Disclaimer: I own these characters in no way!
Thanks for the reviews. They really meant a lot to me. Thanks to your encouragement, I managed to slightly more than double the length of this chapter, and even I added a rather amusing Forbidden Forest skit into it.
I got the idea from this chapter after overhearing a documentary my roommate was watching about the American Revolution and Paul Revere's "midnight ride," and watching that cell phone commercial featuring the rapper idiots saying, "The fees are coming. The fees are coming." Then, it just hit me. If my title makes you laugh, and I hope it does, then my idea was a good one.
The Ninjas Are Coming! The Ninjas Are Coming!
Meanwhile, miles away from Hogwarts, Naruto and his companions had come upon a small town and were trying to find a place to bed down for the night. It was less than one day's trip from here to the castle. "Not long now," said Kakashi as they walked through the empty streets. "We'll be there by noon tomorrow if we get an early start."
"Good," Naruto yawned. He was tired and looking forward to lying down after a long day of running. "So where are we sleeping tonight, Sensei?"
"Don't know," Kakashi admitted. "The people here don't seem to trust us." The people wouldn't come near them. Apparently, nobody in this day and age wears a mask like Kakashi's or headbands like theirs anymore, unless they're someone who can't be trusted or were looking for a fight. Kakashi didn't like that stereotype at all, but there wasn't much he could do about it.
"You guys wait here," Sakura said at last. "I'll see if I can't at least get directions to this mountain here. The castle is on the far side," she said, bringing out the map. She walked away to find someone who could help point them on their way.
"Hey, Naruto, look at this!" Lee called over from the middle of the street. "There is something here I think you should see." He was crouching over what looked like a series of large holes and scorch marks on the ground. They had been roped off by the local authorities. To an ordinary person, it looked like ordinary lightning had hit the ground here in several places, but the shinobi knew better. The places where it had struck were too close together.
Naruto and Guy walked over and surveyed the damage. "The rocks are blasted apart and partially melted," Guy said warily. "A powerful Lightning–Style jutsu is behind this." He could still sense the electricity in the air.
"Is it the Chidori?" inquired Naruto, starting to get excited. "Is it Sasuke?"
"No. I don't think so," Guy concluded as Kakashi joined them. "This isn't the Chidori. You see, the Chidori can't make the necessary heat to melt the ground like this. I've seen Kakashi use that jutsu dozens of times, and I've never seen a mess like this."
Kakashi walked over to a particularly large crater, and he raised his headband, revealing the Sharingan in his left eye. He'd received this special eye as a gift from a dying friend many years ago. Slowly he gazed at the crater from every angle. "You're right, Guy," he said at last. "This isn't normal lightning, that's true. But this is no jutsu. It used energy like nothing I've ever seen before. There's a strange aura filling this crater."
"I agree," they heard Neji say as he walked up to them and examined the area for himself. "My Byakugan detected something odd as we arrived. This area is filled with some unidentifiable energy, and it isn't chakra either."
"A strange aura?" questioned Naruto. "Don't tell me it's some sort of magic or something."
"Huh?" Kakashi and Guy said in unison, turning towards him.
"That's right. I remember this school we're going to is supposed to teach magic," Neji reminded them. "This means there must also be someone else using magic around here. Someone who isn't very subtle or affable."
Just then, Sakura came running back with the map. "They told me there's no castle over that mountain; just an old ruin. Either way, that's where we're heading, so we've got no choice but to head there. I've plotted the fastest route. We should get there mid–morning tomorrow, IF we don't meet with any resistance or trouble on the way there," she said, panting slightly. "The forest on the edge of town isn't supposed to be inhabited, so we best camp there. Is anything wrong?"
"No, no, Sakura. Everything's fine," Kakashi answered her in a very easygoing manner. "Come on, everybody. Let's go set up camp."
"Aw, man," Naruto groaned under his breath. "Another night of sleeping on the ground."
"Suck it up, Naruto," Choji said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Just think of the nice, warm beds waiting for us there, or better yet, all that delicious food."
Grumbling to himself as he rolled his eyes at Choji's remark, he followed everyone to the woods, but his mind was still on Sasuke. Despite the fact that his former friend had turned on him and joined up with the Akatsuki, determined to annihilate his home village, Naruto still remained set on bringing Sasuke back to his senses, if he still had them. Even if I have to tear off your limbs and drag you back to the Leaf Village by your hair, Sasuke, he thought. I'll keep my promise to Sakura, and bring you home. I swear it!
They awoke the next morning at first light, around 5:30 in the morning, and after ten minutes of packing up camp, they set out again.
"But I'm not ready," Choji complained, taking out a bag of potato chips. "I'm not done with breakfast yet."
"Then eat it while we go, Choji," Shikamaru said, yawning. "We've got a schedule to keep and we're late as it is."
"He's right," Neji said, standing up and shouldering his bag. "We need to rendezvous with our client as soon as possible. They must be wondering about us."
Kakashi and Guy agreed. "We need to hurry," Kakashi said firmly. And with that, they set off.
They made good time during the first hour. After that, the terrain was mostly flat grasslands, so there were no trees to make things go faster, so the shinobi had go it on foot. Choji ended up getting tired more than once and had to stop to eat something, making Naruto, Sakura and even Shikamaru want to give him a swift kick in the pants to keep him on his toes.
Eventually, they came to a dark forest that seemed darker and more ominous than any they had ever seen before. Kakashi held out an arm for them to stop. "Sakura, did you find out about this forest?" he asked, lifting up his headband to reveal his Sharingan eye. "I'm getting a really bad feeling about what's in there. Like it's the last place I want to enter."
"No, not a thing," Sakura confessed. "No one ever goes near this forest. For whatever reason, whenever someone gets close to the trees, they suddenly feel like this is the last place they want to be, or they remember an appointment, and leave. But according to the mission docs, our destination is on the far side of it. But I don't know how big it is."
"All right," Guy called. "Neji, do your stuff," he told his student.
"Yes, sir," Neji nodded, his Byakugan eyes already forming. He paused for a moment and looked both ways. "I can see it is several kilometers wide and many kilometers deep. I can't see the other side. It would take us too long to go around. Our best option is to go straight through, but we should take caution. I can see a great number of creatures that we probably want to steer clear of."
"What?!" yelled Naruto. "That's crazy. Are you a ninja or not? Neji, I'm seen you tangle with some seriously tough guys before, so why are you afraid of a few wolves and stuff? COME ON!! We're wasting time!" He took a deep breath and ran into the forest before anyone could stop him.
"Naruto! Come back!" Kakashi called after him. Why does he have to be so stubborn and impulsive?!
"I agree with Naruto," Lee said flatly. "If going through is the fastest way, then let's go, Guy–Sensei." And he ran in too.
"Ah, the power of YOUTH!" Guy burst out. "Let's run Lee! We can out run anything on two or four legs!" He tore into the forest right after Lee. "Come on, kids. You don't want to get left behind! You too, Kakashi!"
Neji let out a sigh as everyone started running. "It's not what's on two or four legs that worries me," he said to himself quietly as he joined his comrades in the long charge through the trees. I just hope my worries are in vain.
After an hour of running, they came upon a cave that seemed to go into the ground. "Hmm," Naruto thought out loud, looking in. "I wonder where this goes."
"I don't see anything," said Neji, using his Byakugan to search for life–forms. "Looks more like a dead–end than anything else."
"Is there water down there?" asked Sakura. "We're all out, and we haven't seen any water in over a day and a half."
"I can't tell," Neji answered her after several moments.
"I'll go in and investigate," Naruto said, ducking down and venturing into the cave.
"B – be careful, Naruto," Hinata called in after.
"Don't worry," they heard Naruto say, already out of sight. "I'll be fine."
As Naruto crept deeper and deeper into the cave, he started to get second thoughts. His ears started pick up the sound of scurrying. He looked down and around, but there were no rats to be seen. Then he saw them. Hundreds upon hundreds of tiny spiders were coming into the cave, as though they were following him. "Ecch. That's creepy."
He finally came to an open area that ended in a dead–end, just as Neji had said. There was a large hole at the end of the clearing, but when he crept over and peered in, he found there was nothing in it. Not even a drop of water. "Erg," he growled in frustration. "What am I gonna tell Sakura?"
When he turned around and saw the spiders still swarming into the area, each no bigger than the digit of his thumb, he got a mischievous idea. He bent down and picked one up. What if I put one of these in Sakura's hair? She hates spiders! That would be so –"
"Meat."
"Huh?" he exclaimed looking around. "Who's there?"
Then he heard it again. "Meat. Meat."
"Hey! Who's in here?!"
Then, something came down from the ceiling and splattered on his face. He put up a hand and wiped it away. "Ew. Gross! What is this? Huh?" He looked up, and the instant he did, he ended up wishing he hadn't.
"That's it!" Sakura fumed. "He's been gone too long."
"I wonder what could have happened to him," Lee wondered out loud.
Suddenly, they heard foot steps coming toward them, but it wasn't just Naruto. It sounded like a million Naruto's were coming out all at once. It started to get louder. Then, they saw Naruto come racing out at full tilt, screaming, "RRRRRUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!" He charged straight through them and kept on going until he was out of sight.
The others had only a moment to look back into the cave before they saw a massive army of enormous spiders come charging out, heading straight for them. Some of them were bigger than Guy. A few were twice as big as Choji.
"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Kakashi and Guy yelled in panic. "AND DON'T STOP!"
"And you thought you were chubby, Choji!" Shikamaru told his best friend as they ran. "They make you look skinny as a toothpick!"
"Shut up, Shikamaru!" Choji shot back in a shaky voice.
"AIEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" shrieked Sakura as she tore after Naruto, quickly catching up to him, the rest at their heels. "I HATE SPIDERS!"
Ten miles away, Ron Weasley woke with a start. "Spiders?! Where?! Where?!!"
"Hm?" Hermione said from next to him as she opened a sleepy eye. "Go back to sleep, Ron. There are no spiders within a mile of here."
"Righ'. Right," Ron said drowsily, lying back down, and a second later, he was snoring as though nothing had happened, but this still didn't keep him from having nightmares about spiders that night.
I hope you all enjoyed my most recent project. I regret to say that this chapter wasn't 100% Naruto like I said, but I just felt that little Ron–moment right at the end would be just priceless in this situation.
Next chapter, it's time to go shopping, and it's Floo Powder that's going to get them there. Let's just hope they get there without any complications like in the second HP movie!
That's in three days, when TNA Wrestling takes over Mondays Nights! Yeah, I'm a TNA fan. Big fan. Doesn't get any better than Hulk Hogan & Abyss vs Ric Flair & A.J. Styles, baby!
'Till then! DIAGON ALLEY!! *Throws powder down and vanishes*
