Let's start this from the beginning
No Place Like Home
"It seems like you've had a pretty tough time, although I expect you will look back on this mission fondly sooner rather than later."
Shino nodded, wholeheartedly agreeing with his father's words. Or, well, at least the first half of them. He somewhat doubted he would ever think of this past month as anything other than strenuous and distressing.
"I suppose it was too much to hope that you wouldn't fall victim to the curse as well," his mother added with a sigh as she joined him and his father at the table after setting down the steaming plates with their dinner in front of them, her for an Aburame untypical fair hair put up in a bun and eyes gleaming in a mixture of exasperation and amusement. "It would have been nice if things hadn't escalated quite so much, though..."
Shino couldn't deny that the thick, savoury aroma of the food in front of him was very distracting. His team had returned less than an hour ago, and all he had managed to do in that time was to take a long overdue shower before joining his parents for an early dinner. They had been gone for a bit over a month, and while the food at their client's mansion had been anything but bad, he had still missed his mother's homemade food. Nevertheless, her remark made him perk up. "A curse?"
His father let out one of his rare laughs. "Whenever a Genin team has its first C-Rank mission, something goes wrong. It has become something akin to a tradition over the years. Given the fact that people like to gossip and make up stories that have little to do with reality, it should come as no surprise that someone decided to call this phenomenon a curse, or that people still cling to it to this day."
Shino felt that was something he should have been told about before he set off for his mission.
"It's usually nothing as major as what happened to you," his mother said between two bites. "From what I've heard, it's usually small inconveniences like having to take detours or somehow – and inexplicitly – ending at a completely wrong location. Running into a bunch of missing-nins and getting involved with a group of bandits? That's rather extreme, I think."
His father nodded. "It is. The only comparable case I can think of is what happened when Sandaime-sama took his team on their first C-Rank mission."
"Stories like these always remind me why I'm glad I never became a kunoichi myself."
From there, dinner continued like it always did, with his parents doing most of the talking and him listening and only occasionally commenting. It was almost like he had never left. In a way, it was truly soothing to see that things hadn't changed in his absence. One month wasn't all that long in the great scheme of things, of course, but at the end of the day, it was still the longest he had ever been away from home. He didn't mind admitting that he had grown homesick during the latter parts of his mission.
At least in the privacy of his mind, that is. He certainly would never admit it out loud.
However, things couldn't stay idle forever. The turning point was when they had all finished eating and his mother began to clear the table. Shino was just about to stand up to help her when his father stopped him with a simple wave of his hand. He didn't say a word, but he didn't have to for Shino to understand what he wanted.
They remained silent for a few more seconds before his father finally began to speak, his voice more serious than before. "I expect you're aware that the technique you used against your opponent isn't one written down in our clan's records?"
Shino nodded. Considering it was something he had come up with himself, that much was obvious.
"Traditionally speaking, our family always refined the skills and abilities we already had instead of trying to develop completely new ones," his father continued. "We did that too, of course, and just like everyone else, we constantly keep our eyes open for ways to increase our abilities even further, but it has never been our priority, and fire has always been our greatest nemesis. With the benefit of hindsight, and after hearing what you have been able to achieve, that might have been a mistake."
"That approach has served our clan well," Shino said while trying to hide his rising excitement at where the conversation was apparently heading. "Calling it a mistake when it brought us where we're today seems a bit much."
"Maybe so, but the fact remains that it was a clear oversight." A pause. "One which I plan to rectify."
Normally, these words would have made Shino glow with pride. After all, it wasn't every day that one changed the way a clan approached their abilities. However, something on his father's face stopped him from giving in to his excitement completely, and that caution paid off shortly after.
"However, it also remains true that neither I nor anyone else in the clan has any idea how to incorporate fire nature into our techniques yet. You understand what this means, don't you?"
Shino did.
"It means you won't be able to help me train."
However, much to his surprise, his father shook his head. "Not quite. It means that I won't be able to teach you anything in that regard. I do plan to help you train, however. I'm sure between the two of us, we will be able to find some creative use for your chakra nature."
Now that finally made him crack. "Really?!" Shino held no illusions that he could hide from his father how excited he was even if he tried, and while that usually meant he would be embarrassed about being so transparent in front of him, he couldn't bring himself to care right now.
"Really," his father confirmed. "I have to admit that when you announced your interest in learning more advanced Taijutsu instead of focusing more on our family's techniques, I was disappointed because I wouldn't be able to help you as much as I would've liked to. Close combat is just not something I excel at. This, on the other hand, is something I can help you with, and I very much intend to do so."
Shino remembered that day. Both his parents had told him that they would support him if that's what he wanted to do, but they also reminded him that it wasn't something they could help him with beyond a certain point. Back then, he hadn't cared or even thought much about it, but now, he could see why his father might have been disappointed.
He also remembered how close his fight with Gouzen had been. Yes, the missing-nin was older and much more experienced than him, but the fact remained that Shino had been completely outmatched by him. It had taken all he had to just defend himself and stay alive. His talk with Itachi-sensei at the Uchiha Hideout had helped, and Shino was proud of how far he had come in the short time he was a Genin, but maybe the fight would have turned out differently if he had just spent more time practising clan techniques with his father…
It was then that he made up his mind.
It was somewhat embarrassing to ask his father to teach him more traditional techniques when he had spent the last few years focusing primarily on more unorthodox approaches, but seeing his usually controlled and collected façade break first into a shocked and then a happy expression definitely made it worth it.
Hiruzen usually didn't visit prisoners. He rarely had reason to, after all. However, the current situation was somewhat special, and while circumstances didn't exactly force him to take this step, he had decided to do so nevertheless.
The top-security cells were located deep underground. Getting there meant one had to walk through countless convoluted and intricate corridors that were lined with traps and guards, and even he as Hokage couldn't pass through them without going through several identity checks first. All in all, it took a bit over half an hour to reach his target even though he had taken the shortest possible path, hadn't dawdled, and had taken advantage of every benefit his position brought with it.
The person he intended to seek out didn't necessarily require such high security. Having been beaten by a relatively fresh Genin in a fight proved that her strength wasn't anything worth writing home about, and not even the fact that the Genin in question was the heir of one of Konoha's most prestigious clans and had therefore enjoyed more training than most others her age changed that.
However, due to the information she might possess, it had been decided to put her here just in case.
"It has come to my attention that you wish to speak with me?"
The woman sitting in one corner of the cell hadn't reacted when the door opened or even when two of his ANBU guards entered ahead of him to secure the room, but at the sound of his voice, she raised her head.
She was definitely a beautiful woman, no one could argue that point, but almost two weeks in a cell had done her appearance no favours. Her shoulder-length orange hair was matted and dull, her eyes looked almost lifeless, and the way her prisoner clothes hung off her did not do a good job of hiding the weight loss she had evidently suffered. No wonder, considering his reports stated that she never finished the already small portions of food that were provided for her.
"Hokage-sama," Yuwaku greeted him, and although her voice was somewhat raspy from a lack of use, Hiruzen noted that she made an effort to sound polite and respectful when speaking to him. "I honestly didn't expect you to actually come and see me."
"And yet here I am. If you have something to say, kindly do so now. My time is not infinite."
That was true, of course, but it wasn't as if he terribly minded getting away from his desk for a little bit longer.
Perhaps sensing how serious he was, Yuwaku got straight to the point. "I would like to offer my full and unreserved cooperation. In return, I humbly request that you give me shelter and permission to join your village."
Hiruzen gave a thoughtful hum as he considered her words.
It wasn't a very surprising offer. In fact, this was exactly what he had expected her to do from the moment when he first heard that she requested to speak with him.
"And why is it that I should allow a criminal who abandoned their home, family, and comrades to join my village?"
A simple question, and judging by the small twitch of her lips she failed to suppress, one she had seen coming. "That Hyuga girl must have given you a report of our fight, right? I possess my clan's secret technique, and I'm sure you would find a way to make use of that. And if nothing else, well, if she could beat me" – here, some genuine bitterness crept into her voice – "in a fair fight, some ANBU guards most definitely can make sure I behave."
He nodded at that. As previously noted, she wasn't exactly the strongest of fighters. Furthermore, it was also true that he could indeed find a use for her clan's technique and abilities if given the opportunity.
As Yuwaku had said, Hinata Hyuga had reported her fight against her to him just like her teammates had done for their own fight. According to her, Yuwaku had expressed some disdain for how her family had treated her, and it was very likely that this had played a major role in why she had abandoned her home.
She had demonstrated a strong dislike for how villages were run in general as well, though, so things were unfortunately not quite that easy.
He let her stew for a few more seconds before finally replying. "If I accept your terms, you do understand that you will be under strict observation for a long time, don't you?"
"Of course!"
She was clearly trying to hide it, but the way her eyes lit up as hope returned to them was impossible to miss.
"You're also aware that a single misstep will result in your prompt execution?"
"I am!"
"Very well, then." When he saw that she was about to open her mouth to reply with a joyous expression on her face, he beat her to it by adding, "I will consider it. For now, cooperate with your guards. I will make a decision when the time comes depending on your behaviour and the usefulness of the information you provide."
It was obvious that she wasn't happy with not getting a clear answer here and now, but after a second or two, she gave her consent with a curt nod, apparently concluding that cooperating was the best option she had at the moment.
Having done what he came here for, Hiruzen turned around and left the cell, quickly followed by his guards.
Apparently she's capable of acting more reserved and humble if the situation demands it, he mused with a half-smile. There was nothing of the haughty and arrogant behaviour Hinata mentioned in her report to be found today.
He wasn't complaining, of course. This change of heart made things only easier for him.
Technically, he didn't need Yuwaku to cooperate. The Torture and Interrogation Force would be more than enough to get everything she knew out of her, and even if she could keep her mouth shut for more than a session or two with Ibiki, Hiruzen very much doubted that she was talented enough to resist the Yamanaka Unit with their mind readers. That being said, if he supported her wish for cooperation instead of forcing the issue, there were advantages and opportunities down the line he could make use of.
There was, after all, no saying what kind of barriers were placed in her mind to avoid anyone finding out what she knew.
In fact, one of the reasons he was so willing to entertain Yuwaku's proposal was the fact that Hikan, the leader of the group of missing-nins who had been captured by Itachi, had proved to be unexpectedly resilient to both conservative interrogations as well as mind reading. Every Jōnin worth their salt knew how to resist torture, and most of them had some sort of mental barriers and traps, too. The former because it helped resist interrogations and the latter because it forcefully shut them down even if they tried to spill the beans.
The barriers and traps in Hikan's mind were on an entirely different level than what would be considered normal, though. It was the kind of protection that could only be achieved by investing lots of resources and time into it, and if there had been any doubts whether Suna was actually involved in this or not, this proved it.
Hiruzen was confident that his men would eventually be able to get the information out of the man, but there was no telling how long that would take. With how little progress there had been made so far, however, it was likely that it would be a while, and while he could speed the process up a bit by permitting more extreme methods, that would also increase the risk of accidentally breaking his mind or springing a trap that then destroyed their prisoner's mind and all the information it held with it.
With how important the information he possessed was, especially in light of the quickly approaching Chūnin Exams and his plans for them, Hiruzen wasn't quite willing to take this risk yet.
It was doubtful that Yuwaku knew very much, but every piece of information he could get his hand on until Hikan's resistance inevitable broke was essential, particularly because they had already lost one prisoner and all information he potentially held before he had even arrived at Konoha.
Gouzen, the unexpected survivor of the believed to be extinct Kesshō Clan and user of Crystal Release who had been captured by Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka, had managed to take his own life while being transported to Konoha. Usually, Hiruzen would punish the ANBU guards responsible for the transport for allowing that to happen, but in this case, he found it hard to blame them and therefore let them off with little more than a slap on the wrist.
All three of the ANBU guards in question had been mere Genin during the days of the Third Great Ninja War, meaning they hadn't been taught how to properly restrain Crystal Release users, and by the time they rose in rank, the Kesshō Clan had officially gone extinct, so there had been no reason to teach anyone how to do so either. Consequently, none of the restraints put on him had stopped Gouzen from piercing his own throat with a summoned crystal.
The only thing Hiruzen could possibly blame the ANBU guards for was that they didn't drug him enough to avoid him waking up at all, but considering he had already received a maximum dose, it was very likely that he simply possessed an unexpected and exceptional resistance to the drug that had been used that couldn't have been foreseen.
And with his death, all the information he might have known was gone. Technically, a Yamanaka was able to read the mind of a corpse with only minimal information loss as long as the body in question hasn't been dead for too long, but Gouzen had apparently arranged a seal that destroyed his brain the moment he died to put inside his head, so that approach was unfortunately not an option.
The only positive thing about Gouzen's death was that Hiruzen now didn't have to deal with the question of what to do with him after they got the information they wanted out of him. With him being a carrier of a Kekkei Genkai, there would have been options available that Hiruzen as Hokage would have been forced to consider, so while it was a setback that they didn't get the chance to interrogate him, Hiruzen was happy he wouldn't have to make any more unethically decisions than he already did.
Hopefully Yuwaku knows something substantial. We can't afford to go blind to whatever Suna is up to by the time the guests arrive.
There were still several questions remaining, like where all the people of the camp that Shino and Kiba discovered early in their mission had vanished or what had happened to all the supplies that had been stolen over the years. Furthermore, due to the plot only being found out because Itachi's team went on the mission instead of Sudou, Hiruzen also had to investigate him as well to see if he was a traitor in league with Neishin, Sunagakure, or both.
To sum it all up, he still had a lot of work to do.
"My own trump cards come with much worse side effects, too, if that makes you feel any better."
Even as Kiba lay with his back on the hard ground, panting like a dog and with a just as exhausted Akamaru resting on his stomach, he could not get his sensei's words out of his head. On some level, he knew that trump cards always had some side effects that rendered them impractical for regular fights and that these side effects were the more severe the more powerful they were, but it had never really hit home to him.
Until now, that was.
It was only when he heard that his sensei literally risked blindness for using any of his trump cards that Kiba realized how stupid he had been for berating himself for falling unconscious after using his during his and Shino's fight against Gouzen.
However, something else he realized was that calling the Double-Headed Wolf transformation his trump card was stupid. Sure, it was currently his strongest technique and therefore deserved that name at least somewhat, but at the end of the day, it was only one of many of his clan's techniques! It was nothing special! All it would take for him to overcome his current predicament was to grow stronger physically, which was why he was already training again even though his team had only been back at Konoha for two days and had been given off for the rest of the week by their sensei. Once his body was strong enough, he would not only be able to keep the technique going for longer but also not fall unconscious afterwards.
A trump card was characterised by both its strength and its repercussions. So, could he really call it a trump card when it was neither a particularly powerful technique nor had any consequences that couldn't be overcome with what ultimately boiled down to some basic exercising?
And if he had no real trump card, what would he do the next time they encountered a strong enemy? How could he protect his team – his friends! – when he was the one who needed to be protected?
Shino had come up with an entirely original technique even his own clan had never heard about before, while Hinata had managed to beat her opponent all on her own by using not only the Hyūga's Gentle Fist but Ninjutsu and Genjutsu as well; what did Kiba have that could compare to that?
Nothing.
I need some kind of contingency plan, he thought as he stared up at the bright blue sky, absentmindedly scratching Akamaru behind the ears. It has to be something special. Something that can turn the tide of battle when everything else is lost, but what…
All of the sudden, his eyes widened as a thought crossed his mind.
A second later, and much to the displeasure of both Akamaru and his tired legs, he jumped to his feet. "That's it! C'mon, Akamaru, we have places to be!"
Without even waiting for his companion to reply, he began running towards his house next to his family's training ground, leaving the ninken no other choice but to rush after him.
"Ah, Kiba," his mother's voice called out to him from behind. "Done with training already? And here I thought you might be up for some new-"
"Not now, Kaa-san! I'm busy!"
Usually, he wouldn't dare rebuff his mother bluntly like that, but right now, he was too excited about his recent idea to care. Indeed, he was also far too engrossed in thought to even turn around, which was why he didn't get to see the confused and baffled expression on her face.
All he could think of as he ran into the house, through the floors, past the shrine with his father's picture on it, towards the stairs, and all the way up the attic was how to make his idea become reality.
Now, where exactly did Kaa-san put all of his stuff again?
Hinata made sure to keep her exhaustion out of her face and her posture as she slowly walked through the compound, greeting everyone she met with a smile and a nod when they appeared busy and holding some small talk if they didn't, regardless of their rank.
While her father did generally treat every member of their clan equally and fairly, he would probably scoff at her – as he would call it – wasting so much time for what he perceived as useless activity. After all, what use was it to listen to one of the cooks about what they had planned to make for dinner the next day or about what one of the gardeners had to say about their latest projects? Hinata could almost hear him berate her for not using this time for more productive things like training and improving herself.
The fact that she had spent the entire day listening to him explaining the finer details of keeping records for their family's various business enterprises as well as calculating some of the bills herself with him constantly looking over her shoulder would probably do little to appease him either.
This is really not how I imagined I would spend my free time once I got back home...
When they had finally returned from their mission six days ago, Itachi-sensei had decided to give them one week off to allow them to get some rest, and Hinata had looked forward to spending that time with her sister and friends as well as Neji and her uncle. She had even made some plans to meet with Sakura at some point, which was something she would have never imagined possible back during their Academy days.
Unfortunately, she was far too busy to do all of that. When everything was said and done, she could count herself lucky if she had an hour or two to spare for her sister at the end of the day!
And the worst thing was that she brought it all on herself.
When she reported the events of her mission – emitting the finer details of how exactly she had beaten Yuwaku, of course, as she knew his opinions about her using anything other than Hyūga techniques – as well as their collaboration with Team 7 to her father, he had actually seemed proud of her and vocally approached of her success. Empowered by that, and with her sensei's promise in mind to speak with one of his friends about finding a way to remove the Caged Bird Seal if she just got her hands on the sealing formula, Hinata had used that opportunity to remind him that he had wanted to teach her more about her administrative duties as his heir before her departure and ask whether they could start with these lessons right there and then.
He had seemed proud and approving of her apparent desire to live up to her duties, too, and his agreement made her happy as well.
Hinata quickly changed her mind when she realized just how much work these lessons actually involved, especially when it turned out that none of them was about the Caged Bird Seal.
They would have happened sooner or later anyway, she told herself, so complaining about it was useless. If anything, she should probably count herself happy that they got started with them now when she had nothing else to do as this meant she didn't have to juggle this with her regular training and lessons, but it was hard to keep that attitude up when every day ended with her eyes burning from staring at numbers for too long and her head throbbing from all the information she was expected to remember.
Still, if this was necessary to fulfil her dream, she could bear it. Besides, things were bound to get only easier from here, right?
Hinata was jerked out from her thoughts when she felt a familiar presence somewhere nearby, and after taking a few seconds to try and remember who it was, her eyes widened in recognition. Then, uncaring of how much her father would scold her later when he inevitably found out about it, she started running to catch up with the source of the chakra before the person it belonged to could get away.
She managed to reach them just outside the compound's gates.
"Wait!" she exclaimed, cringing inwardly at the volume of her voice. It was late, with the sun having already vanished on the horizon over an hour ago, so rising her voice like this was rather unbecoming of her.
Lee had turned around even before she had opened her mouth, having clearly felt her sudden arrival, and at the sight of her, his eyes widened. "Yosh, Hinata-chan! It's good to see you! I wanted to come and see you when Neji mentioned that your team had returned from your mission, but he seemed to believe that it would be too intrusive for some reason, so I refrained. What a happy coincidence to meet you like this!"
Hinata chuckled, amused and simultaneously somewhat overwhelmed by his attitude as always. "Don't let him keep you from visiting me," she told him with a smile. "He always worries too much. If I'm really too busy and don't have time, I'd tell you myself. Oh, and make sure to bring Tenten with you as well! I haven't seen her since our teams trained together."
He beamed at her with the kind of smile that could make one mistakenly believe that the sun was rising early. "Of course!" Then, he frowned. "I will make sure to keep that from Neji, though. I don't think he would be very happy about that, no matter what you say."
Well, he's probably not wrong about that. "Did your team just finish training?"
"Oh, no," Lee laughed, uncaring about the annoyed looks a few bystanders were throwing at him for his volume and all his worries already forgotten. "We finished training early a few hours ago. Hizashi-san invited us for dinner, you see." He threw a determined fist into the air. "I usually don't like to cut our workouts short, but the food at Neji's is always amazing, so I decided to join in and just do some extra exercise afterwards to make up for it!"
"That's very… admirable," she finally replied after hesitating for a few moments, hoping he didn't see the wobble in her smile. And a very Lee-like thing to do, too. "So did Tenten already leave, then? I would have liked to meet her as well."
For some reason, that made Lee's bright grin turn into something more akin to a teasing smirk – which Hinata had to admit looked very strange and out of place on his face. "She hasn't left yet. Hizashi-san mentioned that some beautiful flowers had started to bloom in the gardens, and she appeared interested, so Neji volunteered to show them to her." He conspiratorially leaned forward. "Between the two of us, I think they like each other."
Against her will, Hinata felt her own lips curve upwards in a similar expression to Lee's, albeit a less extreme version. She very much doubted that this would stay between the two of them considering Lee had – perhaps even deliberately, although it was always hard to say with him – not lowered his voice at all when he said that, but then again, her cousin's mutual attraction with his teammate was hardly a secret at the Hyūga Compound, so it probably didn't really matter.
"The flowers are very beautiful," she agreed. Then, she continued more teasingly, "And the setting is very romantic too, especially at night when the only light comes from a few scattered lanterns."
Lee gave another hearty laugh. "Then I eagerly look forward to see if this scenery will be enough to make the power of youth within them explode!"
Almost immediately, Hinata felt her cheeks heat up when she realized how one could interpret that statement in a more… indecent manner. The worst thing was that she couldn't tell for the life of her whether Lee had deliberately chosen his words to sound ambiguous or not. His good-natured expression simply gave nothing away, and for the first time, Hinata wondered how much of that expression was the real Lee and how much was him putting on a mask.
"Anyway," Lee continued cheerfully, either oblivious to her thoughts and embarrassment or simply ignoring them, "I really should get going and-"
"Wait!"
"Huh?"
She swallowed while trying to ignore the new surge of embarrassment that burned through her veins. There had been another reason she had wanted to speak with Lee that had nothing to do with making idle small talk, but for all that she had thought about this for a few days now, she had still no idea how to best phrase it.
When in doubt, just say it straight ahead, right?
"W-well, you see, I was wondering if you'd mind if I joined you for training sometimes?"
Lee blinked. "You want to train with me?"
"Yes!" Hinata said with a quick nod. "Neji-nii always tells me about how much it helps him to train with you because your Taijutsu style is the exact opposite to our Gentle Fist, and after my last mission, I realized just how much more I can still grow. I think training with more people would be really helpful, and Neji-nii speaks really highly of your strength, so-"
"All right!" Lee interrupted her, enthusiastically clenching his fists and mercifully preventing her from rambling on for who-knows-how-long. "I'd love to train with you! Such a youthful spirit simply has to be supported, there's no other way!"
Her face bloomed into a wide smile. "Really?!"
"Of course!" Then, he turned around and began to walk away. "Let's go!"
And that was all it took for her face to fall again. "What?"
"I said I added some additional exercises to make up for dinner, didn't I?" he asked without slowing down or even just turning his head around. "Well, there's no time like the present when it comes to training, so you can join me right now!"
"R-right now?! But-"
"Let's goooo!"
With that last exclamation, Lee pushed himself off the ground and began to run ahead.
Hinata couldn't do anything but stare after him for a few seconds, too overwhelmed with the sudden turn of events to react, but then, with only a short backwards glance, she began rushing after Lee while using her Byakugan to keep track of him.
She was technically wearing indoor clothes ill-suited for training, but that couldn't be helped now. There was clearly no time for her to get changed. Or to notify her father, for that matter, but she was optimistic that one of the guards who had not-so-subtle listened in on their conversation would report to him before soon.
I really hope this wasn't actually a terrible idea…
"I can't believe you forced me out here…"
Itachi fondly rolled his eyes at Anko's sullen comment, not bothering to hide his amusement in the slightest as the two of them walked through the busy streets of Konoha. "I'm sure your past self would thank me, or do you think you from a few years ago would approve of you spending all your free time in that laboratory of yours?"
"I'm sure my past self would understand if she knew the reason why I'm doing that."
She scoffed as she said that, but judging by the fact that she looked everywhere but his face, Itachi was reasonably sure she knew what nonsense it was that she was speaking.
"Even if she heard that you wouldn't even budge when someone offered to invite you to some free dango?"
All he got in response was some incomprehensible grumbling. He could have continued to tease her there and then, but as he felt generous today and didn't want to risk annoying her to the point where she actually turned around and walked away when he already got her this far, he decided against it.
However, it seemed Anko wasn't quite done yet after all.
"Well, perhaps I would have been more open to the idea if I didn't have to worry about any ulterior motives on your part."
When Itachi rolled his eyes this time, it was more of an exasperated gesture than a fondly one earlier. "And what ulterior motives might I possibly have?" he asked, deciding - perhaps against his better judgment - to play along.
As expected, Anko's entire demeanour immediately brightened when given the opportunity to fool around. "Oh, I don't know," she said, hugging herself as if seeking comfort in an uncomfortable situation and speaking with an innocent voice that was obviously fake. "A young man inviting a beautiful woman to grab something to eat together… I wonder what ulterior motives could be behind such a thing?" Then, at his very unimpressed look, she compromised, "Or you could just want to get some dango yourself but are too embarrassed to enter the shop all by your lonesome or something like that, I guess."
That was still nonsense, of course, but as that was preferable to her first idea, he decided to run with it. "Perhaps there's a grain of truth in that," Itachi said thoughtfully, making Anko whirl her head around to give him a suspicious look. "Very well, I suppose it might have been wrong of me to force you to come with me like this. Maybe I should have instead asked my team-"
"Alright, alright, it's fine!" Anko interrupted him before he could finish. "I get it, okay? No need to send me packing when we're already almost there."
And all it took was to threaten her that she wouldn't get any free dango, he thought with amusement, although he made sure that none of it could be seen on his face.
"Anyway, when will I finally get to meet these brats of yours? It has been, what, two months since you started training them? Three? Why haven't you introduced them to me yet?!"
"Primarily because you spend most of your time in a top security laboratory one can't enter without proper authorization," he replied dryly, resulting in her rolling his eyes. "Secondarily, well, I suppose there have been other things that took priority."
Anko let out an exaggerated gasp. "More important things than meeting me?"
"Yes."
Whatever act she was trying to pull off fell apart when his monotonous answer sent her into a laughing fit.
"Seriously, though," she said once she had pulled herself together again. "I want to meet them. Especially that Hyūga girl, considering what you want me to do."
He nodded, ignoring the almost impossible to discern accusation underneath her words. That reaction was only understandable, and it was certainly much tamer than her first reaction when he approached her with that particular favour. Not that he could blame her. Asking someone to mess with and get involved in such sensitive clan business was asking for a lot, but add Itachi's other request to it and it was almost– no, scratch that. It was rude to ask so much from another person, friend and former teammate or not. There was no 'almost' about it.
After checking that no one was listening to them – not exactly an easy task considering they were walking in the middle of a busy street, mind you – at the moment, he said in a somewhat quieter voice, "Her father hasn't taught her the Caged Bird Seal yet. Once he does, I-"
"Yeah, that's not what I mean," Anko interrupted him, not bothering to lower her voice as well. Although to be fair, she clearly chose her words carefully enough so that even if someone were to listen to them, they would have no idea what they were talking about. "That thing notwithstanding, I just want to meet them. Preferable sometime soon."
Knowing when to give up, Itachi merely sighed. "I will see what can be arranged."
"Yeah, see that you do."
Arranging such a meeting might actually hit two birds with one stone. Not only would it make Anko happy, which in turn would stop her from bothering him too much, but it would also give him the opportunity to arrange a training session for his team with a new opponent to spar against. Furthermore, it was a good way to get Anko out of her laboratory, so there was that as well.
No matter how often she insisted that she was at the edge of a breakthrough in her research, it wouldn't do her any good to ponder over her experiments all the time. Sometimes, one needed to take a break and occupy oneself with other things in order to let their brain get some rest. That was the easiest way to solve seemingly impossible problems. Just getting some distance from them for a bit before looking at them again later from a different perspective could do wonders.
Anko's voice pulled him back into the present.
"Speaking of other people I have yet to meet," she drawled with a teasing grin, making Itachi almost unconsciously narrow his eyes at her. "I recently heard the funniest story about a pretty Inuzuka girl visiting your place after dark. Anything you wanna tell me?"
Wonderful, he thought with a tinge of annoyance. First Kiba, and now Anko as well. The only one missing now is Shisui. Then, another thought nearly made him grimace. Or worse, my mother.
"And how exactly did you hear about that when you never leave your lab?"
The overly proud grin she shot him in response was, in his opinion, entirely unnecessary. "I might not leave the lab, but Shizune does, and she's a big gossip. Believe me, I know everything that happens in this village!"
Not just unnecessary, he mentally added, but misguided as well. That's not something to be proud of.
"In that case you should know that Hana only came to tell me that her brother – one of my students – wouldn't participate in the team's training for a while because of some Inuzuka intern matters."
"Ah, but maybe that's just what you two want everyone to believe! Who knows what truly happened behind closed doors, eh?"
At this point, Itachi decided that replying would get him nowhere. Anko would just find a way to twist all his words against him.
Not that it was very difficult in this particular situation, mind you. Now that she mentioned it, Itachi supposed he could see why people might get the wrong impression from her visiting him like that – especially because most people just loved to gossip and therefore had no problem with intentionally misinterpreting things to spice things up.
And speaking of gossip, Anko said she heard about the visit from Shizune who was apparently a big gossip… did that mean the rest of the village was talking about that as well?
With another exasperated sigh, Itachi pinched the bridge of his nose, for once not caring what other people might think.
I have to prepare for Shisui to come and visit me as soon as he gets back from his mission, don't I?
As I will be very busy at work in the next few weeks, the next chapter will not be published until 14 August 2022.
I've somehow managed to keep writing even though I've already been very busy for a few months because of a certain project, but now that it's approaching the final stages, the situation has become even worse. Therefore, I decided to take this short break instead of stressing myself out trying to stick to a weekly update schedule I won't be able to keep up with anyway.
I'd like to think that most of you will be understanding about this, and I'm probably more bothered by this than you guys, but I still want to apologize for the inconvenience lol