Authors note -
We're buying a house - it's coming together and it's so exciting!
Also, who else is playing monster hunter? It's amazing; i love a game that you can just jump into for an hour or two, don't you :)
Also, just for our new readers, I'm on twitter as Oraeliaa, I do tweet on there about the story, and retweet stuff - you can also message me there and it's a good way to find out if i'm ill/in another place/unable to post ect, and I just like talking to people so feel free to HMU!
Satoru walked through the chilled corridors, taking comfort in the familiarity of it all. These cold, rotting walls were nothing compared to the riches he'd grown up with, and a shocking contrast to how he knew they looked many hundreds of years before. It had always felt fitting to him, to bring these people here, to take something crumbling and ruined and revisit it into his success.
And he would be successful.
Everything was aligning exactly as he wished; the pieces falling into place perfectly.
They say that the culprit always returns to the scene of the crime, but really; returning, in this case was the best possible course of action. He knew that he was a creature of habit, he liked things to be just so. It would have taken so long to take everything out of this ruin and move it elsewhere - so many hours and so much wasted money. When Hayami broke out, taking the others with her, she hadn't thought to travel further underground, racing straight upwards towards the sun.
Stupid.
He smirked, pausing at the combination door. He'd taken the redheaded boy as bait; knowing it would lure her to him - and he'd happily admit that he'd hoped to make a profit by selling the ninja on afterwards; and hadn't expected them to escape. But they hadn't travelled further than they had to, hadn't taken the time to find as much out as they could - and that would leave them at a serious disadvantage now.
Scuffling and dragging echoed behind him and he span the door lock, opening it and gesturing for his people to follow. And they were his people, he'd made sure of that after Takayuki's little...mutiny. He ruled absolute, and had been enforcing that with a particular passion and drive as of late. This area was special, and secret. And not letting Takayuki in on it was turning out to be the best choice he'd ever made. If anyone wondered why he was barely in the camp anymore, they didn't ask - the last time someone tried, he beat them so severely that he was never asked again. Takayuki was too compliant to push, and Satoru was glad for that, knowing that if the young man had continued to push he may have very well been tempted to test him, to see if he could be let in on this secret.
A secret which he no doubt would have already divulged to his new friends…
"The strange thing, about running business of people, is that people don't tend to query where you get your merchandise. Sure, about 20% you kidnap, and break, and sell. That's what people expect" He said, talking merrily at the beaten figure being dragged in by two of his men.
Trusted men.
Expendable men.
"And there's the 40 to 50%, that you buy. Trained workers, trained slaves, trained gladiators, used to getting a crowd riled up and ready for blood. They live above ground, work as mercenaries within my band. You don't need to worry too much about them as long as you do as you're told"
They paused, and he slid the key into the lock, twisting and opening the cell door.
"This is your new home" he spoke clearly, gesturing for the two men to throw him within. "A doctor will be through soon to fix you up. You will make up the final 30%. Your family have a strong genetic line, do you know that?"
"I...um"
"No, I suppose you don't. Or maybe you do, I don't care. What you're going to do for me, is give me your DNA. I will sell your children to those who wish to raise children with strong bloodline abilities, raise them to fight within my arena, as my father did before me, or if you fail to prove your worth; throw you in the ring myself"
The figure coughed, blood splattering outwards. Satoru sighed, wiping the tip of his shoe against the fabric on the back of his opposite leg.
"Do you know how to fight?"
The figure answered. "I'm a ninja"
"Perfect, lets see if you can work for your freedom, perhaps up to the upper levels".
He leaned forwards, resting his palm against the shoulder of the prisoner, and released a quick burst of electric chakra; causing him to convulse until he collapsed. "All of you, clean your new cellmate up. Inspection in 10".
The corridor was long as he returned down it's length, and filled with the noise of the hundreds of prisoners that lived down here as they rushed to become inspection ready. Men, women, children. They all belonged to him, their offspring belonged to him, and he'd use them to get his revenge soon enough.
The stairs were well hidden, and tight. They came upwards into the dungeon, and he paused momentarily before the cell that contained his little traitor.
He'd kill her soon enough.
The shelter had been taken down much more easily than it had gone up, and although they'd lost three ropes in the night from the wind, they'd thankfully stayed in the air. Especially as they realised the following morning that the measurement had been distorted lightly by a droplet of rain, and it should have been 3ft off the floor, not more than 6.
It would have been both shocking and painful had they fallen.
"Sensei, why were we even taking gems to a mine? Surely they come from the mine?" Lee asked as they walked ahead, wet coats cold and uncomfortable against their matching jumpsuits.
"I'm not sure, you'll have to ask him when we go to let him know it got there safely"
"I will do! When we get home, how do you want to switch up our training?"
Behind the two, Neji and Tenten once again walked a few paces behind, laughing as their sensei and friends conversation got more and more animated. Every so often, Neji's hand bumped her own, and Tenten had gone from ignoring it to seriously considering giving him a sideways glance. She allowed the action for now though, curious where it was going if it was intentional.
She'd had him on the brain since the night before anyway, or more so, his words. Though she did have to admit they'd come from perfectly formed lips. Finally, after considering it for the entire morning and quite a bit of their continued downhill trec, she spoke. "What did you mean last night, about Inoki-sama being missing-nin?"
"She isn't missing nin" he stated, and she wanted to groan at his lack of continued explanation.
"I know that. What did you mean about the gossip you heard. I want to know more"
"Oh. I overheard two of the main house members talking, and they said she was dangerous, that she had dangerous connections and went to unfavourable sources for information and resources"
"Like who?"
"I don't know, they didn't say any names"
"Urgh that's not helpful!"
"...sorry"
She tutted. "No, no, not your fault. I'm interested though, I mean can you imagine it?"
"I can imagine it. People use people, it's what happens"
Tenten pulled a face at his matter-of-fact words. "Grim, Neji. I mean knowing though, that you were given to your sensei to stop them going rogue"
"Maybe they don't know" he suggested
"They have to know! I can't imagine them not knowing, they're too close to her"
He was quiet for a few moments before answering "Then maybe they just don't mind. Or maybe it's not true"
"I guess…there is another thing though"
It was neji's turn to look at her now, wondering where she was going with that sentence, and in such a quiet tone. "What?"
"What if they're all rogue? What if they're in on it, that they know all the rogue ninja in our bingo books and are in on it themselves?"
He looked at her for a second in disbelief before she couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing. "I'm joking Neji! Honestly, can you imagine Hayami doing literally anything bad?"
They laughed together for a second, and he scuffed his foot slightly against the sodden earth as he thought over what he wanted to do, internally grimacing as the mud splattered up his once pristine white trousers. He wanted to just ask her, he knew it would be easy. Gai and Lee were out of earshot, they were laughing together...He took in a deep yet shallow breath, steeling himself to ask .
And was interrupted by a sudden torrent of rain. Tenten screamed in shock, and their eyes met. Should he ask her now? Wasn't rain supposed to be romantic?
"Tenten?"
She looked at him through her already sodden fringe. "What?" she all but snapped "Urgh, i'm sorry, but can you believe this rain?"
"I…"
"Spit it out Neji! I'm getting soaked here"
He shook his head. "It doesn't matter"
She looked at him, obviously confused. "Alright...let's run and catch up with the others. I can't wait to get home and have a hot bath"
They got to the town in record time, passing along the confirmation of a completed mission.
"Fantastic" the site manager whined, clapping as he stood from his desk and towards the safe to the rear of the office. "The rain didn't slow you down too much?"
Gai shook his head. "Nothing my team couldn't handle"
"Wonderful. We've had so many teams fail through terrain problems; it's why we have to put this through as a B class mission. I do have to ask though, your team don't normally do B class". He sat back down at the desk. "Why the change?"
"You've done your research" Neji interrupted, not sure why the man's words made him so uncomfortable.
"You've just carried a perfect example gem up to my mine; I had to know I trusted you not to steal it or be defeated if you were attacked. I'll call on you next time, if you're still wanting to pick up short term missions"
Tenten quickly spoke before the others could stick their feet in it. "That would be wonderful, thank you so much". She stuck her hand out for the scroll, and promptly dragged the others from the room and back into the pouring rain. "Let's get back to Konoha, people. I've got a hot springs trip with Hayami to look forward to before we go to the festival; and i'd like to get out of this troublesome rain"
Lee laughed, "You sound like Shikamaru!"
She slugged forwards, purposefully slouching and shoving her hands in her pockets. "Everything is bothersome, i'm so smart"; and the others snorted. She span, eyeing Gai up. "What are you wearing to the festival Gai?"
"Oh. I don't know, is this not alright?" he asked gesturing to his usual jumpsuit.
Lee and Tenten spoke at once. "Of course it is!" "Not in the slightest".
The older man looked towards the three. Lee looked positive, Tenten looked horrified, and Neji mainly just looked amused, nodding before joining in the discussion. "You need a yukata"
Gai laughed. "Okay, okay, I need a yukata. I'll buy one. Will you help me pick one?"
The three nodded. Tenten mimiced his signature thumbs up - "I'll find out what colour Hayami's wearing so you won't clash"
Gai nodded before bowing dramatically. "Thankyou!"
"What are you going to tell him then?"
Hayami looked up, eyeing Jun over her breakfast congee. "Pardon?"
"When you leave, after the festival? What are you going to tell Gai?"
She groaned, shaking her head. She was being honest, she had absolutely no idea where to even begin telling him everything she'd need to, in order to explain...well...any of this. "I have no idea"
He contemplated her for a few moments, watching as she continued to delicately ate the soft rice. "Well, as I see it, you have two options"
"Go on"
"You tell him the truth, or you lie"
She pushed the food away, suddenly losing her appetite. Honestly, the anxiety surrounding this had been killing her. He pushed it back towards her. "Eat, you're still too thin. I'll slice you some persimmon to go alongside". He stood from the table and headed towards the fridge, turning back and gesturing when he realised he couldn't hear the sound of her spoon in the bowl.
"I can't tell him the truth, but I don't want to lie"
"You're going for the half truth then? Sticking with 'we're going to see my uncle'?"
"I suppose so, what other options do I have? Really? 'Bye Gai, see you in a couple of months, going to hang out with some enemies of Konoha!"
"I mean I'd go with different wording perhaps, perhaps a little more explanation"
She pushed the bowl away again and he shook his head, replacing the half eaten rice with the sweet, sliced fruit. "I heard you throwing up again this morning"
"It's not happening every day anymore, just the odd morning. It's the pain medication I guess"
He hummed. "How is your arm?"
She nodded, smiling tensely "Getting there. Looking forward to having these pins out"
"Then you better eat so I can get you to the hospital. You heard Shizune, one final check and if she's happy with it today they'll take them out"
Hayami nodded, shoving the fruit into her mouth in an attempt to please him. She honestly couldn't wait for this thing to be off, to be able to wear normal clothes again, to be able to use both of her arms without pain again.
...To be able to stop taking the nauseating pain killers as soon as humanly possible. Jun smiled into his coffee as the small woman rushed around the house like an excited teen. Whatever she went with, he couldn't imagine Gai minding much, as sickening as they were together.