At Dawn (A Naruto Fanfic)

Chapter 13

Casper's POV

"How troublesome." I sighed, stepping off the bus.

I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jacket. Why did it have to get so cold, so fast here? My fingers closed around the shopping list Wren had given me earlier. I fished it out and read the contents.

The first half was mainly composed of random items. Five meters of rope, box of nails, notebook, matches... I read the off the beginning things on the list. What could she want with any of those? The second half however, consisted of junk food, probably for her to snack on when she got bored. Wren better be paying me back for this.

Stuffing the paper back into my pocket, I began walking through the parking lot.

When I neared the entrance to the store I noticed a large man standing outside. He was quite a bit taller than I was and his broad shoulders didn't help the case. He was wearing a black trench coat with his head covered. The angle of the light made a long shadow to cover his face. From what I could tell, he was staring out at the cars parked in the distance. Though completely still with his hands in pockets he seemed to be waiting for someone or something. 

The people coming and going from the store were making a wide route around him casting nervous glances. Following their example I enter the building. Something about that man really bothered me.

Checking the list again I set off on my errand. I smirked, satisfied that I had chosen the right place to go. I could get pretty much everything on the list 'cept for a few things Wren would have to do without.

As I ran around the store my mind drifted away from the strange man outside. I thought over the recent past occurrences.

After hearing Jared's account overhearing the Akatsuki, Wren had become stubbornly silent on the subject. I had my own suspicions on why she knew the address they had been checking out but I wasn't going to say anything till I knew more. I left the building, arms full with plastic grocery bags. Once again, I was drawn back to the subject of the man in black. He hadn't moved from his spot, however now his gaze was turned to the clouded sky and multiple shopping bags were piled up at his feet.

I started making a big path around him but then a thought struck me. What if he was one of the Akatsuki? He was roughly the size of Kisame or possibly Kakuzu. With this in mind I put even more distance between us.

A growl escaped my lips as my cellphone rang. Pulling it out, I check the caller ID. It was Wren. I set the bags down, knowing who was calling it was best not to answer while walking or holding any objects.

"Hello?"

"CASPER!" Two voices shouted, causing me to yank the phone away form my ear; as to avoid permanent damage to my ear drum.

"Kank-" Wren shushed Jared in mid sentence before beginning herself. "We've been looking through Cain's stuff and we think Kankuro might have come into our world as well! There are real kunai and ninja information only they could know. Plus the puppet scroll!"

"We think the paper bombs are real." Jared added. "But Wren won't let me try any out."

"You almost blew up the entire room!" Wren said exasperated.

I was silent for a moment in case they decided to continue. "Is that all you've got?"

"Um, yes?" Jared answered unsurely.

"Couldn't this have waited till I got back?"

"I guess." Wren muttered.

Sighing I ended the call and put the phone back.

"Excuse me sir." A voice said behind me.

"Hmm?" I turned around to see a boy about my age, although shorter. He had auburn hair, pale skin, and a shocking amount of eyeliner around his pale eyes. A red tattoo of some kanji was on the right hand side of his forehead above his nonexistent eyebrows. On his back he carried a drawstring backpack which looked like it was filled with some thing heavy.

"I couldn't help but overhear you talking. And I thought I heard something said about Kankuro coming into this world."

"There was." I looked at him suspiciously. "Why do you ask?"

"I was wondering where he was."

My eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"

"I could ask you the same." The boy prompted.

A small sigh escaped my lips. "I'm Casper Fray. You?"

In the corner of my eye I saw movement. The man in black had picked up the bags at his feet and began moving toward us. I inwardly frowned. This was not good. The man stopped behind the teen, like a large shadow. Seeing his face surprise over came me. He wasn't Kisame or Kakuzu, in fact he was any of the Akatsuki.

The boy nodded his head toward presence of the person behind him before speaking. "I'm Gaara and this is Ibiki Morino."

Kankuro's POV

Kakashi was here. A feeling of numb relief swept over me. Ever since I had arrived here I had assumed that I was the only one. Besides the Akatsuki of course. I mean, I always knew there was a chance...

"This is the best day ever!"

The girl named Cora's squeal pierce my ears snapping me out of my shock. Putting a hand over my ear I shot her a irritated look. However, she didn't see because she glomped the nearest person which, fortunately, wasn't me but rather Cain.

Cain had been staring at Kakashi with almost a sense of awe was jolted at the sudden weight of Cora. Snapping his head to see, Cain let out a surprised yelp.

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Author's Note:

Hey guys! Its been seriously more than a year since I last updated and At Dawn is still somehow getting attention. Thanks you so much to all of you who took the time to read up to this point!

Now, if you didn't notice, this is an incomplete chapter. The reason why is that this is the draft I wrote over a year ago and has been sitting in my works section ever since I left. This account has been more or less abandoned for awhile but due to my guilty conscience I decided to post it.

I'm going to abandon this story for good now due to the fact that I've both lost interest and have fallen out of the fandom. However, I am willing to answer any questions regarding this story that you may have.