Chapter 26: The Battle Begins

Gotta find her…gotta make sure she's okay…gotta find her…gotta make sure she's okay…This was all that was going through my head while I was running towards the main gates. The clashes of kunai striking metal plate were getting louder and louder as I pressed on. I couldn't see clearly what was going on because the gate was only very slightly open for the wounded to get in and for supplies to get out. Screaming, I heard screaming and yelling the entire time as well.

A couple moments away from the main gate I heard the unmistakable sound of a body being pierced with a sharp weapon, then a bloodcurdling scream like I'd never heard before. The smell of blood was fresh in the air.

I tried not to concentrate on any of that though. I just kept running through my head, Gotta find her…gotta make sure she's okay…gotta find her…gotta make sure she's okay…

I slipped through the gates to find myself in the middle of utter chaos.

Konoha ninjas were jumping around every which way, disappearing in and out of the trees, but the monsters I saw before me simply stood in organized lines on the path. They were possibly the most horrific creatures I've ever laid eyes on. They were all garbed with a heavy armor that was a musty black with red bloodstains on all of them, and underneath that they wore what looked like…a human skinwrap!? Their skin was alternating blood red and a pinkish, pus-like color, their faces were completely hideous. Their armor was exposed slightly with a small, round opening about three inches in diameter in the middle of the chest.

The really bad thing about their physical features is that they were all on average 150% more muscled, taller, and overall bigger than us. For every five foot ninja there was on our side, they had ten seven-and-a-half foot monster with them. They were huge, and they meant business. Some of them were literally pin-cushioned with kunai and shuriken, and yet they still stood as though they felt no pain. Maybe they didn't. They were all armed with either massive maces or giant cleavers, both of which looked as ugly as the bearers.

I realized that I was standing in the middle of a bunch of dead ninja, and when I looked down at them, their lifeless bodies somehow got to me in a way I'd never quite been gotten to before. I just stood there as the others fought and the army came closer. I turned around to find one of those monsters brandishing a cleaver, just about ready to bring it down on me, and I was frozen. I didn't know what to do at all; I couldn't think.

I saw a bright orange flash out of the corner of my eye, and before I knew it Naruto knocked me away from the monster just as he brought down the cleaver. The cleaver hit the ground below, and was stuck. The monster struggled to pull it out.

Naruto looked at me and said, "James, what the hell were you doing!?"

I didn't know how to respond. This was all so much for me to take, in so little time. Maybe coming here wasn't such a good idea… I tried to focus, and I finally got back up on my feet. Gotta find her, gotta make sure she's okay. Gotta find her, gotta make sure she's okay.

"Sorry Naruto…I don't know what came over me…" I said.

"First battle?"

"First real one anyways."

Naruto looked at me in the eye and said, "Just make damn sure it doesn't happen again. I might not be there to save your skin next time."

Boy does that figure of speech mean something else now…

"Yeah, okay," I said, "You don't happen to know where Hinata's squad is, do you?"

"Probably in the north portion of the forest. One squad was to go there, and one to the opposite side to find out if any more of them are coming." Naruto replied.

"Thanks!" I said, "You should probably get back to your squad."

Naruto simply nodded, and jumped back to the other side of the path. I headed into the northern portion of the forest to try and find Hinata. Gotta find her, gotta make sure she's okay, gotta find her, gotta make sure she's okay.