The following morning, Tempest, Ryuu and Tonoko headed out early. They had kept a good speed as they continued to try and track down Naomi. Eventually they all took a short break. As the boys were talking, Tempest smirked.

"Hey guys, look what I found." Tempest chuckled as she reached into the drying mud and pulled a dirty headband. When she uncovered the front, it showed the Cloud Village symbol. She turned and held it out towards Ryuu. "If this is hers, we're not that far behind - the rain only let up at daybreak."

Ryuu nodded. "We should speed up a little." He turned to Tonoko. "You good, son?"

Tonoko finished swallowing a mouth full of water. "Yeah, of course!" He replied and began to run off ahead of the two adults.

Ryuu turned to Tempest and shrugged before running after Tonoko.


Naomi stirred as she opened her eyes. Taking a quick look around, she realized she was chained by her wrists again, and was in Shito's arms as he walked. She let out a sigh.

"You didn't even wake me? You just went ahead and left?" She murmured drowzily.

Shito nodded. "Well, I tried waking you, but you just groaned. I wasn't going to waste anymore time tyring to wake you up." He said. He waited a moment and looked off into the distance. "Feel a lot better?"

She nodded slowly. "I-I was very warm.. thanks.." She muttered, blushing faintly as she kept her gaze from his.

Shito nodded. "Also, you're a big sleep-talker." He chuckled.

She blushed more and sighed. "Great.."

Shito chuckled again. "Most of the time you just mumbled, but there was the odd time that you were clear as day." He shrugged.

She shook her head. "H-How far are we from the Cloud Village?"

"We'll be there by tomorrow afternoon." Shito replied.

She let out a sigh and shut her eyes. "I see."

"I'm trying to figure out a way to save you and Riniki at the same time." Shito clarified.

Naomi let out a short laugh. "Don't waste your time. Just get you and your friend out of that village for good."

Shito sighed before letting Naomi to the ground. He plushed her slightly ahead of himself and turned his face to the sky, closing his eyes. The day after a rainstorm was always beautiful. The fresh smell, the lushious green from the grass and streets, and the rainbow up above. He felt slightly at peace, but it didn't show on his face.

Naomi let out a sigh as she walked ahead of Shito. Tomorrow afternoon? I have until tomorrow afternoon to live? I was really hoping not to die at age twenty.. She thought before lifting her head to glance ahead. "Shito..." She murmured. "I-I want to let you know something...it's important..." She whispered.

"Hm?" Her voice hadn't pulled him from his enjoyment. He didn't open his eyes, or look at her.

"Y-Your friend... is most likely dead." She murmured, keeping her voice quiet. "The only reason I escaped all the others who captured me... w-was because they set me free..." She shook her head. "I-I'm so sorry..." She whispered, biting her lip. "This is all routine for the Raikage... he finds a shinobi who could capture me, uses something that shinobi loves as hostage, th-then kills them before they even show up with me..." She stopped walking. "I-I wasn't going to say anything... b-but you were so nice to me l-last night!" She gasped, tears stinging her eyes.

Her words had no effect on him. Shito just kept his head tilted back, eyes closed and made some sort of noise as if to say he believed her...sarcastically. Even if what she was saying was true, he was still planning ahead to rescue the both, whether she agreed or not. Although Naomi did have the dagger, something within kept nudging at him, as if what she said about being framed was true. He shrugged slightly.

She shook her head. "Sh-Shito... I'm tell you the truth... that's all I've done since you kidnapped me! I-I'm not lying - your friend was probably killed the moment you left the Raikage's office!" Her eyes were pleading as tears slipped from the edges. "You have to believe me!"

Shito sighed and finally opened his eyes. "This is what I get for saving you from hypothermia?"

She appeared taken aback. "I-I'm telling you this because you saved me from hypothermia! Shito... p-please... you'll be killed if you take me in... they kill off your friend, then it will be you, then me. I've been through it many times! Please! I'm begging you t-to understand!" More tears slipped from her eyes as she searched him closely.

"It's happen to you many times? Maybe you are the crook the make you out to seem." Shito eyed her closely.

She gritted her teeth. "Fine. Die! Go find out that your friend has been murdered! Discover that I've been innocent all along! Have my blood on your hands! Go ahead! I'm daring you!" She hissed, biting her lip to keep it from trembling as she walked off ahead of Shito.

Shito raised his hands in defence. "As I said...bag of emotions." He rolled his eyes and sighed. "Chill out, alright?"

She growled in reply as she continued to walk fast and ahead of him - not that she could get that far ahead with the chains connecting them. Shito frowned and reached for the chain, pulling her back until she was walking beside him. Before Shito had started the journey to the Cloud Village that more, he had returned the chains back around her wrists which he now held with his left hand.

"Amuse me." He said. "So, let me get this right, you steal a dagger from the Raikage," He saw her open her mouth to protest, but he continued. "Framed of stealing the Raikage's dagger, whatever. The Raikage is angry, so he hires me - which I'm not going to lie, I'm not from a village and it's not any easy task tracking me down - he hires me, practically forces me since he kidnaps a friend and threatens to kill him if I don't track you down and return you, but he kills my friend anyways just because he can, and when I return with what he wants, we all die in the end..."

She just shook her head and continued to walk - the way he questioned her proved that he wouldn't believe her even if she did say yes. She just growled quietly as she looked down at the ground as she walked.

"You said you've been through it many times? What did you mean by that? Did you steal the dagger fifty million times? Where you convicted of a million other things? Or were you just a lure, something as a decoy to kill those the village opposed, then they'd send you out again to lure more in?"

She stopped and turned to face him, glaring into his eyes. "Why do you care? Huh? You already admitted you don't believe me with your sarcasm! I was trying to be nice for the first time in three years! So thank you very much! I will spend the remaining of my life never being nice again because clearly, it's worthless!" She screamed. "I take back my thanks! I wish you had let me die last night." She hissed before walking again.

Shito stopped and pulled her back again, forcing her to stand directly in front of himself a foot away. "Is that the plan, then? Is that the reason you so willingly allowed me to hold you last night? You wanted me to fall for you in order to make my death an easy ceremony?" His eyes narrowed slightly.

She rolled her eyes before glaring at him again. "I was not trying to get you to fall for me." She hissed. "I let you hold me 'cause I was dying in the cold!" She shook her head. "Look, I've told you the truth. I was framed, and you lost a friend and soon to be your own life. The Raikage has done it three other times. Now, whatever you do is your choice." She shook her head again and pushed back her tears. "I was so stupid to ever even think that falling for you would be a good idea..." She whispered, yanking the chaines from his hands before walking ahead of him again.

Shito's eyes furrowed and he caught up beside her. When she tried to speed up, he held the chains back again. For a while, they didn't say anything. Shito just sighed and kept his gaze straight ahead. "So, what then?" He finally asked. "You just want me to set your free? If the chances are that Riniki was killed, that's what you would like?" He still didn't believe her that Riniki was killed. He wasn't that dumb to fall for what his prisoner would say in the face of death. It was human instincts to want to survive in situations like this.

She shook her head, keeping it lowered, her eyes locked on the ground. "N-No." She whispered.

"So you want to return to the village then?" He asked.

She shook her head again. "Just shut up..." She whispered, a sob leaving her throat.

Shito gritted his teeth. "You can be quite annoying." He murmured.

She kept quiet as she watched her feet. She gave up. As soon as she set foot in the village she was dead. And if he did decide to set her free, she would just end herself - she had nothing to live for - no clan, no village... she didn't even have a crush anymore - he was just like all the others. Shito sighed and shook his head, walking past her a few feet.

"Whatever." He murmured while passing her.


Over the course of the day, Ryuu and the others had covered a great distance. Tonoko had managed to keep up, although with the need of a few breaks in between. They had stopped a few times every now and then for food, but otherwise they were able to travel a great distance by the time the sun begun to set over the horizon. The Cloud village wasn't too far away, but they were hoping they were even closer to Naomi and her captor. Ryuu would be the one to make sure they were up extra early for another day or strenuous running.

After paying for two seperate rooms, one of which was Tempest's, and one of which Ryuu and Tonoko would both share, the three sat down in the attached restaurant for a late night supper. They had managed to arrive fifteen minutes before closing, and the three had promised to eat quickly. Thankfully, it was a buffet and not a restaurant where you ordered and had to wait ten or more minutes for the food to cook.

Tonoko ended up with the biggest plate at the table, and he was already digging in, making sounds of enjoyment with each bite. "This is so delicious!" He breathed.

Ryuu eyed him carefully. "Don't choke, now. I don't need to return home to tell your mom you died because you choked to death, not because of some battle." He chuckled lightly.

Tempest smiled gently as she shoved her face of food before swallowing. "So, we must be close to your cousin."

Ryuu nodded. "I'm hoping we get to her before they get to the village." He murmured.

Tempest nodded. "It'd be a shame - not only would you be down a clan member, but we would have gone all this way for nothing."

Ryuu sighed and nodded slightly.

Tonoko shrugged. "I've never been this far from Sunagakure!" He grinned. "I'm loving it! It's so different! The scenery, the people, the places! I'm just dying to see the unique abilities of the people here!"

Tempest laughed. "My, my. Have you forgotten you're on a mission, Tonoko?"

Tonoko shook his head. "Of course not!" He smirked.

Tempest shook her head and took another bite of her food. "I'm just glad this mission is almost over... I'm missing my daughter and husband a lot."

Ryuu nodded in understanding. "I know what you mean. I know how pregnacy works, and even though we've gone through it once, I'm expecting to arrive home to a nice round stomach." He chuckled lightly.

"It's going to be weird seeing mom so...big." Tonoko paused. "She's so thin and small compared to all the other mothers I know. Then suddenly she has this huge stomach!" He laughed.

Tempest raised an eyebrow to Tonoko. "If you want to eat your mothers cooking, I suggest you not mention her size..." She murmured.

Tonoko shrugged. "Well, she'll still be mom." He said.

Ryuu laughed and shook his head. "The correct way to counter what you said would be to say, "She's still beautiful."

Tonoko froze for a moment to think. "Yeah, okay. She's still my beautiful mom."

Tempest laughed. "That's another thing. You'll have to be careful with how you talk and act around her." She smirked. "When Emi was pregnant with you, your father ended up sleeping on the couch a lot." She laughed. "I lost count of how many times you apologized to Emi durning her first pregnancy." She stated, glancing at Ryuu.

Ryuu laughed lightly and smiled softly. Emi was one of those woman, who when pregnant, become very moody. Not to say she didn't have any right to. When she was pregnant with Tonoko, she was sick every morning and night. She hardly got any sleep most of the night since he never stopped moving - which oddly matches exactly how Tonoko was growing up and even now - and her hormones seemed to moved completely out of whack. Growing up, Ryuu knew Emi well enough to know what type of mood she was in at any given time. When she was pregnant, just looking away at the wrong time would cause her to get angry. Then when he tried to apologize and explain how he had just saw movement out the corner of his eye and turned to see what it was, she bursted into tears and ran to their room. It was the hardest nine months of Ryuu's life; he still couldn't decide which was harder, the pregnacy, or the three years he was in the Akatsuki.

"Not long after she was finished giving labour, she started crying so hard, trying to apologize for everything she had "put me through"." He laughed softly and shrugged. "I'd put up with it more anytime. After seeing Tonoko when he was born, Emi and I just..." His voice trailed off as he thought about the memory. He had shared so many special moments with Emi, but it was something different. Just looking at Tonoko shortly after labour, it connected the two of them more than anything he could explain; they had made something so beautiful together.

Tempest smiled gently. "You two have always been so cute!" She giggled.

Ryuu sighed and rolled his eyes playfully. "I'd call those times anything but cute."

She laughed. She glanced at Tonoko and smirked. "Just be ready for your mothers wrath."

Tonoko laughed. "It can't be that bad! I mean, mom had been very mad at me before, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle." He shrugged.

Ryuu chuckled and smirked. "I have a brave son to protect me now."

Tempest sat back and crossed her arms over her chest. "You two will both coware in fear of Emi's mood swings." She smirked. "I think if anything, Tonoko will get you into more trouble than protect you."

Ryuu chuckled. "True."

Tonoko frowned. "Will not."

Ryuu sighed. "Don't worry. Now that I've been through it once, I know what to expect. I know what to do and what not to do, so maybe it'll be easier this time." He chuckled lightly and shrugged. "Plus, she knows the end result this time." He murmured.

Tempest smiled. "I suggest you teach Tonoko the crazy ways of a pregnant Emi before you two reach home."

Ryuu laughed. "Maybe." Then added, "Then again, maybe it'll straighten him out a few." He winked at Tempest.

Tempest laughed. "Doesn't she already have him whipped into shape when you call out his full name?"

Ryuu chuckled. "She's a good mother, that's for sure."

"From your side, sure! It's not fun when mom gets into a disciplining mood." Tonoko rolled his eyes.

Tempest and Ryuu shared a look and laughed. "That's the point." They both said in unison.

Tempest smiled. "That's why you need to be careful..." She paused and smirked. "Oh man! You're so dead when you get home Tonoko! A pregnant Emi mad at her son for leaving without premission." She shook her head. "I feel bad for you."

Tonoko sighed. "I know, but I really wanted to come!"

"That still isn't a reason to disobey." Ryuu frowned.

"I know." Tonoko said and slouched into his chair.

After the three had finished eating, they returned to their rooms, Tempest to her and Ryuu and Tonoko to theirs. Ryuu had retreated to the bed for the night while Tonoko cleaned up and had a shower. Ryuu planned to have one the next morning. Finally, Tonoko returned to his own bed and fell asleep shortly after his father.