Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ A Time to Love ❯ Let the Games Begin ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter Nine: Let the Games Begin

 

Yueri groaned and awoke to find herself caught. She squirmed for ages it felt like. She cried out as a pain flared around her wrists and ankles.

 

“It's no use. The rope just sucks out the chakra if you struggle.”

 

Yueri gasped and looked up to stare into a pair of ominous lavender, cat-like eyes. “Kaze!” she growled, struggling more to get away.

 

“My, my. Yueri-chan! You don't seem pleased to see me!” Kaze laughed. His blonde locks fell in his eyes.

 

“Of course not! You not only tried to kill Gaara, but you tried to kill me!” Yueri spat.

 

“I know. You still have the scar, do you not?” Kaze's eyes glinted dangerously.

 

“What do you want with me?” Yueri asked, glaring up at Kaze.

 

“Just a little fun, that's all. I want you to play a little game. If you can figure out the rules, then you win,” Kaze proposed.

 

“What's the game?”

 

“Just a few riddles you have to figure out. And the way you figure them out determines who I let live; Naruto or Gaara.”

 

Yueri's eyes widened in shock. “Leave them out of this!”

 

“Touchie, touchie, aren't we?”

 

Yueri glared up at Kaze, speechless.

 

“Ah, you're speechless. Just the way I like my players.” Kaze touched Yueri's cheek. Yueri flinched away and growled.

 

“I'll play your game, but neither Gaara nor Naruto is to be harmed. I swear, I will kill you before you are able to finish one of your stupid ass riddles.”

 

“Of course. Now let me untie you so you are fit for a fight worth fighting.” Kaze untied the bonds around Yueri's wrists. Yueri slapped his hands away when he moved towards her ankles. “Here's your weapon.”

 

Yueri snatched her broadsword away from Kaze's touch and stood. “You will lose,” he whispered to her as she began to walk away. “You can't save both of them.”

 

“I can try.” Yueri stepped out of the cave and disappeared, running into Konoha. First things first. I have to find Naruto and get him and Gaara out of Konoha.

 

Quickly! Shishi warned. She thrashed wildly deep with Yueri's breast. Her growl shook Yueri's body as the young nin focused her chakra on finding Naruto. Her head snapped up as she found Naruto and she was gone.

 

Within a matter of precious minutes Yueri found Naruto perched on one of the monuments of the Hokage. She sighed softly as she watched his innocence.

 

“Naruto-kun,” she called softly.

 

Naruto turned to look at her and gasped. Yueri knew why. Naruto had never seen her with her broad sword.

 

“You can use a broad sword?” he asked.

 

“Hai, but now is not the time for questions, Naruto-kun. I have to get you out of Konoha. You're in danger,” she told him, squatting down to his level. “A man from my past, who tried to kill me is back. He's going to go after you if I don't get you out of this village. Please Naruto-kun. I don't want you to be hurt.”

 

Naruto looked in Yueri's eyes and sighed. He placed his left hand on her head and smiled weakly. “I'll follow you to the ends of the earth, Yueri-chan.”

 

Yueri's lower lip trembled before she threw her arms around the blonde Chuunin. “Oh Naruto-kun!” she cried. “I wish you weren't involved!”

 

Naruto smiled. “Come on, like you said. Now is not the time.”

 

Yueri nodded and stood up, helping Naruto stand. “We're going to Nee-san's first and then we'll go from there.”

 

With that said, the two nin disappeared.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Gaara paced. Night had fallen just a few minutes before and Yueri still had not returned from her search. He crossed his arms over his chest when he heard the door open. He spun around to find not just Yueri, but Naruto. He glared at Naruto, feeling very possessive of Yueri.

 

“Gaara-kun, we don't have time for your jealousy,” Yueri snapped, noticing Gaara's hardened gaze. “Both you and Naruto-kun are in danger and I have to get you two, Chamomile, Neji, and Shikamaru out of Konoha before the riddles start.”

 

“Why?” Gaara asked defiantly.

 

“Because, Kaze has returned. And he wants revenge. He has riddles he wants me to solve. He says that depending on how I solve them determines who lives, you or Naruto. And he won't stop with just one death, he'll kill whoever I'm close to, whoever I've come in contact lately.” Yueri moved about the apartment, throwing duffle bags at both Gaara and Naruto.

 

“Let him come. You and I can take care of him easily,” Gaara argued.

 

“Gaara! I don't have the time and energy for this!” Yueri yelled. Her voice echoed off of the walls, shaking the apartment.

 

“Yueri-chan,” Naruto whispered, touching her shoulder gently. “Calm down, please.”

 

“Sorry Naruto-kun. I just spent a few hours being tied up by the maniac. I've been careless for the past few years, thinking that Kaze was dead. But he's alive alright.” Yueri smiled weakly before turning to Gaara, her eyes were cold. The lion of ice living within her was giving her emotional strength. “Gaara, I don't have time for you to be jealous of Naruto, or your whole “macho man” deal. You were young, so was I, when Kaze first tried to kill us, but now he knows to be weary of both of us. He knows that I have Shishi within me now. I will not have the energy to deal with you if you are determined to make this ordeal harder then it already is.”

 

Gaara looked away, ashamed. “Of course.”

 

Yueri nodded and turned to dash into the kitchen. “You both will go to my house in the forest. Naruto-kun I want you to gather the poisonous plants that are left. Get my herb lore books and pack them. If anyone follows you from a different village, to be exact from Rain. Don't trust them. If they want something to drink, break up one of the plant leaves and put it in their drinks. Get food and leave. Don't stay at the house for long. Perhaps a day or two at the most. Go somewhere, another country. Do NOT go to Hidden in the Sand. Kaze will find you there. Go to Hidden in the Mist, do NOT go to Hidden in the Rain. I will find you when it's safe.”

 

“How will we know it's you?” Naruto asked.

 

“Naruto-kun, focus your chakra on finding me and if it tugs towards where I stand, then you can be sure it's me. Plus, I'll have one of my kittens with me,” Yueri answered, ruffling Naruto's hair. Her smile was weak, but still graced her face.

 

Naruto looked at Gaara and Yueri sighed. “Do me a favor and don't kill each other, please,” she told them. “Kill each other and you'll both be brought back to life and I'll kill you again.”

 

Naruto gulped and Gaara raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest.

 

“And don't think that I can't kill you Gaara.” A kunai knife slipped from Yueri's fingers and lodged itself in the wall next to Gaara's head. “Be careful, both of you. Please.”

 

Naruto nodded and disappeared with a puff of smoke. Gaara remained.

 

“Gaara-kun, please don't make this harder for me,” Yueri begged. “I have to get you and Naruto out of Konoha. I can't let either of you get hurt. I won't let my dreams come true.”

 

“What are you talking about?” Gaara asked.

 

“Gaara-kun, please! This is for the best.”

 

“Don't regret your decisions,” Gaara whispered, touching Yueri's cheek.

 

“I won't. Now go!” Yueri whispered hoarsely. “Please!”

 

Gaara nodded and disappeared in a whirl of sand.

 

“Stay safe,” Yueri pleaded softly, looking up at the ceiling.

 

~*~

 

Naruto bounded from tree limb to tree limb, Gaara kept up with him as well as he could.

 

“I hope you know where you're going!” Gaara called to Naruto. “Yueri's house is like the house of Babba Yaga! It moves a lot to provide Yueri with the freedom and peace she needs.”

 

“Don't worry! I can find it!” Naruto called back, grinning.

 

Gaara shook his head, seriously doubting that the blonde could really accomplish something like that. “If we get lost, I'll kill you.”

 

Naruto laughed. “As if! You tried that before, remember?”

 

Gaara grumbled his breath and wondered how the loud-mouthed ninja always managed to get his temper going.

 

~*~

 

Yueri paced in the living room, mapping out her plan. With her back turned, she ducked a kunai that had been thrown into the room from the window. Yueri didn't even bother to look out the window to see if she could look for the attacker; she knew who it was. Tied to the kunai was a note, not one of the exploding tags. She tore it from the wall and read the message:

 

Find the demon's weakness

In grass and field

A time of memories

Held dear,

You shall find.

 

Yueri groaned flopped on the couch, knowing this was the first of many riddles.

 

 

~*~

 

TBC...