PART 4.

Footprints in the sand stretched out, marking the path followed by the squadron. The scorching sun made it difficult to see, enveloping the landscape in palpable waves of heat.

Mirai wiped the sweat from her forehead with her forearm, pausing momentarily to face the unforgiving sun.

Around him, the rest of the team continued to advance, although some showed obvious signs of fatigue. Some stopped to follow Mirai's lead, seeking respite from the grueling heat.

"It will be dark soon." Hoki commented beside him, his breath slightly ragged behind the mask. She brushed her hair away from her face to wipe the sweat with her forearm. 

Mirai looked at him with compassion, sharing her exhaustion in silence.

They had been running for hours, but it seemed that it didn't matter which direction they were headed; they only found more and more sand. The area did not seem to be conducive even to spending the night, with worrying rumors about the wind country's climate swirling in everyone's mind.

How much longer will we have to continue like this? Iwabee asked with obvious tiredness. "We didn't find anything...

"Why did Tanaka-san insist on coming this way? There is only desert everywhere." Boruto complained, showing his fatigue. "What do you think, Neechan? It will soon get dark."

"..."

Mirai took a moment to reflect.

Looking up at the sky, he sorted out his thoughts. If what Mitsuki told her was true, then it might be possible that the adults hadn't chosen her as the option of last resort. That meant that, just as they trusted her, Mirai had to be serious and think calmly.

Sunset was approaching, but the sun was still burning strongly.

Once, when he was still a Genin, his Master used to share anecdotes from his days at that stage. He told him what the missions were like in the land of the wind and how the sun went down on days like that.

"When the sun is so relentless, the night can be dangerous..."

Hearing that warning resonate in her mind, Mirai knew she had no choice but to act. So, holding back the urge to swallow hard and with his heart beating at full speed, he moved through the group that was beginning to disperse. Everyone tried to stay away from each other because of the heat.

"Listen to me, this kind of sunset is not a good sign." Mirai spoke loudly as she stripped off her clothes, drenched in sweat. "We have to take advantage of the little time we have left and build a shelter. We don't have much left."

"A shelter?" Inojin asked hesitantly, between his inquisitive inquiries. "But we could sleep here. There aren't many animals in the desert that can attack us."

"It's not the animals that worry me."

"Huh?" The boy opened his eyes in surprise at the teenager's sudden command. "So... What is it?"

Mirai went ahead with her own preparations before giving the orders. He went through his pockets and, finding what he was looking for, pulled out one of his blades.

For an instant, all the children were amazed at the edge of the only blade Mirai had pulled. However, when the young woman with red eyes plunged her into the sand and began to draw a line as she backed away, the surprise turned to gestures of confusion.

"Neechan?"

The Uzumaki tried to get Mirai's attention, but she ignored him and continued to draw the line. The children gathered around her to observe carefully what their captain was doing.

Mirai's lack of response worried them even more when they saw that the line she was drawing was beginning to completely encircle the group of children. Their minds failed to understand their captain's intentions, and only the green-eyed Nara could articulate a question.

"Mirai...? Can you tell us what you're trying to do?" He asked, looking puzzled at the girl who was evaluating his creation with dissatisfaction. 

Finally, Mirai heard the question or decided not to ignore it. He turned to the group with a fading expression of serenity, revealing his concern.

"When night falls after so many hours in the scorching sun, there are often sandstorms." He revealed to them. "They told me about it, and it's not a pleasant experience if you don't have any light."

"A sandstorm? We are in the desert. It is normal to have this weather during the day." Shikadai contradicted. "How do you know there will be a storm?"

Mirai raised her index finger in his direction, about to reveal the reason.

Her red, piercing eyes swept over the children who were watching her intently.

"The sand rose between the heat waves." He explained. "We couldn't see him because we were busy cleaning ourselves. But didn't they feel the sand enter their eyes?"

Shikadai was silent.

He was familiar with the desert because of the visits he made to his uncle. His mother used to take him at least once a month, and they always had to walk through the desert once they got off the train.

However, he had never experienced a sandstorm by himself. Since he was a child, he only observed them from inside the Kazekage residence.

"It is crucial that we build a shelter." Mirai pulled him out of her thoughts. "Iwabee-kun, if it's not too much of a hassle, could you use your skill to create a shelter based on what I just drew?"

"About this?"

"Yes, exactly." She confirmed. "We need to preserve our Chakra. I've drawn up this guide so that you don't have to build one or more shelters because one of us wouldn't fit. Can you do it?"

The dark-haired man couldn't help but be surprised by her request. In Konoha, it had not been of much help when the village was attacked. He felt a little guilty that he would be the one who would build the shelter that would protect his companions.

However, swallowing his discomfort, Iwabee nodded determinedly.

"Leave it to me, Mirai-san!" He exclaimed proudly, lifting the bar he used for his stone style.

Mirai nodded with a half-smile. She was about to head towards the Chunin of the group to organize the food and other items they had recovered from the rubble of the Sarutobi house when Shikadai stopped her as she passed by.

"Where did you learn that? I had never heard anything like it."

"..."

The Chunin's passage stopped. He looked down with an imperturbable expression, debating whether or not to share what he knew. His fingers on his right hand brushed against each other, as he pondered internally.

When the time came, he partially turned to meet Shikadai's gaze. For a brief moment, the two shared a moment of nostalgia and melancholy.

Every time he saw that child, it was as if he saw his teacher.

He prepared to continue on his way, almost leaving Shikadai without an answer.

"I didn't know anything about that." Finally he answered. "It was something my teacher told me."

The silence that followed her words made Mirai's path to the group of children feel colder, as if the desert heat had suddenly subsided.

(~~~)

Iwabee's screams echoed through the air just before his makeshift hammer hit the ground, as if each scream gave more strength to his signature technique.

The rock rose from the sandy ground as if the dark-haired man had flipped a switch hidden deep within the earth, and in the blink of an eye, an igloo was erected the same size as the circle Mirai had drawn.

Meanwhile, other members of the team were busy separating the food and taking inventory of everything they had recovered from the Sarutobi house.

"We have enough food for tomorrow, but we won't have enough for two more days." Hoki informed his captain, as he sorted the Shinobi bags on the ground along with other companions. 

Mirai crouched in front of them, joining the group that organized the team.

"Hm..." The young woman murmured, but then changed her tone to a more determined one. "It doesn't matter. I am sure we will find what we need before tomorrow evening."

"Okay."

In the scorching desert sand, Mirai, Hoki, Boruto, Namida, and Enko were on their knees sorting out the equipment while the rest of the team worked with Iwabee to build the shelter for the night.

"We don't have much food..." Namida lamented, with concern evident in her voice. "It is not even enough to ration properly."

"Don't worry about that now, Namida." Boruto intervened, trying to calm her down. "You've heard Mirai-Neechan. Besides, I can hold on a little without eating."

"But you won't be in full condition if something happens to us..." Namida objected. 

"Exactly!" Boruto nodded regretfully, acknowledging the validity of the girl's concern. "Maybe you're right... I hadn't considered it."

An awkward silence settled between them. Boruto realized that, in the missions led by Konohamaru, they had never gone hungry. Their sensei always made sure that they had at least one meal a day.

Upon returning to Konoha, they were always rewarded by Konohamaru in some way. But this time, Boruto knew he had to be careful. He would not return to the village just to satisfy his hunger; they had to hold on until they found what they were looking for, although Boruto was still not sure what it was exactly.

While immersed in his thoughts, Enko muttered a few words curiously, drawing the attention of the blond and the others to what he was holding in his hand: a scroll. There were several of them scattered on the sandy ground.

"This says..." Enko began, frowning as he read the scroll. "It's a parchment of water!"

"Water?" Boruto asked, confused. 

As she settled in like a preschooler trying to understand her teacher's words, Mirai watched Enko curiously. On the other hand, Hoki reached out and took the nearest scroll, reading the contents without much surprise.

"I see. This one says it contains weapons."

As they read, Mirai and Boruto each took a scroll.

"This one also says that it is drinking water." Mirai whispered, surprised. 

"There's medicine around here." Boruto reported, frowning. "Well... plants. They are medicinal plants."

"Do we have medicine?!"

Mirai leaned forward to check the scroll Boruto was reading, surprised. Beside him, Hoki also showed amazement.

"The adults thought of everything. Surely the direction in which we are going was in their plans, and the food is calculated to last that long."

"Amazing..." Enko murmured, admiringly. "How long have you been planning all this?"

Mirai shuddered slightly out of sight of the children. They were completely immersed in reading the scrolls, paying no attention to their expression.

There she was, sitting on the sand, staring blankly into space.

As the children argued among themselves, trying to find an explanation for the fact that the adults had hidden the impending incident from them, Mirai immersed herself in her own thoughts.

He would withdraw from the outside world and pay more attention to the reflections that were hovering through his mind at that moment.

His mother could have just kept all of this to herself. But she hid it, and the reasons behind her actions were now clearer to Mirai, especially after what Tanaka had revealed to them.

It was evident that her mother wanted to protect her from what was to come. And, above all, he wanted to prevent some unexpected visit from ruining his plans.

None of the members who, according to Tanaka, had helped the Seventh Hokage carry out his survival plan, would have imagined that the emergency resources of the Konoha survivors would be hidden in the home of a former Shinobi.

If his mother, who had already retired from the Shinobi world, had been involved, then those people weren't a trivial thing. Uchiha, Uzumaki, the Ino-Shika-Cho clan... they were all important children. They were the last vestiges of the legends of their time.

Protecting them wasn't just a matter of being present; she had to make herself visible, to show that they could trust her. Sitting and waiting for respect was not enough.

This time, it wasn't simply about her desire to be recognized; it was an obligation, the last mission entrusted to him by his master and the Seventh Hokage.

"Huh? Mirai-neechan?"

Mirai came to her senses in an instant. When she looked up, she met Boruto, who was looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

That boy was the living portrait of his father...

"Separate the scrolls correctly." She said, jumping up. "I'll go and see how the others are doing."

"Understood... What are we going to do with the campfire?" The young man asked, with some doubt at the sudden change in Chunin's attitude. "It will be cold tonight, and we don't have much to burn."

"We will find a solution." Mirai replied with a smile. "We have Sarada, who is very good at Fire Cussus. I'll figure out how to take advantage of that."

"Okay."

Enough time passed to have everything ready before the supposed storm. Although it was not yet dark, they used the remaining time to carefully review and count their provisions, as well as to inspect the scrolls carefully.

Mirai entered the makeshift inn after a brief patrol of the surrounding area. Confirming that they were alone, he felt a warm sense of relief at seeing them all together under the stone roof.

The children were seated, happy to be able to rest. Most of them had spread their layers on the ground to avoid uncomfortable and dirty contact with the sand. They were pretty exhausted to deal with it.

After a quick glance to make sure they were okay, Mirai sat down in the nearest spot. Thanks to the drawing I had made earlier, they all fit perfectly in the shelter.

"What have you found?" She asked, crossing her legs like a little girl. 

Boruto, who was in the inspection group, turned around with a grimace.

"There are a total of ten weapon scrolls, seven water and medicine scrolls, and four strange ones."

"Strangers?"

"Those four have different names." Wasabi spoke after Boruto. He showed the side of the parchment to the eldest. "Water, earth, wind, fire. These are the names of each one."

Mirai shuddered slightly. The four elements on individual scrolls... What could that mean? The previous ones had as their title what they kept inside: weapons, medicine, water.

What would a fire scroll contain? Could it be a burning flame? Or perhaps defensive material for them, perhaps? She didn't know what to think anymore. He had only articulated a doubt.

"And are you sure it's the four elements? How do we know that the Water scroll is not simply drinking water?"

"Calligraphy is different." Denki reported, adjusting his broken glasses to focus his gaze on the conversation. "All four have the same calligraphy, they were written with the same brush. The stroke is thicker but precise."

"How complicated..." Boruto complained tiredly. "Why does everything have to be so complicated? Is there no instruction in them?"

"I don't think so..."

Denki, not understanding the rhetoric, re-examined the scrolls.

"This is a problem." Mirai sighed. "Now we have no idea if they are dangerous or not. The best thing for now is not to open them. Who knows what they might be hiding."

"Maybe the water will drown us..." Namida's trembling voice added to the echo of the hiding place. 

All eyes were directed towards her. The girl was absorbed in her thoughts, running her hands through one of her pigtails.

"Maybe the wind could cut us to pieces... The fire would burn us to the bone, turning us to dust. Ah! Maybe...! If we turn to dust, we will mix with the sand and no one will know what happened to us... Skies, skies, skies... No one will know how we die. And if we are in the past, no one will know of our existence, no one will know about Konoha."

"Namida, calm down! None of that is going to happen!" Tsuru took the brunette by the shoulders as he knelt beside her. 

The gaze of the others fell on Namida, who paled in the remaining dim light. Still held by Tsuru, she seemed lost in thought, staring blankly into space.

"No one is going to die." Tsuru whispered softly. "We're safe. Safe."

"..."

Mirai sat next to the girl, occupying the space Hako left free. Namida seemed to awaken from her trance, shuddering as she faced the harsh reality. Hugging herself, she showed the anguish on her face.

Since Tsuru had already withdrawn his hands, Mirai hugged Namida, putting her arm over the chestnut's shoulder.

The others watched the scene in amazement. They tried to look away, but the lump in their throats reminded them of Namida's words. A topic that until now no one had mentioned: the past.

How would they face that obstacle?

They had no money. The little they had was what they carried with them for minimal expenses. The catastrophe had come without warning, and most didn't even have any money on them.

"How much will we hesitate once we find what we are looking for?"

Mirai's gaze swept over each of the children.

Their bitter faces, the palpable melancholy, the denial. Everything was present, even in the unflappable Mitsuki.

The memory of his conversation with Tanaka-san came back like a torment in his head.

The words, as small as needles, pricked his being until he was lost in the depths. There were things that Mirai hadn't properly analyzed, but was now witnessing firsthand.

Each individual's mental decay proceeds at their own pace, and none of them were the exception. She wasn't even sure if she herself was in the middle of a trial right now, or if she would be by the next day.

At that moment, he had in his hands a helpless girl who was repeating the incident in her mind like a broken record.

It would not be surprising if everyone was experiencing the same thing.

Those children are vitally important.

Tanaka-san's words echoed in his chest. The needle embedded there was a reminder of the task Mirai had taken on.

"Don't worry about that. We will be fine." Mirai's sudden words took more than one by surprise. 

Their trial had not been filed since they left the forest near the village.

"It's very painful. And I know this very well. But if we get stuck, the only thing that awaits us is to drag ourselves until the worst finally arrives."

His face became serious, a calm seriousness that, to some extent, was comforting. The passive tone of his voice added to the sense of tranquility that he directed to the children.

"The only thing we have in our hands... it is a possibility to find an answer to what happened." He said, referring to the object belonging to Tanaka-san. "Let's focus on continuing. When we are safe, I assure you that things will change for the better."

There was a moment of silence in response. His tone, though peaceful, seemed muffled by the tension in the air. Mirai, like everyone there, was equally scared. She might even dare to say that she was more frightened than any of them.

She was the oldest, the captain. Everyone's life rested on his shoulders, and the slightest mistake could seal his fate to an undignified oblivion in distant lands, beyond any recognition. The worst punishment for those children would be forgetfulness, and that fear was beginning to take root within them.

He tried to rationalize it, to find logic or meaning to fade it, but his mind always found a way to feed his worries.

If she wanted to get them all to safety, she had to be cautious.

"There are a couple of hours left before nightfall." Mirai said to Namida, who looked at her from below. 

Carefully, he helped the brunette up from the ground, putting his arm over her shoulders and guiding her outward, piercing the curious glances of each of the children.

A cold silence enveloped the place, unleashing a wave of sadness in the chest of the black haired woman.

Mirai walked out of there with her head down, immersed in her thoughts.

When had I lost the ability to hope?