Chapter 4 – Recovery
Tayuya awoke the next morning, due to something entering her tent. She groggily flung a kunai at the shadowy figure, hearing a high pitched squeal as it connected. As her tired eyes focused, the figure was revealed to have been a squirrel.
"Oops…" Tayuya said, rubbing her eyes.
She kicked the small animal's corpse out of the tent, and proceeded to change into her clothes for the day, along with changing her soiled garment. After that was done, she exited her tent, and retrieved her Akatsuki cloak and flute from the sealed case. She tossed the cloak to the side, not wanting to put it on until the last possible moment.
"You're going to ruin it, if you do that" Oshime said, exiting her tent, "We need that for our plan."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah" Tayuya replied, rolling her eyes, "I'm surprised you're not rushing us to leave."
"It's early" Oshime stated, "We have all day to get there, so there's no need to rush."
"Tell that to yourself from last night…" Tayuya said, "I couldn't even keep up."
"Yeah, because it was late, and I wanted to get there before the day ended." Oshime answered.
"Whatever…" Tayuya stated, "Why don't you go over the details of this heist again."
"Ugh, fine" Oshime said, shaking her head, "But this is the last time."
"Ok, ok" Tayuya said, cracking her knuckles
"Ok, we're going to the Hidden Shadow village, in order to steal their most precious object, The Stone of Shadows." Oshime said.
"Ok, and the Akatsuki cloaks?" Tayuya asked.
"We need a reason to be in the village in the first place" Oshime responded, "The Kagekage has the utmost respect for the Akatsuki, so we'll meet him pretending to be Akatsuki members, to earn his trust."
"Well, I guess that makes sense" Tayuya replied, reluctantly, "I still hate the damn thing."
Oshime rolled her eyes, and sat down next to Tayuya. She pulled a small canister from her pack, and popped it open. As she ate the contents, Tayuya ate her own. When they were finished, Oshime placed the empty can in her pack, thinking it might come in handy later. Tayuya, on the other hand, tossed hers into the forest, not caring to carry around useless baggage.
"Well, shall we go?" Oshime asked, standing up.
"Sure, let's pack up" Tayuya replied, shoving her tent into its case.
"Ugh, I swear" Oshime said, "I'm not buying you another one when that breaks."
"Shut it, lardass" Tayuya replied, "It's only a damn tent."
Oshime shook her head, and packed her own tent neatly into its case. Oshime reverse summoned the sealed case, and waited for Tayuya to struggle with her tent. After Tayuya finished, they each put their packs on, and began tree-hopping towards the village.
Tayuya spent most of the next six weeks lying in that old cot, begrudgingly allowing Oshime to take care of her. She was embarrassed during every diaper change, but gradually became slightly less embarrassed. Oshime never seemed to mind it, never having more than the slightest blush on her face. Tayuya was surprised that her arm was almost entirely healed after just two weeks, even if it was still somewhat sore. Tayuya tried arguing with her caretaker that she could change herself now that both arms were available for use, but Oshime would have none of it. Oshime argued that she'd be more susceptible to injuring her leg even more if she tried to change herself. Tayuya knew it was a losing battle, so she spoke an obscenity, and laid back as Oshime began to change her wet diaper once again.
At the end of six weeks, her leg had healed enough to allow her stand, but Oshime still insisted on changing her, "just in case." Tayuya put up an argument, but Oshime shot it down, saying that Tayuya had been weakened by inactivity, and shouldn't be wasting energy on minor tasks. This lasted less than a week, as Tayuya showed Oshime that her strength was mostly there, and she could change herself. Oshime tested her by allowing her to do so, and although it was not perfect, Tayuya showed that she could adequately change herself, forcing Oshime to back down from her stance. After that show of recovery, Tayuya began training again, trying to get back her strength, everyday hoping she'd find that her bladder had healed. One night, as they were getting ready for bed, Tayuya took the initiative to speak, which was a rarity at this time of day.
"Why did you save me?" Tayuya asked.
"Because you were injured and needed help." Oshime answered, not even moving her head to look at Tayuya.
"Cut me the bull, please" Tayuya answered, "Most people don't just nurse someone back to health for weeks, even going so far as to, err, change them…"
"If you want to know the truth" Oshime answered, "I figured I could use a partner, and I could tell that your injuries and garb were one of a kunoichi."
"If you needed a partner, why go for an almost dead ninja?" Tayuya asked.
"I figured if I nursed a ninja back to health, he or she would be more likely to want to repay the debt by helping me out." Oshime responded.
"Well, you found the wrong girl" Tayuya said, letting out a small laugh, "I don't feel as if I owe you shit."
"Yeah, I figured that out after the second day" Oshime replied, "But I figure you might stick around when you find out what I do."
"Hmm?" Tayuya said, slightly interested.
"I perform heists" Oshime stated, "I steal in order to pay for what I want or need."
"Seems pretty standard to me" Tayuya replied, "I do like money, though."
"Heh, well, I could use someone to help with the bigger heists." Oshime said, smiling.
"Well, it's not like I got anywhere else to go" Tayuya said, thinking of the Sannin she once referred to as "Lord", "As long as I get fifty percent of the cut, I guess I'm in."
"But of course" Oshime said, "Anything else you need to be at your best?"
"A flute" Tayuya said, "Oh, and for my fucking bladder to work again…"
"Well, the first is doable" Oshime replied, trying not to laugh, "But the latter is out of my hands."
"Good night..." Tayuya said, glaring at Oshime.
Oshime laughed, and left Tayuya's room, turning off the light as she exited. Tayuya pulled the covers over herself, knowing that she needed a change, but not wanting to deal with it until morning.
"We'll be there very soon." Oshime yelled back to Tayuya.
Tayuya nodded, and continued tree-jumping behind her partner. As they approached the village, Tayuya realized just how small it was. The village had no walls to defend themselves with, and even the gate at the entrance had no doors. As they stopped in front of the gate, Tayuya looked at the banner sign above the gate, depicting a headband with what must have been the village's symbol on it. The symbol was round on the left, but the right was two spikes which curved back towards the left. Tayuya couldn't help but think the shape was familiar, but had no time to ponder on it, as Oshime tugged her through the gate entrance.
"Come on, we don't want to keep the Kagekage waiting." Oshime stated, letting go of her arm.
"Right" Tayuya said, nodding.
"One more bowl of ramen, Old man!" The young shinobi yelled, pounding his fist on the table.
"Heh, right away Naruto" Teuchi said, quickly pouring a bowl of ramen for one of his best customers.
"Thanks!" Naruto said, laughing, before gulping down his food, and placing his bowl amongst the pile that was forming.
"Hey, Naruto!" A voice yelled, getting closer.
Naruto turned to look at the voice, recognizing it as his teammate Sakura.
"Hey, Sakura, wanna buy me a bowl of Ramen?" Naruto asked, smiling.
"Not now, Naruto, Lady Tsunade needs to see us." Sakura responded, resisting the urge to punch her teammate out of his seat.
"Really?" Naruto responded, "We have a mission?"
"I don't know," Sakura answered, "But we'd better hurry."
Naruto nodded, and placed some money on the counter.
"Thanks, Old man!" Naruto yelled back as he ran with Sakura towards the Hokage's office.
"Anytime!" Teuchi responded, waving at Naruto.
The two ninja made it to the Hokage's office, meeting Shizune outside the entrance to Tsunade's office. Shizune let them in right away, opening the door to the office, after greeting Sakura and Naruto. As the two entered, they saw Shikamaru waiting in front of the Hokage's desk.
"It's about time you got here" Tsunade said, looking at Naruto and Sakura.
"Sorry, Lady Tsunade" Sakura replied.
"Yeah, whatever, just give us the mission, Grandma Tsunade!" Naruto yelled.
"You've been called here today, because two Akatsuki members have been spotted in Kagegakure, a small village not far from here." Tsunade stated, ignoring the blond ninja's comment.
"The Akatsuki!" Naruto yelled. "Which ones!?"
"We don't know" Tsunade replied, "Our informant could not get close enough to see the faces of the two."
"Then what's our mission?" Shikamaru asked, "If we don't know which members, it would be reckless to just charge in. We need to choose the three ninja for this mission based upon the abilities of our opponents."
"Normally, yes, but we have no other choice but to act now, and figure out what reason they are in Kagegakure." Tsunade replied, "We were not hired by that village, so we can't afford to send our best Anbu or Jounin to figure it out."
"Ugh, what a drag…" Shikamaru said, sighing.
"You are to leave immediately" Tsunade stated, "Shikamaru, you are the leader of this mission, so I expect it to go well."
"Right" All three responded, turning around to leave.
The three quickly packed their bags, and met at the entrance to Konoha.
"Let's go!" Naruto yelled, with his usual enthusiasm.
"Calm down, Naruto!" Sakura yelled, pounding him on the head.
"Ow, that was uncalled for..." Naruto said, retying his black headband.
"Just shut up and walk." Sakura said, dragging him through the village gates.
"Ugh..." Shikamaru said, shaking his head before beginning to follow his teammates.
As they walked towards the Kagekage's manor, Tayuya looked around the small village, noticing how normal it looked. They received a few glances as they walked, most likely due to their odd clothes.
"This is it" Oshime stated, looking at an average building in front of her.
"That's it?" Tayuya asked, "It's pretty small for a Kage's manor."
"Yeah, but it's a small village" Oshime replied, "They can't afford a huge mansion, not even for their beloved Kagekage."
"Well, if they loved him so much, they'd pitch in the funds" Tayuya responded, "Not to mention give him a better title than Kagekage..."
"I swear, if you do that during our meeting..." Oshime threatened.
"I know, I know, I'll be good" Tayuya answered, rolling her eyes.
As the two approached the building, they noticed two Jounin guarding the doorway. Before Tayuya could even think of an excuse, the two Jounin nodded, and stepped out from in front of the entrance.
"But, how…?" Tayuya asked.
"I told you, the Kagekage has the utmost respect for the Akatsuki…which we of course are a part of." Oshime said, adding the latter, just in case.
"Yeah, but still..." Tayuya said, suspicious of the situation.
The two removed their sandals as they entered, and kneeled down in front of the small desk. They waited only a few seconds as a figure emerged from behind the curtains, dressed in customary Kage robes, colored black in the areas of color. The Kagekage was not a young man, sporting just a few black streaks in his shoulder length gray hair. His green eyes were quite intense, despite the wrinkles that adorned his face. His bulbous nose was in contrast to the rest of his face, which would be thin and streamlined if not for the wrinkles.
"Welcome" He stated, smiling, "To the Hidden Shadow Village"