InsaneJournal

It was their first training mission as cadets… and it was turning out to be disastrous.

They had been sent out to small town, called Gongaga; Zack and Cloud had passed through on their way to Midgar and the village reminded them of Konoha, though a bit smaller. A warren of monsters had been ambushing travelers in the jungle, and so they had been sent with a small group of experienced SOLDIERs to eradicate the troublemakers.

Only, it seemed that the monsters were a lot smarter than they had been told, and they were intent on eradicating them.

Now, Zack, Cloud, and few of the other cadets, had been separated from the rest of the group and were surrounded by several of the slavering reptilian monsters. They had managed to hold them off for a while, but even Zack and Cloud, with their chakra enhanced stamina, had been pushed to their limits.

Taking advantage of the temporary lull in the fighting, Cloud wiped the sweat from his face on the back of his sleeve. His arms shook as he tried to lift his sword back up from where it was sagging to the ground. At his back, he could hear Zack cursing fluently under his breath while scanning the surrounding monsters, and on either side, the unconscious, or nearly so, forms of their squad mates were slumped on the jungle floor.

A sudden ominous hissing noise began, the sound they’d come to realize was a precursor to an attack. All of the monsters crouching, hunching their shoulders as they prepared to spring, and Zack and Cloud wearily pulled themselves into a ready defensive position. There was a sort of pattern to their attacks, Cloud recognized as time went on, and if he and Zack got this right, they should be able to kill off the rest of the monsters.

A pair to one side launched themselves at the duo, vicious claws extended and maws wide open, revealing several rows of razor sharp teeth. Cloud swallowed thickly as he brought his sword to bear, Zack also doing the same, and the wet noise of flesh being cut filled the air, along with the stench of fresh blood. Both of the creatures fell, one with a heavily bleeding wound in its chest, the other headless.

Quickly, both boys spun in the other direction, where another pair had just leaped at them, hoping to catch them off guard. A couple of quick swings, and those too hit the dirt. Suddenly, one charged at him from the side and Cloud swiftly tried to bring his sword around to block the attack. He just barely managed to fend the animal off, before a searing pain raced up his leg and he cried out, almost collapsing from the pain. He looked down, only to see a monster, the one with the chest wound from the first round, tearing into his leg.

“Cloud!” Zack called out in worry, hacking into another of creatures, before turning to look. Just in time, to catch sight of another of the monsters about to attack the vulnerable boy. The dark haired boy felt something seize in his chest and time seemed to slow down. Pushing chakra into his legs, he sped to the other boy’s side, savagely slicing through the airborne monster, before hacking the head off the wounded other, causing it to release his friend. Then, almost as though he had some sort of sixth sense, he turned just in time to catch the last beast by the teeth on his sword. The thing gave a rattling growl, angrily shaking its head, trying to tear the sword from the tired boy’s grasp but the two were at a standstill, as Zack could not pull his weapon free.

He felt a hand suddenly grip his arm, almost pulling him off balance as he was used for leverage, and a flash of steel quickly kill the monster. Cloud leaned against him, both panting heavily, an almost giddy feeling overcoming them. Zack bent over and began to laugh, Cloud soon joining in, and their laughter rapidly turned into guffaws so great that tears leaked from their eyes. Cloud’s relief began to fade away when he felt pain as the adrenaline left his system, letting him know that he was still injured. He looked up at his friend, in order to figure out what they were going to do, but stopped as his eyes went wide in astonishment.

“Z-zack!” he stuttered in exclamation, staring hard at the dark-haired boy.

Said boy, who was still chortling lightly, gazed at the blonde with slight confusion. “What is it?”

“Your eyes!” Cloud stated in amazement, bringing one hand up to point.

“What about them?” Zack’s confusion deepened, and it was only when the stunned blonde wiped his blade clean and held it up to the darker boy’s face, allowing him to see his reflection, he was able to see why.

There, staring back at him, was the deep crimson Sharingan, a single tomoe spinning lazily in each eye.

"Shit!"