Mending The Past To A Better Future

Chp. 24 The Rise to Greatness { Part-1}

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The Land of Lightning - Tuesday, 9:42 P.M. 

The fall weather was slowly but surely settling in like it did every year, and even though the Land of Lightning was often stormy, it still carried the humid air from the summers beforehand. There was a tempest in the sky like there always was, and where they were camped out laid desolate farmlands and odd crannies where the sun didn’t ever seem to hit. Wind swirled above, and lightning crackled menacingly in the sky, purple light flashing over the grassland, the leaves rustling in each tree as spirits floated through the branches and around the tree trunk.

The area was marshy but the dry breeze of the hotter seasons had made it a bit more bearable. As Naruto’s sandal-clad feet plunged downward into a swampy mud slide, she couldn’t help but grimace, the foul and chunky substance soaking her skin.

Naruto banded her arms around the wooden bucket she had been carrying for what felt like miles at this point. Water sloshed precariously in and out, the slightest tilt threatening to send it all splashing out. Unfortunately, she couldn’t afford to be irresponsible, as this was the drinking water that would sustain their little travel group for the next week or so, before it would be Jiraiya’s turn to fetch from the lake on the other side of the grasslands.

Thunder boomed overhead and echoed in the large clearing, making the blonde feel infinitely smaller than she was.

A crow’s shriek pierced overhead, circling above her before diving into a swan dip, soaring through the stalks of grass and diving through the small hole in the ground. Perhaps the darkness filtering in made it more visible, but the flames of the fire burnt brightly in their cave. As the shadow of the landing crow shaped up in her eye’s view, Naruto felt her heart thump a little faster, if only with the knowledge that the crow sent out had been either Shisui or Itachi’s. It was hard to tell them apart sometimes when their glossy black feathers looked so similar, but as time passed and more messages were sent between the traveling group and the ones in Konoha, it was becoming easier to find their distinguishing features.

Feet squelching with every step, Naruto tried to quicken her pace. Her muscles felt sore from carrying the huge bucket of water, but she wouldn’t complain. Traveling across the Elemental Nations was certainly not going to be easy, and she hadn’t expected anything less than grueling labor and punishing flight hours.

As she stumbled down the jagged rocks and into the cave, Naruto set the bucket down heavily and let out a sigh of relief, her forehead dotted with perspiration. She toed off her sandals and grimaced when light flickered over them, painting the mud stain shoes terribly.

A slender hand curled around her shoulder, and Naruto turned to see Rin smile at her.

Rin had certainly changed within the few months they had been on the road. Nothing too drastic, but her hair was definitely longer, and more often than not she was coated in some layer of dirt and grime from their living conditions. They all were.

Of course, not all nights were spent camping in the wilderness. A lot of times, they ended up in hotels that Tsunade had unabashedly picked for their casinos and poker tables. There were also frequent stops to hot springs on the road, but certainly less so than the casinos.

Jiraiya and Tsunade sat across from one another at the makeshift chabudai, constructed from broken bark and fallen branches. Broth and stew decorated the table neatly in four designated spots, and bottles of uncorked sake and whiskey littered the space between them.

“Welcome back, Naruto,” Jiraiya said, his voice already half gone. Naruto resisted the urge to roll her eyes because seriously, she had been gone for a few hours. How fast had they gotten drunk?