Chapter 3: First Appearance
"Infiltrated the agency; then what are we going to do about this? Do you think he's still at the agency right now?" asked Hinata
"It's possible but we can't just walk in there and start looking or else we'll just tip them off. This information has to stay between us and we need inform The Director." Said Neji
"Alright we'll head to Director Tsunade's office after we get some rest"
The four agents headed upstairs, Hinata and Tenten went back to their room and Shikamaru went to the guest room.
It was eight a.m. when the four of them were dressed and headed to Hinata's car. They got into her black Range Rover and drove to Akihabara. About half an hour later they arrived at the FIRE HQ main building. The building itself was an architectural wonder but to the outside world it looked like an incredibly wealthy business company. Not many people knew what really happened in the building. The first ten floors were actually business run-the agency had to get money from somewhere-making deals with banks and other tech companies. But the remaining sixty floors were all FIRE offices and facilities.
The agents walked into the building looking as professional as ever-they needed to look like they worked at the business company. Tenten was wearing white trousers, black Mary-Janes heels, and a white long sleeve button-up shirt with a black skinny tie and a navy peplum blazer.
Hinata wore a white pencil skirt, and a tucked in black button-up shirt and a red peplum blazer. She also had her hair tied up in a slick pony.
Neji wore a midnight-blue suit with a white button-up shirt and a black waist-coat and Shikamaru wore a black trousers and a matching trench coat.
They took the elevator straight to the Directors floor—the sixtieth floor and luckily for them no one seemed to need the elevator on their way up. But then again the organisation did have a lot of elevators so that was the other reason their elevator wasn't used.
One thing they were also really good at was quick changing. By the time they reached the sixtieth floor they were in completely different clothes, all of them looking a lot more casual. The elevator doors opened to the elaborate top floor with beige marble floors and skylights and floor-to-ceiling glass walls for the offices. They reached her office and the logo of the agency was in the centre in frosted glass.
Before they could enter her office a guard stopped them
"State your business" he said routinely
"We need to speak to Director Tsunade, it's concerning the case were working on, investigating the murder of agent Rock Lee."
"Alright you may proceed"
The four of them walked inside and knocked on her door.
"Come in" they heard her say on the other side of the door
Hinata opened the door and walked in first
"Director Tsunade we have some urgent information regarding the investigation and it jeopardises the safety of the organisation."
"It must be urgent if there are two agents from the Lightning Class here, what's going on?"
Tenten explained the whole story about the incident at the Hyuuga Manor
"I see and you think that they've infiltrated the agency or they've had help from the inside."
"Yes sir"
"Hmm…" she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes to mull things over "You four are to stay here for the day and keep an eye open but don't act too conspicuously. I want a report by the end of the day; don't gloss over the slightest detail, understood?
"Yes sir understood" the four agents said in unison then left her office
"Alright guys so who's going where?" Shikamaru asked
"Well the agency is too large for the four of us to look out for, so I think we should stick to the area's we usually work at. So Tenten you stay at the Weapons Division, Shikamaru and I go to the Intelligence Division and Hinata at the Tracker Unit."
"Alright sounds like a plan and we'll stay in contact with our ear-coms." Just as Tenten finished speaking the elevator doors opened on their floor and they went their separate ways.
Hinata swiped her ID card into the door and walked in to the facility and immediately changed into her training outfit which consisted of a white sports bra and black three-quarter pants with a white stripe going up the outside of her legs, and paired the outfit with black and white sneakers. She went to a punching bag and went full force at it. Not just punches but kicks as well and after a few minutes she was lost in thought, hitting the punching bag while on auto-pilot.
As a member of the Tracking Unit she needed to be in top shape, because another part of being part of the Tracker Unit was pursuing the target as well and often the target will try to escape.
After two hours of training she'd worked up quite a sweat and decided to take a break. Someone took a seat next to her
"It's been a while since I've seen you go at it like that Panther" said her very close friend Kiba Inuzuka-top tracker in the entire division, codename—Silver Wolf
"Yeah well I was just letting off some steam"
"Something bothering you?"
"Nothing in particular, just this case in general"
"I got ya"
"I just want to know who did this and why"
"I think that goes for everyone" she rested her head on his shoulder for a while but she never forgot that she was still on duty, looking for the killer. The two of them then went over to the tatami mats and sparred for a while.
One p.m. arrived, majority of the agents had left the division to go get something to eat and that's when the two agents concluded their sparring match. As he delivered his final kick which she blocked he ended up tripping and falling taking her with him. He landed on top of her; they both looked into each other's eyes as they tried to catch their breath.
She looked up at him with her pearly white eyes and cupped his cheek. Was this real? Was this really happening? She did still have feelings for Naruto but for some reason he wasn't on her mind at that moment. She knew from the beginning that Kiba had feelings for her but she didn't know how she felt about him…until she found herself leaning in. If she thought of him as just a friend she wouldn't have gone this far and yet if she felt something more…
She propped herself on her elbows and closed her eyes as Kiba leaned in as well. He gently pressed his lips against hers; Hinata had butterflies in her stomach and smiled against his lips before he slowly pulled away.
He then stood up and helped her to her feet when someone walked in.
"Am I interrupting you guys?" came the blond hair, blue eyed agent
"Not at all Dragon" she answered
While he might not have been the sharpest knife in the drawer, he wasn't born yesterday. Close physical contact and she was flustered obviously meant that something happened between them.
"If you say so" not believing them and looking at them with menacing eyes
Shikamaru sat at his desk thinking, the possibility of finding one person among thousands of agents was next to impossible, especially someone who has inside information about three agents namely Neji's team. One had already been eliminated and the remaining two were on high alert but still very much in danger. They didn't know what he looked like, sounded like or anything, they had absolutely nothing on him but he had everything on them. And he's either in the building or receiving help from someone inside. He couldn't imagine anyone helping out someone that's killed one of their own but then again, he could be forcing someone to help him out.
"Dammit, I can't figure this out" he leaned his head back in his chair and closed his eyes
"Navy Lightning are you alright?" asked Ino as she walked into the room
"Yeah I'm fine, just a little tired" he looked up at her and noticed something different.
Ino wasn't wearing her necklace; it was a diamond cherry on a silver chain. He got it for her birthday two years ago and she'd worn it everyday since. Literally everytime he saw her she had it on. When he gave it to her she was so elated she said she'd wear it all the time.
"Flame what happened to your necklace?"
"Oh…I forgot to put it on today"
That was a lie she'd never forget to put it on. Could the enemy somehow be controlling her? It was a possibility but he didn't want to tip off the enemy that he was on to his little trick so he dropped the situation immediately.
"I won't ask her too much but I'll definitely put this in the report, somethings up and it's not just the necklace not being there, she's not as bubbly as she usually is. She's a lot more reserved, like she's a completely different person, but just to be sure…"
"You buy that outfit yesterday? I've never seen it before." He asked
"Yeah I'm glad you noticed"
"How could I not when I know how much you don't enjoy shopping"
"Well I really liked this outfit so I quickly bought it, because you know how much I dislike shopping"
"Gotcha, shopping is like breathing to Ino. She can't live without it, not to mention Ino wore this outfit a week ago, it isn't new. Looks like our little friend didn't do his homework properly. It looks like he only has information on Neji and Tenten then but not the rest of us, which makes it a little easier I guess."
"Well I gotta go"
"Where to?"
"I need to give Neji the briefing for his next assignment, Director Tsunade asked me to give it to him." He walked out of the room and saw Neji heading his way
"And if I'm right you'll try to wipe the information I have on you from my laptop, but unfortunately for you I have it all backed up"
"White Lightning we need to talk but not in there, it involves the insider" the two of them walked back to the elevator. He explained everything.
"So you suspect that she's the one helping our enemy?"
"Well yes and no, she's clearly changed but I don't think it's by choice I think she's being controlled. If it were as simple as her just working for him; appearance and personality wise she would've remained the same to avoid being suspected"
"You're right we need consider that he can somehow control people" Neji thought for a second "Alright keep an eye on her she might return to normal. Also the enemy might have the power to control multiple people at the same time"
"Alright I'm heading back" Shikamaru said
"Okay I'll warn Tenten"
Neji took the elevator upstairs to meet Tenten at the Weapons Division. As soon as he arrived he heard thudding sounds coming from one of the training studios, he walked in to find Tenten doing target practice with her senbon.
"Working as hard as ever Black Smoke"
"Just thinking…made any progress with regards to…"
"Yes actually that's why I'm here. Navy Lightning has just discovered something." He filled her in on everything but little did they know that someone was listening in on their conversation with a smirk on their face.
"Wow really? Well that's good and bad news I guess. They know everything about us but nothing on anyone else"
"White Lightning, Black Smoke, Panther…"
"We're here; what's the problem Navy Lightning?" Tenten responded
"No problem, Flame has returned to normal and she doesn't seem to remember what happened to her in the time she was acting differently"
"I'm on my way" said Neji and just as he finished speaking the surveillance cameras all turned off
"What the…all the cameras died or someone disconnected the cable"
"You don't think…" Neji started
"It's possible, but you go I'll check it out"
"Are you going to be alright here by yourself?"
"Yeah don't worry; I'll take care of everything" she smiled at him
He gave her one last look before he left
The room was silent after his footsteps faded away. Tenten immediately went to the connection box of the surveillance cameras—the lines had been cut as well as the com-links for the Weapons Division which meant that she couldn't call for back-up if the need arose, which meant only one thing—
She wasn't alone in the room; the enemy was with her at that very moment…
"Is Flame alright?" asked Neji as he walked in to find Hinata and Shikamaru sitting with her.
"Yeah but she's unconscious now, she returned to normal and started asking where she was and what she was doing, meaning she has no idea what just happened"
"So far she's been the only one who's acted strangely right?"
"Well actually Dragon was acting a little strange as well, he was incredibly serious and he looked at me and Silver Wolf with this menacing expression on his face. And he only stayed for a few seconds like he was looking for something that he obviously couldn't find in the Tracker Division, so he left"
"Any idea where he went?"
"No he didn't say anything"
Neji leaned against the desk and thought for a moment until the answer hit him
"I think I know where he's headed"
"What do you mean?"
Tenten heard footsteps so she turned to see who it was with a kunai ready in her hands
"Oh it's you Dragon" she sighed in relief
"Who were you expecting?" he asked seriously
"I was…never mind. If you're looking for White Lightning you've just missed him. He's with Navy Lightning—
"Actually I came to see you" he said in a low voice and walked towards her
"Just before I came here I was with Black Smoke and the surveillance cameras went down. What if they were taken out by the imposter—?
"If that's the case then she's in danger" Shikamaru said in a panicked tone
"What? Why?" asked Hinata
"Because the surveillance cameras and the com-links are on the same circuit board. If the imposter wanted to isolate himself with her without being caught on video or there being any chance of her calling for back-up, he'd cut both lines. And if you left her when the cameras went down and Dragon is headed there now then that means…"
"He's all alone with her" Hinata finished
Neji swore under his breath "I'm going after him" and he left the room before anyone else could say another word
"You came to see me, what for?" she asked growing anxious, something about the way he was looking at her almost like she was the prey. He stopped right in front of her and stared down at her with intimidating eyes, so much so that she broke eye contact. Her heart was racing in her chest.
"It's a very important message and I want to make sure I convey it to you properly" he put his hands on her hips
She froze, Naruto would never do this, this isn't him, or rather the behaviour isn't his, and he's being controlled. A smirk grew on his lips.
"I see you've finally caught on. Naruto would never behave like this" he leaned in even closer until his lips were practically hovering over hers for a few seconds until he grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her head back and kissed her, she tried to push him off but he held on to her body. He separated from her then leaned in to whisper in her ear.
"Did you think that you had the upper hand, that I wouldn't catch on to what the four of you were doing? Trying to figure out who the imposter was without informing any of the other agents. Let me give you a hint, I'm nobody and everybody." He then pulled away from her
"What have you done to Naruto?" she said with tears coming down her cheeks
"If I told you that then I wouldn't've given you the hint. I want you to figure it out" he looked down at his watch "Well it looks like my time here is up, I'll see you again Tenten and I'll face in another person you know…" just then Naruto fell to the ground unconscious and Tenten fell to her hands and knees then to the ground unconscious as well
"…ake up…wake up Tenten" she slowly opened her eyes and saw Neji above her. She sat up and looked around the room; she was still in the Weapons Division. She suddenly remembered what had just happened and looked to the side and found Naruto sitting in a chair looking disorientated.
"Are you alright?" Neji asked
"Yeah I'm fine just a little shaken up"
"What happened?"
"The imposter got to Naruto, he was controlling him he whole time. He purposely confronted me because he'd already caught on that we were looking for him. He—or rather—he made Naruto tell me that he wants me to figure how he does what he does. And the last thing he said to me was a hint about how he controls people; he said he's nobody and everybody and that he'll face me using someone else's body I know."
"I…what?" Naruto asked completely stunned
Xxx
Tenten was in her room, she decided to spend the night in her room at the agency rather then return to her apartment. She heard a knock at her door
"Naruto…is there something wrong?" she let him in
He looked incredibly remorseful, there was definitely something bothering him
"I-I just wanted to apologise…for what happened this afternoon" he was shaking
"Naruto there's nothing to apologise for, it wasn't you doing all of that. You didn't have a choice and besides I'm fine you didn't hurt me too badly or anything—
"But what if I did?" tears came down his cheeks "I let that monster control me and I could've hurt you"
She hugged him; he needed to know that everything was alright. She knew what he was going through; she'd been in his position feeling nothing but regret. After a while he hugged her back. He blamed himself for what happened but he wasn't supposed to and she wasn't going to let him.
"It's alright Naruto…it's alright" she hugged him a little tighter