The Demon They Once Feared. {BOOK 2}

|25|Falling Into Place.

She heaved a sigh. Ignoring the questions that flooded her mind, she didn't want to think, it was bound to become a downward spiral of nothing good. Besides, she knew what she had to do, it was just a means of doing it and not getting caught in some kind of mess.

She had a goal, one that she could reach, one that she could finally achieve, and the thought already got the blood flowing with adrenaline. It only made her feet silently thump on the ground faster, the wind blowing through her long golden locks more violently, breathing more shallow. And the burning sensation in her lungs only fueled her run.

Mina briefly closed her eyes and immediately a picture of her smiling brother floated behind her eyelids, the sparkle in his eye clear as the sun beating down on the black cloak that covered her. She pushed the image away, but someone else popped in her mind.

Lips twitching upwards, she had to bite her lip to suppress the oncoming smile. He wasn't smiling, frown etched on his face, but what was new? He always seemed to be frowning, always portraying that lazy attitude, always muttering 'what a drag' when something came up that needed a little more effort. But each and every time they locked eyes, she saw the glimmer in his brown eyes. She saw the softness in his eyes, the care, the curiosity, the knowledge, the intellect. She saw that his brown eyes held something she could never dream to hold, and it frightened her when she realised what it was. Mina could read someone like an open book in an instant when she locked eyes with anyone, and it wasn't any different when she would look into the eyes of Shikamaru, the only difference being that she didn't quite understand what she saw, all she understood was that he knew, he knew a lot. And it terrified her to think of how much he knew, always being a step or more ahead of herself.

Her feet stopped moving, as she quietly perched on the branch of the tree. Birds tweeting and leafs rustling, it was a peaceful moment, the fist breeze cooling her heated skin. Mina took a moment to appreciate the peacefulness, catching her breath and then-

"Sasuke~!"

Her violet eyes glanced downwards, her eyebrows shooting upward the moment they handed on the four people walking casually through the forest. She focused in on one person, in particular, ignoring the red-headed girl, the boy with a giant sword or the other one, that kind of looked like he was hiding something under the cloak. She spotted the dark-haired boy she once knew in the academy, his hair had gotten longer, and he looked a lot taller.

When she blinked, she saw it. She saw everything, the way his Chakra flowed through his body wasn't normal. Well, it was, but it had a different feel to it. The darkness that was there before had lessened, now it flowed with uncertainty and confusion. It was like the one goal he was working towards his whole life had been-

She was flying through the air before she had time to think.

Mina ignored the grunt that came from deep within Sasuke's throat as she pinned him to the tree. "You did it," it wasn't a question. And when she only got a blank stare in return, the grip on his collar tightened as she pulled him back and slammed him almost immediately back into the tree, the crunch not registering in her mind.

By now the other three were on edge, ready to attack if anything worse were to happen.

"Yes," Sasuke spat out, gritting his teeth and trying not to let any pain get to him, still not being fully healed from the recent fight.

Mina growled, eyes narrowing as she bit her lip to the point it started to bleed. Her eyes burned, as she stared at the bags under his eyes and the undeniable look of tiredness on his face. She brought her hand up, noticing the other people tensing, and brought it back down.