"More like the sixth or seventh wind," said the sweaty and disheveled dark elf straddling him. "Meh. Who's counting?"
"Mph," protested the other dark elf in her sleep, stirring slightly at the renewed activity.
Oh yeah. This was SO going in the next book.
"Okay," said Anko as they watched columns of swirling sand go by. "Now we know why it's called the 'Howling Desert.'"
"What?" asked Kurenai. "I couldn't hear you over the wind!"
"Nevermind," said Anko, raising her voice a bit.
Kurenai nodded.
Hinata said something and pointed, then held up a hand with her fingers spread wide.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Anko, speaking loudly.
Hinata mumbled something that probably wouldn't have been audible even if there had not been large swirling columns of sand nearby.
"You really need to cure her of that," Anko shouted to Kurenai. "Let me train her for a couple weeks."
"I'm not sure she'd survive!" yelled back Kurenai.
Hinata looked rapidly between Kurenai and Anko, looking fairly nervous about the prospect.
Sakura flitted overhead, her shadow passing over Hinata.
"So what did you get from Naruto?" asked Kurenai, moving closer to Anko so that they didn't have to shout quite so much.
Tsunade frowned and looked at her winnings. Something was going on. Something so terribly wrong that her own mind preferred to not contemplate it.
"My Lady," breathed Shizune. "You've won back everything you've lost here today. I don't think I've ever seen you break even."
Tsunade nodded, then got up from the gaming table. "Come, Shizune. We're going to leave before something terrible happens to this place."
Kurenai knew that Anko had gotten something from Naruto. She could also make a guess based on what she'd seen so far.
Sakura Haruno had a broomstick that allowed her to fly.
Sasuke Uchiha had a four-pack of potions, from the odd comment dropped - they would allow healing of wounds.
Kiba Inuzuka had gotten a similar four-pack of potions.
Shino had something called a "Wand Of Lightning Bolts."
Kurenai herself had a device called a "Decanter Of Endless Water" - which she'd quickly tucked away where it would be safe.
Hinata was now wearing the Ring Of Regeneration that Naruto had given her, and was unconsciously running a finger along it every so often.
Yugao Uzuki had a new sword that she ran through a few kata with, getting used to the size and weight of it.
Anko pulled out a small hand mirror. "Not sure what it's supposed to do, but I noticed one thing immediately. Take a good look."
Kurenai frowned as she looked into the mirror, reaching up to brush away hair that the wind blew in front of her face. She stopped when she realized what she was looking at. "The images aren't reversed."
Anko nodded and put the mirror away again. "When we got time, I'll figure out more of it. What do we do now?"
Kurenai glanced over to where Naruto was still casting some jutsu. Then out at the direction that Hinata had indicated. Movement not related to the "dust-devils" was seen in the distance. "Their patrol's coming. We deal with that. Then a quick in and out, per the plan. Naruto's got the prep ready for a quick transport out - we can discuss findings and write a report when we're back."
"I like this plan," said Anko. "We get to the fight right away."
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Mon, 13 Sep 2010 17:15)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.