Revival

A/N: First of all I want to apologize. It's been almost a year, I think, since I last updated….or at least it feels like it. I've been trying to graduate and juggling 21 credits is no fun. –sigh- Thank you to all my faithful readers! Please review—Oh! And I also am going back to edit the previous chapters….so hopefully they'll be more detailed, with less typos!

Chapter 10: There Goes My Baby

They had been trudging for hours in the marshland for hours. It was cold and rainy; bugs flew everywhere and the stench was almost unbearable. Mikoto was wading through the knee-deep murky water. Her sensei, Sai, was up ahead.

"Aren't there any trees around here?" Kouji spat. He was the muddiest out of the group after tripping into the murky water several times. "Can't we stop? Goddamn it!" He tripped and fell into another pool of freezing water. His teeth chattered and he picked another bug out of his hair.

"Be grateful that they're not leeches," said Nao quietly, before being pummeled by an irritated Kouji.

Mikoto paused, pulling her soaked hair back into a tight bun. It didn't help much but it at least kept the hair out of her eyes. She shivered slightly underneath the weight of her wet clothes. Her clothing never provided much heat; the ability to move was more important. "How much longer, sensei?" She asked.

"Not much further." Sai replied, not glancing back at his struggling genins. Instead, he trudged on, through the thick mud.

"Do you think we could stop? It's getting dark, sensei!" Kouji moaned. His knee had a rock on his last fall and was aching painfully.

"Where do you expect to stop?" Mikoto spat. The landscape hardly offered any resting grounds. All she could see in the fog were eerie marshlands. The thick fog cleared for a brief instant and she saw yellow lights in the distance. "Not much farther!" She shouted with joy.

"A warm bath, a hot meal and some clean clothes!" Kouji shouted.

Nao sighed, "This is a mission, Kouji-san. Not a vacation." Even still, he quickened his pace. A dry place to sleep was all he wanted.

They finally arrived at in the Swamp Village. Many of the people ignored the newcomers and kept looking at their feet, which were covered in mud. The houses were poorly built and sinking into the swamp muck, it seemed. The leader of the village was the only one who was not dressed in dreary colors such as brown and black. He was dressed in a flamboyant pink and gold. A heavy gold belt stretched across his large stomach. He opened his arms to them. "Welcome, welcome! My name is Juro"

They had already been briefed on the mission by Iruka: protect a certain item from robbers until the funeral ceremony is over—in about two weeks. "What is the object?" Sai asked.

"A kimono. It belonged to our seer…who passed a few days ago. It is the most valuable thing in the village and will be burned after the funeral ceremony." Sai nodded, remembering that the Swamp Village was most famous for its psychic.

"How did she die?" Mikoto asked.

"Natural causes, I suppose." Juro said, ignoring the little girl and turning to their leader, Sai. "We've set up mats for you in the old seer's house, where the kimono is. There are some bread slices for you and your….team."

Kouji's tummy rumbled loudly, "Bread slices? Please tell me you're kidding!" Nao squeezed his shoulder tightly to silence him.

Later that night, the team tried to sleep on the dried grass mats; they itched and poked into their backs. Kouji rolled over, "It's so freaking cold. Does anyone have a blanket or something?"

"….No." groaned Nao.

The blonde-haired genin poked Mikoto in the arm, "Do you want to keep me warm?" She turned bright red and before she could punch Kouji like Sakura would, Nao intervened.

His eyes, which were usually calm and kind, were murderous, "Kouji…."

Kouji shrank, "Jeez, man! I was only kidding!" He lay back down on the straw mat and pulled his knees up to his chest, muttering to himself.

"Thanks, Nao-kun." Mikoto smiled.

Nao's heart fluttered, "Yeah."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The Kimono that they were guarding was truly a work of art. The blue and gold silk flowed together seamlessly to show the history of the marsh village—their wars, their harvests, their despairs and their beauties. Mikoto stared at it, wanting to trace the patterns with her finger, "No wonder that people want to steal this."

"I'm sure it would fetch a high price." Sai said from behind. "The pictures are of a very high-quality."

"I'm sure you would know, sensei!" Mikoto said, nodding.

Sai grinned widely, showing his pearly whites, "I would. I was commissioned to design this kimono….so it's—how do you say?—personal, I believe." Mikoto's smile disappeared. Her sensei, who she expected to be so emotionless, created something so full of emotion. She stepped backwards and glanced at him, saying nothing. "Kouji and Nao will take the first shift guarding the kimono. You and I will search for the potential robbers."

"Is that part of the mission?"

"No." Sai said, his face dark. "There is something that bothers me about this…"

"Yes, sensei!" Mikoto said, leaving with her teacher.

But having Kouji and Nao partnered was a whole different problem…

"Stop touching me." Nao said. He was standing beside the kimono. Kouji, on the other hand, was next to him.

"I'm not touching you!" Kouji smirked. "Who would you rather bang? Sakura or Tsunade?"

Nao clenched his fists. "I'm not playing this game."

"Personally, I'd rather do Tsunade. She actually has breasts and would probably really appreciate it. Not that hard-ass, Sakura!" Kouji said.

Nao breathed in deeply to clear his head, "Kouji, I swear on all that is holy, that I will poison you just so I can guard this thing in peace!"

"That's, like, the most you've ever said to me!" Kouji grinned wildly.

"When I was in school, I always sat next to this really shy kid. He never said a word to me until the end of the year. He said, 'Have a nice summer.'" Kouji said.

"…And?"

"It was a good friendship."

Kouji rolled his eyes.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sai drew a picture of four rats, which came to life and wandered throughout the town as spies. "Mikoto, go to the south end and keep an eye out for any suspicious people."

"Hai!" Mikoto said, wandering off by herself. All in all, the team was perfectly matched to guard the kimono. Nao had already set up sleeping draughts in the kimono, so that whoever tried to steal it would be incapacitated. Kouji had unnatural hearing abilities and could use echolocation in the dark to detect intruders. Sai used his pictures to spy on potential threats. And she, Mikoto, was ready for anything.

All she had to do was wait.