Chapter 30:

Sai whimpered as he clung to Sarada tightly. Kiba growled, trying to sound intimidating but he was frightened, too. There were so many big scary people to contend with and he hoped Sarada would be able to protect them. Feeling hopeless, Kiba was willing to do whatever she said.

Sarada debated with herself on whether or not she should fight these men off. The one man said he just wanted to talk but she wasn't sure if she could trust him. If she fought back, it would make them out to be an enemy which she didn't want. She also understood that if she did go all out on the guards, she would risk harming innocent villagers who weren't that far off from where they were. She was willing to talk but she didn't want to be detained to do it.

The taller of the two men seemed more reasonable but she didn't know if it was all a trick.

Whatever she was going to do, she had to decide now.

"It's ok, guys," Sarada assured the two men cowering behind her. She then addressed the man in front of her. "I'm willing to talk, but it has to be out here."

"Privately," said his partner. "Come with us."

Sarada's eyes darted to the guards taking a step closer, hands on their weapons.

"Hang on a second!" Mitsuki's voice sounded from above. He had launched himself from a roof and landed between Sarada and the two men. He held up his hands in a passive gesture, facing the men. "We're willing to talk, but you have to hear us out."

"Come with us and…"

The man's partner cut him off, thrusting out a hand to the side. He hadn't taken his eyes off the two male shinobi since this conversation began. The more he studied them, the more he was convinced they were not normal men.

He stepped closer to Mitsuki and spoke in a tone low enough to be heard by Mitsuki and his partner but not the guards or other shinobi. "This is about the stone, isn't it?"

"We mean no harm to this village," Mitsuki told him, evading the question while simultaneously answering it in a way.

The man continued as if he hadn't heard him. "I'll admit that I don't know much about shinobi, but I do know that our trained guards do not stand a chance against you and your numbers if we were to fight seriously. Even those two."

Mitsuki glanced back at Kiba and Sai.

"There's something off about the adults in your party. I knew it couldn't be an act. As tricky as shinobi can be, to what end…?" The man shook his head, never finishing the thought. "I thought that they were young shinobi disguised to look like adults, but even as I'm saying it, I'm losing confidence in that theory as well."

"Because they are too immature to pull off such a ruse?" Mitsuki offered.

The man gazed upon Sai with pity, seeing him looking at the guards with fear and uncertainty.

"And because that man wasn't acting like this before."

Mitsuki looked from Sai to the man and understood. "You met him before."

"Not personally, but yes."

Remembering the cave when their three parties converged, Mitsuki understood. "Shikadai's team was hired to retrieve the stone. But Sai was there as well. Hired separately. Not to take the stone but to stop those who wanted to keep it there."

They hired both.

"The leader of the village hired those young shinobi to bring the stone back to its rightful place. Someone else must have hired that man."

"He said he was hired to intercept the group of people trying to guard it," Mitsuki told him. He didn't tell them the people were hired by the other village to keep it from being taken back. "If your leader didn't hire him, then someone else in the village did as incentive. Sai never said he was told to take it, just keep people from getting there first."

"I couldn't say who hired him, but I remember seeing him around and he wasn't acting like this."

This could work. Mitsuki realized that this man knew something had happened to Sai since he had seen him before. This man was already suspicious of Sai's condition along with the other adults. Perhaps he could convince the man that the stone itself was causing this and would be willing to relinquish it if he thought it posed a danger to them.

"It's the stone, isn't it?" the man asked in a hushed tone as if afraid to say it aloud.

Mitsuki looked at him without a word. This may be easier than he thought. This man was already heading in that direction. It wouldn't take much to convince him.

"Or is it the springs?" The man looked very uncomfortable. "The leader mentioned seeing the two adults he spoke with near the springs. If they're acting like this… Is the stone or springs causing it?"

His partner grabbed his arm. "What are you saying? That's ridiculous. So many people from this village have used those springs and nothing happened to them."

"They make better flooded puddles than they do springs," the other man said. "Besides, those are our people."

"So?"

"So… These are shinobi. Men from other lands. Another village."

"And?"

The man looked his partner in the face and said with concern in his eyes, "The other village insisted the stone being here would be harmful to other people. Dangerous. We didn't believe them."

"They were being vague about it."

"But what if this is precisely what they were talking about?" said the man. "What if other people who come in contact with the springs or stone have something happen to them? A kind of reversion or an illness? Look at that man. He wasn't like this a week ago."

"How could it possibly have a different effect on people who don't live here? That doesn't make any sense. People are people. Where they live has nothing to do with…"

"What if we have immunity because there's something about this land that helped us build up a tolerance to it? What if some are more sensitive to it than others? Not everyone in the village has used the springs. If non-locals use it and it does something to them, then imagine what that can to. The effect it would have. If you thought local business was hurting before, imagine how it would be after people use the springs and end up ill?"

His partner did give this serious considerate. "There's got to be a way to test it. Prove what you're saying."

"Isn't this proof enough?" Mitsuki asked, gesturing to Kiba and Sai.

"It could be a trick," the partner said. "I don't understand how something in the water or a stone could have such an effect on people. It seems farfetched."

"Just look at them," said the other man. "I think that's enough proof. We're seeing it with our own eyes."

Mitsuki grinned. "There's a simple way to test it if their condition isn't convincing enough. You could try it yourself. The water, the stone. Try it and see if it changes you."

The man took a step back away from Mitsuki. "No way."

"Why?" he asked, still smiling. "Because you think there's a chance it might be true?"

The man gulped and looked at the ground without a word.

The other man spoke to Mitsuki again. "I always thought it was strange. The whole situation with the springs and the stone. Little of it made sense and something about it just felt… weird. I haven't used the springs myself just because I'm uncomfortable with the whole idea of using something that popped up overnight. Then the other village starts saying things about it being dangerous and… Well, things haven't properly been tested, so I suppose there's a chance that maybe…"

"That's why we're here," said Mitsuki. "We're investigating. Like you said, these men weren't acting like this before they came here. If there's a chance the stone or water caused it, then there's significant risk to your livelihood as well."

"But if the people of this village are immune for some unknown reason…" the partner started.

"You may be immune but not the people you wish to bring here," Mitsuki pointed out. "If the main purpose of the springs were to lure tourists to your village for profit, then the possibility of the springs being dangerous jeopardizes that. If the springs causes a detrimental change in outsiders, the very people you want to come here, then you may as well not have the springs at all."

"He's right," said the man to his partner. "Just as I was saying. If people come here and end up like that, imagine what would happen to our village. The infected people would want reparation. We'd be blamed."

"But there's no hard evidence to support…"

"If it was brought to your attention and chose to do nothing because it sounded farfetched and something did happen, it wouldn't look good for your village," Mitsuki pointed out calmly. "Knowing there was possible risk and doing nothing about it. Bringing tourists to a place that may be harmful and not telling them because you wanted money… Well, I'm sure you know how that would look."

"He's right," said the man. "If they're here to figure this out and the stone is to blame, then we're impeding their mission and endangering innocent people. We should let them resolve this, not make it harder for them."

"But we're on orders. We can't just…"

"Do your orders come from the village leader?" Mitsuki asked.

"Not these ones. These ones come from the leader's assistant. Who also happens to be our boss."

"Who's higher?" Mitsuki asked. "In the chain of authority, who's higher?"

"The leader, of course. But..."

"We answer to the assistant."

"Who answers to the leader, correct?" Mitsuki pointed out.

They exchanged looks. "Yeah…"

"Even if the assistant has good intentions, if the matter involves the village, shouldn't the leader be made aware? Also, if the people in question happen to be investigating a possible danger in the village, does the assistant have the authority to stop them without having the leader's clear permission to do so? I don't think the assistant, authority or not, should be able to handle things themselves without informing the leader himself."

"That may be true," the one of the men. "But he did bring it to the leader's attention."

"And what did he say?"

The men exchanged looks again. "That he wasn't to engage the shinobi."

Mitsuki waited patiently for the men to come to a consensus.

"Stand down," the men told the guards who immediately backed off.

Sarada didn't know what Mitsuki said to the men but was relieved it worked.

The taller man stepped closer to Mitsuki and said quietly, "Take the stone and do what you need to do. If it turns out that thing is dangerous, then do what you must. You're right. If the water turns out to be dangerous, it might as well not be in the village."

"What about the assistant?" asked his partner. "We're on orders and we're doing this? Our jobs are on the line."

"The assistant already broke the rules by giving you these orders," said Mitsuki. "If you fulfil the orders he gave you, then you would be faulted as well. Considering you have full knowledge of the assistant going against the leader's wishes."

The man took a step back with a nod. "Fair point."

"He'll still try to stop you with the men under his command, but we won't try to stop you," said the taller of the two. "As far as what happens with us going against orders… I guess, uh…"

"Who's higher?" Mitsuki reminded him. "Just tell the leader than the assistant gave you orders that went against his wishes and he shouldn't go too hard on you."

With no time to waste, Mitsuki went to tell Sarada what had taken place.

"This gives us a small window to work in but it's doable," she said. "These guys won't stop us but the assistant and his men are still out there and he could command these men to go after us again."

"Which means we need to get to the stone as quickly as possible before that happens."

"Exactly," she said with a nod. "Let's go quickly."

Sarada pulled on Sai and Kiba's arms to get them to come. They went without a fuss, unsure whether or not the men were dangerous. Sai looked back at the two men watching them leave without a word and followed Sarada and Mitsuki. He wouldn't let go of Sarada's hand the whole time.

Both groups passed each other on their way to meet up, a building shielding them from view. Only Naruto's curious eyes notice when he looked back the way he came to check for enemies. He pointed enthusiastically behind them calling out, "There they are!"

Hearing Naruto's shout, Sarada's group spun around and the two teams reunited. The young shinobi talked over each other, trying to fill in the others about what had taken place. Boruto shouted for everyone to be quiet so they could sort out the noise.

"They said we could have the stone?"

Mitsuki nodded. "After seeing Sai in this state, they seemed convinced that the stone and springs might be dangerous. Since it would hurt tourism, they saw fit to give us the stone."

"In so many words," Sarada added. "But the assistant is the one we need to be worried about. He's the one having these guards come after us, not the leader himself."

"He's convinced we're trying to harm the village by taking the stone and likely won't listen to reason," said Shikadai. "If we tried telling him what was going on, he'd likely argue that we're making it up just to get our hands on the stone."

"He thinks we're the enemy," said Mitsuki. "And based on what they've faced in the past, I can't really blame him. If we were to show the adults to him personally, he'll think it's a trick. There's nothing we can say that won't convince him that we're not here to harm the village by taking the stone either for our own purposes or for the other village."

"Then let's not waste time convincing him," said Boruto. "Those other guys already gave you permission to take the stone, so let's get it."

"But they have no pull," said Sarada. "They only said that they wouldn't try to stop us and warned us about the assistant and that the guards' orders come from him."

"Fine," said Boruto. "That gives us a small window to work in. We can get the stone and run before the guy shows up. Especially since we kind of already kicked their asses."

Naruto tapped Boruto on the shoulder. "What about asking the important guy if we could have it? If we just take it and run, don't we look like the bad guys?"

Boruto sighed heavily. "I guess you have a point. And we did say we'd listen to you about it…"

"Should we show them the adults so the leader can see for himself and make the call?" Mitsuki asked.

"If he's as reasonable as Naruto says, it might work," said Shikadai. "Problem is that we have to find him before the assistant does."

"More guards would probably get in our way," said Inojin. "Should we get the stone first and then talk to the leader or should we do the reverse?"

Shikadai had an idea. "I say we do them all at once."

"Like at the same time?" Naruto asked.

Shikadai nodded. "We get the stone and talk to the leader at the same time. We'll get the adults back into the forest to where the spring is and change them back. If they stay here, they're just going to be targeted again by the assistant and his men. Or wander off. Getting them to where they need to be makes the most sense."

"What about convincing the leader?" asked Sarada. "It would be even easier to plead our case if he sees the adults like this."

"We already have two witnesses who can vouch for us."

"But those guys don't have much pull and it will be our words against the assistant's."

"The assistant who's already attacked us without provocation and took matters into his own hands without word to his boss? Things don't look too good for him. And if they still need convincing, we still have that one guy tied to a tree we can use as an example."

"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about him."

"Trust me, this could work." Shikadai assigned everyone jobs. "One group gets the adults back to the spring. One gets the stone, and one talks to the leader. We do it all at once. Where's Chocho?"

"Looking for them," said Sarada, pointing at the adults.

"Whoever finds her first tells her to help bring the adults to the spring. Let's get this done."

Things were going a lot more smoothly than they had in a while. The adults were finally listening to them and were willing to help finish the mission. It may have been because they sensed danger and clung to the ones they trusted most or perhaps they had been given more responsibility and wanted to prove themselves.

Shikadai decided it was best to find the leader and talk to him himself while Mitsuki retrieved the stone. He searched the area with Inojin but there was no sign of him anywhere. When they asked around, no one had seen him and their best guess was that he was in a meeting. It seemed they would not be able to speak with the leader as planned.

Of course, Shikadai suspected as much, which was why he wanted to do everything simultaneously.

"The assistant may have good intentions, but he's still going behind the leader's back to get it done," Shikadai told Inojin as they ran through the village. "It makes sense he would want the leader distracted so he won't notice what's going on. That's probably why he hasn't ordered the guards to stop what they're doing. He doesn't know."

"In a way, it kind of helps our argument," said Inojin. "Pointing out that we were attacked despite him telling the assistant he didn't want that. He may be more likely to hear us out if he learns that."

At that moment, Mitsuki coiled his fingers around the stone in the wall and pulled it free.

A bright light shot up into the sky like a beacon, signaling that it was too late to turn back.

"If he didn't see that, the guards and assistant probably did."

Shikadai nodded to Inojin in answer.

Sarada and Boruto waved the adults into the forest, telling them to run as quickly as they could to get ahead of the enemy. Amidst the whimpering and panting, they could hear the adults express their fear with quiet questions and comments.

"We can fight them," Naruto told his friends. "Don't worry." Though he said this, Naruto looked nervous. His voice shook but he blamed it on the running.

"Will the guards follow us this far?" Sai asked Sarada as they ran. "Will they find us?"

"We'll be fine, don't worry." Sarada looked behind the group to make sure they weren't being followed.

"I see them!" came a voice. "They're escaping into the forest!"

Sai screamed in a high voice that was almost comical and ran faster. "They found us! The bad guys found us!"

"It's ok, Sai. We're ok."

"I'm scared!"

"It's ok. You're a big strong shinobi."

"No, I'm not!" he wailed. "They're gonna do something bad to us and I'm scared!"

"We'll protect you," Sarada assured him. "It's ok."

"I want Inojin!"

Kiba smacked Sai on the back of his head. "Stupid! If you keep screaming like that, they're going to find us faster."

"Ahh!"

"Shut up!" Kiba covered Sai's mouth with both hands.

"Kiba, you are not helping," Sarada told him.

Boruto scanned the area and pointed. "There, quick. We can hide."

They found a ditch in the forest hidden by branches and a mossy log and decided to hide there for a while. This way the adults could calm down and they wouldn't lure the guards to the spring before they were ready.

"We could always push them in," Naruto suggested and Boruto liked the idea.

"We could do that. Right, Sarada? We wouldn't have to worry about them then and it'd make our case easier."

She shot him a look and hissed, "We are not doing that. Now be quiet."

Sai pressed his hands over his mouth to keep any sound from coming out. As the most docile member of the group, it was hard for him to remain calm now that he had reversed back to a time when he couldn't control his emotions very well. He wanted to cry so much from fear but knew it would give away their position which made him even more afraid. He tried holding his breath to keep himself from making a sound but he was soon gasping for air. The fear of being discovered, making a sound and not knowing what these people were going to do had him on the verge of hyperventilating. He wanted Inojin with him and was scared that he couldn't see him. Not knowing was the worst part of all this.

Naruto saw the tears in Sai's eyes and had to comfort him silently. He reached over and tapped Sai's knee with his fingers. Sai flinched, on high alert, and breathed quickly when he realized it was only Naruto.

Naruto made bunny ears with his fingers and hopped his hand across Sai's leg. Sai didn't find it very calming, just annoying, and twisted away, shaking his head.

Naruto wrote messages to Sai on his leg with his fingers but Sai didn't notice that they were meant to be words so he didn't get the message.

Finally, Naruto just embraced him. Holding Sai's shoulders tightly, he sat in silence, hoping this would calm Sai down.

It worked. He felt safe like this and began to calm down.

Footsteps behind the log had them all holding their breath. Naruto, Kiba and Sarada all clamped a hand over Sai's mouth to keep him from crying out. The crunching of leaves was right behind them.

"You losers want something?" came Chocho's voice. "We're leaving your village, so leave us alone."

"Over there!" said a guard and the footsteps retreated.

Once they were sure they were alone, the group let out a collective sigh and came out of hiding.

"Nice one, Chocho," Sarada praised. "Let's keep going to the spring before those guys show up again."

"You!"

Shikadai and Inojin stopped with their hands in the air, finding their path blocked by several guards and the assistant.

"Should I…?" Inojin nodded towards the assistant, asking silently whether or not he should use his jutsu on him.

Shikadai shook his head. "There's no need."

"I knew it all along!" shouted the assistant. "You were after the stone. Return it at once!"

Shikadai waved his hands above his head. "We don't have it. Search us if you like."

"You're not going anywhere until you hand it over immediately."

"I told you. We don't have it."

"I knew you were up to something. I knew it all along," ranted the assistant. "What do you have against us? No, scratch that. I know it isn't personal. You're only doing this because you're getting paid. You don't care how it affects us and our way of life. It's just business. You shinobi are so heartless. Never giving a thought to how your mission may be hurting others. I am not letting that stone leave this village again. Never again. Too many lives are at stake here. I will not let you ruin it. Detain them! Capture them! If they fight back, do what you must! I don't care if they are children. These shinobi are not getting away!"

"What on earth are you doing?!"

The guards froze on the spot and turned to the leader standing a short distance away looking furious.

The leader's eyes narrowed squarely on his assistant. "What did I just get through telling you? What did I say?"

"But, sir, they were after the stone all along. I have proof. They-"

"What did I say?" the leader repeated firmly and slowly.

The assistant swallowed hard before answering softly. "Not to engage."

"And what is this?" the leader asked, gesturing about with his arms.

"But they-"

"I gave you an order."

"Yes, but they were up to something, just as I thought."

"Is that why you had the guards attack them, even after I specifically said not to?" The leader crossed his arms. "Hard to overlook the procession of guards entering the infirmary on my way here."

"The fact that they attacked them should alone prove…"

"That they defended themselves against men following your orders to attack them first?"

The assistant said nothing.

"I can hardly blame the shinobi for acting in self-defense. If they took any action at all, it's clear to me that you provoked them."

"They were after the stone. I knew they were. I had to do something otherwise our people…"

"Did you see them go after it before you confronted them?"

"They did go after it."

"Before or after you engaged?"

"That's not the point."

"I'll decide that."

Shikadai turned to Inojin. "I told you there would be no need."

"I will speak to these shinobi myself and you will call off the guards you sent after them. I know they followed a group into the forest."

"Sir, we have to address…"

"I will do that," the leader said and then pointed. "Go!"

Bowing his head, the assistant slinked away.

"I will see you in my office after all this is seen to."

The assistant flinched, then continued on his way.

The leader turned to the shinobi. "I apologize for all this. I gave him orders not to confront you, even if he had suspicion. However, if there was an issue with the stone, you should have said something. Taking it upon yourselves did make you look suspicious."

Shikadai grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "I guess you have a point. Sorry about that. But how did you know what was going on? You said you knew we found issue with the stone."

"A couple men came and told me. Pulled me right out of my meeting to let me know what was going on. Seems some people were getting sick and you needed the stone to cure them or something like that. Heard you were investigating and my assistant kept interfering."

"Well, it's kind of a long story and we sort of…" Honestly, Shikadai wasn't sure how much to tell the leader.

"If the stone or the springs is somehow harmful, then I won't impede your investigation. There would be no point to the tourism if we get a bad name. The last thing I want is for anyone to get hurt. My people or anyone for that matter."

Shikadai smiled to himself. "Shouldn't have thought he was so naive. The Hokage did say you were a reasonable person."

"Did my assistant give you the wrong impression?" the leader asked.

"No, it's just… Never mind."

Mitsuki came and landed right next to them with the stone in his hand. "I got it. Are you speaking to the leader about its effects?"

"Well, we were, but…"

Mitsuki handed the stone to Shikadai. "I can talk to him about it. You go see if the others are alright. I saw a group of guards head into the forest."

Shikadai looked questioningly at the leader, wondering if he would allow this. After getting a nod of approval, Shikadai and Inojin hurried into the forest to wrap up their mission.