Sooo I finally updated and it took me a while because this chapter doesn't have a lot in it (you can tell by the chapter title) so I wrote the next one and all I have to do is read it over and edit you know, and then I'll post it too! :D
By the way did you guys know you can review your own stories? XD
Aaaannndddd I do not own the series Naruto, but you leggo my plot-to.
(lame jokes are lame)
ALSO, IF YOU HAVE NOT READ UP TO CHAPTER 291 OR WATCHED UP TO EPISODE 40 OF NARUTO SHIPPUDEN THEN THERE WILL BE *SPOILERS* IN THIS CHAPTER. AVOID THEM BY NOT READING THE PIECES IN ALL ITALICS BETWEEN TWO LINES, THOSE ARE QUOTES.
Anyone reading this probably knows what happened though... but just in case!
CHAPTER 8: TRAVEL
Akamaru barked before jumping out of the trees with Kiba on his back, landing on the ground. He began to circle a fallen tree trunk that was hollow on the inside.
"Naruto must have stopped to rest here," Kiba decided after Akamaru got a closer sniff inside and howled. The dog-boy looked out into the trees. "We can't be too far off now."
Kakashi nodded, already springing back into the branches. Leaves fell down onto the others behind him. "Then let's hurry."
Naruto stood there, staring.
His breaths were coming a little shaky. His feet weren't moving. His whole body was frozen like a rock - except his eyes.
Naruto looked out around the landscape. Trees were burned at the edge of the forest, mere black branches stuck in the ground and scattered around Rocks were everywhere, ranging from pebble-like debris to boulders.
Most of all, there was that giant crater that Naruto had seen once before; as though a giant hand had taken a scoop out of the earth. The crater stretched far, and was deeper than six shinobi standing on each other's shoulders.
This crater looks so similar to… before… he thought.
That was a time he didn't want to go back to.
His mind took him there unwillingly though. A little voice in the back of his head began whispering to him, connecting dots and giving theories. It hissed what he didn't want to think about.
"The ground's still fresh…" Naruto said, inspecting the dirt. "First the bridge is destroyed, then this crater here… What on earth happened?"
Yamato looked at him. "You remember nothing?"
"Oh yeah… How come I was unconscious and all?"
A growl escaped Naruto's throat as he pushed the memories away.
No, he thought. This wasn't me – not again.
But the little voice continued to tell him that it was, that it had to be. There were all the similarities; the crater, the land around it destroyed, the loss of memory.
All signs pointed to him.
"No," Naruto said, out loud this time, as though it would make a difference. I'm not giving up just yet, he continued in his head. He clenched his fists as the voice told him that he should give up because he already knew what happened.
Naruto ignored it.
He pushed forward, snaking through the trees alongside the crater, staying far enough back to where the live and healthy ones gave better cover.
He headed for the direction that the ambush had come from.
He headed for the ones he believed to have hurt Sakura.
Naruto cursed.
He thought that when he had crossed that small hill, he'd see a large fortress or something of the sort, barge in, and get some answers.
As he stood at the top of that hill, all he saw was more trees. He groaned.
I've never hated trees so much in my life, Naruto grumbled in his mind. It's so lonely traveling by myself.
Naruto traveled a little farther, as straight as he could. After an about an hour, though, he began to grow tired as the sky darkened. He decided he needed to rest, but first he shimmied up the tallest tree he could find.
First, Naruto judged from the sun's position how much daylight he had left to travel by; not much. About half an hour, which (after looking in the direction he was heading) would only get him a little bit deeper into the forest.
But there, a small gray speck on the horizon, was something. Naruto assumed it was the enemy, and set its location in his mind. He stared at the trees, looking for anything unique he could use as a landmark. There was nothing.
Before he climbed back down, Naruto glanced to the rear, looking out at the land he had traveled. He searched with his eyes and probed as far as he dared with his chakra, but he didn't find anyone.
Are they coming after me? Naruto wondered. He still couldn't see over that hill, though; for all he knew his friends and teammates could be standing right behind it.
Naruto sighed and climbed back down, jumping the last twenty feet. He figured he might as well make the best out of that half hour and set off, walking on the ground this time. Sooner than he'd thought, the sun began to set, shrouding the forest in darkness.
Naruto couldn't find another hollowed out tree trunk, so he had to make do with squeezing between some large rocks and behind a big fluffy bush that hid him pretty well.
Naruto rolled onto his back, staring at the stars that had begun to appear. It didn't take long for his eyes to drift closed and he slept. At first, his mind was a blank, black space, but a dream- a memory- slowly began to form.
Naruto was unconscious, lying on his back on the hard ground. His mind was black and his whole body hurt with a fiery pain. Then he realized he could feel, and that his mind had awakened. A warmness on his chest spread throughout his whole body – he assumed it was chakra. He was being healed.
Naruto woke up from his unconscious state.
"Sa… Sakura…" Naruto said. She was the first thing he saw; her beautiful face with smooth features, glowing green eyes staring at him and pink hair hanging down. He was so glad he had awakened to her, because that meant that she was alright. He began to sit up and pain hit him hard. "Ou… ouch-ouch-ouch…"
"Naruto…" Sakura's voice was strained.
"Huh?" Naruto said. "What the… What happened to me?" He suddenly noticed her. "Eh? Why are you crying, Sakura?"
Naruto woke up with a start. Sakura was there, hanging over him as he woke up. Just like she had before, just like in his memory. She smiled at him. Naruto reached a hand up to touch her face.
A wind blew and she vanished with it.
Naruto held back a sob. The hallucination of her was gone, and he felt cold inside.
The night had somehow sped by and light was seeping through the trees above him as Naruto rolled over on the ground, his body stiff. Birds tweeted morning songs in the trees as Naruto pushed himself up and looked around, a small piece of him hoping to see her.
He didn't.
For the first time since it all started, Naruto felt like he could let a few tears out.
Naruto closed his eyes and ran a hand over his face. Her face flashed in his mind – the bright green eyes, beautiful smile, soft pink hair…
Naruto jumped into the trees and sped off, not bothering to set a pace. He traveled as fast as he could - he needed to get those answers and get back to her.
He was going to be the first one she saw, like she had been for him.
When she woke up, Naruto was going to be there for her.
Kiba pulled Akamaru to a halt, staring. He began slowly sliding off the dog's back. The rest of his team slowed down, coming to a gradual stop in a line next to him.
They were standing at the edge of the crater - at the edge of the destruction.
"This… was Naruto?" Chouji asked.
"Yes," Kakashi answered quietly.
"Seeing this... Sakura's current state doesn't come as a surprise," Shikamaru decided, looking out over the wreckage.
"Is he here?" Lee asked, jumping on a nearby boulder and looking around. "Is he here?"
"I doubt it," Kiba said. "Neji?"
Neji nodded and activated his Byakugan. His eyes scanned the area. The veins around his eyes relaxed.
"Well?"
"We better keep moving."
Naruto was being smart.
He wished that someone was there, just so that he could show-off a little. He had been wandering through the trees, often losing his path, wandering in the wrong direction, and having to backtrack.
So now he was making his own path to follow. He climbed to the top of the tallest tree he could find nearby, and took out all the explosive kunai he had. He threw them out, straight ahead of him so that they would stick and explode, creating a marker for a path. He threw one pretty close, then one some distance away from that one, until he'd thrown as far as he could in the direction of what he could tell was a castle-like fortress.
Naruto climbed down and walked forward, congratulating himself when he reached his first checkpoint. He found the kunai, which was now normal, and stuck it back in his pack. When he got to the fifth checkpoint he would be halfway to the fortress, and then he'd climb up and throw more. Then, he'd be there.
Naruto grinned, heading for the second checkpoint.
I'm so smart, he thought. If only Iruka could see me now. I wonder if even Shikamaru would have thought to do that.
Thinking of his friends made him wonder if they really were coming after him. He glanced backwards before picking up his pace.
He needed to get there, just in case.
Wooo! That was soooo exciting, huh? See, I didn't want to give you guys this after so long and then be like "HAHA now you have to wait even longer for something to actually happen!"
LOL here's my random update about my life which none of you actually care about~
Unrequited crushes. D': They hurt your heart, man.
BOOHOOHOOOOOO. I AM SAD. KIND OF.
Just so you guys know, it's so easy to review now, I mean, a new window doesn't even open up! WOW!
Sooooooooo
noooow
gooo
REVIEW!
