Eyo people!
I really am ecstatic about the reviews! Thank you all so much! :D
MidnightheartXxX – thanks for taking the time to comment :) yeah, Shannon is only human, after all ;D though she is determined to become stronger for the others' sake, but that would be a normal thing for her. She would hate having to rely on everyone all the time :3
NotAStalker – so many questions…questions are good! I like questions! :D and because I'm so happy that you're enjoying the story…I'll answer them! :D
Yes, Shannon will find out about the ability everyone wants her for…right in this very chapter…so stay tuned XD
Sasuke will eventually come to respect her…for reasons that will be revealed later on, I don't want to spoil anything now lol
As for Shikamaru…don't worry, he's going to grow a backbone and say something soon :3
Her friends are already crazy, to some extent :P (they have to be crazy to some degree to actually stick around with these people XD)
The food/water/paradise aspect…I'm not so sure about that, it is an Apocalypse after all :P but the setting will improve soon :D
And yes! I answered all the questions! :D
I use a lot of emoticons…I know…I blame BBM! *shrugs*
And now, onto the next thrilling chapter! *points dramatically*
**Chapter 10**
It had been about five days since Ashley, Carli, Luke and Justin had joined Shannon and the ninja squad on their way to the city centre. They had headed much deeper into the mass of ruined and crumbling buildings, coming nearer to their destination with each day they travelled. Shannon's anticipation of finding her mother continued to increase the closer they got.
Her training with Lee had been going well, and she had mastered the basic techniques of taijutsu and one or two of the more advanced methods. Nothing close to his Shadow of the Dancing Leaf technique, but it was a start. At least she would be able to defend herself against enemies now, and not have to rely on the others to put their lives on the line for her sake. And, Shannon thought with relief, she would be able to protect the ones in the group who couldn't defend themselves, like Ashley and Carli.
Shannon still remembered Sasuke's biting words to her, from what seemed like so long ago. Weak, he had called her. If there was one thing Shannon hated being called, it was weak. She detested the word. And she would show him he was wrong. She would become stronger, more self-reliant. Then he would have to take those words back.
Shannon, walking at the head of the now moderately larger group, glanced up at the sky. What she could see of it, at least. Some of the taller buildings had fallen against each other, forming crumbling arches that blotted out the sunlight and bathed everything beneath their colossal bulk in shadow.
She frowned worriedly. They had been travelling for hours, still without sign of food or water, or adequate shelter. Their resources were beginning to run dangerously low with four extra mouths to feed. And then sun was starting to set.
"There doesn't look like much daylight left," Naruto commented, squinting at whatever traces of blue he could see.
Shannon, after fishing Kiba out of yet another hole he had managed to fall into and depositing him in her pack, sighed. "We can't stop moving until we find somewhere safe for the night."
The rest of the group glanced around their current surroundings – collapsed buildings, shattered shop front windows, crumpled billboards, rubble and broken glass littering every available surface…and not a single open space in sight. Nowhere to safely light a fire to keep the Creatures away.
"We certainly can't stop here," Sasuke snorted, adjusting his pack. "We'd be picked off one by one without even realizing it."
"Way to keep a positive outlook on things," Both Sakura and Shannon rolled their eyes at their team mate.
"We'll just have to keep moving," the pink-haired medic-nin said.
"What a drag," Shikamaru snorted, shaking his head. "As if we weren't already suffering from sleep deprivation as it is."
Shannon sniggered, making her way around another large chunk of rubble. "All you ever think about is sleep!"
"Keep going? Without stopping the whole night?" Naruto whined. He swore he could feel the weariness creeping into his bones just at the thought of pulling an all-nighter.
"We don't really have a choice," Hinata tried placating him softly. "It's either that, or run the risk of being eaten in our sleep."
The blonde ninja pulled a face. "Great, just great…" he grumbled under his breath, trudging after the rest of them.
"Don't worry, Naruto! The Power of Youth will give us the strength to continue!" Lee announced, the proverbial flames of said power burning bright in his eyes.
"Sure Lee, you just keep telling yourself that," Ashley mumbled under her breath as she walked next to Shannon.
"Give the guy some credit, that Power of Youth belief of his has got us quite far," Shannon chuckled, elbowing the red-head playfully.
…
Just as Sakura had suggested, the group kept moving even as the sun fell and darkness descended over the ruined city. They paused only once, to gather a few battered scaffolding poles and wrap some cloth torn from an old shirt around them, setting them alight with one of Sasuke's fire jutsus to make some improvised torches. Shannon hoped they would be enough to keep the Creatures away.
She picked her way carefully around another section of fallen high-rise building, making sure to keep herself in the light shed by the torch Shikamaru carried as he walked beside her.
She couldn't suppress the shudder she felt at the thought of being in the dark with all those terrifying Creatures walking around, probably stalking them at that very moment. Shikamaru noticed the movement out of the corner of his eye. Doing something very uncharacteristic for him, he took Shannon's hand in his own.
Shannon started slightly at the sudden contact, looking curiously up at her companion. He kept his lazy expression carefully intact when he looked down to meet her eyes.
"What?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow seemingly nonchalantly.
Shannon averted her gaze quickly, grateful for the flickering shadows that hid he blush snaking across her face. "Nothing," she muttered.
Shikamaru was just as grateful to the flaming torch he carried, for much the same reasons.
"You don't have to be so scared of the dark, the torches'll be sure enough to keep those things away," he assured her, squeezing her hand slightly.
Shannon smiled slightly, touched at his concern. She found it amusing how inexperienced he seemed at offering words of comfort.
"Thanks, Shika," she replied softly, her grip tightening on his hand.
…
The group made their way through the ruined city an hour or so before dawn. Sasuke and Sakura carried burning torches to keep the Creatures away. Shikamaru and Shannon led the group, picking their way careful around and over toppled skyscrapers and the crushed carcasses of fallen trains.
Broken shop windows glinted in the fire light, and the only noise was that of concrete and other debris crunching under their boots. Kiba whined softly in Shannon's backpack, not liking the dark at all.
Suddenly, Shikamaru held an arm out to signal for the group to stop. He cocked his head to the side, listening intently.
"What is it?" Shannon whispered, glancing around in hope of seeing something.
"I sense another chakra presence…" Shikamaru muttered in reply, frowning as he tried to pinpoint the source.
Eyes widening a fraction, Shikamaru spun around, looking at something behind the rest of the group.
Shannon tried following his line of sight, cold dread rising in the pit of her stomach and spreading throughout her entire body like ice.
"Fancy meeting you maggots here," a smooth voice drawled, somewhere off to Hinata's right.
All twelve of them spun around to face the source of the noise. The light from Sakura's torch illuminated a black and red cloak, torn and faded and covered in dust, as well as the metallic glint of a tri-bladed scythe.
"Not this creep again," Ashley whimpered, standing close by to Shannon.
Shannon just gritted her teeth and clenched her fists as she glared at the Akatsuki member who had intercepted them. "Hidan," she spat out the name like it was something distasteful.
"In the flesh, bitches," the silver-haired man smirked, his pale indigo eyes narrowing.
"It would be wise if you avoided conflict with us," Sai said, his voice betraying no hint of emotion as he directed the comment at the lone enemy.
Hidan scowled as his infamous temper surfaced, gripping the handle of his scythe tightly. "And why would that be, brat?"
"In case you haven't noticed, you seem to be outnumbered twelve to one," Sai continued, leaning his head to the side thoughtfully. He regarded the civilians among them. "Make that eight to one. But still, you get the point. The odds most certainly are not in your favor."
Shannon tensed, seeing the expression on the pale man's face flicker from outraged to bloodthirsty. His teeth flashed in the flickering firelight as he grinned wickedly.
"We'll see about that," he sneered.
Before anyone could even bat an eyelid, Hidan had moved. He appeared in front of Shannon in what must have been nanoseconds, pulling an arm back and striking her across the face with such force she was sent flying backwards into the side of an ash-blackened building.
She cried out when she made sharp contact with the cracked concrete, jolting her entire body painfully. Kiba yelped as he tumbled out of her pack, still unharmed, and scampered towards the safety of the light.
"Shannon!" before any one of her eleven companions could make a move to her defense, Hidan was on the move again. This time, with his scythe raised for the killing blow.
He was moving so fast Shannon could barely comprehend which direction he was coming from. All she saw were the wickedly sharp trio of blades rapidly descending towards her.
She threw her arms up to shield her face, when she felt something in the back of her mind snap. It almost felt as though someone had physically flicked a switch on her brain. Time seemed to slow for a fraction of a second, just enough time for Shannon to scream for a blow that never came.
There was a surprised grunt before her, and the clatter of something large and metallic hitting the ground. Shaking, it took Shannon a moment to realize she was still breathing, still in one piece. She cracked an eye open cautiously, slowly lowering her arms. She gasped loudly when her eyes adjusted to the darkness.
Hidan had been stopped merely inches away from her, not by any one of the ninja behind him, but by thick tendrils of shadow that pierced his pale body in several places. Eyes wide, Shannon followed the length of one of the shadowy protrusions. She gulped audibly when she saw they emerged from her own body, like porcupine quills. They writhed and pulsating with a life of their own, reminding Shannon of snakes. Inky, shadowy snakes.
Her eyes flickered back to Hidan. He looked down at her with a mixture of shock and confusion plastered across his face. He coughed weakly, a trail of blood creeping down from the corner of his gaping mouth.
Breathing heavily, Shannon could only stare at the injured immortal, her mind completely blank; clueless as to what had happened. As if on their own instinct, the shadow spikes retracted from Hidan, pushing him away from their host and leaving him in a bloody heap on the dust-covered ground. The tendrils of darkness slowly sank back into Shannon's shaking body.
"Shannon!" tearing her eyes away from the groaning Akatsuki member on the ground, the shaken girl looked up at Shikamaru, Lee and Ashley, who were dashing towards her.
Her shaking intensified, and Shannon's knees gave out on her. She would have fallen to the ground if Shikamaru hadn't caught her. He held her tightly, like he was afraid she was going to dissipate like smoke at any given second.
"Are you okay?" Ashley asked, frantically checking her best friend for any signs of injury.
Shannon could only shake her head and cling to Shikamaru's arm. Her mind was numb, like she had just woken from a bad dream and was still adjusting to reality. The only thing she could tell was wrong with her was the throbbing on her face where Hidan had struck her.
Lee scrutinized her closely. "I do not remember you ever using that jutsu when we trained," he commented, frowning slightly.
"J-jutsu?" Shannon stuttered. "What jutsu?"
"That shadow jutsu you used on the Akatsuki man," Lee persisted. "I have never seen anything like it."
"I don't think that was a jutsu, Lee," Sasuke's voice called from behind them.
He and the rest of the group appeared a moment later, bearing the torches that kept the Creatures away. It was still dark, but traces of dawn could be seen cracking through the black night sky on the distant horizon.
"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked, supporting a very dazed and confused Shannon in his arms.
"I was using my Sharingan to analyze Hidan's movements and I caught sight of her attack," the Uchiha clarified, looking intently at Shannon with curiosity burning in his gaze. "That attack used no chakra, so it couldn't have been a jutsu. Those shadows, or whatever they were, are part of her. They seem to be like natural weapons, like a kekkei genkai."
"At least now we know why both Konoha and the Akatsuki want her so desperately," Sai said, his voice level as he regarded her with a calculating look.
Shannon regained some of her composure and looked down at Hidan, sprawled at her feet. He groaned in the ever-expanding pool of blood blossoming around his body. Shannon knew he couldn't die, but that didn't stop a stab of worry piercing her gut. She had never taken a life before, and truly didn't think she could even if it was her own life on the line.
She was still a very much inexperienced fighter, even with the skills she had learned from Lee. She hadn't been on any battlefields or seen nearly as much blood and death as the shinobi around her.
She wasn't a killer. And she never wanted to be.
An extra long chapter for my extra special readers :D hope you enjoyed!
Please don't forget to drop me a review and tell me what you think :):)