13/03/25
A/N: posting an update 11 years later. Better late than never :)
Naruto was trailing behind you and Sasuke, with enough distance so they don't interact easily. You had no idea where you were walking.. But it didn't seem like Sasuke or Naruto did either. And it would be dangerous to be out in the open by yourself, even for someone like Naruto.
"We will have to find cover soon. It's getting late" Sasuke suddenly announced.
You didn't really know what that meant.. All you were used to was sleeping in a house. Does this mean you will be sleeping outside, under a tree? Or in a cave?
"Don't worry" Sasuke said as if he could sense your thoughts running, "Orochimaru has a hide out somewhere around here. A few kilometers away. We can stay there. It's likely unoccupied." So he does know where you all are. You weren't surprised.
"And what if there are people there? What do we do then?" You heard Naruto shout from the back.
"You don't have to worry about that Naruto, I'll deal with them." Sasuke responded calmly, like he already knew exactly what he would do and had already thought about it.
"Are you kidding me? No chance, I'm helping!" Naruto spat. To hell with letting Sasuke show off like that.
Sasuke didn't respond. When Naruto is riled up there's no talking him out of anything. He knew that. It didn't matter, because when Sasuke acts, it would already be too late for Naruto to.
"It's just unfortunate I don't have my sword.." He turns towards you as he's walking. You felt the implicit blame and you felt the need to defend yourself.
"If you'd be walking around with that sword in my world, you'd be put in jail. Also, I never expected us to be teleported here right now. I would have given it back if I knew this would happen. Genuinely… I'd prefer if you had your sword right now…" You looked around at your surroundings. The sun was starting to set and you were walking between the trees. You shuddered at thinking of walking through here in the middle of the night. But you had both Naruto and Sasuke, who were elite ninjas, it's almost impossible for anything to hurt you with them around. At least, that's what you were telling yourself. You clutched onto Sasuke's arm, you could feel his strength, it wasn't anything like before, in your world, you could feel it radiating from him.. Is that what chakra feels like?
"Do you feel it?" Sasuke asked, as if again, reading your mind.
"I don't know what I'm feeling, but I feel something I never felt in my world. When I hold on to you I can feel it radiating into my skin.. Like a kind of energy.." You said.
"Yes, that's right. And I can feel yours. It's faint and weak. But I can read it, I feel it shift. Ninjas spend a lot of time learning to hide their chakra because otherwise, they are too easily detected and their movements can be read."
"I don't know if I can feel my own chakra," you said, looking at your hands, while your arm was still wrapped around his arm.
"Hn." he said with a smirk, "and it will be a long while before you do. As I said, you need to train for it and hone it. It takes a considerable amount of time and effort." After a small pause, he looks into your eyes, "are you ready for it?" He asks, still with a little smirk.
It hit you, ready for it? First of all, you have no idea what this entails and what "exactly" you are ready for. Second of all, does that mean he'll help you train for it?
"Does that mean…?" You asked, trailing off towards the end, not really wanting to state the full question, scared you'll jinx it by making it too explicit.
He looked forward again while continuing walking. After a small pause…
"Yes." He says softly.
Your mind started racing for what to expect.
"We'll start tomorrow. You'll need to be strong if you want to be with us." You were taken aback by his wording.
"Yeah we can't go around saving you every second of every encounter! That's completely unreasonable!" Naruto shouted from the back. You were shocked he could hear you talking from this distance! And noted it for the future.
After an hour of walking you encountered a river and stopped. They wanted to catch something fresh before the day was completely over. Naruto was shocked you never fished before but was already eager to teach you.
"So what do you learn in your world?" Naruto asks, as he's showing you how to hold a kunai knife.
"Nothing like this.. Normal people have no reason to learn this, we are never put in situations where we have to hunt for our food." You said while trying to find a comfortable hold on the kunai knife. They are a lot heavier than you expected.
You saw Sasuke in the background examining the water, he was kneeling on a stone situated in the river near the bank. When he turned his head slightly you noticed a faint red glow from his eyes..
In a flash he moved, shot a number of kunai knives in the water, then reeled them up by a wire attached to the end of them. There was a big fish on each of the three knives he shot. My goodness, you thought, I couldn't even follow what he did, that happened so fast. I cannot believe that this is the speed at which they move in this world! It intimidated you. You met Sasuke's gaze, the red of his sharingan was potent. He retracted it before saying "let's go.".
"Keep that kunai in your hand, Naomi. You have to get used to how it feels. I'll teach you how to use it tomorrow!" Naruto said with a grin. You both followed after Sasuke. But how Sasuke caught all three of those fish in one go, that has to be the coolest thing I've ever seen.
Not long after you arrived at the hideout. Well, first you didn't know or see it was a hideout, but Sasuke knew how to create an entrance. It was creepy inside, mostly made of stone, and it smelled stale. Sasuke seemed familiar with the place and led you straight to a big room with a furnace and chimney along the wall. There was plenty of wood stacked in the corner. You realised it was rather cold inside. Sasuke put some of the wood in the fireplace and used one of his fire jutsus to light the flame. He also pulled out some preserved food from a cupboard and passed it around. You weren't sure if you trusted preserved food from Orochimaru.. Once the fish was cooked in the fire, you all ate quietly. Each of you were reflecting on what is happening now and what you should do.
"Sasuke.." Naruto finally said. "We need to talk about Sakura. And Karin. And Obito and Madara we left in the other world".
Sasuke seemed not to respond. Naruto continued.
"You know we can't leave them there. And I won't leave them there. I will go back there by myself and get them out if I have to. But we need to talk about this."
You didn't disagree with Naruto. But you also did not know what the right course of action would be right now.
"Naruto, we'll talk tomorrow. We should get some sleep soon. We have a lot to figure out. Madara and Obito can't be let on the loose out there, in that world." His emphasis on 'that' made you uncomfortable. You looked at him to observe his expression, but you couldn't make anything out. He didn't say that with any emotion in his face.
"Exactly. So we agree. We'll talk tomorrow." Naruto said. He put down the last of the remnants of what he was eating. "I'm going for a walk. I'll stay on guard tonight".
Oh god. You thought. I even forget that is a thing here. On guard for enemies? That's terrifying.
"That's fine. But we're safe down here. So make sure you get enough rest, we don't want you slowing us down tomorrow." Sasuke said coldly.
Naruto sneered "as if.." And headed out. You weren't sure where he was going or what he was doing. But you guess he'd be sitting in a tree somewhere taking watch.
Once Naruto was gone, you and Sasuke sat there in silence. You were still processing the day and everything that's happening.
Sasuke took you by the hand and got up, prompting you to get up too and follow him. He led you in the room to the side and closed the door. It was completely pitch black aside from a small window at the top of the wall that let in some moonlight. It seemed to reach just high enough above ground to let in some light and air. He lit the singular candle with his hands, somehow, you assumed some chakra jutsu magic. He took your hand again and led you to the bed that was in the room. He got on the bed and layed on his side, he pulled you onto the bed too and into him, without saying anything, and wrapped his arms around you. You felt your heart racing at the boldness, but he felt so warm, and being so close together you could feel his chakra. It was a warm and nice chakra, just as Karin had described. You felt completely wrapped in it, it was wonderful.
"You're going to stay with me." He said.
"What do you mean?" You asked.
He pulled away slightly so he could look you in the eyes as he cupped your cheek and neck, your heart skipped a beat when you looked into his sharingan, you had never seen it so up close..
"You will be here with me, or I'll be there with you." He kissed you, purposefully. You could feel how much it meant. You held on to him tightly, smelling his scent and feeling wrapped in his arms.
I need to be careful, you thought, this guy is going to have me wrapped around his finger.
A/N: working on an updated version of this story.