Cursed Saint

11 - Not Alone

"I still can't believe you made me train for another hour in the rain," Yuumai grumbled, her arms crossed as she dragged her feet a few paces behind the two boys.

"Me and Shikamaru weren't bothered by it."

"Well, one of you two was in the cover of a tree and didn't have to worry about it. As for the other one, he's just an idiot."

Shikamaru sighed. "You two are so troublesome," he grumbled.

Ryu could practically feel her glare piercing the back of his head. He was sure Shikamaru could, too, because he sighed again. "I'm sorry, Yuumai, but it actually proved to be good training for balance. This way you could train on terrain that wasn't totally solid."

"Yes," Yuumai muttered, "because every ninja should learn to fight in the mud. First you punch me in the face, and then risk me getting sick from all this rain."

Simply rolling his eyes at her, Ryu put his hands behind his head in a fashion similar to Naruto's. Thinking of his blond friend, he wondered how he would react to Yuumai as well as how he was doing on his own mission. How was he handling being on the same team as Sasuke? What about Sakura? Although he hated the thought, he was sure she was enjoying her time with Sasuke on what Naruto had claimed was a major mission. They made one interesting team.

"What are you grinning about?" Yuumai inquired. Her voice was still bitter, but she had finally walked fast enough that she was beside of him.

Ryu hadn't even noticed that he'd started to grin, but he wasn't surprised to find that he was. He shrugged. "Just thinking of some friends is all," Ryu replied.

"Such as Sakura?"

He couldn't help but blush, looking away from the lazy male. "I was thinking of all of Team Seven, actually," Ryu corrected. "Don't jump to conclusions, Shikamaru."

"So mostly Sakura?"

The repeated name quipped Yuumai's interest. "Who's Sakura?" She snickered. "She your girlfriend?"

Of course her mood would improve at such a topic. Although Ryu knew it was slightly defensive he said, "You know, it really doesn't-"

"Ryu! Shikamaru!"

The group paused, only about three trees down from the Komichi's home. Their gazes traveled up toward the source of the voice. Ino was on the porch, leaning against the railing. She looked worried and kept glancing around as if she expected to see someone with them.

"What's up, Ino?" Ryu called.

Ino glanced toward each side of the forest once more before answering. "Have you guys seen Asuma-sensei? I've been looking for him for the past thirty minutes, as well as most of the search team. There's been no sign of him."

Ryu found himself copying Ino's actions. He knew that their training had dragged on longer than usual and that the search team would beat him home. Ryu also knew that Asuma was probably the best at keeping track of the time. Their sensei should have arrived before anyone.

"We haven't seen him," Shikamaru finally replied for them. "I'm sure he's just searching more extensively since you didn't have any luck yesterday."

His words did nothing to quell Ino's worry. If Ryu was correct, she also appeared guilty. "Hey, Ino, how about I help you search?" he offered. "I don't mind being out in the rain." He glanced at Shikamaru. "You want to help?"

"Nope," he replied, walking toward the ladder. "Like I said, I'm sure he's just searching some more. If so, I don't want him to drag me into it."

Ryu didn't even bother asking Yuumai. Instead he glanced at Ino. "How about it? Want to go search?"