They found shelter under a rock outcrop in the middle of the desert. The rock was as high as the Hokage Tower but wasn't very wide. It had a small cave where they could all fit inside but would be squashed. They ate rations since they couldn't make a fire as there was no firewood. They would take turns watching over each other throughout the night. Minato volunteered for last watch and Shibi took the first. Kakashi took the second watch and Choza chose third. With that decided, they went to sleep whilst Shibi remained awake. Minato was woken up a few hours before sunrise for his watch by a red-eyed Choza. He unwittingly rose up and sat at the edge of the cave whilst Choza slept where he had been previously.

There was a sandstorm outside but the rock protected them from it. He decided to expand his chakra senses more out of instinct as he searched for anything amiss. It was so miniscule that he almost missed it, a chakra signature flickering in and out of existence at the very edge of his perimeter. A frown pulled at his lips. That chakra was very much civilian judging by the size of it but what was it doing so late outside, not to mention that there was a sandstorm? The thought of the sandstorm made him leave a clone behind as he went outside and headed towards the chakra signature. He wore his mask which protected his face from the sand and coated himself with a protective layer of chakra. He padded through the sand and wind, biting back the shivers which went throughout his body as the low temperatures of the desert came at him full force.

The moon was full, providing him with light to see through the sand. He saw the silhouette of a person, who was staggering and seemed just about ready to collapse. He couldn't make out the gender, the figure was blurred. Suddenly, the figure dropped onto the ground just as he was within a metre radius. He approached cautiously with a kunai drawn out. It was sprawled out on its stomach. He used his to flip the person over, it was the bald girl. Without further ado, he gathered her in his arms and flashed back to camp. He laid her on the ground as he inspected her. Her lips were blue and she was shivering uncontrollably. Her skin was pale and cracked all over, dried blood on the minor cuts. She wasn't wearing anything except the shapeless brown dress. He put his hand on her forehead, she was burning up and her chakra levels were dangerously low. Her bird was beside her, looking at him intently.

He wasn't well versed in medical knowledge and so he removed his jacket and placed it over her prone figure. Immediately, she grabbed hold of it and held it tightly to her body, seeking for warmth. She mumbled something but all he heard was the word 'naruto'. 'Did she smell fishcake in my clothes? Kushina did spill some ramen on me but that was a long time ago,' he thought as his eyes moved away from her to watch the sandstorm. He shivered unconsciously. Damn, it was cold.


"What the hell is she doing here sensei?" Kakashi asked with barely concealed contempt. Sakura shifted on her feet uncomfortably. They were standing just outside the rock. The sandstorm had subsided and the sun had risen. Kakashi had immediately thrown a kunai to Sakura's neck as soon as he saw her sleeping on the ground beside his sensei who was also fast asleep. Minato had woken up and flashed the both of them away before it had made contact. Shortly afterwards, Shibi and Choza woke up and the team were having a face off. The kunoichi was standing behind Minato, she felt safer that way. She didn't like the way Kakashi eyed like she was prey and he was the beast who was going to devour her. Being in an unfamiliar time, she didn't want to do something that had alarm flags being raised about her and so she had to be docile.

"She was walking in the desert late at night. I found her passed out on the ground and had to help her," the blonde replied. "But she could be an enemy, maybe she wants to hurt you. I don't trust her," the genin replied coldly. "Even so, I would never leave who needs my help. You should do the same. As a Konoha shinobi, it's important that you value the lives of others, despite not being from the same village," he berated him with hard eyes. Kakashi clamped his mouth shut but not without sending a death glare towards the girl. "And you," he turned to her, his expression unchanged. "You should know better than to walk alone in the desert at night. What would you have done if I hadn't come, you would be dead. Try not to be reckless when doing things," he told as he watched her green eyes widen. He noticed that they seemed to sparkle as sunlight hit them. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to go to Konoha," she said as her eyes glistened with tears. 'Great, just great,' he thought with barely concealed irritation as the girl rubbed her eyes.

"Even if you wanted to go, it was stupid to go like that. Do you have any idea what's beyond the lands of Roran? You've never been outside, am I right?" he asked her. She nodded. "The outside lands are harsh and cruel. There is no friend outside your home, you have to be prepared for the worst even if you do find someone who might appear as your friend. A war has just begun so be alert every moment," he spoke. She looked at the ground as he said these words. "But," she said as she raised her head to look at him dead in the eye. "There are people like you who, despite not knowing you, don't treat you as an enemy even if we're in the middle of a war. That's why I decided to follow after you," she spoke in a very clear voice, all traces of tears gone in her eyes. "Forgive me for sounding too forward but I trust you. I trust you with my life, and I'll follow you wherever you'll go. It's what my brother would've wanted. He was the only family I had left," she said as she took an unconscious step forward. The words rang clearly in his ears. I trust you. No one had ever told him that. He knew that there were people who trusted him, his genin team trusted him, Kushina trusted him, Lord Third trusted him, a lot of his colleagues did but no one ever said the words straight to his face.

He let out a long drawn out sigh as he ignored the uneasy feeling in his gut. He looked at Shibi and Choza, intentionally ignoring Kakashi who was glaring daggers at the girl. "I think we should take her to Konoha. She has already come this far and it wouldn't be right to leave her in the middle of the desert unprotected," the Akimichi stated. Shibi nodded in agreement. He turned back to look at her. "It seems we'll be going with you but try not to drag us behind. We have a long journey ahead of us," he said to her. She nodded her head in understanding.


They spent the entire day walking in the desert and Minato would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised at her resilience. She didn't complain even once during their trek nor did she ask for food or water. They left Wind Country and crossed the border into Fire Country late into the night. The Namikaze welcomed the familiar terrain of trees in his homeland. He had never been a fan of deserts. They set up camp near a river. Shibi and Choza went to find food whilst Kakashi collected firewood. He remained behind with Sakura setting up camp since she was his responsibility. He watched her as she fixed Shibi's tent and she was doing a good job at it. He looked at the dress she was wearing. It was ugly, it had no defined shape and he couldn't tell what was beneath that layer of fabric. He cleared his throat as he mentally scolded himself for even thinking that. She was bald and he couldn't make out much about her age. Her green eyes told him that she was at least a teenager.

"You mentioned that you were 16 years old?" he asked as he finished setting up his tent. She was going to sleep in his whilst he took watch. When they swapped, he would take whoever's tent was going to take the next watch. "Yes, I'm 16. My younger brother was 13," she replied as she thought of Konohamaru, ready to feed him any lies about her allegedly dead younger brother. "Have you ever had any ninja training before?" he asked her. At that, she stiffened that he almost missed it but his trained ninja eyes allowed him to see any body movement. She chuckled in what he thought to be nervousness. "Yes, though I wasn't very good at it. My brother was tons better than me," she replied as she thought of her early childhood years. "Then why would I train you if you aren't a good ninja?" he spoke with slightly narrowed eyes. "I'll give it my all. I'll try until I pass. I never had any motivation for ninja training because I thought too much about how I looked rather than training. But the last thought I had before I was brainwashed was wishing I had been more serious about training, I could have protected my brother if I hadn't been so weak," she said as she unconsciously clenched her jaw.

He wanted to ask her what made her say that but Kakashi arrived. He sent a glare at her, saying she wasn't doing the tent properly. She moved out of the way as the genin remade the tent, even though he had seen that she had done it properly. Minato's head was buzzing with a lot of thoughts. Her last statement, the clenching of her jaw, the hardness of her face and the fire which had danced in her green eyes at the moment, he had caught a glimpse of the real 'her' under all that docile behavior she had all the time. Choza had brought fish whilst Shibi had a small rabbit. The Akimichi head volunteered to cook, unsealing various spices and kitchenware from a scroll. She was very quiet throughout the entire time as he conversed with his colleagues.

"What's your name?" Kakashi suddenly asked her. She looked taken aback. "I told you, I don't remember," she replied. "Then how come you remember the Yellow Flash, Konoha, your brother and everything else except your own name? I'd say you were lying and hiding something from us," the silver-haired boy said as he pointed an accusing finger at her. "I don't know why I can't remember my name yet remember all other things," she retorted as her eyes flickered to the fire, her jaw clenched tightly. Her chakra signature, despite being small, was uneasy. "I don't trust you one bit. Your story doesn't make any sense. Who would be stupid enough to follow someone through a desert for the sake of some dead sibling's dream?" he said as he rose from where he was sitting across and moved to stand in front of her. She stood up as well, her hands tightly fisted beside her.

"If you're a spy, you better reveal yourself now because if I uncover you myself, I won't be so friendly," he said with an air of indifference. Suddenly, she had grabbed him by his collar and hoisted him up in the air. "I won't have you trashing my brother's memory as long as I am alive. Who are you to tell me that? Do you think I'd really fake not knowing my name? Do you really think I would want to forget my identity on purpose? I woke up in the middle of nowhere, not even knowing who I am except remembering how my brother was killed in front of my eyes. I'm in a camp filled with men I have never seen in my life, I'm defenseless yet I chose to follow after you guys because I believed you could help me," she spoke in a low voice but it had the intensity as if she were shouting. The air was thick with tension as the two glared at each other.

She let go of his collar. "I'm going to take a bath," she said as she suddenly turned and walked towards the direction of the river. Kakashi stared at her with a look that spoke contempt but said nothing as he walked back to his place. "Don't be too harsh on her Kakashi. Even if she was an enemy, you had to wait until she let her gaurd down for you to ask her such questions, not accusing her like you did. Think before you act," Minato said as he poked the fire with a stick. Kakashi looked away with his jaw clenched but mumbled in agreement. "I'm going to check on her. I'll be back soon," the blonde said as he stood up and went towards the direction she went.

He found her sitting on the ground, watching the river as fish swam in the water. He took a seat beside her. They sat in silence for a few moments before she decided to break it. "I'm sorry for overreacting. I didn't mean to be so rude after everything that you've done for me," she apologized in a teary voice. The jounin sighed as he watched her reflection in the water. Her eyes were glistening with tears. "I should be the one apologizing on behalf of my student. He tends to get a little carried away when on missions, he wants the mission to be perfect," he replied. "Still, I shouldn't have done that. If I had been mature, I would just remained quiet and let it be," she spoke. "No problem. Don't stress yourself over it. I've already talked to him," he assured her. She nodded her head.

It was then that he noticed that she wasn't wearing any shoes. "Do you mind if I take a look at your feet?" he asked her. She glanced at him quizzically out of the corner of her eye. She crossed her right leg over her left, extending her foot to him as she didn't want to face him since she had no underwear. The realization that she wasn't wearing anything underneath her dress made her blush embarrassment. She wasn't even wearing a bra! "Is everything alright?" he asked as he noticed her discomfort. "Everything is fine, just that I'm not wearing anything under this dress," she mumbled out. Her eyes widened in shock. "I'm sorry, you didn't need to hear that!" she cried as she covered her face. He chuckled at her antics. "Don't worry. It's not like I noticed anything amiss about your dressing," he tried to console her. She gasped. "Then it means I'm really, really flat if this dress didn't reveal anything about my figure," she cried again as she thought of Ino taunting her about being flat. The meaning of her statement dawned upon her. She brought a hand to her mouth. "I'm sorry for speaking out loud. It's embarrassing," she said as she looked sheepishly at him.

Minato laughed, really hard. "You're funny," he said as he took her foot and inspected it. Her foot was cracked in several places, had bled and dried. He poked his finger at one of the wounds and she hissed in pain. "Poking at my wounds like that won't make it any better," she grumbled as she retracted her foot. "You've been walking like this the entire time?" he asked incredulously. "I didn't hurt until you prodded at it with your finger," she said as she feigned an air of indifference. He poked it again and she yelped in pain. "Hey!" she said as she stood up. However, she hissed in pain as her right foot made contact with the ground. "Ouch," she said with a pout. Minato stood up as well. "I'm sorry, if I hadn't prodded them, they wouldn't be hurting," he said with an apologetic smile. "Yeah, you should be," she said as she let out a long drawn sigh. "Let's get back to the others. I'm beat and very, very hungry," she said as she tested her foot several times.


When they went back to camp, the others were already eating. Both Kakashi and Sakura avoided meeting each other's eye. The kunoichi was given her portion and ate it with unrestrained glee. All manners of being perfect when eating went out the window when her eyes landed on the fish and rabbit meat. When she took her first bite, she almost moaned in pleasure. "This is the best meal I've had in weeks," she commented. And it was true. She had been busy at the hospital and training, she didn't find time for a proper meal. "Excuse me for asking. But since you don't remember your name, what should we call you for the meantime?" Shibi asked. Sakura paused for a moment as she pondered what name she should use for the meantime. "I haven't really thought about it. I guess any name will do," she replied as she finished her portion.

"So if I call you Ugly or Baldy, you don't mind right?" Kakashi said as he played with the fire with a stick. "Anything but that," she said with a frown. "What about Midori?" Minato asked. "Midori? As in green?" she asked. He nodded. "Your green eyes. It's the one thing that's fascinating about your physical appearance so I figured we could call you that," he replied with a smile as he scratched the back of his head. "Not funny," she said as she recalled their conversation at the river. "But I guess it'll do until I remember my name or give myself another one. Even if it's a boyish name," she said. "Thank you for the meal," she spoke as she threw her bones to a nearby bush. "I guess it's settled then. My name is Midori, nice to meet you," she said as she extended her hand towards Minato with a smile. "I'm Minato Namikaze, nice to meet you too," he returned the gesture. The two didn't notice the discreet glance Shibi and Choza shared or the glare Kakashi sent her way.


I know I updated too early since I posted this chapter two days ago but I really want to write it. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten my other stories. Read and review.

Tozoonana

AfricanFire