Chapter 56 part 3

With Alvarcus

"I don't know how to feel." I say out loud to myself as I'm covering ground at an astonishing rate.

~About what, Host?~

"It's just... should I camp out tonight or keep running? On one hand if I camp out tonight it'll be nice to stare up at the stars and stuff. But on the other hand the quicker I get to a port city the quicker I can find a boat and finish up my business. Then I'll have the rest of the two weeks to myself."

~Run through the night. You can stargaze once the business is complete.~

"True. Plus who knows when boats are scheduled to leave? I might miss it if I take too long here." I heave out a sigh. "Running through the night it is."

At the Ruins of the Base

"Alright. I know this sounds bad but it's time we move on." Kakashi solemnly says to the rest of the team. "There's nothing we can do here and we have our own mission to go on."

"How can you say that?" Naruto seethes at the older shinobi. "How can you act like none of this matters? Like none of it means anything to you at all?"

"Naruto!" Shikamaru cuts in. "This isn't easy on him either!"

"Then why isn't he doing anything!" Naruto shouts. "Someone leveled this place! Probably someone from Oto and we're doing nothing? You expect us to go back to our mission like nothing happened? Kakashi people died here! Our allies died here! We have to do something!"

"Okay. What?" Kakashi calmly replies to Naruto's anger fueled questions. "What do you expect me to do?"

"I… well you could… maybe…" Naruto comes up empty.

"Exactly. It's not that I don't want to do something, it's that there's simply nothing for me to do." Kakashi sighs. He hates having to actually teach, he's not good at it. "Look we can't act rashly. We're not even sure if it is someone from Oto that did this. Kusa has just as many enemies as friends it could have been any one of them. And do you really want to run headfirst at an opponent that is capable of this without even knowing their name? This wasn't the work of a team. This wasn't the work of explosive tags. This was one singular jutsu. You all are good but you're not ready to face someone like this."

"I am tired of people underestimating me!" Naruto shouts. "You don't know me! You don't know what I'm capable of!"

"You're right. But I know what they're capable of." Kakashi gestures at the other three members. "Anko's good but she would need a team that she's intimately familiar with to stand against someone like this. I'm not a part of that team and neither are you. Shikamaru is incredibly smart but when your opponent doesn't care what they destroy you can only plan for so much and we know nothing about this person. Then there's Ino, she's good for her age but she doesn't stand out yet. One day she can be as feared as I am, hell all of you can, but that is not today. No one here is ready to face whoever did this, myself included."

"Naruto I get that you're eager to prove yourself and letting this go is hard." Kakashi continues. "But do you think you could do this? Could you single handedly destroy a base of Oto shinobi and then not even bother to kill off the wounded? To let them sit there in agony for who knows how long? Is that the kind of person you are? Because that's who we're dealing with."

"But we have to do something!" Naruto shouts and his eyes start to glisten. "This isn't right! It's not right! We can't just do nothing for everyone that died here!"

"There are three Kusa shinobi heading back to their home as we speak." Kakashi points out. "They will relay what happened then Kusa can seek vengeance or choose to withdraw. Actions have already been taken, they're just not our actions. We have our own mission to go on. Shikamaru, orders?"

Kakashi is handing the reigns back over to Shikamaru for two reason. The first is simple: the danger has passed. They're back on the mission they're supposed to be on. The second is more personal: it's so that everyone else responds better to the team leader. Kakashi may have stepped up for a moment, but in that moment everyone's view of him has changed except for Anko. He doesn't want to cause conflict within the team by trying to order everyone around if he doesn't have to.

"Naruto Kakashi is right." Shikamaru places a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder. "There's nothing more to be done, the necessary actions have already been taken."

"It doesn't feel right." Naruto mutters under his breath. "It feels wrong."

"Alright everyone." Shikamaru addresses the group. "We're heading out. We'll run until nightfall to make up for lost distance. Let's go."

The group leave the ruins behind them. The whole team dynamic has changed, it's no longer as light and free as it once was.

The Next Day, Around Midday

"So… you sure that was the only place I could ask someone what ships are leaving for the Land of Snow?" I ask the large white spider that's perched on my head. "Cuz the only one they've got is for tomorrow."

"Yep, this is a small port. Not too many ships come to and from here, fewer from where you're going." Shirokumo pats me with one of his many legs. "Man these ocean ports sure get chilly this time of year."

"Just wait. I'm going to the Land of Snow. It's doesn't ever stop snowing." I dryly inform my summon.

"I know. You've got issues kid." Shirokumo eloquently responds.

"Yes, yes I do. Do you really think it's in your best interest to keep reminding me about that?" I chastise him.

"You're the one walking around with a giant white spider on your head." Shirokumo nestles into my scalp for heat, royally messing up my hair in the process. "No shit I'm going to say you have issues."

"But you are the spider." I exasperatedly say. "Isn't that a little ironic?"

"Pretty sure that's not what ironic means." Shirokumo finally stops squirming. "So you going to go ask the Captain for passage or not?"

"Oh shut up. I'm getting around to it. Gotta find the boat first."

"Here it is." Shikamaru declares to his team as the port town comes into view. "We've made it."

"Finally!" Ino weeps exaggerated tears of joy. "I can shower now! I can't believe how dirty I got!"

"Yes that is a downside to our coats." Anko pats Ino on the head. "Next time be sure to bring some pajamas then you won't have to sleep half naked on the ground. Gotta say it was smart of you to use your headband to tie your coat shut. I was half hoping you'd end up flashing us in your sleep, that would be a great story to tell."

"I did bring pajamas but someone burned them!" Ino weeps tears of sadness. "And we're going to the Land of Snow! SNOW! Guess what it's always doing there? If you guessed snowing you're right!"

"Not my fault?" Anko weakly tires to avoid responsibility. "Just grab one of the two boys. They'll be more than willing to keep you warm."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Ino nervously glances at the two prospects of being her personal heater. "Shikamaru and I are just too good of friends, I don't want to ruin that. And Naruto… well he's still so childish. Plus he's leaving soon, I won't be able to see much of him. I'm okay with teasing them a bit but I don't think I want to go further than that."

"The hell are you talking about?" Anko asks in confusion. "Just steal their body heat, I'm not suggesting you fuck them or something! I know that I'll be trying to steal Kakashi's the entire time we're on this trip!"

"And I'll be sleeping with numerous kunai." Kakashi quips back. "Numerous very sharp kunai. My body heat is my own, thank you."

"Oh I like a challenge!" Anko taunts him right back. "I remember the first time you pulled out your kunai. That was a good night."

"Anko what would Iruka say?" Kakashi responds with mock hurt. "Shame on you."

"Wait." Ino's eyes dart between the two jonin. "Have you two…"

"What?" Anko reassuringly throws an arm over Ino's shoulder. "You can say it. Had sex? Banged? Boinked? Get down and dirty? Screwed? Shagged? Fucked like wild rabbits on the world's most hardcore aphrodisiacs? Take your pick, I like the last one the best. Though boinked is fun to say."

Ino blushes madly. She's not the only one, both Naruto and Shikamaru are blushing too even though they're acting like they haven't heard a word of the conversation.

"Fine! Have you…" Ino gets very quiet. "Slept together?"

"Until you ask me if I've fucked him I'm not answering." Anko pats Ino on the back and breaks their half hug. "Consider it me working on breaking you out of your shell. Seriously it's not that big of a deal, they're just words. BOINKED!"

"Anko quit terrorizing the innocents." Kakashi drawls out while shooting her a reprimanding glare. "And I would appreciate it if you wouldn't allude to things we may or may not have done."

"What? Like you haven't bragged about bedding a girl before. Doesn't matter if it was me or not since I'm neither confirming or denying it happened." Anko pointedly returns the glare.

"Fair point. We were all teenagers once." Kakashi concedes.

"So as fun as it is to hear what may or may not have happened in your respective sex lives, how about we do what we came here to do?" Shikamaru practically shouts over the two bickering jonin. "Frankly I don't care who fucked who, we're here for a job."

"See!" Anko points at Shikamaru while looking at Ino. "It's not that hard! Say it with me now, fuck."

"No!" Ino squeaks in embarrassment. "Shikamaru what's the plan?"

"We have two main objectives." Shikamaru starts to explain before Anko can chime in again. "First: we have to find the client. We're supposed to meet her here. Second: secure the ship for passage. Supposedly the client has gotten a ship lined up to take us to the Land of Snow but we need to check it over for any malicious intent."

"Ahem." Ino's embarrassment vanishes and it's replaced with bossiness. She's crossed her arms and is tapping her foot in agitation. "There should be getting a hotel in there somewhere. I want a shower."

"The ship should have that." Shikamaru waves off Ino's anger, he's done it multiple times before. "Consider it a hotel on water. So since we have to objectives we'll split the group two ways."

"I'll take Naruto to go find the client." Kakashi offers. "Actresses can be very… peculiar at times. It's best an adult deals with her."

"Hey I'm an adult!" Anko cuts in.

The rest of the shinobi briefly imagine how Anko would handle talking with the client. They all shiver in unison.

"Works for me." Shikamaru quickly says. "That means Anko, Ino and I will go secure the boat. Will you be able to meet us there or do you want us to come find you once we're done?"

"We'll be fine. I'm sure I can manage one actress." Kakashi waves off the other three.

"Oi I don't want to go with him!" Naruto whirls towards Ino. "Switch with me!"

"Come on Naruto. We've got an actress to find." Kakashi grabs Naruto by the scruff of the neck and drags him off.

"NOOOO! NOT LIKE THIS!" Naruto wails as he's dragged away.

"I'm starting to think we had the most normal sensei." Shikamaru comments to Ino as he watches Naruto submit to his fate. "Asuma-sensei would never do that."

"You might be right. We did get lucky." Ino agrees. "So. Boat?"

"Yeah. Boat."

The trio make their own exit.

"BOINKED!"

"Dammit Anko! You can't do that in front of the client!"

"So this is the ship going to the Land of Snow." I do a quick once over on it. "Good enough for me, she looks like she can take a rough voyage."

"So what's your plan?" Shirokumo asks from my head. He hasn't left yet. "Going to stowaway on it? Hide in the hold until you reach your destination? Perhaps threaten the Captain to allow you passage?"

"I'm going to ask." I blandly tell my summon. "What the hell kind of a person do you think I am? Don't answer that."

"You're a shinobi. That's kinda your thing, hiding away in places." Shirokumo mutters to himself. "It's not that crazy of an assumption."

"OI!" I shout at the large ship. "Anyone there?"

A man leans over the side and glares at me. "The hell do you want punk?"

"You the Captain? I want to hitch a ride to the Land of Snow." I call back to the rude man.

"CAPTAIN!" The man shouts and he disappears back into the ship. "WE GOT A KID WITH A SPIDER ON HIS HEAD ASKING FOR A RIDE! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE TO MAKE SURE I'M NOT CRAZY!"

"Well at least he went to get the Captain?" I weakly say to Shirokumo.

"We really should have thought of that." Shirokumo sighs.

"Who the fuck are you?" A new face leans over the side of the ship to speak to me. "Scratch that, don't care. Why should I let you on my ship? Bringing shinobi onboard is bad luck."

"Uh…" Shit what can I offer him? "I'll protect you, the crew and the ship from anyone who tries to start trouble?"

"No shit you'd do that." The Captain gruffly barks out. "If trouble happens it's always shinobi's fault so you better fix it! Give me something worthwhile. Something good. It's gotta be worth it for me and my crew."

"How about added manual labor?" I offer something else. "I may not look like it but I'm actually quite strong."

"Must be one of those shinobi tricks." The Captain mutters. "Not good enough, I've got plenty of hands to handle my cargo. You'd just get in the way even if you can hold five times the usual. You don't know our system. Last chance. What do you got?"

"You're hauling cargo?" I ask and he nods affirmative. "I'm pretty good at fuinjutsu, I can seal away the cargo to make it lighter and more space efficient. It'll let you carry more too so this one trip could be worth six trips."

"Works for me!" The Captain eagerly waves me up. With one large leap I join him on the deck. "Welcome aboard. Now you're not our only passenger, we've got a movie crew coming with us. That going to be a problem?"

"As long as they don't try to make me an actor we'll be fine." I assure him. "So, where's the cargo? I'll get started right away. I'll seal what you've got here first then if you get more I'll seal that as it comes. I'll do as much as you want until either I run out of supplies or you can't get more."

"I'll show you to the hold." The Captain eagerly takes a few steps then stops. "Laddie, can you put the spider away? I don't need any spider eggs popping up in my ship. That's bad for business."

"That's a new one." Shirokumo says to us. "I bid you farewell."

"See ya around." I say goodbye as he poofs away to the Nest. "So, cargo hold?"

"Right this way." We both disappear into the ship.

"Whew!" I whistle as the Captain shows me just how much cargo the ship has. "What is all this stuff?"

"Food mainly. Some medical supplies and general goods like clothes and trinkets." He pats a large box. "Think you can get all of this?"

"There's nothing alive in any of these, right?" I question. "Seals and living beings don't always mix well."

"Unless we've got a stowaway, no." The Captain clears up. "So can you get it all? And how small can you make it?"

"Hmm." I take in the large room one more time. Then I reach into my coat and pull out a decently sized scroll. I quickly unfurl it and pump chakra in it to release its contents. Out of it pops one of the massive scrolls, like the one Jiraya carries around. "I can get all of it into this with plenty of room to spare."

Basically I'm going to make a crap ton of large storage seals on this one scroll. Why waste a lot of little ones when I can use one big one to get the same effect? Even if the large storage seal takes up a meter of paper I'll just unroll it more to add in another one next to it. These kinds of scrolls are so insanely long it's ridiculous. Plus I may have always wanted to actually use one of these huge scrolls. They've always seemed cool to me.

"Laddie what would it take for me to hire you on full time?" The Captain asks. He's being one hundred percent serious too. I can't blame him, I did just say I can stick his entire cargo hold into a bunch of paper. It's any transporter's dream.

"Sorry Captain. I'm in another business already." I deny his job offer.

"If you ever want a change of careers you've got a spot on my crew. Just find me."

"I'll keep that in mind. Now I've got to start working, these seals do take time to create."

"I'll leave you to it." The Captain leaves.

I pull out another scroll that has a bunch brushes and ink sealed away. Hey if I can hold more than one brush at a time you bet I'm going to! It makes things go so much quicker even if it's only making two seals at a time.

"Let's get to it. They're not going to make themselves."

"Is anyone else cold?" Ino rhetorically asks Shikamaru and Anko. "No. You're not. Because you all didn't have the rest of your clothes burnt!"

"You're still mad about that?" Anko asks.

"Of course I am!" Ino stomps her foot in anger. "And this damn coat doesn't have a zipper or a fastener of any kind!"

"Well duh." Anko remarks to her student. "I got it custom made just for you, silly things like zippers and fasteners just get in the way."

"No they don't!" Ino practically roars at Anko. "In what situation could they possibly get in the way for?"

"Get a boyfriend then see if you feel the same way." Anko responds with a suggestive wink. "Trust me, he'll appreciate it too."

"Thank Kami there's the ship." Shikamaru sags in relief. The long walk over here has been very stressful on him. He swears that they're doing this on purpose just to make him uncomfortable.

"What the hell does she mean by that?" Ino asks herself.

"Boinking Honey. Boinking." Anko pats innocent Ino on the head. "Also known as fucking. You know you can say it and no one will judge you."

"I'm not saying it!" Ino blushes madly.

"One of these days. Just wait, I'll get you to say it." Anko promises.

"Hello?" Shikamaru calls out to the ship. "We're here on behalf of Yukie Fujikaze."

The Captain's head pops over the side of the ship. "What is up with kids yelling at me today? The fuck you want?"

"See even he does it! It's not hard!" Anko says to her student.

"Don't care!" Ino huffed in anger and crosses her arms while turning away from Anko.

"Like I was saying." Shikamaru ignores the two females. He'll never understand them. "We're a group of Konoha shinobi that Yukie Fujikaze hired to protect her as she goes around in the Land of Snow. We're here to check out the ship."

"You're part of the actress's group?" The Captain asks. "Should have said that first."

"I did." Shikamaru sighs.

"Get on up here." The Captain waves them onboard and the three of them jump onto the deck. Two of the three draw a lot of leering gazes from the crew.

"Hey there hot stuff!" One of the crew members calls out to Anko. "What's a pretty little thing like you doing in a rough place like this?"

"Oh a tough guy." Anko pulls out a kunai and licks it suggestively. "I love me a tough guy. The screams they make when I break them are simply exquisite!"

"Message received. Not touching that." The crew member smartly goes back to his task.

"Aww you don't want to play?" Anko teasingly calls out as she spins her kunai on her finger. "I promise to leave you as at least half a man."

"Never touching that. Ever." The crew member says to himself.

"Can you not threaten my crew?" The Captain demands. "They may seem like a bunch of vagabonds and they are. But they're hard working vagabonds."

"Fine. I won't play with them." Anko puts away the kunai.

"So… we're here to do a quick once over of the ship to make sure there's no nasty surprises waiting for us or the client." Shikamaru steps between the Captain and Anko so that they quit their banter.

"Go ahead. If you break something you buy it." The Captain lays down the law. "And I charge outrageous prices."

"Duly noted." Shikamaru agrees to the sensible terms. They have no plans of breaking anything while here. Unless there's an idiot hiding out in the cargo hold or something equally ridiculous. "Anything noteworthy we should be aware of?"

"Yeah." The Captain calls over his shoulder, he's moved on to more important things. Like running a ship. "There's another one of your group in the cargo hold. He's doing some fancy stuff with paper. I really have no idea how it works at all."

"Anko. Ino. Cargo hold. Now!" Shikamaru demands and all three shinobi spring into action leaving a stunned Captain behind.

"Assholes the whole lot of them. Shinobi have no respect for other working class people. At least the first one offered to help. He's one of the few exceptions. Plus he's going to make me filthy rich with one trip! I can take an entire warehouse in one go!"

"That should do it." I straighten up from my hunched over position. "That's the last box sealed away. I wonder where I can bunk at? This has got to be an overnight trip. Well I suppose it doesn't really matter. I can always have Murasakino set me up with a hammock between two support beams or something."

I gaze out over the now empty cargo hold. Damn I did a good job.

"Who am I kidding? I'm going to do that anyways. Her hammocks are to die for!"

"He's on the other side of the door." I faintly hear a young girl's voice through the closed door to the cargo hold. "Further into the room, on the edge of my sensing range. Just the one."

"Okay." An equally young boy replies. "We need to take him alive. Here's the plan."

"Yeah fuck that." I mumble to myself as I rise up and make my way to the door. "I'm not going to sit here and let Hunters try to take me alive. I swear I lost them all earlier, these…"

~Three.~

"Thanks. These three are persistent." I grip the doorknob with determination set on my features.

I know that these three aren't expecting me to burst out of the room in a flurry of rage but I can't exactly do that. I'm on a ship that I need to stay intact, this will require something I'm not the best at. Precision. I'll have to go oldschool and use only taijutsu and kunai. I'm not going to risk my elemental whips at all, they could crack the hull if I'm not careful.

That being said I'd rather break the ship than be caught or killed. I push out my water heart, it's going to be my trump for this fight. If I do get caught then it's going to come free me by any means necessary. That includes sinking the ship if it has to.

"We're going in three." The young male says again. He sounds… slightly familiar. Maybe I met him back at the bounty station? Oh well, not like he's going to live for much longer. "Two."

I don't let him reach one.

I shove the door open and I'm rewarded with a dull smack as it slams into someone. I don't wait for them to regain their composure, I have the element of surprise. Except one of them wasn't that surprised, a glint of metal is rapidly closing the distance to my face.

I bring up my own kunai and block it from hitting me as I quickly trade a furious exchange of blows with whoever threw it. Whoever this is she's good, keeping up with me isn't easy. Not only am I a lot faster than I look but I'm also much stronger too. But after the very first blow between us was exchanged the kunoichi recognized that I have superior strength and switched her combat style to match me. She's not blocking me, she's parrying me. She's pushing my blows away from her but never fully absorbing the force I put behind them.

"Oto shinobi!" The kunoichi I'm trying to kill snarls at me.

Then I take in her features. Dark violet hair. Long open trench coat. Konoha headband.

"Anko?" I let my relentless attack falter for just a moment.

The Kunoichi takes advantage of this to land a vicious kick into my gut that sends me tumbling down the hallway.

"Shadow possession complete." The young male voice from earlier says. I quickly strain my body, testing the limits of the Nara's jutsu. I don't know if I can break it with pure strength alone, I might have to get creative. I do a quick once over of whoever it was that caught me, they're good whoever they are. It's not just any Nara, I recognize him too.

"Shikamaru?" No fucking way.

A delicate hand holds a gleaming kunai to my throat. She must be the one I knocked the door into since she was the last to react.

"Alvarcus?" The young kunai weilding girl knows my name.

I know hers also. I'd recognize that uniquely styled blonde hair and those wide green eyes anywhere. "Ino?"

"It is you!" Ino shouts in mixed emotions. She's happy, sad, angry, fearful, and overjoyed all at the same time. Each emotion plays across her face over and over like she can't decide how to react to seeing me at all.

"What the fuck are you three doing here?"