Shiranui Satori stood with his twin sister Tenten. Neither one of them was happy with the outcome of the tribunal. Now Satori was in charge of the team. Tenten wasn't technically on her brother's team but she was recruited for the last mission to the island of Soukutsu.
"Why did they need him again? They've already asked him enough questions at the inquiry. Now they're doing it again. I just don't get it." Tenten said.
Satori paused to phrase his answer to his sister. "Nee-chan, not everyone knows Junshin as well as we do. To us, he's a loyal friend and colleague. To them, he's an outsider. They are just trying to find answers for what happened at Soukutsu."
"They're looking in the wrong place. Junshin wasn't convicted of anything. He just…."
Satori knew that Tenten was about to lose it for her lack of understanding of what was going on. He grabbed her and held her tightly as tears ran down her face.
"Listen, I know you're upset, we all are but we have to get over it and do our jobs." He said in a tone as her brother but then his tone changed from her brother to a ninja. He pulled her away and looked at her in the eyes. "Worry about them on your own time. Just shake it off when you're on duty."
Tenten scowled at her brother. Satori felt a delicate hand on his back, and he saw another hand reach for Tenten's shoulder. He turned to see Yukino. Unlike the rest of them, she wore a smile that was confident and content.
"Relax, Tenten. I can tell you that we have help coming from an unusual source. I know it's hard to be patient when you feel so helpless, but Aoba-sensei and Junshin have other allies besides us."
Tenten gritted her teeth and then let out a deep breath. She turned and walked away. Satori was half tempted to go after her but he knew that she need some time to think. Satori turned his head to look at his girlfriend and smiled for her help.
As she walked along a pedestrian bridge between the Konoha hospital and the business district, Hitomi worked out her next course of action in her head. She knew Danzo wasn't too thrilled to have a former Rock ninja in Konoha as a Leaf ninja now and she was sure there were a few others but Danzo was the highest ranking one. The inquiry was over, and now it was time for the elders to do something constructive about Soukutsu or back off. Hitomi figured it was time to visit the young counselor, Kaunsera Kana.
The ninja from the future had seen her during the tribunal and during her visits to the hospital, but she had yet to decide how to approach her in a way that would help Aoba. Kana was rather imposing, cold, calculating and beautiful, and she wasn't sure how she could influence her thinking on Aoba's behalf.
She needs to know that Aoba is completely rational. If she could just see the mysteries of Soukutsu for herself, then she would know, and she'd lobby for his release. Then again, is Kaunsera Kana really in charge or is she just a front for others?
How could she know unless she talked to her? Unfortunately, Konoha counselors weren't in the habit of chatting about their patients. Since she couldn't just stand in the corner and observe, she would need more than her usual tricks to confront her.
Hitomi appeared in front of Aoba's door just outside the reach of security. Her attuned senses picked up voices inside the room. Aoba was talking to an unidentified woman. She was able to walk into the room unnoticed like her usual self. She was a ninja and able to do such things.
"I'm sorry, Aoba." Kana insisted, placing her hands on her slim hips. "But you must take another round of tests."
"Didn't I take a dozen of your tests before the inquiry?" Aoba asked. "Do you really expect my answers to have changed?"
"Frankly, I don't know unless I test you. You're here to be evaluated under my supervision. I have to have some means to do that. I'll ask the questions myself. Then you can pretend we're just having a conversation. But you will take these tests, Aoba, or my evaluation will focus on your lack of cooperation and remorse."
"Remorse!" Aoba thundered jumping to his feet. "Do you think I'm not remorseful about what happened? I've lain awake at night thinking about it, wondering what I could've done differently about it."
Kana smiled condescendingly at him. "Do you see, Aoba? It's not so hard to talk about it. We just need to get your thoughts down in a form I can use in my report. Remorse is not only good for your personal healing; it's god for everyone's perception. You see it one way, the Mist another way, the tribunal a third way. I'm supposed to be neutral and explain my perception of you. That's why it's so hard to find truth in a case like this; it's like the theory of relativity. Space and time are different depending on where you're standing."
No, Hitomi thought as she observed this dynamic and beautiful woman, the regular approach isn't going to work with her.
Looking defeated, Aoba sat back down. "I'll make a deal with you. Let me get some sleep and approach your questioning with a fresh attitude, all right?"
Kana mulled it over. "You rest, collect your thoughts and I'll be back."
At that she walked out the door.
Kaunsera Kana had a strong sense of déjà vu as she walked down the corridor toward her office. It had been only yesterday that Danzo had paid her a surprise visit. Had he come back? Could they have anything else left to discuss? She hoped not, because this arrangement was already making her uneasy.
When her office door opened she found herself facing a rather beautiful, heterochromatic girl roughly around her own age. She gave here a girlish smile as if she already knew her, although she didn't recognize the newcomer. Or did she? As she looked at her visitor, she seemed more familiar; maybe that head met in passing. She wore a dirty Jonin vest with a pair of black sai that looked like Shiranui Satori's pair.
"I'm Kaunsera Kana." She said curtly as she brushed past her on the way to her desk. "I'm very busy, so do you have something you wish to discuss?"
"My name is Hitomi. We're going to take a little trip."
Kana didn't really like the sound of it and ran to the door. It didn't open as if it was locked from the other side. Desperately, she banged on the barrier and shouted in futility.
"I'm not going to hurt you. I want to take you somewhere so you'll understand what happened better."
"I'm not going anywhere with you!"
Hitomi reached her hands for hers and her heterochromatic eyes were serious but also playful. "You won't be hurt, Kana, and you will be amazed. You'll be back before anyone knows you're gone."
We can't go anywhere unless he opens the door. She thought with confidence.
She reached for HItomi's hand. "Just to let you know I do know ninjutsu even though I'm a counselor."
"I didn't think you got that physique by just sitting around." She answered.
Their fingers met and her hand was warm and oddly tingling. Kana glanced at her frozen door only a step away, expecting it to open. Instead the girl's grip tightened. The tingling increased until her whole body felt consumed. The floor went out from under her. She gasped as she dropped into total darkness, the floor, the walls, her office and furniture; everything in the physical world was gone.
Fortunately, Hitomi was there to grasp her hand and keep her from falling. Her surroundings shimmered as strange shapes and lights coalesced all around them. Blurred vision seemed to be coming into sharp focus. Kana realized that she was in a battle site; the Soukutsu battle site.
To one side was a depressing collection of bodies from a dozen different villages. On the other side were three Mist ninjas, keeping guard. Dazzling chakra spikes rippled deep withing the battle site, the center where the monsters supposedly lurked. Kana got a chill, despite Hitomi's arm around her.
"How…how are we here?" She rasped. Her voice echoed more in her mind than her ears, where it was just a tinny hiss.
"Someday when I know you better, maybe I'll explain." Hitomi answered, sounding humble about her abilities. "Don't worry, no one can hear us or see us."
"What are the Mist guarding?"
"You tell me." Hitomi replied.
"Something has their attention. Can we go farther in?"
"We can, but there is no guarantee we'll see the mimic ninja."
Hitomi gazed off toward the graveyard where bright chakra spikes lit up the area. Hitomi gripped her hand and they were off again, moving so deep inside the Soukutsu site that they seemed to be at the eye of a hurricane. Bodies lied everywhere around them. Kana was beginning to feel nauseated, but she was too exhilarated to say anything.
When she was able to focus, she saw one of the Mist ninjas standing in front of an indeterminate pile of bodies. The ninja was doing the seal of the Ram and was standing as if they were emanating something.
"What's he doing?" Kana asked.
"Expelling chakra." Hitomi answered.
"Why?"
"I don't know. They aren't the only people here." She said, removing her arm from her shivering shoulders and taking her hand once again. Before kana could take a breath, they were in another part of Soukutsu.
"Scavengers. Doesn't look like the Mist have them under control." Hitomi said.
Kana nodded sheepishly, unable to speak; she could only grip Hitomi's arm. Giving her a warm smile, the girl seemed to sense that they should leave and before she could blink, Kaunsera Kana was sitting at her desk in her office, her mind fuzzy and confused.
Hitomi was standing at the door, looking at her with sweet concern. "Are you all right?"
The counselor nodded, still uncertain of her speaking voice. She finally wheezed, "When will I see you again?"
Hitomi smiled. "Soon." With that, the door opened, and the alluring woman in the Jonin vest vanished.
