The Escape

Authoress note: Hi! OK I wanna say thanks to Fuebi, Hacker of Souls, dragon of the water, and Lewel. Fuebi I agree with you that dude is a (beep) lol. Hacker of Souls...wow you sounded like an owl...who? who who? lol. dragon of the water...uh you mean the end was scary? Well I guess it kinda was. LeweL I know I luv how I made them fret over their emotions. LOL well I'm sooooo glad you guys are loving this! I don't know for sure but I think there will be some action in the next chappie...either good action (between Naruto and Dakota) or bad action (as in fighting with the shadow dude). I guess we'll all have to wait and see...even me lol. I almost never know what's gonna happen till it happens. Whelp enjoy and please remember to R and R!

Latter that day after class as Iruka and Dakota were walking home a runner ninja appeared in front of them. He was carrying a small package in his hand. "Dakota Kano?" He asked looking at her.

Nodding Dakota said "Yes can I help you?"

He held the package out to her and said "This was sent to you."

Blinking in surprise she said "Oh….thanks." Then took the package. The runner ninja then left.

"Whose it from?" Iruka asked.

"I'm not sure…." She said studying the name. It didn't look familiar to her.

"Well open it."

Dakota carefully unwrapped the package and peered inside it. What she saw made her heart stop. Noticing that her face seemed to pale and fear filled her eyes Iruka asked if she was alright. Forcing herself to look away from the contents in the package she said "Y-yeah I'm fine."

"What is it?"

"Nothing really….just some specialty drawing pencils I ordered." She lied.

Iruka shook his head and said "No you're lying."

Closing the package she said "Really Iruka it's nothing." Then she continued on to the house.

Shaking his head Iruka followed after her. 'I've never seen a reaction like that when someone opened a package.' He thought. 'I just wish she'd tell me what it is.' But try as he might he couldn't get Dakota to tell him what it really was.

Once back at the house she went to her room and hid the package in the back of her closet and went back downstairs. For the rest of the day she fended off Iruka's questions saying over and over again it was the pencils she had ordered. Finally frustrated he gave up and went to bed. Dakota though try as she might couldn't fall asleep. She kept thinking about what she had hidden in her closet. Just thinking about it sent shivers of terror down her back.

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The next day she acted as if nothing had happened but Iruka could tell something was wrong. He was worried. Dakota wasn't just his student and a girl who was staying with him. No she was like the little sister he had never had but always wanted. Because of this he was very protective of her. He didn't like to see her upset or hurting and that was exactly what was happening now.

For if you were to look in her eyes you'd see not only fear but a deep pain. He kept a close eye on her through out lessons that day. Dakota talked and laughed like she would normally do. You'd only notice the problem if you really knew her. One glance at Naruto told him that he could to see that something was wrong and was worried just like Iruka.

At lunch that day Dakota stayed in the class room to eat instead of going out side like usual. Naruto being the kind and caring guy he is stayed in class to eat with her. Half way through lunch Iruka made a rather lame excuse to have to leave in the hopes of Naruto being able to get her to talk.

Once he was gone Naruto turned to Dakota and asked "Dakota is there something wrong? You can tell me."

She looked at him for a minute before saying "Please Naruto not you to. Iruka keeps asking me the same thing. I'm fine."

Shaking his head he said "No there's something wrong. You can tell me what it is….you can trust me."

Suddenly Dakotas eyes filled with tears that streaked down her face. "Naruto…..I'm sorry."

He instantly jumped to his feet and pulled her in to a tight embrace. "For what?"

"For being this way." She sobbed burring her face in to his shoulder.

Confused Naruto asked what she meant. "For being so weak and scared." Came her muffled reply.

He pulled away just enough so he could turn her face up to his. Then looking her straight in the eye he said "Dakota you're the farthest thing from being weak. You've gone through hell in the past and there's no way a weak person could have done that. And like I said before. it's OK to be scared. I just wish you'd tell me what was scaring you so much."

Tears continued to streak down her face as she said "I-I'm sorry……I can't Naruto."

Sighing he let go of her face and allowed her to burry it once more in his shoulder. 'Why? Why can't you tell me?' He asked himself. He just didn't understand. Deciding he had pried enough for the time being he let her cling to him and cry. Which she did for quit a while. By the time she finally stopped she felt exhausted.

Not having slept the night before then crying as much as she had finally caught up with her. She laid her head on his shoulder and dozed until class started once more.

When Iruka came back in to the room he saw Naruto was sitting in the back with Dakota. She had her head resting on her arm and appeared to be sleeping. Though what he wasn't able to see was that under the desk her hand was clinging tightly to one of Narutos. Dakota didn't want to be alone at the moment because she was scared of going to sleep by herself. That was what she had told him. She was scared that if she did sleep alone something would happen.

At home she stayed down stairs not wanting to go in to her room. The fear kept her away until Iruka made her go so she could sleep in her own bed. This time she was able to sleep but she stayed curled in to a ball and had the constant feeling of being watched.

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The next day there weren't any classes so Naruto, Dakota, Kiba, and Hinata decided to spend the afternoon practicing for the graduation exam that would take place in a few weeks. The others were amazed at how well Dakota did. As far as Kiba and Hinata knew Dakota didn't know how to fight. So they were shocked at how well she did against Hinata.

"Wow Dakota, Iruka sensei was right. You are a good fighter." Naruto said.

Her face flushed as she said "Thanks Naruto." He smiled at that. After she sparred against Hinata she went up against Naruto. (seeing as how I can't write a fight scene to save my life I won't go in to detail…sorry.) In the end she lost but barely. She had sent a punch his way and he blocked it and swept her feet out from under her.

Naruto was helping her to her feet when the sound of someone clapping filled the air. The four looked around to see where it was coming from.

"Over there." Kiba said pointing to a tree. In the shade of the tree stood a man. "Who are you?" Kiba demanded.

The man came forwards a little and smiling said "Oh….I'm just passing through. I saw you guys fighting and decided to stop and watch."

"Yeah well the fights over now so you can leave." Naruto said.

The man shrugged and said "Alright then. Keep up the good work." Then he turned and walked away.

"Freak." Naruto said turning back to look at Dakota.

When he saw her he cried out in shock. She was no longer standing but sat on the ground with her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms were wrapped around her legs. Her head was resting on her arms and she was shaking horribly. Naruto quickly dropped down next to her and asked "Dakota what happened?" There was no response.

"Naruto is she OK?" Hinata asked.

"I don't know." He said as he grabbed her shoulders. "Come on Dakota snap out of it!" He said shaking her a little. When she lifted her head they could see her eyes had a distant look to them and were glazed over. Cursing softly he scooped her up in to his arms and climbed to his feet.

"Where are you taking her?" Kiba asked.

"Home. Iruka might know what's wrong." He said and turned to leave the clearing.

Twenty minutes latter they arrived at Iruka's house. Needless to say Iruka was shocked when he saw the state Dakota was in. He quickly took her in to his arms and hurried to place her in her bed. "What's wrong with her Iruka sensei?" Naruto asked.

He shook his head and said "Tell me what happened."

"We were practicing when this guy showed up. We talked to him for a minute then when we looked back at her she was like this." Kiba said.

Iruka looked down at Dakota worried. What the hell could of happened? Hearing the sound of someone crying softly he turned to see it was Hinata. "Don't worry Hinata. We'll figure this out." Iruka said. She nodded but continued to cry. "Kiba why don't you take her home?" He suggested.

"OK." He said softly then led her from the room. They didn't want to go but they knew there was nothing they could do.