Chapter 64

Title: Moving On

...

Karin and Sai carried Fuû's unconscious body for quite some time before they arrived at a relatively decent village.

At arrival, they found that this village didn't particularly have a name and wasn't in the territory of the Six Great Nations. This led them to think of how that was possible, but remembering their sensei's words, they quickly got used to it.

Afterall, Shun always said, -The Six great Nations? Please, this world is far bigger than you can imagine. Don't worry too much about it however, soon, you'll come to understand.-

Although they didn't really care about how big the world was, seeing one village that has managed to be free from the oppression of the Five Elemental Villages, was not that much of a shock.

By asking around, they were able to locate a small inn they could rest up for the day while assessing their situation.

"So what now?" Karin asked, looking at Sai who was observing the passer-bys through the window.

"...Do you not find this village strange?" Sai asked while still looking outside.

"Strange? I don't think so. Not many people have chakra like we do. And even if they do, they probably don't know how to use it since there aren't any Shinobi around here." Karin replied.

She stood up and walked towards Sai before looking outside the window.

"You're a sensor so it's understandable you'll realize that fact, but that's not my point." Sai said and looked at her before walking to his own bed and sat down.

"Then what's the problem?" Karin asked, she was really perplexed, coupled with her exhausted mind, she really didn't have the mental energy to begin to think too much.

"Women."

Karin nearly wanted to burst his head as she heard his answer. For the past two years, Shun would always say the same thing just to make her angry.

Of course he always said it when she, Yusano or Shun's mom made some unreasonable demands sometimes, but she didn't know that.

All she knew was that Shun was making fun of her.

Feeling the change in her expression, Sai quickly explained himself.

"The number of women in this village far surpasses the number of men."

"Eh?" Listening to his reply, her brain short-circuited for a second before she sent out her senses to ascertain, and surprisingly, it was true.

"How...is this possible?"

"Beats me. I only discovered it when I saw the way they looked at me as we walked here." Sai said and then laid on his bed.

"You take the first watch, I'll take the second One. We're leaving here as soon as First light tomorrow. I don't feel safe for some reason."

"Hehehe." Karin chuckled at his behavior but thought it wise too.

She knew he was intelligent and senses were high. Despite not being a sensor, he was the best tracker she knew.

During their years under Shun, they had been sent on several missions with other Rankers of the village, both alone and together, and whenever he was around, tracking missions always went without a hitch.

That was why her first reaction wasn't doubt when she heard him point out the uniqueness of the village.

"I guess I'll observe more." She muttered and looked outside while also keeping her senses on Fuû, in case her condition changes.

...

The next morning.

"Karin, it's time to go." Sai said under his breath as he nudged Karin.

He has been awake for the past four hours, and he felt that it was time they read the contents of the scroll Shun handed over to him.

"Hmm? It's already morning?" Karin yawned as she made to sit up on the bed, but looking at the window, she saw it was still dark causing her to frown.

"There's still some time till first light." She said annoyingly and laid down back on the bed

"It's already the first light, the day before there was a full moon, remember?" Sai said tiredly.

"So?"

"So last night there wasn't a moonlight, so we don't know when it's really first light." Sai replied, causing Karin to groan.

"Alright, alright. I'm up." She said, Standing up from her bed, she hurriedly arranged herself before dorning her glasses.

"So? What now?" She asked and Sai brought out the scroll. "Now we look at our next mission."

As he said that, he opened the scroll and placed it on the table so that they could both read it, and not long after they began reading, they both had looks of confusion.

"The hell is this shit!?" Karin, being the Uzumaki that she was, Found it hard to reason for too long and allowed her temper to get the better of her.

As to what made her lose her temper, it was Shun's next mission, or rather, the way he pointed out their next mission. It read-

:Yo. I suppose you both have managed to save Fuû, huh? Well, that was a given, after all, I'm a genius, there's no way you both would lose, not to mention the possibility of Fuû dying under my watch.

:What? Surprised? Please. The seal I had Karin place on Fuû was a seal I specifically designed for her, knowing full well that she would be hunted and killed after the exams. Don't ask how I know. I'm a genius.

: Anyways, as she's alive now, it would be dangerous to have her appear in public, so your next mission is to escort her to a place she'll be properly trained for the next arc- I mean, next upheaval.

:You both too. I've taught you all I can, after all, I specialize in the theoretical aspect of the training. As for the physical, that's up to you. The place you'll be going to is the residence of one of my relatives as well as my last student before you both.

:As for their location, or rather the nature of their location...Hehehe.

When they read this path, for some reason, Karin felt a little perverted aura coming from the scroll but she paid it no mind.

:Sai, I'll keep praying for you and hope in all sincerity that you come out the same person that went in. Karin, make sure you don't learn some bad things there, and also, be sure to protect both Fuû and Said from bad influences.

:I know you have some knots currently loose in your head, but remember. Naruto-kun is waiting for you. Always remember that and make that your motto if necessary. As for how you'll get there, this scroll will point you in the right direction. It's another Country outside the influences of the Major Villages you're both aware of.

:Lastly, remember what I always say about journeys? That's right. It's a process, the destination is only an added bonus. Learn as much as you can as you travel, it might be dangerous, but persevere, as I am a genius, it'll be disgraceful if you die before meeting your senior Sister.

:She's a handful, don't let her know of my current situation or location. Just say you both came across a cave and were transported to an illusory dimension where you were both trained by one incredibly handsome young man.

:Don't think I'm being narcissistic, that's the only way to make her believe it's me. Also, give her this scroll to read, the next path will be hard for you both to read after all.

:And finally! Yes, finally. Don't mind my previous lastly. Finally, Never forget what I, your teacher is...A genius, so act like students of one. Ciao.

As for the next part of the scroll, no matter how much the two tried, they couldn't make sense of it.

It was the same Japanese Kanji they knew and saw regularly, but for some reason it seems so...old fashioned that they couldn't make heads or tails of it.

(A/N: Remember, he's ancient, same goes for Tomoe-chan for those who still remember her. Also, remember that Jiraiya also used some weird drawings for his Kanji. Japanese is confusing that way.)

:Hehehe. You both tried to read it right? Too bad, you're both not fit to be Chunin after all.

This was the part that made Karin lose her shit.

Since she arrived at Hanagakure, whether amongst her peers and those older, she was always stronger to a certain degree. Sai too.

They should've both become Gold Rankers long ago but Shun always denied their qualifications. Even as they were approved of by Gaara, he just waved it off and sent them on a mission.

And yet. He has the ball to say they were still not fit for the Rank?

To hell with that Bullshit! She thought angrily as she continued breaking stuff around the room.

"Sigh..." Sai sighed loudly. "Destroying things won't get you anywhere. Sensei's is probably messing with us. Look, at the bottom of this scroll it's a Gold Rank mission. We're already qualified."

"Eh?" Karin paused and immediately came over and picked the scroll.

Looking at the bottom right side, she saw a Golden badge, signifying the rank of the mission.

"That....Guy!" She gritted her teeth angrily before stomping her feet angrily and leaving the room, but before she left, Sai could swear he saw a small smile creeping up her face.

'What a girl, shouldn't the fact that he sent us to fight those two despite knowing how strong they are be a sign of his confidence?' Sai shook his head and began packing his things.

As soon as he was done, he placed a stack of money on the table before putting the sleeping Fuû on his back and leaving the room.

...

Nadeshiko no Sato. A little country of women located on an artificial Island created by both Izanami and Izanagi a couple centuries ago following Shun's example.

The Twin Islands were both named Nagi and Nami island.

(A/N: Initially it's named Nagi and Uzu island, but this is a FF so...)

The path towards the island wasn't all that dangerous. If you went by Boat or by merely running on water, you could get there in less than a day from Hanagakure.

But for Karin and Sai who had gone Inland, returning, or rather, returning through the path directed by Shun's GPS map, the duo of Karin and Sai had to fend off against numerous bounty hunters after their lives.

After they left, Shun had specifically placed a bounty on their heads worthy of SS-Rank Shinobi - 140 Million Ryo.

S-Ranks were basically Jonin rank Shinobi and their worth varied from 50 million to 100 million.

Those above that, like Itachi and Kakashi were people acknowledged to be above your average Jounin, yet below authentic Kage Rank Shinobi.

Asuma, despite being an Elite Jounin, was only 35 Million Ryo after all.

(A/N: The below rankings were created by me and doesn't actually exist in the Naruto world.)

True powerhouses who weren't actually Kages, but were strong enough to be one had bounties above the billion ryo mark.

Orochimaru was a whopping 2 Billion.

Tsunade was 1.5 Billion

Jiraiya was 1.8 Billion

Itachi was a daunting 3 Billion and Kakashi of the Sharingan was even higher than Tsunade, standing at 1.7 billion.

The Kages were strong enough to control a nation so they weren't being hunted in times like this.

Peaceful Times - Shun snorted.

Hashirama was once standing at 5 billion. That was the combined effort of the other Four elemental nations

Tobirama stood at 3 billion too, unfortunately, he wasn't really hunted, after all, he was the fastest man of his time.

Minato didn't even have one as there was a run on him.

As for the Ghost.... He didn't have one as he also had a run on sight on his sighting.

However, with the lure of 140 Million Ryo on Karin and Sai, anyone who kills them and brings their respective heads to the black market, they would leave with 140 Million Ryo, and the two together was 280 million ryo.

As of now, Shun who placed a drone on the two happily was recording and watching the fruit of his two years labor come to fruition.

After all, after teaching all he could, The Children had to leave their Teacher's Nest.

***

Two more chapters coming up.

And don't worry, it won't be based on those two. I'll be a short summary and then we'll proceed to things that matter.