Journey as a bait?

It was early in the morning with the sounds of birds tweeting and sights of buds blooming that greeted everyone who was standing at the gates of Konoha.

I spotted Dad help and supervise other people loading cargo into the wagon that was being drawn by two horses.

A few ninja were waiting around the wagon for the cargo to be finished loading so that we could all set off.

Dad, Mum and I along with Kaguya and a few other ninja were sitting in the back of a separate wagon that was meant for the ninja's to take a rest sometime during the mission when they were tired and could switch out with those who were already sitting in.

Amon the few ninja who were sitting with us, I spotted Kakashi, and a suspiciously fully cloaked lady who was eating ramen?

'Why is Kakashi sensei here? And who eats ramen on missions? Even Naruto didn't do such a thing….' Sakura said in my head as she observed the same things I did.

I knew something was up with this plan of ours to move along with a weapons package, even it was just a routine delivery it didn't make sense to allow random kids on board.

Yes I meant kids and not kid, because I was currently looking at the child of the fourth Hokage sitting directly opposite from me as he opened his mouth and was fed the ramen that the covered lady was feeding him.

'She's Kushina.'

'What? No way.'

'Obviously who do you think would be allowed to feed Naruto ramen? And why do you think Kakashi and the rest of the ninja's are so tense about the situation? Something is up with this mission and I'm confused. It doesn't seem like a normal delivery anymore.'

'Perhaps the bandits are up to something?'

'Maybe, but then why did they involve Tsuna-nee. No this has to be something bigger.'

'You mean to say Tsunade-sensei is hiding somewhere around us?'

'I think so? I mean why didn't they just postpone the surgery a little if there was a mission going on right now? Tsuna-nee was the one that probably insisted on bringing us along for some reason and I'm confused as to why.'

'That ninja is clearly super lazy and keeps gazing at the clouds and since everyone on his team seems to hold some respect for him that's clearly Shikamaru's dad who is just under a transformation jutsu. The other set of ninja is a girl who looks a little jumpy about everything, so perhaps Shizune since Tsuna-nee is also here? And the last a guy who hasn't said jack all since the mission and keeps looking around with a constipated look on his face, so an Uchiha? Fugaku? And the one leading all of them the guy who the lady keeps sending glances towards, clearly is the Hokage....'

'Why is such a high profile team here?'

'That's what is ringing bells inside my head. Do you think they brought us out here to kill us both?'

'What the hell Megumi!'

'Well I guess they wouldn't need these many people to kill me, just choking me while I was sleep-'

'FOR GOD'S SAKE STOP IT WITH THIS LINE OF THINKING!!!'

'Haha! I was just joking calm down. It probably has to do with something they've found out about an attack on the leaf village? Maybe Obito or the Akatsuki? But why would they be here right now? And why would we be required in all this, I'm sure they wouldn't want a child to disturb them on the mission? This is all getting very confusing.'

'When I told you it was a bad idea to change the future you didn't agree! Now suffer!' Sakura said with some genuine mirth in her tone.

'When did you start speaking like Nagato. 'You shall know pain! Shinra Tensei!' Lol, grow up.'

'Hmpf! Grow up you and your stupid head!'

'My head is your head, now you are just calling yourself stupid.'

'Arggh!!!' Was the last sound I heard before she broke the connection with me.

It came back in a few seconds though, because she was probably worried about what was happening around us, so I didn't pursue the topic anymore, I figured I'd distracted and calmed her enough.

But what exactly was going on here?

I guess the only way to find out is to wait...

I looked at the ramen and saw how it contained meat an then looked away even though it smelled a little enticing.

The sleeves of my kimono covered the hidden blades quite well but I didn't think for a second that any of the ninja around us hadn't noticed that there was a metallic item attached to my wrists and to be wary of them.

'I wonder how Tsuna-nee is doing. She must be all alone with no one to talk to, perhaps I should've given her the communication seal I had made so that we could always keep in touch? I'll make sure to give her one if we meet during our trip to the capital.'

If Minato and the others already know about who was behind the Kyuubi incident, how was it that they found out about it? And even if they did what is the purpose of bringing the children here? Is it just for our safety? If so then why wasn't I along with Sakura just left alone at home? I'm sure mum and dad know quite well I would've been able to take care of myself for at least a couple of weeks.

Everything is just very strange.

Maybe it is because everyone who is here was involved in the kyuubi incident in someway?

But how would they know I sent the picture? Tsuna-nee did tell me that she wouldn't tell anyone that I was the one who sent it to protect me and Sakura, so what is up?

Who exactly are we fighting that the heavy hitters in the village are here? And why are mum and dad also here? Is it an attempt to disguise the mission as something else because I'm sure Mum and dad wouldn't have agreed to put mine and Sakura's life in danger.

"Ready!?" The wagon driver shouted from the front, he felt like the only civilian.

"Yes! You can carry on straight to the capital!" Dad said as he knocked the side board twice to signal the driver.

The most surprising part about the whole thing was that no one among the ninja present were surprised at my presence, clearly they knew that I would be here and am here for a reason? Or is it just their training about not asking any questions kicking in?

*squeak* *squeak*

Kaguya bopped me with her nose and twitched it for me to pay attention to her.

"Hehe~ Ya hungry?"

*Squeak*

I fed Kaguya a little bit of the food pills, by bringing it out of my fanny pack, that Tsuna-nee had made for her and pet her for a little bit as I watched the scenery pass by outside the wagon.

…..

Travelling in a wagon is hell. You feel every single bump and dump on the hardly maintained roads.

It hadn't even been the end of the first day and I was feeling my little ass burning and my hip permanently damaged.

'Sakura talk to me! Take my mind off of all this!'

'Arghh! Go ask someone else to be your personal servant, I'm fed up with talking to you for so long! Is there anything that you speak out of that damn mouth not negative? How is it even possible for a person to think in such a negative manner!!? What do you mean that the world will end after this mission? Are you crazy? And what is this stupid theory you told me about Danzo popping out and using Kotamatsukami on everyone here and then taking you away and implanting the curse seal of secrecy on your tongue and brain washing you! Arggh!! Shut it! I don't want to talk to you ever again!.'

'Tsk. Tsk. You have a long way to go before you learn to be happier!'

'...'

'You know what!? I have decided!'

'...What?'

'I shall now enjoy the fruits of my hard work for the past few months.'

'What about it? Huh? Don't tell me you are going to remove something that has your seals here and expose yourself and the seals to everyone?'

'..Yes, but no. I painted the seal using invisible ink on my wrist.'

'Invisible ink?'

'Yeah, lemon juice.'

'What the hell?'

'Haha! Now behold my finest work!'

*ding* *ding**ding* *ding**ding* *chuck*

~It might seem crazy, What I'm about to say.~

~Sunshine she's here you can take a break!~

~I'm a hot air balloon that could go to space~

~With the air, like I don't care~

~baby, by the way~

~Huh, Because I'm happy~

~Clap along, if you feel…..~

'What's this?'

'A famous song from my world.'

'Famous?'

'Yep, it was at least heard by more people than the entire population of your world currently.'

'What?'

'Yep! Last I remember it was a little more than a billion!?'

'How?!'

'Fun isn't it!?'

'..... a little bit…'

'Come on!! Just a little? Don't you wanna nod your head along? Don't you wanna tap your feet to the beat? Don't you wanna clap along?'

'Alright, maybe a little bit more! But it's not that good also, Hakuna Matata was better.'

'Hahahhahaha! So that's what you were so sour about!'

'...'

'Awwwww! So cute! You are standing up for the little cub!' I thought as I realized Sakura thought that the cub was the one who actually sang the song… perhaps after having the notion of talking animals in their world had skewed their world view? Or wasn't it mine that was skewed since I was new in this world? You learn new things everyday.

'Shut up.'

'Don't worry you'll definitely start to like it more once I play it for you directly inside of the mindscape.'

'You aren't doing that already? Then how am I also hearing it?'

'Bone conduction. I'm playing the sound on the bones of my skull. You're only listening because you're connected to my mind and can hear what I am hearing right now. No one else can practically hear anything unless their ear is directly on my head. Without being able to feel the beats of the song, half of the fun is just wasted.'

'Hmm… I see.'

**Mebuki POV**

I watched as Megumi began to nod a little and tap his legs softly in a rhythmic way.

'He's listening to something from his world, isn't he?'

'Ah! How lucky Sakura is to be able to ward of her boredom!'

I turned to look at Kizashi who was sitting right beside me and dozing off, or at least pretending to do so.

I glared at him a little and nudged him back up because of which he looked at me a little bewildered as if he was confused about what I wanted him to do.

'Do something to entertain me.' I said visually.

'What? Here? What do you expect me to do?' Kizashi replied using his eyes.

'I don't know do something? See Megumi is enjoying himself.' I said as I leaned back a little to let Kizashi see Megumi who was having fun.

'What? Weren't you guys the ones that told me that I was terrible at singing?'

'Can't you do anything else?'

'I mean would you like to listen to my collection of dad jokes?'

'...Seriously…?'

'Hey! I'm not from another world like Megumi is! I'm from this one! If you want something more then go find it yourself in the next world over from here.'

I just rolled my eyes, typical Kizashi always turning the simplest things into an argument.

I felt Megumi grab my hands and place his palm into mine while he was still bopping his head to some rhythm.

Feeling a stream of chakra entering from his hands into mine, I understood he was trying to put me under a genjutsu which I allowed only to be struck by a sensation of sounds and instruments I had never heard before along with a song with the most catchy rhythm I'd ever heard.

'I guess I can understand why he's bopping his head now.'

My Megumi such a genius, he's perhaps the only one who could make a genjutsu so realistic that it could be used for music. I can practically feel the sound flowing through my body, shaking me to my bones.

I rested my head on the backboard of the wagon and closed my eyes resting listening to the song that Megumi was playing.

...

**Kushina POV**

The strange little girl was here again.

When Tsunade-sama said she might have an idea of who I was talking about when I explained there was someone who could change the future but was hiding themselves from the fabric of fates on the planet, I did not think it would be this little girl.

But how is she able to hide herself from the life cycle of the planet? It definitely isn't that she doesn't exist as a part of it but that something has been done to her life line that has hidden it from view. As long as no one has any idea about how exactly I had received information about the attack that was going to happen on the village, they wouldn't even know to look for her.

Her tracks were not only covered up completely with a fake life line on top of it that showed off the life of an ordinary girl but also with a decoy by the name Suika who was faked to lead everyone looking at the life lines off track.

I watched as she nodded off her head as if she was listening to music playing, perhaps she really could listen to some music from somewhere if she did have the ability to look into the future and change it.

Apart from me, and Tsunade-sama no one really knew the entire contents of the operation, not even Minato since I never explained to him about the little girl and just told him that she was going to be targeted by the evil gaze I was feeling because the person who changed the future had pinned the blame on her, but I have a feeling the little one knows already that something's going on.

When I first carefully looked at the life lines and traced them back to the incident on the day of the Kyuubi attack, I could clearly see that someone had orchestrated the attack by using Obito's abilities.

My suspicions were on the toads, since it their lines seemed to be the cleanest and most separated from the person who attacked us that day, too far away even though one of them was killed in the attack.

I still cannot peer into the alter world for long since it feel very draining and I cannot train myself to extend it since each time I peer into the realm I feel someone trying to search for me and the last time I felt feeling grow a little closer, very close in fact. So I have left it alone to be used only during emergencies perhaps a few more times before the shield that protects me from his gaze breaks.

I did build a seal to bring all the attention of the world onto the person wandering around in the fabric of fates to get the world to banish him for me, but it all still seemed quite risky but was there really a different choice I could make? Would the evil gaze just leave us alone if we weren't being shielded?

**Megumi POV**

I watched as mum started to enjoy the song and found dad looking at me aggrieved so I was about to jump into the space in between them both so that Dad could also enjoy listening to the music a sharp and shrill whistle broke me out of my music mood as I noticed all the ninja the wagon became alert and reached for their weapons.

I didn't know what the whistle indicated but it was probably something bad, looking at the look on Kakashi's face.

I prepped my hidden knives so that in case I was pushed around and captured I'd be able to help myself if none of adults were able to.

*BOOOOMMM*

'Do you recognize the explosion Rura?'

'Explosion tags have a similar sound when used in a forest.'

'Hmm… so definitely not simple bandits?'

'No, either rouge nin or some rouge nin are leading bandits.'

'Hmm.. and the whistle?'

'It is to signify the front lines were breached.'

'Any advice?'

'Yeah…. Try not to get in the way of everyone else.'

'....rude Rur-.'

Before I could finish what I was talking about I found myself flying through the air.

Realizing the situation I was in I first attempted to stick my feet to a surface using chakra but then decided against it since I would then take the brunt of the damage on my legs, so I changed my strategy and ducked my head while shielding my neck and prepared to brace for impact as I filled my body with chakra to stick any debris in the air to my body to cushion myself during the impact, which given the time wasn't all the much.

*BANG* BANG* *BOOM* *BOOM* *SSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHH*

The wagon came to a halting stop after it had been flung into the air in its entirety.

I saw that everyone else was flung out of the carriage, while I was the only one dragged along with it since I was at the innermost part and was half standing to move in between mum and dad.

Finding myself in the cover of wooden debris from the broken wagon I tried to stand up but found myself feeling numb in the legs.

'WATCH OUT! MEGI!'

Before the blow connected with me, I quickly moved a part of the wooden plank that was still stuck to my arm which softening the blow as I watched a kunai pierce into it and stop right in front of my eyes.

"Oh! What a good and lucky catch!"

'Don't do anything, I'm sure everyone else here will be able to save you, don't be over smart it isn't hard to lose your life.' I heard Sakura say in the calmest voice she possibly could.

I turned around to come face to face with a bandit who grabbed me by the collar and lifted me up and put a kunai to my neck as he turned around to face everyone else who was on the other side of the carriage debris.

I watched as Mum's face contorted in rage and fury as she couldn't wait to slice up the bandit who was holding me, dad barley held her back.

"Oh! Good! Good. At least your husband has some sense knocked into that thick head of his."

Everyone carefully watched and did not make any sudden movements as the bandit spoke to them.

"Now how about all of you throw your weapon pouches to the ground and then walk a few steps back? Huh?"

The first to follow his orders to break the rising tension was Dad who slowly pulled away his weapons pouch from the belt and placed it on the ground under everyone else's full view which the other ninja slowly followed to do after him.

As I watched everyone move back slowly as they considered this a hostage situation a funny plan formed inside my head.

"Now, you, the lady covering her face over there, send your kid here over to this side."

I watched as Kushina with the utmost reluctance sent out Naruto who bravely walked towards this side navigating around the debris.

'Hmm… that might be a problem.'

I didn't want another hostage to be caught in this situation since I didn't know if the person holding me was the only one or if there were more people around us.

I knew well that as long as there were no hostages involved, weapons or not, no bandit should be a match for any of the ninja on the other side.

So I enacted my plan, albeit a little prematurely but still well enough that it shouldn't pose a problem.

"WWWWWWAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!! MMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMYYYYYYY!" I began by crying in the loudest and shrillest voice possible while waving my arms around which confused mom and dad both until they caught onto my plant and made a pitiful attempt to step forward to rescue me.

"Shut it you brat! Or do you want to die?" The bandit said as he brought the kunai closer to my neck, stabbing it just enough to draw blood, but before he could act any further-

*sek**squelch*

A slight sound was produced after which the bandit just dropped me and fell to the ground holding his hands.

"ARRGGhhhHHHH! What have you done you bitch!!!!??"

I watched as the bandit tried to control his bleeding and pain while clutching his wrists that had been pierced by my hidden blades. I hadn't just sliced them with the hidden blades, but pierced his hands and stabbed the knives in deeply before twisting them inside his wrists, tearing all his muscles and deforming all the bones inside them, he will probably be disabled for the rest of his life, unless healed and who would do that? Tsuna-nee? She'd probably just make him impotent after hearing what he was doing when he lost his hands, pitiful person.

And before the man could say another word I found mom rush over and stop his head into the forest road with enough force to form cracks in it. I didn't understand how his head didn't burst open like a watermelon but alright, I have no complains.

"Sakura! Are you alright!" I watched as mum held me tight and close and inspected every bit of me.

"I'm alright mum!" I responded with the best smile I could even though I was a little shaken after coming so close to death earlier.

*bonk*

"Don't do such risky things again!"

'Yes! You idiot don't do such risky things again!'

Like mother, like daughter I guess?

*clang**clang*

The ringing of metal distracted us from our reunion as the rest of the ninjas fought and defeated the remaining bandits who were tied up by kakashi while they were unconscious.

They didn't kill anyone though, perhaps out of consideration for the children? Or maybe they wanted to interrogate them later and then they'd be killed?

*sigh*

Although I was prepared to witness death, this was not how I wanted to face it, I guess not enough time has passed since the Hokage's edict for it to affect the populations of the bandits?

Now with a destroyed wagon and the day having found itself well into the evening, I estimated we would be camping in the middle of the forest today.

'I hope nothing else happens on the trip.' Sakura said in my head.

'Way to raise a flag, Rura.'

I suddenly have a feeling this trip is going to be a long one.

-------------------------

A/N : Please donate to the link in the creator's thoughts if you can to help me turn this into my main focus, every little bit you can spare is much appreciated.

Thank you for reading!

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