Shadowfox
Chapter 6
Sakura Hanamoto
Two more days took them through another country that had few ties to Fire Country, but not hostile to the travelers. For the first time since they'd left, Hinari permitted them to stay in a hotel for the night. Everyone was happy with the arrangements, except that the manager at the front desk couldn't get them two rooms, one with three beds, the other with two. Instead, they were stuck with two rooms, one with only one bed, and the other with two.
On their way to the rooms, Natsuhime and Yukina made the arrangements of who was sleeping where.
"Onii-chan is sleeping on the floor!" Yukina cried with enthusiasm.
"What? What about Shishou?" Hyourinmaru asked.
"Seeing as the kids are hell bent on being in the same room, we're stuck together." Takuro said as they walked. He limped slightly, a little saddle sore, he still wasn't used to horses. "You can have the bed." He added quickly when Hinari looked sharply at him.
"See Hyourinmaru, Takuro-san is a gentleman, why can't you be more like him?" Natsuhime asked.
"Simple, I've had to put up with you two long enough." He replied scathingly.
"Oh, did we make Hyouri-chan mad?" Natsuhime pouted.
"Don't call me that!" Hyourinmaru retorted. Hinari chuckled at the antics of her students, though she had a feeling that the girls had set things up like this on purpose. There was very little doubt in her mind that they had. Probably hoping being stuck in the same room for one night would somehow make her and Takuro get together. She rolled her eyes at the thought, as if it worked that way or was that easy.
XxXxXxX
For once, Hinari allowed her guard to drop a fraction; she lay on the bed staring at the ceiling, listening to the shower in the bathroom connecting to the room. She could also vaguely hear Takuro whistling as he showered. It was nice being able to relax a little bit. The water abruptly stopped telling her that he was finished showing. Five minutes later he reappeared dressed and attempting to push wet hair out of his face.
"You could have saved some hot water for me you know." He commented.
"Well you've been getting hot showers your whole life, I didn't start getting them until I was twelve and very rarely after that." She replied not taking her eyes off the ceiling. Takuro glanced up curiously.
"See anything interesting?" He asked. Hinari smiled.
"Plenty, but nothing you'd be interested in hearing." She told him. Takuro sat down on the other side of the bed and finally succeeded in pushing all of his hair out of his face.
"You sure about that?"
"Quite," Hinari sat up and ran her fingers through her hair. "Should I cut my hair?" She asked. Though the question wasn't really addressed to him, Takuro answered anyway.
"No, it looks better long."
"You've never seen it any other length."
"Sure I have, when we were still Academy students and your hair was a little shorter."
"Hmm, good point." Hinari played with a lock of hair as she returned to staring at the ceiling. "You know, those two scheming girls did this on purpose." She spoke after a moment of silence.
"I figured as much." Takuro scratched the back of his head, something Hinari noted, was something he did when he was feeling nervous of uncomfortable. Apparently, he picked it up sometime after she left since she couldn't recall him doing it beforehand. Takuro glanced around, there wasn't much to do, and the kids were running around the town after Hinari not so willingly gave them some spending money.
"Takuro?"
"Hmm?"
"Have you ever wondered what it would be like to raise kids?" Hinari queried. The sudden and completely random question blew him off.
"Not really, but don't you know what that's like by now?"
"No, I mean, having kids that are your own flesh and blood, raising them since birth."
"No, I wasn't really planning on getting married and having kids." Hinari raised an eyebrow.
"But, you're the next in line to be Uchiha clan head, or were you just going to hand the job over to Satoko?" Takuro shook his head.
"My parents know that I'm not interested in getting married, but they want the clan to continue, they told me that I have until my next birthday to either get married or at the very least engaged."
"They're desperate."
"My father told me that he wanted the clan revived, to be rebuilt, but he can't do that himself now. Mom's getting too old to bear children safely. It's all on my shoulders for now, but when the twins get older, that'll help." He said.
"Must suck being the oldest. But at least you know that the Uchiha name will continue. If something happens to Naruhiko, we're done for." Hinari stated. "He's the only male Uzumaki; trust my dad to end up with two daughters." She laughed a little.
"You aren't happy being an Uzumaki?"
"I am, but it's sad that the future of the family is riding on an eight year old boy. If either 'nee-chan or I get married, we won't be Uzumaki's by name.
"But you will be by blood." Hinari shrugged.
"Still, it's not a great prospect for the three of us." Takuro moved across the bed to sit beside her.
"At least your family does have a future, be happy that it does." He told her. Hinari sighed.
"You're right." She broke out into laughter.
"What?"
"You know, we've had some pretty weird conversations." She said. Takuro thought about it and couldn't help but laugh too.
"Yeah, you're right, we have haven't we?" Hinari sat up again and her stomach growled.
"Let's get something to eat, I'm starving." Hinari stood up and dug through her pack.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm gonna change." She replied as she yanked out some clothes. She disappeared into the bathroom and reappeared in a few minutes, changed into civilian clothing. "Let's go." Hinari pulled on a pair of sandals. Takuro quickly followed as the pair headed out.
XxXxXxX
Hinari changed position as she slept and awoke as she hit the ground with a thud. Takuro was standing in a moment.
"Hinari?" He called through the darkness.
"I'm fine; I just rolled off the bed, that's all." She answered as she stood up. "Go back to sleep Takuro." Takuro nodded and he disappeared from view. He curled up in his bedroll at the foot of the bed. Hinari crawled back into bed and promptly fell into a deep sleep, Takuro's scent somehow reaching her nose. Hinari tossed and turned, her dreams were far from sweet. Consisting mostly of a voice calling for help. Who the voice belong to was unknown to her, but it was a male voice, probably not much older than Hyourinmaru.
When Hinari awoke the next morning, she was impatient and irritable to everyone. Takuro didn't speak to her at all when she snapped at him rather viciously, quite literally. His left hand was still bleeding a bit by the time they set out.
XxXxXxX
By noon Hinari was apologizing for biting him. Takuro would hear none of it. "Really Hinari, it's fine, I've had worse injuries, and you should know that."
"Yeah, some of them were my fault." She muttered darkly, she reached over her shoulder to poke the scars on his face.
"I didn't mean it like that." He whispered, Hinari was being very uncooperative and it made him a little jumpy. Yukina and Natsuhime realized that their little plan hadn't really worked, but they knew it wouldn't work immediately. Hinari yawned and rubbed her eyes to keep them open.
"Sleepy," She murmured.
"You can take a nap when we take a break." Takuro said, "But you need to stay awake."
"How am I gonna do that?"
"Like this," Takuro tickled her ribs. Hinari attempted to hold in her laughter but couldn't do so for very long. She soon burst and allowed herself to laugh loudly, effectively waking herself up.
"How did you know I was still ticklish?" She asked once she got her breath back.
"Lucky guess." Takuro replied. Hinari smiled glanced over at her students. All three of them were staring, but Natsuhime and Yukina looked rather smug, as if they'd' planned this all along. Hinari grinned and tilted her head up to see Takuro.
"Ew, I can see up your nose." She said, wrinkling her nose.
"Why the hell are you looking for then?" He demanded.
"I'm bored Takuro-kun," Hinari said, leaning back against him.
"What do you want me to do?" He asked ignoring her choice of honorific. She'd never called him that before and it made him suspicious.
"I don't know, you think of something." She responded. She swept her eyes over towards the two girls who were staring at her. They rarely saw Hinari behave like this, but then again, Hinari made a point not to get close to anyone up until now.
"Uh," Takuro began racking his brain for something to do. He failed to come up with anything and his mind began to stray in a direction he preferred to avoid as much as possible. That little corner of his mind kept popping up unfortunately. He shook his head violently to get that train of thought to go away, but it still remained. As much as his mother had literally pounded it into him, he was, like most men, a pervert to a certain extent. And the fact that he could see down Hinari's top wasn't helping matters.
"Well?" Hinari asked, breaking him out of his daze.
"I can't come up with anything." He answered; it was only a half lie.
"Really? Nothing at all?" He shook his head. Hinari twisted her body around and he involuntarily winced, her torso was almost complete turned a hundred eighty degrees around.
"That doesn't hurt?" He asked before he could stop himself.
"No, I'm practically a human contortionist after all." She replied. "I'm just as flexible as I was before, probably even more so." She told him. Hinari righted herself and looked up at him. "How did you get so tall anyway? Your dad isn't that tall." She remarked. Takuro shrugged.
"I don't know. I was as tall as my mom by the time I was fourteen, and then taller than dad by fifteen. Satoko is a little taller than mom."
"What about the twins?"
"They're short for their age. But not the shortest in their class. Raisuke is the taller one." Takuro said. Hinari nodded thoughtfully. After a while, everyone fell into silence, there wasn't a need to talk anyway. Natsuhime finally broke the silence that surrounded them.
"Shishou, there's a caravan approaching." Natsuhime announced. Hinari nodded.
"Yukina, recon." She ordered. Yukina collapsed her naginata, and handed the reins for her horse to her brother and hopped off. She took off ahead, moving quickly and silently, using the terrain to her advantage. She returned soon enough, heading straight for Hinari to report.
"It's him Shishou, Williamson." She spoke. Hinari nodded again.
"Okay Takuro, because you do not speak the language, I will translate for you if you are addressed, and remember, if any of the questions he ask are insulting, he does it because of his prejudices, and he still doesn't quite understand out culture."
"Right," to say the least, Takuro was nervous, mostly because he'd never seen anyone from another part of the world before. He tightened his hold on Hinari's waist a bit. Hinari smiled slightly and placed a hand comfortingly on his.
"It'll be okay, I promise." She whispered as they continued forward to greet the caravan. Hinari let out a long breath to steady herself and keep her temper in check. If there was anyone in the world that could annoy her, that was Williamson's bodyguard, a man that felt that because she was a woman, she was incompetent in her ability to fight and defend herself. 'Well, here we go.' She thought as they caravan rumbled closer. The rattle of weapons unfamiliar to Takuro caught his attention. Some of the guards were carrying long wooden and metal sticks over their shoulders and he wondered what they were.
'I get the feeling that the next several days are going to be long ones.' He thought. Hinari had everyone line up across the road to form a block. The caravan halted and a man stepped out of the carriage in the lead.
"What's the meaning of this?" He demanded in a foreign tongue. Hinari grinned and stepped off her horse, leaving Takuro to hold the horse in place.
"Greetings Williamson." She spoke in the same language. The man was somewhat squat, with a large belly. He also had an obvious bald spot that he attempted to hide by combing his remaining hair over it. He was dressed in long black pants, a white collared shirt and a red vest over it. And over that, he wore a jacket. In short, his appearance was rather amusing to Takuro.
"Oh, that's you Uzumaki? I didn't recognize you with your hair out of your face." He commented snidely. Hinari only grinned at this. "You got my message then?" He asked.
"Yeah, we're here to escort you to my home village." She responded. "I believe you remember my students?" She swept her hand out behind her and indicated the three.
"Who's that?" Williamson asked pointing at Takuro.
"He was sent with us, his name is Uchiha Takuro." Hinari told him. Williamson nodded.
"Well, let's carry on then, we'd like to make as much progress as possible in the accursed place." He said, stepping back into the carriage. Soon, the driver had the whole caravan moving again. Hinari spread the three out along the string of carts and guards. Hinari and Takuro remained beside the lead carriage as Williamson hung outside the small window to talk to Hinari, occasionally shooting a question at Takuro.
"Hinari, how long is he staying in the village?" Takuro asked in a low whisper.
"I don't know." She replied.
"Uchiha, how old are you?" Williamson asked abruptly, he didn't like being excluded in a conversation. Hinari translated.
"Twenty-four." Takuro replied. Hinari relayed the answer to Williamson.
"Got yourself a woman?" Upon hearing the question, Takuro blinked owlishly and shook his head, hoping the body language was universal. Williamson gave a snort of contempt.
"Not even a mistress?" Takuro shook his head again. "Not much of a man are you?" Takuro scowled. Hinari elbowed him to tell him to hold his tongue. "Why not Uzumaki here? If she's as feisty in bed as she is in a fight, then she'd do." This statement made Takuro stiffen and his face turned red. His reaction made Williamson laugh. Hinari gave Takuro a sympathetic smile.
'This is gonna be a long trip indeed.' Takuro thought dismally.
XxXxXxX
That night, after camp was set up, Williamson invited Hinari and Takuro to eat dinner with him. Takuro attempted to decline, he really didn't want to be made fun of anymore, but Hinari forced him to go.
"The sooner you get used to him the better." She explained as they headed to Williamson's tent.
"But Hinari, he keeps cracking jokes about me no being man enough, it's pissing me off." He retorted.
"Deal with it; he called me a whore the first month I knew him." Hinari told him.
"What?!" Takuro was seething with anger now.
"Dammit Takuro, don't lose it!" Hinari ordered. They came to the tent and they were allowed inside by Williamson's bodyguard. Hinari gave the man a nod; he only gave her a look of contempt.
"Ah, come in and sit down." Williamson said, gesturing towards the chairs sitting in front of a table laden with food. Hinari sat down immediately, but Takuro hesitated. Hinari grabbed his arm and yanked him into his seat roughly. Takuro stared at the food; none of it looked incredibly appetizing to him. In fact, it made him want to hurl. "Go ahead and dig in." Hinari picked up the utensils and served herself something to eat.
"Here, this one here's probably the best on the whole table." Hinari pointed toward what she'd just served herself. Takuro nodded and served some for himself.
"Never had any of this before Uchiha?" Takuro looked up at Williamson at the sound of his name. Hinari translated. Takuro shook his head.
"We don't get a lot of contact with those outside of our neighboring nations." Hinari explained. "So, most of our food is the same really." She said. 'Though I wouldn't mind a bowl of ramen to this crap.' She thought. She heard Kyuubi snickering.
"Makes sense I suppose. How do you like it Uchiha?"
"It's okay." Takuro replied. He finished the serving and looked at the other food on the table, looking for something that wouldn't make him sick. He nudged Hinari's foot to get her attention. She saw his questioning look and quickly indicated something else she figured he would be able to tolerate.
"So, Uzumaki, tell me more about your village? Is there some kind of government?" Hinari then began to tell him about the Hokage and the role the Hokage played in village politics. She was in the middle of explaining the importance of the village clans when he interrupted. "Wait, the families in the village is part of politics?"
"Yes, every so often, the Hokage holds meetings that include the most influential clans in the village, each clan has a representative, that person is usually the clan head. If they cannot attend the meeting, then sometimes their heir may attend in his or her place." Hinari informed him.
"His or her?" Takuro and Hinari noted the hind of disdain in his voice.
"Yes, some clans do have female heads. The clan I am descended from, their current leader and the heir are both women." Hinari told him. Williamson snorted.
"Who would be stupid enough to appoint a woman to lead a whole family?" He asked. Takuro dropped his fork and grabbed Hinari's arm as she lifted it, the fingers flexing dangerously. Even now, he knew the warning signs of her beginning to lose control. Whatever Williamson had said to Hinari, it must have really pissed her off.
"I will have you know," she began in a strained voice. "That my mother was the head of her family before she died. She changed the clan for the better." Hinari said in a low voice, a growl emanated from her chest.
"Hinari, don't." Takuro stopped her. Hinari let her hand fall back onto the table and she shot him an apologetic glance. Takuro nodded to show that he understood. He rose and silently left the tent. After a moment, Hinari followed him. They moved outside the perimeter of the camp.
"That bastard!"
"What did he say?" Takuro asked cautiously.
"He asked me who was stupid enough to give a woman the position of clan head! Can you believe it?! If you hadn't stopped me, I might have crushed his windpipe! Even though he said it unintentionally, it was like he was insulting my mother!" She stamped her foot into the ground. "I knew that he was racist, but not sexist! If he wasn't providing us with so much help I'd kill him in his sleep!" Hinari made a motion with her hands to illustrate strangling an invisible victim. During her rant, Takuro stood there and took it quietly. He saw no point in speaking, he'd only get his head bitten off, his mother and sister taught him that quickly enough, but that only happened during that certain time of month.
"Feel better?" He asked when she was finished.
"A bit, I'm going to get some sleep, good night." With that, Hinari walked off, headed towards the tent in one corner of the camp where the five shinobi would be sleeping.
"Good night." Takuro sighed and scratched the back of his head. He found that he probably wouldn't be able to fall asleep anytime soon so he decided to take a walk.
XxXxXxX
The next morning found Takuro being shaken violently in his bedroll. He automatically grabbed a kunai and brought it to the throat of his assailant. Upon seeing who it was, he pulled it back.
"Don't scare me like that!" He snapped. Hinari grinned.
"Get up." She ordered sharply.
"Why? I wanna sleep some more." Takuro attempted to curl up again. But Hinari dragged him away from the comfortable warmth of the sleeping bag. A quick look out the flap of the tent told him that is was maybe an hour before dawn.
"Too bad, I need to release some frustration; you're the only one here who could keep up with me." She said.
"Can I at least get dressed?" Takuro asked. Takuro was dressed in nothing but a pair of boxers.
"All right, but I'm gonna stand here and make sure you don't go back to sleep." Hinari told him. Takuro found his pants and pulled them on as well as his shirt. Hinari promptly dragged him out of the tent by the back of his shirt.
"You're choking me Hinari!" He cried, tugging at the collar to allow for more air to pass through. Hinari let go of him and he fell over. Takuro got to his feet to see Hinari stretching. He stood there staring, he couldn't believe any human could stretch the way she was. "That doesn't hurt?" He asked stupidly. Hinari rested the heel of her foot on her shoulder.
"Not really." She replied. Takuro shuddered at the thought of even attempting to stretch his leg that high. Once he too had finished limbering up, they settled into basic taijutsu stances, they were aiming to get a working out, not kill each other. Hinari came in with a palm thrust to his shoulder. Takuro blocked and knocked her arm aside, attempting to get inside her guard. Hinari bent backward as the heel of his palm came at her chin. Before she could straighten, Takuro swept her legs. Hinari's back never touch the ground though, she caught herself and sprang up and twisted, aiming a kick to Takuro's temple. He ducked and felt her foot brush over his hair. Hinari landed on the balls of her feet and jumped at him, Takuro blocked every blow she threw at him. Hinari aimed a punch to his solar plexus but Takuro knocked her arm aside, throwing her arms out wide, opening herself up to attack. Takuro took the opportunity and grabbed her by her shirt and lifted her off the ground. Hinari hadn't expected this. Hinari thrashed her arms and legs; she got a lucky hit, kicking him in the jaw. The sudden pain caused Takuro to let go of her, causing Hinari to fall on top of him. Hinari sat on Takuro's back, looking quite comfortable.
"Get off!" Takuro ordered, the left side of his face buried into the dirt.
"Nope, how many push ups can you do with me sitting on you like this?" She asked him with a smirk. Takuro took the bait. Hinari settled herself properly and he started doing push ups.
"One…two…" This went on for a long while, drawing a crowd from the awakening guards. They were betting on how much longer Takuro could keep going. Some remarked that Hinari didn't look very heavy despite her height. "…one hundred and fifty-eight…" Takuro gasped. Sweat dripped onto the ground from his brow. Hinari was polishing her kunai to pass the time. Setting it down when Takuro came down. "…one hundred and sixty-five…" Hinari's students pushed their way through the crowd.
"Isn't that a little extreme Shishou?" Hyourinmaru asked.
"No worse than what I did with you three." She replied.
"Yeah, but that was only your foot. You're sitting on him!" Yukina cried, waving her arms wildly.
"What?!" Takuro demanded. "One hundred and ninety-three…You did this with them?!"
"Yeah, endurance and strength training, in a way." Hinari told him, patting him on the top of the head. "Ew, you're all sweaty." She commented, wiping her hand off on the back of his shirt.
"Hey woman!" One of the guards asked called. "What number is he on?" He asked.
"Two hundred and ten." Hinari replied. Takuro was slowing down now, he was no doubt exhausted and his arms would be sore. Finally, another thirty push ups later, he collapsed panting. "Not bad Takuro-kun, but you probably couldn't beat Lee-san."
"No one can beat that spandex wearing creepo." Takuro replied. "Even if he is one of the most respected taijutsu masters in the village, that spandex is freaky." He said. Hinari laughed. She got up and helped him get to his feet.
"How're your arms?" She asked.
"Dead." He replied.
XxXxXxX
Three days into heading back to Konoha, they came to the border of Rice Country. Hinari signaled for the caravan to stop. Luckily, a good portion of the hand signals were universal.
"We're entering enemy territory, be on the lookout, but do not engage until one of us has investigated." She ordered. The nearest guards nodded and began relaying the message down the line. Once everyone was informed, they continued on their way.
"Hinari, I'll join the kids in fanning out." Takuro said. He hopped off the horse.
"Be careful."
"Of course." And Takuro was off to scout for traps or ambushes. Hinari whistled and listened for the answers. After a moment, five calls answered. This alarmed her, why were there only five? She soon got her answer when Akagane approached.
"What happened?" She demanded.
"It's Umi, she's hurt badly. We were patrolling the border when she got caught in a poacher's trap. We got her out, but her leg," Akagane trailed off. Hinari noted the concern in his voice. Hinari bit her lip, as much as she wanted to go help the vixen, she had to stay. Hinari formed a seal and a replication popped in. Already knowing what the original Hinari wanted it waited for her to give Akagane orders.
"Take this Bunshin with you; it'll do what it can to help her." Hinari said. Akagane nodded and ran off, the Bunshin just behind him, his eight tails flowing gracefully behind him. Hinari sighed, besides Akagane; she was closest to Umi than any of the other siblings. 'Umi, if I could I'd come myself, but hang in there.' She thought nervously. The earpiece she wore crackled.
"Shishou! You're headed straight for a trap!" Yukina reported. Hinari activated her Byakugan and stretched her vision out. Sure enough, a mile away, practically right in their path was a genjutsu, ready and waiting to trap them.
"Can you disarm it?" Hinari asked her.
"I don't know, maybe." Yukina replied.
"Do it, call the others in." Hinari ordered.
"Roger that, over and out." The earpiece crackled and everything was silent.
"What's going on?" Williamson asked.
"There's a trap laid out for us, the others are taking care of it." Hinari told him. Just as she finished her sentence the radio turned back on.
"Hinari? Can you hear me?" It was Takuro.
"Loud and clear." She answered.
"The trap, I can't disarm it. It's similar in design to the one we were up against back when Satoko and Hitomi were kidnapped. But it's ten times worse." Takuro told her.
"I'm on my way." Hinari told him. She created a Bunshin and hopped off the horse. She took off at top speed, coming towards the small gathering in a few minutes. Hinari's Byakugan studied the trap carefully. "Takuro, you can use the Mangekyou-Sharingan right?"
"Yeah but, it'll only work on a person." He said. Hinari thought for a moment and stepped into the genjutsu. She was struck by a powerful sense of calm and she was washed over by the sweet scents of flowers.
'Designed to drop our guard.' She thought. 'Kai!' The genjutsu dissolved.
"What was it?"
"The genjutsu was designed for us to drop our guard, and while not paying attention, activate the explosives. Come on, let's head back." The five of them returned to the caravan. Hinari turned to the nearest guard. "Can I borrow that?" She asked pointing to his weapon. He nodded and handed it to her slowly. "What's the range?" She asked.
"A thousand feet." He replied.
"Not close enough then." She muttered. "Give me a couple extra shots." She ordered. The guard reached into a small pouch on his belt and pulled out three steel balls and a small packet. "Thanks." Hinari turned to the others. "Hyourinmaru, Yukina, get a shield going. You," Hinari pointed to the same guard she'd been talking to. "Go down the line and tell everyone to stop." He nodded and complied. Hinari kicked her horse forward, leaving the protection of the ice shield that was already a couple feet high. Hinari approached the explosive tags. She loaded one of the balls into the weapon and raised it, resting the butt of it on one shoulder. She glanced back to see that the shield of ice was already high enough to offer the protection the caravan would need.
Hinari faced the trap and aimed. One of the tags was attached to a tree, making it the easiest target to hit. Hinari grinned. She squeezed the trigger and fired. The bullet raced towards the tag and hit it dead center. The following explosion was huge. Hinari's horse bucked and nearly threw her off. Debris and shrapnel flew everywhere; some of it did actually hit the shield. Hinari covered her eyes to protect them. Once everything cleared away Hinari surveyed the damage. It wasn't too bad. If you didn't count the huge crater in the ground. Hinari grimaced. Once she was certain that her horse was calm enough, she returned to the others. The shield had already been dissolved.
"Good job you two." Hinari complemented Hyourinmaru and Yukina. Both beamed at the praise. Hinari passed the gun and the extra shots back to the guard she'd borrowed it from. "Thanks." She said. She then signaled for them to continue on.
Honestly, I don't know how long this is going to end up exactly. It probably won't be as long as Hinari since the chapters are longer, but I don't know for sure. In case you're wondering, the guards that came with Williamson are carrying guns. And obviously, Hinari knows how to use one. Yukina and Natsuhime are weird, thinking that they can get Hinari and Takuro together when it isn't necessary. Well, keep reviewing, and if my updates are slowing down now in the middle of summer break, then they will slow down further once I start school in September. So, I apologize now. On to the preview!
Williamson studied Satoko intently. Konohamaru gave them permission to remove their masks and she did. When she did so, Williamson came a little too close to her for her comfort. He reached out to take her hand, she let him, but responded by crushing it. He cried out in pain.
"Satoko!" Arashi snapped.
"Sorry taichou." She ducked her head, but glared at Williamson, telling him to back off. Konohamaru cleared his throat and he had everyone's attention.
"Welcome to Konohagakure no Sato." He said with a bow, although it wasn't very low. Hinari swiftly translated.
"Thank you; it is an honor to meet you, Lord Hokage." He replied. Hinari translated again. She had a feeling that things were going to get aggravating since she'd be stuck with Williamson until he left. After all, he was only dropping off the gunpowder; he never said anything to an extended stay, thankfully enough. Konohamaru smiled.
"Come, let's head up to my office, we can talk more there." Konohamaru indicated the way. "Put all this in short term storage." He ordered at Williamson's guards. His main bodyguard followed Williamson, and Hinari paused to translate the order. Arashi signaled the men to follow her to find the place where the gunpowder would be delivered.