Chapter 4
In the distance, Karasu could see the mountains graveyard; somewhere here was Madara's secret hideout. As she got closer, she was shocked to see the massive creatures which resided in the forest. She became concerned because, not only would she have to look for the hideout, but watch out for these creatures which could easily kill her if she wasn't careful.
As she proceeded deeper into the forest of the graveyard, she began to pick up on a strange sensation. The sensation grew stronger and stronger the further she went in. It felt like something was calling to her, beckoning her to find it. It felt powerful, but something was amiss about it and she couldn't quite place her finger on it.
Karasu stopped for a moment to take a break since she had been vigorously searching for the hideout. She heard a growl come from behind her and as she turned around. She saw a gigantic monster lunging for her. As she went to react and dodge, she lost her footing, slipping on the branch, and fell downward just barely avoiding the monster's attack. She blacked out while plummeting to the ground. Her body fell into a hole in the ground, just large enough for a person to fit and splashed down into an underground pond. There, she floated for a few hours unconscious and ignorant of where she was. Her dream picked up where it had left off.
"Tsunade's going to be mad that Don got his hands on the orb." Hinata said.
"It doesn't matter, the primary objective was the kill Don. No one is going to find Don's body, and I'm sure Lady Tsunade will agree it's better to have the orb lost than to be in the hands of the enemy." Neji replied.
"That orb... what use could Don even have for it?" Temari asked.
"Who knows, though rumors have it that orbs like those grant the ability to peer into other worlds, and under certain situations, banish people to said worlds." Neji replied.
"It's as you said, Neji, the orb and Don are best lost to the world." Hinata said with the more bitter face and walked off.
"Aunt Hinata... I don't understand, what happened. You'd never speak of Don this way." Karasu said puzzled.
Neji left to catch up with Hinata but Temari stayed behind saying she was going to change clothes and then report back home to Gaara about the mission, though she had the most suspicious look in her eyes. In an instant, she zoomed off in the direction of the waterfall. Karasu followed. After some time following her down stream, they came across Don's body, just barely staying afloat.
Temari rescued him and brought him ashore. She gave him CPR until he began breathing again, and then took the orb from his possession. She held him close and pressed her lips against his briefly.
Karasu stood behind a tree in curiosity, "Just a moment ago, she was out for his life, but now she's holding him like her lover. Just what kind of person is this Temari, and just what kind of relationship did she have with dad anyway?"
She overheard Temari's interrogation of Don. Temari's eyes filled with tears; confusion and sadness in her tone. Don wasn't able to give her any answers, but one thing did make her freeze in astonishment.
"Temari, please give me back the orb. I know you have it." Don said.
"No, you can't have it, not unless you answer my questions." Temari replied.
"You know I can't, I've already told you." Don replied in a slightly irritated tone.
"Then at least tell me what the hell you were doing with this orb? Why did you need it so badly?" Temari barked.
"Because... it's going to help me repent for something I did." Don replied.
"What do you mean?" Temari asked.
"That orb has the power to send people to alternate realities. It's a rare artifact that have strong genjutsu like properties. There's a place I need to go to, there's someone I want to bring back with me." Don replied weakly.
"Who is this person?" Temari said.
"Someone very important to me." Don replied taking his necklace out from underneath his shirt.
Temari gazed in aw at how beautiful the necklace was; a shimmering blue sapphire raindrop with angel wings on either side.
"That's my necklace! Wait, he's talking about me! He was trying to bring me to his world? But why?" Karasu exclaimed.
Temari's look turned into a bitter glare. "What's her name?" she asked in a suspecting tone.
"Don't give me that tone. It's not like that. Her name is Karasu, and I hurt her very bad. It's a story for another day, but I did spend a little time banished in an alternate reality. There I met Karasu, over time, we became very close, like family, but in the end, I just wound up destroying her life..." Don replied in shame.
Temari slapped him across the face, "You're such an asshole! You can't get enough of a high ruining people's lives here, so you go to another reality and ruin people's lives there too! You're worse than scum, Don, you know that?!"
Don nodded, "I know that. It's a burden I have to carry with me until I'm able to repent and fix what I have done."
Temari's tone became more angered and energetic, "Oh really, because everyone here wants you dead! They think you're dead! How do you know this Karasu girl, doesn't feel the same way for whatever you did to her?!"
"Because, I know deep down inside, she still loves me." Don replied closing his eyes and losing consciousness, the fight and near death experience having drained him.
Karasu watched as Temari tried to wake Don up to no avail and wound up carrying him back to the shrine so he could rest. Karasu sat next to Temari on the porch of the shrine and watched the rain fall. The whole time, she just reflected on Don's words, she also suspected Temari was doing the same. The two of them trying to grasp the whole situation they were in because of Don. Karasu became conflicted over what Don had said. There Temari accused her of wanting to see Don dead, although true on her end, Don rejected the notion having faith that their love for each other would outlast the damage he caused. Childish at best, but to see such blind faith in her, it was just unreal. On top of that, Don wanted to bring her to his world so desperately even at the cot of his life.
Karasu turned and looked at Temari who was still staring deeply into the distance. "So this is the man my dad really is, huh? And you're the woman who fell for him..."
Temari's trance was interrupted when a bear cub came to nudge her side. Temari picked up up, placed him in her lap, and began to pet him.
"Bernatello!" Karasu said happily seeing her dad's partner again.
Bernatello stared at Karasu as if he knew she was there. Karasu picked up on this, and tilted her head in curiosity.
"Can you see me Bernatello?" she asked.
The bear replied by nodding slightly.
Karasu's eyes widened, but before she could react any further, her dream ended. When she awoke, she was lying on a sleeping bag next to a fire. Sitting next to her was a young boy who seemed to be her age roasting some food on the fire. The boy had pitch black hair and black eyes. He was lean and fairly muscular.
"Who are you?" she asked not knowing what was going to happen to her.
"Nice to see you are awake, I'm Minori." the boy replied.
"Where am I?" she asked still hazy from just waking up.
"You're in a cavern buried deep under the mountains graveyard. From the looks of it, you feel through that tiny opening up there. You got lucky that you fell in the water over there or you would have died." Minori said.
"Thanks." she replied sitting up and warming up to the fire. She looked up at him perplexed. "Do you live here?"
"Yep." he replied.
"For how long?" she asked.
"All my life." Minori replied.
"Who takes care of you?" Karasu asked.
"Myself." Minori said.
"Geez, Minori is very dry." Karasu thought to herself.
"So tell me, why should I not kill you?" Minori asked.
"Excuse me?!" Karasu exclaimed jumping up preparing to defend herself.
Minori casually held a knife in his hand. "Well, as I pulled you to shore, I noticed you were a leaf ninja, and I asked myself 'what's a little birdie like this doing so far away from home?'. The more I thought about it, the more I became suspicious that you're an assassin here to kill me, but I'm a fair man, I don't kill just anyone without a verified reason. So what is it, little birdie?"
"I'm here to find something." Karasu said.
"You're going to need to be more specific than that, little birdie, find what exactly?" Minori replied.
"I don't know. I'd know when I see it, and stop calling me little birdie!" she replied.
"Again, I need something more specific. How do I know you are looking for someone, and that someone is me? And the name is staying, so get over it." Minori said.
"How do I know I can trust you with what I'm about to say?" Karasu asked glaring at Minori.
"I saved your life, and I made some food for you. If I had wanted to harm you, I would have done it by now." he replied smirking.
Karasu didn't want to divulge the reason why she was here, but given the circumstances, it was the truth for her life.
"I'm looking for information concerning the Uchiha and the infinite tsukuyomi. The mountains graveyard was one of the places I was told I could go to investigate." Karasu said.
"Well, you certainly are in the right place..." Minori began.
"I am?" Karasu said, her eyes lighting up.
"This is the mountains graveyard." Minori continued.
Karasu grew angry at his smart-ass remark and rolled her eyes.
Minori put his knife away and beckoned her to him. "Come on, lets eat and I'll show you around. There's a place I think might help you."
Karasu cautiously sat next to him and ate with him.
When they finished, Minori led her deeper into the cavern until they reached a giant room.
"This the is the place I mentioned earlier. They say this is where Madara Uchiha hid away from the rest of the world for generations until he executed his plans to start a war. Fortunately for the rest of the world, he was put down quickly before any real damage could be done. He left behind a lot of things, mainly documents ranging from battle plans, to memoirs, and other bits of information." Minori said.
"Anything mentioning genjutsu or the infinite tsukuyomi?" Karasu asked.
"I think so. It's been a while since I read over his things, but I do believe he mentioned it somewhere. It's the dream world stuff, correct?" Minori asked.
"Yeah." Karasu replied.
"Yeah, if memory serves, it should be somewhere with those things over there." he said pointing to the back right corner of the room. There were piles of scrolls and books disorganized and scattered about.
Karasu let out a sigh, "I best get looking."
"Want me to help?" Minori asked.
"You don't have to." she replied.
"I've got nothing better to do." Minori said.
The next couple of hours were spent scanning through the scrolls and books for anything pertaining to the infinite tsukuyomi. Everything that had been reviewed thus far was about Madara himself, his clan, and the events leading up to the founding of the leaf village.
"I think I found it!" Karasu shouted.
Minori came rushing over. "Let's see?"
Karasu read the beginning passage from the scroll she held. "I will send this world into a dream. I will combat their pain and bring about a new reality where there is no more struggle, where there is no more loss. After much research, I have discovered how my clan once performed this act. Through much practice, I have learned their ways and not only perfected it, but have learned to incorporate it with my own eyes. What lies ahead in this scroll is what I have discovered."
Just then, Minori pulled out his knife and blocked five shuriken that were thrown his way. The metal clangs startles Karasu and she turned to face him. "We have company." Minori said.
Soon after, Minori and Karasu were surrounded by four anbu.
"Well, well, well, look at what we have here. If it isn't Karasu, and look, she's got herself a boyfriend. Tch. I hope you realize by now they'll take you dead or alive as well as anyone you're found with. Personally, I prefer to bring people in dead." The anbu captain said.
"How did you guys track me here?" Karasu asked.
"We have our ways." the captain replied. "Kill them." He said giving the signal and his squad-mates began their attack.
Minori's eyes turned a blood red, and took a defensive stance. "I can't let you do that." he said producing flame from his breath, sweeping it across the room at their attackers.
"This guy's an Uchiha?! It can't be... men, focus on the Karasu's companion! Karasu is mine!" the captain ordered.
Karasu fought the captain while Minori fought the other three anbu. As Karasu was fighting, the scroll she was holding got knocked out her hand and rolled near some flames and caught fire.
"No! We can't afford to lose that!" she screamed.
Minori looked over and realized they needed to withdraw, by the time they put the anbu down, the information Karasu's after would be burnt to ashes.
"Snuff out." he muttered to himself and smoke filled the room. Everyone began to cough, including Karasu.
Karasu felt someone pick her up and carry her in their arms. She squirmed and coughed trying to break free. In a few moments, she was out of the cavern and back in the thick forest to see Minori holding her with the scroll in his hand.
"Mind taking the scroll?" he asked.
"Mind putting me down?" she barked.
"I do, there's no telling how soon they'll be on our tail and trust me, you wouldn't be able to keep up with me if I wasn't holding you." Minori said.
Karasu looked down at his hand which looked black from the smoke and the scroll which he held. "Oh great, the scroll got burnt to a crisp."
"Open it and see what survived, we may have lucked out and enough of the information survived." Minori said.
Karasu took the scroll from his hand and opened it up. Everything except the first two of sections was burnt beyond legibility. The beginning of the second section was a table of contents. It just listed some names of places and which section they belonged to, all of which were now incinerated.
"Anything?" Minori asked.
"We lost everything except for Madara's intro and table of contents." she replied.
"What's the table of contents say?" Minori asked.
"It just lists some names of places and which section they're in." Karasu replied.
"Well, it looks like we know where we need to go to next. What name is first on the list?" Minori asked.
"Getsugakure, the land hidden under the moon." she replied.