/AN\
Hey!
Okay, so the rookies have graduated! More canon characters will start appearing and the storyline will bleed through. But remember, Shizuka isn't meant to be someone that will change everything, she will have influence in some parts and some things will change because she hadn't been there in canon.
Since I've enjoyed the conversations I've had with the readers, here's a question for you:
What canon event are you most looking forward to seeing from her perspective?
I'll be replying at the end of every chapter and might even give the best answer a sneak peek into the next chapter!
Thanks! And Enjoy!
xx
SC
"Speaking."
'Thinking'
Jutsus
Chapter 29 - Duty
After months of planning, three teams had been assembled for the final takedown of the drug and human trafficking ring. The entire task force had been running for over a year, gathering information on the contacts, suppliers, buyers and more.
Unfortunately, they had never found a name on the 'middle man' who distributed orders and supervised the whole operation and the actual boss. However, after taking down most of the major warehouses they had the central base to go before they went after their allies and most prominent clients.
A downside of tackling it in this manner is that the central base probably suspected an attack, which meant the planning had to be done with surgical precision to ensure a successful wipeout.
Three teams comprised of ANBU were finally sent off to the final base. And due to her role in the task force, Shizuka's squad was selected, joining them was Yūgao's and Genma's squads. Ibiki was also involved as to simplify the process of questioning whomever thy captured.
Cat-Taichō led the squad as usual for the actual confrontation, but once it was time for the cleanup procedures and general investigation and compiling of information from the base Shizuka became the go-to for orders.
The confrontation was surprisingly dramatic, causing holes in one of the walls of the bunker, damaging some of the support pillars inside as well as general damage to the area around it.
But it was to be expected that the final base would have stronger opponents waiting on them. No one from the three squads came out intact, all of them sporting different shades of blacks and blues, covered in mud, blood, water and ash.
They had to sleep the first night outside so that they wouldn't have to fear the ceiling collapsing on them or the dangers of smoke inhalation. The next day, before the sun had fully appeared the shinobi with earth, water and wood release made their rounds ensuring the structure was safe to walk around in.
From that point on, while the members searched the rooms, Ibiki questioned the survivors and Shizuka moved between groups compiling the information and cross-referencing it to what they already had.
It took nearly two weeks for them to be completely done with everything, and with their prisoners secured they made their way back home.
And now, Shizuka had the great pleasure of writing the longest report she had ever written, summarising the entire task force and everything that they had found out from the final takedown. This report was to be given straight to the Hokage and her father who would review and decide what to do next.
Inoichi and Ibiki had briefed her on her return that she should include a recommendation on what to do next since she had a deeper understanding of this case than a simple report could convey.
And so she wrote that the task force should be scaled down and put on the backburner. There were no more ties into the Fire country, at least none that they could find or didn't already have a scheme in a plan to eliminate, this meant there was no imminent threat to them, however the whole operation set a precedent which meant they should be vigilant as to not let something similar grow to this scale.
She was so immersed in writing her recommendation that she didn't notice Ino enter the kitchen.
"So, Shizuka-Nee, I heard you went on another date yesterday." Ino's tone was expectant as she sat across from the Nara on the kitchen table. "Is it the same boy from before? Did you get a boyfriend?"
Shizuka put her pen down shuffled the paper to the side so that she could lean forward on her elbows, a smile tugging at her lips as Ino all but bounced in her seat.
"I went out with friends last night to celebrate the end of a long case." Shizuka grinned as Ino slumped in disappointment. "Shouldn't you be in the living room studying with Shika and Chōji?"
"Shika is sleeping and Chōji is just munching on chips. I've decided to take a break."
"Want me to get them to work?"
"I want you to tell me who Genma is."
'Oh come on.' Shizuka's eyes twitched in annoyance. 'Shika, you will regret that.'
"Genma is a friend who I've worked with a couple of times. He lives close by so we often walk together." Shizuka leaned back and stretched her arms above her head before standing.
She walked to the living room and over to Shikamaru who was slumped over the small table in front of the sofa that seemed to be covered in papers and books.
Reaching out to his shoulder she gave him a light zap causing him to jump up and glare at her. Shizuka raised her eyebrow and nodded towards Ino who was settling back onto the floor.
"I said you went out, she assumed it was a date."
"And Genma?"
"He did walk you home again."
Rolling her eyes Shizuka tugged at his ponytail and snorted as he tried to slap her hand away, only to let go a moment later when a knock sounded at the door.
Opening the door revealed a bird-masked ANBU who quickly nodded at her in greeting.
"You've been summoned by Yamanaka Inoichi to his office for a meeting."
Shizuka nodded in understanding and the ANBU promptly disappeared in a puff of smoke. Closing the door and walking back inside she sat on the small step to put on her shoes.
"Shika, I've been summoned for a meeting at Intelligence. I'll be back later!"
"Hai!" His answering call was followed by Ino's and Chōji's goodbye.
The meeting had been a quick one, more of a mission debrief than anything else. The village had received some intel that there was a group of unidentified shinobi arriving at a town they had a watch in due to rumours of information selling.
They had never caught anything, but the mere mention of a security breach drove everyone in the administration and intelligence offices into a frenzy. So put a sleeper agent in the village and that was that.
Until now when there was a threat of foreign shinobi in the area which meant that if there was a security breach they needed it fixed immediately.
The young Nara barely remembered her run home. After sending her summons off to gather the team, she had collected the relevant information from Inoichi's desk and a stop into her office to collect other materials that she would need brief the others and for the mission itself. This meant she didn't have long left to actually get ready for a mission as she had been dressed for a casual day off.
She dumped her shoes hastily in the hall and didn't even spare the three soon to be graduates a look as she ran up to her room to get her ready-to-go mission pack. A quick grab into the closet she retrieved her usual outfit and she didn't even go to the bathroom and just changed in her room.
With everything in hand she went downstairs to the entrance hall where she sat down to put her shoes back on. As she finished pulling on her shoes Shikamaru, Chōji and Ino walked to the entrance hall from the living room.
"You have a mission? I thought you were doing some work with Intelligence inside the village." Shikamaru questioned as he and his friends watched her check the contents of her bag.
"Ah, yeah but we got this last-minute information, so they want my team to investigate." Shizuka shrugged as she sat on the small step to pull on her boots.
"Shizuka-Nee-San, will you at least make it for our graduation? We're going to the barbeque place like we did for yours." Ino asked as she watched the older girl finished getting ready to leave. "You did promise you'd be there."
"That I did, Ino. This mission shouldn't take more than two weeks without complications, so I'll try my best to be here by then. Tō-San should already know I'm leaving, but do let Ka-San know when she returns too. Good luck!" She smiled at the soon to be graduates and waved goodbye before making her way towards the gate.
"Emiko, Shun, Kaito, thank you for coming so quickly."
"You owe Masaru and me a dinner at the fancy Akimichi sushi place." Kaito grumbled as he adjusted the straps of his backpack. "Anyway, where are we off to?"
"Northeast we aren't leaving the Land of Fire but going close to our border with the Land of Hot Water." Shizuka replied as they checked out of the gates. "Usual formation, we'll be setting a fast pace as this is time sensitive. I'll brief you on the way."
"Hai." With that, the quartet fell into formation and launched into the trees.
Days later they arrived late afternoon to the small village close to the border and established a connection with the sleeper agent.
The woman had retired from her position as a Chūnin after an injury left her with permanent nerve damage in her right arm and leg. While not useless in a combat situation she had felt she would be of better use to the village if she was used as a sleeper and having no living connections in the leaf, she was given the task of monitoring the possible security breach.
The quartet split up during dinner to scout out the area before turning in for the night. The next morning Shizuka sent the other three off to investigate while she met with their contact.
None of the woman's information was new, as she had already read the biweekly reports. What was suprising was who else was present in the area.
Excusing herself from the bar Yuki worked in as a bartender she made her way to the edge of the village and disappeared around one of the hills that surrounded the town.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu! Kei! Find Kaito, and tell him to let the others know I have a lead but need them to wait for me at the inn." Shizuka whispered to the dark grey racoon. (Summoning Jutsu)
"Hai, Shizuka-chan!" The summon quickly made its way back into the town.
'As long as she sticks to alleys no one will care, Kaito should recognise her quickly.' Standing up Shizuka focused on the signatures she had felt brush the edge of her range. 'Of all the times to appear…'
With a sigh, she launched towards where she felt the first group of shinobi were. It didn't take her long to find the small camp set up by the roots of a large tree. Settling into a little nook in the tree branches she waited for the shinobi to speak.
"Are we sure this is the place? There is nothing interesting about this town." Complained the first voice. "Why would Konoha put a sleeper agent here at all?"
"That's what we're here to find out, idiot." The second voice answered followed by a thumping sound. "Are we any closer at finding out who that shinobi is?"
"No." The third voice was sharp and this person did not elaborate any further.
"If there is a Konoha agent here then shouldn't they have called for support? If so more shinobi will arrive soon." The first person spoke up again, clearly agitated by their situation.
There were a few moments of silence before the third voice, the leader of the team probably, spoke again.
"They kill us, then the village will know they do have someone here, or at the least eyes here. If we find who those eyes are and escape alive we get the information."
"Speaking of killing, where the hell is Kazu? He was supposed to be back by now."
"You two stay here, I'll find him." The third person, a male, spoke as he stood before he disappeared in the opposite direction of where Shizuka was hidden and towards the second point she had sensed a signature from.
'They are looking for the contact, not the possible leak.' With a sigh, Shizuka pulled the shadows to her and pulled herself away before running back to the inn.
"You're back." Emiko opened the door to their room revealing Kaito and Shun around the small table. "Kaito got you dumplings."
"And that is why he is my favourite teammate." Shizuka grinned as she plopped down next to the other team four-member, eagerly accepting the small box of her favourite food. "The foreign shinobi are from Kumo, I saw a group of three in camp and they mentioned they had a fourth member."
"I'd say going on your own was stupid, but I'll assume you thought about the risk." Kaito shook his head as he too opened a box of dumplings. "So, what did you find?"
"They are after Yuki-San, but if they find her they find the leak."
"Which means if we eliminate them, Kumo will suspect a truth to the issue and return. But if we allow them to go about their attempts we risk them finding out about the leak." Shun propped his chin on his clasped hands. "How will we proceed?"
"We have a third option." Shizuka sighed putting down her chopsticks and moved to her bag, pulling out a scroll. "We can find the leak and close the entire operation."
"Do we know where to even start with that?" Emiko's eyes widened as she leant forward to see what Shizuka unsealed from the scroll. "These documents?"
"Are my notes from Yuki-San's reports. This is everything we know about the leak." Shizuka sighed before flashing through the handsigns for the summoning jutsu again. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu! Jun, sorry for calling you again so soon. I need you to run a message to Konoha for me."
Jun was a bit larger than a common racoon and his fur was a dusty red, but despite his size and the impression his fur gave he was quite lean and was Shizuka's fastest summon. She rarely had to call on him other than when she had to get messages to people quickly. He also adored Kaito for whatever reason which made for great entertainment whenever they had to interact.
"Hai, Shizuka-chan! Kaito-San, hope all is well?" He crawled around Shizuka to huddle closer to Kaito's side earning himself a pat on the head from her teammate.
Letting Kaito deal with the cuddly summon Shizuka quickly wrote a message to Inoichi and the Hokage. She added in a comment to her father in her uncle's missive figuring he'd get involved with this anyways.
Looking up she saw Shun's amused lip twitch and Emiko was biting her lip trying not to laugh, with a glance at Kaito she noticed Jun had his head on Kaito's shoulder as he received a good head scratch.
"Alright, cuddling time is over, Masa would be jealous." Shizuka laughed as Kaito threw his chopsticks at her and she offered the scroll to Jun. "You may wait there for an answer."
"Hai. Kaito-San, Shizuka-Chan, friends." With a nod to each person, Jun jumped out the window of the room and quickly disappeared from their view.
"For now we stay low, we are tourists here. We will not contact Yuki-San unless absolutely necessary. We go about this with caution, do not draw attention to yourselves."
'Well, this has gone to shit.' Shizuka groaned as she walked through the busy market pretending to look at vegetables. Looking around she met Kaito's eyes as he stood on the other side of the market stand looking at a fresh selection of fresh fruit. 'A simple two-week mission is all I wanted, that obviously couldn't be allowed to happen.'
'Three Jōnin three o'clock from you.' She signed as she tapped on pepper she was looking at. 'Send Shun after me. Find Emiko return to the inn.'
Barely glancing at him to check if he had the info and put the peppers back on the stand thanking the vendor before she walked towards the Jōnin, allowing one of them to knock into her shoulder.
"Oh, I'm very sorry, sir." With a shallow bow of her head, she turned around and continued on her way as the man waved her off. 'No sensors, they don't see me as a threat.'
She continued on her way towards where she knew the Kumo nin had set up camp. Shun caught up to her on the way and with a quick exchange of signals, he broke away from her to find a hiding spot from where he could observe from.
No sooner had she glimpsed the camp and she knew exactly why they had called for backup.
"Kazu, he's a cold-blooded killer. There is no way Uchiha Itachi would have simply let you walk away." The person she recognised was voice number one said as she changed the bandages on her teammate's arm. "What would he be doing here of all places?"
"There must be something of interest! Why would a rogue ninja come close to the position of a sleeper agent?"
"To get information." The reply was immediate. "But it can't be about the sleeper agent, sleeper agent's don't tend to have the most updated information on a village and who knows how long this one has been here."
"Exactly! He either has an informant here or something else."
"Something like a leak, possibly."
'Shit.' Shizuka stifled a groan. 'Guess we have to eliminate them after all. But now we're outnumbered.'
She felt one of Shun's kikaichū land on her finger and allowed it to crawl over her hand spelling a message.
'Your orders?'
Sighing she relayed her information to Shun: 'Eliminate these two. Spring an attack when the others return. Get Emiko and Kaito here now.'
With practised ease, Shizuka pulled herself through the shadows until she landed behind the trunk where her targets were resting. Counting down the seconds she heard Shun's bugs start buzzing, drawing the attention of the two shinobi hidden in the roots.
With their distractions, the Nara body flickered over to them and stabbed each with one of her tantōs, before she pushed their bodies towards a more hidden corner of their camp.
"Is Uchiha still in the area?" Came Shun's immediate question as he landed on the ground beside her.
"Not in my range, but I'll scout the area once we deal with the enemy. We just gave ourselves a tight schedule before the others return here."
"These were Chūnin but the backup team was definitely Jōnin. This team probably called for help when Itachi showed up."
"Probably why the fourth team member wasn't with them when you found them." He sent her a side look, "I'd expect you to be familiar with Uchiha's signature."
"I am, but I trained him how to hide when we were training together. While I've improved since then, I have no doubt he did too. Besides even if I did sense him, I wouldn't have any other option than retreat."
"Do you think he's here for the same reason we are?"
"The leak? Possibly, all the more reason for us to shut it down." Shizuka sighed as she turned to the approaching signatures. "The other two members of their team are arriving, Kaito and Emiko are on the way. So are the other three Jōnin."
"Let's end this quickly then."
Shizuka settled into the shadows of the roots and Shun retreated to a branch that had a clear view of the small camp. The first enemy arrived and went straight under the roots and into Shizuka's range.
"Michiaki, get back!" The second person yelled, already lunging forward to assist his comrade, but he was too late and Shizuka sprung from the shadow tantōs in hand, one sliding smoothly across Michiaki's throat while the other came up to block the second man's katana.
"Damn you, Konoha scum." The man spat before spinning around Shizuka's blade and jumping back to get some distance between them.
"Too late, you're surrounded." Shun's voice carried from where he stepped on the branch overhead
The man growled, his dark golden hair cut short with bangs covering his right eye. He gripped his katana harder before dashing towards Shizuka only to have her parry his strike with her blades crossed.
He clearly had the strength advantage over her as his arms started to push her down, but by now she wasn't very phased by the difference, and instead disengaged only to twist around him and strike at his back.
He spun to keep her in slightly to his side while keeping Shun in range of his peripheral vision. Too bad he did it because seconds later Kaito appeared from the direction he had his back, her teammate was quick to draw his own blade and take the open target.
"Thanks. Prepare, Jōnin incoming. Shun, Kaito you're front line now."
Kaito tossed the body of the fourth Chūnin to the side just as three Jōnin entered their line of sight.
"So Konoha did send someone after all." A tan woman with light orange hair spoke, twin katanas in hand. "Too bad you won't be a match for us."
"They are Kumo's top bounty hunter team, between the three of them they have all elements covered." Shizuka spoke calmly while keeping direct eye contact with the woman who had spoken. "Stick to the usual, don't let them out of your sight."
As soon as she finished speaking Shun launched a wave of kikaichū towards the enemy forcing them to scatter. With the enemies separated from each other, the four Konoha nin launched into their individual opponents, two enemies for Shizuka and Emiko and one for the boys.
Shizuka had to admit it wasn't a pretty fight, they were up against three Jōnin who clearly had their team strategies polished to perfection. They managed to hold their own decently but they got a myriad of cuts and bruises to show for their efforts.
The first enemy to fall was at the cost of some cracked ribs for Shizuka. While using her shadows to keep one opponent in place, the second jumped in to kick Shizuka away only to end up impaled on his comrade's blade due to Emiko's Mind Transfer Jutsu. Said Jōnin was then swiftly dispatched by Shun's kikaichū as soon as Emiko returned to her body.
The last standing Jōnin was the orange haired woman who was now rather furious at her two comrades. She charged her two blades with lightning chakra and dashed forward to strike at Shun who prepared to draw the blade strapped to his back.
Knowing he wouldn't hold off too well against a lightning charged blade, Shizuka ignored her throbbing torso and locked her own lightning charged blades with those of the older woman.
Kaito immediately backed her up and between the two of them, they pushed the woman back a few metres.
That is when she heard the first explosion.
Emiko and Shun immediately moved forward allowing her to fall behind them, her senses flaring to locate the source of the sound.
'Shit, Yuki-San has been captured. Of course, they had a fourth Jōnin on this team.' Shizuka glanced over to Kaito's fight with the woman and between the other two members of her team.
"You guys need to handle this, I'll pursue the other one."
"I can follow." Shun glanced over his shoulder at her briefly as she prepared to leave the sight.
"No." Shizuka ran through her options, "They are moving fast unless you're faster than what you've let on, you can't keep up. Besides, this woman is skilled, Kaito will need support."
"But you-"
"I'll be chasing the other Jōnin, you have the time to finish this and catch up while I engage him. Kaito is the fastest, so make sure he's in good condition to back me up."
"We can take this woman and Kaito can go with you."
"This woman is very skilled at Kenjutsu, neither of you two is specialised in close range, Kaito is your best shot right now." Shizuka quickly shot down the option. "I'm counting on you two to send Kaito after me once you defeat the woman. Good luck."
Shizuka gave them a second to nod their understanding of their orders before she launched into the tree. She heard the sound of deflected projectiles at her back and knowing her comrades had her covered she launched the pursuit of their last opponent.
As she ran Shizuka ran through all her options to engage the runaway. Yuki-San was alive, judging by her smooth chakra signature, but probably unconscious. She was confident that if she got the woman out of the enemy's hands she could protect herself enough that Shizuka could focus on her opponent without worrying too much about covering her.
She also had the option of sending the woman back to her village or to run back to meet her teammates where she would have protection and be away from the enemy.
The option was taken out of her hand just over an hour later as she finally caught a glimpse of the woman over the enemy's shoulder.
'That's a lot of blood.' Shizuka cursed and pushed her legs to move just a bit faster.
The man clearly noticed her gaining ground as he threw kunai with explosive tags backwards to throw her off course.
Dodging to the side she cursed as the man had already thrown a kunai in that direction too, having anticipated her move.
Letting herself fall under a branch instead of jumping on it, she attached her shadow to the underside of it so that she could use it to move away.
'Dammit, he's speeding up. I can't go any faster.' Pulling out her own explosive tags and kunai she planned where she was going to throw them.
From behind her target, she had to aim ahead of him, and that meant throwing it into her own path too. She had to be careful with her throws or else she would just injure herself.
Knowing this she launched two plain kunai forcing the man to dodge to the side before launching two tagged kunai as far ahead as she could with the help of wind chakra.
Keeping track of where the first one landed she counted the seconds it took for the man to reach that far ahead, before activating the tag just as the man was about to land on the tree she had hit.
"Shit!" The man lost his balance and was forced to flip mid-air to keep running, only to be forced to dodge the second explosion from a kunai that had landed to the tree just next to it.
The two explosions were useful for two reasons. The first one being that they would help her teammates find her and the second was that she gained the ground she needed to launch her next attack.
No sooner had the man landed on a new branch, Shizuka was already up behind him grabbing at Yuki's torso. With a knee to the centre of the man's back, she dragged Yuki down to the branch as the man stumbled ahead.
Not waiting for him to recover, Shizuka secured Yuki's arm over her shoulder and body flickered to another tree, putting some distance between her and the Kuno shinobi.
Normally, Shizuka avoided these types of situations where she needed to protect someone or something alone against an opponent. It put a severe limitation on what she could do, in this case, the person she had to protect was injured and unconscious so she couldn't just tell Yuki to run.
Hopefully, Kaito would be on his way by now, an hour should have been enough for him to beat his opponent, especially if he knew she would be needing backup.
Clearing her mind of what could possibly be happening on that end, she had to focus on her current predicament.
"I must admit you're fast, girlie." The scar that ran across the man's cheek pulled into a disconcerting extension of his smirk. "But this doesn't look too good for you."
Shizuka grit her teeth and pulled her tantōs, putting herself in front of Yuki so that the woman's slumped form was covered by her. Flashing handsigns she summoned Seto, a nearly all-white racoon that stood at about her size.
The man in front glared at the summon who merely blinked at him before moving to stand guard in front of Yuki-San. With that out of the way, she just needed to focus on the fight.
'I'm going to have to give the racoons so many riddles and lessons for all the summoning I've been doing...' Shizuka sighed at the thought of her contract with the racoons.
When she first summoned the creatures she was very nearly overwhelmed by the number of questions she had received. The woodland creatures loved riddles and puzzles and learning, though they didn't have a large attention span, which often frustrated Shizuka, they were clever and useful in tight spots so she couldn't complain much.
Their deal was that for every time she summoned she had to spend an hour teaching them something, or giving them puzzles and riddles to solve. In all honesty, she didn't mind her side of the deal, and it was better than having to hunt for insects to feed her summons as Masaru had to do for his bats.
With another shake of her head, she launched forward as the man pulled the naginata from his back to block her blades.
"Seto, get away from here, meet up with Kaito. He'll know what to do, find me after."
Just as opponent launched kunai with explosive tags after her summon, she flew through handsigns for a wind jutsu to knock them off course.
As the explosion shockwaves blew past, jumped to a higher branch to take cover behind the trunk of a tree.
The man made to pursue them, but Shizuka quickly put herself in his path, blades heavy with chakra leaving a deep scratch on the naginata where it connected.
The man scowled and kicked at her legs, forcing her to jump away. Shizuka knew he would try to end her quickly to run after Yuki and Seto, so she knew she just had to keep him busy for as long as she could.
Unfortunately for her, the man was in better shape. She had already been fighting against his teammates before, and she was injured. In addition to that, the man was physically stronger than her, and she could feel the reverberation of his attacks through her arms, forcing her to strain them just a bit more than usual.
She was forced to defend, keeping both blades in hand, and with the man's fast strikes, she didn't have the time to weave the handsigns for a jutsu.
She could feel her movements slowing down, her reactions just milliseconds slower than what they usually were and that ended up costing her greatly.
In a matter of seconds, Shizuka was forced to deflect several blows to her injured side and caught the man's blade with both of hers, leaving her left side exposed.
She let out a groan as the man landed a kick to the left side of her rib cage which sent her flying backwards and into the trunk of a tree. Her eyes widened as the man kicked at her wrist sending her tantō to the forest floor and rolled to avoid a stab to the chest.
She wasn't fast enough it seemed as she felt the searing pain of the lightning infused blade against her side and felt the blood drip down her torso.
Gritting her teeth she dropped her other tantō in favour of weaving handsigns as the man rushed at her to finish her off.
'Ah, he hasn't realised I'm a Nara. Should have kept my hands busy, idiot.' Shizuka launched her shadow forward just as the man entered her range.
"Kage Nui no Jutsu." (Art of Shadow Stitching)
Her opponent's gold eyes barely had time to widen as black tendrils of shadows moved to pierce his body at several vital points. His body slumped, only being held up by the shadows.
Slumping back so that her head rested on the tree behind her she spread her senses letting out a relieved sigh as she felt Kaito enter her range and Seto's signature closing in on his position.
Taking a moment to take stock of her body she then stood and walked over to the dead Kumo ninja, efficiently sealing him into a body scroll and putting it back into the pouch she had on her waist.
Once that was done she moved to lean back against the tree, keeping her senses open for any approaching signature. Once locating Seto she could have focused on him, but instead, she changed her focus to another nearby signature.
'Please don't interfere…' She sighed as she felt the signature 'brush' against hers, 'So you know I'm here then…'
She closed her eyes for a moment, paying attention to the movement of the familiar signature, but he didn't seem to be moving. She didn't realise she had spent so long observing because she inhaled sharply when she heard Seto's approach.
"Shizuka-chan are you alright?" Seto landed on her branch and looked her over, his frame towering over her form.
"I could be better, but I'll be alright once we reach safety."
"Climb on my back, you need to rest." Seto turned his back and crouched to allow Shizuka to pull herself on the summon's back. "Rest, I'll wake you when we arrive."
Shizuka hummed as she buried her head in the scruff of the racoon's neck, her eyes drooping as she made herself comfortable.
To her, it seemed as if she had just closed her eyes before she blinked her eyes open once more. Though it had clearly been longer than that as she now stood near the gates to a town at the border of the Land of Hot Springs.
"Would you like me to take you to Kaito-kun?" Seto asked as she slid off his back, wincing as she noticed the blood covering his light fur. The large racoon sighed as he noticed what she was looking at. "Worry not about that, Shizuka-chan, just go get healed."
"Thank you, Seto." Shizuka reached out with her left arm so that she could scratch the top of his snout and between his eyes. "You may go now, I can sense Kaito's location from here."
The racoon nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke as she turned to the entrance of the small little town Kaito had retreated to.
Finding her teammate was easy as he had settled into a hotel in the outskirt of the town to avoid drawing attention. Mentally thanking him for his decision she managed to navigate the back streets without encountering anyone.
'The sound of explosions would already draw attention, the sight of a bleeding shinobi would only make it worse.' As she reached the back of the inn Kaito had picked she wrinkled her nose at the rundown appearance but knew she couldn't complain considering they were supposed to keep a low profile.
She stood in the cover of the trees for a few moments and sure enough, Kaito's head appeared at one of the windows, his eyes immediately zoning in on her location before he leaned inside and opened the window a bit more.
Landing inside she focused on Yuki's still unconscious form on the bed and then proceeded to scan over Kaito for any injuries.
"I'm fine, Zuka." Kaito reached out to her and pulled her into his side. "Better than you, judging by the amount of blood on your person."
"Yeah, by ribs took a beating. Got niced in the side by a lightning-infused blade too." Shizuka sighed as Kaito took a step back to prod gently at her side. "Let me clean up and get it wrapped. Is Yuki-San alright?"
"Hai, she had a cut on her head, arm and thigh but I've cleaned and bandaged those already. Let me know if you need help with your ribs."
Shizuka offered him a smile and squeezed his arm before she moved to the small bathroom attached to the room. She didn't have any extra clothes on her person, which was slightly annoying considering her shirt, jacket and vest had been cut through, but she did have a basic first aid kit sealed in her pouch so that she could tend to her wound.
Stepping carefully into the shower she took extra care with her side that still throbbed, but clenching her teeth she pushed through until she stepped out of the shower and dried herself off, wincing as she passed over her ribcage.
"Kaito, would you mind lending me your mesh shirt? Mine is destroyed." Shizuka called quietly to the room through the small crack of the door she opened.
"Hai, do you need help with the bandages?"
"That would be nice, it kind of hurts to move torso right now." Shizuka sighed as she looked in the mirror to see her wound. "Just let me cover up first."
The blade had nicked her in the side, luckily it hadn't been deep enough to pierce her lungs but it was enough to cause her to lose enough blood to feel queasy. Not to mention the obvious signs of lightning zigzagging across her skin leaving it an angry red.
She looked at her blood-soaked sports bra and opted instead for wrapping her chest with bandages before calling Kaito into the bathroom.
"Damn, that looks awful." Kaito winced sympathetically as he offered her his under armour mesh shirt. "It will be large on you but it'll have to do. Where's your first aid kit?"
"Sink." Shizuka nodded towards the sink counter and sat on the toilet sideways as Kaito kneeled at her side.
"Remember when we asked Kouta-Sensei to help us with more advanced first aid?"
"How could I forget? It was after the mountain lion mission." Shizuka smiled as Kaitio attempted to distract her as he applied the healing salve her clan produced. "Do you need to restock on anything?"
"I used the last of my salve on Yuki-San, so I'll be sure to stop by your house when we get back."
"I'll put the order in then." Shizuka smiled as Kaito stood to get the bandages on the counter.
She sat silently as he wrapped the bandages and thanked him as he helped her stand up.
"Need help with the shirt?"
"Yeah, I don't think I can raise either arm just yet." Shizuka groaned as she moved her shoulders to test out the movement.
"Alright, let's get you to bed."
Kaito laughed as he helped manoeuvre herself into the shirt. It was rather large on her but it turned out to be convenient as it made slipping it on a bit easier.
"Ah, tomorrow, do you think we could stop at the market on the way back? I need to buy some gifts."
Kaito gave her a deadpan look but sighed and nodded at her pleading eyes.
"Fine, but we need to be quick. I sent a summon to Emiko and Shun letting them know we would be back around lunchtime while you were in the shower."
"That might be a tight time frame with mine and Yuki-san's injuries."
"I think we should be okay, though it might be after lunch with your little stop."
"I'll go first thing in the morning! I already know what I'm going to get!"
"Sleep, Zuka, we'll figure it out tomorrow." Kaito ruffled her hair and moved to sit by the window to keep watch over the two sleeping women.
The way back took more time due to their injuries but had otherwise been an easy return and they had indeed made it back early afternoon.
They met with Shun and Emiko back at the inn briefing the two as Yuki showered and changed into some clothes Emiko had gathered from her home.
"What are we going to do then? Yuki-san's cover is blown, it would be best if she stayed hidden until we clear everything up." Emiko questioned as they sat around the table in the girl's room.
"Kaito, you and I will have one last look around the village. We gather everything we can today and tomorrow, and leave first thing the day after that." Shizuka explained, her eyes darting out the window observing the sun's position in the sky. "Shun, stay here with Yuki-San, I'll rest tomorrow so don't argue with me, but I need to focus on something or else I'll drive you all insane later."
Her team sighed but didn't argue, though Kaito sent them a look saying he'll stay close to the youngest member of their team to keep her out of trouble.
Shizuka and Kaito agreed to pose as a couple in the market district while Emiko would start in a different area of the town. After putting clean clothes on they went into the bustling streets.
It was an hour later just as the pair settled into a booth at a tea house for something to eat that they heard the first real lead they had.
"So, is it true they get these supplies from a regular shipment from Konoha? None of them ever leave town, how do they know anyone from there anyway?"
Kaito and Shizuka froze from where they sat reading the menu and shot each other a suspicious look.
"Maybe someone from there came here? You heard the explosion, ninjas were in the area."
"No the stocks were low, they haven't received anything new recently. Besides, why would ninja escort a shipment of simple ornaments?"
The two men continued their conversation, although their voices were quiet the two shinobi in the booth behind theirs had been amplifying their senses in hopes of catching some type of information.
Kaito and Shizuka continued listening to the men talk, they had ended up shifting topics soon after to other rumours floating around town. As they heard the two move to stand the pair shared a nod and ordered their bill.
"An ornament shop, really?" Shizuka sighed as they stood up to walk towards the ornament shop they assumed was the one the men had talked about.
"It's always the unassuming ones." Kaito linked their arms together and smiled as a group of older ladies cooed at them. "Creepy."
Shizuka huffed out a laugh as they turned onto the main street only to freeze in place as something moved into the alley next to the shop they were heading to.
"Zuka, you alright? Is your side hurting?" Kaito was quick to step in front of her, his hands resting on her upper arms. "Zuka!"
"Hai, no." Shizuka shook her head. "I'm alright, I just can't laugh without it hurting so it took me by surprise."
"Okay…" Kaito stepped aside and turned so that they could walk into the shop.
Shizuka nudged her shoulder against his to reassure him and looked across the small shop to the worker at the counter when the bell over the door rang.
They looked over the ornaments across the shop until one thing caught Shizuka's attention. Between a couple of ceramic vases were small wooden carved figurines. A glance around the shop revealed that these were the only wooden ornaments they had.
The figurines were small fitting easily into her hand but had delicate details carved into the smooth medium dark brown wood. Each was carved into the shape of a different animal or had a drawing of different flowers scratched onto a smooth surface.
"Excuse me, this wood, it's very fragrant. I've never seen anything like it." Shizuka smiled at the woman working the counter who tilted her head at the question but didn't move to see what the Nara was holding.
"Oh, I'm not sure, I would have to ask the boss." The woman then moved towards the door that probably leads into the stock room. "I could ask him now if you wish?"
"Yes, please." Shizuka smiled sweetly as the woman moved out of the front store room. "Kaito, go hunt them down, just the boss and the girl. This is wood from the Nara forest, and I've never heard of this shop."
"Hai." Kaito followed the woman quickly while Shizuka flipped the shop sign to 'closed'.
Following behind her teammate calmly, she heard the sound of a falling body and curses. She arrived in the storeroom to see boxed tipped over and two slumped bodies with senbon stuck into their necks.
"No troubles here then?"
"Nope. Good spot with the wood."
"Ah, well I did grow up around it." Shizuka shrugged as she thumbed the small wooden lynx figurine. "They could be reselling, but even then we should know."
"Hm, we'll need to seal everything up and we have two gifts for T&I."
"I'll go get Emiko, I'll also send Shun and Yuki to come help, it'll be faster that way. We'll head home tomorrow."
"I'll keep an eye around here and start on the sealing." He pulled out a small scroll from his pouch. "Do we have enough storage scrolls?"
"I should have some in my pack. I'll bring those back with me."
Kaito nodded and proceeded to drag the slumped bodies to a corner so that he could keep an eye on them while working. Shizuka left right after to fetch the rest of her team.
Before leaving the street she gave the dark alley a look over but finding nothing she went ahead with her tasks.
"Emiko, go find Kaito and help him out at the shop. The leak has been neutralised on this end." It was easy to find Emiko as she had been closing in on the end of her section close to the market district.
"Hai, how did you find it?" Emiko let out a relieved sigh as she fell into step with Shizuka.
"We heard a rumour and checked it out. Kaito can explain when you get there, I'm going to get the others. The sooner we finish this the better."
Emiko nodded and turned to the direction Kaito was located, while Shizuka returned to their inn to get Shun and Yuki.
"Shun, Yuki-San, I'm back." Shizuka called as she slid into the girl's room finding the two playing a game of cards. "We found the leak on this end, its been taken care of, but we have some clean up to do."
"I can help if you'd like? But I'd need to borrow a storage scroll." Yuki offered as she looked up.
"That would be appreciated, thank you." Shizuka smiled as she reached into her pack and retrieved two scrolls passing one to Yuki. "Once we're done one of us can help you gather anything you need from your house, I don't think you'll be staying here."
The trio then made their way back to the ornament shop. Yuki and Shun went to the backroom to help there as most of the good were there while only a few were displayed at the front of the shop.
It took the five of them just over an hour to seal everything up and then have a look around the attached apartment on top to ensure everything had been stored.
The team went through the process of cleanup smoothly and Kaito left two lemur summons watching their prisoners in the back room to not risk any of the civilians in the area hearing about it.
"It was right under our noses the entire time!" Kaito grumbled as he rolled his shoulder once they finally left the shop.
"And the wood figurines, how did you spot those?" Emiko laughed as she nudged Shizuka's shoulder.
"They out of place amongst everything else so they caught my attention." Shizuka shrugged her hand moving to her pocket where one figurine rested as the team chuckled at her nonchalant answer.
"Yuki-San, we could go to your former house now, if you'd like?" Emiko offered as their laughter died down.
"Yes, that would be ideal, thank you." Yuki smiled at the younger shinobi. "Goodnight, boys, Shizuka-chan we'll try not to wake you."
"Thank you." The remaining three shinobi waved them off as they went inside the inn and towards their rooms.
"Goodnight, Zuka. If you need help with the wrapping just let me know." Kaito gave her shoulder a pat as he entered his room, Shun nodded at her and followed him inside.
"Hai, thank you. Goodnight boys." She smiled at them as she walked into the room she would be sharing with Emiko and Yuki for their last night in town and went straight towards the bathroom for a shower.
She took her time because of her injuries and after applying an ointment she had in her pack and rewrapping her ribs she went to lie down in bed only to startle at the sight of her pillow.
A black feather and a folded piece of paper lay right in the middle of her pillow. She grabbed the items and moved to the window scanning the town for a specific signature only to come up blank.
Opening the folded piece of paper she snorted and shook her head before placing the feather inside the voucher and putting it in the inside pocket of her vest.
'I accept your apology.' Shizuka sighed happily as she snuggled under the covers. 'It is my favourite dumpling restaurant after all.'
Back in Konoha the recently graduated generation of Ino-Shika-Chō and their families had gathered at their usual barbeque restaurant for a celebratory dinner.
The three Genin smiled and laughed as they chatted away in their booth at the back of the restaurant, but they were slightly sad that one particular person wasn't present.
"Is Shizuka not joining us for dinner?" Miku Akimichi finally asked as they all waited for the meat to be brought out.
"She was sent out on a mission three weeks ago and hasn't returned yet." Shikaku answered, catching the attention of the recent graduates.
"She said it wasn't supposed to be longer than two weeks." Ino stated, her eyes reflecting her disappointment.
"Sometimes missions go on for longer than what is estimated, missions where you are gathering information have the added time of making sure the information is good." Inoichi shrugged, "Do you think she'll be willing to finish off her time at Intel? I could use an extra set of eyes for some of the smaller cases."
"She'll probably accept, she's been enjoying her time in village more than usual lately." Yoshino smiled, sharing a teasing look with Miku and Akira who smiled brightly.
"So, little Shizuka has found herself a boyfriend?" Yamanaka Akira gushed, the three women snickering at Shikaku's scowl.
"So she does have a boyfriend?! Why hasn't she told me anything?" Ino shifted closer to her mother, "Well, who is he? Is it-"
"Now, now. This night is about you becoming Genin, not my love life." They heard a voice from just outside their booth.
All eyes focused on her, thus making them miss Shikaku's large gulp of sake and Shikamaru's wrinkled nose.
"You're here!" Ino exclaimed happily, as Shizuka slowly lowered herself to sit at her father's side, at the edge of the booth.
"I did promise, Ino-Chan." Shizuka teased as she pulled three scrolls from her pack. "I've brought gifts to celebrate your new rank. Snacks for Chōji, a bottle of the imported shampoo I use that Ino always asks for and a new strategy game for Shika."
"Thank you, Nee-San!" The three chorused, bringing amused smiles to the adults' faces.
Shizuka smiled back and melted into her seat once they looked away to talk about the other teams. She shifted around in her seat stifling a wince as she jostled some of her wounds.
"Did you just get back?" Chōza asked as he watched her carefully, having noticed her stiff posture.
"I came straight from the Hokage tower." She smiled sheepishly, ignoring her mother's pointed stare, feeling glad that her father was sitting between them.
"Anything you want to tell us?" Her mother asked slowly, her tone with the barest hint of a threat.
"I-" Shizuka started speaking but as her mother's expression morphed into a glare she slumped and relented, "I'll go for a checkup after this."
"Since when do you dislike the hospital?" Chōza raised his eyebrows in surprise at her reaction.
"Since she went out with a medic-nin who now has a little crush on her." Yoshino grinned as the women cooed and the others held in their snorts as Shizuka's expression melted into a pout.
"You can't forget that Asami-San has caught on to her team's attempts at setting her up with Kouta-San so she's been intense, whenever one of the three shows up on her shifts."
The group laughed as Shizuka slumped into her father's side until their food arrived. They ordered an extra portion for her as she had arrived late and started eating exchanging small talk, much like the time she had graduated.
After dinner, the three families left the restaurant to their own homes. Yoshino and Shikamaru went home while Shikaku went with Shizuka to the hospital to have her wounds tended to.
The father-daughter duo walked together towards the hospital slowly as Shizuka was starting to feel the effect of her mission.
"So, is there a particular reason ANBU is on alert right now?" Shizuka glanced up at her father with an expectant look as she felt another ANBU on standby.
"We had a little issue with security." Her father replied his lip twitching, into a smile or a frown she couldn't really tell. "Issue has been solved, they are just on alert because it's only been a few hours since."
Shizuka watched him for another moment as he looked ahead. Figuring that he wouldn't elaborate she shrugged and proceeded to watch the quiet street they were walking through.
The streets were silent and not as full as they would be on a regular night, she could only assume it was because of the breach. Making a note to ask Masaru whenever she met up with him she moved on to the next relevant topic.
"There was a security breach, kind of. The village had a contact that received information from inside the village and then sold that to anyone who would listen." Shizuka sighed as she felt her father tense, "Contact has been disposed and we have some names to follow up, but the sleeper agent cover was blown."
"Troublesome." Shikaku pinched the bridge of his nose before looking down at his daughter. "And your injuries?"
"Kumo. Two teams, a Chūnin team sent to investigate the rumour of a leak and a Jōnin team for backup."
"Backup? Your team got found out? Why didn't your message say so?" Shikaku's tone held a bit of a surprise.
"Nope, Uchiha Itachi injured one of the Chūnin who called for backup."
"Shizuka…" His tone took on a slightly warning tone and his voice lowered to a whisper. "You're going to have to write one hell of a report."
"He didn't interfere at all, he was in the area and injured the Chūnin who assumed he was there for the leak." Shizuka whispered as they entered the street to the hospital. "I can't say I didn't sense him, but I definitely didn't confront him. I'm not stupid."
"What happened then, if you weren't found out how did the fight break out."
"We were lucky, took them down in smaller units, but one Jōnin captured Yuki-San and I pursued. I already had cracked ribs and in the last confrontation I got stabbed with a lightning infused blade."
"You pursued alone? Knowing a dangerous missing nin was in the area? You should know better."
"I was the only one able to keep up." Shizuka explained as her father gestured for a medic nin to check her over. "I just-"
"I heard that you would be stopping by." Asami interrupted as she approached the duo from behind Shizuka.
The young Nara didn't have to turn to know the woman had a scowl on her face.
"Your team came in a few hours ago and kindly informed what your injuries were. Get in the room, I'll have a look."
"But-"
"Get. In. The. Room." Asami started herding her into one of the checkup rooms, and Shizuka only sent her father a look when he sat in a chair in the little waiting hall.
"You better have your wound wrapped properly at least." Asami called as she bustled to the counter to fetch the materials she would need, allowing Shizuka to remove her vest and expose the wrapped bandages.
"Yes, Asami-San." Settling into the checkup bed she let her legs dangle off the edge. "Have you seen Kouta-Sensei lately?"
"As if you don't know." Asami gumbled as she loosened the bandages to see what she was working with.
"Know what?" Shizuka's eyes widened and she grinned over her shoulder at Asami placed her hands on her back, the soothing healing chakra seeping into her body. "Did he ask you out?"
"I'm not talking about this with you."
"We didn't tell him to ask you out! If he did it was all his idea!" Shizuka defended, glancing over her shoulder as she watched Asami focus on her ribs. "We've only set up for you to run into each other, I promise."
"And that is meddling enough." Asami pinched the back of her arm before she moved around the bed to have better access to the stab wound.
A few minutes if silence passed as the blond continued her job and Shizuka allowed the medic to work.
"This might be a bother for a few days. It'll definitely scar."
"I figured. And my ribs?"
"Broken, I've healed them but they are still bruised." Asami gave her head a pat as the girl frowned. "Chakra bothering you?"
"Sensitivity sucks." Shizuka sniffed as the healing chakra faded. "It's more the feeling of foreign chakra in my body that throws me off, its disorienting."
"Any nausea?"
"No more than the usual when healing."
"Alright, I've healed the most of it, no training for the next few days. I'll give you some medication for pain to get you through the next few days. Feel free to start light training when those are done."
Asami explained as she helped Shizuka wrap her torso in new bandages before moving back to the counter. As she collected the medication she had mentioned Shizuka went about putting her shirt and vest back on.
"Here you go." Handing the Tokujō the pills she watched as the girl put them in a pocket in her vest. "Take it easy, alright? And that doesn't mean you should have time to meddle with your Sensei's personal life."
"Thank you, Asami-San. Goodnight." Shizuka smiled and bowed her head at the woman as she left the room before walking towards her father who seemed to be sleeping in the hospital chair. "Tō-San, I'm done, let's go home."
"Hai." Shikaku sighed as he stood from the uncomfortable chair before wrapping an arm around his daughter's shoulder and giving it a light squeeze. "Next time, hospital first, social event later."
"But Shika-"
"Would have understood." He gave her another squeeze before dropping his arm from her shoulders and linking it with her own arm. "Now, tomorrow I want you to go to the Hokage's office with me and you will give a detailed oral report so that we can get started on the investigation before your written report."
"Alright, I'm assuming you'll call in Inoichi-Oji and Ibiki-San?" She asked as they walked outside into the fresh air.
"Hai, you won't be able to sleep in even if it is a day off, so I'll be sure to wake you, but you can head home after that, I'm sure Inoichi won't have any urgent news for you."
"What will happen then?"
"If there is a mole in the village this will be kept very quiet, we will have to reevaluate a couple of events and so on depending on what we find. A task force might be launched depending on the scale."
"So a nightmare for administration and intelligence."
"Pretty much." Shikaku shrugged, it wasn't a first for him and it was unlikely to be the last so he knew not to make assumptions just yet. "About your other guest appearance, did he have any contact with anyone in the village?"
"No, if he did it was before we arrived." Shizuka said slowly, her eyes and tongue feeling heavy.
"Alright, I'll have more questions tomorrow, but you're starting to slur your words so the medication is probably kicking in." Shikaku's lips twitched into a smile as Shizuka leaned her head on his arm after tripping over her feet. "Come on, little fawn, we're almost home."
"You haven't called me that in years." Shizuka mumbled as she allowed her father to guide her towards their house, using his arm to steady herself.
Shikaku hummed as he felt Shizuka lean more of her weight on to his side, letting the rest of their walk continue to the fading sounds from the village nightlife.
/AN\
Replying to comments!
Candice:
Again thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying the story!
I enjoy writing their interactions so I'm excited for the following chapters :D Shikamaru and Shikaku are also fun to write.
Yup! I could have dragged the mission on for several chapters, but I didn't think the actual mission would add much more to where I'm planning on taking this story so it was more of a way to build Shizuka's reputation.
KooraX:
Thank you! I agree, Genma needs more love XD I can't wait to write more about them, I do enjoy their dynamics.
She's still short for her age, so people would assume she's younger than what she is on the streets, so "cute" looks.
Her mask is not a squirrel, but you're on the right track!
CassieInTheDark:
Thank you! I'm definitely happy with how the chapter developed.
prankster-at-heart
Thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying!
Nope, that's not the right answer. The next chapter has the last few clues before the answer is revealed in chapter 31 :)
Thanks for the comments! Looking forward to reading your responses!
xx
