Chapter 5: Traveling to the Sand


A/N: We're back at it with Chapter 5! I tried not to take as long with writing this one as I did with Chapter 4; I want to get this arc out of the way as fast as possible so I can get to the next arc – something I've been planning out for quite some time. We're slowly but surely getting more and more views with this story, something I'm appreciative of every day. Part 1's also gaining more traction which isn't going unappreciated. Enough of me rambling – here's what you missed in Chapter 4 if you haven't read it yet (or if you decided to skip ahead cause why not:

Chapter 4: "The Addition" - Recap

Not long after Kori confessed to Yorukō, the Hasegawa son was intercepted by a lone ANBU shinobi who informed him of an "addition" to the team – thanks in large part to Danzō's and the elders' fear of Yorukō and his family's alleged future attack on the village. After being informed, the teen returned home and relayed the news to his group, something that was not taken so well by everyone; the only thing that brought everyone back together was Aya, someone who everyone deemed was worth it to take the struggle for. Upon arriving to the gate, the group were intercepted by Chikara, the newest addition to Team 1.


"At this rate, we'll reach the Sand within a day or two." Yorukō commented, the teen and the rest of his team jumping from branch to branch. After Yorukō's and Chikara's standoff and subsequent 'tolerance' of each other's company, Yorukō made the decision to immediately leave for the Sand Village. At first, the teen expected the ROOT shinobi to not comply with him, but found Chikara to be at base value, compliant with the orders he was given.

"We've been going at a fast pace for a while. Wouldn't it be wise if we stopped and made camp for the night? It is getting dark, after all." Sayuri suggested, something Kori and Yuina seemed to agree with; even Chikara nodded his head along with them.

"I suppose so. Let's keep going until we find a secluded enough spot where we can conceal our chakras better." Yorukō answered, finding his mother's suggestion to be useful.

Soon enough, Team 1 managed to find a suitable area surrounded by a great amount of trees, something that further allowed the group to better conceal their presence. It did not take long for them to all make camp and create the necessary spots, such as a campfire area.

"Chikara and I will go collect some logs and hunt for food. You three stay here – Kori, you keep watch for if there may be any potential enemies." Yorukō ordered.

Kori nodded.

"Will you be alright, Yorukō-kun?" Yuina asked, concerned for her boyfriend.

"Don't worry, Yuina-chan." Yorukō answered with a smile: "I take my missions seriously."

"How long would you guys be gone for?" Sayuri asked: "If you think it'll take longer than expected, I could tag along to add an extra hand."

"Your mother does make a convincing argument, Yorukō." Chikara noted, agreeing with the reanimated shinobi's idea.

"I don't know your full capabilities yet, Chikara." Yorukō answered: "That being said, the person closest to me in strength, hell, maybe even more than my own would have to be my mother. She can stay and aid a hand as the muscle while we're gone.

"That also makes sense." Sayuri said, slightly relenting but agreeing with the idea.

"Kori, I'll leave the scouting to you while we're gone!" Yorukō shouted at the teen before vanishing via smokeless shunshin, Chikara almost immediately following suit.

"It feels weird…" Sayuri noted after her son left.

"What feels weird, Sayuri-san?" Yuina asked, Kori eager to also know.

"It feels weird for me to be on a mission with my son. I never would've even imagined seeing this day happen. Even more, I'm dead." Sayuri commented, a sad chuckle escaping her lips: "Funny how life works, huh?"

"When you put it like that…" Yuina said, a sad smile of her own forming on her face: "…then it is funny. For me, I suppose you can say that I'm scared."

"Why scared?" Kori asked.

"Well… the last time I was on a mission with Yorukō-kun…well…" Yuina recalled, tears beginning to form in her eyes: "…it didn't end so well for me, and especially everyone else involved."

"Well, I can't say much on that, Yuina," Kori said, walking over towards her cousin and placing a hand on her shoulder: "but that was a bad situation for everyone involved. You know that."

"I know…but…" Yuina countered.

"This may sound harsh, but it's best to fully move past that, Yuina-chan." Sayuri commented, bringing both girls' attention towards the older woman: "You told us you talked about it with him, right?"

"Y-Yeah, but-" Yuina said before Sayuri raised her hand and cut her off.

"But nothing. Don't you think Yorukō may have been through enough, dealing with the sins and guilt of doing such a heinous act?" Sayuri argued in a stern tone: "Seeing you like this would only add more to his guilt, and as a shinobi, lower his value and skills in battle. Would you want that to happen?"

Yuina shook her head in shame.

Sayuri gave the girl a warm smile, grabbing her into a hug: "Knowing my son, he hasn't yet fully forgiven himself for the actions he committed when you were with him, but I know he's accepted it and moved onwards. It's time for you to do the same, if not for your sake, for his."

With Yorukō and Chikara…

Yorukō sneezed rather loudly while scanning the area with his 'new teammate' Chikara, something that didn't go unnoticed by the ROOT shinobi.

"Everything good, Yorukō?" asked the man.

"Yeah…" Yorukō answered, wiping his nose and shook his head: "someone's talking about me, is all. Nothing to really worry about here."

"Good," Chikara replied, pointing at the wild boar facing the two: "because we have to take this animal down."

Yorukō cracked his knuckles and neck in excitement when facing the animal, a grin forming on his face: "I'm going to enjoy this."

"Wouldn't it be better if we took it down with some techniques to make it faster?" Chikara suggested.

Yorukō looked at the shinobi incredulously, shaking his head with a slight chuckle: "No, I'm surprised that you didn't know."

"Didn't know what?"

"Chakra makes the taste of animals get even duller when killed with it!" Yorukō explained before charging towards the creature. Chikara chuckled to himself before heading for the boar when he noticed another making its presence known. Instead of helping his leader, the ROOT ninja reached for a kunai in his pouch and engaged the animal, something Yorukō similarly did before charging at his prey. The two ninjas expertly dodged each attack at them before Yorukō landed atop the boar's back, driving his kunai through its neck. Chikara for his part reached for a shuriken blade and aimed it for one of its legs whilst charging at the man, causing the boar to fall due to its own momentum. The shinobi appeared in front of the boar and stabbed it in its neck, killing it immediately.

"That was fun." Chikara commented: "I haven't had as much fun in a long time."

"Really?" Yorukō asked: "Surely you ROOT ninjas get missions almost daily, no?"

A scowl formed on Chikara's face at the mention of his faction. "Eventually you'll know, but I do not like this faction one bit. Everything about it is…wrong."

"I hear you," Yorukō said before creating two shadow clones, one to grab each leg of the dead prey: "but we do need to head back that way. While my clones bring this kill back, I'll do some recon and collect some wood."

"Understood." Chikara replied as he made shadow clones of his own, something that didn't go unnoticed by the teen jōnin. The two split ways after the original Yorukō took off in a different direction to perform his task, Chikara heading towards the rest of the group, his (and Yorukō's) clones in tow.

With Yuina and company…

"I wonder if they're almost done." Yuina mused out loud, catching everyone's attention: "Yorukō-kun and Chikara-san that is."

After the heart-to-heart between Yuina and Sayuri, the three women wasted little time with completing the remaining tasks needed for securing the area. Yuina took a few empty chakra papers from one of her pouches and wrote different sensory seals on them and passed them to her younger cousin, who then performed a jutsu allowing her to expand her sensory range by about five miles out by spreading and placing them on less obtuse spots on different trees. Satisfied with Yuina's work, Kori returned to base and thanked the girl before moving to a different spot where she began collecting some stray wood.

"What's with the stray wood?" Sayuri asked, curious at Kori's gathered resource.

"Well," Kori noted, grabbing a kunai from her leg pouch and reached for a piece of wood: "I figured we can try to make the fire burn hotter with any extra wood we can find before Yorukō-kun and Chikara comes back."

"That makes sense." Yuina interjected, appearing beside the two women: "Using these extra pieces of wood would make it better, considering we'd need to light it naturally anyway."

"Agreed." Sayuri commented, nodding her head at Yuina's comment: "Lighting a fire with chakra will make us more noticeable by any enemy shinobi." Folding her arms, she continued: "Besides, having food made by a chakra-induced flame would make it almost bland anyway."

"I hope I'm not too late." Chikara called out, catching everyone's attention. The three women noticed two shadow clones that carried one boar while noticing two Yorukō clones carrying another; something that put them all on edge towards their new member.

"Before anyone gets any suspicions of me, know that I didn't do anything to Yorukō. He ordered me to return with these boars while he goes to collect wood and performs extra recon." The ROOT shinobi smoothly explained.

While still on edge, the three women relented, taking his word for it. It also helped that to them, Chikara returned with two Yorukō clones, something which definitively backed his statement. He walked past the trio clones and boars in tow and dropped the latter in a spot, dispelling his own clones once he was finished. Understanding their orders, the Yorukō clones similarly dissipated as Chikara jumped onto a tree branch and laid down in a large enough spot.

Five minutes later…

"What are you doing?" Kori asked, slightly annoyed at Chikara's antics: "Aren't you going to help with the remaining preparations?"

"Well, considering I brought food for us to eat, I think I can relax for a good while before Yorukō returns." Chikara curtly answered, leaving no room for any additional remarks.

"Why, you…" Kori angrily said as she walked towards the tree Chikara was relaxing on.

"Are you sure you want to take that course of action?" Chikara asked with one eye open: "Did you already forget that I'm to report any sign of aggression to Danzō-sama?"

"That doesn't excuse you from not helping more!" Kori shouted back.

"Let it go, Kori." Yorukō ordered, the teen's shadowy figure walking towards the hideout.

"But-" argued the Tokubetsu jōnin before Yorukō spoke up, effectively cutting her off.

"-But nothing. The man has a point: he's specifically placed to spy on us." Yorukō noted, returning with additional logs to burn. He took note of Chikara's relaxing form and sighed to himself while shaking his head: "However, if you're going to be working with my family and I, then I'd prefer if you aid whenever and however possible."

Chikara sighed, slightly frustrated as Kori looked on triumphantly. The ROOT ninja hopped off the tree where he faced the leader of the squad, his face completely devoid of emotions.

"I swear, if it wasn't because of you – and to some extent – your mother, I wouldn't give a care in the world on what you want me to do." Chikara said, not too subtly underestimating Yuina's and Kori's strengths as individual ninjas.

"One thing you're not going to do is to underestimate my team's abilities in combat. Am I understood?" Yorukō told Chikara, warning the ROOT shinobi with thinly veiled contempt in his voice: "The only reason I'm honestly playing along with the decision with you here is to make those shitbags that call themselves 'elders' happy. If it was any other situation, that would've been my one and done."

"Is that right?" Chikara fought back, his own contempt becoming evident in his voice: "Did you forget what I said when we first met? About how I don't take threats well?"

Kori, Yuina, and Sayuri all looked at the scene with slight anxiety being spread across the three kunoichi. To them, the progress made with Chikara so far has been anything BUT progressive, despite the short amount of time they've had since meeting him. In the little time meeting him, he's belittled Kori's and Yuina's worth as kunoichi, offering (if even slight) praise to Sayuri and Yorukō. For the latter, he did not seem to mind Chikara's presence even after that intense standoff they both had at the village gate. Up until that comment, Yorukō entertained the idea of wanting to know him more, but now it's basically back to ground zero between the two.

"It's not that deep, you two." Sayuri spoke out while pinching her temples, catching both shinobi's attention.

"It really isn't," Chikara agreed, his eyes ever leaving Yorukō's: "I only spoke the truth."

"Why do you find it convenient to belittle the people I care about?" Yorukō asked, his contempt dropping slightly: "It hasn't even been a half day since we've met, let alone a full one, and it's already leaving a bad taste in my mouth. Are you aware that you're not only here to 'watch us', but that you're also a team member?"

"What does that have to do with anything? My mission has more precedence than yours." Chikara asserted: "I follow your 'orders' because I'm bored, and fighting you right now, even with my own abilities, would be rather disadvantageous for both of us, as much as I hate to admit it."

"How about I fix that perception of yours?" Yorukō asked.

"And how, pray tell, would you do that?" Chikara asked.

Yorukō pointed at Yuina and Kori momentarily, shifting his focus from Chikara: "Can you both do me a favor and ensure we're all set up? It would be best for us to be done so we can all lower our chakra signatures."

"…Alright. But don't do anything rash, okay?" Yuina said as she walked towards Yorukō and gave him a kiss on the cheek before turning around and leaving with Kori. Only Sayuri, Yorukō, and (the problematic) Chikara remained. Returning his focus to the ROOT shinobi, Yorukō could only sigh towards him; his behavior towards the rest of the team being anything but savory. He made a mental note to speak to Tsunade to try and get him replaced once they returned to the Leaf.

"Are you done lamenting?" Chikara rudely asked.

"At this point – I'd much rather kill you." Yorukō muttered to himself before sighing.

"What was that?" Chikara asked.

"I said, I'd much rather kill you and feed into Danzō's fear." Yorukō said more clearer this time while looking Chikara directly in his eyes, Yorukō's eyes devoid of all emotions. He looked over at his mother who now had a more annoyed expression on her face as he returned his focus to Chikara and continued speaking: "However, you're still a Leaf Shinobi, and I don't care how you put it: you're still a member of Team 1."

"That was another thre-" Chikara commented before being cut off.

"-I don't give a damn if I was threatening you or not!" Yorukō commented, his KI gradually soaring higher as he spoke: "Consider this my final warning, you ROOT shinobi: undermine my family, or even refuse to follow orders one more time, and I promise you, your mission will be over, and you will be sent back to the Leaf…in a bag."

"Is that so? Care to bet your life on that?" Chikara asked, unfazed by his leader's words. However, the foundation member felt a cold chill run down his back when the KI emitted was beginning to become more and more dense.

"As a matter of fact…" Yorukō said before closing the distance between the two and grabbed a handful of Chikara's face with his right hand and slammed him into the ground: "…I'm willing to bet mine, but are you willing to bet yours?"

Chikara substituted with a log within seconds after being slammed into the ground and reappeared behind Yorukō, the ROOT shinobi pressing a kunai against the back of the jōnin's neck.

"I'll give you props and admit that what you just did hurt, but that's where my praise ends." Chikara commented: "I'll take that act as a sign of aggression, and I'll now be acting accordingly."

"Before you even attack me, take a note of what's going on behind you." Yorukō calmly replied.

Chikara turned around to see Sayuri, Kori, and Yuina look at him with devoid emotions, their weapons already primed and ready. Sayuri already had a katana pointed at his neck, Kori's hand seals already formed, and Yuina's scrolls already having fūinjutsu markings inside of them. Chikara chuckled to himself, realizing the events unfolding in front of him.

"Try it. We dare you." Kori coldly remarked.

"You've gone too far, Chikara-san." Yuina added.

"I don't care that you're a ROOT shinobi, or even a member of the Leaf. You just signed your death warrant." Sayuri finished.

Chikara turned around and gave full attention to the three women facing him while having the kunai blade still placed towards Yorukō's neck. They stayed in this position for a while longer; Chikara taking note of their unwavering emotion before closing his eyes and letting a smile escape his lips while removing the kunai from the jōnin's neck.

"Color me impressed. You guys all passed." Chikara said, catching them all off-guard.

"Pass? Pass what?" Kori asked indignantly: "You just tried to kill Yorukō-kun!"

"Oh, come on – would you honestly think that would be enough to kill this man right here?" asked the ROOT shinobi: "If that would've been enough, then the hype behind him would be massively underwhelming and unsubstantiated."

"That still doesn't change the fact that we can't look at you the same anymore, Chikara-san." Sayuri commented, her guard still up towards the man: "If you did that with no hesitation as a 'test', what would happen if it wasn't?"

"Then I would see it through, simple." Chikara answered before looking down at Yorukō: "You have a wonderful family and a fine team simultaneously. However, you can drop the act now."

Yorukō sighed defeatedly: "Fine." The teen stood up from his 'compromised' position from a few moments ago and dusted the dust off his pants. Turning to Chikara and the rest of his team/family, Yorukō formed a hand seal which released some chakra he'd been storing up for some time which allowed his muscles to relax.

"When'd you find out?" asked the teen.

"I found out when you slammed me into the ground." Chikara answered, folding his arms: "You planned on compromising this mission?"

"Just like you are saying that you'd see it through, I was willing to see it through as well." Yorukō answered, a smirk forming on his lips.

"Yorukō-kun…you…" Yuina said, relieved but now slightly miffed as she looked at her boyfriend indignantly: "Why'd you make us go through that then?!"

Kori and Sayuri similarly looked towards Yorukō, as if eager to hear his answer.

"I wasn't expecting you guys to do that." Yorukō said, facing all three women: "Not that I'm ungrateful, but it seemed I still had some of my survivalist mentality left over. Thank you."

"We're family. Hopefully this will make you see that too." Sayuri told her son.

"Crystal." Yorukō answered as he shifted his attention towards Chikara: "Now that these games are over, and you see that we pose no harm AND my family is good, can we move past all of this?"

"Sure. It's beginning to get dark anyway." Chikara answered as he bent over and picked up a log: "Is there anything you'd want me to do?"

"Help the girls with getting the food ready, then come help my mother and I with ensuring the area is secure." Yorukō ordered, then shifting his attention to everyone else: "Once all of that is done, we'll figure out who's keeping watch tonight. If we all want to get some rest, we can rotate who's watching. I suggest we do it in pairs – any complaints?"

The other shinobi collectively shook their heads, prompting Yorukō to clap his hands and continue: "Good! Let's try to get this show on the road before it fully gets dark. Yuina-chan, Kori, and Chikara: I can count on you guys to get the food started in swift fashion?"

"Yes!" both girls answered enthusiastically. Chikara merely nodded in agreement.

"Alright." Yorukō commented, glancing at his mother who caught his gaze, he said: "Mother, come with me." Without waiting for her response, the jōnin leader walked in an entirely new direction.

The reanimated woman slightly bowed to the rest of the group as she too went in the same direction as her son. Yorukō walked away in a swift manner, so by the time Sayuri had begun walking in the same direction, the Hasegawa matriarch had to sense for her son's chakra signature as she scanned the forest. Soon enough, she found him leaning under a rather large tree, his calm expression giving the idea that he is deep in thought on something.

"What did you need to talk to me about that no one else could hear about, son?" Sayuri asked, curious about the sudden move.

"I felt something familiar when I confronted Chikara, but I can't seem to place my finger on what it may be." Yorukō revealed, a large wave of concern in his voice: "Almost as if…I knew him, even before today."

"What are you talking about, son?" Sayuri asked: "We've never known about him up until today."

"Call me crazy, but I think this 'Chikara' and I may have some history." Yorukō affirmed: "I just can't remember when, but the way he placed that kunai on my neck, I remembered someone doing the exact same thing."

"Maybe his technique and that other person is similar?" his mother asked.

"Could be. Regardless, that's all I have for that matter right now." Yorukō concluded, changing the subject: "Are we fully secure for tonight?"

"Yes." Sayuri answered, her expression now serious: "Kori and Yuina collaborated in making a jutsu that would expand Kori's range without expending more chakra, through Yuina creating some fūinjutsu that helped expand her chakra sensory technique through funneling her jutsu in differently and strategically placed spots around our hideout for a good five miles out."

"Good." Yorukō said, satisfied with the report. He shifted himself off the tree and began walking in the direction of the hideout, his mother following him. As he was walking, he stopped in his tracks, something his mother also did, her son's erratic actions beginning to confuse the zombified woman.

"Mom…if I were to ever become truly 'evil', and you had to kill me, would you do it?" Yorukō asked, his tone so calm, it's as if he thought out this process many times over.

"I'm not following. What do you mean?"

"If I was the last enemy against the Leaf, or even the Frost, would you find or muster the courage to strike down your own son?" Yorukō bluntly asked.

"I…I don't think I could ever kill my son." Sayuri honestly answered: "But why would you ask this question? Do you ever see yourself doing that?"

"In this life, there's a saying that goes, 'never say never'. Things can always happen at any given moment, without any given reason." Yorukō said as he began walking once more: "I will say this though; that hesitation you just had answering me, is the one thing that still makes you human, despite your current status as a reanimation."

"Let me ask you this then, Yorukō." Sayuri said, stopping in her tracks: "Would you strike me down if I was an enemy?"

"It would be hard to, considering you are my mother, but I will still do it, if it would mean ensuring the future of shinobi." Yorukō stopped and answered, his tone having a slight arctic edge to it: "Without fail." Without looking back at his mother, he continued onwards back to the hideout.

Sayuri's eyes widened at her son's rather cold answer. Her heart panged for her child, her eyes welling up with tears. For a brief moment, she saw a memory of her son in his younger years, untainted and freed from the realities of the Shinobi world, and more importantly, her husband, Reiki. She wondered if given the chance to raise him normally, would he end up this way? She tried reaching for the fragmented version of her son to hold him once more, but the construct vanished before she could even attempt to hold it, leaving only her current child's presence. Luckily for her, Yorukō didn't notice her actions, and she quickly recollected herself before he turned around and began walking again.

"My son…without it being directly said, I've failed you as a mother. You've already been gripped by hatred and darkness, even admitting to fighting and even killing your own loved ones if you 'had to' do it. These are words spoken by middle-aged shinobi veterans, not a child." Sayuri pondered to herself as she walked behind her son: "If I got the chance to do this all over again, I would see to it without fail that you get a proper upbringing."

With Kori and the others…

"All done!" Kori proudly exclaimed, wiping sweat off her forehead.

"We all did a pretty good job, if we were to admit." Chikara commented: "I never thought you were that good, Kori."

After Sayuri and her son departed, Chikara, Yuina, and Kori made quick work of the remaining resources. Kori and Yuina began cutting down the logs provided, with Kori using some wind techniques to quickly shred the excess off each log and neatly stacking them in some piles. Yuina took a little longer than her cousin, as she wrote seals on her logs which she then activated, destroying the excess off hers as well. Unlike Kori, Yuina opted to keep them closer to the designated spot to burn them eventually. Chikara used wind jutsus of his own to completely eviscerate the prey he and Yorukō returned. Satisfied, the ROOT operative smiled to himself while creating a shadow clone to help him bring what he couldn't towards the designated spot.

"Yo!" Yorukō called out while returning, his mother in tow.

"Yorukō-kun!" Kori and Yuina happily called out. Chikara merely looked at the pair, also acknowledging their arrival.

"I was only gone for a few minutes." Yorukō said, placing his hands on his hips: "Did you miss me that much?"

"Well…" Yuina said, fiddling her index fingers together.

Yorukō smiled at his girlfriend's response. He looked at Kori, the former hunter-nin having some relief in her eyes. Sayuri watched the interaction between the girls and her son, a small smile forming on her face at the exchanges between them. However, her facial expression changed once remembering the conversation they had just a few moments ago but decided to leave it be for now.

"Before we even get to the matter of the food," Chikara commented, bringing everyone's attention towards the ROOT shinobi: "who's going to be the ones taking watch tonight?"

"I suggest we all rotate watch, that way we can all get sufficient sleep while we have people keeping a lookout." Yorukō suggested.

"I don't really need sleep due to my status, but that's something I can work with." Sayuri said, agreeing with her son's idea.

"I like that idea." Chikara agreed.

"That works." Yuina added.

"We should also do them in four-hour shifts; that's sufficient enough rest for us for when we leave." Yorukō explained while making a mental note of the number of people in his team.

"How will we do this, Yorukō-kun?" Yuina asked.

"We'll work in pairs, that way three of us can sleep at a time." Yorukō explained.

"Three of us?" Kori asked: "Then that means someone won't be keeping watch at all."

"Precisely, Kori." Yorukō said, pointing a finger at the kunoichi: "You'll be the one to not keep watch. You've already set sensory traps, so if anyone breaches it, you'll be able to alert the ones asleep with you."

"I'd still like to keep watch though!" Kori argued.

"Think about it; let's say your chakra runs out due to lack of sleep and those seals lose their efficiency, then how would we stay fully alert? You're doing more than you have to already." Yorukō systematically deduced to his teammate.

"I…I guess you're right." Kori relented after thinking it over for a few minutes: "Still, I don't want to feel as if I'm contributing enough."

"Kori." Yorukō said as he used a hand and cupped the kunoichi's cheek: "You're doing more than enough with these added sensory traps. These will help us more than just keeping watch, so I don't want you to feel as if you're not contributing enough when you're contributing more than all of us combined."

"Yorukō-kun…" Kori softly said, her face reddening more than a tomato due to the close contact with Yorukō: "You mean that?"

"I wouldn't lie." Yorukō answered back, the jōnin removing his hand from Kori's cheek, much to the girl's small (but noticeable) disappointment. He returned his attention towards the rest of the group who looked at him while awaiting his further orders. Folding his hands, he continued: "I have the perfect formation for keeping watch."

"What is it, son?" asked Sayuri.

"After we eat and clean up our surroundings, Yuina-chan and I can keep watch for the first shift. This will give Chikara and Kori-chan ample time to sleep – and even though you say you don't need it – it'll give you time to get some sleep as well. If not, I suppose you can do whatever. Once our shift ends, you and Chikara can take the next shift for the four hours. Once that ends, if we have time until we leave, we can rely on the sensory tags Kori placed but we can have chakra storing up as we gain rest so that we wouldn't be completely off-guard. Any objections?"

"None from me." Chikara simply answered.

Yuina shook her head: "That can work."

"Plan seems solid, Yorukō-kun." Kori chimed in.

"I like this formation, son." Sayuri said, praising her son's tactic: "Seems that training yielded a great result."

"Thanks." Yorukō told his mother: "That means a lot coming from you."

"Anytime, son."

"Well, all this planning is making me hungry, so let's get the food rolling, shall we?" Chikara chimed in. Everyone seemed to agree with his idea and headed towards the logs and dead prey. Yorukō and Chikara went to collect and bring each part of the prey towards the fire that was being started by Yuina and Kori. Sayuri went further into the forest to find edible enough fruits for the group to eat, procuring some berries and strawberries for everyone to have. Satisfied, she returned to the group with her haul. Upon returning, she realized the fire was already made; the prey currently being roasted. This brought a smile upon her face.

"Welcome back, mother. I didn't realize you left to get some fruits." Yorukō greeted.

"I'm surprised at how fast it took to do all this." Sayuri remarked.

"It didn't take us long to have a fire started. Somehow, neither Yuina-chan or Kori-chan knew how to fully start a fire – they had some troubles while we were bringing the kill, so we showed them how to do it. Once we showed them the basics, it was basically smooth sailing from there." Yorukō explained.

"Leader explained it right on the mark. It helps a lot that I had already prepped these animals beforehand; once we had the fire fully rolling, cooking them would've been no problem." Chikara added.

"The meat is nearing completion!" Yuina announced, catching the trio's attention: "At this rate, it'll be done in five minutes!"

"Five minutes, huh?" Yorukō said with a smile: "That sounds good, I'm starving!"

This earned a laugh from everyone, even Chikara. Before long, the meat finished cooking, and everyone got around to eating. Sayuri's addition of the fruits made the now cooked wild animal even more flavorful, something everyone appreciated. Sayuri took a few pieces of the animal, opting to let the others eat due to her zombified state, but secretly lamented on wanting to fully enjoy the meal. About ten minutes pass and everyone finished, each disposing of the remains of their food with jutsus of their own.


A/N: I tried with writing a food scene here which didn't work out too well, but I'll work more on that in the future. That's all, carry on with the story.


"I'm stuffed!" Chikara commented, earning stares from everyone: "What?"

"I never imagined an emotionless ROOT shinobi would ever say that." Yorukō said, slightly cracking up: "It fits you!" the teen broke out into full laughter afterwards.

"Oh, shut up!" Chikara hissed. Despite his harsh response, the ROOT shinobi enjoyed the meal he shared with his team, or assignment if you will. He looked upwards to the sky, a small smile gracing his lips as he watched the sun go down: "This sunset is beautiful today. It's the most beautiful I've seen it in quite some time."

"You're right." Yuina added, the teen looking now upwards at the sky: "It is quite nice."

"An unlikely expression AND an appreciation for the sunset." Yorukō commented, pointing his finger at the ROOT shinobi: "You're a confusing one, aren't you?"

"I may be trained to have no emotions and feelings, but I do like seeing things that calm me down." Chikara remarked.

"That reminds me." Kori said, bringing everyone's attention towards her: "What is it that they make you do in the Foundation?"

Chikara hesitated with answering Kori's question as his fists began to tremble in rage. Taking a deep breath, he curtly answered: "…I won't tell you."

"Why not?" Sayuri asked: "We're basically a team now, right? Not even that, you're essentially spying on us."

"Well, it's not that I won't tell you, it's that I can't tell you." Chikara explained.

"And why is that?" Yorukō asked.

"Well…" Chikara started before sticking his tongue out, revealing a seal imprinted on the back and pointed at it: "…if I say anything negative about Danzō-sama, or even explain a single detail on how things in the Foundation are handled, I was told that it wouldn't end well for me."

"Yuina, you know things about fūinjutsu; would there be a way to find out what that is?" Kori asked, turning to face her cousin.

"Hmm…" Yuina replied as she walked closer towards Chikara to inspect the seal further. She noticed the simplistic pattern, three straight lines with two more broken in half. The teen placed her fingers on her chin before shaking her head: "I've never seen such a seal like that before, but if what Chikara said is true, I'm betting that it's a cursed seal of sorts."

"That could be likely." Yorukō added, waving his hand in dismissal as he continued: "However, we can't pry too much into it or even worry that much about this anymore. We need to get ready to keep watch."

"Makes sense." Chikara said before rising from his spot and cleaned his area. The rest of the team followed suit in quick fashion, with each getting up and cleaning their areas. For Yorukō, it took a while longer as he was considered to be a 'messy eater' at times, which resulted in the teenage jōnin summoning a shadow clone to help him clean up his mess, much to Yorukō's embarrassment. After about ten minutes at most, the group cleaned their spots completely and disposed of things that may remain.

"We need to set up a tent of sorts." Yorukō said after dispelling his clone.

"There's no need for that." Chikara cut in: "I can make a wind barrier that blocks out things like bugs."

"Wouldn't that mess with Kori's sensory?" Yuina asked.

"It shouldn't. Its range won't be far enough to tamper with the seals." Chikara answered.

"Do it then, but we still need something for everyone to at least sleep on." Yorukō ordered: "I won't feel comfortable with my men not being comfortable when they're resting."

"I can help with that." Sayuri said: "I brought some scrolls with supplementary items in case we were camping out."

"Sounds good." Yorukō replied as the teen turned to face a ledge close by in the area: "While my mother and Chikara set up, we can go ahead and take up a spot, Yuina-chan."

"Right." Yuina simply told her boyfriend while walking towards him. She turned and slightly bowed to the others then turned towards Yorukō's direction once more. Once she was ready, she nodded at Yorukō and the pair disappeared via shunshin jutsu, reappearing atop the ledge.

"Well, shall we?" Yorukō asked. Before he could say anything else, he felt a vice grip on his left arm. He turned to the side to see Yuina gripping his arm while her eyes remained closed shut.

"Are…are you afraid of heights, Yuina-chan?" Yorukō asked.

"Petrified." Yuina quietly responded, her grip not loosening in the slightest.

Yorukō made a small note on how unusual that is for a shinobi to be afraid of heights but pushed it to the back of his mind for now. Instead, Yorukō warmly smiled at his girlfriend's state and brought her closer to him.

"Let's move back a little; that way you can stay behind me, and I'll stay closer to the ridge." Yorukō suggested.

"Are you sure?" Yuina asked: "I wouldn't want anything to happen to you because of me."

"What kind of boyfriend would I be if I can't keep you safe, or even worse, put you in harm's way?" Yorukō asked back.

"…You're right. I'll stay behind you." Yuina said after a brief pause. She positioned herself the opposite direction to where Yorukō is looking, allowing the pair to cover more viewing ground. It helped the pair that Yuina had already (with Kori's help) set up sensory traps around the perimeter, allowing more ground to be covered.

Two hours later…

"Hey, Yorukō-kun." Yuina said.

"Hm?"

"When we finish this mission and we get back to the leaf, do you want us to have our date then?" Yuina suggested.

"Now that I think about it, we never talked about the specifics now, have we?" Yorukō asked, causing Yuina to shake her head.

"No. I just remember me really saying something about it after we talked it over on the Great Stone Faces." Yuina answered: "I'm really looking forward to this, you know."

Yorukō chuckled at his girlfriend. The teen allowed himself a small break by looking into the night sky and admired the view before turning to look at Yuina, something that caused her to look away and blush slightly.

"The stars are beautiful tonight, aren't they?" Yorukō asked, resigning himself to looking into the sky once more.

"Yeah." Yuina agreed, the kunoichi now looking into the sky herself. She allowed herself to be lost into the stars for a time while keeping close to Yorukō. She briefly imagined the two of them in a park at a time like this after a picnic date just enjoying the night sky, just like they are now. It was at that moment when a light bulb turned on in her head which caused her to jolt back into reality, something that startled Yorukō.

"Are you okay, Yuina-chan?" Yorukō asked, concerned for his girlfriend.

"Ah, sorry about that." Yuina answered, embarrassed. She took a brief second to collect her thoughts and she continued: "I just had the perfect idea for our date!"

"What is it?" Yorukō asked, eager to hear the idea.

"How about, for our first date, we go on a picnic together? If we do it closer to the nighttime, we may be able to gaze into the beautiful stars like these once again." Yuina said, explaining the idea to him.

"A picnic, eh?" Yorukō mused: "I can't say I don't like that idea."

"See? It'd be fun!" Yuina exclaimed as she turned around to wrap her arms around his shoulders, effectively pressing her bosom onto his back.

Yorukō's face went red for a brief second upon feeling his girlfriend's bosom on his back, luckily Yuina (or anyone else) didn't see his reaction, lest he wanted to be teased thereon once they headed for the village.

"Y-Yeah…" Yorukō stammered.

"Are you okay, Yorukō-kun?" Yuina asked before realizing what she had done. Realizing the control that she now had in her hands, she pressed further into his back, causing Yorukō's face to redden even more. She leaned into Yorukō's ear and whispered: "Maybe after the picnic date, you could feel more than just this…"

"I'm not…against…that idea." Yorukō slurred, the feeling of his girlfriend's breasts pressing against his back now causing the blood to rush from his body into his member, causing it to stiffen.

Before the two could continue, they heard a throat clear nearby. Immediately, both Yuina and Yorukō stopped what they were doing and composed themselves to see who interrupted them. The two slowly turned around to see a rather annoyed Kori looking at them with a dangerous glint in her eyes, Yuina getting the most of such a stare.

"I couldn't sleep, so I left to find you guys - and this is what I see?!" Kori annoyingly asked: "What if the range was breached, and we were under attack? You two were so entrenched into each other that you didn't even notice my presence until I cleared my throat!" She pointed at Yuina as she continued: "And you! Couldn't you wait until we at least got back to the Leaf for you to be doing these things?!"

"Sounds like someone's jealous." Yuina taunted her cousin: "Jealous that it isn't you that's getting most of Yorukō's attention."

"J-Jealous?!" Kori indignantly asked, her face slowly turning red: "Don't get ahead of yourself, Yuina! Remember who – regardless of how it happened – got with Yorukō-kun first! If anything, you're getting my spoils of war."

"Why, you…" Yuina angrily said before her lips began forming a sadistic grin as she walked towards her cousin: "You know it's been a while since gave you a good beating, right?"

"And you know it's been a while since I hit you with a good genjutsu to keep you asleep." Kori countered as she walked towards Yuina, the teenage kunoichi not intimidated by her cousin's threat.

"Um, we still have to keep watch, Yuina-chan…" Yorukō nervously said while Yuina was walking towards Kori: "…Kori-chan, don't you need to keep your chakra on a stable level?"

"You keep out of this, Yorukō-kun!" Kori and Yuina simultaneously shouted towards the teen.

"Yikes…I think I'll stay out of this one and just keep watch. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, anyway." Yorukō thought, choosing to follow his inner thoughts and not persisting further: "Well, if they're going to go at it, I may as well summon a shadow clone to compensate for Yuina-chan's part of keeping watch." Yorukō brought his fingers together to create a shadow clone, sending it towards a tree to keep watch.

Within a few seconds, both Yuina and Kori faced each other; neither one's killing intent or chakra levels affecting the other. Kori already had chakra stored up since countering her cousin, while Yuina already had some pre-written scrolls since being in the leaf village. She grabbed two from a pocket in her flak jacket with such speed that it would be impossible to tell she grabbed them if you were not a shinobi.

"So, how are we going to do this?" Kori asked: "Considering you wanted to get all handsy with Yorukō-kun, should I use a genjutsu to torture you for days and nights?"

"'Handsy', huh?" Yuina asked back, a sly grin appearing on her face: "Seems I still got more with Yorukō-kun than you, consensually at that."

"A genjutsu won't even be enough for you…" Kori snapped towards Yuina, a thick vein appearing on her forehead before reaching for a kunai knife in her pocket as she swung it at her cousin: "…I just need to give you a makeover!"

"Oh yeah?" Yuina shouted as she quickly opened the contents of one scroll which revealed the kanji symbol for 'Earth': "Maybe I need to give you one as well!"

"…This is beyond embarrassing, you two." A familiar voice calmly spoke. Within moments, both Yuina's and Kori's attacks were stopped, and both women were being restrained on the ground. Kori managed to look up at the source of the voice when she found Sayuri looking down at both girls, disappointment clearly etched on her face: "I get it, I was once lovestruck too, but you two were nearly willing to give up our location and destroy it no less over the same man?"

"…I'm right here, mo-" Yorukō said before being cut off.

"-I don't want to hear it. You're supposed to be the squad leader; something like this should've been stopped before it even escalated further." Sayuri brutally reminded her son before returning her attention to the restrained girls: "I came to check on you guys and remind you that time just went up for Yuina and Yorukō and that its our turn, but I come here to see this spectacle of an embarrassment. Tell me, how would you explain it to me if you allowed your own negligence to compromise our location?"

Yuina and Kori both stayed silent at Sayuri's question, neither woman wanting to risk the further wrath of the reanimated Hasegawa matriarch. Chikara arrived on the scene not long after, choosing to stay underneath a tree to avoid being caught up in this situation, the disappointment on his face almost as evident as Sayuri's. The ROOT operative body flickered from his spot and reappeared beside Yorukō and looked at him with the same disappointment he had before.

"Now, I know I wasn't the best to deal with so far in this mission, but if this is what I'm to expect from this squad moving forward, then it should be no problem with me reverting back to the way I was earlier, right?" Chikara asked.

"That's not how it works." Yorukō answered, folding his arms: "This was one mishap. It won't happen again…" the teen looked down towards Yuina and Kori, an eerily calm expression etched on his face: "…right?"

"Yes, Yorukō-kun. This won't happen again." Yuina answered, embarrassed and ashamed of her current predicament. Kori chose not to answer in the immediate moment but chose to do a subtle nod while still restrained onto the ground.

"Well, fix this then. Keep better control of your team, else we'll have to use your mother for the de facto leader moving forward in future missions. She seems to have better control over us and she's more mature anyway." Chikara warned. He gleaned over the watch post Yorukō and Yuina were both staying for their shift and pointed at the ledge when he continued: "It's time for us to take watch. You three can go back and rest up. By the time our shift is over, it'll be the crack of dawn, and we can clean up and head to the Hidden Sand."

"That sounds good to me." Yorukō said before looking in his mother's direction: "Can you release those two? They need to get their rest."

"I planned on releasing them soon anyway." Sayuri answered. She released her grip on the two girls, allowing them to stand on their two feet to face everyone. Embarrassed, the two girls bowed to the others before making their way towards the camp site. Yorukō made a hand seal which dispelled the shadow clone he summoned then left the ledge as well.

"Well, they're gone." Chikara pointed out the obvious while walking over towards the edge: "I'll take the edge. Are you going to stay here or find somewhere else?"

Sayuri shook her head at the teen: "I'll probably stay in the trees nearby; I can cover more ground that way."

"Fine by me." Chikara shrugged.

Three hours later…

"Hey, Sayuri-san." Chikara called out while still in the same spot.

"Yeah?" The reanimation answered.

"How do you do it?" Chikara asked: "From what I've learned, you've been dead for quite some time, and you reunite with your son – and there's no bad blood or anything between the two of you. How is that?"

"Well…I won't be lying to you and tell you it was all bed and roses." Sayuri began explaining, a sad smile forming on her face: "When I reunited with him, he was skeptical that it was really me due to me being gone for such a long time. He even – despite on my orders – impaled me without question. It was after that happened when I explained the situation to him and how I ended up this way, then he understood where I was coming from and how I wasn't there for him. I honestly expect him to not hold any animosity for me, but I guess the animosity he had for me all went towards his father."

"His father, huh?" Chikara commented. He gazed further into the forest from his spot, deep in thought from Sayuri's response: "If I'm correct, his father is Reiki Hasegawa, the 'Ice Demon', right?"

Sayuri nodded her head: "Yes. He's been hell bent on wanting to kill him since finding out everything with what happened with me." She looked towards the camp and fixed her eyes on her sleeping son: "I really wouldn't want him to take such a burden for me, risking his own freedom to avenge me. The thought alone…the thought alone is enough for me."

"I'm going to let you in on a secret then, Sayuri-san." Chikara suddenly said, catching her immediate attention.

"What's that?" Sayuri asked.

"I…I may have been a ROOT shinobi, but I was really from-" Chikara started explaining before feeling the seal on his tongue beginning to burn him from the bottom up. Immediately, he stopped talking in order to prevent the seal from activating further. Unsure on how to handle the seal, the ROOT operative chose to stay silent for a few minutes when it began calming down and no longer burned.

"Did you say something, Chikara?" Sayuri asked after noticing his sudden pause.

"N-No. It's nothing." Chikara deflected, not wanting to risk re-activating the seal. "Why did it activate when I was about to reveal my origins? Something isn't adding up."

"If you say so…" Sayuri relented, not wanting to push the situation further. She looked towards the rest of the forest, admiring the vastly untouched trees that stood in front of her. She also noticed the night sky beginning to get lighter and the sun was beginning to rear its head, its rays hitting the reanimated woman from all over. She glanced at Chikara's location when she noticed he already left from the moment the sun began to rise, but she caught a glimpse of him walking back towards the group. Content, Sayuri hopped off her tree branch and headed towards the group as well.

With Yorukō and company…

Yuina groaned as she began to wake up from her sleep due to feeling the temperature raise as the sun was out. She sat upright and stretched her arms when she let out a huge yawn, her upper body beginning to loosen up which allowed her to slowly stand up. Upon standing, she slowly fell back when she realized her legs were still wobbly from sleep but was caught by Chikara before she could fall backwards.

"Thanks, Chikara-san." Yuina appreciatively said.

"No problem." Chikara simply replied. Once he realized Yuina was stable on her feet, he released his grip on the kunoichi and returned to doing his own thing.

"That was a good nap. I was able to sleep comfortably on Yorukō-kun's chest…" Yuina said to herself before getting red in the face when she realized she slept on her boyfriend's chest. Despite being together for over a year, she couldn't help herself but to blush and feel flustered every time she maintained physical contact with him for long periods of time. She looked down to see Kori still sleeping on the opposite side of the girl while firmly clutching Yorukō's arm. This caused Yuina to get annoyed with her cousin to the point where she reached for a kunai knife and threw it towards her. Almost instantly, Kori instinctively released herself from Yorukō and evaded her cousin's attack and reappeared beside Chikara, much to his annoyance.

"I just woke up. Do you mind?" Kori asked, annoyed at her cousin's actions.

"I don't know what it is that was said between you two, but you need to realize that Yorukō-kun's with me, and not you." Yuina explained: "Getting handsy like that is going to lead to what just happened."

"You're acting as if I did more than just holding onto his arm." Kori shot back with a sly grin on her face: "Maybe next time I could-"

"-That's enough, Kori." Yorukō said atop a tree branch.

"How'd you get up there so fast? I saw you still being asleep!" Yuina exclaimed.

"That's because…" Yorukō started before creating a shadow clone and immediately dispelled it: "…about one hour before sunrise, I substituted myself with a shadow clone and went to getting my things ready. You two are arguing over a shadow clone of myself. Truly, I'm flattered…and a little creeped out."

"If you three are done with whatever this is," Sayuri cut in, annoyance in her voice as she made a sweeping gesture across the three shinobi before pointing in a certain direction: "I think it's about time we finally head to the Hidden Sand."

"It won't take me long to dispel this barrier ninjutsu; but I agree with Sayuri-san." Chikara added: "We've been camping here for far too long now."

"We'll clean up the tents and whatever we need to." Kori cut in; her attitude now shifted back onto the mission at hand.

Sayuri shook her head at the girl: "That's not necessary. What we need to focus on is leaving for the Sand. I can leave some shadow clones here to clean and destroy whatever needs to be destroyed." She looked in Yorukō's direction when she added: "I'm not the leader of this squad, so I won't be calling too many shots. My apologies, son."

"There's nothing to apologize for, mother." Yorukō said without facing his mother, his gaze fixed on the forest in front of him: "If anything, whenever I can't make all the decisions or need some advice, you'd be the perfect person to consult. Think of it as being the second leader of the squad, and when I'm not here – you're the leader."

"I'm honored." Sayuri said, a small smile forming on her face from hearing her son's words.

"We're wasting time." Chikara pointed out to Yorukō: "We need to leave…captain."

"Wow… imagine Chikara calling me 'captain'." Yorukō said, surprised: "Well, when you put it like that, then we have to leave now, right?"

"Yeah!" shouted everyone.

"Let's go!" Yorukō yelled before taking off into the forest, the others following suit. Their destination: The Hidden Sand Village.


A/N: Now, hear me out…hear me out. This chapter did indeed take 100 million years to come out, but at the time when I started it, my time management was, for a lack of a more proper or even vulgar term, shit, but there was another problem when I wrote this chapter at first: I wrote three specific plot holes that I had to dig myself out of. The result: this long, beautiful chapter; the longest I've ever written for a story. Now that my finals and everything surrounding it are out of the way, I have more time to plan and write my chapters. I've been experimenting with writing longer chapters for my stories; something that I've been longing to do for a long time. A story I get massive inspiration from on this platform is "True Potential" by DryBonesKing. I've been reading his story for a while now and some of his writing style even seeped into my own, so I wanted to really thank him for inspiring me to write longer chapters. Now, I may be rambling in many different areas, but the long and short of it is, I deeply apologize that this chapter took this long to write, but I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did when I was when I proofread it.