The next morning, Kokoro was the first to awake. She lay on her back, looking up at the sky for a while. Birds flew overhead, one landing on a branch a few feet away. Kokoro looked at it idly for a moment, then sat up silently, wiping the sleep from her eyes.
She sat cross legged on the ground, looking at the other sleeping bag. Three small lumps were underneath the blanket, going up and down gently with every breath.
Kokoro sighed. This was a dilemma. Kokoro needed to get those guys to a safe place, and considering the fact that they seemed to be ‘valuable’ there wasn’t anyone she could trust them to besides herself or Luna.
Kokoro dragged over her weapons pouch to her, and, still sitting on the sleeping bag, she opened it up and removed the map. This was where she was. This was K2. And this was Konoha.
Kokoro looked at the spot where she supposed they were then their destination, then the Leaf Village. She could leave them there, but Luna and she had already passed it. If they went there, it would be like making a u-turn, then coming back again, which would take about three to four days, which was too much time to squander.
Kokoro counted the days on her fingers. ‘Lessee,’ She thought. ‘One day to go to the haven, another in the haven…another…couple of hours… Altogether we have 2 and half months left. From here, if there are no difficulties, it’ll take about thirty days to get there…. Considering ‘me’ I bet there ‘will’ be difficulties, so it’ll take two months at the most, plus a couple of days actually ‘finding’ the guy…’
Kokoro sweat-dropped.
She began strapping the weapons pouch to her leg, thinking, ‘I have more than enough time to drop them off at Konoha. I better get them to tell me their story though…. Even considering all that stuff I said about trust, I have to know. I can probably drop them off at a city, if it’s along the way and they just tell me its name.’
***
Dai hopped down onto the main road, dust rising around his feet. Riku stood beside him as shim looked down at the tracks upon the ground.
Shim stood up, and told Dai. “They stopped here to target a traveler. The traveler had small shoes, a child’s most likely, and was accompanied by a cat.”
Dai nodded, a frown apon his face. A child. Suddenly, he smelt something foul and looked up, Riku doing the same beside him. Riku woofed to Dai, and Dai nodded, his frown deepening.
At Shim’s curious look, he translated.
“There’s the smell of blood and death coming from that direction.”
Shim frowned, matching Dai’s one, and the three of them turned and went into the woods, reluctant to find what they thought was most likely that they would find.
The body of a dead child.
***
Shura washed his face in the stream, wiping it on the sleeve of his shirt. Then, he cupped the water in his hands and drank deeply, the cold fluid rushing down his throat and wakening hi completely.
He rubbed his stomach ruefully, remembering the way Yumi had bounced onto it to wake him up. After he’d gasped for air for a few seconds, Shura had scolded her reproaching, embarrassed as both Kokoro and Maiko (and, he suspected, the cat) rolled around laughing at his expression.
Shura turned to the others, sitting down on a log and looking at the food that had been prepared. He felt a little ashamed to have slept throughout the making of the food, and then eating it, so he went into the woods to get more wood.
When he came back, Kokoro, Yumi, Maiko, and Luna where all sitting, waiting for him. Kokoro grinned at him and handed him his plate, which he took silently, contemplating the fact that he was ‘the only boy’ in this whole party.
***
Shim was the first to push into the clearing. What he saw made him stop in astonishment. Riku came next to him, then Dai followed, and they both stopped too, staring at the carnage in the clearing.
After a moment of open mouth staring, Shim picked his way through the bodies to some at the edge of the forest. He stooped down and looked at the bodies, his eyes looking attentively at the kunai marks in the bodies.
Dai and Riku, following Shim’s example, looked over the other bodies.
After a couple moments of silent, grim, observation, they all compared notes.
Then, Shim summarized the whole thing.
“The traps , although skillful, were obviously set by someone from Konoha. The people, who were killed, were obviously pushovers, as they did not prepare for such traps. And, the footprints were small and those of a child’s. And so, the conclusion is that an Academy student is on the loose, and had the skill and the will to kill these men.”
Dai remained silent, then Riku barked and he translated.
“Riku says that our mission is complete. It was to track the bandits and kill them, while getting one for questioning. Since it seems that they have already been killed, and that it would be impossible to get one back alive, our mission is over, and we should return home.”
Shim nodded, saying, “I agree. These people have been dead for about a day, and whoever killed them is long gone. We should head back. The hokage will need us during the Chunin Exams. Let’s bury them and leave.”
Dai said, “You get started.”
Shim glared at him, but grudgingly began to make a large hole. Dai went over to the fire side and stared at the dead man there. He had deep scratches in both his shoulders, and his face was twisted into that of pure terror.
‘What caused him to feel such fear?’ Dai wondered.
Riku woofed softly, and Dai wandered over to his side.
‘Blood.’ Riku was saying. ‘The child bled.’
Dai rubbed the dried blood onto his fingers, smelling it thoughtfully. Suddenly, Shim yelled, “Come over here Dai! I need your help, the ground’s as hard as rock!”
“Coming!” Dai yelled back, and put the blood into a small bag.
***
Kokoro looked at Luna, who was purring against Yumi’s legs like a little motor. Kokoro grinned. Luna had sure taken to the small girl. She sure ‘was’ charming.
They were all seated beside the fire, warming themselvesone last time before setting off. Kokoro, deciding that she should get this over with, removed the map with a loud rustling sound.
“Guys.” She said. Shura looked up at her instantly, eyes sharp.
Kokoro was serious. She looked at them, and then said, “I need to find out where I should drop you off. Since, obviously, you gus seem to be in trouble, I can’t drop you off at any old village, can I? So I need to know the whole story. I hope you guys trust me enough to tell me.”
Shura just looked at her for a moment, and Yumi stopped ubbing Luna’s head.
Maiko was the first one to speak up, glancing at Shun after beginning.
“I’ll tell.”
Shura nodded, and Maiko, encouraged, went ahead.
“First of all, what I said about Shura was the truth. He ‘is’ a prince, in a sense. He is the son of a daimyo from the Land of Lightning. I am his friend and servant.”
Kokoro said and did nothing, just looking at Maiko curiously.
“My father and mother are good friends of Shura, so they met often, and we met often, and we became friends.”
Shura scowled. “Stop telling her your life story and get on with it!”
Maiko glared at him, and then said, “Oh, you get on with it then if you’re in such a hurry!”
Shura looked taken aback, and then he quieted down and went on from where Maiko left off. Yumi went over to Luna and began playing with her.
“I have an uncle, my father’s step brother, who is rather nice. A couple times a year, he comes down to our house for some reason o the other, laden with gifts. One day, he suggested we come to his house, saying it would be the least he could do for our hospitality. And thus, we went.”
Here Shura stopped for a moment.
“My father, Maiko, and her mother, along with some servants and bodyguards went. Of course, my father is perfectly able to take care of himself. In fact, he is a formidable opponent, as was Maiko’s mother.”
Kokoro glanced at Maiko, who was silent, her long hair shadowing her face softly. Kokoro could feel the sadness coming from her, and her eyes clouded with pity as she realized that Shura had used a past tense.
“We went over and stayed for a while. It was alright. My uncle had an ok house, although he had no wife. It was large enough to accommodate us, and he kept apologizing about it’s small size. “I’m sure it’s not what you’re used to, what with your large grand house and all.” He would say, always with a touch of bitterness in it that seemed to pass my father by.”
“Well, anyway, time passed and my father reached an urgent letter from home, and had to leave early. He took two servant children with him, at Uncle’s suggestion, posing as me and Yumi. We were to leave a couple days later with Maiko and her mom at a different route, disguised as traveling civilians.”
Kokoro glanced over at Yumi, who was dragging a branch for Luna to chase half-heartedly.
“We all left that day. A couple days on the road, we were surrounded in cam by lots of bandits. And these were killer professionals, not like th ones guarding us.”
Shura’s hands tightened into fists.
Maiko went on in a husky voice.
“They killed my mother, but not before she killed several of them. They seemed to want Shura and Yumi only, and were about to kill me, but Shura threatened to kill himself if they hurt me. They took us all hostage, and the professionals left, telling the others to take care of us “Otherwise the boss’ll kill you all.” We were like that for , until you came. At some point they passed the border and went into the Land of Fire.”
There was a silence, and Kokoro removed her map.
“Lucky.” She said quietly. “I’m heading in the same direction, I think. I’ll be crossing over into the Land of Lightning. Tell me where you live and I’ll drop you off.”
She handed the map to Shura, who looked at the map. His eyes passed over it then widened, and he turned pale. Maiko looked at the map, and she darted forward to grab Yumi andrun into the forest, closely followed by Shura. The map lay on the log, and a bewildered Kokoro looked at the other two.
“What the-?”
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Chapter notes: Not some of my best work, this chp.. Sorry guys...
Ever try writing with a cat siting on your hand? it's hard! Anyway, Merry Winter Vacation guys! I won't be able to update for a while.
Reasons:
1. Going away tomorow!
2. Got new laptop- files haven't been transferred properly...
P.S. Guys, you know, those two ninja, their name completely slipped my mind! So, I used these names..
I know sloppy! But, the computer wich had my original files was sent in for repair......
So totally sorry!