Chapter 13 of Sky Ninja. Up and running!
I have been starting to go over my previous chapters and editing some things to help understand the story better, or make it easier to read. I have also added more detail to my OC's and will be doing so with other OC's in the future. Right now it will be those three sky ninjas for awhile.
For those who don't want to go back to the beginning to get a description of Musuko, Chichi, or Seirei:
Musuko: With his short white hair and facial features, the boy appeared to be in his early teens. A headband with an unknown symbol, five curved lines merging in the center, was placed on the boy's forehead just above his blue eyes. He was wearing a gray vest with white trimming along it, and a black undershirt beneath it. His gray pants were padded along the shins and outer thigh areas and over his black shinobi sandals, his weapons pouch being located on his right hip. Two strange, dark blue, cylindrical, mechanisms were attached to his arms, each having a hole at the front of them, above the hands.
Chichi: Another boy about the same age as the one before. Instead of white like the one before, this green eyed boy had gray hair falling down to in between his shoulders with his headband placed on his forehead as well. His facial features were more beastly than the previous person's, but still retained a humane sense. He had displayed the same kind of vest and undershirt, but with shoulder pads and a darker shade of gray. The black pants went down to his ankles, but had no guards or pads, or even a weapons pouch for that matter. Instead, on his left shoulder pad were a large assortment of kunai along piece of string going down his back. The kunai all had several holes placed around their handles at random while having a slitted hole at the ends.
Seirei: Yet another boy the same age as the others. His jet black hair, matching his cold eyes, flowed down below his hips. His headband also on his forehead, but appeared to be more loose than the other two. Not sharing a matching vest like his two companions, the boy only had on a black undershirt, sleeves running down to his elbow, with white trimming. He possessed a weapons pouch at the left side of his back an another at his right thigh, the one on the back being more rectangular. Strapped onto the boys back, was held a large sword at about five feet in length with a light blue ball at the base. A gap in the middle of the blade extended from its tip to the blue ball. An strange aura could be sensed around the figure.
And now, on with this chapter.
On top of the Hokage Monument, the massive boulder covering the entrance to Seirei's torture chambers was moved back over top of the hole by the black haired shinobi himself. He had just left the blonde sand ninja, Temari stunned and speechless with his childhood story of how he came to be. He stood where he was for awhile, thinking if what he had just done was a wise thing to do or not.
'What am I doing?' The sky ninja asked himself,leaning his head and arm against the massive boulder 'Keep it together Seirei, just think about the mission. No distractions. You can't have someone like that, not again.' In anger, he punched the boulder in front of him, creating a series of cracks and breaks around the area of impact. With the boulder damaged slightly, Seirei left without saying, or thinking of, another word.
Back with Temari, still chained in the room, she had been left stunned and speechless (as said before). To think that what he had just said to her was what happened to him at such a young age. So much was running through her head: Why would something that terrible happen? Why was he left alive and not killed like the rest? Why did he keep himself alive? Why? Why? Why? She had so many questions considering what Seirei told her about his life, and none of those would be answered by him. She pulled her legs into her and rested her head on her knees, she had alot of thinking to do until the sky ninja would return to her room.
'How could such a terrible thing happen? I've heard something like this happening to the Uchiha's, but not to that extent. Uchiha was a clan, not an entire village! I wonder what keeps him going. He has no one left from his childhood. If it were me, I'd have ended my life there and then when they freed me. But Seirei, he is still walking, and more importantly, he is the very thing that destroyed his village; a shinobi.' Temari lied down on the matress in her cell and tried to go to sleep. 'I just wish...' a tear ran down her face before closing them, 'I just wish he didn't happen to him.'
Naruto and Musuko had been walking down the streets for awhile now, neither one saying much to the other. Naruto was too worried that Musuko might find out who his second sensei was, and Musuko was just waiting for his answer from Naruto.
Finally, Naruto spoke, "Are you mad Musuko-sensei?" said shinobi turned and looked at him. He responded, "Yes and no."
"It's just that I thought that my other sensei would teach me some cool things, as you saw with our fight with Gaara." Naruto tried to explain.
"And that's why I'm not mad at you. I do know alot, but a true sensei knows alot more. But what really makes me mad, is that you took another sensei without telling me and hoping that I wouldn't find out about it. That shows that you have no trust in me saying that I'm alright with it, and that you have no faith that I will actually teach you something worthwhile. The best ninja doesn't become that way in one day. They have to train their butts off and work until they are exhausted, then keep going after that. You understand what I'm saying?"
"Yeah," replied Naruto, "I'm sorry for not telling you, sensei." Looking over at Musuko, "You know, you talk a whole lot like an adult than you do for someone who is the same age as me."
Musuko smiled at his student's comment, "Yeah, I get that alot. I don't like it either." He moved his head upward to look at the sky, looking like he was expecting something to fly by, nothing did though. When he lowered his head again, "Now then, Naruto, let's go find you other sensei."
We find Sasuke traveling around the village in search of either Musuko or Seirei, wanting to find out how these sky ninja had become so skilled in their individual arts. If he could just find out how one person did it, that was all he would need. The Uchiha was confident enough that he could further improve on the sky ninjas' abilities and surpass them all, and take his revenge on his brother. Nothing was going to stop him from getting what he wanted, not even the Hokage, if he was still alive.
From rooftop to rooftop he leapt in search of the two sky ninja. Finally, he came up with a possible location that they could have been at. Sasuke remembered that Naruto had fought with the shinobi during the invasion. They could be with the blonde dobe right this moment. It was still Naruto's, "Ramen Time," so if Sasuke was to go to the Ichiraku Ramen Stand, he could find Naruto, and if he found Naruto, there was a possiblity that he would find the sky ninjas. Without another moments thought, Sasuke made a sharp turn to the right and made his way to the Ramen Stand.
In a short while, the raven haired shinobi landed down next to the Ramen Stand's entrance and walked in, seeing Teuchi serving a customer a steaming bowl of ramen, but no Naruto could be found anywhere inside.
Just then, Teuchi recognized the new comer and waved at him, "Hey Sasuke, what brings you here? It's rare to see you here alone."
"I'm looking for Naruto." Sasuke explained his presence, "Has he shown up yet?"
Teuchi replied with a smile, "Yep, he just left a few minutes ago. Along with that new friend of his. What was his name now..." trying to recall his name, Teuchi sadly ignores the fact that their is some ramen burning behind him.
"Um...sir?" Sasuke pointed at the smoke behind the ramen chef, hoping Teuchi would notice.
"Give me a moment, I'll find out. It begins with an M, I know that for sure." the chef begins fiddling with a spoon, still unaware of burning ramen.
"Sir!" Sasuke yelled this time, "There's something burning behind you!"
Teuchi looked behind him, seeing the smoke coming out of the pot. With fright, he removed the pot from stove and began waving it around, finally diminishing the smoke. "Thanks alot boy!" Teuchi said with relief, followed by a sigh, "Now I have to make a whole other bowl. But the good news is that my store wasn't burnt down!" Teuchi suddenly snapped his fingers and had the face of someone who had just discovered something, "That's it!"
"What's it?" Sasuke asked, confused by the outburst.
"The boy's name who was with Naruto, it was Musuko." Sasuke's eyes widened at the chef's answer, one of the Sky Ninja, they were actually here!
"Which way did they go?" Questioning more aggresively than he was eager.
Teuchi in the direction the two went off in, Sasuke bowed his head and then sped out of the stand. "Come again soon," Teuchi called out to the Uchiha, "Maybe stay and have some ramen." But by then, Sasuke was long gone.
At the Hyuuga Compound, Chichi had just arrived with his things, asking the entrance guard if Hinata was still in bed. The guard had replied that the heiress was doing better, she had been starting to walk, but was still in no condition to do physical activities, let alone fight. Chichi thanked the guard for the information and headed on into the compound.
The gray haired shinobi went up to Hinata's bedroom door, about to knock on it, when someone spoke to Chichi's left. "Hello again, Chichi."
Turning to his left, Chichi smiled, seeing who it was. "Hello again Neji." Looking past the Hyuuga, "Doesn't seem that Sasuke came with you this time."
"Like I said before, we both had common goals." Neji replied, "Only he wanted the answer more than me."
"In the end, you still want the answer." Chichi questioned. Neji nodded in reply, and Chichi continued, "What I have been able to do is something you just can learn in an instant, you can't even learn it in a year. Your friend Rock Lee knows just what I'm talking about. I won't go into a speech a youth and flames, thank goodness." letting out a small chuckle, he continued, "However, I will tell you this, you have planted you seed already, there is no changing where it landed, but if you tend to it long enough and with care, that seed will become a tree." Chichi turned back towards Hinata's room, "Think about that, you're smart enough to find out what that should mean." And with that, Chichi entered into Hinata's room with his things.
Closing the door behind him, Chichi felt a certain Hyuuga's arms wrap around behind him.
"You're slipping." Hinata said, with a smile.
"Oh, am I?" Hinata heard Chichi's voice, but it was behind her. Looking at her bed, she saw the gray haired shinobi sitting there waving with a smile on his face. Turning back around, Hinata found that she was now grabbing onto one of her pillows instead.
With a defeated smile, Hinata threw the pillow playfully at her visitor. "I'll get you eventually." The Hyuuga heiress then started towards her bed, "What brings you here anyways? I wasn't expecting you to come today."
"Well," Chichi started off, "I have two reasons. Both being gifts to you." Chichi put his hands behind his back, and brought his left hand first, holding a thin circular case. Hinata opened it to reveal a sort of medical sauve. "That is medicine for you, made out of a collection of various plants and other things. Put that on your chakra points and by tomorrow you should be as good as ever."
Hinata smiled at the boy and gave himi a hug for the gift. "You just want me all to yourself, don't you?" She said teasing.
"That's just for you to get better." Chichi pulled out his right hand, "This is your real present." In his hand was the sack he had been carrying around.
"What's in it?" The Hyuuga asked as she was given the sack. Though when she asked, the bag started moving about. Wondering what it was, she opened the bag and peered inside. At first, all she saw was a small green sparkle, and then....
MAMA!
EEP!
Hinata fell backwards onto her bed as she was shocked as something had came out and grabbed her face. She started feeling relaxed when the thing felt like it was loosening it's grip, confused when the thing said 'Mama' again, and angry when she saw Chichi on the bed trying his best not to laugh.
Chichi, trying to hold in his laughter still, "I-I'm so s-sorry. *snicker* I- I didn't think it was going to be that bad. Here, let me help you with that." The sky ninja grabbed onto the thing on Hinata's face lightly, slowly pulling it off. Then it started again, this time...
PAPA!
AH!
The thing grabbed onto Chichi's face. "Should have seen that coming." Chichi retorted, shrugging his shoulders.
Now that it wasn't on Hinata's face, she could see clearly what the green thing was. As a matter of fact, it wasn't green at all, it was a clearish color. The creature had a serpentine body, but with two spider leg appendages near it's head, which it was using to grip Chichi's face. The tail was a sharpened point and swinging around carelessly, showing that it was happy. It had opal colored eyes, but with no signs of pupils or any other sort of second color. Also, it seemed that it's entire body was made out of pure diamond crystalline.
"What is that thing?" Hinata asked, as Chichi gently removed the creature from his face, "It looks like a snakey lobster."
"This, my dear Hinata," The gray haired shinobi began explaining, as he let the creature crawl around his hands, "This is a Diamonite. Very hard to find, but they live where ever there are diamonds. They are so hard to find as they live most of their lives dormant in the shape of actual diamonds, people kill these creatures when making diamond jewelry and such due to this. When a diamonite awakens it goes through an, 'Instant Imprint'. When this happens, the first male and female it sees becomes its parents and will remain ever loyal to them. If you are ever able to find one, it is best to keep it inside a bag so that you can choose who the mother and father will be to it. So," Chichi was interrupted by Hinata grabbing his hands, which allowed the diamonite creature to crawl onto her hands.
"So," Hinata started, "You wanted this to be our first child?" The Hyuuga looked at the small creature on her hand, as the thing started snuggling with her index finger.
"I know," Chichi lowered his head, "It was a stupid idea, but," raising his head, but with a serious face on this time, "I'm not gonna be here forever. You know that, right?" Hinata took her attention off the diamonite and was now listening to her friend. "The reason I'm still here after the Chunin Exams, is because I'm on a mission. And sadly, when that mission comes to an end, is when I have to leave, and return to my home village."
Hinata lowered her head, sadness in her eyes, "I-I....I guess I did know this would happen. I just....I just never wanted it to happen. So I shoved it out of my mind." Now petting the diamonite, "I just wish you lived here, and not somewhere else."
Chichi grabbed hold of the Hyuuga's hands, now with a smile, but still in a serious manner, "That's why I got you the necklace, and this little guy here. These are things I gave you, so you could have something to remember me by, and to represent a promise to you." He moved his head closer to Hinata's as he whispered the next words, "I will come back, no matter what. It may take me a year, two years, five, or even twenty. But I promise you, that I will come back." He then proceeded to kiss the lovely young lady in front of him, which Hinata gladly returned.
"Don't worry," Hinata said, between kisses, "As long as you promise," "I will wait for you here." "Me, and Nintai too."
"Nintai?" Chichi asked, and sadly stopping the 'kissing session'.
The Hyuuga nodded, "That's what I'm gonna name her."
"Her?" Chichi once again.
"Well, I don't know exactly what her gender is, but I want her to be a girl." She said as she allowed Nintai, the diamonite, to crawl up and down her arm.
Chichi just smiled and accepted what Hinata said. "Alright, she'll be called Nintai. I like it, means 'patience', so that whenever you look at her,"
"I will always know that you'll come back to me," Hinata finished his sentence, "No matter what."
Sasuke had been running down the center of the road that Teuchi pointed to, hoping to catch up with Naruto and Musuko. He wanted that power, the power that those three sky ninja had. With it, Sasuke could be one large step closer to killing his brother. However, after sprinting down the one road for so long, without even meeting up with the two, Sasuke decided to ask someone if they had seen them pass by.
The Uchiha saw a red-headed teen around his age about to enter a clothing store. "Hey, you in the red hair." Sasuke shouted to the young boy. The boy turned around and faced Sasuke, which made him jump back a step, "Wait...you can't be." Sasuke took a fighting stance against the boy, "I didn't recognize you without your, 'attire', but you aren't going to leave this village now that I've found you, Gaara."
Gaara indeed had changed his clothing and his appearance as well. Gaara was wearing his blood red shirt, but with an open pale green pop collared jacket over it and green shinobi pants, but what really made him not stick was the fact that his gourd wasn't strapped on his back, since it was destroyed in his previous fight with Naruto and Musuko, and his shinobi headband was flipped upside-down and strapped around his right sleeve. His hair was slightly longer than usual and so the bangs hung down and blocked his 'love' mark on his forehead. The only thing that truely stood out was his eyes which still showed his insomnia. Still, Sasuke was more surprised by the loss of gourd, and that Gaara's facial expression was that of a happy, non-psycho, smile.
"Well, well, well." Gaara said while adjusting his jacket, "Didn't expect to bump into you." The sand ninja stepped toward Sasuke, making him step back again and move his hand to his weapons pouch. Gaara noticed this and stopped. He raised his hands, "Don't be so tense, man." his smile grew more friendly, "I'm just a common person right now, I don't want to fight, and I don't plan on to either. I'm just looking for someone right now."
Sasuke wasn't convinced, and still had his hand on his pouch, "Who are you looking for exactly?" 'He doesn't have his gourd, which means that his sand abilities are useless. Although, he may be carrying some weapons on his person, waiting for a chance to strike. I must be careful.'
"I'm looking for a ninja," Gaara said as he lowered his hands, "Perhaps you know of him." His hands went into his coat pockets.
With that move, Sasuke snatched two shuriken from his pouch and threw them at Gaara's face, he wanted to stop the sand ninja before Gaara could attack him. As the shuriken flew, the red haired ninja remained still, watching the shuriken come at him. Suddenly, sand shot out from Gaara's collar and surrounded the bottom half of his face, and took the blows from the shurikens instead of his own face. Sasuke was surprised that Gaara was able to defend without his gourd anymore.
"Surprised aren't you?" Gaara asked his opponent, "I was surprised too when I was beaten, and then left to live." The sand around his face receeded back into his jacket, and the shuriken fell to his feet, "No one came after me, so I was able to escape. I knew that my original appearance would send me straight into your village's prison, so I changed quickly and took another name, while resting in a hotel. I looked for my brother and sister after that, Kankuro being in prison, while I still do not know where Temari is. After three days search, a box was found in my room with a letter saying:
Sorry for the gourd, this should do better. And if anyone asks how or why, answer: "A magician never reveals his secrets" -A ninja you know
"Inside, I found the answer to my sand problem." Sand started to flow out of his jacket again, "Care to try attacking me again? Or do you want to help me find him?"
"Find who?" Sasuke asked, hating the fact he was currently beat, and the fact that he didn't want to waste his chakra against Gaara.
"Why, it's the ninja I know, Musuko."
Sasuke was in a spot of luck, not only was Gaara looking for the same person as he was, but Gaara was also forming a minor alliance with him. No doubt about it that together, they would find out how to get the sky ninjas' power. With that in mind, Sasuke left his attack position.
"Alright," The Uchiha said with a smirk, "Let's go." The two shinobi then walked side by side down the road.
"He should be right here."
"...Seriously?"
"Yeah, I know it's pitiful."
"You were actually taught those things by that guy?"
"Again, yeah, I know it's pitiful."
"Well, what should we do first?"
"Hmm, I always prefered just sending him down there."
"Wow, does he do anything to you?"
"Not until he is out of his casts, but unitl then he teaches me."
"So would you like the honors?"
"Oh no, by all means, this would be your first time, go right ahead."
"Alright, if you say so."
Jiriaya, who had been seated up on a cliff overlooking the hot springs, had heard something land behind him, and then the piece of cliff that he was sitting on crumbled away and sent him flying down into the female springs.
What had happened was that Naruto lead Musuko to areas where Jiriaya could have been found. Luckily, they found him on the first try. As they started talking, while still keeping distance from the sanin, Musuko was given the chance to help Jiriaya get a closer look for his 'research'. By shooting two senbon needles into the ground behind the pervy sage, the overlook crumbled away and Jiriaya fell down to his doom.
The two genin looked down from the cliff and saw bits and parts of Naruto's sensei, as the rest was being beaten up by women who covered in towels.
"Funny everytime."
"I can see why you didn't want me to find out about him."
"Yeah, and the weirdest part is, he's the one who writes the books that Kakashi-sensei reads."
"Really?! That's just not right."
"Tell me about it, but he's a good teacher when it comes down to it."
"I'll take your word for that." "You want to see him in the infirmary, or wait to he gets released."
"Let's head to the hospital, that way we can still have some fun with him."
"You know, you're kinda sadistic."
"Just to the pervy sage. He deserves what I give him."
Seirei has been walking around the forested part of the village, where things were much more quiet than the streets. He needed to think, and other people would just get in the way.
While he was walking, he found a little rabbit. The poor thing was caught in a trap, no doubt he'd be tomorrow's lunch if the little rabbit was found. Seirei leaned down to the rabbit, seeing its leg was bleeding, it was caught in the trap and what made the rabbit unable to escape.
"You poor little thing." Seirei reached into his pocket, and pulled out both a kunai and his book. He opened the book and opened up to a page near the end, then after closing it, he placed the book away and used his kunai to pry open the rabbit trap. The rabbit limped out, with its leg still wounded from the trap, it couldn't move as fast as it should. Seirei just looked down at the limping rabbit, saying, "Guess it wasn't your time yet." The rabbit sat there and watched Seirei, Seirei in return knelt down to the rabbit.
The Sky Ninja took a look at the animal's wounded leg, "I don't think this will heal anytime soon, little guy." the rabbit didn't respond, "That right there is probably a fate worst than death for an animal like you. Unable to run, unable to move, you'd be a sitting duck, and eventually something's gonna pick you up for a meal. You probably don't have any family either. No female would want to be with you now, even if the wound healed. No one would to even keep you as a pet. Honestly, you're probably better off dead." He took out his kunai once more, "Don't worry, this will only hurt for a second, little guy. After that, you can finally meet with everyone you know."
The kunai came down, but stopped before reaching the rabbit's body. Seirei heard a rustling in the bushes next to him. When he looked over, another rabbit came hopping along. It first sniffed the air, then continued forward to where the injured rabbit was sitting. The two looked at each other, both noses twitching.
Seirei saw the two, "So this rabbit your girl, huh?" The injured rabbit began to move around, "Oh? She's a girl you're trying to impress?" the rabbit continued to hop around, then it landed hard on its bad leg and fell to the ground. The black haired ninja sighed, "Well it was worth a shot. Told you you weren't going to get a mate with that leg." but the rabbit got back up and continued to hop. "Come on man, spare yourself. You got nothing else to live for, why are you still trying?" Seirei saw the rabbit fall once again, but then get right back up and continued to court the female rabbit. "Why are you still trying to live? There's nothing," his voice was raising at the rabbit, but the rabbit kept going, "nothing!" Seirei's kunai landed right inbetween the girl and boy rabbit, sending them running into two different directions. Seirei went over to his kunai to pick it up, as he did, he saw the two rabbits further away, the boy rabbit still hopping around.
"Why do you still try?" Seirei sat down, as he watched that the rabbit stopped hopping, and the female went over to the male rabbit. Both began to rub the other's nose. "What? He got her? With that hinderance? How? Why?"
After awhile Seirei finally came to a conclusion, "The little guy had something to live for: A girl, a home, a family." The Sky Ninja stood up, with a smirk on his face. "Thanks little guy. Now I know why I'm alive." He watched the rabbit as he went around to the other side of the female rabbit and-
"Oh, sweet Kami! Could have at least kept the mood up a litte longer than that man?"
Mususko and Naruto were on their way to the hospital, following the injured Jiriaya from a safe distance. They knew they'd have to wait awhile to enter the hospital to go visit the pervy sage, but it's always good to wait every now and then. Musuko said to Naruto that that is what his sensei told him beforehand.
"Who is your sensei again?" Naruto asked as they walked down the street.
Musuko gladly answered, "She's the Kage of our village."
Naruto was stunned for a second, "So that means; you have a chance at becoming the Kage?"
"Yep. However, I don't plan on being it, not on my own."
"What do you mean by that?" Naruto asked.
The white haired ninja answered, "I'd only become the Kuukage if my brothers were also in the same position. We work best together."
The blonde shinobi placed a finger on his chin, "You know, now that I think about it, I have never seen you guys fight together."
"Don't worry Naruto, if we ever get into a fight again, we probably will. You'll be the first to see it."
With a grin, "I can't wait to see it."
Naruto then started to sniff the air, he smelled something familiar to him.
"You smell it too?" Musuko asked, "She's been following us for a few blocks now."
Musuko's student turned his head, "You mean, her?" Musuko nodded, "If she's following us, then what does she want?"
"What every ninja wants when they're following someone: Information." With that, Musuko disappeared, and Naruto ran quickly into a nearby alley.
The mysterious girl looked in the direction of Naruto, as he was the only she saw escape, and so ran down the same alley. She knew that her cover was blown, so their was no need to hide anymore.
She came running into the alley, only to find Naruto standing at a dead end, with a grin. "Hey Sakura, how are things going?"
The pink haired kunoichi stood at her end of the alley, staring down Naruto, "Where is he?"
"Who?" Naruto said while shrugging his shoulders, "There's just me and the garbage here."
Sakura's fist began to clench, "You know exactly who I'm talking about. Where is Musuko."
"Why do you need to talk to him?" Naruto asked his own question.
"It's none of your business, I didn't even think you'd be with him and I found you two."
With a sigh, Naruto shook his head, "Fine, I'll tell you where he went off to." Sakura waited for the answer, but what she got was the blonde signaling her to come closer.
Agreeing with his request, she went halfway into the alleyway, not wanting to get too close to the trash, and especially the garbage.
"Okay," Sakura, slowly losing her patience with Naruto, "Where is he?"
"He went to go get some ramen for the three of us."
"What?!"
"Got it!" Sakura turned around to see Musuko carrying three bowls of ramen, two small and one large. "Hope you guys like chicken!" Musuko started handing out the bowls, Naruto eagerly grabbing the largest of the three. As the three received their meals, Musuko said to Naruto, "You can go now. Enjoy some more ramen, it's all waiting at the stand." Naruto gave a big grin, and ran off to his ramen heaven.
Sakura and Musuko were left alone in the alleyway with their ramen. Musuko started eating, but Sakura just played around with it, as she looked at the sky ninja in front of her with a stern look. Soon enough, Musuko also noticed the look she was giving.
"What's with the stern look?" Musuko asked.
Sakura started her explanation, "It's been over a week since we last saw each other."
"You mean when we fought Gaara?" Musuko said while having ramen in his mouth.
"Yeah, Gaara, that was also the time when you said," she stopped playing with her ramen, "When you said I needed to find love." Musuko stopped eating, and looked up from his bowl, "I...I don't know, but...I don't think I know what you mean."
With a smile, Musuko lowered his bowl, and began talking to Sakura eye to eye, "You don't know what I mean? Or you don't know what love is?" Sakura didn't answer, but he saw it on her face, "You really don't love Sasuke, do you?" she still didn't answer, but the answer showed on her face again, "Thought so. Still, you don't need to love someone like that in order to fight. You don't really even need love to tell the truth."
"Then why did you tell me to find love?" Sakura asked, confused and angry that Musuko lied to her.
"You don't need love, but you do need reason." "You see Sakura, a ninja can have the reputation of winning thousands of battles, but if he fights against a nameless ninja who is fighting to defend say his land, while the famous ninja is just there to fight, that nameless ninja is going to win every single time. That nameless ninja wins because he has a reason to fight, he knows that he is giving his all to fulfill that reason, and he won't stop until it is fulfilled or until he's dead. The reason doesn't have to be defending something, or to find answers, or to simply survive. As long as that reason is what keeps you fighting, and always getting up, you'll win." He took a bite into his ramen, as he let what he said sink into Sakura's mind. Musuko could clearly see, that the girl in front of him was contemplating everything he told her, and before she could speak, Musuko asked, "So," This made Sakura come out of her thinking, "What is your reason? Is it to be with someone? Is it revenge? Or love? Or something else?" Musuko drank what was left in his bowl, meanwhile Sakura still hadn't touched hers at all. "I leave you with that to think about." then he turned around and walked away with his empty bowl, "Make sure you eat that ramen before it gets too cold." He said as he rounded to corner and left her sight.
'What is your reason?' Sakura had that run through her mind over and over, 'What... is my reason?' the kunoichi started eating her ramen, it was still warm.
Naruto was just finishing his seventeenth bowl of his favorite ramen, and was going to start on his eighteenth.
"Hey there dobe." Naruto stopped what he was doing and turned to see Sasuke along with a red headed companion.
The blonde was a bit surprised, "Sasuke? What are you doing here? You don't like ramen- Wait....." Taking a closer look at the red haired stranger, "Gaara?"
"We'd like to have a little chat with you." Gaara placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. Sasuke did the same to the other shoulder, but gripped it harder.
"Where is he?" Sasuke demanded.
Naruto grinned, "You know, you're the second person to ask me this."
Sasuke was a bit surprised. If someone else was looking for Musuko, who were they and what were their intentions? "Who else?" Sasuke asked his team mate, as he gripped his shoulder even more.
Naruto answered with his foxy grin, "Sakura." Both Gaara and Sasuke loosened their grips on Naruto's shoulders, while at the same time getting a confused look in their eyes.
"Are you serious?" Sasuke asked. Naruto replied with a nod, and after a second, the Uchiha started chuckling, "Oh great, looks like she's still nothing more than a fangirl. She just went on to the next boy."
"Hey!" Naruto slapped both of their hands off of him, as he moved up into Sasuke's face, "That is uncalled for, Sasuke. What gives you the right to insult your own team mate. It's alright if you make fun of me, but making fun of Sakura because she wants to get better as a ninja, I will not accept that." He shoved Sasuke out of the way and walked out of the ramen stand, but not without saying one more thing, "You insult anyone like that again, Sasuke-teme, I'll beat the crap out of you." after that, the blonde ninja was gone.
"Pfft," Sasuke wiped off what his team mate had said, "When did he get balls to talk to me like that?" Gaara did nothing but chuckle and look in the direction Naruto had left in. The Uchiha didn't understand, "What's with the funny face?"
Gaara shrugged his shoulders and smirked, "He's become more like the Sky Ninjas. Always leaving a mystery behind."
"Yeah, that's all he's gotten from them, but he's still the same weak little ninja as he always was." Sasuke retorted, trying to deny what the sand ninja said was true.
It became silent after that, while the two looked in the same direction. Then Gaara broke the silence, "Well, we best find Sakura." He placed his hands on the back of his head, "We're getting close, I can feel it." Sasuke nodded and followed beside the red headed ninja.
Naruto had managed to make himself distant from both Sasuke and Gaara, his team mate really got him angry. Everytime, Sasuke did nothing but insult either him or Sakura. It was usually himself that being made fun of, but still, Sasuke just finally stepped over the line, calling Sakura nothing but a fangirl. If she was just a fangirl, she'd have been dead by now. To Naruto, she was a great ninja, and could have been a good friend, if it weren't for the fact that she had that crush on Sasuke, and the actual crushing of her fists for Naruto.
With a sigh, he spoke to the wind, "I just wish she could get over Sasuke. I don't care who she's with, preferably me, but I'll be glad when she finds someone who does respect her."
"You really do like her don't you?" Said someone out of Naruto's sight. Naruto's ninja reflexes kicked in and he turned towards the noise, kunai in hand.
"That voice." Naruto tightened his guard, for he knew what happened the last time he heard it.
A kunai came flying out from his left, Naruto quickly rose his own kunai and deflected the oncoming one away.
"Good job." the voice came again, "You've improved since last time." a blur appeared off in the distance, and then reformed behind Naruto, with a kunai next to his cheek, "But not enough it seems." cutting a bit of his cheek so that blood came out.
Naruto was frightened and at the same time creeped out, "You are really weird, Anko." he said with a shiver, since the snake jounin started licking his wound.
Anko made a frown jokingly, "Aw, I come all this way to ask you something, and I don't even get a hello." She rubbed Naruto's blonde head, bringing a smile back to her face.
Naruto shoved the hand away and retorted, "Alright, what is it you want?" he crossed his arms, getting annoyed of the jounin quickly.
Said jounin bent down to be eye level with Naruto and asked, "I was just wondering where your white haired friend might be."
Once he heard that, Naruto tossed his arms up over his head and shouted, "Forget about in one day! Three people ask me about Musuko in one whole hour! But does anyone want to see me? No. Can they find Musuko first? No. Can they find me without a problem? Yes! Why is that exactly?" He stared at Anko, begging for an answer.
"...." Anko pointed at Naruto's chest. Naruto in return looked down, "Orange." the genin sweat dropped.
"Okay, so I'm noticeable. But-" Naruto was interrupted by Anko, "Noticeable?! I could just ask a homeless person, "Have you seen a guy in orange?", and he'd point me in the direction."
Naruto sweat dropped again, "Okay I get it-" Anko wasn't done, "Not only could he give me the direction, he could tell me where you came from, where you were heading and write down directions for me!" Anko was now holding her sides, trying to hold her laughter in.
His sweat drop grew even more, "Alright I get it. Orange is not-"
Anko still... wasn't done, "I... I wouldn't even need to ask a homeless man!" She fell on the ground, "The blind man next to him could tell me where you were!"
The sweat drop got just a bit larger, and steam came out of Naruto's ears. As Anko was rolling on the ground, "Forget it." and with that he turned around and walked away from the laughing snake jounin.
It took Anko awhile to stop laughing, and when she stood up, still snickering, she had realized that the small blonde had run off. With a frown, she sighed and went off to find Musuko again.
At the hospital, Jiraiya had miraculously come out with few injuries from his little incident. It could have been the fact that the people that treated him were all male medics, and that they kept all female medics off the same floor as the Toad Sannin was on.
While the pervy sage was lying in his bed, enjoying some of the hospital food with his good arm, Jiraiya was interrupted by two of the village elders, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, entering the room. The two wore solemn faces, showing that their visit was for serious reasons.
"Hello you two." Jiraiya said, taking another bite of his food, "What brings you to my humble little bed?"
Homura answered, "You know very well why we are here, Jiraiya."
Utatane continued with what Homura said, "The third Hokage, your sensei, pasted away more than a week ago." Jiraiya placed down the food he was about to eat, irritated to be reminded about his sensei dying. "The village cannot go on any longer without a Hokage, which is why we have come here."
Jiraiya turned his head to the two, now with a more serious face, "You guys want me to be Hokage?"
"You're one of the only people who are qualified to be so and are still in this village." Homura responded.
"What about Kakashi? He was taught by the Fourth himself." Jiraiya asked.
Utatane, "He is the only other decision we have, but you are more qualified as his teacher was your student."
Raising a finger, "Good point." the Toad Sannin went back to eating, "But there is someone better than me to take this position, you know."
"And who would that be?" Homura asked. Jiraiya simply looked at the male elder while still eating, "You are not suggesting her? Are you?" Jiraiya nodded, "But we don't know where she is, we have lost contact with her a long time ago."
Jiraiya retorted, "You have lost contact, not me." the two elders were surprised, "I have a pretty good idea as to where she is now. And if I know her, she'll be there for a few more weeks." Jiraiya finished up the last of his hospital meal, "Just let me get all rested up. I'll go fetch her myself, and all I require is to bring one person."
"And who would that be?" Jiraiya smiled at the two.
Sasuke and Gaara hadn't been able to find Sakura at all, which meant that they hadn't been able to find Musuko. Sasuke finally came to the conclusion that the person who would know where Sakura was, would be her best friend, Ino.
Heading to the Yamanaka flower shop, the two genin expected to find the blonde kunoichi, and sure enough, she was found tending to some deadly nightshade flowers hanging in some of the pots.
When she finished with the last flower, she noticed Sasuke walking towards the store, along with a red-headed stranger she felt like she had seen before somewhere. More importantly to her, Sasuke was coming towards her, and Sakura was nowhere to be found! She quickly fiddled with her hair a bit to make sure it wasn't unruly and walked towards the Uchiha and stranger as cutely as she could.
"Hey Sasuke-kun," Ino waved daintily, "What brings you here?"
Sasuke answered in a cold tone, "We're her to find Sa-" Gaara quickly covered the Uchiha's mouth.
"Some flowers for my sister." Gaara differed from the subject of Sakura, quickly, "She's in the hospital and I want to get her some."
Ino smiled at Gaara, still not knowing who he was, "Oh of course sir. What kind of flowers would you like?"
With a smile Gaara replied, "Some that would say, 'I'm sorry'." Ino smirked at the request, "So you're the cause heh?" Gaara scratched the back of his head, "You could say that." Her smirk turned in to a content smile as she went into the store and started looking for the flowers that suited his request. When she had left, he removed his hand from Sasuke's mouth.
Taking in a deep breath, "What did you do that for?" Sasuke was wondering why he was stopped when he asking about the whereabouts of Sakura.
Gaara presented his answer quietly, so that Ino couldn't hear him, "Did you not see the look in her eyes?" Sasuke looked at him confused, "She likes you. Just coming to see her to ask about another girl, that's not very wise, or decent for that matter."
"Since when did you show any consideration for anyone. Besides, she's nothing but a fangirl, I couldn't care less." Ino quickly popped her head out of the door, looking at the red headed stranger, the stranger waved back while Sasuke just looked at her. When she couldn't pin the face to a name, she went back out of sight. Once she did, Gaara sent his fist into Sasuke's face. "What did you that for?!"
Rubbing his knuckles, Gaara stared at the boy with the same eyes as he had before the invasion, "You are a good-for-nothing dick. There are people who care about you, people who aren't scared of you when you come into their sight. You should be happy, but what do you do? You don't give crap about them. It's people like you who don't deserve what you've gotten. I would've given my life to have what you have, and you treat it like a piece of trash."
Sasuke rubbed the side of his face, knowing there was going to be some sort of mark where Gaara hit. He didn't think that the sand ninja would have been this physically strong, since he just stood and fought with his sand most of the time.
As he was rubbing the spot Gaara hit on his face, Ino came out with a half dozen flowers, "Here you go, sir. These roses ought to do the trick, and they match your hair as well." Gaara gladly took them, still being unknown to Ino.
"Thank you." Gaara politely said as he took the roses, the violence in his eyes gone now, "Hopefully I can use these to impress someone eventually."
Ino giggled, knowing what he meant, "Well, sir, you aren't going to impress anyone with your hair like that in front of your face." She moved her hands up to his hair, "You're just like my friend Sakura when we were little. I always told her that hiding her forehead would-" she moved Gaara's hair to find the mark on his forehead, and she froze instantly, eyes filled with fear, jaw dropped. She didn't even move her hands from Gaara's hair, she just stood there looking at the mark.
Gaara smirked, he forgot what people did in reaction to seeing him, he was kind of happy he did forget too. As she stood there, Gaara thought it was finally time to end this, he grabbed her arms, lowering them down to her side. When he touched her hands, she let out a small scream, but that was quickly silenced when he placed one of the roses he had into her mouth.
Letting go of her arms, Gaara then spoke, "Alright, I'm not here to harm anyone, understand?" Ino didn't even move, "I just want some answers, and you will answer them with either a yes or no, understand?" Slowly, Ino nodded her head once. "Good, now would you know where your friend, Sakura, may be?" She shook her head this time, "Hmm, do you know where she might be?" Ino nodded, "That's wonderful." Gaara pulled the rose from out of her mouth, "Could you tell us where?"
"Sh-she sometimes goes t-to the the garden, where the sakura flowers grow." she let out a frightened snicker, "Figures, right?" she was going to snicker again, but Gaara placed the rose back into her mouth.
"Now, one more question, do you like Sasuke?" her eyes moved to the Uchiha, then she nodded again. Gaara now turned to Sasuke, "You see Sasuke? You take things for granted, the very reason why you're looking for Musuko on your own, again." With that, he left from the two leaf ninjas' sights.
The two of them just stood there, staring at each other. Ino looked at Sasuke timidly, wondering how he felt about her now. Sasuke on the other hand, just let out a snuff, and turned away from Ino, walking away from the shop. As Sasuke was walking away, Ino pulled out the rose in her mouth, and looked at it, instead of Sasuke's back.
'That was....Gaara of the Desert?'
Naruto had finally made his way to the hospital. He asked a female nurse as to wear a 'Jiraiya' was, her expression changed to that of hate, as she answered which floor the Sannin was on. Upon reaching the floor, Naruto noticed one room being guarded by a few shinobi, male to be specific. When he got up to them, Naruto asked for entry, the guards nodded, saying that Jiraiya was expecting him. Naruto knew what was going to come of this. With a smile, he opened the door and entered into the room.
"YOU DIRTY-NO-GO0D-FOR-NOTHING ATTACKING ME FROM BEHIND! YOU KNOW I DO MY BEST RESEARCH THERE! SO WHAT IF THERE'S A HOT SPRING DOWN BELOW? I GET PERFECT CONCENTRATION THERE!"
"It's good to know you're still you, pervy sage." Naruto smiled while also putting his hand on his head.
"Hmph, You just be lucky that I didn't get too badly hurt this time, and that I didn't ask you here just to yell at you." Naruto moved his hand from his head, and looked at his other sensei with a curious look. "The elders came to me today, to make me the fifth Hokage. I refused, however."
"Well, that's good. It would be bad if a pervert was Hokage." Jiraiya's eye twitched a little, but he shoved what his student said and continued.
"Someone needs to be Hokage, and I think I know the perfect person to be it."
Naruto, now with an even more curious look, "Who would that be, pervy sage?"
Jiraiya smiled at his blonde student, "You'll find out soon enough, you little runt. Tomorrow at noon, you're coming with me to get the next Hokage."
"Really!?" Naruto was overly excited and ran over to sensei, "Thanks, pervy sage for bringing me!" However, Naruto didn't noticed that he was pushing down on Jiraiya's bad arm, and causing him massive amounts of pain.
"OOOWWWWWWWW!"
(Otogakure)
"That blasted sensei of mine!" Orochimaru shouted out, feeling pain throughout his arms. "How could that old man do such a thing?"
Kabuto was sitting by his master's side, wrapping the arms in a new set of bandages, "He was the Hokage, master. His library of jutsus should be exceedingly large, especially due to his age."
"That may be so." Orochimaru sneered, "But he has slowed down my plans substantially. If I can't my arms back to normal, then all my work will have been for nothing."
"What do you suggest we do then?" Kabuto asked, finishing up the bandages.
Orochimaru gave a little smirk to his follower, "We're going to visit an old friend of mine."
"You mean, her?" Orochimaru nodded, "Be ready to leave in two hours." Kabuto nodded and walked out of the room, "And Kabuto," the sound ninja turned to his master, "Bring, 'Project Katsyu' as well." Kabuto's eyes narrowed, but then quickly returned to normal, as he followed his master's orders.
'Those shinobi,' Orochimaru thought to himself, 'They were his students, I have no doubt of that.' He looked down at his motionless arms, 'Soon, my old friend, I will be like you, I will be....Immortal.'
Kabuto was walking down the hallways. As he was, '"Project Katsyu"? Orochimaru wants to bring her? Something's got him concerned. But what?'
Well well well, what do we have here. Gaara is back, with a new look, Jiraiya and Naruto will be setting out to find the Fifth Hokage, you all know who that should be, and so is Orochimaru, but with someone else, who is this new person? We'll just have to kee-
PHO: WAAAAAIIIIIIIITTTT!!!!!
What?! I'm doing this stuff now? *sigh* Alright. Everyone, I'd like to introduce you all to my little assistant, PHO (pronounced 'foe') my Plot Hole Observer, otherwise known as my Arch/Nemesis (A/N). If he finds any plot holes in the story, he informs me right away, and I'll be able to see if they are in fact plot holes or not. So what do you have for me today PHO?
PHO: Well, I been looking at this chapter, all pretty firm in plot, except for one thing.
What's that?
PHO: The whole massive change in Gaara's appearance, I'd understand the new clothes to stay hidden. But what about his hair? It's been a week and it's already covering his forehead?! That's not normal!
Oh ho, very true, but remember, he lives in the desert.
PHO: What does that have anything to do with his hair.
You see, people who live in the desert or really hot dry areas grow hair faster to keep their bodies shaded and to retain most of their bodily fluids to keep them hydrated. Since Gaara has only been in Konaha for little over a week now, he can't possibly have adapted by then and so continues to grow hair, and refuses to cut to keep a better disguise.
PHO: Oooooooooh! I see. Well that's good then. Got nothing else for you then.
Alrighty thence. Now remember readers, PHO's job is never done, and he continues observing everything to make sure he hasn't missed anything. Help him out if you guys have seen any major plot holes, or anything that just doesn't seem right to you, because the Sky Ninja themselves are still a mystery to most everyone reading and the plot line is a little confusing to some. PHO will be glad to recieve them all, as it's basically his food source, and without any, he would die within the month.
Righto now, I'm going to be done for now. I say goodbye, and hope you enjoyed the newest chapter of Sky Ninja. (Oh, and PHO says bye too)