A/N - Hey, by recent request, and mutal interest, I wandered myself to this story for a chapter update.

It's been two years, so compared to the first two chapters and this one I hope you can see the difference and progression in my writing ;)

Though this was never hyped up, possibly because I only put up two chapters, maybe we can start somethings here.

I've always been in love with the idea but had my eyes set on the drama I could set on fire with my other stories.

So, if you want a nice little breather from all that, I think this is a good place to start.

Hope ya enjoy it.

DISCLAIMER - I do not own Naruto


My eyes open, on it's own every morning, with the sun. Warwick had been trained to wake me up at first light if I somehow miss it from a more exhausting day before. But today, my eyes cracked open just as the birds started to chirp, and the comfort I felt during my sleep quickly slammed within the threshold of reality.

My knees were swollen, almost to the point where I was centimeters away from biting my lip off as I attempted to sit up. Warwick, who had been sleeping at the entrance of our tent, was no within sight; but just seconds after I had shifted he was poking his head at me and whining.

I gave him a frown, wondering what had him on edge, but the more I comprehended what was around me, the more I slowed my breathing into shallow soft breaths while straining my ears to listen around us. From distance, I could only hear so much, I wasn't a canine. But through clues around us, I realized Wick had a reason to be uneasy.

Twigs cracked and bushes rustled in a frantic sort of way that dashed across us. It was an animal for sure, but it wasn't scouting us it was running away. By the speed, I could only assume it was a fox, but the heaviness of each step left more than a few twigs broken. If I was right, it was a deer.

Swallowing at my dry throat, I turned to Ino who was still laying beside me sleeping in a small curled ball. She was cold, I could tell but was still caught on the fact that she was here. It almost felt like a dream finding her yesterday, so surreal that if she had left I might have believed it was. But I had no time to stare in wonder.

"Ino," I whispered, touching her arm softly so she wouldn't alarm everything around her. My heart hammered as she stirred, and when her eyes touched mine, I brought my finger to lips to signal her to be quiet.

The simple gesture had her stiffening and nodding in confirmation that she understood. All too quickly, just like me, she was becoming aware of her surroundings. There wasn't much to be aware of now, but you could hear her attempting to listen what was off.

Mumbling my lips with no sound coming out, I gestured with my hands and eyes that I would be checking outside. Then staring intently at her, I told her to get dressed. Fast.

She nodded again, even more nervous than before. Any minute now, she might full-fledge panic. But if me and Warwick were right, than we had more than enough time to safely get out of here.

Spending time in this world, on such a primal level, you began to react and in tune yourself with what was around you. Deer running, bushes rustling, twigs cracking, and birds suddenly taking flight meant something deeper on a bigger scale. It was hard to differentiate between the possibilities, there could have been a predator out there chasing the deer; and while Warwick looked mighty like a wolf, the actual ones were less than friendly. Or the deer could have just been simply running.

But the primal level came with instincts, and mine were telling me we had to go. Now.

My knees were killing me, literally. The time we had to get camp packed up and moving was precious, and it was being spent with me hardly being able to move. But I fought past the pain as I carefully came outside with Warwick, who was standing with his ears perked high in attention and eyes focused on the trees ahead of us. Walking towards him, I asked him quietly, "What's out there, boy?"

He merely turned his head to me and gave a low whine, but his eyes is what made me even more nervous than his straight legged stance. They were begging that we leave. Now.

"I'm on it," I replied, suddenly with much more quickness.

The time that I thought we had to pack up camp slashed itself in half. Now as I was yanking the nails free from the tent and quickly glancing around us preparing for whatever was out there to appear any second. The other half of my brain was reciting each location I had hid our materials at, and a third of that was making a list of all the things that we could leave behind if it came down to it.

Everything was essential to me, but if we had to I would leave it all behind and run for it if it meant survival for all three of us.

Fortunately, Ino came rushing out just a second later. Warwick gave her a whine as she rushed towards me.

"What is it, what's wrong?" She asked in a frantic whisper.

I was currently working on our last nail from the tent as I replied just as rushed, "Something is out there, and it's coming straight towards us. We need to leave. Untie the rope from the tree, kick the pile of wood we used for the fire, and cover the black patch with dirt. After that, grab all your shit and get ready to start running.

She didn't need further instruction, and for the second time since I met her I was glad she could follow simple orders.

The time I spent taking the tent down, folding it as best as I could, and stuffing it within the bag seemed to be flying by yet it all felt like slow motion. I kept telling myself I needed to work faster, Warwick was still whining urgently and getting more frequent with each passing minute. I used that as my timer, knowing we only had a few more left until we would simply have to leave the rest and call it a loss.

But I was now shoving my pants, boots, and shirts on. I took an extra twenty seconds to roll my jacket small enough to attatch on the latches of my bag and a second more to tie my shoes, mentally making a note next time to simply sleep in my clothes. Everything seemed meaningless, but I knew better. The jacket would have me sweating more and we were low on water, and boots needed to be tight for our run or I would break my ankle out here.

Just when I was hauling my bag over my shoulder, Warwick gave a low growl.

Ino had just finished and stopped in her tracks.

It was time.

"Come here, Wick," I ordered urgently.

My heart was hammering out of my chest as he ran towards me, stopping in front of me with antsy legs. Quickly, I took his carrier bag and buckled him in. It helped with the load of carrying all the supplies myself during our wander, but I always kept it off otherwise. The weight and size of it made it bulky, and I knew he would make noise with it on within these woods no matter how hard he would try not to, but it couldn't be helped. This was one of the essentials, I had yet to find another one and it was pure luck to find the carrier bag in the first place. I couldn't leave it.

When he was fastened, I ordered, "Stay next to Ino, don't lose sight of her."

I wasn't worried if he understood, I was worried if I had enough time to give him every order I needed to. Frantically, I took my bag, opened a section, and pulled out a shirt. It was as clean as when it was when we got it from the abounded store, and it was for this sole purpose. I brought it to his nose and let him sniff it. Ears perking, he gave a low bark saying he understood.

That was our destination, and he will be meeting me there. With Ino.

Quickly, he ran to her side and pushed at her legs, forcing her to move. She stumbled forward in confusion, giving me eyes that were wide and fearful, "What do you mean stay next to me? Are you not coming with us."

"I need to trail behind to make sure our tracks are covered. Try not to break anything along the way, avoid twigs and bushes. I'll try to set a false trail from behind," I explained quickly as Warwick continued to push her forward. I could see that she didn't like the idea, but I wasn't about to sit here and argue about it, "Listen, we don't have time. Go with him. He will show you were the store is. I will meet you there, I promise. I'll be an hour behind at minimum, but if it takes me longer than sun down, by sunset the next day you need to move. I don't care where. I'll find you. I promise."

"Tayuya," she said brokenly.

I set my jaw, "Go. Now."

At the order, Warwick nipped at her ankle, causing her to jump. Torn, she began to run with Warwick, quickly disappearing within the trees around us.

With them gone, I turned and took a breath.

My hand, which was reaching for my waist and pulling out a hunting knife from it's sheathe, trembled.

My throat was starting to run dry.

My heart was still hammering out of my chest.

Yet quietly, I moved to unstrap my bag and hid it within the nearest bush. Putting it on in the first place was just for show.

For Ino.

The second that Warwick's whines started to become half a minute apart, I understood that the deer from earlier wasn't simply running, it was escaping. And it wasn't being chased, simply spooked from the presence of something that shouldn't have been in the forest in the first place. And that the presence was coming directly towards us.

No the dear wasn't being hunted, nor was it being tracked.

But we were.

And I needed to dispose of the issue now, because simply running wouldn't stop them. Simply placing false trails wouldn't deter them for long. The only way was to kill them before we ended up eventually getting caught.

So I climbed the nearest tree, ensuring that I was hidden by leaves, and waited.

There was a chance I could have been wrong.

There was a chance that nothing would come within the next hour and I was safe to simply start following Ino and Warwick.

But there was the chance that I wasn't.

So one hour. That's how long I would wait to ensure our safety. And I hoped beyond reason that one hour would pass without that presence in the forest making itself known.

But all of a few minutes later, two men came creeping within what had just been our camp...

X

My mind was blank.

My breathing was heavy and short as my legs moved mechanically.

My knees were sore as I ran.

And my hands were covered in blood.

For the second time, I stopped by a near tree, clenching at it's trunk as I forced the vile back down my throat. I felt cold, my skin clammy, I almost shivered in the heat within the rays of the burning sun, but I refused to throw up.

I refused to lose the meal I had last night that would be the only fuel for my jog to the abounded store.

But again I heaved, and again I swallowed. Shivering. Clenching the trunk.

The men that had wandered into our camp were the same from yesterday. And now they, while before I had barely remembered their faces, were branded into my mind as my hands shook.

"I told you I saw someone in that house... They were here. Did a piss poor job trying to cover up their little hide out."

"Shut up, they might be near by."

"No, they ran. You can see it, can't ya Ray? They ran right down that way. They won't get far. They were just fucking here. The dirt hasn't even settled yet."

"We just had orders to check out if they were near by, Stan doesn't give a fuck as long as they keep away from our territory."

"What makes you think they won't be coming back, taking our food from our camp? Nah, we're going to chase them down and come back with their heads. Put them with the rest so these little rats would stop fucking rustling near our shit."

My mind went blank again, and unsteadily I looked at my dried caked blood hands.

Swallowing again I continued to run, stumbling forward so I can catch up to Ino and Warwick.

The entire time repeating to myself that what I had did was necessary for our survival.

X

When I entered the store, I came through the broken glass window from the far right near noon. I was still shaking, but this time from fatigue and hunger. My vision was filled with white spots and even as it adjusted to the darkness within the store the spots were still there.

Instead of finding Ino and Warwick like I wanted to, I went to the nearest rack of clothes and attempted for yet another time to clean the red stain on my hands. Several times during my run, as I was taking a break, I tried everything to get rid of it with sand, dirt, and leaves. One was clear of the blood, but nothing had worked on the other. At this point the skin at my knuckles burned from being scrapped so often. Still I tried.

Because the longer it stayed there, the longer I would have to keep in memory of what I had done.

The men were seconds into following the trail Ino and Warwick left when I quietly climbed down from the tree. The shorter one, with freckled gray and black hair and yellow teeth, was the one I attacked first by slitting his throat, only because it was the easiest to reach. The other, I had stabbed between the ribs before fighting for my life and winning with a very hard kick in the groin and a branch finally knocking him out.

The second man was harder to kill, simply because as he laid there limp- to ensure he wouldn't revive beyond all reason- I yanked the knife from his rib and also slit his throat.

Shivering at the memory, I continued to grind my hand into the shirt on the rack with no avail.

Then I heard it, the quick clicking claws on the wooden floor coming towards me, and instantly I knew it was Warwick.

"Hey boy," I said, my voice hoarse as he rushed and jumped up to my shoulders as I bent down. His sandpaper tongue licked at my bloodied nose, which I had gotten the from the heat alone outside, and my bruised cheek, which caused me to wince. "Yeah, I missed you too."

Seconds later, Ino had approached. Her hands were wrapped around herself as she stood there with a new thin sweater. Her emotions were mixed, eyes watching me as Warwick wouldn't calm his assault. Then, just as he turned his attention to my stained hand, so did she.

Her eyes flicked towards them, and I saw another crease of worry form within her face. Along with terror.

Quickly standing and placing my hand out of view, I asked, "Are you alright?"

It took her a moment to nod before asking, "Are you?"

"Hungry," I replied, light headed from just standing, "And thirsty, but I'm fine."

"Did... did you have a fight with someone along the way?" She asked uneasily, her eyes wandering my cheek and busted lip.

My eyes wandered away as I shook my head, "No. Just hit a branch when I was trailing you guys. Woods were seriously fucking me up out there."

She didn't say anything. Maybe because she didn't believe my lie, but as long as I didn't have to explain what really happened I would pretend she did. Instead, I veered our conversation onto other important matters, "Did you grab some new clothes? Shoes? Anything else you need."

"Yeah," she answered quietly, looking around the place, "I'm surprised this isn't picked off."

"People need food, not clothes," I commented, moving towards her, "No one bothered you on the way though, right? You didn't see anything out there, around you, haven't heard anything around town."

Shaking her head, she mumbled, "No everything was clear."

I swallowed my relief. The reason I ran as hard as I did was because of my nervousness of whether they were still being followed. I thanked god they weren't. Still, to be sure after I eat, I'd be scoping out the area myself. Nodding, I asked, "So where did you set up shop?"

"Um, in the mangers office. Figured it was the easiest to hide in there."

Nodding again, I mumbled, "Show me where it's at before I die from exhaustion."

X

After eating and making my rounds while being comfortable that we were in fact alone, I sent Warwick to patrol as I sat with Ino in the office. We were both sitting against the wall on the floor as I looked over the map she had handed to me half an hour ago. The thin blue green and red lines were giving me a headache as I stared at the worn paper, but I struggled forward with my eyebrows low with concentration. I hadn't read one in so long, it was hard to find where we were at first. But after a moment of searching my memory and finding familiar names, I managed to pinpoint vaguely our area.

The entire time, Ino sat quietly beside me. For some reason, after last night, the distance she decided to take her when sitting was noticeable. Though we were maybe a foot apart, I expected her to sit closer for... whatever reason. But I pushed it aside as I worked quietly, deeming it unimportant beside the task at hand.

Managing to find a couple of pens from the mostly empty drawers, I began to circle locations that I had been where I was sure I had seen no signs of anyone being. In my mind, those were the areas we would search last. Instead, there were many towns I hadn't even realized were around and I was slightly excited to start there. Selfish as it was, because in the end I was working towards helping Ino find whoever she was searching for, I couldn't help but almost water at the mouth of the food we could possibly find. If I hadn't found these towns yet, I could only hope that no one else had either.

Eventually, my mouth watering thoughts were interrupted.

"Hey, Tayuya," she muttered out to me.

I paused my search and looked up at her, "What's up?"

"Did you cut your hand or something?" She asked quietly, her eyes focused on my left hand that was faded with red.

I swallowed and looked back at the map, "No."

"Then... what happened?"

And she didn't have to explain, we both knew what she was speaking of. Heart starting to pick up speed, I mumbled, "I found some berries while I was trailing you guys. I carried them in my hand while I ran, but I lot of them busted. Didn't realize they would stain so badly."

"Oh..."

Ignoring her soft, almost disappointed reply, I continued to focus on the map.

She was hurt.

Of course she was hurt.

We just met each other, and I was establishing the fact that from here on out I would be lying directly to her face. We both knew what happened, her vaguely and me every detail, but I was scared. If I told her exactly what happened, if I explained that just a couple of hours ago I had killed two people simply because they could have been a threat, I felt like she would run away from me.

And, even though we had just met yesterday, I couldn't stand the thought.

So. As long as she didn't run, I would lie as much as I needed to.

To keep her safe.

To keep her out of sight of all the things that had to be done in this world to survive.

To ensure she found whoever she was looking for.

But I couldn't let her reply go unnoticed, because even the sound of it clenched my heart. I scooted towards her until I shoulders pressed together and gave her the best smile I could muster, "Look, there are a couple places I didn't even know where around here. We could start there, and fan out. The highway looks like it's just a few miles away from here too. It's mostly side roads until we get there, but once we hit the state highway, we can walk ourselves to the national one. It's... going to take awhile. But. We got ourselves some leads."

Her eyes slipped across the map with my various circles and blackened lines as she mumbled, "That looks like a lot of walking."

I grinned, "Yes, it will be, but don't worry. We just have to reach one part of the highway and we'll have some transportation. Cars around here already have been picked off of there batteries and whatever else, but I bet you the ones we find out there are still in tack we just have to give them some love. Along the way, hopefully we find some tools so I can fix it up."

She blinked before looking up at me, "You know how to drive?"

I smiled, "Yeah, don't you?"

Her frown pulled as she looked away while mumbling, "I don't know..."

Heart dropping, I realized my mistake. Scolding myself, I quickly attempted to back track. Shifting, I grabbed her chin carefully forced her to look at me, giving her a reassuring smile. Quietly, I promised, "Don't worry, we'll figure all of this out. Memories and all. Usually it comes back doing the things you aren't sure of." Pausing, I gave her a grin, "I bet anything you're one of those crazy ass drivers that give people heart attacks."

And just like that, there was a smile at her lips as she snorted, "No I'm not."

"Bet," I simply replied with a laugh of my own as I turned back towards the map, "I can see it. Blondes always drive crazy."

I caught her rolling her eyes, but I simply smiled on. Happy that I managed to cheer her up before focusing back on the map.

Shoulder to shoulder with her.

X

That night we stayed within the office and slept there once darkness fell. We closed the door, locked it the best we could with rope and dragging a desk in front of it, and with Warwick at the door. He had fallen sound asleep instantly after his meal, tuckered out from running with the carrier bag I'm sure. Leaving me and Ino to set up our makeshift bed.

The rolling chairs that had three missing wheels made for a nice spot after rigging the back of it to go down further than it's limit and kicking your feet back on the nearest desk. The other chairs were beyond repair, but with my knife I managed to cut out the cushion and was happy to see it was perfect for a pillow.

Ino had offered to sleep on the floor so I could take the chair, but I refused. She attempted to argue, but I explained my knees, which were still swollen and burning like all hell, wouldn't last the night being propped up like that. She didn't argue much after that, but I could see she wanted to.

So instead, with my some clothes from the store I spread them across the floor and managed to make it comfortable enough to sleep in. Even though I would prefer a bed of some sort, I had to admit it was the more cozy than most of the spots I had slept in the past.

As the we finally settled, Ino on her chair with a jacket over her and me in my bundle of clothes, silence fell.

And as it stretched, with me close to falling asleep, I was stirred awake as she asked quietly, "Can I sleep down there with you?"

I shifted with a glance to her, but she was facing away with her face hidden from line of sight. Smiling slightly, I mumbled in reply, "If you want."

Seconds later she was within the pile of clothes with me.

Back pressed against mine.

And an arm wrapped around her waist as I held her close. Thankful that she managed to ask what I didn't have the courage to.


There ya go. So far, so good.

I had some plans in the past about this story that I remember, so I might just branch off of that.

As the story goes on I'm sure a lot more will be happening. But as always, feel like this is a progressive type thing and it will take awhile til it gets to the turmoil.

But, if you're willing to stick with it, read review and tell me what ya think. You're enthusiasm is my motivation. All it took was one PM, and I was updating a couple of hours later.

See you little ones.

Shycadet loves, out.