Chapter 18

Fuu watched the lady's form getting smaller as the distance between them widened. The narrow alley of the old city was then empty and the gap wouldn't take long to catch up.

Three seconds, she thought as she put down her backpack. She didn't have anything against her, but after all they went through, she couldn't just be dismissed with some confusing words. They deserved a clearer explanation. Fuu bent her knees and focused her chakra on her feet then told Ari: "Stay here and watch the bags."

Before he could turn his head to look at her, airflow lifted his hair up and the place she was occupying was then empty. A flipping figure suddenly landed at the other end of the alley, and the middle aged woman stumbled on her feet as the girl she thought she left behind unexpectedly reappeared in front of her. Fuu rushed to her side to help her get up, but the woman kicked back and started screaming hysterically. Fuu froze.

"Ma'am, I don't mean any harm. I'm so sorry I scared you… I just want to know why you are lying to us. Kaoru gave me your address, which means that she trusts you. I just don't understand why you are faking…" An old door cracked open and two people came out of it.

"Hey, what's going on here?"

The woman rushed to their direction and shouted:

"HEEEEEELP! HEEEEEEELP! I'VE BEEN AGRESSED!" The man in the front took the lady inside while the other one glanced angrily at Fuu who watched the whole scene, stunned. She didn't do anything wrong. She just wanted to understand why the very person that should have helped them was pretending not to know Kaoru. In the meantime, the man approached her and was about to speak when she felt something drag her from her sleeve down the road.

"Take your bag! It's too heavy for me". Ari took the way back to the shop in front of which their backpacks were still lying, but Ari's short steps weren't fast enough. Fuu snatched the backpacks and took Ari in her arms then snatched the bags and in three jumps, she climbed on a roof and ran all the long of the delineation line between the sky and the Fuzan until they were back to the train station.

Ari sat on the edge of the platform and let his legs swing freely from one side to another. It was a rare occasion, he was normally forbidden to approach it at all. He was still under the charm of the rooftop trip, he had never had never done such a cool thing before. Miyu was the best. Even if they went through some trouble, seeing that old lady scared to death was definitively worth it. He didn't like her from the start. A passing chilly breeze made the boy quiver, waking him from his reverie; it was time to leave. Spending the whole night in the platform that had welcomed them at their arrival wasn't a good idea – a graveyard of locomotives and wagons out of use that his imagination was producing terrifying scenarios he wanted to get rid of.

Fuu was still staring at something in the horizon with a heavy heart, unable to erase the image those judging eyes from her mind that painfully echoed with a memory she long wished to forget. 'Monster!', that word had always left a bitter taste. She thought that outside, where nobody had those prejudice about her and Chomei, she would have more easily been accepted. But she was wrong, and the most painful aspect of it was that she didn't even know why.

In the meantime, Ari stood up and gently tapped her shoulder.

"Sis, where are we going to sleep tonight?"

Where? "Well… Oh."She let her head fall on her palm. Why hadn't she thought about it before?

Sleeping in that wreckage was fine for a trained shinobi, not for a 5 and a half year-old. But she had no idea of how to deal with these kinds of situations in any way other than the one she had always been taught. And there was the problem of her being accused of aggression. What would happen to Ari if she was caught? All those whirling thoughts were making her sick. And she didn't have anyone to talk about it or to get help from; not even Chomei. For him too, she was the one to blame. In the end, Shibuki had every right to keep her isolated; whenever she was on her own she would only cause more trouble. All that brooding was stirring up a nauseating heat, but at least her mind was getting blurry and the pain started to vanish.

"Sis. Sis. Sis you're getting on fire !"

The glooming green chakra was covering all her body, making it indeed look like it was on fire. Fuu looked in astonishment at her glooming hand. She must have triggered the Seal and liberate Chomei's chakra. That was her chance to reconnect with Chomei. As she closed her eyes and focused her consciousness, the light gradually lost its brightness and her body reabsorbed the chakra, sealing it deep in the dark, in a place impossible to reach for her consciousness that was slowly lifted up to the surface.

Before her, Ari was quivering in shock, still not able to believe what he had just seen. The green fire that enveloped her had just vanished away, leaving no trace of what had happened. Seeing him petrified, Miyu rushed to his side and hugged him and lashed out an endless stream of apologize for scaring him. but perhas she was just as scared. Those powers that made her unique, could also take her away. He tightened his grip - he really didn't want that to happen.

Shibuki stared at the bowl of no longer fuming Miso soup, recalling the event of the previous night.

Where had he been wrong?

Why would she betray her village?

Why the Land of Earth?

At first, when they had informed him that someone witnessed her in the Land of Earth's border, he had hoped they were mistaken. She had probably wanted to face her pursuers alone and had been captured in the process. That's how things must have gone. They must have mistaken her.

Yet, the witness turned out to be the one of the head of a widespread network of merchant and she had asked for Taki's protection a couple of times when she was in the Land of Waterfall for business. It was two years ago, and Fuu was part of the escort. Although she had been assigned to patrol in a larger perimeter to prevent the most serious threats, the woman didn't miss to notice her young age and her oddly green hair when she would furtively join the main escort for meals or to pass important information. This is why she had recognized her when, more than a week ago, she had made a stop the Land of Earth's border.

Fuu was well and sound. Alone. In a country that was the historical enemy of their strongest ally.

According to this witness, she had willingly left the village and the country without permission, thus deserting her homeland.

Fuu was officially wanted for betrayal.

The news caused a great commotion among the inner circle and the council. The historical balance between the Elemental Lands was broken; the equilibrium had never been so fragile since the time of the First Hokage.

'If only she had really been captured...'

'She had always been useless, we don't need her back.'

'It would be better if she just died.'

How could he blame them for saying those things? The Land of Waterfall had its honor and credibility tainted. And he was the military leader of the country; he was the one responsible for her, and for whom she carried.

He would take his responsibilities and do what is necessary to clear the name of Takigakure.

Noises of an argument were coming from outside, but he wasn't in the mood of receiving anyone. The two Jonin he had assigned for that job would take care of unwanted visitors.

That morning, Yoro and Kegon argued with the newly appointed guards until there were forced to leave, but Shibuki didn't recognize their voices.

Breakfast lasted long enough, Fuu thought as she waited for Ari to pull another card. She would be lying if she said that she hadn't had fun overhearing conversions, her curiosity about civilian lifestyle had been well satiated, but she was even more eager to have some news about what happened the day before in Arane, at least having the confirmation that thhe raid led against the group made no victims. Ari whimpered at the card he had just picked and threw it on the pile.

"Sis, I'm tired of playing cards… Can we go now?"

He was right, they would better try some other places. And if they didn't find anything worth it, they could move to the next place mentionned in the paper. this time they would have to find things by themselves, the person supposed to help them had turned them a cold shoulder.

"Okay, let's go. Just wait a second here, I'll pay and I'll be right back." As she bent to pick up her wallet, a presence with a massive chakra entered the tea shop. She immediately hid her chakra, in hopes the shinobi that had just entered didn't notice her. However, when she pulled up her head, the man was looking at their direction.

That was unexpected. He was sure he felt the presence of a shinobi there, but that feeling immediately disappeared. He turned to the left corner where he had perceived the presence, but he only found a young girl and a boy were playing cards. Deidara frowned; it couldn't possibly be those two. The restrooms were just behind them, perhaps the shinobi was there then left. It was any of his business anyway, he had to gather information about that Sen Toru and get rid of him as soon as possible so that he could go back to do what he really liked. He hated money making missions, and he hated them even more when it was for the account of that old rag of Oonoki. Of course, Sasori couldn't wander around with his peculiar body without going unnoticed, so Deidara had to take care of the first -and worst - part alone. He really hoped he could blow something later to release the frustration because this Sen was no were to be found. After what happened the day before in Arane, everybody was careful not to mention the Kusa clan and the Land of Silk. A cup of tea and milk would be enough to soothe his nerves for the moment, so he took a seat crossed his legs and waited be served. What a boring day…

Suddenly, a man in the middle of the room ripped shirt showing a belt of explosives wrapped around his abdomen, threatening to make everything blow and get revenge for his brothers from the Land of Silk. During his tyrad, more than half of the room was eptied by the occupants with only the owner and a handful of other people who were trying to approch him and calm him down. The terrorist had a low level of chakra, he would be easy to take down. But he could as well kidnap him, although it was highly improbable to get anything from someone ready to blow himself up for his fellow patriots. If he only knew he had been manipulated all this time, he would think twice before triggering the explosives.

He was about to take care of him once and for all when the chakra he felt when he had entered briefly reappeared. It was the tan-skinned girl from the corner. In a speed almost imperceptible to the eye even for a trained shinobi, she knocked the man off and exited the shop with the boy in her arms to disappear in the crowd. She was skilled, and she was probably even stronger than what she let think. The owner and other people approached the man lying that was lying on the floor, trying to process what had just happened. It seemed that Fuzan had nothing to offer - he didn't even had the chance to have milk tea because of the current circumstances; he might something useful in Arane though. But before that, he would take down something on the Land of Silk behalf, in the right way art should be done.

He lifted his head and his eyes land right on what he was looking for. He promised he wouldn't make any collateral victims, so this would be perfect for a demonstration.

"Art is an explosion!"