Hello, Heartache ~Uchiha Sasuke Love story~

Chapter 18: We Make New Enemies

'Shit.' I cursed mentally, jumping out of the way and pulling a paralyzed Sakura with me as the enemy charged. I threw a couple of shurikens at him but he dodged them.

Sasuke jumped up and weaved hand signs. 'Katon, Housenka no jutsu!' he shot several balls of fire from his mouth, each time missing the enemy by merely an inch.

I landed on a high tree branch and held out my kunai, my eyes trailing to the enemy. 'Sakura,' I said, not facing her. 'I'm going to help Sasuke. Cover me!'

'M-Makoto, wait -'

But I ignored her, jumping off the tree and towards the enemy. Our kunais clashed and we landed on opposite directions. I fell on all fours before getting up and running after him with Sasuke right behind me.

'Hey! Sasuke! Makoto!'

Sasuke and I saw Naruto tied up on the floor, wriggling like a worm.

'That idiot ...' Sasuke hissed, throwing a kunai at him with such great aim that it slashed the ropes.

'I see a weak spot, lucky for me!' Ugly Snorkel man sneered, throwing several sharp weapons at us like kunais and short knives. Sasuke and I ducked below the branch that all the weapons hit.

I was about to heave a sigh of relief when Sasuke cursed.

'An exploding tag!' said Sasuke, making my eyes widen. I wanted to jump away but somehow, my limbs wouldn't move from both shock and fear. He put an arm around my waist and jumped away just as the tag exploded. Apparently, our landing wasn't exactly smooth.

Sasuke landed on his knees with his hands on either side of my head. I would probably feel really embarrassed from the position we were in but my back felt like it was on fire from the impact of the ground.

'Lucky me,' Ugly Snorkel man said, suddenly appearing behind Sasuke with a kunai. 'If you move, I'll kill you. Hand over the scroll -'

I lifted up my leg quickly and kicked the man in between his legs, hard. He must've thought I wouldn't be able to do anything from the the restricted position I was in because he let his guard down and didn't seem to realize that I was going to kick him. He groaned in pain as he doubled over barely dodging the kunai thrown at him.

Sasuke stood up and grabbed onto my elbow, helping me up. I muttered a quick thanks and broke into grin when I saw Naruto standing on a tree, smirking. So it was him who threw the kunai.

Sasuke took the kunai and threw it at Ugly Masked man before pulling out his own kunai and somehow managed to stab Ugly Snorkel Man right in the chest.

'Sasuke-kun!' Sakura cried, suddenly appearing.

'Don't just stand there, Sakura!' Sasuke yelled. 'He may not be alone!'

Ugly Snorkel Man pushed Sasuke away and ran off, muttering about how unlucky he was and how he shouldn't have come alone. Nutter that one, I'm telling you.

***

'If the four of us get separated, don't trust anyone even if he looks like one of us.' said Sasuke, while we were seated on the grass, taking this time to rest. 'There's a possibility that an enemy will transform into one of us and approach.'

'So what do you recommend we do?' I asked, plucking patches of grass.

'Let's decide on a password,' said Sasuke. 'If a different password is given, assume that he's an enemy no matter what he looks like, got it?'

We nodded seriously.

'I'm only going to say this once, so listen carefully.' Sasuke said, meeting my eyes for a moment before he looked away slowly, making me feel a strange tug at the pit of my stomach. 'First, you will ask, ''The ninja song 'Ninki'?'' The answer is the following: "It is a good chance when a large number of enemies are making a scene. There are no hideouts even in a quiet place. It is important for a ninja to know the right time. The time when the enemy is tired, and has his guard down." That's it.'