Maya - a Naruto Fanfic

35. Ain't No River Wide Enough

To get to Tasuna's village, we have to take a boat.

"You know, I think I'm just going to wait here. It's not like I'm going to be much help anyway." I eye the boat wearily. I've almost drowned enough times - I really don't fancy doing it again.

"I can't leave you here unsupervised, so hurry up and get in." Kakashi sighs as he dumps the last of the bags in the back. I whimper as the boat rocks menacingly.

"Do you doubt my abilities as a sailor?!" The man who came to collect us scowls at me.

"No, no, I just really hate water..." I shuffle slightly closer to the edge and peer at the gap between land and boat. What if the boat moves when I step onto it and I fall in the water?

"Just get in." Sasuke huffs, and a hand shoves between my shoulder blades, sending me toppling down towards the boat. I don't even have time to scream before strong arms catch me and lift me up.

"Stupid! What did you to that for?!" I yell, glaring hard at the culprit.

"Don't pick on her, Sasuke." Kakashi scolds, but there isn't much energy in it.

"Oh! Thanks..." I mutter, looking down at my hands, where they rest against my stomach.

"You'll forgive me if I don't want to go diving in after you again." Is Kakashi's slightly sardonic reply to my thanks. He sets me down on the boat and I sit immediately between Sakura and Naruto, fingers gripping the wooden seat until my knuckles bleach. No way am I falling in again.

With one hard yank of a string at the back by Tasuna, the boat grumbles to life, and we set off over the waves.

"Ooh jesus." I moan as we skip over a wave and the boat jerks and trembles. My grip shifts from the seat to Sakura's arm, and I bury my face in her shoulder.

"Just don't throw up on me." She begs when the boat rocks again and I whimper.

"No promis - nn!" Another wave, and the boat pitches to the side. Oh god, I'm never going to make it off alive.

"Pathetic." Sasuke snorts, and I kick him under the seat.

"You all need to be quiet now." Tasuna says, and the engine turns off.

"What's going on?" Naruto asks, only to be hushed viciously.

"We can't be seen! So quiet!"

With the engine off, the boat glides slower through the water, and we continue our journey in silence. Unfortunately, with less speed comes more rocking, and every jolt and shiver of the boat sends my heart up into my throat.

It's a blessing when the boat stops, and while I'd like nothing more than to leap off and onto dry land, my legs are shaking too badly for me to even stand.

"Honestly, Maya, first we can't get you in and now you won't come out." Sakura half-sighs, half-laughs.

"Will you at least stand up?" Kakashi looks down at me with crossed arms.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

In lieu of any real answer, I hold up my hand, showing them just how much it's trembling.

"Alright, fine." The way he says it makes me sick. So tired and hassled. He sounds too much like my dad did before he left.

"Sasuke, you-"

"Never mind." I cut him off, desperately struggling to my feet and tripping over to the docks.

"I thought you couldn't stand?" Sasuke comments, mocking me.

"Looks like I was wrong." I brush off his words as I step up to stand with them.

"What, no snappy comeback?" Kakashi keeps pace with me at the back of the group, eyes on his surroundings.

"He was right."

"He often is, and yet you always seem to have a response. What changed?"

"I'm just not in the mood right now. Who knows? Maybe the boat journey changed me."

"It's starting to look that way..."

"Maya! Kakashi-sensei! Hurry up!" Naruto yells, turning to wave at us. How did they get so far ahead?

As we walk, Naruto looks like he's on high alert, and it's putting everyone's nerves on edge. After about the fourth time he's stopped us to "scout ahead", I'm biting back a scathing remark. I've already snapped at him once today. Sakura, however, has no such hesitation.

"Will you stop?! You're making me nervous!"

"But Sakura..." Naruto whines, before going completely stiff and launching a kunai into the bushes. The knife flies right past Sasuke's nose.

"What was that for?" He almost yelps, but not quite. That would be a sign of human emotion, and the Sasuke-bot just isn't programmed that way. It may only feel anger.

"I heard something!" And off he goes, chasing after the kunai in a blur of orange jumpsuit.

"Aha! Come here, you - ! Oh." We all gather around the bushes to see just who this enemy is.

"Congratulations, doofus, you caught a rabbit." Sasuke's eyebrow twitches in frustration. See? I told you so.

"Oh no!" Naruto rushes over and cradles the rabbit in his arms, rubbing his face into it's fur.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He sobs over and over. Sakura watches his antics with her hands on her hips, lower lip jutting out. Sasuke's expression is almost totally blank again.

"Hey, Naruto, that's not gonna help it." I free the bunny from his grip and set it back down carefully on the ground, then step back.

"But you're not doing anything." He stares up at me with baleful eyes, hands planted between his knees in the dirt.

"Exactly. Wild rabbits aren't used to being handled by humans, so grabbing it is only going to make it more panicked. It's best to just leave it to recover."

"Maya's right, so-" Sakura begins, only to be cut off by Kakashi.

"That's not a wild rabbit." He says quietly, staring hard at the tree line.

"What-?"

"Get down!" His hand presses down on my head and we all drop to the ground as a massive sword spins overhead.

"What the hell?!" I shout as mist begins to surround us.

"Stay close!" Kakashi instructs, and soon the fog almost too thick to see through.

A bone chilling laugh echoes around us, and my heart kicks into overdrive.

What kind of mess have we gotten into?

A/N: because it makes literally zero sense for Zabuza not to just cut straight to the trying to kill them and leave the mocking for when he has the upper hand. It was a waste of time and in literature, even shit like this, we try to avoid that. Also, this has got 1K views!!! Oh my god!! Granted that's partly because it also has a shit tonne of chapters and a few faithful readers (I love you all so much) but STILL! Thank you for all your lovely comments and for voting!
Ta-ta~