CHAPTER 5

Six, Sasuke counted.

He has six shinobi to be wary of: four of them were from the Sands; and two from Konoha – Naruto and Shikamaru, who probably planned to interrogate him further about Sakura during this mission. To counter this wariness, he has brought Jūgo to aid with his plan.

According to the Sands, the location to Shinkirōgakure would be difficult to locate for those who did not know the area well. It usually took one-and-half days to reach the remote village. Without a proper guide, it would be a slow sentence on death row. Even now, the sun radiated its unbearable heat, creating the worst kind of heatwave. In this country full of sands, getting lost was not a good idea. Hence, upon the request of Hokage, the Kazekage had order his siblings – Temari and Kankurō, along with their two-trusted shinobi – to accompany them to the Village of Mirage.

Sasuke led the way, following the route in the direction Temari has pointed out. The whole team restraint in speaking, conserving their energy and to communicate only when it needed to. The mirage would get to them if they were careless.

"We're here," Temari announced, stopping in her pace. "We need to wait and search for a signal. It's the way to locate the entrance of the village. The village is known to have a huge diamond on its tower. When the sun casts its light, the diamond will spark its reflection from afar."

Brains may as well fry if we continue to stay under this blazing heat, he cursed. He nearly instructed Naruto to use Kyūbi's radar sensor to find the village when Shikamaru spotted it. It was remotely hidden by the mountains, completely isolated from modernity.

"They're expecting us," said Kankurō. "There's a powerful genjutsu around this village. If it wasn't for the Kazekage, we could be lost in this desert for days. They'll let the sun dehydrate us, and then leave us to die. This is their way."

The gate into the village, which was well camouflaged with its desert environment, was heavily guarded by men of darker shades of skin. Every structure they passed by – the houses, shops, and fountain, which were made from mud and concrete – were beautifully crafted. Clearly, it was built to withstand against heavy attacks.

A man who was known as the steward of the village greeted them. He led them to an old fortress, which was located atop of the hill, overseeing the village. The view was simple breathtaking. As they entered the fortress, they found more guardsmen with heavy weaponry stood still, showing their impeccable discipline in holding their position. Statues of the village's former leaders were crafted in each pillar of the great hall.

The steward guided Sasuke and the team to the center of the hall. There, on the highest throne sat the leader of the village. He seemed fragile; as old as the Elders of Konoha.

"Welcome to my humble village, dear guests. I'm Ishihara Daichi – The Chief of Shinkirōgakure." He slowly made his way down the steps towards Temari and Kankurō. "It's an honor to meet the siblings of the Kazekage."

"Thank you, Daichi–sama. My apology for the short notice," Temari bowed and introduced the team leader to the Chief.

"We're shinobi of Konohagakure, and we're here to investigate on the report about a woman with pink hair." Sasuke's back straightened with his hands to the side; he did not bow.

"I've heard of you. You're the one who defeated the great Madara," the Chief said.

"Technically, we didn't defeat him at all," he corrected, slightly chuckled at the misinformation about the Fourth War.

"We? You mean, you and that orange hero." The Chief turned to Jūgo and noticed the orange hair. He gently poked his chest and gripped his biceps for measurement. "You must be Uzumaki Naruto. Tall and muscular – such a true warrior. Konohagakure is lucky to have a lad like you."

Jūgo averted his eyes to the ceiling while Naruto pointed to himself, trying to hint the Chief. Everyone else was either dumbfounded or confused. The steward then came forward and corrected the Chief, which resulted with a shock expression on his face. He shifted his sight from Jūgo to Naruto, circling him like a vulture.

"You're the Hero of Konoha? Chibi warrior – not what I've expected," he commented.

"NANI?!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sasuke quickly smacked Naruto's mouth with his hand, silencing him from speaking vile words. When the blond shinobi refused to give up, he used the katana sheath to stab his friend's foot – very hard. It was effective; Naruto yelped in pain and silently cursed the world instead of the Chief.

"Time is of the essence, Daichi-sama. We're here for the report on a pink hair woman that your villagers claimed to have seen. If you would be kind enough to provide us hospitality for a couple of days, we'll be on our way to make our own investigation," Sasuke explained firmly.

"I, along with my fellow councilmen, had called the witnesses in and questioned them personally. If you wish, we can summon them to this hall, and demand the truth from their lips."

"That won't be necessary. We're not here to frighten your people; only to search a friend of ours," Shikamaru chimed in.

"Then we shall provide the best hospitality that Shinkirōgakure can offer. We must celebrate this moment and have a feast tonight, with you as our Guests of Honor."

Sasuke smiled and nodded to the Chief before turning to his team.

"Naruto, you'll be taking the lead as Shikamaru, Temari and I need further discussion on our arrangements with the Chief – in discreet. Request the names of the witnesses from the steward and gather intel on Sakura. Take Jūgo, Kankurō and his men with you," he commanded.

As they dispersed to bid their tasks, Sasuke recalculated.

And then there was one; the only shinobi he must be wary of – Uzumaki Naruto.

It's all going according to plan, Jūgo thought. The real mission started the moment he was separated from Sasuke. He was, indeed, in luck. The Hero of Konoha has assigned him to the east side of the village, which was the closest to the entrance.

As soon as he was near the entrance, he checked his surroundings, ensuring that no one was watching him. Once he sensed that he was alone, he used his natural chakra ability to summon a creature. Moments later, a desert horned lizard appeared in front of him.

"It will do," he said before slipping a small piece of paper into the lizard's mouth and told where it needed to go. The lizard then scurried its cute little feet away.

He stood and looked up to the cloudless sky, wiping the sweat off from his brows. The weather was hot today. Feeling the heat, his optimism about the mission suddenly turned unfavorable as he was worried that they would not be able to make it. If they were not here by midnight, the mission would fail.

And nobody would want to disappoint Uchiha Sasuke the most.

Lurking in the dark, Karin activated Kagura Shingan – a jutsu that allowed her to expand her range in detecting human presence. She sneaked through a secret passage as soon as the nightguards changed their shifts.

Despite its beautiful structures, Shinkirōgakure was like a maze. Such place might be fun for kids, but a nightmare for shinobi on a mission. Not even the moonlight could aid her in these alleys. She cursed every time she ended up in the wrong route. It took her nearly an hour to find what she was desperately searching for – the water fountain, which was located at the back of an abandoned house.

Karin sneaked through; she pulled out her water bottle and emptied its content into the fountain.

Nothing happened, and immediately, she thought he was either stuck in the water pumps or drowned and died.

"Suigetsu!" she called. Panic suddenly struck her because he was the key person in this mission. Without him, the plan would fail; and she did not want that to happen on her watch.

She called again, but there was no answer. As she tried to grab something in the water, bubbles started to form. An odd figure broke its surface; a face in a liquid form appeared in front of Karin's.

"I thought I was dead!" Suigetsu cried out.

"Quiet, you moron! We're going to get caught if we're not careful," she warned.

"Hey, I was about to die."

"So, why haven't you?" she cursed, while keeping a lookout for nightguards on the watch.

Truthfully, she wanted to accompany Sasuke. Being stuck with the water boy was the last thing she ever wanted because one, his chakra disgusted her; two, he was damn loud; and three, he mocked her one-sided affection for Sasuke. However, her ability to conceal chakra – for both hers and Suigetsu's – was needed badly for the mission to succeed, especially when sneaking into this village.

"I thought I was going to die of dehydration; but thanks to you, I'm saved." He smiled creepily as he changed into his original form. His violet eyes never left her. "So, why did you save me?"

The plan was to tail on Sasuke's current team of mixed shinobi – without detection – so that they could reach Shinkirōgakure – even with the lack of invitation. As they crossed the desert, the sun's heat was too unbearable for Suigetsu that he kept fainting. It had taken a toll on his energy that she noticed his chakra was depleting, and he was dying. To survive, she had told Suigetsu to get into her water bottle. She had spent hours fighting the mirage, dust storm and dehydration, until a horned lizard approached her, carrying Jūgo's message with good news.

"It's because you're part of the plan. Now, do you mind hurrying up?" she grumbled.

Voices could be heard from the street, and they quickly rushed to hide behind a wall. They crouched, waiting in the shadows for the guards to leave. As soon as they were alone, she returned to the conversation. Regrettably, she set her sight on a place where no woman should stare upon. The water boy stood – naked as a jaybird. Having worked in a prison surrounded by hundreds of men, Karin was never bothered by the exposure of male genitals. She was used to it. However, the sudden nakedness of Suigetsu caught her off-guard.

"P–Put your clothes on, you idiot! You're going to catch a cold!" she shrieked. Her eyes widened to the sight of his length, and her cheeks reddened like a tomato. She tried to look elsewhere, but her eyes kept reverting to that one location. The idiot cocked his head to the side and grinned with amusement, completely oblivious to the situation she was in.

"This is rather odd, Karin," he wondered, "if you're truly in love with Sasuke, why are you helping him to find this woman of his? You could've ended this bloody search and expanded his clan by seducing and making babies with him. You have the tools and potions to do it."

"That pink-hair bitch is not his woman! He tried to kill her once," she hissed.

"Then what's the point of all of these? I trust he wouldn't go that far to find her so that he could care," he countered and thought, "If she's not his lover, maybe that blonde woman with beautiful luminous eyes is."

"It's not her either. It's me!" she declared.

"A self-proclaiming love to a man who doesn't give a shit about you; that's a shame," he pointed out.

She curled her fingers into a tight fist. That was shallow of him to remind about her one-sided love. Nakama or not, he deserved a one hell of a punch. Yet, she found herself in a situation of self-betrayal – physically and mentally. She bit her lower lip, admiring his hard and lean frame. The water boy did not have a muscular body like Jūgo's, nor was he as dashingly handsome as Sasuke. He was rather slim yet masculine. Carrying that huge sword around must have built his body without even exercising.

Suddenly – she has the urge to touch him. Her spectacles condensed, either due to the cold air or her heated breath.

"Karin, I owe you my life," he pledged and leaned closer to her. She covered her chest with her hands as he advanced towards her. He put his arms around, brushing his hands against her back and feeling every inch of her curves. His touch exposed a trail of exquisite needs and desires. Then something soft and warm grazed against her thigh. She mentally estimated his length.

"I'm going to need…" he lingered, gently whispered to her ear. She moaned to his voice, and her mind started to build up fantasy. Never knew a disgusting man such as him could seduce her wantonly.

"…my clothes, now."

"Excuse me?!" she exclaimed and shoved him away, stopping herself from wrapping her leg around his waist.

"Chill, woman. I just want my clothes. How are we going to start our mission if you're still holding it?" He finally grabbed his clothes from her backpack and dressed up. "Oro? You seem annoyed."

Correction: I'm fuming with rage, she commented.

For the first time in her life, she felt foolish. There would come a day for revenge, and she would pay him back three times of the amount.

Today was not that day.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," she grumbled and left Suigetsu behind to execute Sasuke's plan.