Chapter 5:
Dance, my Puppets, Dance
Kiba lay there, numb, bleeding out. Shino's insects flew back to their home, his skeleton. Kiba wasn't dead, far from it. He would be in a good ten minutes however. The wind jutsu used on him had given him deep, lined cuts on his arms, legs, and chest. But the jutsu didn't as much to sever or mutilate a vital organ. Temari wanted to defend herself, not gain a number to her casualty list. And she succeeded. Kiba was alive, in the process of dying, but most importantly, subdued. Someone will come by and bring him to the hospital, she thought. A little stitching here and there, and he will be fine. There was hope for Kiba. "Tem-temari… I-I've never seen you like that before…" said a breath-taken Shikamaru. "It's something you pick up when you're a kazekage's daughter and a kazekage's sister." Temari explained. "As a kid, I learned to protect my family. Since I was the oldest, most of my brother's battles were fought by me. Even now as an adult, being a peace diplomat for the Sand village is really tough. I get threatened by old constipated war dogs from my village and foreign villages every day. I've lived through my fair share of death threats, bomb threats," said Temari calmly, "In times of life and death, like what happened just now with the ANBU, you need to value your family and friends above yourself." Shikamaru never experienced what Temari went through, but he definitely understood it. "Can we regroup tomorrow? I have a horrible head ache and I just became the ANBU Black Op's number one target" moaned Shikamaru. "Your right," replied Tenten, "We all need a little rest. Today was a big day. We'll continue our plan tomorrow morning." The group agreed. Shino returned to his room at the Aburame compound, missing days of Team 8 gone by. Tenten returned to her aunt's house, where she would stay until she got enough money to have her own apartment, which annoyed her aunt, simulating tomorrow morning's battle plan in her head. Temari, her knee in blind, fresh pain hadn't left yet. Neither had Shikamaru, who was ready to walk through the Ghetto to get to his place. "Hey Shikamaru?" called Temari. "Yeah?" Shikamaru answered back. "Can I stay at your place for my vacation? I don't really want to stay at a hotel." Temari said. "Um… sure…" responded Shikamaru. The two walked back to Shikamaru's apartment together.
The next morning, The Nori Crime Family was making all the preparations for their big family meeting at the Red Deer. All doors were locked. Mercenaries hired from around the globe served as the area's security. They were educated into a diverse series of codes by the benefactors of the event. The chefs had all the food prepared. The drinks were all set up. Perfect, thought Ichiro Nori, the head of the family. He was the one personally held the weight of the Nori crime family. It was his actions that he hoped would guide the family to greatness. He put away all of his stress and tension for this one event. He didn't worry about taking control from the Genshukuna by conquering the Konoha Ghetto as a drug trade point. He didn't worry about blackmailing lawyers so they would keep winning cases for them in Konoha's courts. All he was worried about today was making sure every member of the family was happy. This meant Shisha Nori, the next in line to become Oyabun. This meant Ginji Nori, his cousin. This meant Keiji Nori, his uncle and head of the hit-men. And all their relatives as well.
Author's Note: An Oyabun is to the Yakuza what the Don is to the Italian Mafia.
Here is where all the important future decisions of the Nori clan's future will take place, thought Ichiro. Suddenly, all the members of the Nori flooded into the pub. It made Ichiro happy to see all of his family here. He met Shisha and Ginji. "I'm so glad you could make it," said Ichiro, "come let us drink some sake and discuss our affairs with the Genshukuna." Suddenly, everyone froze. The soft sound of smoke flooded the air. Heart beats increased. Eyes widened. Jaws dropped wide open. And hands gripped katana hilts ever-so-tightly. In front of everyone's fearful eyes, two dragons made entirely out of a whirring mist gracefully crept into the pub. Each dragon would smoothly slide around one Nori with their long tail-like bodies, then zoom to another family member, and smoothly slide around them. The dragons moved as if they were dancing an intricate, complex ballet. Ichiro was frozen in fear, mouth wide open and heart beat escalating. Soon every one saw two mysterious figures behind the dragons. "Hello gentlemen," Shikamaru said confidently, as Tenten controlled the dragons' actions with a wide scroll on the floor. "I am a Private Investigator. I am on a mission to find the murderer of Sasuke Uchiha. I have reason to believe the Nori family are hiding something about it. I'd like to interrogate your Oyabun please. I just want to ask a few questions." "What makes you think we're gonna let you?!" exclaimed Ginji Nori, frightened and confused by the detective's entrance. "Because," answered Tenten, "Each and every member of the Nori family is currently within the grasp of my Piloted Rising Twin Dragons technique. The two dragons composed of mist that you are seeing are really scrolls, loaded with weaponry and ninja tools. At a snap of my fingers, any weapon of my choice will fly out of the mist, and strike one of your family…" Ichiro grit his teeth. The idea of his family being hurt made him so angry. "Or…" Tenten continued menacingly, "I can just decide to have both dragons just dissipate, and then an explosion of sharp blades will scatter across the room, literally leaving no one alive. That's right, I have you in the palm of my hand right now! Any sudden movements from any of you, and I will impale you." Keiji did not heed this warning. A great sound of chirping and shrieking arose as he activated Chidori with his right hand. He started dashing at Tenten. "Shut up you biii-" Keiji was cut off as a Fuma Shuriken was summoned out of one of the dragons' great bodies, and hurtled at his neck. Keiji's head smoothly fell off, as the Fuma Shuriken landed on a wall several yards away. Keiji's chidori disappeared and his body collapsed with no sound what so ever. "Do you understand me?" asked Tenten. "Fine, I'll talk! I'll talk! Just don't-don't-don't hurt my f-family anym-more!" shouted Ichiro Nori. Heads turned. Some with a new feeling of disgust and shame. Some with a new feeling of safety. "Good…" said Shikamaru calmly. "Let's start with the easiest question… did you or another member of the Nori family kill Sasuke Uchiha?" "Well not exactly really… well… we… you see, we made a deal with his killer…" "Hmmm… I see…" said an interested Shikamaru, "do you remember the name of this person you made a deal with?" "Well-" Ichiro was cut off by Shisha. "You idiot! If you tell him the Nori family will be completely destroyed. Everyone will die if we let that kind of information out!" he exclaimed. "Everyone will die today if I don't let this information out!" Ichiro shouted back. "Listen… I-I-I'll tell you… the mans' name… i-it's… Uzumaki Naruto…" "You mean…" began a flabbergasted Shikamaru, "The guy we're doing this mission for…" "Set you up…"
To Be Continued in Chapter 6
Author's Note: Hello. Thank you for reading thus far. I hope you're enjoying it. While the story is long from over, I'm going to be putting it on hiatus until the story can get a good amount of reviews. I'm not sure when I'll pick it up, but until then I'm going to be making completed stories for different fictional universes that I want to dip my beak into writing-wise. Expect a Hellsing-Naruto crossover. It's in the works. Thanks for reading so far, and please review my work!