Chapter 10: Blood-nin's Scheme
Hayate was woken up by the smell of something warm and fragrant entering his nostrils, and the pungent smell of smoke disrupted his dreams. He slowly got up, careful to not open his wounds again like yesterday, before taking a good look at his surroundings. He had been moved to what looked like a small cave, and beside him lay two of his comrades. He was suddenly reminded that his sister was not with her, and it made his heart ache.
He tried to follow the source of the smell of smoke and it came from the entrance, where one of the Leaf-nins could be seen starting a fire and heating up something in an iron box. It smelt fragrant, and nice, although Hayate could not imagine what in the world was he cooking.
His attention turned towards his left when he heard someone stir. The female Blood-nin was now awake, looking sleepy and tired, but her eyes suddenly widened in shock when she took in her unfamiliar surroundings, only to calm down when she spotted Hayate.
" …Hayate, where are we?" she asked, sounding scared, before noticing the other Blood-nin next to her and tried to wake him up by shaking him roughly. " Masaki, this is no time to be sleeping…wake up!"
" Ow ow ow ow! Stop, I'm hurt. Don't shake me up too much," Masaki replied. " You are rough as always, Mai. The only feminine thing about you is your big bum and your large breasts…Ow ow ow ow! Hey, I said, I was hurt!"
" Well, well…looks who is up? You three look like a lively bunch," Sora replied, walking up to them. Masaki and Mai seem to slink backwards at the sight of her, although Hayate merely stared at her with a bored expression. " Hey, you all are hungry? Hiroshi has cooked some bread for us. We can have breakfast now since all of you are apparently up."
" …Hayate, who is she? No wait, who are they?" Mai asked.
" …I don't know, but I do know they are not hostile," Hayate answered, before his stomach rumbled hungrily. " What we need now is sustenance, and I suggest we will decide what to do after eating some breakfast."
-
" What voracious appetite," Sora commented.
" Like you are one to talk. You eat like a pig," Hibiki replied. " Well, they are growing kids, so they must need more food, like we did before."
Hiroshi merely chuckled as he continued to look at the three Blood-nins feasting on the bread he had just baked. He made it just using basic ingredients, and he didn't have any yeast with him so it was really tough, but all three Blood-nins were eating it with such passion as if their lives depended on it. All of them took large chunks of bites off the bread they were given while chugging it down with large gulps of water they had been supplied with in canteens. It didn't take too long for them to finish their breakfast.
" Thank you for the meal. We are grateful to you all for feeding us. On behalf of my team, I thank you," Hayate replied, before bowing down in front of them, with Masaki and Mai quickly following suit.
" Wait…please…no…I just baked some bread…don't do this…" Hiroshi replied.
" Perhaps we can start with introductions. It will be hard to discuss things if we do not know each other," Mayuri suggested.
" Don't worry, I know who you all are," Hayate answered calmly. " On the Leaf team, you must be the legendary Phoenix of Konoha, Sato Ryouta, and the infamous Sonic Fang, Tanaka Sora, plus, the well known weapons technician of the Leafs, Suzuki Hiroshi. I feel honoured to be in your presence."
Hiroshi and Sora were not sure what to say, but Ryouta looked at Hayate suspiciously, wondering what was this kid trying to imply.
" Damn, 'Sonic Fang'? I can understand why you would call Ryouta the Phoenix of Konoha, but why call Sora the Sonic Fang?" Hibiki asked.
" Oh, Sora is very well-known in our village. After all, not even the combined kill count of all the countries can compare to the number of shinobis from my village that had been killed by you, after all," Hayate answered, looking at Sora who was merely grinning madly at him. " Oh, don't worry, I do not hold you in contempt or anything."
" …Do we all go by nicknames in your village?" Makoto asked.
" Why, since you ask, of course you all do," Hayate replied, smiling widely now. " Since our village is a small, minor one, we gain power and status by using information, as for us, information is gold. And all of you are famous in your own, right, are you not?"
" I don't see why you would hold us in such high regard," Hiroshi replied. " I mean, we are pretty much rookie jounins anyway."
" But, you managed to attain such a rank when the average jounin age is much higher, closer to 28, depending on where you are from. That, is quite an amazing achievement for someone so young, and not to mention there are a bunch of you here," Hayate replied. " My village keeps a close eye on you all, so I have read from the stuff I have back home. You are also well-known in some circles as well."
Suzumi looked worriedly at the rest of her teammates, who were looking at Hayate with mixed expressions. Mai and Masaki looked worriedly at Hayate, wondering what did he plan on doing by taking the conversation this way.
" But, we are going off topic now. The Sand team consists of Nagato Suzumi, Kisurugi Makoto, Gendou Hibiki and Mizuno Mayuri," Hayate replied. " Allow me to introduce ourselves. My name is Hagane Hayate, and since we are in such a predicament, I assume I am the leader of my team, which consists of Sasaki Masaki and Higa Mai. The unfortunate girl you fail to save yesterday was none other than my sister, Hagane Misa, but I would like to thank you nevertheless for trying."
Mai suddenly gasped all of a sudden upon hearing the news, while Masaki continued to try and look stoic. Hayate gave them a glance, before turning back to the shinobis who they were speaking with. " I assume you have a lot of questions for us. I shall, and am willing, to answer any queries to the best of my ability, unless it poses a problem to the security of my nation. What would you like to ask of me?" Hayate replied after a while.
" Right, we can start of first by asking how did you end up here?" Ryouta asked.
" …We were kidnapped," Hayate answered.
" Kidnapped?" Hiroshi asked.
" Yes. I remember being abducted from my own home by a bunch of people, and the next thing I knew it, I was being transported in a caravan, before being knocked out once more. After I woke up again, I saw Suzumi…I must apologise for yesterdays behavior, totally rude of me…and the rest is as you know it," Hayate answered.
" Something similar happened to me," Mai answered. " I was on a simple delivery mission when I was ambushed before I knew it…not that I could have put up much of a fight. And…ended up here…"
" I…don't remember much. I was sleeping in my uncle's house, then I ended up here the next day," Masaki replied, scratching his head.
" …You don't even remember being kidnapped?!" Mai exclaimed loudly.
" No, obviously not. I am a very sound sleeper," Masaki answered.
" Geez, I can see why you ended up here," Mai scolded him.
" But you said yesterday that you thought us Leafs attacked you. Were your kidnappers Leaf-nins?" Ryouta asked.
" …They were wearing Leaf-headbands, but now, after thinking a little bit, they are not likely Leaf-nins," Hayate replied.
" Huh?" Suzumi mused.
" You see, it was a late rainy night, and I had just returned from my mission. When I entered my room, a group of people ambushed me from inside. Now, the first noticeable thing I noticed about them was their headbands, all of them the same like yours from the Leafs," Hayate answered. " My first thought was I was being attacked by Leaf spies or assassins. Two things bothered me though."
" One, these people were not under your ANBU supervision. Their kidnapping method was to crude, and ANBU personal from the Leaf do not do stupid things like breaking window panels to enter people's houses. Second, all of them were dress entirely in black, from head to toe, so the only visible thing I could see on them was the headband itself, and their eyes. If they wanted to conceal so much of themselves, why bother showing me their headbands? Moreover, they allowed me to live," Hayate replied. " And I somehow suppose this is done on purpose."
" To frame us?" Sora asked, sounding angry.
" No, not really…" Hayate replied, not before jumping to his feet and shouting loudly, looking very excited. " I see, I get it now! I all makes sense!" Hayate replied.
" Kid, you have been very vague during the course of your explanation up to now, and I have the odd feeling you seem to be making fun of us," Ryouta replied. " Please stop with the theatrics, and explain yourself."
" Oh, I hate it when he does this," Masaki replied.
" Does what?" Hiroshi asked.
" Hayate is considered a genius in our village, because he seems to know every damned thing. His favourite pastime is to piece together puzzles and solve them," Masaki answered. " I think he's got a very good idea at the moment."
" Ah, Masaki, you give me too much credit," Hayate replied. " To our saviors, I am afraid you have made a very grave error on your part. You should not have rescued us."
" WHAT?!" Sora screamed.
" …You should have realized that rescuing us was a trap, right? I mean, come on, one of you must have picked it up," Hayate answered jovially.
" Alright, we saved this punk-ass kid and this is how he shows his appreciation?! Come on, let me beat him up! I promise I'll make it painful!" Sora snarled at him, before moving quickly towards him, only to be quickly restrained by Hiroshi and Hibiki. " Stop, let go of me you idiots! I need to kill him."
" Hayate, what are you doing?! Why are you trying to irritate them?!" Mai exclaimed.
" What's you point?" Ryouta asked calmly.
" Allow me to confirm some things: You were passing along a certain route, when you somehow managed to stumble upon us, possibly following a blood trail that led you to us. What you found was us, my sister long dead, while the three of us still strangely alive. You then proceeded to help us, not before getting ambushed by a bunch of shinobi you presumably don't know. Deciding to escape, you picked the three of us while leaving my sister behind, and somehow managed to escape," Hayate replied. " Am I correct?"
" Yes, perfectly correct," Hiroshi replied, while still holding Sora back.
" Also, can I safely assume that all of you are on some sort of mission that requires some form of discretion?" Hayate replied.
" What are you suggesting?" Makoto asked.
" Alright, allow me to be blunt," Hayate replied. " You are transporting Suzumi to the Leaf village, and you are trying to do it in secret."
" You…" Ryouta mused. " You know a lot."
" What I am doing is merely using common sense along with what I know," Hayate answered. " Platoons are usually made up of 3 to 4 people a squad, so nothing strange, but I know for a fact that only Makoto, Hibiki and Suzumi are always in a team, and so are Hiroshi, Ryouta and Sora. The fact Mayuri is here means you are escorting either one of you six, and Suzumi looks like she is not armed, not even minimally. It's obvious you are escorting her. Not to mention this area is not the normal way to head to Konoha."
Hiroshi was quite amazed at Hayate's intellect, but Ryouta kept looking at him as if he was about to spring out and attack them. Hayate's analytical ability was at the level of Shikamaru, and it was Shikamaru's brains that made him dangerous. Ryouta had every right to be cautious about a foreign shinobi who seemed to know too much about them.
" Guess I am right," Hayate answered with a sigh. " You cannot go back to your Leaf village now. It's suicide."
" Huh? I don't know what you are talking about," Sora exclaimed.
" Do you know what day it is today?" Hayate asked, directing his question towards Ryouta.
" Yes. A Blood-nin official was supposed to meet with our Hokage today to discuss something important," Ryouta replied. " …I fully understand what you are implying now, Hayate."
" Glad at least someone catches on quickly," Hayate replied.
" What do you mean?" Hiroshi asked.
" Hayate is telling us that there has been an information leak, and this is why we were ambushed," Ryouta answered.
" Leak? What does a Blood-nin official visiting our village have to do with an information leak on our village? And how did it leak anyway? Did the Kazekage got himself captured or something?" Sora demanded.
" No, that isn't possible, which leaves us with one more possibility," Ryouta answered seriously. " …The leak came from our village."
" What? How is that even possible?!" Hiroshi exclaimed.
" Think about it, the only people who knew about this mission from the Sand are the Kazekage, Makoto, Hibiki, Mayuri and Suzumi. The ones from our side who know about this are only us, and whoever intercepted the letter Kazekage sent earlier. Considering that the Kazekage got the confirmation that our Hokage said yes, and for the fact that we assumed that whoever was after Suzumi was an insider in the Sand village, it is then highly possible that we have an informant in our own village," Ryouta replied. " No, it's not highly possible. It's the only option we have left."
" This means that we can't return to our own village," Sora exclaimed.
" We will still need to return regardless of whether the insider is there or not," Hiroshi replied. " We will just need to increase security, that's all."
" I am afraid that would be impossible," Hayate replied.
" And why is that, kid?" Sora replied in an irritated voice.
" …Must I spell it out?" Hayate asked cheekily.
" Enough sarcasm. If you want to tell us, tell us what we need to know," Ryouta snapped back, slightly irritated at the way Hayate carried himself.
" Have you ever considered why was a Blood-nin official sent to your village? Considering that both our villages are hostile against one another, and a false move between our countries could easily result in war, whatever he needs to discuss with your higher-ups has to be very important," Hayate replied. " Also, 4 young Blood-nins disappeared from their village, kidnapped by a bunch who were presenting themselves as Leaf-nins. Very suggestive, isn't it?"
Hiroshi finally understood what Hayate was trying to talk about. Someone was trying to frame them for abducting these Blood-nins from their village. Even worse, now that they had left Misa's body behind, and with those shinobis that had ambushed them, they could be easily set up for her murder.
" Okay, if whoever we seem to be facing has all the intention of setting us up, I do not understand why they let the three of you live," Mayuri replied. " It would be far more incriminating if they just killed all of you on the spot, no?"
" No, what they are doing is setting up insurance," Hayate replied. " Think of it this way: All of you are jounins, and no doubt one of the elites in your own villages. You could have enough potential and firepower to wage a small war, if you all intend to. Now, what better way to weaken these jounins than have 3 weak, low ranking Blood-nins fall into their custody, and forcing them to protect us?"
" Are you saying that they left you alive so that we are forced to protect you?" Hibiki exclaimed.
" Of course. When you were ambushed, you all managed to flee with the three of us in tow, which is a feat, cos we would have been definitely been slowing you all down slightly due to the excess baggage you needed to bring along. They lured you to where we are so that in the instance that we decided to escape, you would have been slowed down because your conscience would have told you to take us," Hayate replied. " And, if they are still after us, and I assume they still are, you will have to take more effort to protect us, because I can assure you, Masaki and Mai are just fresh genins and their combat potential in the face of the rest of you must be miniscule in comparison."
" …But they can't seriously deem us as criminals just like that!" Sora exclaimed.
" No, they can, and I suspect they will. Our village has a very hostile standing against a number of the larger hidden villages, possibly to exert our power and show that we are a threatening foe. My father is the leader of the Hidden Blood village," Hayate answered. " The fact that his daughter died so far away from her country in a country she should have no access to enter into is far more than enough reason for war."
" …You have got to be shitting me…" Hibiki replied.
" As typical Leaf-nin, your village will want to avoid a war, so obviously, they will come to a compromise with the Blood-nins. They will label you as missing-nins and place the blame on you, and the moment you step foot into your own village, you will be apprehended without warning, and handed over to the Blood-nins where they will execute you without wasting any time," Hayate replied. " Loosing 6 young jounins would be a blow to both your villages, and help show our villages standing."
" Hang on, all this shit can be avoided if you come back with us and explain everything to them, and to tell your people that this was a bloody misunderstanding!" Sora exclaimed. " Unless you are also involved with them…"
Hayate sighed deeply. " I, unfortunately, cannot help in that department," Hayate replied.
" Why not?!" Hiroshi demanded.
" Because the official they are sending to your village is my uncle," Hayate answered. " And I know this man well enough. He is here to either start war with your village, or to frame the crime of Misa's murder with all your heads as compensation. He will not take no for an answer, and he will very well kill the people I care for, as well as Masaki's and Mai's family if we take your side."
Hiroshi wasn't sure how to take it, the fact that they were stuck in a hopeless situation, or that the Blood-nins had ruthless ways of maintaining their order.
" Trust me, I would vouch for you, but…I have a fiancée back home. She will die if I disagree with my uncle," Hayate replied.
" Hang on, how old are you?" Makoto exclaimed.
" …I will be 14 this year," Hayate replied.
" And you have a fiancée?" he continued.
" Most certainly. We have arranged marriages, so that families and lords can maintain political power. I was set up marry this maiden who is a daughter of a lord from our country, so that my father could have more political standing in our village," Hayate replied. " Why are you all so surprise? I agree it's a bit young, but it's not like this custom is long banished from this world yet."
" …And of all people, you love her still, that's why you won't do this?" Mayuri asked.
" No, I detest that bitch," Hayate replied with venom in his voice, which surprised everyone there save his own companions. " …However, I did make a promise to someone close to me that I would protect her at all cost, even it meant forfeiting my life, and all others that stand in her way of survival, and I intend to keep this curse of a promise, even if it kills me."
-
" Damn, so it has come down to this," Sora replied quietly with Hibiki and Mayuri gathered around her. " I would never though of such deception running this deep between our villages, but I guess I can only credit it to our fault for being this careless. Now, we are branded as missing-nins, with important cargo in our midst. Things can't get worse than this."
" You know, this only applies if whatever Hayate said is true. Are we really taking his word for it?" Hibiki replied.
" Well, he was much of a snarker, but I felt the truth in his words, or at least the sincerity," Mayuri replied. " Doesn't account for much, but I doubt Hayate is one to lie to us about it."
" …Hmm, what's Ryouta doing about it?" Hibiki asked.
" Dunno. I mean, we can't exactly continue to our village if this is true, and we can't exactly go back either, so we are stuck in the middle of nowhere," Sora answered. " Actually, if we are really going to be branded as criminals, we would need to flee the country, least they hunt us down."
" Doing that would solidify our status as missing-nins, wanted criminals, and the world at large will be after our asses," Mayuri answered.
" She does have a point though, Mayuri. Other countries will be wary of us, but if we are wanted criminals, we will be more actively hunted here compared to other countries. But I do not know what would the full consequence of leaving the country in such a fashion. Wouldn't that make matters worse, cos we would look like we are running away?" Hibiki replied.
The three of them groaned at the same time, before just standing around and observing their surroundings. Hiroshi and Suzumi were conversing with Mai and Masaki, and they seemed to be chatting amicably amongst one another, social standing and country of origin be damned, and they looked like they were having fun within their own personal conversation. It was understandable for Suzumi, because she had just lost part of her memory, so perhaps the implications of what was discussed earlier had not fully set in yet. But, the rest of them wondered why Hiroshi seemed to be trying to enjoy himself with Masaki's company.
" …Why is Hiroshi being so friendly with them?" Hibiki pointed out the obvious fact.
" He's being a scheming bastard right now," Sora replied, grinning slightly.
" …I don't get it…" Mayuri replied, scratching her head.
" One of Hiroshi's positive traits is that he can easily get along and work well with anyone, because he puts in the effort to learn about his partners and companions," Sora replied. " This attitude can also be used to try to drop people's guards, something people do often with Hiroshi."
"…Really?" Mayuri asked.
" …I'm just joking. He's probably trying to make Masaki feel comfortable," Sora replied.
All of a sudden, Hayate stood up from the corner he was sitting, slowing munching on whatever bread was left for breakfast, and walked up to Makoto and Ryouta, who were having a discussion with each other. Both of them turned curiously at Hayate as he walked towards them, a grin etched on his face.
" I have a proposition. Would you like to hear it?" he asked calmly, all the while smiling.