Those Who Are Lost

Chapter 8

Perils on the Road of Life

Hello there my fellow fanfictioners! It's been a while and I apologise for the delay. My laptop seemed to give up the ghost and I just now have access to the internet again. Exam period is rolling around again as well so my online time will be spotty at best, apologies in advance.

Despite this hardship I have worked hard to bring to you the next chapter of Those Who Are Lost and I believe it to be quite an exciting one myself. I hope that you enjoy it and I have altered the title a little bit to suit the chapter better.

A special call out to fanofthisfiction and TAYYABALARAIB for their amazing reviews and support for this story. You guys are awesome!

I proudly present to you the next chapter in this story.

Disclaimer: I do not in any way claim ownership of Naruto or Naruto Shippuden. These are both the intellectual properties of the great Masashi Kishimoto. Long live Kishimoto-sama!

Now then, enough of my senseless prattle and on to the story!

Toyohisa grinned at the scene before him.

He and the rest of the Notes had made their quickly to their brother's location upon sensing his chakra pulse. The man could almost smell the excitement in Sae's blood as they sped across the trees and over the grasslands towards Komura's location. After all such a chakra pulse could only mean one thing.

Komura had found the girl.

Such news had been well received by the Oto ninja and it showed as they sped closer and closer to their quarry with the fire of determination burning within their breasts.

Finallly they could grab the bitch and leave this forsaken land and return home. They expected to find Komura along with the Hyuuga in tow, grinning at them triumphantly. Similarly, the mercenaries that had remained with them probably expected to be paid soon with more Ryo than they could carry and accordingly galloped at full speed to keep pace with their shinobi employers.

What none of them expected was to find was Komura and the Ronin trackers; dead and the girl nowhere to be found.

It was the sight of this massacre that brought a smile to the Sword of Oto's face.

Whoever did this must be strong! He couldn't help but think to himself, his tongue sweeping across his teeth briefly. An old habit of his whenever he felt the bloodlust fall upon him.

The youngest and wildest of the Notes, Maru, knelt down next to Komura's body and stuck her finger deep into the nin's chest wound. After a few moments she withdrew her finger and stuck the digit inside her mouth tasting the charred blood residue with such a strange curiosity and delight that Toyohisa couldn't help but grimace. Sae stood next to the girl, her expression unreadable.

"What did this Maru?" She asked stiffly.

Maru was very young to be a member of the Notes. Despite being sixteen the girl had the appearance of a child no more than twelve. Her own side-effect of Lord Orochimaru's experiments. Maru sat on her hind legs and let out a soft hum. Looking closely one could see the girl's tongue pressing against the inside of her cheek as it moved from side to side tasting Komura's blood.

Sae for her part found no joy in Maru's bloodline technique. The girl came from some obscure clan located somewhere in the Land of Snow before coming into the Master's service, bringing with her her peculiar ability. Sae wasn't sure she understood entirely how it worked but she did know this: When the girl tasted things she was able to divine certain... facts.

Maru looked up at her, eyes brimming with excitement and her fists shaking with adrenaline.

"Lightning." She whispered.

"Lightning?" Sae asked again, not sure if she had heard her correctly.

"Lightning! Such pure lightning!" The girl told her loudly in confirmation, rocking backwards and forwards restlessly. Behind her, Sae could hear the remaining Ronin mumble amongst themselves about 'witchcraft' and 'blood magic'.

One of the largest of the Notes, Batou, grumbled in the back. The sound coming out as a deep mechanical growl owing to the fact that the entire lower half of his face as well as his throat consisted of some mechanical monstrosity. The man tightened his grip on his shouldered bow, a massive weapon made from some kind of animal bone and with a string that seemed to glow silver when it caught the light at a certain angle.

Toyohisa let out a low whistle as a warning to the Ronin. Batou was a terrifying individual with more than enough strength to rip a man into two halves. He also happened to be extremely protective of Maru and had killed those who had insulted her in the past. Sae for her part ignored the drama and retained her attention on Maru as the girl closed her eyes and began swaying from side to side attempting to divine something else of use.

"The girl doesn't have an affinity for lightning chakra, it's not in her blood." Sae said plainly, placing an open palm against a wooden pillar, trying to sense the remnant chakra in the air.

Sae sensed little, the chakra traces were far too faint for her abilities to sense. Turning her attention back to Maru she awaited further confirmation.

"It doesn't belong to the Hyuuga. It reeks of man." At this Sae's head snapped up and she could tell that she wasn't the only one whose attention was now focused on the girl.

"What do you sense Maru?" Batou asked as gently as was possible given the circumstances of his voice and her current condition.

"This chakra... I've never felt such darkness!" Maru whispered fiercely. While the others merely stood in silent confusion and Toyohisa scoffed in disbelief, Sae couldn't help the sense of dread that now swept over her nor the cold trickle of unexplained fear that seemed to trickle down her spine.

It wasn't possible. There was no way he was here in this wasteland.

Swallowing deeply she managed to force the question out from between her lips.

"Who is it?" Such a simple question. One with huge implications if her suspicions were proven correct.

"A man. One of blood and rage. A man with the power of both lightning and fire coursing through his veins and a legion of ghosts crying out for vengeance forever at his back!" Maru swayed backwards and forwards, losing herself in the trance. It was clear that the force of whatever she was feeling and seeing was overpowering her and it looked as if she would faint at any moment. Batou moved forward to steady her in case.

"Who is it?!" Sae asked again with more force but the girl fell backwards into Batou's arms and her eyes began to roll upwards into her head as she began to lose consciousness. In spite of this Maru found the strength to utter one last word before she blacked out. One word that changed the very nature of their hunt. A word that made their task far more daunting than before.

"Uchiha."

It had been several hours since they had found themselves on the trail leading to the East and in turn, the Hidden Nations. In that time Himawari said little and instead contented herself with resting against Sasuke's back, her eyes half-open and taking in the sight of the wind rolling across the grassy hills as they moved further inland and away from the water and shrine. Himawari loved the movement of the grass in concerto with the breeze.

She didn't feel well. Perhaps it was the up and down rocking motion of the horse? Or it could've been the stress of the past few days finally catching up with her in addition to her current state of malnutrition. One small meal of fish and rice was hardly enough to return her to a state of proper health after all. She could almost feel the blood rush to her face as her stomach chose that moment to voice its predicament quite loudly.

Himawari mumbled a soft apology to which the Uchiha responded with a simple 'Hn'. Several moments passed with no words spoken between them before the man let out a small sigh. Reaching backwards with one hand Sasuke reached into one of the saddlebags and began fumbling around with his fingers, trying to grab something.

It only took a few seconds before he withdrew a small sack and brought it back in front of him. Himawari couldn't see what he was doing but she found herself surprised when he nudged her with his elbow before presenting her with something in hand.

Focusing her attention on the object, Himawari's eye widened as she identified it as a long strip of dried meat. She briefly considered refusing, not wanting to be any more indebted to this man than she had to be, but her stomach readily and loudly protested against such consideration.

"Take it already." Sasuke told her, turning his head slightly to look back at her. A piece of jerky stuck out from between his teeth as he stared at her lazily.

Hesitating only a moment more Himawari mumbled out a quick thanks before taking the food and taking a small bite of it.

It was salty. Very salty, to the point that she couldn't help but grimace at the initial taste. Sasuke let out a small snort of amusement before returning his attention to the path, keeping the sack of food in his lap in case either of them wanted more. Despite the taste Himawari continued to eat and found herself surprised that, after the initial bite, she enjoyed it somewhat and even asked for seconds once she was done with the first piece. Sasuke handed over another portion without a word and grabbed another one himself.

"There's water in the flagon just behind you on the left if you're thirsty." He informed her absently. Himawari responded with another quiet thanks and left it at that.

"Are you ready to talk?" Sasuke asked her. Himawari froze, the tip of the flagon against her lips and her eye now sharply and firmly pressed on Sasuke's back.

"A-about what?" She tried to make her voice sound as meek and vulnerable as possible in the hopes of convincing the man to back off.

It didn't work.

"Why were there armed men and a shinobi after you?" The Uchiha pressed. Bristling against what she felt could be an interrogation she tried turning the tables.

"They could've been there for you." She retorted. It was with that that Himawari found herself greatly surprised as the man let out a small laugh.

"If those people had been there for me then they wouldn't have been." Sasuke informed her simply. While he said the words as if it was the simplest thing in the world it only served to confuse Himawari further.

"What does that even mean?" She asked in an attempt to draw his questions away from her.

"It means that if they'd known who I was and that I was there then they would never have approached in the first place." He informed her shortly clearly uncomfortable about revealing too much about himself either.

"Besides" He continued "We both know that they were there for you so stop avoiding the question girl."

"Himawari." She corrected him, annoyed that he had already forgotten.

"Himawari then."

Biting her lip in thought Himawari struggled internally to decide whether or not to tell him anything. Absent-mindedly she poked her index fingers together as she made her decision. Whether she liked it or not Himawari knew that she needed the man in front of her if she wanted to make it safely to the Fire Temple.

"I don't know." She told him honestly. Almost immediately Sasuke replied with "I don't believe you."

Taking a deep breath and fighting the sudden wave of nausea she explained the situation to him more clearly.

"I'm not lying entirely. I don't know who they are or why they're after me. The men with swords I've never seen before but the one with the cloak..."

Sasuke grunted for her to continue, facing forward and not showing any visible reaction to her words.

"I lost my memory. For a while I stayed with... an old man who tried to help me recover parts of myself. It was only after we began asking questions that they showed up. Those robed freaks! They killed my friend and have been hunting me ever since." She tried to keep her voice strong and unwavering but the memory of Kouda's death still haunted her and she fought desperately to keep tears from forming.

"Why the Fire Temple?" Sasuke asked, ignoring Himawari's pain in favour of the facts.

"There's a priest there who knows who I am and who my parents are. Kouda was going to send a message asking for answers before they..." Himawari just trailed off, no more needing to be said on the matter.

"Those eyes of yours..." Sasuke began, pausing only when he felt the girl stiffen suddenly.

"You saw?" She asked him, voice meek with worry. Sasuke let out another 'Hn' of acknowledgement and continued on.

"You possess the Byakugan. The 'all-seeing' eyes of the Hyuuga Clan... you're from Konoha." He informed her. Himawari stayed silent for a few minutes to absorb the information.

"So I'm a Hyuuga?" She asked Sasuke curiously.

Sasuke considered it for a moment before shaking his head.

"I doubt it. You may have Hyuuga blood but if you were a pureblood you wouldn't have been allowed to leave the village until you had attained the rank of Genin and held it for at least half a year. You're far too young to have been one and besides... your blue eyes prove you're a bastard child."

Sasuke paused for a brief moment, surprised in that he had said more in the past hour than in the last two years.

"So my family might be there!" Himawari said excitedly only to deflate when Sasuke shook his head.

"The Hyuuga are purists and hardliners on the matter of blood. From the stories I've heard they don't look too kindly on bastards." Sasuke warned her.

"What do you mean?"

"If they had found out about you they would've taken your eyes. It's possible that you were raised in one of Konoha's outlying towns though."

The two of them fell back into silence. This time though, it was a lot more tense. Himawari wiped away sweat that had suddenly formed on her brow.

It was getting hot. Very hot.

"Where are we going?" Himawari asked tiredly.

"We'll enter the Hidden Nations through the Land of Wind before working our way up through to the Land of Fire and finally to the Fire Temple where you'll no longer be my problem." He told her shortly.

"Are we going through the Dustwall?" This surprised the Uchiha. He didn't think that she would know of the place.

"No. Dustwall is the closest and safest route of access through into the Land of Wind. However Dust-town is also a notorious hive of scum and villainy. We wouldn't last five minutes before someone spilled our location to your... pursuers." Sasuke told her, whipping the reins to get Kamui to speed up to a light trot.

There were dark clouds gathering behind them and he wanted to find reach the canyon before the clouds decided to follow them.

"So how will we cross the border then?" Himawari mumbled, resting her head against Sasuke's back yet again and closed her eyes to try and get some sleep.

She was so tired.

"We'll be going through Whittlebone Canyon. It's a maze of tunnels, caves, crevices and canyons. To put it simply, it's a perfect way to get through to the border without drawing attention."

The last fisherman died poorly. Vomiting blood up as Toyohisa's blade carved its way up through his stomach to his collarbone, splitting the man from sternum to neck.

With a quick flourish, Toyohisa returned his blade to its sheath after flicking the blood off of it and spat on the still twitching corpse before exiting the hut.

What a waste of my time.

Normally he wouldn't have wasted his time with such... pathetic creatures but secrecy was of utmost importance in this mission. There could be no witnesses to their actions.

"This whole affair has become a mess." Toyohisa grumbled. To his left, leaning against the wall stood Sae, her arms crossed and head bowed. At first glance one might think that she had fallen asleep standing up but swordsman knew better than that when it came to the Spider of Oto.

"Obviously." Sae retorted simply after a moment.

Clearly the woman was troubled with the new challenge that faced them in their retrieval of the girl.

"It will be a glorious fight. Killing the Uchiha will bring me the highest honour in the eyes of the Master." Toyohisa voiced, raising his arms in the air as if he could embrace the future death to come. This information did surprise Sae and her eyes shot up and towards him, incredulous as to what he had just said.

"You can't be serious." She told him bluntly.

Surely even Toyohisa-san cannot be this insane?!

"I'm always serious about matters of blood." His voice almost seemed to quiver with excitement as he said it.

"Then you're a bigger fool than I imagined." She spat, more out of disbelief than actual anger. Toyohisa said nothing and began moving back towards the rest of their group.

"You really think that you'd be able to best him?" Sae questioned her tone shifting from one of shock to one of reluctant curiosity. Toyohisa for his part merely grinned at her in answer and gave a light shrug.

"When you believe as I do, anything is possible." With that he moved away towards their encampment.

Sae followed him soon after. They knew what it was that they had to do and there was a plan in place to catch their prey.

Luckily it seemed that Komura had left them with a way to trace the girl...

"There it is Himawari. Our way across the border." Sasuke informed her, bringing Kamui to a stop in order to let the mount catch its breath. He wasn't about to admit it but taking in the view didn't hurt either.

Whittlebone Canyon. One of the most ancient wonders of the world it was truly something to behold. A great canyon which, from the entrance, seemed to stretch hundreds of feet into the air. Sasuke could only see a couple hundred meters into the canyon before it curved off away from sight. He could barely make out that there were varying paths carved up and into the side of the rock walls. In truth Sasuke knew that the wonder stretched far into the horizon, as expansive as it was steep.

It was named due to the hundreds of caves that littered its insides. Sasuke knew of this as he had used the canyon to escape the Hidden Countries into the Lands Unknown the first time that he'd crossed the border.

The canyon proved a great source of danger but in spite of the risk the path remained a popular trade route. Despite this Sasuke didn't expect them to encounter anyone on the way. After all there were so many winding paths leading into and out of Whittlebone that one could travel it a hundred times and never meet another soul.

This was the reason Sasuke favoured it as a means of entry into and out of the Countries. He didn't like the look of the weather though. Whittlebone was susceptible to sandstorms swept in from the Land of Wind. Such weather also happened to be the leading cause for deaths as people lost sight of their path and stepped off of it into thin air only to plummet to their deaths.

"We'll take shelter inside one of the caves for the night. For now we better get moving before the weather takes a turn for the worse and a sandstorm decides to hit." He told her before spurring Kamui into a canter.

Himawari merely let out a tired hum before falling silent again.

Why am I doing this? Why am I helping this girl?

Since this journey had begun the Uchiha couldn't help but to think on his situation as of late. He was perfectly content on his own, wandering from place to place and just minding his own business. Now however, it seemed as though his life had turned upside down in a frighteningly short amount of time.

What Sasuke would never admit out loud was the fact that he knew exactly why he had decided to help the girl.

It was because Himawari reminded him of himself when he was that age. Lost, angry and afraid. The company didn't hurt either.

The journey took a few hours and the air seemed to become thick with tension, as if it were holding its breath, waiting for something. They had to stop for the day. The wind was picking up, creating a loud whistling noise as it sped through the canyon towards them, kicking up small rocks, dust and sand as it passed. It was definitely becoming too dangerous to travel now.

Looking to his left Sasuke grimaced. They were currently on a very narrow path and whoever had last travelled through had worn it down considerably.

Probably a large cart or convoy of them.

Either way the road was rocky and uneven to the point where Kamui whinnied in discomfort with each step. The added weight of two people and their belongings did little to help the steed's endeavour. Luckily there was an opening just a few feet ahead and to the right, probably a cave etched into the canyon-side, where they could take shelter from the sandstorm.

Urging Kamui forward with a small pat of comfort against her mane, they continued onwards for perhaps just another foot or so before nature itself turned against them.

"Shit." Sasuke couldn't have prevented the curse from passing his lips if he had wanted to. It came rushing towards them out of nowhere, a massive tidal wave of wind and sand bearing down on them like a wild beast ready to crush the life from their bodies and feast on the remains.

Something that large, we'll be swept over the edge!

The Uchiha knew he could survive but the same could not be said for the girl or for Kamui. Not stopping for a moment Sasuke formed a series of single-handed handsigns and placed Kamui under a genjutsu so she would remain oblivious to the oncoming threat and spurred her forwards into a gallop.

Just a few more feet!

Even as the thought crossed his mind Sasuke prepared himself to make a sharp turn into the cave. Silently the Uchiha prayed that it would be big enough for all of them.

"Mr. Sasuke...?" Himawari mumbled weakly against his back "I don't feel so... good..."

"Just hold on, we're almost there!" Sasuke growled, his grip tight upon Kamui's reins. Then something changed as Sasuke pulled Kamui from her near gallop into a canter in order to turn into the cave. The pressure at his back faded. Himawari's weight had simply disappeared.

Looking back Sasuke's eyes widened in shock, being able to just briefly acknowledge that the girl had been thrown off the horse during the turn and was now hurtling through the air and over the side of the path to the bottom of the canyon. Time seemed to freeze in that moment as the great and formidable Sasuke Uchiha considered what to do.

Kamui was halfway into the cave opening with him sitting astride her. The sandstorm was right on their heels and would pass by in just a few seconds and to go charging back out there in such conditions would be extremely dangerous, even for a trained ninja. A horrible thought crossed his mind that perhaps it was all for the best.

The girl was a burden and more trouble than she was worth. Agreeing to take her to the Fire Temple was an idiot thing to promise, especially as it took him so close to Konoha. Her pursuers were no laughing matter either and Sasuke knew he had no idea why they wanted her in the first place. Why should he go out there to save such a weak thing as her?

You know why little brother. Itachi whispered in the back of his mind.

Despite those words Sasuke remained unconvinced and hesitated.

One second was all it took to hesitate... and then the storm hit and the decision was made for him. Sasuke knew what he had to do.

Wow! What tension there as I was writing those last few words!

I must say that it feels good to be back up and writing again. I know this was hardly my best work but I will be sure to touch up all of my chapters when the story is finished. Please let me know if you spot any inconsistencies, continuity errors or plot-holes so I can go back and address them.

I am really excited for this story and hope that you all enjoy it. I know I changed the chapter title but I will do that often. My chapter titles are created by inspiration in the moment not in advance.

Please review and let me know what you think.

Next Chapter: Just Another Poisoned Heart.