Morning had been skipped entirely, for the sleeping teenagers had allowed for exhaustion to seep into their souls. With limbs weighed down by heavy armor and lack of sleep, both rested late into the afternoon. The sun stood high in the sky, beaming with pride for those below it. Animals roamed about, though with a subtle decrease in energy when juxtaposed to hours beforehand. Breakfast had been served long ago, and the nearby tavern boomed with customers; it was a little over lunchtime, and happy hour was only one-hundred and twenty minutes away!
Sasuke had curled up on the opposite side of his mare, effectively shielding his person from Naruto's sight. Following the rather embarrassing encounter from the previous night, he decided to stray away from his newfound rival. Upon his waking moment, the breeze from the midday air had stung his throat. The pressure of the sword against his gullet had broken the skin. As a result, the pain resembled a papercut. He learned in that moment that despite Naruto's dorky demeanor, he was trained in the field of self-defense. Skillfully trained, at that.
On the contrary, Naruto had refrained from changing his area of rest. Because he had convinced himself of his worth, his subconscious mind was able to remember. He also opened what he liked to call his "third eye." Thus, with even the slightest instinct of retaliation, he attacked. In all honesty with himself, he felt rather smug; being able to watch someone like Sasuke fumble, even if it was masked expertly, caused a prominent swell of his head. Confidence kept him still, and lightly asleep. Nevertheless, he felt a tad bit uneasy about Sasuke now that he knew of the raven's plans. He wished to know about the dynamics of his thought process, in its entirety, but that was just unrealistic.
The night sky had been bleeding into a shade of baby blue, which was gradually growing lighter, when Naruto had crawled over to the horse. He had no intentions to truthfully take it considering he didn't doubt Sasuke's ability to fight. Really, the purpose of his movement from his sleeping spot, to the dozing mare, was to check on Sasuke. He didn't believe he was asleep. The thought of intimidating him with more threats seemed fun, too. Not only that, but he would be able to stand his ground for the duration of their time together. Asserted dominance was key.
A head of blond hair went first before azure eyes had peered over the horse's saddled back. What he saw had kept him frozen for prolonged moments: Sasuke was asleep, in what seemed to be a moment of peace. His dark eyelashes fanned the lightness of his cheek. He was dreaming, for his eyes were moving beneath the lids based on the observable flickers. Even in the scarce light from the impending morning, his skin glowed. Yes, glowed. That's how...pale, he was. The dark tresses that spilled over his forehead highlighted this fact. It wasn't bad, though. Naruto may not like the guy, for his attitude spoiled everything, but he could admit when someone was physically appealing.
For the first time since they'd met, the raven's face wasn't tight. His eyebrows were relaxed, and his mouth wasn't turned down at the edges. He wasn't smiling, but it was a start. Simply by the way he looked, Naruto yearned to know what was happening in his dream. In his damned brain. Then he began to question: what did a guy like him want with Sakura? Considering he was rather "dreamy," as a girl would call it, he could have any woman he wanted as a wife. Of course, there was the hypothesis that he sought out his looks as an aid to win Sakura over. Though, he couldn't imagine what the mojo would be like if someone like Sasuke was romantically involved with someone like Sakura. Then, before his mind ran off like Nessie did, he forced himself to lock his curiosities away.
Although both males had woke up around the same time, Sasuke was first to sit up. His bones gave what sounded like a deafening crack, and he grappled to stretch properly. Behind his head, his arms extended to their full length, and his chest stretched outward. The metal of the armor clanked together with such stiff movements. Naruto shot up when the sound rang through his ears, startling Sasuke's mare. She huffed in evident irritation, but remained beside Sasuke. The Uchiha prince was appreciative of the fact that she hadn't stood upright. She was apparently waiting for Sasuke's waking moment, for she didn't adjust her position until he was on his feet.
Out of caution for his safety and success on this odyssey, Naruto was on his feet seconds after Sasuke was. He hadn't stretched initially, so the force of his inelastic muscles was strong. It left him with no choice other than to wiggle out the bands of the previous night. His actions were awkward, for he felt Sasuke's eyes on him; he was trying to move gracefully, and simultaneously away from the raven. Tensions still ran high between the two.
Eating was out of the question, for Sasuke silently refused to feed Naruto. He didn't rub it in either, though. Oddly enough, he didn't feel hungry enough to indulge in a meal. Whether it was for himself, or out of spite towards Naruto, he was in no mood to eat. The reasoning behind this stumped him, but he felt no motivation to investigate. (He ignored the voice in his head informing him that his wounded pride left him without strong hunger.) Instead of dwelling, he tightened the halter strips around his mare's snout and neck. He then slid onto her saddle with enough effortless grace to make Naruto growl. The latter was audible, and Sasuke almost smirked.
Silence swallowed the atmosphere around them as they began their travel. Amphibia was what they remembered to be their first location. Gathered from background knowledge, the most that both of them knew about the area was that it was wet. It also caused a number of skin complications if one did not proceed with caution. Their shared concern resided within their necessary armor. The possibility of it getting wet would render it useless by rust. Such an occurrence wouldn't be good for their journey, decreasing their chances of survival.
Sasuke kept his hands tight around the reins as he surveyed the environment. When his mare stepped under some patches of sunlight, he could tell that it was getting late. Oversleeping wasn't very strategic in regards to his goal. His attention was redirected to the blond beside him when Naruto moved. Walking beside the horse, the blond pulled the map free of within his armor to examine the needed directions. Just as Sasuke refrained from nourishing them, Naruto kept the contents of the map inside his head. Fortunately for the Uchiha, there was the option of following Naruto's every move.
Deeming the aforementioned option to be suitable, he did just that. He ignored the other male's scowling from over his shoulder, in addition to the poor attempts to conceal the map from view. His focus on Naruto had been diverted entirely, however, when their surroundings had shifted. The light had decreased drastically, for the open spaces between trees were no longer apparent. Capability to see came from illumination of the leaves, setting off a green brightness to them. Still, the lighting was inadequate. Moss also coated the rocks, and the bark of expansive trees.
Naruto had caught notice of the change in area soon, thereafter. Unlike Sasuke, he vocally expressed his confusion and unsettled mood towards the situation. "What the hell's goin' on here?" he asked with a frown of skepticism. His partner shared his thoughts; he tugged on the reins in his hold, stopping his horse's strolling, and eyed the dense forest for possible danger. Everything seemed green.
In his moment of concern, Sasuke dismissed his internal distrust in Naruto. He didn't disregard his comment, like he might've chose to under different circumstances. "I don't know, but it seems fishy. We must be getting close."
As they continued to discreetly take in what was around them, they mentally digested their previous interaction. Rivalry hit them, and they both turned to each other with scornful looks. The raven's upper lip curled softly, baring the smallest hints of his teeth. It was purified disgust. The blond, on the contrary, loosened his lower lip as he growled like a feral. His aura oozed of anger, and intolerance for the male before him. The last thing they desired was giving each other the wrong idea.
Their moment was halted, however, when a loud crunching noise sounded. They snapped their heads towards its direction, both unsheathing their swords in preparation for battle. Before there eyes was a sign, a plank of beige wood nailed to a wooden stick. It was lopsided, and littered with holes. As the floorboards were in the tavern, the edges were jagged enough to be hazardous. Written with poor penmanship, in chipping, red paint, was the word "Amphibia." The sign wasn't there a second ago—judging from the fresh dirt and grass around the word, it had just been lifted from the ground.
Sasuke didn't sit well with this. He slid from his horse immediately and clutched to his sword's handle. The mare had been frightened by the sign, for she witnessed its rising. Her master had to gently pet her snout to relax her. Once she settled enough, holding a tremendous amount of trust in him, he stepped towards the mysterious sign. Not only had it randomly appeared from underground, but it was signifying that they were in Amphibia. There was nothing remotely different enough about the location for it to be Amphibia.
Naruto studied Sasuke as the latter male investigated. He was equally disturbed by the aspects revolving around the odd sign. What was a rational explanation for it? Many possibilities ran through his mind, all of them being anything but rational. Such thoughts kept him rooted to his spot beside the mare, who he chose to dub as "Nessie two-point-oh." She huffed at him, almost telling him to accompany Sasuke. He silently decided against it, huffing with disbelief. Like hell.
He remained rather still until he heard a croaking noise. His initial response was to ignore it, and keep watch if something was going to drag Sasuke to the core of the Earth. The croak repeated, being slightly louder than before. It won over Naruto's attention, and he looked to his left. Fragile moss greeted him as it bombarded the nearby trees. His next thought was to look down. When he did so, he saw a small frog by his feet.
"Hey, little buddy!" he chirped happily. A broad grin crossed his features, its width causing his eyes to narrow. Bending down, he scooped the slippery creature up into his arms. Its legs twitched as it was raised from under its yellow, plump belly. An adjustment period granted it the ability to rest in Naruto's cupped hands completely. Said Uzumaki always had a soft spot for frogs; his old tutor had plenty of them, and they intrigued the blond to no end. Sometimes, when it was hot enough, he would find a cool pond to go swimming in. The pond would usually be abundant in frogs, and he would watch them without disturbing them.
This new frog wasn't any different in the reaction it got from Naruto. He took in the green skin, and the black and yellow designs adorning its back. Not to mention the exquisite color of its eyes. It tilted its head as Naruto smiled at it. Just as the blond was going to blabber to it, its tongue shot out of its mouth. The former was like elastic in the way it extended, and the tip of it aimed for Naruto's eye. It missed though, for Naruto's reflexes enabled him to close it in time. Instead, the tongue had attached itself to a high cheekbone, right below the eye.
Naruto felt the sticky surface of the warm muscle. He was prepared to swat it away, assuming the frog had seen a bug near his cheek. However, he didn't need to; the frog brought its tongue back into its mouth with an audibly tearing noise. Naruto flinched then, for he felt a burning sensation under his eye.
"Ow!" he yelped, shifting the frog into the hold of one hand. His idle hand reached up and covered the site of the pain, hoping to alleviate it. Sasuke had heard it, and his natural reaction demanded he probe the situation. He sprinted the short distance to Naruto, noticing the hand over his cheek.
"What did you do, you idiot?" he questioned with more…concern, than venom. The worried tone was only briefly pondered on before Naruto registered the increasing burn beneath his palm. He hissed as he slowly moved his hand for inspection. Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed into a glare as he scrutinized the injury. Dozens of tiny holes could be seen on Naruto's skin. They quickly disappeared though, for blood flowed and spilled out of them. Naruto's eye involuntarily stayed closed, for the sting had returned as blood descended down his cheek. It did well with the bruise on the other side of his face, which hadn't healed much from the time of their meeting.
Sasuke looked up from the wound and into Naruto's opened eye. His sword's handle was choked as his heart raced; something had attacked, and he could feel the need to be ready for battle. "How did this happen?"
He didn't expect for a frog to be raised to his vision. But, at the same time, he did expect something as feeble as a frog. This was the idiot he was referring to. Naruto covered his puncture wound again, smearing blood all over his glove and cheek, alike. "This little guy did it!" he exclaimed, the frog staring at Sasuke innocently.
Now, environmental science and biology were courses taken by Sasuke as a child. His own private tutor had instructed him on the aspects of various living creatures. This included creatures beyond his wildest dreams, ones he wasn't aware existed until then. From what he collected, frogs had tongues textured with a stickiness. However, judging by the wound, this frog had a tongue coated in needle-like parts. Sharp. With that in consideration, Sasuke knew that this wasn't any ordinary frog.
His hand shot up and smacked the frog; the force was hard enough for it to fall from Naruto's hand. It hit the ground on its side, its long limbs sprawled out on the grass. After taking a short amount of time to collect itself, it prepared to jump away. Sasuke beat it to the punch; his heavy boot slammed down on the frog's back, effectively crushing its body to oblivion. Naruto screeched with a mix of disturbance and protest when he heard the crunching of…interior structures.
"What the hell, teme?! The thing was innocent! Sociopath!" he shouted, his eyes shifting from the twitching frog to the one beside him.
Sasuke gave the frog a black look. He didn't acknowledge Naruto's words. His prime focus regarded the strangeness behind the sign. In addition, the frog's dangerous tongue was something to think about. Not only that, but its whereabouts. Where would a lethal frog come from?
The question wasn't given long to develop, or find a possible answer. Both Sasuke and Naruto turned towards the sign when they heard thumping noises. Grass surrounding the sign moved up with each thump, before humps formed. Numerous humps were scattered around what was said to be Amphibia; as the sound increased in the volume, each hump followed in height. Anticipation ran through the bodies of the teens witnessing it. Anxiety came shortly after, for the small hills were broken at the peak.
Chunks of dirt fell down, and new frogs appeared from within. The term "new" came from their appearance; Sasuke certainly suspected something terribly wrong, for these frogs were anything but ordinary. Their bodies were bulky and large, presumably heavy in weight, and littered with tall spikes. Their eyes were a dull black in entirety, sitting atop their heads instead of on the sides. Worst of all, sharp-looking teeth stuck out from both lips. Said teeth were bunched together, and stood in various directions.
Guttural noises left them as they crawled from out of the dirt. Sasuke felt beads of sweat collecting at his temple. His heart pumped with vigor, and his hand quivered as he held onto the handle of his sword. 'What are these things?' he thought. The mutated frogs didn't seem friendly, but they didn't seem ready to attack. Once they were freed from the ground, they all stared at him and Naruto.
The Uchiha thought quickly, with careful calculation, that they begin the battle with prolonged movements. Perhaps, he figured, the frogs wouldn't retaliate unless they felt threatened. There didn't seem to be any other way to get past them. Beside him, Naruto was frozen with shock. He'd never seen such exotic-looking animals. It was froggy heaven, and he was definitely excited by it. A smile stretched on his face, and he ran towards the crowd of frogs.
"Hey, how cool is this?!" he asked boisterously. The noise startled Sasuke, and his head whipped to the side of him. The blond had already started moving, going straight for the monstrous beings before them.
"Naruto, don't!"
His warning was too late. In a harmony that brought chills to his bones, the frogs hissed at once. Spikes on their backs stood tall, and Naruto skid on his heels to stop himself. Sasuke's mare cried out as the frogs all jumped forward, bombarding Naruto to the ground with their massive weight. Apparently, they were heavier than they looked.
"Ah! Hey, hey!" Naruto yelled as the frogs climbed over him. One had opened its mouth to him, exposing it's horrendous dental statement as it hissed. His fist met its brolic body before it could bite, and he fought against the excessive weight to stand again.
Sasuke's body moved on its own; he ran forward and started for the frogs, ripping them from Naruto's person and flinging them against the trees. Their backs collided with the sturdy bark in loud thuds. Despite the sound giving off an impression of immense pain, the creatures bounced back from it. Their healing time was outstanding. Sasuke cursed as he noticed the previously thrown frogs came racing back with a vengeance. Fortunately for him, Naruto had gained a worthy enough advantage to stand and wield his sword.
"You little shits!" he screamed as he swung his sword at a frog that pounced. The metal blade sliced through its abdomen. It was reduced to two halves, both falling to the ground audibly. Sasuke mimicked Naruto's actions by unsheathing and wielding his own weapon. His mare had raised herself to her hind legs as the fighting ensued; she used her front legs to smash the frogs like bugs, her hooves digging into their slimy flesh. Some were decapitated, while others were split in twos. Purple, thick, transparent substances leaked from their severed bodies. Naruto and Sasuke fought with their backs together, covering each other's blind spots. Neither of them had time to consider how well they worked together.
As they sliced through the frogs, Sasuke noticed the lack of decrease in number. If anything, they seemed to be increasing. Tiredness was creeping into his body, gradually overpowering the adrenaline. He didn't back down yet, but his thinking began to see past these frogs' tactic. Or rather, their abilities to subdue their enemies. With his sharp eyes, he chose to observe a specific frog. He had just slaughtered it, having cut a deep gash into its body. Any other frogs were whacked away with his sword before they could reach his face, and his eyes stayed focused on that particular frog.
It remained stagnant on the floor, lying on its side. However, after a few minutes, its leg twitched. Following it was its arm, and then the gash that spread across its body. Skin grew over it until it closed, and the frog slowly returned to life. Regained energy enabled it to fight alongside its comrades, hissing and jumping for them.
Sasuke's eyes widened with amazement, and fear. So they weren't increasing in number. In fact, they stayed consistent in their number. The gag was that they weren't dying at all. As Naruto and Sasuke regressed in their energy, attempting to kill the frogs completely, the latter would continue with their attack. It would continue until the exhaustion was given the upper hand, and the frogs would get the upper hand. He didn't want to think of what would happen after that. He'd never given much thought to how he would die.
"Oi, Sasuke!" Naruto called from behind him. His arms were like machinery, continuing to swing without the command of their owner. "They're not dying!"
'So, he's caught on, too?' Sasuke thought as he faced Naruto. A hiss sounded from behind him, and he held the sword handle with both hands. Shifting on his heel, the raven stabbed at a frog that was in mid-air, ready to land on his head. The blade landed in the center of its head. It fell quicker than Sasuke could move his sword, and landed on his boot. He resumed in striking the rest of the small army away when he realized his foot wasn't relieved of the extra weight.
Quick glances granted him the sight of a dead frog, which had been thoroughly trampled by its companions.
"Naruto! The heads!" he exclaimed. He utilized both hands to puncture open-head wounds in the frogs. Naruto had been using both hands to punch and slice, in contrast. When Sasuke spoke up, he turned with curiosity to him.
"Huh?" he questioned, then yelped when a frog landed on his face. Its webbed, padded fingers held his cheeks with a firm grip. His cheeks were squished in the process, leaving his mouth unable to produce much sound. Sasuke heard the struggle in the nick of time, though, and thrusted his sword into its head. The latter was thrown back in preparation to bite Naruto's face off, thus making it an easier target. Naruto squeezed his eyes shut as he readied himself to be killed by either the frog, or Sasuke.
After a few seconds went by, and he hadn't seen any ramen heaven light, he opened his eyes. Around the same time, the pressure on his cheeks had been lifted. The frog's belly dropped from his view, and he was faced with Sasuke's hard frown, instead. "Aim for their heads!" he repeated, holding up his blade. The tip was dripping with the purple liquid that served as the frog mutants' blood.
Though he knew it wasn't the appropriate time to think of such things, Naruto began to wonder about the reason behind Sasuke's previous action. Why'd he bother to save him? Regardless of them working as a fair team, he still didn't trust Sasuke. The raven's plan to steal his map was, possibly, still in motion. Sure, there was the theory that he was only keeping him alive for the sake of the map. But, the counter argument ran stronger. If he had figured out how to truly kill the frogs, he could've done just that even after Naruto died. Then, he could've snagged the map for himself and ran off with his horse! Briefly, as he thought of Nessie number two, he looked over at her. She seemed to be fending well for herself. She'd gotten the hang of things long ago, her hooves crushing the heads of the mutants.
When the two returned to their battle positions, back to back, they started for the heads. Be it slicing deep gashes into their heads, or sticking the end of the blade inside, they aimed well. Mutant frogs began to decrease in number then, finally relieving Naruto and Sasuke of the stress. "It's working!" Naruto verbally expressed, as usual. Excitement was clear in his tone, and Sasuke smirked with a small hum of acknowledgement. For their first battle together, they weren't too shabby.
It wasn't until they'd reduced the amount of frogs by half when the slimy animals stopped pouncing on them.
Sasuke and Naruto both observed as the army started for each other. Teeth ripped up skin, and spikes tore through flesh. They seemed to be hurting each other without reason, and compassion. Sasuke was definitely more confused and suspicious than disturbed, while Naruto couldn't turn away despite the stomach ache developing. Aches were worse considering he still had hunger cramps. Only after the frogs started climbing into each other's mouth, and atop each other, that the boys noticed something was being assembled.
Within minutes, the frogs had all shape-shifted into one humongous toad. Some frogs had been sacrificed to form the sturdy structures of arms and legs. However, the rest of the body was squirming with interconnected creatures. Various parts stuck out from the "skin," and moved with off-putting wiggles. The head was the worst part, for it was simply numerous heads of the frogs all formed into one. Each head hissed, their mouths oozing with the lavender blood of their comrades. Sasuke and Naruto only came up to the monster's waist, in height. Width was incomparable between the three figures, and the two boys grew worried as they held their swords with shaking fists. Thick swallows occurred between both teens as the monster gave a loud groaning noise, which repulsed them.
Now they understood why the place was called "Amphibia."
A/N: God, the pads of my thumbs feel fried! Apologies for being overdue with an update! My sister took her laptop with her to New York, which is hours away. I had to type this chapter with my phone and iPad. I hate typing on these things. Not to mention the road trip I had, recently. That took up some time, too.
I hope you guys enjoyed! Let me know what you think via a review! Jordan, love, I hope you're very much liking this! All for you!
