CHAPTER RATING: T

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Episode 18: Siren of the Sand, Part III: Weathering the Storm

"Hold on!" Naruto cried out and his grip tightened around Hinata's hand. In the vortex that was pushing them outward, they began to pull towards one another. Slowly, they inched closer together towards the center of the spinning sands.

"Kiba! Find us when you can manage!" Shino commanded before he was pushed out of the cyclone and jolted out of sight.

"Stay where you land! Akamaru and I will-" Kiba and Akamaru were forced out of the storm, just as Shino had been, cutting off his orders to Naruto and Hinata; bringing her closer to him, Naruto pulled her toward his chest and hugged her, Hinata wrapped her arms around him in a returning embrace.

"Hold on to me, Hinata. I'll keep you safe." He whispered. She rested her head against his chest as he pulled her close. "I know you will." She whispered back.

The vortex exploded with a violent force, sending the teammates in opposite directions. Naruto and Hinata managed to hold onto each other. Naruto landed with a single impact on the coushioned grains of golden sand with Hinata in his arms, his breath rushed out of him at the impact; in a swift whiplash, his head collided with a stagnant stone.

Hinata looked up to find Naruto's eyes closed in deceptive peace. "Naruto-kun?" Naruto gave no response.

She rushed to her feet and tilted his head forward to discover a stream of scarlet rushing down his blonde hair. Hastily, she dragged him over to a nearby rock into the shade, reaching into her bag, she pulled out a roll of bandages and began to gently wrap the cloth around his head. She took a deep breath while sitting in the cool shade.

"Kiba-kun. Please find us quickly."

Behind her, a black bettle flew by.

…

Kiba fell into the sand dunes with a confortable landind. He stood in the hot sun and looked around.

"Akamaru!?"

No reply. "Damn it. Now I actually gotta find them." He raised his nose to the wind, and took in the dry breeze.

"Got it." With confidence, he turned around and ran off.

…

Shino floated to the ground with ease while surrounded by a black sphere of bugs. They reentered his sleeves while he rested his hands in his pockets. A lone bug flew towards him, with a finger extended, he brought the bug to eye level.

"I see." He said aloud. "take me to them." The bug lead the way, buzzing and gliding. Shino raised a hand, and the bugs flooded out again, creating a large barrier against the sun's burning rays. He turned towards the bug and slowly began walking.

…

Naruto's eyes began to blink; a slight breath entered his lungs as he looked up. He shook his head and looked toward the horizon, in his vision, he saw a silhouette on the horizon walking towards him.

"Hinata?" He asked.

"Naruto-kun?! You're awake!" He heard her voice echo from behind him. The image that was approaching him vanished into the desert haze. He turned and looked up towards her.

What was that?

"Y-yeah, I'm awake…Wh-What happened?"

She bent down and grabbed his hand. "We were pushed out of the vortex, we've been separated from the rest of our team." He felt a sharp pain rip at his cranium; reaching back, he looked at his scarlet stained hand.

"What happened to me?"

"When you were pushed out of the vortex, your head hit a small rock, and knocked you unconscious."

"But you were there for me." He replied with a smile.

That must have been it, just a small hallucination.

"What are we doing now?"

"We're still waiting for Kiba-kun and Akamaru. Shino instructed us to wait for them to find us."

"How do you think they'll find us?" Naruto asked.

"I'm sure they'll find a way." Hinata looked down at a stain on her sleeve. "For now, we'll just wait."

Hours seemed to pass by while they waited; desperate for light in the looming darkness, Naruto dragged a large piece of wood towards the shade. Hinata placed an explosive tag on the log and set it off.

The tag exploded, and engulfed the wood in a raging flame that stained the blue tinted sand with bright orange. They sat around the glowing flames; staring into it and watching it dance in the night. The dancing flames were mesmerizing, almost hypnotic.

Their eyelids became heavy, and soon, they fell asleep.

…

"Who is this that comes to my domain, seeking my presence?" Naruto heard a voice echo in his head. The voice echoed through his mind. "What is it that you seek from me?" It asked again.

"I'm here to ask you to stop what you're doing to the village that sits north of the main village in the Land of Wind…" he replied.

"You wish to speak with me?" the voice mocked him. In his mind, he saw a slender woman with golden hair and eyes, clothed in a red dress that rand down the length of her body, seemingly floating above a pile of sand, "Then come to me…" she invited him seductively.

His eyes shot open, and he saw the blue tint of his surroundings. He silently stood and looked towards Hinata; he tried his best to speak, but found that his lips did not move, as if his mouth was sealed shut. His body began to move silently into the night.

"Now, close your eyes, when you open them, we'll finally meet." His body did as she commanded, his eyes closed, as much as he tried, he couldn't open them.

…

The sun rose, and Hinata awoke to smoldering flames and the hot desert sun. She looked towards the horizon and saw three figures looming in the distance. They walked closer, and came into view: Kiba, Shino, and Akamaru. Panic entered her mind when she noticed that Naruto was missing.

"Kiba-kun! Shino-kun! Something terrible has happened!" She ran towards them. "Naruto-kun is gone! He must have left in the night! I don't know where he is!"

"Don't worry, Hinata." Kiba replied. "Akamaru, let's go!" They both raised their noses to the wind, took a sniff, and ran off into the sunrise. "He went this way!"

Shino nodded to Hinata, they ran off, following their teammate.

They ran through the duns of the desert for what seemed like days before coming across something rather strange: a forest.

They stopped in their tracks as the emerald landmark came into view, a great contrast to the golden sand that surrounded it.

"What does this mean, Shino?" Kiba asked.

"Do you two remember that storm that torn us apart?" They nodded. "That storm was caused by something supernatural. Whatever caused that storm, must be the cause behind this anomaly."

"And do you think that Naruto-kun is there?" Kiba sniffed the air.

"We're sure he's in there, right, Akamaru?" Akamaru barked happily in response.

They approached the forest with caution. When the trees came into view, they noticed something even more odd, the soil that the trees were growing out of, wasn't soil at all, it was sand.

"Be careful, we don't know what we'll find from here on out." Shino warned. The entered the forest with silent footfalls that sunk into the fine grains of sand. They were guided by Akamaru's Dynamic Marking that still lingered in the noses of Kiba and Akamaru himself. They entered the heart of the forest, it was illuminated by a single ray of light.

And in that light, stood Naruto.

…

Thanks for reading!