Chapter 3
It was the blonde assassin that broke the silence that had fallen over the troop. She looked them over and then cleared her throat. It seemed as if nobody wanted to start so she had to do it. And she was not of the shy kind either. So she spoke.
"So, what are we going to do then? Set a trap for this mystery rider of silver?" Temari asked as she moved over to Kiba to get him to get her more coffee, she had a hunch that she would need it.
Shikamaru looked at her. Indeed the woman had a clear mind. A trap wouldn't be such a bad idea at all. But how to set it? His brain began to move and suddenly he knew.
"Why not set up a racing-contest? A lot of money in the pot and I'm sure he will show up," Shikamaru started.
"She," Moegi peeped from her corner next to Naruto.
"What?" Shikamaru looked at her.
"Uhm, according to the police-report here… it was a woman driving that mega-super-duper-car-thingy," Moegi said after she gulped down her beating heart. She pointed towards the folder in her hand.
Shikamaru rose and went to get it and he read the part where Moegi pointed. And Temari was reading over his shoulder. It felt uncomfortable but he chose to keep silent. He didn't want her hunting his ass later.
"Heh, the little hacker-girl is right. The driver is a woman according to the police-officers that tried to get her for speeding," Temari chuckled over his shoulder. "That was interesting. Not even I thought that it would be a woman."
"Nice," Tenten admitted. "See guys, even we girls can do some really neat stuff sometimes."
"It sounds as if you're admiring this bastard!" Kiba growled. "You have no idea how she might be as a person!"
"No, that's true, but if she can act like that against two ruffled road-officers she must have some guts," Tenten said and Temari and Moegi agreed with the woman that now was playing with a nasty looking dagger.
"So… we're going to rig a contest then?" Temari's brother Kankurou asked as he leaned forward a bit. "Where?"
"The desert." The cold voice came from the youngest of the assassination-trio.
"Why?" Naruto spoke up; he was still a bit angry that he couldn't have any coffee. He had tried several times but Konohamaru and Udon had stopped him every time.
"Because in the desert we will be able to set up surveillance cameras without him… her knowing anything about it. And we can put up traps so she will not escape us," the feminine looking man named Neji said with indifferent voice.
"And even if we can not catch this silver bird, we might be able to get enough information to set up another trap," Chouji said as he looked up from his bag of chips.
Naruto and Kiba looked at their partner with somewhat stunned expression. The chubby man had some brains after all. And what he just said was a very good idea indeed.
"That is correct," stated the little red-haired man from his corner. His voice sent chills down everyone's backs, including his siblings. But they were all relieved that he agreed with their plans.
Actually, Temari was pretty sure that her younger brother would be able to kill them all and walk away as if nothing had happen. And yet she loved him beyond what any words could describe. He should not have been like this if their parents and guardians had done their job correct. He was far too young to be this cold and distant. She mentally sighed and hoped that she could help him become a better person.
"So we all can agree on this race-thing then?" Shikamaru said as he walked over to his desk and sat down and pulled out another cigarette.
Everyone nodded. Everyone but the Uchiha-man. He looked troubled.
"Uchiha, what's the matter? Got your panties in a knot?" asked Naruto, trying to rile the guy up a bit. Not that he succeeded in just that, but he got a reaction.
"So… who will race against this Silver Rider and what kind of cars do we have to even come close to what I've read in these files?" Sasuke asked without looking up from his folder.
Silence.
"So we don't have anything to race with if we were to set up this trap?" Sasuke continued after minutes of silence.
And it was true. They didn't have that kind of car. And they were on a budget so trying to get a car like that would only cost money that they probably need to travel around the world or get some instruments and such. And of course – their payroll.
"Does anyone know about someone that might have a car that can stand up, if just for a few seconds against this phantom?" asked Shikamaru.
Silence again.
But this time it was not as long as the previous one because Tenten spoke up. "I might know of one, but it was ages since I talked to her. But she might have something in her dump-yard that we might be able to use."
"Any ideas at this moment will be appreciated," Temari said and got a dark look from Tenten. "So where can we find this girl then?"
Tenten snorted and then laughed a bit. "I wouldn't call her a girl, she's over 60 years old by now." This got the group to look rather disappointed. "Trust me, the woman knows what's she's doing and she's doing things good. And if she's our only chance – why waste it then?"
"Should we know about this person?" asked Shikamaru as he finally lit that cigarette he had been fiddling with for a while now.
"I think I know who you're talking about," said Udon and made everyone make a face as he snorkeled in a very disgusting manner. "But isn't she a brain- and neurosurgeon?"
"She was, but then they found out about her gambling and drinking problem so she was fired. She used her knowledge to create nano-technology for specialized cars instead," Tenten answered; glad that there was someone that knew about the person she spoke of. Her idol really. She had admired this woman for a very long time.
"I heard something else about her and that was that she could be a very violent woman too," Udon continued and pushed up his glasses a bit.
Tenten cleared her throat and nodded. Yes, this woman could be very violent and she had a very short fuse too.
Shikamaru frowned. Was this supposed to be their only hope? It didn't look good and it would certainly not look good on his records if he lost a case. He had never lost a case since he started doing this job. He put out the cigarette and sighed.
"Alright, Tenten – you contact this woman, who ever she is, and tell her to put together a car for us that might have a fart's chance against the phantom," Shikamaru ordered.
"Her name is Tsunade," Tenten mumbled.
"What?" It was Naruto that almost snarled out the question. "Are you telling me that the old hag Tsunade is this person you're talking about?"
"Old hag? I don't know about that, but yes, this woman's name is Tsunade."
"Fuck, this is not good. The old lady is my aunt and I wouldn't want to touch anything she makes. The woman is off the charts nuts!!" Naruto almost yelled.
"Seems to run in the family," a dark voice snorted from the corner.
"What did you say… you… asshole!??" Naruto pointed a finger towards the raven haired man, Sasuke.
"Perhaps you're both deaf and dumb?"
Naruto took a leap ready to slit the throat of the insolent bastard that was insulting him but Kiba and Kankurou grabbed him before he could do any kind of damage.
"Take it easy blondie, we're all on the same team here," Kiba mumbled as he pushed Naruto down on his chair again.
"And Uchiha, keep you're insults to your self please," Kiba said and threw a menacing look over his shoulder.
The black hair young man just snorted but he kept quiet.
"Alright, we're all at peace again?" Temari said and stepped in and took control of the situation.
Everyone nodded.
"Good, now – as Shikamaru said, Tenten will contact this Tsunade woman and ask her to build us a car so we might catch this silver maniac. And what should the rest of us do?" Temari looked at Shikamaru, he was the team leader after all.
Shikamaru mumbled something and both Kiba and Chouji knew that that mumbling most likely contained the word "troublesome" because that was a standard for their lazy leader.
"Collect information and as much as we can too," Shikamaru said after a moment. "We must try and get as much as information we can so we can do a profile on this ghost or what hell he might be."
"She," Three women corrected him with one voice.
"… this ghost or what the hell she is supposed to be," Shikamaru grounded out. 'Damn red socks!!'
"Is there anyone that wants to come with me?" asked Tenten. The green clad martial art-artist Lee, was there next to her in an instant. "Lee… anyone else?"
"Naruto needs to go," Konohamaru said causing Naruto to shout about the woman being a nutcase. "Even if it sounds as if he hates her and she can't stand him – they're actually very close so Naruto should really come with you if you want to be sure that she'll help us out."
"You'll pay for this you damn hacker-brat!!" Naruto scowled the teen. But Konohamaru just grinned rather evilly. He knew that Naruto was most show-talk. He really loved his aunt Tsunade even if it sounded as if they would rather see one another flushed down the toilet.
"Then it is settled. Lee and Naruto, you two go with Tenten and get this car for us. And the rest of us – collect information and use what you need to get it. BUT!! But… don't kill anyone!" Shikamaru said. "We don't want any unwanted attention here. Ask around, threat if you must, but no killing and please, try and be as discreet as possible.
Everyone nodded but Shikamaru had a feeling that he might have released somewhat of a plague over the world with his orders. He could only pray that the Sand-siblings could keep their blood thirst in check and not go on a rampage.
"I wish to follow Uzumaki," it was Gaara that spoke.
"Why?" asked Shikamaru and tried not to shiver as the cold voice echoed through the room.
"Because I want too," Gaara answered.
"What do you say guys? Is it OK if Gaara accompany you?"
"Yeah, why not. Come on Sand-dude, but I promise you, you will regret it when we meet the old hag. She's really crazy. So don't piss her off because she's strong like… like ten men or something," Naruto babbled on.
The red-headed killer just nodded and followed the trio outside the door. 'We're fucked,' Shikamaru thought as he released the shiver that had been lurking inside him.
"Don't worry Shika… our brother might be cold and a bastard from time to time, but he's not a dumbass like the blonde guy is," said Kankurou with a chuckle. "He knows what's at stake here and he will not disobey orders.
'Kankurou, you're putting much faith in our little brother,' thought Temari but she kept her mouth shut, no need to worry the others with her thoughts.
"So… Moegi… what do you say about heading towards the closest large city and do some snooping?" Temari asked as she turned to look at the young red headed girl.
Moegi's eyes widened and she nodded violently.
"Anybody that wants to come with us??" Temari then asked and looked around the rest. But nobody stepped forward. "Chicken chits perhaps? Don't you have the balls to come along? Are you scared?"
Ohh, Temari knew how to push men's buttons sometimes. Don't ever threaten their manly and macho egos… Sasuke stepped up and gave his silent admission that he would follow them.
"Alright then, you guys will have to take care without us women. We can't take care of you all the time," Temari said and winked, making Kiba, Konohamaru and Udon blush darkly. "See ya later boys…"
And with that she sailed elegantly out the door, followed by Moegi that tried her best to mimic the blonde assassination's moves. The brooding Uchiha just made a nod and walked calmly out the door.
The only one left in the room now was Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, Kankurou, Udon, Konohamaru and Neji. And this was the place when Shikamaru actually made a wrong mental choice. He had been quite sure that Kiba would stick with him and Chouji but instead the dog-lover chose to ask the puppet-master if they wanted to cruise around in his SUV until they found a gang of youngsters with racing cars and then ask them about this phantom driver and perhaps get some information about him… her?
Kankurou had no problem with that and they left without asking if anyone else wanted to join them. Which left Chouji, Shikamaru, Neji and the two hackers alone at the base.
"Chouji… some food perhaps? You know of some good caterings around here?" Shikamaru asked.
The chubby man chuckled and nodded. "Table for us five then?"
Shikamaru nodded.
Chouji disappeared into the kitchen and you could hear him talk to someone over the phone. Shikamaru looked at Neji and saw the effeminate young man's eyebrow twitch a bit.
"Something wrong Hyuuga?" Shikamaru asked as he fished out a new cigarette. He was a chain-smoker and he had no desire to quit any time soon.
"No, nothing," the pale eyed man answered.
"You might fool others…" Shikamaru mumbled as he inhaled the smoke from the newly lit cigarette. "Anyway… you two brats… you're hackers right?"
Both Udon and Konohamaru nodded vigorously.
"You see the computers around here?"
Again nods.
"Use them to find information over then net. And if you're good in boosting the hardware, do that too. Make sure that you're useful to us or else I will kick you off our team… Am I clear?"
"Very… don't worry Boss 2, we'll make sure to find good info for you guys and you're comps here will run as train on slicked rails!" Konohamaru stated and his friend nodded in admission.
"Good, get to work then."
The two teens found themselves a computer and then their brains were on another place then the real world.
The only one not doing anything useful except just hang around the place was Shikamaru and Hyuuga Neji.
"So… do you have anything for me Shikamaru-san?" asked Neji with a voice that held no trace of emotions.
Shikamaru thought for a few seconds and then he nodded. "Yes, I want you to take a look at any homemade videos the hacker-boys can find on the net or where ever they find their info, and try and figure out what kind of technology the blasted woman is using."
Neji snickered but he gave his admission. He could do that. No problem at all.
Shikamaru let out a long sigh. This was going to be a tough mission. 'Troublesome… that's is not going to cover for anything on this mission…' he thought.
T B C