Please vote and comment!

Chapter four: Fear

"Uta."

Everything was disorientated as I walked through a dark hallway.

"Who are you?" I called out, my skin riddled with goose bumps.

"Uta, why did you tell them?" The voice asked. A cool wind blew along the flames of candles lined against the murky walls.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I hastily turned around with my hand raised as the wind distinguished the flames behind me.

"I thought we were friends, Uta." My eyebrows raised in disbelief as a familiar face moved towards me in the dark.

"Yuriko?"

"You killed me Uta," She spat and rushed towards me.

"Yuriko." The girl breathed as she sat up in alarm. Her heartbeat pounded through her head as a tingling sensation invaded her chest. Her palms were set flat behind her as she leaned against them.

What was that? She asked herself as she stared at the blanket over her with wide, frightened eyes. She felt fear, complete and utter terror of being consumed by the image that played over and over in her mind.

Dammit.

She brought a hand and placed it over her heart, listening to the raging beating.

Why me?"

Why was her life changing? What was she living for? Were these new friendship just going to breakdown and screw her over?

Knock knock.

She snapped her head up, then she noticed she was in an unfamiliar room.

"Hey Uta are you awake?" The figure of Miyuki came into view as she casually walked in through the door in front of her. She held a devious grin as she swung her hands by her side. Uta stared blankly at her as she opened her eyes and met Uta's eyes.

"Hey, Uta? What's wrong?" She asked closing the door and jumped onto her bed.

"I woke up a little startled is all," Uta told her running a hand through her knotted locks.

"What were you dreaming about?" Miyuki replied sitting crossed legged in front of her.

"An old friend," Uta sighed rubbing her eyes. "Where am I by the way?" She asked inspecting the world around her.

She blinked when she noticed most of her own furniture arranged inside the fairly sized room. A chest of draws, a small round table and her favourite couch.

How on earth did they manage this.

"Our new home." Miyuki giggled lightly before quickly dismissing it when Uta glared at her. "You fell asleep soon after we finished cleaning so myself and Raiden moved most of our furniture in and then put you to bed. You seemed pretty out of it." She explained with a small smile causing Uta to frown.

"This isn't my bed," she said quietly.

"Oh, yeah." Miyuki rubbed her head nervously. "The one that was already here seemed a lot nicer than yours." She laughed nervously, Uta just raised an eyebrow tiredly running her fingers along the dark purple blanket.

"What time is it?"

"It's around 8 in the afternoon, we will be leaving late." Hitomi suddenly said as she appeared from behind the door.

"Huh? For what Sensei?" Miyuki asked curiously.

"The Mizukage has given us a mission to complete." Hitomi replied, her eyes set into her usual narrowed manor.

"Oh?" Miyuki answered turning to face her.

Already? Uta thought confused as she brung her hands into her lap.

"Where's Raiden?" Uta asked slightly shifting to the edge of the bed.

"That idiot needs a good punch," Miyuki stated, staring at her fist that was scrunched into a ball.

"Why?" Uta replied confused lifting an eyebrow.

"You can't hit him." Miyuki whispered bringing Uta's face closer to her own. "He's made of freaking water or something." She explained letting a shiver roll down her spine.

"That's creepy." Uta muttered quietly.

I wonder if Mei ever had the dream of becoming Mizukage? Was it her passion, or was it just a coincidence. Uta suddenly thought to herself.

"Correct me if I'm wrong Uta, but are you always so quizzical when you wake up?" Miyuki giggled slightly, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth amusingly.

"Tch." Uta crossed her arms irritated as her hair fell across her cheek. I'm just mentally conflicted...

"Meet me outside when you're ready." Hitomi spoke and disappeared from the room.

I can't be bothered to shower. Uta told herself.

"Let's go." The two nodded and followed their Sensei.

Uta felt slightly shaken by her sleep. The dream felt too real to be just a mere exaggeration of her mind. The way the cold air brushed along her skin as the light around her faded. Even the face of her childhood friend brought her composure to a standstill.

More than just a dream, she thought wearily as they trudged outside the building.

~~~

"Goodbye Miyuki!" A blushing Choujurou shyly yelled as the team slowly walked away. They stood at the outskirts of Kirigakure.

They had just received their mission briefing and they were to leave immediately.

Uta frowned in thought as she went over the instructions in her mind.

Aim: To recover documents from the village of Waterlilies.

Rank: C

Notes: Documents must not be tampered with.

Mission Provider: Mizukage, Mei Terumi.

"Goodbye Choujurou," Miyuki squeaked out as she awkwardly scratched her cheek.

Uta smirked before turning the other way. Her shadow limply danced in front of her as the village lights shone past her figure

"Oi, Let's go." Hitomi's demanding tone cut through the atmosphere as she herself began to walk away.

"Coming." The trio replied individually joining their Sensei into the moon light.

It sure is pretty tonight, Uta innocently stared at the gleaming stars above. She watched the faint mist move along the sky, one reason Kirigakure had its name.

It was cold tonight, an eerie wind wove through the air.

I'm glad I'm not sleeping tonight. She let out a breath and watched as it became visible from her mouth.

Due to the surrounding area, they soon found themselves out of sight of the village, alone in the dark. Now the only company they had were themselves and the mist.

"Hey, Raiden." Uta muttered as she fell into step with him. He turned towards her slightly surprised.

"Hello Uta," he replied, "is something wrong?" He lowered the straw from his mouth, holding it to his side.

Uta had concluded that what he was always seen drinking was in fact water, probably needed for some kind of technique he uses. She sighed lightly, fogging up the air around her as she did.

Here goes nothing.

"What do you live for?" Uta asked quietly, almost seeming as if she was shy to talk.

"What do I live for?" Raiden replied slightly confused by her choice of questioning.

Uta nodded wanting him to answer. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he looked towards the moon.

"I guess I just keep myself going, if I keep believing in myself then I know I can build the future that I want." He replied in a soft tone, lost in his own thoughts.

Uta nodded slightly trying to grasp his words. "But I've always tried to find that one person I could stick with, you know. I can't do everything by myself." He chuckled sadly as Uta stared at him with her eyes widened slightly.

Someone to stick with, she repeated in her head as she turned to look at the ground in front of her. Do I have someone like that? She softened her gaze lightly.

"Have you found them?" Uta asked staring ahead. Raiden smiled sadly looking at her from the corner of his eye, but she kept her gaze forward.

"I'm sure they'll show up." He sighed picking up his water bottle from his thigh. "Over time." He muttered sucking on the thin straw.

The truth is he'd never really had anyone to stand by, the sad fact that his mere friendships would die down like a worn out fire. But he wanted one, and he was hoping that this team Hitomi would bring new and interesting bonds.

Raiden sighed quietly as he took a look at Uta's solemn expression. The way her face remained a bored vibe, but he could tell she was constantly thinking things through in her mind.

Silently observing, calculating all around her. She hardly ever reveals anything about her, except when they decided to play the 20 questions that first night they became a team.

She likes the colours black and white, because it reminds her of the night sky. He smiled amusingly.

Tap...tap.

Tap...tap.

The sound of their nearing footsteps filled the silence. Below them the village in which they were sent to, to carry out their objective.

And above that, the roaring image of flames filled their senses as they wearily stared below from their hilltop. The warm wind blew across the grass, ruffling it into a frantic dance.

They all watched as the flames engulfed the sky. Ripping apart the once lively town, demolishing the homes of the once safe citizens.

Figures of villagers trying to distinguish the flames with no success could be seen. Miyuki harshly snapped her head away from the scene, turning to glare at their Sensei.

"What are we waiting for? We must save them!" She yelled balling her fists.

"No." Hitomi answered bluntly, the orange heat radiating across her cheeks.

"What?" Raiden replied now looking at the woman. Hitomi closed her eyes as a blood curdling scream filled the air.

"We would die if we encountered the enemy,"

"Why?" They simultaneously questioned.

"They obviously planned this attack no? They just coincidentally decided to attack today? The same night we were expected. Look at the bigger picture, it was a trap."

"So they're killing innocent people over there to lure us in?" Uta asked narrowing her eyes to look towards the burning buildings.

"We really need to report back to the Mizukage, the mission will be a failure, there is a spy, everyone will more then certainly dead, and the documents will be gone." She growled with a scowl.

She slowly crouched onto the tips of her feet as the others followed her movement. They were out in the open, disguised by the night as they laid on their stomachs.

So wasteful. Uta frowned in annoyance, they were just watching the destruction happening. Why couldn't we just take the enemy out quickly?

"Why would they want to attack us? Sensei do you not realize that those documents are still there? They're probably attacking for the documents, not us." Raiden argued as he furrowed his brow, leaning on his hands.

"Guys, look." Uta slowly stated and lifted her hand to point towards the edge of the village. It sat next to a clustered forest, of which had not yet been set on fire.

She had been observing the area the whole time since she first spotted the danger.

Miyuki gasped when her eyes caught a black shadowy figure among the tree line.

"You're right, let us leave then Sensei." She sadly announced shutting her eyes.
"Or I'm going to spill all of their guts." She creepily laughed as her devious eyes widened.

Hitomi in frustration rubbed her forehead. What a mess...I guess I'm going to have to take care of this. She thought biting her thumb.

Poof!

"Oh, it's you again." Hana spoke when she arrived right in front of Uta's face. Uta blinked in surprise as the fox was nestled on Hitomi's shoulder.

"I'm sorry I'm such a nuisance to you," Uta retorted sarcastically, the coldness of her voice hitting Hana. The fox started to regret her attitude towards this young girl, after all she didn't know anything about her. Better yet she didn't even have her name.

"Forgive me I was surprised." Hana apologized, leaping off Hitomi to sit in front of the team. Uta scowled slightly, turning her head in the opposite direction as she attempted to calm her emotions.

Words are too off-putting. She thought to herself.

Poke.

"What the fuck?" Uta quickly snapped her head to fully view what had poked her cheek.

"Heh." Raiden sheepishly smiled as Uta's confused gaze met his own. "You zoned out." He informed her, worry covering his eyes.

"I think too much." She muttered back, sighing as she leant her cheek on her palm. I'm always thinking too much. She started to catch the faint smell of smoke, the blazing village was now unrecognizable.

"We leave now." Hitomi caught Uta's attention as she started to stand up. "Hana, I leave this to you." She said seriously, narrowing her gaze at the animal.

Hana complied, ready for the task at hand. Due to Uta's zoning out, she had not one clue of what Hana was being sent to do. But frankly she didn't care too much, she was more determined to get back to the Mizukage.

Miyuki and Raiden got to their feet, lending a hand each for Uta as she was pulled up. They each took one regretful glance at the devastation below them. Guilt threatening to seep into their hearts, sometimes nothing can be stopped. Sometimes, evil wins.

Some where hidden away, a predator was moving his piece's. He smiled ever so madly as he watched the small figures fade into the distance.

"My little one," He seethed, his eyes lit with a crazed shine.

"Master! When do I get to kill that precious Uta of yours?" The female beside him asked her voice full of psychotic excitement. She stood, swinging her arms behind her as she turned her head side ways towards the man.

"She will come to us." He answered, dragging a finger down the young girls pale cheek.

"I'll make her suffer." She replied, a large grin forming across her face.

~~~~

Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Please vote and comment your thoughts

Tell me how you portray the characters, if you have any theories! I'm introducing new characters all the time so don't get lost on the way XD

BYI