A/N: Welcome back, dear readers and lurkers! I hope you have had a good week. Please, enjoy.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Sai Breaks His Promise
A faint wash of pale blue broke the horizon to the east, the herald of dawn, a new day. He banked to the northeast, where the white salt beds of Sorutotaun lay like a blighted patch in the brilliant blue and green tapestry of Water. The small to average-sized town was constructed of paltry wood- -a faint green smudge far on the horizon- -and blanched salt bricks cemented together with white mortar. Color was leached from the landscape or rather, a white gritty veil clung to everything. When the rising sun flashed across the flats, Sai squinted and flinched his face from the blinding white sparkle of minerals in the ground. Sorutotaun was nestled to the southern coast of the Isle of Salt, weathered piers and a few salt brick warehouses populated the docks. Keeping to the Water Country aesthetic, the houses and buildings were circular with flat roofs. Everything was white-washed, and a few woven cloth curtains fluttered in the weak breeze. Salt particles grated on his skin; he already tasted it on his lips.
People would spot his ink hawk from miles away; they'd spot him miles away, a black and green fleck on an all-white canvas. His unannounced arrival would excite unwanted attention. With a sparse population, any new faces would be instantly recognizable. A considerable distance outside the town, Sai landed and dispelled the Ink Beast hawk.
Once on land, he released the Kiri-style transformation jutsu he'd placed on the Konoha cloak and molded a different transformation to change it into mottled gray and white camouflage, with extra length and a hood to cover his dark hair and hide his face. Then he donned the cloak, wrapping it tight around his shoulders and legs so he could approach Sorutotaun from the back. For the ambush, Sai assumed it'd take place in an empty warehouse, so once the ink beasts reported on the docks, he'd further survey the town. Takahino was probably in disguise or in transit to town; if Sai gave him any credit, he'd also scout the docks for the ambush.
After ink mice and cats and birds scouted the docks and the rest of town, Sai concluded that Takahino was either too well disguised for detection or not arrived yet. The warehouses were of decent proportion, circular, tall, and single-storied, but not so large as the silk mill in Hinokoku. There was no glass in the windows and instead, sturdy woven cloth was attached to rods and fastened over the openings. Large bay doors flanked either side. These warehouses stored pallets of cut salt bricks to be shipped out or crates of goods to be distributed in the town. One of the warehouses wasn't as filled as the others, and as far as the ink creatures could find, a woman was slumped inside. Very curious, indeed. The tiny mice, like the owls, were a special kind of ink beast; they were drawn with a surveillance jutsu worked into their bodies. Though they could not convey specifics, such as what the woman looked like, they could give simple generalities which were enough to tell him she remained motionless and was bound hand and foot with wire.
More ink mice infiltrated the warehouse to act as unseen sentinels in darkened crevices and atop of beams or behind forgotten crates and barrels. An hour passed. And another. Nothing changed inside the warehouse. No one approached from the outside. Again, Sai may have outpaced Takahino or Takahino bided his time before breaching the warehouse. Either way, Sai was on guard.
One of the birds which wheeled overhead, drawn to replicate a big seagull, spotted a covered passenger boat rowing in from across the channel. Sai commanded the seagull to dive and investigate the boat. The boat had a few passengers on it with backpacks between their knees. They looked to be civilians ferried in from Kiri's main island. Not much more could be gleaned from the boat itself, so Sai relocated to get a clear view of the passengers, sending the seagull back into the air to monitor the land. Once the boat was moored to the dock, the passengers disembarked. They all dispersed along the wooden piers and planks to the town center, all but one who meandered around the cluster of warehouses. This passenger was an elderly man with lank white-gray locks and a heavy mustache dropped over thin, webbed lips and a sharp chin. He wore shabby clothes over stooped shoulders and bony frame; the bits and bobs on his belt, plus his shoes, seemed to indicate his position as a fisherman.
The old man's behavior as he shuffled from one warehouse to the next gave Sai a clue as to who this person might be. One couldn't be too careful, however, so to test his theory, Sai wrote a message, turned it into a bird, and sent it to the old man. If the old man was Takahino in disguise, he'd understand what to do with the strange black bird. And so, Sai met this old man at the designated rendez-vous his ink beast had related, hidden from prying eyes. He had, of course, laid an explosive trap in case he was mistaken.
Sai was the first to speak. "I'm fully prepared to kill you if you aren't who I think you are. Prove to me you're the person I'm thinking of."
"I escaped the ink owls with a basic clone jutsu," said Takahino in his old man's facade. "I'm surprised you didn't notice sooner. I could hardly believe my luck when I wasn't pursued the instant I used the technique."
More was needed to convince Sai. "You tried something on me and failed. What was it?"
"A hypnotic suggestion."
"A hypnotic suggestion for what?"
Takahino sighed. "I was to place the suggestion in your mind to prevent you from killing me. Shall I tell you our breakfast and dinner meals?"
"No." He returned to Takahino's escape antics."Had I realized you were a flight risk, I'd have taken more precautions. Do you need rest?"
"In your professional opinion, do we have time for rest?"
"No."
"As I suspected. In any event, I've used my sensory technique, and it is Hikarino." Takahino jerked his head in the appropriate direction of the warehouse in question. "No one else is present in or around the area that I could sense."
"I've had my ink beasts search in every nook and cranny. Even if our enemies used chakra suppression, I'd know where they hide. Hikarino is alone."
Stymied, Sai and Takahino gazed at the warehouse. Takahino hissed. "And yet, the trap is obvious."
"Hm." Sai wiped his mouth; the wind had picked up and the salty grit had caked on his skin, cracking his lips and stinging his eyes. "We have to activate it and react the best we can. Transform into Ino and produce a clone of yourself. They'll expect you and Ino and if they don't see her, they might sense something's off. I'll support you from above. These warehouses have trap doors overhead on the roofs. I'll slip in from there. Hikarino may be under hypnotic suggestion. Will it be possible to break her free without her signaling our position?"
"If the hypnotic suggestion is not too complicated, I might. I'd rather have Ino with me before I muck around in someone's head. We can keep Hikarino unconscious, transport her to Ino, and she and I can work on her together," Takahino suggested. "I suggest you be in disguise, and you should also avoid using any ink jutsu. You're our wild card, our ace in the hole, and it'd be beneficial to keep you up our sleeves for as long as possible. Your ink beasts are recognizable and will give you away in a heartbeat."
Takahino's suggestion was reasonable. "I see your point. I have a wide range of techniques available at my disposal, so it is no real trouble to avoid ink jutsu. Will you be able to use telepathy between us? We should be in communication at all times."
"Yes."
Sai and Takahino performed their preparatory jutsu. While Takahino connected them with a mindlink, Sai disguised himself in a henge as Takahino to further give the real Takahino cover. Takahino produced a shadow clone and transformed himself into Ino. "How is Ino? Is she safe?"
"She's anxious and well hidden, so safe enough." Takahino sighed, in relief, Sai thought. While on his way over, Sai had had plenty of time to think of a plan to have his little team remain together. Once they shook whatever forces attempted to trap them, Sai would transport both Takahino and Ino to a different safehouse where they could hide together. He, himself, would be the diversion and lead their enemies away. On his own, he was confident he could evade capture and return home without repercussions. "By the way, I promised her I'd bring you to her safe and sound, so please don't get killed."
Takahino chuckled. "I'll do my best to avoid an untimely demise."
"While you go through the warehouse to Hikarino, I'll stick some long-fuse explosive tags on the crates inside," Sai said. "We can use the explosives to cover our immediate escape."
"Exit through the roof, then?"
"Yes. We'll hide in a different warehouse among the various crates. Once the initial confusion dies down, we'll cross the channel back to the main island." Sai paused and glanced along the docks to the ferry. "You came in on the ferry. Was there a set schedule for it?"
"Ah, you think to blend in with the general population, eh? The ferry makes crossings at daybreak, mid-afternoon, and dusk. We're in a rustic part of the world," Takahino said with a grim smile. "Times aren't exact."
"As we don't know what form or multitude our enemies will be, it's important for us to have several escape options. It's best to stick together, so any diversions we use should be clones."
"It's best to stick together? Who are you and what've you done with Sai?" Takahino's eyebrows arched to his hairline. "Yesterday, you argued with me against sticking together."
"I changed my mind."
"May I ask why?"
"The situation is fluid," Sai said, smoothly utilizing Takahino's same response from the other day. "Let's return to our escape options. One is to hide in a different warehouse and take the ferry across at dusk. Another is to wait until night and use an ink beast to fly across once the coast is clear."
"We could transform into birds and fly it," suggested Takahino. "There are other boats along the coast we could hijack and sail. We could also blend in with the townsfolk until further notice."
"All of our escape plans are contingent on chakra. Should we need to suppress our chakra, our first option is the best one. Hide in a different warehouse and sneak onto the ferry or hold on to the bottom of it while it crosses the channel." Sai paused a moment. "The warehouse nearest the dock where the ferry is will afford us the best cover. It may be uncomfortable, but we can wait out any search teams until they leave."
"Ought we to have a small boat on hand, just in case?"
"Are any available? I'm hesitant to waste a large quantity of chakra."
"By the time we're ready to leave, the docks will be full of fishing boats. Most of them sail across to a larger village to sell their hauls. They should return home soon." Takahino shrugged when Sai shot him an inquiring look. "The ferryman was voluble. Evidently tension exists between the main-islanders and the satellite-islanders, a clash of socio-economic classes, so the fishermen up-sell their products on the main island and return, having pocketed their profits."
"You can tell me about it later," said Sai, who was already aware of the on-going situation. "I'll head to the roof and set the explosive tags. Wait for my signal."
"Received and understood."
Takahino-as-Ino and Takahino-clone allowed Sai time to dash to the roof of the assigned warehouse. The sun cooked and baked the salt bricks; some wind from off the ocean stirred the still air. Salt stuck in his throat. As Sai pried open the trapdoor, he felt he'd been dehydrated, all his juices and moisture sapped from his pores. White landscape and stark sun had blinded him. He had to wait for his eyes to adjust to the dark; black spots skimmed his vision. Inside the warehouse, on the wide beams at the ceiling, Sai crept into position. The air was close in the rafters and his sweat seemed to crust over as it evaporated. He'd crawl on hands and knees over broken glass for a sip of clean, cool water.
Though he had agreed to avoid ink jutsu in the short term, Sai returned to it for the explosive tags. As with the other warehouses, some crates remained on the floor, covered with tarp. A few minutes later, he had drawn several birds with the correct kanji interwoven in their bodies and had commanded them to fly to the sparse few crates on the floor. There, the birds tagged the hidden sides, the jutsu prepared for activation. He also curled a few snakes along the beams so when these were released, the roof would collapse. Probably it was overkill, but Sai was convinced they should do all they could to enact a quick escape from a capture which awaited them.
I'm ready. Go ahead, he thought to Takahino.
I'm at the bay doors. Opening them now.
Sai prepared a paralysis jutsu, readying his hand for the tanto he'd sealed in a tattoo on his back. Below him, Hikarino remained still and silent on the floor. She'd not moved for hours, maybe days. Had she been killed and left behind? No blood pooled around her, but she could've been killed somewhere else and staged here or poison had taken her or a jutsu was used on her which did not leave external trauma. Curly yellow hair spilled over shoulders, hips, and face. Yellow like Naruto's hair was yellow, not the pale white-blonde of Ino's hair. From one side of the warehouse, the bay doors slid apart. Takahino-as-Ino and his clone entered.
Sai's gaze bounced from corner to corner, top to bottom. Warehouse is clear of obvious threats. Proceed with caution.
They stood a moment, blinking, to adjust their eyesight in the warehouse, and scanned the warehouse. Not a single indication of any enemy. How had the trap been set? From his height, Sai kept a wary eye on those crates, expecting at any second for them to burst into shinobi. If the crates were shinobi, he'd have to destroy the explosive tags on them to prevent instant deaths. Nothing happened as Takahino-as-Ino and Takahino-clone separated to approach Hikarino in a double-pronged formation. The clone of Takahino reached Hikarino first, but before he crouched, he searched the warehouse for any movement, any indication of the ambush.
Hikarino appears to be in a trance. I'll use Saiko Denshin to see her memories. Once I've cleared her, I'll cut her bindings. Are you ready?
Sai tensed. Ready.
Takahino-clone reached out his hand to Hikarino's head. Sai was not in a position to see Hikarino's features, but he saw Takahino's. The moment Takahino activated the mind technique, a gruesome change contracted his features- -a rictus of pure, unadulterated horror. From Takahino's end of the mindlink, Sai heard, or felt would be more accurate, a high-pitched whine. This high-pitched whine reverberated into Sai's skull before the connection cut off. Sai was at loss to explain it. While the whine had occurred, Sai was frozen in position; once the whine ended, he surged chakra into the Anbu seal to release his tanto.
Between the time he activated the seal and the time the tanto formed in his hand, all hell had broken loose on the warehouse floor. A series of loud poofs occurred in succession. One after another, the tarp-covered crates went up in a cloud of smoke as they transformed. The explosive tags on these crates detonated with deep booms. Smoke and ash roiled into the warehouse.
Sai was on the floor beside Takahino-clone the next instant. He and Takahino-as-Ino had Hikarino slung between them, bound and limp. The dense smoke began to dissipate. Where two of the remaining crates had been now stood ornate, upright mirrors framed in polished gold. Strange faces, tongues lolling out and widened eyes, and odd pictographs were worked into the gold- -the mirrors looked to be heavy and ancient. From out of the mirrors, jumped members of the Yamanaka clan. As far as Sai could tell, they'd teleported from a different location through the mirrors.
Hikarino had to be left. Sai tore the unconscious woman from Takahino's grasp. Actual Takahino, Takahino-as-Ino, boosted upwards into the rafters. Sai went a little slower to draw attention to himself. One cluster of Yamanaka sighted him; they had tunnel vision and didn't go for Takahino-as-Ino or Takahino-clone. These Yamanaka weren't Anbu, thankfully, and though they launched to Sai's position, none used a flicker technique. Kunai out, the Yamanaka slashed at Sai, who deflected the blades, cling-cling-clinging, one after another after another, sweeping and slashing in precise quick strikes. Dancing an evasive, deadly dance. In the center of the four Yamanaka, Sai released the on-hold paralysis jutsu. They froze in place, bodies trembling with strain, but his grip over their nervous systems was iron. Above him, Takahino-as-Ino and Takahino-clone scrambled out of the trapdoor to the roof.
More of Ino's kinsmen surged forward. The eyes of the men and women and children were glazed with pain; eyes similar to Takashita Shijo's. Souls imprisoned in constant torment, forced to behave in opposition to their will.
Sai, in a single deft maneuver, broke past the nearest Yamanaka's guard and elbowed him in the back of the head; he dropped unconscious. He sidestepped a taijutsu attack from a second, and hand on the other's wrist, with a juicy crunch, twisted the shoulder out of the socket. A third Yamanaka flung kunai at him while a fourth and a fifth spewed fire to cut him off from escape. Sai struck down the kunai, while easily swishing away the fire jutsu with a wave of water from a water technique. Steam obscured vision, mixed with the smoke, and with a flicker technique, Sai blinked to the wooden beams overhead and out of the trapdoor. On the roof of the warehouse, Sai found Takahino-clone and Takahino-as-Ino in rapid-fire melee with a few other Yamanaka.
Though their attackers had pulled weapons, glinting like fangs in their hands, Sai noticed they were careful to avoid killing or maiming blows. Before long, they would coordinate their attacks via Mind Transmission and he and his team would be overwhelmed. So it couldn't be helped. With a fast influx of chakra, Sai commanded the snakes on the rafters to detonate. The explosions were a little less violent than the ones on the crates, but as Sai was prepared and the others weren't, it was an effective distraction. The sudden collapse of the roof afforded his team breathing space.
He, Takahino-as-Ino, and Takahino-clone ducked into the next warehouse through a sliced panel of cloth and sprinted from one solid wooden beam to the next. They had to secret away into the designated warehouse before the others took notice of their pathway. But as they exited the current warehouse, Sai saw their original plan was no good. A pair of large jaguars slunk on the docks, their stocky bodies and gold pelts gleamed with the black rosettes. They must've teleported from the mirrors as well, and unseen in the chaos, slipped out.
In a single second, Sai switched the plan. They'd have to get out of range of chakra sensory and Sai'd have to implement the scent suppression seal on himself and Takahino to avoid the jaguars. He could make this work- -go into the salt flats, use the scent suppression seal, and infuse the earth with chakra. The large infusion of chakra would draw the sensors to that location while he and Takahino could double-back to the warehouse and the ferry.
But Takahino-clone had a different idea. He transformed into another copy of Ino. "You two hide here. I'll lead the jaguars and any other clan members in the area away."
Too late. A low snarl, curled from the throat of a big cat, rumbled from behind them. Without a firm plan, Sai dove sideways, colliding with Takahino-as-Ino (this being the real Takahino) and arms wrapped around this teammate, thudded to the roof. Where they had stood, a magnificent, sinewy mass of claws and fangs and fur slammed into wooden planks. The claws, inches thick, raked deep furrows into the wood. Ino-clone tossed out a smoke bomb; it blew the moment it hit the ground and the ensuing smokescreen enveloped all figures. In a tangled mess of arms, legs, and blonde hair, Sai rolled Takahino-as-Ino off the edge. They crashed into dusty shrubs which lined the outside of the warehouse. More loud snarls erupted overhead; wood cracked as it split; two or three explosive tags detonated. Ino-clone had remained on the roof.
"Into the water," Sai gasped, the wind knocked clean out of his lungs. It had not been a pretty evasion, but it was effective.
Takahino-as-Ino hauled Sai, near to hyperventilating, to his feet. Together, they hustled between the warehouses to the shoreline and slipped into the water. No one seemed to have seen them as they ducked under the wooden dock. Sai forced his lungs to expand and take in air. The initial shock in his ribs wore off and he could ignore the pain better.
The water was warm, tugging at their clothes, Takahino-as-Ino's blonde ponytail floating and fanning in the gentle waves, as they peered through slats to the high flume of smoke and dust rising from the destroyed warehouse. At least one jaguar prowled the area while Yamanaka leapt from roof to roof either to search the docks or the warehouse's collapse. Sai and Takahino-as-Ino could not see how the clan fared, what injuries were sustained or if there had been any deaths. Sai knew Ino would never forgive him should one of her family be maimed or killed because of a jutsu he performed. The materials of roofs were not heavy, but the beams, as they fell, could crack someone in the head and kill them.
No one thought to search the water.
And, furthermore, to Sai's suspicious surprise, the busy activity slackened to none. The docks and warehouses, after a total of thirty minutes or so, were evacuated of shinobi. Cautiously, having experienced the violence of shinobi, civilians had gathered at the docks to investigate the noise and smoke. After they saw the collapsed warehouse, plus the fires ignited by the explosions, they arranged themselves into two long chains, and with large clay vessels which they dipped into the sea, transported water from hand to hand and doused any remaining flames.
Where is everyone? Takahino-as-Ino had since reinstated the mindlink. I'm not sensing any of the family in my radius.
Your clone of Ino might have fooled them. Is it possible for you to connect via Mind Transmission with her? Can she give us more information?
I'll see what I can do. Give me a minute or two, yeah?
Sai kept a watch on the civilians as they roamed the docks, inspecting the other warehouses for damage or unnoticed flames. Keeping a low profile among these people would be difficult, but doable. They had better not attempt any other transformation jutsu as there might be hidden Yamanaka among the townsfolk on watch for any shinobi-like behaviors. His and Takahino's best option was to access the ferry, blend in, and lay low while the ferry took them across the channel. A hypnosis on the ferryman would ensure their safe transport.
The clone has successfully drawn away the clan and the jaguars. With a nervous shift of her eyes, Takahino-as-Ino checked the civilians littering the dock. There are not many hiding places on the isle, so she'll hold out as long as she can to help us escape.
I might have to create an additional diversion so you can rejoin Ino, thought Sai. His promise to Ino to ensure Takahino's safety committed him to the plan. Let me show you the safehouse in Kiri. If we are separated, you can make it to Ino.
"No!" Takahino-as-Ino said, out loud, startling both of them. He switched into the mindlink the next moment. You cannot reveal to me Ino's current location. Should I be captured, Saiko Denshin would give away her position. I can find Ino using our telepathy and chakra sensory without you revealing her exact location.
Sai and Takahino-as-Ino remained under the dock, observing what movement they could see in and among the warehouses. The collapsed warehouse was not visible from their position, but it likely generated the most attention. With so many civilians in the area, they were stuck; a good several meters of open ground lay between them and dry cover in the closest warehouse. So few shrubs and plants grew in the salty earth, it was impossible to mimic one; besides, the sound of a transformation jutsu would draw more attention. As Takahino predicted, simple, single-masted fishing boats began to moor on the docks, some dozen or so poled in and slapped against the wood. From the snatches of conversation, these fishermen had seen the plume of smoke and dust from the water and had hurried in to investigate the strange occurrence.
An alternate possibility could be to risk absconding with a fisherman's boat. With a smaller boat, they could control where they landed on the opposite shore, how fast they crossed the channel, and would have the added benefit of staying out of sight, unlike the ferry where they'd be noticed by other passengers and the ferryman. No further jutsu necessary.
Agreed, thought Takahino. He had gotten the gist of Sai's idea.
The dinner hour arrived. Late afternoon sun shone golden and hot on the white bricks. Hunger had dispersed the crowd of townsfolk. Together, Sai and Takahino untied and unwound a rough hemp rope from a cleat screwed into the dock. With no one on the prowl, they used the long poles to push the boat into the channel, and before long, the Isle of Salt was a faint glassy glimmer of light on the horizon. The channel was not a wide channel, so as they manipulated the sail, they directed the fishing boat toward the greener, bumpier shape on the opposite horizon. Sailing the channel took maybe an hour. Late spring days, stretching out into summer days, gave them ample time to drag the boat on a deserted shoreline.
"We've gained room," Sai said. "I'll fly us the rest of the way."
Takahino had no argument. In a store basket on the fishing boat, they had nibbled on dried, salted fish with a handful of preserved figs and a splash of fresh water. Though not satiating, it filled the empty stomach and reinvigorated them for the final push to Kiri. Sai flew high to keep out of easy sight from anyone curious to look overhead. Daylight had waned and before the crests of the Snowy Mountains soared into view, night conquered the world. Rain clouds had crowded together in the sky, big and bulbous and heavy with condensation. There was no avoiding them; Sai was forced to fly the ink hawk low, but in a bad piece of luck, the effervescent mist had crept over the landscape.
Blinded below, blinded above. Takahino-as-Ino didn't cuddle close to Sai like Ino when he took her on flights. Rather, her cousin was near enough to rest a hand on Sai's shoulder. Takahino's appearance as Ino tricked Sai into believing he'd elicited a cold reaction from Ino, but it was Takahino. Sai had to repeat it to himself: I'm with Takahino, not Ino. It's Takahino. Takahino. Sai's exhausted brain harried him with an annoying sequence of questions and suppositions. He struggled against a surge of paranoia that when they arrived in Kiri, Ino hadn't kept her promise but had left. Another paranoid thought considered Takahino to be one of the other Yamanaka in disguise, and he was leading them right to Ino. The acknowledged power of the clan lent itself as evidence to Sai's anxiety- -another member could've used Saiko Denshin on Takahino and replacing him, convinced Sai of his authentic identity.
They closed in on Kiri. Lightning sparked in the clouds overhead; the mist below was white and reflected dim lights of scattered communities. Sai flew by instinct alone, having had to navigate Water Country in fog and low visibility many times. Their air speed had been constant. He hadn't exercised caution in his impatience to get to Ino. Mist was as thick as soup...he'd never seen such thick mist before.
"I feel like...something's wrong," Ino- -no, it's Takahino- - murmured in his ear. "The atmosphere...I can hardly breathe."
"We should be over the All-Seeing Forest. Everyone feels the forest watching them. The feeling is normal."
"No...the fog. I...it's a sort of pressure against me," Takahino continued. "I feel like it's charged. Not with lightning. With something else."
Sai frowned. "Have you used chakra sensory?"
"Well, yes. But I'm not sure I'm right in what I sense. The chakra is everywhere, all around us, not just under us."
Sai did not like Takahino's implication. Had Kiri developed a new defense system in place in addition to the All-Seeing Forest, the walls, gates, patrols, and a sensory barrier which was a fraction of the power of the Konoha's? Sai had decided to take a chance amongst the thunderclouds above them since at least they'd be out of the strange fog and further away from the sentient forest.
The attack was abrupt and silent. He had no opportunity to barrel-roll out of the way.
A series of spear-like projectiles riddled the ink hawk. Pain struck him, his shoulder. One of the projectiles had impaled Takahino-as-Ino, and with a stricken look, he poofed into non-existence. A clone the whole time? The ink hawk lost its shape and collapsed in black splatters.
Free-falling, Sai had other issues. A spear had grazed his shoulder. The pain was great enough to render his shoulder useless. Of his repertoire of learned jutsu, he had one in case he fell from a height, an earth technique which would soften the impact of the fall to ground. Sai formed and released the jutsu despite the agony radiating up and down in his arm. A suffocating, dense soil enveloped him and outside this layer another layer of solid earth formed, a candy-coating around a chewy middle.
Within the protective ball, Sai waited for impact. Within moments, he hit the ground- -a muffled whump, while the outside layer caved with a deafening crack- -bounced, bounced, and rolled. It seemed to roll in a rumbling death-boulder until it hit something and stopped. Pieces of the outer shell had flaked off after the impact. He spilled out of his cocoon and lay, disoriented, among slick and cloistered bushes and ivy, at the base of a magnificent cliff shorn straight down. He did not know where he was in relation to Kiri or the cemetery, but he guessed he was near the northwest shores which had the same type of stone as the cliff. From around him, inside the misty veil, behind hidden trees, he heard the telltale bird calls of Kiri shinobi as they searched the area.
Sai lurched to his feet, but dizziness overcame him. His shoulder was a mess of screaming nerves. Blood coursed from the wound. A whole chunk of his shoulder and upper arm had been torn clean away. The rest of his landing capsule crumbled into a pile of dust, and without a definite shape, what remained would be overlooked. Sai realized he had no escape through the forest and perhaps once he was atop the cliff, he might be afforded some visibility. Up the cliff face he dashed; each step jolted his shoulder, each step brought him closer to a swoon, but he took quick, rapid breaths to bring the oxygen-rich blood back into his head and delayed the inevitable crash. His ascent had been swift and straight, and he hauled himself over the lip and lay flat, catching his breath, a fresh wave of dizziness contracting his vision, his arm throbbed into the meat of the shoulder.
Shallow puddles laced the flat black-gray of the stone. Everywhere around him was blanketed with smoky white which revealed only a few feet in either direction. He didn't have much time before the Kiri shinobi would figure out his feint.
"Reach out to her." Inoichi knelt next to Sai, and Sai was both surprised and relieved to see him, the blond, leaning to brown ponytail, the fluff of fringe above the hitai-ate, the sharp cheekbones and sea green eyes. "She can find you if you reach out to her."
The danger…it's selfish to bring her into the middle of it.
"It's not selfish to seek help from someone who can give it." As Sai hesitated, Inoichi glanced to the cliff edge, where faint bird calls rose from the depths. "Wouldn't you rather escape with her than to force her to escape alone? How do you protect her if you're caught?"
And yet, to bring Ino into an ever-tightening noose seemed the very definition of insanity.
A/N: So. I don't know what this chapter is about, but it was fun to write. I keep promising to get the plot moving, but I'm finding ways of stalling. I'm sorry, everyone. I kick it gear very, very soon. I do hope you are doing well. See you next week!