My God! An update! Sorry about how long it has taken for this chapter but
I've had to write reports, take finals and all other manner of craziness.
However, now that I'm on vacation I can start working on his story again.
(And the peasants rejoiced) Anyway thanks once again to all my reviewers
who are getting to many to list. You guys are the greatest.
So lets start the show!
Disclaimer: I own nothing! I'm just a broke collage student whose addicted to Anime.
Dust in the Wind By: Yojimbo1
Chapter 3 - The City Bought with Blood
Akamaru whimpered.
The group of five had been traveling for three days across the plains of the Fire Country and had finally reached the last major town before entering the territory occupied by the Sound ninjas. Akamaru who had been leading the group had been very nervous for a couple miles now. When Naruto had asked Kiba what was wrong, all the other boy had said was, "He smells blood."
When the town had come into view Shikamaru had ordered a halt. "Okay guys I figure I better talk to you all before we enter this place. First off, I don't want anyone blabbing about what we're doing here and who we're looking for." He said this looking directly at Naruto.
"Why are you looking at me like that!? I wouldn't do something that stupid." Naruto said offended.
Shikamaru merely waved off Naruto's outburst, "I'm just telling you in advance so you don't blow our cover. Speaking of cover, I want you to take off your leaf forehead protectors. It may not make too much of a difference but if the enemy has any spies waiting around for people from Konoha Village, I'd rather not advertise it to them that's where we're from." Shikamaru undid his protector from his arm before also taking off his leaf jacket. Rolling them both into a bundle he stuffed them into his backpack.
Naruto removed his headband and stared at it. He was slightly saddened by having to hide what he had worked so hard to obtain but Shikamaru was right, they couldn't be too careful. When he had placed it inside his backpack, he saw that all the others had removed theirs as well.
"Alright, while were in this city I want everyone to act as normal as possible, so no more walking in formation. Neji, I still want you watching our back though because acting totally casual in this town would be a give away too." Turning to the city he said, "Let's go." The group of five entered through the front gates of the city, only earning a look of disinterest from the gate guard.
Naruto looked around the city and immediately felt as if everyone's eyes were upon the group. Every person they passed looked shifty, as if at any moment they might try to kill you. Remembering something Shikamaru had said the other day about this being the last town before entering the Sound Country, he realized that these people may very well try and kill them. All the shops seemed to have at least one person outside the door, watching people pass. If Naruto was judging the people's appearances correctly, he took them to be shinobi hired to protect the shops.
'Just how bad are things here.' Naruto wondered to himself. The sound of breaking glass made Naruto's attention snap forward. A few yards down the street a man was laying in a pile of broken glass that had once been the front window of a shop. As the man on the ground attempted to get up, someone leapt through the window and kicked him hard in the side.
The man groaned lowly as he rolled onto his back only to have a foot pressed against his throat. Naruto watched as the man on the ground clawed desperately at the leg of the person who was cutting off his air. Looking at the man standing over the prone figure Naruto saw a sound forehead protector hanging around a belt on the man's waist.
"You cloud shinobi are weak." The sound ninja said grinning widely. "We were able to take over a third of your country without even trying. You're dogs and should learn your place." Saying this the man pushed down harder causing the cloud ninja's face to turn a deep red as his breathing became more difficult.
Naruto tried to rush forward to help the man but was stopped by Neji. "What are you thinking?" Neji whispered harshly.
"He's going to kill him if we don't do something." Naruto said back.
"That would draw attention to us." Neji growled. When Naruto tried to protest Neji cut him off, "I don't like it either but if we're going to accomplish our mission we can't step into other people's fights."
A suppressed sound of frustration made its way from Naruto's throat. He knew Neji was right but.
As the man on the ground started to turn blue another sound ninja came out of the shop with the broken window. "That's enough Siroshi. We're done with our business here."
"But." Siroshi protested but was quickly silenced with an intense glare from the other sound ninja. The cloud ninja pulled in a deep breath of air when Siroshi lifted his foot from his throat. "You were lucky this time." He said before leaving the cloud ninja on the ground still gasping for air.
Akamaru whimpered softly as he hid deeper in the folds of Kiba's jacket. Lightly scratching his partner's head, Kiba said softly, "Akamaru says we should get out of this town as quick as we can."
Nodding his approval, Chouji looked at his bag of chips, "I think I lost my appetite." Opening the bag he put a large hand full of the snacks into his mouth, "Well, almost."
The group continued down the street, trying their best not to look at the cloud ninja still kneeling in the dirt. As they walked, Naruto noticed how similar this town resembled the Wave Country when he had first been there. People were lying out in the streets and in the alleyways, all with the same empty look of defeat in their eyes. 'The sound must run this town now.'
"Hey, Shikamaru?" Naruto called.
Without turning around he responded, "Yeah."
"Where are we going?"
Shikamaru paused for a moment, taking in their current surroundings. "I think it's best if we pass through this town as quick as we can without drawing attention. We have to catch up to Sasuke before he reaches the Sound Country territorial line. If they've been traveling at the pace I think they have, they should have left this town little under an hour ago."
Kiba turned to Akamaru, "Can you smell Sasuke, Akamaru."
The small dog jumped from his master's shoulder and sniffed the ground intently. Akamaru walked a few paces sniffed deeply and moved on a little. He kept doing this for a few moments before Chouji spoke up.
"What's taking him so long?"
Kiba frowned deeply, "It's hard for him to make out Sasuke's scent. There's been a big fight here sometime ago and the odor of blood is still heavy in the ground." Scratching his nose he added, "I can't distinguish the scents at all, there all running together."
A small bark drew attention back to the dog that was wagging his tail quickly and pawing at the ground. Kiba grinned, "Found him." Kneeling down and scratching his partner's head, Kiba asked, "Can you show us which way, Akamaru."
Akamaru barked once again and started down the road. The group followed after the dog casually, staying just far enough away that it seemed that the dog was just anxious to explore its new surroundings. They were reaching the Northern gate of the village when Naruto felt a strange prickling sensation at the back of his neck. Turing around he thought he saw a figure clad in a black cloak disappear into a store.
"He's been following us since we left that cloud ninja." Neji said, motioning with his head slightly to Naruto to keep moving.
Naruto continued walking now with Neji right beside him. "Is it a sound ninja?" Naruto asked, worried that they had been discovered.
Neji's eyes appeared to change into the Byakugan slightly as he said, "I can't tell. He's not trying to hide from us completely; it's more like he's.curious. If it was a sound ninja, I doubt they would bother hiding while we were in a town that's under their control." Once again the two felt the eyes of someone on their backs. "I'll tell Shikamaru." Neji walked casually up to Shikamaru leaving Naruto at the back of the group.
An uneasy feeling rose up inside Naruto. Thoughts of sound ninja's jumping out from all around began to enter his mind. 'Calm down.' He mentally scolded himself, as he felt his hand resting on his kunai holder. 'I have to stay focused. I can't fail this mission.' Thoughts of a pink haired girl crying ran through his mind. Slowly his nerves began to settle down and the feeling of being watched started to subside. Neji slowed slightly to come in step next to Naruto again.
"He's left." Neji said, affirming Naruto's senses.
Nodding slightly, Naruto looked forward to see that they were passing through the gate that led to the north and to the sound country. They received much the same disinterest at this gate as they had the other. After reaching a far enough distance away from the gate Shikamaru held up a hand to signal a stop.
"How far, Kiba?" Shikamaru asked.
Looking down at Akamaru, the small dog barked a couple times before Kiba said, "A mile to a mile and a half."
Shikamaru nodded before opening his backpack and removing his jacket and forehead protector. "You can put you forehead protectors back on if you want. From now on we're not going to be stopping again." The group nodded and pulled their forehead protectors back on before Shikamaru spoke again. "I want us all to be on guard. We're so close to the Sound Country's border that we may run into another group of ninja's besides Sasuke's."
The group moved out at a fast jog much to the dismay of Chouji. On their way to intercept Sasuke's group they had passed two other groups of Sound Ninjas but had managed to stay undetected. By noon Shikamaru judged that they were close enough that Neji might be able to spot them.
Neji stepped to the front of the line and activated the Byakugan. His special eyes strained making the veins on his face grow larger. With a small grin of satisfaction, he declared, "Found them. There are four others beside Sasuke like Kiba had said. Looks like their resting."
"Where's Sasuke?" Naruto asked.
The veins on Neji's face grew a little larger and a look of confusion passed his features. "He's in the middle of some type of symbol written on the ground."
"A symbol?" Chouji asked confused not understanding.
"He's not moving. It's like he's in some kind of trance. But." A sound escaped from his throat. "There's a large amount of chakara being forced into his body." Looking back at Naruto he added, "It's almost as much you had when you fought me."
'As.as much as the Nine-Tails?' Naruto thought shocked. If that was true.
"It's most likely a channeling jutsu." Shikamaru said quietly. "But I've never heard of one ever being performed these days."
"What do you mean?" Kiba asked.
"A channeling jutsu takes chakara from another source and joins it with the focus subject permanently." Shaking his head he continued, "But it was only used a long time ago as a last resort in a battle because the person acting as the container always died shortly after do to the huge amount of chakara forced into the body. "
"Then Sasuke." Naruto started.
"We have to hurry before the channeling is complete or our mission could get even more difficult than it already is." Shikamaru said. Signaling for them to follow him, the group made their way through the twist and turns of the forest. They managed to get close enough to where they could almost see where the enemy was sitting when Neji hauled Naruto backwards by his collar.
Naruto almost yelled out loud but was stopped by looking to where Neji's eyes were fixed. On the ground almost invisible in the afternoon light, was a single trip wire. Kneeling down Kiba inspected it closely.
"It's not attached to any kind of trap. I think it's here to alert them when someone is coming." Kiba said.
"It's like a spiders web." Chouji supplied. "The spider hides and allows the web to tell it when dinner arrives."
Shikamaru smiled at him grimly, "Good ol' Chouji, able to include food into an explanation."
"I'm sure there's more." Kiba said speaking up. He looked around and sniffed at the air. "They've been up in the trees too from the smell of things so even the treetops aren't safe."
"How will we get too them without them knowing we're approaching?" Naruto asked, thinking it would be easier just to charge in headfirst and try to shock the enemy.
Shikamaru thought to himself silently. "First we'll have to split up and circle around the clearing their in. Go about it carefully but don't drag around. We have no idea when they intend to move out so we need to be quick. Once we have them surrounded one of us will move in first quickly. We need to make them think we're only coming from one side so the rest of us will wait until the first person reaches the clearing. The second the lead person engages the enemy, we'll all rush in and attack them from all around." Shikamaru looked from face to face of his team before his eyes settled on Naruto. "You'll be the first person Naruto. The second we're all in position I want you to haul ass into that clearing. Do you think you could use the Kage Bushin no jutsu to make it seem like all of us are coming from your side."
Naruto grinned, "Of course I can."
Shikamaru gave him a half smile, "Good. We need to end this fight as quickly as possible so I don't want any of you holding back. Attack with intent to kill." Shikamaru's eyes turned cold. "Let's go."
(AN) Read and Review!
So lets start the show!
Disclaimer: I own nothing! I'm just a broke collage student whose addicted to Anime.
Dust in the Wind By: Yojimbo1
Chapter 3 - The City Bought with Blood
Akamaru whimpered.
The group of five had been traveling for three days across the plains of the Fire Country and had finally reached the last major town before entering the territory occupied by the Sound ninjas. Akamaru who had been leading the group had been very nervous for a couple miles now. When Naruto had asked Kiba what was wrong, all the other boy had said was, "He smells blood."
When the town had come into view Shikamaru had ordered a halt. "Okay guys I figure I better talk to you all before we enter this place. First off, I don't want anyone blabbing about what we're doing here and who we're looking for." He said this looking directly at Naruto.
"Why are you looking at me like that!? I wouldn't do something that stupid." Naruto said offended.
Shikamaru merely waved off Naruto's outburst, "I'm just telling you in advance so you don't blow our cover. Speaking of cover, I want you to take off your leaf forehead protectors. It may not make too much of a difference but if the enemy has any spies waiting around for people from Konoha Village, I'd rather not advertise it to them that's where we're from." Shikamaru undid his protector from his arm before also taking off his leaf jacket. Rolling them both into a bundle he stuffed them into his backpack.
Naruto removed his headband and stared at it. He was slightly saddened by having to hide what he had worked so hard to obtain but Shikamaru was right, they couldn't be too careful. When he had placed it inside his backpack, he saw that all the others had removed theirs as well.
"Alright, while were in this city I want everyone to act as normal as possible, so no more walking in formation. Neji, I still want you watching our back though because acting totally casual in this town would be a give away too." Turning to the city he said, "Let's go." The group of five entered through the front gates of the city, only earning a look of disinterest from the gate guard.
Naruto looked around the city and immediately felt as if everyone's eyes were upon the group. Every person they passed looked shifty, as if at any moment they might try to kill you. Remembering something Shikamaru had said the other day about this being the last town before entering the Sound Country, he realized that these people may very well try and kill them. All the shops seemed to have at least one person outside the door, watching people pass. If Naruto was judging the people's appearances correctly, he took them to be shinobi hired to protect the shops.
'Just how bad are things here.' Naruto wondered to himself. The sound of breaking glass made Naruto's attention snap forward. A few yards down the street a man was laying in a pile of broken glass that had once been the front window of a shop. As the man on the ground attempted to get up, someone leapt through the window and kicked him hard in the side.
The man groaned lowly as he rolled onto his back only to have a foot pressed against his throat. Naruto watched as the man on the ground clawed desperately at the leg of the person who was cutting off his air. Looking at the man standing over the prone figure Naruto saw a sound forehead protector hanging around a belt on the man's waist.
"You cloud shinobi are weak." The sound ninja said grinning widely. "We were able to take over a third of your country without even trying. You're dogs and should learn your place." Saying this the man pushed down harder causing the cloud ninja's face to turn a deep red as his breathing became more difficult.
Naruto tried to rush forward to help the man but was stopped by Neji. "What are you thinking?" Neji whispered harshly.
"He's going to kill him if we don't do something." Naruto said back.
"That would draw attention to us." Neji growled. When Naruto tried to protest Neji cut him off, "I don't like it either but if we're going to accomplish our mission we can't step into other people's fights."
A suppressed sound of frustration made its way from Naruto's throat. He knew Neji was right but.
As the man on the ground started to turn blue another sound ninja came out of the shop with the broken window. "That's enough Siroshi. We're done with our business here."
"But." Siroshi protested but was quickly silenced with an intense glare from the other sound ninja. The cloud ninja pulled in a deep breath of air when Siroshi lifted his foot from his throat. "You were lucky this time." He said before leaving the cloud ninja on the ground still gasping for air.
Akamaru whimpered softly as he hid deeper in the folds of Kiba's jacket. Lightly scratching his partner's head, Kiba said softly, "Akamaru says we should get out of this town as quick as we can."
Nodding his approval, Chouji looked at his bag of chips, "I think I lost my appetite." Opening the bag he put a large hand full of the snacks into his mouth, "Well, almost."
The group continued down the street, trying their best not to look at the cloud ninja still kneeling in the dirt. As they walked, Naruto noticed how similar this town resembled the Wave Country when he had first been there. People were lying out in the streets and in the alleyways, all with the same empty look of defeat in their eyes. 'The sound must run this town now.'
"Hey, Shikamaru?" Naruto called.
Without turning around he responded, "Yeah."
"Where are we going?"
Shikamaru paused for a moment, taking in their current surroundings. "I think it's best if we pass through this town as quick as we can without drawing attention. We have to catch up to Sasuke before he reaches the Sound Country territorial line. If they've been traveling at the pace I think they have, they should have left this town little under an hour ago."
Kiba turned to Akamaru, "Can you smell Sasuke, Akamaru."
The small dog jumped from his master's shoulder and sniffed the ground intently. Akamaru walked a few paces sniffed deeply and moved on a little. He kept doing this for a few moments before Chouji spoke up.
"What's taking him so long?"
Kiba frowned deeply, "It's hard for him to make out Sasuke's scent. There's been a big fight here sometime ago and the odor of blood is still heavy in the ground." Scratching his nose he added, "I can't distinguish the scents at all, there all running together."
A small bark drew attention back to the dog that was wagging his tail quickly and pawing at the ground. Kiba grinned, "Found him." Kneeling down and scratching his partner's head, Kiba asked, "Can you show us which way, Akamaru."
Akamaru barked once again and started down the road. The group followed after the dog casually, staying just far enough away that it seemed that the dog was just anxious to explore its new surroundings. They were reaching the Northern gate of the village when Naruto felt a strange prickling sensation at the back of his neck. Turing around he thought he saw a figure clad in a black cloak disappear into a store.
"He's been following us since we left that cloud ninja." Neji said, motioning with his head slightly to Naruto to keep moving.
Naruto continued walking now with Neji right beside him. "Is it a sound ninja?" Naruto asked, worried that they had been discovered.
Neji's eyes appeared to change into the Byakugan slightly as he said, "I can't tell. He's not trying to hide from us completely; it's more like he's.curious. If it was a sound ninja, I doubt they would bother hiding while we were in a town that's under their control." Once again the two felt the eyes of someone on their backs. "I'll tell Shikamaru." Neji walked casually up to Shikamaru leaving Naruto at the back of the group.
An uneasy feeling rose up inside Naruto. Thoughts of sound ninja's jumping out from all around began to enter his mind. 'Calm down.' He mentally scolded himself, as he felt his hand resting on his kunai holder. 'I have to stay focused. I can't fail this mission.' Thoughts of a pink haired girl crying ran through his mind. Slowly his nerves began to settle down and the feeling of being watched started to subside. Neji slowed slightly to come in step next to Naruto again.
"He's left." Neji said, affirming Naruto's senses.
Nodding slightly, Naruto looked forward to see that they were passing through the gate that led to the north and to the sound country. They received much the same disinterest at this gate as they had the other. After reaching a far enough distance away from the gate Shikamaru held up a hand to signal a stop.
"How far, Kiba?" Shikamaru asked.
Looking down at Akamaru, the small dog barked a couple times before Kiba said, "A mile to a mile and a half."
Shikamaru nodded before opening his backpack and removing his jacket and forehead protector. "You can put you forehead protectors back on if you want. From now on we're not going to be stopping again." The group nodded and pulled their forehead protectors back on before Shikamaru spoke again. "I want us all to be on guard. We're so close to the Sound Country's border that we may run into another group of ninja's besides Sasuke's."
The group moved out at a fast jog much to the dismay of Chouji. On their way to intercept Sasuke's group they had passed two other groups of Sound Ninjas but had managed to stay undetected. By noon Shikamaru judged that they were close enough that Neji might be able to spot them.
Neji stepped to the front of the line and activated the Byakugan. His special eyes strained making the veins on his face grow larger. With a small grin of satisfaction, he declared, "Found them. There are four others beside Sasuke like Kiba had said. Looks like their resting."
"Where's Sasuke?" Naruto asked.
The veins on Neji's face grew a little larger and a look of confusion passed his features. "He's in the middle of some type of symbol written on the ground."
"A symbol?" Chouji asked confused not understanding.
"He's not moving. It's like he's in some kind of trance. But." A sound escaped from his throat. "There's a large amount of chakara being forced into his body." Looking back at Naruto he added, "It's almost as much you had when you fought me."
'As.as much as the Nine-Tails?' Naruto thought shocked. If that was true.
"It's most likely a channeling jutsu." Shikamaru said quietly. "But I've never heard of one ever being performed these days."
"What do you mean?" Kiba asked.
"A channeling jutsu takes chakara from another source and joins it with the focus subject permanently." Shaking his head he continued, "But it was only used a long time ago as a last resort in a battle because the person acting as the container always died shortly after do to the huge amount of chakara forced into the body. "
"Then Sasuke." Naruto started.
"We have to hurry before the channeling is complete or our mission could get even more difficult than it already is." Shikamaru said. Signaling for them to follow him, the group made their way through the twist and turns of the forest. They managed to get close enough to where they could almost see where the enemy was sitting when Neji hauled Naruto backwards by his collar.
Naruto almost yelled out loud but was stopped by looking to where Neji's eyes were fixed. On the ground almost invisible in the afternoon light, was a single trip wire. Kneeling down Kiba inspected it closely.
"It's not attached to any kind of trap. I think it's here to alert them when someone is coming." Kiba said.
"It's like a spiders web." Chouji supplied. "The spider hides and allows the web to tell it when dinner arrives."
Shikamaru smiled at him grimly, "Good ol' Chouji, able to include food into an explanation."
"I'm sure there's more." Kiba said speaking up. He looked around and sniffed at the air. "They've been up in the trees too from the smell of things so even the treetops aren't safe."
"How will we get too them without them knowing we're approaching?" Naruto asked, thinking it would be easier just to charge in headfirst and try to shock the enemy.
Shikamaru thought to himself silently. "First we'll have to split up and circle around the clearing their in. Go about it carefully but don't drag around. We have no idea when they intend to move out so we need to be quick. Once we have them surrounded one of us will move in first quickly. We need to make them think we're only coming from one side so the rest of us will wait until the first person reaches the clearing. The second the lead person engages the enemy, we'll all rush in and attack them from all around." Shikamaru looked from face to face of his team before his eyes settled on Naruto. "You'll be the first person Naruto. The second we're all in position I want you to haul ass into that clearing. Do you think you could use the Kage Bushin no jutsu to make it seem like all of us are coming from your side."
Naruto grinned, "Of course I can."
Shikamaru gave him a half smile, "Good. We need to end this fight as quickly as possible so I don't want any of you holding back. Attack with intent to kill." Shikamaru's eyes turned cold. "Let's go."
(AN) Read and Review!