Gaara cursed silently. Fuck fuck fuck fuck... they had almost caught him. He was just finishing when the team of 6 (Ok, sue me: I don't know how many ANBU are in a team) reached the abandoned tunnel they had landed in, and he had to cast an exceedingly fast Genjutsu to stop them seeing him, plus make it look like the tracks were an hour or so old.
He watched the team separate to different sides and corners of the tunnel, each looking for signs of the group. One of them realized the area near him was not being covered, and, like a reall ninja, trotted over to crouch on the ground.
His breath caught in his throat. Neji Hyuuga was crouching less than a foot away from him! Neji Hyuuga!!! His genjutsued eyes widened a fraction. That... Locket... It was... "Hyuuga!" Both males wrenched their eyes from the treasured jewelry item to land on the Uchiha. Despite his indifferent mask, his obsidan orbs (Such a cleche... Geez) were swirling pits of hurt and depression. Naruto... they seemed to say. Naruto... I came back. Now you come to me.
"Hyuuga, what are you looking at?!" Gaara was pulled from his evaluation of Sasuke's depressed eyes at his sharp words. Gaara did not miss the Hyuuga's slight pause,nor the disappearance of the locket into his sleeve. "Saw some tracks," Neji answered shortly, settling his beautiful bird mask into a better position. "At least, I thought I did."
"Well, we can't waste time." The crow's voice was cold toward the other bird-masked ANBU. "We have to find them. Now."
Holy shit! This was to close. The others would be slightly slower so he could catch up. And he couldn't move because Genjutsu was not his strong point, and it would slip. And they'd be going extra-fast to catch up, thinking the others had three and a half hours on them, when they actually had less than one, about forty-five minutes. They'd be caught for sure! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! He was just about to say 'fuck' about one, two hundred times more when he realized something; they were running on the ceiling. Because of gravity, no impression would mar the ground and no rocks would shift! A-huh-hah, A huh-hah, it's only six months, three weeks and five days till his birthday, A huh-ha-
Cutting off his moment of out-of-character-ness, Gaara (im)patiently waited for the ANBU to leave (in the complete wrong direction), before following his friends though the tricky warren that is Hokage Mountain.
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"Geez, where the hell is Gaara? He should be here by now!" Naruto paced the small, rocky cave which was more like a hidden hole in the wall. Every now and again he would glance at the entrance, a pile of rocks disguising them from view, as if expecting Gaara to enter. When he didn't, he would continue to pace. After a while, his eye had started twitching, too.
After about ten minutes of slow-time traveling, they had (well, more like Haku had) decided it would be more reasonable to go normal-speed, wait for him here, in this little rock shelter, and, when he came, continue at high-speed.
Yuki had mysteriously found her way to a small ledge at the back of the cave. She was swinging her legs and intent on her violin. When she finally decided it was safe, she gave a slight smile before looking up. Her eyes half-focused on Haku, and her head tilted.
"I think you owe us an explanation," she said in her mild, drifty voice. Asserting no authority in a way that said you have to answer her even if your life depended on it. Fortunately for Haku, who was trying and failing at forcing himself to not answer, Gaara chose that moment to arrive.
"Gaara! Finally! Took you long enough-" He stopped at the sight of Gaaras eyes. It was as if his soul felt light as a feather, but then realized 1000-pound weights held it down. They, of course, had never seen Neji at the scene, nor knew about the two boys "friendship".
He was saved from answering when (lol I just said this except in different wording) Riku woke up, dizzy and confused.
"Holy shit my head hurts." An exceedingly dizzy Riku sat on the floor of the cave. She had been "accidentally" knocked out by Haku's elbow as he ran next to her and Naruto (the actual running one being Naruto) while they were trying to escape because she was screaming loudly and crying. Yuki, of course, just went along with the super-speed and upside-down-ness, knowing some form of danger was behind them and this was some means of escape. It all worked for her.
At the sight of her consciousness, Naruto stood up and clapped his hands together.
"Alright, peoples! We needa getta move on!" He turned to Gaara and Haku now, head tilted slightly. "So, we going 'there'?" Haku shrugged. "If by there you mean the Forest, then let's."
"Geez, where the hell is Gaara? He should be here by now!" Naruto paced the small, rocky cave which was more like a hidden hole in the wall. Every now and again he would glance at the entrance, a pile of rocks disguising them from view, as if expecting Gaara to enter. When he didn't, he would continue to pace. After a while, his eye had started twitching, too.
After about ten minutes of slow-time traveling, they had (well, more like Haku had) decided it would be more reasonable to go normal-speed, wait for him here, in this little rock shelter, and, when he came, continue at high-speed.
Yuki had mysteriously found her way to a small ledge at the back of the cave. She was swinging her legs and intent on her violin. When she finally decided it was safe, she gave a slight smile before looking up. Her eyes half-focused on Haku, and her head tilted.
"I think you owe us an explanation," she said in her mild, drifty voice. Asserting no authority in a way that said you have to answer her even if your life depended on it. Fortunately for Haku, who was trying and failing at forcing himself to not answer, Gaara chose that moment to arrive.
"Gaara! Finally! Took you long enough-" He stopped at the sight of Gaaras eyes. It was as if his soul felt light as a feather, but then realized 1000-pound weights held it down. They, of course, had never seen Neji at the scene, nor knew about the two boys "friendship".
He was saved from answering when (lol I just said this except in different wording) Riku woke up, dizzy and confused.
"Holy shit my head hurts." An exceedingly dizzy Riku sat on the floor of the cave. She had been "accidentally" knocked out by Haku's elbow as he ran next to her and Naruto (the actual running one being Naruto) while they were trying to escape because she was screaming loudly and crying. Yuki, of course, just went along with the super-speed and upside-down-ness, knowing some form of danger was behind them and this was some means of escape. It all worked for her.
At the sight of her consciousness, Naruto stood up and clapped his hands together.
"Alright, peoples! We needa getta move on!" He turned to Gaara and Haku now, head tilted slightly. "So, we going 'there'?" Haku shrugged. "If by there you mean the Forest, then let's."
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Half an hour later, the five found themselves standing outside a high, metal and familiar (to some, at least) gate, a large sign hanging off it, in red kanji, Gate 23. Visible through 200-foot-tall trees was a tall tower, about ten levels or more.
Haku inhaled and exhaled, happy with the current situation- or at least, this part of it.
"The Forest of Death," Naruto breathed. Slowly, Gaara walked over to the gate and entwined pale hands in it. The Forest was their Place; It was their fortress, their retreat. The one thring they had missed when they left. It was home, or as close as anything could get.
Yep, it certainly had been missed.
It seemed that they were missed, too; from the trees came the tell-tale signs of creatures present. The leaves shifted, they heard small squeaks. And suddenly, a small group of animals arrived.
The snout of a dog was pushed through the bushes. Then, the entire and noticeably big dog protruded (I think this is the right word...). On his back was a large eagle, more than twice the size of a normal eagle. A family of rats scuttled around her feet. After the dog came a deer, followed closely by a stag and a multitude of other animals.
Immediately Yuki reached out a hand and started to stroke the nose of a tall wolf-cross-dog. A pigeon fluttered onto her shoulder and fiddled with her hair. Naruto threw his arms around the little deer-child, and the family of mice surrounded him. A sudden fluttering alerted them of the presence of many birds that all found some perch on Haku's body, hanging from clothing, the ribbon he used for his hair, the hair itself. One bird used its beak to hook on, surprising Haku and causing him to throw Riku into the air (she had feinted again; it was like she was trying to beat Hinata). The girl, somehow still unconscious, flew into the air and got hooked onto one of the poles that held up the gate.
"Interesting," remarked Yuki and everyone turned to stare. "Usually its Naru-chan who does stupid stuff like that."