A/N: HEY EVERYBODY! I was so happy to get your reviews! I thank you all and hope you continue to review my work and stick with me. Btw I will try to update every Friday, so start your weekend off the Naruto way with a new chapter of Guardians. Well here is my new chapter I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: Don't own it, wish I did though T.T
CHAPTER 2
Temple of Nature
Time traveled as fast as the four ninjas did. They were in a desperate race against time just to see if Shikamaru and the others were alright. After about an hour or so of jumping from tree to tree at a steady, quick pace, they found themselves at the point marked on the map that Tsunade had given them.
There was a small clearing about fifty yards in diameter and nearly 250 yards around (A/N: believe it or not that's actually pretty close to correct. The actual answer is 246 point something or other. Nice to have an author who does his homework huh?). There were giant segments of what looked to be a pillar or many pillars lying on the ground. Naruto leapt up upon one of these great slate gray fragments and surveyed around.
He suddenly yelled down, "There's a hole leading downwards about thirty yards to our 11 o'clock!" He leapt down and almost hit Hinata. Sakura hit him in the head and Naruto let out many sincere apologies. Hinata didn't mind and just blushed and apologized back at him.
They found their way over to the hole and discovered that it looked like what once was an ornate staircase. They descended into the dark, with Hinata's Byakugan on full throttle.
"Hinata," spoke Sasuke, "do you see anything?" Hinata just shook her head and they continued on. They found a torch and Naruto lit it using a lighter that he had as opposed to Sasuke wasting chakra on a fire jutsu.
Their walk continued and soon Naruto started to complain about his hunger. "I don't see why you two couldn't let me finish my ramen before we left!" he constantly complained, only to receive a punch from Sakura in reply.
After about the fourth time Naruto stumbled back and the tile he was on sank and fell through with him still on it. The ground beneath everyone else let loose too and the all fell together.
"Everyone!" Hinata called, "We have about 500 meters before the bottom!" Everyone acknowledged this and Naruto maneuvered himself so he was closer to Hinata, just to keep her safe. Soon the ground came rushing up beneath them and they all released chakra to slow themselves.
Everyone landed without a scratch. Then Sakura Hit Naruto again for triggering a pitfall. "You idiot! Why did you have to fall on that tile?!"
"Well why did you have to hit me!?"
"Because you complained!"
"Because you separated me from my ramen!"
"Hey you two, shut up," came a familiar voice.
They all turned and saw them. Shikamaru, Neji, and Tenten stood nearby shaking their heads at the pitiful argument between the two ninja. Everyone rushed to greet one another, only to find an extra person among the three man cell. Temari was there among them, more than likely unaware of how close she was to Shikamaru. Her face suddenly showed realization and she jumped back, her face tinged a light pink.
They looked around finding themselves in a large dome like room with strange hieroglyphics lining the walls.
"So Temari," Sakura asked, "What are you doing here? Getting cozy with our three man cell?" Temari's face showed shock at such an outrageous remark.
"Well," she began, "I was over at Suna, and Gaara had asked me to come check this strange chakra signature that had randomly appeared. I knew it was so far away but I figured it shouldn't be too difficult. So I arrived here and ran into this motley crew and we were exploring down that ridiculously long staircase, when strange little creatures popped out of a dead end. We fought them and they were so powerful! It was like they used specialized elemental jutsu. One used water type jutsu and looked like a giant germ or amoeba or something, and the other was a shadowy form of a woman that used shadow based attacks like Shikamaru."
Hinata was confused. "You guys could barely take on two enemies? These things must have been very strong!"
Shikamaru cut in, "Well, it wasn't that they were strong, it's that they didn't have real shape so we had to depend on Temari's wind blades to destroy them and even then it took a while. I hope there aren't any more of those troublesome things around here."
They all sat around in a while in deep thought (except Naruto who was daydreaming about his ramen left back home on the table), until Neji spoke up. "We'll we might as well look around since we know that the way the staircase went was a dead end." Everyone nodded their consent and they all got up and followed a hallway that led back towards the way they had come in.
The hallway was wide enough that all of them could walk shoulder to shoulder and still have a few feet until they hit the wall. There was a comfortable silence that sat between them all. Being in a group has definitely raised morale, thought Shikamaru.
They continued walking for a few more minutes and conversation struck up. Neji and Hinata fell to the back and exchanged glances. "You saw it too?" she whispered to her cousin.
"Hai, it was one of those shadow women following us. Possibly more than that too, " He spoke quietly. "We need to warn the others." Without much trouble, they spread the news throughout their group and conversation ceased while Shikamaru focused on a strategy.
The resounding of their footsteps stopped, however, when the reached a door. The door was as large as the hallway, with hieroglyphics of a tornado, a fire, a lightning bolt, some kind of a sparkle of light, a black human form, a snowflake, a droplet of water, and a mountain, all surrounding a single human.
While everyone was investigating it, Hinata noticed something strange. She walked closer to the door and laid her hand over the sparkle of light, etched into the stone and closed her eyes trying to sense any strange chakra.
Suddenly, a bright light flashed and Hinata's eyes were open, looking at the now shining sparkle. Everyone was gazing in amazement at it. Only when Tenten turned around and screamed did everyone wake from their reverie.
Ten of the shadow women had emerged and were dragging themselves towards them. Everyone tried to force the door open, so as to avoid the conflict that was shambling towards them, when a thought came to Shikamaru.
"Wait a minute, why are the so slow? Maybe… Everyone! Touch a symbol! It's slowing them down!" Everyone else touched a symbol but only the lightning shown brightly at Naruto's touch and the mountain at Tenten's.
"What's going on Shikamaru?" asked Neji.
"I don't know but, I think there's a right one for each of us. Try to find yours. Hurry!" Shikamaru urged.
Sakura touched the snowflake, and when it didn't glow she punched at the door, only to hit the fire symbol and have it light up with a certain gentle warmth. Sasuke touched the snowflake after Sakura and it chilled his hand, shining brightly.
Shikamaru touched the black form that resembled a human and it grew to a heavy jet black, while Temari and Neji touched the tornado and droplet respectively, only to have them respond.
They all turned back in time to see the shadowy forms of the women be worn away by the reaction of the ninjas and the door. With a sigh of relief, they all knelt on the ground, trying to get over the hair raising danger that had just passed.
Is it them? came a bright cheerful voice.
I believe so, said an amused one.
Let's let them in, said a strong voice
Might as well, came a cold voice.
As if responding to these voices, the door swung open to reveal a room filled with giant purple crystals lining the walls and ceiling.
Welcome Guardians.
A/N: YAY! CLIFFY! I always wanted to do something like that. It feels good well I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to get your reviews once again. Don't forget we will be updating every Friday.