White Rose

I don't know why, but I kinda had a real hard time writing this chapter. Nevertheless I gave my best to upload it this weekend just for you guys =D I hope to positively surprise you with the happenings in this chapter ^^

Thank you to the people who reviewed the last chapter: katarauchiha653719, Animestar001, darkheart1992 and aquamarine-acaia

The next thank you goes to bluevamp, enapets21 and dedichan for adding this story to their favorites

Another thank you goes to MmUuSsIiCc for story alerting this ^^

SPOILERWARNING: Some happenings from Naruto Shippuuden are mentioned in this chapter. I've warned you ^^

Rates and especially reviews are highly welcome and keep me motivated to develop this story, don't forget that you don't need an account to do so

Last but not least: Have fun

I do not own Naruto

Story

Author's commentary/Yelling

Thoughts/Dreams/Memories

Preparations

Smoke spread through the bathroom as Bara performed the summoning Jutsu. Now she realized that it had been a really bad idea to close the window. Sitting straight she looked at the shadow hidden by smoke. Was this correct? Had she successfully summoned the king of her desired species?

She focused at the shadow in front of her. The smoke was hardly moving so she could see almost nothing. The girl gulped. She wasn't sure if she had summoned the right being. It seemed bigger than her. Whispering she tried to let it know, that she was there: "I have summoned you. Please conceal your chakra and speak low. I need this to stay a secret. I will clear things up later."

Suddenly she could hear a growl coming from the summoned being and it sounded quite irked. Slowly she could see more. Big claws sharp as a knife were attached to the creature's feet, deadly fangs could be seen in its mouth and the eyes of a ferocious killer stared into her direction. It looked like this animal wasn't what she had been after.

'Oh shit... oh shit... oh shit... ', Bara was afraid of the creature in front of her. Slowly she inched away from the figure in the smoke, 'I think this was a bad idea... ', her heart started to race.

The animal approached her while she backed away. Suddenly her back hit the bathroom door and the creature came very close. Swinging its tail from one side to the other it started to sniff at her. This looked bad. This looked really bad! What the hell had she gotten herself into and how was she to get out of it?! Well, at least it couldn't get any worse, could it? After all the creature seemed more or less calm.

A knock occurred from the bathroom door, the beast's eyes shifted to the sound. Okay, it just got worse! The animal looked like its attitude was changing to a more unpleasant one.

"Are you alright in there?", dog's damped voice came through the door while the beast let out a low grunt.

The ferocious eyes moved back to the now shaking girl. It seemed like it was waiting for her to do something.

"Can you hear me? Are you okay?", dog knocked again at the door.

Bara realized that the beast wanted her to answer: "I-I can hear you. I-I'm perfectly fine! P-Please don't come in", her heart took up the pace, Bara was panicking. She was afraid that the animal would kill her if she did anything wrong.

"Are you sure? You've been in there for quite a while now. Your meal has arrived."

She locked gazes with the beast, trying to read its thoughts: "Oh, r-really? I-I guess I got lost in m-my thoughts. D-Don't bother. I'll come o-out in a few minutes. I-I'm really hungry."

"Okay", dog seemed to walk away. Luckily her stuttering hadn't attracted unwanted attention since she would have stuttered anyway when talking to him. The bathroom incident with dog had most probably saved her life now.

As the Anbu was gone the beast walked away from her, giving her back her some room to breathe. Disbelievingly she watched the animal sit down across from her, looking at all the things she had spread through the bathroom. "So you have summoned me?", it whispered while grabbing one of her notes, reading through it.

The sudden sound of the beast's voice had startled her: "Y-Y-Yes... "

"Calm down, I won't kill you... ", it continued reading through her note.

Her eyes widened, staring at the creature. As she slowly calmed down she noticed that the beast in front of her actually looked... civilized... The smoke was nearly gone now and she could finally see what she had summoned: "You are a... Are you the-? Erm... ", her fear had ceased but somehow she couldn't think of the right words. She didn't want to appear rude if she really had summoned a king to her. Judging by the voice and the look she had assumed that the creature was a male.

"Maybe we should introduce each other... ", he put the piece of paper away and looked at her.

"My name is Bara... ", she gave him a short nod.

"Pleased to meet you... I am Enkou o Enma, king of monkeys. Feel free to call me Enma", he eyed her carefully, "Now to the reason why you have called upon me... "

"Could we possibly discuss this somewhere else?", Bara looked nervously at the door she was leaning on, "I don't want to get caught. Please?"

"As you wish... ", he stood up.

The girl stood up herself with a little problems and started to gather all the notes. Afterwards she opened the window, letting the remaining smoke and steam leave the room. Standing in front of the window she ignited a flame in her hands, making her notes turn to ash. Enma looked surprised but didn't stop her.

"I don't know if this is appropriate, but could you please help me leave this place? I'm injured and we have to leave through the window... ", she looked at the floor where she had drawn that picture. Luckily the ink had been consumed by the Jutsu, leaving the floor tiles clean.

He just nodded and let out a low grunt. Then he walked to the window and offered her his back: "Get on... "

"A second... ", quickly she concealed her chakra and performed a number of hand seals, calling upon a shadow clone. The clone waited for her sign to follow the first part of her plan while Bara got onto his back.

"Now where do we go?", he stared at the roofs of the village in front of him.

Bara stretched out her hand and pointed to a balcony high above any other: "Can you get us up there?"

"Yes. Are you ready?", he jumped up the window ledge.

"I'm ready... ", she took a last glance at her clone, giving her okay.

"Hold on tight then", the beast jumped away, leaving Bara's shadow clone behind.

The Kage Bunshin undressed and jumped under the shower before turning the water off. To make her plan look believable she had to take care that every detail was right. The Anbu weren't dim, she knew that. They would notice every detail that wasn't correct if she made a mistake. Her clone had to act as natural as possible. Luckily that wouldn't be too hard. After all, her clone was nearly a hundred percent her. A living, thinking being.

Suddenly another knock occurred from the bathroom door. Drying and dressing herself she went to the door and unlocked it. With a towel on her head she greeted dog: "I-I'm done... "

"Your meal is getting cold... ", it seemed that he hadn't noticed what had happened in the bathroom not too long ago...

About ten minutes later Enma and Bara had arrived on the balcony. She got off his back and carefully scanned the apartment for any other being. Just as she had expected. No one was around. "It's clear. Let's get in... ", she turned to her new companion, opening the balcony door for both of them, "We can talk freely here."

Taking a step to the side she made way for the beast to enter the apartment before her: "Thank you for bringing me here, Enma."

"No problem.. ", he went down on all four and walked into the apartment, "Is this yours?"

The girl smiled: "Not exactly, but normally I do live here... ", she followed after him, closing the balcony door.

"Now tell me... What is the reason for my summoning?", he walked through the apartment, searching for a place to make himself more or less comfortable.

"I seek your help... And maybe a chance to sign the contract for summoning your species... ", limping she followed him. Enma wasn't what she had wanted to summon, but beggars can't be choosers. Even if this wasn't what she had wanted, she knew that his help would do her good no matter what.

Enma had found his way to the living room and jumped on the couch: "It is my decision if I let you sign the contract or not... I guess you know that", he lay down.

"I am fully aware of that fact... ", her eyes stared to the ground.

"Then you should also know that I can't make this decision lightly. After all I would entrust my whole kind to you... ", Enma sat up again, "I want you to tell me for what reason you need my help and why you fled from the hospital... "

"I want to save the person I treasure the most, but since I'm injured I would have a hard time doing that on my own. It wouldn't be a good idea to go alone after him anyway... My friends wouldn't let me leave the bed even if I feel fine. They would try and stop me from this if they knew about it, but... ", Bara took a deep breath of air, "I just can't do what they have asked me to. I can't stay still and do absolutely nothing when the person I love is in danger. Besides of that I know that the whole village needs him... He is the Kazekage and I can't look at the faces of suffering villagers... He has always protected us and to accomplish that he would have given his life... "

Enma watched her slowly going down on her knees.

"He is a good person. He has done very much for the village... and for me... I believe that I, as a part of this village and as his friend, have to go and at least try to help him. I wish to free him. Wherever he might have been taken. Whoever his kidnappers might be... How small the chances to save him might be... I will go under any circumstances. Even if I am injured, even if you reject my request... I will go no matter what... ", slowly she bowed her head to the ground, "Nevertheless I beg for your help and the help of your kind. I beg for your help because it will increase my chances on saving him... ", tears trickled onto the floor, "I bow my head in respect of you for listening to what I had to say. For that I thank you... Please... Please accept my request... Help me... "

The monkey slowly got off the couch, staring at the girl in front of him. After a few minutes of silence he patted her head, ruffling her hair.

Bara squealed surprised: "EH?!"

"You can stop bowing like that... ", he pulled the girl onto her feet, "Aren't you a bit too young to love that bastard of a man? And as far as I remember he is married and has three children... And that attack he directed on Konoha... ", snarling he seemed to contemplate something.

"You're talking about the fourth Kazekage. He is dead for over two years now... At least that is what I was told... ", she wiped away her tears, "I'm talking about the Fifth, Gaara... But I wonder why the attack on Konoha would bother you... "

"The fourth is dead?... ", the monkey looked disbelievingly at her.

Bara nodded: "It was his own fault for accepting the dirty deal he was given... The man who had offered the deal killed the Fourth... That's what Gaara said... Hm... Now that I think of it... I was never told the name of that man... "

"I know his name... It's Orochimaru... ", Enma's voice sounded sinister.

The girl froze, all color leaving her face. Her eyes widened in fear while she started shaking uncontrollably. Just the mentioning of this name was enough to wreck her nerves, but why? She didn't know who this man was or what he had done, did she? She couldn't remember this man, but somehow her heart seemed to know him, making her cringe and shake in endless fear.

After a while the monkey kings voice ripped her out of that state: "The last time I was summoned was when that bastard attacked Konoha together with Suna shinobi... Old Sarutobi was the last person to sign my contract... ", he pulled out a Konoha headband, looking at it.

"Asuma Sarutobi? I know him. He saved my life once... "

"Not Asuma, little girl. Hiruzen, his father, the third Hokage. Hiruzen Sarutobi was the last name on the contract... You remind me of him... "

"I see... ", she didn't know that Asuma was the son of the third Hokage, but she just never asked. Looking at the monkey in front of her she could see remorse and sadness in his face. Enma and Hiruzen must have known each other for a long time. Most probably they had been friends. The look on his face made her want to comfort him even though she hardly knew him...

"May I have that for a second?", she pointed at his headband. Willingly he gave her the item. Bara looked at it, running her fingers over the metal: "I guess that you don't know much about what happened during the past years... Konoha and Suna are allies and live together in peace. They even help each other. The fifth Hokage was inaugurated. She is a woman named Tsunade and from what I heard a good leader. Gaara, the fifth Kazekage has managed to make everything better for the villagers and shinobi of Sunagakure. He is a good and responsible leader even though he is barely fifteen years old... I know that many bad things have happened, but we still achieved a better future which is now our present... ", with a soft smile she tied the headband to his forehead, "Don't worry too much about the past, because it will only stop you from living in the present. And if you don't live in the present you can't work for a better future. That's what I can tell you", she gave him a short hug and smiled.

"Wise words for-"

"Someone as young as me?", she giggled, "I've already heard that. Sorry for interrupting though... I should be packing and preparing now. I still need a plan to get out of the village secretly. Feel free to stay or leave", the girl bowed, turned and wanted to leave as Enma stopped her.

"Do you still want my help?"

She smiled: "I'd be honored... ", Enma hadn't been her first choice, but now she had a feeling that he could be a really good companion. Maybe he was a blessing in disguise...

"I decided to accept your request, you may sign the contract... ", he pulled out a small scroll from under his tiger skin vest, "Let me just summon Masao. He is taking care of the contract... This might take a minute or two... It's been too long since I've been summoned to negotiate a contract..."

He opened the scroll and skipped through some of it's contents. After a while he placed the scroll on the ground and rolled it out. A second later a puff of smoke came from the scroll, revealing a baboon. The animal was about Bara's size and looked just as ferocious as Enma. He was dressed quite similar to his king but carried a large scroll on the back.

The baboon yawned, displaying his big and sharp teeth: "So there is finally some work to do, ey? I was just asking myself if I should keep this scroll or not... "

"Just keep following my orders and we'll be fine, Masao. Give me the contract... ", Enma reached out his hand, waiting for the item.

The baboon chuckled: "You know I'm just kidding... ", he handed over the scroll before looking at the girl, "So this is our new friend? I've never seen you allow someone so young to sign the contract... "

"That is none of your business, Masao. I am your king and I make the decision... ", he turned to Bara. Placing the scroll on the next best table he opened it, revealing a list of names: "Here", he pointed to an empty space in the list, "You sign your name and leave your fingerprints with your blood."

"Is it important to sign with the name I was born?", she created a small blade of ice.

"Why are you asking?", Enma spoke.

"I suffer of amnesia. I don't remember anything that happened before I was eleven. I have only one hint to my family and that is something like a tattoo on my ankle... "

"Then draw that tattoo and leave your fingerprints. That should work as well", Masao had walked up to the others.

Bara cut her thumb and spread blood on her palm. Then she proceeded as she had been told, leaving a picture of her tattoo and her fingerprints in blood on the paper.

"Well done", the girl was finally finished, "I'll take this again", the baboon took and sealed the scroll again, "I guess you won't need me anymore so I'll be going. I'll take care that the others are informed", he waved and disappeared again in a puff of smoke.

"Are we finished now?", Bara looked at the cut in her finger. It was nearly done with healing, her self-healing process looked like it was slowly working again.

"Not yet. I want you to summon one of my kind. It's better to take care that you can summon at least one of my species before we leave. If you should ever get into trouble when I'm not around that should come in handy."

"Are you going to leave me after that?", she looked a bit afraid.

"I'll stay with you for now but I'm pretty sure that you won't be able to summon me without some practice. Since you said that you have little time now you won't get a chance to train for now. But if you are able to summon at least one monkey, he will be able to help you. He can give you support in combat, help you with practicing or carry on messages for you. But you can talk about that to the monkey you have summoned then. It's better to check now if you can handle the absolute basic of summoning... Now you need to sacrifice a bit of blood to summon a living creature. Spread the blood on your palm and press it against a wall, the floor or something else. Then you gather your chakra in your palm and call upon the living creature you wish to see. I think you get the idea since you have managed to summon me with the Kokuo Kuchiyose no Jutsu. Now go on and try... "

Again Bara did as she was told, pressing her palm onto the table. Out of the summoning smoke appeared a six inch small, cute and brown monkey. It was a pygmy Marmoset. Curiously it waggled it's tail while looking around and giving away squeaky sounds.

"Should I have used more chakra?... ", somehow she felt embarrassed.

"You did just as I expected, but I guess this will do until you can get some practice. You have summoned Masaki. She might be small, but don't you underestimate her. Even if she can't talk the human language she does understand everything you say. She moves very fast and swiftly without being detected by anyone... ", the small monkey climbed Bara's shoulder, "She seems to like you. You can use her as a messenger, spy or to fetch you the keys for your handcuffs if you get caught. You get the idea... Maybe we can practice on our way to that guy you want to save a little more. Anyway I'll explain you the different types of saru-nin you can summon on the way", he sighed, "For now we need to prepare for the journey and find a way out of this village, is that right?"

"That's correct... ", she patted Masaki's head and the little monkey liked it, "I know that a team from Konoha is already on it's way to Gaara and I planned to catch up and join them. I have a way to find them so don't bother that. Our biggest issue is to leave Suna without anybody noticing. I know that they will notice as soon as my clone disappears and that will happen as soon as we leave the desert. I can't keep the shadow clone over a longer distance than that", suddenly her stomach growled. Blushing she held her stomach, that had been embarrassing.

"You're hungry?", Enma tilted his head to the side.

"I haven't eaten since this noon... That was over seven hours ago... Can I offer you something while I'm at it?", she walked into the kitchen. Luckily there was still enough food left there.

"Sure... Masaki you can leave now", the little monkey squeaked and climbed Bara's head before disappearing again in a puff of smoke.

Together they ate something while talking about a way to get out of the village. Afterwards they packed food for their journey. Bara changed her clothes and was now wearing her combat attire. She even tied her Suna band to her upper arm so she wouldn't get mistaken for a missing nin. As she was packing everything else she needed, she noticed that something was missing. She couldn't find her weapon. But where had she left it?!

A few seconds later it dawned to her that the staff must have been left in the flower shop since that incident: "Enma, I need to go to my workplace. I think my weapon is there. Unfortunately it's in the middle of the village and everybody would see us. I can use Henge to disguise myself but I don't know how to get you there... "

"Don't worry about that. I'm a master of Henge. I can disguise myself too. We can go to your workplace and proceed immediately with leaving."

"Then that's what we'll do!", she gave him a determined smile, "Let's go!"

Bara grabbed her backpack and climbed Enma's back. The monkey king swiftly jumped off the balcony to some rooftops, landing in a dark alley not too far away from Chiyo's flower shop. There they both disguised themselves as normal citizens of Sunagakure. They had the image of some random people they had passed by not too long ago.

Casually they walked and limped to the back entrance of the flower shop. Unfortunately the door was locked and Bara's keys were also inside of the building.

"Sorry Chiyo-sama, but it's for a good reason", the girl pushed some water into the lock and let it freeze there. Within seconds the lock was broken and they could enter the building, "Wait a minute or two, I should find it pretty fast", the monkey grunted approvingly.

It took Bara about fifteen minutes to find her staff and secure it in her belt: "Got it! Let's head out."

Five minutes later both of them stood not too far away from the north exit of the village, watching the guards. Since the night had fallen a while ago they could hide quite well. Back in Gaara's apartment they had discussed different tactics how to get past the guards, but hardly one of them seemed to fit the situation. On the other side they couldn't turn back now either. How the hell were they to get out of the village?!...

Geez! If it isn't an old acquaintance of ours? Who would have thought to see Enma once again?^^

But how the hell are they going to get out of there? I have a really bad feeling about this...

By the way – If you wonder what exactly a pygmy Marmoset is, just go to wikipedia or google it, thank you ;D

Sneak Preview:

Bara: RUN!

Enma: Don't have to tell me that twice...

And PLEASE, PLEASE review my dear readers =D