Author's notes: I suppose I actually don't have an excuse for getting these posted on time, except that you tend to forget when you're writing. I'm writing a book right now, and fyi it's a lot better then this. This was the warm up.

Disclaimer: look at any chapter

Chapter 36 Travel

When Zev woke up, it was morning. He began to sit up but he felt Leta's hand against his chest, "Don't sit up…"

"I'm fine," Zev said sitting up anyways. He had a pounding headache and his body screamed at him to lie down. He stood up rather shaky, "I'll be fine," he said correcting himself.

Leta stood up as well, "But Zev…" she started.

Zev put a hand up to his temple. He began sending his chakra through his hand, "It's okay, we need to get going," he stopped and looked at his hand.

Osona saw Zev look at his hand slightly confused, "What is it, Zev?"

"I- I- I'm not sure… I just did something that I normally wouldn't do because it pushed me to my limit quickly, but I did it without thinking."

"What?" Utsuha asked, "I've seen you do that before, with Leta when she was sick."

Zev shook his head, "That was a lot different. Then I channeled my chakra through her body and back to mine as a steady flow. This is different. By rapidly starting and stopping chakra flow from my hand to my head, I can level the chemicals in the brain. Therefore, curing headaches, or other things that are affected by odd chemical balances, but it uses a lot of mental energy to do it. It would push me to my limit before, so I rarely used it. I used it on Emiko once. Then I nearly passed out from that amount energy spent. You wouldn't think it used so much energy, but." he trailed off as he continued looking at his hand.

Well, I've gotten stronger so you must have too, so maybe your limit increased.

Leta shook her head, Zev, I used my byakugan to watch you when you passed out, your chakra flow was different last night. I think you still have some remnants of the effects of the curse mark, she grabbed Zev's hand, "It scared me…"

Kuro looked at Leta, he had heard her thoughts, You should have told me about that.

It was like a portion of your chakra was released. When I look at people with my byakugan, I can see the keirakukei, there's a part of the body where we store our chakra. Yours last night was many times bigger.

"It's okay, I know what happened," Zev said calming Leta down, "It's nothing life threatening or anything like, actually it's just the opposite."

Osona nodded seeing whatever they had been doing was settled, "Okay then, let's get going then."

Everyone nodded. Kuro let Leta get on his back. Zev walked along side Kuro. Utsuha ran up to Kuro and asked, "Any chance I can strap my sword to your back?"

"What am I am a pack mule? Yeah sure, go ahead."

"Thanks!" Utsuha said as he strapped the massive sword onto Kuro.

After a week of traveling, everyone except Zev and Osona were tired, "Are we there yet?" Utsuha asked.

"No for the last time! When we get there you'll know!" Osona shouted at the Uchiha.

Utsuha asked, "Oh yeah how?"

Zev said from the rock on the hill in front of them, "Come here and you'll see."

Leta was on Kuro's back getting off when Utsuha ran up, "Is that it?"

"Yes, that castle is a lot larger than it looks from here," Zev said pointing at the castle on the side of a mountain. It was only visible because of its spires being outlined by the blue sky. There was a valley in between them and the mountain with a river flowing through it, "I think we have about a five day journey before we get there. But I got an idea on how to get there quicker."

"Really how?" Utsuha asked.

There was a quick movement from behind Zev. Someone attacked Zev with a sword, "Zev!" Leta shouted. She was relieved when a log took his place.

The attacker looked around, "There goes the element of surprise."

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Utsuha said as he began to rush the ninja.

"Don't interfere!" Kuro said stepping in between Utsuha and the attacker.

"Zev didn't talk about me? That hurts!"

The man fell flat on his face, Zev held his sword at his neck, "Yield."

"This makes fifty to forty-nine, your lead."

Zev let him get up, "One-hundred-fifty, to one-hundred-forty-nine," he corrected, "You got a new sword I see."

"Yea, I forged it myself, it's awesome."

"A new sword isn't enough to take me down, Noriko."

Noriko held up the sword. It covered his arm like his old one, but this was grey and it had a flat blade which had several teeth like projections on it, "That's not what I meant," Noriko said as the blade dissipated into a black mist, which revealed that his arm was covered with markings to summon the sword.

Utsuha's curiosity was spiked, "Whoa! How'd you do that?"

Noriko looked at Utsuha, "While the sword is forged, various spells and katas are weaved into it as well as the user's chakra. By the way, who are you?"

Zev spoke up, "Noriko, this Utsuha," he then waved at Osona, "Osona, my sensei," then he held Leta's hand, "and Leta. Everyone this is Noriko, a friend," then he asked Noriko, "One, how'd you find us? And two, where did you learn how to forge that sword?"

"I got back to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, thanks to Sahlhi and Ai, and the Hokage told me where you went. As for the sword, I learned how to do it by listening to Orochimaru and Lobo talk about forging a sword. Lobo's forging his own sword."

Zev nodded, "I guess that means I need a new sword like that as well."

"Well, eventually. In the mean time you should finish this mission before worrying about that."

"Oh, yea!" Utsuha said, "What was that you said about cutting the travel time?"

Zev pointed at the river, "If we can find something to hold our weight we could use my Fuubakun no jutsu or Kuro's wind to propel ourselves along the river."

"Of course now that I'm here we can just create a tsunami, right?"

"I think that might be over doing it a little."

"Maybe a little…"

Zev shook his head, "Anyways, we can't really think about that until we get down there so let's go."

Utsuha led the way, and Noriko followed. Zev held on to Leta's hand as they walked down. Osona followed closely behind, "This is turning out to be quite a group," she said to no one in particular.

When they neared the bottom of the valley, they could see a dock with a small boat tied to it. When they neared, Noriko said, "Something's wrong…" he formed a seal and closed his eyes, "I…don't… see anything…."

Utsuha said sarcastically, "I wonder if that's because your eyes are closed."

Leta activated her byakugan, "Neither do I…" she said quietly while searching for an aura.

Zev walked out on the boat, "Hey, I think I found out why."

Noriko walked out onto the boat and looked at what Zev was talking about, "Whoa Shit!" he said jumping back and unceremoniously falling off the boat.

"Well we found a means of transportation… the owner won't be complaining…"

Osona now walked out as well. She covered her mouth when she saw what had freaked Noriko out. The man was pinned against the wall with a sword through his heart. The blood on the wall had dried. He was long dead, "What should we do with him?"

Noriko got back on the boat, "Well first, should we let Leta and Utsuha see this?"

Osona shook her head, "Utsuha, yes, but not Leta. Zev go back and make sure Leta doesn't see the body. Tell Utsuha to get out here though."

Zev nodded and walked to the others, "What's going on?" Utsuha asked.

"Go out there, they need your help," Leta moved as well, "Leta, you shouldn't see this. Let's go."

He wrapped an arm around her and led her away, "What… happened?" she asked.

Zev sighed, "I don't know, but the owner of the boat was murdered," Leta's eyes went wide and she looked back. She only saw a glimpse of the body before Zev stepped in front of her, "Osona and I both think you shouldn't see this Leta."

Leta turned away from the boat, "Y-y- you're right," she said grabbing onto Zev.

Before long they were on the boat. Kuro used one of his howls to get them going. Leta sat next to Zev in the front of the small boat. She glanced at the blood stain on the wall and shuddered. Even that small glimpse of the corpse had freaked her out. She held onto Zev and buried her head in his chest.

Everyone was silent. The grim discovery had dampened everyone's mood. Utsuha walked up from under the deck of the boat, "Hey, look at what I found!" Leta looked up at Utsuha to see him putting a fish in his mouth. There was a whistle of air and Utsuha bit his finger, "Ouch! What the-?" He looked at the blood stained wall and the fish was pinned to it with a senbon.

"Careful! You have no idea whether or not that's poisoned. Someone killed the boat's owner, yet left valuable things behind. We don't know why they did that. That's not something you should risk."

Utsuha sat down and sighed, "I can't wait till we finish this mission."

Osona spoke up, "That might be a while… the Hokage said this could last the whole of the winter season."

Utsuha glared at Osona, "You really know how to bring somebody down."

Osona laughed, "I'll make it up to you if you give me the negatives."

Utsuha shook his head and ducked as Osona threw several random things from her bag at him. Noriko sighed, ignoring the fight breaking out, "Are you sure I can't just make a tsunami?"

"No. N-O okay? " Zev said promptly, "Besides I doubt this boat could take it."

"Fine, but it will be quicker."

"Still, I'd prefer to be in one piece when we get there."

Noriko was about to argue when he noticed Zev was somewhat upset. Noriko used the jutsu menokokoro no jutsu to look into Zev's heart. Besides what he saw in Leta, and the ties connecting her and Zev, he was surprised to find that there were two different hearts in Zev. One was in complete turmoil, the other was in a somewhat better state. Noriko stood up and walked over to the couple, "Leta, I need to borrow Zev."

Leta was reluctant to let go. Zev spoke up, "What is it?"

"I need to talk to you about something."

"You can talk to both of us," Zev said simply, not meaning any disrespect.

Noriko shook his head, "You should hear this first before Leta."

Zev sighed, "Sorry Leta," he stood up and walked with Noriko to the other side of the boat.

"Zev, why'd you cut yourself off from your emotions again?"

"Why did you look?"

"Because you seemed a little upset."

Zev shook his head, "Curiosity killed the cat, Noriko. I did it because I don't need emotions bothering me right now. It's not easy because I know the feelings that I have for Leta, and I can't completely let them go."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Well," Zev said looking back at Leta, who desperately trying to avoid looking at the wall, "Leta has never had an experience with death. This whole thing freaked her out. I don't want to make it worse and I don't want my emotions clouding my judgment right now. She's scared and frightened."

"She's also angry," Noriko said so quietly that Zev didn't hear him. Noriko sighed, "Zev, you can't run from this," he held up a hand to silence Zev, "I know you think you aren't but you are. You have to talk to her, it doesn't matter if your emotions are in the way or not. It's not like you can learn anything by avoiding the matter like this."

"I suppose you're right," Zev sighed, "Sometimes you're so much like Jada."

"Besides, have you heard one thought from Leta since you've cut yourself off?"

Zev looked at him, "Now that you mention it, no I haven't. But sometimes we don't hear each others thoughts, but…" he turned and looked back at Leta.

"I think you know what to do now," Noriko said smiling.

Zev nodded, he closed his eyes and restored his emotions, Why hasn't Zev been talking to me? Am I that weak? he heard from Leta as soon as he had done so.

Sorry, Leta jumped, that's part of what Noriko wanted to talk to me about, he told her as he walked back to her, I was being a little childish I guess and I cut my self off from my emotions to avoid freaking you out with that, he didn't need to say what it was he was talking about.

Leta held onto him when he sat down, I'm sorry it's just that… an image of the corpse flashed through her mind and Zev's as well. She shuddered and held onto Zev even tighter.

Kuro's laughs seeped into their thoughts, and you always give me a hard time.

Zev let a small burst of chakra shoot through his fingers at Kuro, anyways, this was your first experience with death, and I didn't want to make it any worse. So I cut myself off of my emotions to make myself thing clearer. Noriko told me I was running away from it.

You weren't!

No, Leta, I was. I shouldn't have let you sit here afraid. Even though I was right here, I let you have to go through it alone. I'm sorry…

Leta felt horrible. Worse than she did, not because Zev had made it worse, but because he felt he was in the wrong and needed to apologize. Leta rarely had anyone apologize to her and it was slightly awkward for her, Zev…

I mean… its normal for me to be around death. I'm a ninja, so are you, and it's something we have to live with. I don't even remember what it's like to not know death… Leta and Zev were quiet for a long time, I just really fucked this up didn't I?

Leta giggled, which caught Zev by surprise, no, I don't know why, but when you're serious. No sugar coating the truth, not softening anything, just saying it, I feel more… comfortable.

Zev sighed a sigh of relief. He was afraid he would just have depressed her more. He was having trouble thinking he was so worried about Leta that he hadn't stopped to think about what he was saying. Surprisingly, he hadn't made her anymore frightened, nor did he scare her about what the future might hold.

Leta sighed and began to tighten her grip on Zev. Unlike before, she wasn't clinging to him entirely out of fear. Kuro laughed. Leta let go of Zev to send a small jolt of chakra at the wolf,"Baka!"the wolf shouted, thinking it was Zev.

Shouldn't you use another burst of wind? Zev reminded the wolf.

I'm going, I'm going… the wolf thought as he got up

When they finally arrived at the foot of the mountain it was night. Zev looked around. His vision was sharper than the others but he was having some trouble seeing. He looked to the sky and sighed, no moon, he thought.

Leta looked at Zev then at the sky. Noriko was able to find a dock and had tied the boat to it. Leta was still on the boat waiting. Zev had said he was going to try to find a path up the mountain but in the meantime he wanted everyone to wait. Leta was watching Zev with her byakugan. The night was able to cover almost everything. She was still able to see Zev thanks to the aura around him.

Leta watched Zev as he climbed the mountain. He was using chakra control to walk up the side of the rock face. Leta saw a section of rock break off from under Zev's foot. She gasped and covered her mouth as Zev began to fall. Zev grabbed onto the rock face with his hand. Leta breathed a sigh of relief. Utsuha came up from under the deck, "Hey! Look at what I found! Torches!"

"Why would there be torches on the boat?" Osona wondered aloud.

Noriko sighed, "Well probably because of what Zev's doing now. I'm guessing that the late owner came here often."

I got good news and bad news… Zev told Leta as she watched him pull himself up a ledge.

What's the good news?

The good news is that I found a path… the bad news is that it is on this ledge and it's very unstable. I don't know how to get up here unless you use chakra control.

Utsuha lit one of the torches with his fireball, "Hey look at that!" He shouted as the flame uncovered a path, "There's the path."

Zev, we found a path.

You've got to be joking…

Utsuha laughed. He put a hand to his mouth and shouted, "Hey, Zev! Looks like your eyes need a check up!"

Utsuha shouted and fell over the side of the boat as a bolt of lightning hit dead center on his forehead protector, "I can see better than you!"

Noriko grabbed the torch before it hit the deck, "Let's get going," he said.

"I can't swim that well!" Utsuha shouted over the side of the boat.

"Your on the dock, now let's go," Osona said as sternly as possible. But she couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, right…" Utsuha said as he stopped flailing around to realize he had fallen onto the dock. He stood up and brushed himself, "Let's go."

Noriko lit a torch and left it on the boat. When they caught up to Zev he turned and said, "Let's see if the boat could have taken a tsunami," he turned and made several hand signs, "Erainami no jutsu!"

Despite the darkness, Zev could see the water begin to rise up into a massive wave. Zev sighed. The waved crashed into the boat and tore it into pieces, "You know that was our way back right?"

Noriko shrugged, "Well, what's a day or two of extra travel time," Osona punched him, "Hey you can't hit me! I'm not your student!"

"She's still your senior…."

"Zev! Don't tell me you're siding with her!"

"This time, yeah, I am."

"Shouldn't we… get going?"

Utsuha also spoke up, "I agree, maybe we can get to sleep in a bed tonight."

Zev shrugged, "I don't know how long those torches burn and I don't know how far it is to our destination, but it doesn't make sense to just sit here so let's go."

An hour later the torch burned out. Utsuha sighed, "Well at least we got two more," Utsuha reached for the torch on his back and the rope holding them slid across the sword on Utsuha's back and the rope was cut. Utsuha looked over helplessly as the torches fell to ground over the side of the mountain. He looked at the others, "Please don't kill me."

Zev sighed, "I didn't want to have to use this but I guess I have to," he bit his finger and smear his royal blue blood on his palm. Utsuha and Osona didn't get a chance to see the color though because their eyes were still getting used to the dark. Leta didn't need to see the blood to know its color, as did Noriko, who had trained often with Zev. He made several hand signs and held out his hand. Chakra began to jump around his hand like lightning and created light which allowed everyone to see.

"Cool," Utsuha commented, "wait… why didn't you do that when you were climbing the back down there?"

"Because it drains my chakra quickly, to be honest, I'm barely managing this technique. I doubt I even have an hour to hold this, let's get moving again."

Leta reached into one of her pouches in her bag, "I have… some of the… chakra balls with me… can those help?"

Zev nodded, "But I'll take them later. Right now we should keep moving."

Leta nodded and ran up to Zev. She put her arm through Zev's and held on tightly.