Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Innocent Illusions ❯ Poisonous Battles ( Chapter 11 )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and Co.

 

 

Innocent Illusions

 

 

Sakura poked the campfire, making sure the flames didn't go out. Naruto sat beside her but turned his head to watch the little ink animals crawl over to Sai and dissolve onto sheets of paper. Words appeared as more animals came.

 

"So what'd they say?" Naruto asked as Sai picked up the scroll and read silently.

 

"They found nothing suspicious yet. I guess we should try again tomorrow. We'll stay here for the night." Sai announced.

 

"Okay. So what do we have to eat?" Naruto looked at Sakura who in return dug into her bag.

 

"Well, we have some food pills. Not that tasty, but they'll fill you up." Sakura looked up to see Naruto's questioning glance. "It's either this or starve. Pick."

 

"How 'bout neither? I brought some ramen." Naruto ran over to his bag and brought out three cups. "Want some, Sakura?" She smiled before nodding her head.

 

"I bet the day they invented ramen in a portable cup, you almost died of happiness overload."

 

"Yup." Naruto smiled.

 

"So how are we supposed to eat these? Dry?"

 

"No. There's a small river nearby. We'll use the water from there."

 

"You thought of everything, haven't you?" Sakura said as she spread out their sleeping bags.

 

"Uhh... no. We don't have any utensils."

 

"Not a problem. I'll make some." Sai volunteered as he grabbed his kunai and a clean log before carving out chopsticks for his teammates.

 

"Thanks, Sai. You're the best." Sai just gave him a small nod. Naruto gathered the cups of ramen and cradled it into his arm. He took a long, wooden stick by a tree and stuck it into the fire and took it out as soon as it conducted a small flame. "I'll be back quick."

 

"Okay. Be careful." Sakura warned gently.

 

"Don't worry." Naruto replied before running to the stream, being careful to keep the flame going and to keep the cups in his hand. As soon as he reached the riverbank, he dumped the cups onto the rock before creating a shadow clone. The shadow clone began opening the cups and pouring in the powder. Naruto stood over the water and manipulated the air around him to make the flame grow bigger to heat the water. Soon, he began to feel himself growing bored when he realized he had to watch the water boil.

 

When the stick was almost gone, Naruto threw the large flame into the air and used his wind element to make the flame grow bigger, trying to rid himself of his boredom. Naruto smiled as the flame grew into a giant ball that could consume more than ten humans. A shadow flickered in his peripheral vision. Naruto turned his head toward the shadow shaped like a body, but it jumped away to another tree and disappeared too fast for Naruto to actual conclude it as anything but his imagination.

 

"Did you see that?" He asked his clone. The clone shook his head.

 

"Nope. It was probably an animal. Concentrate on the ramen!" The clone began to scoop the hot water into the cups. "I'm so hungry."

 

"You're not eating. I am." Naruto stated.

 

"What? You bastard!" Naruto sighed as he took back the chakra he had used to create the shadow clone causing the clone to disappear.

 

This is why I don't like talking to myself. Naruto thought as he picked up the cups.

 

He turned back toward the dark forest. Is somebody watching me? Naruto walked away when he just passed it off as his mind playing tricks on him.

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~

 

 

It was the third day that they were away from civilization. They were probably only a few miles away from the Sand Village, but they were spending their time searching the area for any clues of Akatsuki activity. Not a single detail of the landscape passed them, but none of those details had anything the related to Akatsuki. Naruto looked over at his team. They were tired and obviously wanted to get to the sand village, but their duty denied them of that ability. He looked up at the land they haven't searched yet. Skipping them for one night wouldn't hurt, would it?

 

"Why don't we go to the Sand Village now?"

 

"Why?" Sakura asked.

 

"We've been searching for three days straight now. We're all exhausted, which won't help us, if we encounter any enemies. We only have a few miles left. It would be better if we regain our strength tonight and search the rest of the land tomorrow. It's not that much. Then, we can investigate the little land that we have left in the morning. Does that sound good?" Naruto watched as Sai and Sakura stared at each other, having a mental debate.

 

"Fine." Sai answered. Naruto smiled. His ramen supply was running out, and he didn't want to eat those tasteless tablets when he could be eating hot, steamy ramen. That would be so much better.

 

"Okay, let's go. Now, what direction is the village?" Sakura looked at the landscape around them before pointing west.

 

"About three miles that way. Come on. Whoever's the last one there has to pay for the room we're staying at tonight." They all smiled at each other before all them suddenly ran off at top speed. So far, Naruto was in the lead and grinning his little head off at being victorious.

 

His little victory dance in his mind ended when a black shadow ran right in front of him. The thing and him didn't collide, but it caused him to skid to an abrupt stop.

 

"Who the hell is there?" Naruto shouted, his hand fisted around the weapons in his pouch. Sakura and Sai stopped to look oddly at him.

 

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked.

 

"Didn't you see it? That thing ran right in front of me." Sakura jumped down and stood by Naruto as Sai quickly searched the area. Sakura pressed her hand to Naruto's forehead and took down mental notes about Naruto's status.

 

"Nothing seems to be wrong." She concluded.

 

"No one else is around here. Is he under genjutsu?" Sai jumped down to stand beside the group.

 

"I can't sense anything." Sakura frowned before smiling. "Hey, is this some trick to distract us so you'd win?" Naruto scowled at the two.

 

"This isn't some damn joke. I saw something. If I'm not under genjutsu, then what the hell did I see?" Naruto shouted.

 

"Maybe it's just fatigue." Sakura suggested. "Why don't we just go to the sand village and have you rest?" Naruto looked wildly around him again before nodding and heading off with them to the village. The experience today somehow reminded him of when he had been in the forest with his clone. Even a perfect clone of himself had doubted Naruto. What was going on?

 

Soon, they arrived at the village.

 

They had luckily booked a night at a hot spring hotel. Naruto was the first one to visit the hot springs. Naruto sighed as his tired muscles sunk deeper into the steaming water. Sai and Sakura decided to look around the village for any clue to where Akatsuki's location could be. He was going to search, too but right after this soothing bath. Besides, Naruto knew the person he could get direct information from.

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~

 

 

His desk was clustered with documents that demanded his attention. His nimble fingers picked up a sheet of information before his eyes scanned the words on the paper before grabbing his pen and writing down his approval. He placed the finished sheet in a bin before looking at the pile still resting on his desk. If he continued to work like this, the paperwork would be finished in about an hour or so. Luckily, there were no distractions present.

 

"Gaara!" The sudden screech was followed by his door being slammed open. Gaara's light green eyes landed on his blonde visitor.

 

"Naruto! He's the Kamikaze! You can't just burst into his office!" The pink-haired girl ran up to Naruto before turning toward Gaara and bowing down in an apologetic way. "I'm sorry. Naruto's just too excited." He watched as their black-haired friend followed behind.

 

"You are here for the investigation, are you not?" Gaara asked, getting down to business.

 

"Uhh... yeah," Naruto agreed. Gaara quickly searched with his eyes through the papers on his desk. His desk wasn't littered with papers that he couldn't find anything in it, but it wasn't too organized either. Gaara lost the use of organizing papers into neat stacks when his assistants would just dump stacks of paper, not caring where it landed as long as the heavy weight was gone, onto his desk causing it to become unorganized once again. Finding it, Gaara plucked it off his desk and handed it over to the team.

 

"I suggest you head out tomorrow. One more thing...," He waited until the team was done reading the words off the paper before looking at him. "I already had the area scouted." He watched as a scowl appeared on Naruto's face.

 

"Then, what's the point of bringing us here?" Gaara felt a twinge of surprise before answering the blonde. Wasn't he the first one to usually jump at the name of his friend?

 

"I would not allow an area with a threat stay unknown if the people of this village could get access to it. You merely came before I could tell you." That shut the blonde up.

 

"So...," He turned to face his teammates. "... do we stay or leave?"

 

"I'd think it'd be better if you'd stayed. My scouts didn't put as much effort into the search as I would expect you would. You might find something they missed." Gaara returned to his paperwork, silently dismissing the team. They placed the sheet on his desk before turning to leave. "Uzumaki, you stay." Naruto froze before looking at Gaara and then, at his teammates.

 

"We'll be back at the hotel." Sai whispered to Naruto before Sakura and him left. Naruto turned back to the Kamikaze.

 

"You want something, Gaara?" Naruto asked, knowing that the Kamikaze wouldn't be bothered by his direct address. Gaara wasn't the person who would be bothered by the lack of titles.

 

"I haven't heard any news of you becoming Hokage." Naruto's casual stance turned serious when he heard the statement.

 

"Well, that's because I'm not." Naruto stated. Gaara continued to stay silent while sending Naruto a look that stood for 'Why?'. Naruto frowned as a new thought entered his mind. He had been spending too much time with Sasuke. Now, Naruto could understand the smallest subtle movement that Gaara had made. "I have to do something first."

 

"Would this something be related to the Uchiha?" Naruto was unhesitant to answer.

 

"Yeah. Being Hokage is my dream, but I can't be Hokage if I can't help my friends, can I?" Naruto asked, unexpectedly walking into Gaara's trap.

 

"So helping your friends is important? You don't seem too happy to be here."

 

"What? Of course, I'm happy! I'm excited to be here, damn it!" Naruto replied loudly. Gaara studied Naruto for a moment before answering.

 

"You know something, Uzumaki. You also don't want to be here, but you are." Naruto gulped. Was he that obvious or was Gaara too observant for his own damn good? Naruto paused as he contemplated what to say next.

 

"So?" Well, it wasn't a really well thought out response, but it worked.

 

"I will tell your teammates that I sent you back to your village. Is that something you want, Uzumaki?" Naruto stared at Gaara before a grin broke out on his face.

 

"Yeah! That's great!" He looked down and offered Gaara one of his biggest smiles. "You're the best."

 

Naruto left the office a happier than when he entered. Although, he wasn't sure how his teammates would react.

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~

 

 

"You're going back?!" Customers in the hallways stopped as they heard the shrill shriek while Naruto stood in the room with the real danger.

 

"It's not my fault! Gaara wants to send me back!"

 

"Why would he do that?!" Sakura screamed. Sai faded into the wall as he tried not to take the attention of Sakura's anger away from Naruto.

 

"Something about unnecessary third party. He said he already searched the area so we're just like a small back up search. Since there's not anything that dangerous out there, he didn't think he needed that much leaf ninjas in his village." Sakura paused to massage her head as she felt a small migraine coming on. Naruto opened his mouth as words of comfort immediately jumped out. "I can help you search the remaining area, and then, I'll leave as you guys search beyond the village." Sakura nodded.

 

"Fine." With that, they headed off.

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~

 

 

Naruto sat on a rock centered in a very large pond. When they came to the outside of the village, they decided it would be better if they split up, making the search much faster. After searching his whole sector, Naruto discovered a small oasis. He was suspicious of the vibrant green and blue against the dusty, brown sand but then decided to kick back and relax. He went through his small pack and checked to see if everything was there. He smiled as he picked up the clothes he had bought in the town. Naruto had decided as soon as Gaara guaranteed to free him. Naruto was going to visit the bar first.

 

He bought some clothes that he could change into so he wouldn't be in his fighting outfit. Naruto decided that he would hide his pack and his other things in a hollow tree along the way there.

 

Right now, Naruto decided it was some time to relax considering that Sai and Sakura probably wouldn't be done scouting their area for a while.

 

"Naruto!" He bolted up as he heard Sakura's loud shriek. Naruto quickly grabbed a kunai just in case and turned around. Sakura stood behind him with a silent Sai as a shadowed figure stood standing visibly before them. Naruto could see the outline around the figure but couldn't distinguish any specific features. It was as if it were a living shadow. "Is this what you were talking about a few days ago?" She asked loudly. Naruto looked at all of them strangely. Why didn't he hear them come?

 

"Yeah," Naruto answered as he ran up to stand beside them. "When did you guys get here?" He asked when the figure remained moving. She opened her mouth to reply when the figure started running toward them. They all dodged the attack as Sai quickly grabbed opened his scrolls. The figure ran towards Sai to stop him when Sakura pounded the water with her fist, to divert its attention, hitting all the way to the bottom and creating cracks in the hard rock. The water sprayed Naruto's eyes as he avoided the moving rocks. He opened them quickly as he tried to find the enemy. The black figure was laying on the shore. Naruto turned to smile at Sakura.

 

"Good jo-" His voice caught in his throat as he saw a second shadow figure behind Sakura. "Watch out!" He yelled, but it was too late as a jagged spike was thrown toward Sakura's neck. She immediately fell down. Naruto looked down at her. She couldn't have died that easily. Unless... was it poison? Naruto was suddenly brought back to reality as he heard lion roars. Black lions jumped up from behind him and aimed for the shadow with Sai immediately following them. The shadow quickly slashed the lions, creating an explosion of ink that momentarily blinded him. Sai ran through the ink-cloud and slit what would have been the shadow's throat if he had any. The figure fell onto the ground as Sai ran over to Sakura when he suddenly fell onto his knees, a painful groan erupting from his throat. What was going on? Naruto watched in shock as the ink that covered Sai's entire body acted like acid and melted his skin. "Sai!" Naruto tried to move his body but found himself paralyzed. He looked down and saw the shadow's hand holding him down.

 

"How can you protect him if you can't protect yourself?" Naruto for some reason felt the figure was implying Sasuke.

 

"Heh." Naruto turned around and smirked at the being, catching it off guard. "Nice trick." The figure's mental image faded slightly when Naruto withdrew his chakra but remained solid. "Your genjutsu's pretty strong then."

 

"When did you figure it out?"

 

"Sakura and Sai would never die so easily." Naruto stated. "Was it you who was playing tricks on my mind all along?" The shadow figure remained quiet in a silent yes.

 

"You're not strong enough to provide protection."

 

"Naruto!" The shadow figure and Naruto turned toward the sky as the voice seemed to have come from outside of the genjutsu. Suddenly, Naruto was able to take control of the situation and shove the mental shadow off of him.

 

"He doesn't need my protection!"

 

"He is not the one who requires it." The deep voice faded away as Naruto felt his chakra being scattered. When Naruto opened his eyes, he was in the oasis still sitting on the rock. His pack laid next to him as his eyes skimmed the area around him wildly, noticing that it wasn't destroyed.

 

"Naruto," He looked up to see Sakura's concerned eyes. "Are you okay? You were placed under genjutsu." Naruto nodded quickly as he saw Sai's body flicker in between the shrubbery surrounding the oasis.

 

"What's he doing?"

 

"He's searching for the enemy who placed the genjutsu on you. The enemy probably couldn't have gotten far." Naruto stood up as Sakura carefully balanced him with her arm.

 

"You can tell him to stop. The enemy's gone." Naruto said, instinctingly knowing that the shadow figure had wanted to send him the threat before leaving.

 

"How can you be so sure?"

 

"Just trust me." Naruto comforted Sakura. "I think we're done scouting the area. I should return to our village." Sakura's comforted feelings were broken as she went into another hysterical mood.

 

"Are you crazy?! You were just attacked by an enemy. If we haven't arrived, who knows what would've happened to you?"

 

"Sakura! Sakura! I told you to trust me! Don't worry! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I'm going to be the Hokage for the Hidden Leaf Village, and I'm not going to let some damn genjutsu ninja get in my fucking way! Understand? I'm okay on my own!" In truth, Sakura knew that Naruto was going to be fine, but some feeling, a premonition like feeling, let her know that Naruto was going to be in trouble as soon as he left. Was it because she suddenly grown a psychic ability or was she thinking that Naruto would return to that bar that caused all these changes in him? Whatever it was, Sakura was just worried.

 

"Okay." She said uncertainly.

 

"It's okay, Sakura! When you come back, I'll be the first one to greet you!" Naruto imitated her boyfriend and gave her the good guy pose, which caused her to laugh.

 

"Fine, but be careful." Naruto nodded.

 

"Shouldn't you stay at the sand village a little longer to regain your strength?" Sai asked as he arrived back just to hear that clip of the conversation.

 

"No, I'll be fine." Naruto grabbed his pack and gathered all his belongings before standing up and smiling. "Bye."

 

"Wait-" Naruto ran off before Sakura could finish her sentence. She looked at Sai. "Do you feel the same thing I'm feeling?"

 

"Like, Naruto's going to be in trouble?"

 

"Yeah."

 

"Naruto's tough, though. We know he can handle himself." Sakura nodded before the two returned to the village.

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~

 

 

Naruto transformed about a few hundred yards out of the town's perimeter. He had been traveling for almost three days. Naruto cleaned himself up in the town he saw a few hours back. He walked out slowly, hoping no one noticed that he had just crawled out of a bush, before heading straight to the bar.

 

"You're back? So soon?" Kana asked. Naruto gave her a smile before explaining.

 

"The vacation ended early." They went straight down to business and negotiated about when he would come back to work. He couldn't come back today, but he could start two days later after Kana got some things straightened. Naruto exited the door to run into a stiff figure. He looked up to see Sasuke.

 

"Hey!" Naruto said excitedly, feeling relieved for some reason. "You're here. I thought you wouldn't be back until two weeks. It's been, what? One... week." Naruto's voice traced off as Sasuke gave him a strange look. Naruto looked down at himself. He was wearing a black t-shirt probably three times his transformation's size and baggy orange shorts. Probably a little bit on the tomboy side but Naruto never expected Sasuke to be into woman with skimpy clothing. "Are you okay?" Wordlessly, Sasuke turned and walked to the edge of the village. Naruto followed.

 

Was Sasuke mad because Naruto left? Naruto didn't think Sasuke would be angry at petty little things like that. As soon as they reached the perimeter of the town, Naruto turned toward Sasuke.

 

"What's wrong? Are you mad 'cuz I left? I-" Suddenly, Sasuke grabbed the back of Naruto's head and roughly shoved something into Naruto's face. His hand pushing the piece of cloth into Naruto's mouth causing Naruto to gag on the piece of cloth. Quickly reacting to the attack, Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm and twisted it, hurting Sasuke enough to make him let go. His leg went up to kick Sasuke in the stomach so he would lose his balance, but instead, his leg went right through him. Fuck. Another genjutsu?

 

Naruto stood still and ignored the events happening in the illusion until he felt a small impact. He opened his eyes to see that he was on the ground. Sasuke was on his side, pricking his arm with a small needle. He tried to move his body, but it wasn't listening to him.

 

"Don't try it." Sasuke said as he pulled the needle out of Naruto's arm. "The cloth had toxins in them that's flowing through your body. I inserted some of my chakra so I can control the toxins. I can turn them on or off if I want. They suck away your energy so you can't fight. Right now, they're on." Naruto's face moved into a scowl. Suddenly, Naruto twisted his body and punched Sasuke in the face. Sasuke's earlier statement somehow added to the satisfied emotion that Naruto felt when he saw some blood at the corner of Sasuke's mouth. Granted, he could probably have done worse, but the toxins were sucking away his strength. Naruto felt his body suddenly becoming tired. Sakura had taught Sai and him some medical knowledge that they could use on the battlefield so he knew what was happening. The sudden burst of energy wiped out the little energy he had left to fight the toxins. His body was now trying to regenerate some.

 

"Teme...," Naruto called before he blacked out.

 

Sasuke stood up and wiped away the blood at the corner of his mouth and acted as if nothing had happened as he picked up the girl's body and flung it over his shoulder. He walked a little further outside of the town before using the teleportation jutsu. Sasuke was tired of wasting time.

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~

 

 

A/N: Sorry that it took so long to post this up, but I bring some good news. It took me awhile, because I was working on another project, too. I wanted to post this chapter up along with the opening chapter for Itonami, the thing I was working on alongside this. Go to my profile and check it out. :)