Title: Into Sound territory
Rating: G
Pairing / Characters: Konoha's eleven, Hatake Kakashi, Pakkun
Word Count: 1, 078 words
Warnings: Not much…
Summary: Naruto flees into Sound territory (hence the title), Kakashi is summoned to his aid
A/N: I hope this isn't reading funny or anything, you wouldn't believe the trouble I went through to actually come up with a plausible story line. It's almost as hard as writing my bloody books…
Hinata pressed her hand against his shoulder, trying to get him to lie still, but at her touch, Naruto's face went curiously blank. Shikamaru froze as Naruto went white, then grey, his eyes widening. In the blue depths, he could see the stirrings of horror and panic as Naruto stared at them, clearly seeing something they could not before he dragged himself to his feet.
Even as Sakura turned to tell him not to move, Naruto turned and fled before anyone could speak.
Kiba immediately gave chase, but Naruto, despite the injury he had received, was faster. He was out of sight before Kiba had even reached the tree line.
Unwillingly, the genin gave up the chase, knowing that even if he could still smell him, there was no way he was as fast. Naruto would be gone before they could reach him.
'What the hell is going on here?' Neji demanded, silver eyes filled with shock. 'Is it me or did I just miss something?'
Shikamaru's mind raced. Isamu had attacked him, had injured him before the guards had pulled him away, and clearly something had happened in that time to make Naruto run…
'Damn him!' Shikamaru snarled as understanding dawned. 'Damn him and his damned jutsus –'
Neji frowned – and then his eyes widened. 'Genjutsu?'
Shikamaru nodded. 'Yeah. In all likelihood, Naruto might be under the impression that we're his enemies – and given the events of the last three months, it's not exactly an implausible scenario. Even if we did go after him, there's no way he'd trust us, if that's the case. He wouldn't let us anywhere near him…'
'We have to do something,' Hinata told him. 'We can't just let him go, he's injured, alone…'
Shikamaru looked resolute. 'There's one thing we can do. I have to send a message to Kakashi-sensei.'
Kakashi glanced up from his book, frowning a little as an unfamiliar grey and brown bird soared down and perched on the back of the bench he was sitting on, extending its leg so that Kakashi could reach the parchment tied to it.
His frown deepened.
For the last three days, he had had the impression that something somewhere had gone horribly awry, and that somehow, his student was at the centre of it. The messenger bird confirmed it, Tsunade-sama would have sent Shizune after him, and the bird itself was unfamiliar.
Kakashi untied the parchment and unfolded it, reading it swiftly.
Within seconds, he was up and running, the parchment forgotten, the two sentences stark black in the sunlight.
Naruto is in trouble, under some sort of genjutsu.
We need your help at the detention centre as soon as possible.
A journey that had taken a week took Kakashi a day and a half.
He reached the detention centre to see Shikamaru and Sakura waiting outside, clearly knowing that he wouldn't have wasted any time.
'What happened?' Kakashi demanded.
Between the two of them, they explained about the nightmares, about Naruto's tension, about their prisoners and the way they had always watched Naruto, the attack during the handover, the genjutsu, and Naruto's subsequent escape.
'He might consider us enemies, but because you weren't here, he might trust you more than he would trust us at the moment,' Shikamaru concluded.
Kakashi swore under his breath. 'It never stops, does it? All right, get everyone out here. We'll have to go after him before he gets too far ahead and we lose him.'
Kakashi bit down on his thumb and formed seals, summoning his ninken. Pakkun tilted his head inquiringly.
'What do you want this time, Kakashi?'
'Scatter, and track Naruto down. When you find him, call me immediately. Go!'
Even Neji's silver eyes couldn't trace how swiftly the ninken moved, but Kakashi remained where he was, hands on his hips as he waited. The minutes passed slowly, but at last Kakashi straightened. 'There's the signal, lets go.'
With the silver haired jounin in the lead, the group took to the trees.
He was crying as he ran, not knowing where he was or where he was going. His shoulder ached badly, but he was oblivious to the pain, only conscious of his desperate need to escape.
They knew. It was all over. He could never go back to Konoha not now, not ever. His dreams… everything he wanted, everything he had worked so hard to achieve was all for nothing. He was just an animal after all, a pathetic loser who didn't have the right to love, the right to care, the right to sympathy…
He didn't deserve them, and they didn't deserve the pain and horror that his presence brought them.
It was clear now. The looks on their faces…
Chest heaving with the force of his sobs, Naruto drew on the kyuubi's chakra and fled on.
Kakashi realized where he was seconds before he crossed the border, and just before he called a halt, Pakkun called to him.
'His scent ends here, Kakashi.'
Kakashi turned. 'Stop!' he ordered sharply. 'Don't take a single step further.'
Shikamaru, who was closest, sent the jounin a questioning look. 'What –'
As Pakkun disappeared in a cloud of smoke, Kakashi's expression was grim.
'Things have taken an unexpected turn for the worst. As Pakkun said, Naruto's scent ends here – but that's the least of our problems – the real issue is that we're standing on the border of Sound territory.'
Sakura blanched. 'Sound… Orochimaru… Sasuke…'
'Precisely,' Kakashi said bleakly. 'We have no official clearance to be here, and not a single person here is able to take on either Orochimaru or Sasuke – and win. We're going to have to exercise the utmost caution from here, because if we're caught, we won't find Naruto.'
Shikamaru swallowed. 'Not that I would mind giving Sasuke a good punch to the face, but we aren't prepared for something like this, Kakashi-sensei.'
'I know that, which is why I'm giving you a choice – stay here, or come with me. I will bring Naruto back, but –'
Sakura didn't hesitate. 'There isn't any choice, not for me. I'm not going to lose another team mate, or a friend. I'm going.'
Kakashi glanced at their faces, seeing the same determination, the same will to find Naruto, and he smiled beneath the mask.
'All right, I can see it's not really a choice. So, listen to me carefully, because this is how it's going to work from here on…'