Naruto and his team finally stood at the edge of the city. 

As if in a trance, his feet moved.

"Wait! Naruto!" Shikmaru called after him, to no avail.

As he walked, he drank in the sights around him.

The city was mostly in ruin. The majority of the buildings were destroyed. Pillars with he whirlpool emblem were toppled here and there.

Spotting an upright ruin, Naruto quickly jumped to the pinnacle to survey the land.

A river gleamed in the middle of the city amidst the ruins. A breeze wafted towards him. He could smell the salt of the ocean.

"What do you see?" Shikamaru called up to him

"Nothing" he called back. "There's a river that runs through the village."

He surveyed again and squinted his eyes, trying to look in the distance.

"There seems to be a building to the far edge of the town." he told Shikamaru. It looked like the one he'd seen when he met the man.

As swiftly as he had ascended, Naruto jumped down, landing safely in the company of his comrades.

"That building looked like the place where I met the man." Naruto informed Shikamaru once they 

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"It might be a trap." Shikamaru replied.

"Only one way to find out. " Naruto said.

"Tch." Shikamaru grunted.

They began walking through the town. Some buildings still stood erect but there was no sign of life.Windows were broken, walls were stained, weapons could still be seen lying around. It was a clear showing of the violence that could permeate the ninja world. Entire villages could be wiped out, it's people massacre, if the enemy was strong enough.

His village had been destroyed once. It was barely recognizable when he'd returned.He could feel the fear and desperation of the people as they faced an enemy too powerful for themselves.

He wondered if these people felt the same. They must have loved their village.They must have tried so hard to defend themselves and it still ended up like this.

A fist curled involuntarily as he thought about it.

Hinata and Sakura in line with each other behind him. Each watching him closely.

"Naruto kun." Hinata spoke his name softly, her hands clasped under her chin as they walked.

Sakura looked around at the destroyed village and she had a pretty good idea of what he was thinking.

"Naruto." his name was barely a whisper off her lips.

They both wanted to move ahead and walk beside him but each stayed in their place.

The group of Leaf Shinobi trekked through the village without conversation, with their guards up, heading in the direction Naruto had pointed to earlier.

Finally they arrived and it was just as Naruto had seen in his dream.There were steps as far as the eyes could see that led up the shrine.

The surrounding area looked perfectly preserved, as though it had not been touched during the great conflict that had wiped out the village years prior.

Shikamaru requested that Hinata try to get a vision of what was ahead using her Byakugan but once again it was pointless.A veil of some sort was distorting her vision.

Having no choice but to proceed, the young shinobi darted up the gray steps, keeping an ever present watch for the enemy.

They got to the top without incident and stood finally before an oversized archway.The whirlpool emblems were etched into the pillars that stood before them.

Cautiously they stepped inside, the sound of their ninja boots echoing with their footfall.

Surprisingly there was light inside. The torches on the wall were all lit.An obvious indication that someone had been there atleast recently.

They passed from hall to hall.

So far, it seemed to only be them.

The ninja followed a straight path through the building until they got to a pair of oversized doors.

Those doors swung open the moment they stood before it and a voice called out to them.

"You've finally come." the voice spoke.

It was  a woman's voice.

"Don't be shy." the woman called out.

"That voice." Sakura said more to herself than to her team. It sounded familiar.

They exchanged puzzled looks before walking into the room.

Once inside the room, they were amazed. This room was unlike anything they'd seen during their trek inwards. In comparison to the other halls that were dimly lit and looked slightly sinister, this room was well lit. There was a giant orb hanging over an altar at the far north of the room. The whirlpool emblem stood proudly on the walls and the pillars.

The main thing that caught their interest however was the person sitting up ahead.

The young woman was sitting on high-backed chair a little below the altar and the orb.

The leaf ninjas got wide eyed at the sight of the woman.

"That's.."Sakura began

"Karin." Naruto finished.

A sinister smile curled on her lips.