AN: Man, it already been a year since I started writing this thing! Just wanted to give a quick thanks to everybody who have read and reviewed and stuck with it! Plus, Kakashi and the OC are not a pairing, though it may seem that way from the last chapter. That was not my intention when I wrote that scene, I wanted it to be dark and foreboding... Sorry for the late update as well
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He briefly popped his head out of the small space where he was lodged in Naruto's jacket. Blinking a few times, his small onyx eyes darted to and fro to figure out just where they were. The small pup knew they had been traveling for at least a couple hours, the sun already starting to move downward on its arc through the sky. He watched Sasuke's form moving at a breakneck pace a few feet ahead of Naruto as the blonde stopped moving suddenly, a certain smell rising up to meet his nostrils. Sasuke, noticing that his teammate had stopped moving, turned around, Sakura still dangling helplessly from across his neck. The kunoichi was still trembling slightly now and then, exhaustion clear on her pale and worn out features. All three of them were pretty tired, the genin's clothes covered in a mixture of blood and dirt, shreds and tears showing off pieces of skin that were reddening over with scarring, only just starting to heal. Naruto's pup, however, was still energetic as ever, his nose darting to and fro like it's masters, trying to find the source of the odd scent.
"What is it? An ambush?"
Sasuke asked, his face showing an expression of worry. Taking one free hand and wiping it across his sweating brow, Sasuke gently put Sakura down next to him on the branch, one of her arms around his neck for support. Naruto peered toward the left for a few more seconds, his eyes narrowing as he supposedly found the trace of the scent that was worrying him, then turned back to his comrade giving a quick nod as a response.
"Yeah...but whatever they are, they're not human. Be on your guard."
"Huh?"
Sasuke mumbles, unsure of what Naruto was getting at. How could animals attempt to ambush a squad of genin? Maybe they were summoned creatures, like Naruto's ninken, but Sasuke doubted that any other genin had the skills to summon something like whatever this was. If it had Naruto and his dog on the alert, it was definitely no ordinary type of animal. Turning his thoughts back to their current situation, Sasuke gave a short yell when he saw Naruto head towards the ambush, instead of away from it.
"Idiot! You wanna get us killed!"
"No, but I think they already have someone caught in their trap. If it's a Leaf comrade, we could use their help in getting to the tower. If not, we can get rid of a part of the competition...Even though I kinda get a sick feeling in my gut from the idea...We're ninja, we gotta do it."
Naruto explained calmly, his reasoning making sense to the Uchiha. Though it was odd for Naruto to say those types of things; Ever since he had come back from the Wave mission, Naruto seemed to slowly and surely getting a bit more mature. It really only showed itself in situations like these, however, where life and death was concerned. Sasuke wondered just how changed that mission had made his happy go lucky partner. Guess Asuma really made a mark on him, huh? Well, and his old man, too...but seeing all those deaths is sure to sober up a person. Like when Itachi- No! Don't think about that now...Sasuke inwardly berates himself, quickly picking up Sakura's limp form and following his orange clad teammate.
They continued to dash through the foliage, Naruto's nose leading the way. It wasn't too long before they found the source of the scent, below their position in the trees, a small hole in the center where the trio saw a few dark clothed figures loitering. The white wolf near Naruto's feet began to growl, his fur standing on end. Naruto made a noise to quiet him, in case the people below would hear the sound, before taking out a kunai and getting into a battle-ready position. Sasuke turned to his companion, a look of worry on his face.
"There could be more, you know..."
"Big deal! I-no wait, I mean we—can take 'em. This little guy is amazing!"
Naruto exclaimed, his pup giving out a small bark in response. Sasuke nodded, placing his trust in his teammate and placing Sakura down on the branch before making a quick hand-sign and teleporting the two of them away to hide. Feeling the flare of chakra, the three dark clothed figures below turned their heads up to spot Naruto and his wolf. Sporting a devilish grin on his pudgy face, Naruto quickly made a hand sign, three shadow clones appearing within the branches of the trees above their targets. Jumping down from their precarious perches, the clones quickly landed in front of the oddly clothed figures. One of the fiends quickly lashed out at one of the clones, who was still recovering from the fall, and it quickly disappeared with a loud popping noise. Naruto blinked, his brain quickly digesting the information the clone had sent him over that small time span. His eyes narrowing as he discovered the true identity of their foes, he quickly grabbed the small white pup and vanished into the foliage like Sasuke had done before him. Memories of the previous encounter with these beasts flooded his brain, and something one of them had said struck out like a chord in the blonde's mind.
"I dunno why...but we were ordered to bring any good looking humans as captives. Ones who were physically fit, or showed some kind of promise in their talents. That's all I know, stupid human! Now, you promised; let me go dammed human!"
"That's right...They've probably been setting up traps like this all over the perimeterof the tower in order to find people. Tch! Well, they're not gonna get away with it as long as I'm here! I'm the hero of this tale, after all-ttebayo!"
Naruto mumbles to himself, his determination slowly bubbling up inside of him. Watching as another one of his clones is sent away with a loud pop, the blonde shinobi jumps down from the tree, his canine buddy huddled in the shoulder of his orange jacket. Setting the pup down on the ground, Naruto's face contorts with worry as the little wolf dashes off into the fray, the muscular green imps hissing and spitting at the duo. One of them is awkwardly clutching a kunai, it's grip shaken and unsteady. The tiny dog heads for that, it's sharp teeth plunging into the imp's right wrist. The odd thing screeches in pain, an inhuman wail, the others quickly taking out their own crude weapons. Blood covering his jaws, and matting his fur, the pup quickly let go of the imp's wrist, dark red blood dotting the grassy dirt ground and sliding down the crevice to fall down the side of the pitfall trap.
Unfortunately for the imp, it's comrade had chosen that time to strike out with its silver sword. The blade cut cleanly halfway through the arm of the green monster, the appendage rolling onto the ground near Naruto's wolf companion, the thing letting out an ungodly shriek of pain. Wincing from witnessing the grave scene, Naruto recovered just in time to dodge a swipe from the other creature's hand and a half short sword, the silver blade already partially marred with specks of blood and dirt. Countering with an agile roundhouse kick to the imp's ribcage, Naruto then followed up with a left hook to the monster's temple, laying it out sprawled on the ground next to it's recently de-limbed companion. Even with part of it's arm cut off, the green demon was still itching for a fight, quickly taking up its comrade's blade.
"Geez, these things don't give up,huh?"
Naruto muttered, quickly grabbing a kunai from his pouch and using it to parry the downward swipe from his attacker's blade. The resounding clash of metal rang out with a profound screech, the two combatants each pushing down on each other's weapon, sparks lighting the air around them. Aiming for the thing's calf, Naruto's wolf comrade quickly bit into the green flesh, breaking the imp's concentration and allowing Naruto to use his kunai to scrape a long line of dark red blood down it's arm, parts of the sickly looking skin flaying off of it's body unto the ground. Using this opportunity to his advantage, Naruto quickly stabbed the wailing and defenseless creature through the chest, his hand plunging through the thing's torso almost like it was a slab of meat. Naruto winced as he pulled his arm out of the imp's stomach, the resulting flecks of blood covering his face and the white parts of his orange jacket. He watched with a mixture of revulsion and guilt as the thing stumbled backwards into the pit, its wailing still prominent even through the imp had received a slightly punctured lung with his last attack.
Wincing as he heard the sound of bones breaking and the horrifying squish as flesh and muscle collided with the cold, hard dirt ground, Naruto did his best to remind himself not to throw up; He had killed the two demons for a reason, after all. Now that the dark deed was done, they could rescue whomever was in that pit, Naruto kept reminding himself mentally as he climbed down its slightly bloodied edge using his chakra. His thoughts kept going back to their mission in Wave, however, and to his sensei. Asuma had killed the two Mist Chunin in almost the exact same way, though with more dignity and mercy than Naruto. Would he have to kill people, not demons, in the exact same way later on in life if Naruto continued to be a ninja? Would his path to becoming Konoha's Hokage force him to make choices like this?
The orange clad genin tired to push those thoughts away as he neared the bottom, his wolf comrade still watching him from his precarious position near the edge of the pit. The wolf barks happily, as it pushes the other dead imp into the pit with its snout, Naruto watchign as it falls down to land on top of its companion. Naruto quickly confirmed the sound of a person sobbing, his ears telling him it was a girl. He found that he was right about a second later, finally reaching the bottom of the deep hole and carefully stepped around the broken and battered corpse of the green imps they had just felled. Unlike the canopy above in the forest, it was slightly darker here and Naruto found that his vision was slightly impaired, more specifically his ability to distinguish between colors due to the lack of light in the pit. Though the blonde genin could still tell it was a girl, her form small and slender, and her eyes wide with fear or possibly admiration as he slowly approached her.
"W-who are you?"
A small, feeble voice called out, her words slightly interrupted by a stutter. At first, the blonde thought it was Hinata, due to the quiet tone and slight speech impediment, but his impression changes as he sees that this girl wore glasses and had much longer hair than the Hyuga heiress. Plus, that hair and her eyes were a red color, like magenta or almost fluorescent pink. Trying his best to look nonthreatening, he slowly walks closer towards the girl, who shrinks back in fear, Naruto noticing this was because of her broken spectacles that hang haphazardly on her face.
"Don't worry; I'm not gonna do anything. Trust me!"
Naruto responds, his whiskered face breaking out into a smile to assure the girl that he isn't dangerous. She blinks slowly, her eyes magnified behind her black framed lenses, and starts to get up from her position on the ground.
"Alright...You don't feel like a bad guy after all; Your chakra is too warm and happy for that.,,"
"Eh? My chakra...?"
Naruto questions, causing the girl to sigh with an annoyed air.
"Yeah...I'm a sensor type ninja. I can feel the different natures of people chakra's. You seriously didn't know that?"
"Well, I kinda slept in class a lot, heh heh..."
Naruto answers to the girl's peevish rebuttal, mentally wondering if everyone he met was going to call him stupid because he didn't know everything there was to know about ninja. It's not like the academy and Kakashi had him taught everything; there were some things you had figure out on your own, like killing instinct and the like. That and he was pretty sure he had slept through some of the classes and lectures too...but only because he was not good at concentrating for long periods of time. Shaking his head, the blonde quickly asked where the girl's other teammates were, her reply being that they had been separated a while back.
"I dunno what happened after that...those...things came after me and we fought, or I tried to at least, though I'm not very good. I remember falling down this hole and—ow!"
The girl cried out suddenly, clutching one of her ankles. Bending over to see what was the matter, Naruto saw her right ankle was either sprained or broken; He didn't have the field experience with medical injuries to tell which. Offering the girl to ride on his shoulders, she stubbornly declined but finally relented after being reminded by a couple of shrills barks up above that those things could back.
"Thanks..."
"What? Nah, it's fine...I always help people in need."
"Hence your warm chakra."
"Again with that...What do you mean 'warm' ? Do you even have a name? Oh, I'm Naruto by the way. Uzumaki Naruto..."
He didn't hear anything for a while, his feet just busy plodding back up the side of the hole. After a brief sigh, he felt the girl's breath tickling his head as she began to talk.
"Name's Karin. I don't have a last name; Or maybe I should say I don't know what it is...As for the warm thing, we sensors can feel the nature of people's chakra, like I told you before. Some people can be cold and filled with evil intent, some are in the middle, and others are warm and fuzzy. There's a lot of other ranges mind you, but I'm simplifying it so you understand. Besides, I'm still not good at this stuff myself..."
"Hmm...Interesting. Thanks though."
Naruto mumbles, finally making it out of the hole and back into the forest. Karin nods slightly, trying to gracefully slide off of his back, but fails, yelping as she puts too much weight on her broken ankle. Naruto winces, quickly going to find some sticks for her to use for a splint or crutch. Ripping off part of his black shirt underneath his jacket, the boy clumsily tries to tie Karin's broken ankle back together, ignoring her painful squeal as he resets the bone into the place.
"Now this is just basic stuff from the academy, but it should work so the leg won't grow crooked until we can get real help. Sorry..."
Naruto mumbles, frowning at his somewhat shoddy handiwork. Putting some more weigh on her leg and trying to stand, Karin finds that she can at least hobble a few paces, which is better than nothing.
"Looks like you've been making another friend, eh?"
The two look up, Sasuke's voice calling out above them from the treetops. He appears with an unconscious Sakura a moment later, staring oddly at Naruto's new 'friend'. Naruto grunts, his face glaring at the Uchiha, who is smirking slightly. Karin, surprised from the sudden appearance, tips over her new crutch and onto the grass, Naruto's wolf toddling over to lick her dirt covered face. She chuckles as the dog's wet tongue tickles her skin, causing the two Leaf genin to notice her once again.
"This is your new buddy, I assume?"
Sasuke asks jokingly, quickly shooing the dog away from the girl. Naruto nods, quickly picking up his wolf pup and letting him climb into the neck of his jacket. Blushing slightly, Karin composes herself and tells the raven haired ninja her name and story, who quickly nods as he digests it all. Looking at the sky, the trio notice that it is already past sunset, the sky deepening with hues of redish-blue, purple and navy hues. Cursing their bad luck inwardly, Sasuke sighs, his displeasure etched clearly on his face. Damned idiot...Getting us involved in this shit...Now we can't possibly make it to the tower now. The Uchiha thinks, ignoring Naruto and Karin as the blonde questions the mark on her headband.
"This?"
Karin asks, pointing to the slanted 'upside down 'W' like mark on her grime and dirt covered silver plate. Naruto nods, prompting her to continue.
"I'm from the Hidden Grass Village. Small place, really. A minor village and we only had a few other entrants besides my team...about maybe two other. I dunno about the others though, nor my own teammates. I hope they're alright..."
"I'm sure they're fine! Don't worry; We'll get you ba-"
Naruto starts, but is quickly interrupted by Sasuke who shushes him with a glare.
"Idiot! We don't have time to be helping people...The last day is almost over, dammit! We don't get to that tower now, we're all screwed from this exam."
"Big deal...they have it more than once a year. We can just do it again."
Naruto offers, to Sasuke's displeasure. Doesn't he see all the strong opponents here? And how else are we going to catch Orochimaru? Damn it, I can't lose my chance now! Not when I'm so close to getting stronger... Sasuke thinks, his right fist launching a swift hook at Naruto's cheek. The blow connects head on, the blonde sliding to the dirt, his mouth bloodied and cheek black and blue. His pup is protectively on top of him, growling at the Uchiha who is stubbornly moving closer.
"Shut up! I need those scrolls to pass this exam, darn it all!"
Sasuke shouts, laying Sakura down next to Karin, who can only watch in surprise as he lunges for the dog. Wow. Karin thinks, looking at the unconscious Sakura. She must go through a lot with these two; No wonder she's so tired...
"Ow! Son of a..."
Sasuke curses, quickly pulling back his bleeding hand and examining it. His glare now settled on the wolf, the Uchiha grabs him with his other hand, ignoring the pain as the dog bites into him again and flings him next to Sakura's prone form. I need to get stronger...That will only happen if I fight strong opponents, like Lee or even Gaara. Maybe even those Hyuga...That won't happen unless this loser stops trying to help every person we come across! I have to kill my brother someday...and if I'm not a Chunin I can't go on better missions...and I will be weak...I'm running out of time! These thoughts race through the Uchiha's mind as he quickly picks through Naruto's pouch and nabs both sets of scrolls.
"Sorry, dumbass, but I need these more than you do."
Sasuke taunts, Naruto still groggy from his sudden surprise attack. Jumping into the trees, the raven haired ninja quickly leaps off into the forest, his dark blue shirt blending in with the darkness. Naruto, getting up from his position on the ground, quickly runs towards Karin and Sakura, watching Sasuke's retreating figure speed off into the night.
"Sasuke! What the hell, man? I thought you had changed..."
Naruto mutters, sighing as he sits down near the girls. What in the world made him do that? He's panicking; the time to almost up for the second phase and he doesn't want to be left behind...still...How could he? Damn it, Sasuke! You bastard...don't we mean anything to you? Well, of course we do, he's just out of sorts. He'll calm down after I give him a good talking too...Naruto thinks, creating a couple shadow clones; one infused with demonic chakra just for an extra precaution, and sending them both after their runaway comrade. Turning to Karin, he had no idea what to say, his expression one of worry and confusion.
"Sorry. He's not himself...I mean, he is a little cold but after you get to know him...Sasuke..."
She nods, showing Naruto a quick smile to let him know she thought nothing of it.
"This exam is important to a lot of people; it can make many snap under the pressure..."
"Yeah...I guess so..."
Naruto replies, hoping that his plan will work out for the best.
