The ground was broken and cracked, the concrete almost mocking as Sora walked across the barren, destroyed battleground. Three days had past since her deflection from Konoha, and now she'd arrived at her destination.
As she looked around, something tall and grey caught her eye; the last wall left of the place, a wall with a huge Uchiha fan painted on it, and as Sora moved towards her, it felt as if her heart was breaking with every step. Is this the wall Kakashi spoke of? The wall in which Itachi's cold corpse had lain?
The closer she got to it, the more she realised that that was indeed, the very same wall, and as she approached, her heart seemed to cause nothing but pain.
Sora fell to her knees in front of it and stared at the fan painted upon it. Itachi...he died there. Thunder crashed above her, and the bright, white light of forked lightning lit everything up as the rain began to fall heavily from the heavens.
Sora cried, the rain washing the tears from her face, and as she cried, she screamed out his name, before recoiling back and sobbing. She felt something under her hand, and moved it to find a necklace. She gulped looking down at it; thick black thread, and three silver rings.
Sora grieved there on her own for a long time, and when she was finally done, she crawled into a nearby sheltered crevice, and slept.
–
In the meanwhile, in Konoha, both Kakashi and his fellow auburn haired Jonin, Yamistasu Sayuri were about to leave Konoha in search of Sora. Sayuri was much shorter compared to the tall, silver haired Kakashi, but she was just as capable as he was. Like Kakashi, Sayuri too was an ANBU member, and that's where she'd heard of the Lioness ANBU, also known as Sora. It was there she heard of Sora being one of the best ANBU, due to her quick, effective work.
Kakashi soon quashed these rumours. The ANBU were not supposed to know each other's identity.
"This is dangerous." Sayuri muttered, looking around the dark Konoha streets nervously "Danzo and his Root could catch us."
"Hush, Sayuri. I made a promise to her."
"I don't even really know her...all I know is what...is what he told me." she frowned, dwelling back on past memories. Sayuri sighed, shaking her head. He was another victim by Sasuke's hands, and another Akatsuki member to die by Sasuke's hand.
"Come on, Sayuri. We need to go." Sayuri nodded, following Kakashi out of Konoha and through the leafy forest surrounding the village, and as they leapt from branch to branch, Sora wondered...this girl; Sora, the girl Deidara had told her Itachi never stopped thinking of...what would Danzo do to her?
Shaking her head once more, Sayuri followed Kakashi on through the dark night, heading towards the same place as Sora was laying sleeping restlessly.
Too much had happened here, Sora thought, and as she crawled out of the small gully she had slept in, she pulled her headband from her forehead and looked down at it; shuriken in her hand.
Konoha had done too much; her village had gone too far this time, and with a cringing sound of metal against metal, Sora scratched through the small symbol, before tying it back around her forehead. She'd have her revenge.
–
Both Sayuri and Kakashi were still travelling, nearing Sora's current location, the long journey having being exhausting.
Kakashi, assuming Sora wouldn't move, stopped Sayuri and stretched "We'll rest here, Sayuri. She won't leave tonight, and we've travelled a long way...it's well deserved."
"Thank you, Kakashi-san." Sayuri slumped against a tree, catching her breath. Kakashi chuckled, leaning back against a tree too, pulling out the infamous Icha-Icha book he always carried with him.
Sayuri smiled softly, her eyes closing slowly, before drifting off into a somewhat peaceful sleep. Kakashi shook his head, watching the young kunoichi with amused eyes.
When Sayuri awoke, a warm morning sun was creeping across the leafy forest floor. She stretched and yawned, before looking over at Kakashi, who seemed to be making breakfast of some description.
"Morning, Sayuri-san."
"Good morning, Kakashi-san." she smiled, sitting down at the small campfire "How much farther must we travel until we find Sora?"
"Another five or six miles east, and we're there. I'll send Pakkun and the hound scouting ahead when we near the destination."
Sayuri nodded again, standing up "Why waste time? Let's go."
Kakashi stood up and nodded in acknowledgement toward his fellow Jonin, who in turn smiled and leapt up the tree and into the closest branch, to which, Kakashi followed almost immediately.
–
An hour or so had passed, and the two were within half a mile of the site. Kakashi had summoned Pakkun and the hounds and sent them ahead to find Sora.
Kakashi had been surprised to find Pakkun at his feet, a few moments later.
"She's gone. No trace at all."
"...What? She said she'd meet us here!" Kakashi stared, astounded. Sora wasn't there...?
"She summoned Hotaru, we know that much." the dog growled, and Sayuri looked puzzled.
"Hotaru?" the kunoichi questioned, her teal eyes blinking for an answer. Kakashi turned to her and looked down at the ground, trying to figure out where Sora had gone.
"Hotaru is a horse. She's Sora's summoning." Kakashi muttered gravely, shaking his head. Pakkun's ears then pricked up suddenly, as he heard a whinny on the wind. Sayuri looked North, the direction Pakkun was staring in, before turning to Kakashi.
"Let's tail her, Kakashi-san. She's headed North." Kakashi nodded, then froze, hearing the crunching of leaves behind him. Someone was there!
"Kakashi-sensei..." the pink-headed kunoichi stepped out from behind a tree. Kakashi stared at Sakura, trying to figure out what she was doing here "She's going after Sasuke-kun. Let me help you find her."
"How do you know, Sakura?" the silver haired Jonin eyed her suspicously, as Sakura pulled a letter from her pouch. She handed it to Kakashi, watching with glittering emerald eyes as he read over it. "Mmm. This is definitely Sora's writing...and she does say that she's going after Sasuke...we should stop her, and we're on edge of war as it is. What do you think, Sayuri-san? believe that would be our best plan of action."
"I agree, if we didn't, the war would probably end up worse." Sayuri nodded. Sakura eyed her questioningly. Yamistasu Sayuri. Kidnapped by Deidara of the Akatsuki, and as the rumours went, they'd fallen in love somewhere along the way.
Unfortunately, Deidara took his eyes off her for one day, and Konoha shinobi found and escorted Sayuri home. It was never spoken of what Sayuri reaveled, or didn't about Akatsuki or Deidara.
In fact, the incident was never spoken of.
"North it is, then." Kakashi half smiled, as his dogs returned to him. "Shall we?"
The two females nodded and took up and off into the trees, following Hotaru and Sora's scent northwards.