The only move is forward

Training Arc

Another step closer

Uhg…" Nitis moaned as he leaned up, placing his hand on his throbbing temple. He looked around to see where he was.

Trees. And lots of them. He couldn't think strait at the moment so that's all that came to mind. His eyes were sore and still very heavy.

"Ah, you're awake!" A male voice said from behind. Nitis stretched his neck back to look at who was behind him.

It was a young man a little older that Tadashi, with dull red hair and brown eyes. "I didn't think you'd wake up for another day or so. I was just going to leave you and let the beasts have you." Nitis cocked his head a bit at the odd way the man spoke to him. He shook his head. "Can't take a joke, can ya kid?"

"Where am I?" Nitis muttered hoarsely.

"The typical question, eh?" The young man replied.

Nitis rolled his eyes. 'This guy's a loon. I better get away as fast as I can.'

The man handed him a bottle of water. "I bet you're thirsty." He scuffled around a bit. "And here. This fell off you." Nitis almost choked on his water when he recognized his necklace in the man's hand.

He snatched it, but then said thank you to the man. "No problem. It's just luck that I happened to see it fall. You should keep something like that on a better chain than just a ratty old string. Oh, I got it!" He scuffled around in his little pack until he pulled out a black cylinder with a cap on it. "Here. You can use this." He said as he tossed the little capsule at him.

Nitis caught it and opened it. Inside was a black cord. He pulled it out, and when he did the cord shimmered bright silver as the sun hit it. He was mesmerized by the two colors flashing back and forth. "What is this?"

"That? It's an alloy supposedly made with the blood of an ancient beast. Apparently, the blood of the beast is what gives it such an odd shine."

Nitis stared at it. "Then why give it to me? You just met me, you saved me… I should be doing something for you, not the other way around."

The man gave him an odd look. "I didn't save you from anything. You were just lying against a tree around here. You looked tired and completely worn out so I decided to help you. Is there something suspicious about wanting to help someone nowadays?"

Nitis blushed a bit with embarrassment. "Ah… No, I guess not. But I was stuck in the river and then I remember someone pulling me out. I just assumed it was you."

The man shook his head. "Sorry. It wasn't me."

Nitis closed his eyes in thought. "Come to think of it… the person had blue eyes…"

"Hmm? Well, I have green."

Nitis tilted his head slightly. "No you don't."

The man turned and looked at the blonde. "Yeah I do. See." He pulled down on one of his bottom eye lids.

Nitis restrained the urge to poke him in the eye. "Look, I'm telling you they're not! I can see it clearly and they're brown! Are you stupid or what?"

"Meh, what do you know. You're probably color blind."

"Yeah? Well you're definitely stupid." He replied.

The man walked over to him and bent down. "Listen up, I'm being nice to you and all you've got to say are mean things like that? Get up. I'm going to beat some sense into you."

"Eh? But-"

"You started it, kid." The man replied. His taunting made Nitis push himself up and lunge at him. "Heh, it'll take more than a floppy little kid to even touch me."

He jumped up into the tree when Nitis rushed forward and tried to hit him with his right hand. "Time out." He called, making the universal time out signal.

Nitis looked up, irritated at the man. "Would you make up your mind. First you want to talk, then fight, now we're timed out?"

"I know I know. Sorry. But I noticed something odd and wanted to know about it. It's about how you hold your hands when you would come at me."

Nitis put his hands in front of his face. "What about them?"

The man jumped down. "It's just… this is what you were doing." He said as he mimicked the blonde's movement when he was about to hit him. His right hand was facing palm up by his waist while his left hand had been facing downwards and hovering close to the other hand. "I just thought that when you were going for a thrust… that was an odd form."

"You got all that by me taking three steps?" Nitis asked. He was suspicious of the man before him.

"Well yeah. I don't normally see such an odd style in fighting. I just want to know why you do that."

Nitis narrowed his eyes at the man. "What do you want? No normal person would care about this and you clearly just wanted to see that and not fight."

'Damn this kid is sharp. I thought he was supposed to be an airhead!' "Alright… I'm here to help you with your fighting style. Kalari sent me, but then you got swept down the river so I came to look for you. That's the truth."

Nitis relaxed a bit. "Then… why didn't you say that the first time? Don't go creeping around the subject like that."

"S-sorry. It's just how I do things. Now… the way you held your hands earlier… it's clear that you're not going in for a normal thrust, but something more. Why don't you try to apply some chakra to your right hand and make it spin?"

"Spin? How can someone do that-?" Pictures of a man holding a swirling ball of chakra appeared in his mind.

'Rotation… Power… Containment.'

His hands started to move on their own. The movements were odd, but it didn't feel new.

XxX

Naruto felt a familiar tingling sensation in his hand and stopped his training to bring out the viewing mirror that the God of Life had given him. Feeling it come out of his body had gotten a lot less odd now that he'd done it a few times, but it still gave him the creeps.

He looked into the window that gave him a view of his body and watched as it tried to attempt something using both his right and left hand. He smiled. "Check it out… I'm remembering the Rasengan."

A young man with brown hair and green eyes walked over and glanced in from over the blonde's head. "Eh? How'd you know to see what your body was doing?"

Naruto shrugged. "I felt something in my right hand. It's the center of the attack formation."

"But right now you don't have a connection to your body. The memory chord my father talked about was cut and is within the Death God's possession, remember. So how'd you feel it?" Haru asked.

The blonde shrugged. "Maybe there's something else that connects me to my body besides the memory chord." Naruto tried to remember everything that cranky old man had told him about reconnecting to his body. "Like… maybe my… soul is trying to connect with my spirit and I felt it?"

"Like a calling?" Haru asked.

"I guess. I'm still confused about all this other worldly business I'm stuck in."

Haru smiled. He was convinced that this was his sister's son. Tarsa had been stubborn and wasn't too fond of learning about all the spiritual lingo as well as the rest of the family. The only one who had ever really understood it was his youngest brother Naruto, the man this young boy was named after. "Alright… let's get back to training. You'll never get your chord back if you keep finding excuses to stop training."

"Right." Naruto huffed. He was grateful that this man was helping him, but he was being drilled by all three of the brown haired Uzumaki at different intervals. Haru was the only one who let him have a break.

Haru could tell that in the past couple months that they had spent together, the boy had continued to grow. He was slightly taller and his hair had gotten longer. He had never seen a spirit grow without a host before; of course, he'd never seen a situation quite like Naruto's as well. "Alright, come at me!"

XxX

Nitis's eyes glowed from the small, spinning sphere in his palm. He looked on in awe at the familiar orb. "This… I remember this."

The brown, yet self proclaimed green eyed man nodded. "So it seems. Well… I guess you're well enough to be on your own. See ya!" He said with a small movement above from his hand at eyebrow level.

Nitis let the sphere disappear as he turned to see where the man went. "Wait-! Eh, whatever. Who needs him." He started the movement back up and added chakra to his palms. The sphere glowed with power. "What's you name… I can't remember that." He said to the orb. Falling backwards, he plopped down on the semi dry ground. He was trying to remember anything else.

Closing his eyes, he tried to pull out anymore pictures from his mind. He could see faces. Blurry faces, but faces none the less. And even a few voices. A picture of a grassy area with a stream nearby came into view.

XxX

Naruto scrunched up his face.

"What's with the face, kid?" Haru asked.

Naruto put his hand up to his head. "My head… it's throbbing. And I can see my old training grounds where my team met for our first assignment."

"Maybe your body is forcing access to your memories."

"But… the chain was broke."

"Like you said, maybe there's something more. And your memories weren't taken from you; your spirit was just released from your body. They're still intact."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah… I wish he… I… we?" He wasn't sure how to address this. "My body… I wish it wouldn't try to remember. It hurts my head."

"Then I bet your body is feeling it, too."

XxX

Nitis let the chakra in his hand disperse so he could clutch his head. He arched his back and he gripped his short, dirty locks. "Ahh!" He yelled. The pain was intense. He'd never felt such pain from just trying to remember something. Tears streamed down his cheeks and he tightly bit his bottom lip until it started to bleed. The blood spread onto his tongue, tasting like iron. Soon, the fit ended similar to the way one would relax after getting a Charlie horse in their leg. All his muscles relaxed and he lay, spread eagle on the ground.

Panting, he muttered to himself, "N-no… no more remembering for me. Not for a while."

He stared up at the sky. It was beautiful with its vibrant blue shade. It amazed him how something so terrible like that storm could look this good in such a short time later. "I guess after something so terrible… anything looks better-"

"Something like that." A voice said from behind. He turned his head and looked to see who had stumbled across him. He looked up at the sky as well, his body just as filthy as the blonde's. "I think… that when something terrible happens, we truly see how the world is meant to be seen. We never pay attention to it any other time, but after such an event, you can sit back and enjoy it every once in a while."

Nitis smiled. "How'd you find me, Luc?"

He walked over and plopped down next to him. "It was difficult since I don't have any tracking ability. I just happened to come across a set of foot prints and followed them. I'm glad you didn't die."

He sounded so much different when he spoke like this, and it was the first time Nitis noticed it. He reminded him of someone… Although he drew a blank, the green haired boy was someone who didn't really like to use his abilities even though he was very talented. It was obvious that he was very clever.

"I didn't know you were such a down to earth guy." Nitis said.

"Ah, well… I always am, but when you're in this village for a long enough time, the others get to you and you're drawn in. Besides, that stuff I just said… my mother said something like that to me a long time ago, before we moved to Void country."

This interested Nitis much more than his throbbing temple. "You haven't always lived here? But I thought that to be a ninja in a village you had to born into it."

He shook his head. "That's not the case here in the Abyss. This country was created by the exiled and rouges who wanted to start over again. Of course, not everyone was a bad person, they just wanted to start somewhere fresh. Like with me and my parents. They didn't agree with the Raikage and left the village after some attempt was made against a clan from another village. I was four when they made the attempt, but we didn't leave until I was six due to planning. We traveled and ended up here and that's where they decided to live."

"So… your parents are-"

"We'd be considered traitors and if we were found we'd be killed, yeah."

Nitis shook his head. The people in the Abyss village were deeper than he thought. They're not just a bunch of odd balls.

"Well… we'd better get back-" He toppled over right after he stood up.

"Lucas!" Nitis pushed himself off the ground and scrambled over to him. "What's wrong?" He asked. He hadn't noticed before, but He didn't have his shirt on and was burnt badly from the sun. Traveling by the river and having the sun reflected up at him probably doubled the problem. He was breathing heavily as well. The blonde didn't know what was wrong besides being severely sun burnt.

"I… think I'm… having a heat stroke." He huffed.

"So what should I do?!" He started to freak out. He couldn't let Lucas die because of him.

"I need some shade… I've over heated myself."

Nitis looked around. This place was in the trees, but it was still pretty bright. His body still hurt terribly, but he was going to carry Lucas somewhere since he had looked all morning for him. Before he did, however, he took his shirt off and helped Lucas put it on.

"There. This way you won't get burnt anymore." He said to Lucas.

Once he was on his back, Nitis started to trek through the trees. He didn't want to go towards the river because water has a high reflectivity rate and it would only burn the two boys more.

It didn't take too long before he found a heavily shaded area of trees to put Lucas under. He told the teen to hold tight and that he'd try and find some water.

"What do you plan to carry it in, genius?" Lucas said. Nitis, smiled. That was more like the Luc that he knew.

"I'll think of something."

"Here." He tossed the blonde a small wooden cylinder. It was just big enough to carry about a cup of water. And luck would have it, there was a clear stream about a hundred yards away. The first thing he did was get some water for Lucas. After trekking back and forth a few times, he was finally able to just soak his body in the shallow stream. It was slightly cooled water, just enough to give his body a break from the heat.

Lucas's body had calmed down and seemed to be okay when Nitis returned. He placed the cup full of water next to Lucas and lie down on his stomach beside him. The only way to get back to where they were, was by taking the river back upstream. The problem was that both the teens were too worn out to move around like that.

Along with those thoughts, he also wondered what Ferra, Hiro, and Keru were doing. 'Probably looking for us…' He thought to himself. Closing his eyes, he let sleep take over.

XxX

"-found… They're only showing signs of sun poisoning… No other injuries to report… I understand… Can you repeat the location?... I thought that's what you said. Wouldn't it be better to bring them back to the village? But that's across the border-… Alright, but it'll take me an hour to get there, maybe a little longer since both are immobile… Understood."

Nitis tried to open his eyes, but they wouldn't budge. In a moment, he was being gently lifted off the ground. The movement caused him to moan a little due to his severely burnt skin being forced to move.

"Looks like you're conscious, Boy." The voice said.

He couldn't tell who was talking, but the harshness in the voice seemed familiar enough. They started moving at a quick speed. He could tell since the air passing over his face grew more intense. Even without opening his eyes, he could feel himself slipping back into darkness.

XxX

Naruto blocked one of Haru's attacks by using an incomplete jutstu he was working on. It was another pure chakra attack, similar to the Rasengan only this one didn't have the control and definitely didn't have any containment to it as of yet. And it didn't have the same shape as the rasengan. His goal while he was training was to create as many completed jutsu while he was here since he would be able to tell whether or not they would damage his body later on. Thankfully, any damage he did while in his spiritual form seemed to heal moments later.

He dropped to the ground. "That's quite a powerful technique, and it's not even complete." Haru smiled.

It turned out that they were truly related. That old man had done something to him on their meeting and showed him that their chakra was similar. He then showed him how Haku's was different. It was a long and drawn out explanation that Naruto quickly got bored with.

Naruto wished this man was still alive, then he would have been the blonde's uncle and that would have meant that maybe… he wouldn't have been alone for so long. The fact that at one point he did have a family made the fact that he was the container of a monster… just a little better. At some time or another, he had been a normal person.

'Another bond. A blood bond. That'd be nice to have something like that back home.' Just then, he thought of something. "Haru! I think I know why me and my body feel each other's pain!" He called, excited.

"Eh?"

"Don't be silly, boy. You think that something as deep and intricate as your situation could be so simple that the answer would pop into your mind? And just like that?" Keru said, snapping his fingers as to make his point. His appearance startled him.

Naruto stuck out his lower lip. This old man was harsh. He never listened to what the blonde had to say. "Listen. I just thought of it! It's just an idea, old man. Are Ideas really that awful?!"

"Ideas are what lead to death-"

"Everything leads to death to you!" He closed his mouth. Anything he said to this old man was wasted breath.

"I guess it doesn't hurt to listen, father." Narta said, walking up behind the blonde. After she had found out that he was Tarsa's son, she sweetened up to him quickly. At first she had her doubts, but his attitude and the way he spoke… was very similar to her two youngest siblings.

The old man huffed, and that's when she saw it. The grandfather and grandson were both very similar, even though they had different ideas. They were both stubborn, and they had the same sideways glance when irritated.

"Fine." He forced out.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the old man. He wanted to say it before he forgot. "Well… I was thinking about how people have bonds. Even though you can't see them, they're there. Bonds of friendship can't be so easily destroyed, right? And then You all told me that I have a memory chain. Well… what if I have more chains… like one for memories, one for current events, one for physical contact. You know, that kind of stuff. Maybe that death guy took my memory chord, but I'm still connected to my body. I can feel when it does something."

Everyone looked at him. He sounded as if he was a master at this. "Then… why do you need to recover your memory chord, Naruto?" Haru asked. He turned to his father.

"It's because when he goes back, he won't be complete. If what he says is true, then he would go back to normal, but he would have nothing to link his memories from before. Then, his current and future memories wouldn't be stored and all he'd be able to remember were the things all the way up to when he'd rejoin his body. He'd never retain anything more and would always be acting on instincts." He looked at the boy. "A plausible theory… I suppose."

Naruto turned around. "Yeah, well… I have my moments, too." He said. Although nobody could see his face, he had a small blush. He knew that what the old man had said was an apology and a compliment all in one. It was something he'd never gotten from him before. "Right! Back to training!"

XxX

When he woke back up, he knew something was wrong with him. He was all sweaty, and yet, he was freezing. His stomach was twisting into tight knots. After finally being able to gather enough energy to open his eyes, he looked up at who was carrying him. Once he saw him, he figured out why the harshly spoken words were so familiar. He lived with those words every day. Over Keru's shoulder was Lucas's limp form.

Something was coming. He moved around a bit so that Keru would notice him.

"Eh?" He did. He stopped and looked down at the boy squirming in his arms. "What's the matter?" He asked. It was the first time since he had to take him in that he didn't use his typical harsh voice. The boy, although sun burnt, was very pale. He couldn't hold onto him much longer so he put him on his feet. "Calm down." He instructed.

Nitis, in his weakened state, took a couple steps over to the tree line and rested his head on the bark. He took a few deep breaths and walked a little more, enough so that Keru couldn't see him. He placed his hands on a tree as the feeling of dizziness struck him. Something wanted out, and he wasn't about to stop it. He coughed and then threw up.

It was just as unpleasant as the last time. A burning sensation in his throat, a putrid taste in his mouth… It was horrible.

He waited a few minutes before moving. He wanted to make sure the nauseous feeling had passed. Feeling even weaker now, he let his eyes open to see what he'd tossed up. It was the first time he noticed the small flecks of blood. Assuming that it always happened, he ignored it and started to sway back to Keru.

"You're not going to do that again, are you?" He asked.

Nitis shook his head. "N-no."

"Well, just let me know if you're going to do it again. I'm well past the vomit stage." Nitis didn't quite understand, and Keru could see it. He picked him up and started to head towards his destination. "I mean, Tadashi used to throw up on my all the time when he was little, so I think I've had my fair share of that sort of thing,."

Smiling and feeling not as bad as when he woke up, he drifted out of consciousness again. The next time he woke up, he was lying on a hospital bed. "Huh?"

He sat up quickly, but that turned out to be a mistake. His body ached terribly and when he moved, his skin felt as if it was stiff paper that was attempting rip apart. Wincing, he bit on his lower lip as he slowly moved his legs over to the edge of the bed.

Now that he wasn't concentrating on the pain in his shoulders and back, he looked around the room he was in. There were beds just like his that were lined up against each wall. What was more surprising was that each one was filled with a person with some sort of injury… some minor while others severe. There were people standing around in tan outfits with a bright green 'X' on the backs and on the sleeves of their shirts. But it was the man wearing the white outfit with a bright orange 'X' instead of green that caught his attention.

He was calling orders and having what looked like younger men and women run around the room. The beds they were tending to were strait across from his own and lying on them were three people that looked to be his age. He glanced at the beds and that's the first time he noticed all the red blood that covered their beds and the floor.

"They've all lost too much blood, Sir!" A young woman yelled at her superior.

The older man with the orange 'X' glared at her. "Just do what I told you." He growled out.

Nitis pulled his eyes away from the scene for a moment but was quickly drawn back to the drama. One man pulled something away from one of the kid's face that was covered in blood. He couldn't tell what it was until it was placed on the tray next to the person. Nitis could feel his stomach twisting again. He knew what that was now. It was that kid's eye.

"It's nothing pretty, is it?" Someone said from his left. He looked straight forward to meet with pale green eyes.

"Eh?"

The woman turned her head. She was very pretty, especially with the way that her brown hair framed her face. But she had cuts all over her body and her right arm was up in a sling. "Those are my Genin."

"Oh!... I'm- um, will they be okay?" He asked. He didn't care for these situations. He'd met with one a few weeks ago.

The woman turned to look at her students. "I can't say. But my strongest pupil… just lost his eye. I left them so that I could go check up on the man we were supposed to meet with but when I returned, they were like this." She sighed. "But I believe that their wills are strong and that they'll live. Besides…" She said with a pale, faint smile. "Why extract the eye if he was going to die?"

Nitis thought about it for a moment. She was right. Usually, the most critical thing would be dealt with first. "I guess you're right." He said, closing his eyes.

She glanced back at him. "You look pretty worn out yourself, young man. What could you have been doing to acquire such a serious sunburn?"

He didn't know how bad his burn was, but he knew it hurt. "I was helping my frie- AH!" He quickly looked around the room, causing his body a sudden jolt of pain. He finally realized why he was here and who was missing. "Lucas?!"

"Hmm? A friend of yours?" She asked.

He turned his head slowly back to her. "Yeah. But… he's not here."

The doctor across the room said something, causing a look of relief to cross the woman's face. She sighed. "Well, there was a boy in the bed next to you. He slipped out after I came here. Does your friend have green hair?"

Nitis sighed. "Yeah, that's him. At least he's okay."

"I wouldn't say okay. You're both burnt terribly. I'd say you both have sun poisoning."

"Sun poisoning?" He repeated. "What's that?"

She giggled. "Seriously? It's where your skin's gathered too many UV rays and becomes poisoned. That's how people end up with skin cancer and other skin issues. That's pretty much common sense. Lost your memory recently or something?"

"Yeah, I have." He said, not really liking the idea of being laughed at for something so ridiculous.

She continued to giggle. "You're funny-"

"I'm serious!" He nearly yelled. She stopped laughing, a shocked look overtaking her features. "I lost my memories about a year ago. I don't know who I am or where I'm from." He pushed himself off the bed and slowly started to walk out of the bustling room, leaving the woman with the same shocked face as before.

XxX

"I'm terribly sorry for invading your country like this, Giro." Kalari said as she walked down the hospital hall with a man her age that had short, light brown hair and dark blue eyes. Walking behind them was Keru, who was followed by Ashton and Tadashi. They were allowed to come since they were the nearest to her when she informed them of the Genins' status.

"It's no problem. You know, if you'd just let our counties sign an alliance contract, you wouldn't have the need to summon me every time you use this place. I've offered you this deal so many times."

She shook her head. "And I've declined each time. I will not have another country dragged down by our affaires, and Void will always be neutral in other affairs. You know how I feel about this."

He shrugged. "I think those were somebody else's wishes, hmm?"

She glared at him. "Either way, the answer is still no."

Giro shook his head. "Well, if you ever do, Gem country will be the first, right?"

"Sure, whatever." She huffed.

He laughed and patted her head. "Heh, that's what friends do. Anyways, I heard about that terrible flood up there. We've also had a similar situation these past two days, but nothing as severe as taking out an entire village."

"Excuse me, but the villagers were all okay, so really… nothing was taken out." Tadashi said from the back of the group.

"True enough. Now, where are these two little heroes I've been hearing about recently?" He asked as they entered the ENW, the Emergency Ninja Wing.

"They're right over there." Keru said, pointing to the two empty beds. "Well…" His eyes narrowed. "They were there when I left." He glanced over to his sister-in-law. She wasn't pleased.

"Those two! Where'd they run off to?! I thought you said they were both unconscious and unable to move!" She yelled at the dark haired brunette.

He turned his head slightly to avoid a verbal assault to his face. "They were-"

"Excuse me… Were those two boys yours?" The brunette woman asked, peering over her shoulder.

"Myli? What're you doing here?" Giro asked.

"A rouge jumped my three while I went out for information. They're okay, but they're resting." She said, pointing over to the three beds across the room. "Reira's the least injured."

Giro walked over to the beds. The girl who was now sleeping soundly had bandages wrapped all over her body. She pale brown hair was messed up and looked to have small chunks cut out. "But they're okay?" He asked.

"Yes. The doctor informed me recently that the most severe damage was a punctured lung, a few broken ribs, and one of the boys lost their eye." She turned back to Kalari's group. "I'm afraid I accidently offended the young blonde sitting here earlier. I informed him about sun poisoning since he didn't seem to know anything about it, and then I joked about him losing his memory over something so simple-"

"Ah." Tadashi said. Everyone turned to him.

"And what does that mean, boy?" Keru asked.

Tadashi glanced at Ashton. "Well, when Nitis first started to get comfortable with us, he was real depressed that he couldn't remember anything other than those couple names and voices. Ferra told us that he was really upset about something that happened right after that Gem rouge showed up. Then, the longer he was with us, the more irritated he got from it. Whenever it was brought up he'd get pissed, but he wouldn't do much other that glare at someone." The brunette said.

"But you shouldn't worry too much about it, ma'am." Ashton said. "He knows that it was a joke. It just makes him mad that he can't remember anything before October of last year."

She looked down. "I see."

"So where did they go?" Kalari wondered.

Myli pointed to the door that they walked out of. "First the green haired boy walked out right after my kids were brought in. Then, towards the end of all the drama my team caused, I said those things and he walked out as well. So, about an hour ago was when the first one took off, then the second ran out about twenty minutes ago."

"Why'd they walk out like that? They should know that they need to be treated, right?" Giro asked.

"The nurses are looking for them. They came over after those three were stabilized and I told them that they left." Myli said.

Tadashi put his hand up to his face. "Well, I'm not too sure where Luc ran off to, but I bet I can locate Nitis soon." He turned and started to walk out. "I'll be back soon." He said.

Giro pushed the girl's hair back while she slept. "Reira?"

The girl opened her pale green eyes. "Daddy? Why're you here?" She asked.

"No reason. Go back to sleep."

"Okay." She closed her eyes and drifted off quickly.

"Now, Kalari, if you won't become our ally, even though you pretty much are already, I'll have you do something since you crossed our border illegally and used our facilities." He said with a smirk.

She knew this was coming. There was always a penalty for her being over here. They were always small things that she usually sent Seth or Keru to attend to. "Fine. Name your terms!"

He grinned. "I want some of your ninja to participate in our fall festival."

XxX

Tadashi opened the door to the rooftop. Recently, he'd been finding Nitis up on their roof, staring at the sky and deep in thought. He wasn't sure he'd be up here, but this was the first place he could think of. And sure enough, there he was. The blonde was lying on his back, breathing deeply.

He walked over to him and lightly nudged him with his foot. Bright blue eyes snapped open. "You know it's really stupid to be out here in the sun with those burns. You're just making them worse." He said.

He smiled when the little blonde glared up at him. "Shut up."

"Now now. That lady feels really bad about what she said. I told you that it's supposed to be taken as a joke. Don't get so mad at yourself for something you can't control." He waited for a comeback, but this is usually when Nitis gave up.

"You just don't get it, Tadashi."

"A comeback, huh? That's right, I don't get it. I've never lost my memory so this is something you have to figure out on your own. People like me and Ashton can't do anything but try and help you."

Nitis sat up. "I know." He sighed. "It's just so irritating. Then you guys give me the same line that you'll help me, but in reality… Even with your help I'm not getting very far. I still don't remember anything. My body remembers, but I can't think back past the day your dad found me. If I try I get a major headache."

The Jonin sighed. "Well, let's worry about that later, okay. You need to get taken care of." He helped up the blonde. "By the way, have you seen Lucas?"

Nitis nodded. "Yeah. He's in the cafeteria."

"For an hour?"

"Yup. He was eating ice cream from a straw and had a few popsicles on his arms. He looked a little funny."

Tadashi led the way to the cafeteria to pick up the other Abyss Genin. When they arrived, Lucas was arguing with the lady in charge of the food. "Listen lady! I am burning up. I need something cold on my body until I get checked out by the doctor! "

"I don't care. We don't have anything left cold enough to satisfy you-"

"Then give me some Ice!"

"Boy! You've used it all! Ice just doesn't appear in seconds. It takes time to freeze."

Lucas groaned. "I'm a suffering man, and you're going to let me die." He turned and bumped right into Tadashi's chest. "Oof."

"You gonna make it back to the ENW, Luc?" Tadashi asked.

"Tadashi? When'd you get here?"

"Who cares. Let's get back before aunt Kalari gets mad."

As they walked back, Lucas glared at Nitis. "How is it that You're not as miserable as me even though we've got similar burns?"

Nitis shrugged. "I don't know. I feel a lot better now than when I woke up. My body was really stiff but it's relaxed now."

The violet eyed boy glared. "You're a jerk. You must have quick healing cells or something."

XxX

Nitis and Lucas followed behind Keru as they walked across the border back into the Abyss village. They were instructed to stay inside until their burns faded and held no red in them whatsoever. They had to have some gel substance rubbed onto their burns three times a day for a week as well. And also… no missions.

"Uh, Keru… don't you need to be back with everyone else?" Lucas asked.

He continued to walk forward. "No. I have to take you two home first. Afterwards, I have to report back down there."

"We can make it back on our own. Don't worry about us." Lucas replied.

He glanced over his shoulder. "I wouldn't, even if you asked me to, but Kalari told me I had to and I don't want to listen to her rant on about not listening."

"Then what about Ferra. And Hiro?" Nitis asked.

He stopped walking. "Hmm. I guess I should have asked about the other two." He started walking forward. "Well, they'll just have to help out down there until further notice."

The two teens glanced at each other. Both were thinking that this man could be mean sometimes.

"Now apparently you both are to go to my place where Kanda will be watching you until Kalari returns-"

"Can't I just go home?" Lucas asked, not seeming to fond of this idea.

"Hmm… nope." Keru replied.

As if not believing the two teens would go to the place they were supposed to go, he chaperoned them into the house… just to be sure. "Kanda! Here's your patients."

The navy blue haired woman peered around the doorway to the living room. Her wavy hair was pulled back into a messy bun. "Oh, you poor dears. Come in here and I'll take care of you." She said, waving to them.

The two went and say down onto the couch and waited until Keru and Kanda finished chatting. They sat, stiff, hoping they wouldn't be put under a strict rule. Staying indoors was bad enough.

When she walked back in, she smiled. "You two are going to be under my care until my sister returns. It seems like it'll take a few days before they return." The two sighed. Then, she smirked. "Now strip down to your shorts, I've got to rub some medical lotion on both of you."

XxX

The man with dull red hair looked into the river. He bent down a little closer to get a look at the color of his eyes. "Damn, kid." He stared at the refection of his brown eyes. "I thought I made them green. Eh, I must be getting old."

He released the transformation and was now staring into black eyes. "Che. Maybe he'll remember a little faster now."

Attention: Thanks so much for reading this and not complaining about taking so long to get chapters out. It's taken some time since college is my top priority and my main situation there is getting through my two manditory classes. Thankfully, I passes my first one and am now working on the last, which is finite. Of course there were other reasons. Stress and the economy suking (since everyone blames the economy, I think I can too) And then recently my aunt was put into the hospital for an Aneurism. So now I've been spending alot of time at the hospital. 2008 had turned out to litterally be the worst year of my life to date. I'm just hoping 2009 will treat my nerves and mind a little better.

On another note, I've decided that when I get the time and when it's finished, I'm going to combine this with the revised first part and make it into one story, which is His undetermined path. Even though I've only posted three chapters of that one, I've got it outlined until it meets up with this story. I'll alert everyone when I do it. But chances are, it'll take a long time.

Thanks again- Blackblaze