Chapter 44 Closing in on 'Swamp'
One day later...
"Alright! We are stoping for a short break." Shikamaru announced to the group, then at the next branch, dropped to the forest floor.
"Neh all this stopping and starting- will you EVERnot be lazy for once, Shikamaru?" The Nara scoffed at Kiba's rhetorical question, while the others showed no interest in the matter. With no response from the shadow user, Kiba brushed it off with a dismissive sigh while walking past him.
"Whatever, I am still getting first shot at Naruto when we get there."
Once Kiba was standing next to Shikamaru, he paused, and muttered something that couldn't be heard by the others, "It is still close by."
Shikamaru did not react to Kiba's murmur as the Inuzuka walked off and bickered to Akamaru in his usual loud manner. Shikamaru settled down on the lush grass, where he proceeded to use his knee as a rest for the map.
"How far are we?" Jiraiya asked coming on the opposite side of the Nara to see the map.
"We are almost three quarters of the way there." Shikamaru stated, while pointing to their current position in the outskirts of the fire country and then to their destination.
The sannin nodded sharply, "Looks like we should make it within the next couple of hours assuming all the best."
"More or less, but we must continue to be cautious, as much as this is a bother." Jiraiya ended their conversation, standing back upright and left Shikamaru to his own devices.
Shikamaru shot a glance again at the map and groaned at the 'location.' In actual fact, they were getting further and further away from their destination. He took into consideration before they left Konoha of a route they would take in case something was amiss...and he was never more thankful he was cautious this time.
Instead of shooting straight for Swamp, Shikamaru decided to make the group head west and do a loop around Konoha before heading to Swamp. This extension to their journey meant it would take an extra day before reaching their true destination. The lengthened journey, however, gave the security so that if they were being followed, they could quickly make an adjustment to another country without causing their follower to be aware...
...which was what they were doing right now.
Hinata was the first to notice the straggler just before the loop was completed, the problem though was she never expected it to lead to anything suspicious until she voiced the enigma to the others. Neither of them were expecting Jiraiya to suddenly hold such interest in the anomaly, nor were they expecting him to signal them to drift a little off course.
When their mysterious follower did not stray from course, it no longer became a suspicion to the sannin. Originally, the plan was to attempt to capture the follower and interrogate them, but since this individual was 'unique', and feeling confident with his temporarily formed team, Shikamaru decided to execute his alternative route strategy...and lure the ANBU into a trap. Which was why they were currently en route to the border of Taki or Waterfall country.
Looking to the heiress and receiving her nod, she activated her byakugan, "All clear Shikamaru-kun."
'It's watching us.'
"Ok." He inwardly mused, remembering that they were meant to be feigning ignorance. Shikamaru folded up his map while walking up to Shino, who was leaning back against a tree and watching Kiba and Akamaru from a distance.
"Any luck?"
Shino's shaking head made the Nara frown, 'He hasn't been able to plant a bug to track it either.'
"We are moving out." Shikamaru announced as the group muttered their acknowledgements and grabbed their belongings.
The shadow user while jumping back up into the branch met their follower eye to eye. It didn't take him long to know where to look since he could feel its black, fixed eyes practically burning into him. Shikamaru was thankful Jiraiya was with them, he would have never imagined the possibility that their straggler was a bird.
'Once we are in Taki, if all goes well, this hawk should return to its ANBU owner...then we have them right where we want them.'
If there was one thing that Sakura and surely everybody else did miss from Wave, it was the warm and comfy beds of the hotels in comparison to these rotting floor boards. Sakura dare say she even missed the thick, yet soft quilts, in contrast to these thin pieces of brown material the greedy trader claimed was a 'sheet'. On the bright side, she had an amazingly comfortable cushion...if he would stop twitching whenever she snuggled in. Raising her head off the blonds' sunken shoulder, she squinted to the bright almost pure white light of the early morning, from the broken window.
'How long are we going to stay out here?' She wondered, tilting her head to the side to get out that pesky kink in it, with an audible crack. She sighed while bumping her rising head back into the rough wall.
'I hope Shikamaru and the others are alright, they should have returned with Temari-san long before now.' A shiver next to her brought her out of her thoughts and she grinned.
'On the positive side we haven't been discovered, I guess I have to be thankful for that.' She had to resist laughing when the blond swapped roles and snuggled against her, resting his head on her shoulder.
"Naruto you baka." She whispered, while temptation won and out of reflex, she kissed his bare forehead while then shaking her grinning head.
Naruto stirred while slowly opening his lids, "Neh?" He tiredly moaned, puzzled as to why he was seeing pink, but it soon registered and he shot up in a dazed alarm.
"M-My bad Sakura-chan!"
Sakura had to cover her mouth, but her giggles escaped, "Good morning Naruto."
The blond recovered with a sheepish smile, "G-Good morning Sakura-chan."
"How is your shoulder?" The blond rolled his sunken shoulder around till it was back to normal height and shrugged.
"Neh...I think I've gotten used to the extra weight or something, feels too light now." Sakura perked an eyebrow with a smirk at the small traces of disappointment in Naruto's joking voice. She chuckled at his sudden tense shoulder when she snuggled back in, "Better now baka?"
"U-Umm-I-I guess so-" She giggled over his mumbled antics. It was baffling, but at the same time, so greatly humorous to see Naruto of all people acting so bashful.
"Ahh, what a grand and romantic morning, eh?"
The exaggerated and stretched sarcastic words from the other side of the room made Naruto in a twitching motion look the other way with a furious blush. Sakura snapped her head up to glare straight at the 'unwelcomed' observer with deep infuriation. It was one thing to constantly surprise them with his loud announcements, it was another whole ordeal though to interrupt 'their' moment.
"Kakashi-sensei!"
Maybe it was withdrawal symptoms from his precious unfinished book 'mysteriously' going missing, Kakashi seemed to have grown a routine to enjoy teasing them about their new relationship any chance he got. Naruto did not even want to imagine what he was in store for hearing when his other 'super pervert' of a sensei found out...That is if they slipped up and he found out.
"Good morning to you too Sakura-'chan', Naruto-'kun'" It also became a regular for Kakashi to add his sharp chirp like suffixes at the end of their names now as well.
"Stop doing that!"
"Eh? stop doing what Sakura-'cha-"
"Bah! Forget it!" She growled looking elsewhere, but delivered a sharp elbow to the chuckling blond next to her, silently ordering him to do the same as her and ignore Kakashi.
Once his chuckles died down and he had moved on, Naruto voiced his own concern, "I wonder what is keeping Ero-sennin and the others?"
The jounin's amusement disappeared behind closed lids, "That is bothering me too, as I am also concerned that there have been only a few signs of the Akatsuki lurking around."
Both teens tensed at the memory of what happened a couple of days ago but Naruto recovered with a groan, "It's like we are sitting ducks. We cannot move to Suna without knowing Temari is ok, we have to lay low to ensure the ANBU don't discover us and on top of that, the teme Itachi and probably that fish faced freak are watching us in the shadows...I really hate this." Sakura tried to think of something to ease his concern but she was sharing the same ordeal.
"It is true that our situation is not looking the brightest-" All three turned to see Lee standing at the blinding bright door to the outside, not looking at anybody in particular.
"-But we have each other to depend on. As Shikamaru-kun would say if he was here, it is too much of a hassle to be concerned about what we do not know. Jiraiya-sama and the others will be returning soon I am sure of it. Then Naruto-kun, you can ask those questions we all know you are dying to ask Kazekage-sama to share with you about his bright tips on how to lead a village."
"Lee-san..."
Naruto chuckled while giving the thumbs up, "You bet I will fuzzy brows!" Lee smiled at his words working on restoring the groups confidence, as he excused himself and walked back outside.
Once back outside, he held up a shaking fist at the white blazing sun teary eyed, 'HAWW! Gai-sensei would be so proud!'
The gleaming miniature Gai was unaware, nor probably didn't care, that there were two sweat dropping teens staring at him from behind with twitchy eyes, "He is getting worse by the day isn't he Sakura-chan?"
"Umm...I think he misses Gai-sensei."
'More like he was dropped as a kid!' Naruto mused flatly, as Lee emitted a yawn which brought a wash over of satisfaction on the blonds face.
'Good! Now Sakura-chan won't be black and blue for the day!'
"You should get some rest Lee-san, don't worry about training today."
"YEAH!-I mean...Yeah, you look pretty worn out fuzzy brows." Sakura shot a puzzled glare at her teammate's outburst, but then returned to the nodding Lee.
"Yosh! But I will perform one hundred push ups before turning in on such a gloriously sunny day." That contagious twitch of blankness spread amongst the remaining members of team 7 once again. The again ignorant Lee then marched past them with his new objective set, not hearing the synchronised sigh.
"Now then...training?" Before Naruto could answer, two familiar looking hands rested on each of their far shoulders, as a U shaped smiling Kakashi popped his head in-between them.
"That sounds like an excellent suggestion Sakura. Let's go-"
"E-Err, Hai."
'I meant me and Naruto Sensei!' She inwardly growled while the almost father like Kakashi ushered them to the yard.
Once under the tree, Kakashi released them and walked off to continue his quest to find his unfinished book. While still annoyed at their guest, Sakura brushed it off and focused, but Naruto already was one step ahead of her. The couple of dozen clones came into existence, and went to their task while they went through their usual overview. It was now down to Sakura's twin jutsu exercise, since Toruko and Naruto's one palmed rasengan's were deemed 'acceptable'.
Sooner than she wished for, Naruto instructed the combination she hated the most, "Right-slower, Left- faster." Sakura frowned but didn't lose focus, as she once again concentrated on the two rasengan's spinning wildly under her palms.
'Please don't screw up and hurt Naruto this time.' She prayed while getting to work. Naruto chose to remain silent while sensing her struggle as signs of instability were already wildly sparking out of the two near green spheres. Kakashi even stopped his hopeless search while coming close by and watching the concentrated kunoichi continue. Flicking up his forehead protector, his sharingan saw the chakra speeds attempting to change.
'I see her problem, because she is changing both in the opposite way simultaneously, she is having trouble co-ordinating her chakra...which is why some sparks are shooting wildly out due to the her quickly changing direction chakra crashing against each other.' He deduced, but decided to see if she could correct herself first.
The blond grew a surprised grin when he could see the right one was starting to slow, while at the same time, the left was speeding up. Once she felt satisfied with the change, she opened her eyes to see her stressed handiwork.
"I...got it?"
"You sure did Sakura-chan!" Sakura shook her head clear of her surprise when the spheres were rotating at different speeds like she was instructed to do.
"I really did..."
Kakashi lowered his forehead protector, "Great work Sakura, while the rasengan's were showing signs of instability while you changed them, the fact you didn't lose control or they didn't explode is in itself a great achievement." The kunoichi muttered 'thanks' while the blond dispersed them.
"What is next for Sakura-chan then Sensei?"
"It is up to Sakura to decide, I admit I have no experience in this kind of area before."
Both eyes were on her now expectantly as she gave it some thought, 'So I can almost keep two different rasengan's stable while changing their speeds...What do I do next?' Recollecting on what she hoped this training would lead to, she decided what to do next.
"Fish."
Naruto and Kakashi shared a blank expression to her answer as she repeated, "I need live fish. The one thing I really was keen to learn out of this was performing medical jutsu on two different patients at once. Performing basic medical jutsu on fish to revive them is one of the first training exercises to medic-nin's. I know It will take me a long time to get this actually useable, or even get it working at all...but that's no reason for me to give up." She explained with a smile to the similarly pride grinning blond.
"Damn straight Sakura-chan! I know a...swamp not far from here." Naruto announced at first with a cheerful chirp, but it soon moulded half way to a cringe in memory to said place.
"This isn't the same one you fell in is i-"
"It's that way!" The blond interrupted with a flushed expression pointing to their west.
Sakura chuckled and nodded, "Ok, but it's your turn now I think Naruto."
"Huh?"
Shaking her head, she filled him in, "You should try Oodama rasengan again of course baka. That was the entire point of all of this, remember?"
Mouthing an 'oh' he nodded now eager, "Stand back then Sakura-chan and Kakashi-...-sen-...-sei?" The blond dragged, while both realised he had lost interest in them and was back to searching for his book. Once he was over it, he formed a clone and stood side by side with it.
'This should be interesting.' Sakura mused in high expectations as the pair of orange blonds brought their palms next to each other.
True to when she first saw the jutsu, she saw the familiar basket balled size sphere violently rotating in the centre of the pairs hands, but was quickly expanding like an expanding balloon. Once it reached triple its normal size, she grinned.
'A-Amazing, it's not even showing the familiar signs of instability.' The blond was sharing her same inner cheer although his face was affixed with concentration.
"Kakashi-sensei, we need a mud wall!" Sakura ordered the now watching Kakashi, who systematically did as instructed and formed a solid five meter wide by eight meter long block, that towered two meters in height.
The synchronised Naruto's took off with the gigantic violently rotating sphere leading the way, until the distance was closed.
"Oodama Rasengan!"
The blinding light caused Sakura to squint as a violent explosion partially deafened her ears with a sharp ringing. She could feel the effects of the blast from the gust of wind practically hitting her head on, along with several of the trees overhanging branches almost snapping off its hinges from the powerful force. Once the beaming cyan like light dimmed, she adjusted her vision to go agape.
The large wall the now stunned Kakashi had created was no longer in existence, with only crumbled smoking rocks remaining in memory to where it once stood. Looking through the thick smoke she could see traces of the sphere still remaining behind the two Naruto's. Suddenly a thick cyan shaded haze mixed with the smoke, as another shockwave was flicked against her from the monstrous sized rasengan dispersing. Once the smoke finally cleared, she saw only the real Naruto standing there, appearing fixated with his hand in pure shock and disbelieve. She then became aware that in front of the stunned blond, a small building that looked to once be a class room was collapsing, as if something had collided with it to make its weak supports cave in. Her gaze then fell to the crater trail of what looked like something large being dragged through the now torn up concrete, leading to the collapsed building, and then she understood.
'The rasengan shot parts of the wall straight into the building with its great force.'
Naruto still was looking at his hand as if in pure disbelief.
"I..." Naruto trailed off while his agape expression snapped shut.
'This is the power that will help me protect my friends and bring back Sasuke.' Closing his trembling hand while scrunching his eyes shut, he looked as if he was ready to explode through his clenched teeth revealing a smile at any second...and he did not disappoint.
"I DID IT DATTEBAYO!!!" The blond shouted while punching the air with tremendous effort at his victory.
Shaking her head at the familiar like gesture, Sakura smiled in pride.
'He really did it.'
Kabuto fixed his glasses as he passed the prison cells, succeeding to his satisfaction in making a few gazes on him jump back from the partly rusted bars. The task assigned to him by Orochimaru was to attempt to locate Naruto's new location, so they could then use it to their advantage, if need be. To his disappointment however, he never was able to track them down, knowing that Orochimaru was going to scold him didn't bother the henchman, however...especially if Sasuke had already decided to utilize the tools they had made available to him.
"Kabuto-sempai, what brings you here?" Hearing the feminine voice of Karin at first made Kabuto pause in surprise, but he then recovered, when his eyes laid on the kunoichi's neutral face.
"I was returning to ensure Sasuke-kun was doing well, Karin-chan." Karin scrunched her nose up at the suffix she detested hearing from him, but answered back with only a scowl.
"Sasuke is currently resting in his quarters, it is best not to disturb him."
"Eh? I think I will be the judge of that Karin-chan." Kabuto waved dismissively while passing her, although he didn't need to ponder that Karin was glaring into his back.
Approaching Sasuke's door, Kabuto knocked on the hollow surface, emitting an echoed bang through the corridor. Used to the no voice of acknowledgement to 'come in', Kabuto grabbed the hinge and cracked it open and peered into the mostly dark room. He roughly saw the familiar outline of the Uchiha's back facing the wall while lying down on the made bed.
'So Sasuke-kun really hasn't given in, how intriguing.'
"What do you want Kabuto?" Sasuke's flat voice erupted from within the room, with traces of annoyance present. Again used to this behaviour, Kabuto now opened the door wide bringing in the dim lighting from behind him to now see Sasuke.
"I am simply checking on you Sasuke-kun."
"Well you have checked. Now get out."
Raising an eyebrow, Kabuto closed the door and turned to see Karin leaning against a wall, with her arms crossed along with a bundled scowl directed at him.
"I told you he doesn't want to be disturbed."
"I see. Has Sasuke-kun been making any progress in his training at least while remaining here?" Karin's eyes shifted to the door as if she was asking herself a question, but soon snapped them back and shook her head.
"Like I would know that, ask him yourself."
Kabuto's raised eyebrow never fell as he approached the kunoichi and flicked up his glasses when he was standing across from her, "You know Karin-chan, if you lie to me, then you are lying to Orochimaru-sama."
Karin's eyes flickered then glared, "Are you questioning my loyalty to Orochimaru-sama, Kabuto?!" She growled not caring about formality.
"Why of course I am not Karin-chan, I am simply reminding you of who it is you are serving. But you of all people should know what happens to those that do not follow Orochimaru-sama's will unquestionably." Karin felt a tickle of sweat roll down her cheek, but she didn't show any emotional change in her glare.
"I am not hiding anything." She repeated in a venom filled conclusive manner.
"Hmmph....very well then Karin-chan." Kabuto chirped in opposite nature to before, while waving and walking down the corridor, his footsteps echoing loud and clear in Karin's ears. Once the loud claps of his feet no longer were audible, she let out the breath she was holding in.
'Damn it Sasuke you better have had a good reason for me to do that.'
Swamps all looked the same to Naruto as he concluded in his travels. They always had tall, senbon like pointed grass that was up to his knees in height, creeping over the edge of the thick, almost mud like water, that was coloured a more greenish muck than blue. The trees had that unwelcomed aura surrounding them with their overhanging like vines and more blackish toned base than brown. It always was the very opposite in contrast of the appealing river side's he had witnessed in his travels with Jiraiya.
Approaching the edge, Sakura nodded to their location, "Yosh, I just need maybe four or five at most. Don't stab them with a kunai either, as reviving them will be impossible otherwise. Just place them in this bucket we brought from the town."
Naruto blinked at her statement which sounded awfully a lot like instructions, then looked to see her expecting gaze on him after she placed the wooden bucket between them.
"H-Hang on...I have to get them for you?" Sakura raised an eyebrow in puzzlement to what it was the blond was not interpreting.
"Well I am going to help of course, but you are an expert in getting them if I remember right from the chuunin exams."
Naruto looked at that murky water and gulped, "Umm...can't you jump in and get them?"
"Huh?! and get my cloths drenched!?"
"Then take them off and go in then." Sakura at first went agape at his casual instruction, but recovered with a harsh glare with a pink hue.
"You pervert!"
"Huh?!" Naruto then thought it over as a blush was forming around his cheeks in realisation to one little 'technicality' he forgot.
"U-U-Umm I-I see....I can just go back over there then and leave you to do wha-"
"NO NARUTO!"
A giggle that travelled up their backs made them turn their heads to see Kakashi standing there, "Would you like me to leave you two alone since it seems its ge-"
"SENSEI!" Sakura shouted with a her cheeks flaring.
'For god's sake, I will give him back his book if he gets any worse.'
Ignoring Kakashi who innocently shrugged, and went elsewhere anyway, she turned back to the blond, "Look, let's just catch them while walking on the surface with our chakra, is that far enough?"
"Err..."
"What?"
"Just a heads up...there are gators around this swamp." Sakura rose an eyebrow in question as to why Naruto suddenly looked paled.
"Did something else happen when you fell in the-"
"NEVER MIND!" The blond interrupted, not wanting to even pay a thought to the memory.
Naruto was about to take a step onto the water's surface when a hand resting on his shoulder stopped him, "What is it?" He asked, hoping she wasn't pursuing him about earlier. Her curious gaze fixed on the water made him follow her aligned eyes in curiosity.
He discovered she was staring at a stray leaf that was afloat on the surface, flowing down south with the moderate current. Looking back to see her emerald orbs holding deep interest, he tried again, "What is it Sakura-chan?"
"Hey Naruto."
"...Yeah?"
"Do you-...-no, it's stupid."
"Eh? come off it Sakura-chan, what's up?"
'I wonder...'
"I want to try something...can you hold on to me?"
"...Okay?" Naruto stretched out in question, while coming behind her and resting his hands on her shoulders.
"I swear you really are scared of women, HOLD ME DAMN IT!" Naruto murmured whines under his breath as he enwrapped his arms around her stomach and looked over her shoulder with a flush.
"W-What are we doing?" She felt her cheeks heat up at their proximity but brushed it off with a suppressed smile.
"Just shut up baka." She instructed, ignoring the very secured and warming feeling while forming a seal.
The blond then looked at her hesitant leg stretch above the water's surface, just making out the thin blue layer of chakra forming around her sandal. He didn't expect Sakura to suddenly jolt in his hold when her foot touched the water which nearly resulted in her slipping out of his arms.
"W-What was that?" Naruto now asked, while Sakura recomposed by standing up right again.
"I was thinking, what would happen if we tried to stretch our chakra and form the same motion we have when channelling water to balance our feet...as I thought, it treats us as part of the water itself...that resistance that almost made me slide off by surprise was the current."
Weighing the pros and cons, she decided that if worse came to worse, she would fall in and drench her outfit, embarrass herself in front of Naruto, and have to listen to Kakashi's disturbing giggles while returning back to the town.
...what did she have to lose?
"Naruto, let me go." The blond released her from his bear like cuddle, and she had to restrain the groan of disappointment when the warmth from her back left her.
"Sakura-chan...don't tell me you are going to-WAIT!-" Naruto froze stunned when Sakura suddenly jumped into the swamp and almost lost balance as she travelled down with the just above walking speed current. Her wobbling feet looked like jelly, as she tried to regain her posture. The sensation felt so bizarre, it was almost as if she was not standing on anything, but like she was standing on wet air. Eventually she was able to stand upright, and smirked back at the agape Naruto who was roughly ten meters away.
"Oh my god it actually works Naruto!"
Naruto finally closed his jaw, "Ok....but what does this do to help us?" Feeling he was getting too far away she looked down at her feet and shrugged. She tried to step forward, but instantly regretted it when her foot slipped up almost a hundred and eighty degrees, while leaning back as the tips of her hair dipped into the water.
'Crap!' Luckily she pulled herself up and flushed in embarrassment as Naruto already was running towards her on the surface.
"Hehe, I umm...slipped."
"Holy crap Sakura-chan! it looked like you were going to snap your back then!" She sheepishly shrugged as she stood still while Naruto was constantly walking towards her as they continued travelling downstream.
"Again, I don't see what the point of this is anyway Sakura-chan?"
"I honestly was just interested to see what would happen Naruto. By channelling my chakra into my feet like I am doing now, I am moving with the water flow as if I am part of the water itself...it feels like I am flying, sort of." Naruto could not quite understand what it was she was saying, especially since his own two feet felt like he was walking on solid grounds because of his chakra.
"I don't get it...sorry."
She waved a dismissive hand while looking down at her feet again, "I am going to try to walk again, will you-"
"Yeah Yeah, I'll save you from breaking your freaking neck." Looking down at her feet, she hesitated while about to take a step forward.
"Wait!"
She looked up at the walking blond as he put a hand to his chin, "If you are a part of the water as you put it, isn't lifting your feet up breaking that link?"
"...You have a point."
"You were also saying it's like flying...can't you just 'fly' forward with your chakra?"
Sakura looked at her teammate with genuine surprise, "Who on earth are you?!"
Naruto blinked blankly and shrugged, "What? it makes sense to me."
Sakura formed a seal while concentrating, 'Push my chakra against the waters flow...so If I match it, does that mean I will-'
She was interrupted when she collided with the still walking blond and almost toppled over, "S-Sorry Sakura-chan."
"Hehe, that's fine Naruto."
Pulling out of her space, he looked at her feet and hung his jaw open, "W-Woah!"
Looking down she shared her own surprise, when the current of the water was going around where her feet were touching the water as if she was a solid object.
Feeling adventurous to continue, she formed her seal again, "Naruto, can you please move out of the way." Naruto did as instructed while Sakura decided to go against the current at double the speed.
Naruto gasped in surprise when she starting moving at walking speed forward while her feet were not moving at all, "Ok...now that is just cool." The blond stated with a grin while catching up to her. Looking down again she could see while she continued sliding forward, the water was brushing against her toes through her sandals from the collision, giving her the strange feeling as if she was a ship.
"This feels so strange Naruto."
Perhaps she was starting to have too much fun and decided to try something else, figuring 'what the hell?' she was allowed to act like an everyday fifteen year old every now and then.
"Don't move." Naruto was about to question her instruction, but she suddenly shot off at great speeds while still not moving her body, almost as if she was skating. He went agape when she suddenly span around on the spot as if dancing, and made circles around him at what had to be sprinting speeds.
"THIS IS REALLY DAMN FUN!"
He heard all around him as she continued spiralling around him which was starting to make him feel nauseous, "OK! OK! can you stop that now!?" He almost jumped back in shock when she instantly stopped despite her speedy momentum, with her arms crossed while grinning at him from his side.
"Naruto you have to try this! it's amazing!"
Naruto formed a seal in hesitance, 'Why is it I have a bad feeling I'm going to fall into this swamp...again.'
"Ok so I don't use as much chakra like I am using now to stay up?"
"Ah, keep the flow constant, but use as little as possible, while stretching it to cover your sandals. Your feet will get wet since you are physically touching the surface, but who cares." Naruto suddenly had a very bad feeling about this and walked to the edge for dry land with Sakura tracing behind him.
"Ok!" He announced in a suspenseful like fashion, now on dry land while channelling his chakra.
'I am so going to fall in.'
The blond was taking a step forward, but Sakura's waving hands made him stop.
"Don't walk Naruto, you will just slip. Jump and land on both your feet." Naruto gulped and wondered if the smell would get out of his jacket if this didn't work, but nervously nodded.
"Ok then." The blond felt like his feet were ensnared to the ground though. If he chickened out, he knew she was going to tease him for the rest of the day about it. What also made him inwardly sulk though was he knew that if he fell in, she was going to tease him for his miserable failure anyway...so either way, he loses.
Akin to a child learning to walk, Naruto stepped back and gulped, earning a questioning emerald gaze that he was relieved didn't make a comment. Inwardly counting down as if in preparation for a race, the blond kicked off the seemingly so heavy ground, praying to whoever was up there for the best.
He yelped in surprise though when even though he was wearing sandals, he felt the unusual sensation as if he still was standing on essentially nothing. The only thing his senses could depict was the familiar feeling to something cold brushing under his sandals, which because of his chakra amplifying the effects, felt ticklish in his feet.
Sakura shifted along with him as the stream slowly pushed him away while he was trying to get his sense of direction. Guessing by the direction the 'brush' was dragging against his feet, he was able to put it together that it was the direction of the current.
"Wow...weird." He voiced his minds thoughts aloud, while channelling his chakra to stop.
Sakura reacted in time to stop another collision when he succeeded, "This is..."
"I know. It is hard to describe isn't it?" The blond then tried channelling his chakra to push forward, and once again to his surprise, he started skidding across the water without physically moving his body. The ticklish sensation under his feet were now brushing downwards, which made a giggle vibrate up his throat, but he withheld bursting into a fit of giggles from it.
"Hey! This is actually pretty fun!" He then adjusted to go sideways and backwards while Sakura watched, snickering when he could no longer refrain from giggling at the odd sensation.
Naruto then tried to spin around like Sakura did before, only he suddenly was met with both his legs twisting as he tumbled.
'DAMN IT! I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN TO ME!'
He was surprised when he suddenly felt someone grab him and keep him steady, "You baka! you cannot control your chakra like me, why did you try and do that!?" She scolded with clear amusement woven in. Naruto ignored it, and muttered thanks for being saved from his stinky fate.
"So Naruto what do you think?"
"Its... like skating on water I guess."
"Skating on water? I have no idea what you lead to that stupid comparison. But I like it for some odd reason."
Deciding she was happy with the name, she voiced her curiosity, "We should try the leaf exercise when we get back to the town after this, we might be on to something now with manipulating our chakra like a current."
"Yeah..." Naruto dying down voice made her blink in question, while he just looked at her with a soothing gaze and an soft smile that she rarely had ever seen on his face before.
Shaking her puzzlement off, she was about to back away but froze when she felt his paw of a hand rest on the back of her neck.
"Naruto?" She whispered, but instead of replying, she felt his hand pull her head in close to gasp upon feeling his lips giving her forehead a warming kiss. Sakura was completely caught off guard by his un-Naruto like gesture that made her heart skip several beats from the electric like pulses of affection rushing over from his contact. The warming sensation, coupled with butterflies flying around freely in her stomach only made his gesture all the more overwhelming, which her soft smile could only partly portray her inner sentiment.
A couple of seconds later, he pulled away and blushed with a sheepish smile with his hand threading through her silk like hair.
"What was that for?" She whispered, so only he could hear.
"No reason, I just wanted to."
"Hehe...I can accept such a stupid excuse...you wimp."
"Huh? How am I a wimp this time?! I kissed you."
"On my forehead, which was a very nice. But you chickened out again baka."
"Sakura-chan."
She chuckled lightly at his whine, "I am only teasing Naruto." She stated while tracing one of his whiskers with her thumb.
Feeling she should return the gesture, she slithered her hand through the side of his hair until her fingers were now cupping around his head. Sakura then pulled him in with a harsh tug, to capture his stunned lips. Like before, she was taken by surprise to feel life when Naruto finally had caught up with time, and returned the kiss while the electricity in their exchange numbed her lips. Pulling away reluctantly, she opened her tranced eyes to see his 'cute' blushing features across his cheeks, and giggled lightly.
"Baka, stop being so shy."
The blond sheepishly scratched his head while keeping his other resting against her back, "E-ermm, I'll think about it."
Her hands constricted on his jacket while pulling him down to snuggle her nose against his, "Naruto, there is no 'think' when it comes to this. You're supposed to be the one that follows what your 'gut' tells you to do...listen to what here tells you."
She patted on the left side of chest to feel his heart's strong beats vibrate against her hand, " that, and you can't go wrong." She concluded in a whisper, ducking a kiss on his nose while staring into his alluring eyes. "I-I see. How do you know that Sakura-chan?"
"Unlike you, I actually read decent books."
"So Ero-sennin's-"
"Naruto!"
"Kidding...I guess it makes sense...I'll think abo-BAH!"
"I said there was no thinking to it you knucklehead!" She scolded lowly, delivering a half hearted punch into his gut before pulling out of the cuddle.
"Now shall we get back to the point of coming down here?"
As if someone had flicked a switch, Naruto returned to his usual loud hyperactive beaming voice, "Yosha!" While the blond returned his chakra to normal and walked around looking into the water, Sakura shook her still smiling head at his unexpected change.
She had caught glimpses of this more softer, and quieter side of Naruto before, both during the times of team 7 and this mission. Only now though was she not only just seeing it clearer, but was discovering new qualities to Naruto. She for one, never imagined he could be shy, it practically clashed with her memories of the very hyperactive person she thought she knew all so well. She also never knew just how affectionate the blond could be, and dare she say, he probably wasn't even conscious of it.
'Oh well...I will just have to reel it out of the baka for the time being, he probably just needs time.'
The oblivious pair wasn't aware of the smiling Kakashi watching them from his spot not far in the trees. The scare crow had restrained himself to not whistle when they kissed, deciding that there were some moments where he shouldn't ruin the mood. His purpose was not to follow them here to spy on them in the first place, more so, he was ensuring they were not attacked. It still struck him as odd that the Akatsuki hadn't tried to abduct Naruto again, and while he was glad, he wasn't willing to risk letting his guard down under the belief they had given up.
A splash got his attention, as he snapped his gaze down at the teens to behold a fuming Naruto, shouting curses with a raging fist at a fish that had slipped clean out of his hands.
"Are you sure I can't just use a kunai Sakura-cha-"
"No you idiot!"
"...Shurikens don't dig in as dee-"
"Naruto!"
"Ok Ok! My bad!"
Maybe it was because their sudden bickering contradicted what he witnessed moments ago, but to the Hatake, he found their exchange of words priceless.
The Jounin's laughter made the blonds' eye twitch while pointing an accusing finger at his now exposed position, "Why aren't you helping sensei?!"
"Oh? Surely the great Uzumaki Naruto can catch a fish with his bare hands." The jounin answered back in exaggerated awe.
Naruto was about to remark back, but a splash made him turn and go agape, "Ok...that's just not fair!" Despite his curses at fate, Sakura had grabbed a foot long fish with reflective silver scales, which despite its struggles, her grip was practically mechanically locked onto it. Trying to ignore the blond through her smug smirk, she walked over to the bucket and dropped it in.
"It seems Naruto you once again are beaten by Sakura-"
"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" The blond shouted over Kakashi's commentating voice, as dozens of clones began dashing to different parts of the swamp, now determined to prove not only Kakashi , but partially himself wrong as well.
Deidara rubbed his exposed forehead with a dissatisfied grunt, "Are you sure this actually works, hmm?"
Claara rolled her eyes as they continued walking through the town, "Think about it Deidara-san. What makes a person look at us and determine whether we are just an average person or a shinobi? Your forehead protector is possibly the biggest giveaway, followed by any traditional items you do not conceal. People are more comfortable to interact with just ordinary people than shinobi."
As if she was proving a point, she laughed softly and waved at a passing by person, who smiled and waved back while having a brief exchange of 'having a good day?' and 'great thank you'.
"See?" She rhetorically stated, her smile fading back to an emotionless firm line. The ex Iwa nin just let it be and continued their hopeless search. Thomas, Mangetsu and Ronan were searching west, while they both were assigned to north. Feeling since their travels north were turning pointless, Ronan split the group up to search elsewhere. Originally Ronan did not trust leaving them both alone due to their death wishing antics from earlier. Since it seemed they were at least on a good enough term to not try and kill each other, he let them be to instead search the larger area.
The form of communication back and forth between the two groups was via the use of a scroll given to them by Thomas. Deidara still was bewildered by how the scroll worked. Using some stored squid ink, they would write their message on the blank scroll, only to have it dissolve away and then later receive a response back in a similar manner. The only gripe was they had no means of notification when a message was sent, which is why they checked it on an hourly basis.
This would now be marked as the seventh town they had now checked for any signs of the Konoha nin's. So far, their efforts had gone completely in vein. If it wasn't for the money he was payed, Deidara would have long given up, and took out his boredom on finding a practical use for his artwork. It puzzled him though how this kunoichi held little to no signs of giving in on their turning tedious mission. Claara shifted her course to a cafe store, and sat down at one of the benches with Deidara following.
"Well it's obvious they are not being so careless to leave any traces behind. Dare I say, they most likely would avoid a civilized place all together."
Deidara held more interest in the crunching of clay in his hand, but half heartedly nodded, "So where would they be holding up then hmm?"
Claara chose to ignore her partner as she pulled out a map and opened it up, "Next up is Swamp country, consisting of small villages and towns all over the place...but-" Deidara looked up to see her focused gaze on certain areas. Reaching into her bag for a marker, she circled four towns.
"-These are locations that were destroyed in the great shinobi war, and because of Swamp's general stale finances, they have never bothered to be rebuilt."
The artist now held wide and interested eyes while smirking, "So you reckon the nearby towns may have seen this jinkuriki?"
"It's a long shot, but at least it's better than just blind hit and miss."
Deidara nodded as they were served green tea, and hr decided to try and learn more about his partner, "So what is it with you and this kunoichi hmm? It sounds to me like she pissed you off somehow?"
Claara perked an eyebrow but lowered her cup of tea, "She...intrigues me."
The ex Iwa nin formed an unamused frown and just shrugged, "Whatever then-"
"Well there is of course her status as the apprentice of 'the great slug sannin'. All nin's who have spent some degree of time understanding the depths of medical jutsu, and using them on the battlefield have heard of the legendary Tsunade. The thought of being taken under her wing, and being taught by her in person is an opportunity many would say is a once in a life time experience. So I am curious to see just what this Haruno Sakura knows."
Deidara remained silent as the kunoichi's face twitched as if in recollection to a past event, and then she continued, "On another note, this apprentice has unintentionally thwarted several of my missions in the past, which has not only costed me my time, but also my reputation to my current and future employers. You take your 'artwork' very seriously, and I am sure you are very protective of it. Well I take my 'image' very seriously, and somebody giving me a bad mark is something I will not tolerate."
The ex Iwa nin had to suppress his gulp. If there was one thing he learnt about Claara all this time, it was that her attitude really gave him a chill that ran down his spine, and she didn't even 'hate' him.
Deidara could understand where the ex grass nin was coming from though, "So you are pissed off at her because you have lost loads of money from past missions she has screwed you over with without even knowing it. At the same time though, you have also lost possible jobs due to these hiccups caused by her."
Her emotionless chuckle made him twitch on impulse, "That's pretty much right."
"...Well that explains at least why you are being so dedicated to this mission then, hmm."
One day later...
Shikamaru was not feeling comfortable with their arranged plan. It was more than ideal that they located a cavern outside any major city in Taki, and even more appealing that it was on the border of a forest for setting up a perfect ambush. The shadow user was more concerned by how wrong this proposed ambush could go. For one, his greatest concern was he knew little about the ANBU's newly formed team bar Temari's word on one being extremely chaotic, and used some sort of explosive clay to fight. His imagination could only get him so far in guessing about any other additional team members.
"Shikamaru-kun!" Hinata's sharp whisper to his side got him to pause his musing, and see a taken aback Hinata.
"T-They're coming...but there is only one of them." Shikamaru perked an eyebrow, while giving the hand signal to Kiba and Shino who were concealed not far from their position to get ready.
"Describe him."
"He is a tall man, with some-...-something strange and large on his back that has a unique kind of chakra flowing through it-...-It looks like a sword of some kind. His forehead protector has the symbol for Kiri on it." That broad description still didn't help Shikamaru at ease, even if it was just one person that was sent to investigate.
Sooner than he had hoped for, the giant of a man came into the open view, appearing unaware of what was waiting for him. Now looking at the person with his own two eyes, Shikamaru could only form a scowl of worry. Jiraiya had volunteered before hand to act as the bait, who was lazily sitting inside the cavern waiting for the right time, although he wasn't aware of who the individual was. The man stopped a few meters outside the cavern and folded his arms as if he was expectantly waiting.
Like on cue, Jiraiya revealed himself a little too fashionably given the situation, by kicking the door off its hinges and jumping out striking a pose, "Prepare yourselves for the great legendary toad sannin Jiraiya!..." The sannin's exaggerated gesture died prematurely, as he saw the man's deeply satisfied shark like smirk.
"Well this is an honour to meet one of the legendary sannin." The man spoke, his genuine excitement practically radiating through his deep voice.
Jiraiya's eyes now widened in recognition, "You're...."
The man chuckled while still not turning away from Jiraiya's shocked gaze, "My my, it seems I have walked into an ambush...I guess Ryujin and I get to have a little fun." Jiraiya could only watch in shock as the man ran through seals.
'He's Hozuki Mangetsu, one of the seven swordsmen!' Shikamaru was oblivious to Jiraiya internal shock, as his shadow twisted and turned to try and lock with the giants shadow.
Mangetsu in an amazing burst of speed however, reached for his swords hilt and sharply pierced the earth in front of him with it, "Suiton, Suijinheki!"
The ground in a five metre border around Mangetsu crumbled, but what happened next was not the results the sannin, nor the group of chuunin's, were expecting from the water encampment wall jutsu at all. Jiraiya instead was met with the blinding blaze of a napalm like flame streaming up through the opened border, similar to a geyser around Mangetsu. The intense red light from the jutsu stopped Shikamaru's slithering shadow in its tracks, as the shadow faded away from existence by the glowing flames. The wall of solid red fire was blocking Mangetsu from sight of all the shinobi's but the agape Hinata.
'H-He is channelling his chakra into his sword?!' Jiraiya was able to squint through the blinding light to see another set of seals being rifled through by Mangetsu.
'That's-' Suddenly the steam of flames were cut off like closing a tap, with only sizzling bubbles of the red liquid oozing out of the border, then Jiraiya's view was blocked by a thick brown coat.
"Jiraiya-sama!" Hinata's shout went unheard by the sound of burning hot steel slicing through something like bread. The loud, brick collapsing 'clunk' did not match the expected sound of a body hitting the dirt.
"I thought a sannin would not be that easy to down. Good. It is hard to find a worthy opponent these days." Mangetsu cackled, while laughing at the 'remains' of a rock substituted form of Jiraiya split symmetrically down the middle.
"Katon, Karyuu Endan!" The familiar voice of the sannin shouted from behind Mangetsu, while a enormous head of a dragon made of fire, streamed out of his mouth like he was exhaling smoke.
"You are aware who you are dealing with right?" The swordsman snickered, while instead of dodging, shielded the front of his body with his sword, as a wild explosion travelled over the battlefield, numbing the ears of the wide eyed teen spectators.
The chuunin's shared a similar agape expression with the sannin when as if being sucked up like a vacuum, the dragon missile was absorbed into the orb core of the blade, which now shone a blinding bright tone of red. The force of the collision still made the swordsman slid back a few feet, as he laughed, "Fire is the worst element to use against a wielder of Ryujin, oh great Jiraiya."
Said sannin growled, 'So the legends are true.'
Ignoring the orb's star like shine diming, Jiraiya ran through seals after biting both his thumbs, "Kuchiyose, Gama no Yomi Numa!"
Jiraiya then slammed his hands into the ground, a black seal forming underneath his flat hands on the solid ground. The dirt before him in a twenty meter radius felt a shockwave of chakra brush over, starting from where Jiraiya was knelt. Mangetsu was within the centre of the circle, perking an eyebrow when he noticed he was starting to sink as if standing in quick sand. Raising his giant foot up out of the sinking ground, he noted the stickiness and thickness of the liquid that resembled mud.
'So it's the swamp of the underworld jutsu...but why is it so weak with the force its pulling me down?' On closer inspection to the jutsu he was standing in, his violet eyes caught something shifting underneath the muddy water.
'I wonder what that is?'
Shrugging it off, he lifted the huge sword behind his back, as he darted at slightly slower speeds towards the still kneeling Jiraiya, his sinking body never going lower than past his knees. Jiraiya's affixed eyes never stopped watching the still charging swordsmen until the distance between them was roughly five meters.
'Now!'
A violent splash came from behind Mangetsu, who span around with his sword at the ready to clash against dripping wet steel. The wielder being an eight foot tall toad wielding a katana even bigger than Mangetsu's sword.
Before Mangetsu could counter, the toad suddenly dropped into the mud water before him, seemingly disappearing with a splatter. The swordsmen again had to spin to his side to block a katana belonging to another toad, but then heard several eruptions in succession around him to reveal more of the katana wielding giant amphibians.
Twirling his sword with impossible swiftness given its size, Mangetsu either blocked the incoming swords with his own, or gracefully evaded only moving his upper torso. Kneeling under an attempted decapitation, Mangetsu eyed the muddy water that was up to his chest, 'I see. By moving, I can stay afloat, but-'
Quickly standing back up, he blocked a blow that emitted sparks between the two steels, '-These pests can strike blows as hard as Kisame-sempai. The only way I can effectively block their strikes it by standing still, but if I do that-'
Mangetsu leaned back as another blade just missed his head, but succeeded in trimming a few delayed strands of hair, 'I will continue to sink, meaning I cannot move, and eventually be too slow to stop their attacks....what a clever jutsu.'
Ducking underneath into the mud, Mangetsu smirked, 'Then I will just have to-'
With a burst of chakra, Mangetsu lunged out of the water a good ten feet. '-Attack from above.'
Spinning his sword, he threw it as if it was a mere dart into the mud, with the hilt just raised above the surface. He began dashing through seals in the air while tossing and turning on his decent. Jiraiya's eyes widened in shock when Mangetsu gracefully landed and balanced himself on the hilt's end of the sword, but continued his seals.
His shark like smirk widened even further when the toads lunged all around him when he finished his seals, "Doton, Yomi Numa!"
The mud abruptly began to emit a dim orange glow from below, with frantic bubbles rising all around in the mud swamp.
'THIS IS BAD!'
Before Jiraiya could back away, the entire area of his swamp went up like a rapid bomb fire, releasing sizzling red hot molten rock. It's violent eruption from within the swamp spitting at heights covering at least a good thirty meters into the air, before raining down like a water fall on the ground, its area covering double the radius of Jiraiya's swamp.
The stunned teens who had been watching snapped out of their shock when they saw the sannin get showered by the lava, and disappeared from their sights from the glowing pure red molten rock.
"JIRAIYA-SAMA!"