The world is in a constant conspiracy against the brave. It's the age-old struggle: the roar of the crowd on the one side, and the voice of your conscience on the other.
-Douglas MacArthur
Chapter 28: Age Old Struggle
"Hmm? So what is it?" Shikamaru asked, looking over at Naruto.
"Geez, no need to hurry me now!" Naruto chirped. "It happened just a bit ago before I came here to rendezvous with you all." Naruto twirled a chopstick in his hands as he thought. "The exam semi-finals had just ended, so I was walking over to the cafeteria. I ended up going the scenic route since there were too many teams going through the main hall. I happened on Tenten-san and Gai-sensei on my way. Though admittedly, they don't know that I was there." Naruto gave a sheepish chuckle.
"I saw that the two of them looked like they were having a serious conversation, so I peeked around the corner to listen a bit. What I heard was rather interesting actually." Naruto stopped toying around with his chopstick and set it on the table. "This is how it went..."
"Something isn't right, Gai-sensei. There was no reason for them to target Neji-kun in particular. It couldn't have been a vendetta against the Hyuuga clan. They would have attacked Hinata-chan instead. Since no one else seems to care about the investigation, I took matters into my own hands." Tenten leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. Her eyes darted around the hallways, and Naruto sank back against the wall. After she was sure that no one was listening, Tenten continued.
"I broke into the hospital while most of the doctors were on duty at the chuunin exams. Since not many people were running around, I was able to get inside the file rooms with relative ease." She tilted her head over to the side. Naruto noticed the skin on her arm turning white as Tenten clamped down. "They lied about Neji-kun's cause of death. They said it was a complication that had developed during his treatment, but that wasn't the truth." Tenten looked up at Gai and said coldly, "He died because he was poisoned. They were unable to respond quickly enough since the poison took hold within minutes. Neji-kun didn't last thirty minutes."
Gai started in surprise. "Why didn't they tell us of this? I was not there immediately after Neji-kun passed, but they reported to me that complications were the cause of his death. Why was the cover up necessary?" Gai bit his thumb in thought.
"I suspect that the doctors were paid to do it. Isn't that how most cover ups are done?" Tenten gave a choked laugh and shook her head. "There are only a few people who would take it to be in their best interests for this not to be heard." She quieted as the implication sank in. Gai straightened in his spot beside her, and a frown set upon his face.
"Be careful what you say, Tenten-chan. You have to know what you are dealing with," Gai said cautiously. His bushy brows were furrowed together, and his face was scrunched up in thought. Naruto could tell that Gai didn't quite believe his own words. Naruto poked his head out ever so slightly as to get a better view of the two.
Tenten had left her place and had walked directly in front of Gai, her back facing Naruto. "I know exactly who I'm dealing with. It's Hyuuga Hiashi, isn't it?" She spoke defiantly, staring directly into Gai's face. Naruto could tell by the sound of her voice that she was already resigned to doing whatever it would take to avenge Neji. Even if she had to fight against the Hyuuga Clan Head, she would do it.
"It is true that I saw the two of them fighting before Neji-kun was attacked..." Gai said hesitantly. "I would be careful with making such a bold accusation though. Even if it is true, it will be hard to prove anything. Hiashi-san has a lot of clout with the Civilian Council and in the ninja community. Not many will believe that he had his own nephew killed. I wouldn't doubt that Hiashi-san would have already covered his tracks if he did something like that. You wouldn't find anyone to testify against him."
"Then I'll just have to show enough evidence to make it perfectly clear that he is guilty," Tenten replied shortly. She put a hand on her hip and asked, "Will you do me a favor, Gai-sensei?"
"It depends on the favor," Gai replied.
"I need a way to keep track of what Hyuuga-san is doing." Naruto watched as Tenten dug a hand into one of her pockets. She pulled out a small gray circle and held it out in her palm. "Put this in his office for me."
"Tenten!" Gai exclaimed, "You do know that doing this could cause us both to be arrested? It's one thing to suspect someone, but planting a bug inside their office is something else entirely."
"I know that," Tenten snapped back. "It's the only way to find out what he's thinking. He'll be too guarded outside of his home, so I need to listen to him when he feels safe. Please, Gai-sensei. Do this for me." Tenten's voice dropped, and her head turned over to the side.
Gai looked nervously up and down the hallways; Naruto slipped farther back around the corner so he wouldn't be seen. "I got it." A clicking sound was heard, and Naruto knew that Gai had taken the bug from Tenten. "I'll try to get it in for you soon. Don't do anything that could be traced back to you. These are high stakes you are playing."
Naruto heard a soft thumping, and peaked around the corner to see Tenten patting Gai on the shoulder. "Thank you, Gai-sensei."
-TSUME-
"That was what happened." Naruto propped his head up on his fist. "So, what do you think?"
Kei twirled her pen between her fingers. "They do seem like our natural allies, don't they?" She asked innocently. At Naruto's confused face, she gave a sigh and explained. "You heard from the late Hyuuga-san, didn't you? That Hyuuga Hiashi is a part of the rebellion?" Naruto bobbed his head up and down, looking for a further explanation. "So, if they are trying to learn more about why Hyuuga-san was killed and to find a way to avenge him, then we should work together. After all, we're basically trying to accomplish the same thing. They want to avenge Hyuuga-san, and we want to put a stop to the rebellion. Either way, it ends with Hiashi-san being brought to the Hokage for justice."
"You make a good point, Kei-chan, but there are also downsides to that," Inoichi cut in. "The more people know about the rebellion, the more likely it is that the rebels will find out that we know. If we tell Tenten-san and Gai-san, then we'll have to take on that risk. If either of them are caught in their attempts to catch Neji-kun's murder and they happen to talk about, or even reference, the rebellion, it could cause us a lot of trouble."
"But," Shikamaru interjected, "We need to find allies. So far, we only have Suna and ourselves. If pressured to make a split-second choice between our side and theirs, I'm not sure how many would side with us. No side wants to be seen helping the loser, so if we look unprepared, we'll lose people. Having more people on our side will aid our appearance of control." Shikamaru tapped his fingertips together. "Plus, Gai-sensei and Tenten-san both know the gravity of the situation. I am sure that they would know how to keep a secret. It's not as if they aren't keeping any now."
"It wouldn't look suspicious if I talked to Tenten-san," Kei added. "My parents do business with Tenten's father. Tenten-san makes plenty of deliveries, and I do not doubt that she'll continue making them." Her eyes glanced over towards Inoichi, who gave a loud sigh.
"You three... Whether I condone it or not, you'll try it, won't you?" At Naruto's guilty face, Inoichi rubbed his face with his palm. "All right, all right. You have to keep me involved with everything that goes on though, all right? We can't risk anything happening to Tenten-san because of a slip up. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" Naruto beamed. He gave a smile. This time, he would definitely be careful. It was because he was too ambitious that Neji had gotten hurt last time. He silently swore that Tenten would not get hurt if he could help it. "Kei-chan, will you talk to Tenten-san later? Or do you want the rest of us to be there as well?"
"I can handle it," Kei replied, opening up her notebook. She scribbled a quick note in it before slamming it shut in Naruto's face. "Stop trying to read what I write."
"Oh come on! Telling me not to read it makes me want to read it more!" Naruto complained, resting his head on the table. He closed one eye and tried to see if he could see into the notebook, but to no avail. The blonde gave a dejected sigh before glancing over to Inoichi. "So, what should we do now?"
Inoichi looked over at the clock on the wall. "The pairings for the finals should be going up about now. How about we go out to the main room to find out your opponents?" Naruto perked up at this while Kei groaned. They slipped out of the booth before trickling out of the room. Naruto was in the lead as he navigated quickly down the halls. Despite only being in the building for a day, he found it was quite easy to make his way around. Kei and Shikamaru, on the other hand, didn't find it easy at all. Naruto had already rescued the two of them from getting lost.
Naruto sauntered out into the large rotunda before abruptly stopping. Shikamaru looked at him strangely before looking up at the ceiling. That was when Shikamaru remembered. This had been where Neji had been found only a few days ago. Shikamaru put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, startling the blonde from his stupor. "Ah, right. Now let's see where those brackets are, ha..." Naruto gave a weak smile before hustling to the other side of the room.
A crowd of genin was standing around a large bulletin board. As Naruto neared, he saw a few white pages tacked against the cork board. Naruto shoved his way through the crowd to get closer to the pages. When he was finally close enough, he searched the paper for his name before finding it at the top. "Ah! Uzumaki-san, it looks like you will be my first opponent!" Naruto looked over his shoulder to see Lee smiling at him. "I wish you all the best, but I am afraid that you will lose."
Naruto chuckled and held out his hand to Lee. "We'll see about that in the arena, Lee-san." Lee shook his hand vigorously. After a few moments, Lee slowed down and stared at their two hands. Naruto winced as Lee's hand constricted around his own.
"I cannot let you win, Uzumaki-san." Lee stared at Naruto seriously. "I'll definitely win." Lee let go of Naruto's hand and stepped away. He bounced a little bit and gave a cheerful smile. "I'll see you when the next rounds begin!" Lee turned and ran away, slicing through the ground of excited genin. As Naruto watched Lee go, he bit the tip of his thumb. Lee was one of the last people he wanted to fight in the exams, but it appeared this was fated to happen.
A hand tugged on his sleeve, and Naruto let himself be dragged out of the crowd. Kei pulled him out to the edge of the crowd before turning on him. "Now that there is a break, you and I will need to have a little chat." She flashed him a chilling smile. "Meet me at our old training grounds in two hours. Don't be late." She turned and began to walk away.
"Or else what?" Naruto called at her.
Kei gave a low laugh before saying sweetly, "Do you really need to ask that? Knowledge is power, Naruto-san." She tapped her notebook against her head before walking away, her maroon hair swishing behind her.
-TSUME-
"Feel free to go in, Yamanaka-san. Just remember not to take any books out with you," the librarian said as Inoichi passed by. The blonde gave a nod to acknowledge her before wandering towards the back of the library. The back of the library contained A-Rank and S-Rank jutsu that had never been forbidden. It was conceivable that Naruto had somehow managed to get a hold of one of these books to learn jutsu from it. Inoichi doubted it, but he was running out of ideas about how Naruto could have used the jutsu.
Shirakumo had come back to him while he was working in his office.
"Ah, Yamanaka-san. There you are." Inoichi looked over his shoulder to see Shirakumo standing beside him. The man loomed over him, and Inoichi instinctively turned the paper he was working on so it could not be read.
"Hello Hayama-san. What are you doing here?" Inoichi asked politely, rolling his chair to look at Shirakumo. There was something Inoichi didn't quite like about Shirakumo's sudden arrival. There was no reason for the jounin to be in the chuunin sensei hall. "I assume you were looking for me?"
Shirakumo gave a tiny hint of a smile before nodding, "Ah, I was. I wanted to talk to you about that boy of yours, Uzumaki-san." Inoichi's eyes flashed and his attention immediately snapped back to the man in front of him.
"What is it that you have learned?" Inoichi inquired.
"Uzumaki-san doesn't have the capacity to create his own jutsu," Shirakumo said shortly. "He knows little to nothing about chakra power levels and the intricacies of weaving chakra flows together to make jutsu. A jutsu like the one you described to me is out of his capacity. I don't know where he learned it, but it wasn't something he made up on his own."
Inoichi ran his hands over the wind jutsu volumes as he thought. If he didn't find his answer here, he would have to turn to the Hokage. It wasn't something he liked to resort to, but he couldn't have Naruto using unknown jutsu like he did earlier. If it was a jutsu passed down from the Kyuubi, then there would be limitless possibilities to what other jutsu Naruto could have learned.
Inoichi's finger stopped on the T section, and he slipped the book out of the shelf. The book felt heavy in his hands as he brought it over to the table in the corner. The volume thumped as it was dropped on the table. Inoichi opened the book and went back to Tsu-. His eyes trailed down the page before slowly closing. "How troublesome."
-TSUME-
"Naruto-san," Naruto's head whipped around as he tried to find the source of the voice. "Up here!" The irritated voice called. Naruto looked up the tree to see Kei sitting cross-legged atop the bows. The girl gave a sigh before running a hand through her hair. "Now that we have a break for the next month, I need to talk to you." She twirled her pen between her fingers. Naruto noticed she had been doing that more often recently. It normally happened when she was agitated. Naruto swallowed worriedly. What had he done now?
"What about, Kei-chan?" Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously. An angry Kei was the last thing he wanted. He couldn't recall doing anything to tick her off, but then again, he rarely did remember those sorts of things.
"Don't tell me you have forgotten already?" Kei tossed the pen up and caught it between her fingers. She tilted it to the side before flinging it at his head like a senbon. Naruto squeaked and ducked out of the way as the pen embedded in the ground behind him. "I don't know how all the brawn was gifted to those that don't have the brains to use it properly."
Naruto decided it was not a good time to comment on how he wasn't that stupid. Obviously, she'd only get angrier. "Er... Could you remind me, Kei-chan?"
"Inoichi-sensei has been suspicious and rightfully so. Mikoto-san told me that while she was serving drinks, she overheard Inoichi-sensei and Hayama-sensei talking about you and your jutsu. Why couldn't you have sacrificed your bloody pride and lost the match against Sabaku-san?" Kei buried her head in her hands and groaned. The gears turned inside of Naruto's head before the light finally switched on.
"Ah! You mean the Tsuin no Tats-" Naruto dropped to the ground again as this time, Kei threw her notebook at him.
"Idiot! Don't say the name! How did you even remember it anyways? I only recall teaching you the other one," Kei ran a hand through her hair and shook her head. "Or do I not even want to know?"
Naruto flinched before saying, "Ahh, you probably don't want to know." Kei pinched the bridge of her nose.
"We need to figure out a way to conceal the fact that you know the jutsu. Do you know anything about jutsu creation?" Naruto opened his mouth to answer when he saw a dash of blonde hair in the distance. He grabbed the notebook and pen on the ground and tossed them up to Kei. When she spluttered in surprise, he raised a finger to his mouth to shush her.
Inoichi's figure appeared as he made his way over towards the training field. As he neared, a smile crossed his face. "Ah, hello Naruto-kun. What are you doing out here?" Naruto hustled away from the tree, trying to distract Inoichi's attention.
"I was thinking about getting some secret practice! The finals are only in a month, you know, and I need to be prepared!" Naruto smiled easily, but was secretly sweating in the back of his mind. His conversation with Kei kept on appearing in his head. Inoichi was already suspicious about the forbidden jutsu! He didn't have a clue about how to create a jutsu, so he couldn't even fib about it yet!
"Ah, that's a good idea." Inoichi said with a nod. "So Naruto-kun," Inoichi uncrossed his arms and walked over towards the blonde boy. Naruto instinctively stepped back as he sensed a small wave of killer intent from his sensei. "When did you want to tell me about jutsu of yours?"
Author's Note: Woohoo! I got the chapter sort of on time! (Sort of on time means late, but only a bit late) I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! ^^ I want to give special thanks to Dante Nastaran for reminding me about something important in the story. I'll try to work hard to make that I don't forget anything in the future!
Also, thanks pokepikachu1 for betaing me! :D