Cough...damn sickness. sneeze all over the keyboard. Ugh... Whatev.~~~~~~~~~~~~enjoy
-Junko
NEXT UPDATE: 12.17.08
Chapter fifteen: The Saga Begins
Naruto lead the small group, nearly sprinting in front of the others, with a perkiness that was strange, even for him.
"Hey, spaz, what's you're problem? Slow down,"
"I just wanna get this mission over with so I can go back to Konoha," Naruto replied.
"Why? Aren't you usually psyched about going on missions?"
Kiba came over and nudged Naruto.
"I bet he wants to get back to that tall beauty of his," Kiba laughed, and Akamaru barked in agreement.
Naruto laughed and scratched the back of his head.
"Yeah, it wasn't very hard to figure out was it?"
Kiba smiled and raised his eyebrows.
"Who is that girl anyway? I saw her at your party, and boy, she was acting pretty friendly with you, Naruto," he said, winking. Naruto couldn't understand why Kiba was talking like this. Koretto was his sister, not his lover, for crying out loud. Oh right, I didn't tell anyone at the party…that must have been awkward for them to watch. Naruto blushed. Reeeeally awkward.
"Don't get the wrong impression, Kiba; she's my sister," Naruto replied, feeling a little uncomfortable with the images Kiba put in his head. Both Ino and Kiba looked at Naruto with mild surprise. Asuma kept strolling, bringing out a cigarette and lighter.
"Wow Naruto, I didn't know you had any living relatives," Kiba replied
Ino elbowed him in the stomach. Naruto smiled, un-offended. "Neither did I," he said.
"It's nice though, to have someone there," he kept his leaping stride, and Ino couldn't help but feel a little heartbroken for him. Wow. I didn't think how tough it could be without parents. She shook her head. This idiot was getting into her head. Maybe that was what happened with Sakura. Ino kept walking silently.
"Well, I'm sure Hinata-chan will be relieved you two are related," Kiba said, stretching.
"Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked
Kiba laughed. "You really are clueless,"
The group had been walking for a solid four hours. "Ugh…how much longer?" Naruto whined.
"Stop complaining, idiot," Ino replied tiredly. Asuma looked at the setting sun.
"You're right. Let's stop here and make camp for the night," The group stopped in the small clearing and dropped their equipment, thankful for the rest. They eagerly tried to up the tents. A little too eagerly. The structure collapsed before they could get inside.
"Damn it! " Ino yelled in frustration, stomping her foot. "God! I'm done with this! Have fun boys!"
She walked away, disappearing behind the trees. "Where's she going?" Naruto asked indifferently.
"I don't maybe to beat out her frustration on some helpless animal," Kiba joked.
Naruto laughed as they rebuilt the tent.
Asuma waited quietly under the tree, shaking his head at the group's inability to work together. He took another puff of his cigarette. He sat under the shady oak, waiting for them to finish. He sighed. This mission was fairly important to Konoha, but he didn't see why he had to come along. He had to agree with Naruto. I wish this mission would be over already. He chuckled quietly to himself. Was Shikamaru's attitude rubbing off on him? He looked to the sky, searching for a distraction. But, what he found instead was much better. He caught sight of the bird almost immediately, and stood up. Looks like my wish came true. He thought. He walked over to Kiba and Naruto.
"Hey, boys"
They looked up.
"Yeah, Asuma-sensei?"
"I've got to go back to Konoha. Urgent business. So I'm leaving the rest of the mission up to you guys, okay?"
He handed Kiba the scroll.
"You know what to do. And if Ino isn't back within half an hour, go see what she's up to, okay?"
He waved goodbye and darted off into the trees.
"Hmm, wonder what that was about?" Naruto asked aloud, resuming his tent work.
The two continued setting up camp; they built a fire, got out the supplies and started cooking. They ate hungrily, having not eaten anything since that morning. As the night started to creep up and the fire started to burn down, the boys and one dog huddled in sleeping bags, the cold autumn wind started to blow.
"Ugh! Where's Ino?"
"I don't know. Maybe we should go look for her?"
"Nah, lookin' for her would only lead to trouble."
"How's that?"
"She's probably doing some girl thing, and get really pissed at us."
Akamaru barked in agreement.
The two waited another half-hour for the girl to return. After the thirty minutes was up, Naruto rose angrily from his sleeping bag.
"That's it! I'm going to look for her."
He walked angrily toward the direction he last saw her in, and heard a bark and Kiba shout "Hey!"
Soon after the noises, Kiba and Akamaru joined Naruto in his search.
"Something' gotta be up. She wouldn't stay in this cold."
Kiba nodded, and the two continued searching the forest.
They looked deeper and deeper into the mass of green trees and shrubbery until they could no longer see the light of the fire. Both Kiba and Naruto started to feel the effects of the cold, there fingers nearly freezing under the conditions. Panic started to rise in Naruto for Ino, since they had been searching for quite a while. Was she dead? Is she being held hostage? He looked at Kiba and saw he was probably thinking the same thing. He continued on, walking stiffly, his fingers aching with cold. He peered through the branches ahead. A quick streak of light hair seemed to pass by. Naruto immediately started running, Kiba following close behind; he had seen it too.
Naruto burst through several thin branches into a dark clearing. Ino was sitting against a tree, unconscious. Naruto heard the whispers before he saw their faces. Seven of them; five men and two women surrounded the trio. He looked quickly around for an escape route. Seeing none he easily produced tens of shadow clones. Each ran at one enemy, but they all failed at landing even one hit.
"Naruto!" Kiba said, getting his attention. He met Kiba's eyes, and instantly knew his plan. He nodded and turned back to the enemy.
"We won't hurt you," one of the women said attempting to be convincing.
"Just give us the scroll," said another.
"No!" Naruto yelled, creating more shadow clones. They darted toward their opponents, and once again, were defeated. This time, however, a shower of exploding kunai flew straight towards them. Several jumped back, trying to avoid the explosions. The smoke created from the bombs was overpowering, and the seven enemies stood in near darkness, looking frantically around.
"Get the girl!"
One man ran to where he believed Ino to be.
Through the darkness a voice was heard:
"FANG OVER FANG!"
The smoke was cleared by what seemed to be two small tornadoes, heading straight for the nameless people, parallel to the ground. They darted in different directions, but there wasn't enough time to run for one. He was sent flying through the trees, his body cracking halfway through one before gravity caught up and he fell to the ground. The two Kibas look around, for another victim. Their eyes caught what Naruto was looking at. A man had an unconscious Ino, holding a kunai, gently pressing it to her throat.
"Choose your next move wisely," The man said.
The group echoed with laughter.
Naruto looked at Kiba, who put his arms up. Naruto stared at him in surprise.
"What are you…?"
Kiba took out the scroll from his pocket and started to walk over to one of women. She started toward him, hand outstretched. Suddenly, the Akamaru-Kiba swiftly tornadoed toward the group, knocking out another person. The man pushed his kunai with a tiny bit more pressure into Ino's neck. Naruto tightened, and Kiba stopped, replacing the scroll in his pocket. Naruto tried to summon up the Kyuubi's power.
"Uh-uh. I wouldn't do that if I were you, fox," the man smiled and Naruto stared blankly, his power receding.
"Orochimaru told us about you," he chuckled and the two boys stayed motionless. The man nodded to the woman that was halfway to Kiba, and she proceeded to inch closer to the boy, her hand still partly out. Naruto was furious. What am I supposed to do? Do I let her die? I-I can't…he looked down in frustration, thinking of a plan.
His angry reflection stared back up at him from the silvery surface. His face softened. Reflection? They hadn't been fighting on water. He looked around. They had definitely fighting on solid ground. Now however, the brown soil and dead grass had been replaced with a small pond of silvery water. Kiba seemed to notice also. The woman continued toward Kiba, oblivious to the change. As she took her last step to Kiba, gravity brought her down into the calm water. She had been sucked in, her hand s still visible as she tried to keep her head above water with her chakra. It was useless. She sunk to her doom, and after several seconds, the under water thrashing stopped. Her blood puffed up like a mushroom cloud under water, until it began staining the surface. Her body floated up moments later, purple and unmoving, staying centered within her ring of blood. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, her mouth dangled open, filling with water. Her body turned slowly until she was face down, floating with the gentle waves.
There was a moment of panic-stricken silence before anyone moved. Naruto and Kiba watched, unharmed as the men and women started to run away from the rising water. They could not escape it, though. Not one. Black, shadowy hands reached out of the water, grabbing the air, as if a respectful gesture to come join their comrade. The hands reached out farther, exposing the bodies of shapeless shadow people, bowing their heads and moaning, pulling the group of Orochimaru's men into the water by their ankles. Nails sunk into the earth, pulling against anything they could get there hands on, leaving bloody trails along the ground as the shadow people pulled them easily into their doom. The water consumed the lot, and like the first woman, blood came up in puffs of dark red-almost black-until the entire surface had turned virtually black, like the ghost like figures pulling them under. Their bodies floated gently up, reaching the surface one at a time, dotting the black surface like lily pads. Naruto stood there, shivering, and looked over to Kiba, who stood, untouched, trying to avoid he bodies that floated around him. His gaze went to Ino, who was lying on the surface of the water, unaware of what had happened. He walked cautiously over to her, and found that the water supported him without any chakra usage. He picked her up, and put her onto his back.
"Should we leave..?"
Kiba stood there, contemplating. The forest filled suddenly with music; an eerie tune played, perfectly describing wordlessly what had just occurred. The sound started to fade and the water disappeared, replaced by solid ground once again. Naruto tapped at the ground cautiously. The dead bodies of the people were scattered around them, along with their blood. Naruto felt a presence to his right and got into a fighting stance. He looked into the woods, where none other Koretto materialized out of.
He relaxed and looked around.
"Did you?"
She nodded, her lips slightly parted, and walked closer to him.
He felt that immediate sense of love, and smiled up at her. She tilted her head, and blinked, her eyes partly dyed red. Fear began to replace love and Naruto stepped back. She reached out, embracing him. His mind raced with the memory of his dream. Koretto's body started jolting, and Naruto heard a snarl erupt from her throat. He slipped Ino off his back as the Kyuubi's anger overwhelmed him. He pulled away from Koretto, and jumped back several feet.
"GET OUT OF HERE," he hissed at Kiba, who grabbed Ino and took off. Koretto collapsed to her knees, as her nails stretched, and her Canine teeth sharpened to a deadly point. Her hair started turning black at the ends and climbed up to her shoulders, where it stopped. She got down on all fours and bolted toward Naruto, who had also started his Kyuubi transformation. She brought her hand across his face, creating three new deep cuts. He was able to kick her away, and she skidded to a stop. She darted from side to side, behind him, in front; he didn't know where to look. He felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck as she dug her nails into it and threw him into the air. He jumped easily to the nearest tree.
Koretto slid to a stop, and stood up.
She spoke in a voice that did not belong to her.
"no point in running, child. i am stronger than the fox. you can't get away."
She laughed sinisterly, and disappeared. Naruto looked around until he felt breath on the back of his neck. He turned swiftly around. Bad choice. He met her eyes, and he began choking again. She reached out, grabbing his neck. She threw him against the trunk, and climbed steadily to the top. Splinters stabbed his back, cutting through his clothes and skin. She finally reached a slim branch that she threw him off of. He plummeted to the ground, head first. She followed after him, never breaking eye contact and grabbing his ankles. She pulled him up to her level, and then snapped him back, like she was flapping out a wet towel. She sent him hurtling at incredible speeds to the ground. The back of his head hit first, and his body slid backward into the ground, leaving a long scar in the dirt, about six inches deep. Naruto could feel the Kyuubi's power dim, along with his vision. The fight was over as quickly as it started. Darkness consumed him as Koretto walked forward. He felt a stabbing pain in his stomach as he lost consciousness, only hearing his own screams.