Eclipse (A Naruto Fanfiction) (Sequel to The Silver Wolf) (Complete)

Ch. 17: Calm Before the Storm

Kari's POV

Needless to say, I was a little mad at Saden.

I know that he truly believes that the Konoha nin are out to kill us, but he's been in this world longer. Meaning he's a bit more jaded, and non-trusting.

I still think they're our friends. Well, the ones I sensed. I could tell that the group was Kakashi, Daken, Naruto, Sakura, and someone else. Mostly people I'd known. The Hokage wouldn't send a group of friends to kill us, because there was a chance they could fail. Their feelings might get in the way.

But I was a bit worried about the unknown person. Their chakra was strong, and there was a feeling that they weren't all the way there. Not mentally unstable, but maybe mentally repressed. Brainwashed, almost.

Which is bad.

I'm kinda surprised that Kakashi and Daken didn't pick up on this guy's aura. Hell, why didn't Naruto pick up on it? It's fairly obvious, and Naruto's an Uzumaki, who were known for their sensory abilities.

"Kari, I know that you're mad at me, but we need to get moving." Saden said, beginning to clear up our temporary camp site. "We need to reach Arashi by tonight, and the dragons can't fly us."

~And you're not going to run in wolf form, because that would take too much chakra~ Telem added. ~So be ready to run on two legs a lot~

"And you're not going to run or fly, just ride on my shoulder, right?" I wryly asked my little black dragon. Telem bobbed his head in acknowledgement, making me sigh. "I should have known...." I mumbled.

"Kari... Are you ready?" I nodded at my brother, who was ready to go, with Zahra already on his shoulder.

We both started running at the same time, dodging trees left and right as we made our way through the forest we'd camped in, heading east, deeper into the Land of Rivers. If we continued on at our current angle, we'd reach Sutomura, and turning more north would put us at Amegakure, which we'd decided to avoid at all costs. No need to get Pein even madder at me then he already was.

So after a few hours of traveling we were planning on turning due south, which would take us near the border of the Land of Rivers and the ocean. Arashi was situated right off the coast, which was the perfect place to raise the powerful, deadly storms that protected the village.

Zahra and Telem clung to Saden and I's shoulders tightly, but not enough to scratch us through the thick material of the cloaks we'd purchased in Sutomura. It may be warm in the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire, but with the perpetual rain in the Land of Rivers, we'd cool off faster than we needed. So the cloaks retained our body heat, keeping us from getting a cold or hypothermia.

We'd been running for about two hours before we saw any form of life. It was a squirrel, and as soon as it saw us it vanished into it's tree home. It was strange that there were no animals about...

"Kari, we need to turn south here." Saden informed me not long after we saw the squirrel. "Then, if we go south for around ten or twenty miles we'll hit Arashi."

I nodded in reply. Sure, I was a ninja, and could mold chakra to aid me in running, but I was getting a little tired. Nonstop running was tiring for everyone.

Scratch that. Everyone except Saden, who didn't seem to be tired at all. Stupid sibling....

"I know what you're thinking, and yes, I am just as tired as you are. I just show it less." Saden commented from up ahead of me. He slowed to a stop, allowing me to catch up.

As I stopped beside him, my mouth dropped open. "How did you know that's what I was thinking?"

"You were talking aloud."