Chapter 21- Cornered…!
As Naruto and Yamato sped towards the bad side of town, Kuroko was awakened by her grandfather's voice.
"Kuro-chan, it's time for you to eat breakfast," he said gently.
"Five more minutes," she muttered sleepily, pulling the cover over her face.
Neatly yanking it away from her, the old man chided, "Oh no you don't. You're getting up now, and you're going to wash up and eat realfood tonight. I don't like how you've been running off of nothing but rations and chakra for the last few nights."
Snapping awake from the sudden chill, Kuroko yanked the blanket up again to cover herself. "G-G-Grandpa!" she whined, "C'mon! I'm not decent!"
"So getdecent," he replied gently but firmly as he turned to leave the room, "Or else you'll be eating your breakfast dressed like that…..Sitting out on the porch."
"Dirty old man," she grumbled once he was out of earshot. Throwing off the covers, she stripped down, grabbing a towel as she left her room for the shower. "Waking me up as soon as the sun goes down…..Seriously, who does that?" she continued to grumble. "He had better have cooked me up some damnfine miso ramen if he's gonna make me eat 'normal' food and get fat!"
After getting dressed, she practically leapt down the stairs following the scent of her favorite dish. Cramming in a mouthful of the rare treat, she earned a smack to the head from Kentaro, courtesy of a small folding fan she had "borrowed" from a corrupt official from the Land of Wind some years back.
"Kuro-chan," he sighed, "If you don't clean up your act, you'll neverfind a husband."
Swallowing hard, the girl stammered, "Wh-Wh-What the hell, Grandpa? You know as well as I do I can't get married!"
"But I want grandchildren!" the man replied with a wry smile.
"Yeah, well even ifI got married somehow," she said, staring at the palms of her hands and glancing at the reflection of her face in her grandfather's glasses, "I couldn't have kids. You'd need to….Y'know. And I can't do that. Can't touch anyone or I risk draining their life force, remember?"
"Ah yes, right," the old man said wistfully. Straightening up from his hunched position, he sighed with relief. "You're lucky this old man's a retired ninja," he said, "Otherwise I don't think I could takebeing bent over like that all day, every day."
"Do you have the intel I asked you to get?"
"Yes, child. It took me a few days to properly collect the information, but it's all here," he said, handing her a folded note, "Here's your list of 'errands' for the night."
Hastily wiping her mouth after finishing her food, Kuroko rose to leave. "Thanks, Grandpa. I'd hug you, but….Y'know."
"Yes, I know, child," he said, his heart heavy for his adopted granddaughter's lonely existence, "I know. I know too well."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing, Kuro-chan. You'd best hurry; the night won't stay young forever."
"Alright," she said, "And remember to cast that genjutsu on my room like we talked about!"
"I will child," the old man replied, returning to his hunched stature with a groan of exertion, "And be careful."
"You always say that, Grandpa," teased the girl. "Don't worry!" At this, she melted into the shadows of the evening, leaving her grandfather alone.
As Kuroko began her night, Ito was wishing she hadn't begun hers. Lee had made her run all the way from her home to the training ground just for warm-up. After that came a thirty-minute lecture about how to properly run so she could both run faster and stand a better chance of not injuring herself. Next came stretching, which was just brutal. Overenthusiastic as always, Lee had tried to "help" her on several stretches, until every relevant muscle in her body ached. When the time came to do a whopping one thousand push-ups, she was already ready to quit.
"Remind me again why we're out here at night?" she asked in an annoyed tone as they faced each other after the last set of stretches.
"You are needed to assist your family at your store during the day," came Lee's chipper reply, "And also, it is much cooler at night. If you train at night, you stand much less of a chance of overheating!"
"Well, that makes sense, I guess," she thought. "But one thousandpush-ups? Can't we start with something simpler?"
"Okay then," Lee said, "Then how about crunches?"
"Same number?"
"Of course!"
"Then no! When I said 'simpler,' I meant easier! Not everyone is you or Gai-sensei!"
"Ohh," Lee said as if the thought hadn't previously occurred to him, "Alright then, how about….five hundre—" Trailing off when he saw his student glaring at him, he could tell she wasn't happy. "Hm, well, I honestly do not know. Iwould do two thousand a time at the very least, but perhaps—"
"Whoa," Ito marveled, "You were alreadygoing easy on me?"
Lee simply nodded, then continued, saying, "Perhaps it would be best for you to just show me how many you can do at a time, just so we can see where to start."
"Muchbetter," Ito said as she got down on her hands and knees. As she did, Lee couldn't help but notice her cleavage. Blushing, he was caught by surprise when she asked him in an exasperated tone, "Well, are you gonna tell me when to start or not?"
"Um, uh, go!" Lee yelled.
His reaction just now…..Was he being a pervert? And why was he so suddenly interested in this girl, when he had repeatedly declared his love for Sakura? "No!" the zealous shinobi thought as he slapped himself across the face, "You must not let your heart or eyes wander! And in place of Gai-sensei, you must discipline yourself!"
Hearing the second slap, Ito looked up from her push-ups to see her tutor with red handprints on either cheek. "Are you….Okay?" she asked warily. What was this guy's problem?
"I-I-I am sorry I looked down your shirt!" he screamed, squeezing his eyes shut, "Hit me however many times you wa—Ack!"
Ito thrust her hand over his mouth, practically tackling him. Straddling him as she kept her hands firmly clamped over his mouth, she hissed, "Shh! What's your problem? You want the whole villageto hear or something?"
"N-No," came the muffled reply.
"Then shut up," she said as she took her hands off of his face.
Taking hold of her wrists on impulse, he asked, "Y-You are not going to strike me?"
"Um, no," she replied. "It was actually kind of amusing that you actually admitted to it, though. Very cute," she noted. "And what's this about you just jumping to hitting? Surely you don't think all of us girls are thatviolent?"
"Well, it is just that that is Sakura-chan's usual—"
"Oh, I see," she chuckled, "So Sakura's your girlfriend? Funny, she never said anything about dating a guy."
"Sakura-chan is my love! I would do anything for her!" Lee exclaimed in reply.
"Oh really?" asked Ito.
"Y-Yes," Lee squawked.
"So you aretogether?"
"Well, I, uh….It's, er, complicated."
"Because she hits you?" Ito asked, "Because I hate when one person in a couple beats up their partner. I'm gonna go give Sakura a piece of my mind," Ito said, a determined expression on her face.
"Wh-What?" Lee replied as she ran off. "No! Ito, wait!" Why was it so hard to say what he wanted to say around this girl? She wasn't Sakura-chan…..Though she did treat him a little better than Sakura did….Pondering these things, Lee chased after Ito as quickly as his feet would carry him.
At the Akimichi estate, the tone had turned grim. Not even Sakura could find a medical cause for Momo's fainting, or any possible reason why she kept muttering the name "Shirona." A visit from Ino brought news that was even more distressing: Momo's mind was a complete blank. Whatever had happened that had made her collapse, it was as if her mind was a dark room with no light switch.
"A-Are you sure, Ino?" Choji asked worriedly.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," she said, concern for her new friend all over her face. "Fortunately, given time, she canrecover. There's no telling what'll be left of her memory, though."
Sighing, Choji squeezed Momo's hand. "C'mon," he pleaded with her, "You gotta wake up, Momo…You just gotta."
Tearing up slightly at the tragic sight, Ino wiped her eyes and turned away. "We…We should let her rest," the blonde girl said, "I have to go, but I'll be back tomorrow to check on her, I promise."
After Choji distractedly thanked her, Ino left the room and met up with Sakura.
"So her mind's a big blank and we stilldon't know what happened?"
Ino nodded. "Yeah," she said between sniffles. "But you should've seen Choji begging her to wake up! He's like a brother to me, Sakura…..I…I just can't standto see him that way!"
"Hey," Sakura said as she hugged Ino reassuringly, "She'll make it through this. We both know that."
"Oh Kami, I hope so," the blonde girl whispered quietly as she wiped her eyes.
Right at that moment, Naruto and Yamato were visiting Yama's office, where police officers were still trying to figure out what had happened.
"Whoa," Naruto muttered as they entered, "No signs of a struggle, no forced windows ordoors….This lady's some kinda pro!"
"That's what's bothering me," Yamato replied, "What if she ever allied- willingly or not- with someone like Madara? For all we know, she could be working for him already. We haveto find her, and fast." Talking to one of the analysts at the scene, they found that, once again, the culprit had cleaned out the safe.
"Jeez," Naruto groaned, glancing at the large device, "Betcha she could live pretty comfortably for a few days with that money!"
"He might be right," thought Yamato. "If that's the case," Yamato said aloud, "Then we'd better ask around for any suspicious spending, particularly in the last few days."
"Don't bother," replied a stern voice.
Almost immediately, Naruto got a bad feeling, as if he knew beforehand that he wouldn't like the owner of the voice. Turning to see who it was, the duo found the lead investigator, a man they only knew as "Akira," walking up to them. He was a stern-looking man, and from the best Naruto could tell from the white streaks in his hair and the slight wrinkles that were forming on his face, he was middle-aged.
"What're youlooking at, boy?" he grunted when he noticed Naruto peering at him.
"Nothing, hawk-nose," the fox-boy shot back, noticing the man's oddly-shaped nose.
Sighing, Yamato addressed the older man, saying, "Akira-san. What did you mean by what you said just now?"
Withdrawing a cigarette from a box in his pocket, Akira lit it with a lighter and took a long drag. "The other bit of her M.O., that's all. She doesn't spend frivolously; you'd be chasing a dead end."
"Well, she's gotta put it somewhere," Naruto muttered.
"I'd check with the civilians if I were you," Akira replied between puffs, "They're wary of us cops 'round here, but maybe they'll talk to the village hero."
"It's worth a shot, I guess," muttered Yamato. Saying a hasty goodbye, they left the room.
Their interviews with the civilians living in the area turned out about as well as their initial investigation, which is to say that they didn't turn out that well at all. Some saw one thing while others saw the opposite, and that was if they saw anything at all. One minute, their suspect was a vengeful wraith. The next, she was the unsung hero of Konoha, cleaning up the streets three steps ahead of the police, while most of their other ninja handled outside threats. Still others claimed that she was a menace, an outlaw no different from those she hunted, who should be taken off the streets in the name of public safety. After hearing these reports, along with those claiming that she was anything from a Shinigami to an elaborate conspiracy by the village government, the duo finally gave up.
"Ragh, this is hopeless!" Naruto shouted at no one in particular.
"Patience," murmured Yamato, "We're not done yet. The night's still young; she might still come out."
"Yeah, Yamato-taicho, but how would weknow? It's not like we're gonna go commit a crime or something!" As soon as Naruto said this, he wished he hadn't, for Yamato gained a devious glint in his eye upon hearing his subordinate's suggestion.
"Hey, there's an idea," he replied. "And wasn't her attack on the prison due to a personal vendetta against one of the inmates?"
"Well, yeah," Naruto muttered uncomfortably, "One of them attacked Hinata, so—"
"That's it! We'll make it look like Hinata's in danger! Once we do that, she's sure to come right to us!"
"What?...Okay, fine. I'll transform into her and—"
"Actually," Yamato said, "I think it'd be best to have the real thing. Call it a hunch."
"Yeah? Well I don't likeyour hunch! I don't wanna drag Hinata into this! She's still recovering, y'know!"
As the two continued their argument, Hinata was sneaking out of the Hyuga compound. She should have been asleep, but every time she tried, she was greeted with bizarre visions. Typically, it would entail a foggy memory of helping to nurse someone back to health, but they usually always snapped to Naruto fighting someone in a dark alleyway. However, her latest vision was different, though she was sure that it, too, was connected: a girl, a few years older than her, dressed all in black and crying alone. Desiring to get to the bottom of things, she used her Byakugan to discern Naruto's location and ran to him as fast as her still-recovering body would allow.
"I'm tellin' you, Yamato-taicho, there's noreason to get her inv-"
"N-Naruto...?"
"Crap."
Hinata just blinked. Naruto usually treated her fairly well, so that came as quite a shock. Was there something he was trying to keep her away from?
"Ah, Hinata, perfect timing!" Yamato greeted the girl, stepping forward.
"Um...Wh-What's going on?" she asked.
"Nothin' you need to kn-mmph!" Naruto grunted as Yamato stuffed his hand over his subordinate's mouth.
"What he meansto say is-"
"Pardon me, but I'm sure if Naruto meant to say something, Yamato-taicho, he'd have said it himself," Hinata said, her eyes narrowing slightly, prompting Yamato to release Naruto. Though she was one of the more respectful and polite ninja of Naruto's generation, she did notappreciate anyone treating Naruto that way.
"Gah! Heh, good going, Hinata! Anyway...There's just something that Yamato-taicho wants to get you involved in...It's potentially dangerous, is all."
"And you thought it wasn't a good idea?"
"Nope! That's what I've been tryin' to tell him for about ten minutes now!"
"What does he want me to do?"
"Basically," Yamato spoke up, "We need you to act as bait for someone we're trying to catch. Apparently our target killed an inmate at the Shinobi Prison just because he'd attacked you."
"I see..." Hinata muttered.
"Hinata, you're not seriously considering...?"
"Actually, Naruto, I am."
"B-But! Your recovery...!"
"My recovery is almost complete. And Naruto, thank you for looking out for me and worrying about me, but I'll be okay, I promise. After all, even if this person is dangerous, she killed someone on my behalf, apparently, so I should be safe. After all, what reason does she have to attack me?"
At this, Yamato narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "How'd you know the target was female? Neither of us-"
"Just a hunch. So, what do I have to do?"
"Just pretend like you're in danger, I guess," Naruto muttered. He could tell that there was no way to change her mind at that point.
"In that case," Hinata said, a mischievous glint in her eye, "I have an idea. Naruto, could you lend me a kunai? I don't have any on me right now. Father ordered Hanabi to take them from me until morning." When he handed her the weapon, she did something neither man there expected: she ripped her own jacket to shreds, and put several tears in her pants, even cutting herself a little in certain places. "Gah," she cried softly as the edge of the blade slid across the skin in her right thigh, the fabric covering it having previously been torn.
It was quite the display, actually. Both men could see that she now looked like she'd been attacked by someone, and given where in the village they were, it wasn't hard to imagine who would've done such a thing or why.
"That's impressive," Yamato commented after a short whistle, "If you ever retire from being a ninja, you could always be a costumer."
Naruto, however, was even more worried. "H-Hinata," he murmured in shock.
Noticing Naruto's expression, Hinata reassured him, saying, "Oh, d-don't worry! These are all actually really minor cuts...Any medical ninja could just heal them right up within minutes, or we can just stick bandages on them for the rest of the night!"
"They're not gonna...scar?" Naruto didn't want to sound weird or anything, but he'd heard that women hated having marks, such as scars, on their bodies.
"Naruto, it'll be fine," Hinata said with a tone that was getting dangerously close to exasperation.
"Um, if you two kids are about done, I have a plan," Yamato chimed in, eager to break the growing tension between the couple.
"Fine, let's hear it," Naruto muttered. Why was he having such a hard time talking to Hinata all of a sudden? This was going to be a longnight.
A few minutes later, Kuroko was interrupted from her scouting by a shriek.
"Kyaaaaaa! Help me!"
CRASH!
"Unf!"
"Now we've got you!" roared a man's voice.
"N-No! Don't! Please! I...Mmmph!"
The lone vigilante had her suspicions, but the way the girl stammered confirmed her worst fear: Hyuga Hinata was being attacked again.
"Damn this criminal scum!" she thought as she raced in the direction of the scuffle, "Looks like we've got another death wish on our hands!"
When she got there, she was disgusted by what she saw. An older man, looking to be in his late forties, had pinned Hinata by her torn jacket to a wall in the lonely alleyway using several kunai, running his hands up and down her body as he breathed heavily into her ear.
"Nnnf," she groaned around what seemed to be a rag stuffed into her mouth as she attempted to struggle free.
"Heheh, too bad!" the man crowed as he stuck both pointer fingers into either side of the waistband of the unfortunate girl's tattered sweatpants. Slowly pulling them down around her hips, he exposed the top part of her buttocks and the fact that she was wearing lowleg panties. "Ohh," he said upon seeing this, "Looks like someone was feeling a little daringtonight!"
"Nnnng," Hinata continued to groan, tears forming into her eyes as she squeezed them shut.
Kuroko had seen enough. She knew she had to act, but something about the display bothered her. What was Hinata, who she believed was a veritable angel, doing in this sorry part of town at this hour? Also, why couldn't she just fight back with her clan's famous Gentle Fist taijutsu? Deciding to disregard these concerns when she saw the man try to drag the poor girl to the ground, Kuroko leapt down from her perch and attacked.
"Take this!"
POOF!
"Wh-What the...?" Kuroko muttered as the man she grabbed turned to smoke. Was that a Kage Bunshin? Turning to Hinata, she just gaped when the girl, from her position pinned to the alleyway wall, called to her companions.
"Naruto! Yamato-taicho! Now!"
Before Kuroko could do anything, wooden tendrils, not unlike tree roots, sprang from the ground and bound her arms and legs, forcing her into a kneeling position.
"Nnngh!" she grunted as she was pulled down. Whoever was controlling these tendrils meant business, for she was finding escape impossible.
"Alright!" came a cheer from the bushes. Soon after, a crowed of ninja appeared all around the kneeling girl in several puffs of smoke. The real Naruto, however, was busy unpinning Hinata from the wall. Expecting to be slapped, he grimaced, but no such blow came. Instead, when he opened his eyes, Hinata was setting about pulling her pants back up and bandaging her cuts. "Uh, Hinata...?" Naruto asked.
Hinata didn't reply, though Naruto couldn't tell whether she was upset or just embarrassed. She couldn't really tell either, though she did know that she felt rather...excited by their act, if her racing heartbeat and burning cheeks were any indication. She didn't feel confortable with this, however, so she opted to keep quiet until she had calmed back down, silently apologizing to Naruto for the brief awkwardness.
While the teens were distracted, however, Yamato was having trouble holding onto the target. Apparently, she was draining the very chakra from his wood constructs, and through them, from his body. He would have to act fast...
But in doing so, he made a terrible mistake: he let one of the tendrils touch her skin.
WHOOSH!
Fwmp!
The sound of a body falling over made Naruto and Hinata jump. Turning around, they saw their worst fear confirmed: Yamato-sensei was down for the count, meaning there was no one to keep their prisoner...imprisoned.