By the time the group had set off they only had about three hours of decent traveling time before the sun started to set. Still, everyone was so restless and anxious to finally be moving again that they had pushed their horses and gone twice as fast as their pace had been thus far. As vast as the plains of the valley had seemed, soon enough the group found the ground becoming softer and more trees sprouting. It wasn't much of a forest, but it was still far different from the isolated landscapes that many of them had been around their whole lives.
"I've only read about forests like this before," Sakura remarked as they entered the group of trees on horseback. "I never thought I'd actually see one."
"It's sort of spooky, isn't it?" Choji remarked. Between the darkening sky and the sparse light filtered through the trees the forest was quite dim and had a creepy air. It was a stark contrast to the broad horizon of the valleys they were used to, where you could see for miles across the flat, featureless land.
"Spooky?" Naruto repeated nervously. "You don't think there's... ghosts... do you?"
"I have heard stories about this place," Neji said calmly.
"Stories? What kind of stories?" Naruto groaned as he looked around uneasily. As reckless and gutsy as he was, spirits were the one thing that creeped him out. When he was growing up in the orphanage all of the older kids would try to frighten the younger ones like him with ghost stories, and he could still remember spending nights huddled under his blankets out of fear.
"Our tribe has many tales of dark spirits gathering in these woods," Neji further explained. "Many of our men who come here meet strange ends, and they say that they are killed by angry spirits who don't like visitors in their realm."
"Then why the heck are we here!" Naruto yelped with a shiver, wrapping his arms tightly around his rust colored horse.
"Neji... you shouldn't scare Naruto like that," Hinata said to her cousin quietly from her position in front of him.
"Come on, they're just stories a bunch of people make up when they have nothing better to do," Shikamaru said. "Are you really gonna listen to this guy?" After the kidnapping ordeal Shikamaru still couldn't bring himself to trust Neji, and it didn't help that the Hyuga always wore a rigid look of disapproval on his face. Something about him just didn't sit right with the genius.
"Do not mock the stories my tribe has told for generations," Neji coldly warned Shikamaru. He didn't raise his voice in any way, but the amount of venom in it was enough to express his animosity
"What a pain," Shikamaru muttered before falling silent again.
"I think this place is actually sort of pretty," Ino said in a surprisingly cheerful voice. "We should stop here for the night! There's plenty of wood to make a campfire."
Naruto gulped and said, "I don't mind a campfire, but no scary stories!"
"But that's the whole fun of campfires!" Choji remarked. "Well, that and roasting food over the fire."
Sasuke, who was at the front, halted his horse and turned around. "The sun will set in less than an hour. We can stop for the night then." He continued on wordlessly and the others followed suit.
"What do you think?" Ino leaned forward on the saddle to whisper to Sakura.
"Think about what?" Sakura muttered back.
"I don't know... about the forest, leaving home, the new people," Ino responded. She could have easily figured out Sakura's thoughts if she wanted to, but she strayed away from the temptation of reading her mind. Simply scanning people's minds was way too easy. Asking questions and trying to prod information out was a lot more challenging and interesting.
"I don't have any gossip for you, Ino," Sakura said with a smug smile, knowing her friend's true intentions.
"Hey! I was asking about you because I care! Not because I'm interested in cheap gossip," Ino said in a huff. "But speaking of gossip, you have to tell me about your love life! Have you had a boyfriend?"
"What kind of question is that! It's a bit personal, don't you think?" Sakura acted annoyed, but she was more embarrassed than anything. She didn't want to admit it but she really didn't have any knowledge of boys, whereas Ino seemed so experienced.
"Come on, don't act like that!" Ino said lightly. "I'll say if you do!"
"You really are acting like we're kids again." Sakura smiled in spite of herself, then sighed. "Fine, I'll play along. I've never had a boyfriend."
"Really!" Ino said in an exaggerated voice. "But you've grown to be so pretty! Surely you and Naruto...?"
"Naruto? What makes you think that! There's hardly any boys left in Konoha, and Naruto's more like a little brother to me anyways," Sakura said, then turned around and eyed Ino. "Well, go on. Don't you want to brag about how many boyfriends you've had?"
"What's that supposed to mean!"
"Don't try to be coy, Ino, I know why you asked me," Sakura teased her friend. "You only asked me so you could talk about your own experiences."
"For your information there's nothing to tell," Ino said pointedly.
"That's not fair! You said you would say if I did," Sakura protested.
"I did answer! I told you there's nothing to tell. I haven't had any boyfriends at all."
Sakura raised her eyebrows in surprise. "But you've been so many places! You've gone everywhere for your famous carnival act and performed for so many people, surely there must have been someone? I mean, with the way you look, too..."
"Really, that's what you thought? That's not it at all!" Ino said with a laugh. In a louder tone she added, "Hey Shikamaru! Choji! Sakura thinks our carnival act is famous! Isn't that something?"
"Well she's the first person to think that," Choji said with a light chuckle.
"Maybe we would be more famous if me and Choji put in a little more effort and followed your troublesome script, eh?" Shikamaru said sarcastically.
"That's right, Shikamaru, and don't you forget it! Soon as this whole thing is over I'll write a new script that's twice as good as the old one!" Ino declared loudly to her friend, who only shook his head and allowed a hint of a smile to take over. In a quieter tone to Sakura she said, "Now you see why I haven't had a boyfriend! I've been stuck with those two morons the past 10 years." She chuckled under her breath in good humor and the pair fell silent again.
"That girl is so loud and brash," Neji muttered so that only Hinata could hear. "The way she yells demands at the other men is truly an insult. Women in their culture don't seem to understand their place below men."
"Then... you would want me to be the opposite?" Hinata asked softly.
"Most of the time you seem to remember your place, but your recent behavior is troubling to both your father and I," Neji answered. When Neji lectured Hinata, something he did often, it was hard for her to think of him as being less than two years older than herself. He already had all the strict and stubborn behavior of a man twice his age. "I suppose this journey is your chance to think about your position in the tribe," he continued.
"I will try," she promised. "But... maybe.. while we are here, you should be nicer to the others."
"I owe them nothing, least of all do I owe them my kindness. Do not forget why we are here. It is not to make friends with these people. It is only to reap the reward from the gang of bandits, so we can purchase guns to better protect our kin. The continued safety of the Hyuga tribe should be our sole purpose in all we do. As the princess you must already know this well."
"I understand my duty," Hinata answered without thinking. She had felt that this journey might be a chance to see the ways of the world outside of the Hyuga tribe and her father's judgement, but so far it was simply Neji reminding her of her failures and duties as often as he could.
When the sun had disappeared to only a sliver over the horizon the group stopped and got off their horses to begin setting up camp for the night. The Hyuga tribe had lent many woven blankets to the group, which they pulled out of the caravan and began spreading on the floor as makeshift beds.
"You two collect firewood," Sasuke ordered to Shikamaru and Choji, who were leaning against the caravan.
"What a drag. You have two hands, don't you," Shikamaru groaned in protest, but nevertheless him and his chubby friend set off to collect various logs and branches. "That Sasuke guy is really getting on my nerves," he confessed to Choji.
"He is a little weird," Choji said as he picked up an enormous log with no struggle and broke it into pieces. "But he's the reason we're here, so we should probably respect him."
"I'm here for a number of reasons, but none of them are cuz of him," Shikamaru responded. "And I don't give out respect so easily, especially not to some cocky bastard only in this for himself."
Choji shook his head and laughed. "You really don't approve of people too easily, eh Shikamaru?"
"I like Naruto better. He's pretty annoying and has way too much energy, but he seems like an honest guy. I would rather follow him than Sasuke."
"Even if you don't like Sasuke, isn't it nice to be around other people for once?" Choji suggested, adding another huge branch on to his already towering stack.
"Troublesome as it is I suppose you're right. And even though I might seem lazy or not serious about anything, I really do want to put an end to these Akatsuki, and not just for the reward. Ino's right, we owe it to our fathers. They didn't give their lives only to have us con people as a traveling side show."
"It sounds pretty bad saying it like that. It doesn't make us bad people, right?"
Choji and Shikamaru started to head back once their arms were full. "Nah," Shikamaru answered. "But I guess it doesn't really make us good people either."
"Then we'll just have work hard to be better then!" Choji said with enthusiastic determination. "You'll see, Shikamaru, we'll make our dads proud."
"For now I'm just looking to survive the night," Shikamaru muttered as they got back to camp. Neji was tying their horses up to trees off to the side while Hinata was feeding them. Ino and Sakura were searching through their supplies while Naruto and Sasuke were kneeled over arguing.
"That's not how you do it," Sasuke said to Naruto as he grabbed the sticks he was rubbing together. The Uchiha held one of the sticks vertical over the other stick and started twisting it in a downward motion. Naruto pouted and grabbed a few other sticks and continued rubbing them together in the fashion he was earlier.
"I can do it just as easily as you can!" Naruto claimed as he started to rub his sticks together at a rapid pace. Sasuke noticed this and began to grind his stick even faster. The two rivals alternated between looking at their sticks and stealing determined glances at the other. Shikamaru and Choji dumped their logs beside them wordlessly, but they made no sign that they even noticed the two as they were so busy competing.
"I did it!" they both exclaimed simultaneously as a small flame lit on each of their sticks. They turned and each saw the other had created a fire as well. "I did it first!"
"Hurry, you idiots, before the fire burns out!" Sakura chided as she appeared beside them. She arranged some kindling around the two small flames and blew so it caught fire. "Thanks for the firewood, you two," she said to Shikamaru and Choji, who were still standing off to the side.
Hinata, Neji, and Ino came over and they all sat close to the fire for warmth as Sakura continued to tend to it. It had always been one of her duties on the farm to keep the fireplace lit so it was almost second nature to her as she stoked the flames.
They all ate some of their provisions and were too distracted in their food for any real conversation to form, so the night had become eerily quiet until a nearby bush shook.
Naruto stiffened but made no other indication he was afraid, but Hinata still noticed. "Mr. Naruto, don't be afraid," she said quietly to him so the others wouldn't hear.
"What! Who says I'm afraid! I'm definitely not afraid of any ghosts," he said nervously. "And call me Naruto, why don't you? Mr. sounds so weird and stuffy, and if you really are a princess it's probably not right to call me by a title."
"Oh.. okay," she stammered. "But it seems too casual to call you by just your name."
"I like casual! It means we're friends now, "Naruto said with a grin. Hinata looked at the flames as her face turned the same color as the blazing fire. "Say, are Neji's stories really true, about this forest and everything? Not that I'm scared, I just... uh... I'm interested to hear about your culture, yeah, that's it."
"Well, there are a few stories," she answered in a quiet voice. "But I'm sure it's not true."
"What, you don't believe in them?"
"Um... sometimes... but I don't know," she whispered. "I have never left the village so... I can't say for sure."
"It's my first time leaving Konoha, too," Naruto said as he took a huge bite out of some of the cooked meat. "Hey, this stuff is pretty good!" He proceeded to shove the whole thing in his mouth and chew loudly.
"Uh, Naruto?" Hinata offered. She bent her head and stuck out her portion of the meat he had just gobbled up. "Please take mine."
"Hey, don't you want to eat it? If I were you I wouldn't give away something so tasty!"
"Please," she said softly again, until he eventually took it off her hands and ate the whole thing in one bed. She looked away to hide a small smile, but it didn't go unnoticed by Neji, who was watching her with a disapproving nature from across the fire.
"Gee, thanks Hinata!" Naruto said enthusiastically. "I thought you were kind of weird and quiet, but now I'm really starting to like you!"
Hinata's face turned more red than ever. He likes me? she thought happily.
On the other side of the campfire Ino yawned loudly and stretched her arms up when she was done eating. "I'm getting tired. Being kidnapped really is exhausting," she said as she purposefully shot a glare at Neji.
"If you are tired it is probably because you move your mouth too much," Neji responded with little expression. Shikamaru and Choji were struggling not to laugh, amused by Neji's accurate appraisal but worried about making Ino direct her fiery temper at them.
Ino seemed at a loss for words and gaped her mouth several times in offense.
"It worked. She stopped talking," Sasuke observed.
"I'll have you know many people find my conversation to be very pleasant! At least I'm not quiet and sulking all the time like most of you!" she countered indignantly.
"And there she goes again," he muttered.
"Well, either way I really am tired," she announced, still a little miffed. She stood up and made her way to the makeshift bed she had set up for the night, and soon enough most of the group followed suit. Between the run in with the Hyuga tribe and the hours of traveling, it had been quite the long day, and it didn't take long until everyone was sound asleep.
Naruto's eyes shot open in the middle of the night when he heard a noise in the camp. Oh man, oh man, he thought nervously. It's a ghost for sure. He was tempted to hide under his blankets as he had always done in the past, but he decided it was time he manned up and faced his fear. He hesitantly stood up and tiptoed around the other sleeping bodies.
"Hello? Uh... any ghosts out there?" Naruto called out quietly. He followed a long ways down to where he had heard the rustling and ran head on straight into something solid. Someone covered his mouth and he flailed around in fear.
"Naruto, it's me," a voice whispered. He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he saw Sasuke standing there with a pack slung on his back.
Naruto peeled Sasuke's hands off his mouth. "Hey, what are you doing! Are you going somewhere?"
"Be quiet!" Sasuke hissed. "And yeah, I was about to leave."
"Don't leave yet, everyone is still sleeping!" Naruto admonished. He turned and said, "Here, I'll go wake them up and tell them you want to get an early start."
Sasuke grabbed his collar and pulled him back forcefully. "Don't be stupid. I'm leaving on my own."
"What! Are you crazy! Why would you leave?" Naruto struggled to keep his voice low in spite of his opposition.
"This group is completely dysfunctional and you know it," Sasuke said coldly. "I'd rather face the Akatsuki alone. It was always my plan, and I don't care whether I live or die accomplishing it. But no matter what I'll do it, and I'll do it myself."
"You think you can face off against the entire gang alone? Don't you know that's suicide!"
"I told you, I don't care if I live or die. The Akatsuki murdered my entire family, and from the moment that happened I swore some day I would have my revenge," Sasuke replied.
"You're not the only one who's lost things, you know, so stop acting like the whole burden is on you!" Naruto raised his voice slightly in frustration.
Sasuke's eyes flashed dangerously and he turned on Naruto with years of pent up rage spilling out. "Just shut up! Don't act like you know anything about what it's like to lose something! You always had nothing, no family or anything, so you have no idea what it's like to have that happiness only for it to be taken away. None of you have any idea, so don't try to act like you understand! It's my burden and mine alone."
"Maybe you're right, maybe I don't know what it's like to lose something. But I do know what pain feels like. Every day in Konoha people looked at me like I was a problem, like they wished they could just make me disappear. I didn't have any family, any friends, and people would barely look at me unless I was in some sort of trouble. And then they would only say, 'It figures he would be a trouble maker. He is the traitor's son after all'."
"You are the son of a traitor. And that means that soiled blood runs in you," Sasuke hissed.
"Maybe, and I guess that means I'm scum," Naruto admitted begrudgingly, "But with that logic you also have the spirit of a great sheriff inside you, and he would never give up on anyone, especially not when the town was at stake."
"My father wouldn't have hung around a crowd like that," Sasuke said as he motioned to the sleeping gang.
"Yeah, we might not individually be strong," Naruto said. "But when we come together we have strength in numbers and strength in each other. They're people you can rely on, Sasuke. You don't have to do it alone."
"How can you look at them and say I'm stronger with them!" Sasuke protested. "You think those lame carnies have anything to contribute? I doubt any of them can even hold a gun. And Sakura is just a weak girl who should have never left her farm. For all we know those Hyuga's could stab us in the back at any moment. How can you tell me we're stronger together? We're a broken group and you know it. I'm better off alone."
"I won't let you go, no matter what," Naruto said as he stepped in front of Sasuke, who had started to turn away. "Yeah, we might not be strong right now, but I can tell you we're a thousand times stronger together than apart."
Sasuke glared at Naruto but continued to listen.
"The thing is, strength isn't just about power. It's about having someone you can count on, knowing that you're fighting for someone, not something."
"What can an orphan like you know about it?"
"That's the thing... maybe I don't know really know anything," Naruto admitted. "But I do know that you're my friend, and there's no way I would let you go off alone on a suicide mission." The two stood there for a moment in silence before Sasuke started to walk back towards camp.
"So you'll stay?" Naruto asked.
"Guess I don't have a choice. Even if I left you'd just follow me and never leave me alone," he muttered. Naruto grinned as he walked back with his friend and laid back down. He wasn't sure if Sasuke really believed what he had said, but it was enough to make him stay and that was victory enough in itself.
Some have asked if the other characters will appear in the story, and the answer is yes! There will be several other characters introduced in the upcoming chapters.
On another note f anyone is interested I made a few illustrations to the story when I got writer's block. You can check them out here:
Not sure if you can share links so I'll separate it just in case: : / / porkycat . deviant art
This was sort of a transition chapter so not much happened, I wanted to show more of the group slowly bonding. The story will pick up again next chapter, which will be out in a few days. Thanks for all your reviews and nice words!
