Pakura was supposed to keep her back to the fire, keep her eyes sharp in the dark. She wasn't worried. "What do you think?" She offered over the crackling wood. Maki's eyes flicked to her.

"About?"

Their eyes connected once, and Pakura went back to prodding the fire. Nights got so cold in Suna that her wrist felt light with no heavy garments weighing it down. "Him."

There sat Gaara, a fair ways from the camp staring up at the moon. Maki let out a breath. "Sad, isn't it…"

Pakura inclined her head. "Whole thing is sad."

. . .

"Any news yet?" Said Muji, and it was amazing how she managed to inject so much sarcasm into such an innocuous statement. They weren't even out of Takigakure yet, at least a week of travel left until Otafuku Gai.

Suzume withheld her retort. Muji was so self-centered she'd have better luck insulting a goat. "No."

Ganjo sighed. Truly the ninja of Iwa lived up to their namesake; rockheaded.

. . .

Karin couldn't sleep. The thrum of nature and wind was so set apart from the white sterility of her lab that she may well have been dropped onto an alien planet. She could see Kagero's head poking out the top of her bedroll, but Kagero was always so lifeless who knew if she was actually sleeping.

Guren kept watch, turning something glimmering and sharp in her hand. Karin was strangely not comforted.

. . .

Tenga caught his breath. It was his first time down from Kumo and it felt like he was breathing syrup. Darui assured him that it wasn't hyperoxia, but Tenga's ears were swimming and hissing and not a moment later he passed out.

Nearby, Cee sighed.

. . .

They were two hours out of Konoha when Jiraiya stopped flat. Anko overshot, and when she hopped back to his side, something vague like "what?" in her mouth. She noticed that their third member was unconscious at Jiraiya's feet.

"… Was Fu bothering you?"

Jiraiya flashed a grin at her; the type that bared teeth more than conveyed humor. "No. But he has no part in this conversation, so he's on time out right now."

Anko didn't know how to respond. She said nothing.

"I've heard Danzo's story. His 'everything.'" Said Jiraiya. "But I haven't heard your everything."

Anko frowned. "Everything I knew I told Danzo. Would he have a reason to lie to you?"

"Does a bear shit in the woods?" Anko would have laughed if not for the severe expression on Jiraiya's face. "He'd lie to his mother. He'd lie to god. And that's good and bad, but right now, I'm feeling like that's bad. Don't you agree?"

"Yes." Said Anko automatically.

Jiraiya advanced. Anko forgot that she had legs and stood there, stone still. "Does the name Naruto mean anything to you?"

"No."

"I figured it wouldn't." They were five feet apart. "Don't feel bad. It's a special sort of secret she's mixed up in. But… You know what?"

"Wh…" Said Anko, because her diaphram decided then was a good time to stop functioning.

They were two feet apart. Anko was a fawn in the shadow of a bear. "Naruto is very important to me. She is very important to the village. And I think, if you knew why, why she was so important to so many people, she would be important to you too."

Anko thought something like I've done nothing wrong why are you abusing your power- and then Jiraiya clapped her shoulder and all thought fled from her head-

"I'm sorry." he said. "I'm upset. I'm upset because Naruto is gone. She is gone, where she lived is gone, and she is not accounted for and it seems like I am the only person to notice. So tell me everything. Literally everything you experienced."

Anko told him literally everything.

Jiraiya let out a long breath between his teeth, something vague and terrible dawning upon him. "Describe it again… What you saw on the beach. As well as you can."

Anko did.

His jaw was tight. "Her and Kakashi… their exact words."

Anko said what she remembered.

Jiraiya paced away, shaking his head.

"What?" Said Anko.

He tossed Fu over his shoulder and was off.

. . .

Night found Naruto climbing out of the underground. The crypt comparison held too true for comfort, and more than that Mei hadn't been kidding about her having the most mutagenic bloodline she'd ever seen. Most had little, barely noticeable changes. Skin color, eye color, mannerism. They were like her – but they weren't. Naruto could feel it. Their cause might have been the same but they weren't brothers, and even though they were polite it was strained. It would take time than Naruto wasn't willing to invest to prove she was human.

The Biter that hung with her followed her out, pushing beneath her hand as it had been doing lately. The others that had been roaming around up top crowded behind her as she brushed through the island's undergrowth, specks of moonlight flickering through the canopy.

She made her way to the water's edge, resting down on a bit of rock and dangling her feet over the tide. The moon was near full, the mist thinning in the cool night air. Naruto leaned back on her hands and stared, eyes glazing over. "You can come out if you want."

A slight pause. A girl in a traditional yukata landed on the sand. "I'd heard you were a sensor." She spoke in a warm, soft sort of voice.

Naruto was in a quiet mood. The moon sucked her out of her head. She saw how unfathomably huge the sky was, how small she was. It put her at ease. She didn't reply.

"Am I bothering you?"

Naruto sucked in a breath of night air. The smell of the ocean. "… No."

The girl approached. "Too dark inside?"

"… or something."

The girl sat in the sand, her bare feet just out of the tide. For a long while neither spoke. Occasionally she would sneak a glance at Naruto, but her eyes were light and never lingered for long.

"I can fix your cloak." She offered. "If you like."

Naruto realized she'd been rolling the cut in her hand, playing with the frayed edge. "No. Thanks." She took another drag of night air. "It's one of those things I gotta do myself."

"… Do you know how?" The girl ventured, a tinge of humor in her voice.

Naruto pursed her lips. "Not really, no."

A quiet chuckle. "Come here. I'll show you."

Naruto glanced back. The girl pulled a small bundle from the folds of her sash, unrolling it onto the sand at her side. A large needle and thimble gleamed in the moonlight, next to them a small tin and a roll of hardy looking thread. Naruto wondered if she always had that on her or if this had been planned out in advance.

The girl cracked a small grin. "I grew up on the ocean… You learn to swim. You learn to fish. You learn to mend a sail."

Naruto could do exactly none of those things. She eased off of the rock and approached the girl, carefully removing her cloak and gathering it in her arms.

"Oh." The girl inhaled sharply as she saw Naruto's body in the moonlight, eyes flicking over her shoulders, breasts, down her plated arms and spikes and wings that stretched out kinks behind her, creaking like old bones and then folding back to her spine. "You're…"

Naked? Monstrous?

She ginned earnestly. "Pretty."

Naruto blinked, momentarily at a loss for words. The girl patted the sand on the other side of the tools; Naruto sat there dumbly, passing over her cloak as she did.

"I'm Haku." The girl said as she took the cloak.

It was the smile that got Naruto, it extended to Haku's eyes; guileless and full of life. "Naruto."

Haku inclined her head. The cloak spilled open beneath limber hands. "First," began Haku, Naruto leaned over on her elbow, watching Haku work like a child watching their mother cook. "you clean the edge of any frays. But this cut is… very clean already. Sailcloth, and other canvas, you sew like…" Haku trailed off, neatly creasing both edges of the tear, and meshing them together so that each frayed end hid inside the other's fold. "…like so. This finish," she brushed the untorn canvas "only protects the top layers of thread, the fold shields the middle from exposure."

Haku threaded the needle and popped the tin, using her thumb and forefinger to coat the thread in resin.

Naruto leaned in and sniffed the tin, recognizing the smell. "Beeswax?"

"A mix of several natural components, beeswax among them." Haku said. "Water resistant. Rot resistant. Pleasant smell. Added bonus:" Her task done she rubbed lips and smiled, moonlight catching on the gloss. "Good for weathered skin." Naruto grinned crookedly as Haku adorned the thimble and, so Naruto could see, forced the needle through the thick canvas in a simple pattern. "You see?"

Naruto held out her hands. "Gimme."

Haku handed the things over – "careful" Naruto said, "don't let me scratch you." – and now the cloak was folded in Naruto's lap, the large needle clamped between her thumb and forefinger. Haku's careful fold spilled open and Naruto teased it back together. The needle popped from her fingers and Naruto chased it down the thread. Her fingertips were not as pliable as Haku's, they were crooked and sharp and she gave up on the wax almost immediately. She held out the thread so Haku could coat it for her.

Naruto fought the needle through the fabric. She was careful not to cut anything with her fingers so the process was extraordinarily slow, but Naruto was patient, and her cloak was important, so she had all the time she needed.

Haku surveyed her work. "Were we at sea you would be tossed overboard."

Naruto laughed.

The moon rose overhead. Naruto worked diligently, and Haku was there to coat the thread, to hold the fold, to sift the needle from the sand when Naruto dropped it. Naruto was nearly finished with the second gash. Haku watched the gentle smile that was spread out on Naruto's face.

"Did you believe me?" Haku asked. Naruto glanced up, fumbling the needle but gathering it up quickly. "When I said you were pretty." Naruto dismissively turned back to her work, perhaps too quickly. Haku scooted closer, resting her chin on her knees, looking up at Naruto who diligently refused to meet her eyes. "… Do you know what defines beauty?"

"No."

Haku smiled. "Neither do I." Naruto's eyes flickered to her and away. "Tea on a cold day… setting camp in the rain… a fine knife. Is it the smell? The feel of water at your back? The gleam of a polished edge? I don't know why these things are pretty, only that they are. To me. That they are special to me." Naruto slowed her efforts as Haku spoke, and now she stopped altogether. "Do you think yourself grotesque?"

Naruto said nothing, only fixed her with a dry look.

"You are wrong." Haku said. "If anyone has told you otherwise it is because they were afraid. Fear turns people into animals, and animals can only run and fight. Why would you take the word of a being that thinks only for itself?"

"My looks have never meant a great deal." Naruto said, keeping her tone conversational in an attempt to ward off her budding discomfort. She worked at sewing again. "It's what I've done that I find grotesque."

"And yet here you are." Haku gestured. "In the sand, mending your cloak by hand."

"It was a gift."

"And so you treasure it."

Naruto shook her head. "You don't understand."

"I understand better than you know." The hint of firmness in her voice turned Naruto's eyes to hers. "Never be afraid of who you are, or what you've done. It does nothing. It can do nothing. I do not know why, why tea on a cold day, why camp in the rain, why a fine knife - why these things are beautiful to me. But I know why you are. Life has not made you bitter. Not bitter, not cruel. You fight for what you know is right, even though you are afraid, even though it may cost you what little you have left. Does that sound grotesque to you?"

Naruto lost her voice for a long moment. "… Why are you telling me this?"

"Because many years ago, when I was at my most vulnerable, when I had lost everything, someone who is very important to me told me something similar."

Naruto gave a small nod. She returned to sewing, only a few stitches left until she finished. Her hands were steady now, the needle did not slip from her fingers, the fold did not split in her lap. "Thank you."

"I didn't say it for thanks."

"Haku." Naruto held her eyes. "Thank you."

Morning came. Naruto woke curled up in a pile of Biters, their plated sides and spikes and vicious snores somehow comfortable on-par with that bed back in Wave. She rolled out of the pile gracelessly and found Yujin hovering over her.

Yujin grinned. "Good morning sunshine."

"… Morning." Naruto returned groggily. A few men Naruto didn't recognize stood behind Yujin, decked out in all black and facemasks like the Ninja of her old cartoons. "What's with the spooks?"

"We're grabbin' refugees." she answered cheerfully.

Naruto remembered Mei mentioning something similar when they met. She fought herself off the ground. "Right, right. Well that's… cool."

Yujin shrugged. "Yep."

They sat on the rocks, waiting for Yujin's boat.

"Are you nervous?" Asked Naruto.

"Nervous?" Echoed Yujin. "Well. Yes. But uh-" she leaned in as though it was some great secret, "everyone's nervous. They're just afraid to show it. Wanna look confident, ya know? It's contagious, confidence."

"You done this before?"

Yujin answered after a moment of hesitation. "Couple times. It's always… odd." Going back there.

"Well," began Naruto, not liking the pensive look on Yujin's face. "I hear through the grapevine you're some sort of bigshot navigator-"

"Tell me who said that I'll navigate my foot up their ass. Navigator. Pfft. I'm a Captain."

Naruto hissed through her teeth. "You shouldn't have said that."

Yujin blinked. "What?"

"You're gonna get attacked by pirates."

"Wh – hey! Don't say that!"

"Or a sea monster. The Kraken. Like two, two Krakens. Kracki."

"No!"

"I'm sorry," Naruto shrugged helplessly, "but you jinxed it. It's done. Nothing we can do now but wait."

Against her better judgment Yujin cracked a smile. She swatted Naruto's shoulder. "You butt." Naruto offered her another shrug. Yujin turned to the ocean again, the chorus of gulls, the hissing tide; a smile still fighting at her lips. Companionable silence followed. Yujin mentioned offhandedly: "You're in a good mood."

Naruto nodded. "S'pose I am."

The silhouette of a boat in the distance. "Something good happen?"

The corner of Naruto's mouth quirked. "Something like that." Yujin shot her a glance.

"I'm glad."

Naruto let out a long breath. "Me too, kid."

"Yujin."

"I know." Naruto felt the mild irritation in the air. "I'm Naruto."

Just like that the irritation vanished. "Naruto, huh? Na-ru-to…" Yujin tasted the word and shot her a grin. "I like it."

"You like it?"

"I like it. I can like things. I'm allowed."

Against her better judgment Naruto cracked a smile. The boat came. Naruto saw it off. That was two hours ago.

For the first time since her entry into the peninsula the air was clear of that all-pervasive mist. Hints of the mainland poked over the horizon – the entire world vibrant glittering blue and green from land to sky. The sun crawled overhead, waves broke and foamed.

Naruto sat on that rock, where she'd met Haku, where she'd spoken with Yujin, where she's spent the night, her toes wriggling in the tide. A few biters danced just out of reach of the encroaching water, chasing it out and then skipping back as it returned. Others lounged in the warm sand. One thoughtfully chewed on a piece of driftwood.

"Beautiful, isn't it."

Naruto shot a glance over her shoulder. There was Mei, barefoot in the sand.

"You don't see this often." Mei padded out into the tide, holding her pantlegs above the water. "Ao told me there were clear skies but I hadn't hoped for as much."

"I take it Kirigakure is named the village hidden in mist for a reason?"

"It is." Said Mei. She flashed Naruto a wry smile, something young and new flashing in her eyes. "I admit – it is sharp, and cold, and grey… desolate, really. But… " She shook her head, letting out a long breath. "Days like this are so much brighter in comparison. So much warmer."

"That why you're out of your office?" Naruto asked. "That place drove me stir-crazy. The underground. Can't imagine being down there for long."

Mei brushed the sleek back of a Biter as it wandered past. "Yes, well… You'd be surprised what people can get used to. That said I take whatever opportunities I can to get above ground."

Naruto nodded. She imagined that Mei would probably want a moment of quiet to soak in the day and so turned back to the ocean, letting their conversation drop.

A spray of water caught her side. For a moment Naruto could only quirk her head at Mei in disbelief. "Did you just splash me?"

Mei's eyes twinkled. "What're you gonna do about it?"

Ten minutes later found a sopping wet Mei in the sand. "Adults are just children with more responsibilities." She explained to Naruto. "They ever tell you any different they've forgotten and should be reminded."

Naruto chuckled. "That why you splashed me?"

"No." Mei shook her head. "No, that was for me. Haven't had a chance to cut loose in a long time."

Naruto glanced over at her. No bags under Mei's eyes. No strain in her smile. No weight on her shoulders. She looked the youngest Naruto had ever seen her, hair-tangled, slightly out of breath and caked with sand. Naruto fared no better. Her cloak curled over a far rock, having tripped her up in the tide. After that the Biters kept helpfully dashing around and behind and between her legs – that they were nearly her size didn't help matters; there wasn't an inch of her that didn't shine with grit. A stick of driftwood poked from her hair.

"Kinda me too, really." Said Naruto at length. "Never had much… uh. People. And - things like this, they're only really worthwhile if they're shared, so…" She shot Mei a quick grin. "Thank you, by the way."

"Oh? What for?"

"Treatin' me like… people. I didn't get that, even before."

"Of course." said Mei. Naruto let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "Though – may I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

Mei leaned in. "Does it bother you that you're nude?"

"It does now."

Mei grinned crookedly. "Sorry. I suppose that's a bit like talking about how your tongue's just floating in your mouth." Naruto compulsively smacked her lips. "But – I've never met anyone like you. I'm wondering so many things."

"Yeah, well." Said Naruto with a trace of humor, "keep wondering."

"How 'bout this." Mei held up a finger. "One question, and I'll never bother you about you again."

Naruto's eyebrows rose of their own accord. "I dunno, I'm pretty interesting. You sure you can keep your word?"

"I always keep my promises." She returned diplomatically. Naruto rolled her eyes. "Mostly. And this'll be one of those."

"Alright fine."

A beat.

"What's your name?"

Naruto chuckled. "It's Naruto. But that's – that doesn't count. Go again."

"No no." Said Mei lightly, smiling out at the ocean. "I always keep my word."

Naruto smiled.

"Mostly."

...

an: ... I like the beach.