A/N: …Yeah, I'm alive. No, I don't really have a good excuse for my lack of chapters. -shrugs- Here's another one for you.

Edit: In preparation for finally continuing this... well... There's been some edits made. A slight change of cast, so to speak.

As always… Characters aren't mine, story is.

Burning Leaves - 6

Karin slipped in the back door of The Monarch, looking for an empty hook to hang her coat on. She was only a couple minutes shy of being late for work, but that's how she always was. She'd just go wash her hands, get her apron, and be out in the restaurant before anyone noticed-

"Shit," she grumbled under her breath when Ino appeared from the kitchen, darting toward the older girl quickly. Karin hated Ino, partially because she had a knack for catching her breaking the rules, and partially because she was ugly, but mostly because she was two years younger and still was the head waitress, a position she had only earned by fucking the manager's son.

"Karin, there you are," the blonde squeaked, pulling her aside urgently.

"I'm not late," she grumbled, "yet, at least."

"No, that's not it," Ino countered, but the waitress was talking again before she could explain.

"What the hell am I in trouble for, then?"

"You're not in trouble for anything," Ino sighed in exasperation. "Look, we've got a special guest tonight, and we need you-"

"To stay out of the way and keep my mouth shut," she recited mockingly, pushing up her glasses as an excuse to look away from her.

The younger woman looked ready to pull her hair out. "No," she hissed, "To go up and watch the front door. If anyone comes in, you just tell them we're booked solid for the night and offer to make a special reservation for them for next week."

She was silent for a moment, staring blankly as she understood. "You mean... he's here again?" The volume with when she was shushed confirmed her suspicion. "Alright... I'll go." She turned and finished preparing her uniform, taking a little extra time to put her hair into a bun and pin it into place carefully, though a few bits still escaped her.

The Monarch was easily the fanciest steakhouse in Konoha, and was frequented by most the city's big wigs. Amongst those were the mayor and other officials... And the less public but far more feared Yakuza leader.

He was a man known simply as the Kazekage. Somewhere in his fifties but still going strong, he commanded more respect from the citizens who knew of him than any officer of the law could hope to. He was impressive, and even though she was to stay mostly out of sight, Karin couldn't help but look over toward his corner as she walked past, peeking between the crowd. It had been nearly three years since he'd last come into their restaurant, and back then she'd been pushed straight back out the door and heard of his presence only through rumors.

But the red-haired man everyone was gathered around couldn't be any older than her. Karin stopped in her tracks, gawking at the man for a few second before his eye caught hers for an instant.

She hurried off to her post, knowing that her chances of getting a bonus this month were now gone.

--

The Kazekage was dead, and had been for over two years. His family had vanished from town well before then, leaving some of the higher ups in charge, which had severely weakened the mob.

His son was back in town to change that.

Ino knew who he was on sight... She'd seen him for years, several different times, as she waited on his father. She had no idea what his name was, but now he was referred to simply as Sabaku. He'd always been the best behaved of the three children, which explained why the boy with a tattoo on his forehead had become the rather distinctive leader of the local Yakuza.

As concerning as his presence was, Ino's nerves were even more frazzled by the woman sitting next to him. It was because of her, and not Sabaku himself, that she had tried to place the waitressing duty onto someone else.

That had failed, and now she was going out of her way to avoid eye contact with Temari. The boss himself? No objections. But his sister had caused one of her friends a great deal of pain the night before, and Ino wasn't about to forgive her for any reason.

"May I get you a drink, sir?" she offered Sabaku, eyes focused on the wall directly to the left of his head, avoiding eye contact with him and avoiding looking toward the blonde on his right. He ordered, and she followed in succession, taking orders from each of the others at the table, based on how important they seemed, ending with Temari well after she'd gotten the orders of the various bodyguards and peons.

She had to be polite, that was a given, but she didn't have to give her any kind of respect. She'd lower that bitch as far as she could.

And yet she couldn't stop looking in her direction, couldn't stop checking to see if the older woman was sorry yet, or if she was at least pissing her off yet. But nothing seemed to even faze her, no matter how hard she tried. Every time Ino looked over, she was being ignored, and not even blatantly – she was simply just talking to someone else the whole time, or acting as though her food was the most interesting thing on the planet.

Temari struck back for the first time by making Ino repeat the specials no less than three times, proclaiming that she couldn't understand her. "It sounds like your tongues swollen or something, honey. You should really get that checked," she suggested, sticking out her tongue and wiggling it in a way that was obviously meant to indicate Ino's tongue ring.

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and moving the clear stud a couple times before repeating – as clearly, slowly, and calmly as she could manage – the menu once more. She had to wonder when Temari'd had the time to notice her tongue ring though; she was required to wear invisible ones at work, and she wasn't sure they'd made eye contact long enough the night before (even before the declaration of war had come) for her to notice such a thing.

But this was Temari. She'd always been the one to use everything she had against those around her.

Part way through the meal, her phone rang and she answered it, spending a few minutes ignoring her food while she talked quietly (but laughed loudly) to the person on the other end of the line. Both times Ino passed the table during the call, she was met with amused smiles that showed almost all of Temari's teeth.

And what killed her was that she just wanted to know who she was talking to and what they'd been saying.

From that point on, her expressions toward Ino had shifted to the point that she was actually laughing each time she walked away from the table over an hour later.

If they were going to become regulars again, either Sabaku would have to get a new representative, or The Monarch was going to make the front page for having their head waitress incarcerated.

Akamaru's head rose from his paws quickly at the sound of a car door shutting in the driveway outside. Barking once, he hopped off the couch, nearly bowling Kiba over from his spot on the floor on his way to the door. Kiba scolded him halfheartedly, pausing his game, standing up, and following him with a chuckle. "What's up buddy, we got company?" He picked up a shirt and tossed it over his shoulder, just in case he needed to look decent, and popped his head out into the front hall, where Hana had already opened the door.

Hinata was standing there, her pale eyes unusually wide and bloodshot, her makeup smeared and hair twisted in her hands as talked to his older sister. He blinked, taking a moment to put together all the pieces into a single answer: she'd been crying.

Her eyes widened further when she spotted him, hurrying away from the door and throwing herself into his chest. For a moment he stood there dumbly, looking between the indigo head below him and Hana as she shut the door. "No idea," she mouthed, shrugging, and he sighed, wrapping his arms around her.

"Hey there little girl, what's wrong?" he whispered, trying to sound soothing.

"Don't want to talk about it," she muttered, barely turning her head far enough to be heard. She was sobbing again, her tears carving fresh tracks down her cheeks. He'd seen her like this twice before, the first when her mother died over a decade earlier, and the second at Neji's death – so he knew this was something major, and knew she'd tell him when she was ready.

"You need to sleep?" he offered, backing up his head to try and see her face. She just nodded, grip loosening a little. "Naruto know you're here?"

She was just silent, almost paralyzed by the mere question.

Kiba could swear he felt his temperature raise a dozen degrees in the next half second, rage washing over him instantaneously. "What did he do, Hinata?"

She was still silent.

"Tell me what he did. He had to have done something, and you're gonna tell me what it is." He was growling now, and he knew he was too angry from how she seemed to grow smaller in his arms and how Akamaru whined behind him, but he didn't care. Hinata was like a little sister to him, had been an extension of his family longer than Akamaru, and friend or not, if he had hurt her... "Tell me."

"He didn't do anything, Kiba. Don't worry."

"Don't give me that shit. You're crying. He did something fucked up."

"Kiba! It's fine! Don't worry!" He couldn't tell if she was screaming in fear, anger, or just crying louder. "He didn't do anything. I just need a place to stay for a night or two, that's all."

"You go sleep, then. I'll check on you later," he assured, letting her go and pushing her softly toward his room. He watched her head down the hall, glancing over her shoulder at him, where he offered a comforting smile. She sighed, twisting her hair tighter before heading into the messy room, letting Akamaru stride in beside her.

The moment she closed the door behind her, he turned back toward the front door, brushing past Hana roughly. "Take care of her," he commanded before pulling his shirt on, grabbing his keys from the rack near the door.

"You're heading after him, aren't you?" He sighed at the note of amusement in her voice, expecting a lecture to come any moment. As the older, more successful sibling, she always felt like it was her duty to boss him around – or maybe she was just trying to make up for their lack of a mom. Either way, it was a pain in the ass when she started in with the high and mighty on him.

"Sure am, and if you've got a problem with it, you can-"

"What car you plannin on using?"

He snarled, slamming his fist into the wall hard. She just had to remind him of that detail, didn't she? And what was worse was that she was grinning about it.

"Fine," he snorted, tossing his keys into the corner again. "But if he comes anywhere near her before I say he can, he's a dead man, I promise you."

Hana sighed, rolling her eyes as she watched her little brother head back toward his room. "Don't make promises I know you won't keep, Kiba..."