Naruto : Wind of Catastrophe

It's me doing all of the raging, but at the same time it isn't. It's someone separate from me, but I can never put my finger on the distinction when I'm awake.

"All I know is they aren't me. I'm just... looking through their eyes, I guess." That's wrong, but I can't think of how else to explain it.

...

We finish eating in silence, and while I'm washing the dishes- I'm pretty good about keeping things in shape the first day or two after a cleaning spree- Sasuke asks another question I don't have an answer to.

"Could they mean something?"

My hand freezes in its scrubbing, and I contemplate the spiral patch hanging above my entryway.

Uzushiogakure is no more. You've failed.

"Like what?"

Sasuke grunts, and the sound of rustling paper mingles with my scrubbing. "I don't know. Maybe they're visions, like the priestesses get."

I crane my head and glare at him. "What are you trying to say?"

Instead of dignifying that one with a response, he traces a finger over the scroll, narrowing his eyes. "Or maybe..."

I set the bowls back with the other dishes and turn back to the table, wiping my hands off on my pants. I move behind Sasuke, who's staring pensively down at the log, and read over his shoulder. He's still at the persuasion point, where the dream almost seemed civil. Suddenly he points at a line.

We could start in Suna. They have been laid low by the war, and will devour any hope given to them.

"Referencing either the second or third Great Wars," he says, keeping his finger there and dragging the index of his other hand down the paper.

Ame has proven itself to be stronger than I first thought.

"And that's probably referencing Hanzo the Salamander. Though whether it's his rise in the second or just his rule in the third..."

"It's the second," I say firmly. At Sasuke's curious look, I point at the bit that's been haunting me the most about this particular dream.

You've failed...

"The day Uzushiogakure fell," he murmurs. I frown.

"So you think these are, what? Reverse-visions? Memories?"

"Probably memories, if you're seeing it through someone else's eyes." Sasuke shrugs. "It could explain the vividness. But why you'd be remembering someone's memories, on the other hand..."

I freeze up. Oh. Oh god.

"Uh, yeah, that seems pretty out there." My voice sounds distant in my ears as realization hits me. Could this be what the old man has been afraid to tell me all these years? All along, a set of memories sealed in my stomach? Why, though? Is there some hidden significance to them? Some sort of hidden code or technique in one of them that I haven't gotten to yet?

And what kind of monster did I get them from?

Sasuke grunts and pushes off from the table, sending me stumbling back."Either way, there's not enough here to be sure about anything yet." We'll need to wait for more. I clear my throat, doing my best to put my sudden dread aside for the time being. I briefly consider confronting the old man about it, but I've already told him about my dreams a few times and he didn't make any mention of the seal, so I don't see why he would now. Even if I bring it up myself. Especially if I bring it up myself.

Damn old man.

"Alright, never mind that," I say, reaching around him to scoop up the scroll. I head for my room. "Come here, I want your take on something."

...

In all the missions I've been on as a shinobi- all five of them- there's a general procedure that seems to be universally followed. The veteran and rookie teams meet up at the gate they'll be leaving Konoha through, an exchange of mission info takes place, and then the mission starts.

What follows is a trip that can be gruelling in one of two ways, depending on how sensitive time is. Either through a long, hard, uninterrupted run to the objective, or a more leisurely journey where the rookie team is run ragged by the veterans as 'training'.

It's shinobi hazing, and anyone who says different is either a civilian or a raging dick.

So when Gai reads off the mission scroll to everyone at the eastern gate, I'm thinking it's going to be an easy trip with a few bruises thrown in.

We'll be spending up to three weeks searching for leads on this guy and his followers, and taking them out if we can find them. Apparently the Hokage (or whoever drew this mission up) would "prefer" if the leader is taken alive and the followers persuaded to disband peacefully, but nobody's going to be shedding tears if something happens.

In other words, no rush. We register with the chunin on guard, and I'm feeling pretty relaxed. The sun is out in full force today, and there isn't a cloud in the sky. Gai barks out a formation, and I fall in line. I figure he's just keeping things tight so the old man can't call him out on anything when we get back. I'd be jittery too if I'd been on the receiving end of that Hokage glare.

Then his arm shoots up, and Lee and Neji tense up. I gulp.

"NEJI!" Gai roars.

Neji nods sharply. "Yes, Gai-sensei!" He disappears in a blur, up and out of sight into the trees.

"LEE!"

"Yosh, Gai-sensei!" Lee shouts, and I'd be glad for the sudden display of life, except the next moment he shoots forward even faster than Neji did, down the path instead of up into the trees. It's about here that I realize we're going to have to keep pace with that. For the whole trip.

I turn to where Hatake was in desperation, but he's already gone. I spin back around, surveying the now empty clearing. Behind me, the chunin on guard snickers.

God damn it.

...

"Break!" Gai's voice drifts through a haze of trees and exhaustion just before nightfall, an eerie reminder of our first mission and our first hellish run with Team 9.

I don't register it, of course. I'm too busy trying to make my fall from the trees look vaguely intentional and not hurt Sakura in the process. I had tried running on the path exactly once, when the exhaustion first began to hit me, to avoid the extra effort of adjusting my chakra output for every hop through the trees. I lasted all of ten seconds before I lost sight of everyone but Sasuke.

I somehow manage to resist the urge to roll and instead land in a heavy crouch on a strong updraft of my chakra. I shift Sakura off my back and gently set her down beside me. I wobble then, falling back, and find myself caught in her arms this time.

"Thanks," I say, grinning weakly. She smiles back, the exhaustion just as clear on her face as mine. Then my knees buckle and I fall, dragging her down with me. I gasp as she lands roughly on my stomach.

I was wrong on that first mission all those weeks ago. So very, very wrong. Regular old sprints are nothing. Running at this hellish pace from sunrise to sunset- I bet this isn't even their full speed- this is hell.

"I hate Gai," I wheeze. A loud thump beside me signals the arrival of Sasuke, panting twice as hard as I am and clawing at his backpack. Sakura rolls off me, an apology on her lips, but I just wave her off.

I watch Sasuke fumble with the straps of his backpack for a bit, until I realize he's trying to get to one of the sealing scrolls with all his water in it. A little surge of vengeful satisfaction gives me the strength to snap my own canteen off the clip at my waist and hold it out to him. He takes it after a moment's hesitation and chugs the whole thing down in between gasps for air and little sounds of relief.

"So," I ask the sky. "Where are we now?"

"Just outside the town where we'll be starting our investigation," Hatake replies as breezily as ever, suddenly standing upside down on a tree branch above me.

I grunt. "But we're sleeping out here, I take it?"

"Actually, Gai was kind enough to offer to get us all hotel rooms for our stay here." He shrugs, his eye crinkling. "If you'd rather the comfort of the stars, though-"

"Sasuke!" I bark. "Help me up. I can't feel my legs."

Hatake leads us through the trees to Team 9, who are in the process of a debriefing if the rigid postures of Lee and Neji are anything to go by. To my dismay, Neji is only breathing a little heavily and Lee barely looks flushed.

They seem to wrap up as we make our way into the clearing, and Gai gives them a sharp nod and a smile, clapping a hand on each of their shoulders. Lee beams, and this time I allow myself to feel happy for him.

...

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