Authors Note: So many ideas and not enough time at all. Well, I'll keep going, no matter what.
In fact... this whole chapter turned out a bit crazy. But then again, you could call the whole story a bit crazy *shrugs*
And since it took me again so long to get to my story... Happy New Year 2019 to everyone.
XXXXX
A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 33: Back in Town
It was just a few days after C left his comrades in Wave, the battle at the bridge being over, though no information about that had left the country yet. Kakashi wasn't exactly known as a regular report writer anyway, not to mention that regular updates of the mission weren't required in the first place. The current state of things for C was that he left them behind as best informed as he could. But the actual mission result was something he would only learn upon return of Kakashi's team.
Unless of course someone from his network might happen to sent something, though he doubted that. He didn't knew all of his subordinates himself and his subordinates didn't knew him. This was the safest way for all parties involved. But he figured that his contact in Wave, or more precisely in or around the village in question, is one of Gatos men. And if that's the case, might or might not he be dead by now.
All things considered was it quite a nice day. He already reported the newest update about Wave to the Hokage when he came back and he had nothing in particular to do that day, so he acted upon a hobby of his. After all were his ninja tools pretty special compared to the tools of other shinobi and it wasn't the cheapest to be produced. Yes, he was happy that Tenten and the weapon shop owner managed to recreate his cards to his required specifications, but at the same time were they expensive.
"Alright, who wants to try his luck next? All you gotta do is find the ace of spades and you'll win. It's a chance of 33%, so nothing wrong with trying, right? You won't be getting better odds or quicker ways to earn some money." he smiled to the crowd gathered around him. Yes, it was a nice day indeed. The sun shining, no clouds to be seen, the perfect weather to earn some money on the marketplace.
That was until the point a new person put some money on the transportable table, in fact slamming his hand down and catching C's hand while still shuffling his three cards on it, stopping that movement quite effective. Looking up into the face of said person his smile turned into a small smirk. "I guess it is time, is it not?" he asked innocently, knowing well that he was found out.
Hiashi Hyuga stared into Cs eyes with his Byakugan activated - or he looked on something different, for example the card on which he stopped Cs hand and which was exactly the requested ace, it always was hard to tell with a Byakugan user - and hissed out: "Give me three reasons why I shouldn't end you, right here, right now."
"Well, for one am I willing to admit that you got the right card and will overlook the fact that you cheated. The second would be that I'll agree to give you all of my earnings from today and as last is there the small fact that I have the informations you are looking for and which you won't be able to get if you kill me on the spot." he replied in a calm manner without missing a beat. "Not to mention that your reputation would be ruined if you kill an innocent person in the middle of the marketplace in front of so many witnesses."
"That insult alone is reason enough to actually kill you..." Hiashi countered with a warning in his tune. "You ruined my family and you never gave me a single explanation as to why. I've got enough of that!"
Looking the enraged father over carefully was C pondering about his next words for a moment: "And this is my fault exactly in which way? You never asked between all your anger outbreaks."
This statement caught Hiashi offguard, his anger forgotten for a moment when all he managed was a confused "What?" as reaction.
"I said you never asked. You know that I'm working for Konoha and what I specialise in. All you had to do was ask." he shrugged, his eyes wandering over the civilians still standing around and watching the scene curiously. "Though, you sure you want to discuss this matter at this place? I don't mind, but..."
Finally realising that he stood in the middle of the marketplace with quite a number of onlookers he deactivated his Byakugan and let go of Cs hand. "Follow me. And no funny tricks..." he said quietly.
"Well, sorry you all, but it seems it really is time. Don't worry, I'll be back soon to offer you another chance at quick money." he talked while packing up his stuff, smiling at the gathered crowd. "After all, what would life be without a little risk in it, right?" his smile went wider when he noted the small flinch of Hiashi at his last words, before following him to whichever place it would be.
It seemed like today was the day on which he would fill in the father of his favorite girls on some things regarding these girls. That and what he knew about what is happening in Wave. He figured that Hiashi must have learned at least some things about their current mission and wants to get some more.
Konoha Frontgate - some days after the group left Wave
"Home at last!" Naruto exclaimed happy, the group nearing the village entrance on the road. "Can't wait to get some ramen from Ichiraku! Wanna come along?"
"You are aware that the first thing we need to do is report back with the Hokage, yes?" Kakashi smiled at his genin. "And this after every mission, failure or succes. Maybe we should have started with some D-ranks to get that concept into your heads." he pondered aloud, receiving a glare from Hanabi and Naruto in return.
Hinata looked from one of her teammates to the next before slowly shaking her head. "I don't get why you two are upset. We were sent out on a mission from the Hokage, so it's just logical that he wants to know how it turned out." she spoke calmly, suddenly being the attention of the two glares. Slightly subdued she added a meek "Is it not?" before a glint in her sisters eye stopped her from speaking further.
Hanabi grumbled quietly and shook her head."Of course is it logical. But that doesn't mean that you had to take his side, sis." she vaguely pointed in Kakashis direction, not taking her eyes off her sister.
"Could you two, you know, not start that again?" Naruto asked irritated. "We are technically still on our mission, so that means not ordering Hinata-chan around and not getting violent, Hanabi-chan."
"And why are you taking his side too?" Hanabi shouted in anger, her eyes turning on Naruto. "Did I miss the 'let's gang up on Hanabi' agreement somewhere along the way back?"
Kakashi shook his head and interrupted his genin at this point, before something bad might happen with Hanabis temper. "Alright you three, that's enough. I'll invite you to Ichirakus once we are finished reporting to the Hokage, so could you please calm down now?"
Letting out a grunt Hanabi turned around and marched off towards the maingate, missing the thankful smile Hinata gave Kakashi before following her. "You know, Spooky, you aren't too bad, sometimes." Naruto spoke out loud while following the girls, his arms crossed behind the back of his head.
"Could it be that all it takes to bribe you is to offer you some free ramen?" he answered out loud, walking next to Naruto. "If yes should I start saving up some money and could go with that method instead of investing energy in teaching you.". His eyesmile was answered by an angry glare from Naruto, his good mood suddenly replaced.
When the group passed the maingate like that, Izumo raised an eyebrow and turned to his friend. "Say, I thought that these three would get along real good? Think something happened on their mission?"
"Even if this is the case..." Kotetsu answered "...would I advice you to stay out of it. It is Spookys team after all. He most likely did something to make them mad. He always do. Plus, you don't want to draw the ire of the Hyuga girls on yourself, right? If just half the rumours are true..." he trailed off.
"Right. Let's just pretend we didn't see nothing." Izumo agreed, simply noting down that Kakashis team returned from their mission, no further observations.
Not really paying attention to her surroundings was Hanabi suddenly stopped by Hinata pulling her back by the shoulder. Looking around confused she noticed that they barely made it past the maingate before her eyes landed on the two ANBU standing in front of her in which she nearly ran into. She was sure they weren't there just a moment ago.
"Are you Hanabi Hyuga?" one of them asked her, both masks fixed on her. Naruto and Kakashi also catched up to the girls, being able to listen into the conversation.
"...yes?" Hanabi replied wary, her eyes switching from one ANBU to the other and back again. "Something wrong with that?"
"We are to escort you to T&I." the other ANBU spoke up in explanation.
"WHAT!?" the shout most likely echoed through the whole village. "Why? That doesn't make any sense!"
"Yamanaka-sans orders. Are you going to come with us or do we need to take you with us?" the first one spoke again.
"Ino-chans father...?" Hanabi asked concerned, biting her lower lip. "But..."
She nearly jumped the moment Naruto put his hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, Hanabi-chan. You do trust Ino-chan, right? So why not her father?"
"Fine..." she mumbled and started to walk in the direction of T&I, flanked by the two ANBU.
"Seems like we will report without her this time." Kakashi spoke with a shrug in response to an inquireing look from Hinata. "She will be fine. I've got an idea what this is about and it will be for her best."
T&I building
Ten minutes. She already waited ten minutes in this empty room with nothing happening and it started to drive her mad. Not only was her temper heated from before, but this wait, without knowing why she had to wait in the first place, was just too much for her. Screaming out her frustration left her slightly breathless, resulting in her taking some deep breathes that had the sideeffect of slowly calming her down, at least a little.
It was this moment Ino and Inoichi entered the room together. Sticking to the background for now Inoichi let his daughter do the explaining to the obviously upset Hyuga girl. "Hey Hanabi-chan." Ino started, giving her friend a weak smile. "Glad you are back. How was the mission?"
"Cold." came the frosty answer from the younger girl, her eyes warily switching between Ino and Inoichi. "And you aren't here for smalltalk. Care to explain why I was brought here on return to the village?"
Ino let out a sigh and nodded slowly. "I just wanted to be nice, Hanabi-chan. But I can see that you aren't in the mood. Fine." she made a gesture towards the table in the room, signaling Hanabi to sit down and doing the same. "As you might remember I was both in your and your sisters mind. Afterwards I got to say that this was a stupid decision, but I can't change that anymore..."
"...a stupid decision?" Hanabi asked in return, raising an eyebrow at her friend. "From what we pieced together did you somehow manage to help both of us."
"That might be the case." Ino shrugged slightly. "But it also left me... what was the word again, father?"
"Broken, princess." Inoichi supplied. "Your mind was seriously broken after entering their minds without training."
"Right. What he said. It turned out that both your minds are real scary and I talked to my father about it. And after he helped me getting over it..."
She got interrupted by Hanabi letting out a loud groan. "With other words am I here to have your father rummaging inside my brain now? Is that it?"
"Yes, but no." Inoichi took over from his daughter. "We are going to do it together. One, she is your friend and wants to help you and she already was inside your mind, so she got an idea about it. Two, am I sure that we can help you with some therapy. Got all the informations about you and your past and it wasn't hard to piece it together with the things Ino supplied."
Thinking these words over Hanabi stayed quiet for some moments, before looking from father to daughter and back. "And I suppose I don't get a choice in this matter?" she finally asked, letting out a resigned sigh.
"Glad you understand. Besides, the Hokage gave his permission already. But it will be easier if you don't work against us here." Inoichi answered while walking over to the table, taking a position next to Hanabi.
"...just stay away from my secrets..." the younger girl mumbled in defeat while trying to relax on her chair.
"Alright princess. Let's do it like I've shown you." Inoichi ordered his daughter who got up and took the position next to her father and Hanabi. The last thing Hanabi realized were the touches of both at her temples, before her senses cut off.
Hanabi's mind
Looking around both Yamanaka tried to orient themselfs inside Hanabis mind. They stood inside a forest, something they expected based on the last visit from Ino inside her mind. "It is different from before..." Ino noted vaguely, a slight shiver running through her body. She was sure that it was the same entry point she got the last time, but...
"Alright princess, focus. Loosing your focus inside someone elses mind can become problematic for yourself." Inoichi spoke up calmly, trying to get his daughter back to the topic at hand. "Let's start simple. What exactly is different to before?"
"Last time it wasn't that foggy. Or cold. I mean, it's not like it wasn't here. Just that it was only in one part where I found Hanabi-chan and not inside the whole forest." she explained. "But I'm sure it's the same location, so Hanabi-chan should be that way."
Inoichi looked into the direction his daughter pointed at and gave her a nod. "Alright, then let's go in that direction. Lead the way."
They didn't made it far before another change got their attention. One that was hard to ignore. The ground was shaken and a lound rumbling could be heard from the direction they headed for, bringing the worry visible on Inos face. "That... is new too. What happened here? The forest was kinda... peaceful before, beside of the three dangers surrounding the clearing I found her at."
"A mind is a fleeting thing, Ino. Experiences and other influences can easily change what happens inside someone. You never know what you might run into so you always need to be careful." he explained to his daughter. "Which is the reason why I wasn't too happy when you told me that you entered both their minds all by yourself."
"And I told you I was sorry for that." she shot back, glaring at her father. "They asked me for help and I couldn't turn them down. There's nothing wrong with that!"
"True. But tell me, what might have happened if the sides of Hinata you met in her mind decided to actually go through with their threat?"
Ino was silent for some moments before she answered hesitant. "You mean... they really could have trapt me inside?" she asked quietly.
"If her mind is stronger than yours and if she really meant to do so, yes. That could have been possible." he confirmed, before changing the topic and pointing at a shack that appeared from the fog. "What about that one?"
"That one is new as well, wasn't here before." Ino started to reply, before another shaking and rumble got their attention, still coming from the direction Ino remembered the clearing to be. "And I'm sure that Hanabi-chan isn't inside but still ahead of us. Let's move on."
The scene they walked into a bit later after finally reaching the clearing wasn't exactly what they expected to find. It explained things quite well, but it was unexpected nonetheles. "Earth Style: Earth Walls!" Hanabi spoke to herself, her hands pushed down at the ground, another rumble and shaking pushing an earthern wall out of the ground to block off the raging inferno at the right side of the clearing. She was obviously sweating and her breath came heavy, the effort taking its toll.
"...what are you doing there, Hanabi-chan?" Ino couldn't help but to ask, not sure she got that scene right.
Hanabi turned around and looked at the newcomers, wiping away some sweat from her forehead with her arm. "What does it look like? I'm trying to block it off. Mind lending me a hand?"
Ino shook her head no and created a small flame floating above her hand. "Sorry, but you remember, right? Fire nature. I doubt I'd be of any use here."
Inoichi gave the girl a shrug. "I'm not using any elemental jutsu at all. Mindwalker and stuff." he answered, his eyes focused on the middle threat at the clearing right ahead.
Following his gaze Hanabi shrugged herself. "That's Black Jack. You have to ask C for details. He's not really bothering me lately since he got new things to do."
"New things to do?" Inoichi asked sceptical, before the shadowy figure disappeared behind a tree before reappearing, carrying a corpse over his shoulder. It was then Inoichi noted the other corpses the shadow put atop of each other. "Okay, that's... creepy. Who are they?"
"Dunno, never really got near to him. But if I had to guess? Mizuki-sensei and the bandits from Wave." Hanabi shrugged again. "I thought you read up on me? You should be aware that C left this nasty gift with me, even if not intended."
"Ah, so you are aware of the events in the real world?" all he got in reply to that question was a look from Hanabi that clearly said 'In whose mind do you think you just invaded?' before he continued with a disarming smile. "You know, girl, I was in countless minds and for a fact are there a lot that aren't aware of the outside world."
She stayed silent for some time before letting her head hang in defeat. "...I'm aware since Ino-chan showed me the way to get away from this clearing. The way you just came here."
"Uhm..." Ino interrupted the exchange, her whole body shivering from the cold fog. "Could we maybe talk somewhere else? It's cold out here. And that Black Jack is giving me the creeps..."
"Yeah, sure. Right this way." Hanabi agreed and lead them back the way they came to the wooden shack.
The shack itself was rather small, but with enough room for a single person. The missing furniture, except for a table in the middle, was helping to give the impression that the inside was bigger than it really is. On the left side wall were two posters located, on the right side wall five and in the back stood a nearly empty shelf. Hanabi walked towards the table and said down, watching the two others.
"So, what do you want to talk about? You saw what it is like out there and I will be damned before I allow you to dig even deeper into me." she spoke coldly, not willing to let Inoichi dig into her thoughts, secrets or memories. She wasn't too happy with the intrusion on this general level to begin with.
"We are here because we are worried about you and want to help. I'm aware of the three events that haunt you and I'm also aware of your anger issues and bad temper, which are a threat to not only your sister but your team as well." Inoichi explained, watching the girl sitting at the table. "And on all three of these things do you need to work or it will eventually end with you screwing your whole team up on a mission. Something that we at T&I don't want to see."
Ino was slowly walking around inside the shack while her father talked to Hanabi and walked over to the right side wall, checking out the posters. There was one showing Kakashi and one showing Asuma, the other three showing shinobi that clearly are from Kiri according to their headbands. Two of these posters were crossed out. Only now up close she saw the letters above the posters and read it out loud, drawing the attention of both Hanabi and her father. "Bounties. Uhm... Hanabi-chan? Is this..."
"What? Want to blame me or something?" she answered while rolling her eyes. "Just think about with whom I'm involved. Plus, you brought the topic up in your notes about the jonin sensei, stating that both Spooky and Asuma have one too."
"No... of course not. It's just... I'm surprised that it is that important to you. Or, is it?" Ino asked intrested.
"We beat two rogue nin." Hanabi shrugged. "So why not keep track of what we know and what we claimed? I mean..." her eyes switched to Inoichi. "...we did claim the bounties, right? I believe C mentioned that the delivery reached you."
"True. But I'm not here to speak about that." Inoichi deadpanned. "So, let's get back to the topic of helping you, shall we?"
Hanabi gave him a glare in response before slowly nodding. "And Ino-chan is here for supportive reasons?"
"Sure thing!" said girl gave a smile while curiously walking over to the other side of the shack towards the other posters. "I want to help my friend. And it's good training in our clan techniques too."
But before Inoichi could start to explain what he had in mind for Hanabi, giving the girl at least an idea of things to come or maybe even room to discuss these things, was Ino reaching the other side of the room. She let out a surprised gasp before reading out loud the word above the two posters on it. "Slaves..."
Hanabi only gave a sigh when both Yamanaka focused their attention on her...
Konoha
"You sure this is okay, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked, following his teammate through the streets.
Their meeting with the Hokage went without problems and Kakashi reported the succes of the mission. The absence of Hanabi was of no concern to him as he approved of Inoichis plan to help the girl. And as the team didn't report a fatal casuality was that fine with him. He dismissed the genin and asked Kakashi to stay a bit longer, most likely to get more detailed informations about the events involving the Organization, or so they figured.
Hinata and Naruto had their stop at Ichiraku's for some ramen and were currently walking towards the Hyuga compound, with Hinata leading the way. It was Hinata's idea, as they didn't know how long Hanabi might be occupied with T&I and there was noone waiting for Naruto, so she invited him over. "Of course it will be okay. You are a good friend and my teammate. I don't see why you are so nervous?" she looked back over her shoulder towards Naruto to give him a reassuring smile.
"It's just... you know... with how the village doesn't like me and all... and after what you two told me about the situation with your father..." he grumbled more than he spoke. "I don't want to bring you into trouble, you know?" in the end there was a smile entering his face which he gave back to Hinata.
True to her words were they able to enter the Hyuga compound without any problems upon arriving. The guards only gave them some looks which Naruto could somewhat ignore as he was used to it and Hinata expected something like that and tried to not react to them either. They managed to enter the main house without any incident, but that was where their luck ran out. Barely ten meters into the building they ran into none other than Hiashi Hyuga.
"Ah, I see you are back." he spoke calmly, something that surprised Hinata. Did he finally cool down? "But instead of your sister do I only see your teammate. Where is Hanabi?"
"Yes father, we just arrived an hour ago. And she was brought to T&I, according to the ANBU that took her." Hinata replied truthfully.
"T&I?" Hiashis eye twitched slightly at that information. "Don't tell me your 'friend' has something to do with that?"
She shook her head no. "They said it was ordered by Ino-chans father."
"I see... and this is Naruto Uzumaki? I believe it is the first time we meet." his eyes switched towards the blonde boy that stood next to Hinata.
"I sure am!" Naruto answered with a grin. "And it shouldn't surprise you, from what the girls told me about how you acted towards them."
Hinata could only look at her friend in shock upon his blunt and direct approach to the topic and feared an outburst of her father - one that never came. Instead Hiashi let his shoulders hang for a short moment. "I suppose you got a fair point. That and I never had anything to do with..." he trailed off, not finishing his sentence.
That however enraged Naruto, as he was well aware what the clan head was implying. "Too afraid to say it? You are just like everyone else. I am NOT the nine-tailed fox, dammit. I am Naruto Uzumaki, teammate and friend of both your daughters. You better remember that!" it only took him a moment afterwards in which he looked around and realised that they were still standing in the hallway before he turned to Hinata with a smile. "I believe this isn't your room, right? Just lead the way, Hinata-chan."
Giving him a nod was she focusing at Hiashi for a quick moment. "I wish you a nice day, father." she said politely before leading Naruto deeper into the building.
Hiashi was left behind in the hallway in deep thought. He should be enraged about this behavior towards him. But he knew, deep down, that these kids were correct. He never did much to earn himself their respect lately. He never really cared for what his daughters did nor who they befriended. And while he knew that Naruto wasn't the fox was it just convenient to stick with that common thought, as he wasn't in contact with the boy. And that despite the fact that his daughters were friends with him for years now.
Maybe he would have some more luck with Hanabi, when she will come back home. But knowing that she is at T&I for the time being meant that he could wait for her quite some time...
A restaurant somewhere outside and away from the village
"Oh, what's the matter Mako-chan? Don't be like that towards me. All I'm asking you for is becoming an inspiration for my books." a man with long and spikey white hair was arguing with the waitress that just brought him his food, trying to grab her arm to keep her from leaving. "I promise you, you will enjoy it a lot!"
Twisting her body out of the way of the mans hand the waitress shot him an angry glare. "I told you I'm not intrested, you creep. And I can't remember giving you permission to call me that. Back down or this is the last time we serve you here!"
"But Mako-ch..." the man was cut short by another angry glare of the waitress. "...Makoto, I thought I'm one of your best customers here. I'm stopping at this place for years now! It wouldn't hurt you to be a bit nicer towards me. And it would give me another reason to come back here."
"I said drop it, Jiraiya. And if I catch you trying to do anything funny with my employees will you regret it deeply." the waitress answered in finality, leaving the dumbstruck man behind and to his food.
"But, but, but..." Jiraiya tried again, but his pleas fell on deef ears. Letting out a resigned sigh he turned towards his food, just to be interrupted before he could start eating. Looking in the direction of the disturbance next to his place he raised an eyebrow. "Huh... I thought I wasn't that drunk at all..." he mumbled to himself, his eyes scanning the three identical men standing next to him.
The middle one of them was the one to speak. "The lady said to leave her alone and you better follow that order. And if you are unable to do so, we can go outside and deal with the problem there."
"We would prefer to not do so, though." the left one added with a shrug. "I mean, to engage against someone with your reputation isn't exactly the wisest thing to do. But we won't hesitate to defend this place against a creep like you."
"And who exactly are you to think you got the right to threaten me like that?" Jiraiya asked in irritation.
This time the right one spoke. "Just three brothers trying to enjoy a meal together after being apart for way too long. Name's Book."
"Puppet." the left one added.
"You can call me Joker." the middle one finished.
Turning away back to his food Jiraiya simply shook his head. "Not intrested in dealing with some weirdo triplets. Just want to enjoy my meal before heading back home." All his thoughts about trying to get himself some female company erased from his mind for the moment.
The triplets nodded in understanding and went back to their own table, leaving Jiraiya of the Sanin to his meal and getting back to their own.
Hinatas room
"Huh, this is the first time I'm in your room, Hinata-chan." Naruto stated the obvious. "It's so clean and kinda cozy."
"We have cleaning staff and they usually get angry if we make too big of a mess. So we keep our rooms as clean as possible." the girl replied with a shrug before a smile entered her face. "Please, make yourself at home."
Deciding to use the chair at her desk Naruto sat down on it, watching the girl. "So, that was your father, huh?" he asked, giving her an appoletical smile. "Couldn't help myself when he talked, but, uhm... I'm sorry if I might have made things worse for you."
"Don't worry about it. I kinda doubt that it could become colder between us than it already is..." her voice trailed off at the end, turning into a sigh. "I mean, yeah... that just kinda killed the mood, you know?"
Trying to change the topic Naruto asked the most prominent question on his mind. "So, why did you want to come here anyway? Beside of you living here of course." he chuckled at that. "Anything special or just relaxing?"
Hinata perked up at that question. "Ah, yes, right. I had it nearly forgotten over that stress right now. I wanted to show it to you." she turned towards her shelf.
"It?" Naruto asked confused but only got a motion from Hinata signaling him to come over too, so he got up from the chair and walked to her shelf as well.
"Yes, it. As you never was in my room you never got to look at it, right?"
His eyes first fell on her plush foxes that stood prominent on the shelf. "You mean your foxes? But of course do I know them..." he trailed off when he finally realized what Hinata was talking about. "Ooohhh... don't tell me the thing about your collar collection was meant to be serious? I thought you just made that up to cover Hanabi-chan gifting the collar to you."
Hinata looked back at her friend with a hurt expression. "Did you really believe I would be lying?" there was a pout on her face. "The first is from way back when you found the kunai. The second is the one C gave to Hanabi-sama." she pointed at the two collars sitting left and right at the shelf. The middle of it however was empty, the spot between the two plush foxes a vacant spot. "The third... do I wear right now. And from today on..." she took a collar out of her things and placed it on said spot. "...do I own four."
Naruto was speechless for a while, simply watching his friend add another collar to her collection and checking it out. It was more or less in good shape, only sporting a nasty cut at the side. Once his eyes fell on the snowflake etched into the leather did he realize whose collar this actually is. "This is... from Haku-chan, is it not?"
"Uhu." Hinata nodded in reply. "I found it on the bridge between the spikes, after she and Zabuza stopped to fight us and moved on to help Hanabi-sama and Tazuna."
"You mean... while I was busy bandaging you up?" Naruto shook his head. "Haku-chan had me help her looking for it. No wonder we didn't find it, if you had it the whole time..."
She gave him an innocent look before changing into a smile. "I couldn't help but to pick it up..." after a shrug she continued. "Well, let's get comfortable, shall we? It might be a while before Hanabi-sama will be back. A good time to relax a little after this mission, right?"
T&I building, interrogation room #47
Hanabi stood with her back at a wall, her glare leveled at Inoichi, her hands in front of her in the signature Hyuga fighting stance. "Don't you dare touch me again or even come near me. You... you... pervert!" she voiced her anger towards the mindwalker quite loudly.
"Seriously, I don't know what you are getting upset over. All we did was helping you get over your trauma. But I must admit, I'm surprised that you can remember what happened inside your mind." Inoichi replied calm, watching the young Hyuga girl.
"You cut off all my senses and forced me into it. And you think I wouldn't realize a thing of that?" the girl growled, getting even more angry. "And how the hell would you call that 'helping me'? You are just a pervert that took advantage of my situation, nothing more!"
"And that coming from the girl that enslaved her own sister. Not too convincing..." he shook his head.
Hanabi stood silent for a moment before blinking her eyes a few times. "I haven't done anything like THAT to her at all!"
"Uhm..." Ino entered the exchange. "And what about when she was tied up in the forest and you were about to whip her?"
"...what?" that took Hanabi by surprise. "I have no idea what you are talking about. There was NEVER something like that at all!"
"Your genin test." Inoichi stated simply.
"But... but... that was Spooky tying her up. I had nothing to do with that!" Hanabi defended herself, slowly starting to panic.
"And you still wanted to whip her, being all tied up and helpless." the older Yamanaka reminded her.
"This was a completely different situation to what you were just doing to me!" the girl shot back. "Besides, I'm allowed to do that, am I not?"
That brought a grin on Inoichis face. "And I'm ordered and allowed by the Hokage to get you over your different trauma. And from what I saw inside your mind is the biggest one the one placed upon you by that Ice Style user. And the easiest way to get you over it is by pushing you into it, so..."
"..." Hanabi glared back at the man before looking at Ino who avoided her gaze and looked at the ground herself. Her view switched back to Inoichi. "You fucking tied me up in the middle of the forest and chilly mist, for crying out loud!"
"And...?" Inoichi shrugged. "Would you have prefered if I did this here, in the real world, with your real body instead of inside your mind? We could arrange for that..."
"GRAAGH!" Hanabi shouted in rage and forced her way out of the room, pushing past Inoichi who did no attempt of stopping her.
A minute passed before Ino looked up from the ground and at her father. "That... could have gone better." she stated the obvious. "But you really acted like a pervert there, you know?"
"And she will come back for additional sessions, princess. Once she has calmed down and realizes that it indeed helped her a little. And once we advance will she get over it." Inoichi explained. "I just don't see a way to help her with that Black Jack thing. That is beyond my possibilities..."
Ino let out a sigh. "So we are going to get C involved or at least have to talk to him?" she knew it would be difficult. She would have reacted similiar like Hanabi, that she was sure about. But it didn't change the fact that she wanted to help her friend, no matter how extreme or perverted it might look to her...
Walking the hallways inside the T&I building aimlessly Hanabi slowly calmed down. It was then that she realized that she actually had no idea where she was going nor how to actually get out of the building. Surprisingly enough was nobody stopping or questioning her, letting her walk through the corridors without problems.
A few minuted passed like that and she started to become frustrated, actually thinking about asking the next ANBU or whoever she might meet for directions to get out of the building, when her eyes fell on a department sign that catched her intrest. Without a second thought she entered and looked around.
"I doubt that a little girl like you should be here. Just leave and I'll forget that I saw you enter." a voice called out to her right away.
"And I believe that I'm the only person in the whole village that could have a valid reason to actually be here." she replied with a smirk.
The jonin looked up from her work and scanned the young girl. "Member of the Hyuga clan. No markings, neither visible nor hidden. No seals applied to the body." she stated clinically before tilting her head. "You aren't the one with the license by chance?"
Her smirk turned into a grin and she nodded. "Well, I happen to be that girl, yes." Hanabi replied a bit cheerfully, her earlier anger forgotten for the moment.
"And what brings you to the slavery department? You weren't called here and we don't have anything for you at this moment." the jonin made a gesture for Hanabi to leave. "Though, I must admit that I'm curious to be working with you at a later time. But for now please leave, you are interrupting my work."
She wanted to reply but an angry glare from the woman shut her mouth. After simply nodding, Hanabi turned around and left the room. Her thoughts fixated on the words that were just spoken. Maybe she should come back here in the future. Why, she didn't knew. But it sounded like an open invitation to her and she couldn't help but being curious. And she wouldn't mind some help or advice neither.
Without even noticing she actually ended up at the building entrance and left T&I, her new discovery having pushed her anger even further away. For now was there only one thing really left on her mind. After the mission, her encounter with Zabuza and Haku during it, the events at T&I right after reaching the village - going home to relax and sleep just sounded heavenly to her.
The same restaurant from earlier
"Hehe, nice going, Book. Not many would stand up to their chef that direct. Especially with him being one of the legendary Sanin." Puppet congratulated his brother. Jiraiya had left the restaurant by now, his encounter with the triplets having killed his mood entirely.
"It's not like he would know that I'm on his paylist. Plus, we don't want to get disturbed with our little reunion, right?" Book smiled at his two brothers. "How long have it been? 3 years?"
"Give or take, yes." Joker nodded. "So, does someone have anything intresting to share?"
That gave him funny looks from the other two and it was Book who replied. "Asked the one with the most intresting informations. Are the rumours true? Is your network shut down? What about the Organization?"
"I don't know." Joker shrugged. "I mean, I heard the rumours too, that the Organization lost their ears and all. That the masterspy C is dead and stuff. But, honestly? The reports are still being collected and payment does reach me still. So either is he still alive or someone else took over his network."
"Think they got a hidden bounty for him?" Puppet asked curiously.
"Maybe. It does sound like something they would do at least." Joker shrugged too. "So, anything new about Akatsuki or Sasori?"
Book too looked intrested at Puppet. "Nah, not really. Still searching and hunting after the Tailed Beasts and all. And secondary still on the lookout for bounties and shinobi with unique abilities and skills."
"At least any information about any recent activities?" Book pressured the topic a little. "Every memo Jiraiya provides his network puts priority on any information in regards to Akastuki and Orochimaru."
"Nope, nothing recent I know about. And Sasori too is looking for Orochimaru, but there's nothing recent either."
"What a bummer..." Joker sighed. "We meet again after three years and nobody has anything intresting to report? Supplying each other with info isn't exactly working if nobody has any at all."
"You could start with spilling it, Joker." Puppet said with a grin.
"Alright, fine. The reports seem to have centered inside the Fire country. But that's all I know about the head of my network." Joker shrugged. "Whatever this might mean."
Book stroke his chin. "Hmm, so the masterspy, or whoever took his place, might or might not be inside or near Konoha? Guess I gotta report that to Jiraiya. This is worthwhile information."
"That's strange, though..." Puppet pondered aloud. "Sasori thinks that Orochimarus current location must be inside the Fire country as well."
Both Book and Joker nodded at that information. "And the Organization might or might not be still fixated on the Fire country as well. At least in the past they managed their operations from there." Joker said his thoughts aloud.
"Well, I believe everyone has something to report now." Book spoke with a grin. "So, now that this is settled... let's have some drinks, my brothers!"
The triplets celebrated their reunion for quite some time before splitting up late at night. Within the next two days would the head of each of the three biggest spynetworks also receive a new report. The contents will be pretty identic: rumours and speculations about the whereabouts from the Organizations former eyes and ears, the rumoured whereabouts from Orochimaru and the open secret about the actions from Akatsuki. Jiraiya of the Sanin will receive his report from his trustworthy agent "Book", Sasori from Akatsuki from his loyal agent "Puppet" and C, former spymaster from the Organization, from his talented agent "Joker".
Despite these reports only containing rumours will they be taken serious nonetheless.
Somewhere unkown
She was enjoying some tea while going over a few reports and thinking about some possible operations when a loud noise pulled her out of her concentration. The noise repeated itself a little bit later, it sort of sounded like an explosion, before an underling of her stormed inside her room. "Mistress! We are under attack!" he shouted, canceling her focus completely.
"Then deal with it..." she answered in iritation, a twitch in her eye the only real emotion visible.
"But... he is too strong for us. It's like he knows all about our defenses, avoiding each and every trap. We already lost over a dozen guards to him." the underling went on. "We need help with that intruder, Mistress."
"If you aren't able to defend our HQ ain't you worth living on. It's their own fault for being dead now..." she let out a sigh. "Fine, tell me about this intruder."
The underling took a step backward upon hearing these harsh words but nodded. "Yes, of course. It's one man and he's kinda snakelike. We just don't stand a chance against him. And some of the guards ain't helping us at all."
Hearing that finally brought her to loose her composure. Though it wasn't the information about some of her guards not doing it's duty... "You worthless piece of crap... I would transfer you to the merchandise, weren't we short on men... What did I tell all of you when I put you on guard duty? That customers are not to be engaged. He knew where to find us and how to bypass our traps. And the more experienced men don't fight him. What does this tell you?"
The underling paled under these words and kept silent, as he just didn't know what to answer on that. Seeing that she wasn't going to get a reply did she sigh. "What are you waiting for? Go and tell these fools to stop fighting, if they value their lives. And then bring our customer to me, before I decide to do something you won't like."
Without replying again was the guard gone the second she finished to speak, not wanting to end on the receiving end of their business.
Roughly five minutes later...
"Kukukuku... you should put better men on guard duty. Some that actually follow your orders. Otherwise is it no wonder that you are always recruiting." the visitor said upon entering the room, an evil smirk on his lips.
"And who would take care of all our outside operations, if I kept all of my good men at our HQ for guard duty?" came her dry reply, her eyes scanning the form of the visitor. "It's been a while, is it not? And yet again you look different. Here to get some new lab rats to experiment on, Orochimaru?"
The Sanin couldn't help but to chuckle. "True, it's hard to find good material these days. But I didn't exactly came here to shop. Unless you got some intresting specimen I should take a look at?"
"None that I'm aware of, no. But you can feel free to browse later anyway, as always." she gave him a slight smile. "So, if not for our merchandise, what brings one of our best customers to us today?"
"Ah, nothing in particular. I just thought that I haven't seen my favorite nameless person lately at all and wanted to fix that." Orochimaru waved his hand dismissively while openly staring at "Her".
"I would be flattered..." she answered with a smirk. "...weren't it for the fact that I deal with you long enough to know how you tick. So, what is this special reason you have come here? Spill it or stop wasting my time. Your choice."
"Kukukukuku... Cold as ice, just the way I know the head of the Organization. Actually, it's two reasons. For one was I wondering if you might have some merchandise with special knowledge about Konoha..."
That catched her attention and she raised an eyebrow at the Sanin. "Konoha you say? Sorry, but I don't have merchandise from there at hand, but... We do have a guest that you might be intrested in talking to in that case."
The shift in her attention did not go unnoticed by Orochimaru. "Excellent. And I'm sure that you will be intrested in my proposal as well. But that can wait til after I had a talk with this 'guest' of yours..."
XXXXX
2nd Author Note: Don't worry about those triplets. It was just a passing fancy I had - wanting to also give a face (okay, good joke as I never described them) to the people actually doing the work for the supposedly best spies in the Naruto universe. The anime told us that both Sasori and Jirayia got big networks and I also added Cs in my story. But it's the small people doing most of the work. And brothers working for each network and supplying each other was just another one of my stupid ideas.
Consider them and their scenes as filler to support the frame of the story. They won't appear again, though I got something planed for these reports.