Out of Place

Chapter12

The pinkette sped around the area once the group had settled down into a sheltered hollow. The sun had started to disappear beneath the horizon and Sakura decided that it was a suitable time for her to become familiar with her surroundings. She wasn't completely sure why but something was telling her that she needed to prepare for something. Maybe she was just over thinking things..

'It's part of the job description Outer.' The teenager huffed.

'There was no job description..'

'Then we should of been more careful when we decided to become a ninja.. shannaro!' The ends of Sakura's lips quirked slightly in amusement, after all the only thing in the job description for a shinobi was death..... more or less.

She leaped through the air, keeping to the shadows as she dashed around. In the area surrounding the steep hill the watchtower stood upon there weren't many trees -at least none that were tall and had leaves sprouting from their branches- so the pinkette wouldn't be able to uproot one if she wanted something to swing at any foe that might come across the group's resting place. On the other hand having something to swing at any enemies wasn't a necessity, Sakura just found it fun to do. You couldn't exactly blame the girl for wanting to use one of mother nature's greatest weapons, especially one she hadn't seen for what felt like years in her world. The battlefield back in her world was devoid of any plants and the Kunoichi didn't know if it was the absence of corpses or the addition of nature that made the air she was inhaling cleaner.

~<*.*>~

The kunoichi's brows furrowed as she sniffed the air.

'Outer.. is that?'

'Dang it! I thought the stranger was at least somewhat intelligent!' The pinkette stood up and rushed towards where a small but painfully bright light was shining through the darkness of the night. 

Once she had finished exploring the area she had decided to meditate only to be brought out of her focused trance by the strong smell of bacon. The bright light along with the thick smoke emanating from where the group was staying made Sakura furious. It was a dead give away to their location!

As she was racing towards the small campsite belonging to the group the atmosphere suddenly became thick and the world around her became dark. She stopped dead in her tracks and a shiver ran up her spine. Goosebumps raised along her arms and legs and her emerald eyes widened. She swallowed thickly, this was not what she needed. 

'Outer, what are you doing? We need to go, shannaro!' Inner roared from inside their mindscape.

The pinkette blinked and shook her head before resuming her journey. She was hurtling twice as fast as before and she tried her best to ignore the high pitched screams coming from behind her. 

'How can they even catch onto us that fast? Shannaro!' The seventeen year old ignored her other half's comments and urged herself to move faster. It was difficult to maneuver in the dark at such a pace but Sakura was determined and when she's determined she gets things done.

The four shorties seemed to have made their way to the top of the hill where the remains of the watchtower rested. The pinkette finally reached the small men and placed herself on top of a statue- which seemed to be in surprisingly good condition considering what the rest of the tower looked like- she still hadn't released the genjutsu that made her unnoticeable and she hoped that she wouldn't have to.

Her guide and the horse were nowhere in sight and Sakura guessed that he had strayed from the shorties which appeared to be a foolish mistake. From the way the short men were clumsily gripping the swords they had no experience whatsoever with handling the weapons. She was no expert swordsman but she did know her way around a blade and the fact that they were practically clueless when it came to handling a sword was starkly obvious to her. The only thing they were doing well was keeping their formation: their backs were together and they were keeping an eye on their surroundings, it was a good start but it wouldn't help them if they needed to indulge in combat.