just because discussion

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Shigura lay in a tree with a piece of wheat grass in his mouth looking up at the sky. He sighed and allowed a small smile touch his lips. The battles had begun to become farther and farther apart and even though he loved battle he prayed for the war to end he despised his war driven self and hoped with his training that part of him would die. He took a deep breath and jumped out of the tree he was getting bored and thought he would go find Naomi

Naomi had just finished her rounds at the orphanage, which was bring used as a makeshift hospital to avoid overloading the village hospital. She removed her gloves and put them in her hip pouch.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped outside to stretch and get some fresh air. The wounded in the orphanage were as repaired as she could get them, but were still fairly weak, and couldn't expect to return to battle for at least another week. They were also running low on blood packs, and had to rush through donor screenings during drives to get enough to scrape by.
She leaned against the front wall of the building and looked up. There was smoke on the far horizon where battles waged, and it seemed that hardly even a bird was spotted in the vast forests of the land of fire for weeks.

He appeared in front of her "hey Naomi, you done yet? I'm bored." he said with a hint of boredom in his voice. He was not supposed to be sent out into battle again for another week then he was to return to the mountain of sages for another month of training. He wanted to spend as much time with his only friend as possible

She smiled faintly, "sorry I haven't had as much time for you, Shigura. This war has kept me pretty busy. I'm off the clock now, we can go get something to eat."
She shed her coat, revealing her usual shinobi-wear and stepped back inside briefly to hang it up on its hook. She gave him a look that let him know she was ready, and the two headed back towards the inner village. Her steps took on the pace of exhaustion, but she wore a mask of content for shigura's sake. She hated to leave him alone in what little time he had left in the village, but lady hokage had kept her so busy tending to the wounded. If she were less skilled, perhaps she wouldn't have been given as much to do. "What do you feel like eating, shigura-san?" She looked at him as she spoke, she knew dodgy eye contact made him uneasy.

He thought for a moment "let's have dumplings today we haven't had any of those in a while" he smiled and started towards the shop on the east end of the village "then you can go and get some rest I know you must be exhausted by how much you have been working lately" he looked at her with a kind of apologetic look. It was partially his fault she was so over worked there were many burn victims in the hospital but he wasn't entirely to blame he keeps telling lord hokage that he can only work alone

She flinched a little at the mention of her needing rest, was she that transparent? She quickly rebounded and smiled, "whatever you like, my treat since I've been practically avoiding you the whole time you've been back."
Their walk quickly fell into silence, there was a buzz in the still air that she couldn't quite explain. It made her heart pound in her chest. She looked up and spotted what appeared to be a bird. A small bronze dot began to descend on the village. She took in a sharp breath and grabbed shigura's arm, running back in the direction they came from. She dove onto the dirt ground with shigura underneath her just as the bronze ball touched down and the village erupted in a fiery explosion behind her.

He fell to the ground dazed at first then quickly regained his sences. Stood helping Naomi to her feet "you know what to do" he said before putting on the mask of an anbu agent. He jumped onto the roof tops looking toward the now advancing enemy from the hidden stone. Quickly he formed his hand signs "one. Fire style searing ash jutsu." from the hole in his mask spewed a thick cloud of flaming ash engulfing the east wave their screams could already be heard. A sick smile touched his face "two." once again forming hand signs "acid release acid fog jutsu" this time a clear liquid spewed from beneath the mask dousing the ash showing the burned but still capable ninja. Until the acid struck which began to eat at there skin causing them to quite litteraly melt. He was laughing now and for the third time formed his signs "three. Lava style molten lava falls" for this he jumped into the air moving his mask out of the way as molten lava erupted from his mouth swallowing the rest of that wave leaving only the echoes of the dead screams

Naomi crossed her fingers as quickly as possible, creating as many shadow clones as her depleted chakra reserves would allow. They all rushed off in different directions, collecting the wounded and confused, ninja and pedestrian alike, of the crumbled core of the hidden leaf. They were all delivered to the outer edge of the city by her clones, and Naomi herself rushed to join the battles being waged with the stone ninja that had escaped shigura's wrath. She pulled a kunai from her thigh pouch, avoiding using her chakra scalpel to save what little energy she had left. The ninjas fell in droves, almost as if they weren't trying at all to save their own lives, this confused her, and she stopped behind the skeleton of a building for a moment, thinking.
There had to be something else going on, no way would true ninja just throw themselves to the slaughter like they currently seemed to be doing.
She rushed to the edge of town, where she had gathered the pedestrians, and kept a sharp watch on the western tree line for any signs of movement. She sent two clones each to the northern and southern walls, dismissing the rest.
The forest grew eerily quiet as she watched.

Shigura landed on the roof of a barely standing house and searched for more his thirst not yet quenched. He noticed however just the sheer amount of ninja who were attacking "something else is going on" he thought "Naomi" he said he ran to his apartment and grabbed his anbu uniform "hello old friend" he said changing into it. He had modified it to be able to hold up to his acid release. After he changed he ran back out to the chaos " not the best time to change but I would rather not run around the village naked after this is all done with" he thought to himself running to the village gates looking for Naomi. He found one of her clones instead 'good enough' he grabbed her for a second "tell the real you to gather all she can and radio me when she does" he handed her an ear piece and mic "go you have about 3 minutes" he then ran back into the center of the fighting and told a few anbu members to gaurd him and another to go find Naomi and stay with her giving him instructions then jumped on top of the tallest building in the city forming hand signs

Naomi was aggrivated when one of the clones returned, but quickly adjusted when she received the radio. She had herded the survivors of the blast into a large annex of the orphanage, and gave the genin strict instructions to organize everyone in the annex, take names, and filter them through to the basement of the building. It had a strong concrete structure and doubled as a storm shelter, but it would have to do for a bomb shelter, and with shigura back in the village, an acid shelter. She donned the radio and mic as she stepped out of the shelter with the chuunin and jounin she had gathered, she radioed shigura for further instructions.

Three minutes passed and he made the last sign "now" he said into the radio. At that time the anbu connected formed signs of there own creating barriers around themselves and those around them "acid release acid rainstorm jutsu" clouds began to form around the village then what just seemed like a regular shower was turned crude by the screams of the melting ninja and those who weren't fortunate to be inside a barrier but that's what happens in war innocent people get hurt. However his chakra had its limits and had already used up so much on his three step attack so the rain only lasted no more than a few seconds and with his chakra almost completely gone he fell to the ground exhausted

Naomi had always hated the acid rain, the acrid smell of burning hair and flesh mixed with the foreboding aura of the nubilous cluster over the village was enough to make bile rise in her throat.
She rushed about the parts of the village that were outside the chakra barrier and tended to the burn victims and injured nin. She worked quickly and quietly, pushing her chakra to the limit until one of the other medical-nin placed a hand on her drooping shoulder. "We can take it from here, go get some rest."
She ended up on a bench outside the orphanage, her head leaned back against the wall behind her. She would have preferred her futon, but her apartment had been left in shambles after the attack, nothing could be salvaged. She always thought she would be safer from an attack during wartime, living in the inner village, she never would have imagined that aerial defenses would fail and an enemy would be able to leak through and destroy so much.
Her eyes shot open. That was it! "Aerial defense, what squad was supposed to watch the skies?" She mumbled to herself.
She realized she was still wearing her radio, and called out to shigura, " what squadron was on aerial defense during this shift? We should have had at least twenty at each waypoint of the outer wall, and a dozen watching the skies of the inner village." She knew they were short staffed because of battle, but lady hokage would spare no expense to protect the village, not after what happened to the third. She did the calculations in her head, if defenses were up, they should have caught and destroyed the threat before it got anywhere close to the inner village. All of the nin posted to aerial were experts in using long-range ninjutsu and projectile chakra weapons, something wasn't right.

Shigura groaned but clicked the mic "anbu special ops 4. Why?"he reached inside his thigh pouch and grabbed a food pill'last one' he thought while he swallowed it. Just one wouldn't be near enough to replenish his chakra but it gave him enough to do something that could. He stood up adjusting his mask running up behind an unsuspecting group of three ninja "earth style: earth prison jutsu"he placed his palms on the ground as a dome of rock sprung up trapping the ninja he placed a palm on the dome and clicked the mic "Naomi I have to replenish my chakra. It's going to take a few minutes. Can you handle what you're planning on your own until I'm done?" he asked already feeling his strength returning while he sapped the chakra from those trapped inside

"Just hear me out. All of the nin in that squad use long-range ninjutsu and projectiles, so how did the enemy slip into the inner village so easily? Don't you think there should have been some sort of alarm raised to warn us? And the advancing ninja were like lambs to the slaughter so I doubt very highly that they muscled their way through. Something isn't right shigura. I know it." She felt a knot tighten in her stomach, she knew something or someone had slipped up, but it couldn't have been such a simple thing. The hidden leaf was vast and heavily guarded by all manner of security. Even the walls had been rebuilt in recent years to disrupt chakra flow and prevent attackers from climbing it. The thoughts that were running through her head were threatening to make her sick, but she was suddenly too tired to take action. She leaned her head back again, this time against her will.
Eventually sleep overtook her and she relaxed. A warmth spread through her arms and chest before the blackness set in and her mind began to drift. She thought back to days in the orphanage, to scraped knees and bruised knuckles. Her first punishment after playing vigilante on the jungle gym and beating up a boy fir cheating in tag. She thought of her days in the academy, when she first met shigura, and the instant connection they made. Their days as genin were spent together, mostly because the instructors knew disaster would ensue if they were separated. Naomi seemed to be the only one to quell shigura's anger, and he sometimes resented her for it, but he had never once lashed out at her like he'd done so many others.
She woke up to darkness. thinking she had overslept, Naomi attempted to wipe her heavy eyelids, but found herself caught in a wood release.
A hushed voice cooed at her, "all those that know must perish, this is larger than you or I. The great one must be offered sacrifice to rise again, and only those that know are worthy to die for him.

As soon as he had finished sapping every last drop of chakra from his victims he senced a chakra type he had only felt once before something that much resembled his lava release "that's senju's jutsu" this puzzled him the first had been dead for nearly a century and even captain Yamamoto, the only one he had seen use wood release, had died on a mission "this can't be good" he said to himself. He cut his thumb just enough for it to bleed and formed hand signs "ninja art summoning jutsu" he slammed his palm on the ground and a giant toad appeared under him "gamaginta follow the wood release chakra I have a bad feeling about this" the toad said nothing but nodded and did what it was told jumping over the mangled village following the trail

Not even a shadow passed over Naomi as she felt the earth pass under her. She knew at once it was a wood release coffin like captain yamato had used. She was confused, both men she had known to posesd these jutsu were long dead. She didn't bother struggling, she knew it was useless. Her hands were pressed to the side of her body to prevent hand signs, but even if she could use her hands, her chakra was all but used up. She was mummified in a block of wood.
Her head and feet were free, she noticed after a moment, but she was sealed from the neck down to her ankles. So why couldn't she see? She took a moment to try and assess her surroundings. She felt nothing covering her eyes or face, she could breathe easy, but the air was thick and damp. It smelled earthen. She must be underground, in some sort of jutsu created tunnel under the outer village. She wondered at first if this was how the enemy had penetrated the walls of konoha.
"We approach the sanctuary, cover her eyes." A folded cloth was placed over her eyes, she knew from the smell of lavender soap that it was her own leaf headband, taken from its place on her upper right thigh. Light sifted through the material, but just a small enough amount to let her know they were out of the tunnel. But the earthen smell was still thick, they were still underground.
Echoes sounded around them, footsteps, the lighted cavern they had entered must have been vast and empty.
Her movement stopped, and she heard a thump, and claps as hands came together.
"Great provider, Ryoushu, in accordance with your prophecy we bring to you the divergent in sacrifice, so that their bodies may nourish you and you nay one day rise again." One flamboyant voice cried out into the cavern. Three or so other voices chanted in unison after,
"As it is written, so it shall be."
Something pulled at her, and she suddenly felt her limbs relax. A hand removed her headband and she opened her eyes to the face of a severe woman.
She whispered, holding a finger to Naomi's mouth, " if you make a noise they will know what I've done." She grabbed Naomi by the face and turned her head. What she saw confused and amazed her.
She lay on her belly in the stone rafters of a vast lighted cavern, simple and grand, that was empty save for six people. Five in robes were poised over the body of the sixth, who lay on her back in front of a strange altar, with a kunai jutting from her abdomen. She examined the body and nearly fell from the rafter, it was her. She was dead!
The woman pulled her up and rushed her to a ladder through an opening in the ceiling.

Gamaginta landed at the edge of the village "this is where the trail is strongest but also where it ends" the toad boomed. Shigura scoffed and looked around. "I smell Naomi. She has been here" shigura looked up at him "how long ago and which way did she go?" he asked hurriedly the toad sighed "maybe fifteen minutes ago and it seems the went underground some place I won't fit" shigura nodded "then you may go I'll call if I need you and thanks" the toad nodded and dissummoned itself and shigura crossed his fingers into a hand sign before dissolving into the ground landing in a tunnel "I take it this way" he said to himself before following the trail

Naomi climbed in silence behind the mysterious woman. The earth around them was soft and absorbed the sound of the creaking ladder. She clutched her headband tightly in one hand, still utterly confused and a bit afraid.
The woman pushed up on the earth above them as the ladder ended and opened a small portal to the surface. She hoisted herself out and offered a hand to Naomi, which she promptly took. Naomi collapsed in the grass near the hole a.d closed her eyes, taking in the welcomed view of sunshine and sky, and gulping greedy breaths of fresh air.
"I suppose you're curious," the woman began, " but I can only tell you a little as of yet. I am Kaede. I've been tracking that subgroup through the land of fire for quite some time, trying to find their sanctuary and destroy it, I suppose saving you and denying them a sacrifice to Ryoushu is just as good."
"Thank you so much, Kaede. I am Naomi, a medical-nin from hidden leaf. By the way, how can I get there from here?"
"Oh you can't go back, if the Mugon subordinates see you, you really will be killed."
Naomi was in shock. She couldn't return to konoha? Why not? Who was this lady to keep her from her home?
"I hate to do this, but it really is for your own good. I myself cannot return home either. The Mugon, those people that kidnapped you, think both of us our dead, and if they find out that we aren't, it will reveal everything my organization and I have worked to keep secret." The woman pulled a cigarette from the pouch on her flak jacket and lit it. "Once the Mugon are destroyed, you can return."
"And how long will that take?" Naomi was frantic. Her shock and exhaustion had coupled to create an absolute hysteria.
The woman shrugged, blowing out smoke, "weeks, months, hell it could be years."

Shigura reached the end of the tunnel but stopped at the mouth when he heard chanting "cult freaks must be the reason the village was attacked" he thought. However he was beginning to worry. What had happened to Naomi? Was she tailing them too? He shrugged it off it was time to get to work. He made a hand sign "earth style camaflauge" he blended into the earth and walked close to the wall. He only saw a group of them standing around an alter there was a limp body on it 'poor bastard' he thought reaching inside his thigh pouch pulling out a kuni and slowly stalked up behind the one closesed to him. As he got closer he got a clearer view of the corpse and what he saw made him sick. He opened his mouth but no words came out dropping his kuni. As it clattered to the ground they stopped chanting and turned around seeing him his jutsu failing in his distress. Each grabbed their knives and attacked him. As they swarmed him anger and dispear took hold of his mind and the last thing he remembered before he blacked out was letting loose a scream of hatred that would make the devil himself step back

Kaede pressed a kunai into Naomi's hand. "You have to do it."
"But it will outlaw me! I'll be treated like a traitor, a criminal! I took an oath!"
"Think of it as another oath, one that will inspire you to stay hidden, like a criminal on the run. When everyone learns the truth you will be forgiven."
Naomi pursed her lips and tightened her grip on the weapon. She placed it against the thin plate of metal on her headband and slashed a cut cleanly across the middle, separating the perfect leaf symbol, the one that represented all she had dedicated her life to, into two broken halves. She wanted to cry, the gut-wrenching pain in the depths of her chest was almost too much to bear. But she pushed the emotions back, and locked them behind a cold mask.
"Good." Kaede squeezed Naomi's armed hand, "welcome to the resistance."
Naomi feigned a smile.
When night fell and Kaede had fallen asleep near the smouldering fire, Naomi made her hand signs, whispering. Fire style: ember messenger jutsu. Sparks of flame shot into the sky towards her home.

In the hidden leaf, the sparks touched down in front of Shigura's apartment. They seared four letters into his front door N-A-G-A. It was something that had been between them since they were kids. The first syllables of Naomi's first and adopted last name were also the name of a mythical snake beast. It was a joke that Shigura had come up with, and her code name on missions was often 'snake lady.' It would have meant nothing to anyone but their team, but their third member, Tsuyoi, and Sabiru-sensei had died in battle nearly two months ago. She hoped it would convince Shigura that she was still alive, but she also hoped he wasn't stupid enough to come after her.

Shigura sat on his bed just staring at the wall. He didn't know what he was going to do. Naomi's funeral was in the morning and she was the only one keeping him in the leaf. He had decided to leave after the funeral to dedicate his life to his training as a sage. He had placed his headband on his bedside table with his anbu mask beside it. He had already changed into the formal sage outfit. He stood to begin packing when a dim glow began to shine through the window. He creased his eyebrows and walked towards the window. It was a fire jutsu "N-A-G-A." this confused him for a moment then memories of when he was in a three man cell with Naomi. It was her nickname! Something they had played with when they were children. She was alive. He quickly threw together a pack of his things and started for the door, but he hesitated. He looked down at his mask and head band. The mask held nothing but pain for him it was a mark of the monster he could become but the headband symbolized a time when he thought he was happy back when he was a genin. He took a deep breath and pocketed the head band heading out the door saying goodbye to his home and the hidden leaf to find the only friend he had left.

Naomi had awakened as soon as the sun had come up over the mountains. She had a hard time sleeping. She kept staring at the slash in her headband, it was like an ugly scar that revealed all of her fear and regret. Kaede mostly ignored her as she brooded. Naomi was sure she knew about her message to Shigura, but the woman never said anything to her.
They stopped at a nearby tea house. Kaede bowed to the owner and they were shown to a small back room. "First things first. We need to augment your appearance a bit. No one can think you are a ninja, not until we get to headquarters." She rummaged around in her bag for a moment, handing Naomi a long-sleeved blouse. "You can still hide weapons on your person, but you're going to have to remove your hip and thigh pouches, your chest holster and put your hair down."
Naomi did as she was told. She felt naked and strange. Thankfully, Kaede had allowed her to keep the knife she usually strapped over her large medical pouch. She latched a kunai into her sleeve, and hid needles everywhere she could. She still felt off balance without the weight from her pouches on her left leg, but Kaede said no one would recognize her immediately as a ninja. All of Naomi's extra gear was stuffed into Kaede's oversized backpack.
"We'll eat here, I know the owner. After that we'll make our way north through the land of fire to the land of light and the hidden sunrise village, Hinodegakure. This is the village of the resistance and the only one that the Mugon have yet to infiltrate. Even now all information I give is compromised by our insecure location."
Naomi had a nagging in the back of her mind that this woman was a tad off her rocker, but decided to ignore it. For their safety, they ate in silence. When they had finished, the headed out on the road again. Naomi caught her reflection in a mirror near the door and her heart lept into her chest. She didn't even look like herself anymore. She was a completely different person, and even the scent of her lavender soap was beginning to fade.
All she had left of her former life was her headband, and even that was different. She wanted to cry, but held back, it would have to wait.

Shigura was riding on one of his mount toads, big enough to travel on but not very useful in combat. He had his headband in his hand but he was looking at the still dark dawning sky wondering why Naomi had faked her own death. She had to have a good reason but he couldn't put a finger on it and what troubled him more is why she had sent that message. This was all so confusing. He grabbed his head and shouted "what am I missing!?" he groaned and layed back laying his head on the toad contract. He Put a hand on the giant scroll and thought 'maybe naruto sensei will know what to do and if he doesn't I'm sure grandpa will know what to do' he thought thinking back to his sage master and the elder toad. He nodded and jumped off the toad "thanks gamakitsu I think I'm gonna head to the mountain. I need some questions answered" he said and the toad smiled "cool drop by my place if you get the chance" shigura nodded "I'll try my best" he said and dissummoned the toad. He took the scroll off his back and opened it cutting his thumb wiping the blood over the symbols "reverse summon" for only a split second he seemed to be in nothingness but then appeared at the great toad mountain fountain of toad oil seeing his old master gathering natural energy at its top and shigura bowed "master I am in great need of your guidance" he said with great respect. Naruto opened his eyes stopping his harvest of energy and smiled down at him and jumped down picking shigura up off his knees grasping his shoulders "shigura! It's been to long since your last visit. What is it you need my young pupil. It can't be to start training again that isn't for another month" he said cheerfully as he always was. Shigura feigned a smile "forgive me master but I am very confused" he said lightly filling him in on the events that had transpired over the past few days. Naruto's expression turned serious "I think for this you should talk to the old one" he said. Shigura nodded and followed his master to the chamber of the toad oracle

Naomi and Kaede continued to walk along the pathway, trees became more scarce as they continued north.
The river that marked the border between fire and light became visible, and Naomi suddenly realized how much of their journey was cut short by the tunnel. The trees on the other side of the river were evergreens, browning slightly from the summer heat, but the approaching winter rains would soon cure that, especially this far north.
She wiped a small droplet of sweat from her face with her sleeve, looking this way and that along the grassy path. She noticed a rustling and stopped, putting a hand on Kaede's arm to signal her. Kaede smirked,
"They said it would rain tomorrow." She practically shouted. A shadow suddenly appeared before her, and a young man's voice said,
"You can't trust the weatherman, not in the summer."
"Good thing it will be autumn soon then."
"Autumn doesn't come in the land of fire."
Kaede grabbed the man's forearm, "I was expecting Amaya, but I suppose she's busy nowadays."
Turning to Naomi, who was now completely confused, Kaede said, "this is Kongoru, one of my apprentices." The young man bowed to Naomi, and she gave a half-hearted wave back.
"He is here to watch the roads. Only resistance members are allowed past this point, and they must know a special code, it is different for each person. All those who do not know the code are put under genjutsu to confuse their sense of direction. They usually end up somewhere east if here by the time it wears off."
Kaede gave her a mischievous smile and they walked on, leaving the young man behind, making a line to the bridge over the raging river.
"What if someone wants to join the resistance but does not have a code?"
"You do not seek out the resistance, they seek you out. We screen potential members based on their skills and relationship to Mugon. Most of us have been burned by them in some way." She suddenly looked more severe, her eyes becoming sharp. "If one wishes to join, they will be found. They say the resistance has eyes and ears growing from the very faces of our enemies. Nothing can be said that won't be heard."
Naomi was sure she was exaggerating, but shrugged it off. What was wrong with having confidence in what you loved? She herself had confidence in the strength of konoha, even after such a devastating attack.

Naruto stopped at the chamber door and looked at shigura "you have to go in on your own from here"shigura nodded and opened the door walking in shutting the doors behind him. Inside were pillars from failed sages turned toad and at the very back sat a very large very old toad with blind eyes. Shigura bowed and the toad took a deep breath "yes child of the burning waters I know why you are here and yes I do have the answers you seek" he croaked and shigura closed his eyes " I beg of you grandfather please give me the answers. I don't know what to do. I'm lost" he said quietly and the toad nodded "to find your friend you must travel to the land of light. Your friend has become part of a resistance team to stop a cult who wants to resurrect an ancient chaos. However the resistance have secrets of there own and for these you must be cautious. That is all I'm going to say the rest you must learn on your own" the great toad said before he fell into a slumber. Shigura looked up " wait! Where in the land of light? How do I find the resistance?" however the oracle did not answer " damn it" he punched the ground and left the chambers to his master. "I'm going against an enemy I do not know. Will you please train me?" he asked bowing and naruto laughed "no need to ask. Let's begin"

"Isn't she beautiful?" kaede remarked with a glimmer in her eyes.
"What is this place?"
"This, my dear, is the hidden sunrise village, Hinodegakure. The best kept secret in the land of light since the land of light itself."
Naomi marveled at the structure in front of her. After they had crossed the river, where lay hidden a series of scenic waterfalls attributed by natural bridges formed by the leaning growth of weeping willows along the banks, they entered a snaking cavern that opened up to dangerously high views of a hidden Paradise nestled in a large valley. The buildings were of several different constructions, unlike in konoha, where many of the buildings were similar in looks and material. Roads wound in and out of the mountain sides, all the way down to this sprawling Utopia.
Mountains blocked three directions, and a grassy plain opened up to the east where the mountains wound down to smooth, round hills.
"This is why it's called hidden sunrise. Villagers can see the sun rising in the east clearly every morning, but it grows dark here very early because the mountains block the sun's descent in the west. The sunrise is our pride."
Naomi noted the amount of ninja with sunrise symbols on their headbands wandering the streets. The secrecy of the village's location must have made the community very close. No wonder no one had infiltrated the walls, most didn't even know it existed.
"The buildings here are all made naturally with a key and slot method, or made of stone, metal for nails is scarce here. Ninja from all over the globe have come to join the resistance, and they find comfort in the familiarity of the buildings. Each section of the village is modeled after another hidden village."
Naomi could tell, she had spotted the konoha buildings from their vantage point on the mountain. She noticed one building that didn't seem to match any culture. pointing, she asked, "what building is that?" It was tall and golden orange, with shining spiraled towers and carved domes, and statues hanging from the sides. A large oval glass piece was mounted on top.
"That's the fire shrine, the building for the village heads. That glass piece acts as a giant magnifying glass and is positioned to carve reservoirs, roads, and openings for the river into the mountain using only the power of the sun."
Naomi was amazed. "Can't they use explosive tags or something?"
Kaede shook her head, "paper is a precious commodity because of the lack of useable trees within the village. Its never wasted on anything but the most important documents. The land of light does not import or export anything, and has thus used alternative methods to complete tasks you would find mundane." She smirked, "even using the toilet."
Naomi frowned. What did she mean by that?

They had started shigura's training with the usual, gathering nature energy. They sat perfectly still collecting the energy that everything gave off careful not to move and suffer the side effects. He remembered his first month of training when he learned to collect it. He was hit by that damn rod to cancel the effects do many times it was like he could still feel the bruises. However now he had perfected it. After an hour of gathering it was time to stop and naruto stood "alright first things first you need to learn how to enter complete sage mode. Last time you were here you didn't exactly get the hang of it" naruto smiled and shigura smiled kind of sheepishly. He could enter sage mode but he still had some toad attributes he just couldn't balance the chakras properly but he was determined this time to get it right. If his enemies were as strong as the old one says he needs to get stronger too. He closed his eyes and focused to balance his chakras

Naomi gazed out the window at the darkening sky. It was only just past noon and the sun was almost entirely out of sight. The light cast a red orange glow from behind the mountains. She wondered what the hidden leaf was doing without her, if they had begun reconstructing the destroyed parts of the village, or if there was another attack. She thought briefly on Shigura and wondered if he had taken her message seriously. She laughed at what his expression must have been like, he was funny when he was confused.
She lied down on her futon, the room she was in being an exact replica of her demolished apartment in the leaf village. Kaede thought she would be more comfortable in something familiar, but the sight really only made her sad. She felt it would have made her much leads melancholy if every aspect of this part of the village didn't remind her of all she had lost. She closed her eyes, sleep being an almost unobtainable treasure, until she finally slipped into a dreamless darkness.

They had been training for 5 days straight with no rest and very little food and water. He feel to his knees exhausted he had just achieved complete sage mode and naruto had been working him to the bone and they have only been training in tai jutsu not even starting on gen and nin yet they had the rest of the month for that. Naruto walked up to him "get up we aren't even near done yet" he commanded but shigura couldn't move sweat dripped from his face every part of him sore covered in bruises and cuts. "master I can't. I can't even stand" shigura panted but naruto just shouted "then get more energy" he yelled and kicked him in the chest sending him flying crashing into one of the statues

Naomi's stomach rumbled, she had been wandering around the village, trying to learn her way through the labyrinthine streets or risk being lost. Kaede had given her all of her gear back, and she felt more comfortable to be out of those itchy long sleeves. She wore her destroyed leaf headband back on her right thigh, it comforted her. She expected people to whisper around her, discussing the state if her allegiance to her village, or wondering why she was there, but when they didn't Naomi remembered that the village had been founded around defectors from other villages. She sighed, and rubbed at her stomach. She wished kaede had given her an allowance, all she had was a few bills, and the money they used in this village was strange.
The land of fire had, in the last twenty years, switched to a paper money system, the practically worthless bills being backed by their value in gold and silver, stored under the village in a massive, impenetrable vault. The money was lighter than coins, and had virtually no value outside the land of fire, to prevent enemies from robbing leaf ninja, or other people in the land, and trying to use the money outside the country. It was a war tactic to protect the fire country's economy.
The money here was a series of colored coins, from silver to sapphire, each of them having a different value. She had none of these coins, or any coins at all for that matter, and her money was practically worthless. She sat on a bench and huffed, she had wandered into the sandy streets and stone edifices of the part of the village modeled after Suna. All around her she saw the combination of sand and sunrise in the clothing, hair styles, and mannerisms. Every section of the village was like that, and they all merged so perfectly, it was hard to tell where one village ended and another began. But no matter where she was, the fire shrine loomed over her, the glass lense at its top like a massive all-seeing eye. She felt watched at all times, but looking around it was like others didn't notice it, or chose to ignore it. She figured it may have been a combination of both.

The first week of their training had ended and shigura lay in his cot bandaged from head to toe. This first week was just so he could learn to enter sage mode these next few weeks where in order for him to stay in it and fully control it. Just because he could access it now still doesn't make him a sage he still had years of training left. He looked up at the ceiling and allowed his mind to wander. He wondered if the village was getting back on track, he wondered if they had labeled him a criminal for leaving without telling anyone. He looked at his headband it felt weird not wearing it anymore but the land of fire was no longer his home at least not until he could bring Naomi back. Lastly before he drifted off into a dark dreamless sleep he wondered if she was alright.

Naomi had gotten a strange message from Kaede. She was supposed to meet her at a park near the edge of konoha district and suna district. Naomi clutched the piece of paper tightly in her hand as she wandered about, until she eventually came across the location. She waved to Kaede, who stood near a group of young ninja, all wearing the headband that marked them as sunrise shunobi, 'probably genin' she thought.
Kaede had that mischievous grin on her face that Naomi had learned to be cautious of. "What's going on?"
"Naomi, dear. As a new member of the resistance you must take on certain responsibilities in the village to earn your place." Naomi knew what she meant, a job. So far she had been working odd jobs for the shops around town to earn a few coins. She was living off of dried ramen, which coming from an orphanage, she was used to. She was tired of the uncertainty of her state of employment.
"And, I have found the perfect way for you to earn your stay, and your pay." She grinned at her rhyme and turned to the genin behind her, "Ijou, Koushi, Miyuki."
"Yes!" They all said in unison, and rushed in front of Kaede to bow at Naomi. "Good morning, Naomi-sensei." She nearly fainted.
When her head stopped spinning she turned to Kaede, "are you sure I'm qualified for this?"
"Of course I am. I had one of my subordinates lift your file from the list of deceased ninja. You are an expert in medical ninjutsu, highly skilled in taijutsu and offensive ninjutsu, and have a personality perfectly compatible with teaching children." She smiled at Naomi, "you'll do fine."
Naomi looked at the trio, one boy looked obstinate, the other looked distracted, and the girl looked so excited she might explode. They reminded her of her own genin trio with Sabiru-sensei. She sighed, and bowed to them. "I am Naomi Gamushara. I will be your sensei as of today." Her tone changed to one of authority as she continued, as it often did when she was directing a squad of medical-nin in the war hospitals, "I will not tolerate any disobedience. My word is law as of today. Any deviations from my instructions could get you injured or killed, and I will not always be around to protect you or heal you. If you deliberately disobey me, I will have you stripped of your current ninja rank, and you can go back to the academy to start again. Maybe then you will get a sensei who is more soft on you. I am not your academy sensei. I will not baby you, but if need be, I will treat you like a baby if you act like one." The squad was at full attention now. The boys looked scared, and the girl still looked excited, like Naomi's authoritative tone was inspirational to her, 'at least I got their attention' she thought. "Do you understand?"
"Yes, Naomi-sensei!" They said in unison again.
"Good. Now, I would like to gauge your skill levels as individuals and also as a team starting tomorrow. You will meet me at eight in the morning at the training grounds to the east of Iwa district. Truancy will result in punishment. You are dismissed."
"Yes, Naomi-sensei!" They said, and shot off in all directions. Leaving Naomi alone with Kaede.

They were half way through the third week and during their nin jutsu training shigura realized that because of his kekkie genkai his sage mode his sage mode had some alterations it seems instead of having the original yellow and orange pigmentation around his eyes he had the pigmentation of the Brazilian poison dart frog around his eyes. Also while in complete sage mode his skin emitted trace amounts of acid which dealt even more damage with his tai jutsu. This kind of alteration was not uncommon with those who had additional perks much like naruto's nine tail sage mode. Shigura used full advantage of his new skill by using his acid release in its most discreet form. While fighting he pushes his chakra from his skin which released the acid on his skin into the air. Not enough to be fatal unless it is inhaled for long periods of time but enough to cause pain. A skill of which his sparring partners hated.

Naomi had showed up to the training ground twenty minutes early, and the girl, Miyuki was already there. Standing patiently at one edge of the training ground, she looked like she hadn't moved in hours. "You're early."
"In my clan it is taught that to be early is to be on time, and to be on time is to be late."
"What happens if you are late?"
"You said yourself that there is punishment for truancy."
Naomi nodded, obviously this girl had been brought up to respect and follow the direction of her superiors. She liked that, but it concerned her on a deeper level. Psychological profiling of nin with this characteristic showed that they were more likely to break under pressure.
"What do you do for fun, Miyuki ?"
The question seemed to confuse the girl. "Why would you want to know something like that?"
Naomi smiled, the fact that she questioned her motives, even as her superior, meant she wasn't completely broken to militaristic upbringing. "I like to know my students, find out what each individual reward should be based on the outcome of today's training exercise."
The girl's eyes twinkled, but she didn't say anything because at that moment the boy, Ijou appeared. He was the one that looked defiant, and Naomi shook her head. Young girls always had to have some sort of obsession with the more caustic individuals of the opposite sex. She herself had a crush on a nin boy of another squad when she was a genin, but it had disappeared when she became more involved with her medical training.
The last boy, Koushi, appeared at exactly eight. He was the distracted looking boy. Naomi had expected him to be the last to show up. Genin were extremely predictable.
She pulled her gloves on. "Shall we begin?"

It was the final week of this month and it was time for the hardest part. Synchro training. They both stood on their respective toads naruto on chief toad gamabunta and shigura on gamaginta. These training exercises were meant to help him change around and adapt his chakra to what is needed as well as help his timing. He had to be able to make split second decisions and had to execute them even faster. "I will beat you this time" shigura said making hand signs "gamaginta oil" he said both taking a deep breath "synchro jutsu toad flame bomb"

Each member of the genin squad readied themselves, shifting their weight forward, or positioning their hands for weapons attacks. Miyuki and Koushi seemed to want to begin with weapons, to gauge her power as well, but Ijou seemed to already assume she was powerful, and positioned his arms to use hand signs as soon as she said 'begin.' It was this willingly assuming nature that gave Naomi the impression that he was probably used to winning, and winning quickly. She smiled, his assumings would make him the first to attack more than likely, while the others either fled or stood their ground to see what kind of move she would make. "Before we get carried away, let me explain the rules." When her voice sounded, they flinched. They were way too edgy. 'Typical genin. Always on edge, but too slow to react to real dangers.'
"This is a test used by a famous ninja in my village. It is called... the bell test." She smiled, remembering the great Kakashi Hatake. "The object of the test is to retrieve these bells," she pulled them from her pouch, "from me. Failure to do so will result in no lunch. You will be tied to a post and forced to watch as your teammates eat in front of you. Anyone caught giving lunch to the failure, or failures, will be punished. Do you understand?"
They nodded, still on edge, and Naomi smirked. "Begin!"

As the exhaled fire burt from shigura's mouth and oil from ginta's not a second went by before the fire caught the oil creating a giant fire ball hurling at their teachers. Naruto smirked "to slow" quick as lightning gamabunta jumped into the air dodging the fire ball and the toad as well as naruto formed hand signs "synchro jutsu enhanced water bullet" naruto placed a hand on gamabunta back and the toad unleashed a ball of water so quick they were unable to dodge "so fast" he thought not thinking but making hand signs as well as gamaginta "synchro jutsu earth toad guardian" shigura placed both his hands on gamaginta's back and gamaginta placed his on the ground and not a second to soon what looked like one of the failed sages sprung from the ground blocking the giant ball of water but crumbling at the impact. Naruto couldn't help but smile and said to himself "perfect"

As she expected, Ijou was the first to attack, but what she didn't expect was for the trio to be in such near-perfect sync with each other. As Ijou formed his hand signs, Miyuki and Koushi formed a weapons barrier to protect his long-winded signing. 'This attack must require a great deal of chakra. Meaning it is powerful, but if I can avoid it then he will be left defenseless, which is where the barrier comes in. The two others that are weaker in ninjutsu attacks protect before and after his attack while he is regaining his bearings.' She thought on how best to go about facing this attack, and she smirked. 'Body flicker technique' she landed in the nearby trees, in a place where she could watch them. They were confused, obviously more used to head-on attacks rather than more long-distance ones. Ijou had stopped signing, and the other two looked around. They hadn't let their guard down, but they had become more careless. There was obviously been conditioned in teamwork, but there were things they needed to work on. She formed her hand signs, 'shadow clone jutsu.' Her copy kept out of the trees, bells ringing, and rushed across the battlefield, igniting a fiery chase.

Shigura was shocked for a moment but quickly shook it off, he wasn't done yet. He formed his hand signs as did gamaginta "synchro jutsu toad flame bomb" they said together repeating their first attack. However this time their teachers were slightly distracted and didn't have time to dodge and they were engulfed in the giant fire ball. Shigura smiled as he saw the satisfying burst of dissummoned shadow clones then heard the clapping of his master the real one who had been standing across the field. Shigura wasn't anywhere near strong enough to face the real one "well done my young pupil you're training this month is finished congratulations" shigura smiled breathing heavily, once again this was the fifth straight day of training "thank you master" he said right before he passed out and with this naruto laughed catching him and taking him to his cot. He then began to finish shigura's parting gift

Naomi, while the others were distractedly chasing her clone, set up a series of simple traps. As she finished setting the last trap she suddenly jumped up, the place she was crouched at being dotted with kunai. 'They must have caught my clone. Faster than I had expected.'
She knew her last trap's location had been compromised, but there were more where that came from.
She slipped a kunai out of her thigh pouch. It clashed with a series of shuriken. Miyuki and Koushi appeared just in front of the patch of tall grass she was crouched in. This was a distraction so Ijou could complete his signing. She needed to find Ijou, so she shot off into the grass, creating several more shadow clones. Miyuki came after her, while Koushi veered off to chase the other clones, getting his ankle caught in a wire trap that pinned his wrists apart. Hus kunai went flying.
Miyuki didn't even bother helping her teammate, a grave mistake. Naomi turned on her heels, surprising Miyuki by facing her head on. Their weapons clashed as Naomi slid through the grass under Miyuki's feet. She moved her arms to one side, revealing her wire, which pulled Miyuki in a full somersault and landed her on her back.
Naomi continued forward, pushing her consciousness around her to try and find Ijou's chakra. He couldn't have been far. He would need to be close in order for his technique to be effective.

Several hours later shigura awoke in his cot his wounds completely healed and he felt great. He stood up changing into the clOthes he had arrived in, his training clothes in tatters, and walked out his room. Outside he saw naruto waiting a proud smile on his face. Shigura bowed to him "thank you master, sincerely, for everything." naruto walked to him and placed his hands on his shoulders "you've done well shigura. I am very proud of you" he reached into the pack he had on his side "I have something for you" he said and pulled out a long coat much like his and the fourths only this one was black with white flames at the bottom. Shigura couldn't help his eyes from welling up he took the coat and embraced him "thank you master" naruto laughed and patted his back "no time for getting emotional you still have to go find your friend" shigura stepped back and nodded "yes. Until next time." he said putting the coat on and unraveling the giant scroll making the hand signs "reverse summon" he said cutting his thumb wiping the blood on it and disappearing leaving naruto who looked at the sky "until next time shigura may you succeed where I once failed"

He was getting closer. She could feel it in her bones. Naomi veered sharply right and skidded to a stop. He was standing directly in the middle of the clearing, hands pressed together. Miyuki rushed from the grass to his side, and turned quickly on her heels. 'That was strange.' And then it dawned on her. 'He's making himself obvious, its a dead giveaway. I'm his prize and he knows that I can be caught with his technique, but if I get close ill be caught. Miyuki fawns over him, but she didn't even look at him before she turned to defend him. He's using genjutsu, and a strong one. He's depleting all of his chakra to hold it in hopes that ill try to take him out, thinking he's not finished signing. But if I attack he'll catch me, and the bells will be his.' Naomi smiled and backed up, creating another shadow clone.
Her clone rushed forward, "you only have until sunset." it said as it approached them. Ijou's hands tightened in his sign, and her clone stopped, frozen in place, but soon disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Damn, just another clone." Ijou grit his teeth. If she had talked like that as a genin, sabiru-sensei would have slapped the taste out of her mouth.
"She's playing a heck of a game of cat and mouse," Miyuki said, wiping her forehead. "And we only have another hour until sunset."

Shigura reappeared at the boarder of the land of fire. He looked back at the land he once called home it's only been a month but it felt so much longer. He took a deep breath and crossed the boarder into the known land of light "this is a small country but it will still take some time to find her and she is probably in some sort of hidden village" he thought to himself 'oh well I better get started' he thought and continued walking towards the center of the country. That was as good a place as any to start looking.

Ijou's concentration finally broke. 'He can't hold the jutsu anymore' Naomi smiled. She made a few hand motions, "earth release: double suicide decapitation technique!" Naomi's body slipped underground and tunneled under the open field. She used one hand each to grab an ankle of Miyuki and Ijou, dragging them up to their necks in ground.
She grinned as she came back up and looked at the sky, "time's up. But I give you credit for effort." She stood and began to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Ijou demanded.
"I'm going to cut Koushi loose from the wire trap, and then were going to eat lunch." She turned around and smiled at them,"all of us."
They looked confused, "but we didn't complete our mission!" Miyuki yelled.
Naomi stopped and held up a finger. "Think about it, there are two bells and three of you. No way all of you could retrieve a bell, right?"
Ijou huffed, "its a test of teamwork. The bells are just a ruse to distract us."
Miyuki looked at him and Naomi smiled, "very good. That's correct. The object of the exercise was for you to work as a team to complete your mission. You failed the mission, but you passed the test. Therefore, we all get lunch, or dinner, depending on how you look at it."
Naomi walked away, leaving Ijou to steam and Miyuki to think. She found Koushi, tangled all to hell in wire, and twisted in odd angles. He had obviously tried to struggle his way out. "You look like hell"
"A little help please?" He begged, sounding desperate, "my hands went numb a few minutes ago."
"You shouldn't have struggled," Naomi said, crouching to cut the wire, "I'm renowned for my wire traps, its the only thing besides ninjutsu that I'm really good at."
Koushi rubbed his wrists and stood slowly, wobbling a bit. He leaned on Naomi as they walked back to the clearing to free Miyuki and Ijou. Koushi laughed when he saw them buried up to their necks, and Miyuki blushed, she was obviously very sensitive to criticism.

He had been walking for quite some time and he began to get frustrated he felt like he was walking in circles "Gah what the hell is going on?!" he put his hands on his head "well if this is going to take a while I might as well ride" he cut his thumb forming hand signs "summoning jutsu" he slammed his palm on the ground and one of the mount toads appeared and he climbed on it "go towards you feel the most chakra" the toad took one step and stopped "were here" the toad laughed "there is a strong jutsu in effect right now" shigura sighed "smart ass toad" he said then thought to himself "I should have known a gen jutsu would protect it' he formed a hand sign "release"

Naomi fell onto her bed, exhausted. Her kids were a handfull, but they were intelligent and strong for their age. She managed to collect most of the wire from her traps, but was running low, and needed to buy more.
She closed her eyes and immediately fell asleep, dreaming that her wire turned into razor and cut up everything g she loved. She also dreamed that she brought a man back from the dead, and that the body at the altar was the real her and she was a copy. She awoke several times in the night, she felt strongly that something powerful was closing in on her and she at once thought it was the glass eye watching her, but then a knock sounded at the door.
It was kaede, she looked grave. "Naomi, I need to know. What message did you send out when you used that jutsu?"
"I used my childhood nickname. Four letters. It doesn't mean anything to anyone but my teammate, Shigura."
Kaede stared in her eyes for a long time, "alright, I believe you."
"What is this about?"
"Someone on the road from the land of fire has broken Kongoru's genjutsu, he radioed in a few minutes ago. Whoever it is rides a giant toad, and we assume he is from the leaf."
"It's Shigura, I'm sure of it. That blockhead, he's probably looking for me."

Shigura stood and jumped off the toad "thanks for the ride"he smirked as the toad dissummoned. He reached into his pouch pulling out a kuni with steal wire tied to it. If there was one thing shigura was good at it was wire traps. He threw the kuni in specific directions sometimes putting tags on the wire. Soon the road was bound in a web of wire and bombs. None the less he stayed on his gaurd then an idea popped in his head 'gather natures chakra' he thought the sat down being perfectly still gathering natural energy using himself as bait

Naomi hurriedly pulled on her sandals and gloves. Kaede was waiting impatiently at the mouth of the village, but even at a steady sprint it would take them hours to reach the point in the fire road that Kongoru was stationed at before he attempted to eliminate Shigura, and was therefore eliminated himself. Kaede tried without avail to reach Kongoru on the radio.
"He must have turned it off for stealth. This is awful. Are you sure you didn't signal him to this location?"
"No, I didn't let him on to anything other than the fact I was alive. I have no idea how he found out where I was, or even if he just guessed, which may very well be accurate."
They slid to a stop and Kaede turned on her heels. "You can stop hiding. I know you're following us."
Ijou, Koushi, and Miyuki appeared from a shadow in the cave. "We just wanted to help," Miyuki said sheepishly.


Meanwhile:
Kongoru had been watching his target for quite some time, but was confused. He seemed to be in no hurry, and just sat absolutely motionless in the middle of the road, which he had turned into a virtual jungle gym of steel wire and explosive tags. 'What is he planning? If he is so leisurely he must be powerful, or stupid.'
Kongoru thought on the best way to approach his target. If he attacked, and failed, the road would be left unguarded. If he waited for reinforcements, his target may already be gone, or worse yet, in the village. He tightened his fists, he had to make a decision.
He hated himself for it, but he decided to attack. Forming the proper hand signs his body began to fade, "water release: body like mist jutsu!" He ran at Shigura, hoping to get a hit in before his jutsu wore off. He cut wires as he ran, igniting explosions, but all they did was pass through him, shortening his time in "mist mode." The wires seemed to continue forever around Shigura's motionless form, but Kongoru pressed on.

Shigura opened his eyes ceasing his harvest and entered sage mode jos eyes gaining to blue and black pigment of the poison frog and he pushed his chakra off his skin masking his perimeter with an invisible veil of corrosive acid. He stood and readied himself for an attack. He looked around but saw nothing 'another genjutsu?' he thought then pushed it from his mind he would have at least seen some kind of shimmer when he entered sage mode. He looked to his traps so maybe they may give away his attackers position but still nothing, it was almost like he was fighting a ghost.