Mist

Chapter 9- The forest reunion.

The Uchiha clan leader looked over at the chair in which Kasumi sat. She was asleep and for a second he didn't want to wake her up and tell her the news.

"Kasumi, wake up," he shook her awake and she gave him a small smile. He knew that smile would disappear in a few seconds.

"What is it Madara? You look like you just got into a fight with a scarf that decided to mess your hair up and make your face all broody," she chattered on happily.

Madara didn't break eye contact with her as he said, "Kasumi, your clan came early... they are here."

Her eyes widened and a mixture of disbelief and pain flashed through them before her face went completely blank.

In monotone, she replied, "Thank you for telling me, Madara. Is it time we go?"

He nodded and began leading her out of the room and to the front gate. They were completely silent as they walked; Madara because of lack for what to say and Kasumi because she knew if she said something she would burst into tears.

When they arrived, there was a small group of white haired ninja with a large, round box.

"Uchiha Madara, on behalf of everyone in the clan I say thank you for retaining Kasumi," the tallest ninja spoke.

He glanced at the box and replied, "It was no problem, I trust you will bring her back safely."

All of the ninja nodded and one of them opened the round box. "Climb inside."

Kasumi stepped forward, but before she walked over to the box she whispered, "Madara, thank you for everything, I'm going to miss you."

The small phrase was heard only by Madara and just as he was going to reply she stepped forward and climbed into the box.

It was sealed after her with a lot of rope and many ninja seals.

Then just like that, they were gone without a trace.

Madara stayed in by the gate for a few minutes after they were far away, but at last he whispered, "I'm going to miss you too."

(1)-(2)-(3)-(4)-(5)-(6)-(7)-(8)-(9)

Kasumi shifted around in the box quietly. So this is where she was going to spend the next two weeks.

It was like a coffin, she couldn't see outside and it was pitch black. Were they even going to feed her?

Soon enough she started getting drowsy and she closed her eyes to try and take a nap.

However, she couldn't because the lid was suddenly opened and the sneering faces of the ninjas peeked in.

The first one chuckled darkly before saying, "You think you're going back to the clan, don't you bitch?"

She looked at them with confusion evident on her features and another one of the ninja continued, "You're not, you deserve to die for what you did right here, right now."

Her eyes widened and they tilted the box over so she could see they were standing at the edge of a cliff.

By the time she realized what they were going to do, they sealed the box shut again and began rolling over the cliff.

She didn't even have the chance to scream because suddenly she felt she was falling faster and faster.

At first she just went blank, but then she realized that if she didn't do anything she would die.

Trying to concentrate, she did the hand seals for the Ice Claw Jutsu and when it worked she attempted to use the claws to get out of the box.

It wasn't working and she began to panic even more. The Ice Claws deteriorated and she still had no idea what to do.

Suddenly, she got an idea and gathered as much chakra as she could into her hands.

She put her hands against the wall of the box and tried to make the chakra destroy it.

There was a small hissing noise and before she could gasp a small flame formed and began to eat through the box.

Kasumi did her best to move away from the path of the flame and when the hole was big enough she was able to slide out and float in free air.

She was going to look down to see how much time she had to slow herself down, but just as she was going t-

Smaaasshhh!

The female ninja could barely register what was going on as she was tumbling on the rocks like a rag doll.

It seemed like an eternity before at last she came to a stop, but by then she couldn't move. Breathing alone hurt like hell.

After a few minutes of catching her breath, Kasumi lifted her head off the ground to look around.

No way...

She was lying in a huge valley with not a single plant around. When she looked up she was she had been thrown off the near top of one of the mountains in the valley.

It was horrifying to think that she had fallen that entire way.

She gathered all of her remaining strength to stand up, but then instantly regretted it.

Her clothing was torn and her skin was littered with bruises and many various sized cuts. The largest one ran down the entire length of her left arm.

Grimacing, she shook her head when she saw the remains of the box lying on a large boulder. If she hadn't climbed out she doubted she would have survived.

Then she thought about what she was going to do now. There wasn't a single tree for miles and she was slowly bleeding out in the middle of a valley.

The only thing she could do was try and make her way down lower in hopes of finding a small patch of trees or a small river.

Yes, that was what she was going to do.

...

Kasumi grit her teeth when the freezing cold water came in contact with her skin.

She was trying to clean out her wounds beside a small river she had found while limping through the rocks.

It had taken her three hours of walking to find this place, but since it was still early morning she had lots of time to keep heading down.

When her wounds were as clean as they were going to get, she decided to follow the river down. Where there was river there was bound to be vegetation.

A few more hours ticked by and she was glad when she realized walking was getting easier and easier. Her limp was almost gone and by now she could see a couple of trees.

By the time she made it to them she was exhausted and it was mid afternoon.

Realizing she was not going to be able to do anymore walking today, she stopped by the tallest tree and decided to make a small shelter there.

The best type of shelter she could make would be a lean-too. She gathered as many large branches as she could find and arranged then in the desired shape.

Then she collected leaves and moss to use as flooring and roofing material.

When she was finally finished she lay down on her moss bed with an exasperated sigh. That took a lot of energy out of her.

Soon it was going to be evening and she still hadn't gotten any food in her system. So the next thing she did was wander around the area in search of edible plants.

She found a couple of blueberry bushes and ate every single berry that was there; ripe or not.

Finally, it was time for her to sleep and after praying no animal would decide to attack her at night, she lie down on the moss and fell asleep.

The next few days passed similar to this one. She got up, cleaned her wounds, walked for a couple of hours, made a small shelter and then ate before going to sleep.

However, on the fifth day of her starvation in the forest she walked right into a trap.

She didn't know, but one second she was walking through the forest and the next she was hanging upside-down in a large net.

It might be good news, if the people who set the trap up were nice she might be lucky, but there was also the chance they were crazy cannibals and she was dead.

Deciding not to take any chances, she used her Ice Claws to rip the net open and continued walking through the forest.

This time she was much more careful, but these people must have been experts because when she went to go around one trap, there was another in its place.

Kasumi had no choice, but to keep sidetracking until she found a way through.

It had been a couple of hours of walking around traps and suddenly she felt like she was being watched.

She looked around the forest carefully in search of anyone or anything, but after finding nothing continued to walk.

"What do we have here?" someone said not too far from her. The voice sounded male.

She tensed up and waited to see what would happen next. This time the same voice spoke closer to her, "You're the one that destroyed my net aren't you?"

Trying to sound confident she said, "Yes, it was me. Now show yourself, I want to see who I'm talking to."

"You don't remember me, Kasu-chan?" the voice said again, but this time it suddenly sounded feminine and Kasumi gasped when she remember only one person called her that.

"Aunty Sumi! Is that really you?" she asked with growing excitement. Aunty Sumi was the only person in her clan that could change the sound of her voice so dramatically.

There was a bit of a rustle and out of the bushes stepped a short, white haired woman that had a smile as big as her heart.

"Kasu-chan! What are you doing here, alone in the forest?" she questioned after giving her relative a big hug.

Kasumi let out a small nervous laugh, "Well... it's a long story, but what are you doing here?"

Sumi fell silent and her face turned more serious as she said, "We should all discuss this together back at camp. Come along now."

She followed, but she grew more and more confused as she saw other villagers from the Mountain clan at a large, make-shift camp on the edge of a field.

When she was seen, the villagers gathered around and still everyone was silent.

Finally Aunt Sumi said, "After you left, the village split in two. There was a huge argument about what should be done and in the end everyone that was on your side was banished."

She shook her head and asked, "My side? Huge argument? I don't understand."

Another one of the villagers spoke up, "The elders insisted you be executed, but all of us opposed it. We wanted the law you broke to be rebuked so all women could be ninja. They didn't agree and we were all banished."

Kasumi looked around in shock, no wonder all the people here were women.

Sumi continued, "Yes, and we decided to live in the forest here while making our way into the more fertile lands. We want to start a new village. One where women are equal with men and anyone can be a ninja."

Everyone around let out a small cheer, including Kasumi.

Then she said, "I'm so glad this is happening! I never thought something like this could even come true, you are amazing."

Aunt Sumi chuckled and then changed the subject by saying, "But now the question comes to you, what are you doing in the forest wearing such tattered rags and so many little injuries?"

She laughed and said, "Funny story really. It all started when I was arrested and bought to the Uchiha clan base."

There was a collective 'Ooh' and she continued, "There I was Madara's little puppet for a week an a half and then I was taken by the Mountain clan ninja. They said they were going to bring me back to the clan, but instead they stuffed me in a box and threw me off the top of a mountain."

A few gasps were heard, but she still continued, "Obviously, I survived and then I wandered about until Aunty Sumi found me and brought me here."

At first all the women were silent, but then they all started asking questions at the same time.

"What do you mean by Madara's puppet?"

"What was the Uchiha base like?"

"Was he as mean as everyone says he is?"

"Did you meet his brother Uchiha Izuna?"

Kasumi was taken back by all the questions, but then she slowly answered, "Uh... well... the base was very beautiful... there was a very beautiful garden there, and yes I met Izuna, he was very nice... though he didn't help me much..."

The women didn't seem happy she didn't answer any questions about Madara so they asked her again.

Sighing, she said, "Madara was like a PMS'ing woman. One moment we were talking and the next we were arguing. Actually scratch that, we were always arguing. He kept insisting I was his possession and that was the subject of most of our arguments. But... he was nice too... um... he..."

She trailed off to try and remember one nice thing he did.

"Oh! He tried to force feed me cereal after he stabbed me and handcuffed me to the bed," she exclaimed and she got a bunch of strange looks.

"That was the nicest thing he did?" one of the women asked and Kasumi added, "Well, there was that one time he tried to comfort me by saying I might spent many years in prison, but those were just words."

Cricket Cricket Cricket

"Kasu-chan, Madara stabbed you?" Aunt Sumi asked with a frown.

She nodded and said, "Oh that was nothing too bad. It was just a misunderstanding."

The women collectively shook their heads, but didn't say anything more on the subject.

Finally Sumi said, "Do you know what you're going to do next? You can stay with us if you want."

Kasumi furrowed her brow and wondered how she would answer the question. She hadn't thought of what she was going to do that much.

Maybe she could go back to Konoha... no, Madara would find her and she would probably be imprisoned again.

Still, something didn't seem right about staying in the forest. She wanted to stay and help her village start anew, but a voice in the back of her head told her to go back to Konoha.

She couldn't start a new life until everything was settled with her old one. She had to tell Madara she was alright and alive.

"I want to help you rebuild the village, but I have some unfinished business back in Konoha. Is it possible that I can come back in a couple of days?" Kasumi asked.

Aunt Sumi smiled a sly smile and said, "It has to do with Madara doesn't it? Well it's okay Kasu-chan, you take as much time as you need."

She thanked the women for having her and then she set off into the forest again. She was only half a day's walk away from Konoha and she hoped to get there by nightfall.

...

"Stupid Madara...why the hell did he have to build the Uchiha base on the very top of the hill?"

Kasumi finished walking up the very large hill by the time the first few stars were coming out and she was completely exhausted.

She quickly checked her pocket to make sure the note she had prepared ahead of time was still there. It was and she was able to continue on her journey.

Her goal was to sneak in, leave the note in Madara's office and then leave before he realized she was in the area.

Glancing around, she saw no one was around and she quickly ran into the village. Soon enough she was at the wall separating her from the Uchiha mansion.

Using chakra to hold herself up, she quickly got over the wall and jumped down. She was at the west part of the building and Madara's office was in the north.

The only thing standing in her way was the garden, which she assumed was still under reconstruction.

She tip toed down the side of the building, but then she gasped when she saw the garden.

It was absolutely gorgeous! The flowers were ten times more beautiful than she last remembered them, there was a gazebo in the middle made out of some sort of white stone and there were large, fancy vases standing around.

Kasumi couldn't help but stop and admire the redecoration. This was where she had spent a lot of her time.

Suddenly a shadow caught her eye and she was shocked to see someone in the gazebo.

"Kasumi?"

To be continued!