Once Again (A Naruto Fanfiction) (Sequel to Another Take) (Complete)

Ch. 19: Kings And Queens

~Into the night, desperate and broken, the sound of a fight~

Kiyomi's POV

Armed with only my skills, the chakra beast in my head, a scroll with my instructions, and a bottle full of water, I ventured out into the red desert, well aware of the two black lizards I was leaving behind. Kuroitokage had poked her head out of one of the windows of her Shinseina, and Machai was perched on her nose. Both watched me leave with unreadable expressions on their faces, even Machai who I'd known for three-odd years.

After I'd made the choice to improve my Yasei with the Shadow Lizard Sage's help, Kuroitokage was quick in shoving a scroll towards me, then pointed me to a small fountain in her tower that had cold, clear water. I'd filled my bottle up and taken a drink, then I was all but pushed out of the tower, given no instructions except that I needed to clear what was on the scroll.

I wasn't allowed to use any of my summonings or ninja skills to aid me, and that was reinforced by the seal the Lady had placed on my neck. It restricted all of my chakra but left Fenrir's alone. I'd need his to pass this test.

"Let's see..." I mumbled to myself as I stopped walking for a minute and pulled out the scroll. I settled at the base of a smaller pile of black rocks, one that I wasn't sure could be considered a Shinseina. Though it did provide ample cover from the blazing sun, thankfully. When I finished this adventure, I'm sure my skin would be about six shades darker. "What's first...?"

Unrolled, the scroll was about as long as my torso, and covered in both words and pictures. It  appeared to be completely handwritten, but by whom I had no idea.

Naturally, I started at the top.

""Go to the white Shinseina?"" I read aloud, staring at the first step. Beside the words was a crude map drawing with a white rectangle drawn in due north from a black circle. I hadn't known there were actually white Shinseina. I thought I heard Machai say they were all black.

'That's not a hard step,' Fenrir snorted, having been paying attention. 'Seriously. All you have to do is traverse the entire desert to find a white pile of rock. Sounds easy.'

"Yeah, so easy," I retorted aloud, rolling my eyes. Hearing Fenrir's sigh, I continued. "Yes, I know that was sarcasm. But moving on, we need to figure it out.... Wait."

'What?'

"Well, we got this scroll at Kuroitokage's Shinseina," I began, wheels turning in my head. It would make sense... "What if the black circle is supposed to be her tower? She is a seriously dark-scaled lizard. It could be drawn that way so it wasn't mistaken for a regular Shinseina."

A gust of hot air blew my hair around my shoulders as Fenrir considered my words. But I had already begun to stand up, believing that what I'd thought was correct.

Let's see... I've walked in a straight line since coming from the Lady's... Going due west, I believe. I glanced at the sun overhead, seeing that it was dipped towards where I was facing. So I turned ninety degrees to the right, now facing north. I need to go that way, then.

I sensed Fenrir's shrug. 'Alright, north it is.' Then the wolf settled back in for the ride. I must say, I'm a bit jealous. He doesn't have to endure this sweltering heat. Almost unconsciously I wiped some sweat from my forehead.

Fast forward about two hours, and the sun was going down. I'd taken my tan jacket off earlier in the day because of the heat, but now I put it back on. A cold breeze blew through me, raising a few goosebumps. I hadn't guessed that deserts got cold at night, but apparently they did.