You're not the only one.... ×Book 1×

52. The knuckle head ninja joins the fight!

'You are confined only by the walls you build yourself'

-Anonymous
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I searched for Naruto desperately, making sure to look around every corner to see what that ninja could have possibly done with him. Naruto; I anxiously bit my lip; please be okay!

"MMPH!"

I jumped slightly at the muffled voice and hesitantly walked towards it with my Kunai out; I was relieved to see Naruto tied to a tree with a gag in his mouth. His eyes turned in my direction and the anger in them melted into happiness as he struggled against the rope.

"MM!" He yelled as I shushed him "MMPH! MMPH! MMPH!"

"Naruto" I whispered standing next to him "you have to be quiet! There are other people in this forest!"

Naruto stared at me for a long time then nodded and stopped shouting. I sighed in relief and took the gag out of his mouth as I started to cut the rope. Once he was completely free, he rubbed his red wrist and smiled at me.

"Thanks Ruka" he said huffing angrily "geez! What does a guy have to do to take a piss in peace in this place?!"

I blinked. My mind was working rapidly to interpret the sentence he just said.

Interpreting.....5%
Interpreting.....15%

Did he say: 'pie in pear?' No!

Interpreting.....20%
Interpreting......35%

Did he say 'piss in park?' Wait?

Interpreting.....System failed.

I rubbed my temples confused. To many p's.

"Come on" I said firmly holding my Kunai "we have to get back to Sasuke and Sakura."

Naruto nodded, and we jumped into the treetops to meet back up with our teammates. Once there we saw Sasuke and Sakura searching their surroundings so we landed beside them.

"Good" Sakura said smiling "you found the baka!"

Naruto sweat dropped and Sasuke gave his signature 'hn' before turning towards me.

"Do you still have the scroll" he asked.

I reached into my weapons pouch and touched the scroll next to my Shuriken. I nodded and Sasuke sighed in relief; I couldn't help but frown. He didn't even ask if I was ok....he just cared about the scroll. I quickly made the frown disappear from my face when I noticed Sasuke was staring at me. As Sakura was busying fussing at Naruto for getting caught, Sasuke came over to me and whispered in my ear.

"I'm glad you're ok too" he said in my ear "I don't want anything to happen to you."

My heart leapt in my chest and I blushed a deep red as Sasuke smirked and walked back towards where he had been originally standing. Sasuke....

"Ok" he said causing me to snap from my daze and Sakura to stop fussing "we obviously need a password so something like this won't happen again."

We all nodded and sat in a circle as Sasuke thought for a moment.

"So" he said slowly "if we get seperated I'll ask you this question:
'When is the best time for a ninja to strike?'
You'll then respond with:
'A ninja strikes in the dark of night. When the water is calm and the rooster won't crow. That is when a ninja will strike.'
Got that?"