.

"No one would expect Hyuga Neji, out of anyone, to collude with Iwa." Suigetsu sneered as he ushered the men forward.

"As long as one wins the war, no one cares about the means," Sasuke replied. "Thanks to that plan of his, we can approach with relatively less friction."

Suigetsu uttered a grunt in agreement.

Thanks to Jugo, Sasuke got information of the collusion between Iwa and the Hyuga, he smirked as he thought of how Hyuga Neji, that self-righteous snob had fallen to.

"Sasuke, we're approaching their outpost."

He heard Suigetsu and saw, as in the woods emerged a stone wall with the banners of all three mountain clans - Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, and their soldiers staring at the approaching army, he could sense the tension in the air.

"This is the territory of the Mountain Clans," a man appearing to be the outpost officer stood, his sword drawn. The archers standing next to him had drawn their arrows and aimed directly at Sasuke. "Whoever you are, you're not welcome here."

Sasuke looked up and smirked at the officer with his red eyes glaring at them. "I am Uchiha Sasuke, do you think your wall and arrows can stop me?"

Sasuke could feel the men shudder for a brief moment, it was as if their air turned chilly the very second they knew who this dark-haired man was.

"We don't have orders to let you through, let alone your band of bandits." The officer shot back.

Sasuke slid his hand onto the pommel of his katana and tightened his grip.

"Sasuke wait," Suigetsu said. "If we killed their men to get to their place, there'll be no negotiation."

Sasuke shot a glance at Suigetsu for a brief moment, before loosening his grip on his katana.

"Report to your master, whoever it may be," said Sasuke. "That I'm here to see them."

He paused for a brief moment before smiling intently at the men. "I'd hurry if I were you."

The wind brushed against the leaves and rustled, Sasuke closed his eyes for a brief moment.

He never expected Jugo to bring him such interesting news - it was unusual for the man to deviate from his tracks but his instinct proved him right - following a suspicious horse party to a strange temple does have its pay off.

Almost immediately after, he sent Jugo off to Iwa to see what they are up to - and he was right.

Hyuga Neji was in fact colluding with Iwa, the Princess of Iwa to be exact, who was never intended by her fellow Iwanians to rule a patriarchal society like Iwa.

An army of hundreds, not a large army but sizeable and well-equipped enough to penetrate the defences of the Mountains if left unattended - most of their men were out with Shikamaru and Chouji, tied down with their fight with the Hyuga army.

And this is where the Uchihas came in - as aid in exchange of gold and perhaps even more.

Support was what he needed - if he ever wanted to sit on the throne, he would need to convince other clans, at least before he could wipe everyone else out.

Perhaps he could persuade the Mountain clans to form an alliance with him, or better yet, perhaps he could cause the Mountain clans to break apart.

In time, if he could divide them up, he could conquer them all.

He could see from afar, smoke rising from the outposts at the mountain tops - the Iwa army was spotted.

Sasuke smiled to himself - all he needed to do was wait.

Neji waited impatiently, for a signal across the forest - once an orange flare flashed across the sky, he would advance and together with the Iwa forces, they would crush the Mountain clans once and for all.

His men waited together, their tents still intact to portray a sense of inaction - he knew there were scouts watching in the forests; they must not alert the Nara army.

He felt a slight breeze brushed past his face, gentle as it may be, it stung his face slightly.

The forest shuddered as he looked through it, the veins beside his eyes popping incessantly - while he saw the army on the move, his range was limited.

As he frowned he could see further, but his sight became blurry as he strained himself.

He pressed onto his aching eyes as he grunted, the veins besides them disappearing as he relaxed his eyes.

The wind brushed past him again, as he sighed softly. He looked around, his men are tired, exhausted from not just fighting but being idle in the field - the men moved sluggishly despite their best attempts of staying awake.

"Officer," he said sternly, with a frown on his face. An armoured man dipped his head beside his horse.

"Ask the men to stay alert, we could get the signal at any time," he ordered.

The officer nodded as Neji looked ahead, the trees shivered in the wind.

He heard the officer's pacing and shouting as he disciplined the soldiers, before a violent gust of wind assaulted himself and those around him, he looked up and see the sky above darkening and raining with explosive tags.

His eyes widened as the tags began to shine under the sun, he bit his lip as he landed on the ground. His left foot sung into the ground and his torso began to spin rapidly, forming almost a barrier between himself and the explosion around him.

As the explosion died down and his spinning stopped, he looked around and see his maimed soldiers cowering in pain, those relatively unscathed stared in horror as their fellow soldiers screamed in pain, some frantically looking for a missing limb, some speechless as they see their own flesh charred and burned.

And then he heard it, a laugh.

He looked up and saw her, being dressed in servant clothes did not affect her regalness. She stood on her fan which was floating in the air, almost vertically above him. Her blonde hair was loose, fluttering in the air like thousands of golden snakes dancing under the sun.

"Neji," she smiled at him. "Look at you, you look like a proper lord now, don't you?"

"Temari," he stared at her, his hand on the pommel of his swords.

"What a plan you have," she snickered. "Didn't realise the honourable Hyuga would sink so low to link themselves to Iwa."

"Same goes for the Naras," he retorted, eyeing the soldiers surrounding him - a small number of soldiers surrounding him were gravely injured, most of them were simply startled, frightened by the scene - it was different to kill a man with a sword or arrows than to see your fellow soldiers burnt like barbecue meat.

"It's a cruel world - if a lioness doesn't eat, it becomes food for the vultures." Temari laughed again. "But you'd know, wouldn't you?"

"You murderess," Neji muttered angrily.

She threw her head back, wild with laughter as a gust of wind propelled her forward, her fan swiftly traveling away, moving away from Neji and his troops.

He saw his officers rushing to his side, most of them slightly injured. "My lord…"

"Have the medical soldiers attend to the injured," he eyed one of them. "Have a group of soldiers follow her - I want her captured, dead or alive."

"Yes my lord." The officers quickly scattered and he looked up at the sky, the golden lioness flew further and further away on that giant fan of hers.