Sasuke sat by the new fire and looked at the arrow in his hand. Sakura had insisted on making a fire to boil the water from the river; she had no idea if it was poisoned or salty. Now it was about midnight, but neither Sakura nor Sasuke dared to sleep for fear another enemy would reveal itself. Kali wasn't happy about this. Sasuke had her arrow! That was a pet peeve of hers- having her weapon in someone else's hands. She held herself back, though. He was different than any enemy she had ever faced so she had to be patient.
"Hey, Sasuke…" Sakura started, "How did that large guy sneak up on you?" Sasuke thought for a minute.
"I'm not sure, but I think it was something he did to me," he replied. He looked at his hand. His wrists were bandaged from when he had cut them. He had felt so weak out there… why? Kali lay on her back with her head resting on her hands and her eyes closed. Her ears pricked slightly but her eyes remained shut. She ran through the abundant information in her mind trying to find the answer to that question.
She recognized the man from the previous shipment of criminals to the forest. He used his massive gun to pin down his enemies and torture them, but how could he have gotten his hands on Sasuke? She then remembered the many enemies she had faced that used the plants around here to make poisons. Kali sat up and flipped over the branch backwards. She sniffed carefully and sure enough, the light fragrance of poison drifted in the air. If the man had poisoned Sasuke, he had done it only slightly. She repositioned herself on her branch and closed her eyes. That small amount of poison was nothing to worry about now.
The next morning Kali awoke and looked down. The three were gone; just as she had expected. They couldn't have gotten far since it was still early. The sun was barely gleaming through the trees and the fresh dew delicately scented the air. The poison smell had dispersed to nothing by now. She jumped down and observed the campsite. This showed signs of the ninja moving out early. The fire had been smothered. When Kali touched the embers they were wet and cold. The grass was laid down on three spots.
From all these hints she concluded they must have slept for about an hour before heading out. The fire was smothered right before they left. Kali had slept for maybe five hours. She followed the tracks and signs of motion until the three came into view. They had found another river and were deciding on how to get across. The canopy separated over this waterway so that option was out. Sasuke threw a stick into the water and it rushed away with the current.
Instead of getting across here, they traveled down the bank until they found a tree already fallen. They walked across and continued. Kali followed them most of the day until about noon. Now she was hungry, and forsook her company for food. It wasn't hard to find a deer in the deep woods, it was figuring out if it was real or not. Most traps are set around food here, and it was dangerous to just attack. Kali smelled the air and knew it was a trap, but a real deer. The musty scent of deer was unmistakable and so was the odor of men when they're sweaty. In no time Kali had located the man, shot him, and butchered the deer. Making a small fire, she cooked the meat of the deer and ate it. It was succulent and satisfied her greatly.
Naruto plopped to the ground with a moan. He gripped his stomach as it growled loudly.
"I'm so hungry…!" He said in a whine. Sasuke and Sakura turned to look at him. Sakura spoke first.
"Naruto's got a point," she said, "We haven't eaten since we got here."
"What are we supposed to eat?" Sasuke said, "There are probably hundreds of things in here that are poisonous." The others agreed, but it was inevitable- they had to eat something. Kali returned to the three and saw them foraging the bushes. They did happen to find some berries, but the scent screamed death. Kali felt bad, but couldn't help.
As Sasuke pushed aside a branch and snake hissed angrily. Sasuke jumped back as it jumped at him. It wasn't an ordinary snake, though. Its body was a normal greenish brown, but its head was armored and his eyes glowed red. The snake bared its metal fangs and hissed loudly. Naruto heard this and turned around just in time to see Sasuke impale the snakes head with a shurukin. The snake fell with sparks flying from the gash.
Kali smiled. These snakes were one of her favorite critters. They were bioengineered by a man many years ago who has since died. They aren't much of a threat alone, but when there is more than one, you may have a problem. She hoped there was only one here especially now.
Naruto and Sakura stared at the snake, and all three gasped when three more slithered from the bush. Sasuke jumped back and tossed three more shurukin, but the snakes dodged. Their mouths opened and a rain of needles shot out. The three ninja jumped back and Kali felt a lump grow in her throat. Again Sasuke threw shurukin along with Sakura's and Naruto's. That time they hit and the snakes fell down sparking. There was silence for a minute before Sasuke's knees hit the ground. Sakura gasped.
"Are you ok?" she asked. But Sasuke didn't reply. His face was pale and his eyes were glazed as he fell forward unconscious. "Sasuke!" Kali was stunned. Hadn't he dodged all the needles? As Sakura rolled Sasuke over she saw a needle protruding from his upper right leg. Kali felt like falling off of her branch and slapping him. What the heck was he thinking!! She yelled to herself. She gripped her face and steamed. Sakura removed the needle and Naruto glared at the bushes with kunai drawn.
Kali remembered what had happened to the new guy that tried to eat one of those. It shot a needle into his neck. He died three days later. At first he was doubled over in extreme agony, but it soon faded. By the third day, he was a cold corpse. She looked back at Sasuke as Naruto ran for water with a cloth in his hand. Kali sighed; now she HAD to reveal herself. She felt many emotions at once: agony, fear, shock, and anger. She quickly calmed herself. First she would see what they do. Naruto knew that very advanced technique so maybe… just maybe.
The nigh fell with terrible pain on Sasuke's part. Kali felt his pain as he yelled in agony. Sakura was doing all she could and had set Naruto on watch duty. Kali's hopes were dashed. He probably learned that move by chance. She swallowed hard. Making friends wasn't one of her strong suits either. She jumped down and Naruto jumped to his feet. She felt awkward seeing him in person and not running him through with an arrow.
"Don't worry," she spoke for the first time Naruto didn't change much. Kali sighed again, "I'm here to help Sasuke." Naruto looked at her in surprise.
"You're what?" he asked in shock. Kali walked up and Naruto held up his Kunai. Kali swiftly grabbed his wrist and twisted it until he dropped the weapon. "AH! LET GO!!" He yelled. Kali slapped him.
"I'm not in the mood to negotiate and neither is your friend, ok." Kali said, "I'm an ally. If I wasn't, you and your ninja group would have been dead many days ago." She released Naruto's arm and walked past him to see Sakura in the defense position. Kali blinked. She was faster than she appeared.
"What do you want?" Sakura asked. Kali sighed again.
"Oh, come on…" she composed herself and began, "Sasuke was poisoned, correct? In about…four days he will be dead." This got Sakura's attention.
"What can YOU do?"
"I need to be alone with Sasuke."
"And how do I know you won't just kill him yourself?" Sakura asked firmly. Kali thought for a second before removing her quiver and bow and handing them to Sakura. She forced out a smile.
"I'm here to help. Keep these until I return." Sakura took them, but didn't seem to consent. "Look, I can't do this while you're here. Please…" Sakura stepped to Naruto's side. "Thank you," Kali said she walked over to Sasuke. He was sleeping lightly but the pain was still evident in his heavy breathing. She bent down to his side and shook his shoulder. "Hey, Sasuke." He woke only slightly. "My name is Kali and I need you to stay with me for just a minute."
"Who are you?" he asked weakly. Kali rolled her eyes. Why did they have to ask so many questions? Was it that hard to just say "okay"?
"Just let me help and I'll tell you later." Sasuke agreed and Kali began. She removed her pack and removed a large tarp. In an instant she had set up a tent-like structure. Now Sakura definitely couldn't see. Kali removed her blade and straddle Sasuke's body. She smiled at Sasuke's surprise, but returned to her seriousness quickly. She grabbed his right arm and quickly slit his wrist. She then slit her own left wrist with the same blade. The small amount of pain made her flinch slightly. She smeared the fresh blood from her wrist to her palm and did the same to Sasuke.
"Follow my lead," Kali said. When she looked at Sasuke he was fading. "Don't you dare," she shot. He shook his head and his eyes were wider. She took his left hand with her right and forced his hand into a symbol. When she did their hands radiated a rich red. In a second it was over, and Sasuke opened his eyes that he had shut from the light, and the pain was gone. Kali smiled in success.
"Feeling better?" she said as she got off of him. He sat up, and Kali took his right arm. It was still bleeding so she took some bandages out of her pack.
"What did you do?" He asked as Kali bandaged the cut.
"Transfer Jutsu," Kali replied flatly, "I did it only because I had to."
"Answer my question that I asked before: who are you?"
"My name is Kali, as I said, and I've been following you since you got here." She said as she helped him to his feet. He swayed a little, but he was fine. She led him outside to his waiting friends. "No mention of this to Sakura, got it?" she whispered to Sasuke. He nodded. The other two were excited and curious of what Kali had done. She explained the whole deal except for the procedure for the transfer jutsu.
"Oh, by the way, Sasuke," Kali looked at him with a grin. "Could I have my arrow back?" Sasuke was surprised as his mind made the connection to the battle of before. He handed her the arrow and she placed it in her quiver that lay by her side. They were very grateful for her help and welcome her to stay.
As they slept, Kali thought of what to do next. Should she disappear into the night, or stay and help? With all the mess she was in, it was a dangerous situation. Without her help, though, they were done for. Maybe she could help quickly and not get attached. It was settled in her mind then. She would escort them now. Unhidden this time.