Rumors

The following day we went our separate ways to search through the area. I would be the one moving the farthest from the village since I was the fastest and the tracker. One would think that finding some track or at least a hint of a Bijuu having been in the area wouldn't be too hard -fucking thing was huge. Alas, it wasn't as easy as I had expected.

Guremaru and I had already been outside for around seven hours when we decided to stop and eat something. Finding anything Bijuu related was getting harder as time went by. So much so that I couldn't feel even a hint of negativity in the area.

"Hey bud *munch* where do you think it might've gone?"

"I don't know, Ryota! If you don't know, how am I supposed to?"

"No need to get mad I was just asking! Geez"

It was understandable that he was frustrated. He was a pup still, after all. And doing something repeatedly for hours upon hours wasn't something a child could do without getting in a bad mood. Thankfully, Guremaru was a bit more reasonable than a child was, so he didn't really complain all the time.

In the afternoon I decided to head back to Takumi Village, since I didn't want to spend the night outside when I had already paid for a week of lodging. Yamato arrived a few minutes after me and Anko was already there, so we decided to share whatever little we had gotten on the topic -nothing.

"It was only the first day, tomorrow I'll go a bit further south to see if I can find anything there"

"I'll go north"

"Then that leaves me to check the west. Are you guys leaving me the area closer to Suna on purpose?"

I avoided looking at Anko, pretending not to know what she was talking about and acting innocently. It was mearly a coincidence, but I wanted to tease her a bit.

"Is it really like that?!"

"*laughter* It's just a joke, sheesh. In fact, the border with Suna should be the safest one currently, considering that they just lost a Kage"

After making small talk with Anko, I decided to leave the inn we were staying in and explore the town a bit. Guremaru had already gone to sleep, tired from moving around the entire day.

Since the old man had been generous with the amount of Ryo assigned to each of us, I could indulge myself a bit. As such, I chose to eat at a random restaurant that I found in the place. It wasn't Ichiraku level, but I gave it a passing grade.

It was after I left the restaurant that I heard a few things that greatly interested me.

"Hey did you hear the rumours?"

"What rumours are you talking about? Why so secretive?"

"They say there is something weird going on in the lake near the sea. The one that is around a week from here by foot"

I left the scene and rushed back to our inn, making sure I would remember to relay this information to my teammates the following morning.

*

"So you want to go and investigate the lake?"

"Yes. Being honest, I doubt the Bijuu is anywhere near here, considering how I can't feel any emotion big enough. And there isn't even an ounce of actual hatred here"

"What do you mean by... actual hatred?"

I could feel an amount of curiosity coming from Anko that made me feel curious myself -me wanting to know why she wanted to know that instead of something relevant to the mission.

"Well you see... what we call hate and actual hate are not the same. One is thought driven and we are conscious of it. When you say you hate someone, you are deciding to hate that person. But that isn't hate. It is nothing but a stronger way of disliking"

I took a breath before I continued my explanation. Thinking about the few times I had felt actual hatred made me shiver a bit. I was younger and I wasn't ready to get a glimpse of Kurama's feelings.

"Actual hatred... is way darker than three words. It is an unconscious thing, something you are not aware of without something triggering it. Some hate naturally, other's because they grew to hate. Actual hatred... is what drives someone mad with the desire to see death"

I remembered the first encounter I had with Gaara. The sheer darkness his hatred represented was something I couldn't fathom. It was like gazing at an abyss inside an abyss. And both gazed back at me. Just the memory of it made me shiver, even if I knew that it couldn't cause me any harm. That was how strong actual hatred was. It could make you fear for your life even if it wasn't directed at you.

"Ok, let's pack our things and get going. You can do whatever you want with your money, but I'm asking for a refund of the days I won't be staying"

Deciding to forget the ominous conversation that we just had had, I followed Yamato to ask for a refund too. Why wouldn't I, after all?

*

It took us four days, counting the stops to eat and sleep, to reach the lake. The place felt desolated, probably because of how much the rumours had grown before we left.

"The tales tell of a cursed lake. One that, shalt thou find thyselves in it alone, thou could only surrender thy life to it *joyous laughter*"

"How can they believe such a stupid tale?! *joyous laughter*"

Those were Guremaru and I joking around for the umpteenth time. Our victim was the tale of the cursed lake, which was the way the people at Takumi Village began referring to the rumours. I was sure the place was indeed cursed, since I could feel it.

"We're here already. Do you catch anything, Ryota?"

"Yeah... it's definitely here... at the bottom of the lake"

The problem now was how to approach the Bijuu... and how to get it. I wanted to avoid an all our confrontation if possible. I didn't feel comfortable with the idea of fighting a Bijuu, even if I knew that I had little chances of dying.

"Yamato, your call"

"For now let's set up camp. We'll think about it separately and then we'll give our take on the problem"

After that we began setting up our tents for the remainder of the mission. However difficult it would get, we had only one objective in our minds. I had to become a Jinchuriki.