Chapter 4: Clues

"Now what?" Sakura asked. "Where do we go from here?"

"We should investigate the village that Keisuke came from," Sasuke suggested.

"Yes, let's do that," Hinata said.

"Alright," Kakashi decided. "Kurenai, I trust you have no objections?"

"No, that sounds like a good idea," Kurenai agreed.

"Where exactly is this Keisuke guy from anyway?" Kiba asked.

"He's from a pretty big town called Trieta," Kakashi explained. "It's not that far from here. We should arrive there by sunset if all goes well."

"Alright!" Naruto cheered. "Then let's go to Trieta!" He dashed off.

"Naruto!" Kakashi and Kurenai shouted. "That's the wrong way! Come back!"

"Naruto you idiot!" Sakura shouted. 'I'm gonna kill him with my bare hands!' Inner Sakura yelled.

Hinata turned to Shino. "Come on Shino, let's go." He remained silent. "…Shino, I understand that what-"

"Hinata, please, don't act as if you know what I'm going through," Shino said.

"Shino…" Sakura whispered.

"And no one ask me if I'm 'alright'." He walked off after Naruto.

"I see…" Sakura said. She looked at Hinata. "Hinata…?"

"Ever since he met her, he's been so emotional." Hinata sighed.

XXXX

Sakura punched Naruto in the stomach. "Thanks to you, we got here later than we had anticipated!" She put her foot on his chest. "What do you have to say for yourself!"

"Oh please, Sakura!" Hinata cried. "I'm sure Naruto didn't mean it! He's was just so excited about going to a new place, right Naruto?"

Naruto looked at Hinata. "R-Right! Yeah! That's it."

"I know Kakashi sensei said that we should get here by sunset, but nightfall is right after sunset," Hinata continued. "So in a way, we made it here on time."

Sakura looked at Hinata and sighed. What do you see in this knucklehead Hinata? You deserve better! "Alright, alright." She removed her foot. "Just don't do something like that again Naruto."

Naruto jumped up. "Thanks Hinata, I owe you."

"Y-You're welcome." She blushed.

"Well, at any rate," Kakashi finally said, "let's go in." They went through the city gates.

"Wow! This place is huge!" Naruto said.

"It's pretty!" Sakura said.

"We should split up into teams of two so we can cover more ground that way," Kurenai recommended.

"Right," Kakashi said. "Okay, for team one, we have…Kiba and Sasuke." The two boys nodded.

Sakura frowned. "But I-"

"Team two will be Hinata and Naruto," Kakashi continued. Naruto and Hinata looked at each other. "And team three is Sakura and Shino. Kurenai and I will be the fourth team. So, does everyone know what to do?" They all nodded.

"Let's meet at that inn in about an hour," Kurenai said.

"Okay, let's go." The teams walked off.

"So, where do you wanna look first?" Naruto asked Hinata.

"Oh, u-um…I-I don't know…"

"Yeah, you're right. We should get someone to tell us about this place first. Let's ask that man right there." They walked over to a man. "Hey, 'scuse me guy, but this is the first time that we've come here. Would you mind givin' us some directions?"

"Oh, sure thing kids. The stairs behind me takes you to the east part of town. Eastern Trieta is where you'll find the homes, restaurants, and school. The stairs over there take you to the liveliest part of town, Western Trieta. There's the mayor's home that becomes an action house at night, weapon and item shops, museum, and the astral observatory."

"Thanks mister!" Naruto said. "C'mon Hinata!" They ran off to the stairs headed to the west part of town.

The man smiled. "Aah, young love…"

XXXX

"Okay, where haven't we checked?" Naruto asked Hinata as they sat at an outdoor café.

"Well, we haven't looked at the observatory or the mayor's place," Hinata said.

"You'd think this place would have less shops or something." He stretched. "Okay, let's go check out the mayor's place." They walked through the town and came to the mayor's residence. "Wow, that's a big house."

"It's a mansion," she corrected.

"Oh, right, I-I knew that!"

She giggled. "Naruto…" They went inside. "An auction is going on right now."

"Yeah, let's go talk to that guy over there." They walked over to a finely dressed man in front of stairs.

"Um, excuse me," Hinata said.

"Eh?" The man looked at them. "What do you want?"

"We'd like to go upstairs," Hinata said.

"What? No way. No one's allowed upstairs when auctions are being held!"

"Then can we at least speak to the mayor?" Naruto asked with a tone of irritation.

"Hmm, lemme think about that…" He cleared his throat. "NO! The mayor would never want to speak with two brats! Now go home!"

"Hey pal!" Naruto yelled. "Do you know who we-"

Hinata tapped him on the shoulder. "Um, Naruto, please control yourself. We don't want to cause a scene. Let's go sit."

"Hinata…" He looked at the man. "O-Okay, fine then." They walked over to the other side of the room. "Gah, what do we do now?"

"If only there was a way we could get that guy to leave that spot, then maybe we could get past him." Hinata sighed. "But how would we go about doing that?"

"Hmm?" Naruto blinked thoughtfully. "Uh…Oh! Oh! I know!"

"Huh? How then?"

"Like this! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A clone of Naruto appeared. "Alright clone, listen up. I need you to get that guy over there to leave that spot. Do anything you can, throw rocks, slap someone, pee on the auctioneer, whatever!"

"So you want me to create a diversion?" the clone asked.

"Yes!"

"Piece of cake then."

"But first, I want you to disguise yourself."

"No problem, no problem. Sexy Jutsu!" The clone turned into a girl. "Ha ha, they'll get a kick out of this."

"Alright, good! Hinata and I are gonna go hide behind that pillar. When I give you the signal, do your stuff."

"I will."

The two Narutos nodded at each other. "Alright Hinata, let's go." They ran behind a pillar near the stairs.

"Are you sure this will work Naruto?"

"Of course it will Hinata! Just watch and see!"

"And the next item on our list today is--"

Naruto held up his hand. "Go!"

The clone smiled and jumped up on stage. "Hey! How y'all doin' tonight!" The audience gasped.

"Hey, miss, you can't be up here!" the auctioneer shouted.

"Kiss my ass!" The clone punched out the auctioneer and the audience started to panic.

"HEY!" The man standing in front of the stairs ran onto the stage.

"Now's our chance!" Hinata exclaimed.

"Right!" The two of them ran up the stairs and went through a door. "Whoooa! Does this place keep getting bigger!" Naruto looked around.

"We don't have time to admire this place. Let's just go see the mayor before someone catches us!" They both nodded and ran up another set of stairs. They came to a two-way hallway and stopped. "Oh…"

"Great, where do we go from here!" He crossed his arms in a huff. "This place is annoying!"

"Hey, did you hear? There was a huge commotion downstairs."

"Really?"

"Yeah. During the auction, some weird girl jumped on stage and punched out that auction guy. She started fighting with security, but when she finally got caught, she disappeared."

"Disappeared? Maybe she was a ninja."

"That'd be a sight for sore eyes. What would a ninja being doing in a town like this?"

"Who knows." Two men were coming down the right-handed hall.

"N-Naruto!"

"I know! I know!" He looked around frantically. "Let's just run down that hall and go in the very last door!" They ran down the left-handed hall and went through the last door. "Phew, that was close! We almost got caught!"

"That was quick thinking," Hinata said.

"What're you two kids doing in my office?"

The two ninjas spun around. "A-Aah, um, uh…"

A man sitting at a desk leaned forward in his chair. "Well?"

"We…W-We were just…We're on a…"

The man burst out in laughter. "Bwahaha! Aah, kids today! This brings back memories of my youth when I used to sneak around!"

Hinata and Naruto looked at each other. "Okay then…"

"I am the mayor of Trieta, Hiroshi. Now tell me, my children, what is it that you need?"

"Oh, um, we're ninjas and we're on a mission," Hinata began, "We're looking for a man named Keisuke."

"What's his last name?"

Hinata and Naruto looked at each other again. "Last…name?"

"There are many Keisukes in Trieta. Which Keisuke are you looking for?"

"Kakashi sensei didn't give us a last name," Hinata whispered. "And I've never seen Keisuke before…"

"Who cares about a last name!" Naruto yelled. "It's just Keisuke! He probably doesn't even have a last name!"

"Oh?" Hiroshi paused. "Keisuke without a last name…Yes, I knew a Keisuke without a last name once." The two ninjas looked up. "When I became mayor of this town, he was just a boy."

"Then do you think you can tell us where he might be or where he likes to go?" Hinata asked.

"…I don't think I can tell you that."

"Why not!" Naruto demanded.

"Naruto, please, calm down…"

"He kept to himself and he rarely went out."

"Oh, o-okay…" Naruto rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"However, he wasn't born in this town."

"What? Really?"

"Yes. I'm not sure where he was from, but there were rumors that he was from the Nozomi village."

"Nozomi village?" Hinata started to think. Nozomi village…? Then that would make him a Nozomi…Wait a second…He attacked Shino's father, an…an Aburame! The Nozomis and the Aburames hate each other! That would make sense! "Yes! Yes of course!"

"'Yes of course' what?" Hiroshi asked.

"Naruto! I think I found a clue!"

"Y-You did?" He tilted his head.

"Yes! Let's go to the inn and meet up with everyone!" She bowed to Hiroshi. "Thank you!"

"Yeah! Thanks old man!" They ran out.

XXXX

"Okay, we're here Hinata and Naruto," Kurenai said as everyone followed her into the inn.

"Great!" Hinata said with a smile as she stood up.

"I take it that you guys found a clue," Kakashi said.

"Yep! We sure did!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Shut up Naruto!" Sakura shouted. "I bet Hinata did all of the work."

"Actually," Hinata said, "I couldn't have gotten the information without Naruto."

"Okay then, let's hear it!" Kiba said.

"Well, we talked to the mayor of this town, Mayor Hiroshi. He said that he didn't know that much about Keisuke. But he did say that when Keisuke was younger and when he was living here, a rumor was going around that he was from the Nozomi village."

"How can we trust a rumor?" Sasuke asked.

"But there's a fifty percent chance that it's true!"

"Oh yeah, how?"

"…If Keisuke was from the Nozomi village, that would make him a Nozomi. He attacked my father, and Aburame. That adds us since the Aburames and Nozomis…hate each other," Shino finally said.

Sakura looked at Shino sadly. That must be a very difficult topic for him. I know that must have been painful for him to say that…

"Okay, so if Keisuke was a Nozomi, he would probably go back to his village if he attacked an Aburame," Kiba said as he thought aloud. "But…But if he did go back, how are we supposed to find the place? It's hidden, remember?"

"There's only one thing we can do," Hinata started.

"Don't tell me…We have to find Airas, don't we?" Kiba finished.

"Exactly."

"Ayaka, is Satomi downstairs?"

"Yes and he has your order of mythril."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome…Miss Airas."

The group of ninjas froze and looked at the woman at the receptionist desk. "Did we hear right?"