Ok, sorry i haven't gotten this chapter out sooner, as previously stated the updating will be sporadic. this chapter begins the meat of the story. its multi part, so expect cliff hangers.
Time has passed. The world has changed. Events foretold long ago have been set into motion. And now the point of divergence that will spell the fate of the world is fast approaching. I begin to question myself. Am i prepared to do what must be done? The duty that has been passed down to me from my ancestors? To maintain peace and calm in the midst of chaos? To manipulate events to a favorable conclusion? I do not know. But i will try my best as is the way of the clan of the Heavens gate. The hinge of fate is starting to turn, but which way only time will tell.
Chapter Eight! The Lost Temple! Start! Part 1?
"Well this could turn out two ways: An unrivaled success or an unmitigated disaster. Most likely the later."
"Kabuto, have you noticed that your turning into a pessimist?"
"you did ask what i thought, Orochimaru-sama. And i do have a bad feeling about this."
'This' being a rumor about a group of seers, a powerful group a seers, located in an old temple that had been built before the great disaster, and was located far to the southwest of the elemental countries.
"And i had a bad feeling before we went to those cursed spring, before the mining town incident, and before the cat incident." here there was a collective wince. the two that remembered it still had nightmares about that. And the one who didn't winced because he could still remember waking up covered in someone else's blood and not knowing how it got there or how he got where he was. "And they all turned out badly"
"well yes. I'm not denying that but there have been other times when you've had a bad feeling and nothings happened.
"well i do have my reasons to be wary. First of all the rumor could be false. second, if it is true there is no guarantee that we will find it. And last of all if we heard it so did probably at least 2 other villages."
"In response to your concerns: one, i know its true, 2 i have a map, 3 they don't."
"where'd you get a map?" and now the third joins in the formerly two way verbal tennis match.
"when i was 35 i did some wandering and and ended up in a small town about 62 miles south of wind country. I meet an interesting old man who ran a second hand scroll store. He sold me the map that I'm talking about. The map is an older map that has most of the south-western half of the continent mapped . It shows a place called 'the temple of the falcon's eye.'"
"what makes you think that they arethe same temple?"
"according to the same rumor the people located at this mystery temple think that falcons can see into the future and thus revere them." here Orochimaru smirked. He knew what was coming.
" there is no way out of this is there?"
"no" short, simple, and to the point. It did not come from the expected party.
"and what makes you say that Sasuke?" Kabuto looked curiously at said nin.
"you turn into a falcon" Sasuke gave him a look the said 'duh!'.
Kabuto could see no way out of it, so, sighing, he agreed.
And thus fate turned. And our focus turns with it to konoha.
"Maa.. Ero-Sannin! How much do you think home has changed?"
"i don't know Brat, but i do know that there hasn't been a peep out of anyone since we left."
"Calm before the storm, then?"
"i don't know, Naruto, i just don't know." Jiraiya, other wise known as 'Ero-Sannin', was worried. The sudden peace reminded him too much of the time just before the third great hidden war, when all hidden villages that were smart were preparing for open war to break out at any given moment. not to mention the fact that four months after they had left konoha the missing nin population had dried up faster than a puddle in a desert at high noon and had stayed that way. And the rumors! gods if half the rumors that had reached his ears had even a grain of truth ... and the trouble his student had gotten into! (he was still miffed that Naruto hadn't told him about it before hand. He probable could have helped no mater what the idiot said. The mining town incident had been an unmitigated disaster. A funny disaster but a disaster none the less.)... gods help them all. They'd need it.
And with that allusion to what is to come...
Tsunade too had heard the rumors that had reached her teammates ears (even if one had left she still thought of them as her team) and had come to the same conclusion as the other team mate in a position of power.
"Kakashi i want you to scout the temple marked on this map and report back about the inhabitance. There is reason to believe that the other villages have also sent scouts so I'm sending a hunter nin with you."
Said hunter nin was shorter than him by an inch or two and had long brown hair. His mask was white with a green paw print on it and of course the leaf swirl carved at the top. All in all not an imposing figure. But there was something about him...
"I'm sorry i can't give you more intell ( Kakashi and the hunter both shuddered. The last time they had worked together how ever breafly, they had had no intell as well and the minning town would live in there memories as the funniest disaster they had ever taken part in.) but this is all i have: the temple is inhabited supposedly by seers and your job is to see if this is true. Good luck. Dismissed!"
as they walked out of the Hokage's office Kakashi turned to the hunter, "maa.. what should i call you, hunter-san?"
the hunter turned to regard him " Saber will do. I will meet you at the gate in two hours." and with that the hunter nin now known as 'Saber' vanished.
As Kakashi walked away he couldn't shake the feeling he knew him from somewhere... not the mining town but konoha...but no need to worry he had two hours to pack, stop by the memorial to say good by to Obito and sensei and meet the nin at the southern gates, witch meant he had to be... 30 min late to keep up his reputation as a slacker. After all, an idiot is a master of faking. And who when presented with an idiot will estimate his capacity correctly?
Meanwhile, elsewhere...
"we are supposed to scout a temple?"
"well look at it this way Itachi, we will be farther away from those damn amazons" here, his partner shudderd. Itachi knew what he was thinking of.
"after the mining town you would think that they'd have gotten the message." Kisame mused.
"Hn." with that Itachi set out quickly followed by Kisame.
