Konban wa, minna. Sorry for not posting sooner...just finished finals today. sobs Agh...yer authoress is dying in Calculus...sobs And I still have two years of high school left to go. sobsOh well.
Chapter 7: White Heaven
Mmmm…
A face. It spoke to him, called to him. Begged him to awaken. So sad. Why did it look so sad?
Why do I hurt?
"Kimimaro…."
Why is my mind so unaware?
"Kimimaro, wake up."
Why is someone calling me?
A fistful of snow promptly came in contact with half-frozen skin.
Kimimaro sat up and spat out said snow, glaring weakly at Naruto's worried face. The fox-child sat back on his haunches and smiled reassuringly.
"Well…we survived it." Kimimaro blinked.
"What?"
"We just survived jumping through seven hundred meters of pure iceberg. I told you so." Naruto replied patiently. The Kaguya sat up and rubbed his eyes, then looked towards the iceberg. Or rather, the former location of the iceberg; chunks of it were floating in a sky-blue lake off in the distance.
"We…survived? Wait….wait…" Naruto waited. The spark finally caught. An audible clunk was heard as Kimimaro's jaw unhinged itself and dropped to the ground.
"We have just survived jumping straight through seven hundred meters of pure iceberg." He said in awe. Naruto threw up his hands in response.
"That's what I just told you." He said. Kimimaro began to laugh.
"We…have just…survived…jumping through…seven hundred meters….of iceberg." And with that, the Kaguya promptly dissolved into sheer mirth, rolling about in the snow. Naruto stared at him, clearly shocked, then gave in and laughed with him too. Together they clutched their sides, hooting with laughter, until they wore themselves out and just lay together on the snow. Naruto turned his head and spoke to the wearied figure beside him.
"Wouldn't that be ironic, if we were killed by common thieves after surviving that?" Which promptly sent Kimimaro into howls of laughter once more.
After exhausting themselves for a following five minutes, Kimimaro and Naruto stood, brushing themselves off, remnants of laughter still on their lips. Naruto took one step forward, then collapsed, wincing in pain. Kimimaro flew forward and dropped to his knees, pine-hued eyes glazed over with worry.
"Is something wrong?" He asked. Naruto pointed to his leg, which was twisted at an odd, unnatural angle.
"I don't think I can walk. I remember that when I was almost at the top of the iceberg….something came down and hit me on the leg." The fox-child winced and rubbed worriedly at his maimed limb, fingers probing it gently.
"I think it's broken." Kimimaro bent and examined it carefully.
"It's definitely cracked. Here, I'll carry you until we get to the next tribe." At this, Naruto replied with a weak positive, and was hoisted gently onto Kimimaro's back.
"I'll be careful." Kimimaro said reassuringly. The fox-child smirked.
"For one who seems to be so cold when killing…." He trailed off cheekily. Kimimaro sighed with an overly dramatic air.
"I do regret that whatever gods there are didn't make that iceberg land on your mouth instead of your leg." Naruto grinned in response, then laid his head on the Kaguya's shoulder, fingers entwining themselves in a few renegade strands of silvery hair. All was silent for a brief period of time before Naruto spoke, his voice laced with wonder and awe despite the pain.
"Look around us." Kimimaro obliged.
"So?" He questioned. The fabric of his yukata wrinkled slightly as Naruto shook his head.
"I mean, really look around us." Kimimaro obliged yet again, and was hit by the sheer beauty and serenity of the landscape around them. Naruto smiled gently.
"Don't you see? We've fallen into a piece of heaven."
And indeed, the landscape was nothing short of magnificent. In the distance not too far away, a lake the shade of deep aquamarine caught the sun on its surface and reflected it off to form a brilliant prism of light. Spectacular fir trees were tipped with glittering icicles as they stood majestically towering over the land, and in the distance, mountains stood with almost an air of regality, almost as if they guarded the land from afar. Glaciers scintillated in the high morning sun, rising up out of the land to reach at the heavens. The land was shrouded in pure, unadulterated white as far as the eye could see, the sky was wondrously clear, and the whole landscape positively reeked of serenity.
Both figures stood still, eyes drinking in the nostalgic beauty of the scenery, caught up in the glorious view of nature. Kimimaro craned his head back and nuzzled Naruto's blond locks affectionately, smiling when the fox-child let out a low, contented sound at the back of this throat the sounded most uncannily like a purr.
"Doesn't this remind you of when we first met?" Kimimaro asked in an almost drowsy manner. Naruto nodded, eyes slitted shut with pleasure.
"Yeah….good times, those were, when I first met you." He murmured dreamily, then sighed and sunk his head down into the folds of Kimimaro's cream cloak.
"Sorry…I think I'll go to sleep now…have to let Kyuubi have a crack at healing my leg…"
Kimimaro felt the blond relax against him, and as he trekked onward, Naruto relaxed completely and his breathing evened out, signifying a deep, contented sleep. The Kaguya felt the beginnings of a smile kiss his mouth. Unbeknownst to him, Naruto had the power to melt even the coldest of hearts with his warmth and personality. He turned his head and inhaled deeply, as if he could bring in the essence of serenity into his own lungs. The smile spread fully over his countenance, and suddenly the years fell away, practically making Kimimaro look five years younger. Emerald-chips of eyes suddenly caught a wisp of smoke in the distance and Kimimaro angled his body in the direction from which it came, highly suspecting that that was the tribe they had been searching for.
Naruto awoke just as the small village came into view. Kimimaro felt the fox-child shift against him, and heard Naruto mutter an incomprehensible string of sounds. The Kaguya smiled gently and turned his head, softly inquiring about Naruto's health. The blond answered positively, then settled for blowing a short puff of hot air into Kimimaro's neck, which startled the Kaguya into dumping the blond onto the ground where he lay laughing hysterically.
"Oh…oh my….oh my GAWD, you should have SEEN your EXPRESSION!" And with that, Naruto promptly burst into a tirade of giggles, hooting wildly on the ground. Kimimaro scowled mockingly, and lowered his voice to an oily, evil tone.
"If I weren't so entitled to our mission together, you'd have two broken legs as of now." Naruto sat up and pouted. Kimimaro recoiled, his left eyebrow twitching spasmodically. Naruto pouting would move all the mountains in the world, be it necessary.
"All right, all right…shall we go to the village now? We're wasting time." Naruto immediately hopped up in response and skipped ahead to the village, laughing merrily. Kimimaro balked.
"But…I thought your leg was broken!" He began in alarm. Naruto turned back.
"That's one of the perks of having a kitsune stuck inside your belly-button. You heal quickly. Well…at least I do….I have yet to meet another person with a kitsune stuck inside his belly-button." He quipped before bouncing to Kimimaro and hauling him along.
"As you said, we're wasting time, so let's hurry up!" And with that, Naruto barreled towards the village, Kimimaro flopping helplessly from one hand.
At the Village
The village, in fact, was actually an island sunk right smack in the middle of a gigantic lake. Naruto eyed the paper-thin ice-bridge that proved as the only dry means of accessing said village. He bounced up to the bridge and placed one foot eagerly on the ice, but was halted by Kimimaro's apprehensive voice.
"Don't you think it would be just too easy for this village to get raided if any common person were to walk across this bridge? There has to be a trap." He said cautiously. Naruto hurriedly pulled his foot away.
"So…what should we do? I don't want to swim across." He retorted. Kimimaro walked up to the blond.
"Well….we could always try yelling and see if anyone would come out." He suggested. Naruto brightened.
"Okay." And with that, the blond turned, cleared his throat, inhaled deeply, and—
"OOOOOIIIIIIIIIII! ANYONE HOOOOOOMMMMEEEE!" Kimimaro winced delicately and calmly cleaned out one ear with a delicate finger.
"Not so loud, you ingrate, they'll think we're attacking them." He snapped. Naruto grinned as a guard poked his head over the top of the walls, and uttered an inquisitive question as to who was below.
"Well, it did the trick, yes?" He turned and hollered to the guard.
"We come in peace. We mean you no harm. We just want some information." The figure of the guard hesitated slightly, then hollered back a request to wait and disappeared.
The ice-bridge suddenly collapsed and broke into a million tiny shards of ice that sank immediately into the lake. Naruto let out a cry of alarm, but stopped when a new bridge, this time made of wood, resurfaced and positioned itself where the old one had been. A door opened in the wall of snow that surrounded the village, and five men trooped out, clad in mediocre armor, each carrying what looked like an enlarged kunai in each hand. Naruto graced each man with a friendly smile and a nod, whilst Kimimaro briefly inclined his head. The men nodded back out of sheer formality, then shouldered their kunai.
"What business have you here?" They asked. Naruto grinned.
"Well, we just survived a rather stressful situation, and we were wondering if you would be so kind to offer a little hospitality in your village." Kimimaro inwardly gawked, not thinking Naruto was capable of such eloquent words.
"We shall have to check you first, since our village has been exposed more than once to petty thieves who covet our belongings." Naruto shrugged.
"That's fine with me."
The men frisked him briefly and turned up with a few scrolls, basic weapons, and an assortment of explosives. Naruto looked up at them innocently.
"I'm a ninja. See?" He indicated his forehead protector. The leader of the men frowned.
"How do we know that you are not hostile?" Naruto pouted. Kimimaro, standing a distance behind, could visibly see the men falter.
"I'm from the village of Konoha, which is prosperous enough. Why would I want more?" He argued. Kimimaro smirked. The kid had a point. And apparently, the men saw it too.
"Very well. We shall let you in. However, if any suspicious conduct occurs, we shall have you severely punished and thrown out." The leader said sternly. One of the men stirred.
"But Tsuyo, he's just a kid. What harm can a kid do to us? And look at him." Naruto immediately strapped on his large and shiny eyes. "He's so cute too." Kimimaro gagged inwardly. Tsuyo scowled, his hazel eyes clouded with doubt.
"Looks can be deceiving, Masouna. You of all people should know that." Masouna bowed and backed down. Tsuyo fixed Naruto once again with a piercing gaze, looking down his hawk-like nose, his mouth thinning.
"You may come with us." He ushered Naruto over to Masouna, who put a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder. He bent and whispered gently to the fox-child, smoky gray-blue eyes glittering mischievously behind black-rimmed spectacles.
"Don't worry about him. Tsuyo's had a few mishaps in his life that caused him to doubt people. He's not bad once you get to know him." He quipped mildly, indicating the stern, powerfully-built man who was now frisking Kimimaro. Naruto stared up into Masouna's navy irises, unconsciously analyzing the young man.
He looked about twenty, or twenty-two; pale brown hair fell down to his back in layered strands. Two locks of hair hung down by his ears, which accented his high-cut cheekbones and prominent jaw. His eyes had an elegant slant to them, and the dark, long eyelashes that framed them complimented the blue in his eyes and brought out the maroon undertints beneath them. Winged eyebrows curved mildly upwards which softened his face and contrasted his cheekbones, and his mouth was filled with a latent essence of mischievousness, which served to heighten the angles of his face.
Masouna quietly observed the kid even as the kid observed him. This boy didn't look at all dangerous; in fact, he looked quite welcoming. Eyes moved down to grace the three slashes on each cheek, which gave the boy a curious foxlike characteristic. He analyzed the large blue eyes that stared up at him without wavering. Naruto—was it?—had a curious catlike tilt to his eyes which made them shimmer and change to iridescent shades of blue with a few speckles of vermillion in between.
It was then that Tsuyo abruptly finished his business and called attention, shaking long, dark locks out of his strict, catlike eyes. Masouna winked down at Naruto before attending to his leader, and Naruto took that as a cue to scamper over to Kimimaro's side. Kimimaro, earlier noticing the stares Masouna had given Naruto, wrapped one possessive arm around his waist and squeezed. Naruto, not understanding the underlying current of aggressiveness from the Kaguya, happily squeezed back, to the inward amusement of the watching Masouna. Just then, Tsuyo came back, firmly ushering both Kimimaro and Naruto by a shoulder.
"You will come with us to see the village headman." He informed the two. Kimimaro nodded serenely and moved his arm tighter around Naruto as they entered the village.
Tsuyo walked up to the seemingly resilient wall of snow and pressed his palm into the snow. Immediately runes grew and swelled from where his palm had lay, glowing a mystic, electric blue. The runes engulfed an entire portion of the wall to form a glowing, rune-wrought square in the shape of a door. The door pulsed once, then melted entirely to reveal the village within.
The village looked startlingly familiar, Naruto thought, as the door rose up behind them to make a complete wall once more. It looked a lot like Konoha in the midwinter. He could almost imagine Sasuke in the background, sulking as usual against a tree….no. Naruto shook his head. The past was the past, and nothing could change it. He was here on a mission. And perhaps, when the mission was finished, he would consider going back to Konoha. After all, there was still Tsunade-baa-chan to visit, and Jiraiya to thwart. Yes, that was it. Naruto giggled at the imagined look on the Hokage's face when she discovered he was still alive. And thought of the broken bones that would follow when she hugged him.
Kimimaro looked around him, quietly observing each and every detail of the village and memorizing all visible roads. If this village turned hostile, it would be useful to know a handy escape route. The Kaguya lifted his head and swept a gaze over the wall of ice that served as a barricade to invaders. A flicker caught his eye, and he zeroed in his gaze to that which lay beneath the wall. A thin layer of chakra was running through the wall, therefore strengthening it considerably. So this village housed shinobi. Well. This would turn out to very interesting indeed.
Just then a flicker caught his eye, and he whirled around just in time to catch a flash of brown. The village looked normal, and nothing seemed out of place, but Kimimaro suddenly got the vague feeling that someone was watching him. Well….Naruto was….but Naruto watching him didn't usually make the hairs on the back of his neck stand up like they were doing as of now. The flash caught at his peripheral vision again, and again he turned, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Kimimaro closed his eyes and heightened his senses, determined to catch the origin of the flashes.
The third flash he was ready for, and he turned just as the brown appeared again. A young girl gasped as his mint-green eyes alighted upon hers, and ducked immediately behind a pillar of snow, her eyes and the top of her nose just peeking around the pillar. From what he could tell, she was extremely shy, but at the age where she was just beginning to blossom into the woman she would someday become. The Kaguya cocked his head in amusement. He would see her again, of that he didn't doubt.
They were led down a series of snow-encrusted streets to a house located seemingly in the middle of the village. Tsuyo raised one brawny fist and knocked twice, paused, then three times more. A voice called out permission, and Tsuyo let himself in, beckoning Masouna, Kimimaro, and Naruto inside. He turned and quietly closed the door, then addressed the darkness before him.
"Sina-sama, it seems we have guests." The darkness ruffled in response, then a hand drew aside the navy-black curtain to reveal the contents inside.
A man sat on a sienna-brown pouf in the middle of the house, sipping a cup of hot chicory. As Tsuyo let himself in, the man raised piercing, sharp eyes the color of charcoal and acknowledged their presence, nodding slightly even as Naruto and Kimimaro, knowing good conduct was crucial, sunk into twin bows at his presence. Pale-blond hair hung about his face as he spoke in a deep baritone that sounded amazingly similar to Kyuubi's.
"You have arrived here bearing a purpose, yes?" Naruto, knowing better, drew back and let Kimimaro do the talking, who obliged.
"May we have the honor of speaking to you in private, Sima-sama?" Kimimaro asked in a low voice. Sima threw open the curtains all the way in response.
"I can trust Tsuyo and Masouna not to reveal any business we deal together." He said gravely. Masouna stirred once, the settled against a nearby corner. Kimimaro nodded.
"We have come to see you about the new record you hold to be put within the Scroll of Silence." He said. Naruto nodded to confirm his statement. Sima's eyes showed no change of expression.
"Many have come spinning the same tale, and all of them have been imposters. What makes you think I should trust you now?" At this, Naruto nonchalantly untied his forehead protector and lifted up his bangs. He turned to Kimimaro and grasped his hand, then muttered a sharp word under his breath and made a seal.
Both Naruto and Kimimaro started to glow, Kimimaro's essence a pale silver thread, while Naruto's a golden stream of light. Together, the two intertwined to mix into a silver-laced beam of yellow which then streamed into both bodies and coagulated at their forehead. Once again, the same cryptic seal appeared on both foreheads, burning a stark golden-blue against each brow. Both Tsuyo and Masouna gasped in awe as the aura vibrated around the two, illuminating them with transcendent colors. The headman's eyes widened and he immediately started forwards in a harsh, jerky manner. The Kaguya and the fox-child stared austerely back at Sima, the seals still freshly emblazoned on their foreheads.
"Now do you see? We are different. We do not lie." Naruto said. Sima pressed his mouth into a thin line.
"My grandfather told me, a long time ago, that when two comrades bearing that seal on their foreheads should come, I should ask to see them, and then submit them to a second test. You have passed the first one, which no one has done before, which has led me to believe that you are indeed the scrollbearers. But the second test yet remains; all precautions must be taken." He stood and let his crimson yukata slide down his shoulders, revealing plain clothes underneath. Onyx eyes glittered.
"Strip." The command was utterly void of innuendo. Naruto started forward.
"What?" Sima's face was perfectly straight.
"Strip."
"But—" He was stopped by Kimimaro.
"It is best to oblige him, Naruto. Think of it as humoring me." The Kaguya said with a smirk. Naruto's eyes flashed, but he deftly removed his clothing with a trace of a smile. Kimimaro did the same, adroitly sliding his yukata from his lean, lanky body and disposing of his pants. The two stood stark naked in front of Sima, who looked at naught but their faces.
"Now." He raised one hand in a seal and positioned the other's palm vertically towards the two before him.
The temperature, suddenly sensing a hostile force, made an extremely wise decision and retreated, suddenly making the room several degrees colder. A thin wisp of smoke began at the feet of the two unclothed beings, then disappeared. Naruto looked down at his feet and barely refrained from gasping; ice had engulfed all of his toes and was now creeping up to his ankles. He looked over at Kimimaro's feet and saw that the ice was doing the same exact thing, though Kimimaro stood stock-still, his face deadpan of all emotions, almost wooden in its countenance.
Naruto suddenly chomped down on his lip and refrained from crying out. He looked down at his ankle and was horrified to see that a crystal thorn had pierced his skin and was slowly embedding itself into his ankle. Cerulean-hued eyes widened in mortification as the tip of the thorn showed itself on the other side of his ankle, the tip stained blood-red. He considered struggling, but his body would respond, and he remained frozen in time as the ice slowly crept up to his knee, his thigh, his groin, and eventually his stomach, the occasional thorn impaling itself upon him and causing another barely restrained yelp of pain deep in his throat.
Kimimaro watched Naruto struggle as another thorn, this one larger than the rest, took him through the belly, carving past sinew and viscera to protrude out of his back. Naruto's expression faltered slightly, but he screwed up his face and looked straight ahead, expression impassive as if nothing was wrong, the only indication of his fear the blood running down from his mouth courtesy of a bitten lip. The left corner of the Kaguya's mouth twitched as two thorns grew and pierced him on either side, showing themselves on the opposite side, warm blood running down their tips. Kimimaro scowled inwardly. This was more like a form of torture than a test, but if it would get them their scroll, he was willing to go through harsher treatment than this.
Naruto forced himself not to scream as a thorn took him through the neck, sliding between artery and vein to come out on the other side. The ice was at his chin now, and he knew that in a few more minutes, it would completely engulf his entire body. He clamped his eyes shut as the ice flowed to meet at his head, then slanted a glance at Kimimaro. Kimimaro was frozen stiff as well, with a thorn protruding through his brain. Naruto craned his eyes up and saw that a thorn had taken him through his head as well. That was odd. If there was a thorn sticking out of his head, then why did he continue to exist?
For three whole minutes the two stood there, standing stock-still. Naruto felt his air running out, and screwed his eyes shut again as it became harder and harder to live. Then a terrifying thought occurred to him. Perhaps this wasn't just a test. Perhaps Sima had wanted to kill them all along. It certainly seemed like it, given the situation. A tear threatened to leak out of one crystalline eye. Iruka…Tsunade-baa-chan…Ero-Sennin…
No. No, he wouldn't die here. He had a dream to accomplish, a mission to complete. Cerulean eyes snapped open again, glistening with unleashed determination and power. Naruto summoned the last of his energy and strained against the ice bonds, making the veins on his arms stand out like thick cords fat with blood. He relaxed, then strained again. The ice gave, ever so slightly, but he was running quickly out of air. Already his vision was beginning to blur. Naruto screwed his eyes shut, then strained once more, pouring his will into the ice, integrating his soul into the ice and willing it to crack. He drew back, then attacked ferociously. With a sudden, snapping splintering noise, the ice that encased his left arm fell to shards, and the thorns that impaled it withdrew, leaving no mark, no wound, no blood. Air rushed into the hole the ice made, which graced Naruto with new strength.
The fox-child strained again, and this time the ice that held his right arm gave way and shattered, chunks of it falling to his feet. Now that he had both arms free, Naruto thinned his lips and ripped at the ice that surrounded his head. Once free, he shed the frozen jewelry, smirking triumphantly as he completely freed himself of the ice. Another cracking sound was heard, and he turned to see Kimimaro sloughing off his own ice bonds, his expression unreadable. Dusting the shards from his hair, the Kaguya softly asked Naruto about his health, then turned quietly and slipped on his clothes, Naruto doing the same. They both turned in quiet victory to the astonished Sima that sat before them. Kimimaro arched an elegant eyebrow.
"I do believe we have passed, yes?" There was an audible clunk as Sima's jaw abruptly detached itself and rolled away across the floor. Naruto picked it up and nonchalantly readjusted it for the headman, smiling cheerfully. It was many a moment that passed before Sima spoke.
"Never….in my whole life….no one has passed this test for more than six generations. And now that you, of all people, have passed…." Sima sank weakly to his knees, eyes oddly unfocused. Naruto, practical as usual, coughed rather loudly.
"Uhm….the scroll, please?" At this, Sima's onyx eyes cleared, and his tone suddenly became not much different from that of a salesman trying to please his customer.
"Yes, yes, of course, right away. You will wait, yes?" He turned and bustled hurriedly out of the room with a flourish.
Kimimaro and Naruto loitered lazily for many a moment before Sima reappeared with his arms wrapped tightly around a large scroll. He deposited it gently on the ground, then wiped his brow. Kimimaro delicately lifted an elegantly curved eyebrow at the scroll.
"I do suppose you have protected it with some sort of sealing jutsu?" He inquired lightly. Sima nodded.
"But of course. Well, it wasn't my doing; this has been in this village for six generations, and a village elder from a long time ago made the sealing jutsu, but I know how to undo it." He closed his eyes and concentrated. Kimimaro and Naruto waited expectantly, but to their surprise, Sima reopened his eyes and grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
"Well…it's been so long…and nothing worth recording has been occurring in this village….so….uhm…." He grinned again. Naruto's eyes flashed incredulously.
"You simply can't be serious." He snapped sharply. Sima wilted in embarrassment, his grin widening.
"Sorry. I'm afraid I couldn't ever be more." He mumbled weakly. The temperature of the room shot down yet another thirty degrees as Kimimaro's mint-chips of eyes glared vindictively at the cowering headman. Tsuyo and Masouna shot each other twin glances of apprehension, then rapidly departed the house, and not a moment too soon.
There was a deafening explosion as a pair of well-toned lungs exercised their claim to fame.
"YOU STUPID FOOLISH ABSENT-MINDED SON OF A HALF-WHELPED BITCH! DO YOU KNOW JUST HOW MUCH WE'VE GONE THROUGH TO GET TO THIS SCROLL!" Sima squeaked and squished himself into a nearby corner as the full rage of Uzumaki Naruto hit him point-blank in the gullet.
"I'm sorry….I'll try to remember…..really I will…." Cerulean eyes flashed dangerously as Naruto stalked angrily to the headman and nudged him out of the way with one swift kick where it hurt.
"Out of my way. I'll fix it myself." There was a flurry of navy-blue cloak as the blond whirlwind settled himself in front of the scroll. Naruto closed his eyes and withdrew to the murky waters in front of the cage that housed the Kyuubi.
"Oi, baka kitsune. Wake up." A growl answered him as the great demon alighted one wine-hued eye upon the boy before him.
"I told you that you might encounter problems along your way. Not to worry. I haven't lived for seven thousand years for nothing." The deep honey-smooth baritone said with a trace of a smirk in its voice.
Naruto suddenly felt his hands acting of their own accord, running through a complicated list of seals. A silver-tipped kunai appeared in his hand, which he used to slit through the glowing jutsu that bound the scroll. It opened easily, exposing extremely complicated kanji written in minute handwriting. Naruto gawked in horrified disbelief at such troublesome writing as Kimimaro leaned forward curiously to inspect the scroll as well. Sima stared.
"You know how to undo the binding jutsu?" He asked in awe. Naruto grinned.
"I had help. This scroll is now in our possession, yes?" He asked. Sima nodded rapidly.
"Good."
Kimimaro made a single seal, then muttered something under his breath. The scroll slowly shrunk until it was roughly half the size it was earlier. Another muttered word summoned a thread-thin belt of delicate silk, which quickly wrapped itself around his slender waist. A ring of pure, beaten gold attached itself to the scroll and immediately slid onto the silken belt, letting the scroll rest safely against his side. The Kaguya nodded tartly, then turned to Sima.
"Our….informant….told us you knew the location of the next scroll. Would you be so kind as to take us there, please?" At that, Sima bit his lip, eyes deep in thought. After a while, he looked up.
"Masouna knows the way; his great-great grandfather was once a very good friend of the village founder's grandson. I'll bid him to guide you to your goal."
The aforementioned Masouna, who was listening intently at the door, immediately took the hint and entered the house, offering his services to the headman. Sima smiled, repeated his orders, and lightly dropped an extremely articulate hint filled with elegant words and curlicues that it would be oh so very lovely if the two honored scrollbearers would have the pleasure of partaking of the hospitality his village had to offer. Kimimaro shot a glance filled with amusement at Naruto, then accepted with an equally eloquent reply of acceptance, which immediately delighted Sima. Tsuyo just grunted and went off to herald the news to the rest of the village.
Long chappie to make up for the long wait
