Chapter 33

Review Responses:

HedyBear: Oh and I have as well *sigh* I dread to think how many chapters have that mistake. Somewhat irked I missed them, thank you for bringing it to my attention and I glad you're enjoying it.

Nexather: Yeah I'll admit some of the time-skips are, Ch.29-30 especially so. So I've added a 500-600 words long scene for Naruto and Kurotsuchi towards the end of Ch.29 to explain that. And I've also added a transition part at the start of Ch.30, some 800 words long or so to help smooth the transition and explain some of what happened during the time-skip. Hopefully, it answers the questions you had, apologies for the confusion.

The search begins

The dozen Shinobi made their way south-west. The plan was to cut through Tori no Kuni (Land of Birds) to reach Na no Kuni (Land of Vegetables). The Iwa nin lead the way, as one might expect given they were travelling through their own backyard.

Konoha Shinobi always looked slightly out of place anywhere there weren't trees to jump between, as was the case right now. Western Tsuchi no Kuni was a region almost completely devoid of the great wooden flora.

Iwa teams would run through the narrow rock-strewn passages through the mountains. Many of their leaf counterparts instead chose to jump from rock to rock to maintain a semblance of familiarity.

And Kurotsuchi couldn't help the sense of amusement at their actions, the Uchiha was the only one immune to the need to jump between things. She could understand why they did it though because it's what's familiar. If they had instead been travelling through Hi no Kuni, she and her team would likely run across the ground instead of through the trees because that is what's familiar to them.

A few quick glances around gave her the impression that some of her fellow Iwa ninja found it equally amusing judging by the small smirks of some faces but she ignored them and instead focused on the half-dozen Konoha nin she'd be working within the coming days.

She knew little about the trio that comprised Naruto's team. Their sparse previous meetings and what Naruto had himself told her amounted to the sum total of her knowledge of the three. With nothing to occupy her thoughts, she moved onto the mysterious brother.

Through her many chats with Naruto via their linked scrolls she'd learnt a fair amount about the enigmatic teenager. She knew he was a highly capable Shinobi, everyone present did. Her father had taken her aside momentarily after her brief discussion with her Ojisan and warned her of his suspicions regarding Tri and Itachi's ties to Konoha's ANBU.

She bored her eyes into the back of his head, hoping to gain a deeper understanding, his black and red hair whipping about thanks to a combination of the breeze and their speed of movement. She had been intrigued when Ojisan mentioned he was in the Kirigakure Bingo Book. Admittedly she rarely looked through her own villages Bingo Book never mind those of other villages.

Perhaps she could ask him later on when they'd stop for the night? 'Although, he isn't the most approachable of people.' she noted, and that was before she took the Sharingan into account. She wouldn't lie, the three Tomoe Kekkai Genkai was intimidating, the way it span, the way it seemed to look right through you, she suppressed the slight shudder that washed over her.

She didn't like that feeling, so she moved onto the final one, she turned her attention to Itachi, a questionable decision she told herself because the full-blooded Uchiha possessed two of those unnerving eyes. And if Tri was enigmatic then Itachi was in a class of his own. Tri at least displayed emotion, that was more than could be said for Itachi.

He truly was an enigma. The neutral facial expression, the neutral tone of voice, he gave nothing away, she couldn't get a read on him. She'd concluded that he was leading the Konoha group since he'd been the one to speak first when they'd first met up that morning. And in the near ten hours since, she'd paid close attention with her eyes and ears and she had learned.. nothing.

Naruto and his team conversed fairly regularly, Tri might occasionally contribute a sentence or two but the stoic Itachi hadn't said a word since they'd departed Iwagakure. She couldn't even think of any questions she might ask him so she moved on to the final Konoha member and the only one she did know properly.

The blonde-haired, two sword-wielding, giant Hawk summoning, Ramen loving dummy she considered a close friend. Ever the positive influence, he never failed to help her 'turn that frown upside down' as he called it, a phrase that never failed to make her groan at its childishness.

Perhaps that's what made him so endearing. Whenever she felt down or frustrated he'd always be on hand whether with written Kanji or spoken words to help alleviate her troubles and return her to a more cheerful mood, something she appreciated immensely.

She tried to imagine what her life might be like without that constant positive reinforcement and what she imagined didn't appeal to her. He'd become a part of her life, a distant yet also close part.

Her mind drifted to the 'talk that never was'. Well not exactly, right now it was the 'talk they'd not been able to bloody have', it certainly wasn't from a lack of trying, it was just that something always seemed to get in the way. The first time was utterly overshadowed by the Uchiha purge and they'd agreed to postpone it until a later date.

Their next opportunity came a few months later during the second diplomatic exchange between the two villages, this time held in Iwagakure. Naruto had managed to talk his way onto the team that travelled. But throughout the entire duration of their stay, Kurotsuchi was never left alone, her Tou-san in particular constantly kept a watchful eye on her.

It left her feeling paranoid, did he suspect something? Her concerns had been unnecessary however. He'd later admitted after the Konoha delegations departure that he simply didn't trust the visiting Leaf officials and given her close involvement had refused to let her out of his sight. While she believed his actions misguided she nevertheless understood his reasoning.

His decision making she knew was governed or at least influenced by his past experiences. She hadn't even been born when the third Shinobi World war had ended, her Tou-san, on the other hand, had fought and likely killed Konoha Shinobi during it. So when the son of the most vilified man in Iwa history strolled in as if nothing ever happened, it was understandable that some might find trust difficult to come by even if Naruto was just as innocent on the matter, he had yet to be born either.

And of course who was only feet away and would remain so for the entirety of this mission.. 'Guess we won't get the opportunity at the third time of asking either,' she mentally sighed. The next diplomatic meeting was likely still a few months away, its location had yet to be nailed down but if they were swapping villages each meeting as she envisioned it would then Konoha would be next, she hoped it would be Konoha next. Regardless of location, it would mean they'd be approaching the one year mark just waiting to have a single face to face conversation.

Then there were the contents of that conversation, she'd had all this time, months upon months to think things through, plan out what exactly she was going to say. And what did she have to show for it?

Nothing... Zilch. She'd lost count of the number of times she'd worded something in her mind only to then analytically pick it apart before ultimately throwing it out. It meant her frustrations level rose, frustrations that Naruto would help placate, it made for a bizarre cycle of emotions.

It had dawned on her a few months ago, however, that Naruto was actually the closest friend she had. Because of who her family was and the rigid mentalities that permeated throughout Iwagakure's society, it meant she had trouble making friends whilst growing up. Naruto, also a member of a Kage family could sympathise with her, he understood. But differing mindsets meant his social life hadn't been suffocated to anywhere near the extent of hers.

And the difference was abundantly clear. On this very mission, Kurotsuchi was with her Tou-san and four Shinobi she'd never worked with before and whose names she didn't yet know. Naruto meanwhile was with three Shinobi he was permanently teamed with, friends he'd worked with for years and in addition were his two former Genin Teammates, the camaraderie shone through.

"Kurotsuchi-san," she heard a quiet voice in her head, despite hearing it she chose to ignore it.

'I do at least have one friend on this mission. I can't remember the last time that happened... Has it ever happened?'

"Kurotsuchi-san." There was that voice again, it sounded a little louder this time.

'I must have surely?' she wondered but try as she might she couldn't think of a single example, her former Genin teammates she never considered friends. That revelation actually saddened her a little. Her fellow Iwa nin weren't comrades but instead just colleagues.

"Kurotsuchi-san." Her name was called for a third time and this time she realised it wasn't a voice in her head, someone was trying to speak to her.

Her consciousness tumbled out of the depths of her mind and began paying attention to what was happening around her. Everyone was looking at her and Itachi was running next to her, she tried to fight down an embarrassed blush. "Kurotsuchi-san," Itachi asked for the fourth time, throughout his four attempts, his tone of voice was unchanged. "Yes Itachi, sorry. I was miles away."

"It's alright. I was wondering how we intended to track down our quarry? You know the terrain far better than I."

"I had intended to reach Na no Kuni and ask around the villages for any possible sightings. But in hindsight that won't be fast enough unless we get super lucky. But in a turn of good-fortune Itachi-san, you appear to have brought a smorgasbord of tracking talent." Itachi turned his head towards Hana and Suzushii. She raised a good point Konoha was well known for its tracking skills, the Aburame, Inuzuka and Hyūga clans in particular.

But Suzushii's eyes could only see so far and the noses of Hana's Ninken while powerful couldn't collectively smell far enough. "True Kurotsuchi-san but I fear neither would be able to search an entire country in a day or two. There is, however, an alternative."

Tri just knew Itachi was referring to him, "Please don't Itachi."
"Tri, this isn't a debate," he sternly replied.

"Fine," he grumbled, knowing better than to argue as he shunshined next to Naruto and ran his thumb over the Tsuba (Crossguard) of one of his blades. "Hey!" Naruto whined. "Oh shut up, I didn't leave a drop of blood on it," he retorted as he rubbed his thumbs together, smearing blood across both.

Naruto continued grumbling as Tri ran through a series of hand-seals, Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram. Instead of stopping and placing his hand to the ground his hands clamped onto the opposite upper forearm. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu." Intricate array designs shot up his arms and his shoulders briefly glowed. A small cloud of smoke accompanied by the appropriate 'poof' sound appeared above either shoulder. As they were travelling at speed the smoke cleared quickly revealing two black-birds.

The two creatures had not envisioned themselves needing to suddenly hold on following an unexpected summoning. Their reaction? To dig their short but sharp talons into Tri's shoulders. His face grimaced as he suppressed the growl building in his throat, his flak-jacket the only thing preventing them from drawing blood.

Kurotsuchi recognised the telltale signs of a summoning contract but she was expecting him to verbally converse with his summons but not a single word was spoken.

'Tri… this had better be good. We're still busy carrying out your previous instructions,' Muninn mentally communicated to him, the animal sounded rather annoyed. 'Oh shut it, I'm well aware. I did, however, warn you that this may happen,' he irritably shot back.

To everyone else though there was only silence, "Uh Itachi?" Kurotsuchi asked. "Tri's summons lack the appropriate vocal chords to verbally communicate so they do so mentally instead."
"So they speak into the others mind?" she asked with uncertainty. "Pretty much. He summoned them because they're Avian spymasters. Being able to communicate with birds and listen in on the thoughts of humans makes them superb for intelligence work."

"So, right now he's telling them to find our targets?" Itachi nodded, "Ye.. or at least he will be. Right now he's probably having an argument," he said with a laugh. Again his facial expression didn't change and it weirded her out, you were supposed to grin or smile when you laughed. "An argument?" she asked.

"Huh-uh, Tri's summons are incredibly flippant. They'll do what he asks of them but not before questioning absolutely everything and generally driving him mad. Honestly, it can be pretty entertaining to watch him get progressively more annoyed."

"That's.."
"Different?" he finished for her with another laugh, "Honestly, I think they do it just to aggravate him now."

Just as he'd said, Tri did look more and more frustrated as the minutes ticked by. Inexplicably one of the black feathered Ravens swivelled its head to stare at her. She held its gaze, its small beady black eyes staring into her radiant pink. "Intriguing," Itachi muttered. "Why?" she asked turning her eyes away from the bird.

"Muninn and Huginn will communicate with Tri without issue but only him. They're incredibly haughty, won't speak to those they deem and I quote 'unworthwhile'. If they do need to communicate with others then they use Tri as a proxy."
"So how did he end up signing the contract at all?" He shrugged his shoulders, "No idea, he won't tell me the specifics, only that they chose him."

'Is that the girl your sibling is so enamoured with?' Huginn suddenly asked. Tri internally groaned, he was so close to getting them to tracking down their targets. 'What?'
'The lady with the pink eyes, that's the one Naruto had you design the scrolls for, yes?'
'Wh.. Yes, that's Kurotsuchi. Now can we ge..'
'I can see why. She's a beauty.'
'Ok, that's just weird. You. Are. A. Bird!' Tri bluntly growled. 'Yeah, so is she.'[1]
'Oh for Kami's sake,' he winced. 'Please, please can you just get started.'
'We'd be happy to Tri, as soon as you show us whom we're looking for,' Muninn retorted.

A small growl of irritation slipped from his lips as he withdrew his Bingo Book. "Kurotsuchi-san, do you have a picture of this Dorobou?"[2]

"Sure," she replied. As she moved closer to him a hand pulled a small square picture from one of the pouches around her waist. She handed it to him before slipping back into formation. Tri held up the picture and Bingo Book entry in front of the Ravens who etched the faces into their minds.

'Then we shall begin,' Muninn quickly uttered as he and his brother unfurled their wings and took flight. Tri sighed as the birds shrank to small black dots in the distance.

That Night

Kurotsuchi was leaned back against a moderately comfortable rock, there were no jagged edges that dug into her back and the surface was relatively smooth. To keep everyone happy a Konoha and Leaf nin were both currently on watch at opposite ends of the camp, some twenty feet. She was fairly certain she was on watch with Shinsuke.

It was a quiet night with sparse cloud cover overhead, the three-quarter moon casting an eerie white glow on everything. She could hear a quiet commotion below her, her spot was some ten feet above the Konoha group. Peering down, the moonlight illuminating the bodies below she could make out black and red hair rolling from side to side.

'Bad dream?' she wondered as she silently dropped down next to him. She reached her hand out. The moment her fingers touched his shoulder he tensed, his eyes shot open and a kunai appeared in his hand. It took him a brief moment to realise it was Kurotsuchi kneeling next to him. "Sorry Kurotsuchi-san," he uttered lowing the sharp implement.

"Bad dream?" she asked, he nodded. "Want to talk about it?" she asked slightly too quickly. Both were silent for a few moments that seemed to drag out for far longer, she was about to apologise when he spoke. "Sure, it couldn't hurt."

He propped himself up against one of the innumerable boulders that comprised this part of the world and began to recite what he'd experienced.

He described how images which years previously were a garbled mess but now were a little clearer. He could make out the overall shape of things but the colours still mixed together distorting any possible detail. But he could make out what he thought was the shape of a person.

The sound which before was utterly scrambled had improved a little, the crests and troughs of volume less extreme but still incoherent. But still, he couldn't distinguish whether these people, if that's indeed what they were, were crying, speaking or screaming.

Then as they always had the colours bled away, bright white light overwhelming it all. Then he woke with Kurotsuchi looking down on him.

"You say you've had these dreams for years?" she asked him. "Yes, since I was like nine or ten. And they're still as confusing now as they were then."
"So you've no idea what they might mean?" He shook his head, "I can't distinguish anything in them so I wouldn't even know where to begin."

They both fell quiet, "Thank you for telling me," she said breaking it. "No problem. You're wondering why I told you at all?" he assumed, and correctly as a sheepish look crossed her face. "Uh, yeah, kinda. I mean, Naruto describes you as very enigmatic."

"Appropriate terminology," he replied with a slight grin. "But truth be told, Naruto trusts you completely. And that's good enough for me despite my enigmatic personality."

"Can I ask you something?" Kurotsuchi asked suddenly. "Sure," he replied with a raised eyebrow. "Tsuchikage-sama said you were in the Kirigakure Bingo Book. Can I ask why?"
"I killed one of the Seven Swordsmen."

"You killed one of the seven swordsmen?" she said in disbelief. "Yes, however, almost all of them are missing-nin so it's not like I killed a loyal Kiri nin or anything. I did keep the sword though which is why I ended up in the book."

With her curiosity on the matter sated she changed the subject, "How long do you think your summons will take to find a lead?"
"I'm not sure, it hopefully shouldn't be too long, they excel at finding needles in haystacks. They may be able to hide from human populations but they can't hide from birds because they are everywhere, I can guarantee there's a number of birds out there who've seen both of them."

"I see," she said, she didn't really have anything else to say.

"Can I ask you a question?" Tri inquired. "Of course," she cheerfully said. "What's going on between you and Naruto?" he asked unexpectedly. A subtle red tint crept up her cheeks, most of the cheer drained from her as she quickly looked away, she wasn't brave enough to turn back to face him as she timidly replied, "Wh-what do you mean?"

"The way you both look at each other, how your eyes linger on one another for those few fleeting moments." The subtle red became more and more prominent. "He cares greatly for you, you know this, yes?" She didn't trust her voice to answer. "Back when we were in the Jūnishi I lost count of the number of women who tried to tempt him to their beds but he showed no interest in any.

"Then one day he asked me to create the two scrolls you both use. That's when I noticed the interest he showed in you. You should have seen the look on his face when I handed them to him, it was as if I'd given him the keys to Heaven and a map with directions to get there."

Kurotsuchi eyes fell on Naruto. "And I can't help but wonder.."

"Wonder what?" Again her voice was timid, barely above a whisper. "Wonder how much his feelings are in fact mutual." That red tint rapidly spread to encompass her entire face. "I-I don't know what you're talking about," she weakly said.

Tri stifled a chuckle as her flustered voice, he could also detect a hint of worry. "I think you do. There isn't much that escapes this eye, it's very good for spotting the little things. I know Itachi has seen it too." With every word he said Kurotsuchi looked more and more dejected, she thought they'd taken every precaution.

"Me and Itachi also agreed to let you both sort out what exactly you're both looking for." Her head shot back around to face him. "Yes, you heard correctly," he teased, "Your secret is safe with us," he said with a reassuring smile.

"Why?"
"Because it's not our business," he answered, "It is for the two of you alone."

She was quiet but her lips curved up into a soft smile. "And while it certainly isn't needed, you have my blessing. Although I shouldn't need to tell you what'll happen if you hurt him, right?" She frantically nodded at his warning. "Good, you've learnt today through what means there is nowhere to hide from me."

"Anyway, I'm gonna try sleeping again, give what I've said some thought. Just keep in mind that Naruto's probably as nervous as you are, don't be afraid to force the issue," he told her. "Thank you," she quietly said as he rolled over and closed his eyes. Kurotsuchi just sat there for a few minutes in thought before jumping up to return to her previous perch.

"Oh, we might be in business," Tri called out to everyone. "Jeez, finally," one of the Iwa nin muttered. It was already early afternoon. They'd continued moving into Ta no Kuni having crossed the border from Tsuchi no Kuni in mid-morning.

The change in scenery was abrupt, gone were the bare cliffs and rocky passages with only a few shrubs dotted about to break the grey/ brown monotony. Now the scenery was filled with rolling hills and plains covered in cultivated soil. There seemed to be barely an inch of free ground that wasn't used for growing something. Fields were choked with Carrots, Onions and Kami and all other manners of foodstuffs. It truly was a place that lived by its name.

They all slowed to a halt as one of the two Ravens returned, landing on Tri's shoulder as the two began their silent conversation. Over the next minute or two Tri's facial expression would occasionally change, something a few of them found quite humorous. Eventually, Tri relayed what his summon had brought him.

"All right, we have a lead. They found three birds who recognised our targets, thankfully."
"Why thankfully?" Naruto asked. "Because the first two birds were a Blackbird and a wood Pigeon, the third was a Crow so we're in business."

Silence…

"Uh, Tri... Care to elaborate?" Naruto suggested. Tri did so without pause as if this were a conversation devoid of bizarre circumstance. "Blackbirds are usually misleading and Pigeons are hideously unreliable but Crows while slow to trust and very insular are pretty reliable." It was only then that the Uzumaki saw the expressions on everyone's face. "What?... Oh, right yeah, that," he realised.

"Yes, some birds are more reliable than others. Is it really too far a stretch for you? Naruto's hawk Horus can tear a spine from its body and Tou-san can call upon a 100ft toad but this is apparently too much for you all," he countered.

Naruto had been in the midst of raising a finger, "Good point," he relented. "So where are we going?" Itachi asked having himself recovered. "East, they've changed direction. Seems we won't be going through Kaze no Kuni at all. They've gone through Tori no Kuni which has its pros and cons."

"How so?"
"The pros are that there are birds absolutely everywhere there so hiding is hopeless for them. The cons are that the route is much shorter and they can move faster not having to worry about Suna patrols."

"Amegakure patrols tend to pass through the country as well," Kitsuchi grunted. "A concern we shall tackle if we should come across one. Let's get moving," Kurotsuchi replied. The reaction was instant as they got going again.

It wasn't long until the conversations started again, "Hey Tri, I'm intrigued now which birds are best and worst for your little spies?" Shinsuke found himself asking.

"Doves, Doves are by far and away the best. They are simply incapable of lying. The next best are Robins, Crows, Sparrows and Ravens. Owls are good but only at night. I've already told you Blackbirds and Pigeons aren't much use. But there are also Magpies who are notorious liars, Swallows are too childish. Starlings are just hopeless, you ask just one a question and absolutely all of them bombard you with answers. And while Ducks and Geese aren't intelligent enough Swans are but are unbelievably arrogant."

"Do you have any idea how absurd that all sounds Tri-kun?" Hana asked. "Yep," he replied with a laugh. "But I promise you, it's all true."

"So do you know this for every kind of bird or just the ones you named?" Shinsuke questioned. "A fair few. Why, did you have one in mind?"
"Yeah, I was wondering if you knew about Tits and Boobies?" Incredibly he managed to say it with an absolutely straight face.

Shinsuke sported a wide grin as they all looked at him. Tri burst into laughter, Naruto following shortly after. Several of the Iwa team snickered away as Suzushii, Kurotsuchi and Kitsuchi shook their heads in amusement. Hana growled in annoyance, even Itachi wasn't immune as a rare wry smile spread across his face.

End Chapter

[1] - Bird is British slang for young woman or girlfriend

[2] - Dorobou is the Japanese word for thief