Chapter 9: Thoughts of the enemy.

The man slowly opened his eyes to find that he was in a darkened room, or maybe a tent. Beside him on the floor he could make out the bandaged body as that of his leader. Slowly he lifted his arm and gently moved his hand over his head. It was bandaged up and a cool, wet cloth was placed on his forehead.

"You shouldn't move a lot." Came a soft, sweet voice form the other side of the room. Turning his head slightly to the left Kenonai could see her.

"Nichibotsu… what are you doing here?" His voice was a little weak.

"Me? I'm heading back home with the others. What were you doing out there in the middle of nowhere? That's the real mystery here." The young woman placed the knife she had been using to cut up some herbs gently onto the wooden cutting board on the floor and moved over to the man who had just awoken.

"You had us worried sick you know. We thought you got caught up in the fight with the village." She knelt down beside him, brushing some of her light blond (almost white) hair, which had escaped the loose ponytail at the back of her head, behind her ear.

"Buredo and I got ordered to track down the amulet after we discovered someone had sneaked out of the village with it." He explained. It hurt to speak though because his throat was dry. As if sensing what he was thinking Nichibotsu gently lifted his head and held a bowl of water to his mouth, helping him to drink the much needed resource. After a few grateful gulps she placed the bowl on the floor again.

"Thank you." His voice sounded much better now.

"So you said someone left the village with the amulet? That would explain why we were ordered to turn back." The woman continued their conversation as she moved back to the cutting board.

Kenonai nodded in reply. "You said there was a fight, is father alright?"

"He's fine, only a few cuts and bruises. Tsuyo is fine two, he got out before the battle got ugly. They were some of the lucky ones. We lost many in the battle and would have lost a lot more if we weren't ordered to retreat." She informed him.

"So both father and Tsuyo are alive, that's a relief." He started to sit up but Nichibotsu moved over to him and pushed him gently down.

"I told you not to move." She took the wet cloth off his head and moved back to the cutting board again. "What happened to you two anyway? By the looks of it you've had a hard time."

"That daughter of the chief turned out to be the one who took the amulet."

"The one rumored to bare the mark?" Nichibotsu frowned as she put the cut-up herbs into a bowl and started grinding them to a pulp.

"Yes. And those rumors are true."

She stared at the wounded man, a touch of shock in her pale green eyes. "But that's impossible. That mark hasn't been bestowed upon someone for more than one hundred years."

"I know, but it seems the jutsu had been used not to long ago. What the reason is for them using it I do not know."

"Still, even if she has the mark it shouldn't have been too hard for you to defeat her." The woman poured some clean water into the herb mix.

"True, but the fact that one of those leaf ninja brats was with her made things a little more difficult." He flinched slightly as she applied some of the herb mix on to a wound on his arm.

"I thought they went back to their village the day of the attack."

"They did. Well most of them did. That kid wasn't with them when they left, I presume they believed he was dead. He was the one I told you about the other day, the one who killed Tosho." Kenonai started coughing as he finished speaking.

"Don't talk to loudly okay." Nichibotsu warned. "And it doesn't really matter what happened, as long as you're alright."

"How's Buredo doing?" The bold headed man felt concerned as he turned his head again to look at his unconscious leader.

"He's stable for now, but there is now way of telling how bad his injuries are. Whatever happened to him it caused quite a bit of internal damage. Hopefully there isn't a lot of damage to his vital organs and spine." She told him.

There came a short moment of silence. "Are you going out again? You know, to get the amulet?" Nichibotsu asked, her voice suddenly serious.

"What kind of a question is that? Of course I'm heading out again, as soon as I'm recovered. And if Buredo is too badly injured to continue then I'll find someone else who is willing to help me. It doesn't matter what happens, I will get that amulet."

The young woman was getting annoyed by the man's stubbornness. "Why, why do you want to go out there again? You were so badly hurt when we found you. You could have died. I don't think it's good for you to push yourself like this."

"You know well that it doesn't matter if good for me or not. Tanken ordered us to get that amulet and that's exactly what I'm planning to do."

"If Tanken orders you to jump into a fire would you do it?"

"I don't think that's a fair comparison."

"Well I think it is. If you go on like this you'll destroy your own body." She stopped as Kenonai started coughing again and they suddenly realized how loud the conversation had become. She took a deep breath, calming herself. "I know it's important to you to follow every order you are given, but if you destroy yourself in the process then it's not worth it."

They were interrupted as they heard footsteps from outside. A tall, brown haired man stepped into the tent. "I thought I heard voices." The man greeted with a smile.

"Tsuyo, it's good to see you again." Kenonai greeted his brown haired friend. He started to sit up again but Nichibotsu pushed him down again.

"I told you to sit still." Her voice had a touch of threat in it.

"If I were you I'd listen to her. She tied me to a chair the other day when I refused to rest." Tsuyo said with a smile, his mud brown eyes sparkling with the joy of talking to his best friend.

"I had a good reason." The woman said in defense. "You had been working all day. If I hadn't stopped you, you would have exhausted yourself."

Tsuyo only shook his head in fake pity. "I feel so sorry for you my friend. You had to grow up with this woman and even now in your injured state she's giving you trouble." This got him a punch in the side from Nichibotsu who was still sitting beside Kenonai on the ground.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"That was for annoying me." She answered. "And now we should be leaving him alone to rest." She continued while standing up and brushing the dirt off her short green dress.

"But I just got here." Tsuyo protested as his friend's sibling pushed him out of the tent.

Being left alone, aside for Buredo who was still unconscious, and having nothing else to do Kenonai closed his eyes to sleep.

Outside the two young adults could see the other tents around them. Unlike where Naruto and Bara were, here the ground was relatively dry because they were on higher ground. Not to far from their tent there was a small campfire with a cooking pot standing over it and a bit further Kenonai and Nichibotsu's father was standing and chopping firewood. Some other people could be seen helping around the camp, treating the ill or injured, searching for something to cook or just tidying up. Nichibotsu sighed as she walked over to the cooking pot and stirred the boiling mixture. Hopefully she would be able to talk some sense into her brother's head.

Hope you liked the chapter. Personally I don't like the chapters about the bad guys much. I'm already working on the next chapter and it should be published tomorrow. Thanks for all the reviews and to answer your questions:

I'll explain the situation with Jiraiya in the next chapter.

Naruto will meet up with his friends at the end of part one of the story. Part one = Their journey back to the village – Part two = The adventure of getting Bara home. Both parts will be in the same fic, I'll inform you once it's the end of part one.

I don't know what you mean by "the power held by the council".

I hope this helps a bit.