Naruto:
Altered History
Chapter 9:
-Dire Discoveries-
By Geor-sama
The countryside of Fire Country was very beautiful in the morning; idyllic was the word most often used. The way the reds and blues mixed, bringing out the dark green of the forest. Even more enchanting was the stillness of the forest floor and how, if you were lucky enough to be strolling early in the morning you could stumble across a deer. Yes, idyllic was the word to use.
Not that Naruto cared. As far as the blond was concerned, the animals and the sunrise could jump off a cliff and die. All he wanted was to be curled up under a warm blanket, sleeping like a log. Yawning, he stumbled, but caught himself and kept moving, keeping his place in the diamond formation, while wondering why they had to start so early in the morning.
They had been out here for a week, and so far they had found several empty camps, but no clues. Would it really make any difference if they checked out these abandoned camps later in the day? He wasn't asking for sunset, but damn it, would noon have been so bad? He would have asked Hayate but just couldn't bring himself to.
Silently cursing the man, Naruto tried to force himself to stop thinking about it but, like anyone that tried to avoid thinking about a certain subject, Naruto couldn't help it. Ino was one thing. He expected her to treat him this way--after all, she had never treated him all that well. Shino ignoring him was nothing new either; after all, the odd boy had ignored him and everyone else for as long as Naruto could remember.
That didn't mean he liked it, however, and the more he dwelled on it the more aggravated he became. He couldn't wait to get back to Konoha so he could work with Anko, pain or no pain. At least she LISTENED to what he had to say. He felt a chill race along his spine as he realized what he had just thought.
Frowning, he shook all of that off. He needed to concentrate on the mission.
He was so caught up in that strange paradox he almost crashed into the group as the team came to a sudden halt. It took some quick work, but Naruto managed to land without doing anything to give Ino an excuse to ridicule him. Grumbling, the blond crouched, wondering at the strange look on Hayate's face, then looked down at the camp and froze. Unlike the other camps, which had looked nothing more than abandoned, this one was in ruins.
There were tattered tents and debris scattered all over the place; Naruto started taking those stories about demons the old men had told him in Nigoirki seriously. He just couldn't see any animals or ninja totally ruining a camp like this.
"Hayate-sensei, what happened?" Ino asked after a moment, her tone uneasy.
"Umm...I'm not sure," Hayate said crouching down, studying the camp intently. "This is very unusual."
"This is...Could it have been some sort of wild animal?" Ino suggested in confusion. "Like, a pack of wild dogs?"
"I don't think so," Hayate said, coughing softly. "Ummm...Naruto, can you create a couple of Kage Bunshin to check on things?"
Naruto nodded. Putting his personal feelings aside, he did just that, sending in three Kage Bunshin before glancing at Hayate in curiosity. "Oi, so why'd you want me to make the clones?"
"Umm...in case that enemy ninja were behind this," Hayate explained. "They might have left a trap; this way a Bunshin can set it off and we can avoid losing anyone."
"Oh."
"Wait a minute," Ino interjected. "A Bunshin is just an illusion, so, like, how can it set off a trap?"
"Well these are Kage Bunshin." Hayate explained, coughing as he stood. "This is an advanced technique used for various functions, primarily spying."
"That still doesn't explain how it works," Ino responded snorting.
"The technique creates physical bodies that are indistinguishable from the user, Ino-san, and any information they gather is sent back instantly to the user once they disappear." Hayate sighed before leaping into a nearby tree without another word. Naruto, however, remained where he was, surprised at the knowledge he had just learned about his signature technique.
He wasn't so distracted, though, that he could miss Ino's snort or Shino's odd glance before both followed Hayate into the other. Why hadn't Anko ever explained that? All she had ever been interested in was making sure he could use his chakra more effectively. Filing that information away for later, Naruto followed the rest of his team.
"Damn forest," Ino muttered, surreptitiously pulling at her purple top to stop it from sticking to her. First there had been rain, and then the sun had decided it was time to show up, and now she was sweating so badly that her clothes were sticking to her. The forest shade wasn't helping to cool things off either, and she just thanked the gods that she had decided on wearing a sleeveless top.
Glancing at her three male teammates, Ino honestly couldn't understand how those three could wear such hot clothing. Didn't they understand that they were running a high chance of heat exhaustion? Maybe they just didn't feel the heat, but she found that impossible to believe, especially with the way that Naruto kept wiping at his face every few minutes. For a moment she felt like saying something, but decided that, even if he was a perverted idiot, even he deserved to be left alone in this heat.
Shaking her head, Ino turned her attention back to the tree limbs passing beneath her, working twice as hard to maintain her pace. They had only been on the move for two hours, ever since the discovery of that first ruined camp, but she could already feel her body starting to wear down. Ino masked her groan as a sigh, wishing she had more stamina and chakra, even though she had already accepted that she was possibly one of the weakest people out of their graduating class.
Thinking of weak people caused her to glance once more at Naruto. A little over a week ago, she would have said he was the weakest one from their class. However, it had become obvious to her that he had stamina and chakra galore, at least one advanced jutsu, and no problem with tree walking or climbing.
Ino grudgingly began to accept the possibility that Naruto could be as strong as Sasuke.
Tiredly, she looked ahead once more, studying the grey of Shino's jacket and the green of the forest as they darted through the trees. The only sound was the rustling of leaves, the twang of a tree branch and the occasional muttered curse, which ultimately started to annoy Ino more than anything. It was too silent, which meant it was boring and Ino was not a person that could stand boredom for long.
Which meant, naturally, that Ino had to decide how to stop herself from getting bored. She could try to talk with Shino, but the boy really wasn't much on conversations. She could try to talk with Hayate, but he tended just to cough, say a few words and then let her carry the conversation. She could talk with Naruto--or, more to the point, aggravate him and, thus, get into an argument--which would be fun, but pointless.
Or she could play a game she had created shortly after meeting her new sensei. She had yet to name it, but it really was quite simple. All she did was take a person, usually male, and apply her fashion -conscious mind toward finding the proper 'look' for them.
Ino smiled to herself, deciding that the game would be the best choice, which meant she now needed a subject. Sadly her subject choices were severely limited; Ino had already decided that Shino had a good 'look' and that Hayate would look best in black and green instead of all green. Which meant she really had only one other person to select for her game.
Ino grimaced just thinking about Naruto-–or, more correctly, his orange jacket-- but she glanced at him anyway to memorize certain things she needed to get the proper picture. After several minutes of intense study, she looked away, a headache starting to throb behind her eyes, and set her mind to work.
First she would select his primary color, something that would give her a basis to work from in his color scheme. Which meant she needed to select the easiest of the three primary colors to work with, red. More precisely, she began with orange and started darkening it through various shades of red. That, however, produced an even worse look for him than orange, which she had not even thought possible.
Undaunted, she decided to replace red with blue and began working her way through the various shades. Aqua, azure, cerulean, indigo, navy, turquoise… None of those produced the right result either, which irked Ino slightly but she soldiered on, switching the blues for yellow. She got as far as canary yellow before she felt her headache worsen and she quickly switched to the secondary colors, starting with purple.
Ino however, made a very annoying discovery: purple wasn't working. He looked horrible in mauve, violet and any other shade! That should have been impossible. After all, he had blond hair and blue eyes; he should have at least looked natural in that color. Instead, to her horror, he looked like a fat man in a pair of speedos!
Angry, she moved onto the other secondary colors, skipping brown completely in favor for green. She got as far as olive green before she realized that it wasn't his color at all. Frowning, she wondered what else to try and decided that maybe grey was the key. After several attempts at picturing him in grey colors she decided that color wasn't for him either.
Which left her with only two options: white and black. Realizing just how difficult this would be, Ino paused her game to consider why the others had failed. Thankfully, she had plenty of time since Hayate had told them they wouldn't reach the next camp site until later in the day.
It didn't take her long, now that she was thinking about it, to figure out what the problem was. His hair was a brighter blond than hers, bright yellow instead of pale yellow, and his blue eyes were brighter. Which meant almost any primary color on him would be a horrible choice...unless it was a neutral color.
Ino carefully weighed both white and black, and then settled on black. Concentrating, she pictured him in jet black clothes and was startled at just how well that color worked. His blond hair stood out boldly and his eyes seemed even brighter; it was the perfect primary color for him. Then, as she stared at this mental image, she found herself making a realization that quickly made her stop playing the game.
Shaken, she felt eyes on her and glanced at the blond in question and found him giving her a curious look. "Why the hell are you looking at me?" Ino snapped.
"'Cause you kept looking at me." Naruto retorted.
"Only because I couldn't believe how disgusting you were!" Ino shot back.
"At least I'm not so ug-" Naruto started to say, only to have Hayate cut him off.
"Uhmm...Naruto-san, Ino-san please be quiet. We could be surrounded by enemies and I would like to hear their approach instead of your bickering," Hayate said, followed by a soft cough.
Naruto grumbled heatedly, shooting her another look before he turned his attention away from her.
Ino sighed, looking away as well, glad that neither one had seemed to notice the faint tint in her cheeks. "Kami-sama help me, but he was cuter," Ino muttered softly to herself, unable to believe that for one minute she had thought that Naruto was cuter than Sasuke.
Landing adroitly, Naruto glanced at Shino, Hayate and Ino before starting off on his own, wandering through the debris of the camp. This was the fifth camp they had visited today, and just like the others it was in ruins with no discernable reason. Even his Kage Bunshin --which had become standard procedure-- could find no traps. Not that Naruto expected to find any; he was convinced this was the work of forest demons of some sort.
Kneeling next to an overturned field kit, he studied it for a moment, then glanced over at the others, watching as each one went about searching for a clue. He frowned, watching Ino for several minutes, wondering why she was apparently going out of her way to avoid him. Not that he was going to complain about that, but this seemed like something different that what he was used to.
Maybe there was something wrong with her. Naruto frowned a bit more. As much as he disliked her, he was the only one that seemed to notice anything wrong. Could he just be imagining things? Shaking his head he stood, preparing to confront her when he froze feeling as if something was watching him.
Turning, he scanned the area around him and then, for no discernable reason, he started walking toward a clump of trees. He felt like he was being drawn toward something, like there was something that was nagging at the edge of his mind. He paused, looking around, then continued on his way moving uncertainly--towards what, he had no clue. Frowning deeply now, Naruto followed this odd feeling of familiarity.
It was like there was a part of him trying to remember some half-forgotten memory, but he couldn't figure it out. Shaking it off, he came to a stop in front of the trees and knelt at what appeared to be a patch of normal ground. He started to leave, but then part of him insisted that he checked it more closely.
Pulling a kunai, he studied the undisturbed ground, straining his eyes. Just as he was about to give up, he hesitated, wondering if he saw a groove there or not. Using a finger first, he traced the edge, discovering a strange thin film, which prompted him to use his kunai. Slipping the kunai into the groove, he applied pressure for several minutes until he was finally rewarded with a lid of sorts popping open.
Using his left hand, he leveraged it up, staring into the odd tunnel. He was getting a bad feeling from this thing, but as far as he could tell it was merely the entrance to an underground storage area. Should he tell Hayate about this or go down by himself? Hayate would say he should be told, but he could feel his instincts say that he should go alone first.
"Naruto, we're leaving!" Ino suddenly shouted, and Naruto jerked, startled so much that the kunai slipped and the lid slammed shut. Turning, he focused on Ino who was waiting on him impatiently while he could see Hayate and Shino already on the move through the trees.
"Oi! You don't have to shout!" Naruto shouted back, climbing to his feet and glaring at her out of habit. He was actually surprised she had bothered to wait on him, and he didn't want to piss her off to much.
"Look who's talking!" Ino snapped at him, crossing her arms. "Come on, Hayate-sensei wants to check out one more camp for the night."
Naruto grumbled, but stood, wondering why she was suddenly being so nice to him. Well, nice for her at least; it was still downright hostile by other people's standards. Still, Naruto decided as he moved toward her, no point in wasting her sudden bout of kindness.
He was halfway to her when he felt something and paused, turning to stare at the area behind but found nothing but empty air. "What the hell?" Naruto muttered, scratching the back of his head in confusion.
"Like, are you coming or not?" Ino demanded curtly which snapped him out of his confusion. Grumbling, Naruto hurriedly reached her side, then gave one last glance behind him to double check. "Come on, hurry up idiot." Ino said as she jumped into the tree behind them and took off.
Naruto followed suit and was soon pacing beside her, while Hayate and Shino maintained their lead. "Oi, are you always this slow?" Naruto asked after a moment.
"Oh is this too slow for you?" Ino shot back unexpectedly. "Okay, baka, try to keep up then." That said she increased her speed, darting several trees ahead.
Naruto blinked, wondering where the hell she had gotten that burst of speed from. Then he grinned, deciding to prove just how awesome he really was. It took only a little concentration, and then he was darting after her, covering the distance she had gained in a matter of seconds. Pacing her for a moment, he took a sort of entertainment from her surprise, then he stuck his tongue out, returning her earlier jab tit-for-tat "Okay, piggy, now you try to keep up."
That said, he pulled ahead of her easily, listening to her curse as she struggled to catch up to him. Hah! That should show her! Grinning, Naruto filed away this victory for future remembrance and instead concentrated on other matters, such as Sakura and his future as Hokage.
Feeling doubly pleased, he added some acrobatics to his leaps, only stopping when Hayate told him to stop clowning around. Grumbling at the unfairness of it, Naruto glanced behind him to see Ino trailing after them. The look on her face promised nothing but violence.
Feeling guilty, he dropped back, remaining out of her reach, but close enough that she wasn't travelling alone. Her glare almost made him wish he had stayed up there with Hayate and Shino. Still, if she got exhausted then she could get killed and for the moment she was his teammate. "Hey, you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Ino muttered glaring at him. "Are you here to, like, torture me some more?" Ino suddenly demanded startling Naruto.
Naruto blinked staring at her, then realized that maybe his showing off just now in his little race with her wasn't the right thing to do. Still, the way she was glaring at him... Well it was her fault. She had started it. Then he remembered what Iruka had told him once: "It doesn't matter who started it. What matters is how you handle it." "Damn it." Naruto cursed wishing he could have not remembered that.
"Heh, sorry to ruin it for you," Ino grumbled, her breathing getting labored.
"Oi, you're the one that started the damn race," Naruto said defensively.
"Race?" Ino deadpanned staring at him. "I wasn't racing, and even if I did, you were the one that started it. 'Are you always this slow?' Remember?"
Naruto coughed. Oh, yeah, he had said that. Suddenly, he realized that Ino was slowing even more and he followed suit, which earned him a strange look from Ino. "What?"
"I'm just, like, trying to figure out what the hell you're doing."
"I'm making sure you're ok," Naruto said, wondering what her problem was.
"Yeah, sure..."
"Oi, look maybe we don't like each other alright but we are on the same team," Naruto said, rolling his eyes. "Geez, what is it with you?"
"I didn't know you cared," Ino said sarcastically.
Naruto sighed and just stayed quiet. It was his fault, after all; and besides, like he had told her, they were teammates. Still he couldn't wait for this damn mission to be over so he could get the hell away from them.
To say that Ino was put off was an understatement. After all, Naruto's apparent concern for her had held steady for the last two hours. Even after she had told him she was fine, even after she tried to pull ahead, Naruto wouldn't let her get away from him. He stayed out of her reach--a wise move she thought--but he kept pace with her no matter what.
It thoroughly confused her, and she kept reminding herself that he was really just a perverted idiot. On the other hand, she took some comfort in the fact that Naruto was more interesting to travel with than Shino was. After all, Naruto was always willing to bicker and argue with her.
Ino was so lost in her own little world that she just barely brought herself to a stop before she slammed into Shino.
She teetered for a moment, and then caught her balance. Grumbling, she glared between Shino and Hayate's shoulders to stare at the final campsite for the day. It, like the others, was in ruins, but it seemed fresher to her, more recent. Still, it reaffirmed her thought that a camp full of loggers should have at least manage to kill something.
"Ummm...looks the same as the last few," Hayate said softly, studying the camp intently. "Naruto-san?" Seconds later there were three soft pops and three orange blurs were hurtling into the camp. Ino shifted her weight slightly, wondering why they even bothered with those damn things; it wasn't like they had ever found a hint of a trap.
"All clear," Naruto finally said, his tone bored.
"Alright, same as before. Shino with me, Ino you're with Naruto," Hayate said, and then, as all three genin nodded, he led the way into the camp. Shino landed and, regaining his balance, started searching the immediate area while Hayate went to the left, leaving Naruto and Ino to take the far side of the camp.
Letting Naruto move away from her slightly, Ino went through the motions wanting to find something, but lacking the energy for an actual search. She mused idly with accepting Naruto's theory, but then decided that was insane. Ino was not about to buy Naruto's insane theory about demons eating people's souls.
The blond was so damn gullible it wasn't even funny; imagine believing a bunch of old men's stories about demons in the forest! Shaking her head, she started searching in earnest. Sifting through the ruined tents and overturned carts, she felt the annoying beginnings of hunger pains.
Oh great, just what she needed. Standing upright, Ino opened her mouth to say something to Hayate, only to stop short when she heard the sound of something rushing through the forest. Turning, she strained her eyes, trying to figure out what was charging around in there, her hand even going so far as trailing to a kunai for protection.
Unable to make anything out, she marked it off as her imagination and turned just as something suddenly slammed into her from the side and knocked her to the ground. "Yah!" A deep voice shouted from over her. Ino was reeling from the impact and couldn't quite gather what was happening.
Then, suddenly the weight was taken away and she sat up, cheeks red from anger and embarrassement, surprised to find Hayate and Shino subduing the person that had slammed into her. The guy was babbling insanely, his teeth were yellowed and his skin held a sickly pallor. Ino couldn't help but grimace, realizing that had been what tackled her. Climbing to her feet, she dusted herself off, glaring at the man.
"Get away...you gotta get away...take me with you...!"
Ino shook her head, glancing at Shino who had raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
Suddenly the man's fear morphed almost immediately into hope as he grasped Hayate's hands while looking around at them excitedly. "Thank the kami for you, for all of you...this is great...I though I was...I hid, but they kept hunting and I knew they knew where I was...oh they thought I didn't but they did."
"Listen...can you tell us anything about who's been attacking the loggers?" Hayate asked calmly, a hand on the man's shoulder.
Ino watched the sheer terror that filled the man's face, followed by spittle forming at the corners of his mouth. A paroxysm of insane laughter shook him and he shook his head. "No,nonononononono..."
"Can you lead us back to where you were attack-" Hayate started ask, only to stop as he realized the man wasn't moving.
Ino backed away slightly, surprised at the sudden silence. What the hell had happened?
Hayate stood, his face serious. "Dead." Coughing, he turned, staring at his team. "We're going back the way he came; maybe we'll find out what's going on."
"Oi, but what about this? I think I found a clue!" Naruto suddenly said, waving a large something in front of him.
"What is that?" Hayate asked, blinking as he grabbed the boy's hand to hold it still.
"I think it's a spider's leg!" Naruto said excitedly.
"It looks more like a piece of Konoha bamble..." Ino responded, studying the long spiny object in the blond's hand.
"It is not!" Naruto shouted defensively, pulling the item away from Hayate.
"Like, you're not going to say that these 'demons' of yours are giant spiders are you?" Ino rolled her eyes.
"Why not?" Naruto retorted excitedly. "Look if they're demonic spiders then-"
"Oh give it a rest! Those old men were just telling, like, tall tales. There are no demons eating people's souls," Ino retorted cutting the blond off.
"But-"
"Naruto, listen to what you're saying!" Ino demanded, narrowing her eyes. "'Giant demonic spiders are killing people and eating their souls.' Does that sound even remotely sane?"
"Oi, are you stupid?!" Naruto suddenly barked back, waving the object at her. "The Kyuubi was a GIANT DEMON FOX! What makes GIANT DEMONIC SPIDERS any less possible?"
"BECAUSE THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A GIANT SPIDER!" Ino shouted back.
"Ummm...actually I have seen large spiders before, within the Forest of Death," Hayate suddenly interjected. "It could be a group of nins that are using giant spiders."
"Like how my family uses bugs," Shino suggested calmly.
Ino fumed glaring at the other two; it was taking all of her will not to shout at them for obviously siding with another guy. She managed it however, giving a disdainful sniff. "Well, it's still not a demon!"
"It is highly doubtful that a demon would take the shape of a spider. However at least now we know what we are dealing with," Hayate said before coughing "Uhmm...we need to hurry, the sun will be setting soon."
Ino grinned victoriously at a crestfallen looking Naruto who grumbled as they jumped into the tree's to follow the man's path.
"We've lost the trail..." Hayate muttered, crouching down. "Ummm...Stay close; the map Joji-san gave us shows we're close to the edge of the ravine."
Naruto nodded, resisting the urge to mutter in annoyance. It had been hours ago when they had theire first big lead:, that logger had left an obvious trail, but now there was nothing. Glancing around at the small natural clearing, the blond felt something creeping up the back of his neck.
It was like when he found that storage tunnel, or even that spider's legs--he didn't care what Ino said!--a part of him was shouting that there was something unnatural in the area. Shaking it off, he glanced at Ino who was carefully inspecting a set of trees, then Naruto glanced at Shino who was frozen for some strange reason.
"That's weird..." Naruto muttered, moving toward the boy; if Shino had frozen up, that could spell disaster for the team, much as Naruto's own experience with freezing had taught him. Reaching the other ninja's side, Naruto paused, looking around, before talking. "Oi, are you ok?"
Shino didn't speak. He didn't move. His attention seemed to be fixed on the forest floor for some reason, and Naruto followed his gaze, noting odd indentations. That weird feeling washed over him, and Naruto was just preparing to kneel and check out the indentations when Ino suddenly shrieked, distracting him. Snapping his head around, he saw her jumping backwards as five large spiders dropped to the ground from over head.
"Oh hell-" Naruto started to say only to jump backwards as well, carrying Shino with him, as the ground in front of him suddenly exploded upwards and another large spider came into the open. Landing, Naruto's eyes darted everywhere, his mind almost frantic at the sight of such massive creature surrounding them. "They're all around us!"
"THANKS FOR THE WARNING MISTER OBVIOUS!" Ino shrieked, a note of hysteria in her voice.
Then, as one, the spiders attacked.
"Umm...aim for their weak points," Hayate said, his sword hissing as it left the sheath to meet the spiders head on.
"Right!" Naruto shouted, ducking under one of the spiders as it lunged. On instinct, the blond produced a kunai, plunging it into the creatures stomach and heaved. Casting the monster aside, he glanced left to see Hayate slashing through the monsters with ease.
"Nothing's working!" Ino shouted and Naruto looked at her. She was struggling desperately, mostly just fending off the seeking fangs of the spider that was stalking her.
"Try their belly's!" Naruto shouted and then, realizing she wasn't paying attention to him, he grabbed a kunai and an explosive note. Looking up, he timed it just as the spider in question was leaping at her, and fired off his explosive kunai. Seconds later, the spider exploded in a shower of gore and Naruto started to work on more of his explosive kunai, ignoring Ino for the moment.
Naruto was so intent on this task that he was caught utterly flatfooted as a spider leaped at him. Then it was his turn to be showered in gore. Blinking in surprise he looked around to find Ino glaring at him as she prepared even more kunai. Naruto, however, grinned before remembering Shino. Spinning, the blond felt his breath hitch; there was the boy, in the same place as before, only now there was a spider slowly stalking towards him.
Naruto moved as if to launch an exploding kunai, only to have the spider sliced in half by Hayate. Then, seconds later, the man was pushing off the now dead spider to gain height and twirling his blade in an odd fashion before the few remaining spiders were sliced into gory chunks. Landing, Hayate crouched, glancing at Shino before speaking.
"Is everyone ok?"
"Like, I could seriously use a shower," Ino answered disgustedly, shooting Naruto a dark glare. "But yeah, I'm fine."
Naruto however was looking around, grinning slightly. He couldn't wait to tell Anko about this! Then he heard Ino's scream and he blinked, watching as the single largest spider he had ever seen came lumbering out of the forest. If the first spiders had been the size of dog's then the one that was charging at Hayate was the size of a horse.
Hayate dodge left then right, knocking Shino aside as he avoided the spider. Naruto, however, was already charging forward, exploding kunai in hand. Just as Naruto threw his first volley, Hayate darted out of range quicker than the eye could follow.
"Yes!" Naruto shouted happily, preparing to celebrate, since, obviously, nothing could have withstood that blast. His celebration was cut short, however, when the billowing smoke of the exploding kunai was parted, allowing a thick liquid to slam into his chest. He had time for one shouted curse and then he was pinned against the tree.
Dazed, Naruto hung there until he felt something hairy brushing against his cheeks. Recovering, he looked up and discovered himself staring into the multiple red eyes and very large fangs of the spider. Naruto wasn't sure how he managed it, but he freed an arm and lashed out as best he could, warding off those sword-sized fangs.
"Dance of the-" Hayate started to shout, only to have the spider spin and cut him off with a blast of webbing. Naruto, frantic, began to slice himself free from the webbing, only to jerk his head up as Ino's scream rent the air. Somehow, the blonde girl had managed to grab the Jonin's sword and was charging forward, making a chopping motion at the spider.
Naruto's eyes widened, wondering what the hell was going through her mind and then cursed his stupidity and went back to work on freeing himself. Then he heard Ino's second scream, and Naruto looked once more to see Ino sprawled on her ass, the sword nowhere to be seen and the spider hissing as it towered over her.
Ino, her breath hitching, crawled backwards as fast as she could, leaving the sword she had grabbed behind. What had she been thinking?! She had been terrified, watching as the spider had charged in, taking the only fighters on their team apart, and it was only when Hayate was taken down that her instincts had taken over. She couldn't even remember how she had reached Hayate's sword or charging at the monster; all she could remember was slashing at the thing and then being knocked on her ass.
Suddenly, she came to a jarring stop as she ran into a tree. It was in that moment that Ino realized that she was dead. She felt almost detached. Funny, she would have thought she'd panic more. Amazingly, it was at that moment that her mind started sending her memories, her life was flashing before her eyes.
...There she was at three, bossing Shikamaru around...
The spider was getting closer.
...There she was helping the helpless Sakura...
The monster was almost on top of her.
..."What is you dream?" Hayate asked blandly. Ino blushed. "To get Sasuk-"...
It was the orange that caught her attention; even at twilight she couldn't mistake that orange. It hurtled through the air and slammed into the spider towering over her, and, amazingly, the impact was enough to knock the monster off balance, and it toppled sideways through several trees. Landing heavily, Naruto collapsed to one knee, panting.
"Naruto!" Ino choked out, but was surprised when the blond ignored her and, instead, raised his fingers to create a small army of clones. Ino didn't see the point, but the army charged as the beast fought its way upright. "We've got to get out of here," Ino said anxiously, getting back to her feet.
"I have an idea..." Naruto said, panting heavily.
"Naruto! We're only Genins! This thing is way too strong for us!" Ino protested, staring at him incredulously. "Hayate-sensei is hurt, Shino isn't fighting and I'm not exactly that good at combat!"
"I'm going to be Hokage; I'm not going to run away!" Naruto said forcefully, turning to fix her with an intense gaze.
Ino opened her mouth to shout him down, but froze. That gaze was beyond anything she had ever seen: it was intent, it was strong and Ino wasn't sure why, but at that moment she felt as if she was seeing some hero from a story her father used to read to her. Naruto smirked as if realizing that she had given in, and Ino felt her own uncertainty being erased.
"...Lets get wild!" Naruto suddenly shouted as the last of his clone army disappeared in a puff of smoke, allowing the monster freedom of movement. Ino jumped back, watching as Naruto began hurling exploding kunai at the ground in front of the spider, herding it away from Hayate and Shino.
Ino watched for a moment, then, realizing what he was doing, sought her own hastily made exploding kunai to help him. The spider hissed, charging forward, only to retreat as the ground in front of it exploded. It was slow, and it was tedious, but Ino didn't stop. She just prayed this didn't backfire on them, but the longer they went and the closer they came to the edge of the plateau the less she doubted that would happen.
The spider staggered and weaved drunkenly, severely disoriented. It lashed out with its legs, trying desperately to stop the assault. Seconds later, they stumbled from the forest a hundred feet from the perilously dangerous edge of the plateau.
Soon, they were seventy-five feet, fifty feet, thirty, twenty, five!
Throwing her last exploding kunai, Ino paused, panting heavily. It had taken everything she had to keep up with Naruto; she just prayed it had been enough. She jerked, however, when a chorus of 'Yah's!' filled the air, and Ino found herself staring at who knew how many damn clones of Naruto who were attacking head-on.
It wouldn't be enough though, Ino could feel somewhere inside her. The spiders would recover soon, kill them both, that would be it. Ino watched in horror as the clones began to explode repeatedly, until only Naruto was left. This was it; first Naruto would die, and then her.
Naruto, however, seemed oblivious to that fact and charged in, a shout on his lips. Ino watched as the spider lashed out to smash him alongside the head, but Naruto suddenly disappeared for a full second, only to reappear and drive a kunai into the underside of the monster. The spider reared back from the blow, hissing as it went tumbling over the edge.
Ino blinked in surprise, her fear blossoming into hope!. They'd get to live!
"You did it!" Ino cheered, thrusting her hands in the air happily. Ino was so excited that she even started forward to hug the boy, but she stopped as a section of ground exploded upwards and time seemed to slow down. Ino knew what was coming before she saw it happen; one minute Naruto had been standing there grinning, and the next a spider was grabbing him by the legs and yanking him underground.
Ino suddenly collapsed, staring at the space in abject horror. Time continued to crawl for several more minutes, and then it sped back up and Ino felt her stomach drop out of her as an enormous silence settled over the area. This was the first time she had ever seen a friend die in front of her, and she absently wondered why her cheeks felt wet.
Consciousness returned to Hayate in a painful stab between his eyes, making it feel as if he'd been stabbed with a chakra-laced weapon. An acrid taste was in his mouth, and his entire body was hurting. For a moment, he lost consciousness again, then he forced his eyes open. A blinding pain shot through his head, setting off a screaming of muscles through his body until he forced the pain away.
Taking a breath, he rested for a moment, though his head ached abominably. Finally, his eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he realized that he had been unable to see anything during those first moments after opening his eyes. Thankfully, however, his blurred vision was sharpening to the point that he could distinguish Shino's fire-lit face.
"Hayate-sensei?" Shino said, his voice seeming to come great echoing distance.
Hayate opened his mouth, managing a croaking sound, then cleared his throat and nodded, prompting the blinding pain to return. He dominated it and sat up, knowing that it would take a few minutes for his body to block the pain yet again. Still, he needed to check on his team now, while he had the chance. Eyes sweeping the camp, he noticed Ino sitting further away from him, her eyes locked on the fire, and then noted Naruto's absence.
"What happened?" Hayate asked in a croaking voice, staring at Shino quietly.
"I'm not sure. My Kikaichu are connected to me in a certain manner and they overwhelemed my mind," Shino explained stoically. "When I had recovered, I found you unconcious and Ino crying near the edge of the plateau."
"What about Naruto?" Hayate managed, gazing at Ino with an uneasy feeling of why exactly she was crying.
"I could find him no where," Shino said before glancing at the girl. "However, she did tell me what happened. He fought, using exploding notes to herd the spider to the edge where he sent it over. She was unclear what happened after that, but I did gather that he was dead."
"I see," Hayate said covering his mouth as he coughed, which caused his head to explode in pain once more. After the pain lessened enough he began to think, wondering what to do now. Things would be a bit difficult for his team, especially when it seemed he was poisoned. There was no point denying it; without Naruto, they were nearly defenseless.
However, they couldn't just abandon the mission.
"Uhmm...we have no choice then. Tomorrow, you two will have to locate and mark the enemy on the map-"
"Are you crazy!?" Ino shouted, turning toward him unexpectedly. "Naruto's dead and your poisoned! We need to get the hell out of here!"
"Ino-san, uhm, remember the spiders and the ninja controlling them? I doubt they'll just let us go now," Hayate said before coughing once more. "We need information, and you two are best suited for gathering it. I want you to gather information; I believe that these ninja are located near or in the ruins, but I need you to confirm that. Once you have, then you are to report back to Nigoriki where I will have our backup waiting."
Ino stared at him in disbelief, but Hayate pointedly ignored her, instead focusing on Shino. "Umm...by the way, where is my sword?" Shino turned slightly and then handed over the weapon, the sheath glowing slightly in the flickering firelight. Hayate nodded his thanks, studying the weapon for a moment before he looked up at a sullen looking Ino. "Ino-san, I want you to take my sword with you and use it."
"What?!" Ino shouted, staring at him with wide eyes. "You can't be seriou-" Hayate, however, cut her off sharply.
"You are a Shinobi of Konoha; you do not have the luxury of running away!" Hayate paused and locked his gaze with hers. "This is not a pointless D-ranked mission; this mission is vital to Konoha's and the Fire Country's security! You must gather this information. If you abandon this mission and reject this responsibility, then you condemn hundreds of civilians to death and waste one of our comrades' and fellow Shinobi's sacrifice."
That said, Hayate thrust his katana out sharply, his arm and shoulder flaring in pain, but he kept his face tightly controlled. "Now do you duty."
"B-but I don't know how to use a sword," Ino said, taking the sword nervously.
Hayate coughed before giving her a reassuring smile. "I have faith in you, so I know you will complete this mission and, in some way, perhaps you can avenge your fallen teammate."
"Well that really doesn't help me use this sword," Ino snapped slightly.
Hayate was reassured at her sudden flare up, and, after a moment of consideration, he decided on his course of action. Turning his attention away from Ino, he focused on Shino, who had seemed unbothered by the lack of attention. "Uhmm...I'll transfer command for this portion of the mission to you. In the morning I'll head back to the village, and you two head toward the ruins." When Shino nodded, Hayate handed over the map, coughing again. "Make sure to rotate watches tonight..."
"Yes, but what of Ino-san? She does have a point about not being able to use the sword properly."
Hayate nodded, then looked back at her seriously. "I'll train her as best I can...umm, well, my Kage Bunshin will at least. I'm not sure how long he'll last, but he should be able to help a little." Seeing Ino's tiny nod of understanding, Hayate closed his eyes and molded his sluggish chakra to create a kage bunshin. He tried to open his eyes to check, but his body was too strained and his mind slipped away into cold unconsciousness.
Still, Hayate did not sleep well.
Ino wasn't sure what time it was; the sky was still dark, and, for all she knew, it could be the middle of the night. Still, she moved, thankful that they had enough soldier pills to keep her going. In all honesty, she wanted to be sleeping still, and if Hayate hadn't agreed to Shino's suggestion of starting now, she would have done just that. Sighing, the blonde pushed thoughts of sleep to the back of her mind, instead focusing on her remaining teammate while trying to adjust to the katana now strapped to her back.
It felt odd, awkward almost, to have that sword on her body. She preferred holding it; when it was in her hands, the sword felt like a natural extension of her body. True, she wouldn't be able to use it nearly as well as Hayate, but it still felt natural to her, and it offered some comfort. Reaching over her shoulder to touch the hilt, both for reassurance and to make sure she could reach it, Ino promised that, if she survived,she would get Hayate to train her in Kenjutsu.
Confidence bolstered, Ino removed her hand and, seeing Shino come to a stop, followed his lead, crouching beside him on the tree branch. Squinting, Ino almost swore that she could see one of his bugs escape the boy's sleeve, but it was so dark she couldn't honestly say if she had or not.
"We'll have to wait a moment until Youji-kun returns," Shino said softly, his dark silhouette not looking away from the sky.
Ino nodded, then settled back to wait paitiently. This, of course, didn't happen, and she found herself asking the one question that had been plaguing her since the attack. "So, why'd you freeze? I mean, like even I fought back." Shino was silent for several long minutes, and Ino began to worry she had insulted him, but she mentally argued that it was a legitimate question.
"...I am tied almost psychically to my family," Shino finally explained, forcing an odd tremble out of his voice. "I believe their fear is so great that it is actually forcing me into a near panicked state."
"That...is not good," Ino admitted, eyes wide.
"I agree." Shino looked at her, holding an arm out toward the forest. "However, now that I know about their reaction to the spiders, I can control my own reaction to an extent."
"Oh," Ino said, her voice soft. Well, at least she didn't have to worry too much about him freezing up so completely again.
"Youji-kun says that we should head west; he found a strange man, possibly a ninja, approaching from the east," Shino suddenly explained, his shadowy outline turning in that direction. "If I remember the map Hayate gave us correctly, the entrance to a cave is nearby. We should seek cover there until he's passed."
Ino felt her breath hitch, staring at the boy in fear. She did not want to fight anyone; even with the sword, she didn't want to even dream of fighting a ninja.
"Are you sure we can make it?" Ino asked cautiously, feeling a knot of unease in her stomach. "If we are attacked, like, we won't have much of a chance..."
"I agree," Shino said, taking off with Ino at his side. "However, I believe we can make it to the cave unnoticed. Which means we will then stand a very good chance of escaping."
Ino frowned, but remained silent, knowing what he had said was the truth, but fearing it all the same. Resisting the urge to touch the katana on her back, she instead checked her pouch to reassure herself that she had a few things to fall back on. Satisfied, she checked her other pouch, counting the soildier pills without looking. They didn't have very many; Hayate refused to let them grow reliant on them or develop an immunity to their effects.
Somewhat settled, Ino turned her mind toward other matters, namely the fight from yesterday. Out of everything that had happened during that fight, she wondered about Naruto's willingness to fling himself into the fight. While her hands had been shaking the entire time, Naruto had seemed like a man possessed. She had seen him fight before, from back in the academy, but this had been different, more fluid.
The change was almost mind-blowing, and Ino shook her head. Obviously, this 'Anko' Hayate had mentioned was a better sensei that she ever could have imagined.
"Are you ok Ino-san?" Shino suddenly asked, his dark silhouette pulling ahead slightly.
"Huh? Oh yea," Ino said blinking as she left her thoughts about the fight. "Hey Shino, what do you think this 'Anko' is like?"
Shino was silent for several long minutes as if pondering that question before he finally answered. "My father has mentioned her once." He fell silent, then continued, obviously struggling for the best words. "She is not...a pleasant woman."
"Oh," Ino managed, her mind trying to supply a mental image of such a woman. It proved futile however, thus she snorted and allowed her mind to lapse into blankness. After what felt like several hours, she finally noticed that she could make out a few minor details of Shino and the forest around her. Glancing at the sky, she felt mildly relieved at the black sky brightening to an indigo shade.
She was so enraptured with this change in scenery that she missed Shino throwing his arm out until she ran into it. She started to shout at him--his hand had came in contact with a certain part of her body--but then saw that they were suddenly facing a very large spider web.
"I thought you said the caves were this way," Ino hissed glaring at him.
"They are," Shino said calmly, or at least he tried to sound calm. Ino thought she could detect the slightest tremor in his voice. "We need to go around and then continue on." That said, Shino took off at a new angle, with Ino hot on his heels.
Ino, however, felt a ripple of fear race along her spine, the knowledge that Shino could at any moment freeze completely offering her no comfort. Forcefully, she stopped thinking about that and instead concentrated on keeping pace with the boy, wondering what they would do even if they did get the information needed and were caught as they attempted to escape.
The obvious answer filled her with dread, however: since she was the least skilled at combat, she would have to escape and leave Shino behind. In essence, she would have to run away, desert her friend to save her life and the information. Until that moment, Ino had never seriously entertained such thoughts, even though Hayate had told them they would face such a decision some day.
Maybe she was over reacting., Maybe he wouldn't freeze up, and they could both make it back to Konoha safely.
"If we are forced into combat, then one of us will have to escape while the other provides cover," Shino suddenly said. "If this happens, then you should attempt to escape; I would stand a better chance in a fight than you would."
"You want me to run away?" Ino asked, staring at him in surprise, wondering if he was able to read her mind.
"It is often best to plan for all possible outcomes," Shino explained blandly. "We have three likely outcomes. First, we reach the caves, avoid the pursuing ninja, manage to gather the needed information and escape successfully. Second, we fail to reach the caves and are, thus, killed. Third and most likely, we reach the cave, thus avoiding our pursuer, then manage to gather the needed information before one of us is caught and the other escapes."
Ino opened her mouth to respond when she felt something thin brush against her shin before snapping. Coming to a halt, she turned in surprise, staring at where her leg had just passed through, wondering what she had just snapped in half.
"What is it?" Shino asked, suddenly joining her on the branch she was on.
"Like, I thought I felt something..." Ino said, shrugging as she glanced at the boy.
Shino's attention, however, was focused on something behind her, something which prompted him to grab her hand and yank as he took off. "Run!"
"H-hey!" Ino shouted, then glanced behind her to see what had terrified the boy. What she saw made her feel like they weren't moving fast enough. Springing from branch to branch were a dozen large, gray spiders chasing them, their bodies growing clearer in the gloom as they closed the distance.
Ino focused her attention forward once more and started pouring on the speed, almost dragging Shino behind her. "What are we going to do?" Ino panted, her lungs burning already. Damn it! From now on she was going to train more than fuss with her hair!
Of course, that was IF she lived long enough to train.
Glancing at her partner, Ino shuddered, not even wanting to know what it would be like be running through a forest with a swarm of sheer panic clawing at your mind. The boy, however, continued to move and function as if unbothered by his bugs' feelings.
"We run faster and head directly for a cave entrance," Shino finally responded as they both redoubled their efforts to escape the gaining spiders. Minutes later, dodging blasts of webbing, they exploded from the forest into a massive, circular plain where a series of rocks jutted out of the earth like teeth.
"H-How much further..." Ino panted heavily, forcing herself to continue running along side Shino.
"It is just ahead," the dark haired boy answered, turning to look behind him as a series of explosions filled the forest. "I wonder if that will stop them or..."
His question was answered as several spiders came hurtling out of the forest, some smoking, but most looking untouched.
Ino, who had taken the moment to catch her breath, darted forward, heading for the cave mouth. For one blind moment, she realized that she had left Shino behind and even started to go back when he caught up with her easily. Focusing once more on the shelter ahead, she began to wonder if they would ever reach it; no matter how much they ran, it didn't seem to be getting any closer.
Panic started to build as her ribs began to throb from the exertion. She was past the point of ignoring the pain: it was now a white-hot pain in her side. Ino was too tired even to curse about how pathetic she was,. All that mattered was that she stopped long enough to recover. Shaking her head, Ino dug deep, but her body was so tired, she just wanted to sleep.
Did it really matter if they were killed by giant spiders? All that did matter was resting, stopping the burning in her lungs, her legs from aching and her ribs from throbbing. Then, suddenly, she tripped, stumbled and fell, skidding into the loose gravel of the cave mouth.
Seconds later, the rough surface of loose rocks dug into her hands as Shino followed her. She wasn't allowed to rest for long, as he grabbed her arm and helped her up, hurrying deeper into the cave while turning to throw a kunai at the entrance. Seconds later, there was a loud explosion and the sound of great chunks of rock thundering to the floor.
It took her a few minutes of breathing the stale air before she realized that they had made it to the cave, and that Shino had sealed him inside. It took several more minutes for her lungs to stop burning, and she finally noticed that any trace of daylight was now hidden from view completely.
Ino had a bad feeling about this.