Chapter 2: Look Where You're Going
Naruto twisted his way through the maze of run down, abandoned buildings. He'd seen a red and white fan symbol, the same one Sasuke wore on the back of his shirt, splashed across several walls, so he guessed this was an abandoned district or compound that had once belonged to the family. Stopping once he was out of breath, he ducked through a sizable hole in a wall and into one of the buildings.
Looking around, he found himself in a derelict bathroom, containing a filthy tub, a grimy toilet, and a rusty sink beneath a cracked and spotted mirror. Pushing an old wooden box beneath the sink he climbed on top of it to examine his reflection. He was pale as death, his expression frightened, blood dripping from the wound in his ear. He touched the tag, wondering what to do about it. He could leave it in, but what if they caught him with it? He was sure that if one of those ninja caught him they wouldn't pull it out through the hole, they would probably just grab it and tug, ripping open his ear. He shuddered at the thought, wondering if he should take it out. He eventually discarded that idea. What if they caught him with it was a bad thought, but then again, what if they caught him without it?
Naruto jumped down from the box and set about examining the contents of the pouch Tsubaki had given him. There was one kunai, dull, and a few shuriken that look rather factory-reject. Somehow he suspected that the five or six paper bombs were duds. He scoffed; should have known they wouldn't give him anything really useful.
Still, deciding not to waste resources he attached the pouch to his hip. He squared his shoulders and, trying his best not to make any noise, set off through the ruins of the building to find another exit. It wouldn't do to just hide, the dogs he'd seen were probably trackers, and anyway he didn't think they'd all just go home when the sun came up. If day came and they hadn't found him yet, most likely they would blow the whole place up before leaving him in there alive. No, his best bet was to try and get out of the complex before sunrise, and before being caught. Then he could find his way back to the village and get to his apartment, where at least he could lock the door and be somewhat safe. He doubted there would be any point in trying to tell someone about this if he did manage to make it out alive, and he knew perfectly well nobody would care he was here enough to send a rescue if they knew. He was on his own, and he just wanted to get home in one piece.
Coming out what might have been the front door he found himself at a cross between two streets, a large open space with buildings at each corner and a packed dirt road to each side. He looked around, surveying the junk lying about, looking for something he could use.
"Well that was easy."
Naruto jumped and spun around. Behind him, not ten feet away, stood the blond woman and her two male comrades. The one with the pony tail that looked like Shikamaru discarded a cigarette, tossing it to the ground between himself and Naruto and not bother to stamp out the still glowing ember.
Naruto turned to run, but before he could move there came a cry from behind him. "Ninja Art: Shadow Possession!" He tried to lift his foot, but it stuck to the ground. He turned back to face the three before him, unable to move any more than that.
"Oi, Cho," said the blond woman, turning to her larger companion, "get the tag."
"Bring him here, Shika," grunted the heavier man, taking a step forward, "why don't I just crush him first and we can get it off the body. You know Tsubaki-taicho will just get annoyed if we leave him alive."
Naruto's heart pounded. He looked desperately left and right, his eyes darting over piles of rubbish, looking for something, anything, that he could use to get himself out of this. His eyes fell on the cigarette, still glowing dimly in the darkness of the night, the only other source of light besides the full moon overhead. Not far from it there was a rusty metal container shaped like a squished cylinder. He struggled to read the label; Turpentine.
The man who had cast his shadow to trap Naruto adjusted his hands, making a few new seals. Now, without his captor having to move an inch, Naruto began to walk slowly forward. He fixed his eyes on the can, tensing the muscles in his leg as he edged nearer to it. The woman laughed as her pudgy teammate began making signs, one hand slowly expanding to be far bigger than the rest of him. "Partial Expansion Jutsu!"
His left foot was only a few inches from the can. He gritted his teeth, willing his muscles to obey. He stepped forward, first with the right, then with the left. As he lifted his shoe off the ground he let out a grunt of effort, releasing his tense muscles as he tried desperately to kick the can onto its side. His foot went out of its way by barely an inch, but it was enough. It connected with the can, tipping it over and spilling its contents onto the still glowing cigarette butt.
First sprang up at Naruto's feet! The enormous hand hovering over him caught the flame, and its owner swore as he drew back his burnt hand. The fire broke the shadow the other had stretched out ensnare Naruto, releasing its hold. Not wasting a second, Naruto turned around and took off down the opposite street, running as fast as he could away from the fire and the shouts of "Damn demon!" emanating from the trio behind him.
Naruto wove in between buildings, taking as many alleys and side streets as he could. When at last he could no longer hear the yelling off his pursuers or smell the fire he fell to his knees, panting, again looking around trying to get his barrings.
"I really need to start looking where I'm going," he panted to himself.
"Yeah, you really do."
Naruto groaned. He looked up, only to find himself in another cross-ways. The difference was, this one had only three streets, the one he'd come from, the one before him, and the one to his left. Glancing to the side he saw that the left street was blocked by a wall that had fallen down into the road, leaving only the way before him and the way behind. In front of him stood the wild-looking woman from before, a large dog on either side of her, and he could hear behind him the sounds he presumed to be the three others closing in. The two dogs before him growled, showing their teeth, and began to stalk slowly forward.
Naruto gulped.
"Don't kill him yet," ordered the woman. Naruto noticed that one pocket of her coat was wriggling, and as he watched she reached inside and pulled out a small white puppy, a spiked collar around his neck. Naruto blinked. The thing couldn't have been more than a few weeks old, but as its mistress placed it on the ground it growled at him, showing barely formed teeth. Its fur, Naruto noticed, was white all over, except for the tufts sticking out from under its collar, which were bristly and brown. Naruto stared. That didn't look normal.
"Akamaru here is supposed to be given to our clan leader's son tomorrow," the woman explained, an amused expression on her face as she watched the dog. "Supposedly he's a bit of a slacker, so I figure we'll give him a partner that's already a killer. Akamaru, attack!"
The dog, Akamaru, growled, baring its sharp little teeth and charged at Naruto, barking the whole way. Naruto wasn't sure what to do. He was sure he wouldn't be allowed to dodge as the two bigger dogs flanked the small white one, and yet Naruto was not sure that he wanted to. This dog was little more than a puppy, he didn't seem to want to be here at all. He'd been brought here in someone's pocket, just like Naruto had been brought in a cloth sack, and suddenly, just as the dog jumped and launched itself at him, Naruto realized what the bristly brown fur beneath the dog's collar was. Blood.
On instinct, Naruto reached out his hands in front of himself as the dog flew up at him. However, as it's jumped carried it into his immediate range he felt his hands closing, and the next thing he knew he was holding the little thing at arm's length. Not that it seemed to mind, it barked rather happily and wagged its tail. Naruto blinked, stunned into silence.
"Grrr!" the woman growled, frustrated, "Useless little mutt! Get him!"
Now the two bigger dogs were closing in, and Naruto was willing to bet they wouldn't be so easily disarmed. He couldn't go forward and he couldn't go back, so he did the only thing he could do, dart to the left and, tucking the dog under his arm, scramble over as much rubble as was necessary to get into the building.
Naruto was a fast runner, but he wasn't willing to race two large, blood-thirsty looking dogs. He bolted out the other end of the building and, darting down a narrow alley, he looked along the walls for a way to go the only other direction he could think of that the dogs couldn't; up.
Thankfully Naruto had noticed fire escapes on a few of the buildings, so as he ran down the alley soon enough he came to one, rusty but still resolutely clinging to the stone wall. Jumping up on an old trashcan, still holding the dog, he leaped up and grabbed the ladder, pulling it down enough to clamber up it onto the first landing. Here he sat down quickly, letting to dog escape his grasp, and took off his shoes. He could hear the dogs barking just beyond the mouth of the alley, so he quickly tied the straps together and threw them as hard as he could in the direction he'd been running. He knew dogs had a good sense of smell, and he shoes stank with the stench of his feet, so he quickly turned to the window by the fire escape for something to hide his sent. A pair of yellowed, moth-eaten curtains were hanging in the window, and as he put the fabric to his nose he cringed; they were rank. Perfect. He tore them down and wrapped himself and the dog in them, covering himself just as the dogs came barreling into the alley, their mistress in hot pursuit.
Naruto held his breath as they passed under the fire escape, but thankfully they didn't stop. Instead the ran all the way past, barking like mad, to where his shoes had landed. The sniffed his sandals and then whined, not understanding why the sent ended there.
The woman growled again. "Fan out!" she ordered, she and each of her companions taking off in a different direction, and after a moment Naruto pulled the smelly curtains off himself and looked around. The alley, thankfully, was deserted, and tossing the curtains inside the building he sat down cross-legged to examine the dog in his lap.
"She's mean, isn't she?" he asked it, earning a whine. "You don't like her either, do you boy?" he asked, scratching the dog behind its ear. It yipped and licked his hand, but flinched when he touched the collar.
"And you don't like this thing even more," Naruto mused, gingerly touching one of the spikes. Akamaru whined again, nosing at Naruto's hand. Careful not to jostle it, Naruto undid the buckle that held the collar in place, pulling it slowly off the puppy.
He grimaced at what he saw. Not only was the collar spiked on the outside, but tiny, sharper spikes lined the inside of the collar as well. They had been digging into the dog's flesh, making him bleed and staining his white fur red, and then brown as the blood dried.
"That's terrible!" Naruto whispered, not daring to be too loud. He threw the collar down into the street, disgusted. "What kind of owner would do that to their pet, huh?"
Akamaru whined again, licking at his bloody fur. "I need to get you to a vet," Naruto mused, "you know, once I get back to the village. But first I need to get rid of your lousy master."
Looking down at the quivering puppy in his lap, a thought struck Naruto. He frowned, trying to remember what the woman had said about the dog. He was supposed to be given to someone important in a day's time. That made him valuable.
"Hey, Akamaru," he said, picking up the dog and holding it at eye level, "you wanna help me get back at that lousy owner of yours?"
Akamaru yipped his consent.