Part 9
Somewhere…
"Yuriko! Where exactly were you? You weren't talking to that weird woman again were you? If you were…" Yurushi scolded her little sister as she closed the large steel door behind her. Yuriko calmly laid her red umbrella against a wall near the door, ignoring her sister's rebuke.
Yurushi pushed back her short black hair indignantly and continued to clean, muttering to herself how ungrateful her siblings were. She looked over to Itami, he lazily rested in his normal spot, with Aitou leaning against his chest. He let his fingers run through her velvet black hair as he whispered to her. Yurushi rolled her eyes, silently wishing she could go over and bang both their heads together.
Yuriko now sat alone in her usual corner, drawing in the dirt with a stick and humming to herself. "How boring" Yurushi said to herself as she finished up her chores. She heard Aitou laugh as Itami talked to her silently. In Yurushi's opinion, her laugh was down right creepy.
She decided to see what Yuriko was up to. Leaning over her shoulder, she watched as the little girl etched away at the dirt. "Who is that?" Yurushi inquired, interested in how great her sister's pictures were becoming. It looked like two boys-two ninjas. Actually one looked like he had whiskers- was he a cat? Yuriko looked up at her, her dark eyes searching Yurushi's. "No one" she answered matter-of-factly. Yurushi groaned as boredom became inevitable once again. She noticed the way Yuriko had answered her and suspicion filled her mind. Walking back over to the little girl, she began her interrogation. Maybe this afternoon won't be so boring aferall.
Back at camp…
Naruto woke with a start. He sat up, covered in a cold sweat. Sasuke, who had been up for an hour, gave him a strange look. Sakura stretched and sat up as well. "What's wrong Naruto?" she asked, handing him back his jacket. Dazed, Naruto just stared at it for a moment before taking it from her hands. He rubbed the back of his disorderly hair. "Oh, it's nothing. Just a…nightmare…I guess" He answering giving her a reassuring smile.
As they started walking again, Sakura looked at Sasuke. "Did you have a weird dream or a nightmare too, Sasuke-kun?" Sasuke gave her a look of disbelief. "I can no longer tell nightmare from dream. Why do you ask?" Sakura looked confused then answered, "Well I had a strange dream last night, I was wondering if you did too."
Naruto's attention perked up. He leaned forward in interest. "What was your dream about Sakura-chan?" Sakura paused a moment, trying to think. She answered:
"Well, it was really strange. Remember when Iruka-sensei was teaching us about our country's history and showed us a painting of a town called Mekura? It was about that. A girl with white hair was there. She met with a man season after season. The next day the villagers all gave her mean looks as she walked past. That night they invaded her home and dragged her to the town center. Tying her to a pole, they burned her alive. The next thing I saw was the town in ashes as well. It seemed so real, it was…strange."
Sasuke and Naruto looked at her, then at each other, than back at Sakura. "What?" She asked, confused again.
"I had the same dream" Naruto replied. He looked at Sasuke. He kicked at the dirt on the ground then looked up. He reluctantly admitted, "I did too."
Sakura pondered over the thought of having the same dream, but after another hour of walking in silence, the notion was pushed to the back of her mind. All three shinobi were tired, hungry and cold.
"I say we go back and fry some of those fish we saw earlier! I'm sure that one little girl wouldn't mind... Ramen would be good right now. With warm soup, juicy noodles and…" Naruto was talking to himself in a delirious tone. Sakura tried to ignore him, but every word made her angrier and angrier.
"NARUTO SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!" She had finally cracked. She lunged at him and tackled him to the ground. They rolled around in the dirt, Sakura punching and a very…confused Naruto trying to block the savage girl's fatal strikes. They rolled toward Sasuke, knocking him to the ground as well. When Sakura lifted her arm to hit Naruto again, a frustrated Sasuke grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her off the frightened boy.
"S-Sakura-chan almost killed me." He said shakily, silently thanking Sasuke. Sasuke looked at him, then looked at Sakura. "Look at you, acting like children. We all just need to find our way out of here. We are tired and hungry, therefore irritable. Why don't you both just shut up and leave each other alone for a while. Sakura! Stay away from Naruto. Naruto your just a dumb-…." Sasuke's scolding trailed off. Naruto and Sakura had alrady started walking again without him, down the endless corridor. He quickly caught up with them.
"Hurray! Hurray!" Naruto shouted, he pointed at the ground. For a minute Sakura thought his small brain had become warped by lack of food and it had finally snapped like a brittle twig. Then she noticed it too. Stairs. She never thought stairs were so beautiful in her life. Stairs had to lead somewhere.
With Sasuke leading, the three walked down the stairs to a large metal door, like one would find on a vault or safe in a bank. When Naruto reached it he began twirling the combination in every direction. After about five minutes he gave up. Sasuke stepped forward to give it a try. He pressed his ear to the cool metal trying to hear any sounds from behind. Silence. He then stepped aside and stated, "Sakura, will you do the honors?"
Sakura rolled back invisible sleeves. She coiled back and released a powerful hit in the center of the door. It dented in, but didn't fall like expected. Naruto stepped forward again.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He called. In a poof twelve Narutos appeared. Simultaneously they all punched the door. It warped beneath the blows and crumpled, caving in. With the final kick from Sasuke, the door flew off the hinges and clattered to the floor.
Behind the door was a very, very large catacomb, lit with candles. A brown haired boy leaned against a pile of disintegrating bones, studying the skull in his grasp. His face was shadowed, but you could see a vampire-like grin on his face. With one hand he crushed the skull, dust of the dry bones sifting through his fingers. Without even looking up he said expectantly,
"Well, if it isn't the Konoha ninjas. We've been expecting you!"
A/N: It is snowy where I am, is it snowy for anyone else?
The begining of the chapter might have been confusing, but you all are very bright so I am sure you will catch on. The next chapter will make it clearer.
Thanks for reading!
God bless.
-Ryu
