Naruto:

Forest of Madness

Written by- Dragon Heart

Edited by- Puma

Kali sat on a high branch of a tree and watched the three ninja as they tried to navigate the woods she had become so familiar with. Her brown hair was cut in a pixie-cut and only her bangs where slightly longer than her chin. Her slitted golden eyes watched with a calm joy that was usually never shown to anyone's face. As a matter of fact, she hardly even had that look on her face. Her cloths were black with deep green pads on the knees and her chest. She also wore a quiver on her back full of arrows with her bow swung over her shoulder by the bowstring. Something you usually don't see on anyone that you saw on Kali was her wolf-like ears and tail; they were part of her like her legs and hands and she used them daily to her advantage. It is unknown how she came across these gifts, but they're there.

The three ninja walked calmly and quietly unaware they were being watched. The leading ninja, by gathered information Kali knew him as Sasuke, had black hair and black eyes. His shirt was blue and had a symbol on the back Kali did not recognize at the moment. The other boy, Naruto, wore a large orange jumpsuit and had blond hair and blue eyes. The third and final ninja was a girl with pink hair and light green eyes; her name was Sakura.

Even in the short time watching them, Kali knew they would have no chance in her home. Why were they here anyway? Usually people here were hardcore, bloodthirsty monsters with only torture and killing on their minds. These people didn't strike Kali as the murderous type, and if that's true, they were most likely thrown in here as new prey which happened a lot more frequently the past few weeks. Kali watched until the ninja were out of sight before she slipped out of her tree and to the ground. At least they don't leave and obvious trail, Kali thought to herself as she observed the footprints. They are definitely not from around here. She rose and thought for a minute. The supposed leader Sasuke seemed like an okay fighter, but what about the others? It was like someone wanted these three dead before sundown or something.

Kali suddenly shot off as fast as lightning in the opposite direction of the ninja. She quickly arrived by a small house and knocked lightly. An old man that was much shorter than Kali (Even though she was just twelve) opened the door. Kali bowed deeply.

"Janoh Sensei, I come with a question of mighty importance," Kali said quietly. The old man, wrinkled and hunched, stepped out of the way to allow Kali in. She entered, but did not sit.

"What is your question, Kali?" Janoh Sensei asked with a cheery smile.

"Do you see kindness in me?" she asked.

"What does this mean?" Janoh said in a gruff grandpa voice as he looked at her in confusion. Kali looked away in the second of silence, "Well, let's see. You listened to this old man many a time when you could have easily killed him; that is patience… But you have never shown true kindness on purpose. The kindness you have shown is- how shall I put it- it is a hard kindness done to protect but not to earn any kind of gratitude." Kali looked back.

"What do you mean?"

"When you constantly protect me, it is as of you must, not that you wish to. That is kindness. I think the real kindness in buried in you somewhere; you just have to find it." Kali nodded.

"Thank you, Sensei. I also may need some more arrows." Janoh walked to a back room of his two-room shack and soon returned with a quiver full of arrows. The quiver was not as scratched as Kali's present one.

"I've been working on a new arrow for you. They are the rough-feathered ones in the mix- only three." Kali took the quiver and replaced her old one on her shoulder. She pulled out a rough arrow and observed it closely. It was different than the ones she usually has, but she couldn't find how.

"What is the difference?" she asked while handing him the worn quiver."You'll see. Only shoot it in a fight; not as target practice or you will dull the end."

"Yes, Sensei. Thank you for your wisdom." With one more bow, Kali left her sensei's house and jumped away. Before continuing, Kali changed into her normal cloths. Her top was a no-sleeve shirt that stopped at the middle of the stomach; it was a buckskin color. Her pants were slightly above the knee and covered by a long dress-like skirt with long slits up to her hips that was the same color. After putting her other cloths in the pack on her waist, she continued. She had made up her mind; with these new arrows she would secretly protect those ninja until they could get out. Maybe this would make this strange sense of responsibility she was feeling subside.

Sakura felt like she had been walking for hours now (probably because she had), and still no sign of the end of this forest. The boys had a big fight this morning and now they were silent for most of the day. Her attempts to start conversation were useless. Sasuke had told her that being quiet was important since they had no idea what could be watching them. Sakura was sure someone heard them this morning the way they were yelling and all, but she just nodded as an answer. Naruto walked with his hands on his head, and seemed to be fuming. This experience had been a disaster from the start.

Soon, they came upon a river that was swollen over its banks. This was bad. They can't cross very easily. Sasuke thought for a minute, he was not in the mood for this. Suddenly, a man shot from a tree across the bank and dunked a container into the water. He noticed the three almost immediately. Sasuke and Naruto prepared for a fight warily as the man stood. His clothes were like the ones worn by insane people; the shirt looked like it was supposed to have restrained his arms, but had been freed. His hair was spiked and black. He laughed to himself.

"You aren't from around here, are you?" He said in a disgusting voice. "Tell me: Where are you heading strangers?" Sakura was about to say something.

"Don't say anything," Sasuke said firmly. The guy tilted his head.

"Ah, so you aren't as foolish as you look." Kali jumped to a nearby branch just as this was being said. Her ears twitched in interest and her eyes studied the situation. Miliko the murderer. Three ninja. Miliko knows the ways of these woods. They don't. She watched intently noticing every detail that could be imagined. The river was too wide for even Miliko to jump, but since he was sent from an insane asylum, Kali wouldn't put it past him to try.

Sasuke was getting more and more nervous as the silence dragged on. Moliko finally spoke again.

"You had better watch it," he said, "You're lucky this time." He jumped of quickly with no confrontation. Kali noticed she was holding her breath and let it out silently. Sasuke didn't seem to relax much, but Naruto did. He sighed and gave a nervous laugh.

"Wow, that was close," he said. Kali then observed how they could get across. They could knock over one of the rotted trees and walk; climb and jump through the canopy; or the foolish way of trying to swim. Hopefully they would jump through the canopy. It was the safest way; maybe that Sasuke fellow would see that. After a brief conversation, the three did as Kali had thought and climbed. Kali sat silent and invisible as they passed through her area of observation. When they had reached the other side, they continued on their way.

Kali noticed something was off. She looked and listened carefully. Breathing was heard. It was carefully slow and well hidden, but not to Kali's ears. She drew her arrow on her bow tightly. It made only the slightest stretching noise before she shot it directly at her target. The man fell out of the tree and into the river. Kali jumped over and retrieved the arrow that had stuck in the tree. The small dots of blood on the head of the arrow showed she had hit her mark.

The three ninja looked in surprise at the river where the man had fallen in. Kali moved further back into the woods so she wouldn't get in a scuffle. A few minutes passed before Kali felt safe enough to return to the river. She washed her arrow and placed it back in her quiver. She sat in silence for a second. That was a clear example of how hard it would be to protect Sasuke and his friends.

She was confused at how the three seemed so calm. Most people who came here either went insane or died right off. The battles they must have had before she found them must have been amazingly tough since they had no idea what they were to expect. Kali was indeed impressed. There was only two other people she knew that had done such a thing.

The sunset came fast and the ninja settled down in a patch of trees. They didn't start a fire (wise move) and only talked in a quiet voice. Kali slipped onto a branch above and lay on her side and rested her head on her hand. She listened with eyes closed to all the conversations before they drifted off to sleep. Kali dropped out of the tree and looked at the three ninja up close. They looked worn and dirty. She felt sort of sorry for them. Kali looked at Sasuke for a minute. He was such a leader. She could see how someone would want him out of the way. But what about the others; Sakura was a girl of few traits and Naruto wasn't even aware of any danger…except maybe starvation.

Kali was aware that her new mission was something she had never attempted before. Protection wasn't her strong suit. Actually, it was her only trait in which she wasn't confident she was fit. She gave a silent sigh and got chills. Naruto rustled in his sleep but didn't wake. Kali could tell he was a heavy sleeper. He was a confusing person, but she would watch only Sasuke for now.

She went to the river, slipped into the cool water and sipped some from her hand. The water was a nice retreat from the warm day. She got out and shook most of the water off. After ringing out her tail she headed back to her tree. Taking one more look at the group her stomach tightened. Sasuke was missing from his spot! Kali, at first, panicked. She was supposed to be invisible; if he saw her or is in an attacking position her cover would be blown. She calmed herself and gripped her medium-sized blade on her waist. If he attacked she would defend herself.

Silence fell in and she heard fast breathing. That wasn't Sasuke's nervousness- that was fear! Kali jumped into a tree following the breaths. She finally found Sasuke in the arms of the biggest guy she had ever seen. The man was wearing black cloths and had a goatee-like beard. His eyes had evil flowing from them. Sasuke had a cloth in his mouth and was doing his best to free himself. He was doing quite well, but the man's grip was strong. Kali fought to not fire an arrow straight through the man's forehead. Her hands shook and one reached for the bow slowly.

She suddenly hatched an idea. Naruto and Sakura could fight! After returning to the beds, she tossed a rock and hit Naruto in the forehead. He sat up and rubbed his head. He looked at where Sasuke should be, thinking it was him who threw the stone, but Sasuke wasn't there.

"Sasuke?" he called in a slight daze. Naruto shook Sakura. "Hey, Sakura, Sasuke's gone!" Sakura sat up and yawned before looking around.

"Wha…?"

"Sasuke's gone!" They stood and searched franticly before finally finding Sasuke and the large man. By now, Sasuke was beaten badly and pinned on the ground. The large man was breathing deeply. Kali gritted her teeth. She knew the man was strong and they were going to have to fight very hard.

"You let go of Sasuke!" Sakura yelled. The man and Sasuke looked up surprised.

"How did you wake?" he said in a heavy voice. Sasuke struggled under the heavy weight of the man's arm. "Just stay out of the way, girl!"

"No way!!" Sakura said. Naruto was not behind her, but he wasn't far. Kali's heart jumped when she saw Naruto sneaking through the canopy. He ended up behind the man and preformed a quick hand signal.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!!" He yelled. Kali felt the rush of Chakra as about fifty Naruto's jumped at the man. The guy was surprised at the number of ninja, but Kali was just surprised that Naruto knew that advanced technique. The man was engulfed and Naruto soon overpowered him. Sakura rescued Sasuke and untied him. The man suddenly yelled and threw Naruto and his clones off. In his hand was an oversized metal gun. It wasn't a gun full of bullets, but something else. Kali studied it carefully. The clones disappeared- all except for the real Naruto who lay in front of the guy. Before he could sit up the barrel of the gun was pressed against his neck.

Kali's hands shook again. She could barely hold herself back. It wasn't her way sitting on the side. Sasuke drew his kunai and threw it. It struck the man in the arm, but didn't seem to be affected. The man raised his gun and fired. Sasuke jumped out of the way, but the man fired again. This time it struck Sasuke and his arm was pinned to a tree by a U-shaped piece of metal. He struggled to free himself, but to no avail. The man walked over, but Naruto and Sakura jumped in the way. With one swing the two were knocked out of the way. Naruto tried to get up, but the guy pointed the gun at Sasuke's throat.

"Any closer and the boy dies," the man said. Naruto froze. Sasuke reached for his shurukin. The man gripped Sasuke's arm and pushed it against the tree. Using the gun like a large staple-gun he shot a metal U over Sasuke's other arm. Sasuke struggled to free his arms; the only thing it did was make the metal cut his wrists slightly.

"What do you want with Sasuke!?" Sakura asked loudly. The man smiled evilly and looked at her.

"That is none of your business, girl," he said, "You two could have just kept sleeping and none of this would have happened." Naruto jumped at him with his kunai drawn, but the guy was faster than he looked. He swung around and struck Naruto in the head. Kali gasped and gripped the branch. She couldn't help but feel responsible for all this. As the man turned back to his business, it struck Sasuke that this wasn't right. He should have been able to defeat this man. The shots he fired were slow; why had they hit him?

Kali was having the same thought, but it was interrupted by Sasuke's words.

"Even though it isn't Sakura's business," he said strongly, "I want to know- what do you want with me?"

"Hahaha!!" the man laughed, "I want nothing to do with you!" A look of shock fell over all of them, including Kali. "I need you as bait for someone I DO need. There is only one person who knows how to get out of this crazy place and her name is"- He stopped mid-sentence. His smiling face was wiped of emotion and he fell face first onto the ground. Sasuke saw an arrow sticking out of the man's back and looked up to where it came from. All he saw was a flash of someone jumping away. Sakura snapped out of her daze and ran to Sasuke.

"Are you alright?" she asked while trying to pull one of the U-bars out. Sasuke's eyes scanned the trees.

"Where did that arrow come from…?" Sasuke said quietly. Sakura got the bar out with half of the tree it was planted in. The two ends of the bar were serrated, which explains the difficulty. She looked around.

"Do you think they're on our side?" she asked in the same low tone. Sasuke grabbed his kunai and jabbed it into the tree to dig out the other bar. It was deeper because it was shot at point blank. Sakura then went to Naruto, who had been knocked unconscious by the blow. Blood ran down his head from behind his ear and his headband.

Kali sat far away, held her bow with both hands and pressed it against her chest. Her eyes were shut and she breathed heavily. Great, she thought to herself, now I lost an arrow AND revealed myself. And all because of that rotten behemoth of a man. She then realized what else she had done; feeling the ends of her arrows she felt only two of the new arrows. A lump formed in her throat as she thought. What had that new arrow done? Killed him, of course, but doesn't that always happen? There was nothing to do now, but retrieve the arrow that was lost.