Third POV
The two road-weary travelers crested a hill, and saw a small village sprawling below. The girl let out a great sigh of happiness, excited to finally reach a place with beds. The boy with her was more reserved, but if you looked close enough, you could tell he was happy.
Both simultaneously looked to the sky, where two faint shadows could be seen gliding above. They were high enough that you'd think they were simple birds. But they were more then birds.
They were dragons.
The girl raised her arms to the sky, and whistled. Her ice-blue eyes were dancing with excitement as she watched the dragons swoop closer and closer.
With a thud, both dragons were grounded, letting the humans get a look at their partners. The girl stepped to the side of one dragon, leaving the boy to go to his own partner.
The first dragon was a deep black color that was glossy like ebony. There were beautiful gold swirls decorating his sides, and black fuzz around his stomach and spine, ending at his tail in a burst of black feathers. He had black leathery wings, and black horns that looked like those of a deer's.
The second dragon was the complete opposite of the first. This dragon was a pure white, like snow, with no fuzz or feathers to be seen. There were darker patches of silver on the underside of her wings, and beautiful silver spines running down her spine, ending in a pointed black tail.
The girl rubbed her hand along the black dragon's fuzz, eliciting a purring sound from the dragon. The boy simply placed both his hands on the white dragon's stomach, and stayed there, resting his head on her long neck.
"Kari... It's getting dark. If we want to get a bed in the inn, then we should go now. Before they close." The boy urged Kari. She groaned, but removed her hands from her dragon's fuzz.
"Fine. Telem, Zahra, are you two good for the night?" Kari asked the two dragons. She could only hear the response from Telem, but her brother said that Zahra was good. "Awesome. We'll be out in the morning."
Then the boy jumped in. "We have to get to Sutomura by tomorrow afternoon. So we'll most likely be flying there."
Kari nodded. "Yeah, great idea Saden." Then she grinned. "I hope the place has recovered from last time!"
Saden raised an eyebrow. "Last time? You've been to that place before?"
"Yep! Actually, that was where I met Daken for the first time!"
Saden winced. Daken. The blond summoner Kari had grown attached to, then forced to leave behind when they were banished.
Kari noticed his tiny flinch, and grew serious. "I know what you're thinking, brother. And please stop blaming yourself. It wasn't your fault we were banished."
The black-haired boy growled at his twin. "But it was! If I had left earlier, or something, then you wouldn't be here with me. You'd be back in that village, with all your friends." He grew quiet. "You wouldn't be a wanted criminal."
"Yeah, but then I wouldn't be with you."
This one sentence made Saden look at his sister with wide eyes. "What? Why would you want to be with me? I'm a criminal, I've hurt you, and I helped kill Raza!" That last point made Kari flinch. Anything to do with her former teacher was a sore spot.
Then her resolve hardened. "That is true. But you're family, and I don't abandon family. No matter how annoying they are, or how many people close to me they kill." Kari said strongly.
Saden shook his head in disbelief. "You're too nice. Not a good quality for a shinobi." he muttered.
Kari grinned. "Yeah, but I'm still alive! So it can't be that bad!"
"True, true." Saden concurred. "And it's a good quality for a person in general to have. Just not a ninja. Now, let's go into town. I seem to be in need of a bed."
"Away we go!"
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"Lady Hokage, Naruto has returned from his training with Jiraiya!" A random ninja who burst into Tsunade's office yelled. The blond medic groaned, holding her head.
"Not now. I've got a bit of a hangover." she mumbled. "Tell me in like three hours."
"But-"
"Later." she commanded. The ninja bowed, and left the room.
Lady Tsunade's assistant, Shizune, walked forward with her pig in her arms. "Lady Hokage..."
"I am not in the mood, Shizune." Tsunade said. Shizune also left the room, knowing of the Hokage's famous temper.
Now that she was alone, Tsunade allowed her head to fall forward, banging against the desk. But she must have banged a bit too hard, because the surface of the desk cracked under the force of her head slam.
Now the Hokage groaned, seeing that she would need a new desk. Then she spotted it.
A small slip of paper peeking out of the crack.
Her curiosity aroused, Tsunade pried at the wood until the paper was completely released. There were only a few words on the page.
The Sasaki Clan. Destiny's Well. -Hiruzen Sarutobi, Third Hokage of the Leaf.
Lady Tsunade cocked her head, confused. What was that supposed to mean?
Then it hit her. Destiny's Well was the codename for the secret part of the library only accessible by the Hokages. This was a note from the Third, telling his successor to go to the library, and look up the Sasaki clan. But why?
Tsunade shrugged, her hangover all but forgotten. This certainly was a break from the normally-monotonous tasks she did. Namely, paperwork. Anything to get herself out of the office.
So she made her way down the stairs of the Hokage's building, ignoring all who called out to her. She walked to the library, and went down to the secret entrance to Destiny's Well.
This area was completely different from the outside library. Where the library was covered wall-to-wall in scrolls and manuscripts, Destiny's Well was a bit more open. Yes, there were still scrolls everywhere, But there were also weapons, glass cases of different objects, and even a few racks of armor.
Tsunade went over to one wall that was completely covered in scrolls, and rummaged among them. Searching for a specific one. After a few minutes of searching, she found it.
The Sasaki Clan, it read on the outside. It was the scroll that Sarutobi mentioned on the paper. So naturally, Tsunade reached out, and pulled the scroll off the shelf.
When she did so, it revealed another, smaller scroll beneath the Sasaki scroll. A scroll with the seal of the Sarutobi clan, only openable by a Hokage. Tsunade grabbed both scrolls, before heading back to her office.
This escapade was proving to be a welcome distraction.
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And that's chapter one. The first chapter of Eclipse, sequel to the Silver Wolf!! YAY!
I'm going to finish up the dedication list from the first book, so this dedication, and the first of Eclipse, is going to DapperJasper for voting and commenting! Thank you a lot!!
This is a very short A/N, but I'm sure some of you enjoy that. And then there's all the people who don't read these...
Eh. I expected that.
Later!