The Haruno Clan's Blossom

Chapter16

"Light beco-" 

"Yeah, yeah." The round figure in the clearing down below said, interrupting the lone figure who was standing on the other end of the glade. "Do you have what I asked you for?"

The hooded figure hesitated for a moment before replying. "I am afraid not.." There was a long pause and both Sakura and Shisui's brows furrowed as they shifted on the branch they were perched on.

"You-" The plump figure down below huffed, enraged. "You know what? I will give you one more chance!"

The cloaked person who was on the receiving end of the man's angered shouts seemed to sigh in relief.

"The foolish people I entrusted to handle an important piece of our little puzzle have lost what I temporarily let them have in their possession." Sakura and Shisui immediately snapped to attention. "If you can get what I have been demanding you to acquire and obtain the runaway piece before those foolish hooligans do then I shall let you off the hook. I shall tell someone to bring you to the base to discuss the details, come here at the normal time tomorrow."

"Yes sir! I shall not fail you again." The mysterious figure bowed before turning around and disappearing into the surrounding woodland.

The plump figure along with his silent companion left the clearing and Shisui thought over what had just occurred. He still had no idea who any of the mysterious cloaked people could be but they had gained some new information. Since someone would be coming to the clearing tomorrow to take the lone figure to the underground base he and his 'Watch the clearing' partner could probably follow them.

He thought back to the plan his taller teammate had originally gone over when they first arrived.

'Heh. Looks like we'll need a new plan.' 

Whilst the Uchiha was deep in thought his summon had dismissed itself and Sakura, deeming the coast was clear, had jumped down into the glade. The young pinkette looked around the clearing, searching for any clues the figures might have left. From what she saw the rounder figure appeared to be one of those rich business men who was always shouting like they had all the power in the world. The man was most likely a civilian- the way he held himself was more relaxed then a shinobi. 

The taller figure whom stood at his side had remained silent throughout the entire meeting so Sakura couldn't be sure as to their gender. They were most likely some sort of guard for the plump man so the pinkette estimated that they were trained in combat. She, of course, wasn't sure how powerful or strong they were but the pinkette knew that it was better to overestimate someone rather then underestimate them. 

The third figure was similar to the second as Sakura wasn't sure what gender they were. Knowing someone's gender wasn't too important but it did help with identifying them. Akito, the child Nozomi-san had picked up off the streets, referred to themselves as 'they' which was an example to the fact that some people didn't even have a gender so having one wasn't vital. Sakura had noticed that the third figure's form was a lot smaller then the other two's- although that wasn't saying much since they were all wearing cloaks- and they also appeared to be a lot stealthier as well. The green eyed girl hadn't managed to catch a peak of any of their faces but maybe if one of them left something behind she could figure out something about their identity.

The area seemed undisturbed for the most part which left Sakura slightly annoyed. Her dark haired teammate jumped down from the tree they had watched the meeting from and stood next to her.

"So, Emerald-san.. I say we wait for the person to come here to collect the er.. other person and then we follow them and sneak into the underground base!"

"And how, Uchiha-san, do you know that they're the underground organisation we're after?"

"Well it's the only lead we have.."

"That is true but we need to make sure we don't get caught. We'll meet up with.." Sakura paused. How should she refer to Nozomi-san without calling the redhead 'Nozomi-san'? After a moment of hesitation she continued speaking. "..My ...Sensei in the morning and update her on the situation, from there we can plan out what we need to do."

The curly haired male frowned. "I don't think we should leave the making of the plan that late.."

"I agree with you Uchiha-san however my Sensei shall be furious if we don't wait to update her and when we do she will probably want to create the plan." It was really stupid but Nozomi-san was stubborn so they would have to include her to avoid her being annoyed at them in the future.

~<*.*>~

"Hmm I see.." Behind her mask Nozomi-san frowned. Sakura and Shisui had just finished explaining what had happened and the redhead was digesting the information. She had left Akito in the room back at the inn; the kid still hadn't shared much about their situation prior to when she found them but the teenager had learnt a few things about the child. For instance: Akito liked the colours red and blue; they enjoyed cleaning; and they also liked wolves.

The Haruno was still trying to figure out how the youngling managed to change the subject of their conversations without her even noticing. In a way Akito reminded Nozomi-san of Sakura. The mousy blonde haired kid was around seven years old- not much older then the pinkette- and although they were a lot more cheery then Sakura, Akito was very intelligent and could speedily analyse their surroundings much like Sakura could.

The child was energetic most of the time however every now and again Nozomi-san noticed that they would shrink in on themselves and grow quiet. The seventeen year old also noticed that Akito was haunted by night terrors. Every night the child would sob as they curled up into a ball. She was no medical professional but they had obviously went through something traumatic or had some form of PTSD for them to repeatedly have nightmares every night. Nozomi-san only slept a few hours if at all which wasn't all that different to other shinobi but the redhead hated the fact that something was effecting Akito so strongly that they couldn't sleep without being tormented by nightmares.

She shook her head, now was not the time to think about Akito, she needed to turn her attention to the situation Sakura and Shisui had brought to her situation.

"Ok, here's what we're going to do.."

A/N: I'm back! I apologise that this chapter wasn't longer but I kind of struggled with writing it..

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Sorry for any mistakes!

Hope you enjoyed!