Lurking in the Shadows
(A/N: Alright, there's going to be some Akatsuki action in this chapter with some Hideki/Ayako smitten intermixed. Enjoy the show…and if I fuck up something, don't be afraid to tell me.)
~xxx~
"So, the wrong person was poisoned and lived…is that what you're telling me?" Pein asked, his grey-ringed eyes shining maliciously at his two subordinates.
"Yes Leader-sama." Sasori answered fully expecting their leader to blow his top any second now.
Pein shifted in his chair, interlacing his fingers as he propped his elbows on the large mahogany desk.
'Here it comes…' he thought and was completely wrong.
A devilish smirk graced Pein's lips.
"The poisoning was merely a test for the girl, to which she passed. Continue observing her movements, who she runs with. One can never be too careful when going up against an Uchiha." Pein sneered as his smirk widened minutely. "Now, tell me what you've learned about Uchiha Ayako."
Deidara grinned manically as he pulled out a scroll. "We made a copy of her existing records, yeah," he said while unrolling the parchment. "Though most of it is rather boring, un." Deidara handed the scroll to Sasori and took a step to the side.
"Uchiha Ayako, member of ANBU squad one, top poisons expert and medic. Former member of genin, chunin and jonin team seven; other members: Uzumaki Hinato and Haruno Gennosuke. Haruno-san was replaced by Hyuuga Riku after Gennosuke's disappearance almost four years ago." Pein needed a little clarification.
"Wasn't that Gennosuke kid Orochimaru's last lab rat before the traitor was killed?"
Sasori nodded his head, red hair swaying with the movement. "Yes, and it seems that Ayako was the one to have killed Haruno-san during his mission under Orochimaru."
"That's enough. Leave the report on the desk." Pein said with a wave of his hand, the white of his ring gleaming in the ominous dark. "Sasori, I have a mission for you. Deidara, you and Kisame will return to Konoha and keep an eye on my prize."
With that, they were dismissed.
~xxx~
Caught between a rock and a hard place, that's where Ayako was. Trying desperately not to doze off and pay attention…but the debriefing was taking too damn long.
"…And so, everything is fine and Fujimura-sama will make a full recovery." Tsunade finished with a small smile. The elders had been worried about the condition of the daimyo's wife and had requested to know when she was well. Tsunade turned her attention to the half asleep Ayako and nodded. "Please, tell us more about this poison."
"You'll have to excuse me; I'm suffering the effects of the extraction." Ayako said as she rubbed her eyes and stood.
She bowed to the elders and gave a nod to Ibiki, who stood quietly in the corner with is arms crossed and eyes closed as he leaned against the wall. By no means was she afraid of the master of interrogation, no, he was her mentor…much to Sakura's dismay.
"The poison comes from the interior of the Land of Stone. Thorn Apple is extremely rare and is designed to destroy the lungs through inhalation. This type of poison is normally slow and extremely painful but since Haruka-sama was allergic to the tea, the poison affected her quicker than normal." Ayako said as she rubbed her arms…the room was a bit cold for her tastes.
"The servant said the tea was a gift the grass daimyo…why would he do something like that?" Ibiki asked as he shifted his position on the wall, uncrossing and then re-crossing his legs.
"I don't believe he did." Ayako said with a sigh. "I was told yesterday by the daimyo himself that he and Lord Takeshiro have been allies for the past twenty years."
"That still doesn't explain why the tea he gave them was poisoned." Tsunade interjected as she laced her fingers together. "Do you have any ideas?" she asked Ibiki.
Said ninja pushed himself off the wall and stood next to Ayako. "I'm not paid to wonder where it came from; my job is to find out exactly where it came from."
"I'll take that as a no." Tsunade said then turned back to Ayako. "Do you have some thoughts you would like to share?"
Ayako nodded. "I don't see a reason why Lord Takeshiro would do such a thing and I don't believe Haruka-sama was the intended target."
"What makes you think that?" one of the elders questioned from across the room.
"As the noble family's bodyguard and personal escort, it is my duty to know as much about them as possible. Anyone who knows Ken-sama personally knows that he prefers coffee over tea." She stated matter-of-factly. "And the tea was addressed to Ken-sama himself, suggesting, to me, that the original package was tampered with if not completely replaced during transport."
Tsunade and Ibiki were nodding at her reasoning.
"Is there anything else?" Tsunade asked, leaning back in her chair.
"Yes, I have taking the liberty of asking Ken-sama for the inventory list of the delivered merchandize. If I may, I am requesting that the matter be handled by Morino-san and my self to quickly pinpoint where everything went wrong."
"Request granted, but only for Morino-san; you have enough to worry about at this point in time. You may join the investigation when and if he sees fit. You are dismissed."
Stepping into the hall, Ayako sighed.
"Sometimes I think I care too much for my own good." She whispered.
"Sometimes I think you care too much for your own good." Ibiki said as he clapped a hand over her shoulder. "Go home and get some rest; you look like shit, kid."
Ayako smiled. "I feel like shit but my duty still stands; I must get to the hospital and look after the noble family." She responded as they started walking down the stairs.
"Hey, isn't the induction ceremony today?" Ibiki smirked as Ayako stiffened and stop walking.
"Shit! I have to go, later Ibiki-san." She ran down the rest of the stairs, scaring the crap out of anyone in her way as she raced to the academy. Thank god they were next door to each other.
~xxx~
"So, what does this girl look like so I know her when I see her?" Kisame asked as they stalked down the road. Disguised as traveling salesmen, Deidara and Kisame easily slipped into the village without incident and were now looking for their target.
'Babysitting' is what Kisame had called this mission because Pein had given them strict orders to watch the girl.
"Oh, she's your type: tall, fair and breathtaking, yeah. Trust me, you know her when you see her, un." Responded the blond…well, brunette.
There, rounding the corner was Ayako, running as fast as humanly possible towards the academy. Something big was going on, for the ninjas at least. The villagers didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary but they did part like the Red Sea as Ayako came charging down the street.
"You were right…she is my type." Kisame grinned as he began to follow the girl. Deidara grabbed his arm.
"Are you crazy, yeah? We could be discovered if we go in there, un." Kisame gave up on his chase…he'll find her later, that much was certain.
~xxx~
"Right on time, with a minute to spare," Sasuke teased as Ayako came to a screeching halt next to him and her father.
"Yeah, not my fault so cut the crap, ojisan." She hissed back as she tried to catch her breath.
"Is everything alright?" Itachi asked from behind, worry evident only to anyone who knew him.
Ayako turned and beamed up at her father. "Everything will be fine; Ibiki-san will be looking into it." He nodded at her answer and turned to lead them into the assembly room.
Surrounded, Ayako was completely surrounded. Some people she knew and a hell of a lot of people she didn't. Glancing around the large room, she couldn't see her youngest brother.
'Duh, search for his chakra…idiot!' she berated herself as she focused on finding her dear Akito. Standing in the corner all by himself was Akito looking just as lonely and alienated as Ayako felt. Ayako's heart broke for the boy; being an Uchiha wasn't what it was cracked up to be.
He had no friends, no one to talk to and worst yet, Ayako was nowhere to be seen.
'She promised, she promised she'd be here…' Akito repeated in his mind as his eyes scanned the crowd of unknown faces.
"It is a little hard to find you when you're hiding in the corner and behind chairs." A calm voice said. Akito looked up into his sister's onyx eyes and immediately smiled.
"You made it!" he cheered loudly as he hugged her leg tightly.
Ayako smiled down at him. "Of course I did; I wouldn't miss this for the world." She bent down and hugged her baby brother. "Are you ready to give your speech?" This year it was required that new pre-genin give a small speech about themselves so they could get used to speaking in front of others, also so that the other pre-genins could get to know their fellow students a little better.
Akito sighed. "I guess so…" he said with a frown.
"Well, someone doesn't look too happy." Another calm voice said. Hideki needed to get out of the hospital, so he and Aki came with Sakura.
"Hi Hideki-sama, is Aki-san with you too?" the boy asked with a new light in his eyes.
"I'm here!" answered Aki with a grin as he stepped out from behind Hideki's leg.
"See Akito, you have a friend. Now, it's time for you to get in line. We'll be seated out front." Ayako said as she patted him on the head. He nodded in return and scampered off to wait with the rest of his classmates.
The trio then walked over to Itachi, Sakura and Sasuke. Shiro was already seated, chatting quietly with on of his friends. Of the three Uchiha children, Shiro was the most out going of the bunch. Ayako was the soft-spoken, powerful prodigy (with a hint of malice, might I add) and Akito was the shy/secluded type; three totally different personalities for the three loving children.
Finally, it was time for Akito to give his speech. God, he looked so nervous standing up there with a small piece of paper in his hand.
Sakura leaned over and whispered in Ayako's ear. "He's been practicing his speech all week, standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom. You are going to love it, Yak-chan."
"Could you please stop calling me that?" she whispered back having heard Hideki snicker. Focusing her attention on her brother, Ayako gave him a small, encouraging wave.
Taking that as his cue, Akito began his speech.
"My name is Uchiha Akito of the noble Uchiha clan. I enjoy training, reading books and playing chess with my father. My hero and role model is my older sister, Ayako. She has taught me many things but the most important thing she taught me was to be open to others and to be honest to myself.
"Though she can be mean at times…" that earned a snort form members of the crowd. "Ayako has always been caring and understand. I'm probably giving away her darkest secrets…but I know she loves me and our family and one day I want to grow up to be just like her. Thank you."
Applause rang out from the crowd as Ayako stood and walked over to Akito. For a moment they thought she was mad…that is until she smiled and pulled him into a hug. Completely red from head to toe, Akito let himself be scooped up into her arms and put his arms around her neck.
"I love otouto." She said with a grin.
"I love you too, aneki."
"Now he's done it," Shiro sighed from his seat. "He's gone and inflated her ego."
The pair moved off the small stage ad took their seats so the others could have their turn.
~xxx~
They were seated at a small shop, enjoying a warm cup of sake before they started their search again. Kisame grumbled and Deidara sighed. Things could have gone better.
For starters, the assembly let out and the Uchiha family split into factions. Itachi and Ayako led the noble sons down the road, passed the shop while Sakura, Sasuke, Shiro and Akito headed toward the Uchiha compound, legions of clan members branching off in other directions. Their target was easily lost in the crowd.
"Well damn! How many Uchiha's are there?" Kisame hissed as he stood to get a better view.
"It certainly doesn't help that most of them have dark hair, yeah." Deidara agreed, looking in the other direction. And they couldn't take the risk of searching for her chakra; you find chakra, you must use chakra which would make them sitting ducks for ANBU.
"Look for the blonde dick they had with them." Kisame offered, his head snapping from one end of the road to the other.
"Bingo, yeah," Deidara said, pointing to the pet shop. Akito stopped to look at the dogs in the window. They started to follow slowly after the boy only to stop when Ayako knelt next to him.
"He is cute." She said to the boy. "Come Aki-kun, we'll stop by again after we eat." They heard Aki give a small sigh, watching him turn away reluctantly and take her hand.
"Uh…can't the Sharingan spot genjutsu?" the taller of the two asked. Deidara gave a nod in the positive. "Fuck…"
"Is it time to call on the kid, yeah?" asked the blonde as they watched their target walk away.
"Sure, he needs the exercise…if he wants to be one of us."
Deidara gave a wicked grin as Kisame turned tail and walked around the corner.
"Come on Blondie, his house isn't too far from here." And like ghostly wraths, Kisame and Deidara disappeared into the shadows of the buildings.
~xxx~
"So…Yak-chan huh? That's a nice name." Hideki said teasingly as the group sat down in a booth.
"It's not as bad as Deki-chan." She shot back with a grin at the scowl that appeared on his handsome face.
"Don't worry about Hideki-sama. Mothers have the habit of nicknaming their children." Itachi said as he took a sip of his coffee.
"Did obaasama have a nickname for you, otousan?" Ayako asked with a smile. Itachi gave a nod. She waited…and waited. "Well, are you going to tell me?"
"No." His answer was simple and final. Ayako gave a small pout but left it alone. She knew better than to press his buttons on a subject.
Changing the topic, Hideki sat up straight to address Ayako.
"When you think mother will be released?" there was a hint of worry in his voice that Ayako easily picked up on. With a small smile, she leaned forward.
"She will stay over night for observation. But more than likely, she will be released by tomorrow afternoon."
"Aniki, let's get mommy some flowers." Aki said as he stuffed his face with pancakes. It was a really good idea.
"Alright, to Yamanaka's it is. Now, let me see your face Aki-kun, you're covered in whipped cream." Ayako said as she picked up a napkin and gently grabbed his chin with her slender fingers.
Hideki was suddenly thrown through a loop. Visions of Ayako cleaning the face of a dark-haired, blue-eyed child swarmed his mind. A rush of color hit his cheeks as he continued to watch Ayako and Aki interact.
'Jeez, we're not even dating and I'm already envisioning our children? What the hell is wrong with me?' he asked himself and could find no answer.
Itachi was glaring, as if he could read the mind of the young man sitting across from him. By no means was any man getting near his daughter, even if he was the daimyo's son. Just then, Hideki tore his gaze away from them and looked at Itachi…and his angry crimson eyes.
"Hideki-sama, care to play a game of chess later?" he asked his voice as cold as ice. Hideki gulped. He really didn't like the vibe Itachi was giving off…and what was with his eyes?
Testing the waters, Hideki nodded. "Of course Itachi-sama, that would be nice."
"Hn." Translation: 'nice is not what I have in store for you dear boy'.
Ayako shot her father a glare that translated into: 'go easy on him or I'll…'
Itachi gave her a glare of his own. 'Or you'll what?'
A smirk graced her lips as a twinkle gleamed in her eyes. 'Or I'll tell mom.'
Itachi glared harder. 'You wouldn't dare.'
Ayako's smile grew as she gave a small giggle. 'I would and I will.'
"Hn." Translation: 'fine, you win.'
Hideki looked back and forth between the two, apparently they agreed on something.
~xxx~
'Goddamn hospital, Goddamn mission, goddamn brute…' and the complaints just kept coming as Kyoji made his was down the overly clean hallway. All he wanted to do was go to sleep after his shift of guard duty ended but nooo.
Kyoji had been instructed to go to room one and that's where he was going when he spotted Ayako walking down the hall with Hideki and a young boy.
'Oh, just fucking perfect…' the one person he was looking for was on duty with her other mission. Truth be told, a lot of Ayako's friends and teammates rather be treated by her than someone else. Kyoji heaved a sigh and stepped into his appointed room.
"What the hell happened to you?" an all too familiar voice said from behind. Kyoji turned sharply to find Ayako leaning against the door frame. For a second all he could do was stare.
"Oh…um…my kid brother got a little carried away and well, I think he broke me." He gestured to his swollen arm. Ayako moved into the room and motioned for him to have a seat. He did so without question.
Ayako gently lifted his arm and focused her chakra over the lump on his forearm.
"And just what the hell were you guys doing? It looks like he smashed it with a rock." She said as her chakra delved deeper to fix the problem.
'More like the foot of a seven foot tall man…' he thought with a grimace. "We were training and he got angry. Something about his girlfriend and liking one of my friends." He explained watching her hands work their magic. "Hey, why are you treating me? Aren't you on duty right now?"
Ayako looked up from his arm with an odd look on her face. "Would you rather me do it or have your ex, Miki, brake your arm clean off?" Enough said. Not long after that, Kyoji emerged from the room with his arm in a sling and a new goose egg on his head. Ayako stormed passed him and headed toward Haruka's room.
Miki rushed over to a fuming Ayako as Kyoji exited the hospital.
"That bad huh?" she asked her friend as Ayako practically threw the file at another nurse.
"The next time I see him, I'll kill the grabby bastard." And with that, Ayako walked away, leaving her anger at the door as she entered the private room.
Kyoji returned to his apartment and to his unexpected visitors.
"Well, spill it kid." The taller of the two grumbled.
"I got it. Quit your bitching." Kyoji snapped as he reached into his pocket and produced a key. "There's almost always someone at home. Your best bet is to wait until the festival starts."
"When's that, yeah?" the other asked with a grin. God, Deidara could be such a kid at times.
Kyoji looked at his calendar. "The day after tomorrow, security will be tight around the compound but at least no one will be in the main house."
"You did good kid. We'll put in a good word with Leader-sama for you." Kisame grinned. Now they could get into the house without alerting suspicion. Soon they'll have the information they need and then the target could be captured. Fun, fun…