The day was coming to a close. Anari had finally made it back to the meeting to see that everyone was still sitting in their same positions, talking about the events that had happened only a few hours before. The door opening stopped the talking, prompting Enma to speak out at the man entering.
"Anari, where have you been? You've been gone for hours." Enma asked. Anari didn't answer immediately, only speaking once he reached his chair.
"I've been thinking about the situation. What conclusion did you come down to?" Anari responded.
"We've decided to keep accept it. Keeping Orochimaru closer to us than making him a factor that could interrupt our plans." Koemi said, staring directly in the eyes of the white haired ninja. Anari simply nodded and looked on.
"I came to the same thought while I was away. Shall we call them back?" Anari asked.
"Yes. Rueno, please call them in." The Kazekage ordered. Rueno nodded and walked away from the table.
Only a few minutes had passed until Rueno walked back into the room, followed by the metal dressed man and Kusai, who still had his sloth summon wrapped around his neck. They reached the table and Rueno took her seat once again.
"I assume that you have come to a conclusion." Kusai said. The Kazekage nodded.
"Yes we have. Please summon your crystal ball." Rasa said. Kusai nodded and urged the sloth to raise his hand. Slowly the crystal ball was summoned and the image of Kabuto appeared in the ball once again. Instead of the scene of the woods that had appeared earlier there was a dark room, only lit with candles that were scattered around the room, out of view. There was no sight of anything other than the boy, keeping the insides of the hideout completely hidden.
"Hello. I am pleased that you have contacted me." Kabuto said with a smile on his face.
"What is your answer?" Kabuto asked.
"We will accept your proposal. We hope that an official of your village can be sent to discuss the details. We would like your help in our mission to destroy the Leaf Village." The Kazekage announced. Kabuto nodded, no part of his smile faded.
"I'm glad that you have accepted our offer. I will notify my Lord immediately." The boy said as his image clicked off.
'Good. No issues with the negotiation. Now the only thing that we have to worry about is Harume.' Kusai thought as he grabbed his crystal ball and handed it to the sloth. In the palms of the sloth it disappeared.
"Is there anything else that you may need us for Lord Kazekage?" Kusai asked. The Kazekage shook in his and began to speak.
"No, that will be all. Thank you for sending the message. We will have guards escort you to the village gates." Rasa said as the two visitors nodded and turned away. With a snap the sloth was poofed back into smoke, as quickly as it had come.
"Young man!" Enma called out. This caught the attention of everyone in the group.
'What is he planning?' Orochimaru thought, wondering what this advisor could be plotting.
"Does your back not hurt from holding that heavy sloth all day?" Enma asked. The Kazekage simply frowned at the comment while Koemi acknowledged the question with a chuckle.
"No sir. He's surprisingly light." Kusai answered as he walked away from the room. Once the door closed behind them the members of the board began to stand and walk away.
"Koemi. What do you think?" Anari asked her. Koemi looked at him with a guise of lightheartedness.
"I have no idea what they want but it can't be good." Koemi said as she walked away from the table.
Streets of Hidden Sand
Harume's search for the child was taking her nowhere fast. She had been searching everywhere throughout the village but no evidence of the Natsume could be seen. The girl had jumped on top of buildings, asked villagers and even went to the Village's guard and asked if he had left.
'Where is this child?' Harume thought as she sat on a bench that was sat right outside of a park that was set up near the front of the village. She looked into the setting sun, enjoying the view.
'How long has it been since I've seen a sunset? I had almost forgotten how beautiful it was.' The girl throught to hersolf, the smallest inkling of a smile trying to creep onto her emotion that had become foreign to her.
The village's commotion had started to raise once again. Villagers were flooding back into their homes, children enjoying the streets once again by playing their simple games. Noises of laughter and happiness rang throughout the sky.
The noise, filling Harume's ears and soul with an unnatural feeling, was a sound that she sat and soaked in. Just then, the noise became even more loud, except this time the sounds were coming from only one person. Her eyes opened to see where it was coming from.
"My arms hurt! The sword swings were killing me!" A boy yelled from down the street. The long haired boy was swinging his arms, stretching out his shoulder muscles. The group that he was walking with were all smiling and laughing at the boy, with the exception of the adult. The pink haired woman shook her head in annoyance.
"I have told you over and over again to stop being late." She said calmly, her eyes shifting between the buildings that decorated the street. The short, purple haired girl was laughing the hardest.
"You should've seen your face when you got finished! You looked so tired! HAHAHA!" The girl laughed into the darkening sky. The boy raised his hand and flicked her in the forehead.
"Shut up, loser. It's better than being a bookworm." He said, his hand balled into a fist.
"Riku, you idiot! I'll kill you!" She yelled as she began racing after him down the street. Riku laughed as he ran away, jumping over barrels and tables that lined the street.
'Riku…' Harume thought to herself as the children ran straight past her.
Riku ran far down the street, directly past the bench that Harume had sat herself on.
The only child who stayed behind with the older adult was a boy who walked with his hands behind his head.
"Sensei, you might want to stop them before they hit somebody." He said as he watched the two continue to run and jump over everything that managed to get in their face.
"Oh, they'll be fine, Suna. There's nothing to be worried about. If they do, I'll beat both of em blue." The sensei responded. Suna began to chuckle.
Harume watched the child run down the street, wide eyed that he had finally come out.
'I finally found him.' She thought as she stood up from her seat and stared at them.
'I have to get him away from this big group. I can't detain him if he's surrounded by all of these people.' She thought as she jumped into the sky. This caught Sora's attention, making her eyes shift to the side.
'Who was that?' She thought to herself.
BANG!
The sound made Sora lose her train of thought as she looked forward to see her two students fighting in the street. Rika was positioned over Riku, who had tripped on a trash can, with her hand raised in the air. Riku was struggling to move himself free to no avail.
"I told you! This is what you get for flicking me!" Rika yelled as she let her hand fly down.
"RIKA! Thats enough!" Sora yelled. Mid air the punch ceased to move. Rika looked over to her master.
"But, Sensei! He hit me first!" She complained. The teacher finally caught up with the two, letting out a small sigh.
"Yeah, but you're causing a problem for the people of the village. Now pick up the trash that you two dumbasses knocked over." She commanded. Rika rolled her eyes and looked down to Riku, who had a devious smile on his face.
"I'll get you next time punk." Rika said as she got off of him. Riku rolled to his sides and used his hands to stand up.
"Yeah, yeah. There won't be a next time." Riku joked as he began picking up trash. Before too many piece could be raised from the ground the boy went flying forward from a kick in his ass.
"Stop teasing Rika. Next time I won't stop her." Sora said. Riku stood up and rubbed his butt with the intent to complain painted on his face.
"Sensei! She teased me first!" He yelled back. Sora just ignored the complaining and rolled her eyes.
"Stop screaming! I'm going to go deaf." Sora complained using her fingers to block her ears,"and hurry up. I want to get something to eat soon," looking down on the food that was littered on the ground. Riku's ears perked up and he began picking up the paper that had fallen right next to him.
"Why are you in a rush all of a sudden?" Suna asked, helping his teammates pick up the trash.
"I forgot that I have to pick up fish and rice before all of the shops close! I told Shikiro that I would!" He said as he dumped the trash into the trash can before he began running away, waving his hand in the air as a goodbye.
"Alright! Gotta run! See you guys tomorrow!" Riku yelled as he raced down the street. Suna dumped the trash into the can and waved back.
"Yeah, be there early this time!" Suna yelled after him. Rika dropped her trash into the can and watched as her teammate raced away.
"There's no chance that he'll be there on time." Rika teased.
"Not a chance." Suna said with a smile.
"I'll bet you ten ryo that he'll come right after we get started." Rika said.
"And I bet that he'll show up an entire hour late." Suna said as he reached his hand out.
"Deal." Rika said, chuckling, her huge smile coming back to her. Sora shook her head with a smile on her head as the group began walking down the street, looking for a meal that would complete their training day.
!
Riku made it to the front of an outdoor market that had everything that could be wanted. Fish, meats, fruit, vegetables and seasonings were stationed deliberately and neatly. The perfect array started with the fish that Riku was looking for.
Riku looked at the fish, trying to choose the one he wanted when a booming voice behind him spoke up.
"Hey, Riku! Back here again I see. Shikiro sent you on another grocery run." Said a loud voice. Riku turned around to see the owner of the stand was looking down at him. It was an elderly bald man who was wearing normal desert garments standing in front of him.
"Yeah, she sent me here for some rice and fish. You got anything good?" Riku asked happily. The store owner nodded and walked to the back.
"Today's your lucky day. We just got some good trout sent in from the Land of Rivers. They're as fresh as they come!" The man said as he picked up a huge fish that was sitting on the back line of ice. Riku looked at this with his eyes wide.
"Wow! That does look good." Riku complimented. The old man nodded and put it into a bag. A nervous laugh came out of the boy's mouth and looked at the bag.
"Is there any way I can get half of that? I don't walk around with that huge a fish." Riku asked. The old man chuckled and placed the fish back on the ice.
"Yeah kid. I'll cut it up for you." He said as he took a knife that was sitting under the stand and gave the fish a heavy chop, right down the middle. Riku nodded in confirmation.
"Still as cheap as ever I see." The old man said. Riku let out a defeated chuckle as he reached out and grabbed the bag that the fish had been replaced in.
"You caught me, hehehe."
"And now about that rice. I'm sorry kid but I'm clean out." The old man said.
"What?! That's what I was looking forward to the most." The man raised his two hands up in the air and shrugged his shoulders.
"Sold my last bit of it this morning. With the village opening back up today must have everyone hungry. The transports didn't all come in today so it won't be for another day or two before I get some more. But you might get some luck at one of the shops down the street." The old man suggested. Riku nodded and reached into his pocket, pulling out a dog wallet pouch and dumped the money in the old man's hand.
"Thanks!" He said loudly as he turned and started to walk away.
"No problems! Come back soon!" The old man called back as he went back to work.
Riku walked down the street, searching for another market that may sell rice. He looked, finding ramen shops and ninja tool businesses bustling, unsuccessful in seeing any hints of what he was searching for.
"This should be fine. I'm running late for dinner already. If I don't hurry up, Shikiro will get mad about dinner being late." Riku said to himself as he stopped walking and turned down an alley that would lead him to the path towards his home.
As he was walking down the passageway he saw a girl who was sitting on the ground. Her cut off hoodie caught his attention before he could even see the long white hair that sat in the sand.
'She must not be from around here. Does she know how hard it is to get sand out of long hair?' He thought to himself, cringing at the thought of the hours he had spent cleaning out dirt and sand after missions and training sessions. As he walked past the girl she stood up, her head reaching only a few inches over his. Riku's attention was quickly caught.
'She moves swiftly. She must be a ninja.' Riku thought.
"Ri-... Riku Nats-... Natsume?" She asked. Riku looked at her in her deep blue eyes, ignoring the stutter she had. There was a slight sadness that he could see coming from this.
"Who's asking?" He asked.
'Who is this chick?'
"Are yo-... you Riku Nat-...sume?" She asked once again. Riku dropped the bag of fish and reached for his sword, bracing to defend himself.
"And if I am?" Riku thought, his hand gripping the sword hilts that sat on his back.
"I'm… I'm sorry." She said perfectly, only pausing to look down to the ground, the sadness in her eyes growing slightly. Riku became confused about what was going on.
"Sorry for wh-"
WHAM!
Before the entire sentence could be uttered a strong slam into the child's ribs stopped any words from further being spoken. The deep gut punch knocked not only the wind but the consciousness from his mind went with him.
The genin's body went limp, falling to the ground. Harume looked down on him, her eyes becoming glossy. A single form of a tear could be seen forming in her left eye.
'Freedom.' Harume reinforced herself, picking up the boy from the ground and jumping into the sky, disappearing into the night.
Alley In the Hidden Sand
The moon had completely risen into the sky. The village was still growing in liveliness due to the village's borders being opened back up. Not only were the last of the villagers starting to make their way, but travelers and merchants who had been denied entry were flooding the front of the village. Every shop was bustling with business.
Families who had stayed in the village were out buying products that weren't available during the village evacuation. Their children chased after them, cracking jokes and laughing in the street and enjoying friends who had left. The streets were filled with people, the only exception being the dark alleys that delinquents filled, gambling and drinking throughout the night.
One of these alleys, that was usually filled with the outcasts, was basically empty. The events that had transpired earlier in the day had scared away anyone who would usually be posted in the alley. There were only two people who were standing in this alley, and they were the men who had caused the commotion earlier in the day.
Kusai and Randai were sitting on the floor, in silence, waiting for the girl to return with the task she had been given to be completed.
"She's not coming. She ran away. Let's go already." Randai said as he stood up and stretched.
"No. She'll be here soon." Kusai said. Randai took off his helmet, looking into the night sky and took in a huge breath, his distorted head swaying in the air.
"Man! That helmet was smothering me. Having me wear this in the fucking desert doesn't make any sense at all." Kusai complained as he bent over and stretched out his lower back.
"Where is this kid? I'm getting impatient." Randai said as a form appeared right in front of him, it was none other than Harume. She held an unconscious boy in her arms. She placed him lightly on the ground and took a step back from the body.
"Thi-... This is Ri-... Riku Natsume." Harume said as she pulled the ninja card out of her pouch and raised it in the air to show off that it was the correct person.
"Good job." Kusai said as he stood up off of the ground and walked to the boy.
"I didn't think you would pull it off. I thought I was gonna get to hunt you down." Randai teased, leaning over and gripping the boy by the hair, looking at his face.
"I don't know what Orochimaru wants with a kid like this but I know he's not going to have a pleasant way of figuring it out." Randai said as he dropped the boy's head back in the sand.
"Harume, grab the boy and let's go. We're running behind already. Harume nodded and softly picked Riku back up. Randai stood in front of the group and began weaving hand signs.
"Th-... the transp-... transportation wi-... will probabl-... probably wake hi-... him up." Harume said. Kusai nodded.
"We are ready for it."
"Hidden Technique: Load and Disperse Jutsu!"
Natsume Home
Kue and Shikiro were both sitting in the kitchen. Kue had a cup of water sitting in front of him on the table while Shikiro sat across from him.
"He's late… again."