Three Fangirls VS. the Naruto World (Naruto Fanfic)

A Mild Case of Flashbacks

Third Person POV

The mist hung low, skimming the calm surface of the water, writhing around the mottled tree trunks lining the shore like spectral constrictors. Dewdrops clung to pale green leaves, drenching anything that happened past. No sound permeated the sheer, unyielding silence. 

All at once, the silence was shattered.

Something crashed through the forest, cracking twigs beneath their feet and ripping leaves from their branches as they fought through the tangles. Stealth eluded them in their desperation as they broke the treeline and continued on over the water, shifting chakra into their feet to stay afloat. 

The figure, bloodied and wary, didn't pause, even as they realized the beach - and the water beyond - was completely unfamiliar to them. They didn't have the luxury of being able to choose their path, only the burden of being chased down unsavory roads.

Blood, molten and distracting, dribbled down into their eye; they hastily rubbed at the thin cut trailing across their forehead, smearing blood on their flesh, damp with mist and sweat. Blood, the same blood currently tracing demonic tear troughs down their face, roared in their ears, deafening them to the subtle sounds of pursuit. 

They stepped lightly across the water, weaving inconsistant footsteps in order to ward off targeted projectiles - like kunai and shuriken, just to name a few. Their chest tight - from fear or anger, they couldn't tell - they wheezed in shallow breaths just as quickly as they puffed out. A hundred thoughts should have been racing through their head as they crossed the stretch of open water, but only one bounced around the usually bustling space: Where the hell are Vi and Scar?

Ari couldn't believe the events that had taken place, so quick and so terrifyingly effective. Moreso, she couldn't believe her current situation. Running for her life, alone without her sisters or Sensei, with a gang of unforgiving assassins on her tail. How had it come to this?

The opposite shore soon appeared from within the veil of mist, and Ari quickened her pace to reach it; she didn't have the chakra to spare on something like running across water. The ground was uneven and muddy; her sandals snak deep into the muck, obnoxious sucking sounds appearing when she tugged them free with every weighted step.

For a moment, she stood stock-still, body lowered into a lenient stance, ready to move at the slightest sound. Her ears, finally rid of the rush of blood, picked out nothing of interest, save the distant crack of thunder signalling an oncoming storm. Mei had mentioned something about it, what felt like a hundred years ago to the battered Arianna. Faintly assured she wasn't in an immediate danger, Ari relaxed her stance and moved on through the thick foliage surrounding her. 

She nipped at her thumb as she walked; bright red blood bubbled up from the wound, forming a perfectly round globule. Like chakra, this was something she couldn't afford to waste; but she didn't have a choice, just as before. Kiri had excellent Ninken, according to Hibiki Sensei. In this mist, though, she was afraid tracking her scent alone wouldn't be enough. If smearing her blood everywhere she went made it a simpler task to find her, it would have to be done, something she mused about while she ran her thumb over the waxy bush leaves she passed, generously lathering them with her life force.

Her thumb was back at her teeth (she wished she had Kiba's feral canines at this point to make the task easier) when she suddenly halted, her instincts sensing the hazy presence before her mind registered it. Her foot hovered, inches above the ground, unwilling to touch the sodden dirt again. Blinking, Ari stepped back and crouched down, the mist too thick for her to see through without doing so. Some fallen form blocked her path, made of up of blurred blacks and pale whites. Squinting didn't bring the figure into better focus, so Ari tentatively prodded her finger into the thing.