Pandabot: Alrighty, so about the wait for this chapter yo. But Pokemon X just came out and it's pretty awesome. Just been jamming that for a while so I've been a bit slow recently. On a related note, I'd imagine that my writing is going to slow down in general as there's a lot of stuff going on at work right now so I kind of have to focus on that. But yeah, read and review please and hopefully the next chapter will be up soonish. Peace!
Chapter 25: Unravelling
"Wonder what got Ino-sensei all worked up?"
"You don't think there was some trouble in the village, do you?"
I sighed, turning to my teammates; Yomiko worried, Kazuki curious.
"If there was any trouble then the best thing for us to do is to wait for instructions. Just stay alert" I said, part of me ready to dismiss this as nothing serious. Sensei would probably come back and tell us that it had been handled and then we'd resume training.
I was still angry at myself; how could I have missed such an obvious diversion? Temari-sensei would be so disappointed in me.
Yomiko stiffened,
"We aren't alone" she said, so softly I almost missed it. I tensed, moving only my eyes in a sweep along the treeline. Kazuki was doing the same, I could tell by his body language.
"He's hiding at 4 o'clock" Yomiko said, allowing her hand to drift down her side; slowly, softly. I loosened my fans, ready to spin and unleash in the same motion; Kazuki shuffled to one side, giving me a clear shot.
"Wind Style! Razor Whirlwind Jutsu!" I yelled, spinning and swinging my fans together with the speed and accuracy of practice. I saw the motion as whoever it was leapt to the side in a blur of speed, easily outrunning my jutsu.
Shit, this could be bad.
I could tell Kazuki was itching to go and fight our enemy head-on but he held himself in check for now; finally showing some brains, huh?
"Gather together" I said as calmly as I could; we needed to take some sort of defensive formation before we did anything else.
Kazuki naturally placed himself just in front of Yomiko and I, a kunai held in his left hand. I glanced to the side,
"Yomiko, where did he go?" She frowned, shaking her head in confusion,
"I don't know. He must be masking his chakra." I grunted, remaining alert.
With a rustle, a blur swept from the trees on our left, moving so fast that my eyes could barely keep up. I leapt backwards, wielding my fans with a vicious swipe at the air. At the same time Kazuki threw himself forward, intercepting the attacker exactly where my attack would hit. I grinned,
Flawless.
As he was forced to deal with Kazuki, the attacking ninja became visible for just a half second. He wore strangely formal robes, not like war gear at all, and he had only one eye. The eye was pupiless, a strange grey colour with a rough bandage covering the other eye.
In a motion so fast I barely saw him move, he grabbed Kazuki by the arm and slashed his other arm across his body, cutting straight along Kazuki's arm. He gave a yell of agony, cut short as the attacker threw him aside like a rag doll. He blurred into motion again, flashing past my jutsu with ease, long hair streaming behind him.
"Kazuki!" Yomiko yelled as she landed and ran through a series of hand seals,
"Fire Style! Phoenix Bloom Jutsu!" I ducked as the flames blew past me but then I stepped into the path of the attacker, closing one of my hand fans.
He slowed slightly and then his form blurred, becoming indistinct and muggy. In a flash he reached me and I just barely managed to block the kunai he swung at my side with my closed hand fan. I brought my other hand forward.
Pain. So much pain. My entire side burned like I was aflame and then I had been cast from my feet, slamming into the dirt. I might have screamed in agony, I wasn't sure of anything beyond the sudden onslaught of pain.
The way I had fallen left me looking back towards Yomiko and the attacking shinobi as he easily blocked her weak taijutsu effort, forcing her to her knees.
Move! I screamed at myself, struggling to force my body into motion.
The attacker span around to Yomiko's back, producing a slip of paper with some sort of seal on it; I had no idea what it was. He slapped it to her back and she threw her head back in a silent scream, her eyes rolling to the back of her head.
After a moment, the shinobi nodded and leapt away, leaving Yomiko to fall forward into the dirt. Unconcious.
Or dead.
Through the haze of pain, a canine face appeared, apparently saying something . I struggled to keep my eyes open,
"Sh-shiba. Get...help..." I managed, before the darkness took me.
Ino returned to her own mind with a jolt, hit immediately by the pounding headache that came with her Mind Scan jutsu. She groaned, sitting up in the waiting chair and looking across the room to where Kana was sleeping peacefully.
So that's what happened.
Ino stood silently and slipped out of the room, closing the door as quietly she could. She sighed heavily;
"How is she doing? Are we allowed to see her yet?" Ino turned in suprise at the unfamiliar voice, eyeing the elegant blonde woman and the tall, dark-skinned man.
"She's doing fine. The medics say that she just needs rest now. I'm guessing you are Kana's parents?" The woman let out a relieved breath, clasping her hands to her chest,
"Oh, thank goodness." The tall man laid a hand gently on her shoulder, a relieved smile on his face.
"Yes," he said calmly, "we are Kana's parents. I am Hiro and this is my wife, Matsuri. It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Yamanaka." He reached out with his large hand and Ino caught it, giving him a firm handshake as she nodded shortly. She turned to Matsuri, shaking her hand; if you could call it a handshake.
"It's good to finally meet you, Miss Yamanaka. We've heard a lot about you" she said politely. Ino pulled an uncomfortable face, reaching up to tug at her ponytail, suddenly feeling very young,
"You can just call me Ino" she said uncomfortably. There was a beat of awkward silence and then Ino stepped to the side,
"You can go in if you want. Just try to be quiet; I have to go and report to the Hokage." With a nod and a friendly smile, Hiro led his wife into Kana's room, shutting the door in a way they probably thought was quiet.
Ino shook her head as she left to go and check on Kazuki; the medics had insisted that he stay overnight.
She had spent the night here at the hospital, refusing to sleep while her team had been left to the hands of the medics under the command of Purai, Shizune's own personal apprentice. Kazuki's wound had been relatively straightforward, a cut along the length of his arm that was undoubtedly painful and bled an awful lot but it hadn't caused any serious muscle damage. Even the new medics were easily capable of healing such a wound; it just took a little while.
Kana's wounds had been a little more serious with two deep wounds in her side; her kidney had almost been irrepareable, saved only by Purai's quick thinking. Less obvious but potentially just as damaging were the blocked chakra points in the side of her neck and her shoulder.
That had caused some debate among the medics, of course it was obvious now how it happened. The mystery attacker had access to the Byakugan, either by birth or by transplanting it into his eye. And that would complicate matters; now the Hyuuga would need to be questioned about any missing members or eyes.
She looked up to find herself at Kazuki's door, the sound of boisterous voices leaking through the wood.
Sounds like Kazuki's feeling better.
She pushed open the door to the sound of the manliest laugh she had ever heard in her life. If this voice did not come with the greatest, bushiest moustache of all time she was going to be severely disappointed.
At first, when she entered the room, her eyes were first drawn to the hospital bed where Kazuki lay, his arm wrapped in clean bandages. She smiled as she caught his eye, relieved to see him looking like he usually did; injuries often had a way of digging into you mentally.
"Hey Ino-sensei!"
The next thing Ino saw was the moustache. Good lord, the moustache. There were no words to describe it; frankly it was simultaneously the most magnificent and the most ridiculous moustache she ever seen.
"Aha! You must be the teacher to my boy!"
Oh Kami, it moved. She knew it had to, knew that the laws of physics forced it to move when he spoke but...it moved.
"Hahaah! I see you have been captured by the sight of my magnificent moustache!" To Ino's suprise - and thank Kami he did or she might never have looked away - Kazuki slapped a hand to his forehead and groaned.
"Daaad, stop acting like a weirdo." The larger, older man folded his arms and grumbled something under his breath and Ino was finally free to actually look at the man.
Now that she was free from the grips of the terrible moustache, she was clearly able to see the relation between Kazuki and his father; he looked exactly like an older version of Kazuki. With a moustache.
"So then, Ino was it? What do you think of my boy? Pretty special huh?" It was the sort of question she had been expecting but something about the way he asked it seemed...unsure? Cautious? There was an odd undertone and it made Ino think about her answer very carefully.
"Well," she began thoughtfully, "he certainly shows a lot of potential." She paused, trying to think of how best to phrase her next point.
"The biggest problem he's having is slowing down for two seconds to plan out his next move. If he can't do that...well he won't live very long." The burly man grumbled something inaudible to himself and then he unfolded his arms,
"But that is the way of our clan. Full speed, all the time. Give an enemy an opening and it allows them to plan out an attack." Ino sighed; it figured. It also explained why Kazuki was as instinctive as he was.
"That kind of attitude is going to get him killed" Ino said firmly, flicking a glance sideways to ensure that Kazuki was listening; he needed to hear this more than anyone.
"That's the way we do it in the Rakuden clan" he said with a tone of dismissal. Ino narrowed her eyes,
"I'm not going to deliberately limit one of my students so you can keep your damn pride." She took the time to give Kazuki a nod and an encouraging smile before she spun on her heel and stormed out of the room.
Arrogant bastard. No wonder the Rakuden clan is in such a state.
She walked at a clipped pace, heading towards her last student; she hadn't been allowed to see her yet. She had only just left the care of the medics so finally Ino was allowed to go and see her. The information she had been given was sketchy at best; she was looking forward to finally getting to the bottom of the mystery.
The sound of running footsteps caused her to turn, eyeing the approaching woman; she didn't know why she was suprised.
"Ino! What happened? Where's Kana?"
Ino smiled reassuringly at Temari as she jogged up the hallway,
"She's ok. She's recovering in 14 B. Head back that way and turn left." Temari turned on her heel, running back the way she had come.
Ino had expected Yomiko's room to be left alone as she had apparently not regained conciousness yet . So it was a suprise, to say the least, when she turned the corner to see Naruto, Shizune and a weak-looking Sakura talking seriously to Purai outside her door.
"What's the occasion?" Ino asked dryly. She was treated to a few quick, tense smiles and then Shizune stepped to her right, allowing Ino to join the group. Purai cleared his throat then appeared to take up where he had left off.
"I don't know what to tell you. There's nothing wrong with her, physically or mentally. Hell, if we believe these records, she's actually healthier than she was" he explained and his frustration and confusion was obvious. Ino raised an eyebrow,
"Healthier?" she said, speaking for everyone gathered. Purai ground his teeth in annoyance,
"Whatever happened to her, it unblocked some of her chakra pathways. Specifically, two in her head and one at the base of her neck. We don't know what it means but this was no accident. It's too precise." Ino nodded and caught Naruto's eye with a meaningful look; apparently he got the hint because he motioned the group inside Yomiko's room.
They filed in and Ino got her first glimpse at Yomiko, laid out on the bed like a cadaver. She was too perfectly placed, too carefully treated; it was eerie. She resisted the urge to go and move her limbs, make her less still and turned to the rest of the group seriously.
Naruto had placed himself near the door and she could tell by the look of distraction on his face that he was using his chakra to sense for any nearby listeners. Shizune was closing the curtains, carefully peering out as she did so. Almost as one, the group brought their attention back to Ino, giving her questioning looks.
"What've you got for us, Ino?" Naruto asked, coming out of his trance to lock his intense gaze onto her. Ino leant back against the wall, crossing her arms,
"We're going to have to talk to the Hyuga" she said bluntly. She felt the suppressed groan of Naruto from clear across the room and couldn't help but agree with him. The Hyuga were difficult enough to deal with at the best of times, never mind after this fiasco. Sakura raised an eyebrow,
"What do you mean? Are you saying the Hyuga attacked your team?" she asked incredulously. Ino shook her head firmly at the implication,
"No, no. But," she locked eyes with Naruto, "whoever did it had access to the Byakugan." There was an incredibly tense silence as the light of understanding entered Purai and Shizune's eyes; it certainly explained the injuries to Kana.
"Crap," Naruto said, "I hate talking to those guys." Ino and Sakura shared an amused look; only Naruto would be able to focus on something like that right now. Ino shook her head and continued,
"Anyway, whoever it was also attached a seal to Yomiko. It sounds like, from what Purai found out, this seal unblocked her chakra network. Why, I have no idea but-"
"My chakra network was blocked?" The room turned as one at the soft voice all gazing at where Yomiko was blinking at them sleepily. Ino sighed in relief, Thank Kami for that, she's ok.
"Wakey wakey sleepyhead. Enjoy your nap?" she said with an amused smile. Yomiko smiled absently and then, eyes flying wide open, she sat bolt upright in bed,
"Sensei!" she began. Ino caught her shoulder, giving her an consoling smile,
"We know, don't worry. I scanned Kana's memories." Yomiko looked around the room, confirming with the others standing around before she sat back and relaxed in bed. She looked back up at Ino curiously,
"What were you saying about my chakra network, Sensei?" Ino glanced at Sakura who frowned slightly, pulling an uncertain face.
"We...aren't sure, Yomiko," Ino began slowly, carefully, "we're going to have to do some tests with you after you get out of here." Yomiko appeared to accept that, nodding to herself and then brought her gaze back to Ino,
"When can I get out of here?" Ino shot a questioning look at Purai and he shrugged,
"We'll keep her in overnight but she should be good to go tomorrow morning." Ino gave her a smile,
"There ya go. Just stay here tonight and then we can get right back to training" she said brightly. Yomiko looked at her blankly for a long second and then leant back onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling,
"Sounds like fun." Ino's mouth dropped open at the hint of sarcasm in her tone; was Yomiko sassing her?! Naruto made a very unconvincing attempt to stifle a laugh and Ino shot her a look,
"Careful there cutie," she began dangerously, "With that kind of enthusiasm you might end up with extra training." Yomiko swallowed and looked away, leaving Ino to catch Sakura's eye with a smirk.
Purai cleared his throat and, sharing a glance with Shizune, he motioned with his head towards the door,
"We should leave Yomiko to her rest. If all goes well, she will be released tomorrow." The group nodded almost as one and turned to leave, Ino turning on the threshold to shoot Yomiko an encouraging wink.
Outside, Shizune and Sakura were already moving away at a clipped pace, a serious expression on each of their faces while Purai made a couple of notes on a clipboard. He gave Ino and Naruto a respectful nod before he headed off in pursuit of the two medics. Ino shared a glance with the man who was very quickly becoming one of her closest friends and they began to walk down the hall.
Ino could sense that Naruto was distracted, both by the tension in his stride and the preoccupied expression on his face. She bit her lip, thinking;
"How's Lady Tsunade?" she asked cautiously. She knew that the Hokage's injuries had been worse than Sakura's - her wounds had mostly been flesh wounds. Naruto pulled a face,
"She's gonna be fine, the old hag's tough like that. But she's gotta rest up so me and Kakashi-sensei are taking over for a bit." Ino shot him a look of suprise; she had expected a much more enthusiastic reaction to being the Hokage, regardless of how temporary the position was.
"Aren't you...happy?" she asked slowly. Naruto glanced sideways at her, then sighed,
"I'm just worried about everything that's going on," he said and Ino could hear the frustration in his voice, "There's been all these attacks and we aren't any closer to finding out who it is." Ino stopped and grabbed his arm, yanking him round to face her,
"Naruto Uzumaki," she said assertively, eyes blazing, "quit being so damn serious! It's weird and off-putting and I don't like it! So cut that shit out, give me a smile and let's go and get ramen!" There was a long pause as Naruto stared at her in shock and then a grin slowly stole over his face and he turned to run off, yanking Ino along in his wake.
"FREE RAMEN!"
"Wait, FREE?!"