~~~~~~~~~~~Naruto's pov~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I fidget constantly as the seconds ticked by, where was he! It's been an hour already and he's still not back, 'oh no maybe he got caught and it currently being tortured or lying somewhere in the forest dead and slowly decaying and infested with-' "Naruto! Sit still, he will be alright, you just got to have faith in him" Gaara growled out putting his hands on shoulders to keep me still
"b-but what if"
"no, no buts just relax he will be back before you know it ok" Gaara said with finality in his voice
"ok fine" I pouted and crossed my arms as Haku giggled next to me and got up
"I'll be back I'm going outside to see if I can see anything ok" he said and walked away from the two of us
"ok" Gaara said, I said nothing as I continue to pout 'please be ok Sasuke' I thought praying with all my heart that my best friend isn't dead.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Haku's Pov~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I sneaked outside through the exit that I know sasuke used and stood by the wall looking out into the dark forest. "Haku!" I heard sasuke's voice coming from my left and looked to see sasuke leaning there panting with a sack on his back
"Sasuke! We were getting worried about you" I said walking towards him
"Where did you get the sack from?" I asked and that's when Sasuke looked up at me with a rare smile on his face so beautiful, that I'm sure that would probably be the last time I saw it.
"I'll tell you all together" he said and stood up straight I nodded and we headed back inside dodging all the adults that would question what the sack was for.
"Go get the girls and tell them to meet us outside, be careful" Sasuke said heading towards the guys
"ok you too" and I turned to head to the girls room.
When I got there I saw Kiba heading towards me from the other direction and we meet in front of the door that lead to the others
"Hey Kiba, Sasuke's back, were all going to meet outside, do you have your pack" I asked
"you bet I do, I'm all ready" he flashed me a grin and a thumbs and I just rolled my eyes before entering the room and heading towards Sakura's bed where I see all three of them at.
"Guys Sasuke is back come on, we're meeting outside" I told and they all nodded and grabbed their stuff and we all left, taking our extra slow time to make sure we weren't caught. We were almost there when we heard a voice shout out from behind us
"HEY YOU KIDS!" we turned around to see a older looking man, probably in his 40's walking up to us "and where do you think you're going" he asked crossing his arms
"um well me and the girls were going to the bathroom and because it was late at night we didn't feel safe so we asked Kiba here to walk us there" Sakura said quickly looking down and twiddling her thumbs and moving like she had to use the bathroom, the other girls followed her example and I guess I had to too since she lumped me with the girls 'dang it sakura, I'll get you for this' I thought bringing my pack up to hide my chest
"if that's true why do you all have packs" He arched his eyebrow at our packs and I sweat dropped as I couldn't think of a good reason luckily I didn't have to
"Pads and Tampons and there is this new device that the older ladies handed out that you can use to clean up all the blo-" Ino started saying until she was cut off
"ok that's enough but that doesn't explain why he has a pack" We all looked at Kiba and flinched from all the attention
"I don't know why he has a pack" Ino said giving apologetic eyes towards him
"oh this holds my clothes the uh dorm master said I could spend the night with my other friends and I was on my way when the girls asked if I could escort them and I couldn't just say no now could I" Kiba said looking proud of his story, I was kind of shocked that he was able to think of one so fast and clever
"ok then go on to your friends, I'll escort them to the bathrooms and back to their rooms, don't want you to stay out longer than necessary" he said 'dang it, why did this have to happen to us' I thought miserably before some shouting was heard coming towards us
"GUARD, GUARD" all of a sudden Naruto came around the corner and straight to us "GUARD there this boy stuck hanging over the balcony on the stairs!" He said coming up to us and panting hard
"WHAT! You kids stay right here I'll be back" he yelled and ran off towards the stair case that would at least give us like 5-10 minutes
"come on we got to go, the other 2 are waiting for us" Naruto said and we all followed him out the back door and into the woods
"Thanks naruto you really saved our butts back then" Kiba said running alongside him
"No problem, I was coming back to see what was taking so long when I saw you talking with that man so I decided to help out a little" Naruto said flashing back a smile as we arrived at a clearing with Sasuke and Gaara sitting down near each other, they looked up as they heard us approaching.
"ok were all here now what did you want to tell us" Naruto said as we all gathered around Sasuke who put the sack in front of him
"when I got to the camp I waited till the captain left before entering and finding the map and copying down what I could, but the captain came back sooner than I thought and I got caught" Sasuke began, half of us gasped 'I wonder how he got out of that situation' I thought and thought back earlier to that smile I saw and started to connect the dots with each other
"are you ok sasuke, he didn't hurt you or anything did he" Sakura asked gently but Sasuke just shook his head
"no actually he helped me, helped us, apparently he and his friends were in a similar past of trying to run away but all of them end of dying, so he wants me to have a better chance of succeeding so him and his vice captain gave me money to help finance and updated the map for the areas to avoid" As Sasuke was saying this, he was digging through the sack and pulling out the items he was mentioning, I was really shocked what Sasuke was saying, I mean the captain of North Korean Army was helping a bunch of teens escape from North Korea into the south whom they are at war with, I mean it couldn't just be that sympathize with him could of have?
"He even wrote down some contacts we can call if we get into a lot of trouble" He said flipping the map and showing us
"Whoa! Good job Sasuke with this now we got a better chance!" Kiba said patting Sasuke on the back and the others crowded him doing the same
"but sasuke what if it was a setup and when we call that number it's really letting them know of our position" Sakura brought up but Sasuke just shook his head
"I know it might be too good to be true but you weren't there, you didn't see him, trust me when I say that he was sincere in helping us" he said looking at all of us, Naruto nodded to him
"if you say we can trust him then I'll trust him too" Naruto said and soon the rest of us agreed including me
"now why don't we get going, we shouldn't linger here for too long, oh and Sasuke I got your pack here" Naruto said grabbing his pack along with Sasuke's who looked through his before nodding his approval.
"Are you all ready, is there someone who doesn't want to go they don't have to and can turn back now" Naruto said looking at all of his, but we all just gave him our 'give me your best shot' look which he nodded and turned around to go "ok then lets go!" he said and started walking but of course we didn't follow him which he realized and turned back around "wha- why aren't we going" he said looking lost, I softly shook my head as others chuckled
"Idiot do you even know where you're going? Don't forget Sasuke is the one with the map" Sakura said bopping him on the head
"oh yea I forgot" he chuckled and rubbed the bump on his head.
Sasuke shook his head and opened the map "OK we are here in Inchon-up and my family lives at the border in Yeonchon but we'll have to cross some small mountains/hills to get there so that might be tough" Sasuke explained as we gathered around him to hear the plan. "so should we follow this strip of towns here so if need be we can resupply" Ino said pointing towards the towns towards Yeonchon "yea but what if there are soldiers there and see us" Gaara pointed out "yea but we can't just cut across the plains, there are bombing sites scattered around, it's too risky" Sasuke said "well then we go through these towns then, and just dodge the soldiers that might be there" Naruto finished "wait, there's a mark next to this town" Hinata pointed out looking closely at the map, the mark next to Chorwon. "I know what that is, when we get close I'll tell you what it is" Sasuke said
"why can't you tell us now?" Naruto asked,
"Because I want it to be a surprise" Sasuke replied
"Naruto shut up, for now we really need to get out of here, I'm sure they realized we ran away by now" and just as sakura finished saying that we started to hear alarms go off in the distance
"dang it sakura, jinx us why don't you" Kiba said angrily as we all got up
"which way are we heading" Hinata asked, I looked at the map and then the stars
"That way" I pointed south which was to the left of us
"ok lets go" Sasuke said and we all started running until Sakura suddenly stopped, we all looked back at her "what is it" Ino said "did you forget where we are, where in the middle of practically a war zone and where the army sets up camp, I'm pretty sure there are traps somewhere around here!" Sakura said looking frighten at the fact we could of just caught in one of them. "dang it your right, but we can't keep looking out for traps and run away at the same time" Kiba said, we all looked to see if we could do anything. "how about the trees" Naruto suddenly looking up at the trees surrounding us "I swear Naruto, we are not in a alternative universe where we are ninjas and everything just happens to go your way just because you believe it will!" sakura cried out grabbing her hair "well do you have a better idea" Naruto countered "well no but do you really think we can climb in the trees and jump from each tree and survive all of that, without them noticing us!" Sakura yelled starting a glaring match with Naruto
"GUYS! We don't have time and that is our only option right now, Naruto and I will go first, then the girls and then Gaara, Kiba, and Haku follow behind to make sure the girls don't fall or anything ok" Sasuke yelled taking command. We all nodded and watched him and Naruto make their way up the tree.
"ok come on up" Sasuke said as they got up to a certain height that we could barely see them at "you go first ok" Sakura said to Ino, who rolled her eyes before starting her climb followed by Sakura and then Hinata "ok Kiba go ahead then you Haku and I'll come up last, Kiba make sure the girls don't fall ok, I'll make sure nobody follows us up here" Gaara said and Kiba started his climb up, I walked up to the tree and looked up I had to jump up to grab the first branch before struggling to pull my self up, since I had no body strength whatsoever. I felt Gaara push me up more so I can get on the branch and I gave him a grateful smile back down at him, which he returned 'wow he kind of looks cute when he smiles' I thought with a blush before turning back to the task at hand.
I kept on climbing, making sure I didn't look down otherwise I knew I would probably fall and maybe break a few bones, die if I'm lucky, broken bones means I would hold up the others and I don't want them to get caught. I pulled myself up to the last branch where the others were waiting on several other branches to make sure nobody got left behind and it was only a few seconds later when Gaara pulled himself up and nodded to Sasuke who nodded back and looked to the rest of us. "Ok guys were going to take this slow at first and then try to hurry so we can cover some ground ok" Sasuke said and we said ok back, he turned back to east and analyzed a easy way to the next tree before standing up from his crouch and jumping to the next branch which was only a feet away, Naruto followed suit before the others went on, Hinata looked scared to death "want me to go first and catch on" Kiba offered when he noticed Hinata wasn't moving, she shakily nodded and let Kiba pass, who jumped and turned around with his arms stretched open which Hinata flew into and caused them both to wobble with Kiba's arms wrapped protectively around Hinata. I stretched my hand out just in case they fell but they got steady and started to follow the others. I gulped as I study the distance and took a leap and felt relief as I touched the other wide branch and turned back to see Gaara safely cross. I looked to see the others progressing around the tree and onto the next one and followed them.
We started to get the hang of jumping from tree to tree and whenever we got to a big gap that was too big to jump we go either up or down till we got the point the trees met closer this continued actually for a few hours, I was getting tired of jumping but knew we couldn't rest just yet "Sasuke when are we going to take a break, not all of us are as athletic as you and Naruto" Sakura asked sounding defeated "we will take one once we get to this river up ahead" Sasuke answered and we all sighed in relief when the trees came to the stop and the river below us "ok one of us will go down and get some water and we will rest in the trees then all of us will get down cross the river and go back into the trees so no tracks are left behind from the river and mud" Sasuke said "I'll go" Gaara volunteered from behind me "ok be safe" Sasuke said as he handed a big canteen, that Sasuke had in the bag he got from the commander, to Gaara, who nodded "I'll take your bag so you will have less to carry" I offer "ok thanks" He replied and gave me his bag then started to climb down and to the river, We all watched him go to the river and start to fill up the bag when we heard it, dogs.
"Gaara! Get back up here!" Sasuke yelled down to Gaara, who looked up alarmed and started to run back to the tree when he suddenly stopped and looked up before running the river "What is he-" Sakura started to say before Gaara jumped into the river and swam to the to the other side and ducked into the trees over there right before a group of men being pulled by dogs came onto the bank of the river where the dogs started sniffing "where are they! We been chasing around a scent for hours, we should've found them by now!" one of the men leading yelled clearly aggravated, I was worried about Gaara and hoped he got a safe hiding spot. "Maybe they crossed the bank already, come on let's see" one of the other men said and led the dogs through the water. When they reached the other side one of the dogs started barking and heading the way Gaara went to which the others follow. We all stared in horror as they followed the path that Gaara went into "No!" I yelled wanting to go help but knowing I can't do anything "Don't worry Haku, I know Gaara and he will be alright, he probable didn't want his scent leading to the tree we were in so he went out to the other bank to lead them off, we will wait till we see a sign from him ok" Sasuke said and with that we all got comfy as Sasuke sat down and started at the other side. Naruto sat down beside him and Sakura on his other side and they looked out to the other side.
I sat down on a branch higher than the others and didn't take my eyes off the trees on the other side 'Gaara' was my only thought, I don't know before I never really thought that much about Gaara but lately I've been seeing him more and he has been entering my thoughts late at night, nothing bad or anything just wandering what he was doing or what is he really liked, how did he act in his childhood, was he always stoic, or did he smile a lot as a kid, and will I ever get to see that smile. I was shaken from my thoughts as Ino suddenly climbed up and sat beside me and looked down at the others "strange is it" she asked leaning on me, I allowed it, as I felt it wasn't nothing more than a small comfort from a friend. "what is" I asked back still staring out "how with this trip everybody found love, but I fear that they will lose it" she said back, in a very saddening voice, her eyes becoming unseeing as she looks towards a future that I don't think I wanna see "love huh, did you find love Ino?" I asked but already knowing the answer, he was dead by now.
"yea and there actually might be fairy tale ending for me though" She said, I was confused "on the way here while we traveling, Sasuke told me something, the Commander told him that the kids aren't sent to 'camp' for immediate death but to work, but many die from the work and if they don't die then they get sent to help the medics on the field, so maybe we can try and find Chouji and break him out of camp, but with my luck Chouji might not even make it to the field part" Ino said. Her shoulders started shaking and I wrapped my arm around her, hugging her tightly to my body
"don't worry Ino, we will try ok, and I know Chouji will try to, so he can see your pretty face again ok" I said wiping her tears and having her raise her head
"thank you Haku, Gaara is so lucky to have you" I blushed at the comment and began to stuttered
"w-wh-why do you s-say that?!" I turned my head looking the other way feeling Ino sit up
"oh please , you give him the same looks that Naruto and Sasuke give each other when the others back is turned, Sakura says she loves Sasuke but I know it's the same kind of love that she has for Naruto, a brotherly kind, they are her boys, they all grew up with each other having each other's back" Ino said looking at the three of them, Naruto and Sakura had their heads resting on Sasuke's shoulders, from behind you can see their hands interlaced with Sasuke too. "I wish I had that kind of friendship too, I used to you know" I nodded
"with Chouji and this other kid Shika right" I asked feeling that loneliness build up in me too
"yea" Ino said absentmindedly.
We sat in silence waiting for any sign from Gaara, I looked over to see Hinata curled up next to Kiba, who had his arms wrapped around her. Suddenly I saw some movement from the corner of my eyes and looked to see a spot of red in a tree a little further down from where we were looking "guys it's Gaara" I said pointing to the tree Gaara was currently waving his hands from. Sasuke got up, Sakura and Naruto following his lead, and pointed at us and then down which Gaara nodded to and pointed at our position to come to his.
"ok we're going down, be careful guys" Sasuke said and started climbing down the tree followed by Naruto, then Sakura. Hinata and Kiba climbed the tree that they were on as did Ino and I. Soon we reached the bottom and walked hidden behind the trees until we were across from where Gaara was at, who was looking around to make sure nobody comes. We crossed the river which was freezing cold by the way and not that deep just about up to our thighs so we weren't that wet when we got out.
We walked up to Gaara's tree and looked up about to climb up when Kiba suddenly called up to Gaara "Hey Gaara! Pass down the canteen" He asked which Gaara responded by throwing the canteen at Kiba's head
"Shut up idiot, or you'll alert those men from before" Sasuke said to Kiba before Kiba had time to yell back at Gaara. Kiba at least had the decency to look apologetic and whispered a soft sorry before heading back to the river, Ino rolled her eyes from beside him and we all started climbing up the tree. By the time it got to me, Kiba already came back and we both started to climb up. When we got up to the others Kiba passed the canteen around and we all got a sip of it before ending with Sasuke who put it back in his bag after he got his share of the drink.
"Ok good job Gaara on leading them away, now since we know they can appear out of nowhere and have dogs, we got to be extra quite and careful ok" Sasuke said which we all responded with a nod and started to jump from tree to tree in the same line as before except Ino hung back to be in front of me instead of next to Sakura.
We continued like this for another hour or two until the trees started to thin out and it was becoming harder to find trees to jump to, we also realized another problem.
"Dang it, it's too high to jump from" yea we were to high up to jump down to ground, well we could if we wanted some broken bones.
"why don't we just crawl down, like hang onto the tree and slide down across the nice, hard, rough, bark" Naruto said as he gave a very descriptive analysis of the bark, Sakura rolled her eyes at him.
"why don't you go ahead and try that Naruto, if you will be so willing" Ino said eyeing the height between her and the ground.
"You know what just to prove all of yall wrong, I will" Naruto said then wrapped his arms and legs around the tree and started to slowly climb down. From here I could see the strain he has from clutching the bark so tightly as he closed his eyes
"oh wow he's actually doing it" Kiba said crounching down to look at Naruto closer 'I don't even care, we just need to figure out how are WE going to get down, cause I'm definently not doing something as stupid as that' I thoughts.
"I'm going to go down too, girls if you want when Naruto and I get down, you can jump and we will catch you" Sasuke suddenly said after Naruto is almost down to the ground "what Sasuke you can't be serious can you" Sakura said looking at Sasuke like he was crazy "Don't worry I'll be ok-" "No I don't care about you, I mean you expect me to jump out of a, at least a 3 story height, tree into your arms like im a princess or something" Sakura cut Sasuke off, with that 'are you crazy look' I chuckled at the look Sasuke gave Sakura.
"I don't mind, go for it Sasuke" Ino said and Hinata shyly nodded her consent to it to
"fine if you wanna stay up here or crawl down the tree yourself then go for it" Sasuke said and started to crawl down after Naruto who actually reached the ground and was looking up at us grinning
"SASUKE!" Sakura yelled at him and stomped her foot down
"Um I'm going to go down too, if you want Hinata I can catch you, I promise I won't drop you" Kiba said blushing while looking at Hinata, who blushed too and stuttered out an "ok". Kiba nodded and started to crawl after Sasuke 'great now how will I get down, I thought as I looked down at the two boys crawling their way to freedom
"Haku" I looked over at Gaara who was looking at Sasuke and Kiba go down
"yea Gaara"
"If you want, I know you don't want to crawl so you can jump into my arms, if you want of course" Gaara said. I blushed madly "o-oh um ok if you're willing" I said, 'why would Gaara do that for me' I asked myself as Gaara nodded and started to crawl down after Kiba. I silently watched Gaara get down and saw Sasuke already down and talking to Naruto who was nodding back
"so Haku, Gaara's going to be your prince Charming" I yelped and turned to look at Ino and Sakura who both had Cheshire grins on their face, and looked to Ino who had spoken
"What do you mean Ino, I don't know what you're talking about, I'm just staying up here to make sure you all get down safely" I said looking away despite the blush that was slowly making its way down to my neck.
"Yea sure Haku, we all saw Gaara talk to you and said something to make you blush before heading down with the other boys" Sakura said smirking while crossing her arms
"OH shut up Sakura" I said turning away from the both to save me from any more embarrassment.
"Hey girls and guy, I didn't forget you Haku" Naruto yelled out to us the other girls giggled at his words as I glared hatefully at him as he smirked back at me from his place next to Gaara who just got down there "ok Ino, Ino, let down your hair and the rest of your body while you're at it" Naruto said with a grin as he held his arms wide open
"Ok my Prince Charming" Ino yelled before looking down and wondering how and why was she doing this crazy thing. I got a glint in my eye as I slowly snuck up behind her and judge her position from Naruto's and gave her a just a 'small' nudge.
"HHAAKKUU!" She yelled at me on her way down, screaming the whole way until Naruto finally caught her, bending his knees so he wouldn't fall from weight. I was laughing as I looked down at her clutching Naruto's body which was shaking from laughter too, and Kiba staring wide eyed at Ino and I. Gaara and Sasuke just started not even blinking an eyelash at what I had done
"Ok Sakura your turn" Sasuke said opening his arms, waiting for Sakura to take the leap of faith.
Sakura stared at him like he was crazy and looked to Ino's frighten frame which Naruto had put down on the ground.
"You need some help Sakura" I said giving her an evil eye, which Sakura hastily shook her head too and looked to Sasuke one more time before taking a breath and jumping. Sasuke caught her much like how Naruto had and helped her to her feet which at first she was wobbly on, hanging on to Sasuke's shoulders before straightening up and walking to Ino who was slowly taking deep breaths and getting her wits back.
"ok Hinata you're ready" I asked looking to her, to see she was staring wide eyed at the ground and was just frozen 'dang it, I must of scared her with the stunt I pulled with Ino' I thoughts looking at her worriedly. She started to shake as she snapped her head towards me when I took a step towards hers. "Hinata, are you ok" I asked holding my hands up to show her I wasn't going to harm her or anything. She nodded and then stepped to the edge and looked to Kiba who smiled up at her and held his arms out inviting. She took a breath and jumped closing her eyes tightly. Kiba caught her, getting lightly off balance since he didn't bend his knees like Naruto and Sasuke but was able to stand up straight and smile down at Hinata.
"see I told you I would catch you" He told her as she peek through her hands up at him and smiled back at him.
I stood at the edge and looked at Gaara who silently looked back up at me with his arms spread out I was about to jump when Naruto suddenly shouted out "DO A FLIP!" he yelled while laughing with Kiba who had put Hinata down just a second ago, I glared at Naruto who just kept laughing "OR BREAK A LEG" Ino yelled too as she was now back to normal after her near, or not so near, death experience, I rolled my eyes and jumped head straight for Gaara, I squinted my eyes as the wind whipped around me, my hair flying behind me as my clothes flew up a little, I felt a weird feeling in stomach like it wasn't even there and I almost started panicking 'how far am I from the ground! When will I reach it' thoughts like that were racing through my heads as I hugged myself readying for an impact that would hurt me when I was suddenly caught and held tightly to a hard chest. I looked up at Gaara who stared down back at me and I blushed madly as I realized that he still held onto me tightly to his chest bridal style and I began to stuttered "t-thank yo-you Gaara, You c-can put m-me dow-down" I was so embarrassed right now as Gaara lifted a non-existent eye-brow and put me down.
I hastily fixed my hair, which had whipped all over the place and turned away from Gaara to look at the others who were all staring at us, "w-what?" I asked before Ino, Naruto, and Sakura broke out into smirks while replying in unison "nothing" and turned away from me
"Ok well if everybody is done fooling around, we should find a place to set up for camp" Sasuke said rolling his eyes at our childish behavior, Gaara came to stand beside me as we waited for Sasuke to lead us, it's weird I mean we all just accepted Sasuke as our leader, I don't know if it's because he's got the map, or it's his relatives we are heading to but Sasuke just got that aura that demands our detention, Naruto too but Sasuke's over powers his "We will rest here in the trees and then head out into the plain early in the morning" Sasuke said and we all nodded before walking along the tree line looking for a suitable place to set up camp.