Ooh, mucho kowaii chapter!
Sorry for the bad language usage.
But really! Scary! Soon, we'll know what excactly it was in that jungle...
The evening was cold and gray, and the night was even worse. Fierce winds whipped clothes, hair, everything around erratically. Even the lobsters took shelter in shoes or bags.
Can lobsters even feel fear? Hinata asked herself, pulling a particularly fretful lobster out of her backpack. She winced as it pinched her finger in a mad rush to escape her clutches, and flung it on the ground. "Sorry, sorry!" she muttered as it scuttled away looking miffed.
Gaara was sure something would happen that night. Storms were perfect times to strike, as everybody was busy trying to take shelter. The 'thing' was probably expecting that people would go further into the jungle to escape the storm, and fall into its trap. Well, he thought, that ain't gonna happen. He and Hinata would ride the storm out at the edge of the jungle, in deep enough to stay sheltered, out far enough not to be eaten.
"I-I'll take the first watch," Hinata said bravely, grabbing Gaara's switchblade from the ground.
"It's getting so dark! We won't be able to see if we can't make a fire!"
"Shut up! I'm trying," muttered Sasuke. It was very dark. And it was cold, and a fire would help, but he just couldn't get his lighter to light. "Dammit! It must be out of fluid!" He rubbed his hands together. He heard a rustling, and jumped up. Something emerged from the dense jungle...
"Oh my god, Sakura!" Ino ran to the pink-haired girl, who was slung over Shikamaru's shoulder. She was breathing heavily. Was that blood dripping from her shoulder, staining Shikamaru's shirt?
"She got bitten by something," he said, taking a handgun out of his waistband. "I'm going to go look for it, can you guys watch her?"
Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, but Shikamaru dropped her on the ground. There was a huge chunk of flesh missing from her shoulder.
"Oh, god, crap, dammit! This is so freaking scary," Naruto said. "It might be one of us next!"
"Don't worry. It'll go for the one who can run slowest first."
"That isn't reassuring, Sasuke," Ino sobbed.
He smoothed Sakura's hair from her face. She was feverish, almost in a coma, and sweating frighteningly. "It looks like the bite didn't kill her. Maybe –if she wakes up- she can tell us about what attacked her!"
"I hope so, I hear something else coming!"
"T-that's just the wind or something, I'm sure of it," Naruto reassured. He didn't sound very sure.
Sasuke jumped when Sakura's hand twitched and she croaked, "Water. Give me water..."
"I think I heard something. I'm gonna go check it out."
"Gaara, don't leave me! I don't have any other weapons..."
He tossed Hinata his handgun. "Here, I have an extra."
"T-thanks."
As the redhead stalked off, Hinata curled up in a little ball, shaking fiercely. "Nothing's gonna happen to me," she reminded herself. "Nothing's gonna happen, nothing's gonna happen, nothing's gonna happen!" Something rustled, and her senses sharpened. She could hear the thing's breath, it's feet on the ground, smell its rancid stench, almost feel its hands around her neck... She pulled the trigger at something at the shadows, and a shot rang out in the rain, louder than anything. Then another, and another, and another. Finally, she was almost out of bullets and the handgun was smoking furiously. Gingerly, Hinata walked up to see what it was she shot...
"Sakura, Sakura, what happened?"
She was drinking as if being in a deep desert for years. "Something bit me."
Sasuke glared, exasperated. "We know that. What bit you?"
"It was... I don't know. I couldn't see its face. But it smelled horrible, like... raw... meat..." and with that, she fainted. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and her breath came less frequently.
"Maybe... her... b-bite got infected?"
"Maybe," Sasuke muttered. "Maybe."
Next chapter: Neji's murderer is revealed!
What was it exactly that killed our Neji-kun? Will he be avenged? Will the Neji fans avenge Neji-kun?
Review!
You'll find out next time... on Ultimate Survivor!