DARK SECRETS

Chapter two

DISCLAIMER: I don't own naruto or its characters just borrowing, but I do own I the idea for the story.

Soon night came and the team set for camp as they were mildly exhausted from the long day trip that toke longer than expected with them only taking three to two breaks the whole day. Everything was set as they were now eating while discussing the mission, "so we have about a day till we get there at our current speed but if we pick it up we may reach there faster" sakura said in matter of facticity as the both of then nodded sitting around a fire soon a silence ensued every one of them in their own thoughts.a cold fresh breese could be felt as it passed by.

"Hey aimi can I ask you a question" naruto asked breaking their silence in the process. Aimi nodded to which he proceeded "okay kakashi sensei said that you moved to konoha about a year ago ,where are you from before you came into konoha?" , aimi kept quite as she looked at the ground a sadly facial expression on her face.

"great look what you did baka you made her sad, your questions just couldn't wait for a second would they?" "sorry aimi, I didn't mean to ask a question that you were uncomfortable with you don't have to answer if you don't want to" he said while scratching the spot that sakura had hit him

"no, you don't need to apologize, just thought of a memory that's all…..now back to the question I'm aimi hideyoshi as you may know and I used to live in the land of sticks that's close to the village hidden in the sand but decided to come to konoha seeing it was the only logical thing to do as my mother and father were born in konoha" she said with a weary smile that just didn't shine as the rest did. "is there any thing else that you would like to know about me?" "yes, hokage-sama said that you have a special ability or abilities and I know my sensei very much, he only praises those who he really deems that they have what it takes and by the way he was talking about you it seems that you are one of them, maybe you can tell us what they are so we know what we are dealing with" sakura spoke softly

"oh yea, I am proficient in ninjustu and kinjustu coz of my cla….my training" said said the last part slowly.' Was she about to say clan, no that's impossible is she was form a clan we would have know and kakashi would have informed us, right?' sakura asked herself asked she dawned a frown that only lasted only a second but naruto seemed to have noticed this as he was thinking of the same thing.

It was silent again but this, was an awkward silence "oooookkkkkaaay enough of that lets get some sleep, if we want to have a fast arrival then we should rest for the night, I'll take the first watch" naruto said as he interrupted the silence again as he jumped the nearest tree that gave the most view of the forest. They nodded at him as sakura got into her sleeping bag before checking if she had enough supplies for the next day but aimi approached naruto and sat next to him as she waited for sakura to fall asleep and when she did spoke.

"the moon looked amazing tonight" exclaimed aimi as she looked at a full moon "yeah it does" "something about a full moon makes me feel calm and relaxed like I don't have any troubles in my life" she looked at Naruto with a smile which he return "it would be a shame if it were to be destroyed" said aimi with Naruto nodding at that. It was silent but this time it was a relaxing one, Naruto enjoyed the presence that aimi was giving him and he would never voice it out he didn't want her to go, he had only knew her for a few days and yet it felt like he knew her for a long time. "So… you and sakura, how long have you being dating?" naruto's eyes widened as he blushed lightly at the question that the silver haired kunoichi was asking him." Me and sakura aren't dating, we just go way back y'all know" she looked at him confused at what he meant by way back "I knew sakura from our academy days and we've been through a lot since then so to make it short, she's like my sister that I never had" he finished while looking at the sleeping form of sakura.

"so what about you, don't you have someone close to you?" he said lightly while looking at aimi. She looked down with a sad expression again but this time it seemed worse "sorry didn't mean to bring it up another uncomfortable topic just…" he trailed off as the expression deepened. It was suddenly silent, it was chocking the life out of naruto, it was so thick that you could cut through it. Is that even possible.

"I…. don't have any one" she finally said softly that a normal per son would barely hear what she said but thanks to kurama naruto had to strain to get what she said clearly with naruto letting an "oh" but remained silent after that ,"it has always being me for as long as I can remember, I still don't know who my parents are and I had a hard time making friends cause they always teased me because of my weirdness and I was hated by villagers and strangers alike for kami knows what ever reason and I just hated my life when I was a kid…sorry I didn't mean to rant about my past I just..-" she stopped as tears were about to trek down her face. Naruto smiled lightly as he looked at her "its okay I understand you don't have to explain and feel free to talk to me cause y'all know we teammates for this mission and as from now on I classify you as a friend and I treasure my friends" she nodded as she hopped down the tree a slight blush on her face and but stopped before she could heard for her sleeping bag "thanks for listening I haven't had someone to talk to for a long time" she turned her head slightly as to show that she was smiling "no problem" he grinned his classic grin as she was in her sleeping ready for sleep I consume her.

'she's weird but in a good way and the only other person that resembles her in weirdness is hinata, heh wonder why hinata is like that, guess I would never know' he thought as the night was filled with low blows of wind that were cool seeing as it was summer in the land of fire.

Soon morning came and with it came the rest of the mission that they all agreed on that they would travel faster than they did the other day, and soon than they had expected they reach their half way destination. It was 8 pm when they reached the front desk sweating and panting as their bodies screamed with pain at their journey, the hotel wasn't that bad it had furniture scattered all around the place excellently that it complimented the greyish-black color that basked the entire room they were in. "good evening and welcome to wirtir hotel, how may I help you?" the lady at the front desk greeted them with a warm smile, as the team looked at her still panting but lightly,

"we would like a room please" sakura spoke softly "well sorry to say this but there isn't any room left, the only rooms left are the reserved one's sorry but there is nothing that I can do" the lady said polity as she looked at sakura and her teammates" they all looked at each other confuse plastered on their faces, "that is weird hokage-sama wouldn't let us here, with the intent of staying the night if he knew that it would be full" aimi said while her her hand was on her chin as she thought ,"yea your right that doesn't make any sense unless we have reserved room, hi again we ninja's and were sent on a mission and….-" sakura spoke lightly as possible but was cut off by the lady who leaned forward, "look I have had a pretty stressful day and this-"pointing at them " is a problem for another hotel, so do me and yourself a favor and leave the, the forest isn't that bad seeing as you've slept there plenty of times, might have being born there as well" sakura was practically fuming at what the lady had said as aimi struggled to contain the pinked haired girl from pummeling the lady as she shouted at naruto for help but naruto on the other hand was completely oblivious to what was happening to him as he sensed a weird energy that felt unnatural to him and decided to look around when he spotted a mysterious man just outside of the hotel who was wore a black trench coat that covered all his features. Naruto looked intently and that seemed to get his attention as he was now looking at blues eyes that were searching for answers that he didn't know the question to.

Naruto would have sworn that the man had smiled at him before he disappeared in the crowds of the city "did.. did you guys see that or feel that?" he asked the girls as he still kept his gaze at the spot the man had just stood at "what is it now baka" "nothing forget about it, lets ask the nice lady if we have a reserved room" sakura huffed at the words 'nice lady' as he shrugged off the sick feeling that that man was giving off as the again approached the lady who sighed, "look miss there is nothing I can..-" "yes I know just wanted to ask if we had a room reserved for us just incase we had one" this time is was aimi who spoke interrupting the lady. The lady rolled her eyes "okay just tell me were your from" she said flatly " konoha team sent by the hokage thank you" the lady typed what aimi had just said. Minutes passed as all they could hear was the sound small chatter that name from either the many rooms close to the entrance or outside the hotel, finally she looked at them and said "you're In luck there was a room reserved for you, it was the last room to be reserved, guess you aren't sleeping in the forest today" sakura glared at the woman who was handing her the keys to the room "guess we aren't but feel free to call if the bench your sleeping on is taken" sakura smiled a light as she heard the woman huffing annoyance.

They seemed to walk forever in the paper wall covered corridor that let out noises from all directions all different, as they approached a room at the far end of the hotel on the last floor of the three story building, when they finally reached the room they looked at each other as sakura opened the door which let out a large creak that filled the room, the room wasn't that bad, it had a balcony at the far end of the room with two king sized beds that were covered with silky white bed sheets which were separated by a nightstand that held nothing but a lamp and a couch that was close to the balcony and a bathroom in the other room and a kitchen that was close to the entrance door, " only two beds?" aimi said as she looked at the two beds as she gently put her bag on the floor next to the first bed "yeah, so how's the sleeping arrangement going to be like" naruto asked as he sat on the couch letting out s small sigh as she did so " I don't know but I'm definitely not gong to sleep with you, the last time that happened I did you were.." she trailed off as she had a towel ready to go into the shower "aww come on sakura it was only like, one….two….five or something times and besides I said sorry" he pouted at sakura as he scratched his head lightly, " what ever I'm heading over to the shower and later maybe we can search for something to eat" they nodded as sakura entered the shower.

Aimi turned to naruto while smiling at her "sounds like you did something bad when you slept with her" "yea she says that I'm a heavy sleeper. Every time I sleep with her i find myself face first on the floor, she says that I kick and turn in my sleep and that on one occasion I touch her …breast " he blushed at that as he looked at aimi who was giggling "poor you I can imagine an angry sakura shaking you angrily" he laughed lightly at that "guess I'm sleeping on the couch" she blushed as she looked at naruto but not I the eyes "if you want…. that's if its okay with with you….., you can sleep with.. me.. if you like" she stuttered as the redness on her face intensified, which earned her with the blond coughing frantically "sor,,sorry I didn't mean to, I just… its okay I'll be alright on the floor don't worry" naruto blushed to as he looked at her with a small smile, "are you sure cause that's a pretty big bed that I'm sure that the two of us can fit in" naruto shook his head at the proposal "thanks but I'll be alright" it was suddenly silent the only thing that naruto could hear was the sound of his heart beating, he looked directly at the girls eyes that seemed to put him in trance 'wow those eyes they are amazing' he thought as he felt like it was a genjustu, like a luscious dream that felt real, he felt some pressure that he didn't know he had fall, only a fell people had that effect on him but it was weird that this girl that was in in-front of him that he barely knew was one of them that effected him like this. It felt like forever as they looked at each other when the door swung open with sakura coming out with her pink cherry blossom kimono and a towel on her hair as she dried it, "who ever wants t-…" she stopped as she looked at the two who were looking different directions but were on the same couch, she smiled as she toke this time to tease the two a bit "oh sorry I disturbed your little meeting" she winked at them as naruto refused the accusation that his friend was throwing at that "IT WASN'T LIKE THAT, SHE WAS JUST ASKING ME ABOUT…ABOUT" he stuttered he thought of what they were talking about 'darn it I have to find an excuse cause I know that sakura will continue to tease us if I don't think of a excuse' he looked around trying to find something to distract the woman but found nothing "about what naruto, heh it sounds to me like it was about sleeping together, you know snuggling and such just the two of you" she laughed as she saw the shocked but mostly embarrassed faces of the two "SAKURA" naruto shouted as he looked at aimi who was now as red as a tomato "heh just kidding ,naruto keep it down" she laughed lightly at them as she went to sit on her bed as aimi went to the bathroom still blushing,

She turned to look at naruto who seemed to be deep in thought as he looked at the time on clock that was opposite him, "hey sakura do you have any information on the other team if they have arrived" she shook her head as she too looked at the watch, it was half past 8, she reached into her bag and removed a white faded scroll that smelled of ink and had the kanji 'yellow flash', "oh yea I forgot to tell you, kakashi sensei gave me a scroll that allowed us to communicate with the others," she looked at the scroll eyeing it as she realized that she has never seen, heard, or read about it before and that's weird cause sakura always has an interest in scrolls both clan and non clan scroll if she has the opportunity to have a clan scroll. naruto nodded as he too looked at the scroll that he had never seen before "that's weird I have never seen that scroll before, have you?" sakura shook her head and decided that she would ask her sensei more about the scroll.

Sakura huffed as she put the scroll on the night stand as she walked to the couch sitting when she approached it, "what's wrong ,aren't you going to send the other team the message that we have already arrived" he looked at her with one brow raised "no, sensei didn't give me the instructions on how to use the darn scroll all he said was that we will figure it out" she said softly a hint of annoyance in her voice. "well that's kakashi sensei for you, he probably did this just to spite us and probably as revenge on me for pranking him last month" he laughed lightly as he scratched his head sheepishly.

Minutes later aimi came out with a pair of fresh clothes that consisted of a light red kimono that reached just below her knees and a sliver bracelet. She smiled as she looked at the two on the couch and approached them, "am done, we can leave now" "yea we can…..after we figure out how to activate that scroll" naruto pointed at the scroll on the table as she approached it and chuckled a little at them, sakura furrowed her brow as she noticed the blue haired girl chuckle "what's wrong aimi?" "nothing just that the scroll you have trouble figuring out is actually easy" she smiled as se tried to hold down a giggle. Sakura frowned at what the girl had just said "what do you mean its easy, I tried it the day before we left and I didn't find the solution on how to activate it" she said in a matter of fact voice " well what did you try?" "everything from pushing chakra into it to summoning to which it gave me the same result nothing" aimi smiled lightly at her "well the problem was that you were thinking inside the box not outside" sakura was now confused "I don't understand, but it seems that you know everything about it, take a crack at it" sakura smiled wickedly at aimi 'she probably won't even know what she would be doing, I had a better chance at it than she would ever have, she might not even know what the scroll is about' inner sakura screamed as outer seemed calm and collected.

Aimi just nodded and flattened the scroll on the floor, looking at both of her current teammates before she directed her attention to he scroll, she lifted her left hand that had a paint brush lightly as she put the brush on top of the scroll and painted the kanji of release on it. The scroll didn't react as aimi stood up "told you it was a har-…" sakura stopped in her tracks as the scroll glowed in bluish color. Aimi she smiled as she looked at a dumb folded sakura "so what should we tell them huh?" sakura looked at her for a second, impressed clearly on her eyes "tell them that we have arrived, were we are sleeping for the night at wirtir and were we should meet just don't know were, ….oh and if they too have arrived" aimi nodded as she pressed the brush onto scroll again writing what sakura had just said after she finished the scroll flashed again then seconds later she retracted as the scroll stopped emitting light "done, well then are e going for dinner?" she asked "yea we are I'm starving teba" sakura nodded in agreement as they approached the door "that was impressive, were did you learn about that scroll from?" "yea that was pretty great what you did there" she blushed at the praises she received, she wasn't used to receiving such usually it was just the occasional 'great job' but she always wanted to hear an actual praise and now her wish was complete "thanks, sakura -sama, naruto-sama" "sakura is okay" she nodded "so were did you learn it from" "oh I think it would be better if I told you when we have already eaten .. if that's okay with you?" sakura nodded and soon they were in the streets of the land of rice.

They walked in silence as the admired the western like little village that had surprisingly plenty of people, probably those who were struck badly by the war and moved here to get better living. They walked for ten minutes around the village looking for a suitable restaurant which was accompanied by fans that wanted to see the legendary two ninja's from the leaf. After minutes of looking and running from the fans they finally found a small restaurant that was located at the east side of the village that was secluded by the many houses that surrounded it.

"who knew that there was a restaurant that sold both ramen and dumplings" sakura said as she ordered dumplings while naruto as usual ordered ramen but aimi looked confusingly at list of food that the restaurant sold, "I know right, but I feel that its ramen might not be as good as ichiraku ramen" naruto proclaimed he closed his eyes while folding his arms around his head, sakura rolled her eyes at what the blond had said and closed her eyes, as she let the days stress easy on her, but she wasn't comfortable as she felt a shiver ran down her body as she felt like she was been watched, like someone with evil intentions was close very close. She opened her eyes surveying her surrounding but found nothing out of the ordinary all she saw was a few people sitting at a table opposite them and a woman sitting at the entrance with a bowl of what seemed to be soup, she noticed that the waiter that toke their orders and noticed that he stared at her, like he was undressing her mentally, it made her insides sick but it wasn't the first time a guy looked at sakura in that way, she usually just ignored them, it usually works but with this guy it felt off being just near him.

She put her most fake smile she has ever put and forced herself to talk "is there anything that we can do for you" the waiter looked at her while licking his lips which made sakura want to puck, he shook his head and looked at aimi the same way he was looking at her "no just waiting for this young….beautiful lady to take her order" sakura frowned at the guy and his clear perverseness 'this guy is a pervert but I don't think that this weird feeling is originating from him or is it?' she thought as she looked at aimi that seemed to have trouble ordering." Is everything okay aimi, having trouble ordering?" asked sakura "no..yes ah I don't know its just that I have never eaten anything that is on this list before, I usually just eat ninja pallets" naruto sprang from his sit his eyes wide "what you are not serious , so you're saying that you have never eaten ramen before" aimi shook her head, naruto smiled comically as he looked at the waiter," she'll have what am having" "naruto you don't have to order for her, she'll eat what she wants right aimi?" sakura asked while looking at aimi, while frowning as the minute went by she continued to feel the weird feeling almost like energy from the place. "no it's okay I would have passed the whole thing since I didn't know what to choose from" the waiter looked at aimi then sakura before he wrote the order then looked back at aimi "one bowl of dumplings for the lovely and cute pink haired lady, one bowl of beef ramen for the lovely and beautiful sliver haired lady and one bowl of beef ramen for the guy, coming soon" soon he left but not without looking at sakura while winking before he disappeared behind the counter.

"that guy gives me the creeps" sakura whispered while looking at aimi "I know I felt like would have buried my self, if he continued looking at me like that ". Soon their food came and they ate in silence, well sakura and aimi ate in silence naruto couldn't stop talking of how ichiraku ramen had the best ramen in the world. After they finished they paid and headed back for the hotel, "hey you never did tell us of how you knew how activate the scroll" naruto said as he had his hands behind his back as they walked eventually breaking the silence "my mama taught me, she knew all about such scrolls, the are rare to find cause they are specially made by a clan that doesn't even exist any more" she said as she stared into the road ahead, "well we're glad that you're here cause if it wasn't for you we would have been stack." Sakura said as they approached the hotel, quickly getting into the elevator avoiding the front dark secretary.

When they entered the room, sakura went to her bag and puled something out of her bag and went to the bathroom while aimi noticed that the scroll was flashing, "aimi why's the scroll doing that?" naruto asked as he sat down onto the couch tiredly, "it means that the other team have received our message and they have replied" she said as she approached the scroll and laid it flatly on the ground, soon it started to flash for a few seconds then it stopped. Aimi stood up and sat onto her bed, "they received our message and that they are happy that we traveled safely, they also said that they had already arrived a day prior to us and that they are living at a near hotel close to us, they also said that they found a nice place were the exchange could take place, its close to the south side border I think its park of some sorts and they are advising us to stay on the look out they say that a huge threat is at large in this village" after she finished she laid onto the bed, "that's weird if there is a huge threat in the village then why does it look like rush hour when in-fact all the village should be scared of there lives" naruto said as a yawn escaped him "I don't know but will have to check on that tomorrow for today am beat" sakura said as she appeared seconds later with a pink night dress that reached to her knees. They nodded at what sakura said as they all said their goodnights as aimi turned off the lights and soon they al found sleep.

Morning came as the birds chirped and the cold air blow softly, as a man in a hood stood on a high building right next to the hotel that sakura and her teammates were as he looked at the sleeping figures of the three through the open balcony door. He held a small brown hawk in his hand, stroking it lightly on its head as he held a small smile on his face, when he spoke to it, "soon my friend it will be done and I will see them beg for mercy." He looked at the bird for a second then his gaze returned "you and I have a lot in common, we both look so weak but in us we are a animal with a striking precision, we both wait till the opportunity is right to strike but there is only one thing that we don't have in common…" he paused as he saw sakura wake up and head to the bathroom, he looked at the small bird in his hands as it enjoyed the strokes he gave it, as it chirped here and there and in a fast quick motion he closed his hands crushing the bird in the process. He watched as it squirmed in his hands trying to free its self but failing and seconds later it completely stopped moving "I don't trust and get comfortable for too long or else like you I might get crushed" he whispered those last words into his hands as he opened his hand letting the bird to fall to the ground as he disappeared seconds later.

The morning progress normally for the team and soon they were at the gate that led to the park that the other team said they would meet the at. It was spacious with a few benches at the entrance with just enough tree spread all over the park that gave good shade when needed and at a distance their passed a small stream and beyond that held a small shop that sold ice cream. "wow for a small village they have a huge park" naruto exclaimed while he entered the park with the girls following him behind "okay so they said that would meet at the middle of the park" aimi said as she tried looking for them. "I think I found them" sakura said while looking at a pair of three that were standing next to a tree with iwa headbands on their foreheads. They nodded and approached them. They team consisted of two girls and one male, the male had messy dark brown hair which hung on both side of his head, brown tanned skin and light scars that were spread all over his face probably due to the war and had an eye (right) that dawned a green color while the other one dawned a yellow goldenness color .he wore a long sleeved red shirt that was half cover by the normal brown flat jacket with his village forehead protector to his shoulder and wore a brown trouser that had his ninja pouch on the left of his thigh and sandals with mesh armor around his ankles. Girl had long blond hair that reach her shoulders and had blue eyes and wore a warm smile that was complimented perfectly with her silky white skin, she also wore a red shirt but this time was not a long sleeved but was a bit baggy that it left extra space for air, and wore a short that reached just below her knees and black boots with the forehead protector on her forehead, while the other girl had bluish short hair that reached before her ears which seemed to be unreal but real at the same time and had fair skin that went well with her dark brown eyes, she wore a bright blue shirt that had on the left no sleeve but on the right half was sleeved and a tight spandex that made he womanly curves clear as day light which went with her sandals and ankle mesh amour.

"ah sakura-chan finally thought that you got lost or something" the male said with a smile, sakura nodded as she gave him a smile of her own, "sakura you know this guy?" naruto asked as he eyed the guy lusciously "yeah I do, his a medical ninja just like me, I meet him once in the war hen again he was in the first division but I knew him recently when I went on a mission to iwa to get some medical herds that only grow in there land found out he was head of the hospital and found out that we have a lot in common with him" naruto nodded but still kept his gaze on the guy "zamiki-chan it's great to see you, who are you're friends?" she asked while looking at the two girls "these are my teammates chisami-san and aoi-san" he introduced "nice to meet you all well these are naruto and aimi" sakura said while pointing at the latter.

"well lets get to business then" zamiki said as he removed a large scroll from his pouch "is this okay, I mean we are In the open?" naruto asked as he looked around checking if anyone was looking at their direction luckily nobody was. "yes it is, no one will suspect that we have secret scrolls for all they know we're here for a vacation, there is a reason they call this place the land of relaxation" chiasmi said while she knelt down next to zamiki as he laid the scroll onto the floor and bit his finger then putting his blooded finger onto the scroll exclaiming "release" and soon a smaller older scroll appeared, "just incase of any intruders" naruto said before fie shadow clones were created and were dispersed around the park.

Sakura pulled out her scroll and gave it to aoi while zamiki gave theirs to aimi "okays that's done, sorry we couldn't stay any longer but we have to leave immediately duty calls, but be careful, cause we were attacked by a group of rogue ninja's that really wanted the scroll, they were tough but we managed to protect it, they seem to be targeting those with a high chakra and who also have a high reputation and they said something about regaining lost honor, it might probably have been a crazy group that might have been humiliated or maybe a fallen village but something about these guys felt off you know" aoi said, "thanks for the warning but am sure that even if we were attacked we would manage them no problem" naruto exclaimed as he gave them one of his classic smiles, " thank you, guess we should be preparing for our return too, but just one question" sakura asked zamiki nodded and she continued "is the threat you warned us about then or another threat" "they are rogues we encountered, I fear they followed us and are close by and the sooner we leave the better that we don't cause commotion" zamiki said with sakura nodding at what he said. They said their good byes and minutes later the iwa team left leaving the konoha team along.

"okay it seems that this scroll has more than what we think it has, so we have to stay alert for any thing and zamiki was right the faster we get out of here the better, i guess we don't have ask the villagers about the threat huh?" sakura said as they headed for the hotel, while somewhere else in the shadows the same hooded man looked at them with a grin "yes your right that scroll holds a lot that could be vital for the future" after saying that he went into a fit of crazy laughter as it echoed in a dark abyss of nothingness.

A/N: that's chapter two what do think, sorry if it's boring promise that the next has action in it.

Till next time please review, favorite and follow.

D.A.X.