Author's Notes: Okay, another chapter, I know it's been a while, but this chapter's really long, so maybe that'll partially make up for it. I'll try to maintain a better pace from here on, but I make no guarantees.

Thanks to reviewers!

Chapter 7 – Working Both Angles

(Western Clay Country, the next morning)

The inn was awake before dawn, and so was Shino. He did not go insect collecting today of course, since the mission came first, but he was still awake early. The room he had rented was tiny, one of the smallest in the modest establishment, but it did not make its occupant feel cramped as he threw on his jacket and pulled together his gear in a very simple morning preparation. He was down in the small common room taking the very first breakfast of any customer that day almost before the innkeeper was ready to serve it. Shino ate quickly, marking his food down as nourishing, but not caring much beyond that. His family was not much for cooking, the bugs disliking being put near hot substances, so he really didn't have much of a taste for food anymore.

Then Shino was stuck waiting.

This did not surprise the Aburame youth, he had always been ready early, something long trained into him. It had not been unusual for him to wait some time every morning for both his teammates and his sensei before practice began. It was hardly a problem, Shino was good at waiting. In this case he fully expected it would be some time before his new companion joined him, as she was female in addition to not having his discipline as an early riser. It was therefore quite a surprise when Ying came down to the common room only a few minutes later.

Behind his dark glasses Shino eyed his companion carefully, but said nothing. He noted that she appeared almost exactly as she had the day before, with her armored field uniform, scythe, and bearing all readily in place. He was surprised slightly, and it was a positive sort of surprise.

"Didn't expect me so early?" Ying quirked an eyebrow at Shino as she sat down. "It takes a bit of time to get this uniform together and clean hair, but my master always made me stoke the fire at the earliest of the morning. It's no big deal on nice days, but those winter blizzards, you could not imagine the cold."

"It gets very cold in Stone Village?" Shino questioned, seeing that Ying wished to eat her breakfast without discussing real business.

"You must know our village is high in the mountains," Ying replied. "Konoha only gets a little snow each winter, but we get foot after foot of white coating, all icy and chill from blowing over the glaciers. The cold is one of the reasons crafts are so much more common in snow," Ying explained carefully, talking easily, as if Shino were someone she had known for a long time, not a foreign ninja she had only truly met the day before. "There's little ninja work to be done in the winter with everything closed down, so we must find other ways to pass the time between missions."

Shino nodded, and it did make sense. He could see the advantages to knowing a functioning trade for disguise, economics, and the development of strange styles of fighting as he had seen Ying use when they fought. Even in Konoha, with a mild climate, winter greatly reduced the work the ninja performed.

"You really aren't very talkative, are you Shino?" Ying asked spontaneously, changing the subject. "It's awfully hard to tell if you're listening with those glasses of yours."

"I'm listening," Shino told her.

"I don't mind doing the talking between us," Ying said softly. "If that's how you'd rather have it, but I hope you'll tell me if I get off track or start to bore you."

"Don't worry," Shino replied, "There's no problem." He paused for a moment, and then felt compelled to add a little more. "I'm used to having a rather…loud teammate. I've learned to deal with talking; your voice is a pleasant change." It was the truth; at least, Shino felt Ying was much easier to listen to than brash Kiba or the constantly nervous Hinata. She was coherent, un-abrasive, and smart, and Shino appreciated all those factors.

"Well, a complement from the dour Aburame," Ying laughed lightly. "How rare," she uttered a faked gasp past the last of her breakfast. After that Ying sat forward, moving closer to Shino on the other side of the table. "Now then, should we get down to business?"

Shino nodded again.

"Alright then, as we determined yesterday, we are both searching for Nozu Hidemoto formerly of Grass Village," Ying began, placing her hands down on the table. "We also found out neither of us has a good description of this man or any real clues as to where he is. That leaves us with a large search area here in the Clay country, and we will need to find someone who knows Hidemoto's whereabouts, preferably by alerting as few people as possible. Then we figured that it would be other missing-nins in this country who know where Hidemoto is hiding, so we have to find a few to ask. At that point we separated to make our own plans and agreed to meet here in the morning. Do I have it all correct?" Ying's tone was pleasant, but just suggestive enough that Shino knew a nod would not suffice as a response.

Somewhat irritated at the demand for acknowledgement, but recognizing that they should communicate clearly if this collaboration was to be sustained, Shino replied. "Yes, that's all."

"So, what'd you come up with?" Ying asked and her eyes flashed with curiosity. "Your bugs figure out anything interesting?"

"You know I was tracking chakra sources," Shino remaindered her. "After putting all the reporting of my kikai together I found a concentration of some number in a close area in the northeast."

"Northeast?" Ying blinked, her bright eyes seeming to gleam as the morning sun passed through the screened windows. "That's good. I did some talking, and all the merchants say the rowdiest town around here is a port to the northeast. It's apparently a pretty nasty place, which explains why the stodgy captain who brought me here landed elsewhere."

"You came by ship?"

"Would I have walked all the way from Stone this fast Shino?" Ying smiled. "You know better than that."

"True," Shino did, it had simply surprised him. "I'm not fond of the sea." He added as justification for the odd comment.

"Oh," Ying turned her head in thought. "Oh, no insects, right?"

Shino nodded.

"I guess that makes sense," she muttered, then brightened. "Well, a port's not the sea, and it'll probably be pretty nasty, I doubt there'll be any shortage of insects there, which should be helpful."

"So you suggest we travel to this seedy port?" Shino asked to confirm.

"It seems like the best idea. I was looking for places missing-nins might go for work, the kind of small lousy jobs ninja from villages wouldn't take. This town seemed like the right place, and if your kikai bugs confirm it, then," she shrugged; lifting the glossy should pieces of her armored uniform to glint and shift in room's light. "Why not?"

"Very well," Shino answered. "Do you know the name of this town?"

"Ichitito."

"Then we will head there, I can send kikai to scout ahead, but I suppose we will simply have to walk." Shino stood up slowly. "It can't be much more than a day's travel to the coast."

"If we make good time we ought to get there by nightfall," Ying said as she stood as well. "Are we both ready?"

Shino nodded, and they headed out into the spring morning.

"Do you mind if I ask a fairly personal question?" Ying asked hesitantly after they had walked for about an hour. The morning was pleasant and sunny, with a light breeze keeping it cool even as they walked down the hard roads.

Shino shrugged. He wasn't sure what he wished to tell this girl. She was an interesting person certainly, and he had many questions of his own he would like to ask, but he was cautious. He continually reminded himself that she was not a ninja of his country. That it was a stone forehead protector, and not a leaf one, she wore.

"Um, well," Ying stumbled. "It's just, I wondered about those kikai. I mean, what's it like, to live like that?" She paused, her face turning down as if something horrible had just occurred to her. "Oh, I don't mean to ask about clan secrets or anything it's just…well…it's really unusual. I can't help asking, sorry."

"Don't apologize," Shino told her. "It's an interesting question." Indeed, it was, for Shino wasn't really certain he'd ever been asked that before. His family of course, had no need to ask, they understood, but everyone else was usually too intimidated or horrified by the nature of his bond with the kikai to wonder about how they affected him. Ever Kiba and Hinata had always simply just sort of acknowledged the kikai and seemed to consider discussing them outside of battle taboo. "Very interesting."

"Please don't feel pressed to answer," Ying said immediately. "I shouldn't have asked."

"No," Shino responded to himself, and then removing his mouth from deep inside his jacket spoke so she could hear fully. "No, that's alright. Let me think about my answer for a little while."

"Oh, alright," Ying still seemed embarrassed.

They went on for a while, quiet, saying nothing more than the few necessary things between travelers, pointing out bends and obstacles in the road, or noting things only people of their interest would care for, the appearance of an unusual beetle, or dragonfly, or perhaps a bee. Shino, watching Ying, could see that she still felt bad about her earlier question, and gradually he came to recognize that if he did not answer her she would continue to feel as if she had offended him even when she had simply surprised him. Eventually he decided he would talk to her about it, it simply took him a while to work up his nerve.

At length they stopped for lunch. Each ate a prepackaged meal, one taken from the inn in the morning. Such meals were fairly unappetizing, but both ninja ate with vigor, knowing they must keep up their strength for the potentially dangerous days to come.

They took their break on a wide shelf of stone somewhat back from the roadside. From such a position they were unlikely to be bothered by other travelers, and Shino felt a little more secure. So, when Ying put down her lunch, he began to speak.

"I have thought about your question," he started. "Are you willing to take this break to listen?"

"It is your story," Ying replied, but she was not idle as she sat. Instead she took her scythe from where it lay beside her. The weapon could not be worn in its back harness while she sat, and so Ying had placed it next to her, always in easy reach. Now she laid it across her lap, and took out a small file from her pockets. Slowly she began to sharpen the long edge of the weapon, moving with careful care and delicacy.

Shino watched Ying's hands move smoothly over her weapon for a moment, allowing the file's motion to build a rhythm, and then he started to talk. "It was a hard question you asked, about the kikai. I have never lived without them, so I do not know what it would be like otherwise. They are bonded with us at birth."

Ying nodded, and Shino saw that she was listening intently to his words even as her steady brown eyes focused on her blade.

"I suppose it is like having as extra arm or leg in a way, if you can imagine that," Shino said slowly. "The kikai give me the ability to do things other people cannot do. They listen and see and tell me things I would not otherwise know, they provide links for movement, and defend and are capable of so much more. Yet, for all they do, the kikai mark us out. They scare people, and intimidate them. It is alienating, a power that shocks even seasoned ninja, to know that they live within us."

"Are you ever alone?" Ying asked, turning to stare into Shino's dark sunglasses for a moment.

"It's not like that," Shino replied, more easily now, for this was a question that had a concrete explanation. "The kikai have a sort of intelligence, how much I won't say, but they are not like people. Their voices are not like speech, I simply know things through the bond with them. So, it is not like there is another person inside me. As for the feeling, it is something I don't notice anymore, the legs of the kikai are like my own skin."

"That's very interesting, really, thank you," Ying told Shino, and she bowed her head graciously. "I just couldn't help but ask about it some, and I confess I'll probably have more questions."

"That's alight," Shino replied, though he was somewhat hoarse, he was not used to talking so much. "Now, I have my own question."

"Oh?" Ying smiled, staring at Shino with a disarming look in her smart eyes. "I suppose that's fair. Though surely I'm more boring than you."

"Perhaps," Shino said with a flicker of amusement. "Your weapon, however, is quite the mystery. It is unusual." Shino understated the remark greatly. It was indeed an odd weapon, of a kind he had never seen another ninja carry, and it was made and marked in a strange way.

"This?" Ying hefted the scythe slightly. "I suppose so, though maybe it looks better than it is. It was my master's, though he didn't fight with it. He gave it to me because he thought I was 'suited to it' whatever that means. Oh, it's called Oblivion."

"Oblivion?" Shino let the remark slip free, even as he wondered at the meaning of such a name. "Powerful."

"Not really," Ying shook her head. "Like I said, it looks better than it is. It doesn't mould chakra or empower special techniques or anything like that. This blade is very old; my master said it might be two hundred years or more."

That was very old indeed, as Shino reflected immediately. Such a time was ancient history to the ninja, an era before the world of the villages, before even the known history of the great ninja wars, a period about which much knowledge had been lost. Shino also noted the fine condition of the weapon Ying carried. For something two hundred years old it had held up extremely well, and while it might not have the imbued powers of certain ninja weapons, it was certainly a masterful piece of workmanship.

"I don't know much about it beyond that, sorry," Ying looked a bit glum. "Wish I did, but there's not much known about the weapon, or at least that's what my master said. All I know is how to fight with it."

"It does suit you," Shino remarked, and then he stood, signaling both that he had heard all he needed and that it was time to get back to their travels.

Ying smiled, and replaced Oblivion in its harness, strapping the great scythe to her back and following her leaf companion.

"So this is the place then?" Ying asked with a sour note.

"Yes," Shino's tone was not more enthused than his stone companion's.

It was, in the simplest terms, a brothel, though it claimed to be simply a drinking establishment. This meant, of course, that it was an illegal brothel of some kind, and that various illicit businesses would occur on the premises. All of that would have been nothing more than a fully legitimate reason for the two young ninja to avoid the place except for one simple fact.

All of the six chakra sources Shino's bugs had traced in this miserable port town were inside at the moment.

The fine spring day had become a cold spring evening, and the northern sea was foggy and chill. It was not a nice night to be out, and all the wise people were inside. At the moment the only people left here on the docks in the cold where unfortunate guards, even more unfortunate drunks, and Shino and Ying, staring at the brothel's sign in disappointment.

"Okay," Ying said after a chill wind swept past. "We have to go in. A little henge can disguise our ages, but we need a more thorough cover." She turned to Shino with a failing dour expression. "Any good ideas?"

"It's a bar and a brothel," Shino said cautiously, his speech unusually hesitant. "I can pretend to be drinking."

"Um," Ying looked at him funny. "Have you been trained to deal with sake? I don't think a bit of sipping will fool ninja who frequent this type of place."

"I can have the kikai deal with it, they'll remove the alcohol," Shino stopped, and then continued. "However, it will make many of them drunk. My effectiveness will be sharply reduced."

"Oh," Ying made certain to avoid giggling. "You're sure you want to do that, we can try something else?"

"It's alright," Shino responded, hiding his hesitation. Ying's concern, though he brushed it aside, was something he was clearly thinking about. He knew his bugs would become drunk fairly easily, and that could be a problem. While any intoxicated bugs could be held inside his body, Shino knew having any of the bugs drunk would upset the colony. The whole situation was one his father had warned him to always approach very cautiously, as it was highly vulnerable, a disrupted colony would only hesitantly obey commands. However, Shino saw no real option, he only wished either he or Ying were old enough to have been trained in dealing with sake at this point. It was an added complication to an already difficult situation.

"If you say so," Ying broke into Shino's thoughts. "I guess that makes me your girl then, to complete the deception. I suppose I have to play the street tramp then."

Now it was Shino's turn to look at his companion. He said nothing, but Ying was frozen beneath that gaze for a second.

"No, really," she spoke softly. "I can do it, and I'll keep things clean, trust me with this."

That cut to the heart of the matter, there were six ninja inside, and likely all of them were missing-nins or clan ninja. They would not look kindly on being bothered by ninja from the villages, and if either Shino or Ying chose they could likely betray their companion to the combined wrath of the six. Shino nodded in response to Ying's comment, believing indeed that he could trust her for this. He had to, since he was the one taking the greatest risk. Still, he intended to keep his escape routes as open as possible, and had placed a smoke bomb in easy reach under his coat.

"Let's go," Shino said.

"Right," Ying brought her hands together. "Henge."

Shino called out the command at the same time as the stone ninja, molding chakra to create a transformative illusion about himself. He altered his appearance only slightly, increasing his height and lengthening his coat while removing his forehead protector from the image he presented. It was a simple enough disguise, one aided by his non-standard uniform. A long green coat was not remarkable. Automatically Shino left his sunglasses in place in the technique, even though they would be suspicious.

When Shino turned to look at Ying he was surprised. His illusionary alterations had been small, hers were substantial. Her armored skirt and plating had becoming a suggestively clinging dress wrapping about her in an improper fit. Her face was decked with gaudy but cheap makeup, and her hair had shifted from its normal soft brown to a glossy, oily, black. The always present scythe, Oblivion, vanished under the illusion's protection. Yet, looking at Ying Shino felt he could still recognize her. He looked at her otherwise completely altered appearance to see that her eyes remained the same. The intelligence and brightness he had always seen there remained, the only part of her image that did not conform to the street whore's costume. The insect wielding ninja somehow appreciated that, it made him more comfortable with the whole situation, even though he knew it was almost certainly simply an accident of the jutsu.

Their disguises prepared, they entered the brothel.

It was a tacky place, not really a bar and not really a brothel, but something in between and worse for the mixing. Dirty tables lay scattered about a smoky and dirty hall, with two stages on the sides and a long bar in back. Though the stages were ostensibly for dancing or music, girls painted with more tacky gloss than Ying's disguised form lay scattered about them, making bored and casual affectations to men who happened to look at them. The tables lay on the dirt floor surrounded either by low chairs or cushions, and many stained with the residue of old sake or blood. The bar in back was built sturdy, most likely for the owner and servers to hide behind when things went bad. It was, Shino decided swiftly, a torrid establishment indeed.

He moved to a table on the eastern side, taking Ying along with him. She hovered about him in a possessive way, making dark scowls at all the other girls as she did so. The effort she put into the disguise impressed Shino even as having her do so made him uncomfortable. It became instantly clear that this was something he would most assuredly avoid in reality later in life.

Once at the table, and with a quick order for sake of some strength, Shino felt a little more secure. Ying sat close by him, moving her chair till it scrapped against his own. The proximity was not pleasant, for Shino generally preferred having a space between him and others, especially when observed, but it would enable them to whisper to each other easily. Silently he let a few of his bugs loose to scout out which of the people in this place where the ninja he had detected earlier. The brothel was hardly full, for it was still early in the evening, and only a handful of girls waited on the stages. The small groups of men about their tables presently seemed more interested in their sake and bits of dice gaming than the women.

When the sake came Shino made certain it was seen that he drank down a full cup immediately. The moment the liquid passed his lips, however, he was already directing his bugs to draw the harsh alcohol from the foul-tasting liquid, to keep him ready and functioning. Ying took a cup as well, but made only a fake sip, something the men ignored and the women expected, for the whore must remain sober if she intends to collect her money when the night is done.

The glasscrafter leaned in against Shino, and whispered to him. She had exaggerated her edge of noble polish to complete her disguise, and it made her voice sound eerily haughty when she spoke, but her words went directly to business. "So, which ones are they?"

Shino waited a moment, allowing his bugs to confirm and identify all of the six ninja. He gazed slowly around the room without moving his head, eyes scanning invisibly behind those dark sunglasses. "Two men near the bar, three men two tables down on the left, and the girl in back right." It was a quick catalogue, but Ying slowly, and as if she was only idly looking past her sake cup, scanned them in turn.

The two men at the bar were clearly clan ninja, for they sat as if the place was their home, and their clothes held together well, with only minimal wear. They were also allowed to sit close to the front, a place of trust, so they belonged in this place. The other three were different, their clothes and faces had a ragged edge, the edge of men who had passed only barely through the winter, and had many difficulties. Their faces had none of the strong resolve of secure ninja, but instead had a desperate malice about them, men who would commit any sin for a price that would buy their vices now, men who had forsaken honor and duty, and were now something less than ninja, but with all the dangerousness of them.

Now, it was the girl who seized Shino's curiosity, and he saw that Ying spent a long moment examining her as well. Her whore's outfit and paint was clearly not henge, it stuck to her body too well, and his bugs could smell the paints and perfumes on her when they approached close enough, but she was obviously a ninja, it was clear both from her chakra and the way she moved, skilled and capable. Shino was puzzled by the disguise, for he could not conceive of a reason why any ninja, even a missing-nin, should denigrate herself so far.

"We need to talk to the girl," Ying told her companion a moment later.

Shino nodded, that had been his impulse as well, but he was not certain what the reason was, so he whispered a question to Ying. "Why should she be most important?"

"She's obviously sleeping with the ninja to learn their secrets," Ying giggled in a fake whore laugh. "Don't know much about women do you?" she muttered. "It's a common way for those who don't value their bodies to learn information." At Shino's accusatory look Ying immediately became defensive. She smacked his arm lightly. "Not me, don't think that way, but I know, it's mentioned in a kunoichi's training, and I did live at court for a little while. Anyway, we need a lever to get her to talk."

"You mean something we can exchange," Shino interjected, beginning to put the situation together. "Hidemoto's location is probably not that valuable to her, so a small favor will do."

Ying nodded. "Makes sense, but what is there?" She fell silent in thought for a moment.

Shino took another drink of sake, noting that with the bugs to remove the alcohol it really was probably a singularly terrible experience, especially given the cheap sake he was being serves. He directed his few scouting bugs to watch the girl closely, and after a moment they reported something interesting. "She's irritated," he whispered to Ying.

"Huh?"

"The ninja whore, she's tapping her finger repeatedly against the stage," Shino explained, somewhat bothered that it was necessary.

"Hmm…" Ying's eyes narrowed as she looked at the woman, and then she gazed out at the men at the tables. "Ah…I see, she wants to get rid of one of them."

Now it was Shino who needed an explanation. "You mean?"

"Simple, there's one man she intends to deal with tonight, but there's somebody else here who will probably try to pull her aside, which would not only ruin her plans, but it would be a miserable situation indeed," Ying understated things carefully, even though her voice held her disgust at the whole idea.

It was something for Shino to think about, dark though the subject was. He looked at the men there, the five ninja; for surely it was one of them who would get in the way. A ninja, even disguised as a whore, could easily deflect the advances from a simple drunkard without revealing herself. One would be the target, and one the obstacle. With that realization Shino discovered a path to the information they needed. "So, we figure out which one she wants removed and pick a fight."

"You want to get thrown out?" Ying questioned.

"It will allow you to make the situation clear to her, won't it?" Shino remarked ignoring the real nature of Ying's comment.

"I guess, but are you sure you're catching all that sake?"

Shino was sure. He could clearly feel the jumbled ramblings of the drunken kikai bugs inside him, rolling about foolishly. It was keeping him extremely alert indeed. Ying's concern was a bit disarming, he was hardly certain he would care if she involved herself in such a deception. Still, he had to admit that there was a risk, if he was not careful he could end up in a very deadly fight with several ninja, instead of a stupid tavern brawl. However, Shino expected nothing of the kind would happen. He looked at the two clan ninja sitting beside the bar, knowing that so long as it was not one of them he would need to fight then they would keep things under control. "I'm prepared, let's go."

"Wait," Ying touched his arm. "You don't know…"

"I'll force the issue," Shino stood, forcing himself to ignore Ying's hesitation, confident he was making the right choice.

He strode casually over to the female ninja, wobbling a little as he walked, making it appear as if he was actually drunk, instead of quite sober. However, his stride was quick enough, and he was in front of the girl shortly.

She was a short girl, and pretty, in a tacky and whorish way, and therefore Shino found her really rather unappealing. Still, he could see that she was also a trained ninja, for her muscles were strong and her movements fluid, and there were clearly hidden weapons under her suggestive robes. "Yes?" she lifted an eyebrow as Shino approached.

"You seem bored," he said, not bothering to change his usual tone, but letting his voice slur just slightly. "Care to join me instead of sitting here?"

"Haven't you already got company?" she asked, putting her sleeve in front of her painted mouth.

"Oh, her?" Shino replied casually. "She's proving too boring, you seem more interesting."

"Well," she moved her sleeve a little lower. "So you're looking for excitement, hmm…it seems some may have found you." She raised her hand to point behind him.

Shino spun in an alarm that was much less feigned than he actually intended. With almost all his bugs held inside his body, he had only a few scouts to warn him, and so the others had gotten much closer than he had expected before he'd become aware of their presence. Shino immediately marked the weakness down as something he must overcome, and soon, before facing the situation.

Two ninja stood before him, two of the men from the table of three. Their other companion was still seated with a rather disgusted look on his face. Of the two men before him Shino noted that one was filled with anger and the other simply looked amused. It was easy enough to figure out that only one of them need be his opponent, the other would simply watch as long as he was not struck directly. Both men were grungy, but in good form, and they wore scratched and pitted forehead protectors from Waterfall.

"You're playing with something that doesn't belong to you, glasses boy," the angry one muttered, his breath rancid with sake.

Shino had intended to pick a fight calmly and easily, but he really disliked being called 'glasses boy.' He would not recognize until after he acted just how much irritation had been building inside him the whole evening, and why he had embarked on such a dangerous course of action until it was too late.

The Aburame ninja did not simply throw a punch, he was well aware even as angry as he was that his henge disguise would not hold up to hand to hand combat. So instead, he grabbed a chair and swung as he answered the man's taunt. "Then perhaps I'll change the ownership!"

The low chair swung easily in Shino's hands and the object was large enough that even though the missing-nin crossed his arms and blocked he still grunted with the pain of the strike.

It was only when the other man grabbed a chair of his own and hurled it at Shino's head that the insect wielding ninja felt the aggravation dissipate away. He recognized now that though he was not drunk, the squirming of drunken kikai inside him had disturbed his usual calm tremendously, and combined with the atmosphere he'd simply seized on the opportunity that would allow him to leave as swiftly as possible, never mind that he was risking a beating and possibly worse.

Shino blocked the thrown chair with his own, and then pulled a sake bottle from the floor and threw it at the missing-nin. Glass and liquid sprayed everywhere as the man threw a table in the way. The girls on the stage screamed in mock shock, and the other patrons grumbled, shouted, or cheered, depending on their mood. Still, as Shino circled the other man, each now wielding a metal serving tray, he saw two important things happen. First, Ying had left their table and was slowly creeping along the edge of the room towards the disguised kunoichi, who was watching with cruel laughter hidden behind her long sleeves. Second, the two clan ninja sitting at the bar had turned around, and seemed almost ready to get up.

That was a most important signal. Shino decided it was time to do enough damage so that they would react. He advanced on the missing-nin, raising the flat metal tray high.

The other man moved well enough, but he was actually drunk, while Shino was not. So, while he blocked the tray's first blow, he was not prepared for Shino to hook a cushion with his foot and push it behind his leg. The man's foot came back over the cushion, and he stumbled just for a moment.

The coarse metal tray smashed into his face with a loud thud.

Reeling, the missing-nin stumbled backwards, shouting curses, and drawing a kunai from somewhere on his body.

Shino shuffled back at that move, recognizing that things had just taken a significant step up in danger.

Then the missing-nin grunted, and collapsed in a heap.

Shino saw a gigantic hammer made of dirt on the floor next to him. He recognized immediately what was about to happen, and his eyes flashed behind his glasses to the clan ninja who had moved almost instantly to stand far on his left. The seals were clear enough to see as the very same jutsu was invoked.

It would have been easy enough to dodge, probably even if Shino had actually been intoxicated, but that would have just made things worse. So instead he waited for the ninja to complete his move and let the hammer come.

Judiciously Shino moved at the last moment to take the blow on his left shoulder, even though the henge disguise made that appear to be his neck. He concentrated through the pain of the blow to maintain the disguise, and let himself fall to the floor.

A moment later the ninja kicked him in the side, and Shino allowed himself to grunt with a very legitimate pain from the kick to his hips, but held the illusion even as he unsteadily got to his knees.

"Get out, right now," the clan ninja said in terms that brooked no argument.

"Yeah," Shino slurred. "Sure, as you say." He stumbled, only partly in deception, out the door.

The waterfall missing-nin was thrown out onto the street beside him.

Standing outside in the cold spring evening Shino could only note that his part was done. The dangerous plan had worked so far, even as he recognized there had likely been a better way. He resolved to listen more to Ying's recommendations, and also to not let the kikai get drunk again any time soon. From there he could only hope the stone ninja remained true to her word and carried out the plan.

"Not the flashiest fight, but it seems to have worked," Ying muttered casually from the corner next to the whore disguised ninja.

"Worked?" she remarked with a false amusement. "It got your breadwinner thrown out."

"Breadwinner?" Ying laughed a little. "Is that the official term courtesans use?"

"Hardly," the ninja's eyes narrowed. "But then, you ought to know that yourself."

"Oh, surely you've guessed my true purpose already," Ying's reply was equally to the point, and she met that narrow stare firmly, not intending to be intimidated. This woman was going to give her information, and if her disguise was penetrated, so was the other's.

"I suppose," it was a tired sigh. "So, that man was your teammate then. Such a brave and foolhardy thing to do, but what makes you think I care?" There was a subtle mockery in the ninja's tone.

"That might have worked on him, but don't think I can't tell when a woman wants to avoid sleeping with such a detestable man," Ying replied offhandedly, not even looking at the other ninja anymore.

She growled, but sat silent for a moment after. "Alright, suppose that's true, why should it mean anything? It's not like I owe you for the favor."

"Oh, true, I suppose, but that man is now outside with my teammate," Ying said cuttingly. "I'm sure it would be unpleasant to have him learn of your deep seated dislike." Of course, Ying suspected Shino had no plans to bother the other ninja at all, he wouldn't think like a woman in this matter, but she could make the suggestion all the same. She knew her skills at deception were not the best, but it was not as if this was a great trial.

The other woman reacted with a look of mock horror. "That would indeed be cruel. I suppose I might offer a small…inducement to prevent such a thing from disrupting my evening."

"Ah good, you are most amenable. Woman in our profession should be courteous to each other after all," Ying said that last so others could hear, starting a mad session of giggling and villainous looks all along the stage. The disguised ninja smiled, ceding the point.

"Well then, what can a kind and simple lady like myself do for you?" she asked Ying.

"Oh, I was simply wondering if you knew an acquaintance of mine, Nozu Hidemoto," Ying replied. "I had been hoping to deliver some news to him from an old friend.

"Hidemoto?" she appeared to consider. "Oh, that little nervous man from Grass country. Ah, yes, he used to come here often, though I've not seen him in a while. I think he went west, to some little border town, oh, the name, I can't remember Kan-something or other."

"Oh, well, that helps some," Ying replied. She figured there couldn't be that many towns in the hills to the west, so it should be easy enough to identify even from this partial clue. However, there was one more piece of information she wished. "Is he still wearing his grass uniform? He seemed so attached to it."

"No, no, it got all ripped up over the winter, but he had some nice new clothes the last time he was here, a funny thing actually," the disguised ninja paused, and brought her sleeve up to her face, considering that bit herself, as she had obviously not before. "He did still have the forehead protector though, foolish man. If you see him, do tell him I'd like to speak with him, would you?"

"Of course," Ying answered, uncertain whether to take the request seriously or not. "My thanks."

Her task done the stone ninja made her way slowly to the door, making all manner of underhanded remarks about how hard it would be to get any money out of 'that lazy drunkard' now. Most of the patrons granted her a round of mocking laughter, and then ignored her, including the two clan ninja who had thrown Shino out earlier.

Once she left it took Ying only a moment to find Shino, sitting against the wall of a warehouse across the street.

"Well?" he asked her simply as she approached.

"There's enough to work with," she answered. "You alright?"

"Yes," Shino replied. "A bit bruised, that's all. Good that it worked. You were probably right, this wasn't the best plan."

"Maybe," Ying replied, surprised by the leaf ninja's revelation. He normally seemed so confident and self-assured. It was something new to hear him admit to a mistake. "But it worked, so it's alright. Now, let's find an inn and get out of this cold wind."

"Right," Shino replied with an obvious eagerness.

Insect Stuff: As Ying states, there really are no insects found in marine environments (though dragonflies might fly far out to see, they aren't native to the habitat). Crustaceans are found there instead; therefore Shino doesn't really like the ocean. Also, yes, insects can get drunk, alcohol affects them fairly similarly to us (though their circulatory system is different so it probably goes around the body differently).