3 DAYS LATER (A/N: meaning 1 day after Sasuke got thrown into the cells. It took Naruto and his group 3 days to make a solid plan haha xD R&R plz)
"Lee-san!" Sakura shouted in distress, as she hurried over to the green spandex wearing ninja. He looked pale, groaning of pain as he clutched his ankle.
"What happened?!" Sakura asked, looking up at Shikamaru with her emerald eyes as she rested a hand on Lee's shoulder.
Shikamaru yawned, and shrugged, glancing over at Neji in response.
"We were out getting fire wood, and some rocks collapsed, falling on his ankle," Neji explained staring down at Lee in concern.
"Fuzzy brows, are you ok?" a bubbly voice came from behind Neji. Lee managed to smile as he saw Naruto jumping up and down trying to see over Neji, Shikamaru and Sakura.
"I am ok, are we ready for the mission?" Lee asked, trying his hardest to not let any tears fall from his eyes.
"Mission? You shouldn't be considering that, in your condition," Shino pointed out, as he creeped up behind Naruto.
-Argh! Why does he always have to do that? - Naruto thought, as he jumped back slightly.
"Shino-san's right, an injured ankle is a lot more troublesome then you would think. Even if Sakura healed it, it still wouldn't be 100 well. What a drag," Shikamaru yawned, stretching his hands behind his head.
"I am fine, I need to do this, GAI-SENSEI would never quit if he was in my position!" Lee shouted in a determined-like manner, punching a fist into the air as he sat up.
"Yeah, yeah alright, don't even start with that spring of youth crap or whatever," Kiba joked, shoving a piece of toast into his mouth.
Lee scowled at him before returning to his determined expression. He let out a barely audible groan of pain as he let go of his ankle and tried to regain posture.
"Lee-kun you don't look very healthy, you should stay back with the others, I don't want to see you get even more hurt! I'm sorry to bring this up, but you remember what happened last time you pushed yourself too much," Sakura pleaded, as he leaned on her for support, so his skeleton wouldn't come crashing down.
He looked at her; he couldn't say no to those eyes, besides, she had a point. Last time he pushed himself too much, his ninja-career was nearly over. Someone would just have to replace him this time. He nodded at her, and gestured for Neji and Naruto to help him over to his tent.
Sakura let out a sigh of relief, resting a hand on her chest. They hadn't even entered Orochimaru's lair and someone was already hurt.
-It only gets worse from here- she thought to herself.
Hinata gazed at Naruto and Neji as they carried Lee into his tent.
-I hope he's ok- she sighed, as she played with her fingers, looking down at the ground. She felt her cheeks get hot as she saw a pair of shoes in front of her.
"Are you worried about Lee-san?".
She noticed that voice, it was; "N-n-Naruto-kun," she stuttered, trying to avoid eye contact at all costs. He chuckled; she knew by now he'd have that silly grin on his face that she loved.
Silence.
"Don't worry Hinata-chan, I'm sure he'll be fine," Naruto smiled, his shoulder brushing passed Hinata's arm as he walked over to the area around the camp fire where Neji and Kiba were going over the plan, arguing every now and then.
Hinata sighed as he walked away. She sometimes hated the fact that she was so shy around him.
--
(A/N: THE TEAM- Sakura, Shikamaru, Naruto, Neji, Kiba & Akamaru. Time: 11pm)
Because of Lee's injury, Shikamaru offered to take his place, after stating over a million times how much of a "drag" it was going to be and how missions were always so "troublesome".
"Guys, be quite! We're going to get caught if you's yell any louder," Sakura pouted, poking Neji and Kiba on the shoulder with force.
"Ouch!" They synced.
"She's right you know," Shikamaru glared at the two who were previously fighting about which entrance to take and other possibilities to approach the hideout.
Kiba was suggesting they slip through the front door of the mansion/castle as it would be easier to find their way around, considering lighting and all. Neji, on the other hand, in response said if they were to just burst through the front door, their would be more of a chance of them getting caught then if they took the underground cave entrance to the left of the building.
"I still say we should take the front door. I mean look at the entrance of the cave, knowing Orochimaru, at the end of it theres a mutated ninja, that'll kick our asses," Kiba spat out, rubbing his shoulder where Sakura had poked him.
"That's the easiest way to get caught, I'm guessing those fleas finally got to your head," Neji smirked.
"Bring it on Hyuuga," Kiba growled, letting Akamaru jump out of his parker and take his place next to him.
"Byakugan!". Neji's eyes light up in the darkness of the night.
"Enough guys! Honestly, I'm sick and tired of you's arguing, this might be the last time we ever see each other and all you's want to do is argue," Sakura shouted as she stood in between them, catching their attention.
"Oii, Sakura-chan me and Shikamaru haven't even said any-,".
"Shut-up Naruto-kun!" she cut in, burying her face into her hands and lightly sobbing. Naruto gasped, as he heard a single tear, hit the faded grass.
All four looked down at her apologetically. Naruto took a few steps towards Sakura and threw an arm around her.
"Sorry Sakura-chan," Naruto apologised, as she wiggled out of his half embrace. Neji and Kiba, nodded, agreeing to Naruto's words while Shikamaru slapped his forehead lightly. She looked up at the boys and wiped the tears from her eyes, a weak version of her signature smile spreading across her face.
"It's ok guys, I-I should be sorry for going off like that. It's just- I don't want to see you lose your lives. If we want to have a good percentage of succeeding, we need to work together. No more fights, please," Sakura explained, looking down glumly at the ground in slight embarrassment.
"It's ok, it was the right thing to do, helping your team-mates, who, for a second, completely lost their minds," Shikamaru frowned, watching Neji and Kiba apologise to each other.
Silence.
"So… which way are we going?" Naruto grinned.
"I think we should let Sakura-chan decide," Neji nodded toward her as her eyes widened. She smiled and pointed to the underground cave Neji had been arguing to go with all along. Kiba sighed, and pushed his hood up. "Fine," he gave in.
"Let's go, and she's right, no more fighting," Shikamaru ordered, as they slowly made their way towards the underground cave us undetectively as they could.
--
The "Enter If You Dare" sign fell to the floor, making a soft 'ping!' sound as Shikamaru broke off the lock of the door that concealed the cave.
The cave was darker and colder then outside. The floor seemed to have puddles of water here and there, which splashed up, coating their shoes every time someone stepped into one. The walls were covered in rough, stone that could cut through skin faster then you could blink and an evil aura engulfed the area.
"So you think this is how he does it? Makes a cave for people to go through so they suffocate to death?" Naruto coughed noticing the fading of the clear air, still managing a slight chuckle.
"I wouldn't put anything passed Orochimaru, that guys twisted," Shikamaru added.
"Byakugan!". Neji scanned the area ahead. It was lit up by torches, and it looked as if there were three paths. One leading straight ahead, one to the right and another to the left.
"We're going to have to split up," Neji informed them, as the Byakugan faded from his eyes.
"What? Why!?" Naruto quizzed him, stopping in his tracks, causing everyone behind him to tumble over.
"Naruto-kun!" Sakura shouted, tugging her right leg from under Neji, who was trying to get Kiba off his hair. Naruto simply grinned "Sorry,".
"There are 3 paths up ahead. We don't know where they lead or how long it'll take to inspect all of them," Neji dusted off his hair.
"Hrm, alright. Neji and I will take the path on the right, Kiba and Akamaru take the path on the left, and Naruto and Sakura go straight ahead," Shikamaru explained, breathing in heavily. They all yes'd, yeah'd and yep'd Shikamaru's orders and proceeded onwards.
The paths all seemed to be different. The one to the right was well lit and looked the least scary. The one on the left was as dark as the cave they had entered, while the middle was neither dark nor well-lit, and strangely enough, remained semi-contrasted without the help of torches and such. The group of genin and the one chunin, all nodded at each other, and set off into their assigned paths.
--
Sakura&Naruto:
"S-S-Sakura-chan, can we take a break? It feels like we've been walking for hours," Naruto puffed behind the pink-haired medic-nin.
"Look! The path of this tunnel ends over there, so we can stop there," she smiled sweetly.
Yes, a real smile. So far nothing had gone wrong, and she was beginning to have a positive feel about this mission, though still a part of her was worried about how Neji, Shikamaru, Kiba and Akamaru were doing.
They finally reached the end of the tunnel, and entered a well lit, aristocratic room, with shiny wooden floors. They slowed their pace, as their eyes wandered around the room in amazement. Who knew such a crummy cave would lead to such a well furnished, high-class room?
"Wow..." Naruto gasped as he spun around slowly, plopping himself on the floor as he panted.
"Yeah, wow indeed. Hurry up and rest we need to get on looking for S-S-, well you know who I mean, as fast as we can," Sakura nodded, not making any eye contact with Naruto, a glint of sadness in her eyes as she studied the room.
-Sasuke-kun- she whispered in her head.
--
"Orochimaru-senpai?"
"What is it, Kabuto-kun?" Orochimaru asked, not making any eye contact, seeming as if he was only half listening to Kabuto.
"It's about Uzumaki Naruto," Kabuto smiled, as he saw his master's head prop up in delight.
"And?" Orochimaru replied, tapping a finger on his chair, impatiently.
"Well, we investigated, and he's set up camp, not far from here. Oh- and his with some other brats," Kabuto sniggered as if Orochimaru would have thought Naruto was alone.
"Of course, hm," Orochimaru looked down in thought.
It had been a day since Orochimaru had abandoned Sasuke as a student and locked him in the cells. During the time the time he was awake, he had been in deep thought, and continuously asked Kabuto to leave him be as he thought over his decisions. The best idea he could come up with, was to use blackmail to persuade Naruto into agreeing to become his next vessel.
"Sources say, him and 4 others have entered the-,".
"You mean they're already here and you didn't tell me!?" Orochimaru hissed, glaring coldly at Kabuto.
"Relax, they just entered the cave," Kabuto explained folding his arms against his chest.
Orochimaru closed his eyes as Kabuto continued to blink at him cluelessly, waiting for an order. All was silent. Every now and then though, if you listened close enough, you could hear a feint sound of the night rain from outside. (Yes, it started raining coz I said so xD!)
Kabuto stiffened as his master's snake-like eyes, set gaze upon him, a smirk making its way open his face.
"Well, lets welcome our guests, the best way we know how," Orochimaru laughed, a laugh so evil that it even made Kabuto shiver.
--
(A/N: Woooo yeaaah!! xD did ya's like it? Did ya? Did ya? Did ya? Did ya? Ok... ill shut up now haha, if you're reading this, thankyou for reading this far! I hope you're looking forward to the chapters to come. REVIIIIIIEW REVIIIEW REVIIIEW PLZ!! FREE HUGS AND COOKIES, YOU KNOW IT ;) xD
Hope you's are well xoxoxoxoxo)
