Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Return of the Lost Son ❯ Saving Namiko ( Chapter 14 )

Yondaime, who had taken to the air to avoid the incoming barrage, was amazed at the destruction he was witnessing. The battlefield, which had once been a well-maintained street with houses lining both sides, was now a smoldering heap of rubble, pockmarked with craters and the lifeless bodies of many shinobi. Realizing that any further collateral damage would be too much for Konoha to sustain, he made a drastic decision. Reaching down into his pouch, he pulled out a signal flare and was about to send a shot into the air, when he noticed a particular body, a female, laying facedown on the battlefield.

 

His heart beat wildly in his chest as he raced down from the rooftop and towards the body. When he finally reached her, he could see that she had already been turned over, and was being held by the very person who had wounded her. Kenichi looked up at his brother, tears welling in his eyes. Yondaime, feeling the anger mounting inside him, ran forward and punched his brother with all his strength away from Namiko. Kenichi skidded across the floor, landing several feet away and temporarily stunned. He remained where he landed, looking on as Yondaime treated the woman they both loved. He continued to watch as Yondaime reached into his pouch and removed his signal flare. The starburst that he shot into the air bathed the night sky in its bright green glow.

 

Kenichi was temporarily stunned by the brilliance of the flare, unable to pull his eyes away. When he finally regained control of himself, he looked back towards Yondaime and Namiko and a feeling of total disbelief overcame him. He watched in shock as Yondaime lifted Namiko to her feet and together they ran off away from the battle. Somehow, his brother had managed to not only treat her, but completely heal her as well. She didn't show any signs of the grievous wound he had just inflicted on her. All he could do was stare as his brother and his love ran away from the battlefield together.

 

As he was watching them leave, he remembered that he was on a battlefield, fighting for the very thing that he was watching leave with another man. The fury inside reignited once again as he rose to his feet and chased after the fleeing couple. They were at least 100 feet away, but no matter how fast he ran, he could not close the gap. “It's amazing that she can still run this fast despite being pregnant,” he thought to himself, still hot on their trail. They tried to lose him by ducking through alleys and running through backyards, but Kenichi refused to give them any breathing room. Despite his best efforts, though, he still couldn't make up any of the difference between them. It was like there was a pole between them, and the faster he ran, the more the pole pushed them to run faster. But he wasn't going to give up.

 

Then Kenichi saw something out of the corner of his eye that caught his attention -- a white wall with 2 shovels and a broken rake leaning against. His gut was telling him that he had passed this point before, but when? “It must have been when I was running from Namiko's place,” Kenichi thought to himself, trying to ease his misgivings. But that wasn't right because if he was retracing his path from her house, then they were heading in the wrong direction. Something else was wrong but Kenichi couldn't quite figure out what. He decided to put his bad feelings aside until he had recaptured Namiko from his brother.

 

He was still 100 feet behind Namiko and Yondaime when a thick mist swept in from behind him. Gradually the forms of the couple ahead became hazy, finally disappearing into the thickening fog. He pushed himself to run harder, but soon he was left chasing nothing. They had completely vanished into the fog and there was no trace of them; not a sound, a footprint, or even a scent remained for Kenichi to track. He spun around, trying desperately to determine not only where they had disappeared to, but also where he was. The fog had completely covered his tracks, making it impossible for him to retrace his steps. Kenichi screamed out in frustration over losing Namiko and anger for getting himself lost.

 

Kenichi was still venting his frustration when he felt a tugging oh his arm. He jumped away quickly, ready to attack whatever had just grabbed in, but in the fog, it was impossible to see 5 feet in front of him. Then he felt it again, a tug on his arm but this time it was more forceful. He went to swing his arm away when he felt another tug on his other arm, then his legs. With each tug, his arms and legs were pulled harder and further, until it felt like they were going to be ripped out of their sockets. He fought to free himself from his invisible restraints but found that his arms refused to move except when they were tugged. Somehow he had been caught, and soon the rest of Konoha's gathered forces would find him and kill him.