Notes: Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I appreciate you taking the time to leave feedback. I took a number of liberties with my world-building in this chapter but I had a lot of fun so, no regrets.

Definitions and links for specific terms provided in the end notes.

like a hostage

chapter 02: so you're a tough guy

Jun 02 – 3:31a.m.

"…and you didn't think you could just tell me this instead of having me kidnapped?"

Neji winced at the sharpness of his cousin's tone in his earbuds. It was rare for Hinata to lose her temper and even rarer for her to express it. In fairness, she hadn't raised her voice, but she was one of those people whose ire was magnified by its scarcity. Her tone alone packed more punch than all their aunts' pointed comments combined. But Neji had done what he'd done for good reason; he would not apologize for it.

He could hear her breathing hard on the other end of the line and let the silence stretch between them. After a few moments of thought, he was certain Hinata would come to understand his reasons. To be happy with her current situation would be asking too much of her, but to see the forest for the trees? That much he could request.

Being the only one awake in the Hyūga household, Neji used the brief break in conversation to pour freshly boiled water into his teacup. It was an unusual chance for him to make his own tea. When he was satisfied with the brew, he settled onto one of the plush bar stools at the cold marble counter and sipped carefully. The sound of people shuffling around each other and the low murmur of Sasuke's voice filtered through his headphones. There was something about his old friend's tone that made Neji unconsciously sit up a little straighter. Another moment passed and Hinata murmured a quiet thank you to the Uchiha but still said nothing to her cousin.

The fusuma [1] that separated the very modern kitchen from the rest of the main house slid open. Neji automatically disconnected the call and swiped sideways to his music app. Making a show of looking up slowly, he met Hanabi's eyes and relaxed.

"Why are you awake?"

Their hushed voices overlapped each other, and they exchanged similar looks of resigned irritation. Instead of answering verbally, Neji held up his phone in answer. Hanabi's eyes widened in realization. She stepped fully into the room, gently closed the door behind her, and walked over to the kettle. Flicking it on again even though the water was still near boiling, she began fixing herself a cup of tea. Although she was nearly vibrating with curiosity, the younger Hyūga kept up all the appearances of an impromptu run-in with her cousin. Walls were purely decorative in their home.

Neji closed his music app and switched to text messages. The one blessing of technology was that data didn't read like chakra so even if someone noticed him texting, they wouldn't be able to see what was on his screen, even if they could figure out his message from his typing action. It was almost a curse to be born into a skilled family of ninja; privacy was an illusion. He sent three words: I'll call later.

When he was done, Hanabi was standing beside him cradling her tea in her hands. "I can't sleep. You wanna go for a walk?"

Wordlessly, Neji led her to the engawa. Silently, they slipped into their sandals and stepped onto the rock path that wound its way into the depths of the garden. When they had wandered far enough that the dim light of the outdoor sconces barely reached them, Hanabi broke the silence:

"Was that…?"

"Yes."

"Nice of them to call," she obfuscated.

"It seems the trip isn't going quite as smoothly as they thought it would. I offered what advice I could."

"Did that help?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "I'll find out later."

Hanabi nodded into the steam rising from her cup. It should have been the end of the conversation, but Neji could see the way she nibbled at the edge of her lip as though she could physically restrain herself from asking anymore.

"Do you think she's—"

"Itachi-san," Neji interrupted, "good morning."

Hanabi's head snapped up, Byakugan-enhanced eyes quickly zeroing in on the Uchiha materializing out of the darkness ahead of them. She blinked once and the veins around her temples relaxed but Itachi had witnessed the intensity of her reaction. Internally she berated herself for forgetting their guest, but more so for forgetting that he was the smartest man she knew.

Dammit.

Jun 02 – 4:35a.m.

"Alright, car's packed!" Suigetsu announced.

Only Sasuke awaited him inside. The Uchiha was seated on the sofa in his familiar thinking pose: leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, mouth hidden behind his clasped hands. It was a better mood than the Kiri ninja had expected his friend to be in given the situation he had stumbled into at the river. Now that had been interesting to watch.

Sasuke, as much of a dramatic little bitch as he could be (and usually was), tended to be impatient. He was the polar opposite of his terrifying older brother, who permanently seemed like he was mentally in the middle of the longest strategy game ever played. Interacting with Itachi always made Suigetsu feel like he had been abruptly transformed into a Go stone for a game that had been going on since before his birth. It didn't make any damned sense and didn't sit well with the Hozuki's elemental affinity (he didn't like being a stone), but it was what it was. Sasuke's anxiousness to keep moving forward (there was no other way to describe it) did not historically result in displays of either self-restraint or playfulness.

From what Suigetsu had seen of the interaction on the riverbank, Sasuke had been exercising the first and leaning into the second. It was weird, because if Suigetsu didn't know any better—and even if he did, why would he bother to change his thoughts— he might think that Sasuke had almost been playing with his food.

For all that Sasuke had started cultivating a reputation as an international fuckboy in recent years, Suigetsu and the rest of their little team had yet to see him flex that particular muscle. Honestly, with that Nindo video from college still up, Suigetsu would bet his second favorite sword that Sasuke was still a virgin. But looks and clan status could do a lot for a guy. The Uchiha never lacked for willing female company. Once, when it had just been the guys, Sasuke admitted to Jugo that he just did what he wanted and allowed people to arrive at their own conclusions. He simply chose not to correct the misconceptions that worked in his favor. Huh, maybe Sasuke wasn't that different from his brother? It was a big part of why Karin still held onto her hopeless infatuation.

Not wanting to venture along that tangent, Suigetsu flopped into the comfy armchair, kicked both feet up onto the coffee table and asked, "So, where's the princess? You let her get away again?"

"Tch."

"Yeah, yeah. Something-something window, something-something sounds like an excuse to me," the white-haired ninja teased. Despite what many thought, Suigetsu wasn't afraid of Sasuke. They were actually friends as unexpected as it might be to onlookers. But the pool of potential friends at boarding school in the Sound had been shallow to begin with. Their little clique of four had found enough common ground to make it out alive together.

"Are you looking to get hit?" That wasn't an empty threat but it was a lazy one by Uchiha standards.

"Try me, duckbutt."

Sasuke barely flicked a wrist and Suigetsu went liquid. A moment later, he turned around to pull the shuriken out of his chair cushion so he could lean back again.

"Damn, right through the heart too."

"Where did you leave Karin and Jugo?"

Back to business it was. Truthfully, they needed to hit to road soon if they wanted to make the kind of distance Sasuke had laid out. It was a helluva trek south to Wave Country and they wanted to keep their stops irregular to avoid notice. Keeping outside traditional rest and eating hours would be a challenge in the quieter areas they intended to travel through.

"On the border of Ame. Karin said they would probably stop in and see Nagato."

Sasuke made a face. "Why?"

Suigetsu shrugged in reply. "Fuck if I know how those Uzumaki work."

At that, the dark-haired man arched a disbelieving eyebrow in his direction. Suigetsu bristled at the implication, uncomfortable with anyone acknowledging whatever-the-fuck he had going with Karin was more than he'd convinced himself it was, especially if that someone was Sasuke. Thankfully, that slight movement was as much effort as Sasuke seemed willing to expend on the topic this morning.

Off to their right the door to that led to the largest of the bedrooms in the cabin opened noisily, spilling bright fluorescent light into the room, and interrupting whatever Sasuke was going to say. The Hozuki watched interestedly as Sasuke turned to face his captive. The two stared at each other, neither concerned with Suigetsu's presence, and apparently had an entire conversation in silence because Sasuke's fucking love language was violence or some shit? The next thing the water ninja knew, Sasuke was on his feet and the Hyūga heiress had turned back around to—very politely—shut off the bedroom light behind her. They have one fight and now this? What the fuck?

Whatever expression Suigetsu was wearing, it made the heiress smile as she approached him. Of course, Hinata had no reason to really be afraid of him (other than the whole randomly kidnapping her thing, which he could only assume Sasuke had handled) and they were about to spend a long-ass time together in a car. Might as well make nice with the one person who would maybe talk to him for the next few hours. He grinned at her from his armchair.

"Sup Hyūga? Aoda break any of your bones out there?"

"Hello, Suigetsu-san. I'm perfectly fine, thank you."

"Glad to hear it." He winked at her, and it looked like she rolled her eyes at him. He couldn't quite tell though, what with her eyes being so light and all. It was the thing about the Hyūga clan that freaked him out. At least the Uchiha clan's eyes just usually looked black. Even if their dōjutsu did temporarily make them look like an activated mobile suit, it wasn't as off-putting as the permanently stark white of the Hyūgas' specialized irises.

Suddenly, the only light in the living area went out.

"If you're done flirting," Sasuke said as he opened the door to the bright moonlight, "let's hit the road."

Jun 02 – 5:39a.m.

Hinata curled her fingers around the pleasant warmth of the paper cup Sasuke passed back to her from the front seat. She was grateful to be allowed the dignity of wakefulness this time around, but she supposed there was no longer a reason to keep her sedated. Through the windscreen, she watched Hozuki Suigetsu's head bob as he made his merry way around to the passenger side door. This was not at all where she had expected to be a few hours ago.

Neji had been frustratingly cryptic in his explanation but at least she knew she was not in danger of being harmed. There had been little cause for her to fear once she recognized her captor, but Neji's involvement fully confirmed her safety. He wouldn't let anyone—even Sasuke Uchiha—hurt her. But some more explanation beyond, "It's for your own safety. You need to be away for a while, and no one needs to know where you are," would have been great.

What kind of danger was she in that her cousin had felt the need to have her kidnapped? And by Sasuke of all people? As the man in question pulled out of the parking lot of the small coffeeshop they had stopped at, Hinata took a sip of tea, cleared her throat, and asked over the quiet hum of Suigetsu's electro-chill music:

"Ano, Uchiha-san, do you regularly do things like this?"

There was a snort from the passenger seat and the wet sound of someone trying not to spit their drink all over the dash. In the gap between the front seats, she saw Suigetsu's hand reach out and turn down the volume on the center console before grabbing for a handful of napkins. She caught a glimpse of Sasuke's disdainful profile for just a moment as he threw a dirty look in his friend's direction.

"I'm not exclusively in the kidnapping business," he responded vaguely as they merged back onto the southbound highway. "But the pay was good."

"Ah," Hinata paused briefly then added, "I didn't realize you were so mercenary."

"It's 'cause daddy Uchiha won't pay his legal fees anymore," Suigetsu cut in.

Hinata asked, "Legal fees?" at the same time Sasuke said, "I fucking dare you to call him that to his face."

Ignoring Sasuke, Suigetsu proceeded to explain, "Hell yeah! At Biwa's rates, you might as well pay in blood."

That was a name Hinata knew she'd heard before. "Jūzō Biwa?"

At Suigetsu's nod, Hinata frowned. "But he's not a criminal lawyer."

Suigetsu's laughter exploded too loudly in the confines of the SUV. "Congrats, Sasuke! She thinks you're hard!"

Hinata wondered when she'd missed the memo that your schoolmate thinking you needed a criminal defense lawyer was something to be proud of. She judged it better not to ask. But at least someone was having fun, even if she hadn't intended to be funny. A credit to the Hozuki was that, despite how much he laughed at what she said, he had yet to make her feel like she was the butt of the joke. That honor was squarely Sasuke's thus far.

Speaking of whom, their driver was doing an admirable job of ignoring his passenger's amusement. Nevertheless, there was a muscle twitching noticeably under his right eye. Who was it that convinced everyone of the lie that Sasuke Uchiha was cold and expressionless? Now that person would make a great lawyer or, better yet, a politician.

…So it was Naruto.

Eventually, Suigetsu's laughter died down enough for him to speak again and offer gleeful clarification. "Sasuke's suing Nindo."

"Ah, is that why you and Shikamaru don't get along?"

It always impressed Hinata that the young Nara heir had built the most successful social networking service for ninja ever as a hobby project. Not that anyone had any reason to doubt Shikamaru's genius; it was his ability to execute that had always been in question. Ino had mentioned once that the origin of Nindo had been a wild idea the Ino-Shika-Cho trio had briefly tossed around in high school about wanting to share the things their friends got up to with, well, more of their friends. A few months later, Shikamaru had built the thing and asked Ino if the Yamanaka servers would cut him a hosting deal on content.

If Hinata recalled correctly, the first video ever posted (by Choji, of course) explained the origin of the name: it was a five-minute clip of Naruto describing his ninja way and then proceeding to get beat six ways from Sunday by Neji at the chūnin exams. It hadn't been funny in the moment but rewatching it in retrospect, the whole thing was absolutely hilarious. Last time she'd checked—years and years ago—it was still the most watched video ever on the app.

Sasuke didn't deign to answer her question, which she realized belatedly was touchier than she had anticipated. Shikamaru had done all that product development in high school, but Sasuke was still considered to be their class's genius ninja. Although she would never understand the delicate landscape of male egos, she could ask a less emotionally charged question.

"But why are you suing Nindo?"

"You haven't seen the video?" Suigetsu interrupted incredulously.

That finally warranted a growled response from the Uchiha: "Don't you fucking dare; I will Amaterasu that piece of junk."

As Hinata had come to expect from the seemingly unflappable Hozuki, he worried about exactly the wrong thing in that threat: "Hey, this is the latest model!"

"I don't give a shit."

Deciding she really wanted to know, Hinata broke in, "What video?"

Grinning tauntingly in the driver's direction, Suigetsu passed his unlocked phone to her around the far side of his seat. She slid behind him to receive it and to put herself as far away from Sasuke as possible in case he tried to reach behind and take it away.

"Pull up Nindo and go to Charts; it's the second most watched video ever."

Hinata opened the app and found the video easily enough despite the updated UI. It was from six years ago, entitled 'Ninja Trippin: Leaf-boi Gets Clapped by Eight Tails', which was just sketchy enough to make Hinata's eyebrows raise. But Nindo had very clear markers for explicit content and this video was tag free. She grew even more curious. One quick glance at the Uchiha, who was scowling viciously at the road ahead, and she bit the inside of her cheek; she had to know. She hit play.

The footage was just a tad grainy and a little unsteady, but it was clear enough to make out the intended focus. A visibly younger Sasuke—probably in his late teens or early twenties—was squared up against a mountain of a man in sunshades with platinum blonde hair and the typically dark skin of the people of the Kumo region. They were on a beach somewhere and the person filming was surrounded by other spectators who were calling out randomly to the two. The intrepid filmmaker was revealed to be Suigetsu himself as he shouted encouragingly, "Get 'im, Sasuke!"

Whatever words were exchanged between the two combatants were nearly imperceptible until Sasuke called out confidently, "This will only take a minute."

It did not, in fact, take a minute.

The two exploded into action and the video degraded into a display of (undeniably impressive) ninjutsu flashing from place to place as they jumped around. Suigetsu's camerawork was shaky too as he tried to keep up and keep filming all at once. One of the pretty rock formations just offshore crashed into the ocean and sent a few of the bystanders running but Suigetsu stayed his course. Suddenly, there was high pitched scream and the dust settled, revealing Sasuke curled up at the base of a rock, with a rapidly blackening face and a bleeding left eye.

"I just got these!" he whined, bringing a hand up to cover the injured eye. Hinata pressed her hand to her mouth to stifle the giggle that threatened to escape.

"I don't give a shit, yo," his opponent rapped back at him. Rapped?

Then the older man proceeded to punch Sasuke in the other eye. The young Uchiha made a noise somewhere between a screech and a shriek. The violence would be more concerning if the fully recovered Sasuke wasn't sitting in the front seat. Sasuke's opponent made to attack again but was stopped midway by the arrival of the very familiar figure of Itachi, who was also—oddly enough—wearing sunshades. Easily deflecting the rapper's oncoming strike, Itachi almost floated down to the sand in front of his little brother. He looked up and slowly removed the shades to reveal red eyes with his Mangekyō Sharingan spinning rapidly within them. Black flames erupted across the sand.

The video cut out on Suigetsu's curse as he turned to run for his life.

Jun 02 – 7:07a.m.

"C'mon, stretch your legs."

The startled Hyūga paused mid-stretch and titled her head back to look upside down at Sasuke from the seat she was laying on. She winced at the unexpected intrusion of morning sun into the well-preserved darkness of the vehicle. It was confirmation for the Uchiha that he hadn't wasted his money on the full-strength blackout tint. Were he a lesser person (or Itachi), he would take this opportunity to make some kind of punny, pseudo-philosophical observation about sunshine. Instead, he made a swift but thorough appraisal of his captive.

Apparently unaware of the provocative pose she'd frozen in—thereby providing Sasuke with an enviable angle from which to gauge her figure under the baggy lounge clothes Karin had bought for her use—Hinata wondered, "You're letting me out of the car?"

Keeping his eyes determinedly on her face, he cocked an eyebrow and asked, "Are you going to run again?"

Much to Sasuke's relief, she twisted to sit up. He waited silently as she gathered her hair and her courage for the quip he could already tell she was brewing. Just as she opened her mouth, he interrupted with, "If you get back to Konoha, how do you plan to explain that Neji was behind this?"

She snapped her mouth shut and pursed her lips for a fraction of a second before saying, "I won't. I'm given to understand that you have a great lawyer."

He smirked, curling his hand over the top of the door but stepping back just enough to give her space to slide her way out. They were on a deserted stretch of highway with nothing but grass and the occasional smattering of old trees to see in either direction. He had pulled off onto a wide shoulder tucked into a grove that hugged a big bend in the road so that Suigetsu could take over driving. It was the better option against Sasuke falling asleep at the wheel and killing them all by coasting into one of the Land of Fire's protected arbor giants. While he had done worse stints without sleep, Sasuke had been up for more than thirty hours now and generally preferred not to undermine himself if he could help it. For the moment, however, his drowsiness had made itself scarce.

"So the Hyūga clan has experience with the Shichinin's criminal law services?"

Stepping backwards away from him, Hinata replied with an unmistakably fuck-you smile, "Of course not. But do let me know if you need me to put in a good word with Kurenai-sensei for you."

"You still haven't promised not to run," he pointed out as she kept moving away.

"And yet here I am, outside," she emphasized her triumph by spreading her arms wide, expression bordering on mischievous.

Shutting the door, Sasuke turned to follow her just in case. He could feel the edges of his lips involuntarily curling upward. "Are you counting your chickens?"

Instinctively, just in case she wasn't just making fun, he glanced over her shoulder to assess her escape potential. He knew her speed now and could match it with his Sharingan if pressed. At worst, Aoda would be exponentially faster given the sparseness of obstacles in the area.

She smiled brightly at him then turned her face up to the sky as she said, "Uchiha-san, there isn't enough time in the year to count every chicken I own."

He grinned. Why had he never talked to her before?

"I have a massive snake for that."

Off to their right, Suigetsu (whose curious observation Sasuke had been staunchly ignoring) choked. He then proceeded to quite literally collapse, his guffaws loud enough to fill the vast silence that followed Sasuke swallowing his foot whole.

Jun 02 – 9:55a.m.

Itachi pulled into the detached garage dedicated to guests visiting the eastern wing of the main Hyūga compound. As he reversed into his allotted spot, he casually observed that the oldest of their security installations faced inward toward central Konoha instead of out toward its border. It said a lot about the long history of the clans in Konoha that it was the same way in the Uchiha district on the opposite end of their village.

He cut his car's engine but chose not to get out immediately. Instead, he leaned back against the headrest for a moment, covered his eyes to block out the harsh fluorescents, and savored the silence. Contrary to his conversation with Shisui the day before, Itachi had been called in by his father via 5:00a.m. text for an early morning intelligence exchange between the police and UPS. For all that Itachi dreaded dealing with his father sometimes, Fugaku Uchiha had been lovely today. Itachi supposed that's what a full night's rest could do for a man. He couldn't personally attest.

To be fair, as harsh as the Uchiha clan head appeared to outsiders, he was a loving father who wanted only the best for his sons. But his expectations were high and one either met them or developed high functioning depression. In Itachi's case, he'd gone ahead and done both because he was an overachiever like that. On the other hand, Sasuke had met them despite trying his hardest not to. Of course, he probably should have opted for a less nerdy form of teenage rebellion and not enrolled himself in the most exclusive and exacting boarding school on the continent. An affectionate chuckle escaped the elder Uchiha at the thought of his otōto's antics. Ah, the innocence of youth.

Itachi was still smiling fondly when, glasses firmly back on his nose, he looked up through his windscreen and into the wide white eyes of Neji Hyūga. Neji quickly fixed his face, adopting instead the aggravatingly neutral expression that Itachi had long ago identified as the default Hyūga setting. Even so, Itachi had seen the first one. It had been a long, long time since anyone had looked at him with that particular kind of wonder. He liked it, but the speed with which it had disappeared told him Neji himself did not.

Grabbing his blazer and laptop bag off the passenger seat, Itachi stepped out of the vehicle and greeted the younger Hyūga. Commendably, Neji stayed his ground after their little interaction. Maybe Itachi had read too much into it; Shisui always told him he should smile more around people.

"Good morning again, Itachi-san. I take it you were able to get some more sleep?"

Never let it be said that Neji Hyūga was anything but perfectly composed since he had turned sixteen (Itachi would allow that juvenile records were sealed for everyone's protection). He too looked like he'd been able to go back to bed after his stroll in the garden with Hanabi. Now, he was dressed in the traditional jōnin uniform, hair perfectly sleek, handsome face unmarred by tiredness.

"Ah, I wish," Itachi answered as the beep of his car locking resonated around the cavernous space. "Alas, mild insomnia granted me the opportunity to be thoroughly prepared for my morning meeting. Are you heading out?"

Elegantly half-shrugging and subtly drawing attention to the monogramed briefcase in his right hand, Neji said, "My uncle needs some documents taken to the Hokage Tower. Shisui-san advised that he remain on premises for the next few days in case there's a ransom request."

"Of course."

Neji frowned at the perfunctory response, dipping his head to study his feet. Then he asked, "You don't think we'll get one, do you?"

"A ransom request?"

Neji nodded.

There were several response options available to Itachi, ranging from the indelicate truth to callously lying, and none of them were especially appealing. To say 'yes' would be a disservice to a paying client and long-time friend—which Itachi truly considered Neji to be—but to say 'no' would be unkind to someone's distressed relative. And if there was one indelible truth Itachi knew about Neji, it was that he loved his younger cousins.

Ah, that's what's off.

"I'm not sure," Itachi's suspicions were coalescing more and more into certainty with every word he spoke. He watched the Hyūga carefully as he titled his face to stare at his toes, seemingly lost in thought. Then, ever so slightly, Neji shifted his right foot. Itachi decided he didn't need to waste anymore time.

He stepped forward, brought himself close to Neji's ear, and said softly, "That depends on you, doesn't it?"

Jun 02 – 6:31p.m.

The office was finally winding down for the day. Shisui had always preferred this time of the evening for tasks that required his concentration. With the sun low and homes calling to his colleagues, Shisui settled in behind his desk to get some real work done.

Konoha's Criminal Investigation department tended to be a hub of activity that generally amounted to little more than petty grievance resolution. In a village full of the descendants of ninja, there was an understandable hesitancy to commit crime when anyone could be equally or more lethal than the criminal themself. Killing someone in verified self-defense was still a wave-pass through the courts. The same went for manslaughter, assault, or battery performed for the protection of endangered individuals who were incapable of protecting themselves. When half the population were actively trained to be walking weapons, things tended to self-regulate. The department hadn't seen a murder case in years; not since Shisui earned his promotion to captain by taking out Danzo and the mess that was Root.

Things had just gotten interesting again with the Hyūga kidnapping—not that it was the good kind of interesting. Most of the day had been spent sifting through empty leads called in from across the village. Shisui had been up since the 5:00a.m. meeting text went out and had spent the remaining bulk of the day in western Konoha following story after story, combing the crime scene for clues, and getting inevitably nowhere. The kidnappers had been smart: they had acted quickly, touched nothing directly, and used no jutsus. There hadn't been chakra residue anywhere. Even their costumes had been effective, easy to obtain, and hadn't been purchased locally. It had been a totally mundane, expertly executed heist.

Nevertheless, the Chief of Police had insisted they go through the motions of a typical investigation. Two nations were watching this happen, each with vested interests, and the families involved had too much collective sway that the potentially ugly, underlying truth had to be kept secret. Tomorrow, at least, he could send a junior officer to the expanded Hyūga district to lead the public pantomime.

As for the truth, he was just about getting to that. The captain cleared away all the paperwork that had been dropped onto the middle of his desk, checking labels, and slotting folders into the appropriate inboxes he'd meticulously set up that no one ever bothered to use. He chalked it up to Uchiha arrogance that nearly every officer in his department thought their file was the most important and therefore worthy of bypassing his system. There was, in fact, only one file he needed to pay attention to today and it hadn't come from anyone on the force.

Shisui had just flipped the file open when Izumi knocked on his door. He looked up to the sight of his two favorite people and waved them in. Itachi was early, as usual, so he'd simply have to wait until Shisui had time to digest the information he'd sent over a little after lunch. Izumi picked up on that and made small talk and coffee while they waited.

Unsurprisingly, Itachi had confirmed their shared suspicions about the kidnapping being an inside job. The complication that arose now was the culprit. Neji Hyūga had no criminal record and only one reason for doing what he did: there was something afoot with the Yotsuki. Ostensibly, the little shit—Shisui felt at liberty to say that given he'd attended Neji's first birthday party—refused to disclose any details. It was the same old song the clans had been singing from the founding of Konoha: it was clan business.

In most circumstances, that would work. Like the individual skills of ninja, the influence and weight of old clans had remained an unspoken part of Konoha life. So if something landed in the police department and someone turned up to say it was "clan business", that would typically be enough to wash it from the records. If Hinata had been marrying anyone else—an Akimichi or Inuzuka or even an Uzumaki—Neji's excuse would have been more than enough.

But the Yotsuki were foreigners. Although the ninja wars were no longer considered contemporary history, the memorial was always spotless.

Done reading, Shisui deactivated his Sharingan and turned his attention to his guests. Izumi quickly poured a third cup of coffee for him before settling into the chair beside Itachi.

"This is a goddamned disaster," Shisui summarized.

"Indeed," Itachi agreed. "It was a desperate plan and, so far, I only count two people inside who were involved."

"Two?" Izumi asked. She had gone out to the Hyūga district personally to collect the file from Itachi and had read it back to front twice.

"I had an odd encounter with Hanabi and Neji in their garden this morning," Itachi explained. "They were awake just after three o'clock. I interrupted Hanabi asking about someone's well-being. The speed with which Neji shut down the conversation was my first hint to look closer."

"Your hunch makes sense, and you basically got a confession from Neji, but what's the motive?" Shisui asked. "The people closest to her arrange for her to be kidnapped in public, in the company of her fiancé…why?"

"To stop the wedding without taking the blame for it," Izumi answered like she was telling them the sky was blue. At the blank looks she received, she expounded, "Ino Yamanaka told me the window for the wedding is really tight. If it doesn't happen this week, the groom has some family obligation that is going to keep him in Kumo for the next six months. The reason the engagement was short was because the wedding had to happen either in June or December and the Yotsuki pushed for June."

Shisui blinked at that then wondered, "Why does the Yamanaka girl know this?"

"Florist," Itachi reminded him.

Shisui nodded at that and the three fell into a contemplative silence. For a few minutes, the only sounds in the captain's office were those of the air conditioner whirring away in combat with the summer heat and the rustle of fabric as cups were raised and lowered.

Eventually, Shisui voiced their mutual conclusion: "So they're trying to stop a war."

TBC

Footnotes: [1] Fusuma (襖) are vertical rectangular panels which can slide from side to side to redefine spaces within a room, or act as doors wiki/Fusuma