Chapter Seventeen
We tree hopped as soon as Kiba saw the evidence that they had taken to the trees themselves and cut through the forest in order to get to the border that Fire country shared with Sound. We had been traveling for about twenty minutes at a fast pace when Akamaru whined from his position beside Kiba at the front of the formation.
"What is it?" Shikamaru called up to him curiously as we jumped from tree to tree, anticipation making his voice sharper than the normally lazy drawl he used.
"Akamaru smells blood." Kiba announced grimly, his lips thinning into a grimace. "It seems like there was a fight - a group of people, four of which split off from two who were left behind at where the fight happened. Two people just appeared at the scene of the fight from what we can tell."
"It's like I feared. Sasuke has an escort of sound ninja." Shikamaru said, shaking his head. "We could investigate the fight and get a better idea of what we are dealing with, but we would lose time and fall further behind."
"By which time Sasuke could be at the border." Neji pointed out, his Byakugan activated. There wasn't anything I could see in the future for now, not when there hadn't been a decision made, so I stayed quiet and waited to see what Shikamaru decided.
"We have to go after Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed, speeding up a little.
"It's not your decision." Kiba shot back, scowling at the orange clad shinobi "Last time I checked Shikamaru was the leader. We do what he says we do."
"Shikamaru?" I prompted when he stayed silent, eyebrows furrowed. He glanced up, brown eyes narrowed in concentration, but his face eased just a little as he, for better or worse, picked a choice.
"We go after Sasuke." Shikamaru declared confidently
"Alright! I knew you'd make the right choice!" Naruto cheered, an almost feral grin on his face at the thought of continuing the chase and fighting for his teammate.
"They most likely got into a fight with a border patrol. Unless they are idiots, they'll suspect other shinobi will be on their trail - that means we lost the element of surprise." Shikamaru reminded us, casting his gaze around as we continued to tree hop at a breakneck speed. "Use all of your senses - be on the lookout for any kind of booby traps because they've most likely laid at least a couple to hinder us."
We all agreed and continued to move forward, focusing all of our senses outwards and moving as cautiously as we could at the speed we were traveling. I activated my Sakimonagan and got brief flashes of four people surrounding some kind of wooden container, which I opened my mouth to tell Shikamaru about, but then another vision hit me.
We all were jumping through the trees, heads constantly scanning, and Akamaru whined once again. Shikamaru called for a stop, and all of us came to a stop at a tree branch. He jumped back a couple of paces and looked at something on the bark of a tree before his eyes widened in shock - Shikamaru shouted out a warning immediately afterwards, his voice panicking and full of fear.
We all jumped backwards to where he was, but Kiba and Akamaru weren't fast enough since they were at the head of the group. They got caught in some of the explosions when the forest imploded - exploding tags seemed to erupt all around us, the noise and fire disorienting our rag tag team. Pieces of Hashirama trees exploded and I got hit with a splinter of wood half a foot long in my shoulder. I heard someone scream my name and Kiba's, their voice filled with shock, and when the smoke cleared I saw the burn marks covering every bit of exposed skin on Kiba's body. I could smell Akamaru's burnt fur and the burnt flesh of both the ninken and his master. Kiba was groaning in pain, lying on the forest floor, and the area around us was completely destroyed. The other members of our group got away unscathed but they evaluated the both of us with a sickened expression on their face - mostly Kiba, who looked to be in critical condition.
Shikamaru seemed to snap out of whatever daze he was in and started barking orders, calling out for-
"Stop!" I shouted, causing everyone to freeze on the branch they were perched on almost instantly just like we were trained too. Akamaru whined at the same time, causing me to tense, but my eyes searched for the seal placed on a tree just a few paces in front of the tree Kiba and Akamaru were resting in.
"Good catch, Ren." Shikamaru complemented, letting out a slightly relieved sigh at the seal placed on the tree in front of our group.
"What is it?" Naruto asked, scratching the back of his head.
"Paper bomb perimeter barrier - a nasty piece of work." I informed him, grimacing at the vision of what would have happened if I hadn't noticed in time. That would have been a pain in the ass to have been caught in, even if most of our group got out of the way - Kiba was our best tracker, it would have been a heavy loss for the mission.
"There's a small delay after the trap is tripped, waiting until the targets enter the kill zone, and then the bombs go off; catching all of those unlucky enough to be inside the perimeter." Shikamaru explained, looking over the trap cautiously. "It's a tricky jutsu - I read about it in one of the books my Dad used to make me read."
"We have to go around it." Kiba announced, looking irritated at the fact. "It'll waste more time trying to disable it."
The rest of us agreed and decided to take the long way around, albeit reluctant to give up the precious minutes it would take, putting us further behind the other group. Hopefully at least one of them was injured or at least fatigued from the fight so that we could catch up. We landed on the forest floor when Akamaru sensed the other group had done the same, and as we were walking forward, that was when we noticed all of the trip wires on the ground.
"They are spending more time laying traps than they were in the beginning. I would bet one of them is injured or too tired to keep up the grueling pace." I commented, scanning the criss cross of wires on the expanse of ground ahead of our group. We carefully maneuvered our way through the traps, the only incident being when Naruto almost tripped a camouflaged wire that was placed after a more obvious one - luckily, Shikamaru trapped him with his shadow in order to prevent him from tripping it.
"They are resting up ahead." Neji said softly, just loud enough for all of us to hear him. "There are four bodies spread out, some sitting and some leaning against trees."
"Alright everyone, come here." Shikamaru said, a distant look in his eyes that told me he was coming up with a strategy; it was never a good sign for his opponent when he got that look. "I've got a plan to nail these bastards."
We went over the plan, Shikamaru making doubly sure that Naruto understood his part in it; The blonde haired shinobi's exuberance was energizing, but he did tend to be on the reckless side. He actually kind of reminded me of Akari a little bit. Once we all knew what we were doing, we began creeping forward as stealthily as possible so we didn't give away our presence. The forest was like a second home to Leaf shinobi, so it was with sure feet and confidence that we made our way to the targets. Neji and Shikamaru were approaching from the front, Kiba and I from the right side, with Naruto and Choji coming at them from the left side. Once we were all in position, I activated my Sakimonagan and saw that our surprise attack had been turned around on us.
"Check your feet!" I yelled out to the others, cutting the cord that was tied around my own with a kunai, and throwing a kunai with an exploding tag wrapped around the handle at the four sound ninja. The others either did not hear my warning in time or the sound shinobi acted once they heard me, because my friends all got yanked by an almost invisible wire that had attached to their feet right after one of the sound nin had thrown a flashbang tag. They were all unceremoniously piled in front of the sound shinobi, who were looking pretty pleased with themselves. I jumped in front of my team while they sorted themselves out, my eyes an ice blue, giving them a look that dared one of them to attack us.
"Well, well. They sent a bunch of kids after us." A silver haired guy said, grinning nastily.
"Why don't you come say that to my face, bastard?" I taunted, walking to one side and making myself as noticeable as possible. I was hoping Shikamaru knew what I was doing but didn't want to look at him to see. "Too scared I'll kick your ass? Or maybe that we'll take Sasuke away and that snake face of a leader will do it for me?"
"You have no idea what you're talking about twerp." A red haired kunoichi said with disdain, shaking her head and glaring at me. "Lord Orochimaru would squash you like a bug without breaking a sweat."
"Good thing he isn't here." I said, smirking a little when I had the vision.
"Shadow Possession complete." Shikamaru said out loud with a smirk. I deactivated my dojutsu to conserve chakra and turned to give Shikamaru a quick grin. "Nice job distracting them, Ren."
"Sasuke is in the coffin." Neji said, his pale eyes focused on the container behind the four enemies who were currently paralyzed. "We should get him and leave. I won't feel comfortable until we are back in the village."
"Shadow Possesion, huh?" the silver haired sound ninja said, his lips twitching in a way I didn't like. "Good thing I know how to counter that."
As the words left his mouth, a shuriken came pelting out of the woods behind us and sliced through Shikamaru's sleeve, drawing blood. The shadow retracted away from the four sound nin and the burliest one with orange hair hit the ground, using some kind of earth release on our group. I cursed out loud, thinking about how stupid it had been to stop using the Sakimonagan, and resentfully watched as a barrier made of stone encased us. I heard one of the four congratulate the man who had caught us, calling him Jirobo, and then telling him to catch up when he was done with us.
"That doesn't sound good." I voiced out loud, my eyes roving across the rocks surrounding us.
"I'll get us out of here." Kiba said cockily, lips twisting up into a rather feral grin. "Tunneling Fang!"
The rest of us watched as Kiba hit the barrier with a powerful attack, spinning his body at an incredible velocity, and looked on in trepidation as it made a slight crater in the rock. My eyes widened as I saw the barrier begin to repair itself, the crater slowly fading away, until it seemed as though Kiba had never even made a dent in the first place.
"Are you guys seeing this?" Naruto asked, shaking his head to himself before he ran full tilt towards one of the walls. "Let us out of here you bastards! Let us out!"
I eyed the ground, noticing it hadn't really changed at all in appearance from the ground we had been standing on. I raised my eyebrows, an idea forming in my head, but second guessing because surely it couldn't be this simple, this easy.
"Doton: Hidden Mole Jutsu!" I called out, garnering the attention of my teammates as I sunk into the ground. I heard Naruto cheer as I sunk into the ground, the earth becoming as malleable as sand around my body, and I went straight down in order to make sure when I came out on the other side I didn't run into the barrier. I was a probably about seven feet in the ground when I felt a jarring pain in my bones, startling me and making me realize I must have run into the barrier, before I was launched back up to the surface against my will. The others had hopeful expressions on their faces but the hope quickly left when I shook my head grimly.
"The barrier extends all the way. It's most likely a perfect sphere, I encountered it about seven feet under the ground." I explained, watching Shikamaru's eyes narrow as he filed that information away for later. Neji used his Byakugan just as Naruto complained about being tired - which honestly made me notice that I felt pretty drained as well, more than I should after using the technique I had.
"The barrier is sucking the chakra out of all of us." Neji announced, his voice calm but his face revealed how alarmed he was by that fact. "If we don't escape from here soon, he will drain us completely."
"Alright, so let's get out of here." Kiba replied, standing up and pulling something out of his weapon pouch. "Here, Akamaru, have a food pill."
I watched in fascination as the small, white dog that always accompanied the Inuzuka turned a bright, angry red color and grew a substantial amount. Akamaru bared his teeth when the change was complete, giving a yip to his partner that was most likely a signal that he was ready for whatever Kiba had planned. Kiba shot us a quick look, as if saying 'Alright guys, now watch THIS' before performing a few handsigns. "Human Mimicry! Beast Mimicry!"
Akamaru turned into a decidedly more feral looking Kiba, with elongated canine teeth and claws where his fingernails would normally be. Kiba, for his part, changed into the same form so we were faced with two identical Inuzuka's in what I called, at least in my head, beast mode. I was actually pretty impressed, especially when they used fang over fang, which allowed both of them to spin at an incredible rate and launch themselves at the barrier. It was a powerful technique, reminding me of a particularly powerful drill; it was the same as the tunneling fang Jutsu that Kiba had used earlier, essentially, except with double the firepower. The two of them ricocheted around the barrier, able to control themselves in the jutsu so they could steer clear of us which was even more impressive in my book, causing a large number of dents to appear in the stone structure. They ended the jutsu gasping for breath and I watched exhaustedly as the barrier regenerated itself once again.
I had a theory that it was most likely using our Chakra in order to repair itself and maintain the shape; So, if we were to exit the barrier somehow, it would result in the barrier crumbling. I gazed around at my teammates, gauging their expressions in order to see if anyone had an idea, and stopped when I landed on Shikamaru. His narrowed eyes were focused on one spot in particular where the barrier was healing itself; I looked around the barrier, wondering what was so significant about that spot, and when I looked behind him I saw the barrier finish healing. My eyes drifted back to the spot Shikamaru was analyzing and they widened as I noticed what he most likely had. That spot, even though Kiba had hit all over the barrier in just a few seconds, was regenerating at a significantly slower rate. Well, I say significantly slower but it could very well just be that I was so excited to see a weakness that I was exaggerating.
Shikamaru's dark brown orbs were staring into my own grey ones when I turned away from the spot on the wall as it finished healing. He raised a black eyebrow questioningly, asking silently if I had seen it as well, and I nodded my head to confirm that I had. My eyes drifted down his face and his neck, taking in his features, before freezing at the blood still coming out of his arm. Sighing to myself, and secretly wondering if he even remembered that he had been injured or if he was just that lost in thought whilst trying to find us a way out of here. I walked over to him, pulling out the bandages I carried on my person and waving them in order to show what I was doing. Shikamaru glanced down at his bleeding arm with a grimace, apparently being reminded about it by me, and I was wrapping his tanned bicep before he had a chance to say anything. Both of us were silent as I worked, I was being careful not to tie it too tight so that his circulation wasn't cut off but not wanting it loose enough that it would not stop bleeding from lack of pressure either. It needed to be a happy medium between the two; luckily, well more like pragmatically, we were taught basic first aid in the academy and it had become second nature to me over the last couple of years.
"Do you trust me?" Shikamaru asked so quietly that I was almost positive not even Kiba, with his enhanced senses, could hear him. I stared at him seriously, considering the question and all of the interactions we have had.
Shikamaru wouldn't be satisfied by a quick answer, he would want me to think about it. So that's what I did. In the last few months, I had come to know Shikamaru Nara to be a loyal, intelligent shinobi. Admittedly, he was pretty lazy and unmotivated, but that wasn't the case when he was engaged. I was pretty sure that it was just hard for him to be interested by anything and the reason he wanted to nap or watch clouds all the time was because his brain was constantly processing information. His mind most likely never shut up, always zooming at a rate most people wouldn't be able to even comprehend, which made him seek out those activities in order to quiet his mind and be able to relax. The Nara was intense, in a way, with the way that he looked at me sometimes as though I was a puzzle he was trying to figure out. It made me feel peculiar, warm in a way but also slightly uneasy, but mostly the first. I enjoyed spending time with him, I enjoyed his family from the few interactions I had with them, and I knew he was an excellent strategist who made very sound judgements based off of the information in front of him and his uncanny ability to stay at least a few moves ahead of his opponent.
"With my life." I responded, just as quiet, but my eyes never leaving his for a moment. I watched as his opened wider than they normally did, possibly shocked by my response? I didn't regret saying the words, however, because it was the absolute truth. I trusted Shikamaru with my life, not just in a way that a subordinate should trust their field commander, but I trust him with a part of myself most people don't get to see. I squeezed his shoulder through the surprisingly light chunin vest he was wearing in a reassuring gesture as I finished wrapping his arm up. He was still staring at me but nodded slowly, taking a step away, before breaking the eye contact and approaching one part of the wall. It was the wall opposite to the one that had healed at a slower rate, I noted interestedly, but remained silent as I watched him carry out whatever plan he had come up with in that brain of his.
"Hey! I want to talk to whoever is in charge." Shikamaru yelled out, his raspy voice echoing slightly in the small space we were all trapped in. "I have a deal for you guys. How about you let us out and you can keep Sasuke? I never really liked the guy anyway."
Kiba's and Naruto's heads both shot up instantly, confused and betrayed expressions on their faces as they listened to Shikamaru. Choji and Neji, however, were calmly waiting to see how the situation would unravel. I saw Shikamaru's shoulders lower slightly, obviously wanting a response and disappointed when he didn't receive one, but he perked up a little as a voice I assumed belonged to Jirobo replied. "No deal. I've never let a captive out and I'm not going to start now."
The voice was distorted because of how thick the wall was, but I think the voice was coming from the wall that Shikamaru was facing. I saw the calculated look on his face out of the corner of my eye and assumed he had reached the same conclusion, but wanted to be sure anyway.
"Then just let me out and you can keep the others." Shikamaru said, refusing to look back at any of us as the words left his mouth. "All this fighting is really not my thing, it's such a drag and I'm tired of it. So, how about?"
"You little..!" Kiba exclaimed angrily, standing up with a hurt and pissed off look displayed on his face. "If you're ratting us out, I'm going to kill you!"
"Shut it, Kiba." Shikamaru replied, his voice as serious as I had ever heard it "For once in your life."
"Sacrificing your fellow shinobi?" Jirobo asked mockingly, a sadistic joy in his voice. He was obviously the type that liked to play with his prey before the kill, which was the stupidest kind of people. It just gave your enemy more time to think of a plan or for reinforcements to come. His arrogance was our gain, however, because I was sure things were going exactly the way Shikamaru wanted them too. The Nara was walking around the perimeter of the barrier, checking to make sure where Jirobo was positioned as he continued to insult Shikamaru. "What a terrible example of not only a ninja but also a man you are. Oh, wait, you're just a boy, aren't you?"
The orange haired Sound shinobi continued to speak but I quit paying attention to the words when I saw Shikamaru stop in front of a spot. He subtly marked the location by drawing a circle in the dirt with his food before turning around to face the rest of us. Kiba and Naruto began fighting, what had started it I wasn't sure, but it was quickly getting on my nerves as the volume escalated as did the insults.
"Shut up!" Choji yelled, causing both of them to fall quiet and look over at the heavyset Akimichi clan heir who was normally a rather soft spoken, nice guy. I felt my lips twitch upwards, not quite a smile but close, when I saw Shikamaru sink to crouch down with all of his fingertips touching, his thumbs facing upwards towards his face and the other digits facing downwards, forming a circle. As his eyes closed and eyebrows furrowed, the smile became a little more pronounced because even though I felt weak from all the chakra that had been drained out of me, I knew we would probably get out of here - that position was one Shikamaru only did when he was faced with a difficult puzzle, obstacle, or choice. It always resulted in an amazing strategy from him though, which was why I was smiling; my attention was drawn to Choji as he opened a bag of chips and began munching on them. The Akimichi was as content to wait for his best friend to come up with a plan as I was, if not more, and I admired the brown haired shinobi for his steadfast loyalty.
"Is he meditating?" Naruto asked out loud, looking at Shikamaru strangely and look to Choji for an answer, who was steadily annihilating the bag of chips in his hand.
"Figures." Kiba scoffed, screwing his face up in his irritation. "Choji responds to a crisis by stuffing his face."
"We need to bust out of here." Naruto exclaimed, making me deadpan. It was as though he thought we weren't taking it seriously before but informing us that it was time to become serious about leaving. It made me want to facepalm but distracted me from most of the next sentence out of his mouth. "-Shadow clones!"
"Don't bother." Neji commented, seemingly completely serene and unbothered by our situation. "Our chakra restores the walls to their original condition, so multiple attacks won't work. We need taijutsu strong enough that one knockout blow will create a hole in one go in order to be successful."
"Well, Choji has stronger taijutsu than I do." Kiba admitted, albeit reluctantly, and then gesturing towards where Choji stood with his almost finished bag of chips. "But look at him! He has other things on his mind."
Shikamaru stood up, drawing the attention of our entire group and causing Kiba's words to be ignored. "Neji, can you focus your eyes on the wall behind yourself and Choji? Do you have enough Chakra?"
"I think so." Neji replied contemplatively.
"You aren't going to listen to him, are you?" Naruto interrupted angrily
"You still don't get it!" Choji exclaimed exasperatedly "Don't you remember what Shikamaru said when we came together as a team? He would put his life on the line for any one of us."
"Okay, Choji, try to keep your voice down." Shikamaru said, his tone of voice all business, but with a fond look just under the surface for his best friend before turning to the Inuzuka. "Kiba, up for another round? Can you make a dent in the wall right behind Choji?"
"I'm always up for getting wild." Kiba said, that feral grin on his face as both he and Akamaru got prepared for another fang over fang. They performed it without a hitch and soon there were a myriad of dents in the dome surrounding us.
"I see." Neji said, comprehension dawning on his face.
"What is it?" Naruto asked
"The wall heals slower at this point than any other in the structure." Neji explained, looking to Shikamaru with newfound respect. "Shikamaru observed this earlier and got our captor to talk so he would reveal his location, which is parallel to the weak point."
I saw that Naruto had been following along but he still looked a little lost, so I simplified it for him. "Shikamaru was being a dick so he could find out that guy spreads his chakra too thin to give us the best chance of busting out of here."
"Oh! Alright Shikamaru!" Naruto cheered, face brightening at the thought of leaving the chakra sucking dome.
"Alright, Ren? Once Neji marks the spot, use that new jutsu of yours with as much power as you can pack in it. Choji will hit it with everything he's got right afterwards." Shikamaru said out loud, pointedly ignoring Naruto's comment and my over simplified explanation. I took the bow from my back and strung an arrow, gently pulling back just to make sure the draw was good, before nodding once to signify I was ready when they were. Neji had marked the spot with a piece of chalk that Shikamaru had tossed over to the Hyuuga and I lifted my bow to take aim. Just as I pulled back the arrow to take the shot, Choji began his technique at the exact same time.
"Doton: Seismic Arrow!"
"Expansion Jutsu! Human Bullet Tank!"
The dome shuddered as my arrow made contact, creating a dent that was more deep and wide than the Fang Over Fang had caused. I watched as Choji began rotating like a giant boulder, hitting the exact spot and making an indent in the ground as he collided with the wall. We all let out relieved breaths as Choji broke through and light spilled into the dome, all of us feeling much better now that our chakra was not being stolen as we exited the structure. Just as I had predicted, the entire dome crumbled soon after we got clear.
"That was awesome. No other way to say it." Shikamaru stated, a satisfied smirk on his face as he observed the pieces of rock that had previously made up our prison. As the dust from the collapsed structure cleared, Jirobo was straightening up and watching us. "He's alone. The others must have gone ahead."
"Yes, they have already made it out of my range." Neji confirmed, making my heart sink a little. We had been so close to them and now we had to gain all that ground back after we take care of this nuisance.
"Just when I thought we caught up." Shikamaru complained, rolling his shoulders and eyeing Jirobo as he began to clap his hands with an expression of contempt on his face.
"Congratulations." Jirobo told us mockingly, dropping his hands. "That was good teamwork - for losers."
Kiba and Naruto, the two most impulsive of our group, charged the sound ninja almost at the exact same time. They paid Neji's warning no heed and barreled straight towards him like idiot's, their only plan to punch anything they could touch most likely. I winced as Kiba was knocked aside as easily as though he were a child right before Naruto was punched so hard in the gut that he flew back a few feet and hit a tree. Kiba and Naruto got to their feet fairly quickly, heading over to where we still stood facing off against Jirobo. No one had made a move yet but I activated my Sakimonagan. I saw the Earth Release that Jirobo was about to unleash and quickly dropped a smoke bomb, obscuring us from his sight, and we used the body flicker technique to retreat from the clearing and into the forest itself. As we all made it there, we huddled together to make a plan.
"We need to split up." Shikamaru said reluctantly "We can't waste time with this guy but we can't leave him on our tail either."
"I agree." Neji said after a tense moment. "With our Chakra gone, it won't be easy. One group to stop him, one group to follow Sasuke."
"Neji, take Kiba and Choji to chase after." Shikamaru said after the thought for a moment "Naruto, Ren, and I will take care of this guy."
"We need to move!" I shouted, my still activated dojutsu showing that Jirobo was about to throw a huge chunk of earth at us. We all jumped back, wearily looking around the clearing because the guy had disappeared, before I saw him. I body flickered over to Shikamaru, tackling him out of the way just as a hand broke the earth to drag him underneath. I landed on top of Shikamaru painfully, both of us grunting at the uncomfortable landing.
"You okay?" I asked, standing up and offering my hand to help him up.
"Yeah, thanks for the save." Shikamaru said, gripping my hand and climbing to his feet easily. "I always imagined I would be on top though, so it was certainly interesting."
I gaped at Shikamaru, who wasn't looking at me and had a completely serious look on his face, which made me doubt that he had meant what he said in the way I originally thought. It was when his lips curved upwards in that damn smirk that I felt my face heat up and I punched him in the arm, causing him to protest and grip where I had hit. "Don't you think this is not the time?"
"Yeah, yeah. You didn't have to hit me." Shikamaru grumbled, both of us going to our teammates. Jirobo watched as we regrouped with a condescending sneer on his face directed at Shikamaru.
"I don't know what's more pathetic; the fool or those who follow him." Jirobo taunted "Tell you what - if you want to work under glum faced shadow lover, I'll just kill you now and put you out of your misery."
"How about you shut it before I shut it for you." Naruto growls out, practically vibrating with anger.
"This guy is mine." Choji said, making all of us look at him in surprise. He was staring straight at Jirobo with a look that said he was going to inflict a lot of pain on this guy which was extremely out of character for Choji.
"But Choji.." Shikamaru protested, trailing off.
"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked, looking at Choji as if he was insane. "This isn't the kind of guy you can take down on your own."
"He's mine, I said." Choji said sharply
"But Choji!" Naruto retorts, an argument on his lips but Choji ignores him in favor of tossing Shikamaru a bag of food pills. I was getting a bad feeling about this, for some reason.
Shikamaru eyed the bag of food pills and then his best friend, his expression torn. "Choji, you aren't gonna.."
"Uh-huh." Choji said, never looking away from his enemy. "Don't worry. I've got my secret weapon with me."
"Yeah, but Choji, this is.." Shikamaru looked lost for words and dismayed by the fact that he couldn't stay with his best friend.
"This is priceless." Jirobo commented, sneering. The bulky man began to charge towards where we all stood. "Think I'm going to wait forever?"
"Get going!" Choji called out, taking some kind of green pill out of a box, and then intercepting Jirobo. Choji stopped the man mid-charge, holding him in place as they locked arms and both dug their feet into the ground. "Hurry!"
"You better catch up with us." Shikamaru orders, turning away from his friend. "You hear?"
"Yes!" Choji grunts out, already sounding as though he were being over exerted. "Get out of here!"
All of us jump into the trees, jumping from one to the next as quickly as we can. I didn't have enough chakra to maintain my Sakimonagan and my mind was racing, thinking about Choji facing off against Jirobo and Shikamaru's expression when he had to leave him. There was no other choice for him, he had to continue because he was the team leader and had to direct the group, but that doesn't mean I couldn't stay in his place. I stopped abruptly, causing everyone else to stop, and I gave Shikamaru a meaningful look.
"I'm going to catch up." I said, grabbing a kunai from my weapons pouch.
"What?" Shikamaru asked, looking confused before realization dawned on him. "You mean..?"
"Yeah, Choji and I will catch up together." I said, tensing my legs as I prepared to jump from the tree and backtrack to where Choji was. Shikamaru grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards him, wrapping me up into a quick embrace. I breathed in the spicy, woodsy smell that I had come to fondly associate with him.
"Thank you. I need both of you to come back." Shikamaru said in my ear and I simply nodded in response, not trusting myself to say anything. Shikamaru pulled back and then they continued while I headed in the opposite direction towards the clearing.
"Hold on Choji, here I come." I muttered, jumping across the trees easily and moving as quickly as I could. I just needed to make sure I got to Choji, we beat Jirobo, and then catch up to the others. We could do this. We had to do this.
A/N: I'm a jerk for ending it there, I know, but lot's of fight scenes coming up! I promise!
I also want to apologize for the long gap between updates, especially when I had promised that the next chapter would be up by wednesday a week ago. I honestly just needed a break from writing. I don't know if anyone follows any of my other stories, but just in the past month and a half, I've written over 150,000 words - which is a shit ton to write in that short of a time period. So, I have rested, and will hopefully be back to updating fairly quickly - at least once a week - although maybe not every two days like I had been.
Rache Replies to Reviews Section:
Tock: I am so glad you are enjoying my story! I appreciate it! I was also sad when Akari and Rafu died, but it had to happen :( Now, the thing about Ren is that he IS extremely forward in an awkward way. It's like he is willing to put himself out there, but he has no idea what to do once he does. I look at him as having a lot of bravado - a kind of fake confidence that lets him hide how insecure he can feel sometimes and the times that he thinks that he isn't good enough. You hit the nail on the head with why he is impulsive - because he has visions only a few minutes into the future, if he isn't ready to react, then what he saw happen will actually happen - because he has had these visions since he was little, this has just kind of bled into his personality. I can't promise no more tragedy, there will be at least one I know you won't like, but I hope you continue to enjoy the story!
XIV - La Temperanza: Thank you! I'm glad you like the story and am especially thankful for your wonderful review! I have considered rewriting the begining, but keep in mind, it's only been up for like a month lol so I'm not sure I want to quite yet. Now, I do want to mention that some of the changes in style is on purpose - I'm trying to make it seem like Ren is getting a little more mature as the story progresses because of the loss of his teammates and as he ages. Hope you continue to enjoy and review!
Sarahgri99: Thank you for your review (s), I truly appreciate the time you take to let me know how much you are enjoying the story. It means the world. There will be more Kakashi and Ren interactions, I've been building that up for awhile, and they should be coming pretty soon - so keep an eye out! Thanks again!
Also, thank you to Paulavara140, Melome, lonelywishfuldreamer, agd888, Adamantia13, and Amikotsu for your wonderful reviews! I hope you keep enjoying the story and keep reviewing to let me know what you think!
~ Rache