Just Traveling!

Chapter 50: A Rise of Power

The world was quiet around the two. The earth had stopped shaking, the screams now gone. Was it over, did the war finish? Did they lose? Was everyone dead?

What did it matter now, Shakirie thought bitterly.

Her hands were shaking as she pulled Rayne around to see her face. Moving the dark hair to the side, what she saw caused her to wince. Blood was dripping down her mouth, eyes slightly opened to gaze blankly at nothing. Very carefully, she moved the limp body until it was facing forward where she saw a hole straight through her chest.

Lowering her head, she listens carefully, hoping. Praying for some sort of miracle. Her ear was nearly touching Rayne's lips when she heard a soft, haggard, breath. Smiling bitterly, she faced the hole. Even if it missed her heart, Shakirie knew that Rayne would not survive. They didn't have chakra to slow it down, nor did Shakirie know of any medical treatment to stop this massive bleed.

"Heh... he sure did a number on you," Shakirie whispered.

Grabbing hold of Rayne, she pulled the limp teen to her back and very carefully, began to move. "Why... are you so heavy?"

Expecting a retort of some sort, a punch to the arm, anything really, but all she had was the shallow and quiet breathing from Rayne.

Ignoring the silence, Shakirie began to walk, continuing to talk to her friend, "It must be from all that traveling you did, huh?" She chuckled weakly, "I swear, all you did while moving about was probably gamble and eat."

She gently climbed over a deep root, eyes still facing forward. The trunks above had finally stopped moving. Looking around the ground, she grimaces at the blood dripping from her back and over her shoulders, but she quickly looked forward and kept moving. Bodies were littering the floor, dropping at random intervals and filling the air with the sounds of quick thuds. She had lost count after thirty bodies falling.

After another thud, Shakirie began to speak once more, "Hey, remember how you said you wanted to travel again? You never really told me where you wanted to go." Shakirie smiled, she could see the end of this tunnel.

"I bet you wanted to go to Land of the Moon, see that large saber tooth tiger."

She began to pick up the pace, "Or maybe you wanted to head to the Land of Snow, see if they got that strange thing to work."

"Maybe to the Great Naruto Bridge, or try and convince the toads to let you into Mount Myōboku, or to that Summoning Island that I heard from Deidara!"

She was running now, she couldn't hear Rayne breathing, "It doesn't matter where you want to go, just know that I'll be right there! Just like we were going to do in the very beginning! Just traveling around the whole world and be tourists!"

Running out of the tunnel, she shouted, "But for the love of God, please don't DIE!"

Barely resisting to use Death's ability, she saw the shinobis before her, without thinking she began to shout, "SAKURA!"

She could see several people looking up at them and instantly they began to move. Instead of Sakura, it was Neji and Hinata. Not even caring who it was, she growled at Hinata,

"I know that you've been practicing medical jutsu," she snarled as she gently placed Rayne to the ground, "Fix her."

For a split second, they didn't move until another growl came from the blond, causing a small 'eep' from Hinata. Very carefully, the teen placed a glowing green hand on Rayne's chest, eyes focused on Rayne's face.

Who knows how long Shakirie stood there, still as a statue. Seconds? Minutes? To her it felt like hours. Just watching Hinata's glowing green hand swirl with chakra. But her eyes remained on the unmoving chest.