Static wails broke the silence of night, white noise that startled the sleeping birds overhead, the unnatural scream causing them to flee from their lofty perch. The comforts of the sky would not replace their fear and the flock set off at random to escape the disturbance causing a stir in the forest below.
"Damn, how do I change the channel on this thing?"
A disgruntled ninja sat cross legged in the crook of an aged oak, hidden by the summer foliage and rapidly growing darkness, though camouflaging with the wooded surroundings she could not seem to keep her mouth from running.
"Naruto, come in Naruto, this is Sakura, I just received a message from the Hokage, over."
A few minutes dragged into an hour before she got a response, a grunt from the other end of the line and the sound of rushing wind, since there was no breeze she assumed it to be running. A flash of cold panic ran up her spine, gooseflesh crawling along the back of her arms. Had her last transmission blown her friend's cover?
"Sakura, are you there? This is Naruto, over."
Thank Kami; she let a breath Escape before telling her teammate her location.
"I'm at the meeting point, I received news from the Hokage, you had better hurry."
"I'll be there in a minute, believe it!"
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"Any particular reason you cut my patrol short?"
Garnet eyes swept over the small, one-room shack, careful to make eye contact with each subordinate before finally resting his gaze on the rapidly dying fire, the last embers burning with the same intensity as his molten gaze. Recently he had received a message via walkie-talkie to return to the temporary hideout, for the sake of all the people here he hoped it was for a good reason.
"W-well Sasuke I had been sensing a chakra for awhile now," Karin swallowed the nausea in the back of her throat before continuing," it's not that strong so I didn't think we would have to worry but…"
The kunoichi trailed off, the heat of Sasuke's glare choking her of her words, either way she realized she was in trouble.
"It got stronger. Much more stronger. Whoever it was came close to our camp before heading in a different direction, south I think. Juugo said that a flock of birds were startled so I thought… it might be something to worry about."
Silence engulfed the camp, tension ripping through the four, who for a while did nothing but stare at the ashes, Sasuke was to sickened to make eye contact, Karin and the rest of team Hebi to afraid.
"Then I will go south."
The doorway now lay empty, the man that once filled it gone to search for the cause of the disturbance.
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A verdant gaze observed nearby wildlife, scoping the dips and curves of a small stream and picking out the violet hint of the sky, night was quickly changing into dawn.
"Then there isn't much time," the shadowed form whispered.
Shrubs clumped at the base of a large oak began to shiver, something or more likely someone, was approaching the clearing.
From the aerial view the ninja could make out a brightly clad boy emerging from the bush's protection, blonde hair tussled slightly from what seemed to be a lengthy jog, collapsing onto the sand bar a few feet away.
The sound of scraping metal brought him to his senses, azure orbs tracing the outline of the forest, too late.
Seconds later a cloud of senbon were piercing the earth but in the boys place there was not but a cloud of smoke.
"Damn, a shadow clone.
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"You did what?"
Naruto was currently nursing a wound over his head, a large purpling welt formed just above his hairline. A look of complete shame and confusion hidden beneath his golden bangs, an excuse on the tip of his tongue.
"I thought, you know, I could cover more ground using shadow clones. I didn't think anyone would spot them so quickly."
Sakura snorted and placed a palm to the kyuubi's forehead, healing the slight bruise without a second glance.
Her teammate had returned with the news of a camp just a mile from their meeting point, three ninja who hadn't seemed hostile until a closer look. It seemed one was a skilled swordsman who had managed to get his hands on Momochi Zabuza's sword, to the two members of team seven it seemed the weapon had come back to haunt them. The others were hardly visible, concealed by the fading night; all he was able to recall was a tall bulky man and a small hot-tempered woman. This was not what worried the kunoichi most though, it seemed one of his shadow clones had been ambushed, he never saw the attacker up close. A feeling in the pit of her stomach told her it was the men they had spotted in the fields a day ago, had they been followed?
"Neh, Sakura, you told me there was a message from the Hokage?"
The girl nodded, motioning to the walkie-talkie strapped to her mid-thigh.
"It seems we're closing in on Sasuke. Root is causing problems for Tsunade-sensei, the sooner we find him and return to Konoha the better."
Naruto opened his mouth to answer but was cut short suddenly, a scream cutting through the eerie silence.
"Please, don't do it! Spare me Uchiha-sama!"
