Book 2: Chapter 2: The First Day Part II

Book 2: Land of Sand

Chapter 2: The First Day Part II

1

“Wow Yuki you’re a bit of a prick aren’t ya talking to the Mutt like that.” Tayuya chuckled as we hopped from tree to tree, searching for the deer.

“You should be careful calling him a Mutt. He might make you do 100 pushups.”

“Make me? Like hell he could.” Tayuya put her flute to her lips and stood in place, causing me to stop next to her. There she began to play and strangely I liked the sound of it. Now should I have been worried about being able to hear Tayuya’s flute, considering that meant she was targeting me with a genjutsu. Yes, yes I should have. Then again, I trusted her. A mistake I’d never stop making.

Though this wasn’t one of those times as the sound resonated within me yet, it didn’t make me lose touch with reality. I still felt the branch I stood on and saw the forest around me. The night sky was still pretty, with a crescent moon whose light shined through the leaves, guiding me to the herd of deer that seemed drawn to Tayuya’s song. A doe, A buck, and three fawns, each mesmerized to a standstill.

And it wasn’t long before I noticed her glare that said get on with it. Which I did with ease, taking out the buck with one swift swing of my kunai. Letting the rest blitz away from the scene faster than most Genin could move due to how the animals used chakra to enhance their bodies. Usually, I’d have to set up a trap just to catch one, but having Tayuya around really made it easy. Not to mention hearing her play something that didn’t involve a face-snatching demon coming to pummel me was always a plus. Therefore, an applause was well deserved.

“Thank you, thank you.” Tayuya took a bow staring down at me from atop the tree branch with a massive smirk plastered on her face. “Your big sister is amazing, isn’t she?”

“Very. You have a real talent for music.”

Tayuya jumped off the branch shaking her head next to me. “Not talent. I worked hard to master my Demonic Flute.”

“Demonic Flute?”

“That’s the name Lord Orochimaru gave it. Not even he knows too much about it. Apparently, it was something that belonged to my family used to seal demons. Or something.”

“Maybe you really are an Uzumaki,” I said, laughing.

“Quit that. If I was related to that annoying trash, I’d kill myself.”

“Which one?”

“They both get on my nerves!” Tayuya stomped her foot on the ground and paired with her yell if there was anything in the area it was most likely gone after hearing the angry demon. Me being right next to her, I could only poke at my ears, hoping my eardrums didn't burst.

“You have a point…. Then again, doesn’t everyone get on your nerves?” I mumbled.

“What was that?” Tayuya snapped.

“J-Just, I need help carrying back the deer.” With one look I could tell that the buck was too heavy for me, I blame the scroll, but really it was because the animal was larger than both me and Tayuya. If I really needed to, I could use wind style to brute force my way—

“Speaking of deer, you let them get away!”

“Well of course. We got what we needed,” I said, still thinking of a solution. “Any more would just be killing for the sake of it.”

“And?”

I stared at Tayuya, and she was serious. Let’s forget the fact that this buck would last the 7 of us the entire trip and the repercussions of indiscriminate slaughter that could potentially hurt the village. Just the feeling of a stopping heartbeat was enough to give me chills. What was once vibrant and warm was now frozen for eternity. It never got easy. I did it because it allowed us to survive. I learned how to hunt for Sasuke, and I don’t regret it. It’s the circle of life, but— “Sorry, I don’t take pleasure in ending a life.”

“Well, you sure seemed happy with your arm digging into Danzō’s chest.”

“Tch. I thought Sui said not to talk about that.”

“Fine…” Tayuya sighed as she watched me tie up the deer and struggle to hoist it over my shoulder. “Yuki, what if I said I enjoyed killing?”

“I’d call you a liar.”

Tayuya scratched her head before yelling. “Fuck! You seriously need to get your eyes checked.”

“W-Why? I think they work fine.”

“Because there’s no way you can carry that deer on your back with your scroll. Now hand it over.” Tayuya took the deer off my back and hoisted it over her shoulder.

“You know I had it covered—”

“Just shut up and thank me. Stupid soft brother.” Tayuya grumbled, carrying the deer with ease. Still, I couldn’t help but laugh at how easy it was to see through her. I didn’t even need my Sharingan to do it too. For all her anger and bravado, my sister was the real soft one. Even if she knew what I said was a lie. There was no mistaking she wanted to make it true.

2

When we returned to the others, the camp was—

“How the fuck!” Me and Tayuya said, staring at what was effectively an encampment. First, why are there 20 Kurais running around? Second, we don’t need a palisade with a functioning door! And is that a watchtower? Someone needed to tell Kurai that we were a small group of ninja, not a fully functioning army working with the Fire Daimyo! If anything, this drew more attention than—

“Hey you guys, want to get in the onsen?” Sui said, running towards us wrapped in a towel. Where did she get a towel?

“Wait, did you just say an onsen?” I said with question marks floating above my head while Tayuya asked the most insane question.

“What’s an Onsen?”

There was a brief silence as there was no way Tayuya hadn’t experienced one of the greatest luxuries of living. I mean, just the thought of one took the tension right out of my body. No wonder Tayuya was always on edge.

“Oh Tayuya-neesan, now you really don’t have a choice,” Sui said, latching onto Tayuya’s arm before suddenly pulling her with so much force that Tayuya only had enough time to call out:

“Sis! Wait! The deer!”

And like that, we were frozen in place as the buck went flying where we only watched it with our mouths open wide, almost like the world slowed down. Yet it sped back up once a voice called out, snapping us back to reality.

“Don’t worry, I got it.” One of the Kurais said as he appeared in a red flash catching the buck midair then landing next to me like it was nothing. Which it probably was, but I was still in shock. “Ah, this will be more than enough for the journey. Hey Yuki, Sui said you know how to cook, so before getting into the hot spring can you prepare this for us? We can store it in the smokehouse.”

“There’s a smokehouse?” I said, slowly losing my sense of reality again.

“Of course, why wouldn’t there be?” Another Kurai said, running around with a giant log in his arms with the help of a different Kurai.

Looking at the “camp” or rather the base of operations at this point. It had everything from a fire pit, to the smokehouse, and the onsen wasn’t huge, but there was definitely enough space carved out of the ground to fit all of us with room to spare. 7 tents were prepared, with the biggest one towards the center obviously belonging to Hiruzen-sensei. The wooden walls prevented anyone from seeing inside though the smoke and light from the torches gave away our position. Though, to be honest, I don’t think it mattered since if I saw this, I’d steer clear of the fortification. How did he even get a working Onsen in less than a couple of hours?

“Well that’s easy.” The Kurai holding the deer said, conveniently reading my mind. “First, I have a clone underground generating a Rasengan. Then with the help of Kasai’s fire style, I was able to mix the two creating a sort of geothermal energy source to heat up the water Sui created.”

“And by generating, you mean you have to keep pumping it with chakra?”

“That is until everyone is done.” Kurai nodded.

“Isn’t that dangerous?” I pointed out as there were a lot of Kurais walking around, so just knowing he was still expending chakra made me feel slightly worried for him. At least from what I saw, the Rasengan probably took up more chakra than the average Jutsu, not to mention concentration. What if he lost control while we’re still in the onsen?

“No worries, I can handle it,” Kurai said with a smile that didn’t give me much confidence.

Not when I first met the guy, and he was dying to a genjutsu. Like sure, he had a ton of chakra then, but he didn’t have clones summoned at the time. I get trying to prove yourself to the Third Hokage, especially when your dream is to become the Hokage, but I also remember when I tried to show off. I could’ve hurt everyone around me due to losing control of my chakra.

“What about Hiruzen-sensei? What did he say about all of this?”

“Nothing, he just went into his tent.”

“Right…”

“Yuki, didn’t I tell you not to question it? Just enjoy the fact that we can relax while we camp.” Sui got next to my ear, dragging Tayuya with her as she whispered. “Listen, this is how Kurai deals with things. Just let it run its course.”

I looked at the different Kurais, and it finally dawned on me—And no, it wasn’t the fact that the Kurai in front of me didn’t have a lollipop in his mouth—rather, it was the first time I’d seen a smile on his face. He sounded like Kurai, but this was clearly different from the Kurai who constantly said it was a drag, but also different from the Kurai who had such a serious gaze. Then looking around, I noticed that some of the Kurais were laughing, messing around, and talking to one another, even going so far as to get on one another’s nerves. It was enough to make a laugh escape my lips to see one of the members of Team K having fun for a change. Albeit with himself, it was still a change of pace for the better.

Sui pushed me forward, bringing me out of my thoughts and gracing me with her own smile. “Now go help with the food while I get Tayuya changed.”

“Changed?” Tayuya’s eyes widened with her face turning red as I’m sure she noticed that Sui wasn’t wearing anything under her towel. I definitely didn’t notice a thing! “Wait… Sis why are you smiling like that? Why the fuck are you ogling me! Can’t I just eat and sleep—”

“Onee-chan~” Sui cracked her knuckles as she called for her big sister in a singsongy voice. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

Me and Kurai held our hands in prayer as Tayuya was dragged off to a tent without a fight by Sui. We all knew she wasn’t beating Sui, not when they were that close. It was simply going to be an inevitability for when Tayuya gave in to Sui’s insane desires.

“Alright, so let’s get that prepared,” Kurai said, and as we walked past Sui’s tent, I heard Tayuya’s screams.

“Wait! Not all my clothes!”

“Get’em off!”

“The cap stays on!”

“Screw the cap!”

From the sounds of the fighting, it would be a while before they were done, and I could’ve sworn Kurai was snickering at me. What the hell happened to the guy?