Naruto can feel the eyes of every Beast Tamer on him. Their faces look forward, but their eyes follow whatever little sound reverberates in the room.
His voice gets lost in the echo and the Two-Tails puts the paper down before letting out a sigh.
Silence.
"Do you mind if I check the document?"
The Two-Tails gives him a polite smile before sending her guard over to his seat. Sai stands between the man and him, his hand outreached.
The two have a brief stand-off that makes Naruto realize the intentions of this meeting immediately. Sai moves the paper in his hands, activating whatever poison or seal could be in it, and hands his lord the paper.
Formal, with the proper signatures and stamps. Real.
"When did you receive this letter?"
"5 days ago, when all of the Beast Tamers present were on their way here."
Naruto gives the document another once-over before giving it back to Sai. He wants the meeting to start, but he is not today's host.
So they all wait. Wait for the letter to go back to the Two-Tails, wait for her to read the letter again, wait for her to rearrange the papers on her desk and wait for her to whisper something to her guard.
They wait and Naruto crosses his arms over his chest in an attempt to have his body do anything but generate stress.
The meeting is nothing short of excruciating. Information they already have being shared to a nauseating degree. The Two-Tails and the Four-Tails bickering back and forth on measures they have already taken.
Naruto zeroes in on the Four-Tails, on his ashen beard and haggard appearance. He does look like a man that cheated death, and Naruto now wants to know how.
The Four-Tails catches him looking, but Naruto doesn't look away. The old man gives him a once-over with the blankest expression he can muster. They leave the meeting several hours later and with bored faces and with no amicable feelings for the other.
Naruto walks all the way back with his hands inside his sleeves, with Sai right behind him and whispering the things he caught on before reaching their quarters.
Shino sits in a chair overlooking the buildings outside, the sunlight washing over his dark hair as the sun sets in the distance. His bugs are moving around, but they aren't noticeable to those that don't know how to look for them.
Ino lays in one of the beds, her body carefully positioned on her side, with a pillow under her head and the covers over her feet.
Neither Naruto nor Sai say anything and go on with their day as if nothing happened. Naruto sits in order to meditate, remembering step by step the teachings Jiraiya shared with him. His chakra envelops the room and then the hallways, and then farther and farther away, till his energy is laid thin and easy. A part of himself.
Sai conjures little ink serpents that slither under the door and out their room, watches as his lord meditates and controls his unruly chakra and then concentrates on his own technique.
They share their findings once Ino comes back to her body. She looks out of it, but they all know it's only an after effect of her mind being in another body for an extended period of time. Her eyes are glossy and she seems to not hear a thing, but she has long told them that her mind is in top shape and it's only her body that needs time acclimating.
Nothing looks out of the ordinary, and although they find people being more cautious than usual most can be attributed to a Beast Tamer meeting taking place.
"So what was the meeting for?" asks Ino after her own report, now with the blanket around her body and looking at her lord with unclouded icy blue eyes.
"Nothing," Naruto shrugs. He cracks his neck and sighs. "We mostly just talked about things we all know about. Shit, I zoned out halfway through, honestly. Sai, did they say anything important?"
"No, my lord."
Shino plays with a bug on his hand and then raises his head, his black round glasses catching the light in the room, making him look more menacing than usual.
"What do you think is the purpose of this, then?"
"You tell me," Naruto laughs. "And since none of you found even a sliver of something weird, then I guess the Two-Tails is clear?"
"I wouldn't be so quick to-" starts Sai, but Naruto raises his hands in defeat.
"I know, I know, but if you haven't found anything, then what? Are we supposed to keep an eye on the Four-Tails? He looks like he can drop dead at any mo-"
Naruto stops abruptly, his own mind reeling in. A man with a Beast inside of him who was supposed to die at any moment. A group of people who seemed to be able to somewhat control said Beasts. Maybe-
"Are you maybe thinking that he's in on it with the Uchiha?" Ino says before Naruto finishes his thoughts.
He looks at her with a confused look, unsure of what he's even thinking.
"It could be an option," Ino keeps on talking. Her own eyebrows now scrunched in concentration. "We have kept our attention on the Two-Tails because her actions seemed suspicious, but…"
Ino's face seems to come to a realization, her face lighting up immediately. "She suspects all of us," Naruto seems ready to argue, but Ino explains immediately, "you are Beast Tamers who survived a full on attack from this so called Uchiha group, she was the only one out of the loop. You all seem suspicious and-"
"We kept to ourselves after the fact," Shino's monotonous voice chimes in, "she only has our stories to know what happened, and she's trying to guess who is the one teaming up with the Uchiha, too."
"I guess my attitude then was not the best," Naruto laments. "Then…"
"I wouldn't rule her out so soon, anyways," Sai shares.
Ino rearranges the blanket around her, and while she nods at Sai in agreement, she seems sure of the course of action to follow. "We know our lord isn't in it with the Uchiha," at her words Naruto gives her a grateful smile Ino accepts with a serious face, "I would also stick my neck out for Lord Gaara too, which leaves us with the Two-Tails and the Four-Tails, and since we haven't found anything in here, her territory, it just doesn't hurt to try and follow that man around to check who's in contact with him."
"I will send insects his way then."
"What is he waiting for, though?" Naruto asks, looking around the room. "There is still the possibility that we are all clean, right?"
"Unlikely," says Shino and Ino gives Naruto a shrug as an answer.
"Well, let me drea-"
Shino startles one second and the next Sai whips his head in the direction of the door, his hand to his lips.
Naruto's eyes lock on the door, but unlike his guards, he can only sense someone the moment they stand near the door.
"Have you already sent the report back home, Sai?" Naruto talks with a casual volume, changing the topic of their conversation as the guest outside tries to pry.
"Not yet, my lord, it will be sent before midnight, though, rest assured."
"Good, make sure to write in the news of the Six-Tails."
"Yes, my lord."
Naruto looks at Shino, as it seems the person outside has left, but his guard shakes his head no, and as such they have to keep on their charade.
Ino takes over then, making small chat with her lord as if they had come to this place as a vacation. As the leading spy specialist, she has trained herself to be able to talk about everything and give out nothing, so Naruto just lets her lead him topic after topic.
Shino keeps his concentration on the door outside and Sai takes the moment to give another once-over to the room.
It's almost an hour later that Shino gives them the ok to speak freely again.
"From the Two-Tails or the Four-Tails?" Inquires Ino immediately after.
"I'm following him, it's hard to tell." Shino's brow is furrowed.
His technique is easier to control the more bugs there are, sending only one over distances makes it an incredibly sensible operation, so Ino stops asking questions and stands with the blanket around her body, "Do you think maybe they'll attack today?"
"That would be a bold move," Sai shares, his back to the wall near the windows, his eyes scanning around.
"Well, seems they are bold." Naruto can't help but remember the attack on the Summit. "Whatever, we'll fight them here, it's better for us."
"Yes, my lord. We know what to do," Ino assures, and Naruto sighs before letting his head hang for a second.
"The ink snakes have been dispelled, nothing out of the ordinary."
"Maybe, tomorrow then, we have to sleep anyway."
Sai nods, "Please do so, I will keep guard."
Shino is the last one to prepare for bed, as he waited until he followed their guest to their room. But it seemed to be just a servant that gathered information for the Two-Tails, so they end up where they started.
With more questions than answers and just preparing themselves for a fight.
Naruto lets himself fall loudly on the bed while Shino arranges his clothes on his nightstand. Sai leaves his bag on his bed, but his back doesn't leave the side of the window.
Ino sits on the edge of her bed, right next to Sai. "You can wake me up for a couple of hours, you know."
Sai blinks rapidly at her, surprised at her gesture. "Please, do not worry about me, I am trained to spend days without sleep, I will be fine."
Ino lets the comb move through her hair, adding an air of nonchalance to her words, "I am not going to die for a couple of hours without sleep."
Sai tilts his head and follows her hands as they move through her blond hair, the light catching on some strands. "Please do not worry, you are vital for this operation to succeed, as is Shino, let me take the burden of guarding."
Naruto sits and finds himself entranced by this display between Sai and Ino. The moment Ino nods and says goodnight to Sai and Sai only gives back a nod back, makes Naruto want to do something. "Sai," he starts, but Naruto immediately feels tension coming from Ino, so he relents, "you are right, Ino is super important here, so thanks for being so understanding."
Sai is still confused at all this worry surrounding him, as he is known to be in a special unit that specializes in taking care of the clan's dirty work. Sleep has never been an issue. So he tilts his head once more, "It is my honor, my lord." And somehow Lord Naruto seems somewhat dissatisfied with his answer so Sai presses, "I will guard you with my life, please have a good rest."
Naruto gives him a weird smile Sai mimics, and they look at each other without understanding anything.
"Yeah, right, let's catch some sleep." Naruto falls back to his bed, snuggles into his bedclothes and tries his best to soften up the tension. "I mean, what's the probability we get jumped at night, right?" He adds a tired laugh, in a show of good humor.
But Shino says, without opening his eyes and without moving a muscle in his body, "Highly likely, my lord, as we are at our most vulnerable and the enemy will most likely try to exploit our weaknesses. Attacking us at this time would raise his probability of landing a critical hit exponentially."
Naruto doesn't know whether Shino is joking or not, so he waits a second, but there is no punchline and no laugh after. He worries he will have to explain his sense of humor and at this point in time he feels it's too la-
"It was a joke, Shino," Ino says, her voice quiet, "Lord Naruto said it as a joke."
Shino remains silent and Naruto wonders whether the man knows about his remarks being oddly serious in a funny setting. Maybe this is his way of joking?
After a few seconds Sai speaks, "I'm sorry I didn't understand your joke either, my lord, but since it was meant as one, uh, ha ha."
Ino sighs deeply and Naruto has to awkwardly shake off this encounter. "Let's just sleep."
Silence falls around them and Sai keeps his attention on the outside.
I just want to thank Ino for carrying this chapter lol \(￣︶￣*\))
Next chapter hands get thrown! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
Take care and see you next week!