C's Scouting Report: The Land of Wave, more detailed
"Yo boss, we got some big problems at hand. I got the detailed informations you requested and my earlier evaluation of the situation was a bit off if I look at the new stuff.
First of all, that Gato guy seems to be big in smuggling and on the black market. Though there is one information that makes it worse: he has his fingers inside the slavery business as well. And if he's active in that branch are chances high that he is also involved with the Organization; or that he will get their attention soon. They don't really like competition and if they appear on the scene will it most likely become ugly.
In addition to that does it seem like he also hired some missing nins along with all the mercenaries and thugs. It's still just rumours, but the information came from different sources inside Gato's ranks. No real informations on their identities, but I would take that information for granted. So we have to deal with at least B-ranked shinobi if not higher should you decide to send a team there.
Any mission in that direction should be considered A-rank based on the new informations. Keep that in mind if you want to send someone."
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A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 25: Wave ahead
The first one to react was Hanabi, her doing guided by anger welling up inside her. All her trauma, all her emotions, all her fears being combined and channeled into one big spike of anger. She wouldn't let her teammates down, not now, not after she had things to make up to them for acting the way she did within the last days. Her body just acted on instinct, her mind being blank. And that was good right now, because if she would think about the situation would she quickly come to the realiziation that there wasn't much she could do and that her following action would be most likely useless.
There was barely any time for a reaction, considering that their assailants were just some meters away and already charging, after they managed to get rid of Kakashi in a surprise attack. But it was enough time for Hanabi, because the set of signs she used were some she created herself, a jutsu that she was using for at least two years now. "Earth Style: Stepping Stones!" she shouted, pushing her hands on the ground. The action itself was basicly futile and the effect not much at all. Dozens of small raisings in the earth appeared between the group and the demon brothers charging at them.
One of the brothers was simply smirking at that joke the little girl just did. That and she just did confirm his suspicion that they were facing bloody beginners that wouldn't be any challenge at all. Knowing that this job was a simple one was he looking forward to the reward he and his brother would claim - if the girls would survive the battle at all. He was aware that his brother often lost control of his emotions in battle and simply slaugthered everything in the surrounding. He easily avoided the stones and was nearing in on his targets.
Said brother however ended up having a slight problem with dodging the obstacles that were thrown in his way. He hit one of it with his feet and started to stumble. It wasn't enough to let him fall, it simply slowed him down just a little. That however proved to be enough of an effect to buy the kids a few more seconds, because the chain connecting the two brothers was holding the first back for a short moment when the second lost a bit of speed.
Naruto was finally starting to act as well, quickly drawing his staff and bringing it in front of him. And it was just in time that he could block the chain aiming for him a short distance away from his body, only to realize, now seeing it close, that it was covered in spikes. If they would manage to wrap him with it, just like they did Kakashi, would it be his end...
Hinata, out of her shock as well, did have the same conclusion as Naruto after seeing the chain up close now. She also saw that the two brothers were already starting to circle around Naruto in order to wrap him up, to make his block futile. "Mistress!" she shouted out loud without thinking, activating her Byakugan at the same moment and moved forward, chakra already channeling in her hands, to stop one of the brothers from encircling her teammate.
Hanabi understood what her sister was trying to do and what she had to do in order to help. She too activated her Byakugan and moved forward to intercept the second brother from their move, in order to safe Naruto from the fate these two were trying to push on him.
Both girls were quickly in front of their respective opponent, both already using their Gentle Fist taijutsu style to attack, aiming for the closest bodypart they could hit, anything to stop them from finishing the attack. Though they never got a chance to hit when both of the brothers suddenly made a jump backwards, avoiding the incoming strikes. Taking a deep breath were the three kids focusing themselfs, preparing them for the next attack that was about to come. The brothers however decided that it was about time for another discussion.
"Hey, these eyes look familiar. Isn't that the same that this Ao guy stole from Konoha during the war?" it was the one with the cloak talking first.
"Yeah, thought the same. Something about being able to see everything, right? But they are just kids. They won't be any kind of problem to us." the other replied. "Just remember that they will most likely see us if we try a sneak attack or something."
"Think she would have seen us if she had looked at us in the puddle with these eyes active?"
"Not sure, brother. But she didn't and we managed to get that jonin. The rest is just simple practice for us." both of them nodded to each other and focused back on the group they were attacking, just to realize that something looked different to before.
When the two brothers started to discuss with each other was Hinata moving a bit closer to Naruto, starting to whisper. "Hey, Naruto-kun, think you can do the same you did against Spooky? You know, these clones you can use? They managed to hit him, right?"
Nodding in reply was he smiling back at her. "Yeah, they were. That's a great idea, Hinata-chan. Alright, Tazuna will stay behind us while we are busy with these guys." he spoke quietly as well and made a single hand sign. "Shadow Clone jutsu." he said, creating four similiar looking clones, all holding his staff as well. "Heh, that's cool. Didn't knew that." he smirked. "Alright, one of you guards Tazuna. The rest of you, tag-teams!"
And that was the image the two brothers saw when they looked back at the group. The carpenter in the back with the boy standing protective in front of him. Just that there were even more boys. Right in front of them were another two of the same boy standing side by side, both holding a staff directed at them. And slightly to the left and right of these two boys were the two girls, each with one of the boys on their side as well.
"Did I miss something?" the one with the cloak asked, blinking his eyes.
"Clones, most likely." the other shrugged. "So they do know a trick or two. Won't be changing anything of the outcome anyway."
"True. We just need to figure out which boy is the real one and focus on him and the girls. We can ignore the clones, right?"
"Right!" and with that were the brothers charging again. Though they changed their tactic and were both targeting Hanabi now, aiming for one person they knew is real. That and in addition to it was she most likely the weakest of the group, meaning a good target at all. She might have these annoying eyes, but beside of that? Her Earth Style jutsu was a joke to them, if anything.
Realizing that they were targeting Hanabi did Hinata and her clone start moving as well, running a slight curve to somehow get into the back of the brothers. Naruto and his clone, aiming for the flank of the brothers, started moving as well. Now that they had a superior number were they determined to not loose. And in order to achieve that, noticing that she had to act, was Hanabi doing another set of handsigns. "Earth Style: Rain of Stones!" she shouted, launching several small projectiles at the charging brothers while her own clone stood defensive in front of her.
The brothers were raising their metal gloves in front of their faces to block off the projectiles. The one without cloak was grinning at his brother. "How cute, she's throwing stones at us. Such a weakling. Ready?"
Getting a nod from his brother were they closing in, covering the last distance pretty quickly, to appear in front of the guarding clone who was holding his staff to block off the incoming claw-like gloves. He somehow managed to get both claws with his staff, stopping them for a short moment which Hanabi used to make some steps backwards, when the chain connected between the gloves snaked forward due to the momentum and hit him straight in the center, effectively dispersing him.
"You were right, brother, clones. But who might be the real one?" the one with cloak asked, already making a step forward to get another punch in the direction of Hanabi.
The second was seeing the two Naruto's appearing at his flank and Hinata with her clone disappearing out of the corner of his eyes. "Most likely the one guarding the old man. Ignore the boys, but keep an eye on the other girl. She's coming from behind." he answered, also making a step forward to attack Hanabi.
Said girl started to panick, quickly pulling kunai out of her pouch straped around her leg, throwing them at the two brothers who blocked them with their gloves as well. It was that moment that the two Naruto's finally reached the first brother in a distance they could strike at them. The clone was aiming at the stomach while the real Naruto aimed for the knee, both bringing in their staffs with high speed. True to his words was the brother ignoring them which he regretting quickly, when both staffs found their targets, letting him stumble and gasp for air, loosing most of his momentum.
The other was looking at his brother in surprise, being distracted long enough for Hanabi to dodge his punch and bring in a single strike on his outstreched arm. She wasn't able to aim right in this situation, only sending a numb tingling through the arm of her target which the brother ignored. But she managed to hit, which gave her a little confidence back. That bit of confidence turned into a small smile when she saw her sister together with the clone appearing behind the same brother. The clone managed to land a direct hit on the shoulder, letting the brother flinch in pain, while Hinata had more time to aim and landed a good hit at the back of her target with her Gentle Fist. The point she hit should at least block some of his chakra off, even though she wasn't sure if they actually had used it at all just yet.
What she wasn't expecting was the reaction of the cloak wearing brother she just hit. Turning around to her was the chain connecting the two brothers' gloves snapping loose in the middle, the part connected to his glove snaking out at her and the clone due to the rotating momentum. The clone had no chance in escaping and got halfed by the chain right away before dispersing. Having seen the movement with her Byakugan was Hinata trying to jump backwards and barely made it out of the range of the chain - though not without it hitting her upper leg, cutting through the clothes and leaving a bloody wound on it.
She let out a scream of pain and moved further away from the one with cloak, pressing one hand on the fresh wound, her face clearly showing the pain she was feeling. Hearing the scream was Naruto also backing away and soon was thankful for that decision, when the other brother was spinning in his direction as well, just a bit later compared to the first after cutting the connection, and with this avoiding the snaking chain completely together with his clone.
"That bitch did something to my body. It's somehow harder to move." the one with cloak was complaining to his brother, an evil glare in his eyes that got directed on Hinata.
"Yeah, and the clones are somehow able to do damage to use as well... quite annoying." the other agreed, finally having enough air back in his lung, looking at Naruto and the still existing clone.
"You know, they are working together quite good as well..." the first said in thought, not speaking out the question on his mind. A question, that his brother had heard way too often for his liking.
"Yeah, yeah, I don't mind if you kill them. We'll find other girls to play with. Some that won't be fighting back that much." he let out a short sigh but quickly focused back on the task at hand.
None of the kids did any attack while the brothers were talking. Hinata because she wasn't able to move too quickly with the wound she just recevied. Naruto and Hanabi because they were throwing concerned looks at Hinata. All three of them understood that they wouldn't stand a chance against these two if they were fighting all by themselfs and had to work as a team if they wanted to survive. Something that was going to happen with a sinking possibility with every passing second...
"I'll get revenge on the girls, you take the boy." the one with cloak stated.
Nodding was the other charging at Naruto, starting a flurry of punches on him and his clone. He was on the defensive, he knew that, but for some reason was he able to block most of the attacks together with his remaining clone and dodge some of them, all considered doing a quite good job in not being killed just yet.
"Sis, Needles!" Hanabi shouted, focusing on their opponent while going through the signs for her jutsu again. Nodding slightly was Hinata doing signs herself, focusing on the only water source in the surrounding she knew of: the puddle the two brothers used to hide and ambush them from. "Earth Style: Rain of Stones!" "Water Style: Water Needles!" the girls shouted at the same time, sending their projectiles at him from two different directions.
Standing next to Tazuna was the last clone making a grimace, watching the fight happening. "I know that I'm supposed to guard you..." he spoke up, not even looking at the carpenter standing behind him.
Tazuna let out a deep sigh. "Yeah, I know, but you can't just stand here and watch, right? And if they loose am I as dead as well because you alone wouldn't be able to defend me against them both together." he spoke calmly, even calmer than he thought he could be in such a situation.
The clone nodded. "I wasn't going to say it that bluntly, but..."
"Just go." the carpenter agreed. "There is no point in watching them die and wait for it to happen to us as well. Help them."
And with these words was the last clone making a head start for the battle, hoping to be of some kind of help to his friends.
Being assaulted from multiple directions was the brother with cloak having slight problems in blocking and dodging all the stones and water projectiles coming his was. And whenever he tried to charge at one girl was the other landing multiple hits in his back, letting him growl in frustration. It wasn't helping either that Hanabi placed some of her annoying Stepping Stones all around and below him, nor that Hinata managed to somehow reduce his mobility with her hit before, making it even harder for him to not get hit. Said girl was smirking at her idea of using that jutsu in addition, but was breathing hard on the other side because of the intense use of chakra. She already deactivated her Byakugan to reduce the chakra output, but keeping the Rain of Stones active for so long and also grasping the ones passing to shoot them right back at her target would leave her exhausted in no time.
Kakashi did warn her and she now understood why he wanted her to do chakra control excersises. The last time she exhausted herself was she creating four walls at the same time, completly depleting her system in an instant. And she was close to that point right now, that much could she tell.
Hinata wasn't doing too good either, having deactivated her Byakugan as well. All she did was to keep up the Water Needles, though she could clearly tell that she was nearly out of water to use. And the pain coming from her leg wasn't helping, nearly breaking her focus. She only had two options left: either giving up and submitting to the pain, submitting to her defeat, something she had to do anyway once there wasn't any water left she could use, or she could try to use even more chakra, to create even more projectiles using the water in the ground and air. Something she hadn't tried yet. Something Kakashi wanted to teach her once she was able to sense water sources. Something that would require more concentration than she most likely could bring up with the pain distracting her.
All the two girls could hope for was that Naruto would somehow find a way to finish his opponent and come to their help before any of them wouldn't be able to keep the attacks running anymore. Or before the brother being the victim of their projectiles would decide that he could do more than just charging and punching. No shinobi was limited to only taijutsu and even specialists had at least some kind of ninjutsu at hand. Maybe not strong ones, maybe just small ones for supporting their taijutsu, but they had some. So if he would think of using one would they be done as well.
Naruto was getting frustrated. Not only was he constantly on the defensive, no, he also had received some hits from the claws by now, bleeding from several cuts on his arms and legs. His clone had dispersed a while ago, having taken a fatal hit in order to protect Naruto, and his movements were slowing down bit by bit because of his wounds and the exhaustion creeping up his body. He was desperate to not loose, desperate to protect the girls, but the frustration was about to win the upper hand and he knew that he would be done the moment that would happen.
The only positive point he could see was the fact that his assailant was also slowing down slightly, having trouble to keep the flurry of attacks up and running, not having expected that the boy would be able to defend himself that good, to need that long to kill him. Anger was the main emotion of the brother right now, totally clouding his sight and letting him forget his surroundings. All he was caring for was the boy in front of him, the boy he wanted to see dead.
It was this situation when something happened that none of them might have expected. A sudden scream of pain could be heard that also stopped the one brother's attacks on Naruto for a short moment. Looking up at the source of the scream was Naruto realizing that he might have gotten a chance here, it was the brother in front of him who let out that scream. His face was pain filled and showing signs of disbelief, not knowing why he was feeling that intense stinging pain in his back. Taking a quick look past his opponent was Naruto seeing his last clone running in his direction, holding a kunai in his right hand and the staff loosely in his left, having thrown all remaining kunai from his pouch at the back of the brother attacking the real.
Deciding that this was his only chance, different emotions running wild within his body, was the real Naruto starting an attack of his own. Releasing his anger, his frustration, his determination and what not was he focusing on his staff, channeling chakra into it out of pure instinct, bringing the end of it quickly at the chest in front of him in a stabbing motion, landing a few direct hits on it in quick succesion. The brother let out another pain-filled scream, looking down at his chest in disbelief. Naruto was sporting the same look of disbelief, when smoke raised from the points he had hit, the clothing smoldering away, the skin below it showing signs of being burned.
Before any of the two could understand what just happened was the clone finally reaching Naruto and the brother, bringing his staff down hard on his head, finishing this battle for now. He wasn't sure if it just knocked him out or if it killed him, but he wasn't thinking about that for now. "Hey boss, don't just stand there, we need to help the girls!" the clone shouted, bringing Naruto back to reality who nodded and followed his clone to help the girls.
That however wasn't necessary anymore. The moment the brother fighting Naruto let out his pain-filled scream was the other looking back to the first, watching in shock how he got beaten down by the boy. "Brother!" he shouted out to him, but didn't got any reply. But the distraction was enough and the damage done, his battle lost as well because of that. The shock was slowing him down, nearly stopping his movements and several, the last ones to be exactly cause she ran out of water to use, needles hit him in the flank, providing some damage.
From the other side was Hanabi landing several hits with her stones as well. Both together wasn't enough to knock the brother out or even kill him because most of it just hit his body, upper and lower the same, basicly just inflicting wounds on the outside of it. It was one lucky stone that actually managed to hit his temple with high speed that in the end knocked him out, letting him fall to the ground out cold.
Both girls realized how lucky they were just now. Hinata, being out of water to use for her needles, dropped backwards and landed on her butt, letting the pain and exhaustion finally take over her body. She was breathing hard and closed her eyes, trying to calm down and focus. Hanabi was in a similiar state. While she might not be hurt at all was she too breathing hard, actually gasping for air, before her vision went black. Just a second longer and she would have passed out during the fight, signing her fate. Her will was trying to ignore it, but she exhausted her chakra once again, falling forward and landing face first in the dirt of the road.
Hokage office
Not caring for a thing in the world was C barging into the Hokage's office, his latest report in hand. "Hey boss man, we got problems!" he exclaimed, walking over to the desk and slamming the report down on it, a serious expression on his face.
Looking up at him in confusion was Sarutobi pondering if he should get angry about this interruption or not, but decided not to, knowing that it most likely was a serious case. "Alright, I'll tend to it right away. Think it could wait some minutes that I can dismiss the team?" he spoke calmly, watching C's expression shift to confusion.
Turning around was he just now realizing that a team was present in the office. A team that looked like it just went through hell and back, stains and cuts all over their clothing. Sakura and Kiba were glaring at him angrily for different reasons while Shino's expression was as neutral as always. Kurenai was simply shaking her head. "You know, one of these days will your behaviour backfire on you, C." she stated matter of factly.
Quickly taking in the state of the genin team and making a short analyzation was C shrugging. "So? What's more important? Your team reporting that it just went two rounds around the village with that demon cat Tora or me reporting that a labeled C-rank mission got misjudged?"
"Was simply pointing out the truth." Kurenai replied, not really being offended by that disruption. She knew C long enough by now to know that that's just the way he is.
The Hokage however got intrested suddenly. "What do you mean by a C-rank being misjudged?"
"I got the detailed report about the land of Waves. An involvement of the Organization is quite possible and it seems that this Gato guy also hired some missing nins. Every mission going in that direction should be considered A-rank. Wrote all the information down." he pointed to the report on the desk while explaining.
"Wait a moment... you already got the detailed report I requested? Within two days? I need to ask... how is your network working? My best men would have needed at least two days to even reach the land of Waves." he was looking at C with a bit of curiosity and doubt.
"Ah, sorry boss, business secret. I like my connections and working ways just the way they are, as secrets. You know what might have happened if She had knowledge about my network, right?" his tune changed to dead serious, something neither Kurenai nor the Hokage were used to from C.
"There wouldn't be any network working for you anymore, right..." he shook his head, finally thinking about the Wave mission. "Wonderful..." Sarutobi sighed, slumping down in his chair. "I sent Kakashi's team this morning."
"What?!" Kiba couldn't keep quiet anymore. "Why the hell are they getting a C-rank while we have to do stupid stuff like catching that stupid cat?". He just couldn't believe that Hanabi and her team got better missions than himself, something that would most likely only add on his hate further.
"Because, compared to another loudmouthed brat, are they able to keep secrets and already proved that they are able to handle stuff like that?" C offered, raising an eyebrow at Kiba. "That and other reasons." he shrugged in the end.
Looking back at him in confusion and disbelief was Kiba unable to reply anything. Shino was shaking his head at that scene. "He was talking about you, Kiba." he clarified for his teammate.
Sakura was about to speak up as well, but a hand, that got suddenly placed on her shoulder, stopped her. "Whatever you want to say, just drop it." Kurenai said quietly to her. "We all know that you two can't stand the Hyuga sisters, but whatever you want to say will only pull you two deeper into trouble."
"Ah, yes, the incident during the assignments during which the Inuzuka openly talked about classified informations. I was informed about that and it was already noted." Sarutobi nodded slightly. "And as for the Wave mission... C, I want you to prepare to follow them to deliver the newest informations and updates on the mission. They can decide however they want once they learn about it."
Thinking it over for a moment was C looking back at the Hokage with a serious expression. "You really want to risk me running into someone from the Organization? You know what might happen if they learn that I'm still alive and working for Konoha?"
"Who else should I send? You got the informations and connections out there. And if the Organization is involved are you our expert." the argument was plain and simple, but true to the core.
"Alright boss, as you order. Will need some time cause I have to talk to Tenten-chan for additional supplies. Can depart tomorrow morning." he simply stated and turned to leave, not even waiting for additional words from the village leader. Passing the genin team on his way out was he looking into two pair of glaring eyes and an expression he couldn't read. "You know, instead of channeling your hate at me should you try to recover. I'm pretty sure the demon cat Tora is already on her move again, just waiting for you."
Not looking back at the genin was he finally leaving. Kiba, barely held back by Sakura and Shino, was trying to attack C from behind. He hated Hanabi, but that guy was nearly as bad as the girl in his eyes. Kurenai only shook her head and let out a long sigh. She had much work to do if she wanted her team to be useful.
Near the road leading towards Wave (alternate scene available)
Hanabi was slowly finding her way back into the realm of the living, her body starting to regain his senses. She could hear a bird singing, she could feel the exhaustion of her body and the hand slowly stroking through her hair and she could smell burning wood. Opening her eyes carefully was she trying to figure out where she was and why she was there. It took some moments for her sight to adjust and the first thing she saw was the worried face of her sister. "Sis?" she asked quietly, still trying to understand what was going on.
Hinata was gently smiling back at her sister. "I'm glad you are awake. I was afraid when you fell to the ground... you know you shouldn't exhaust your chakra like that." she was scolding Hanabi, as an older sister caring about her deeply.
"But, if I hadn't..." she started to reply, when her memories came back to her. "Wait a moment! Where's Spooky?". Sitting up in an instant was she looking around, trying to figure out where she was and more important to see about her sensei.
Simply pointing in a direction was Hinata having a scowl on her face, openly showing dislike. To what did Hanabi quickly realize when she looked over in the direction her sister pointed. "Yo!" Kakashi said, giving her a weak wave, his eye burried inside his book. He was standing next to the bound and still out cold brothers his genin defeated previously, not a single wound visible on his body.
Trying to understand what happened was Hanabi's mind racing. "But you... I... we saw you getting killed!" she exclaimed loudly, an utter look of disbelief on her face. Hinata was looking slightly away, not wanting to tell her sister what happened. And she hadn't because Kakashi decided to explain it to her.
"Please... that ambush was so easy to identify. I mean, just think about it, a puddle on the road when the sun was shining all day long? That's way too suspicious than to surprise me." he finished his explanation, not aware of the anger rising inside of Hanabi with every word he spoke.
Hinata however, knowing her sister good enough, was already holding her back when Hanabi tried to jump up and charge at Kakashi. "Let me go!" she shouted to her sister, anger in her voice. "I'm going to kill him now! That's exactly what I said and he just discarded it. That's... that's... RARGH!"
"What have we agreed on about getting violent against your own teammates? That does, believe it or not, include me." Kakashi shook his head, finally looking at Hanabi who slumped back down on the ground, sighing in frustration.
"Can't you be somewhat quieter?" Tazuna asked, coming back to the group with Naruto next to him. "You don't want to draw even more attention on us, do you?". His focus shifted to Kakashi before he continued. "We set up the camp for the night, that the kids can rest. I suppose you are going to guard us?"
"That was the plan, yes." Kakashi nodded, changing his focus on his team afterwards. "I'm disappointed, by the way. You may have won, all by yourself, but you left our client unguarded. You might have been lucky this time, that there was no additional attacker, but it could have ended badly for our mission."
The girls looked at the ground, not daring to speak up, both of them for a completely different reason. Naruto however felt he had to complain. "But if my clone hadn't come to help me would all three of us be dead by now!"
Kakashi shook his head again. "That's the life of a shinobi, even risking and giving their own life to protect the mission... you'll understand it one day." he said quietly, before switching topics. "Anyway, I'm just not sure what to do with our prisoners here. If they wake up might they make us trouble I want to avoid..." he pondered aloud.
Walking over to the beaten forms of the demon brothers was Naruto looking them over before pointing to their scratched out headbands. "Hey, Spooky, isn't that the indicator for them being missing nins? Doesn't that mean that there is a bounty we could get for them and that our win is even greater now?" a grin was on his face.
Looking back at the grinning Naruto was Kakashi scolding him again before pondering that question. "You still left our client unguarded. That's a fact you won't get around, no matter what you say. And I'm not having a bingo book with me, but I suppose there might be one. However, we neither have the time nor the ressources to pack them up and bring them back to Konoha or to another place that would be willing to pay us." he simply shrugged, deciding that this topic was over.
Hinata however wasn't ready to let the topic slip so fast. "Hmm, but if there is a bounty might this be a nice bonus, right?" she pondered aloud, thinking it over before looking at her sister. "Say... you think the thing from C might work?"
Hanabi had confusion written all over her face, not exactly knowing what her sister might be referring to. Her mind might be present already, but it isn't at full capacity yet after suffering of chakra exhaustion. "The... thing? What do you mean, sis?"
Blushing a slight red was Hinata not willing to spell it out in front of her teammate, sensei and client. "You know, the one thing he mentioned, that had me totally freak out. His joker card."
And there was the missing piece of information Hanabi needed to pick up on her sisters thought. "Oh, right, that thing." a small smile entered her face. "Well, he did say that it would be picked up, right?"
Looking from one girl to the other was Kakashi slightly lost. "Alright, would you two mind explaining to us what you are talking about?"
"Well, I suppose it's easier to show you." Hanabi started to giggle and pulled out C's joker, hoping to be able to release the stored item the same way as the stuff inside the ace. Going through the handsigns and channeling her chakra into the card was the surrounding covered in a smokescreen, leaving all five of them with disbeliefing looks once it settled down.
The girls at least knew what the card contained, but they never had released it yet, leaving them clueless about the exact details. The males also had very different expressions on their faces.
"...what the hell have I gotten myself into here?" Tazuna asked, shaking his head slowly. Sure, he had heard stories about shinobi being strange at times, but the more time he spent with this team the more was he doubting their sanity. Girls carrying around a cage?
"So that's what is inside the card, huh?" Naruto asked, more curious than anything. After all did he ask the girls to tell him, but they never did.
"Yeah, seems that way..." Hanabi nodded slightly, checking out the cage that appeared in front of them. It looked solid and she could actually feel that the metal used for the bars weren't common at all. She knew that she don't wanted to be trapped inside it. Sure, it was large enough, being a good 2 meters high and with a length and width of 1 meter each, but the metal just promised pure evil.
"Chakra suppressing metal, I wouldn't expect anything less from C." Kakashi spoke out loud, checking the cage over as well. "I suppose it would work to trap them inside, but we won't be able to move it around at all. So, what was that about it being picked up?"
Hinata shrugged her shoulders. "C said that once a person is locked inside, will someone from his network be able to detect it and come to pick it up."
"I see. Guess it's worth a try. Alright, help me put these two inside and then let us rest. You need to recover from your fight and we all could need something to eat." Kakashi ordered his team. While Naruto and Hanabi started to help him was Hinata, shortly followed by Tazuna, making her way over to the improvised camp to start the cooking.
Later that evening
A lone figure was sitting atop a horse cart, traveling the route from Konoha to the Land of Waves. It was a middle aged man, brown hair, simple clothes in grey and brown. The type of person you see and forget right away. His horse was as common as he was, a combination of mainly light brown with a bit darker brown at places. He, together with his horse, was the best example for the term of generic, something the man was glad about. After all might his work get that much more troublesome if people started to recognize him. The last thing he wanted was problems in his simple life.
The sun was close to being gone completely, the last rays of light slightly illuminating the road, but he wasn't caring about it. He and his horse knew the area, the road, the night as good as they knew their own bodies or home. Darkness or not, they always found their goal.
Smiling to himself was he stopping his horse in the middle of the road, quite randomly for an onlooker if there were any, and climbed down from his cart. Giving his horse some pats on it's back and whispering some words in it's ear was he soon on his way away from the road, walking into the forest adjacent to it. He knew exactly where he had to go, knew exactly what he was looking for. And if somebody should happen to see him, not that he expected it, would they forget about him pretty quick. His mood was good.
What he wasn't expecting however was the sight he was about to see after passing an old tree with thick trunk and walking through some bushes. He walked right into a small campsite, occupied by shinobi. They had a small campfire, carefully built and covered to not make too much visible light to the surrounding with two men, one older and with grey hear and the other one clearly a shinobi with a mask covering his lower face half, sitting next to it and quietly discussing about something. A bit to the side were two girls sitting and chatting to each other, they also being shinobi, something he saw with the first glance, his eye trained to spot a headband.
He would have missed the fifth person, laying in the back and watching the appearing stars, were it not for his orange clothes giving him away in this more or less dark area. In addition to that were the two men looking up and in his direction, the sounds of the bushes having created too much noise for them not to notice. "Ah... uhm... I..." the man started, not exactly knowing what to say, being in such a situation for the very first time. His job was so easy all these years. Follow a trail, finding the object to pick up and deliver it to whereever the note attached to it stated. But he never ran into a group of shinobi guarding the object he was about to pick up.
Speaking up resulted in the girls stopping to chat and looking over at him as well and also the boy in the back was lifting his head for a moment, looking in his direction before laying back down. He knew that four people, three of them shinobi even with two of them being just being kids, were mustering him right now and that he might get a problem now.
Deciding that the man who just walked into their improvised campsite was no threat to them was Kakashi giving him a small smile below his mask. "I'm sorry, but we aren't having any food left we could share with you. Or is it other business that brings you here?" he spoke politely to the stranger, only increasing his confusion and uneasyness.
"I..." the man started again, looking from Kakashi to the girls and back to the shinobi who clearly was the leader of this team. "I wasn't expecting anybody to be here. I should take my leave. Excuse me for bothering you." he said with a firm voice and turned around to leave, after giving a quick glance towards the cage that was standing slightly at the side. He wasn't seeing who or what was inside and he wasn't caring at all. All he cared about was the fact that these shinobi were in his way of picking it up and delivering it to whereever it needed to be delivered.
Kakashi's trained eye however noticed the glance of the man and he stopped him by speaking up again. "Ah, but it would be unfortunate for you to just leave already. Come, sit down, let's have a nice talk."
Figuring that he was most likely done for, his simple life, this easy job he had so far, all over, was he trying to get out of it alive somehow. "Thanks for that offer, but I gotta decline. I gotta need to be somewhere and I can't be late."
The man was still standing with his back towards the camp, not daring to turn around again, not daring to look at the shinobi sitting there. Because of that was he missing the look and nod Kakashi did towards Hanabi while making a gesture towards the cage. Understanding quickly what Kakashi wanted to tell her was she getting up from her position, getting a slightly confused and worried look from Hinata, and walking over to the man, stopping right behind him. Putting on the most innocent face she could muster was she poking him in the back. "Say, you aren't by any chance looking for the cage over there, do you?"
Hearing a girl right behind him and feeling her finger on his back was he letting out a long sigh and finally decided to turn around. He was scared, looking into the face of Hanabi. Her innocent look would fool most people, that much was clear to him, but the mischievious glint in her eyes spoke a completely other language. A language he understood quite good, making him finally realize that these shinobi weren't here to kill him but the ones who actually called him to come there. It just was a different situation to every time he picked up the cage prior. Though the last time was three years ago at all he had to admit.
Pondering about the girl standing in front of him for a moment longer, she couldn't be older as ten years he figured, was he shaking his head to get it clear again. He wasn't going to question the situation or the persons having called him. It was a good paying job and all he had to do was to pick up and deliver goods without asking questions. "Alright, fine. Yes, I came for that cage. So, shall I pick it up now and where to bring it?" he asked, still looking at the girl in front of him. He couldn't grasp that he was discussing this with a little girl and not the leader of the team.
"Yup, would be great!" Hanabi smiled at him. It would look quite innocent, a little girl smiling at a stranger, but then again was there this glint in her eyes, sending a shiver down his spine. "Could you bring it back to Konoha for us?"
"Konoha?" the man asked in surprise, his look changing, now eyeing the girl and the rest of the group warily. He never delivered straight into a village before, too many eyewitnesses. He didn't knew about the goods yet, but that was a bit too risky for him. "Sorry, but I'm not that crazy to drive straight into a village with questionable cargo. I happen to like my freedom."
"Questionable cargo?" Hanabi asked in return, confusion in her voice. She looked back towards Kakashi, hoping that he could give her an explanation.
Seeing the look of his genin was he shrugging his shoulders. "Just think about who gave you that thing." he answered her unspoken question.
Slowly nodding her head in understanding was she eyeing the man again. "Don't worry, it's all good. We just need someone who can bring it back to Konoha for us because we don't have the time for it."
Thinking it over was the man pondering the girl. She knew about the fact that he would appear, so it must be some kind of being okay to do that delivery, right? But he wasn't doing any deliveries the past three years, finally bringing his mind to the one major problem he saw within this situation. "What about the payment?" he asked, realizing that these were completely different terms, a complete different situation to what he was used to.
That question hit Hanabi unprepared. Sure, C told them that someone would come and pick up the cage if used, but he never went into any details about who, how or the ways of payments. Suddenly she realized that using that cage maybe wasn't the best of her ideas, not knowing in what kind of situation she might have gotten right. On the other side was she trusting C, somehow, despite all his flaws and their shared past. Gulping down her thoughts was she hesitantly answering. "Uhm... that will be handled like always?"
The insecurity in her voice was hearable by everyone and she knew it, cursing herself for being weak right now. The man eyed her carefully, pondering about the action he should take, before shrugging. "Alright, fine. Am going to do it this one time. If anything should go wrong or no payment being provided am I going to ignore the call in the future, got that?"
Simply giving a slow nod was she keeping quiet, her confidence being reduced by the statement of that man. She didn't knew him, she didn't knew his past or his relation to C, all she knew was that she needed that man right now if she wanted to to get the bounty for the two missing nins they beat that day. Not even sure how high it actually was would it still be a nice bonus for her and her friends.
The man simply walked over to the cage after acknowledging the girls reaction, deciding that he lost enough time already, ignoring the curious eyes of the group watching him. They would forget about him anyway. Finally reaching the object of interest was he just giving a quick glance inside, noting that it held two beaten shinobi prisoner. Knowing that they wouldn't wake up, the cage not only suppressing chakra but also keeping the chakra level of the poor souls being trapt inside low enough to knock them out, was he kneeling down next to it and touching the base of the cage on different spots.
The kids and Tazuna looked in surprise when the man simply started pushing the cage towards the road like it would weight nothing. Kakashi simply figured that the cage must have a built in way of adjusting the weight for simply transportation, it being created for that very purpose after all. Once the man disappeared with the cage between the trees was Kakashi addressing his group. "Alright, now that this is taken care off, I really hope that we won't regret that later, can we now rest. I'll take the first watch and will wake some of you to take the second later that night."
Confirming that order were the kids getting their sleeping bags out of their supplies, laying down for sleep, while Kakashi was resuming his discussion with Tazuna for now.
Back on the street was the man currently lifting the cage up on the cart and covering it with a blanket. He wasn't expecting to run into another unexpected encounter this night, but one could never be careful enough. That was something he learned quite early after starting to do this job.
Konoha Maingate, the next morning
It was still early when C reached the gates of Konoha, having finished all his preparations to leave the village for his mission. He actually was glad that he was allowed to leave the city for a change, not having done so since the day he revealed his presence to the officials. But his mood got darkened by the fact that he got a mission in a land in which the Organization was most likely operating.
The day he killed the tracker searching for him was the day his live got somewhat safe, considering the Organization never risked to loose multiple members on the same mission. But leaving town, risking to be spotted by any member from the Organization, that was something he really dreaded. Considering his prior rank with them was he expecting several killing squads, the best of them most likely, to be on his tail. Not to mention the bounty that would be placed on his head.
Shaking his head to get his thoughts clear was he noticing a small commotion happening just outside the gate. Being curious, information are his business after all, and needing to walk in that direction to leave the village anyway, was he deciding to check it out eventually. Getting close was he shouting out to the two chunin currently in a heated discussion with a man that reached the gate this morning riding on a horse cart, but currently standing next to it. "Hey, Izumo, Kotetsu, what's the matter?"
Looking over towards the voice was one of the chunin quickly walking over to him. "Yo C, what are you doing here that early?" the chunin with spiky black hair and a bandage running over his nose spoke up. "If you want to rip us off even more do I have to disappoint you. You already broke us this month."
He couldn't help but let a grin appear on his face. He was famous and infamous at the same with the chunin of Konoha. On one side was he the guy that always had the good rumours to tell, not to mention that many of them actually challenged him to get a shot at winning the underwear of a female jonin that would most likely enjoy to torture any chunin if they were dumb enough mentioning it in her surrounding. But on the other side was he also the guy able to beat any of them in a card game, never really loosing the intresting stuff he bet.
"Nah, got a mission from the boss man and just wanted to leave. So, what's with this commotion you two are making here?" he asked raising an eyebrow, eyeing first Kotetsu before looking over to Izumo who was still arguing and discussing with the man.
"Ah, you see, that strange guy appeared here this morning, basicly out of nowhere. He isn't telling a name, just saying he had a delivery to make to Konoha. Though no information on who sent it, who shall receive it and he can't identify himself at all." Kotetsu explained to him. "Think you could take over? You are a jonin involved with Intelligence and T&I after all."
Nodding slightly was C walking slowly over to Izumo and the man, Kotetsu right next to him. "Did you actually bother to check what he is trying to deliver?" he asked, his eye looking warily at the blanket clearly covering an object on the cart, a spark of recognition in it.
"Well, you see..." Kotetsu started, scratching the back of his head.
"Heh, right, I see." C shook his head. "Yo, a bit early for such a commotion, don't ya think?" he spoke up, having reached the discussing pair. "I'm not having much time, so, could I please get the details short and simple?"
Eyeing the newcomer was the man sighing, before speaking up. "As I already explained to these two am I asked to make a delivery to Konoha and wanted to be on my way back already. But for some reason are they stubborn and won't let me finish my job. Should have known that I should have avoided shinobi at all..." he grumbled the last part, more to himself than anything.
The grin on C's face got wider and wider, having quite a good idea what was happening here right now. He made a mental note to gratulate Hanabi once he saw her. "Yeah, I see, that's a problem that needs to be solved. Mind if I take a look on the goods?"
There was a quick flash inside the man's brain, a short realization that the newcomer had a knowledge the other two didn't have. A knowledge about his job, simply indentified by the way he spoke about the goods he wanted to deliver. "Sure, go ahead. If I can finish my job then..." the man said with a shrug.
Climbing atop the cart was C raising the blanket, checking out what was hidden below. His grin changed to a smirk when he confirmed that indeed the man was working for his network, not knowing the head of it of course, by simply indentifying the cage transported as his own. The smirk however quickly went away and made room for a shocked expression as soon as he saw the two men inside the cage, a flash of recognition appearing in the back of his mind. "Wait a minute!" he exclaimed loudly. "Aren't these two..."
His voice trailed off, entering a state of deep thought trying to remember why he seemed to know the two shinobi that were still out cold inside that cage. The two chunin were looking at him in confusion, the man with impatience. "These are... yeah, they must. It's been some while, but... damned..." he muttered to himself, taking out a bingo book and quickly flipping through the pages. "Yeah, no doubt. These are the Demon Brothers from Kiri... And considering who is using my stuff... and what we know..."
"What's wrong, C?" Izumo asked carefully, like most shinobi of the village never having seen him that serious at all.
Jumping down from the cart was he addressing the man that still looked impatient at him. "Payment the usual way. There will be a small bonus as well." after getting a nod from the man was he changing his focus on the two chunin. "You two, important orders. Deliver these goods to T&I. They shall get as much information out of it as possible. Payment for the bounty shall be put aside for Spooky's team upon return. And inform the old man right away that we got to deal with the Demon in Waves. He needs to know that."
"Woah there, why are you giving out orders all of a sudden?" Izumo asked, easily forgetting that C in fact was a superior. He couldn't be blamed for that at all, considering that C never had an aura of authority around him, always showing the gambler and card trickster.
Getting a glare in return was Izumo shrinking down a little, trying to cover behind Kotetsu. "Izumo, you go ahead and tell the Hokage. I'm getting a team and cart to take over the delivery." he quickly told his friend who nodded and left, running straight towards the Hokage tower. "Alright C, leave it to us. We can deal with the situation now."
"At least some do remember that I'm more than my image might suggest." he replied with a nod. "Well, really have to leave now. With these new informations is there just no time for me to loose. See ya 'round!" he said will turning around, making a head start down the road, his mind working over the newest informations. The fact that Kakashi's team beat the demon brothers was promising and that the girls thought about using the cage told him that they can't be too much beaten theirselfs. But he just had no idea how many time they might have left before they would run into even more trouble...
XXXXX
Author's Note: Well, that's it for now. I was struggling halfway through, intuition and mind fighting whether or not Kakashi died. That was an evil cliffhangar last chapter, wasn't it? Well, my mind won that one. Though my intuition is still nagging me about it - am writing on the scene with Kakashi being dead as well. Will put it in the "A Tale of two Sisters - Alternate Scenes" story I recently created. I suppose some of you already saw it, others might not. Will put alternate stuff there from time to time, once I happen to decide writing alternate stuff at all.
There will be an indication on alternate scenes within the chapter at the points they will be happen - and it might range from single scenes up to an half chapter or something. Always depends on what my mind is creating without me noticing ;-)
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter, as always - and yes, the kids are in need of new skills and tricks, I know that myself. Working on it, really! Beside of that: your thoughts on the fight? Still think it's one of my weak points...
I do think however that their teamwork was fine this time - and they are allowed to be a bit lucky for a change, right?