Here's the second chapter of Black Veils. This one is a little short; it's like a transition for the next one. Hope you enjoy it.
I do not own Naruto or its characters. The rest, though, is mine. :)
Usually, in the winter time, there weren't many missions assigned in Konoha. The main reason was, of course, the difficult weather. Snow storms were very frequent in the Fire Country, and most of the time came without warning. Many ninjas had lost their lives because of this, so the Hokage didn't send many teams out, unless it was extremely necessary.
Ino and Sakura had been traveling for five days. Senkyou village was not too far away from Konoha, but the weather had been increasingly getting worse and it was beginning to slow them down. They had managed to arrive at the base of the northern mountains, but another snowstorm had formed and they were forced to stay at one of the many caves in the area.
Ino was currently using a stick to poke the small fire they had managed to build while Sakura leaned on a close wall and reread the mission scroll. They were both curled up in their sleeping bags, their bodies emitting a blue glow as they used chakra to try and warm themselves. It was one of the advantages of being a medic.
"I wonder if Tsunade already sent the team to investigate the nomad situation." Sakura commented, her eyes scanning the mission scroll.
"Now that you mention it…" Ino began, gaining Sakura's attention. "There hasn't been any activity here since we arrived. Those nomads were supposed to be wiping out every person that set foot here."
"The snowstorm must be keeping them at bay. Either that, they are higher up the mountain or…" Sakura stopped and her eyes wandered briefly to the back of the cave.
The northern mountains of the fire country were known for their absolute beauty, especially in the winter when their peaks became a white, snowy wonder. But there was also another reason, one that was mostly known by the shinobi world and the casual adventurer that decided to explore.
Ino looked at the direction Sakura was and then turned to her friend, realization suddenly hitting her.
"But I don't think… no. We've made so much noise already; they would've noticed by now." Sakura said and shook her head, as if trying to convince herself, but a small frown was still present in her face.
Ino seemed to think her friend's words through before looking at the back of the cave again. "Maybe… we should scout it."
"You think?" Sakura asked while rolling the scroll close.
"Well, with this weather I don't think the team Tsunade was going to send is even close. It could be days before they arrive. And that" They both turned to look at the entrance of the cave where the snowstorm was still going strong. "doesn't seem like will end anytime soon. Maybe, we should go. It's not like we have something better to do."
Sakura thought about it for a moment before standing up and rolling her sleeping bag before putting it, and the scroll, in the safety of her backpack. Ino nodded and did the same. The blond began making her way to the back of the cave as Sakura walked over to the small fire, kicking some dirt over it and successfully extinguishing it.
They had been walking for minutes now, but still no sign of any other human beside themselves. There was the casual rat and they had encountered a few bats as they walked deeper into the darkness. With only two flashlights as their light, they had a limited range of sight both forward and backwards. Everything was dark and humid now, and they would not deny that it had their nerves on edge, even if just a little.
"Ino, you've been here before, right? On missions." Sakura asked casually, half curious, half attempting to subside the bad vibes she was getting from this place.
"Yeah, a few times, but I've never gone so far in. We mostly stayed on the mountain path or used the caves for shelter or hiding." They crouched down to avoid an upcoming bat. "But I do know some things about the caves."
"Enlighten me, Pig." Sakura said as she kicked a small rock that almost made her trip.
"Well, most of the cave system is natural. It was discovered by some explorers many years ago. They used to give tours, but the mountain terrain has become unstable over the years and has caused many landslides, so they canceled them. There's an old mine at the base of the southwest mountains and, if I'm not mistaken, there should be some sort of underground river at this side of the mountains."
"So, most of this is natural… It's amazing, really." Sakura said, looking in wonderment at the stalactites above them.
"It is. We do know, though, that there were people who actually lived here before they were discovered."
Sakura turned to Ino, amazement dancing in her eyes. "Really?"
"Yeah. They have found remains and stuff like that in the highest caves. Some people think there could even be whole villages inside that we don't know about, because the mountains are so huge." They dodged another upcoming bat. "Of course, criminals, gangs and the sort have also been found hiding here. I wouldn't be surprised if we found a rouge ninja instead of the nomads."
Ino instantly saw the mistake of voicing that out when Sakura stopped walking beside her. The pinkette had the strangest expression in her face as she glanced up at her friend. Ino cursed herself. The Yamanaka knew better than to bring someone back from the dead, especially in front of Sakura and her ever changing emotional state.
"You don't think…?" The pink hair medic trailed off as they began walking again.
Ino sighed. "To be honest, Forehead, I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. This cave system takes thousands and thousands of miles. We could find anything, or anyone, in here."
Sakura thought about her friend's words. "Orochimaru could've had a base here, right under our noses, and we would've never known."
"True, but know that he's dead, I doubt any of his acquaintance is still here. Plus, the chances we find it are one in a million."
They came to a sudden stop. The path ahead of them was blocked by rocks and boulders, but they could easily see it continued on the other side.
"Must've been one of those landslides." Sakura said as they approached the rocks and started moving them aside. They tried to do so and gently as they could in fear of triggering another landslide that would most likely send the sharp stalactites above crashing down on them.
They made a small opening that could easily fit them, one at a time. They crossed slowly to the other side and pointed the flashlights forward. The first thing they noticed was that the path was different here. It wasn't as rocky and it felt less humid and a little breezier, almost as if there was an opening to the surface up ahead. They exchanged a look and began walking. It only took a few minutes before they stopped again; only this time it wasn't because of a landslide.
"My God." Ino whispered.
They were in front of a deep, deep abysm. The huge crater went on for miles, but they could easily see an opening to another cave on the other side and, if they were not mistaken, it was at the top of a seemingly endless rocky staircase. All around the place there were cave openings like the one they were on; as if they had been made to specifically end here.
The abysm was so deep they couldn't see the end for it was too dark down and a thick mist seemed to loom all over. They could make out the peeks of some rather big stalagmites that emerged from the mist. The ceiling of this cave was extremely high and it had few openings to the surface, granting them a little more visibility. Also, because it was winter, snowflakes filtered through and seemed to dance to a mysterious rhythm in the air. When they looked close enough, they could see that the stalagmites had some type of crystals on them which reflected the light from above all over the cave in strange, abstract shapes.
It was, all in all, breathtaking.
"I can tell you something. This is not Orochimaru's base."
Sakura let out a laugh at her friend's words but shut her mouth quickly at the clear and amazingly loud eco she was given back. "I suppose so." She said, more quietly this time.
They decided to investigate the area, seeing as they had some space to move outside to cave. Mainly, it was all rocks and dirt, though they were more of a silvery color than the path they had come from. Strangely enough, as Sakura examined the ground, it wasn't mixed with any sort of metal.
"What do you think about this, Pig?"
Ino crouched down next to Sakura and eyed the strange terrain.
"Silver dirt. Classy."
They examined the area for some more time, but aside from the strange dirt, they couldn't find anything else that deemed their attention.
"We should head back. The storm's probably stopped by now." Ino said. They were just about to head back when something shimmered momentarily behind them, catching Sakura's attention.
"Wait. Did you see that?"
"See what?"
The pink haired kunoichi walked over to the source of the shimmer. It was a small pile of rocks located directly at the edge of the abysm where they stood, right in front of the staircase at the other side. Even with the rocks, Sakura could see there was something underneath that reflected the light.
"Ino, help me move these rocks."
The other nodded and they proceeded to move the rocks. When the last one was removed, they were revealed an extraordinary sight. It was a crystal goblet. The silvery dirt at the base of the cup slowly faded away on its way off the ground to reveal the trans lucid crystal. Inside the goblet there were small crystal protruding out on random directions.
"Well, this is something, alright." Ino said.
"What's a goblet doing in the middle of this place?" Sakura grabbed it and tried to pull it out but failed. "I can't pull it out."
"I think it used to be a stalagmite; all the ones here seem to have the same crystals on them. Someone must've carved it into a goblet for some reason."
"I wonder why." Sakura said as she ran her fingers gently over it. "It's just so… perfect." Her wandering fingers suddenly came in contact with something on the ground next to the goblet. She wiped some dust away.
"What's that?" Ino asked and leaned closer to take a closer look.
"It's some sort of inscription. I can't read it, though. It looks like an ancient writing. I've never seen anything like this before… Ino, what are you doing?"
The blond was currently digging through her backpack. "Aha!" She pulled out a small camera snapped a shot of the goblet.
"Always be prepared for everything." She said as she shot the inscription and proceeded to snap some more photos of their surroundings. "We, obviously, won't be able to figure this out, but I'm sure someone else can." She finished her little photo shoot with a picture of Sakura with her eyebrow raised and an expression that clearly told her 'I can't believe that just came out of your backpack'. "Well, we're all set. Come on."
Sakura gave a last look to the goblet before standing up.
They didn't make it far, though, as an explosion was suddenly heard, followed by loud voices, and the entrance to the only way out they knew being blocked by a pile of falling rocks.
Cliff hanger! I hate them too! XD Please R&R. :)