Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Demon's of Konoha ❯ Begining to the Land of Waves ( Chapter 14 )

Six in the morning had arrived and everyone was ready to go, that is everyone except one person Sakura Hanuro. As they waited patiently for the tardy cherry blossom Kakashi could only raise his hands in front of him as if to ward off Tazuna's glaring. “I told them yesterday that we were leaving at six.” Kakashi said as if to not offend their employer anymore than normal. “She is usually very punctual, really. She's a girl maybe she's having womanly problems or something.” When Kakashi felt the sharp spike of killer intent coming from Hinata, Kakashi knew he had stepped over a female line. “Um, maybe not” Kakashi finished not wanting to upset anyone else before they left. Kakashi knew Hinata's feelings on blaming things on a menstrual cycle. He had found out the hard way, and knew the girl did not see it as an excuse.

 

Kakashi watched with interest as the kids sat on the bench each doing their own things, yet sitting in comfortable silence. All three were actively reading books of different origins, although from where he was standing he couldn't read the titles. In their own way they were also matching, all wearing clothes to blend into almost any situation. He himself was wearing different clothes but his heart swelled with pride at the team he had inherited. Now if the missing link would show up they could get the show on the road. Kakashi still wanted to shake his head in disgust at the fan girl he had inherited. Now that he knew it was Iruka's idea to stick her on his team, Kakashi vowed to have a talk with the Chounin.

 

Tazuna, \ getting annoyed at waiting, pulled out his bottle of sake from what looked to be nowhere. Without looking Naruto grabbed the bottle and handed it to Hinata who was sitting next to him. Hinata with the bottle in hand smashed it against the wall, shattering it into a lot of small pieces. Tazuna's jaw dropped at the display to his precious sake bottle. Sasuke only turned a page in his book and said from the other side of Tazuna “no drinking on duty. We can't keep you alive if you die of liver failure or of alcohol poisoning. Until you are safely in the Land of Waves, you will abide by our rules.”

 

Tazuna was stunned into silence. He was about to give a retort about snot-nosed kids getting involved with adult affairs when a frantic purple-haired ninja literally jumped into the area landing softly in front of Kakashi. Tazuna's eyes wanted to bug out at the sight of the woman in a mini-skirt and a beige jacket. Front the side Tazuna got a glimpse of the woman's attributes, as he wanted to burst into a nosebleed right there completely forgetting about the `snot-nosed kids.'

 

“Kakashi have you seen Mamoru Kusinagi anywhere? He never shown up to practice and when Kurenai went to check on him, his apartment had been ransacked. We are suspecting foul play, as it looked like a fight took place in the room. If we are correct he will be the tenth person this year that went missing” Anko said in a state of panic. Normally the woman didn't get involved with missing person cases, but in this case the Jounin was interested. For some reason to her the crime scene just screamed Orochimaru, although how she could never say. It was more a gut feeling the woman had.

 

Hinata at catching Anko's scent begin to notice she smelt odd. It was a mixture of sorts. She smelt of warm vanilla mixed with cinnamon, along with it though Hinata recognized the old taint of snake. Analyzing the smell Hinata, with the help of Tani, decided that it was an old scent. Old by almost four years, judging by their analysis she still smelt of someone who used snakes but not the same scent of someone they were looking for. Placing her scent to memory, Hinata wanted to find out anything more she could about the purple-haired woman that she had only met briefly upon her return to Konoha. Looking over her book Hinata had seen Kakashi give Anko a negative reply. Moments later Anko disappeared to find out more about the boys whereabouts.

 

“Alright kids” Kakashi said as he made his way to the bench. “Do you remember Mamoru Kusinagi?” Kakashi asked wondering what his team knew about the boy.

 

“He graduated with us” Naruto answered. “Although he wasn't in any of our classes until the final year, and he was in the middle of the class grade wise with Hina-chan, if I remember correctly. Also his team is the only other team with four Genin. This hasn't happened in over twenty years.”

 

“He is about sixty-nine inches tall with black hair and no matter the weather. He always appears to have a tan. His uniform was slightly wrinkled as if he lived alone, although I am not sure about that. He was mostly a loner, but it appeared to be by choice.” Sasuke answered what he knew about the boy. “He was quite and kept to himself, although in Tai jutsu training he had a fair amount of skill and with training he could go far.”

He mostly has a strong affinity to nature or wind if I miss my guess” Hinata answered. “He is on a team with Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, Anya Fushimiya and their Jounin-sensei is Yuhi Kurenai. By the way the team is composed they are a specialized team in search and tracking.”

 

Kakashi looked taken aback about his teams' knowledge about the boy. “Um, yeah him” Kakashi answered. “Well he is missing so if you guys hear anything or know anything let me know alright.”

 

At that point Sakura had decided to make her grand appearance and you could smell her perfume from twenty-feet away. When Sakura made her way to the group Kakashi couldn't help but give a smart ass comment. “Sakura we are on a mission so when I say six in the morning I mean six and not eight. Now that you are all here let's get going we have a lot of ground to cover. Now let's get going unless someone” Kakashi looked at the pink-haired girl “has some objections.”

 

Sakura wanted to scream in outrage at Kakashi for him accusing her of being late. Who cares that she was actually late for once. How was she to know that on missions Kakashi was actually on time for once? Now that she knew Sakura could be extra prepared. She was actually up at five, but between the time it took getting dressed and making sure her clothes were packed along with her necessities and making sure she looked great for Sasuke's viewing pleasure, she had ran out of time. Sure he never looked but that doesn't mean that one day he wouldn't. Until that day Sakura was going to look drool worthy, and maybe get Naruto back as her follower leaving Hinata all alone. Stepping into the group behind Sasuke and Kakashi they began their trip.

 

They were only a few miles out of Konoha when Sakura began to notice some differences in her teams' normal attire. Hinata had exchanged her large purple jacket with one that looked mostly black. On the black though was a green and brown camouflage print. Her pants were black but Sakura wasn't sure how far down they went for just below her knees they went into black boots that laced up the front. The pants had pockets on the sides that Sakura wasn't sure for holding stuff or just looks. Her shoes could have been like most shinobi shoes except that neither her toes nor her heels were showing. Her feet were completely covered.

 

Sasuke was similarly dressed to Hinata except for a couple of differences. He was wearing a black shirt with black gloves that shown his fingers. On the back of the gloves looked to be black metal that blended well with the gloves. Sakura barely noticed they were there. His shirt was tucked into a pair of camouflage pants that Sakura swore matched Hinata's jacket. He was wearing a similar type of boots as Hinata only they went a little ways up his leg past his ankle but that was it. His pants were almost cargo style matching Hinata's but while Sakura thought Hinata's were for looks, Sakura was certain Sasuke's were for function.

 

Deciding to continue on her observations Sakura noticed that even Naruto's clothes were different. Instead of his trademark orange jumpsuit he was wearing a complete camouflage outfit. Instead of having his jacket closed though his was open displaying his black shirt underneath. His normal blonde-spiky locks were hidden under a black rag. His pants matched Sasuke's and his pants were tucked into matching boots.

 

Even Kakashi-sensei looked to be wearing different clothes. His green Jounin jacket was nowhere to be seen and he appeared to be wearing all black. His trademark silvery hair was also covered by a rag matching Naruto's but instead of his hitae-ate Kakashi was wearing an eye patch. One all of their backs though they looked to be what Sakura thought to be a small back pack that looked too light to be carrying anything. Shifting the weight of her overstuffed backpack onto her shoulders Sakura wondered how they were going to get by with such small bags.

 

Sakura finally figured out what was really weird about the people she was traveling with. One Naruto hasn't complemented her once since he seen her. Two there were no clan symbols in sight or even a hitae-ate, showing which village they came from. Looking down at her dark blue shinobi shoes Sakura saw that she at least was still wearing her tight red dress with her clan symbol on the back. Reaching up into her fluffy pink hair Sakura felt her hitae-ate was still in place holding her hair back away from her face. She then looked at Tazuna and despite the look of disgust on his face he was still wearing the clothes he was when they left Konoha. That could only mean that they were wearing that when they left Konoha, and she never noticed.

 

So caught up in her thoughts and observations she didn't notice Sasuke's right hand raise up and make a fist stopping the group, instead she walked right into his backside. Sasuke only turned around to give Sakura a sharp glare. Before she could say anything though Sasuke put a finger to his lips to tell her to be quite, which made Sakura silently, fume. While she hated being told what to do an order from Sasuke was almost like declaring his love for her. Quickly Sasuke began a moving his hands in a series of movements which at first Sakura took to be hand signs before she realized it was sign language. Looking around Sakura noticed something she didn't like. Only she and Tazuna didn't know sign language.

 

`Puddle up ahead is a disguise with two chakra signature in it. Feels stronger than Genin but not quite middle Chounin so I would hazard a guess at low Chounin' Sasuke signed rapidly. `How do we want to handle this?'

 

`I could let you guys wonder ahead and act like I have to pee and go in the puddle and see what happens.' Naruto signed as in idea.

 

`Possible' Sasuke replied `Any ideas Hinata.'

 

Slowly with a big smile Hinata signed back. `Sure let's beat them at teamwork.'

 

 

`Explain' Sasuke signed back.

 

`Remember the legend of the Banshees Cry.' Hinata signed back. `Let's give that to them.'

 

`Great idea Hinata but where are we going to get the sound of a banshee. You only hear them when you are about to die.' Naruto signed back.

 

Slowly Hinata and Sasuke turned and looked at Sakura with a calculating look on their faces. `I don't like the look of this' Sakura thought. `What ever they were saying it can't be good, wait a minute that bitch better not be telling Sasuke-kun lies about me.' With that Sakura started to get mad.

 

Waving his hands in front of him to show he was against the idea and also to get the attention of Hinata and Sasuke. `No way are you guys saying Sakura's voice sounds like a banshee's.' Naruto started signing.

 

“It's grating and irritating and makes you want to kill your self instead of listening to it. The only thing that can compare is listening to Naruto sing in the shower.' Sasuke signed getting a small giggle from Hinata.

 

`I don't sound bad in the shower.' Naruto signed. `Fine if you two think it will work then I am out voted. But I bet you each ten dollars that it doesn't work.'

 

`Deal' both Sasuke and Hinata signed back. Grabbing a sheet of paper from her pocket and a pen Hinata passed them to Sasuke.

 

`What do I do with this?' Sasuke signed back, looking at the paper as if looking for something written on it.

 

`You're the only one she will listen to, so write her a note telling her what to do. If we talk it could give our position and knowledge of their whereabouts. Come on Sasuke. You have to do it.' Hinata signed back.

 

`As much as I hate to admit it Teme, Hin's got a point. So write her a note and tell her how grateful you will be if you could do this small favor for her.' Naruto signed with a look of disgust on his face at the fact that Sakura would do anything Sasuke asked and not what he would.

 

After some furious scribbling being made on the piece of paper Hinata provided and another glare between Sasuke and Naruto, Sakura was given a note.

 

Opening it up Sakura seen a quick scribble in the Uchiha's handwriting, quickly breaking her out of her anger.

 

In a hundred feet I want you to say as loud as you can `OoooooEeeeeeeOoooooo'.

Repeat for about a minute. Only you can do this Sakura, I am counting on you. If you manage this I will be forever grateful.

-Sasuke

 

Sakura produced a blush that would have Hinata in envy before she nodded her head in agreement. Placing the note in her shorts pocket to cherish later on they began to walk again Sakura keeping track of how far they had gone. When they had reached one hundred feet Sasuke nodded to the girl as Sakura opened her mouth and said as loud as she could “OooooooEeeeeeOooooooooooEeeeeeeeeeOooooooooEeeeeeeeeeeOooooooooo. 221;

 

The others in the group cringed and covered their ears as they watched what looked to be a puddle quiver before disappearing showing two men with very badly receiving hairlines parted down the middle. Over their mouths looked to be funky underwater breathing apparatuses. Their head bands shown they were from the Land of Mist. Their hands had claws over them and they attempted to cover their ears as if to ward off the screeching. Their black cloaks were looking torn and ratty.

 

“The banshee is crying. Our lives are over.” One screamed as they turned and looked at the source of the sound. Sakura's eyes widened in terror as she stopped the noise she was making and watched the two ninja take a step towards her. Sakura stepped back walking into Tazuna. Quickly the two ninja's that came out of the puddle threw their chains and caught Kakashi in the middle. Without missing a beat the chains tore through Kakashi's body making Sakura scream in terror.

 

As they brought their descent onwards towards Sakura again, reading their chains to attack again they were stopped before they could fire off their attack. Naruto and Sasuke each had grabbed a chair in mid grasp and wrapped it around their hand. Dunking under the chain that the other was holding they ran towards the tree behind the Mist Ninja. Running around the tree the boys stuck a kunai in between the chains making it stick to the tree, securing it tightly. Giving each other a high-five as they jumped onto the opposite chains the boys raced to see which one of them would knock out their opponent first. Each though was surprised when a second clawed chain was coming towards them as they finished around the tree. Sasuke seemed to flow with the chain as he moved out of the way not noticing it grazed his cheek.

 

Naruto though wasn't very lucky as when he moved out of the way it left a deep scratch across his left hand, making it drip with blood. Seeing the claws turn in mid-air Naruto watched as they came towards where Tazuna and Sakura were standing. Quivering in fear, Sakura pulled out a kunai and held it in front of her, hoping she could still defend herself and Tazuna at the same time. Her eye's widened as she realized she just might not be strong enough to stop the claw.

 

Hinata at that time jumped in a few feet in front of Sakura with a kunai in each hand. As the claws went to avoid the girl as if to circle around the girls to hit Tazuna, Hinata threw her arms out besides her throwing the kunai into the locks of the chain. The force and sheer power behind the throws sent the chains following the kunai's trajectory as they imbedded themselves in the nearby trees. Without missing a beat as Hinata attacked Sasuke appeared behind the Mist Ninjas and hit them in the back of the head with the hilt of the kunai's effectively knocking them out.

 

Slowly clapping was heard as Kakashi appeared “Good job team. Very nicely executed, and well thought out. Sakura you need to work on your hesitation a bit, but other than that great. Now here is our problem, those claws have poison in them and I need to find out from Tazuna why they are after us. We will have a team meeting in five minutes, and we will decide what to do from there.”

 

Hinata took off her bag as the boys secured the two Mist ninja to the tree making sure to disable the claws and chains from their bodies. After a quick search the boys had also retrieved many kunai and explosive tags also. By then Hinata had found the scroll she needed in her bag and opened it up. Sakura watched in interest as Hinata released the seal on the scroll and jars and jars of ointments appeared out of nowhere along with bandages and band aids.

 

“Alright who's first” Hinata asked as the boys made their way over to the raven haired girl.

 

“Doesn't matter” Sasuke said. “I go the cheek and the dobe got the hand. Which do you think should go first?”

 

“Since I am not sure what type of poison it is you first Sasuke. Facial and head wounds tend to make poison flow faster so let's get that taken care of.” Hinata answered as the raven haired boy stepped in front of the girl showing he was still at least a good head taller than she is. “Squat please so I can reach.” With a smirk Sasuke obliged Hinata's request. After all you don't tick of the person treating you, although Hinata's lack of height had always been funny to the boys.

 

Putting on her gloves, Hinata grabbed Sasuke's cheek and tilted it so the wound was facing her, so she could get a better look at the wound. Pressing the area around the wound Hinata asked “are you numb any place? Anything feel odd? Tingling sensations of any sort, any discomfort?”

 

“Nothing out of the ordinary” Sasuke said as Hinata nodded and grabbed a blue topped jar. Grabbing a little gauze from her pile she wiped it in the jar and placed it directly on the scratch. Sasuke hissed at the coolness from the contents of the jar against his warm skin.

 

“Why are you hurting Sasuke-kun. Leave the healing to the medics. Geez, you don't know what you are doing. You could only hurt him more.” Sakura started screeching making the trio cringes at the sound. They were no longer prepared for the sound, and as close as she was it grated on their nerves really bad. Hinata secretly compared it to when Tani ran her nails down a chalkboard because Hinata wasn't listening to her instructions.

 

“Sakura, shut up.” Sasuke said shutting up the pink-haired girl. “You are not helping the situation any. I trust Hinata with my life, while with you I find it questionable.”

 

Sakura shut-up at hearing Sasuke call her questionable wanted to cry, but she refused to. Inside of her head though she was beating up a giant Hinata dummy, repeatedly while screaming inside her head `what does she got that I don't have. She's not even very pretty. Why does Sasuke like her more than me? When I get back to Konoha Ino will know what to do.'

 

“Hold it there for a few minutes and then let me check it again.” Hinata said to Sasuke as she moved over so she could see Naruto's injured hand. Holding on to Naruto's strong, tan hand Hinata could feel the rough calluses on his hands through her gloves. With a slight blush at holding Naruto's hand Hinata began to ask him the same questions that she asked Sasuke. Satisfied with the answers Hinata grabbed gauze with the ointment on it and placed it on his cut, covering it completely. “Hold it here for a few minutes and I will check it again after I check Sasuke's.”

 

Sasuke squatted down again so Hinata could see his cut, and smirked at the light blush still on the girls face. Removing the gauze from Sasuke's face Hinata smiled softly as she seen the wound was gone. “It won't even leave a scar” Hinata said as she wiped off the rest of the ointment on his face and with satisfaction smiled. “You are good to go Sasuke. Any more problems and let me know.”

 

Sasuke satisfied with her answer replied “Thanks, Hin, I didn't expect anything less from you.” He knew that he could count on her, it wouldn't do well for an Uchiha to have a scarred up face.

 

Turning back over to Naruto, Hinata blushed lightly again this time with pleasure at the compliment. Grabbing Naruto's hand again Hinata hesitantly removed the gauze and smiled as the wound was completely closed without even a mark to show the injury. “You are good to go Naru-chan.” Hinata said softly releasing his hand and pulling off her gloves. Grabbing the used gauze and gloves Hinata put them into a pile, the rest she sealed back into her scroll.

 

“Sasuke can you burn this pile please” Hinata said motioning the pile of used gauze. “I don't need the hassle of people trying to get that recipe.”

 

“On it” Sasuke said as he quickly went through two hand signs and blew a small, thin stream of fire out of his mouth, burning the pile quickly, making sure not a trace was left. Some enemy getting there hands on Hinata's ointments would not be good for the people in Konoha. With its healing properties, an enemy could keep fighting without feeling pain, and sometimes heal near fatal wounds. Sasuke didn't want to think what would happen if someone else got a hold of them.

 

“What the hell is going on here?” Sakura just about yelled. “First off none of you are wearing your normal clothes. Outside of Sasuke-kun, no one should be able to fight close to this level. Hinata can't heal people. What the hell is going aggg.” Sakura was continuing on her tirade was stopped when Hinata stood in front of the taller pink-haired girl and put two chakra fused fingers to her throat and touched her vocal cords. Sakura stiffened up as the smaller girl removed her fingers then turned around and moved to make room for Tazuna and Kakashi who were heading towards the group.

 

Sakura's eyes widened with relief when she saw Kakashi heading towards the group. “Kakashi-sensei, Hinata attacked me.” Kakashi's eye widened at the new sound of Sakura's voice. It was no longer a screeching sound instead it sounded human and definitely female. “She put two chakra filled fingers to my throat I think she was trying to kill me.”

 

“I would say she did an improvement, Sakura. Have you heard yourself before? People would have killed themselves to stop having to listen to you. Great job on the Banshee's Cry by the way, it was convincing enough I just might have nightmares.” Kakashi said with his one eye showing bringing it up into a grin, as if to say he was joking. “Now we have two options. One we can finish our mission or two we can head back since this is out of our ranking.”

 

“I say we head back. Naruto and Sasuke have been poisoned. We need to get them treatment. We aren't ready for this.” Sakura said while casting a worried look at Sasuke.

 

“Where are the wounds Sakura? I don't see any injuries.” Kakashi said motioning towards the boys. “Now what do you two think?”

 

“Let's continue” Sasuke said “this is our first tough mission and an Uchiha does not back down when lives are on the line.”

 

“I agree with the Teme” Naruto said. “No way are we going to let some Mist Ninja's detour us from our mission.”

 

“Interesting” Kakashi said “Hinata what do you say?”

 

“I agree with the boys, our pride is on the line as a team. Since everyone is healthy and in good shape I say we continue this mission.” Hinata answered re adjusting her small bag on her back.

 

“Let's head out than and I will give you the information we need along the way. The boat waiting for us is just up ahead.' Tazuna said for the first time of that trip. He was truly amazed at the dedication the teens had displayed. He wasn't sure if it was luck or talent, but either way he hoped whatever it was lasted until he made it home.

 

“No really what the hell is going on? What kind of stunt are you guys trying to pull here?” Sakura said putting her hands on her hips and glared at the ground. “I demand answers and I am not moving until I get them.” Sakura so caught up in her tirade didn't notice Hinata touching her on the back of the neck until it was too late.

 

Catching her under the arms before she had fallen down Hinata said “I am not the one carrying her.”

 

“I will do it” Naruto said as Hinata placed the pink-haired kunoichi on Naruto's back. `But geez Hinata did you really have to knock her out?”

 

“Would you rather listen to her ask questions we don't have answers to the whole way there? This way she will be asleep for approximately fifteen minutes and she won't remember the last twenty minutes that happened. We need to come up with answers and fast.” Hinata said while making sure Sakura was secure.

 

“Alright she can't know about Hinata being a healer” Sasuke said. “That much is obvious. I just didn't realize she didn't learn sign language. I learned it at the private school before Leaf High.”

 

“They taught it as an elective at the public school” Hinata said. “Gaara took the class and taught us. I took first aid, which taught the basics like CPR and such.”

 

Sasuke looked at Naruto expectantly “what I took paintball as an elective and it was a great sport. Where did you think I learned about wearing camo's? They didn't teach that at Leaf High, even though I should let Iruka-sensei know. I think future shinobi's would be great in the camouflage gear, harder to find. That's why my hair is covered.”

 

“Don't remind me. Do you know how hard it was to get paint out of your clothes? Just be thankful I agree that it was nice to learn how to blend better.” Hinata said with a smile and a small blush as she looked at Naruto, until she saw Sakura snuggling up into Naruto's back. `That just took me out of my happy place' Hinata thought as she turned to concentrate on the road. “So what story do we tell Sakura?”

 

“Looks like we have to wear our normal village attire, until Sakura learns different, although I still think she should know better than to wear red and tight clothes on an escort mission along with perfume.” Sasuke said pointing out the flaws. “Looks like we are going to have to do things a little differently” Sasuke said. “Alright here is what we will do. When we get to the bridge, we wear out normal gear with hitae-ate's. Kakashi-sensei you get to teach us the fine arts of blending in, and small stuff so that Sakura thinks she's learning new things, while the rest of us will go along with it. It will take a while but we have no choice but to gradually get Sakura up to our level.”

 

“Naruto, you still get to act like a moron and we keep our rivalry. Hinata don't forget to be shy and to stutter. Remember you know nothing about healing at all, except possibly how to bandage people.” Sasuke said.

 

“And what will you do?” Kakashi asked with interest at the planning of the Uchiha.

 

“I will continue to act like an arrogant bastard.” Sasuke said as if his plan made perfect sense, and in a way it did. Until Sakura was up to their level, all they could do was disguise who they really were.

 

“Wait does that mean Hinata's not going to cook for us?” Naruto asked, his face starting to whiten in horror.

 

“I didn't think about that.” Sasuke answered. “Alright, occasionally Hinata gets to cook for us, because there is only so much instant ramen I can eat. I guess this means we all get to take turns cooking. Sorry Dobe” Sasuke said looking to his blonde friend.

 

“That's good because I didn't pack a whole lot anyways.” Naruto said.

 

“Tazuna sir, if you could I would like you to keep all of this a secret.” Kakashi said with his showing turning into a grin.

 

“Fine, who would believe me anyways” Tazuna said. “The boat is about a hundred feet away so if you need to change I suggest you do it now.”

 

Knowing what needed to be done; Kakashi lifted Sakura off of Naruto's back and leaned her against the tree. Opening their packs the trio soon grabbed the necessary scrolls and each went off into a different section of the woods and proceeded to get dressed respecting each others privacy. Kakashi took this time to free his hair from the confinements of the rag and run his fingers through it allowing it to stick up. His eye patch was replaced by his hitae-ate. Grabbing a scroll and releasing his jacket, Kakashi put in on and sighed. All because of one girl the whole teams' dynamics was off. Oh yes Kakashi was going to make Iruka pay for putting her on his team.

 

Inner Sakura was watching the memories slowly fade away around her as her physical body was passed out. As quickly as she could she began to store the memories in a safe place. Inner Sakura didn't get to communicate with the girls' body that she resided in, after all she was only her emotions once she lost control. It just happened that she had a separate personality than her creator. One that wasn't normally shown to the world and as being an entity that her creator made she didn't have the pleasure of talking to her controlled self. So Inner Sakura did the only thing she could. She locked away the fading memories as quickly as she could to be triggered by a memory.

 

When everyone was changed and ready to go, Naruto lifted Sakura back onto his back and they headed to the boat, unknown that all of their secrecy was just a keyword from being blown.

 

A.N. I was going to make the Land of Waves arc a giant chapter, but when I had already passed the 5000 word mark and still didn't hit the tip of the iceberg. I decided to do it in several chapters instead. Good new with this is that the next chapter is almost done. The bad means my chapter with Gaara will take longer, because of where it fits in the storyline. Also there will be no instant NaruHina in this. There will be a lot more problems before they truly get to be together, but get together they will this I promise. Hope this answers most of the questions that people have asked me. If there is any more please don't hesitate to let me know. :O)