A shrill chirp threw me out of my slumber.
"What was that?" I cast a scrutinizing stare at the looming treeline.
"I dunno," Sasuke mumbled, his eyes narrowed in the dim moonlight.
"I'm going to wake Liz, it might be a night hunter," I got up from my sleeping bag and tiptoed over to Liz's still vigilant figure, "Liz, movement," I jerked my thumb back over my shoulder.
"Any idea what it is?" Liz asked, also getting up.
"I think it's probably something moderately sized, probably the same size or smaller than us, according to its chirp. I'm more worried about whether or not its a pack hunter," Liz nodded slowly as she listened to my concerns.
"Wake the camp," she said finally, "Better to lose a bit of sleep but survive than die from lack of vigilance," she shrugged, "I'll take east, you take west," she whispered.
I nodded and we split up, shaking each person quietly, trying not to make too much noise.
"Wuzz goin-" Naruto started to whine loudly but I clamped my hand down on his mouth.
"Sh," I hissed.
I continued to wake everyone until the whole camp had their eyes fixed on the treeline in the distance. A small shrub quivered and we caught the flash of a yellow eye with thin black slits in the moonlight.
"If it can hide in that bush, it's probably something smaller than us. Velociraptor, maybe? Or a Troodon?" I suggested to Liz.
"I'm putting my bets on one of those two," Liz crouched down and reached into her bag, rummaging around for something.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"A flare and a flash bomb tag. I wanna see if I can scare them away," Liz pulled out the two items she had been looking for.
"Wait, maybe they're just curious. Give it until dawn to leave, if they don't leave by then, you can do whatever you want," I looked back at the shifting shadows.
Liz sighed, "Fine, at least we'll be able to see if they decide to attack," she got up but the flare and the kunai with the flash bomb tag tied to it were still in her hands.
We quietly ordered everyone to sit in a line along the north side of camp, facing the forest.
Hana was quivering with fright, "A-are t-t-there lots o-of them, S-sasuke-kun?" she pinched Sasuke's sleeve.
Sasuke shook her grip off, "I don't know, you should ask them," he jerked his chin at us.
The girl made a face at us, it wasn't a pretty one, "Well?" she asked rudely, suddenly not scared anymore.
"Um, we're suspecting that it is about half our height. From what we have learned, these types of carnivores are usually pack hunters," I explained patiently.
"How do you know that they're carnivores?" Hana asked again, flashing us her attitude.
"You little-" Liz started.
"It's okay, Liz," I held her back and turned back to Hana, "I know that they're carnivores because I saw their eyes. Their pupils became slits when hit with light, this most likely means that they can be night hunters. Night vision is needed by hunters, it is very important to them while most herbivores sleep through the night, they usually do not have this ocular ability. Also, I saw that they have sharp teeth," I gave a quick smile.
"From all the way over here?!" she exclaimed, but then realized her face was betraying admiration and frowned to cover it up.
"Yes, I wouldn't want to walk right up to one of those nasty little devils and ask to see their teeth even if you paid me money," I crossed my arms in front of my chest casually.
We watched every shadow flit across the leafy ferns on the ground. Some people started up idle chatter but most of us retained our silent vigil.
"Aw! This is so boring!" Naruto whined loudly.
"Quiet down!" I hissed as the movement in the trees suddenly ceased.
"It's daybreak," Liz said and lit the flare with an uttered jutsu.
"Let's see what it really is," I looked ahead as Liz chucked the lit flare at the trees.
In the few seconds that the flare was able to light up the greenery, I was able to see at least five Velociraptors scatter and run deeper into the forest. The flare eventually died out, leaving everyone to stand in the brisk morning air.
"Everyone saw that, right?" Liz asked, biting her lower lip.
Almost everyone nodded, others were a little too stunned to do anything. The dancing shadows came back, but less.
"Can I throw the flash bomb now?" Liz asked, twirling the kunai in her fingers.
I nodded, "Please do. Let's see how many run away this time."
Liz took aim for a thick tree trunk and threw the kunai hard. The kunai embedded itself into the tree with an audible thunk. Two seconds later, a blinding boom occurred. Some people covered their eyes but Liz and I squinted through the light to see only two or three Velociraptors escape into the gloom.
"That was only half the group," I analyzed.
"There has to be more than that, they're group hunters, they don't usually just ditch," Liz took another step forward to try and get a closer look.
While everyone was focused on the treeline in front of them, we forgot to guard the rest of the camp.
Sakura screamed, "It's one of them!"
I spun around and whipped out my blade, pointing it at the intruder. A Velociraptor bounced up and down on its heels, cocking its tiny little head at us. Seeing the dinosaur up close was a different experience. Its size and shape made it almost comical-looking if not for its sharp teeth and claws. Its eyes bulged on either side of its elongated skull. A few soft feathers sprouted from the underside of its skeletal arms.
"Squawk!" it opened its toothy jaws wide and bristled the few feathers it had.
Now everyone was focused on this curious Velociraptor and its two buddies that weren't far behind him, watching our camp warily. Sakura screamed again and fell face-forward to the ground, then I realized she was being dragged backwards, towards the forest.
Four Velociraptors were dragging Sakura by the feet back towards their leafy sanctuary, "Help!" Sakura sobbed.
I bounded after them, my blade gleaming in the light of early morning, "Let go!" I shrieked at the dinosaurs.
They didn't look too scared of my swinging blade and continued to drag Sakura away.
I have no choice, I slashed a ribbon of red across the long throat of one of the Velociraptors.
It released a gurgled squawk and keeled over, still bleeding and twitching. I slashed the air in front of me, splattering the other three Velociraptors with their comrade's blood. They dropped Sakura and scampered away into the forest. I helped Sakura stand up and put her arm around my neck. Her legs were covered with scratches and bruises where she had been dragged over some rocks.
"Is it bad?" I asked her as I got her onto my back.
"It's okay," she sniffed, I could tell she was a bit shaken.
"They're back!" someone else shrieked and, this time, around thirty Velociraptors had pounced.
Now everyone had their weapons out, slashing at the cunning dinosaurs but they had learned their lesson by watching me, our steel weapons were fatal. I hefted Sakura onto my back and ran. I freed my broadsword from its sheath again and joined in the fighting. Sakura clung onto my back and I only had one hand free, I couldn't perform any jutsus since my combat jutsus needed both hands and I couldn't risk harming everyone else. The weight on my back suddenly increased drastically.
"Ah! It's on my back!" Sakura squeaked.
I twirled my blade and stuck it behind me, impaling the devil. When I swung my blade back into my area of vision, the dinosaur was still twitching and squealing, its skinny arms reached out towards me as if it wanted a hug. I pushed the struggling critter off of my blade with my foot.
"Watch out!" I heard Sasuke's loud warning.
I spun around to see a Velociraptor flying towards me, its jaws snapping ferociously. I couldn't lift my sword in time. My face was splattered with a warm and thick liquid as I squeezed my eyes shut. There was a high-pitched squawk and more of what I assumed was blood flew into my face. I opened one eye to see the Velociraptor trapped in a column of sand that had risen up from the ground to wind around its tiny body. The dinosaur's body was completely limp and when the sand dispersed around it, it landed on the ground with a sickening splat. No intact bones existed anywhere in its body anymore.
I swallowed hard and looked up to see my rescuer, "Are you okay?" Gaara's concerned tone sounded so mature.
"Y-yeah, just a close call," I panted slightly.
I looked around our camp clearing. Velociraptor bodies were strewn everywhere, the surviving few were scampering back into the protection of the ancient ferns, yipping their fear. Everyone had blood covering their bodies, their own or the Velociraptors', I wasn't sure.
"Everyone, please line up for a head count," Liz croaked, her hand shaking a bit.
After a few seconds she sighed and leaned into Shikamaru, fatigued.
"Good, no one's been taken away," I nodded, relieved, saying what Liz was too tired to say.
"Let's take a rest first, then we'll have to change camp for a few days," Liz wiped sweat from her forehead.
"Hey! I have a question!" Hana's loud and obnoxious voice rang out.
"Yes, Hana?" I sighed.
"Why should we listen to you guys when killing thirty Veloci-whatevers is this easy?" she put her hands on her hips.
"Well, if you want to go die, be my guest," Liz said icily.
"I want to go, but not to die. I think the teams here should have a choice of deciding to leave or not," she said haughtily.
"Okay, go ahead, I really couldn't care less," Liz snarled.
"Well, I don't know about you guys but I want to win this contest," Hana directed her words at the whole camp, "In my opinion, I think that any dino trophies that we might get here will be hogged by them first. How do we know whether or not they'll just ditch us when they have enough items?" she was quick to put doubt and suspicion in everyone's heads.
"I'm sorry, but I have to agree. Why? Even though you are a fellow Konoha ninja, I still do not trust you with my life," Shino admitted.
"Fair enough, anyone else?" I called to the rest of the quiet camp.
Shino's team left and they were followed by Gaara's team and Lee's team.
"Looks like it's just the two of your teams," Hana blew a rude raspberry at Liz and I, then turned to Sasuke, "Wanna come with us? I guarantee that you'll have more fun," she winked at him.
"Sasuke, if you go, I swear that I'll rip your head off personally," Liz growled, cracking her knuckles.
"As if I wanted to go," Sasuke scoffed.
Hana looked hurt but quickly regained her composure, "Your loss," she shrugged and bounded away with two sad-looking teammates.
"It's only mid-morning and we've already fought a mini-war with Velociraptors and lost more than half of our group," Liz clucked her tongue, "Their loss," she shrugged indifferently.
"What now?" Ino asked in the silence.
"We have to move, this area will be targeted now since there's too much blood to clean up," I kicked over a dead Velociraptor.
"Then we might as well move next to a freshwater body, we'll need access to water without having to walk three miles or wasting our chakra," Liz reasoned.
"What about the contest?" Naruto whined.
"We might as well do it, we can handle these things," Sasuke said coolly.
"Yeah, only when you have Vira and I saving your butt," Liz made a rude face.
Sasuke was about to snap something back but Shikamaru cut in, "Let's go while the big ones haven't arrived here yet," he shook Liz's arm, "You know, before we're a pile of bones. I hate running," he began to drag Liz away.
"Shikamaru, we don't know where water is yet," Sakura looked at me, "Any ideas?"
"We'll have to find a herbivore, they'll take us to drinkable water," I said as I snapped my fingers.
"And how do we do that?" Naruto kicked a stone away.
"It means we have two choices. Either we walk on the open plains like this one where we can find the bigger herbivores and the bigger predators," I tapped the ground beneath me, "Or we go into the forest where we found that baby Triceratops... and the Velociraptor pack," I looked at each person, wondering what they might decide.
"I'm not voting," Choji backed out immediately.
"Y-yeah, I don't mind, I'll go along with whatever you guys vote for," Sakura said promptly.
"M-me too," Ino agreed.
"I want more action! And more places to find stuff for the contest!" he skipped around excitedly, "Vira and Liz know where the action is so they can vote for me!" he beamed at us.
"Both environments are equally... active. It all depends on which predator finds us," Liz looked around, "We have to decide quickly, predators should be popping out any minute now," she kicked at the sand nervously.
I decided to make the first proper vote, "Since we're ninjas and a ninja's main attribute is stealth, I think the forest might be a better choice for us."
"I agree," Shikamaru spoke up, "We can hide in the foliage and set up traps, it is also easier for us to maneuver since the bigger predators sound like earthquakes every time they move," these words were worthy of someone with an IQ of two hundred.
Liz and Sasuke nodded, "That decides it then," I shouldered my pack, "Into the forest," I turned towards the looming treetops.
After running around blindly in one direction through the forest for an hour, we were finally greeted by a pleasant smell.
"Dino dung," Liz reported as she poked the pile of hot waste with a stick, "It doesn't smell absolutely horrible so I'm assuming it belongs to a herbivore," Liz looked around and spotted what she was looking for, "Tracks," she announced, pride crawling along her voice.
The footprint was large, a little bigger than my head. It was three-pronged, the toes being the most prominent.
"What is it?" Naruto asked, putting his own foot next to it, sizing it up.
"Not sure, it's just a footprint. If I see the actual thing I might be able to identify it," Liz rubbed her chin, thinking hard.
"Everyone down!" I called and we pressed our stomachs to the ground.
A large, noisy dinosaur was moving through the brush. Dappled green and brown, one story tall from the arc in its back to its toes.
"Anatotitan," I whispered, loud enough for the rest of the group to hear.
I slowly got to my feet and beckoned to Liz. She joined me by my side in a few seconds.
"Get up," she said, hushed, to the others, "Slowly and quietly."
I took quiet steps towards the dinosaur. I froze as it vociferated loudly. Only two minutes later, more and more Anatotitans began to group with the first one.
"Oh my gosh! That must be the leader and look! Babies!" Liz squealed, pointing to the smaller sized dinosaur, around our height.
"It looks like the whole herd is going somewhere, after foraging, I think they're going down to a watering hole. Let's approach them first," I started forward but the leader caught my movement and turned towards us sharply.
I froze and then took one, small step. It narrowed its eyes at me but then returned to munching on some rough vegetation. I approached more cautiously with my hand outstretched. It grunted and sprayed some dino spit on me.
"Ugh," I wiped the spit off on a leaf.
I continued to reach forward until my hand was just inches from it's ginormous snout. It turned its nostrils on my hand and sniffed it. Since my hand smelled like its own spit, it didn't care. I pressed my palm onto its muscular cheekbone. It felt as if you were holding the cheek of a monster-sized horse with scaly, wrinkly skin.
I patted its cheek and motioned for Liz to do the same, "Feels cool! I never thought I'd be able to lay my hands on a living Anatotitan like this one!" I whispered ecstatically.
Liz came over and just as she was about to touch the beast, it whirled its head around and growled deep in its chest.
"Why is it doing that? What did I do?" Liz fretted, not moving a muscle.
"Oops, it's about what you didn't do," I grabbed her hand and held on for a moment, "There, that should do it" I smiled, "Try it now."
Liz seemed hesitant but eventually she placed her hand on the heaving flanks of the majestic animal.
"Wow, this is cool," her face lit up brilliantly.
"Come on, guys, get yourselves some dino spit and socialize!" Liz said, just a bit too loud.
The dinosaurs didn't care though, they probably didn't think Liz was a threat to them in any way. Our group spread out a little bit and after about half an hour, some of them were even being given piggyback rides from the Anatotitans. Liz had sat herself down next to the baby Anatotitan, trying to convince it to play. Soon, enough Liz had the little creature chasing sticks. I climbed up on top of a young female in the middle of the herd, I watched everyone from there. I almost fell off when the Anatotitans suddenly jerked into movement.
"Hitch a ride, hurry up!" I cried to our group.
Fortunately, the Anatotitans were in no rush, everyone was able to find a good seat. The lead Anatotitan trudged through the dense greens for a while, not twenty minutes later, we emerged into bright sunlight. I panned the scenery in front of me, there was a small lake with a river running in and out of it on opposite ends. The Anatotitans began to munch on the leaves on the shrubs where the sand and dirt met.
"Finally, some water," I sighed, relieved, "Water, guys, drink up! But be careful!" I warned and jumped off of my ride.
With that, everyone flew off of their steeds and ran to the edge of the water. Naruto dove right in, without thinking to take his clothes off. He splashed anyone who came near him, having the time of his life. The ground suddenly started to tremble.
"What's that?" Sasuke came up beside me, his eyes flitting around.
"I don't know," I answered, looking around for the source myself.
"Vira! It's a Rapetosaurus! And I don't think it's alone!" Liz cried, pointing towards the bend where a cluster of tall trees stood.
"Oh my gosh! They're huge!" I looked up at the towering giants.
Though they were kin of the some of the largest dinosaurs that ever walked the Earth, they were not even half of the size of an Argentinosaurus. The herd consisted of two or three juveniles and five, maybe more, elders. They walked towards our side of the bank, the Anatotitans moved aside to comb the plants further down the beach to give the giants their space. Sasuke and I stayed our ground and ducked as the leader walked right over us.
"Wow, that's amazing," Sasuke breathed next to me.
"I know," I agreed and smiled widely.
The giants bent their necks down to drink from the clear waters, chugging it liter by liter.
"Naruto, what are you doing?!" I hissed to him.
"Riding the biggest dinosaur I'll ever see in my whole life," he hissed back as he touched the flank of the drinking Rapetosaurus.
"Careful," I gave in, I knew I couldn't convince him otherwise.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he waved his hand dismissively.
Using chakra, he gained a hold on the beast and began to climb up its side. The Rapetosaurus snorted water and its flank tingled as Naruto's hands brushed by its skin. Naruto finally was able to sit down comfortably atop the Rapetosaurus. The Rapetosaurus' head came up and it slowly turned itself around to face the green of the forest. It took a bit bite out of the top most leaves of a tree and began to chew.
Naruto took this chance to climb higher up it's neck, "Okay, Naruto, that's going a bit too far," I warned, my voice threatening.
"It's okay! Stop whining over a small thing like this," he said and turned around to sit on the Rapetosaurus' head, looking down on the dinosaur's back.
"Oh my god, please don't tell me he's about to do what I think he's about to do," I watched Naruto get comfy, worry clouding my mind.
"Um... he isn't?" Sasuke said unconvincingly.
"Get down here, Naruto! You'll get hurt!" I shrieked at him.
I startled the Rapetosaurus a bit and made it kick its leg nervously. I clamped my hands over my mouth.
"Hurry up and get off, Naruto!" I whispered urgently.
Naruto narrowed his eyes and a mischievous smile cracked open upon his face, "Oh, get down I shall," he snickered, "Wahoo!" he yelped and let go of his chakra concentration.
"No!" I rushed forward but I was forced to back up, the Rapetosaurus decided to stomp its feet.
It must have been spooked by Naruto and I's shouts. It whipped its tail up and down, trying to scare any small critters there might have been away.
"Oh god," I put my hands on my hips as I watched Naruto get flung into the air by the Rapetosaurus' tail.
"Ah!" he prolonged his scream until he hit the surface of the water with a loud splash.
"That sounded like a belly flop," Sasuke cringed too.
Naruto didn't reemerge for a while and I began to worry... more.
"What is he doing? It better not be one of his pranks," I murmured.
Liz and Shikamaru joined us by the water's edge.
"What she meant was, 'What the hell is he doing? It better not be one if his god damned stupid pranks," Liz smiled at us.
"It's not funny... well, not right now anyways," I amended.
I was too busy worrying to take notice of the dark figure rising up out of the water, "Boo!" Naruto screamed in my face and pulled me into the water.
I was underwater for a few seconds but when I surfaced, Naruto was already on land and his face was pale.
I shook some water out of my hair, "Yeah, you're dead, Naruto," I growled.
He shook his head slowly, "N-no, you're dead," he looked up at something behind me.
I spun around to see the wide open maws of a crocodile the size of a train. Its breath stank of rotting meat and brine.
"Damn it, Naruto, why didn't you tell me sooner?!" I hissed and hurriedly leaped out of the water to crash into him.
Its jaws snapped shut where I was standing just a fraction of a second ago. Now that I got a more general view of the dinosaur, I identified it to be a Deinosuchus.
"Deinosuchus?" Liz mumbled, reading my mind.
"Uh huh," I replied weakly.
I wiped water from my eyes and opened them again in time to see the Deinosuchus pull itself out of the water.
"Run!" I shouted to everyone, "Grab a ride and go!" I shouted.
For its size, the Deinosuchus moved surprisingly fast on land. The Rapetosaurus herd bugled a warning call and galloped back towards the route they came from. Only when the Rapetosaurus herd had disappeared from sight, did a new threat appear. A Rajasaurus, a ruthless carnivore. By now, everyone was riding on an Anatotitan again. The Anatotitan herd was now trapped. To their east and west were hungry predators and to their south was the water. The north was dense foliage, packed too tight to allow any Anatotitans through. I was riding upon a juvenile that was desperately confused. The Rajasaurus took a few steps towards the cornered herd, salivating. The Deinosuchus was in no hurry either, it was waiting for the herd to either give in or escape into the water, where it had the advantage. The Anatotitans howled and honked their fear, creating a cacophony of dinosaur calls. My steed was confused by its herd's bugles and the roars of the predator. It reared back but couldn't pivot around in the soft sand and lost its balance. I held on tight but it seems like it was the wrong decision. It collapsed on its side, crushing my right foot beneath its three metric tons of meat. I whimpered through my teeth as I felt my ankle dislocate. I concentrated chakra into my hand and lifted the struggling body of the Anatotitan an inch. It was enough to free my oddly angled foot. The rest of the Anatotitan herd had decided to take their chances with the water. The Deinosuchus dove into the water after them.
"Ugh," I tried to squirm away but extreme pains racked my foot every time I tried.
"Elvira!" someone had finally decided to check if I was with them or not.
The Rajasaurus bore down on the Anatotitan, but then noticed me as well. Its long, fat tongue came out of its sharp jaws to lick the front of its snout.
"I never thought that I would die this way," I breathed, sweat covering my face.
"You won't die... I won't let you," Sasuke was suddenly by my side.
"I thought I told you to run!" I cried, incredulous.
"Not without you," he looked up at the growling Rajasaurus, "Sorry," he muttered and sliced a long gash in the leg of the still-struggling Anatotitan.
It whined pitifully but the smell of blood only excited the Rajasaurus further. It roared triumphantly and began to walk faster towards us. Sasuke wrapped his arms around me and pushed off of the sand hard. We spun through the air and hit the ground. Sasuke took all of the impact and we continued to roll until we were enveloped by ferns. We reached a hill and began to roll down, hitting rocks and plants all the way down. When we stopped at the bottom, we were slightly dizzy and covered with dirt, leaves and bruises. I ended up on the bottom. I turned my head away from Sasuke's face and coughed out dust.
"Ow... not the best escape route to take with a dislocated ankle," I swallowed painfully.
"Dislocated ankle?" Sasuke echoed and then realization hit him, "Oh, sorry," he mumbled.
"It's-" I was interrupted by light shuffling in the bushes beside us.
I rolled the two of us over until I was covering Sasuke. I covered his mouth with my hand and stayed stock-still. A young Ornithomimus poked its head up from the bushes. It squawked loudly and strode out of its hiding place. We must have startled it with all of the noise we made on the way down. It sniffed my foot cautiously and nudged it slightly. I bit down hard on my lower lip, preventing myself from screaming out in pain. I tasted blood a few seconds later. I buried my bleeding lip in my own hand and squeezed my eyes shut, silently praying that it wouldn't smell my blood. It wandered away after sniffing around some more, its curiosity satisfied. I let my breath whoosh out and I pried open Sasuke's grip. I rolled off of him and landed painfully on my back.
Sasuke sat up, "Phew, too many dinosaurs at once," he grumbled.
I didn't answer, I was busy trying to prop myself up against a tree trunk.
"Your lip is bleeding pretty badly," Sasuke said, concerned, and helped me lean myself against a tree.
He lifted his hand to my face and wiped away some blood on his finger. I blushed and wiped the rest away by myself. I looked at my right foot, twisted awkwardly to the side.
I sighed, "That's the best case scenario for getting your foot crushed under three metric tons of dino meat."
I reached back and felt my ripped but still intact pack on my back. I pulled out a wrap of gauze and I clamped my teeth around it.
"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, watching me.
I didn't say anything since I had something in my mouth. I reached for my foot and gingerly gripped it with both of my hands. I winced as my hand made contact with my foot. I yanked my foot sharply in the other direction with no warning. I bit down on the gauze in my mouth as pain overwhelmed me. I pulled it towards myself until I heard a loud crack. I almost broke through the gauze with my teeth only. I spit the gauze out and threw it back into my pack. Sasuke handed me his water canteen and I drank from it gratefully.
"Thanks, I needed that," I breathed, "I need to test my foot. Could you help me up?" I asked.
He put his arm around my waist and supported me as I slowly pushed myself to my feet. I took one step with my right foot and cringed as some of the old pain came back to me.
"Are you sure about this? I could carry you?" Sasuke offered.
I shook my head and took another step. With each step, the pain eased until finally, I was able to walk around by myself even though I had a slight limp.
"We have to find the others and quick. We're easy targets for predators on our own," I picked up my bag, "We have to return to the beach and follow tracks," I frowned.
"Back to where those two brutes are waiting?" Sasuke asked dubiously.
"Their hunger should be satisfied by just one or two Anatotitans," I promised.
Sasuke raised his hands in surrender, "If you say so."
Only the stinking carcass of the chewed up Anatotitan occupied the beach. Sasuke and I crept out of the leafy undergrowth into the open.
"The only tracks lead into the water," I pointed to the messy jumble of Anatotitan tracks overlapping each other.
"What about the giant croc?" Sasuke raised his eyebrows worriedly.
"We have no choice," I swallowed, "We have to find the others and regroup," I slid my blade out of its sheath.
Sasuke armed himself with a kunai and we waded into the water together. Thankfully, the distance wasn't too far, the other bank lay about fifty meters away. I concentrated my chakra to the center of my body and spread it out in a wide circle around me, if anything entered my chakra radar, I would feel it. It was a tiring thing to do, I had to maintain a steady stream of chakra but it was necessary if we didn't want to get eaten. About halfway to the other bank, a metallic smell reached my nose.
"Blood. There might've been some kind of a fight that occurred around here," I noted, looking around for any signs of struggles.
We swam up to the edge of the other bank and pulled ourselves up onto the sandbank. Sasuke squinted at something in the tall rushes.
"I think there's something over there, the smell of blood is kinda strong now," he agreed and stood up, walking over to the cluster of rushes, "Uh, Elvira, I think you should see this," he beckoned me over.
I wiped some water from my face and walked up behind him, "Oh, wow. Liz certainly outdid herself," I whistled, impressed.
The Deinosuchus that had been chasing us before was lying on its stomach but its head was twisted ninety degrees so that its head was lying on its side, supported by gaping jaws. A stream of blood trickled from its mouth onto the ground and into the water. Its jaw muscles were torn beyond repair, the jaws were open at an impossible angle. Most importantly, the Deinosuchus' tongue had been brutally ripped out, leaving only a short, ragged stump of raw flesh. Its eyes were still wide open but they only existed as two dull and lifeless orbs.
"They shouldn't be too far, its still bleeding and there are no flies yet," Sasuke analyzed, "We better move quick if we want to catch up to them."
We set off again, following the fresh tracks. Soon we began to hear loud bustling amongst the leaves. Loud baying and dinosaur laments drifted through the air. It was no doubt the mourns of the Anatotitans for their lost herd member.
"Don't put too much pressure on it for now. After about fifteen minutes, you can walk," I heard Liz's reassuring voice.
"Okay," was Sakura's shaky answer.
"How long has it been, Shikamaru?" Liz asked.
"Maybe a little more than half an hour," he answered, his voice sounded glum, "We should start moving soon. The smell of blood from the injured Anatotitan can attract unwanted attention, you know that," his voice sounded stern.
"I know, I know... but I can't just leave Vira and Sasuke behind," she said, a frantic edge to her voice.
I heard Shikamaru sigh, "I don't think we have much of a choice."
Liz sniffed, "Please, let's just give them five more minutes," she begged.
After a moment's hesitation, Shikamaru answered, "Fine, but then we have to start moving," he stated.
"Deal," Liz breathed.
"Hurry up, Sasuke, they're waiting," I hissed to him.
I bounded between the trees towards the sounds of low whispers and dinosaur braying.
"Liz!" I cried as I burst into their clearing with Sasuke at my heels.
Liz looked up at me, her face pale, "Vira?" her mouth dropped open a little bit.
I smiled and hugged her tightly, "Real enough for you?"
I pulled back to see Liz's face distorted by anger, "I hate you, Vira! Why do you always scare me like that?! Do you have any damn idea how freaking worried I was?!" she exploded.
I backed away a little bit, "I'm sorry, it must have been hard for you," I made a pleading face, "Forgive me?"
Liz stood up and put her hands on my cheeks, "How can anyone resist that face of yours?" she said through her clenched teeth as she pinched my cheeks hard.
When she let go, my cheeks were red, "Glad you still love me," I said weakly.
"Hmph," Liz flipped her hair angrily and stormed away towards Shikamaru to report the good news.
"That went considerably well," Sasuke said, coming up beside me.
"For you," I grumbled, rubbing feeling back into my cheeks.
"Sasuke-kun!" Ino's and Sakura's relieved cries pierced the silence.
"You're okay!" Ino threw herself into Sasuke's arms.
"Yeah..." he said, but his eyes were focused on me rather than the person in his arms.
"Get away from him, Ino-pig!" Sakura growled, "If I didn't have this injury, I'd rip you to pieces!" Sakura shrieked from her seat on a fallen log.
I crouched down beside Sakura and examined her leg, "What happened?" I saw the disappearing scars on her leg.
I recognized the handiwork to be Liz's, "Oh, that's right," Liz came up behind me, her arms crossed, "The Anatotitan that Sakura had been riding on was caught by the Deinosuchus and they both went underwater. The Anatotitan managed to get away with some minor injuries so the Deinosuchus went after Sakura. That's how she got that horrible wound," she jerked her chin towards Sakura's leg.
"And you killed the Deinosuchus afterwards?" I asked.
"No. That was all Naruto. Once he saw that Sakura was still underwater, he leaped in after her," Liz's face became troubled, "He had such a... powerful chakra. At one point, the Deinosuchus had bitten down on Sakura's leg and Naruto got her out but then the Deinosuchus went for Naruto. He was almost eaten, it was an epic battle," Liz admitted.
"Sasuke and I saw the body on the way here, what did he do to it exactly?" I sat down on the log, waiting for the story.
"When he was in the Deinosuchus' mouth, I guess his emotions triggered the Nine-tails' chakra and he pushed those massive jaws open. He pushed it so far that the lower jaw dislocated but he didn't stop there, he tore all of its cheek muscles too," Liz shuddered, "It was just a bit gruesome, I would say it was a 'Parental Guidance Strongly Recommended' scene. Well, quite a few of us don't have parents anyways," she shrugged.
"What about the tongue?" I queried further.
"Uh, I think Naruto wants to tell you about that himself," she stepped aside to reveal Naruto sprinting towards us.
"Elvira! You and Sasuke are okay!" he exclaimed.
I smiled, "We're not that easy to kill."
"Look! Look! I've got my trophy!" he shouted as he waved a big, fat pink thing splattered with blood around in the air.
Once he stopped in front of us and shoved the fleshy object in my face did I realize what it was, "You ripped out the Deinosuchus' tongue?" I said quietly.
"Yeah! Isn't it cool and manly?! I bet Sasuke won't get anything this awesome! Ever!" Naruto snickered, "I got it after I saved Sakura from that big crocodile," he blushed deeply as he glanced furtively at Sakura.
I couldn't help but choke on a laugh, "Good for you, Naruto, good for you," this boy was crazy.
"Naruto did that to the crocodile?" Sasuke's low voice sounded.
"Yeah, who's stronger now? Sasuke-chan," Naruto taunted, adopting a girly voice.
Sasuke clenched and unclenched his fists, "Congratulations, loser, at least you got something," he composed himself and put on a smirk.
"Eh?! Yeah, it's like you could do any better!" Naruto blew him a raspberry.
Sasuke worked his jaws angrily, "You have no idea, idiot."
"Um, tension radar alert! Tension scale from one to ten... it's eleven," Liz mumbled, loud enough for me to hear.
"Looks like you need to buy a new radar that has a scale from one to one hundred," I whispered back.
Liz giggled at my remark, "Okay, back to business. We need a camp location, any ideas?" her voice rang through the crowded clearing.
"Somewhere close to the river but far enough that we're dry. A sheltered but not enclosed space for the eight of us would be good. We might need an escape route," Shikamaru quickly listed all the requirements for a good camp site.
"That's good but there are animals always breaking into our camp, we need somewhere where no dinosaur can reach us," I added.
"Then..." Liz looked at us with a thoughtful expression, "The best place should be in a tree, a tall one. That's not very hard to find here," she shrugged.
"A tree?!" Naruto, Sakura, Ino and Choji all repeated in disbelief.
"How do we sleep up there? Won't we fall off?" Sakura fretted.
Liz shook her head, "I've slept in trees before, it's easy if you get the hang of it," she shrugged.
"What about the Pterosaurs, Liz? You know that they're territorial," I mentioned.
"That's true but that's why we should find a tall tree, we occupy the middle so that we're not bothering the birds and dinosaurs up in the treetops or the dinosaurs on the ground," she walked over to a tallish tree a few feet away, "This will do."
"I can't walk yet, much less climb," Sakura squeaked, then she looked at Sasuke shyly.
Liz noticed the movement and immediately took action, "Naruto, could you please carry Sakura?" she said it like an order.
"Sure!" Naruto piped up and he wrapped his Deinosuchus tongue in some bandages which he put back into his pack, he adjusted it so that his pack was on his chest, "I'll help you out, Sakura-chan!" he smiled widely.
Sakura's face was rather furious, "But-" Liz cut her off.
"Naruto, go up to the middle of the tree, we'll be right behind you," she ushered him into the treetops.
"Wait, Liz, I think we forgot something," I stopped beside her.
"What is it?"
"This era has more oxygen in the air than in our own era, wildfires are not uncommon. Lightning is something we have to worry about here," I pointed to the sky.
"Oh, that's right," Liz frowned but then perked up just as fast, "Oh well, I guess you and Sasuke will just have to stay closer to the top. When you guys hear and thunder or see any storm clouds, you'll warn us and with your jutsus, you can just cut off the lightning, stop it from hitting our tree," my mouth was open in a shameless gape by the end of her speech.
"You mean cut the lightning?" I clarified.
"Yup, what else? I heard that the Lightning Edge was capable of that," Liz's mischievous smile never left her face.
"But that takes training! I've never even thought about trying that before, I could kill myself along with everyone else!" I hissed.
"You won't," Liz said confidently.
"And how do you know?" I challenged.
"Easy. 'Cause Sasuke is there with you. You wouldn't let him die," she poked my nose, "Cutie pie can't let her boyfriend go, can she?" she teased.
"Liz!" I made it sound like an accusation.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Get up there!" she pushed me towards the tree, "Sasuke, hurry up and pick up your lazy bum," she barked.
I sighed and shook my head. I collected chakra in the bottom of my feet and ran up the trunk, higher and higher into the tree. When I was three quarters up, Liz called the affirmative. I stopped there and hung my pack on a broken branch jutting out of the trunk. Sasuke joined me only seconds later. He sat on a branch on the other side of the trunk after he hung his pack on the broken branch I hung mine on. Awkward silence hung in the air as I turned and leaned my back against the trunk.
Sasuke tried to break the silence, "Um... that thing with Ino... there's nothing going on... so, um, sorry... about that," he mumbled.
I blinked and watched a prehistoric bird glide through the air, "There is nothing to be sorry for," I answered flatly.
I heard shuffling as he turned himself around to look at me, "Um, are you okay?" he inquired.
"I'm perfectly fine," I answered, but to be honest, I knew that something was troubling me, I just didn't know what.
"Everyone's up?" I heard Liz's clear voice.
Several mumbled 'yes's were heard.
"I can't hear you!" she shouted louder.
"That's impossible!" I heard Ino hiss.
"Yes!" everyone yelled in unison.
"Thank you for your cooperation and for choosing Elize's Cretaceous Tour Lines! Please refrain from making loud noises, doing your business or anything inappropriate throughout your stay in the Tall Tree Inn! If you need to leave for some reason, please report to our boss, Captain Elize! Remember, if you get eaten, we benefit from your life insurance!" Liz's jingling laughter weaved through the air like a warm breeze.
A smile dominated my lips, Liz could always turn my frown upside down. Not to mention helping everyone else feel at ease no matter the situation.
"We'll be staying here for at least a week, we might as well get comfortable," I said to Sasuke, sitting so that my legs were dangling over top the branches and people beneath me.
"W-w-what do y-you mean?" Sasuke stammered.
When I looked at him, his face was bright red. I stood up and swung around to his branch. He leaned away from me a little bit and I crouched down. I brought my face right up to his so that our forehead protectors were touching and I was kneeling over him.
"I mean..." I started, making my voice sound velvet soft, "That we should unpack and set up an umbrella for rainy days," I laughed as his face fell, just a bit, "Remember what Captain Elize said? We can't do anything inappropriate here at the Tall Tree Inn, Sasuke. You'll have to endure it," I winked at him and let go of the branch.
I dropped a few meters then stuck my feet to the branch I landed on. Liz and Shikamaru were sitting together on it.
"What are you doing down here?" Liz looked confused.
"Sasuke's getting a little to hopeful," I answered plainly and sat down next to her, "Mind if I join you while he calms himself?"
"Sure," Shikamaru said politely but no doubt snickering to himself inside.
I smiled at him, "Thank you."
Liz pouted. This is what I was going to have to deal with for at least a week.
To Be Continued...