The Camp Shinobi Disaster

Chapter 36: Damsel in Armor?

-Chapter 36-

The first thing that Sakura registered was that her back hurt. The second thing was that her side was stinging.

She opened her eyes drowsily, groaning out loud.

"What happened to me...?" She asked, sitting up with a grunt. She tried to use her arms to stabilize herself, but she quickly realized that they had been tied behind her back, and they were numb.

"Well, that's one explanation for the pain," she thought to herself as she looked around. There were other kids asleep in the room she was in, the hard wooden floor unpleasant on her butt as she shifted for a better position.

As she looked, she saw a familiar head of blonde hair just waking.

"Ino!" She gasped, inching over. "Holy shit, you're alive!"

Ino awoke quickly at the sound of her name, and when she saw Sakura her eyes went wide. "Sakura! They got you too?"

"Yeah, seems like it," she answered, wincing at the pain in her side when she tried to scoot over. "Damn, they must've gotten me with something."

Ino nodded, her eyes filling with tears. She scooted towards her too, and when they met in the middle, Ino rested her head on Sakura's shoulder.

"I'm so glad to see you," she hiccuped. "I was so scared I'd never get out of here alive."

"Me too," Sakura replied, feeling her own throat get choked up. She forced it down and asked, "What about the adults? Have you seen them?"

"Not at all," the blonde replied. "They're keeping them somewhere else, I think. They can't be far away."

"If they aren't dead yet," another voice piped up.

They turned to see a pale boy with black hair gazing at them from the wall. When they looked at him, he smiled, although it didn't feel genuine. He had a creepy feel about him, but also a kind of sad one, and it wasn't just because he was in clothes that were dirty and stained from his stint in the shack.

"Who's he?" Sakura whispered.

"That's Sai, one of the original missing," Ino whispered back.

"Yes, I was one of the first," he confirmed. "Beautiful's right."

Ino blushed a little at the compliment, but Sakura wasn't deterred.

She looked around for a rock or something to cut the ropes with. Finally, she saw a sharp-looking one in the corner, and she scooted towards it. She took it with one of her hands (which were beginning to get blood flow back -- having an appendage wake up hurt like a bitch), gritted through the static pain, handed it to Ino, and the two of them got to work trying to cut the rope.

-line-

Meanwhile, Hinata was worriedly standing by the cave. She'd been ordered to keep watch as the others went in to look around. Neji had reluctantly parted, but had made her promise to scream at the first sign of trouble.

Every second felt like a thousand as she fidgeted with the hem of her jacket.

Another boy seemed to notice this and walked over with a friendly smile.

"Don't look so worried," he chuckled, leaning against the rock with her. "They'll be fine."

She blushed a little from embarrassment and sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize for it," the boy chastised, holding out a hand. "I'm Ushio Huichi. You?"

"Hinata Hyuuga," she replied, gingerly shaking it. It had a cold feeling to it, although she brushed it off, reasoning that all of them were cold.

"So, miss Hinata, why're you here?" He asked. "I thought you were still in the infirmary."

"I'm here on request. The boy I-- well, a good friend."

"I see, I see." He chuckled, nodding in agreement. "He a good guy?"

"You could say that," she said distantly, glancing around. The others were on the other side of the cave entrance, and the other kids assigned to stay over here were busy playing tic-tac-toe in the dirt a fair way away. "He's... very important to me."

He nodded once more, and the weird look in his eye made her hair stand on end. Something felt off about him, but she brushed it off again. They were all worried for the missing ones, even if they didn't want to show it. He was probably thinking about someone he'd lost.

"I just hope I can save her, for him and for me," she thought to herself with a light sigh. "I kinda wish Huichi wouldn't stick so close to me... he's creeping me out."