Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Twilight ❯ Prologue ii ( Chapter 2 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Haru Mclean Namikaze 
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Comedy / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 12.19.2009 | Updated On: 12.23.2009 | Pages: 6 | Words: 7.8K | Visits: 389 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Comedy / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 12.19.2009 | Updated On: 12.23.2009 | Pages: 6 | Words: 7.8K | Visits: 389 | Status: Work In Progress
Prologue part 2 The Four Founders
They walked silently to Sasuke's apartment, reaching it in no time. Sasuke fished out a key looped around his neck by a string and unlocked the door, letting them in.
His house was neat and clean, as if it was brand new. He moved out of the Uchiha mansion after the massacre that's why he was living alone. Nevertheless, he never was starved or anything, for the Hokage himself personally attended to transferring every single thing and money the clan owned to his name. He was officially the head and heir of the clan.
Naruto jumped to the kitchen and raided Sasuke's fridge, while Hinata and Sakura sat down on the couches. Sasuke went upstairs to his room, shuffling around for the scroll. At last, he found it under his pillow, for he had been reading it every night, and he went down to the living room, just as Naruto bounded out of the kitchen.
"Hey, Sasuke, can I have this?" asked Naruto, presenting him the ice cream in the freezer. Sasuke nodded, rolling his eyes. Naruto cheered, sitting down on the couch and started devouring the ice cream while listening to the conversation.
"Don't mess on the couch, dobe," hissed Sasuke. Then he handed Sakura the scroll. "You're the only one who can read this apart from me, coz it's written in Ancient Runic language, passed on through the four clans. Hinata was never taught the language, I know, Neji told me. Naruto never had anybody to teach him the language. I was taught when I was five."
Sakura nodded and opened the scroll, reading it to them aloud. The scroll's title was 'The Legend of the Twilight'.
"This scroll says the legend of a country founded by the four early leaders of our clans before. They were known as the Four Founders. I'll read the legend to you," said Sakura, as Sasuke came back with some drinks and turned on the light. "Once there was a vast landscape in the East, north of the Water Country. It was a secluded par of land. The four leaders of the four most powerful clans, namely Haruno Rui, Uchiha Keiichi, Uzumaki Koku and Hyuuga Setsuna, founded it. They established their families there and made the country strive, making it economically advanced compared to the others. For several years the country was at its climax, peaceful and positive. But then several countries established interest and planned to take over the country by force. They made a grave mistake by doing so, for they angered the Four Founders. And so the four made a sacrifice, taking all of their family with them and transferring to a village named Konoha, leaving behind a special gift, a special jutsu to protect the country until the four chosen ones came and revived the country."
"Gift?" asked Naruto, patting his stomach, having finished the whole gallon of ice cream. "What kinda gift is it?"
"Wait, there's an explanation," said Sakura. "But these are hard characters, I don't know the second half of the Runic," she said, spreading the scroll on the round glass table.
"Lemme see," said Sasuke, slipping off the couch with opposite Sakura, who was already sitting on the carpeted floor. Sasuke peered over the characters for some time, before snapping his fingers and taking out a pencil and paper. Sakura looked at him silently, meeting his eyes for a moment. Sasuke nodded, handing her a pencil too.
"What are you two doing?" asked Naruto dumbly. For some time, the two scribbled down complicated mathematical equations, solving several hard problems that only Shikamaru could keep up with their scribbling. Then they both stopped, the paper full of scratches, equations, numbers and several weird figures.
"Lemme see yours," said Sakura, pulling on Sasuke's sheet. She peered at the end of the page and saw that they both had the same equation at the end, even though they started on different ones. "This is hard. It's a complicated figure."
"Shikamaru could answer that," muttered Hinata, peering over the equation. "That's child's play for him. Its only about organizing coordinates, right?" [- People, I'm not that good at math, and I don't like it much either, but just imagine this is a kind of complicated puzzle they need to solve. The last piece determine the [-you'll find out later. ;) -
"Yeah, Shikamaru," muttered Sasuke. "C'mon, Sakura, let's go find him. Why don't you two work on some dinner first? I heard from one of the servants in the Hyuuga mansion that Hinata is quite a good cook," said Sasuke, arranging the mess of scattered papers. Naruto cheered at the prospect of dinner. Hinata nodded, standing up. "All the ingredients are in the cupboards."
Sasuke and Sakura went to the door, leaving the scroll behind, but carrying the piece of paper that they were writing on earlier. They went out the door just as Hinata and Naruto entered the kitchen.
"Hey, Hinata-chan, what kinda food can you cook?" asked Naruto as they thought of what to whip up.
"Pretty much. Maybe some tempura, sushi, sashimi and fried rice can do, don't you think?" smiled Hinata. This isn't that bad of a day after all!
"Yeah! You can cook that? I'm not a cook, ya know." grinned the ever-grinning fox boy.
"Of course. You can just help me out, I'll tell you what to do," smiled Hinata, slightly giggling. [- She's not that much shy in this fic anymore. Wait 'till you see the other chapters, you'll be surprised. ;) -
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Sasuke and Sakura ran through Konoha's lamp lit streets. It was dusk and the sky was painted the colors of the rainbow, majestically accentuated by the colorful clouds.
The two spotted Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Lee, Tenten, Neji, Shino and Kiba, who had just gone back from their mission, sitting at the ramen bar, waiting for their orders.
"HEY SHIKAMARU!" screeched Sakura, pulling on Sasuke's hand and running to Shikamaru. Shika lazily looked around. The others just watched with raised eyebrows as Sakura pulled along the Uchiha prodigy who was not looking the least annoyed or embarrassed, which was something new. Ino fumed as she saw Sakura holding Sasuke's hand. Even before Shika could speak, she exploded.
"FAT FOREHEAD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HOLDING MY SASUKE-KUN'S HAND!" she hollered, looking murderous. The others cringed. Sasuke sighed and shook his head. Before Sakura could retort, Sasuke went and took over.
"We don't have time for your babblings, Ino," Sasuke said coldly. "Shikamaru, can you solve this equation?" asked Sasuke, going over to him and slapping the paper down in front of him on the table. The others craned to get a good look at the equations on the paper.
"Which one?" asked Shikamaru lazily. Sasuke pointed to the equation on the bottom part of the paper, coz the paper was full of his and Sakura's scribbling. Shikamaru scanned the upper part of the paper, which contained the equations solved by Sasuke and Sakura, which ended to the final one he was to solve.
"You two solved this?" asked Shikamaru, raising an eyebrow and looking at Sasuke and Sakura.
"Yeah, any problems?" asked Sakura.
"No," muttered Shikamaru. "I just never thought you two were that smart, this equation can only be solved by wiz minds, meaning people who have an IQ of 200. Hand me a pencil."
Sasuke fished out a pencil from his pocket and gave it to Shikamaru. As soon as he got it, he started scribbling at the back of the paper, his mind visibly working fast. The others read the equations as he solved. As he went midway of the solution, Tenten, Kiba, Lee, Chouji and Ino had already given up keeping up with Shika's brain. Then he stopped.
"That? Are you sure you didn't go wrong at this part?" asked Shino, pointing to a part of the equation, surprising everybody.
Shikamaru peered over the paper. "U-huh. See, if this one is parallel, proportioned and equal to this, and this to this one, then certainly the remaining pair will be the same, or else it will be imbalanced and the shape will be imperfect. And according to the first part of the problem, the answer should be a perfect answer. This one's a perfect equation. These kinds are very hard to find. Where did you find it?" asked Shikamaru, handing them back the paper with the final answer encircled.
"In a Runic scroll," said Sasuke mysteriously. Apparently, only Shikamaru, Shino and Neji understood him, for the others didn't know what Runic was all about. Neji narrowed his eyes.
"If you're doing what I think you are, Uchiha, you'd better watch out," muttered Neji. The air was very tense. Everybody knew there was a rivalry between the two, as to whether who was better than the other.
"You should remember that not only the Hyuuga holds Runic scrolls, Neji," interjected Sakura. "The Haruno, Uzumaki and Uchiha have some too. We have some rights over it too."
"How did you..." said Neji, suddenly standing up.
"If you're gonna ask how we knew, how about solving the second part of the Twilight Scroll? I know you've read the first part already, or you wouldn't know about the Four Founders and you wouldn't give this kind of expression," hissed Sasuke, shielding Sakura from Neji, for he was quite sure that his eyes expressed such anger that he could be able to harm a even a girl considerably weaker than him. Then Sasuke scooped up Sakura, jumping into the forest and taking a shortcut to his apartment, not saying another word. [- Just like newly weds! WAI! ;) -
"What's Runic?" asked Chouji.
"What're the Four Founders?" asked Lee.
"What's the Twilight Scroll?" asked Tenten.
"What about the Hyuuga, Uchiha, Haruno and Uzumaki?" asked Kiba.
Shikamaru sighed. "You don't have to know if the five, Neji, Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata and Naruto, I mean, don't want you to. They have their rights to keep family secrets. And apparently, I can see that they don't want you to know."
"Its just so hard to know too much, ain't it, Shika?" asked Ino. Then she exploded again, her voice reverberating throughout the whole of Konoha. "WHY THE HELL WAS SAKURA WITH SASUKE-KUN! WHY THE HELL WAS SHE ALLOWED TO HOLD HIS HAND!"
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"Would you be so kind as to not to do that again so suddenly?" asked Sakura, wrapping her arms around Sasuke's neck, afraid from falling. Sasuke was jumping from treetop to treetop, not branch to branch. "You're giving me a heart attack. Besides, why did you run off immediately, as if you were in a hurry?"
"Coz Neji was looking murderous. I can tell he was gonna hurt you if we didn't leave soon. Didn't you see his eyes? Sorry if I gave you a heart attack, I was just protecting you from him," muttered Sasuke. Her arms around my neck kinda feel nice. HEY! WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING!
"Oh," sighed Sakura, holding on much tighter, not coz she was gonna fall, but coz she was cold, and Sasuke radiated a weird kind of warmth, more welcoming than others.
Soon they reached the apartment again, and Sasuke put Sakura down as soon as they landed, half of himself refusing to. Sakura never let go of his hand as he opened the door and walked inside, closing it again. The yummy smell of dinner wafted to Sakura and Sasuke's noses. Sakura eagerly pulled Sasuke to the dining room; they were just in time for dinner.
"Back so soon?" asked Naruto, gently putting bowls of fried rice on the table. "Did Shika solve it?"
"Yeah, it was a piece of cake for him alright," smiled Sakura. "Nice cooking, Hinata. Even I can't cook this good."
"Don't jest, Sakura-chan," smiled Hinata. "You're a much better cook than me. I remember when I slept over at yours, you were in charge of dinner and you were like a pro."
"Next time let's make her cook then," smirked Sasuke. Then his smirk was suddenly erased. "Naruto, get the scroll, hurry."
Naruto ran to the living room, having felt the strong aura as well. He got the scroll and handed it to Sasuke, who placed it inside his shirt. "Your cousin is furious," muttered Sasuke, feeling Neji's aura nearby. Hinata quivered slightly.
"Not over dinner," whined Naruto. "Later with the arguments! I'm hungry!"
Neji's angry aura neared the apartment door, but then stopped short in front of it. He seemed to be thinking, more like listening. Then, after several tense moments filled with Naruto's whines, Hinata's fidgeting and Sakura and Sasuke's tense breathing, the furious aura stomped slowly away from the apartment.
"He must've decided it's bad to eavesdrop or to disturb somebody's dinner," muttered Naruto. "C'mon, lets eat!"
The four sat around the table silently, still feeling for the fading aura. "Sometimes, Neji-nii-san is just too temperamental."
"You said it," muttered Naruto. Then he recovered from his previous seriousness, lightening the tense air. "I'll eat this all if you don't start now!"
Sakura giggled at Naruto's childish acts and started eating. After a while of silence as they ate, Sakura thought of something. She glanced at the wall clock; 7:15 PM. "Sasuke-kun?"
"Hn?"
"I think solving the scroll will take up pretty much about until midnight or tomorrow morning. That is, if we solve it together, but..." trailed off Sakura. Sasuke understood, he was not stupid. [- Certainly not! -
"Fine, there's a spare room upstairs. If Hinata and the dobe wants to stay for the night as well, then fine, I wont get any sleep even if they're not here anyways, with this scroll to solve," muttered Sasuke, mind still on the scroll.
"Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan and me will get some things from our houses then!" pronounced Naruto, helping himself to his 5th sushi.
"Honestly, as much as possible, I don't want to go back to that one hell of a house anymore," Hinata said suddenly and so boldly that even Sasuke stared. She never spoke that way ever before. She was ever so polite with everything. "I don't wanna see my father anymore."
"The same issue, Hinata-chan?" asked Sakura. Ever since the Chuunin exams, Hinata and Sakura had become best of friends, along with Tenten and Ino, even though Sakura often got into catfights with her. [- This takes place about a year after the Chuunin exams, meaning they are around 13 years of age. Take note of that! -
"Yeah," muttered Hinata. The two boys stared questioningly. Hinata sighed. Might as well tell them. "You see, ever since I was a kid, I was never that good a fighter. Hanabi, my cousin who is from the main family as well, always beat me so the Elders are in favor of her. Neji is a different matter; he's in the branch. My father always favors Hanabi and never even cares for me, throwing me aside. He entrusted Kurenai-sensei with me, saying that he didn't need a weakling in the family. Ever since, I've never been anything in that house but vermin. But the servants think differently of me, coz of all the masters and mistresses they've had, I was the only one kind enough to offer help to them and even talk to them about personal matters. I don't think they've ever had a single order from me ever before."
"Oh..." muttered Sasuke.
"I never knew..." said Naruto. "You know, Hinata-chan, you should stand up to them! So what if you're not that strong to beat that Hanabi? For goodness' sake, you're the heiress, not her!"
Hinata smiled. "It's better to have no parents/family at all than have parents/family that despise you and think of you like vermin or trash, just coz you're weak," muttered Sasuke. "Take it from somebody who knows." [- Eh? Since when has Sasuke been so friendly? -
"Yeah, right about that," smiled Sakura.
"But even though, Hinata-chan, they're still your parents, don't hate them," said Naruto. "You're lucky to have 'em, right Sasuke?"
"Yeah," nodded Sasuke. Hinata smiled. It's nice of them to give moral advice.
"Aww, how nice!" cooed Sakura, giggling.
"What's nice?" asked Hinata. Sakura continued to giggle uncontrollably.
"What's so funny?" asked Sasuke. "We're not jesting."
"Imagine the great Uchiha prodigy and the #1 loudmouth of Konoha giving out moral adivice!" giggled Sakura. Hinata started giggling too.
"What? I was just being a good friend, ya know!" howled Naruto.
"Sometime, even ice melts, Sakura," smirked Sasuke. "You should know that. Besides, I'm not Orochimaru. I'm not all evil and ice cold all the time."
"I know, I know," smiled Sakura. "Don't sweat. I know you're only like that coz you don't want to hurt again, after the tragedy. I've known that long before, that's why I never stopped chasing after you. It's nice of you to trust us. But Ino, I don't know about her."
"Don't even think about it," muttered Sasuke, not wanting to imagine the scene. Naruto snickered.
"I hope you don't mind me asking Naruto-kun." started Hinata, looking at Naruto shyly.
"Go ahead, Hinata-chan! I'll answer!" prodded Naruto.
"Why were you so angry this morning?"
"Oh that," said Naruto, his smile faded a bit. "People are picking on me again. But I cant do anything coz they're about a decade or two older than me so..." he shrugged. "Vent all my frustration into a tree, that's the greatest solution. But what about you, eh, Sasuke? Beaten by Lee again?"
"No," uttered Sasuke. A neighbor was caterwauling not too far away, the only noise heard inside the room. Then after several tense moments, Sasuke sighed and spoke up. "Itachi dropped by yesterday night. But of course, I couldn't beat him coz I'm still far too weak to do so."
"Oh," whispered Sakura. "Don't worry Sasuke-kun, you'll beat him someday, and then maybe you'll be satisfied with your revenge." Sakura spoke the words with obvious pain that Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "You guys still don't know about my little secret. I should have told you before coz I know its not nice to keep secrets to close friends, and its about that thing you asked me a couple of days ago, Hinata-chan."
"Oh that? Are you sure you're willing to tell us? Coz there's no need to force yourself into telling," comforted Hinata-chan. "You seemed really sad there, you were on the verge of tears."
"Well?" asked Sasuke after some silence after Hinata's words.
"My parents are dead," whispered Sakura gently but with so much pain that Hinata winced.
"What? I don't think I heard ya right, Saku-chan. Your parents can't be dead. They're at your house!" said Naruto. But the serious look in Sakura's eyes told him he heard it all right, loud and clear.
"Tell me you're jesting," muttered Sasuke.
"No, I'm not," whispered Sakura. "They were murdered a year after my birth. Aunt told me. Auntie was my known mother for a long time now, until she told me everything about it when I was 10. It was so much of a shock that I locked myself up for a week, crying. Of course Ino didn't know about it, we were already rivals then. They were murdered by strangers, maybe from Orochimaru or the Akatsuki or something," whispered Sakura, now almost crying. She was trying very hard to prevent from breaking down. At the mention of Akatsuki, Sasuke's fists clenched. "It was revenge on my parents coz they brought back important information about the organization the murderers were from and the leader was angry. They supposed it was like that. My mother managed to run me to my Aunt before taking off again to help my dad fight them off. My Aunt never had a child. But she treated me like her own nevertheless. I still look up to her as my mother."
"Until then I tried to be strong, coz Auntie said the organization found out about me escaping when they planned that the whole family should be eliminated, and I needed to protect myself," muttered Sakura. "But of course, I was weak as usual. I couldn't even come up to my parents' expectations. I was reminded rudely of it yesterday. I bumped into a pair of bitches and they said I was a weakling. But of course I couldn't deny it could I? I mean, its true and all." Sakura closed her eyes and buried her face into her hands. They were through eating. "But I cant change that now. I cant even get revenge, like Sasuke-kun, coz I don't know who did it!"
"I-" stuttered Naruto. He didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. I suppose we're the only ones who know?" Sakura nodded. Naruto sighed. "Could you believe that? A team having one thing in common; no parents," Naruto said again, sighing.
"But I decided I wont cry anymore," said Sakura, wiping her tears and smiling again. Hinata sighed in relief. She didn't want her best friend to be gone.
"Don't try to comfort her Hinata," snapped Sasuke as Hinata started speaking.
"Why not! She's our friend!" exploded Naruto.
"And I thought you'd understand," muttered Sasuke, shaking his head. "In these kind of situations, no words are needed, more like no words could be said."
"Speaking from experience, I suppose," muttered Sakura. "Anyways, we'd just better clean up now," smiled Sakura, her smile lighting up the previously somber and sad room, due to the sharing of sad thoughts and frustrations. "I think I feel better now that I've got some friends I could trust!"
"Wait, before we all go," said Sasuke, stopping them all. "I've thought of something. If the answer that'll come out says where the country the scroll was saying is, I'm gonna go there. I'm just asking if anybody would like to come with me. I'm leaving as soon as I get the answers."
"Are you kidding? Count me in!" cheered Naruto.
"I'll go too, I'm curious to death," smiled Hinata.
"You think I'll let you have all the fun? I'm coming!" Sakura jumped up from her chair.
"Okay then, bring enough things to sustain yourselves," smirked Sasuke.
Naruto and Sasuke left the room as Hinata and Sakura cleaned up the dishes. Naruto left ahead to get some things from his house, which was nearby. Sakura and Hinata followed after they've finished the dishes.
"That's pretty nice of Sasuke, letting us stay for the night," said Hinata.
"Yeah, its so unlike him. Maybe he's finally opening up," giggled Sakura. "I'll accompany you to your house, Hinata-chan."
"Arigato, I'd like that," smiled Hinata, not wanting to go home alone.
They walked towards the Hyuuga mansion, cheerily chatting about girl things along the way. "Here we are," sighed Hinata.
"Don't worry, Hinata-chan," smiled Sakura. "Everything will absolutely be alright." [- This is not Card Captor Sakura, people. This is Naruto. -
They entered the mansion and went through the front door, greeted by the servants. One of them came forward and addressed Hinata.
"Hinata-sama, Hiashi-sama asked me to tell you to go to him once you have arrived, immediately," bowed the servant.
"Arigato, Mei-chan. You don't need to call me mistress, you know," smiled Hinata, going past her to the dining hall where his father and the rest of the family was. As they entered, the whole of the family's attention turned towards them. Sakura trailed behind, holding her head high. Why should I be afraid of these people? They're the same as me, for goodness' sake!
"You asked for me, father?" said Hinata politely, but coldly.
"Yes, indeed," said his father sternly. "Where have you been all day?"
"With my friends, father," Hinata said in the same austere cold voice.
"Friends? Hmm, very well, be gone," dismissed her father. Hanabi was beside his father, the place where she usually sat, smirking.
"Don't worry, I will be gone," smiled Hinata. But her smile was merciless and cold. Sakura smirked from beside her.
"C'mon, Hinata-chan," she called. They exited the hall, leaving all of the people in there stunned by her sudden change in behavior. "We don't want to stay with a couple of worthless trash," muttered Sakura as they got out. Mei, the servant girl, heard them and giggled. Sakura smiled at Mei, and she smiled back.
"Mei, here, take this," said Hinata, smiling. He pushed a golden Hyuuga crest into the girl's hands. "That makes you and the rest of your predecessors free from eternal slavery in this prison. I owe you a lot. Present it to father and tell him I gave it to you. If he doesn't let you free, I will, when I come back."
"Oh, Hinata-sama, thank you so much! But you're leaving?" sobbed Mei, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Yes," smiled Hinata. "I can't stand this place anymore, Hanabi can be the heiress, I don't care in the least."
"Tell me if there's anything I can help you with for the last time, Hinata-sama, anything!" pleaded Mei.
"Well there is one thing," said Hinata as they entered her room. "Can you sneak out the Runic scroll named 'The Legend of the Twilight' or anything that has something to do with it from the restricted section of the library? I know you can go in there without having to call permission from father," said Hinata, seizing her knapsack and throwing in clothes and necessities, several jewelries that can be pawned and some cash. [- Note: 'Some' is a huge understatement, people. I mean lots of lots of wads of cash. -
"Right away, Hinata-sama," Mei rushed out to the library. Hinata smiled at her.
"I am so fond of Mei," smiled Hinata. "She's just my age, yet she's already enslaved by the family. Her whole generation was. I want to free her. She's a good person. She's helped me a lot, including helping me sneak in and out of the mansion when I was forbidden to."
"You're a naughty girl, Hinata."
"And proud of it, girl."
The two laughed. After a couple of minutes' worth of waiting, Mei came back, holding 3 Runic scrolls.
"This one's the copy of the actual scroll, then this one is a map of some kind, and the last one contains more information about it," explained Mei. Hinata stashed them all into her bag, and then hugged Mei.
"Thanks, Mei, be well," smiled Hinata, shedding some tears. Sakura smiled at the two hugging. Then when they let go, Hinata and Sakura sneaked out the window, waved to Mei, and set off to Sakura's.
"Good luck, Hinata-sama," smiled Mei as the two figures faded off into the darkness. "And thanks for setting me free."
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Sakura and Hinata bounded through the front door of Sakura's house.
"I'm home!" called Sakura. Her aunt came out of the kitchen.
"Dinner's ready! And you're with Hinata-chan, eh? You can eat here too!" smiled her aunt.
"No, thanks, we've already eaten at Sasuke-kun's," smiled Sakura. They rushed to Sakura's room and packed up. As they came bounding back down, Sakura asked her aunt.
"Auntie, d'you know anything about the Runic scrolls of the Twilight?" asked Sakura, startling her aunt and making her drop the chopsticks she was holding.
"How... well, I wont ask how you found out." smiled her aunt. "I knew you would in time. Anyways, I have three scrolls from the clan, and maybe you'll find it useful on your journey. I know you're leaving, and I just want to say good luck, Sakura-chan."
Her aunt went to a drawer in the living room, unlocked it and gave Sakura the three scrolls. "The first one's a magical map of the countries including the country that our families founded, I don't know what it's called. It has directions of how to get to the country as fast as possible, or as how you want to get there, you just have to think about how you want to get there and it will change to show you the direction. You'll feel when it changes, it'll grow hot. Then the second one contains the instructions on a special jutsu you are gonna need, I don't know why either. The third one is a certificate of some kind you need to show to the people of the country to prove you are the new generation of the founders."
"Thanks a lot, auntie! I'll miss you sooo much! And I wish uncle was here so I could say goodbye, but just pass on my farewells when he comes back from the mission okay?" smiled Sakura, tears glistening in her eyes.
"Okay, my child, just be careful," smiled her aunt, kissing her forehead and hugging her.
"Sasuke-kun and Naruto would die before they'd let anything touch me and Hinata!" laughed Sakura, as they went out the front door. Sakura looked back one last time to her waving aunt, smiled, and headed to Sasuke's. One day I will come back to you auntie.
They arrived at the apartment the same time as Naruto. He cheered as he saw them. "Look at this, Sakura-chan, I found it in some of the things my father left to me as a baby!" cheered Naruto, showing her the gold and silver crest as large as a saucer and about half an inch thick. She couldn't see well in the dim light, but she was sure those were Runic letters on the sides. The crest's design was intricate and precise. The was a circle, then the circle was divided into half by a curvy line. On the upper part was a sun, while on the lower part was a crescent moon, and in the middle was a 12 pointed star, the six points touching the circle and the other six extending beyond the circle to the very side of the crest.
"Let's go inside and crack this mystery," hissed Sakura, excited. She knocked. Heavy footsteps were heard going down the stairs and Sasuke opened the door, wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt, showing his well-toned biceps and triceps. [- Drool a lake, ladies. - They entered the house and Sakura cleaned up first, since she and Sasuke were the ones who needed time to crack the case. As she came down in shorts up to her midthighs and spaghetti top carrying the additional scrolls and the crest, Sasuke spoke up.
"Here, help me decode this equation and we'll know what to do with those afterwards," said Sasuke, scooting over as Sakura set down the scrolls and the crest on the table and sat beside him. They worked on the equation together, looking more like a couple. If it were the old Sakura here, she'd be giggly and blushing all the time. But Sakura had matured from a girl into a young lady, and her affection for Sasuke came in a different way now, even though it was still the same feeling. Halfway through their work, Hinata and Naruto came down the stairs, both laughing and chatting with a very close air, making Sasuke and Sakura look up.
"Amazing how some person gets closer in just a few hours," smiled Sakura. The two heard her.
"Look who's talking. Look at you two, you look like a couple right now!" jeered Naruto. It was true. They were sitting on the floor looking at the low glass table where the papers were lying. Sasuke had his left leg up to him, his left arm around it holding the papers. His other leg was out under the table. Sakura's left leg was over Sasuke's right leg, the other simply out under the table. Sasuke had his right hand pressing on the floor lightly, very near Sakura.
They surveyed their position and shrugged. "So? Its comfortable like this," said Sasuke.
"Yeah right. And I'm supposed to believe that," snickered Naruto. "Hinata-chan, could you make me some dessert?"
"Oh sure! What'd you like, ice cream, salad, dips, or blueberry cheesecake? Since we're not sleeping tonight, I figured I could be of some use by making us snacks. There are plenty of stocks here," said Hinata.
"I'd like blueberry cheesecake!" said Naruto and Sakura simultaneously.
"Mother used to make me that when I was five," said Sasuke. "Can you come up to my mom's cooking?"
"We'll see," smiled Hinata, going to the kitchen followed by a chattering Naruto. Sakura giggled lightly before going back to work. [- Now enough of the sasusaku, lets see some naruhina on the way. -
"Where did you learn to cook, Hinata-chan?" asked Naruto. "You're really very good!"
"I spend much time with Mei, one of the servants, and she taught me how to cook along with the chef of the mansion," smiled Hinata. "Here, Naruto-kun, help me like you did earlier. Mix these ingredients up and stir."
Naruto mixed the eggs, milk and other ingredients up and stirred. "Like this?"
"No, here, lemme..." said Hinata, taking the spatula and mixing clockwise gently but firmly to avoid the lumps. "Now do it, firmly, so there'd be no lumps," said Hinata, guiding Naruto's hands with her own slowly and then she let go, smiling as Naruto did the work himself, grinning again.
Hinata went to do the other things, occasionally helped by Naruto along the way. They had fun with the blueberries as Naruto mixed it, guided by Hinata again. Hinata never felt better in her life. She felt so free and light with Naruto, seeing herself very close to him but not blushing or stuttering anymore.
Then they came to Naruto's favorite part, placing the toppings, blueberries and strawberries. [- People, I forgot to say, Naruto has no more feelings for Sakura, but only sees her as a close friend. -
"Let's work out some patterns, Hinata-chan!" grinned Naruto, taking a strawberry and popping it into his mouth.
"Naruto-kun, you'll eat up all the strawberries even before we start!" scolded Hinata, giggling at Naruto's pout.
"Aha! Why don't we do Sasuke and Sakura's name in a heart? Its blue and pink after all," whispered Naruto evilly. Hinata giggled.
"Nice idea, then they'll get pissed," giggled Hinata. She reached for some strawberries while Naruto did the blueberries with one hand, coz his other hand was on Hinata's shoulder and he didn't want to let go. As the names were finished, Naruto's arm was now around Hinata's waist, having crept there unconsciously.
Hinata felt Naruto's arm snake around her waist unconsciously, for Naruto seemed to be too preoccupied chattering about something, but she wasn't listening. She was preoccupied herself with the arm around her waist, warming her gently and slowly, pleasantly. She smiled wider.
"There! The heart is finished!" cheered Naruto, putting on the strawberry to complete the shape. "Hinata-chan, can I have the left over berries? I'll mix them with the ice cream, there's still another gallon inside the freezer."
"Sure, Naruto-kun," smiled Hinata. Naruto picked up the bowl of berries and opened the freezer, producing the gallon of ice cream, opening it and dumping in the berries. It was a vanilla ice cream. They both went to the living room, Naruto carrying the ice cream and spoons while Hinata carried the blueberry cheesecake. Just as they went in, Sakura threw her hands up.
"The equation is finally decoded!" she cheered. Sasuke sat up properly, got a paper and looked at the decoded message Sakura unraveled. He started drawing a perfect diamond, with a dividing line through the center and a point as the center itself.
"Just like Shika said, the four lines are parallel, proportioned and equal to each other," muttered Sasuke. "Meaning that the country is shaped like a perfect diamond, with a sort of grand estate in the center and two main villages, on the north and on the south of the diamond. But there is some kind of..."
"Of?" asked Naruto, getting his slice from Hinata.
"Barrier or something, coz there is another diamond outside the main one, as if it is protecting, coz it says here that 'the inside is the outside itself" muttered Sasuke. Then he dropped the pencil and rubbed his temples. "How excruciating. We need an actual map of the five countries including this new one, and an actual map of this hidden country."
"Wait, one of these scrolls, the one that Mei gave Hinata and me might be the map of the actual country," muttered Sakura, sifting through the scrolls. She picked up one. "This is it. Then the one that auntie gave me is a map of the five countries including the new one." She handed Sasuke the two maps. He unrolled it and smiled.
"Just what we need. This one's the map of the country," muttered Sasuke. The map was a magical moving map. Just as they thought, the country was shaped like a perfect diamond, and then there was a mansion in the center, a border running through it, and two main villages, one on the north and one on the south. The diamond outside the country was a barrier, just like Sasuke guessed. It was about a kilometer wide. They opened the other map. Just like the legend says, it was north of the Water Country, not too far off. There were arrows pointing to it, as if telling them how to get there. The map suddenly changed, showing the forests of Konoha, and there were arrows directing through the foliage. "Perfect. This way we wont get lost."
"Now what we need is more info," smiled Hinata, handing Sakura the information scroll. Sakura unrolled it and read it aloud. But before she can start, the scroll where the first part of the legend was written glowed. Sasuke opened it and scanned down. The legend went on.
"The four chosen ones will find the scrolls and the crest that will help them understand everything. The crest with the Uzumaki and the certificate with the Haruno will be needed, for they will present it to the people of the country to prove that they are the new generation. The scroll which contains the mysterious jutsu will be needed as well to harness the barrier's power and make it follow the four's heeds. They will have to learn the jutsu to open it, harness it, and for it to let them inside, for the barrier is strong, and only the four ones could open it. Thus states the Legend of the Twilight," read Sasuke, with furrowed brows. "Could we be the four chosen ones?"
"Well, we are the new generations right? And we're the only ones who figured it out, right?" said Naruto, munching on a strawberry.
"Hmm, anyways, here's the additional information we need," said Sakura, reading the information scroll. "The country's name is the Twilight Country. It is divided into two parts, the north part or the Light/Hikari, and the south part or the Dark/Yami, which has one village each, harnessing the same names. The people on the north part harness the power of the Sun, while the south part harnesses the power of the Moon. Uzumaki Koku and Haruno Rui comes from the Sun, where their people are bold and unafraid to show themselves, and often always happy. Uchiha Keiichi and Hyuuga Setsuna come from the Moon, where the people are mysterious, secretive and sharp. [- Obvious much? - The most powerful persons are the persons from the Star. A child from the power of the Star can only be produced when the Moon and the Sun intermarry, but there will be no intermarriages until the chosen ones come, therefore there are still no people from the Star. It is said that when the four chosen ones come, the country will improve drastically, economically and politically, even militarily. Many powerful ninjas will be produced and the once hidden and forgotten country will spring back into its old splendor."
"The only way to get past the barrier is to master the hidden jutsu inscribed in one of the scrolls. Once the four chosen ones get inside, most people will recognize them for they look much like the founders and they are the only ones that can open the barrier. Then they will have to present the crest and the certificate scroll to the people to make their identities concrete. The barrier will stay there to protect the country, yet it can be opened if it is the will of the chosen ones. That's all."
"Pretty complicated," said Naruto, as Sakura took a bite of her cake. "Now that we know enough, when do we leave?"
Sasuke looked at the clock. It was already 1:30 in the morning. "Pack up," he ordered, arranging the scrolls with the help of Sakura. "Hinata, can you whip up some food and water we can bring along?" Hinata nodded and went to the kitchen, carrying the dishes. Naruto fetched their bags from upstairs and got dressed. Sasuke and Sakura packed the scrolls and the crest in water proof bag and stuffed it inside Sasuke's bag. They both got dressed as Naruto went down. Hinata stuffed the food and water in her bag and got dressed herself. By 2:30 they were set.
"Only one thing left to do," muttered Sasuke. They put off all the lights and followed Sasuke out the door as he walked to a direction vaguely familiar to Sakura.
"Wait a second," she said, stopping. "The Uchiha Mansion?"
"I'll get the money from the vault," muttered Sasuke. "I never used it, but I think it'll come in handy."
They entered the mansion silently, following Sasuke. He walked straight through the front doors, pushing open the dusty regal door. They were about to go though the hall when Sasuke halted. He breathed deeply and sighed, shaking his head. He pushed open the doors to the hallway. As the others saw what was in there, they gasped. The floor and the walls were stained with dried and hardened blood.
"Sasuke-kun..." whispered Sakura as Sasuke stared at the blood, then shook his head, going to the right wall and concentrating his chakra to his palm, pressing them against the walls. The wallpaper seemed to be melting, revealing a metal vault door. Sasuke used his chakra again to open it and stuffed the money into a waterproof bag, all of them. Then he thrust the bag full of money to Sakura, who caught it deftly. "Me?"
"Take care of that, I'll take care of the scrolls," muttered Sasuke, hastily making for the door. Sakura stuffed the money inside her bag and ran up to Sasuke, followed by Hinata and Naruto, who closed the doors. Sakura looked at Sasuke's face. His hair concealed his eyes. Sakura sighed, then seized Sasuke's hand, squeezing it comfortingly. Sasuke squeezed back and muttered thanks silently.
Back behind them, Hinata and Naruto fell behind, watching Sakura comfort Sasuke.
"It must be very hard for him, seeing the blood again," muttered Hinata.
"He can take it, don't worry," smiled Naruto. "I know my teammates better than they think I do," grinned Naruto. Then he caught up with the two, pulling Hinata along. He slung an arm around Sasuke's neck. "Can we see the village one last time?"
"Sure," smiled Sasuke. I'm lucky to have some friends at least.
They walked around the village one last time before going off to the gateways of Konohagakure. With one last glance back, the four friends walked off, seeking for the hidden mystery of the country their ancestors long ago founded and sealed with a mighty barrier.
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The next day in Konoha-
"What just happened? Where is team 7 and Hinata?" asked Gai, for the four were missing.
"What are they up to now?" asked Kakashi.
"Where did Hinata go?" asked Hiashi. They were in the Hokage's office, for the four were pronounced missing this morning.
"We saw Sakura and Sasuke together last night, they made me solve this equation of some kind," said Shikamaru, standing in the corner of the room.
"Hinata and Naruto's not with them?" asked Tsunade. Ino shook her head.
"I know they were all in Sasuke's apartment last night, I felt their aura's when I passed there," muttered Neji.
"Then to Sasuke's apartment we go," Tsunade concluded, standing up.
When they arrived and opened the unlocked door of Sasuke's house, everything was in order, neat, nice and clean. Upstairs in Sasuke's room, not a hair was out of place, except for an empty frame. It had held the picture of team 7. His closet was neat, though several clothes were missing.
"Not even a clue," muttered Neji. "They are clean indeed."
"I wonder where they went," muttered Kakashi. "But I know my students, they'll come back, one time or another. They're safe with each other."
They walked silently to Sasuke's apartment, reaching it in no time. Sasuke fished out a key looped around his neck by a string and unlocked the door, letting them in.
His house was neat and clean, as if it was brand new. He moved out of the Uchiha mansion after the massacre that's why he was living alone. Nevertheless, he never was starved or anything, for the Hokage himself personally attended to transferring every single thing and money the clan owned to his name. He was officially the head and heir of the clan.
Naruto jumped to the kitchen and raided Sasuke's fridge, while Hinata and Sakura sat down on the couches. Sasuke went upstairs to his room, shuffling around for the scroll. At last, he found it under his pillow, for he had been reading it every night, and he went down to the living room, just as Naruto bounded out of the kitchen.
"Hey, Sasuke, can I have this?" asked Naruto, presenting him the ice cream in the freezer. Sasuke nodded, rolling his eyes. Naruto cheered, sitting down on the couch and started devouring the ice cream while listening to the conversation.
"Don't mess on the couch, dobe," hissed Sasuke. Then he handed Sakura the scroll. "You're the only one who can read this apart from me, coz it's written in Ancient Runic language, passed on through the four clans. Hinata was never taught the language, I know, Neji told me. Naruto never had anybody to teach him the language. I was taught when I was five."
Sakura nodded and opened the scroll, reading it to them aloud. The scroll's title was 'The Legend of the Twilight'.
"This scroll says the legend of a country founded by the four early leaders of our clans before. They were known as the Four Founders. I'll read the legend to you," said Sakura, as Sasuke came back with some drinks and turned on the light. "Once there was a vast landscape in the East, north of the Water Country. It was a secluded par of land. The four leaders of the four most powerful clans, namely Haruno Rui, Uchiha Keiichi, Uzumaki Koku and Hyuuga Setsuna, founded it. They established their families there and made the country strive, making it economically advanced compared to the others. For several years the country was at its climax, peaceful and positive. But then several countries established interest and planned to take over the country by force. They made a grave mistake by doing so, for they angered the Four Founders. And so the four made a sacrifice, taking all of their family with them and transferring to a village named Konoha, leaving behind a special gift, a special jutsu to protect the country until the four chosen ones came and revived the country."
"Gift?" asked Naruto, patting his stomach, having finished the whole gallon of ice cream. "What kinda gift is it?"
"Wait, there's an explanation," said Sakura. "But these are hard characters, I don't know the second half of the Runic," she said, spreading the scroll on the round glass table.
"Lemme see," said Sasuke, slipping off the couch with opposite Sakura, who was already sitting on the carpeted floor. Sasuke peered over the characters for some time, before snapping his fingers and taking out a pencil and paper. Sakura looked at him silently, meeting his eyes for a moment. Sasuke nodded, handing her a pencil too.
"What are you two doing?" asked Naruto dumbly. For some time, the two scribbled down complicated mathematical equations, solving several hard problems that only Shikamaru could keep up with their scribbling. Then they both stopped, the paper full of scratches, equations, numbers and several weird figures.
"Lemme see yours," said Sakura, pulling on Sasuke's sheet. She peered at the end of the page and saw that they both had the same equation at the end, even though they started on different ones. "This is hard. It's a complicated figure."
"Shikamaru could answer that," muttered Hinata, peering over the equation. "That's child's play for him. Its only about organizing coordinates, right?" [- People, I'm not that good at math, and I don't like it much either, but just imagine this is a kind of complicated puzzle they need to solve. The last piece determine the [-you'll find out later. ;) -
"Yeah, Shikamaru," muttered Sasuke. "C'mon, Sakura, let's go find him. Why don't you two work on some dinner first? I heard from one of the servants in the Hyuuga mansion that Hinata is quite a good cook," said Sasuke, arranging the mess of scattered papers. Naruto cheered at the prospect of dinner. Hinata nodded, standing up. "All the ingredients are in the cupboards."
Sasuke and Sakura went to the door, leaving the scroll behind, but carrying the piece of paper that they were writing on earlier. They went out the door just as Hinata and Naruto entered the kitchen.
"Hey, Hinata-chan, what kinda food can you cook?" asked Naruto as they thought of what to whip up.
"Pretty much. Maybe some tempura, sushi, sashimi and fried rice can do, don't you think?" smiled Hinata. This isn't that bad of a day after all!
"Yeah! You can cook that? I'm not a cook, ya know." grinned the ever-grinning fox boy.
"Of course. You can just help me out, I'll tell you what to do," smiled Hinata, slightly giggling. [- She's not that much shy in this fic anymore. Wait 'till you see the other chapters, you'll be surprised. ;) -
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Sasuke and Sakura ran through Konoha's lamp lit streets. It was dusk and the sky was painted the colors of the rainbow, majestically accentuated by the colorful clouds.
The two spotted Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Lee, Tenten, Neji, Shino and Kiba, who had just gone back from their mission, sitting at the ramen bar, waiting for their orders.
"HEY SHIKAMARU!" screeched Sakura, pulling on Sasuke's hand and running to Shikamaru. Shika lazily looked around. The others just watched with raised eyebrows as Sakura pulled along the Uchiha prodigy who was not looking the least annoyed or embarrassed, which was something new. Ino fumed as she saw Sakura holding Sasuke's hand. Even before Shika could speak, she exploded.
"FAT FOREHEAD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HOLDING MY SASUKE-KUN'S HAND!" she hollered, looking murderous. The others cringed. Sasuke sighed and shook his head. Before Sakura could retort, Sasuke went and took over.
"We don't have time for your babblings, Ino," Sasuke said coldly. "Shikamaru, can you solve this equation?" asked Sasuke, going over to him and slapping the paper down in front of him on the table. The others craned to get a good look at the equations on the paper.
"Which one?" asked Shikamaru lazily. Sasuke pointed to the equation on the bottom part of the paper, coz the paper was full of his and Sakura's scribbling. Shikamaru scanned the upper part of the paper, which contained the equations solved by Sasuke and Sakura, which ended to the final one he was to solve.
"You two solved this?" asked Shikamaru, raising an eyebrow and looking at Sasuke and Sakura.
"Yeah, any problems?" asked Sakura.
"No," muttered Shikamaru. "I just never thought you two were that smart, this equation can only be solved by wiz minds, meaning people who have an IQ of 200. Hand me a pencil."
Sasuke fished out a pencil from his pocket and gave it to Shikamaru. As soon as he got it, he started scribbling at the back of the paper, his mind visibly working fast. The others read the equations as he solved. As he went midway of the solution, Tenten, Kiba, Lee, Chouji and Ino had already given up keeping up with Shika's brain. Then he stopped.
"That? Are you sure you didn't go wrong at this part?" asked Shino, pointing to a part of the equation, surprising everybody.
Shikamaru peered over the paper. "U-huh. See, if this one is parallel, proportioned and equal to this, and this to this one, then certainly the remaining pair will be the same, or else it will be imbalanced and the shape will be imperfect. And according to the first part of the problem, the answer should be a perfect answer. This one's a perfect equation. These kinds are very hard to find. Where did you find it?" asked Shikamaru, handing them back the paper with the final answer encircled.
"In a Runic scroll," said Sasuke mysteriously. Apparently, only Shikamaru, Shino and Neji understood him, for the others didn't know what Runic was all about. Neji narrowed his eyes.
"If you're doing what I think you are, Uchiha, you'd better watch out," muttered Neji. The air was very tense. Everybody knew there was a rivalry between the two, as to whether who was better than the other.
"You should remember that not only the Hyuuga holds Runic scrolls, Neji," interjected Sakura. "The Haruno, Uzumaki and Uchiha have some too. We have some rights over it too."
"How did you..." said Neji, suddenly standing up.
"If you're gonna ask how we knew, how about solving the second part of the Twilight Scroll? I know you've read the first part already, or you wouldn't know about the Four Founders and you wouldn't give this kind of expression," hissed Sasuke, shielding Sakura from Neji, for he was quite sure that his eyes expressed such anger that he could be able to harm a even a girl considerably weaker than him. Then Sasuke scooped up Sakura, jumping into the forest and taking a shortcut to his apartment, not saying another word. [- Just like newly weds! WAI! ;) -
"What's Runic?" asked Chouji.
"What're the Four Founders?" asked Lee.
"What's the Twilight Scroll?" asked Tenten.
"What about the Hyuuga, Uchiha, Haruno and Uzumaki?" asked Kiba.
Shikamaru sighed. "You don't have to know if the five, Neji, Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata and Naruto, I mean, don't want you to. They have their rights to keep family secrets. And apparently, I can see that they don't want you to know."
"Its just so hard to know too much, ain't it, Shika?" asked Ino. Then she exploded again, her voice reverberating throughout the whole of Konoha. "WHY THE HELL WAS SAKURA WITH SASUKE-KUN! WHY THE HELL WAS SHE ALLOWED TO HOLD HIS HAND!"
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"Would you be so kind as to not to do that again so suddenly?" asked Sakura, wrapping her arms around Sasuke's neck, afraid from falling. Sasuke was jumping from treetop to treetop, not branch to branch. "You're giving me a heart attack. Besides, why did you run off immediately, as if you were in a hurry?"
"Coz Neji was looking murderous. I can tell he was gonna hurt you if we didn't leave soon. Didn't you see his eyes? Sorry if I gave you a heart attack, I was just protecting you from him," muttered Sasuke. Her arms around my neck kinda feel nice. HEY! WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING!
"Oh," sighed Sakura, holding on much tighter, not coz she was gonna fall, but coz she was cold, and Sasuke radiated a weird kind of warmth, more welcoming than others.
Soon they reached the apartment again, and Sasuke put Sakura down as soon as they landed, half of himself refusing to. Sakura never let go of his hand as he opened the door and walked inside, closing it again. The yummy smell of dinner wafted to Sakura and Sasuke's noses. Sakura eagerly pulled Sasuke to the dining room; they were just in time for dinner.
"Back so soon?" asked Naruto, gently putting bowls of fried rice on the table. "Did Shika solve it?"
"Yeah, it was a piece of cake for him alright," smiled Sakura. "Nice cooking, Hinata. Even I can't cook this good."
"Don't jest, Sakura-chan," smiled Hinata. "You're a much better cook than me. I remember when I slept over at yours, you were in charge of dinner and you were like a pro."
"Next time let's make her cook then," smirked Sasuke. Then his smirk was suddenly erased. "Naruto, get the scroll, hurry."
Naruto ran to the living room, having felt the strong aura as well. He got the scroll and handed it to Sasuke, who placed it inside his shirt. "Your cousin is furious," muttered Sasuke, feeling Neji's aura nearby. Hinata quivered slightly.
"Not over dinner," whined Naruto. "Later with the arguments! I'm hungry!"
Neji's angry aura neared the apartment door, but then stopped short in front of it. He seemed to be thinking, more like listening. Then, after several tense moments filled with Naruto's whines, Hinata's fidgeting and Sakura and Sasuke's tense breathing, the furious aura stomped slowly away from the apartment.
"He must've decided it's bad to eavesdrop or to disturb somebody's dinner," muttered Naruto. "C'mon, lets eat!"
The four sat around the table silently, still feeling for the fading aura. "Sometimes, Neji-nii-san is just too temperamental."
"You said it," muttered Naruto. Then he recovered from his previous seriousness, lightening the tense air. "I'll eat this all if you don't start now!"
Sakura giggled at Naruto's childish acts and started eating. After a while of silence as they ate, Sakura thought of something. She glanced at the wall clock; 7:15 PM. "Sasuke-kun?"
"Hn?"
"I think solving the scroll will take up pretty much about until midnight or tomorrow morning. That is, if we solve it together, but..." trailed off Sakura. Sasuke understood, he was not stupid. [- Certainly not! -
"Fine, there's a spare room upstairs. If Hinata and the dobe wants to stay for the night as well, then fine, I wont get any sleep even if they're not here anyways, with this scroll to solve," muttered Sasuke, mind still on the scroll.
"Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan and me will get some things from our houses then!" pronounced Naruto, helping himself to his 5th sushi.
"Honestly, as much as possible, I don't want to go back to that one hell of a house anymore," Hinata said suddenly and so boldly that even Sasuke stared. She never spoke that way ever before. She was ever so polite with everything. "I don't wanna see my father anymore."
"The same issue, Hinata-chan?" asked Sakura. Ever since the Chuunin exams, Hinata and Sakura had become best of friends, along with Tenten and Ino, even though Sakura often got into catfights with her. [- This takes place about a year after the Chuunin exams, meaning they are around 13 years of age. Take note of that! -
"Yeah," muttered Hinata. The two boys stared questioningly. Hinata sighed. Might as well tell them. "You see, ever since I was a kid, I was never that good a fighter. Hanabi, my cousin who is from the main family as well, always beat me so the Elders are in favor of her. Neji is a different matter; he's in the branch. My father always favors Hanabi and never even cares for me, throwing me aside. He entrusted Kurenai-sensei with me, saying that he didn't need a weakling in the family. Ever since, I've never been anything in that house but vermin. But the servants think differently of me, coz of all the masters and mistresses they've had, I was the only one kind enough to offer help to them and even talk to them about personal matters. I don't think they've ever had a single order from me ever before."
"Oh..." muttered Sasuke.
"I never knew..." said Naruto. "You know, Hinata-chan, you should stand up to them! So what if you're not that strong to beat that Hanabi? For goodness' sake, you're the heiress, not her!"
Hinata smiled. "It's better to have no parents/family at all than have parents/family that despise you and think of you like vermin or trash, just coz you're weak," muttered Sasuke. "Take it from somebody who knows." [- Eh? Since when has Sasuke been so friendly? -
"Yeah, right about that," smiled Sakura.
"But even though, Hinata-chan, they're still your parents, don't hate them," said Naruto. "You're lucky to have 'em, right Sasuke?"
"Yeah," nodded Sasuke. Hinata smiled. It's nice of them to give moral advice.
"Aww, how nice!" cooed Sakura, giggling.
"What's nice?" asked Hinata. Sakura continued to giggle uncontrollably.
"What's so funny?" asked Sasuke. "We're not jesting."
"Imagine the great Uchiha prodigy and the #1 loudmouth of Konoha giving out moral adivice!" giggled Sakura. Hinata started giggling too.
"What? I was just being a good friend, ya know!" howled Naruto.
"Sometime, even ice melts, Sakura," smirked Sasuke. "You should know that. Besides, I'm not Orochimaru. I'm not all evil and ice cold all the time."
"I know, I know," smiled Sakura. "Don't sweat. I know you're only like that coz you don't want to hurt again, after the tragedy. I've known that long before, that's why I never stopped chasing after you. It's nice of you to trust us. But Ino, I don't know about her."
"Don't even think about it," muttered Sasuke, not wanting to imagine the scene. Naruto snickered.
"I hope you don't mind me asking Naruto-kun." started Hinata, looking at Naruto shyly.
"Go ahead, Hinata-chan! I'll answer!" prodded Naruto.
"Why were you so angry this morning?"
"Oh that," said Naruto, his smile faded a bit. "People are picking on me again. But I cant do anything coz they're about a decade or two older than me so..." he shrugged. "Vent all my frustration into a tree, that's the greatest solution. But what about you, eh, Sasuke? Beaten by Lee again?"
"No," uttered Sasuke. A neighbor was caterwauling not too far away, the only noise heard inside the room. Then after several tense moments, Sasuke sighed and spoke up. "Itachi dropped by yesterday night. But of course, I couldn't beat him coz I'm still far too weak to do so."
"Oh," whispered Sakura. "Don't worry Sasuke-kun, you'll beat him someday, and then maybe you'll be satisfied with your revenge." Sakura spoke the words with obvious pain that Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "You guys still don't know about my little secret. I should have told you before coz I know its not nice to keep secrets to close friends, and its about that thing you asked me a couple of days ago, Hinata-chan."
"Oh that? Are you sure you're willing to tell us? Coz there's no need to force yourself into telling," comforted Hinata-chan. "You seemed really sad there, you were on the verge of tears."
"Well?" asked Sasuke after some silence after Hinata's words.
"My parents are dead," whispered Sakura gently but with so much pain that Hinata winced.
"What? I don't think I heard ya right, Saku-chan. Your parents can't be dead. They're at your house!" said Naruto. But the serious look in Sakura's eyes told him he heard it all right, loud and clear.
"Tell me you're jesting," muttered Sasuke.
"No, I'm not," whispered Sakura. "They were murdered a year after my birth. Aunt told me. Auntie was my known mother for a long time now, until she told me everything about it when I was 10. It was so much of a shock that I locked myself up for a week, crying. Of course Ino didn't know about it, we were already rivals then. They were murdered by strangers, maybe from Orochimaru or the Akatsuki or something," whispered Sakura, now almost crying. She was trying very hard to prevent from breaking down. At the mention of Akatsuki, Sasuke's fists clenched. "It was revenge on my parents coz they brought back important information about the organization the murderers were from and the leader was angry. They supposed it was like that. My mother managed to run me to my Aunt before taking off again to help my dad fight them off. My Aunt never had a child. But she treated me like her own nevertheless. I still look up to her as my mother."
"Until then I tried to be strong, coz Auntie said the organization found out about me escaping when they planned that the whole family should be eliminated, and I needed to protect myself," muttered Sakura. "But of course, I was weak as usual. I couldn't even come up to my parents' expectations. I was reminded rudely of it yesterday. I bumped into a pair of bitches and they said I was a weakling. But of course I couldn't deny it could I? I mean, its true and all." Sakura closed her eyes and buried her face into her hands. They were through eating. "But I cant change that now. I cant even get revenge, like Sasuke-kun, coz I don't know who did it!"
"I-" stuttered Naruto. He didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. I suppose we're the only ones who know?" Sakura nodded. Naruto sighed. "Could you believe that? A team having one thing in common; no parents," Naruto said again, sighing.
"But I decided I wont cry anymore," said Sakura, wiping her tears and smiling again. Hinata sighed in relief. She didn't want her best friend to be gone.
"Don't try to comfort her Hinata," snapped Sasuke as Hinata started speaking.
"Why not! She's our friend!" exploded Naruto.
"And I thought you'd understand," muttered Sasuke, shaking his head. "In these kind of situations, no words are needed, more like no words could be said."
"Speaking from experience, I suppose," muttered Sakura. "Anyways, we'd just better clean up now," smiled Sakura, her smile lighting up the previously somber and sad room, due to the sharing of sad thoughts and frustrations. "I think I feel better now that I've got some friends I could trust!"
"Wait, before we all go," said Sasuke, stopping them all. "I've thought of something. If the answer that'll come out says where the country the scroll was saying is, I'm gonna go there. I'm just asking if anybody would like to come with me. I'm leaving as soon as I get the answers."
"Are you kidding? Count me in!" cheered Naruto.
"I'll go too, I'm curious to death," smiled Hinata.
"You think I'll let you have all the fun? I'm coming!" Sakura jumped up from her chair.
"Okay then, bring enough things to sustain yourselves," smirked Sasuke.
Naruto and Sasuke left the room as Hinata and Sakura cleaned up the dishes. Naruto left ahead to get some things from his house, which was nearby. Sakura and Hinata followed after they've finished the dishes.
"That's pretty nice of Sasuke, letting us stay for the night," said Hinata.
"Yeah, its so unlike him. Maybe he's finally opening up," giggled Sakura. "I'll accompany you to your house, Hinata-chan."
"Arigato, I'd like that," smiled Hinata, not wanting to go home alone.
They walked towards the Hyuuga mansion, cheerily chatting about girl things along the way. "Here we are," sighed Hinata.
"Don't worry, Hinata-chan," smiled Sakura. "Everything will absolutely be alright." [- This is not Card Captor Sakura, people. This is Naruto. -
They entered the mansion and went through the front door, greeted by the servants. One of them came forward and addressed Hinata.
"Hinata-sama, Hiashi-sama asked me to tell you to go to him once you have arrived, immediately," bowed the servant.
"Arigato, Mei-chan. You don't need to call me mistress, you know," smiled Hinata, going past her to the dining hall where his father and the rest of the family was. As they entered, the whole of the family's attention turned towards them. Sakura trailed behind, holding her head high. Why should I be afraid of these people? They're the same as me, for goodness' sake!
"You asked for me, father?" said Hinata politely, but coldly.
"Yes, indeed," said his father sternly. "Where have you been all day?"
"With my friends, father," Hinata said in the same austere cold voice.
"Friends? Hmm, very well, be gone," dismissed her father. Hanabi was beside his father, the place where she usually sat, smirking.
"Don't worry, I will be gone," smiled Hinata. But her smile was merciless and cold. Sakura smirked from beside her.
"C'mon, Hinata-chan," she called. They exited the hall, leaving all of the people in there stunned by her sudden change in behavior. "We don't want to stay with a couple of worthless trash," muttered Sakura as they got out. Mei, the servant girl, heard them and giggled. Sakura smiled at Mei, and she smiled back.
"Mei, here, take this," said Hinata, smiling. He pushed a golden Hyuuga crest into the girl's hands. "That makes you and the rest of your predecessors free from eternal slavery in this prison. I owe you a lot. Present it to father and tell him I gave it to you. If he doesn't let you free, I will, when I come back."
"Oh, Hinata-sama, thank you so much! But you're leaving?" sobbed Mei, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Yes," smiled Hinata. "I can't stand this place anymore, Hanabi can be the heiress, I don't care in the least."
"Tell me if there's anything I can help you with for the last time, Hinata-sama, anything!" pleaded Mei.
"Well there is one thing," said Hinata as they entered her room. "Can you sneak out the Runic scroll named 'The Legend of the Twilight' or anything that has something to do with it from the restricted section of the library? I know you can go in there without having to call permission from father," said Hinata, seizing her knapsack and throwing in clothes and necessities, several jewelries that can be pawned and some cash. [- Note: 'Some' is a huge understatement, people. I mean lots of lots of wads of cash. -
"Right away, Hinata-sama," Mei rushed out to the library. Hinata smiled at her.
"I am so fond of Mei," smiled Hinata. "She's just my age, yet she's already enslaved by the family. Her whole generation was. I want to free her. She's a good person. She's helped me a lot, including helping me sneak in and out of the mansion when I was forbidden to."
"You're a naughty girl, Hinata."
"And proud of it, girl."
The two laughed. After a couple of minutes' worth of waiting, Mei came back, holding 3 Runic scrolls.
"This one's the copy of the actual scroll, then this one is a map of some kind, and the last one contains more information about it," explained Mei. Hinata stashed them all into her bag, and then hugged Mei.
"Thanks, Mei, be well," smiled Hinata, shedding some tears. Sakura smiled at the two hugging. Then when they let go, Hinata and Sakura sneaked out the window, waved to Mei, and set off to Sakura's.
"Good luck, Hinata-sama," smiled Mei as the two figures faded off into the darkness. "And thanks for setting me free."
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Sakura and Hinata bounded through the front door of Sakura's house.
"I'm home!" called Sakura. Her aunt came out of the kitchen.
"Dinner's ready! And you're with Hinata-chan, eh? You can eat here too!" smiled her aunt.
"No, thanks, we've already eaten at Sasuke-kun's," smiled Sakura. They rushed to Sakura's room and packed up. As they came bounding back down, Sakura asked her aunt.
"Auntie, d'you know anything about the Runic scrolls of the Twilight?" asked Sakura, startling her aunt and making her drop the chopsticks she was holding.
"How... well, I wont ask how you found out." smiled her aunt. "I knew you would in time. Anyways, I have three scrolls from the clan, and maybe you'll find it useful on your journey. I know you're leaving, and I just want to say good luck, Sakura-chan."
Her aunt went to a drawer in the living room, unlocked it and gave Sakura the three scrolls. "The first one's a magical map of the countries including the country that our families founded, I don't know what it's called. It has directions of how to get to the country as fast as possible, or as how you want to get there, you just have to think about how you want to get there and it will change to show you the direction. You'll feel when it changes, it'll grow hot. Then the second one contains the instructions on a special jutsu you are gonna need, I don't know why either. The third one is a certificate of some kind you need to show to the people of the country to prove you are the new generation of the founders."
"Thanks a lot, auntie! I'll miss you sooo much! And I wish uncle was here so I could say goodbye, but just pass on my farewells when he comes back from the mission okay?" smiled Sakura, tears glistening in her eyes.
"Okay, my child, just be careful," smiled her aunt, kissing her forehead and hugging her.
"Sasuke-kun and Naruto would die before they'd let anything touch me and Hinata!" laughed Sakura, as they went out the front door. Sakura looked back one last time to her waving aunt, smiled, and headed to Sasuke's. One day I will come back to you auntie.
They arrived at the apartment the same time as Naruto. He cheered as he saw them. "Look at this, Sakura-chan, I found it in some of the things my father left to me as a baby!" cheered Naruto, showing her the gold and silver crest as large as a saucer and about half an inch thick. She couldn't see well in the dim light, but she was sure those were Runic letters on the sides. The crest's design was intricate and precise. The was a circle, then the circle was divided into half by a curvy line. On the upper part was a sun, while on the lower part was a crescent moon, and in the middle was a 12 pointed star, the six points touching the circle and the other six extending beyond the circle to the very side of the crest.
"Let's go inside and crack this mystery," hissed Sakura, excited. She knocked. Heavy footsteps were heard going down the stairs and Sasuke opened the door, wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt, showing his well-toned biceps and triceps. [- Drool a lake, ladies. - They entered the house and Sakura cleaned up first, since she and Sasuke were the ones who needed time to crack the case. As she came down in shorts up to her midthighs and spaghetti top carrying the additional scrolls and the crest, Sasuke spoke up.
"Here, help me decode this equation and we'll know what to do with those afterwards," said Sasuke, scooting over as Sakura set down the scrolls and the crest on the table and sat beside him. They worked on the equation together, looking more like a couple. If it were the old Sakura here, she'd be giggly and blushing all the time. But Sakura had matured from a girl into a young lady, and her affection for Sasuke came in a different way now, even though it was still the same feeling. Halfway through their work, Hinata and Naruto came down the stairs, both laughing and chatting with a very close air, making Sasuke and Sakura look up.
"Amazing how some person gets closer in just a few hours," smiled Sakura. The two heard her.
"Look who's talking. Look at you two, you look like a couple right now!" jeered Naruto. It was true. They were sitting on the floor looking at the low glass table where the papers were lying. Sasuke had his left leg up to him, his left arm around it holding the papers. His other leg was out under the table. Sakura's left leg was over Sasuke's right leg, the other simply out under the table. Sasuke had his right hand pressing on the floor lightly, very near Sakura.
They surveyed their position and shrugged. "So? Its comfortable like this," said Sasuke.
"Yeah right. And I'm supposed to believe that," snickered Naruto. "Hinata-chan, could you make me some dessert?"
"Oh sure! What'd you like, ice cream, salad, dips, or blueberry cheesecake? Since we're not sleeping tonight, I figured I could be of some use by making us snacks. There are plenty of stocks here," said Hinata.
"I'd like blueberry cheesecake!" said Naruto and Sakura simultaneously.
"Mother used to make me that when I was five," said Sasuke. "Can you come up to my mom's cooking?"
"We'll see," smiled Hinata, going to the kitchen followed by a chattering Naruto. Sakura giggled lightly before going back to work. [- Now enough of the sasusaku, lets see some naruhina on the way. -
"Where did you learn to cook, Hinata-chan?" asked Naruto. "You're really very good!"
"I spend much time with Mei, one of the servants, and she taught me how to cook along with the chef of the mansion," smiled Hinata. "Here, Naruto-kun, help me like you did earlier. Mix these ingredients up and stir."
Naruto mixed the eggs, milk and other ingredients up and stirred. "Like this?"
"No, here, lemme..." said Hinata, taking the spatula and mixing clockwise gently but firmly to avoid the lumps. "Now do it, firmly, so there'd be no lumps," said Hinata, guiding Naruto's hands with her own slowly and then she let go, smiling as Naruto did the work himself, grinning again.
Hinata went to do the other things, occasionally helped by Naruto along the way. They had fun with the blueberries as Naruto mixed it, guided by Hinata again. Hinata never felt better in her life. She felt so free and light with Naruto, seeing herself very close to him but not blushing or stuttering anymore.
Then they came to Naruto's favorite part, placing the toppings, blueberries and strawberries. [- People, I forgot to say, Naruto has no more feelings for Sakura, but only sees her as a close friend. -
"Let's work out some patterns, Hinata-chan!" grinned Naruto, taking a strawberry and popping it into his mouth.
"Naruto-kun, you'll eat up all the strawberries even before we start!" scolded Hinata, giggling at Naruto's pout.
"Aha! Why don't we do Sasuke and Sakura's name in a heart? Its blue and pink after all," whispered Naruto evilly. Hinata giggled.
"Nice idea, then they'll get pissed," giggled Hinata. She reached for some strawberries while Naruto did the blueberries with one hand, coz his other hand was on Hinata's shoulder and he didn't want to let go. As the names were finished, Naruto's arm was now around Hinata's waist, having crept there unconsciously.
Hinata felt Naruto's arm snake around her waist unconsciously, for Naruto seemed to be too preoccupied chattering about something, but she wasn't listening. She was preoccupied herself with the arm around her waist, warming her gently and slowly, pleasantly. She smiled wider.
"There! The heart is finished!" cheered Naruto, putting on the strawberry to complete the shape. "Hinata-chan, can I have the left over berries? I'll mix them with the ice cream, there's still another gallon inside the freezer."
"Sure, Naruto-kun," smiled Hinata. Naruto picked up the bowl of berries and opened the freezer, producing the gallon of ice cream, opening it and dumping in the berries. It was a vanilla ice cream. They both went to the living room, Naruto carrying the ice cream and spoons while Hinata carried the blueberry cheesecake. Just as they went in, Sakura threw her hands up.
"The equation is finally decoded!" she cheered. Sasuke sat up properly, got a paper and looked at the decoded message Sakura unraveled. He started drawing a perfect diamond, with a dividing line through the center and a point as the center itself.
"Just like Shika said, the four lines are parallel, proportioned and equal to each other," muttered Sasuke. "Meaning that the country is shaped like a perfect diamond, with a sort of grand estate in the center and two main villages, on the north and on the south of the diamond. But there is some kind of..."
"Of?" asked Naruto, getting his slice from Hinata.
"Barrier or something, coz there is another diamond outside the main one, as if it is protecting, coz it says here that 'the inside is the outside itself" muttered Sasuke. Then he dropped the pencil and rubbed his temples. "How excruciating. We need an actual map of the five countries including this new one, and an actual map of this hidden country."
"Wait, one of these scrolls, the one that Mei gave Hinata and me might be the map of the actual country," muttered Sakura, sifting through the scrolls. She picked up one. "This is it. Then the one that auntie gave me is a map of the five countries including the new one." She handed Sasuke the two maps. He unrolled it and smiled.
"Just what we need. This one's the map of the country," muttered Sasuke. The map was a magical moving map. Just as they thought, the country was shaped like a perfect diamond, and then there was a mansion in the center, a border running through it, and two main villages, one on the north and one on the south. The diamond outside the country was a barrier, just like Sasuke guessed. It was about a kilometer wide. They opened the other map. Just like the legend says, it was north of the Water Country, not too far off. There were arrows pointing to it, as if telling them how to get there. The map suddenly changed, showing the forests of Konoha, and there were arrows directing through the foliage. "Perfect. This way we wont get lost."
"Now what we need is more info," smiled Hinata, handing Sakura the information scroll. Sakura unrolled it and read it aloud. But before she can start, the scroll where the first part of the legend was written glowed. Sasuke opened it and scanned down. The legend went on.
"The four chosen ones will find the scrolls and the crest that will help them understand everything. The crest with the Uzumaki and the certificate with the Haruno will be needed, for they will present it to the people of the country to prove that they are the new generation. The scroll which contains the mysterious jutsu will be needed as well to harness the barrier's power and make it follow the four's heeds. They will have to learn the jutsu to open it, harness it, and for it to let them inside, for the barrier is strong, and only the four ones could open it. Thus states the Legend of the Twilight," read Sasuke, with furrowed brows. "Could we be the four chosen ones?"
"Well, we are the new generations right? And we're the only ones who figured it out, right?" said Naruto, munching on a strawberry.
"Hmm, anyways, here's the additional information we need," said Sakura, reading the information scroll. "The country's name is the Twilight Country. It is divided into two parts, the north part or the Light/Hikari, and the south part or the Dark/Yami, which has one village each, harnessing the same names. The people on the north part harness the power of the Sun, while the south part harnesses the power of the Moon. Uzumaki Koku and Haruno Rui comes from the Sun, where their people are bold and unafraid to show themselves, and often always happy. Uchiha Keiichi and Hyuuga Setsuna come from the Moon, where the people are mysterious, secretive and sharp. [- Obvious much? - The most powerful persons are the persons from the Star. A child from the power of the Star can only be produced when the Moon and the Sun intermarry, but there will be no intermarriages until the chosen ones come, therefore there are still no people from the Star. It is said that when the four chosen ones come, the country will improve drastically, economically and politically, even militarily. Many powerful ninjas will be produced and the once hidden and forgotten country will spring back into its old splendor."
"The only way to get past the barrier is to master the hidden jutsu inscribed in one of the scrolls. Once the four chosen ones get inside, most people will recognize them for they look much like the founders and they are the only ones that can open the barrier. Then they will have to present the crest and the certificate scroll to the people to make their identities concrete. The barrier will stay there to protect the country, yet it can be opened if it is the will of the chosen ones. That's all."
"Pretty complicated," said Naruto, as Sakura took a bite of her cake. "Now that we know enough, when do we leave?"
Sasuke looked at the clock. It was already 1:30 in the morning. "Pack up," he ordered, arranging the scrolls with the help of Sakura. "Hinata, can you whip up some food and water we can bring along?" Hinata nodded and went to the kitchen, carrying the dishes. Naruto fetched their bags from upstairs and got dressed. Sasuke and Sakura packed the scrolls and the crest in water proof bag and stuffed it inside Sasuke's bag. They both got dressed as Naruto went down. Hinata stuffed the food and water in her bag and got dressed herself. By 2:30 they were set.
"Only one thing left to do," muttered Sasuke. They put off all the lights and followed Sasuke out the door as he walked to a direction vaguely familiar to Sakura.
"Wait a second," she said, stopping. "The Uchiha Mansion?"
"I'll get the money from the vault," muttered Sasuke. "I never used it, but I think it'll come in handy."
They entered the mansion silently, following Sasuke. He walked straight through the front doors, pushing open the dusty regal door. They were about to go though the hall when Sasuke halted. He breathed deeply and sighed, shaking his head. He pushed open the doors to the hallway. As the others saw what was in there, they gasped. The floor and the walls were stained with dried and hardened blood.
"Sasuke-kun..." whispered Sakura as Sasuke stared at the blood, then shook his head, going to the right wall and concentrating his chakra to his palm, pressing them against the walls. The wallpaper seemed to be melting, revealing a metal vault door. Sasuke used his chakra again to open it and stuffed the money into a waterproof bag, all of them. Then he thrust the bag full of money to Sakura, who caught it deftly. "Me?"
"Take care of that, I'll take care of the scrolls," muttered Sasuke, hastily making for the door. Sakura stuffed the money inside her bag and ran up to Sasuke, followed by Hinata and Naruto, who closed the doors. Sakura looked at Sasuke's face. His hair concealed his eyes. Sakura sighed, then seized Sasuke's hand, squeezing it comfortingly. Sasuke squeezed back and muttered thanks silently.
Back behind them, Hinata and Naruto fell behind, watching Sakura comfort Sasuke.
"It must be very hard for him, seeing the blood again," muttered Hinata.
"He can take it, don't worry," smiled Naruto. "I know my teammates better than they think I do," grinned Naruto. Then he caught up with the two, pulling Hinata along. He slung an arm around Sasuke's neck. "Can we see the village one last time?"
"Sure," smiled Sasuke. I'm lucky to have some friends at least.
They walked around the village one last time before going off to the gateways of Konohagakure. With one last glance back, the four friends walked off, seeking for the hidden mystery of the country their ancestors long ago founded and sealed with a mighty barrier.
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The next day in Konoha-
"What just happened? Where is team 7 and Hinata?" asked Gai, for the four were missing.
"What are they up to now?" asked Kakashi.
"Where did Hinata go?" asked Hiashi. They were in the Hokage's office, for the four were pronounced missing this morning.
"We saw Sakura and Sasuke together last night, they made me solve this equation of some kind," said Shikamaru, standing in the corner of the room.
"Hinata and Naruto's not with them?" asked Tsunade. Ino shook her head.
"I know they were all in Sasuke's apartment last night, I felt their aura's when I passed there," muttered Neji.
"Then to Sasuke's apartment we go," Tsunade concluded, standing up.
When they arrived and opened the unlocked door of Sasuke's house, everything was in order, neat, nice and clean. Upstairs in Sasuke's room, not a hair was out of place, except for an empty frame. It had held the picture of team 7. His closet was neat, though several clothes were missing.
"Not even a clue," muttered Neji. "They are clean indeed."
"I wonder where they went," muttered Kakashi. "But I know my students, they'll come back, one time or another. They're safe with each other."