Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto. Though I do own the characters I make up to fill up space.
Author's Note - Hoping to finish this before I start my new job on Monday. I'll probably only be able to do this chapter though, but just as long as it is before Monday I'll be happy. After this story is complete, I should be able to work on the second story immediately. I hope to make the second one longer than this, both chapter length and chapter number. Perhaps 10-15 even 20 chapters depending.
Any who, thank you to all that take the time to read. I appreciate it greatly.
Clarification -
---------------- Scene changes mostly.
Thoughts
Whatever else
(inner Sakura)
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Chapter Ten - An Enlightening Experience Part One
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Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Luca and Rica trekked for three hours before reaching their destination. Rica and Luca dropped their bags and sat down on the ground panting heavily. They haven't traveled so long and so far in a really long time. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were fine, maybe a bit worn out, but fine. Kakashi was still walking, not noticing that the rest of the group stopped for a break.
Turning around after a couple hundred feet he realized that no one was behind him.
"Eh?" He said to himself before he shouted back. "What's the problem back there?"
"The problem is that we've been walking non-stop since we left, my feet are burning with pain." Luca said rubbing her right foot.
"Suck it up, we're getting close to our destination." Kakashi said jokingly. But inwardly he was kind of annoyed.
Luca made a face at Kakashi and put her shoe back on. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura already started walking as Rica picked up her things and started to walk as well.
"Wait up you guys!" Luca shouted as she pushed her shoe on and grabbed her bag to follow them.
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Another hour had passed before they reached their destination. A good sized clearing overlooking a great expanse of forest as far as the eye can see. Trees surrounded all three sides, and a cliff took the other side. They were on the side of a mountain, which held a secret hot spring only a few people knew about, at least that Kakashi knew of. It was a serene place, good enough for a camping trip. Enough to keep them busy for at least three days.
"We're here." Kakashi said as he dropped his bag in front of him.
Rica and Luca dropped to the ground panting even louder than before.
"…I'm not cut out for this." Rica said sitting up and putting her bag in front of her.
"Same." Luca said still laying down.
Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura were already setting up camp.
Rica and Luca sat there looking on as everyone else set up camp easily. After everyone was done, they managed to get up and pitch their own tent. There were four tents. One belonging to Naruto and Sasuke, one belonging to Sakura, one belonging to Kakashi and one belonging to Rica and Luca.
After several minutes of fumbling around with the tent, the girls managed to erect it without too many problems.
"That wasn't…too hard." Rica said standing back and looking at the tent.
"Really now?" Luca said out of breath looking at the tent.
Kakashi appeared behind them and put a hand on each of their shoulders.
"Good job. Now go unpack, rest and do whatever." He said disappearing into his own tent.
"Sounds like a good idea." Rica said picking up her bag and going inside the tent.
Inside the tent, Rica quickly took out her items and set them up on her side of the tent. She unrolled her sleeping bag and took out her flat pillow and set her nightclothes, towel, and other necessities onto of the pillow. She even brought the little stuffed cat Kakashi got her for her birthday along. It was too cute to keep back in Konoha.
Sighing, she emerged from the tent to see that Luca and Naruto were wrestling on the ground again. Shaking her head she went into the forest to explore for a while.
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Luca was pushed on the ground as Naruto sat on her stomach. She grit her teeth and used all her strength to launch Naruto off her stomach.
Naruto was immediately launched off her stomach and crashed into a tree with a sickening thud.
"Ouch…goddamn…" Naruto said rubbing the back of his head.
"Looks like I won." Luca said as she stood up.
"I'm not going to argue, it hurt like a bitch." He said getting up as well. "Lets call it quits for today."
"Wow, backing down so soon, that's not like you at all." Luca said dusting off the back of her pants.
Naruto nodded and disappeared into his tent to do god knows what.
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Sasuke had quickly left the camp site to go off and be alone. It didn't sit well with him that he had to spend time with everyone for about three days. So he took a fishing rod, a couple lures and some bait with him to do some fishing near a small stream a mile back.
He didn't care that he was alone, in fact he found it better that he was. He was more of a lone wolf than anything else. The company of others was good sometimes, but right now he didn't need it.
Hooking the bait to the hook he cast out his line and waited for a fish to get hooked on the bait. It didn't take long for a fish to become hooked, and with little to no effort he pulled the fish to shore. It was a small fish, but a good side for eating. He hadn't brought any food with him, so hunting, or fishing was the only way he was to feed himself. He was too proud to ask anyone else for food.
A small smile crept along his face as he hooked another fish shortly after casting out the line.
This time it was a large fish, twice the size of the one he had caught previously. Proud of his catches, he packed up his rod and took the fish deeper into the forest to cook them.
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Naruto had crept into his tent to unpack and fall asleep. He lay there snoozing peacefully as Sakura lumbered around outside gathering firewood, seeing that no one else was planning on doing it.
"Damn boys." She said as she threw some wood into a pile. "Never thinking ahead."
She picked out a piece of wood suitable for digging and dug a shallow fire pit and placed the wood around and in it. Satisfied with herself she too went into her own tent to rest for a while.
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Seeing that everyone was in their tents, Luca looked around at the desolate scene. It was nice, but without people around it inspired feelings of loneliness. Feeling slightly depressed for one of the first time since she was here, Luca went into her tent as well, seeing that everyone was doing their own thing and took a nap. She had been exhausted since arriving.
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Rica busied herself by attempting to climb a tree. The tree of choice had a thick trunk ridden with deep gashes and low sturdy branches that were suited to fit her weight. Falling to the ground for the seventh time Rica groaned as she rubbed her lower back. She wasn't cut out for climbing trees, especially since she lacked the upper body strength, but enough lower body strength to support herself.
Determined, Rica stood up and took a few steps back, readied herself and tried again. She ran towards the lowest branch, jumped, grabbed a hold of it and swung her body so that she hooked her legs on the branch. Rica smiled as she swung upside down from the tree, now all she had to do was get into an upright position without breaking her neck.
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Sasuke threw dirt over his small fire as he was ready to head back to camp. After eating a decent meal he felt a lot better. It was good to take a break and not worry about things. Though even still, that was no reason to let his guard down. Sasuke made it back to camp and threw his fishing equipment into his tent and onto Naruto.
Naruto groaned after having the equipment thrown on him. Throwing it off he exited the tent rubbing his forehead.
"What's the big idea Sasuke, I was sleeping." Naruto said still rubbing his head.
"Didn't see you." Sasuke said simply as he went to the fire pit and moved the wood around. Whoever had put the pit together did a poor job of piling the wood.
"Yeah right!" Naruto shouted, annoyed at Sasuke's calm demeanor.
"I don't expect you to believe me. But I didn't see you." He said without looking at Naruto, which made him angrier.
Naruto shot Sasuke a glare and went back into the tent. Swearing and the moving around of Sasuke's items could be heard. Sasuke shrugged as he finished fixing the fire pit and went into the tent as well, seeing that he hadn't set his stuff out yet.
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Rica finally managed to get into an upright position. By this time she was already on a higher branch over looking a good portion of the surrounding area. She could see the natural hot spring, it wasn't very far from where she was sitting.
"I'm going to go there later." She said to herself as she balanced on the branch. She wasn't too far up, but far enough so that she could see over the tops of smaller trees. Few large trees grew in the area she was in, so the view was good.
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Kakashi yawned and took his copy of Icha Icha Paradise off his face as he got up. He didn't expect to fall asleep as he laid in his tent reading, but it happened nonetheless. Groaning a little he got up and left the tent. Sakura and Sasuke were out and about as he stood up.
"Where are the other three?" He asked yawning.
Sasuke shrugged.
"Luca is sleeping, so is Naruto, I haven't seen Rica since we arrived. She said something about exploring." Sakura said as she was watching Sasuke.
"Thank you Sakura." Kakashi nodded as he walked towards the hot spring. "I'm going to check if the hot spring is deserted or not."
Sakura and Sasuke nodded and went back to their own business.
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Humming to himself Kakashi walked briskly towards the hot spring. He was hoping that no one else had the same idea as him, camping out around the area. He couldn't sense anyone nearby, but it was always good to do a visual check to verify things.
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Having enough of the scenery, Rica made several attempts at getting down. She managed to slide down the trunk of the tree until she got to the lowest branch. It was wide enough so that she could walk across it without worrying about falling. Being cocky and over confident, Rica walked back and forth on the branch, even spinning a few times until she lost her footing and fell.
"Shhiiiit." She yelled as she fell from the tree and landed on her feet, twisting her ankle.
Rica grimaced as the pain shot up her leg, her ankle quickly swelling up. She removed her shoe to reduce the pressure.
"Son of a bitch, stupid, stupid, stupid." She mumbled to herself as she balanced herself on the trunk of the tree.
"Maybe I can walk back."
"I wouldn't try that if I were you." Said a voice from high above a tree.
"Well you're not me." Rica retorted as she took a few steps and yelled in pain.
"See, I told you." Said the voice again.
"Well screw you and what you think. I'll do just fine thank you very much.
"Whatever you say. I'll help you." Said the voice coming closer.
"No, you won't." Rica said flatly as she got up and started to move again. Each step the pain coursed through her leg, making it even worse.
Kakashi jumped down from the tree and stopped her. Rica shot him an angry glare.
"I thought I said I didn't need help."
"Bull, look at your ankle. If you keep walking on it, its going to swell to the size of a watermelon." He said pointing to her ankle, which was already pretty bad.
"I'm fine. F.I.N.E." Rica said through gritted teeth.
"Well, of course you are. Now you're going to need help getting home." He said as if he ignored her.
Rica's face turned red with anger. She didn't need his help, or anyone else's she was perfectly fine on her own.
"You know, if someone else had seen you like this, you'd be in a world of trouble. Its not good going off by yourself in a place you don't know unless you're capable of taking care of yourself if the need ever arose." Kakashi said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"I know, and I am capable." Rica said still glaring at him.
"Not with a foot like that you're not. You're coming with me." He said as he flung her over his shoulder again. Rica was enraged as she tried as hard as she could to get herself down.
Kakashi was having a hard time holding onto her.
"Stop moving." He said getting a little annoyed at her behavior.
"No." She said defiantly.
Shrugging. Kakashi set her down as she wished and walked off.
"If you are so capable, get back to camp yourself." He said as he walked off. He had enough.
Rica stood there dumbfounded for a few minutes.
"Odd."
Rica stood up again, the same pain shooting up her leg as she hobbled over to another tree to take a little break.
"This is going to be harder than I thought…" She said, with tears brimming in her eyes. The pain was getting to be to much, she needed to find a way to lessen it somehow.
"…what am I going to do now. My stupid pride gets in the way of everything." She said as she kicked the trunk of a tree with her injured foot. She screamed in pain as her foot made contact with the trunk.
"Sonofabitch…fucking piece of shit how could I be so careless?" She mumbled darkly to herself as she got her footing again and hobbled to another tree and took a break.
She was really regretting kicking and screaming as Kakashi was willing to help her. He must be really angry with her she though, and that didn't sit well with her at all.
After an hour of moving from tree to tree Rica could now move any farther. The pain was so intense and the swelling had not gone down one bit. Rica sat down and put her face in her hands as she resigned to the pain and cried bitterly.
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Kakashi walked back to camp humming as he went. He wasn't phased at Rica's attitude, but in the back of his mind he was concerned for her safety. There are people that lurk the forest, good and bad. Hopefully she didn't have to confront any bad people on her long trek back to camp. But that didn't change the fact that he was still annoyed with her.
Everyone was out of their tents going about their own business as Kakashi entered the area. Seeing that the fire pit was already made, it seemed like a good idea to start dinner.
"So, what's for dinner?" Kakashi said as he sat down.
"I don't know, I didn't bring anything with me to eat." Sasuke said.
"All I have is this cup of ramen, I thought everyone else brought food." Naruto said shuffling through his bag to see if he had brought any extra food, which he had none.
"Same here. I didn't bring anything." Sakura said.
Kakashi sighed and got up.
"Looks like we're going to have to get food the old fashioned way then, since I didn't bring any either."
Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura all gave Kakashi blank expressions as Luca jumped up and down behind them.
"Great, great a hunt right?" She said happily.
"I guess you could say that." Kakashi said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly as his students cast him death glares. "Sasuke, can I borrow your fishing gear?" He said breaking the death glares.
"Sure." He said as he ducked into his tent and threw Kakashi his pole and some bait. "Have fun."
Kakashi caught the pole and bait and tucked the packet of bait in one of his pockets.
"So who wants to come with me?"
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura pretended not to hear him as they went about what they were doing before he arrived. Luca was the only one that actually listened and was jumping up and down with her hand raised.
"I'll go, I'll go!" She said happily. "I haven't been fishing in so long." She said beaming.
"Alright, alright. Follow me." Kakashi said leaving the camp site back to where they came from to find the small stream.
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Rica dried her eyes using her shirt sleeve as she got up to try again. The pain in her ankle was still pulsating and the slightest pressure caused her pain. She grimaced as she took a few hops forward and landed against a tree. She wasn't making any progress, and would still be in the forest by nightfall.
"…its…useless…" Rica said between breaths.
She had grown tired as she passed five smaller trees. Her vision began to blur as she took a few more hops towards another tree. She had over exerted herself to the point of passing out.
"…must keep going…need to show that bastard I can do this…on my own…" Rica said as she swayed on her feet before falling to the ground. She didn't move, or flinch. She was out cold.
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"So how many fish are we going to catch?" Luca said excitedly.
"As many as I can get." Kakashi replied.
"What kind of bait are you using?"
Kakashi threw her the bait packet.
"Is this all, what about live bait?"
"Maybe if we can find some." Kakashi said.
"Is it a weighted line?" Luca asked
"No."
"What kind of fish are we going to catch?"
"Whatever we can catch." Kakashi said, starting to become annoyed with all of Luca's questions.
"Are we there yet?"
"Almost." He said through gritted teeth as he quickened his pace to get away from the girl with all the questions.
"Hey! Wait up!" Luca said quickening her pace as well.
"Well, we're here." Kakashi said stopping before a bush, waiting for Luca to catch up.
He parted the bush and looked at the small stream before him and noticed that remnants of a small fire that Sasuke had used previously.
"Looks like someone was here before us." Luca said kneeling down before the old fire. "Not too long ago either."
Kakashi nodded and sat down. Luca sat beside him and baited the hook. Before Kakashi could say anything she cast the line out and sat against a tree with the pole in her grasp.
"You've done this before?" Kakashi said looking at the girl.
"I used to do this with my father all the time." She said with a faint smile. "He had taught me a lot."
Kakashi nodded and leaned back as well. Before long Luca had a fish on the line and was reeling it in. It was a good sized fish. Kakashi seized it and cut the fish's head off using his kunai blade.
"Thanks. I wasn't looking forward to doing that myself. Though we should do that when we get back to camp." Luca said as she cast out the line again. "Lets use that fish for bait to attract bigger fish."
Kakashi nodded as he looked at Luca. She seemed to know what she was talking about, which was different than her usual demeanor.
An hour had passed and Luca gathered a fair amount of fish. She didn't show any sign of wanting to go back to camp.
Whenever she hooked a fish, she reeled it in and handed it off to Kakashi. She baited the hook and cast it out again, her movements almost mechanical in nature.
"I miss him." Luca said solemnly, breaking the silence between them.
"Who?"
"My father." She said feeling a bit sad.
"What happened to him?"
"He had died in an accident only a few weeks before my tenth birthday. I would always go out and do things with him. We were the best of friends. He was the one that told me to smile, to laugh, and to be happy. I took what he said to heart, and even after he was gone I still laughed, smiled and acted happy, even though every fiber of my being told me to just break down." She said as she reeled in another fish.
Kakashi didn't say anything for a few minutes.
I guess that explains a few things. He thought as he looked at the girl. Luca was a lot stronger and smarter than she looked.
"Even after all this time you still laugh and smile, but why?" He asked.
"It's a part of who I am now. I can't really change that. I've been acting this way since I was ten, I'm eighteen now. It's an old habit to quit, y'know."
Kakashi nodded as he gathered up all the fish they caught.
"Well, looks like you fished enough for today, lets head back and prepare these." He said as he picked up the slimy fish.
Luca nodded as she reluctantly drew back the line and gathered everything else. As she followed Kakashi back to camp she took one last look at the stream and sighed.
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The two headed back to camp feeling slightly depressed. But as soon as Luca saw the others she put on a smile and waved. Setting down the equipment she went back to Kakashi and took some of the fish he was carrying.
"So fish was the only thing you could get?" Naruto said.
"Yeah, it's the easiest thing right now." Luca said as she smacked Naruto with a fish.
"Hey!"
"C'mon, its just a fish, it ain't gonna kill you." She said as she waved the fish in front of his face.
Naruto grabbed the fish out of her hand and waved it in her face.
"Don't mess with the food." Sakura said, snatching the fish from Naruto. "Need help preparing them?" She said to Kakashi.
"I was hoping you and the others would do that." He said setting the fish down.
"…Alright." Sakura said.
And with that Kakashi disappeared into his tent and shut the flap.
"Alright. Who's going to help me?" Sakura said as Sasuke and Naruto instantly disappeared.
Sighing she turned to Luca who was already cleaning a fish.
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Another hour had passed as Sakura and Luca finished with their last fishes.
"Better start cooking these before they get rotten." Sakura said looking for some flint to start the fire.
"I'll take care of it." Luca said as she disappeared into her tent with a lighter and went to light some dried leaves that she spread over the fire.
It took a while, but she eventually got the fire started. Luca fixed six fish onto sticks and set them over the fire to cook.
"Six fish on a spit, how many more do we have?" Luca said as she watched the fish cook.
"Six more. So two each." Sakura replied.
"Sounds about right." Luca said as she prepared another stick to affix the fish on and set it on the fire.
"Shouldn't be too long. I wonder where Rica is. I haven't seen her all day."
Sakura nodded as she noticed that she hadn't seen Rica all day either.
"Maybe I should go look for her." Luca said getting up.
"No, no. Let Kakashi do it. He hasn't done a thing all day except take walks and lounge around." Sakura said.
"Good point. I'll go tell him." Luca got up and tapped his tent, she could hear light snoring coming from within and opened the flap to find him resting.
"Get up man." She said as she kicked his foot slightly. Seeing no response she kicked again, but much harder.
"…What do you want?" Kakashi said as he rolled over.
"Rica hasn't been here all day, go look for her."
"Why don't you go look for her?" He said slightly annoyed, remembering back to earlier that day.
"I haven't seen you do anything all day, so you go."
Kakashi grunted and got out of the tent.
"I'll look." He said slightly annoyed as he went off into the forest. He had an idea where she was.
"Wonder what his problem is…" Luca said as she went back to the camp fire to check on dinner.
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It didn't take Kakashi long to find Rica passed out in plain view. It had been a while since she collapsed. The combined effort of her sprained ankle and too much physical activity drained her to the point of sever exhaustion.
Kakashi knelt down and poked her ankle. Getting no response he suddenly became worried. Her foot was still swollen and her head was burning up. Picking her up, he walked back to camp quickly.
He returned to camp as quickly as he came with Rica in his arms and set her down inside her tent.
"I need some cold water and compresses." He said to Luca who looked at him confusedly.
"For what?" She asked.
"Looks like Rica hurt herself while she was away, and passed out trying to get back. So hurry and get what I asked." He said quickly as he turned back to the tent.
Sakura rushed to the tent to see how Rica was doing. Rica was still unconscious as she lay in the tent. Sakura frowned as she felt her head, which hadn't went down in temperature since Kakashi last checked.
Luca hurried back with a small bucket full of cold water and two small towels and dipped them in the water and passed them to Sakura. She placed the one cold compress on Rica's forehead, and one on her ankle in hopes of reducing the swelling.
"Looks like she'll be fine." Sakura said as she moved outside. "She just needs to rest." Sakura sniffed the air a few times and blinked. "The food!" She shouted as she rushed to take the fish off the fire.
"Not too burnt, right?" Luca said as she inspected the fish.
"It should be alright." Kakashi said as he took the sticks from her and set them down to cool. "The boys should be back soon, hopefully."
Luca and Sakura nodded as they watched Kakashi go back into the tent to check on Rica.
Rica seemed to be a lot better. She was sleeping soundly as he changed the cold compress on her head and foot. The swelling on her foot had went down considerably and looked like it was going to be okay.
Kakashi sighed as he looked at her. He felt guilty for leaving her behind even when she protested to having him help her.
"FOOD." Luca shouted at the top of her lungs.
He took one last look at her before exiting the tent to join the others.
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End of chapter ten
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Not much left, and running out of ideas to fill the gaps. D:
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Reviewer Responses
Naruto Fan - Thank you for all the reviews, I really appreciate the feedback:D
