Chapter 5

They were all seated on the floor in the Third's office. Kakashi, Hayate and Asuma sat in line in front of the Third's desk with Aki and Jin off to the side.

"I'm glad you came," he said to Aki. "I do have some questions I would like to ask you. I went to the hospital to see if you were awake, however, they said you had disappeared and were frantically looking for you."

"Prematurely discharged" Aki stated. The third smiled.

"They informed me that you are in no condition to be up and about. Are you alright?"

"…I'm a little tired," she said noticing how Kakashi was staring at her again. She returned his gaze and smiled.

"Of course. We will try and make this short and uneventful. So why don't we start from the beginning." He said directing his attention to Hayate.

"Hai. I had just finished the job I was given and I was on my way back here when I was suddenly attacked in the forest."

"Here? This forest right outside our village?" asked the Hokage.

"Hai. Kunai came from all directions. I couldn't tell where the attacker or attackers were. I felt disoriented. Then, someone was behind me and I felt burning pain on my backside. That is all I remember before I blacked out."

"Did you see his face?"

"Not clearly. I turned to my attacker as I was blacking out, but I can't quite remember it.

"If you saw him again, do you think you would be able to recognize him?"

"Yes, possibly."

"Ano…" Aki said wanting to ask a question. Seeing it was all right for her to ask, she continued: "How many people did you actually see?"

"Just one."

"But kunai were coming from all directions?"

"Hai"

"Did any of them cut you?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Are you…certain?" she asked him smirking as if it were an inside joke.

Smiling at her, he stated, "Hai". She exhaled and was deep in thought. Suddenly she was brought from her thoughts by Jin.

"AAHH!" Jin yelled pointing at Hayate, then pointing at Aki. Everyone was surprised by his sudden outburst. Jin regained his composure and was smirking to himself his eyes closed, arms crossed over his chest and nodding his head.

"What is wrong?" asked the Hokage.

"…they…know each other…" Jin answered. Aki lowered her head and smiled.

"Who?"

"…Aki…and Hayate-san".

"They know each other…" the Hokage repeated. "How do you two know each other?"

Aki started to giggle to herself so she quickly retrieved her fan from her sleeve and opened it to cover her mouth. Her giggling caused Hayate to smile as if remembering something funny. The Hokage looked at her confused and then looked to Kakashi and Asuma for an explanation. They both shrugged.

"You see…it was…how to put it…" Hayate tried to explain, but was at a loss for words.

"He jumped out of the lake buck naked holding a Kunai in one hand and a fish in the other…laughing….just laughing…not even noticing I was standing right in front of him." Aki burst out laughing. Hayate turned bright red and bowed his head in embarrassment.

Everyone else in the room looked at Hayate in surprise and also started to laugh themselves.

"I swear, you were delirious! Not normal!" Aki continued.

"Gomen," Hayate replied.

Trying to keep from laughing himself, the Hokage asked, "Was this recent? How long have you two known each other?"

Hayate answered, knowing that it would be best to keep Aki silent to keep from causing him further embarrassment. "It was about two years ago. When I was on one of the missions, it was taking longer than normal. I ran out of food and was practically starving, so I decided to catch some fish. However, I didn't have the proper equipment…" Everyone started giggling again.

"So, without proper equipment, I had to dive in and catch a fish with a Kunai. It took four hours to finally catch one. I was grateful when I finally did."

"Grateful? You were jumping for joy!" Everyone was outright laughing now. Even Hayate couldn't hold it in anymore. He knew how funny it was. He could laugh about it now, years later. A few minutes passed with just laughing and images running through their minds.

"Then what happened?" Kakashi asked, hoping not to hear that they fell in love at first sight or something like that.

"He passed out."

"Nani?" Kakashi said astonished.

"Yeah, he was in the water too long. He caught a cold and already had a high fever. He was delirious…really was. The first night, he kept trying to get up saying he was all right. I had to keep asking him 'are you sure?' and 'are you positive?' and every time he would say he was fine but as soon as he stood up, he would pass out again. I stayed with him for two nights to help nurse him back to health.

"Ohhhh, is that why you were so late coming back from that one mission? You were with a girl!" Asuma broke in laughing.

"Urusai" Hayate grumbled

"Honto?" Jin asked.

"Ah. He's quite a character outside of being a ninja. I wish to see him drunk one day!" Aki replied.

"Demo…Aki…" Jin said turning to Aki with a serious look on his face, no longer innocent or naïve. "This is bad…really bad Aki."

"Oh? You think so?" she asked.

"Huh? How could you not think so? If it is the same person…this is really bad. This is probably why Nevins wants to get out of this village as soon as possible. He knew something like this would happen."

"Same person…As in the same person who attacked Hayate? You know this person as well?" asked the Hokage.

"Uh…maybe…Hayate-san…you said that if you saw him again that you may be able to recognize him, right?"

Hayate nodded. Kakashi and Asuma were quite confused at to what was going on and looked to Aki for answers. She, too, looked confused as to what her companion was saying..

"And if I showed him to you now, you would be able to tell?"

"Sure, but how are you going to find him?"

"No need to find him.." Jin quickly started forming seals. "Shadow replication Jutsu". Suddenly there was another man standing in front of them. Only this man was not a replication of Jin, but another man. This Man was about 6'2", slim. He had long black hair pulled back that hung down to the small of his back with two long strands that hung on either side of his face down to his chest. His eyes were small and entirely black. His clothing was a black Kimono (one the guys wear…not sure what they are called exactly) except for the red shirt underneath and a white fur overcoat that hung to his knees. He looked menacing, evil, deadly.

Aki suddenly gasped, got to her feet dropping her fan and flattened herself against the wall behind her, never taking her eyes off this figure. Fear showed in her eyes. She was breathing quickly while clutching her Kimono over her chest.

"Is this the Man?" asked Jin.

"…Hai…" answered Hayate, who wasn't interested in the Man standing before him, but instead concerned for Aki. Kakashi and Asuma quickly got to their feet looking at Aki out of concern.

The Shadowed man suddenly disappeared in a puff a smoke. "Gomen…Aki…" said Jin never moving from where he sat. Aki slowly reverted her gaze from where the Man was standing to Jin. A single tear slid down her cheek. She closed her eyes and started to fall. Kakashi quickly caught her before she hit the floor. She was unconscious.

"I guess that was a little too much excitement for her when she's this weak."

"Who was that man?" Kakashi asked angrily. He was upset that that man, whoever he was, made her act like that. Angry that she was afraid of someone. Her being in fear made him angry. He wanted to protect her from whoever the hell that Man was. He held her closer to him, her head resting on his chest.

"Takamori"

"…and…who is he?" he asked again.

"I don't really know. I don't know the details. All I know is that Takamori wanted some seal done. So he asked Aki's father. He refused. Takamori then sealed her father. He sealed Aki's father with the same seal that was put on you, Hayate-san. Aki couldn't break that seal…her father died. She believes she killed him, because she was unable to save him…."

"What happened to Takamori?" asked the Hokage.

"I don't know. But she's been in hiding ever since I met her. But now…Hayate-san acknowledging that that Man was the one who attacked him…someone that Aki knew…"

"He's bringing her out of hiding…" Kakashi finished Jin's sentence looking down at the unconscious woman in his arms.

"What is this seal?" asked Asuma.

"I don't know."

"Would Nevins know?" Asuma continued.

"I don't know…maybe…they never talked about it when I was around."

"How did you find out about it?" asked the Hokage

"From her book"

"Book?"

"Hai" Jin went to Aki and reached in her sleeve and pulled out a leather bound book. He handed it to the Hokage who instantly recognized it.

"It belonged to her father."

"Ah" the Hokage agreed sadly.

"Aki's been using it as her journal and continuing her father's works."

"How were you able to read it? There's a lock on this book. You have to break the seal in order to open it." Asked the Hokage.

"Aki was drunk one night, and had left it open after she had passed out. I went to put it away, but was caught by what was inside it. I just couldn't put it down. It talked a lot about different Seals and Techniques, but not too much on what happened the day her father died. There weren't any specifics. She had drawn a picture in the book, however. I was only guessing that it was the same Man." Jin said pointing to the book.

"Good presumption. Do you mind if I keep this for a while?"

"I don't mind. I'm sure Aki won't mind either, if you really are one of Ryuuchi's old friends. It said there in the book who his closest friends were. He also said that he told them how to open the book. I suppose if you can open it, then you deserve to be able to read it. If you can't open it, then…you lied about being his friend."

The Hokage placed the book down on the table and started to form seals. He then placed both his hands on the book and a puff of blue smoke rose. The seal had been broken. The Hokage started to flip through some of the pages and quickly closed it turning back to Jin who was nodding back at him.

"Kakashi, bring Aki-san someplace where she can rest. Stay with her until she it better. Asuma, go with Hayate and ask Nevins what he knows about that Man." Hokage informed.

"Ano, what should I do?" asked Jin.

"You go with Asuma and Hayate. Help explain to him what happened her. Maybe he will be cooperative with you there. If not, bring him back here and let me speak to him. Don't let him find out where Aki-san is. She needs to rest, and I have a feeling he is going to want to drag her from the city as soon as he learns about all this."

"Hai", the three ninja said in unison. Jin, Asuma and Hayate quickly disappeared from the room in search of Nevins. Kakashi gently gathered Aki up and headed off to his apartment where she could rest comfortably.