I'm back! Exams are over, and I have more time, so thank you all for your patience! A bit info-heavy this chapter, and it's more of a necessary filler, but here it is.
Chapter 11
A small figure frantically sprinted down an alleyway, veering wildly to the side and grabbing a dingy pack that had been hidden behind a dumpster before running off again, all the while not pausing once. Glancing behind, the runaway compressed their chakra further even while knowing that if the hunter truly wanted to catch up, he could do so easily.
Darting through a park, the backpack was unceremoniously chucked onto the ground and it's contents dumped out. Small hands zipped up a dirty jacket and hair was roughly tied up and a black wig clipped over it. Coloured contacts were yanked out of their container and hastily - but delicately - put in, newly turned brown eyes blinking water out of them. Trousers were pulled on over a pair of shorts before the now empty backpack was shoved into a bush and the figure took off again.
Leaving the park in as much secrecy as could be mustered, the black-haired youth hurried to a busier area, and upon reaching the main street, dropped his pace to a casual walk. He drifted with the crowd, slipping in between the taller adults, making his way to the less reputable side of town. Entering a street full of casinos and brothels, the boy strolled into an establishment called The Golden Chalice, one of the more popular gambling houses in Konoha.
Blending in with the crowd as best he could, the boy found himself watching the roulette tables. Just as he was feeling more comfortable and relaxed, a hand grabbed his shoulder and he barely stopped himself from lashing out. Turning to his assailant, the street boy looked up to see a well-dressed man with abnormally shiny teeth looking down at him.
"You'll do." The man spoke dismissively with a cultured voice and the accent of a Fire country noble. "Boy, I need a servant for today. Do everything I tell you and I'll pay you handsomely."
The boy – now a servant for the day – nodded his head and gave a bow to the noble.
" O' course milord. Anythin' you need."
A few notes were put into his hands, and the nobleman nodded again. "Good. You'll get the rest afterwards. Now, go to my suite upstairs and get me my spare robe. Take anything and I'll have ninja hunt you down and make you regret it."
"Yes milord!" He took the offered key and dashed to find the snobbish man's robe.
Over the course of the next few hours working as a gopher-boy, the black-haired youth concluded that the man he was temporarily in the service of had snuck away from his regular retinue to indulge in his vice of gambling and chatting up pretty women; hence the need for a new servant. The man was terrible at cards for someone who was clearly a regular at this establishment, and the boy wondered if he would ever catch onto the sleight of hand one of his competitors was using.
Whenever he wasn't scurrying around for the demanding noble, brown eyes were taking in his surroundings with a keen gaze, observing all the happenings in the casino with curiosity. People watching was a hobby that the street boy would have happily indulged in all day, but he and the rest of the people in the casino were interrupted from their enjoyment by two police officers entering and making their way to his employer. No one else had noticed them, but the youth was rather familiar with the military police's insignia, and he stiffened slightly at the sight of them.
A few words were spoken to the nobleman, and when the man cast a disgusted and dismissive glance at him, he could feel his insides freeze. A nod was exchanged between civilian and ninja, and the two officers made their way towards the youth while the other man turned his attention back to the cards in his hands. But the boy was already gone, making his way through the crowd, desperate to throw off his tails.
He didn't get far before the two Uchiha officers appeared beside him in a swift but casual manoeuvre that had him placed directly between them. A hand came down on his shoulder as the officers firmly guided him down the street.
"What're you doin'?" The boy demanded fiercely. "I haven't done anythin' wrong!"
"Don't worry son, you aren't in trouble, someone just wants to speak to you."
"Then they can find me themselves! I'm not goin' to a station." The boy struggled futilely before giving it up as a bad job.
An elderly man with dark grey hair tied up in a high ponytail was waiting at the end of the street, standing regally and dressed in a yukata.
"Thank you Shinji-san." He spoke in a surprisingly smooth voice for a man of his age. The boy just struggled in the officer's grip even more.
"It's you again! Officers, this man's crazy; he keeps tryin' to talk to me even though I don't even know 'im!"
The elderly man wasn't perturbed by these accusations and just chuckled even as the younger policeman gave him a suspicious glance over.
"No use continuing, you've been apprehended. Additionally – " he reached forward and plucked the short black wig straight off of the head it covered, revealing blonde hair that tumbled down – "your wig is coming off."
Yamanaka Tadao turned to the senior police officer even as Ino pouted up at him and the other Uchiha started in surprise.
"How did she do?"
"A good attempt, her acting was very convincing as well as her appearance. She needs more practice at losing tails, and her accent was a little off, but overall it was well done."
"Wait, so it was just an exercise this whole time?" The young and clearly inexperienced officer interjected incredulously. His senior partner turned to him with an amused smirk, nodding.
"Yes, the Yamanaka and Uchiha have an agreement to test their children's infiltration skills as well as the newest officers' ability to spot them. While our primary goal is to keep the peace in the village, one of the Uchiha police's lesser known objectives is to flag people acting suspiciously and bring it to the attention of the counter-espionage unit, who are in charge of assessing them without arousing suspicion."
Ino took pity on the poor fellow, despite being pleased that she had fooled him. She suspected it was probably his first week on the job and he had already missed a potential infiltrator in front of his partner.
"Thank you for your assistance. The Yamanaka appreciate your cooperation." She bowed politely.
Tadao also gave a nod to the Uchiha before they left the two officers to the rest of their patrol. The walk back to the compound was in comfortable silence before he spoke:
"You're getting better, but you still need to work on keeping your chakra concealed to mimic a civilian's. If those officers had been sensors, they would have noticed your chakra fluctuations when you slipped up."
Ino pouted but nodded. "I know, I'll work on it. But did you have to tear my wig off?"
"You should have secured it better." Tadao said uncompromisingly.
Ino grumbled rudely under her breath about stuck-up old geezers, only stopping when she felt ominous chills start to run up her spine.
~~~~~~~~~~N~~~~~~~~~~
In the wake of Danzo's death, there were numerous meetings held, not only between the higher-ups and Clan Heads, but also within the Yamanaka compound between members. Ino spent her days trying – and failing – to spy on these meetings, attempting to glean some insight into what had the whole of Konoha's ninja population so shaken up.
She was extremely unsuccessful in this endeavour and had been told to leave the matter be, so she had reluctantly acquiesced. But while Ino wasn't privy to the meetings, she had noticed numerous changes occur; the start of the infiltration exercises between the Yamanaka and Uchiha, as well as the occasional involvement of the Nara clan in solving cases that had the police stumped.
Many of the Uchiha hadn't been happy with what was seen as a slight to their skills, but the Nara were generally laidback people and they found it much easier to avoid getting into fights. With the Nara's systematical way of thinking, the police were closing cases at a higher percentage than before, and now it wasn't uncommon to see an Uchiha member in the other clan compounds.
However the biggest change to Ino's life was one of her clansmen coming back to live with them. Ino had been introduced to Yamanaka Fuu almost a week after Shimura's death with only the brief and lacking explanation that he had been in specialised training for some time and was now back.
They had been introduced by Inoichi, who wanted Fuu to get to know his family better and had asked him to train with Ino from time to time. Ino had been keen to have a new training partner, but her excitement lasted only up until she met him in person. Fuu was very skilled with taijutsu as well as in the use of the tanto, and his trap making skills were second to none in his age group. He also didn't have any problems in making sure Ino knew that he was better than her.
Not only was he older, but he also had experience that Ino didn't have. She could see it in the way he moved and the way he fought that he had been out in the field. Every spar they had ended in victory for Fuu, which made Ino seethe with frustration; not because he won - that was only to be expected when taking into account the gap between their skills and experience - but because he never failed to smirk superiorly afterwards.
But while Fuu dominated the sparring ring, Ino was the one ahead in the clan arts.
Not only did she work hard at it, but Ino had also been born with incredible talent in the mind arts – so much so, that even at the age of eight she was considered to be a prodigy by her clan, someone born with the strongest Yamanaka abilities in centuries. It was simultaneously an honour and a burden.
So Fuu – who hadn't done clan training since leaving for his 'specialised training' – found himself finishing the exercises slower than a girl four years his junior. For someone who was used to being one of the most skilled amongst his peers, it was jarring to suddenly not be the best at everything. It didn't help that Ino, in retaliation for Fuu's arrogance, subtly rubbed it in.
Essentially, they got along as well as fire and dry wood - that is to say, destructively.
But explosive arguments with her cousin aside, life settled for Ino and the Village Hidden in the Leaves, with only the occasional training accident to disturb the peace.
That is, until Ino's best friend graduated from the academy. After that, well, life got a bit strange…
~~~~~~~~~~N~~~~~~~~~
"Congratulations Tenten! You made top kunoichi, that's fantastic!"
The blonde-haired girl smiled at her best friend as they sat in their usual meeting place not far from the academy.
"Thanks Ino! I would be ashamed if I hadn't, we both know that none of the other girls work as hard as we do."
"That's true, but still, you beat out all of the clan kids and you came second only to the Hyuuga."
Tenten grimaced at the mention, her nose scrunching up. "Urgh, that guy. He's always so condescending. I mean, he's fine to me, apparently I was 'fated to be a competent kunoichi' or some rubbish, but he's just an absolute prick."
Ino snorted. "Yeah, but you know, you'll probably be teamed up with him. They like to have balanced and effective teams, and since he's a short-range fighter and you're mid to long-range, your skills will mesh well."
"That's true." Tenten didn't seem happy, but she was somewhat resigned to it. "I'm so excited to meet my sensei, I really hope they'll be good."
Ino nodded in agreement. A person's sensei was arguably the biggest influence in shaping a ninja, and it wasn't wrong to say people's careers were decided by whom their sensei was.
"I'm sure they will be, you're one of the few in your year who will receive a jounin sensei, and all jounin are very competent. You'll have until you make chuunin to decide what division you want to join; it's so much better than being assigned to one right out of the academy. Plus, you know how hard it is to change divisions if you aren't from the top class."
"I know!" Tenten's head bobbed enthusiastically. "I'm so glad I worked for it, it would be horrible to be assigned to an administrative position for my whole life. Can you imagine?"
Both girls made grimaces of distaste before grinning at each other. Ino stood up and brushed off her skirt.
"Well, I have to go, leave a message with the guards for when you can meet up next, I want all the details!"
Ino rather regretted asking for all the details later when an exasperated newly minted gennin ranted at her.
"My teammates are all crazy!" Was the first thing out of Tenten's mouth when Ino approached the training grounds. What followed was a long outburst involving youth, hard work, determination, taijutsu and fate. Ino was also pretty sure there was a mention of 'manly tears of joy', but she must have misheard.
"What am I going to do, this is not what I imagined my team would be like."
"Calm down." Ino said rolling her eyes. "And explain properly, I didn't get any of that. How about you start with their names?"
Tenten smiled sheepishly, but just as she opened her mouth they were interrupted by a loud shout.
"Yosh! Neji, Lee! We have found our fellow teammate. Greetings Tenten! You never showed up today for early morning laps and we were worried something had happened to our female member!"
Tenten buried her head in her hands.
"They're here." She wheezed out, before turning to face them. "Gai-sensei, I asked permission yesterday to be excused for the day to train with a friend."
"Ah!" The man – and wow look at that hair – hit his palm with his fist in an exaggerated gesture of remembrance. "That's right, your youth is in full bloom my student! Well, now that we're here, would you introduce us to your friend?" A beaming smile was sent Ino's way.
Ino took in the posture, the facial expressions, the sincere smile and joyous voice and was impressed. Horrified – but impressed. Everything about Tenten's sensei screamed honesty, and completely contradicted all the information she knew about Maito Gai. Dipping into a graceful bow, Ino straightened up and smiled, allowing her eyes to crinkle and adjusting her body language to something inviting and open.
"My name is Yamanaka Ino, it's an honour to meet you Gai-sensei." Her voice respectful the same way it was when dealing with her elders and superiors.
The Hyuuga tilted his head. "You are the Yamanaka heiress?"
Ino was somewhat taken aback but nodded. "That's right."
"I see. It is not surprising that you two are friends then."
"Oh?" Tenten interjected. "Why's that?"
"Ino-san is a prodigy, as is to be expected of the Yamanaka heiress. As fellow competent kunoichi, it was fate that you two became friends."
Ino and Tenten shot a glance at each other.
"Right." Tenten said shortly.
Ino didn't bother to argue. She had listened to Tenten complain about Hyuuga Neji's fate obsession for years, and knew it would take more than an argument to sway him.
"You are a prodigy too, Ino-san?" Tenten's other teammate spoke up then. "Yosh, I am Rock Lee, and I challenge you a fight!"
Ino blinked blankly. "Eh? Um, alright." She agreed, hoping that the crazy that Tenten claimed infected all her teammates wasn't contagious.
"HOW YOUTHFUL!"
She couldn't stop the jump she made when Gai's loud outburst interrupted them.
"Ino-san, your spirit is wonderful, as befitting of a flower in the springtime of youth."
"Thank you?" It came out more as a question, to her chagrin.
Gai shot her a thumbs-up. "You're welcome!"
Ino shook her head clear, before examining Lee up and down. Her fingers twitched in eagerness and she couldn't help the excitement. The opportunity to spar someone completely new who had no idea of her style was making her blood rush faster and she grinned.
"Rules?"
Rock Lee took up a stance across from her as the rest of his team backed off.
"Please hold nothing back Ino-san! I will defeat you when at full strength."
Ino's grin widened. "You're on!"
A green blur and suddenly Gai was next to the both of them.
"How wonderful!" And oh, there were the manly tears. "Yosh! When I say."
Ino took a stance herself and flipped her ponytail over her shoulder in a flash of gold.
"Begin!"
~~~~~~~~~N~~~~~~~~~
Just easing back into writing, and a short time-skip here. We're getting closer to graduation where the real drama will start, so if you're looking for action, there's only a couple more chapters to go.
Thanks for reading and please review~
Blackbird0