In celebration of me getting a new computer and my brithday, I am uploading another chapter of each story!
Yes I am STILL writing the novel with my friend, so far around 2-3 chapters a week are working for us but we're currently working veeeeeerrrrryyyy slow. We're going to send it ASAP to publishers. Thank you for reading this story J.
CHAPTER 4 FOUR ELEMENTS OF EIEN
DAY 1
Sakura allowed the blanket to roll off her body as she sat up, stretching her limbs. Sunlight streamed through her window, heating the fabric slowly. Outside, the forest had an eerie yet calming presence. The horses that were close by stamped their hooves impatiently, waiting for Ino to go feed them. The pink haired girl stood out of her bed, the sheets falling onto a mess on the floor. She ignored this and began pulling out a brand new yukata(1)from her wardrobe. Books, scrolls, ribbons and an obi(2) lay on the floor scattered around messily. Sakura hadn't even bothered cleaning up her room, as Tenten had always told her to do. She slipped on a creamy pink kimono, with red lilies sewed along the bottom left. Autumn leaves also were stitched in, creating a kind of illusion. She tied the obi around her waist and quickly fastened up her hair. Suddenly, she could feel someone's aura somewhere, that somewhere out her window. Sakura looked out the window to see the raven hair detective from yesterday, his face pressed against the glass. Immediately, she pulled out her blade and attempted to shoot it through the glass by scaring the hentai(3). He fell down unconscious, knocked out senseless.
---
Sasuke woke up, his head spinning. Little cute birds flew around his head in circles as he shook it, getting rid of them. He turned left to see the pink haired girl beside him, with her back towards him. He poked her and asked.
'Why did you do that for?' All she did was glare as she stood up.
'Like all girls would do when they find a hentai looking through their window. Bash the hell out of them.' Sasuke turned red and looked away.
'I'm not a hentai. I was investigating.' Sakura rolled her eyes at his excuse.
'Yeah sure. How can you be a man if you're not a hentai?' Sasuke turned even redder and he too stood up, brushing his clothes free of dirt.
'I'm serious. I was investigating. Need me to spell it out for you? I-N-V-E-S-T.' Sakura blocked his mouth with her hand before he could tell her the whole alphabet.
'Ok ok ok I get the point, no need to become my next school teacher.' Sasuke smirked as she lifted her hand off his face.
'Come on, get into the kitchen. I need to interview you,' Sasuke explained businesslike all of a sudden. He opened the door, holding it out for Sakura to pass through. She smiled warmly and allowed herself to be seated.
---
Naruto grabbed his yellow bucket and hopped off to the pond. His indigo boots dug out the soil underneath as he somewhat rushed to get water. Abruptly, he tripped over a large root sticking out. But he didn't see the root move back into its original spot.
High in the trees, Tenten and Hinata giggled at the blonde's clumsiness (A/N: I'm not bagging blondes! I think it's a sort of Naruto thing for him XD). They sat on one of the biggest oak branches in the whole forest, their legs swinging from the treetops.
'Naruto you baka. You should watch where you're going.' Tenten watched as the pearl eyed boy came into view, holding a bag full of kami knows what. His long brown hair which wasn't tied, trailed down his back. He wore a beige coloured uniform which was simply covered by another beige cloak. Hinata was amazed at how they could wear those things when it was summer. The blonde wore a dark orange and black jumpsuit with a brown cloak. His yellow spikes stood up wildly; Tenten wondered how it stood up without any gel.
'Where's Sasuke? Or Shikamaru? Aren't they cooking lunch?' The boy named Naruto asked as he scratched his head sheepishly. The other boy, Neji, shrugged.
'Shikamaru said he was going to interview those girls. Sasuke wanted to come along too.' Hinata's ears perked up the mention of the word 'girls'.
'He said they seem suspicious, especially when they threatened to kill us.' Naruto shuddered at the memory of his ass getting kicked by a girl.
'Pfft they're pathetic. Women can never do anything these days except to help us make babies.' Neji scoffed.
Meanwhile, Hinata had to hold Tenten back from bashing the brains out of the brown haired boy. As she attempted to grab Tenten's ankle, she fell off the branch and landed directly in Naruto's arms. He stared blankly at each other for three seconds, with Neji's mouth wide open. Tenten was still at the top, laughing herself witless as she watched the scene unfold.
Neji's mouth closed as he tried to regain his composure. He glared at the girl before saying.
'What were you doing at the top of the tree?' Hinata jumped off from Naruto's grip and dusted herself off. Naruto looked bewildered and missed the warmth of the indigo haired girl.
'Well I uhh…' Hinata stuttered as she rummaged through her pockets, before pulling out a fresh pear she picked earlier this morning.
'I was… picking FRUIT!' She offered the pear to Neji, who just watched her in silent amusement.
'That was an oak tree. Do pears grow on oaks in this forest?' He asked smartly. Hinata blushed before blurting out.
'Yeah! They do!' Tenten froze. Damn you Hinata. Tenten could feel Hinata's navy eyes boring holes through with desperation. The brown haired girl sighed before jumping off one tree to another.
'Here. We can go check...' Hinata climbed up the sturdy trunk and Neji and Naruto followed her. Neji glanced at the blonde boy with soundless glee before jumping onto the first branch. As they went higher, Neji and Naruto got even more confused as they continued. Little small fruits were spotted here and there. Soon, when they got to the top, assorted fruits had already bloomed. Oranges, apples, plums, peaches, pears and strawberries? Naruto and Neji stared at the fruit in bafflement.
'Do strawberries grow on trees?' Naruto asked Neji. Neji stayed silent, now thinking twice before making sure of something. Hinata smirked as she picked off a strawberry, placing it on her mouth, biting into the flesh to reveal the juiciness. Naruto watched as she swallowed down the fruit. He then began picking them off, gathering them into his cloak.
Hinata sighed with relief. Thank you Tenten, you saved my ass.
---
Ino sighed as she stroked Inazumachi. He whinnied as she fed him some dried fruits she herself had made. The creamy coloured horse stamped his hooves, digging into the ground. She had hardly rode him ever since, so why not now? Ino prepared the saddles and reins before setting off, heading towards the pond. As she pulled back on the reins, she could feel a presence behind her. She turned to see the swish of a white tail and it appeared to be the leader of the Kuro Tsumis. He smirked at her before cutting ahead, his horse swishing her tail calmly. Ino knew what he wanted, and she wasn't going give it easily.
'What do you want?' She asked, sneering at him behind his back. He turned and she pulled back her innocent face.
'Info. Now.' He said in a demanding voice. His eyes drilled through her mind as he attempted to gather information from her face. She blinked at him, as though she didn't know anything.
'I don't see why you need info. We told you all we know yesterday.' Shikamaru sighed as they reached the pond. The waterfall was trickling down, a tranquil melody coming from it. The trees around them swayed with the wind. Ino could hear Tenten bounding tree to tree, oaks especially. Hinata was up upon another oak tree, Ino guessed, with two of the other investigators. Sakura was back at the house, sitting on the kitchen table with the midnight haired one, eating apples.
All of them had gained hearing as intense as the woods itself. Their sight had enhanced drastically and their coordination with feet and hand to hand combat was superior compared to the police.
'What if I don't want to give it to you?' Ino provoked. The smile on her face looked so sly, yet intimidating. Shikamaru shuddered; Naruto was right, they were scary.
'I'll take you to our office and order Lord Yamanaka to interrogate you.' Ino, who dismounted her horse to take a walk around the pond, froze. She turned around slowly, her eyes showing fear.
'Don't you…dare.' Shikamaru's brown orbs widened at her. Did he just… threaten her? No one dare threatens the boss and I mean, the boss. He sighed inwardly before slipping off Fuyukaze and walking beside her. Her mood was back to normal and her soft hands were carefully clasped behind her back. She gazed wonderingly at the trees waving with the motion of the breeze. She closed her eyes and stopped, Shikamaru turning around and looking at her in curiosity. She smiled as she heard the trees speak to her through their forest language.
'Can you hear that?' She asked softly, peeling her sky blue eyes open. He put on a face of awkwardness.
'Hear what?' The girl giggled lightly before answering.
'Don't worry, you're too young to understand.' He replaced the look with another one of confidence.
'Oh really? I'm older than you by one year I bet.'
'Twenty-third of September, 1923.' She replied shortly, picking up a fallen leaf and stroking it gently. She set it alight with a snap of her fingers but Shikamaru didn't seem to notice. The ashes were piled into her hand as she cast them into the wind, sending a prayer with them as well.
'Twenty-second of September, 1922.' Ino pouted and stood up again, her back turned against the boss.
'Well, if you want the info, you need to catch me first!' Ino immediately pounced up into the tree, her giggles echoing around Shikamaru like ghosts. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he heard the adorable laughs from the girl. He mumbled a quiet 'How troublesome' before mounting on his horse again and chasing after the repeating laughs tormenting him as he rode.
---
Ino sighed wearily, before lying back on the branch beside Hinata who was mending the edge of her kimono which was ripped by a neighboring branch.
'Man, he was so not fun.' Ino complained, picking off an apple and biting into the fruit. Juice squirted out, showing the freshness and delicacy of the fruit. Hinata sighed at her friends antics.
'Then why did you play with him in the first place? He's the leader, of course he's serious.' Hinata told her friend, holding the needle in between her two front teeth. Ino sighed and sat up again.
'Well I'll be going then. By the way, are we going there tomorrow?' Hinata nodded slowly, still entranced by fixing her kimono.
'Tenten confirmed it. And we need to get away from them for a while too.' Ino agreed silently before saying a goodbye to her friend. She bounded like a possum from one tree to another. Her feet, which was completed with a geta(4), was easy to move in, since those were the only shoes available in the house when her friends had found them. She had mastered walking in them perfectly as skillfully as a geisha would have.
She suddenly caught sight of the two investigators who were with Hinata earlier on. She decided to follow them, eavesdropping on their conversation.
'Hey are we going to take a break tomorrow?' asked the blonde who was named Naruto. Neji rolled his eyes.
'We've only been doing this for less than a week Naruto, don't be so impatient.' Naruto pouted and crossed his arms in a childlike position.
'It doesn't matter. No matter what, we are never going to get anything out of them. I mean, how can strawberries grow on oak trees?!' He asked no one in particular. They had finally reached their camp, which had no one in sight. Neji sighed and dumped the wood he had been carrying onto the dirt. He knelt down and slipped off his boots and tumbled down onto a mat that had been laid out.
'Naruto, just shut up.' Ino had had enough. She quickly leaped off back to the hut, her mind swimming with thoughts of more cover-ups.
This is going to be easier than I expected…
END STORY
(1)– Yukata – Summer kimono, easier to put on than an actual HUUGE one
(2)– Obi – The pretty little bow at the back of the kimono/yukata
(3)– Hentai – Pervert. (Imagine Sasuke being like that…-shudders-
(4)– Geta – Those really tall shoes with the wooden stands. The clogs/flip-flop like shoes.
THANK YOU FOR READING!
Heheh, yes I did make up the year of birth thingys. Just think of them as olden day people.
Reviews please!
JunsuiFushichou