CHAPTER III

The Song of the Hidden Flute

When Naruto violently hurled him the second time, Itsu grasped his seared hand which, he noted to himself, stung like a billion needles as he collided with the large stone he was scrutinizing earlier. He choked, tasting blood from his lips; coughing the awful taste in his tongue and teeth. How did Shaz put up with the awful taste of human flesh and blood?

He took a small, meaningful glance at his sword which was sadly thirteen meters away from him, its blade stuck in a higher and dirtier terrain. It was the first time when he suddenly felt useless and inexperienced. His only ability was taken away from him through the proficient strikes he predicted earlier, and by that thought his breath came in painful gasps and wheezes that you'd think he was crying from the inside if not for his stupid grin.

His brother warned him about this.

'Airhead, you must at least learn something other than the sword, before your sword will cause you a most painful and derogatory death.'

And the only reply he gave to his brother was: 'What's 'derogatory'?'

He barely had time to reminisce his brother's 'scary face' and most colorful choice of words that day when Naruto cuffed his stomach like an oversized sledgehammer. Naruto brutally connected his own shoulder to Itsu's nose with such a force, that it made his head smash to the concrete wall of the stone.

The back of his head was bleeding now; his blonde locks were beginning to get drenched with his blood and sweat whilst Naruto looked far from injured.

Itsu grabbed his sog from its sheath and slipped under Naruto's legs like the speed demon he was, hastily taking the opportunity to slash Naruto's left thigh.

Well— Itsu actually listened to his brother, then.

Naruto barely felt the wound, telling himself that it was only a little scratch and that it was nothing serious. Although he couldn't help but feel cheated since he got the little bastard cornered— how could he have missed the bloody opening? BETWEEN HIS LEGS NO LESS!

He was so frustrated with this little ass to the point that he just wanted to grab his eyeballs and twist it around with utter aggravation. Imagine, taking him two frikkin' hours in the field while he was TRYING to forget something personal which made this little predicament even more difficult, on the same hand… he could seriously get skinned.

These two convicts demanded critical attention since they just ominously appeared out of nowhere, killing as many shinobi that they could get their hands on. Of course, that little fact was nothing unnatural in this part of the universe since there WERE many killers out there, but what's completely strange is their use of chakra. It wasn't chakra at all. It was something else. It was something along the lines of a gothic force; something demonic… but it wasn't something he couldn't stop.

'I'm not just some shinobi…' HE WAS A CANDITATE FOR HOKAGE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!

The point is that he tracked the coward down to some unknown swamp when he wanted to track down Sakura-chan and HOPEFULLY get a reward from all this messy business.

Naruto noisily growled at the thief, 'DAMN IT!'

No time for Sakura, his life was at stake.

"ZU—"

Itsu threw his double edged blade which headed straight for his opponent's skull, but Naruto fleetingly jerked his body on time and grabbed the blade from the air before it ended as his own fashionable head ornament.

He seized his kunai when he saw Itsu jump off on the very high land his sword was wedged in. Naruto capered next to the over-energized madman. If he doesn't have a sword, a sog and a kunai can do the job instead.

'Before this is over,' he thought, eyeing Itsu who started to slash against him with his precious sword, 'I'm going to take a very, VERY long shower,'

Naruto's speed increased as he blocked and attacked from many different angles and positions. Having a sog was very useful since he could use it for deflecting Itsu's sword and his kunai for offensive means, although he couldn't help but notice that the sog's blades were a bit blunt. Perhaps it was used too much in its past times.

Within each attack, he countered and evaded, and by each victory he sensed his enemy getting frustrated by failing to land his blade on him. Naruto managed to predict an overhead hack, crossing the sog and his kunai together which restricted Itsu's sword from coming between his eyes.

"HAH!"

He threw their cross-blades back and slid away, making a small room between him and the thief. Itsu ran towards him and flailed his blade to the left—Naruto stooped back and deflected the strike with his double edged sog; right—he rotated the sog within one-eighty degrees until it met with the second strike—

"GGAAHK!" Itsu finally lost his patience and started hacking the other blonde like an axe, unfortunately for him, Naruto became just as fast as he.

Itsu just couldn't believe it.

Naruto started to feel a bit drowsy, but he fought back the feeling deep in his stomach and jumped on the wall of the humungous boulder, cramming his kunai in the stone and holding on to it as he dangled thirty feet above.

CHUN— three arrows flew towards him, but he jumped even farther up, jamming his kunai against the stone as he dangled even higher than thirty feet. He looked at the very peak of the mountain-like boulder and decided to jump on it for his life's sake. He slashed more arrows Shaz aimed at him while he was halfway to his destination.

It seems that Shaz had finally dispatched Naruto's independent clone after twenty five minutes of struggling. But Shaz looked positively AWFUL! One side of his head was a bit burned, and Naruto couldn't help but notice that he was missing a few of his teeth. His clothes, if not rumpled, was shredded to pieces while his left leg was horrendously bleeding from a shuriken. At least his clone totally did him in a bit. Shaz looked really stupid once you're at the top of the stone…

An arrow started against him again, but this time when Naruto tried to cut it in half his kunai just went through the wooden middle; the head hitting him straight in his right arm.

What the hell?

Itsu tried to stab him down but he simply stood aside. Naruto suddenly felt a bit weak, his health was deteriorating and he was feeling it in the pit of his gut. Suddenly, everything appeared in twos, the sounds around him became distorted, the light stung his eyes and everything felt it just lost its life and color. He shook his head, hoping to at least rid the strange sight before his eyes. Sure enough everything went back to normal. What in the world did they do to him?

In the corner of his eye he saw Itsu preparing to strike at him again. Just breathe—in, out, deeper… relax…

Naruto quickly jumped overhead when he felt vigor flood his corners again, grabbing the previous kunai which was wedged near Itsu's heart and PULLED.

This time, it scratched his heart.

And this time, Naruto didn't miss his target as Itsu's own sog stabbed him at the back.

And this time Shaz reacted like a brother would when he saw his baby brother fall to his death.

And when Itsu fell, Naruto's explosive tag, which was idly clutching at one of his bandages, detonated.

He wasn't JUST a shinobi...

After a few miles of walking his strength slowly declined. His breathing shallow and rickety, his muscles sagging, and his knees wobbling like scared little trees. His sight also started to blur a bit, while his hallucinations began to ensue around him: trees talking, Sakura-chan running through him like he was nothing (which made him feel like a lonely, pathetic ghost), grass turning into cherubs, Kakashi sitting upside down on a tree branch, reading the usual material he still read-- Kakashi really needed to find a girlfriend...

Well, at least some of the hallucinations were normal.

Naruto just felt relieved that this was over. But he just simply couldn't feel anything. He felt the weight beneath him fall apart since his legs were strangely shaking below him. His fingers felt numb, and the left side of his face was starting to throb.

At least he had the strength to get out of that swamp.

"Damn it..."

The clouds idly passed his eyes, like the small waves of nausea he felt in his mind. Unlike the swamp, the place he collapsed on was breathtakingly beautiful. The grass under his fingertips crunched as his hands grabbed a fistful of the green stuff. He held it under his nose and sniffed. It smelled like her.

The small chunk of grass and soil slowly slipped through his fingers as another wave of queasiness passed through him.

"Damn it..."

What the hell did they do to him?

Why?

And... was there... a flute... being... played?

Who?

Naruto slowly and weakly turned his head to the sound of the flute. He felt strangely relaxed by the sound of it, though. To his surprise a hermit was playing the wooden instrument. He was covered, from head to toe, with a brown cloak. His beard hanged down and stretched out to his chest like smooth strings of silk, shining like new fallen snow.

The song reminded him of this bloodshed. The two brothers. They were dead. Like he was. Whatever the plan is they won. Pity, really. But he wanted to live.

He NEEDED to live.

His purpose wasn't complete yet.

"Yoota kurisa,
Tando i-itari,

Salo kurisa-a,
Itou indande,"

"Do you know what this song is about?" the hermit asked him, his baritone voice rumbling deep in his chest,

Naruto numbly shook his head, his breathe coming in rasps of silent terror and dread. It didn't occur to him why this stranger would greet another stranger with such ease.

"This song," the hermit replied, after a moment of pause, "The Song of the Hidden Flute."

"Shilo-e
Kino sijo hou...

Ute yotiro."

The hermit finished the melody with a heavenly resonance, "No matter what you see," he said, "Never let your spirit cry."

What?

Since when did a spontaneous event which involved a fight with two mentally disturbed killers change into something this quiet? This solitude?

Is he dead already?

Who the hell is this guy?

"Maiden of abode,
Hear my hidden flute.

Sing now maiden sweet,
Tremble from your tears.

Let this man
Share your hidden dreams,

And leave him to his death."

He didn't want to die...

He wanted to live...

For her...

"Death is something you will desire, but never succumb to it,"

AN: Well, there's nothing for me to say here but please review... I WANNA HO-HO! XD

Aaanyway, no flames except constructive criticism, plus I don't own Naruto.Oh, by the way, I pledge my alliegance to NaruSaku, and if you're not a NaruSaku fan and hate me and this fic, then... don't even think about flaming flames...

This is TOTALLY NaruSaku, I promise!