Hinata arrived home without issues and got greeted by her mother and sister. "Congratulations my dear!" She accepted their hugs, the band around her neck being enough for them. "Nee-san, what do you have there?" Hanabi began tugging at the bag right after letting go of her sister, having smelled fruity sweetness from it. Hitomi also got curious, spotting the book and fruits inside. "Oh, where did you get these?" The pink hearts were unlike any produce the matriarch had seen before. Hinata picked two and gave them to her mother and sister. "I met a new seller today, he had these in stock, and this book is from his homeland."

The trio went to the garden, the girls held the mango-sized fruits and book and the woman held a plate with teacups and a kettle. "Let's dig in?" They each bit into their shūjin, feeling the skin cave and give way to soft goodness. *Blort-!* Hanabi was too greedy in eating, which led to the splurting of whitish pulp on her face and her family staring at her. "... Uu..." Hinata and Hitomi rushed to the rescue, one going to get a towel and the other went to calm down the child. If she started crying it would be hard to stop. "Calm down Hana-chan, we'll share ours with you." The mess got wiped clean and the young girl got handed a bowl and spoon with fruit.

"Mm... this really tastes nice." Hitomi thought it as a mellow sweetness that didn't let her get bored with it, it kept ranging from watermelon to peaches and other soft fruits. "Where is this vendor, Hinata? I really liked this product." The girl relayed the location of the peddler to her mother and turned to the book, receiving tugs by the jacket. "Read it for me?" Hanabi had finished her portion with gusto, almost to the point of licking the bowl clean, stopped by a stern glare from her mother. "Okay, imouto-chan." Hitomi watched her daughters interact with the book, hearing the elder one read the contents to the younger. "Hinata, Hanabi, I'll go out. Please, behave."

Hitomi departed and the sisters were reading the book intently, the vivid descriptions and gravures fueling their young minds, imagining the creatures in their natural environment. "Nee-san this one looks like yours!" Hanabi pointed at the picture of an ryū as a human, indicating the magatama outline between the collarbones. "Yeah, maybe it's our ancestor?" The younger girl got giddy at the idea, but Hinata had never seen something about this in the clan history, being related to a practically divine being would be a fact the proudest elders would parade. Why wasn't the case then? Maybe there was an incident lost in the fog of the past that made it a shameful truth to be hidden.


Warashi was about to close shop for the day when he heard steps behind him. "Excuse me, sir." A pretty female similar to the girl of earlier approached him. "Must be the mother, Hyūga have peculiar eyes." He bowed to her, the rumor mill informed him that her clan held prestige in the village. "How may I serve you?" The woman let out a giggle, making him smile in response. "My daughter told me the fruits she bought came from you. Do you perhaps have more in stock?" He swept his eyes over his wares, knowing she would get disappointed by his answer.

Warashi had a tiny drop in his good mood. "Pardon this humble seller, but the produce stock had to be sold off fast, or they would spoil." He saw the woman become a little crestfallen. "Worry not, my supplier will trace a route to bring refills, once its done supplies shall arrive regularly. Hitomi nodded in understanding and waved him goodbye. Once the Hyūga was gone and the street was desert, a large crow with a bag landed on his shoulder. {The gate is fixed, restocking shall be done on request. Will you buy news?} He put a few coins in a pouch and pulled out a newspaper, the Karasu Tengu & Ratatoskr network was already digging their claws in the Elemental Nations.

The first few news were about the monster lands, but there were large sections dedicated to the Elemental Nations for those who were on this side of the world, giving basic information about each village's internal workings, the most used jutsu type in each nation, nukenin roaming trading routes and how to avoid them, and most important, the location of the Bijū. "Hm, I wonder if the boss will reply to my letter." Before the crow flew away, he handed in his report to his merchant guild. The girl had a marking under her neck, mostly hidden by clothing and the ninja band, but he had spotted it. It was present in every ryū, taking the place of a stone magatama when they took human shape. From the news, Kurama was in this village, his wife must have chosen to reincarnate close to him.

Warashi did the accounting of today's sales and remaining stock, giving out a little puff of pride. "Humans love exotic products!" The merchant was minding his own business, having hidden his stall for the night and assuming the appearance of a mere tanuki, resting in a warm alley. He was about to sleep when a stench hit his nostrils, bolting up from his nest. "Smoke!" He saw a few houses already on fire, dashing to save his breadwinner. But the flash arson made him suspicious, there was no way that all these abandoned households could have domestic accidents at the same time. "It must be a setup, but for what purpose?"


Sarutobi Asuma was an experienced jōnin, having even taken service time for the Daimyō as a Shugonin, but now he was faced with an interesting person. Namikaze, no... Uzumaki Menma, as the boy had demanded to be put in his official ninja register, was quite talented. But it was a given, considering his progenitors, yet the boy got disregarded by his father. Speaking of Minato, there was no plausible reason for him to be so unaccepting of his first-born, yet he was. Asuma watched as the redhead returned from gathering logs, recalling his brutal ferocity against the thugs.

The boy was the reason they found their hideout so fast, despite having a small group. "His senses are at the level of an Inuzuka... is it the influence of Kyūbi?" The other chūnin that had been accompanying them, hailing from a civilian family, had been too cocky. It was a pity that he had died, going against so many thugs only with bravado to account for, and leaving them behind. But if this kind of person was on the roster and survived until now on luck, this was the only outcome. Menma had pinpointed the hideout and came to Asuma for a plan, that ended in the place going up in flames.

Asuma felt that this tyke, even without a Bijū in him, had a great potential. Naruto could be the treasured child and jinchūriki, but he was too naive. Even as a genin Menma didn't underestimate the harshness of ninja life, that coupled with a good training regimen helped him become chūnin early. In the man's eyes, the boy held a slyness, having even secretly imparted extra knowledge to the Hyūga heiress that would put her ahead of her peers. "Does he like her...? I might have a good betting suggestion..." Menma was the reason he and Asuma were so close to Konoha now, and not in the middle of the woods searching for the thieves.

Menma looked at the Sarutobi, noticing his analytical gaze. He just went back to setting up the campfire, thinking about Hinata and wondering if she had passed the test. "It was scheduled for today. Did our training pay off?" His golden eyes admired the moon, in its fullness it reminded him of the girl. "Hey boy, thinking of your girlfriend?" Menma blushed briefly, making Asuma smirk. "Yeah! This bet is already won!" The Sarutobi avoided a stone aimed at his nuts. "That's foul play!" The Uzumaki showed his tongue. "Then don't try to tease me!"

Asuma and Menma heard the sound of foliage being disturbed and got alert, abandoning the attempts to light the fire, and went into the treeline to search for the disturbance. "Stay sharp, brat." The older male got a scoff at this. "Same to you, chimney." They each made a single kage bunshin, waiting for the one making the noises to arrive. "Only one person, but the way the tree branches are creaking indicates a heavy load." Thin wire got prepped at the throat and hip level for a person tree jumping, along with seals charged with Raiton, they had covered the possible routes the incoming person would take. "Here it comes!"


The ninjas currently at Konoha were in overdrive, rushing civilians to safe locations and trying to subdue a raging inferno that was devouring the empty rows of houses left in the wake of a past incident. "We need Suiton users at block seven!" There were people taking down buildings to keep the arson contained, racking up the amount of damage. "Run faster you bastards! Do you want to die‽" To escape the fire, the less agile adults, and children got carried away by ninjas. This fact made the manpower available to be stretched thin. "It's Hokage-sama!" Minato couldn't ignore the plight of his people and went to help, using Hiraishin to accelerate the evacuation.

Mizuki shuffled through the vegetation outside the village in his escapade, praying with all his strength that his distraction would hold back the attention of the ninja corps long enough for him to get far away with the Scroll of Seals. "Orochimaru-sama will reward me greatly!" He was jumping on the tree branches, uncaring if he made noise in his haste. "But it's a pity I couldn't give the demon a good punishment." The scroll hung heavy on his back, reminding him of the promised bounty offered by the Hebi Sennin. The chūnin smirked and pushed more chakra to his muscles.

"Huh-!" Mizuki felt something touch his neck and legs, delivering a crippling discharge of electricity to his body. "Gaah- aah!" The silver-head male fell to the forest ground, still feeling the foreign energy coursing his body and suffering of violent coughs. "Chūnin Mizuki, explain yourself." The man looked up at Asuma, who had a furious expression. "That scroll... this son of a bitch!" Before the downed man could reply, he felt slashes to his Achilles' tendons, ripping screams of pain from his mouth. "Well done, Menma."

The redhead took the scroll and went to his leader's side, both glaring at the traitor. "Congrats, Menma, if it wasn't for your skills, he would have gotten away." Mizuki got knocked out and tied up, the duo decided to forgo camping in favor of getting to Konoha as soon as possible. "To think that he turned traitor..." Asuma was grinding his teeth in rage, why was the village's heirloom left for this roach to take? "There's nobody trying to track him, maybe he machinated a great ruse to divert attention." Menma pitched a theory to the Sarutobi. "To the point, even ANBU would look the other way?" The tone made Menma gulp, Konoha could be in danger.

"Let's rush brat! One traitor means that there might be more!" Asuma and Menma pushed themselves to the limit but were slightly slowed down by their loads. "Grit your teeth and endure the stress!" The older male kept hurrying his subordinate, both desired to arrive in time to help. "Yosh! I can see the road, Menma!" They moved to the easier terrain, kicking up the gravel used to pave it. "Oh, gods... is that an arson?" The red light could be seen in the distance, radiating from the proud walls of Konoha.


Maybe I went overboard with the fire... but I got a nice scene planned! Is there a character you want to see interacting with monsters? If so, tell me in a review.