Our tale begins and ends with Chakra.

Chakra is everywhere.

In the waters, the skies, the clouds and the soil; chakra is more than just a gush of energy waiting to be gathered, molded and expelled. It's more than just points on a line to be revered.

But you can't see it. You feel it.

You feel it always, even if you don't realize you do.

Kogitsune: Liar

"There's another case of chakra poisoning just outside of the Oushi prefecture. It's sad, really, that all of these shinobi are dying out like that."

"You're telling me. Thank goodness that it hasn't spread to the civilian population."

"It won't. You actually have to use chakra to get sick. Civilians don't mold or use chakra, so we don't have to worry about it."

"I don't know…"

"Hello gentlemen, could I get you something to drink?"

"Oh, sure honey! Get us a round of your house beer, please. I'm sure it's as tasty as you look."

"Ugh… four beers then."

"Hang on just a second. Do you have any milk?"

"… Is that a joke?"

"No, no… I'm serious, miss. I'd rather have milk than beer, no offense to your bar's brew, of course."

"None taken… well, I could check in the back for some. I think we've got some for cooking and coffee and stuff."

"Could you please?"

"Sure, 'hon. Be back in a bit."

"Thank you."

"You don't drink beer? What the hell, boy?"

"He's pretty young. Probably seventeen anyways."

"Whatever… anyways, I do feel bad that all of those ninja have been coming down with it… it's supposed to be nigh incurable."

"Good riddance, I say. Damn monsters can all bleed out for all I care. Why do we even need shinobi anymore? They're just killing tools… machines, like that revolving belt system and the steam powered electric motors that they set up the other day."

"The which one?"

"You know, that belt that's used to help speed up production. The assembly workers stand in a line and pull a lever and their materials come to them and they just put premade stuff together… makes me wonder if they have another system like that for the pre-made parts? Or for packaging afterwards?"

"Well, packaging for sure; I work in that sector, by the way."

"At least we've got more work…" The first man said shaking a cup he covered with his palm that was making a hollow sound with die clacking back and forth inside of it.

The second man nodded, saying, "… and more money."

"For more food." They all said in unison as each of them plus the fourth slammed their cups upside down on the table in front of them. The fourth man had his palm sitting on top of the cup afterward, but his eyes were off elsewhere. He was young, but other than his blue eyes, transparent diamonds set into ivory in his sockets, he was easily forgettable.

"Well… that wasn't an appropriate metaphor."

"Shut up. High roll. Load up your dice again." They shook and then slammed their cups on the table in unison. "My turn," said the first man, narrowing his eyes at his dice as he tilted the cup forward ever so slightly. The others looked at their dice briefly then to the man with the first call. "Five deuces."

"You lying idiot. Sheesh, right off the bat!"

"Like I would. Sounds more like you, actually."

"Show me."

The man grinned, the hairs of his grey beard roaming upward as the edges of his lips did.

"One-two-three-four-five! Five deuces!"

"Wha-b-b-bu-bu-bu-…"

"Like a stuttering old hag who wants two of everything after she divorces you."

"Blagh! What a load of crap. We ought to hang this man by his gizzards, that's what's what."

"Good luck."

"Alright, alright. Settle down you two. Pluck a dice and reroll… alright…well, mister: what about you? It's your turn."

Their hands were on the cups and the two other men were giving each other death glares while the third watched the young man.

"Two fives."

"Three fours."

"Psh. Three fives."

"Four sixes."

"Nine ones." Said the blue eyed man.

The table suddenly went silent and they all looked at the young man who didn't even bother lifting up his cup again to check and make sure. Each of them looked at their own die and grinned, chuckled or looked outright bewildered. The five two's were pretty bad, but this was nine ones. Did anyone really ever bet on the number 'one' like that? Weren't two's, three's and sixes the good numbers to bet on?

"Are you su-"

"Well, we all know that's bull."

"You realize how much we're betting here, right? You did already turn your money over. No sense in making dumb decisions early, 'cause once you lose a die it's gonna be hard to come back!"

"He must have five ones."

"You realize that's like getting a high flush?"

"What do you know about cards, you old geezer? You always kill your bank every time you bet against that Nara boy. I don't know why you even bother to play him." The fourth man's blue eyes blinked and his focus changed.

"Boy's a freak."

"Nara?" He asked.

The youngest of the three men grunted affirmatively. "He's this shinobi that spends most of his time over by the temple, training. Apparently his sensei trained there and became one of the temple's guardians. It's nearby, so he stops here every now and then to pick up a pack of cigarettes."

Blue eyes blinked and the young man nodded, smiling to himself. "Huh."

With a look of trepidation at the fourth, the third tapped his index and middle fingers on the center of the table. "Nine ones… is there anything higher?"

The two other men looked at their own hands again, each shaking their heads. There were six numbers to bet on and to have to bet nearly ten of anything was a stretch.

The first man looked up at him and glared, only to receive a neutral look that gave no hint as to what the man was thinking.

I've got three. He could even have gone overboard if he's holding five and someone else has two. Or under if he and I are the only ones carrying any.

And with renewed determination, the same man nodded his head and said, "I'll challenge that."

"Let's see your hands, starting with you." Said the second man who was in the packaging line and a little younger than the other two, but twenty or so years older than the young blue eyed blond.

The first man removed his cup to show his five die. Three of them were one's.

"Your turn." Said the second player. The third shook his head slightly and revealed his, showing three die with one's and the other two a six and a five.

"Six so far…"

"Heh, what a weak bluff."

"Probably… probably not. I've got three more," said the second player as he revealed his hand. All three of the men looked over at their opponent, and the first and the third were already laughing. The second man grew pale due to the straight look of determination that never left the blue-eyed face.

"God, how ridiculous. Do you really think he's got a chance now? He probably only bet nine one's 'cause he's got four or five of them. Even if he just has one, he's done for. Just pluck one out and we'll get on with it."

"I'm not done yet, old man." He said, fiercely.

The man's eyes lit up and he leaned forward on the table, standing, "What the hell did you just say?"

"Easy now, old-timer! You ain't exactly military no more." Said the third, trying to calm down his old friend.

"Definitely not shinobi filth. Show us your damn hand, boy!"

Suddenly the young boy grinned and shook his head, flipping his cup over on its side and letting it roll to the center of the table. The light must've been playing tricks on them, because they all saw five fives.

"You've got to be…"

"Holy hell."

"What a play! How did you guess that?"

The blue-eyed man looked up when the waitress returned and handed him a small beer mug with milk in it. He smiled politely at her and thanked her, saying she was sweet for going to check for him (since they didn't often serve milk at this establishment) and she leaned forward and smiled back, reassuring him that it was her pleasure and, after leaning a little closer, whispered something into his ear that made him grin and shake his head slightly in disbelief.

"Cheating bastard. Is there a mirror behind me?" The first man said, growling and searching behind and above him for some sort of mirror or cheating device even as he stared on in utter disbelief at how much of a view she had just offered the boy.

"Pluck one and re-roll, old man." Said the blond, grinning widely and leaning back in his chair once the serious face disappeared; he wasn't about to let up there though, after he was comfortable, his eyes formed long slits as he narrowed them and he jabbed a thumb at his chest, declaring loudly, "There's no one better than me! I'm… the winner! Dattebayo!"

"What luck."

"Yeesh. No kidding."

About twenty minutes later, the three men sitting at the dice table sighed together. There were two more mugs sitting by their old one, all empty, before the waitress came and grabbed most of them with each hand by their handles.

There went all of their Ryo again.

"Thanks gentlemen. Here's a consolation prize." The three of them looked at him, the first with a look of disgust, as he reached into his jacket and retrieved a small metal object.

Suddenly, he stuck a kunai in the center of the table on one of the die with a loud thud. Each of them shot up from their chairs, bumping them back a bit. The die was split in half and the kunai penetrated through the wood of the table and the cloth over it.

"N-nin-ja-aa!"

Each of them watched him leave with their money, which he promptly used every last bit of to tip the waitress who was kind enough to head to her home, a block away from the bar, to bring a half gallon of milk over for him. After he presented her the money she gave him a soft kiss on the cheek and then whispered something in his ear. He laughed and nodded slowly, which she frowned slightly to but quickly recovered and said something more with pursed lips and a raised eyebrow. He nodded once again and he was off, leaving the bar and the stupefied trio of gamblers.

They sat down and stared at the die on the table and the cups that were knocked over or standing up. "Eh… game of three?"

"I've got ten ryo left."

"Eight here."

"Let's ante up with five, yeah?"

They didn't bother removing the kunai from the center of the table as they continued their game of Bluff. The first man reached for one of the die in the center of the table and held it curiously in his palm. As he tilted it, he saw the slight gleam that didn't belong there. Afterwards, the group started looking through their own hands, finding that same odd gleam and quickly realizing that the die were actually covered in chakra. The chakra wasn't visible, but the seals on them were, at the right angle of light.

"So there's another chakra poisoning in Oushi?"

"No, just outside of it. There's this small settlement that includes a few farmers, their families, and some middle and an upper class ninja. One of the middle class ninja was supposedly the one infected."

"I hear it's a pretty gruesome thing to go through."

"I think we've all heard that. There's a ninety-nine percent death rate, or something, isn't there?"

"That's terrible… and how does it happen?"

"I heard it was from over exertion… but if a chuunin can get it while in peace time then…"

"Maybe it's something contagious?"

"Don't even joke around about something like that."

"It only affects shinobi anyways…"

"You're wrong."

A group of people sitting in a booth by a window turned around together and stared at the pink hair of the woman who made the declaration against them. There was dread amongst some of them as they slowly began to ponder how chakra poisoning could affect civilians. But before they could react and ask why, a pair of bottle green eyes lit up like cream stirred into lime and salt: sour and normally sweet, but gritty. The group immediately decided to turn their heads around and keep quiet about chakra poisoning. Each of them had seen the pink-haired woman before: she was the apprentice to the Hokage after all. Whenever the Hokage spoke to her populace or walked the streets, she was accompanied by Shizune, her deceased lover's niece who had become her first apprentice and was currently the head of affairs at the Hokage complex, and one other girl: Haruno Sakura.

Haruno's weren't particularly famous people; that is, until Sakura, her temper, and split personalities came along.

"Now, shut-the-hell-up before I really get pissed off." She said through clenched teeth, her hand gripping the top of partition between the two booths. She didn't stop glaring the whole time, which made anything the group was eating taste like trash. It wasn't until a bubbly personality hopped into the seat opposite from Sakura in her booth at the Little Fox restaurant that her killing intent vanished and her creamy emeralds darted over to meet with another pair of green olives, minus pits.

"Oi. Talking like that makes you look ugly, Sakura-chan. Kami-sama knows you don't need any more of that following you around." Yamanaka Ino. Sakura would wring her neck almost as fast as she would go hanging out with the girl. They spent a lot of time together lately, even going to each other's houses with rented movies, pajamas and ice cream to lighten up the rivalry between the two.

"Kiss the darkest part of my-"

"E-hem! Is there something I could get you two ladies?"

"Hot tea... house please?" Sakura, quick on her toes, replied.

"I'll have some orange juice and you can start us off with some pastries…" and with a smirk and a forward tilt of her head as her eyes roamed, Ino barely uttered, "…preferably cream-filled."

There wasn't a very obvious reaction except that his hands began to shake.

"Are you hitting on him? Isn't it a little early for that?"

"Why don't you just-"

"Thank you! Your orders will be coming right up!" said the embarrassed, young man zipping away like he had skates on.

"Anyways…" Ino started, wrapping her hands around her knee as she crossed her legs, "…have you found out anything new about those cases?"

Sakura gave Ino a look and set her face down on her palm. "Gosh, no! The old baba has it so close to her chest you'd think she'd be suffocating it, metaphorically speaking."

Ino frowned, shaking her head. "Metaphorically speaking? Suffocating what?"

"What do you think? Information!"

"Whatever. What are you doing tonight?"

"I don't know," Sakura admitted. "Maybe Lee wants to spar or something… he's always trying to get into my pants, it's too funny."

Ino rolled her eyes, looking at her finger nails distractedly. "He's not trying to get into your pants… he really just… likes you… . . . for some reason."

"'cause I'm smoking hot. Why else?"

"Both of you are delusional?" Ino offered.

"You want to spar, too?"

"Maybe when you pull your head out of your butt, sure… although, how you got that monstrosity in there I could only guess."

"You say one more thing about my head, and I am going to-"

"H-here's your order, ladies! Uh… I didn't know what you would like, since we've got quite a few options, but here's a chocolate filled, chocolate and whip cream covered pastry that I think both of you could enjoy."

"That's going to destroy my hips; take it back." Ino said, idly waving her left hand at him to 'shoo' him off.

"Yeah, what do you think we are? Ino-PIGS?"

When he left, Sakura grinned at Ino. "He's cute, you know."

"I like your head."

"Speaking of cuties," Sakura braced herself, teeth gritting, "I hear that Shino is still available."

"No way. Bugs eat flowers; don't make me stab you with a salad fork… why the heck do they give you a salad fork that's the same size as your regular fork?" Ino asked, annoyed when she unrolled the pre-prepared utensils.

"You ask too many dumb questions, Ino. Just finish your drink and let's get out of here."

"You're paying for this. It was your idea to come to this artery clogging café."

"Kiss my…"

Scorpions on sticks- some battered and deep fried- dry frog and squirrel meat like jerky.

"So right now I'm in Oushi, right?" asked a blue eyed character wearing a straw hat and a sack tied to his back. The Land of Fire was something else, really; especially in small towns like these. It was considered a 'main state', but Oushi was little more than a town with a meager market place and a bit of farming community. There were things other than frogs, scorpions and squirrels out to eat, but those were the first that made Naruto's stomach churn.

"Raw fish heads, three Ryo!"

Naruto turned to look at the vendor who was selling it and caught a glimpse of the heads sitting on ice. He shook his head, wondering what the hell people did with raw fish heads.

He continued walking for a while to take in the sights of this new town. This was his first time in the Oushi prefecture, and he felt that although it was quite small and a little too "farmer's land" for him, it was definitely a nice, quiet place where he could rest up for the night and then continue his journey in the morning where he was headed to the last reported location of the chakra poisoning victim.

He didn't have a reason for going there, but he kind of wanted to see what was happening to the man. It was a morbid curiosity. He had heard many things about it, even that it was becoming more common than it used to be. Maybe there was something he could do with the ancient Fox's powers sealed up inside of him, but until he got there and saw it for himself he would never know. He had never seen anyone die from chakra exertion. Other things, certainly, but not just by using chakra.

For now, he just kept walking. Walking under the sun with his straw hat on and the old orange jacket he's had since he was a kid, which was always too big for him in the first place, with the sleeves torn off. What was left of them was tied to the rim of his hat and hanging all around his head to protect his eyes a little more from the sun.

Aside from the pack that he carried with him and the same kunai, scrolls and shuriken pouches that he's had since he was a kid, he also carried a small book. It contained a story written by his last sensei, unfinished and with no chance of that ever happening, save Naruto doing it himself. He didn't know what to do with it after he obtained it. It was obvious that the man was passing down more than what it seemed to be, but what it really was Naruto had no idea. His journey through Hi no Kuni was, at one point, for the sole purpose of finishing that book. Now he was getting sidetracked due to the case of chakra poisoning that he heard about.

A little later, Naruto came to a small inn that was more like a house than a real establishment. They charged forty-five Ryo per night, per person, and were relatively cheap as places to stay went. He found out that they also supply one free meal at supper time: fish head soup.

After dinner, he went upstairs to his room and locked the door behind him, setting his key down on the night stand and quickly getting to work securing the perimeter. Using a kunai, he pricked the tip of his thumb and used a tiny droplet to set the base for the seals in an inconspicuous location behind the nightstand. After working out several seals with his hands and molding chakra, and then immediately sticking his thumb in his mouth, he walked around the room pressing his index and middle finger against certain surfaces in patterns that only he would remember. Only chakra sensors could detect the pathway that he had to take to the bed to keep from setting off the alarm seal that he had in place. And for those chakra sensors, he made several different paths, any of which could be the correct one.

He threw the sack he wore on his back on the bed and pulled out a blue scroll as he went to sit down. Turning the scroll until he found what he needed, he idly poked his nose with his pinky while he searched.

"These seals are always so complicated. No one ever just… makes them easy… like why can't I just cut out a seal and paste it somewhere and have it work? I should make those…" He muttered idly to himself, searching through the scroll as the bulk of it fell off of the bed and rolled along the floor.

What he was looking for was an activation and deactivation key that he could use for when he was just walking around in the room. If he switched it on now, he would have to make a 'path' which moved around the room enough to let him go to places like the bathroom, the shower and around the bed or under it if he needed, but that would just be a lot of work and a lot of unnecessary stress for just one night. For some reason it was the one thing that never stuck when he memorized the seals, and he needed it to be able to shut it off once he got to the bed, where he would be most vulnerable. He knew that no one wanted to try and kill him while he was on the toilet-that would be just too unbearable, after all. Plus, he would be awake, and he knew for a fact that he could form a Rasengan and do other things at the same time.

He stroked his chin, idly wondering if sitting like this made it look like he was thinking very hard as he thought of a place to put the switch once he found it.

What stopped a kunai from impaling itself in the back of his head as he rolled around in his sleep, you ask? He wasn't sure, but he knew from experience that the seal worked quickly enough so that he could react to whatever struck at him. Last time he caught roughly fifteen shuriken with his pillow and a thick magazine that he stuck inside of the pillow case. Next time he might just summon a kage bunshin and use that as cannon fodder.

Searching through the scroll some more, his mind began to wander again. This time, he started asking himself how Shikamaru was doing, and if he should go visit him soon at the fire temple. "We were good friends when we were kids, weren't we?" He asked himself, closing his eyes as he tried to remember his childhood, but to no avail. All he could recall was splatters of blood and dying voices.

Sitting by himself in his room, Naruto continued looking through his sealing scroll once more, studying it now more than searching for a particular item in it.

"So you coming over tonight?" Sakura asked, grinning.

"Sure." Ino said whimsically, walking alongside her pink-haired companion. "Should I bring a movie or what?"

"Well," Sakura started with a blush covering her pretty face, "I was thinking about watching this one movie that I've got, but I'm kind of nervous to do it by myself."

Ino looked at her, deflated with a face that looked slightly disgusted and slightly sympathetic. "Did you buy a porno?"

Sakura's eyes lit up and she covered Ino's mouth just after she said it. "No! No! I didn't buy anything like that… or rent it! Don't look at me like that!"

Ino was grinning from ear to ear, shaking her head. "What is it then, Sakura? Don't be ashamed of sex, girl. It's healthy for young women like us to be interested in that sort of thing."

Sakura gave her a face like the blonde was insane, and she voiced it too. "Are you crazy? Depraved? A lunatic? I'm not ashamed of sex or my body or anything like that, so quit putting that crap in my head!"

"I never said 'your body', but if that's you, well… Issues!" Ino said, her eyes veering off slightly to the side.

Sakura's face was, well, a darker shade of pink, you might say.

The two girls walked along the way to Sakura's home. Turns out that the video she wanted to see was a horror movie, which went into another spout about Sakura being a freighted little girl and how everything would be OK because momma Ino was going to be there for her. After a light tussle on the ground and some choking and with their hair sticking up and out of place in different locations on their heads, the two girls finally decided to call a truce until they got to their apartments, lest they continue to be spied upon by the dreadful public.

After a horror movie that turned out to be about as scary as a three legged cat, the two sat facing each other with a bowl of popcorn on the floor and the volume lowered down. "So Shikamaru wrote you asking if you would go visit him? By yourself?"

Ino nodded slowly, concern written on her brow. "Well, he didn't mention Chouji, so I figured…"

"Maybe he's finally going to come out and say it?" Sakura smiled winningly, truly excited.

Ino nodded again. That's all she seemed to be able to do.

"Well? Aren't you happy? Excited? After all of this time, he's finally ready to tell you! I thought he was interested in Temari for a while, actually, but apparently not!" Sakura reached over and shook her friend lightly by the shoulders, grinning.

"It's what I've always wanted…" She admitted, although not too enthusiastically.

Sakura suddenly stopped, her eyes widening not even a centimeter in realization. "… but not anymore? Did you meet someone else here?" Suddenly, all of her own enthusiasm fluttered out the window like an uncaged bird.

Ino looked up at her and shook her head slowly, clearly upset.

"I… well, what happened, Ino? Ino, wait, don't go. You can tell me, you know that!" Sakura stood up as Ino turned to walk away from the couch and head over to the restroom, and before she could get the door closed Sakura stuck her bare foot in between the doorway and cursed out in pain.

"Oi! Don't be like that Ino! I can't help you if you won't tell me, you know! Ow, stop pushing so hard!"

Suddenly, she felt her body slump against the door and Sakura had to reach around to make sure that her friend was still standing. She could see that she was as she opened the door a little more, getting her thigh through the opening now, but what bewildered her more than the girl's reaction to the conversation that had sprouted about her long-time crush was the flushed face and the tears plaguing her cheeks.

"Let me close the door, Sakura!"

"No! Not until you tell me what happened!"

"I said let me close the door!"

"No!"

Ino continued pushing, using all of her strength to keep her friend from pushing through. She knew it was useless though. Sakura, if she wanted to, would just rip the door off it's hinges like a sliced piece of bread that wasn't cut all of the way on the loaf.

Sakura, pressing her hip and shoulders into the door as she braced herself with her leg, was losing her patience.

"Just tell me what he did, Ino-pig!"

"It's nothing! Leave me alone!" she screamed.

"He didn't…" Sakura's stomach suddenly fell and she got the urge to vomit. "He didn't rape you, did he?"

"No!" Ino yelled again, her sobs becoming more desperate. She couldn't let her friend see her like this. She didn't want anyone to see her like this. She was so weak.

So weak. So scared. So useless.

'So troublesome…'

Sakura stiffened up when she felt a flare of anger expelled as killing intent that lasted like a fire without anything to burn.

There was some silence and less resistance. Ino seemed to be giving up. Sakura was about to go for the final push when she heard Ino mumble something. At first it was quiet, as if she had heard a dog whimper and whine through a closed window while she rested on her bed. The mumbling, even as it became normal speak, was incoherent. Ino just said it over and over again. Mumbling words that didn't make any sense until she screamed it, loud enough for the dead to hear.

"He cheated on me! With her!"

Sakura's eyes widened and she stopped pushing against the door, whispering silently to herself.

"What?"

Ino heard and started crying even harder, "He… he told me before he left… he just outright told me and then disappeared like that for so long. It's been six months already and he only sent me one letter, asking me to 'come visit' him."

"I… Ino, I'm sure it's not…"

"Can you guess what it means?" She yelled again, stepping back from the door and letting Sakura finally see her directly.

Ino looked a wreck. She clenched her fists at her side and tried not to wipe her eyes or even look in the mirror lest she admit to crying over him. Sakura had no idea what to say, but she threw her arms around her friend and embraced her. She whispered sorry's into her ear and reached around to lean Ino's head into her shoulder so she could let it out. Ino was furious, but she was even more upset over the whole ordeal than she was angry with Sakura for being so understanding and willing to hear her out.

After some crying and a little bit of stolen Hokage sake, Ino rested her head on Sakura's lap and looked up at the whirling fan above them, seemingly lost in thought. Sakura simply stroked her hair and looked out the window, watching as the moonlight poured in.

"I'm going to go see him." Ino said, finally ending the period of silence that had started nearly a half hour ago after they ran out of sake.

"Ino… you can't… you know that all he wants is…"

"I'm going. I don't know what I'm going to do when I get there, but sleeping with him definitely isn't it."

Sakura shook her head slowly, looking up at the fan as she tried to concentrate.

"I want to go with you."

"You can't. I need to do this by myself."

"My ass, I can't. Last I checked, I was the Hokage's apprentice. What are you again? Oh yeah, a chuunin? Flat chance leaving me behind."

"I'll kick your fat ass if you follow me."

"Not before I pound your skinny ass with one of my rock-breaking fists."

"… Fine, you can come. But on one condition,"

"Oh yeah, and what's that?"

"… you'll use that rock-breaking fist to break his rocks."

"Heh-heh. Deal, Ino."

"It's a deal, then."

The two of them sighed and Sakura reached for the remote to flick on the horror movie again to watch what was left of it as they dozed on the couch.

"By the way… how are we going to get Tsunade to let us leave on our own?"

"… Probably won't… "

Ino groaned. Sakura began stroking her own temples, thinking hard.

"Don't pop a blood vessel."

"If you were just a little bit more vulnerable, I'd sock you."

"Love you."

"… love you too. Now let me think already, sheesh!"