As soon as the sun started to raise, Reena's team set out to meet the other two teams located at the mountains. To make it easier, the team leader decided to find the river and run up along it. Just like the other teams, this team was also in high spirits. Though they felt like time could be running out, they had finally found a lead. With it, they were going to be able to work from somewhere.

They had been going at it for about an hour when Naruto suddenly split himself from his cell. Surprised, Reena stopped to see where he was going. The other two who had also stopped gave a questioning look to their leader, who shook her shoulders to indicate that she was equally at lost.

When Naruto rolled up his pants and his sleeves to then walk in the crazy water current, instead of walking on the water itself, the white hair girl finally decided to speak up.

"Hey, Naruto. Just what exactly are you trying to do?"

"Does Sora like dragonflies?"

Reena gave him a funny look. She didn't follow his logic at all.

"Well, yes..." she finally answered after deciding it couldn't hurt answering such a random question.

The blond hair boy seemed very concentrated about something. Curious, the girl decided to get closer to the river while the rest of the team, who were growing impatient, remained behind.

"Naruto, I don't know what you're trying to do but don't you want to go find Sora?" she asked patiently.

"Of course! But... look!" he shouted while pulling something dark blue out of the river.

He ran up to her the best he could and gave her his founding. When she started to look more closely, her face's expression changed from total confusion to pure delight. Out of the blue, she hugged her teammate.

"It's her family crest that she usually wears on her sleeve!"

His eyes widen in surprise.

"It is?"

"Yes!"

He looked back at the water.

"So that means that since the current is coming from the mountain chain then she must have dropped it there and it washed ashore here!" he reasoned, suddenly very excited by his discovery.

His theory left her thoughtful. Though his reasoning was right, her instincts were screaming the opposite. As they walked up to the group, she turned around and looked in the direction the water was going toward.

"Are we good to go?" asked Sakura impatiently.

"Yup! I'm all done!" answered Naruto still proud of his discovery. "I'll tell you on the way what I found!"

"Sure, sure," she said as everyone started getting ready to leave.

"Hey Sai," Reena called out.

The boy in question stopped in his tracks and looked at her while the other two kept going.

"Yes?"

"Your geographical knowledge is much better than mine. Do you know if there's anything at the end of this river?"

"Well..." Sai stopped and thought for a few seconds. "I do believe there is a small village which runs on this river further down here. It's located just a bit before the frontier splitting our territory from the Hidden Mist one..."

"Hm..."

The girl processed what her teammate just told him. Finally, she decided to turn around and catch up with her team. Her priority, at the moment, was to meet up with the other two teams as soon as possible.

To make their trip easier, both teams had decided to go back by ground to where Shikamaru had hit the water. This way, they wouldn't all have to struggle with the slippery side of the mountain. When they reached their goal, they first scanned the side of the mountain for any clue as to where their target could have past. It was very possible that they had decided to use the slightly more dangerous route in order to remain unseen.

Shikamaru was first able to point out the path he had used himself yesterday. From there, they pinpointed where the headband had been.

"Geez, you're really lucky you didn't crack your head open on your way down, Shikamaru," mentioned the boy's sensei.

The black hair boy looked away in discomfort. It had certainly not been his plan to fall from such a height.

"Ah, give him some slack, Asuma. It was obviously an accident," said Kurenai who was standing nearby.

"Hey, look over there!" shouted out Ino as she pointed toward the mountain.

Everyone turned their gaze in the same direction and there they saw it: the entrance of a cave.

"So they might not have crossed the mountain chain, huh?" mumbled Kakashi.

"Let's go then!" declared Gai.

Everyone looked at the man in the green jumpsuit climbing at an amazing speed. No one was quite sure if they wanted to follow him or not. Though everyone wanted to hurry and find Sora, it was obvious that moving in without a plan would be reckless. Thus, they decided to let the man climb by himself while they made some plan. Chances were, due to what seem like a limitless source of energy, Gai would probably just come back down when he would realize he was alone.

Grouped up together, they started discussing a plan on how to process. It could have been a good idea to wait for Reena's team as back up, but then again they felt more urged to go now in order to find Sora as soon as possible. Due to the amount of time it took them to find this place, they were worried that wasting any more time could be fatal for her. All their talking, however, was soon interrupted by Gai shouting.

"Hey down there! There's no one here! There's a bunch of stuff but not a single soul! Stop being lazy and get up here!"

The group exchanged some surprised looks. They had not considered the option where the cave would be empty. Hurrying up, they all climbed as fast as they could with the slippery surfaces and eventually reached the cave's entrance. Just like the man in the jumpsuit had informed them, no one was there. Walking around, they spread out to explore the place. All kind of things were lying all around. Deeper in the back, Shikamaru and Choji found some torn rope laying everywhere on the groud. Unfortunately, from the looks of things, Sora wasn't anywhere to be found. After several minutes, they grouped up in the middle to find their findings.

"I definitely believe they were here," declared Kakashi seriously.

"There is quite a bit of stuff... Think they really left the place for good?" asked Asuma.

"Well with the drug I saw back there, I seriously doubt they'd just leave all of that here!" exclaimed Gai.

"Drugs?" asked Ino in surprised.

"You don't mean..." started Shikamaru.

Seeing where this was going, Gai decided to shut his mouth. Starting to feel a bit panicked, the boy looked at his sensei.

"Asuma-sensei... you don't think they could have used that on her?" asked Choji, seeing how his best friend couldn't finish his question.

"It's a possibility," answered the man with a grunt all while lighting up a cigarette.

He did not like the idea any more than them.

"What could they possibly have wanted from her?" asked Ino.

But her question remained unanswered as a fog started settling in the cave. Noticing this, Kakashi spun around and shouted:

"Incoming!"

By the time everyone got ready, the cave was now fully filled with a dense fog.

"Looking for someone?" said a voice which echoed all around them.

Everyone kept their back on everyone else in order to be ready for any kind of attack. Unfortunately, it was getting obvious that they would never have the upper hand in this situation.

"We need to get out of here," said Asuma to everyone.

"Oh yes, what an excellent idea!" continued the same voice around them. "Do watch for your step on your way out, heard it was quite... steep."

The enemy chuckled as everyone swore. They knew he was right. Unless they could distract him long enough for them to focus on the entrance, they wouldn't be able to make it out alive.

"Now.. who should I start with?"

The group held their breath and waited. Suddenly, a shaped appeared in front of Kurenai. Before the enemy could strike, she hit the man squarely in the chest with the palm of her hand.

"Wrong choice," she spat out. She then turned to everyone else. "I got him in a genjutsu. Hurry and get out of here! I'll be right behind you!"

No one waited to be told twice. All while making sure that Kurenai was following closely behind, they slowly but surely made their way to the entrance. Once they were able to see again, they hurried and climbed up to reach the flat top of the mountain.

"Here, we'll have the advantage," said Kakashi all while lifting his headband to reveal his sharingan.

Everyone else got in position. They waited until finally, a man jumped up. With quite a speed, he was able to get past Kurenai and ran into Gai. Soon after, five other identical men showed up with the exact same speed. As Gai took care of the first once, Choji ran down a second one in his human boulder shape.

"The real one isn't here," declared Kakashi as he looked around.

"This isn't good," mumbled Asuma as he turned around to find three new clones making their appearance.

"The coward must be hiding somewhere," shouted Gai while taking down another clone.

Shikamaru, who stood behind with Ino, was thinking the situation through. The blond girl stared at him in pressing manner. He suddenly turned toward her and shouted: "Get down!"

She ducked down just in time to avoid what seemed like a sword over her head. Shikamaru made a hand sign: "Shadow sewing technique."

Needles shot out of his shadow and skewered the clone, making it go down in water.

"Shikamaru! Behind you!"

The boy turned around just in time to see the man's sword coming down on him. Though he braced himself the best he could with a kunai knife, the hit never reached him. Looking back up, he saw the man frozen in place.

"Swing that sword down and I guarantee that you're a dead man," sneered a voice behind him.

Thankfully, the man did not seem to have a death wish as he slowly threw his sword sideways, away from him.

"Good, now kneel down and cancel those damn clones!" shouted the menacing voice.

The man followed the instructions and when he kneeled down, everyone saw Reena behind him, holding one of her claw weapon behind the man's neck and the other in his back. She had quite the scary expression on her face.

"Guess we got here in time!" shouted Naruto as he appeared with Sakura and Sai.

When everything seemed to have calmed down, everyone gathered around Reena and the kneeling man. Kakashi calmly kneeled down with one knee and followed the usual procedure that he and the white hair girl had now established:

"Your name?"

The man stared him down at first with defiance. That leftover courage he had soon left after staring into Kakashi's Sharingan. In a matter of seconds, he turned pale like a ghost. The shinobi spoke again.

"I will not repeat myself."

"Jiro Chishrio."

Reena glanced at Sai who looked through his bingo book. After a few seconds, he quickly nodded. Seeing his answer, Kakashi resumed.

"Are you alone?"

"Yes."

"Was this place abandoned?"

"No."

"Where are the others?"

"On the lookout."

"For what?"

"To find a way through those damn ANBUs."

Kakashi took a deep breath before asking his last question. With the answers he was getting, things were not looking up at all.

"Where is Sora Tonbo?"

At everyone's surprise, the man snorted then burst out into laughter. Losing her calm, Reena kicked the man on the ground.

"Answer the damn question!" she shouted.

A very bad feeling started settling in as Shikamaru waited for the man to answer the most pertinent question.

"Somehow, she got out of her ropes and ran out of the cave. Without even a moment of hesitation, she jumped down into the river." The man laughed out loud like a maniac again. "That crazy bitch must have had a death wish!"

Shikamaru froze in disbelief. Could the man have been lying?

"Damn it," spat out Reena at the revelation.

She finally understood why they had found Sora's family crest in the river.

"We need to find her," added the girl while looking at her sensei in a pressing matter.

Without a moment more of hesitation, Asuma spun around to face his remaining three students.

"Go. Follow the river."

No questions were asked and without a second more, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji left the scene behind. Nothing was holding them back here anymore.