The Journey Home

The desert night wind swept over the crests of the dunes, scattering fine grains of sand against their clothes. The purple pillar of light in the direction of Rōran had completely vanished, and the Chakra fluctuations lingering in the air were gradually subsiding.

Baiye looked away, returned the Tachi to his waist, and turned to speed back the way he had come.

Shibi Aburame lay against the sheltered side of a dune, his eyes closed and his breathing steady but faint. His Kikaichū were scattered around him in a thin gray cloud, though most had already fallen motionless to the ground. After sending the last of his insects to signal Minato, he had completely exhausted his Chakra and fallen unconscious.

Minato crouched beside him and reached out to check his neck. His pulse was steady; he was simply exhausted. Minato turned, lifted Shibi Aburame onto his back, and nodded to Baiye. The two pushed off at the same time and sped toward Rōran.

"Though I knew you'd be all right," Minato said over the rushing wind, turning his head to glance at Baiye, "what I saw there still caught me off guard."

"You went to the scene?"

"As soon as things in Rōran were over, we ran into Tsume Inuzuka and the others. She told me which way you'd gone to cover their retreat, and I headed over right away. I didn't expect it to be over already."

Minato made it sound casual, but Baiye knew how far it was from Rōran to that stretch of desert. The Flying Thunder God wasn't a Ninjutsu that cost nothing to use; consecutive long-distance jumps placed a considerable burden on one's Chakra. When Minato arrived, he must have been prepared for the worst.

"...Thanks."

"But I didn't help." Minato hitched Shibi Aburame higher on his back, his voice as gentle as ever. "Did the Mist Ninja intervene in the battle?"

"If anyone else asked me, I'd say yes."

"Hm? You mean...?"

"Yeah. I did it. The freezing ability came from some kind of single-use ninja tool."

"Single-use? A ninja tool?"

"Something like that. Anyway, I can't use it again now."

"That's astonishing news... I don't even know what to ask."

"Then take your time and think about it."

Minato fell silent for a moment. "Ice-based ninja tools are rare. But this could divert some of the Sand Ninja's attention. The Sand Ninja and the Mist Ninja have plenty of friction between them, after all."

"I did have that in mind at the time. I just didn't expect the 'matter' I needed to divert attention from to become so big."

They both fell silent for a moment. The commotion in Rōran had been too great, and the Sand Ninja had mobilized on too large a scale. There was no way they could quietly lead a group of Rōran survivors across the entire desert and back to the Land of Fire. It was only a matter of time before the Sand Ninja found them. When that happened, the Sand Ninja would certainly pin the murder of the Third Kazekage on Konoha.

"What if we'd stopped that ninja called Sasori earlier? If we'd worked together, could we have caught him before the Sand Ninja forces arrived?" Minato suddenly asked.

"It would've been useless. Even if we'd caught him and handed him over, the Sand Ninja would've insisted that Konoha had deceived and manipulated Sasori into assassinating the Kazekage. No one would believe that the Third Kazekage, supposedly the strongest in history, died at the hands of a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old kid. He doesn't even have a reason to kill the Kazekage. So it could only have been Konoha pulling the strings."

"True... To be honest, I can hardly believe it myself."

Baiye said nothing. He knew war was inevitable. With the Third Kazekage gone, the Sand Ninja would either start a war to show the outside world they were still strong, or be torn apart by the large and small nations eyeing them hungrily. And Konoha, caught up in the affair because of Rōran, would certainly be the first target of a declaration of war.

"Where did you go after that?" Minato changed the subject.

"Which answer do you want? The one for the village report, or the truth?"

"Let's hear both."

"The report version is: I got caught in Pakura's area-of-effect Ninjutsu and suffered some injuries, but escaped in time. Then I hid from the Sand Ninja while treating my wounds in the desert. Once I could move without trouble, I headed back and ran into senior Shibi Aburame."

"And the truth?"

"I went to take a look at Shukaku."

Minato faltered for a step and whipped his head around.

"What?!"

"I took one look and came back. This generation's One-Tail Jinchuriki is an extraordinary person. He's even managed to coexist peacefully with Shukaku—and they even understand each other."

"Really?"

Minato, who had been a little angry at Baiye for taking such a risk, was immediately distracted.

"Unfortunately, he's dying. He's too old. Otherwise, I'd really like to bring him to Konoha and let senior Kushina meet him."

"That's ridiculous... But coexisting peacefully with a Tailed Beast... Is that why you went looking for another village's Jinchūriki?"

"Of course, I have my own reasons too. I need to try to meet all the Tailed Beasts, and the One-Tail is the easiest."

"It was too risky."

"At least I wasn't discovered, right?"

Minato looked at him and fell silent for a long while. Moonlight shone on the sand ahead, stretching their shadows out before and behind them. Baiye's tone was as flat as ever, as though he hadn't just said he'd infiltrated deep into enemy territory alone to find a Tailed Beast, but had merely stopped by a pharmacy on the way. Minato let out a soft breath, and a faint smile touched his lips.

"Next time you do something like that, remember to bring me along."

"We'll see... What about you? How did things go in Rōran? It looked like quite a commotion."

"Well, it should have been resolved satisfactorily."

"Should have?"

"I used the Dragon Vein's power to seal everyone's memories, including mine." Minato paused, a rare note of bewilderment entering his voice. "It's just that I have a vague impression that I met someone I was very close to, and somehow I feel a little reluctant to part with them..."

Baiye listened without breaking stride. It seemed Minato really had met Naruto from the future.

Reluctant to part? Don't worry, you'll definitely have plenty of chances to see this life's Naruto in the future.

Ahead, the outline of a ruin emerged from behind a dune. Minato gave a hand signal, and Akimichi Chōza's massive figure stepped out of the shadows behind a broken wall.

"You're finally back." Chōza glanced at Shibi Aburame on Minato's back. "What happened to Shibi?"

"He overused his Chakra. It's nothing serious."

Chōza nodded and stepped aside to let them into the ruins. Tsume Inuzuka leaned against a broken wall, a little blood seeping through the bandages on her right arm, her breathing steady. She had woken once along the way but was asleep again now. Sugita and Yamamoto kept watch beside her. When they saw Baiye return, they hurried to their feet and came over to hug him in turn, the worry on their faces finally easing a little.

"Welcome back!"

"I told you I could get away, didn't I?"

The talkative Sugimoto now only nodded repeatedly, while the usually quiet Yamada said solemnly:

"Yeah! If anyone speaks badly of the 'Strongest Chunin' again, I'll be the first to make them pay!"

"Uh... That's really not necessary."

Yamada said nothing more, only pressing his lips tightly together. He had probably already made up his mind.

Shaking his head, Baiye crouched down and held his palm over Tsume Inuzuka's burns. The green light of Medical Ninjutsu sprang to life.

Minato gently laid Shibi Aburame on a flat patch of sand, straightened up, and turned to Chōza. "The main Sand Ninja force is closing in. We need to hurry."

Chōza wasted no words and turned to tell everyone to pack up. The Rōran survivors pulled their sheets tightly around themselves and helped one another to their feet. Two Chunin supported Tsume Inuzuka between them, while Kuromaru followed alongside, whimpering softly.

Baiye moved back and forth through the group, the green light of Medical Ninjutsu flaring again and again. Tsume Inuzuka's burns needed fresh medicine, Shibi Aburame's shoulder wound needed to be checked for healing, and some of the Rōran survivors had begun running fevers from dehydration. He treated them one by one, never stopping.

Kakashi walked near the middle of the group and nodded when he took the pill Baiye offered him. His gaze lingered on Baiye for a moment before shifting away.

Shibi Aburame woke along the way and drank some water while leaning beside Chōza. Someone asked what he had encountered earlier. He shook his head and said only, "That puppeteer was strong." Then he paused and added, "The 'Strongest Chunin' lives up to the name..."

Kakashi's gaze had already followed Shibi Aburame's to the figure ahead, seen from behind as he bandaged a survivor.

The Sand Ninja gave them no chance to pass through easily. On the evening of the first day, a five-man scouting squad caught up with them. Minato revealed the Flying Thunder God Formula and took down three of them in three jumps; the remaining two retreated on their own. Early the next morning, another group of pursuers closed in from the flank. The swarm Shibi Aburame had deployed in advance stopped them, and Akimichi Chōza's partial Multi-Size Technique smashed their squad leader into a dune. The pursuers retreated once more.

At noon on the third day, a third group of Sand Ninja appeared in the distance. The ninja leading them stood atop a dune for a long time. Minato didn't attack; he simply brought out a Flying Thunder God Kunai. Its bright blade flashed for an instant beneath the desert sun, and the Sand Ninja stopped.

They pursued no farther.

Early on the fourth morning, the group stopped on a stretch of high ground. Ahead, the yellow of the desert had finally begun to fade. Sparse grass pushed up through gaps in the sand, and the moisture in the air was gradually rising. On the distant horizon, the Land of Fire's rolling green mountains appeared faintly through the morning mist.

"We've entered the Land of Fire's border region." Shibi Aburame recalled the insects ahead. "The Sand Ninja didn't follow."

Akimichi Chōza let out a long breath and grinned.

Baiye stood at the rear of the group and looked back at the desert behind them. The golden sea of sand lay still in the morning light, the blowing sand covering every footprint and trace of blood. Deep within that sea, Bunpuku was still sitting on his hay, and Shukaku was still lying in the darkness. The ruins of Rōran had sunk below the horizon and could no longer be seen.

He turned and walked into the lush shade of the Land of Fire's trees.