Chapter 7: Opening Day

Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto if I would, Naruto and Sasuke would end up together. Italic is going to be when everyone is watching the Hunger Games and talking.

Leaping off the plate and reaching down to grab the sheet of plastic took only a second. Then Naruto was running as he got closer to the Cornucopia. Jiraiya's warning echoed through his mind, and for a second he wondered if he was making the right choice. He could easily swerve now and take off into the trees. But he kept going. And as he got closer and he was within reach of some supplies, he decided that whether or not he survived this, he followed his instincts. Something he would never ignore.

Naruto bent down and grabbed a small orange backpack, and was about to keep running when he felt a hand grab it tightly. He turned and saw Kabuto from District 7, holding it tightly and gritting his teeth. Naruto yanked it back, but Kaburto was bigger and was pulling him in with strong arms. Naruto was just thinking he'd regretted his decision when Kabuto coughed blood all over his face.

Naruto recoiled, wiping the sticky substance off his cheek while grasping the backpack with the other, as Kabuto fell limp at his feet. A knife in his back. Rin was standing a few feet away, already holding a few impressive looking knives. But she made no move to throw one. She just stared at him. Then ran off towards the horn again, as if he didn't exist at all.

Naruto decided to follow her, sprinting the last few feet to where the bow and arrows lay. He grabbed them immediately, then without waiting, took off in the woods. Suddenly a knife whistled past his ear, just barely missing. He looked over his shoulder, expecting to see Rin coming back for him. But it was Ami, snarling and already getting ready to throw another. That miss was definitely a one time thing.

Naruto pushed his legs to go faster, pulling his backpack up to protect his head when he heard the whistle of another knife flying towards him. It lodged in the backpack as he sprinted into the trees, breath coming in a shallow gasp as he pulled the backpack over his shoulder, the quiver of arrows following. He knew Ami probably wouldn't follow him; she'd prefer to stay at the Cornucopia before all the good stuff was gone.

He stopped for a second, turning around to survey the scene. Tributes stood at the Cornucopia, fighting determined, the clang of metal echoing against his ears, with weak screams of pain. A few tributes already lay dead on the ground, while others were taking off either into the trees or into the void across from it. Naruto turned and ran into the woods, going deeper and deeper until he couldn't see the Cornucopia anymore. Once his view was blocked, he slowed down into a steady jog, reaching back and removing the knife from the backpack. He grinned. 'Thanks for the knife, Ami.' He tucked it carefully into his belt.

For the next couple of hours, he kept going back and forth from jogging to walking, distancing himself from the plain as much as he could. He felt himself moving downwards, into a valley. He hated valleys; they made him feel trapped. Being higher up was something he'd always preferred. But he kept going. When he heard rustling in the bushes and a rabbit emerged, he smiled to himself. Plenty of game to hunt, anyway. He wouldn't go hungry. It felt good to be alone in the woods again, though he wondered if he was on camera right now. Probably, but not much. The Gamemakers would be focusing on the bloodbath today, showing all the fighting going on. But there would probably be the occasional shot of him, just to show he was armed, uninjured and on the move.

It must have been late afternoon when the cannons began to go off, each shot signifying a dead tribute. Naruto stopped, panting. He could allow himself a rest as he listened to the cannons. He slumped down on the ground, counting them in his head. Five, six, seven. Seven dead. Less than usual. The fighting had finally stopped, which meant the tributes who fought it out had the best weapons and supplies, and would probably be eager to resume their hunting once the sun set. Naruto pulled everything off his back, leaning against a tree with sighs. He pulled his backpack onto his lap- the colour was very unfortunate, he would have to camouflage it as soon as he could- and opened it up, taking out each item one by one and laying them out. A thin black sleeping bag that reflected body heat. Excellent. A packet of crackers and dried beef strips. A bottle of iodine. Some wine. Matches. Some sunglasses, oddly. And a two-litre plastic container for carrying water. Bone dry.

Naruto groaned, only now realizing how thirsty he was. But he wasn't particularly tired; he'd been eaten so much he had good staying power, even if he needed sleep. Water was the next thing on his list. And if that little rabbit from before had a place to drink, it was Naruto's job to find it. He would only last a few days without it. He checked his weapons next, smiling as he held the bow in his hands. It was more similar to the bows in the Training Center than to his bow from home, but he would manage. And the quiver containing a dozen arrows was good. Naruto stood up, deciding that before he moved on he would set up some snares. He didn't want to hunt right now; he wanted to keep moving forward. He could come back and check the snares in the morning. As he went on his way again, he used his knife to cut some bark off the pine tree, before cutting off some of the inner bark and eating it as he walked. It was hard to stomach after those days of such fine food, but he would adjust quickly. He was no stranger to eating pine.

As he walked, Naruto began to think about the dead tributes. His hand moved up and scratched against the dried blood on his face, which was starting to itch a little.

Well, Kabuto was dead, surely. And he wondered who else. What if Ino was dead? Or Sasuke, or Sakura? He didn't want to think that affected him, but it really did. Still, maybe if they were it would save him having to kill any of them later on. It was better this way. But as he thought of Kabuto again and their struggle for the orange backpack, another thought came to his mind. Why didn't Rin kill him? She was a Career, first of all, so there was no reason for compassion to have gotten in the way. He was just another tribute for her to stab with those knives. So why did she just stare at him? Maybe she wanted to get to the Cornucopia and saw killing him as a waste of time? Maybe she thought that spending time to kill a smaller tribute, despite the eleven in training, would give her less opportunity to take out the bigger and stronger ones?

That made sense. Anyway, he wasn't complaining in any way.

As he walked for another hour, he decided he should find a tree to sleep in. The sun was starting to set, and he needed to get some rest. He'd worry about water and food tomorrow. And as for Ino, Sasuke and Sakura, he would know if they survived when the dead tributes' images projected in the sky that night for everyone to see.

He soon found the tree he wanted; a willow, with a fork high up and concealed mostly by leaves to make his bed. He took out the sleeping bag and unfolded it, sliding the backpack and his bow and arrows into the bottom of it. He zipped up his and pulled his hood up, before sliding into the bag. He took off his belt and wound it around the bag and the branch, tying himself on the tree so that if he rolled over he wouldn't crash down to the ground. Naruto rolled onto his side, listening to the sounds of the woods as night came closer. He could hear some howling, some snuffling in the bushes. He wondered what kind of animals were out here, and whether or not they would consider him a tasty meal.

Just then the anthem started to play, and the Capitol seal lit up in the sky. Naruto looked up through the branches watching carefully. The first head-shot to appear was the face of Konan, the girl from District 4. Which surprised him; the Careers nearly always made it through the first day. Next was Udon of District 6, Kabuto, Azami from 8, Choji from 9 (Konohamaru and Moegi must've made it, then. Too bad Udon didn't make it.) and both tributes from District 10, Karin and Suigetsu. Well, that wasn't surprising. Karin was known for being really clumsy in training. Poor girl.

Seven dead. Sixteen opponents left. Seven Careers. Ino, Sasuke, Sakura, Tenten, Fuka and Tayuya. Konohamaru, Rock Lee… he couldn't remember the last one. He sighed, trusting he might remember in the morning. Now was the time for rest. He was so glad he'd gone for the supplies, because this sleeping bag was keeping him warm and comfortable, which a lot of tributes probably wouldn't have. He shut his eyes, hoping sleep would come to him quickly. It was a good thing he didn't snore.

Shino watched the Careers darting through the forest, deadly weapons at the ready. "Kiba, what if they find him?"

"They won't," Kiba reassured the boy, who talked safely under his arm. "He's safe up in the tree. In a dark sleeping bag."

"But when dawn comes that'll be really noticeable!"

"They'll probably be gone by then, Shino," Kiba said reasonably. His eyes widened as he looked at the screen. "Oh. Hmm. That's a dumb thing to do."

"Give her a break, she's probably freezing cold and-" Shino stopped, frowning. "Oh my God, that idiot girl! Look how close she is to Naruto's tree!"

Naruto woke up to the sound of a scream, and the cannon went off a second later.

Naruto's eyes opened quickly at the sound. Something, or someone, was now crashing through the trees. No, it was a person. Several of them; he could hear them talking in loud voices. Above him a hovercraft materialized and a claw dropped down, picking up some poor dead tribute and taking them away.

"You got her good, Kisame!" came a laughing voice. A girl's voice. Ami Stone.

Shit. Careers.

"Shit Careers!"

"Shino, shush!" Kiba scolded. "I wanna hear what they're saying!"

"Did you see her face?" another added, a boy this time. He mimicked in a high-pitched voice, "No, please don't kill me! Helllpp!"

It was Hidan. The seven Careers came striding through the trees, laughing loudly and very obnoxiously. They carried impressive weapons, along with flashlights and torches. Naruto stayed completely still, praying none of them would see him. For a second, he wondered who they'd killed. Was it Ino? Maybe. Oh God.

"Well, it's her own fault! Who the hell lights a fire on the first night of the Games, when it's pitch dark out! Sticks out like a sore thumb!"

Naruto almost fell out of the tree in his shock.

It was Sakura.

The 'sweet farm girl' had joined the Career pack. Was she totally insane? The Careers were hated by every other District; they were obnoxious, mean, and brutal, not to mention the favouritsim the Capitol showed towards them. Naruto could already hear the disapproving voices in District 11, tutting over this treacherous, untrustworthy girl. Well, Naruto would have no problem killing her now. He wondered what Sasuke would think if he knew. Then he wondered why he cared.

That was when Sakura looked right up at him.

Her green eyes locked on his for a second or two. Naruto was waiting for it, waiting for her to point him out to the other Careers, so they could all giggle to themselves as they took him out. Or maybe for her to throw up that deadly looking sickle she held in her hand-and she probably had plenty of experience using that back at home-and slicing his throat open. But instead, Sakura looked back at the others who were still chuckling and congratulating one another, and said as if nothing had happened, "The sooner we find him, the better. He's a threat that needs to be dealt with."

"She's right," Emi sighed, and Naruto saw she had her own bow and arrows, though they weren't the same quality as his. "Eleven in training is something not to be looked over."

"I almost got him earlier!" Ami cursed. "I swear, everytime I think of him twirling in that dumb fire outfit I wanna throw up."

"I didn't mind that too much," Hidan chuckled, finger absentmindedly stroking the handle of his sword. "How do you think he got that eleven?"

"Who cares!" Kisame snarled. "Let's just find him and cut his head off! The sooner the better!"

"Let's go this way!" Nagato suggested, and they headed off past his tree, into the trees.

"Oh thank God!" Mrs. Uzumaki sighed, flopping back in her chair. "That's such a relief."

"Why the heck did she light a fire?" Boruto was wondering. "Stupid girl. One Kunoichi down, two to go!"

So, the Careers were after him because of his score, but everything else he'd shown openly disgusted them. Except Hidan, strangely. And Sakura was part of their group. And Sakura was a part of their group. And to add to all that, in the space of a day there were two people with great reason to kill him, but had let him live.

But why?

Hope you like the story

Sorry for not writing, not for a while been busy with work and I'm starting to write The Princess Bride Harry Potter version. And I'm trying to get done writing this story. I'll try to type out chapter 8-9 soon.

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