Chapter 2:
Thank you very much to Rose Tiger for the revue. This chapter will be more action packed than last time and hopefully even more exiting. let's crack on then.
"Hinata!" Screamed Naruto.
The captured girl's lilac eyes struggled to open.
"Naru...to..."Eventually she lost the battle for consciousness and her head flopped down. The once struggling arms were now still.
The boy grabbed the rusty sword from his back and held it in front, eyes burning with hatred. "give her back you bastard!"
Once the smoke had properly cleared, the frustrated warrior could finally see the girl's kidnapper.
His hair was a deep orange and his face full with metal studs. His piercings trailed through his nose, ears and even lips. The man had amethyst eyes with an array of black rings surrounding his pupils.
"We don't have time for such insignificant pests..." Stated the clocked man.
"What do you mean we?" Naruto asked.
At that moment something swooped, blocking the boy's view. It flew so fast that, he barely saw it.
The creature was a creamy white with ragged scales trailing all the way down to to the tip of it's long tail. It was a dragon with large web like wings and claws. The sunken eyes were a deep yellow with piercing pupils. Under them were purple lines running down by it's slit nostrils. The beast had a mop of jet black hair, trailing down the scaly long neck.
Riding it was a man with long blond hair bound by a high ponytail. Half of his face was shrouded in his thick locks. Like the pierced man, he too wore a black robe, patterned with red and white clouds.
"shoot over there, un!" He commanded.
"Don't get ssssoo cocky brat!" Hissed the agitated beast.
"Aww relax Orochimaru. Were making art. And true art is an explosion!" The amber eyes sent daggers towards those of the blond's.
His pupils shrank while he opened his mouth revealing three rows of spiked teeth. The snake like tung flicked as flamed expelled, destroying even more of the already red village.
"HEY! Don't ignore me!" Screeched Naruto.
Once the two akatsuki members had moved, Hinata and the pierce man had disappeared. Confused, the shinobi frantically turned around searching for the girl.
"Hinata! Hinata where are you!?" There was no reply.
The only sounds present were the burning inhabitants and many screams. It was as if there was never a village there to begin with. Flames consumed what little remained...
As fast as they came, the terrorists were soon gone. The boy collapsed onto his grazed knees. His hands trembling at the horrific sight. Konoha would never be the same...
The next day
"Sasuke, take this, you'll need it" said the older version of the Uchiha.
"But Itachi-you sure?"
The boy's brother signed then cracked a small grin, "of corse. This will be more useful to you than me." He said handing over a fine black bow.
A swirl at each end with a spiral handle.
"Have a safe trip, little brother..." The man said pressing two fingers onto Sasuke's forehead.
The young archer began to walk towards the dusty path leaving behind his cottage along with his dear brother.
Still in ruins, Konoha was slowly being restored. It's citizens were all busy clearing derby and rummaging through what little remained. Very few buildings survived last night's events. One of them the blacksmith.
"Oh Sasuke!" Squealed Sakura, lunging for the black haired teen.
"What's got you so depressed. This isn't like you Naruto." He coldly stated, dodging the attack.
Sasuke continued to walk towards the silent blond, who was still staring at the grimy wall. A hand clasped thle shaking shoulder.
"What you scared or something?"
"..."
"Hey loser! I'm talking to you!" Sasuke sputtered, now loosing his temper.
"Just fuck off Sasuke!" Naruto hissed, pushing off the now shocked shinobi.
"Naruto! You better shut your mouth before I come over there and rip it off." Raged the pinkett.
"I don't need to be lectured Sakura!...can we just go already" he winced.
A long silence lingered in the cramped room...it was Sasuke who finally broke the tense atmosphere,"sitting here isn't going to get us anywhere..."
He walked towards the exit of building, the two soon followed.
The trio marched to the what remained of the village's boarders. The sign was hardly intact, most of it was burned. All that remained was "welc o onoha"
"This whole thing is so awkward." Thought Sakura. "What would be a good conversation starter?" The emerald eyes perked up as, the girl opened her mouth, "Oh! Sasuke is that a new bow?"
The cold boy only gave a quick "hm" and carried on walking.
"Dammit. How the hell does Naruto do this. With him all depressed, this trip is going to be so boring...uh just kill me now."
A few hours later...
The now zombie bunch were stumbling around the forrest thanks to days worth of hiking through deep forrest.
"We should probable make camp before nightfall." Sasuke stated. "Sakura, make us a shelter and Naruto start a fire. I'll go find us something to eat."
Agreeing, they all set to work.
Natuto plopped himself on the forrest floor. Sluggishly, he grabbed some rocks from his rucksack and began to strike them. Sasuke began to head into the now dark woods, he stopped for a moment to observe his so called rival.
"He really needs to get his act together..." the teen thought before disappearing.
The moon was finally awake, gleaming through the treetops. A crackling fire aluminated three miserable faces, Naruto especially. He was deep in thought. Beating himself up for not being able to protect his friend. How was he supposed to become hokage if he couldn't even protect one person?
Somewhere far away...
The air was thin...it was hard to breath, and her neck felt so sore. With poor vision only a few shapes could be made out. Where ever this was, it was dark and lonely. At least that's what she thought.
"Finally awake I see. About fucking time!" enthused an exited voice.
After the blurriness had faded, Hinata was faced by a man with grey slick back hair and a deep violet stare. He looked in his late 20s. Around the man's neck was a necklace holding a circle and a triangle pendant. He wore a black cloak, raggedly opened, exposing his toned chest.
"W...where am I?..." She whimpered.
A grin crept up the tall man's perfect face. "Where are my manors? I'm Hidan and welcome to hell!"
Hinata's gaze drifted to the right side of his cloak. It was there she saw it, the all too familiar symbol. The Akatsuki cloud.
Panic set in as memories of yesterday began to flood into the girl's mind. Her first instinct was to move as far away from her kidnapper as possible. However, she soon learned that escape was not an option. The timid girl could only walk a few steps before being yanked back. Her hands were bound by two thick chains connected to the high ceiling.
She pulled as hard as she could but they just wouldn't budge.
"That won't do ya any good. You're just waiting your energy." He stated.
After a five minute struggle the blue haired girl finally gave in. She simply let her dead arms hang along with her defeated face.
A tear soon trickled down her left cheek and hit the cold rocky floor. The Akatsuki member took a step closer, closing the gap between the two. He raised his hand, which caressed her cheek bringing both eyes into a deadly lock.
"Tell me...are you a virg-"
"Yo Hidan!" Yelled a distant voice."leader wants to speak with you, un."
"For fuck sake!" her cursed.
The grey haired man released his grip and stormed out of the room leaving a trembling Hinata. "I've got to get out of here..."
Back at the camp
Only a feint glow escaped the now dying fire. Sakura sat there poking the it with a long stick. Sasuke was asleep while Naruto was sitting with his legs hanging off the nearby cliff. He had been staring at the star filled sky for most of the evening..."P-SP-SPOOOoooooo..." Finally, the pile of ash had given up, leaving the camp in utter darkness.
Sakura got up to and headed towards the forrest in search of fire wood. She stumbled a bit holding her hands out for support.
"Maybe I should have left earlier, urgh! It's too dark..." She mumbled to herself.
"Ahhhhh!" Immediately, Naruto snapped out of his daze, and rushed towards the now awake Sasuke.
"Where's Sakura!"
The half asleep Sasuke, groaned then slowly replied, "she went to get some more wood..."
The blond rushed to his sleeping bag, grabbing both sword and shield.
"And you didn't stop her!?" Sasuke only shrugged then averted his gaze.
"Damm it Sasuke!" He cursed sprinting towards the direction of the scream.
Naruto darted along the dimly lit forrest, eyes frantically searching for the missing shinobi. "THOMP!" A twisted root snagged his ankle, sending the teen tumbling down the steep hill.
With a loud thud, the ball like boy had finally stopped crashing into the a familiar pink.
"Sakura! Are you ok? Why did you scream earl-" he was soon cut off by a concern Sakura.
Pushing her finger to her lips, she signalled for him to be silent.
Naruto soon understood why. Surrounding the pair, was a pack of mouth foaming wolves. There were 20 in total, all with white glowing eyes and black coats. They were all growling, eyeing up their soon to be meal.
The pack then opened revealing the largest and most fearsome wolf. The one eyed leader began to draw closer. Out of panic, Naruto readied both his sword and shield.
"Those won't help you here human." She hissed.
After nodding at her piers, the others soon followed. The gap between them grew smaller and smaller, until Sakura spoke up.
"H-hey now...can't we just settle this like the decent beings we are?" She stated.
The pack still continued not taking any interest in the words.
Now it was Naruto's turn. " look we don't taste good! I mean Sakura is just fat!"
With those poisonous words sirens began to alarm in the girl's eyes. "Naruto! I swear, if we somehow live through this you are sooooo dead."
"Gulp"
The two could no longer back up. They'd hit a large boulder, meaning any means of escape were now out of the question. "Snap" Naruto's foot had stepped on a near by twig. And with that, all 20 hungry wolves launched themselves towards their helpless prey.
"AMETARASU!"
Sasuke was in front of both shinobi, eyes burning crimson. A swarm of black flames ignited the forrest floor, capturing a few unlucky dogs in its obsidian grasp. Survivors darted into the darkness and out of sight. Their saviour once again widened his eyes causing the flames to extinguish.
"Couldn't even handle a couple of mutts. You really are a loser." He scowled.
Before Naruto could fight back, Sakura pounced onto Sasuke hugging his arm. "Oh Sasuke! You really are an Uchiha. Thank you sooo...muh.."
The girl's grip loosened sending her plummeting to the cold floor. "Sakura!" Yelled the now kneeling Nauto. He then noticed a bite mark on her thigh.
Sasuke then joined the boy's level and examined the feinted teen.
"This isn't good...come on we need to get going." He then lifted Sakura up carrying her bridal style.
"W-what are you doing?..."
Sasuke sent his comrade a cold glair before replying, " what does it look like idiot."
The two began to walk before the blond added, "well how come you get to hold her?"
Once again Sasuke let out a feint sigh and said, "isn't It obvious you're not strong enough to protect anyone. If you weren't so weak, Hinata wouldn't have been kidnapped and Sakura wouldn't be injured."
Naruto suddenly raised his fist, but soon dropped it. Deep down he know Sasuke was right...if he'd been as strong as his rival then the village could have been saved and Hinata would still be-No. If Naruto wants to get stronger then he has to stop dwelling on the past and focus of saving his friend.
They continued to walk through the deep woods before the silence was broken.
"So...when will we be at the hideout?" The youngest of the group questioned.
"Naruto...do you really think the enemy would give us their address?" Sasuke argued.
"Uhhh..."
"You really are an idiot."
"Hey!...well if we don't know then, where exactly are we going?"
There was a brief pause before an answer was given, "there's a wizard who lives somewhere in these woods. He can heal Sakura and it's likely he'll have information on the Akatsuki's where abouts."
"A wizard huh?" The blond muttered to himself.
Thanks for reading. I'm gonna try spread this out over around 7 chapters. What did you think, please give some feedback. Any and all is welcome. Who is this wizards you ask? Well you'll just have to wait and see.
