The early morning dawn had just begun its shine one the fair Country of Weed when Sakura finally made it back to camp. Her breath, only a while ago strained from panic, was now instead laboring under the sprint she had taken back to the remaining members of her team.
Her entrance into the clearing snapped the attention of both Kakashi and Sasuke, who sat eating a leisured breakfast by a smoldering fire. Kakashi turned with a questioning look on his face, or what was visible of his face, and Sakura needed no other prompt to answer him.
Her recount of the tale was not interrupted as she spoke in a hurried and panicked tone, voice rising as she reached the portion mentioning Naruto's disappearance. The young girl cast her emerald green eyes downward, scanning the browning foliage so as not to meet the other's eyes.
She had been the one to volunteer in helping her teammate, and she had failed so completely. Tears once again began to threaten the corners of her eyes as she thought about it. What if next time it was Sasuke that was in need of help? Would she fail him as well…She hoped not.
Please…be okay, Naruto… Sakura thought desperately.
Kakashi stared at the girl with liddled eyes. Although he cursed himself for his hubris in sending the girl to watch what he knew could be a potentially dangerous situation for both of them, he understood it would do no good to blame her. It was obvious she was already feeling the loss.
The silver haired jounin knew the feeling that accompanied the loss of a companion, but past experience didn't make it any easier. However the past had allowed him to gain a well-gripped control over his emotions. It wasn't good form for a ninja to let loose in any aspect of his life.
This loss of emotion for him had not taken long, and he was under no illusions about his life a nin…
But having this kind of control over your emotions did allow one to think more clearly in situations like this.
"Did you see Naruto die, Sakura?" Kakashi asked.
"No," she answered shakily "I didn't see anything. He was just there, and then he wasn't…"
Sakura shuddered as the image of Naruto's corpse flashed in her mind. Was this what being a ninja was?
"There was no body either, right?"
"No," she wished Kakashi would stop asking her these questions. She was getting a little queasy at the images her imagination supplied.
"Naruto's a strong boy. If there's no proof to the otherwise, lets just assume he's alive and… perhaps not well but alive."
Sasuke, before satisfied with simply listening, finally asked, "Now, do we look for the brat, or continue with our mission?" He turned his gaze from Sakura to Kakashi. Kakashi to Sakura and back again.
Kakashi looked thoughtful for a bit before, "The option is yours, as his team. Although he could be in dire peril, do you believe your teammate is strong enough to overcome it alone while you continue with your duties to the village," he looked pointedly at both of them, "or should we look for him?"
Both gennin sat thinking about their predicament. Sakura sat in a difficult position, not at all sure which side she should take. She knew Sasuke well enough to know what he was going to choose, and it seemed to be the logical choice, but…
"I think we should continue with the mission," Sasuke announced, leaving neither of his teammates surprised. "Naruto's strong enough to handle himself, we should get this pathetic excuse for a mission out of the way first. It shouldn't take long to complete, and we could get to know the surrounding area without running around."
His announcement was met this silence, as the others were lost in their own thoughts.
Sakura finally answered, agreeing with Sasuke, of course, but sounding rather unconfident about it.
"We should get the mission done like Sasuke says…Naruto is strong…He shouldn't…die…" she couldn't summon the courage to talk anymore.
The remaining members of Team Seven packed up camp silently, beginning their trek to Weed. Kakashi had yet to say something about their decision.
Please, thought Sakura, don't make me a liar…Naruto.
Finally back on the road, each of the remaining members of Team Seven felt the burden of their missing teammate. Although Naruto never really spoke much, his presence held a certain power. He was always there, watching them, offering help and advice when he felt needed.
"Why so quiet, Sakura?"
Sakura jerked her head up to face Kakashi, surprised that he had shaken her out of her thoughts so suddenly. However, surprise didn't last long, and her emerald eyes soon found their way back to viewing the dusty path they traveled.
"Sakura…"
This time Sakura felt her heart almost stop, her stomach contracting, at the sound of Sasuke actually talking to her. And sounding concerned! This was a dream come true.
'I knew Sasuke-kun cared! He cares about me, like I told everyone' she bit her lip, however, as she thought about her current predicament. How could she have forgotten Sasuke was here! 'I can't afford to look weak to Sasuke-kun. I need to rough this like those two. I'm a ninja too, and ninja aren't supposed to show emotion…I'll just have to believe in Naruto '
So, putting on her best smile, Sakura turned back to her teammates, surprising them this time with the force and suddenness of her action.
Kakashi recovered quickly, and although Sakura now giggled and began acting more normal, he could detect an undertone of sadness inside her. He smiled though, as he could see what she was doing.
She was once again doing her best to put the good of the team above her personal feelings.
'Is it Sasuke that puts her up to this…or does something else motivate her…' by far, the one female on Team Seven was the one that confused the jounin the most. He could sense her potential, but he could see she hardly tapped it. It also seemed she did her best work when others were depending on her, when she felt needed by the two stoic boys…
"Who am I kidding…?" Kakashi mumbled to himself as he watched Sasuke grow less and less stable at the consistent chatter Sakura now unleashed. "I'll never understand women…"
A single group of three stood out in their first viewing of the ocean of high yellow grass that carped the plains of Weed Country. Winds whipped through the air, forcing the tall grasses into a respectful bow, then swirling around for another playful breeze through the three shinobi.
Rustling hair and clothing remained unnoticed as each remained lost in the expanse of thoughts that the view inspired. One thought only of regret at the sight, another of sheer vastness, and the last of the uniqueness of it all. Only through straining of the eyes could any of them recognize the shadow in the far side of the plains.
On the far end of the sea of grass stood a lone mountain, towering over the surrounding land, like a lone sentry, watching over the entirety of the spacious country.
Like it has been said so many times in the past, an adventure always begins with a single step. True to its mantra, this venture too would begin with a single step, taken by a small chipped team, on their way to an operation that would soon prove to be much more than appears at first step…
"Aargh! Kakashi-sensei! Do we have to keep walking through this grass?" Sakura complained to the stoic jounin. "It's itchy and hard to keep your balance in"
The pink haired girl cried out once more as she tripped over one of the many protruding roots hidden by the tall grasses. Sasuke, in all his stoicism, couldn't help but let out a snicker. He himself was having little trouble navigating the treacherous yellow weeds.
Sakura, who had heard the small snicker, looked up at the dark haired boy with slight watering in her eyes.
Sasuke twitched.
"Ano, Sakura, you could try this…" Kakashi began, hoping to stop a conflict and give the girl something to concentrate on at the same time, even if just to get her to shut up.
"What is it, Kakashi-sensei?"
"Well, the reason you keep tripping up is because you can't see through the grass right?"
"I guess so," the girl answered, looking doubtful.
"Well then we just need to bend this pesky grass out of the way, ne?"
"How would we do that sensei?" Even Sasuke looked on with a bit of feigned disinterest. Kakashi smiled at a hidden thought.
"I was going to wait a bit before teaching this kind of technique to one of you, but seeing as this is a prime opportunity…"
Sakura's eyes shone in anticipation. Anything to stop her from looking incompetent in front of Sasuke anymore.
"As you two probably saw earlier, this kind of grass bends easily to a little bit of pressure, like the light breeze of wind. Chakra too has a property like this." Sakura blinked in interest. She hadn't heard of anything like that. "There is a lot about chakra that isn't understood, even by us shinobi. Thus, there isn't much that is taught about it in the academy.
And even that which we know about chakra could cause some…difficulties if experimented with. Thus it is usually left to those shinobi of higher ranks to eventually pass such information down to their subordinates and successors instead of teaching them to the more…incompetent nin."
"Are they…dangerous, sensei?"
"Not usually, no. However, experimenting with the properties of chakra can cause damage if not conducted slowly and carefully. There are already many known uses of pure chakra, only one of which is outward force. For example," Kakashi rose a single finger back to the forest they had just left, "chakra can also be used to gravitate as well, like in a tree walking exercise, which more experienced shinobi can use to travel quickly through forested areas. I was taught this by my sensei, and find that it can be excellent in building chakra reserves and control."
"How do we do it, that chakra force thing you mentioned?" Sakura asked her teacher eagerly.
"I often find that an example works wonders for teaching," Kakashi answered slyly. Really, deep down, he couldn't help but show off a bit, but that was only a side reason.
"Bet he just likes showing off," Sasuke mumbled to himself.
Kakashi only smiled behind his formless mask as he released a small bit of his chakra to create a displacement of the surrounding air, pushing it outwards and flattening the surrounding grass. Then, with seemingly effortless thought, he focused the air to force a line of grass ahead of him to the ground. He took a small step forward to demonstrate, watching them blink in surprise as the winds moved with him to clear more of the ahead terrain for him, while leaving the formerly devastated grasses behind him as if untouched.
Releasing the force, Kakashi smiled at his students. "Just work with the flow of chakra instead of against it, that's the only hint I'll give. Take your time; we have almost the whole day until we reach the mountain. That's were we should be meeting our client."
With a sigh, a man heaved himself down on a chair, rocking out in the open air of his home porch. The expanse of the entirety of the grassy plains lay out in front of him, a painted picture of green and yellow.
The home itself was unusual, removed from the nearby town at the foot of the distant mountain, a normal half a day walk away. In fact, the high grasses in the scenery seemed to part in a well-used trail towards the town.
Wrapped in a large heavy coat, and a wide rimmed hat pulled low over his face, any distinct features of the owner were obscured, save the stray hairs of a short gray beard that protruded from the wrapped cloth.
He was rotund, well fed looking, and wiggled a bit uncomfortably before settling as the sun shone down onto the lonely house. The quiet creak of the rocking chair and the whistling rustling of the grass were the only sounds to be heard as the rocked back in the relative shade of the porch.
The man stopped, however, to lean forwards and peer out into the distance, out among the grassy fields.
Leaning back again, the man simply began to rock once more, gloved hands moving to fold over his belly, contentedly waiting. Patiently waiting for something.
Patience came easily to some, and Hiroshi was quite exceptional at waiting. After all, it was all he had done for twenty-some odd years. A few more days couldn't hurt.
As much as he would like to think that it would soon be over, however, he knew differently.
It was all just beginning. After twenty years of waiting, it was finally beginning…
But with a beginning, inevitably comes an end.
Hiroshi leaned deeply back into the chair, which began to creak in protest of the weight. The quiet snores beginning to emanate soon made it obvious, though, that such protests would go unheard.
Noontime came and past as the three continued their journey to the distant mountain, both gennin resisting with whatever might they had to take a break. Sakura wanted to last at least as long a Sasuke could, and the brooding dark haired boy was just stubborn with much larger reserves of chakra than his female teammate.
Kakashi sighed as he watched the two work at the exercise as they continued on. Perhaps it was a little more than those two were ready for, as so far the only thing either had accomplished was wasting chakra through their legs, albeit Sakura wasted it in more controlled amounts.
He shook his head at the thoughts however, as what they were attempting was probably for more difficult than something they were used to putting their minds to. Sakura, to her credit, was even moving in the right direction, she simply lacked to drive to move any faster than Sasuke. She was probably already readying herself to lose their unspoken contest the brooding avenger.
Their pace was somewhat slowed, but the exercise they were bringing upon themselves was already pushing them to the limit in chakra reserves, so the younger members of the team couldn't move too much quicker.
As such it wasn't until well past noon that the three members of team seven happened upon a poorly built, old wooden house. Rotten wood littered the high grass around it, as well as shingles that had fallen from the rooftop.
Out on a poorly built porch sat a solitary rocking chair, devoid of any occupant in its quiet watch of the vast plains from which they had just come.
"That house looks pretty deserted, doesn't it?" Sakura stated questioningly. "It looks rather worn down."
Her statements were true, as the house did look like it would come crashing down any minute, but…
Something doesn't feel right, Kakashi thought to himself. The land around the porch seems worn down, not overgrown like the rest of the fields. That rocking chair looks fairly new, and the few windows that shack actually has are clean.
No, somebody lives here, or at least visits often enough to clean up every now and again. The question is…who?
"Let's just keep going," Sasuke commanded as he started to walk past the broken home. "We should be getting this mission done as soon as possible to go look for Naruto."
"Yeah," Sakura agreed wholeheartedly.
Kakashi sighed. They needed to learn to move a little more carefully on missions like this. Information needed to be gathered, and something told him that the person living in this house could help them. But then, this wasn't really his mission.
Sink or swim, thought Kakashi silently, as he moved to follow the duo. I'm just here to make sure they don't die.
As the three teammates made their way around the rickety old shack, they got a good look at it up close. They passed up next to one of the storm bitten walls, an overgrowth of weeds growing up against it, as well as a clump placed around what looked like a storm cellar.
"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura asked as she stopped and looked towards her teacher. He responded in such, peering down at her through is single eye. "Why would this old house need a cellar? Do storms occur often in this part of the island?"
Kakashi thought carefully before responding, "I'm not sure, but I think I may have heard something about an active volcano…" he let the information spread over the two before continuing. Closing is eye with a grin, he finished, "…that I also heard was now extinct."
"Dammit, sensei, don't scare me like that! Not that I was scared, but I never expected a volcano in this part…"
"I'm pretty sure that the volcano is the only large mountain formation in the area, right in the heart of Weed. In fact," Kakashi gestured around the house. Sakura took a few hesitant steps to the corner while Sasuke remained still, stoic to a fault. When he heard her gasp, however, he decided it might be worth his time to go see.
Sasuke moved slowly and without hurry towards the house corner, uncaring but curious what lay on the other side. What he saw did little to move him, but he had to admit, looked pretty cool.
Not that anybody would ever hear him say that.
Before the two gennin stood a tall crumbling stone arch, intricate designs and carvings marked in its sides. The arch itself, however, stood only to frame the real picture, the mountain that they had all seen in the distance, but had looked so small, haloed by the setting sun in an array of brilliant colors and hues of red.
And just at the peak, only barely in view, could be seen the shadow of a building, a palace of sorts, sitting majestically and surveying the entirety of the lands.
Having lived their entire lives solely in the forest of Konoha up until now, Sakura had only one thing to say at the sight…
"Wow, that's cool…"
After staring at the now extinct volcano for some time, the two gennin finally noticed that around the base of the mountain existed the city to which they were traveling, the only current town or city in all of Weed. They would have to hurry on, or the quickly setting sun would leave them in the dark to finish their journey.
Gathering themselves up, they called for Kakashi, who made himself known to be present standing behind them.
"Ready to go?" he asked. When he got an affirmative, he pointed them onto the previously unseen trail that seemed to go in the direction they were headed. Relieved that they could travel without caution or chakra exercises, the two young shinobi made their ways quickly to the mountain.
Kakashi took one last look at the old shack before turning his back on it and the ruins that scattered around the shrine as he made his way over to his students.
Travel time went by much faster than before on the beaten trail, but still seemed to drag along as the mountain they were traveling towards only seemed to grow too slowly to be noticeable.
By the time they had arrived at the outskirts of the city, several hours had passed and a darkness was spread around the area like a thick blanket, only the thin wafts of moonlight brightening the streets by a miniscule amount.
"We need to find a place to reside for however long we need to stay," Sasuke stated as he moved carefully so as not to bump into anything in the dark. Especially Sakura.
"Geez," Sakura whispered angrily as she stubbed her toe against an upturned stone block, "aren't there any lights in this town?"
Kakashi moved to nudge both of them as he noticed a very important building sign, lit and guiding the way to salvation.
InnA quiet tinkling was heard in the back of the foyer as the three made their way into the rather small looking inn. The foyer they had just stepped into was small, a single desk back at the corner of the room. Two doors, one at the left and one to the right seemed to lead the ways to the various rooms.
"Hello?" Sakura called uncertainly. "We'd like to rent a room please…"
Kakashi stepped up to the desk at the back of the room, opening a bound journal and turning to the page that was marked with a red ribbon. Giving it a quick scan, he quickly closed and reclasped it as footsteps were heard coming from one of the guest rooms. Soon a small head appeared in the doorway.
A girl, about fifteen years old, made her way quietly into the room with the three shinobi, apologizing for something in a whisper.
"What did you say…?" inquired Sakura as she moved to intercept the girl.
The fifteen year old shook her head vehemently, short blue tresses of hair moving wildly through the air as she expressed her obvious dislike for any noise. She gathered them closely and whispered softly,
"I'm sorry, but the inn keeper is asleep right now. My name is Himoko, and I currently rent one of the upstairs rooms. It's very nice to meet you."
Himoko smiled sweetly before continuing. "If you want to rent a room for a while, please go and sign the guest book on the desk over there," she gestured to the bound journal, "rooms are rather expensive at the moment, due to the shortage of housing in the city, but feel free to share a single room. I'm sure the inn keeper won't mind."
"I have to share a room with two guys!?" Sakura exclaimed a bit loudly, before clamping her mouth with her hands. Silence reigned for a few seconds before the all four of them collectively sighed.
"If you're quiet," Himoko stated, "you can share my room for a while…"
"Oh, no. I couldn't impose like that…"
"Poppycock! You wouldn't be imposing. I'm inviting you to stay with me for a bit." Himoko smiled warmly again. "Think of it like a sleep over."
"I guess if it's okay…" Sakura mumbled.
"Go ahead," Kakashi urged. "We don't mind, do we?" he asked, turning to Sasuke.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you didn't want me around," teased the pink haired kunoichi.
Sasuke gave a huff and turned to walk down one of the hallways, determined to find their room instead of dealing with the pointless banter.
With that, Kakashi split up with Sakura, giving their farewells to each other for the moment, and Sakura moved to follow the older blue haired girl back up to her room.
They reached their destination, a small single person bedroom, sparsely furnished with only a bed, a small desk and a locked trunk. Moving to the closet, Himoko removed a futon, unrolling it and placing it on the other side of the room, readying it for Sakura's use.
Little was said between the two girls, until finally, after the lights were out and the two in bed when Sakura finally asked the question that had been bothering her for a while.
"When we were traveling, we had one other person with us. We lost track of him back at the edge of the plains, he just disappeared. Do you know what could have happened to him?"
Himoko was silent for a bit, before answering suddenly, "Don't worry about it, they all show up again soon, somewhere around town. They all show up here, not too much worse for the wear. Don't worry about it…"
Sakura worried a bit over the cryptic answer before she saw the smile that Himoko was giving her through the darkness.
Something was off about that smile, but whatever it was she had felt, quickly drifted away as Sakura fell asleep, lulled deeply by a sense of comfort she felt wrapped around her.
Just before sleep overtook her, Sakura's final thought echoed in her head.
Naruto could be somewhere in the town…in the town…in the town…From the Desk of Tyr'll
Okay, I know that this is really late in the showing, and probably very disappointing, but you all are lucky to get even this. My computer is down, so far down...
Its got a virus, and getting on the net only makes it worse, but I finished this chapter and decided to screw it, you deserved to see what I had made. Really, I intended to make it longer, to get most of the way through the Weed arc(I'm really looking forward to the Chunnin exams)but as it turns out, there is so much more to be written that I intended, so really, I havent even gotten into the meat of anything yet. That should happen next chapter.
...I keep saying that dont I? But really, I know just about as much as you all do when it comes to plot twists and suspence. I'm not really writing this story, its writing itself. I just know where I intend to end up, but the trip, im just going along with it. No idea how i'm going to get there or what exactly im going to write.
Hopefully, there should be a next update sooner than this one, but you never know. Some serious strange stuff happening soon, giving me some serious though on if I should change the rating to the story. Not lemony stuff, mind you, but horror. It all depends on how well I write it when it comes down to changing the rating. Oh well.
This chapter wasn't beta'd, so any mistakes, let me know of them. I did SEND it to a beta, but he never sent me it back...