XIII - What to Expect

Two hours passed since Sora and I had parted ways and I began to wonder if my friend had changed his mind about accompanying me on my personal mission to retrieve my Mother's mysterious cache.

To say that I was not a little disappointed would have been a lie. I had originally intended, and wanted, to take this journey alone, yet Sora had convinced me to let him tag along, that it was a good friendship type bonding experience. Of course, I had fallen for it and was now looking forward to sharing the time with him.

Though, admittedly, if it were the case that he had had second thoughts, well I couldn't really blame him for it. This was my journey, my pilgrimage, it held no significance to him, there were no stakes in the end game and he could pass if that's what he chose to do.

As I walked on alone I began to ruminate and overthink things. There could be another explanation for his absence. Like, maybe the head of the Uchiha Clan caught wind of his plans and forbid him to come with me. That was possible. He was supposed to be preparing himself for the final Chunin Exam, training and studying his opponents, not gallivanting through the Forest with his friend. I pondered on that thought for awhile. Yes, it was indeed possible, but knowing Sora, he would have been able to charm his way around that.

My second and more worrisome speculation was that he had run into some trouble on his way back to me. "No." I couldn't think like that. Konoha was safe, peaceful. And he was a Uchiha. He could handle anything that came his way.

Regardless of the scenario, or how much it bothered me that I had yet to see him again, I wasn't going to turn back. This was my chance, my only opportunity to find closure. So, I travelled onwards without my friend.

Of course, I had been completely wrong about Sora. It was about midday when he reappeared, huffing and puffing from the effort of catching up with me. He collapsed dramatically at my feet, held up his index finger in a gesture that suggested he needed a moment and then retrieved his water canteen from his bag.

With just one breath, he chugged a large amount of water before capping his bottle and putting it away.

"I have never moved so fast in my life." He marvelled, seemingly quite proud of himself, then sat up and began rubbing his undoubtedly sore thighs, "How was my timing? Aren't you impressed?"

"Actually, I thought you had changed your mind," I answered with a hint of amusement

"What?!" He blew out a hard breath and crossed his arms over his chest in mock offence, "That had to be a record of some sort."

I chuckled. "Come on. Walking will stop you from cramping up." I offered him my hand, to help him up from the ground and he took it without hesitation, brushing the dirt from his clothes when he was back on his feet.

"We should start heading North soon." Sora advised as we continued on our way, "There should be a path that will take us in that direction not too far ahead."

I nodded my head in agreement, "Did you run into any trouble back in the Village?" I asked.

Sora shook his head, "No. I told my Dad I was going to do some long and strenuous training to prepare for the finals and he was all for it," He winked and nudged my shoulder with his own.

I chuckled again, "We should be able to fit in some training, I know I will need to, so it's not a complete lie."

"Heh. Cool. Maybe we could do some sparring? And... I hope you don't mind but… I did tell the squad what I was actually doing out here… with you. Just in case. They'd definitely notice me missing for two days."

"Mm. I understand. Hiroka said he would send out a search party if I wasn't back before sundown tomorrow so we should be good."

"Ha! I believe it too. You're like his adorable little adoptive son," Sora snorted a laugh.

"Shut up!" I smirked and gave him a friendly punch in the shoulder.

As we walked, we made small talk. Well Sora did most of the chatting while I listened intently, as expected, but he always had a lot of interesting things to say. I asked him about his family - I learned he had a little sister - and he taught me about the history of the Uchiha Clan; the mass murder of their previous generation, their comeback and how so much had changed since then. He thought that, in a way, the Kaguya clan was like the Uchihas. I had never really thought about it, but I supposed he was right. And it gave me a glimmer of hope, that one day I could share a similar story of survival about my clan to future Kaguya's.

Lost in these stories and our general chatter, neither Sora or I had kept track of the hours that passed, or the distance that we had travelled. Time flies when you're having fun. Or something like that. We had almost made it to our final destination! The mountain range pictured in my Mother's drawing, Sora called them the Kona Ranges, loomed in the not too far distance.

"Lake Suwa should be just a little further North from here." Sora explained, "Show me your Mother's map again."

I took out the photo and we both studied the drawing. Sora rubbed his chin in thought.

"It looks like we need to be on the West side of the lake." I said pointing to a small X that was circled on the map.

"Yes, but I still don't know what this is." Sora said, referring to the second smaller drawing in the bottom corner. "Is this related? It looks like a tree. Kind of. More like a tree stump." He tilted his head as if the slight movement and different angle would help him figure it out.

"And those are flowers. Camellias I think. Maybe that's what I need to be looking for when we get to this… general area."

Sora agreed, and we moved on again. The chatting died down the closer we got to the lake. I was starting to get anxious and I was sure Sora could sense my distress. So instead of filling the air with more small talk, he simply took my hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"It's going to be okay."

And then to my confusion, he linked his fingers with mine. He offered me a reassuring grin as I looked down at our combined hands. It was both a peculiar and surprisingly comforting sensation. I had never held someone's hand before.

"I know." I smiled appreciatively up at him.

We reached the lake a half hour later and immediately I knew we were in the right place. I stopped suddenly, causing my companion to stumble a few steps backwards from my abrupt anchoring.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Sora asked.

"Do you feel that?" A slight shiver travelled the length of my spine and the hairs on my arms stood on end.

"Feel what?" He gave me a puzzled look.

"Chakra."

"Really? There's no one else around. You sure?"

"I'm sure. It's… Come on." I released his hand and took off at a sprint. Sora tailed me, close on my heels as we veered off the main path and onto uncharted ground.

Lake Suwa was small, for a lake, and we navigated the South side quickly, expertly leaping between trees and traversing rocky outcrops until we pulled up on the Western bank where the Chakra energy seemed to be increasing in strength.

"I feel it now. It's so concentrated." Sora turned his head slowly from side to side, trying to decipher the energy and locate its position, "It's stationary… Kimimaro, do you think..."

My stomach immediately began to churn with butterflies. "Yes. This is my mother's doing. This is her chakra. I would recognize it anywhere." I swallowed hard, trying to settle the turbulence inside me but my heart only joined in on the anxiety party and it began beating faster and faster.

"Find the source of the chakra, find your mother's hidden… whatever it is." Sora added.

I closed my eyes and took a deep calming breath. It was here, I just needed to pinpoint the bearing. I cleared my mind and focused on the flow of energy that seemed to be reaching out to me, beckoning me.

My eyes snapped open. "This way!"

We both took off again.

I knew the very minute that I found the right location, my gaze zeroing in on a broken tree, it's stump was partially covered by the trunk where it had fallen, and the immediate area was scattered with white camellia bushes. Just like the drawing.

This was it!

The stump where the chakra energy seemed to be the strongest was solid all the way around, no hollows or holes where things could be easily hidden, and the ground was hard and covered with a fine layer of green moss at the roots. I lowered myself down into a squat and peaked into the small space where the trunk still connected with the stump. It was littered with a layer of decomposing foliage and loose leaves but among the debris there was something there, the corner of something just barely breached the surface of soil.

"Is that it?" Sora asked from behind me.

I nodded and looked back at him over my shoulder. "It has to be."

I carefully dropped down onto my knees and I brushed away the junk, until the dirt was exposed and there! The corner of a metal tin box was clearly visible. I sucked in a small breath, gasping with realization.

'I have found you."I whispered to myself, a small smile tugging at the corner on my lips.

Almost frantically, I dug around in the dirt to try and free the box from the ground. The soil was dense and moist, untouched for years, probably not disturbed since my mother was last there, but I was able to pull it free.

The box radiated energy, almost humming with it.

"What are you?" I muttered, turning the box from one side to the other. I could hear something, or somethings, moving around on the inside.

"What do you think is in there?" Sora asked peeking over my shoulder.

It was a fairly small container, maybe the size of a lunch-box, it couldn't hold much… And it was rusted all over. But luckily it was completely in tact, no holes or cracks, so the contents inside should have been safe and secure.

"I don't know. But we're going to find out."

I tried to pry the lid open with my fingers, but it wouldn't budge, not even a little bit. it had been sealed shut from an extended period in the natural elements and was not giving at all.

"Try this," Sora offered me one of his kunai, "There should be a weak spot between the box and the lid."

I shuffled on my knees, turning around to face my friend and I took the knife from him, "Thanks," I held the box firmly to the ground while I pressed the sharp tip of the kunai against the seam.

"Please don't break," I gulped, and then with as much force as I could muster, I drove the kunai down into it.

"Shit!" Sora ducked just in time, falling to the ground as the kunai deflected off the box and flew from my hand, almost striking him. "What the heck?"

I looked down, dumbfounded. The box had hissed as it rejected the intended damage. "It must be some kind of magical seal…" I thought.

"Kimimaro? What…"

"It's a sealing Jutsu." And I knew what to do!

I placed the box back down on the ground and then lifted my hand, forming the sign of unbinding, "Release!"

There was a faint click and the lid popped up, just slightly, enough that I could remove it without any force.

"Nice!" Sora cheered and leaned closer.

I sucked in a breath, holding it with anticipation as I carefully removed the lid...