A/N: Ehrm…uh… Hi? Hehe, I really enjoyed the quotes this time. I mean, the second one is something Sasuke should pay attention to (Kishimoto's Sasuke), you know? Because of his obsession with revenge, he's just gonna die in the end. Preferably by Naruto. (He's not a bad character…but because of recent events, I hate him. Why Sasuke? Such a traitor.) And the first quote: Naruto was strong and didn't let the villagers' contempt for him cloud his judgment. Go Naruto! :P
Disclaimer: -writing in journal- New plan! Kidnap everyone close to Naruto and force him to obey me! Ahahahaha! (calmly ignores voices in head)
Dark Angel: Chapter Twenty-Three
Don't let someone else's opinion of you become your reality. –Les Brown
Holding a grudge is like holding a hot coal, in the end you are the one who gets burned. –Unknown
Ice formed on the tree trunks around them, cold and slick. Some even dared to creep onto the tree limbs, trying to trip any passing shinobi who happened to take that path. But Naruto and Sasuke always avoided them.
However, ice wasn't only in the trees.
If anything, the silence in between them had only decreased in temperature. Not only that, there was something else crackling in the fifty feet of air between them; something more like anger and bloodthirstiness, the desire to kill and revenge. Something that would raise hairs even on the most experienced of ANBU, if only because Naruto and Sasuke were both contributing to this strange feeling. And when a demon puts their heart into something like this, things could get dirty.
Neither was quite sure what had happened between them to make such violent feelings, but something definitely had happened. Whether it was done unconsciously or purposefully remained to be seen, though both suspected that it had something to do with the tense conversation about Itachi they had shared, no matter how brief it had been. And then, of course, Naruto had set the forest of fire, which hadn't helped matters.
The wind brushed its chilly fingers against the back of Naruto's neck, making him shiver and narrowly miss whacking into a low-hanging tree branch. Only his quick reflexes and acrobatic like twist in the air saved him from an icy drop onto the equally cold ground. They were farther north than before, circling around the Land of Fire to the country in which Amegakure resided.
He narrowed his eyes, focusing more on the usually simple task of jumping through trees, as ridiculous as it sounded. Even as a missing-nin, he had never traveled far from the place he once called home. So now, with pine trees pressed tightly together instead of the normal deciduous ones that habited Konoha, and the harsher weather, he felt very small and alone in the woods, even though Sasuke was merely fifty feet away.
The wind picked up in speed again as Naruto caught a flash of black farther ahead in the trees, curving south. They were traveling west in order to circle the Land of Fire's border, and unfortunately Sasuke knew the woods around here better than Naruto, so he'd been forced to let him go ahead.
Naruto copied the other's movements and felt the cold sting his cheek bitterly. At least this warped form of exercise kept him warm, for now at least. If Naruto had had less pride—most of it from the Kyuubi—and been more truthful, he might have called for a break and to find some warmer clothes. But no. Naruto was a man, and men didn't call for breaks to find warmer clothing.
And watch yourself freeze to death. Who's a man then? Nothing but a corpse. The fox's laughter was snide and amused. Naruto could just picture the bored expression that haunted the demon's red eyes. He knew he was bored because for the past hour, the Kyuubi had been bothering him about everything, from the weather to food to his choice of an ally.
Naruto had long since learned that the best way of antagonizing the Kyuubi but stopping the noise was to ignore him. Even though that had the backfire of harsher and harsher insults, at least it was better than answering him and provoking a huge fight that would only lead to Naruto smashing into a tree. And so, he ignored him once again.
Something wet hit Naruto's face suddenly, and he blinked in surprise. It was something cold and wet that melted instantly upon touch. Snow?
As if his thoughts had answered a prayer, thousands upon thousands of snowy white flakes fluttered from the sky, looking eerily like that Akatsuki member's creations. They drifted along the wind, blowing whatever way they pleased, going along with what life had planned for them: a touch and a quick melted death. So much like humans.
A part of Naruto, he was slightly ashamed to admit, was reveling in the newfound snow. It had snowed before, yes, but it was always something so intriguing to him. Why did snow melt so rapidly? Why was it so quick to vanish from the earth? Did it appear once again to fall through the sky for a short life before disappearing? Why was it … so white?
You know, I could say the same things about you humans as you do about snowflakes. To die so easily, so quickly, must be a terrible life indeed… A dark laugh.
And yet, you seem to have no patience at all to spare. Naruto was careful not the think that directly toward the Kyuubi; if he didn't, the fox couldn't catch it. Only by random chance did he actually hear what Naruto was thinking.
Another thing that enraptured him to the delicacy of the white flakes was the contrast it made to red blood.
Naruto had made that particular discovery not so long after leaving Konoha—wasn't it strange how everything seem marked by 'before' and 'after'?—during winter. He'd been fighting one of the hardest opponents he had ever fought, if only because the man had been as tactless as he was clever. There was no predicting his movements; although now, the missing-nin would have been easy prey.
The man had used earth jutsus and taijutsu, cracking up the earth and destroying what little plant life had been left. There had been a cloudy mask over the sky like today, and Naruto remembered how snow had began falling the minute his kunai found itself stilling a beating heart. The white had covered the dirty frozen ground left by their battle, and the man had bled a startling crimson onto the snowy whiteness, blooming like scarlet flowers embroidered on a background of white.
It was a lovely contrast, Naruto had found. A fascinating one.
The snow quickly started falling faster and faster till it near resembled a blizzard, just without the howling winds a snowstorm brought. Naruto's nose felt numb and so did his fingers, though his legs were burning. He had to continually shake snow from his hair.
Naruto squinted his eyes again, trying to make out the black figure that should've been easy to spot against the white. Then again, trees should've been easy to spot, and they certainly weren't.
There! A flash brought his attention to something merely feet ahead of him, and he almost missed a branch in surprise. When had Sasuke gotten so far behind? Was he going slower too? Naruto put a few extra bounds into his jumps, and quickly caught up to the Uchiha. He slanted a gaze at the profile of Sasuke, who did nothing but keep moving. That same cold tension and raging anger swirled between them, unnamed but dangerous nonetheless.
"Are you stopping?" Naruto finally asked. No, damn fox, he was not tired, not hungry, not cold… he wasn't! So why couldn't he stop shivering?
Even the strongest humans fall prey to the claws of illness, the Kyuubi was saying importantly. Heat and cold are no different, brat.
Don't act like you know anything, Naruto snapped back, too tired to realize that he had unconsciously answered the demon fox and broken his promise to himself not to. Oh well.
"We can't waste any time." The words were barely caught by Naruto's still sharper-than-normal ears, and Sasuke pressed on, leaving no choice but for Naruto to follow through the impromptu snowstorm. He prayed internally that he wouldn't develop frostbite and die.
Half a day later—or was it a day? An hour?—anyway, when the sky had grown darker than normal and the snow had stopped, they did too.
Naruto nearly collapsed onto the ground, but managed to keep himself upright. His eyes betrayed none of his fatigue, and neither did his body, but his mind felt the strain very clearly. The distance they had traveled wasn't even close to how far they had that first day, but the snow and the weather had made it so much worse. To top it off, he was utterly and completely lost.
I hate having to rely on someone.
You brought this all onto yourself, the Kyuubi said smugly. Naruto didn't bother to reply, which only goaded another sarcastic remark. Except this one was filled with malice. I promised you power, but you wouldn't even trust me. We could have been great, Naruto. How do you know this Uchiha can give you what I can?
You're making it sound like I did a great wrong. Like I was the one who betrayed you! Naruto's inner voice wasn't angry like the words were. No, instead it was cold and detached, simply delivering ruthless facts.
The Kyuubi just laughed eerily again, the dark sound reverberating around his skull once before it and the fox crept back into the darker corners of his mind. He breathed a silent sigh, opening his eyes from when he'd closed them.
The clearing they'd stopped in was whiter than paper, covered with a sheet of snow and under it, ice, more than six inches deep. It was unmarred by human hands—or feet—and looked like the perfect setting for a perfect story, if only it wasn't late at night, a night so cold even the moon wouldn't venture out from behind its blanket of clouds. Naruto's breaths turned into smoky puffs of vapor the second they left his mouth, and he was sure his cheeks and nose were a rosy red. Unfortunately, they also felt like chunks of ice.
Sasuke, he noted to his somewhat petty satisfaction, also looked as miserable as he did. Even though the Uchiha had a meager, ratty cloak that appeared to offer as much protection as Naruto's jacket did in the biting wind. Naruto smirked, rubbing his hands together as the same wind whipped his cheeks mercilessly, tugging his hair and swirling around his face.
"So, Sasuke, what do we do now? We're stuck in the middle of a snowstorm." His eyes were challenging, but the other didn't back down.
"We get warm. If you don't want to die, that is." Naruto recalled similar words uttered by himself, no less, not so long before. If you don't want to die, you'll hurry up. It reminded him of the almost nostalgic, almost melancholy—almost—days of his long ago Team 7.
Scaredy-cat.
I don't think any of us now are the scaredy-cats, Naruto thought with a sudden rush of hot satisfaction. We both ended up going down similar paths. You finally have to acknowledge me…because I am stronger than you are.
"And then…we keep going." His eyes were unreadable as always. That was one thing that hadn't changed; Naruto still couldn't tell what was going on in that stuck-up, arrogant head of the Uchiha. His own eyes narrowed too as he heard the unspoken challenge that followed any sentence like that: That is…if you can keep up.
Naruto turned abruptly away, not refusing the challenge but not accepting it either. There wasn't exactly a place to get warm out in the frigid night air, among the drifts of snow, so he just leaned against a tree and blew air over his numbing fingers. What he wouldn't do for just one fire. Just one. But he knew it would be a futile thing to ask, because even he, the village's former idiot, knew that lighting a fire would be a dead giveaway to any possible pursuers.
Sasuke didn't move from his spot, choosing to stand in the wind and snow like he was a statue. Did he think he was impervious to nature? Naruto snorted. Sometimes being strong meant showing your weaknesses; it wasn't like shivering once would break his perfect reputation forever.
He turned his eyes up to the stars, hidden behind a thick cover of clouds and darkness. The wind howled, threatening to bring more ice and snow down upon the two figures standing far apart.
Amegakure…
His thoughts turned in the direction of the village they were traveling toward, the one where Pein was rumored to live in. If for no other reason than that, that was why they were going to that village: because if Pein was there, why not the rest of the Akatsuki? And if it was only Pein, Nagato, whichever, at least they could take down one arm of the monster, right? It was a good start for the rest of the destruction.
Naruto's breaths hardly did anything for his fingers, but still he persisted, thinking furiously. Being a missing-nin had required him to do that arduous task more than once to avoid capture and the like. All he could say was that now, he had a new respect for Shikamaru and a new understanding for why the lazy boy was, well, lazy all the time.
After the recent battle that had occurred, all sides of the battle had retreated to lick their wounds and recover. From what little Naruto had heard, the recovery period was about up. He knew Konoha was beginning to send out higher ranked missions again, but nothing was heard from Suna or about the Akatsuki. But based on the information he knew, if Pein was in Amegakure, most likely the rest of the Akatsuki would be too. It would be considered a 'safe spot' to rest.
Naruto felt a grin stretch his lips. Safe spot, indeed. How surprised would they be when they were attacked in their own nest?
See, this was why he liked being the predator so much. The intoxicating feeling of power, strength, to defeat someone and see them dead at your feet… or maybe that was just the Kyuubi speaking. Either way, Naruto knew he wouldn't have changed the path his feet were set on. This would be his—their—biggest heist yet. If only they could pull it off without dying.
The feeling warmed him briefly, and he snapped up, ready to go again. Sasuke watched him impassively before turning and setting off, at another breakneck pace. Naruto caught up quickly and without another word, the two missing-nin set off to Amegakure.
What they didn't know was that Sakura and her team were in Amegakure too. Fate often had the cruelest mind of all, it seemed. Toying with people's lives and feelings like they're nothing; how is that kind? Fate can take away the baby who hasn't even breathed its first breath and break bonds that should've been tied forever. Fate…is cruel. And fate is inescapable, as Naruto would soon learn.
The stone corridor they currently walked upon was creepily like Orochimaru's hideout, but without strange patterns on the walls. There were candles that flickered softly every time a breeze wafted through, turning the walls yellow and orange, and there were the hallways branching off crazily and doorways set into walls at seemingly random places.
Then, there was the smell.
It almost made Sakura want to gag, but she firmly resisted doing so. She had already endured thousands of different smells before, like death and rotting flesh and disease, so how should this be any worse? Except it was. This smell—was like all of the three combined with the sewer, and everything humans threw into it.
Sakura could see that Yamato wasn't enjoying the smell either, but he didn't comment so neither did she. Chiyoko glanced back occasionally as if to make sure they were still following her, and Sai walked silently beside her.
They had walked for about fifteen minutes in the damp, chilly air of the tunnel when the woman stopped unexpectedly in the middle of the hallway. Sakura was quietly relieved; they had turned so many times that she had no way of knowing where they were, and her muscles ached from the fight with the five shinobi. That reminded her suddenly. "Why didn't you bring the corpses? They're still there on the ground."
Chiyoko glanced briefly at her again, eyes unreadable in the shadows, before shrugging and making a series of hand signs before biting her thumb, drawing blood. She slammed it on the wall, not even looking where her hand landed.
"My people will sense that there are corpses. They will go take care of them. It's nothing you need to worry about," she said coolly, obviously unwilling to share any more information than she had to. Chiyoko turned her attention to the wall, where a door had shimmered into existence swiftly and noiselessly.
"Summon a door? Ingenious," Yamato complimented off-handedly, arms crossed. Chiyoko flashed a bright smile, looking for a second eerily like that of a pleased snake.
"Isn't it? I invented it." She twisted the iron knob of the plain black door, pushing it open. It led into another hallway, brighter lit and considerably warmer. This must be where the actual hideout part of this starts, Sakura guessed.
"Although," Chiyoko was saying, "you need to know where the exact place to summon it is, because well, summon the door in a wrong place and you can't open it. There are different doors for different hallways. It's extremely complicated." Her voice and gestures all indicated that she was a smug, proud person, or so thought Sakura.
But just because you're proud doesn't mean you aren't clever. A truly smart shinobi knows that even if you have pride, there comes a time when you must acknowledge others' abilities and even forfeit your own pride. First and foremost… life comes before pride.
Or so Tsunade had said. Sakura was struck with a sudden urge to see her sensei and her familiar words and gestures. The last time they had talked, Sakura had been angry and hurting, agonized over their recent failure.
Now that she thought about it, she'd been angry the time before that, and before that too. When was the last time she had actually talked civilly to Tsunade?
Her eyebrows drew down, hardening her eyes and mouth. She could make amends with Tsunade after this mission, when they returned alive. Not if, when. Sakura had to believe that. But for now, anything not related to Amegakure and their survival must be put aside, for that same survival.
"You can rest in here." Chiyoko's voice brought her back to reality, and she looked up to see the woman leaning against another plain door, nearly blending into the wall. The hallway might be better lit and warmer, but everything was still the same drab color.
The three filed in. It felt like they were prisoners and not guests to Sakura; though, seeing the high-and-mighty look unconcealed in those amber eyes told her maybe she wasn't wrong. After all, if three strangers came to Konoha and asked for information and a place to stay, would she willingly give in? Unlikely.
"We will talk in half an hour." Sakura half-turned to take in the shadowed figure still standing by the door. "I hope you come up with valid reasons as to why you're here, Sai. Think carefully about how much to tell them." Her eyes gleamed once in the dark before the door slammed shut. An ominous click told them that the door was now locked.
Silence reigned for a bit longer before relinquishing its hold to Sai, who fake-smiled and said, "Isn't she a pleasant person?"
Yamato gave a dry half chuckle, lighting the solitary candle by the door, half melted and covered with dried drops of wax. He blew out his handmade match before looking around. "This is a…nice place."
"It could be worse," Sai commented, sitting down on a dirty cot with only a gray comforter to keep away the chill. "We could be still out in the rain, and more ninjas that actually know assassination techniques could be coming after us. Then Pein would find us and we would all be dead—"
"We get it, Sai," Sakura interrupted dryly, shrugging off her rain poncho before shaking out her pink hair, tangled and spiky from the rain. She also tugged off her black gloves, wet material clinging stubbornly to her skin. "Oh, how I hate rain." She flopped down onto the only other bed in the room, leaving Yamato to join Sai.
Yamato laughed again before sobering, looking at Sai, who merely looked innocently back. He narrowed his eyes and Sakura growled faintly, her previous good mood gone in a flash. The irritable, volatile Sakura was by now long familiar. Both of them told Sai without words that now wasn't the time for games. They needed to know anything he knew.
After all, wasn't that what comrades were for?
"You know I cannot tell you everything," Sai said seriously. "That would mean revealing thousands of secrets about Root and Chiyoko and everyone who has ever assisted me, something even without the seal I forbid myself to do." There was no doubt at that moment that Sai didn't have loyalty.
It was just that sometimes, he felt the wrong loyalty to the wrong people…Like everybody else in the word that we could mention. Sakura's eyes traveled to the ceiling, waiting for Sai to start his tale.
And so he did.
"Chiyoko isn't her real name, first of all. She…is a strange woman, governed by strange beliefs." A sarcastic smirk. "Names are sacred to her, but Chiyoko means 'child of a thousand generations', which is fitting. But I suppose before I get into that you need to know about her past, or at least some of it…" He trailed off slightly, probably wondering how much to reveal.
"Was she part of Root with you?" Yamato took the chance to ask, hands held tightly together.
Sai nodded. The shadows from the candlelight flickered strangely across his face, making him almost appear like a grotesque monster for a brief second. "She was. I didn't know her very well then; she was usually secluded from the group, but I know she was strong. I have never seen her in battle, nor do I want to." His eyes narrowed a bit. "Root is different from anything you've ever experienced. We kill others to kill our own emotions, like Kirigakure. And it works. But Chiyoko…she disappeared before she was forced to do that."
"So…is she still normal? With feelings?"
"No," Sai told Sakura. "Chiyoko didn't have any feelings to begin with."
The look on Yamato's and Sakura's faces told him leagues. They clearly were confused and didn't believe him. "It's complicated to explain. But she didn't, and she is powerful because of that. That and the fact that she can make up emotions that she doesn't, in reality, feel."
The other two slowly nodded, processing the information. Sai took the incentive to continue his story.
"She ran away from Root and became a rogue ninja for a while, hunting on her own and attacking villages whenever she pleased. I heard that she had disappeared, but I never knew or bothered to find out why. To me, she was simply a traitor. And she remained like that for a good couple more years until I met you and Naruto." Sai paused for a second. "That's all you really need to know about Chiyoko's past…"
"Wait, how did you meet her again? And why did we have to go to that dango shop?" Yamato asked.
Sai smiled, almost a genuine one. "Weren't you the one who suggested we eat? And also, she used to work there. It was close to the plaza we were in before, with the entrance, and it provided her with a cover that was necessary until she could find enough supporters and a place to call a hideout."
Sakura noticed he didn't answer the first part of Yamato's question, but didn't press it. Background info was always background info—only abilities and current statuses were ever important. Sai would tell them when he was ready to and not before.
"What about her name?" she couldn't help asking. Why child of a thousand generations?
"It is a pun," Sai replied instantly. "Chiyoko doesn't have a kekkai genkai, but she does have a special power that she alone hones and uses. I don't know what it is," he answered quickly, seeing Sakura open her mouth, "and like I said before, I don't want to. Perhaps one or two people have seen it, with her permission, and stayed alive. Usually, you see her technique and that's the last thing you see. All I can tell you about her abilities is that she uses a form of alchemy, or something like what Orochimaru used to use. That's why she collects corpses."
Sakura suppressed a shudder, still unable to conceive why anyone would want corpses of all things. Corpses! Disgusting, dead bodies that only used to contain life, long cold and often rotting. At least, those were the state of the ones brought to her to take care of, usually taken home from a mission. Autopsies were unpleasant work but necessary for a medic-nin like her.
"Child of a thousand generations," Sai was continuing, "means just that. What else I know of her abilities that she's told me is that she is the only one with her power in this generation, but there have been more before her, one for each generation. I'm thinking it isn't a heredity trait; someone probably taught it to her during the years she was a missing-nin. I just don't know who."
"It would help if we knew more information on this technique she uses," Yamato muttered, bringing his still folded hands up under his chin. His elbows rested on his knees that were still damp from the rain; his poncho hadn't stretched that far down. "I'm sure some ANBU probably would have heard of it…"
Sakura closed her eyes, letting the blackness take over for a brief tantalizing bit before letting them blink drearily open again. She sat up, combing her fingers through her hair before focusing chakra to her fingers. "Tell us more after we talk to her. Right now, let me heal our wounds while we come up with a reason why we need her help. Yamato."
Yamato got up and indicated a few bruises. "That's all." She nodded and put her hand over the areas, quickly healing him. They had to be strong for whatever lay in the future.
Sai swallowed, wishing for a glass of water. He didn't ever remember talking that much. Normally, he preferred to stay silent and observant, although this time he hadn't been given a choice in the matter. And now, he would have to talk some more. Was there no more justice left in this world?
"We know why we need her help. We can't get anywhere in Amegakure without being detected except for the underground, and I daresay even Pein doesn't know about Chiyoko. She's lived here for more than five years and has been very careful not to be seen."
"Then what do we tell her? I know, Sai, that she isn't the type of person to just accept an offer for help, selflessly and generously. She's a shrewd person. I can see it in her eyes."
"You can't wrong her for that," Sai said quietly. "Chiyoko is just trying to protect the people that have pledged their lives for her. There are more people here than you know… But you are right, Ugly. She will want a favor in return, or perhaps even more."
Sakura felt a wry little smile twist her lips at the 'nickname' he had so kindly bestowed on her. Something also twisted in her chest as she beckoned him. "Come here, Sai. Let me look at your wounds."
He shook his head, also smiling a tiny smile. "I don't have any. Check yourself, Sakura. It's okay to take care of yourself, you know. Sometimes, there will be someone else watching over you." He watched as Sakura's eyes softened, glowing with a slight warmth that lit the fire back into her eyes, sparking and green. "And don't worry. I'll take care of talking to Chiyoko."
She nodded, looking down and focusing on a cut near her wrist. It was shallow and had long since stopped bleeding, but was still raw and stinging. Her hair shadowed her expression as she whispered, "You changed, Sai. Think of when you were still that annoying Sasuke-kun look-alike, faking a spy and annoying us."
"That's what Beautiful said too," he commented, slightly surprised. It was rare Sakura bestowed praise on anyone. That wasn't to say she was unkind though.
"Although that is still an unfortunate part that you lack." Her eye twitched as she looked back up, something bittersweet and sarcastic brewing in her gaze. "But…thank you."
Sai didn't get a chance to ask what exactly she was thanking him for as the door burst open, right through the lock and the hinges. It collapsed in a cloud of dust on the floor, the boom bouncing off the walls and ringing in their ears. When the dust cleared, it revealed a burly man, dressed in a deep red cloak without sleeves—like a shroud—and a hood covering his eyes and hair. It was all very mysterious, yet none of the three felt any intimidation at all.
The man turned and walked away, still without a word. Sai followed him first, leaving Yamato and Sakura to hurry and catch up before the strange man disappeared entirely.
He led them through another maze of confusing turns and corridors. Sakura guessed that their time was up, and she was right. The man finally stopped in front of two humongous double doors, iron and steel with heavy bolted bars sitting in an X shape across the front. It looked almost too heavy to push open, but the man did so with ease, making Sakura wonder if he too used chakra induced strength to punch and kick.
They were led into a room darker than the still dim hallways outside, spare one torch flickering feebly at the very back of the room. It appropriately silhouetted the almost throne-like chair placed just feet in front of it, situated at the end of another long, narrow, arching stone corridor. It was like this whole thing was made of an endless amount of underground tunnels, Sakura noticed, and it was starting to get on her nerves.
As they got closer, the three Konoha ninja made out a shape sitting on the chair, and without even looking at it they all knew who it was. Chiyoko.
"Hello. I hope you had a long and good chat about me?" Sure enough, the high, haughty voice called, soaring over their heads and grating in Sakura's ears. She just couldn't stand people like this; it was an oddity why she even liked—loved, something whispered in her mind—Uchiha Sasuke in the first place.
But then again, Sasuke…had always been a special case.
"Only if you think we did," Sai answered smoothly, stepping forward in front of them. Almost like he was protecting him, Sakura mused, except she knew that Sai would never try and be that arrogant. Because only arrogant people assumed that others could protect even themselves, and had to go out of their way to do that. It was best to discover self-defense early in the game, or so Sakura had learned.
Chiyoko leaned forward slightly on her chair, hands gripping the sides. Her expression could almost be what you called interest, except that now Sakura knew she was incapable of real expressions, and that made all the difference.
"So what reasons have you come up with?" she asked, bluntly. Her eyes gleamed like an animal's in the dark.
"Your goal … is still the same, isn't it?" The question made Chiyoko arch an eyebrow curiously.
"What of it? You know what it is, Sai." She tapped her finger impatiently on the arm of the chair.
Sakura caught Yamato throwing a sharp glance at the pale-skinned boy before them, and wondered what did Chiyoko mean by that? It sounded terribly, dramatically sinister, like something that would come out of a movie or one of Jiraiya-sennin's romanticized plots. Was there an ulterior motive to this? What did the woman really want? Questions spun in her mind like a whirlpool.
"Very well." Sai didn't even turn to give them a backwards glance as he said, "If you help us get information on Akatsuki, we will help you capture Uzumaki Naruto."
"Are we almost there?"
"Almost, Ino. You know where we are."
"Yeah, but it feels shorter when I ask! Can you blame me?"
"Actually, I can, when you've been asking that question for every minute that's passed."
"Shikamaru, lighten up. You don't have to be so gloomy when we completed the mission!"
"Whose side are you on, Chouji? I'm guessing you'll just want to go celebrated at the Barbe-Q restaurant again?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"Guys, stop fighting! And by the way…are we almost there now?"
Shikamaru sighed exasperatedly, wishing he could spare a hand to rub his forehead. The mission had indeed been successful, although the journey certainly hadn't been easy. The man they were assigned to escort had been more sour than the crankiest old man in Konoha and acted like he was the smartest man to walk the earth. And he'd only been a civilian to boot! The man's personality had roused even Shikamaru's temper more than once, although they'd been forced to keep their anger in check.
He'd thought that the journey back would have been much faster, not having to stop and wait every five minutes for the man to 'take a break' because his back was aching from some unknown ailment, but Ino's questions just made it worse. It should've been an easier journey—at least on the nerves—but no, the world seemed to be against him today.
"Ino—" he began again, when Ino suddenly halted on the branch in front of him. She nearly caused a domino effect when Shikamaru was forced to catapult over her and Chouji. "What was that for?" His voice held that same not-so-rare—at least in recent days—anger.
"Shh," she hissed, turning fierce blue eyes on him. "Don't you hear it? Or feel the chakra?"
Shikamaru frowned, facing the direction they'd been going in and concentrating. Ino was right, to his surprise. In this part of the country, there were still trees that had leaves, spare as they were. Evergreen trees, or something. There was the faintest sound of leaves brushing leaves, almost blending into the wind rustling ahead, but significant enough to stand out. Who could it be? Judging by the chakra, the intruders—three of them—were still a good distance away, but if the sound could reach them here…
Inexperienced, he decided. Not necessarily inexperienced ninjas themselves, but inexperienced in jumping through trees. No Konoha shinobi would make such a racket. That left someone from the other Clans, and as far as he knew, the chunin exams were still a while away.
"Let's get higher," he suggested, thinking furiously. Scouting ahead would be the best idea; the shinobi coming toward them probably wouldn't even hear the scout over the noise they made. Although why were they coming this way? It was toward the border of the Land of Fire. Maybe they were rogues? He narrowed his eyes. "Ino."
The blonde swung her head toward him expectantly. "Yes?"
"Go scout ahead, see who these three ninjas are. After you find out, come straight back."
"Got it!" She jumped off, hiding expertly among the foliage. Soon she was out of sight and out of hearing. Shikamaru sighed again, and Chouji smiled.
"It's tiring to be the leader all the time, isn't it Shikamaru?"
"Yeah, you don't know," Shikamaru muttered, closing his eyes and appearing to the world asleep.
It seemed merely seconds later, Ino had returned, breathing hard. Her eyes glittered with something like excitement, and she quickly blurted her report. "It's Suna-nin! Two men and Temari."
"Temari?" Shikamaru repeated, sitting straight up. Temari had visited Konoha more than once, and he'd gone to Suna before too. They knew each other well, but why would the Kazekage send someone like her out here? And why were they coming from Konoha? He thought quickly. "If it's Temari, then we should be fine. They wouldn't attack us, so let's wait here for them." Chouji and Ino nodded.
A couple minutes later, the three Suna-nin came into view, moving pretty fast for those who were used to sand and not trees. Shikamaru dropped down in front of them, flanked by Ino and Chouji.
Temari didn't look surprised, though her two subordinates did. She stopped somewhat clumsily on a branch but didn't let her landing faze her; instead, she placed a hand condescendingly on the handle of the fan strapped to her back and narrowed cold teal eyes. "Shikamaru, huh? And Ino and Chouji. That's a pleasant surprise."
"Temari, what do you want?" Shikamaru's voice sounded tired, which was no surprise considering the trials he'd been through. "And why are you coming from Konoha?"
"Ha, don't worry," Temari snorted, shaking her head. "We weren't attacking or stealing. Gaara wouldn't dare risk our alliance for something like that. We just made a detour." Her face remained impassive as Shikamaru examined it, trying to determine if she was lying or not, but even he couldn't penetrate the mask. He did notice some other things though.
Temari seemed to be in no pain, which meant Suna had probably recovered from the battle with Akatsuki and Naruto. After all, why shouldn't they? It had been weeks ago, a longer period of time than the small battle the Konoha 10 fought later. If they were out doing missions, why wouldn't Suna? Still…something was off.
"Where are you going then?" he asked, trying to find what he was missing. Because Shikamaru was missing something big, something that felt just out of his reach. Unfortunately, it also looked like Temari wanted to guard that secret.
"When did it become your business?"
"It became my business and Konoha's when you entered our land. We should at least have a right to know why Suna is intruding, alliance or not," he growled.
"We're just carrying out a mission, no different from you," Temari sneered back, acting a lot like the Temari the three had first met in the chunin exams. That Temari had been annoying, and Shikamaru found her no different now.
"Just tell me why you came and then you can go!"
"Be a man and make me," the Suna-nin scoffed.
Chouji butted in momentarily. "That would be ungentlemanly," he called.
"I'm a ninja, not some fragile civilian woman!" Temari snapped, and before Chouji could retort, Shikamaru held up a weary hand.
"Just stop," he said. "If you won't tell me, fine. I'm trusting you that it isn't about our village though. If it was…you won't get away with it." Shikamaru stepped back, allowing free passageway out of the Land of Fire.
Temari looked surprised before quickly covering it up, smirking. "Fine then." She waved to her ninjas, who sprang ahead, still clumsily and haltingly. Ino couldn't suppress a giggle, which only earned her a dark glare from Temari. She prepared to leave before pausing for a second, glancing back for a second.
"I promise we didn't do anything to harm Konoha." There was a strange stress on the last word, and she hesitated again before muttering, "Gaara will be mad…" Temari looked up. "Suna is joining the hunt too."
And then she left, leaves falling in her wake, leaving three very confused shinobi to ponder her words.
They reached the village not half a day later, hurrying instantly to Tsunade's room the moment they arrived.
"Tsunade-sensei!" Ino yelled, banging on the door before barging in. The Hokage looked up from amid two towering stacks of paperwork, not a hair out of place and a pen in her hand. She looked a lot like the Tsunade they used to know, and not like the older and older woman that had been peeking out from the genjutsu recently.
"What is it, Ino?"
"We've returned from our mission," Shikamaru said, pushing his way to the front. He laid the scroll with their mission report on her desk that Chouji had written before stepping back.
"Was it successful?" Tsunade asked absent-mindedly as she scribbled down something else on the paper in front of her before setting it aside and reaching for a new document.
The three nodded…and waited awkwardly, not sure what to say. Ino threw a look at Chouji, who glanced meaningfully at Shikamaru, who shrugged like he was saying, What do you want me to do? Ino then shoved him.
"Why are you still here?" The Hokage looked up, confused. "You're dismissed."
Despite the order, Shikamaru stepped forward again. "Tsunade-sama." She raised an eyebrow, pen still poised above the paper. "We encountered something on our way home." He quickly told her of Temari and her strange words.
Tsunade was silent for a beat after he finished, expression musing. "Suna is joining the hunt too? What does that mean? And why would Gaara be mad about her telling you that?" Shikamaru helplessly shook his head.
"Maybe they're talking about missions or something. Or the chunin exam…?" he suggested.
"Yeah," Ino agreed, "or battles. Like the one with Naruto."
"Naruto!" Tsunade gasped, slamming her hand on her desk. "Hunt: Uzumaki Naruto! I get it." Her eyes hardened suddenly. "So is Gaara saying he's going to hunt for Naruto too? Why wouldn't he want us to know that?" She stared for a moment at her hand while the three younger shinobi before her struggled to sort out her words.
"Tsunade-sama…"
"Go have fun after completing your mission," Tsunade ordered. She sat back down in her desk, eyes still dark with thinking. "Neji and his team are back, and so is Kiba's. They have some interesting news; you might as well catch up."
Shikamaru began backing toward the door, along with Chouji. Ino lingered behind one more second. "What about Sakura?" Her voice was almost fearful, but for what, Shikamaru couldn't guess.
Tsunade didn't look at them as she answered, "I don't know."
They closed the door softly behind them, hearing the sound of glass clinking against wood. Shikamaru feared that they had just reverted Tsunade back to her more depressed self with their news—good or bad waiting to be seen—but what could they have done about it? That was the leader's burden to carry.
He tilted his head, taking in Ino's worried expression and Chouji's, well, hungry one. "Come on. I think we will celebrate tonight, along with our friends. How about it?"
They both agreed, and he even managed to get Ino's eyes to lighten a bit. But as Shikamaru wandered outside into the stormy air, clouds brewing overhead, he remembered Tsunade's words, hopelessness ringing true in every syllable.
I don't know.
If this chapter seems shorter, gomen (my use of my meager Japanese vocabulary right there.) There's more words, I promise… Also note, I don't really know anything about Root… T_T Going off of what I know here, sorry. I wonder if they persecute people who run away? Takigakure = hidden waterfall village.
Oh the joy! I don't have school tomorrow! Or Monday! I will use this time to write…and write some more… *nods* And now, since I wrote what I consider a long a/n in the beginning, I'll stop bothering you guys now. Oh, of course, please review! :)
TBC!