Hey peeps, me again and I'm finally done with this chapter (even if it is a bit late ^.^). I have to say though, this is one of my best chapters yet. If there was a hall of fame for chapters, this chapter would be rockin' it at the top. Lol. Anyway I'll shut up now, I have other matters that need my attention. And DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!!! Us writers need love too! -.-
Thanks for reviewing; Tsubaki Takara, Sauru Tsukiyomi Sanbi's Faeble and Riku-sia (You changed your pen-name?). I need more though, otherwise the Naruto world will be trapped in an eternal Tsukuyomi. ^.^
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. I only own Vaskar, Shane and the story. Riku belongs to Hidan's little Riku, Shiro belongs to Sauru Tsukiyomi Sanbi's Faeble, Koto belongs to RuTakasheryuu, Hibiki belongs to Tsubaki Takara and Mitsukai belongs to Jesus Brother Bob. Other OC's belong to their respective owners.
The group walked in silence through the forest after Shane. The boy hadn't said a single word since they'd started walking which was making Koto slightly suspicious. For starters, what was a kid doing in a place like this? At night. Not to mention the rouges they'd just faced made staying in this place questionable.
The more Koto thought about it, the more she didn't trust this kid. She looked besides herself to see Shiro also lost in her own thoughts. No doubt thinking along the same lines. Koto looked past Shiro to see Riku skipping along happily. Koto blanched at that. Now that she thought about it, Riku had been acting a little strange since they'd fought those rouges, and she'd been acting even stranger since this kid had found them. It's almost like she was happy.
Koto shook her head. It was enough that she was suspicious of the kid. And anyway, it was about time she'd found out if he was legit or not.
She walked ahead of Shiro and Riku until she was next to the kid, then adjusted her walking speed to match his. If the boy noticed she was there, he made no sign of caring.
"How do you know Vaskar?" She asked, keeping her tone light and casual.
She watched the boy's eyes slowly turn to look at her before refocusing on his surroundings. "We're friends, that's all."
Koto narrowed her eyes, Vaskar had never mentioned this kid. Although the boy mentioned the same thing about them earlier, not to mention the fact that they'd only met each other today too so that was a pretty legit answer.
"How old are you?" Koto asked.
"Ten." Vaskar's age. He's ten and he's walking around at this time. Friend or no friend of Vaskar's, that is definitely strange.
"What are you doing in a place like this? At this time of night?" Okay, that question was going a little too far, but maybe she could get away with it.
"I had something important to take care of. What are you? My mom?" Maybe not.
"How did you know where to find us?"
"I didn't." Okay, that one was definitely a lie. He was waiting for them in the exact area they'd left Vaskar in. Not to mention he knew where Vaskar was in the first place so that raised some questions. It's almost like he had been waiting for them.
It's official, there is something up with this kid. Koto stopped walking, letting the boy get ahead of her. She only started walking again when Shiro and Riku caught up to her.
"Guy's, something's up with this kid." Koto whispered, looking mostly at Shiro.
"What did he say?" Shiro asked, holding her arms over her stomach.
"Not much. All he said was that he had something important to take care of."
Shiro looked at Koto with a dubious expression on her face. "So… what does that mean?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Riku stated, with a small smile on her face. "He's the rouges leader." Both Shiro and Koto stopped dead in their tracks.
He's the rouge leader. That would explain a couple of things but not why he's helping them find Vaskar.
"How can you be so sure?" Shiro questioned, glancing at Koto for a second before looking back at Riku. Riku stopped and spun herself around to face the two girls. The dark haired girl happily held the back of her hand to her friends as she counted off her fingers.
"We'll for starters, when I asked a rouge about their leader, he said that the leader had something important to take care of. Add that to what he told you earlier and you've got yourself a suspicious little boy. Not to mention the fact that he's wondering around, alone, at night, acting perfectly calm like he owns the place. Which he probably does. I mean just look at the way he spoke to us earlier, I highly doubt it but it seems like he has the power to back-up his words. And let's not forget-"
"Okay! We get it. He's bad, we're good, he's the enemy. Jeez." Koto interrupted, rolling her eyes. "But supposing you are right about this, what do we do now? We're following him into what could be a trap and we still don't know where Vaskar is."
Shiro sighed, "Whatever the situation, for now, we have to…no, need to trust him or we might just never see Vaskar again." She started walking again in the direction the boy had disappeared in. "And that's not something I'm willing to risk…"
"Besides… It's three on one." Riku stated, following after Shiro. Koto placed her hands on her hips for a second before letting them drop back to her sides and followed the other two girls.
The three girls soon came upon a clearing and stopped, looking around. There wasn't really much around except for a couple of rouges in the trees around the clearing a couple of streams running the perimeter and a lone tree in the middle. Shane sat in this tree alone, looking bored out of his mind but at the base was…
"Vaskar!" Shiro called, which automatically drew Shane, Vaskar and the rouges attention. Many of the rouges began chattering loudly and muttering obscenities, Shane was obviously annoyed and Vaskar just looked plain confused… and tired.
The spiky haired boy at the base of the tree looked up to see Shane and brightened immediately. "Hi Shane!" Shane rolled his eyes in response.
"Shut up!" He shouted. Immediately, all of the rouges quietened down to a dull whisper and Shane crossed his arms. "Be gone!" With that said, all of the rouges disappeared among the shadows of the forest.
Vaskar stood up, yawning as he did so, and turned around to fully face Shane up in the tree. "Shane, what are you doing here in the mist?"
The boy above jumped from the branch he had been sitting on and landed in front of Vaskar. "You can't be that stupid, can you?"
"What do you mean?" Shiro asked as she walked over and placed a firm hand on Vaskar's shoulder, pulling him against her slightly.
"I was looking for you." Shane replied, completely ignoring Shiro. Vaskar looked at his friend questioningly and Shane sighed. "I used my influence on the rouges to find you."
"Why?" Koto asked as both she and Riku walked over, narrowing her eyes at the cyan-haired boy. At that, Shane instantly fell silent and crossed his arms. He mumbled out something but the girls and Vaskar couldn't hear.
"What was that? We didn't hear what you said." Koto said, leaning towards Shane slightly.
"I said it's 'cause were friends!" He shouted, surprising the four.
Vaskar grinned, "Shane, come with us." Shane looked at Vaskar like he was crazy, or stupid. One of the two. It looked like he was about to argue the subject but stopped himself.
"Where are you going?"
Riku placed her hands on her hips in an annoyed manner. This was getting boring and annoying at the same time. "We're going to fight a group of S-class ninja known as the Akatsuki. Okay. So if your weak, then I'd advise you to back off. Get it, got it, good. Let's go!" Riku turned around and started walking, expecting the rest of the group to follow.
"So what's Vaskar doing with you then?"
Riku's eye twitched and she slowly turned around. She glared at Shane and he glared back, placing his hands in his jeans pockets.
"Say what?" She hissed. She took a threatening step forwards, but the boy didn't look phased. As for Vaskar, Shiro and Koto; they all took a couple of steps out of the way.
"I said, 'What's Vaskar doing with you then?' Are you deaf or just plain stupid?" He growled. Riku marched towards him until her face was less than an inch away from his.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kick your ass?" She spat.
A scowl crossed Shane's face as he replied, "Touch me… and you die."
They stayed like that for a whole minute, neither one moving an inch until Riku snorted and walked off, muttering under her breath. Vaskar released a sigh he didn't even know he was holding, Shiro quirked a brow and Koto simply looked bored with the situation.
"Alrighty-then let's go." Koto said, faking the happy tone in her voice. Shiro glanced at her friend for a second before shrugging and following after Riku. She stopped and glanced back at Shane and Vaskar, seemingly wanting to say something but shook her head and continued on without another word. Koto followed after her friend and began chattering animatedly about the bad choices clans usually make with their young.
Shane and Vaskar looked at each other for a second. Vaskar suddenly broke out into a grin whilst Shane scowled. "You guys are chasing S-class ninja around?" Shane stated more than asked.
"Yup!" Vaskar exclaimed.
"Your even dumber than you look." Shane smirked at that, "Not to mention your still weak."
"Shane! Don't say that in front of them! The last thing I need is for them to worry about me or to leave me behind." Vaskar cried.
"Just stay on guard… Where are we going, anyway?" Shane asked, as both he and Vaskar started walking after the others.
"I think their names were Mitsukai and Hibiki…" Vaskar replied.