Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto -.- Unfortunately

This is my first Naruto fic and like I said in my profile it started out as a dream. Like most of my fanfics will. Anyway enjoy!!

Feed Me To The Forest

The noises of stampeding horse almost lulled Naruto straight to sleep if the constant pace weren't jolting him back awake. They had been running like this for hours on end. Actually, they've been running like this for months! Yes months, day and night, every hour, every minute, every second, they've been running only stopping for their horses to take a break. Why? Well...

From Naruto's understaanding it happened over about two months ago. He had gone on a trip to a neighboring town to get more supplies. When he came back, his village, Kinka Town, was in a huge uproar. Apparently a man-eating panther attacked wounding three men and killing one. After that it's been a duty for all men in Kinka town to hunt the animal down and kill it before it attacked anyone else. Which was why right now, Naruto was traveling at a neck-breaking speed on his horse.

It wasn't that he didn't want to ride with them (even though that was true), it was just that he didn't like the way they run his life with this thing. Wake, eat, bathe, morning hunt, eat lunch, evening hunt, work a little in the town, night hunt, go to sleep, wake, eat, bathe, morning hunt...well you get the drift. After a while... you kind of get tired of it. Alas, there was nothing he could do since he was only 18 and could do nothing against the town's elders.

A loud whiney from a horse broke Naruto from his thoughts as everyone in front of him came to a complete stop. The leader hopped off his horse and studied the ground, carefully searching for pawprints and occasionly sniffing for any marked trail. After what seemed like two minutes the leader scrunched his nose up as if smelling something foul before mounting his horse once more.

"Yep. It's defintely been this way. Split up! You four go that way. I'll take these three with me. If you see that...thing," The leader spat in disgust scrunching up his face once more. "don't hesitate to kill it." With one last murderous look, the leader finally pulled the reins of his horse and lead away three men in their eight men group. Everyone else let the tension fall away before actually taking action.

"Okay. Naruto you go that way." Said one man pointing in a random direction. Naruto groaned inwardly before trotting off as the man barked out more orders. Why was he even required to do this? Sure the panther attacked some people and he was sure the family of the dead guy is very sad but do they have to drag everyone into it? He'd rather stay home and eat ramen than hunt some man-eating panther every waking moment of his young life. He had tons of years before he died. Why spend them all on hunting some animal he may never even see?

His horse snorted angrily almost making Naruto believe he heard his thoughts. It wanted to be here as much as he did. Naruto smiled softly and patted the horse's neck, bending to be leveled with it's small ears.

"Don't worry boy. Soon they'll figure out this is all useless and I'll be back home eating my ramen and you'll be in your stable in with your hay." The horse whinied happily and Naruto beamed before sitting back up. But his smile only lasted for a short while.

"After it!"

"Don't let it get away!"

Naruto snapped his head in the direction of the voice and the horse took a few steps back, shaking it's large head. Naruto pulled on the reins to calm the animal down not noticing a figure till it was too late. Suddenly the horse let out hysterical neigh before falling onto the ground bringing the blond hunter down with it. Naruto quickly scrambled from under the heavy weight before turning to look at his horse's attacker. Blue eyes widened at the sight before him.

The panther that he had been hunting for almost two months now was standing right before him. It's black fur bristled and stood on end. It's thick tail swished angrily behind it. It's claws, which were covered in blood, gripped the ground harshly tugging up the dirt underneath the nails. It's muzzle was pulled back showing rows of gleaming large fangs, all dripping with blood showing the blond that the panther had attacked not only his horse. Naruto quickly scrambled away from the creature as far as he could. Everything about the thing was dangerous and it looked like it was about to pounce and kill him. Naruto trembled slightly. He stood up and drew his sword to attack making the panther growl louder and lean back to pounce. Suddenly, before either could attack, something caught his eyes, distracting him from the screams behind him.

The panther's eyes.

They were blood red, not at all like the normal gold or amber on a regular panther. But the color wasn't what attracted him. It was what they eyes were saying. Everything about the panther's body was screaming "Killer"; saying that if you made the wrong move, you'd be dead. But the eyes were saying something that contradicted everything the body stood for.

"Don't kill me."

Naruto eyes widened and dropped his sword, nearly missing his feet. The panther's growls stopped immediately and is ruby eyes widened as well. This hunter wasn't going to attack or anything? Cerulean eyes met ruby for an instant before the loud sounds of the remaining soilders became closer and closer. Suddenly Naruto heard the panther growl again this time louder than before. The large cat glance at him one last time before bounding deeper into the forest. Naruto stared into empty space for a few moments before finally occupying his time with helping his wounded horse.

After much effort, his horse was standing tall even though it snorted painfully. Naruto smiled sadly and patted it's uninjured neck. The other soilders pulled in loudly stopping in a circle around him. The leader quickly hopped off his steed before quickly glancing around for anything he might have missed. After nothing he looked towards Naruto who shrugged with an apologetic look. The leader sighed heavily before climbing upon his horse once again.

"Looks like it's another failed hunt boys." High tension filled the air and the leader sighed once again before leading the way back to the town. Naruto grabbed his horses reins since it was too injured to ride and quickly followed behind, casting one last glace in the direction the panther disappeared to.

"Let's go home."

Naaruto streched lazily above his head. Waking up was always a bother. He wasn't really a morning person anyway. The blond smacked his lips before trudging his way towards his small kitchen. He was suddenly in the mood for tea. As he put the kettle on a loud noise sounded in front of his door. Naruto jumped slightly before making his way towaards the living room. Who in their right mind was visiting him so early in the morning? And why were they making all of that noise?

Yawning widely the blond opened the door widely, ready to glare anyone away. But there wasn't aynone there. Naruto shrugged and was about to shut the door when something caught his eye. There right in front of his door was a huge bundle. Raising one eyebrow Naruto slowly picked it up and untied it. Suddenly all kinds of fruits fell out and fell onto the floor some hard ones cracking open. Naruto knelt down and looked at the foood. These were the type of fruit you could only find in the deepst parts of the forest. Who could have possibly put these on his doorstep? How did they get them and why him?

Slowly picking all the fruit up, Naruto moved to close his door once more before a pair of blood red eyes caught his. The blonde felt his eyes widen and almost dropped his fruit once more before as quickly as he had seen them, the disappeared. Naruto stared quietly at the spot where those eyes were before shutting his door silently. He knew who those eyes belonged to. And now he knew who gave him the fruit. He also knew what the fruit meant, they same thing those eyes said as he stared into them for that short time:

"Thank you."

Two days in a row.

Two freaking days in a freaking row!

What does a man have to do to get some sleep around here?!

Naruto pulled the covers from his head and angrily stomped to the front door. Why? Why won't the world just let him sleep and bother him during the hunt. Today was his last day off since his horse was still injured. He just wanted to sleep in today. Then maybe eat some ramen and go back to sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep! That's all he wanted was some sleep! Why couldn't he just get some sleep! What did they want? What?! What?!

"WHAT?!"

The hand that was rapidly banging on Naruto's door froze and Naruto groaned at who it was attached too. Reima was the towns troublemaker. She always played tricks on townspeople and especially Naruto. And as gullible as Naruto was, he believed every lie that came out of her mouth. Reima smiled toothily and rocked on her heels her hands folded behind her back. Naruto frowned and put a hand on his hip impatiently.

"This better be good Reima. I'm not in the mood to play today." Reima's smile grew bigger to Naruto disappointment.

"It is! It is! You know how you always complain about having to hunt? Well my daddy said that I can tell you that his friend told him that a neighboring town said that one day this man walked into the forest and he saw a big creature and he thought it was a monster so he went back all scared and everybody didn't believe him 'cept his girlfriend and-"

"Reima get on with it!" Reima huffed irritated that her story was interrupted.

"Well excuse me then Mr. Grumpy. I just came to tell you that we finally caught the panther! You don't have to hunt anymore!" Smiling once again she turned on her heel to walk away. "If you don't believe me come to the plaza. They have it on display in a huuuuuuuuuuge cage and they said their going to kill it tonight in front of the whoooooooole town!" The small troublemaker laughed heartily before running off to tell other people the good news. Naruto stood as still as a statue in front of his door. His cerulean eyes were as big as saucers and his hand was gripping the door frame so tightly they were turning white. They had finally caught it. After two whole months they finally caught it. They had it in the plaza. They were going to kill it. Tonight. They were going to kill it tonight. Naruto broke from his trance and turned quickly around to look at the fruit he had gotten from the panther yesterdy. They were still fresh and sitting quietly on his table. He turned back around to look at the sun. It was still high. He thought about his hunt two days go. The way those eyes begged not to be killed by his sword even though it's teeth were bared and claws ready to fight. He thought about how those eyes were glazed with thanks when he found those fruits on his doorstep. He thought about how those eyes probably were right now. He thought about how the panther was right now.

Swallowing a lump in his throat, Naruto ran into the house to grabbed his pack and sword. He couldn't stand it. He couldn't sit here and let that panther be killed. He had to do something, and fast.

The town was busier than usual. Everyone was shopping as fast as they could as if they were all in a huirry. Children were jumping up and down, pulling on their mothers' dresses and robes to move faster. Naruto had to move swiftly and maneuver his way through the clumps of people of the street. The town's plaza was still a ways away. Naruto's house was at least four miles away from Kinka Town so it had taken him most of the day to get here since he couldn't ride his horse. The sun was beginning to set and if he didn't make it there by the time the first star came out it would be too late. Nruto was extremely glad it was summer. The days were much longer.

Finally after much time and effort, Naruto saw the plaza up ahead. Kinka Town was famous for its plaza. In the middle stood a huge satue of the founder, Kinka Sakamura, who had died in order to protect this town from raiders. The statue stood at least six feet tall and it also stood on top of a four foot tall fountain. Surrounding the entire plaza were houses, markets, and other businesses. Surrounding that was beautiful scenery that can calm even the most malevolent person on the planet.

But those aren't the things that caught Naruto's attention. What caught his attention was the crowd of people surrounding the fountain. Everyone, including the owners of the markets and business, were standing around laughing or cursing. Children were running in and out the throng of people, grabbing rocks and sticks before plunging right back in. Naruto took a deep breath before making his own way through the crowd. What he saw made him cringe and recoil as if he had gotten struck himself.

There in front of him sat the panther. Its black fur was drenched in blood and dirt. It had several stab wounds, one deep enought to kill a man with one blow. There was a huge gash down its chest like a soilder stabbed it and dragged the sword downwards. Part of its left ear was cut off and there were scratches all over its muzzle which actually looked like the panther had done them with its own claws. Its wounds were infected badly since Nruto could see pus and unknown white substances in them. Rocks and parts of sticks that the children were throwing were also caught inside the wounds. The panther's breathing was extremely shallow and looked as if it would stop at any minute.

Naruto closed his eyes at the sight. The panther was still putting up a fight. Low growls could be heard whenever something was thrown at it. Claws, that were caked with dirt and blood, were scratching softly at the bottom of the cage. Its tail was twicthing in annoyance everytime someone said something about it or cursed at it. Naruto let his gaze run over the animal before they settled on the panther's face. He wanted to see those blood red eyes. He wanted to her what they were telling him. He wanted to see that it was in pain and need his help. He needed it to tell him it wanted his help.

But the panther's eyes were closed. If it weren't for the growling or the clawing or even the twitching of its tail, Naruto would have believed long ago that it was dead. But he refused to let those thoughts enter his mind. It was still alive. It was still breathing so it was still alive. All it needed to do was open it's eyes. All it needed to do was turn his way and let Naruto see what he needed to see. The blonde couldn't do anything unless he saw those eyes.

'Please open your eyes.'

The panther's body twitched slightly and the growling stopped. Naruto's eyes widened. The growling stopped. The scratching stopped. The twitching stopped. Naruto felt his gaze move slwoly towards the panther's chest. It was still. It was completely still. The panther's breathing had stopped. Naruto felt his own breathing stop too.

The crowd fell completely silent. The children stopped throwing things. The women stopped whispering. It almost felt as if the entire town just went dead. Everyone stood and looked into the cage. No one made a sound.

Finally one brave soul decided to speak up. "Is it dead?"

Once again everyone started to mummur again. Was it really dead? Was it just faking? Should they burn the body? Should they keep it and just let it rot? All were questions Naruto blocked out from his mind. The panther couldn't be dead. It couldn't. The sun was at the horizon. Only a little while longer and Naruto would have saved it. It couldn't have just died. Not now. Not when they were so close.

'Please open your eyes.'

More silence. Everything was still. Naruto felt his spirit drop. It was over. The panther was dead. He was too late. There was nothing he could do now.

'I'm sorry.'

A small movement caught the corner of Naruto's eye. With surprise the blonde looked at the panther. Was it really still alive? The blonde looked intently to see anymore movement. Everything was still and the crowd was starting to disperse. But Naruto would not move from his spot.

'Please open your eyes.'

As if hearing his thoughts, Naruto heard the panther give and almost inaudible growl. It's tail twitched at least once before suddenly one blood red eye opened slowly. Naruto had to suppress the urge to grab the bars in excitement. The panther let out a slow, ragged breath before its gaze turned towrds Naruto as if on instinct. The first thing the blond saw was surprise. Then he saw relief. Finally he swa what he had been waiting to see.

"Help me."

The blonde smiled widely before grabbing his sword and waving it high into the air. The large weapon caught a lot of people's attention and they turned around to seen what this person was doing. Naruto cleared his throat loudly.

"I am Naruto Uzumaki! I have faced this beast once," he paused, moving to point his sword at the panther, "and it wounded my horse. My horse is my pride and my joy since I have had it since it was just a foul. Now I wanted to repay the favor!" Naruto turned towards the panther's cage. The black animal looked up at him with confusion before it turned quickly into anger. Naruto didn't look into it's eyes for he knew what he would see.

"In the name of Kinka Town!" He shouted before swinging his sword down with all his might. Some women gasped and covered their children's eyes. Some men looked on greedily ready to see the panther chopped into bits. No one expected to see the sword miss the panther entirely, and instead hit the lock that was attached to the panther's door.

As soon as the door swung up, the panther jumped to it's feet and gave a loud growl of pain. The crowd screamed and ran away as quickly as possible. Naruto stood still for moment before sheathing his sword. The panther looked at him and Naruto felt that he never wanted to look away ever again. He had done it. The panther may be injured, but it was free. Naruto felt extremely happy at the moment.

"After him!"

"Traitor!"

The moment was broken as soon as the shouts were heard. Hunters were coming for them both. If they didn't leave now, everything would have been in vain. Naruto turned back towards the panther who was glaring in the direction the voices were heard and growling angrily. Naruto knelt before it and placed a hand upon its muzzle. The panther snapped its jaws almost biting the blonde's hand off. Said blonde backed away a few steps before cradling his hand softly.

"Look. We need to leave and we need to leave now. They will kill you when they get here and they will kill me for letting you go. So let's trust each other until we get away okay?" He said before trying to touch the panther's muzzle again. But like the last time the panther snapped its jaws and Naruto barely moved his hand out of the way this time.

"Hurry up!

"Don't let them get away!"

The panther's eyes grew cold before it took off into the direction of the forest. Naruto's eyes widened and he scrambled to his feet.

"Hey wait for me!"

The panther ran through the crowd quickly. People cleared the way as best as they could. Some didn't know what was pssing them. Some screamed and ran home for shelter. Naruto ran after the panther as fast as he could. It was easy since everyone was moving out of the black cat's way. After a long time of running they finally made it to the forest but that didn't slow the panther down. Naruto looked back to the town before he followed close behind.

The head hunter who was chasing them growled angrily as he watched the two disappear into the denser part of the forest. He couldn't catch them without horses. And by the time he got horses, they would be long gone and the trail would be too cold to track. The head hunter sheathed his sowrd before cursing loudly and turning everyone back.

The sun disappeared behind the horizon and the first star glowed brightly in the sky.

So what do you think? You do not know long it took me to write this chapter. Like FOREVER!!!!! I still think it's crappy. I have to find someone to Beta it for me. I will take any volunteers. ......Don't all raise your hands at once. Lol just kidding. No but seriously if you want to help then tell me in your reviews. Oh and speaking of reviewing -cough cough- don't forget to press that review button and tell me what you think. Bye bee!!!