Naruto read over the report, his face visibly hardening as the lines of his features grew deeper with anger. He glanced up at Suzume, who stood in front of his desk, her fair features serious for once as she waited for his inevitable questions. "This is a confirmed report?"
Suzume nodded. "Every word sir." She affirmed with a firm voice.
Naruto fought back a snarl as he eyed the page.
Zhuge Liang had struck out from Kumo, attacking the newly established Garrison on Mnt. Etoku that had been set up by Toyohisa. The young man had managed to defend the border well for the first few skirmishes, showing that he indeed did have the potential to be his fathers son, but after the first week Zhuge Liang had arrived on the field and using simple taunts he had fanned the flames of Toyohisa's rage. A simple act, especially when Toyohisa holds the Raikage personally responsible for the murder of his father.
After that the battle had gone down hill, and it now seemed as though their northern garrison would fall, leaving the entire northern forest open for Kumo to invade, leaving little between that army and Konoha's very gate.
Coming to a quick decision he rose from his seat, his voice once again lowering itself to the familiar octave Suzume had learned to tread lightly around. "Send out messages." He said striding around his desk and heading for the exit. "To who?" She questioned startled by the abrupt command and even more abrupt exit.
"Shino in Iwa and Kimimaro to the north. They are closest to Toushiro. Tell Shino to send one of the commanders under his lead, either Kurenai or Gai, and tell Kimimaro to either come himself or for Anko to come I don't care which."
Before she could respond the door slammed shut, his orders were clear and Naruto, at this point had very little patience for repeating himself.
Akina sat in front of a large bon-fire, a thick wool blanket wrapped around her shoulders as she watched some of the refugee's around the fire all engaged in various discussions, varying in nature as they each ate some of the prepared food from their plates. She herself was enjoying a chicken soup, which had been served in a small tin cup. Of course...she could only assume it was chicken soup...after all...it was kinda hard to tell considering there was no "chicken" in it.
Some of the refugees had sought out conversation with her, but she had politely turned them down, saying that she needed some time relatively alone to think. Some had nodded and left it at that, others having thrown knowing looks in her direction as they walked away. Apparently it was a common occurrence for new arrivals.
Still she really did need to think about what she would do now. She couldn't stay in this camp forever. Either Liang or Naruto would find this place soon. If not looking for her the first time then certainly the second. No, she couldn't stay here. Her very presence was a danger to these people. She needed to leave and she needed to leave soon.
"Yo! Miss gloom and doom eh." Came the familiar voice of Hiru, startling her as the large man simply plopped down at her side, a large plate of potatoes, pork and a variety of other things she wouldn't eat, considering the fact that they were still moving, adorned his plate. "What you doin out here all by yourself now eh?"
Akina shifted to get a little distance between herself and the ever smiling Hiru. "Oh. Hiru." She said with a hint of nervousness in her greeting, offering a hesitant smile as he sat. "I was just thinking on some stuff." She said, hoping he'd be like the others and catch the hint.
Unfortunately he didn't and simply continued to chew his food, loudly. "What about?" he asked.
She sighed in something akin to weariness. "Nothing much really."
"Oh come on now. You've been sittin here lookin like someone's been twisting your gut for the past hour eh." He said leaning closer as he offered her a drink she hadn't realized he had. "Come on..." He prompted. "You'll feel better if ya talk about it eh."
Akina growled low in her throat, though she was truly appreciative, if however suspicious, of his generosity and easy acceptance of her since her arrival here she really wasn't in the mood for someone who wouldn't just leave her alone for the time being. "Haven't you ever heard the phrase "Let sleeping dogs lie."
"Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'No man is an isla...errr...no woman is an island.'"
Akina turned to glare at Hiru, a deadpan expression adorning her features as the orange haired ninja continued to plaster that smile all over his face like it was going out of style.
Heh, with the way the world was going maybe it really was.
At the insistence in his eyes the young kunoichi sighed, hugging her knees as she pulled them closer to herself, her eyes turning to stare blankly into the fire that rose high in the center of the crowd's circular formation.
After a few minutes of her silence she spoke. "I'm thinking what my next move is gonna be...what can I do from this point on."
Hiru blinked stupidly for a moment before he swallowed whatever he had been chewing. "Why are ya thinkin about that? Its not like we'll kick you out. You're more than welcome enough to join us on our road to Kumo." The bright ninja said with a smile, watching how her own features widened, and he could practically feel her heart skip several beats as the blood drained from her face. The light of the fire making her skin seem just short of ghostlike.
"Whats the matter?" He asked innocently, tilting his head as he morphed his face into a genuinely curious expression. "You don't look so good eh."
"You-" Akina paused to moisten her suddenly dry lips. "You're headed to Kumo?"
Hiru nodded. "Yea we have to. We've got so many people we cant stay in any one campsite for more than a week at most, otherwise we'll get caught. Tomorrow we start packing up and the day after tomorrow we're on the move again. Kumo and Suna are offering sanctuary to every refugee of Konoha that wants to join them. Obviously they have some screening process that we all need to go through to keep up security but we wont have problems."
Akina seemed like a mouse, trapped between the cats jaws or the mouse trap as her eyes darted left and right, her breath coming in shorter, harsher intervals. "You-you cant go to Kumo." She said, turning her eyes away from him as she refused to meet his gaze which was now slowly narrowing.
"Hmm why not?" He spoke, his voice carrying that familiar friendly lilt, a stark contrast to his darkening expression, the minute hand signals he made alerting his ninja to subtly converge around the area, preparing for when he gave the last signal.
"I-" She said swallowing thickly "The Raikage he's...he's not what you think. He's..."
Hiru hid his suspicion, once again placing a compassionate look on his face as he placed a hand on her shoulder, bringing her attention back to him. "What is it eh? Wha'd he do to ya?"
Akina once again turned her eyes away from his. "Lets just say...he hid a lot of things that shouldn't have been hidden."
Now here, Hiru had something we call a conundrum. He could simply allow this Kumo Nuke-nin to do as she pleased, they were two people, technically on the same boat, running from their homes for their own reason, but they were obviously heading in the opposite direction from one another. But...if he did that, if he went with the age old policy of "Live and Let Live" there was a chance, the Raikage could find out. And if he did...would he still accept them in his village? Could he risk the people under his protection for this one girl?
It was as he was thinking this that she turned to face him, a new cloud shadowing her sky blue eyes, forcing him to have to stop just short of reeling in surprise.
Those eyes held a haunting image, a shadowed pain and a silent plea within them.
Right now, without words she was asking, no...begging him for his help. To understand her plight.
And he did. He knew he did. They all did, everyone had their stories, their tales of broken lives and shattered dreams. That's what this place was, a sanctuary for all those who's lives had been destroyed, taken apart by the Devil King and his ambitions.
Why should he believe that people in other villages were not suffering from their leaders as well?
"We will keep going to Kumo." He said after a moment, watching as her downtrodden expression deepened, turning her face away from his. "But-" He continued watching as her ears seemingly twitched and she allowed a small light of hope to re-enter her eyes as she turned back to face him.
"We can give you some supplies...and weapons, enough to at least get you on your way." He finished scratching the back of his head in that familiar nervous gesture.
Akina opened her mouth to speak but soon enough the only response she could think to make was "Why?"
"Because." He said shrugging a bit as he stood up. "We're taking our chance for a better life...and I don't think I should steal yours." He finished before walking away taking another bite out of his meal.
Akina watched him go, sadness etched onto her features. She looked down to her still half full cup of soup. Her reflection stared back at her. But in response, she only saw the silhouette of a broken woman. A woman who couldn't even say she had a home to turn to anymore.
She sighed, throwing away the rest of the soup with an air of self loathing twisting around her, she needed to stop this worthless self pity and get her act together, she didn't know what she was going to do once this camp left her but by god she would have this figured out by morning.
"INO!" Sakura yelled as she made her way through one of the few oasis that were a safe distance from Suna. The palm trees shielded her from the harsh sun, and the sound of a nearby stream could reach her ears. "Ino are you out here!" The pink haired medic yelled as loud as she could, hoping her friend would hear her and answer back. She had already been looking for a few hours and this was the third oasis she'd been looking through for her friend and if she had to deal with more sand getting in her eyes, or shoes, or hair, or places she'd rather not mention, Ino was definitely going to pay for this.
"DAMNIT INO!" The pinkette finally roared. Making several of the nearby birds, soar away in fright.
"Jeeze Sakura I'm right here!" Ino called out from beyond the trees. Sakura scowled stomping her feet loudly as she pushed past the foliage.
Finally, she approached the clearing where Ino was in, her pale blond hair visible through the canopy. The blond was visibly exhausted, breathing heavily as she leaned against a tree, a thin sheet of sweat covering her body. But as Sakura approached she could tell there was another person in the clearing with her.
"Hana!" She said finally pushing through the greenery. "What are you two doing out here?" She questioned harshly after a brief moment. "We are at war, and though its unlikely, the enemy can always slip past our lines with a small group. We don't need two of our best getting killed before there's even a battle."
"Oh don't worry about us forehead." Ino said, using that familiar name that always signified she was beginning to get annoyed with the pink haired medic. "We're perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves" She said, with some visible effort as she lifted herself up, from her sitting position.
"Right." She said sarcastically. "Especially after you're thoroughly exhausted from having been training all day." Glancing around she raised a skeptical eyebrow as she noticed the various pieces of rubble and cut up mud stones around them, destroying the oasis's normal exotic beauty. "What the hell were you doing here anyway?"
"Elemental training." Hana said, speaking up for the first time from her place across from Ino."
Sakura turned to the Inuzuka girl, her brow raising in question. "Elemental manipulation? But you both already have an elemental affinity."
"We need more." Ino said fiercely, her mind flashing back to crimson eyes and searing fires for a brief moment before she pushed the image away, her eyes gaining a hard glint of determination within them. "We need to get stronger. We all do."
Hana nodded. "Ino's right." She affirmed as she too, stood up, meeting her two fellow kunoichi at eye level. "You remember what happened at Sakai...how powerful he was and how...utterly useless we were. We cant let that happen again, we have to at least be able to injure him next time.
Sakura glanced around the clearing again before looking at the two. "So what affinities did you discover you had? Other than Ino's water and your earth?"
Hana smirked, as a red glow encased her open palm. "Fire for me." Sakura nodded, fire and earth affinities could be very powerful if one had large enough chakra reserves. She then turned to Ino, raising a brow in question as the blonds eyes took on a somewhat smug glint as she drew a kunai, and a crude looking transparent extension formed over the weapon.
"A-a wind affinity?" Sakura gasped, excitement overtaking her features. Though Suna had nearly a dozen individuals with a wind affinity the loss of Temari had hit many people's morale, especially since she was considered the strongest with the affinity in Suna, other than her brother, though his came due to the Bijuu within him and so he could never master it to the same degree she did. Another wind user added to their ranks would certainly give the troops some confidence, and some much needed good news.
In a brief show of her excitement Sakura let out a sound of delight as she moved forward and hugged Ino. "This is great Ino! God wait till Gaara hears about this." She said with an excited air about her.
Soon though, her elation dissipated and she looked sternly at her two friends, who's smiles also dissipated at Sakura's change of countenance.
"You know." The pinkette began, kneeling down as she took out two scrolls from her pouch tied to the back of her waist. "Its kinda not fair that you two practice out here in secret all this time and you don't even tell me about it." When she looked up to face them you could see a glint of playfulness in her eyes. "I have some tricks I've wanted to try out too ya know."
As if waiting for her statement there were two clouds of smoke at her side, making Ino and Hana back up in surprise. When the smoke cleared it revealed two cat like creatures one made of white wood with blue seals around its body, the other in black with red seals, the metal joints creaking and clinking with every movement, small distortions in the air revealed the chakra strings that extended from Sakura's fingertips.
It was a combat puppet.
The white puppet stood at roughly four feet on all fours, its tail was made of polished metal blades, connected through various joints, making it similar to a bladed whip, only much heavier. The claws on each of its paws, Ino saw, had small openings, like needles, possibly to release poison every time it made contact with an opponents skin. There were also blades connected to where its "shoulder blades" were, standing straight up with a slight curve to them, roughly 15 inches each.
The eyes of the creature were peculiar as well. They were made by a blue hued crystal but she could tell there was something behind it, though she didn't know what it could be.
Its counterpart though, the black one, was nearly six feet tall on all fours, and in the place of blade like extensions, it had two...well...the best she could describe as would be "cannons" atop its shoulders, its tail was a spiked ball with chain and the wood it was made of seemed to be much denser than its counterparts.
Sakura stood, her two puppets taking up position in front of her. "I think I should teach you two some manners."
Hana growled gaining a hint of excitement in her features. "I hate cats."
"You know...there is something increasingly disturbing about seeing you put that armor on."
The voice was familiar, the hesitance in it was as well.
"Should you not be watching over Sabaku?" He questioned without turning to face the pale eyed clan head. Pulling the metal gauntlet onto his arm, feeling its familiar weight and grip as he strapped on the buckles that held it securely to his limb, the claws glinting off the dim lighting that entered the room through the door Hinata held open.
"Its under control." Hinata said without missing a beat, watching as, with a woosh and the whipping sound of heavy material his cloak was wrapped around his shoulders. She wondered, idly if the crimson color, was due less to the material but rather all the blood that'sbeen spilled over it, all the lives he's taken and the people he's broken.
As the cloak wrapped around his shoulders, something else seemed to settle there as well. Something heavy and dark, a burden, of sorrow, anger and loss. Gone was the man who had brought prosperity to his native home, who ruled this country with an unyielding, cruel, but relatively fair hand. In his place was the monster that dwelt deep within his soul. Blackened by sins and tainted by death, he was indeed the single most feared man on the face of the earth...he was the single most hated man...on the face of this earth.
When he turned to face her he still had not put his mask on, having been placing the two swords in their proper position. Finally, he reached for the metallic piece.
Again, she watched him don the mask. The mask, that seemed to consume who he was utterly. The cloak weighed him down in her eyes, shielding him while simultaneously revealing him to the hatred of the world. But the mask was different. When he put on that mask and hood, it was as if whatever was left of him, the man not the beast. Was utterly swallowed up, vanishing into the dark void that his heart became when he donned this armor.
It frightened her sometimes, the ease with which he discarded his emotions his...humanity. It made her hesitate, made her think that perhaps there never was a man that could be saved. That it was all along just a beast, a monster wearing the skin of the man, fooling them all as it dangled false hope before their eyes.
But either way, man or beast she did not care, she owed this man more than she could repay, more than she could ever give back. And if she had to follow either one she would do it. Without hesitation.
But it would be so much easier...if she could believe that there was some good in him.
He strode past her, the mask and hood now firmly in place, his strides swallowing up the distance between himself and the exit with ease.
"Where are you going?" She questioned knowing the answer he would give but hoping for a different one.
"To war." He said.
Hinata closed her eyes, hearing the echoes of his footsteps before he vanished down the hall. She sighed, a weary tired sigh as her head slumped forward. "I know." She whispered to herself before turning to leave, heading back towards where she could sense the wind mistress once again wandering the manor, no doubt searching for her means of escape.
Idly Hinata noticed, that rain clouds appeared to be gathering above.