Kali sat over Sasuke silently. Her eyes glowed a bright yellow, and they were wide open. Sasuke slept silently in front of her. She trembled uncontrollably before pulling a kunai out of her belt and holding it threateningly above Sasuke. She turned her head and gritted her teeth. She could hardly stop herself. Naruto woke for no reason and sat up. He saw Kali's dark form and the glimmer of the blade.
"Sasuke, watch out!!" he yelled loudly. Sakura and Sasuke sat up in surprise. Kali's wide eyes darted from Naruto back to Sasuke. She yelled a high scream and sliced at Sasuke. He crawled quickly backwards and dodged barely. Kali was about to jump at him when Oji landed on the ground between Kali and Sasuke with sword drawn.
"Back off, Kali!" Oji said forcefully. Kali wasn't surprised. She continued her assault only with Oji as her target. He swung his sword backwards and struck her on the face. She fell back and darted away on all fours. She stopped on the edge of the woods and looked back. Her glowing eyes were all that could be seen. Kali stared straight at Sasuke with little emotion. Sasuke was speechless at what had happened. Oji sighed as Kali disappeared. "The curse has gotten to powerful for her already." He picked up the kunai and placed it in his belt. He looked at Sasuke sadly. Sakura was at his side.
"Are you ok, Sasuke?" she asked. Sasuke nodded.
"She really will hate herself when she comes to…" Oji said.
"Why did she attack me?" Sasuke asked as he stood.
"She has the bloodlust of the Dark Beast," Oji replied formally. "She didn't want to actually kill you; she… she just needed blood." Oji seemed to fumble with the words. He shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. "Ok…" He was trying to gather his thoughts when Sasuke spoke.
"We have to help her," he said. Oji blinked as he stared at him with a surprised face.
"I don't think"-
"Sasuke's right, she needs us!" Naruto added.
"Look!" Oji glared at Naruto. "She said to me, and I quote, 'get them out of here safely, I don't want them getting involved in my problems.' She wants you three safe, and that's what I'm going to do."
"She's our friend now and we don't just let friends go through stuff like this," Sasuke said. Oji looked at him. His golden eyes pierced deeply. His emotion was just surprise. He stared for a minute before he closed his mind to all other thoughts. He looked down to cover his face.
"We need to get moving now," he said before walking off. Sasuke gritted his teeth and followed. Akkan approached Sakura and rubbed on her leg with a sympathizing purr. She patted his head and followed Naruto. Sasuke couldn't understand Oji's reasoning for not helping Kali. He wished Kali was here. Oji didn't jump quickly today like he had before. They just walked silently. It seemed Oji was thinking too hard to move quickly. They traveled in silence for most of the morning. Oji suddenly stopped and looked back at the ninja. Sasuke expected something rude or criticizing to come.
"Why are you here?" he asked unexpectedly. The ninja blinked.
"Um, you're escorting us through the woods," Sakura answered confusedly. Oji shook his head.
"No, I mean why are you in these woods? Having to be escorted by Kal? I guess Kali never thought to ask."
"Well," Sakura thought back. It had been at least a week since they got here, but it only seemed like yesterday. "We were kidnapped by some men outside of our village."
"Yeah, it was all Naruto's fault." Sasuke added spitefully.
"Hey!" Naruto said angrily.
"It's true, Naruto," Sakura continued. "You are the one who dared Sasuke to go outside the village gate at midnight."
"Well, maybe he shouldn't have accepted!" Naruto retorted.
"Ok, ok, hold on," Oji interrupted, "one person tell the story." The ninja looked at each other and Sasuke spoke.
"That night Naruto and I got into a fight and he dared me to go outside the village boundaries to prove I wasn't scared. I said I would if he did as well, and he would take the blame if we got caught…
The door in the gate creaked open slowly and Sasuke walked through.
"C'mon scaredy-cat," he said. Naruto was pushed through the door by Sakura. He was obviously scared. His face was even slightly blue. They walked a ways down the path before Sakura spoke.
"Ok, I think we've gone far enough, guys," she said, "I think we should go back."
"Oh, no! not until Sasuke is scared!!" Naruto yelled. Sasuke sighed.
"This is ridiculous," he said, "I'm not scared. It's just night time like any other night only not in the village. Naruto your such an"- Sasuke stopped and looked behind him. Naruto was worried by this action.
"Wh-what is it, Sasuke?" Naruto asked nervously. Sasuke was solemn as he turned back around, keeping his eyes looking to the side.
"We should go back, I think someone's out there," Sasuke said quietly. Naruto thought quickly.
"Ah-ha! So you are scared!" He said proudly. Sasuke looked at him.
"No, I think we're in danger!" He said in a loud whisper.
"I think we should listen to Sasuke, Naruto," Sakura added worriedly.
"No, Sasuke has to admit he's scared!" Naruto crossed his arms defiantly.
"Ah! Naruto you're such a loser! We need to go"- he was interrupted again by someone laughing. They all fell silent. In the dim light of the three-quarter moon a black figure of a man stood between them and the village gate.
"These are perfect candidates. Don't you think?" the man said. Another man spoke behind the group.
"Yes, they're perfect," he said. They approached slowly and Sasuke drew his kunai. Before the ninja could even think, five men appeared and threw nets. Sasuke swung his blade, but it was too late. They were over come in seconds and out cold. When they woke up they were surrounded by trees and bushes in the Forest of Madness.
"Well, that explains a bit," Oji said as Sasuke finished the story. He was scratching behind his cat ears thoughtfully.
"Do you know who did this?" Sakura asked. Oji made eye contact with her and he reminded her of someone she should remember.
"Yeah," he said, "They are the gatherers. Ones whose job it is to gather insane people and unsuspecting victims to bring here."
"But why?" Sakura asked. Oji shrugged as he turned back around.
"I guess the crazies are getting restless. They usually just put criminals and crazies, but the owner of this place is changing it up for some reason." He turned back around and the group continued walking. "Well, I'm glad I finally asked. You may have gotten off the island without us knowing. Of course I think Kal already knew; she's good like that." Oji spoke like he was thinking out loud. He suddenly stopped and groaned in anguish. The ninja walked forward so they could see, but soon wondered if they had even wanted to.
The trees and grass was red with blood. Bodies, or what was left of bodies, were strewn across the section of woods and the gore was unbelievable. Sasuke took a step back in shock, Naruto couldn't breath for fear he would hurl, and Sakura gagged and put her hand over her mouth. Oji stared sternly; no one had to ask, he knew the question.
"This is…this is what happens…" He struggled as he looked away. "When you pick a fight with her now." astonishment fell on everyone.
"Kali did this!?" Sasuke forced out.
"Yeah, like I had said before, the curse is too strong for her and she has an insatiable bloodlust." Oji rubbed his nose. "Man, that scent is strong. If you three don't smell it you're aliens." He walked to his right while still rubbing his nose.
"You're just going to walk off?" Sasuke asked. Oji looked back.
"Why wouldn't I?" Sasuke couldn't answer that question. Oji turned back around and walked off followed by Akkan, Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura. Sasuke was fuming by the time noon rolled around. Oji seemed to be thinking hard when he stopped. They had been walking steady without rest, and the break was appreciated. Akkan had separated a time ago and now returned with a deer in his mouth. He set it down in front of Oji and lay on his stomach. Oji stared for a little at Akkan's eyes before he took out his blade.
"Sakura," He said, "I need you to go get some water from the river for us to drink. I'm out." He reached into his back pouch and pulled out a buckskin water container and tossed it to Sakura. "You may want to take Akkan with you." Oji added. Sakura stood, nodded and walked away. Akkan followed obediently. Sakura felt as though she should have said something, but she couldn't find the words. When the two reached the river, Akkan lapped up his fill of the cool water. Sakura plunged the container into the water and the bubbles gurgled from the opening. She was letting it fill up and glanced around the surroundings.
The sun danced on the running water and the shadows of the branches swayed on the ground. The grass faded as it approached the shore of the river and moss replaced it and dotted the rocks. Some pink flowers speckled the grass and a lone butterfly fluttered from one to the other. Sakura pulled the container out of the water and looked back at Akkan. He was intently staring at the bushes on the other side of the river. He stepped closer to the bank and gave a low moan of warning. Something rustled in the foliage and retreated. After a moment of sitting in silence, Sakura sighed in relief, patted Akkan's head and led the way back to the camp.
Oji had skinned the deer very quickly and now sat watching the meat cook over a new flame. He looked very thoughtful as he sat, and Sakura almost hated to disturb him as he did so. Oji changed her mind as she walked up by looking up at her. She handed him the water and he took it.
"Thank you," he said. Nothing more was spoken until the food had been eaten. Oji sighed and leaned back. Akkan walked behind Oji and laid down so Oji could lean on him.
"So what now?" Naruto asked after a while. Oji opened one eye with a mischievous twinkle in it.
"What do you think is next, Blondie?" Oji said. Naruto blinked.
"Um…I…" Naruto tried to think of something. Oji sat up and stretched.
"We are heading off again," he said. He rubbed Akkan's side before standing. "Well, let's go." They all stood and followed Oji obediently. They all had the same terrible feeling about what they were doing, but it seemed Oji knew more than he was letting on. As the day went on, Sasuke grew angrier and angrier with the way Oji was handling the situation. He was growing a plan and he needed to act soon.
The sun sank slowly into the horizon on three tired ninja. They had stopped walking and Oji had made them jump the rest of the way. The sky was striped with pink and purple clouds and the sky was a light orange. Oji stared up at the changing colors as he waited for the ninja to catch up to him. He had darted ahead to escaped the company. Sasuke and Naruto arrived with Sakura slightly behind. Naruto was breathing so heavy Oji was waiting for him to pass out.
"When…are we going to stop?" He panted. Oji turned to him and answered.
"Right now would be good, but we'll need to set up a temporary tent area in the trees," he said while looking around for good items to use to build with.
"Why are we sleeping in the trees?" Sakura asked.
"The ground isn't safe," was all Oji said. He pulled out a brown tarp from his pouch on his hip and told Naruto to grab an end. They set it up fairly easily and Oji got Sakura to help secure shrub-like branches on the outside. When this campsite was done, Akkan appeared with a bag in his mouth. He used his powerful muscles and sharp claws to climb the tree and deliver his find. It had no meat, but fruit and berries from the local flora.
"No meat?" Naruto complained. Oji chuckled.
"Well, we were lucky to get meat for so long. This was obviously someone else's so Akkan has had his fill." Akkan seemed to purr happily. They had a small fire to see by for a while, but they couldn't keep it burning for long because they were in a tree. They decided to go to sleep early that night and all fell silent quickly.
After about an hour, Sasuke opened his eyes with Sharingan. He was wide awake and listened hard for the slow breathing of sleep. When he was positive all were asleep, he maneuvered past everyone and slipped quickly down the tree. Akkan lay at the bottom still and silent. Sasuke took extra care not to wake the sleeping cat. As soon as he was clear he focused on the task at hand. He was going to find Kali and help her himself, since Oji seemed none too eager to help.