Kujaku rolled her eyes, but knew better than to pry. Kanashi would tell them, or show them, soon. He was like that. For all his love of solitude, he really loved sowing off. Not that he was a bad person. In fact, he was actually really honest, and thoughtful. Not to mention smart. But he was very reclusive and antisocial most of the time. He never actively tried to hang out with her or Akari.

And although they were brothers, Akari and Kanashi had never called each other brother for as long as she could remember.

And, in true Kanashi fashion, he remained quiet for the remainder of the trip. Akari talked to her several times, asking about her new kimono, and inquiring about any new techniques she may have learned. She had of course. But she felt that if Kanashi was going to hold secrets, then she should too. After all, it would be fun to see the look on their faces when they saw her perform her new jutsu.

She beamed, thinking about their shocked faces when they found out how powerful she had become.

"Hey guys." said Kanashi.

Kujaku snapped out of her reverie quickly.

"Yeah? What's up?" said Kujaku.

Kanashi stopped running abruptly, causing Kujaku and Akari to trip slightly from the sudden stop. Before Akari had a chance to ask why, Kujaku beat him to the punch.

"What the hell, Kanashi! We have a long way to go you know. We've only been running for a few hours."

"Yeah. I know."

"Then what's up? you need to go use the little ninja's room?"

Kanashi smirked, but didn't laugh. Instead he pointed to a small circle of grass, laying flat rather than growing like the surrounding grass, a few feet to his left. Kujaku's eyes widened. She hadn't noticed that before. It was obviously a pit-trap. A basic trap, that had many uses. However, the fact that this particular one was not covered up by a genjutsu indicated that it was not set up by ninja. Or at least, rather inept ones.

"So, bandits, then?" said Akari, mirroring Kujaku's thoughts.

"Perhaps. But if it was set up by bandits, then why set it up away from major pathways? Civilians are unlikely to come across this trap in the middle of a grassland." said Kanashi.

"So, why put a trap here?" said Kujaku.

"That's why I wanted to stop. I want to check out the area, see why bandits might put up a trap in the middle of nowhere." said Kanashi.

Akari let out a sigh, obviously thinking it a bad idea. Kujaku agreed with him. Who cared about some stupid bandits?

"Kanashi, I know you're curious, but honestly it just doesn't matter. We still have a few hours to go, and this would only delay us. There's no reason for us to go out looking for trouble. Besides, this trap isn't going to fool anyone. So no one is in danger. I say we leave it and go. How about you, Kujaku?"

Kujaku sighed. She didn't like taking sides when Kanashi and Akari disagreed. But, she felt the same way about the situation.

"I agree with Akari, Kanashi. I think we should just leave it be."

Kanashi stopped smirking, and instead let out a sigh. He was obviously disappointed, and did not bother to hide it.

"All right. But on our way back, I want to scout out the area. Okay?"

Akari nodded, and Kujaku agreed. She agreed mostly because she knew Kanashi wouldn't let it go unless she did. So, with that in agreement, the three took off again, running across the grasslands, towards the forests that contained the village Hidden in the Leaves.

The sun set once again, yielding to the cooling darkness. Kanashi smiled, glad for the night's coming. The sun had been quite harsh today, and he and his team had had to stop several times for water breaks to prevent dehydration, heat stroke and other awful maladies of the sun. They hadn't made it to the rendezvous point just yet, but they would in less than two minutes. Akari was talking to Kujaku again, trying to stave off boredom. Kanashi liked it when they included him, he never was very good at conversation.

However, that was his fault for not being able to let things go. Like that circle of flattened grass. In truth, they did not even know if it was a trap or not. It was just so strange. Why was it there in the middle of the grassland? It made no sense. He knew he would never really find out.

Kujaku and Akari had said that they would check it out upon there return, but he knew that by then many clues to its origin would have faded. The truth behind that strange circle would never be known, and that bugged him. Why was it there? How was it created? Who created it? Or what?

Kanashi shook his head, clearing his thoughts of a mystery he knew he would never be able to solve.

"What?" said Akari

Kanashi looked over, confused.

"What?"

Akari continued, Kujaku also looking at Kanashi, concerned.

"Whenever you think too much, you shake your head a lot. You've been shaking it for thirty minutes straight now. I was going to let it go, but it's starting to get annoying."

"I'm just concerned. When you think about something this much, it's usually important." said Kujaku.

Kanashi smiled, glad that they cared in their own way. Akari liked to be hostile most of the time, but he was actually a lot nicer than most people realized. His feeble attempt at annoyance was betrayed by the tone in his voice and the furrowing of his brow. And Kujaku, well Kujaku was just honest. Something Kanashi found very appealing in a person.

"Well, it isn't anything important this time. I was just thinking of that circle from earlier. Though..."

Kanashi scratched his chin.

"Earlier, I was thinking about the stronger contestants we'll most likely face. There's this Hyuuga prodigy, amazingly strong from what the letters say. Then there's the guy who beat him, a blonde kid with an orange jumpsuit-"

"An orange jumpsuit? What kind of ninja wears orange?" sneered Kujaku.

"A strong one, apparently. Go ahead, Kanashi, continue." said Akari.

Kanashi smirked, Akari always was the first to defend unique fashions.

"Well, there's this shadow-user. But I don't think we'll have to worry about him. From what the letters say of the fight, I think it is likely that he was probably promoted. His opponent was a Sand Kunoichi. Used wind, apparently. Then there is this Uchiha kid-"

"Woah woah woah! Uchiha? I thought they were all killed!" said Kujaku.

"Well, apparently not all of them, Kujaku. Apparently, this kid's the last one. The last Uchiha."

"Sounds ominous." said Akari.

"Yeah, it does. But then, there's his opponent. You see, the invasion actually happened right in the middle of the kid's fight. And you want to guess what his opponent was?"

"What his opponent was? You make it sound like he was fighting a thing instead of a person." said Akari.

"Well, close enough. His opponent was the one-tailed Jinchuuriki. A Sand ninja who could control sand like it was his one of his own limbs."

At that, Akari and Kujaku were silent. Both of them stunned at what they might have to face. Kanashi continued his trademark smirking, happy that he knew so much about his opponents already. Of course, he still knew relatively little. But regardless, he continued to inform his team of every possible opponent and their skills. Unfortunately, the knowledge was incomplete, but every little bit would help.