C's Scouting Report: Nothingness
"Yo boss, just wanted to tell that there is nothing to tell. I mean, you know about the results of the genin tests already. You made the team assignments. You are informed about the events of the evening of the genin tests. You got your ANBU on the tail of the Uchiha boy.
So nothing of intrest inside the village right now. And for outside... well... haven't gotten any intresting reports from my network lately. It's kinda quiet. You know, the boring kind of quiet I would say. I'm bored, boss. Give me something to do, will ya?
No real progress on the 'Dark Side of Konoha' history either. Am trying to dig something up regarding the Yamanaka clan, but it's actually pretty hard to get on informations from them. It's really proving to be a challenge, even for me. Must be some big secret they are trying to hide from their past. Again, give me something to do or I'll eventually come up with more dirty laundry from your oh so mighty and and respected clans.
Seriously, boss, I'm bored..."
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A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 22: Testing the Genin
Hanabi was knocking on C's door, waiting for him to open it, her sister standing behind her. There were several reasons for her visit, like the playing cards she got from him, the fact that he actually asked for them to come over and a still open bill between her and him regarding the trauma he gave her during the Mizuki fight. She hadn't got the opportunity to yell at him for that yet and she would make sure to do so. Sure, she was aware that it might have come worse for her if it weren't for him stepping in to kill Mizuki, but that doesn't meant that she wouldn't tell him about her discomfort.
It didn't took him long to answer the door and upon seeing the girls was he giving them a smile. "I wasn't expecting you that early. Is Spooky already done with you or did he never show up and you simply decided to leave?" he gave them a wink to follow him inside and turned around.
The girls were following and closing the door behind them. "He's already done with us for today. But I think the introduction he did wasn't going the way he imagined it to go." Hanabi replied while all three of them sat down at the small table in the middle of his apartment. "Okay, here we are. I have some things to speak about as well, but you may start. Why did you ask for us to visit you?"
"Knowing you will I regret the question, but... how are you feeling? I'm well aware what I put you through and from what I heard about your actions yesterday can I only guess that you haven't taken it too well. See, I'm really sorry about that, but I can't change it anymore. So?" C asked with honest concern in his voice.
Hanabi sighed. "Good call... I already punched Spooky for asking me the same question. And it doesn't really help that Dogboy blurted out about the kidnapping in front of the whole class..." her eyes focused on C, slight anger visible in hers. "I know that you are honestly regretting it and that's why I will be honest as well... it's still there..." she said quietly, getting worried looks from both C and her sister.
"Woah, wait a minute? What do you mean it's still there?" C's voice was increasing a bit, worry sneaking in it. "I'm working with Black Jack for quite some time and he's never stuck to anybody. That shouldn't be possible at all. It's either killing or passing."
All Hanabi could do was shrug. "When I close my eyes... when I go to sleep... it's there. Lurking around in the shadows in front of me, always giving me a glare whenever possible. I'm having nightmares showing me all my fears." she raised her arm, showing her burn scar. "The inferno trying to claim my life, the icy mist you used to capture us and your Black Jack having his eyes set on me... You know, you and your Organization are the reason for all three of these things..."
Hinata was placing her hands over her mouth in shock before quietly speaking. "I didn't know... I wouldn't have asked Ino to enter your mind if I had known..."
"You asked the little Yamanaka girl to enter your sisters mind? After the situation with that creep? You must be crazy, girl..." C said in disbelief, shaking his head.
"What should I have done? I was totally worried about her yesterday... and after she left my mind was Hanabi that spaced out that I asked her out of instinct." Hinata defended her decision.
Raising an eyebrow was C watching both sisters in disbelief. "She was in your mind as well? Sometimes I do wonder about the things you do... what were you thinking? Did she tell you what she had found? Now that would be intresting to know." a grin entering his face.
"Pervert..." Hanabi mumbled quietly before looking at Hinata. "But no, she didn't tell, did she, sis? I mean, at least not to me."
Shaking her head was Hinata shrugging her shoulders. "Not to me either. But whatever she saw or did, it at least helped with the nightmares, didn't it?" there was a small smile on Hinata's lips.
"What kind of nightmares? Wanna talk about them?" C asked sweetly, hoping to learn more dirty things about his favorite girls.
"Definately not!" Hinata said out loud at the same time as Hanabi spoke. "I forbid you to tell him, sis!"
Bursting out into laughter was C looking amused at the girls. "Okay, right, seems like my guess is correct. It is something dirty about the slavery, isn't it?"
A crimson blush entered Hinata's face and she looked down on the ground while Hanabi glared at him. "We do appreciate your help with some things, but don't force it. We know how to hurt people and defend ourselfs."
"Alright, alright..." he raised his hands in surrender. "I understand that this is another story you won't tell me. Sadly noted. So, shall we move one? You said you had questions for me?"
Taking a deep breath to calm herself down did Hanabi nod, taking out the two playing cards from her pocket and placing them on the table. "You said you would tell us about the ace if I bring my sister with me while she is properly dressed, which she is right now. And Spooky gave me the joker today, saying that you asked him to give it to me. What's up with this one?"
"Ah, right, I nearly forgot about the joker. I asked him after he defeated me to give it to you once you became a kunoichi. Wouldn't have thought that we would meet each other again at that point. Okay, fine, I'll tell you about both cards. By the way, why are you hiding that beautiful collar anyway?" Hinata's blush just increased by that question. "I see. So, which card shall be first?" he looked at Hanabi.
She didn't need long to decide on an answer to that question. "The ace because I got it from you first. I haven't tried to unseal it in quite some time because I was busy training. You told me that it would be similiar to your ace of hearts in which you stored your emergency rations, right?"
"True. The ace of clubs is basicly the same, just filled with other things. Alright, watch my hands and try to remember the signs." he explained before slowly making three handsigns, Hanabi nodding to each of it. "Then it's channeling your chakra on the symbol of the ace and... here we go. Card Tricks: Ace of Clubs.". The table was covered in smoke when some things got released from the card. The moment the smoke vanished did Hanabi's eyes went wide while Hinata paled, their eyes fell on the released contents.
"No comments? How boring... I mean, okay, I know it's nothing special and all, but..." C said with a mixture of mocking, sarcasm and disappointment in his voice. "It's just some basic things. There are more special ones sealed in it is well."
"These are..." Hanabi started, her eyes still fixed on the objects laying on the table. She shook her head to get her thoughts straight and her eyes away from them, looking at C. "Why the hell would you want me to have something like that? That's just sick you... pervert!"
"That hurts... Naming me a pervert twice in just 10 minutes. Do you really hate me that much?" his voice sounded hurt, but the grin on his face gave away that he was just playing with the girls. "Look at it from my side. I had you as my guests back then..."
"You mean you captured us to sell us on a slave market." Hanabi interrupted him, giving him a glare.
"As I just said did I have you as my guests and learned about your relationship. And, I'm not sure if you remember that, I basicly took a liking to you two in an instant. It was breaking my heart having to sell you and I was glad when Spooky came for your rescue. I thought my life was over, which is why I wanted to give you some useful tools before I was done for. Sure, it's nice that I still live and get to spend time with you, but that doesn't change the fact that I wanted you to have useful tools." C finished his explanations, looking at the girls.
"But..." Hanabi started but stopped, looking at the things on the table. "What does that all have to do with these?"
His grin got even wider, just having waited for this question. "Sister or not, you got yourself a slave. A fine one I want to add. Beautiful, obedient and loyal to the core. Still, there will be times when even the most obedient of slaves will disappoint and not follow orders. And then is the time you will need proper tools to discipline them."
Hinata wasn't having any color left on her face after listening to C's explanations and her eyes glued to the stuff on the table. It was then that something snapped within her mind and she turned to look with pleading eyes at her sister. "Please mistress, there is really no need for that. I promise you that you will never be in the situation to have to use these things on me."
That outburst surprised Hanabi, just now realizing how afraid her sister was of these things. A small smirk entered her lips and she picked up some rope and a small whip from the table, taking a closer look on them. "I think I start to understand what you are trying to tell me, C..." she spoke slowly while examing the things in her hands. "And I appreciate your consideration. It might be a good idea to have something like that in close range, just in case."
Upon hearing that was Hinata backing away from her sister, fear shown on her face. She wasn't sure right now whether Hanabi would really be that cruel to use stuff like that on her or not. Seeing that reaction did Hanabi start to giggle before switching over into laughter, holding her stomach. "Sorry sis, but you are way too easy to tease, I just couldn't resist."
"You are mean..." Hinata spoke quietly before letting her head hang in defeat. She really wasn't sure about her sister anymore, seeing that she slowly changed over time. The things they went through most likely being a factor for her changes as well. If she just could help her get over it...
Trying out the handsigns C showed her was Hanabi sealing the things back away into the ace and put it into her pocket. "Okay, that's working. I'll look through the contents later. Thanks for them, I guess. But now am I curious... the joker is showing a cage. Does that mean..."
Hinata's eyes went wide in realization. "No! Just no! No, no, no! Don't even think about putting me in one! That's just... no!" she glared at C. "Don't even try to corrupt my sister with your perverted thoughts. As she said before, we know how to hurt people and I'm going to hurt you if you dare to try!" the fire was suddenly back in her, her face having gained color again.
Having a big grin on his face was C looking at Hanabi. "You know, little one, your slave is quite rebellious, don't you think? I would say you need to discipline her a little that she won't just attack people. After all, you are responsible for all her actions, remember?" he knew that he was pushing his luck right now, but he couldn't help it and had to add fuel to the fire, trying to escalate this joke. This new outburst from Hinata came unexpected, but he quickly decided to pick it up for his own amusement.
To say Hanabi was troubled right now might be an understatement. On one side was C totally right, that she would be responsible for her sisters actions. If Hinata would just attack someone might she get all the trouble with the victims and officials. On the other side however... "Sis, sit down and behave!" she shot Hinata a look that let no room for discussions and Hinata sat back down, grumbling to herself.
A victorious grin entered C's face, something Hanabi saw, and she grinned back at him. "You know, you might be right about me and her, but... if I tell the old man that you provoked her into attacking you will he surely just nod in understanding. After all, he does know you as well, right?"
Looking back at the girl was C short for words for a moment, before he started to laugh. "Alright, well played, kid. But you should be careful out there. A slave can easily bring you into trouble..." he trailed off, leaving the girls to wonder what he meant by that. It was just a second and C got his mind back to the task at hand. "So, you want to know about the joker, right? The long or short version?"
Feeling that Hinata was still upset by him was Hanabi deciding on the most logical response. "The short version. I'm not sure if we are able to handle your presence for much longer today.". Her voice was slightly louder and more agressive than she intended, but she was giving that no mind.
"Aw, that hurt..." C replied in mock disappointment. "Well, short version then. The card does indeed contain a cage. Though it is no ordinary one, but one I personally modified. If used and locked up will it emit a chakra signature my network is able to detect. They will come to pick it up and deliver it to whereever you want the cage and it contents to be dropped off."
The girls waited for more to come, but C kept silent after that. Hinata was the first to realize that he really meant it when he said it will be short. "And... why exactly should we want to have something like that?" she asked curious, her anger having dropped a little bit, but was still hearable in it.
"I don't know." he shrugged in reply. "You two are supposed to be smart girls, get creative. I know what I used the cage for and I don't need it anymore. In fact did I thought I was done for when Spooky beat me so I decided to pass it along. But you wanted the short version, so yeah, you got it. Figure it out yourselfs. Please close the door when you leave." with these words was he getting up from the table, further ignoring the girls, and walking to his kitchen to make himself something to eat.
The sisters looked at each other and decided to quietly leave his apartment, realizing that they wouldn't get any more informations out of their friend. Once outside was Hanabi looking at her older sister in confusion. "You think we hurt his feelings just now? Or is he playing a trick on us?"
"I'm not sure..." Hinata replied with the same confusion. "It's the first time he reacted like that, isn't it? Maybe we really hurt him just now, by acting in a way reminding him on something bad in his past? I mean... he's three times as old as us, right? Thinking about what we went through already... what must he have gone through in his life?"
Hanabi was slowly nodding, already walking away from the apartment with her sister following. "Yeah, you might be right. Remember the day he captured us? When you discussed about names?" she looked back at her sister who nodded. "What did he say about that girl who all just called 'Bitch'? He never mentioned her after that... but maybe there is more to it? We just bitched at him, didn't we?"
"I guess... should we appologize to him the next time we meet?" there was slight worry in Hinata's voice and both girls drifted off to their own thoughts about what just happened. On the positive side of this however stood the fact that they weren't thinking about their own problems for now.
Training Fields, the next morning
Naruto was the first to arrive on the training field Hanabi and Hinata usually used for their elemental training. The same training field on which they tested their chakra elements. He sighed to himself when this memory entered his mind. He still didn't knew why he wasn't having a chakra element and he was annoyed by that. There was nobody that could explain it to him either. All he had was his staff while his friends became stronger, trying out new jutsu, learning elemental ones.
Looking around was he sitting down on a tree stump. He was hoping that Kakashi might be there already, but he knew that this hope would be wasted. Why would the one shinobi, known for his lazyness, be on time or even early for a sheduled meeting? So much for asking him about the fox some more. He figured that Kakashi doesn't really want to talk about that, but he had some questions he wanted answers for.
"And I need to ask the girls too..." he spoke to himself, laying back on the stump and relaxing. "They were behaving kinda strange lately but haven't told me anything yet. I thought they would eventually tell me what is going on, but they haven't so far... it's really strange."
Closing his eyes was he going through the things he noticed so far. Hinata never was the most open minded girl, but she got over her shyness quite well with the help from her friends. He also remembered the times when they were alone together, in which she became quite lively. Chuckling to himself was he thinking back on the time when she attacked him with the ramen brooth for trying the advanced staff moves while not having mastered the basics yet.
But he rarely saw that side from her again. She actually was kinda clinging to her younger sister whenever she was around her. And lately has it actually gotten worse in his opinion. Then was there the day after the genin tests, after the Mizuki incident. He could understand that they were not their usual selfs after what happened, he really could. But one thing he just couldn't place: why was Hinata calling her sister 'Hanabi-sama'? That made no sense to him and still, they haven't told him anything.
And what she said to him when they were waiting for Kakashi to pick them up after the assignments? She didn't wanted to loose him... why would she say something like that? Sure, he enjoyed holding her close to him, having her in his embrace. But it left him confused. The same with the fact that she was wearing the collar her sister got her as birthday present back then. It was the first time he saw her wearing it, but she did have it for at least two and an half years already. Why now?
"Heh, well, it does suit her somehow." he spoke to himself, smiling. "Haven't seen it in quite some time. Nearly forgot the picture that is etched in it's side. It's really beautiful.". His mind was going back to the day before, remembering the hour he held Hinata close to his body. He had more then enough time to study the details of the picture, of the young playful kitten, jumping around in the flower field, with petals being blown away by the wind. He was wondering who created that image and how much it might have Hanabi cost. After all did she say that she had the collar especially crafted for her sister.
His mind wandered along, reaching the introduction they held with Kakashi. It was to be expected that they would react in some way to the information of the nine-tailed sealed inside himself. He was happy that it was honest concern and not hate or anything. But all considered were both girls pretty normal at that time. Totally different to when they met him at Ichiraku's, after they visited C. Both of them were kinda distant, deep away within their thoughts. Sure, he asked them what happened, but they don't wanted to tell him. And the reply Hanabi gave when he asked about the cards. "Just some supplies." she said, confusing him even more. What happened between C and them? Should he have come along?
He got thrown out of his thoughts when he heard someone calling his name. Opening his eyes and sitting up was he looking towards the source of the voice, seeing his friends, and now teammates, walking in his direction. He gave them a wide smile and waved at them, shouting back. "Hey Hinata-chan, Hanabi-chan!"
The girls closed in on the boy and he could tell with one glance that they weren't within thoughts anymore. Whatever was on their minds must have left for now, something he figured must be a good sign. Before he got a chance to ask them about it however where they distracted by a swirl of leaves next to them, all three standing there with their mouths open in disbelief.
"What? Surprised to see me? You are aware that I told you to come here, right?" Kakashi asked neutraly, looking at his genin team.
"But... but... you are on time!" Hinata said out loud in surprise. "We waited over an hour for you yesterday and you got a reputation for always being late. How can you be here already?"
Naruto nodded to that. "She's right. Are you sick? If so, couldn't you have been early that I might have been able to ask you about the fox some more?" he looked at Kakashi with a mixture of hope, anger and curiosity.
"Honestly? I want to get this test over me that I can dump you like every other genin team I got so far." he said with an innocent smile and a neutral voice.
The three kids looked at him in shock before Hanabi spoke up. "When you met Ino's team yesterday did their sensei tell you all about her notes, huh?"
Kakashi simply shrugged. "He showed it to me, to be precise. After all was Ino having them with her. But I don't really need her notes to know that I 'dumped all genin teams so far'. I mean, I was the one doing it, right?"
It was then that something registered in Naruto's mind. "Wait, you said test? What test? We already passed the genin test!"
"Huh, took you long enough to register that. Don't you think the genin test was way too simple? I mean, seriously, do you think you can survive out there with some clones, the substitution and transformation?"
"I knew that the test was too easy..." Hanabi grumbled, glaring at Kakashi. "And no, we don't believe that. Remember who is standing before you?" she dug the fingers of her left hand into her burn scar and flinched slightly to prove her point.
"Yes, I know that. And that is the whole point, because I'm going to be honest with you. The reason why I dumped every genin team so far is that none of them passed my test. I always tested their teamwork and they always failed." he was getting different looks from the kids, ranging from suspicion to anger. "But it's different with you three. I know your past and I also know that teamwork won't be a problem with you. That's why I'm going to do my standard test with different rules."
"And what does that mean? Will you please explain it to us?" Hinata asked, having a curious look on her face.
Kakashi had a slight smirk on his face, looking at Hinata. That girl was somewhat too kind and curious in his opinion, that would bring her into trouble soon, that he was sure about. "Well, it's really simple. You see..." he pulled out two bells and showed them to the kids. "...all you need to do is to get these two bells from me to pass. As I said, it's originally a test about teamwork."
"Yeah, right, with two bells for three genin. Most likely combined with a threat for the one getting no bell, destroying any teamwork attempts?" Hanabi asked, her eyes clearly telling him that she wasn't too happy with the turn of events, anger in it.
"Good guess, I'll give you that. Your brain is working quickly, I can see why they allowed you to start Academy early. Okay, moving on. Your goal is the same as it was for every team before you, get the bells. You are allowed to use whatever you are capable of, but I'll give you a handycap to deal with. I still need to test you and it won't be on teamwork. It will be more on..." he thought about it for a moment. "I don't know. I want to see how you react in a situation that isn't looking good for you."
"Like the ones we were in three times already?" Naruto asked, his expression clearly showing suspicion against the jonin. "We got nearly burnt, we got kidnapped, we faced a traitorous chunin..."
"And you got rescued all three times, yes." Kakashi nodded. "Now do I want to see what you are able to do on your own. Please hand over all your tools to me."
"That isn't fair..." Naruto protested loudly, but was the first to step forward and handed Kakashi his staff segments and the pouch around his leg in which he had some kunai and shuriken. "You know that I'm only really good with the staff and don't even have an element..."
"True. But now think about what you would do if the enemy manages to disarm you?" the jonin asked, putting Naruto's stuff away. "Alright, Hanabi?"
Said girl shrugged and handed her kunai pouch over. "Not that big of a handycap to me. I rarely use them anyway."
Hinata nodded to that statement when she too handed Kakashi her kunai pouch, not seeing the grin that entered his face. "I'm aware of that, Hanabi. The proud Hyuga clan and their bloodline and unique taijutsu style... though, I said I would take away all your tools, so..." with these words was he quickly giving Hinata a strong punch into her stomach, knocking her out instantly and grabbing her the same moment, disappearing with her in a swirl of leaves.
"Sis!" "Hinata-chan!" Hanabi and Naruto shouted at the same time, before Hanabi continued. "What was that for, Spooky? She hasn't done anything to you!" her voice was filled with rage, her eyes scanning the area for signs of her sensei or sister.
"As I said, I would take away all your tools. She is listed as your property and property qualifies as tools. So I logically took away all of the tools you got with you, Hanabi." Kakashi's voice echoed from all around them.
Rage was raising within Hanabi, not really realizing what was spoken just now. All she could think about was the fact that Kakashi just hurt and kidnapped her sister, something she never wanted to happen again. They promised each other to watch out for their friends...
"Oh, that reminds me..." Kakashi's voice started again from directly behind Hanabi. She quickly turned around to attack him, but wasn't fast enough. The last thing she saw was Kakashi's hand moving right for her head before connecting with her forehead. A sudden pain shot through her head and she screamed out loud in agony, falling down to the ground, her hands holding her head.
Naruto saw that and reacted on instinct, quickly moving to attack Kakashi and help his friend, but he wasn't fast enough, only seeing Kakashi disappear in another swirl of leaves. He knelt down next to Hanabi and hugged her to his body, trying to comfort the girl, while ripping off the tag Kakashi slapped on her forehead. This reduced the pain Hanabi was feeling and she stopped screaming, tears running down her cheeks, her nerves still on high alert of the pain.
"Now do you have no tools left." Kakashi's voice echoed over the training field. "That tag just blocked the chakra flow to your eyes, sealing off your bloodline for at least some hours. The test starts now, good luck." and with these last words was the voice gone, Hanabi and Naruto left alone on the training field.
Somewhere inside the forest adjacent to the training field
"Aren't you supposed to test your genin team today?" C asked with slight surprise upon seeing Kakashi leaning at a tree, his nose buried within one of his favorite books. He was on a simple stroll, enjoying the fresh air of the early morning.
Without even looking up was Kakashi pointing behind him where a still unconscious Hinata was standing next to another tree, her hands tied at a low hanging branch above her, with the tools of his genin team hanging from the same branch as well. "I am. I gave them a task and took away their tools before I gave them the signal to start." he said neutrally, still not looking up. "And what about you, walking through the forest that early in the morning? Spying on something again?"
Not even bothering to answer that question was C raising an eyebrow. "You are aware that the little one is quite protective of her sister and will most likely not let this slip, right? But you got guts, I'll give you that. Saying them that you would take their tools and then kidnapping the slave... Guess they weren't expecting something like that to happen."
Finally putting his book away was Kakashi now looking at C. "Nope, took them by surprise. Am usually testing my genin teams on teamwork, but I thought I would make an exception this time and instead create a situation to their disadvantage. They got disarmed by the enemy, one of them got captured and they still got a mission to fulfill. Might be intresting to see what they will do now."
"While I see the point in your idea and must say that it is correct to confront them with a situation like that..." C shook his head slowly. "...would I say that you did a mistake with that. You know what they went through, right? I hope you were at least wise enough to not call out the whole slavery thing? As far as I can say does the boy have no knowledge about that yet."
"He... doesn't? But they are best friends, shouldn't he know?" Kakashi pondered aloud, guilt slowly creeping on his face. "I might have done something bad then... But it's too late now. Let's just hope that they will overcome it and manage to pass my test."
"Honestly? I wouldn't bet on it. The boy will most likely get enraged about learning that his girlfriend is a slave and the little one will either go berserk to get her sister back or get consumed by all her trauma. Good luck with dealing with that situation you created." he gave his friend a wave and turned to leave. Stopping for a moment, was he pulling out something from his pocket and throwing it to Kakashi who easily catched it. "At least do it right. That's for the girlie. Bye."
Watching his friend leave was Kakashi's eye switching to the object in his hand before shaking his head. "Why am I not surprised? Slaver to the core..." he spoke to himself before walking over to Hinata who was still out cold, pushing the gag in her mouth and fastening it behind her head.
Training Field
Hanabi had calmed down by now, the pain inside her head reduced enough for her to think clearly again. Naruto was still kneeling beside her, holding her tight for comfort, something she appreciated at that moment. However, the whole situation turned bad when Naruto, seeing that Hanabi was calmed down enoguh, started to speak.
"Hey, what did Spooky mean when he said Hinata-chan is listed as your property?" he asked her with suspicion in his voice, watching her reaction carefully. When Hanabi flinched at that question and tried to look away from Naruto and at the ground, was he growling. "That has something to do with the collar, right? Don't tell me she's a slave? I mean... after all we went through? Why?!" his voice was getting louder and anger sneaked into it, his eyes showing conflicting emotions between hate and worry.
Stiffening at his outburst was Hanabi fishing for words, trying to respond to him. "It's not... I mean... you see..." she started a few times, but was unable to form a coherent thought, tears forming inside her eyes. It was then that it bursted out of her, when the first tear started to drop. "It has nothing to do with what happened..." she started, her voice accompanied with sobs and sniffing. "She was way before that already... it was her decision... but she didn't knew what she got into back then... it's... just..." she was completely crying now. "And now... does Spooky... have her..."
Naruto was conflicted. On one side was he upset about the things the girl in his embrace was telling him. On the other side was his friend in pain and needed comfort. Still gently holding her was his voice not comforting at all, when he realized something. "Don't tell me... that the books I snatched you back then? It started there and you two needed... informations?"
Openly crying by now and unable to form any sort of words anymore was Hanabi simply nodding, trying to bury her face in Naruto's chest. He had many thoughts running through his head now, many questions he wanted to ask, but he knew that now wasn't a good time for it. One of his friends was crying in his arms, another one just got kidnapped and the three of them together where in the middle of a test they needed to pass. Taking a deep breath was he sighing, holding the girl a bit closer to his body. He made a decision at that moment and started to whisper soothing words into Hanabi's ear.
He wasn't sure how long he held Hanabi to his chest, but eventually was she running dry of tears and calmed down again, the sounds she made down to a quiet sobbing and sniffing. It was then that Naruto spoke to her again, the girl raising her head slightly to look at him with red teared eyes. "Listen, Hanabi-chan, I'm not sure what I should do and what to think of you right now." seeing the girl flinch at these words was he sighing, before he continued. "But this doesn't matter right now. The most important thing should be to find your sister and get her back, that we can complete this stupid test. Don't you think?"
Nodding slightly was Hanabi wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. "Right Naruto-kun..." she replied quietly. "We need to get her back... we can't leave her to her fate..."
A small smile crossed his face upon hearing Hanabi use the -kun suffix to his name for the first time, but he quickly discarded that thought. It wasn't important in that situation. "But I want you to promise me that you two will tell me what's going on once we are finished with this test. We are best friends and now teammates as well. You two should trust me, as much as I trust you. So, no secrets, okay?"
Again was Hanabi nodding, but refused to say something this time. Despite her mind being quite unstable right now did she know that they did wrong to Naruto. Said boy was smiling at her and pulled her again into a hug, before standing up. "Alright, Hanabi-chan. Think Spooky said the truth? Will you try out your Byakugan?"
Slowly getting up from the ground was Hanabi a bit unsure. "I don't know... it hurt quite a lot, but..." she sniffed one more time before nodding, determination slowly coming back to her. "I can at least try. Byakugan!" she shouted, concentrating her chakra into her eyes, before screaming suddenly when another stinging pain shot through them. Breathing deeply was she holding her forehead, shaking her head. "Sorry... no chance right now..."
"Hmm.. that's too bad. How are we supposed to find Hinata-chan when you aren't able to search for them? The forest is huge..." Naruto pondered aloud, before a slight grin entered his face. "Hah! That could work!" he shouted out, surprising the girl next to him. "You'll see. Shadow Clones!"
To say Hanabi was surprised might be an understatement, when suddenly there were not just one but ten Naruto's standing in front of her. All ten of them were grinning at her, before the original spoke up. "Okay guys, we need to find Hinata-chan to complete this test. Would say... each one in a direction, search for a huge tree to climb and then check the surroundings to see if you can find anything strange that might help us. After that come back here to report."
Confirming this order were the clones scrambling into different directions and disappearing into the forest, leaving a stunned Hanabi and the original Naruto behind. "What? I think that idea was good. I might not have my staff, but I learned this jutsu recently. So I'm using it now." he shrugged, grinning at the girl who couldn't help but to giggle slightly. "You should test if it's just your eyes he blocked, Hanabi-chan. Better test now while we wait than being sorry when we face Spooky."
"Right!" she nodded and channeled some chakra into her hands, trying to use her clan's Gentle Fist. It did work indeed, but she frowned. "Well, without the Byakugan is it nearly impossible for me to aim with it... Could seriously injure him like that...". Letting the chakra go was she going through a set of handsigns next, before placing her hands on the ground. "Earth Style: Stepping Stones." she said, watching some smaller stones rise from the ground. "Okay, it's just my eyes. Everything else seems to be working."
"That's good to know. That way will there at least be no surprises when we face him. Now we just need to wait for my clones to report back to us." he said smiling, determined to pass this test. It was a good first step to get Hanabi out of her current sorrow and he would make sure that it kept that way.
They didn't need to wait for too long before one clone after the other got back, most of them reporting that they couldn't find anything worth reporting. One of the last ones however had something to say. "Not sure if that has anything to say, considering everyone can take a stroll through the forest and all..." he trailed off when Hanabi glared at him. "Eh, yeah, right. I saw C walking through the forest. Over there, in that direction." he pointed behind him. "But as I said, not sure if that was random or not."
The real Naruto nodded at that information. "We don't have any other clue and need to start somewhere, right? Might as well check that direction. Alright, you'll lead the way. Once there do we do the same for scouting. Got that?". His clones all confirmed that order and the bulk marched off into the forest, together with the real Naruto and Hanabi.
"I'm going to come for you, sis. Just like last time." the girl said quietly to herself, reassuring her that she could reach and safe her sister, just like she did inside their dreams.
Hokage Office
Hiruzen Sarutobi was sitting at his desk, busy doing his paperwork, a daily chore he just hated. It might have been better than being out in the field, always risking to be killed, but it was boring as hell on some days. When the door to his office was slammed open, couldn't he help but frown, realizing that today it would be annoying instead of boring.
"Hiruzen!" one of the elders shouted at him, an angry expression on his face. "What have you done to Sasuke Uchiha? We demand that you tell us right now!"
Pulling out his pipe in all calmness was he inciting it and taking an inhale, before he answered. "Homura, I certainly don't know what you are talking about. I haven't done anything to the young Uchiha. In fact haven't I seen him in quite some while either."
"That is exactly the point." the other elder spoke up. "He isn't anywhere to be found and rumours tell that he failed the genin test. What have you done?"
"My dear Koharu, I haven't done anything. But if you want to talk about the genin tests, yes, I received reports that he hadn't passed. After that did he decide to work together with the traitor Mizuki to steal the Forbidden Scroll and ended up attacking both the traitor and our shinobi who came across the scene. From what I heard is he on the run since then, ANBU still trying to hunt him down. I do wonder, however... are your ears becoming bad that you haven't heard about that yet?" he explained totally calm, before raising an eyebrow at his former teammates at the end.
The eye of the male elder twitched at that statement, glaring openly at the Hokage. "Are you trying to imply something?" he asked with venom in his voice before the rest of the information registered with him. "And what the hell do you mean he is on the run? He is the last Uchiha we have inside our village. Don't you know that we need him to ensure our reputation?"
"Oh, I'm aware of that. But it seems he made a decision to not work with but against us, something we can't tolerate, even if it means loosing the last of this clan. But I got to thank you for bringing that topic up. He's on the run for too long already and the ANBU team following still haven't catched up to him. I should send another team to assist in the capture." he pondered aloud, writing down a note. "Can't have him go rogue on us, can we?"
"Capture?" the female elder asked with a raised eyebrow. "You want to scare him off even more after doing him wrong when you baned him from Academy? We need to handle this matter diplomatically. Approach him, offer him the demon's bitches as appology and then can we start over. From what I hear is one of them already registered as slave, so no real problems there."
"Why am I not surprised that you got that information but didn't know about the recent Uchiha stuff?" Hiruzen asked coldly, glaring at his former teammates. "I'm going to say that just once and you better listen carefully. Naruto is no demon, the Hyuga sisters aren't his bitches and Konoha won't be going back to the times when it was a blooming city of slavery. As long as I'm in charge won't I allow you to enslave any girl to hand them over to the last Uchiha who showed more than once that he isn't caring much about the village or our shinobi."
"Said the man that signed the papers declaring the heiress of the Hyuga clan a slave. Who enslaved her anyway?" Homura shot back, not wanting to back down.
"Your ears really are becoming deaf, do they? If you only heard half of the informations..." he couldn't help but chuckle to himself. "I think you wanted to leave now." he said after that, focusing back on his paperwork.
The elders however refused to go and were about to speak up again, when two ANBU suddenly appeared in front of them and pushing them out of the office. "This isn't over yet, Hiruzen." Koharu shouted back over her shoulder to the busy Hokage. "Now have you gone too far. This will have consequences!"
"I recall you two having said something similiar when I baned Sasuke Uchiha from the Academy. And unless my memory fails me did nothing happen afterwards, so..." he wasn't even looking up from his paperwork when he spoke, ignoring his former teammates on purpose. He didn't even need to look to know that both of them were glaring angrily at him before the ANBU had them out of sight.
Somewhere inside the forest adjacent to the training fields
They were searching for Hinata for quite some while by now, the method they used not really proving any succesful. But with Hanabi's Byakugan temporary sealed was there not much they could do since none of them was any good in tracking. To put it blandly were they not sure where exactly they were right now, if they were running in circles or where Kakashi and Hinata might be hiding. They were lost.
It was then that Naruto suddenly stopped to walk, getting the attention of Hanabi. "Is something wrong, Naruto?" she asked concerned, looking around them if there was anything she might have overseen. "Did you hear something?"
"I'm not sure, Hanabi-chan..." he shook his head. "It's hard to explain, but I think that one of my clones in that direction over there dispersed." he pointed vaguely into the forest, not really sure why he had that feeling.
"Huh, that's strange. How can you tell?" the girl wondered, looking thoughtful at her friend. "Well, let's wait for them to come back this time and see if one is missing, shall we?" she suggested, getting a confirming nod from Naruto.
It took around five minutes for the clones to return to them this time, again reporting that none of them found anything worth mentioning. No Kakashi, no Hinata, no clue on their whereabouts. "And where is the last?" Naruto asked confused, realizing that indeed one clone was missing.
"Dunno, boss." one of the clones replied. "Haven't seen him since the last meeting."
Naruto was thinking about it for a moment before speaking out loud. "That's strange. I had a feeling like he dispersed and now is he really missing... Alright, we are going to continue the search in the direction that clone was. I bet he stumbled into Spooky and got eliminated by him. We must be close."
"I hope so... we already need way too long for this stupid test..." Hanabi said quietly before the group marched off into the direction the missing clone was.
Another clone from another person was watching the whole scene and dispersed himself once the kids were gone. Kakashi, receiving the memories of his own shadow clone, looked up from his book and over to Hinata. Said girl woke up some time ago and had already stopped her tries to get free from the rope binding her hands above her head, simply standing there, waiting, for anything to happen. She couldn't do anything else anyway. "Seems like they won't find us anytime soon. They just walked away from us again..."
Hinata couldn't answer with the gag in her mouth, letting her head hang in utter defeat. She couldn't help but think about the irony of her current situation. A tied up slave being used as a bait in order to lure in her mistress and friends, having to wait patiently for anything to happen. Right now was she the lowest thing a slave could be and it took her 5 years from the day she became a slave up to this moment to understand that her life was quite good so far, despite her status. She would clearly thank Hanabi for all her freedoms, once this test was over.
"Okay, listen, if you promise to keep quiet will I take the gag out of your mouth and feed you something. After all does it look like we will be here for longer then I thought." Kakashi offered, getting a slight nod from Hinata. Food indeed sounded good to her right now.
Some minutes earlier, with the missing Shadow Clone
The clone was climbing up yet another tree, he lost track of the amount of trees he did climb by now. It was frustrating, knowing that his friend was relying on them to help her, but not being able to find her at all. Halfway up the tree was there the nest of a bird located on a branch, two little, most likely just hatched days ago, birds in it.
Smiling to himself was he stopping in his climb to watch them for a while, before he spoke up. "Waiting for your parents to bring you some food, huh? I never had any... and now is a friend waiting for me. But I need to find her first."
Both little birds tilted their heads, looking curious at the human in front of them, before starting to chirp. It sounded motivating to him and he nodded. "Yeah, you two are right, I should continue on. Can't let her waiting too long, can I? Well, see ya!" he grinned at the birds and gave a wave to them, starting to climb the rest of the way to the top of the tree. However, he wasn't getting too far away when he noticed a bigger bird in the same colour as the two little ones he just passed, flying and aiming straigthly for him.
"Oh, hey, how you doing?" he asked carefully, noticing the high speed the bird had. "See, I'm just passing through and said 'hi' to your kids. Everything is fine here, really!"
His tries to calm the bird down failed miserably and the bird tackled him beak first in the chest. The impact was strong enough for the clone to loose his grip on the tree and he fell the whole way down to the ground, dispersing due to the impact on it.
It was this moment that Naruto, just having learned the Shadow Clone technique and not aware of the complexity of it, got the feeling that he lost one clone, resulting in him and Hanabi walking in a completely wrong direction to look for Hinata.
Somewhere outside and a good two days of walking away from Konoha
"Is that him?" a female voice asked, watching a young boy with black hair run over a field out of her hiding spot.
"Yeah, without any doubt. He's the one we got the information about." a deep male voice answered, watching the boy the same.
"What do we know about him?" the woman asked, her eyes fixed on the boy.
"Again?" the man growled, looking at the woman. "You know as good as I that C was our spy and that C always got informations on anything before they were even relevant to us. All I can say is that he is clearly from Konoha, he got seen leaving the village, and that a team of ANBU is hunting him. Though I'm surprised that they are having trouble catching a child."
"I know, I know... it's just a... habit, you see?" the woman stated. "He was with us for so long, I'm just used to asking what we know. Anyway, we need information from within the village and this boy could give them to us. Still can't believe that they got our hunter we sent looking for C. Hell, we never really managed to bring anyone inside after that..." she shook her head, getting her mind back on the present. "Alright J, I want you to take care of the ANBU following the boy. I don't mind if you kill them, just give me enough time to have a nice talk with the kid."
"Understood. Though I guess no major terraforming of the surroundings to not draw too much attention?" a grin entered the mans face.
"Damn right. Can't let Konoha know that we are nearby. I'm sure that they got at least some information on us based on your encounter with the Copycat back then..." the woman replied nodding. When the man was about to leave was she talking up again. "Actually, yeah, kill them. The usual procedure."
"Alright. Kill, search them for information, check if any of them does have a bounty to claim. And if everything fails will you get enough time to talk, though the Maze will require a larger terraforming."
"Last resort." the woman simply said before waving him off, her eyes focused back on the boy. "Now what can you tell me about the village of Konoha?"
Forest near the Training Fields
The sun stood high in the sky and it was good past noon when Naruto and Hanabi finally spotted Hinata, still bound with her hands above her on the branch. It was clear that she must be in that position for basicly the whole day already cause the stiffness of her body was seen even from the distance. Taking a look around couldn't they spot Kakashi and decided to approve the bound girl, to get her free and take the equipment next to her, to finally move on with the test. After all did they still need to get the bells from their sensei.
Hinata hadn't seen her teammates yet because her eyes were closed and her head hanging. Having nothing better to do was she thinking about basicly everything that came to her mind, about everything that happened so far in her life, about her sister, her father, Naruto, the fox she learned about just the day before. Her mind even wandered back to the time they were captured by C and tried to compare that event with her current situation, bringing her to the conclusion that the current one was worse for the simply fact that she was all alone. Back then was she at least able to talk to her sister.
Hanabi and Naruto were nearing Hinata when suddenly a voice startled them, letting them stop in their movement. "5 hours." the voice said simply and calm. Turning their heads around were they seeing Kakashi leaning at a tree on the side, reading in his book. They were sure he wasn't there just moments ago. Hinata too reacted to the voice, opening her eyes and seeing that her teammates finally arrived.
"It took you two 5 hours to find us here and we weren't really hidden at all." Kakashi stated, still not looking up from his book. However, there was slight disappointment in his voice right now.
"Would have been way faster if you hadn't blocked my Byakugan..." Hanabi grumbled, glaring at her sensei.
"True." he stated plain and simple. When Hanabi was about to answer in anger did he continue, blocking her protest. "But fact is that there is a bounty in general on members from your clan. Together with how to identify you, your eyes really stand out, and the ability your eyes posses. There is also the information of your Gentle Fist style. So, every opponent you encounter out there might know about your abilities and, given the chance, would have done the same."
Her jaw dropped open and she was fishing for words to reply, but couldn't find any. It was Naruto who then spoke up. "Does that mean... that everyone might know about your skills as well? I mean... you got a bounty too on your head, right?"
"That is correct. The informations Ino showed you? Most of them are written down in any bingo book next to my picture. Just some of the nicknames aren't listed because they are village related. Anyway..." finally looking up from his book was he putting it away. "I'll tell you what happened to poor Hinata here while you were searching for her. I mean, it took you 5 hours, so..." he started dramatically before beginning to list some things. "She got raped, at least twice, and milked dry for any information she might have. Depending on who might have gotten their hands on her is she now on the way back either to their hideout or base of operations where she will either be broken and made her capturers slave or, if they know about the bounty, to be transferred to Kumo in order to claim it. Though, if she might be lucky will she only end as prisoner of war and maybe given back in a prisoner exchange somewhere in the future, hard to say. But even that wouldn't save her from future raping or enslavement."
Upon hearing that description on what happened to her, or to be more precise on what may have happened to her if she would have been captured by an enemy this morning, was Hinata paling, her whole body starting to shiver. Suddenly did she realize how good C treated them back then. And while she knew that the life of a shinobi was dangerous was it a completely new thing to her hearing it spoken out that blunt and calm by her own jonin sensei.
Both Hanabi and Naruto got slightly similiar expression on their faces, paired up with anger. On one side was there anger at Kakashi for speaking about these things in that calm manner. On the other side was there anger on themself for having needed that long to find Hinata. They knew that both of them weren't trackers but they thought the idea to use Naruto's clone for the searching wasn't that bad. Still needed way too long they realized.
"Alright, you may pick up your equipment, but Hinata stays were she is. You came too late to free her and she won't be able to support you now. At least try to fulfill your mission and get the bells from me." Kakashi stated, not leaving any room for discussions. Both kids grumbled to themselfs while picking up their stuff, both giving her an apologetic look.
"Hey, how are your eyes doing?" Naruto asked quietly, watching his friend with concern.
Hanabi tried to activate her Byakugan but failed again. There wasn't much pain left, but it still wasn't working. "No chance. But I don't care... I'll attack him without it." she replied quietly.
Both of them took fighting stances opposite of Kakashi, watching him carefully. He wasn't entering any stance himself, simply waiting for the kids to come at him. And they did.
Naruto was the first to charge at him, having the segments of his staff hanging loosely on the chains connecting them, holding it on both outer ends. When he got near his target was he letting one end slip from his hand and it snaking towards Kakashi, hoping to hit him by surprise. Due to the difference in heigth was the staff aiming for his stomach but seeing the attack coming was Kakashi blocking it with his arm. He had to admit that Naruto got more strength behind this attack than he thought and that the staff was of good quality, he felt a slight stinging pain from his block.
Realizing that his first try got blocked was Naruto quickly entering a fluid motion, spinning his body partially to the left side to bring the loose end of his staff into a movement to get another try on a hit. This time was Kakashi sidestepping that attack, too late realizing that Naruto wasn't done with the movement yet. When the loose end reached his side was he grabbing it, letting the other end of the staff slip from his other end, to bring yet another hit to Kakashi. He again blocked the attack with his arm, feeling another slight stinging pain, and watched Naruto completing his rotation and entering a fighting stance again, a slight grin on his face.
He wasn't sure why Naruto was grinning, but quickly understood when he heard footsteps behind him. Turning around was he seeing three Shadow Clones of his student running at him. Remembering that he saw him using them for the search was he not surprised that they weren't armed, after all did he create them without having any equipment with him. Though he wondered where the other 6 of his clones might be right now.
The clones were throwing themselfs at Kakashi, delivering kicks and punches on him which he easily dodged or blocked. That however gave the real Naruto the opening he was hoping for. Attaching the staff segments into a complete staff was he aiming to hit Kakashi in the back with it. The jonin however expected this attack and quickly jumped up to avoid the punch which ended hitting one of the clones, dispersing it instantly.
That was a moment Hanabi waited for. Going through a set of handsigns were her anger filled eyes focused on Kakashi, a smirk entering her face when she was done. "That's for my sis! Earth Style: Rain of Stones!" she shouted, manipulating lots of smaller stones laying around them to suddenly shoot at Kakashi, enhanced by her chakra. Being midair was there not much he could do to avoid that attack. When the first stones hit his body was there a cloud of smoke and a wooden log fell to the ground with Kakashi standing on a nearby branch.
"Substitution, huh?" Naruto asked, looking up at the jonin on the branch, a grin on his face as well. While Kakashi was wondering why his student was grinning at his escape from Hanabi's jutsu did he quickly came to a conclusion when two different Shadow Clones of Naruto landed in his back, having jumped down from the tree above him. The force of the impact was enough to throw him of the branch and he was falling down, right towards the real Naruto, who was waiting for him with his staff ready to strike.
While still falling was Kakashi speaking up to Naruto. "Nice use of the clones. I wonder where you have the rest of them hiding. Though, not good enough to beat me.". He started to go through a set of handsigns and Naruto's eyes went wide. Kakashi did it slow on purpose that Naruto had the chance to see the signs, having read reports that Naruto should be familiar with them. And by the reaction, the fear on his face, must he realized them for real. "Now, what are you gonna do against that? Fire Style: Fireball jutsu." he said, spitting a fireball in the direction of Naruto.
His reaction was fast, the segments of his staff detached in an instant and his staff in a spinning rotation in front of him, in order to block the attack. Hanabi was reacting quickly as well, having been in this exact same situation just two days before just with the difference that the fireball came from Sasuke and that Mizuki got her after defending her friend. She went through a series of handsigns herself and slammed her hands on the ground, shouting out "Earth Style: Earth Wall!", bringing an obstacle between Naruto and the fireball.
Just a split second later did Kakashi however finish the exact same handsigns, activating the same jutsu and pushing the earth wall back down into the ground, leaving the girl shocked with wide eyes. Naruto was gritting his teeth, hoping that his defense would work against this fireball, increasing the speed of the staff rotation a bit more. What none of them saw was that Kakashi already finished yet another set of signs, holding on a Water Style jutsu to release quickly in case Naruto was unable to defend himself. Having heard of the progress Naruto made with his staff did he just want to see how good he might be.
Naruto was cursing when the fireball hit his staff, the heat coming through to him. But to his own surprise did he manage to deflect the whole fire completely this time, not a single bit of it reaching his body. He was so happy about that outcome that he forgot being in a fight right now, being distracted for just a moment. But deciding to use that moment and to end it was Kakashi, now having reached the end of his fall, grabbing Naruto on his wrist and slamming him into the ground, leaving the boy dizzy. It was good enough to stop him from fighting for now.
Hanabi got enraged seeing that, rushing towards Kakashi with chakra already forming on her fingertips, willing to attack him with her Gentle Fist without seeing where she should or shouldn't hit, still unable to use her Byakugan. Knowing that the girl was acting on pure instinct and out of reason, and that she could kill him if she got to hit, was Kakashi getting serious now as well. In an instant did he disappear from her sight, appearing behind her and giving her a punch to the neck, knocking her out right away.
Deciding that his job was done for the moment walked he over to the nearest tree and made himself comfortable leaning against it. Throwing a smile towards the watching Hinata did he pull out his book and started reading again, waiting for his genin to recover.
Having watched the whole time, she couldn't do anything else anyway, were tears running down Hinata's cheeks. She just heard what happened to her and saw her teammates utterly beaten. If this were a real situation might all of them be dead or enslaved now. The tears however started at the thought that she didn't knew what would happen next.
When Hanabi woke up some time later, she didn't knew how long she was gone, was she blinking her eyes, looking around her. She saw Kakashi leaning at a tree, reading again. Naruto sat some distance away on the ground, grumbling to himself and Hinata, still bound to the branch, standing there all helpless. She was pushing herself up from the ground, actually getting the attention from Kakashi.
"You calmed down?" he asked, looking up from his book. "Or do I need to fear you trying to kill me again? Anyway, now that you are back with us can we talk about your performance."
"Yeah, whatever..." the girl grumbled quietly, her eyes falling on her sister. "Just... give me a moment, okay?" she asked, slowly walking towards her sister, getting confused looks by both Kakashi and Naruto, with Hinata watching her with worry in her eyes.
Her hand went into her pocket, searching for something, while still nearing her sister. "You know, sis, it's all your fault. If you hadn't let Spooky capture you..." she trailed off, pulling out one of the cards she got from C. Going through the signs she learned just the day before, hoping she would do it right and thinking of the thing she wanted to unseal, was she channeling her chakra into the card. "Card Tricks: Ace of Clubs." she said, surprising the boys that she was using a card from C, a small smokescreen suddenly engulfing her. When the smoke settled was she holding a whip, the cat-o-nine C showed the girls when explaining his cards, her eyes focused on Hinata.
Hinata's eyes got wide and she started to struggle, to get away from her sister, fearing what was to come. It was futile however, the bindings proving too strong. Naruto was the first to react, quickly jumping up from the ground and running between the girls. "What are you doing, Hanabi-chan? Are you crazy?"
"Out of my way, Naruto..." said girl spoke quietly, but with a sharpness to her voice. "It's her fault and she will pay the price for that." with these words was her arm snaking back, ready to strike.
However, she never got the chance for it because her arm got grabbed from behind. "Calm down, Hanabi. I know that you got the right to do that, but you can't blame your sister for the way I decided to create your test. Beside, do you really plan on striking with Naruto standing in the way?" there was disappointment in his voice and Naruto wasn't making any attempt to clear the way, willing to protect Hinata.
Naruto's expression changed to confusion when a grin entered Hanabi's face, a grin Kakashi was unable to see. When the girl next spoke up again was her voice totally sweet, the anger basicly gone completely. "You loose, Spooky."
These were the only words Hanabi said, confusing Kakashi as well. The sudden change of her tone, the thing she said. "What do you mean, I loose?"
"That you just lost." she repeated, raising her other arm and holding the bells, getting surprised looks from all around her. "You said we had all day and that we are allowed to use whatever method we could think of. And you just fell for my rouse."
Looking down his body did Kakashi quickly realize what the girl meant. He was standing right behind her, not caring for the bells as he wanted to avoid the girl attacking her sister. All the girl had to do was moving her arm and snatch the bells that were fastened at his belt. She tricked him. And that in a quite effective way he had to admit.
Sighing in defeat did he let go of Hanabi's arm, taking a step backwards. "Alright, fine, I admit my defeat. Guess you beat me fair on this. You pass.". He watched how smiles entered the faces of Naruto and Hanabi, deciding to crush their happyness. "Still, you needed 5 hours to track us down. If it were a real mission would Hinata's fate most likely be sealed by the enemy."
Seeing that his words had an effect on the genin, that they knew that he was right, did he nod in approval. After all, admitting that something went wrong was always a good start. "You should untie her. After all is she in that position for way too long already, don't you think?"
Hanabi simply nodded and walked over to her sister, untying her hands from the branch. The stiffness in Hinata's body made it difficult for her to stand without that support and she fell slightly forward, grabbing on her sister for new support. When Hanabi took the gag out of her sisters mouth was she greeted by smile that suddenly switch into an angry grimace.
Delivering a weak punch on her sisters chest was Hinata looking her right into the eyes. "That's for scaring me like hell with that whip... I really thought you would release your frustration on me..." she said quietly, slight fear inside her voice.
"Sorry sis..." Hanabi replied, not daring to look at her sister. "I would never hurt you... much..." the last word barely hearable, but Hinata's eyes went wide hearing it. "After we failed... twice... both in tracking and fighting Spooky... did I just want to pass his test in the end. That seemed... like a good idea to me."
Taking a deep breath was Hinata sighing. "You know... maybe we should sit down and talk about... new rules?" she offered her sister. "I mean... now that you got C's supplies?"
Simply nodding was Hanabi not replying at all. Naruto took the chance to speak up. "Uhm, yeah, about that... could you two please explain things to me? After all, Hanabi, you promised."
"Right, I think we all need to talk about a few things, don't we?" Kakashi said, drawing the attention of his genin team on himself. "So, let's talk things out, shall we?"
XXXXX
Authors Note: Before someone is going to point that one out: I'm aware that I kinda sabotaged my own story by first taking their tools away just to let them use these for the fight against Kakashi in the end. Made the whole thing kinda pointless - beside of the mental stress it provided for Naruto and Hanabi. Plus it was an idea on my mind for quite some time to take Hinata out of the bell test that way, somehow, to give Naruto the final informations to grasp the situation. I mean...
Fine, that was totally evil from me and I'm a bitch. And it somehow turned out like none of the characters looked too good within this chapter for different reasons. Realized that myself - though it wasn't exactly intended.
I think I need a happy/funny chapter next to distract myself a little. Got there an idea for one... well, basicly only workable as an Omake I guess. A bonus chapter that won't have any effect on the story progress (would need to change a few more things to write that one - things that totally shouldn't be changed on a permanent basis). Maybe even posting it inside a new story (like "Tale of Two Sisters - Outtakes" or something)? Not sure. Will think about that, whether to write the next chapter or an Omake next. Also thought about re-writing the prologue and first two or three chapters to get them on par with my current development in writing. But the time needed for that...
Something will end up being written and you'll get to read it - that's the only thing counting, right? And as usual, feel free to hit me up for whatever reason you have. Am always willing to take my time answering your questions or ideas (or critics or opinions or... you get the point, right?). ;-)