Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and Kudozaki Lucine. The rest belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
| Uzumaki Naruto |
As expected, Lucine came in time. Punctual as always. I stood by the gates, to see her before she left for Suna. Today was the day. The week has gone by fairly fast, and now she was leaving, for her C-ranked solo-mission. I felt somber, and my heart clenched at the thought of her being away. She'll probably be away for the very least two weeks. Although that fact hurt, there was this nagging feeling in my chest that told me that she shouldn't be going on this mission, that it was a mistake.
I forced myself to grin when she approached me, not wanting her to see my gloomy face. She blinked, and stopped in front of me, "What are you doing here, Naruto?"
"I came to see you off, of course!" I said cheerily, "You'll probably be away for a long time, huh..."
She looked at me for a second, before her lips twitched with a smirk. "I won't be long. Two weeks, at most." When she noticed that it didn't brighten up my mood at all, she placed her hand on my cheek. "Don't make that face, idiot. You're acting like a puppy." I leaned in to her touch and closed my eyes. She was silent for awhile, simply looking at me. "Are you going to miss me that much?" she asked, almost in surprise. I nodded, placing my hand over hers, "...You're helpless." she sighed.
"Come back quickly." I said softly kissing the palm of her hand, which made her pull away. "You'll come back, right?"
"Of course." she dismissed casually, but it still felt like something was off. As if something was going to happen on her mission... "Well, I'll be going now."
I forced myself to grin again and pulled her into a hug which she actually returned, just more stiffly. Before pulling away, I pressed my lips against her cheek and let myself linger for some seconds. When I at last pulled away, she was looking at me weirdly, but she smirked in amusement nonetheless, the small smirk on her lips made her honey eyes twinkle. What it would be like to have her lips against mine? Just kissing her once, that would be enough for me. As I looked down at her lips, I couldn't help but wonder how she would react if I confessed my feelings to her now.
Before I could even consider it, she had turned her back to me and was walking farther away from me. For every step she took, the hole in my chest grew.
| Kudozaki Lucine |
As I walked I felt Naruto's heavy gaze on my back, but I did not turn back to look at him. It was for the best. It's not like I am gone forever, it's just a mission and he is overreacting.
Turning my attention back on the road I decided to scan my surroundings. Itachi wanted to accompany me to Suna, but he had a mission, fortunately. I haven't had much time for myself these days, and I was craving for some privacy and alone-time.
Two hours passed quickly, and it was pretty uneventful. Nothing out of the ordinary occurred. Until I sensed a foreign chakra, which quickly made me stop in my tracks.
Landing on a thick branch, concealed by the leaves I crouched and tried to identify the owner of the chakra signature. Already? It's barely been two hours, I thought in annoyance, not in the mood for a fight.
As I tried to identify the owner, I noticed two things. One, the chakra reserves was too big to be a civilian. Two, whoever this person was made to attempt to conceal their chakra. Almost as if the person wanted me to sense him/her. For every second, the person was moving closer to my current location... until I finally recognized the owner of said chakra.
I widened my eyes, my heart nearly bursting out of my chest. Shit. I thought and quickly sped off, adding chakra to my legs to run as fast as I possibly could. Oh no. No, no, no, I thought, panicking.
As I ran, I sensed the newcomer quickening his pace as well, running straight for me. A drop of sweat rolled down my forehead, as I tried to run faster again. Why now? I thought, frowning deeply, my body filling with rage but also slight fear. I can't face him now.
Ten minutes later, and he was still chasing after me. He had not caught up with me, but I had a feeling he was doing it on purpose. I frowned in slight irritation. Is he testing me?
Before I could take another step, I felt a harsh tug on my ankle that dragged me back, and forced me to stop. The sudden change of pace made me bite my lip accidentally, causing it to bleed. In the span of some seconds I had tumbled harshly to the ground and fell on my side, my arms taking most of the fall. Whatever tugged on my ankle had wrapped itself around my leg and was now moving towards my torso. It felt like some kind of rope, but once I looked down my breath hitched. It was a snake.
A long, purple snake had wrapped itself around my leg and torso, pinning my arms together and squeezing tightly, I could hardly breathe. What the hell... I thought and tried to move, but the snake was incredibly strong. The more I tried to move, the tighter the snake wrapped around me, till it was completely suffocating me. No longer could I breathe.
My vision was darkening, and I could barely make out my surroundings due to the lack of oxygen. Before I lost consciousness, I saw a tall figure standing before me, looking down at me with those familiar dark onyx eyes. Then everything went black.
