UB- Wow, I can't believe I made it this far with some 100 odd hits…SO WHY DON'T I HAVE SOME 100 ODD REVIEWS! YOU READERS ARE SO LAZY!
Itachi-Whoa, just take it easy, man.
UB- I AM NOT A MAN!
Naruto- I thought she waz!
UB (forming hand seals) Red Dragon jutsu! (transforms into an amber eyed, red scaled dragon) Now, you is gonna DIEEEE!
Itachi- Wow, I just copied that, no prob.
UB- (smacks face with paw) Damn Sharingan!
Naruto-(running away naked)
UB- AHHHH MY EYES…….! THEY'RE BURNING! Oh, someone HELP ME!
Rock Lee- I'll help!
UB-……No thanx…I don't think he's coming back for awhile…my stepdad might arrest him for streaking charges.
Sasuke- I don't even think they would even tell if he's a male…
Everyone- O.o;;; How would you know that…?
Sasuke- (twitches) -.-x Must you say such a repulsive thing?
Itachi- (transforms into a black scaled dragon w/ red eyes, and is even bigger than UB)
UB- (looks up) Hel-lo sexy!
Itachi-…roar…
Lee- Wait, how could you two even fit in UB's room like that?
Itachi&UB- O.o ………….oops……
UB's Mom- NICOLE! HOW MANY TIMES MUST I TELL YOU NOT TO TRANSFORM IN THE HOUSE?
UB- O.O;;……um…a lot…?
Sasuke- Wait, your name is NICOLE?
UB- …--; shaddup…
Itachi- (transforming back cuz he's afraid of UB's mom) That's gonna come in handy (plops on the couch and starts to read one of UB's 17 magazines)
UB- Oh, that's real manly.
Itachi- What? It has my horoscope.
Everyone except Itachi- (anime fall)
UB- The next thing we know, he's gonna start crampin' and then he's gonna want chocolate…then some ice cream…And lastly, talking about FEELINGS! Which YOU DON'T HAVE!
Itachi-(death glare) Just start the chapter already…
UB- Fine! AND I WANT SOME REVIEWS HERE!
Sasuke- Here we go again…
Chapter 3- Close Call
Lenne awoke when dawn spread her fingertips of rose across the horizon. She slowly creaked open her eyes and yawned mightily, fangs glimmering in the early sunrise light. Birds were signing melodies in the tree tops, music of nature. Sitting up, Lenne stretched, spine cracking as she did so. Then a bird flew down and sat atop Lenne's finger, it sensing she wasn't human. Lenne smiled at the simple songbird, brown feathers that sparkled with the morning dew. It cocked its head and looked at her with beady eyes, before flying away. Lenne watched it with regret, wishing she was as free as the little bird. But she was a captive. Of humans, nonetheless. Sighing, she folded the blanket that somehow ended up on her and put it near one of the packs. Brushing the dirt off her outfit, she wondered where her captors were. A looking down, she spotted Kisame a few feet away, mumbling in his sleep and turning over, continuing his slumber. Lenne sighed: even Sharky was freer than her, the only thing she ever treasured aside from her love of music: freedom. The Uchiha genius was nowhere to be found. Lenne lifted her head to the sky, and sampled the scents that were in the air. After only a few seconds, she smelled a scent of sandalwood that could only be his. She sighed: he was so predictable.
"Look, I know you're behind me, alright. So just come on out." She said, crossing her arms and looking upwards. At first, she heard nothing, and then a rustling of leaves told her she was correct. Uchiha Itachi leapt from out of a nearby tree, a scowl on his face.
"How could you tell I was there?" he asked, staring at her back. Lenne smirked, "I could smell your scent of course. And besides, with fish-face asleep, I knew you had to be watching me." She scratched at the leather collar binding her throat, "Damn, this thing itches." She growled, sitting down Indian style as she tugged at the collar with one finger, throb mark appearing out of irritation. Kisame grumbled as he started to wake up,
"Dammit, can you be quiet girl? I was trying to sleep…" he groused. Bad timing. Lenne jumped to her feet, and leapt towards Kisame, fangs bared in the blink of an eye.
"Why you-!" she snarled, but at the highest point in her leap, Itachi grabbed on to her long sleeved braid, pulling her to the ground "WAH…!" she yelled as his tug pulled her backward slightly, forcing her to land on all fours. Looking up, she saw Itachi still holding the end of her hair, but looking determinedly ahead. Glaring, she rounded on him, "Whatcha-!"
"Silence!" he hissed, still staring ahead as Lenne clamped her jaw shut, "There's danger nearby." With a blink of an eye, he activated his Sharingan. After a few seconds,
"Orochimaru…" he hissed, letting go of Lenne's hair. Lenne stiffened, and slowly rose to her feet. Kisame unwrapped the cloth from his sword, Samehada, and prepared for battle. Lenne, having no weapons, glanced around nervously as her ears picked up a slight hissing noise.
"Lenne."
Lenne immediately picked her head up to meet Itachi's intense gaze, for he was striding towards her. She gulped, and tried to back away, but his strong hands gripped her shoulders, forcing her to look at him.
"Do you promise not to run away?" he said, a harsh tone in his voice. Lenne, being totally confused, nodded.
"I mean, if I take this collar off, will you come back after the battle, if there is one?" He glanced up quickly, and looked back at Lenne, who was starting to panic with his hurried and desperate behavior. Before she knew what she was doing, she nodded yes again and said, "When a dragon makes a promise, he or she is bound to it for eternity." Itachi nodded, and wasted no time pulling out a kunai. The next thing Lenne knew, she was pulled roughly to his chest, his arm around her waist as his other hand sliced off the collar, causing it to fall at their feet. Lenne felt her strength increase twenty fold as her aura glowed red with the return of all her chakra, which surpassed even Kisame's. But Itachi was still holding her close when a cold laugh pierced the silence. Lenne tried to weakly escape from Itachi's hold, but he held on even tighter as twenty sound-nins surrounded the two humans and dragoness. The cold laugh resonated once again, causing Lenne's elven ears to twitch in disgust and fright. She closed her eyes, scared out of her wits, hearing the tales of Orochimaru's ruthlessness and cruelty.
Trying to protect her…? How noble… the voice was mocking, and laced with humor.
"Show yourself, you cowardly snake!" Kisame yelled, looking this way and right.
Lenne's instincts to flee grew stronger as she tried to escape Itachi's iron heard grip. Perhaps he didn't trust her; despite her promise…Then, Orochimaru appeared from the shadows, a wide smirk on his pale face. Itachi's features hardened and his grip on Lenne grew even tighter, causing her to gasp in pain.
"So predictable…" Orochimaru stepped closer, smirk growing wider as his tongue licked his lips as his yellow eyes traveled up and down Lenne's form, who was starting to shake. How can one human contain so much evil! She thought as she unconsciously snuggled closer to Itachi, the lesser of the two evils at the moment.
"What do you want, Orochimaru?" Itachi growled, glaring at the pale man. Orochimaru chuckled, and shook his head slightly, causing his hair to swish from side to side.
"You don't know? Its her I'm after." He pointed a pale finger at Lenne, who froze as her heart beat wildly.
"No chance, Orochimaru. You want her? You're gonna have to get through us!" Kisame said, readying Samehada. Orochimaru sighed, "I hope we could do this the easy way, but I suppose the hard way is fine too…" Then, as fast as lighting, formed hand seals that would summon their worst nightmare. Itachi, recognizing the jutsu, immediately released Lenne.
"RUN!" he roared, as a giant snake crashed through the undergrowth, stopping behind his master. Lenne's eyes widened and she felt her knees go weak. The snake, named Manda (is that right?), reared it head. Orochimaru glanced at Manda, and nodded once. Faster than you could blink, Manda struck, fangs dripping with poison. Lenne immediately leapt high into the air, jumping over Orochimaru in the process. Not wasting a second, she ran as fast as she could, fleeing into the woody depths of the trees.
"After her Manda!" he ordered. Manda immediately turned around and followed Lenne into the forest. Itachi and Kisame attempted to follow, but the sound-nin choose that moment to attack, forcing them into battle. Orochimaru smirked, and followed his beloved snake, not wanting to miss out in the thrill of the chase.
Lenne focused her chakra to her legs, carrying her farther away from the battle, but not the snake. It was fast, crashing through the trees like a normal snake would part its way through grass. Lenne had a good lead, but she would need a clearing to decently defend herself. She ran until she came to a river winding its way through the forest, but rather than skid to a halt, she pumped her legs even faster, and leaped into the air just as Manda was about the strike the place she was at. Lenne landed on a large boulder, and immediately whirled around to face her pursuers. Orochimaru had caught up somehow, hand trailing on Manda's side.
"I'll give you one more chance…come with me…or die…" he hissed, licking his lips. Lenne's eyes practically shone with hate.
"No chance of either." And with that, her outline started to glow, and before Orochimaru could react, she leapt high into the air. In the highest point of her jump, Lenne curled tightly into a ball, glowing so brightly Orochimaru had to block his eyes. Then, a roar broke the second long silence, resonating for miles.
Lenne was hovering thirty feet from the river, no longer in her human form. Her smooth scales were as white as snow, as were her claws and wings, but her eyes were still as golden amber. Her jaws contained an impressive array of sharp as kunai teeth. Lenne had long thin horns pointing backwards, similar to an Oryx. Her wings spanned an impressive forty feet from wingtip to wingtip, but Lenne being as young as she is, was a bit still out of proportion, her shoulder was only seven feet off the ground, and only thirty feet from the tip of her snout to the tip of her whip like tail. Roaring again, she dove toward Manda, dive-bombing the giant anaconda, causing it to cringe, pulling up from her dive the last second before going into a loop. Orochimaru merely smirked, before forming the hand seals for the transportation jutsu, his last words being: "Have fun…"
Coward. Thought Lenne as she landed on the rock, beating her wings ward enough to send sheets of water flying. But her feet barely touched the rock before Manda broadsided her, jaws nearly big enough to almost incase her. She screeched in pain and flailed in its grasp, but that only drove its fangs deeper within her flesh. Manda had almost started to coil around the dragoness when a kunai came out of nowhere and buried itself into its eye. Manda immediately loosened its hold, but didn't let go. Lenne twisted her body, causing the imbedded fang to slash through her underbelly, before becoming free. Manda thrashed in pain, long body sending up sheets of the now bloody water. Lenne allowed herself to collapse to the ground while Manda was still preoccupied. She raised her head weakly when a shadow obstructed her vision, thoughts projected so she could speak,
Itachi…? She asked as she struggled to her feet, blood pouring from her wound. Blinking to clear her vision proved her correct as her amber orbs stared into crimson ones.
"Where's Orochimaru?" he asked bluntly. Lenne stood tall, but she lowered her head to look him the eye. Gone…He used a transportation jutsu. Itachi cursed, but didn't have time to do much else as Manda finally focused its attention back on Lenne. Lenne wasted no time: taking advantage of the snake's partial weakness, she quickly cantered to Manda's blind side, and accessed her fire within. Breathing a thick stream of red flame, the snake'shiss of pain was like music to Lenne's ears, but being as large asit was, bowled into Lenne, even through her flamethrower, head butting her within the river's depths.. Large as Manda was, it too, disappeared. Itachi ran to bank, searching frantically with his Sharingan. Only bubbles rose to the cloudy surface, as well as swirls of blood.
"Itachi!" Kisame has managed to finish off the sound-nins, "Where is she!" he asked frantically, shifting a bloody Samehada to a better grip. Itachi merely glared at the river.
SPLASH! Lenne and Manda both burst to the surface, Manda wrapped around Lenne's slender body. She snarled and roared, but Manda only squeezed tighter with each breath.
"HOLY-!" Kisame cursed, jumping back from the bank. Itachi found himself frozen from the utter ferocity from the white dragon as she still struggled in the giant snake's grasp, but she was fighting a loosing battle. Severely weakened, she transformed back into her human form, completely trapped, not even able to perform a jutsu that could save her. She tried to wiggle free vainly, but the pressure Manda was putting on became so great a cry escaped from Lenne's lips as her bones started to bend under the intense pressure. Her cry, however, brought Itachi back from his frozen state. Pulling another kunai from his pouch, he used a transportation jutsu to get closer. He appeared near Manda's head and swiped the kunai across where he guessed was a major artery. Bull's-eye. Blood gushed from the wound, spraying everywhere as the dying Manda flailed hopelessly, caught in the throes of death before coming still, the wound merely trickling blood. Itachi landed were Lenne was still caught in its thick coils. Putting the bloody kunai away, he grabbed her shoulders and pulled, but even in death, Manda still didn't relinquish its hold on the wounded dragoness. Twitching with impatience, he tugged even harder before Lenne started to slide out, inch by inch, until with one final tug, jerked her free. Lenne gasped as she was pulled into Itachi's embrace, breathing heavily as liquid fire pulsed across her abdomen. Lenne clutched her torn stomach, biting her lip so she wouldn't scream.
"Let me see." Itachi commanded as he carried her over to the bank. Lenne reluctantly moved her arm, and nearly fainted from the sight: the gash went from her right shoulder, then going diagonally across her abdomen, becoming shallow near her left hip. Twitching slightly, he saw her internal organs were glistening in the sunlight, peeking out from her folds of her ravaged flesh. Cursing Orochimaru, he put a hand on her stomach and prepared to heal, chakra going to his hands. Lenne gasped in pain, and coughed up blood, staining her chin with crimson. While healing, Itachi was bursting to know, even if he didn't show it,
"Why didn't you run?" Itachi asked, well, more like demanded. Lenne glared at him,
"Because, I made a promise." She said, returning her gaze to the sky, and going unconscious. Itachi sighed, and rinsed his bloody hands in the river, flicking them dry. Kisame watched from a distance, reluctant to get close to his thoroughly pissed off partner, who was deep in thought. The thing that stunned him most was Lenne had kept her promise, despite the chance she had to escape, to leave Manda to perhaps kill them.
When a dragon makes a promise, he or she is bound to it to all eternity. Her word reverberated repeatedly in his head as he picked up Lenne bridal style, eyes looking at her now healed wound. Unfortunately, she would have one hell of a scar.
Oh yeah! Third chappie dun! Sorry about the bad fight scene…….uh…BYE! Next chapter, they reach the Akatsuki HQ! Tune in!
THE UNCHAINED BEAST HATH SPOKEN!