Night 52: North of the Institute (woods)

[tsunagari.livejournal.com]

[from here]

Sai hit the ground and rolled as the blasts from their opponent ripped through the air to either side of them. He crawled up onto his knees, pawing around for the flashlight that had been knocked from his hands in the attack. "Naruto?" He hadn't seen if the blond had been hit or not. If he had, this whole venture would have been a mistake.

The robotic man from the field didn't seem to be following them, and as the adrenaline left his system, the use of chakra started to catch up to him. He remained on the ground as he listened for his friend, catching his breath. If they'd truly gotten away, then this was the furthest he'd managed to get in the past several days.

Now if only such luck would hold out.

Comments

[idkmybfframen.livejournal.com]

Naruto felt jarred by the blast, but he'd managed to keep it together. He was holding on to his kunai like it was a lifeline, but he managed to drop his flashlight, too.

"Damnit. Sai! I can't find my light!"

He wasn't sure that the robot guy wasn't coming after them. If he came after them, Naruto wasn't sure he had the energy to properly fight. Man! Was this what everyone else felt like all the time, with not enough chakra? What a bunch of bull.

"You okay?"

[tsunagari.livejournal.com]

After a little more groping, the handle of a flashlight finally makes its way into Sai's grip. He doesn't know if it's his or Naruto's, but with one they might be able to locate the other. The ninja flips it on, lighting up the ground close to his friend. "Here." He holds it out for the other boy to take. At the moment, Naruto would probably have an easier time looking.

He was more than a little dizzy, and he almost missed the other ninja's question when he asked. "...I'll be fine. Just give me a minute." Soon he was sitting, one knee pulled up so he could rest his forehead on it. They couldn't afford to stay here long. ...Or perhaps they could, now that it didn't seem like they were being followed anymore. Still, remaining stationary would just invite other creatures to find them, and he was hoping to get elsewhere before the night ended.

[idkmybfframen.livejournal.com]

Naruto took the flashlight from Sai and looked around for his own. He found it a couple feet away and went to retrieve it. When he turned back around, he was surprised to see Sai sitting on the ground.

"Hey, hey! Are you sure you're okay? That guy didn't blast you, did he? If he did, then I'll go back right now, and-"

[tsunagari.livejournal.com]

"No. No, I'm fine." Naruto wouldn't stand much of a chance against that man anyway. They'd ran for a reason, so Sai hoped that was just bravado. A couple moments more and he'd gotten to his feet. As long as he didn't try and use much of his chakra for a while, and they didn't take off through the woods in an all-out run right away, he shouldn't be too bad off for the moment.

"Which way do you want to go from here?" Unfortunately, he'd seen little of the maps of the Institute grounds, and had little experience in the areas outside of what he'd seen on the ride to Doyleton, which didn't cover this particular bit of woods at all. "I think there's supposed to be something north of here, like a mine." Or had that been east? "There's other places of interest both east and northeast of here if I remember the map right. Or we could try and see if we can get beyond what's already been marked."

If it was possible to get that far at all.

[idkmybfframen.livejournal.com]

Naruto wasn't as recovered as he felt he should have been, but he was convinced he was better off than Sai was. A little dizziness was no big deal!

He handed Sai's flashlight back to him, then thought for a minute. "Um...I don't know. I have no idea what's out here! I don't think I ever looked at a map or anything..."

After another few moments of silence, he decided. "All right! Let's just pick a direction and go as far as we can that way! There's got to be something out there! Maybe like a clue how to get out, or a way to get back at that Landel guy, or something!"

[tsunagari.livejournal.com]

Pick a direction at random, was it? Sai might have had something to say about that plan had he been able to put together a better idea. As it was now, he couldn't say for sure if any direction would be better than another - or, in fact, if any direction would be any good at all. No one had escaped or gotten any reasonable answers from venturing over the walls before now. What made them think they'd be able to do any better?

No, he needed to put this in a more positive light. They'd gotten somewhere tonight, and as long as they continued to move it was possible they might make it somewhere else. Anything new was better than no new ground at all. He nodded to the blond, glancing around them. Of the two of them, he'd be more willing to bet on Naruto's luck taking them someplace worthwhile than his own.

"You choose, then. We'll go whichever way you think looks best."

[idkmybfframen.livejournal.com]

Naruto looked around, considering. He wasn't sure what the best option was, so finally he just picked a way and started going.

"Okay! Okay, we're going this way! C'mon, Sai!"

He seemed to have recovered a decent amount of his energy...or at least, his mood had improved. They'd done it! They'd gotten over the wall! There had to be something out here!

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