Chapter 1

The Shadow

"I can't believe that we're being sent out on another training exercise!" Naruto fumed, blue eyes blazing and bright yellow hair crackling with frustrated energy.

"Oh, give it a rest, will you, Naruto?" Sakura sighed, brushing back her light pink bangs, although inwardly she could sympathize with Naruto. You'd think that Kakashi-sensei would trust us with something a little more challenging than a forest survival test after protecting Master Bridge-Builder Tazuna from Gato's thugs in the Land of Waves, she thought, glancing over at the third member of their group. As always, Sasuke's face and dark eyes were unreadable.

"It's not fair!" Naruto continued to rave, oblivious to Sakura's words or Sasuke's silence. "We beat Zabuza and Haku on the bridge! We survived assassination attempts in the forest on the way to the Land of Waves! We did all that, and what do we get as a reward? A camping trip!" Completely overcome with disgust, Naruto decided to plop down in the middle of the road in protest of this unfair treatment. Unfortunately, his sudden stop caused Sakura to fall over him.

"Dimwit!" she yelled, smacking him. "Kakashi-sensei gave us this mission, so we have to follow through, whether we like it or not!"

"Some mission," grumbled Naruto.

"If you'd stop acting like a whiny brat, then maybe you'd notice that we're being followed," Sasuke said softly.

"Wha-?!" Naruto and Sakura started to say, but Sasuke silenced them with a hard look.

"Don't act suspicious," he said. "It's been tracking us for a while now."

Sakura glanced swiftly around, fingers edging towards her kunai knife. "Where is it? How long has it been following us?"

Naruto leapt to his feet. "How'd you know someone is following us?" he asked, attempting to keep his voice low.

"I don't know exactly where it is," Sasuke replied, "since it keeps shifting position. I've been catching quick glimpses of movement all morning, very slight but always keeping pace."

"Maybe it's Kakashi-sensei, coming to check up on us," Sakura proposed nervously.

"Doubtful," answered Sasuke. "He wants to see how we do on our own without him watching us."

"Well then, there's only one way to find out," said Naruto with a wicked gleam in his eye, cracking his knuckles in preparation for a jutsu.

Sakura smacked him again. "The last thing we need is you flat on your back because you decided to pick a fight with a badger. Leave it alone for now; we'll wait and see what they're up to."

Naruto rubbed his aching head. "You didn't have to go pound on me! I do have ears you know."

"Yeah, but you don't use them," Sakura shot back, green eyes flashing.

"Enough," said Sasuke. "Let's keep moving."

"You're just scared, that's all," muttered Naruto under his breath. Sasuke glared at the yellow-haired boy, then continued walking while Sakura ran to catch up with him, leaving Naruto in the dust.

"Girls," he growled, his eyes burning holes in his rival's back. Naruto glanced around quickly, feeling angry that he hadn't noticed they were being followed. But he didn't see anything. Nothing moved, and everything seemed peaceful. There was no sign of a pursuer, but somehow, Naruto felt unnerved. He shook his head in frustration.

"It's just Sasuke trying to make me do something stupid in front of Sakura," Naruto said to himself. "But it isn't going to work. I'm going to be the greatest ninja ever and become the next Hokage!"

Reassured by this familiar mantra, Naruto hurried to catch up to his teammates. If he had looked back, he would have seen the flicker of a shadow flash across his own before disappearing back into the shade of the trees. A pair of eyes peered through the leaves to focus on the three receding genin. Lean limbs trembled with the effort of keeping still.

« hunt hunt want food want blood kill kill kill! »

— No. —

« hunt! hunt! hunt! »

— No. Wait. Watch. —

« then hunt? »

— No. —

« when hunt? »

—... —

The shadow moved swift and silent through the trees, keeping pace with the young genin.

« whenwhenwhenwhen?! »

— Soon. —

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