Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters in it.
IX.
"I sent them on a mission a week ago. They haven't turned back and I have no clue where they are. Although their mission was easy and they should've returned by now."
Tsunade's firm voice echoed in the silence of her office. Team 3 had arrived just now and now stood still in front of the Hokage's desk.
"We have no idea where they are. Two days ago Kakashi went for a lookout, following their way up, along the Valley. This morning came a message from him that he hasn't found a trace. As if they've sunk down to earth."
"Then I assume we have to be ready?" Takumi inquired after she made a pause.
"I'm afraid, yes." Tsunade replied slowly. "I'm afraid that you'll have to take Itachi with you too."
"What?" Takumi raised his voice while Kioshi and Jakushi exchanged glances. "Dare I ask why, Godaime?"
"Because..." Tsunade leaned back in her chair with a troubled expression. "Kakashi thinks that the disappearing of Team 5 may be connected with him. And he can help in the whole mystery. Takumi, I understand your concern but you have to accept that he may give answers we don't have."
Takumi nodded, containing his resentment.
"Konoha might be in danger. Repeat that to yourselves every time your ego speaks over."
"The mission is to be done. You can count on us."
"You must go as fast as you can. Kakashi went the long way round the forest to the north, you can take the one through it. It's possible for the lost team to have diverted from their way with other intentions."
Tsunade sighed.
"And be careful. As the next shinobi, you are valuable and I need you alive."
The three of them bowed lightly and left the office one by one.
"I barely put up with him the last time." Takumi hissed through clenched teeth as they walked down the stairs.
"Relax. He's not that big of a problem." Kioshi apostrophized, as always offering a down to earth logic. "Did you forget his chakra's gone? He can't do much."
"I know, Kioshi." His brother snapped. "I just don't get why we have to carry him with us? Like it's not enough that we have to protect ourselves, now we'll be obliged to protect the famous Uchiha. Since everyone knows about that thing, he's the hero of the year. Should I bow every time I meet him on the street?"
"Takumi, shut up." Jakushi finally spoke.
"The people aren't exactly happy with the fact he's walking free anyway," Kioshi added. "We'll do them a favor by taking him with us."
They left the building and headed back to the Academy from which they previously came, before the urgent call. Konoha was in its usual state of noise in the forenoon hours.
"Can we go tomorrow morning?" Takumi asked loudly.
"Of course." Jakushi answered right away, knowing that Kioshi was about to say the same.
"We'll wait with Kioshi at 8 tomorrow, past the gates." Takumi watched absently the shops they passed by. "We'll have to cut off the training today so that we have time to prepare."
"Who's gonna notify the Uchiha?" Kioshi asked.
"I'll tell Sakura to do it," Jakushi remembered she was about to head to the hospital before the shift ends and meet Sakura there. She was the person with closest connections to the clan in particular.
"Great." Takumi's voice was quieter. "He better doesn't make me wait."
Unfortunately for Takahiro, Itachi showed up just in time in the morning and they wasted no time in useless talking. Not in the least surprised that Tsunade needs them so soon after their last mission, they walked up the steep path that surrounded the Valley in which was nested Konoha and climbed up the hill silently and without visible obstacles. The way of the lost team was northwest, through the main road, round the vast forest but the four of them went right ahead.
Takumi didn't speak a word the whole day. Neither did he slow down his pace which Kioshi and Jakushi clearly read like a lack of any mood. As if he had forgotten that they have to stop and rest from time to time. Kioshi was forced to stay aside from him that's why the only conversations were between him and Jakushi - the only ones tending to admire their time outside and on a mission. Itachi, on the other side, was isolated from them, walking behind on a solid distance.
Jakushi was about to start a conversation with him once or twice but then realized Takumi was going to be mad about it and everything would become complicated and worse than it is. And she had no intentions of making it worse. With that strange silence there was some kind of a strange balance between them and their absolutely different from one another characters.
The weather was still unpleasantly cold but fortunately they entered the forest. The bad news was that the winter days were short and it was already darkening when they had no clue about this area in particular.
"Takumi, any ideas?" Just when Kioshi opened the subject, Takumi made them both stop in place.
"Kioshi, do you see what I see? In the distance?" Takumi slightly leaned towards him.
"Is there a problem?" Jakushi asked behind them but Kioshi raised a hand, signing the other two to stop and they obeyed.
"This is a house." Kioshi frowned. "I see it too but... Isn't it a bit strange to have a building of the sort here? Right in the middle of nowhere. It's far from any road."
"Moreover that we never knew someone was living in these lands. The ones who avoid the towns and villages are not famed with good."
"On the other side..." Kioshi looked at his brother. "We have nowhere to stay for the night. We can sleep out in the open but that might be a nice chance to miss the adventurous part."
"Yes. We'll have to see what's going on."
"Do you think it might be our people?" Kioshi noticed the smoke, rising from the house's chimney.
"Team 5? I don't think so... would you stay two weeks in a house here if Konoha was one day away?'
"I don't know. Matters are pretty odd lately." Takumi finally met Kioshi's eyes with the full knowledge of what, or rather who, was he referring to and sighed, announcing loudly, "We'll check if the house is... fit for us to stay overnight. Keep your eyes open. We don't know who's gonna welcome us."
They carefully moved forward to the house that, as it seemed, wasn't abandoned at all. Taking its place between the not so big space of a few trees, it appeared to be a wondrous combination of beauty and some really odd elements - there was a small garden, perfectly kept, fenced and split up in sections but on the other side the two windows were terribly dusty as if unwashed for years.
Takumi hesitated whether to get nearer when he looked at it in detail but before making another step, the front door opened and a girl stepped out. A girl on their age, with a reserved expression. Rusty locks adorned her heart-shaped face and sharp slate eyes added a specific depth that magnetized.
A household dress in dots and a white apron covered a harmonic, rather tall figure. All four were dumbfounded by her highly unusual appearance and for a moment they just watched. The girl had quite the enchanting air around her.
"Who are you and what do you want?" She asked with some kind of a dark tinge, narrowing eyes.
"Shinobi, from Konoha." Takumi spoke slowly and attentively. The rest behind him had their breath abated, without making a move. "We seek a place to stay for the night."
"Shinobi from Konoha?" The girl scrutinized them from head to toe but when she reached Itachi, her face expressed such ebullience that Takumi and Kioshi took a step back. Her mood turned upside down so abruptly that it was a bit frightening.
"Itachi? Uchiha Itachi?" She asked in astonishment, nearing them.
The girl was excited and happy beyond measure. Her eyes blurred and cheeks flushed, perhaps from the cold or just from her emotion. Jakushi admit that it made her strikingly beautiful but not more trustworthy. "You are alive! I'm so glad... You're alive."
The girl looked at Itachi and walked in his direction when Takumi stopped her, stopping her with a hand.
"Wait a second."
She was sincerely surprised by his gesture.
"Uchiha, do you know this girl?"
"I've never seen her before." Itachi still didn't move.
"I lived in Konoha long time ago. We were children. I remember you." She slightly bent her head with bitterness. "Sanaya Hitomi."
"I've got the feeling I've heard your voice before... but I don't remember. Is that strange?" Itachi stepped up to her in confusion and she laughed.
"It's not strange. I'm glad you remember at least something." She surrounded Takumi and took Itachi's hand unexpectedly, keeping her eyes on his in the brief pause. "Please, do come in. Stay as long as you like. You are all welcome."
Takumi needed a few second to make a decision. The air was so cold that the house in front of him appeared most tempting and a great solution for their problem.
"If it's not- If it's not too intruding for you." He mumbled, suddenly the eyes of the girl on him.
"Of course not. Come."
She dragged back Itachi to the house as if they were friends for many years. Takumi and Kioshi looked at each other.
"Don't part with your weapons," Takumi whispered and both of them followed their new hostess.
Jakushi remained in her place for a second. There were a few main rules that she set up for herself before entering that house. Her attention had to be at its best all the time. Beauty was a terrible power that conquered and blinded flawlessly. Sanaya was too beautiful to live alone in the woods.
Too mesmerizing to not have cracks somewhere behind her appeal. Jakushi wasn't going to let herself to be deceived by no one, even by the Princess Charming herself. Luckily, Jakushi was a girl too, at that not interested in girls, and everything the girl roused in her was only more caution.
Jakushi made a few steps ahead but stopped again. It wasn't only caution, she wasn't honest with herself. It was a bit of jealously, a bit of hatred... actually she realized that she wouldn't be able to stand her more than a day. Now that was the truth.
"Sorry, but we'll have to do something." Takumi scanned her from head to toe. "My brother's gonna use a technique on you. It won't hurt... almost."
"What?" Sanaya's figure slightly shrunk behind Itachi, still squeezing his hand. "I-I have no bad intentions. I don't want any trouble."
"My apologies. I don't like putting myself or my closest at risk." Takumi replied slower as if her shaking voice had affected him.
Kioshi stepped up to her but Itachi was still in his way.
"Sanaya, I've been through it before. They won't hurt you." Itachi calmed her down and she looked at him with fright, irises wide.
A few seconds later, she made up her mind and let go of him. Kioshi took her wrists, applying his technique so that he could prevent her from using one on them.
She endured everything silently and sighed at the end with an offer, to show them where were they going to sleep. There was a small guest-room that could contain three, with a bit of suffering from the third due to the availability of only two beds and a canapé on which one could sleep, with a little effort. And Sanaya's room. Someone had to share the room with her. Fortunately there were two beds there.
"One belongs to my brother but he's almost never here, off to work. He brings me lots of things from different villages." She shared with a bitter smile. "I miss him so much sometimes. To live alone in the forest is not as wonderful as some may think."
"Is he here often?" Jakushi asked while they walked to her room.
"Who?"
"Your brother. Does he leave you here all alone every winter?"
"Of course not. He's mostly here but you just happened to come when he's not with me. He left a week ago. Should come back by Friday."
"Right." Jakushi nodded, although it wasn't right at all. Too little information. Too many questions in her head.
"So..." Sanaya opened the door to her room and it really wasn't much of a luxury apartment. Two beds were at the far ends, pasted to the walls, between them something like a small bookshelf. A window, wardrobe and a dressing table with useful things. "I think it's up for you to decide now. Who's going to sleep in my brother's bed with me in my room and who in the guest-room."
Her gaze stopped on Itachi for a moment, a warm smile blossoming on her lips.
"I will sleep in your room." Jakushi interfered, barely holding her indignation at the rest of her companions. They truly thought through the variations of one of them sleeping in her own room, instead on the other side of the house, where the guest-room was. So much for shinobi dignity. "I am positive that we'll work quite well together."
"You?" Sanaya chuckled, a bit surprised by her caustic tone. "Alright. Great. Let's go to the kitchen to have some dinner then!"
Sanaya kept her eyes on Itachi before leaving the room with a cheerful pace.
"Perhaps it was better for me to be here." He spoke thoughtfully. "If she knows something, she'd share it with me."
"Seriously?" Jakushi hissed. She looked at him as if he was her property. Was she the only one to notice it?
"Jakushi, I can't believe I'm saying this but... I think he might be right on this one." Takumi sighed. "It doesn't matter anymore. She's harmless anyway."
"This girl is a downright witch and you don't see it." Jakushi murmured, shaking her head.
"Stop it, Jakushi." Kioshi folded hands. "She's nice. Gives us shelter, although she's not obliged to. Let's just be grateful."
Jakushi glared at him before leaving the room.
They refused politely her food under the pretext that they have their own. At least Takumi was clear-minded to do that as an example to the others. One couldn't be too careful with strangers in the wood. On the questions about the lost shinobi, she assured them she hadn't heard a thing about them, neither had she seen someone passing by her house. The last ones were two traveling merchants and her brother, of course.
The night came quicker than they thought and tired, everyone headed to their room of choice. Jakushi and Sanaya were sunk in silence. In fact, they haven't talked with each other since their last conversation about the rooms. The house had no electricity and that's why Sanaya told them that, although a bit old-fashioned, she's always used candle. She lit up a few so that everyone had one.
Apparently, their hostess wasn't happy with the way the events, linked with the rooms, developed. She almost hid it perfectly behind her seemingly undying amiability but the closing of the door to her room was a bit harsh. And the way she threw her clothes before putting on her night-shirt contained some serious annoyance.
"Thank you." Jakushi finally spoke when they were sitting on their beds and prepared to lay down.
"What for?" Sanaya smiled again.
"Warmth and bed are a luxury during the winter. Our missions aren't easy if we sleep out in the open."
"It's not a problem." She nodded and grew pensive for a moment. "Jakushi, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"Jakushi, is Itachi alright?" Sanaya suddenly asked, nonchalantly and Jakushi raised her eyes up to her again.
What was up with this girl?
"Not quite. His chakra's gone. Has enough only to function. We don't know what actually happened and why he's alive. Do you happen to know how we can restore his chakra? Or who might have revived him?"
"No." Sanaya snapped so sharply that Jakushi trembled. "I have no idea."
"Where do you know him from exactly?" Jakushi asked after a brief pause and slightly narrowed eyes, even more confused than before.
"I told you. I lived in Konoha as a little, we met there." Sanaya went under the blankets.
"Why do you live here with your brother now?" Jakushi continued with the interrogation.
"Because we were banished." Sanaya struck her with a cold glare, suddenly a couple of times more intimidating. Her auburn locks fell freely around her face but the flicker transformed them into dancing flames on her pale skin. She was like a wrathful goddess.
Jakushi didn't dare speak or move until Sanaya finally did, blowing out her candle.
"Good night. Careful, even the slightest movement wakes me up."
She held her eyes on Jakushi for a moment before turning around and relaxing on the pillows. Jakushi also leaned back, tormented by the questions in her mind. She didn't like that girl at all, didn't like the story she told, didn't like her house either. Getting out of the place was her strongest desire at the moment.
Jakushi wondered what were Takumi and Kioshi doing along with Itachi in a single room. She secretly hoped they won't kill each other in the circumstances they were put. A fight was the last thing she wanted. On top of having a gorgeous girl on board, it was quite possible. Did they have a plan B of some kind? Because the thought of being the only one feeling uncomfortable in the house really frightened her.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Big thank you to the ones who joined in recently! I love you all so much.
This chapter might be a bit boring and confusing because I include yet another OC without any explanation but this one's important, trust me. Haha, I'll make sure the next chapter comes soon because there's a bit of an explanation in there!