That night was the full moon, and Tsukiko curled up under the blankets as the moon reached its highest point, peeking through the gap in the tent's ceiling. She didn't want to deal with the constant pain. However, thankfully, the exhaustion of her healing body lulled her to sleep quick.
Naruto was snoring loudly already to her right, deep asleep, but their new unwelcome companion, Temujin was wide awake, staring at the moon above them intently with his blood red eyes.
Frustrated by the blond's snores, Temujin glanced over at him in annoyance but instead caught sight of the face of the girl sleeping between them. Strangely still, her expression was pained somehow.
It made no sense because just a while ago, she had been fine, and her friend had said she healed quicker than most people. Temujin continued to eye her, wondering exactly what was up with her.
As strange as the girl was, Temujin admitted that she was quite pretty. He couldn't imagine why someone would continuously say 'Usa' but it seemed to suit her quite well, it made her look cute.
There were horns on top of her head that Temujin had never seen before, and her long hair was out-worldly white, and wavy like the ocean. Another peculiarity about her was the six black Magatama on her collarbones. But none of them were as intriguing to look at as was her actual face.
Temujin almost jumped when Tsukiko grunted in pain suddenly, and he pursed his lips – was she also having a nightmare? He kept his eyes narrowed and slowly reached out to touch her face –
No!
It would be a problem if he touched her face and she woke up. Temujin quickly halted his hand mid-air and pulled it back quickly. He looked away quickly and noticed Nerugui looking at him curiously.
"It wasn't anything," Temujin told the strange ferret of his innocence but Nerugui didn't reply.
Morning came by quickly, and although she was feeling a bit weak, Tsukiko gladly joined the caravan on the back of an ostrich as they travelled through the mountainous terrain. She was offered to sit on the back of a wagon with Temujin but she wasn't sure he would like that very much.
It was always the good-looking people who were this cold, huh?
"Say, say, say, say!" Naruto exclaimed from where he had been travelling right next to Tsukiko on another ostrich. "Has this caravan always been traveling?"
"That's right," replied the lady who had taken care of their bandages, Emina, who was also Kahiko's granddaughter. "We've been on the road ever since our country was destroyed,"
"Ever since your country was destroyed?" Tsukiko inquired. "Your country was destroyed?"
"It's a legend that has been passed down by our clan from long ago," Emina informed the two children. "It says that we had a country, but it was destroyed,"
"What happened?" Tsukiko asked in a kind tone, not wanting to sound insensitive.
"It seems that, long ago, there was a great catastrophe," Emina explained. "We lost our country and our clan was scattered. We became wandering people..."
"And it seems that some of us crossed the sea," Kahiko added.
"The sea?" Naruto asked, and Tsukiko looked over in interest as well – the last time they had crossed the sea was to get to the Land of Snow.
"That's right," Kahiko replied. "Nerugui-Chan is a ferret that was kept at our ancestors' palace... He's living proof that we had a country long ago," He patted the ferret sitting on his shoulder.
"Gramps, you're kidding, right?" Naruto asked, laughing loudly in disbelief while Tsukiko was just intrigued. "Then, that means that he's lived for a really long time,"
"Yes," Kahiko answered. "He has lived for a really long time,"
"Is that so?" Tsukiko asked.
"Nerugui-Chan is even older than Grandpa," Emina said, looking quite amused at the surprised looks on Tsukiko and Naruto's faces, and the white-haired girl looked at Nerugui.
"That's ridiculous..." Naruto commented.
"Amazing, isn't it?" Kahiko asked. "We've taken care of him through the generations. That's why Nerugui-Chan doesn't take to anyone outside of our caravan..."
But then, all of a sudden, Nerugui jumped from Kahiko's ostrich to Emina, to Tsukiko, to Naruto and onto the ground. Tsukiko watched as Nerugui rushed down the grassy field and onto the wagon where Temujin was sitting on his own at the back. He glanced at the ferret as it joined him there.
"Or so I thought..." Kahiko spoke up, confused and weary at how the ferret was suddenly acting.
"Has he gone to the boy again?" Emina asked, surprised as well.
"Nerugui-Chan, what's wrong with you?" Kahiko mumbled.
After a long time travelling, the caravan took a break around the afternoon to let their animals rest up for the rest of the journey coming up, and the children to stretch out their limbs. Tsukiko remained sitting on her ostrich as it strayed around for food, not minding she was lost in thoughts.
"I wonder where Shikamaru and Sakura are," Tsukiko said lowly to Usajii. "I hope we can leave for Konoha soon – Granny Tsunade is going to be pretty annoyed with us,"
"I'm sure they'll be okay," Usajii assured her lightly. "They didn't fall down the ravine with you and Naruto. They must be looking for you both – surely, you can leave once you grow close to Konoha,"
"I suppose you're right," Tsukiko replied, and her blue eyes suddenly fell upon Naruto, who was moving his ostrich over to where Temujin was still sitting in the wagon. "Oh, what is he doing now?"
"Hey, hey!" Naruto was saying as Tsukiko neared them. "Are you talking now? Why did you suddenly attack me? Hey! Don't ignore me! Stop staring at Tsukiko-Chan, damn it!"
"Your strange powers... what is it?" Temujin asked, looking at them both and not only at Tsukiko.
"Huh?" Naruto asked, confused by the sudden question.
"Um, powers?" Tsukiko asked, tilting her head in wonder as to how he had no idea about Chakra when he had used that move on them earlier as well. "Do you mean... Chakra, Usa?"
"Chakra?" Temujin repeated thoughtfully as he stared at her but when he realised her blue eyes were trained on him, he looked away from her quickly. He reached to grab his chest.
"Hey, hey, answer my question!" Naruto interjected before Tsukiko could ask Temujin why he was holding his chest, and what was that symbol over his heart. "Who the hell are you?"
"I came to build a utopia," Temujin answered.
"Utopia?" Tsukiko questioned, confused by his strange words and strange behaviour. "What's a utopia? How do you build it?" She had never heard such a word before.
"You have an interesting power," Temujin said as he turned around to face her properly. "Come with me," He looked at Naruto next – "You can come, too,"
"Come with you... where?" Tsukiko asked as she shared an intrigued look with Naruto. "I'm sorry, but we don't understand what exactly you're talking about, Usa,"
"Think about it," Temujin told them.
"No way!" Naruto shouted. "Why do we have to go with you?! I'm asking you why you attacked me! I'm going to tie you up and take you to the Konoha...! Whoa!"
Tsukiko watched as Naruto's ostrich suddenly walked off with him, chasing after a grasshopper, with the blond trying to stop it, "Wait! Where are you going?!" Tsukiko turned to look at Temujin.
"I'm not sure what you mean by making a utopia," Tsukiko said to him. "But seeking power to make something? It's quite strange, Usa – good things rarely come from seeking power, you see?"
"Tsukiko-Chan, save me!"
"I'm coming, Usa!" Tsukiko called back, a bit frustrated by her blond best friend's behaviour and turned her ostrich around to go after him and rescue him before he strayed too far away.
Temujin looked after Tsukiko in wonder, but then turned to look at his equipment sitting nearby. It took Tsukiko a few moments to help Naruto out – she caught a grasshopper to feed the ostrich and calmed him down when their ears were suddenly met with the sound of louds shouts. Sharing a look, Tsukiko and Naruto turned to see a group of people gathered around under one of the trees.
"Are they all right?"
"Are they hurt?"
"They're okay?"
"They look all right,"
Tsukiko and Naruto got off of their ostriches and rushed over to join everyone, and saw that they were crowding around Temujin, who was on the ground and holding onto a child over his body. It appeared as if he had caught the child before he fell onto the ground. Tsukiko stared at him quietly.
"What are you doing, child?!" exclaimed the mother of the child as she collected the boy. She turned to look at Temujin. "Thank you very much,"
"Are you okay?" Tsukiko asked as Temujin grabbed his arm, a bit pained, and Naruto held his hand out for Temujin. But the older boy didn't take it, standing up on his own.
"Now, I've repaid my debt to these people," Temujin said to the two of them and walked off away from there, leaving Tsukiko and Naruto staring after him, bewildered.
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It was late at night when Naruto came to bother Tsukiko awake. She rubbed her eyes in confusion as the blond dragged her all the way over to the wagon where Temujin was supposed to spend the night. He pulled the curtains back to show to the white-haired girl that the older boy was gone.
"He ran away, Tsukiko-Chan!" Naruto shouted, making the younger girl put her hands over her ears. "He ran away! That bastard! I won't let you get away!"
"Maybe we should just let him go?" Tsukiko offered. "I mean, we don't have any orders to chase suspicious people. We were just supposed to get a ferret to his owner and go back home,"
"You should've learned how to use aviary summons," Usajii mused in her head. "You could've reached out to your friends and to Konohagakure itself,"
"Now is not the time to be sassy, Usajii," Tsukiko retorted. "Come on, Naruto, let's just go to sleep – he probably left to go back to his own home or make a utopia, Usaaaaa,"
"This is horrible..."
It was old man Kahiko's voice, and the two kids turned around to see that he was looking around the place in darkness, confused and concerned. Tsukiko and Naruto shared a look as they walked over.
"Excuse me, Oji-Chan," Tsukiko said once she and Naruto were in Kahiko's vicinity. "What's wrong? What happened? Is everything okay? Did you lose something, Usa?"
"Nerugui-Chan isn't here," Kahiko told them.
"Does that mean that he went with him?" Naruto asked.
"Yes..." Kahiko replied as his shoulders slackened over in weariness. "What was the point of spending a large sum of money to hire the excellent Konoha ninjas?"
"Wait a second!" Naruto interrupted. "We just completed your request,"
"Be quiet!" Kahiko said. "I told you to deliver him to the next village, but Nerugui-Chan isn't here!"
"That's ridiculous..." Naruto muttered and Tsukiko massaged her forehead, wondering what to do with Nerugui – their mission – and also Temujin.
"If I knew this would happen," Kahiko complained. "I would have hired the even more excellent Sunagakure from the beginning," Tsukiko sweat-dropped.
"Aw man!" Naruto exclaimed. "We get it already, Dattebayo!"
It didn't take long for Tsukiko and Naruto to get their things together and setting out to look for Temujin. They used the white-haired girl's ability with Byakugan to follow after the older male, although she couldn't quite use it much without pain invading her head due to the moon's phase.
Fog surrounded them as they looked for Temujin and Nerugui, and found them standing in the middle of nowhere. Tsukiko was suspicious that the older boy had been deliberately waiting for them.
"We finally caught up to you!" Naruto shouted as they reached the blond male. "Hey, hey! Give me back that cat," Nerugui hissed up at him. "Why you... Wh-What is this?"
Tsukiko looked up as the fog subsided to reveal that a gigantic metallic vessel floating ahead.
"What exactly are you?" Tsukiko asked, turning to look at Temujin in amazement and suspicion.
"My name is Temujin..." Temujin replied, finally giving them a name. "Come! I'll introduce you to Haido-Sama!" He started to walk off into the vessel with Nerugui.
"Huh?!" Naruto exclaimed as he and Tsukiko followed after him. "H-Hey... Hold on a minute!"
"Why do you keep walking off?" Tsukiko said, shaking her head in frustration. She looked around the strange hallways uncertainly. "And who is this Haido-Sama?"
"My lord and a person with a wonderful belief," Temujin replied as he continued to walk down the corridor. "You'll understand when you meet him,"
"Say, are you friends with those strange guys?" Naruto asked as three of them passed a strange person dressed in metallic armour.
"They're just faithful soldiers," Temujin said as he pressed a button and got into a capsule-like room. Tsukiko hesitatingly followed him inside with Naruto. "My friends are..."
"What the..." Tsukiko muttered as Temujin pressed a button, making them move upward. She realised that this was also an elevator. "Oh..." She looked up reached the top.
"I have returned," Temujin announced as he walked out of the elevator and into a large hall where a man was sitting, reading some sort of book on his own. The blond boy bowed his head.
"Ah, Temujin," said the man. Tsukiko and Naruto shared a look. "You're back," He closed the book before standing up and looking at the two kids with him. "It is you two, aren't you? Temujin informed me that you both have interesting powers,"
"I shall show you right now," Temujin said and suddenly pulled out his sword to attack the kids standing next to him, and Tsukiko swiftly pulled out her tanto to block his attack. "Come on!"
"What's this?!" Naruto demanded but Tsukiko realised that he wanted them to show their Chakra.
"Now, come on!" Temujin responded.
"No!" Haido interjected them. "Stop this unnecessary fighting," Temujin turned to look at him. "No, fighting is not good," Tsukiko lowered her tanto when he lowered the sword.
"You're strange," Tsukiko told him, even more suspicious with their behaviour, but her gaze with Temujin was interrupted when the windows rolled open to show distant Rocky Mountains.
"Tsukiko-Kun and Naruto-Kun," Haido said as he motioned them to come and have a look outside. "We have journeyed to create a utopia,"
"I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'utopia'?" Tsukiko inquired.
"Well..." Haido replied. "Simply put, it is a world where there are no wars and the weak aren't oppressed," Tsukiko glanced at him in confusion.
"A world without wars?" Naruto asked.
"Yes..." Haido said. "Our homeland... is in a far-off continent with continuous wars... Wars are always unsightly and sorrowful. It brings misfortune to all people. Temujin here also lost his homeland to war,"
"Oh..." Tsukiko said as she glanced over at Temujin. "... I'm sorry to hear that,"
"I have Haido-Sama," Temujin replied.
"Temujin was left behind in his war-torn village when he was young," Haido told them. " made a decision. I wanted to protect the weak... I wanted to create a world where no one had to fight. That is utopia... My dream. For the sake of my dream, I've travelled the world gathering comrades...
"It has taken time to get this far. Unfortunately, there were people who became noble sacrifices along the way..." He turned to look at the two Konoha Ninjas. "Say, Naruto-Kun and Tsukiko-Kun, won't you come with me? I want you to help me make this world a better place,"
"Hmm..." Naruto replied. "I'd like to go, but I've got to become Hokage,"
"Hokage?" Haido asked.
"The best Ninja in my village," Naruto said.
"The leader of our village is called the Hokage," Tsukiko said, now confused as to why he didn't know that if he was travelling around this region. "On mention of that, I'd prefer to help out my village,"
"I see..." Haido said, but Temujin looked rather disappointed.
"Well, we can't go with you," Naruto replied. "But we'll also try our best to make everyone in our village happy!"
"Then let's us all give it our best," Haido said before noticing Nerugui on Temujin's shoulder all of a sudden. "Oh? What is that?"
"I'm very sorry," Temujin apologised to his master. "He came along with me from a caravan that I passed..." Tsukiko turned to see that the ferret growling at Haido.
"From a caravan?" Haido repeated. "I see... a caravan," And Tsukiko turned right back to look at the man, noticing a very peculiar look in his eyes that made her further suspicious of this –
"Haido-Sama! Bad news!"
"What's wrong?" Haido asked as he turned to answer the feminine voice now ringing through the hall. Tsukiko tensed up, her hold on her tanto tightening in defence.
"The fleet that was invading the Land of Wind was annihilated,"
"The Land of Wind?" Tsukiko asked. "Invading?" She felt like if these people were invading Land of Wind, then Sunagakure would definitely get involved. "What?"
"I'll go!" Temujin shouted as he went running off, and Tsukiko and Naruto rushed to followed behind him, wanting to see what these people were really up to around here.
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