Chapter 4: A Dangerous Situation
"So the seven of you are from another world?" asks Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage.
Simultaneous nods from the group of children before her answers her question.
"Can you guys send us back?" wonders Jon. "I'd really like to finish the rest of our camping trip back in our world."
"We would if we could," replies Jiraiya, the Perverted Hermit. "But if we can't figure out how you guys got here in the first place, there's nothing we could do."
Seven heads hung in disappointed exasperation.
"However, this does sound like something Orochimaru would pull," notes Tsunade. "But without hard evidence, we really can't put the blame on him. This is a confusing situation indeed."
"Are there any more of you or is this all that came?" inquires Jiraiya.
"Well, we're not sure, but we think two of our friends were transported as well," answers Caroline.
"Why aren't they with you?" asks Tsunade.
"We got separated before we were transported," replies Bao.
"How do you know your other two friends aren't still in your world?" asks Jiraiya.
"We all have the feeling they're here too," answers Stephanie.
"Well, unless they were transported close by, I highly doubt we'll be able to find them," notes Tsunade. "This world of ours is pretty big. Who knows where they were transported to."
"I'm still curious about the forehead protectors you're all wearing," said Jiraiya. "Could there be a particular reason you were all sent here of all places?"
"If there is one, we don't know about it," responds Jon.
"I see," said Jiraiya. "Well then, in the meantime, we'll place you all in a couple of available apartments for the time being. Doesn't look like you'll be going anywhere for a while so you might as well settle in for the long run."
"Allright then," responds Caroline.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Night fell in the Forest of Death and Tracy and Lawrence were no closer to the tower than they were that afternoon.
"Damn it," curses Lawrence as he ran. "It looks as if it's right in front of us, but we're not getting any closer at all."
"Wait a minute," spoke up Tracy.
The two of them stop in their tracks. Tracy puts her hands together to form a seal and closes her eyes. She then opens them again with a shout.
"Kai! (Dispel!)"
With that done, she ran towards the tower, which became closer and closer.
"What was that all about back there?" wonders Lawrence as he follows her.
"We were trapped in a genjutsu back there," replies Tracy.
"What's that?" asks Lawrence.
"A genjutsu is an illusionary technique," answers Tracy. "Ninjas in the Naruto world use genjutsus to fool their opponents or even defeat them in battle. Getting stuck in one could be either annoying or deadly."
"Deadly?" exclaims Lawrence.
By later in the evening, the two kids were halfway towards the tower. They stop to rest under the strong roots of a giant tree for the night. As the two lay there side by side, Lawrence spoke up.
"So, is there any other jutsus that I have to worry about?" he asks.
"Jutsus come in three different kinds: genjutsu, which are illusionary techniques; taijutsu, which are hand-to-hand combat techniques; and ninjutsu, which are ninja techniques," explains Tracy. "Each different kind of jutsu uses up a certain amount of Chakra, depending on their effectiveness and power. Taijutsus uses the least amount of Chakra because they rely mainly on your physical strength. Ninjutsus tend to use up a lot of Chakra because they're like spells; some can be defensive and some can be offensive. Genjutsus fall somewhere around the middle; the effectiveness depends on how much Chakra you use. The more Chakra you use, the more effective the genjutsu."
"Interesting," comments Lawrence. "Do you know any jutsus?"
" Just a few," answers Tracy. "I don't know any that requires a long combination of hand seals. Those kinds of jutsus are usually the strongest kind."
"I see," understood the boy. "Can you teach me some?"
"If you want," replies the girl, rolling over to her side and showing her back to the boy. "I'll show you a few in the morning."
About two hours into the dead of night, Tracy awoke to vibrations on the ground. She turns over to find Lawrence shivering beside her. Without a thought, she takes off her t-shirt jacket and drapes it over the boy who began shivering a lot less than before. Sitting up, she looks up at the moon overhead which was bright and full.
"This place looks and feels a lot different than back home," she said to herself. "I think I'm gonna like it here."
Suddenly, she hears a rustling of leaves not far from where they were. She takes out a kodachi and cautiously steps towards the source of the noise. She comes upon a bush which was shaking strangely. Preparing herself for an ambush, Tracy stood there with kodachi drawn and body tense. The bush stops shaking and out came a rabbit hopping out of the foliage. Feeling ridiculous, Tracy breathes a sigh of relief and began walking back to the tree trunk roots where Lawrence had woken up and was rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"What is it?" he asks her.
"Just a rabbit, nothing to worry about," she assures him.
Just before she could reach Lawrence, a dark figure lands in between them. Surprised, Tracy takes out her other kodachi and goes into an attack stance.
"Who are you?" she demands forcefully.
"I've been watching you for quite a while," said the figure with its head hanging. It slowly brought its head up to the light of the moon, revealing a very familiar face. "Tracy-chan."
A chill ran down the girl's spine upon realizing who it was that was standing in front of her.
"Orochimaru," she utters in a low voice.
"Ah, so you have heard of me," responds the evil Sannin.
"Tracy, who is this guy?" asks Lawrence.
"Lawrence, stay there!" warns the girl. "This guy is really dangerous. Don't move a muscle."
"You're not from around here, are you?" asks Orochimaru, licking his lips with his long tongue. "Very interesting."
If I don't do something, he could kill us, thought Tracy.
Forcing herself to be as scared as she possibly can, she dashes at the powerful ninja. She could feel the adrenaline rush through her blood as she strikes quickly with her right kodachi. She gasps in surprise to see her attack instantly blocked by the man's arm.
"You've got fire," he says out loud. "I like that."
With a thrust of his arm, Orochimaru sends the girl flying back into the huge root of a tree.
"Tracy!" Lawrence yells out with worry.
He runs at the old man with kunais drawn. Before he could even get close, Orochimaru spins around and whips the boy into another huge tree root. The boy's body slams into the root hard, cracking its surface.
"Lawrence," Tracy groans as she tries to get up. "I'm going to kill you, Orochimaru."
With a chuckle, Orochimaru shoots out a couple of snakes out of his sleeves at the girl. Gripping her kodachis tightly, Tracy deflects the creatures with whatever strength she had left. Before she even had time to take a breath, Orochimaru extends his neck and bites hard into the nape of the girl's neck. Tracy's eyes went opened wide as searing pain spreads through her upper body.
Lawrence forces his eyes open upon hearing the painful screams of his friend. Summoning all the strength he had, he got up off the ground to see the evil Sannin biting into his friend's shoulder.
"You bastard!" he cries out as he ran towards the man with kunais in hand.
Orochimaru manages to finish his technique and jump away before the flying kunais flew out of the boy's hand straight at him.
"We'll be meeting each other again, Tracy-chan," Orochimaru yells out before disappearing into the darkness of the treetops.
With the evil Sannin out of sight, Lawrence puts his focus on his friend, who had fallen to the ground clutching her shoulder and yelling out in pain.
"Tracy, are you allright?" he asks her with heavy concern.
He pulls her hand away in time to see a strange bruise form near the bite marks. It slowly morphed into what looked like the dark half of the yin-yang symbol.
"What the hell is this?" he wonders out loud.
"D-don't worry about it," groans Tracy. "It's just a little bruise, that's all."
"This doesn't look like a bruise," noted Lawrence.
"Lawrence," said Tracy. "I need you to make me a promise."
"What do you mean?" asks the boy.
"Promise me you won't tell anyone about this."
"Why?"
"Because, Steph and the others are going to think I got a hickey. I don't want anyone making fun of me."
"But Tracy… This looks serious."
"Promise me!"
Lawrence looks at her with worried eyes. He hadn't been the greatest of friends to her lately and he felt bad not being able to do anything while she'd fought on with determination.
"Allright," he tells her. "I promise."
"Thank you," she responds before falling unconscious into his arms.
"Tracy?" he exclaims in surprise.
He felt her forehead with his hand, which was burning up hot. Utterly worried, he takes her back to the tree roots they had been sleeping under and puts her t-shirt jacket back on her. He then takes off her forehead protector and lays the cold metal side down on her forehead.
"Don't die on me," he tells her. "Or I won't keep my promise."