Reanimation

Chapter Eleven

"How long do you estimate before we arrive at the underground cave?" Mitsuki asked, trailing just behind Sarada.

They had been traveling since dawn, and now the sun was shining directly over them, heating their bodies to the core.

Mitsuki wasn't tired but the heat was too much. They also hadn't stopped to drink or catch their breaths. He could feel Sarada panting heavily but he knew how she acted every time she was nervous and tense about something -- she'd just want to get the hell over it. So that's why they weren't stopping, she had to know what was going on and she had to know now.

"We're really near," Sarada said while jumping from branch to branch, almost barely managing to get the words across. "We have maybe only half an hour left if we keep this pace."

Mitsuki almost sighed, except he couldn't. "If we're about to reach it really soon, shouldn't we come up with some sort of a plan?"

Sarada let her foot slide off the branch she'd leaped on, letting herself land to the ground below. Mitsuki was quick enough to do the same. They'd landed on a small clearing.

"Or do you already have one?" Mitsuki asked.

Sarada looked at him blankly. "No, I don't. I tried to come up with a plan, but I couldn't." Sarada crouched, placing both hands on her knees. This was the first time she realized how tired she was. "Just what was written on Papa's note -- track him."

"Stop thinking it's a personal mission from your father, if it makes you too giddy and only keeps you from thinking clearly," Mitsuki said.

Sarada covered her face with both hands in frustration. She watched Mitsuki pace for a while as her mind raced with his to come up with a plan. There wasn't any. Mitsuki stopped before speaking, "River nearby. Mind cooling down a bit?"

Sarada quickly waved her hand to decline.

"C'mon, it would really ruin the mission if one of us passes out," Mitsuki said while he already began to walk toward the sound of the river.

Sarada wiped the sweat off her forehead with her arm, still trying to catch her breath. Realizing her teammate didn't really give her a choice, she followed.

"Thirty minutes distance. Would you mind if I peek at it ahead of you?" Mitsuki asked as he squatted down to fill his bottle with water.

"What?" Sarada asked, not quite knowing what he was getting at.

"My snake. I can send it that far ahead if you want me to," Mitsuki explained.

"Oh, right," Sarada nodded. "I forgot. My snake can't go that far ahead of me. Didn't think of that." The Uchiha deliberated on it for a moment. "Wouldn't it give us away?"

"It could. But Kansuke doesn't know about my snakes at all, does he?" Mitsuki answered.

"No. He'd think it's from me," Sarada said, as she thought of it further. "Wait, yes. Distract him, or something, I dunno."

"Hm. We can't really plan well if we don't know what we're facing, but I can do that if the situation calls for it." Mitsuki lifted up his hand and waited for movement from under his kimono's sleeve. Slowly, a small snake slithered out. "So, are you sure you're going to let me do this?"

Sarada smiled at him with a determined look on her face before nodding. "Yes, better than not knowing what to expect. Tell me what you find as soon as there is something."

The snake quickly vanished in a puff of smoke. Mitsuki and Sarada then walked down the river bank toward where the water reached their thighs. After soaking their faces and arms, they leaped off to continue their mission, and by that time Mitsuki's snake had already entered the cave.