Yay, a new chapter! Well I was reading some other fics and people were talking about someone not putting in Sakura-chan and Sasuke-kun and stuff like that. Well, I don't do that because my story is in English. Now, in the English language, we don't use those endings, so I don't use them in my story. (It also has to do with me not wanting to type extra keystrokes) I also don't use random Japanese words, because not everyone would know what they mean. However, I do have some exceptions. For instance, the attacks I will leave in Japanese because they just sound cooler. An exception will be if I make up a technique, in which case I will probably use an English word followed by "no jutsu" because I don't feel like translating anything. I also put the last name first because it just sounds weird if I switch it around. On a side-note, I would like to say thank you to everyone who reviewed, especially the people who didn't have an email address. I would have emailed you, but obviously I couldn't, so this is the next best thing. One last thing, if any grammar or spelling is messed up, I'm sorry. I don't have a beta reader, and I generally don't even check through it myself, so basically whatever I think is right to begin with is what I go with =). Anyway, enough of my ranting, and on to the story.
Naruto stood next to Sakura and stared at a small, mystical orb. As he reached out to it, Sakura bonked him one on the head. "Idiot! Don't touch it, you don't even know what it will do!" she lectured.
"But, but, it could be something really cool! And it's not like I won't be able to fight anything off anyway, so we are in no danger at all," he answered while smirking and turning his gaze back onto to orb. He moved his hand upon it, and in a flash he and Sakura were taken to somewhere he had never seen before, although his senses told him it was definitely something familiar.
He could see a large spiral, and some water crashing up on a coastline. There was something odd about the water, however. "Hey, Sakura, why is they water steaming," Naruto questioned with a puzzled look on his face. "And what is that smell?"
"I don't know I just got here!" She retorted while looking around at the scenery. It did smell familiar, not to mention making her hungry for some reason.
After a few minutes of pondering, a thin stringy entity approached the two ninjas. "Hey, I bet you want to know where you are, don't you?" it asked in a high, bubbly voice.
"Umm," Naruto started before Sakura but in with, "Of course we do!"
"Well, you are in Ramen World!" it stated with enthusiasm. "And I am a Ramen noodle! Amazing, isn't it!" Sakura just stood there, dumbfounded, while Naruto took time to process what had just been said.
"Ramen….World? Ramen World!" he shouted excitedly as he ran to the talkative Ramen noodle and quickly ate it. He then went over to the steaming water he had seen earlier, and started gulping down as much as he could. It seemed to last for hours…
"Damnit, this is my fault," Sasuke told himself. "Damnit!" Sasuke was obviously blaming himself for the capture of Sakura and Naruto. "I'll get them back…I have to," he said continuing his conversation with himself as he gritted his teeth.
Meanwhile, Shikamaru was thinking similar thoughts, although he was also complaining to himself how much of a hassle it would be. He still felt horrible, but he was one who didn't like to do any extra work, no matter what it was. While he was thinking, he strolled over to the wall of the cavern and sat on a rock to rest.
"Oww!" yelped a familiar voice from somewhere nearby.
"What was that," Sasuke said alertly. He couldn't tell exactly where it was coming from due to the echo, but then he played the sound back in his head and realized something. "Naruto!" Sasuke shouted as Naruto pulled a sheet down so it stopped covering his face.
"Get off of me Shikamaru! What are you doing sitting on me! I was having a nice dream!" he exclaimed while thinking about Ramen World. "Wait a minute, what are you even doing here Shikamaru! And what do you want Sasuke?" Naruto complained as he glimpsed at Sasuke. He could have sworn, if only for a minute, that he had seen Sasuke smile. Not the usual cocky smile that Sasuke put on when he knew he had the advantage, this one was different, somehow. However, it was only there for a second until Sasuke put on his usual cold face.
"What about Sakura, where is she?" Sasuke questioned harshly.
"I don't know, she said she wanted to take the first watch so I," Naruto started to say before Sasuke cut him off quickly.
"Idiot! Couldn't you see how tired she was? That's the reason I left her here in the first place! And now she's.." Sasuke snapped at Naruto before turning his head and looking down.
"What, what about her. Now she's what?" Naruto asked innocently. He had no idea what had happened while he was in peaceful slumber. Sasuke however, wasn't about to answer him. He couldn't state the truth, although he knew it well enough. "Tell me, what happened to her?" Naruto pleaded again.
"We think someone has abducted her, along with the rest of my team and team 8," Shikamaru uttered slowly from behind Naruto. "Your lucky they didn't get you too. Since you were sleeping, your chakra level must have been near nonexistent. That was good thinking of you to use that camouflaged cover," he added. He knew Naruto was probably feeling just as bad as he was now, so he tried to offer as much comfort as he could.
Naruto glanced at his sheet, realizing that he hadn't meant to pack it in the first place; he had just pulled the first sheet he found. It just so happened it was the one he used to hide from people when he used to pull pranks. He also started to feel quite uneasy. "Wha…abducted?" Naruto asked to no one in particular. He wasn't really asking a question in the first place, he was just confirming to himself what he had heard.
"But, she said! She said she would wake me up if anything happened, why didn't she…?" Naruto cried as tears started to form at the edges of his eyes. He couldn't believe it. He had let Sakura, whom he adored, be taken all while he was sleeping. He couldn't fight back the tears as they slowly crept down his face, and he realized that he had failed her. "Why did I let her…" Sasuke had heard enough of Naruto's self-pity, even though Sasuke himself had been doing the same thing just moments before.
"Shut up, idiot! We are going to get her back, so just shut up and let me think" demanded a pretty pissed off Sasuke. He knew they had to get her back, but he had no idea how. They didn't know the motives of this person, they had no leads, and they couldn't even call for help because Sakura was the one with the radio. Before he had thought of a viable solution, Shikamaru piped up.
"Well, since we have no leads at all, and all we know is that this guy has to be pretty strong, I can only think of one thing to do," he stated. Sasuke and Naruto just gave him questionable glares and awaited the genius' plan. "We go back through the Cavern and get some help from our teachers." This brought forth a look of bewilderment upon Naruto's face, and just a glare from Sasuke.
"But, but! We can't go all the way back! It will take us a couple hours and we don't know how long we have!" Naruto argued. He failed to see how running away was going to solve any problem, but Shikamaru was already prepared with an answer.
"Exactly, we don't know how long we have. We don't have time to just sit here waiting for something to happen, and we have no clues whatsoever as to base our next move upon. Therefore, it would be smartest to go get our teachers or maybe even the Anbu to solve this problem. And don't get any ideas about staying here alone, we all need to stay together just in case this guy shows up again."
"Fine, that's the plan. But lets get moving, NOW. We don't have time to waste around here," Sasuke confirmed. Naruto just stood up grumpily and followed Sasuke and Shikamaru. They were moving at insane speeds; at least two times faster than they had came into the cavern. After only an hour of running with no rest, they could finally see a light ahead.
"There…"Shikamaru panted heavily. He was very tired out, and was relieved to see the sunlight, although it was still heart wrenching for him when he thought of the fact that Ino and Chouji weren't there with him. However, his relief was short-lived as he saw something else ahead.
"Stop!" he shouted as all three ninjas slid across the ground, kicking up clouds of smoke behind their feet. Sasuke then saw it. In the middle of the light a silhouette could be seen, and as he sensed the chakra, he could tell it wasn't friendly.
"Hey, who is that? Is it a teacher or something," Naruto broke the silence as the three stood completely still. In a moment however, the silhouette had vanished, and a deep voice spoke from behind them. "Thinking of getting out eh?"
As they turned around, the man had already flew past them and back at the entrance. "I don't think so! Landslide No Jutsu!" Shouted the man as Naruto, Sasuke and Shikamaru felt vibrations all around them.
"Get back!" Sasuke ordered briskly as the ninjas flew backwards as fast as they could. As they looked on, rocks from all sides of the cavern started to crumble, and slowly the light ahead started to disappear as the first 20 yards of the cavern started to cave in. In a matter of seconds, their escape route and plan had been squashed, and a burly man stood before them. He had black, spiky hair, and had a sound village forehead protector on his head.
"So, you are with Orochimaru, aren't you?" Sasuke knowingly questioned the foreign man. Sasuke had been informed that Orochimaru formed the Sound village as a way to take over Leaf Village, so the forehead protector made it blatantly obvious.
"Where did you take our comrades?" Shikamaru angrily asked as pictures of Ino and Chouji and team 8 danced around inside of his head. It was the first time he had ever been so forceful. Usually he thought using force in his voice just took extra effort that wasn't worth it, but this
"Hah, don't worry, those weaklings aren't hurt. We are just using them for leverage." Said the black-haired man as an evil smirk appeared across his face.
"What do you mean…leverage?" Naruto continued the array of questions with one of his own. Naruto had no idea what was going on. He wasn't the fastest learner if all of Leaf village, and the fact that he had been asleep for half the time didn't make matters better.
"Levarage…to make sure Orochimaru gets what he wants," was the man's answer. Sasuke knew what the man meant. After the invasion of the Sound and Sand, Sasuke had also been informed of Orochimaru's true purpose. He needed a new body to take control of, and it was Sasuke's that he had eyed, most likely because of his Sharingan. "Well, we aren't going to hurt them, as long as you follow our orders of course."
"What kind of orders?" Sasuke questioned slowly and with a glare.
"Ah, hasty aren't we? Hehe, you probably already know what they are. In exchange for your friends…you come with us, no questions asked," said Orochimaru's henchman with another laugh. Naruto, meanwhile, wasn't going to hear any of this.
"No way he is going to go with you! We aren't going to trade off people's lives here! If you think you can get away with hurting my friends, then I'm just going to kick your ass and make you tell us where they are!" he shouted with complete confidence as he prepared to launch an all out assault before Sasuke's arm flew out in front of him.
"Where are they," Sasuke said in a tone ordering the man to answer. "I'll say it again, where are they."
"It's not like you will be able to get to them anyway kid, and I won't be taking orders from some punk like you," the man replied, and then looking towards Naruto. "And if you think you stand a chance, go ahead and attack, there is no way two genin and a rookie chuunin could even get close to defeating me."
Sasuke, Naruto, and Shikamaru all glanced into each other's eyes for a millisecond and it was enough.
"Well, even if it is a hassle, I guess it can't be helped," Shikamaru smirked as he stated his feelings on the situation.
"Well then, lets get wild!" Naruto yelled as he prepared to attack. "There is no way these people will take those who saved me from the hell of loneliness away…I'll kill them!" he was thinking as he ran towards the man.
"Sharingan!" was all that Sasuke had to yell, and the fight had officially begun.
I'm going to apologize now for the crappiness of this chapter…its like 2:00 am right now, and I don't know what I was doing, but I think it turned out bad…and I tried fixing it but I just can't, and I'm not about to rewrite the whole thing. Soooo….I'll just make the next chapter better, alright?