The Deadly Game

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Period. Kagitsu and Nunota are mine. Use them as you wish, if you want. Just let me know so I can read the story… 

Ryu: Ok, next installment of Deadly Game coming up!

Gaara: I think they want Different Path soon…they look like they'll get ugly if they don't get it.

Ryu: I can do that. It's not going to be too difficult. I know what the next part is.

Gaara: Now all you have to do is write it…

Ryu: Yeah, and that's the difficult part…

Chapter 4: The Forest of Fear and the Plains of Worry, Part 1

There were a few moments of darkness.

Shikamaru blinked his eyes and looked around. The landscape didn't look any different. He turned around and realized why. It was no different. He was on the opposite side of the tree. He had passed through the trunk and out the other side.

But where was everyone else?

Almost as if in answer to his silently asked question, Kiba and Akamaru came through the tree. There was no one else.

Shikamaru realized fairly quickly what had happened. The rest of the group had been sent off to their starting points in this area. It looked as though he and Kiba would have this area to cover.

Kiba was looking around, confused. "Hey, didn't it work? How come we're still here?"

Shikamaru came over next to him. "It looks like it did. The two of us, it seems, have this area to cover." He shook his head. "Still troublesome."

"So you mean," started Kiba, "That everyone else just vanished into that funky tree? And showed up somewhere else?" Shikamaru nodded. "Man, this place is too weird."

Shikamaru was quiet for a few moments as he looked around. There seemed to only be the one path for right now. "Well, since we have a path, it looks like we should take that."

Kiba looked at the path, then moved into the brush surrounding it. "If we're quiet, we can parallel the path, and not be in the open, vulnerable to attack."

Shikamaru thought again for a few seconds. "True," he said. "But if what Aki said is true, we're going to get attacked anyway. I'd rather be in the open where I can see it coming, instead of in the brush, where there's too much that could trip you up."

Kiba thought about that for a second. "Ok." He jumped onto the path next to Shikamaru. "Well, which way?"

The two of them turned and looked both ways down the path. The clearing that they had met Aki's master in was gone. The forest was the only thing that remained. After carefully analyzing both directions, Shikamaru came to a decision.

"You decide."

Kiba looked at him in shock, but then looked both directions again. "I think that we should go this way," he said, pointing away from the area the clearing had been. "I mean, the door was facing this way, right?"

Shikamaru nodded, and they began wandering down the path.

The path continued on through the falling leaves. After a few minutes, Kiba turned to Shikamaru.

"Hey, what do you think the chances are of everyone making it out?" he asked. He really didn't want to know, but this place was already giving him the creeps. He wanted to pretend that this was a mission, so conversation seemed the best way.

"I'm really not sure," answered Shikamaru. "It depends on the level of the enemies, and how well the teams work together. I wish I knew who was paired with whom."

"I know," said Kiba, thankful for the reply. "I can think of a couple of groups that might not be the best of ideas."

"I can think of a few too," answered Shikamaru.

Suddenly, Akamaru growled softly. Shikamaru and Kiba both looked at him.

"What is it, Akamaru?" Kiba asked. Then, he could smell it too. He motioned to Shikamaru. "Someone's around."

Shikamaru looked around them. No leaves rustled, except for in the wind. It was quiet, with few birds singing. There didn't seem to be any motion in the forest.

Akamaru heard it first, followed almost instantly by Kiba. The high-pitched whining. Akamaru whimpered, and Kiba covered his ears. "Ahhh! That's loud!" he cried, alerting Shikamaru to their plight. Shikamaru strained his ears and heard the sound, very slightly. Kiba and Akamaru fell to the ground, trying desperately to block out the sound.

Damn it, thought Shikamaru. Whatever this was, it was making life a whole lot more troublesome. He stood with his back to Kiba, looking all around. He still didn't see anything. He turned a full circle. All of a sudden, a glint caught his eye; he parried the kunai aimed at Kiba swiftly, and launched a barrage of his own. Two he heard thunk into trees, but the third seemed to have hit its mark, as a quiet cry came from the direction. He threw another in that direction, and the torturous squealing sound stopped.

Kiba stood up, shaking his head. "Damn! Whatever that was, it was horrible." He bent over and picked up Akamaru, checking him over. "At least it's over now."

"The sound may be," said a strange voice. "But the fight is just beginning."

Shikamaru and Kiba looked around. A figure stepped out onto the path, followed by two more. The right one, Shikamaru noticed with some satisfaction, was wounded in the stomach. Blood oozed out, but the man didn't seem to care. Shikamaru refocused his eyes on the leader.

"So, you're the new blood," stated the leader, his brown eyes arching from Shikamaru to Kiba and back. "Nunota-sama told us you'd be coming."

The two flanking the leader chuckled. "He'd mentioned he'd gotten some new bait," said the one on the left, "But he never told us what to expect. Said it'd ruin the game."

"Game?" asked Shikamaru.

"Yeah," the guy on the right said. "That's what this all is. A giant game he can watch. There are rules and everything."

"So this is all a game to him?" Kiba asked in amazement.

"Yeah," answered the leader. "But the stakes are high. You players could lose your lives, and the bait could become his."

"Just like Aki," muttered Shikamaru under his breath.

"Aki? You mean Kagi?" asked the leader. "Yeah, she became his because her little playmates couldn't stand up to the heat. Two of them died before they even reached the sixth area." He started laughing. "It was so funny seeing her face when Nunota-sama explained what had happened. Apparently, one of those killed was her brother."

Kiba's eyes narrowed. "So you mean that, if we don't defeat you all and get the keys, the girls become slaves?"

"Yep. That's it exactly."

Kiba nodded. "Ok." Suddenly, he crouched. Akamaru jumped to his back and the two of them performed the half-beast transformation. "Then I suppose we'll just have to kick your asses first!"

The leader regarded him with amused eyes. "Oh? I'd like to see you try."

Shikamaru looked up, wishing, willing the sun out, and like a prayer, sunlight broke through the clouds. He smiled up and took stance.

The leader shook his head. "And we were going to offer you to stay here with us and play with others, but, oh well." The three of them spread out. The two groups glared at each other.

Ryu: Alright! That's where we stop for right now.

Gaara: But nothing really happened!

Ryu: I know. But I'm sure others want to know what happens to their favorite boys too, right?

Gaara: I suppose so.

Ryu: Tune in again for Chapter 5: The Rainforest of No Light and the River of Regret, Part 1!