Chapter 11:

Slide


Do you slide on all your nights like this? Do you try on all your nights like this? Put some spotlight on the slide, whatever comes, comes through clear


The day was bright, wind blowing gently, and birds chirping. Chatter hummed through the marketplace. Housewives shopped, children ran, and vendors hawked their wares. Not bad for a weekend. A few errant clouds rolled through the sky but the deep blue above them kept its color. The smell of a citrus stand brought Hanako closer to it as she marveled at the limes, navel oranges, mandarin oranges, and grapefruit it contained. She shifted a few aside as she searched for the best and made idle chat with the vendor.

Hanako was still an outsider with the rest of the civilians in Hidden Leaves. Not that she blamed them, of course. They were highly conservative compared to where she was from, and she was a foreigner on top of that. Remembering the small town in which she had grown up, she knew it could be a lot worse. From her own memories as a child, she remembered how many families had moved to their town assuming that they could quickly integrate into the local culture, and almost all – with the exception of those who were sports coaches or had children who were prominent athletes – they all moved on within a year or two. Hanako suspected that she got a pass for her more progressive views because she was a foreigner and 'just didn't understand how things worked' here. Which was true to an extent. Hanako was unfamiliar with a collectivist culture, and some things that she would have thought were common sense just – weren't. Many civilians bought into Hanako's cover story and assumed that the reason she hadn't tried to find a good husband and settle down was that she was a good and proper girl who wouldn't dream of doing that without her father or another family head to arrange a match. They didn't even consider that Hanako herself might have absolutely no desire to find a husband and settle down, much less enter a relationship at all.

The shinobi were much more accepting, Hanako had to admit to herself. Mostly because they were a culture apart from the civilians. The tendency to live short lives had changed something fundamental within them. With the exception of clan heirs and a few more traditional clans, shinobi settled with who they wished, and ran it fast and loose. If anyone asked Hanako, which they didn't, she would describe them as 'equal opportunists.' Apparently, many shinobi didn't discriminate between men and women when it came to their sexual partners. Sure, there were those who preferred partners to be of a specific gender, but there wasn't really a pressure to stick with opposite genders only. It seemed that the threat of death looming over the head of each mission undertaken had an impact on the outlook of people. Although there were still things the shinobi did that were totally alien to her, Hanako often found that she fit in with shinobi better with her social views. Property wasn't viewed the same; the concept of owning something wasn't quite as concrete. Hanako had much more of an emotional reaction to the half-demolition of her house than many of the shinobi expected, given her conformance with many of their other views. To them, the destruction of possessions was simply something they came to terms with as a side-effect of the job and didn't view too seriously. Things could always be replaced; some people too. Hanako found that she couldn't fault them for the mindset once she thought about it. When life was so fleeting, what were some walls and a roof? What were personal possessions compared to one's life?

She still had company almost every evening of the week. More and more often, there would already be shinobi at her home before she came home from work in the evenings, and more and more often shinobi would turn up for breakfast, or spend the night on her couch. Food was constantly a commodity in short supply because of that, and she felt like she was constantly shopping for it now.

Hanako displaced a few oranges during her inspection and one tumbled down off the pile. It was about to hit the ground when it was caught by a black-gloved hand. Hanako jerked back in surprise. A surprisingly kindly face greeted her.

Dark charcoal eyes framed by pale lashes looked back at her as the person smiled back at her. Some people only smile with their mouth, never letting it reach their eyes. This person smiled with their eyes as well, their entire face drawn into the gesture, creating a sincere smile. A forehead guard framed his face, his thin lips upturned in a half-smile. Silver hair was drawn back into a ponytail which swayed as he straightened and offered the citrus back to Hanako.

She took it with some trepidation and placed it back onto the stack. "Thanks," she said before turning to continue selecting fruit. A few more and she was ready, handing it all to the vendor to weigh and pay for. To her surprise, the shinobi didn't move on, instead staying where he was as if waiting on her to finish.

Once she paid, he fell in step with her. The sound of paws and a panting breath alerted Hanako to the presence of a very large Doberman keeping pace with them on the shinobi's other side. He was a beautiful mottled brown and black, with tall sharp ears and a navy Kevlar vest which bore a village emblem. Hanako stopped again to purchase celery, onions, and some radishes, which increased the number of bags in her arms. She fumbled a bit with her bags but managed to count out the money without having to put any of them down, and then continued down, shinobi by her side the entire time. A few people pointed or gestured to him unsubtly. He was rather popular with the civilian populace and they didn't exactly hide that. The blonde was relieved that the attention was on him and not her.

A sense of ingrained manners must have finally gotten to him when she purchased potatoes and the burden became rather large. "Can I get some of those for you?" It technically was a question, but he didn't wait for an answer as he took the bags from the blonde. Thankfully, he didn't take them all, but inexplicably managed to grab only the heaviest bags. Hanako was surprised such a decorated war hero was doing something as mundane as carrying her groceries for her.

Hanako hated it when men tried to 'help' and do everything for her; it made her feel like they thought her helpless and delicate instead of a capable human being. She had broken up with past boyfriends before because they had done it too often and she thought they were putting her on a pedestal instead of truly trying to be helpful.

Her load lightened considerably, Hanako stopped drooping as much. The only things left were some pastas which, were a quick grab, and chicken. While the butcher bagged her order, she also threw in some livers and kidneys as well.

Once the pair was on the way back to Hanako's home, she was reminded of an old phrase about negotiations; the first person to talk is the one to lose. That in mind, she kept silent as the two of them walked. Evidently, he had read the same thing because not a word was uttered on his part either as they walked. The only sound between them was the Doberman's light panting. What was a comfortable temperature for the humans must have been more than hot for someone with a fur coat.

Once Hanako unlocked her front door, she turned to take her bags from the shinobi only for him to push his way past into the now-open house. At least he removed his shoes first, she noted bitterly. The Doberman was also well-mannered, wiping off its paws on the rug before entering and finding an out of the way spot to lay down. The shinobi knew which cabinets to put things in, so putting things away took much less time than expected. Hanako put the produce into the fridge. When she shut the door and turned around, he was a lot closer than she had expected. Too close. The kindly expression, so obviously fake now, was gone from his face, replaced by a serious expression which looked as if it was carved from stone.

The blonde put up a hand in between them as a shield. It was ignored as the shinobi took a step forward further into her personal space. Hanako's hand on his chest didn't do much good as it pressed against his navy shirt. Either he was wearing armor under his clothes, or he had one firm chest.

He was the one to speak first. "I have a question for you about my wife."

Hanako blinked. She hadn't expected that. A threat, a salacious invitation maybe, but not that. "Alright," she said slowly. "Let me make some tea."

The shinobi didn't move so Hanako had to skirt around him. Hanako found herself happy that she'd had the foresight to pick up the extra chicken livers and kidneys because when she took them out and put a few on a plate for the Doberman it perked right up and after a few suspicious sniffs started eating.

While the water boiled, Hanako crossed her arms and leaned back against the countertop. "What is your question?" She queried.

"My wife died shortly after our son's birth," the man started. "An assassin in the night. She protected him with her life." The White Fang looked pained at the words. "Does your world – your home – believe in reincarnation?"

"Oh," Hanako returned. She busied herself with pulling out some snacks from the cabinets and refrigerators and arranging them on a plate before taking them along with a few saucers to the dining table. She took the time to think, speaking idly as she did.

"My world didn't have single religion. There were many. Most believed in heaven and in hell. Some thought of reincarnation. Others believed that dead ones would be becoming unified with stars once dead to watch over living." She moved to pour the tea for the two of them once it was appropriately hot. "Are you wanting to know of reincarnation only?"

The White Fang waited for Hanako to take the first sip, as she had expected he would. He followed with his own only half a heartbeat later. Force of habit, she supposed. He was a living legend, according to the other civilians, even more formidable and ferocious than the Legendary Three. And here he was, asking her about the afterlife.

She decided to pretend as if he had given an affirmative response. "I grew in house with religion," Hanako began. "In my family's religion, all dead – good dead – are united in afterlife. Bad dead are tortured for always, in firepits and lava. But the good dead would live in perfect paradise with one another and their god." She took a sip. "That religion, and others, had one god only. Had demon too, Deviru', but only one. Good and bad. Other religions are like yours; have reincarnation and many spirit. I don't know much of those."

The white-haired man across from her lowered his head. "What does it mean to be a 'good dead'?"

"To be good person in life. Love others, don't do bad thing, do not lie, cheat, steal, murder, gossip, and most importantly, must have relationship with god." Hanako replied.

The White Fang smiled ruefully, showing teeth. Hanako knew why. To shinobi, lying, cheating, stealing, and murder, were all part of their lifestyle. There were qualifications on those things of course – your allies. How could they justify themselves as good people, or the good guys, if they were fundamentally wrong themselves? Gossip? Information gathering. Cheating? You were just being smarter than the other guy. Stealing? The other person obviously didn't care that much about their things if they'd just leave them lying about. Killing? Well, they were going to kill you first.

"I never agreed with that," Hanako said conversationally as if the man before her had responded. "That religion was not good for me. Acted like hipocreate."

"Hypocrite," he corrected.

"Same thing," Hanako brushed it off. "I think death brings peace. Whatever religion. If you pass on or stay, wait and stay with family or move on to next life. Cycle is complete, begins anew. Birth and death, light and dark. I don't know anyone who come back. But have to believe there is peace.

"Was one religion, ancient in my world, but was religion that thought was two worlds: World of living, and world of dead. When die in living world, pass into world of dead, into Hei'diis, where would live. Then, after time, when person forgot old life, pass back into world of living. Like circle, always being born, always dying."

The White Fang asked a few more questions about spirituality – and Hanako's views on it – before he departed abruptly and without explanation. His companion remained for a few moments to lick Hanako's hand before following him in a puff of smoke. She realized belatedly that his companion must have been one of the intelligent ninja animals she had heard about; a summon. She decided it was a good thing that she offered some food for it as well.


After that meeting, Hanako began to notice the Doberman around the city regularly. When she was on her way to the office, at home, on her walks, and often from a distance. Whether the nin-dog had been around before or not and she hadn't noticed, Hanako wasn't sure. But she did now. The Doberman wasn't the only nin-dog she noticed but was the only one she could pair a partner with. A few Inuzuka clansmen came by her home periodically and they brought their nin-dog partners with them when they did.

Surprisingly, the Inuzuka didn't trend toward any specific dog breeds. There were several different breeds that she recognized as Pyrenees mixes, Huskies, Mastiff breeds, and others. What she did recognize as a trend with the Inuzuka nin-dogs though, was that they were almost all very large breeds. Also, they didn't seem to wear the same Kevlar vests as Hatake nin-dogs did. Hanako wondered why; maybe it was a mobility thing. She wasn't sure.

Idly, the civilian leafed through a few receipts and combed through records for Mr. Eiji, her original client. She always made sure to take extra time on his documents as he was her first and original customer, and she knew that his good word had made her success possible. If it hadn't been for his recommendations, she wouldn't have her small business.

A few weeks before he had approached her with his suspicions that someone was taking money from his shops as his accounts didn't have as much as they should have. The numbers worked out, but he had a feeling that there was something wrong somewhere. Hanako had agreed to take a deep-dive into his accounts and see what she could find. So far – he was right. The inventory counts paired with the sales meant that he should have a substantially larger amount of money in profits. So that meant one of two things: either someone was falsifying sales and stealing the inventory, or they were pocketing sales money and not recording the sales. Either way, the final inventory counts weren't matching up with what should be there.

Hanako finished adding up a week's counts and numbers and flipped another page before adding that too the ledger she had going. Working with things like this made Hanako glad that she had set up extra rules for herself. For instance, she had made it a rule that, no matter the customer, all bank accounts she had access to require her client's signature before they would allow any changes. When she went through and cut checks for all of Mr. Eiji's vendors and employees, she submitted a report to him with all of the numbers and receipts before he sent back an authorization slip, which she then took to the bank to order the payments. It was extra hassle, but it helped to remove her from any lists of suspicious persons when cases like what she was looking at came up.

Making notes, she tallied up what she thought were suspicious points. Really though, what Mr. Eiji would have to do is take more regular inventory counts or investigate to find out who was stealing, but she now had definite evidence to give him that someone was stealing, and it was likely one of his cashiers. Hanako figured that there was probably some moral lesson to be found there, that no matter what country, culture, or world, there would always be those willing to steal from those who employed them, and they would have excuses and reasons ready and available.

She straightened the papers; tapping them here and there so that they would form a neat and orderly stack, and slipped them into a manila envelope, which she sealed. She would make the trip across the village to give it to Mr. Eiji herself once she finished her day's work.

Stretching arms wide and high above her head, the civilian arched her back and yawned as large as she could, taking the opportunity to flex as many of her tired muscles as she could all at once. Popping her fingers and wrists systematically as she went, Hanako got up and walked to the little kitchen to make more tea and snacks. She'd recently gained a proclivity for cured meats and cheeses, of which she had a small assortment of in the old work refrigerator. The thing looked to be about the same age as the building, and somehow it kept chugging along. It was the kind of refrigerator that could probably shield someone from a nuclear explosion. The little refrigerator that could. As she leaned against the countertop gnawing on a piece of cheese and bread, she heard a light scratching noise.

Hanako looked around, wondering if she had just heard what she thought she did. Then it came again. Deciding that it wasn't a trick of her mind, she put down her impromptu sandwich to investigate.

The scratching noise came again from the entrance to the office. More insistent this time. Hanako opened the door, not knowing what she would find. There was no one.

A throat cleared, and Hanako's attention was directed downward. A nin-dog. Specifically, a blue heeler nin-dog, with a vest on and scrolls tucked into pockets on the sides.

The blonde tried to control her surprise when the dog spoke. "You Yamada-san?" It said in a bored tone.

She nodded.

The dog reached back and pulled one of the scrolls out with its mouth and presented it to her. "Here 'ya go. Message from the Boss."

"Do I need to sign anything?"

The dog shook its head in a negative before trotting off down the hallway toward the stairs.

She shrugged and started to open the scroll. As she was about to pop the seal off, a hand touching her shoulder made her jump out of her skin.

"Jizus muther'fuhkin kraihst gahd'ammit fuk," she squealed and about fell over. She dropped the scroll on the ground and doubled over trying to catch her breath. The ANBU who scared her looked on apathetically.

"You shouldn't be opening strange scrolls from unknown senders, Yamada-san," they said.

"Make noise before you do something like that," Hanako breathed out. "Don't do that!"

She looked at the ceiling for a moment, still trying to control her breath. Spying the scroll which was still on the ground, she snatched it up and shoved it at the ANBU. "You open it."

The agent must have been rolling his eyes behind the mask, because he grabbed the scroll rather sassily and snapped it open with a rather dramatic flourish. A small piece of paper fluttered out which the agent grabbed easily and read, before he handed the scroll to Hanako.

Yamada-san,

If you will forgive me for taking up your time, would you join me for dinner tonight at 7 o'clock? If no, please send your answer with Matsu. If yes, I will collect you from your home at 7.

Hatake Sakumo

Hanako glanced down the hallway where the dog, Matsu, had left, narrowing her eyes at the direction the dog had taken. Either Hatake didn't want her to say no, or the dog didn't. Hanako wasn't sure which.

She sighed lightly before realizing she still had an audience.

"So, what's your reply?" He said lightly.

"Gossip," Hanako accused. She turned and crossed her arm with a triumphant smile. "You want to know to have juicy gossip for your friends. And since there is no way to send reply, is yes." She closed the door to the outside, taking a moment to make sure that it clicked shut.

The agent said nothing, confirming her suspicions. For people who worked in espionage, they really had big mouths when it came to their colleagues. Although, Hanako was fairly certain that they did it on purpose, and most of the rumors were false, as a countermeasure against hostile information gatherers. If the truth would get out eventually, it was easier to muddy the waters so that it couldn't be found. Either way, shinobi gossiped like no other, even about what she would have considered non-gossip-worthy things.

She had a feeling that this one was going to be talked about though. From what she knew, the White Fang kept to a small group of people and wasn't a social butterfly. She was curious what he wanted from the dinner; possibly more discussion? She had noticed that there were more dogs around her neighborhood that were obvious nin-dogs without any recognizable Inuzuka in sight. Although that didn't stop their partners from doing things by themselves.

The blonde sat down at her desk as the ANBU agent strolled casually into the kitchenette and started helping himself to her food. She was too distracted thinking about what she would wear to protest the fact that he was going through her salami supply at an alarming rate. She pressed a pencil to the corner of her mouth as she thought through what needed to be done for the rest of the day. She might even take off work early today; but first she'd need to drop off papers, maybe see what clothes she had in her closet that would be nice enough to go out to eat in…


A/N: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!