Chapter 2:

"Shift change," said Sai as he opened the train car door. "Everything alright?"

The last train car was loaded up with all the cargo from passengers and staff, piled high and secured with rope against the three walls of the car. In the very center was a large wooden box which hadn't been strapped down and did not belong to anyone on the train. It was a container they had to guard for their mission, seeing it from point A to point B. Currently, Sakura was sitting on it, but she stood up as soon as she saw Sai enter the train.

"Nothing to report. Guess it's your turn."

Sai nodded and stood beside the large box. "Still an hour until sunrise. Think you can get any rest? Naruto was snoring when I saw him."

Sakura grinned. "Typical. I'll see what I can do. Have fun with the box."

Sai knew it was a joke and smiled. He made sure the door was secure before looking over the sealed box. Finding nothing amiss, he turned his back to it to check the door again.

Unbeknownst to him, the lid on the wooden box began to shift, opening silently.

The train car rattled and shook on the tracks as it sped under a sky devoid of stars. Morning was on the horizon. Though the sun had not risen, its approach had chased away much of the dark, leaving more shadows in the train car than there had been only a few minutes ago. Sai watched the outline of his shadow grow more defined with each passing second.

Feeling something at his back, Sai turned around. He gave a start, seeing the tall figure standing within the box, two glowing eyes trained on him. He hadn't felt a sensation like this in a long time. He was actually paralyzed with fear. He knew he should have reached for his weapon but his hands would not move. The figure's eyes held him in place. They were the eyes of a predator animal only far more sinister.

In an instant, the figure vanished from within the box and it took Sai a moment too late to realize it had lunged abruptly towards him. He couldn't help but cry out, startled by the velocity and the power of the figure that grabbed him.

"…Sai… Sai…! Can you hear me? Sai!"

"Uargh…" Sai groaned, turning his head and feeling the room spin. He knew the train was still moving steadily down the tracks but he felt as if he were in a whirlpool. He let out another groan as he tried to get up and found that he couldn't.

"What happened?" Sakura asked as she knelt over him.

Sai tried to recall what happened but his memory was as muddled as his other senses. He knew he must have been laying on the train car's floor but he could hardly feel the smooth cold wood under his body.

"I don't know," he managed to say and he meant it. He had no idea why he was on the floor or why his friends were in the train car with him. How long had he been here?

Naruto was gawking at the open crate in the center of the train car. "The box. It's empty! What happened? Were you attacked? How many of them were there? How did they get in?"

Sai couldn't differentiate one question from another. Naruto's voice was just a jumble of words to him. He had no idea what was going on.

"Are you ok?" That question he understood.

"I feel… woozy."

Sakura checked him over for injuries. He could faintly feel her hand on his chest and one touching his neck.

"I think you were attacked. There's a puncture mark on your neck," she said. "Someone must have drugged you and that's why you're feeling like this. We came in and found you unconscious and the box was open."

"Box…? Yeah. I have to guard that thing," Sai said, blinking slowly.

"You're still groggy. Don't try moving just yet. Naruto, I could use a hand here."

Sai faded in and out as the two had their conversation about what happened and what the next step should be. After a lot of back and forth and some arguing, Sai was lucid enough to make out their theory as to what happened and how to salvage the mission from here.

"There's only one door to this place and no windows aside from the one in the door leading to the next car. The box his huge and now it's empty. If someone were to enter the car to steal what was in it, they would have had to get past both of us and Sai who was guarding the door. And even if that were possible, how could they have carried whatever was in such a huge box past us without being noticed? It means the most likely explanation is that whoever attacked Sai was already in the box. They must have jumped him from behind, drugged him with a syringe and exited the car."

"This whole time, we've been guarding a box that had someone in it?" Naruto crossed his arms, grumbling. "This must have been their plan all along. They wanted us to have the box. Not to transport, necessarily, but as a trap. They knew whoever was in that box would attack us."

"If they knew what was inside," said Sakura. "One thing at a time. First, we've got to find the person who was in that box and capture them. We can interrogate them from there. Find out more."

"But Sai didn't get a good look at them and we didn't see them. How are we supposed to find them?"

"They have to still be on the train. At this speed, there's no safe way for them to jump off. And clearly, they wanted to be on this train. We have to search the train before it reaches the next station."

Naruto frowned. "How do we know which passenger is the stowaway? Look for anyone who doesn't look familiar? It's not like they keep records of everyone who comes on."

"Actually, they do," said Sakura. "Whoever doesn't have a ticket to be punched must be the person we're looking for."

"But we all had our tickets punched within the first hour of us being on after leaving the station. I bet a lot of people threw their tickets away by now."

"It can still narrow down the search."

Naruto shook his head. "What if the guy dressed up as a member of the staff? They wouldn't have tickets."

"We can ask the staff if there's anyone there who shouldn't be. Come on. We only have a little while before the train's next stop. After that it'll be next to impossible to track them down."

"I'm… I'm coming, too," Sai said and started to get up, only to topple over. He was too weak and dizzy to stand up.

"You're in no condition to help, Sai," Sakura told him. "You need to rest until the effects wear off."

"I can't just…" Sai didn't even have the strength to argue. He could only sit with his back against the wall and even that was wearing him out.

Knowing Sai couldn't stay alone in the car, Naruto hauled Sai up and slung his arm over his shoulder to help Sai stand. "We'll take you to one of the other cars. We can keep an eye on you in the open and you should be more comfortable there."

They seated Sai in one of the empty seats and went about questioning staff and combing through passengers. It took them entire ride and, as the train slowed to a stop and the doors opened, they hadn't succeeded in finding their suspect.

Sakura urged the ticket-taker standing at one of the open doors to hold off on letting people off but he refused.

"It's like I told your friend over there, everyone had a ticket or are all staff members we recognize. There's no one on this train who shouldn't be. Would you please step aside and let the people off? We have a schedule to keep."

The push of disembarking passengers forced Sakura to comply. People carrying luggage and children left the train and not a single one acted suspiciously. The ticket-taker returned to the train as new passengers made their way onboard.

The tiro stood on the platform, watching the steady flow of people moving towards the train.

"Maybe they did jump off the train after they attacked Sai," Sakura wondered to herself in defeat.

With the semi-conscious Sai over his shoulders, Naruto gave his thoughts as the train started to pull away from the station. "We did interview everyone on board who was a part of the staff and they all knew each other and there were records of each of them. The guy couldn't have taken a uniform and posed as one of them without someone noticing. The only person we didn't talk to on the staff list was the conductor because he was driving the train."

"Yeah," said Sakura, realizing what Naruto was saying. "It would have to be someone not a lot of people would see. The conductor is at the front of the train in his own car. Maybe the person went in there."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed. "They must have gone all the way up to the front and is hiding in the conductor's car. We should have looked there first. Maybe we can still catch them."

"They probably got off the train by now," Sai mumbled into Naruto's shoulder. "And if they did go up there, wouldn't the conductor have done something?"

"Not if they were drugged like you were," said Naruto.

"Can the guy drive a train, too?" Sai pointed out.

Naruto puckered his lips in thought. "Maybe… But… I guess not. I mean, what's the point?" A stowaway drugging the conductor and driving the train to the next station only to either get off or remain onboard didn't make a lot of sense. It was more likely that the person either jumped off the speeding train or hid somewhere until the train stopped and got off with the other passengers.

"They could have still been in that last car, hidden among all those luggage bags," said Sakura, feeling like she had missed something so obvious.

"Which means they could be here," said Naruto. "If they got off with everyone else. Let's look around."

They walked around for only a few minutes before Sakura gave Sai a concerned look and asked, "Are you feeling any better? The effects should have worn off by now."

Naruto looked at Sai slumped over his back, equally concerned.

Sai opened his eyes weakly. "I can try walking."

Naruto let Sai slip off his back and watched him stand shakily on the dirt road. Sai took a few unsteady steps and nodded. Naruto walked beside him, unsure if Sai was really ok.

Before they could even accomplish what their next move should be, Sai repeatedly asked to take a breather, slowing them down and worrying them at the same time.

"He keeps asking to rest every two minutes. We've barely left the station," said Sakura. "I think we should go back to the Leaf."

"No," said Sai, standing up. "I'm ok. We can see this mission through."

"Do you even know who we're looking for?" asked Naruto. "You didn't get a good look at the guy, I thought."

"We can… ask…" Sai's eyes went out of focus. A moment later, he vomited.

"That's it," said Sakura. "You're in no condition to continue with the mission. We have to go back."

Sai could barely stand. "I don't feel so…" He fell to his knees and vomited a second time.

Naruto knelt beside him and rubbed his back. "You're not doing so well. We need to get you some help."

Taking in a few deep beaths, Sai turned to him. "You think?"

Naruto couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

"Come on." Naruto hauled Sai to his feet and helped him walk back to the train station.

When they arrived, the person in the ticket booth wasn't there and a sign reading 'closed' sat behind thick metal bars. "It's the middle of the morning," Sakura complained. "Where could they have gone?"

They couldn't travel on foot with Sai in this condition, so they wandered the station for people, asking if anyone knew where they could find a doctor. Naruto sat with Sai on a rock near the road when he couldn't take another step without falling. Naruto put a hand to Sai's forehead, pushing his headband aside with his fingers. Sai did feel a little warm.

They pressed on, hoping to come to a town or village. All the passengers leaving the train must have been traveling somewhere. They finally came to a village but when they got closer, they realized it was empty.

"It's like all those people from the train just disappeared," said Sakura. "It's a ghost town here."

"Look," said Naruto, pointing. "I saw something move."

At first, Naruto thought it maybe was a ghost, but it was actually a person. They seemed so out of place and only added to the eeriness of the peculiar setting. Naruto was glad that he had Sai on his back as an excuse not to approach the stranger, prompting Sakura to get their attention.

It was a woman and she seemed surprised to see them. Maybe even afraid. Every time they advanced, she took a few steps back, making sure they never got too close.

"No one's lived here for years," she said. "Place has been abandoned. I just come here to gather herbs that grow in abundance."

"Do you know where we can find a doctor?" Sakura asked. "Or where all those people at the train station went? Maybe another village we missed."

The woman looked at Sai who was barely moving and moaned faintly on occasion.

"No," she said and backed away. "No village. And no doctor will treat him."

"Why not?" asked Naruto. He could tell this woman was lying. There must have been a village other than this one. She had to come from somewhere, as did all those other people leaving the station. If only they hadn't lingered as long as they had so they could follow to see where they went.

"Please, just go away," said the woman. She was acting as if they were threatening her. "For your sake, leave your friend and go back home."

"What? We're not doing that."

"I told you, no doctor will treat him. Just leave." The woman turned and fled into the woods and the group did not follow. It was unlikely she would lead them back to her home and was probably just running away from them.

"What's with that woman?" Naruto asked bewildered. "She thinks he's sick or something and we'll catch it, too?"

Sakura shook her head. "We might as well go back to the station and wait for someone to show up or another train to come through."

When they arrived this time, the sign in the window was still there but they could see someone moving around inside the booth. Sakura hastily flagged them down, waving her arms and calling out.

"Excuse me! Please, we need some help. Do you know where we can find a doctor?"

The person inside did not approach the window, but they did stop to answer her question.

"There is a place near a village," said a man's voice. He described the location.

Sai shifted on Naruto's back. "That voice…" He lifted his head to see who was speaking.

Perplexed, Sakura told the man in the booth, "We just came from that area and the village was abandoned. Are you sure there's really a doctor there?"

"Beyond the village, there is a dwelling. An old castle that should still be standing. That is where you must bring your friend."

Sai, fixated on the speaker, spoke softly. "Yes. Yes, we should go to the castle."

With Sai's lips so closer to Naruto's ear, he could distinctly hear what he was saying and how he said it. From his perspective, it sounded like Sai was repeating words that were put in his mouth. It wasn't an original thought but rather another's influence that had Naruto feeling disconcerted.

"Thanks for the information," Sakura told the person in the booth.

After leaving the booth, Sakura gave her honest input. "I don't think we should go that way. Why would there be a doctor in an area with no people?"

"That woman was there."

"And she seemed scared of us." Sakura looked at Sai who had gone back to a nearly comatose state. "We need to get him help. If we…"

They looked into the distance and saw a train speeding towards the station, like a beacon after wandering around lost. They stood on the platform and waited for its approach. The train slowed to a stop in front of them and the doors opened. No one got off this time and the ticket-taker stood at one of the open doors calling out for passengers to board.

The trio got on, figuring they could explain that the ticket booth was closed. The train started readily down the tracks and away from the station.

"Don't worry, Sai," Sakura said to the person on Naruto's back. "We'll find you a doctor."

Sai opened his eyes and looked at her listlessly. "I'm thirsty."