"Are you sure you two aren't dating?"
Kakashi rolled his eye and shifted slightly, careful not to wake up his student. "Yes, I'm sure," he said. "Be glad Naruto's not awake to hear you. He'd dislocate his jaw, for sure."
"Oh, is he asleep?" Sai asked. He looked around until he found the boy's sleeping form. "So he is. That seems unusual for him—well I guess not. His injury, and the way he was running today despite it… They must have tired him out."
"Yeah. Her, too." Kakashi moved slightly, but it was hard to get comfortable without waking Sakura. She'd fallen asleep, and Kakashi had rolled up his cloak to give her as a pillow. Then, to his own displeasure further on, he's foolishly set her head in his lap. At the time he'd simply thought that she'd be more comfortable, but he'd found himself incapable of moving.
"More likely then dislocate his jaw, Naruto-kun would probably have a heart attack to hear you, Sai."
The two shinobi on the ground looked up into the branches of the tree Kakashi was leaning against. "Yamamoto," the silver-haired jounin greeted, nodding slightly. Sai merely raised an eyebrow at the ANBU above.
"Kakashi-san. How's everything here? Fine?"
"Yes."
"Why exactly would Naruto be having a heart attack, Yamamoto-san?"
"Well, why don't you ever speak like the normal guy you're trying to be around him? Or Sakura-chan, for that matter."
Sai stared at the man. "You're ANBU. And Hatake-san here was, too. You understand why I speak… emotionlessly. They do not."
The men nodded, and Yamamoto jumped down from his perch in the tree. "'The mission is all that matters,'" Kakashi recited. "First section of the ANBU code of honor. I doubt these two will ever believe in such a cold policy." He paused. "It's odd to find one so young to so strictly follow that code. I'm sure you're aware of that."
"There have been others."
The jounin laughed. "I was right at the top of that list, Sai-kun, in my time. Right above Uchiha Itachi, I'm sure. We're only three or four years apart, I think. I could never remember how old he was."
"Twenty-one, I think."
"Ah."
Yamamoto laughed slightly and unrolled his blanket before lying down across the clearing. Sai disappeared into the trees, muttering something about taking watch. Slowly, staring up at the moon, Kakashi drifted to sleep. He didn't stir, later, when Sai woke Naruto up to take watch and laid the boy's blanket over both teacher and student.
-------------------------
Far away, Keira stared up at the same moon. A sharp rap on the door made her come out of her trance. "Yes?" she said politely.
"You're not sleeping?"
"I'm sorry," she said. "The moon is so beautiful tonight; I've never seen one like it. Tomorrow, I guess, it will be full."
"Yes—and the harvest moon."
"Oh! That's the 'red moon,' right? Aniki told me about that once. I've never gotten to actually see one, though."
"I have."
She glanced at the man who'd joined her at the window, brushing her black bangs away from her silver eyes. "Oh?"
"The night I left otouto."
Keira smiled slightly. If there was one thing that set Itachi apart from the people she'd met previously, it would be how he spoke. No one else would refer to the Uchiha massacre as the night Itachi left. They'd refer to is as… well, the Uchiha massacre. That didn't really matter as much to Itachi, though. His younger brother, Sasuke, was one of the few people to be left alive after bearing witness to Itachi's work.
Perhaps it was the way Itachi spoke that made her enjoy his presence. He didn't really seem so cold or quiet when he spoke like that. To Keira, when he spoke, Itachi seemed to be opening a door into his mind for her. Perhaps it was hard for others to get used to it, but Keira loved the way the Akatsuki spoke, as they all did in a different way.
"You should get some sleep, Keira-san," the man advised. Keira sighed. Another thing about Itachi—suggestions were orders, and orders were to be obeyed. "You were chasing down the cat all afternoon, weren't you? You must be tired."
"I suppose," she said. "I guess I'll go to bed… in a little while. You, however, are the one that needs sleep, Itachi-san. You hardly ever do so."
"Apologies, but I have a problem to take care of, though. I'll probably be back around mid-day tomorrow."
"Oh. The amusing type of problem?"
"The irksome type."
"Oh."
------------------------
Twenty miles away, another group was resting. On a map, the positions of the Konohagakure's ninja group, the Akatsuki building, and Hebi formed a perfect triangle, connected. Apart, they formed the tomoe of sharigan. More specifically, Uchiha Sasuke's sharigan.
He stared up at the moon. No one asked him why his black eyes were red, or why he was tapping the handle of his sword. Karin lay beside the fire, wrapped in her cloak. Juugo was no where to be seen, but he'd told Sasuke he was going on a walk some time earlier. Suigetsu was swinging his sword repetitiously.
And Sasuke was staring at the moon.
A snake spiraled its way up Sasuke's weapon to speak with the ninja.
It was one of the few creatures that didn't fear the blade. "Full moon, tomorrow," it hissed. "Red moon, as well."
"Is that all the information you've brought me?"
"Of course not. I've gotten bearings of the land, as well as found…a source."
"Is this source still living?"
"He tripped over a tree in the forest… and broke his neck."
"Then perhaps you'll tell me what he told you."
"Certainly. Bearings or… news… first?"
"News."
The snake looked surprised, in its own way, but complied. "This man… he spoke of a… shady one." Sasuke motioned to continue. "He said his brother had been a pawn… for the shady ones… He'd failed, and been forever… silenced. Forced to sleep… dead within the hour."
"And?"
"The man I met… spoke of the shady on… returning. He was leaving the village. According to the villagers… he'd been going insane… for the past few months… They called him 'paranoid…'"
"And how was this… shady one, as you call him, failed?"
"He wanted someone brought to him… it didn't happen." The snake paused, and it's tongue flicked in and out of it's mouth a few times. "He said… his house is cursed. He tossed the keys… aside… when he left."
"Do you have them?"
"They're beside… a flower pot beside the door."
"Bearings."
The snake returned to the ground, where it used it's tail to scratch a quick sketch into the ground. "This is where we are." He pointed to a dot labeled, "lake" in sloppy kanji. "The village my source… was in is… here. Twelve miles… east of your cat house… Seven miles south east… of us, if you follow the river." He paused thoughtfully. "Approaching from the… south, the home is just past… a massive torii gate, there for unknown reasons. The door faces away from the village, towards… the forest. The source said the… shady one and his brother met… in there."
"Where exactly."
"The shady one found the brother."
"What of our pursuers?"
"Twenty miles… southwest of us. They move out at dawn, following your trail… towards your cat house."
"At what speed?"
"The sun-haired one has burns on his right leg. They are not healing well. The… silver-haired one and his ANBU men decided… to take tomorrow slowly, as your trail grows old."
"Tell me more about these ANBU."
"One is being called… Yamamoto, though that is, no doubt, not his real name. He is a powerful man. They spoke of him being able to… bind the sun-haired one."
"Bind?"
"I'm unsure of how, young master. The other one is called Sai. He draws creatures… that come to life… and attack."
Sasuke nodded. "I know that one. He tried to kill me."
"Very well, then…" the snake hissed. "That is all the information I have for… you. Is… there anything else…?"
"You may leave."