Bye Bye Konoha, A New Beginning

Neji POV

A week ago, Tenten told me to start packing because the week would go fast. I didn't listen at all for the most part. I just got arrangements for buying a horse. Now it's two days before the week is up and I haven't even started collecting my things.

I might not get paid well as a deputy, but it does have its high points. Gingersnap is a police horse who retired recently. She's old and fleabitten, but she's been my partner for about seven years so when I asked the chief about her, he gave her to me right off the bat.

Thinking makes time fly, I just finished packing my underwear.

Shikamaru showed the girls his first sign of brilliance. He realized that we (the group) could buy a covered wagon and carry more stuff. Ino had told him that her horse was being treated like a pack animal and that he should make a plan to solve that dispute or she'd cut off his food supply and cut his hair. His idea would work but we didn't have the funds.

Then we found out that Lee and Naruto couldn't afford horses but if Gai helped them, they could pay for oxen. Of course, Gai refused to help unless he was allowed to come along and "supervise his special student."

Hinata said it wasn't allowed but that quickly changed when he agreed to add in the covered wagon. So that was settled.

My pants and shirts are packed.

The room that I sleep in is small and most things in it have little value to me. Now that I have my clothes, necessary toiletries, and a few pieces of weaponry (all made of hardened bakers clay) I have to go to breakfast, made by Shikamaru's mom. She called it "a going away breakfast" but I'm pretty sure she was just buttering me up so I'd wear the kiss the cook apron and clean one more time before I left. She would NOT get me to do that.

Sasuke bought a magnificent red stallion named Sunset and laughed at me and Gingersnap. He lent the Uchiha manor house to Baki, Tsunami, Tazuna, and Inari since the saloon wouldn't be big enough for them to live in. Sunset and Cherry, Sakura's horse are getting along especially well. That's what Sakura told Tenten.

Sakura has more bags then Tenten, Temari, Shikamaru, and I put together. Her pink lifestyle is cheerful though and she's a first class healer. She's very hotheaded and outgoing. Tenten says she talks to herself at random times. Sasuke calls her "my emerald eyed beauty", "Pink Princess", and "Healer-hime".

Temari is very pleased with herself for having the boyfriend who bought the wagon. I saw her polishing her fan and chatting with Ino. Her horse, Gale, is an Appaloosa and he whinnies happily whenever Temari is nearby.

Ino and her palomino (that rhymed!), Spark, are just about ready to go. All that's left for them to do is Ino going on an all day shopping spree and realizing that she can't carry it all moments before we have to leave. Sakura will be just about same, most likely.

Hinata follows Naruto around aimlessly. They've only known each other for about two months and already tourists have asked me if they're married. Hinata made up with Temari after the wedding, when Temari was satisfied that Baki wouldn't be lonely. Even though they don't talk much, Ino assures me that it's normal for Hinata and Temari to ignore each other unintentionally. Hinata's horse, Vanilla, might be even more gentle then Hinata herself. She waits quietly for Hinata and allows any rider. For a pony, she's strong. Strong enough to carry Naruto and Hinata the same time.

Naruto's views on Choji were switched completely around when he got his going away present, a three months supply of Ichiraku ramen, in instant ramen packaging. Ayame and Ichiraku gave him a little brown pony named Skipperdee. When Naruto packed up his apartment, he promised to come back some day and work for him again.

Lee bought new spandex just for the trip… Isn't that special. Tenten and I shuddered ominously when we noticed the new addition, orange leg warmers. His camel, a dromedary named Practice, had leg warmers to match. Same with Gai and his camel, Youth. Scary.

Kankuro appears to be gathering his collection of pinups, makeup, and puppets. Unknown to most people, but Kankuro is extremely fond of puppetry and huge, complicated string mechanisms. In his closet, he has separate boxes for each and every button, knob, tool, key, and nail that could be used for repairing his oh so precious marionettes. His favorite is a life-sized puppet that is so big, it could trap a person. Two if they were small. Assuming that we needed to fight during this journey, that would probably be Kankuro's weapon of choice. I'm also certain that he'll bring Louie, the wooden puppet that Kankuro carried around with him ever since he moved here, earlier if what Baki says is true. He bought a fat grey horse named Tank.

Gaara came back to the village a few days ago with a huge gourd made of sand on his back. He kept flinging sand into it and I think he learned magic because half the time he wasn't moving his hands. The sand just flew into the jar. No matter what offer Baki makes, Gaara won't buy a horse.

Kiba doesn't want a horse. He doesn't want to ride in the cart. He definitely doesn't want a camel. He won't take an ox. Kiba will ride on his trusty steed, Akamaru! Besides dog toys, clothing, a toothbrush, and some pictures of his family, Kiba didn't pack much. His first priority was Ino and Akamaru. Since the Kamiki festival, Ino and Kiba are the people I've seen kiss the most. Akamaru can carry Kiba and all of his luggage.

… Eating… Can't think now…

The Night Before We Leave

Somewhere On The Outskirts Of Town

Tenten POV

Alright. I'm going to call Amaterasu and see what she can do. Lets see, a little blood on the scroll and… POOF! The wolf is standing right in front of me. Issun is sitting on his perch on her head. The bouncing glow says in a shrill voice "Hi Babe! Long time no see. What do ya need?"

I happily answer "don't call me Babe!... Oh! An idea of what Amaterasu can do."

"Sure thing!"

Amaterasu looks up at the sky.

"Alright, this is Rejuvenation. It's the first move you'll be learning."

Seems good… "Wait a sec! I'M learning!?!"

"Well yeah, we can't be there all the time so might as well teach you the basics," the pint sized warrior said in his squeaky voice, "Ammy, show her what you've got!"

The white wolf looked up into the dark night sky and pointed her tail at a constellation, only it was missing a star. Then she looked at me and a paintbrush appeared out of nowhere. My buggish translator told me what to do. I didn't even need ink when I drew the missing star into place. Almost as soon as the stars were aligned, a white dragon with a scroll in the middle of it, like the dragon was escaping from a painting. In a deep voice it spoke "I am Yomigami. You have awoken me, but Amaterasu is near. I bestow upon you the technique, Rejuvenation."

With that, Yomigami disappeared and a kanji appeared in his absence. It blew toward me and vanished into my open hands, I kinda thought it was a star that I had to catch. Issun looked happy from what I could see of him. He shrilly said "great, now we'll show you how it works."

We walked to a broken sign in front of the saloon. Amaterasu looked at it, swished her tail, and the broken pieces of the sign fell back in place, like brand new. We walked to an old fence, meant to keep livestock. In it were cows and their calves, all asleep. They could escape at a time unless the fence was fixed. "Your turn" whispered Issun.

I closed my eyes and the world turned black and white like an old movie. No one could move accept me, as though they were trapped. There was no noise either. I took out my brush and painted the fence back in. As soon as I ran out of ink, the world went back to normal, only the fence was back in place.

"Very good! It took me weeks to learn that! We'll do one more for tonight."

The three of us ran to a group of trees outside town. Amaterasu looked at a dead oak and made a swiping motion with her tail. The tree was cut in half and it fell over onto the ground.

Another constellation was in the sky. It was missing a star, like the other. This time when I painted it in, a rat with a sword flew down to greet me. In a squeaky little voice, the rat, almost as small as Issun, said "why did chu wake me, Tachigami? My nap was so wonderful! I would chase chu! Amaterachu, what are chu doing here? Will this human go away if I give a her Power Slash?"

Tachigami poofed away and in her place, another kanji remained. It flew toward me just like the other.

Issun and Ammy looked at me expectantly. I closed my eyes and the colors faded as I opened them. Once again the world was silent. I slashed the tree in half with the brush.

The world went back to normal again, only a thin sickly young tree had fallen. "Exellent, our time for now is up", I could already see them fading, "fill in the constellations! Call us when we're needed!"

They were gone, but they left a present. A whip, a shield, and a sword. The celestial weapons of the sun goddess.

The whip wasn't leather, it was a sting of beads called rosaries. This one was made out of bone. A piece of paper is tied to it, naming the rosaries Devout Beads. The Devout Beads can be worn as a necklace with something like a lot of big shark teeth on it. The note says that in battle, they'll enlarge themselves into huge combo long-range weapons.

The sword wasn't your average thin steel bald. It was huge, but easy to carry. This weapon of the gods is called a glaive (or a graive, whatever you like). A thin piece of paper on the sword declared it Tsumugari. Tsumugari is great to carry around on my back, not bad for long distance riding.

The shield was more like a floating disc that I could wear above my head like a hat or, preferably, on my back like a sort of cape. It has small flames surrounding it. The paper attached to it says Divine Retribution.

Next to the divine instruments is a pocket sized scroll, I suppose it's for storing one of the weapons, I can't hold all of them. Without much hesitation, I put Divine Retribution into the scroll for safe keeping.

After a few hours of practicing, being a weapons master finally paid off. I can use any of my new weapons perfectly! Not bad for 4 hours of practice.

Yawn….

…

….

…..

"HOLY SHIT IT'S SEVEN!!! I STAYED UP ALL NIGHT AND WE'RE LEAVING TODAY!!!" I pack up incredibly fast and run back to town. Every time I see something broken, I feel inclined to use Rejuvenation. When I finally get back, Temari is pacing on the porch of the saloon. She perks up when she sees me. Temari yells "where have you been? You never came back last night."

"Sorry, Temari (another rhyme!) I learned some new techniques and I wanted to try them out."

Temari and I go to get my bags. Sakura says its amazing that I can store everything I own, which is a lot, into one tiny carry-on bag. The secret is my item scrolls. One for clothes. One for bathroom stuff and hair ties. You get the idea.

Sakura, Ino, Temari, and Hinata can't/don't use scrolls. Don't ask me why, I have no idea.

With these new weapons, techniques, and Amaterasu, I think I can be an even match for Temari and Kira Kira Mai, her flimsy excuse for a familiar who calls itself a weasel. I hate it, it hates me. Kira Kira Mai is the only male, animal or human or spirit, to see me with my hair down. He cut my hair ties out with his scythe, for revenge I put a bell seal on the end of the scythe. A bell is sort of like bomb paper, only it makes a bell with an indestructible chain attach itself to something, it rings pathetically whenever it moves and the only way to break it is for the person who put it on to take it off. Unfortunately for Kira Kira, I'm not about to go and do that.

Naruto is loading up the suitcases. When I go around the wagon the get some more food to put into the bottom storage area, I see my little suitcase thrown roughly into Lee's waiting hands to be put into the cart. Lee briefly scolds Naruto for being rough with the bags but he gets back to work almost immediately.

Neji and Shino walk out of the sheriff's office and Neji calls Hinata over to him. I walk over with her. Neji asks "Shino wants to join our group. Is that alright with you,

Hinata-san?"

Hinata sighs but answers quickly, "of c-course S-shino-kun i-is w-welcome to c-come, S-shino-kun c-can you d-drive carts?"

Bug-Boy replies monotonously "yes, I can drive a wagon. I will drive this wagon as my job on the journey."

Hinata smiles warmly and her stutter almost completely disappears, "S-shino-kun do you have anything you'd like to bring?"

Shino feels for something the pocket of his overcoat, I don't know how he can wear that in this desert, and says "no. I have nothing that I must bring."

For some reason, I feel very suspicious of him. "Shino, why did you choose to come so suddenly?"

"Because I the people in this village use pesticides on their lawns."

Neji looks up and asks "so you're sensitive to pesticides?"

"No, my bugs die in such barbaric conditions."

I ran off and hid. Spiders… Bees… Ants… Ce-Centipedes…

Hinata allowed him to come.

When we finally pulled out, Baki, Tsunami, Tazuna, Inari, Ichiraku, Ayame, Choji, Shikamaru's family, and some other villagers waved good bye. Ichiraku was saying something to Choji, but I couldn't make out what.

Shino was driving the wagon and teaching Lee and Gai to steer. Their camels were harnessed to the back of the wagon, walking lazily alongside. Careful, they spit.

Naruto and the new pony, Skipperdee, trotted next to Hinata and Vanilla. Naruto looked mournfully in the direction of the ramen bar one more time before sighing heavily and starting up a conversation with Hinata who was happy just being near him.

Neji and I talked for a while about where our next destination was. I didn't know, I told him that all I did was follow Hinata. He reached into his saddlebag and tossed me a bag of trail mix, a kind gesture if you like trail mix. I don't especially care for it but I was hungry so whose complaining. "Nothing but open space hear huh" Neji asked boredly.

"Yep."

"What's with the sword", he pointed to Tsumagari. I was beginning to wonder when someone would ask that.

I hadn't told anyone about Amaterasu, for the time being that'll be my little secret. The only reason I could think of was "I've had it for a while, but since I am a weapons mistress, I need to have fully mastered the sword before I use it in battle. By the way, it's a glaive and it's named Tsumagari."

"Hn."

The thing about Neji is that you can tell when he's thinking about something because of the way he always, and I mean always, says hn. He probably realized that I had made up the whole thing about Tsumagari on the spot.

We rode on for a while, but when it got to be eleven, Ino (for those of you who don't know, Ino is our itinerary manager and second-in-command healer) called for us to stop and make camp.

Sasuke and Kankuro were set to keep guard while Shino sent some bugs to scout ahead. Ewwww…

Once my tent was set up, I went to sleep immediately and that was all there is to say…

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Ninuri: This one is a lot longer then the other chapters. Mostly fillers but hey, most of it's actually important plot details. Next Chapter- Ambush!?!

Should Choji and Ayame join the group? Review please. No flames, they make me sad…