The Way Into Mist Village (Naruto)

32: Into the Volcano

[OP: I was Wrong--The Oh Hellos]

The search group had followed Shine.

It was nearly a straight line towards the volcano. Though it was dark, Shine managed to guide them anyway.

For a while nothing tried to stop them, it seemed that the distraction team was doing their job well.

Sasuke couldn't shake the feeling that the fog was watching dim though. Perhaps he was too used to being a target to feel that this was going to be so easy.

He wasn't the only one, Shoto kept looking around also warily.

Neji kept checking to see if anyone was coming, so far nothing.

It was quite silent when the sudden attack happened.

The fog around them solidified into something, it seemed to be a huge dragon, the eastern looking kind with the long whiskers and serpentine body.

"Whoa!" Wally jumped as it snapped at them in the front.

Shine jumped back, slashing her sword, but she missed as it rose up over their heads.

It then blew a cloud of fog at them that was boiling hot.

"Ah!" Momo ducked and Shot pushed her down, trying to put his left side upward most so that he wasn't scalded...though it didn't work so well with water.

The boiling feeling slid over his arm and suddenly he flinched and covered his head instinctively, curl up into a ball.

"Shoto?" Momo looked up.

The dragon noticed it and blew more boiling steaming water at them.

Momo quickly made a shield in front of her, blocking the water.

Wally grabbed her and Shoto and yanked them back. "Take over," he said. "That thing is more dangerous than it looks for a piece of fog."

The dragon's tail was solid and it seemed to be more durable than you'd think, Sasuke was ducking it and Neij tried to hit it, only to get knocked over by the body.

Shine had had to dodge the boiling water, but now she got up and pounced on it, sword out.

Shoto was shaking head to toe and breathing hard.

"Shoto?" Momo put a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong? Did it burn you?"

Shoto looked up at her, a little wildly. "The water..."

Momo had forgotten that his scar came from boiling water, but now she remembered...no wonder he's recovering from it,

"It's...okay..." she said. Patting his arm soothingly. "it's gone now...Are you all right?"

Shoto knew in his mind that it wasn't the same thing...but his body had reacted on its own, he had to get it under control. He sat up. "I'm all right now...it...caught me off guard. I don't usually have a problem anymore. I don't know why that..."

"It startled me also," Momo said. "I didn't know that was possible...by all science it's not-- but jutsu is not scientific..." she shook her head. "We have to fight it."

"I can freeze it," Shoto got up and she got up too.

But that is when they saw the fog had rolled across the area while they'd been talking, it  had only been a few seconds, but that was all it took.

"Where did they go?" Shoto held up his left hand. Burning up some of the fog.

The fire looked a little odd to Momo...she recalled their theory about CO2 being in the air. It couldn't be enough to be the same as gas but it might be making the fire look a little different. [Ever notice that gas fires look different than wood fires? There's a reason for that.]