Mountain Girl [Naruto]

Chapter Two

Sorry it's late, but I lost my work three times. Incredibly pissed off at my computer, going to stab in it's metaphorical face! So I am truly sorry if it's super crappy, but this is the fourth time I've had to right this and I can't be bothered to care much and so I'll make it short.

Sakura finally removed her damp coat made from some flimsy material and slipped on the last coat that lay on the floor. The inside was the skin of the dead animal she wore, which was probably a lynx of some sort. It had a dark ripple pattern against the silkiest grey pelt with only the occasional dent where the different animals had been sewn together.

The other three watched the glaring dog in front of them, who was still didn'tt trust the strangers. Monoke trotted over to the baby and curled around it when the whimpering escaped it's tiny chapped lips. Still glaring, he snuggled his head close to the infant's.

Naruto turned to their sensei and said, " She's kinda creepy, don't you think?"

The pinkette nodded in agreement, pulling the stunning coat closer to her body. She ruffled out her long hair and let it fall over her shoulders. " Naruto's right, how can we trust her?" As usual, Sakura managed to sound whiny and stuck-up. " I say we get the medicine, eat, dump the scroll and leave."

A small howl of wind rocked the hut, causing the wooden walls to suddenly creak. Naruto jumped from the sudden sound. " Y-Yeah, I don't like it here, believe it!"

Kakashi rolled his eyes at his young student's catch phrase, though his body ached. Sweat still dripped down his face, dampening his hair and soaking his clothes. He could feel the effects of the Death creep up on him like a shadow, slowly advancing. He coughed a few times, covering his mouth with a fist, Kakashi stumbled over to the bed, carefully avoiding Monoke.

He eased onto it with Sakura and Naruto's help, though far from the pale dog who was baring his teeth at the silver haired man. " Are you okay, sensei?" Sakura asked worriedly, her eyebrows knotted together.

Sighing, he rubbed his visible eye and said, " I can feel myself getting sicker and sicker. This feeling of being helpless is even worse though." The energy was draining from his body. His chest tightened with every breath and a killer head ache racked his skull.

When the pain dulled to the point where his blood wasn't pulsing through his brain at rocketing speed, Kakashi let out a deep breath. Sakura watched on in worry for her sensei. She was scared, very scared. Being in a foreign land, trapped with a terrible inhospitable environment and relying on the cooperation of an unbelievably crabby hermit-lady, the girl had every right to be frightened. Also, the fact that she had some competition for Sasuke's heart with such a pretty girl didn't help to soothe her frazzled nerves. Sasuke on the other hand, was not so much scared, as tense. He too understood that their sensei was very ill, and their survival depended on Ketsu, who he had taken an instant dislike to.

Naruto, being the knuckle head of the group, didn't quite realise the severity of the situation. Instead, his two largest worries at the moment were food, and to figure out whether or not Ketsu wanted to kill him. She seemed scary enough to him, having already been threatened twice.

The fur coats she had given them were definantly better than the previous ones. Sakura's pink hair was not as damp, since the warmth had returned to her body. She went and sat by the burning stove in the crudely built kitchen. She suspected that if the stove were to be smothered then the hut would probably become just as cold as outside.

Naruto soon joined her, squatting in front of the rusting old contraption with a real fire at the bottom. He rubbed his hands together and pressed his palms close the the metal grate that was the flap. Through it Naruto could see the the red and orange fire, burning brightly as it consumed pile the wood. Occasionally it would flare bright vermillion.