Mission: Delivery!

As I glanced around, a nervous feeling began to build in my stomach. The forest was much too silent. Not even the sounds of the animals rang through the air, only the sounds of the cart's wheels and our soft, nearly silent footsteps. My senses weren't so dull that I couldn't sense animals, they were just so small that they were easy to ignore. There weren't even any animals within a twenty meter radius. Only...a person. No, multiple people? Every single one of them sent a shaky unease to my stomach that turned my legs to jelly.

"Sasuke...Naruto..." I whispered, forcing the jittery nervousness from my voice. I knew that the boys must have barely heard me, so whoever was waiting in the bushes for us mustn't have heard. Both of them glanced at me, but we kept moving. "We're being pursued." I warned, my voice quivering by the end.

I could see Naruto stiffen with caution, "Don't look for them." Sasuke ordered in a low voice. It wasn't as if I was in the first place, but it was a good precaution to take. He must have believed me... "Act like they aren't there." Naruto and I nodded once.

"You think they're here to have a tea part?" Naruto asked sarcastically.

"No." Sasuke and I said it in unison. He nodded and we kept moving in silence. We continued walking for another ten minutes; every minute growing more tense as they ticked by. Our pursuers still stalked us, assuming they were undetected I bet.

They moved about the same pace that we were, not stopping. Only following, stalking us and hiding in the trees. After that ten minutes, they seemed to speed up. For a few seconds, I thought they were going to leave, but that nagging feeling of foreboding told me otherwise. That feeling was proved correct when ten or so rugged and scarred bandits landed in front of us. Each of them wore dirty, torn clothing; all of them bare chested and shirtless. Most of them wore hoods that covered their faces, but the man that was clearly the leader stood near the front.

Covered in scars, tall, and very muscular, his body was adorned with a long winding tattoo of a dragon on his right arm. Shirtless, torn black pants and rugged bandages hung off his body. His matted hair was messy and black, and his face was unsightly and mean.

"We're gunna need that cart, kiddies." The leader's voice was deep and husky, "So here's what were gunna do... We'll let you go free if you just hand it over. Then you can go skipping back to the little village where you belong."

"In your dreams tall, dark and gruesome." Naruto laughed.

"You're a cocky brat," The leader spat, "Just give 'em to us and we won't have to hurt you. Then we can all go home-"

Sasuke was the one who spoke because, to be honest, I was somewhat terrified. "You're idiots if you think you'll intimidate ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village."

"Yeah, a little conflict never stops us." Naruto chimed boldly. I didn't speak. My lips were sealed tight because, unlike the boys, I was intimidated. They actually scared me.

When the leader locked eyes with me, I thought I was going to keel over in terror, "You seem like a sensible girl. Why don't you talk some sense into your little friends."

I did my best to hide any and all terror in my voice. I could feel Naruto and Sasuke's expectant eyes on me, "I won't abandon a mission." It came out about as firm as I could manage.

"Oh...so the Leaf Village has you brainwashed with that ridiculous sense of responsibility too..." He grumbled as his men began to surround us, "Fine then, have it your way. We'll just take it from you."

I could hear the challenge in Naruto's voice, "Bring it."

When the men rushed us, I was totally taken off guard. They focused on the boys and ignored me. As much as this confused me, I was grateful. Both of them were handling themselves handsomely. Naruto created shadow clones to assist him, and Sasuke was doing just fine on his own. I was just the only one by the cart any longer, so I made it my job to protect it. If you call cowering by it protecting it. I never much liked what fear or adrenaline did to me. The way it made my pulse pound or my stomach churn.

That creeping nervousness returned when I didn't see the leader. I was seconds too late by the time I found his presence amongst all of the fighting. Before I could react, my arms were twisted behind my back and a kitana blade was pressed to my neck, the blade pressed into my skin. I let out a shock filled whimper, forcing the boys' attention to me. He pulled away long enough for his blade to slice me clean in half, "One down..."

"Riyame!" Naruto shouted, anger on his face. Sasuke only smirked as two large pieces of log clunked to the ground. I was breathing heavily behind a tree a few meters to his right sporting a fresh gash on my upper arm. I was almost too late; his blade was unbelievably sharp. Naruto's look of approval was barely visible through the treeline as he and Sasuke continued fighting the rogues.

I could hear the irritation in the leader's voice, "Stupid girl. That was a cheap trick. Is that all you can do?" He coaxed. I could sense him, but not very much in depth. My thoughts were swirling out of control as I tried to think of a course of action. I didn't have time to think of anything before flames bellowed around me.

I barely rolled out of the treeline in a panic before it hit me. As my arms pushed me up, a large foot collided with my stomach, knocking the breath from my lungs. I gasped in shock as pain jabbed into me and I fell onto my stomach. I glanced up and froze when I saw his kitana raised to strike. To kill.

As I laid there, I could hear Naruto helplessly call my name. I was dead and I knew it, so I closed my eyes and waited for the pain to come. But it never did...

I could feel my brother's presence close to me. I peeked up. He was crouched over me and had stopped the blade with only two kunai. Sasuke kicked him back, "Why don't you and I have a go... Preying on the weak is a waste of time." He coaxed.

The leader considered him for a moment, seemingly satisfied. So Sasuke stood. I followed his lead when he motioned for me to stop, glancing back at me, "Get the cart and get it out of the way. Then, defend it." He ordered. I nodded, scrambling to get to my feet. The leader eyed me, his hand twitching as a kunai stabbed into my skirt and pinned it to the earth beneath it.

My heart lurched, "Why don't you be a good little girl and watch while I destroy your teammate." He did a series of hand signs and flames bellowed toward us. My stomach nearly bottomed out until Sasuke scooped me up and just barely dodged the flames. He crouched by me, placing me on the ground next to the cart.

My heart still hammered in my chest, it's panicky thrumming pulsing through my chest, "Protect it." I nodded wildly gasping in a breath and pushing myself to my feet. I wheeled the cart out of the way of all of the fighting; it had much more heft than I thought it would have. Naruto would have to be very stout to continuously pull it for an extended period of time.

I leaned into the cart, a good ten meters from the fighting and out of breath. I glanced at Naruto, fighting nearby. He took on all of the rogues that Sasuke had ditched all on his own. The only thing that crept into my mind was how useless I was. Yes, I stood here protecting the cart, but what use was I really? Naruto was fighting nine bandits completely on his own. His shadow clones would go two on one, and when one was taken out, he would create two more. It was wonderful thinking. Sure, he got knocked around quite a bit, but Naruto was always resilient.

The more I watched them fight, the more hopeless I felt. Sasuke saved me moments earlier. The first time, I barely saved myself. Deep down, I knew I shouldn't have said yes. Naruto shouldn't have picked me, and I'm sure he'd realized by now. I was surprised he didn't just send me back and pull Shikamaru out of reserve. I was probably the worst choice of the three, no matter who they were. No—I was sure that I was the worst.

My thoughts were interrupted by my senses humming in alert. One of the bandits charged me from behind, and I barely spun around in time. He threw a spiky knuckled fist; I ducked, some of the spikes cutting a strand or two of hair. His foot swung around in a sweep kick. I dodged his kick, kicking him in the sternum to force him away from me. I was never very good at close range. I learned that when I sparred with my teammates—both of which specialized in it.

He punched at me again; I dodged his arm, shoving it down. I swung my leg around and kicked him across the face. He let out a grunt of brief pain before starting to recover. When he did, I was toast, so I kicked him away from me again and kicked him across the face as he was stumbling. He fell to the ground and rolled toward Naruto. One of his shadow clones flashed me a smile and a thumbs up before dragging him into the brawl with his allies.

A light smile ghosted across my lips as I tried to hush my pounding pulse. I knew I couldn't let down my guard. This time, I made sure I expanded my senses a little and paid attention so no one could sneak up on me again. After making sure all of the rogue shinobi were being handled my Naruto, my attention turned to my brother. His movements were so precise, so coordinated. It was like watching a beautiful dance that he'd been rehearsing for years. Naruto's movements were a little more wild, more hyperactive with no real sense to them. Sasuke's were smooth and defined, subtle sophistication in them that you don't see in most shinobi. I would never be like that.

I let out a rattling sigh. There was no use in comparing myself to my brothers. It would only completely ruin any positive outlook or hope for the future that I might have wished for.

The leader barked out a curse under his breath after another failed attack on Sasuke, "These brats are getting annoying; Let's go. S'not worth it!" The leader ordered. He slammed something against the ground and it exploded. A huge, gagging cloud of smoke engulfed us all.

I could see anything, but I felt my way to the cart anyway and placed my had on it. An, "Oof," from Naruto reached me as well as the poofing from the disappearing of his shadow clones. As the smoke started to clear, I could no longer sense the bandits around us. They were fleeing into the forest.

"Haha! Yeah! You better run with your tail between your legs!" Naruto gloated after them, puffing his chest out pompously. Of course, like Sasuke, he had a reason to be proud. Maybe a little less hubris would be better, but he'd earned it. He fended off ten rogues with mere shadow clones. It was actually quite impressive.

Sasuke, on the other hand, didn't think so, "Don't be so cock, you moron." Naruto glared at him, "Next time, defeat them. Don't play with them."

"What about you!?" Naruto barked. Here came the bickering, "You spent most of your time fighting their leader. I didn't see you defeating him."

"He was in another league. Those rogues were easy," Sasuke sneered, "Neither of you could've handled the leader. He would've ripped you to shreds." His eyes were on me as he said this. I adverted my eyes, not wanting to meet his onyx orbs with mine.

"Hey! I could've handled him!" Naruto argued, "Riyame could've too if he hadn't caught her off guard." I suppressed the sort of depressed that smile that lifted up the corners of my mouth. He was talking me up and I didn't even deserve it.

"Ha! Yeah, sure..." Sasuke grumbled sarcastically. There it was again. That condescending sarcasm that gripped his words so often now. A harsh pang fluttered through my heart again.

"Why are you suck a jerk!?" Naruto yelled.

"Why are you such an idiot?" Sasuke growled.

"Alright, Uchiha, let's go. You and me..." The blonde boy put his fists up. My eyes lifted off the ground as I stared between them in utter disbelief. Bickering was one thing, but they were prepared to duke it out right here.

"Oh please. You couldn't take me." My brother challenged. I opened my mouth to speak. To say anything to stop this, but no sound came out.

"Wanna bet!?" Naruto charged at him, his fist reared. Sasuke only smirked at him and got ready for the fight. I had to do something, anything. I let my legs carry me, my pulse pounding in my ears as I blocked Naruto's punch with my shoulder. It hurt quite a bit, sending a dull pain radiating down my arm. That was going to bruise, Naruto wasn't messing around. He was actually attacking him.

"Enough!" I scolded. Frustration began to settle in. Sasuke was right the first time he directly insulted me. All I was good for was running and hiding. Now I could add human shield to that list.

"Whatever," Sasuke said, "She's right, we don't have time for this. We need to finish this mission." I looked to Sasuke, severely shocked my his words. I was right?

"We need to finish this mission..." Naruto mocked rudely. I looked back to the blonde boy scowling after my brother. I opened my mouth to try to defuse his anger, but he stormed over to the cart and began to pull it again. I let out a sigh as Sasuke took his place in front, taking my place beside Naruto.

We walked in awkward silence and continued in that eerie quiet until nightfall. By then, we were about a third of the way through Fire country and well on our way to the Village hidden in the shadows. Yes, we were making decent time, but being targeted by the bandits slowed us down tremendously.

Eventually, we thought it best to find a place to camp for the night. We needed our rest, and we were all exhausted from today's friction. Our camp fire stayed small, and our smoke low with branches that didn't put off much of it. Sasuke poked it with a long, narrow stick, assuring that it would continue to burn despite its low intensity. I warmed my hands near it occasionally, if anything, to give me something to do. Naruto leaned against the cart, so it was secured, and Sasuke sat on a higher rock as a look out. I had nothing of too much importance on my to do list, just listening to the sound of the peaceful forest around us.

Naruto was the first to break our silence, "So...Riyame..." At least he was making a solid attempt to make conversation. I glanced his way as I hugged my knees into my chest. "What sort of jutsu can you use?"

My cheeks tingled, that was a question that I hadn't been expecting. I didn't know how else to answer, "A few, I guess..."

I graduated early simply due to my advanced level. Not anything special. I didn't know super powerful jutsu. I didn't really have spectacular fighting abilities. My genjutsu was half decent. I was just...intelligent? No. That wouldn't be enough to advance me. It didn't advance Sasuke, so there would be no reason for it to push me ahead. I honestly had no clue why I was allowed to graduate a year early. Maybe they pity passed me to get me out of their classes. I wouldn't blame them.

"Like what?" He seemed a little too curious. He had always seemed to be one of those that had an inane interest in all things shinobi, so his interest didn't shock me. Maybe it was the phrasing of his question?

"Basics, like the substitution I guess." Going into detail on myself wasn't something that I made a habit of, so I didn't exactly keep track of what I'd learned. They aren't usually needed unless we're in a battle-worthy situation.

"Oh...Is that all?" Disbelief and a hint of disappointment colored his tone. A soft smile tugged on the corners of my lips. I could do a few fire style techniques, but part of me doubted that he would believe me. I wouldn't be able to handle it if he did, and either scoffed or marveled. So, I just nodded.

"It's okay. Even if it is true. You'll become great too. Just like me. I'm becoming Hokage, and I think—if you really wanted to—you could give me a run for the title, believe it." He gave me a cheeky smile that warmed cheeks and filled my stomach with butterflies.

The conversation seemed to die after that. That's all there seemed to be between us. Awkward conversations. If if didn't end it blushing, it was definitely nothing short of uncomfortable.

The night began to descend into the later hours and I struggled away from the grip that sleep was starting to impress on me. My heavy lids began to droop drowsily. I knew that if I slept, Naruto or Sasuke wouldn't get very much of it. The guilt from falling asleep on them would be horrible, but my mind did everything it could to diffuse the thoughts.

It tried to talk me into closing my eyes, just for a little while. They'll wake you up if you need to take over. But what if... My eyelids got the best of me and closed against my will.