Shikamaru still thought that their current mission, namely investigating whatever Daiki may or may not have left behind in the centre of his economical enterprise, represented a somewhat urgent mission, at least because of the potential implications upon the sage's loyalty to Konohagakure no Sato.
Still, discussing his direct superior's decision was less than wise, especially since the Nara didn't wish to hint at his own troubled opinions about his wayward sensei.
...
Several kilometres South-East from their position, the sun wasn't quite done yet with surrendering the sky to the nigh, and so the treetops of the Land of fire went from deep green to burnt gold as one of the most impressive sunsets to ever grace the Elemental Nations fought to last as long as possible.
The wind that rustled the leaves made each branch shiver lightly, and from her advantageous position nestled between two branches of an impressively tall redwood tree, Karin almost felt like drowning in a sea of green and gold.
The air still retained the crisp feeling of the newly born spring, even as it already heralded the incoming summer, with just a hint of the sharp boreal winds that ran southwards from the mountaintops of Kiminari no Kuni, whirlwinds randomly forming over the sea and around the ruins of Uzushiogakure, that her sensei promised they would visit one day.
Karin still didn't understand why he would care that much. She knew that she could bolt at any time, Daiki didn't lie when he told her that she was free to go, but where would she run to? Apparently, her hair was enough to make her an attractive target, and her chakra, when analyzed close enough, would readily explain the bite marks that covered her.
Another thing that had sung true in the confusing, far too fast to be natural, ever-churning chakra of her sensei was his rage when his eyes landed on her scars.
Daiki wasn't one to let himself be led anyway by his emotions, he was a man of deep currents and quiet decisions, looking at him, one would never suspect the veritable maelstrom of quickly changing emotions that run beneath.
Not from his actions, not from his words, and that was only another reason why she had reluctantly remained at his side. In the deep royal blue of his determination, which coloured his well-honed water affinity, there were flashes of pristine white outrage that disappeared as fast as they came.
Especially when talking about war, my scars, or his past days as a genin. Karin frowned as the wind subtly changed direction, warming up marginally even as her head whipped South and she tried to translate her natural sensing ability into something capable of reading the world around her. And this exercise isn't bringing me anywhere.
Karin eyed one last time the admittedly breathtaking colours, that she didn't need her glasses to actually enjoy, and headed back down, her legs swinging this and that way as she corrected her balance with precise twirls, chakra cracking the bark under her feet from time to time as her mind wavered.
With the last step forward, she dropped off from one of the lowest hanging branches, right on the side of her sensei, which was bringing to his mouth a... "Is that raw garlic?" Karin asked with disgust clearly written on her face.
Daiki laughed softly: "I'm trying to stop smoking," he revealed as he rose to his feet, "and if I need to pick up a fake identity it would be better to assume a quirky vice of some sort to give it depth. Did you manage to hear the wind?"
Karin grimaced a bit, squinting her eyes in his direction: "More or less," she gestured with her palm outstretched, "I felt the change when the wind turned colder despite the sunset, and then warmer again when the sun was completely down, so maybe that one came all the way from Suna, I don't know."
"Have you smelled it?"
"I... have not." Karin's shoulders slumped in defeat. I knew I forgot something.
"There was a faint smell of ashes in the air, what do you make of it?"
The Uzumaki felt her brain still for a brief moment: "You... you were up there!?"
Her sensei snorted as he hauled his bag over his shoulder, but didn't respond, choosing instead to keep following the trail they had been walking on for the past two days.
."Why didn't you tell me?" she asked as he hastened to follow him. He still refused to answer, making her huff in annoyance: "Maybe there was a camp or a battlefield not too far, I don't know, fire is pretty much everywhere, don't you know?"
"Ah, but a shinobi camp would not allow tracks so strong to be so easily picked up by the wind, so what does this tell you, my confused padawan?"
Karin gritted her teeth at the annoying title she had been saddled with: "Either they don't fear to be attacked, it's a trap, or they're civilians, but I've no idea about the distances involved, and even the direction now that I think about it, since I didn't pick up on the scent in any case."
Daiki turned sideways towards her without stopping his ineluctable march across the neverending forest of the Land of Fire, and while Karin couldn't make out his smile, the spike of deep brown... affection? or is it... wistfulness? What the hell? ... clearly conveyed that he agreed, and immediately he launched himself in a brief lesson about scent, winds, and tracking tips that accompanied them in the incoming darkness of the night.
"We aren't stopping tonight?" she asked when it appeared clear that her sensei wasn't looking around for a suitable place where they could set up camp, but as she asked, she already knew the answer.
"Breaking the sleep pattern is a bitch and half until you're trained for it, sadly there isn't a nice way to do so." he laughed carelessly as they kept their walking in the dark, "Besides, it will do wonders for your Doton, padawan."
"Stop calling me that." she grumbled, but even as the words left her mouth, she slowly allowed her consciousness to fall into herself, cutting off her sensitivity for the outer world until only her chakra remained.
First step, feel your chakra, easy enough. she recalled Daiki's instructions while her mind went over her memories of the examples he had provided.
The second step, change. Karin's chakra churned a bit faster than she would have liked, likely as an answer to her slight discomfort born from the daunting task of walking through the night without light.
The warm feeling of life brightened for an instant her whole being before she was able to regulate it both through breathing and by placing her hands in the boar sign: her chakra fought her every step of the way as she pushed.
She was the unmovable mountain, the landslide and the harsh tip of unforgiving rocks, she thought of the neverending depths under her, of the solid tunnels of the Iwa prisoner camp, remembering the overwhelming feeling of Daiki's Doton manipulation forcing the world to obey his will.
Now the last step: manipulation. Keeping in mind that she was an unbreakable rock in the ground, she forced her Earth-natured chakra into the ground from her feet, and only then she breathed in, associating the action with a heightened focus on her feet. And with her closed eyes, she could perceive the immediate surroundings.
She could feel only in a small area around herself, but it was enough: the steps of her sensei rippled over her awareness like delicate pinches over her skin, briefly illuminating his position and leaving behind a faint trace for her to follow.
With a focused frown, and forcing her mind and chakra to maintain the apparently contradictory feeling of pushing the earth around her while letting it push against her, she followed her sensei into the night.
...
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