Chapter 24 By the Shore Part 1

The main street of the lake front city of Nysa was wide and paved with bright red bricks, lining each side of the road where tall maple trees which provided shade to the rich and famous people who had mansions along the lakefront. They also gave shade equally to the tourists who spent years saving up to spend just a week among some of the most expensive and upscale dinning and stores in the world. Nysa was the go to place for honeymooners from every nation; it was so valued that even when war raged nearby no combat took place within sight of the village itself. Part of the reason it was so famous was because of the large fresh water lake full of fish and great swimming holes. There was also a large island near the center of the lake where in the middle of a forest turned spa one could find what was considered the best hot springs in the world.

The hot springs was so popular that even Daimyos had to reserve their stay over a year in advance. There was no one walking past the windows full of designer cloths and no one sitting in restaurant that cost more for an appetizer then most people spend on whole meals back in their hometown. There was of course cheaper places to eat for the people who made a living in the village but those where far away from the two main drives. Those drives called Main Street, which lead inland to the white sandy beach and the lake road, which ran around the lake before coming back to Main Street. It was on those streets that the most upscale and expensive stores where located.

To Ino she was not sure what was creepier the fact that the famous road that she had seen multiple times in magazines was abounded of people was now abounded or the fact that in a world where everything was torn apart this place was not. Some of the stores did not even have wooden boards over the windows and instead manikins with dresses worth more then what a jonnin made in six months stood with diamond necklaces around their necks. There was of course some broken windows and trash in the street but none of the burnt out husks. Some of the stores had metal gates across the windows and doors but inside she could see everything in the place that it had been when the people had left.

"I got nothing," said Kiba as he sniffed the air for any scents. "Well I don't smell anything out of the ordinary. I smell some rotten food and wide animals but nothing else."

At the same moment a bug landed on Shino's palm, it crawled inside his skin to share its information with the master who allowed it to live inside his body.

"Same here, there are some dead bodies sitting in a park about a quarter of a mile away but everyone there is long dead." stated Shino as everyone shrugged dead bodies was so common that it was hardly worth taking note of.

"I see nothing either." added Hinata "I don't even see anything that looks like a base of any kind. Infact aside from the police station I see nothing that could pass as a defensible location."

"So where is this base?" inquired Sakura as Karin moved down the road, stepping on weeds, which had grown through the cracks in the brick roads. She stepped over some luggage, which had been left in the middle of the road. As the group moved down the street pass the stores everyone was both on edge and also looking on in wonder. They saw stores full of diamonds and stores with suits worth thousands of dollars. It was a scale of wealth that none of them could ever reach, this was the playground of the Daimyo's, movie stars and the ultra-rich. Finally at the corner of main street and the lake road, it was the most prized piece of land in the city maybe even in the land of Fire. Sitting at the corner with a perfect view of beach and the blue water sat the famous Fire Lake Restaurant. Everything was still intact as Karin led the group into the restaurant.

The place was worth every penny, columns covered with red stones held up the roof with a hardwood floor. Everything was set perfectly with crystal glasses and fine china plats sitting at every table. Every chair was covered with red silk and a large fireplace and sitting area sat on one wall.

"Wow, I always wanted to be here," admitted Ino as Karin walked past the gold and silver trim that was inlayed in the wood toward a staircase without a second look. Downstairs was almost a twin to the 1st floor only a large bar instead of a fire place covered one wall. The bar which ran down one side of the place was made out of solid redwood with some of the most expensive bottles resting against the back of the bar. "You can't even walk through the door unless you are in a suit and tie and a gown and that is for lunch."

"Personally I could care less right now." said Sakura as she wondered what they were doing. Karin walked behind the bar as the others watched.

"Ok, why are we here?" inquired Tenten

"Just shut up and follow me," ordered Karin as she lifted up a trap door in the bar to show a staircase.

"I read about this the wine cellar, it is famous around the world." said Ino as Karin rolled her eyes as she disappeared down the stairs followed by the others. On the third level, they found that everything was much cooler and all the tables and chairs had been replaced with a room full of wine bottles and other high-end spirits. Large wooden racks full of wine ran around the stonewalls and went from floor to ceiling, lower chest level racks full of different spirits filled most of the rest of the room. Four small tables sat in each corner each table covered with a white cloth and set with golden cover glasses and silverware. "Each of those tables are 2,000 dollars just for an hour, that isn't counting food or wine."

"$2,500." corrected Karin "And the people who get them are some of the rudest people, and few tipped. They drop a thousand dollars one wine but will not drop a dollar for the waitress who brought the wine."

"You worked here?" asked Sasuke

"Part of my cover." answered Karin as she moved toward one of the wine racks only to grab a hidden handle. She pulled it back to show a circler room with wine racks around it and a large table capable of holding 12 people with ease. "Oh, that table is $3,500 an hour."

"I still don't know why we are here?" inquired Karui as she used Samui to help hold her up.

"Well this is the entrees to the base," stated Karin as she pulled a cloths hanger from a rack located in a small side closet. With a snap the hanger became a small almost impossible thin pipe, she pushed it through an equally small hole in the back stonewall of the closet. Then she twisted the pipe and the sound of the door unlocking caused everyone's eyes to widen as a hidden tunnel opened.

"Orochimaru had a base built under the most expensive restaurant in the world?" inquired Ino

"Yes, no one would look for it here." explained Karin as she folded the hanger back into its original form showing that is what it was designed to do. "Follow me."

They had to move single file as they walked down a long and narrow tunnel which went deep into the ground before opening up.

"Now let's see if the generator still works," said Karin as she flipped the switch on the wall, for a second nothing happened then lights turned on to show a long arched tunnel. The tunnel went on for a while until finally they reached a large door with the sound symbol cut into the metal. Karin flipped open a key pad located by the door and typed in her code. Slowly the door opened and the group entered the base.

"I never saw any of this?" admitted Hinata

"Neiter did I," admitted Neji "They must have seals in place to stop our byukugan eyes from seeing it."

"How big is this base?" inquired Samui

"Big enough for our uses." answered Karin but sensing that was not enough she went on. "There are eight areas total, spread out like a web going deep into the lake. First area built for defense incase of an attack and has some group rest areas. The second area has more group rooms, dining rooms, kitchens and others. The third area is a full medical lab with areas for surgeries. The 4th and 5th area is full of supplies and the 6th area has the generators and computer core."

"What about the last two areas?" inquired Sakura

"Subject storage." answered Karin

"You mean prisoners for Orochimaru's experiments," countered Naruto with a slight growl.

"Your point?" inquired Sasuke "It works for us, now let's get see what is all here and then find out what we have to get. There are things that we need that aren't likely here."

"Such as cloths and I for one am I tired of wearing the same cloths for what seems like years." stated Karin "Luckily we have a whole town full of supplies to gather from."

"Where do you want me?" inquired Meiko "Am I going to this subject storage?"

For a while, no one said anything as everyone looked between Sasuke and Naruto.

"You should go to subject storage." stated Sasuke "But to avoid a fight, we can secure one of the rooms in housing area."

"But you are not getting an access code." stated Karin as she went on to explain. "Each section is connected to each other by tunnels similar to the one we just went through, each one can only be open with an access code. It will keep her where we want her to be."

"Fine by me." Stated Meiko

"Also it allows parts of the base to flooded without the entire base being destroyed." Explained Karin before looking at Meiko. "Even you demons can't breathe underwater."

"Well the water Kami's can and so can the Heikegani." countered Meiko with a slight smirk "But that is beside the point, Kitsunes which I am one can't."

Karin led them into a small room full of TV monitors built into two walls with tables bolted into three walls. Sitting on two desks where computers while the third had a coffee machine and a stack of papers. Karin turn on one of the computers and almost instantly all the TV screens came alive. What it showed was surprising. One wall showed the town they had just walked though while the other showed the base itself. They could see the trash covered streets outside and the cleanroom inside.

"Well everything looks good." reported Karin as she looked down at a piece of paper. "And as long as the person who closed the base did their job we have a full stock of medical supplies and material for research."

"Why would Orochimaru leave some of the most expensive medical equipment in the world behind in a base he was abounding." Inquired Sakura

"In case he wanted to reopen the base, Orochimaru may he burn in whatever hell hole he is in, liked to do it that way." explained Karin

"Yes, he would often abounded a base only to reactive it in a year or two depending on his needs." confirmed Sasuke "Why take the time to move everything out and store it only to move it back in a year or two."

"Makes sense." admitted Neji "But I assume we will need more supplies then what we currently have."

"Correct, we seam good on medical supplies, power, dry food and we have all the fresh water we could ever want," stated Karin as she looked down the list of supplies stored away from when the base was closed. "However we don't know how long we may be here so we should get more food and anything else we want."

"Also I don't want to eat dry food," stated Suigetsu

"Alright, lets head out into the city and gather supplies." Ordered Naruto

"First lets get us all into the computer system so that we can open the door. We don't want to get locked out." added Shikamaru as Karin nodded her head before going to work. Meiko stepped out along with her brother closing the door behind them. For a while the two of them just stood there side by side.

"You can hear them can't you?" inquired Naruto as his sister looked at him.

"Yes." confirmed Meiko before pointing toward her hears. "Demon hearing is better than human hearing."

"I thought so," said Naruto as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wall. For a moment Meiko thought she was looking at a younger version of her father, however that wasn't unexpected and people always said she took strongly after her mother.

"Aren't you afraid that I will try something?" inquired Meiko "I am a demon?"

"And you are my sister." countered Naruto as his eyes became silted, when they did he could see through the hedge that made her appear human. He saw the red fur, the muzzle on her face and the tail which told the truth. "If you try something then I will deal with it and besides you haven't done anything yet to make my trust in you unwarranted. You could have tried to run, you could have tried to do a lot of things but you haven't."

Meiko smiled, as she looked at her own brother with her own demon eyes, like all demons she could see through demon hedges but aside from the eyes he was human. Her heart sank as she realized that under his skin his chakra network was killing his own cells. Demon chakra was deadly to humans and her brother had absorbed all the Kyuubi's chakra when he died. That allowed him to see demons unlike any other human aside from Fu but it signed the death note for both of them unless they turned.

"Naruto, you do realize that unless you and Fu become demons you will die. Demon chakra will kill you both," said Meiko "I don't want my brother to die."

"I feel it." admitted Naruto as he looked at his hand "It is like my chakra is slowly burning from the inside but the strange thing is it doesn't hurt, it burns but it is like standing too close to a fire on a cold night."

"It will still kill you, I beg you to become a demon." said Meiko "I bet we can find a place for you to be transformed and then we can come back here. You can give a false name when you are turn and no one will know you are turned."

Before Naruto could answer, the door opened and Sakura walked out.

"Naruto your turn to put in a key code." explained Sakura as Naruto nodded his head as he went in Sakura gave her order. "Also don't use 1,2,3,4,5 or 1,1,1,1,1 like you used to do when we had code breaking lesson in school."

"Alright." groaned Naruto as he rolled his eyes as he entered the room.

"Baka." added Sakura as Meiko raised an eyebrow.

"He really used those as his codes in a code breaking class?" inquired Meiko

"Well Naruto was never that great at code breaking." explained Sakura "Hell I wasn't that good either but I can't blame him, looking back I find it amazing he even got as far as he did considering all the issues he had to face."

"Such as?" inquired Meiko as Sakura paused.

"Maybe it is better if your brother explains things like that to you," said Sakura as Meiko's eyes narrowed, both of them knew Sakura was dodging the subject. To get her back Meiko launched her own attack.

"You like my brother don't you?" stated Meiko, she asked it in the form of a question but it was more of a statement of fact. Sakura's head snapped toward the young Namikaze before turning away with a blush which gave her the answer. "I thought so, if you want my view you two look good together. Infact you kind of remind me of my mom."

That made Sakura look back at her with a cocky grin.

"You mean the one I punched in the face." laughed Sakura as Meiko laughed as well.

"Well in our family that wouldn't be out of the ordinary. I have seen my parents spar more than a few times. My mom can gets much hits on my dad as anyone else I have seen." laughed Meiko as the door opened and everyone walked out.

They followed Karin once again, only this time they went deeper into the base toward the housing area which was set up so that the Doctors and other researchers who worked for Orochimaru could live in a state of semi luxury while their subjects were imprisoned. The base was designed to hold only a limited staff full time and it reflected that. The housing area was in truth a large circle common room with multiple smaller rooms radiating out from there but all the doors opened out into the common area.

"Let's put the demon in her room," said Suigetsu as Meiko glared at the man but said nothing. In the end they put her in a room far away from either of the hallways which led out of the common area and into the base as a whole. Meiko shrugged as she entered the room only to find it very bare of anything that reminded her of home. The walls where solid stone concreate instead of the reddish tone her bedroom were back home. There was no wallpaper on the wall either and the light bulb in this room was bare aside from a metal protective case like one someone might see on a ship. The bed was a mass produced metal frame with a materus on top, not the handmade hardwood that her father had made for her. There was a desk but that to was mass-produced with a fake woken top.

"What would dad say about this?" inquired Meiko to herself as she ran her hand over the desk, while it wasn't her thing she had picked up a few things about wood since her father had learned woodworking from her grandpa. She threw her bag onto the bare bed before heading toward the only other door in the room. She opened it to find a bathroom and even that was bare. A shower on one wall a sink and a toilet on the other. A frameless mirror hung on the wall and the whole place had a prison feel to it. The only thing that was odd was the second door. Opening it expecting to find a place for towels she found herself in a matching bedroom to the one she had just left. Only this one was not her. Standing with his back to her was her brother. His head turned when he heard the door open.

"Looks like we have to share a bathroom." stated Meiko

"I know, that is why I am in this room," said Naruto as Meiko raised an eyebrow.

"Are worried that I will try something?" inquired Meiko

"Yes and no." admitted Naruto "There is just enough rooms for everyone and some of the others believe you may try to do something to them in their sleep."

"I would never do that," stated Meiko

"I haven't done it either but I know people who have killed people while they sleep." countered Naruto "They think that since I am your brother you will not do anything like that to me."

"I see." said Meiko "They don't trust me."

"Can you blame them, look at what the demons have done to the world." countered Naruto before looking his sister straight in the eyes. "I don't even fully trust you, but I trust you enough to know you will not do anything when we go out into the city to gather supplies."

"So I am being left here alone?" inquired Meiko as her brother shook his head.

"No, you are coming with us." said Naruto before laughing. "Unless you want to live off whatever you have in your bag."

"Well everything I have is back home or it could be in the Leaf already," stated Meiko as she saw the look on her brother's face. "We packed everything up to move back to the Leaf before we were turned. Mom and Dad where looking forward to having a dinner around the table together in the Leaf."

Naruto didn't have an answer to that, he had always dreamed about having dinner with his parents to be loved and to have a home outside of the small rundown apartment he had back in the Leaf.

"I have dreamed something along those line," admitted Naruto as his sister smiled, and then he decided to be the big brother. "Well I never imagined a little sister but I guess you will have to do."

Meiko laughed as well as the two siblings shared a moment.

"You better go take a count of what you have and what you need and want." Stated Naruto as Meiko blinked. "We are in an abounded and partly looted village, no one will say anything if you take something you want."

"Isn't that stealing?" inquired Meiko as Naruto took a deep breath.

"Yes, but that is the way the world is right now. The whole world is either dead, dying or turned into demons there are more important things to worry about. Likely the owner of the store is dead or beyond caring." admitted Naruto as he turned around and lied some scrolls out on the bed. He unsealed them to show cloths and other items. "Beside these rooms are very bare and everyone is down in the dumps. If listening to some music on a player raises your hopes then it is good."

In a similar room Sakura was looking at her own limited supplies, they had left the Leaf village in a hurry and now she was wishing she had followed Naruto's example in carrying her personal belongings with her. Almost everything she owned was either in her apartment, which she had not seen in over ten days, or in her locker back at the hospital. She had left them all behind so aside from her medical supplies and weapons she had next to nothing. Beside the cloths on her back which she had been wearing for four days straight now she only had her wallet which had her ninja ID, some cash and most importantly a photo of her mom and dad and two photos of team seven, one with Sasuke and one with Sai.

The sound of the door opening caused her to turn toward the bathroom door as Ino walked in without knocking.

"So I see you have even less then I do." Stated Ino as she looked at Sakura's positions. "We need to get a lot when we are out there."

"Yes." Confirmed Sakura as she looked at her ninja tools, she was low on some key stuff there but Tenten would have enough weapons for everyone. "I hope we are able to find what we need."

"We should, I was making a list of things I wanted when I walked down the street to get here." added Ino, Sakura searched her memories but could not remember them passing anything that jumped out at her as mission critical stuff. She was about to speak up with her best friend went on. "That light purple dress in the window for sure."

"Ino, I don't think we will have time to wear dresses and the other stuff you are thinking about." countered Sakura as Ino rolled her eyes.

"Sorry but we have been through so much and it would be fun to put that on to relax." stated Ino

"Don't you mean you want someone to take it off you." countered Sakura as Ino blushed. "Let me guess Sai?"

"Maybe, and wouldn't you want to impress Sasuke?" inquired Ino as the look of discuss on Sakura's face told her best friend how her view of Sasuke had changed. When she saw that, it was Ino's turn to grin. "Ah, so forehead as moved away from the snake toward the fox."

Sakura glared at her friend but did not answer which was an answer in itself.

"Our first goal, needs to be more food, medical supplies and basic clothing. We will worry extra stuff after that." Explained Sakura, about half an hour later they had gathered again by the entrees leading out into the city.

"Alright let's head back out and get some supplies." ordered Kiba

"Wait, check the monitors to make sure there are no demons outside." ordered Karin as she looked at Sasuke, to everyone's amazement he took the order and went in to check the video monitors.

"Can't you sense them outside?" inquired Hinata

"Can you see them outside with your byukugan?" countered Karin as the Hyuga heiress, shook her head. "The same seal that stops your eyes from finding this base stops me from sensing what is happening outside. That is why being wired into the cities police cameras is key. We don't want to open the door to find an army of demons waiting for us."

"That wouldn't be good," stated Kauri

"Do we have a radio broadcast station; we need to make contact with the rest of the world." Stated Shikamaru, deep down he wanted to make contact with the sand village and with Temari.

"Yes, but it is located under water and the extendable arm it rests on can only break the surface at low tide. It is easier to hide that way," explained Karin as she looked at her watch. "That will be in about five hours."

To the South West the 12 year old Konohamaru Sarutobi and his teammates Moegi and Udon had set up a small camp on the shore of a lake. They had spent the night by the water but under the cover of thick trees which went right up to the stony beach. They were about to head out when a fishing line they had placed in the water moved.

"We got something." said Konohamaru as he pulled on the thin line, quickly a decent sized fish came out of the water flopping. Reacting more from instant then training Moegi stabbed the fish with a kunai to end its life.

"Udon get a heater out and we will warm this up," ordered Moegi "We can have a hot meal before we head out."

"Ok, but we have no idea where we are going," said Udon as he pulled out a small heater which was designed to be used on cold nights but the open flame was strong enough to cook. The three genin gathered around the cooking fish with growling bellies. They had forgotten their training and was focused only on food, only when someone coughed did they turn to see a woman dressed in a dirty Leaf ninja uniform, her sleeves where torn just like her pants. She was still human and that was enough to get all three genin to smile.

"I am amazed you three haven't been found by those demons." Said the woman as she shook her head, her hair was wild and under each eye where bright red birthmarks. "Cooking food with your enemy down wind is asking for trouble."

"Sorry, Ma'am." said Konohamaru as he read the rank on the woman's uniform, she was a Jonin.

"Your Mrs. Inuzuka right?" inquired Moegi

"Yes, I was out here trying to find my children." Explained Tsume Inuzuka as her ninja hound came out from a behind a tree, the giant hound was pure black with a white underbelly. The one thing that made it stand out was the eyepatch over one of his eyes. "But I guess you three will do for now."

"Sorry aside from demons the only human we have seen is a woman named Fu." stated Moegi as Tsume nodded her head.

"Grab your fish and let's get going." ordered Tsume as she turned toward the North "We are burning daylight."

Back in the Leaf village Kakashi was just opening his eyes, for a moment he did not realize where he was, all he saw was something red. He had to blink a few times to realize that the red and purple was Rin's skin tone. Sometime during the night, they had moved together until their faces where within inches of each other. Her brown hair which now had streaks of purple in it from when she turned into a fire kami was actually moving a bit like a real fire.

"My God." Whispered Kakashi to himself as he tried to pull away only to find that Rin was using his forearm as a pillow. He could feel the fire on his forearm but it felt good, he looked at the woman who he thought had died all those years ago and was no sleeping on his arm. He slowly began to work his arm free before Rin woke up and caused him an issue. He tried not to focus on how the warmth of her body and as he looked down, he noticed the curve of her breast under her shirt and then he saw where her hand was. Her hand was brushing against his chest, her tail and his new tail where also touching each other. He looked back up to see Rin's deep purple eyes, as if fire was burning behind them where open.

"Shit." Cursed Kakashi

"Not what I thought you would say." admitted Rin with a laugh before looking past Kakashi toward the window where the sunlight was coming through. "Judging from the light I woke up about hour ago and fell back asleep."

"I see." said Kakashi as Rin moved away and stood up, stretching a bit as Kakashi found himself looking at his old teammate's ass.

"Kakashi, stop checking me out." ordered Rin as Kakashi's head snapped up to her face only to have the sound of her laughter fill the air. "Next time ask…I'll give you permission if you give me permission."

Kakashi did not know what to say to that; however he never had a chance to answer.

"We better get going there are some things we have to do today," said Rin as she sat down on a chair and put on her shoes. "If we can get Minato-sensie and Kushina, I think we should put our teammate to rest."

"Obito." said Kakashi as he lowered his head.

"Yes, they couldn't turn him. Something to do with everything Madara did to save his life all those years ago." explained Rin with a heavy heart. "I killed him myself and I burned his body so that we can place his urin in the ground.

"Well if we can't get Minato-sensie and his wife out of the hospital we can do it ourselves." Offered Kakashi

"Do you want to dig?" inquired Rin as Kakashi blinked before he remembered that he had become a Lightning Kami and because of that he could only use lightning Justus. He could not use earth style Justus to open the enemy grave to put Obito to rest. "Besides both of them loved him, they should be there."

"What happens after that?" inquired Kakashi

"We try to find a better place to sleep and then work on rebuilding the village," stated Rin "There is nothing else we can really do."

Well I hope you liked this chapter, I am setting up and building this location and I hope you liked it. Now until next time please keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75.