Blind To It Before

Title: Blind To It Before
Rating: R (for now)
Warnings: None yet

Notes: I'm amazed at how many of you have started adding my story to your story alert (or at least ff.n started recently telling me about it). It helps urge me on to write more knowing people are eagerly awaiting another chapter. Thanks to all the reviewers as well!

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Chapter 8 – A Light to Travel By


Naruto could tell by the way that Sakura entered the room and started pulling out what sounded like their traveling packs that something was up. Pausing in his push-up regime, he sat up cross-legged and tilted his head in the direction of the sound.

"Sakura-chan, are we going somewhere?" he questioned, slightly unaware that the less civilian items they had brought were being packed into bags as he spoke.

Sakura paused and flashed him a smile that he unfortunately couldn't see, "Remember how I told you I had a lead? Well, the old woman, who's now walking much better thanks to my skills, said the village was plagued with a mysterious illness a few years back. When the normal traveling medics couldn't do anything for them, and money was too tight to send for a specialist, the village agreed that they needed to call in a favor. Apparently Saizuchi lives in the mountains separating Grass from Earth. Since this is the closest village to him, he has to rely on it for basic supplies."

She continued packing and discussing Saizuchi's situation, mentioning how he had struck a deal with the villagers exchanging their silence about his whereabouts for the promise that in the face of a medical crisis he would attend to their sick. Her information was vague without much to go on except small mentions of prior healing techniques he had used. Most of this information went in one ear and out the other with Naruto, having never been the one for intelligence analysis.

In the midst of his teammate's rambling, Naruto spoke up, "That's all great, Sakura-chan, but you haven't told me the most important part. WHERE exactly is this guy?"

The final bag was zipped and Sakura's hand rested upon it, "Well, that's the challenge. To remain faithful to their promise, the village can't tell us where. It was asking a lot just to get the information that he's up in the mountains. I've packed us for a week up there, I'm placing my faith in your heightened sense of smell and hearing that we can track him down in that time." She sighed, slipping her kunai holster under her dress and attaching it to her leg, "I wish Kakashi-sensei were here with Pakkun, or Shino with his kikai...it would make things so much easier."

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It was a day's travel before they reached the base of the mountain range they would call home for the next 6 days. It was nowhere as steep or treacherous as some of the areas they had braved in past missions to Earth country, but with the last breath of summer fading into chilly fall winds, the elements were going to have fun with them. Hopping up onto a small hill, Sakura looked around from her vantage point to find nothing but brown and gray for hundreds of miles, spotted only here and there by sparse groupings of green trees and blue lakes. At least it was a habitable area, she mused, sighing as she picked her pack back up and looked down to where Naruto stood.

"Can you sense anyone?" she questioned, noting that he was at least cooperating and playing the temporary role of tracking dog.

"I can tell there's been people here before, not too recently, maybe a week ago or so, but the trails are stronger leading into the mountain range and weaker out here, meaning they came in from the village rather than out to it. So either someone returned, or someone entered and has yet to leave."

She smiled, impressed that he was taking this all so seriously, but then again it was his recovery on the line, so he should be putting in 110% of his effort into finding this guy. Naruto hopped up to stand next to her and sniffed at the air, his head moving slightly with the wind. Sakura was no slouch either, feeling out for any human chakra signatures that would give way to the presence of others. Not knowing how secluded Saizuchi wanted to stay, she couldn't guarantee he wouldn't suppress his chakra, but it was worth a shot.

Suddenly, Naruto jerked his head to the west, "That way, whoever came up this way headed in that direction."

The pair took off into a sprint, heading deeper into the rocky terrain as the sun dipped low on the horizon. As they got further into the mountainous area, the warming light was obscured by rocky peaks, and the temperature dropped the further in they traveled. Soon, twilight was upon them and Sakura was finding it difficult to keep alert of where she was running. Naruto, while being bereft of all sight, was somehow handling the often treacherous footpath with amazing skill. As they scaled a small cropping of rocks, they came upon one of the small tree groves near a stream.

"I think this would be a good place to rest for the night." Sakura called out, halting Naruto in his tracks. She jumped down off a rock and landed on a nearby tree branch, shaking a few terrified squirrels from their leafy perch. With plentiful water and animal life in the area, she could tell how Saizuchi could survive in this area without having to make too many trips out to the village. On their short journey, they had already seen some small game animals, and enough grass and water sources to promote larger animals to live in the area as well. As she picked their campsite for the evening, she reasoned that with enough field hunting skills, a person could easily live in the area for years without drawing much attention or scaring off the food sources.

As if on cue, Naruto hopped down from the trees holding a pair of well fed rabbits who had met their death at the hands of one demon-fox infused shinobi. Sakura grimaced, she hated the task of preparing wild game for meals while they were on the road. She much preferred to eat the standard travel rations that they consumed during urgent missions when they couldn't afford to stop and make more elaborate meals, rather than catching and preparing dead forest creatures. Still, she knew what had to be done, and it was tastier and more filling than soldier pills or dehydrated fruit, so she went about getting the cooking supplies ready. As the small travel kettle came out of her bag along with a stew pot and various knives, she noticed Naruto grabbing the skinning knife out of the corner of her eye. Her preparations were halted as she watched, unknown to him, as he effortlessly skinned, cleaned, and prepared the rabbits for cooking, doing an even better job at it than she would have.

"How did you do that so well?" Sakura questioned, taking the neatly de-boned meat chunks and tossing them into the pot along with some seasoning packets and water from the river.

Naruto grinned, "Oh that? Ero-senin didn't just take me from village to village, we spent a lot of time out in the woods when there wasn't any towns nearby. He taught me to catch, clean and cook just about anything."

Sakura shook her head, "I mean how did you do it so well without being able to see? I can't even clean one rabbit that fast, let alone two AND with my sight." She narrowed her eyes at him for a second, "Are you SURE you really can't see?"

He chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head, "Aw, of course Sakura-chan, you heard Old Lady Tsunade herself, my nerves are melted or something. I guess I just got really used to it, second nature or something..."

Still skeptical, she leaned in close, grabbing one of his squinted eyes and prying it open wider, flashing her small medic pen light into the pupil and waiting for a reaction. When she got nothing, she sighed, her parted lips just inches from his, breath hitting his cheek lightly and causing Naruto to swallow the nervous lump in his throat. She stared at him for a second longer, the only noise coming from the crackling fire to their left. He had really changed in those two and a half years, with his face having lost the baby fat of his youth and hardened into more deep, masculine features. Ever present were the whisker-like markings on his face, a trait uniquely Naruto, just adding to his handsome features. Wait, handsome? Had Sakura just been eyeing up her teammate? Her train of thought, along with open gawking of her partner, were interrupted by the whistle of the kettle, signaling that the water was ready for re-hydrating the dried vegetables she had brought out.

She snapped out of her daze and turned back to the fire to finish preparing their meal, while Naruto finally un-tensed and slumped his shoulders, thankful that she was no longer looking him over like some sort of medical specimen. With dinner cooked and served, they ate in silence, Naruto still worried that his chakra-vision had been discovered, and Sakura still irked about his previous demonstration of skill. They cleaned up the campsite in silence as well, until finally as they were setting the tent up for the night, Naruto spoke.

"There's more than one, y'know," he began, rolling out his sleeping bag on one side of the small tent. "There were at least three different people coming in this way, traveled as a group. I don't think it's Saizuchi we're tracking, unless he's got buddies up here."

Sakura sat down on the log beside their dying fire and poked at the burning coals with a stick, "Well, maybe he has family living with him? I'd imagine it would be lonely, he could have companions."

"Or someone else could be searching for him, too," Naruto added, crawling back out of the tent. "Do we need to take watches tonight just in case? Whoever else is out here may not be too friendly, especially if they're after the same target we are."

She shook her head, "No, I don't think so. The villagers are the only ones who know where he is, and I doubt they'd send anyone hostile up to their only medic. Lets just get some sleep now and set out early tomorrow, if there really is another group looking for Saizuchi, we need to beat them to him and make sure we get you taken care of first."

With that, she crawled into the tent and stretched out on her sleeping bag, Naruto following at her heels to his own bed for the evening. As the last glow of their fire died out, the two were unaware of two pairs of eyes glued to their campsite from the cliffs above.

"Fuckin-a...Ichiro, there's only two!"

"Only two? Man, and I was ready for a good fight!"

"They don't seem hostile, San. We're watching them for now."

"But the Old Bastard said to keep everyone out, I say we have a little fun and do our job."

Coal black eyes looked up to the twins on the rock above, "I said we're watching them for now." His tone took on a dangerous level and at once the pair knew the one they called 'Ichiro' was laying down the law. The girl, San, huffed and leaned back from her crouching position over the cliff, sitting cross-legged next to her twin brother, Jiro. She pouted and crossed her arms, fidgeting a bit as her brother kept watch over the pair below. Ichiro sat against a rock, arms folded over his chest and eyes closed in contemplation, or maybe he had fallen asleep. San glared at him, toying with some small pebbles at her feet, and then shifted her gaze back to Jiro who was still peering over the cliff at the campsite, his shorts riding low on his backside. San smirked and picked up a few pebbles, taking aim at the small gap between his skin and clothing and started to play target practice with her brother's shorts. After a few successful hits, Jiro took notice and whirled around,

"Damnit, San! What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm bored!" she whined, dropping the rest of the projectiles before she got in trouble.

Ichiro sighed, "Why Master ever rescued you two, I'll never know. With that, he stood and peered down over the cliff to the oblivious couple beneath them. "They're too far into the mountains to be normal civilians on a little getaway. They don't have any village affiliations apparent, but many of those tools are standard shinobi travel equipment. They may be spies, or missing-nin. We're going to go report this to Master and see what he thinks."

He took off for the horizon, heading toward another group of trees upstream and causing the twins to scramble up and run after their leader. Once they caught up, Jiro huffed out his opinion,

"That guy down there, he showed some skill with that knife. The chick ain't nothing normal, either, she took down a tree to use as a bench and firewood in one punch."

"I could take her!"

"Shut up, San. Ichiro, I think they've got some sort of training under their belts and I say we deal with them now. Catch them in their sleep, fuck them up royally now before they have a chance to get at the Old Bastard and we have to mess up shit near home."

"Jiro, what did I tell you about your vulgarity? Especially in front of your younger sister."

"I'm only three minutes younger!"

The trio continued bickering all the way back to their home, a series of caves nestled in the side of a rather impressive mountain face. Ichiro walked up to the entrance and performed a series of hand seals, placing his hand on the side of the opening to disarm the barrier that had been placed during their absence. He entered the main opening while Jiro and San took the smaller entrances to either side, the paths winding and dimly lit until they all converged into one central room. The trio stood before a large stone door with a strange marking carved into it. Their fingertips touched the three small circles in the middle and as each one sent a small wave of chakra into the rock, the illusion faded and they were granted access into their living quarters.

In the corner of the room sat a man scribbling notes in a scroll and surrounded by various other texts and study materials. He paused in his writing, pushing his glasses up on his nose and turning to the three who had entered his room,

"Well? What brings you back?"

Ichiro cleared his throat, stepping forward and taking a slight bow toward his Master, "Saizuchi-sama, we may have visitors soon."

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I'll leave it at there for now. I honestly was not going to go this far with OCs, as I usually don't like them, but I thought I'd try my hand at a bit of original content. Plus I really wanted to get some good fighting in...foreshadowing to the next chapter!