The Bridge Part I

Chapter Five-

When he got off the small boat, Naruto took in a deep breath and stretched. "Man, it's good to be back." He declared to no one in particular.

"This place sure has changed." Sakura said as she looked around and gathered her surroundings."

Sasuke told me that the last time they were there, there was a lot of fear and tension in the air, and it was almost suffocating. Standing here now, I can hardly sense any. Instead, you could feel the tranquility radiating off the very buildings that surrounded us.

As we walked through the town, Sakura pointed out everything that had changed in the months that they were away. From the quality of the buildings, the quantity of food in the markets, to the amount of beggars and homeless children and adults.

"Naruto!"

We all turned around at the sound of a child's voice. A short brown haired boy came charging up to our group.

"Inari!"

Naruto started his charge to the boy and met him halfway between his original position and ours.

"What are you doing here?" Inari asked. It seemed to me that he was trying to act like he didn't care whether we were here or not, just a question to gather information. But, looking into his eyes, I could immediately deduce that he was overjoyed to see my group members again; a blonde annoying one to be more specific.

"We're on a top secret mission for the Hokage." Naruto replied excitedly.

"Cool!"

From the way that the two boys were acting, I guessed that there was a story here that I didn't know about. I made a mental note to ask Sasuke about it later.

"Where are you staying?"

"I don't know, Sensei?"

"I was thinking about the inn on the other side of town."

"You can't; there was a fire there last weekend. Why don't you guys stay with us?"

"Are you sure? We wouldn't want to impose."

"Not at all! Mom and Grandpa would love to see you again!"

And so, we followed the young boy through the town. He led us right up to his house and walked in.

"Hey Mom, Grandpa, guess who I found!" Inari's family gathered into the entrance way as we took off our zori and entered the house.

"Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke, it's so nice to see you all again!" Inari's mother said cheerfully. As everyone exchanged greetings, I did what I do best, hide in the background.

After Inari's mother showed us to our rooms, the ninjatachi visited with the family. I caught Sasuke's eye and motioned that I wanted to talk to him when he had a chance to get away. Then I excused myself and went outside.

After a few minutes, Sasuke joined me and together, we walked to the edge of the woods. "You mind filling me in?"

Sasuke led me through the woods, as he told me what had occurred the last time they were here. He showed me the scarred trees, where they learned chakra control. Then we raced up the trees, laughing. I noticed that around me, he was more relaxed than when he was around other people. He smiled and laughed a lot more. But his relaxation didn't last long. When he finished explaining to me the past events, we headed home.

Sakura was sitting outside the house when we returned. "Hi Sasuke! Katai." By the tone of her voice when she said my name, I knew that she didn't like me very much. "Dinner is ready."

I passed Sakura and went inside. I could feel Sasuke's eyes glaring at my back. He hated being left alone with the flirtatious girl.

"So, where have you been?"

I turned the corner before I could hear Sasuke's reply.

Dinner was good; I think Naruto enjoyed it the most though. Anyone could tell Ramen was his favorite dish. After dinner we had some tea before retiring to bed.

The next day I rose before the sun, as I always do. Taking my notebook, I walked outside and went into the woods. I climbed a tree and wrote long after the sun rose into the sky. I made an educated guess as to what time I would be needed.

"Katai!" I guess my guess wasn't educated enough. A few minutes later, Sasuke appeared beside me. "Here you are."

I nodded and stared off into the clear blue sky. Sasuke made himself comfortable on the branch beside mine and mimicked my position. Before he came, I didn't realize how close the branches were and now, I can feel the warmth radiating off his body.

After a few minutes he shook his head and blinked a couple of times. "I can't see how you can continue staring near the sun without hurting your eyes."

I smiled a little and almost let out one of my rare giggles. But I quickly composed myself and suggested, "Why don't you use your Sharingan and find out."

To my surprise, he did. "Oh, that's how." He said with little emotion. "So, what are you writing?" He moved closer to me and peeked over my shoulder.

I slammed my notebook closed, much to his dismay and asked, "So, why'd you come looking for me?" I wanted to get his attention away from my story.

"Oh, it's almost time to go. Kakashi Sensei sent me for you."

I followed Sasuke down the tree, stepping in the same places he did.

When I got to the ground, something grabbed my foot and pulled me down, face first to the earth below. At the time, I didn't realize what was happening, it all happened so fast. But he caught me just in time; his reassuring hands grabbed my forearm, my head landed on his chest, my nose took in his scent. Sasuke helped me stand up straight as he murmured something in my ear. I couldn't tell what he said because my mind was wrapped around the closeness of his body and the warm gentle breeze his breath made across my cheek when he exhaled.

I smiled a little and nodded, agreeing with whatever he just said. Then we turned around and walked back to Inari's house. His arms stayed around my shoulders to be sure I didn't trip over any more roots.

"You missed breakfast!" Naruto declared when he saw me; he didn't notice the granola bar in my hand. I waved it in his face as I walked past him on my way to my room. Inari, who hasn't left Naruto's side since we got here, taunted his role model for not being observant.

"Katai!" Kakashi called me from the front door, "We're waiting for you!" I quickly grabbed my bag and ran out of the house.

"So Sensei, where are we supposed to go to get the scroll?"

"You'll see, Sakura." We walked in silence for awhile, even Naruto was surprisingly quiet. I enjoyed every moment of it.

Finally Kakashi stopped us in front of a mansion slightly smaller than my father's. He rang the doorbell and took a step back.

A tall butler opened the door. He seemed slightly threatening, looking down on us the way he did. "May I help you?" he asked in a low baritone voice.

"Yes," Kakashi said, "we've come to see the admiral."

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No."

"Then the admiral will not see you."

"Could you just give him a message?" The butler nodded. "Tell him that the leaf travels on the wind."

The tall man seemed somewhat confused but he nodded nonetheless and closed the door. A few minutes later, he came back and led us into a study. The walls were full of books and scrolls. A tall, handsome, young man was sitting behind a large desk studying an old scroll.

"These are the great ninjatachi from the Konohagakure Village? They're nothing but children!"

What a greeting…

"Do you have the identification scroll?"

Everyone looked at Kakashi, but he looked at me. I sighed and pulled out said scroll.

"Why does she have it, Sensei?" Naruto yelled.

Kakashi sighed. "If you're going after an important document, are you going to jump a ninja, or a normal citizen?"

Naruto thought about this for awhile, "A ninja…?" I really wanted to punch him for being so dense. We just had a similar conversation the other day. Instead, I wordlessly handed the scroll over the desk. The Admiral accepted it then proceeded to study it. A frown grew on his face.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I still can't believe that the Hokage would send a bunch of kids, but alright." He pulled out a key ring from his pocket and searched through the multitude of keys.

Finally he found the right one and inserted it into the key hole of one of the bottom drawers of his desk. He pulled out the scroll we were waiting for and handed it to me. I wordlessly accepted it and placed it into my bag.

The day was still young when we left the Admiral's house. So Kakashi decided that we should say goodbye to Inari's family and head home.

"Arigato." We said to the hospitable family as we waited for Naruto and Inari to finish their "I'm-not-going-to-cry" war. But finally they finished, both of them bursting out into tears as we left.

On our way to the bridge, I pulled out my book and noticed Naruto poking Sakura in the side. I had to suppress a laugh as the pinkette punched Naruto. Halfway across the bridge, we were stopped abruptly.

"Well, well, who do we have here?" Kakashi stopped our group from proceeding down the bridge. "It looks like a bunch of rouge ninjas."

I looked up from my book to see a herd of about 12 men blocking our way. Turning around, I saw more men blocking our way from the path returning to the islands.

The ninja who appeared to be in charge stepped foreword. "You know what we want, hand it over peacefully and no one will get hurt." Liar. I could tell by the way he shifted his weight and by the way that his eyes darted back and fourth.

Kakashi laughed. "I don't think that my students will give up a fight that easily." The three junior ninjas took a fighting stance and I walked over the edge of the bridge. I made a promise to not interfere with the missions unless asked to or absolutely necessary.

The leader of the rouges stepped back into the crowed and gave the signal. Everyone charged. I watched as the leaf village ninjas chose their opponents and the epic battle began with a clash of kunai knifes and ice blue chakra.

Naruto instantly used his shadow clone jutusu and made five clones of himself. "Now there's a headache." I thought. He pulled out kunai knives and throwing stars as he and his clones battled the men twice their size. His plan didn't work the way he wanted it to, though. The rouges continued to destroy the clones and soon clouds of smoke filled the air. Naruto used up his chakra fast, and instead of changing his strategy, he continued to make more of his useless clones. In no time, he was out of breath and covered in sweat.

Sakura wasn't fairing any better than Naruto. Her opponents were beating her up and she didn't have any special ninjutsu to use against them. She continued to use the replacement jutusu, but that was getting old fast. And though she wasn't using as much chakra as Naruto, she was still using hers up pretty fast. I didn't think she would last much longer than Naruto.

Sasuke was doing better than his comrades; he was using his sharingan eye to avoid most of the attacks and he was able to use the skills of those around him to throw surprise attacks on others. His body was glistening with sweat, but he still seemed to be fairing well.

Kakashi was also using the sharingan, but he was up against more opponents than the Genin. Watching him, I noticed that his chakra control was better than everyone I know, including my father. (He was the best warrior I've fought in my life.) Some rogues abandoned their fight with Naruto and Sakura to help their comrades with Kakashi. All in all, the situation looked dim.

I squeezed my eyes shut, and forgot my promise. We would have all been killed if I didn't step in to help. I slipped my book into my pocket and ran into the midst of the battle. I jumped and kicked the first opponent I saw on the base of his back; taking him by surprise. "Focus on your surroundings, on everything, not just the person in front of you." I reminded myself as I pulled out some kunai knives and threw them at the tall blonde guy in front of me. I followed up my attack with two punches and a kick.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another rogue advancing. A shuriken spun in his hand. I pretended not to see him, blocking a strike from another guy. Then I heard the sound of metal piercing the air. "Wait for it…NOW!" at the last possible second, I darted to the right, barely missing the sharp edges of the weapon. It made itself comfortable on the stomach of another opponent.

I faced another rogue, moving into kumite dachi. Quickly I adverted my eyes to see how the others were fairing. Two ninjas took that opportunity to attack…just as I had hoped they would. Ducking under one fist, I grabbed another. Kicking the owner of the arm in the gut, I weakened him. Using my body as an anchor, I rolled the guy over my hip, throwing him onto the first guy. The two of them fell over in a tangle of arms and legs. Luckily, they also knocked over one of Naruto's opponents.

Naruto and I stood back to back, surrounded by a sea of rouge ninjas and blood. The sound of steal crashing on steal still filled the air. "Are you okay?" I asked him.

"yeah." He answered between gasps of breath. I could tell that his bright orange clothing was darker than usual, he smelled really bad too.

"Ready?"

Naruto nodded. We pushed off each other, instantly putting an end to our brief period of rest. I wanted to find Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi and see if they were alright, but I had my own problems to deal with. No matter how many times I took out an opponent, there was another to take his place. Anger rose inside me, but I suppressed it before it caused me to make a fatal mistake.

As I dogged attacks and airborne weapons, I didn't notice that I was getting closer and closer to Sasuke, and a downfall. Right in front of me, one of my enemies pulled out a sword. Two knifes found their way into my hands. I dogged the first attack, but had to block the second. Sparks flew off the three weapons as the metal ground into more metal. My opponent was stronger than he looked. I grunted and pushed away the heavy sword. Quickly, I cut the swordsman across the chest.

His face went red with rage. "You'll pay for that little girl!"

I crouched down, ready to strike. "Bring it on." I thought, but out loud, I said nothing. In previous fights I've been involved in, I found that it makes one's opponent nervous and off center when you don't jeer back at him (or her). It worked. The swordsman's eyes had a hint of nervousness in them aside from the incredible amounts of rage. I used this to my advantage. Soon, he was disarmed and lying on his back, my knife sheathed in his chest.

I bent down to pick up my knife, but was stopped when another person started to charge toward me. I dropped to my back, legs in the air. I made contact with the person's stomach and using my hands for balance, I helped my enemy learn how to fly. His landing needed a little work though.

As I stood up, I saw a flicker of metallic grey. Though it was stupid, and against my better judgment, my eyes followed the shuriken; and they widened when I spotted the target.

"Look out!" I yelled. But it was too late. The shuriken buried itself deep into Sasuke's back. My old friend spit up blood as his body collapsed limply on the ground.

-End

arigato- thank you

kumite dachi- fighting stance (weight 50-50)

ninjatachi- plural for ninja