Chapter 36 A Plan of action
AN: Karin's hair is a borrowed idea from a deviant art thing I saw. It's funny and I liked it.
Hibiki walked down the road at an even pace. The cool air stung her cheeks as she walked, a shiver ran through her. She pulled her cloak closer to shield her from the wind.
Man, it's cold. She thought. It had been a while since she's experienced winter, and she already knew she wasn't a fan. She liked hot summer days, not snowy winter ones. She liked juicy watermelon not hot bowls of Oden. She just hoped that it would be warmer where they were going.
A few miles down the road, far enough away from the village gates that they were no longer in sight, she heard a bush move. She stopped and turned toward the sound.
"Hello?" She called. She heard footsteps move toward her. She braced a bit.
"How did it go?" Suigetsu asked as he emerged from behind a bush. He joined her at her side and took her hand. She sighed and relaxed, Suigetsu's cool hand and voice familiar and comforting. The two began walking down the road again, side by side.
"Good, made it in," she answered.
"Alright with that mission accomplished, what's next?" he asked.
"We go back to the hideout," she replied.
"Alright," Suigetsu sighed. He knew he wasn't going to get any answers out of her until the group was together. They took a lazy pace enjoying the company of each other as they walked. Around sunset, they made it back to the hideout. Suigetsu went in first and caught Hibiki at the bottom.
"This is the worst entrance, no wonder it was abandoned," Hibiki complained. She wasn't a fan of slides. She couldn't know what was at the end of it and had no way to prepare herself for it. Even this slide she felt hesitant even knowing Suigetsu was going to catch her.
Suigetsu went down the halls calling for Juugo and Karin while Hibiki took a seat in the kitchen. A few minutes later she heard Juugo quietly and calmly enter and take a seat, then came the loud argument between Suigetsu and Karin.
"Are you never going to let it go?" Suigetsu asked as he walked in and sat next to Hibiki.
"Not until my hair grows back!" Karin yelled back.
"What are you two fighting about now?" Hibiki asked as she took his hand.
"Nothing, Suigetsu just surprised me is all," Karin frowned.
"Why the hell didn't you hear me, I was calling to you?"
"I was preoccupied." she snapped.
"Yeah yeah, as soon as I touched her shoulder she panicked and slapped me."
"Serves you right." Karin pouted. Suigetsu took a seat next to Hibiki, taking her hand under the table.
"Seriously you two, I don't understand why you hate each other so much." Hibiki sighed.
"It started with Suigetsu cutting my hair!" Karin growled.
"You cut her hair?" Hibiki looked toward Suigetsu, raising her eyebrow, waiting for an answer to the accusation.
"She was at the lab, I was able to get out for a second and took the opportunity to get back at the girl who essentially electrocuted me twice." Suigetsu defended himself.
"I was under orders from Orochimaru." Karin sneered.
"It still hurt like fuck." Suigetsu complained.
"Alright alright, so why can't you two just move past this," Hibiki asked.
"My hair is still uneven!" Karin snapped again.
"Then cut it shorter." Suigetsu retorted.
"I can't do that!" Karin gasped, horrified at the thought.
"Why because Sasuke likes long hair?" Suigetsu teased. Is that rumor still circulating? Hibiki wondered, a bit surprised.
"That's…. It's not ..." Karin babbled.
"Alright enough, let's just move on then." Hibiki stopped the argument.
"Fine, So now that you've spoken to Sasuke what is the plan?" Suigetsu asked Hibiki.
"Well, I figure we should make ourselves scarce for a while, just until some of the heat dies down. You know from the Land of Iron, and Konoha. We are all wanted and with some time that will be eased off of. Or at least made less of a priority." Hibiki explained.
"Where do we go?" Juugo asked.
"Well, back in the Land of Iron, I met a guy named Haruto. It's a long story but he left his earthly possessions to me before he died. I need to go and sell his land and everything. The trip there and back would be a few months."
"Where is it?" Karin inquired.
"A small country called the Land of Oil. It's on the other side of the desert in the Land of Wind. it's out of the way and has no ninja affiliations. A safe neutral zone we can walk around freely in." Hibiki explained.
"That would be nice for a change, no more sneaking around, walking on eggshells." Juugo sighed.
"We are in no rush so it can be as slow as we want, like a vacation," Hibiki added.
"That sounds really nice actually." Karin perked up
"The calm environment would be beneficial to me. But what if I go on a rampage?" Juugo worried.
"We can see Orochimaru before we go, see if there's any medication he can give us." Suigetsu suggested.
"What about money?" Karin asked.
"I still have some left from when we were traveling with Sasuke, but we can also go to a bank in the Land of Grass, I have some money saved there, plenty for the trip," Hibiki explained.
"How the hell do you have a bank account?" Suigetsu asked.
"I blackmailed a few of Orochimaru's old henchmen to set it up for me," Hibiki answered.
"Hahaha, awesome." Suigetsu cackled. She always seemed to surprise him.
"So does this sound like something you would want to do," Hibiki asked the group.
"I'm in," Suigetsu smiled, squeezing her hand.
"Of course you'd follow Hibiki." Karin teased.
"Shut up bitch." He sneered.
"Kiss my ass Suigetsu. Even though you'll be there a vacation does sound nice. I'll go." Karin agreed.
"I want to see Orochimaru first before I decide," Juugo said.
"Alright. Let's pack up and go see the old lizard." Hibiki concluded.
With that, they repacked their few possessions and set off to the Land of Sound. Orochimaru had been held up in one of his oldest hideouts. The Hideout was used less and less over the years, as better equipped hideouts were constructed. But as it was the largest of the Hideouts, Orochimaru seemed to want it as a singular base from then on. A few rumors had been circulating he was moving his machinery and documents to this hideout. Having his old followers help renovate the old building. The group came across the main entrance but stopped short.
"Orochimaru's being watched," Karin sighed, why was nothing easy?
"Probably on house arrest for now," Juugo added.
"How do we get in?" Hibiki asked.
"I'm guessing one of the other entrances are unguarded," Karin explained.
They split up, Karin took the east entrance, Hibiki and Suigetsu took the west, and Juugo took the emergency secret exit. When Karin and Hibiki and Suigetsu found their entrances being watched they joined Juugo a mile from the main entrance.
"It seems that they either don't know this is here or, Orochimaru might have forgotten it's here." Suigetsu guessed.
"Probably I swear the sheer number of hideouts designed and made… probably gets them mixed up all the time." Hibiki sighed.
The group descended through a hatch hidden under a tree, down an old ladder, and through a secret door. They carefully walked through the hideout as Karin led them to Orochimaru. They found the man in one of the studies going over some blueprints. He looked up to see the four quietly enter and shut the door.
"It's good to see you all. Doing much better Hibiki?" Orochimaru greeted them.
"I'm doing great," she coldly answered.
"What has brought you all here today?" He asked.
"You know why we are here." Hibiki scoffed.
"He does?" Suigetsu asked.
"He has a snake on me," Hibiki explained.
"What?" Suigetsu gasped. He definitely did not like the idea that one of Orochimaru's nasty snakes was on Hibiki.
"It's like a leash, it spies on me sometimes," Hibiki told Suigetsu.
"I hoped you didn't know. But of course, you did." Orochimaru glumly replied.
"So do you have anything for Juugo," Hibiki asked.
"Yes actually, follow me." He instructed.
Orochimaru leads them deeper into the hideout, its walls looked unstable and the floor was falling apart.
"As you can see I need to do some renovations to the place." Orochimaru narrated their walk. The place had cracks all in the walls, too many to be stable. The ground was uneven, Suigetsu guided Hibiki over the rough terrain.
"Is that your plan for now?" Karin asked.
"Yes, I'm under house arrest for now, under constant surveillance. Every building material or supplies brought in is searched first. It slows everything down. Tsunade agreed I could be free so long as I gave up my hideouts. I gave them a map of them all, even the unfinished ones. This is the only one for now." he explained.
"Good thing we left when we did," Hibiki said.
"It seems I've conveniently forgotten that one, my memory isn't always perfect. I'll report it soon though." he smiled to himself.
"Thank you for your concern lord Orochimaru," Karin said.
"I don't know what you mean." He replied.
"I'm sure you'll rebuild a few more hideouts soon." Hibiki changed the subject.
"Not at the moment, but yes I probably will, once everything settles," he answered.
They walked into one of the old labs that were still running, although barely.
"I've picked up on some of my experiments that are agreeable, such as Juugo's condition. It can be quite boring when I do nothing, so it's been helping to keep me from getting cabin fever," he complained.
"So what have you discovered?" Juugo asked. Clearly eager to have some new control over his body.
"I just created and tested a few mixtures I had noted a while ago, And this one is the most effective thus far," Orochimaru said as he grabbed a bottle from one of the shelves.
"This should last until you return." He finished handing the bottle to Juugo.
"Thank you, lord Orochimaru." Juugo bowed.
After a chaste goodbye, the group exited where they had entered and moved toward the Land of Grass.
A few days of walking, occasionally stopping in villages to eat and rest, they made it to the land of grass. A small village a few miles past the border held a small bank.
"Here, This is my authorization card, pull out 56000 Ryo or so, that should be enough when combined with what money we have leftover," Hibiki instructed the boys.
"How the hell did you get so much money? And how much more do you have?" Suigetsu asked,
"It's a long story, ill tell you later." Hibiki waved him off
Suigetsu grumbled as he and Juugo walked to the bank, leaving Hibiki and Karin who sat on a bench under the shade of a large tree.
"What should we bring?" Karin wondered aloud.
"We should be mostly in hotels this time, so not too much. We can buy a backpack or two to carry extra clothes and a few other things, like Juugo's new medication." Hibiki offered.
"I can't wait to get you some new clothes, you've been dressing like such a tomboy recently. I miss seeing you in your cute dresses." Karin gushed.
"My dresses were impractical, and still are," Hibiki explained.
"Fine for now ill let you dress like that, but I will get to dress you up, and soon," Karin demanded.
"You know I'm, not a doll right." Hibiki half laughed.
"I know but it's so fun to dress you up." Karin defended her argument. The two laughed sweetly together. After a minute or so they calmed down. Karin leaned back and stretched, then relaxed again. She watched as the wind rustled the naked branches. She sighed, sat up straight and gathered her courage.
"So, hows Sasuke?" she finally asked.
"I've been wondering when you would ask," Hibiki smiled slightly. "He's alright, he's finally the Sasuke I know, even though he's imprisoned right now, he seems happy, the happiest I've seen him in forever," Hibiki explained.
"That's good," Karin smiled.
"He shouldn't be in for much longer. I'm guessing either August or September, he should be out." Hibiki continued.
"Will we see him?" Karin questioned.
Hibiki could feel Karin fidget a little.
So its finally time… she thought. Hibiki reached over and Karin took her hand, squeezing it, knowing it wasn't good news.
"I know what you really want to ask, so just ask it." Hibiki encouraged her.
"Do, do I still have a chance to be with Sasuke?" She studdered, nervous.
"No. Whatever the cause for that path was, has already passed." Hibiki honestly stated. Karin teared up, and cold salty drops of water streaked down her face, her breath hitched. Hibiki pulled Karin into a hug.
"I'm sorry, maybe I should have said it better," Hibiki apologized.
"No, its not you, I needed the honest truth. It just hurts." Karin murmured between soft sobs.
Suigetsu and Juugo walked back towards the bench, a large money-filled envelope in SUigetsu's hand. It was odd for him to enter a bank with no intention of robbing it. Sure he only robbed a bank once, but he always had that small urge to rob a bank whenever he passed one.
Juugo suddenly stopped, causing him to run into his back.
"Jeez man, why the hell did you…" Suigetsu asked looking around the tallboy. He gaped at the scene in front of him, Hibiki sat smiling next to Karin, who had cut her hair into a short bob.