"Aaaahh! What the hell is that thing?" Naruto yelled, throwing his hands in the air.
"How am I supposed to know? Just keep running!" said the perplexed Gray.
At the corner of his eye, Naruto could only see a mountain of sand and debris approaching him. With teeth clenched and fists curled up in a ball, "There's no way we can out-run this thing."
Gray smirked, "Well then, guess we have to fight it."
Naruto nodded in agreement. Both Naruto and Gray came to a halt, turning to face their mysterious foe. Beads of sweat trickled down Naruto's face and Gray narrowed his eyes in anticipation of an attack.
Suddenly, the shaking of the ground became more intense than it already was. Cracks began to vine out in all directions, pulling down whatever was in its path. Trees collapsed and rocks crumbled into sand. The sky darken, the sun's light falling prey to the black clouds and the dust in the air began to clear away. The wind ceased at that moment and an ominous silence followed, thickening the air.
"What the hell is going on?" Gray whispered, "Why is it all quiet now?" as he positioned himself to attack whatever was coming, "Something's up."
Darkness flooded the spaces between the trees, as if night has fallen. The settling dust coated the trees giving them a rise-of-the-dead appearance. The trees appeared closer together than before as if it was hiding something, something from the eyes of the two that awaited its emergence, from behind the curtains casted by the trees.
"Look!" pausing a little, "something's coming," Naruto whispered, pointing to the dust-covered trees.
A dark figure pierced through the settling dust, putting both Naruto and Gray on high alert. The mysterious figure slowly approached the two with beaming eyes, locked on the targets.
"Wh-what is th-that? Naruto stuttered, looking on with eyes of curiosity.
Gray quickly averted his gaze to Naruto, brows twitching now, "Why do you keep asking questions I can't answer?"
"Because, you're the only one here!" Naruto argued.
"Are you serious? You're just like that flame-brain Natsu." Gray sighed, loud enough for Naruto's ear to catch it.
"What did you call me?" Naruto bellowed, angry now.
"I didn't call you anything," focus now on the spiky blonde, "But now you're go-"
"Shut up! Sasuke, I'm…."
"Huh?"
Silence followed and Naruto's eyes widened on realizing his mistake. 'Why did I say that? Sasuke… Sasuke, I'm definitely going to bring you back.' His hands slowly reached for his headband to untie it, resulting in an avalanche of hair falling on his face. Now holding the headband close to his chest, he went into thought, 'If I can't save a friend, how can I become the hokage.' His hair covered some of the sadness that emanated from the depths of his blue eyes, as he muttered under his breath, "Definitely Sasuke, count on it."
Confused now, Gray, with arms folded across his chest, questioned, "Oi, who the hell is Sasuke?" killing the silence and Naruto's moment.
Closing his eyes, "It's nothing," Naruto calmly replied while tying his headband, returning his hair to its normal position.
With curiosity gleaming within Gray's dark blue eyes, a question began to form on the ice mage's lips, but was quickly cut off. In an attempt to forget what just happened, a smile appeared on Naruto's face, "Well then, I guess I need to go find my teammates, I can sense their chakra."
"Chakra?" Gray repeated raising a brow.
"Alllllllright! Let's go!" Naruto shouted in high spirits, raising a fist in the air and proceeded in taking the first step. He turned to meet the eyes of companion to see if he would follow but was greeted by something that was unexpected. "What happened to your clothes, man?"
"I took them off," Gray casually said pointing to a pile of clothes on the ground.
"I can see that! Why would you do something like that?"
Placing one hand on the hip and the other scratching his head, he made a face before answering, "I was bored."
"What?" eyes still on Gray with the look of disbelief etched on his face. "Just put your clothes back on."
"Get off my back, man! Who do you think you are? My mother," Gray fired back.
"SHUT UP! JUST PUT THEM BACK ON ALREADY!"
"DON'T ORDER ME AROUND YOU IDIOT!"
"WHAT WAS THAT?"
"ARE YOU DEAF OR JUST STUPID?"
"WHY YOU-"
*AHEM*
"Did you hear something?" Gray whispered, eyes darting from one place to the next.
"Yeah," Naruto nodded. On realizing a change in the environment, he gazed at the sky and raised one hand to his forehead to block the sunlight out of his eyes, "Hey, when did the sun come out?"
A little creature stood before the two, all black with a shade of grey blending in and white stripes contouring its body. "So, you were too caught up in an argument to even notice the change in your surroundings."
Raising a paw in the air, the little fuzz-ball began to speak, but both boys were too busy being terrified to even listen, gaping at its presence.
"Well then, it's a good thing that I found you two. Your frien-"
"Sk-sk-skunk!" both boys shrieked and ran away as if their lives depended on it.
-sweatdrop- "I'm….a….badger."
Away from skunk…er…badger.
The sun was already setting, painting the sky in shades of pinks, orange, yellows, reds and purples. Its golden rays casting its reflection on the carpet of green shiny grass set out before the boys, both panting for breath.
Naruto plopped down, cushioning himself on the soft grass that danced and flickered to the winds rhythm. "Man, I thought I was gonna die back there," sighing once the words were out.
"You weren't the only one," Gray chuckled letting his body lean against a rock that was cool as his body was.
"At least we're out of the forest," Naruto said looking at the trees that stood in the distance before throwing himself back on the grass, "It seems like it wouldn't end," letting out a yawn.
"Yeah," Gray nodded before turning to the carefree boy relaxing on the ground, "Well, now that's over, let's get down to business."
Naruto lazily sat up, criss-crossing his legs, looking at the black-haired boy with a puzzled look stamped across his face, "Huh?"
Gray lifted a finger, pointing to Naruto, "Who….are….you?" pausing at each word. A moment of silence and now in play as the two engaged in a stare down, both serious about the matter. A slight wind blew; ruffling the leaves as night slowly settles in. Once more, Gray repeated, "Who are you?"
Ok! So this is my first crossover and fic so...please be gentle -hides behind a pillow-
Anyway, review..so yeah..^^
"...Long lost words whisper slowly to me
Still can't find what keeps me here
When all this time I've been so hollow inside
I know you're still there..."