Hey everybody. This is long overdue, and I could give a long list of excuses, but you just want to read the latest chapter. The next chapter won't take as long next time. Hopefully.
With Naruto...
Naruto gritted his teeth as he was transported across the forest floor. He was bound and gagged, but he was still making it hard for them to carry him. Where was Shino? Was he safe? Was he... Naruto shook his head. Shino was just as determined and strong as him, he was sure he was fine. Naruto signed with relief when they decided to stop for a moment. They were three of them. At least alive.
There had been two other charka's in the area so he left Shino with a clone and came across what he thought were lost kids. He sent another clone down to investigate when an exploding tag went off near his branch. He remembered a lot of numbness, but not much else. When he awoke, he was tied up.
Naruto growled at the girl who merely stared at him. She came and left a couple of times, but mostly stayed out of sight. Her kimono was a little teal and bloodied in some areas. Her face was covered with a mask, but we could tell she was smiling under her breath. He wanted to knock that grin off her face so badly.
"You seem angry little ninja." She keeled in front of him, and removed the gag. He spit on her mask and shouted curses at her as one of the other ninjas moved over to him and kicked him in the back.
"Shut up you little brat!" Naruto turned his attention to the other boy and focused his glares on him. The boy backed away at the amount of killing intent that was leaking from Naruto's being.
"I'll make you pay if you've hurt my teammate." The girl chuckled drawing his attention again.
"Oh? How are you going to do that tied up?" It was time for Naruto to smirk.
"Never take your eyes off the sky." Confused, they looked up, as Naruto place both palms on the ground.
"Earth Release: Rotating Spikes!"
The other nin jumped away as three large spikes erupted from the ground as a spike impaled one of the nin's legs and moved towards the three at alarming speeds. Naruto used the distraction by hastily lifting himself off the ground and engaged one of the nin in combat. The girl drew a kunai and slashed at his midsection. Naruto smirked and didn't make a move until the last few seconds, and turned around jumping above her.
She paled as he sliced through his restraints.
Naruto drew two kunai of his own and stabbed her through the shoulder and kicked her away. He used his new momentum to grab a branch and swing his way onto another tree. He easily parred the blade of the second nin, noticing the lack of identification. He headbutted the other boy and swept his legs from underneath him and kicked him off the tree. He didn't have to wait for that girl to attack him.
She slipped through his guard and embedded a kunai into his healing shoulder. Naruto gritted his teeth, but grabbed the sleeve of her kimono as he fell backward and flipped them around. She flipped them around and kicked him in the back. His eyes widened at the pain, but he rolled out of the way.
"Crystal Release: Jaded blade." He didn't move for a moment.
His body moved out of the way of the purple crystallized blade as he quickly did his own technique.
"Crystal Release: Twin Dragon Claws." An orange dragon roared to life from one hand that headed towards her.
She sliced it easily off and sliced the second one off with ease as well. Naruto gritted his teeth as he sharpened his claws before attacking head on. She used her right hand with the crystal blade to hold off his left claw, but slipped a kunai with an exploding tag on the ground. She stabbed a claw to the blade with her own blade and crystallized the area around his arm to hold him there before getting away.
Only one thought was on Naruto's mind.
"Oh shit."
At the inn...
Shino's body was scarred and bruised all over. He felt worse than he looked. His coat was messed up and his breathing was labored. His eyes were bloodshot and his hair had dry blood caked in it. His hands wouldn't stop shaking.
"Where's Naruto?" That one simple question had no answer.
Shino went back to look for him, but he found no body. The ninja who had attacked them had left no trace of ever being there, but there was signs of at least two other ninjas in the area beside Naruto and Shino. Shino could tell they were either newbies as well or just plain careless. He followed the tracks to a river, which ruined his chances of finding Naruto as he stared at the calm water. He found Naruto's orange jacket, but it was torn in many pieces, which didn't help him feel better. He tried though. He felt like that was the least he could do.
Shino's insects kept him awake as he trudged his way towards the town the team was supposed to meet up at. He was clutching his battered side as he moved on foot. He was in no shape physically or mentally to run through this unknown territory. His body was crying out for relief.
He administered first aid to himself whenever he had a moment, but he was persistent to get to the town as soon as possible.
"I thought I'd kill you."
Shino tensed as he launched a kunai in the voices direction. The only thing he could do was lift himself off the ground and keep his eyes peeled for the voice. He readied another kunai and blocked an incoming slash against his rib cage. He rolled with the motion and struck out with a kick of his own. It struck air, but he followed up with a flip over the incoming shuriken.
Shino quickly ducked below the assailant and wiped out his kodachi and reached for the assailant's throat, while trying to slit the person's throat. He was blocked, but managed to slice the person's kimono.
"You're persistent alright. You remind me of that other teammate of yours." Shino's eyes narrowed behind his glasses.
"Where is he?" His fists curled tighter around his fist as he kept his eyes on the person possible responsible for his teammates' disappearance. The girl shrugged her shoulders.
"I really don't know. I blew him up somewhere in that field. I never did find all the pieces. When I do, I'll ship them to you. I won't even charge you for the shipping fees."
Shino let out an angry yell and charged. His slashes were quick, sloppy, and messy. He felt her grab his hair through his hood and toss him against a tree. He spit up blood, but he stood on his shaky legs and charged again. The girl only laughed, and moved out of his way and laughed with a smirk on her face as a kunai slipped out of her kimono.
"You're such a rookie, letting your emotions get the better of you." She stabbed him in the back. Shino let out a cry of both anger and pain. Shino collapsed on his hands and knees and cried out even more as he felt the knife go in even deeper. The girl twisted it, before pulling it out slowly. Shino felt his body being paralyzed and growled as he was unable to move.
"You're much more fun than that blond boy." Shino felt his vision go black. She was gone again, but the pain wasn't.
"We clashed two more times before I reached the town." Shino said after finishing his story.
"I never saw any sign of Naruto on the way here, so I assumed that he was…" Shikamaru quickly cut him off.
"You never found a body right? Then you can't say that yet." Shino only signed.
Asuma stood off to the side and hanged his head. Naruto was more than likely dead, but he didn't want to face that likely fact just yet. There was always hope with that kid, but… Asuma took another puff from his cigarette. Either way, he still had two students under his command, and at least Shino had made it out of there in a ragged piece. Still, the thought of the mysterious person letting Shino go just like that was suspicious by all accounts. Asuma didn't find any trackers on the boy in any shape or form so that was out. Asuma could only keep his senses alert.
"What did she look like?" Shino pondered this for a moment.
"She wore a teal and short kimono. When I made that slash across her throat, I noticed that she was wearing a gray turtleneck underneath the kimono with a small pendant. It was a crystallized flower. A Camilla to be specific. She also wore navy blue sandals. That's all I could remember. It was really foggy out there. And it was at night when she attacked me."
"Why did she let you go?" Shino and Shikamaru seemed startled to hear their sensei's voice. He had stayed silent this whole time and was standing off in a corner. Shino looked down as the question was repeated.
"I don't know. Maybe she wanted me to remember this as a reminder. She seemed like a sadistic bitch." Asuma only 'hummed' in response. He walked over to the boys and signed loudly.
"I think we'll let you rest then Shino. Shikamaru get back to your job before someone notices you missing." Shikamaru only quickly nodded and patted his teammate on the shoulder.
"It's nice to see you alive Shino. Rest up." With that he was gone. Asuma turned to Shino as he left the room.
"I agree with the lazy pineapple. Sleep peacefully." Asuma closed the door and signed again. These boys were going to be the death of him.
With Shikamaru…
Working was good for Shikamaru. He had to focus more on his work and not worry about Shino's tale. He could still imagine one of his best friends being alive and not the other alternative. He knew-they all knew that they were going to die someday, but to have it so abrupt and at this time, wasn't thought of. They were a family. Heck, they were not even twenty yet. They were rookies and whoever was after them was at least a high level chunin with a whole more experience than Team 8(except probably Asuma). This was a sadistic and cruel person who was willing to play with people for the heck of it. For all they knew, Naruto could really be dead.
Shikamaru burrowed himself in his work and worked twice as hard and fast. He wiped the sweat off his face and kept pushing his body even as the other workers went on their lunch break. Shikamaru was by himself. He kept thinking. Why couldn't he stop thinking for a moment? Why couldn't his mind go blank for once?
Shikamaru punched a piece of wood in half.
Back at the Inn…
It was nighttime now. Shikamaru's clothes were soaked and his face had tiny scratches. Asuma wasn't smoking at the moment and was instead sipping a cup of tea. He had his head cast down and Shikamaru couldn't blame him. The remaining members of Team 8 had miso soup for dinner silently. They all finished their soup before calling it an night. Asuma had a day off the next morning, so he spent the day collecting information on the case. He found the town's main hot spot on gossip since he had no other good leads. He still had to send that report for the Hokage later that evening as well.
"I heard that there are demons by that place. They say that they kidnapped a boy recently as well." Asuma's ears perked up. He needed to know the exact location for this place and so far, he only knew of the general location.
He signed and cracked his knuckles. He was doing a lot of signing recently. Stupid kids. He henged himself into a pretty young girl with long blond hair and baby blue eyes. She wore a short skirt and low tank top as she sauntered over to the gentlemen's table. Being a pretty looking girl was going to be a lot easier to get information compared to a big bearded guy. Asuma rubbed himself against one of the old men and signed deeply at the table of men.
"I heard you boys talking about demons over here. This place seems pretty quiet around here." Asuma put his best innocent look on his face and wrapped his arms around one of the men's neck. "You'll protect me if they come for me won't you?" The other men quickly nodded.
"Of course little lady. All you got to do is stay away from old man's parish."
"Old man's parish? Where's that?" The men shifted in their seats.
"We're not supposed to talk about it little lady, but I do know something we can talk about." The men were eyeing him now, but Asuma needed to get a little more information out of them for another minute.
"Please. If you tell me more, I'll give you guys a very special present." It didn't take long for the men to change their minds. Asuma shook his head mentally at the thought of a certain white-haired man being even worse than these old men.
"Alright then. There this abandoned place near the edge of town. They say that weird things happen there...that demons live there. It's on the east side of the marshes. You can't miss it." Asuma swayed his hips as he walked around the table towards the door. She gave each guy a kiss on the cheek and walked towards the door. If any random stranger walked into that bar three minutes later, they would've seen a group of men snoring on the table with their beer empty with shiny red lipstick on their cheeks.
'Job well done Asuma.'
Later at the Inn…
Asuma and the others were gathered around a small table at the inn. The customers had fallen asleep already, so there were no worries of being overheard by one of them. Asuma was discussing the plan with Shikamaru and Shino quietly, in case someone was listening in. However, even if these people weren't cold-blooded ninja from a rivaling village, they just couldn't talk about their plans out loud. So they made it sound like it was a regular conversation about the upcoming day's events. Asuma cleared his throat as he pulled out his lighter.
"I heard old man Perry was throwing a party later this Thursday. (In two days, we'll go pay a visit to old man's Parish.)
"Oh yeah? We'll meet you there." (We'll follow you there later in order to avoid suspicion.)
"Alright. Make sure that you don't leave too late." (Be ready to get out soon.)
"Got it. Have a nice night Mr. Chan." (Copy that sensei. We'll stand by.)
"Remember to be careful of drunks on your way home that night." (Be cautious and alert at all times. Watch everyone. Trust no one.)
At Old Man's Parish…
The sky was clear as a boy faced off against his captors once again out in the marsh. This wasn't his first time fighting them, and it surely wasn't going to be the last time, but for now he wasn't going to dwell on that small fact. He needed to stay focused and alert. He charged at the nearest guard and destroyed the rest of them with an unrivaled fury of punches and kicks. His hair was uncombed, bloodied, and he smelled like a caveman. His clothes had been replaced, but his spirit was one thing they couldn't replace or break. His eyes had hardened considerably despite the short amount of time that had passed.
The boy fell to the ground with a cry as his legs were bound to the earth. The head boss came closer to him. The guards had been child's play but this guy. He was worse than the girl and the guards put together. At least the girl was nice to him sometimes. But this guy was truly evil incarnate. His violet eyes seemed to glow in the darkness as the moon beat down on them.
"Where is that team of yours huh?" The boy kept his head down and growled deep in his throat.
"It doesn't matter. You won't get away with this." He snarled as a hollow laugh echoed throughout the clearing.
"So cliche…and so untrue. You're nothing more than an insignificant genin at the moment."
More silence.
"Tell me…do you think you'll survive when they do come...Naruto?"
End Scene. Naruto's not dead! Yeah! But who's this mystery guy keeping him hostage? Hint: It's not an OC. I'm really am sorry for the long wait and I hope that all of you can forgive me. Thanks for all the favorites, alerts, and reviews while I'm been sorting things out. I hope everyone had a wonderful break and I'll see you guys later. Ja né!
Edit:12/23/2014