Kai: Yay!!!!!!!! I'm back to my old school!!!!!!!!! (dances around)
Koneko: Yay!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (dances with Kai)
Sai: (from the side) The both of them are very energetic, don't you think, Gaara-kun?
Gaara: (sweatdrop) Don't involve me in this stupidity...?!
Koneko: (pulls Gaara and dances with him) Yay!!!!! I'm so happy to be with you again, Gaara-kun!!!!!!
Gaara: Let go of me!!!!!!!!!!
Sai: (sweatdrop) Oh well...let's just start the story now.... (goes to dance with Kai)
Chapter Four
"Nani?!"
"Yes, he only has a year before the jutsu becomes permanent," Tsunade repeated what she had said. "And since the both of you had somehow wasted almost two weeks playing around and stuff, you only have around eleven months left to search for the cure...before it is too late..."
Sasuke furrowed his brows and widened his eyes, not quite believing what he had just heard. 'Only...less than a year left? T-that's...that's impossible!' He looked at the half-feline before him, and he shut his eyes, biting his lower lip. 'Naruto...Kami, it's all my fault.... If only I was more careful...you wouldn't become like this...' Reopening his eyes, he let out a small sigh and unconsciously, he started stroking the other male's golden hair slowly before stopping to graze his thumb over the boy's crown.
Another sigh escaped his lips, and the female could not help but to feel sorry - though she kept her serious face on. "...let me find the cure for him, Tsunade-sama."
"...but you know you-"
"-please let me find the cure for him!" the raven cried out a plead, very much surprising the Hokage. "It's the only thing that I can do, after what happened to him, just because he wanted to save my life! Please, I'm pleading you! Let me find the cure! I'm sure I can find it within a year!"
"...fine, I'll assign you on a one-year mission to find this cure...but if you can't find it within a year, I'm afraid you would have to get back to Konoha...and Naruto would remain-"
"-he wouldn't! I assure you that!"
Again, the female was slightly taken aback by Sasuke's determination. Nonetheless, she knew well that he knew what he was doing, and she was very sure that he would find the cure to Naruto's current condition, and return him to his real self. With that, she assigned him on the mission, together with their sensei, Kakashi, Sakura and Shikamaru. The Nara was needed in this mission as he knew the whereabouts of the lost Tamagakure, the village that was said to be the place where the poison originated from (1).
'A year...a year to search the cure for Naruto...'
The very next morning...
"Ah, Sasuke-kun! Ohayo!"
"...hn..."
The pink-haired girl was about to take Sasuke's hand in hers and told him about her day - which had barely even started - when Naruto growled and hissed at her, and wrapped his two tails (2) protectively around Sasuke's legs. The raven just snorted in amusement as he crouched down to stroke the half-feline softly, earning delightful purrs from the boy. Sakura only stared at the both of them in disbelief, jaws hung agape. Shikamaru, who had been watching the three of them, just let out a small sigh.
"Really...this is troublesome..." he ran his hand through his hair, approaching the team. "Why am I even asked to help you?"
"...because only you know where the Tamagakure is, and that's the only place that we can find the cure for Naruto's condition..." Sasuke said, getting to his feet.
"...mendokuse..."
After about half an hour, Kakashi was still nowhere to be seen, and Sakura was losing her patience. "Where the hell is he?! Gah, why can't he be any earlier?!"
"Hn..."
"Mendokuse..."
"Yo."
"...you're late again, Kakashi-sensei!"
The masked man smiled underneath his mask. "Yeah, my little dolphin was 'hungry' so-"
"Okay, we don't want to be hearing to your perverted stories, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura screeched, knowing what exactly the man meant by saying that - everyone knew about his supposedly 'secret' relationship with a certain long-haired brunette teacher.
Nonetheless, all of the members of Team Seven, excluding Naruto, could feel the sudden emptiness inside their team. Usually, both Naruto and Sakura would yell at their teacher for being late and all, but with only Sakura yelling and screeching, it really seemed...different. For once, silence air hung in the air around them. There was no Naruto's loud voice annoying yet entertaining them at the same time. Sasuke, who was the first one to notice this, turned to the blond and sighed.
"...don't worry, Sasuke-kun, we'll find the cure somehow..." Sakura tried to soothe his feelings down - only to have Naruto hissing and clawing her. "Itai! Naruto! Even though you can't speak, you're still annoying, you know!"
"Meow! Hiss!"
Kakashi let out a small chuckle before he started moving towards the forest. "Let's start moving."
"Okay."
With that, all five of them - Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi and Shikamaru, began their mission to find the cure for Naruto. As they leapt through the forest, Shikamaru, as the captain of the team (3), told them about the location of Tamagakure. The village, which was believed to have been destroyed, actually still existed, even though it was hidden from people. It was located between the border of the Wind Country and the Earth Country, yet hardly anyone had ever seen the village before.
"How do you know that the village still exists then?" Sasuke asked, albeit alarmed from the information.
"I managed to come across a ninja of the village a couple of years ago," Shikamaru replied. "She was the one who showed me the location of the village. You still remember about the incident where I was said to be kidnapped by ninjas from Sunagakure when we were ten?"
"...you're sure that's really Tamagakure?"
The brunette nodded. "As it is 'The Hidden Village of the Cats', the only animals there were cats, tigers, lions and other types of felines. Even the people there had adopted some of cats' characteristics. They look just like how Naruto looks like right now...only that they can talk like humans."
"How many people are there in the village?" Kakashi asked all of a sudden.
"...less than thirty, I think...why?"
"Iie...it's just that, it's impossible to keep a village hidden if there are so many villagers inside it. So, I assumed the maximum number of residents inside the village is only fifty," the silver-haired male explained. "We need to, however, find out why they want their village to be hidden from public. They might be plotting something against the Ninja world...and we got to stop that from happening..."
"...I don't care about that. All that I care is about Naruto...and the cure," Sasuke stated before moving further, leaving Kakashi, Sakura and Shikamaru surprised.
"...did I say something wrong?"
That evening...
"We'll stop here for the night!"
"Finally..." Sakura stopped at the opening and stretched herself. "All that leaping made me tired!"
"Shikamaru, help me with the tents. Sakura, you go and get some firewood," Kakashi said, already building up the tents.
Sasuke watched them from the side, then he turned to the sleeping boy on his lap. He furrowed his brows, noticing another new thing about the blond. He had became slightly smaller than he once was. He knew the blond felt bigger on his lap just the day before, yet today, he fit just snuggly in his lap, purring as he continued to sleep. A small sigh was emitted from Sasuke, and stroked Naruto's golden hair softly. Sakura, noticing this, could not help but to feel sorry for her friends.
"...Sasuke-kun," she called, smiling a little when the raven turned to her. "It's okay...we'll help you to find the cure for Naruto.... He would be his normal self in no time, I promise you that..."
"...thanks...Sakura..."
"It's nothing, that's what friends for after all," she smiled wider.
Later on, Sasuke brought Naruto to the spring to take a bath - since the boy wouldn't let anyone get close to him and Sasuke. The both of them had to wait until all the other finished their baths, before they could get into the spring. As soon as they dipped themselves into the cool water, Naruto started wading and splashing around, all the while playing tag with Sasuke. Meows and yells could be heard from the campsite, and the other three in the team could not help but to feel happy for the two.
"Looks like Naruto is really something to Sasuke, huh?" Kakashi said, his tone amused.
"I guess..." Sakura replied, almost sadly. "...maybe I should back away from the both of them..."
"Hm?"
Before the girl could explain any further, Naruto had already returned from the stream, naked as he ran towards the two of them. Sasuke was behind him, only with his shorts, as he chased the boy with a towel. Seeing this, both Sakura and Kakashi laughed in amusement. After the situation had finally calmed down, Sasuke went to put on some clothes for himself and Naruto, then the both of them went out of their tent to join the others who were waiting for their dinner to be ready.
"...we'll move out the very first thing tomorrow, okay?" Kakashi suddenly said as they had their dinner.
"...okay..."
((To be continued))
Gyah! So tired! The ending was crappy, wasn't it? Wasn't it? Geez...I'm so tired... (yawns) Great...I've been yawning for the past fifteen minutes... Ugh...so sleepy... Nonetheless, starting from this chappy, I'll be focusing on the mission, and I might be getting Gaara to help the team, since they would pass the village on their way to Tamagakure. By the way, one thing, I don't really remember the locations of the Wind Country and the Earth Country, so I'll just put the Earth Country above the Wind Country! Anyhow, before I go, I hope you enjoyed the chappy! Woot! Ja ne, minna-san!
(1) I don't even know whether this sentence is right or not... (sweatdrop)
(2) Yep, Naruto had grown another tail...and he won't stop!
(3) Kinda weird, yeah, but I made Shikamaru the captain 'cause he's the only one who knows the location of the village!