I sit on a wooden crate with my left leg tangling over it and right leg crossed in front of me so that I can rest my chin on it. My eyes follow Sasori's precise movements. He is standing next to a stone table where the shinobi we fought some time ago is now laying.
The fully undressed man stays alive quite long. I can't see his face so I can only imagine the pain in his eyes once Sasori lowers the scalpel to his neck, creating one, clean incision reaching from the neck to the groin. Only when most of his organs are in the bucket next to the stone does he seem to finally die.
I tap my chin thoughtfully. Human puppets don't really interest me, but I wonder if tactic could be used with animals… They might work better on their own than ones made only from wood and programmed with seals… They just might. I should at least test it out.
When Sasori starts installing wooden parts inside the man I realize how tired I am. I feel dead tired. Well, I have been awake for about 24 hours and ran and fought almost all of it, but still… Sasori doesn't seem to be tired at all and he has been awake double that. Maybe I just require that much more sleep. When a yawn escapes me, I jump up and start wandering around the cave we came to.
The centerpiece of the little cave is the stone boulder. Next to the mouth of the passageway are two barrels and the one crate I just got up from. On the other side the cave gets a bit more open. For some reason it has a cell, which's meaning I have not dared to ask – though from what I gathered from Sasori, this place had been used by other people a long time ago. The walls are mostly covered with small compartments, most of them full of vials, bottles, and other kinds of jars. Next to one of the walls there is a wooden table covered with some scrolls and herbs. A few lanterns and candles light the cave.
I sit onto the table and yawn again, leaning against the wall. This little cave is about an hour's run away from Suna and has been hidden quite well from nature's part, but also with genjutsu. I yawn. I fear I'll fall asleep soon…
I still cannot say whether the darkness around me is black or red.
"Do you think you can save him?"
I frown. I see a silhouette of a person. I feel like I should remember that question. Somewhere. Sometime. Not here. Not now. What is it…? My thoughts keep slipping away from me as soon as they surface. Who is it? They feel familiar, but why?
"Focus, little one."
Oh. I fell asleep. I fell asleep on Sasori's table. Wonderful. He's going to kill me after this… I ask to come myself and then I go and fall asleep… Jashin dammit. "Who are you?"
The silhouette sighs.
"Humans." It mumbles like its frustrated with me. Should I know it? But I just can't seem to remember… I have a vague memory, though. Like a dream… Dream. This is a dream, right? Do I really need to think about it…?
"I told you to focus."
"And I asked you who you are."
"So, you don't remember?"
I frown. I have met it before. But I do not remember… But at least now I know why it feels familiar… I wonder if it is important. Should I remember?
"Shall I ask my earlier question again: can you save him?"
"Who?" I frown. That question feels familiar as well. It reminds me about a dream…
"Him."
Who the hell is 'he'? It feels like something is crawling at the back of my mind. I get a vague memory of a Christmas in my previous life. Christmas?
"Oh!" I exclaim when I suddenly remember the silhouette. "You're the Santa Claus creep!"
"Creep?" It seems hurt. "But you do remember me… Can you save him?"
I sigh. Why does it ask that? Why? Why do I need to save anyone? But I guess it wants an answer. "Probably not."
"So, why are you trying?"
I frown. Trying? Who am I trying to save? Nobody! Who the fuck is this creep anyways…? Why does he keep appearing in my dreams, saying weird stuff like this…?
"Isn't that what humans do?" I shrug in answer. "We try."
"So you do." The person chuckles. "That's why you're such amusing creatures…"
Again. It speaks like it is not human. Like it is better than humans. What is it? It sighs.
"I still cannot tell if you are the one. Let's see in a few years. I will test you then."
"Huh?"
"Go on. Your friend is waiting for you."
I startle up. For a moment I am completely confused, and then I realize I am laying in my bed. I frown.
"That was some real deep sleep you were in. Tired?"
My confused gaze turns to Sasori, who's sitting at the table in my room.
"Yeah…" I yawn. "I'm going back to sleep…"
And with those words I lay back down and can almost feel myself drifting back to sleep.
I am poked awake.
"You're going to ruin your sleep schedule. Get up," Sasori commands, and I wail.
"Shut up."
"Not before you get up."
"Jashin I hate you sometimes."
The redhead smiles at me and grumbling, I get back up.
"…I'll go get a shower." I sigh and drag myself out of the room. When I am done, Sasori almost drags me out of the house.
"Why are you so eager on getting me out now?" I sigh, but I can feel a small smile already rising to my face.
"Kazuto came by earlier. We have a new mission."
"Eh…?" I sniff. "But we just came back from the previous one!"
Sasori chuckles but says nothing.
»»-««
It takes some time for our team to get used to the new composition, but by the New Year, we work well enough together. The fall is fun times for me and Sasori since we get to pretty much live from our friend's purses, but that comes to an end with the year ending as well.
The following spring Ayaka, Terumi, and even Karura basically drag the rest of our little group to see who became genin. I see no reason to do that until they explain all their smaller siblings are taking the test. I never even knew Ayaka and Terumi have siblings… Karura on the other hand… Yashamaru, eh?
"And there's so many other things I could be doing right now…" Sasori grumbles as we hang a bit back from the three girls brimming with anxiety. I grin at him.
"It's fine, isn't it? Have to relax sometimes, eh?"
He blinks at me in surprise. "I didn't think you'd be interested in this."
I smile, shrugging. "Well, it's a nice change of pace."
The last time I have actually relaxed had been… Well, two weeks ago when my birthday came once again and Sasori took me to that one café with movies. But before that… I feel like I can't even remember when I got to lay back from all these missions that just keep flooding in.
"Baki!" Terumi exclaims, and I blink. "You passed!"
I turn to look towards the Academy. Terumi has attached herself onto a small boy, who seems at least a bit pissed about it. I wander closer to the girls and leave Sasori with Kazuto and Sanji who don't seem too glad to be here either.
A few other kids get out of the Academy – one of them looks like one of my classmates, I note – when I just study Terumi's little brother. His hair is dark brown compared to Terumi's orange hair, but they do look alike. But Baki? Is he really that one?
"Neechan!" Someone shrieks and I only see a blur of brown clothing as someone launches themselves at Ayaka's stomach, and they both topple to the ground.
"…Mina," Ayaka grumbles when the smaller kid sits up on top of her. "Get up."
"You won't believe what they forced us to do!" The girl starts complaining in a loud voice, ignoring her sister's grumbling completely. She looks awfully young for a genin.
"Mina-chan…" I distract the girl, and she does indeed turn to me. "How old are you?"
"Six!" The girl puffs her chest, and I smile at her. Six, eh? The same age as me when I left the Academy. And it isn't even wartime anymore… She has got to be amazing for them to let her become a genin under these circumstances. Well, Ayaka is good as well, but she is also older… Oh, well.
"Good job, Mina." Ayaka pats the white-haired girl on the head when she finally gets up. "Did they tell you your teams already?"
Mina nods rapidly. "Yes! I am in the same team with that Baka-Baki and that annoying Yashamaru!"
"Oh?" Ayaka laughs while I glance around. I blink when I notice the Karura-lookalike next to her, and conclude that it must be her brother, Yashamaru. I sigh. It is somehow a bit weird feeling to see that years are starting to pass by, and others are becoming genin as well… Which reminds me.
I glance at Sasori and his flak jacket. He became chuunin one year after getting out of the Academy. And I am still a genin even when it has been two years! I frown. It is not wartime anymore. I think that means you can't become a chuunin unless you take part in the Exams… But nobody is talking about any Exams. Are they even a thing yet? I sigh.
Sasori walks to my side, and I turn to him. "We have a mission. Kazuto's already gone."
I nod, saying quick goodbyes to the girls before following him. So much for free time.
I am a little surprised when Sasori leads me to the Kazekage building instead of the village entrance where my team usually meets. My surprise only grows when we get to a room where Rasa and Kazuto are standing along some other people.
"My, if it isn't Kuro-chan and Sasori-chan!" the person I am the most surprised to see here exclaims, and even Sasori seems surprised to see him. "I am glad to see this mission will be in good hands."
"Yoshida-ojiisan!" I smile at the man. "What do you mean?"
"Now that we're all finally here, could you explain all the details?" Rasa stops our greetings, and Yoshida-ojiisan nods at him.
"For the longest time I have ordered the herbs and senbon sold in my shop from the same country," he starts, and I am already guessing what this mission is about. "Recently, though, I have gotten no shipments. I would like you to find out what is going on and resolve the problem so that I can keep my shop going."
I blink.
"Wait, you're telling me you'll go out of business if we don't succeed in this mission?" I stare at Yoshida-ojiisan.
"Well, not out of business… But I would have to find new suppliers and that can take a lot of time and work…"
I turn to Sasori. "We have to succeed or my- our lives are going to be ruined!"
He hums. "Of course."
"Good to see you're pumped up." Rasa almost chuckles. "What is the exact location the shipments come from?"
"Let's see… Doku no Kuni is the country… Ike no Mura is the one where the senbon come from, and Ranzaki is the one for the herbs." Yoshida-ojiisan nods to himself a few times. Rasa thanks him and turns to us.
"This is a C-rank mission for now. There is a chance of the rank going up during the mission, since we do not know all the details," he explains. "But for now, let's get going."
The journey to the Land of Poison takes one and a half day. It is a small country between Land of Wind and Land of Rivers, and it also shares some border with Land of Fire.
"The villages of Pond and Ranzaki are the only two notable settlements in Land of Poison," Rasa explains as we run on the desert. "Going through them will bring us the best results but since they're far away from each other, we will split up to make the search go faster. I will go to the village of Pond, and you three will head for Ranzaki."
And so, when we reach the border of Doku no Kuni we split up, with Rasa pointing us to the right direction. The two villages are almost three and a half day's walk away from each other, meaning it would take us about six hours. Both are also about five hours away from the border where we split up. Since night is already falling at that point, we decide we would sleep in an inn once we get to Ranzaki and start our investigation in the morning.
"They're probably all old and went and died off," Kazuto voices his opinion when asked what he thinks the reason behind the stopped shipments is. I am not completely sure whether he just doesn't bother thinking about it or truly believes what he is saying. Or he could also just be avoiding the debate Sasori drags me into.
"There is a possibility that the production was shut off and they didn't bother telling anyone about it," he starts, "however small that possibility is. Doku no Kuni is a country nobody would care to visit anyways, so not many would even order their products."
"Also makes it an easy target." I shrug as we're about halfway done with the run to Ranzaki. Sasori nods.
"Bandits could be attacking the shipments… Too bad we didn't ask how the shipments are delivered. I am certain not many caravans go through here and not nearly often enough. They could be delivered by foot in carriages or by birds… Yoshida-ojiisan doesn't have that big of a clientele anyways so it is possible… If that is the case, it would be hard for bandits to attack shipments."
"Which means that if the reason are bandits, they would have to attack the village," I conclude.
"But since there are so many unknown factors, we cannot be sure." Sasori frowns slightly. "For all we know even Kazuto's guess could be somewhat right."
"I guess there's no use in thinking about it here. We need to learn more in the village."
After these words leave my mouth, I sense chakra signatures getting closer. Raising my head in surprise, Sasori catches onto my change immediately, and I tell Kazuto to stop.
"What is it?" Kazuto asks when I scourge the surrounding forest with my gaze. I don't see a thing since it's the middle of the night, but I do feel five signatures getting closer. They are clearly heading for us, but since their pace is quite moderate, I cannot tell are they enemies or not.
"There's five people getting closer to us," I let the two boys in on what I'm sensing.
"Enemies?" Kazuto asks, and I shake my head.
"I can't tell."
"Get your weapons ready." Sasori glances at him, and Kazuto rolls his eyes.
"No need to tell me."
"I sense them," Sasori says just as the signatures suddenly disappear. We both glance at each other in surprise, with Kazuto just frowning at us.
"I still don't feel anything," he tells us, looking a bit suspicious by now. "Since Sasori could sense them, I should too, right? Are you two just messing with me?"
"Shut up." I frown at the boy and turn around, staring into the forest. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. "What the hell is going on?"
For almost five minutes me and Sasori try to find the signatures again while Kazuto is getting more and more sure that we're just messing with him.
"Don't tell me I just imagined all that," I mutter to myself, and Sasori shakes his head.
"I am sure I sensed them for a moment as well."
"But there's nothing anymore." I glance around once more as if to make sure nobody has appeared out of thin air, finally sighing. I feel uneasy. "Whatever. Let's continue."
As soon as we turn to continue our trek, the trees around us start rustling. It could be only the wind, but the thing with the signatures has left me suspicious. I glance at Sasori who is frowning.
"Something is-" he starts just when I feel it as well. There is a bad taste in my mouth, and my insides are slowly turning from pain. It is like a thousand insects trying to eat me alive from inside out. Corroding my insides like a sickness or- poison? I lock eyes with Sasori the second Kazuto coughs up some blood and falls to the ground. I know what his eyes are saying. I don't like your idea but let's do it anyways. We fall to the ground.
It takes 34 seconds for the five signatures to become visible, and then another 41 seconds for them to approach us. In that time, I successfully remove the poison from inside me and stop its way inside Kazuto – from this position it is impossible for me to remove the poison inside him, but I can at least neutralize it for the time being.
"Aiga, if you would do the honors." One of the persons in front of us speaks. I hear a woman snort.
"So much honor in killing poisoned kids…" She complains, but soon steps come towards us, stopping in front of me. I hear a sigh and a sword being unsheathed. I give her half a second to raise the sword out of my way before I let chakra envelop me and charge through the woman.
Blood rains on us as the head I cut off with my daggers comes flying off. Its eyes still stare at me wide in shock. The four men still standing before me look shocked as well.
"Why are you not dead?" The one who spoke earlier growls at me as Sasori gets up, followed by a yawning Kazuto.
"The fact you need to ask means that you just don't know us." I smile and charge at him. He throws a kunai at me, and I reflect it to the side, burying the daggers into his chest as Sasori and Kazuto take quick care of two others as well. The last one decides to make a run for it but does not get far when I send an array of Mizu Shuriken after him.
"See?" I glance at Kazuto. "I told you there were five people there."
Kazuto rolls his eyes.
"Oh, by the way, you shouldn't have moved that much. The poison is moving again," I point out, and Kazuto shrieks at me.
"What?! I thought you were like a good medic and you're telling me you didn't even remove the poison?!"
I laugh and Sasori rolls his eyes.
"It should be removed before it really messes with his insides. Even neutralized, most poisons will do that if left alone for too long," he states and I almost roll my eyes, but decide that would be too much eye-rolling in too short time. So, I just walk over to Kazuto and lower one hand over his chest, locating the poison and pulling it out through his skin and clothes. It isn't that hard once you just turn it into particles.
I pull my hand away before I stop the healing and let the poison drop to the ground. "There."
Sasori is looking at the five dead enemies when I turn to him. "No headbands. But they didn't seem like ordinary bandits either. To be able to use poison even to this extent and to be able to hide their signatures…"
I nod. "So, should we assume the enemies have ninja in their ranks? Or treat this as a different case completely? It is a bit suspicious, though…"
"There is a possibility they're not connected, but that possibility is almost non-existent."
"Hmm." I sigh. "So, shinobi then…"
"Well, it doesn't change our mission for now. We still need more intel." Sasori gets up from the ground where he had kneeled next to one of the bodies. Soon we are all heading forward again.
Everything is quiet for the rest of the journey and even in the village. It's hard to tell during the night, but the village seems quite normal. We succeed in finding an inn and even though the young kid sitting behind the desk at its door is asleep, we succeed in getting a room after a while. Since the village is as remote as it is and there's little to no visitors, the room only has futons and no beds at all – which is completely fine by me, as long as I can just sleep. The only thing I do worry about is the future. Luckily, we're still around ten – me being eight, Kazuto being ten and Sasori turning ten at the end of the year. Add few years and I would have to get my own room since there's no way I would sleep near teenage boys. No way. Even sleeping next room to one had been too much in my previous life…
And these are pretty much the thoughts I fall asleep to. Luckily, they give me no weird dreams, which is almost surprising knowing what my mind can be like. Or maybe the dream I do have is their doing…? Who knows?
"This will be interesting."
I find myself in a dark place. I immediately remember that I have seen this place before. This pit of black and red blood.
"I wonder if you're ready…" The random figure continues as my memories of this place slowly return. I have been here before in my dreams. Why is it that I keep forgetting? What even is this place…? Could it be like one of those mindscapes like Naruto had where he could speak with Kurama…? I shake my head and raise it towards the figure.
"What do you mean?"
It laughs. "Nothing much… This will be a good chance to see how you've grown, don't you think?"
I frown. "You're weird. Are you like some part of me that is trying to drive me forward?"
It says nothing, and I tap my chin. Maybe it is. Though if my driving force is a Santa Claus creep, then something is seriously wrong… I'll just say that it is not to keep my own sanity.
"Amusing," it states, and I glare at it.
"Seriously, what a weirdo," I mumble to myself. "Why do you keep popping up in my dreams? Who are you?"
"Wouldn't you like to know…"
"Yeah, I'd like to."
"Maybe I'll tell you one day."
I roll my eyes.
Awakening to into sunlight on my face, I feel like I have had the weirdest dream ever. I do hope it has nothing to do with my thoughts before sleep… Though if that is the case, I am only glad I remember nothing of it.
Sighing, I sit up. I am met by two boys staring at me in surprise. It almost looks like they have been in the middle of an argument or something from the way they're standing opposite of each other, bodies tense and leaning a bit forward. I frown and mentally make sure it's not my fault they're staring. Yeah, nothing should be wrong with me. So…
"What is it?" I frown at them. Sasori is definitely not one to get caught up in arguments with idiots like Kazuto, so what the hell are they doing? Kazuto turns to Sasori after they've stared at me for a moment, and Sasori nods.
"She woke up just a second ago."
Kazuto lets out a relieved sigh, and I can almost feel my skin bristling in annoyance. Speaking like that, it only means they talked about me or something!
"What do you mean-" I start while glaring at my only real friend, but I am cut off by Kazuto's sudden shout:
"Wait, how can you tell when she's just woken up?!"
Sasori blinks, looking at the boy. "I've seen it enough times."
"What?!" Kazuto continues, and I close my eyes when the bristling annoyance gets too high. I find myself wondering about Sasori's mental state quite a lot these days.
"I'm going to kill you two," I mutter to myself. To hell with waiting a few years, I'd get my own room next time we stay in an inn if this is how these two would want to act!
"Nice, I'll find the monster some food!" Kazuto exclaims and runs out of the room. I snort and get dressed before turning to Sasori.
"Are you turning into an idiot?"
Sasori blinks at me. "No, I am just engaging in normal human behavior between teammates."
"Great, and now you're back to being a freaking machine. I only just woke up and I want a break already." I rub my temples. Honestly, I feel exhausted already. Sasori chuckles. "So? What did you guys talk about?"
"Hmm…" Sasori hums. "He thinks we spend too much time together."
I want to laugh. Kazuto is so right it's almost weird he only brings it up now. "And?"
"And I think it shouldn't concern him. Are you ready to leave?"
I nod with a grin and we leave the room. We run into Kazuto once we get out of the building. He throws us both apples.
"There's like no food for sale anywhere here." He wrinkles his nose as he bites down on the apple in his own hands.
"That's not so surprising." I shrug and glance around. For now, the village seems completely normal. Some people walking and talking, some kids running around, some birds and other animals. "You guys go find the place where they grow the herbs at or whatever they do with them. I'll try and ask around."
"Huh?!" Kazuto exclaims, pointing at Sasori. "Why do I need to go with him?!"
I sigh. Sasori glances at him.
"I could complain about the same thing, but since I know the reason, it would be completely worthless."
I shake my head and leave the kids to their antics, heading down the main street. There are only a few dozen buildings in the village and most of them are located next to the one paved road. There is a fountain in the middle of the village, with a little market around it, though there are no stalls anywhere to be seen. Some kids are playing there, though, with their parents chatting a few feet away under a big maple tree.
I sigh. This is the only reasonable way to split us up, but I am still annoyed. I don't like people. Why the hell do I have to be the one to talk to them… Though just like Sasori said, it'd be completely worthless to complain. I had been the one to suggest this plan. I shake my head slightly and walk forward, pas the kids and their parents. I should find someone who isn't doing so much and is preferably alone.
Something about the sight of the kids bugs me, though. I just can't wrap my head around what exactly it is. But it succeeds in drawing me back to the marketplace when I don't find many others around. I decide to sit down at one of the benches, and after a few minutes I am sure all of them are ignoring me. In a small and isolated village like this it would be rare for an outsider to arrive, right? They would at least stare, most would come to talk. But no. These people act like they haven't even seen me. It is a bit weird; truth be told. I get up and walk straight to the group of three women under the maple tree.
"Hello." I greet them, and they all turn to me with smiling faces.
"Konnichiwa. What brings you here?"
I shrug. "I was around northern Suna and decided to stop here."
"That's rare." One of the women speaks up, their smiles never faltering. How can they keep those smiles up? I would get tired.
"I guess." I smile and scratch the back of my head. "Is this a nice place to live in?"
"Yes." One of them laughs. "It's so peaceful in here I can't think of living anywhere else."
"And children are not forced to become shinobi… Look at you, all skin and bone! How old are you?"
"Eight," I grumble out as one of them pinches my arm.
"Eight! Way too young to be a shinobi, don't you think! You should be allowed to play with friends… Would you like to join my daughter and her friends? They're about your age."
I suppress a grimace. "No thank you. I became shinobi out of my own free will. Nobody forced me to do it."
"Poor child…" one of the women whispers. "Some adults can be so vile…"
I wonder if I could just leave this village. I am getting more annoyed by the second. Since these three seem to only want to baby me, I can't really focus on getting any answers out of them. Dropping the questions I have out of thin air would be stupid, after all.
The whole day passes by in the same manner. In the afternoon me, Sasori and Kazuto witness a bloody fight between some kids but other than that, absolutely nothing interesting or helpful happens.
"Tama! Give Konyo back his toy!"
We just look blankly as the kids fight over the toy and the parents shout at them, and in the end, Konyo succeeds in getting his toy back.
"Have you found anything?" I ask grimly. Sasori and Kazuto shake their heads.
"The herbs are being grown just half a mile east from here and it seems like their production hasn't stopped at all," Sasori explains. "I couldn't ask too much, but if one can conclude something from all that, they should still be sending the shipments."
"So, they're being interrupted after all?" I sigh. "And nothing is wrong with the village."
Sasori nods. "I think we should stay for a few days, though. There is a chance they're lying, acting. There is still something odd happening here. I feel like… Maybe time will bring it out."
We spend the second day mostly sparring, since the life in the village hasn't changed much. Kids are still playing in the marketplace and their parents are still talking to each other under the maple tree. Herbs are still being grown in the east. We do find the estate of the village leader, though. It can't really be missed since it is four times bigger than any other house in the village, but I for one had assumed it is a school or some other community building.
As the second day is coming to its end, we're hanging out in the marketplace. As the kids and the adults pass us by and get back to their homes, Sasori points out something I feel I should have noticed right away.
"Have you noticed? They don't see you before you try to interact with them."
I frown. I encountered that same issue with the playing kids and their mothers. Slowly, I nod. "But what does it mean?"
Sasori shakes his head. "Genjutsu? Maybe some poison? I have nowhere enough information to say."
I sigh. The moon is rising. "Let's go get some sleep and think about that tomorrow."
I get no objections.
"I really thought you would be more intelligent."
"Who are you calling stupid, you maniac?!"
"You."
I hiss at the figure. Again. Why am I here? Why is that random creep mocking me? Why the fuck am I here?
"I didn't ask you to come here either, just so you know."
"I…" I mumble.
"Why haven't you figured it out yet? I thought you were good at these things."
"I'm not the clever one. That one's Sasori's forte."
"Hmm…" The figure hums. "Maybe I should've gone for him instead."
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
"Nothing."
"Yeah, right…"