THE WILL OF FIRE: 1. The Serpent (A Naruto Fanfic)

The Serpent, Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

When I woke up it was nightfall. I was next to a tree, head on my backpack and covered in a blanket that wasn’t mine because I never carried one. I was more of a stay-on-guard type. But I wasn’t on guard that night. I pulled myself into a sitting position, my head feeling really heavy. Sasuke was poking at the fire, Naruto was snoring and Sakura was surprisingly sleeping very peacefully.

“So you’re awake,” said Sasuke.

“No, I’m sleepwalking.” But my head hurt too much to argue.

“Whatever.”

“How far away from the Wind Country are we?”

“We’re almost there. You can almost see the desert. But we had to take a stop because Naruto and I got tired of carrying you around.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. I didn’t mean to go all-out. They weren’t worth it.”

“But you did take one down.”

“Maybe but that doesn’t make me feel any better,” I pressed my fingertips to my forehead, calming myself down, “I’m losing control. You don’t know what happens when I lose control and I don’t intend for you to find out.”

He just kept poking at the fire. Then he remembered something else.

“Seems like your Sensei is causing more and more trouble.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“I’m just saying that guy obviously knew him and he was saying something that was pissing you off. And he also sent this.” He pulled a letter out of his pocket and threw it to me. “It’s the same as before when we were finishing our training. I think even the crow was the same. He is one troublesome fellow, hiding in the shadows, sending you letters that burn anyone else but you. Just who the hell is he and why are you so keen on him?”

I stared at the letter. Burning everyone else but me, huh? Smart.

“You wouldn’t understand so I’m not going to bother explaining anything.”

“Aren’t teammates supposed to trust each other?”

“I’m not proud of who I was and I’d rather forget it. Besides, you’re the one to talk. I’m not the only mystery in this group.”

“Unlike yours, my past isn’t endangering anyone.”

“Oh yeah? I knew you were an Uchiha off the bat and I’m not the only one. Most people know what happened to your clan. For what I heard they all dropped dead one night...”

“They didn’t drop dead,” he said through clenched teeth. “They were all murdered. By my brother.”

“Look who’s opening up. I had no idea there were more Uchihas.”

“My goal is to kill him someday. For what he did to my family. I wanna restore my clan.”

“Well, you better find yourself a girlfriend.”

He looked at me with anger in his eyes.

“Sorry, bad time for joking.”

He cooled down a little and said, “Now it’s your turn.”

“My turn?”

“I told you everything about myself. Now it’s your turn.”

“Let’s get something clear: I never asked you to tell me anything. And second, I refuse to tell you.”

“And why is that?”

“Two things: you’d be terrified of me and you’d despise me. And I’d have to kill you or someone else would do it for me.”