Hey, here's the next chapter of Silence. I'm sorry about how irregular my updates are, but I'm a busy teen. Work with me here; I'm trying.
Disclaimer; the only things I own are the plot line and any OCs I could possibly add in the future.
Silence
Chapter 4: Enter Lily
Hinata walked through the streets towards a small shop. It was on the far side of Konoha from the Hyuuga compound, but the heiress didn't mind. Most things were, and a little walk never hurt anyone. Besides, it gave her some time to think over her most recent challenge; the test. It actually went better than she had thought that it would. At first, the seemingly illogical patterns of the test had irritated her. This was her first serious mistake. Things that happen on missions aren't always logical, after all. As a gennin she would have to learn to expect the unexpected, which irked her a bit. Before the test she might have considered that one of her best skills, besides her seemingly uncanny ability to spy and gather information. Now it was obvious how much work even that, one or her best skills, needed to get closer to her goal.
Hinata's goal was to be the first female head of the ANBU. It was her dream, actually. Her mother had been an ANBU, before she settled down with Hiashi, and almost managed to become head. She was deffinately on one of the best teams in the organization. Unfortunately, the elders of that time hadn't wanted a simple Hyuuga to have the same level of influence as they did over the Hokage. And a female, at that. It was disgraceful, according to them.
So, Hinata was going to prove to the elders that a woman would make just as good a Captain as any man. For her mother's sake, as well as for kunoichi everywhere. Besides, a woman was much more valuable in some situations. You don't see men getting sent on too many seduction missions, after all. That required a more... femenine touch. Plus, women aren't as suspicious to people. No one outside of the bigger ninja nations really thought much on the fact that women were ninja as well. And, as much as Hinata loathed it, more powerful ninja with bigger egos tended to be sexist and thought that they could take on any female. That was another thing Hinata intended to change.
After another few minutes of walking, the young heiress arrived at her destination. It was a small shop, with an aged-looking sign out front that read 'Lily's Supplies'. The store mainly sold kunoichi equipment, but also carried the general ninja gear. It also sold chakra paper, which was what Hinata needed at the moment. Smiling a bit, she walked inside.
At the ringing of the bell on the door, a middle-aged woman looked up from the counter where she had been arranging various undercover weapons. Her hair was silvery, and fell to her waist. The front was pulled back and held by a clip which Hinata knew carried a poison that could be sprayed on somone by a small button disguised as an earring. Her clothes were neither too fancy or too plain, and held a subtle air of elegance. The woman smiled at seeing who it was.
"Hello, Hinata-chan. I haven't seen you in a while." She said, turning from her merchandise and coming around the counter. The young heiress gladly accepted the hug that the older woman pulled her into, returning it gently. "Goodness, Child," She stated as she pulled back. "did you just come back from training? You seem very weary for just a little stroll to my humble shop." Hinata laughed.
"Yes, I did just come from training, in a sense, Lily. I had my final gennin test today; our jounin instructor is a very agile person, and I'm afraid that I had troubles keeping up with him on my own." The woman, Lily, laughed as well.
"You'll have to tell me all about this test, then, while I find that new product that just came in. I think you'll like it." The blue-eyed woman moved back towards the counter and slipped behind, while Hinata leaned against it.
"Do you mind grabbing some chakra paper while you're at it, Lily? One of my teammates wants to know his element." She called after the woman.
"'Course not, Child. Now, tell me all about your new teammates and this test that you took." So Hinata relayed what had happened to the older woman that was her stand-in mother in so many ways. When she came to describing her teammates, though, she faltered a little.
"Well, they're almost complete opposites. There's the loud obnoxious one, Uzumaki Naruto. He can be quite annoying, and a bit dense, but his intentions are good. Most of the time. Over all he's a decent guy. And then there's Uchiha Sasuke, the silent brooding one, I guess you could say. He can be really arrogant, but in the end, I guess he means well in his actions. He just doesn't necessarily know how to show it. I mean, how can you blame him, after what happened to his clan? They're just so... different! Do you know what I mean?" Lily came out of the back room, nodding.
"Most teams are like
that, even my old team was. I think the Hokage does that on purpose
to balance the teams." Hinata nodded thoughtfully.
"I
suppose that makes sense. So, what's come in since the last time I
visited?" The teen asked. Lily's icy eyes sparkled as she laid
out what looked to be a hairpin on the table, similar to what was in
her own hair, but smaller. It took the shape of a sapphire butterfly,
with tiny pearls along the edge of the upper wings. There were also
matching sapphire earrings, with tiny pearls hanging down from them.
"Do you remember how excited you were when I showed you what my clip could do?" Lily asked, gessturing to the larger amethyst butterfly in her own hair. Hinata nodded. "And how disappointed you were that it only worked for people with long hair?" Again, the heiress nodded. "Well, I've been working in my little lab, and this is the result. Hold still." The teen did as she was told, and the older woman arranged the heavy-looking pin into her hair. Surprisingly, the clip seemed almost weightless; the same went for the small earrings. "This clip is of the same design as mine. It does everything that mine does; all you have to do is pull on the string of pearls lightly on your right ear. This is connected to an almost invisible wire that leads to the small vile of poison on the back of the clip; my own mixture." Lily admitted proudly. It knocks out the other person almost on contact, and burns the lungs. Very similar to mustard bombs, only instead of only removing the sense of smell, it robs one of the ability to speak for several hours after waking."
"Wow..." Hinata breathed, looking at her reflection in the small mirror that Lily held up for her. The clip seemed neither too large or too expensive for any gathering of high class officials. Of course, it would catch a few eyes, but that was what jewelry was meant to do. It would be perfect for an undercover mission, when one came up. "This is perfect, Lily! It's beautiful!" The woman nodded in approval of the praise.
"The poison will spray from the pearls on the wings; don't worry, they're real. I drilled them. Even if the person you were undercover for was a jewler, he wouldn't suspect. The holes don't open until you pull on the string; the entire transaction takes less than a second, so it's wonderful for tight situations. Just one tiny pull, and the person gets sprayed. Oh, just remember that you'll have to turn your head slightly because of the position of the clip." Hinata grinned at the older woman, and hugged her from across the counter.
"It's perfect! How much do I owe you?" Lily laughed and backed up, holding her hands up in an 'I surrender' gessture. The older woman grinned as well.
"Not a single penny. It's not every day that my little flower becomes a full-fledged gennin. It's a gift; one that I've been waiting to give you for several weeks now." If possible, Hinata's smile grew.
"Are you
sure?"
"Absolutely. Just promise me that on your first
undercover mission, you'll use it, if you can." Hinata hugged
the woman again.
"I promise. Thank you."
End of Chapter---
Hey, at least this is up faster than the last one, even if it's shorter than usual. I think. To tell you the truth, I didn't count. ^^; Review? Please?