The stars were still twinkling in the sky as Hinata sat her bag on her ground. Above her, the giant stone head of the second Hokage stared out into the distance with his eternal grimace, and all around trees shed shadows from the lamplights. Fidgeting slightly, she peeked up into the sky, realizing that, in her haste, she still had at least another hour's wait until anyone else was supposed to show up. She tapped her fingertips together, allowing herself the nervous habit she thought she had rid herself of. The light violet irises of the Hyuuga clan had vanished in the lack of light, leaving her completely white eyes to drink in the sight of darkness.
"Naruto-kun..." she sighed softly, allowing her bangs to fall in her face. It had been two years now, she thought to herself. Two years since he had vanished without a trace and hardly twelve hours since the first clue to his whereabouts. Her fingers tapped quicker, nails almost stabbing into her flesh if she had not years of practice at this habit, and she bit the tip of her tongue to keep from crying.
It was all too often now that she felt tears welling in her eyes. Even when she had been abused and abandoned by her own clan, she had never shed a tear because she's always had someone to look up to – someone who would never give up despite anything. But when Naruto disappeared, taking all the warmth and joy from her life and leaving her with nothing at all, she found that even the slightest things could trigger her. The sound of laughter, the sky on a perfect summer day, even the occasional rambunctious cursing of energetic child who had just learned those words.
She wondered, not for the first time and not for the last, about what could have possibly made her young idol run off. She wondered if there was anything that she could have done to prevent it. She wondered if there was anything anyone could have done to prevent it.
A sound emerged from the trees before her – one not caused by the wind – and Hinata's insides turned to ice, though she gave no outer sign of it. Still tapping her fingers, she turned to her bag and plopped down next to it, pretending to cradle it for comfort while surreptitiously searing for her kunai. The sound came again, and she was about to hurl the sharpened metal when a familiar voice called out from behind her.
"Hinata-chan, what are you doing here so early?"
The sound stopped and any presence she might have felt from it disappeared along with it. Resisting a sigh, she timidly smiled up at Sakura who was approaching.
"I could ask you the same thing, Sakura-san," Hinata said softly, smiling as gently as she could. "Good morning."
Sakura gave a sheepish smile and returned the greeting. "I just couldn't keep sleeping. I know we should be rested up for this mission, but…"
"I understand." Hinata stood, a kunai vanishing up her jacket sleeve without a sound.
"With this being our first even vague hint and all…" Sakura continued, walking up to Hinata and standing next to her. "It's impossible to see how everyone else isn't here yet."
Hinata gave a little smile and leaned against the stone wall just behind her. For a moment, she thought she saw something and was about to let loose with her kunai, when a loud howl broke the silence. Akamaru bounded across the path, almost slamming into the cliff side if not for his expert reaction times. Kiba, who had been following behind, whooped loudly to catch the dog's attention as Tsunade, Iruka and Kakashi slowly emerged behind him.
"I hope you realize that you are all an hour and a half early for this mission," Tsunade stated when the group was fully assembled.
"Is that so? I never would have noticed," Kakashi mused, earning himself an emerald-eyed glare. "But seeing as how we've assembled early, shall we leave early, too?"
Tsunade looked at the sky as Hinata had done previously, seeming to consider something. She folded her arms under her breasts and worried her bottom lip with her teeth for less than a moment. "We will leave now. Follow me."
Without any pomp or splendor Tsunade led the group away from the cliff side, dodging through the trees and bouncing over rooftops taking them, not towards the village gates as had been expected, but to the very center of the city. She paused only twice – once when they were standing before the Hokage tower, which stood at the exact center of the Fire country, where she looked around and seemed in the midst of remembering something, only to suddenly lead them to the west. The second time was after she had led them through dark alleyways behind houses none of them had ever seen.
They were dodging under an open windowsill, when Tsunade stopped so suddenly that the others almost ran into her. She cast a furtive glance about herself, catching Hinata's eye. The young Hyuuga, after working with the esteemed hokage for so long, recognized the signal and silently activated her Byakugan. Immediately, the darkness vanished, replaced by a hazy blue light that brought every detail of every object into focus. The veins in her temples and eyes pulsated almost painfully with a sudden rush of blood and chakra, but multiple uses of her clan's skill had long since desensitized her to it. She twisted her head slightly, this way and that, to compensate for the Hyuuga blind spot as she looked in every direction at once.
Nothing, she informed her teacher silently. There's nothing here except us.
Good, was the reply and Tsunade took off once again without warning, though no one struggled behind.
Iruka wasn't sure about when the last time he'd seen a train was, but he knew he would never forget it. The way the giant of steel towered over him, wisps of steam and clouds of black smoke bellowing out into the sky, staining it a deep brown. The loud roaring as the earth trembled beneath his feet, submitting all it had to the beast. The sharp iron tracks leading off into forever.
The station was set in very possibly the middle of nowhere. Never had they passed through the city gates, so Iruka knew there were at least still in Konohagakure, but nowhere he had ever seen. There were no people outside on the flight of stairs, no persons behind the help booths, no one to watch over the main doors. There was no one inside the station either, leaving their footsteps to echo loudly in the overbearing silence. Even the so-called shinobi streets – the flat rooftops of the village – held more noise than this steel tomb, and ninja were known make even less noise than a hunting owl.
He suddenly heard a loud sound – the deep ringing of a bell signaling an incoming train – that made everyone's insides jump as Tsunade walked calmly up to a counter with the word "TICKETS" painted in fading red above it. There was a woman behind a panel of hazy glass that allowed nothing but her silhouette to be seen. The hokage spoke a few words into a microphone, much too soft for anyone to hear aside the mysterious woman, and there was the oddly soothing sound of white noise as the woman gave a response. Tsunade turned to the group, eyes seeking out Kiba and Akamaru who were standing faithfully side-by-side.
"Inuzuka-san," Tsunade said in a voice that seemed too loud in such a deserted place. "Is there any way you can get Akamaru-san to become smaller?"
"Smaller?" Kiba looked up as Akamru looked down. "How small does he need to be?"
"The size of a regular dog," was the quick answer. "Otherwise we won't be able to go on."
At the very thought that they would have to give up so soon, Kiba made a few quick hand seals. A line of invisible blue chakra ran between the dog and man and, with a silent puff of smoke, the dog was all too suddenly the size of a small puppy – the size he had been when he had first entered the chuunin exam with Kiba. The human Inuzuka grimaced slightly at the overuse of chakra, but when he looked up Tsunade was nodding.
"That will be fine." She turned back momentarily to the ticket booth and seized the thick strips of paper the shadow woman was pushing through a small hole at the bottom of the glass. Tickets in hand, Tsunade handed each of the group one of them. They were plainly decorated, being made of creamy yellow paper with the words "Konoha-Central" written dead center in Kanji as well as Romaji on both sides of it. A thin beaded line crossed between the words, overlapping the hyphen and, when Sakura tested it, it proved to be the way to rend it in half without damage to the rest of the ticket.
Tsundae looked upon the group of five (six including Akamaru) and then at the two tickets left in her hand. She glanced over them, seeing that every person had a ticket (Kiba with a second for Akamaru) and then looked back at the ticket booth. But the silhouette was already gone, vanished before any questions could be posed. A mournful sigh escaped her lips and she turned suddenly, putting her hands on her hips and addressing a hidden shadow lingering behind them.
"Sasuke, if you're coming, get your ass up here."
Kakashi looked on with an odd mixture of disappointment and elation as the surviving Uchiha emerged from behind an empty help booth. His sudden appearance and scent startled Akamaru so much, he let out a comically cute growl, the sound cutting short as the dog wondered at what could have produced the sound so different from his original voice. Sasuke regarded the shrunken dog with a hint of annoyance and strode defiantly up to Tsunade. She was glaring at him, but he gave her a cool look and held out his hand expectantly.
"I have to go," was the only statement he made.
Tsunade slapped the ticket in his hand, but before she let go, she said acidly, "If you ruin this mission, boy, you will be stripped of all position, status, privileges, citizenship, and basic human rights, do you understand?"
Sasuke closed his hand around the ticket and responded, "Shouldn't we get on the train?"
I'm graduating high school in less than a week. I'm scared -.-;;
But so that everyone knows, summer is the worst time for me to write. Why? Because I'm working all the time and when I get home I'm too tired to do anything but sleep. So don't expect rapid-fire updates like this for a while, unfortunately. But I do intend to finish this trilogy! So never fear, loyal readers!
Well, I don't own FMA or Naruto, so, till next time!
