The Dragon Dilemma
I don't own Naruto and Zoids
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"Talking"
'Thoughts'
/-- Scene change
)-()-( Different point of view
?-? Flash back
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Chapter 23
Ambient was staring right at the body that he had just killed. He wonders if the red Organoid was pouting about not being the one to kill the Sound nin. He wonders just how blood thirsty the red dragon Organoid really is or how it came about. He just stood there, not really knowing what else to do, for the nin before him was his first kill.
He turns and looks at the hand that had thrown the kunai that is still logged in the neck of the Sound nin. He knows that someone was talking, he just found it hear to understand what they were saying. He also found he couldn't look away from the dead body that's lying on the ground before him. He felt so… so… numb.
/----
He blinks as the sunlight hits him. He sits up and looks around. He sighs in relief; glad that his dream hadn't contained the fight he had with the nin. That had happened just last week, about a day before they split off from the older task force. He knows that if he closes his eyes he could still see the body lying on the ground.
It had been during the fight did his bloodline limit activated without his knowing until he actually looking into some water. He had been stunned by the fact his eyes were red and that there were two dots for both eyes. He also began to notice how well his eye sight had become as well.
It hadn't taken long before he found out how to control it. He found that he could perform about two of the three jutsus that the dead Sound nin had used against him, giving him an idea when his eyes became red with those dots that circle around his pupil. He had sparred with Kakashi just before they left and he found just how much he's improved when he has the Sharingan is active. He also didn't feel the need to gain the three dots for his Sharingan, for his reason to get stronger was already dead and he just didn't have it in him to find out and then seek out his brother's killer.
He looks around for Ambient as he was pondering such things. He couldn't spot the Organoid any where, which means that the red dragon Organoid will most likely be arriving with a bloody tail spikes. He wonders if there's a jutsu that would allow him to control the blood thirsty Organoid named Ambient. Images of him ordering a reluctant red Organoid played out in his mind; he smirks as the imaginary slave brought him his favourite food.
A snap of a stick snaps him out of his daydreaming. He turns to find Ambient walking into the campsite. He glances around and spies that Sakura had drifted off during her turn at sentry. He snorts as he thinks, 'Some things never change.' He gets up and walks towards his bag.
He takes out the rag and dabs the liquid soup onto the rag. Ambient turn and holds the tail out for him to clean. There wasn't much to say between them, he didn't know what to say or do to get Ambient to listen to him and Ambient couldn't careless about him, just as long as he left Ambient alone. They both know that Ambient was only partnered up with him for the simple fact that Sasuke had a great deal of talent when it comes to piloting the Shadow Fox, even though Ambient couldn't bond more then two minutes to the fox type Zoid. It also meant that the Zoid was more powerful then Ambient expected and couldn't improve it much, which was fine by him. It just means that there was much that needed to be improved.
He didn't realise he was done until Ambient's tail moves out from under his hand and the Organoid walks away. He studies the metal dragon and shakes his head. A little voice in the back of his head wonders if he had been like that before he ended up teamed up with Naruto. He might not have been the blond's friend, but Naruto really made him think outside of his usual mind set. Whether that was a good thing has yet to be decided, for even though he is more aware of the people around him, he also found that he just had to know more about them as well.
'It's kind of like what I felt when I couldn't get any answers out of Naruto, when I had so many questions. Now that I'm aware of how they're lives affect me, I can't help but want to know more about them. I can't believe just how many connections there are between us all. I guess Naruto already knew that…' He muses as he walks back to his sleeping bag. He pauses and before groaning, he moves and picks up Sakura and carries her to her sleeping bag. He gently puts her on it and then walks back to where she had fallen asleep. He wonders why they bother to have Sakura even do sentry duty if all she does is fall asleep during her turn. "We could get attacked and we'd be caught without ever waking up." He murmurs out loud. He sends Sakura's sleeping form an icy glare. He decides that once everyone's eaten that he'll bring up the subject of Sakura falling asleep on sentry duty, they can't have anyone falling asleep at their post when they're on guard duty.
'Besides, she should have been use to this by now. Honestly, for someone who memorized every single pointless rule and law, you'd think she'd know the consequences of falling asleep on sentry duty. We've been Genin for about a year and a half, been on a great deal C-ranked missions, and she still hasn't learnt how to stay away during the night for four hours? How is it she's still a ninja?' Were among the thoughts he ponders as he watches the sun rise up.
Shino wakes and he says, "She fell asleep again." The insect user nods slightly and then gets up. He moves and begins to search for the packs that contain their rations. He's relieved to find that the bags were by Lee and Neji. After moving Lee's arm off one of the packs, he carries them towards the spot where they had set up the campfire.
Once the grill is over the fire pit, he then uses a summoning scroll to summon wood. A minor fire jutsu and they have a fire to use for cooking. He soon finds a pot and the ingredients for pancakes. Just as some of the batter hits the grill, Chouji wakes. The chunky teen hums in pleasure at the smell of the cooking pancakes.
With Chouji awake, Shikamaru and Kiba wake up as the husky teen moves out of his sleeping position. Kiba murmurs something softly and Akamaru wakes. Shikamaru curls up and tries to fall asleep once more, most likely to be woken up by Ino once the blonde girl notices her lazy team mate. Neji wakes as Lee rolls into the space where the packs once laid, hitting the prideful teen in the chest.
Soon all the guys, except for Shikamaru, are awake and making enough noise to wake Hinata and Tenten up. Tenten then glances over at Sakura's prone form on top of her sleeping bag. The older teen glances to Shino and then once the weapon master looks at him, he scowls before returning to keep an eye on the batter and on Chouji. Ino is being wakened by Tenten as Hinata attempts to wake Sakura up.
Once Ino stops complaining about how messy she must look, the blond finished combing her hair and set about waking Shikamaru up a second time. He also used the spatula on Chouji's hand to stop Chouji from grabbing a cooked pancake from his blind spot. Soon Chouji gives up and digs around within his own pack for something to snack on. He wonders why Chouji even waits for their breakfast at all, considering that to fill Chouji up would take up most to all of their food, which they need to ration for they don't know if they should risk entering a village or town to buy more food supplies.
Soon Kiba, Akamaru, and Lee were sparring and Tenten had convinced Neji to spar with her soon after. Ino took over as chief, allowing him to head off to spar with Shino. He didn't even glance at Sakura as he passed by where she was sitting, he didn't trust himself enough to not start in on her inability to stay awake for four hours for sentry duty.
After an hour of him starting breakfast, it was ready so they all stopped sparring and reached for a plate of pancakes. The syrup is passed around among them, some passing on it like Neji or drowning their pancakes in syrup like Chouji. He continued to give Sakura the cold shoulder, Tenten frowns at the pink haired teen, while Shino seemed indifferent.
Shikamaru and Hinata collected the dishes, though Shikamaru only collected Chouji's and Lee's. Shikamaru most likely muttering about how troublesome this was as the pair used minor water jutsus to wash the dirty dishes. Once they were wiped down, Tenten asks bluntly, "Did Sakura fall asleep on sentry duty again?" Shino and him nod and they all turn to look at the pink haired girl, Sakura gulps at the uneasy looks she was receiving.
As Sakura looks guilty about it, he takes a dig he's been itching to do since he woke to find her sleep. "We could have been killed last night and any other night you've fallen asleep. You keep saying you can take your turn as sentry, but you can't keep awake. You've been a ninja for under two years now and you still can't stay awake when our lives depend on you guarding us at night!" Sakura's eyes get watery at this. He doubted that Neji or Tenten altered their expressions, when Ino or Lee looked like they were about to jump in and defend Sakura, they were stopped cooled by a glance from him or from Neji.
This time, Sakura will answer for her inability to be a sentry. Many nodded in agreement with his statement. "If we wanted to be ambushed during the night, we'd have nobody do sentry duty, but we don't and this is getting tiresome. We will report this once we return to Hidden Leaf and you'll be on clean up duty from now and until we finish this." Tenten says, Sakura has tears dripping from the corners of her eyes.
Neji glares at Lee and then at Ino as he says, "You two will not help her either. She deserves this and a whole lot more. She brought this onto herself; you two will not also try and let her take your turns either." The pair shifted uncomfortably under Neji's gaze. They nodded and soon Sakura begins to clean up by herself. They then began to deal with their hygiene needs and to pack up their own sleeping bags.
They all know that Sakura got off lightly, but then, the true punishment will occur once they return to Hidden Leaf. This incident could very well end Sakura's dreams of being a ninja, but then, he thinks back to that introduction that Kakashi had them do once they were placed on team 7. He snorts and shakes his head as he remembers the way the girl had blushed as she looked at him during the whole thing. He concludes that Sakura never really took being a ninja as seriously as Naruto and him, even though Naruto had planned on retiring at a certain point.
Whatever reason Sakura had first persuaded the path of a ninja seemed lost its effects once the girl began to chase after him. He glances over at the blond teen, wondering if Ino just added him to her list of reasons to become a ninja, for the blond seemed more driven then Sakura. He attempts to get those thoughts out of his head once he picks up his stuff and walks over to the Shadow Fox.
He pauses and looks around for Ambient. He forgot all about the Organoid and now wondered why the red dragon hadn't been around to make snipe comments about the whole affair. He frowns and Kiba asks, "What's wrong?" "I can't seem to spy Ambient anywhere." He answers. That was enough to cause Kiba to stiffen and they both survey the area for any signs of the violent Organoid. Kiba takes a few sniffs; he noted that Akamaru was with Hinata so it was just Kiba and him.
"Are you sure he's even around here?" Kiba asks after a few minutes. "He came back, I cleaned his spikes, and he left as I was considering what to do next." He admits to the dog trainer. "I wonder where he headed off to." Kiba muses out loud. He nods in agreement with that and they returned to climbing up along the foreleg of his Zoid, hoping that where ever that Organoid is, that he'll not appear covered in blood yet again.
To be continued …