Bound
Chapter 56: Like Old Times

Naruto is too stunned by the sight of me to move out of Sakura and Temari's way, resulting in him being shoved aside so they can get around him and to Kankuro.

I am equally surprised as he is, although I have the sense to move when Temari and Sakura come close, more because of my aversion to Sakura than anything. And then, when the vibrations shift, I am quick to react as Chiyo leaps forward, lunging for Kakashi. Naruto creates a kage bunshin to counter. One of him blocks Chiyo's attack, while the other one goes in for the retaliatory hit, but I slide in between them, catching the bunshin's fist and twisting it behind its back to slam him against the wall.

The bunshin disappears in my hold and I brush my hands off, sighing, "Chiyo-sensei, you've been away from society for too long. That is not how you greet guests."

Likewise, Naruto demands, "Why are you going at Kakashi-sensei so suddenly for, you wrinkled old hag!"

I frown, propping my hands on my hips. "That is also no way to talk to one of the most important people in your host country, Naruto."

Chiyo's face darkens as she speaks, ignoring me. "I remember that time," she says. "That White Fang of Konoha! My son's enemy—I will get my revenge."

Kakashi holds out his hands in defense, stuttering, "Ah, no, I'm not—"

"There's no use arguing!" Chiyo snaps, and I tense as she lunges for Kakashi again, only to have Ebizo step in her way to stop her.

"Sister," he says, calmly. "Take a good look. There is a strong resemblance, but he isn't the White Fang of Konoha."

Chiyo looks from her brother to me, as though for reassurance. I explain, "Chiyo-sensei, this is—was the Jounin leader of my cell back in Konoha, Hatake Kakashi. Kakashi—Naruto, Sakura, meet Chiyo-baasama and Ebizo-jiisama, the elders here in Suna."

Chiyo blinks at Kakashi, squints, and then throws her head back, howling with laughter as though this is by far the greatest practical joke anyone has ever played on her. She says, "No waay! I was just pretending to be stupid!"

Kakashi breathes a sigh of relief as Sakura calls attention back to Kankuro, leaning forward to examine him. I watch as she goes through the same motions I had of stabilizing Kankuro and opening a small cut to draw the poisoned blood from his system.

"Thanks for that," Kakashi says, shoving his hands into his pockets and drawing my attention away from Sakura as she works. "Anyway, it's nice to see you, Ren. How have you been?"

"Good," I say as Naruto looks between us, like he's confused that we're on speaking terms. "The heat here has a way of evaporating any desire you may have to put efforts toward running away, so I've been at ease."

Kakashi raises his brow in amusement and says, "I'm glad to hear you haven't lost your sense of humor."

"You get what you can," I say with a shrug. "But don't tell me: You guys are the team Konoha's sent out to help us bring Gaara back?"

Kakashi nods and asks me if I can tell him a bit about what's happened. I explain as much as I can—from noticing the wave of sand about to hit the city, to trying to recover Gaara from the Akatsuki member who worked with bombs, to getting a concussion and waking up in the hospital to helping Kankuro recover from the poison and hearing about Gaara being kidnapped. All the while, Naruto stares at me, and I think he sees me as a ghost of a person he used to know, and I wish he would stop looking at me like that, so I smile and say, while Kakashi hums in thought at the new information I've given him, "Hey, Naruto, nice reaction time back there. You've gotten better since I've last seen you. You look good."

"Ah—yeah," he says, averting his gaze. "Thanks. You too."

An uncomfortable silence settles around us as I watch Naruto, who shifts on his feet and keeps his hands in tight fists at his side. Then, keeping my voice low, I lean in to Kakashi and ask, "Is something wrong? Naruto's acting . . . weird."

Kakashi hums in thought, taking his turn to observe Naruto too. He says, "No one can expect to be away for so long in such circumstances and then come together and act as though nothing has happened."

"There!" Sakura announces, holding out the blood in her chakra absorbed hand which effectively stops me from asking Kakashi what he could mean. The glob she extracts is less than I had gathered, and she grins as she says, "I don't think there's any need to worry about his life anymore. I've directly extracted the poison from his system. Now I have to make an antidote for the little bit of poison left in his body. Please gather what I say."

She holds the poison up for examination, scrutinizing it, and Chiyo says, "That a girl like you would be sent here . . . you're a lot like that slug woman."

Sakura laughs, wiping the sweat that has gathered on her brow as she worked. "Yes," she says, "that's because Tsunade-sama is my master, and she said that I should come here."

Chiyo's eyes dart to me and I avoid her gaze as she smiles and Ebizo says, "Sister, time really is slowly flowing by."

"Right!" Naruto says, clenching his hand, at once his normal self: loud and brash and putting his fist before his brain. "But we're not here to be slow! Let's go after Akatsuki!"

Kakashi smacks the back of his head to quiet him and says, "Not until we finish helping Kankuro and get direct orders from the Sand. Remember our assignment."

"Ah," Sakura says as she examines the poison still floating in her hand. "It seems—there's something in here already working to neutralize the poison."

"That was Ren-kun," Chiyo says, nodding to me. "She injected it into him this morning. I'm glad to hear it's actually doing something."

I glower at her as Naruto repeats, "Ren-kun?"

Heat creeps over my cheeks as I clear my throat, pushing my hair over my shoulder as Chiyo booms with laughter at my expense. "Chiyo-sensei thinks I'm too aggressive to have a lighter honorific," I explain, and then change the subject with, "I have a basis for the antidote if you'd like to look at it, Sakura. I extracted most of the poison yesterday; what you have in your hand are the blood cells that have been infected from the little bits of poison that were left. I created an antidote that works as a suppressant, so it's not very effective, but if you'd like to look at it," I say again, feeling sheepish because I really should have said something earlier so we could have avoided wasting time. "You're welcome to."

[+]

"Wow," Sakura says, as she enters the greenhouse. I call for Haru and introduce him to Sakura before asking him to set up the supplies I had used earlier to create my antidote. As he goes to the worktable, Sakura catches one of the leaves of a bigger plant and starts rubbing it between her fingers. "For a desert country, I'm surprised by how healthy these plants are!"

I cringe as I watch her smooth her thumb across the leaf. I catch her wrist and say, "Please don't. The oil on your hands isn't good for the leaves, so, uh. If you could please not, unless that's what you're looking for."

"Oh, sorry," she says meekly as I let her go. "I'm just impressed. They're really . . . really beautiful," she says with a soft sigh as she looks around. "Almost reminds me of home."

"You know," Haru says to Sakura as organizes the supplies. "That's exactly what Ren-san said when the greenhouse started flourishing. It wasn't this beautiful before she came here. She spends hours here every day to tend to these plants."

I flush deep red as Sakura looks at me with surprise and Haru continues to gush about how much responsibility I have to the greenhouse. I turn away quickly, picking out the herbs she'd talked about on the way over. Almost like home. At that I sigh too, slowly shifting a pot aside. "This could never compare to home," I say under my breath. And then out loud and frowning, I say, "Let's just get that antidote done, shall we?"

I take the supplies from Haru and lay them out in front of Sakura, giving her the little extra antidote I have left over from earlier. I explain to her what herbs I had put together to make it and she nods along, understanding, and when I finish she says, "That sounds almost perfect. I think the only thing your antidote could be missing for full effectiveness is a flower from the tomoshiri-sou plant."

At this Haru lets out a soft sigh. I look at him curiously, and say, "Do we have that?"

"Yes," he says, somewhat deflated. "I can gather it for you relatively quickly, but—it's a beautiful thing, the flower. And we have so few; I'm a little reluctant to clip them. But for Kankuro-san," he says quickly when I quirk a brow at him. "To save lives, of course."

"Sorry about him," I say, setting out a small pot and strainer for her. "He's a botanist. Rare plants are his thing. But he's useful around here. He helps me with Chiyo's lessons a lot."

Sakura hums beside me, taking the ingredients and crushing them into the strainer to get their juices. "So that old woman," she says, "Chiyo. You're her apprentice here?"

"That's right," I say, heating a distiller for the next step. "She wasn't . . . eager to take me on in the first place, being that I'm from Konoha and she doesn't believe in entangling alliances and all that, but I was able to convince her otherwise."

"Yeah? And how'd you manage that?"

I grin, saying, "I told her I'd go back home and take an apprenticeship under Tsunade instead. After that, she had to prove she would be better than the Slug Princess, as she calls her, and that I would go home an accomplished medical kunoichi, so she took me on."

Sakura laughs, shaking her head, and I wonder how it is that we're talking so easily after all this time when I had been much closer to Naruto before, and I had hardly managed to say a word to him. That closeness is probably why there is such a drift, though. I probably hurt him much, much more.

Like Kakashi said: No one can expect to be away for so long in such circumstances and then come together and act as though nothing has happened.

I ask, "How's your apprenticeship?"

Sakura pauses for a moment, like she hadn't been expecting me to continue exchanging pleasantries. But she plays it off skillfully like she'd just been thinking about how to respond and she says, "Good. I finished it, technically, a few months ago, but I'm still learning every day. It's hard, but it's rewarding."

"Yes," I agree as Haru bustles back in carrying beautiful blooms of white flowers. He gives them to Sakura, taking deep breaths each time she presses one into her antidote until I take them from him and shoo him away in my irritation.

"And," I start, once we're alone again, "Naruto? He's well? Hasn't changed personality-wise, I see."

"Yes," Sakura says this time, with a small smile. "But I think that's something you should find out for yourself, Ren. When he came home, he . . . didn't take the news that you were gone so easily. He really missed you. We really missed you," she corrects, and I sigh. She stops what she's doing for a moment to turn to me, her eyes shining in the desert sun.

"Are you happy?" she asks, and she's not asking it out of resentment or spite, like I should feel guilty about putting them through such an ordeal, but because she genuinely wants to know.

And I have a genuine answer. "Yes," I say. "I'm happy."

"Good," she says, and goes back to work.

In the end, Sakura is able to procure three antidotes. When we return to Kankuro, Sakura takes up at his side and I go out to the balcony to be alone. I hear them talking inside, hear them make plans to go after the Akatsuki and retrieve Gaara, but I don't interject.

They do fine without me.

Chiyo notices me on my own, and hobbles out to speak with me. "What are you doing sulking out here?" Chiyo says.

"Nothing," I say, lowering my gaze into the streets below where people skitter past like ants on a food run. "Like always. I told you how it is when I'm with Team 7, why I came here. Around them, I'm useless."

"Ah," Chiyo says, nodding. "That's right." Chiyo comes up beside me, although in her withered old state, her head barely passes over the wall barricading us from falling. She can't see into the streets below, but she looks up at the cloudless sky. "That Sakura," Chiyo says, and I tense. "That's the girl you've been telling me about, isn't it? The Slug Princess's apprentice has become like her in beauty and in talent; she is a worthy rival, just like the Slug Princess had been for me!"

"Are you saying, then, that I'm poisoned with your warmness and optimism?" I say, and Chiyo cackles with laughter. "I never imagined I'd be so lucky."

"Did I ever tell you why I took you as an apprentice, Ren-kun? Other than the fact that I had to show you that you can learn just as much from me as some slug," she says with a sniff. I peer at her curiously, the corner of my lips curled into a small smile. Chiyo is never one to grow very sentimental around me, so I'm amused when she lets the age in her bones show as she reminisces. "When Gaara presented me to you and asked me to take you under my wing—you, this impressionable young kunoichi from the Leaf Village which, up until recently, was one of our fiercest rivals!—I was against it. I had retired, after all, because it was time this generation learns to look after itself. Besides, why would I pass on the secrets of my talents to someone who wasn't my own kinsmen? But the fervor with which you spoke to me, that was what convinced me."

She sighs, closes her eyes as she considers her next words. "I've been retired for a long time," she says, her voice low with the wind as it passes, "because it's long overdue that a new generation takes over. I am no longer part of this youthfulness, and so my usefulness has expired. But you made me realize," she says, opening her eyes to meet mine, and I see a spark of the passion she must have held when she was my age, a passion that transcends old age and still exists in her. "The youth is useless without old bones to teach them. And while I think it's rather wasteful that I'm not teaching these poisons to one of my own," she says, turning her nose up at me, and I laugh, "I'm glad that I'm teaching them to someone who rivals the apprentice of the Slug Princess."

"Hmph. Right," I say, shaking my head. "Thanks for the pick-me-up, Granny, but I—"

Chiyo grabs onto the ends of my hair and I yelp as she tugs me down to eyelevel. "I mean that, Ren-kun," she says, shaking her finger at me, as I decide that I have to cut all this hair off before someone manhandles me like this again. "You are everyone's equal if you look at the right angles."

"Yes, Chiyo-sensei," I say, bent over in an awkward half-bow as she gives my hair another stinging yank. "Thank you, Chiyo-sensei. Please let go, Chiyo-sensei."

Chiyo barks with laughter as she lets me go, and I massage my scalp, frowning with the pain of Chiyo's grip. Good god, I think, as Chiyo's laugh dies down and she smiles at me like a sweet, innocent old lady. If there was one thing I won't miss after leaving the Sand, it's Chiyo's abrasiveness.

Someone clears their throat. It's Sakura, standing at the entrance of the balcony with Naruto at her side. They both have their backpacks strapped on, ready to leave.

"Sorry to interrupt," she says, stepping forward cautiously, like she doesn't know if she's welcome out here. "But Kankuro has been stabilized. You can go see him now if you like."

"I think I will," Chiyo says, surprising me. She's never shown such care for the Sand before now, so going to check on Kankuro is an oddity. But then I realize that she's trying to leave me alone with Sakura and Naruto because she says, "Ren-kun, I suggest you stay out here to . . . clear your head some more. And remember: We're all equals."

"I—sensei," I groan as she goes off, and I press my hand over my face, sighing.

I feel Sakura coming up beside me, Naruto staying at the entrance to the balcony, and I'm reminded of when they'd trapped me in to talk to me before Naruto left, before I cold-shouldered Sakura for a good two and a half years. Maybe this is another one of their schemes to have me talk to them. To force me to talk to them.

"Coming out here," Sakura says as she leans against the wall, "I think about the greenhouse again and I can't believe it exists in a place like this. You've done a really great job in there, Ren."

"Thanks," I say, "but it was mostly Haru. I've never worked with plants before I came here and he taught me everything. It really does," I admit, "remind me of home, though. That's why I like it so much."

"Will you be coming home with us?" Naruto says, and I turn to him. "After we rescue Gaara, will you go back to the Leaf with us, Ren?"

It would be easy, considering I'm due home anyway, and I want to go home. But there is a feeling in my gut that makes me anxious. After all, Naruto's return means he and Sakura can start concentrating their efforts of finding Sasuke, and—I scratch the back of my head, say, "I . . . I've established a solid foundation here. With Chiyo-sensei and Haru and Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. You know, I can't . . . but I would really like to go home," I say when Naruto deflates. "Lately, it's all I've been thinking about, but. This village," I finish feebly.

"You've really gotten close to these people," Naruto says. He is confused and irritated all at once, shown in the way he furrows his eyebrows together and presses his lips tight. "Haven't you, Ren? You never used to call Kakashi 'sensei'. And you're not even wearing your headband."

Sakura stays quiet, stays facing the street, like what Naruto has pointed out is what she had been wanting to say all along, but didn't have the guts. I reach up to touch my bare forehead, knowing the truth in what he says. I had taken it off my first day here to avoid the curious stares from the villagers and hadn't put it back on since. It sits in my drawer in my complementary apartment, underneath some of my clothes where I don't have to think about it.

"It's different here," I say. "With Chiyo and—"

"Did you miss us," he says, and my chest cramps at the hurt on his face, "at all?"

"I—of course," I say quietly, but I've hesitated and stuttered, and that's not enough for him.

"Whatever," Naruto grumbles and goes back inside. I stare after him and Sakura shakes her head, pushing away from the wall, making like she's going to follow.

"That Naruto," she says, stopping in front of me. "He can still be a little petty. All in due time, I guess."

"I don't get it," I say, watching as he goes inside to stand next to Kakashi, like he's making a point. Kakashi gives Naruto a short cursory glance before returning to his book when he notices nothing amiss. "Why's he being so . . . so—"

"Difficult?" Sakura offers with a short smile. "It's Naruto. Unless you're totally on his side—"

Sakura cuts off and I push my hair back, and she says, "I didn't mean—" and I say, "I know."

"He feels cheated," Sakura says, peeling her gloves off her hands and shoving them in her pouch as she fans herself. I can tell her that's not going to help, but she figures it out on her own soon enough and frowns at the heat. She says, "You're so connected to these people after only six months in their village, Ren, when we spent almost two years together as a team. You walked away from us so easily then, and when Naruto asked you if you were coming home, you hesitated. Think about it," she says, deciding that the heat is too much for her, or maybe being next to me, the girl who had left her behind, is too much for her, and goes back inside. "Do you see how that puts us in an odd spot?"

I do, but I don't know what they expect from me in the meantime. As I'd told them, we had different goals. They wanted Sasuke back, believed they could bring him back, whereas I wasn't so optimistic. But, as they had told me, people change. And I have definitely changed.

Coming to the Sand Village, I didn't just work on my medical abilities or learn how to tend plants. I did a substantial amount of thinking as one does when they've been evicted from their country, and I did a lot of making up my mind.

"Hey," I say, catching Sakura before she goes back inside. "I should tell you: During my time I here, I decided something. Whatever you're planning in regards to . . . Sasuke—" I swallow, Sakura's eyes widen, Naruto hears me from inside and looks up.

"I'm in," I say, keeping my voice steady, firm so they'll believe me. Because I'm telling the truth. I'm all in.

"What's the catch?" Naruto asks, interrupting Sakura as she beams and tells me about how glad she is that I've seen the light. Naruto has come to the balcony again, but is careful to keep his distance. Over his shoulder I see Kakashi watching us, although his head is still bent to make it look like he's reading.

I guess I should have expected Naruto to be the one to call me out. Despite how smart Sakura is, she is blind with hope whenever something goes her way. Naruto, on the other hand, doesn't hold me in favor at the moment. His distrust is based more so on the fact that I have seemingly turned my back on my kinsmen than the fact that I couldn't have had such a wonderful change of heart.

Still, I smile dryly, say, "You got me." and take a deep breath before I state my condition.

"I'll help you," I say, "bring Sasuke back. But if he does anything to hurt any of you beyond what he's already done, I reserve the right to kill him when I get the chance."

Sakura startles and Kakashi narrows his eyes. Naruto betrays no emotion as my words sink in. He retains his suspicious demeanor, as Sakura says, "Ren, absolutely no—"

"Deal," Naruto says, and Sakura lets out a mangled gasp that turns the heads of everyone inside.

"Naruto!" Sakura protests, but he grins, and I can't help but return it because I know his mentality behind agreeing with me even before he explains himself.

"Deal," he says again, "because it won't get that far. I won't let it."

And then he turns on his heels to go back inside, and that's when I notice. Naruto's shoulders are broader than I remember. He's taller, obviously, and he carries himself differently. He's brighter. Inside and out.

"If you're true to your word," Naruto says over his shoulder. "You should come with us to fight these Akatsuki guys. You should know as well as we do what Sasuke is after: Revenge on Itachi."

"And Itachi," I say, "is part of Akatsuki. So getting closer to Akatsuki means getting closer to Itachi, which will, somehow, get us to Sasuke, is that right?"

Naruto grins at me, and I realize that I have missed that smugness, the brazenness with which Naruto carries himself. "That's right," Naruto says. "So let's go."

Baki helps me gather supplies as I prepare to head out with Team 7. I wonder if this means I'm officially part of the team again, but that's something to decide when we get home. And god, the thought of being able to go home after completing this mission makes me so happy that I have to keep biting into my lip to remind myself that I'm not sleeping.

I get to go home. That is all I could ever ask for after these months in the Sand Village. I wasn't lying when I told Sakura that I'm happy here—but a greenhouse can't replace all the forest and grass and the sweet smell of dew.

"If you wait a moment," Baki says as we start on our way out the village, "we can have one of our ninja here too."

"No, really," Kakashi says. "The four of us will be enough. Ren, I'm sure, will be able to provide us with as much insight as we need from one of your Nin."

Baki begins to say something about how it's not a matter of knowledge but a matter of the Sand's pride and duty to their Kage when Temari comes outside, walking with purpose as she meets up with us.

"I'll come with you," she says, adjusting the fan on her back. "It's the least I can do after—"

"Temari, stay here and work on the defense of the country border," comes a voice from above, and when we look up we find Chiyo, balancing precariously on the balcony rail. "From the shinobi of the Sand, I am more than enough."

Temari, Baki, and I all protest, but Chiyo waves it all off and says, "Don't treat me like an old woman!"

"But you are an old woman!" I say as she leaps from the balcony, much to the anxiety of Naruto and Sakura. She lands with a heavy thud on the ground before me, causing my teammates to jerk out of her way with shock.

She grins darkly as she raises her head and says, "I've been wanting to show my grandson some love for a while now. You can understand."

I frown at her as she shoos Baki and Temari inside, and I can't believe she's serious about coming on this mission with us. Kakashi holds up a finger, as though remembering. "That's right," he says. "Kankuro gave us a scrap of Sasori's clothing to help us track him. I'll summon my dogs to get on that right away."

"If those Akatsuki guys were around," I say, helping Chiyo to steady herself although she bats me off with a wrinkled fist, "do you think there were any others in the perimeter that they're meeting up with?"

"It's possible," Kakashi says, bringing his hands together before pressing them into the ground to summon his dogs in a big cloud of smoke. "I'll have some of the dogs go around searching for other suspicious scents."

As Kakashi gives orders to his dogs and offers them the scrap of cloth from Sasori's robes, I turn to Chiyo, who is brushing the dust off her clothes, and ask, "Where did you disappear to earlier? When I came in from talking with Naruto and Sakura, you were gone."

"That's none of your business, Ren-kun," she says. "How did that conversation go, anyway? Did you make amends?"

"Yeah," I say to Chiyo as my friends listen to Kakashi as he directs his dogs in different directions, each of them nodding in comprehension although the only one I ever hear—and have ever heard—speaking up is Pakkun, who, while considerably smaller than the rest of the dogs, seems to be the leader of the pack. With a small wave, Kakashi sends them off. "I'd say we're on good terms again."

Chiyo nods like she's glad to hear it, but from the look in her eyes, she's distracted by how close she's getting to her grandson. It's reminiscent of the way Naruto used to look sometimes, eyes set to see everything, head tilted forward, ready to barrel toward Sasuke and meet him halfway, and I'm afraid that Chiyo will let this encounter with Sasori get the better of her. But that fear goes away as I remember that Chiyo is not nearly as optimistic or foolhardy as Naruto. She is old and wise and she knows better.

I hope.

It isn't long before a distant howl rings across the desert, and Kakashi smiles, pointing us northeast, where his dogs are calling him forth. Naruto turns to me and urges me to come along because we don't have time to waste if we're going to save Gaara.

"Let's go," Kakashi says, and we go.

[+]

Once you travel a considerable distance away from the Sand Village, you start to come across a forest of spindly trees that gradually begins to thicken as you head north to a wetter, cooler climate. Once we cross the border into the River Country between the Fire and Wind Countries, the forest is so rich with life that I nearly lose my footing a few times trying to take it all in. I settle with breathing deeply as we move through the forest, reveling in the smell of the leaves and dirt instead of trying to look around.

Chiyo scoffs after I fall for a third time when I'm distracted by a bird's nest we bypass. She says, "And you think I haven't gotten out much? Look at you, falling all over yourself trying to remember what the world looks like outside of the Sand Village."

"Hey, that wasn't by choice," I protest, scowling. "You cooped yourself in that tower, fishing day in and day out and torturing Ebizo by playing dead."

"Well, remember, Ren," Kakashi says. "This isn't the time to forget your place. The enemies we'll be facing are the Akatsuki."

"Yeah, yeah," I say, disgruntled to be lectured so early in the game. "Cut me some slack, won't you? My joints are a little rusty, but you forget how fast I can move once I'm all tidied up."

"Naruto," Sakura starts, treading in the conversation carefully. "Can I ask you something? Since when did Akatsuki start targeting you?"

I blink at her as Naruto diverts his eyes, discomforted by her question. "You know about that specifically, Sakura?" I ask her, and she grins at me like I should have expected more from her.

"I haven't just been training these past few years, you know," she says. "Being as close to the Hokage as I am, I had access to information most people don't even know exist."

I shiver and look away when she says this, thinking about what other kind of information she could have come across during her research. The Hokage obviously had some very sensitive files on me, given what Gaara was able to discover when he visited a few months ago to bring me to the Sand. He is one of the few outsiders who know about the bond, and because Tsunade had saw it fit to tell him no less. Maybe she would have thought her apprentice should know as much as well.

Chiyo notices the way I clench and unclench my fist to work the anxiety from my system. Through her old age and experience as one of the village elders, she knows about my bond with the Uchiha and has heard stories about it. When she first took me as an apprentice, in fact, she had asked me about it within the first minutes of our first lesson, and I, knowing I had nothing to lose and nothing to protect here in the Sand Village, had confirmed its existence to her, all the while explaining how I had kept it a secret in the Leaf Village because of the nature of Sasuke's influence over my friends and how I desire to break it more than anything else.

So when she notices my anxiety over Sakura's statement, she comforts me and says, keeping her voice low, "There is nothing you need to worry about, Ren-kun. It would be different if she knew, wouldn't it?"

I'm only partly reassured by Chiyo's statement, but I smile and accept it because she's right. Sakura would never be able to contain herself if she found out about the bond.

"A while ago," Kakashi is saying as we continue to move through the forest, "two of Akatsuki's agents infiltrated the Leaf to contact Naruto. It's been three years since then, and only recently have they started moving again, but I don't know their motive behind their movements."

"Why did they wait three years?" Sakura asks.

"Maybe it was that they couldn't take action," Kakashi offers, "rather than they didn't want to. Naruto always had Jiraiya-sama at his side after all."

"I've heard there were other reasons," Chiyo says. "It requires a considerable amount of preparation to separate a bijuu that is sealed within a man. I assume that's what hampered their effort."

Separate a bijuu. Is that what they intend to do, then? Extract the demon inside of Gaara? But then—

"A bijuu?" Sakura says. "What's that?"

Chiyo lets out a cry of indignation, saying, "You call yourself Tsunade's apprentice and you don't know what that is?"

"The information regarding the Kyuubi is top secret material in the Leaf," Kakashi says. "She probably wouldn't have thought to research such a thing, so her question is understandable when you look at it from our point of view."

"Then why is it Ren-kun knows so much about them?" she asks, and I flinch and laugh nervously as Naruto and Sakura turn to regard me over their shoulders.

"I've told you why, Chiyo-sensei," I say, wishing I could keep the old bat from saying things that put me in the spotlight. "My parents held nothing back when they were training me. Not to mention, I did more traveling as a child than any child in the Leaf could hope for because of—my family," I finish lamely and clear my throat. "Anyway, the bijuu, Sakura, are these apparently magical beasts and are so named because of the tails they possess that determine their characteristics."

"Yes," Chiyo says. "And the Sand has always possessed the Ichibi, the one-tail guardian raccoon sealed within Gaara-sama."

"Ichibi, the one-tail," Sakura repeats. "So there are other kinds aside from the Kyuubi?"

"Indeed. There are a total of nine bijuu in the world," Chiyo says. "Ren called them magical beasts, but in actuality, the bijuu are a monstrous formation of chakra; I guess, in that sense, they are magical. During the Great War, every hidden village attempted to acquire the power for military purposes. They competed to obtain these beasts. However, no one can control such power beyond the ability of man. I've yet to know why Akatsuki attempts to acquire such power. It's too dangerous."

"Not to mention," I say, "it's an arduous task. Like Chiyo-sensei said: every hidden village attempted to acquire the power of the bijuu for military purposes, and once they got their hands on that kind of thing, they tended to retain it, so each hidden village, whether they admit it or not, probably has a respective bijuu to their name, as the Sand has the Ichibi."

"Well even through times of peace," Chiyo continues as Naruto remains quiet, "the ages shift on. I've heard that all the tailed beasts are scattered across the world by now, so Akatsuki's efforts are either truly commendable or truly sinister."

"I'm willing to bet on both," I say as the light begins to grow brighter at the end of the forest, cuing that we're close to a clearing. I'm disappointed to be leaving the forest already, but I shouldn't be concerned about that. There will be plenty of forest when I go home. For now, my main interest is Gaara—saving him, protecting him, and bringing him back to the Sand Village.

The vibrations press against me oddly as we move through the last parts of the forest, warning, and I say, "Kakashi," and he answers, "Yeah," before saying more loudly as we break through the last of the trees, "Everybody, stop!"

We dig our heels into the ground, skidding as we come to a halt. The clearing opens to another expanse of forest we'll have to travel through, and the mountains beyond that frame the horizon. And in front of it all stands a single man, bulky in his red cloud-spotted black coat, obviously on the offense in the way he stands with his legs apart.

I tense, take up the defense as I expect the man to launch himself at us without hesitation, but then I see his face and I freeze and my posture goes slack, a naïve move when facing someone in the ranks of the Akatsuki.

Especially when that someone is Itachi.