DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO

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That feeling of being watched wasn’t going away. I look at where I can feel someone watching me, but there’s nothing there… maybe my senses are getting sloppy, it’s frustrating…

Finally walking into the more secluded streets closer to the forest edge I decided now was a good time to keep reading my book. I pulled it out of my weapons pouch, dramatically opening the hard, green cover as the pages glowed with a bright, radiant light that illuminated my face. I took in the smell of the ink filled paper as I adjusted the book comfortably between the fingers of my right hand. Holding the book in front of my face as I continued walking, I’m not really sure where to, I began reading from where I had left off.

His warm gaze washed over me like a wave, making my heart skip and my face feel flushed. I want to look away, but I can’t bring myself to break contact with those deep brown eyes that seemed to hold so much emotion that I wasn’t used to seeing from him.

Suddenly, a noise to my left caught my attention, Kairo stepped out of his hiding place slightly with a look of pity on his face. In that moment I remembered his words. “Yukio is only going to use you now because he needs you to help him finish his mission for that precious Council he works for. In the end, that’s all he really cares about. That’s all, don’t let yourself be dragged in by someone like that, you’ll only end up heart broken.”

I looked back towards Yukio who now had a look of confusion and sadness on his face that made my heart sting. No. It’s a trick, he couldn’t actually like me, he only needs my help to solve the Councils problem. That’s the only reason he approached me in the first place.

With that thought in mind I stepped towards Kairo with his outstretched hand not giving Yukio a second glance.

‘NOOOOOOO YOU STUPID B>.

My thoughts were interrupted by a new feeling of being watched. I was still keeping my senses on the spot in the air where ‘nothing’ was looking at me, but this was a new presence in the trees that now surrounded me… When did that happen…

I sighed, placing my book back in my weapons pouch as I looked in the direction of the new presence, of course this would happen to me. I reached for the katana that usually hung at my waist, but my hand grasped air.

My eyes flickered down at the empty space at my waist where my katana usually hung, and in that moment a figure jumped from the trees into the air above me. I took in his rugged appearance, he was heavily cloaked and his face was shrouded under his low hanging hood. But his ill intentions are obvious as he throws three kunai from his vantage point above me.

Faster than my mind could tell me what to do, my body leapt out of the way skidding on the ground slightly as I crouched pulling one of my own kunai from my weapons pouch and holding it in front of me defensively. The sickening thuds of my attacker’s kunai embedding deeply in the trunk of the tree I had been standing in front of reached my ears.

This guy’s not messing around.

He landed silently on the ground a few metres in front of me before dashing at me with a kunai in hand. As he went to bring the kunai down on me, I kicked off the ground and clashed my kunai against his to deflect it before swinging my leg through the air towards his head.

He swiftly dodged and jumped back a bit before lunging for me again with his kunai. I side stepped and grabbed his outstretched arm that held his kunai before reaching for his other arm and bringing it behind his back in a painful position and positioning the kunai I still held in that hand against his spine.

I spoke calmly and clearly to his back due to the significant height difference. “Who are you and what do you want?”

I could feel his arms shaking before I heard the deep, throaty laughter of the man before me.

My eyes narrowed and I was surprised at how much venom was in my voice when I spoke. “What’s so funny?”

The laughter subsided and the atmosphere became eerie as the trees surrounding us seemed to darken. “You’re not going to win this fight.”

My eyes widened in shock at his words and I felt my muscles tense. Yep, he’s definitely not messing around.

He must off felt my hands loosen in shock and he used my temporary startledness to his advantage when he suddenly twisted his outstretched arm out of my slightly loosened grip and stepped away from the kunai that I still had digging into his back.

I tried to reclasp my hand to his arms, but he was already swinging around to face me again, his kunai still firmly in his hand and swinging for my neck. With wide eyes, I jumped back before immediately sending my own kunai flying towards his hand, which I’m guessing caught him off guard because his kunai now lay on the grass a few metres away and blood was now dripping from the deep wound that stretched across the back of his hand.

This would be so much easier if I had my katana. This would probably already be over if I had my katana. But s>.

He ran at me with clenched fists. I dodged the initial blows he sent my way before starting to throw my own fists back at him. My fists and feet connected with his flesh a few times before he became more evasive and it got harder to land blows on him.

A few of his attacks got me as well and I could feel the bruises blossoming on my rib cage which cause my breaths to become painful and short. But I could tell he was the same as we continued escalating our attacks to match each other’s.

My fist slid through the empty air in front of me as my attacker disappeared into the bushes. I looked around slightly, arms still raised defensively in front of me as I stepped back closer to the tree behind me.

Suddenly dozens of shuriken came flying from either side and in front of me. I jumped fluidly into the air and threw three kunai in the three directions that this attack had come from. I heard two ‘poofs’ from ahead and to my left, as well as slight rustling to my right.

Still rising from my jump, I reached for a branch in the tree above me and swung myself onto it. I stared into the bushes where I felt the eyes of my attacker were watching me from, trying to ignore the second pair of invisible eyes that have been following me since shortly after I left the apartment.

My attacker leapt from the bushes that I had been looking at and threw multiple shuriken and kunai at me. Still crouching on the branch, I threw just as many shuriken and kunai back, deflecting all of his.

As both our shuriken and kunai fell to the ground, my attacker jumped up speedily to where I was on the branch with his fists clenched and going for a punch. As he reached me I slid down the side of the branch and hooked my hand to swing myself under and over the other side landing a hard kick in my attackers back causing him to fall to the ground, and to my disappointment, landing on his feet in a slight crouch.

I watched him again from my branch as he stared up at me over his shoulder, assessing me and the situation. I guess he didn’t expect me to fight back so much.

Suddenly, his stance changed. He stood straight with his feet apart as he faced me full on. He clasped his hands together in a strange way similar to what Naruto and Sasuke had done when I fought them, but this was a bit different.

Suddenly he yelled. “Fire Style: Fire Bullet Jutsu!”

I stared down with wide eyes as a stream of fire emitted from his mouth and sped towards me similar to what Sasuke had done. I leapt from the tree in the opposite direction of my attacker, feeling the heat on my back and head as I fell to the ground landing silently on my feet.

I turned to look at the tree I had leapt from and my eyes widened even further to see it now completely engulfed in bright orange flames that licked at the branches and leaves turning everything it touched black and burning it away.

A loud creaking from above me alerted me to the disintegrating branches of the tree I was still standing fairly close to despite the increasingly searing heat of the growing flames. I lunged further away from the tree just as a flaming charcoal branch crashed to the forest floor, burning the green grass around it.

I patted down my hair and clothes in case anything had caught alight and sighed in relief when my hands didn’t find any flames on me.

The black smoke from the burning greenery became heavier and was trapped beneath the canopy of the higher trees of the forest causing it to filter closer to the ground obstructing my vision so all I could see were a few of the trunks of the closer trees to me and the fire that had enlarged and spread to the two trees either side of it.

The trees here are too green to catch alight that quickly, the attack must have had another fuel source to give it more power. Maybe the ‘chakra’ Kakashi told me about gives the flames more power to grow and cause more damage… Interesting…

I leaned against a tree a small distance away from the flames for support. My limbs were shaking and sweat dotted my forehead and the back of my neck as I breathed heavily still staring at the flames that had tried to engulf me. My mask filtered most of the smoke that continued to thicken and swirl around me but I could still taste a hint of it when I inhaled. My eyes stung from the still darkening smoke causing me to squint and try to shield them with my arm to no avail.

I hadn’t seen my attacker since before I jumped from the tree, and I could still only feel the invisible eyes on me at the moment. Of course, he probably had less chance of seeing me through this smoke as I did.

I was snapped from my slight daze by a slight hissing noise. I stared at the flames that seemed to be getting smaller. I saw a glimpse of what looked like spray of water that had reached this side of the still burning trees. Was someone extinguishing the fire?

The smoke was still thick around me and I decided to take advantage of it. With new found strength I pushed myself off the supportive tree and made a mad dash in the opposite directions of the half extinguished flames.

My attacker might think I’m dead, but if he can’t find a body, even one burned to a crisp, then he may assume that I survived and continue his pursuit. I need a way to lead him off if he does end up catching up to me.

The hand signs Naruto made on the roof flashed through my mind, how he had made all those clones of himself. If I could do that then the odds of my attacker finding the real me would be significantly lessened.

I stopped and crouched in the shadows of a tree. I had been running for a few minutes now and I could still smell the smoke in the distance, but I couldn’t see it anymore which gave me some small comfort.

Kakashi told me about chakra which made jutsu possible, so I took a moment to make the correct hand signs and tried to imagine energy going into my hands. I felt a slight tingle go through my body and into my hands. It wasn’t a very strong feeling, just sort of a groggy, early morning wake up. But I tried it anyway “…Shadow Clone… Jutsu” I whispered nervously as I felt the power flow through my hands and fingers. There was a light ‘poof’ to my left and I looked over wide eyed and hopeful, only to be disappointed when I saw the pathetic copy of myself lying motionless on the ground next to me before disappearing in another puff of smoke.

That was pathetic… I thought to myself as I stared disappointedly at the spot on the grass where my sad attempt had been.

I was on full alert again when I felt it. The eyes are back.

I stood up in a defensive position and listened intently while trying to pinpoint where I was been watched from, glancing up into the air above me for a brief second to confirm that it was the ‘invisible eyes’ that were watching me from that direction, damn they were getting annoying… but where were the other ones…

That’s when I heard it.

Something I haven’t heard for a while now.

The soft calling of that damn old lady.

“…Kida. Come help me…”

I snapped my head in the direction of the voice, frowning in confusion and my breath hitching as I interpreted the words being called out to me and confirmed who that soft, delicately gravelled voice belonged to.

“…Ms Takashima?”