I should have been used to the cold at night in Sunagakure by now, but my teeth were still clattering together. I sat crouched behind a leaning house wall. Right next to me was Kaito, an acquaintance of Yugure's, who would be guiding us out of the city today. The changing of the guard should actually be in the next few minutes. Something we could take advantage of. Yugure was sitting behind us. Almost melting into the shadows of the wall.
Kaito was an Uōkā, a wanderer. At least that's what Yugure had called it. Someone who knew the desert like no other, with all its dangers and beauties. Although Sunagakure was his home, he still spent a lot of time outside the city in the midst of nature. He knew how to survive. Despite his young age.
He was only eighteen summers old. Nevertheless, I sometimes had the feeling that he had already seen so much more than some boys his age. I found that exciting.
Kaito's arm twitched in my direction, almost as if he was trying to put it over my shoulders. Apparently my trembling had not escaped his notice. Yugure also gave me a look. But she did nothing. She was a very serious person in general, always careful to do the right thing and not make any mistakes. She also suggested that to me. In the two years I lived with her, I had the feeling that she was getting more serious by the day. I hadn't built up a really close relationship with her. We only spoke to each other when it was necessary and I had questions for her. I didn't mind.
Half a year had passed since Gaara's outburst. He had changed a lot in that time. And not for the better. People no longer dared to speak to him on the street. He had completely closed himself off to the outside world and gave anyone who even looked at him a cold stare. He seemed to have lost all humanity. However, Kairi had hinted to me that there were reasons for this.
Kairi...I kept in touch with her. At least I didn't disappear immediately when she was around. Sometimes I even got carried away with a short conversation. But not for very long. I kept reminding myself that we lived in different worlds. And Kairi was my last link that still connected me to the shinobi. A wire that I refused to cut for some reason. Some days I also watched her walk her two daughters to school. Although they were twins, they were as different as night and day.
While one had inherited the purple tinge in her hair from her mother, the other, with her raven-black hair and steel-gray eyes, was more like her father. I still didn't know their names, but that didn't matter. On their way to school, they both had to go to the edge of the city center. And whenever I could, I watched them until they reached the building. Then I could return to Yugure without worrying. She didn't know anything about my wanderings, nor should she. After all, Yugure was and remained almost an enemy of the shinobi system. Sometimes, when I told her that the city guard had chased me away again, I could see the dark clouds in her eyes.
As long as I could, I would walk this fine line. Because I needed both worlds and probably always would. Yugure also didn't know that I had built myself a small hovel on the edge of the Quarter of Ashes. Between two collapsed walls. With the help of some self-mixed clay, I had blocked up all the permeable holes. Kaito had shown me how to mix it. Along with a few other useful things. Plants that healed wounds or stank terribly. At the moment, I was working on a stink bomb that would hopefully save my neck in tight situations.
Because I wasn't yet strong enough to take on a whole gang of street fighters. I already knew how to use my size to my advantage in one-on-one fights. However, I was still pretty much in trouble when several people came at me. Whenever I sat in my little hovel, I tried out a jutsu that I had developed myself. Or tried to improve it. With the help of Doton, I created many small kunai made of clay and earth. I wanted them to be just as heavy and handy as normal ones. I wanted to learn how to throw them. For small ranged attacks. As I often used my chakra to the point of exhaustion, it became stronger each time.
Yugure had asked me about it once. My alibi had been practicing a C-rank jutsu that she had once shown me. Although I tried to use it from time to time, I still felt more confident in taijutsu. Maybe one day.
When the changing of the guard took place, we watched the conversation between the two chunin, who were discussing the day's anomalies. We crept closer and closer in the shadows of the night and then, when both were completely distracted, we slipped through. Outside the protective walls, a harsh wind greeted us. My clammy fingers barely held on to the hood. Cold, it was freezing outside here. Even more so than inside the city. Close behind Kaito and in front of Yugure, I tried to make my way through. Swirling sand flew into our faces. I pulled my hood a little lower over my eyes and pushed the tattered scarf I always wore around my neck over my nose. That way I could at least defy this untamed force a little.
Every single one of my bones ached as we set up camp in less sandy terrain. There were even a few plants here. Whatever I had imagined the desert to be, this wasn't it. Sand as far as the eye could see, right up to the border with Konoha. But the desert wasn't just sand. Every now and then there were steep slopes, stony areas or small oases. Here with us, there was even a little drinking water. A luxury for all of us. Because it was clean.
While Kaito and I explored the area, Yugure retreated into the cave. The sun was slowly beginning to creep over the horizon. A new morning was dawning. Kaito would collect a few plants and fruits here to buy on the black market. Yugure helped him... supposedly. But she had retreated into the cave. There was even less protection here than inside the walls.
"Something's wrong with her," Kaito said to me as he counted the dates we had just found. His voice was quiet. I had had to lean towards him to understand anything at all. Almost as if he was afraid she might hear us. But the cave was two miles away. We had had to walk a little to find a cluster of date palms and had been rewarded.
"Yes...I've noticed that too," I admitted and furtively popped one of the fruits into my mouth. Kaito noticed and grinned.
"You'll have to practise that a bit, Asna. Like so many other things," he said seriously. I just nodded.
"I'm aware of that. Even before I lived in the Quarter of Ashes, I knew that life on the streets wasn't easy. It's a matter of bare survival."
I didn't say any more, knowing that he was watching me. But Kaito didn't try to get any more out of me. Living on the street also meant getting by. There were no friends there. Only allies. Surviving was difficult enough. That's why I kept asking myself why Yugure had taken me in. Yes... supposedly I reminded her of someone. But was that true?
"That's true. So be careful who you trust. There are various groups with conflicting agendas in the Quarter of Ashes. And none of them are really good."
"And which one do you belong to?" I asked.
"Me? None of them. I'm just a wanderer who is neutral towards everyone. But people only accept me because of what I know. That's how I survive. And will continue to do so. It's a bit of a balancing act. But it's worth to me. You'll have to decide soon before it's taken from you."
I raised my head. Confused by his words. I wanted to ask what Kaito meant by that. But something else seemed to have caught his attention. His whole body was tense and he sniffed.
"The air has changed. We have to get back to the cave. No time for explanations."
Struggling to follow him, I got to my feet and put the remaining dates in my pockets. Kaito's figure was now a shadow in front of me, as the wind had picked up. Small grains of sand flew towards me, making it difficult to see. Holding my hand in front of my eyes, I struggled on.
Then a strong hand wrapped around my arm and tugged me onwards. The relentless wind drained my energy. But Kaito's closeness gave me strength and so I caught up with him. I felt so bitterly cold. Running in his slipstream was of little use. The air made its way under my clothes, crawled into my bones and tried to freeze them.
By the time we reached the cave, I was convinced that no amount of warmth in the world could save my freezing toes. Kaito, meanwhile, pushed me further towards the entrance before he froze. An unpleasant scent wafted towards us. It came from a dark shadow leaning against the wall inside.
Yugure's breathing was irregular. Her cheeks were flushed, sweat glistened on her forehead. Kaito sat down in front of her, checked her pulse and began to rummage a few herbs out of his pockets. Herbs he had stolen from the market. He spread them out on a clean sheet next to us before he began to examine her body.
I sat silently by and watched spellbound. The herb he had just grated gave off a pungent but not unpleasant odor. Yugure hissed briefly as he pushed up her sleeve and pressed the sticky mass onto an inflamed spot on her forearm. It was relatively small, but very red.
"Bloody critters," she moaned, waving her hand as if trying to drive away ghosts.
"She's hallucinating," Kaito said. "We have to take her to the city. I have more herbs there. She'll make it to the gates. She's very weak, though. And if we wait until tomorrow, it could be her last night. If we're lucky, we'll make it to the wall in three hours. But you have to help me. Can you do that?"
I nodded firmly. Kaito looked at me for a long time, as if he wanted to make sure, then averted his eyes and bandaged the sore spot with the clean cloth on which the herbs had just been lying.
"As far as I can remember, Yun is on shift tonight, isn't he?" Kaito turned to Yugure, who seemed a little more awake by now. Was that because of the herbal mixture?
And who was Yun?
Yugure nodded slightly. That was all she could manage. She seemed too weak from the inflammation on her arm and the fever. I let a little chakra flow through my shoulders to give me a little more strength and put her arm around my shoulders.
Suddenly it became heavier and heavier and pulled me towards her. I looked up, but it wasn't Yugure's face that was facing me. It was a strange one. I felt fear welling up inside me, unsure if it was my own.
"Yugure... you have to walk. Go. Otherwise they will come for you too and if you refuse... Look at me."
And I looked at her. Cuts and scratches adorned the young woman's face, no, she was almost a girl. Blood ran from a deep wound on her shoulder. The floor was red with it. Everywhere. Water sloshed over her knees. Carried her body away. I wanted to reach for her, but countless hands pulled me back into a black, endless nothingness. A loud, agonizing scream was the last thing I heard.