Cocoon

Chapter 5

~o~

Hinata didn't completely thaw out until after the crew had lit a small fire and had a quick breakfast. Fortunately she didn't suffer any frostbite, but her pace had slowed down quite a bit. Of course, it could have very well been the big woolly boots that Shino had lent her, but at least she was equipped for the cold.

It took them about four hours of marching up an increasingly harsher environment before they finally came across the mountain cottage their mission had aimed for. It was a peculiar structure, surrounded by thick, natural stone walls that sheltered it from the blizzards, but the entrance looked like a weird hybrid between temple a generic Japanese-style house. As the team approached it, a tiny little old man with a droopy, thin white mustache peeked out of the sliding doors.

"Ahhh, you must be the messengers from Konoha! You certainly made good time! Come in, come in! Have some tea! You must be freezing!" he called out in a crackly little voice.

Hinata, Kiba, and Shino exchanged glances, then proceeded in without another word. The instant they stepped inside, a gust of cozy warmth surrounded them. Hinata took a moment to look about the strange room she had entered, cautious of any hidden danger. This was an unfamiliar location with an unfamiliar person, but despite her weariness of the unknown, the interior was glowing with friendly hospitality. It was large, brightly lit, and fairly plain save for a few prayer scrolls adorning the walls. At the back was a hearth with a modest fire that was warming up a pot of tea, and in the center was a small wooden table, surrounded by plump, silk pillows.

The man himself had a crinkly smile like a beloved grandfather, and he took no time in setting up a tea tray for the four visitors. The scent of the steaming liquid was sweet, flowery and alluring.

"I'll ask that you leave your hound at the entrance. He's a bit muddy and I don't want him staining the mats. I hope that's alright with you, Inuzuka-san."

"You know my name?" Kiba asked, startled.

"Oh yes, I'm very familiar with the families of Konoha. I've done business with the village for ages," he chattered on while setting up the tea on the table.

"Well we've certainly never heard of you," Kiba replied rather sharply while removing his footwear to enter. Hinata and Shino did the same.

"I prefer to keep my transactions confidential, as I'm sure your Hokage mentioned. As Shinobi you can certainly understand the importance of secret-keeping, correct?"

"That is correct, but it would be rude of us to accept this hospitality without knowing our host's name," Shino responded cordially, while taking a seat on one of the pillows. Hinata took a seat diagonally from him, and tried to avoid eye-contact.

"Ah, a sharp one you are, Aburame-san. I am known by many names to many of my peers, but for now you may call me Z-san," the old man quipped while filling Shino's cup.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Z-san," Hinata mentioned quietly while providing a light nod of the head.

"Ah, those eyes. You are no doubt a descendant of the prestigious Hyuga clan..."

Mr. Z had a peculiar tone in his voice when he mentioned her name, as if he had some sort of special interest in her. As he poured her tea, she stared at her hands that were balled up nervously in her lap. It was odd for her to behave this way...she could usually keep her social awkwardness under control on missions, but the surrounding circumstances were wearing her thin. She wanted to prove herself to her team mates, but the journey so far had been insultingly tame...and after the events of the morning, followed up by this insipid tea party, the whole thing felt like a joke.

"Z-san, I'm afraid we can't stay for long. We are only here to deliver the scroll, then we must be on our way," Shino stated while reaching into his backpack. Mr. Z poured himself a cup of tea, then sat at the head of the table.

"Ah yes, the scroll. I presume it has been properly sealed? You didn't come across any trouble on the way, did you? This is a very important and confidential document, you see."

"No trouble, and it is sealed so that only the intended recipient can open it," Shino responded while handing over the tightly wrapped scroll. As the item grazed the aging, bony fingertips of Mr Z., a glint of light flickered in his eye. He lay the scroll on the table, muttered some inaudible incantation, then the seal burst in a puff of paper. As he unraveled it, he got to his feet and stepped away, mumbling the text to himself in privacy.

The team stared quietly at their cups of tea, not a single one of them with any desire to actually taste it. Despite its sweet smell, Hinata was too wound up in anxiety to try it, Shino was focused on Mr. Z's response, and Kiba was plucking at his beard in boredom.

A few minutes past with the occasional "Hmm," "Ahh," and "I see, I see," coming from Mr. Z before he finally faced the team and promptly tossed the scroll into the flames behind him. This wasn't an entirely unusual thing to see someone do with important information, but something about the gesture seemed off. The man looked at the team with a strange expression.

"I deeply apologize for the inconvenience, but I'm afraid this will be a one-way trip for you fine folks."

"E-excuse me?" Hinata replied meekly, not entirely sure what he was implying.

"Well you see my dear, this is one of those kill-the-messenger type situations where you simply cannot continue living with the knowledge you've obtained."

"What knowledge? We didn't read anything in the stupid scroll, it was sealed. Why the hell do we need to be offed for that?!" Kiba barked, who looked as if he was caught in the middle of a stupid prank.

"Oh you know more things than you realize, young man."

The three stepped away from the table, and before long the three became four, when Akamaru jumped right beside Kiba, muddy paws and all.

"Oh, now look at that. You've ruined my mats! You'll be the first to go, I think."

With that, the man snapped his fingers and suddenly both Kiba and Akamaru had collapsed to he ground, clutching and pawing at their ears and wincing in pain.

"What did you do to them?!" Hinata shouted, now in full defensive stance in front of her fallen team mate.

"It's amazing what simple things can disable a dog. Hear that noise? Neither can I, but your friend and his filthy animal certainly can."

Hinata heard the familiar sound of an angry, buzzing swarm beside her, and Shino was prepared for the offense.

"Ah, the beetles. How quaint...you Aburame really are a pathetic sort resorting to mere bugs as your means of attack..."

With another snap of his fingers, the doors surrounding the room snapped open, revealing rows upon rows of vibrant, glistening carnivorous plants. Within an instant, Shino's swarm was coerced to certain doom, floating their way without hesitation into the maws and tentacles of the vicious vegetation. Shino of course reacted in all the manner a father would act if his own child wandered into a busy street, helplessly whimpering the hundreds of names he had granted to each beetle.

"Byakugan!" Hinata screamed, and without hesitation, she lunged at the old man with the ancient slicing fists of her ancestors. But when her fingers slid through thin air, she felt a hard thwack against the back of her head.

"Ah, the legendary Byakugan! What a sight to behold. But of course, even that had its flaws..."

She tried to focus her vision, but any glimpse of the man's chakra quickly darted away. She heard the quick whisper of a kunai fly behind her, followed by the clink of another one that deflected it. She eyed Shino, who despite lacking his colony, was resorting to what he knew of taijutsu, and defended her blind spot from behind. She scanned the room for any sign of him, and turned one way, then the other...WHACK!

Another hard hit from behind, blacking her out for a moment. Too long of a moment...a Hyuuga's sight was vital. Sure enough, when she opened her eyes, the man stood before her, clear as day, with Shino's arms twisted thoroughly behind his back, and a menacingly sharp knife aimed at his remaining eye. The man grinned a sly grin at Hinata, who froze in her tracks.

"He's almost entirely useless with half his vision, isn't he? He left your blind spot vulnerable like a rabbit in an open field. Might as well blind the poor bastard entirely, I think..."

"NO!" She yelped, her Byakugan melting away with her tears.

"Oh, what a sad, pitiful little girl you are...defeated in less than a minute and you cry like a baby."

"Please...don't hurt him..." she whimpered, falling to her knees.

"I bet this other eye is your fault, isn't it? You weren't there to protect him, and now he gets himself caught as easy as this. Now, it'll be your fault for the second one, too..."

Hinata closed her eyes tightly, and gripped her hands to her face, completely breaking down.

"I'm sorry...I failed you..."

"Oh, no you don't. You don't get to hide behind your hands..."

She heard him approaching, Shino's body dragging along with him.

"You have to watch your failures happen, like a good little girl."

He was closer...he was going to grab her...

And she looked up at his eyes, her own furiously locked in the intense ocular nerves of her Byakugan.

"Hakke Hyakunijuuhachishou!"

He was hers. The man dropped Shino to the ground, in awe, now understanding the grave mistake he had made. Shino pressed himself tightly to the ground in an effort to avoid the oncoming onslaught.

"Two! Four! Six!" The strikes were quick, and brutal.

"Eight! Sixteen! Thirty-two!" They flashed quicker than the man could even recognize.

"Sixty-four!" He was like a clay lump in her fists, and she was breaking him and forming him into something else. She paused for a moment, giving the man only an instant to witness her.

"One Hundred and Twenty Eight Palms!"

Shino held his hands tightly over his head, holding his breath, but it was forced out of him when the man landed unconscious across his back. Within seconds, he was being yanked by the arms up to his feet.

"Come on, hurry..help me get Kiba and Aka out of here!"

Hinata pulled Kiba onto her back, and Shino, after finding his breath, hoisted the enormous dog up as best as he could. It was no easy task, especially while the enormous beast squirmed and writhed in pain. But, they managed to drag the two out and far away enough from the temple that they could finally find peace in their ears again. Then, they ran. They didn't stop to think...they only fled.

~o~

End of Chapter 5