Ino's notes: Jonin-sensei
Kakashi "Spooky" Hatake: son of the "White Fang of Konoha", commonly known as "Copycat", also goes by "Cyclops". Possesses the Sharingan and has a bounty placed on his head. Fought in the last Great Ninja War and knows jutsu of at least four different elements (Earth, Water, Fire, Lightning). Is said to be able to copy any jutsu after seeing it just once, giving him the name of "Copycat". Dumped every genin team he got to train after a maximum of two days til now.
Asuma Sarutobi: son of the Third Hokage. Has a bounty placed on his head. Was part of the 12 ninja guardians when he was younger, protecting the feudal lord of the Fire country. Owns chakra with Wind affinity and is also capable of Fire element jutsu. Had trained no genin team yet. Smokes a lot.
Anko Mitarashi: works for Torture and Interrogation (T&I). Does have a sadistic side she is eager to show as often as possible and her sense of fashion can be put as slutty. Former student of Orochimaru of the Sannin, a Konoha missing nin and traitor. Mistress of Stealth and Assassinations, uses techniques created by her former sensei, based on the traits of snakes (and partially involves real snakes). Had trained no genin team yet.
Kurenai Yuhi: a mistress of genjutsu. Only became jonin recently and applied for her first genin team. No real accomplishments or special traits known.
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A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 21: Say that again!?
"And there she is, having that nightmare again..." the dominant Hinata said quietly, standing outside the room Hinata was on all fours inside together with Kiba, unable to enter it herself to help the real one.
"I do wonder, Mistress..." the mischievous Hinata next to her spoke up. "Isn't it kinda strange?"
Looking over to the catgirl was confusion written over the face of the dominant one. "What do you mean, Kitty?"
"Think about it, Mistress. This nightmare is hunting us for nearly three years now, right? And Kiba is always threatening us to train us as his pet, right? But in these three years was all he ever did examing and petting. He never even tried a single thing to actually start training us. What is he waiting for?" she explained, touching her lower lip with her finger in thought.
"Hmm, you are right Kitty. Though I wonder... it isn't really Kiba but a creation from her, from our mind, right? The question shouldn't be what is he waiting for, but... what is she waiting for?" the dominant answered, her eyes back on the scene inside the room she never found a way inside.
Hanabi's nightmare
Trapt within her own nightmare was Hanabi sitting on the clearing inside the forest on which Ino found her when she entered the girls mind. Her legs pulled on her body and her arms wrapped around them was she not moving, waiting for the trap to consume her.
She could feel the heat of the inferno to her right, slightly getting hotter by every minute that passed. Her scar was throbbing, sending painful sensations up her arm and into her brain. If she would have looked in that direction might she have realized that the inferno was slowly getting closer to her.
From her left side was the icy mist fighting the heat of the inferno, increasing in coldness from minute to minute as well to counter the heat. Her left body half was numb from the coldness, goosebumps all over her left arm. If she would think about that situation might she even find it ironic, that her body was the place on which the inferno and the icy mist fought their battle of dominance. But she wasn't thinking about it, simply waiting for one side to win and consume her.
In fact wasn't she thinking at all in this situation, her mind being blanked out by the dreadful aura that hit her head on. The shadowy figure stalking through the forest, the grim reaper, Black Jack... the thing that touched her mind during the fight with Mizuki never left her. Hinata was trying to explain to her that the thing wasn't after her soul, that it touched her and moved on. That were the words C said to Hinata and Hinata said to Hanabi. Both were wrong, it was still there. Haunting and hunting Hanabi in her mind, waiting for the girl to surrender, to claim her soul.
She pulled her legs even closer to her body, her fingers digging into the flesh of them. There was no way for her to run, no way to get away from the things threatening her life. She could just sit and wait there for her end. At least did Ino get away from this place after being stupid enough to enter the trap here. Ino... was she even there or was it just a fainting wish of her? The wish for someone to come and help her. A wish to get away from this place... could she even trust her own senses at this point?
It was during this situation that a voice within the wind reached her ear. It was just a whisper, something just barely loud enough for her to hear. In fact didn't she hear it at all the first few times. But the voice continued to whisper to her, continued to reach her ear. And with passing time did Hanabi realize that there was a voice in the wind, a voice always whispering the same two words. "Help me..."
When she finally heard this voice was she making a grimace, her face still placed between her legs. "How? I'm trapt here myself... I need help too..." she said quietly to noone in particular, not even thinking that whoever that voice belonged to could hear her.
The voice however stopped whispering for a moment before changing the words, actually starting to talk. Still just a whisper in Hanabi's ear, but the voice reacted to her. "Please help me... you are the only one that can... please, Hanabi... follow Ino..."
Hanabi couldn't help but to laugh dryly. "How shall I follow someone who isn't here? How shall I get away from here while I'm surrounded by things trying to kill me? I'm trapt here... I won't be able to help anybody..."
Again was the voice silent for some moments, before speaking again. "That's not true... you are able to help me... you are the only one... please... follow Ino..."
Simply shaking her head was Hanabi not answering anymore, thinking that it was no use to argue with that voice. Following Ino... how was she supposed to do that? Ino wasn't at the clearing in this forest. Or was she? It brought her an headache right away, but she started to think about it. Maybe Ino really was by her side, right inside this deathtrap. What did she say to her? She failed to remember, the pain becoming unbearable.
However, deciding that she wasn't crazy, that she wasn't seeing and hearing things, that Ino really must have been inside this deathtrap was she raising her head, looking around her. She wasn't surprised when she saw the icy mist to her left, the inferno to her right, the shadowy figure lurking in front of her. These were the things that put her into her despair in the first place. Trying again to think about Ino and what she said to her went Hanabi's eyes suddenly wide, realizing that there was something she hadn't thought about.
Turning around to look over her shoulder was she finally deciding to look at the area in her back and, to her surprise, was there no visible deathtrap waiting for her. Ino must have been at this clearing and this must be the way she took to come and leave. She let out another dry laugh when she realized that there was a way out the whole time, that she just couldn't see it for it being behind her back.
Determined to leave this place was Hanabi getting up from the ground, starting to walk in this direction, getting more and more distance between her and the things aiming for her life. It was then that the voice also started to whisper again. Just that it wasn't a whisper anymore, it was getting louder and louder the more she walked away from the clearing. "Yes... please come and help me... you are the only one that can... come to me, Hanabi..."
Now that she could hear the voice more clearly was it hitting her like a punch to the face. She knew this voice. No, it was more than just knowing it... it was a voice she grew up with. "I'm coming sis! I'm coming and I will help you! Wait for me, just a bit longer. I'm on my way!" she shouted determined, her steps getting faster, her body starting to run. She would follow the voice and help her sister, no matter what.
When the voice was loud enough that it could be considered being right next to her was the forest suddenly changing. The whole area was covered in blinding light, consuming everything it touched. Covering her eyes with her right hand was Hanabi still moving forward, stretching out her left hand in front of her to feel where she was going. Just a moment later was there nothing. The forest, Hanabi, everything was gone, consumed by the blinding light.
Hinata's nightmare
She wanted to cry. She wanted to yell at someone. She wanted to punch somebody. She wanted to move and get away. But she just couldn't. She never could do anything when she was trapt in this nightmare. All she could do was to watch her surroundings, to listen to whatever Kiba was telling her, to feel every touch of him on her body. The worst of it however was the embarassing position she was in.
How often did he walk around her, examining her completely from front to back? How often did his partner Akamaru sniff her body completely? She just couldn't stand it anymore. Nearly three years of having the same nightmare over and over, it was just too much. Unable to speak, like every time within this nightmare, was she thinking the two words most prominent in her mind, over and over again. 'Help me...'
Something was different this time however. The scene didn't go the way it usually did and Hinata realized that when Kiba knelt down in front of her, a wide grin on his face. "You always came running back to me, even so you are an estray. It's time that I take you in and start your training. My partner is looking forward to it too." he explained kinda calm before taking out a leash and attaching it to Hinata's collar.
When he stood up again and started walking towards the door in front of Hinata did she start to panic. She refused to follow him, refused to move her body at all not even sure if she could move it right now, earning herself a tug on the leash that soon turned into a painful pull. "No need to be shy. Just come with me and we can start your training. Trust me, it's way better than being all alone." he spoke still calmly, but there was impatience slowly getting into his voice.
Seeing that Hinata was still not moving did he sigh before glaring at her. "You want it the hard way? No problem..." was all he said before giving a strong pull on the leash, strong enough to pull Hinata from her limbs, letting her fall to the ground. Grinning did he start dragging her over the ground. He would take her with him, no matter what.
Before he could reach the door however was there a bright white light coming out of it, letting him stop and covering his eyes. When the light was gone did he blink his eyes to get his sight back, opening them wide in shock. "You?!" he shouted out in surprise.
Adjusting her sight after being engulfed in the white light was the first thing she saw Kiba standing right in front of her, a look of utter disbelief on his face. The next thing she saw was that he was holding a leash with her sister attached to the other end, currently laying on the ground. She wasn't thinking clearly and simply reacted on instinct, but it was more than enough. "Get your filthy hands off her. She is mine!" Hanabi yelled at Kiba, not really caring what was happening in front of her or how she got there, simply seeing the person she hated the most trying to do something with the person she loved the most.
Kiba hadn't even time to react to the punches Hanabi threw at him, hitting him in his throat, straight on the forehead and right on his heart, releasing chakra into his body with her clan's fighting style. Each hit was a fatal one and Kiba, being just an illusion created within Hinata's mind, vanished into nothing after technically being killed three times.
Just a moment later was Hanabi kneeling next to Hinata, pulling her up on her knees and hugging her tightly. "I'm here sis. I'm here and I'll be sure to protect you. I don't know what I would do without you... what I would do if I would loose you..." she said quietly.
A small smile entered Hinata's face, warmth spreading through her body. She felt save and at peace right now. "Thank you for coming for me, Hanabi." she replied quietly. "I always knew that you would come for me."
Both girls held each other tightly, simply enjoying the closeness of the other. It took some time before they both fell asleep within the embrace of the other, ending both of their nightmares at the same time for this night. The rest of the night was peaceful for both.
Standing outside the room were the other Hinata's still watching the whole scene up to the point at which both sisters vanished. "I guess now do we know what she waited for, right Mistress? Do you think Ino-chan had anything to do with it?" the catgirl asked.
"I would like to believe that, Kitty. It's the only explanation I have at the moment, considering that she entered both our minds today. Though I wonder if she was really able to help Hanabi-sama..." the dominant one replied in thought.
The mischievous one perked up at that, a playful smirk on her lips. "Does that mean I'm allowed to play with Ino-chan now, Mistress?"
Shaking her head in amusement while laughing was she looking back at the catgirl. "Basicly yes, Kitty. But you know the rules. Never break them."
"I know Mistress. Only when she agrees on it, because trust is everything while playing."
Both were watching the now empty room for some more minutes, being glad that this nightmare vanished from their mind, before both went their seperate ways for now, leaving for the areas of Hinata's mind they claimed as their own. The last thing the dominant one saw before the mischievous one vanished behind a corner was that she created an illusion of Ino and took her hand to drag her along. The dominant one chuckled to herself, knowing quite well that Ino would have a hard time if she ever decided to enter Hinata's mind again.
Hyuga Compound
The girls both woke up at the same time early in the morning. While keeping their eyes shut were both sporting a smile on their faces. Feeling the others warmth did they cuddle closer to each other, enjoying the feel.
Hinata was the first to speak up, knowing that her sister was awake as well. "Thank you, Hanabi." she said quietly, her eyes still closed.
"For what, sis?" the younger asked in return, pulling the older a bit closer to her. She wasn't sure what her sister was thanking her for. In addition to that was she trying to understand what she dreamt about this night. At least was she feeling a bit better compared to the day before.
"For saving me from my nightmare. You came and gave Kiba a beating, releasing me from him." Hinata explained with a slight purr in her voice. To her confusion did Hanabi tense up and she opened her eyes to look what was wrong.
Hanabi was looking back at her, her own eyes opened wide in shock. "You... I..." she shook her head, trying to get it clear, confusing her sister even more. "I had a nightmare... but then did I hear someone calling out to me and followed that voice. Away from the evil things... I heard you and suddenly ended up in a room with you and Kiba and I... I did..." her voice started to tremble, not able to continue talking.
"You got angry and gave him some punches before pulling me close, telling me that I'm yours." Hinata finished for her, a gentle smile on her face. "And I'm thankful for that. I really am. I don't know why that happened... maybe it's some after effect of Ino entering our minds? But you came for me and saved me."
"So... it was more than just a dream, right? It was... your dream?" Hanabi asked, before suddenly snapping to attention. "Wait a second! Ino-chan was in my mind too?"
Hinata nodded slowly. "Yes... after she came back out of mine were you totally spaced out and we were worried about you. So I asked her to see if she could help you, somehow..."
Hanabi kept silent for some time, thinking about it. When she finally spoke up, Hinata having a worried expression on her face, did she surprise herself and her sister the same. "So she really was there, wasn't she? I was starting to doubt my mind..."
"And I would say it was a good thing. After all are you in a way better mood then before." Hinata said smiling. "Shall we get up? We need to get ready and head to the Academy for the team assignments."
Raising up was Hanabi grinning at her sister, sending a shiver down the older ones spine. "Good idea, sis. And to celebrate the day will you wear the cute piece of clothing you like so much!"
"Again?" Hinata asked, half whining, half protesting. "Do you want to torture me?"
"Well..." Hanabi pondered aloud, drawing the word into length. "Either that or wearing your headband somewhere else than around your neck. Your choice." she said happily before jumping out of the bed and walking over to the bathroom to get herself ready for the day. Yes, the day started quite good for her, her mind not focused on the things haunting her for now.
Following her slowly was Hinata getting out of the bed as well to walk to the bathroom. She was cursing in her mind that her sister knew her that good, giving her the choice to choose between one thing she hated and one thing she wouldn't do if she could avoid it...
Some time later were the girls entering the kitchen to get some breakfast. Hinata was wearing her headband around her neck again, partially covering her collar like the day before. Hanabi decided to wear her headband around her waist as a kind of belt today. She saw Ino wearing hers the same way the day before and thought that it looked good, wanting to try wearing hers the same way at least one day to see if that would work for her.
They weren't surprised to see their father already sitting at the table but decided to ignore him for now. They hadn't forgetten the confrontation they had and weren't eager to repeat it. Hiashi was looking up when his daughters entered the kitchen, mustering their appearences, but kept silent and waited for the girls to fetch themselfs something to eat and to sit down before he spoke up. "I see that you are trying to hide the collar, Hinata. It's not perfect, but I'm thankful that you aren't shouting out to the village that you gave yourself into slavery."
Both girls looked up in surprise from their meals. Not because their father started to talk, that was something they expected him to do. Not because of the thing he said either, they didn't really listened to his words. They were surprised by the complete calmness of his voice, something they weren't expecting after the way the last talk between them ended and the fact that they sneaked away from home the other day to avoid meeting him.
"I'm not too eager for the village to find out either..." Hinata replied truthfully to her father. "That way did I thought could I please everyone, including myself, and Hanabi-sama allowed me to wear it like that."
Hiashi flinched slightly when his older daugther called his younger daughter Hanabi-sama, but he kept calm. "I see. So you are thinking about our clan's reputation after all, do you?"
Shrugging that question off was Hanabi not really looking at her father. "Not really. Actually, I think that there are much things wrong within our clan. Like restricting us on learning our clan stuff only... that's the way you get yourself captured or killed." she too was calm while making that statement, surprising her father. "I'm allowing her to wear it like that to ease her mind. She still feels uncomfortable showing it in public and I want to help her. That's the reason, if you must know."
Letting out a long sigh was Hiashi nodding slowly, watching both of his daugthers. "Okay, listen you two, I had a talk with the Hokage and this strange fellow... C I think? They informed me that there is nothing I can do about this situation. I was... no, I still am angry at you for doing that, but..." he shook his head. "But I want you to know one thing. While I can't do much against this stupid action of yours, they explained it in detail to me, am I still your father. Should you two put shame on our clan will I simply do the things I can as father. And if I do does it not matter if you enslaved each other or not because you will be put in your rooms for a long time. Is that clear?"
Putting his authority in his last words was he trying to intimidate his daughters. Hinata was actually flinching at the aura he was emitting, but Hanabi stayed surprisingly calm at that. "How about these terms, father..." she spoke up. "You simply leave us and our relation alone. If you met C did you meet the one person responsible for basicly everything that happened to us so far. And compared to him are your threats... not as strong as you think. Oh, and while we are at it, I want to inform you that we both are looking and training into other things than just our clans jutsu and that for a long time by now. If you weren't so busy with whatever you usually do and actually care for what your daughters do would you know about that. But I bet you don't?"
Hanabi was glaring at her father, challenging him with her eyes. He had to admit that he just heard for the first time that they were training in something else and was wondering for a short moment what else he might not know about his daughters. "What do you mean you are training in something foreign?" he asked with concern in his voice. As long as he could remember and with the knowledge of the clan's history was there never a case of a Hyuga learning something beside the clan's techniques. "Wait, no... what do you mean that this C guy is responsible for everything?" there was slight anger entering his voice, having the man responsible right in front of him and not having done anything at all.
"Oh, I don't know..." Hanabi replied with mock innocence. "It were members of his Organization that nearly burned us alive in the northern forest. It was him who kidnapped us and helped us understand some things about slavery, before trying to sell us as slaves. It was also him who approached us months later, here within the village, to appology to us. It was him as well who helped us with the request of the license and the registering. And it was him who might have killed me during the incident with Mizuki-sensei, though they say it was an accident!" her voice got louder at the end, anger entering her expression. "And you know what? He's still our friend! Shall I continue?"
His mind was wandering back to his meeting in the Hokage office and he bit down on his lip, swallowing his anger. "Okay, fine. Just don't bring shame on our clan and we... might get along in this situation." he finally said, backing down from his daughters challenge. If he would confront her now was he sure that he would loose his last chance to improve his relation with his daughters and most likely also had to explain himself to the Hokage in regards of the branch family of his clan. He thought about that as well and came to the conclusion that the claim for them being slaves wasn't that far fetched at all.
Hinata was by now simply watching the argument between her sister and father, eating her breakfast. She was surprised to the core about both of them. That their father was that calm compared to the loud argument two evenings ago and also that Hanabi was that open towards him, compared to her cold behavior from the day before.
"You two are going to get your team assignments today, right?" Hiashi spoke up again, changing the topic and actually getting the attention of both. "Have you heard anything about the teams you are getting or your senseis?"
"Not really." Hanabi shrugged. "Beside the fact that they won't be seperating us from each other are we pretty clueless."
"I see... well, I hope you will end up with someone who might be able to help you..." he said quietly, but still loud enough for both of them to hear. "They also told me about the things that happened to you, Hanabi, and I know that we aren't on good enough terms that I might help you with your problems..." while he said these words was he getting up from the table and leaving the kitchen, leaving his daughters behind to wonder about him.
What they didn't know and most likely never would learn about, was that their father was heading towards his office after that, sitting down at his desk. He slammed his fist down on the table, cursing to himself before picking up a picture frame, looking at the image of his wife. "I'm sorry, dear. It seems that after loosing you did I also loose our daughters. I am a terrible family man, am I?"
Academy
They were nearing the door leading to their classroom and Hinata was grabbing at her trousers, trying to adjust the thong she was wearing under it for the countless time on their way to class. Hanabi was watching her sister in amusement, but decided to speak to her. "You know, sis, keep that up and everyone of our classmates will see and probably figure out what you are wearing. I thought you don't wanted to catch that much attention?"
Sighing did she let go of her clothes, looking back at Hanabi. "You know that you can be totally evil at times, right?" she asked, wondering what her sister had on her mind right now. Was Hanabi trying to distract herself from the things haunting her by teasing the poor girl that wasn't allowed to fight back?
"Are you surprised with a father like ours?" she asked back, shrugging the question off. "Beside, if you don't like it shouldn't you have bet that cute ass of yours in the first place, right?" there was a grin on Hanabi's face, leaving Hinata a bit dumb struck when Hanabi opened the door to the classroom.
They weren't sure what they might have expected when coming to class this morning, but it surely wasn't the sight they saw upon entering the classroom. There was a crowd gathered around the place Ino sat, everyone trying to get a look. Curious about what this commotion might be about were the girls making their way through the crowd, aiming for their own seats. Once there were they also looking what this all was about.
Ino was trying to fight off her classmates, trying to defend a few piece of paper that were scattered over her desk. "I said I would let you have a look, but not all at once! Get lost!" she shouted angrily, delivering a few weak punches to some classmates around her.
Realizing that her friend could need a hand did both sisters share the same thought. "Byakugan!" they shouted in union before quickly delivering some chakra infused punches to some of the gathered crowd. They were only aiming for not important bodyparts that would be numb for a short period after being hit, but it worked to let the crowd shatter and move away.
"Don't you think that was a bit too extreme?" Shikamaru asked lazily from his seat behind them before yawning, his head placed atop of his arms as usual, his eyes closed. "I mean, sure, they were nagging and all..."
Realizing what just happened and seeing her friends relax was Ino giving them a wide smile. "Thanks you two. You came just at the right time. I was afraid to get crushed below that crowd. I mean, what is so hard to understand on the phrase 'in order', huh?"
Hanabi had a small grin on her face. "No problem. That's the least I could do to repay you the favor from yesterday, right? So... what was this commotion about anyway?" she looked over Ino's shoulder on the papers the blonde girl was defending.
"Glad you feel better today." Ino replied still smiling before showing the papers to her friends. "You see, my dad and I bumped into C on our way home after the genin test. When he saw me was he grinning like mad, really don't know why, and said he had a challenge for me. Said I wouldn't be able to gather informations about the most prominent jonin that applied to become jonin-sensei for us new genin this year." she shrugged slightly.
"So you decided to make your nickname honor and tried to find out as much as you could?" Hinata asked, taking a piece of paper and scanning the contents. "Uhm... were exactly did you get these informations? I didn't know anything about that..." she handed the paper over to Hanabi who whistled.
"Really now? Spooky does have a bounty on his head? And... Sharingan? You mean the bloodline from the Uchiha? That's new to me too." Hanabi stated, looking at Ino with expectation written across her face. Even Shikamaru was opening one eye to look in front of him, symbolizing that he was intrested to know as well.
Now was it Ino's time to grin at her friends. "Well, it wasn't too hard to find out. You know that my dad is having a high position in T&I, right? I just sweet-talked him into telling me about the jonin who applied to be sensei this year. He even showed me the bingo book entrances for Spooky and the Hokage's son."
"Doesn't sound like a hard challenge if you simply asked your father..." Shikamaru said yawning. "On the other hand... did the Queen of Gossip know exactly who to ask to get these informations. That wasn't half bad."
"Ah, shut up, Shika. I don't know why he challenged me at all, but I'll show him that I won. It's that simple!" Ino snapped back at him, crossing her arms over her chest.
"So... who do you think we will get as sensei? I really hope it won't be Anko..." Hinata said quietly, slight fear inside her voice. She rarely saw the woman in question, but there was an aura around her that gave her goosebumbs. She was glad that Anko hadn't stopped her after the Mizuki incident when she was carrying her sister home.
"No idea, sis... though I'm not sure I like any of these candidates. A genjutsu mistress? Can't really teach us something. Spooky is lazy as hell, Anko is too unpredictable and scary... Dunno about the old mans son." Hanabi shrugged. "He might be intresting."
"But his smoking habit shall be extremely bad." Ino piqued in. "I mean, this can't be healthy for the ones around him, right?"
"Well, guess we just need to wait and see, right?" a voice spoke up, drawing the attention of the girls away from the papers and to the newcomer. Naruto gave them one of his wide smiles and waved. "Hey girls. You look better, Hanabi. Everything okay?"
Said girl nodded slightly. "Yeah, a bit at least. But I promise that the next person asking me that will get a punch. I mean, seriously, can't someone mope around a day without everyone asking if you are okay? It's not like I had no reason for it..." she spoke the last part pretty quietly and more to herself than anybody.
"Glad to hear. You were really scary yesterday, you know that?" Naruto grinned. "Though, if you ever need someone to talk, you know you can come to me, right? I'll always be there for my friends, believe it!"
"I know, thanks." Hanabi smiled weakly. "Glad to have you as friend, Naruto. Our lives would be totally different if we hadn't met you."
"Technically wouldn't you have your scar or be kidnapped if you wouldn't know Naruto..." Shikamaru spoke up before yawning again. "It would be less troublesome..."
"Shut up, Shikamaru! It would be less fun too, and that would be sad!" Hanabi grumbled.
"Yeah, really man, why do you have to always point out the negative things? There were so many great things happening since we met, wouldn't want to miss them either." Naruto agreed.
Closing his eye shut again was Shikamaru mumbling "Too troublesome to even argue with you..."
Before anyone could say more was the door opening and Iruka entering the classroom, carrying some papers under his arm. "Alright everyone, please get on your seats and calm down. This is important for all of you so please listen to me. I'll anounce the team assignments to you and you will then wait here for your jonin-sensei to pick you up. If there are any questions please wait til I'm done. Got that?"
"But what about Sasuke-kun?" Sakura loudly spoke up. "Why isn't he here? He was the best from all of us and clearly had passed, right?"
"I said... to wait with your questions... Til! I'm! Done!" Iruka yelled at the pink haird girl, effectively silencing her. "That's better. Alright, shall we start then?"
The first team assignments Iruka anounced were of genin and jonin that weren't too prominent within the village. Considering the high amount of clan heirs in his class was this not really surprising that he was waiting with them for the end.
"That leads us to team 7 which will be formed by Hanabi Hyuga, Hinata Hyuga and Naruto Uzumaki. Leader of team 7 will be Kakashi Hatake." the moment he finished his sentence were his ears ringing by the sudden outburst from Hanabi.
"Say that again!?" she yelled loudly before letting her head drop down on the table in front of her. "Not the lazy Spooky..." she mumbled the last part while Ino was gently stroking her back for comfort.
"I don't see your problem, Hanabi. Kakashi is one of our best jonin and will surely be able to teach you a lot." Iruka stated, watching the state of the girl carefully. He was well informed about the things she went through and was asked by the Hokage to be gentle with her because of the Mizuki incident.
Not reacting at that was Hanabi still listening to her surroundings and the soothing words from Ino. It was Naruto who answered for her. "He was stupid enough to piss her off yesterday. Guess she still haven't forgiven him for that. Just hope he won't dump us like every other genin team he was supposed to train..." he too had a quick look on Ino's notes before he went to his seat after Iruka entered the room.
"Ah, yes, I see. I'm sure you will be able to work things out with him. Okay, moving on. Team 8 will be formed by Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka and Sakura Haruno. Your sensei will be Kurenai Yuhi." his eyes landed on Sakura after he was finished talking, looking at her with a serious expression.
She was about to speak up, to complain why she wasn't in a team with Sasuke followed by another question where he is, but gulped it down after seeing the look Iruka gave her. Telling herself that she could wait the two minutes for him to finish the assignments.
"As there are no other outbursts to take care off..." Iruka continued. "Alright, team 9 is still active from last year which leads us to team 10. It will be formed by Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi. Your sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi. These are all teams for this year. Any questions?"
After hearing that did Ino stop to comfort Hanabi, her head landing on the table in front of her. "Not the smoking one... so much for my health..." she mumbled frustrated, Hinata now gently stroking her back with a worried look on her sister who still didn't moved away from the table.
The lazy Shikamaru sitting behind her spoke quietly, but hearable for the girls in front of him. "We are shinobi now. I guess cigarette smoke will be the smallest threats to our health. So troublesome..."
Taking this opportunity to finally being allowed to speak up was Sakura raising her voice again. "What about Sasuke-kun? Why is he on no team? He must have clearly passed, right?"
"Well Sakura, that is were you are wrong. He hadn't passed the genin test. To be honest, I haven't seen him or Mizuki since then anymore. I do wonder where these two are..." Iruka explained before trailing off into his thoughts.
"He... didn't pass?" Sakura shouted out in shock. "How could he not pass? The required things were nothing and he was able to do all of them when we just started. That's impossible! And what do you mean you haven't seen him anymore? Where is he?" her eyes darted on Naruto, switched to the Hyuga sisters and back to Naruto, her anger rising. "I know! You have something to do with it, right?"
Naruto put a sheepish grin on his face and shrugged. "Well, it is true that I saw him talking to Mizuki-sensei after the genin test. But I don't know more. It's top secret, you know?"
"Say that again?!" Sakura bursted out in anger. "You do know something. You did something to him, right? You and your... your... bitches! Tell me!"
That snapped both Hanabi and Hinata at attention, the encounter with Mizuki still fresh within their minds. He called them the same way, making them enraged. And Naruto... their eyes focused on him, expecting him to get angry like he did against Mizuki. Before he got the chance to reply anything did a new voice spoke up. "Alright kids, now calm down and be nice to each other."
The room went silent when an aura filled it, sending a shiver down the spine of most of the kids. "What are you doing here, Anko? It's true that I just finished the assignments, but you got no team. I'm not even sure why you applied for one in the first place." Iruka spoke up, looking at the woman standing next to him.
Anko was shrugging it off. "Yeah, I know. Spooky got the team I wanted to take and I wasn't intrested in taking any other. Anyway, I'm here for the little one. But it seems I need to set some of these kids straight before something ugly happens, huh?"
"I do have a name..." Hanabi grumbled quietly, crossing her arms over her chest.
"So does your sister. C told me the story, now shush!" Anko said grinning before focusing on Sakura. "Okay Pinky, listen good, the events from the day of the genin tests are classified as secret so I would suggest you to not try to pry into it if you aren't intrested in taking a visit to T&I. Got that?"
Sakura was currently too afraid to reply something and simply nodded, bringing an evil smile on Anko's face. "Now that's a good girl." Anko watched the girl when she was gulping before speaking to the assembled class. "Alright, as Iruka might have told you will your assigned jonin-senseis pick you up soon. You'll all wait for them here, understood? And Hanabi..." she looked at the girl who looked back with defiance in her eyes. "Heh, I like that expression of yours. Would have loved to play with you. Anyway, C asks for you to visit him once Spooky is done with you."
She wasn't waiting for a reply and headed for the door but was stopped by Iruka's voice. "Now that's rare that you are playing messenger for others."
Simply shrugging was Anko opening the door. "Aw, it's an exception, you see? He's currently too tied up in something to come here himself." and with these words was she gone.
Shaking his head was Iruka adressing the class again. "Alright, as you just heard, you will wait for your sensei's here. Any more questions?" waiting a moment and getting no reply was he nodding. "Alright, I'm leaving too. Make me proud, will you?" he gave them a last smile before leaving the classroom as well, leaving his students behind.
As soon as the door closed were several things happening. Both Kiba and Sakura got up from their seats, aiming for the Hyuga girls with high speed. Naruto, seeing what was going to happen, rose as well to intercept them. Hinata too realized what was happening within the classroom and left her seat to place herself between Hanabi and the rushing classmates of them. However, before anything could happen were the three moving kids stopped in the middle of their movements, leaving the defensive Hinata a bit surprised by what just happened and also glad that she hadn't have to defend her mistress yet.
"Too troublesome..." Shikamaru muttered quietly. "Shadow Posession jutsu, succesful. Do you really want to start a fight right now with several jonin on the way to our class? You can't be that dumb, right?"
"But I know that they did something!" Sakura yelled. "I mean, how could Naruto know that there are classified events? Only if he was there, right? He and these stupid bitches... What have you done to Sasuke-kun?" she demanded, her eyes glaring at Naruto, Shikamaru and the girls, switching from one to the other.
"Yeah! And what was that just now? The crazy lady appearing here to tell Hanabi to meet up with C? Why is she getting all this advanced treatment? That's totally not fair! Explain!" Kiba barked in, hate shown in his eyes.
"So what? You think you can just approach them and beat some answers out of them? Have you ever considered what they might have gone through and that there could be a reason for them to go and speak with someone? Why aren't you giving them a break for a change? You really are obsessed with your hate for them..." Naruto shouted back at both his classmates, an angry expression on his face.
"Really now?" Kiba said sarcastic, rolling his eyes. "The kidnapping was a good three years ago. If they aren't over it yet is it there own fault!" he only said these words in anger, but they hit hard for multiple reasons. Basicly the whole class fell silent in an instant, all eyes focusing on the Hyuga sisters now. Kiba had kept shut about it since the day he got these informations on Hinata's 10th birthday. It wasn't intended from him to let this information slip now, but it happened anyway.
The civilian kids in their class started to whisper with each other, processing this new information and bringing additional rumours on it's way right away. From the clan heirs was nobody surprised by that information because they knew it already to some degree. The sisters and Naruto were involved as victims. Shino was the one who found the broken earpiece back then and he could make that conclusion pretty easy when the rumours came up the first time. Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji and Kiba learned about it on Hinata's 10th birthday.
"You really got yourselfs kidnapped? How stupid can one be?" Sakura blurted out, an evil smirk on her face. "And then do you have the nerve to sabotage Sasuke-kun?". She was one of the kids that didn't knew about it yet and was going to take advantage of this knowledge.
"Thanks Kiba..." Hanabi said in a low voice filled with venom, her eyes focused on him. "Thanks for telling the whole village..."
Before the situation could escalate any further was the room suddenly filled with floating leaves, calming the minds down a little and sending some of the civilian kids into a slumber. "Okay, I don't know what's going on here and I'm not sure if I actually want to know at all. But I think that you all should settle down now and leave whatever matter it is alone." a woman spoke up, drawing the attention of the still awake kids on her.
In front of the classroom stood a woman with shoulder long black hair and red eyes who basicly seems to have appeared out of nowhere. "And to be honest am I even more disappointed by the fact that two of my genin are somehow involved in this commotion." she shook her head before looking at Shikamaru. "Nara, would you please release my genin that I can take them with me?"
Shino was already on his way down to follow his jonin sensei, figuring that she must be Kurenai Yuhi, the one responsible for team 8, the moment she spoke about her genin being involved. Nodding slightly was Shikamaru releasing the hold he had on the shadows of Kiba and Sakura, letting them too walk towards their new sensei, both letting their heads hang slightly.
"At least do you know that you did something stupid..." she said with disappointment in her voice. "Really, that's no good first impression you made on me. At least do I understand now why they wouldn't let me take one of the Hyuga girls into my team. Fine, since you asked for it will we start with some training before the introduction. Meet me in front of the Academy." was all she said, not even waiting for a response, before vanishing from sight like an illusion in the desert fading away.
"Thanks for the workout." Shino said in his usual neutral voice, giving both Sakura and Kiba a quick look before heading out of the classroom. His now teammates were following quietly, heads still hanging, knowing that they just made their lifes most likely a lot harder with this action.
Once they were gone was Shikamaru finally releasing Naruto as well, who also calmed down by now. "Thanks for stopping them, Shikamaru. Might have turned out ugly..." Naruto stated while moving over to the girls to check if they were okay.
"This day is already way too troublesome..." the shadow user replied, placing his head atop his arms on his desk to relax. "Way too troublesome..."
When he reached his friends was Hinata holding Hanabi close to her body and Ino was trying to calm her down somehow. While both sisters got insulted was Hanabi the one with more unstable temper, her current state of mind not helping either, and shivering in anger. "How did he dare? I... He... First the thing with Hinata, now this... I'm so going to kill him!" she was trying to vent the rage by speaking out threats even so she wouldn't mind making them real.
"You know that this wasn't real, right Hanabi? We spoke about it this morning." Hinata tried to calm her down even more by remembering her that her sister was blaming the real Kiba for something that happened inside Hinata's mind.
"It was still Kiba!" she grumbled loudly, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I know that I'll regret this, but..." Naruto started, getting looks from both Ino and Hinata that had worry written all over their faces. "You know Hanabi, let's just get him back for it. We weren't pranking anyone lately and he would make a good target, don't you think?"
Turning around to look at Naruto was Hanabi not sure what she should think about this suggestion. But when she saw the serious look on Naruto's face was a grin entering her face. "Okay, deal. Once we got some time will we work something out."
That helped to calm Hanabi down and they were talking about this and that while one jonin after the other came to pick up their new genins, some of them actually having problems to wake theirs up, the genjutsu Kurenai used being too strong for these kids, even so it was a pretty weak one. After a good 15 minutes were only teams 7 and 10 left in the classroom.
"I expected it from Spooky that he would run late. Didn't thought that the Hokage's son would do so too." Ino stated with a sigh, reading her notes about her new sensei for the 5th time already. "Just hope that he will be able to help me with my Flame jutsu. It's just so... useless as it is right now if I miss my target. Just like my clan's technique..."
"He's jonin and the son of the Hokage. I'm sure he will be able to help you, Ino." Chouji answered, offering an open bag of chips to his friends around him. "I mean, why would he take a genin team if he wouldn't be able to teach them?"
"And what if his father forced him to take one? Just like my mother is forcing me to do all the things I don't like?" Shikamaru asked yawning, snatching some chips from the bag and giving it to the next person.
"But he was guarding the feudal lord, right? And he is the son of the Hokage and also has a bounty on his head. That means he must be really strong, right?" Naruto pondered aloud, also taking some chips and passing the bag to the next one. "I wonder who might be stronger, he or Spooky?"
"I'm not sure about that... guess we never really tried." a voice answered before exhaling smoke into the group of kids, taking some chips as well and eating them. "Ah, great flavor. Akimichi house-made, right?"
All kids started to cough before eyeing the person who just spoke and used them as target for his cigarette smoke. Hinata was the first to speak. "That's... the Hokage's son. Asuma Sarutobi. When..." she trailed off with her sentence, starting to cough again when Asuma exhaled another load of smoke into the group.
He was sitting on a table next to them, adding to the circle they formed. "Around 5 minutes ago, I guess." he answered Hinata's unfinished question how long he was there already. "Your attention isn't the highest and I mean all six of you. But I must admit, you collected quite the data on me. Who of you gathered them and how?"
Ino was raising her hand, still coughing because of the smoke, before finally being able to speak. "That was me. C challenged me to gather information about the jonin sensei and I got them from my father. He even showed me your bingo book entry."
"Ah, I see. He wanted to test first hand if his evalution of you was right. Clever man indeed. Guess he was right that you might be a good spy, Queen of Gossip, at least did you know how to get these informations. Just curious: what do you have about Spooky?" he exhaled again from his cigarette, forcing the kids into another heavy coughing. Nevertheless was Ino handing him her notes about Kakashi. "Huh, no mention of his lazyness? Kinda disappointing." he grinned slightly.
"I thought that is common knowledge?" Hanabi said with a sarcastic voice, looking at Asuma. "And I'm stuck with him..."
Asuma was looking at the youngest of the group, thinking for a short moment. "You do remember that he saved your life? Twice, if I recall correctly?" he asked the girl who looked away, not daring to show him her kinda guilty expression at the reminder. "Thought as much. But you are right, his lazyness can be annoying as hell. Alright, team 10, we are leaving to get known with each other."
He got up from the table and lazily walked towards the exit of the room. Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji, all three of them still coughing lightly, gave a quick goodbye to their friends and followed him, leaving the sisters and Naruto behind as last.
"And as expected, Spooky is the last to come. Did someone bring lunch, just in case?" Hanabi asked, laying back on her chair and closing her eyes.
"Not really. But I could send a shadow clone over to Ichiraku, asking if he would deliver to us?" Naruto offered smiling, before looking at Hanabi. "So... how bad is it really? I mean... you know... you really looked bad when Hinata-chan carried you away from the battlefield..."
Hanabi sighed before answering. "I can't even explain how it feels like. See, if you are burned, it's hot and painful. If you are splashed with water, it's mostly cold and wet. But if you are touched by death?" she shivered, shaking her head. "I really don't know... it just felt... terrifying... But I'm better today, thanks to Ino and Hinata."
"Glad to hear. Really, if you need anything..." Naruto started but got interrupted by Hanabi.
"Yeah, I know. I'll let you know if you can help. Just let me relax for now, okay?" she said quietly, exhaustion in her voice. Not even needing to look at her sister was she adding some words. "I don't mind, sis."
A smile entered Hinata's face that confused Naruto for a short moment, before she walked over to him, sitting down on his lap and cuddling into his chest and shoulder. "Much better. Didn't got the chance for it yesterday..."
Naruto reacted quick and lay his arms around her, holding her close. "You had to look after your sister, that was more important." he was smiling gently, enjoying the closeness.
"Don't want to loose you to anyone..." Hinata said quietly, actually confusing Naruto with these words.
Having her that close to him and no distraction in his surroundings was he admiring the beauty of Hinata, when his eyes fell on something in particular. "Say, Hinata-chan, what is that below your headband?"
"Huh?" she wasn't reacting to that question at first, not really registering what Naruto just asked her. Some seconds passed before she finally realized the meaning of this question and blushed. "It's the collar Hanabi gave me as birthday present. Remember?"
She was trying to sound casual in hope of not raising any suspicion within Naruto. And it seemed to be working for now. "Ah, yes, I do. It suits you." he said gently, holding her a bit closer now. Both of them kept silent after that, simply enjoying the others presence.
Some time passed like that, while they waited for their sensei to appear and pick them up. Hanabi actually fell into a light slumber, Hinata and Naruto started to go into slight smalltalk about different but non-important things, while still clinging to each other. It was that scene Kakashi saw when he finally arrived around an hour later, looking at his genin in thought. "You know, if you pay that less attention out on a mission or on guard duty will you become easy targets in no time." he said mockingly.
"Knowing us and how we seem to attract problems whereever we go, do you think that would make any difference?" Hinata asked in return, looking at their new sensei. "Beside, if you were on time, like all the other jonin, would it never have come to this situation here in the first place." she moved her body slightly away from Naruto, still sitting on his lap.
"Maybe I was testing you and your patience, to see what you would do? And you failed miserably, from what I see here." he said smiling.
Opening one eye to look at Kakashi was Hanabi speaking up. "More like you were reading your dirty books again, unable to put them down and to come here on time."
"Trying to play it smart, huh? You are the one living the things in my books, I'm just reading about them." he said still smiling, getting a slightly confused look from Naruto who doesn't understood what they were talking about. "Anyway, glad to see that you are doing better, Hanabi. Are you okay?"
"I suppose..." Hanabi said sighing, opening her second eye and getting up from her seat, looking at Kakashi. "But not because of you and your actions..."
"I know, I know... sorry for yesterday. I should have known better." scratching the back of his head was his voice becoming slightly quieter while talking, before being back to normal. "So, I'm here to pick you up. Follow me on the roof that we can get to know each other better." and with these words was he disappearing in a swirl of leaves.
Hinata was climbing down from Naruto and Naruto got up from his seat as well. "Hey, Hanabi, you know that he..." Naruto started, but got interrupted by said girl.
"Yeah, I know." Hanabi confirmed with a nod, stretching her body from her short slumber.
"Does that mean that you..." he started again.
"Uhu, that's the plan." she confirmed.
"Don't you think that's a bit..." he tried again, all three of them already on their way to the door.
Hanabi shrugged at that. "A promise is a promise and I intend on keeping it. That's actually part of our clan rules, you know?"
Just some minutes later were they exiting the building through the door on the roof, where Kakashi was waiting for them already, motioning them to sit down on a bench standing there. The kids were following that invitation, but when Hanabi was passing Kakashi was she giving him a punch to the side, sitting down like nothing happened.
"Okay, could you please explain what that was for?" he asked irritated, looking at the young girl.
"Just fulfilling a promise I made. It just randomly happened to be you who asked me if I'm okay after I made the promise to punch the next person asking me that." she gave him an innocent smile. "Though I admit that it was a perk being you, after the way you acted yesterday."
"Fine, I'll take that as an excuse for now." he said while shaking his head, thinking that he would have a hard time with these kids. "Anyway, now that we are all gathered here can we start with the introduction. I'm Kakashi Hatake and from today on will I be your jonin-sensei. So, please tell me about yourselfs. You know, like dreams, wishes, what you like or hate, the way you fight, stuff like that."
"Wait, that's it?" Naruto asked. "No word about yourself? Your bounty, your Sharingan, that you fought in a war? You expect us to tell you all but don't tell something in return? Beside of the fact that we all know each other for how long? Three years? You said you are intrested in me back then, remember?" Naruto was grinning at Kakashi.
Blinking his eye a few times was Kakashi thinking about what to say. After a short moment was he answering. "Okay, where did you get these informations? I'm pretty sure that you shouldn't know about them."
Naruto was looking at the girls for a moment and both of them shook their heads, increasing the grin on Naruto's face even more. "I'm sorry sensei, but I'm not allowed to reveal my sources."
Kakashi facepalmed and sighed. "I see... it was Ino, right? And I suppose C was involved, correct?" he pondered aloud, watching the reactions of his genin who tried to hide their emotions but failed. "And if it was Ino who gathered these informations do I guess that she somehow got them from her father, knowing that he is treating her like a princess and all... Am I close?" he directed his question at the kids who slightly flinched.
"How did you do that, Spooky?" Hanabi asked in disbelief.
He gave them a wide smile. "Wasn't that hard. I met Asuma and his team on my way to the Academy and he told me about it. Just wanted to see your reactions." Hanabi was glaring at him and Hinata shook her head. Naruto simply smiled back. "Alright, fine. Yes, I fought in the last war and I most likely got the bounty placed on my head because of that. As for the Sharingan... it's a personal story I don't want to share. So, now it's your turn."
Naruto was slowly nodding to these informations, being satisfied for the moment. "Okay, I'll start. I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I intend on becoming Hokage and have my own family. For fighting do I use a staff because I don't have an elemental affinity... I love ramen and I hate people breaking their promises!" he exclaimed loudly.
"You want to be Hokage, Naruto-kun? That's the first time I hear about that." Hinata asked surprised, looking at him.
"Yeah, I know..." he scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepish. "You see, after the fight with Mizuki and seeing the old man did I think about it. I never got a family, so I want one. And with the nine-tailed fox and all..."
Hanabi interrupted him at this point. "You aren't believing what Mizuki-sensei told you, right? I mean, he clearly lied to you, that stupid..." she trailed off, remembering him molesting her.
Naruto shook his head. "The old man told me that it is the truth when I was there with C... and after that was he giving me the scroll for the Shadow Clone jutsu. I wonder if there is a connection?" he thought out loud.
Hinata looked at him in surprise and Kakashi too was surprised to learn that Naruto knew about the fox. "Say that again!?" Hanabi bursted out, looking at Naruto, before realization hit her. "So that's why the villagers hate you? It must be it... and it would explain your high amount of chakra too... but why did nobody ever tell you?"
Her eyes fell on Kakashi who gulped at the look she was giving him. He had expected any kind of reaction from the girls when they would learn about that, from fear to hate, but not this one. "Don't look at me. It wasn't my job to tell anybody about it. In fact is there a law against telling anybody. I mean, I can't break the rules, can I?" Kakashi stated.
"You... knew?" Naruto asked. "Of course you do. That's why you are intrested in me, isn't it? And Iruka-sensei does know too, right? And C? Mizuki-sensei knew as well..." he was thinking about it for a moment. "Does everyone know about it except for me?"
"Well... more or less anyone who can remember the attack, so probably all adults within the village?"
"But... don't you know how bad they treated Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked frustrated. "And then for something he isn't even responsible for? I mean, he is Naruto-kun, not the nine-tailed fox..." she looked down on the ground not wanting to show anyone the tears that were entering her eyes.
"I know that he is Naruto. Did I ever treat him badly? Or most of the shinobi forces? We know the difference between a boy and a demon. Could we please move on now?" Kakashi asked with desperation in his voice, really not wanting to discuss this topic right now.
"Fine... I'll ask more about it later..." Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Uhm... okay... Guess I'm next then? Name is Hanabi Hyuga and my goal is to protect the ones I care for. I hate it to be in situations in which I am helpless..." she trailed off for a moment, shaking her head to get it straight again. "I'm capable of using my clan's signature taijutsu style Gentle Fist and do have our bloodline, the Byakugan. Am also training in Earth Style jutsu. And if anybody is laying a finger on my sister will they regret it!" she shouted the last part for no visible reason, surprising the ones around her.
"Alright, I see. Guess C was right about you... it's really scary how accurate his informations are. Last one please." Kakashi noted to himself before looking at Hinata.
Having wiped off the forming tears was Hinata nodding and raising her head again. "I'm Hinata Hyuga and, like my sister here, am I capable of our clan's style and have our bloodline. In addition to that am I training in Water Style jutsu. Uhm..." she touched her lip with her finger, thinking about it for a moment. "I love my sister and I like Naruto-kun and... uhm... I guess I hate it to be helpless too, and... I don't know..." she shrugged. "I'm not good with these things... can we skip it?" she asked hopefully.
"That's fine with me. At least did you try." Kakashi was smiling at the kids. "It wasn't quite what I expected but it does work as an introduction. Besides, Naruto was right that we kinda know each other for some years now. If there aren't any more questions would I say that we are done for today. Meet me tomorrow morning at seven on the training field you usually used for your elemental training for our first team training. You have the rest of the day for yourselfs."
"That's great. You girls wanna come along to get something to eat at Ichiraku's?" Naruto asked, sporting a smile himself.
Hanabi shook her head. "Sorry Naruto, but you heard Anko, didn't you? We will go visit C now. Want to know what he wants me for..."
"Oh, that reminds me." Kakashi interrupted their talk and searched through the bag he was wearing at his waist. After a moment was he pulling out a playing card and tossed it towards Hanabi who managed to catch it. "He asked me to give you that when you became a Kunoichi. See ya!" he gave them a wave and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
The kids were looking at the card Hanabi was holding, examining it. "Isn't that one of his playing cards? It's a joker with... the image of a cage on it?" Hinata asked confused, looking at the others.
"That's one of his, yes. I wonder where and when Spooky got his hands on it? And he should give it to you?" Naruto asked, looking at Hanabi.
Said girl was thinking, before searching something in her own bag, pulling out the ace of clubs he gave her back then. "And I still have this one... Sis, we are going to see what he wants and will also talk about these cards with him. See you later, Naruto."
"Sure thing. Tell me what it is with these cards when you know, okay?" Naruto answered with a nod.
"Will do. We join you at Ichiraku's afterwards. Sis, you coming?". Getting a confirmation from Hinata and, for now at least, distracted from her problems was Hanabi heading off to take a visit at C's place, with Hinata following behind her. She was desperate to get some answers this time. After all, right now was she fulfilling the requirements for him to tell her about the ace of clubs at least, with Hinata wearing her collar. The one thing C demanded to be the case to tell them...