Chapter 35: Backdraft
Naruto flew out the main doors of the International Library as though it had spit him out and collapsed on the marble stairs. A fresh tropical breeze ruffled his hair, Shodaime's pendant, still warm from use pressed against him chest. He sighed and would have fallen asleep right there if Sasuke hadn't stepped on him.
"Ow!" Naruto wheezed, curling around the pain. "You… bastard."
"If you don't want to be stepped on, don't lie there." The other snapped, readjusting a sleeping Sakura on his back and beginning down the stairs.
Naruto pulled himself up and stretched. 11 hours, they'd been down there, in the depths of the foul library, for 11 hours, without food or sunlight. Naruto felt like a goldfish set free; he had never liked staying in one place for a long time especially a library. He never wanted to see Vault 26 ever again. Sasuke spent the majority of histime trying to make shuriken float around with Kouji's technique and Naruto had spent most of his time trying to knock them down. Sakura, on the other hand, sat in one place, unmoving expect to roll the scroll for the entire duration.
No wonder she got such good grades at the academy, Naruto thought in awe, with an attention span like that…
At the end of hour 10, Sakura promptly closed the scroll, as though she'd only been reading for two minutes, announced she was done and fell over, asleep, leaving the two boys to the scroll away and carry her out of the building.
Naruto scampered down the stairs after Sasuke, determined not to be left behind. It was nearly midnight but people were still coming and going on the streets below. The library glowed like an unearthly orb with its sparkling windows; Naruto could barely see the stars. They reached the end of the stairs and began their cobblestone trek back to the hotel. The street lamps sectioned off ovals of street and all around them restaurants were putting up "closed" signs.
"Aw man…" Naruto muttered, rubbing his grumbling stomach as they passed a noodle house. He scrunched his face against the emptiness, but soon replaced the expression with sneaky one.
Silently, he ducked into a dark alley. Sasuke stopped, readjusted Sakura on his shoulders and glared into black shadows.
"What are you doing?" He hissed. He wanted to go home. Exercising his chakra all day had worn him out; in fact, Sasuke had no idea why he was carrying Sakura.
"Just hold these." Naruto popped out of the darkness and shoved a couple things into Sasuke hand.
"What?" Sasuke looked down and saw Naruto's brown wig and Mitsurugi's headband in his fist. "Hey, wait a-"Naruto snuck back into the shadows. Sasuke heard the clap of a hasty seal being made and "Henge!" A puff of smoke billowed out from the alley. Sasuke looked both ways up the street, in terror, to see if anyone saw. To his horror, a well-dressed couple had just turned the corner and was headed straight for them. Hands tied with Sakura on his back, Sasuke hastily blew on the smoke, like you would to birthday candles, in a pathetic attempt to push it back into the alley.
All the couple focused on, however, was a strange long-haired boy, with what appeared to be an unconscious girl on his back and a dead rodent in his had, blowing into an alleyway. They threw him nervous glances and hurried past, breaking into a chorus of whispers and they walked off. A vein throbbed in Sasuke's forehead and he turned to the alley to berate Naruto, but the boy seemed to have vanished. Instead, a blonde girl stuck her head out of the shadows and looked around, blonde pigtails swinging freely.
"They gone?" She said and bounded out. Sasuke blinked a few times. He was so use to seeing this girl nude that it was shocking to her clothed. Naruto hadn't been very forgiving though; he'd dressed her in rags. Sasuke did notice, however, that the rags had been arranged in a way that showed off her best features.
"What the hell are you doing?" He growled.
"Getting us food." Naruto giggled, strutting across the road toward the noodle house. "Watch and learn."
A shift worker was just putting up the Closed sign when Naruto approached. Naruto whimpered, hunched and touch the glass door with a shaking finger, staring up at the poor shift worker with large tear-filled blue eyes. The worker looked as though he was going to cry for a minute, then dashed into kitchen and reappeared with a hot take-away carton of some kind of soup. Naruto took the box with trembling hands and tears in his eyes, and, as the shift worker waved a sorrowful goodbye and closed the shop curtains, sauntered over to Sasuke, his reward high and laughing.
Naruto did this at every open restaurant they passed and by the time they got home, he had a buffet of delicious food precariously balanced in both hands.
"Ah, it's been so long since I've done that." Naruto sighed as Sasuke lay Sakura on the bed. "Can't do that in Konoha anymore. People remember me."
"You shoulder be grateful Sakura's asleep." Sasuke muttered, sitting beside her on the edge of the bed. "She'd beat you so hard."
"Well, we better make sure she doesn't find out then." Naruto chuckled, handing a Styrofoam box to his partner in crime.
Sasuke smirked and peeled the lid back.
"I can't promise that."
"You bastard!" Naruto flung a box of rice at him.
-
Sakura did, of course, find out. The brothers-in-secrecy made several fatal mistakes. A. They hadn't really cleaned anything before they fell asleep. B. They had gone to sleep, and Sakura woke up first. And C. They'd saved her some. No harm done, in their opinion, except some yelling and a bruise for Naruto, they hadn't really planned on keeping it a secret anyway.
After she'd eaten and was much happier, Sakura led them down to the beach. They walked a ways down it and let their toes eat the sand. The hot ocean breeze toy with their wigs and the sun crisped their skin. Sakura crouched down by the water and let the waves eat her feet.
"So what's our next move?" Sasuke asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"What do you mean?" She asked. The waves rose and covered her feet to her ankles.
"Shouldn't you be copying the Jukai Kōtan down?" Naruto suggested.
"Nah. That would defeat the purpose of having it permanently secured in the library. Besides," She looked over her shoulder and smiled at him, "I don't need to. I've got it all up here." She pointed to her forehead.
"You can remember the entire thing?" Naruto gawked. "All of it?"
"Of course." She flashed him a "V" for Victory.
"So what are you going to do?" Sasuke kicked a nearby shell, only to discover a crab inside. The creature quickly scurried away.
"Well, if I'm going to learn this technique, we have to head for the mainland." Sakura tucked a lock of fake platinum blonde hair behind her ear. "I can't do it here. This island…" She reached behind her and scooped up a handful of dry sand, "… is all sand. I can't grow trees here." She let the grains slip through her fingers into the waves.
"The mainland…" Sasuke thought out loud. "Getting back into Lightning Country will be near impossible, and we were kicked out of Water Country. The only other options are…"
"Fire Country and Sound Territory." Sakura stood up and faced. The three exchanged grim looks, all thinking the same thing.
"And even if we could… we don't have any money." Sakura added
Naruto sat down in the sand.
"I wish we hadn't left," he sighed, looking out over the sea. "I wish we were still in Konoha."
"I know." Sakura half-smiled at him in sympathy. "I miss it too, but until we know we're not a danger to the village, we can't go back. And that may take a while."
"Knowing Orochimaru," Sasuke whispered, "it may take forever."
They all stared glumly over the sea. The blue seemed endless, but on the other side somewhere, beyond the horizon, they knew were both friends and foes, neither awaiting them with open arms.
"Ahhh!" Naruto stood up. Depressed moods never worked for him. "We'll just have to kick their asses!"
Both Sasuke and Sakura blinked at him and then gave him sly looks.
"I hope that's not your solution to all your problems." Sakura snickered.
"Why not? It works on all my problems!"
"We still haven't figured out the problem of where we are going to go." Sasuke said, reaching over a couple of feet and picking up a stick. He began to draw a rough map in the sand of their surrounding area, including Lightning Country, Sound Territory, the land bridge between them, Fire Country and their current location.
"Now," he explained. "We could go to anywhere on this map."
"The only problem is," Sakura interjected, "only four of these places have major ports. Here at Fire Country," she drew a circle on Fire Country's east coast, "here at Lightning Country," she drew a circle where Sorano ought to be, "here in Water Country," she circled point on it, "and here in Sound Territory." She drew her last circle on the Sound Territory peninsula.
"So this land bridge is out?" Naruto asked, pointing to the unclaimed area between the Sound and Lightning.
"Right," Sakura said. "Unless we get a private charter, but those are expensive. Our only logical choice should be Sound Territory. We haven't heard anything about Orochimaru returning there, so the area will probably be in shambles, which means, hopefully, that their immigration and identification will be as well. But only if it's okay with you, Sasuke." She looked up at him in concern.
The Hidden Sound Village. If there was one place Sasuke never wanted to be again… well, it'd probably be the land Itachi created with Tsukiyomi, but the Hidden Sound Village was a close second. It had stolen so much from him, his integrity, his friends, even a little piece of his mind. The time he lived there, the things he had done while he was there, he'd rather have forgotten.
"We don't have much of a choice." He sighed.
Naruto and Sakura still gave him concerned looks.
"I'll be fine." He reassured them. "We won't have to be there that long. Look." He pointed the stick at the sand map. "There's a trade route that runs from Lightning Country to Earth Country. If we follow that, we'll get out of there in no time."
"We still haven't solved our money crisis." Sakura pointed out. "We might have to stay here a while to earn enough money."
"I don't know." Naruto hugged himself as though he were cold. "I think we should leave as soon as possible. I have a bad feeling about staying here."
"But Naruto, we can't go anywhere without money."
"I know. I just have a feeling that something bad is going to happen." Naruto made a face and looked around suspiciously as though the brisk summer wind had it out for him.
"Eh?" Naruto glared at a place beyond Sasuke's shoulders. The other two turned to look and saw two men trotting in their direction. Both men were walking atop the white sand as though it was made of hot coals, one of them carrying a hefty camera. They came cantering down the beach like they hated it.
"Excuse me!" The lead man called out, waving a hand in their general direction. "You there!"
Naruto pointed questionably to himself. Sasuke cocked a quizzical eyebrow. The speaker, followed closely by the camera man, charged up to them, blew the two boys aside and grasped Sakura's hand like she was the Hokage.
Sasuke's hand tightened on the stick; Naruto put his hand behind his back and secretly under his shirt, clasping his stainless-steel dagger. Neither intruder seemed to realize they were about to die; the first man continued to clench Sakura's hand and the camera man jumped up to get a picture of her. Before he could, however, Sakura grabbed the camera lens giving him a nice black shot of her palm. He tried to yank it away, but his strength was no match for hers and remained hung in suspended animation.
"May I help you?" Sakura asked the first man faux-sweetly., yanking her hand away.
"Heh," the first man straightened himself into a dignified position.
"Excuse me, Miss," he began suavely. "We're doing an article for a magazine about the most beautiful things in Zosho. I hope you don't mind if we take your picture."
The trio blinked at him in unison.
"In other words, you're going around taking pictures of pretty women." Sakura asked skeptically. "This isn't a reputable magazine, is it? That's why you're not going to the more crowded beaches?"
The man busily adjusted his flowered shirt. "I don't see how it matters." He replied gruffly.
"Uck!" Naruto burst out. "It's one of those sleazy magazines Ero-senin likes, isn't it?"
The man irritably pushed Naruto and his question aside and approached Sakura.
"Hmmm…" Sakura rubbed her chin.
"You're actually considering this!" Sasuke hissed, not caring whether the two strangers could hear. Naruto made a step toward the two sleazebags, but Sakura answered before he could.
"Okay!" She said cheerfully. Both Naruto and Sasuke looked like they had seen the apocalypse. "But first, I have a few questions."
"Yes?" said the man, who looked as though his birthday had come early.
"Where is your magazine distributed?"
"In Grass territory, parts of Water Country, Lightning Country, some Areas of Earth Country and a couple little towns in between."
"Anywhere in Fire Country or Sound Country?"
"Well, no, but-"
"Good. Next question: how much do you pay?"
Naruto and Sasuke snapped out of their horrified trance and Sakura shot a look at each of them, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. It took them a second, but they caught her drift, smirking evilly.
The article writer seemed not to notice, because he went on talking as though nothing had happened.
"I'm sorry," he explained, flexing his fingers together. "Participating in this is strictly on a volunteer basis. If you aren't interested, we're more than willing to find someone else."
"Really?" Naruto exclaimed. "Where?"
The entire group looked up and down the beach. Between the pale spread of sand and the dark abyss of the sea, Sakura was the only thing female as far as the eye could see.
"Okay, okay," the solicitor yelped hastily, "I'll pay you 10."
"Sure," Sasuke shrugged. "And we'll make sure to tell the police hello for you when they come looking."
"What?"
"Well," Sasuke sneered, coming up behind him. "I don't think what you're doing is legal. You pretty much said it yourself. Your magazine doesn't publish on this island. It's going to be pretty hard to forget we saw you with just 10."
"Fine… 20."
"And you were even going to rip us off!" Naruto exclaimed, coming around to the man's other side. "I wonder how many other girls you've scammed-"
"30!"
"And there's also the fact that she's underage." Sasuke sighed. "I don't think that's legal anywhere-"
"Fine, fine, but this is where I draw the line! 40!"
"Per shot." Sakura demanded. "Paid up front."
The boys took the man's money as Sakura freed the photographer's camera. At once he started snapping pictures of her.
"You know," he said from behind the rapid clicking, "you look just like that pageant contestant, Haruko, the one who got first runner up and then disappeared off the face of the earth about a month and a half ago.
Sakura turned around, feigning bashfulness and unhooked the pageant necklace from around her neck.
"No, that's impossible." She faked a blush.
"Yeah!" said the magazine writer, handing a wad of cash to Sasuke. "Haruko was a lot prettier!"
-
"I can't believe you did that, Sakura-chan." Naruto grumbled. "At least let me go back and kick his ass."
Sakura laughed. "No, you idiot. At least we have money now. He didn't take anything that sleazy too. I'm not even wearing a bikini."
Afternoon set in as they walked along the pier. The smell of fish and sea brine courted their noses as they passed tour boats and fishing rigs, all lined up equally along the dark, weather-stained boards.
A large departure listing greeted them at the boat house. All three peered at it like small children, running their fingers over the times and price ranges.
"Here's one." Naruto yelped, stabbing the list with his finger. The others leaned in closer to look.
"Leaves tomorrow at 12:30…" Sasuke muttered. "Good." But inside, he felt a little queasy.
"Alright." Naruto mumbled. "Let's go get some food now, okay?"
"Naruto, you idiot!" Sakura gasped. "We need to save our money."
"Don't worry," Naruto said chipperly. "It's my treat!"
"You're going to use the Sexy no Jutsu again, aren't you?" Sasuke grumbled.
Naruto laughed sheepishly.
"Naruto!" Sakura fumed.
"What?" He cried defensively. "If you can us your body to get money, so can I!"
They bickered all the way back down the pier. As they turned the corner back to land, a boat pulled in and anchored itself at the dock. Many people disembarked, but only four looked as though they weren't on vacation,
"Well, team," their eccentric leader announced as they stepped off the boat, "we're here!" Let's do our best!"
His subordinates, two boys and a girl, stepped off behind him. One of the boys yawned and the girl rubbed her eyes.
"C'mon, team!" the leader cried, "We're in the springtime of youth!"
"With the amount of sleep we're getting," the girl stretched, "that won't last long."
"C'mon." The tallest boy, with the longest hair, shoved past his comrades and stepped onto the wooden pier. "Let's get this over with."
"Hai…" the girl muttered sleepily.
"Alright troops!" The leader announced, pointing toward the city and guiding them away from the boat.
The last boy put his arms in the air and cried, "Yes, Gai-sensei!"
And Team Gai entered Zosho.
-
A long night greeted Naruto. He kept waking up; he didn't know why, perhaps it was because he was hungry: Sakura hadn't let him spange for food. Perhaps it was because, half an hour after she fell asleep, Sakura threw her arm over him: he definitely couldn't sleep after that. But even that wasn't entirely it either. He was restless, antsy, but he didn't know why.
Naruto pulled out his backpack and rummaged around in it until he found his hitai-ate. In the light of the moon, pouring in from their open window, he turned it over in his hands. He rubbed his fingers over the light scratches from his fight with Gaara and the deeper scratches from his fights with Sasuke. If the light was just right, it looked a little flat from when Kabuto hit him. Hastily, before he lost his nerve, he strapped it to his forehead. He remembered the first time he wore it and felt how well it molded to his head, like an extra layer of skin.
Careful not to wake his companions, Naruto clambered around and sat on the open windowsill, letting his feet dangle over the edge, swinging them in the salty breeze. He remained like that for quite some time, reminiscing about the past, until the feeling came over him again. He had the internal instinct to either run and hide or bare his fangs and fight to the death. He had to remind himself he didn't have fangs.
Naruto tiptoed around the bed toward the door. Maybe a walk would help. His hand tightened around the cool brass knob.
"Where are you going?"
Naruto spun around. Sasuke glared at him from where he sat on the edge of the bed.
"For a walk," Naruto answered shortly. "I can't sleep."
"Me neither." Sasuke got up and pulled on his vest.
"You're coming with me?"
"Yes, to make sure you don't do anything stupid." Sasuke adjusted his collar. "For starters, get rid of the hitai-ate. You're going to get us killed."
"It's late!" Naruto reasoned. "No one's going to notice or care."
"Whatever. Do what you want."
Naruto chuckled and led the way through the door.
-
The roofs were dark and much more private, so the boys walked along them, wigless, disguiseless. The ocean breeze ruffled their real hair for the first time, but it didn't ease their restlessness. The huge dome of the Library rose ominously in the distance, omnipresent and dominating. It was illuminated by a thousand lights, making it a beacon against the dark sea.
Naruto and Sasuke scampered across the flat rooftops and slanted ones, moving silently on the tiles as they had been taught. The streets and restaurants below were still filled with light and laughter.
Suddenly, a window broke from a bar across the street. Naruto and Sasuke halted and glared down at it. A familiar looking long-haired boy lay in the cobblestone street surrounded by glass. The bar's window was broken. Screams and the crack of shattering wood echoed from inside. People began to pour out, running away from the building as though it were diseased. Unbeknownst to Sasuke and Naruto, it did. Smoke began to billow from the broken window. The building was on fire.
-A little while earlier-
Team Gai left the library very confused and very tired. The city gleamed like and giant lantern as they wearily walked down the immense staircase, still thinking back on everything they had learned.
Tenten yawned and rubbed her grumbling stomach. She looked between her comrades. Gai-sensei, walking ahead of them, was cheerfully talking about restaurants he knew from when he was last in the city. Lee was listening with rapt attention, she was happy to see. Tenten had been concerned about him since Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura had sacrificed themselves. He'd been subdued, withdrawing himself to train alone for hours and hours at a time. She tried to consol him, but he'd just shove her off. It wasn't until Gai-sensei came back from his mission that progress began.
You have to admit, She thought, rubbing the red-blue-yellow bracelet on her wrist, even with all his craziness, Gai-sensei is pretty amazing.
She looked next to Neji. He, on the other hand, had never been harder to read. He remained virtually the same; he talked the same, he walked the same, he spent a little more time training with his uncle Hiashi, but he acted the same. Tenten knew, however, that he wasn't the same. No one was the same. The weird thing about dying, people tend to realize how different everything is without you around. The hospital where Sakura trained had become dark and quiet; people often themselves stared at the cherry blossom tree in the courtyard for long periods of time. The libraries and archives where Sasuke had spent most of his time on probation seemed dustier, and the Uchiha shrine seemed 200 years older than it really was. The entire city seemed darker. Suddenly, it was a crime to be blonde, even without pigtails. Bookstore owners would chase you out of their shops, screaming thing about the hentai aisle and Sexy no Jutsu. Ino complained that she would dye her hair black if this kept up. There was a seat in Ichiraku Ramen where no one ever sat. Neji couldn't possibly be indifferent.
Tenten had actually gone investigating. She went to the Hyuuga household, where he spent most of his time. She tried to talk to Hinata, but Hinata was no longer talking, or eating, or sleeping. She'd asked Hanabi, but the young girl just gave her a death glare and escorted off the premises. Tenten finally arranged a meeting with Hiashi and all he told her was that people deal with grief in different ways. Gai-sensei had told her the same thing. She sensed they both see something she couldn't.
Tenten, on the other hand, had never been close to Team Seven. Sure, she'd thought Sasuke was cute and Naruto was amazing for the way he'd changed her teammates. She had been slightly jealous of Sakura because Tsunade-sama favored her, but she'd never been as close to the three as the others had been. But not even Tenten was unaffected. Occasionally, she felt sick or nauseas and would have to sit down. A little spark of regret burned in her heart every time she thought of Team Seven; she would have liked to have known them better.
This trip to Zosho would be good for them, she hoped. Ino's trip to Sea Biscuit seemed to restore her, so Tenten thought maybe this trip would inspire the same rejuvenation but so far it had been nothing but confusing. What they had discovered in the library… if it was true, it must reported to the Hokage immediately.
But right now they needed to eat. They had many nights of no sleep ahead of them; they would need to investigate this more thoroughly.
The four of them strolled into the town, hoping that some place was still open. Apparently, none of Gai's favorite places were and they slowly grew more irritable as their hunger did.
"Okay, team!" Gai announced in an attempt to raise their spirits. "The next place we see is where we're going!"
That place, they heard it before they saw it. A large green building blared with lively party-goers. Gai and Lee cheered, Tenten rubbed her head, Neji looked irritated but said nothing. The small restaurant sat under a hotel, all adorned in the same green with little pink flowers around the bottom. As they walked in a large crowd in the back cheered. They swung bottles of champagne and dressed unusually fancy. Tenten understood at once when she saw a woman in a wedding dress in the middle.
An old man swung over to them and put an arm around Gai, but it seemed more for stability than friendliness.
"Hey there!" the man cried jovially, taking a swing from his wine bottle, not even caring that some splashed on the floor. "My daughter just got married, isn't that great?" He took another gulp.
While Gai muttered his congratulations and thing about the spring time of youth, Neji sat down at a small booth nest to the window. A little candle in a glass flickered on the mahogany table. Tenten took a seat across from him and immediately found herself under the scrutiny of more partiers.
"What a cute girl!" exclaimed what appeared to be somebody's aunt. She reached out to pinch Tenten's cheek, but Neji grabbed her hand. The two glared each other down for a moment, Tenten actually thought Neji might fight the old woman, but the aunt merely stepped away, blatantly offended.
"You didn't need to do that, Neji." Tenten whispered. "I wouldn't have minded."
Neji said nothing, but glared down at his menu and began to read it through the cover.
Gai had been dragged off into a group of people where he was entertaining them with stories. Lee on the other hand, had been grasped by the father of the bride and was being led around as the poor man told him about how great the groom was.
"And I'll tell you, son." He hiccupped. "If you act like that, you'll have no problems with women."
"Yessir!" Lee cried, in all seriousness.
"You're a good kid." The elderly man patted Lee on the back. "Here have some of this wine. The groom's family is paying for it." And before Lee could protest, he pushed the bottle into Lee's mouth and tilted it back.
Gai sensed the trouble before Lee even gulped. He looked over the groom's cousin's head and saw Lee stumble, as though injured, away from the old man, pushing the aunt away from the table where his comrades sat and slammed his hands down on the edge of the table, his head hung. Neji and Tenten peered curiously at him. Gai called out to them, but all the focused on was Lee's crazed expression as he looked up.
Lee cackled like an old man. Tenten slid along the bench and hoisted herself over the back, Neji lay flat and rolled under the table as Lee grasped the sides and ripped it clean out of the floor. He swung it right, tossing it at the wedding party. Gai nearly tripped over the groom's cousin as he leapt up and smashed the table with a well aimed punch.
"Lee!" he cried, still tangled in the groom's cousin. Lee said nothing but turned back to Neji.
"Whatcha so angry fuuur?" Lee slurred as he aimed an ax-kick at Neji. Neji rolled to the side, avoiding the blow which cracked the floor boards, and flipped to his feet, assuming his battle stance. Lee gave a terrific battle cry and began a furry of attacks.
"You- outa- lighten up-!" Lee said between blows. Neji dodged the punches by dipping low and aimed a blow at Lee's stomach. Lee avoided Neji's palm by stumbling backwards drunkenly, but on his way, he hit a table. The candle-in-a-cup fell off and smashed to the ground. Neji swung his arm around in an attempt to swipe Lee's throat. Lee caught his hand and swung his other hand at Neji's side, which Neji moved to block. At the last millisecond, Lee faked, pulled his arm back and struck Neji in the chest. Neji barely hand time to block before Lee sent him crashing through the window and into the street.
The candle that had fallen earlier hit some spilled wine. The floor burst into flames. The partiers looked from Neji, rolling to his knees 20 feet away, to Lee, roaring like a beast, illuminated by the flames, and screamed. Slipping and sliding, they all crammed through the door and poured out into the street.
The cousin scrambled away, leaving Gai free. Tenten reached into her pocket for a scroll, but Lee grabbed her arm first.
"Fighting girls is bad!" Lee cried and tossed her through the wall of flames and into the approaching Gai.
"Gai-sensei, what should we do?" She yelled in desperation as he helped her to her feet. Neji had returned and began a whirl of jabbing attacks. The flames had engulfed the entire room." Gai glared grimly into the flames.
"We need to evacuate the hotel residents." He said.
"But what about Lee!" Tenten coughed.
"Don't worry about him! I don't think anything can touch him in this state and we need to get everyone out." Gai hooked his com-link around his ear, Tenten did the same. Neji straight through Lee's torso as he dodged an attack, saw what the others were doing and did the same, stumbling out of Lee's grasp for a moment.
"Whatcha doin' thar?" Lee hiccupped. "You should take off that jacket. It's hot in here!" He planted his palm on Neji's chest, propelling him out of the building again. Neji slid across the street, over the broken glass and cobblestones. He thought he saw two shadows leap from the top of the building behind him and tried to get up.
"No, Neji, stay down!" Gai called through the com-link. "You have to lay there and tell me which rooms have people. Tenten, set up an emergency escape. Alert the neighbors and make sure the fire doesn't spread. And don't worry about Lee!" Neji lay down in the street and looked up at the building. He never noticed two people run into the blazing inferno.
-
About a mile away, Sakura sat bolt upright in bed. Something was wrong; she didn't need to see the empty spaces beside her to know that.
-
Tenten left through the side door. For Lee, only one target remained. He launched himself at Gai, swooping around him and meeting his skillful dodgery. Gai allowed Lee to maneuver him to the stairs.
It'll be difficult to rescue people if I have to fight him at the same time, Gai blanched. He trotted up a few steps and looked around. Lee seemed to have vanished. Everywhere flames roared, obstructing any imaginable view.
"Lee!" Gai called into the blaze. For a few moments, there was no answer. He called again.
"Lee!"
"Hey! Who are you people? Three against one isn't fair!" Lee shouted from somewhere among the flames.
Gai cursed to himself
Hang on, Lee! This will only take a second. He charged up the stairs and out of sight.
-
The second they saw Neji thrown out of the restaurant for a second time, Naruto and Sasuke had a pretty good idea of what was going on. They bounded off the roof and plummeted into the fire infested establishment, throwing themselves at Lee. The three of them rolled and tumbled to the floor. Out of the corner of somewhere, Naruto heard Gai called Lee's name. Lee rolled and threw Naruto off; he slid onto his feet across unburnt floor. Sasuke pinned Lee to the floor, Lee pulled his knees up quickly and Sasuke had to flip himself over Lee's head to avoid the attack. Sasuke stumbled to his feet on the coal black floor and whirled to face his drunken opponent. Lee hopped to his feet and turned face them.
Gai called out Lee's name again.
"Hey! Who are you people?" Lee cried. "Three against one isn't fair!"
"Shit." Naruto cursed. Sasuke's face agreed with him
Gai yelled something else and continued up the stairs.
"Where's he going?" Naruto coughed.
"I don't know." Sasuke wiped his forehead. "But we better hurry up here. He could be back at any time."
Lee squinted at them.
"You guys look familiar." He launched himself at Sasuke. "Have we met before?"
Sasuke caught Lee's fist. Naruto came charging behind him and aimed a kick at Lee's side. Lee stopped the kick by raising his left knee. Naruto hit his shin and Lee horse-kick him in the stomach, twirling to hit Sasuke in the side just as Naruto had tried to do to him. Sasuke grabbed for Lee's leg, but Lee faked, planting the foot on the ground. Naruto had recovered and came diving for Lee's exposed middle. Lee reached up and grabbed Sasuke's arm, which was holding his fist, and hoisted Sasuke over his should and smashed him down on top of the oncoming Naruto.
Naruto caught Sasuke on his back and Sasuke slid to the ground, pulling Lee's fist with him, giving Naruto a clear shot at Lee's middle. With no time to draw his fists back, Naruto went in for a head butt. Lee placed his free hand on Naruto's back, pushing him into the ashy wooden ground. As if to solidify Naruto's face's relationship with the floor, Lee bounced with both feet off the back of his head and kicked Sasuke's back, propelling himself into a back flip. Sasuke let go of Lee's fist as he buckled forward and Lee flipped, arcing over Naruto. He landed safely on the other side, struck a gymnastics pose and took a bow.
Naruto and Sasuke got hurriedly to their feet, coughing. The ash in the air ate away at their throats. Lee struck a pose to attack again.
Something came crashing through the wall behind Lee and kicked him in the back, hard. He flew halfway across the room, between Naruto and Sasuke, before performing a flip and stopping himself. Sakura, landed gracefully in the room, her pink hair flowing in the heat of the flames that surrounded them. She doubled over, breathing hard, and then wheeled on Naruto and Sasuke.
"You idiots!" She cried. "That's Lee!" She pointed to the stumbling figure who was glaring at Sakura as though toes grew out of her forehead. "What the hell is Lee doing here?"
"You tell us!" Naruto protested.
"It's not just Lee." Sasuke pointed out. "Gai is upstairs and Neji is outside over there. Tenten should be around here somewhere too."
"He'll kill himself in this fire." Sakura covered her mouth against the smoke. "We'll kill ourselves. We need to get him out of here!"
"That's what we've been trying to do!" Naruto exclaimed. "But he's too fast!"
"No luck with the Sharingan?"
"You can't read what's unreadable." Sasuke coughed. "Do you have a cure for drunkenness?"
"None that I carry around with me when I run out the door to save you!"
"You!" Lee shouted. Sakura spun around.
"Me?" She pointed to herself.
"You look familiar too!" He zoomed over. Before she could move, or Naruto and Sasuke could stop, Lee was in Sakura's face.
"Yes…" He said. She could feel the air from his nostrils and the smell of cheap champagne on is breath. "I think I know where you're from…" He stepped back and took a look at all three horrified faces. "You three look like these people I used to know." He hiccupped.
"R-really?" Naruto gulped nervously.
"Yeah!" Lee looked up projectively. "They were the best kind of –hic- people. Strong ninjas too." He looked at the ground. The trio leaned in closer.
"How… dare…" Lee's shoulders shook.
Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura exchanged looks of curiosity.
"How dare you…" There was a distinct quiver in his voice. "HOW DARE YOU INPERSONATE THEM!"
Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura barely had time to contemplate this as Lee came charging at them, tears streaming down his face.
"No wait, Lee!" Sakura cried. "It's us! Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura!"
"Don't lie!" Lee screamed as he launched a flying kick at her. "They're dead! They died valiantly! Something an impersonator like you would never understand!"
Naruto stepped in front of Sakura and blocked the kick with crossed arms. Sasuke grabbed Sakura and leapt away as Lee's foot met Naruto. The floor cracked beneath and broke, Lee's kick pushing Naruto into the darkness below.
"Naruto!" Sakura called as she and Sasuke landed. They both ran at Lee who flipped to safety. Sakura punched at his head. He dodged to the left and cartwheeled to the side as Sasuke delivered a drop-kick. Screaming, Lee aimed a punch at Sasuke who caught it as before. Lee's muscles flexed and the punch carried through, pulling Sasuke's arm along with it. Sasuke winced, pulling his other hand back to strike Lee's face. Sakura spun to hit Lee's left side. Lee dropped to the ground; Sakura's hand barely brushed his hair. Sasuke's left hand was in such an awkward position, he had to let go of Lee's right. Lee unleashed a spin-kick that tripped Sakura; Sasuke escaped with a jump and aimed a mid-air kick at Lee's head. Lee blocked with an arm and flung Sasuke into the wall with a push.
Sakura hopped to her and struck a heavy at Lee. He rolled out of the way just as her fist met the wood. The floor exploded like a firecracker.
Lee staggered to his feet coughing with the smoke. Suddenly, he couldn't move. He looked over his shoulder at Sasuke and then at the floor and saw their connecting shadows swaying in the fire light. Sasuke coughed and wheezed. It took all his strength to keep up the Kage Mane no jutsu (long since stolen from Shikamaru) under these circumstances.
Two pairs of hands burst through the floor, each grabbing one of Lee's ankles. Sasuke released the Kage Mane, but Lee still remained stuck. He looked around the burning building, pieces of wood falling from the ceiling, bright neon flames eating the tables and chairs. He noticed Sakura still had her hand in the hole she had made.
Sasuke came running at him. Lee leaned forward over the hole to avoid his punch. Sakura pulled her arms up and clinging to them was Naruto, dripping in dirty water; she'd caught him like a fish. As she swung him up, Naruto kicked Lee in the chin.
Sakura swung him so high, his feet met the ceiling. With some chakra adhesive, Naruto stuck himself there and swung Sakura over the gap so the she also kicked Lee in the chin (although, lightly, by her standards).
Sasuke was ready. He drew his arm back and hit Lee in the back. Lee flew over the hole and fell in. A light thud and a splash echoed up to them.
"Is he okay?" Sakura yelled as Naruto dropped her back to the floor.
A Naruto Bunshin, presumably one that held Lee's ankles, inspected Lee, who was lying in about 3 inches of water. The Bunshin turned to them and gave a thumbs up.
"We better get out of here." Sasuke coughed, clutching his chest. "Gai, Neji and Tenten will be here soon to get him."
Gagging from the smoke, all three ran out through the hole Sakura had made as an entrance.
-
Tenten ran over to Neji and knelt beside him. He sat, surrounded by broken glass and brunt wood staring at the inferno. Local fire department ran all around them, carrying their hoses and hatchets.
"Neji!" Gai's voice crackled through the com-link. "Where's Lee? Is he okay?"
"Huh?" Neji replied stupidly, letting the question permeate his brain. "Yeah, Lee's fine. Don't worry about him."
In the orange light of the blaze, Tenten swore Neji looked pale.
"Neji." She whispered. "What is it?" She shook him shoulders. "What's wrong?"
"I…" He muttered, not taking his eyes off the burning restaurant. "… don't know how to explain it."
Tenten looked at him, worried.
What Neji couldn't explain was how he saw three familiar looking people run out of the building and Neji didn't believe in ghosts.
Author's Notes: SUSPENSE! Oooo, what will Neji doooo? Anyway, the Zosho arc is over! It was kind of short, so I don't really think I need to go indepth about it much. Just like the last arc, this one had several incarnations too. Originally, they were going to have to sneak in to Zosho, pulling all sorts of Mission Impossible manuvers and being all ninja-sneaky, but I cut that. I couldn't think of a way to do it without them getting into major trouble back home. I also scheduled them having some close calls with Konoha ninja, but never actually fighting them. Although, I will say this: the part with the magazine dude and the photographer has always been in the story, so don't think of it as a cop-out for them to get money. Er... I want to say more on this, but I really can't! You'll see what I mean.
The Drunken-Lee battle was pretty much a last minute additon. It occured to me recently that our heroes haven't done anything in the area of teamwork in a while, which is sad because teamwork is basically what this story is about. So I threw Team Gai into my stew just to see what would happen. XD
Next Chapter: Diving into hell! Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura head to Sound Territory! And what about Team Gai's report? Has their cover been blown!