A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys! Some of you seem disappointed that people are dying but remember guys it's the hunger games! Anyway here's the next chapter.
The Naruto Games
Chapter 7
When Naruto and Hinata woke up from a long rest they were both hungry and sore. They were also covered in a layer of muck and filth after nearly drowning in quicksand. So they slowly made their way over to the lake which was full of clean, drinkable water.
"Is it safe?" Hinata asked as they approached the lake.
"I don't see anyone around, but they could be waiting to ambush us." He groaned.
"So what should we do?"
"I'm going in anyway," he told her. "You wait till I give you the sign. Once I've looked around and nobody tries to kill me I'll let you know it's safe."
"Be careful!" Hinata whispers as he runs out into the open.
Naruto stumbled to the lake's edge and looked around. He didn't spot anyone hiding among the trees and no one came out. After waiting a minute just to be sure he bent down on his knees and scooped a handful of water into his hands and drank from it. The water was cool and refreshing.
He wanted more but wanted Hinata to have some too. Standing back up he looked around one more time to be safe and then gave Hinata the hand signal the two had agreed on earlier. A few seconds passed before she came running toward him.
"It's safe," he told her. "I think if anyone was waiting to ambush someone they'd have attacked me by now." He bent back down to get another drink and Hinata did the same. After he had his fill he splashed the water on his face. Remembering how dirty he was he walked out into the water far enough that it was up to his neck.
"Cold! Cold! Cold!" he repeated as he tried to wash the muck off himself despite the freezing cold water. Hinata was right behind him doing the same but managed to keep quiet except for the occasional whimper she couldn't manage to suppress.
Because of the cold they didn't last more than a few minutes. They sat on the grass beside the lake as they tried to warm themselves up. Just then Hinata nudged Naruto. "N-Naruto look," she said stuttering. "I think I see someone on the other side of the lake!"
The blonde looked over to where she was pointing and could see what looked like a body lying on the ground beside the lake. They hadn't noticed it earlier because it was on the exact opposite side of the lake. The sight interested Naruto, but not in a good way.
"It's probably a dead body." He said. "Someone probably killed that guy and the body's been left there."
"Are you sure?" Hinata stood up to get a better look. "Maybe we should go take a look."
"Well it can't hurt," he conceded. Hinata took the lead and they slowly walked around the lake toward the body. As they got closer they could see the body better and the sight shocked Naruto. He suddenly ran past Hinata toward the body.
"Sakura!" He called out. At this range he could easily distinguish her pink hair that she always kept neat now dirtied. She was lying on her stomach with her face down in the grass only inches away from the water. Fear gripped Naruto's stomach at the sight of the blood covering one of her arms. The rest of her however seemed intact.
Reaching her he held his hands out to do something but hesitated to touch her. As those few seconds passed Hinata reached him. "Be careful Naruto." The blonde nodded as he slowly turned her over. She stirred but did not awake. Hinata took the arm that was unhurt and checked for a pulse. "She's alive."
Naruto smiled. "That's great! But she's definitely hurt. We should bandage her arm."
"It might be infected. We should clean it first." The Hyuga suggested. The two carefully edged her over closer to the water and Hinata dipped the wounded arm in the water to clean it. When she finished they pulled her back onto the grass.
"I'll take care of the bandage." Naruto said before ripping the lower portion of his left pants leg off. Carefully he wrapped it around Sakura's wound and tied it. The blonde looked down at his no longer matching pants and wondered if he should just rip the other one off to.
Just then Sakura started to stir. She moaned slightly and Hinata and Naruto both hovered above her in wait. Slowly she opened her eyes a few times before she finally realized she was looking at two people staring at her. Suddenly her eyes were all the way open and she cried out. "Ah!"
The sudden shout surprised the two teens and pushed jumped back. Sakura suddenly tried to pull herself up to her feet. "Wait! Stop!" Hinata told her grabbing her should and trying to push her back down. "You're injured!"
"Get away from me!" Sakura tried to push the dark haired girl back with her uninjured arm.
"Sakura it's okay!" Naruto said trying to draw her attention. "It's me! See?" The pinkette stopped for a moment when she noticed the blonde.
"Naruto?" She paused. "What's going on?"
"That's what I was going to ask you!" he cracked a smile. "We just found you lying here near the lake."
"Were you attacked?" Hinata asked.
Sakura gazed at Hinata warily. "Why are you here?"
"We teamed up," Naruto explained. "I couldn't find you so Hinata and I have been working together. What happened anyway?"
Sakura rubbed her head. "I need a drink first…" She hobbled over to the water's edge and gulped down handfuls of ice cold water. As soon as she got a brain freeze she stopped drinking. "I'm sorry to ask but do either of you two have any food?"
"We have a few berries left but that's all." Hinata said offering the hungry girl the berries. She quickly consumed them all.
"Now we'll need to find some more food." Naruto said observing his own hunger.
"Sorry about that." Sakura lowered her head. "But now I'll tell you what happened." The other two listened in eagerly. "Once the hunger games started I didn't go too far from the cornucopia. I stayed close by and searched for you Naruto but I had no idea where you went."
"I ran in the beginning so I didn't have any weapons or supplies. I spent a cold night sleeping on the ground hungry. The next morning I spied on the elites and hoped to get the chance to steal some food. I got lucky as two tributes attacked that morning and distracted the two guarding everything.
Unfortunately when I ran up to grab the supplies I was spotted by one of the attackers. He shot me in the arm and I barely managed to escape." She explained. "I didn't get far before falling unconscious. When I woke up I wandered further into the forest and found this lake. I managed to drink a few sips before I fell unconscious again."
"And that's where we found you." Naruto said finishing the story. Sakura nodded.
"What happened to the supplies you stole?" Hinata asked.
Realization hit Sakura. "Oh…I forgot." She looked around as if expecting to see the supplies lying beside her. "I think I dropped them a little ways before I found the lake. They can't be too far."
"Then let's go look for them." Naruto suggested standing up. "Do you think you can walk?"
"I'll be fine." Sakura said getting to her feet. "As long as I don't have to use this arm anytime soon." She held her injured arm carefully with the other.
The three of them headed in the direction Sakura had come from. They went slowly as to make sure they didn't miss a pack lying around. Ten minutes later a negative idea crossed Hinata's mind.
"M-Maybe someone else found it."
"Maybe, but I don't think so." Sakura said looking under a bush. She didn't see it so she moved further back. "Ah ha!" She said a minute later holding up a pack of supplies for the other two to see. It was lying on top of a tree stump.
"You found it!" Naruto cheered.
"Naruto, be quiet!" Sakura shushed him. "Now let's see what's inside." Unzipping the top she stuck a hand inside and rummaged around.
"Is there any food?" The blonde asked feeling hopeful.
"Surprisingly…yes!" Sakura said pulling out a handful of energy bars and dried meat. "There's also a large knife," she pulled it out and waved it near the others, "And a sleeping bag."
"This will come in handy." Hinata said holding the sleeping bag.
"Agreed!" Sakura smiled.
It was approaching late afternoon as Ino and Shikamaru made their way past the desert part of the arena. They were still fleeing from Temari. She had been tracking them the better part of the day and by now they were tired and hungry.
Just then Ino fell to her knees in defeat. "Shikamaru we got to stop."
"We can't stop." He told her. "We only have a few minutes lead on that girl. If we don't keep going she'll catch us and kill us."
"What if we hid in one of those caves?" She asked pointing to the series of caves to their left that were part of the mountain.
The dark haired boy walked toward one of the caves if only because he needed to keep moving. He stood outside one and tried to look in but it was too dark. Either way he didn't think the cave was very big. Just then he heard something on his right. Turning his head he covered his mouth with his hand to make sure he didn't make a sound.
A rather large wolf was going into the next cave over. Lucky for Shikamaru it hadn't noticed him. He realized it must be one of the dangers the game masters put in to increase the excitement. As quiet as he could he scurried back over to Ino.
"What is it?" She asked upon seeing the look on his face.
"Wolves," he whispered to her. "There's one in that cave."
"Are you serious? Shit! Now we have to keep going." The blonde looked like she couldn't go another step.
"No we don't," Shikamaru said looking thoughtful. "I have an idea. Give me your shoe."
"What?" Ino asked but the boy had already pulled it off of her left foot. "Hey give that back! What are you going to do?"
Shikamaru quietly tip-toed back in front of the cave with the wolf and carefully dropped the shoe in front of the cave entrance. He tried to make it look discreet as if it had just fallen off. Then he hurried back to Ino.
"What was that for?" She asked having stood back up.
"I think we can mislead her into giving in one of those caves." He explained. "But it won't work if we're out here in the open. We have to hide. Now."
Of course if there had been anywhere to hide before they would've just hidden and stayed there. Instead they had to go somewhere else to hide. Carefully but quickly climbing a side of the mountain they hid on top of one of the caves. If Temari ignored the caves and went onward she'd spot them for sure. It was a big gamble.
Barely sixty seconds after they had hidden themselves Temari appeared following their trail. She was rather tired of this game by now. It had gone on far longer than she had hoped and now she just wanted to kill the two of them and get some rest.
Their trail had led her to these caves and she guessed they had gone around them which would take considerable time allowing her to catch up quickly. But as she looked around (to make sure they weren't hiding somewhere in plain sight) she caught sight of something near the caves.
Moving closer she saw it was the girl tribute's shoe. "Well look at this," she said picking up the shoe and holding it up. She smirked at the realization that the two must've tried to hide in one of the caves but the girl had stupidly lost her shoe. "Tragic to come this far yet lose here." She laughed.
Pulling an arrow from her quiver she prepared her bow and stepped into the darkness of the cave.
A few minutes passed. From where Shikamaru was lying on his stomach he could not see anything beside the rock in front of him. He had heard Temari approach but had no way of knowing whether she had gone in the cave or not. For all he knew she was waiting right there waiting for them to pop their heads out and expose themselves.
Deciding to risk it he lifted his head and exposed himself in order to see if she was still there. She wasn't which Shikamaru realized meant she must've fallen for his trap and gone into the cave. He breathed a sigh of relief before turning to Ino.
"Alright Ino it worked. She went into the cave." He explained. "Now we've got to get down and get out of here quick."
They descended with haste and were soon back on the ground. "You're sure she went in?" Ino asked. Shikamaru nodded. "Then what are you worried about? She's probably being ripped apart as we speak! I'm not sorry either; she deserved it!"
"I'm just being careful." Shikamaru looked around like a paranoid person. "Come on, let's go." He started to head back the way they came when he realized something. "Wait a second, I never heard a cannon go off…"
"Ummm…Shikamaru?" Ino's voice was filled with fear and dread. Shikamaru turned around to see something terrifying.
Temari had dragged herself out of the cave with the wolf inside. She was bleeding extensively from her left arm and a gash on her head. Her clothes were so ripped Shikamaru could clearly see her bra; the front of her blouse that covered it having been ripped off somehow. The quiver on her back only had one arrow left but it might as well have had zero as the bow she carried in her hands was now broken in two. She spit out a tooth.
"Holy shit."
"You're both dead." Temari said glaring at the two. "Dead!"
Shikamaru turned to Ino. "We can take her! She's weak!"
Temari threw the broken bow to the ground and pulled what looked like a thin tube from her pocket. She then took what seemed like a small needle and put it inside. Shikamaru realized what it was but he was too late. Temari blew the dart out of the tube and it shot out and into Ino's neck.
The blonde gasped and immediately pulled the dart out. "Oh no!"
"That's poison," Temari said. "You'll be dead in a few minutes."
"No!" Shikamaru shouted. Gripping the wooden stake in his right hand he lunged straight at the girl. Seeing him coming Temari dropped the tube and whipped out a knife that was attached to her leg.
It was hard to tell who struck first. If someone had blinked they would've missed it entirely. But when Shikamaru blinked he found the wooden stake he made dug into Temari's right shoulder. Looking down he saw the girl's knife had slashed across his stomach. Crimson blood was now leaking out onto his shirt.
Letting go of the stake he took a few steps back and tripped. Falling onto his back he hit the hard ground. Only a foot away Ino also fell to the ground as her legs became paralyzed.
"I win…" Temari said slowly. She then started to walk off; limping the whole way.
"Shikamaru…" Ino whispered. "I can't move my body…and it's getting hard to breathe…"
The male turned his head to see the blonde laying beside him. He was racked with terrible pain from his stomach and was almost certain Temari's blow had been fatal. Even if it hadn't he knew he would bleed to death anyway. "I'm sorry Ino, this is all my fault…"
"No…it's not. You can't take all the credit."
Shikamaru turned his head up toward the sky. He could see the clouds passing by overhead. "I never wanted…any of this." He told her. "I just wanted to be a lazy guy and stare at the clouds. That was enough for me."
He was having a hard time swallowing but kept going. "I just wanted to have a normal boring life. I'd get a job and marry a moderately attractive woman and have two kids; a boy and a girl. Then I'd grow old and die."
"That's so boring it makes me want to fall asleep." Ino told him.
"Don't fall asleep." He warned her.
"Hey Shikamaru?"
"Yeah…?"
"Do you think I could be that moderately attractive woman?" She asked.
"You're too beautiful to be called moderately attractive." He informed her. "But…yeah. I'd like that."
He reached over with the last of his strength and took her hand with his. He closed his hand around hers and squeezed it gently. She couldn't feel it.
A minute later two cannons went off.
But poor, injured Temari didn't get far. She had limped away on sheer determination alone but now that she heard the cannons go off she was starting to feel pretty light headed. Seeing double was a bad sign so she couldn't help but try to lie down.
She didn't really manage to lie down. It was more like she fell down on her face and immediately fell unconscious. Which as it turned out was really bad luck for her. As a mere five minutes later the redhead Karin happened to come across her unconscious body.
"Whoa," she said taken back as she turned the girl over. "Is this chick still alive? Well…not for long." She took the last remaining arrow out of the quiver on Temari's back and stabbed it into her neck. As Karin let go of the arrow a cannon went off. Seeing that her work was done the redhead pocketed the knife she found on the body and continued her search.
"Oh Sasuke…"
"Where are you…?"
A/N: 8 tributes are left. By the end of the next chapter that number will be cut in half. Reviews are appreciated!
Alive: Naruto, Sakura, Hinata, Sasuke, Kiba, Neji, Haku, Karin
Dead: Tayuya, Matsuri, Sasame, Chouji, Amaru, Kankuro, Shino, Dosu, Rock Lee, Kin, Shion, Gaara, Tenten, Ino, Shikamaru, Temari
