In Their Shadow

Chapter 34

'Don't worry Sasuke, help is on the way!' Naruko thought to herself, before noticing something shine from behind, catching her off guard.

"What was that?" Naruko asked aloud.

"What was what?" Kabuto asked in confusion at her sudden question.

"Nothing, forget I said anything." Naruko said, thinking she had just been seeing things.

"Okay, if you say so."

And as the two dashed through the forest of death, a quiet individual stalked after them. Following their every move, just as it had been doing from the first step they took into the forest.

Or rather he.

Sai had been ordered by Danzo to keep an eye on Yuma after all.

The boy followed after like a shadow, holding onto a pair of binoculars that would occasionally reflect the suns rays off its surface.

'Yuma...I'm sorry for letting you suffer like that...please...forgive me..'

〰️➿〰️

"-And its like he only has eyes for that goldie, like, What am I? Chopped liver? Seriously, why can't he ever notice me?"

Shikamaru sighed, scratching his head in annoyance as the platinum haired Ino complained about Sasuke's lack of interest in her. He turned to her with a tired and annoyed expression.

"For the last time Ino, I don't care about your stupid crush on Sasuke. Stop being such a drag." Shikamaru said as Ino scowled at him.

"Rude! I didn't want to talk to you anyway!" Ino said, turning her nose up at him.

"Good." Shikamaru said, brushing off her retort.

They walked through the many bushes and tree branches that covered their way and made navigating the forest ever more difficult. It had been a few hours since Shikamaru and his team had found the scroll they needed to pass. As soon as they did so however, they found that getting the scroll they needed was the easy part, finding the tower was the real problem. They had been searching for the tower in the "center of the forest" for what seemed like hours with little to no luck. Seeing as they had no idea in what direction the "center of the forest" was, they had decided to trek on foot and try to find any clues as to which direction they should be heading in.

Ino continued to pout, turning to Choji for validation.

"Can you believe him Choji? You'll listen to me right?" Ino asked with a begging look in her eyes, wanting someone to talk to..

"Um, I kind of want to pass this exam, and I don't think hearing you talk about Sasuke is going to help us with that. Besides, I'm hungry." Choji said with a sorry smile, trying to be nice.

"Humph, you guys are such jerks!" Ino whined, much to Shikamaru's annoyance.

"Well, we have been walking through these woods for hours Ino, we already have the scroll, all we need to do is find the tower." Choji said, trying to get her back on the track to getting out of the forest.

"And how are we going to do that huh!? We've been walking through this forest for hours and with the leeches, tigers and boars trying to eat or kill us, I am going to go crazy!" Ino complained and stomped her foot, earning a pointed glare and hush from Shikamaru, worried her commotion would raw unwanted attention.

Shikamaru sighed as Ino pouted and turned her nose up at him once more. He looked up to see the sun beginning to rise even higher then before, as morning had then became noon. He narrowed his eyes, and turned to the other two.