When the Book Ends ~ NaruSasu

IX. The Hunt

"Today we are going to go look for food again. We're running low." Naruto said as he lifted himself from the floor. We were pretty hungover from last night, and desperately needed food.

"Hn, I don't wanna look for food but I feel like I'm going to die if I go one more day without it." I muttered. Naruto let out a soft laugh at my tiresome complaining. "Sorry, I should have looked sooner for you."

"Hn. Don't say sorry, idiot. We'll look for food now instead." I calmly reassured him, and Naruto seemed to be happy with my response. "This time, we will do it together, okay?" He smiled.

With that, we left and got ready to hunt for food — but unusually, there was nothing around. Actually, there weren't humans nor animals, and everything seemed as though it was almost too silent.

"Something feels off." Naruto mumbled, and I nodded. "We've been out here for hours as well, but there still isn't any food around."

And surely enough, something was off. We were being followed. "Ha! Watch out Naruto!" I yelled, falling to my side as I saw a dark shadow rush towards Naruto. Naruto stood his ground, and barely seemed to dodge the attack.

But by the time I blinked, I felt a sharp feeling towards my neck. There was a knife barely grazing over it, and right behind me was this person following us, dressed in all black with a mask so we couldn't see his face.

His body was slim and pale, and he clearly moved extremely fast. I thought I was on my feet, but instead I was swiftly taken hostage. "Don't move a muscle or I'll kill you." The person whispered into my ear. There was nothing I could do but obey at that point.

Naruto was in shock from what it seemed, but that shock soon very quickly turned to anger. "Let him go." He grusmbled, and I could do nothing but stand there.

"You owe us money," the man behind me said in a calm voice. It was as though he felt nothing. "My boss sent me here to collect it. But seems our little hero has turned soft for some brat." The person slowly removed their mask, revealing a pale face with dark hair.

Naruto gasped. "Sai?..." his voice trembled. "W-what?" I nervously stood. I could not turn around even if I wanted to. "It's been a while, Naruto." He admitted, sighing. "You've never been good at remembering though," the stranger laughed.

"We can talk it out, whatever it is. Just let him go." Naruto frowned. He looked desperate. "There's no talking about it anymore. You've been on the run for too long."

"Can you explain what the hell is happening?!" I yelled completely in panic mode. This was not a good situation... at this rate, I was going to die, and with pretty much no explanation beforehand.

Naruto looked scared, but he took deep breaths. "I don't owe anyone money. Sai, why are you coming to me with just this? Surely there's something else we can do... just let him go."

Sai began pressing the knife harder against my neck. "You want to run away from your debt, and yet still want to talk things out? Not happening." Sai, who was stern, dressed in dark clothing which cut off right above his stomach, groaned.

"If you can't pay right now, I won't hesitate to kill him."

I stood, completely frozen.
There was no doubt Naruto had absolutely no cash on him. He didn't even bring food or water or a bag. He left everything behind...

I was going to die right in front of Naruto.