Chapter 8: Lost

"We are utterly lost…" Ami screeched as she threw her arms in the air "…Princess and I have sand in our hair and I need a drink" She gasped as Princess trotted beside the tired kunoichi. It had been a day and a half since Mami had a screaming fit and a day since they entered the desert, they made their camp behind an outcropping of rock where they would be sheltered if a sandstorm hit, thankfully it didn't.

"We only have half a day left…" Choji called from the front as he took a small sip of his canteen of water "…properly not even that" The group of Shinobi all followed in a long line, Choji was in the lead with Ami right behind him; annoying Mami to no end, Isamu followed Ami who was followed himself by Mami and Naoki.

Being the kind man that he was Choji passed his canteen back, Ami greedily took a sip of the cooling water, not even caring that it was river water before handing it to Isamu. Being prepared for a mission was the most important thing for a shinobi so when Chojis own water was passed around when the other two had already finished theirs, well it sent Mami into a huff.

Making sure the others knew what she was doing Mami slammed her pack onto the floor and pulled out a fresh bottle of water, taking a small bowl out of her bag Mami filled it with a little water for Naoki to drink from. With a bark of thanks Naoki took a long gulp from the water before looking up to the side, following his gaze while taking a small sip from the bottle Mami saw Princess stop in her tracks to look back.

Mami wasn't a big fan of cats but seeing the completely black cat gasp in the heat her heart melted just a little bit, Ami had happily taken Chojis water but if you didn't take care of your ninja animal then you weren't a fit owner. Shoving her great oaf of a dog out the way Mami put a splash more water into the bowl and gently shoved it with her foot closer to the poor animal, Princess seamed scared as she took a hesitant step closer. Seeing how worried the cat was about Naoki who's big brown eyes were fixed on the black cat Mani took three big steps back dragging her lump of a fluffy dog with her.

"Water time is over" Choji called when he noticed Mami had stopped, he looked back to see what was going on and smiled kindly at what he saw.

"Sorry Choji, will be ready in a second" Seeing that the cost was clear Princess crept towards the bowl and lapped up a few mouthfuls of the cool water, Mami knew it wasn't the cream Princess would have preferred but it could at least quench the cats thirst.

"Princess, what are you doing…" Ami screamed as she stormed over to the happily drinking cat, she roughly picked Princess up and walked back to stand behind Choji "…don't ever drink out of the mutts dirty bowl again, you might pick something up" Ami stood there fussing over the now happy cat as she was held in Amis arms; Princess meowed in thanks before purring up at her owner. Seeing the bowl was now abandoned Naoki rushed over and finished off the rest of the water in a blink of an eye, with a swish of his tail Naoki picked the bowl up and brought it back for it to be put away; Mami gave him a pat on the head for his good behaviour as she packed away the last of her things.

XxX

"Mami…" Choji called some time later "…can you come up here?" It had been six hours since they had stopped and now the group was getting weary, the hot sun was beating down on them and the water was slowly running dry; only two more hours and they would be at Sunagakure.

"Sure" Mami replied as she sped up her pace with Naoki moping behind her, Choji slowed his walk to a stroll and then stopped altogether. Once everyone had stopped walking Ami fell onto the hot sand gasping for water as Princess curled up beside her mistress, Isamu bent forwards as his hands went to rest on his knees, slowly Mami made progress towards Choji.

"Just checking to see if you're ok back there…" Choji confirmed once Mami and Naoki had caught up to him "…you're a bit quiet"

"Sorry, I'm just thinking" Mami answered as the soft desert breeze blew past, ruffling her long hair.

"What about?" Choji asked as an intense look covered his face, it was almost like he was trying to read her mind. Choji had known Mami for many years, the two were close so he knew the moment something was wrong.

"I don't know where to start…" Mami sighed as the heel of her hands rubbed her tired beast like eyes "…it's hard to describe" It was difficult to know where to start. For the last hour or so whenever the wind blew past the group Mami could hear a faint whisper or she could smell a soft scent, if she tired hard enough Mami could get snippets of a conversation that was difficult to make out; whenever this happened Mami would stop and look round. Something very wrong was larking in these sands, Mami didn't what to stay and find out.

"Keep a look out for anyone suspicious…" Choji called to the two shinobi laying on the hot sand before turning back to Mami "…I'm not sure what is going on but by the look on your face it can't be good" That was what Mami liked the most about Choji, he knew something was wrong and he got it without Mami having to say a word. Just as Mami smiled back in thanks a smell hit her sensitive nose like a ton of bricks, it was him.

Naoki jumped up from his resting place and growled fiercely from the spot beside his mistress, his large lips curled back to show a row of sharp looking white teeth before taking off like a shot, he was up and over the huge sand drift beside the group before they had a chance to blink.

"Naoki" Mami called as she followed the fluff ball up the steep embankment, the lose sand was slippery under her feet but Mami didn't stop. With a little chakra control and a lot of elbow grease the kunoichi was soon at the top of the sand hill and slid down the other side where her partner was waiting; once she was at the bottom Naoki pined softly before running off to the entrance of what looked like a shallow cave. The air coming from the cave was thick with his smell, it was almost unbearable as Mami crept towards the cave, finally the smell lifted but then the soft delicate smell of a young female mixed with salty tears reached the kunoichis nose.

"MAMI" She heard Chojis hurried call as he tried to scramble up the sandy slope, his deep voice echoed in the small cave causing a scared sniffle to come from within.

"Hello…" Mami called softly to hear it echo back. Naoki was laying on his belly beside Mami and slowly tired to shuffle forward "…is anyone there?" There was someone defiantly in there, Mami could smell them but she didn't want to scare them with any sudden movements.

"Wh...who…are…yo…you?" A small voice stuttered as a small figure came out from the shadows. There stood a small child no older then six shacking from head to toe, her short blue hair was sticking up in tufts of short sandy spikes as her raggedy clothes draped on her small body. Her dark brown eyes shined with tears as her soft rosy cheeks showed where they had once fallen.

"My names Mami…" The young ninja softly spoke as the child watched on "…and this is Naoki" Naoki once again shuffled forward causing the young girl to step back in fright.

"Stay away" She whispered as the young child clung to her torn top.

"It's ok…" Mami soothed as Naoki started to wag his tail, his big brown eyes watching the small child before him "…Naoki is a ninja hound, he can tell that you are scared and he wants to make sure you're not hurt"

"He's so big" The young girl mused as she looked fearfully at the huge dog, Naoki pined softly as he shuffled forward again; his tail continuing to wag.

"What's your name young one?" Mami asked when Naoki stopped moving and rolled onto his back, he was now fully in the shade of the cave and was taking great relief from the hot sun as he stretched his long legs.

"Ai…" The young girl whispered was Naoki started to wiggle around on his back "…my name is Ai"

"Nice to meet you Ai"

"MAMI" Choji called again when he had reached the top, he tied to slide down slowly but the sand was having none of it, he slipped and went speeding down the sandy embankment until he reached the bottom, he landed head first into the sand.

"WHO'S THAT?" Ai screamed in fright as she went all the way to the back of the cave, Naoki was having none of it and rolled back onto his front to once again crawl forward on his belly, Ai looked scared but a little pleased when Naoki started to act stupid and chased his fluffily tail.

"That is a very good friend of mine called Choji…" Mami informed when Choji had finally freed himself from the small grains of sand "…us and two others are going to Sunagakure"

"Where are my sisters?…" Ai asked as a stray tear rolled down her face "…the men told me to wait here while my sisters went with them"

"I don't know where your sisters are Ai, but if you come out from there we can look for them together" Mami could see the look of sadness on the young girls face when she smiled softly at Ai.

"What's going on here?" Choji asked as he finally reached the mouth of the cave, he knelt down on the sand before he looked into the cave; it took a moment for his eyes to adjust and when they did he looked to Mami for an explanation.

"This is Ai…" Mami informed the new comer as Naoki finally reached the sacred child "…she is waiting here for her sisters while they went with some man"

"Nice to meet you Ai, my name is Choji" Ai opened her mouth to say hello back but all that came out was a sob, she was so scared in this new place all alone. The sob soon turned into crying as she huddled at the back of the cave, her body shacking with fear as Ai make her self as small as possible. Mami turned to her friend and leader with a look of concern on her face, they couldn't leave this poor child alone, her sisters might not come back and if they didn't, Mami didn't what to think about.

Chojis dark eyes quickly glanced back at Mami before she looked back into the cave, his eyes telling Mami all she needed to know.

Suddenly the crying coming from the small girl turned into a long piercing wail as Ai rushed forward and threw herself into Mami; instinctively Mami wrapped her arms around the young girl and held her tight. Ai cried and cried as they sat there in the backing sun, slowly Naoki came back out of the cave and nuzzled his nose to the crying girls cheek, Choji looked uncomfortable for a moment before gently placing a hand on Ai's back and rubbed small soothing circles.

"My sisters left me because the nasty man took them…" Ai sobbed as she clutched to Mamis blue top "…the man said they would be perfect and dragged them off. He took my sisters but not me"

"There, there…" Mami hushed as she hugged the girl tighter "…all of us will go to the Sand village and from there we can get some of the sand shinobi to help look for your sisters, ok?" Ai just nodded from Mamis lap as she wrapped her arms around Mamis neck.

"I'm coming to?" Ai sighed softly, it was more of a question then a statement but the emotion that filled these three words spoke volumes.

"Of course you are, did you really think we would leave you behind…" Choji answered with a soft smile "…but before we leave why don't you have a drink and something to eat and then we can find the others" With Ai fed and watered Choji, Mami, Ai and Naoki all struggled back up the embankment and over the other side, being a bit to weak to walk far Ai was carried within the safety of Mamis arms.

"Now we have a brat with us…" Ami gasped in shock as the group tumbled over the embankment "…just what we need, a hitchhiker"

"We have two hours until we get to Sunagakure…" Choji stated firmly as he looked towards the west, shutting Ami up quite quickly "…if we hurry we can make it quicker. When everyone is ready we can go" Reluctantly Ami and Isamu lifted themselves off the gritty floor and stood upright, Ami glared at the small child as she walked past but said nothing else.

The travelling started out quiet, the only noises were the wind and the moving sand but that was until Ai decided it was too quiet, she started to talk about anything and everything, asking Mami questions about anything she could think of. Ai was quite happy telling Mami, Choji and sometimes Naoki about herself and her sisters, by the time Sunagakure came into sight they had been told a lot about the three sisters.

Ai herself was five and she had two older sisters, Youko was sixteen and Sayuri was twenty, their mother had died in childbirth and their father had abandoned them in his grief. Sayuri had raised both Youko and Ai by herself since then and they were happily living in a small flat above a shop Sayuri worked in until the men came; their father had been working on some job before he left and had cut some man out of the deal at the last minute, wanting the money he was promised the man came after the three girls.

The two hours was up and if they wanted to find Ai's missing sisters then they would need to think of a plan and quickly.

A.N. There we go the next chapter, this isn't my best or favortie chapter but I like it; in a way. I have been trying to sort out chapters 9 and 10 these past few weeks along with the other stoires I have on the go, I will post the next chapter soon so keep an eye out. All that is left to say is enjoy. kitkathampster