Naruto: The Seraph Project

Chapter 2: The Abduction (Updated)

I continue my crazy race in the village. I'm focused on nothing else but my goal of reaching Naruto's apartment as soon as possible. The sword of Damocles hovers above the head of my pupil, heedless of danger. Since my lamentable failure, that of rescuing the darkest of the three, Sasuke, I promised to myself: "never again." I clench my fist and my heart is animated by a devouring fire; the adrenaline is flowing through my veins, blinding my judgment. I don't even think of finding reinforcements. My priority is Naruto.

I don't know why, but I'm hit with a bad feeling that makes me uneasy; anxiety overtakes me and sabotages my thoughts. I am used to locking away harmful and intrusive emotions in a corner of my mind ... but this time, I can hardly manage it. Nevertheless, this doesn't slow me down. A bead of sweat slide on my temple. I still keep my composure despite the panic that tries to take over.

I'm close; the building in question falls into my field of vision. One last jump, and I land on the neighbouring building, in front of the bedroom window. Considering that Naruto had just returned from a mission, exhausted in every way possible, I expect him to be in bed...

However, what I see pinches my chest with pain.

Naruto isn't reacting, visibly unconscious. A man dressed in a black blending into the darkness picks up the teenager, holding him by the waist with just one arm. When he turns his head, I recognize the headband attached to his forehead; it's the same engraving as the shinobi I faced a few minutes earlier, that of three intertwined triangles.

Without further ado, I jump and propel myself forward. I prepare to break in by smashing the window into a thousand pieces. It all happens in a fraction of a second. In my momentum, my stern eye meets the amber ones of the enemy. His gaze is haughty and serene; he's in no way worried about me. Although a mask similar to mine hides half of his face, he has an evil grin on his lips. He's taunting me with a sneer; it makes my hair stand on end and my blood boils in my veins.

He can laugh. In any case, he won't escape me!

Unfortunately, I feel way too late an enemy presence above me. I hardly see a black entity that strikes me a blow with all its might and I barely have time to brandish my arms to protect my head. The force of the blow is such that I am violently propelled to the ground which bursts under the impact, raising clouds of dust. The shock tears me a complaint of pain and my lungs expel the slightest trace of air in them, momentarily incapable to breathe.

'Imbecile!' I grumble to myself while filling my organs with oxygen.

I didn't feel its presence at all... No. It completely eluded all my heightened senses, as if it had erased itself from the entire universe and appeared at the last second to attack me. If I hadn't protected myself in time, with the power of its devastating blow, it would have knocked me out...

As I get up, deformed nightmarish hands armed with gigantic, inhuman claws grab my throat and pin me firmly to the ground. The deadly nails dig into my skin, piercing it effortlessly and releasing my blood which returns to the earth. These fingers tightly tighten their grip and grind my now sealed trachea; I suffocate with excruciating slowness. By survival instincts, my body begs for air by opening its mouth wide ... in vain.

Once the clouds of dust dissipate, my heart jumps in my chest when I contemplate this supernatural and inhuman entity that is strangling me without mercy. This being of absolute blackness on which a macabre and deformed smile is drawn seems to me to be a shadow coming straight from the realm of limbo. His white, empty eyes pierce me to the deepest of intimacies and send a shiver of dread down my spine. Never in my life have I seen such a thing. I don't know why, but I sink into a nameless terror.

Hardly, I grab its hands with mine in order to repel this demon from me... However, I pass through, as if it were intangible and inaccessible. At the same time, ebony tentacles come out of its body and wrap themselves frantically around all my limbs to immobilize me and reduce me to helplessness. Quickly, I can no longer move; its formidable strength is atrociously strong and unshakeable. The lack of air makes my struggle pitiful and useless. Little by little, my strength leaves me.