Authors Note: Okay, yeah, I said it would be Hinata's birthday chapter, but... I had to postpone that one for another chapter for reasons. Happens I guess. I don't like that I'm unable to keep in pace with my own plan, but well... Work was busy this week, my writing slowed down - making this chapter shorter than my average.

So, what do we have here? A three month timejump from the last chapter. Her birthday is close and they are training like crazy. What else? Uhm... guess you have to read to find out ;-)

Okay, small teaser: a bit time for Hanabi/Tenten and Hanabi/Ino, a bit time for Hinata/Naruto and a bit time for two special guests (kinda).
And those cliffhangers again... though I guess you are used to them by now, right?
That's all I gonna hint. Hope the chapter will be enjoyable to you again.

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A Tale of two Sisters – Chapter 11: Hinata's Birthday ... is close

"Water Style: Bubbles." Hinata said, concentrating her chakra on the small pond and creating a few dozen water bubbles with it's content. It wasn't an offensive jutsu and it basicly wasn't a defensive jutsu either. It was simply an academy level jutsu helping the student to get an idea on how to manipulate water with their chakra.

Three months had past since they learned of their chakra elements and Hinata made the most progress with the help of the scrolls she got from Iruka. With her chakra control on a high level was she able to create quite an amount of bubbles at once and was able to hold them in the air around her.

While this jutsu basicly was useless for everything did the kids however find a use for it after all. Naruto grinned and pulled his three staff segments out of the holder on his right upper leg and attached them together. He trained with this staff every day since he got it and while he still had some problems with it did he made progress. He was hitting himself only at around every tenth attack now, not like in the beginning with nearly every attack.

Even the Hokage couldn't tell him why the chakra nature test wasn't reacting on his chakra leaving him without an element. But that was even more reason to train with the staff on a daily basis. He entered his fighting stance, holding the staff with his right hand at his side with it partially being behind him. The scroll explained that the basis stance for this weapon was basicly similiar to a normal bo staff stance because it was a staff as well.

He got ready for his attack and then charged towards the bubbles Hinata created, hitting three of them with his first blow of the staff from right to left. They decided to use the bubbles for target practice which was a nice idea. They were variable, had a small feedback on an attack and you could clearly tell if you missed them.

While still within the movement of the first blow did Naruto loosen the last segment of the staff that was still following the movement and by that did it hit another of the bubbles before he pulled it back on it's chain reattaching it. His next move was a step forward and he aimed on another bubble with the tip of the staff but missed. He clearly had to work on his aiming when using the tip.

Making a step backwards did he loosen the last segment again, holding the staff in front of him with the loose segment on his side, starting to make rotating movements with his hands to get the segment swinging like a morning star. With that did he charge again into the bubbles, hitting a few of them with the loose segment before backstepping again.

This movement however worked not too good and he hit his ankle with the still swinging segment, making a sound full of pain before reattaching the segment again. Cursing to himself did he look at the amount of bubbles still in the air and decided to try what he was working at for the last two weeks.

He loosened all segments from each other, holding the staff by both outer segments and charging at the bubbles again. "Don't Naruto-kun! You will only knock yourself out again!" a worried Hinata shouted at him who was watching his practice, but it was too late.

Naruto reached the bubbles and entered a rotating/spinning movement with his body, holding the staff only at one outer segment with the other two entering the same spinning movement. If performed in a good way might this be a good method to hit multiple targets around the performer, but...

The staff hit a few bubbles before Naruto lost a bit speed which was enough to destroy the balance between his body and the staff resulting in the last segment first hitting him into the back from which he fell to the ground before the still moving staff hit the side of his head, knocking him out cold.

Hinata was at his side in an instant, loosing concentration on her bubbles who slightly exploded and fell to the ground. She picked his head up and placed it in her lap, gently stroking it. "How many times did I say that this move is too advanced for you right now?" she asked quietly.

Hanabi was sitting slightly away from the other two, concentrating on her own manipulation of the earth. Her progress wasn't too good during the last three months and she barely managed to move small stones around on the ground so far. If she tried to raise a small wall from the earth was it always crumbling right away.

She was frustrated by her slow progress, especially when she thought about how she was praised as a great talent and even entered Academy two years early. She figured that the reason must be that she never used her elemental chakra so far. The shouts from her sister reached her while she was trying again to create a small earth wall which crumbled right away when she got distracted by the shouts.

Sighing in frustration did she look towards the other two, seeing that Naruto knocked himself out again with her sister sitting at his side and caressing his head. That was a picture she saw a few times already during the last two weeks. However, during the last three months was the most common picture Hinata applying bandages on Naruto's bruises.

Deciding that she wasn't making anymore progress for the day did she walk over towards the others, addressing her sister. "Hey sis, I'm finishing for today. I need to do some last preparations for your party and will again search for Spooky. He used an Earth Wall to protect us the very first time and I so need some helping tips from him. Anyway, don't get too comfortable with Naruto, understood?" the last sentence was spoken with a rather strictly voice she was working at for some time now so that her sister would know when she was being serious and giving her an order instead of an advice.

Hinata nodded at that, still gently stroking Naruto's head. "I understand, Hanabi. I will hold him only til he wakes up and let go of him then. Good luck with your search and the preparations." she gave her sister a warm smile who nodded in return before leaving the training field.

Once her sister was gone did she look up into the sky, watching the clouds. "I do wonder..." she spoke quietly to herself. "Is she afraid that we would do something we shouldn't do? Or is she jealous of us? Or are they both planning something for my birthday?" closing her eyes did she let out a sigh. "Well, I'll have to wait. My mistresses orders are clear and I will follow them..."

She wasn't worried at all that Naruto might wake up and hear her talking to herself. The last two weeks have shown that if Naruto knocked himself out with that move was he gone for at least 15 minutes. But she knew that she needed to be careful that their secret wouldn't be found out by others. At least were there no rumours about that lately. However, the one about the kidnapping and B-rank record was sticking around like pest and they still didn't knew why...

Konoha village, a street leading to another leading to a location

Hanabi had two locations she wanted to visit today. The first was the weapon shop Tenten worked at. While she said it would take around two months to finish the custom made item did Hanabi recieve a note from her around that time, informing that it would take another month to finish the order. Hanabi was glad that she ordered it pretty early so that it would still be ready for her sisters birthday.

The second location was a small storage room near the Yamanaka flower shop. While she was searching for a location for the birthday party where all guests would be welcomed did Ino offer to use her families storage room. During this time of year was it always empty and it was big enough for the amount of people invited. Ino's parents agreed on it quickly as well and since it was just one week til the party were the preparations already ongoing.

While she was walking through the city did she try to recall what she was doing wrong with her training. Whenever she tried to create a small earthern wall with her chakra did it crumble right away. Was she using not enough chakra that the earth wouldn't get enough structure to stick together? Or was she using too much chakra, destryoing her own wall the moment she created it? She had to talk with someone knowledgeable about that and the only person she knew was Spooky. But he was hard to find.

Still in thought did she reach her first destination, entering the weapon shop without paying much attention. "Thanks for the stuff. See you around." another customer said before leaving the shop, dodging Hanabi who wasn't paying much attention. "Better watch where you are going, little one."

Hanabi was about to mumble an appology when the words she just heard finally reached her brain and she shot to attention in an instant, turning around to see who was just talking to her but couldn't find anyone. Tenten watched the scene a bit confused and was about to say something when Hanabi approached her and spoke first. "Who was this customer? What did he buy? What's his name?"

Tenten blinked her eyes a few times totally confused by these questions before she regained her senses and could answer. "I don't know. He is buying some standard supplies for a while now but not regulary." she shrugged. "Why are you intrested anyway? I guess you came here for something different then to ask about our customers." Tenten smiled gently at Hanabi who looked a bit dumbstrucked.

"It's... just the way he just called me. It reminded me on someone I haven't seen in quite some time..." she answered, a small sense of sadness in her voice. "But you are right. I got the message that the item is finally finished, right? Can I see it?"

Tenten smiled even brighter now and took a box from under the counter and placed it atop of it. Looking around carefully to be sure that noone else was inside the shop did she open it to show the content to Hanabi. While she personally didn't mind the item was she well aware that others might look sceptical at it or would make some comments or something and she wanted to avoid that.

Hanabi's eyes went wide the moment she saw the finished product. "Wow! It's even more beautiful then I expected." her first reaction put a big grin on Tenten's face. Hanabi picked it up carefully, tracing her fingers over the item. "It even feels good when touching it. And the quality is great. I'm so glad I asked here to get it created."

"We worked based on your design and specifications. The owner created the attachments in his forge while I've done the work with the leather. That's what I mostly do when working here anyway. But this item was something special, I could feel it. I gave it my all." Tenten explained, still smiling.

"Thank you so much, Tenten. It's even better then I expected. This will make a great present for my sister." Hanabi said, not really paying attention on what she said. She was so deep in awe that her mind was basicly shut down and her mouth was speaking by itself.

Tenten glanced around the shop again, confirming that there was still nobody around, before she looked back at Hanabi. "Really, I'm glad that it is to your liking. But..." she got a bit closer to the younger girl before whispering. "I guess you should be more careful on what you say. I still don't mind at all, but what if someone might have heard you?"

Hanabi wasn't sure what Tenten meant with her words, before her head finally made it's way back into reality, giving her the informations she was missing right now. Her face got crimson red and she quickly placed the item back in the box and closed it, having an embarassed smile on her face.

"Uhm... you are right..." she said quietly. "I got carried away just now. Still, it is great work and I'm glad it got finished in time for her birthday." she pulled her purse out of her pocket and handed Tenten the second half of the agreed price.

"I would totally love to see her reaction once she opens the box. It's always intresting to see how the recipent of my work reacts to it. Well, I guess you will tell me, right?" Tenten took the money and stored it away while talking. "And don't hesitate to come back here if you need some meassurement corrections. Or if you need anything else. I'm glad to help out." she had a grin on her face once she was finished talking.

Hanabi could feel a shiver wandering down her spine. "I think I understand why you don't mind at all..." her voice was super quiet and she gulped. "If I'm in need of something will I come back for sure." she gave Tenten a weak smile and snatched the box from the counter. "Well, see you around. I need to check some things on the party location." giving a quick wave to Tenten was Hanabi gone in an instant, leaving the grinning Tenten behind.

"It's quite fun teasing girls younger than me." Tenten giggled to herself. "Anyway, these two sisters are quite intresting. But to think that the younger one would be brave enough to order a custom made item like that and then saying it's a present for her sister..." she shook her head. "I really wonder if all rumours about them are true in the end. Ah, whatever. Back to work I guess." she stretched herself and walked into the back room, to work on another custom made leather item for another customer.

Konoha village, another street leading to a location

Hanabi was holding the box pressed tightly to her body and walking down the street, aiming for the storeroom in which the party shall be held. She was breathing a bit faster then usual and her mind was running crazy.

'I can't believe that I blurted it out just like that. Luckily was only Tenten around and she kinda knows anyway since she made the item for me. But still... and this grin. She's kinda scary sometimes when the topic strikes her interests. She became the same way when we visited her with Naruto's staff... does this mean she is intrested in slaves as well? I wonder...'

She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't realized that she was followed. The boy with red face markings was grinning to himself, showing of his fanglike canines, seeing an opportunity to finally get his revenge on Hanabi. He was aware that there were civilians on the street as well, but he figured that the street was empty enough for him to attack her without having any civilian in the way. And nobody would stop him either. They were both just kids and both in the Academy, so it would be kinda normal if they got at each others throat.

He was following Hanabi silently, waiting for the perfect time to rush at her and to hit her hard with a surprise attack. He endured many hard training sessions with his mother and his sister and today was the day. Finally seeing the opening he needed for an attack did he start his dash towards Hanabi, ready to hit her with full force on the back of her head. Shinobi do fight dirty, these were the words of his mother and he had no problem with fighting dirty himself.

Only a few meters more and he would reach her and his grin got bigger. Hanabi was still deep in her thoughts and hadn't realized him yet. Such an easy target, but he didn't mind. That was enough for his revenge. The distance shrank. Just five meters. Three. One... he felt satisfaction building inside his body when he crashed into his target with his elbow first, landing a clean hit. This was it, his revenge. He finally achieved it, over three months after this little girl humilated him in front of the whole class.

"Aaaawwwwrrrrgggghhhh... Can't you watch where you are going, boy?" a male voice said from the ground below Kiba, holding his stomach in pain with signs of pain even showing on his face. "What are you thinking, running around like that with your elbow in front of you?" he gritted his teeth, the pain increasing from second to second.

"What? Why? ..." Kiba stuttered, watching in disbelief at the man lying below him. "Where did you come from? The street was empty..." he gulped, starting to slightly panic.

All this commonition in close distance to her got Hanabi out of her thoughts and she turned around to see what the source of it was, seeing Kiba sitting atop of a blonde man who clearly was in pain. "Dogboy? What the hell are you doing? Are you crazy or something?" she took the few steps towards the two and knelt down next to them and placed the box she was holding on the ground, giving Kiba a slap across his cheek before she focused on the man.

However, she was unable to speak the moment she looked the man into his face, her eyes widening in disbelief. Kiba tried to use this confusion to quickly get away from the scene and disappeared around the corner of the next crossing street just to run into an ANBU who watched the whole scene. "Damned..." he cursed to himself before being taken away by the ANBU. That would result in more than just a scolding for him.

"Is that you, C?" she was finally able to ask with a whisper, her eyes still glued to the man below her. Three months had passed since that fateful event and since Kakashi let C go without incident. And now, in front of her, was a man that look like the same person from back then, just without the full body suit and instead plain everyday clothes.

The man slowly sat up, clearly still in pain from the hit he received, pondering Hanabi carefully. "What are you talking about? What do you mean with C? I don't think I ever met you." he got up from the ground and cleared his clothes from the dirt, still watching Hanabi.

Now that she got a better look did she realize that it wasn't C. The face and hair looked similiar, but the person was a bit shorter. Hanabi shook her head to clear it, before answering. "I'm sorry. I mistook you for someone else I know. You kinda look alike and I was just surprised cause I haven't seen this person for some time now. Are you okay?"

The man gave her a warm smile. "Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry about it. Anyway, be careful, will you? I'm already late, so I need to hurry. Have a nice day, girl." the man waved to her and hurried away while Hanabi picked up the box and resumed her way.

'Am I getting paranoid? That's the second time today I thought I met C... What is the meaning of this? Argh... it's frustrating. My progress is slow and now that... pull yourself together, Hanabi.' her thoughts again went wild while she made her way towards the storeroom the party will be held in.

The blonde man entered a dark alley of the village and made sure that there was nobody nearby, before making a single handsign and canceling his transformation. After the smoke cleared was there a person wearing a full body suit covering everything except for the eyes standing inside the alley. "Well girly, that was an intresting reaction. Seems like our suspicions were right and C really still lives... I need to inform her about that." the person spoke to himself.

"I don't think so..." another voice cut into the dark, clearly male but pretty high. "She won't learn about any of your information and you won't leave this village." The figure was watching around the alley slightly panicked, searching for the source of the voice but unable to see it. Before the figure was able to reply anything or even move got it hit multiple times. A loud scream echoed through the village before it was silenced and the figure fell dead to the ground...

Ichiraku Ramen (slightly earlier)

Naruto and Hinata were currently sitting at Ichiraku's eating ramen after Naruto woke up from his own knockout. Well, it was more like Naruto eating and Hinata yelling at him. "How many times do I need to tell you that you shouldn't try the advanced moves from the end of the scroll when you are still practicing on working with all three segments loosend, Naruto-kun? It's impressive that you are already really good with the staff itself and even with one loosend segment, but you should work on improving in order and not jump to the end right away!"

Naruto gave her a smile and paused his eating for a moment. "But I'm trying that for you and Hanabi-chan, Hinata-chan. I want to protect you two and for that do I need to learn the super effective and advanced special moves! You think I can defend you when all I can do with the staff is poking the enemy?"

Hinata rolled her eyes at that comment. "And how effective do you think is defending us when you are knocked out on the ground again because you tried to use a move that is way too hard for you to use?" Naruto gave her a cheeky grin as answer which hadn't the effect he hoped for. It would have worked on Hinata's old self, though...

"Water Style: Bubbles!" Hinata said quietly after going through a short set of handsigns, forming one single bubble not of water but the broth Teuchi used for his ramen. And this single bubble was floating in Naruto's direction. "You are forbidden from practicing moves that are too advanced for you right now. Do you understand, Naruto-kun?" she hissed the last part through closed lips, sending a shiver down Naruto's spine.

His mind was racing to find an answer which would be acceptable for Hinata, but it wasn't quick enough to come up with one. Hinata realizing his lack of reply shook her head slightly. "No answer is a wrong answer..." she said quietly and let the bubble drop after it was floating right above Naruto.

Naruto flinched in pain and bit his lip, suppressing the shout that wanted to get out of him. After a few moments did he calm down and slightly nodded. "Okay Hinata-chan, I promise not to try the advanced ones anymore as long as I don't become better with the basics..." he sighed in defeat and watched the smiling Hinata.

"See, that wasn't too hard, right?" she was back to her kind nature right away and brightly smiling before finally starting to eat her ramen. "Teuchi-san, it's delicious as always. Would you mind making us another one?" she asked the shop owner who looked at her with a mixture of curiosity and confusion.

"Sure can do. But, uhm..." his eyes wandered from Hinata to the drenched Naruto and back before he turned around to prepare the next portions.

"Oh, don't worry, I'll be paying for everything I used." Hinata was still smiling and continued to eat her bowl of ramen. "But if you don't mind, Teuchi-san, could you give Naruto a towel? He does look a little... how shall I put it..." she put her finger on her lower lip in a thinking pose. "Drenched from all the training we did today."

Naruto gulped at Hinata's statement. 'It's amazing how much she changed from her shy nature. I still like her, no matter what, but I guess it would be easier to handle her old self.' Naruto thought to himself. After Teuchi placed the new bowls of ramen in front of the kids did he grab a towel and handed it to Naruto who wiped himself clean with it.

"So..." he gave Hinata a small smile, trying to change the topic. "Just one week left til your birthday. Did Hanabi-chan finally tell you what she is planning?" he watched her carefully, hoping that she wouldn't go mad again.

Hinata shook her head. "No, she didn't. She said a good girl has to wait patiently for the things to come. I don't know where the party will be held, who is invited, what will be done for entertainment, I know nothing." she shrugged her shoulders. "But I guess you know, right? After all were you two together quite often the last weeks."

"Nah, I don't know either. Hanabi-chan said I'm too close to you and I would spill the surprise if she would give me informations on these things." he was pouting slightly which looked kinda cute on him. "The times we were together did she help me finding and deciding on a present for you." he had a wide grin on his face now, the attack with the broth forgotten already. "And I'm sure you will like it, Hinata-chan."

"Well, I am curious on what you guys came up with." Hinate smiled at Naruto. "I hope the party will be great too. It's my first one outside the clan I'm having with my friends." she finished her second bowl of ramen and stretched herself.

"I'm totally looking forward to it. Parties and gatherings with friends are just the greatest, believe it!" Naruto became all excited just thinking about the party. "So, what do we now? A bit more training?" he asked causually but flinched right away by the angry look he got from Hinata. "Alright, got it. Let's just go at the park and hang out and relax a bit. Is that okay?"

"That does sound like a good way to end the day. Let's go, Naruto-kun." Hinata exclaimed happily, handing Teuchi the money for the meals before leaving his stand together with Naruto.

Once outside the stand did they start walking towards the nearest park when Hinata spotted a familiar mask walking down the streets. "Oh, isn't that...?" she pondered for a moment before shouting out. "Hello Spooky. Please wait just a moment!"

Kakashi sighed and stopped, waiting for Hinata and Naruto to apporach him. "Can you please stop using that name? It's... irritating. Anyway, what can I do for you, Hinata?" he asked the girl, giving her a smile.

"Well... not much for me. You see, Hanabi is searching for you for some days now. She wants to ask you for tips on using the Earth Style: Earth Wall jutsu. It's always crumbling if she tries to use it." Hinata explained to Kakashi who nodded slightly.

"I see. I guess I might be able to help her, yes. I'll contact her soon if that's okay?" Hinata nodded and Kakashi wanted to say more but got interrupted by a scream echoing through the village. "Sorry kids, but I need to check that. Don't worry about it. Have a nice day." he gave them a small wave and was gone in an instant.

"Maybe we should head for your apartment and not the park, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked quietly and got a simple nod from Naruto as answer. They changed directions and headed for his apartment instead.

Yamanaka storehouse room

Hanabi reached her destination without any more problems and entered it, watching it over and how far the preparations were already finished. In the middle was a table surrounded by chairs on which they were able to eat and also play some games. On one side of the room was a table on which they could place all the present and on the back wall of the room were tables lines up on which they would place the food.

The walls were slightly decorated with party stuff to make the room a bit more welcoming. Ino was helping her so far with the decoration and they were able to get Teuchi Ichiraku to supply them with food on Hinata's birthday. Naruto got all excited when he heard these news. Though, Teuchi said he would prepare more then just ramen and also provide some other things.

So far was everything going smoothly and the preparations should be done right on time for the party. The invitations were also handed out to all their friends and til now does it seem like all of them would come. However, there was one flaw in her planing. She had absolutely no idea how to entertain the guests.

Hanabi gave a frustrated sigh thinking about the way of entertainment. That was her third failure today and the day couldn't get any more worse as it already was. She placed the box on one of the tables and started to work a bit more on the decorations inside the room and was so focused on her work that she didn't heard that someone else entered the room.

She was totally surprised and nearly fell from a chair she was standing on to attach some garlands on the wall when Ino called out to her. "Hey Hanabi-chan, busy as always, huh? How was your training today?" Hanabi turned towards Ino and gave her a weak smile who herself took a chair and started putting balloons on another wall.

"Still the same weak results as usual. For some reason will my walls not hold themselfs together and I really don't know why. I guess I'm using too much or not enough chakra, but even if I vary the amount is it still the same result. It's frustrating..." she sighed again. "I wanted to ask Spooky for some advice because I know that he is capable of using the Earth Wall jutsu, but I just can't find him."

"Why don't you go and ask the old man about it?" Ino suggested. She, like the sisters as well, started calling the Hokage old man just like Naruto did. Nicknames are just so convenient to use. "As far as I know is he also an earth user and even if he couldn't help you could he maybe tell where you might find Spooky?"

Both girls were busy with the decorations while they talked. "But I'm not Naruto... I can't just charge into his office and ask him. It's just frustrating all together." Hanabi shrugged on her own words. "And what about you? Still not intrested in elemental jutsu? I mean, your clan stuff is nice and these things, but some varity never hurts."

"Nah, that's what I will have my teammates for. That's the whole reason to create teams in the first place, you know?" Ino giggled at Hanabi and the fact that she was explaining something basic to her friend.

If Ino would look at Hanabi right now would she have seen the sadend and hurt face from Hanabi, but she was too busy with the decorations. "And what if you are seperated from your team? If you are all alone and attacked by someone you can't handle with your clan skills?"

Ino stopped in her work, biting her lower lip and thinking about Hanabi's words. That was a good question, what would she do in such a situation? Hanabi added more for her to think about. "You know, when we were nearly burned, even if we were able to fight at all... all three of us would have been close combat fighters. That still wouldn't work against medium ranged fire users..."

Ino finally turned around to watch at Hanabi, now seeing her hurt expression. She could tell that Hanabi had even more things on her mind and bothering her then the bit she was speaking about right now. Ino bit her lower lip even stronger, drawing some blood by that action before speaking. "The kidnapping rumour... the one that still sticks around... it is true, isn't it?" she asked quietly.

Hanabi nodded slightly at that question, unable to hide the truth anymore right now. Plus she trusted Ino, beside of her gossiping nature. "Yeah... at least partially. Spooky saved us, again. We were totally helpless back then..." she sat down on a chair at the main table, hiding her face in her hands and started crying. It was the first time since the events three months ago that she spoke about it and her pent up emotions finally had a way to get released.

Ino joined Hanabi and hugged her tightly, simply holding and comforting her. She figured that words wouldn't have any use right now and just wanted to be there for her friend. Even if she wanted, she wouldn't know what to say to her. She had no idea how Hanabi might feel. Or Hinata. Or Naruto. She just understood why they were trying so hard to improve.

It took some time for Hanabi to calm down a little and her voice was weak when she spoke, still sobbing. "Thanks Ino... I... guess I needed that... I finally needed to get this off from my chest..." she tried to put a faint smile on her face, but failed.

"It's okay, Hanabi-chan. That's what a friend is for, right? I'll help and support you three however I'm able to. That's a promise between friends." Ino gave her friend a reassuring smile and Hanabi nodded. They sat there for a few more minutes before Hanabi gave Ino a hug and both went back to their work on decorating the room.

An alley in Konoha

Three ANBU were standing around a corpse in the back alley when Kakashi arrived at the scene. Beside of having heard the scream that echoed through the village did he also got the official request from the ANBU directly to assist them in the investigation. He was curious what this all was about so he approached the group.

"Hey Cat." he greeted the leader, giving a nod towards the other two. "I'm here like requested, so what's the situation and what kind of help do you need?" all information he had so far were that they found a corpse and were investigating it and the facts around this kill. He didn't knew if it was a shinobi or civilian or any details about it.

"Ah, glad you could make it, Spooky." Cat replied calmly, getting a small twitch of Kakashi's eyebrow as response. He hated the fact that the nickname he got by Hanabi made the round more and more and that the people, mainly shinobi and his close friends, started using that new one to tease him.

"I guess it's pretty simple or totally complicated, depending on how you look on the situation. We have a corpse here. Based on your reports a member of this mysterious organization, meaning it's a shinobi. The easiest explanation would be that he got found by one of us and took care of. However, we haven't received any reports of this and the wounds didn't match to our normal methods, so..."

Cat explained the situation detailed to Kakashi who nodded his head slightly, processing all the informations. "So you need me for a few tasks then. First I shall confirm the identity of him being of this organization for real. Second I shall try to identify the way he died and third you need me to track down the person who killed this shinobi. Does this sum it up?" he asked, getting a confirming nod from Cat in return.

"Alright, got it. Well, then let's have a look here..." he approached the corpse and knelt down, giving him a quick lookover first. "I hereby confirm that this person must be a member of this organization. He is wearing the same full body suit I encountered two times already which seems to be the common identification of their members." after speaking did he look a bit closer on the wounds the person suffered, raising his eyebrow. "Can I get a bit more light here, please?"

One of the ANBU nodded and went through a short set of handsigns, creating a small but stable orb of lightning that he let float above their heads to further illuminate the area in the back alley. Kakashi gasped at what he saw now with more light available. "While the clothing is cut precisely multiple times with small holes is the body basicly unharmed. And then these small scorch marks around the area, there is no mistaking it..."

Kakashi stopped speaking and inspected the wounds one more time, concentrating a small amount of chakra on one of it. He nodded on the reaction he got and spoke again. "While our experts should clearly take a look on this corpse would I say he got killed by multiple hits from lightning strikes coming from all directions at him."

"What? Lightning strikes from all directions at once? How is that even possible especially inside this small back alley?" Cat's voice was sporting a mixture of disbelief and surprise on Kakashi's conclusion. "Sure, these scorched areas look like the result of a Lightning Style attack, but..."

Kakashi shook his head and got up from the ground, facing Cat. "Well, not exactly. While it were lightning strikes was it no Lightning Style attack... In fact do I have seen an attack able to do exactly this even in this narrowed area. But it wasn't a Lightning Style..." his voice trailed off, his mind already thinking ahead.

Cat sighed at this reaction and gave Kakashi a weak punch in his side. "Focus, Spooky, and finish your explanation. Where have you seen it and what kind of attack was used? When you are sure you know then tell us."

Kakashi gave her a weak smile and spoke up again. "Well, the attack got used against me around three months ago when I rescued the kids. It's called Card Tricks: Ace of Diamonds and there is only one person capable of using this attack. But I really do wonder why he might be inside the village... he said he would go into hiding..." his voice trailed off again. 'Seriously, C, why are you here in Konoha? Did I misjudge you, or...'

That got Cat's attention. "Wait, you mean to say that the one you fought back then is currently here in Konoha? I need to inform Hokage-sama about that. We still need him for information about that organization. Spooky, you will try and track him down. The incident here isn't that long ago meaning you should be able to track him quite easily, right? Now go! And you two, get this corpse to the hospital for further inspections." she ordered the other two ANBU before heading towards the Hokage tower.

"And another free day that isn't free..." Kakashi said to himself before sighing. "Well, guess it's the same situation again. Tracking C from the organization... but if he is really hiding inside Konoha... Why are you here?" Kakashi gave the area another look before heading off into the village, following the tracks left by the attacker which must have been C.

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Personal Note: I'm not sure if I can promise weekly updates from now on. If my progress is similiar slow next week and my work stressful won't I be able to make it. This chapter was already shorter then my last ones. But I'll aim for an average of ~9-10k words per chapter, so... please don't worry if my updates start becoming less frequent. I'm still writing, only lost some speed recently.

Feel still free to give me a call if you have any idea, question or opinion you want to share with me ;-)