Grasping at the Sky

Chapter 14: Preparations

The spirits shook out their coats of stone, dust coming off of them as they did.

"We'll disperse for now then," the elder said and Kira nodded her head. Rue howled slightly, both their colors flashing before their eyes went dark and their bodies crumbling to the ground. It moments they were nothing but piles of dirt and stone. Kankuro let out a low whistle.

"Quite a trick you have now," he remarked, bending and picking up his share of wood. Kira did the same.

"Thanks for the help," Kira replied, "I've been so busy..."

"Yeah, I bet, and it's no problems. Come on, let's get back."

Kira smiled and followed him as he made his way back into the small out cropping of trees and brush. It was no forest, but in such a rocky area it was all they would get for cover since they'd found no caves. They walked in silence, as was normal when out on a mission, not wanting to attract any unwanted company. With war so close and most of the enemy unknown, it was unwise to be alone for long.

She saw the glow of the fire first - yellow, orange and red twisting and dancing, their tendrils reaching for the sky above - and then saw the campsite as they neared. Gaara was sitting silently on a smooth flat topped rock, one knee bent as he stared out over the land with an unblinking gaze.

When they stepped into the ring of light made by the flames he turned his gaze to them and Kira smiled, dropping her wood to the ground. Kankuro followed suite and then crouched, throwing a few pieces onto the fire and stoking it with a long stick.

"We didn't see anything out there, I think we're clear for the night," he muttered, plopping down on his already spread bedroll. Kira rolled her eyes and bent down to look through her small travel bag and pulled out a comb.

"I laid down some traps just incase," she added and pulled her hair out of it's tail, shaking out her side braids. Kankurō yawned, pulling off his hood and stuffing it under his bag that he planned to use as a pillow like he had the night before.

"Let's try to get some rest. We all know that once we get there, it won't be easy." The puppet master glanced to his brother and Gaara gave a nod, which was all the boy needed as he burrowed into his sleeping roll.

Kira muttered a goodnight to her friend as she combed out her raven hair and moved over to Gaara and sat down on the ground, her back against the rock he sat on. They sat in a calm silence for a while; the only sound was the repetitive sifting noise of the comb moving through her hair and the pop and crack of the fire. Her hair was starting to get rather long, much longer then she normally kept it, as it nearly reached the bottom of her ribs now when it was down. She swept the mass of fine strands over her left shoulder and set the comb down frowning into the fire. Her mother had always been the one to cut her hair, and Kira was rather sure if she tried she'd end up looking like she'd gotten trapped in something and had ripped her head loose.

It seemed to take no time at all for Kankurō to slip into dreams, his quiet, off tune snore alerting her and she sighed, running her fingers through her hair. "I don't see how he can sleep with everything that's going on," she muttered, frowning. She'd hardly slept since they'd left the village, too keyed up to do much more then rest and wake to every sound made.