Chapter 37
The next few days for Yotaro were spent training in the ways of the Hidden Tree village under the direction of Kaemon. The were currently stopped some where between Suna and the Fire Country hidden in a large collection of boulders that created a fairly decent sized cave. Currently Yotaro was alone in the cave while Kaemon and his guardian-familiar Sanjimaru were out gathering food.
Gentle silence hummed in Yotaro's ears as he sat meditating in a perfect lotus position, Murasami perched gently on his left shoulder. Slowly Murasami and Yotaro's thoughts began to merge as one until all of their memories flooded through their partner's mind.
Images like a motion picture set on fast forward sped through their minds. Yotaro experienced Murasami's birth almost four hundred years ago, along with his extensive training to become a future guardian-familiar. He felt the snowy-owl's excitement when Natsuobi was assigned to her fusion-companion, knowing that in only a hundred years his turn would be next. He felt the owl's shock when he was told by the council of elders that his long wait was over only four short years after Natuobi's departure.
At the same time Murasami was a witness to Yotaro's struggles with his identity, his pains and trials as he fought his way through first the orphanage, then the academy, and then finally through his years as a genin. He felt Yotaro's fear and determination as he faced down one of the strongest ninja's in the world; felt his terror and self hatred when the boy realized that he was going to loose, and finally Murasami watched as Yotaro tapped into a power that he didn't know that he had as he used his powers as one of the fusions to create a beast bunshin.
When Yotaro and Murasami finally came out of their trances they turned to face each other with wide eyes. Neither of them had ever experienced such a thing in their entire lives.
"Good. You have made the first step in becoming true partners."
Yotaro raised his eyebrow. "What's the second one?"
"Mastering your fusion form."
Before Yotaro could respond both Murasami and Sanjimaru looked up and narrowed their eyes.
Kaemon looked up while gently massaging his wounded upper arm. "What is it Sanjimaru?"
"There is a chakra presence several miles ahead."
"Do you recognize it?"
Sanjimaru turned to Kaemon, his face slightly puzzled. "I do, but that is not what is unusual."
He paused for a second and Yotaro looked at him expectantly before he spoke. "And?"
"There is something else with him, something that no shinobi outside of the Haruno Clan would be able detect." Sanjimaru said. "It is a hole in the symmetry plain."
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Yume shivered, as the dampness of the cave where he and Kane were hiding finally began to leak in through his thin clothing. The fire had long since gone out and since the sun was still up he didn't feel as though it would be particularly intelligent of him risking capture just to secure some more fire wood.
Still, it would probably be worse if Kane caught his death of a chill so Yume had compromised by taking off his cloak to wrap the baby tightly. This of course was why Yume himself was cold. Still, he would only have to bare it for two more hours before the sun was fully set and he could venture out with the boy to gather more wood.
Yume suddenly looked up. Any normal person would have dismissed the soft 'swoof' as an act of the wind but being a ninja (and one of the very best at that) he had trained himself to pick out the ordinary from the unordinary. Once again he heard a 'swoof' and knew for sure this time that it was created by a person; only a ninja could move with that much stealth.
With no weapons the Yondaime reluctantly placed the young Uchiha behind a decent sized boulder and wrapped him tightly to keep him warm. Once Kane was taken care of, Yume slid into the shadows where he silently lifted a sharpened stone from the floor to use as a makeshift weapon. He didn't make a sound as he listened to the sounds of approaching shinobi come steadily closer until they stood silhouetted against the setting sun.
"Is this the place?"
Yume's brow furrowed at the familiar voice but he was unable to place it before the one who had spoken stepped forward.
"Hokage-sama? Are you there?"
Yume's jaw dropped at the sight of the young boy turned man he knew had died six years before.
"Y-Yotaro! But that's impossible!"
Yotaro grinned. "Not quite. We'll explain on the way."
"On the way?" Yume asked. "Wait. Who is with you?"
The second figure stepped out of the glare of the sun and nodded solemnly to the fourth.
"It has been a long time Hokage-sama." Kaemon said. "I have much to tell you."
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It had been almost four weeks since the Konoha Senshi had relocated to the wave country and already they knew that it was time to move on. At least, that is what Sasuke and Naruto continued to insist.
"The bridge will be completed by the end of the week," Sasuke said. "And by then anyone could track us. With the last payment we should be able to relocate somewhere far enough away from Konoha to be out of danger completely."
"But Sasuke," Sakura said. "Aren't we the safest right where we are? After all, who would ever expect us to hide so close to where Orochimaru can find us?"
"If your heartstrings couldn't be tracked then I would agree with you, but since you and Hinata haven't—."
"The jutsu is almost completed Sasuke." Sakura said. "It should be completely done by the time you finish the bridge."
Hinata nodded her agreement as she and Naruto attempted to get the twins to eat.
"She is correct Sasuke-san." Hinata said. "The jutsu will be completed in only a few days and then we will be completely untraceable."
"Yeah but what if they've already found us and are on their way here?" Naruto said. "We can't take the chance of this village being in danger because we didn't leave. Think about what could happen to Tsunami, Inari, and the old man."
Having grown quite close to Tsunami and Inari (who had taken Sasuke and Naruto up as his heroes) while the boys were working on the bridge Sakura and Hinata were both very reluctant to allow any harm to come to them.
"I guess that as long as the kids are okay with it…" Sakura said.
"Then…it would be alright to change locations again." Hinata finished.
"But!" Sakura said with her finger raised. "We will only move if you promise that we will stay there until it is time to go back to Konoha. Deal?"
The boys shared a glance before nodding to their wives.
"As long as we remain undetected in our new location then I do not see anything wrong with that plan." Sasuke said while Naruto nodded his agreement.
"Good," Sakura said. "What do you say Midori-chan? Are you up for another move?"
Midori bit her lip and looked down at her plate before she looked up, her face serious.
"Will Shigure-kun and Shinta-chan be able to come too?"
Sakura laughed and nodded. "Of course, we'll all go together."
Midori shrugged. "Then I guess it won't be so bad…" she paused. "Can we get a dog?"
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"But I don't understand Yotaro," Yume said once they were all settled around a new fire. "You were dead. I saw your body myself…"
"I don't fully understand it either but from what I do know it has to do with my—."
Yotaro stopped mid sentence when he finally noticed the small bundle held gently in Yume's arms.
"…Hokage-sama…what is that?"
Yume fought back a smirk before he pulled the blankets away from the baby's face. "What does it look like?"
Yotaro stared at Kane.
Kane stared at Yotaro.
"…."
"…."
"…."
"….Nn…"
Yotaro snorted back a laugh. "Yep. That is definitely Itachi's son."
End Chapter 37
Kaliea: Yes it is very short. I know. But I have a lot going on right now as well as very limited internet access. I hope that you all enjoyed it. Don't forget to review.
Review Answers:
krisi07: I hope that you enjoyed the chapter
Hiei-Touya-icedemon: He said cool. For him that is practically jumping up and down with joy :P I hope that you enjoyed the chapter.
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Princess Ren: I'm glad that it's starting to make sense to you
HinaNaruFAN987: I hope this is soon enough.
So-kun: Maybe. Maybe not. It all depends. Although I will say that Kyuubi has a lot to do about it.
Danny-171984: I never said that Hinata wouldn't care but she's so shy and self-judging that (even though she's different in this story) she will take a while to understand that she isn't going to mess it up. Sakura doesn't have so many reservations because of how out going she is.
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