Hey, everybody.
It's been a while, I know. I haven't had the time to update. I was on a trip the whole summer, and school's pretty hectic. I'll try to post as soon as possible.
Now, on with the show.
Naruto: The Ninth Tail: Chapter 15
Four people - Kirin, Touda, Kimiko, and an unknown person to be revealed later - were in a circle completely inscribed with a spell. They were rapidly forming hand seals one after the other. Slowly, the words started to slide together into the centre of the circle. As the words got closer and closer, it started to slow down. They all formed one seal and held it. The spell moved a bit faster, and as all of it finally reached the centre, a slight popping sound echoed through the room.
"It's done." Kimiko lifted herself from the ground and picked up the black ball - that was the spell - in the centre of the circle. She looked at the man.
"You know what to do." he said.
She nodded once, and silently left the room with Kirin and Touda.
Meanwhile
"Damn." Deidara was wiping blood from the corner of his mouth, breathing heavily. Naruto and company weren't faring any better. However, it was still seven against one. "I guess I'll let you guys live for today." The giant clay statues cracked and crumbled to dust. Deidara pulled out a scroll from his black-with-red-clouds cloak and tossed it at Naruto. The boy started to panic, then ducked and covered his head with his hands. The scroll landed on his back and rolled off. A moment of silence.
"Are?" Naruto looked up, then at the scroll.
"It's the scroll from the Sand. That's what you guys came here for, right?" Deidara started to walk off, but Sasuke stood up and charged.
"Wait!" Sasuke was about to grab Deidara, but a swift turn kick sent him flying into a tree.
"Che. In the state that you're in, you won't even be able to lay a finger on me. I'm done here." Deidara spat, and jumped into the foliage. Naruto got up, scroll in one hand, the other scratching his head. He jumped over to where his fallen comrade was.
"Hey, you all right?"
Sasuke wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth. "Dumbass. Does it look like I'm all right?"
Naruto jumped back. "He's fine. At least we got what we need." Naruto was opening the scroll, when Kakashi suddenly yelled.
"No! Don't!"
Too late. Naruto had opened the scroll up. Everybody instantly hid.
…
Nothing happened. Everybody looked at where Naruto was standing. The first few words on the scroll were "Property of the Country of Sand." Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief.
"Geez, Naruto! Couldn't you at least have checked for booby-traps before you opened it?"
"Booby-traps?"
Naruto looked at the scroll, flipped it around, squinted, and flipped it again. He gave a mock salute, with a wide grin.
"No booby traps found, sir!"
"Geez."
That was all the Jounin said. It was already dark, so they found a good campsite and set up for the night.
Hinata couldn't sleep. She felt that someone or something was pulling at her, urging her to go somewhere. She got out of her sleeping bag, and put on her sweater. As she walked out of the tent, the pale light of the full moon lit her face up. She walked over to a large tree with a small river winding around it. The moon was still facing her, and she could see it perfectly. She just kept looking at it, marvelling at how the sound of running water and the rustling of leaves complimented the atmosphere. She was so engrossed in the moment that she didn't notice that she had company.
"Oh, hey Hinata."
She must have at least jumped ten feet in the air. Once she found out who it was, she got even more nervous.
"Ah, Naruto-kun!"
"Hey,"
He was just sitting on a branch, leaning on the tree, waving at her, with a big grin.
"Want to join me?"
"I-is it okay?"
"Is there any reason not to?"
And so, with that invitation, she jumped up on to the branch beside his, but she lost her footing.
"Ah!"
Naruto instinctively grabbed her hand before she fell to the ground.
"Geez, Hinata. What were you thinking?"
She got back onto the branch, making sure she didn't fall this time.
"G-gomenasai…"
"It's okay. As long as you didn't get hurt."
Hinata went bright red, and looked down, squeezing her sweater. They sat in silence for a while. Then Naruto broke it.
"It's really nice tonight."
"Yes, it is."
"Just like the night when the demon fox came to Konoha…"
"Eh?"
Hinata turned her head, looking at Naruto. He had a solemn face on, just looking at the moon with glazed eyes.
"Nights like this make me wonder if I'm actually helping the world."
"What do you mean?"
"It seems like I can't do the most important stuff right anymore. Me having to be given that scroll by that guy, not being able to bring back Sasuke way back when…" He sighed. "Maybe it would be better if I just died. The people in Konoha would like that."
"That's not true!"
"Eh?" This time, it was Naruto's turn to look at her.
"You're a great person, Naruto-kun! People will miss you, believe it or not. I would miss you too."
Seeing the expression change on his face was too much. She turned her head the other way, and went red.
"It's true, because I…I…"
She played around with her fingers a bit, then squeezed her eyes shut, crying out.
"It's because I like you, Naruto-kun!"
A moment of silence. There was no response. Hinata opened one eye and peeked over to where Naruto was.
He wasn't there anymore.
Sasuke was restless. He couldn't sleep at all.
Damn.
He turned over.
Damn.
He got up.
Damn.
He walked out of the tent. Right beside the put-out campfire was the scroll, carelessly left out. Sasuke looked at it for a moment, went over, checked for booby traps, and snuck away with it. Once he though it was far enough, he stopped. He looked at the scroll.
Might as well. Anything can help.
He opened the scroll up. What was inside was not something he was expecting. The interior was completely different from what Naruto had shown, yet it was strangely familiar. Then it hit him.
"Oh, shit."
Busted.
End of Chapter 15