Once upon a time, there was a princess who lost her mother.
In the queen's place, there was now a squalling, angry thing that everyone cooed over. Instead of letting her search for her mother, the maids forced the princess to wear dreary blacks and stand still in ceremonies. Even worse, the king often ordered her to hold the angry thing during these long ceremonies and it kicked and screamed and always, always sicked up on her kimono. The maids would just force her into another black monstrosity. She feared this terrible little demon, but she watched over it carefully, because if it had taken away her mother, maybe it could give her back. The princess made the mistake of sharing her theory with the king, and he scolded her. "It" was her little sister, also a young princess, and the queen was never coming back.
"You're lying," screamed the princess in a fury of sorrow. "Mother wouldn't have left if you and that THING weren't here!"
The grieving king struck the princess. It was a light blow, but it weighed heavy on the princess's heart.
"I will find Mother!" The princess's Byakugan activated in a blaze of chakra and she ran throughout the castle to search for someone she knew she would not find. Desperation fueled the technique for far longer than her tiny body could handle, and the king found the princess unconscious minutes later.
And so, the council rejoiced and proclaimed it to the world, for the princess had shown herself to be a genius of her bloodline.
Prey for the Hunted
By Airyo
Chapter 2
The damned hunter was useless.
Sasuke sneered as he nudged the unconscious lump with his foot. He had hoped that the mysterious bounty hunter who's managed to trap the Moon Princess would possess valuable knowledge about their prey. Instead, he'd accidentally hired a clueless little mute who had the abilities of a corpse. Admittedly, there had been a lot of suspiciously well-trained raiders, but what kind of fighter worth his salt would faint after confronting a few genin-level idiots?
"Be nice, Sasuke!" Sakura scolded when he carelessly kicked the hunter again. "He's not as bad as the rest of them. He helped me save that little boy. And when Naruto attacked him, he angled himself not to hurt the boy. It's obvious that anyone without training would go into shock when exposed to Kyuubi's chakra." She'd screamed at them earlier until Naruto gave in and dragged the hunter's body into the shade under a nearby building.
"You of all people should know what these hunters are capable of." Green eyes narrowed in hurt, and Sasuke almost regretted his thoughtless words. "Dead-last and I thought he got you. We can never trust killers who kill for money without a cause."
"Yeah. I know. I'll be careful." The medic forced a smile. "I need to get back to the injured." Sasuke let her go with a small sigh. He sat down, leaning against the section of the wall next to the body of the hunter. Clearing the debris was tiring, and it annoyed the Uchiha that he had to stop and rest while Dead-last still easily powered an entire army of clones.
This was his first mission in months. It was supposed to be a simple information gathering vacation, but it was quickly disintegrating into a nightmare. A raid this far in from the border territory was troubling. Those sandy bastards have been heckling the border towns for years, but those places were already well prepared for such occurrences. Areno had not been. The damage was pages long. Sasuke could feel a headache coming on just thinking about the paperwork involved back in the capital.
"Summoning no Jutsu." He bit his thumb, flickered through the hand seals, and touched the ground. A raven puffed into existence with an annoyed caw as it landed awkwardly on Sasuke's knee.
"Mozou, I need to pass a message to Itachi." The raven blinked and then jumped to the ground with a huff.
"Pass it yourself," he snapped in a gravelly voice. "You still owe me bacon." Sasuke pressed his lips in a thin line.
"I'm not paying 3 silvers for a slice of bacon out here. Don't anger me, bird," he warned. Mozou cocked his head and regarded him with one intelligent eye.
"Or else what? You'll run crying to your big brother?"
"I will also summon Hibiki." The bird shuddered and shook out his feathers, though the Uchiha caught genuine fear in his beady eyes.
"Fine, kid. I'll take your stupid message." Sasuke rolled his eyes, but began reciting.
"Areno was attacked last night, about midnight. The guards were unprepared. Bandits estimated to about sixty. Yes, that many. I've investigated some, but can't find a reason why they would attack so far from the border. Please send another team to look into it. Also, we found the hunter. Nothing to show for it yet."
"That's it?" Mozou said sarcastically. "Here I though you had something important to say." Sasuke resisted the urge to stomp down on the disrespectful raven.
"The messenger only needs to convey the message, not understand the nuances. Itachi will know what I mean. Repeat it for me so I know you actually memorized it."
Mozou hopped about in irritation, but eventually repeated it verbatim back to Sasuke. The Uchiha sent him off before he could mouth off even more, though he was sure that Mozou gave him the avian version of the finger as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Yet again, Sasuke mildly regretted not accepting that creepy Snake-nin's contract offer. Sharing an animal contract with Itachi was just asking to be treated like a little kid by the summons. If only that snake contract didn't also require betraying his kingdom...
A groan indicated the return of the hunter. Sasuke watched as the hunter pretended to still be unconscious, but the minor movements told him that he was assessing his surroundings. The first thing he did was check for his naginata. The hunter was smarter than he let on.
"It's been about three hours since you fainted." The hunter jumped, and turned his head towards Sasuke. His hood was falling off, but his features were obscured by the veil. Before he could peruse him further, the hunter pulled his hood low over his head. Losing interest, Sasuke rose to his feet and dusted himself off.
"We're leaving in a few minutes. There's nothing left here for us, so Sado would be the next best option." The hunter stood and nodded in agreement with the current plan.
"Ah, you're awake!" Sakura exlaimed happily as she returned with Naruto in tow. The hunter shrugged uncomfortably, clearly disconcerted by Sakura's sudden switch in attitude towards him. Just yesterday, she'd been positively frigid and now she was acting like the hunter was her new best friend. Sasuke shared a disgusted look with the blonde. Sakura was far too eager to give a person the benefit of doubt if they even showed the slightest hint of a human heart. Admirable at times, but just annoying in this case.
"Remember what we talked about," Sasuke warned in a low tone. The pink-haired girl actually glared at him and chattered on.
"Are you hurt anywhere? I've been busy with the other injured but do you need me to check you, Hunter?" The hunter vigorously shook his head and leaned away away from the medic. "Which reminds me. We never got to properly introduce ourselves. I'm Haruno Sakura. I'm a medic-ninja at the Sun Palace, on jounin Team Seven. This -"
"Are you sure you want to tell him everything?" Naruto interrupted, giving the hunter a squinty-eyed look of distrust. It made him look like he was thinking too hard. While Sasuke didn't approve of the expression, he shared the blonde's sentiment. Sakura punched Naruto in the arm.
"We're all in the bingo books anyways," she justified. At the mention of the reference, the hunter pulled out his own tattered copy of the book. "Anyways, I'm Haruno Sakura. This guy is Uzumaki Naruto. And this is Uchiha Sasuke."
The hunter dropped his book in the dirt. He was staring at Sasuke.
"Who did you say he was?" Sasuke could read clearly from the hunter's body language. The Uchiha felt his mouth twist. No one ever believed him when he was introduced. Another downside of being Itachi's little brother.
"My full title is Uchiha Sasuke, Crown Prince of the Sun Kingdom," he clarified. "Haruno Sakura is the apprentice of the legendary healer, Tsunade, and Uzumaki Naruto is the vessel of the Kyuubi." In other words, the hunter should know that he won't be escaping them even if he were dumb enough to try.
"Do you have something we can call you?" He forced himself to be polite. Even Sasuke could admit that his court manners were nonexistent, but he wasn't going to let a lowly hunter know that. The hunter paused for a moment before pulling out his notepad.
"Just 'Hunter'? That's what we've called you all along. If you're going to make up a name, at least be original. How about 'Asshole'? Far more fitting," Naruto mocked. Hunter shrugged again. Sasuke got the sense that he was insulting the blonde's intelligence and almost chuckled.
"I got us horses," he interrupted before a fight started. Naruto would snap the little bounty hunter in half. "Sakura, Naruto, grab your gear. Meet us at the gate front gate."
The two nodded and immediately bounded off. He turned to Hunter and dug out the coin purse he'd left behind.
"Don't try to run again," he warned. Sasuke dropped the bag into the hunter's gloved palm. He knew his words were disregarded. He'll have to watch the hunter closely from now on.
The shortest way to Sado was to head straight for the border and follow it to the trading town. It was only a day's ride, but the terrain provided no shelter from the harsh sun. For miles, only desert shrubs and cacti decorated the parched earth. Far in the distance, the flat ground dipped and swelled into large rock formations. The shadows cast there beckoned like a siren song.
Sasuke closed one eye as a bead of sweat slid down his face. He and his team had taken care to wear loose breathable clothing. They even bought the local cloaks and veils. But their bodies were accustomed to the cool breezes that played through the branches deeper in Sun territory. He took a swig from his almost empty canteen, still keeping an eye on the the hunter riding in front of him.
At some point earlier, the hunter had taken the time to reverse his cloak so the pale lining faced outwards and reflected the heat. Sasuke didn't recognize the style of the sturdy leather armor shoulder pads, though it was designed cleverly to keep the cloak in place and hold the naginata without hindering movement. The naginata itself looked to be foreign. Maybe the hunter has ventured into Moon territory before; that would explain his previous success in tracking the princess. But the hunter's origins didn't interest Sasuke at the moment - he'd rather know how the hunter managed to stay unaffected by the horrid heat.
Somehow sensing his perusal, the hunter turned and looked at him. Though he never made any large movements, it was surprisingly easy to read him. He was clearly someone who understood the subtle signs of body language, which suggested that the hunter had grown up in a noble household. Sasuke never bought the whole charade of illiteracy.
"What are you looking at?" Sasuke stared into the blank wash of black where his face was supposed to be. The prince wondered why the hunter went to such lengths to protect his privacy. Perhaps, he had a bounty on his head. Sasuke shook his head and broke off the one-sided staring contest. The bounty circles were something the Sun Kingdom tended not to enforce too closely. As long as the overall bounty count was decreasing, there were better things to be worry over. Given the hunter's preference for a samurai weapon, he was probably from some minor samurai clan that had fallen on some debt. Nothing worth the hassle of lugging a decapitated head around in this heat.
"I'm melting..." groaned Naruto. The blonde upended the rest of his canteen over his head and then shook it out like a dog. His horse flicked its ears in irritation. "Heaven! So much better!"
Sakura glared back at them, taking in Naruto's drenched figure. "Great. So what are you going to do for the next few hours with no water?" Sasuke rolled his eyes as Naruto howled in anguished realization. He'd personally picked these two out of the ninja recruits because he couldn't stand incompetence. This was the best the Sun Kingdom had to offer?
Even in the midst of his irritated musing, Sasuke didn't miss the furtive movement of the hunter as he reached under his cloak. His hand hovered over his kunai until the hunter extended a full water skin to Naruto. When the blonde stared at him suspiciously, the hunter uncapped it and took a sip, proving that the water was safe.
It was enough to convince Naruto and he clipped the waterskin to his belt with a terse nod of thanks. Even if it was poisoned, the Kyuubi would easily take care of it. Sasuke sped up his horse to pull up beside the hunter.
"We won't have time to nurse you back to health if you become dehydrated. There's still a long ride to Sado." The hunter held up four fingers.
"I still have four waterskins left." Sasuke stared.
"That many?" The hunter huffed as if he were amused by a stupid child.
"You were the ones that didn't bring enough."
"Hn." Sasuke sped up so the hunter couldn't see his embarrassment. He'd sorely miscalculated the amount water they'd need when traveling. "We have about another hour before we reach the shady area. We'll take a quick break then."
The time dragged by at a tortuous pace, but eventually, the shadows cast by the tall rock formations were at an attainable distance. However, rather than sharing their anticipated relief, the hunter was letting his horse drift to a slower and slower pace. While it was hard to tell if what he was doing behind that cloak, the hunter's horse projected his rider's emotions. And it was oddly skittish.
"Hunter, why are you so nervous? What are you keeping from us?"
The hunter started at Sasuke's sudden words, and the prince narrowed his eyes. He was so intent on the cool embrace of the shade that he was ignoring his surroundings. The wind and sand had carved several twisting paths through the rock, but the paths essentially bottle necked any travelers. The rock formations stood so tall that it would keep the attackers safe from retaliation. Even if Sasuke could easily scale the steep sides within seconds, those few moments were enough to get a lucky hit.
"Look up." The hunter's fingers twitched upwards almost imperceptibly although he kept his hood carefully pointed down. Following the hunter's example, Sasuke kept his head angled neutrally while sweeping his gaze up. The glare of the sun made his eyes water, but through the tears, he thought he glimpsed unusual shapes on top of the cliff edges. As expected, they were human silhouettes. Bandits. They could circle around the area, but that would a good week's worth of travel. Sasuke wondered if he could just have Naruto form a few clones while he snuck behind them and got rid of them.
"They will ambush from above with arrows and the sides." The hunter adjusted his grip on the reins, though the action clearly mimicked stringing an arrow to a bow. Then he patted the nonexistent dust from his thigh so his hand made a sideways slashing motion.
No, a preemptive strike by itself would fail. If the bandits from above are collaborating with bandits hiding closer to the ground, then they clearly have a way of communication.
"Team. Unfortunately, the desert surrounds us from all sides. Hopefully, we can catch a break from the sun beating down on us in the shadows up front." Outwardly, Sakura and Naruto didn't even seem to hear him. The awkward and obvious speech was really more for the hunter's benefit.
Sakura made a brief hand sign before fiddling with her hair girlishly. She'd done a broad chakra scan. There were about twenty to thirty bandits waiting, but their chakra systems weren't developed enough to get a clear read. Sasuke sighed. The most efficient way would be to ambush them in their own trap.
"Once we're in the shade, we can do something about it. Us four should just hang in there until then," Sasuke replied. If it was just the three of them, this would be a fun training exercise. Unfortunately, they also had to ensure the safety of four horses and a civilian. Beasts of burden were precious, so as long as they were kept to the side, no one should purposely try to kill them. The hunter was a different story. He wasn't completely sure said civilian was against back stabbing them. It was about as predictable as holding an angry wasp with his bare hands to protect it from a hungry bird.
"Got it."
Naruto had already replaced himself with a clone. The original and several more copies should be scaling the ways to silently take out as many as he could without alerting the others. Sasuke let himself fall back behind the hunter's horse so he could keep an eye on him.
Despite his focus on the present, Sasuke couldn't help but sigh in relief as he entered the cool shade after him. Sakura's and Naruto's bright hair served as twin beacons in the dim path. Above them, a bolt of electric blue sky split the rock walls. Over than the clip clop of their horses' shoes striking the dirt ground, Sasuke could hear the whisper of wind weaving through the narrow crevices of the rock. He could even discern the soft scrape of leather as the hunter fiddled with a row of daggers strapped to his thigh.
The whistle of the first arrow almost seemed too loud.
The thud of it hitting the ground was lost among the following wave of arrows showering down on them. The horses spooked, and Sakura's horse forced her to jump off. Sasuke managed to calm his horse enough to tie it in a small alcove that shielded most of the arrows. The hunter was still on his horse, though he was struggling to parry the arrows with a wakizashi sword. The path was too narrow to use the glaive. His already tattered cloak seemed to bloom with new holes.
Sasuke jumped up and sliced away an arrow aimed at the hunter's back with a kunai. The hunter paused, and then suddenly kicked his horse in a furious gallop back for the entrance of the path. Really? He was running away now? Sasuke dodged the hail of arrows and run up along the wall of the corridor after him. Just moments before the hunter's horse broke free of the confines of the rocky bottleneck, a wall of bandits closed the exit. The horse scrambled to a stop but the hunter leaped off the saddle and kept going over the bandits' heads. He landed in a rolling tangle of cloak and weapons, somehow ending in a low stance with his naginata unsheathed and the blade pointed along his back like the sting of a scorpion.
The hunter deftly spun his weapon and slashed at the first attacker. A spray of blood obscured his movements. Several more bandits dropped to the ground. The moves were basic, but the hunter moved with a fluidity that spoke of advanced training. But for each injured raider the hunter kicked away from him, several more took his place. He was slowly being overwhelmed.
Sasuke glanced back at Sakura. Despite the restriction on her earthshattering strength - it wouldn't do to collapse all that rock on themselves - she and clone Naruto were in no trouble. The downpour of arrows had dwindled to a harmless drizzle. Assured that his team was fine, the Uchiha concentrated on saving the hunter.
But that didn't mean he couldn't prolong the fight and learn more about the hunter's abilities.
A flash of handseals triggered a long stream of fire. It was enough of a distraction that he could flicker into the roiling mass of attackers and carve a path to the hunter. The hunter stared at him.
"Why are you helping me?"
And nearly got decapitated for his moment of hesitance. Sasuke blocked the enormous axe with his katana, giving the other a chance to recompose himself and cut down another.
"You're far more useful alive than dead," Sasuke snapped as he pushed back the owner of the axe, taking the opportunity to use his chakra and shock another nearby bandit through the metal of his own weapon. The hunter dropped low, sweeping out the naginata like a lethal game of jump rope.
Sasuke flipped over him, melting the faces of two more attackers with his palms as he landed. More howls of agony joined the two whose features were cauterized. Sasuke found himself impressed as several bandits fell to their knees. He and the hunter were fighting back to back.
"Do that again when I give the signal." There were only six more bandits here, and a quick look towards Sakura and Naruto told him they were about done other there as well. He could finish this in a few seconds, but he was curious.
Sasuke flashed through one of Kakashi's old favorite techniques and disappeared underground. In quick succession, he pulled the remaining half-dozen into the ground so only their heads showed above ground. The hunter immediately spun into a low attack that landed on all six. Blood stained the rusty dirt dark brown. Sasuke moved his foot so it couldn't touch his shoe.
"Interesting." The hunter had understood exactly what Sasuke had meant for him to do. Yet he'd changed his attack so he struck with the butt of the staff. Head wounds bled excessively, but the hunter kept all six alive but unconcious.
The hunter wiped away the blood on his naginata blade. With a flick of his arm, he pointed it threateningly at Sasuke's throat.
"Don't play with me." The Uchiha lifted an eyebrow challengingly. The hunter shook his head with disgust and sheathed the weapon. He picked his way through the carnage until he found his short sword. After cleaning it meticulously, the hunter continued searching through the bodies of the bandits.
"Oi, Bastard! You're not hurt by the little tussle?" Naruto's abrasive voice distracted him from his study of the hunter.
"You wish, Dead-last. What took you so long?" Sasuke replied. He turned to see Naruto wearing a wide grin and Sakura cleaning a light wound on his shoulder before it could close. "And who's the idiot that got injured by civilians?"
"Shut up bastard! At least I took out more of than you."
"That's not saying much," Sasuke dismissed. The hard sound of metal against bone drew his attention. The hunter cleanly beheaded one of the dead bandits and carefully wrapped it in a large tarp. Naruto's mocking arguments faded away as the two of them watched in morbid interest as the hunter methodically collected the heads of select bandits.
"Bounty targets?" The hunter nodded and continued inspecting each of the corpses. Finding no further worthy heads, he turned back to the rocky corridor where the bandits had tried to trap them. The ninja followed.
Sakura was waiting for them with the horses, though she only had the reins to three of them. The fourth lay to the side. Surprisingly, it wasn't the hunter's horse, despite his reckless maneuvering in the battle earlier.
"I couldn't save it. My horse..." the medic murmurred. She bowed her head.
"Sakura, save your pity. It's just a horse," Sasuke commanded. He knelt and efficiently stripped the horse of its gear. He roughly flipped the body over to get to the buckles. There was no point in waste and the tackle should garner some coins.
"Life is still precious." The hunter kicked dirt at Sasuke before kneeling to close the horse's eyes.
"Watch it! You're one to have an opinon on such things," snarled the Uchiha. He looked meaningfully at the crimson stain on the makeshift bundle tied to the hunter's back. The hunter ignored him, and softly smoothed down the forelock between the ears.
"This one is innocent."
Sasuke shook his head. Now the hunter decided to be a bleeding heart - rather hypocritical given his career choice. Probably his way to dealing with the guilt of taking lives for no purpose but money.
"Are everyone's injuries take care of?" Sasuke sighed as he stood. They all nodded. "Then we need to keep going. We will rotate through who walks and who rides. There still may be bandits around. We can rest when we clear this path."
Sasuke was always quick to form opinions, but he'd learned over time to be open to changing his mind. Itachi had taken supreme glee in teaching him that lesson. However, he doubted he'd ever not dislike the desert, sadistic older brother or not. The soft shifting ground tired the horses and made his calves sore when he had to walk. The pale dunes reflected the glaring rays of the sun straight into his eyes like spears. The heat waves parched his throat and lips, and made his hair feel like as if he could fry omelettes on his head. And iif the days were hot, the nights were colder. Sand that felt like hot coals only hours earlier transformed into a shifting sea of ice.
And the goddamned sand got everywhere.
Sasuke couldn't keep a grimace off his face as he dug more sand out of his ear. He didn't even want to think about his hair nor his boots. Or the rest of his body in general. Even though they rotated through riding the three remaining horses, the endless hours of heat had taken its toll on him, and a heavy fatigue settled over him like a thick blanket.
"Let's camp for the night, Sasuke," Sakura suggested. It was her walking turn, and she leaned against Naruto's horse listlessly. The blonde had dozed off. "I'm beat."
"Find a good spot," the Uchiha replied. "Hunter. Know any good places for camp?"
The hunter looked around before pointing at a small cluster of boulders barely discernible in the waning light. The dip in the endless plane of sand would protect them from the worst of the night's chill. Perfect.
The heat had seemed to sap the energy out of his teammate as well. Normally, breaking for camp was an efficient dance, but all three of them dragged their feet, shuffling awkwardly over the sand. While they struggled through the motions of setting up tents and a small fire, the hunter was perched on a smaller rock to the side, meticulously recleaning his naginata and wakizashi.
Dinner were small ration bars and a little water. The climate had blunted their appetite, so it was slightly nauseating to watch the hunter gorge himself on large handfuls of jerky and dried fruit. After finishing, the hunter curled up against the rock like a cat, and covered himself with his cloak. Within moments, his breathing slowed into the telltale rhythm of slumber.
"How can he eat like that? It's like it's not even going into his stomach," Sakura marveled. Though he tried to hide it with thick layers sturdy leather, close observation easily revealed limbs that were almost too thin. "When I healed his ankle, he was nothing but skin and bone."
It wasn't hard to speculate. They'd spent the past few months in a town, sheltered from the harsh conditions outside. Even traveling at a slow pace in the desert taxed his body. Yet this hunter was on a continual journey all over the area in search of his targets. On top of fighting off bandits, there was the task of actually capturing the criminals.
"It's like living in Training Area 44," Sasuke mused. Naruto shuddered as he was regarded the hunter with new respect. "I think our original profile on the hunter is inaccurate."
"Thirty-five, male, most likely a runaway from the border families?" the blonde added. Sakura shook her head.
"Definitely not male. The muscle tone isn't developed enough when compared with his level of physical activity. Especially since he's probably walking on sand all day."
"Impossible," Sasuke dismissed. The medic glared.
"Why, because women can't fight?" she asked sarcastically. "Do I need to rebeat that sexist attitude out of you?" The Uchiha rolled his eyes.
"You've never beat me. And you're forgetting that the hunter can't use chakra."
"Wait wait," Naruto interjected. "Sakura had to retag the guy. I bet you he got rid of the one before."
"Fail, Naruto. Who was it that jumped to conclusions and attacked him with all that chakra?" Sakura snapped, slightly sore over how little faith her teammates had in her abilities. "Not even my tags can stand that kind of chakra intensity."
"The hunter can't use chakra. Even females would have muscle with that level of physical activity." Sasuke continued as if he hadn't heard their stupid bickering. He gestured towards Sakura's toned legs. "He clearly isn't starving himself, so I think there is another reason."
"Just tell us already, oh mighty detective," Naruto grumbled with wide yawn that displayed his tonsils. The Uchiha curled his lip in disgust, but continued.
"I don't think he's reached puberty yet."
It sounded as absurd inside his head as it did out loud. Sakura and Naruto snickered, taking several moments to recompose themselves.
"I guess it makes sense. He's certainly eating like a growing boy, and he's on the short side for a male. That would explain the muscle tone." The medic wiped a tear from her eye.
"Probably why he doesn't speak either," Naruto added between chortles. "His voice might crack!"
The exhaustion was making all three of them hysterical. Sasuke shook his head, though he couldn't keep the small smirk off his face. Painted as a pre-teen, the hunter's standoffish ways were just bratty and kind of adorable. Maybe this was why Itachi always took such delight in teasing him.
The Uchiha glanced up at the clear night sky.
"I'll take first shift. Dead-last, you're next." The blonde nodded wearily and crawled into the tent. Sakura joined him with a soft yawn.
"Night, Sasuke."
"Don't brood too long, bastard."
Sasuke huffed softly and leaned back against the flat surface of rock. The fire warmed his feet, and he had both the hunter and his teammates in easy view. He was tired, but the coolness of the night kept him awake.
In Japanese:
"Mozou" = "mimic"
"Hibiki" = "echo"
AN: Wow guys! I'm really glad you liked my little plot bunny thus far. A shorter chapter, yes, but hey, I updated in less than a week!
Stay safe this long weekend (passed like 3 car accidents on the way home...not that long of ride...) !
edit: Some people have pointed out that:
1 - Wouldn't they have tried to peek at Hinata's face? While we know that Hinata's an important person, the ninja think she's just some random criminal hunter. They couldn't care less about what she/he/it looks like as long as she/he/it does her/his/its job right now. Also, they're also known Kakashi for like a decade. Face-hiding is not that weird to these three.
2 - Wouldn't the hunter be awfully young to be hunting if he hasn't hit puberty yet? Good point. But I'm taking Naruto's precedence where child killers aren't that big of deal. (Again, I point fingers at Kakashi - he made chuunin at 6 during a war...stabbing is going to occur). Also, Sasuke suspects that the hunter's had training at a samurai clan.
So yeah, this is why I need you guys to keep an eye for things that don't add up. Chances are, I'm too busy kyaa-ing over SasuHina to notice.
