Chapter 3 - The Summons: Tsunade's Plan

Nearly sunrise, a clearing in the woods around Konohagakure.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*He was cold, more cold than he had ever been. His eyes were blinded by the shadows all around him, but he could sense that he was not alone. There were others, others experiecing the same cold and darkness he was. Then, in the quickest of moments, he became aware of many dangers all around them. Sharp, flying things, en masse, were speeding towards him and the others, and he was powerless to stop them. As they came closer, he began to scream.*

Kiba bolted upwards from where he lay, startling Akumaru who had been laying next to him. As he looked around he saw none of the freezing darkness of his nightmare. In fact it was actually quite bright, and he found himself lieing on the edge of a clearing in the woods. The dew on the ground told him that it was early morning, the light that it was sunrise.

"Glad to see you're finally awake, Kiba," came a familiar voice from nearby. Looking around as Akumaru walked off, Kiba spotted his sensei, Kurenai, seated next to a small cookfire. Another figure, who Kiba didn't recognize was stirring the contents of a large pot over that fire. Then Kiba noticed the stranger's stance, how he knelt on one knee with his back slightly arched, and remembered the battle of the previous night. This was the figure that had stopped that water dragon and had freed his team from that ice.

*My team!* thought Kiba, who then quickly scanned the area again. *There,* he spotted both Shino and a second stranger kneeling over Hinata, who Kiba noticed was shivering. The stranger's right hand was glowing and resting on Hinata's forehead, and she quickly stopped shivering.

"You don't have to worry about your teamate," the first stranger said as Kiba turned back to see him spooning a steaming liquid from the pot into six wooden bowls, "Thalion and I have come here from the Land of Snow. Believe me when I say that we have quite alot of experience when it comes to cold-related injuries. Kiba is it?" he asked, as he handed Kiba a bowl. "Don't worry," he added, seeing Kiba's questioning look as he eyed the bowl's contents, "it's just some herb soup." He then handed another bowl to Kurenai and grabbed a bowl for himself before sitting down. "How is my second cousin?" he then asked someone behind Kiba.

"She'll be alright," responded the other stranger, who the first had referred to as Thalion, "Shino is keeping an eye on her. Apparently she was beginning to go into shock more than we thought," he added, as he sat down and grabbed his own bowl of soup. "It is a good thing we decided to get you all warmed up rather than bring you straight to the village or she might not have made it."

"I'd say it's also a good thing that you know your medical techniques," added Kurenai, as she finished a bite of soup, "your skill with them is remarkable for one your age."

"Why thank you, sensei," Thalion responded, "it is not often that I get compliments from anyone other than Saleh-sensei."

"Okay," interupted Kiba, setting down his bowl, "I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but I don't usually eat breakfast or have polite conversation with people I know nothing about." He then stared accusingly at Thalion and Saleh.

"Oh is that what's been troubling you," Saleh said with a chuckle before setting down his bowl. "Well I guess introductions would be a good place to start. I am Hyuga Saleh, a jonin from your Konohagakure. And this," he added, motioning toward Thalion, "is Shenji Thalion, my student and I guess you could say adopted brother, who is from the land of snow."

"A Hyuga, huh?" said Kiba, looking at Saleh pupilless eyes to confirm this tale, "is that why you called Hinata your second cousin?"

"Yes, indeed," responded Saleh calmly, "I am a cousin of her father, Lord Hyuga. You might not know of me, as I left the village to travel more than eleven years ago."

"I see," said Kiba, beginning to relax now, "but why did you decide to come back now of all times?"

"To be honest," added Kurenai, "I was wondering about that myself." She turned to face Saleh, but it was Thalion who answered.

"About two weeks ago, Saleh-sensei recieved a message from Konoha. It was sent by Lady Tsunade, soon after she was named Fifth Hokage, but it apparently had some difficulty reaching us, hence we only recieved it two weeks ago, more than two years after it was sent."

"What kind of message?" asked Kiba.

"It was a call," responded Saleh, "a call for aid. She claimed that the village had suffered many losses and that its number of activities was being forced to increase. She also mentioned the involvement of Orochimarou and of the Akatsuki, who we have our own reasons for dealing with." Saleh threw a quick glance toward Thalion, whose face had taken on a very serious look. "For these reasons, she was requesting the return of all the traveling leaf shinobi, to aid in the completion of missions and the hunt for Orochimarou. We may be very late in answering that request, but we have answered it none the less."

"Hey, Thalion," called Shino as Akumaru began barking, "she's awake."

"Okay, Shino, I am coming," Thalion called back as he jumped to his feet. "Coming?" he asked Kiba as he grabbed the two remaining bowls of soup and turned to go join Shino. Kiba quickly jumped up to follow while Saleh and Kurenai remained by the fire.

"You seem surprised by all this," Saleh commented to Kurenai, "I take that means in spite of how late we are, we are still the first to return?"

"The only wandering shinobi to have returned in recent years is Master Jiraiya," she told him, "but that was before that letter had to have been sent." I haven't heard a word about this summons at all."

"That's not good," Saleh said, a worried look crossing his face. "If we are all that's answered this summons, I doubt we can be of much help."

Kurenai, who had turned to see her team laughing at a joke Thalion had apparently told them, just smiled. Her team was more at ease with Thalion there than they had been in a long time.

"You may be of more help than you realize."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That is it for this fanfic, but do not worry, you have not seen the last of Thalion and Saleh.

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment