Chapter IV: Urban Survival

Rook and Sanntaru had been wondering around the outskirts of the wall for awhile now when Sanntaru stopped. "it's impossible, all the water ways are guarded and barricaded, the wall is too high and even if we could scale it there is no way we wouldn't be seen doing it. And going under it isn't an option cause they would either sense us or our luck we would burrow right under the raikage's big ass feet, well any idea's oh great leader?" she said as she threw her hands up and slid down a tree to the ground. Rook stood motionless for a minute as he thought, Well I do have one idea but you're probably going to hate me for it, he said with a frown as he started walking back the way they had came.

"Oh Rook, you always take me to the most romantic spots". Sanntaro said as they crawled along the sewage duct Rook had spotted a ways back. "just shut up, ok I don't like this either but I didn't see you getting us inside anytime soon. Unless you were planning to flirt your way in like last time, and we all saw how well that worked," Rook said as he rolled his eyes and looked back to check on Sanntaru. Much to his dismay she was smiling, a big full smile that made her teeth glow like diamonds especially since she was covered head to toe in shit.

Completely stunned, Rook didn't notice anything until his hand slid into something awful and he took a dive almost falling face first into the same filth he had just slid on. Barely managing to catch himself he blushed a deep maroon as he saw Sanntaru rolling on her back laughing at him. "what was that", Sanntaru squeaked out in between laughs. "that was nothing" Rook said trying to keep his dignity, "now do you mind telling me what about this place made you want to smile so big." She was just getting back up to start crawling again as she spoke.

"Oh that, that was me enjoying the thrill of a mission. Most people would be disgusted at the very idea of crawling through the sewer but I honest to God don't mind it, in fact I think it was a rather smart plan considering it came from you. And unique none the less. Tobirama sensei and Kenta probably just walked through the gate under the infinite darkness gen-jutsu. How boring is that. But this is actually working for it and I find that to be fun." Rook shook his head in disbelief as he trudged on. Girls, every last one was unique and as impossible to guess as the next.

They then saw a light seeping in a circle down the pipe a ways and they increased their speed a bit as headed to it. Sanntaru stopped Rook as he was about to open the drainage cover. "what are we going to do when we get up there?" she whispered in his ear, her warm breath making the hair on the back of his neck rise and his heart skip a beat. "What do you mean" he whispered back to her.

"I mean were covered in shit we can't just walk around the city like this that would be worse than running past the front gate guards with a big sign saying we are ninja over our heads." Rook pondered the query for a moment then started lifting the grate out of the way. "Guess we'll find out when we get up there".

She stared in disbelief as he crawled out and reached down to pull her out as well. Luckily they were surrounded by buildings shielding them from the main streets where people could see them. Rook gave a quick glance around and found what he was looking for. A rain barrel was just under the side of one of the buildings. He ran over and with a grunt managed to pick it up and carry it over to Sanntaru, who snickered as he approached. "I could have just walked over there to you, you know."

He shrugged as he shifted the weight of the barrel and lifted it higher in the air, tilting it as he went. Sanntaru gasped and said "wait what are you doing Rook", as she unfolded her arms from across her chest and stared wide eyed as the water fell straight on her. " Dammit all Rook, give a girl some warning next time will ya, that's not funny." As she stood there dripping wet she watched as he quickly turned the barrel on himself and finished it out, effectively washing all of the putrid filth of himself as he had done with her.

However there cloths were a different story. Still smelling of excrement and stained beyond repair. This time it was Sanntaru's keen eyes that found what they needed, a clothes line hung several stories up, in a flash she had sprung from wall to wall gaining in height until in three quick bounces she snagged the clothing most likely to fit them. She handed the men's to Rook, and proceeded to start stripping herself. Rook blushed deeply as he turned away. Until just a few days ago he had only been interested in fighting and this would never have bothered him, but now he was only too aware that Sanntaru had "grown" quite a lot in the past couple years, filling out very nicely.

Damn it Rook get your head in the game, this is a life or death mission where you're the one who is making the decisions. If you want to get both her and you killed before you can resolve this internal struggle of yours then just keep thinking those thoughts. He was halfway through changing his pants when he glanced back, sure that Sanntaru was at least modest by now and found her fully changed leaning against the rain barrel starring at him. his pants and boxers, dropped below his knee's and her, standing there full sharingan and that damned smile on her face.

Rook wasn't fast enough to keep the blush forming on his face to explode into a full blown meltdown. He knew it was coming but the laugh that followed his reaction just made it worse. He quickly pulled on his new trousers and marched toward her rage being the only expression on his face. He grabbed Sanntaru by the throat and slammed her up against the wall feet dangling several inches above the ground.

Rook had gone past the point of thinking, never had he been so embarrassed in his life, he was seriously contemplating maiming her at this point but he stopped when he noticed she was still smiling, even hanging there struggling to regain the breath that had been knocked from her lungs from the slam and barely succeeding due to the strangle hold he had on her throat she was still smiling.

"Did You See Something You Found Funny Sanntaru!" he screamed in her face as she struggled to force out a wheezing laugh from around his grip. "I'm seriously considering pounding your ass into the ground right now and you still want to laugh in my face?" she managed to find just enough air and force it past his iron hold enough to whisper "Is that a promise Rook?" the sarcastic comeback caught him completely off guard combined with the slow trickle of blood out of the right corner of her mouth from where she had bit a hole in her lip was enough to shock him back to his senses and he dropped his hand from her.

He kept stepping back until he was backed against the opposite wall and slowly sunk to a sitting position in shock as he watched her fall to her knee's choking and gasping for air. "what did I do"? Rook whispered his head buried in his hands "I'm so sorry Sanntaru". Sanntaru managed to get to her feet and make her way over to Rook, sliding down the wall beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Rook its fine, I admit you over reacted as all hell, but I shouldn't have done what I did either. Were both insecure teenagers, reactions like that logically may not make sense but they happen all the time. Don't beat yourself up over it, I'm fine and there's no grudge so it's alright. And we can't let this affect the mission I need you to be at one hundred percent with nothing on your conscious during this ok, we'll sort everything out when we get back to our village."

Rook wiped his face and composed himself, "your right" he took in a deep breath and got to his feet holding out his hand and helping her up. "now don't think this means anything Rook, I still think you're a wild rabid dog who shouldn't be on a team where he can get others killed if he doesn't kill them himself." She said with her smile firmly back in place, as she licked the blood clean from her mouth. Rook managed an unsure shaky smile in return, "your just mad I take all the fun for myself".

"well maybe just a little" she said with a playful punch to his shoulder. Rook looked closely at Sanntaru as she lead the way out of the maze of buildings. She genuinely looked like she was completely fine with what had happened. But he wasn't sure he was fine with it. Even if she did like him (and that was a big if) and he thought he liked her now (he still wasn't sure himself) after what had happened here Rook wasn't sure it would be the smartest thing to do.

If he couldn't control himself during a simple prank, how was he too know if he would lose control again. Anger wasn't something that hit him often and never that bad, anger had an objective you could think clearer through it. But blind rage? That was something completely different you had no control, and Rook didn't like that at all. "So were headed to the east market district right?"

Sanntaru asked as she looked at the signs pointing to the different areas of the village. "It probably doesn't matter anymore anyway we don't have our tools, supplies or money to even rent a room anymore since we left it outside the wall" Rook said still wiping himself off. Sanntaru gave him the same stare a librarian give's a first year academy student when they were talking to loud.

"I'll be right back" she said as she disappeared into the crowded center of the city. Rook watched as she smoothly made her way through the area without so much as touching a single person. When she got to where she wanted Sanntaru started walking back towered him hand's flicking with every bit of the same precision as her whip by the time she returned she had five half filled purses. "So we are resorting to theft now"? Rook asked as he stared at the ill gotten purses while she opened them to count.

"Eh I left them half their money" she said as she finished splitting the money between three of the purses. "and also we need to be prepared for a long stay here, I'm guessing at least a month to gather intelligence and make a plan of attack."

They made their way to the east market distract, and found the rockslide hotel soon after, they circled the building discretely looking at all possible entrances and exits possible escape routes nearby building in which they could hide. Upon finding everything satisfactory they entered the hotel and checked out a room. When they finally got to their room Rook and Sanntaru crashed on their separate beds and without so much as a word both fell asleep completely exhausted.

Sanntaru awoke the next morning to the smell of breakfast sitting on the counter. Rook was nowhere to be seen so she got up and cleaned herself off. After which she changed into new cloths they had picked up yesterday on their way here, and sat at the little table in the kitchen area of the hotel room. Rook had left a note saying he was going to pick up some more supplies and to see if he could "liberate" them some new weapon's, since all they had was the three shuriken that Rook carried with him in an arm carry and the whip she always carried no matter where she went. Sanntaru sat thinking to herself while she ate.

What had happened yesterday was of no consequence, she had known that Rook had a rage building in him for a long time now. She could see that whatever type of monster was inside him was influencing him as well as the other way around. Ever since her sharingan had become full and complete she had seen it stirring as if close to being aroused from a deep sleep, and she knew it was only a matter of time before it awoke. But she wasn't sure yet if whatever it was would eventually get in between her and Rook.

She had realized she liked him since there first day of being on a squad together, but even then she could tell how single minded he was at the time and had let things stay the way they were. But this mission was opening him up on several levels and Sanntaro could tell he was struggling with himself to tell if he wanted to take things farther than friendship and teamwork.

She had tried to give him some hints and clues along the way in case he was just unsure of how she felt, but it was more than that and now she was worried that the incident yesterday had scared him into complacency. If all else failed she would confront him and let him know how she felt, but she knew from all the years of training and missions that he was the type who needed to initiate everything he started or he would lose focus and eventually interest.

"well sitting here thinking isn't going to help in any way." she said to herself as she got up and cleaned off the table. She decided she would do some solo reconnaissance and scout out the lay of the village. As Sanntaru made her way through the city she was surprised at how much it reminded her of home. The children playing in the streets the market vendors trying to sell goods to the normal pedestrians passing by. The sounds of children playing at the academy and the ninja of all ranks walking around talking with one another as well as villagers as if nothing was wrong.

She subconsciously knew that all beings were the same, that only where they were born being the only separation between herself and them. But that didn't change the fact she would be killed or worse if they caught her and that fact made it easier to focus her mind back on the mission. As she was memorizing the building patterns of the housing quarter of the village she spotted Rook. She stifled a laugh as she saw the hesitation flicker across his face before he swiped the ninja gear bag's from two unsuspecting gennin headed towered the food courts.

She pondered this as she kept walking her focus split now between memorizing with her photographic memory and thinking about how naive and innocent Rook really was. Yes he could kill without a moment's hesitation on the battlefield then he turns around and feels guilt for stealing necessities during an important mission. She then noticed their target walking a ways away, heading for the military post if she remembered correctly, she began shadowing him from a distance.

If she could pinpoint the building he worked in they could track down his schedule at almost any time they wanted . Sanntaru watched from afar as two men flanked him, both with similar features but one with silver hair and the other bright blond as he headed to one of the buildings. She memorized the building and doubled back to the food courts. As she had pretty much covered most of the village she decided to head back to the hotel room.

When she arrived she found Rook sitting cross legged in the middle of the room, a strange chakra could be felt from all around, like he was gathering it inside the room but could not access it himself. As she closed the door Rook spoke without moving. "there is dinner on the table if you're hungry Sanntaru." "thanks" she said as she headed that way. Sanntaro ate in silence as she watched him sit motionless until his eye started twitching and he suddenly doubled over panting hard as profuse sweat broke out across his forehead.

Sanntaro raised her eyebrow and asked "are you ok Rook"? knowing any effort on her part to help would be looked down upon in his eyes with the mood he was in right now. she was a master of reading people and Rook especially, since she had been watching him with avid attention for years now. Rook shook his head furiously for a second and stood up "I'm fine" and after a second of consideration "thanks for asking though, I really appreciate it Sanntaru." No problem, but what, may I ask, where you doing just then," she asked while still munching on a sweet roll, and her head cocked to the side.

Rook stood there for a moment in contemplation then looked her straight in the eye and spoke. "Sanntaru, can I trust that you won't say anything to Tobirama sensei, Kenta, or anyone else for that matter, this stays between you and me alone right?"

she stared him straight back in the eye's as she responded. "Rook I want you know that you will always be able to trust me with anything, no matter how good or bad". And with that Rook proceeded to explain to her the story of the sage's and their history. when he was finished she sat back against the bed processing it. So Rook had been chosen for whatever reason to be a future master of a sacred path of destruction and war. "so where does that leave `us' Rook?"

she asked in a slightly dejected voice knowing she couldn't compete with an offer to become one of the most powerful fighters in the ninja world, and knowing him possibly The most powerful. Rook's reply took both of them by surprise, "Sanntaru I promise you we will sit down and figure all of this out when we return from this mission, ok so please let us keep our feelings separate until then".

Sanntaru's heart leapt at the words, He actually was considering this she couldn't believe it. warm thoughts and feelings crept into her mind along with visions of their future with a great family and all. even though she had just promised to keep her feelings for him separate from the mission. She then noticed he was staring at her with a bemused expression on his face, as though he had read every thought crossing her mind, which added to the blush already making itself known on her face.

She turned around and said "Tobirama sensei should be here tomorrow or the day after so we should prepare for them as much as possible before then". And with that she grabbed the communal money purse. On her way to the door she snuck a peak at him through her bangs and noticed he was staring at her legs through the corners of his eyes as she walked, bringing back the blush that had just subsided full on her face as she stormed out of the room.