The clouds, a menacing black and angry, crackled out a thunderous boom from lighting that had stuck the earth not too far away. A gush of wind pushed through the team of shinobi, causing a few of the younger ninja to stumbled from the impact. Shikamaru looked up to his sensei, eyeing him carefully, "I think we should stop for the night."

Kakashi looked at the sky for a brief moment, ceasing his walk, "Yeah, that would probably be a good idea. Although, it's not safe to camp in the forest." He paused, "Yet," he mumbled to himself, "there isn't many options we have here."

Naara tilted her head to the sky, a brush of wind pulling her hair from her face. Her eyes darted around the sky, then around the forest. Without a word, she began to walk into the forest around them. Naruto yelled, "Hey! Where do you think you are going?" Naara ignored him, but didn't resist when his hand grasped her arm harshly. She stopped walking only for a few more moments before she walked again once more.

Yamato pulled Naruto back, "She knows she can't run. Besides, judging from her look, I think she knows where she is...right?" He called out to her?" She only gave a small nod, not bothering to look behind her.

With no other options, and little patience to deal with any attitude, the rest followed.

Shikamaru did not believe, that after all these years, that she would be able to remember where she was. A lot has changed since then, even he knew that and he was quite younger than her. Slowly, the rest were having doubts that she even knew where she was going. That she had lost her mind or, a few of them thought, were leading them somewhere to kill at least a few of them. When they reached a jagged cliff taller than the eye can see, most of the kids finally deemed her crazy.

Pressing her hand to the cool rock, she released a small amount of chakra. The rock face dissipated and was replaced by a small, worn out shack embedded into the wall.

The door opened with reluctance, having to be shoved open, and invited the team on squeaky hinges. The interior was casted into shadows. Naara ventured into the house and rummaged around the sides. In a flash, a faint light started to glow from the inside. Kakashi walked in, noting the oil lamp on top of a vegetable crate next to a wood stove.

Sakura asked, "What is this place?" Her body turning to get a better look at the scenery around her.

The red-haired convict pulled up a panel from the floor and dug out a bottle of sake. "It's just one of the many small hideouts my family use to make through out the entire region. Know a few other places, here and there, but there should be a good hundred scattered." She hunkered on the floor and unscrewed the bottle.

Shikamaru crossed his arms, "And you just happened to remember this one?"

She eyed at the two teams, who were still standing by the doorway, "Come on in and make yourselves comfortable." She took a sip from the alcohol, shivering from it's bitter taste, "The storm will be here for a while, and without the other it would be pointless to walk to the ruins."

Naruto mumbled but sat down across from her, "But we have to keep moving, don't we?"

Sakura nodded, "Yeah. The Land of Earth is pretty far and those mountains even farther. Shouldn't we at least walk there to further progress?"

Resting the bottle on her knee, she looked at them wearily, "What if the other was here? In the Land of Fire? Then we would have to go all the way back to get him because he has no clue where he would be going. Probably wouldn't even believe a note." Shaking her head, she took another swig before slamming the bottle on the floor.

In a slew of hand gestures and a blood seal, smoke flew from the floor in front of her. Not expecting for her to summon with no warning, Kakashi immediately went on his guard.

Two, rather large, winged cat-like creatures appeared from the smoke. One black, the other white. The black one, which was much larger than it's pair, looked at Naara with sad, knowing eyes. He rubbed his head against her cheek, purring, "My lady..." He pulled back while the other greeted her master, "It has been many years since we were summoned." He glanced over the crowed, laying his eyes on Asuma, Naruto, then Kakashi. In that order.

She waved her hand, "Mistakes and false prophets, my dear."

Sai gazed at the animals curiously, "What are these creatures?"

The raven feline peered over to the group, baring his teeth. Naara rubbed each of the cat's ears, calming them from the odd people. "Oh, just a few, old geezers from the days of old that has been passed down to me."

The white one purred, "Now now, my lady, do not be so rude." She rolled onto her back, gladly receiving a belly rub from an old friend.

Naara, although she didn't want the two to leave, decided to get on with the show. "Eki," She addressed the male one, "The two of you need to find my nephew for me. Possibly sooner than later."

His ears perked forward, his eyes widening, "Has it broken already? My, it's only been a few hundred years or so. Or...was it more?"

The female one snapped, "Quiet you old fool!" She smiled over to her master, "We will find him, my lady." With out further questions, the two had rose from their comfortable position, not before licking their boss goodbye, and dashing out of the still open door. She couldn't help but give a small smile, "Now," she pronounced, "all we have to do it wait."

With nothing else to do, the rest sat on the floor with Naara and Naruto. It was quiet until Shikamaru spoke up, "You still didn't answer my question."

"Well," She put simply, "I have used this place more than once during the war. Hiding out or healing up." She gazed around the wooden walls she smiled sadly. "Tsunade and I often came here when we were quite young. Hide here after a mission for a while." Nostalgia caused her to smile fondly, only for her to grimace a moment later. She whispered to herself, "Trusted her enough too..."

Nothing could be forced out of her again after she pulled herself into a corner.

Hours past and Kakashi couldn't read any further. He was use to reading porn in front of others, that was certain, but he wasn't able to read. Maybe it had to do with the fact that the criminal he was escorting kept looking up at him. Her heavy eyes always looking into his before she turned away. With a sigh, he stood up from across the room and strode over to her, which wasn't that far.

She shifted in her spot but didn't make a move to stand. She gave a sigh before she stated quite bluntly, "You look a lot like your father."

Not too surprised, since his father was fairly famous at her time, and simply shrugged. "You knew him?"

She replied quietly, "Yes. He was a good man. He and I were close friends. Childhood friends, in fact." She swirled the sake in it's yellowed jar, "..shame what happened to him." She was treading to a very touchy subject to him, and he had half a mind to prevent her from speaking again.

Instead of going on about his father, she instead surprised him another way. "I knew your mother, too, even though you don't look much like her. No, not much at all. Trying to see if there was anything there. Perhaps, under your mask. She was always mentioned about her beauty. Maybe it passed down to you, hmm? Although," She added, "You do have your mother's taste in literature." A small smile graced her lips as she stared at the wall.

Kakashi didn't know what to make of this. Rarely, anymore, did people ever mention his mother. Hell, he never even remembered her. "Have you, now? She died in the war, right?"

Naara tightened her hold on her legs, "Yes...she did. That woman I knew was lost in that battle..."

Laughing under her breath, she stated, changing topics, "You were a cute kid, Kakashi. Such a trouble maker, you were." She smiled at nothing, "Destroyed my garden a few times." Leaning onto the wall, closing her eyes, she made one final remark, "Boy, your parents loved you, thought the world of you. Who wouldn't? You were a child protege with very respected parents."

Silence.

"Were." He added.