Note: Happy Holidays all!
Chapter 52: How the Konoha Men Got There…
Despite the fact that Jiraiya and Kakashi were the highest ranked members of the group, Hyuga Neji was the obvious leader of the collective members currently, and asserted himself as such with every single movement of his body.
It had taken a while for the group to prepare and leave Konoha, but now that they were on their way they were making good time. This was due to Neji's influence, as he was not tolerating any misstep, though he ignored the others speaking for most of the actual trip.
Even though Jiraiya had come up with the basic plan, it was very clear that on this mission Neji was the leader. Perhaps it was because he had forced his way to the front and was keeping the group going. It wasn't the simplest of feats either considering the collection of people present.
Shikamaru, being something of a captive as far as he saw it, was grumbling about having to go along while being dragged off by Kiba and Akamaru. Kiba himself didn't have an especially good reason for joining the group in the first place, at least not one that he'd admit to easily. So, for looks sake he ended up using most of his energy arguing with Naruto and rotating turns dragging Shikamaru towards the village.
Naruto, being as impatient and brash as usual, argued back with Kiba the whole time, as Hinata who tried to play peacemaker, was soundly ignored. Shino, who normally might have tried to help was too distracted by his own personal issues. In fact his mood was clearly demonstrated through his bugs, most of who were hovering ominously over a sulky yet determined Lee.
Lee clearly had the worst of it, due to the situation. Not only was he feeling guilty about the situation (and slightly nervous about Shino and bugs), but also Neji was more contemptuous in his avoidance of him. Neji was the king of contempt when he was angry, sometimes Lee felt as if he would actually turn into ice from the coldness of the Hyuga glare. Lee was still shivering from the last one that he had gotten that morning upon their departure. Needless to say, Lee was glad that Neji was mainly distracted by the mission, otherwise he probably wouldn't have survived long enough to go up against his Hyuga rival in the future when he might be more equipped to handle it.
After a few hours of travel the group was nearing the village, around the same time that Neji was losing what little patience he had left.
"Kiba that's crazy, there is no way that dragging Shikamaru for a few hours is as bad as being caught in between a Sakura-Ino fight." Naruto huffed, still fighting with Kiba despite hours of travel.
"I disagree, I think being in between hot girls in a catfight is ten times better than hauling Nara's lazy butt around. Besides that I don't even know how I got involved in this." Kiba commented.
"If you don't even know why you're going why are you dragging me along? I've been telling you guys I'm not going to be of any help in this situation at all and yet everyone insists on getting me involved." Shikamaru commented.
"We don't need you willing or compliant; you are going to serve as bait for Senju Rinku. That is all." Neji stated firmly.
"Meaning?" Shika asked.
"Meaning, if I literally have to throw you at the masochist I will." Neji answered.
"This whole situation is such a drag, I think I'm even beginning to miss Temari. At least she didn't get me involved in this level of drama and hassle. She never jumped me either…well at least not in a bed."
Kiba snorted,
"You wish she would. Everyone knows that the Nara men are whipped. It's in your genes Shikamaru you can't escape it."
"Oh kind of like how your family can't escape fleas Inuzuka?" Shikamaru shot back.
Kiba and Akamaru growled,
"Don't you dare talk about my family Nara."
"Just giving you a taste of your own medicine Inuzuka. You don't talk about my family negatively and I won't do it to you."
"Fine!" Kiba said yanking his charge up hard before throwing him back down to the ground and moving again, this time aiming for rocky areas instead of avoiding them.
"You're so childish Kiba." Shikamaru said with a frown. Kiba luckily ignored this, seeking his revenge through his trek.
"All of you had better act more mature once we get to the village, otherwise you won't be viewed as guests." Jiraiya warned, knowing a thing or two about the village himself.
"If anyone ruins our entrance into the village I will personally destroy him." Neji threatened making sure to give an icy stare to every member of the group, including Kakashi and Jiraiya just in case.
"And speaking of entrances," Jiraiya began as he pointed into the distance, "looks like we're almost there."
Upon hearing this Neji immediately confirmed this fact with his Byakugan. Scanning the area for possible points he was surprised to find that there were no open areas. A wall was built surrounding the entire village and was rather high up at that. Behind the tall wall there was about twelve feet of what seemed to be random space, where periodically a woman walked or paced up and down on the inside; leading up to a second inside wall which was also made of some kind of metal, though this kind was a lot stronger. Oddly, however, on the our side of the village there were two sets of "entrance" guards, in a position much like Kotetsu and Izumo of Konoha. On the left side of the village there were two male guards and on the right side two females.
Neji tilted his head curiously as his Byakugan couldn't seem to penetrate the second metal wall into the village for some reason,
"That's odd."
"What do you see?" Kakashi asked curiously. Pulling down his Hitai-ate and surveying the area with his Sharingan.
"There is an outer wall with two sets of guards posted on either side, then inside there seems to be random walking space leading to a heavier and obviously chakra infused wall on the inside that I can't see past. What confuses me most though is that there is no visible entrance or exit as far as I can see, and no opening through the second gate of any kind. We are certainly going to have to use the guards to get in through the gates." Neji commented, both impressed and a little unhappy in case Raiku told the guards not to allow the Hyuga in for some reason. It would prove difficult to sneak in to such a location.
"Konoha should have such a well hidden entrance, for a hidden village we are too accessible." Shino commented as Jiraiya pointed to the left side,
"Don't worry about the entrance the guards will get you in one way or another. I've been here before so I'll do the talking, if talking is necessary, with the guards. Speaking of which, since the majority of the group is male I strongly recommend that we go left. Male guards in the Amazon village are much more likely to be accommodating to us than females."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kiba questioned sniffing the air around him to get his bearings.
"Let me put it to you this way, Senju Raiku has an awful lot of influence in this village." Jiraiya commented, with a small grin to himself, as he headed to the left of the village.
"Of course she does, she is ninja royalty after all." Neji stated, nose elevated into the air, despite the fact that he had nothing to do with that, nor was he personally related to her in any way.
"Oh, I think you'll eventually find out that there is a lot more to it than that." Jiraiya let out with a sly, sneaky smile, and a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.
Kakashi and Neji both raised a brow at that, and Shikamaru took off from his moaning, groaning, and laying to inspect Jiraiya's facial features, just as Kiba was putting Shikamaru on to Akamaru since it was the dogs turn to carry the Nara carcass. Shino, who currently wasn't very concerned about such matters, pressed on, forcing the rest of the group to speed up. After all no one wanted Shino to end up doing the speaking for them, or dealing with the social aspect of any mission. Because of this, Jiraiya and company quickly found themselves face to face with the Amazon village counterparts of Kotetsu and Izumo.
The two-chunin level looking Ninjas sat behind a large table in a booth, watching as the group neared the village. Shikamaru, being an analytical person by nature, sat up on Akamaru, to survey the two curiously, though truth be told he believed that there was a chance that the group might have to fight the two guards to enter the village. Though that wasn't a very appealing option considering the fact that neither Neji, who was equipped with the Byakuga, nor Jiriaya, who had already been to the Amazon Village, knew where the entrance was. It was enough for Shikamaru to almost wish that Ino was along for the ride, to trick the other guard into talking if necessary. Almost.
Well anyway, Shikamaru decided to concentrate on the Chunin at hand. The first Chunin was a Choji-eque sized ninja, in height and width, with cropped brown hair and oddly innocent looking eyes considering his job description. The energy that he seemed to be giving off was a comical mix of stress, impatience, tiredness, and a tinge of sardonic humor. Like all of the Amazon village members that Shikamaru had met so far, he seemed to just be different. It was hard to put into words what the exact difference about him was, but a part of it could be demonstrated by the fact that instead of playing a card game with his partner, he was playing solitaire as well as carefully eyeing the group. Another oddity was that although he was clearly a guard and Chunin, he was wearing a nametag that read: "Bin." Generally, ninjas attempted to remain inconspicuous, however that did not seem to be the case for Bin, or his gate partner.
The second guy, whose nametag read: "Michi" was rather on the thin side, though he was just about as tall as his guarding partner. He had the same brown hair, although his was much shorter, and brown eyes as well. His energy seemed to be much more fast paced. Clearly he was bored with his current job and seemed to find any distraction to be a good one,
"Hello there newcomers! Welcome to the Amazon Village Left Guarding Post. My name is Michi and that guy over there is Bin," the second guard said as he walked around to the front of the table, outside of the booth, and made his bows in polite fashion, "what can I help you with? You know besides any possible threats you might be trying to make on the village and all."
The first ninja, Bin, sighed as he flipped another card over,
"Geez Michi, while you're giving away so much information to the random strangers why don't you just show them the entrance to the council building? Or better yet, give them a guided tour of the Senju property since you're clearly determined to get us in to trouble."
Michi rolled his eyes impatiently at his friend,
"Oh get over yourself Bin, this job is so boring that we need to spice it up every once in a while. If they are enemy ninja we call for the Senju's and get some entertainment at least, if they are guests then we send them in and get credit for welcoming them in a friendly manner. Speaking of which, hey Sannin Jiraiya-sensei-domo."
"Please stop talking," Bin said to Michi while waving to Jiraiya, who waved back to both of them, "you are always welcome to our village due to your relation, or lack thereof if you ask me, to the Senju's Jiraiya-domo."
Having said that Bin clipped a clearance pass on to Jiraiya before moving on, while Michi pulled out a large box from under the table, and began to set it on top. Bin continued, this time pointing at the two Hyuga's,
"Women may always seek refuge, training, employment, or citizenship here so you two are in." He handed both Hinata and Neji clearance passes but Neji refused it, wrinkling his nose in distaste,
"My name is Hyuga Neji and I am clearly not a woman, as assuredly as you are clearly blind." Neji said in his cold, angry voice, which was deep enough to prove this face if his appearance was not.
Bin did a double take as he pulled back the clearance pass, while Kiba and Naruto snickered to themselves in the corner, resisting the urge to laugh outright. Hinata merely put her badge on her shirt as she shifted her "scarecrow doll".
"Sorry about that, but your hair is not exactly regulation for a guy…" Bin commented putting his hand out towards Michi, who handed over a ruler, which Bin used to measure Neji's hair length.
"Nope, way over regulation, you're going to have a tough time of it if you try to walk around the village with that hair length let me tell you. That's if you manage to get in of course. It's hard enough for you to get clearance as an unknown male, but to be off regulation too…well let's just say I hope you have proof of intimately knowing someone very high up in this village. Oh, speaking of which, Jiraiya you know that you're only allowed three regulation visitors with your clearance level right? Which one of these guys are you allowing in?"
Neji's eyebrows narrowed,
"This is an outrage. Don't you recognize my eyes Chunin, I am a Hyuga. Not only that but I'm a Jonin in the Land of Fire and therefore your superior, who should be able to have full clearance in any area within the Land of Fire. How dare you deny me entrance into-" Neji started self righteously, but was cut off by Jiraiya,
"Ah my picks, well if I get three regulation I suppose I'll put Kakashi, Lee, and Shino on mine." Jiraiya said as Naruto leaned up to whisper in his ear,
"Hey Pervy Sage, should I do my Sexy Jitsu to fool them into thinking that I'm a girl to get in?"
Jiraiya shook his head as he concealed taking off Raiku Senju's necklace from Naruto, leaving only Tsunade's good luck charm in place,
"No need Naruto, your name should cover it by now for this village, but if not flash the good luck charm Tsunade gave to you and you should be cleared for yourself and about two more people."
"Oh okay," Naruto said grinning as he fixed his Hitai-ate and faced the guards, "my name is Uzumaki Naruto, does that mean anything to you guys or should I show you Grandma Tsunade's gift?"
Bin and Michi both flashed wide eyes at the boy before nodding,
"Your Raiku-hime's new adoptee, we were informed that you have an open invitation. Your security pass is good for you and two regulation friends." Bin explained.
"Feudal lord preserve us the ninetails in the flesh. Hmm he looks more innocent then I assumed he would." Michi said to Bin, which Bin, thankfully ignored so as not to initiate a fight.
"Naruto chooses Kiba and Shikamaru for his pass." Jiraiya commented pointing to those two members, who quickly received their passes from Michi.
When that was done Bin pointed to Neji, the remaining member of the group to not be cleared and asked Jiraiya,
"What are you doing about this guy? Michi and I could pretend that we believed that he was a girl and let him in, but he doesn't seem likely to appreciate that sacrifice."
"Who him?" Jiraiya feigned asking as he pointed at Neji, the only remaining, non-cleared member of the group, "he's a special case to be sure."
Having said that, Jiraiya pretended to pat Neji's arm when actually he used the movement to pass Neji Raiku's necklace. For a few seconds, Neji cupped the piece of jewelry in his hand trying to figure out why Jiraiya had given him this.
Luckily, Neji was a genius and thus a quick thinker and learner. So he smirked slightly as he said,
"Well actually I am Senju Raiku's future husband."
Michi and Bin paused for a moment before both of them suddenly started to laugh. They laughed for a while before Michi gasped in enough air to say,
"You-you-your funny. Did you ever consider a career in standup comedy?" Michi asked before laughing again.
"Do you even have the slightest proof that the nearly impossible thing that you are saying is even slightly plausible?" Bin asked as the laughter in voice began to abate.
Neji's eyes locked on to both guards before holding up the Senju Raiku necklace as Bin's eyes widened in awe as Michi said,
"It has to be a fake."
"There's just no way…" Bin commented as he eyed the necklace suspiciously.
"Although it would explain the teams sudden re-appearance mid-mission." Michi considered, easily swayed by the means of sudden excitement, gossip, and entertainment.
"You do have a point, but Raiku-hime would have to be awfully drunk to agree to marriage, and she doesn't even drink."
"Hmm good point," Michi said before looking over at Neji, "How did you get her drunk? Was she a funny drunk? You know I've always wondered how she would be with a bit too much sake in her. I mean could you imagine if she were all mellow and different?"
Bin ignored these last questions of Michi's in order to get to business,
"Hyuga-san please, allow me to inspect the jewelry in question."
Neji handed over the necklace and Bin checked it over, especially for Raiku's signature chakra. It was clearly hers though as Bin felt her signature chakra flowing throughout the piece from years of use, including her first activation of chakra into it. Not to mention the Senju ancestors chakra.
"It's hers alright." Bin said astounded.
"We clearly need to visit Konoha and get some sake, it must be some miracle stuff." Michi commented also in awe.
Bin shook his head,
"I just can't believe it."
"Well I don't know about you Bin but fiancé or not we have to let this guy in just to see the look on Raiku-hime's face at the accusation." Michi put in.
"I quite agree," Bin said, putting away his deck of cards, "worst case scenario we can't get in trouble, all of these guys are cleared."
Michi quickly handed Neji a clearance pass, while Bin handed back the Raiku necklace. Feeling especially bold, and quite frankly prepared and ready for a verbal spar with Raiku, the Hyuga had been somewhat surprised that he had missed that type of interaction with her considering the fact that generally he detested weakness, emotions, and unnecessary arguments. But somehow with Raiku it was different.
"Alright then all that's left to do for the time being is blindfold you, disorient you, and lead you to the inside of the village." Michi stated with a smile, as if such things were simple and easy.
"What were those first two things again?" Kiba questioned, eyebrows quirked.
Michi was about to repeat himself when Akamaru began to bark suddenly disrupting his next statement as Kiba looked down to find out what was wrong. He didn't end up needing to ask because quite suddenly what appeared to be a small young man came bursting out of the outside gate, heading at a ridiculous neck braking speed, passed the group and into the forest area behind them.
Though the Konoha ninjas were suddenly on edge, the male guards seemed to be rather unfazed by the disturbance. Both guards were clearly annoyed as Bin asked Michi with a sigh,
"Was that Jun again?"
"Yeah, looked like him to me. Timings about right anyway, the Senju girls are back in the village and they are supposed to be having dinner at Mitsuwa Restaurant. Jun is…or rather was, a waiter there." Michi informed.
"Yeah, poor guy can't catch a break can he? Although I'm a bit surprised that he's still alive to be honest. He's a lightweight." Bin continued.
"Hmm yeah, I'm still trying to figure out why he went out to be a ninja in the first place. He's obviously not made for it; mentally, physically, or emotionally. His chakra is even low. He doesn't have any of the qualifications."
"It probably had something to do with being bullied or some such. He clearly is the type."
"That would explain why he quit come to think of it. Senju bullying is on a whole different level from other bullying," Michi commented making a pained face, "not that I usually have to deal with such things considering our position and friendship with her."
"I dare you to say that to Raiku-hime." Bin commented.
"Do I look suicidal to you? The woman hates bullying, or at least what she believes that bullying is anyway. Which she explained to me before…um she said something, something, something, something about the weak…or something." Michi tried to explain.
"You clearly were paying very close attention to her reasoning."
"I pay attention to some words, enough not to get hit anyway."
"Hmmm yeah…so should we do something about the Jun situation or pretend we were gone before that?" Bin asked.
"Do you want to survive in this village? Clearly, so we stick to our general plan to feign ignorance. So the plan is that we say Jun's brief escape must have happened during the shift change while we were escorting the visitors in." Michi suggested.
"Yeah you're probably right. Besides we should let Jun enjoy his small taste of freedom. It's not like he's going to get away. The others will get him and haul him back to the village."
"I really don't understand why he doesn't apply for a visa to go somewhere else instead of consistently trying to go rouge… not that he should even be considered a rouge nin, but you know."
"Mmhmm, well who can tell what's in that boys mind. Any way now that I'm convinced, let's get this thing done." Bin said as he held out his hands.
"Very well then the blindfolds." Michi said as both he and Bin began putting them on their guests, from the box Michi had placed on the table before.
"This is basic procedure for entering the Amazon Village, don't be alarmed. Strictly routine and we are professionals. You'll be at that restaurant in no time."
Neji activated his Byakugan but no sooner were they past the first gate, that the young Jonin was disoriented by gas fumes that suddenly rose from the ground. He, along with the others of his age group, were rendered unconscious. Kakashi and Jiraiya, who had spent a lot of there ninja time developing immunities to different kinds of things were the only ones that remained coherent besides Shino whose bugs ate through thick clouds of smoke around him at a rapid rate.
When Neji awoke, about ten minutes later, he and the others were already in the village and unblindfolded. As soon as the disoriented members of the group were okay to walk, the group headed to the Mitsuwa Restaurant with Bin and Michi as their tour guides. The two guards had covered for themselves by calling in the next team's shift.
"Thank you for leading us to the Restaurant it is very kind of you." Hinata offered, ever the kind and polite member of the group.
"Oh don't worry about it, this just gives us the opportunity to go to the dinner we were invited to by Sunako-domo, in honor of Raiku's return home, which is basically an attempt to let Raiku explain herself for returning so quickly. We weren't going to be able to make it initially due to our shift, but with this change of duty we get to go now. So you see it all worked out perfectly as usual." Michi explained.
"So what Michi is basically trying to say is that it's our pleasure to show you around." Bin said in simpler, more straightforward terms.
"Well I'm glad that we could be of help then." Hinata offered back politely, to which the two guards smiled.
Neji surveyed the inside of the village until he found himself face to face with Mitsuwa Restaurant. Bin and Michi led the way towards the party room preparing to introduce the group assuredly. Neji followed, but his eyes quickly found that the floor appeared to be wet, with soapsuds and bubbles attached to it as well. He followed his line of vision curiously as Bin and Michi were greeting their friends before beginning on introductions apparently.
Before either Bin or Michi got the chance however, one person, an older blond man with a familiar looking expression pointed at Neji and company and asked him directly, since he was at the front,
"Who are you?"
Neji pulled out the necklace that he had used to get in to the village before, deciding to stick with the initial story and said,
"My name is Hyuga Neji and I am Raiku's future husband."
The entire room would no doubt have gone completely silent again, except for a very shocking and sudden incident that occurred at the very second after Neji had claimed to be Raiku's fiancé. The incident being that Raiku and Chino burst into the room on a small tidal wave of water and soapsuds, physically fighting each other and flooding the room at the same time. The water seemed suddenly to cover every bit of the restaurant floor from the kitchen to the entrance and party room. This would have been bad enough, but it was only the beginning of the night. There was much more to deal with than this large puddle, there was an ocean of emotions and torrents of trouble left to deal with tonight.
