Those Who Are Lost
Chapter 12
Noodles
Hello there my fellow fanfictioners! It's been too long already but I felt bad about the long delay posting the last chapter so here's the next one for you guys and things are about to heat up soon. (Says the guy who posted late again 😉)
Disclaimer: I do not in any way claim ownership of Naruto or Naruto Shippuden. These are the respective properties of the almighty Masashi Kishimoto.
In Konoha
It had been a few weeks since Hinata had last seen Sarada Haruno. The young girl had been away for a few weeks training to use her recently awakened Sharingan with Kakashi Hatake. While the man was no Uchiha he was the only option available at the moment and would at the very least be able to teach the girl the basics in controlling and using her bloodline.
At least until Sasuke returned from his… travels.
"Come on in Aunt Hina" Sarada implored of her warmly, opening the door wider and beckoning the former Hyuuga in with a wave of her hand and a smile on her face.
Nodding gently and returning the smile Hinata stepped over the threshold and into the home, patting Sarada's head gently in affection much to the young teenager's chagrin.
"Where's your mother?" Hinata asked as she bent down to remove her shoes before placing them off neatly to the side as was custom.
In direct contrast to Hinata's conduct, Sarada began putting her shinobi tabi on in preparation to go out. Given the way that she was constantly adjusting her headband at the same time it was probably a mission coming up.
'That would explain Boruto's rush to leave home this morning.'
Since Himawari's disappearance her son had been burying himself in training and missions. It worried her and Naruto to no end but Kakashi assured them that it was Boruto's way of dealing with the loss of his little sister and that the best thing to do would be to do nothing. To let Boruto find his own way out of the darkness.
Hinata wasn't sure how she felt about that.
"She's in the kitchen I think?" Sarada answered before rushing out the door, apparently late for a team meeting or mission given the hurriedness of her departure.
"Bye Aunt Hina! Got to run or I'll be late!" Sarada threw over her shoulder in farewell before zipping down the street, kicking up a cloud of dust as she did so.
Shaking her head and with a small smile gracing her features, Hinata closed the door and moved deeper into the home in search of her friend. Gently rapping her knuckles on the wooden doorway to announce her presence, she stepped into the kitchen.
Sakura had her back to her, humming an unfamiliar tune as she stood in front of the kitchen sink washing the dishes from what appeared to be the breakfast rush.
"Hey Hinata. Won't you put on the kettle?" Sakura called out before resuming her duties. Mumbling out a soft 'hello' Hinata moved forward, coming to a stop next to the pinkette before flipping the switch to turn on the already full electric kettle.
Already familiar with the layout of the kitchen from previous visits, she reached up to one of the overhead cupboards and opened it briefly before withdrawing two mugs. The two of them worked in silence as Hinata mumbled an apology, reaching across Sakura to retrieve two teabags from their container before placing them into the mugs.
The tea needed time to steep and so Hinata leaned against the counter next to Sakura and waited for the woman to begin speaking.
It didn't take long.
"How have you been?" Sakura asked absently, still focused on the task before her. This sparked a series of casual exchanging of pleasantries between the two. Now waiting for the tea to finish steeping Hinata's eyes wandered across the room, taking in the details of the kitchen in order to pass the time trying to determine whether anything had changed since her last visit.
Her eyes snapped to the dining table which formed the centerpiece of the kitchen. On the tabletop was a sealed envelope. One which she was all too familiar with and despite herself, a wave of disappointment washed over her.
"You still haven't sent it." She chided Sakura.
The pinkette froze briefly before finishing up with the dishes even as the Uzumaki matriarch finished brewing the tea. Making their way to the table with mugs in hand, the two sat down in silence.
Hinata waited patiently for Sakura to reply, knowing that she would. The woman just needed time to gather her thoughts.
"I haven't." Sakura said finally, her tone meek and her eyes cast downwards, focusing on the tabletop intensely.
"He deserves to know about Sarada." Hinata recoiled slightly, surprised at the bitterness in her own voice as she said the words. Sakura noticed it too and she bristled defensively.
"She's my daughter." Sakura retorted, fingers gripping the mug between her hands tightly as she spoke the words.
Reaching over, Hinata gently placed her hand over Sakura's. "She's also his. He deserves to know about her… it's been long enough."
Sakura said nothing and continued to refuse to meet her gaze.
"I don't want to talk about it." She said finally and Hinata nodded, deciding that now wasn't the time to pressure the young woman.
The two of them had agreed months ago that it was time to inform her wayward husband of their daughter's existence.
The Uchiha had left little more than a decade prior, unknowing of the fact that his wife was pregnant once more. When Naruto had found out he had already been in the middle of drafting a letter to his friend before Sakura had stormed in, fist glowing blue with condensed chakra and more than ready to send him flying halfway to Suna.
The two had argued intensely and with such ferocity that those living several blocks away could've heard them. It took many hours and several interventions from Hinata and the Anbu before Naruto agreed to back down.
On one condition:
When Sarada came of age and activated her Sharingan then Sakura would send a letter to Sasuke. It was Naruto's hope that Sarada's existence would be enough to bring Sasuke home once and for all. Besides, Kakashi could only teach the girl so much regarding her doujutsu before she would need a master to teach her.
Sarada had activated her sharingan a week following her fifteenth birthday. While Sakura had written the letter, an act she had completed years ago, she had yet to send it to Sarada's wayward father. Since Himawari's disappearance Naruto's attentions had been distracted and as such hadn't had the time or the mindset to remind Sakura of their agreement: Either she tells Sasuke or he would.
"He should've been here for her. He should've been the one to father her instead of…" Sakura found she couldn't continue and Hinata made sure that she didn't have to.
Squeezing her friend's hand gently in comfort, Hinata gently chided her.
"You know why he left. Why he couldn't stand to be here anymore and that, if he knew, he would've made his way home as fast as he could."
Sakura let out a slow, deep breath before nodding gently in affirmation and returning Hinata's gentle smile with a shaky one of her own. Shaking her head as if to clear them of cobwebs, Sakura decided that it was her turn to ask the questions.
"Hina… how are you holding up? Has there been any word on-?" The words died as they both sensed someone approaching the front door.
A lifetime of being shinobi had trained them for such things. Out of habit and a sense of social tradition the two waited until whoever approached started knocking on the door. The two of them then stood up and made their way to the door.
The chakra signature had pulsed in a manner that probably seemed erratic to the uninformed. Those who were in the know however, it was a signal that whoever was approaching was in the ANBU and the pulsing signature was to indicate as such.
Upon opening the door, the two kunoichi were greeted by the sight of a mask bearing the visage of a snarling cat. The shinobi behind the mask was dressed in the official attire of an Anbu sergeant.
"What is it?" Sakura asked shortly making little effort to mask the irritation in her voice at the interruption. Despite not taking a threatening stance, the shinobi took a step back in hesitation before dropping to one knee in respect.
The Cherry Blossom's temper was legendary and she had put more than a few shinobi in the hospital for raising her ire.
"The Hokage requests your presence at the hospital immediately Lady Hinata, Lady Sakura." The ANBU informed them after taking another moment to gather his courage. He kept his head bowed either from fear, respect or perhaps a bit of both.
Those who had fought against Madara had become legend after all.
"What could the Hokage want with both of us there?" Hinata asked, her brows furrowed and head cocked curiously. Despite her best efforts the Uzumaki matriarch couldn't help the sinking feeling pooling in her stomach.
"It's Captain Inuzuka ma'am. He's returned."
The two had rushed to the hospital without delay, the Anbu left as soon as he delivered the news.
Normally Hinata would have felt bad for him, Sakura having proved to be a terrifying figure for many a veteran shinobi. At the moment however, Hinata found she couldn't give two shits about that Anbu as she sped across the rooftops at a speed so blinding she appeared to the civilians to be little more than a blue streak of chakra.
Kiba had been dispatched at Naruto's command with a full complement of Anbu operatives. Their mission had been twofold: Find the Notes of Oto and gather intel.
Secondly, find Himawari and failing that, her body to bring back to Konoha.
"How is-",Hinata began, stepping into the room with Sakura hot on her heels.
Kiba looked awful. Aside from his head he seemed to be wrapped from head to toe in bandages and he was hooked up to several machines that seemed to be monitoring everything from his chakra flow to his heartbeat. Strapped to his face was an oxygen mask and there was a large, red and ugly scar running diagonally from his left temple to the bottom of his right jaw.
Looking at his wife from his seated position in the corner of the room, Naruto let out a small sigh.
"He was badly injured and unconscious when the patrol found him. Given his condition it's amazing that Akamaru carried him all the way home. We've had no luck finding the others of his squad." Naruto explained, rubbing his eyes tiredly before nodding towards Kiba's resting form. Looking over towards her friend Hinata blinked in surprise.
Somehow, she had failed to notice Ino's hunched over form next to Kiba's side. Clearly the situation was taking a greater toll on her than she first thought.
"They did something to his mind as well. Possibly pumped him for information before leaving him for dead. If Akamaru hadn't found him…" Naruto trailed off not needing to say more.
Sakura, ever the doctor, wasted no time and began to inspect the sedated shinobi, flipping through his medical charts as she did so and remaining silent, her mind focused entirely on the task.
Hinata only nodded and made her way to the open chair at Kiba's bedside, taking his hand in hers.
Ino bit her lip worriedly as she took in Kiba's sleeping form on the bed in front of her. He had been stabilized already and, from what she had been told, he was well on the road to recovery. That didn't mean that there wasn't serious risk involved with what she was going to attempt.
Looking over at Naruto she felt that sinking feeling pooling once again in the pit of her stomach. The Hokage possessed a look that she had only seen on a few prior occasions. It was a look of grim determination and it appeared as if it had no place on the normally cheery blonde's face.
"You sure you want to do this?" Ino asked him.
For a moment, he hesitated and he was no longer Naruto the Hokage but just plain old Naruto once more. Then the moment passed, his eyes hardened and he nodded shortly and without a word, waited for her to proceed.
Shaking her head slightly, partly in order to clear it and partly to focus her mind.
"Do what?" Both Hinata and Sakura asked simultaneously.
"Ino is going to take a peek inside Kiba's head. From there she will attempt to find out the full extent of the damage and try to fix it if at all possible. I also want to find out what happened so she's going to try to determine what Kiba found out concerning his mission." Naruto explained quietly.
"That's too dangerous!" Hinata told him fiercely, standing up and moving in between her husband and her teammate and assuming a defensive posture.
Ino reached over and laid a gentle hand on Hinata's arm.
"Hina… What I'm going to do is called a Dive and while there are some risks I promise you that I will wait a few days first. Hopefully that will give Kiba some time to recover and minimize the chances of something going wrong." Ino told her with a small comforting smile.
This caught Naruto's attention and not in a good way.
"We need to do this now." He growled only for three pairs of eyes to sharpen into a deadly glare.
"I've weighed the risks and I'm not willing to take them. It's too dangerous for Kiba and, if something goes wrong, it will be dangerous for me too!" Ino hissed.
"Hime… the last thing he said before the gate guards found him was 'I found her…'" Naruto told his wife, desperation and frustration coloring his tone.
This caused the room to fall silent as the occupants took a moment to absorb that information.
"He could've been referring to Sae. Kiba does hold a deep hatred for that woman remember? It's why he volunteered in the first place. Finding Himawari was just another reason for him to go." Sakura reasoned with a finger to her lips.
Hinata heard this and her shinobi training told her that this was not only possible but most likely the case. Her baby girl had been missing for more than half a year and logic dictated that she most likely hadn't survived what had happened to her. After all, Hinata herself had been badly wounded when the attack took place.
But her other half… the half of her that was a mother told her otherwise. Deep down she knew that Kiba's words concerned her daughter and not some cry of vengeance. Taking a shaky breath Hinata made a decision.
"… do what you need to do but only when Ino says it's okay to." Hinata told him, the ache clear in her voice and with tears threatening to spill each passing second.
"Be gentle with him, please." Hinata asked as she made her way out of the room. She needed some air… and perhaps a drink as well.
"Of course, I will Hina. He's important to me too." Ino called out even though the former Hyuuga was no longer with them.
Desert of the Wind
Himawari groaned as the desert heat continued to take its toll on her. In front of her, Sasuke showed no signs of fatigue despite his seemingly multilayered form.
That poncho looks like its boiling! How is it that he isn't even sweating?
Shaking her head to clear it of all such thoughts before they drove her mad the Hyuuga reached over to Kamui's left flank for the water canteen. Unknowing of how long it would be before they found another water source she took the time to enjoy the feel of the water as it flowed past her lips and soothed the raw feeling in her parched throat.
Since leaving the oasis behind them they had taken a small paved road that traced and wound its way through the Wind Desert. They had been on the road for two days, stopping only to rest and to feed and water the horse.
Himawari had been surprised at how much food and water for Kamui, Sasuke kept stored inside some scrolls. From his answering grumbles though it was clear that his supplies were running low. Their journey was also taking longer than what Sasuke had promised her.
I can't blame him though. I'm being hunted by a group of murderous, psychopathic ninja. Some detours are to be expected.
"Hn." Sasuke grunted, just loud enough for her to hear. Himawari cocked her head slightly as she tried to decipher it's meaning.
'Hn' seemed to be the man's most favorite word in the world. Over the past few days Himawari had been keeping up the conversations between the two of them. In that time, she had learnt how to interpret the myriad of meanings behind this odd monosyllabic word.
Given the pitch of the tone it's clear that he just wants to catch my attention.
Well… that and he raised his arm and pointed to something in the distance, far ahead of them.
It seems like a solid clue to me.
Returning the canteen to its original placing, Himawari raised her hand to shield her eye from the glare of the sun and squinted into the distance, trying to make out whatever it was that the Uchiha had seen. It took a few moments for her eye to adjust before she saw it as well.
It was faint. So faint that one could be forgiven for thinking that it was another mirage, conjured by the scorching sands that surrounded them. It appeared to be a small city… or perhaps a large town?
"What is that place?" She asked Sasuke curiously whilst trying to ignore the gnawing hunger scratching at her insides. Their rations had run dry yesterday morning. Apparently, according to Sasuke, the reason was her, his 'unexpected tagalong'.
With a small grunt, Sasuke reached into his poncho before withdrawing one very tightly folded map. Taking a few moments to unfurl the document and to peruse its contents, the Uchiha returned the map to its original place.
"It's called…" He began before trailing off into a mumble.
Himawari frowned before leaning forward and poking him between the shoulder blades in annoyance.
"What's it called?" She asked with what she thought was an intimidating growl. Pointedly, she ignored the fact that her 'growl' came out as little more than her usual squeak. The Uchiha let out a small resigned sigh before deciding to answer her.
"Sandy Springs." Each word that passed between his lips came out with a small shudder of his shoulders. Himawari couldn't help it. She started with a small giggle which she attempted to cover with her hand but which soon devolved into full-blown laughter with her clutching her sides.
Sasuke's shoulders tensed and said nothing, feeling as though it would be immature to snap at a child for something so… childish.
Himawari's laughter immediately faded away as her stomach made its displeasure known once more. Loudly.
"Relax. We're almost there and then we'll both get some hot food for our bellies and replenish our stock of supplies for the remainder of our journey." Sasuke told her, his mouth twitching as he tried to suppress a small smile from gracing his features at Himawari's answering groan.
"I could eat a-" Himawari began before cutting herself off at Kamui's warning snort. Himawari frowned to herself this time.
This horse is far too intelligent She thought to herself suspiciously.
"Sorry" She mumbled before resting against Sasuke's back and trying to cope with the heat of the sun.
"It's a border town."
"Hmm?" Himawari replied tiredly.
"It separates the vast deserts of the Land of Wind from the great forests of the Land of Fire. The closer we get to the town gate the more patches of grass you'll see amongst the sand and the stone. Once we cross through you'll see lush, green vegetation and tall forest trees." Sasuke cleared his throat, still unused to speaking so much on regular basis. Though he would never admit it a part of him looked forward to being back in his homeland.
The bad memories far outweighed the good but it was still his home.
"These towns are small but there are still quite a number of shinobi that patrol and guard the town and outlying area." Sasuke told her.
Himawari stared at his back quizzically.
"What does that have to do with anything?" She asked him.
"You currently have who knows how many ninja after you at the moment. I don't know if they're after you for your eye or if there is some other reason but the fact remains that they're hunting you and we don't have any information on how many there are or where they are." Sasuke informed her shortly before reaching back past her to fiddle around inside one of the saddlebags, rummaging for something.
It took him a few moments before he pulled out a large piece of cloth and passed it to her before returning his hands to the reigns.
"Make a hood or a shemagh out of that to cover your face. At the very least cover your hair and control your eye. The last thing we need is gossiping townsfolk spreading word of a one-eyed, heavily scarred Hyuuga child running about the border towns and drawing unfriendly eyes in the process." He told her gruffly. Nodding to herself as she made sense of his reasoning she proceeded to wrap the material into a makeshift shemagh obscuring her all her features save for her eye and nose.
Sandy Springs, Border-town
Helping Himawari off of Kamui the Uchiha set her down in front of him. Staring at her for a moment that lasted just a tad too long, which in turn garnered a curious look from the young girl.
"What is it?" Himawari asked, rubbing her arms self-consciously and wondering silently whether it was her missing eye that had drawn such scrutiny from the man.
With a roll of his eyes and letting out a small sigh Sasuke held out a small pouch to Himawari. Taking the pouch, she raised an eyebrow at its unexpected weight before taking a peek inside. It was full of coins of varying sizes and colorings. Her eye widened as she quickly calculated the value of what she held.
There must be over five thousand Ryo in here!
"If I remember right then there should be a restaurant just down the main road. It's just past lunch time so it should be relatively empty. Order whatever you want, it's not too far and I'll join you as soon as I'm done here." He told her, pointing toward the town entrance before turning away to lead Kamui to the stables.
Nodding to herself, Himawari couldn't help but to pirouette on her heel with a large smile and headed through the gates in search of food. She did stop briefly to adjust her disguise before practically skipping down the road.
THE FROTHY PRAWN
Himawari rubbed her eye before peering at the sign again. That couldn't be right.
Who calls a restaurant by that name? Then again, the name of the town is just as ridiculous.
Nevertheless, this seemed to be the place. She had asked a few passersby to confirm her suspicions and they all had pointed to the sign she now stood before. In normal circumstances, she would have looked for another, more sensibly named place to eat but she was hungry and this is where Sasuke planned to meet her.
Nodding to herself once, Himawari set her shoulders straight and stepped through the front door. Almost immediately her belly growled as her senses were assaulted by the most intoxicating and delicious smell that she had ever encountered. At least as far as she could remember anyway.
"Can I help you honey?" Shaking her head to clear it Himawari turned her attention to the person who greeted her.
The woman wore an apron in front and greeted her with a full, practiced smile and a head of golden hair. In other words, she was for all intents and purposes a typical waitress. On her breast pocket, there was a small label with the name 'Motoko' on it.
Eyes crinkling as she returned the smile, Himawari took a seat at a table in the corner, ignoring the startled look that graced the woman's face as she took in Himawari's eyepatch.
"W-what can I get you sweetie?" Motoko asked, following her after a moment's hesitation.
"W-what is that smell?" Himawari asked shyly, hating how the cloth muffled her voice. The waitress looked at her in confusion for a moment before her eyes widened in recognition.
"Oh that? Now's when we prepare the ingredients for our ramen for the dinner rush later this evening." She told her with a small flush of her cheeks and frantic waving of her hand.
"Can I have a bowl please? I'm starving." Himawari asked, holding out a handful of coins on the table to show that she had the money to pay for it.
"Sure, you can honey. I'll go tell the chef to make you a big bowl… would you like some green tea and water as well?" Motoko answered warmly as she flipped open a small notebook and started scribbling down her order.
Himawari nodded fervently trying not to think too hard about her hunger or whether she had taken out enough money to pay for the meal.
"My… dad will be coming soon. Can you make it two please?" She asked nervously. The word 'dad' sounded strange to say but it was all she could think of not to draw attention. Saying 'that strange man who I convinced to be my bodyguard and guide' didn't exactly roll off the tongue.
The waitress nodded once more before making her way to the kitchens. It was only a few minutes before the waitress returned carrying a tray with two glasses of cold water and another two cups filled with steaming hot green tea.
Thanking the waitress Himawari blew on her mug of green tea before taking a small sip and sighing in pleasure at the taste of it.
It's sweeter than I was expecting.
Looking down at her mug she noticed that the tea stem was standing upright.
That's weird.
The bell tinkled again and Himawari looked up to see Sasuke enter the restaurant. He didn't even look in her direction as he made his way towards their table.
"Sir, your daughter is in the-" Motoko began only to be caught off guard as Sasuke came to an abrubt halt before swiveling to face the poor woman.
"My…?" The Uchiha cut himself off before nodding in thanks and making his way towards Himawari.
"Daughter?" He asked her as he took a seat opposite her. He didn't look or sound angry so Himawari took that as a win.
"It's all I could think of that sounded reasonable." Himawari responded with a small shrug as she took another sip of the tea and leaned back in her chair. The feel of the chair's wooden back felt nice against her body.
She would never admit it to anyone but her scars still ached at times.
"What did you order?" Sasuke asked in what, Himawari assumed, was meant to be a conversational tone. In truth it sounded as though it had been spoken by a dead fish.
"Ramen for both of us." She answered primly.
Sasuke's nose wrinkled in distaste.
"You don't like Ramen?" Himawari questioned with a cheeky smile.
"Let's just say someone I know turned me off of the stuff." Sasuke responded shortly, clearly wanting to say nothing more on the matter.
"But it smells so good!" Himawari insisted as Mokoto returned with their meals.
The waitress had barely set the dish down before Himawari tore into the meal with a gusto that seemed to defy physics. Noodles and broth became a blur as they entered her mouth only to disappear forever. There was nothing that Sasuke could do but to sit back in his chair, mouth agape and his eyes wide with shock.
I don't think even the baka could eat ramen so quickly!
"That was great!" Himawari exclaimed a few seconds after the last mouthful before grabbing a napkin and dabbing at the broth that seemed to have escaped her notice.
Noticing the girl's longing gaze at his own bowl the Uchiha slowly pushed it towards her, silently wary that she might accidentally eat his hand as well.
"You can have mine." He told her before retracting his hand as swiftly as he could. Her eyes shone like stars as she leaned forward, palms outstretched on the table to stare at him with such intensity that it took all of willpower not to flinch.
"Really!?" She asked excitedly.
"I don't like ramen remember? I'll order something else." He told her with a nod before signaling to the waitress.
He didn't want to think about what she was doing to his bowl of ramen.
'those poor noodles'
This was a very difficult chapter to write as I wanted to jump straight into the action but then I felt things would've moved far too quickly.
And so this chapter serves primarily as a transitional chapter until we get to the good stuff. Next chapter should have some action and further plot insight.
I hope I didn't make too many mistakes with this chapter but if you spot something or an inconsistency please let me know and I will correct it as needed.
Please leave a review if you liked it. I think this story needs some love and not just from me... plus reviews are a great motivator for me as well. They remind me to carry on writing when I have free time from work and studies.
Until next time with Those Who Are Lost
Chapter 13: The Ritual