Calm Before The Storm

[Cro]

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/4597/narutocalmbeforethestoriw2.jpg
Part 1 : Calm Before The Storm


It was early afternoon in The Village Hidden In The Leaves. It was rather peacefull. There were kids on the side-walk and they were playing. They didn't have a care in the world and they didn't know they were going to be the next generation of Shinobi. Everything seemed to be quieting down. There was peace in the world. When there was peace in the world that's when everything got very quiet for a while. That very same quietness put some Shinobi in the village on edge.

The Former Team 7 hasn't even been out on missions lately. Everything has been so calm and so tame. Was this the way it was going to be for the years that came later? It would be nice if it did. If the younger Shinobi wouldn't have to go through the stuff that the older Shinobi had to. Make the world a better place all around. Sadly, it probably wasn't going to work that way. It never worked that way. All of The Jounin were off today. Nobody really knew where they were or what they were doing.

Jirayia's death still lingered in the village. It had been a while since he was dead. There were alot of young Shinobi that visited Jirayia's gravestone. There could be stories heard being told of the legendary Sannin. Everyone knew how great Jirayia was. He was a little pervy. He was still a great Shinobi. He was like a grandfather to Naruto. Jirayia's death hit Naruto hard. He was dealing with the death. Everyone knew how much Naruto missed Jirayia.

There was a movement in the shadows. Was it really in the shadows? No it wasn't. It looked like someone over by The Great Oak Tree was training. There wasn't much to be seen. There was only a silouette of a Ninja practicing his fighting skills. His positioning was really good. His movements were fast and very rapid. It looked like he was fighting an invisible enemy. An enemy that no one could see. He was probably trying to be a great Ninja.

Under The Great Oak Tree he continued to train. He had his eyes closed. His dark black hair fell over the top of his headband. It had the ensigna of The Hidden Leave Village on it. He was dressed in a black shirt and a pair of black shorts. His weapons were still hidden in his pouch. He didn't like to use weapons if he didn't have to. He continued to train as he threw some hits and kicks as he moved with the wind.

"Cro-kun, you out here?" A female voiced, it was coming towards him.

A female ninja was walking up the hill, to where The Great Oak Tree was. This is was the place where Naruto and Sasuke fought once. She looked down at the ground as she thought about that. She than pushed a strand of pick hair out of her face. Her Headband was tied around her forehead. It usually rested upon her head. She wanted to do something different for a change.

She finally got to the top of the hill. She looked over towards Cro. He was still training. It was apparent that he hadn't heard her. She stood on the outside area where he was training. She crossed her arms as she watched him. She than shook her head. Why was he always training like this? Not like they were going out on a mission anytime soon.

"Oh, hey, Sakura." Cro said as he spotted Sakura.
"About Time." Sakura said grumbling slightly.

Cro chuckled slightly. He put his hand behind of his head and smiled slightly. God, he was sweaty. He had been training for a while. At least six hours, that was a long-time for him. He ran his fingers through his hair and it was wet. He shook his hair slightly and the sweat sprayed off of his hair. If it hit Sakura he wouldn't hear the end of it. Thankfully it didn't.

He thought Sakura was so pretty. He wondered why she always hung out with him. He mentally shrugged at that thought. He than walked over next to Sakura and he smiled at her. He wondered why she was up here with him? He looked at her. He noticed something. She looked happier than she usually did. Why was that? He perked a brow slightly as he looked at Sakura.

"You look rather happy." Cro said.
"I am." Sakura replied.
"Why?" Cro asked.
"No reason." Sakura replied.
"Okay." Cro replied with a nod.

Cro and Sakura than walked down off the grassy hill. They were going down towards the main part of the village. It was all hussle and bussle. Just like normal. Somethings never really changed in the village. The kids would always be playing and the adults would always be trying to make good money. So they could support there kids and give them a really bright future.

Right now, the present was pretty bright. No one's attacked the village. Or tried to kill anyone. Would this bright present last? No one knew. All the Shinobi in the village had to be on there guards. Even though they thought it was a waste of time. Even so there were Shinobi at there regular posts. Today was just a bright day and people were going to enjoy it for the time being.

[Cro]

C2 : The Demon Within

Elsewhere...

It was a desolate place. There was no life anywhere, just dry sand. There was nothing living in this place. No animals, no flowers, no vegetation. There wasn't even a human around. That's how bad it was in this desolate place. Why would someone come here anyways? This place wasn't good for much. It was hidden from the world. It looked like The Hidden Sand Village. There was only one difference from this place and The Hidden Sand Village. There was no village here. Well, no village to the untrained eye.

There was a sinister feeling about this place. Like it was under some kind of spell. The place had this sort of aura about itself. Like something really evil dwelled here. Like a powerful demon that once ran world within this very own world. A feeling like that could make someone go insane just by feeling it. Why would such a beast be able to live in a world like this? A world that would shun it just because of what it was. How could it live in a world like that?

It couldn't live in a world like this. It just couldn't. It would have to find another way to survive. It would have to find it's own home. In doing that. The demon had to go underground. Not like just laying low for a while. It actually had to go under the ground. That's the only way that the demon could live. Many people would come and try to kill it and hunt it. There was top dollar in the world. If someone could find a demon like this and kill it. They would be rewarded handsomely. Why was it like that though? Why did Demons always have to be evil?

It was the ways of the world now. They always brought judgement upon you. They didn't really care who or what you were. Just because The Nine Tailed Demon Fox attacked Konoha. Now they judged that any other demon had to be evil. Why was it like that? The world confused the demon. It just wanted to be set free. Also, it just wanted to be accepted into the world as a being. It didn't want to stay locked up under this ground. It wanted to break free from it's prison of sand.

A young girl had strayed from her village. She was playing with a dark blue ball. She bounced it as she came upon the sandy area. She looked at the area. There was no one there. It looked like a nice place to play. A small smile came over her face. She didn't look to be any older than 13. Maybe 14 at the most. She still acted like a child sometimes. She was acting like a child right now. She stepped out onto the sand. She was rolling her ball on the ground.

The girl got a very bad feeling from the area. Like she shouldn't be here. It felt very sinister and than she dropped her ball. As the ball dropped the ground opened it up and than swallowed the ball. At that moment the girl got really scared. She didn't want to die today. She wanted to live her life for a long-time. She wanted to become a Shinobi of her village. She wanted to protect everyone that she cared about. She than watched the ground open up again.

This time when the ground opened up. There looked like to be some kind of creature under it. You could only see it's brown eyes. The rest of the creature was covered in the sand. A moment wasn't spared. What looked like tentacles or webs were shoot out from around it. They were aimed for the girl. It wasn't going to harm the girl it just wanted to take it's body. It wanted to be out of this prison and this girl was it's only way out of here.

The girl than began to scream in pain. There was so much pain within her body. It felt like there were hooks in her body. Her normal chakra was being sucked out of her. It was being replaced by The Demon's chakras. After a few minutes the girl than blacked out. She than fell down onto the sandy ground. Her eyes were closed and she was unconcious. The demon was free. It was inside of The Girl.

[Cro]

Chapter 3 : Lunch Out
Chapter 4 : The Oncoming Storm
Chapter 5 : Sasuke's Return

I know no one is probably reading this or wants to read it. I just want everyone to know. Chapter 3 should be out sometime tonight. :)

Chapter 3 : Lunch Out

The Ramen shop wasn't as busy as it was usually. Still, it wasn't really that slow either. It was somewhere in between. The old man. As Naruto usually put it. Was in the back making up some new ramen for the villagers to try. The villagers hadn't been coming by this shop as much. Naruto hardly came to The Ramen shop as well. It used to be his second home. Was there something with Naruto? Probably not. If there was something wrong with that boy, half of the village would have known about it by now.

The steel pans were hot. They were sitting on the burners. The water was boiling and it was beginning to steam. He was alone at the shop today. There was no one around to help him. His buisness partner and wife weren't they with him today. He had to do all the cleaning and serving the customers himself. He didn't really like to do either of those things. He saw this as a chore for the most part. It was a service though and it helped the village. Especially the hungry villagers that depended on his ramen.

Through out the years they had alot of memorable guests. Like Naruto and even The Pervy Sannin Jirayia, when he was alive. Without The Pervy Sannin around and alive. It had been very quiet and not as exciting as it used to be in the old days. The old man did miss the old days. He watched some more of the silver steel pots start to get hot., The burner that was under the pots started to get cherry red.

These pans filled with water. At times they were his only friends. When they steamed up and boiled. It was like they were talking to him. It was insane wasn't it? Well when you were alone in a kitchen, like he was. You could almost here anything and everything talking to you. A few people have came back when The Oldman was cooking and talked to him. Most of the time he was alone in the back of his shop.

It was lonely around the shop when no one was around. Even though buisness around here was good. He had not been getting as many customers as before. They had been going to other places to eat. It didn't hurt his feeling that much. He was glad that the villagers had been eating. He really did love this village and this country. The Fire Country was a grand place to live in. Even though some of the rules and regulations here were insane.

He had a feeling that he might have some customers soon. He needed to finish making up his ramen. He took off his chefs hat for a moment. He than wiped his brow with his arm. It was hairy and it was filled with a few freckles. It seemed like he had been doing this his whole life. He's just been doing this for a very long-time.

He took the pans filled with hot water and ramen. He seperated the hot water from the ramen. He than put the ramen in a big pot and than rinsed out the metal pots. He than placed the metal pots back onto the burners. They were shut off. He than walked over to the rather large pot of ramen. It sat by the sink. The oldman began to season his ramen and put into seperate much smaller dishes.

Cro and Sakura than walked into The Ramen Shop. The bell made a slight dinging sound. That meant people had walked into The Ramen Shop. They walked over to the counter and sat down on the stools. The Oldman would be out in a few minutes and they waited for a very few minutes.

The Oldman didn't come out promptly. He usually did. Cro looked at Sakura, he than looked back at the counter. He than began to stretch slightly. He smiled at Sakura slightly. It was nice to be out in public with Sakura. He sure did love his friends. Even though he didn't really have that many friends.

"Hello, young customers." The Oldman said, it was like he had popped up out of nowhere.

"Ack, oldman, don't scare me like that!" Cro said, he looked at The Oldman. He already knew what he wanted. He looked at The Oldman and smiled slightly at The Oldman. "I want the usual. BBQ Ramen!" Cro added with a slight smile.

"You miss?" The Oldman asked as he looked at Sakura.
"The Usual, Chicken and Beef Ramen." Sakura said, she smiled at The Oldman politely.

It wasn't but a few minutes and than both of them were served. Before he chowed down. He paid The Oldman. It wasn't much though. He than began to chow down on his ramen. By the way he was eating, it looked like he hadn't for a long-time. It wasn't true. He just hadn't ate since breakfast. He looked over towards Sakura. He saw that she was eating politely.

Sakura looked back over at Cro. She shook her head from side-to-side. A strand of pink hair fell down into her face. She quickly pushed it out of her face. She smiled softly at Cro. She than continued to eat her ramen slowly. She liked the taste of The Ramen. She had to give Naruto props. This place was a nice place to eat. A few minutes she slurped down the last noodle in her bowl.

Cro had finished his ramen as well. He looked over towards Sakura and smiled slightly. She was fun to be around. He didn't see why Naruto had complained about her so much. He probably just never saw the side Naruto saw of Sakura. He just thought deep down she was a really nice and sweet girl. Naruto just must piss her off too much. He pushed his hands into his pockets as he laned back on his stool and he looked at Sakura.

"Now what?" Cro asked.
"I don't know." Sakura said as she pushed her bowl around.
"I wonder if Old Lady Hokage has anything for us to do." Cro asked, he looked up towards the roof of The Ramen Place.
"I don't know." Sakura said, she stood up and smoothed out her shirt and shorts.
"Okay, let's get moving!" Cro said, he stood up and walked out of The Ramen Shop.
"Oh boy." Sakura said, she shook her head and followed behind of Cro.

[Cro]

Chapter 4 : The Oncoming Storm

The girl had woken up on the ground. The sand on the ground was burning her skin slightly. She had a pale complexion and light brown hair. Her eyes were dark-red and she was dressed in a pair of cargo shorts. They were green and brown camo colored. She had on a tight brown top. She had a ninjas belt on. It also had a pouch tied onto the right side of her belt. She began to move slightly. She had a bad headache. She wondered what had happened to herself.

Her name was Mokoto, and that's all anyone knew about here. They didn't know why or how that she got to the village. She was an unknown person to most of the people. A lot of the people in the village would make fun of her. She had no parents and no history. It was almost like she didn't exist. How could someone live like that? Feeling like they didn't exist. She could feel the sand burning her shoulders. She didn't care. She didn't care about the hot pebbles that layed on her skin. She looked up towards the sky.

She had never questioned her existence before. She was right now. Why was she living? Just to be poked fun at. Just to be teased because she wasn't like the other people in her village. Her dark red eyes looked up towards the sky. She could only see the sun. It was shinning down on her. Why did the sun shine? Did it want to shine or was it forced to shine? It seemed like everything in this world was so forced. The desert was so hot. It looked like a place where fights between two warriors might happen.

Even though it was hot in the desolate desert. It was almost soothing in a way. Mokoto just layed there and watched the sky. She watched two buzzards circling around. They must think she was dead. They couldn't be that lucky. She wouldn't die so easily. She moved her body slightly. She dusted the pebbles and rocks off of her shoulders and body. She was sitting up now. She glanced up towards the sky once more. She still wondered about her life and what it meant. Was it always going to be this complicated?

She acted childish because she didn't want to grow up. She knew how hard it was to be an adult. She watched The Jounins in her village. She was a member of The Village Hidden In The Stone. They were a rowdy bunch. She didn't want to be like any of them. She just wanted to be strong and able to protect the people that she loved. There really wasn't anyone she really loved in the village. She did like to protect the younger kids from the bullys in the village. She had a kind heart. She could be confusing and confused at times.

There was a strong pain inside of her head. She closed her eyes and tried to fight it off. She couldn't. It felt like someone was trying to pry open her skull open. Unknown to her, there was a demonic aura forming around her body. It was a dark red color. It was the color of her eyes. She dug her finger nails into her skull. She thought that this might make the pain go away. She was wrong. It came on stronger. It felt like something was taking over her mind body and soul. What was this? Why was it within her?

Was this what she had felt earlier? Before she had been knocked out somehow. Was it because something had entered her body? She felt stronger than she usually felt. She slowly got to her feet. She was standing up on both of her feet. She looked up towards the sky once-more. Was this how it felt to actually have strength? She only knew how to use Taijutsu. It was the hand-to-hand combat style. She couldn't use genjutsu or any of the other jutsus. This might be a blessing in disguise. She didn't want this power to hurt anyone though. She was in a sticky situation. She continued to stare at the sky, contemplating what her next move would be.

[Cro]

C5 : Sasuke's Return

The Hokage was rather busy that morning. She had some papers on her desk that she was shuffling through. She was rather irriated about what she was doing. A few thoughts entered her mind. Like why Jirayia had to die. That man was reckless but he was a comrade of her. She looked down at the papers and than over to her saki cup.

She could just feel it. It was one of those days. She had a pen in one hand and than she picked up a paper. It had some writing on it. It sort of looked like a contract of sorts. She looked over it very carefully. She took the pen in her hand and than signed her name. She than pushed the remaining few papers aside.

She picked up her saki glass and took a shot. Oh yeah, that felt really good. She hated this job. It was such a pain in the ass. It had it's good days. Atleast Naruto wasn't up in her office complaining about finding Sasuke. The kid had a good heart but he could still be rather annoying.

The door to the hokage's office slowly opened. A silouette of a young boy stood there. He looked to be around 15. The Lady Hokage couldn't really make out how old he was. She just looked over towards the door way. She couldn't tell who it was.

The boy started to walk towards The Hokage. He had dark eyes and dark hair. Was dressed in all blue and his right hand was tapped up. It looked like it had been injured in a fight or while the boy had been training. It was odd. As the boy came nearer. The Hokage tried to figure out who this was.

"I've come back." The Boy said.
"Sasuke?" The Hokage asked.
"Yes." Sasuke said as he nodded his head solomly.

So she was looking at Sasuke, huh? He has returned. Maybe this was a trick. So he could get information on The Hidden Leaf Village, Konoha. He could have just came back as well. She put her hand under her chin and rubbed it. She looked at Sasuke and wondered what his angle was. She didn't know how she should handle this.

She was going to let him comeback from the time being. She was just going to keep a really trained eye on him. She felt that she couldn't trust this former shinobi. On the other hand he might have some really good information on Orochimaru. With Sasuke back in the village they could probably counter anything Orochimaru was planning.

[Cro]

C6 : Unwanted Surprise

"So we are going to see The Hokage?" Cro asked as he looked over to Sakura.
"Yup." Sakura said as she looked over to Cro and smiled softly.

It was a rather odd friendship, Sakura and Cro. He wasn't from The Village Hidden in the Leaves. He was still considered an outsider by most everyone. Did he care? Not really. He was walking beside of Sakura and she was keeping up with him. He was sort of a mixture of Naruto and Sasuke's traits. He was kind and gentle when he needed to be and cold and ruthless when he needed to be as well. He loved to fight, he was always getting into fights. He didn't think he was fit to be in Squad Seven with Sakura and Naruto.

He pretty much still felt like he didn't belong. He tried not to let it get him down. He pushed his hands into the pockets of his dark blue cargo shorts. He smirked as he looked over to Sakura. Only good thing about being in Squad Seven was that he got to spend time with her. He didn't know what it was about Sakura. He just really liked to be around her. Naruto was growing on him. He hadn't seen the Blonde Haired Shinobi in a while. That kid was probably of doing something crazy. He didn't know what though.

There were alot of people out - it was kinda odd because it was lunch-time. That usually meant that people were away for Lunch. There had been whispers in the wind of a Shinobi returning. Could it mean that Sasuke had returned? That would be crazy. Sasuke had went and alligned himself with Orochimaru. They walked a little more and as they approached The Hokage's Mansion. There was a bunch of people around it. The Hokage was standing on her balcony. It looked like she was going to speak to the people.

"What's this?" Cro asked as he looked up towards The Hokage.
"I don't know." Sakura said as she also looked up towards The Hokage.

Both Sakura and Cro looked up towards The Hokage who was on The Balcony. She waved her hands if to tell the crowd to shush. She looked at all of the people that had come out to see her and to hear her and what she was about to say. She didn't know if she should really tell them. This didn't happen very often, a Shinobi coming back from going Rogue and than The Lady Hokage parted her lips as she looked out over the sea of people.

"We Have, Uchiha, Sasuke in custody. He is being held here until further notice." The Lady Hokage said, he looked down towards The Crowd and than meet her eyes with Sakura's eyes.

"Sasuke?!" Sakura asked, she looked up towards The Lady Hokage and than back down towards the ground.
"Uchiha, Sasuke. Who is that?" Cro asked as he looked over towards Sakura, he wanted answers and he didn't know if she'd have them.
"The Shinobi you replaced." Sakura said as she looked at Cro. If it was true. Could she see him? She'd have to let Naruto know. There was too many questions and not enough reasons. Than both Sakura and Cro looked up towards The Lady Hokage.