A/N: You hate me blah blah I'm sorry blah BLAH! I get it! It's been more then a year and I feel like a horrible person. I've had this chapter ready since last year in September WHY I DIDN'T PUT IT UP? I don't even know...I guess I was hopein I would come up with somethin better? ANYWAYZZZ...
***VERY IMPORTANT!***
For my old readers (thanx for stickin with me) I have made changes to previous chapters ESPECIALLY CHAPTER 3! IF YOU DON'T REREAD YOU'RE GONNA BE CONFUSED!
so...if I get dumb questions it's either 'cause
1) You didn't reread previous chapters
2) OR if you're a new reader you and skipped ahead and read this chapter first...and to this I must say...WHY BOTHER?
I hope that as a writer I've gotten better and that this chapter and the previous chapters I've edited makes up for my year long hiatus. I apologize ahead of time for any mistakes in both grammer and uhmm 911 events (?) I researched and tried to make this as real as possible but just remember this IS a work of fiction.
Chapter 4: Trapped
Silence
...
"S-SASUKE!"
Sasuke turned and watched in horror as Naruto stumbled to get a grip on something, his arms flailing wildly as the quakes brought him closer and closer to the edge. Sasuke stood and made a mad dash toward where Naruto was teetering off the edge of the broken window frames. He stretched his arms out as far as he could to try and reach him faster but with a final jerk of the building Naruto was thrown out of the window, arms giving a final reach for Sasuke, his fingertips barely brushing past the others, before he was gone.
"NARUTO!"
(North Tower Floor 99 - 10:00 a.m.)
Sasuke grunted as every muscle in his body worked, beads of sweat dripped off his face by his own exertion. His arm ached but he wasn't about to let go.
The smoke had billowed around him but his hold remained firm. There was a tense quiet, broken only when Sasuke heard a small cough and groan from the form he held below him.
"Ah…Sasuke…" Sasuke looked down at the young blond. His hand was gripping onto Naruto's fingers and he frowned at seeing how close he had come to losing him.
Naruto looked back up and gave thanks that Sasuke had such strength and for the first time he was glad that his own body was small and light.
"Can you pull me up now?" Naruto asked, his voice trembling, not daring to look down. Sasuke gritted his teeth as he carefully shifted and used his other arm to swiftly haul the other up.
As soon as Naruto was back up safely he let out a shuddered breath and burst into tears as his body shook, finally taking in the shock of what had happened. Sasuke pulled Naruto into his chest and quietly comforted the shaken blond.
"T-Thank you…Sasuke. I-I thought for sure I was…" Sasuke growled and tightened his hold on Naruto.
"Don't say it." He demanded.
'I won't let you go again.'
Sasuke slowly pulled them up and they both moved to stare down at, where once stood one of the world's most impressive and massive building, but now was nothing but a pile of rubble in the ground.
"I don't understand Sasuke…" Naruto whispered urgently, his grip on Sasuke's shirt getting tighter by the second. "Why is this happening!" Naruto yelled out of the opening, knowing full well no one could hear them.
Sasuke glanced over to the door and he tensed when he saw that the black smoke was creeping its way into the room. They were running out of time.
"I don't know, I honestly don't know…but we have to get out of here now." Sasuke held Naruto's hand and tugged him close as he went over to grip the door. "Take a deep breath, this might be the last time we breathe fresh air." Naruto nodded.
"Let's go."
Both took in what air they could and relished in that small moment where it seemed like everything was alright. Where there wasn't any death, where they couldn't hear the distant screams or even the groans that echoed throughout the building. They stood still for a second; thinking only of where they couldn't see or feel the flame's heat that was just on the other side.
But the second soon passed and with a quick glance to each other, they nodded and Sasuke pulled open the door.
(Outside of the World Trade Centers – 10:05 a.m.)
They sat in silence, none dared to move. They had run, to distance themselves when the South Tower had fallen but now they sat. The girls cried and the guys tried to stay strong, tried.
"This can't be happening…" Sakura whispered, her voice barely heard over the screaming of thousands. Ashes rained down upon them but they made no attempt to shake it off.
"I've been trying to call him…but damn it, the call won't go through!" Kiba threw his phone to the ground from his growing frustration.
Kiba, Neji and Gaara had come back awhile ago, Gaara's leg quickly treated so that the hospital could deal with more severe cases.
Shikamaru placed his phone on the ground and laid his head in his hands. "Choji won't answer either." Ino moved closer to him and brought his head to rest in her lap.
"What do we do now?" Neji asked quietly as he helped Gaara to sit on the curb with the rest of them.
"We can only hope for a miracle." Gaara answered, looking up at the last standing tower.
Sakura frowned, her hope was already fading. With the fall of Tower 2, she wasn't sure what to expect anymore. It had been one horror after another and she wasn't sure she could handle anymore.
"Please...make it out of there…Please."
(North Tower Floor 94 – 10:10 a.m.)
It was getting hotter. The fire had spread throughout most of the floor. They were trapped.
"Damn…" Sasuke panted as he frantically searched for a way out. They had been lucky they even made it down this far, but now it seemed that luck had abandoned them. Sasuke glanced down at Naruto who fell to his knees and began to wheeze desperately.
"S…Sasuke…I-I…can't breathe…" Naruto gasped as more of the toxic fumes entered his lungs. His lungs screamed for oxygen but the thick smoke only allowed for the smallest amount.
Sasuke was able to hold his breath for longer periods but even he felt the effects of the lack of fresh air. He knelt down next to Naruto, covering him from the nipping flames.
"Naruto, how'd you get up here? Where's the way out!" Sasuke asked, his voice rising as a part of the ceiling above creaked and groaned ominously.
"T-The airplane, its wings crashed right through…this floor, there was enough space to climb…through..." Naruto got back up on wobbly legs and pointed to where he thought he might have gone up through. Sasuke looked over and frowned, there was no way they could get to that point. The fire had engulfed most of the offices and flames were dancing dangerously high as it burned the carpeted floor. The smell of burnt jet fuel was simply too overwhelming.
"Maybe if we-"Sasuke paused as he felt a low rumble run across the floor. He shifted around as the shakes under their feet become more apparent.
"The building isn't falling down too, is it!" Naruto yelped as he looked around as well.
"I don't think…!" A sudden jolt threw them back down and not even a second later did the floor they stood on cave in. Sasuke made a grab for the edges of the floor but it was too late.
"AHHH!" They fell with the chunk of floor that collapsed and felt as it crashed through other floors, ripping at wires and smashing whatever came in its way. With a violent crack it finally came to an abrupt stop, having landed on a sturdier floor. Naruto and Sasuke tumbled off the mass and down onto the new floor.
"Ngh…N-Naruto are you okay?" Sasuke was the first to move, blood dripped from his forehead where the fall had thrown him on. His shirt had ripped as well but that was the least of his worries. He got up and limped over to Naruto's fallen form, relieved to see that his body was still moving, he quickly flipped him over on his back.
Sasuke winced at seeing that Naruto's face had fallen on some shattered glass and made quick work on removing the pieces that stuck.
Squinting open one eye, Naruto coughed and tried to sit up. "Are we still alive?"
"Yeah…somehow..." Sasuke stated as he finished cleaning, what he could, off Naruto's face.
Naruto sighed and noted that the smoke wasn't as thick as before. "What floor are we on?"
Sasuke pulled Naruto up and maneuvered around the flames, they weren't as large as before but nonetheless just as dangerous. They kept their heads low as they searched for a way out.
"Sasuke! This is my floor!" Naruto slipped out of Sasuke's grasp.
"How do you know?" Sasuke asked as he followed the speeding blond. Naruto stopped and bent over something orange. "Is that your office chair?" Naruto nodded and turned it upright, knowing no one but him would have an orange chair.
"The stairs going down are still intact, we just have to find them!" Sasuke felt a small inkling of hope well inside him at the news. They scanned the area; Sasuke squinted as he tried to see past the smoke. He was about to turn and scan another part of the floor when a small light caught his attention.
"Naruto, come on, it's the stairwell!" For the first time since all this disaster had started Naruto really felt like grinning. They were going to make it; the stairs were a sure sign of that.
They made it to the exit and hurriedly opened the door. Slamming it closed they both slumped to the ground.
They panted heavily, their lungs greedily taking in the much needed oxygen. The stairwell was dimly lit and it still held some of the same smoke but it was a definite improvement. Earlier quakes had caused rubble from the destroyed part of the stairs to fall a litter the floor but it was nothing they couldn't handle.
"Okay, let's get out of here." Naruto said with a grin.
(10:25 a.m.)
And so began their descent. They jumped steps and dodged small pieces of concrete that fell as they ran. The building had literally turned into an oven, the air was getting clearer but the heat was still as intense. Their lungs burned as they countinously ran down the steps. Their clothes stuck to their now sticky bodies even after they had abandoned their ties, loosened and unbuttoned their shirts.
A lopsided sign lets them know they have reached the 74th floor.
"Ah…there's so many freaking stairs!" Naruto whined. Sasuke said nothing, keeping quiet as he concentrated on the steps. Their progress always hindered when they had to turn sharply to continue down. The zigzag of the stairs kept them from going down at full speed; Naruto had already slipped a couple times when turning the corner.
A small tune began playing making them both jump in surprise. Naruto scrambled for his phone, which he had completely forgotten about.
"Who is it?" Sasuke panted, they moved slower but didn't stop.
"Kiba!" Naruto pressed the phone to his ear.
"Naruto! What the hell man, are you okay!"
"Yeah! I found Sasuke!" Naruto paused as he heard rustling on the other end, "Kiba?"
"Naruto, oh, thank god you're okay!" Sakura's voice practically screamed through the line. "Where are you!"
"I'm going down now with Sasuke," Naruto glanced over as they passed by another sign "…we just passed the 70th flo-"
(Outside of the World Trade Centers – 10:28 a.m.)
"AH OH MY GOD!" Screams picked up in volume as the roar of the North Tower echoed across all of Manhattan. In a matter of seconds the building had collapsed in on its self, sending massive waves of quakes, dust and debris flying in the air. With eyes wide open Sakura watched as their last hope vanished from her sight.
"We have to run!" She distinctly heard someone yell. People were running all over the place, violently pushing against each other, trying to go faster. Sakura looked back to see the enormous clouds completely engulf the streets and those who failed to run fast enough.
A tug at her arm pulled her aggressively behind a truck; there the rest of her friends crouched.
"Close your eyes everyone, here it comes!" Neji shouted as the cloud enveloped them. Sakura squinted when she heard Ino begin to choke. Her own mouth covered by her shirt she swiftly jumped up and tugged at the bandana that held her hair up and put it up to her friend.
"Cover your mouth Ino; stop breathing the dust in!" Eye's watering, as more of the thick dust flew past them, she eagerly accepted the cloth.
It took a few minutes for the dust to clear enough so that they could at least see each other. At this point none had the strength to hold back the tears, even Gaara cried silently. The phone that Sakura had been gripping so desperately now slipped out of her hands, landing on the ground and in seconds was crushed by the trampling feet of those still on the run.
"Naruto, Sasuke, Choji….everyone…We've lost them…"
A/N: Yea...ANOTHER cliffhanger. Comment/review/ask questions/suggestions, you know the drill. I can't improve if no one tells me anything soooo yea. I'll try and update faster (i promise it won't take me a whole year again) and just lettin yall know there's gonna be 2 or 3 more chapters left in this fic so hang in there guys.
