A/N: As I said for my last chapter. I have something of a backlog built up. I won't post until the end of the week. I want to go over what I've written again to ensure I'm happy with the direction I chose. I feel I may have rushed a couple of the initial Wave chapters in my rush to get my plot fleshed out before the finer points left me, but now it's time to make sure I'm giving you something worth reading.
"Good job today, guys," Kurenai congratulated her team, "That's the fastest anyone has ever caught Tora."
"Swear I'm gonna kill that cat," her canine loving student muttered. Seeing as how that was the general consensus of all the shinobi in Konoha, she let it slide.
"I spoke to the Hokage and have some good news," she earned herself some interest there. Even Shino turned to her instead of watching a colony of ants at work.
"We're going on our first C-rank mission in a week," the jonin told them after letting the suspense build.
"Really!" Kiba was, typical for him, extremely excited, "What are we doing?"
"My guess would be tracking down someone or something hidden." their resident bug user responded before their Sensei could answer, "Why? Because our specialty is finding things that are hidden or tracking down those who do not wish to be caught."
"That's right," Kurenai agreed, "A group of bandits has taken up residence near our border with Rain. The Daimyo has asked the Hokage to ferret them out, and I got us the mission."
"W-will we have t-to hurt anyone?" Hinata asked timidly.
"What's it matter?" Kiba asked flippantly, "Their bandits... scum that preys on the weak."
"We're supposed to find them and let the Fire Legion deal with them," the jonin answered Hinata's question, "I don't intend for any of you to come into direct conflict."
"Maaaannnn..." the belligerent dog user complained, "That sounds boring."
"One should never desire a fight," Shino replied wisely.
"Thank you, Shino-kun," Kurenai smiled at him, "We won't be doing any D-ranks while we prepare. Take tomorrow off and get some rest. I'm going to be drilling you in search patterns for the next week."
Her students went their separate ways, and she turned to go her own way. Her danger sense went off, and Kurenai bent over backwards to see a... was that a dango stick... fly over her.
"Ha! Still as quick as ever," a familiar voice called out from nearby.
"Hello to you too, Anko-san," Kurenai straightened and smoothed her dress back down. When she turned towards her wild friend, the younger woman was pouting. She hated when people addressed her formally... especially friends.
"I want your help with something," Anko let the dig go, and smiled at her friend, "You free tonight?"
Kurenai had planned to have a quiet night with a book, but it looked like that was out the window. Anko was almost impossible to say no to.
"I am," she replied, "If you're looking for 'tail' tonight, though, I am not being your, what did you call it? 'wing woman?'"
Anko waved a hand in the air dismissively, "Nah. This is gonna be girls only tonight."
"That has a different meaning with you than most women," the red eyed beauty smirked, "As I recall, our last girls night I woke up with you in my bed naked."
"That was a fun night," Anko gave her a bright smile, and motioned for her to follow, "I actually need help cheering someone up."
"Oh my... you sound as if you are beginning to care about others," Kurenai teased her friend who responded with a raspberry, "Who are we cheering up?"
"Ren's worried about Osa-kun and the other boys," Anko's face became more somber, "I am too, to tell the truth, but at least I have work to distract me."
"I remember seeing them leave," Kurenai thought out loud, "Asuma said something about a sabotage mission."
"Ooohhhh..." the snake charmer turned around to walk backwards in front of her, "And how are things going with Spawn of Hokage?"
Kurenai let a snort of amusement out at Anko's moniker for her romantic interest, "Quite well, thank you. We're trying to be as discreet as possible, though, so don't go gossiping on me."
"Yea, yea. No problem," Anko turned back around, "Still... the heir to the Sarutobi clan. Not bad, girl."
Kurenai shook her head in wry amusement. Anko always seemed to quantify everything around how valuable a partner was. She'd come a long way from the scarred teen suffering from betrayal, though. She knew that the families out in the Fox District were a big part of that, and she would be glad to help out the elder sister of her first apprentice.
XxXxXxX
Shikamaru stared at the board puzzling how he could get out of the predicament his father had put him in. Any normal person would look at the shogi game and see something closer to a stalemate than a shutout, but once again Shikaku had him on the ropes. Far from being disappointed or frustrated, the intelligent teen felt he was improving. It had taken the older Nara over twenty moves to corner him. That was at least five better than last time.
"Shikamaru!" a high voice called from the front of the house. Shortly after, the door to the garden where they were playing opened and Ino poked her head out, "It never fails. I can always find you at the nearest shogi board."
"Good afternoon, Ino-chan," Shikaku graced her with a smirk, "Would you care to sit and have some tea?"
"I'd love to, Shika-jiisan, but Sensei wanted me to come get lazybones for a team meeting," she replied politely.
"We were supposed to have today off..." Shikamaru said in his flat voice. From years of experience, Ino picked up that he was whining.
"Oh come on," she huffed with her hands on her hips, "Don't make me start yelling."
"Okay, okay. Sheesh," he went back to looking at the board for another half minute muttering about troublesome girls and bothersome Sensei, "I lose in twelve moves."
"Ten, but you're getting much better," his father congratulated lazily, "You and Chouji-kun try not to cause poor Ino-chan too many problems."
"Yea, yea," he waved his hand over his shoulder as he followed his blonde teammate out of the house.
"Always playing games or laying about," Ino let out a long suffering sigh, "Most intelligent person my age and one rank away from dobe. What will we ever do with you Shika?"
"At least my pass time is more constructive than chasing a boy," he yawned.
"WHAT!?"
"Crap..." he hung his head, "I said that out loud didn't I?"
The rest of their walk was dominated by first angry yelling, then sullen brooding.
"Sorry?" he ventured when they came in sight of Chouji's favorite restaurant. Apologizing was a bother, but less so than having his blonde teammate angry with him.
"Forget it..." she sighed after a moment, "You're kinda right. I've been slacking on my training."
"Isn't that Shika's job?" the deep voice of their rotund friend greeted them jovially from behind. They turned turned to see him walking up with their Sensei, cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth.
"Just because what I do doesn't involve a ton of physical activity doesn't mean I'm not training," Shika smirked at his best friend despite the dig. He frowned after a moment, however, "Besides... Kaa-san forces me to exercise daily."
"Glad to see she's doing what I requested," the bearded jonin laughed. He squeezed the hot cherry of his cancer stick onto the ground where he stamped it out, making sure to spread the ashed into the dirt. He then placed the filter section into a pocket of his equipment pouch, "Let's eat. I have some news for the three of you."
They were seated ahead of three other parties waiting for a table. It helped that Chouji's clan had a large stake in the establishment. As soon as their orders were placed, Asuma got down to business.
"The other rookie teams are starting to pick up C-rank missions," he told them, "Five and Seven have been gone a week already, and Eight leaves in another week to track down some bandits."
"Sounds troublesome," the black haired boy muttered, "Why are you bringing it up?"
"Due to the fact that all of your styles require hijutsu, I can't really give you in depth training," Asuma replied, nodding to the waitress in thanks as she dropped off a small bottle of saki for him, "My job on this team is mostly as a guide and guardian. I'm supposed to get you three experience while keeping you alive."
"I think I see where this is going," Ino butted in, "You want us to go on a C-rank."
"Are we ready for that?" Chouji furrowed his brow and cracked open a fresh bag of chips.
"That's what I'm asking you," their Sensei knocked back a bowl of his drink, "You guys work great as a team and know all your basics well enough. Think you can handle an extended mission?"
The three of them looked to each other, and without saying a word seemed to come to an agreement. Asuma idly wondered if that was what Hiroto had been talking about with his boys.
"We can, Sensei," Ino spoke for them, "Can't do D-ranks forever."
"Don't want to," Shikamaru shuddered slightly, "If I have to catch that cat one more time, I'll kill it."
"Wouldn't that be too troublesome," Chouji grinned at him. The comment earned him some laughs from the other two members of the team.
"I would much rather see new places than paint fences," the lazy boy flicked a chip crumb that had landed near him at the large teen, "At least I might see something interesting."
"What kind of mission were you thinking?" Ino swatted Shika on the shoulder for flicking things at their teammate, "You said our team is supposed to be versatile."
Asuma nodded his agreement, "I'm going to try for a security testing mission. We'll be trying to break into a supposedly secure area and telling the owners what they can do to improve their security."
The Nara perked up slightly, "That actually does sound interesting."
"I'm more interested in that right now," Chouji pointed to a pair of heavily laden waiters carrying their order over, "Tou-san had me practicing expansion all morning."
They lapsed into less business-like talk as they ate. Before long, the food was gone and their Sensei was heading off to secure their mission.
"You really think this will be fun?" Chouji asked Shikamaru after they had parted with Ino, "I'm not sure what I can do to help improve security."
"Just do what I tell you buddy," Shika clapped him on the back, "Sometimes all you need to break into someplace is a wrecking ball. I don't know anyone else I could call that."
XxXxXxX
Ren stared out over the huge tract of land she had obtained over the years to act as a reserve for great cats unable to live in the wild for one reason or another. Sitting behind her home on a stone bench, she was soaking in the warm afternoon rays of the late autumn sun. From time to time, a cloud would cover the distant ball of fire, and the temperature would drop to levels more in line with that time of year. The trees were beginning to give up their leaves finally, and she recalled that by this time of year, her old mountain home would have been covered in snow. She had to admit, she didn't miss the harsh weather all that much, but the pain of losing everything she knew was still there.
If it hadn't been for Osamu, she might have ended up a cold husk of a person, taking as much from Kumo as she could before being taken down. She had bent all of her will towards raising and protecting her younger brother, and now he was many miles away under the command of a man from the very village that had destroyed her home. Her doubts about Hiroto had been put to rest for the most part, but she still had a desire to question him. Maybe he could provide closure on that horrible chapter of her life.
A pressure on her shoulder and the sensation of being pulled backwards caused her thoughts to evaporate. She hadn't been able to strike against Kumo, but had felt the need to hone the arts she had been taught in her youth. As such, her reaction was quick and very nearly brutal. She allowed herself to fall and used that momentum to bring her short, but powerful, legs up to clamp around her assailants head. Ren then planted her hands on the ground and pushed her foe to the ground. She might have jerked her lower body to snap the attackers neck had laughing not stopped her.
"Man, Ren!" Anko's muffled voice called out from between her muscular thighs, "You've really improved since I joined T&I."
"That was impressive," Osamu's old genjutsu tutor agreed from where she leaned against a tree, "Though better situational awareness would preclude the need for such a violent response."
Ren got up off her chuckling friend, grumbling about not needing to worry about attacks on her own land. She helped the snake charmer up, who flipped her around into an arm lock.
"Ha!" Anko cried out.
"Anko..." Ren replied sweetly, "You do remember which of us is stronger, right?"
Before she could answer, Ren simply pulled her arm back into a normal position while Anko tried futilely to hold it in place.
"Damn!" she pouted, "You're making me look silly in front of a colleague."
"You don't need any help for that," Kurenai tossed her a wink and a smirk.
"To what do I owe the dubious pleasure of this visit," the cat-eyed woman asked.
"We came to take your mind off the boys," Anko threw an arm around her shoulders with a big smile, "I even got Ibiki to let me off tonight!"
"The last time I went out with you, I woke up with a terrible hangover, and couldn't remember what I had done that night," Ren gave her a wary look.
"That's not all that bad," Kurenai mused.
"I wasn't home," the petite women replied, "Do you know how awkward it is to wake up in your otouto's instructor's apartment?"
"Wait... you mean Iruka-san?" the jonin stared at her dumbfounded, "I never would have thought he would go trolling for women like that."
"He doesn't," Anko explained to her, "He was checking on that Naruto kid since Hiroto was out of town. This guy and his girlfriend were looking for a third, so I asked scar face to get the lightweight here home."
"You didn't think for a second that he had no idea where that was did you?" Kurenai began rubbing the bridge of her nose.
"He was sleeping on his couch when I woke up," Ren admitted, trying to defend the academy instructor, "I was too embarrassed to wake him up, so I snuck out. That's when I started letting Zuki escort the boys to the academy."
Kurenai couldn't help but laugh, "At least Anko hasn't tried to jump your bones."
When she looked back at the younger women they were standing at least five feet apart.
"Oh hell," Kurenai managed to get out before bursting into laughter again, "She has, hasn't she?"
"We were drunk!" Anko nearly shouted. Her embarrassment was obvious, "And Ren gets handsy when she's had too much."
"I've never seen you ashamed of going a round another woman before, Anko," Kurenai observed slyly, "This is a first."
"Can we please not talk about this?" Ren asked, her face a red deep enough to show through her olive complexion, "Anko is like family, and that was a very weird morning."
"Oh this is just too good," Kurenai clapped her hands together, "I should have done this much sooner. Come on girls. Let's go have some fun."
XxXxXxX
The Hokage studiously ignored the heated argument that was going on outside his office. It wasn't uncommon for individuals to demand to see him and be turned away by his on duty assistants. While he did have a general open door policy, he still needed time to handle his duties, and the chunin that guarded him also worked to screen him from silly matters. His door was rather thick to help prevent eavesdropping, so he was unsure as to who was currently seeking audience during his all important paperwork signing.
"You can't go in there!" his assistant's voice was suddenly clear as the large oaken doors were slammed open.
"Hokage-sama," Natsumi stood leaning on her cane and holding a large folio under her other arm, "We need to discuss something about Uzumaki Naruto."
Hiruzen set down his pen and took up his pipe, "Let her in, Genma-san."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," the senbon chewing man replied. After the hobbled women had come fully into the office, he shut the doors behind her.
"What interest do you have in Naruto-kun?" Sarutobi asked seriously as he lit the tobacco in his pipe.
"You damn well know what interest I have in him," she slammed the folio onto his desk, "Take a look at that."
The third rifled through some of the papers and pictures and pieced together why she was here in about a minute.
"This goes over a lot of different businesses, Natsumi-san," he bit down on the stem of his pipe, "And its not painting a pretty picture."
"How many times have you turned a blind eye to this behavior?" she narrowed her eyes menacingly.
He held up a picture of a grocer shuffling his favorite blonde out of the store with what looked like near rotten vegetables. No wonder the boy didn't trust his greens. Maybe he should have found a position closer to home for Hiroto. His high success rate for protection details made him a hot commodity amongst the rich and noble, though.
"I can't just shut down every establishment that refuses to serve him," the leader replied tiredly, "The people would just hate him more. Why are you bringing this up now?"
"I ran into him a while ago looking in on my various outlets," she told him, "I ended up taking him to Shuji's place so he could at least get good equipment."
"You were asked to stay away from him, Natsumi-san," the Hokage looked up at her reproachfully, "It isn't safe for you, him, or Masaru-kun."
"Don't give me that horseshit, Hiruzen," she shot back angrily, "I helped a shinobi of the Leaf when he needed it. Nothing more."
The old man sighed, "I suppose I can't fault you for a chance encounter... what did you tell him?"
"You mean did I tell him about his parents?" she shot back venomously, "No... but if he ever asks, I will."
"Natsumi-san, please," he sounded so tired, "Just a little longer. He isn't alone, you know."
"Your gamble with the defector paid off," Natsumi agreed grudgingly. If it hadn't, Hiroto would have been made into a pink mist by one of her nastier contraptions, "But he still deserves to know what really happened that night."
"He isn't ready yet," the Hokage told her with conviction, "Finding out about the seal nearly undid him. If not for Iruka-san and Hiroto-san, it might have. He needs more time to grow."
"Fine," Natsumi relented, unhappy, "But I'm going after the scum in that folder."
"You know my policy on interfering with civilian affairs," Hiruzen smirked, "I won't get involved."
Natsumi responded with a vicious smile of her own and left. As a civilian councilwoman, she could call for investigations into each of these businesses. The Hokage was telling her he wouldn't save any of them if their clan sponsors came crawling to him. All she would need is some dirt on them. It disgusted her that their treatment of Naruto wouldn't be enough, but every businessman had dirty little secrets. You just had to find them.
XxXxXxX
"Uzuki Yugao," Kurenai named off an old friend that had been snatched up by ANBU.
Anko downed a shot of some hard liquor the other two couldn't stomach.
"How about her lover, Gekkou Hayate?" Ren followed up. The in depth info earned her a quizzical look from the red eyed jonin next to her.
"Drink up, Ren," Anko smiled in triumph as she refilled her shot glass, "I was always afraid I'd kill him."
Ren threw back a bowl of the saki she and Kurenai were sharing. Chuckles could be heard from nearby tables in the quiet, out of the way bar Kurenai had taken them to. The place was preferred by shinobi as the lack of background music made it easier to recognize possible attacks.
"Morino Ibiki," a grinning Kurenai offered.
"Man..." Anko whined before downing another shot.
"Tall, dark, and gruesome?" Ren gawked. More laughter could be heard from the other patrons at the appellation for the intimidating lead interrogator.
"The way he gets prisoners talking without laying a finger on them is oddly hot," the tokujo admitted, "I also dig scars."
Maito Gai," Ren supplied in a tone that suggested she didn't expect to be right.
To their surprise, and everyone else around the bar, Anko slammed back another shot then banged her head on the table, "I will never hear the end of this."
"You had sex... with Gai-san?" the jonin at their table was so shocked it showed on her normally schooled face.
"Once," her friend confirmed, "Some of the best I've ever had, too."
"Why not go back for more?" Ren queried reasonably.
"Cause I nearly died," Anko answered picking her head up from the table, "Remember when I was in the hospital for chakra exhaustion? Yea..."
"Wow..." just about everyone in the bar said at once. Some of the ladies had contemplative looks.
Kurenai's eyes flicked to the door as someone came in from the rainy night, "Asuma."
"Drink up, Kurenai," Anko smiled, "He always seemed like a stick in the mud. Easy to look at, though."
"Glad to know how you really feel about me, Anko-san," the tokujo jumped at the sound of the man in question, "Is this a private party, ladies?"
Ren saw a hint of something go between the two jonin and thought it might shift the focus away from their game. Anko was starting to look a bit snockered from their guessing game, and Ren was certainly feeling the effects of the alcohol. It was becoming an effort to keep her hands to herself. Kurenai's skin just looked so soft.
"Join us," she told him. Many groans and grumblings could be heard from the various brave souls that had approached the trio of lovely, if somewhat frightening, ladies already just to be sent away.
Asuma took the last chair at the table and flipped it around to sit in it backwards, "Thanks. You're Sakibou Ren, right?"
"You know me?" the woman in question asked as she signaled to the bartender for more saki.
"Of you," he answered. He began to fiddle with his pack of smokes, but decided not to light up when Kurenai gave him a scowl, "The exorcist that lives in the 'cursed' Fox District."
"You want in the game?" Anko asked when a fresh bottle of saki arrived along with a bowl for the newcomer. So much for easing up on the drinking, "Name anyone. If I've done the deed with them, I drink. If not, you drink. Only rule is they have to be shinobi."
Asuma rubbed his beard in thought, "Hatake Kakashi?"
"Drink up!" Anko cried in victory. She settled down after a moment, "Not for lack of trying, though. You think with all the porn he reads, he'd be all for it."
"Shiranui Genma," Kurenai said with confidence.
"Nope," Anko sat back in her chair with a smug look.
"You're kidding," her friend protested, "I've seen you hitting on him at least three different times."
"And you weren't mistaken," Anko grinned, "Pretty sure he doesn't care for our brand."
"Our brand..." Ren pondered, "You mean?"
"Probably gay," Anko interrupted her.
"Oh just tell everyone!" the man in question stood up and shouted at her.
"Be yourself, Genma! It will set you free!" she shouted back jovially, "I know some people I could introduce you to."
Genma sat back down amongst his suddenly quiet friends, blushing heavily.
"Namiashi Raido," Ren put forth when that was over.
How do you know all these people?" Anko asked in exasperation before she took another shot, "He's got weird tastes. Fun... but weird."
"Ryoukou Hiroto," Asuma said with a glint in his eye.
"Damnit!" Anko cried out, downing another shot. She caught Ren giving her an odd look, "What?"
"Just... unexpected is all," Ren explained, hiding a vague sense of betrayal.
"Not really," Asuma told her, "Hiroto, Anko, and I were on a mission together. You both know the rumors that go around about our lovely snake-charmer here. He treated her with all the respect he would any other shinobi, and not out of fear."
"He even saved my bacon," Anko downed another shot of her own volition, "I wouldn't be here today if not for the shit he can do with water. We still got pretty messed up, though. Good thing better-late-than-never here showed up to chase off the bad guys."
"So he protected a comrade," Kurenai shrugged, "That's no more than any other Konoha shinobi would do."
Anko shook her head, "I had projectiles coming in from every angle and nowhere to go. That crazy bastard used Kawarimi to swap me out and himself in. He did this technique where he summoned a shell of water around himself. It wasn't a perfect defense, but it kept him alive."
"He was able to pull you out with Kawarimi?" Kurenai asked, astounded, "That takes a lot of chakra unless the target is willing."
"That wasn't even the end of it," Anko shook her head as if she couldn't believe it herself, "He managed to Shunshin to me before the enemy unloaded on us again. He used the same water jutsu that saved his ass the first time. He was in a real bad way after that, and I wasn't much better. After our recovery, I insisted on... thanking him."
"Soon as I got them back," Asuma took a shot of his own drink, "I recommended he be allowed to take the Jonin Trials. They should have never barred him in the first place."
"You trust him, Asuma-san?" Ren regarded him curiously.
"The man's been through some shit," Asuma poured himself another bowl of saki with a distant look in his eyes, "He bared his soul to me the day he became a Konoha shinobi. Honestly, there are natives I trust less."
"So you know why he has a death wish?" Anko asked him, "The stunt he pulled may have saved my life, but it was more likely to get us both killed."
"It's not a death wish, Anko," Asuma replied seriously, "He's surprisingly attached to living, considering what he's done. I suppose he's trying to atone."
"What for?" Ren pried. An idea was trying very hard to break through the haze of her inebriated state, but she had guessed wrong more often than not when it came to Anko's various trysts.
Asuma considered her before saying, "I'm afraid that isn't for me to say. Ask him yourself. He's been pretty open with me."
Ren let the matter drop, and they moved on to lighter topics. After a few more hours, Asuma took a giggling and stumbling Kurenai out of the bar, and Anko and Ren followed when the sullen sky began to brighten. On their way back to Ren's place, an odd humming caught there attention, and a yellow blur flew past them headed for the Hokage's tower. In their drunken state, they shrugged it off and continued on their way.
XxXxXxX
"You requested my presence, Hokage-sama?" Inoichi walked through the already open doors of his leader's office.
"I need you to put out an organization wide message," the Hokage told him, "Cease all actions against ROOT and their activities."
"All of their activities?" the Yamanaka patron asked in mild disbelief, "Hokage-sama... some of their practices..."
"I am well aware," the old man sighed and turned his chair about to watch the sun peek through the scattering clouds of the rain storm the night before, "Recent information has come to light, and I need them now."
"Very well, Hokage-sama," Inoichi acquiesced.
After he had gone, Danzo appeared from a wall panel to a secret exit the Hokage used from time to time.
"Yamanaka Inoichi," he groused as he shut the doors, "Good choice for handling an information network."
"He only knows two other cell leaders," the Hokage informed him, "So don't go getting any ideas."
"Not now," Danzo shook his head, "I need their eyes and ears. Still... do you think it wise to end our charade?"
"Hiroto-san's missive made mention of it specifically, Danzo," Hiruzen turned his chair back around to face him, "Somehow, our enemy knows our plans."
"What worries me more is this talk of possession and spirits," the bandaged man took a seat in one of the guest chairs, "I can't assassinate a spirit, Hiruzen."
"We aren't without some protection," the Hokage smiled grimly.
"The Sakibou?" Danzo asked. When he received a nod he went on, "Two individuals are hardly a force to be reckoned with."
"But they have lore no one else does," the leader replied confidently.
"Knowledge is a powerful tool," his old friend acknowledged, "But will they share it with us."
"I think they will," Sarutobi assured him, "Ren-san is a smart woman. She will understand what's at stake."
"Very well," Danzo lifted himself from his seat, "Now that I won't be stymied by your Watchers, I'm going to look into a matter of interest to the North."
Hiruzen nodded to him as he walked out, then began a short message. Once a bird was away he sat back to wait.
Strange sounds intruded on Ren's sleep, and she tried to ward them off with muttered curses. It was to no avail, however, as the sounds began to coalesce into words.
"Wake up, damnit," Mayu's annoyed tone cut through the sleep and alcohol induced fog, "C'mon girl, get up."
As consciousness again took hold of Ren, her body began to immediately tell her just how much she had gone overboard the night before. The first, and most pressing indicator, was the splitting headache she was sporting. Just a bit less painful was her back, as she had apparently passed out on her kitchen floor.
"The hell did the two of you do last night?" Mayu's voice cut through her head like kunai, "And why is the Hokage sending me messages to come and find you?"
Ren's eyes opened finally and she regretted that decision immediately. The rain from last night had broken before sunrise, and the clouds had dispersed over the course of the morning, leaving the dreadfully bright sun full access to her delicate orbs. Talk of the Hokage looking for her steeled her resolve, however, and she simply squinted against the glare instead of closing her eyes again.
"What do you mean?" Ren asked as she tried to sit up, her body protesting the whole way.
Mayu answered by pointing to her kitchen window. Three nervous looking messenger birds sat at the closed portal, pecking at it. Farther outside, a large group of stray cats had gathered to stare at the morsels. The only thing between them and the poor birds was Mikazuki. His authority amongst his own kind looked to be running low though as some of the braver felines edged closer to the birds.
"Ah hell," Ren moaned, "What time is it?"
Standing up, she saw that Anko had claimed the slightly more comfortable table to pass out on.
"A little past noon," the crippled woman answered, a bit of wry amusement in her tone, "Hokage's message was more worried than annoyed. Guess he doesn't know that Anko-chan can bring out your wild side."
Ren unlatched the window and let the thankful avians into her kitchen. After retrieving their messages, she sent them off. A collective wail of disappointment rose from the clowder outside when they saw their prey escaping.
"Shut-up, freeloaders!" she shouted out the window before closing it.
"So what's the old man want?" Mayu queried as she busied herself around the kitchen. She didn't seem to be cooking so much as practicing some strange form of chemistry, placing various odd herbs and other ingredients in a pot.
"He needs my expertise," Ren replied groggily as she read the missives, "Something about a spiritual threat."
"Well that is an area you know about isn't it?" the older woman replied as she began to boil her mixture.
"Some," Ren shook her head in frustration, "My training focused on manipulation and self-defense. When my sight developed, Tou-san taught me enough about demons to protect myself or gain an ally if I ever needed one."
"That's still a damn sight better than anyone else in this village knows," Mayu noted as she stirred her concoction, "Any intel would have been nice when the Fox attacked."
"I still don't get why that happened," Ren began to reset her long braid, as quite a bit of her dark hair had escaped it the night before, "Demons can't pierce the veil without help, and Matatabi-sama taught us that they fear the biju."
"Whatever happened to let that horde in, it almost destroyed us," Mayu shook her head sadly, "Even if you only have the basics, at least we have something."
"Not much, I'm afraid," Ren replied as she replaced the elastic band that kept her braid.
"Here, drink this," Mayu offered her a mug of the foul smelling brew, "He should know that about you. The Sandaime always had a way of knowing just what his people were capable of."
"He does..." Ren gave the concoction a wary look before downing it in one go, "Blegh... I told him not too long after I got to Konoha what I knew."
"You still know more than most anyone else in this village," Mayu shrugged as she began to dispose of the rest of her hangover remedy. She might have saved some for Anko, but the woman always refused. Something about it tasting worse than the hangover felt.
"I'll go see him now and see how I can help," Ren began to pat herself down with a frustrated look, "Can you stay? I can't find my keys."
"Afraid not," Mayu shook her head, "Got an afternoon group at the academy."
"Damn..." the small woman cursed looking around, "And Anko won't be up for at least a few more hours."
"Check where you passed out," Mayu chuckled, "Can't tell you how many times I found something I lost in a drunken stupor by doing that."
Ren nodded and knelt down to check under the table, then the cabinet next to it. The slight glint of metal caught her eye and she reached under to retrieve her key ring.
"I didn't even know there was this much space under this thing," she said.
"It's your house," Mayu smiled in amusement, "How could you not know?"
"This was here when I got the place," Ren replied, her face growing frustrated as she could barely get her arm in far enough to get her keys, "I was nine at the time, and it looked too heavy to bother moving... GOT IT!"
As she pulled it out, she noticed something else underneath the cabinet. Covered in years worth of dust was a pair of scrolls she had never seen before.
"What the hell..." she muttered.
She reached in further, getting dust all over her, but she wasn't able to fit her arm, small as it was that far under the piece of furniture.
"What are you doing?" Mayu asked as she watched the elder Sakibou shoving as much of her arm under a cabinet as she could.
"There's something else under there," Ren replied absently as she stood and began to throw her weight into the tall wooden case, "Maybe the previous owner hid them there and never got a chance to get them."
If she hadn't spent the intervening years training her ass off and staying in peak condition, she might have needed to use chakra to budge the heavy piece of furniture. Huffing from the effort, she finally managed to move it so she could get at the scrolls.
"Success!" she celebrated as she began to dust off her prizes, "There's a label on here..."
"What's it say?" the older woman was now thoroughly interested.
"'Item: 34G5...'" Ren replied as she uncovered the label in question, "'Library Contents'. Wonder if it's a catalog of some sort."
Mayu looked from the scroll to the clock on the wall and muttered a curse, "Looks like I'll have to find out later. I need to go."
Ren waved to her absently and crack open the scroll. The writing surface was still pristine, and was covered in strange patterns and kanji.
"A storage seal," she puzzled out loud, recognizing the ubiquitous tool.
According to village records, the previous owners of her residence hadn't been chakra users. The label was also similar in nature to how Konoha marked the belongings of prisoners when they were confiscated. On a whim, she decided to take them to the Hokage. He wanted to see her anyway, and he stood the most chance of enlightening her. She might have opened the seals, but Natsumi had explained to her long ago why it was a bad idea to open a seal when you weren't sure what was in it.
She locked up her house on the way out and called out to Zuki. Considering how long the Hokage had been trying to contact her, she decided to forgo the streets and take to the roofs. Civilians weren't supposed to do this, but she was technically an inactive member of the Corps. Worst case scenario, ANBU would just delay her for a moment and then take her to the man she was going to see in the first place.
XxXxXxX
The Hokage looked up from his paperwork when Ren walked through the door and breathed a small sigh of relief. It was extremely out of character for the reserved young woman to drop off the grid like that. One of his aides, Genma, had mentioned seeing her out with Anko and Kurenai, but any number of things could happen to a group of drunk women on the streets at night; even if they were kunoichi.
"You look like hell, Ren-san," he greeted amicably, "I trust you had an interesting night."
"Anko always manages to get me to drink more," Ren smiled weakly, "Your message mentioned something about a spiritual threat."
"It seems a spirit of some kind has been harassing one of my jonin," the Hokage leaned back in his chair, "It made specific mention of certain activities the village at large is participating in, which means its a threat to Konoha as a whole."
"I'm not sure what you expect from me, Hokage-sama," Ren replied helplessly, "Just about everything I know about spirits, which is far less than I would like, pertains to driving them off. What I do know is they are rarely interested in anything to do with this side of the veil since they can't reach it all that often."
"I would think that a clan of spiritually sensitive shinobi would have more lore on the subject," Sarutobi rubbed his chin in frustration.
"We had quite a lot, actually," she told him sadly, "I'm not sure what became of our lore. I only have a few scrolls with what's considered necessary for every clan member to know on them."
The Hokage narrowed his eyes, "That coward defied a direct order just to avoid you..."
"What do you mean, Hokage-sama?" she seemed honestly confused, which only caused the Hokage's ire to grow.
"I'll have him back on sewer inspection for a year for that," the Hokage continued his rant, "Keeping those scrolls is a gross breach of my trust... I may have to put him back on probation."
"Who, Hokage-sama?" Ren asked forcefully to get his attention.
"Ryoukou Hiroto," he growled the name out, "He brought a pair of storage scrolls containing the entire Sakibou library with him when he showed up."
"Two... scrolls?" she asked past the lump forming in her throat. She pulled her recent finds from the belt concealed under her top, "Are these..."
The Hokage's eyes widened, "But you said..."
"Hiroto-san never gave me anything," she sat down heavily in a chair reserved for guests, "I found these in my kitchen under a cabinet. It looked like they had been there for years."
"Why would he hide them?" the Hokage asked, now both confused and angry. He hadn't busted anyone down a rank in years, but it might be coming for the Kumo defector.
"How did he get them?" she asked with a deathly calm. The Hokage could feel a decent amount of undirected killing intent coming off of her, and he had to wave off his ANBU from subduing her.
"I think that should be obvious..." the aged leader ventured carefully. He had no fear for himself, but Hiroto, despite seemingly defying a direct order, was still one of Konoha's shinobi. It wouldn't do for an inactive member of the Corps to kill a jonin. He kept tabs on Ren's training and knew full well she could manage it given proper circumstances.
Years of experience allowed him to see the swirling storm of emotions run across Ren's schooled features. If he could describe her current state of mind in a word, that word would have been 'livid'. It seemed learning that Hiroto was actually present for her clan's demise was enough to at least temporarily undo whatever progress she had made in trusting him.
"Osa-kun is on his team," she stated carefully. She seemed to be on the verge of losing control of herself, "He was there, and you put Osamu on his team..."
The Hokage might have explained the full situation to her, but he doubted it would reach through her current rage. Instead he opted for a different tactic.
"Are you questioning my judgment?" his voice and manner were cold, and he leveled his own considerable killing intent at her, "Do you think I would have given him any team if I didn't trust him implicitly."
She became visibly shaken as soon as he began to speak. She was used to the kindly old Hokage, not the cold and angry leader of an army of assassins. She had known he was the greatest shinobi in Konoha, but knowing and being on the receiving end of his power were two totally different things.
"I apologize, Hokage-sama," she gasped as his killing intent seemed to press in on her. She honestly wondered if the old warrior could literally kill someone with it alone, "I was out of line."
He let off, but remained cool in his speech to be sure she understood he was displeased, "You have your clan's lore. Search it for any information that could help us."
She nodded her understanding and left quickly. He was glad of that. He could tell she was still angry and confused about what she had just learned about Hiroto, but she still wasn't ready to believe his full role in that event.
Speaking of the jonin, he had some serious explaining to do when he got back. Sarutobi would leave the incident out of his record until he was sure he knew just what had happened.
XxXxXxX
As Hiroto was about to eat his second roast hare, he frowned from a sense of foreboding that had welled up from nowhere. The incident with Kirau had rattled him, but this was different. He got the sense that he had forgotten something really important. He shrugged and went back to eating. It would come to him eventually. He just hoped it wouldn't bite him in the ass in the mean time.
Mikazuki
Rank: Familiar (Cat)
Gender: Male
Birth Date: October 27
Fur: Black
Eyes: Green
Length (Normal): 26" (50.8 cm)
Length (Transformed): 7' 1" (216 cm)
Weight (Normal): 12 lbs (5.4 kg)
Weight (Transformed): 234 lbs (106.1 kg)
Mikazuki is the combat familiar of Ren. He has the physical characteristics of a melanistic leopard (panther). Thanks to his merged spirit, the Yuugure no Seirei, he is able to produce subtle genjutsu. Should Ren allow him, he can grow to the size of a large leopard, increasing his combat abilities.