Hello everyone, it's time for an update. Hope you all enjoy.
For those all interested in a community with like minded readers and writers of fanfiction come check out AizenTheGoat's server on discord. I assure you that you will enjoy it. A link can be found here → /7x4YFstKcz
Sorry for how long it took to put an update for this out, should have been out a couple weeks ago but changes at work and new addictions to a handful of games have distracted me. So my overall update cycle has slowed down. I haven't abandoned my stories though so I hope to get updates out for several fics soon.
On to the story!
Chapter Seven
Birds of a Feather
Katniss awoke while the artificial sun of the arena was still down. The only light provided came from the false moon and stars and what few embers remained from the career pack's fire. Taking stock of her situation she realized that her leg was no longer in agony. Not even the dulled pain from after she had placed the salve on the wound.
After pulling back her makeshift bandage she gingerly prodded at the menacing scar that decorated her thigh. It was amazing how well the medicine sent by Haymitch had helped. She felt no pain and the swelling was long gone, returning the painless function of her leg.
That was her first of many problems thankfully handled. After untying the ropes that kept her from slipping out of the tree while she slept, the District Twelve tribute carefully descended to some lower branches in the tree to peek down on her competitors below.
The four careers were in somewhat rough shape, though nowhere as rough as Katniss would have liked. The worse off seemed to be Glimmer and Clove, the two girls. Glimmer's injury from Naruto had been a very large cut on her arm that kept her from properly using the bow she had. Either the others hadn't attempted to use it themselves or she had refused to surrender the weapon despite it being nearly useless for herself now.
That was good. She didn't need one of them trying to shoot her out of the tree, the canopy only provided so much resistance to projectiles. Clove was worse for wear as well. She now looked to be wearing a cropped shirt made of bandages. Whatever Naruto had done to her had also made her slow and stiff in movement. No doubt sponsors would provide her some sort of remedy soon enough though.
Of the two boys, Marvel from District One was in perfect condition. No injuries at all. He was the one she was most concerned about at the moment, if he found it within him, she worried the larger stronger boy would climb the tree and being armed when she really wasn't she had no illusions on how that fight would most likely go.
Thankfully, the careers seemed far too confident in their numbers. They either hadn't placed a sentry over the night or that sentry had fallen asleep right alongside the rest of the pack. It didn't change the fact that Katniss had no way out of her tree fort without waking them up, and the fact that they still outnumbered her four to one made any dreams of slipping away pipe dreams.
Katniss bit her lip in frustrated thought as she climbed back up into the safer upper branches of her massive tree. Settling back in she ran a quick inventory on her supplies while trying her best to remain calm. She knew she was alone in this. She knew Naruto had led two of her attackers away and thankfully overheard that he had escaped, though not without injury if what they said could be believed. She couldn't expect any help at this point. She'd gotten help from both Naruto and Haymitch and in the end she was still trapped in a tree. She didn't want her fellow District Twelve Tribute to have gotten himself hurt for nothing. She had to find a way to make her escape.
As he mind whirled in though a soft sound caught her attention. A whispered call of twelve. Katniss turned her head to see in a thinner, yet taller tree the young girl from District Eleven had perched herself among the tallest branches. Sending her a bright smile. Katniss couldn't help but smile back despite her situation. Seeing the girl felt like a relief somehow. Especially seeing as she was completely uninjured and healthy looking.
Rue, if she recalled her name correctly, sent a slight wave which Katniss returned before pointing upward above Katniss' head. The older tribute looked up and couldn't help blinking in confusion for a little bit. All she saw was more branches of the massive tree. She turned back to look at Rue once more but the small girl pointed more vigorously up into the higher branches.
Katniss turned to look again this time more carefully focusing. She heard it before she saw it. A slight buzzing. A humm of activity from insects. She had to adjust her position on the branches to get a look at what Rue was pointing out. When she finally saw it she was confused once again. It seemed like the girl was warning her about the hive of tracker-jackers further up in the tree.
She could appreciate that. A single tracker-jacker was no real big deal. If you were allergic it would be a death sentence, but even the venom from a single one of their stings was enough to cause mild hallucinations. A hive could kill anyone. No matter their resistance to the venom.
Glancing back to Rue the girl from District Eleven was now motioning something else with her fingers. A scissor motion, like she was saying to cut the hive down. Katniss at first thought the girl was insane but then realized the idea she was trying to pass on. Cut the nest down and drop it on the careers sleeping below. A brilliant idea.
"Thank you!" Katniss whispered as loudly as she dared. Rue simply smiled back and waved as she slipped backward into the shadows of the tree. It didn't take long for Katniss to lose sight of her in the darkness.
The girl sighed faintly before her face shifted to a determined look and she began securing all her supplies properly. Once she dropped the hive, she would need to move fast and avoid the tracker-jackers herself as well as the careers.
"Okay, alright….Here goes nothing." Katniss mumbled to herself as she climbed further up the limbs of the tree.
As she neared the hive the humming from the nest grew louder and louder. Not just from being closer to it. As she approached the swarm began to grow anxious, a few even venturing out to buzz around her. One even stung her on the neck as she settled the serrated edge of her knife against the base of the hive. Swatting the bug, she ignored the sting of pain shooting through her neck to saw at the hive.
Her actions stirred the tracker-jackers up into even more of a frenzy as they realized some sort of predator was coming for their home. A small handful more landed on her and began stinging her her causing Katniss to grunt and whimper in pain.
Finally though the nest broke free and plummeted down toward the sleeping careers below. The moment it smacked into the ground and burst open the cloud of enraged Tracker-Jackers raced to the first movement near them. Unfortunately for Glimmer she had been right beside the impact site of the hive and was nearly covered in a coat of the creatures as she began to scream in pain flaily uselessly to try and remove them. The others weren't spared from the swarm either, however they scattered before they could be truly be swarmed as their comrade was.
The group fled, leaving behind Glimmer as she stumbled and fell, quickly swelling from the sheer amount of toxin in her body. The blonde girl choked out sobs as she struggled to even breathe. Most of the swarm had left her by now, handled as she was, and pursued the fleeing careers.
As Katniss made her way out of the tree she carefully collected all she could from the group. Most notably, she finally had the bow and arrows that she had wanted. It felt good to have her weapon of choice in her hands, like she was safer and stronger than before just by possessing it.
WIth her new items, she quickly made her way out of the small camp. Stopping only briefly to glance at the dying girl from District One. By now Glimmer was unrecognizable. The girl had swollen up so much she hardly looked human. Still the panicked gurgling and snorting as she struggled to breathe could be heard and Katniss felt she owed the girl at least the mercy of a quick death. It was human decency, at the least.
She quickly crouched down and drew out her knife. She hovered it over the girl's throat. Her eyes were swollen shut and Katniss wondered if Glimmer even knew someone else was there. Was she even conscious? She seriously hoped not.
For a moment she thought maybe she should say something. Anything. But she couldn't think of anything to say at all. She wasn't about to lie. She wasn't sorry. It was her or Glimmer, and she didn't care that much for Glimmer. It felt wrong to just end her though. Somehow.
In the end she clenched her own eyes tight and imagined she was finishing a deer, back home. For a brief moment, she was just back in District Twelve, just over the fence, finishing off an excellent hunt. That moment lasted as long as it took for her to withdraw her knife once again. She cleaned the blood off and tried to keep herself from looking back at the corpse as she left.
It wasn't hard. Her mind was already struggling with her next challenge. The toxins from the few stings she had received were beginning to cause her vision to swim and the world to spin around her. She stumbled and tripped through the woods struggling to remain upright as she went. This was not good. It was far worse than she had expected.
Eventually it was too much and she clung to a tree and slid down against it. Around her the world blurred into a mix of colors and shapes. It was all she could do to not lean over and puke. The worry with that being that she might never be able to stop again if she started heaving now.
Despite everything though she could hear the rushed snapping and cracking of trees as someone or something approached and, refusing to go down without some semblance of a fight, Katniss fumbled to draw an arrow back on her bow from a sitting position.
As the object approaching broke the line of foliage she released the arrow almost at the same moment.
Naruto had spent the night cleaning and doing his best to stitch up the wound on his arm. Had it just been the knife injury from Clove he probably would be able to largely ignore the pain and stitch it up neatly. Cato attacking it had torn the flesh into an even large misshapen injury. Once his adrenaline had worn off, he had been hardly able to touch it let alone try and stitch it up.
It took far too long to handle the injury, but in the end he had a very basic set of stitches closing it as best as possible. He had bandaged it as well and prayed more than anything that it didn't get infected or something. He was rather attached to his arm after all.
"Okay so I am definitely not handling this well if I'm making trash jokes in my head." He groaned out loud, spitting the thin stick he had been biting down on during his little surgery operation.
With that he had fallen into a fitful sleep. Between the pain, the paranoia caused by the thought of another tracking him back to his hideout, and whether he wanted to admit it or not, the worry for his fellow district twelve tribute, he wouldn't ever get the rest he really wanted.
That became especially apparent when he snapped up at the sudden screams and shouts of fear and pain that echoed throughout the forest. He was at the edge of his hideout in a moment's notice and listening to get an idea of what was going on. It didn't take long to realize it was the careers and coming from the direct he had last seen them chasing Katniss in. Once more, against his own better judgement he set out with some supplies and his knives to find the other half of his district's sacrifices.
He didn't engage the fleeing careers as they fled past, though it was tempting seeing as Clove obviously seemed to be struggling. He did notice that they seemed to be down a member and wondered is Katniss had been the one to eliminate another portion of the competition.
As he continued on a cannon boomed and for a moment he feared the worst, feeling fear and sadness at the loss of someone he had to at least consider a friend. He pushed on though, hoping that she wasn't the lost tribute and instead it was the missing career tribute, Glimmer. Coming to the career pack's former campsite he had never felt so relieved to see another person's corpse. He had never expected to ever feel relieved to see a corpse, but the fact that it was not Katniss laying on the ground was enough to fill him with a renewed vigor.
He was no tracker but anyone could have followed the path that Katniss had cut through the woods. There was something obviously wrong with her and if Naruto had to guess it had something to do with the broken tracker-jacker nest and puffy looking district one tribute.
He continued looking, her path grew easier and easier to follow as she seemed to lose more and more of her faculties. He grimaced as the sound of the careers picked up behind him. They seemed to have regrouped and returned to their camp. The outrage at one of their own being killed was easy to hear in their voices as they shouted and called back and forth to one another. It wouldn't be long before they were on Katniss' and thereby his trail.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" He growled out as he found his feet moving on their own. He knew where he was going. He had to get her moving and lead the careers away.
Naruto didn't understand why, or rather he refused to understand why he was willing to do all this for her. She was supposed to be just another opponent. Another obstacle to him living and getting near immunity to actually speak his mind against the Capitol.
He couldn't help himself though and he had to admit, a part of him wanted to make sure she survived this whole ordeal. The rest of him struggled to remind that portion that her surviving meant him dying.
Shaking the thoughts from his mind he carried on toward Katniss's position. The shouts of the careers had died down by now. They were on the hunt and it wouldn't take too long for them to find him then Katniss. He had to pick up the pace.
Deciding for speed over stealth he quickened his step, all but crashing through the brush into a small clearing. He very nearly died as an arrow narrowly passed his head and pinned a leaf to the trunk of a tree beside him.
"Woah, Katniss, it's me. It's just me." He said holding his hands up.
"Naruto?" The girl mumbled squinting her eyes in his direction.
He quickly took in her appearance. She did not look good. Pale and sweaty, unfocused eyes and a slight sway to her movements, she looked on the verge of passing out or puking. Either that or both. On top of that her clothes were ripped and bloody with plenty of small singed places here and there.
"What are you doing here?" She struggled to ask.
"Shit, same as yesterday I guess. Come on you have to get up. You have to move Katniss." Naruto said as he came over and lifted her easily to her feet even as she swayed and nearly went right back down again.
"Come on, stay up. You gotta stay up alright?" Naruto encouraged but she was out of it.
The girl went limp in his arms and a spike of panic shot through his chest. He took a calming breath when he noticed she had simply passed out and began trying to formulate a plan. He couldn't bring her with him. Trying to drag her back with him to the cave would make them easy pickings for the remaining careers. He couldn't take all three of them while injured and protecting Katniss. It was impossible.
"This will have to do." He said as he lugged the motionless body of his…friend to a narrow crevasse between the exposed roots of two larger trees. It wouldn't be comfortable but it would do.
He slid her into the hole before pulling a log over the hole. It covered most of the opening and a handful of fallen limbs covered the rest. By the time he was finished he could hear the approaching careers and slipped into a hiding place of his own. One nowhere near as well hidden as he would like.
"Hey, there an arrow." The higher pitched voice of Clove called out.
"Katniss is around here then. She must be hallucinating, shooting at nothing." Cato said as he pulled the arrow free and scanned the area with his eyes. They widened as they locked with Naruto's.
Before he could shout a warning Naruto burst from his spot and drove an attack toward Marvel. Sadly the boy had been too alert to be injured as his comrade from District One had been the day before hand he brought his spear up easily to drive Naruto back.
The tribute from twelve spun around the spear and wasted no time charging off into the woods once again.
"This fucking coward!" Marvel bellowed after him.
"It's hit and run tactics. Try and go around and cut him off, Clove and I will push him toward you if we can." Cato commanded before taking off with Clove following close behind.
Marvel cursed before sprinting out of the clearing as well to try and cut the boy off just as Cato had suggested.
Naruto eventually lost his pursuers. It had taken most of the day but they had eventually given up and returned to their own base at the Cornucopia. That still left him far from his normal base of operations. He was no longer even in the forest. Instead he was now in a section of tall grasses taller than he was. He had even managed to get somewhat lost inside and began fumbling for a way back out.
That of course was what led to him running into Thresh. The District Eleven male. He was the largest and most physically imposing of the tributes and Naruto was already on edge when they both stepped into the same break in the grasses.
Neither moved. Both tightly clutched their weapons in hand and eyed one another up. The large Khopesh blade in the hands of the District One male made Naruto nervous. As it was, he was clearly at the disadvantage here. Normally he would lash out hoping to offset his opponent but he could tell Thresh was ready for something like that. He was tensed and ready to fight.
So, uncharacteristically of him, he took the second option. He slowly opened his hands and slid the knife back into it's holster across his chest. He kept his hands up and made sure he presented himself as no threat to the other boy.
"Twelve…" Thresh said simply while he continued to keep his guard up.
"Eleven." Naruto replied.
"Career pack?" The boy asked, jerking his chin toward the clearly damaged arm.
"Yeah." Naruto answered back.
"Same every year." Thresh commented.
"Doesn't have to be." Naruto suggested.
"Yeah?" Thresh asked.
"Could flip the tables on them. Twelve and Eleven versus One and Two." Naruto said.
Thresh regarded him calculatingly. Despite his large size and obvious strength, he was by no means the stereotypical big strong idiot. Thresh was a dangerous man.
"I kinda like that." Thresh replied.
"Yeah?" Naruto asked.
"Heh, Yeah." Thresh said as he slipped his weapon back onto the strap at his waist. He then offered out his hand to shake.
Naruto gingerly reached forward and shook hands. Slowly the handshake turned more rapid and both boys grinned at one another. It would be refreshing to stick it to the inner districts for once.
"You, uh Know the way out of here?" Naruto asked.
Thresh snorted. Before turning and waving for Naruto to follow after him.
Thresh had brought Naruto back to his campsite and the pari had shared a meal while discussing their plan. Eventually one of them, though as the conversation continued they couldn't recall which of them, had suggested that they make a true alliance between Districts Twelve and Eleven and even try to bring in some of the other outer districts like Nine and Ten.
"Both District Nine Tributes are already gone." Naruto said.
"Oh, yeah. I kinda of just ignored the others on the list at night just hoping that Rue doesn't show up on there." Thresh replied.
"I do the same. I dunno why, but I always worry for Katniss showing up on there." Naruto said.
"Well, you two are-" Thresh began.
"No, no we aren't." Naruto interjected.
"I think the rest of the country disagrees. They are all pretty sure that you are." Thresh chuckled getting Naruto to seeth silently.
"Don't get worked up over it. If anything the only shitty part is you are both here. Only one gets to go home." Thresh said sadly.
"Yeah." Naruto was somber as well.
The pair were silent for a bit, neither really wanting to keep talking about the subject. After all, they too would have to eventually fight one another to get to go home.
"What about Ten? I know the girl was killed but the boy?" Thresh asked.
"We could offer it, but I don't know where the hell he's at." Naruto pointed out.
"I do. He's been holed up in a small group of trees past the grasses."
"Wait, you just been keeping track of the other tributes then?" Naruto asked.
"Not all of them. Just those nearby. Mostly been hoping to see Rue so she and I can stay together. Haven't seen a hint of her at all since the Blood Bath though." Thresh said as he finished up his food.
"Fair enough. So ready to head out?" Naruto asked as he polished off the last of his own food and stood.
"Might as well, better to find him before nightfall, it's be dusk in a couple hours so if we keep a steady pace we can be there and back just before it's dark." Thresh explained.
"Sounds good."
With that both boys started off. Naruto following behind the older and larger boy. It didn't take long before they settled into a companionable silence and Naruto could almost imagine they were just two friends out for a hike. It only served to spur a cycle of thoughts that wound back to him mentally cursing the Capitol for their cruelty. After all. He could make friends with Thresh, and perhaps any other tribute here in the games. In the end they would be trying to kill one another no matter their relationship.
The hike wasn't long. The ground they covered was flat and easy enough to traverse. That and the careers were busy licking their wounds and formulating their own plots and schemes for once. It allowed Naruto and Thresh an easy time making their way to their fellow outer District tribute.
The District Ten male was easy enough to pick out among the small group of trees he had taken up as his own home. He had a bright yellow bag where most of his supplies were kept, one that stuck out like a sore thumb in the natural world. It was a bit of a shock that only Thresh had found him up to this point in Naruto's opinion.
"Ten!" Thresh called, causing the boy to whirl around in shock and scrambled for the large hooked knife he had for a weapon.
"Relax, we are here to talk, not to fight." Naruto said while raising his hands up in a non-threatening way.
"What's there to talk about? Just fuck off." The boy hollered, not lowering his guard in the slightest.
"At least hear us out first. If you don't agree then we can all go our separate ways no harm no foul right?" Thresh pointed out.
The boy was silent for a while before slowly nodding. Naruto let out a small sigh in relief. Strength really did exist in numbers and he really liked the idea of the outer districts starting to finally band together against the people punching down on them all the time.
"We need to turn the tables on the careers. They have been training for the games their whole life and like always they formed an alliance before the games even started. Interested in having an alliance of our own?" Naruto asked.
The tribute stared back at Naruto and slowly lowered his weapon and let out a calming breath of his own. Slipping the knife into a makeshift holster on his thigh the boy nodded slowly and thoughtfully.
"You got an eleven for your ranking right, twelve?" He asked.
"Yeah. I can't say I remember what you got though." Naruto replied, not mentioning the fact he also didn't know the boy's name. At least Thresh seemed to be in the same boat.
"Enough of the district numbers. I'm Thresh, this is Naruto, I dunno your name." Thresh said.
"It's Colt. So what exactly do you have planned anyway?" He asked the other two boys.
"Well, I guess first we should find the rest of our group. Katniss should be back in the woods, as for Rue I have no idea." Naruto answered.
"We'll find her." Thresh responded.
"That's all well and good but my other half is already dead. Nobody to look for there." Colt said with a sour look on his face.
Naruto had to wonder if every pair of tributes didn't have some sort of connection to one another. He could tell the boy was broken up about his fellow District Ten Tribute's passing and he wondered what he would feel when Katniss died. Angry? Sad? Maybe just relieved that he didn't have to kill her.
Thresh caught the agitated expression growing on Naruto's face out of the corner of his eye. With Colt already seeming to be a sour person in general he felt it was best to get them underway and working on something rather than letting them wallow in the thought of what would come or had come.
"First thing is first. You know roughly where Katniss is so we'll go collect her. My old camp is about halfway to the edge of the forest and we can make it back there before it gets too dark. We'll camp there for the night and take turns sleeping in shifts in case the careers start hunting again." Thresh explained getting nods from the other boys.
"Sounds like the best plan we can have at the moment." Cold agreed, and the three of them got underway with Colt in the middle of the group.
Just as Thresh had expected they reached his campsite around dusk and began settling in for the night. They drew straws with the first watch going to Thresh, second to Colt and last to Naruto. Supper was a set of leftovers from earlier prey caught since the first day. Naruto and Thresh actually had enough to share and Colt ate better than he had since he finished off the last of his ration packs on the morning of the second day.
Colt and Naruto were quick to bed down after they finished eating. That didn't mean it was easy to sleep. Trust was not something that was really a virtue in the Hunger Games. The need for rest overtook their distrust slowly though and both boys eventually fell asleep.
When Naruto next awoke it was to the sound of a shout and he was on his feet in a flash with his hand on a knife as he prepared to defend the campsite only for his eyes to narrow as it was clear Colt had been aiming to kill Naruto in his sleep, only for Thresh to catch him in the act.
"You son-of-a-bitch!" The District Ten Tribute spat at Thresh as he rushed Naruto.
The fight was brief and easy. It was two on one and Naruto and Thresh were both ranked higher on the danger index than Colt for a reason. Naruto easily caught the boy's hands and, unable to break free and turn to face Thresh, Colt could only scream as Thresh reached around from behind him and slit his throat.
As the body dropped, convulsing a few time before Colt died Naruto and Thresh exchanged a look. Naruto was grateful to the older boy. Truly. He wondered if he would have done the same briefly but shook off the thought as he offered his hand out to the larger boy.
"Thanks." Naruto said as they shook, both focused more on the corpse now laying at the center of the campsite.
"Yeah, just don't stab me in the back like he planned and we're even." Thresh huffed out.
"No problem."
As a cannon sounded, both boys worked to drag Colt's body out of the camp and dumped it into a heap nearby. They had gradually become more numb to death and blood since the start of this ordeal, and hardly flinched as they did so.
Despite that, sleep evaded both of them for the rest of the night and by the time they were truly calmed down the sun was already beginning to climb into the sky.
"It's gunna suck being tired all day." Naruto complained lightly.
"True but we need to find the girls." Thresh replied.
"I can agree to that. Let's break camp and start out. The sooner we link up with them the better. Then we can plan what we'll do about the careers." Naruto said.
Thresh simply nodded as both boys got to work breaking down the camp. It wouldn't take long and both would soon be on their move once more.
Hunger Games Hosting Booth
Capitol
"Another excellent day for the games! Wouldn't you say so, Claudius?" Caesar's voice boomed.
"Truly it was, so many twists and turns." Templesmith replied.
"Indeed! From little Rue of District Eleven lending Miss Everdeen a hand and that excellently handled plan with the the Tracker-Jacker nest landing the fan favorite Katniss her first kill, to the drama of our new outer district alliance beginning and the betrayal of Colt from District Ten." Caesar seemed positively ecstatic with the developments throughout the day.
"It was a very smart strategy, or would have been if Thresh hadn't woken up just in time. Colt could have really upset these games in a single stroke." Claudius commented.
"Right you are." Caesar returned. "With that said I want to return our attention to what is quickly becoming one of my favorite aspects of these games. The interaction between Naruto and Katniss."
"Oh yes." Claudius practically giggled.
"Once again, throwing away his own safety for her. Naruto is nothing like his initial appearance suggests. Miss Everdeen is likely alive thanks to him. No doubt that the remaining tributes of District One and Two would have surely found her if not for him." Flickerman commented.
"True, and even though she finally has her bow and could really cause some serious trouble for her opponents now, that Tracker-Jacker toxin is some rough stuff." Claudius added.
"For sure. I mean we all saw what they did to poor Glimmer, but even just a small dose of that toxin is enough to cause extremely vivid hallucinations, alter a victim's sense of balance, and just make things terrible for them. No doubt poor Katniss will be feeling those effect for a full day if not longer." Caesar said.
"Oh no doubt about it Caesar. I'm simply amazed she handled it as well as she did."
"Just goes to show you how tough Miss Katniss really is. A regular amazonian woman." Caesar said as he and Claudius devolved into obnoxious false laughter.
"Well, it appears that is the conclusion of Day Three with a total of two deaths today. Tune in again for more coverage on your annual Hunger Games, and remember viewership is mandatory, enjoyment is inevitable! Same time tomorrow folks!" Caesar said signing off for the night.
Alright and that is an update done and over with. We are making good progress, not that many tributes really remain in the games and as we saw the tables are turning against the careers with every action of Naruto's.
As we saw, Naruto and Thresh have entered into an alliance for the time being. Soon we will see what will come of that.
Till Next Time.