The Archangel of the Hidden Leaf

Chapter 10:

The Stowaway

The main house of the Hyuga Clan district grew quiet when Hinata and Neji finished their spar. Both had exerted themselves for the day, but neither sustained injuries. The only evidence of their spar were the beads of sweat dripping down their cheeks and the vertically-drying salty streaks.

Hinata in particular sat on the ledge that faced the courtyard. It was not long since the strange girl was here seeking repentance from her father. The sun had only traversed the cloudy sky a few feet from her perspective. It would be at most six hours until the sun wanted to approach the horizon. But it still felt like the rest of the afternoon had passed by her. Her focus remained during the rest of the spar, but the girl did not leave her mind. Her eyes were blank like the Byakugan, but white in color. There was no trace of a pupil or even a border of an iris. An eye so unique surely had to have some kind of special capability.

Another body joined her on the ledge. Neji's feet touched the grass below as he sat. "You did well today," he complimented calmly. Just by hearing his voice, she knew the corners of his lips were flat.

"Thank you," she replied meekly, keeping her gaze on the ground. A comfortable silence formed between them. It was hard to believe that just three years ago, Neji could not stand being around his cousin out of jealously. Now he was content to train her whenever he was not sent on a mission. The time spent together helped her better understand him as a person, too. Despite not physically showing he was in a good mood, she knew he was on the inside. The knowledge made her feel more comfortable when they were near each other but not exchanging words.

He stood next to her when the girl was there. She knew he saw her eyes, but she still wanted to ask what he thought. But before she could get to it, Neji went ahead and asked, "Did you see it, too?"

"See what?"

"The creature's chakra network."

Her chakra network? Hinata mentally repeated. To have seen that, that meant Neji looked into her using his Byakugan.

"N-No. I just saw her eyes. It looked like the Byakugan to me."

"I noticed that as well, but her chakra network is disrupted. Her upper back has no chakra flowing through any of the chakra points."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Toneri Hyuga may have blocked those chakra points when defending himself, but it's been a whole week since his death. Her chakra network would have recovered by now."

Although she was unsure why he was telling her this, Hinata did agree that it was odd. Those who endured the gentle fist and earned themselves blocked chakra points naturally recovered after a short time. Seven days was more than enough time for her chakra network to return to normal. But despite Neji's findings, there was nothing they could do. The Hyuga Clan would never see that creature ever again.

Tsunade watched as the door to her office shut behind the visitor and Izumo. He was to be escorted out of the village and sent a message to the address he provided if his "daughter" was found. Of course, Tsunade told him these things just to get him out from within the village walls. She had no intention of following through with her promise. There was no way she was going to give Orochimaru back a weapon he carelessly lost.

Shizune, who stood rigidly next to the desk, finally turned toward her as she sat with her elbows on the wooden surface and her wrists supporting the bottom of her chin. "Ma'am?" she sounded with a confused but worried tone.

"I know," Tsunade began her without moving from her stance. "But I can't risk what I'm thinking."

"We're going to keep a monster in the village, then? We could have gotten her out."

"You don't understand, Shizune," Tsunade snapped, leaning back in her chair and turning it to face her. "The monster was an experiment of Orochimaru's. We have enough evidence to suggest that he was breeding her. That means she's some kind of weapon, a weapon that can be used against the Leaf or anyone he wants."

Shizune blinked as she explained the situation. The gleam in her eye hinted at bewilderment, but the small gap between her lips betrayed it for untrustworthiness. She usually understood Tsunade's intentions or decisions, but this one appeared out of character for her. In Tsunade's perspective, Shizune was only thinking about the surface problems that would come with keeping a monster imprisoned inside the Hidden Leaf Village. She hoped the visitor accepted her resolve and would move his search to a different location, but there was a nagging sensation in her gut that told her this would not be the last time he came to the village. And if that was the case, more precautions had to be taken.

"Hey, Naruto!" Kakashi called from the bottom of the waterfall. "Take a break for a few minutes."

The shirtless teen sighed and pulled his hands away from the falling torrent. He had water droplets glistening all over his skin and his palms uncomfortably pruned from absorbing water for many hours. He had been working for most of the week on cutting this waterfall with his wind nature to no avail yet. Taking a break always reminded him that he was far off from catching up to Sasuke.

Yamato relaxed from his stance that was focusing on Naruto's Nine-Tails chakra. Sitting for long periods without moving ended up giving him an aching lower back, so he exhaled and laid back to give it a break. Naruto dropped down from his tree branch and landed on the ground swiftly. "How long is this break gonna be?" he asked Kakashi.

"Hm," the masked man hummed, glancing over at Yamato's state. "I guess whenever Yamato is feeling up to it."

"Don't make me responsible. You're the sensei," Yamato remarked, stretching an arm over his head.

Frustrated impatience welled up inside jinchuriki. At this rate, he was not sure if he would ever catch up to Sasuke. The thought had him battling a sense of internal defeat, and he had only started this training a few days ago!

"Kakashi!" a distant voice suddenly called.

He immediately turned his direction to the dark-haired female jogging over to the three of them. Yamato sat up in curiosity. Soon the woman got close enough to be recognized as Shizune. She slowed her pace once she was in the proximity of Yamato's circle of wooden totems. "Kakashi, Lady Tsunade has requested you," she indicated.

"Is it urgent?" he asked, placing his hands in his pockets casually.

"No, but I don't want to keep her waiting."

Kakashi looked to Naruto. "We'll continue when I get back."

One side of his mouth frowned. That could be hours from now. But he could not disobey his sensei, so he nodded obediently.

Shizune took Kakashi straight to the intelligence headquarters in the Hidden Leaf. She did not give him any details but going to the building gave him recollections of the last time he was summoned by the Analysis Team. A prisoner they once had in their custody had met him at one point in his youth, so they asked for his help to get information from her. Her name was Hanare, and she was a spy from the Hidden Lock Village. Since he was being summoned by the Hokage this time, he wondered what the reason was this time.

When he followed Shizune inside, they were met by Tsunade with a section of her hair draped over her shoulder. "Sorry to pull you away from Naruto's training, Kakashi," she said. "But I need your help."

"With what?"

Swaying her hips fluidly with her reversion toward the incarceration cells, she motioned for him to follow with the folding of her fingers. "We have gathered more information about the creature but got an unexpected visitor today who was looking for her," she began to explain. He joined her side to listen, remembering the bloody monstrous girl his team came in contact with outside the village walls. A row of cells passed by, each dark enough to shroud the back wall and whoever occupied them. "She used to be one of Orochimaru's experiments. Now he has subjects trying to bring her back to him. Considering how deadly the incident a week ago ended up being, I do not want to risk her getting captured and taken to him. This is a chance to prevent Orochimaru from using her to harm or target the Leaf again."

"So, what do you need me to do?"

"I need you to take her to where you're training Naruto–" She stopped at a cell and wrapped her fingers around a cold bar "–and hide her."

Kakashi, surprised by the proposition, gave Tsunade a wordless stare before peering into the shadow on the other side of the bars. Although it was similar to the situation with Hanare, he felt odd about it. There was no telling what could happen if she was unrestrained and outside. She could escape to freedom, or at least try. Or worse, she could hurt him, Yamato, or Naruto. However, it could be a good thing that Tsunade wanted him to be in charge of someone as dangerous as her. Kakashi had a long history of undergoing dangerous missions and coming out successful. This would be no different.

Tsunade looked into the cell. "Hey, you, come here," she ordered.

Kakashi watched as a part of the shadow moved. The silhouette of a girl stood up and dragged her feet close to Tsunade. She pulled out a ring of keys from her sleeve and stuck one in the lock that kept the door shut tight. With a firm twist of her wrist, the door released and opened for Dolia to exit.

He prepared himself for the black eyes that would be revealed by the light on their side of the metal bars. He had not seen them since the incident but remembered them vividly. Dolia stepped through the doorway. Her eyes were blank above her muzzle and her wrists were bound by cuffs. She looked up to Kakashi, feeling a sense of muffled recognition from his masked identity and platinum hair. He saw how her eyes were not black like he was expecting, and he almost did not hear Tsunade speak again.

"Keep her hidden. I don't know for how long, but until we know for sure that the coast is clear, it's best if she's under your protection."

Kakashi nodded. "I'll do my best."