Tenten gobbled down the last of her dumplings and paid for the meals both hers and everyone else's using the money Kakashi had lent her. She thanked the waitress and headed out into the streets ignoring the stare her leaf headband earned her. It took a couple tries before anyone would give her directions to both the town's inn and the town hall. She stopped in at the inn first and booked their rooms like Kakashi had asked her to making sure she once again set Naruto and Hinata in the same room.
Unpacking her things in her room she headed out to meet Kakashi at the town hall. She cut through alleys and winded her way through the streets. The man who had given her directions had told her she could cut through the town park and she decided to take the scenic route turning into the path through the park. If it hadn't been for the grey skies and mud from the rain last night it would have been a pleasant route to take, but the weather had ravaged the plants and landscape into something unpleasant.
A black kunai flew from the trees and stuck in the path in front of her a paper bomb attached to the end, she jumped back managing to duck behind a tree and avoid the blast drawing one of her scrolls and breaking the seal. She tossed the scroll out and moved into action moving away from her cover drawing a fistful of kunai. A red haired man stood on the pathway covered in head to food in grey painted armor his head was protected by an armored hood and a solid metal scorpion clung to his back. His hands flashed as he readied a Jutsu.
Tenten threw the kunai and begun pulling a Kama from the scroll tossing it to the man, followed by half a dozen shuriken. The man remained still and accepted the weapons taking the bow, the steel weapons hit their marks; Tenten had aimed for the spots between the metal plate and his unprotected face. The kunai landed on target and fell to the ground followed by the shuriken; the Kama hit him square in the face and bounced harmlessly off its blade flattened by the impact.
Tenten pulled a naginata from the paper and charged in slashing at the man while swinging the blunt end around to smack him; the man ducked the swing and jumped back out of her range. Tenten moved to lunge again when something caught her foot. She looked down to see her scattered weapons moving; one of her kunai had snagged her ankle and was anchoring her to the ground. The shrunken liquefied and moved to fuse with the other metal moving up her body warm to the touch. She struggled to free her foot and pull off the creeping steel but it was useless, the metal wrapped around her arms and pinned them together while her legs were bound in a similar fashion.
She struggled and looked at the man standing over her watching as she struggled to free herself. "Who the hell are you?" she growled straining her wrists to slip through but the steel bands only tightened.
"Leave the Land of Waves." He said, "There is nothing here that concerns you or the Leaf Village."
"Those murders we've seen tell us differently." She retorted deciding it was both pointless and wasteful to struggle against the tightening metal.
"No one who has died didn't earn a premature death… some of them were long overdue for it." He said taking a knee over her one of the globs of metal traveled to him and formed into his hand and begun shaping itself into a solid metal tanto.
"And you're in a position to be the judge of that?" she asked accusingly feeling the metal bands loosen slightly allowing her circulation to flow back into her hands.
"As a matter of fact I am. But enough of that leave the Land of Waves with your friends or soon it will be innocent people who wind up dead."
"So much for only hurting those that earned it." She sneered trying to keep her face out of the muddy ground.
"It's not from me you need fear such action from… but these men we hunt… they don't care who they have to hurt, especially if they feel cornered. Given time they'll target anyone they can, even the Leaf Village. Let me continue my work and they won't have a chance to threaten anyone else."
"What are you talking about? Who are you targeting?" she asked no longer sneering at the shinobi.
"No one innocent you can be assured of that." He said before disappearing into the trees.
"Brother?" she asked not letting her guard down her gaze drifted back into the woods towards the man perched in the tree's smoking from a wooden pipe his face solemn and blank.
The scorpion puppet crawled off the back of the human decoy puppet and moved off to her right flank. "My mother was a woman named Supūru a former ambassador to Konoha from the Hidden Sand village. During that time she was involved with a man named Hiashi Hyūga a man betrothed to another woman." The puppet explained holding its ground and keeping at a ready stance. Hinata moved trying to make sure Naruto stayed behind her. It took all her self-control to keep herself from turning around and trying to close his open wound with her medical Jutsu.
"Why are you doing this? If you really are my Half-brother then why are you trying to kill me?" she asked the puppet ready to defend Naruto at the slightest twitch.
"Why? Why do you think? Do you really think your clan would recognize a bastard, would your farther welcome me into the main branch of your family? Of course he wouldn't. My mother knew that when she fled Konoha and returned to the Land of Wind. If Hiashi learned of my birth he would have placed one of those wretched seals on my head and force me to serve a family I could never be a part of."
Hinata felt her chest sink as she imagined her father grabbing a baby from its mother's arms and forcing the family's Juinjutsu on the crying infant, She had seen the scene play out before with many of the Hyūga's branch members, It had happened to Neji on her third birthday.
She felt Naruto stand behind her, "Naruto… don't move you will only make your wounds worse." Naruto gritted his teeth and a stream of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. "This bastards talking about killing you and you expect me to stay on my knees?" he wiped the blood from his mouth and drew a kunai from his pouch his other arm still holding his belly wound closed. "Tell me you son of a bitch… what gives you the right to decide that we have to die?"
"NARUTO!" shouted Hinata quieting him, "it's alright… I… I understand and I won't let him kill me or you… just sit back down."
It took as second but Naruto obeyed and kneeled down clutching the kunai close to him. Hinata looked over to the scorpion its back plates shined with various village headbands. She shuddered as she noticed Leaf Village headbands among their ranks.
The crossbow on its tail clicked and a volley of arrows few forward, Hinata set herself into motion the bolt broke as her hands made contact shattering them. The humanoid puppet moved in to intercept her it's swords moving in their deadly arcs targeting Naruto. She spun and slammed her palm into the puppets chest slamming it backwards. The scorpion lunged pouncing on her, she punched the arachnid but it managed to stay on steel wires extended from its legs and wrapped around her clinging to her attacking her with its claws and tail pinching her shoulders while the tail curled around and stabbed her back. She screamed and fell to the ground as the scorpion ravaged her. Her collar bones snapped as the claws gripped tighter. Tears streamed down her face in pain. "NARUTO!"
Kumo watched as the puppet pounced bringing the Hyūga down. His chest sunk as he felt her screams vibrate the chakra strings, he cursed himself for having his Byakugan discovered. The last thing he wanted to too kill a member of the Leaf Village let alone a member of his own family. Nenshō would never let him hear the end of this one.
A bright red ball of chakra suddenly burst into view, the blond headed ninja was suddenly moving his eyes turned red feral. Kumo's eyes widened as he swiped at the scorpion knocking it with his hand and breaking the wires that held it to the girl sending it flying into the trees. He sent the other puppet forwards towards him and the kid moved to intercept it he kicked it in the chest sending it back.
He crouched on all fours eying the puppet and staring daggers at it. He looked more like an animal than a man ready to fight like a cornered dog emanating chakra in quantities he'd never seen before.
Kumo sighed and moved the puppets slowly away from him, the gash on his belly had sealed itself somehow. The boy didn't move to attack standing over the incapacitated girl, cursing he fully withdrew the puppets back to him. He was already low on chakra from using the Byakugan to scout the Leaf Shinobi earlier today. He was already past exhausted and his puppets were damaged and could hardly take another one of those punches. If he hadn't already used the Byakugan today he could just summon more puppets to end this but he was at his limit. Tapping the ashes out of his pipe the summoned the puppets back and left to find Nenshō.