Both "Naruto" and "A Flash to Naruto" are property of their original owners. GawrBack claims no credit aside from this two-line intro.
Unfortunately, I don't know the original author of this fanfic, but if you know their username - please leave a review so I can credit them.
Alright folks, here's the second part of that broken up chapter I was talking about. I'm made a few changes to my typing style, but those won't affect you reading too much. All I've done is bold the sounds and noises. Nothing too major.
Chapter 13: Beasts of the Forest (Part 3)
BOOOOM!
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" I heard Flint yell as he managed to stop just in time.
A huge brown worm-like-leech-thingy blasted right in front of where we would have been if we didn't stop. Yes, that worm-like-leech-thingy. It continued and ran over the river. It was a lot longer that we saw when we were on Temari's fan. A lot longer. More than 5 times as long.
"Our little friend." Robin said as she backed up.
"It was a matter of time, wasn't it?" I said as I backed up as well.
"GROOOOOOOOOH!"
"Nice to see you too." I replied. "Have you gained some weight?"
"Tsebe, I don't think it would be wise to taunt the worm."
"Listen to the girl, child." A voice boomed.
"Whoa, this thing talks?" Flint asked. "Robin, you never mentioned that in your stories."
"Yeah, it didn't talk to us either…" Jetta said softly enough for only us to hear. Well, hopefully only we heard. "Maybe we're not alone after all."
"Yes girl, you may be right."
All eyes turned to the creature, which had now stopped moving. The head of the creature the rushed over it's body and hung over it exposing its huge sharp teeth.
"My, what big teeth you have." I started.
"Let's hope he doesn't say all the better you to eat you with." Temari replied.
A hand then appeared in the beast's mouth. Then slowly, it began to pull up a body.
"Great," Jetta said seeing this. "First it eats you and then it turns you to a zombie. What's next?"
"Your slow and painful death." The deep voice said. The body was now fully visible in the mouth. It was a light skinned man, with extremely long black hair which flowed down to his lower back. This hair obscured his face. He was wearing slashed clothes. They were once a deep blue vest with grey trimming with a long sleeved green shirt underneath. Now only one sleeve remained and large slash marks removed most of the trimmed part of the vest. What used to be pants were extremely slashed and it was amazing that they were still intact. His arms other than his shirt were bare and so were his feet. He stepped out of the ring of teeth and stood just outside them, on the rim of the creature's mouth with his hand holding one of the teeth.
"You're the creature!?" Jetta shouted.
"No child." His deep voice said. "This creature just carries out my bidding for me, which involves destroying anyone I find in this forest."
"Then why don't you attack during the Chuunin exams?!" Robin said.
The man's eyes narrowed on Robin as she talked.
Robin stiffened and stepped back. "Why are you looking at me like that?! And answer my question!"
"Didn't I kill you last year?" The man said as he revealed his face. It had well defined cheek bones, eyebrows and he had a long beard and goatee. "And weren't you… A guy?"
Robin quickly turned her head away from the man. "That was my brother. My twin brother…"
Temari then stepped forward. "All I have is one question. Are you the one who stole my clothes!?" She shouted at him.
A small smile came over the man's face. "Yes…"
"You sick pervert, why did you do that!?"
"Less evidence." He said as a smirk came over his face. "That and I needed new clothes. I can just patch these up and make them male. Why do you think these clothes are ripped? I got them from my last victims."
Robin's eyes widened as he said that. It was only then she realized. "That's my teammates' clothes! Why you mother-!"
"Hold your mouth child! You don't want the last words to come out of your mouth to be something you might regret saying."
Robin only growled at the comment.
The man then leaped out of the mouth of the creature and landed on its back. "Now, let the fun begin! Kira-hiru! Attack!"
The held of his leech-like-worm-thingy then lifted off the ground.
"Guys… I think we should move now!" Jetta said as she prepared herself.
It lunged at us at a blinding speed! I managed to leap out of the way just in time.
BOOM! River stones blasted about like meteors from a shower back down to the ground.
"Guys! Separate! It can't follow us all!" I heard Robin yell.
"GROOOOOOOOH!"
"That's right my pet," The man said as he stood on the Kira-hiru. "They can't escape you can they?"
"Run!" A male voice said. I was too preoccupied to pay attention to who it was. I saw the male begin to run into the woods. I followed.
"That's it… Run… Run…" I heard the sound of fast moving hands behind me. "Separation attack!"
"GROOOOOOOOOH!"
"GROOOOH!"
"GROOOOH!"
"GROOOH!"
"GROOOOOOOH!"
"What the hell is going on!?" I yelled as I ran through the trees.
"I don't even want to know!"
Shhhhhh! It was on our backs. I could tell.
I was running for my life, with the sounds of the Kira-hiru hot on my tail as support through the forest terrain. Trees were flashing past my eyes with the occasional bush, vine and matrix-style lump required to pass through some vines. It would waist too much time going around, plus with that monster hot on my heels I doubted that I would make it around without becoming minced meat. My fellow male escapee was right ahead of me, jumping, turning, flipping and everything necessary to proceed. The forest terrain was slowly changing as we ran by. It trees were beginning to thin out and there was beginning to be less tree space for the Kira-hiru to go through. Hopefully, it isn't as skilful on land than tree.
"GROOOOOOH!" My assailant yelled after us.
"HEY!" I yelled back. "Don't use that kind of language to me! I have feelings to you know!"
Then suddenly, the forest cleared. Completely. A huge ditch was left where the trees were supposed to be, completely devoid of life. Not even the forest animals wanted to be there.
"JUMP!" I yelled.
"Really? I thought that it would just get scared and run off…" The male returned.
"GROOOOOH!"
Sh-sh-sh-sh! The thinning trees where beginning to affect it, slowing it down. The sound of it rushing through the trees behind me softened and began to slow down, making sound more like leaping through trees, not thrashing through the trees with no consideration of who or what gets damaged or hurt in the process.
I approached the edge of the ditch. The ground was getting dry and dusty making it a little hard to run. I leapt off the ground. The rising air was extremely hot. It was also thin and a little hard to breathe in. The wind rushed through was little hair on my head I had as I flew through the air. I looked down to see that my fellow escapee was almost at the ground. The hot air was beginning to fry my face, warming almost every part of it. Almost literally, unfortunately. The ground slowly approached, as if time itself was slowing down, like in those action movies. Then again, that's called slow motion. The sound of the Kira-hiru rushing behind me had now completely stopped.
Finally, out of the frying pan. I said happily in my mind.
BOOOOM!
"GROOOOOOOOOOH!"
And into the freaking fire…
The Kira-hiru was now mid-air behind me, approaching quickly.
"What the hell!?" I yelled as the ground quickly approached me.
"Get out of the way!" The male yelled out me.
Wait a minute… Is that who I think it is? I asked myself as I fell through the sky.
I began to gather chakra to my body, the only way I knew how to. I make one hand sign, mostly for fun's sake.
"Fire away!" I shouted as I performed my signature jutsu.
Poof! A log took my placed in the air below the Kira-hiru.
"Substitution?"
The Kira-hiru rushed towards the log. Gravity was doing its work. The Kira-hiru then simply opened its mouth and swallowed the log.
I smacked my forehead. "Why did I think that that would work?"
I appeared at the bottom of the gully, somewhere near the figure. Hand signs blazed the figure's hands. I only then realized who it was that I was escaping with. The unexpected then happened. His hands actually caught on fire! A smile came over his face as his hands reached into his holster and his pouch. He then pulled out weapons. Lots and lots of weapons. I've never seen someone hold that many kunai and shuriken in each hand before. These weapons suddenly caught ablaze from the fire on his hands.
"Fire style! Enflamed weapon destruction jutsu!" His hands then flew in front of him.
Fwap fwap fwap fwap fwap! And that was only some of the weapons.
The Kira-hiru had no way of escaping. The weapons flew directly towards the creature, leaving a red trail of behind them. It was like a red rainbow archway leading towards the Kira-hiru.
I rather not relay the sounds that came next.
"GROOOOOOOOOH!"
"Good job." I said as I began to walk to the attacker.
"It's not over yet." He said as he smile grew to a grin.
BOOOOM!
"GRRR-!"
Red filled the air. It was like a mist, with some chunky parts falling down in it. Seeing that, I quickly bent down and picked up some dust and threw it into the air, catching the mist and stopping some of it from reaching me.
"No thanks," I said as I threw the dust into the air. "Red just doesn't suit me as a skin tone."
The male, and yeah I'm using non-personal terms for extra suspense, then turned and looked at me. His eyes then widened in what was almost rage. "WHAT THE HELL! I JUST SAVED YOUR LIFE!" He yelled.
"You should be happy," I said as I began to walk towards him. "Now you can hold it over my head and say 'You owe me one!'."
Flint growled at my attempt at humour. He then sharply turned and looked up to the trees above.
"Robin! Robin!" He yelled as he held his hands up to his mouth to project it further.
The forest replied for Robin.
"Great, no answer…"
Flint then turned and watched me. A smirk then came over his face. "Yes, no answer..."
Third person POV
Still in the Forest of Death
The man stood on top of his monster with the slow wind blowing his long hair to the side, scanning the area. The monster was significantly shorter that it was when the whole group of ninja was there. He was standing a little lower than the head, not too far from where the eyes were.
"They can never stay somewhere where I can't see you kill them, can they?" He said as he looked down at the Kira-hiru.
Then suddenly, there was a disturbance. The Kira-hiru began to shake violently.
The man looked down in freight and terror. "What the-?! My dear, what going on!?"
The shaking then stopped with one final shiver travelling down the creature. His eyes followed down the creature's back as if he could see the shiver and was following it to see where it would end. His eyes then reached the end and began to focus on something. Slowly, the end of the Kira-hiru began to expand. It opened up to about the same size as the body. A new tail the sprouted out, covered in slime and wiggling around like a tail on a new lizard.
A serious look came over his face. "Hmmm… Seems that we have a tougher crop this year…" his face then lightened up and a smile came over it. "Oh well! More chewing for you, huh?" he said happily as he bent down to pet the Kira-hiru.
Tsebe's POV
I backed up a little bit, and looked at Flint. "I don't like the sound of that last sentence."
Flint then took two quick steps towards me and then,
BAM! A fist collided with my jaw.
I moved backwards from the blow but it wasn't enough to throw me down. I brought my hand onto my jaw and held it for a few seconds.
"What the hell was that for!?" I yelled.
"You know what!" He replied with another punch. I quickly pushed it aside and stepped behind him.
"Let's act like I'm ignorant. Enlighten me." I said as I pushed him off.
"Robin! Keep away from her!" He yelled as he rushed towards me.
I had a mind… I told myself. "You know, it is her choice."
He leaped into the air with his right fist up, "I don't care! She's mine!"
BAM! Another fist came into contact with my face.
I blasted backwards towards the ground. My back collided with the warm surface and I rolled over it quickly and painfully. I slowly rose up from the ground and the felling of blood falling from my body was there. Dang bareback. As I raised my head to look at Flint, he was already footsteps ahead of me. He quickly raised his leg and launched a roundhouse kick at me. I quickly blocked the kick and grabbed his leg. Flint wasted no time in retaliating. He leaned backwards and placed his hands on the ground and threw his other leg at me. I pushed his leg away and stepped back after seeing that. He, in return, quickly flipped over and struck my legs with one of his. As I fell he quickly spun around and slammed me with his other leg onto the wall of the ditch. He then pushed off me and landed about a few feet away.
I peeled myself off the wall and landed on my knees, blood running down my shoulder. My head was lowered, and my hands rested on the floor between my legs.
"Had enough yet!? This is not a warning! I'm telling you, stay away from Robin!" He yelled as he raised his fist to my face.
I looked at Flint, with rage in my eyes. I then slowly closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Calm down… The last thing you need to do with Flint now is fight him… I slowly let it out and opened my eyes again. "Flint, calm down. We don't need to fight now. Especially not over Robin. I doubt that if she saw this she would approve."
"Shut up!" He rushed towards me slammed his fist into my stomach, and forced me into the ditch wall behind me. He then took a couple steps back to appreciate his work.
I fell down to the ground. Blood forced its way up out of my mouth as I held my head down from the pain. I wiped my mouth and raised my head and looked at him. I got up on one knee, and then stood upright. "You know what," I slowly said as I rose. "Right now, I don't even give a rat's ass about Robin. I don't fight over women, but right now, I'M GONNA BEAT YOU THE HELL UP!"
Flint looked at me with what was almost a killer instinct. "It's your slaughter-fest."
Poof. I was gone.
"That's not really how I would have said it."
Flint threw his fists towards the back of him, only to blow away some smoke.
"My turn."
Bam! I slammed my fist into Flint's face. He flew backwards.
Poof. I was gone.
BAM! I slammed Flint down head first with a Hammerhead kick.
(A hammerhead kick is done by rising you knee as high as you can, then extend your leg as much as you can then slam it down to the ground, though it's not supposed to touch the ground.) There was only one thing different about when I did it this time. Before his head reached the ground, I grabbed it and flipped him over a few times and slammed him down onto the ground.
"Having fun yet?" I said as I took a couple steps back as a precaution. "Cause it only gets better from here."
Flint leaped off the ground quickly, almost as if my blows didn't even hurt. He wiped off some blood that had come out of his mouth. "Not as much as you are going to."
"Quit acting all tough. I know you're in pain right now. Your eyes say so."
Flint growled at me. "What the hell are you talking about!?"
"It's something you pick up from watching Naruto fight." I said as I began to circle Flint. "So stop acting all tough. If you stop now, you may just leave this fight alright."
Flint began to move too. "Bull. That's what that statement is."
Flint then rushed towards me with blinding speed.
What the hell!? Was he always this fast?! I said as I watch Flint come towards me. That was all I could do before-
BAM!
I was flying mid-air backwards towards the wall of the ditch. Flint leaped towards me. He was quickly directly over me. He pulled his fist back and then,
Poof!
Bam!
A log was sent flying to the side.
Flint turned around to see me standing some distance behind him. "Your stupid tricks won't work on me! You're finished!"
Flint rushed towards me with his fist in the air. As soon as he got within range,
Fwap!
Bam!
I swept his foot and delivered a punch to his chest. Flint then quickly retaliated by lunging his hand forward and grabbing my neck. He then pulled himself up while throwing me down to the ground. Seeing this, I spun around as I fell and,
Fwap! Swept Flint again sending him to the ground also.
I planted my hands on the ground and pushed off to the left and quickly sprung to my feet. By the time I pushed off to go to my feet, Flint was already standing.
"Don't get too comfy there!" He yelled as he realised that I had risen to my feet.
He rushed towards me.
"Rushing towards me again?" I said as I assumed a battle stance. "This is beginning to get old you know…"
"Ah, shut up!"
Flint launched a punch to my face with his right hand. I quickly blocked with the palm of my left hand and held his hand. I then quickly stepped closer to Flint and lowered my waist. I then passed my free hand underneath his shoulder and pulled him onto my back.
"What are you doing?!" He yelled.
"This."
I flipped Flint over my shoulder, the same way I did Robin. Before the flip was fully done I then threw myself onto Flint's body pushing him down harder. I closed my eyes and braced for Flint's impact to the ground.
Bam! I felt the hot, dusty floor.
Wait, hot dusty floor!? That's not Flint! I quickly opened my eyes. Smoke. The smoke quickly cleared and I saw Flint standing a little ways off from where I was.
"If you can teleport, so can I."
"…Copycat…"
Flint then leaped towards me and raised his leg, obviously to kick me. I quickly jumped back and threw my legs over causing me to flip.
"Wow. I could never even somersault before…" I said to myself.
"Now's not the time to talk to yourself!" I came back to reality to see Flint mid-air ready to strike.
I stepped forward and then,
BAM!
I sent a fist directly into the mid-air Flint's stomach and pushed him back. He rolled a few times before betting back onto his feet. Though, he still stumbled a couple of times before becoming stable. I took this to my advantage. I ran up to him and jumped. I then spun around in the air and held up my foot. At the same time, flint regained balance.
BAM! It struck him directly in the face. He moved backwards from the impact. I wasn't going to give him time to recover.
As soon as I landed, I dashed forward and punch him in the gut. Even though the punch hit, I still continued to dash until Flint's back came into contact with the other side of the ditch. I then placed my foot on his body and pushed off using it.
Flint started to cough up blood as he began to fall to the ground. He let his hands stop his face from hitting the ground.
"Let me guess, you're still warming up?" I said as I looked as he stared up at me, in what was almost surprise.
Flint's look of surprise quickly changed to one of anger. "The gloves are coming off now!"
"Likely story."
"HAAAAAA!"
Flint rushed towards me with incredible speed. I took a couple of steps back in preparation. Flint approached. I then spun around and attempted to hit Flint with the back of my foot.
Poof. Bang! A log was sent on the side.
I quickly turned around expecting to see Flint. If only I saw Flint.
Bam! I heel collided with my lower back, sending to my knees.
"OK. Now you're really being a copycat." I said as I fell to the ground.
"Time to shut you up."
Flint lifted his foot high into the air.
Oh crap. I said as I watch Flint raise his leg. I knew what was coming next. I quickly rolled to my side, even though I knew that wouldn't make him miss. I then threw my upper body up and clenched a fist.
"There's no hope for you now! I'll just crack open your skull and blame the Kira-hiru!"
"Not so fast! Can't do the kick if you can't stand!" I quickly threw a punch at Flint's knee. I tried to hit the side, to make the joint go against its designed direction in an attempt to dislocate or break it. All Flint could do was watch.
Bam! Crack! Bam! Flint was knocked down to the ground.
"AHHHHHHHHH! WHAT THE FREAKIN HELL!"
I smirked as I saw him on the ground clutching his knee in pain. It worked. It worked well. I took a couple of steps towards him. "So, are you ready to concede defeat? Or will I have to break the other?"
Third Person's POV
Still in the Forest of death
Temari and Robin had managed to dodge the large Kira-Hiru's attack and were now running through the woods trying to avoid a smaller one. They had to jump, run, roll, swing and many other things just to stay away from the killing machine.
"Temari…" Robin struggled to say through her frantic breathing. "I don't think I can keep this up much longer…"
"GROOOOOOHH!"
"To be honest, me neither." Temari said as she ran alongside Robin. "But we can't stop now! Especially since I no longer have a fan, we have no choice but to run."
"Yeah, but for how long?"
Temari then raised her head higher than it was before, almost as if she was checking for something. She took and couple of sniffs and then continued running as usual.
"The air's becoming hot… and thin… Don't you think?"
Sakura's POV
Konoha
Naruto and I had spent the whole day running all around Konoha with one thing on our minds. Tsebe. Where is he? What is he doing? Is he OK? Does he have any Ramen? And yes, Naruto was the one who came up with the last question. All the answers we got were inconclusive. Great… Just another waste of time… And to top it all off, my mark was beginning to burn again. And it wasn't the weird kind of pleasurable burning I had felt the night before…
Naruto and I were running down a street which we had gone down over a hundred times looking for Tsebe. A weird head of silver hair which lifted greatly into the air then caught my eye at the bottom of the street. A familiar weird head… It was resting a few centimetres from the wall which made it quite obvious that the body was resting on that wall.
Wait, I know that hairstyle!
"Kakashi-sensei!" I yelled to get his attention.
He then turned and looked at me, almost as if he was expecting me… "Ah, Sakura Haruno, just who I wanted to see."
I stopped running as I reached my sensei and rested my hands on my knees and tried to catch my breath. "Why do you say that?"
"Hey Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled as he came running to his sensei as well.
"Hello Naruto, I wanted to see you too." He said as he got off the wall. He then immediately looked at my mark. "Sakura, you should change you clothes."
"Huh?"
Kakashi then raised his hand to cover his mouth, or mask and began talking a lot softer than before, most likely so that Naruto wouldn't hear. "You need to at least cover your Cursed Mark. Some of the village elders are quite paranoid and if they say you with it on your neck they would properly have you killed."
My eyes widened at the comment, and I felt my hand move over the mark. Wow… Killed… Over a mark… There's something more to this mark than meets the eye… I said to myself as I slowly pulled my usual overall's neck up so that it covered my mark.
"Oh,"
"Hey! What are you guys talking about!?" Naruto yelled. "And why are you talking so softly?!"
"Don't worry Naruto. It's nothing you need to worry about."
"And Sensei,"
He raised an eyebrow. Well, his only visible eyebrow. "Yes?"
"Have you seen Tsebe?" I asked. "We haven't seen him since the preliminaries and I'm - err - We're worried. I think he's missing."
"Sorry Sakura, I haven't." Kakashi said. "Though, I've heard that you've been running all over Konoha looking and asking around for him saying he's missing." He then pushed his hands into his pockets and looked away from Sakura. "Don't worry; I'm sure he's fine. And Sakura?"
"Yes?"
"You have to wait 3 days before you can report someone as missing. The preliminaries were yesterday."
"Oh… yeah…"
"Now Sensei, about you training me!" Naruto yelled.
"Yeah me too!" I yelled also.
Kakashi then scratched his head and laughed. "Yeah, about that..."
Tsebe's POV
Forest of death (again)
I stood over Flint, looking down at the boy who was curled up on the hot, dusty floor.
"AARRRRRGG!" He yelled in pain. "WHAT THE HELL!?"
"The pain is intense, isn't it?" I said as I began to pace around. "I have a friend who knows that kind of pain first hand."
"Grrr..." He said as he began to get used to the pain. "JUST SHUT THE HELL UP! This isn't over yet!"
"Hmm…" I said as I looked at him. Crap, forgot… He's a ninja; the pain wouldn't last as long and be as unbearable to him as someone from the 'other world'… That means that I may have to fight him again…
Suddenly, the atmosphere changed. The air became silent. Almost dead. It dried up and became thin again, the same way it was when the Kira-hiru was attacking us. A sound then rushed to my ears. My attention immediately changed form Flint to some trees up at the top of ditch.
Shhhhhh…
Footsteps then followed. OK, not footsteps. It was more the sound of someone running for their dear life. A sound which I became familiar with a few minutes ago.
"Hey! Pay attention to me!" I heard from where Flint was. I turned my head to see that the boy was now kneeling, and trying to get up on both legs. "I'm not done yet!"
"Yes you are." I said as I turned and looked at the trees again. "If you get up on that leg now, I'm sure you'll lose it. Just give up now and wait for Robin and the others to come and find us." I turned and looked at him again. "That is, unless you can learn to float and attack me."
Flint growled at my comment.
"Didn't think so." I said as I looked at the trees again. Is that what I think it is…?
Shhhhhh…
What is going on up there?
Shhhhhhhhh.
"Ahhhhh!" Came from the same direction as the trees.
SHHHHHHH!
My eyes widened. "Crap."
Fwap! Fwap! Two figures leapt over the ditch. They were no where near the other end when they start to descend though.
"What the hell?!" I feminine voice said. "This ditch almost came out of nowhere!?"
"You're telling me." A second one said.
I immediately grabbed Flint's arm.
"What are you doing!?"
BOOOM!
"GROOOOOOOH!" Another Kira-hiru burst from the trees above then ditch in hot pursuit of the two figures.
"Never mind."
I then threw my arm around his waist. "Come on!"
I then leapt to the side while holding Flint, away from where the creature would land. After landing I then put him down next to me.
"Hey," I heard one of the figures say. "Isn't that Tsebe and Flint!?"
The first figure landed. It was my favourite blonde. No, not Naruto. Temari landed. Almost immediately after landing, she leapt to the side of me and Flint. Robin then landed next and she rolled as soon as she hit the ground.
"So, you here for the free pancakes too?" I said as Robin quickly moved towards us.
Her eyes quickly widened as she saw Flint. "What wrong with him?!"
"He's an idiot that's what." Temari replied with a smile as she punched my arm.
"Why do you women always have to-?"
"Not him! Flint. What wrong with Flint!?" She said as she dropped to her knees and slid to Flint's side.
"Well…" I said as I scratched that back of my head and looked away.
Boom! The Kira-hiru slammed onto the floor. It then quickly faced us and began moving as if the fall was nothing to it.
"Less talk, more running!"
The Kira-hiru suddenly sped up, as if it was testing the soil at first, but now, it was going at full speed.
I immediately grabbed Temari's hand as the creature approached.
"Now!"
Fwap!
I leaped to the side pulling Temari with me. She didn't resist. In fact, it was almost like she was going to do the same thing. The Kira-hiru blasted past my face with incredible speed, raising dust and moving stones as it moved.
Temari turned and looked at me for a couple of seconds. "You didn't have to do that you know! I can take care of myself." She said as she realized that she was staring.
"That's what they all say." I said as I turned to look at where Robin and Flint were.
Robin had leaped into the air with Flint in her arms.
I sighed in relief.
"GROOOOOOH!"
I turned to see that the Kira-hiru had turned and was coming back again. It was now moving across the ditch, going up and down the sides, like a skateboarder on a half-pipe. It suddenly blasted off the edge and into the air, almost as if it was showing off to us and trying to intimidate us.
"If it continues like that…" Temari started. "It'll hit Robin and Flint!"
"Crap…"
The Kira-hiru sped down the side of the ditch, and headed towards Flint and Robin, completely ignoring Temari and me.
"ROBIN! Look out!" I yelled. Come on Tsebe! You've got to be able to do something!
Robin's head quickly turned and she saw the Kira-hiru coming towards her. Her lips moved in a way which told me that something came out of them that I wouldn't repeat as she saw it. The Kira-hiru blasted off the side of the ditch that Robin and Flint were closest to. All I could do was watch as the creature went into the air. I knew Robin and Flint would not have reached the ground before it caught them, far less for dodging. It approached them overhead, it was all over now. The Kira-hiru was almost within a couple of arms reach of them when I closed my eyes. I didn't need to watch my friends get eaten alive.
WAM! The sound reached my ears and my eyes sprang open.
I saw Temari, mid air with her arm extended, where the Kira-Hiru's head was. The beast moved, and missed Robin and Flint. Whoa… She then quickly slammed her palm on Robin's head and,
They were gone.
I suddenly felt a presence next to me when Temari, Robin and Flint appeared beside me. I stared at Temari for a couple of seconds. Wow… She's strong.
Temari then turned her head to me. A smirk then came over her face. "What's wrong you big-baby? Did I scare you?"
"No…" I said in awe. "It's just that… You're strong. Really strong."
She smiled and placed a hand on her hip. "Naturally. Do you have any idea how much wind resistance my fan gets?"
I smile back. "I'm sure it's not that much."
"Oh course not." She replied.
"Hey, love-birds." I looked to see that it was Flint. "Quit it."
"Flint!"
"Hey, I have a reason for saying that. The creature's coming back for more!"
I turned around to see the Kira-hiru charging towards us. Its speed was now breath-taking. If it wasn't charging towards me with intentions to kill me, I would have stayed and stared.
"Everyone, quick, MOVE!" Robin yelled.
I immediately jumped up, and I heard Temari leap behind me. A third leaping noise did not follow. I looked down to see Robin placing her arms around Flint to lift him up.
"Robin! Hurry up! I don't want to go to any funerals after this!" I yelled.
She looked up at me, and then at Flint. "Come on Flint. Let's go." She then prepared herself and leaped off the ground. The only thing was, the Kira-hiru was too close, and Flint was weighing her down. It was going to hit her…
"No…" I muttered.
"I know, it's going to hit her…" Temari said as she approached me in mid-air. I felt her hand reach mine as the beast approached Robin.
"Robin…" Flint said softly. "Drop me."
"What!?"
"Just let go. I'm holding you back. If you don't let go we'll both die." he said calmly. "My leg's already started to bleed and by the time I leave this forest it will be too late. The forest diseases will infect it and I will die before I reach the hospital."
"No… No!" Robin yelled. "I'm not letting you leave me!"
"Robin, just let go." Flint said. He then began to squirm in Robin's hands.
"Please Flint… No! No…"
"I'm sorry…" His hands then grabbed Robin's waist and pushed her up, making her lose her grip on him.
"FLINT!"
"GROOOOOOOOH!"
I closed my eyes and turned my head. I felt Temari's grip on my hand tighten as the sounds of a human body entering a large mouth echoed through the forest.
"What the…?" I heard Temari say. "Tsebe, open your eyes."
"I'd prefer not to have nightmares."
"Just open your eyes."
I slowly opened my eyes and looked at the Kira-hiru. Something was different. For starters, it was now stationary. Its usual colour was now different too. It was redder and plumper.
"What's going on?" I said as I landed some feet away from it.
Heat then suddenly engulfed me. Well, more heat than before.
"GRR?" The Kira-hiru let out. "GROOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!"
The unexpected then happened.
BOOOOM! The Kira-hiru exploded.
"What the hell!?" I yelled as I moved to avoid a large chunk of beast.
"It blew up…" Temari said. "Seems like Flint left a parting gift."
A body then blasted from the flame of the Kira-Hiru's carcass. We could all guess what or who that was. Temari and I ran towards it and I managed to catch him before he landed and badly damaged himself.
"Yow!"
Bam!
"Tsebe!"
I dropped him afterwards… What? He was hot!
"Gee..." Flint struggled to say. "Thanks. I feel so much safer around you."
"Flint!" Robin yelled as she landed. She immediately ran to us and slid down to her knees to be at the same level as Flint. She quickly placed her hand underneath Flint's head and raised it close to the level hers was at. A tear slowly began to roll down her face.
"Robin..."
Flint was a mess. He had burn and slash marks all over his body. His left arm was almost flat and he no longer had a right leg. All that remained was a bloody stump up to where his knee would have started. His face had bruises and burn marks all over and only one of his eyes were open. I'm guessing the pain was too much to open the second.
"Flint..."
I raised my hand and covered my mouth from Robin's gaze. "Bet you 5 bucks that they can say 'lemon'." I said extremely softly to Temari.
She returned by pushing me. "Tsebe! Shhhh…" She then placed her hand near her mouth, as if she was trying to block it from someone. "Bet you 10 he tries to grab something."
"You are on!" I said as we quickly shook hands to seal the deal.
"Robin..." Flint started to say.
"Shhh..." Robin cut him off. "Try not to talk. You need to save your energy for when we get you to a hospital."
Flint then struggled to laugh. "Robin... Don't... be... ridiculous..."
A look of both shock and terror came over Robin's face. She knew what Flint meant by that. "No... No..." Tears began rolling down her face.
"Robin... Please... Don't..."
"No Flint... No!" Robin yelled. "No! I'll get you to a hospital in time! I'll even try myself if I have to! Just don't..."
"Robin... We both know that I'm a goner..." Flint managed to say as he turned his head away from Robin.
"Flint... Don't say those kind of things... You can make it. I don't care if I have to loose both arms and legs for you... Please... Don't leave me. You can't die now. You can't. You can't!"
"Robin..."
She pulled Flint to her, clinging onto him as if her life depended on it, as if she didn't give a damn that he had blood all over his body and that his face was no longer one that one may want to look at. "FLIIIIINT!" She was now sobbing over him. "PLEASE! Don't leave me..."
Flint's good arm then slowly came up and over Robin's back. "Robin... Please... Promise me one thing..."
Robin then brought her head back enough to see Flint's face.
"Survive." He said. "You're stronger than this forest. You must survive."
Robin's sobbing stopped as she heard that. She then began to wipe her tears with her hands. She then softly smiled for him and nodded her head.
Flint then struggled to crack a smile. "Well then, I guess... it's time... for... us... to... part..." He struggled more than usual saying that. I knew what that meant.
"Flint... I'll miss you so much..."
"And... so... will... I..." His face then began to lighten. He was slipping away.
"Good bye Flint..." Robin then pulled Flint towards her body for one final time.
Flint's hand then slowly raised, and made it's way to Robin's lower back.
"Here it comes." Temari softly told me.
"Crap..." I said softly.
Flint's hand now almost hovered over Robin's back. It was shaking wildly and couldn't even hold a steady place.
"Get ready to become 10 bucks poorer."
His hand then dropped, and so did all expression on his face. His body then dropped down.
"May you rest in Peace..." Robin said as she slowly rested Flint on the ground. Afterwards, she then pushed her hand into Flint's Holster and took out a Paperbombed kunai.
"Taking a souvenir?" Temari asked as she walked to Robin.
"No." She somewhat coldly said. She then threw the kunai at Flint's body and it caught ablaze.
"You're cremating him?"
"It's what he would have wanted..." Robin said as she watched the body burn in the flame. "He did like fire."
I walked up to her and put my hand on her shoulder. "You OK? Or do you need a minute."
"No... no. We need to get moving." Robin said as she pushed my hand off her shoulder. "So, let's go..." It sounded more like a question than an order.
Well, that's all for now. Until next time.