Yes! A double update? And why? Because... I finished this story. Sadface...
"Another day, another nickel!" I chirped, rolling up my sleeping bag the next morning.
"I thought it was another dollar," Sam grumbled.
I smiled. At least she was responsive. "Spongebob," I explained.
Sasuke gave me an odd look.
I just shook my head, bounced to my feet, and announced, "Today, we go downhill!"
"Downhill isn't fun either," Anna muttered, rubbing her feet at nightfall.
I sighed.
"And colder," Sierra added.
"Point," I mumbled, yawned, and got into my sleeping bag. "Sasuke, you're first watch."
He nodded, walked over to the veggie Sam, and leaned down. "Please stop going to the past," he whispered right before I drifted off. I was asleep by the time he said his next words. "I know it's sad. I get that. I, of all people, should get that. My family's been gone for a long time now."
Sam's response was actually looking up at him. There's some progress.
"Just come to the present right now," he chided, actually sounding nice. Trust me, this is kinda rare. "You can look back and reflect on things when we get to safety. Until then, stay with us, okay?"
Sam blinked slowly.
Sasuke sighed. "You know, it hurts me to see you like this."
Sam's eyes expressed obvious confusion.
"So…." He tried not to look sheepish. "At least talk to us once in awhile. You don't have to be talkative, just don't take it all on your own. We're all here for you."
She looked down again, looking almost guilty. "Okay," she whispered, and an awkward silence consumed the mostly one-sided conversation. Sam pointed to her sleeping bag. "I don't fit," she said abruptly, just when Sasuke was about to walk away.
Sasuke blinked. "Oh," he said, got his sleeping bag out of his backpack, and spread it out on the rocky ground. "You can lay on this," he said, gesturing to it, "and use yours as a blanket," he finished, already unzipping hers. Sam did as he suggested.
"I feel like a whale," she muttered as Sasuke spread the blanket over her.
He allowed a small, lopsided smile before he headed to sit at watch. Sam was getting herself back.
"I hate mornings, hmmm," Deidara grumbled, rubbing his right eye. He gazed wearily at the rice pilaf left on his table, still warm. He frowned and read the note. It was from Sakura, wishing him well. He scowled. He hated rice pilaf. With a passion. He sat on the chair and stared at it for a second. "At least Natalie understands what foods I hate," he muttered, then forced himself to take a bite.
He ate it very, very slowly. He was only three bites in when a slip of paper landed in his dish. He smirked, gladly accepting a slip of paper out of nowhere. Yes. An excuse not to eat this crap, hm, he thought. Then, sobering up, he took the slip of paper out of the bowl and unfolded it.
Deidara, this is technically to Natalie, but I can't contact her. So, I'm sending this to you, to give to her. So… give this to her, okay? Both of you are invited to mine and Shikamaru's wedding, which will be this Saturday. I sure hope our days are the same.
- Agatha
He blinked at the note, then wrote,
Natalie's away right now. A lot of crap's going on, so she had to leave for awhile. Sorry.
- Deidara
He refolded the paper, then looked around. "How the hell do I send this back?" he muttered to himself. A shimmer in the room caught his eye. He hesitantly held the paper towards it, and suddenly his note was sucked away, at which he pulled his hand back in surprise. Not long after, and another note appeared.
Oh, really? That… isn't good. Who's with her that isn't a Riaru?
He frowned, then put simply,
Sasuke.
He sent it back, and the note back was a mere two words long:
Thank you.
He sighed, satisfied, then pushed the rice pilaf away. "Now, hm, what's for breakfast?"
"Weee're of to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz!" I sang happily, skipping forward. Anna and Sierra hooked arms with me, and joined in, both of them humming the words they didn't remember. "We hear he is a wiz of a wiz, if ever a wiz there was! If ever, oh ever, a wiz there was, the wizard of Oz is one because, because, because, because, becaaauuuse…!"
"Because of the wonderful things he does!" Sam's voice rang out, and I grinned at her, happy she was getting herself together. Of course, back then, I didn't know Sasuke played a part in it.
"What the hell are you singing about?" Sasuke, being the grump he is, asked, sounding annoyed.
"The wizard of Oz, of course!" I grinned.
He sighed. "Don't waste energy. There isn't very much water around here."
I sighed dramatically. "Poo you."
He opened his mouth to reply, but a small sheet of paper seemed to blow in his face out of nowhere. He frowned, peeled it off of his face, looked at it, and said, "It's for you," while holding it out to me. I took it, and examined it.
What's going on? Something bad, I know, but… what's so bad you had to leave the village?
- Agatha
I blinked, then wrote simply,
Kabuto's back. People are dead. Sam's baby is apparently really powerful, and Kabuto wants her dead. We need to hide from him. So, yeah. That pretty much sums it up.
~ Natalie
It took only three seconds to catch the familiar shimmer of a portal in the air, and send it back. Her reply?
Can I come see you? Or you come see me? I'm thinking we need to talk.
I frowned. Actually, what better place to hide than in another world? Kabuto would never suspect it, and even if he did, he couldn't get there. I looked at Sasuke. But then again, I thought, if what Kabuto says about souls is true, then Sasuke might be greatly affected if he goes there. I pursed my lips, and wrote back,
Not right now. I'll send a note to Shikamaru when we get to safety.
Her reply was simply,
Okay. Good luck!
I pocketed the notes, then we went forward again.
"I'm thirsty," Anna mumbled.
"Me too, Anna, but we don't have much," Sierra said. "Besides, Sam should be the one to get water first."
Sam nodded vigorously. "'Cause I'm awesome!" she exclaimed.
I smiled. "Well… good night. Sierra's first watch…." I turned over in my sleeping bag and went to sleep.
The next day was uneventful. We found water, and stocked up on the much-needed liquid, drinking our fill. We even decided to camp there for the night, in case it was a while before we found more. It was my turn for first watch that night. I sighed, dipping my fingers in the pool of water, moving my hand around, making ripples.
"The moon is pretty," I commented to myself quietly. Everyone else was already asleep. Nothing came up that night, and I eventually switched with Sasuke, to go to sleep.
The next morning we continued our trek. "Hey, look, there's the Hidden Stone Village!" I said, pointing to the village far to our right.
"And there's a river up ahead," Sasuke added.
"Oh, boy!" I squeaked. Later in the day, though, I began feeling oddly lightheaded. I started taking deeper breaths, and darkness began to cloud my sight. What the hell? I wondered. Soon, I began seeing something altogether different. Well, first I heard yelling. At first, I thought it was someone calling my name. I mean, that would make sense, right? I didn't even know if I was standing upright anymore. But no… it was something else….
"What do you mean it collapsed?" Good, a voice I recognized. Tsunade.
"It didn't collapse, it… it…."
"It what?"
"A rockslide! It was a rockslide!"
"No, I don't think this was an accident." Was that Konohamaru?
It was then that an image came into view. Rocks, a huge boulder…. "God, I feel like Obito right now."
Oh God…, I thought. No…. Who is…? Is it…?
Sarah seemed to look directly at me. "No one's around, I'm crushed by a boulder… that's nice. Better than being pregnant though."
Wow.
"Natalie…. I know your watching this. I just know…. I wanna say I'm gonna be alright, but I doubt it considering most of my body is crushed. Just keep going, you and Sam. Tell her there are supposed to be ups and downs in life. See ya later…." The light in her eyes faded just as Konohamaru, Ebisu – so that was the voice I didn't recognize – and Tsunade ran to where the supposed rockslide happened….
Everything faded to black again. Why is it still dark? I thought, feeling panicked. Then I noticed that – oh – my eyes were closed. I opened my eyes quickly, sitting up abruptly. When did I lay down? I didn't notice there was a head above mine, so I bonked heads with Sierra and lay right back down again. Anna giggled as we both rubbed our heads. "It's sunset?" I asked, confused as to how much time had passed.
"Yeah," Sasuke replied, already setting up camp. We were beside a river….
"Who carried me?" I asked flatly.
"That would be me," Sierra replied, raising a hand.
I sighed, trying not to cry once the reality of what just happened set in. "Guys, I have some bad news."
"Wonderful," Sam muttered. "Just get it over with quickly, whatever it is."
I pursed my lips. I had somehow looked through a camera without my consent; that's what had happened. "I think… I'm pretty sure that…." I paused, not sure how to word this.
"Just spit it out," Sasuke sighed.
"Sarah's dead," I said abruptly.
Sam's breath caught in her throat. A soft whimpering was heard from her. It made sense. Sarah was one of her best friends. It's no wonder Sam was depressed about the new death. I fell asleep that night to the sound of flowing water and Sam's soft whimpering….
"Is that a forest up ahead?" I asked wearily. We had thought walking away from the river was smart – it wasn't. So, we wandered around for a week before we re-found the river, and then just now we saw what seemed to be a forest ahead.
"There aren't forests in the Land of Earth, though. Perhaps that is the paradise Madara mentioned," Sasuke mused.
"Or maybe it's like an oasis inside the forest," Sierra suggested.
"That's most likely," Sasuke agreed.
"And the river leads right into it!" I pointed out.
"And maybe the paradise is magical," Anna fantasized with a dreamy grin.
"Maybe, Anna. Maybe," I said.
At the end of the day, we still hadn't reached the woods ahead, but at least we'd made progress. "We're almost there, I promise," I whispered to a now-yet-again-unresponsive Sam that night.
"Are we there yet?" Anna asked.
"No, Anna," Sierra sighed.
I smiled, thinking of Scotty as I whined, "I'm hungry; I'm thirsty; I have to go to the bathroom; are we there yet?"
"Isn't that what Scotty do on those trips to Grandma's house on the beginning of the trip just to be a goof?" Sierra asked.
"Yep!" I chirped. Do you remember Scotty? My cousin? The one that drove Deidara and I to the fireworks a few years back? If not, then poo you. If you do remember him, then I congratulate you on your amazing memory.
"Who's Scotty?" Sasuke asked.
"My cousin," I smiled.
He snorted. "I can see how you're related."
"Why, 'cause he's a goof?"
"Perhaps."
"Well, my family's weird, so deal with it. Hey Sierra, do you know the story of your great, great, great uncle or something like that?"
"Uh… which story?" She responded.
"The one about our ancestor that had diabetes?"
"…No, actually."
I grinned. "Then this'll be a story for everyone! Okay, so my ancestor had diabetes, and refused to listen to the doctor on what to eat, so he lost his legs."
Sierra let out a sympathetic, "Aw."
"Well, he had his legs embalmed in the freezer of a funeral parlor he owned."
"Ew," Anna commented.
"Yeah, well occasionally he would get a phantom itch, and he'd tell his sons at the parlor – if he was away – if they could scratch his left knee or something, depending on the feelings. And he said it actually helped."
There was a pause. Anna had her face scrunched up in disgust. "Uh, that's creepy," Sierra commented.
"No, just… weird," Sasuke said.
I smiled. "Yep, 'cause my family is weird. Like, for example, my mom and I both talk to ourselves." Not exactly weird to me, but whatever. Hm, it seems most of the weirdness is on my Mom's side…. "Oh, and my cousin thinks he's Orochimaru."
A short look of surprise was shown on Sasuke's face before he asked simply, "What the hell?"
"Well, they hated you. Honestly, they turned it into a game, poking one another's – and my – foreheads and thus dubbing the other Sasuke. Because none of them wanted to be you." I failed to notice Sam's expression darken at the mention of the poking of the foreheads.
"And what's wrong about me?" Sasuke huffed. "Why did they hate me, of all people?"
I shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe because I kept referring to your hair as a duck-butt or, at the very least, duck-butt-like."
Sasuke frowned at me.
I smiled.
The day eventually ended, and it seemed we were really close to the woods by now. "We'll reach it tomorrow," Sasuke said. And I drifted off to sleep….
Eh... Why do people keep dying...? I hope you enjoyed it... Now... review or you'll be hit by a boulder!