A/N: Alright, here's the next chapter. I'm trying to get ahead with my chapter writing, so once school starts next semester, I'll still have some chapters to post, even if I can't write them.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter Fifteen:

A New Mission

We ran through the desert the whole night. Kankuro said it would be cooler that way, and I was sure it was, but it still felt pretty hot to me. Not to mention dry. By sundown the day after left, we neared the edge of the desert. We slowed to a walk, and stopped when we reached the trees.

"Alright, what's the plan?" Kankuro asked. "How are we going to find Orochimaru?"

"I've been thinking about that," I said. "Akito, do you think you can track him?"

She shook her head, "No, regardless of where Orochimaru is, his scent is long gone."

"I figured as much," I said. I leaned against a tree, thinking. "Hey, guys, what was in the abandoned building you rescued Hinata in?"

"Not much, honestly," Akito said. "At least, I don't remember much."

I nodded. "I figured so much. Well, I think our best bet is to go to nearby villages, and see if anyone's heard anything about Orochimaru's location."

Everyone nodded, and Kankuro said, "That's logical. Follow me, there's a village nearby. We should be there by noon tomorrow."

With that said, we all followed Kankuro into the woods.

The next day

The village was small. Not nearly big enough to be called a village, it was more of a town.

"We don't want to draw attention to ourselves," I said. "Akito, I want you to go into the village and see what you can find. Mask your chakra, use a transformation jutsu if you feel the need, but just lay low. See if you can smell Orochimaru. If not, ask around, find out what you can."

Akito nodded. "Got it, how long should I take?"

"Be back by sundown," I told her. "This is just recon, if you're there too long, you may look suspicious."

She nodded, and headed into the town, masking her chakra. She didn't use a transformation jutsu, but she did pull a hooded cloak out of her backpack to shield her face.

Akito's POV

I walked into the town, unnoticed by the townsfolk. It was quaint, there were shops that lined the main street, and side streets that I assumed led to houses.

The first thing I did was inconspicuously sniff the air, enhancing my smell with my chakra. I thought I might have caught a faint smell of Orochimaru, maybe Sasuke, but I couldn't be sure. It was too faint to be positive it was even there. But it was enough for me to keep looking in the village.

I walked until I found an herb shop. I figured this was a good place to start. I was sort of familiar with some of the herbs Darcy used for her medical work, and buying herbs wouldn't be as obvious as buying shuriken and kunai. I ducked under the cloth hanging at the entrance of the shop, removing my hood at the same time, and casually began looking around.

The shop wasn't super busy, but the clerk didn't greet me for a couple of minute. She seemed to be busy with other work.

"Oh, hi," she finally said, glancing up and noticing me for the first time. "Sorry, I didn't see you there. Can I help you find anything specific?"

"Oh, I'm just browsing," I said. "Although, perhaps you have some information?" I tried to sound like I was curious about general information, not like I was fishing for anything specific.

"Information? What kind of information?" She asked.

"I'm looking for work," I replied, making up something on the spot. "I'm a bit of a traveling mercenary, you could say." I glanced over to gauge her reaction.

"Well, you won't find anything here," she replied with a polite smile. "But… well, I've heard rumors of someone looking to hire. He goes by the name Shiore from Kusagakure."

Shiore… why did that sound familiar? "Is that so? I assume this person would be found in the village itself?"

"That's the impression I got," she replied. She glanced at the door, looking nervous. I hope I hadn't crossed any lines. "Is there anything I can help you find in my store?"

I looked down at the herbs I was looking at and picked out a handful of a couple different ones. "No, this'll do just fine."

She cashed me out, and put the herbs in a bag. She bowed, wishing me a good rest of the day, and I made my way out of the store as quickly as I could without drawing attention to myself. I almost went back the way I came, but an idea popped into my head that caused me to exit out of the other entrance of the village.

I walked a good distance until I was out of eye sight of the town. I hurried off the road, and jumped through the trees, hurrying around the wall of the town to get back to where I was supposed to meet Darcy, Kye, and Kankuro. I had to hurry, too; the sun was beginning to set, the last thing I needed was for Darcy to freak out on me.

As I was jumping through trees, I realized why the name Shiore sounded so familiar. Though it wasn't a major detail in the show, and I can't even remember if it was mentioned at all, I remember reading online that the name of the grass ninja Orochimaru impersonated was Shiore, and now it seemed he was doing it again. Or so I assumed.

With minutes to spare, I reached the campsite.

"Good, you're back," Darcy said, standing. "What did you find out?"

"This isn't much to go on, but I think he's impersonating a ninja by the name of Shiore," I explained. "I know for a fact that was the same genin he impersonated during the chunin exams, and I think he's doing it again." I quickly explained what the lady at the shop told me, and added as an afterthought, "I think I smelled him in the village, too. It was very faint, I could have been imagining things, honestly, but I think it was there. Maybe a bit of Sasuke's scent, too."

"I guess we should head towards kusagakure, then," Darcy said.

"Hold on, hold on," Kankuro said, interrupting us. "That's not a lot of information to go on, and kusagakure is a long ways away. Shouldn't we look around a little more?"

Darcy paused in thought for a minute, and then replied, "I don't think we have the time to look around here. We need to find Orochimaru, but I supposed it would also be a waste of time if we took all the time to travel only to find he's not there." She paused again, formulating a plan, I assumed. "We'll split up, then. Akito and I will travel to kusagakure, while you and Kye look for more information here." She pulled out a map and began marking places. "We're near the border of the land of wind and the land of rivers, so kusa is around three days of travel. I propose we meet at this town here. It's about a half a day's travel from amegakure. We should try to meet in about six days there, sound good?"

"I don't know if I like splitting up," Kankuro said.

"Same here." Kye nodded in agreement. "It'll be especially dangerous for you and Akito since ame is where the Akatsuki is located and you two will have to go around it. I think it's safer if we spend another day or two here looking around."

"It is safer, I agree, but we're running short on time," Darcy said. "We don't know what Orochimaru is planning, and I don't want to find out when he executes that plan. This is our best option."

"She has a point," I put in.

"Maybe, but the lives of our comrades are more important than the mission," Kankuro tried to argue.

"I agree, but in this case, if we neglect our mission, an entire village could be effected. Your village, Kankuro."

"I know, but… but Gaara won't be happy with this," he pointed out.

"Gaara's not here," Darcy said, annoyance clear in her voice. "Look, since you're a jounin, I suppose that puts you in charge of this mission, so if you really don't like it, then we won't do it, but you better have another idea."

"I already said it, we should stay here," Kankuro replied.

"Yes, and I already told you that we don't have time to waste, but we also don't have time to waste running to a village on one little lead, which is why we split up." It was clear Kankuro was thinking about it, so Darcy added, "Look, I know it's not perfect, but it is our best option right now."

Kankuro sighed dejectedly, and said, "Yeah, you're right. Just don't die. Gaara might take it out on me."

She grinned, and said, "Wouldn't dream of it." Standing, she looked at me and asked, "Ready? I think we can cover a good distance before we rest."

I stood and nodded, "Let's do this."

"Remember where to meet," Darcy called back to Kankuro and Kye.

After a mile or so, I asked, "Hey, is it a good idea to leave those two alone?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Darcy asked.

"I mean, they were getting awfully close on guard duty on the wall," I said. "You don't think they'll… do anything together while we're separated, do you?"

"No way! Kye isn't like that," Darcy said. "At least… I hope not."

We traveled about ten more miles until we found a clearing to stay in, and I took the first watch.

Kye's POV

Kankuro and I camped out where we were once Darcy and Akito left. He showed me a couple of towns on the map that he wanted to check out, and then I went to bed, Kankuro taking the first watch.

A/N: Sorry it's so short, but I figured this was a good spot to end. The next couple chapters will focus on each team individually.