The Rise of a Forgotten Village

Chapter 3

Konohamaru walked to his house is silence as he remembered the day he meet the masked man. His mind was filled with raging thoughts of his missing older brother who disappeared without saying goodbye. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he stood in front of his house and saw his uncle standing by the door. Konohamaru walked over to the man with his mask in place. "What are you doing here, Uncle Asuma?" He chirped with his childish voice and grin.
"I just wanted to tell you that the festival is going to start soon and I think that you should come this time." Asuma said with a worried expression.

Konohamaru was about to protest, but Asuma continued. "You might have fun or just hang out with a couple friends. I don't think it's healthy for you to lock yourself in your room for hours, mourning. It's been five years know. You should get out a little more and do something different for a change."
Konohamaru didn't make a sound and just walked past his uncle and entered his house without saying anything.

He walked in his room, locked the door and lied down on his bed with a picture of him, his teammates and Naruto. He put the picture back and pulled out a headband with a long, deep line over the leaf symbol. They all took a picture in the hospital when Naruto brought back Sasuke willingly. Naruto and Hinata disappeared six weeks after Sasuke came back and no one has seen them since then. Konohamaru looked at the sky and noticed that the moon was rising and the sky was getting darker. "Time sure does fly," He muttered. He stood up and grabbed his slightly full backpack that held clothing, food pills and pictures of him and Naruto. After checking that he had everything packed, Konohamaru ran out his window and stayed hidden in the shadows. Though, there weren't many shadows because of the colorful lights from the food and game stands and lanterns.

The village was filled with light and activity that it made Konohamaru sick. 'Why are they celebrating?! They lost a great ninja this night and their about to lose more!' He thought bitterly. Konohamaru stopped when he heard laughing at the BBQ restaurant he and the other genin had their conversation a few hours ago. He looked at the source of laughter and saw all of Rookie 9 and team Gai at a booth celebrating for Sasuke and Sakura. The young teen snarled at the sight and felt like punching every single one of them for making Naruto leave the village. 'They just sit there and laugh without a care in the world as if nothing was wrong!' He thought. Konohamaru shook away the thought and proceeded towards the Main Gates.

After running in the shadows, Konohamaru finally arrived at his destination and saw all the other genin except for his teammates. "Looks like they don't want to leave." Okami muttered, and Kiyomaru snorted lightly as if agreeing with his friend. A flash of sadness flickered in Konohamaru's eyes, but disappeared before anyone noticed. "Let's just hurry up and go already." Shika whispered. Konohamaru and the others ran into the forest without looking back.

Somewhere Else

A shadowed figure, that looked like the shape of a man, sat behind a desk and watched the genin from a floating crystal ball. The figure's eyes became cold when the crystal ball shown Moegi and Udon reporting to Kakashi, who was in the Hokage's office taking Tsunade's place, about the other genin's departure. "Ame! Miho!" He called out. A fox and a vixen appeared in front of the desk.

Ame was completely dark blue gray with black stripes down his spine with violet blue eyes. Miho has a flame colored coat with solid red stripes down her spin and reddish amber eyes.

"Find the genin who just left the Leaf Village and bring them here immediately." The silhouette ordered sternly. "Jeez, your so bossy you know that." Ame barked, rolling his eyes in both boredom and annoyance. "Yes sir!" Miho saluted, raising her paw over her head with enthusiasm. The two small canines vanished in a puff of smoke and the office was filled with light. The man sighed in relief and smiled a warm smile as he looked at a picture of a man and a woman. It's been a few months since the day the picture was taken.

He looked at the crystal ball as it showed the genin running from a team of ANBU. The man whispered to himself, "It's finally time to see each other again, Konohamaru."