Island of Storms [Sakura]

Chapter 12 | Bizarre

"Dad! I'm heading over to Tenten's now! Bye!" Ino informed as she left through the front door of her family's flower shop, hearing him call back from behind her as the door shut. She made her way down the street and looked around at the people going about their days.

"How can people be this happy when people have gone missing?" she asked herself. Deciding to stop thinking about it, she gave a sigh and began her run to Tenten's home.

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"So you're saying that you and Tenten aren't going out?" Shino asked, earning a shake of his friend's head. He and Neji were waiting for Tenten's house to begin to burn, as that was what they had decided upon for a signal to depart. The group had decided to leave the day before Kurama returned because, for some of them, one more day would be torture.

"No, we are not," the Hyuga confirmed. "We actually went on a date once, but we decided we weren't a match. It only stayed in a friendly atmosphere. We have more of a best friend thing."

"Interesting."

"It may sound harsh, but I can't imagine the guy she'll end up with."

"Could be a girl."

Neji turned his attention to the man next to him.

"That is a fair point, but no. She'll end up with a man. You didn't hear this from me. But whenever we go on missions, she will always check-out the men we come across." Shino stifled a laugh. "But she's shy whenever she gets hit on, so she's rather weird."

"That's true friendship right there," the Aburame teased before they both spotted the house glow.

"That's the signal. I'll see you in the Land of Waves," Neji whispered before they both moved from the tree, Neji himself heading for the east side of the village. He reached the wall before quickly scaling it, jumping off into the trees upon reaching the top. He did not take any time to rest as he took to the trees, quickly darting away from the village.

They had split up to make it harder on the tracking shinobi. If they were to run into opponents, they were on their own. After going through all the possible issues, they had decided upon each taking a highly different route. Ino went southeast and Tenten, southwest. They would later meet up and make their way directly to the Land of Waves. Neji, on the other hand, would at first go south and later turn southeast, heading to the Land of Noodles. He would then make his way north by boat. Shino went northwest to throw off the tracking shinobi if he had any. After losing them, he would head to the Land of Hot Springs and island-hop down to the Land of Waves. In conclusion, were the plans to go smoothly, Neji would be the last to arrive.

Activating his kekkei genkai, he searched the surrounding area. He counted three shinobi and two dogs on his trail about three-hundred and forty meters away. He quickly searched for a body of water ahead of him, finding one just on the outstretches of his sight, that being around eight-hundred meters. After what seemed like a few minutes, he reached the river and landed on the water's surface before he dropped himself into a shallow area, the liquid reaching his waist. Climbing back onto its surface, he began to run eastbound. He counted himself to be lucky as the river was running in the direction he needed to go.

A few minutes later, upon checking on the whereabouts of the shinobi, he found they had gone south across the river.

"I've lost them. Good." He relaxed his pace, prioritizing chakra to his eyes over his feet for the time being.

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A week had passed by the time Neji reached the border of the Land of Noodles. He had stopped by a village to restock on food and ask around for a fishing village.