The courtship of Naruto Uzumaki

XIX. The Order of the Way of the Horse

Naruto could have kept on walking forever, holding Hinata's hand, and smiling into her beautiful, silver eyes. He'd totally forgotten the monks, the genin trailing behind them—every serious thing in the world except Hinata. However, the object of his affections had not allowed herself to be so totally lost to reality despite the near dream perfection of the moment. In the midst of their leisurely, and what he considered to be aimless, walk, she suddenly stopped, turned and tugged on his hand. He'd been completely unaware of her gentle guidance in the direction they needed to go in the next step of their investigation.

"Unh? What?" he asked coming to a halt, his body a few steps ahead of her, but with his hand still firmly in her possession.

"We've got to go this way," she insisted softly.

"We do?"

She nodded her head. "Remember? The monks? They're renting a house on the other side of the park," she told him.

"Monks? Oh, yeah, right, monks," he said sheepishly. "I forgot all about those guys. How did you know where to find them? I never thought to ask about that."

She smiled shyly. "I realized after we'd left the complex that we'd failed to discover where they were lodging. I asked around while I was talking to people this morning so we wouldn't have to go back to the complex to find out."

"That was wonderful thinking, Hinata," he said with admiration. "You think of all those little details I tend to forget. We make a fantastic team." He stood beaming at her, and gently squeezing her hand.

She flushed under his praise. If only they were alone so she could fully bask in the sunshine of his attention. She'd allowed a certain amount of unprofessionalism to creep into their journey, because—well, she just couldn't help herself. Anytime or place Naruto wanted to be sweet and attentive, how could she say no? But unfortunately she had to be the voice of reason since her beloved seemed lost to all reason. "I think so, too, Naruto, but we're actually a team of four just now," she agreed nodding her head towards the genin behind them.

"Hinata, what—oh, yeah, I forgot about them, too." He reddened, and dropped her hand as if it were a hot potato. He'd thoroughly forgotten their mission and the genin accompanying them. What kind of example was he setting for his temporary protégés? Not one the Fifth would want anyone else to follow, and if she heard about it, she might not allow Hinata to be with him on the same team ever again. He'd have to find some way to smooth this over. He raised his hand up to his face to ostensibly scratch his nose, but in actuality to peer surreptitiously at the genin from behind his hand.

With great relief, he saw that they weren't paying any attention to the romantic antics of their elders. Instead they were looking intently at the woods in the park.

"That's where the first body was found," Botan said in hushed tones.

"Yeah," Akira responded just as softly. "I wonder if the vampire hangs out in those woods."

"Maybe it's not safe in there even in the day time."

"It could be dark enough in the middle—maybe in a cave or something for vampires to hang out during the day."

"Hey, that guy wasn't just a body. He was alive when we found him. Nobody's been killed yet," Naruto interrupted their musings. "I don't know of any caves in those woods—and I've explored them thoroughly since before I was your age."

"When you found him?" Two inquisitive pairs of eyes turned sharply towards him, as they honed in on the most important part of his speech.

"That's right. Hinata and I found the first guy. You want to see where we found him?" Everyone else already knew, so it couldn't hurt for these two genin to know about it, too.

"Yeah!"

"Cool!"

They left the path, and walked into the woods along the path Naruto and Hinata had taken the night of their first date. The group paused on the way through the woods to admire the sight where the first attack victim was found. Botan and Akira had to hear all the details, and examine the area so their trek through the woods took longer than intended. Naruto tried to make the story sound scary as he gave them the atmospheric background of the dark, dark night, the eerily, silent woods, then the low spooky moan of the victim. It was all true, and based on some of the feelings he'd had that night, but under the warm, light of the sun, it lost some of its terror. However, Botan and Akira seemed duly impressed by the eyewitness account. If only there'd been gobs of blood lying around, they'd have been really awed by the tale. Of course, they'd probably have been leery of walking through the park for years to come if they could have seen something gross or gruesome left behind.

Finally, it was Hinata who managed to bring the trio back to the realities of their current mission, and get their feet moving in the right direction. She really didn't understand this fascination with vampires. She'd told them several times that vampires were only a myth. Still, they insisted on attributing the attacks to vampires—all three of them. She finally decided it must be a guy thing to seek the most gruesome conclusion possible from examining all available evidence. She certainly had no trouble putting vampires where they belonged—between the pages of a book.

Once they'd cut through the woods, Hinata indicated the monk's present lodgings, and Naruto brought the group into a huddle so he could give them the game plan. Despite all evidence to the contrary, he had been thinking about their approach to the monks, but dismissed the idea of treating them any differently then he had anyone else that day. He'd ask the questions, and they'd give the answer no ifs, and, or buts. Because if they didn't—well, since he was sharing the questioning with Hinata, he probably couldn't use physical threats. She wouldn't like it. The Fifth probably wouldn't want him fighting with visitors without sufficient provocation either. He'd just have to hope they were cooperative. He'd just have to keep calm, cool, and collected. He could do that—maybe.

He put his hands on the genin's shoulders, and gave them their instructions.

"Okay, guys. Hinata and I will do all the questioning. I want you two to casually look around, play attention, make note of anything odd or unusual, and listen to the questions. If you two have any observations or questions that we've missed and should be asked whisper them to Hinata. She'll use her judgment on whether to ask the questions. Otherwise, save your observations until after the interview. We can discuss them before we meet up with Shikamaru at the ninja complex later. Okay? Have you all got that? Hinata, do you have anything to add? No? Good. Let's get started." He led the way, and knocked at the door.

There was no response.

He knocked again—louder and longer then he put his ear to the door to listen.

"I hear someone moving around and talking," he said, and straightened up away from the door so he wouldn't be caught in that awkward, nosey position. Still, no one opened the door.

He sighed in exasperation, and was just about to knock again, when the door finally opened. A sleepy-eyed monk stood in the shadows of the doorway frowned at them from the darkened interior. His robes looked wrinkled and disheveled as if he'd slept in them. If he'd had any hair it would probably have looked bedraggled, too.

"What do you want?" he asked in a grumpy, raspy voice. He used his body to block the doorway so they couldn't see around him into the house through the narrow opening of the door.

"We're ninja with the task force investigating the recent attacks on our citizens. We'd like a few words with you," Naruto told them in his blunt, official voice.

"What attacks? I thought just one guy was attacked," he yawned, and scratched his head.

"Haven't you heard? Everyone else in the village seems to know about it. There were two more attacks last night," he asked in mock surprise.

"No, I haven't. I just got up. I haven't been out of the house today," he muttered defensively.

Naruto looked up at the sun. "It's already early afternoon. You do sleep late. Are the rest of your order also sleeping in?" he asked pointedly.

"What business is that of yours?" His tone became less defensive and more aggressive.

For the first time the monk's eyes met Naruto's. There was such a sly, malevolent gleam in his eyes that Naruto felt taken aback it was so unexpected. Almost immediately, the monk looked down, and the moment was lost, but it left Naruto feeling suspicious as well as on his guard. If these monks turned out not to be the attackers then Naruto felt certain they had another unsavory agenda that had nothing to do with animal welfare.

"Everyone in Konoha is our business. I'd advise you to answer our questions without causing any trouble." Naruto didn't offer the word please. He had a perfect right to ask his questions, and he expected answers without making nice.

"Please, we must ask because you're relative strangers here," Hinata added the politeness that Naruto had forsaken. "We're questioning all visitors in Konoha. You haven't been singled out."

Either Hinata's soft, gentle voice or Naruto's veiled threats caused the monk to pause in his aggressive stance, because his voice lost its hostility. "Yeah, okay, that's right, we've all been sleeping. We usually stay up late, and sleep in."

Hinata answered before Naruto could say anything else deliberately provocative. It was more important to acquire answers than to argue their authority. Surely, Naruto could understand that, and forgive her interruption? "We'd really like to talk to all of you at one time. Could we, please, do that now?"

"Or would you like to come down to the ninja complex with us, and talk to the Hokage?" Naruto couldn't help adding. It was his belief that this group would respond better to vinegar than honey.

The monk frowned, but gave no other indication to his thoughts. He looked back over his shoulder. "Wait a minute," he said abruptly then shut the door sharply in their faces.

"Damn! I should have put my foot in the door," Naruto growled. "You don't think they're trying to get away, do you?" he asked Hinata. "You were too nice to them. We should have just muscled in right away instead of giving them time to think." He leaned against the door to listen. He heard moving around, and voices, but nothing sounded rushed or urgent.

"Maybe they're tidying up the room, before we come in," she suggested. "It's what I would do if I had surprise visitors."

"Guy's don't think of stuff like that. More likely they're hiding incriminating evidence."

"He really did look as if he'd just woken up. Maybe the others were still abed. What evidence could they be hiding?"

"I don't know. A weapon? Bloody clothes?"

"Who would leave a just weapon lying around? Would we even recognize the sort of weapon that could make those particular wounds?" Hinata reasoned. "I think if there was enough blood to splatter on their clothes it would have splattered on the victims, too. There was nothing on the victim's clothes."

"Maybe they cleaned it up with their clothes." Naruto wasn't particularly sold on his conjecture. He just threw it out there for speculation while they were waiting. He knew Hinata would make quick work of any faulty reasoning.

"You can't sop up blood like you would water. It would be impossible to remove blood evidence from the victims without removing their clothes."

He shrugged. "Maybe that's what they did. Maybe that's what they're hiding."

She opened her mouth then closed it. Here she was disagreeing with Naruto! Hinata felt some trepidation and thrill at the same time. She studied his face, but he didn't seem angered by her arguments. His attention was mostly on the door he was trying to listen through. Before she could voice any more opinions, he straightened up. "I think someone's coming."

The door opened, and the monk from before stood there. "Come in. We're ready to talk to you," he said gruffly. He gestured for them to enter the house.

The large front room was practically bare except for the tatami mats covering the floor, and the other four monks sitting cross-legged upon them. The house was small for five guys to live in. There couldn't be much more to it except for a bathroom, kitchen, and maybe a small bedroom. That meant some of them had slept in the large room.

Any evidence of the monks using the room for sleep or anything else was no where around. Naruto still wondered if they'd been trying to hide something rather than merely been waking up. He didn't have a good reason to search the place, so the idea would remain speculation unless they learned something from their meeting today to give him cause for a search.

"I am Yuu Higa," the older monk sitting at the far end of the room said authoritatively as they entered. His hands were tucked within his oversize sleeves. His robe looked slept in, too. "What is it you wish of us?"

"We've been sent here by the Hokage to question all strangers. There have been three attacks in the village, so we're gathering information on the visitors here." Naruto announced as his team was left standing by the door while the monk who'd shown them in went to sit with his brethren. Now that he was inside the house, he had no other sense of ill-will from the monks, but none of the met his eyes. Even the leader of the group looked somewhere over his shoulder, and not directly in his eyes. That was definitely a suspicious sign.

"We would appreciate your cooperation," Hinata added.

"We've attacked no one. We're a peaceful order. We wouldn't hurt beast or man," the head monk asserted firmly.

"We've only got your word for that," Naruto argued.

"Our word is our bond. It can not be easily broken."

"We will accept your word for the time being," Hinata interposed. Naruto was behaving outrageously. If she didn't go against her usual shyness and intercede there could be a fight. When he wanted to Naruto could try the patience of a saint. That would not advance their mission's goals in any way. Naruto had good instincts, and apparently he'd taken an instant dislike to this group. She trusted his instincts, but the Fifth wouldn't buy that reasoning for harassing apparently innocent visitors. It would have to be her job to see that this interview was completed without blood shed.

"How long have you been in Konoha?" Naruto dropped his offensive line since Hinata was against it, and began his routine questioning.

"Three weeks."

"How long do you intend to stay?"

"Our plans are not firm. We are studying the possibility of opening an arm of our order in this village. We could be here many months, many weeks or only days if we deem this area inhospitable to our beliefs."

"Where do you come from?" Naruto continued to shoot out the usual questions.

"Our order was founded in the Rice Country. We have a monastery there. Missionaries have been sent into all the other countries to investigate the possibilities of establishing more monasteries."

"What is your order about anyway?"

Yuu Higa continued to field all the questions while his brothers sat silently around him. "It is the contention of our founder Brother Masahiro, that animals and humans should live harmoniously together in this world. We believe that all creatures capable of suffering should be treated with respect. We do not eat the flesh of our fellow creatures. Nor do we kill to wear their skin on ours. Nor do we ask them to bear burdens that we would not bear ourselves. Creatures of the air, land, and sea are our brothers. That is our creed."

Naruto was skeptical, but there was no point in arguing. He'd heard all he wanted to about their order. "I saw you at the theater the other night when you stopped the dog act from performing. You spoiled a rather special night for me. I was looking forward to seeing that show. Those dogs didn't seem to be ill-treated to me. They didn't start barking and whining until you blew that whistle of yours."

"The whistle does no harm to the dogs. It's merely pitched for their ears only. It was our understanding that punishment was a form of the discipline in training those poor dogs. We could not see those actors enjoying the fruits of their labor under those conditions."

"They claimed not to use punishment in training. Have you been able to prove them wrong?"

"No, we haven't. But we're keeping that acting troupe under our scrutiny. If there is any evidence to discover, we will discover it."

Naruto looked at Hinata. He couldn't think of anything else to ask since they'd already claimed to know nothing of the attacks. The belligerence they'd met at the front door was gone. It could possibly be attributed to sleepiness, and a sudden awakening, not guilt or something uglier as he'd first thought at.

"Have you discovered any converts for your order in Konoha?" she asked since Naruto had yield her the floor.

"Not thus far, but it does not happen over night. We intend to speak with anyone we meet who use animals for their own ends. This may take some time."

"We want to advise you to be careful when you go out at night. Never travel alone. If possible, don't go out at all," she warned. "It may not be safe."

"But we must! We're making a study of nocturnal creatures. We can not have our studies interrupted."

"What creatures?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Creatures that are active a night. Owls, foxes, badgers, bats, to name a few."

"Is that why you're sleeping so late? You stay out studying these animals?"

"Of course. Why else would we be abroad at night? Certainly not to attack unsuspecting villagers, if that's what you intend to imply?" Finally, the head monk was showing a little emotion.

"Don't you think it's a little dangerous to do that right now?"

"We never go abroad alone. We travel in twos or threes. I think we should be safe from attack by taking ordinary precautions."

"It might be better if you curtailed this research until we capture the attacker," Hinata suggested.

"Don't worry about us, young woman. We'll be careful."

Naruto looked over the group sitting calmly on the floor mats. They didn't appear at all interested, shocked, or frightened by the idea of a serial attacker in the village. That seemed pretty suspicious to him. He wondered if Shikamaru would feel the same way.

"You've been warned. That's all we have to ask you today. If we have any other questions, someone will come around at a later time," he concluded the interview after Hinata nodded her agreement.

"Fine. Good-day to you. Mizuki, see them out."

The monk who'd answered the door to them earlier, now ushered them out the door.

Once they'd walked far enough away from the house, Naruto asked, "What did you think of that?"

He was speaking to Hinata, but Botan answered. "Maybe they're vampires. That's why they sleep all day and go out at night."

"Yeah, and they made up some excuse so they had a good reason to go out at night," Akira agreed.

Naruto rubbed his chin. "Good point, but I think at least one of them would have had to go out during the day. The markets close before dark. They would probably have only been able to rent their house during the day. So they all couldn't be vampires."

"Maybe the others are the vampire's servants."

"Yeah, the old one doing all the talking. He's probably the vampire."

At this point, Hinata was exasperated with the entire group. So exasperated that she couldn't maintain her silence any longer. Placing her hands on her hips as she'd seen countless women do when they were provoked by the men in their lives, she gazed sternly at her team mates. "I don't want to hear any more about vampires! Let's discuss this thing sensibly. Until all evidence proves otherwise, I believe vampires do not exist. We will refer to the attacker as the attacker and not the vampire. Is that clear?" she asked firmly.

The three males in her team, looked at her in shock. None of them had ever heard that tone of voice come out of the shy, quiet, Hinata. She sounded very like somebody's mother or at the very least—the Fifth.

"Yes, ma'am," Botan and Akira said together.

"Yes, ma'am," Naruto followed smartly after them. He grinned at her. This was a side of Hinata he found very interesting.

She blushed and backed down immediately. "I'm sorry. But really, let's not consider the vampire question until we've spoken with Shikamaru and the Hokage. These attacks could be perpetrated by someone imitating a vampire, so if there isn't a real vampire involved than those restrictions such as no sunlight, don't apply. We mustn't make assumptions. We don't have enough facts yet."

"I see your point. Do you guys get it? No more vampire talk. Okay?"

"Yeah," they both reluctantly agreed. Vampires would have been so cool.

"Good. Did you guys have anything else to add?"

They shook their heads. As far as they could tell there hadn't been anything to observe. There had been nothing in that room except monks, and the monks didn't do anything weird. Naruto and Hinata asked all the questions they could think of. Since vampires were out, they had nothing else to contribute.

"No? Do you have anything to add, Hinata?"

"Nothing significant. I'll wait until we report to Shikamaru. All I have are impressions."

"Yeah, me, too. I think those guys are up to something. I just don't know what."

"I think you may be right, but we have nothing concrete to report."

"No, but they bear watching. Okay then let's get on with the last part of our assignment. You do know where the acting troupe is staying, don't you, Hinata?" he asked grinning.

She smiled back. "Yes. I asked about them today, also."

"I figured as much. Good work. C'mon team. Let's follow, Hinata," he announced, but actually walked beside her as she led the way. "Remind me, never to make you angry again," he said softly to her as the genin once more trailed behind them.

"I wasn't angry—not really."

"You could have fooled me. I've never heard that tone from you before."

She flushed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I kinda of liked you getting all tough with us. We were being stupid. If you say vampires don't exist, I won't talk about them again. I won't encourage Botan or Akira to talk about them, either. Or Teuchi. No more vampires. Okay?"

"Okay," she agreed. She should have been satisfied with that, but still she was troubled. What if she were wrong? What if one of her childhood terrors was real after all? Stranger things have been known to happen. How would they know for sure? Were the legends true or embellished? How does one fight a supernatural being? She hoped they wouldn't be called upon to find out. She'd much rather fight a horrible human than a horrible inhuman. She didn't want to face a blood drinking, undead creature of nightmares—her childhood nightmares.