Well, thanks to kittyclaw at least for reviewing last chapter. Sorry this one took awhile in getting out. I'm working on another story right now and I'm a slow updater on top of that. Ask anyone who's read my other story. Anyway, maybe I'll get a little more input on this chapter, and if not, oh well.

Chapter 2

"Welcome to Yamashiro Retreat!" a perky young girl announced to Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino as they all piled out of the first carriage. They were followed by the second which ground to a halt and unloaded the other six before both pulled off back down the track. The girl smiled around at the group. "My name is Kido. I'll be showing you around the chalet."

The group introduced themselves to the girl. Most of the guys had trouble taking their eyes off her. She wasn't much older than them, with a pretty pixie face framed by wavy wisps of dark auburn hair. Her hazel eyes were beautifully brought out by a light green kimono wrapped around her slender figure. She smiled and nodded at each person as they gave their name.

"There were three others in our party, too, coming separately," Naruto said as everyone began to heft suitcases and backpacks off the ground.

"You mean the Sand Ninja?" Kido asked. "They arrived a few hours ago. I've already shown them to your rooms. But now that you're here, we can get on with the tour."

She motioned for them to follow her. They headed up a broad path that wound through the thick forest. The air was cool and crisp despite the fact that it was the middle of July. Dark pines towered around them but not in the threatening manner that was usual of coniferous forests. The light breeze ruffled the branches, making it sound as if the trees were whispering warmly amongst themselves. The overall feeling was curiously inviting.

They hadn't yet seen the chalet, hidden behind a screen of trees, but after a few moments they rounded a bend in the path. There was a collective gasp as the sprawling retreat came into view. Kido grinned at their reaction.

A good portion of the forested mountainside had been cleared to accommodate the chalet. The ground it sat on was relatively flat, sloping upwards only slightly at this point of the mountain. Before them was a decorative arch with the retreat name hung from a board at the top. A dirt path lead from here up to the main center, a large log structure built in the same manner of the cozy little cabins you see in paintings of snowy winters. Behind this was no less than two dozen smaller buildings of the same type. The grass beneath their feet was soft and lush, interrupted periodically by colorful gardens and split down the middle by a small clear blue river. The delicate music of a pipe filtered through the air, mixing with the caressing sunbeams dancing over the ground.

All of the girls, including Hinata, squealed in delight. Even the guys were awestruck. "This is going to be awesome!" Kiba hollered, throwing his fist in the air. Akamaru barked in echo of his master's excitement.

Kido grinned again. "You all will be staying in that building down there." She pointed to one of the larger structures nestled in the center of the clearing, next to the river. "I'll give you awhile to meet up with you friends and get settled. Meet me in the main lobby when you're done."

She turned to enter the first building while the rest trotted off to their rooms. Less excitable than their companions, Neji, Sasuke, and Shino trailed behind, letting the main pack chatter off. They crossed the river over a short, vine covered bridge. The water ran clear and cool beneath them, and small fish darted like quicksilver down the current.

The ninja were just approaching the cabin when the front door opened and a familiar girl stepped out.

"Hey guys," Temari said with a grin.

"Hey Temari," Naruto chirped, waving excitedly.

The Sand Kunoichi stepped forward to meet the group. "Is this place great or what?" she said, raising her arms. "I can't thank you enough for inviting us."

"How're the rooms?" Sakura asked eagerly.

"Come and see." They followed Temari into the building. The room they entered was brightly lit and set up as a living room, cramped with furniture and a large screen TV. A young couple nodded at them from an overstuffed couch as they walked in. "This is just the main room here. There are televisions and stuff in the separate suites but this is for the really large groups like us. So we have a place to all hang together." Temari smiled at the couple as they stood and came over. "There are six rooms in this complex. Three are ours. Two of the others are rented out right now. There's a family in one with this adorable little girl." She turned to the couple. "And this is Yumi and Akeno. They're on their honeymoon."

"Hopefully their rooms not near ours," Shikamaru muttered to Choji who snickered.

"Temari tells us you're all ninja," Yumi said, flipping a strand of honey-colored hair out of her face. "It must be nice to have a break. I'm sure you'll all enjoy yourselves here."

"Heck yeah, we will," Tenten answered as she studied the elaborate room. "This place is awesome."

"There's definitely a lot to do," Akeno said. He winked at Tenten. "Just don't let the ghosts get you."

"G...ghosts?" Hinata said nervously. Her hands automatically raised before her protectively.

Akeno was about to say something else when footsteps approached from a dim hallway to their left. Hinata jumped as if expecting a glowing white form to swoop down on them. But a second later Kankurou materialized out of the shadows. He grinned when he saw the Konoha ninja. "I thought I heard you guys out here."

A chorus of greetings began before ending abruptly as Gaara followed his older brother into the living room. Temari and Kankurou actually chuckled at their reaction and Gaara just rolled his eyes as everyone stared at him uncertainly. Although they all knew that Gaara wasn't the same bloodthirsty monster they'd first met at the Chuunin Exams, they obviously hadn't yet decided how they should act around him.

Except for Naruto, of course, who, after only a moment of hush, leapt forward to greet the other boy. "Hey, Gaara, what's going on? It's been forever!"

Gaara looked surprised but undeniably pleased. "I'm doing OK, I guess."

"Great!" Naruto said. "Now how 'bout showing us where we'll be staying for the next two weeks?"

"We'll see you all later," Temari said to Yumi and Akeno as they moved off towards the hall Kankurou and Gaara had come out of.

"So let's see, three rooms, fifteen people," Sakura began, taking charge of the situation. "That'll be five people in each room. One for the girls and two for the guys."

"My stuff's already in here," Temari said pointing towards the first door as they approached.

"So I guess this'll be the girl's room," Sakura said, hefting her backpack up her shoulder. "Let's see what it looks like."

The next of the day's many squeals rebounded out into the hall as the girls entered the room and flipped on the light switch, leaving the guys alone.

Kankurou shook his head. "It's really nothing that special. It's nice and all, but it'll still be cramped with five people." He lead the group further down the hall to the next door. "Me'n Gaara are already in here. So we can take three more."

"I'll stay with you," Naruto spoke up. The rest winced at the thought of staying in the same room as both Gaara and Naruto.

"I'm going to the next room," Shikamaru said and he was followed immediately by Choji, Sasuke, and Neji.

"I will remain here," Lee said as gallantly as ever.

"Looks like we're gonna be split up, buddy," Kiba told Shino. "How about you go with those party poopers? Me and Akamaru will stay with this lot."

"Whatever," Shino said.

"Do we have to get the dog?" Naruto asked, looking uncertainly at Akamaru.

"Would you rather have the bugs?" Kiba shot back.

"Guess not," Naruto admitted as Kankurou opened their door. They all piled in. There was a moment of silence.

"Not that special!" Kiba glared at Kankurou. "This is luxury!"

Kankurou scratched his head and shrugged. "Son of a Kazekage. Guess I'm just used to quality."

The room was nearly the size of a small house, with room to accommodate five beds, a small kitchenette, a good-sizes bathroom, numerous tables and dressers, and a large television set, plus a set of window doors opening out onto a spacious porch. Two of the beds already had half-unpacked suitcases on them, loose clothing and other items spread over the light green comforters. Naruto, Kiba, and Lee tossed their stuff on the remaining three.

"Thank you, Hokage," Kiba said as he flopped back on the comforter. "I think I can stand two weeks of this place."

"So how 'bout we meet back up with Kido and see the rest of it?" Naruto asked. "I want to find out where they keep the food."

111

A while later, the group had returned to the main lobby where Kido was waiting for them. She bounced to her feet as soon as they walked through the doors, nearly upending the chair she'd been lounging in.

"You guys like your rooms?" she asked brightly.

"They're wonderful," Ino said, then continued in a mutter, "although it would be nicer if I didn't have to share with Miss Forehead over there."

"What was that?" Sakura began angrily before Kido held up her hand.

"I doubt you'll be spending much time in their anyways. There's better things to do than sit in your room all day." The girls both huffed but didn't say anything else.

"Anyway," Kido began, clapping her hands before her, "this is the main building right here. The staff lodges up here plus you've got the information desk, washing machines, a game room, and all that kind of stuff. Nothing too interesting so we'll go ahead and head outside."

They moved back out into the afternoon sunshine. Kido motioned for them to follow her. "Yamashiro Retreat was established over one hundred years ago, by my great-grandfather in fact, as a getaway mostly for the rich and important. The whole place was built up around a natural hot springs found on the mountain. Everything else was added until it became what it is today. The springs are still running, as well. They come up in the spa house, which is this one right here."

She stopped at the only non-cabinish building in the clearing, this one built in a more traditional spa house style instead of log. It was surrounded by a thick aroma of perfume and soap. Steam wafted out of several vents in the roof.

"Oh, I am so there," Ino said, staring starry-eyed at the bath house.

"You all must pay it a visit," Kido said. "It is where Yamashiro began, after all." A few guys gagged, but soon they were moving again.

"You said your great-grandfather established Yamashiro," Temari said, jogging to catch up with Kido at the front of the line. "So your family owns this place?"

Kido grimaced and shook her head. "Not any more. An…accident happened a few years ago, while my grandfather was running the place, and he was forced to sell it. My family continued to work here, but we no longer own it."

"You talking about that murder?" Kankurou asked.

Kido flinched. "So you've already heard the story?"

"Yumi and Akeno told me, Kankurou, and Gaara," Temari said. "But the rest haven't heard yet."

"What murder?" Sakura asked curiously.

Kido shook her head. "The one black mark in this place's history." She sighed. "It happened almost fifty years ago. There was a woman who was staying here. She was the daughter of the Lord of the Land of Wind, I think. Someone important, anyways. She was a young girl, and, as many stories like this go, she fell in love with a boy up here. A stable boy, in fact. He was a mysterious kid, just showed up one day out of no where. My grandfather was running Yamashiro at the time and remembers him quite well. A quiet, good-looking boy, he told me, never said where he came from. But he was good with the horses, so my grandfather allowed him to stay and work here.

The girl's name was Maili. The boy just called himself Ren. Maili was fond of horses and spent much of her up in the stables. She got to know Ren quite well. She was the only person he would ever really talk to. They became great friends, and eventually something more."

Kido brought the group to a stop and pointed up to the highest point of the clearing. A large barn with adjoined pasture sat up there, and it was painfully obvious to the sharp ninja how far back from the rest of the retreat the building was placed. "It was in that very barn that Maili was killed. She had gone up one night to check on Ren, her mother claimed afterwards. Ren preferred to sleep by himself in the stable and Maili had heard strange noises from up there. She wanted to make sure he was OK. When the next morning came around, she had not returned.

They found her body in an empty stall. Her throat had been sliced and, disturbingly, her heart had been cut out. She was otherwise intact. There didn't appear to have been any struggle, no signs of rape or theft. But Ren was gone, along with his few belongings and one of the horses, a big grey stallion. A ninja team was sent out after him, but even they couldn't find any signs of him or the horse. He hasn't been seen since. Maili's father threatened to have us closed down. In the end, my grandfather was deprived of ownership. The fault had to be laid on someone, and my grandfather was the one who hired Ren. The retreat was kept up, though. And nothing like that has happened since."

Kido shrugged as she finished her story. "It's not really a unique event, I guess. Every retreat, camp, or whatever has had someone killed there."

"A-Akeno said something about g-ghosts," Hinata spoke up nervously.

Rolling her eyes, Kido said, "It's to be expected. Murder stories always spawn ghost sightings. A young girl, usually, or strange wailings coming from the barn at night. And Yamashiro's one of those lucky places to have visitors take it even farther. Other spirits being sighted, more supernatural events. Now a lot of people believe this place is completely haunted."

Naruto laughed. "Haunted? Yeah, right. I'll never understand how people can buy into that crap." He nudged Hinata who was standing next to him. "Isn't that stupid?"

Looking nervous, the girl laughed weakly. "Yeah. Stupid."

"Well, that's enough about murders and ghosts," Kido said. "You still need to see the rest of the place."

They spent the next few hours following Kido as she showed them around. They went up to the stable, some of them a bit reluctantly, where the horses and mountain bikes were kept. In the clearing there were also basketball and tennis courts, a rarely used indoor pool, and sheds full of equipment for water sports, rock climbing, and repelling which Kido told them they were welcome to use any time. She also took them on a short walk to the lake and then to a few of the climbing cliffs. The group talked excitedly the entire time, and even their highly keen senses never once picked up the shadowy pair of eyes watching them the entire time.

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yawn Sorry that chapter was probably terribly boring. I hate setting the story up. No action. Hopefully that'll start soon. Anyway, as far as pairings go, I've made some decisions. One'll definitely be Kankurou/Sakura. Not very popular, but I've always been a huge fan. The rest will probably be your usuals, like Naruto/Hinata, Neji/Tenten, Shikamaru/Temari, and all that fun stuff. That is, if I get far enough into the story to have pairings which won't happen if no one reviews. gets down on hands and knees Please, please, please review! I like this story, but its gotta be worth my time. chibi eyes I'll give you a cookie. R&R!