What We Never Said

Chapter 10: Bringing Up the Impossible

We regrouped after the conversation I had with Hiromi. I walked quite a bit slower than Naruto and Sasuke had. They were a few feet ahead of me, chatting amongst themselves.

More like Naruto talking Sasuke's ear off. Sasuke was never much of a talker.

I wasn't paying any attention to what they were talking about. I had too much on my mind. The first thing: was I hating on Hiromi for no reason? Was she actually a different person from the girl I have grown to know? Was I too harsh and judgmental towards her? I couldn't understand the turn of events. She seemed like she actually kind of cared about me. Was it for Sasuke's sake? Or maybe she actually felt bad regarding the situation that was happening.

The next thing that was going through my head was the ultimate question: what was Hiromi trying to say to me? I understand that she couldn't blatantly tell me without destroying the trust that she has built with Sasuke, especially with how close he was when we were talking. But was she trying to tell me that.... No. There is no way that option was possible. I couldn't even bring myself to think about the possibility of what I thought she was trying to tell me.

I glanced up, trying to peek up at Sasuke without being noticed. I hadn't noticed, however, that he was a few steps behind Naruto. We made eye contact, and I felt the heat rise to my cheeks as I quickly glanced down to my feet.

I did not expect him to notice that my pace had slowed.

"Woah," Naruto called out ahead, which caught my attention. I quickly glanced up toward Naruto, taking in our surroundings.

This was not what we were expecting after our debrief of the situation.

The outpost was abandoned. No one was in sight. The wooden stilts that were holding up the outpost were broken, and the main floor of the outpost was turned on its side on the ground.

We quietly rounded around the turned building and saw that the door, or the remains of what was a door, was busted in.

It looks like they were attacked, and either left for dead or taken.

My breath grew shaky. I knew the ninja that was posted here. We all did.

Kiyoshi Saito.

This was his original post, before he became an Anbu, and was sent back here after guarding Sasuke's cell. I originally thought it was a punishment, for not stopping what was happening in Sasuke's cell, but it was starting to dawn on me that maybe they were suspecting something was happening there.

So close to the village.

Naruto had hopped through the entryway after we had decided that he would go in and Sasuke and I would stand guard. I took watch on the south side of the building, and Sasuke took the north.

I didn't know Kiyoshi long. But I did know of him. He was a legend. I always heard that he even rivaled Kakashi. He was a young prodigy... just as Sasuke was.

I glanced up in Sasuke's direction, I couldn't see where he was posting himself. But this worried me. Whoever took on Kiyoshi could still be around here.

"No sign of him," Naruto called out, startling me from my position. He jumped out of the doorway and landed on the side that Sasuke was on.

I quickly joined the two, as they were huddled close talking about Naruto's findings.

... which was nothing...

There was no sign of Kiyoshi. Besides the obvious state of the tower... there were no other signs of forced entry or a fight. It was like he disappeared, or went willingly.