Disclaimer: The series "Naruto" and its characters do not belong to me. The series "Space Cases" and its characters do not belong to me.
Ninja of the Stars
leneypoo
"I'm going to get food," Iruka-sensei announced to the five of us.
Naruto must have made a face or done something equally stupid and immature because Iruka turned towards him and scowled. "No, Naruto, I'm going alone. You lost your chance at independence when you decided to break the rules."
The orange boy pouted, crossing his arms as his stomach made this really disgusting sound. I grimaced as Iruka continued. "Remember what happens to shinobi who do not follow orders."
Iruka-sensei was met with silence, and a grumble from Naruto. There was the barest hint of a sigh before he spoke again, "I want you all to stay here. I mean it."
The look he gave us made me gulp and nod. Nervously I glanced at Sasuke-kun. Sasuke-kun didn't look perturbed by Iruka-sensei's scare tactics and stared back with his usual intense eyes. I tried to follow suit, but the prospect of getting more punished freaked me out. We were already failing the Survival Drill and that meant I would have to make it up doubly to save my grade (Well, Academically I was perfect...it was just the practical exams that left a little work. I actually was ranked in the top 5...INO PIG was Number 3 next to Shino and Sasuke, GRR!). I didn't think I could survive from any more punishment. "Do you all understand?"
"Hai, Sensei..." We all chorused.
Satisfied with our response, Iruka-sensei made his way into the forest and was quickly out of sight. Someone made a frustrated grunt, probably Naruto being rude as usual. I hoped that Iruka-sensei would hurry, I was feeling hungry myself. I glanced at Sasuke who was staring into the fire, looking none the worse for wear. I was sure he was hungry. After all, we didn't have lunch because Iruka had made us skip while he led us to this clearing.
I suddenly remembered the toffees that I had in my pack. My mother had packed them 'for a rainy day'. I dug into my pink traveling pack and took out a bag of wrapped toffees. "Um, Sasuke-kun?" I called, scooting closer to him.
Sasuke-kun didn't answer; I guess he must have not heard me. I cleared my throat and held out the bag of toffees. "I-I have some candy, you know, if you're hungry and can't wait for Iruka-sensei to come back," I insisted. "Do you want any?"
"Hn..." Sasuke turned so his back was facing me.
I felt slightly crushed. But then again, this reaction from Sasuke-kun was nothing new. I figured that he was shy and that to admit he was hungry would be showing weakness. If only I could convince Sasuke-kun that he didn't need to prove himself to me--I thought he was perfect. "Forehead," Ino-pig screeched. "Why would Sasuke want that unhealthy, fattening candy? You must not really like him."
Ugh, she was right! That had to be it. Now I was feeling even worse, but I was even more angry at Ino. 'ARGH! That damn BOAR! I'm gonna punch her lights out one day, DAMN STRAIGHT!'
I brought my knees to my chest and rested my head on them. There was a rustling of clothing next to me surprising me. I turned to my right and saw blue eyes looking at me with desperation. "Sakura-chan," Naruto rasped. "I would love some candy! I don't care if it's fattening!"
Then his stomach growled disgustingly again. My mouth dropped in shock, I couldn't believe Naruto's nerve! Said boy had opened his mouth and had his tongue out waiting expectantly. I resisted the urge to rip that tongue out of his big mouth.
I didn't resist the urge to slug him in the face.
"Hell no! You can starve!" I cried. "It's your fault we're here in the first place!"
Naruto lay in a heap a foot away from me, groaning piteously. "B-but Sakura-chan!"
His voice grated on my last set of nerves. For the sake of my sanity, and I guess he should be grateful because I would have hit him again, I turned away from the blond clown.
For the next few minutes, no one else spoke. It was silent except for the crackling of the fire, Naruto's stomach that was as loud as the blond himself, and Kiba who was snoring loudly. I was watching Sasuke, and Ino who was doing a bad job of being stealthy as she try to inch closer to Sasuke-kun. I knew what she was up to. She would get close enough and then place an arm over his shoulder and...
"That's it!" Naruto yelled, snapping me out of my thoughts. "If Iruka-sensei doesn't want to train us to survive, then I'm going to do it myself."
I glanced at him. He was standing up, his arms crossed, his eyes squinted fox-like, and his cheeks puffed out making him look like the spoiled brat he was. "Who's with me!"
Kiba must have woken up with Naruto's loud ranting because he leaped up and joined Naruto. "Yahoo!" he whooped. "I'm bored as hell here!"
I stared at both of them, my mind going through an internal debate. On one hand, it was pretty boring and I was never one to turn down an opportunity for independent study. 'It sounds kinda cool!'
However, Iruka-sensei's stare popped back into my head, setting me straight. I pushed aside my inner delinquent and scowled. "Naruto! Haven't you gotten in enough trouble!"
Naruto scratched the back of his head and grinned. "Aww...Sakura-chan, you're no fun!"
"NA-RU-TO!" I couldn't believe him. Even if he was dead last in the ranking, didn't he care about his grades? Even if he didn't have any parents to show his report cards to, didn't he have some semblance of pride?
"Hey asshole, are you coming?" Naruto had turned turned to Sasuke.
Sasuke-kun turned his head towards Naruto and then turned away. Kiba joined in. "I guess the number one student is also the number one brownnoser!"
Naruto and Kiba laughed, making Sasuke twitch and I got a sense of deja vu. This was just a repeat of how we all got in trouble last time. I opened my mouth to yell at them but Naruto cut in before I could make a sound. "Yeah, when we come back, I'll be strong enough to kick his ass!"
Ino spoke up. "Sasuke-kun isn't going to be goaded into--"
"No you won't," Sasuke said standing up, and walking over to the two idiots. "You'll always be dead last."
Ino shot up right after Sasuke-kun much to my horror. "Sasuke-kun! You're not going to leave me behind!""
I was dumbfounded as I watched the four retrieve their packs from the pile not too far away from the fire. I closed my jaw which was on the floor and growled. "Ino-pig! You are not going to have Sasuke all to yourself!" I hissed getting up and grabbing my pack.
I ran after the four before they disappeared into the forest.
"So..." Kiba cut through the forest-in-the-nighttime ambiance, "any idea of where we're heading?"
Naruto who had taken the lead, map in hand, turned around, grinning wildly and scratching his head. "Uh...er! Yeah, of course!"
He whirled back around and dashed ahead in an increased speed. Ino turned to me and declared flatly. "He has no idea where he's going."
I sighed in frustration. Why did this always happen?
We continued to follow the path Naruto set, while being accompanied by Naruto's goading for us to hurry up. The evening finally descended into darkness and the the forest was humming with a quiet buzz of animals and insects. "Hey guys, we don't have all day, ah, night and I'm--ulp!"
The four of us exchanged glances and then we all ran towards the sound of Naruto's voice. After a minute of running, the forest started to thin and then eventually dissolved into a grassy hill, sloping downward. Just ahead, I could see a dark shadow. "Hey dobe!" Kiba yelled, "What are you doing?"
The shadow moved, and I took out a flashlight and shined the beam of light in Naruto's face making him squint. "Hey guys! You'll never guess what I've just found!"
His grin was wild and feral looking and his blue eyes had a mischievous glint in them. Together with the dramatic lighting the flashlight cast on him, I thought Naruto looked slightly unnerving and scary. "Just spit it out already!" Kiba growled.
"Ne, ne, look!" Naruto turned around and pointed straight ahead.
With the light emanating from the flashlight, the grass can be seen. It continued for a couple of feet before abruptly cutting off into darkness. I took a step forward sticking my flashlight arm forward. The darkness continued, swallowing up the meager beam of light. "This is pretty big," Ino said and I saw her lean gratuitously over Sasuke-kun's shoulder!
"I wonder how far it goes down?" I asked, taking another step forward.
"Maybe Naruto can jump down and see?" Kiba laughed before being cut off by Naruto swinging at him.
Sasuke shook of Ino and walked towards the edge. Standing a foot from the edge, he dug into his pack and took out a kunai and ninja wire. He tied the wire through the loop of the handle and knotted it. Then he threw the kunai down into the darkness, gripping the ninja wire tight. Slowly he released more wire. The rest watched the ninja wire grow smaller and smaller. Just as it was halfway through, Sasuke's hand jerked. "I hit something." he announced. "Five hundred feet?"
Sasuke turned back to the rest of us. Naruto looked as if his birthday had come early. "Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?"
Naruto was pretty predictable, and as usual I had to put a stop to it. "Yes, and I think it's a bad idea," I said, "We should really be getting back...what if Iruka comes back?"
Naruto pouted. "All the better to see what's down there before we lose our chance!" Kiba cut in, excited.
Sasuke was already tying a knot onto another kunai. With a loud plunk, the kunai lodged itself onto a nearby rock cropping. Kiba leapt onto the rock and slid out of view. "Yahoo!" his voice echoed as he flew downwards.
The grin on Naruto's face threatened to split his face in half. "Hey, wait for me!" he yelled, before following suit.
Sasuke then followed with a trademark "Hn," leaving Sakura and Ino to watch hesitantly down there. Sakura turned her head so she was facing the ending of the forest. 'Iruka-sensei can take care of himself! Let's go!' I tried to convince myself.
I started to take a step on impulse and then shook myself out of it. I couldn't go through with this. It was rule thirty eight in the Shinobi Handbook to follow orders from all superiors. How was I going to be a successful ninja if I broke the rules? How was I going to keep up with Sasuke if I was booted out of the academy for this. 'Cha! Sasuke is ALREADY down there! Leaving you behind!' A loud voice in my head rebutted.
Well, I guess that was true. I took a step forward and grabbed onto the wire. Ninja wire was thin and almost invisible in most cases, but it was sturdy enough to bear a ninja five times my weight. "Y-you're not really going to go down there Forehead?" Ino asked with widened eyes.
"Hey," We heard Kiba's voice echo distantly. "I landed on something weird!"
A few seconds later we heard Naruto's mellifluous tones yell back up them. "Itai! What the hell?"
"Shut up dumbass...this looks like it's metal!" That was Sasuke.
My eyebrows flew up my forehead. "Hey Haruno, Yamanaka...are you guys coming or not!" Kiba yelled.
I jumped off and holding the ninja wire tightly, began to lower myself down. "Coming!"
End of Chapter 2
