The Beginning
Chapter Four-
"Hey Naruto."
"Oh hi Sakura!" "Wow," Naruto thought, "Sakura said 'Hi' to me. Maybe she's finally starting to like me."
Sakura looked around. "Where's Sasuke?"
Crushed, the young ninja replied, "He's not here yet." "It's always about Sasuke! He doesn't even like her the way I do!"
"Oh." The pink haired girl was disappointed that the man she loved would leave her alone with this pathetic excuse for a ninja.
The two warriors stood there, together, waiting. Naruto made pointless conversation, but Sakura ignored him. "Look there he is!" Naruto pointed behind Sakura, he was a bit disappointed that he couldn't just be sick and not show up for today's mission.
Sakura turned around, joyful that Sasuke came to relieve her of the nuisance behind her. But disappointment was soon to follow. "Who's that with him?"
A girl, with dark eyes and straight ebony hair that pulled down to the back of her knees, was walking slightly behind the teen idol.
"It better not be his girlfriend! Inner Sakura screamed.
The girl was wearing dark green camouflage pants and a black tank top that complemented her upper body beautifully. A back pack hung over her shoulders, as if she were planning to go on a trip.
"Hi Sasuke." Sakura said blushing slightly in her high flirtatious voice.
Sasuke nodded at Sakura and glanced at Naruto acknowledging their presence. Then he hoisted his body onto the safety railing of the bridge. The mysterious girl sat down at Sasuke's feet, pulled out a book, and started to read.
Two hours later Kakashi Sensei appeared at the meeting place. "Hello" he said cheerfully, "Sorry I'm late…"
"What excuse do you have this time sensei?" Naruto interrupted crossing his arms over his chest. "Did you get lost on the path of life again?"
"Actually I was in a meeting with the Lord Hokage and it ran late. He wanted to inform me about some changes in today's mission."
"W…what kind of changes?" Sakura asked. She was kind of nervous.
"I'll get into that later."
Sasuke looked up, "So what's the mission?" a bored tone filled his voice.
"We will be going back to the Land of Waves…"
"Really?!" Naruto's face filled with excitement. He was going to be able to see his 'little brother', Inari, again.
"Yes, we are going to be picking up an important document for the Hokage.
"Cool, lets go!" Naruto started walking off with a slight spring in his step.
"Not so fast Naruto. I haven't gotten to the change in the mission."
"Well, what is it?"
"We will have another person joining our group. Don't we Sasuke?"
Everyone's attention turned to the new girl then to Sasuke. "So how much do you know?" the young Uchiha asked.
"Enough. But why don't you tell everyone who she is."
Sasuke sighed. "This is Katai. We're relatives and our parents want us to get to know each other a little better."
"Okay, shall we get going?" Kakashi asked, standing up. His voice was cool calm and collected, as if nothing was different or out of the ordinary.
As the group started on their way, Naruto crept up close to a very tense Sakura. "Jealous?"
"NO!" she hissed back.
Sasuke and Katai took up the rear and whispered between themselves. "So I'm just your relative now am I?"
Sasuke looked at the girl. "Well technically we are related. Besides, I didn't want anyone to know that we're married. It would…complicate things. And, not to mention, it would break poor Sakura's heart." Sasuke said that last sentence a little sarcastically, and then smirked when Katai raised an eyebrow at him.
"Hey, you slow pokes, are you coming or not?" Naruto yelled over his shoulder. After getting yelled at by Sakura, he ran ahead of the group, eager to get to the Land of Waves.
Katai looked toward Sasuke, "You weren't lying when you said he's annoying, were you?" Sasuke snorted, trying to suppress a laugh. Then he sped up to catch up with the people in his cell. Katai sped up after Sasuke, but still kept her distance. While they walked, she read, following the others through her peripheral vision.
They walked for miles, getting closer to the sea with each step. As the hours went by, the only noise was their footsteps and the music of the forest. The group stopped for lunch; bread, cheese and water, and then they continued on their way.
When the sky turned amber, Kakashi decided they should stop for the night. Sakura pitched the tents with Naruto. Kakashi gathered wood for a fire, leaving Katai and Sasuke to hunt for some form of dinner. So they set out into the forest, armed only with a couple of kunai knives.
As soon as they were out of sight of the others, Katai moved her hands in a series of difficult hand signs; muttering their names under her breath. She gently touched the ground. Sasuke stood still beside her, he didn't dare breathe, yet alone move.
Without warning, Katai opened her eyes, stood up, and started running in one swift movement. Sasuke followed. Noiselessly, the pair ran to the edge of a small clearing, where two small foxes limping painfully into the woods. "Bear attack" she mouthed to Sasuke. He nodded pulling out two kunai knives. Silently they pierced through the air and snuggled deeply into the unsuspecting mammals, putting an end to their pain forever. The pair walked over to their prey. After wiping the blood off the knives, they started back to camp.
Katai prepared dinner as the rest of the group stood outside of camp sparring with each other and practicing their jutsutachi.
"Our plan worked perfectly. Our unsuspecting victims are now married and the treaty is now active."
"Yes such a brilliant plan you've come up with. When will we put part two into action?"
"Let's wait a couple of days before we start. I don't want to raise any suspicion. I feel as if my brother already suspects something."
"Yes, I know what you mean. I too feel my baby sibling has some knowledge about what's really going on. She's never trusted me."
"Your sister and my brother never trust anyone." The two speakers looked at each other and smiled. They got lost in the others eyes until an alarm sounded and broke their trance.
"Oh drat. It seems as if our time here gets shorter and shorter." The blue eyed female sighed.
A masculine hand wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to her lover's body. "Don't worry sweetheart, we will be together soon enough."
Then he caught her up into a sweet embrace sealed with a loving passionate kiss, before the two broke apart into two opposite directions. One, retying her hair into a formal bun, getting ready with a luncheon with the members of her fathers court; and the other, simply brushing his hair out of his eyes with his fingers.
"Stupid kids," he thought, "they don't even realize how they're being used."
"Um…Katai, wake up." Sakura extended her hand to as if to touch Katai's sleeping form; but she yanked her arm to her chest when she stirred.
"What do you want, Sakura?" grumbled the half awake girl.
"Um…I…it's your turn for watch."
"Right." Katai sprung out of her sleeping bag so fast, it made the frightened Sakura jump back. Katai trotted out of the tent.
Katai perched on a branch of a tall oak tree. A cool breeze carried the early morning mist onto her face. She closed her eyes and let out a deep contented sigh. After awhile of enjoying the fresh morning, Katai reached into one of the large pockets of her pants and pulled out a small leather bound notebook and a pencil. She started to write, her thoughts and ideas flowing from her mind to her arm, to her hand and out of the pencil, filling up the white pages with the hopes, dreams, goals, and ambitions of characters that exist only in her mind. She continued to write through the early hours of the morning despite the dim light.
When the birds started to wake up and go through their morning routine of tending to their young, as they do every spring, Katai put away her notebook and jumped from limb to limb, climbing to the top of her tree. Looking out over the western horizon; she watched as sky the changed color; from dark midnight blue to red, then into a pinkish orange. Watching the sun rise into the sky was just like watching a small miracle. No matter how many times she saw it, the morning changes never ceased to amaze her. It was as if God made it just for her.
"Thank you." She sighed as she looked up at the great expanse above her. It had turned into a beautiful amber color, just as it had last might as the sun had started to set. "I guess its time to wake the others." She thought as she effortlessly jumped down the branches of the tree. As soon as Katai's feet alighted on the ground, she felt a pressure on her shoulder.
In an instant Katai rolled her hands into fists and her left leg took to the air, in chamber, (1) her leg shot backward; making an impact on the person behind her, and executing the perfect ushiro geri. (2) Quickly moving into kumite dachi; (2) Katai looked at the white haired man sitting on the ground at the base of the same tree she was just sitting in. Her cheeks grew warm when she realized that he was the person she just kicked.
She walked up to Kakashi and extended her hand. "Sorry."
Kakashi looked up at Katai and smiled under the cover of his dark blue face mask. "Well, well," he chuckled, "you may not look like a threat but you sure do pack a punch." He reached forward and allowed Katai to help him up. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"
Katai looked up at her husband's teacher and said calmly, "Sensei, everyone has their secrets, whether one chooses to reveal them is the decision of the secret's bearer."
Kakashi looked down at the mysterious girl. He was about to say something but changed his mind and headed to the tents, banging on the frame of each one before heading to the next. After a few minutes, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke emerged from their tents, each one rubbed the sleep from of his eyes.
Once everyone had eaten and all traces of the camp were gone, the group of ninja continued on their way to the Land of Waves. It seemed to Katai that they each had their guard up, as if they were expecting an attack. She kept on her toes but pulled out her book and continued to read it, just like Kakashi would do with his book, Icha Icha Tactics.
"Why are we being so secretive?" Naruto asked, his voice cutting through the crisp morning air.
"Naruto, shut up." Sakura whispered fiercely slamming her iron fist onto Naruto's head.
Naruto fell to the ground, holding the growing bump Sakura had just given him. But the foolish ninja recovered quickly. "What was that all about?" he yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Sakura.
"Naruto, stop yelling and lower your voice." Kakashi said in his usual laid back tone. "When delivering a package to an important person like a Hokage, you need to be quiet and be aware of your surroundings. Rouge ninjas would love to get their hands on documents that would give away village secrets."
"But we don't even have the scroll." Countered Naruto, "So again I ask, why do we have to be so quiet?"
"The person who has the scroll doesn't know what the ninja that were assigned to pick up the scroll look like. One of us was entrusted with a scroll from the Hokage before we left. To get the one that Lord Hokage needs, we will present the one we have to the bearer of the scroll."
"Wait a second. Sensei, if this document is so important then why isn't more experienced ninja going after it?" Sakura inquired.
"Think about it Sakura. If you were a rouge ninja, would you be expecting green ninjas or highly experienced ones to pick up an important document?"
"I guess I would keep my eye out for the experienced ninja."
"Exactly. But based on your last trip the Land of Waves, and knowing what others would expect, Lord Hokage decided to let you guys fulfill this mission instead. As long as we extend our group a little, in this case, Katai."
Twenty minutes later, when the group got to the waters edge, they stopped. Naruto ran ahead and looked both ways. "Are we taking a boat or walking across the bridge?"
"We'll take a boat. It'll be faster." Kakashi declared walking toward a run down shack that had a faded sign that read, "Boats for Rent." The others stayed and let their teacher do the renting. "Hey Sakura, check out Katai." Naruto whispered.
Sakura looked back, over her shoulder at their silent follower. She was, as usual, reading her small burgundy book. Then she turned back to Naruto, "Yeah, what about her?"
"Shhh! Lower your voice!" Naruto looked back, Katai was still reading, it didn't seem like she had heard them. "Isn't she weird?"
"What do you mean? She's not weird."
"Oh, c'mon Sakura! Think about it; unless she's helping with camp or sleeping, have you ever seen her with her nose out of that book?"
Sakura thought for a moment. "Now that you mention it, there is something about her that seems a bit…secretive."
Naruto's eyes brightened. "Yeah that's what I'm tal…" he quickly shut his yap when he spotted Katai walking toward them.
She stopped beside the pair and, in a volume only they could hear, said, "You know, just because I'm reading, doesn't mean I can't still hear your entire conversation." After a short pause she added, "Don't worry though, I didn't hear everything you said."
With that said, Katai continued her walk to the water's edge. She sat on the ground with her feet flat in front of her. The water rose up and swirled around her ankles. She smirked and continued to read as Kakashi spoke with the owner of the boat shop.
"Great going Naruto!" Sakura said furiously.
"What did I do? It's not like I made her listen to us."
"Yeah but you're the one who started the conversation in the first place!"
"You continued it!" Naruto shot back.
"Will you two idiots shut up?" demanded Sasuke; he stood off to the side looking as bored as usual.
"Who said we have to listen to you?" Naruto demanded back.
"Naruto you idiot!" Sakura said as she gave Naruto a tettusi (2) on the head. Then she turned to her teen heartthrob, "Sorry Sasuke." Sakura blushed. "We'll be quieter, you must have a headache."
Sasuke turned his head, turning away from Sakura. "Not really. But Katai is trying to read and you two keep yelling at each other."
Sakura's eyes went all white and pointy and her right eye started to twitch. "Grrr! What's so special about her anyway? So what if she is related to Sasuke? Katai is such a dork! And who is Sasuke to tell me to shut up and call me an idiot? Ohhh I'm going to get him!" Inner Sakura ranted silently foe a couple of minutes.
"Are we ready to go?" Kakashi asked walking back to his students.
"Yeah it's about time you got here, Sensei. Did you get lost on your way to the boat shop?" Naruto needed someone to take his anger out on, he wasn't like Sakura who held it pent up inside until she has the perfect situation to let it out.
"No the owner was just insisting that he finish his lunch before we he helped us out. Now let's get going. This beautiful weather won't last forever you know."
"Sasuke can you come here for a minute?" Katai called out from her spot on the beach. The young Uchiha casually walked over to the waters edge and accepted the book Katai handed to him. He watched as Katai moved away from the tide, pressed her palms together and murmured something under her breath. She moved her hands to form a series of hand signs then touched her wet zori (2). In an instant, they went from sopping wet to perfectly dry. Sasuke watched in amazement. "Get your chin off the ground. It's unbecoming of you." Katai said calmly, taking her book back from the gawking teen boy; and together they joined the others in the boat.
A/N- okay there were a lot of Japanese words in this chapter and there was one English term some of you might not know.
Chamber. When going to kick or punch an opponent, one must put the limbs into chamber, unless you're doing something with them. For example, Katai set out the strike Kakashi with her foot. So her one foot was in chamber along with her arms. She had her foot tucked in close to her body to give her strike more "umph" and to prevent her attacker from grabbing her foot and flipping her. (Or whatever one may want to do with another's foot.) Before she moved into kumite dachi Katai moved her foot back into chamber. You do this as quickly as possible to prevent the foot thing from happing again. Her arms where in chamber to help keep her balance, to keep them out of the way of her foot, and to prevent Kakashi from grabbing her arm. When fighting, one should always keep ones arms in chamber and only put feet there when you plan to kick. If this doesn't help go to my website, there will be a better explanation there.
Now for the Japanese words;
Ushiro geri back kick
kumite dachi fighting stance- weight distribution 50/50
tettusi hammer fist strike
zori sandals
jutsutachi techniques
This should help clear things up.
-End.