Reviews:
Kabata4life: LoL, perhaps. Thx for your review, glad you liked it so far.
Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain: Accidentally kill Sai? They will SURELY accidentally kill him LOL. Thx for your review.
Hymir: Once again, you leave me with a great review. I'll try my best to update before the time. 'S.O.B.' Sai is gonna have more appearances in the next couple of chapters, hopefully. Thanks for your support ALL the way.
Krymsom: Thank you so much. He is very creepy, he's almost creeping ME out. I'll try to add a bit of SakuNaru fluff to each chapter cuz I'm nearly out of thoughts, but more thoughts should be on the way. Thx for your review.
Darkide: Thank you for your support. Glad you liked it and I'll be kicking some Sai butt soon. Anyways, thank you for your review.
KunoichiRena: Thank you. You'll find that most of my stories are long for nothing. I just get in the moment and keeping typing all the way, LOL. Thank you for your review and I'm so glad you found the story too
Weixuan18: Wait and See, thank you for your review.
Shouri no hana: Well, you'll figure that out soon. Thank you for your review.
Maxslayer10: LoL, you're probably right. Wait and see. Thank you for your review and I'll try to do what you told me.
Gnosismaster: Thank you. I'm glad you liked it.
Meca vegeta: Thank you. Thanks for your review.
Miyaki Kurata: I speak a bit of Japanese, self-learning. Thank you for your comment xD
Uzukun7: Yeah, we all came to THAT conclusion. Thanks for your review and glad you liked the story so far.
Konoha Lotus: I have a great part that I have to add while they're on their trip, but I think I'm gonna skip the whole traveling thing cuz it's taking too long xD thx for your support.
Sharigan94: Well, that's alright. I knew it wasn't my best –hides tears, sniff sniff- anyways, thanks for your review.
Saka Salrin: LoL. As random as always, Saka! I'll try to update ASAP! Thx for your review.
Rickp2006: Am I that predictable? xP I'm starting to think I should mess up the order of people's appearances. LoL! Thx so much for your review.
Sakuralovewinsalways: Thank you very much, I'm flattered. –Blush-. But I'm still evil –evil laugh- thx for your review
Omega1a: Thank you very much. I actually gave a hint in the first couple of chapters when Sasuke said, "Orochimaru is history". Also, Believe it or not, I've never read the manga cuz I'm currently watching the Anime. So I don't know Sai, or Yamato, I just read about them. I haven't cleared that LEADER was someone from ROOT. So the mystery still remains. Thank you for your review and I'm so glad you liked it. I'll try my best to write more while I'm away.
My God! Your reviews, guys and girls, made my days brighter. Thank you for helping me to achieve my goal to reach to 100 reviews. I wouldn't be here without your support.
You know what I like about my stories? THEY ARE SO IFFING PREDICTABLE! Is it because it sucks? Or is it because it's a bit like the real series? Well, let me know
ENJOY!
The Truth behind the Lies, Chapter 11
They've been almost through the day; traveling towards Hoshigakure. Gaara, Shikamaru and Neji were in the lead while the former was holding the riddles in his hands, studying them further. The girls were in the back while Kankurou and Kiba were ahead of them. Lee, being Lee, was confidently walking on their side, glancing at the girls every once in a while.
"The girls are gonna hold us back" Kankurou mumbled, noticing that Lee was glancing at them, causing him to blink at the puppet master. "What do you mean?"
Kankurou rolled his eyes, "I mean, we got too many girls on the team. You also brought Sakura which will cause more trouble" he said, speeding up his pace. Lee looked at the ground, registering Kankurou's words.
Ino, who was in the lead of the girl's group, sighed. "I think we're lost. We should never let Shikamaru lead, he's too lazy to figure out directions" she said, crossing her arms while walking. Temari chuckled.
"Lazy isn't leading. Gaara is, he's got the whole idea in his head" she said, looking confidently at her younger brother who was leading them, narrowing her eyes. 'He's changed, and determined to find him. No wonder. That shrimp meant so much to him' she thought, looking at the back of her brother, almost sensing the intensity of his will.
"Not Gaara or Lazy-butt, It's Neji who's gonna find Naruto" Tenten exclaimed, pointing at her teammate. Ino rolled her eyes.
"We will find Naruto, all of us"
The girls paused and looked behind them at Sakura who was looking at the ground. She looked up at them and smiled, "We'll all cooperate to find him" she said, smiling sweetly. Ino blinked a couple of times, keeping her eyes at Sakura.
'How can she be so calm when her -supposedly dead- best friend is in danger?' Ino thought, turning her head back to the front, looking at the lazy shinobi who's also her best friend. 'If I ever lost Shikamaru, I don't know what I would do'
The mood was silent as only their footsteps were heard. They kept on silently walking towards their destination, not realizing how many hours passed…except for one.
"Gaara…"
Gaara turned his head to the side, giving Kankurou a sign that he was listening to him. "We need to rest. We've been walking for thirteen hours straight!" he exclaimed, sighing heavily.
Gaara turned his head back to the front, ignoring his brother's comment. Kankurou frustratingly groaned and rested his hands behind his back. Kiba looked behind him, noticing that one of the girls was tired.
He looked to the side where Akamaru was walking beside him and gave him a signal. Akamaru understood and retreated, walking next to Hinata who was almost panting.
Hinata noticed Akamaru and furrowed her eyebrows. In one swift move, she was on top of him as he walked. "A-Akamaru-kun!" she exclaimed in her high pitched voice, causing Neji to check on his cousin.
Gaara kept his eyes glued to the papers, "Anything wrong back there?" he simply asked, receiving a head shake from Neji. "No, nothing important" he said, continuing on his way. Shikamaru sighed.
"This is nothing like I expected…" he said, resting his hands behind his back, "…mendokuse na!" he exclaimed, sighing heavily.
Sakura, being the last on the group, sighed and hugged herself. The morning was a bit warm, despite it being winter. Now, as sunset drew nearer, the cold night was approaching them.
She kept her eyes at her feet, watching them as they sluggishly moved on their own, following the others. She was in deep thoughts.
'Are we sure about his location? Are we going to find him? Is he even alive?' she doubted, keeping her eyes at the ground.
Sakura hugged herself tighter as the cold increased. She was so anxious to go on the mission that she forgot to wear her winter attire; instead, she wore her sleeveless one.
"Baka Sakura…" she mumbled, hugging herself tighter. She closed her eyes, sighed and looked up, only to find no one in sight. Fog began to form, engulfing her and preventing her from seeing any further.
The girls continued on walking, Ino and Temari were into a fight whether Gaara was better than Shikamaru or not. Of course, none of the others cared about the conversation. Hinata, still on top of Akamaru, decided to hop down. Kiba looked back at her, but she shook her head, indicating that she had enough rest of the journey.
"Um, guys…"
Everyone stopped, turning around to look at Tenten who was looking behind. Everyone narrowed their eyes once they noticed Sakura, standing still a couple of feet behind the group, hand on her chest. Lee took a couple of steps towards the girls, keeping his eyes at Sakura.
"Sakura-san…" he started, "…doushite?" he asked, getting no reply from the pink haired. As if she was in her own world…
…this was, in fact, quite true.
Sakura stood in her place as the fog continued to increase. She lost any sense of her surroundings, her friends disappeared. Only she remained in the unbearable cold as she was shivering uncontrollably.
"Sakura…chan…"
She gasped, shaking her head. "Not again…" she mumbled, turning around, searching for the owner of the voice.
"I'm here…Sakura…chan"
She continued to look around for any sign, till she suddenly paused. She could sense him, she could feel him, and she could almost taste his pleading in the cold…
He was there with her, in the same place. She turned around, eyes on the ground. She slowly looked up, noticing a figure in the distance. Sakura narrowed her eyes, almost making out the figure as it walked closer.
"It's under you nose, Sakura-chan…"
She narrowed her eyes as hints of orange and black appeared in her vision, that wild blonde hair and those marks, they only belonged to him.
"N-Naruto…" she mumbled, taking a step closer. He continued on his way, keeping his eyes glued to the ground. She stopped as he got very close. Sakura shivered, her lips quivering. She could almost feel her lungs freeze as he got a couple of feet away from her. She decided to take a step backwards, but her legs failed her.
She was frozen…
Naruto kept on walking towards her till their faces were inches apart. She could feel him, feel the heat of his body through the cold, as if he was really with her. He kept his eyes down, on a certain object.
Sakura searched his dark eyes for an answer, but he never looked at her, instead, his left hand reached for his own hitai-ite, which was with her, while his right rested on her waist. She narrowed her eyes, looking down.
"Kiba…" he said, looking up at her. She moved her vision from the hitai-ite towards Naruto's eyes as he looked right back at hers.
Lee was standing in front of Sakura, calling her name. She wasn't responding at all, Ino and the others freaked out a bit.
"What's going on? Why isn't she answering back?!" Kankurou yelled, looking at Sakura who was looking ahead of her, before moving her head down, looking at her waist. Lee noticed the hitai-ite on her waist.
"Is it…that?" he mumbled, looking at her as she looked up again, a single tear strolled down her cheek.
She cried, raising her hands to touch his face, but he took a step backwards, releasing her waist. "Help me, Sakura-chan" he mumbled, blinking slowly. Sakura took a step towards him, but froze. She felt a lump in her throat and her limbs freeze in their place.
"Naruto-kun…" she mumbled, falling to her knees. Lee managed to hold her, breaking her fall. Everyone was startled, except for the three leaders.
Neji looked at Gaara who had no expression on his face, also Shikamaru. He looked back at Lee who was comforting Sakura before moving his vision towards them.
"I think we should camp here for tonight, the girl's freezing" Lee exclaimed, looking at Neji right in the eye.
"You're right, It's been thirteen hours after all" Gaara mumbled, crossing his arms. Kankurou's eyes widened, causing him to turn and face his brother.
"Oi, Gaara, Didn't I tell you that a couple of minutes ago?!" He asked, raising his fist in defense. Gaara looked at him and blinked.
"You were the only one complaining, so it doesn't count" he said, walking towards a nearby tree and sitting down. Everyone decided to call it a day while Lee was still with Sakura.
"Sakura-san…" he mumbled, holding her close. "…I'm sorry" he said, causing her to shake her head. "Lee…" she said, reaching for Naruto's hitai-ite. Lee narrowed his eyes before looking at her.
"…give it to Kiba, let him find use this to find Naruto!" she said, smiling as the tears strolled down her cheeks.
"KIBA!" Lee yelled, running at full speed towards him with Naruto's hitai-ite. Kiba was startled when he found that Lee wasn't able to slow his speed down, causing both to crash and fall on the ground.
"Use…this…" he said, showing Kiba Naruto's hitai-ite, which was looked at quizzically. "How will I use a torn hitai-ite?" Kiba said; an eyebrow quirking.
Lee sighed, "Use your sense of smell. Why haven't we thought about it?" he said, handing the hitai-ite to Kiba. "Well, I-I guess we could give it a try" he said just as soon as his partner appeared by his side. Kiba raised the hitai-ite to Akamaru's nose. Everyone waited patiently as the nin-dog took its time to register the smell.
Akamaru barked a couple of times, earning a look of amusement from his friend before getting up. "Kiba, what is it?" Lee asked, looking up at him.
"Akamaru is sensing something nearby. I doubt that the something is Naruto so you guys stay here and I'll go check it out" he said, raising his hand as a wave and walked off.
"It could wait"
Kiba stopped dead in his tracks, causing him to turn around. "Say what?" he said, looking at Gaara who had his arms crossed and eyes closed.
"Save your energy. You will need it later o―"
"―You don't tell me what to do!" Kiba interrupted, causing everyone to halt. Gaara slowly opened his eyes and looked at Kiba. Kankurou, seeing his brother's calm expression, was scared.
Temari held her breath, 'Shit, he's pissed' she thought, keeping her eyes at her little brother who slowly rested his left hand on the ground, pushing himself up. Kiba narrowed his eyes, 'What? Does he want a fight at the moment?' he thought, letting himself be on full alert as Sabaku no Gaara stood straight, arms crossed.
"Do as you please"
Kiba's eyes narrowed as he blankly looked at Gaara who started walking away. Everyone's eyes stayed on the red-haired. Kiba gritted his teeth as he felt that his reply earlier wasn't a very respectful one.
"No one assigned you as our leader anyway!" he yelled, receiving no response from Gaara as he decided to walk into the forest.
"Kiba-kun…" Hinata started, getting up. "…I'll go with you" she said, nodding. Kiba sighed and nodded, "Sure, let's go" he said, as the two started walking of to where Akamaru led them.
A couple of minutes passed since Kiba, Hinata and Gaara went off. Neji, Lee and Shikamaru decided it would be best if they started the fire before the sunset. So, they decided to go look for some wood, of course, going through hell and back to convince Shikamaru it wasn't THAT troublesome. They ended up leaving the rest alone in the middle of the forest.
Kankurou and Tenten were using a couple of rocks to make a big circle which would surround the fire. Ino got up, dusting off her clothes. Everyone looked at her quizzically. "What?!" she asked, crossing her arms. Kankurou raised his hand, like a student in his classroom. "Um…I have something to say!"
"What?!"
"Where the heck are you going?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at her. Ino sighed, "I'm going to use the 'facilities'" she said, doing quotation marks in the air. Kankurou nodded, not believing her. Ino ignored and walked off, before turning around and pointing a finger at him.
"Just so you know, purple is so last year. And it's definitely not your color because you look like a clown thrown into a pile of tar" she said, turning around, her hair tossing to the side. Kankurou gritted his teeth and balled his fists. Temari smirked
"Well, face the music, no one likes you" she said, giggling along with Tenten. Kankurou narrowed his eyes at his older sister before sighing, looking at Sakura who was spacing out while being covered with Lee's blanket.
"I wonder if she's alright…" he mumbled, getting up and walking towards her. Sakura was looking at her feet, still thinking about that vision she had seen.
'Why would Naruto appear at a time like this? I thought I was only seeing him in my dreams. Was I daydreaming? Or was I just thinking too much about him…' she thought, sighing heavily.
"Oi, are you deaf?" she heard someone say, causing her to jerk her head to the side. It was Kankurou, sitting by her side. "I've been calling you for the past five minutes. What were you thinking of?" he asked, receiving a blank look from Sakura.
Kankurou found himself on the ground with a bruise on his head. "OUCH!" he said, getting up and rubbing his head. "Why did you do that!?" he asked, noticing that Tenten was preparing another rock to throw at him.
"Because you're an insensitive little bastard. Go bother someone else... like Gaara" Temari defended, giving her brother a sly smirk. He narrowed his eyes, "You know he's gonna kill me if I did that"
"That's the point"
Sakura chuckled at Tenten's remark, causing all eyes to turn to her. "I'm sorry; I just think it's funny"
Kankurou narrowed his eyes and mocked her. The sound of twigs break caused them to turn their heads to the source of the sound. The guys came back with the woods needed for the fire. By that, it means that Neji was carrying the majority of the woods and twigs, Lee exaggerated it and carried half a log around while Shikamaru complained about how troublesome it would be to do such a thing, while carrying a small branch.
"You guys are back" Kankurou exclaimed as he got up and started helping Neji with placing the woods on the ground.
"Yup, we'll call it off for tonight" Neji said, looking at everyone. "Did Hinata and Kiba get back with any news yet?" he asked, noticing that the said two were missing. Temari shook her head. "No, not yet"
Neji nodded and sat on the ground. Lee volunteered to start the fire while Temari used her mini-fan to keep it lit. Everyone gathered around the fire and benefited from the heat.
"What about Ino and Gaara? Anyone's seen those two?" Shikamaru exclaimed, trying to keep his hands as close as possible to the fire. Tenten shook her head, "Gaara hadn't come back yet and Ino said she wanted to use the facilities"
Kankurou chuckled, "Man, I think those two are doing something that we don't know. It's impossible how they end up together coincidentically" he said, shaking his head in disbelief.
"It's called coincidently, moron" Temari corrected, mumbling something under her breath.
"Yeah, whatever. Bottom line is that they're together at that point―"
It was also unbelievable how Kankurou's own words could give him a bruise in the head. "OW, NOT AGAIN, YOU WEAPON B-" he was about to say the wrong word when he noticed the glare from both her and the 'weird-eyes dude' who happened to be standing next to her.
"-beautiful weapon mistress" he corrected, giving them a sardonic smile. Neji ignored him and sat down next to Tenten who glared at Kankurou till he probably wished for his own demise.
He sat on one of the rocks accumulated in the forest, hugging his knees. It's been a while since his departure from the group, he just wanted to be alone to, probably, think of a plan to help with getting Naruto back.
"Gaara? Is that you?"
He closed his eyes and gave out a small sigh before opening them back. Whoever that person was, they sure were fairly dumb. Even without seeing his face, they should know that no other person in the world had his fiery red hair and carried a gourd on their back.
He tilted his head to the side, already knowing who that person was. Her light footsteps made their way closer to him, causing him to tilt his head back to the front.
"It's getting dark soon and when it does, it gets colder. We should head back to camp, I believe the guys already started the fire" Ino said, standing next to his sitting figure. He nodded and stayed put, causing Ino to cross her arms.
"Are you planning on getting up or―"
"―yeah, any minute now." he said back, as calmly as he always did. Ino rolled her eyes and sighed heavily.
"Fine, whatever! It's not like I care if you freeze here or anything!" she said, turning around and walking off, huffing. Gaara smirked and shook his head.
"Bushy-brows and pineapple-head were right…" he said, getting up and crossing his arms, looking at her retrieving back. "…She's nice, but she IS annoying"
"Oh! What a glorious niiiiight!"
"Shut up, Lee!"
"What a Beautiful night!"
"Lee, Seriously!"
"Oh! What a YOUTHFUL NIIIIIGHT!" Lee continued to sing passionately with his eyes closed as the others clamped their hands over their ears, in Kankurou's situation, almost wanting to hide in Kuroari, one of his puppets.
"Lee, yo, you're too loud!" Tenten said, tears almost forming in her eyes while Lee's voice was overly hyper and off key. He opened his eyes and looked at them.
"Having a fire around with no marshmallows or noodles or whatever, does not count as camping, so, singing is another option!" he said, taking a deep breath to continue his singing.
"We're not camping; we're on a mission, Lee!!" Temari said, rubbing her inner ear. Lee opened one eye to look at her before…
"OH! WHAT A GREEEN NIIIII―"
SMACK!
Everyone looked at Lee who was face down in the ground with a huge bruise on his head; they all looked behind him to see Ino, holding a broken branch from a nearby tree.
"Ino, that'll do" ,they looked at the person behind the blonde. "Gaara, you're back" Temari said, receiving a nod from him. Ino smirked and sat down next to Lee who was rubbing his head.
"Why did you do that for?"
"No one needs your youthful singing since it does nothing but shortening our lives" she said, heaving a sigh. Everyone remained silent while the sound of cockroaches was the only thing heard, added to the sound of the wood being eaten by the flames.
"What shall we do now?" Kankurou asked, adding more wood to the flames, trying to keep the area as warm as it could be.
"We could always sing another―"
"―NO!" All of the guys and girls said in unison. Shikamaru sighed and laid back. "We're just gonna have to wait for Hinata and Kiba to get back" he said, "I wonder where they ended up"
Neji narrowed his eyes. 'True, I wonder where they are. If that kid tries something on her, I'll―'
"Neji…" he heard, causing him to turn his head to the side where Tenten sat with a smile on her face, "...Don't worry about her. Kiba's with her and I'm sure he's not going to let anything hurt her" she continued, smiling sweetly at him. He nodded and moved his eyes back to the fire.
'I'm still not sure…' he said, making sure no one was to see him when he activated his Kekkei Genkai
He kept his eyes on the fire while using his ability to see around the whole 360 degrees angles. He narrowed them once he spotted his cousin and her teammate.
"Kiba-kun…" she mumbled, looking around. "…Did Akamaru-kun find anything yet?" she asked, looking at her teammates back as he searched the area with Akamaru.
Kiba shook his head, "No, not― wait, I think he found something!" he said, noticing that Akamaru had barked once before heading in a certain direction. Kiba followed him, stepping over the fallen branches and maneuvering through the bushes till he found his companion.
"Oi, Akamaru, did you find anything?!" Kiba said, walking to his companion who was sniffling on something.
The dog master stood next to his nin-dog, ruffling his fur as he looked at the object ahead of him.
"Kiba-kun, what is it?" Hinata said, looking at Kiba who knotted his eyebrows, staring at what Akamaru had found.
"W-What is that?!" The lavender-eyed girl said, moving her vision towards the fabric object that was laid on the ground. Hinata's eyes widened, recognizing the orange garment.
"T-That's N-Naruto-kun's jacket!" she said, walking towards it. Kiba nodded and followed his teammate as she picked it up. "Ah, it is" he said, examining it while it was in Hinata's hands.
"But who left it here? Could it be Naruto-kun?" She said, looking at her teammate who nodded, "I doubt but, but luck's on our side. Maybe we're really on the right track here…" he said, touching the jacket, "…maybe it was taken off on purpose. Naruto probably wanted it to be found" he said, looking at Hinata who had a glimmer in her eyes.
"Y-You're right!" she exclaimed, smiling sincerely. Kiba nodded, "Let's go back and tell the others. I'm sure they would wanna hear this!" he said, hopping on Akamaru and extending a hand to Hinata. "C'mon, it's faster this way"
Hinata looked at his hand and nodded, reaching for it. He pulled her up and helped her sit in front of him, both her legs on one side.
"Hold on tight, k?" Kiba said, putting his arms securely around her. She blushed and nodded, "Umm" she murmured, holding onto Naruto's jacket while leaning back into Kiba's chest. The dog master gulped and was startled, but brushed it off and patted on Akamaru's neck.
"Akamaru, Ike!" He yelled, causing Akamaru to run at full speed towards their camping site. Hinata's eyes were widened as the speed was over the top.
"I trained him in those two years, but you never tried him, eh?" he said as the wind hit both of them. Hinata shook her head and decided to close her eyes for the rest of the journey back to the camp.
Lee yawned and stretched, looking around the silent group, "I'm getting sleepy" he said, noticing that every one of them was probably lost in their own thoughts.
"Then sleep, we'll all do sooner or later" Neji said, keeping his eyes on the fire. Ino nodded in agreement. "Yes, it's getting late and we're getting too lazy to have a conversation, except for Shikamaru, he's always lazy"
"Did you say something, big mouth?"
"See? He's even too lazy to listen" Ino said, pointing at Shikamaru who rolled his eyes and ignored the whole conversation. Tenten hugged her knees and rested her head on them, deciding to get some rest, but the freezing cold weather wasn't helping at all.
'Aw, damn, I wish I brought my blank―' her thoughts were interrupted when her prayers were answered. She lifted her head to see Neji, draping a blanket around her.
"I brought an extra, since you always seem to forget yours" he said, his face still as stoic as ever. Tenten blushed, but smiled and nodded, "Arigatou, Neji"
"It's nothing" he mumbled, returning his eyes to the fire, wondering where Hinata and Kiba were.
A couple of footsteps were heard, almost shaking the area. Everyone looked at each other before looking at the direction of the sound. It was Akamaru, coming towards them at full speed; on his back were Hinata and Kiba. He came to a halt, causing Hinata to shriek.
"Oi, Sorry for taking long" Kiba said, hopping down as Hinata helped herself. Sakura's eyes widened once she saw the object in Hinata's arms.
"That's…" she mumbled, blinking a couple of times. All eyes went to her as Hinata walked towards her.
"..Naruto's jacket…" Hinata completed what she wanted to say, handing it over to her. "Akamaru found it. I think, somehow, Naruto-kun's helping us along" she said as Sakura reached out for it, holding it in her arms. The material was dirty but she never cared, she held it close and smelt it.
'It still smells of you, Naruto-kun…' she thought, closing her eyes and burying her face in it. Everyone diverted their vision away from her, knowing that she probably needed some time alone.
"Alright, folks, it's time to get some rest" Kankurou said, clapping a couple of times. Everyone nodded and took their places. Tenten walked towards the tree and slept against it while Neji slept in the same manner on the same tree next to her. Shikamaru lied on his side, resting his head against his hand while Temari decided to use her own camping set. Kankurou chose to lie on his back, watching the stars while Lee fell asleep in an instant, mumbling some things about youth and Gai-sensei. Kiba and Hinata used Akamaru as a cushion since the latter obviously didn't mind the warmth. Ino buried her face in her knees while Gaara stayed up all night, his eyes diverting to Sakura every once in a while, noticing that she still held the black and orange material in her hands.
"We'll find him, Sakura-san…" he mumbled, making her look up at him, "…we'll find him" he repeated, nodding reassuringly. She nodded back and got up, holding her blanket in her arms and walked towards Lee, using the blanket to cover him before moving back to one of the trees, sitting down and covering her torso with Naruto's jacket, hoping to get some sleep.
"YOSHI!"
"Please, not the morning hyper-ness. I've had enough of him. Seriously, get him somewhere else" Kankurou whined, rubbing the back of his head
"It's time to get going, guys!" Tenten said, getting up and stretching. Neji, Hinata, Kiba, Shikamaru and Temari got up. Gaara, who was already awake but still sitting down, shook Ino as the latter was still asleep.
"Ino, we're gonna leave you behind" he said, slowly getting up. Ino jerked her head up, blinking a couple of times. "I'm up!" she said before jumping up on her own two feet. While Kankurou, Tenten and Lee were arguing and Neji was trying to calm them down, Gaara looked around.
"Where's Sakura?"
Lee jerked his head towards Gaara once he heard the pink haired name. "What? What do you mean 'Where's Sakura?'?" he asked, looking around.
"I'm here, guys"
Everyone heard her voice, causing them to look around. Sakura hopped down from nowhere and in front of Kankurou who was startled by her.
"Geez, woman, where do you pop out from?" he said, his left eye twitching. Everyone gaped at Sakura's new style.
"Sakura..." Ino mumbled in surprise, pointing at the jacket the pink-haired was wearing. Sakura nodded, smiling.
"I didn't think I would be able to carry it around, yet I obviously can't throw it away…" she said, burying her hand in her new jacket's pockets. "…so I decided to give it its place" she said, looking at everyone who had a pleased look on their faces.
"Anyways, since everyone's up and ready…" she said, walking ahead of the group, "…Let's go find Naruto-kun" she said, looking at the horizon and the village ahead of them. "Hoshigakure…" she mumbled, narrowing her eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out.
The group was ready to take off in a matter of seconds, they all had a feeling that Naruto was truly in that village.
"Gaara…" he turned around, looking at the person who called his name. "Yes, Kiba?" he said, receiving a sheepish grin from the dog-boy.
"I want to apologize for snapping at you like that…" he said, rubbing the back of his head while his cheeks turned bright red. "…I mean… you were obviously leader material since you are Kazekage and―"
"―Apology accepted" Gaara simply replied and turned around to face the group. Kiba sighed, 'Guess there's no need to argue with him, is there?'
"Alright…" Shikamaru exclaimed, resting his hands behind his neck. "…We're good to go, Gaara" he said, receiving a nod from the redhead.
"Let's go"
He slowly opened his eyes, being welcomed by warmth and what he could make out as the smell of lavender. Naruto thought he was dreaming, comparing the soft bed and calm atmosphere with what he had to put up with in the past couple of days.
He groggily pushed himself up, a sudden ache shooting up his head. 'Damn it' he mentally cursed, wishing that the situation would be all over soon.
"Naruto-kun, you're up. It's been a while, almost two days now"
His eyes diverted towards the doorway were Sasuke was leaning with a smirk on his lips. Naruto prayed -oh so deeply- to have the energy to punch that smirk off of his pale face.
"Sasuke!" He growled before pausing, looking around. Sasuke sighed and walked across the room while the blonde kept his eyes on him.
"You know…" he said, pointing at Naruto with his index finger and biting his bottom lip while narrowing his eyes, "…you're quite amusing, Jinchuuriki-chan"
Naruto gritted his teeth and gripped the dark blue sheets tightly, knowing that he can't attack him, knowing that he would control him.
"You're wondering how I control you, Naruto-kun, aren't you?"
'How the hell did he know that?'
Sasuke laughed before sitting on the edge of the bed. "Well, I'll tell you a small little story about a fox, a snake and a dragon…" Sasuke said, smiling. "…once upon a time, a yellow-haired fox and a raven-colored dragon became close friends, almost inseparable, since they both shared a similar childhood. They had that…interest in a certain tree and spent alot of time with it, protecting it with everything they had because it was too weak. Then one time, a snake appeared and broke the two apart…"
Naruto narrowed his eyes, 'Is he telling me our story? And what tree is he talking about' he thought, hoping Sasuke would go on with the story, beyond the part with him and Orochimaru.
"…The dragon decided to follow the snake, since the latter promised the former with power to avenge the extinction of his race…" Sasuke said, looking at the ground with sad eyes. "…apparently, the snake was deceitful, and the dragon realized his mistake, but it was too late…" he continued, causing Naruto to widen his eyes.
'Realized his mistake?' he repeated the words in his head. Sasuke moved his red eyes towards Naruto, noticing the look on his face.
"…The dragon was pissed, and ended up devouring the snake and ruling in his place..."
Naruto held back his breath, 'Does that mean…he killed Orochimaru?!' he thought, eyes widened. Sasuke smirked, "…The dragon ended up independent, working for no one. Yet he learned a couple of things from his former master. He got stronger, more powerful, more…sophisticated. He learned a couple of Kinjutsu to assist him in times of need…" Sasuke said, chuckling slightly.
"K-Kinjutsu?" Naruto mumbled, looking down. 'So that's how he's controlling me…with a forbidden technique!'
"…Unfortunately, the fox died but then it was brought back to life by Dragon-kun, and now he's being held―"
"―I know this goddamn part!" Naruto interrupted, causing the raven-haired to glare at him.
"…being held captive by his best friend, waiting for the other mates to appear so they, together, can all chop off that tree. Of course, the end of the story is still yet to be known" Sasuke said, getting up, stretching. "Ah, but this chapter of the story ends now" Sasuke said, smirking.
Naruto gritted his teeth and balled his hands into fists as Sasuke slowly made his way out the door before halting and turning to face his friend.
"Dinner will be served in a few, have a good meal… might be your last" and with those words, the door was shut. Naruto narrowed his eyes and cursed.
"Please, everyone, don't come for me…"
Yeah, yeah, long chapter with NO action whatsoever. Beside, WHY ARE YOU RUSHING?! I mean, the last couple of chapters are gonna be SO full of surprises and actions.
Anyway, folks, this is the last chapter of this month since I don't think I'll be able to update before my departure.
I really hope to get more reviews on this one before getting back. Thank you everyone for your support. The story is now on "HIATUS".
Ja ne, Thanks a bunch for the great support all the way. I promise you that I'll improve myself and come back with the greatest fight in history xP