Those Who Are Lost

Chapter 7

Duels and Deals

Hello there my fellow fanfictioners!

I am proud to present the next chapter of Those Who Are Lost and I hope that you guys enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I put a lot of thought into this fight and I hope that proves to be satisfactory. Now then, enough of my senseless prattle! On to the story!

Disclaimer: I do not in any way claim ownership of Naruto or Naruto Shippuden. Both of these fantastic epics are the rightful property of Masashi Kishimoto-sama.

Here we go!

It happened so suddenly that she couldn't believe it. One minute she was seated on the ground, enjoying her meal whilst doing her best to ignore her unexpected… roommate. He was rude and presumptuous and his constant cool demeanour irritated her for some reason.

But he didn't ask any personal questions so that was an unexpected boon Himawari supposed. It had been maybe an hour since they had both sat down and they had just finished their meals. The stranger had silently gotten up and returned with two small bowls and wooden spoons for the rice which he gave to her before returning to his previous position.

Silently she thanked him as she only had a single bowl of her own.

What caught her by surprise was what happened not long after they had finished eating. A large… force seemed to sweep in from the southeast. It was so intense that Himawari actually fell backwards from the sheer power of it. Rapidly getting to her feet Himawari began looking around frantically, looking for the threat.

There!

At the bottom of the hill there were a few armed men scaling the mound quickly. At the rear of the group stood a tall, cloaked figure holding a long spear in his hand. He was some distance away but Himawari knew that those eyes were focused on her.

That cloak is the same kind that those ninja wore before! They've found me!

The stranger hadn't moved from his spot but his eyes were open and observant of his surroundings. Gritting her teeth Himawari sprinted past the man into the shrine and made a dash for her backpack. The stranger made no move to stop her.

Himawari cursed under her breath. Those men and that freak were ascending quickly. Swallowing she reached into the hole in the floorboards, frantically looking for her gear so she could make a break for it.

If I can just get outside I might be able to outrun them. I-

Her thoughts were cut off and the last thing she heard was the sound of wood splintering and something small and hard smacking into her temple.

The world went black.

Sasuke's eyes shot open when he felt it. A massive surge of chakra, one that made him grip Kusanagi tightly and his muscles tighten in anticipation of a fight.

Outwardly he revealed nothing, a skill he had mastered long ago to catch his enemies off-guard. Deception was of course, one of the cornerstones of shinobi life.

That surge… it wasn't for a jutsu. That was a signal beacon.

It was a common tactic amongst shinobi. When a ninja found their selves in need of aid they would gather as much chakra as they could and pulsate it as far as possible. Like sonar on land.

The girl swore to herself and shot past him into the shrine, no doubt trying to get away before whoever showed up picked a fight with him. He let her go, trying to give her as much time as possible to escape.

People who picked a fight with him tended to get killed… and most of the surrounding area obliterated. He could sense one strong chakra signature and three very weak ones as well. What surprised him was what happened next. A small stone, covered in the familiar blue glow of chakra shot through the wall of the shrine, straight into the girl's head, knocking her to the ground.

For a moment the Uchiha thought that the blow had killed her but he could sense the chakra within her body was still pulsating albeit weakly.

"Don't worry traveller this doesn't concern you." Turning his head away from the girl, Sasuke took in the threat.

So they're not here for me huh?

In front of him stood three men, kitted out in haphazard samurai armour and with sheathed but battered looking katana at their sides.

"We're here for the girl. Then we'll be on our way." The middle one told him. "Just don't get involved stranger and you'll be fine." He continued speaking as the trio kept moving forward.

Mercenaries most likely, Ronin…

As the leader took the first step and made to move past him, Sasuke stretched out his leg blocking his progress.

"She's just a kid. She can't have done anything so bad as to warrant this kind of response." Sasuke told the Ronin even as the man jumped back. At his back the other two ronin drew their swords, ready for a fight.

"You have no idea who you're messing with stranger!" The Ronin growled lowly. Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously in return.

"Funny, I was about to the same thing." He told the Ronin evenly.

The Ronin gritted his teeth in anger, his hand moving to the handle of his katana. "Don't draw that sword" Sasuke warned him. The Ronin had no interest in listening to him and he began unsheathing his blade.

"You stupid little-" That was as far as the man got before Kusanagi separated his arm from his body. The man screamed in agony and tried moving back to get some distance between the two of them but the Uchiha was having none of that.
Moving in one fluid motion, Sasuke grabbed the Ronin and pulled him close, allowing the fool to gaze into pitch black eyes before Sasuke smashed Kusanagi's hilt into the man's nose, smashing the bone back into the Ronin's brain, killing him instantly. The other two Ronin wasted no time and rushed forward to meet the threat. Using just a touch of chakra Sasuke flung the corpse in his hand at one of his foes before ducking underneath a swipe aimed for his jugular.

Diving off of the stairs towards the fire and then rolling out of the way of a follow-up downward strike from the now recovered second opponent. Sasuke's mouth curled upwards into a smirk. Deflecting one blow with Kusanagi's blade, his other hand which held his sword's sheath snaked under the handle of the pot that sat over the fire.

In half a second he went from defending himself to throwing a pot full of boiling water and rice straight into the face of the first Ronin. The Ronin screamed in agony as the skin on his face turned red and blistered and the man stumbled away, dropping his sword and clutching his hands to his injury. After that it took no more than a second to slip through his last opponent's guard and slit his throat.

Despite dealing with the Ronin, Sasuke did not relax. He couldn't. The chakra presence he had felt before had mysteriously vanished but the Uchiha knew that he was still in the area. Looking back in mild surprise he saw that the last Ronin with the now thoroughly boiled face was searching for him blindly, his arms flailing about.

The man knew that he was most likely going to die. He was just trying to fight him to the end. In a way it was admirable. With a small sigh Sasuke stepped over the threshold and into the shrine.

"Hey kid. Are you alright?" He asked walking towards her. The girl seemed to have woken up, the rock only having knocked her out for a few moments.

Tough girl.

"I'll be fine" the girl moaned, clutching the side of her head and wincing as she prodded the tender flesh.

Then he appeared. Like a spectre the man formed at the opposing entrance to the shrine.

How did he appear without leaving a chakra trail?!

Sasuke had no time to figure it out though as the man grinned wickedly before throwing a brace of kunai. The kunai were thrown towards him but with such speed that Sasuke knew that he couldn't move out of the way in time to avoid them. That left only one option; Deflection.

It wasn't something he wanted to do with a child so close to him but the kunai were travelling through the air too quickly and they seemed to be aimed at his vitals. Rushing forward, Sasuke smacked two of the daggers out of the air with the flat of Kusanagi's blade. With some strain he managed to twist out of the way and deflect the last kunai with his sheath knocking the kunai off course causing it to fly out the door and landed with a meaty 'thud'.

Absentmindedly Sasuke noted that the last Ronin's chakra suddenly snuffed out. The kunai must have found a victim. Advancing, Sasuke dashed forwards to prevent the ninja from releasing another flurry. The man was quite fast and managed to lose another volley before the Uchiha could reach him. This time though Sasuke was ready and with a wave of his hand a small field of lightning chakra knocked the kunai uselessly to the ground. His eyes swirled crimson and his opponent seemed to choke in shock before their eyes focused on his limbs. It had happened in a split second. Too quickly for him to place the ninja in a genjutsu, especially as his attention at the time was focused on deflecting projectiles.

From behind him the girl screamed in fear as kunai fell all around her though, thankfully, none of them wounded her. And then he was on the shinobi.

The other guy was good. As soon as he closed the gap and invaded his personal space the enemy nin withdrew a long Naginata spear with what looked like a serrated edge to it. Almost immediately Sasuke was put on the defence and retreated several steps to avoid getting skewered. Despite having escaped the spear by a few inches, a long tear appeared along the front of his poncho. Sharingan narrowing, he took in the blade of the spear. It was faint but there was wind chakra surrounding the edge. He'd have to be careful if he wanted to avoid having his guts spill all over the floor.

Well if the guy wanted to play dirty…

Then there's no reason I can't do the same.

The man obviously took his hesitation as an opportunity and sprinted forwards, spear raised to impale him against the wall. In retaliation Sasuke threw his scabbard, low with the intention of taking him out at the knees.

Unfortunately the ninja while surprised at the move managed to jump over the object only to receive two feet planted into his chest, knocking him back across the room with a 'oomph'.

Shakily the ninja got to his feet.

"I was right… it is you. Your look isn't exactly the same as it used to be but it's similar enough. Those moves and that blade though, that's what settles it." The ninja muttered.

"What are you talking about? Sasuke asked with a single raised eyebrow. The shinobi grinned at him before spitting out some blood onto the floor.

Guess I hit him harder than I thought.

"You're him! The Uchiha traitor!" The man all but spat at him as he said it. This time the Sharingan glowed menacingly.

"And you are?" It was a simple question but one that the ninja seemed to take an obscene amount of pleasure from being asked.

"You will not keep the girl from us!" He spat before finally introducing himself.

So he is here for the girl. Why would a ninja be after a girl? They must be after her Byakugan.

"They call me Komura. I am the Seventh Note of Oto and the man who is going to kill you!" With that Komura dashed towards him and Sasuke did the same in silence.

It was time to end this duel.

The air began to shimmer and distort from the wind chakra that now seemed to envelop the entire Naginata. Sasuke took a different approach and in a second, focused and moulded his chakra before expelling it. His empty hand clenched. Bandages crinkling slightly as he made a fist and allowed pure lightning chakra to spread all the way to the tips of his fingers before elongating past them to the point his hand became a virtual blade of lightning.

"Chidori Blade" He muttered softly to himself, not feeling the need to advertise his jutsu to the world. The two clashed and the fight took a brutal turn.

Himawari wasn't sure of too much these days but what she was seeing before her was both terrifying and wondrous. It seemed that her uninvited houseguest was a ninja as well and quite a dangerous one as well.

None of the other men had entered the shrine so that must have meant that the stranger took care of them or they had yet to make it up the hill. Instinct told her it was most likely the former. To her eyes he moved like a blur, deflecting whatever blue knives the other shinobi threw at him. Then the stranger summoned streams of lightning to negate the constant barrage of throwing knives and her fascination turned completely to fear as she was reminded of what she had just discovered.

He's one of them! One of the monsters!

It was at that moment that Himawari became sure that her eyes had turned white again but all she could do was sit on her ass and watch as monster fought monster. Metal screeched against metal and the air was filled with the sound of thousands of chirping birds.

Slowly it seemed that the stranger was winning. No, in fact it was clear that he was winning. He was just faster and it seemed like he was more skilled as the other ninja wasn't able to land a single blow and if the blood in the air and cries of pain were any indication then he was the one being injured.

The stranger seemed to be moving so quickly that it almost appeared as if he were a ghost, blinking in and out of existence around his opponent with such grace and apparent ease that she found her eyes initially glued to the stranger's afterimage.

Things changed in that moment though. From the rear entrance another shinobi entered except… he was the same man that the Stranger was currently fighting. The double withdrew a kunai and moved towards the stranger intent on knifing him while his back was turned.

Himawari wasn't quite sure what possessed her but she found herself on her feet all of a sudden and running towards the double.

"Look out behind you!" Himawari yelled even as she attempted to sink her own small knife into the double's side. The double was not impressed with this and, almost absentmindedly, grabbed her wrist with one hand and raised a fist to strike her down hard. Himawari couldn't escape from the grip and so closed her eyes and winced in anticipation of the blow to come.

Besides, one more blow to the head isn't going to make a difference to a girl with amnesia.

But the blow never came.

Sasuke knew he had won the engagement the moment he crossed blades with Komura. The difference in their skill was simply too great. It wasn't that Komura was a terrible duellist but the truth was that Sasuke was simply too skilled in swordsmanship.

Now Komura stood a few steps back trying to regain some of his lost breath. Rivulets of blood dripped onto the floorboards from holes and gashes in the Sound nin's cloak. No doubt from numerous wounds that now graced his body.

"Look out behind you!" The girl screamed from behind him and the Uchiha wasted no time having sensed the threat already.

Spinning around he threw Kusanagi as though it were a javelin and watched with satisfaction as the blade sunk into the shadow clone's chest for a moment before the clone disappeared in a puff of smoke. At that exact moment, Komura leapt towards him, his weapon above his head with the aim of sinking the blade into Sasuke's skull.

Using the momentum from his throw, Sasuke continued his rotation and ended up facing Komura once again. Falling to one knee to stop his momentum, the Uchiha raised his Chidori Blade towards Komura and refocused his chakra. The lightning flickered erratically for a fraction of a second before arcing forward like a beam.

Chidori True Spear.

The jutsu lanced forwards, piercing Komura's cloak as if it didn't exist and striking the shinobi through his chest cavity and exiting through the other side. Komura fell to the ground like a rock, dead before he even knew what killed him.

A strange silence fell over the shrine save for the puff of smoke that still smoked and lingered from the clone that had dissipated both due to the sword through its chest and that the original was now crumpled on the floor with a smoking hole through his chest. The moment passed and Sasuke, straightening his attire moved to Komura's body and began rifling through the dead man's pockets.

With a small smile, Sasuke withdrew his prize: A small sack, containing a sizeable amount of ryo if the weight was anything to go by.

"You won't need this where you're going." He told the corpse before returning to his feet.

"You're one of them." It was said so quietly that Sasuke wasn't sure that someone had said it till he remembered the girl was there.

Looking at her terrified expression, Sasuke scoffed.

"In a way I suppose I am."

"You're a monster too." She continued, her voice filled with a hatred that sounded all too familiar.

"In a way I suppose I am." The Uchiha repeated, gathering his scabbard and sheathing his sword "Just a different kind of monster."

Making his way to the door he stopped at the threshold and looked back over his shoulder at the girl.

"I don't know why there are ninja after you but you should probably get away from here." He warned her before heading out.

The girl said nothing and just stood there, staring at him as he left.

Making his way down the hill, the side facing away from the beach, he found Kamui grazing on the grass at the base of the hill.

Moving up to her, Sasuke patted the side of her neck affectionately. "Hey girl, did you miss me?"

Kamui whinnied and lowered her head to sniff him. "It's okay girl, it's not my blood." Sasuke assured the beast, grabbing the rein and preparing to mount the horse.

"Wait!" Someone called out after him. Taking a deep breath Sasuke turned to meet the girl from before, running down the hill quickly to catch up to him.

"There something you need kid?" He called out. Her steps faltered when he called her that but she regained her balance and managed to come to screeching halt in front of him.

Sasuke blinked, unsure of what exactly was happening here. The girl faced him, her head and upper body bowed low and her arms extended with something between them. Upon closer inspection, he found that it was some kind of locket. On her back was that pack of hers. The thing looked like it had been hastily put back together.

What is she…?

Waving her off he turned back to Kamui who had returned to feeding off the grass.
"I don't need payment for helping you." He told her.

Her head shot up at that comment, eyes white and simmering with rage. What he said was apparently the wrong thing to say.

"That's not what this is for!" Himawari insisted, shoving Kouda's locket towards him again. The stranger looked back between her and the locket a few times, his face expressionless but Himawari could see there was question in his eyes.

"Then what is this for?" He asked her.

"I want to hire you!" She meant to say it calmly but the stress of what had just happened meant that she wasn't exactly thinking straight. Heat flooded her cheeks in embarrassment as her words came out as more of a shout than anything else. The stranger winced slightly before taking on that confused look again.

"Hire me?"

"You're a ninja." It was a statement not a question and it failed to impress the stranger.

"Yes, I am."

"I need you to get me to the Fire Temple in the Land of Fire." Himawari told him desperately, trying and failing to keep the desperation from seeping into her voice. The stranger eyed her up and down as if weighing her with his eyes.

"I'll pass. I have to keep moving." He told her getting on his horse and the mount began walking away. Himawari, determined to get what she was after, followed next to the beast.

"What do you mean you have to keep moving?" She asked him incredulously. The stranger kept his eyes on the horizon, looking for the trail he had come from.

"I just killed four men. I can't afford to stay in a dangerous place like this. You should keep moving as well." He explained to her. Himawari merely frowned in dislike at this and fisted the locket at her side.

"I saved your life." She told him acerbically to which the stranger merely snorted.
"Trust me, you really didn't." He said dismissively. The horse must've felt that Himawari was getting too close for comfort and flicked its tail towards her, as if she were nothing more than an annoying insect. Stopping in her tracks Himawari looked at the stranger as he rode away, struggling to keep the tears that were threatening to fall from doing so.

The stranger did nothing and kept on riding getting further and further away.

I can't let it end like this… I need help or… Or I won't be able to keep my promise to Kouda.

"They wouldn't have found me if it wasn't for you!" Himawari screamed, tears dripping onto the ground.

The stranger stopped.

Kamui came to a stop at her master's command and Sasuke sat there, absorbing what the girl said.

She's wrong. There's no way that I…

But the more that he thought about it the more unsettling he found it. Back in the Hidden Countries he had made it a habit to mask his chakra presence so as to avoid unwanted attention. The moment he had begun journeying into the Lands Unknown he had stopped.

There was no point anymore as there were almost no shinobi in these lands. The girl could be right. Though Komura had told him that he was there for the girl they could have been focusing on his chakra, curious to see who carried such immense power so far from home.

"It's not my responsibility." He told himself "She'll make it or she won't. Someone from Konoha must be looking for her. I'm sure someone will come along." But no matter what he said he could hear their voices in the back of his mind.

Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura and Itachi all were whispering the same thing in his head.

Someone has come along.

"Damn it all!" He hissed to himself, trying to move his arms and legs to tell Kamui to keep moving. But no matter how hard he tried his limbs refused to listen to him.

Some time passed as the Uchiha sat there, an internal war of wills raging inside his mind and inside his heart. He only refocused on the real world when he felt a small hand tugging on his pant leg. Looking down he saw the girl looking at him, one hand outstretched with the locket dangling from her fist.

"Please… it's not worth much but it's all I have. Please… I need you to help me." She begged him quietly, shining tears streaming from eyes like the moon.

…

With a sigh the Uchiha outstretched his hand to the girl, reaching for the locket. Reaching past it he grasped her hand and in one swift motion, lifted her up onto Kamui behind him. She gave a small squeak of surprise but otherwise said nothing, small arms instead snaking around his waist to better hold on.

"It's at least a week's journey from here to Fire Country. The temple is probably another two days journey from the border so we'll need to stop a few times along the way in order to pick up some supplies." He explained to her, keeping his attention on the small trail ahead of them.

"Okay" She answered him softly. For the next few minutes there was nothing said between them and they merely enjoyed the sound of the hooves

"Himawari" It was said so quietly he almost didn't hear it. Turning his head slightly Sasuke looked back at her. Understanding what she was trying to say he dipped his head towards her.

"Sasuke" He replied. Himawari nodded and laid her head against his back.

What have I gotten myself into now?

What are you doing here little Hyuuga?

There you go.

Now the two of them have finally been properly introduced and our heroes have officially begun their adventure together.

I am so excited that I've already begun writing the next chapter. I will be on holiday until next week Tuesday but I will continue writing when I get back.

P.S. The main reason why Sasuke didn't immediately destroy his opponent is a simple one. He was fighting in a cramped building with a little girl right there in the combat zone. Both his and Naruto's jutsu and techniques have a way of causing extreme destruction to their environments.

Please review guys it means a lot to me and it helps me to address issues that I miss in my initial writing.

Until next time

Chapter 8: Those Who Are Lost

Chats on the Road Of Life