Preparing To Set Off (1)

"Lan-"

"Bi… La-"

An echo of voices ricochets around in Rei's head. All he could feel was a buzzing sensation that slowly began to change into the feeling of rocking and the voices began to come more clear. "He's waking up!" Slowly opening his eyes Rei felt as if his head had been hit by a rock.

Opening his eyes fully they began adjusting themselves to the darkness and the figure above him became more clear. Looking over him from above was one of the younger children he had saved. The girl had a thin figure which was the same as all the children due to how they were treated. However, her defining trait would definitely be her light blue hair with white ends along with light orange-coloured eyes. Just by looking at her, he could tell she had probably been crying from how red her eyes were.

"Just how long was I out?" Asking in a weary voice Rei sat up and saw the other two children were sitting nearby. Looking at one another the oldest kid who had dirty blonde hair along with yellow eyes spoke up. "Big Brother Rei the moment you got us here you fell asleep. No matter how much we shook you wouldn't wake up."

The other two nodded as the last boy spoke. He seemed to be the one who was least worried and also the calmest between the three. Having almost completely black hair along with dark green eyes he stared at Rei while he spoke. "You were almost out for 6 hours, the sun is already going down."

Pointing to the entrance of the cave Rei peered through the tree line and could tell that it was definitely past mid-day. Standing up slowly Rei grabbed Ryujin Jakka that he saw was placed neatly beside him. Rolling his neck around as if it was on a swivel he began moving his body checking if anything was out of place.

'I have to admit despite being a weird sword ghost its healing is top-notch.' Rei couldn't imagine what would have happened if Ryujin Jakka hadn't healed him the first or second time he got into a fight. "I'm not a ghost In this sword spirit." Hearing a voice enter his head Rei looked down at Ryujin Jakka.

"Ghost, Spirit, same difference in any case thanks." After Rei thanked Ryujin Jakka it completely stopped talking to him once again. It was only when the petite voice of the girl next to him. "Who are you talking to?" Tilting her head to the side she looked around but saw Rei wasn't talking to them or anyone else for that matter.

Seeing he was acting strangely in front of them Rei gave up trying to talk to Ryujin Jakka and began focusing on them instead. "It's nothing. So you're all from my clan right?" Sitting down on the ground Rei watched as they all nodded and sat down in a circle. All though they were all still slightly on edge it was obvious they trusted him due to seeing him so many times before.

And it was as they talked that Rei learned more about them including their names and what Orochimaru had been doing in his 'experiments'. Hearing everything Rei looked over at the girl who's name was Fuyumi and asked her a question. "How many of you exactly were there originally?" Hearing Rei ask this question Fuyumi froze as if she remembered something.

Not shortly after the dirty blonde haired boy named Seiki spoke up in her place. "There...There were twelve of us in the beginning. But that guy… Every Time he would come over to the cage he would take one of us." Seiki's voice shrunk slightly as he kept talking and so did Fuyumi's clear meekness when it came to the situation.

"We couldn't see what he was doing to them but all we could hear were their screams… I don't know why but every time he took one of us he made sure to keep me, Fuyumi, and Ren out of the way, and in the end, we were the only ones left." Seiki stopped talking as he lowered his head and Ren spoke up.

"I thought he was going to go after one of us next but a guy with glasses suddenly came in and reminded him of something and they both left. That's probably the only reason one of us is still here." Listening to them Rei's hate towards Orochimaru only grew stronger and it also jogged his memory.

Whispering under his breath he spoke to himself. "He's heading to the Hidden Leaf… I might be able to catch him but..." Looking around him he knew he was in a predicament. He promised himself that catching Orochimaru would come first but then again he couldn't abandon them here.

The sound ninja would still be searching for them and without him here to protect them even if they weren't killed they would possibly starve. 'Counting how much time I spent actually getting here plus the time I spent searching Orochimaru should have left for the Hidden Leaf days ago.' But still, that meant he had time to catch up but first he had to figure out what to do with the kids.

Taking a breath Rei came to a decision and looked at the three of them. "Listen I'm going to be going after the person who destroyed our village. But that also means… I'll have to leave you three alone for a while." Hearing Rei, Fuyumi seemed to be the one most shocked while Seiki and Rin lowered their heads.

"You're going to leave us here alone?" Asking this in a wavery voice it was obvious despite Fuyumi being the only person who asked that no one here was ready to be on their own. They were just saved from being used as test subjects with a death sentence. Despite Ren and Seiki trying to remain calm, it was obvious none of them had the same mental fortitude Rei had.

"Yes, but I won't be leaving right away. I'm going to stay here for three days to erect a barrier on this cave to keep you all hidden and safe. Plus I'll also have gathered enough food to last you three for about three weeks." Rei tried to play it off as if he would be coming back sooner than that but even he wasn't sure.

He didn't have the time to stay here and train. Once Orochimaru left the Hidden Leaf he didn't know when another opportunity would come around. 'This would be a gamble but I can't let this chance slip me by.' Reinforcing his resolve Rei began explaining exactly what he would be doing for those three days to the other three.

Living in his clan's village didn't exactly reinforce his trust in the outside world. If he knew what cities were safe he would just find a way to make money and have them stay in a motel. But in the end, there were way too many variables. This was the safest and quickest option.

It was after his explanation that Rei started to get to work. His Reiryoku was almost completely drained before but now he felt everything in his body was a lot more refined than before. 'It's just like exercise the more you do it the better your body can do it the next time.' Knowing that also reinforced the theory that to get stronger in the future he was going to have to do more than simple incantation exercises.

A couple of hours after waking up in the cave Rei had already prepared himself to set out to gather. Looking back at the three children in the cave he tried to give them reassurance. "Don't worry I'll still be nearby you'll be perfectly safe." Exiting through the cave entrance he gave a quick smile of reassurance before dashing up into the trees.

Compared to before Rei could already feel the difference in not only speed but also precision. At the speed he was going he felt confident he could definitely keep up with any ninja he came across. At the corner of his eye while jumping between trees he spotted a lone deer in the woods.

'Meat can go bad pretty fast but it should still last them a day or two.' Setting his sights on the deer he landed neatly on top of a tree's branch. Keeping his baRei he held his arm up slightly behind his head as if grasping a spear. "Bakudo #13: Saikikkusupial." As if made of a non-existent material the outline of a simplistic spear appeared in Rei's hand.

And with one simple movement with his body, he threw the spear full force at the dear he had spotted. Down below the deer's ears couldn't even detect any movement before it suddenly fell unconscious. "Man, that is useful." The Bakudo Rei had just used was more of a mental attack than anything else.

If the target hit was weak-minded or wasn't a very intelligent creature they would feel as if they had been struck with a spear and died. Even though it was all mental they are basically useless in that state for days making it perfect for hunting. Jumping down from the tree branch he was standing on Rei landed next to the deer.

With one arm he picked it up and hunched it across his shoulder despite the size difference. 'Alright just gotta keep this up.' Feeling a burst of energy coursing through his body Rei began a routine of hunting, gathering, and returning.