Chapter 3
"Fuu… Wake up."
The teenager breathed in soundly as her eyes shot open. For a moment, she couldn't remember where she was, and why she was lying on the grass. Then, the sight of the sky's sunset colors that were filling the space between the leaves above her brought back the chronology of events.
"They won't be able to find you. I hid our aura and I sensed them changing direction a while ago," the creature informed her as she looked around in hopes of sighting something familiar that would her find the way.
"Thank you, Chomei… I don't know what would have happened without you. I don't even know if I would even be alive…" she said, chewing her inner cheek in anger. Falling from that height would have killed anyone on the spot. What were they thinking? Hadn't they said they needed her alive? Or maybe they deemed that barely alive was more than enough. Her whole body was shaking in pain despite the fact that Chomei had cushioned her fall, and it took her all her might to grasp the massive branch to get her over the slope. In those conditions, she wouldn't make it in time to the village. The safest option was to go back to Kegon and Yoro, but how?
Chomei's chakra was slowly faltering, and in her conditions, forcing her reserves would cause even more harm to her body. The sun was setting and the only thing she could manage to do was to follow the opposite way. During her flight she could remember the sun being right in front of her, which meant that if she went to the opposite side, there were good chances she would stumble over the two men.
Her legs were pulsing in pain as she limped on the uneven ground, taking support from whatever her hands were falling upon. The forest was becoming thicker and darker and she wondered if it was worth continuing, but then she noticed that moving around was easier than she thought as she recognized the kind of tree to which belonged the rough bark under her fingers. As she proceeded forward with more confidence, she thought with some humor that those boring patrols in the woods of Takigakure weren't all that worthless after all. Fuu made a mental note to tell Shibui about how fate had played in her favor once more.
After some time, she finally spotted a stream of water in the dim light of dusk. Hoping the stream would bring her back to where she left the two men, she followed the path drawn by the water. However, the ground had suddenly started to shake under her feet and in the seconds that followed, the yellow and red lights appeared, cut by the long thin shape of trees and her body started to run before she could even realize it.
The adrenaline was erasing any trace of pain and dullness, even when she stumbled on a root and rolled down a couple of meters. She needed to hurry but she lost track of time and she could no longer hear the splashing of the stream. Yet, the crunch of steps was getting closer. She had to reach to Kegon and Yoro before them. Together, they would make it back home and everything would be solved, and all this would only become another fantastic Shinobi tale to recall in the years that would come. She was finally distancing herself from the group; the light of their lanterns was becoming weaker and it seemed they didn't sense her presence because they were going away.
A warm liquid was leaking out of the scratches she got in her run she didn't realize she had until she slowed her pace. The forest was pitch-dark and she still needed to get to that stream, her only lead. Scratches could wait. When she would get to Yoro and Kegon, they would solve even that.
She kept walking, focusing her senses on her surroundings. Then, something in the landscape changed. There were no more trees; instead there was a huge stretch of grass and a night sky partially covered in clouds.
Her legs couldn't hold the weight of her body anymore. She watched the clouds moving with an empty mind, hoping it would help her slumber soon then wake up from this bad dream.
"Seriously man! What the heck are they doing here at this hour, uh?!"
"Shut up." Kakuzu replied dryly before returning his attention to the noise that was coming from in front of them.
The soft and regular crunch of the Land of Fire's Daimyo convoy was taking too long to disappear, and by time the way would be clear, it would be too dark to move around, especially since they weren't acquainted with their surroundings. The younger man seemed to have guessed their situation and sat down in a grunt, kicking a small rock on which he had almost slid before letting his back lay against the trunk.
Hidan had been strangely silent for quite a long time, and Kakuzu almost regretted snapping at him for complaining, but that wasn't in the mood of hearing anything and the last thing he needed was to care for someone else's tantrums.
The last day of the Chunin Exam had to be the eve of the historical alliance between the Land of Fire and the Land of Waterfall. Decades ago, the scene would have still made his blood boil out of fury, but now he found himself assisting to the late results of his miserable choices with tiredness and a tinge of anger. The Land of Fire and Konoha-nins, the supporter of the Right Cause and the Saviors of the Shinobi world, were about to celebrate the anniversary of umpteenth unofficial colonization.
He would have preferred knowing it before hand to avoid being stuck in that uncomfortable situation, but their pattern couldn't be predicted on advance, unless Amegakure was able to infiltrate someone in Konoha.
"You know, I find it strange when you told me to make her fall. I don't even know why she was heading there by the way. Flying straight to Ame's borders… Tsk, it would have been so easy to catch her." Hidan paused, perhaps to let Kakuzu the time to guess the meaning of his words. His muscles instinctively stiffened. They have been around each other for less than a year, and Kakuzu couldn't be certain of how much he could trust the other. Unfortunately, it was too dark to study his facial expression and Kakuzu could only rely on the words that would follow.
"I don't know how you did, but if you didn't felt their presence she would have actually been very much dead. I can't believe that it did actually save her! A pity she doesn't know, I swear."
Kakuzu sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Of course. Youth sentimentalism.
Despite being the follower of a strange religion that promoted killing, the idiot could be still touched by so-called gesture of kindness – even if it wasn't one.
Kakuzu sat down cross-legged and told the other man he would keep watch because he couldn't sleep anyway, to which Hidan replied with a hum then only the noises of the true inhabitants of the forest could be heard.
That was the first mission he had been assigned after being promoted Jounin, and Aki couldn't help but think that it pertained to a miracle. It wasn't unusual for the Hyuuga clan to have some of their members working for the highest authority of the country, but he belonged to the Bunke house and getting such an opportunity was almost impossible for someone like him. And yet, he had a feeling he had just failed in his duty.
Those cracking sounds that came from afar earlier in the afternoon couldn't leave his mind. Another guard told him not to worry since the forest was made of secular trees that crumbled from time to time, but it hadn't been enough to convince him. He had the strange sensation that the sound could be one of something falling from above, and if that was the case, it could only mean problems for the security of their Daimyo, and above all, disgrace for his clan. Fortunately, whatever it was, it didn't come anywhere near the convoy and seeing that many hours had gone since then.
"Is everything alright?" asked one of the guards who joined his side.
"Yes, nothing to report sir," Aki replied.
But a second later, Aki stopped and two sensitive type guards jumped to his side. After receiving a nod from one of the three men, the chief raised his hand and the rest of the guards circled the Daimyo's char in a fighting stance, while a handful of others joined the Aki and the other two in the front.
Aki emptied his mind of any emotion and focused on what his byakugan was showing.
"23° North-east. Around 1 mile and a half. Two people, probably shinobis but with depleted reserves of chakra. I think they are injured. Should we proceed to their identification sir?"
"Can you sense other chakras?"
"No sir, but I need to get a little closer to confirm."
"Toru Inuzuka and Goro Amane will come with you. If there is a mere doubt that the security of the Lord and his ministers is engaged, retire immediately and we will change direction."
Aki proceeded as he was ordered without leaving the two figures out of his sight. There were no other people that could be sighted, and neither were other traces of chakra. The Inuzuka confirmed that the only human smell was coming from those two shinobis.
"You are currently encircled! Say your name and the country you serve!" Goro shouted, as he and Aki pointed a kunai at the men.
"Yoro Takaheshi from the Land of Waterfall… And this is…"
"I'm Kegon Abe from the Land of Waterfall. We had accompanied one of our Genin to the Chunin exam and we had been attacked in our way back. Can I ask from which country you are?"
"We first need to confirm your identity", Aki said.
"They are telling the truth, I can smell it," Toru whispered from behind as he lit up a lamp and two shining itai-itte with the symbol of Takigakure broke through the darkness.
"Alright. Aki, show us the way back, we're taking them with us."
There was great commotion back at the place the convoy had stopped, and some of the guards were trying to calm down the panic that overcame the central car.
Enmei Yamaka thought with some nerves that, had it not been for the Daimyo's whims, they would have arrived in time and they wouldn't be stuck in that shady place at nightfall. Thankfully, his men didn't took long to return, and although their comeback meant it was safe to continue, he couldn't help but think the two people whom they were carrying were a sign of bad omen.
They turned out to be two Jounins from Takigakure, who had been ordered to escort a promising Genin who had gone missing after the attack. As a measure of precaution, Enmei sent a group of shinobis with the young Hyuuga as a vanguard to examine the rest of the road to the Land of Waterfall. There were only 14 miles left before reaching the borders. He really hoped they would make it safely to there.
Fuu watched the trees opposite her that seemed to get bigger and more frightening at every second that passed. It was early in the morning and Kegon and Yoro were still somewhere inside that disturbing cluster of vegetation. She knew she had to enter one more time, but her legs refused to obey her. And Chomei hadn't woken up yet. How was she supposed to get in and find them when she had no sense of direction?
She scratched her head out of despair, and let out a scream of exasperation at the lack of solution. She could very well wait for Chomei to wake up and help her, but she was too afraid to losing precious time. As she was debating were to get inside or not, a scream turned her attention to the horizon were a red haired girl with disheveled hair and ragged clothes appeared, followed by a group of men running after her.
Fuu instinctively raised her hands and told her she was not an enemy, but the girl ran directly inside the woods were she disappeared. Fuu remained still for a couple of seconds, trying to understand what was going on, but by the time she came to her senses, the men coiled a rope around her and dragged her down the hill.
"Wait, wait, wait. I think you're getting it wrong, I'm not here to…"
"You shut-up, you filthy witch! Just wait, we're not gonna give up n our people!" One of the men shouted, forcing her head down as he grabbed her by her hair.