Hinata and Naruto reconvened in Tsunade's office after an hour of stocking up on supplies. Yuuga was being held by Hinata while both shinobi faced the Hokage. Tsunade looked them over before fishing around in one of the drawers in her desk. She tossed a rather large box at Naruto and the blonde scrambled to catch it.

"What's this?" he asked confused.

"Soldier pills," Tsunade answered. "A month's supply; enough to be distributed among several squadrons."

Naruto deposited the box into the bag strapped to his back. Both Hinata and him were briefed once again before being dismissed. As the two made their way outside the village, Naruto paused, pulling out a map. Unwrapping it, he looked over the route that Sasuke had drawn out. "Think we can do this nonstop?" he asked Hinata.

She peeked over his shoulder at the highlighted route and nodded. After the map was safely packed away, both of them took to higher ground, making their way through the trees while the sun started to dip below the horizon.

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Sasuke had no idea how long he was outside of the chamber for until Rio came scurrying down the hallway with a tray of food. The Kappa set the tray down in front of the raven haired man and bowed slightly. "Here is your supper, Sir Sasuke." On the tray was a bowl of miso soup, broiled fish, and a bowl of rice as well as a cup of steaming tea.

Sasuke nodded his thanks and he settled down on the cold concrete floor of the hallway. "Itadakimasu," he mumbled before separating his chopsticks from one another. Rio didn't know what he should do next. He wanted to keep Sasuke company, but wasn't sure how he should do that. He couldn't talk to him; he wouldn't know what to say. And given that Sasuke was generally a quiet person, small talk would surely fail.

Sasuke could sense that the Kappa was feeling quite awkward around him and he mentally sighed. He knew Sakura actually liked the creatures here and she was happy to talk to them or include them whenever she could. "Have you eaten?" he finally asked Rio.

Rio looked dumbfounded for a second before shaking his head no. "We usually eat after the Lady has finished her supper and has retired to her study."

"Aa," Sasuke answered, not sure how to continue the conversation. He finished his food in silence and Rio immediately picked up the tray to carry it upstairs. Sasuke didn't know whether the Kappa was growing on him or if he just saw how hard Rio worked and was somehow affected by it, but he said a small thank you. Rio stammered a bit but acknowledged Sasuke's small gesture before scurrying back up the hallway.

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Sakura felt like her whole body was being burned and all the blazing pain was gathering at that one spot on her body. The symbols Ame-No-Mi Kumari painted onto her skin were turning red and sliding across her body to her side. She wanted to scream out loud at the gruesome burning, but she stopped herself. She gritted her teeth and dug her nails tightly into the palm of her hands, causing blood to appear. She hazily heard Yoko saying that it would be over soon. What the goddess told her would happen paled in comparison to what she was feeling.

Sakura sagged forward at the miniscule relief she felt from not having her whole body feel like it was being torched with endless fire. Suddenly, she gasped silently, arching her back; what was being concentrated on her side was now being pulled out and she felt like it was taking parts of her out as well.

Her fingers dug into the solid ground below her, causing tiny scrapes across the concrete floor. She had experience a number of different pains in her life, but never before had her body felt this kind of pain. Her eyes were tightly shut, but she still felt tears sliding down her cheeks. She couldn't even attempt to open her eyes. All she knew was that she wanted this process to be over with.

After several minutes that felt like eternity to her, there was no more pain. She vaguely heard the goddess say that the process was complete. Tired emerald eyes blinked opened; Sakura looked down at her hands, seeing the blood and scrapes. She wearily lifted her eyes to the three in front of her. Yoko knelt down and offered her a vial of pale blue liquid. "Drink it, it'll help," she said holding it up to the pinkette's lips. Sakura gulped it down.

"Yoko's specialty is in sealings, but she has a knack for herbal medicine and something called nature unity," Umiko explained.

"Oh," Sakura mumbled out, trying to stand up.

Yoko helped her up and allowed the pinkette to lean on her. "I would love to have a conversation with you about it! Maybe we can exchange medicinal notes too!" Sakura gave Yoko a bright smile and nodded.

"Sakura," the goddess called out. The pinkette turned her attention to Ame-No-Mi Kumari. In her hands as a small, glowing blue orb with wave and lotus carvings. "My jewel," she explained.

"That was in me?" Sakura asked and got a nod in response. "Your grandfather wanted it placed inside you. He thought it might have been the safest place to hide it."

'Safe for it, not for me,' the pinkette thought. If people really had known about the jewel, they would have figured it out sooner or later that she had it. And that would spell major trouble for her. 'Tch, safest place my butt. He could have gotten me killed.'

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Nozomu and Kira spent majority of the day wandering around the village looking for Sakura. No one knew the whereabouts of the girl. Everyone they asked responded by saying that she was most likely working a shift in the hospital; but based on what they learned yesterday, the girl was not on hospital duty.

"This is hopeless. We aren't getting anywhere," Kira mumbled, kicking at a stray stone in front of him.

"Hush boy," his uncle said, his tone giving away his frustration at the situation. "It is obvious that she isn't here."

"Maybe she is on a mission?" Kira suggested.

His uncle grunted. "We have to find her."

"What should we do?"

"We will stay for a couple of days," Nozomu stated. "If she comes back into the village, we would surely know."

Kira sighed. This whole thing was becoming tiring. Sure, the whole idea of getting that jewel was great, but his uncle was a bit power-hungry in his opinion. Trying to take over the Shinobi world plus another dimension? Hell, right now all he wanted was that damn bracelet. As long as he had that he would be happy. His uncle could go off by himself trying to rule the world after he got the bracelet for all he cared.

"Can we grab some food?" Kira asked as they passed a nearby stall.

"Fine," his uncle said.

As Kira paid and took the food from the friendly young woman behind the cart, he realized that there was one other thing he wanted in life and that was to find someone he could live out the rest of his days with. His plans were set in stone at this point when he observed a couple several feet in front of him. As he shoved a piece of food in his mouth, he nodded in confirmation. That was the life he wanted; one where he can love and be loved. 'But,' he thought, 'would someone want someone who wants to steal power?'

He glanced at his uncle when he heard him grumbling under his breath and wondered about what made his uncle go rogue and thirsty for power.

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Yuusuke woke up bright and early, just as the city was starting to wake up. He took a few minutes to perform his morning rituals before washing up and heading out the door, on his way to the docking area. As he rounded the corner, he remembered the promise he made to himself yesterday about buying the small koi fish from Sumiko.

As he got closer to the stall, he noticed her setting up the kiln and placing her ceramic items on display. Life in the market was busy, he realized. Everyone was up before the crack of dawn getting ready for the day ahead and for the late hours at night.

"Good day," Yuusuke greeted, finally reaching the stall.

"Oh," Sumiko gasped out startled. "Good day, Monk Yuusuke! How was your stay at the inn?"

"It was well to say the least," he answered. "And please, just call me Yuusuke," he stated. It felt strange hearing her call him 'Monk Yuusuke.' He much preferred for her to just call him Yuusuke.

"Okay, Yuusuke," Sumiko said, flushing slightly.

The monk stared at the small figurines in front of him, looking for the koi fish that was made yesterday. When he spotted it at the far corner of the display, he nodded towards it. "How much?"

Sumiko was a bit surprised that he was buying something. "5-500 yen," she stuttered out. Yuusuke fished around in his pocket for the money and handed the proper amount over to her. Sumiko's hands shook slightly as she accepted the money before wrapping the small figurine in a small white cloth. She handed it over to Yuusuke and he accepted it gratefully, storing it away.

Both stood there in silence for a minute before Yuusuke shifted slightly. Sumiko saw his lips tilt upward slightly in a sort of smile and she slowly smiled back. He bid her farewell, letting her know that he better head over to the merchant he was looking for before the area got too crowded. "Goodbye," Sumiko said watching as he disappeared in the morning crowd. Knowing that she probably won't see him ever again, the girl wistfully started her work for the day.

After leaving the stall Yuusuke headed straight towards the docking area, intent on finding the merchant. His hand reached inside his pocket to fiddle around with the small figurine he just bought. He needed to find the perfect place for the item when he got back home to the temple.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he continued on, his eyes scanning all the stalls. He finally spotted a stall lower down selling items that looked similar to those that the vendor up north was selling. He walked up to the stall and looked around at all the scrolls, jewelry, incense, and other items.

"Can I help you good sir?" asked the person behind the little display case. The man in front of Yuusuke was thin yet lean and tanned with dark brown hair. There was a scar right under his left eye and he had silver earrings in both ears. Tattoos of what appeared to be dragons covered his right arm.

"I am curious about your items," Yuusuke said, gesturing to a painted scroll with several Kappas.

"They are indeed different," the man stated. "Other worldly," he described.

"From another world indeed," Yuusuke stated. "How is it that you have created these with such clarity?"

"I grew up in a village that followed the belief of Shintoism," the vendor said. "Hearing their stories allowed me to form pictures of what these beings look like."

Yuusuke had an instinctive feeling that this man was the one feeding Nozomu information. "And may I ask what this is?" Yuusuke reached out to finger a replica of the jewel that belonged to the goddess.

"Ah, yes. That is a replica of the famous jewel owned by the goddess Ame-No-Mi Kumari. It is said to hold great powers and was made and given to the goddess by her grandfather Izanagi."

Not many people nowadays knew what the jewel looked like. There was once a time when rumors were flying everywhere about its appearance. The only time he saw it was when Kenta came back from his battle in the next dimension. The fact that the vendor had a replica that looked exactly like the jewel from about twenty-two years ago unsettled him. By looking at this man, he could tell there was no way the man was around when Kenta walked through the village wearing the jewel proudly. Furthermore, there was never really a solid record taken of the jewel. The one book he knew of that had any record of the thing would have been dust by now since it was sitting in an abandoned library that was already caving in on itself.

Nozomu must have described the jewel to this man. As Yuusuke's eyes wandered around the stall more, his eyes landed on a bracelet; a bracelet that looked exactly like the one the goddess received from Watatsumi at her coming of age ceremony. Yuusuke knew it then; this was the man he was looking for. The things in this stall could not be so accurate even from hearing hundreds of stories. Every story can be told differently; every creature can be imagined differently. This man had Kappa figurines that looked exactly like how Rio and Yoshie looked, he had replica jewels that looked like the real thing, and countless other items that looked like it came from the other side.

So as not to bring suspicion on himself, Yuusuke bought several scrolls and a Kappa figurine, one that closely resembled Rio. Maybe he would give the small creature the item. He half smiled at that, imagining what would happen. As he left the area, he passed by Sumiko's stall again, but she was busy at work and the other woman that was there yesterday was busy dealing with customers. With one last glance at Sumiko, the monk ran his fingers over the item tucked away in his pocket before walking forward again, starting his journey back to the northern part of the village.

Uh oh, looks like Kira is starting to have some conflicting thoughts.