A Terrifying Enemy, But a Comforting Ally
Chapter 1
xX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*Xx
A/N
Okay! :) First chapter is done! XD -insert happy dance here- and I'll add chapter titles later on :D
anyways... I think it's only fair to tell you this is my first fic, and I have no beta... so all mistakes you may see are completely my own.
thanx goes to EbonyEye for all the help and encouragement, YOU ROCK! XD hope this doesn't disapoint!
disclaimer: I do not own Naruto -insert sad face here-
xX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*Xx
She was walking slowly down the road, trying her best to keep from looking out into the woods. She could feel the eyes that were glued to her form as she continued to take her stroll.
"Hey, Sakura-chan!" she heard the voice that continued to call out to her to wait for them to catch up. But she kept her eyes forward and continued down the path. Then Naruto was beside her, jabbering on and on about something to do with Sai being a tight ass. She couldn't really blame the blonde for not liking Sai overly well. Hell, he called him dick-less, and even had the gall to call her ugly!
'Nope, he's definitely not earning any brownie points there…' inner Sakura stated.
'You can say that again!' She thought back.
'He's definitely not…'
'I wasn't serious!'
'Then who were you?'
'It's a figure of speech!'
'Speech has a figure!'
'Just… forget it… -_-' Sakura thought exasperatedly.
They continued down the road, Naruto as clueless as ever that eyes were following their every moveand her inner torturing her at every stray thought. Their mission was simply to meet up with their aforementioned emotionless teammate and their sensei, the copy ninja, in the land of grass.
'What the fluff! How the hell did Naruto become a ninja exactly?' Inner piped up again.
'Oh come on! He's just talking to us to make it seem like he doesn't know we're being watched.' Sakura thought, covering for her friend.
'Do you really believe that?'
'Uh…'
'Nuff said…' inner told her blandly.
xX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*Xx
It was well into the night when they finally decided to call it a day. Sakura made a fire and began to make their dinner, while Naruto went to scout the area.
To say she was worried for the blonde was an understatement. She could still feel those same eyes boring into her back. She had confidence in her partner but still kept track of his chakra signature as he made his rounds.
When the food was done and Naruto had returned with the all clear they dug in, the presence still hovering over Sakuras' mind like a raincloud. She shot Naruto a pointed look; he was wolfing down the food she had set before him a short while ago. Although it slightly disgusted her, she smiled at his messy habit. He ate her cooking often, yet he never tarried from scarfing down all that she made available to him.
She continued to pick at her own meal while mulling over what this feeling of being watched could mean. Constantly stealing glances out into the surrounding darkness as they silently ate beside the fire.
"Hey Sakura, is something bothering you?" Naruto suddenly asked as he sat down his bowl, making her jump slightly in surprise.
"What gives you that idea, baka?" she snapped, angry he had caught her off guard.
"You've barely touched your food, and you keep staring out into the trees like something is fixing to jump out of them." He stated bluntly.
'I've been found out!' Sakura thought.
'So he's not as stupid as he looks.' Her inner said smirking.
"I was just thinking about putting some traps and alarms out for anybody who might try to attack us at night while we're asleep." she said, giving Naruto a small smile. He looked satisfied with that answer and began to unpack their tent and set up for the night.
After she was done setting up all the traps and alarms around the camp, she went and crawled into her sleeping bag. Looking at Naruto who was already sound asleep, she smiled and with one last glance around their camp into the darkness she surrendered herself to the darkness of sleep.
xX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*Xx
The next morning Sakura awoke to find Naruto already packing up their gear, his eyes searching the trees. She sat up in her sleeping bag as she watched his tense form put away their things.
'Ha! See, he does feel it!' Sakura teased her inner.
'Or does he hear it?' it retorted.
'Huh?' she asked confused.
'Listen baka!' her inner shouted in her head.
Sakura focused her hearing on any noise in the small clearing they had stayed in that night. Then she heard it, the slightest rustling of the bushes to their left, but there was no wind blowing to disturb the leaves. Come to think of it, she couldn't hear any birds singing, or any other noises of nature. It was just the rustling of the bushes and Narutos' breathing coupled with her own.
'They sense the danger here.' Her inner supplied darkly.
She had been so focused on finding what had disturbed her teammate that she hadn't noticed when he had stopped gathering up their things. He stood now, watching silently as the rustling in the bushes began to become more noticeable, louder, and it slowly began to circle their encampment.
'Damn! They must be just outside my traps!' Sakura cursed herself.
'How do you know it's a 'they'?' the question made Sakura shiver.
'What! You don't think...' Sakura asked her inner franticly.
'Oh, but I do…' her inner answered with finality.
Sakura gulped at what her inner was implying, The feelings she got from her inner had her stomach twisting with fright. Whatever this thing was, it was no ninja, nor was it human. She stole a glance at Naruto before she gave in to her inners idea that this thing was very dangerous. What she saw on his face made her stomach sink.
He was holding a kunai in his hand spinning around, keeping his front to the noise as it circled them. His eyes were wide and continuously darted to and fro as they searched the still dark trees. His teeth were slightly bared, and she could hear the slight growl that rumbled from his chest. He looked like a cornered animal.
Sakura rushed to get up and to her things, where she grabbed a few shuriken and kunai for herself. Then she joined Naruto in the middle of the camp where they followed the noise with their eyes, not letting it get behind them.
They continued in this way for what seemed like an eternity, adrenaline surging through their veins. The rustling just circled them over and over, randomly switching its direction. No doubt trying to catch them off guard and fool them, but they caught the noise shift and continued to follow it almost religiously.
Through all the noise of the leaves, Sakura could hear growling every so often. A deep feral sound that made her breath hitch. She was afraid and trying her best not to show it.
'It can smell your fear' inner Sakura stated coolly.
Sakura's eyes widened at this new information, if that was true, what were they going to do about scaring it off? She threw her Shuriken at the bushes, hearing it strike wood, and was rewarded with an angry growl. She threw another, and heard the dull crack of metal being broke in two. A second later the broken shuriken was sliding back into the clearing, the weapon messily broken in half.
They stared at the useless weapon until something else grabbed their attention. The rustling in the bushes was fading away, further into the trees. It seemed to melt back into the woods as the singing of birds began up again.
"What in the world was that!" Naruto asked as he fell to his knees, suddenly tired. He stared incredulously out into the forest in the direction where they had last heard the rustling bushes.
"I honestly don't know…" Sakura replied as she replaced her weapons in her pouch. She went over and grabbed up the broken shuriken that had been slid back to them before their tormentor had disappeared. It wasn't a clean break, like what a shinobi would make if confronted. They had heard the snap of the metal when it was broken in half, not the sound of it being cut in half, but broken. Pure strength had done this, it was written on the jagged edges of the broken sides of the weapon.
She tucked the broken shuriken in her bag and continued to roll up her things and store them in her pack as well. Naruto was well done before her considering his head start, and waited patiently for her to finish. She released her traps and alarms that surrounded their camp and hefted her pack onto her shoulders.
"Okay, we better get going. Sensei is expecting us, and I don't think it's wise to keep him waiting." Sakura sighed. Joining her teammate, they jumped into the trees and continued their journey.
"You know, I don't see why Kakashi-sensei gets to be late all the time, but when we're summoned we have to be early!" Naruto whined as they jumped from branch to branch.
'Didn't take him long to recover' Sakura mused.
"I know it can be annoying, but I have a bad feeling about this Naruto. Why would they send for back-up if it wasn't absolutely necessary?" she said, worry laced through her words.
They were quiet for awhile, both thinking on why their sensei and pale teammate had sent for their help. They were both ex-anbu members, Kakashi the famous Copy Ninja! The only explanation in Sakuras mind was that they were in deep trouble, trouble even they couldn't handle alone.
"I just want to get there as soon as possible, I don't want to lose anyone else Naruto. I don't think I could handle that right now." The pink haired kunoichi said, her voice wavered as the memories flashed through her mind.
Sasuke at the gates of Konoha while she begged him with tears streaming down her face to stay, her empty threat of screaming if he didn't stop, and then his whispered thank you as he knocked her out and left her laying on the stone bench to go join Orochimaru.
Her father going off on a mission, only to be reported as killed in the line of duty. Her mother basically crying herself to death when they got the news, she had been so attached to him that the sudden loss had destroyed her. Their funerals were the same day, and she had been left all alone in the world. When a day ended she had cried herself to sleep, and woke in the middle of the night screaming at their retreating forms not to leave her.
It had been Kakashi and Naruto who had brought her back from the brink both times. Tsunade had stepped in and become a sort of mother figure for her, and she began to live again. Even Sai had put some joy back into her life.
Now at the thought of losing someone else close to her she felt sick to her stomach. She would not allow that to happen again! She sped up as a new surge of adrenaline hit her.
xX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*XxX*Xx
WOO! okay, now tell me what ya think :) I'm talkin bout reviews my sweets! Precious reviews!
hehe till the next chapter!
This is Jaylee-Rebel
Over and Out!