Vision of Truth I: Cat and Fox (Naruto)

The Sand Ninja

Chapter 16: The Sand Ninja

Try as I might, I could not obtain more information about the portal or the Sharingan. Naruto grew impatient with my questions and said we all just had to get strong enough. Sasuke agreed with this assessment. So, I put the issues of the curse aside and worked on training with my teammates.

Of course, forgetting the portal was difficult when I received another note in May:

Good morning Sumi!

At least it's morning where I am. I do not know when your grandpa will give you these letters. I know him, you know? Don't go thinking I'm as old as him or anything! Kotaro sensei is a good mentor. I'm sure you've figured that out too. It was nice of him to agree to give these letters to you in the future. I would have definitely forgotten! But don't worry; I'm great on missions. I hope I'll be able to go on one with you one day! I'm sure we'd have a blast. Anyway, I've got to run. My teammate is bugging me about taking too long. Talk to you later!

I stared at the letter, trying to decipher the meaning behind the words. The author clearly thought highly of my grandpa, though I still did not understand how they knew each other. Most importantly, I was confirmed in my belief that something had happened to Kotaro. Would I find out in these letters? Did I want to know? Yes, I decided. The truth should always be known.

Another month of missions and training passed. And then June 20th arrived, the day of the summer solstice. I knew the portal could only be opened on this day, and I could not deny my curiosity. However, as soon as I reached the base of the mountain, I found Kakashi waiting for me, his arms crossed.

"Hey, sensei," I said with a nervous smile. "You're up early. What are you doing here?"

"Hello, Katsumi," Kakashi said. "I was about to ask you the same thing. You were not planning on visiting the portal, were you?"

"Well, I won't have to if you answer some questions for me."

"I think you need to focus on your training." Kakashi walked past me, gently ruffling my hair as he did so. "Come on." I had no choice but to follow.

I was smarter about it in my next attempt in the afternoon. I used my senses to search for anyone who would stop me. The only person nearby was Naruto, so I decided to bring him along. If I was not alone it would be fine, right?

"Are you going to try to go through the portal?" Naruto asked once we were far enough up that I deemed it safe for him to talk.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course not. What would that achieve? Besides, the portal only opens under certain conditions, and even if it could open, I can't use my shield jutsu if I'm not defending someone."

"Wow, you better work on that."

If I did not work on it, would that be a sufficient excuse for not sending the next generation through the portal? I doubted it. That would be too easy. We stopped at the forbidden site. The levitating ball of energy appeared just as it always did. Was there really something special about this day? Suddenly sensing someone, my head snapped up. "Who's there?" I said in a low voice.

Naruto looked around, puzzled. "Who are you talking to? There's no one here."

I checked my senses again found him to be right. And there was not a pair of red eyes to be seen. "I thought someone was watching me."

"You must be imagining it."

"Maybe..." I sighed. "There's nothing here for us. Let's go."

We did not get far down the mountain before Naruto spoke again. "Hey, tomorrow's the anniversary of your arrival here, right? We should celebrate!"