A/N:
hello my lovely readers, I know it's been a while - sorry for my absence but university assignments kicked in from the get-go and I'm swamped with too much to read every week and too much to write academically. That said, I'm still working on all my stories, it will just take me longer to update since I struggle to find the time to actually write.
That said, I have received some sweet reviews lately on both of my active ItaSaku stories and I just want to say thank you and how much I appreciate your kind words. I tend to self-doubt all the time, (who doesn't, right?) so these kind words really brighten my days. And it really kicks my butt in the gear to find the time to write. Also, to the ones sending me private messages to check up on me, I appreciate you! so much! thank you for taking the time to contact me directly if only to check up on me. I very much appreciate that.
On a side note, I have started up my Tumblr (masayumesworld) so you can say hi to me there as well. I thought I'd find a platform where I can share my updates, or status in between updates, etc.
ANYWAYS, here's the long-awaited much-longer continuation of Catching Fire.
Happy Reading!
WARNING: This chapter features a character death.
-masayume
Chapter 6. Tomoe
The thick of the wood seemed to disperse as Naruto walked on, following the familiar voice and its cry for help. The fog has since disappeared, only to be replaced by the never-ending deluge of rain that soaked the crunchy leaves that scattered across the muddy ground. It had been a long time since Naruto experienced a rainfall such as this — within mere moments he was soaked from head to toe, his blond locks sticking to his complexion. His eyes were struggling to keep open as he kept walking, moving from tree to tree, wiping away the excess water from his face.
He was far from others, completely alone in a godforsaken forest with only bent deciduous trees and a cursed rainfall for company. For a moment, he came to a halt. His back pressing against the trunk of a large tree. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing, as if he were attempting to simmer down the brewing thunderstorm within him — the fear that seemed to grasp him tightly and did not seem to wish to let go. It was as if the elements or the spirits were at power here — their strengths molding the forest to their whim. He was alone and its mercy. Then, as if a flicker of fire burned within him, he placed a hand over the seal on his stomach. A small smile appeared upon his lips as he thought back to the creature residing within him — no, he was never alone. He had the strength to persevere, and he had a companion who lend him strength when he needed it. Determined, he pushed the thoughts of the consuming fear aside and stepped ahead, his feet charging firmly with his chakra and spreading around his body as a protective cocoon as he sped towards the thinning woods.
"Somebody! Please," the voice called.
As the trees cleared, Naruto found himself in a small unkempt meadow covered in wildflowers. The grass was thick and tall, nearly reaching past his thighs the moment he stepped into the greenery. The small meadow was completely surrounded by the forest, as if it were attempting to swallow the meadow with its darkness. In the middle of the meadow was what seemed as an stone altar, completely exposed to the darkened sky above. Upon the slab of stone was a raven-haired woman, dressed in white — her body was thoroughly soaked from the downpour. As she cried for help, unable to move from the altar, her body shivered as the cold settled within her. With the Kyuubi's chakra remaining aglow around his body, Naruto stepped forward onto the grassy terrain.
"Tomoe-san, it's alright. You're gonna be alright," Naruto says with a soothing tone the moment he reaches the familiar woman.
The young woman turns to look at the familiar blond and a small smile curve on her lips.
"N-Naruto-san? Is it really y-you? It-it can't be. Y-You are in the city, w-watching over ever-ryone," Tomoe manages to utter.
With urgency, Naruto grasps the woman's hand, as if to reassure her that he was not a hallucination. He could not imagine how long the daughter of a Fire's daimyo remained exposed to the elements of the forest. He only knew that he had to do everything in his power to return her back to the fortified city.
"It's me Tomoe-san. It's alright, I'm gonna get you out of here. Just hold onto me," Naruto says.
He moves towards her, ensuring her arms are wrapped around him neck.
"Stay with me, alright? I'm gonna get you to safety. You just have to hold on, ok?" Naruto soothed as he scooped the frail woman into his arms.
The Kyuubi's chakra pulsed and spread around the woman, instantly offering a source of comfort and warmth. Tomoe leans into Naruto's arms more, settling her face against his shoulder as her eyelids begin to feel heavy.
"N-Naruto, it's a trap," Tomoe states, her eyes closing as she surrenders to her tired body.
The blond shinobi tightened his grip onto the woman, who seemed to slip into a deep sleep.
"I'm not abandoning you," he said softly, and with that in mind he turns to leave, aiming to return to follow the same path he made here.
Before he had a chance to step forward, his eyes fell upon the strange apparition just a few steps away. There at the edge of the greenery was the ghostly boy, adorned in the white kimono. His eyes white eyes staring straight towards him with a blank expression resting upon his face. This was not the playful child playing outside the fortified city and singing a song to lure its victims into the forest. The boy remained impervious to the rainfall. Unwilling to let fear take over him, Naruto stands firmly in his spot, ready to face the apparition and its limitless powers.
"Let us go," Naruto says to the apparition with a firm voice.
Upon hearing his words, the boy's lips curved into a carefree smile. Then, the sound of his angelic voice filled the air as he let out a chuckle.
"Take her. I already found a lamb for slaughter."
"What?! Who?!" Naruto asks as a thousand questions rush into his mind and panic begins to settle within.
The boy's playful demeanor shifts, and his white dead eyes narrow down onto the leaf shinobi. The carefree smile is gone, instead replaced with a vacant expression. He extends his arm towards the left while his sight never leaves its target audience. The moment his lips part, he speaks with a terrifying deep voice.
"Go, and do not return into my forest!"
Deciding not to overstay his welcome any longer, Naruto keeps a firm hold on Tomoe and speeds off out of the forest in the direction the boy provided. With each step he took, he felt as if the forest itself was pushing him out. As the speed increased and he rushed through the woods, it only took moments longer to emerge outside the forest and on the familiar grassy terrain outside of the fortified city. He pauses for a moment to catch his breath as the woman in his arms remains asleep. His eyes venture towards the lake, seeing the last of the light's day fading behind its edge amidst the cloudy and thunderous sky.
He steps forward, making his way towards the main gate when he sees the Aino team rushing at full speed towards the entrance. Shisui followed at the back, as if he were keeping good distance between himself and the rest of the team. Naruto's eyes fell onto the duo carrying a body.
"Yamato," Naruto says out loud as he recognizes the shape of the man upon Tenma's and Sasuke's shoulders.
Eagerly, Naruto follows after them, entering through the main gate of Hatsumei city.
The moment Naruto entered the house of the lord with Tomoe in his arms, he exhaled a deep breath, as if to finally settle the The Kyuubi's chakra diminished and settled once more within him as he slipped off his shoes and ventured farther in.
He enters the assigned quarters of the team; his eyes fall onto the present team members. There was Tenma sitting by the fireplace, keeping warm as his clothes had been changed and he remained wrapped warmly in a thick blanket. Shisui was sipping a hot brew as he settled down sitting next to Tenma to warm up from their watery experience. Sasuke stood near the door to the bathroom, his wild raven hair currently all tousled up from towel drying. On the other side of the room, Chihiro and Hinata were currently kneeling over Yamato — Hinata's Byakugan eyes were focused onto Yamato as if the young Hyuuga was examining each of his chakra passages, while Chihiro's hands were aglow with green chakra scanning the body with medical technique. The moment Hinata shuts off her technique, she leans over to Chihiro and whispers something only for the medic to hear. Then, her gaze settles onto the new arrival — finally noticing Naruto holding a body in his arms only mere steps away.
"Hinata, can you help?" Naruto asked as he glanced back at his dear teammate. "Her clothing is wet, and she needs to be looked over."
She rises to her feet and immediately ushers the blond teammate towards one of the empty futons behind a partly exposed folding screen.
"Of course, I can't believe you found her," Hinata said, completely in shock from seeing the black-haired woman once more. "Settle her down on and I'll pull up the screen so I can change her clothing with dignity."
Naruto settles the sleeping woman down onto an empty futon and he steps back pulling the folding screen around to ensure Tomoe's privacy. As soon as Hinata steps behind the screen with a clean clothes and towels, he steps back, and his eyes fall towards Chihiro and his former captain and close friend. He kneels down next to Yamato, taking the sight of his injuries for the first time.
His skin was as white as snow, his cheeks sunken and hollow — there was dried blood splatter present in his hair and on his face. His arms were exposed up to his elbows, displaying signs of battle and more blood splatter. Yamato's shirt was torn apart, exposing his scarred chest as Chihiro continuously pumped her green chakra into his body.
"Is-is there anything I can do to help?" Naruto asks with a soft voice.
Chihiro remained focused on the task at hand, pumping further chakra into his body, only to come to a sudden halt. She wipes the sweat off her forehead the moment she retracts her hands from the body. She looks up to meet Naruto's gaze.
"What are you doing?! Why did you stop?!" Naruto demands.
"It's too late. We were too late — he's gone," Chihiro says with a soft and calm voice.
At her words, Naruto's eyes fell back to Yamato — he appeared still, unmoving, as if her were stuck in a peaceful sleep or perhaps under a potent genjutsu. The blond shinobi shook his head in disbelief — unwilling to listen to Chihiro's words. She was wrong — must have been. Where was Sakura when they needed her?! Naruto glances back up to the second-rate medic and his blue eyes darken.
"What do you mean he's gone? He can't be gone! He's a shinobi! One of us!" Naruto calls out, his anger brewing within him.
Instantly, Naruto finds himself to be in the presence of Sasuke — his hand presses against Naruto's shoulder, as if he was aiming to soothe the growing turmoil or rather the beast within the blond. Chihiro remains mum as she pulls a blanket over Yamato's form. Then, as she reaches into her pocket for a sealing scroll, she looks back to Naruto.
"What I mean is that he is dead. His organs shut down — he must have eaten something poisonous by the looks of things. It's a mess inside. There's nothing we could have done," Chihiro elaborated.
She unravels the scroll next to Yamato and creates the hand symbol of a boar.
"What are you doing?" Naruto questions, struggling to remain calm.
"I'm sealing his body in a scroll and sending it to Konoha. Standard mission protocol," Chihiro explained simply.
The sealing scroll coiled around the deceased and with a cloud of smoke both disappeared from their sight into thin air — no doubt the scroll would shortly appear in the Konoha hospital's morgue, urging its staff to assess the deadly damage in finer detail in the safety of the village. Without another thought, Chihiro rises to her feet and steps away from the futon. She glances back to the blond shinobi.
"I'm sorry Naruto. I know he was your friend," Chihiro offered.
In his grief, Naruto does not acknowledge her words or how she chooses to step aside and disappear behind the folding screen to offer aid to Hinata with Tomoe. For Naruto, the moment is raw. The sight of the now-vacant futon ignites hatred and guilt within him — the thought of his close friend and mentor dying on his watch, because he failed to protect his team. His mind ventures back to a memory of his friend — Yamato, smiling proudly as he shows off his skills with the famed wood release. His time with Kakashi-sensei — or is it just the sixth Hokage nowadays — and Yamato treating him to a bowl of ramen upon the completion of his jounin status. The thought of Kakashi caused his stomach to turn. How could he face the Hokage? He was a failure. He was not a fitting mission leader let alone a potential successor for the kage. How could he ever face his parents? How could he face his own father who believed that he was ready to lead a mission?
"I'm so sorry," Naruto utters, his voice barely audible as he drops his head down.
Sasuke's rough hands pull him up on his feet and drag him towards the fireplace, pushing him down to sit next to its warmth. Tenma and Shisui gazed at the blond shinobi, whose eyes remained affixed onto the wooden floor — as if his mind was floating around somewhere else. It is when Sasuke settles down next to his friend, Naruto's eyes finally turn towards his audience.
"You have to stay in the game! This is the life of a shinobi. We all know the risk," Sasuke says firmly.
"He was my friend — a mentor even. You can't expect me to just push it aside like it's nothing. It's my fault this happened," Naruto declared.
Unwilling to put up with Naruto's words or feelings, Sasuke replies with a harsh tone.
"Is that so?! Your fault?! Are you some sort of a supernatural entity that likes to haunt forests that we don't know about?! This is something new — to all of us! We have to learn from this and prevent further loss. Now, tell us what happened in the forest. Where is my brother and where is Sakura?!"
Eager to soothe his throbbing mind, Naruto presses his face into his hands. His fingers move in a circular motion as thinks back to the haunted forest.
"Naruto, what happened?" Shisui repeats the question in a calmer tone.
"I don't know what happened. We went in — the three of us, and the mist became so thick, like it wanted to swallow us whole. I couldn't see anything and then I realized I was walking through the forest by myself. I lost sight of them — it's almost like the forest itself wanted to separate us," Naruto begins as the three men watch him intently.
"And? What then?" Tenma urged.
"Then, I heard Tomoe. She was crying for help. The mist cleared the moment it started to rain, and I found myself entering some sort of a sacrificial altar in the middle of an open space. I took her from there only to come face to face with the kid — the white dead eyes and all that," Naruto continued.
"And?! What did you do?!" Tenma urged once more.
"I said to it to let us go. It laughed and granted my request only because it already had a lamb for slaughter — whatever that means. It pushed me out of the forest and warned me not to return. Then, I saw you enter the city with haste, and I followed. That's all," Naruto concluded.
He took a deep breath and released, taking the time to slow down as he closed his eyes for a moment. His focus remained on his steady breath, as he eased himself into a sense of comfort, pushing the thoughts of the child-like apparition away. Then, he glanced over to his three companions, ready to hear their story.
"How was the village?" Naruto inquired.
"Terrible. Wet. Nauseating. Take a pick," Tenma replied, shuddering at the mere memory of the place.
"What happened?" Naruto asked.
Tenma leaned back into his seat, huddling in the blanket for more warmth as he thought back to their watery adventure. The idea of being back at the village was truly unpleasant and it was not a story Tenma wished to talk about. As Naruto waited patiently for any of the three men to answer, Sasuke rose to his feet and made his way towards the bottle of sake and empty cups. It was Shisui who decided to answer, his eyes meeting Naruto's as he began to tell their story.
"I decided we would take the boats across the lake. It was a way to conserve chakra just in case we needed it. When we reached the village, we found it empty of life and completely rotted. We split up to search the place quicker. I made my way to the old shrine and some of the houses that still stood. I found a ledger," Shisui said.
He reached into his pocket, fishing out a small leather-bound notebook and tossed it on the floor before them. Sasuke settles down in his spot and pours the sake into the cups. He grabs his, tosses it back and he does not even wince at the growing burn at the back of his throat. Just as eagerly, Tenma reaches for his cup, opting to sip the alcohol instead. Naruto's eyes remained on the ledger, intrigued by its appearance. The leather seemed quite worn, and covered in blood splatter, and upon its spine there were the kanji characters depicting the name Hatsumei.
"Where did you find it?" Naruto asks.
"A rundown shack not far from their shrine. The writing suggests it belonged to one of the Hatsumei samurai. Some of the writing is smudged and torn out but from what I could read it looks like they were deployed to the Aino village shortly before the hauntings started. That's all I had a chance to read before I heard Tenma's cry for help," Shisui added as he motioned with his head towards his fearful teammate.
Tenma was holding the sake cup with both of his hands, still enjoying the warmth of the thick blanket around his shoulders. His eyes were fixed upon the fire, enjoying its warmth as he thought back to his experience in the village.
"I was the one who found Yamato. He was pinned against the wall inside of an old tea house with an old wakizashi blade through his clothing. He was still conscious when I promised I'd bring him back," Tenma says with a shaky voice.
"Did he say anything to you?" Naruto urged.
Tenma nodded.
"He said, bloodline."
"Bloodline? Are you sure?" Naruto questioned.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I know what he said. I have the image in my head on repeat. I'm probably gonna dream about it," Tenma exclaimed.
"Well, what could it mean? It has to mean something," Naruto said.
"Don't know and honestly right now I don't care. It's dark out and we should be plugging up our ears to prevent hearing haunting melodies that may lead us to a chopping block," Tenma replied bitterly.
Before Tenma had a chance to move away and collect his waxy ear plugs for the night, the discussion turned to Sasuke who quickly downed a second cup of sake. Then, with the sting in his throat still burning, he glanced over to Naruto.
"I saw the kid too," Sasuke piped in. "He was at the edge of the village, watching us I taunted him, thinking that perhaps if I appeared without fear, it would choose to disappear. But then, it came out of the forest, a full cavalry of samurai with their swords unsheathed and rushing towards me. I called for the team to run. And we did, not looking back."
"I used Susanoo," Shisui added.
"And? Did it work?" Naruto asked.
"No, they merely gave up the moment we chakra sprinted across the lake. Once we were out of the village, they did not bother with us," Shisui explained.
"That means that they can't go past certain boundaries," Sasuke said.
"It would seem so," Shisui agreed.
For a moment, the men sat in silence. Their cups refilled once more by Sasuke's hand as they drowned their aches with the aged sake. It soothed the pain. The frustration. The anger. If only for a moment, they were safe in the confines of the lord's house.
"Apparently Chihiro and Hinata had a hard day as well. Most of the patients in the infirmary passed from the plague — there are three patients left only, the young lord Nobutada, a little girl and an old merchant," Shisui added as he glanced towards the women still tending to the new patient behind the folding screen.
"This is just getting better and better," Tenma exhaled as he poured himself another cup, starting to feel the heat of the alcohol settling in his belly. Then, he turned his attention towards Shisui, their beta.
"So, what are we gonna do? About Itachi? About Sakura?" Tenma inquired.
"We have no choice but to wait until morning. If the daimyo's daughter awakens, she might offer some answers. In the meantime, I think it's best for us to read the ledger and get some rest. We all need it," Shisui commands.
"So, they'll be stuck in that place all night?!" Tenma questioned, his expressive eyes widening with fear.
"Sakura and Itachi are one of the strongest shinobi our village has to offer. If anyone can survive that blasted forest, it's the two of them," Shisui added, hoping his words would offer comfort not only to his teammates but also himself. The thought alone that perhaps two more residents of their village would perish in the cursed land was too much to bear — Shisui would not even dare to think of such a preposterous idea. No, both of their missing team members would survive the night.
With Sakura
It was dark within the confines of the ancient shrine, hidden deep within the haunted woods. Her eyes slowly opened, as she awakened from her forced slumber to the sound of the old rotting window shutters creaking in the wind. Sakura breathed rapidly as she sat up, her shaky hand reaching for the back of her head. As her fingertips gently touched the throbbing space at the back of her head, she winced in pain as her fingers became soaked with her fresh blood — she did not hesitate, quickly she let the green glow of her chakra slip from her fingers and onto the small wound, sealing it with quick precision.
It took her a moment to gather herself as her eyes adjusted in the darkness, allowing her to make out the shape of her surroundings. At first, she glanced towards the exposed window, watching as the misty rain drizzled onto the old cedar floor. A shiver ran down her spine, as coldness enveloped her. Her eyes shifted to take in her surroundings. She was in the middle of a small empty room on the upper level of the shrine— the room had only two archways in opposite directions of one another.
There was no sign of her teammates. Just her, alone in an abandoned shrine in the middle of the night. Then, as if it meant to welcome her, a childlike voice called out, beckoning her to come closer into the darkness.
"Come and play with me"
"Come and play"
She rose to her feet quickly, her heart pounding against her chest as she took the archway on the left, hoping to leave the disembodied voice behind.
"Ha..ha..ha"
Her pace quickened. She made her way down the hall, trying to ignore the sound of her footsteps — as with each step she took the old wood beneath her feet creaked. She sped up more, rushing down the endless hall as dread settled in the pit of her stomach.
"Ha..ha..ha"
As she reached the end of the hallway, she came to a large room that housed a large and elaborate staircase that led to the lower level. Her eyes flashed around, noticing a shift in movement in her peripheral vision. She breathed heavily through her mouth, trying to remain calm, as she glanced down to the lower level — the distance between the two floors was much larger than what she expected, a fall from this height would be dangerous, even for shinobi. She touched the partly rotted railing of the dilapidated wooden staircase, taking a step forward, only for her foot to go through the wooden step. She plunged down, wedging her leg up to her calf between the steps. The railing she was holding onto cracked under the pressure, falling below with a loud thud.
"Shit," she swore under her breath, as she steadied herself.
For a moment, she stopped her ministrations and she glanced down to the lower level. There twenty feet below, the sound of sudden rustling of the door stole her attention. Her heart was going to jump out of her chest. Then as the doors slid open, a familiar figure appeared. She felt a wave of relief wash over her as she recognized the ANBU captain standing in the doorway — his red Sharingan eyes blazing.
"Sakura!" he called out to her.
"Itachi, this whole place is unstable," she said.
"It's gonna be alright Sakura. Let's get you out of here," he replied.
His red eyes flickered around the room, observing their surroundings. Sakura reached down her leg, managing to free it from the confinement. She glanced down to Itachi as she straightened herself up.
"Jump, I'll catch you," he called to her as he stood just under spot where the broken railing fell prior.
He readied himself for her fall. She nodded and as she was ready to take the dive, the voice returned once more but this time its playful undertone was gone. Instead, it was a threatening, guttural sound.
"No, I want you stay!"
"Sakura! Now!" Itachi urged.
His red eyes were staring wide, at her — no over her shoulder, completely fixated in terror. Without giving it another thought, Sakura plunges below. Itachi stood firmly in the place, anchoring himself against the floor as he caught the rosette in his arms. Instantly, Sakura wraps her arms tightly around the ANBU captain with an almost deep-seeded need to seek his familiar warmth. The proud captain did not loosen his hold on her — instead his arms wrapped tightly around her body, pressing her closer against him, as if to reassure himself that this moment was real, that it was not simply a figment of his imagination. For a brief moment, his eyes ventured back to the upper floor, taking note of the samurai apparition that only moments before stood behind Sakura getting ready to strike. As he watched the apparition fade into nothing and Sakura's arms tightened around his shoulders as she buried her face against his neck, his focus turned to her.
"It really is you," Itachi murmurs softly into her hair.
"Itachi, I…" she begins as she holds onto him tightly. "I was so scared that I wouldn't see you anymore."
He presses a gentle kiss against her hair, soothing the storm within her.
"I was scared too. I thought I lost you," Itachi admits as the rosette slowly loosened her hold.
As the two lovers remained locked in an embrace, their surroundings begin to shift. In an instant, the sound of the falling rain was no more, the creak of the window shutters no longer filling in the empty silence. Then, like a hurricane the shoji doors parted, ushering in a gust of powerful wind. Unwilling to glance at the sudden intrusion, Itachi tightened his arms around the rosette to ensure her safety remained tethered to him. And as quickly as the wind entered the old shrine, it was gone, leaving no sign of its presence behind. Itachi was the first to look up, his red Sharingan eyes widening in shock at the state of the place before them.
"Sakura, look," Itachi says softly, urging the pinkette to look.
Although she was hesitant to let go of the Uchiha heir, Sakura gently loosened her hands, if only to steal a peek at their current situation. Her green eyes focused on the surroundings, as if she were trying to dispel a strong genjutsu. The darkness that enveloped them and the supposedly rotted walls of the shrine were gone. Instead, she was greeted by a sudden warmth of a well-lit shrine, displaying its pristine intricate walls and lacquered slabs of oaken wood on the floor. The dilapidated staircase was replaced by a firm oaken one, completed with heavily decorations of gold on its balustrades and handrails.
"It's not a genjutsu," Itachi commented.
"I know," she agreed. "But how?"
"I don't know. It's best that we explore this place together — see what we can find out," Itachi suggested with a calm voice.
Her eyes travel around the room only to settle on an exposed hole in ground. Eager, she walks towards it, forgetting the captain in his place as if the space was beckoning her to come closer. As she stood mere steps from it, she could make out the stony steps that led into the lower level, completely wrapped in darkness. In other words, it seemed like an entrance to a hidden chamber, or even a tomb carved in stone.
"Sakura," Itachi calls out as he follows behind her, not willing to lose her from his sight once again. The pinkette remained mesmerized by the darkened space.
"Perhaps we should explore this first?" Sakura says as she points to the exposed ground.
"Hn, it's more than likely a tomb. You're ready?" Itachi asks as he glances down to her.
"Yeah, I'm ready," she answers as she steadies her feet on the ground.
Her eyes fell to the stony entrance, pushing aside the fear that seem to suddenly brew within her. The fear of the unknown began to twist its way deep into her being, as if it were alarming her to the possibility of never returning back to the surface — that the unearthed tomb would swallow them whole, never to be seen again. As if he knew what emotions she was currently battling within, Itachi extends his hand to her.
"Hold my hand," Itachi said warmly. As soon as Sakura clasped her hand in his, he gently squeezed her hand, pulsing his own chakra to her — as if to create a chakra thread between them, bonding them together for safety. "And don't let go," he adds.
"I won't. I promise," Sakura said with conviction.
With small steps they descended towards the unearthed tomb, holding hands tightly as they disappeared into the darkness within.
A/N: Until next time.