Three days later in the land of jungles...

You had spent the last few days grumbling over your sad situation and today is no different. You had still managed to feed yourself some hearty meals of fish on a stick which resembled nothing like the freezer packed fish sticks you find at the grocery store. You would give almost anything for one of those petite breaded fishies, oven cooked and covered in ketchup...and you hate ketchup...come to think of it a burrito would be even better....

Today, after filling up on fish and berries, you went for a swim then mustered up the motivation to practice more jutsu. You thought back on everything Kakashi had taught you and the techniques you have read about. There were some pretty interesting combinations you could possibly perform... if "Kekkei Karen" doesn't decide to make an ugly appearance. Yet the only jutsu you could think of at that moment was body flicker. The other option was that sexy jutsu Kakashi has used on Shirou, which for some stupid reason your mind had subconsciously memorized.

You really are wacky sometimes....

So you try out the white puffy cloud thing where you appear in different places in hope that maybe you'll appear in Kakashi's living room....you'll even take Naruto's blindingly colorful office right now...you don't care. Anywhere but here.

Well your first attempt at body flicker landed you in the middle of a snake pit. You stood looking down at hundreds of poisonous slithering pit vipers who were not impressed at your appearance. But before they could make a move you quickly drew chakra, and performed your hand sign to get the hell out of there.

However without putting forth the intent of location you were literally throwing yourself anywhere and any place. For the next body flicker had you falling from the sky. Without use of your stone and its power to soften landings, you hit the trees hard.... There is now a tree out there in the jungle with no limbs attached, and that is your fault....

After you woke from your concussion you stumbled back to your hut. Thankfully it wasn't far and you didn't jostle your memory too much in that fall.

Now you lie on your bamboo mat, beaten and torn. Bleeding from many cuts and gashes...

"Stupid Kekkei Genkai..." you mutter to yourself.

If it weren't for the power surges you probably wouldn't body flicker so far out of range. You were lucky to only come out with a few cuts and bruises and a sprained shoulder. It would seem you have gotten good at falling over the years. Clumsiness has got you trained, the only advantage to being a walking disaster.

It was then something pulled you from your thoughts. In the fading light you notice a rustle in the bamboo fronds in the distance. It is familiar to you in some way but you can't place what it is.

You tear your eyes away from the slats of bamboo on your hut roof and turn your head towards the sound. It is hard to see in this light and something always knew to pay you a visit at this time.

"What now?" You complain as you cautiously come to your feet, grabbing for your spear at the same time. It was then you realized you left it at the waterfalls. It was your only weapon to defend yourself aside from explosive jutsu...which only seems to affect you....

Baka....

How could you be so stupid...maybe you hit your head harder than you thought...?

The rustling grows much louder and more join it, circling you. You are surrounded....perfect....

A small yip and whine to your left and a low growl to your right. You crouch down feeling cornered and begin to gather chakra. This isn't good...

Listening to the sounds of the creatures lurking behind the thick bamboo trunks in the shadows, you have come to the conclusion that a pack of black hyenas are circling you. They have claimed you as prey and won't hesitate to tear you apart. If only you didn't just suffer a bad fall, if only you had your stone's power with you. It was most likely the scent of your blood that caught their attention.

This may be it for you....

Reflective orbs pierce through the breadth of the trees, flickering as they blink. If not for the cracking of dried leaves beneath their feet and the heavy pants you wouldn't be able to know where they are. And as the sun sets below the horizon the canines become invisible.

You back up further into your hut creating less chance of a flank from behind you. With survival instinct kicking in you devise your plan of escape. It would be too risky to fight them all off and from the sound of their footsteps you are outnumbered by at least twenty. With your shoulder sprain and your body healing from your wounds you are an easy target for them. Even if you run they will follow your scent. The only place you will find salvation in is water. From what you've witnessed when you were here last, Hyenas don't swim, at least not very well and with your water jutsu you may have a chance at fending them off...

Suddenly your thoughts are cut short by the shriek of a hyena. Reflective eyes appear ahead of you closing in fast. You curse the sunlight and the canine's charcoal fur.

Fists up...

And the fight is on.

It lunges at you with speed you can barely keep up with. Without your stone you are just an ordinary girl taking on a pack of wild animals. You dodge its snapping jaws and push it to the side with effort. It smashes into the back wall of your hut breaking a few of the bamboo slats. In the motion you stumble backwards and fall onto your ass scrambling to get back up as that first beast is rearing its head towards you ready for another attack. Three others join it, leaping at you.

You need to get out of here now...but how?

The only thing that comes to mind in the few seconds you have is body flicker. However there is not enough time in your rough state to perform it without the four hyena reaching you. So you analyze your situation, pinpoint any escape routes and scenarios. Just as you were taught, and find a gap between them. The three bound towards you just as the first hyena takes a bite at your leg. You leap to your feet and slam a hard fist into its nose. It yelps and cowers, backing up while shaking its head. You take this opportunity to run forward in two long strides. Leaning back, you slide on the tops of your feet, ignoring the forest floor scraping at your flesh, and duck under the three dodging them completely. They crash into each other in a mess, nipping and biting at one another while destroying half of your hut.

There is no time to regain yourself as the rest are closing in. Instinctively you look back at your hut realizing you need height. The only way out is up. But you still need more time to perform body flicker.

Just when that thought crosses your mind two hyena lunge towards your legs barking and snapping their jaws. One successfully sinking its teeth into your calf while you pummel the other with heavy fists. You pull your leg away ripping the muscle but freeing it from its jaws. Clenching your teeth through the pain, you round house kick the beast knocking it unconscious....

With that free moment you make your get away. In swift movements you jump up onto the remains of your hut gaining the higher ground. The Hyena stop in their tracks watching you, unable to reach you. They circle your hut snarling and growling, most likely devising their own plan to get you down from there. It is time for some jutsu. Ignoring the slow snapping of bamboo below your feet, you slam your palms together and begin to draw chakra. As quickly as possible you perform your body flicker in record time, this time focussing on your intention.
The waterfalls...

However, "Kekkei Karen" kicks in hard. Your Kekkei Genkai explodes from your body absorbing the entire area ten feet wide.

"Shit!" You curse loudly.

As you not only body flickered yourself, but you had taken every single life form that was surrounding you with you.

Everything hovering in the air plunged into the water. The Hyena shrieked and whined as they tried desperately to make it to shore before drowning. Anything else either sunk to the pool floor or slithered away through the water leaving you alone to breach the surface.

You come up for air just as Kakashi had taught you and begin to draw chakra....although...that last body flicker had taken a substantial amount of energy to produce thanks to your power surges. At this point the only chakra you can muster is enough to pool into your feet to keep you standing above water. So you do just that. You pool it into your feet and hands then climb out of the water. As you come to your feet you really take in your situation.

Looking around at the now moonlit falls. You count the flashing eyes staring wildly at you on the shoreline.

One...two...three...four...five...six...

You curse out loud at the number seventeen...a number that you cannot handle by yourself. But there is no one else out here to help you. No one else is around to hear your screams. You have never felt so alone, just a single person in this deadly jungle.

In this stand off of Hunter and prey, the only sounds are shallow breaths and subtle whines. You feel trickles of blood seep down your forehead coating half your face in crimson red. Every open wound pours blood tantalizing your predators. Each growing more confident as the seconds go by. Some draw closer, coming up to their chests in the water, while the others hype themselves up with yips and shivering cackles.

They know they have won, and once your chakra runs out, they will have you. You will be forced to the shore, or drown.

You begin to plead for your salvation...

"Please! Let me live, please!" You ask.

"I'm not ready to die yet!"

"Please..." your last word is just a whisper.

Your cries only seem to stir their hunger and they grow louder and louder.

You drop your arms to your sides in defeat and prepare yourself for your last hours of life. You will start with giving thanks to your gods first...seems like the proper thing to do before you die...right?...

To my god Izanagi, the creator. You sir....are a real big asshole, and need to re-evaluate your mental health. As this life you made for me is really fucked up....god bless...

To my goddess Izanami, I don't know what you were thinking either....you have some nerve creating someone as accident prone as me. I'm pretty sure you did this on purpose...I don't know what kind of game you are playing but you need help....god bless....

You stop yourself there, even though you have a ton of gods to scold, this probably isn't good karma. It is not like anything good will happen in this situation, but you would rather not make your death worse than what you know is already coming. You have little time left in this world. Each and every cackling hyena is fully aware....

It was then the pain in your calf became excruciating. You struggle to maintain your balance on the water but end up pooling chakra into your bottom half so you can sit down on it. You hold a hand over the wound cursing everyone and everything.

You wonder if you'll make it to see the sunlight one more time. Or if your chakra will give out before then. All you can do is hold out until the morning, maybe they will lose interest....

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Naruto bursts through the front door calling out.

"Kakashi! I did it!"

He stomps his dirt covered boots over the floors on a direct route to his bedroom.

"Kakashi! Did you hear me?"

But Kakashi did not. Currently is passed out cold after wrestling with panther all night to keep her from devouring the cat outside. All it took was one white fluffy tail flickering by the window for that damned panther to destroy his room trying to get outside to eat it.

Well that stupid cat kept walking by the window teasing her consistently, which almost sent her tearing through the damn wall. Then something strange happened.... Wounds began appearing over her body, she would groan and pant, walking around sluggishly. Something was seriously wrong and all signs point to Hana. For if her cohort is injured that means she is.

With fear in his heart he had spent the rest of the evening trying to fix every new forming wound until she collapsed in his arms. They lied on the floor together while he caressed her head pretending he was consoling Hana until he fell asleep utterly exhausted.

Naruto rounds the corner to his room and whips open the door to find his disarray. He lies propped up against a cracked wall with the panther resting in his lap. His room is in ruins, with nearly everything knocked over or broken. But that isn't what shocked him the most, it was the blood.

"Kakashi!"

He rushes to his side and begins to shake him awake not caring if the panther takes offense and decides to attack.

"Hey! Wake up! No sleeping on the job!" He says with panic in his voice.

Kakashi groans and opens one eye to look up at him.
"Oh hey, Naruto."

Naruto blows out a breath in relief.
"Hey buddy. You alright?"

He nods as he looks around the room, remembering the exhausting night.

"I am...making it....I guess..." He replies.

Naruto's brows furrow.
"Barely...did you end up having that heart attack?"

Finally a small chuckle lightens the room.
"Nah, man....well...maybe...but probably not. I think I'm just tired."

Naruto pats his shoulder.
"It's been a long three days."

"You mean two months..." Kakashi finally brings his attention back to Naruto after analyzing the damage in the room.

Naruto doesn't respond, but he completely understands.

"What are you doing here so early? Is it morning already?" Kakashi asks.

Naruto glances down at the panther, noticing bandages and blood seeping from them.
"I found her, Kakashi."

His eyes widen, he instinctively latches onto his jacket and pulls him closer.
"Where?!" He asks with intensity.

"I found her deep in the jungles....well...sort of... but, Kakashi. What's wrong with the panther?"

He blinks twice, registering his question and looks down at her.
"I don't know. Something isn't right, I think it has to do with Hana."

And a daunting realization hits Naruto. He pulls away from Kakashi and slumps down beside him.
"That would explain the broken refuge I found and the blood on the forest floor."

Kakashi stares at him, in shock over the word blood.
"So... you didn't find her?" He can barely ask, unsure if he can handle what is coming next.

"Not exactly. I stumbled across what I assume are her footsteps. I mean who else would they belong to? They stopped in the middle of a bamboo forest, and that's where I found a small broken hut...there was an attack, but nothing left the area. It was like everything just...disappeared..."

"Are you sure it's her?"

"Yeah."

"How do you know?" Kakashi presses.

"Well...this...." He pulls from his pocket several strands of crimson hair...her hair.

Kakashi snatches it from his hand and holds it up just to see it again. Just to feel it one more time.

"It's her....But where she is now?...I have no idea."

Kakashi leans his head back against the wall and closes his eyes thinking.
"She's hurt, Naruto..."

"I can go back in...." He replies.

"When?"

"Now...I mean..." He checks his watch. "It's barely morning. When I left the land of jungles it was dark out. If our times are in sync, then I haven't been gone for very long....what I'm trying to say is I think we still have time to find her. Before anything else happens..."

"We don't even know what happened." Kakashi replies skeptically.

"I know..."

"Then again, our Panther wouldn't be alive right now if Hana wasn't." He looks over at his friend and shares a sympathetic moment together.

"I'll find her, Kakashi. But you know I can't bring her back unless this cat comes with me."

Kakashi curses out loud.

"Then I'm going with you!"

Naruto looks him up and down then shakes his head.
"Like that?...I don't think so. You won't be able to maintain the connection as tired as you are. This shit takes a lot out of you, and besides that cat may just boot you out anyways. But she can't touch me...I have my own way in." He replies with a confident smirk.

Kakashi sighs heavily, he has a point. With his energy levels the way they are right now, making the trip to the land of jungles using the stone could do more harm than good. He needs to be in top shape for when she gets back. He needs to be his best...for her...

"Alright...do what you need to do to get the Panther there. Even if you have to blow up the place to get her attention... I don't care." Kakashi replies.

"I'm going in then. This may take a while...so uhhh....maybe have another nap or something."

Kakashi rolls his eyes.
"Pshhhh...."

He watches Naruto position himself in a criss-cross fashion, pressing his hands together. A small surge of chakra erupts around him and his spirit combines with the spirit of kurama in an explosion of transparent orange light. Then Naruto slips into a deep meditative state.

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