Chapter 2: Good and Bad Luck
The westerly journey from the Land of Iron through the Land of Waterfalls passed without incident, and the trio found themselves approaching the border with the Land of Earth on the morning of the second day. They had safely skirted the Hidden Waterfall village without raising alarm, and followed the river somewhat north and over the border to Yatsu, reaching it by evening of the third day. Rain arrived with them in the small, quiet town nestled in the folds of meadow- and marshland.
"Yatsu doesn't seem like much," Tenten observed as they walked up the single, barely-cobbled street. "Why would she suddenly stop her travels here?"
"Maybe something in the area, or a reason to wait?" Lee suggested.
They paused on a corner to a smaller side-street. Neji looked around at Yatsu. The locals seemed friendly enough and did not pay them any attention, too wrapped up in some kind of small summer harvest celebration. There were none that looked like shinobi. Most of the buildings were of simple though permanent construction and without electricity, with mud tile roofs. The main street seemed to harbor the scant few businesses while the three side streets he could see led off into residential dwellings. From what he could tell with the lay of the land, the main street eventually led out of Yatsu proper and sloped downward into the floodplain of a set of waterfalls coming down from higher ground in the distance. Like the hem of a robe, one edge of this floodplain had been converted into tiers for rice paddies, and there was a small ferry on the river should one choose another, smaller dirt road to go south, presumably toward the Land of Grass.
"It will be easier to gather information and appear inconspicuous if we stay at the inn," Neji said and nodded across the street at one of the taller buildings.
Lee and Tenten adopted smiles as they maneuvered their way through the throng of villagers bearing lanterns, who congratulated a lucky fisherman who held aloft the largest blackfish Neji had ever seen. Another villager was calling to onlookers that it was, at last, the first of the season and a good omen on account of the green smudge on its head. Someone brought out a small drum and another a gong.
Neji was grateful when they reached the inn and the noise passed on down the street. The innkeeper did not ask them many questions or look at them in any way suspiciously as they managed to secure two rooms; he even encouraged them to head next door to the local watering hole. as the good news of the blackfish likely meant the barkeep would open the good sake and generously. So there they went, despite none of them being drinkers.
The teahouse - a two-story affair with an upper, open mezzanine holding oil lamps over those below - was only moderately full, and efficiently-staffed; it wasn't long before the three of them had warm tea and dumplings set in front of them. It also wasn't long before another villager came in and re-announced the lucky smudge on the blackfish's head, which brought a fresh round of cheers and relieved sighs.
"It seems the village has good news?" Tenten prompted another guest - of a group of four - at the table next to them. Neji resettled, content to let her steer the conversation to what they were after.
"Oh yes! A blackfish that size with the thumbprint of the gods - there's sure to be a good harvest this autumn, of land and sea," he replied.
Tenten's further, careful probing was interrupted by the sudden cry across the large room, "Miss! Miss! Could you give us another song? It's such good news! Your singing was lovely yesterday. Could we have it again?"
Neji scanned the room. More toward the center was a group of three young women and two men, and one of the women was being cajoled into standing. She was smiling shyly.
Lee leaned in and whispered urgently, "The green kimono!"
The three of them tensed, even as the happy song began. It was indeed a good voice, Neji conceded, and the woman did seem similar to the Miss Hitomi pictured in her grandfather's photograph. The kimono was indeed a vivid shade of green to match her eyes.
"We have a problem," he said as he looked at those that accompanied her. Of course it was too easy to run into her as soon as we get here.
The other two women were also green-eyed, with pale skin and dark hair, the same build and age. They were just different enough to rule out shadow clones. Upon activating his Byakugan, Neji could not distinguish any notable difference between their chakras, which were notably average to the point of being civilian. Any of them could be the teenaged Miss Hitomi.
"Surely it's the one that sings, then?" Tenten said hopefully.
The three of them gave crestfallen groans when the other two women joined in with the song in equally-pleasant voices. The singing was attracting more patrons inside, much to the owner's delight.
"Their chakras are the same, too. Unless Miss Hitomi has found some way to conceal her chakra from even me, it seems she hasn't become a kunoichi," Neji said.
"The Byakugan sees everything, and green eyes aren't that common," Lee said to himself.
"It's amazing she found one potential decoy much less two," Tenten sighed. "Are we sure she's an only child?"
"We'll need to think of something different to identify her," said Neji. "But let's not rush into it and alert her. Whichever one she is. We'll gather information independently if we need to, and shadow one each."
It was late when the trio finally convened in one of the rooms. While the merry crowd in the teahouse had made it easier for them to separate and surreptitiously gather more information about the three women, it had yielded very little. The search had ended when the party had retreated to the same inn for the night, which was the only blessing.
"Sisters, apparently," said Tenten, who had managed to get the closest. She kept her voice low on account of the thin walls. "None of them named Hitomi. The two men with them are from the same village out west. They have family in the Land of Grass; apparently this is the scenic route that they always take. The teahouse owner says they've done this for a couple of years now."
"Miss Hitomi has been missing for nearly two years," Lee said optimistically and turned to Neji.
"But we're still no closer to identifying which of them may be Miss Hitomi," he said with a slight sigh. He eyed Tenten's stifled yawn. "It's late. It would be best if we continued tomorrow, refreshed. It seems the group will be leaving late in the morning. We can track them if necessary."
Tenten was already nodding and rising, retreating to her separate room. Lee shut the door behind her and began to bed down for the night. Neji recrossed his legs and prepared to meditate a little more on the matter.
"What if none of them are her?" Lee mused quietly.
Neji opened one eye. "Are you saying there's a fourth pale, dark-haired woman with green eyes in the area?"
"Maybe not, but we're still missing something."
Neji couldn't deny that. He closed his eye and breathed deep. Is it really so hard for me to believe that this mission could be simple? That Miss Hitomi ran away for some other reason than to become a kunoichi, and took a different name? But why, then, the elaborate efforts to find doubles? Why stay so relatively close to home, when she could be on the other side of the world by now? Even if she is not among those women, it does not seem like coincidence that three of them fitting her description would suddenly appear; which means she is still likely linked to that group of travelers - we just haven't seen her yet. Unless she has managed some greater form of disguise, particularly with her chakra, that is somehow beyond the Byakugan… He went over again what they'd been told in the Land of Iron, what they'd discovered thus far.
Lee began snoring. As hard as Neji tried to ignore it, as always it managed to weasel its way into his brain. He hadn't realized his meditation had gone on that long.
I guess I'll continue investigating, he thought.
Quietly standing, Neji slipped out of the room. The inn was not very large, but it had enough rooms to make blindly investigating which were occupied by the sisters and their retainers difficult. Besides, it would become problematic should he be caught snooping.
They must have arrived by horse or cart, though. They seemed like they could afford it, and walking from the western edge of the Land of Earth to the Land of Grass is not practical. Perhaps there's something there.
Aside from the distant bark of a dog, Yatsu was sleeping peacefully in the gentle rain. Before heading for the stables, Neji dipped down the side of the inn and leapt to the overhang below the second floor. On a whim, he activated his Byakugan. He detected Lee and Tenten, the innkeeper and her husband, the three sisters and their two retainers. A third figure, however, was now retreating from the guests' hall, down the stairs and out of the back entrance. The chakra was slightly above average for a civilian, though realistically nothing noteworthy. Neji decided to follow it anyway.
In the navy shadows of the night the outline of the figure was hard to distinguish with normal eyes, but Neji let go of the Byakugan anyway. It felt like practice of a kind. The figure pulled a large sugegasa onto their head to protect them from the rain, and shortly slipped on a pair of geta, stepping out into the weather. It was impossible to tell their gender, but they were not much shorter than Neji himself. He followed the figure down the back of the buildings to the edge of town, careful to linger behind several paces despite the rain providing decent cover.
There's no reason for a civilian to come out this late at night, surely? Not a law-abiding one, anyhow, Neji thought as he lingered behind the last house.
The figure walked down the slope in the direction of the waterfalls hemming the mountains. Neji crouched low and dashed for the cover of some unkempt brush.
It's too risky to follow in the open like this. And I shouldn't go without backup. He watched the barely-discernable shape get farther away. They don't seem to be carrying anything, so maybe they're not just checking out of the inn without paying - which means they'll be back. It's more sensible to wait for their return.
Reluctantly, feeling a little foolish, Neji returned to the inn. After drying off he held vigil for the rest of the night inside his room with Lee, listening for the sound of footfalls with his head against the doorjamb.
They came near the crack of dawn; through a crack in the door Neji saw the sodden figure enter the singing sisters' room and soon after, caught a ghost of sleep.