Forgotten

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Naruto (Shippuden). This is a story inspired by the original made up for entertainment purposes only. - Krystal

Chapter 64: First Victory

The sky was too blue for them to even think that this was going to turn into a gloomy day. The breeze felt good as it went through Yuki's hair. She was holding on tight to Sai as they were travelling as great speed at great altitude. They were looking for a good spot to prepare traps, to stop infiltration of the enemy into Kumogakure's territory and to wait for the recognition team sent out by Konohagakure, lead by Anko, to meet up with them.

"How are you feeling?" Sai suddenly asked Yuki.

"I'm alright." She replied.

It was a lie. She wasn't feeling alright. Her guts were turning inside as she was anxious about the war. She was trying to keep it all inside as well. There was no reason for others to know how she felt. It would only make others nervous as well. She had always been great at keeping her emotions hidden.

"I know we've always been taught to keep every ounces of nervousness hidden, but sometimes, it's better to let it out. We are all in this together for once." Sai said.

She was surprised by that remark. She had been avoiding him a quite a while now and didn't realize how much he had changed. He wasn't completely aloof about feelings as he used to be. Although there was still room for growth, he now understood the value of emotions and the value of expressing them. She smiled at that thought.

"You are right." Yuki said. "I am scared, because the outcome of this war is so unpredictable."

"Most missions are."

"But usually, I can bet my life on their success... This..."

"It's because your life now isn't just your own anymore." He said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

He paused for a second and added:

"You know, I'm really happy for you and Neji. I just wished that..."

"Alright guys! We are landing here!" Kankuro interrupted them as he was now heading down towards the forest.

"Let's talk after the war." Sai said as he made his bird follow their captain, knowing that there was nothing else to be said at that moment that wouldn't take up a lot of time and words.

They landed gently onto the ground and the birds disappeared into Sai's scrolls. As they were now settling into the area, Yuki and Omoi were paired together to go set traps around the perimeter of their camping ground. Omoi didn't seem to fully trust their captain as he deemed Kankuro too young to be able to lead a team to victory during such a war. Yuki, however, knew Kankuro well enough to believe that there was no better captain than him. Kankuro was a planner. Being a master puppeteer made him plan out each and every move carefully. He was also very cautious and calm. He was also someone who cared dearly about his team members. He was not one to sacrifice a human life for no reason. All these things made him a great captain.

"None of the Akatsuki would fall for such traps..." Omoi mumbled as they were setting the traps.

"You would be surprised. Some of them don't really have a brain between their ears." Yuki said.

Those were the first words they had exchanged since their last encounter in the Land of Iron. Omoi looked at her in the eyes. He smiled and looked away.

"I just came to realize that you've changed, Yuki. I wish I was the one who changed you."

"Huh?"

"Remember when I asked you if you ever felt something with you heart?"

Yuki nodded. She promised him back then that she would find an answer to it before actually responding to him.

"So, who is he? Who is the lucky guy?" He asked her as he placed an exploding tag onto a tree.

"Neji." She simply replied.

"Is he good to you?" Omoi asked with a slight tremor in his voice.

"Yes..."

"Good." He interrupted her before standing up and turning towards her with a smile on his face. "Let's head back. I think our job is done here."

She could tell his smile was fake, but she didn't want to call him out on it. He wanted to show her happiness. She decided she would be fooled by it. She accepted it despite knowing that there was actually sadness behind that smile. They headed back to the camping ground to meet up with the rest of them. They walked side by side silently. The silence wasn't awkward. The silence was actually peace that they had made. It was the feud that was resolved between the two of them.

There was no movement for a few hours. Along with Hoheto and Zaji, Yuki was now in charge of surveillance of the area surrounding them. All of the sudden, Zaji pointed towards the dense forest and screamed out:

"I recognize a chakra. It's Muta from the Aburame clan! He's heading towards us."

Zaji was about to head into the forest to meet up with Muta. However, Yuki pulled him back. She shook her head at him. He shoved her hand away and went despite being warned of the danger by her body language. As he reached the outside border of their camping ground, Muta had also reached that line and collapsed onto his knees. He was seemingly badly injured and was trying to say something. However, he was unable to properly say a word.

"Hoheto-san, can you check the gourd on Muta's back?"

Being from the Hyuga clan, it wasn't hard for him to quickly find out that there was explosive clay inside the gourd. As he informed the rest of the team, Kankuro used his chakra strings to pull Zaji out of the way before the clay exploded. Although he managed to save his life, Zaji was now in pain as his legs were terribly injured.

"Yuki!" Kankuro called for her as she was already making her way over to him.

"You remember Deidara, right?" Yuki told him as she was healing Zaji. "This is his work. His clay is weak against lightning."

"I guess I'll handle him then." Omoi said as he pulled out his sword and spat out the lollipop that was in his mouth.

As everyone entered the fight, Yuki was by Zaji's side making sure he was fully recovered. She had greatly improved on her medical skills and external injuries such as the one he had were nothing hard for her to fix. As she was finishing up her treatment, she saw that Sai was now fighting against someone who resembled the person he had drawn in one of his notebooks. Shin. It was Sai's brother. Yuki couldn't help but to bite her lip in disgust. She couldn't imagine having to fight someone who was once your family. That was when it hit her that many of the dead people they once cherish would now become their enemies. She wrapped up Zaji's injury and quickly headed to the battlefront to fight alongside the rest of the surprise attack division.

For a team that was put together at the last minute only, they were fighting incredibly well together. They pulled Sasori out of his hiding spot as Omoi severed the chakra strings that he was using to control Shin and Kankuro connected his own chakra strings to those loose strands to pull him. Yuki stopped Deidara's movement by using her lightning technique and piercing him right in the heart. However, because they were, in a sense, living dead, he was still alive and talking. He was simply unable to move any further.

As for Shin, he was still fighting against Sai. Nobody could intervene and wanted to. They were all afraid that they would harm Sai's brother, despite knowing that he was already dead. As Sasori and Deidara were both now confined in Kankuro's puppets and sealed appropriately, Yuki could now head over to lend him a hand. She was still hesitant. She could simply seal Shin, but she sensed that there was something there behind those soulless eyes. He wanted to say something to Sai. He was now still recovering from a previous explosion. Paper-like pieces were being reassembled into Shin's body. Sai pointed his sword at Shin. His brother smiled and shook his head. The reassembly was now disassembling itself. He pointed to a book that was opened on the ground. It was the finished product of the notebook Sai had drawn in memory of his brother. A tear rolled down Sai's cheek. It was the first time Yuki saw him cry.

"I guess that was the only thing holding me back on this Earth." Shin told him. "I really wanted to see that last page."

He then disappeared as a dead unknown body was now lying in the ashes of what used to be Shin. Yuki gave Sai a light pat on the shoulder as he picked up the notebook and placed it back into his bag. It was their victory as now all the enemies were either sealed or gone. However, it felt bittersweet, especially for Sai. For a second there, he had his family back.

Meanwhile, Deidara was being loud despite being unable to move around. Sasori, calm as always, scolded him as he, himself, was rather impressed by the quality of the puppet that had now entrapped him. He couldn't help but express his astonishment to Kankuro.

"It's all thanks to you."

"If only I was still alive to have created such immortal..."

"That's where you are wrong. You shouldn't wish for immortality. You already are. You are alive, always, through these creations. It's your legacy that allowed for such fine puppets to be created. That's true immortality." Kankuro interrupted him.

At those words, they could sense movement inside the puppet that held Sasori captive. They heard him chuckle before realizing that he had now moved on to the afterlife just like Shin. Perhaps it was because he also found the answer to what was holding him back. Deidara sensed his departure too. He shook around a lot more. Yuki sent another lightning needle in his direction to further restrict his movement. He was displeased with it, but couldn't say much more.

They sent the news of their victory to the headquarters. They were now to split and join the various division as they had previously been assigned to. Yuki was to head back to the headquarter to provide them with all the intelligence they had gathered during their first encounter with the enemies. They bid their farewell to each other as marked each of them with her seal, instructing them the same things as she had with everybody else: in case of an emergency, send chakra in for help.

End of Chapter 64

Sorry for the delay! I was not expecting to be so busy in the last few weeks, but here's a new chapter.

Thank you for reading, reviewing and adding this story to your favorites/follows!

xox

Krystal