I fell asleep quickly and remained that way until suddenly, I was woken up when a small body landed on top of me.
"Is this you Kyoko?" a small voice whispered, "Rai, I hope you're right this time…" I sat up and replied groggily,
"Yuri, what is it? It's a little late isn't it?"
"Well, Rika wouldn't let me talk to you because she said you needed rest," she explained quietly as I felt sleep tug at my eyes once more, "We, Raiden and I, just wanted to thank you. You saved us." Between exhaustion and shock, I really didn't know what to say.
"Uh… you're welcome," I stammered, dumb struck. "Maybe you should go back to bed before Rika catches you."
"No. Will you come on a walk with me and Raiden?"
"Now?"
"Yea," Raiden piped up. Then Yuri interjected,
"And if you don't come with us, we will go on our own."
I sighed. Forcing myself up, I let the two kids lead me into the woods, Yuri grasping my hand. Raiden walked on my other side, gingerly holding my broken wrist. As we walked, they would ask me a question every once in a while and I would answer as well I could. The questions varied from the Leaf Village to being a ninja to anything else that popped into their short attention span minds. So now they're the garrulous ones. I guess their near-death experience had really changed them. The still hand an air of smugness about them but they seemed to suppress it better. Raiden turned around and stopped us, his face serious and scared.
"Someone's following us," he breathed. I smirked lightly seeing as I had known someone was following us; I already knew who it was. Sasuke's sleeping bag had been empty when we left.
"Just go and jumped on that bush and you've got him," I whispered, pointing to a nearby bit of shrubbery. They nodded seriously, eyeing the greenery with determination. I leaned against a tree and they pounced. Sasuke yelled in surprise as they attacked him. When the dust cleared, Yuri and Raiden were sitting on Sasuke's back, looking very pleased with themselves.
"Call off the dogs," Sasuke mumbled, glancing up at me sternly. Laughing, I picked up Yuri and placed her on my shoulders. Raiden stood up and Sasuke picked up Raiden. It wasn't long before both of them were asleep in our arms.
"We should probably head back," Sasuke whispered, glancing at the sleeping twins.
"I guess you're right," I mumbled, "Look, the moon's full tonight," I mentioned, in a half dreamlike state. Glancing at him, he half smiled an actual smile and glanced up into the sky.
"It looks beautiful," he mentioned quietly.
Did he just say that? Sasuke Uchiha just said that. Weird.
He glanced back at me for a moment, something odd in his gaze. I held his stare for a moment, his dark eyes piercing and deep. It was beyond strange but I didn't want to lose. Suddenly, I looked away, letting my eyes fall to the ground.
"Let's go back," I mumbled, my arm tingling with light pain, "Rai here's getting heavy." Walking back, we didn't talk very much. But we weren't fighting which was surely an improvement; ok, so we fought a little bit but I don't think we would ever grow out of that. After putting Raiden and Yuri to bed, I crawled into my sleeping bag but didn't really sleep; my mind raced but with what, I really couldn't say.
Upon waking, we walked for what seemed like forever. The twins were better but they, like most five years olds, needed attention 24/7. They would also sometimes need naps. I didn't really care much that they needed naps but one of them usually came to me when they needed to be carried and that wasn't a bundle of fun. At the present, I was carrying a sleeping Raiden on my back.
"They seem to really like you," mocked Hiro, grinning smugly.
"Go away." I said crossly. I wanted to shove him but I couldn't do so without dropping Raiden.
"Actually, I'll stay right here," he retorted, just to piss me off. Well, it worked; I growled and he was about to continue when Mai called him.
"Hiro! Come here!" Hiro followed obediently, immediately forgetting about saying he wasn't going to move.
More weirdness. Hiro never listened to anyone.
Naruto walked ahead of me and Sakura was on my other side, cradling a sleeping Yuri. Mai and Hiro were chatting a few feet behind me.
Should we really be trusting Naruto to lead us? I glanced at Mai and then gestured to Naruto. She looked worried too. Hiro dropped back and walked next to Sasuke.
"Naruto, where are you taking us?" Mai asked questioningly, walking a bit faster.
"To the castle, duh."
"Don't 'duh' me. You're probably taking us into the middle of nowhere." Mai turned to Rika and Kakashi,
"We've been walking for days now plus Naruto's an idiot." Naruto exclaimed in protest but Kakashi interjected,
"Let me check. I think Naruto's doing fine but I'll make sure." Naruto stuck out his tongue at Mai. Not a good choice.
"I wouldn't test me, Naruto," Mai warned irately. This whole trip was setting her on edge. Then she looked ahead. I followed her gaze to a tree that's bark was chopped to bits. Mai dashed ahead of us and slipped one of her gloves off. She placed her bare fingers on one of the cuts, her eyes glazing over.
"Six of them were here. Jounin level. Two have swords," she reported, "They're about a hundred feet away, coming towards us." Kakashi and Rika took fighting stances. My eyes widened; I had no idea what was going on but I ran in what I hoped was the direction of the castle. Raiden had woken at this point and I could feel his hands holding tightly onto my shoulders.
I had just began to see the turrets of the castle approaching through the trees when a sword spun through the undergrowth right in front of our path. I skidded to a halt as a jounin landed lightly on top of his sword blade, now imbedded in a nearby tree. Another jounin joined him. We had no idea what to do. Naruto ran at them and one threw him into a tree. Swinging Raiden around to my front, I tightened my grip on him. I tried to run the other way but shuriken pinned me to a tree. I held Raiden tighter. I struggled against the shuriken but they didn't budge. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the next blow. But with a clang, the shuriken flying my way was ricocheted off into the forest.
Opening my eyes, Sasuke stood protectively in front of me. He jumped in and bombarded the shinobi. The assassin grasped Sasuke's foot but Sasuke retaliated by stabbing the kunai into the shinobi's leg. Blasting the shinobi back into the woods, Sasuke turned around and ripped the shuriken from the tree.
"Run to the castle," he ordered. I shook my head, pulling Raiden tighter.
"I won't leave anyone behind," I insisted. Sasuke wouldn't look at me, his face set with determination and his eyes searching the nearby forest.
"You have to do what's best for the client, no matter what happens," he replied stoically. I held my ground, staring intensely at the back of the Uchiha's head. He finally faced me, returning my glare and Raiden gasped. Ruby eyes glittered, tiny black markings encircling a black pupil. I had only seen his Sharingan a few times but even now I was entranced by them. "Go," he insisted, weapons whizzing past us. I held Raiden tighter and moved behind Sasuke, his arms out holding us behind his body. I heard the clung of metal as the weapons were deflected away, the thud as they hit trees around us. There was no easy way out now. Glancing down at Raiden, he was scared, his eyes shut and his grip incredibly strong. Some blades made it past his defense, scrapping my skin. Sasuke shuddered as one managed to hit him in the shoulder. The weapons stopped as the ninja was right in front of us, evaluating the situation.
Suddenly, the jounin sprang at Sasuke. Sasuke diverted himself out of the way expertly and the shinobi changed directions. Sasuke's crimson eyes darted around following the shinobi's every movement. The shinobi sped up his moves and Sasuke threw the weapons, missing the shinobi completely.
How could he miss such an easy target! But he wasn't upset with his misses. In fact, he was smirking. Then I saw it. And then the assassin saw it too. But it was too late for him. Thin threads were draped from the weaponry to his hand. Like a puppeteer, he pulled on the strings using his mouth and hands to orchestrate them, as if he had done this thousands of times.
With that shinobi trapped, I looked around for the next. Suddenly, Sasuke was thrown to the side and he landed with a thud. Raiden tensed in my arms and I gave him a quick squeeze to reassure him. The ninja came at me, weapons glinting in the light. I turned my back, shielding Raiden. I fell forward as shuriken dug into my shoulder blade, setting Raiden down on the ground lightly. I could see the gates mere feet away, people standing at them watching and crying for someone to help us.
"Run to the castle," I urged, nudging him in the direction of the gates. He took one more backward glance before darting away. I stood shakily and faced the shinobi; I needed to stall him. Dashing at the shinobi, I disappeared from his sight. He spun his head around, looking for me and I appeared to his left and sent a kick to his side. I reappeared again above him and kicked at his head. He evaded my last blow and shot up into the air, hurling more kunai. I reflected them off my own kunai. Losing my step, the shinobi attack rapidly, punches and kicks hitting me faster than I could block; I mean I blocked as well as I possibly could. Landing on the ground, the air was knocked out of my lungs and I didn't have any time to recover my breath. I braced for the attack and hoped someone would be here soon.
Then nothing happened.
Opening my eyes, Sasuke's ruby eyes stared back at me. I could see the pain in his eyes as the weapons hit Sasuke. Shocked, I couldn't move. Sasuke was breathing heavily as he stood, pulling me up with him. Forcing me behind him, Sasuke staggered forward to attack. But before the ninja could get any closer, Kakashi appeared and it wasn't long before the ninja was out cold. Trying to breathe, I reached up and pulled at the shuriken in my shoulder.
"You ok?" Sasuke asked, panting. Shocked, I yanked the weapon out and healed up my cut.
"Yeah, kind of," I gasped, wincing as I found another cut. "Are you?"
"Not really," he replied, sarcasm laced in his tone. I wanted to help him. To say I was sorry. But I didn't.
"You should have just taken Raiden then. You would be fine then," I replied, reaching for a weapon stuck in my back.
"Oh," he spat, "sorry I stayed and saved you." Glaring at me, he winced as he pulled weapon after weapon out of his skin. Stepping forward, I tried to pull a weapon he had missed, only for him to pull away.
"I could have saved myself," I retorted, taking another step closer. Sasuke stepped even closer, rolling his eyes in disbelief. Glaring, I jabbed him lightly in the chest. "I do not need you to save me. Ever." He glared at me, his dark eyes glittering with emotions I really couldn't read.
"You're welcome," he replied, walking away. I sighed, pulling out the last weapon.
Great. Just great.