CHAPTER TWO: Wall to Wall
Naruto was so confused. He leaped over an old, rotten log and continued to run. He didn't know where exactly he was going, he just knew he had to run. Iruka-sensei had told him to run. Naruto turned around and could still here the shouts and calls of angry villagers, but they seemed too far off to be a worry anymore. Naruto howled in pain as he fell over. He looked down at his legs and rubbed the various bruises and scrapes he had received from the villagers. What am I going to do, panicked Naruto, I have no place to go, I can't live out here on my own, and I can't go back to Konoha!
Naruto jumped up from where he was sitting and looked around him. He didn't even recognize where he was. All around him were trees that were so tall they blocked out the sun and the sky. Everything around him seemed to be in twilight as if the day were ending, but Naruto knew it could only be noon. Naruto turned around facing the direction he had come from, and his thoughts wandered to Iruka-sensei.
"Naruto, I need you to stay quiet. I want you to hold onto my hand and not let go," demanded Iruka in a whispered tone. The man sprinted from building to building with Naruto in tow looking around corners for any danger. All seemed fine as most of the village was in chaos over the Uchiha incident as Naruto learned to call it. The man and the boy slowly made their way through winding paths and old buildings that had long outlived their need. As Naruto glanced around him he noticed a cloaked body was following him and Iruka-sensei.
Iruka began to run faster as he picked up Naruto, aware of the other's presence. Iruka was in a full run the speed of which amazed Naruto. Everything around the boy moved in a blur. Colors blended with shapes and objects forming strange image's of the surroundings. Then the blur stopped. Iruka lowered Naruto to the ground and pulled out two Kunai which he held like daggers. In front of the two stood a large crowd of people with an assortment of odd weapons ranging from simple clubs to delicate katanas. No matter what the difference in weapon choice was, they all had the same mindset. They wanted the boy Iruka protected.
Naruto looked out in every direction trying to think of the best path to take, but he couldn't decide. Each way looked treacherous as the forest seemed like it would engulf him forever. Naruto felt like he had no way out. As growls and strange noises began to fill his ears, Naruto ran and hid behind an old, rotting tree. The boy slowly inched his head forward until he could see what was beyond the tree. Nothing. Even as Naruto's eyes darted from right to left and up and down, he couldn't spot any creatures or other humans in the forest.
Looking up towards the sky, Naruto tried to find the sun. The boy thought back to the first classes he had taken at the academy which involved survival in the wilds. Naruto tried his best to summon up the memories of his education, but all he had ever done was pull pranks and skip school. A loud crack entered Naruto's ears startling the boy into attention. He began slowly creeping toward the sound of the noise and as he neared, he began to hear shouts and curses. Moments later as Naruto hid behind a bush filled with small red berries, he caught a glimpse of some men repairing a wagon on the side of a road. The blond-haired kid began arguing with himself as to whether he should go out and ask the men for some help, but he was afraid they too, might be from Konoha.
"Damn, the axle is completely busted, we have no way to repair it now!" stated one of the men as he pointed at another, "This is your fault for not paying attention to where you were going. How are we supposed to get those goods to Toki!"
"Shut up... there is a village only a couple miles-" the man suddenly stopped and looked towards Naruto. Naruto froze instantly fearing for his life. He shut his eyes and held his breath, but the man pushed the bush aside. The man fell backwards when Naruto jumped into the air in surprise, accidentally head-butting the man in the process. As he rubbed the bottom of his chin the man screamed in pain complaining that he bit his tongue. Naruto cowered back, eyes widening, his arms raised up to his face. The man's face showed no emotion as he looked carefully at the boy who was covered in scrapes and bruises.
"Hey, there is a little brat over here. He looks like he's hurt. What should I do with him," asked the man clearing his throat then smirking.
"Don't ask me Sasori. You're the one who found him. Your problem now."
The man frowned, letting out a long sigh and turned his eyes back to the blond-haired brat. Naruto slowly lowered his arms as he took a good look at the man. He was tall. Gigantic by Naruto's standards. His skin was like porcelain as Naruto noticed how pale the man was. Naruto asked the man if he was sick which caused the man to laugh awkwardly. The man lifted Naruto carefully, but the boy still winced from the contact. While he was setting Naruto down, he called to another man to grab the medical kit. Naruto's eyes glimmered as he reached for one of the needles. The man quickly batted Naruto's hand away.
"Don't touch those they're dangerous for a brat as young as you," ordered the man as he began bandaging one of Naruto's legs, "All of those vials contain medicine that could kill you if you were to inject too much."
Naruto folded his arms and began pouting as he whined, "That's not fair! I wanted to hold one of them. What makes you so different you don't look so old!"
One of the other men laughed, "Ha, Sasori looks like you found yourself quite the handful. Think you can take care of a little kid?"
"Boy or not someone should teach this brat not to touch dangerous things," replied Sasori in a dark, low voice that seemed to disturb the man, "Don't you have better things to do, I despise having to wait for things."
"Yeah, Yeah, you are just our bodyguard so learn some patience, Sasori. We are the ones paying you to keep us safe. I hope you're worth the sum of money we dropped to get you. The ninja that are after us are pretty powerful. Maybe you can make up for breaking the carriage by killing them all."
"Don't test me!" snapped Sasori as he widened his eyes and shot the man a vicious look, "I know my job. I don't need a damned moron like you telling me what to do." Sasori looked back down at Naruto and smiled, "What do you say, kid? Want to go for a walk? Oh, and before I forget what's your name, brat?"
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! My favorite things are Ram-" exclaimed Naruto as he was interrupted by Sasori.
"All I wanted to know was your name, ya punk! Don't lecture me on you're entire history."
Naruto turned to look away from Sasori and began pouting saying, "You're really mean, Sasori-kun! You should at least know that my favorite thing to eat is ramen. Ramen is like the most important thing in the world! Iruka-sensei wou-"
"What do you mean -kun you little shit," shouted Sasori as he gently drilled his fist into the side of Naruto's head, "I'm older than you! Address me with some respect! For example you could call me Sasori-sama or even Honorable Lord Sasori."
"Wow, you are really lame, Mr. Sasori," giggled Naruto as he slid off the cart and rested his feet on the ground.
"Brat, you have no right to call me lame," spat Sasori as he pushed Naruto aside, "Where did you get those clothes anyway? They look disgusting."
"Sasori, I hate to interrupt your heart to heart with the brat, but we need someone to get the tools for the axle," motioned a man as he pointed at the wagon.
"Jirobu, Naruto and I will go to the village we passed not too long ago and get you the materials you need to repair the wagon." explained Sasori to one of the other men, "It shouldn't take us too long. If you need protection my subordinate will be fine."
[---
Naruto had been walking along Sasori for what had seemed like hours. He looked at the young ninja walking beside him noticing his messy, red hair. Sasori was wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt, matching black pants, and a pair of red gloves. He had a gray vest adorned with weapons slung over his shoulder, and Sasori wore a pair of worn, red sandals. The entire way Naruto complained that his feet hurt until Sasori lifted the boy onto his shoulders. He noticed that Naruto grew extremely happy when the kid was riding on top of his shoulders so he just left him like that. For most of the trip, Naruto had been loud and obnoxious explaining his life where he lived. Whenever Sasori tried to ask the boy a question, Naruto would quickly interrupt and talk about a whole new subject. Naruto was much quieter now, and Sasori looked up at the punk who was glancing at the surroundings.
"Hey punk, you know you can't stay with me forever, I'm sure your parents are worried about you. Where are they right now?" questioned Sasori as he looked back at the road.
Naruto's body tensed up as the boy heard the question. Sasori, startled by this, quickly set the boy on the ground and turned to face him.
"What's wrong now, kid?"
"My parents... My parents are dead. I don't know how but they both died when I was littler than I am now."
Sasori felt a small twitch of pain in his heart as he stared softly at Naruto. The boy rubbed at his eyes wiping away the silent tears that were slipping down his cheek. This brat's parents died, reflected Sasori, Naruto has no one in his life. The boy is lonely just like I was. Should I help the little punk?
"Naruto, what is your dream?" asked Sasori in a soft tone.
"I-I want, I want to become the greatest ninja ever, and one day become the Hokage!" hollered Naruto clenching his fists, "Nothing's gonna stop me!"
The boy now had a big grin on his face as he looked up towards Sasori. The red-haired ninja patted Naruto on the back and stood up straight. Sasori twisted himself so that he faced the road ahead and asked, "Naruto, how do you plan on becoming a ninja if you aren't in Konoha anymore. Why did you leave?"
Naruto gazed into Sasori's eyes stuttering, "I-I n-never meant to leave. The Hokage forced me to so that the villager's wouldn't hurt me anymore."
Sasori caught a glimpse of a tear running down from Naruto's eyes and before the boy began to cry, Sasori silenced him and told Naruto they wouldn't speak about it anymore. Lifting Naruto onto his shoulders, Sasori continued up the road at a gentle pace. While they continued to walk, Sasori noted how Naruto was deep in thought about something. This slightly disturbed Sasori because the man hated not knowing what others were thinking. However, this feeling soon passed as Sasori spotted the village ahead.
Walking into the village, Sasori was slightly on edge. Only hours before, this town had been full of life and now it seemed almost abandoned. Sasori's eyes widened and he reached for one of the kunai attached to his vest. As he was about to throw it, Naruto's stomach suddenly growled making its presence known. This caught Sasori by surprise and he threw the kunai just missing the head of a tiny white cat. The cat scurried away just as Naruto jumped off Sasori's shoulders and onto the dirt road below.
"Hey, um, Mr. Sasori, I'm really hungry do you think we could get some ramen or something," laughed Naruto as he rubbed his stomach.
"Absolutely, Naruto," replied Sasori intently staring at the buildings in the village, "It looks like there might be a place to eat over there. How about you go check it out while I find a carpenter?"
"Alright," screamed Naruto as he punched his arms in the air, "I'm finally getting some ramen today!"
As Naruto ran off to the shop, Sasori ducked into a building. His eyes narrowed, Everyone in this village is dead. Those ninja that were following us came here. These ninja can't be too powerful. I can sense most of their chakra. There are five... No, six. I have to take- Sasori stopped as he noticed one of the nin were heading in Naruto's direction. He quickly rushed towards Naruto and halted when he saw the boy fly through a window and crash into the street. Sasori gritted his teeth as a muscular man wearing blue pants lined with fur and large black boots jumped after Naruto. Before the man could finish the brat off, Sasori appeared in front of the man shooting several poisoned-laced needles into the attacker's stomach.
Three more ninja dressed similar to the other man appeared on the rooftops around the village. Sasori glanced sideways and saw a fourth strolling up the street, his hands in his pockets, as he headed for the two. In an instant, Sasori pulled a scroll from behind his back. As he unraveled the scroll, he placed his hand in the center resulting in a gigantic cloud of smoke to burst around Naruto and himself. Sasori didn't wait for the haze to disappear and immediately sent several puppets flying towards the enemy ninjas. While the nin on the roof were struck and fell to their deaths, the man that had been walking up the street swirled around his attackers and demolished the puppets in one blow. Sasori pulled the other puppets from their positions and sent them flying towards the fourth man.
Within an instant, the remaining puppets had been reduced to scrap as the man moved at a blur.
"My name is Aros. I'm going to kill you," said the man in a cool, crisp voice, "May I inquire as to your name?"
Chapter 3 will be released on Saturday February 2nd