Edit Note, 28th of August 2016: Went through it for the formating. Sorry if you were one of the persons who read it prior to it. Hope there aren't any typos...
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Author Note: Am I doing something wrong that I don't deserve your feedback? Just curious. Well, the ones I get are answered via PMs if you are wondering. I do react and got valueable info for myself by them ;-)
So, my real first fight is in this chapter. Hope it turned out decent enough. Guess I was crazy enough to write this specific one, inventing an OC including fighting style. Opinions?
And another cliffhanger at the end. Sorry for that - but the next chapter is already in the making. Just one week for it to appear. Btw, the next one will be Hinata's 10th birthday because my birthday is close as well. Thought that would be a fine treat for you ;-)
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A Tale of Two Sisters – Chapter 8: Fate
Shino was in a hurry getting back to the village. He knew that he should report his findings as quick as possible because if his conclusion was the right one was time a crucial thing right now. If there really was a kidnapping wasn't there any to waste.
When he finally reached the village and entered through the eastern gate did he run right into Cat who currently was patrolling the eastern section of town. "Hold it right there. Where the hell are you coming from?" she stood in his way, mustering him from top to bottom.
Shino was raising an eyebrow at the ANBU standing in front of him. "Obvious from the eastern forest cause I just entered through the gate what you might have noticed." he bluntly stated the facts. "And if you don't mind I need to report something important as quickly as possible to the Hokage."
Cat was struggling to find words, her mind running wild right now. "How? How can you come from the forest if the guards report said that none left the village this morning?" she spoke out the first question that came to her mind, bothering her the most right now.
"I can't answer you that question. What I can answer you is that I was bug hunting and then found something I need to report. Oh, and maybe is the answer you are looking for that there were no guards around when I left?" he stated again bluntly, trying to push himself past the ANBU. No matter her rank, he had no time to waste and her questions sounded confuse to him.
She quickly snapped back to reality, turning around and grabbing Shino's shoulder, declining him to just walk away. "What do you mean, there were no guards? You know, explain that later. If you are in a hurry..." she didn't finish her sentence and disappeared into a swirl of leafs, taking him with her.
They appeared right in front of the Hokage office and Cat knocked on the door, getting a "Come in." from the inside. So she enered the office, still holding Shino at his shoulder and dragging him forward into the office.
The Hokage lifted his head from the paperwork he was doing and looked to the door, where one of his best operatives just entered together with an Academy student. Raising an eyebrow did he speak. "Cat, what is the meaning of this? Why are you bringing this student here?" he asked, mainly curious.
Before Cat could answer however did Shino decide to speak up. "Hokage-sama, my name is Shino Aburame. I was bug hunting this morning in the eastern forest and stumbled upon a clearing holding ruins, on which a fight must have happened, from what I could tell."
That got him the attention of both adults present. "A fight in the eastern forest?" the Hokage asked. "I think I know which ruins you are referring to and it would be worrysome if there really was a fight. What brought you to this conclusion?"
"Simple. First of all were the insects in the area kinda disturbed. That was most likely a result of intense chakra use. Second was the ground disturbed. I guess because of the use of Earth Style jutsus. And third because I found this laying on the ground." he moved forward to place the broken earpiece on the table. Both the Hokage and Cat took a look and could tell that this was standard equipment for Konoha ninja.
Cat was inhaling sharply below her mask, before speaking. "Wait, ruins in the eastern forest? The kids, I mean the Hyuga sisters and the Uzumaki, were planing on heading there. And they had an earpiece with them to get in contact, if something might happen there..." her voice trailed off, her thoughts racing through her mind.
The expression of the Hokage became a serious one, his voice firm and strong. "Cat, who is the person with the counterpart to this earpiece? Since you know about this situation can you surely tell me that?"
Cat nodded. "Kakashi has the counterpart, Hokage-sama. I was talking to him an hour ago and he said there wasn't any try of contact so far. But if this earpiece is broken am I not surprised why. Though the kids should have another two of them, as far as I'm informed. Seems like they only had this one with them this time."
"I see. Now this is a serious situation we have here. If someone unknown kidnapped both Hyuga heiresses and the young Uzumaki might we be in trouble. And I'm not just talking about the wrath of Hiashi..." she slowly shook his head, not wanting to think about what could happen. "Cat, go and inform Kakashi of these events and order him to inspect the ruins in the eastern forest imediately. His free day is canceled."
"Yes Hokage-sama." she answered before disappearing in a swirl of leafs, leaving the Hokage and Shino in the office.
"Shino, I'm thankful for the informations you brought us. If it weren't for you, who knows how much time would have passed til we might have learned of this. Though, you aren't allowed to talk to anybody about this right now, understood? This is an important matter and we don't want anyone to act too quickly on the situation." the Hokage lectured the young student.
"Of course, Hokage-sama. I fully understand the situation and wasn't planing on telling anyone. But if I might suggest adding one of my clan to the search team? We might be able to help with the search using our insects." Shino stated, being analytical and direct as always.
"Thanks for the offer, but this won't be necessary. Kakashi is one of our best trackers and I'm sure he will be able to find them. I would have sent Tsume Inuzuka with him, but she left for another mission this morning. Anyway, I'm sure we will find your classmates." the Hokage gave a reassuring smile to the young Shino who nodded at his words.
"I understand. If you'll excuse me." he said, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
The Hokage lent back in his chair, pulling out his pipe. After staring at it for a while did he light it up, inhaling with it deeply before exhaling the smoke. "And again are there problems involving these three. I really want just one day of peace in my old age..." he sighed, before going back to his paperwork.
Eastern Gate of Konoha
'I can't believe that. It's like they are a magnet for problems. I wonder if it is just Naruto and the girls are just pulled into the problems, or if they are part of that problem magnet as well. And sadly it's still three years til they are out of the Academy. Lot of time for more problems and way too much time til they are able to defend themselfs... Why must I be the one to look after them at all?' he thought to himself, going through the informations again that Cat gave him just minutes ago.
He sighed at his thoughts and decided that he might complain about it at a later time. For now was he needed to find and rescue the three kids. It was unknown who might have got their hands on them and even so they were young and didn't knew any secrets about the village were their bodies full of information other villages would kill for. Starting with the Kekkei Genkai of the girls.
Once he left the village through the eastern gate did he jump into the trees and moved quickly toward the clearing the ruins were located. He had a good idea where exactly they are located, having heard stories about it from his father when he was little. Though he never really understood why this outpost was abadoned. It was at a perfect distance to the village to be a first line of defense against any attacks and to give a warning if this might really happen.
Luckily was the mist slowly fading, increasing the sight and making maneauvering between the trees easier, especially at the speed Kakashi was using. It didn't took him too long to finally reach the clearing and he landed in the middle of it, getting a good look around it. The informations he got seemed to be correct. There were indeed signs of a fight, the most prominent one the moved earth.
'Hmm, based on the shape of the surroundings would I say they used an Earth Style: Earthern Wall to trap the kids. A wall in three directions, only leaving an opening in the direction of their attackers. These footprints are most likely from the kids. Two hadn't really moved, most likely giving up to the situation and sitting on the ground. The sisters I guess. And one pair is leading in the direction of the opening, must have been the hyperactive Naruto.' he firstly analyzed the area that seemed to be the place the kids were as last, before heading over to the place the attackers might have appeared.
'Okay, let's see what we got here. Three pair of footprints, adult size. One of them must have been the Earth Style user. There is a fourth print leading to them. Probably someone watching the surrounding or providing any kind of backup. Once they trapped the kids did they move quickly, most likely knocking them out and carrying them away. Some of these prints are deeper, added weight I guess.' his mind was racing, trying to figure out exactly what happened.
He looked in the direction the footprints lead away from the clearing, thinking about his next action. If they were just some bandits would it be simple to find them. Though they had at least one ninja with them, so it might be more than just some bandits. A group of missing nins probably? He shook his head at that thought. Would be too random for them to be here the moment the kids were as well.
Also the way they operated, the precision of this trap, was way to accurate. No, they must have planned that somehow. But were they aiming for these three kids directly or were they just the unlucky victims to walk into that trap? To figure these things out does he have to find the kidnappers first.
Right now was all he could do follow the trail that left the clearing. Whoever might have got his hands on the kids, he hoped that nothing would happen to them and that he would find them in time...
Somewhere unknown
Naruto was still unconscious and both sisters sat there in silence, not daring to speak any word. While the female had left the room did the male stay behind to keep an eye on the merchandise. He sat down at the table again and made himself comfortable. Part of it was removing the hood that was covering his whole head except for his eyes.
He had super short but styled darkblonde hair and a pretty handsome face with not a single scar on it. He was around 30 years old and either was he a super good fighter for not being scarred or he rarely saw a battle in this organization he might be part of.
To skip time during his watch had he pulled out a deck of cards from his sleeve and started to play a game with himself, that basicly seemed to make no sense at all. All he did was shuffling the cards, drawing one card after another to place them atop each other again and sometimes discarding his pile to start again. It didn't made any sense to the girls watching.
After a while did he sigh and turned to the girls, starting to speak. "You know, you have heard her, haven't you? You are free to communicate with each other, so don't worry and just go ahead. I won't be interrupting you, I won't be hitting you for talking and I won't be talking about the things you might speak about. I'm just here to have an eye on you. Besides..." he got a small evil smile on his face. "Depending on how she decides might this be the last time for you two to see and talk to each other at all."
Both girls were still looking at him in silence and he slowly shook his head. When he wanted to get back to his cards did Hanabi finally speak up, who more or less had herself kinda back under control after she panicked during the assault. "So you plan on selling us as slaves, aren't you?" she asked, getting the attention of the man.
"Well, seems like the little one does have some knowledge despite her young age. But that isn't decided yet, as I just told you. It depends on her decision. But what gave us away?" he asked mockingly. "Maybe that we just talked about it in front of you just moments ago?" he couldn't help but to smile while Hanabi frowned.
"More the collars with nametags and that you addressed us as merchandise..." she said quietly, looking down to the ground. "But why?" she asked, not really believing that she would get an answer on that question.
"That's simple. Because we catched you and that's one of the bigger incomes our organization has. It's nothing personal, really." he smiled honestly at them, which annoyed both girls. How could he talk about it like that in front of them?
"Can we at least get something to eat?" she asked, looking at the man again. "We hadn't had anything since breakfast..."
"Hmm, I guess that won't be a problem at all. Are you just talking for yourself or do you want something to eat for your slave as well?" he grinned, seeing the angry look on Hanabi's face and the crimson red Hinata looking down to the ground. "Hehe, nice reactions. Seems like these rumours aren't as far fetched than they seem to be. While I would really like to hear that story do I guess you won't tell me, huh? Anyway, for the food you asked for..."
Grabbing his deck of playing cards did he pull out the ace of hearts without even watching and placed it on the desk. Then he went through some handsigns with high speed before quietly speaking. "Card Tricks: Ace of Hearts." and in an instant did a basket full of fruits appear on the table. He couldn't help but grin at the girls watching him.
"Some of my own emergency proviant. Just a small part though, so feel free to eat them to your hearts delight... is what I would say if you weren't tied to the posts." he chuckled at the angry looks both girls gave him. "Alright, guess that wasn't fair. See, I'm not a bad person at all, you know? Anyway..." he took two apples from the basket and cutted them into small pieces, before walking over to the girls and sitting down between them.
Hanabi was totally annoyed by that man and was glaring at him while Hinata lowered her head back toward the ground. Both of them felt uncomfortable in the situation they were in right now. The man brought a piece of apple close to Hanabi's mouth and sighed when she turned her head away, even choking herself slightly in the process.
"Okay girls, now listen. They aren't poisoned and if you want something to eat do you need to allow me to feed you. If not, fine. But don't expect the others to offer you food that easily. Your decision." he said, disappointment clearly in his voice.
Hinata still hadn't moved at all, her head still hung. Hanabi glared at the man again before sighing herself, opening her mouth. The man smiled and fed her a piece of apple which she gladly ate. Hearing that her sister allowed him to feed her brought Hinata also back to reality and she too opened her mouth to be fed by him.
"Really, I want to know that story. She's so submissive, waiting for her misstress to make the decision of being fed by me and then accepting it to be fed as well without reacting to me before. She must be a perfect slave at heart to be that well behaved." he bluntly said without caring much for the feelings of the girls at all.
Sure, he knew that during this age kids were totally unsure of their own life and character and this situation these two sisters had was unheard of to him. But being in this business for a long time made these things so normal to him that he had no problem speaking bluntly about it.
The girls minds however were running wild right now, trying to process all the informations they were recieving currently. It was one thing reading about slavery in books, but it was a totally other thing getting informations from someone with first hand experiences who could easily judge someone's character by their actions. They couldn't change anything on their current situation anyway, so they might as well get for them important informations – if they might come out of this situation and use them afterwards that is.
'Am I... really a slave at heart? I know that I accepted Hanabi and my role, but... is this really natural for me? Maybe he's right... I am fine with this situation for some time now and Hanabi is treating me well. I even changed a lot, being more confident and open now. Even made new friends by myself. Guess I don't mind being her slave. I just hope that we get out of here and that I can tell her that much...' Hinata thought while being fed by the man. His words cemented her feelings, her decisions, her thoughts.
Hanabi's thoughts went into another direction. 'I already knew that she is kinda enjoying it. I felt that for a while now. And it totally helped her out of her shell. Guess she could live on her own now, but she is clinging to me. Sis... I can't let you go. For your sake... and for mine. I... I need you. No... I want you. Yes, that is it. I got used to owning you and I'm enjoying it. You are mine, remember that well...' she was kinda thankful to the man currently feeding her for speaking out of his experience even so he just wanted to tease them. Hanabi realized important things to her by his words.
The man smiled to himself, seeing both girls deep in thought while he was feeding them. He really wondered what they were thinking about. He would ask them if she decided to keep them at all. But with the information he got about them, especially the sisters since the boy was a joker and his fate already decided by that, was he expecting her to decide to get rid of them, quick and easy. That meant the auction in two days.
"Thanks..." Hanabi was mumbling quietly, when the man was done feeding them who in return gave her another honest smile. It seemed to her that this man kinda got a liking to them as persons but at the same time had no problems seeing them as merchandise he could make a profit with. That truely was a strange fellow.
"No problem, little one. Though I guess I still won't get to hear the story, am I?" he grinned again by her angry glare. "Alright, got it. That's totally fine. Well, I'll focus on my cards again. Feel free to talk to your slave, little one. As said, might be the last time you get the chance."
"She's not... well, okay, she is, but... don't refer to my sis as my slave!" Hanabi became furious by the way this guy spoke down on her sister. "And stop calling me little one. I have a name, you kn-..." she stopped her sentence mid-word, realizing that of course he knew. He was the one engraving their names on the collar's nametags after all.
The man couldn't help but laugh. "We all have names. But... what are names anyway? Some don't like theirs, some get nicknames, never being called by their real ones, at some places are names never spoken. I once knew a girl. I think she had a nice name. But do you know how often that one was used? Never. She was always called Bitch and she shrugged it off, telling that the name was fine with her, because she was a real bitch after all."
The girls listened to his story that totally seemed out of place. If they weren't in their current situation they might even become friends with this guy. He was somewhat caring, kinda seemed like a nice guy and had fun stories to tell, as it seemed.
"That's... kinda sad." Hinata spoke up. "When she had a nice name should it had been used as well. That's the whole purpose of a name, to be used." she looked at the man and was really to start an argument with him. Hanabi watched that scene dumbstruck. Her shy sister, captured and tied up by this man, was starting a discussion. Now she knew that all her efforts really brought her out of her shell.
The man laughed again. "Well, you may be right with that, girl, but tell me one thing. I guess your sister there is the closest person for you, right?" Hinata slightly nodded at that question. "Okay, fine. So tell me now, when was the last time your sister has called you by your name?"
Hinata wasn't expecting this kind of question and had to think about it and even Hanabi tried to remember when she used her name the last time. "Uhm... I... don't know..." Hinata said quietly. "From what I can remember is she always calling me sis."
The man nodded. "See, I told you. And you aren't caring about her not using your name. So, yeah, we all may have a name, but what are they? Nothing important at all." he stretched his body, picking up his deck. "I wonder why she needs so much time to decide. That's not like her..." he spoke more to himself than anybody but the girls got a slight shiver down their spines.
Luckily Naruto was still out cold and didn't hear anything of this conversation. While the girls didn't thought about him that moment would it have been difficult to explain to him why Hinata was Hanabi's slave. If there might be a chance to explain anything at all in the future with their fate at stake here and unknown to them.
Eastern Forest
Kakashi was cursing. By now was he sure that the kidnapper weren't either bandits nor simple missing nins. He ran into way too many traps already while following their trail. They must have planned that at all. He guessed that the latest rumours about the ruins must have been spread by them as well, to lure someone out there to then capture the victims.
And if they planned to capture and kidnap someone that professional must they be some kind of slave traders or any kind of organization capable to pull such a move. He couldn't help but to think about the encounter he had when he rescued the kids the last time. Reports said that one of them was wearing a slave collar and that they had no identification of any kind.
He wondered if these two events somehow were related. If they were using slaves in their ranks and abducting children in order to raise them to be slaves in their ranks... his thoughts were stopped when he suddenly had to jump back, dodging a barrage of kunai flying his way. He triggered yet another trap he hadn't seen and he was annoyed by it.
"They are good, I give them that. Some of their traps were simple, but that's the third I haven't seen. And I'm known as one of the best trackers... spotting traps shouldn't be a problem for me. So much for my free day..." he sighed. He would totally have a talk with the Hokage about that.
"Oh, what do we have here? Another income waiting to be picked?" a deep male voice echoed through the forest. "Kakashi Hatake, son of the White Fang, known as the Copycat. No surprise that my traps weren't enough so far... But what a fine bounty. You know, I'm troubled now."
"Please forgive me for not being intrested in your problems. But since you were so kind to appear and talk to me, would you please tell me where you brought the kids that I can take them back?" he talked lazyly. He wasn't really intrested in fighting somewhere in the middle of the forest and maybe that guy was dumb enough to spill some informations. Or he was smart enough to delay his search that his friends might get away with the kids.
"To appear?" the voice laughed. "From what I can tell do you have no idea where I am. But you are right with one point. We recently got our hands on some kids, so I guess you are looking for them and for us. And that's the problem here. My orders are to delay the person following us, which is currently working by the way." Kakashi frowned at that. "But now did I have to find out that a bounty is following us and we always could need that money. But I know that I won't survive an encounter with you right here, right now, after you already triggered most of my traps."
"Well, thanks for the flowers, but as you already said, I don't really have time for that. Thanks for confirming my suspicions though. If you would just tell me your and the name of your organization that I can continue with my hunt?" Kakashi asked politely. Just because he was an enemy was there no reason to insult someone, right?
"Oh, sure, I will do so gladly. My name's Orochimaru from the Sannin and my teammates went ahead with the kids. Common, do you really think I'm that stupid?" the voice laughed again. "Anyway, I need to report to her who is following us, so if you'll excuse me? And to fulfill my orders... Earth Style: Maze!" the voice shouted, raising several huge walls of earth out of the forest ground, surrounding Kakashi and cutting him off from different ways, forming a small maze around him.
Kakashi hadn't really time to react, that jutsu was fast. He figured that a fight against that Earth Style user might be difficult, if his attack jutsu's had a similiar speed. „Fine... first I need to get out of here and then back on their trail. I just hope I'm not loosing too much time here..." he sighed, making him on the way to find a way out of the maze.
Somewhere unknown
The curses of a woman could be heard from far away and became more intense, hinting that the woman came closer. The man knew these curses quite well and he also knew that something wasn't working like planed. They were even loud enough to finally wake Naruto up as well, who was looking around slightly with his head still spinning, trying to understand the current situation after he got knocked out the last time.
The girls realized that he came back to his senses, but feared to say something in this situation. They don't wanted to risk anything with this furious woman approaching. Just seconds later got the door slammed open and the woman from before entered the room again. "C! I've decided. We need to get rid of all three of them as fast as possible. There is already someone on our trail. J was able to delay their movements but he said that wouldn't buy us much time. They sent the Copycat to search for this merchandise."
The man raised an eyebrow at the woman. "Okay, that was quick. I expected that we would have more time. Alright, I will prepare the carriage to leave for the auction as soon as possible. Though... if the Copycat is after them..." he pondered aloud, playing with some thoughts inside his head and deciding to try his luck. "I will need another set of jokers in case I have to engage combat with him."
He knew that he was pushing his luck. While his normally used tools for fighting were pretty cheap and simple to create was it something different with his ace. Under normal conditions would she have already punched him by now, ranting about the cost of it, but the conditions weren't normal right now. The Copycat, Kakashi Hatake, had a decent bounty on his head and was known everywhere. He was a formidable opponent.
"Fine, granted. You can pick them up in the arsenal before you leave. But remember, you are responsible for the merchandise to arrive safely and unharmed at the place of the auction. Failure isn't an option and will be punished. Also... do not use the merchandise as gambling bet again..." her eyes were ice cold and he knew the look she gave him. He simply nodded at her and she turned around and left the room, without saying anything more. She was deep in thought, thinking if they needed to abadon this base or not.
The man now known as C sighed, looking at the girls, realizing that the boy also was back with the living. "Well, you heard her. I would have loved to talk to you more and to hear the story..." Hanabi was giving him an evil glare that he ignored. "...but I do have orders now. We sadly have to get rid of you three, so..." he shrugged. "It's still nothing personal."
Naruto was trying to protest through the gag but couldn't, while the girls remained silent. They didn't knew who this Copycat might be, but it sounded liked these guys feared him, so there might be still a chance for them to be rescued. They simply hoped that they would make it out of this situation, that they could get back to the village and their life. That they could talk to each other again, both hoping to tell the other sister their thoughts and decisions.
It took C a good 30 minutes to get all three kids on a carriage and to tie them to the walls of it, leaving them in similiar positions than before. Once they were secured did he aim for the arsenal to pick up the additional set of jokers he requested. He checked over his complete supplies of weapons and ninja tools and was satified. He was well equiped with hidden tools all over his suit that he could draw and use no matter the situation he might be in.
But he hoped he wouldn't run into the Copycat at all. While he was a decent fighter was his fighting style based on varity and surprises that would bring most opponents out of their own concept. But the Copycat wasn't like most opponents. According to the bingo book was he capable of copying jutsu and said to know a good one thousand of them. So in regard of varity was he far ahead of C. He didn't fear that his jutsu's might be copied. They were one of a kind and without the proper tools not useable, but still, he wanted to avoid a fight.
Having done all of his preparations did he went back to the carriage, got atop of it and gave the horse the signal to start moving. His thoughts were troubled for the very first time. He got a liking to the girls and would have loved to keep them, but he had to get them to the auction as quick as possible. He surely understood the necessarity of it, but it was the first time he didn't liked to get rid of the merchandise.
Being inside his thoughts and with the kids struggling in the back of the carriage was he riding the carriage to their fate. But he wasn't getting rid of one nagging thought. No matter the outcome, his life wouldn't be the same as before. He was fearing the worst. Just like the kids did. Being sold as slaves was the last thing on the list of things they wanted to happen...
Eastern forest
Kakashi didn't need too long to get out of the maze. In fact didn't he even try to find the exit, he simply charged his Chidori and broke through a few walls with it til he was outside. While the Earth Style user was quick with his jutsu was the quality of it not the best. The walls were slightly crumbling from the beginning like he created them in a haste and didn't pay much attention to the outcome.
After just five minutes was he back on track of the ones who kidnapped the kids and he figured he must be close already or they hadn't tried to delay his advances. He was ready for anything that might come his way but was surprised that he hadn't seen any more traps along the way. Well, that only meant he was advancing faster now.
Another two hours later did he suddenly stop on a branch, listening into the forest. There was a sound out there that was not a normal one inside a forest. He carefully moved in the direction of this sound and remembered it some moments later. It was the sound of wooden wheels of a carriage driving on a dirtway. 'Might be a coincidance and just some travellers or merchants passing through, but I should check it out.' were his thoughts as he aimed for the source of the sound now.
C was driving his carriage through the forest, carefully checking the surroundings. He got informed that the Copycat was on their trail and he knew J quite good and that he tend to make mistakes when in a hurry. So whatever jutsu he used to delay the advances of the Copycat will most likely haven't done much to delay him at all.
The biggest problem he had was the fact that he had to drive a short distance back towards Konoha before he could take a turn to aim for the location of the auction. So if the Copycat was still on their trail, what he expected, would he close the distance to him before getting farther away.
He was hearing whispers from the back of his carriage. He knew that he should have gagged the girls to be safe, but he kinda liked them. That's why he offered them to stay ungagged that they could whisper with each other for maybe the last time in their lives. He also threated them with a harsh punishment if they were to make loud noises just to be safe.
What the girls didn't knew was that there were sound suppressing seals on the carriage itself that will cancel every sound trying to get out there. He was smiling to himself for that. Playing the nice guy for the girls and even giving them a choice even so it doesn't matter. But they obeyed him and that was the think counting for him. Maybe if he would buy the little one for himself...
He shook his head to get out of these thoughts, focusing back on the road and the surroundings. But he couldn't help the feeling that this drive would become hectic soon. 'Damn, the Copycat must be close. I'm feeling uneasy, that was never any good sign...' he thought, paying attention to some possible ambush spaces up ahead. He knew this road and good attack spots, so he wouldn't be hit by surprise at least.
In some distance was Kakashi sitting on top of a branch, observing the carriage driving on the road. He couldn't see inside it, but he guessed that the kids might be in it. The driver was wearing the same full body suit than the shinobi he fought when he rescued the kids the last time. So there was a connection between those two incidents. But he would think about that later. Now did he need to rescue some kids... again.
Thinking about a way to engage the carriage did he move further down the road, searching for a point he could ambush it. He could only see the driver, so if things went good would he only have to fight one opponent. However, he had no idea about the capabilities of this guy, while they knew who he was. That stupid bounty on his head made him and his abilities famous, everyone could read about him. It was annoying giving informations about yourself away while not knowing any about the enemy.
Hoping to get a sneak attack on the driver and to end the fight before it even started did he position himself behind a large rock located just after a narrow turn. The perfect spot for an ambush. Nobody would have time to react after taking the turn and being confronted with an attack. The plan was simple but good. He also thought about quickly placing a trap, maybe some explosives, but decided against it, not wanting to risk the health of the kids.
C was driving his carriage toward the narrow turn up ahead. So far he hadn't spotted anything at all, but his uneasy feeling got worse by every meter he passed. Stopping the horse pulling it some distance away from the turn did he decide to speak up. "I'm aware of your presence. Show yourself, Copycat. I won't be driving into an ambush I would have placed at the same location." his voice was calm.
Deciding that it was no use pretending he wasn't there did Kakashi step onto the road between carriage and turn, blocking it with his body. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the driver. "Well, since you know who I am without having seen me do I guess that you are indeed part of the people who kidnapped the kids. Hand them back to me and I will let you leave unharmed. I'm not that intrested in fighting right now."
Thinking over these words did C slowly shook his head. "I'm afraid I cannot do that. She won't forgive me if I fail and I'm not intrested in her punishments. But if you don't want to fight, how about we make a deal? Or... we could gamble over their fate. What do you say?" he was slightly grinning under his suit. She would totally kill him for betting the merchandise again. He never lost when the game was card related, but it was a rule to not play with the merchandise in any kind.
Kakashi shook his head slowly. "Sorry, but I don't think this will work out. Seems like we need to fight after all. So it would only be fair to know your name, since you already know mine." he gave him a smile. No reason to not be polite, right?
"Okay, last offer. You can purchase the merchandise for 10% over the expected profit. That way will you get what you want, we get our money and both of us can leave unharmed. How does that sound?" C asked, getting another shook of Kakashi's head. "Hmm, too bad. But I guess I can grant you your wish. I'm known as C. And no, it isn't short for Copycat." he chuckled at his own joke and Kakashi frowned.
"That really was weak, you know? Anyway, think we should start, shouldn't we?" Kakashi was still smiling and didn't move so far, waiting for the reply of his opponent. All he wanted was to enjoy his free day with a good book and now was he about to engage in combat with an unknown kidnapper. He hadn't any luck.
Inside the carriage were the three kids listening to the events outside. Or they tried at least. It was difficult to understand any word spoken for some reason and the voices were pretty quiet to them. All they knew was that the carriage stopped not too long after they started and they guessed they weren't at the target location yet. The girls however kept silent, not trying to shout or anything. But all three of them started to struggle in their binds, in order to maybe get free or to move the carriage to show they were inside.
"Well, I guess we should. How unfortunate..." C said. "In order to protect the merchandise do I have to engage combat with you." he stated calmly, ignoring the struggles of the three bound children inside.
"Don't underestimate me, though. I'm not as weak as the team you killed the last time." he put an unreadable expression on his face, letting playing cards slide into his hands out of his sleeves. "Secret Art: Card Tricks" he whispered before throwing ten playing cards, five with each hand, at Kakashi.
Right after his hands were free did he start making signs with an incredible fast speed, property of his years of experience as a card trickster and manipulator. When he finished his first set of signs did he shout out. "Fear the terror of gambling! Card Tricks: Number Multiply!" resulting in some of the thrown cards to glow, before creating copies of themselfs in the same amount of the number written on the card. Each of these was sharp as a kunai.
However, he didn't stop there, continueing with a second set of hand signs without taking a break, shouting his next attack. "Card Tricks: Picture Effects!" this time the rest of the cards started to glow, changing the surface of the picture cards into different kinds of poisons that would create different effects if hit by them. From paralysis to a deadly poison was everything covered.
He wasn't stopping yet, creating a third set of signs and shouting out. "Card Tricks: Symbol Elements!" which resulted in the cards glowing change into different colours. Cards with the heart symbol changed into red, being surrounded by a fire aura; cards with the club symbol changed into a yellow, becoming hard as stone; cards with the spades symbol glowed green, being enhanced by wind and becoming sharper than everything; cards with the diamond symbol glowed blue, being surrounded by a static aura capable of inflincting the same damage than a lightning strike.
All of this didn't take him longer then a single second and he grinned at his opponent, who hadn't moved yet at all. He was aware of the fact that his attacks were kinda randomly and luck based, depending on which cards he would draw from his decks. On the other side was he a real good card manipulator, able to always draw the cards he needed. Right now though did he go with a random set, throwing a bit of everything.
He had two goals with this wide variety of attacks. The one was to figure out what abilities the enemy in front of him had. The other was to demonstrate that he wouldn't go down easily, not even against a ninja as famous as the Copycat. Not that he would be worried or something. Nobody could copy his Card Tricks, and he knew that just well.
Plus he wanted to finish the battle quickly. He don't want to take the risk of the merchandise being damaged by this fight and he certainly don't want to be late for the auction. In both cases would he get a punishment he prefered to avoid.
Kakashi still hadn't moved, watching the thrown objects approaching him carefully. 'Did he... really threw playing cards at me? I mean, sure, with enough talent and creativity can a shinobi basicly turn everything into weapons or attacks, but playing cards? That's a new one.' he thought to himself, still not moving.
C was grinning when all of his cards hit the target. The sharp spade cards all flew right through the body, the hard club cards hit it extremely while the heart and diamond cards were creating burnmarks or signs of electricity where they hit. Not to mention that all picture cards hit, inflicting all kind of different poisons into the body. He couldn't help but laughing – because he just realized that he was tricked into attacking first and showing his abilities to his opponent.
The Kakashi clone disappeared into a small smoke cloud while the real one was stepping onto the street from between the trees. "I have to say, I'm impressed. I never saw anyone using playing cards as weapons. And then enhanced with four different elements, really, I'm impressed by your skills."
"Still wanna fight?" C asked rhetorically, not really expecting that the Copycat would leave him alone. "You know that you are risking their health if you engage me, right?"
"Well, yeah, I guess I'll take that risk. As long as they live can we patch them together, so..." Kakashi nodded and started doing a set of handsigns by himself now, being nearly as quick as C was. "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" he shouted, forming a giant dragon like creature with water out of a nearby pond that ascended into the sky and aimed at the carriage from above.
"I won't let you damage the merchandise, Copycat!" C shouted, going through handsigns as well before shouting. "Card Tricks: Club Wall!" which moved several dozen of club cards from different pockets and hiding places of his suit into the air, forming a wall of ironhard playing cards to block the incoming water dragon. The dragon crashed right into it, splattering in every direction without even scratching the cards surfaces.
"You can't win if you focus on defending yourself and the carriage." Kakashi said while already doing another set of signs, shouting. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" spitting a huge fireball in the direction of the carriage. C reacted quickly as well, moving his club card defense between Kakashi and himself, blocking the fire jutsu as well with it.
"And you would have killed the kids twice already if it weren't for me. Think about that, Copycat." C spat out venoumously, pulling out a single card from his sleeve. "If it weren't for the punishment I'll receive if I loose or damage the merchandise or the fact that I kinda like the little one, would I have simply dodged your attacks and you could explain why you killed the kids you want to rescue."
The kids could clearly hear the sounds of fighting outside, fearing for their lifes, unable to move or do something. They heard the splatter of water atop the carriage and could feel the heat from outside. Naruto was simply struggling in his bonds, trying to get free, not able to say anything with his gag. Hinata was talking to her sister, trying to get her focus on her, because she saw the state Hanabi was in when the fighting started.
Hanabi's eyes were blank and unfocused, her whole body limb. The trauma that appeared at the ruins and was based on the events from the week before took it's toll again, rendering her unable to move or do anything. Her mind panicked and shut down and not even her sisters voice was reaching her.
Kakashi realizing that he won't get through the card defense with ranged attacks pulled out a kunai and prepared to charge into close combat, when he heard his opponent shouting again. His sight of him was blocked by the floating cards so he hadn't seen him doing another set of signs.
"Card Tricks: Ace of Diamonds!" the ace of diamonds flew out of his hand with incredible speed, flying circles around Kakashi not seeable for the untrained eye. Before Kakashi could react to this threat were lightning strikes coming out of the card, hitting him from different locations around him. It was like standing inside a thunder storm, with the strikes coming from all sides.
C was grinning at the sight in front of him. The famous Copycat sank to the ground, struck down by one of his aces, literally. He couldn't help but chuckle at his own joke, with the ace cards being his aces during a fight. „Well, guess that's it. Was easier than I thought. Now we get the bounty on top and might even be able to reconsider the fate of the merchandise, with the pursuer finished." he spoke to himself, smiling.
Walking towards Kakashi did he fail to realize that his opponent was still moving. After walking half the way did Kakashi suddenly throw the kunai he pulled out earlier and hit C in his knee. C was backstepping, while Kakashi slowly got up from the ground. "Seems like you haven't gotten all informations from the bingo book. I'm a lightning user and your attack didn't really bothered me." C frowned at Kakashi's words.
Pulling out the kunai from his knee and throwing it to the ground did he spoke through gritted teeth. "Fine, whatever, you want it, you can have it. I got permission to use them and I will use them. Prepare yourself." he lost his temper because he was tricked twice now. He usually was the trickster, not the other way around. He let another three cards slide from his sleeve, throwing them to the ground in front of him, doing another set of signs. "Card Tricks: Joker Release!" was all he shouted before a smoke screen covered the area.
Kakashi's eye went wide when the smoke disappeared, revealing three additional men standing on the road. All of them were dressed in the standard green shinobi uniform of Konoha. "That's... one of our guard teams. How? Why? What..." he couldn't finish because the three additional shinobi charged at him at once, one having a kunai in each hand, another one using a short sword while the third went through a set of handsigns, preparing for a fire style jutsu.
"You know them? Seems like I had a bad draw then. Anyway, since you are intrested in my style, I'll tell you." C sat down on the ground crossleged, placing another two cards in front of him, the ace and jack of spades, starting with a complex series of signs. He was using his jokers to distract Kakashi that he could do his jutsu.
"See, if we capture shinobi that aren't worth any as merchandise and can't be formed into useable members for us do we have other options as well. To make it short, these three don't wanted to cooperate with us and are now more or less brainwashed weapons, sealed in my special cards to be summoned when needed. But since it's an expensive effort with all the work and material am I mostly not allowed to use them. Anyway..." he was still going through his signs while talking, watching Kakashi fight against the three Konoha shinobi.
Kakashi heard what his opponent was saying, realizing that these three were already lost. Luckily for him was this guard team setup one with three chunin, so it wasn't too hard for him to fight all three at once. He was more concerned that his opponent did a long series of signs and that he wasn't able to interrupt him.
Trying to finish it quickly did he charge at the three chunin, dodging the sword attack of the one and hitting him in return fatal with his kunai. He had to jump backward when another fire jutsu was flying his way, landing in front of the third. While the third tried to land the finishing blow to Kakashi did he drop to the ground and gave a kick to the legs, throwing the chunin to the ground and quickly finishing him.
From there did he pull out another three kunai throwing them at the last of them. While he was able to use decent fire style justu on mid-range were his reflexes not the best and he got hit by all three kunai, dropping down dead as well. Without the support of his teammates was he an easy target. However, Kakashi wasn't quick enough because C was just finishing with his last sign.
"I can understand why the bounty on your head is that high, Copycat, but now it's over for you. Card Tricks: Black Jack!" he shouted, placing both hands on the two cards laying in front of him. For a second there was nothing happening and Kakashi was wondering if his opponent screwed his jutsu, before he froze out of fear. From behind C was a shadowy figure raising, wearing a giant scythe that seemed to be as shadowy as the figure itself.
"Fear the mighty Black Jack. Fear the reaper!" C whispered, not moving at all. The jutsu had one major drawback. While he was able to summon a nearly invincible fighter that most likely was related to the Death Reaper itself was he in return bound in place, forced to provide a steady chakra flow into the cards he used for summoning. It was a risky jutsu, he knew that, but so far was he lucky enough to win when he had to use it.
Kakashi watched the shadowy figure advancing toward him, also realizing that C wasn't moving anymore. He saw the weak point of this jutsu right away, but would he be able to exploit it? He dodged the giant scythe a few times, being driven back by it. 'I see. The figure he summoned is well aware of the fact that the summoner is defenseless at the moment and trying to get as much distance between me and his summoner. That might be a problem... or not.' he thought to himself, dodging some more attacks.
"Well, the fight sure was intresting, but it's over now. I admit that you know how to handle your cards..." he dodged another scythe swing by jumping up high, giving him enough time to do some handsigns. "But rendering yourself unable to move was a mistake. Water Style: Water Needles!" he shouted, gaining a horrified look from C. While the Water Needles were a weak attack by themselfs, was he unable to dodge them and got hit by dozens of them, created in all the water that splashed around him when he blocked the Water Dragon at the beginning.
C groaned in pain and was unable to keep the chakra flow up resulting in the shadowy figure disappearing back into the darkness it came from. He couldn't believe that he played his trump card and lost. Still sitting on the ground was he simply looking towards Kakashi who was coming closer to him step by step.
"Alright, you won. I give up. Are you going to finish me now or will my fate be that of torture til death to get informations out of me?" he looked up at Kakashi, who in return looked down on him. He could see that Kakashi was in thought about what to do.
"I would say you aren't moving while I'm getting the kids. Once I have them and heard what they have to say will I decide on your fate." Kakashi answered, already walking towards the carriage and not looking at C at all. C knew that his life was over now, one way or another. He wouldn't try to run cause if he made it back would she punish him and he was sure that in comparison to her punishment would everything the Copycat would decide be a better outcome for him. So he sat there and waited for him to return with the kids...
Inside the Carriage
Kakashi reached the carriage and opened it, looking inside. What he saw kinda shocked him. It wasn't the fact that the kids were bound and tied to the walls of the carriage, he expected that. It was more what he saw with each kid individually. Naruto was still struggling with his bounds, not really paying attention to anything else. He was trying to get free long enough now to have hurt his skin with the constant rubbings of the rope.
The state Hanabi was in shocked him the most, seeing that she had a blank expression and wasn't reaction to anything. He saw this quite often when young shinobi, mostly genin, returned from missed. She was clearly traumatized and he wasn't surprised, considering her young age and what she experienced the last two weeks.
Hinata seemed to be the only one still with her mind intact right now and turned towards Kakashi the moment she heard the carriage being opened. She had a slight smile on her lips. "We are saved. I'm glad... Hey, Hanabi, the spooky white hair guy is here to rescue us again. Do you hear? Everything is good now." she said, directing her words again towards her sister.
Naruto was hearing the words as well and looked up, finally relaxing and stopping his struggles. It took Hanabi a few moments more, before she blinked her eyes and looked around, seeing her sister smile and then seeing that someone came for them. "Saved... I..." she started crying, loosing all strength in her body.
Kakashi who was currently untying Hinata, since she was nearest to the opening, was looking at Hanabi with worry in his eyes. The moment Hinata was free did she move over to her sister, hugging her tightly and untying her as well. "Everything is fine now. I'm here, Hanabi, and I won't leave." once she had her sister completely untied did she pull her deeper into her hug, holding her tightly and gently stroking her back.
Naruto shouted once Kakashi removed the gag. "Where is he? I'm going to kill him. Free me and I will kill him!" the anger of Naruto was clearly seeable to everyone and Kakashi stopped untying him.
"I think I will wait til you calmed down a little." he said aloud and turned towards the sisters, ignoring Naruto's protests.
While he was focused on Naruto did Hinata remove the collars around her and her sisters neck. Looking back to Kakashi, still holding her sister, did she raise her hand holding out one collar. "Could you please destroy this?" she asked quietly, handing the collar with her name engraved on the tag over to Kakashi who nodded and did a small fire style jutsu to burn the collar in an instant.
He wasn't giving it any second thought. He was aware of what was going to happen to these kids and he figured it was natural that she wanted that collar destroyed, but he failed to realize that one collar was already missing. He just burned one and another one was still around Naruto's neck. Not that he would have cared anyway.
Hanabi was finally back out of her state, having calmed downed and taking in her surroundings. She hugged her sister back who smiles at her, before looking towards Kakashi, noting that Naruto was still tied. „Is he... still here?" she asked quietly.
"Yes, he is. And his fate is still undecided. I wanted to see and talk to you kids before deciding anything." he said with a smile, getting a small nod from Hanabi. She figured that Kakashi kinda felt the same way regarding the man who drove the carriage. He wasn't plain evil and treated them not too bad while they were captured by him. He had his orders and was following them but he still cared for their fate.
"What? Finish him. He tried to sell us as slaves. He kidnapped us. He... just kill him!" Naruto shouted, still not calmed down at all.
"And that's why you are still tied up." Kakashi stated bluntly, not even looking towards Naruto.
Hanabi smiled at that before speaking. "I want to talk to him. You comming sis?" Hinata nodded and followed after Hanabi and Kakashi out of the carriage, leaving a struggling and cursing Naruto inside.
They walked over towards C who was still sitting crosslegged on the ground, not having moved at all. All he did was getting rid of his hood to have it slightly more comfortable. Kakashi stayed back a little, watching the scene while Hanabi approached the man with Hinata following closely behind her. "Hey C..." she said quietly, getting his attention...