A knock jarred Hinata awake suddenly. She looked around blearily for a moment and realized it was morning.
"Hinata-sama," it was one of her maids, "Your father wishes to see you in the council chamber."
"Th-the council ch-chamber!?" she squeaked in surprise.
"Yes, Hinata-sama," she could hear her maid shuffle off. Hinata had managed to impress upon them long ago that she didn't want help readying herself for the day.
She flew from her bed and into her personal bathroom. Luckily she hadn't done anything remotely strenuous the previous day, but her hair was still a mess from sleeping. She did her best to undo the tangles, and get it to sit right. Afterwords, she quickly donned her daily attire. She would be meeting with her team after this, and she wouldn't have time to change. She hoped her father could forgive her not wearing something more formal.
She rushed to the council chambers with as much dignity as she could manage, slowing down to a stately walk within the range of Hiashi's Byakugan. She entered somewhat timidly, unsure of what she should do. She should have been sitting in on these meetings regularly, but no one seemed to want her there.
The eyes of the eldest Hyuuga turned to her, and she could feel the weight of the collective judgment and impatience.
"Hinata," he father greeted coolly from his place at the front of the room, "Come sit."
She tried to ignore the white eyed stares of her kin as she made her way around the room to the cushion to her father's right. She knelt on it and readied herself for another bout of ' You aren't good enough.'
Hiashi pulled a scroll from the sleeve of his robes, "You left this in my office, did you not?"
"Y-yes, Otou-sama," she barely managed a whisper.
"This Sakibou Osamu claims to have penetrated our defenses rather easily," he cracked open the scroll and began to read a direct quote, "'You're patrols activate their kekkei-genkai at regular intervals, making it easy to time an intrusion.'"
"H-he meant n-no harm, Otou-sama..."
Her grandfather, a wrinkled but unbent man with silver hair, made an indignant noise, "He makes a mockery of us. Take this before the Hokage, Hiashi. Have the boy punished for trespassing."
Hinata's eyes grew wide. In the best case, Osamu would be harshly reprimanded. In the worst, he could be put to death.
"I do not believe I will, but I thank you for the suggestion," Hiashi sent a thinly veiled glare to his father, "The boy has done us a service. We should be paying him."
A murmur went through the council room, "Surely you don't think his actions are worthy of praise?" an old crone asked.
"Perhaps not," Hiashi allowed, but his voice grew colder as he continued, "But he has detailed exactly how he infiltrated our compound. I had thought many of these problems had been dealt with after the last intrusion. Last time was a highly trained jonin. This was a mere boy."
Many of the councilors shifted uncomfortably. They had taken clan security over years ago, while Hiashi was distraught over the loss of his wife.
"Which of you controls the clan security force?" Hiashi asked.
"I do, Hiashi-sama," one of the younger members, still older than Hiashi by a few decades, answered.
"You are relieved of your duty," the leader replied, ignoring the old man's sputtering, "Ko-san will be taking over for you."
"He is a branch member!" Hiashi's father cried, "You cannot give him such authority!"
"I can, and I will," Hiashi's voice never faltered, and never raised in volume, "Ko-san is an expert in both personal and property security. I can think of no Hyuuga, branch or main family, better for the job."
"This still needs a vote," his father countered slyly.
"That," said Hiashi with a tiny smirk, "Is not true. Clan law dictates that I am wholly responsible and culpable for the safety of this compound. As such, I should have absolute authority over it. I thank you for handling it during my grief."
The silence in the room was stunning to Hinata. She feared and respected her father for things like this.
"If there is nothing else..." Hiashi stood, and on reaction, Hinata followed suit, "Come, Hinata."
She followed him from the council chamber, rushing slightly to keep up with his longer strides.
"Did you understand what I did there, Hinata?" he asked without looking.
"I-I think s-so, Otou-sama," she stuttered out nervously. She hated this particular trial, "I-if the clan l-laws say all th-that, though, w-why d-did you wait t-till now?"
He pulled up short and gave her an appraising look, "Why do you think?"
She pondered the question long enough for him to start walking again. She followed him into his office and knelt on the floor across from him.
"Tell me of this... friend," he commanded.
She had been afraid of this, "H-he was in m-my class. His c-cat stole m-my bento."
Hiashi's eyebrow slowly raised up, "His cat... stole your lunch?"
"E-every Sakibou has a c-companion... like t-the Inuzuka," she replied. Hinata was having a hell of a time trying not to wring her wrists, "Y-yancha is p-playful, but s-sweet."
"What is your exact relationship with him?" his tone went from its normal neutral to a darker, more menacing tenor.
"W-what?" Hinata was thoroughly confused by the question.
"I would hate to find out my daughter is allowing boys to court her at such a young age without my permission..." the menacing tone remained.
"Wha... NO!" she nearly shouted, "Osa-kun is j-just a f-friend."
"Good," Hiashi's voice was back to normal, "Please extend my thanks to him for his insight, and a warning not to try it again."
She frowned sadly, "I w-will tell h-him not to c-come again."
"Hmm," Hiashi's brows went up when he realized the meaning she had taken from his words, "He is welcome, so long as he uses the front gate... and understands the limitations of friendship."
Hinata blushed deeply at the implications of his words, "Yes, Otou-sama."
"You may go," he dismissed with a wave.
Hinata jumped up and rushed out.
Hiashi let out a shuddering breath after she had gone. It was nerve wracking to see how afraid she was of him.
As he often did when alone, he took up the small framed picture of his late wife that sat facing him on his desk. It made his heart ache to see the big happy smile in that photo and know it would never bloom on that face again. Hinata was growing to look more and more like her mother every day, but he had yet to see her smile like this.
"I don't know what to do for her," he confessed to the photo, "He has raised her the same way he raised me, and I often wonder looking at her: am I strong and she weak... or the other way around?"
"She is insecure, mistrustful, and fearful," he closed his eyes, pained by the weight of his guilt, "Otou-sama took my only friend when he branded Hizashi. If I am not watchful, he will end up destroying her friendship as well."
"I have failed her up to now," he whispered sadly, "Failed both our daughters. I have let my grief and indecision paralyze me. I am sorry, my love. I am so sorry."
XxXxXxX
"Charge it like a paper bomb," Masaru explained as he handed each of his teammates a pair of balls that looked like compressed papeir mache, "Impact causes it to detonate."
"What happens when it detonates?" Hotaka asked, looking closely at the thin lines forming the seals that made it work.
"Instant mummy," Masaru replied with a chuckle, "There are enough chakra seal tags in that ball to cover a gorilla three times."
"How..." Osamu began to ask, but stopped himself when he saw the grin on Masaru's face, "Never mind."
"Sorry I'm late, boys," Hiroto leapt down into the clearing, "Had to explain why it was a bad idea to trap our door with explosive tags to Naruto."
They stared at him dumbfounded so he felt the need to explain further, "We get a lot of break-ins."
They continued to stare so he decided to change the subject, "Let's go get our first mission, damn jonin commander's been crawling up my ass cause we haven't done one yet."
They made their way to receive their first official mission, and upon entering, were greeted by the Hokage himself.
"Team Five finally decides to grace the mission office with their presence," the old man commented lightly, earning a few chuckles from the chunin manning the mission desks.
"If you don't like my command style, Hokage-sama, I'll gladly go back to solo missions," Hiroto countered with a smirk.
"Glad you're here," the old man ignored the offer and rifled through a stack of mission scrolls. He tossed one to the jonin, "Tsume-san has been pestering me non-stop about getting you for your first D-rank."
Hiroto cracked open the scroll and looked it over, "Why?"
"Something about popping a cherry," the Hokage shrugged, "I don't always understand her colorful language."
Hiroto shook his head in disgust, "Let's go, team."
The boys followed him out, but Hotaka seemed distracted.
"Sensei..." he finally ventured, "What did he mean by 'popping a cherry?'"
Hiroto nearly tripped over himself, but his surprise was only heightened by Masaru's response.
"Mayu-obaa-san hasn't given you that talk yet?" the large boy asked, "You see, that's another way of saying..."
Osamu kicked him in the shin,"Not in public you idiot! People will think we're perverts."
XxXxXxX
Tsume was drawn from her morning exercise with Kuromaru by the loud barking of every unoccupied dog on their small compound. She wiped the sweat off her forehead and went to see what the commotion was about.
"Oi!" she yelled, coming around her house, "The fuck is going on?"
She got a good view of Team Five right before her shithead of a son released the untrained hounds from their kennel.
"Hey, you little shit-stain!" she yelled at him.
He gave her a big grin, then bolted, "Gotta go meet my team."
A wave of some thirty odd dogs were headed for the team that was supposed to take them for their daily exercise. She knew for a fact that they wouldn't purposely hurt the boys, but that many large dogs might as well have been a stampede. To her immense surprise, she saw the smallest member of the team fly through a set of hand seals at a speed that would shame a good portion of the chunin in Konaha. When he was done, all the dogs stopped, laid down and rolled over in a display of submission.
"I'll be damned..." she breathed out.
"His chakra smells funny," Kuromaru commented next to her.
"Funny how?" she asked the large wolf hound curiously.
The dogs remaining ear flicked in an approximation of a canine shrug, "Akimaru has a better nose for chakra. Ask him before you kill your pup tonight."
She chuckled as she approached Team Five.
"Stripes," she called out when she got closer, "Reconsider my offer yet?"
Hiroto was currently rubbing the belly of a shaggy behemoth of a dog, "Still a no, She-wolf. I would rather not put you through that political nightmare."
"Bah," she waved her hand dismissively, "There isn't an Inuzuka that wouldn't lay down their life for you. You're a pack-mate whether you like it or not."
She dropped the subject there and looked around at her dogs a bit mystified. The thin boy was playfully wrestling with a bull mastiff while the big teen was surrounded by curious snouts.
She looked at the smallest member of the team. He was currently surrounded by a group of dogs like they were guarding him. A large golden cat with mismatched gold and green eyes was sitting on one of their heads.
"The hell did you do, pup?" she asked him gruffly then took a closer look at his feline, "Or should I call you cub?"
"I just calmed them down," he shrugged nonchalantly, "I might have also given them the impression that they should fear me a little."
"You'll have to teach me how to do that," she laughed out, "Anything that can keep this lot in line would be helpful. I'm Inuzuka Tsume. You can go ahead and dispense with whatever formalities you were thinking of using with me."
"This is my team, Tsume," Hiroto pointed to each of his students in turn, "The little one is Sakibou Osamu, The bundle of sticks is Shoudou Hotaka, and the big one is Hibaku Masaru."
She gave a low whistle, "I suppose the old man is trying to rectify his mistake in not putting the 'Faceless Death' and 'Three Storms' together so many years ago."
"'Three Storms?'" Hotaka asked from where he was buried under the panting mastiff.
"That's what they called Mayu back in the day," Tsume explained, "One of the few people able to manipulate three different elements from our generation. She learned to use lightning, water, and wind. Hence 'Three Storms.'"
"Cool," the boys chorused together.
"Wonder why she doesn't talk about that kind of stuff," Hotaka mused.
"She earned it on the battlefield," Tsume replied seriously, "Not many talk about that kind of stuff."
"Anyway," she clapped her hands to dispel the suddenly somber atmosphere, "Seems you have good control over the hounds. They need exercise and my clan ain't big enough to handle 'em all. Run 'em around, play with 'em, don't really care. Just wear their asses out."
"Can do," Hiroto assured her. He turned to his team and barked out, "You heard the lady! Get to work!"
XxXxXxX
Tsume entered her house to find her daughter finishing her morning meal. Late shifts at the vet kept her on an odd schedule.
"What was that about?" Hana inquired, turning unusually, for her clan, round eyes to her mother.
"I want you to tan Kiba's hide the next time you see him," Tsume ordered.
"He let the dogs out on another team, didn't he?" she asked in exasperation, "It's no wonder everyone thinks our clan is a bunch of wild animals."
"Released 'em on Stripes' team, too," she smirked when she saw her normally controlled daughter grow excited, "He said no again."
Hana pouted, "Why are all the good ones so difficult."
"Man saves your life once, and you go all starry eyed," Tsume mocked her, "You'll make people think you're easy."
"It may have been once, but he was disemboweled for it," Hana countered, annoyed, "I had to push his intestines back in so I could heal him. They don't come like that often."
"How romantic..." Tsume deadpanned, earning a raspberry from her daughter, "I'm more interested in the Sakibou boy at the moment."
"The kid Kiba kept talking about?" Hana queried, "He kept saying there was something weird about him."
"He was right," Tsume confirmed, "Cub calmed and asserted dominance over thirty dogs with one technique."
"What technique?"
"No clue," Tsume shrugged, "Couldn't see the hand seals, and it had no visual, auditory, or olfactory effects."
"Genjutsu?" Hana offered and asked at the same time.
"Could be," Tsume hedged. After a moment of consideration she came back with, "Remember the story bout your namesake?"
"You don't think..." Hana began to ask, "That happened over three hundred years ago."
Tsume shrugged again, "He's got a cat familiar, was able to instantly calm the hounds with an unknown technique, and he carries the same name as Hana's Regret."
"So what do we do?" Hana asked a little nervously. That story had not ended on a happy note.
"He has an older sibling if Kiba isn't the dolt he acts like," the elder Inuzuka mused, "She would be the one to approach, but let's just sit back for now. We've waited all these generations to remove that stain from the clan's honor. No sense in rushing now."
XxXxXxX
Team Five made their way back to their usual training ground tired and sore. The dogs, despite being quite obedient to Osamu, were still excitable and energetic. It had taken them most of the day to wear them down.
During their trek back to Training Ground Eighteen, Hotaka had inevitably brought up his question again. This had led Masaru to explain everything his own unashamed mother had told him.
"But then why is it called a cherry?" Hotaka asked in exasperation, "I've seen diagrams, and it doesn't look much like a fruit..."
"Are we really having this conversation right now?" Hiroto asked despondently.
"Welcome to everyday life in our group," Masaru laughed aloud.
"This is normal?" Hiroto looked back at him in despair.
"You should have heard the conversation where we convinced Osamu to go to the kunoichi special training," Hotaka grinned at the small boy.
"You what?" Hiroto was growing more and more resentful towards his leader for giving him these crackpots.
"They got my curiosity going," Osamu explained nonchalantly, "I used some of Nee-san's old clothes and genjutsu to disguise myself."
"What did they talk about?" Hiroto couldn't help but ask.
"I do not care to discuss the experience," Osamu shuddered a little, "I'll just say that girls are grosser than they make themselves out to be."
"I still can't get over the fact that you dressed like a girl," Masaru poked him in the shoulder.
"Hey... You never know what a mission will call for," Osamu defended himself indignantly, "Being able to mimic anyone is very important to my skill set."
Hiroto smiled and shook his head. He really wished Naruto hadn't been so wary of befriending these three. He would have fit right in. He stopped and turned his team, about to launch into a discussion about chakra control, but a serious frown on Osamu's face stopped him.
"Three, no... four unknowns headed our way at high speed," he said to no one in particular.
Hiroto cursed under his breath and called out his shields. He noticed each of his students followed his lead and drew kunai. He saw all three palm a small ball in their off hands. They turned their back to one another, forming a triangle.
The blazing speed of their assailants was leagues beyond what Hiroto had been dealing with recently. He estimated each was at jonin level in at least combat. It seemed whoever was out for him was tired of playing games.
He saw a weighted chain shoot out of the brush nearby, and he tried to yell a warning. He wasn't quick enough. Hotaka looked down just in time to see the thin chain wrap around his ankles. He was tugged from the group into the brush.
Another of the attackers used a shunshin to get in behind Osamu. Another shunshin and he was gone with the small teen as a hostage.
Hiroto was about to try and get his last student out of there when he was suddenly subjected to a flurry of measured blows by a man in a snake mask. He saw a struggling Masaru being dragged off by another man in a wolf mask.
"What the hell do you want?" Hiroto growled as he blocked kicks and punches on his shields with dull pinging noises.
"You'll see," Snake said just loud enough to be heard over their melee.
A series of popping noises were heard from the bushes followed by cursing. Hiroto managed to glimpse one of the attackers, a woman in a dragon mask, stumble out of the brush wrapped in a mass of paper tags.
The next few moments carried a lot of confusing action for him.
The first thing he noticed was Snake letting up his assault. He might have pressed the advantage, but the sudden appearance of his weapon smith, Shuji, put him off balance.
The large man went for the wrapped up woman, only for her image to waver and show that it was actually Hotaka.
"Shit," was all Shuji managed to say before a paper ball hit him in the chest. A burst of smoke and paper with a popping sound, and he was wrapped in chakra sealing tags. Dragon lifted the larger man easily and leapt away.
From the trees to his right, he heard, "Let him go you bastard!"
He blanched. That was Ren's voice. He knew she was watching him, but she had always stayed out of his fights. He should have known she would get involved as soon as her brother was in danger.
Another popping noise, and a moment later Wolf came into view with a wrapped up woman over his shoulder, "Snake. Mission accomplished."
Snake disengaged from Hiroto, gave him a mock salute and shunshined away. Wolf soon followed suit.
Hiroto wanted nothing more than to chase after them, but he had a responsibility to his team first and foremost.
He ran over to Hotaka, and found him unhurt. He quickly released the tags sealing away his chakra, and went to find his other students in the brush. Masaru was unconscious with a welt growing near his temple, and Osamu was trussed like a pig with a look caught between outrage and horror.
"They took Nee-san!" he cried out as Hiroto used the sharp edges of his shield tips to slice the teens bindings, "They took Ren."
"I know, Osa-kun," Hiroto ground out as he finished and went to see if Masaru was more hurt than he looked.
"Why aren't you going after them!?" Osamu's was growing a bit hysterical.
Hiroto looked at his student sternly, "Because the three of you are my first priority."
"But they..."
"I KNOW, OSAMU!" he shouted at the desperate teen, "I know."
"You should try to calm down," both of them looked back to see Masaru beginning to sit up holding his head, "I'm pretty sure that went according to some plan Ren-nee-san had. Woulda been nice if it hadn't involved this lump on my head."
"What?" Osamu and Hiroto asked together.
XxXxXxX
Shuji woke up in a dark room. He found himself unable to move, and could barely feel his chakra.
"I wouldn't bother trying," a woman's voice came out of the darkness from nearby, "Masa-kun is remarkably talented with sealing. You won't be getting out of those without help."
"Natsu's boy made these?" he asked. He winced at the weakness of his own voice.
"You know her?" the woman replied with her own question.
"You could say we're business partners," he replied. His vision was clearing some. He could just make out his fellow prisoner against a wall across what was apparently a small room.
"Is there any reason why you are currently here with me?" she asked.
"I was asked by a fellow acquaintance to look out for you," he confessed a bit sheepishly, "Looks like that's a bust."
He heard her sigh and she shifted laboriously into a position that faced him directly. Her eyes caught what little light there was and reflected it back at him. He was struck by the impression of a predator waiting for prey.
"I told the fool I could handle this alone," she seemed annoyed, "There was no need to compromise anyone else."
"I don't think our identities being known is the biggest worry we have right now," he replied severely.
"Right you are," the sound of a door opening and then closing followed the slightly muffled words. The voice came clearer after that, "Sakibou Ren the exorcist and Shuji the smith... what an odd duo."
The glowing eyes of his fellow prisoner turned to regard their captor.
"Don't bother, Ren-san," he said to her, "I am still wearing my mask. I am well aware of your excellent night-vision."
"What do you want?" she took the lead for them, and he let her. Inoichi had told him she was an specialist in these matters.
"Well that should be obvious," the man responded, "Names of your fellows. We know there are more... much more."
"What makes you think we know?" she countered calmly, "The two of us are members of the same cell, and we just met."
"Well that's troubling..." their interrogator mused to himself, "I suppose I'll have to do with your cell leader then. You most certainly know who that is."
"Even if we did," Shuji interrupted, "We wouldn't tell you."
A sigh sounded from their captor, "I was afraid you would say that. Now I have to go through the unsavory task of torturing you."
"Allow me to save you the trouble," Ren said icily.
To his great surprise, the woman burst the seal tags holding as if they were, well... paper. She moved with amazing speed and grace as she kipped up off the floor and snap kicked the other silhouette in the room. Judging by the whimper of pain, she had nailed him right in his genitals.
She grabbed him by the throat and choke slammed him to the floor. She then whipped out something Shuji couldn't quite see. When she threw it, it burst into smoke and paper, and the captor was suddenly the captive.
She came closer to Shuji, and he got a closer look at her sharp, almost feral, features as she deactivated the seals on him.
"Sorry I waited so long," she told him with a tight smile, "Wanted to get a feel for his demeanor before I captured him."
Shuji felt his chakra returning to him, "Why would you trust me like this? You don't know who I am?"
She smiled again, "Our boss wanted to send someone. When I was offered Konoha's foremost weapon master, I couldn't turn that down."
Shuji gave a chuckle, "You are good at this."
"We don't have much time," she pulled out a kunai and sat on her captives chest, "Okay asshole. What's the deal? Who told you about us?"
"We received an anonymous tip from someone," he sounded just shy of desperate, which set off red flags in Shuji's mind as he cleaned the last of the seal tags off of himself.
"When?" she held the kunai tip above the eye-hole of the mask.
"About six months ago," he replied, his voice cracking a little, "We don't know who from, but we're looking into it."
"Why?" she was nothing if not succinct in her questions.
"The note said we were serving the writer's purposes," as soon as he was done, Ren knocked him out with a backhand blow.
"Let's get out of here," she said to Shuji. He nodded his agreement, keeping his thoughts for later.
They went to the door. Shuji reached for the handle in the off chance that it was left unlocked and found it to be so. The hallway they exited into wasn't any better lit than their cell.
"Which way?" he asked, looking from left to right, completely at a loss.
Ren didn't answer, but whistled instead. Moments later a meow sounded nearby.
"Lead us out, Zuki," she told the unseen cat.
"Would have been nice to be clued in on the plan," Shuji complained lightly, "Starting to think my combat expertise isn't needed, though. This place is dead."
"Zuki agrees with you," she said pensively, "He hasn't seen a soul down here but our friend."
"What does it mean?" he asked as they followed the seemingly endless dark corridor, "That guy didn't act like a ROOT operative."
"I got that vibe, too," she agreed with him, "I don't have much experience with them, though."
"What's the game, then, spy-girl?" he asked jokingly.
"I think they're sending a message," she replied honestly, "They want us to know they know about us."
"That holds no tactical value," Shuji countered, more to keep her talking than to disagree with her.
"Not against us, maybe," she replied as they finally came to a staircase, "There is still a third unknown quantity."
"The anonymous tip-off?" Shuji asked incredulously, "Surely you didn't take anything that man said as truth."
The stairs switched back and forth multiple times, and every step up gave Shuji a bit more light to see by.
"Not really," she confirmed, "But they did get their info from somewhere. I think ROOT is trying to tell us something in a roundabout way."
"But what?" they came up into an abandoned warehouse. Many of the windows were busted, giving them an easy egress. They stopped before exiting, though, to adjust their eyes to the brighter light.
"He said ROOT was serving this person's interests," she explained, "They want to know who is trying to manipulate them, and they want us to know that there's another player on the board. Remember, dirty as they are, their still for Konoha."
Shuji just shook his head, "How do you espionage types come up with this shit?"
"The same way you combat types kill a man before he can move. We train for it," she told him with another of her odd, closed-mouth smiles, "Let's go see the Hokage. No need to hide our affiliation anymore."
XxXxXxX
"Two of my Watcher's compromised for this?" the Hokage asked quietly as he puffed on his pipe. He sunk a bit lower into his chair, looking from Shuji to Ren.
The weapon smith shrugged, "I was just following orders."
"Tell me again how this plan came together," the Hokage ordered, "Every detail, Ren-san. I don't want anything left out."
She nodded, "It started a few days ago..."
XxXxXxX
Ren stalked through the dark house as quietly as the cat that followed her. Zuki had been using his illusions nonstop since they left their home an hour ago, and she hoped he would have enough energy to get them back undetected. She came to a bedroom door and slid it open. She cursed silently when she saw Ino and not the girls father sleeping in the room.
A few doors later, she found who she was looking for. She sent Zuki in to wake the man. It was likely the presence of a person would elicit violence from him. Zuki hopped onto his chest, and he awoke immediately. He looked confused at the black cat purring on him, and then past him to Ren. She motioned for him to follow her.
Inoichi pushed Zuki off himself and began to rise.
The body next to him shifted, and his wife asked in a bleary voice, "Where are you going, honey?"
"Need to empty my bladder," he replied with a dangerous look at Ren, who was laughing silently to herself.
"Shouldn't drink so much with your friends," his wife reprimanded sleepily. She rolled over and fell back into full sleep.
Inoichi grabbed Ren by the arm and dragged her to a nearby study where he began to work multiple privacy jutsu.
When he was done he turned to Ren and his annoyance boiled over, "What in the hell are you doing here?"
"You look good for an older man," she quipped.
Inoichi looked down and suddenly remembered that he slept in nothing but boxers, "I really hope this is business related, Ren-san. I would hate to see Osamu-kun bury you... and I'm not that old."
She looked like she was about to continue the banter, but his glare stopped her, "Business?"
"ROOT isn't after Naruto-kun," she claimed without any preamble.
"What?" he was stopped dead by her proclamation.
"If what you told me about ROOT is true," she leaned against the wall, "Then Hiroto-san should be dead right now."
Inoichi crossed his arms, "Go on."
"The attacks against Hiroto-san have been... clumsy so far," she continued, "I think ROOT is trying to draw us out."
"All of our intel suggests they are unaware of us," Inoichi countered.
"Then the status quo has changed," she answered easily, "Think about it, Inoichi-san. Hiroto-san is undeniably skilled, and they have only ever sent one attacker at a time. He even avoided one fight entirely when he was running late to start dinner."
"You make a valid point," Inoichi allowed, "But looked at from that angle, it seems a rather clumsy attempt to bait us."
Ren smiled, "I thought so, too. That's when I considered that they aren't even trying to do that."
"Then what is their game?" Inoichi asked, exasperated.
"They are putting on a show for someone else," she said smugly, "All the while trying to initiate contact with us without letting on that they want to tell us something."
"You got all this from seeing a few botched assassination attempts?" he eyed her speculatively.
She grinned sheepishly. An act that was actually more scary than endearing, "Actually, I had my oni follow the one that Hiroto didn't confront back to his base."
Inoichi put his face in his palms, "You sent those monsters as spies?"
"No one can see them," she replied defensively, "They can't see our realm all that well, but they can hear well enough."
"How did they follow him if they can't see him?" Inoichi asked.
"They followed the scent of his soul," she answered as if it should have been obvious.
"What did they find out?" he finally gave in.
"That there has been a much better team of shinobi watching and waiting to capture any unusual people attempting to help Hiroto-san," there was a glint of triumph in her yellow-green eyes, "The phrase 'the message has yet to be delivered' was also used."
"So you think we should initiate contact then?" he had to admit; this was getting rather interesting.
"Yes," she confirmed, "But we need to play our part."
"So you want to give them their prisoner," he stated, "But who?"
"Me," she said immediately, "We both have the skills to do this, but you are a leader."
He pondered the idea for a few moments, "I don't want to send you alone. I'm going to provide you with combat back-up in case you're wrong."
"Who?" she asked curiously.
"The greatest weapon master in Konoha," he replied with a grin, "He's been asking to be relieved of his duty for a while anyway. This gives him an out while serving a purpose."
"What do you mean?" she sounded confused.
"After this, your identities as watchers will be compromised," he explained, "You will no longer be able to perform your duties properly."
"Oh..." she said dejectedly, "I didn't think about that."
"Still want to do it?"
"Yes," she said with conviction, "I'm sure I'm right about this. Someone or something has ROOT worried enough to ask for help. That can't be good for the village."
"Alright," he gave her a nod of respect, "Then let's put on a show."
"First we'll need to have a talk out in the open," she began to detail her plan, "Zuki can cover your identity, but allow our conversation to be heard."
An hour later they had the details hammered out, and Ren left the way she had come: silently and invisibly.
XxXxXxX
A few days later she was waiting for Inoichi to show up. She looked at Zuki worriedly. His genjutsu was almost as good as any human master, and he could produce it without any of the hand seals most shinobi required, but she was still apprehensive that he wouldn't be able to exercise such fine control as to distort voices without compromising their meaning. She felt a spike of annoyance come from the sable feline in response to her worry.
Inoichi showed before she could start a one sided argument with her cat. They went through their preliminary lines with no trouble. The excuses as to why her cell leader would relieve her. A discussion about what they 'thought' ROOT would do next. Then came the important stuff.
"What is this plan?" Inoichi asked with curiosity so well feigned she couldn't tell even though she knew it was fake.
"If they are going to use my boys as hostages, they will have bigger problems than they realize," she said viciously.
"They're only genin," he dismissed the notion.
"Natsumi-san stopped a five hundred man invasion force with only a team of twelve," Ren countered, "Forewarning is a powerful weapon, and those boys are resourceful as hell."
"Valid points, I suppose," he allowed, "They could get hurt, though."
"That's not actually likely," Ren shot him down again, "If anyone of them got hurt, Natsumi-san would go on a warpath. She has the funds and other resources to dig up ROOT."
Inoichi gave her an incredulous look in response to the pun. She almost laughed and ruined the show.
"Wouldn't Hiroto-san know that?" the older man asked.
"Maybe," she agreed, "But he can't take that risk. His primary responsibility is to that team. If they got hurt, Natsumi-san would target him first."
"Alright," Inoichi finally relented, "Warning them can't hurt anyway. Let's see what they cook up."
XxXxXxX
Despite the fact that she actual believed them to be as resourceful as she made them out to be, Ren was still surprised at what they did come up with. She would need to hear more details about that prank.
Still, a grenade that totally disabled what it hit would be a great tool. She figured that by now ROOT had eyes on her and those around her. She needed to be sure that whatever Masaru did cook up in that twisted mind of his, that it wouldn't affect her.
That night she again made use of Zuki's phenomenal illusions to visit the large genin.
"Masa-kun!" she said suddenly from behind him. The way he jumped made his knees bang against his writing desk, and she smiled. It was good to get him back a little for the headaches he had caused as a little kid. 'Practice seals' all over her living room walls came to mind.
"Kami, woman!" he said, holding his hand to his chest and incidentally getting ink all over his shirt from the brush that was still in it, "What the hell, Ren-nee-san?"
"I need you to do something," she whispered to him conspiratorially, "It's really important."
"Is this about your spy stuff?" he asked, eagerness suddenly shining behind his eyes. The young ones were always suckers for this kind of stuff.
"Sure is," she confirmed, "I need those things you're making to not work on me. Can you do that?"
He looked confused by the request but nodded, "Sure. I just need a bit of your blood."
She gladly pricked her thumb with a kunai and allowed a drop to fall in the ink pot he held out to her.
"So... why do you need this?" he asked.
"Can't say," she denied him, "Gotta go."
With that, Zuki had them cloaked again, and they were gone.
XxXxXxX
The Hokage and Shuji were staring at her with expressions of mild disbelief.
"You have oni?" the smith asked with bit of disgust, "Last time I saw one of those it was trying to kill me."
"Battle is what they do," Ren sounded a bit defensive.
"Later, Shuji," the Hokage shut him up before he could comment further, "Well... I'm thoroughly impressed, Ren-san."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama," she smiled happily at the praise. She hadn't gotten too much of that as a Watcher, "I'm just sorry I won't be able to continue in my duties."
"That is a shame," the Hokage agreed, gnawing on the stem of his pipe, "You could always activate as a full shinobi. I could definitely justify starting you as a chunin."
Ren hadn't considered that. She was technically an inactive Konoha shinobi.
"Maybe in a year or two, Hokage-sama," she finally told him, "I want to make sure Osa-kun has a stable home to come back to after missions until he grows accustomed."
Sarutobi nodded his understanding, "I'll be paying each of you for a B-rank mission for this. It should go without saying, but treat this information as a class-S secret. Dismissed."
They nodded in understanding and stood to leave. After they were out of the doors to their leaders office, Ren was full body tackled by her brother. They tumbled to the floor.
"I was so worried," he sobbed into her belly while his deceptively strong arms crushed her about the waste.
"Can't... breath," she gasped out. When he loosened his grip enough for her to respirate, she hugged him back, "I'm sorry, Osa-kun. I'll try to never do that to you again."
Shuji spotted his daughter waiting with the rest of Team Five, "No hug for your old man?"
"Hug!" she nearly screeched, "How about a naginata to the head!?"
She stalked towards him angrily. When she reached him, she jabbed him in the sternum with her index finger, "Gone to get some supplies! Not back for hours! A message from ANBU that you'd been KIDNAPPED!" every sentence was punctuated with another jab of her index finger.
"Uh..." Shuji rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Sorry."
"I'll show you sorry," she grabbed his wrist and dragged him off.
As she passed Team Five, she smiled at them and said sweetly, "Nice to meet you boys. Come by the shop some time. Hiroto-san knows the way."
"Hey, you can't just invite whoev..." Shuji started to protest.
"Shut-up, Tou-san," she snapped at him, and to everyone's amusement, he did.
"So..." Hiroto said after a few moments of awkward silence as Osamu dried his tears, "Who want's ramen? I'm buying."
Whew... I had a completely different chapter planned and written. One I was happy with. Then I got this wild hair up my ass, and I wrote this to replace it in the past thirteen hours. Hopefully the quality checks out. My reviewers continue to help me write. This time, Freedsama asked me some open ended questions about Hinata and her father I hadn't thought much about yet. Always good to get a fresh perspective.
Cocoon Grenade
Type: Gadget (Seal/Subduing)
Abilities: This ball looks like it is formed from papeir mache. When activated with chakra and thrown at a target, it pops open and wraps the victim in numerous chakra sealing tags. A direct hit near the torso is necessary to achieve full entrapment.