Ch.1
"NANI!"
A flock of nearby birds flew up from a tree as the whole forest shook. Three people walked at a brisk pace through the forest, ignoring the blonde's shocked yell.
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME, SASUKE-TEME?"
The brunette sighed. "I said you were a dobe."
"If Sakura weren't here, I'd kick your ass." The blonde male smirked.
"Hn. I'd like to see you try, Naruto."
"OH YEAH!"
The pink-haired jounin sighed. 'Even though we're 18 years old, things have definitely not changed,' she thought.
This wasn't very true, however. After Sasuke left Konoha, Sakura had become more focused on her training. Tsunade had even ranked her up with Shizune. When she was sure that she didn't have any
more feelings for Sasuke, Sakura went after him. And, to everyone' surprise (not to mention astonishment), she brought him back. Sasuke's chakra gates had been closed for 1 year, and since he hadn't
taken the chuunin exam again, he was still ranked as a genin. After all that had passed, Team 7 was once again whole. They always tried to do missions together, when they could swing it.
Naruto and Sasuke's argument ended abruptly as Sakura planted a fist on Naruto's head, sending him sprawling to the ground.
"Stop arguing with Sasuke-kun, we're on a S-rank mission," she huffed.
Sasuke smirked. 'I bet she still has feelings for me,' he thought. His thoughts were cut short as Sakura planted her other fist on Sasuke's head, sending him right next to Naruto.
"You too, Sasuke-kun. Naruto wouldn't be yelling if you hadn't insulted him. We're jounins, for Kami's sake. We must be quiet." Sakura put emphasis on the last few words.
"Hai …" Both teens picked themselves off the ground and mutely followed Sakura. 'She sure is scary when she gets mad,' both men thought.
Sakura squinted up into the sky. "We'll make camp here," she said, pointing to the base of a large weeping willow. "We can hide under the leaves as our cover, if push comes to shove." 'Hopefully we'll be
safe enough,' she thought uneasily.
The "dobe" and "teme", noticing her expression, wordlessly nodded and began to set up their tents. Naruto dug out three containers of instant ramen, some fresh water, and some matches. When night
began to fall, Naruto placed some dried up leaves in a pile and lit them up, creating a small flame. He filled the ramen cups with water and let them heat up. When each one was ready, he silently handed
them to Sakura and Sasuke. They silently gave thanks and tore off the lid. The rid smell of food began to fill the air. But they weren't the only ones attracted to the food…
"Itadakimasu…" the three whispered, and lifted their chopsticks to their mouths. Suddenly, a black and grey blur shot at Sakura, tackling her to the ground. Human and animal rolled along the ground,
coming to a complete stop. Sakura leapt up, grabbing a few kunai from her pouch. She glared at the chimera, a silent challenge for a fight. It in turn growled.
"Sakura!" both boys shouted. Before they could even drop their ramen, three more chimeras stood in front of them, claws unsheathed.
The two boys frowned. They knew perfectly well that the beasts were chimeras. The question was, what were they doing outside of Konoha? Chimeras were creatures of myth, right? While the two teens
pondered over their confusion, all three chimeras, sensing their low guard, attacked. Flipping, they threw a few shuriken at the animals, but that did little good. The first two chimeras went for Naruto, nearly
shredding him to bits. The last chimera charged to Sasuke and gave him two long gashes along his chest and back. In the background, they could see that Sakura wasn't in any position to heal herself. Or
anybody else, for that matter. Before all three passed out from the pain, they saw two women jump into the fray.
"No…" Sasuke muttered, before he was welcomed into the pitch black of his mind.