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The Longest Road

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~Chapter 25. Awake~

At first, Matsuri didn't know what happened. She remembered that she had gone to sleep in the evening, only to wake up in the morning with her neck awfully aching and the painful itch upon her skin. She turned her head to the side, groaning when the stiff tendons refused working properly, and the surge of pain pierced through her skull, adding to the migraine lurking at the edge of Matsuri's consciousness. The sound of her own voice was strange, too raspy and low even by an early morning standards, and the girl momentarily considered staying where she was for a time being, and oversleeping what she found to be a muscle fever. Her hand sneaked down to pull at the blanket, and the reality hit her when she found none. The scream got stuck into her ruined windpipe, and she hyperventilated, her eyes snapping here and there to see if the monster was anywhere within her sight. Fortunately, she was alone in the cave and, oddly enough, it terrified her even more.

If she was to place a bet on anything that occured last night, it would be her death. She should have been dead by now, simple as that. She couldn't possibly survive, and yet she did.

Matsuri looked around again, raising her fingers to touch her neck, feeling the sore, chafed skin. The nausea brought the sour and bitter taste to her tongue, making her immediately urge for water but she didn't dare to move.

She was supposed to be dead. He would never abandon a victim like that. He would never fall back after he would corner his prey with his catlike steps—

And what is what cats do before they kill the mouse? the quiet voice in the girl's head asked, and Matsuri sputtered, replying to it immediately.

They toy with it.

Her hands trembling and her eyes continuously shooting glances at the mouth of the cave, Matsuri caught the black trousers that belonged to the monster once, and tied the legs together. Throwing the water canteen and a few mochi into the makeshift bag, she sought frantically for her turban. It was entangled in the blanket, and the girl grabbed it quickly. She stuck it into her 'bag' as well as her sandals and spoon. Once done, she tightened her hold on a kunai, painfully aware that it wouldn't be of any help if the monster was to attack her. However, she felt a little bit better, as if she wasn't alone anymore. The cold metal seemed to cool her blood and calm her thoughts that were rushing in panicking circles. Raising her arm offensively, Matsuri started marching towards the entrance. Her every step lasted for what seemed to be an eternity, and her muscles began to ache soon. The noises she was making seemed to be louder than thunderclaps, and she made a mental note she had to learn to move noiselessly like a monster did.

That is, if she would get out of this hell in one piece.

Matsuri came to a temporary halt just at the entrance. Taking a deep breath, she wiped her sweaty hands against her shirt, and gripped the kunai. Slowly, she moved her left foot forward. After a few minutes her right foot followed, and the girl narrowed her eyes momentarily because of the dazzling daylight. Blinking away the tears, she scanned the vicinity carefully, literally jumping at every quiet sound the breeze was making.

It seemed that the monster was gone.

Matsuri's heart hammered wildly against her ribs as she strolled down the canyon. Her pace was even and quite leisure at first but it quickened gradually until it became a full-fledged sprint. The 'bag' was knocking on her back, and Matsuri felt the spoon jabbing at her ribcage with every step. If the monster would see her by any chance he would make no mistake about what she was exactly doing. Her only hope was that he left for some of his enigmatic reasons, and whatever business he was involved in would keep him occupied for long enough to make her escape attempt successful.

Fortunately, she had incorporated some physical exercise into her temporary training program. Running across the desert wasn't as hard and exhausting to her as it had been before even if it still wasn't any closer to what ninjas could do. Not even mentioning the ability of moving a distance at an almost untraceable speed, which she had initially thought was a teleportation.

Yes, there was still so much to be done with her.

Matsuri ran unless her legs buckled. She fell down, unable to support herself properly, and her body smacked against the sand. Her tongue felt dry and swollen in her mouth; the price she had to pay for breaking one of the desert rules. Never run across the desert in a broad daylight.

Panting, the girl uncorked the canteen and sipped the water. Her feet hurt and she realized she didn't have her sandals on. Looking back, she remembered she had put her shoes into the 'bag' before she hurried out of the monster's hideout. Touching her sand-grazed skin with a hiss, Matsuri pulled the 'bag' off her shoulder and took out her turban and sandals. After cutting off two pieces of fabric, she wrapped them carefully around her sore feet, and put her shoes on. Painful as it was, it would be nothing in comparison to the monster's tender mercies, and Matsuri pulled herself to a standing position, ready to continue her journey to the west even if her pace surely wouldn't be fast anymore. Wincing, she wound the turban on her head, and forced her tender feet to move.

An hour later she grew accustomed to the sharp pain biting at her feet. She consistently ignored it, managing to have it withdrawn to the fringe of her consciousness where the numbing ache sat still, apparently waiting for the stop to charge at her again with its full force. Dragging her body up and down the dunes, Matsuri slowly began to lose her focus. She needed an every bit of her willpower to make herself trudge forward, and there was nothing of it left to support the constant, tense scanning through the vicinity to establish that she was still alone. Not that it made any difference, though. Suna ninjas were moving swiftly and noiselessly, and they descended on her before she could even think of what the familiar flak jackets meant for her.

Matsuri lifted her gaze and glanced here and there, at the tight circle of ninjas gathered around her. They looked surprised a bit, and she briefly considered a possibility that they didn't know who she was. Maybe they were just astounded by a sudden encounter. After all, she was only a teenage girl, walking down the desert by herself. That itself was a valid reason for ninjas to stop and investigate, wasn't it?

The end of the chapter 25.

The next chapter: Collaborative