The War Angel (A Naruto Fanfic)

Opening Secrets

"So that's what happened!" Naruto jumped from branch to branch, keeping up easily with the dog. I was behind them all, listening.

"So why am I being sent out like this?" Shikamaru complained. "This is a fricking chore! Who the hell cares about Sasuke anyway?"

"We do, Shikamaru!" Sakura answered him. "What if something happens to him? Didn't you see that Gaara guy? He looked crazy! I don't trust Sasuke around him alone."

"I thought he was awesome," Shikamaru muttered.

"Look it can't be helped, okay? Kakashi's orders!"

"I still think this is stupid ..."

Suddenly, Pakkun stopped. We all halted behind him. He held his nose in the air, sniffing before veering off to the left. "This way," he said.

We all followed behind him.

"Damn they move fast," Naruto observed. I absently nodded. Now far could they have gone?

"They looked as if they were in a hurry to get away," I said. "Sasuke chasing them must have made them move faster."

"How do you know that?" Naruto asked bewildered.

I shrugged. "I was there. There were in a hurry because something was wrong with Gaara."

"Hey, slowpokes!" Pakkun shouted from in front. "Pick the pace up a bit! Quickly!"

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

"From behind, two squads chasing us .... Wait.... no.... another just joined. Nine! Nine persons are chasing us!"

"You've got to be kidding me!" Naruto exclaimed. "Already?!"

"It doesn't look like they know our exact location as yet but they're closing in on us quickly. Looks like they're on the lookout for any surprise attacks."

"Damn it," Shikamaru cursed. "They're all probably well over the chunin level. We'll be killed!"

"Killed?!" Naruto barked the words out. "We can't be killed now! We still need to get Sasuke! I still need to marry Sakura! I still need to become Hokage!"

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that," Sakura muttered. From her tone, it sounded as if she was thinking hard on something. "That's right! Ambush! We could ambush them! Even if they have twice our numbers, if we surprise them then we might have a chance."

"No use," Pakkun interjected. "They're Orochimaru's subordinates, of course."

"Damn it, we can't even do that!" Shikamaru threw his hands up.

"Why not?"

Shikamaru launched into a detailed explanation of why that option wasn't feasible. I tuned him out. I could figure out why on my own. To ambush we need to know where they were and hide ourselves well after we set ourselves up. Finding them wasn't the problem since we had the blasted dog leading us, but them being with Orochimaru meant they were more than likely skilled hunters. And skilled hunters weren't easily surprised.

"We definitely won't be able to win against skilled people like that. Not with an idiot, a ninja with no special ability, a dog and the best person at running away: me. The best person we have right now is Lea but even she won't be able to stand up against all those guys alone."

I raised my brows at that. If only he knew the amount of times running away had been my first option but sheer pride had won out. Sometimes.

"There's only one thing we can do then," I said after a moment. Heads turned to my direction. "A decoy."