Wow, this story has over 80 reviews! I'm so happy! Now, in case you haven't figured it out by now, the gang has been split into three groups: Gaara and Hinata in one, Kiba and Temari in another, and Shino and Kankuro in the last one. Now, let chapter ten begin!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. -tackle huggles Gaara-
Hinata struggled against the raging waters of the sea, trying her hardest to keep her head above the liquid. She looked around, searching for one of the other three that had fallen off the cliff with her, but they had all been swept away as well. The wind began blowing stronger, causing the waves to become even higher. Soon the simple task of staying above the water became impossible, and Hinata soon found herself under the surface. As she sunk deeper into the depths and began to lose consciousness, she was vaguely aware of someone with red hair grabbing her around the waist.
Temari was in a similar situation, but for a different reason: she couldn't swim. After her incident with the dog and the river as a child, a lot of people told her should learn, but as well as developing a fear of dogs, she became terrified of water as well; she refused to go anywhere near it, let alone get in it. At this particular moment, however, she was wishing she had learned when she had the chance.
She was doing alright for a little while, somehow managing to stay above the water. But the second the waters grew even the slightest bit rougher, she was in trouble. She, too, began to sink beneath the water; after a moment, however, she felt herself being brought to the surface. She gasped for air as she looked around for her savior: It was Kiba.
"Are you alright?" Kiba said, shouting to be heard over the sound of the roaring waves. He had his arm wrapped around Temari, while she had placed her hands on his chest and was clinging to him tightly. The kunoichi managed a slight nod; it was the first real interaction the two had had since their afternoon together.
"Good," Kiba said. "Now, we need to get out of here. Akamaru senses a storm coming." Indeed, thick grey clouds had begun to merge into the sky, and the raging wind was a sure sign that a storm was on its way. He looked down at the girl he was holding, who appeared to be very frightened. "You can't swim, can you?" Temari shook her head, too afraid to speak. There weren't many things that could scare her, but water was definitely one of them. "Alright, then hold on to me tight, and don't let go."
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Meanwhile, above the raging waters, Shino and Kankuro were having some trouble of their own. Not only were the trees collapsing because of the earthquake, but the rain that had begun falling had made the already weak ground even more unstable. Soon, they were not only dodging large falling plants, they were being chased by a giant mudslide as well. All the running they were doing was taking them further away from the cliff from which their teammates had fallen.
"Damn it!" Kankuro said, jumping over a fallen tree. "We were sent to fight dragons, not mud and trees! Wait, that sounded weird…"
"This is no time for that," Shino said, keeping his cool as usual. "We need to go back and help the others." It was a great plan in theory, but neither of them had the right ninja techniques or materials to use at the moment, so they were kind of stuck in their current predicament.
"Yeah, great idea!" Kankuro said, getting annoyed at the whole situation. "I just have one question: How the hell are we supposed to do that?" Not only were the circumstances irritating him, he was getting pissed of at Shino too. The fact that the Konoha genin never seemed to show any emotion reminded him too much of his brother, and one Gaara was more than enough in his eyes.
"There is no reason to get upset," Shino said, avoiding a tumbling boulder. "I was merely stating a fact. However, seeing as how we've been separated from the others, we need to work together until we find them."
Working together with the Aburame was the last thing Kankuro wanted to do. He had a brief remembrance of their last encounter, in which they had been fighting during what was supposed to be the Chuunin Exam. The genin had been surprisingly strong, and Kankuro had ended up losing the battle. He didn't exactly have good memories of being with the bug-user, and the fact that he was already in a bad mood wasn't helping things. Add that to his already strange personality, and things spelled disaster.
"I don't need you bossing me around!" Kankuro snapped, his temper getting the better of him. "In case you already forgot, we were the ones that saved your ass a few days ago!" Well, technically Temari had been the one who saved Shino, but that was just a minor detail.
"I did not forget," Shino said, beginning to get ticked off as well. Running through the forest for a whole day with little rest was beginning to take its toll. "I was merely trying to come up with a plan. Or do you have one of your own?"
"Just shut up!" Kankuro yelled, not having a decent comeback. "Stop acting like you're so superior to everyone! You're as bad as Gaara!"
Shino was about to say something back when a loud roar echoed throughout the trees. The two shinobi stopped, noticing that the earth had stopped shaking and the trees had ceased their falling. The fallen trees and boulders behind them stopped the vicious flow of mud and debris that had been following them; the only thing that worked to their disadvantage was the increasing rain and wind from the coming storm.
The roar sounded again, and the two looked up at the sky, only to find a large red beast circling the ever-darkening sky. They had found the first of the dragons.
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Hinata slowly opened her eyes. She was lying on her back in what appeared to be a cave. She blinked a couple of times to adjust to the dim light before moving to a sitting position.
"So, you're awake."
Startled, Hinata turned, and saw Gaara sitting a few feet away from her. His gourd, which usually sat on his back, was lying on the ground beside him. Water was dripping from his hair, and his wet clothes were plastered against his body. It was then that Hinata realized that she, too, was wet.
"W-what happened?" she asked, shivering slightly from the cold. "I was in the water, and then…" her voice trailed off as she remembered the red hair she saw just before she lost consciousness. "Gaaara-kun, did you s-save me?"
"Hn," Gaara muttered before turning away. Had the cave not been so dark, Hinata would have been able to see the light blush that had crept up his neck as he remembered what had happened.
Gaara had been fighting against the rough waves when he saw a lock of blue hair disappear underneath the water. He immediately dove after it, only to find the Hyuuga heir near unconsciousness from lack of air. He quickly swam back to the surface, clutching the girl tightly. Looking around, he saw the only land nearby was a small beach with a cave carved into the cliff behind it. He swam as quickly as he could towards it while trying to keep Hinata from sinking back beneath the murky waters. By the time he reached the cavern, it had begun to rain, and the wind was howling ferociously. He carried the girl inside and set her down gently on the rocky ground.
It was then that he noticed that she had stopped breathing.
Flinging his gourd to the ground, he bent down and leaned his ear against her chest. She hadn't stopped breathing completely, as he had thought; but her breath was coming in short, strained gasps, and he could hear the sound of water in her lungs. It seemed as though she had breathed some of the liquid in while beneath the waves.
Gaara knew that Hinata wouldn't last long at the rate she was going. Already, her breathing had become slower; he felt her wrist and found a weak pulse. He was contemplating what he should do when she had ceased breathing altogether.
Gaara began to panic. Wasn't there something he learned at the ninja academy about this sort of thing? The answer popped into his head: CPR. His face paled when he thought of it. He glanced once more at the girl to make sure that she had indeed stopped breathing; having confirmed the fact, he bent over her, cursing silently. Closing his eyes, he pressed his lips on hers and blew air into them, then pressed gently on her chest with his palms, repeating the sequence. On the seventh attempt, Hinata coughed, water spurting out of her mouth, and her breathing returned to normal.
Gaara had had a lot of time to think about things between the procedure and Hinata's awakening. There really was no other way to look at it: that had been his first kiss. Now, obviously, the Sand ninja didn't normally think about such things, but when faced with the real thing, he couldn't help himself. He kept thinking about how soft her lips had felt against his…
Gaara was about to physically hit himself for thinking such things when Hinata had finally woken up. Calmly, so as not to raise suspicion, he stated the fact that she was awake. When asked if he had saved her, however, he was forced to look away, lest he risk his embarrassment being revealed.
Hinata didn't seem to notice. "I-I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble," she said, staring at the ground. All I ever do is cause trouble for everyone, she found herself thinking. Even now, I had to be rescued by Gaara-kun again. I'm so pathetic… A small tear slid down her cheek, which didn't go unnoticed.
"Why are you crying?" Gaara asked, trying his best to keep any emotion out of his voice. For a second, he was afraid that she had found out everything, and was crying out of embarrassment. He stood and walked slowly over to her, not sure what he should do. He was saved from doing anything, however; just then, there was a noise outside the cave that sounded almost like an explosion. The ground shook, and pieces of rock began to fall from the ceiling.
"It's collapsing," Gaara said calmly. "We should leave." Hinata nodded, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "Come on." She looked up, and saw Gaara's outstretched hand in front of her. Blushing slightly, she grabbed it, and was gently lifted to her feet. Without letting go of her hand, Gaara pulled her through the collapsing cavern, his sand protecting them from the falling debris. Soon, they were out of the cave, and were standing in the pouring rain and howling wind of the storm.
"I wonder what made the cave collapse," Gaara wondered aloud, looking around. There was nothing in the immediate area that looked to be the cause; however, on the cliff, right above where the cave stood, the trees and shrubs were on fire. The bright orange-red flames danced in the rain-filled land, lighting up the dim sky.
"I-I can look around, if you like," Hinata muttered, twiddling her fingers nervously. "W-with my Byakugan, I mean…" She glanced at Gaara, who gave her a small nod, telling her to continue. "R-right. Byakugan!" Using her Kekkei Genkai, she scouted the surrounding area, looking through trees and other various objects within about a one mile radius. She was about to give up when she saw something that caught her eye. It was a long, scaly animal flying in the sky. It looked almost like…
"T-the dragon!" she said, her eyes returning to normal. "O-one of the dragons is c-coming this way!"
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Temari sat coughing on the sandy shore, with Kiba beside her. It hadn't exactly been easy getting there; with the waters getting stronger and the waves getting higher every minute, it had been difficult for Kiba to swim to the beach. He had to carry the Sand kunoichi as well, which only made things that much harder. They had eventually made it to safety, but not after being dunked under the water several times.
"Are you alright?" Kiba asked, concerned. Temari hadn't exactly gotten the fact that you weren't supposed to inhale the water when you went under it, and had spent the past ten minutes coughing up the liquid. Kiba's worry was steadily increasing, as he began to wonder just how much water she had swallowed. "Hey!"
"I'm fine," Temari said as she finally stopped coughing. "So you can stop yelling now." She tried to stand, but was weak from all the water she had swallowed. She would have fallen over if Kiba hadn't caught her.
"You know, I would have thought that after what happened when you were little, you would have learned how to swim," he said, bringing her gently back down to the ground. Temari glared at him. "Shut up. So I'm afraid of the water. Sue me, why don't you?" Her earlier fear had been replaced with her usual attitude.
"Woah, calm down," Kiba said; Akamaru, who had been hiding in his shirt, came out and rubbed against Temari's leg. "I didn't mean anything by it. I was just surprised, that's all." He sat down on the beach next to her, absentmindedly petting Akamaru. Temari reached down to do the same, and their hands touched. Both blushed as they pulled away.
"Sorry," Kiba muttered, for lack of anything else to say. He stood back up. "I guess we should start looking for the others. Not that we can see anything in this damn rain…" The drops were coming down hard now, blowing every which way because of the wind, and their visibility was greatly reduced.
"Y-yeah," Temari agreed, standing up as well; this time she didn't fall over. As she began to follow Kiba, she saw something out of the corner of her eye: a large ball of blue fire was heading straight for them. "Look out!" She cried, lunging at Kiba and tackling him to the ground. Before the startled genin knew what was going on, the fireball sailed over their heads and landed with a large SPLASH in the ocean behind them.
The third and final dragon had revealed itself.
I won't even mention the OOCness, because we all know it was there. Still, this chapter was so fun to write! I hope you all enjoyed reading it, as well. In the next one, the battle with the dragons will begin! Dun dun dun! And, as always, please review!
Ja ne!
