Naruto Fanfic - Prisoner of Nightmare

Chapter Four: Misty Chains

   Uchiha Sasuke was growing uneasy. The thick mist mixed with the quiet swishing of the waves and the gentle creaking of the rocking boat, making every shuffle of clothing seem much too loud and abrupt. No one spoke, either, draping the boat in a heavy silence that gnawed at him.

   But the worst of it was his new teammate, Uzumaki Naruto.

   Every now and then, Uzumaki twitched his fingers and raised his head, expression blank as he looked into the mist through that blindfold of his. It was getting on his nerves more than he'd like to admit, since every time he glanced over, there was nothing. Yet, it seemed that Uzumaki saw, or at the very least sensed something, that Sasuke couldn't.

   He was sure of it. After discreetly observing Uzumaki for so long, he caught the way Uzumaki's upper lip pulled back. It was a slight movement, easy to ignore, but Sasuke got the impression that Uzumaki wanted to bare his teeth at whatever he saw. 

   As much as he wanted to snap and ask what the hell was wrong, Sasuke clamped down on the impulse. He may be prideful, but Sasuke wasn't blind. Kakashi-sensei walked on eggshells around Uzumaki, subconsciously creating distance. And those "tattoos", he knew what they really were. 

   Seals. They were complicated seals that made him dizzy just from looking. Although he was by no means proficient in the subject, unable to create seals above the most elementary, he could recognize them. He was sure Sakura did as well, what with how many books she consumed in her spare time.

   Sasuke had only gained confirmation to this guess when Kakashi-sensei activated them.

   He suppressed a grimace at the memory. While he wasn't unfamiliar with death and slaughter, Uzumaki's actions still made Sasuke reel back in a vague sense of nervousness. What had he wanted to do with that eye? What was he looking for? But most importantly, where had Uzumaki come from?

   By the time they stopped at a port town and bid farewell to the fisherman, Sasuke was no closer to an answer. The five of them walked past the town and into a forest path, Tazuna in the middle of their loose diamond, Kakashi-sensei in front and Sasuke in the back. With the mist finally gone, Sasuke should have felt better now that his vision wasn't restricted.

   But he couldn't relax, not when he noticed that Uzumaki had started twitching again. This time, it wasn't the fingers, but his jaw. It tightened and then loosened before tightening again, like he was trying to chew away whatever what bothering him.

   Or take a bite of it.

   It gave him a bad premonition, inching his fingers into his kunai pouch and straining his ears. When Uzumaki's head snapped towards the right, Sasuke's knee-jerk reaction was to throw a kunai. It connected with the trunk of a tree with a dull thunk, the entire group coming to a stop immediately. 

   A frightened white rabbit bounded out from the bushes. And when everyone looked at him, Sasuke felt humiliation, almost cursing out loud but limiting himself to an accusatory glare aimed at Uzumaki.

   The humiliation was quick to fade when Kakashi-sensei suddenly said, "Get down!"

   A huge sword flew out from the leaves of a tree, spinning menacingly. It narrowly missed Sasuke's skull as he dropped to the ground, the gust it produced hitting his face and making him grimace.

   The blade lodged itself deep into a tree, a shirtless man with bandages around the lower half of his face and mimetic arm and leg warmers appearing on the handle not long after. A sideways headband with Kiri's symbol glinted in the sunlight.

   Kakashi-sensei was the first to stand, casually walking closer to the man. "Well, well. If it isn't Momochi Zabuza, what a surprise!"

   Despite how calm Kakashi-sensei seemed, Sasuke could hear the heaviness in his tone as he reached up towards his headband, grabbing it but not lifting it from his eye.