Chapter 55:

Book 2: Chapter 5: I Hate Sand Part II

Naruto: The Tale of Yuki Uchiha Volume 1 and 2


Book 2: Land of Sand

Chapter 5: I Hate Sand Part II

Moments later, I rubbed the red handprint on my cheek while the little girl hummed, wearing my shirt, which basically fit like an oversized purple sweater over her. Though after calming down, she seemed to be fine somehow and took to sitting next to me as Kasai gave her the creeps—Her words, not mine—I tried telling him to hide his killing intent but something, something, something my sister would kill me if I let you die to your own stupidity.

“So, Onii-chan got any food?”

“Yeah… but you can call me Yuki. And that’s Kasai.” I said, digging through my bag for rations. “What’s your name?”

Looking over my shoulder, the little girl smiled from ear to ear. “I’m Sayana formerly from the Sand Village, Onii-chan.”

“Sayana, that’s a cute name,” I said, giving her a head pat before I handed her a ration bar.

“Eww rations! I hate those things!”

“It’s all we have because someone put us through a sandstorm,” Kasai muttered with a slight glance towards Sayana.

“Mister Kasai is pretty scary,” Sayana said as she took a bite of the ration, making a sick face.

“Tell me about it,” I said with a sigh. “But on a serious note, could you lower the sandstorm?”

“Nuh-Uh,” Sayana shook her head as her mouth was full. “I only had enough chakra to start it, not stop it. They didn’t need me to stop it.”

“Whose they?” Kasai glared at Sayana, who quickly hid behind me.

“People like you.” Sayana stuck her tongue out at Kasai, making me laugh.

“You think this is funny? You do realize while we’re stuck here, Sui could get hurt.”

“Oh, what happened to believing in destiny?” I said, laughing as I knew Sui would be fine in any situation. If anything, I’d be more worried about the enemy, seeing as she’s probably pissed that we’re missing.

“I really should’ve killed you,” Kasai muttered as he walked towards the entrance leaving me to talk to Sayana.

“Though Sayana, do you remember their names, what they look like?”

“Well…” Sayana held onto her chin. Which was simply adorable to look at because her hands barely made it out of her sleeves. “Only if you promise to save my sister.”

“So she’s still alive?”

“For now. Lord Orochimaru is taking care of her. Said she was in a coma due to the Curse Mark. Th-that I could save her if I helped out his personal bodyguards in a mission. Said he needed my control over sand.”

“Orochimaru has bodyguards?”

“Yeah! Five super evil-looking people. There’s this one guy with 6 arms! Almost like a spider. Then a bald fat guy. I saw him pick up a boulder once. A gloomy-looking guy with two heads, I think. I don’t know. Onee-chan says people can’t have two heads, but it made a scary face at me one time. Oh, there was also this white-haired guy who didn’t say much, but they listened to him. In fact, he was somewhat nice to me. And then there was this red-haired demon of a girl who attacked my sister simply for looking at her. She scares me the most.”

I scratched my cheek as I had a feeling who that was. There weren’t that many people with red hair who’d attack you for looking at them. At least, I hoped not. Though, knowing that Kimimaro was here made me tense up. Sui may be able to fight him in a one-on-one, but if the other three are just as strong, they may need us—

Sayana pulled at my sleeve. “What’s wrong Onii-chan?”

“I have a feeling I know who those guards are. The white-haired one, Kimimaro, we’ve fought before.”

“Wow, and you’re still alive. You must be an amazing fighter Onii-chan!”

I scratched my cheek, slightly blushing. “I try to.”

“Then I can trust you to save her, right? My sister’s name is Seyome. She has violet hair, and she’s super attractive!”

“Why-why does she have to be attractive?”

“Hehehe.” Sayana chuckled as a devilish smile formed on her face. “Because Onii-chan’s a pervert.”

“I am not a pervert! But back on topic, what was your mission?”

“Ummm well, on your way to the Sand Village, the five of us were to catch you guys off guard by using a sandstorm to separate you. Knowing that Onii-chan would try to help me. That way, we can test out a new jutsu on the Third Hokage. You guys took a bit longer to get here, though.”

I rubbed my chin. “So they’re not working together.”

“Working with who?”

“Oh, you guys aren’t the first ones to attack us,” I said with a light laugh. “It seems not a lot of people like us.”

“Well, I like you! You’re super nice. And I’m sorry for attacking you.” Sayana said, fidgeting until I placed my hand on her head.

“I know it wasn’t your fault. And don’t worry, I promise I’ll save Seyome, ok.”

“Yay! I knew I could count on you, Onii-chan!” Sayana perked up, giving me a hug before a yawn escaped her mouth. And that was when I noticed how much stress this might have been on her body and mind. She still hadn’t fully recovered from earlier, yet she still went through an interrogation with strangers. She’s one tough cookie.

“Of course! But it sounds to me. like you still need some more rest.” I said, grabbing Kasai’s sleeping bag for her to lie on as I didn’t think she could handle the tightness of sleeping in one.

“Sorry, Onii-chan… The Curse Mark… It’s very draining…. Makes me…. Sleepy….”

Soon after, Sayana fell asleep, and I took the moment to walk towards the entrance where Kasai was still staring out at the raging sandstorm. Even with our Sharingan and Byakugan, respectively, we couldn’t see through it. There was just too much chakra infused within it, limiting our field of vision. It was one of the things that kept me relieved, knowing our opponents would also have trouble seeing through it. I doubt they expected Sayana to be that strong.

“So Kasai, you heard that?” I asked.

Kasai nodded. “Yeah.”

“Got a plan?”

Kasai nodded again. “Yeah.”

“Mind sharing that plan?” I asked, getting slightly annoyed.

Kasai shook his head. “No.”

“Nice talk.” I sighed and leaned against the cave wall next to him. “It’s good to see that we’re up against a coordinated team with amazing teamwork of our own.”

Kasai turned to me, his arms folded. “Alright, if you want me to be honest, I’ll say you probably don’t have a chance against them. They already know the flaw in your technique, and from what Kurai told me, Kimimaro took both you and Tayuya on without even going into stage 2.”

“In my defense, Tayuya wasn’t really helping me fight.”

“All the more reason why Team 9 is simply deadweight in a fight like this.”

“Why did I even ask you, Mr. Destiny. You probably don’t even have a plan.”

Kasai went back to staring out the cave entrance.

“Wait, you don’t have a plan, do you?”

“I have a plan,” Kasai muttered.

“I bet it’s a simple: I’m a better fighter, so I should win a one-on-one.”

Kasai continued to stare out of the cave entrance.

“Holy shit, you’re Sui’s brother, and you can’t come up with a plan!” I said, laughing then I remembered that Sayana was sleeping, so I calmed down. The best I could anyway.

“Idiot, that’s not my job. Kurai plans, Kai translates, I get it done. It saves me trouble and time.”

“Well, save me the trouble of having to make a plan with zero information on their abilities and talk. I know you Root Ninja, know about the Sound Five or, I guess Four.”

Kasai turned to me, and by the twitch of his red eye, he was having a hard time keeping himself calm. There’s my W for the books. “No, you were right the first time. What makes you think Tayuya is going to help you against her buddies?”

“Because I may not believe in destiny, but I sure as hell believe in my friends.”

“Wow, no wonder Sui likes you. It’s how naïve you are. Even when looking the truth in the eye, you remain ignorant. It’s like you’re blind even with the Sharingan.”

“Kasai, tell me something.” I stared at him with red eyes. “What’s the other option? If I listen to you, that means I have to account for one of my teammates betraying us. I have to believe that my older sister is going to help kill us. I believed in my sister then, and I’ll do it now because we’re family, like how you and Team K are.”

“We’re not a family—”

“You can’t lie. I saw the photo of you four together in Sui’s room.”

“That doesn’t mean a thing.” Kasai let out a long sigh. “If Danzō told us to kill each other, we’d do it. No questions asked.”

“Why?”

“Because it would make us stronger.”

I relaxed my eyes as I had already won. “You mean the winner stronger. Not us. You’d be a better liar if you convinced yourself first. I could help you with that if you want.”

“Fine, I’ll tell you about them. Only because I can tell Sui I tried everything to keep you alive when you inevitably die.” Kasai said as he sat down, signaling for me to do the same. There I simply smiled.

“Now, was that so hard.”

2

By the time Kasai finished telling me about the Sound Four, the sandstorm had cleared. A slight tingle ran through my body. It wasn’t nervousness or fear rather anticipation. I wouldn’t say I was excited, but I couldn’t kid myself from the idea that I may have enjoyed fighting. I just wished it didn’t end with one person dying. Yet hearing that the Root believed that with their Curse Mark Stage Two, the Sound Four were Jōnin level. Kimimaro possibly being higher. I couldn’t help but feel this was our first step to becoming the strongest.

“You ready to go, Kasai.”

“Hours ago.”

“Little Sis, I’ll be back soon,” I whispered to Sayana as she was still sleeping. I left a note behind telling her that we were going to look for our team and then come back to get her. It was just too dangerous for a child to be out in the desert. I left her my bag as that would only slow me down; besides, the food in there should keep her occupied.

After leaving the cave, it took only a few minutes to discover that we were in a very different part of the desert. It was dry, with less sand and more rock formations to decorate the scenery, if it could be called decoration, as it still didn’t hold a candle to the Land of Fire. Though there was a bit more green with all the cacti lying around. I had read somewhere that there should have been giant ants and scorpions inhabiting the desert, but I assumed they all hid due to the sandstorm. Making the search boring enough for Kasai to start a conversation.

“You really took a liking to her.” He said.

“Well, I’ve always wanted a little sister. Figured they’d be a lot nicer to me.”

“She tried to kill you?”

I wiped the tear from my eye that definitely came from the sand. “Yeah, I know.”

“How does my sister put up with you.” Kasai sighed.

“I don’t know about you, but I think I’m a pretty good catch.”

“Sure buddy.”

“No, no, he’s right.” Standing above us on one of the flat-topped rock formations was a teen with short dark blue hair that covered the right side of her face. She even had black eyeliner and lipstick. I could barely tell what she wore due to the shadow cast by the large tower in the distance. But from how she looked down at us, I could tell she wasn’t friendly. 2/10 easily, voice is way too deep. “He is a pretty great catch.”

T.K. 月狐
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