Darkest Before Dawn

The Cypher Division

   "Ehh... Nami no Kuni must be really far!!" Sakura exclaimed. She peered off the boat and stared at the passing waves, "We've been traveling, I think, three days? How much longer until we get there, Sensei?"

   Ibiki crossed his arms and stared eastward. The faint outline of land was visible through the clear sky.

   "My guess is about an hour to an hour and a half. Once we get there, we'll find the nearest village and an inn. We'll rest for a while, have lunch, then we'll proceed with the mission. Understood?" he said.

   "Un!"

   It wasn't long before a thick fog surrounded the boat and the waters around them. Sakura wasn't too worried about it, she read in a book that the Land of Waves always had fog at this time of day. Soon enough, they docked, unloaded, an entered the town. The people looked miserable, thin, and malnourished. The girl looked wide-eyed at everyone and everything as they walked. A thrum of fear ran through her as she laid a glance at the numerous shady figures.

   "Sensei... why does this place look so... sad?" she whispered.

   "A shipping baron named Gato. His hold on the place is what's making it impoverished." replied Ibiki. They eventually found an inn that didn't look too bad and placed all their belongings in the room. As Ibiki suggested, and was probably right about, they placed traps around the room. The two chatted for a while over a bowl of stew before setting out to the forest.

   It had an even denser overhead of fog. Unusual fog. Ibiki waved his hand, ushering Sakura to stay closer to him. Enemy ninja were near, six medium sized but one extremely large.. He turned to the small girl.

   "Stay out of sight. If any of them go toward you, run. Don't attack."

   Sakura nodded and hid on a high branch. She watched as seven people entered the area. Six people were wearing green outfits, and one stood in front of all of them, clad in a gray flak jacket, Kirigakure headband, and propping up his left arm with his katana. What intrigued Sakura the most was the man in the front, presumably a guard. He was a tall man, maybe in his early twenties, and was blue. And were those... gills on his cheek bones?

   "All of you, get out of here! Now!" the blue man ordered.

   "But..." the lone female trailed off.

   "Now!"

   The five men had no trouble turning around and bolting the hell out of there. Ibiki took the chance and launched himself at the man. The girl of the group stayed, though.

   "Kisame!"

   "Suiren, I said get out of here!"

   When Sakura was sure Ibiki and Kisame were fully engaged in their fight, she jumped off the branch and crept around the foliage and approached the woman named Suiren. She tugged at her sleeve. Suiren jerked her arm away and looked down, surprised.

   "Suiren-san, right? My name's Sakura!" the girl smiled, "You should listen to, ano, Kisame-san? This fight is dangerous. You might get hurt."

   The tan-haired woman was shocked to say the least. It wasn't everyday that a five year old was lurking around these parts and found around dangerous ninja. When the girl didn't see a reaction coming soon, she grabbed the woman's hand and pulled her away from the seen. Suiren finally came to her senses after a couple minutes of running.

   "Wait! I can't- I can't just leave Kisame alone out there!" she exclaimed. Sakura paused, then looked over her shoulder. Her green eyes glimmered brightly, but she hadn't let go of Suiren's hand.

   "You really care for him, don't you?" asked the five year old. The Cypher Division member blushed darkly.

   "I-I do, but I just c-can't leave him..."

    "You have to. I saw some of his moves out there, and he's really strong. Maybe even stronger than my sensei. Suiren-san, Kisame-san is going to walk out of that battle alive. And when he does, you have to be alive as well, waiting for him." said Sakura. She urged Suiren forward with a grin and a wave.

   "Bye bye, Suiren-san! I'll make sure Kisame-san gets back safely, I promise!"

   With that, the five year old turned towards the battle.

   And ran.

~

Disclaimer: I do not own the picture.
Info: The picture is of the Cypher Division that Kisame was assigned to protect. The girl in the background is Suiren. I'm not sure if it's her real name, but no name was given. Suiren is actually a real person in the Naruto Series (which I also do not own) and is coincidently a Kirigakure shinobi who bears an extremely close resemblence to the female Cypher Divison member.