You're not the only one.... ×Book 1×

72. A-ranked mission: Retrieve Sasuke!

'The home should be the treasure chest of living'

-Le Corbusier
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"Ruka!"

Someone's calling me but I can't answer. I can't wake up no matter how hard I try; I can still hear explosions and screaming but I can't see what's happening.

"Oh man!" Someone said, exhaling deeply "release!"

My eyes flew open and I jerked awake because it felt like someone had poured a gallon of cold water on me. My eyes instantly connected with Sakura's and I could hear explosions and screaming from all around the village.

"W-What's going on?!" I said as fear started to slowly engulf me.

"Follow me" Sakura said getting on her stomach and crawling away.

I nodded and crawled after her as I looked in between the cracks of the stadium chairs to see what was going on. There were many foreign ninja in the arena and the stands. They were all dressed in black clothing and fighting the Joñin. Kakashi Sensei and Gai Sensei were working together to beat them all down but more and more seemed to come.

"We're being attacked!" Sakura whispered as she stopped crawling and sat up in front of Naruto's unconscious body
"Sasuke-kun ran after the Sand siblings after they ran off with an injured Gaara."

Damn! I nervously chewed my bottom lip as Sakura began to use her Jutsu on Naruto. That's sounds just like something Sasuke would do.

"Release!"

Naruto jerked awake and yelped loudly as Sakura hastily shushed him.

"Where are we?!" Naruto exclaimed loudly as Sakura begged him to shut up "what's going on?!"

"Naruto!" Sakura half yelled, half whispered "shut up before....!"

"Before what?" A unknown voice said as I got chills down my spine.

We all turned around and came face to face with one of the foreign ninja, who was looking down at us sinisterly. Sakura gasped in surprise and I felt Naruto grab my arm, trying to pull me behind him.

"What should I do with you three" he said smirking "maybe I could...."

"HYAAAAA!"

A green blur appeared from absolutely nowhere and the next thing I knew the ninja was on the ground probably dead.
Gai Sensei straighten up and smiled as Kakashi Sensei came over and stood beside him.

"A youthful performance, right Kakashi?" Gai said confidently.

"It was okay" he replied, ripping away every shred of Gai's confidence.

Kakashi Sensei turned towards us and exhaled deeply.

"Alright Sakura you go wake up Shikamaru then I have a mission for you all" he said.

"A mission?" I asked curiously.

"Yes" he replied "consider it your very first A-ranked mission."

We all gasped and exchanged worried looks. A-ranked, are we ready for that?! Sakura went to go wake Shikamaru as Kakashi Sensei explained the mission to us. Basically, we had to go and find Sasuke and bring him back before he gets in a fight with Gaara and his siblings.

"Since it will be difficult to find him in such a large forest " he concluded as Shikamaru and Sakura came over "take Pankum with you."

Pankum....?

Kakashi Sensei began making hand signs then slammed his hand on the floor as a cloud of smoke appeared. Once the smoke cleared we all stared to see a small dog, no bigger then a basketball.

"Alright" the dog said as my eyes widened "where we heading?!"

*****

"Do we really have to do this?!" Sakura said anxiously biting her lip.

"We have no choice kid" Pankum said shrugging "retracing our footsteps earlier didn't throw them off our trail. One of us has to go distract them."

We all looked at each other then hastily looked away. As we were looking for Sasuke, nine foreign ninja followed us and now one of us has to distract them while the others follow after Sasuke. Going after nine fully grown ninja with no help is suicide, and we were all aware of that.

"I'd prefer it if blonde boy stayed here" Pankum said pointing a paw at Naruto "if we're going to find this Sasuke fellow I have a feeling he'll be able to calm him down."

Naruto glanced over at me but I didn't dare meet his gaze. I could take on those nine ninja....if I really tried.

"Yo, pinky" Pankum said pawing at Sakura "you stay here too."

She nodded and gulped nervously as she stared from Shikamaru to me. I guess there's no choice, I'll take on those nine ninja. Shikamaru glanced at me quickly then looked away.

"As for you two" Pankum said "I'd rather you both stay here but one of you has to...."

"I'll go" Shikamaru said, whipping out a Kunai and exhaling deeply.

"Are you sure" Sakura said in disbelief "you don't have to do this Shikamaru!"

"When you think about it I kind of do" he said shrugging "who would you rather go; me or Ruka?"

Naruto and Sakura remained quiet and shamefully hung their heads.

"Exactly" Shikamaru said "besides....I'd like to act like a badass for once."

When he said this he looked at me and I giggled. Shikamaru turned around and began hopping off as we watched him. Thank you Shikamaru.

"Oi!" Naruto yelled "when I see you again you better be alive and ready to tell me what happen!"

Shikamaru glanced back at him and nodded a small smile playing across his lips.

"When I see you again you better be with Sasuke and ready to tell me what happen!" Shikamaru yelled back.

Naruto smiled and nodded firmly as Shikamaru hopped completely out of sight. I frowned and clutched at my sword tightly. Be careful Shikamaru.

"Alright" Pankum said "let's not stay long, come on you three."

We all nodded then hopped off on our continued search for
Sasuke.

Sasuke, please be safe until we get there....so I can slap some sense back into you!
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Me: Hey guys! That's the end of chapter. 72! I hope you enjoyed it!

Naruto: Why is Ruka going to slap Sasuke?

Ruka: Because I'm angry!

Naruto: So you just slap stuff when you're angry?

Ruka: Yes

Naruto: *Takes a step back* good to know

Sakura: Story_of_Fate13 doesn't own Naruto

Me: Later guys!

Naruto: Is Ruka going to slap me?

Ruka: Don't worry you're fine

Naruto: Oh good! Because I....

Me: Guys! I ended the chapter already!

Naruto: My bad....

Me: Later again guys!