NARUTO IS PROPERTY OF MASASHI KISHIMOTO
"Kyuubi talking"
'Kyuubi thinking'
"Normal speech"
'Characters thinking'
Author's note:
Remember, in my story 1 yen = 1 dollar.
Generation Lost
Chapter 3: Voices of Violence
"Don't wait for, a knight in shining armor
Your savior's, reflected in the mirror
These flowers, have grown from bloodstains on the ground"
"Is he still in there?" Kabuto asked the red-haired woman, who had taken it upon herself to stand watch outside Sasuke's room.
Karin threw a dirty look towards Orochimaru's former right hand. She knew that the concern on his voice was all but true.
"Hasn't come out since." She replied coldly.
Ever since that masked man had reappeared out of nowhere to deliver a wide-eyed, paled faced Sasuke, the Uchiha only spoke to order them to take him back to HQ. Karin and Suigetsu washed him over with questions but the black-haired avenger was too immersed in his thoughts to provide a direct answer.
As soon as they arrived to the underground lair Sasuke shut himself up in his room. He could be heard mumbling over and over stuff about Itachi and the Uchiha, but he wouldn't talk to anybody, nor receive food. Karin couldn't say for sure but Sasuke made crying noises every night before falling silent.
That was four days ago.
"If he doesn't come out soon, I'll have Jugo break in and force feed him." Karin said while looking concernedly at the old wooden door that stood between their leader and them.
"Better not do that. People like Sasuke-kun hate being disturbed while they're strategizing." The silver-haired young man said.
The kunoichi narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Strategizing? He's gone mad! Killing his brother left him in a semi-catatonic state."
Kabuto's chuckle resonated throughout the dim-lit lobby. "He is very strong minded, killing Itachi couldn't affect him as much as you say. As much as I hate to admit, Orochimaru-sama's habits rubbed off on Sasuke-kun; when he's got something on his mind, he won't stop thinking about it until finding a way around it. They were always planning something."
"But-"
"Just wait until he sorts things out. He'll come out then." The purple-clad traitor walked past the woman and reached for the exit door. "When he does let me know. He'll have orders for us."
"Good evening." A girl greeted politely, hurrying over to the counter and sitting on the wooden chair.
Naruto, Sakura and Kiba looked at each other in wonder, then at Yamato suspiciously. Were they really going to stay at a three-star hotel or were they just starting their investigation here? The older man ignored their stares as he approached the counter and returned the polite smile the girl was giving him.
"Good evening."
The golden-haired girl looked at each of the six persons standing in front of them, trying to convey the wary feeling she always got every time someone stepped into her father's hotel. They seemed normal enough, and she didn't pick up any dangerous feelings from them.
"Welcome to Iwatori's Hot Springs Hotel." She spoke the practiced words she had been taught to say to anyone that came in. "My name is Akira, how may I help you today?"
"My name is Inamoshi Yamahiki." Replied the brown-haired man pointing to himself. "This is my nephew Kitaru and those are my nephew's friends."
Yamato ruffled Kiba's hair playfully, thing which placed Kiba in a very bad mood. There was a thunderous bark that almost made Akira jump out of her skin. The group's attention was diverted towards the big white dog wagging its tail impatiently, just below the counter.
"And this is Maru." Kiba said as he petted the dog's head. They both were resentful that Yamato had failed to present Akamaru to the girl.
"Oh." Akira whispered as she breathed deeply to calm down. 'That's one big dog!' "Uhm, nice to meet you."
Yamato turned his head to her. "I believe there is a reservation under my name."
"Oh, just a second." Said the seven-teen year old girl, scrimmaging through the pages of a big leather book under the desk.
As Akira was busy reading through the entries of the book, Hinata looked around at the well-decorated lobby.
There were several paintings of animals and waterfalls scattered around the room, hanging from a polished-wood wall. Hinata noted that the whole structure of the hotel consisted of wood, which made the building look like an oversized cabin. She guessed its whole purpose was to fight off the cold weather that reigned most part of the year in Yugakure.
The village was placed just at the base of the mountains, which made the cold winds from the north hit the village full force. No wonder they treasured their hot springs so much.
"Inamoshi-san, there's three bedrooms booked for you for the whole month." Said Akira, closing the heavy book.
Naruto's eyes widened at the information, a small smile creeping to his lips. None of his missions had ever included a one-month, all-expense-paid hotel stay. He had always had to pay everything with his money, his paycheck would come afterwards.
"This is gonna be awesome." He was so excited that he muttered both to Hinata and Sai. The indigo-haired girl turned her head and graced him with a smile and a nod; Sai tried to imitate Hinata's facial expression, resulting only in a creepy tug of lips through half-lidded eyes.
"Ew." Was Naruto's immediate response to Sai's face. "Don't ever look at me like that."
He didn't allow Sai to reply, since he sped towards the front, eager to look at their rooms.
"Breakfast and dinner are served every day, except Sundays. They are included in your reservations, but if you want to eat lunch in the hotel it'd be added to your tab." Akira was leading the group to the second floor. She turned to the teenage brunette. "Dogs aren't allowed in the hot springs or the bedrooms; we have several dog houses just outside where he can sleep. I'm sorry." She noticed the look of disappointment in Kiba's and (surprisingly) Akamaru's face. It was as if the dog could understand what she was saying.
Hinata was trying to listen to what Akira was saying but it was proving difficult to concentrate when she felt Sai's eyes on her the whole time.
"The last three rooms belong to you." She pointed a blue fingernail down the hall. "If there's anything you need I'll be downstairs." Yamato thanked her as she handed him the keys for the rooms.
"Here you go, girls." The older man said as he handed a pair of keys to Sakura and Hinata. "You'll be staying in 208. Nagari and Sachi will use 209, Kitaru and I will have the one on the corner."
Kiba and Naruto had to think for a minute until they reacted to their names.
"What?! Why?!" they exclaimed at the same time.
Yamato cringed at their loudness. "It's natural for family to stay at the same room. People will suspect if we don't."
"Yamahiki-san, I'm not sure it's safe for those two to be let alone." Sakura said.
"Damn right!" the blond said, stepping away from the short-haired boy.
"Oh they should be all right." Yamato approached Naruto and Sai with a tense smile. "You two will get along rather well. If you don't, I'll be forced to take you out of the mission and get you back to Konoha."
His dark eyes locked with Sai and Naruto's. "If you don't convince me you can work well together, I'll recommend you two get thrown back to the genin Academy."
Naruto doubted the ANBU had the authority to do such thing, but he choose not to provoke him since Tsunade was already very pissed with him and if Yamato spoke of his poor teamwork performance she might actually suspend him.
"Just give us the key." The blue-eyed teen spat.
Although not satisfied with the Uzumaki's manners, Yamato handed the blond the pair of keys.
"Right. I've a meeting at five o'clock with Watari."
"So soon? We just got here." Sakura commented.
"Our employer's got to know his distress call has been answered." The older of them replied, claiming the bed nearest to the door and placing his backpack on top of it. He continued to explain the younger shinobi that since he was the businessman, it'd be suspicious to have a bunch of teenagers attending the meeting.
Sakura and Naruto, being used to Kakashi's laziness, had to raise their eyebrows at Yamato's display of commitment. It had been a long trip and the man didn't even have time to take a nap or a shower before rushing out of the hotel, warning the kids not to leave the building until he got back. Although strict, he did pressed the young ones to make use of the hot springs in the back of the building, claiming that today may be the only day they could have some sort of fun.
They agreed to meet at the lobby in twenty minutes. In the meantime, they all went to settle at their respective rooms.
Sakura chatted lively with Hinata about the healing properties of the hot waters, especially the ones coming directly from the mountains. Kiba instructed Akamaru to transform into a clone of him and went ahead to the springs, but Naruto immediately intervened and reminded the two of them that they couldn't perform any kind of jutsu.
"Even if they don't sense your chakra it'd be weird to see two Kibas in the same room. We can't risk getting caught at our first day in the city." Were Naruto wise words.
The Inuzuka hated to admit that the Uzumaki was right, and chastised himself for not thinking ahead. He regretfully told his loyal dog to wait for him until it was time to eat dinner.
Naruto was trying hard to ignore the creepy feeling of being watched intently from behind, but even if he threatened Sai to leave him alone, the boy would just stare at him unfazed. The blond decided to rush out of his room, leaving a confused Sai behind. Naruto found himself ten minutes too early sitting on a couch at the lobby.
There was a sound that made Naruto stray off his thoughts.
The blond turned his head just in time to see Akira pressing her shoulder against the entrance doors since both her hands were busy holding two gallons of milk each.
"Do you need any help?" Naruto asked, standing from his spot and stepping to the winded girl.
"That's okay, I can do it on my own." The blond-haired young woman protested, but Naruto was already taking all the four containers from her fingers.
"Where should I put them?" he asked, ignoring her words and looking down at her.
Akira took a moment to gather her breath, then said rather embarrassed, "To the kitchen, behind that door."
The black-haired boy followed her lead and entered the spacious kitchen, noticing about eight more milk bottles lying on the floor, with a few large bags besides them. "Thank you." Said the older girl, gracing him with a smile. The blond nodded in response.
"Are there any more?"
She shook her head. "That was the last of them."
"Did you carry all of these here by yourself?" the tall boy asked, gesturing to the provisions. He also noticed ten crates filled with radishes and tomatoes, and other kinds of vegetables.
"Yes. We've been short on staff lately." She confessed, readjusting her low ponytail.
"Don't you have someone else helping you run this place?" they left the kitchen and headed towards the lobby again.
"I did but they've been-"Akira caught herself in time, forgetting she was talking to a complete stranger. "They're away."
Her sudden change of words didn't go unnoticed by the blond. It was obviously a private subject to her so he decided not to inquire about it. "There are maids and waiters that keep this place going, though."
"Well, me and my friends are gonna be around if you need help with anything else." He wondered where his so-called friends were, since they were supposed to be here like five minutes ago.
"That's very kind of you, I'll keep it in mind, uh… What was your name again?"
The disguised boy was busy looking at the stairs, expecting anyone from his crew to come down, so he was distracted when she asked him his name.
"My what?"
"Your name? I asked you what your name was." The lady said, wondering how old he could be and how he could get such a tanned complexion when they were nearing winter.
"My name, right, my name is…" The now dark-haired teenager said clumsily. He was sure it started with his first initials but was caught off guard with the question, so he had to fumble momentarily in his brain to find the right answer.
It took long enough for the inn-keeper to think he was acting weird, but Sakura's voice came from the end of the hall, answering her question just in time.
"Nagari! Stop flirting with her and hurry up." Both Akira and Nagari lifted their heads at the pink-haired girl and co. There they were, his team, and they were snickering at Sakura's words. Akira didn't know if she should feel embarrassed at a bunch of teenagers teasing her with someone younger than her, but Naruto knew exactly what he should feel.
"Hurry up? I've been waiting for twenty minutes for you to come down but I guess that's too much to ask." The black-haired boy replied in annoyance. He stormed off towards his entourage, forgetting to say some kind of good-bye to the inn-keeper, who was so confused at his rapid change in mood that forgot to feel insulted.
"Stop whining, it wasn't that long." Kiba told him.
"That's twenty minutes I'll never get back. I could already be in the springs."
"How could you, if you forgot your towel?" Sai piped in, Naruto's towel hanging from his hand. Naruto placed his blue eyes on Sai's, wondering if he was mocking him behind that false smile.
He took his towel from Sai's extended hand, not saying a word.
"What do you say, Nagari?" Sakura asked with a warning glance.
"Stay away from my stuff." The blue-eyed boy replied with a frown at Sai, who didn't seem to mind his harsh words. Sakura rolled her eyes, a headache already starting to form in her temple. 'This is going to be along mission.'
Nobody wanted to break the heavy silence that fell on the group of young ninjas. Hinata could see Naruto's tense shoulders from under his shirt and wondered what might be going through his mind that made him so cranky the whole time. Sai's presence was a possible explanation, but she didn't remember the blond being a guy to hold a grudge against someone, especially for something that happened days ago. She only hoped that whatever was bothering him, washed away as soon as he immersed himself on the steamy hot springs not too far ahead.
"Awww, I thought it'd be a unisex onsen*." Whined Kiba loudly, looking at the separate changing rooms that lead to their own pool. Sakura felt the urge to slap him on the head, but given that she wasn't as familiar with him as she was with her teammates, restrained herself from doing so.
"Thank Kami it isn't." Sakura said through tight lips, glancing at Kiba disapprovingly.
"If I were you I'd be thankful that this guy isn't with you in the same room while you're naked." The black-haired teen said to his childhood friend, pointing his thumb to the ROOT member. Not waiting to see how Sai responded, the blue-eyed kid entered the door designed for male visitors.
"I'll see ya later." Kiba said toothily to his teammate, waving at her. The girl smiled at him, and hurried to tug slightly at Sai's shirt before he left.
"Sai-kun, I must ask a favor from you." Started the girl, earning a inquiring look from both Sakura and Sai.
"Yes?"
"You must've noticed that Nagari-kun is a little bit irritated from the trip…" Hinata glanced briefly at the door Nagari-kun had just crossed, and hoped she was talking low enough for him not to hear.
"Isn't he always like that?" Sai asked innocently, tilting his head to the left.
"I think he's just somewhat mad at you for what happened back at home." The girl said.
"But I just did something nice for him." The older boy said. "And I read that when you do something nice for someone they'll eventually become friends with you."
"Well, what you said in Konoha really hit made him angry." Sakura interjected, interested on their conversation. "It takes more than just a few favors to get him to like you."
Sai held onto her words, trying to memorize that piece of information.
"So, what I'm trying to say is to let him enjoy the bath and relax. His mood will definitively improve if this bath goes without any… mishap." The dark-haired woman finished, looking at Sai intently and hoping he wouldn't bother Naruto.
"You're doing this because you're his friends, right?" The taller shinobi asked Hinata.
"Uhm, I guess so." The girl replied.
"Alright." Sai answered simply, turning on his heel and entering the men's changing room. Sakura and Hinata watched confusedly as he took out a pen and notebook.
When Sai arrived, naked to the bone except for the tiny piece of towel men used to cover their privates when they got in or out of the pool, Naruto and Kiba were already soaking tranquilly at the farthest corner of the area. The air was pretty hot and there was a constant fog that made it hard to see farther from your nose. The black and brown-haired boys watched as Sai headed for the opposite direction of them, and settled himself on the middle of the pool, with a few other guys around him.
"Thank Kami, I thought he was going to come here." Kiba said with a sigh of relief, feeling even more relaxed and submerging even more in the water. "What took him so long?"
"I don't care." Naruto said, eyes closed and arms resting behind his head. He was feeling better by the minute, and if Kiba would stop talking it would be even better.
"This feels so good I could fall asleep." Continued to say the brunette, his damp towel placed on top of his head.
"Please do." Replied the blond, wanting to have quiet time for himself for at least five minutes.
"No way! I'd probably drown or something!" exclaimed Kiba, sitting up straight.
'You'll never know if you don't try.' Naruto thought, too tired to say it out loud. It would probably provoke another comment from Kiba. Unfortunately for him, the dog trainer kept talking even if he didn't join the conversation. Is this how Shikamaru felt every time someone talked to him? He lowered his head into the water, closed his eyes, and let the water cover his ears, finally being able to drown out Kiba's boisterous words.
It felt nice down there.
The unseen movements of the dark water hit his body gently, and he could feel his dark mane move every time Kiba flapped around. He didn't remember a time when he was in an onsen without having every muscle of his body hurt. There would always be a tore or strained muscle, and a few bruises down his body. But this was nice, he didn't feel any pain.
The Uzumaki let himself relax completely; he could feel his shoulders untighten and his face muscles loosen up. The frown that seemed to be on his face the whole trip disappeared, and Naruto let himself smile. 'Jiraiya would like this.' The thought crept to his mind without his consent, and immediate images of the man started appearing behind his eyes. He would be on his way to Amegakure, coming up with a strategy to get in the city without being noticed. That sounded fun, yet very dangerous; especially if he went alone.
Just now he noticed that Kiba was moving rather harshly around him. The whiskered boy started to hear his voice was getting louder and louder, and wondered what on earth was Kiba doing this time.
Whatever relaxation had been accrued had been destroyed in a second by Kiba taking him by his shoulders and hoisting up towards the surface.
"What the hell?" exclaimed the boy, outraged. Naruto ran a hand down his face to wipe out the dripping water.
"You were down there for long time! I thought you'd fallen asleep or something and were drowning!" explained Kiba vehemently.
Sai listened to the verbal exchange between Kiba and Naruto, who seemed as annoyed as ever. Watching as Naruto yelled angry words in Kiba's face, he noticed those words didn't contain the poison the Uzumaki usually directed at him. 'It'd be hard to get him to be my friend.' Sai mused. 'But I guess that's just how it's supposed to be.'
"What are those morons up to now?" Sakura asked her companion tiredly. Their pool didn't have as many people in it; there were only two more women with them. Hinata allowed herself to smile, being glad that Sai wasn't the cause of the fuss going over the other side of the stone wall. Despite the embarrassment she felt at being so exposed near so many people, the hot water really help her forget about whatever was tugging at her mind.
"You should really start scolding Kib-Kitaru for those perverted comments he makes." Sakura said, quickly correcting her mistake and hoping no one around noticed anything strange. "I would but I guess it should be you since you're his friend."
"He doesn't mean them… well, not all of them." The long-haired kunoichi replied, making sure the ponytail kept her hair out of water's reach. "Besides, he's harmless."
"If you keep being so lenient, he might actually try something on you. You know how boys are." Sakura said.
Hinata wanted to shaker her head and tell Sakura that she didn't know how boys were. She just knew her two teammates and one of them was as quiet as a bug.
"Have you ever told him off?" came Sakura's curious voice. The pink-haired girl was trying not to ogle at Hinata's breasts, which were enormous compared to hers. The other girl hesitated before answering.
"One time." The Hyuuga in disguise confessed, deciding to look down at the water than to the green eyes of her friend. Of course, this ignited Sakura's absolute attention. The pink-haired girl waded closer to her conspiratorially, her eyes shining with curiosity.
Hinata had already overcome the shyness so well known in her since childhood. But that didn't stop her from feeling uncomfortable at the Haruno's closeness. She was actually touching her shoulder with Kami knew what part of her body underwater.
"What are you waiting for? Let's hear it!" Sakura exclaimed fretfully. Urging the Hyuuga to speak.
"He wouldn't dare do something like that with Shino around, but he was helping Kurenai-sensei with something else." Hinata paused, making sure Kiba and Naruto were still bickering among them, so they couldn't hear her. "I told him I was going to change clothes, so I went to my tent, and just before I could strip off my underwear I felt him peering through the entrance."
Hinata knitted her eyebrows together at the memory. "I felt so frustrated at him, betraying my trust like that. So I drove him out and screamed at him! I told him I couldn't believe it from my friend… I think I've never been so angry before."
Obviously, what Hinata thought was screaming, in fact was just a very firm and disappointed tone directed towards Kiba. She told her how Kiba promised not to ever do that again, after he was heavily reprimanded by his whole team, even Akamaru.
"I'd like to see that side of you. It'd be refreshing." Sakura said with a laugh. "Say, if it had been Naruto peeking at you naked, how would you react?"
Just as Sakura expected, Hinata's whole face lit up in an instant. The sole thought made her feel uneasy inside. The Hyuuga tried to push the thought away. "He would never do something like that."
"C'mon, Hinamori. He's been with the biggest pervert in the country for three years! Something must have rubbed off on him."
But Hinata shook her head quickly, not buying Sakura's words. "I know him. I've seen how he disapproves of Jiraiya-san's actions. He's against any perverted act."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "All right, let's suppose he actually does. What would you do?"
"I'll probably faint." Answered Hinata honestly. This caused the pink-haired girl to bark with laughter.
"Really? And you'd be lying in front of him, naked and unconscious, for him to do anything he wanted with you." Continued the medic-nin, watching as Hinata blushed even harder. The Hyuuga was too embarrassed to answer.
"Do you still like him that much? Even after all these years?" Came Sakura's next question, her voice deprived of any humor.
Hinata raised her eyes from the warm water and looked directly at Sakura's. "Yes."
Naruto's bath hadn't been as relaxing as he had expected, but he admitted it did help to help him cool down and look at this Jiraiya-deprived mission with more positivism. They had spent little more than an hour in the springs and it was time to go to their rooms and wait for Yamato's appearance that would come with a few orders and assignments for each. A few lockers to his right was Sai, who had been uncharacteristically quiet; he didn't talk to him the whole time. If he continued like this then him being his roommate could be somewhat tolerable. Kiba had gone ahead to hang out with Akamaru outside.
Naruto dried his hair, placed the wet towel on a waste basket, and headed out towards the main lobby, he could hear the girls talking just a few steps in front of him.
"If there were hot springs as good as these ones in Konoha I'd go there every single day." The pink-haired girl was saying as she sat on a side chair that was lingering on the hall. He saw Hinata's indigo hair waving from behind the corner as he approached.
"My father has thought of building one inside our house, but I think it'd be a waste of money since the public baths are so close to the Hyuuga building."
Sakura's eyes immediately sparkled at Hinata's words. "Who cares? Promise me once its ready you'll take me there every single week!"
"That's funny, because there aren't many Hyuuga buildings in Tanzaku, Hinamori-san." Yamato said as he appeared in the hall, crossed arm and with a disapproving look on his face. Naruto also arrived and stood between Hinata and Sakura. "You just said out loud you had a connection with the Hyuuga clan, that right there would be a mission disaster."
The boy with dyed hair saw as Hinata realized the older man was right, and lowered her head.
"And you, Sanemi-san." He turned his almond eyes to the green-eyed girl who had jump to her feet as soon as he appeared. "You mention Konoha too much. Don't do that."
Given the hard look on his eyes, the blond guessed the meeting didn't go as well as he had expected. Yamato turned to him. "Kitaru and Sachi?"
"He went to see the dog, Kitaru." The blond drawled, uninterested. "Sachi's still changing back there."
Yamato nodded, then announced they should get some dinner before the inside restaurant closed its doors. The teens followed silently. Hinata's shamed face couldn't be seen due to the dark curtain of hair that framed her face. The whiskered boy felt bad for the Hyuuga.
"Hey." He placed his hand on her shoulder so she could raise her head and meet his eyes. "Don't think too much of it. Everyone screws up once in a while."
Seeing that she was still feeling too down to reply, he added, "The first undercover mission will always be hard. It's not easy to think like a different person the whole time. Hell, in my first UC I gave us away within 10 minutes of starting it."
Finally, the girl's lips rose to a smile. "Thanks, Nagari-kun."
Once they gathered Sai and Kiba, Yamato chose the table in the very corner, farthest from the other three that were occupied so they could speak freely. "Two more villagers have disappeared since we left home." The man stated seriously. "Watari gave me a list with the names of the kidnapped, so starting tomorrow we will start gathering information on the timing and location of each missing person. Whether we find a pattern or an identification of the kidnappers, report to me immediately so we could dig further into it."
He had to stop talking since the waiter arrived with their orders. Once he was gone, Yamato continued,
"We are to report our findings to Watari in two weeks, so we don't have much time." He then proceeded to split them into two-man groups so they could cover more ground. As expected, uncle and nephew were paired together, along with Akamaru, Naruto got to be with Hinata, and Sakura was stuck with Sai.
The whiskered teen was visibly relieved he wasn't paired with Sai. In fact, he was thrilled he got go hang out with the Hyuuga, since he got along with her so well.
Although disappointed with her new teammate, Sakura couldn't help to feel happy for her friend. She could tell that under her calm demeanor, Hinata was squealing with glee she could be with her crush for the next two weeks.
Her green eyes rested on the pale boy who graced her with one of his weird smiles. 'He looks like Sasuke-kun when he's not smiling like that.' She wondered if Naruto would share her opinion.
Normally Naruto was a heavy sleeper.
In his travels with Jiraiya, the old man would jump directly to pour cold water on his back to get him up and going, since talking to him or even shaking him awake was a waste of time.
But on their second day on the hotel, the Uzumaki rose slowly to the sounds of Sai shuffling around the room as he packed his stuff for today.
"Good morning." Sai said in a low voice, aware that Naruto was still half asleep. The black-haired boy didn't reply. "I wasn't sure if I had to wake you up. I read that not many people like that, although I don't know how you would react."
"What time is it?" the blue-eyed boy asked, noticing Sai was ready to get out of the room.
"8:45." Replied Sai cheerfully. "Sanemi-san's already waiting for me to leave the building, Yamahiki and Kitaru are already gone."
Naruto pressed his palm on his forehead. He was supposed to leave with Hinata at 9:00 o'clock.
"I better hurry." He said, more to himself than to Sai. The older boy only nodded.
"I shall be going, then."
In his groggy state, Naruto forgot he was supposed to still be angry with his new teammate. So he just grunted a sleepy "Bye."
Once alone in the room, he stood up and hurried to the shower.
Sai climbed down the stairs where Sakura and Hinata had just finished their breakfast. The girls noticed he had a rather normal smile in his face.
"What are you so happy about?" Sakura asked suspiciously.
"Happy?" Sai asked in confusion. He wasn't aware he had been smiling, he was only aware he was really pleased with having a non-hostile conversation with Naruto, no matter how short.
Sakura shook her head. "Forget it. Let's go."
Before they left Hinata alone, Sai informed her that Naruto had just woken up and would be with her in a minute. Knowing they should get going soon, Hinata decided to order breakfast for him so they didn't have to waste time as they waited for the food to arrive.
"I took the liberty to order your food so you wouldn't have to wait long." The girl informed him after 15 minutes of waiting, once he saw the chuunin ran down the stairs, almost tripping with a flower vase located at the end of the staircase.
"Thanks. I'm sorry I had you waiting. I didn't bring an alarm clock with me." Naruto replied, scratching his neck sheepishly. Bacon, eggs and sausages were already waiting for him at their table.
Hinata shook her head dismissively at his apology. "Yamahiki-san gave us a list with the first kidnappings that took place." The girl said, showing him the list. Naruto was too hungry to look at the piece of paper, so he started to eat at once. They could talk freely since they were the only ones still eating in the hotel.
The Hyuuga couldn't help to think there was something off with him that day, but she couldn't quite place what it was. It wasn't his clothes, since she was already used to seeing him with ordinary clothes on. It wasn't the lack of his headband either; Naruto took the time to cut off his hair a few inches before leaving Konoha, since his hair now fell freely in front of his blue eyes.
The black-haired boy tilted his head once he noticed Hinata staring at him intently. "What is it?" he asked curiously. From the far hall to the right, Akira noticed the black-haired boy and decided to walk towards him to say hi.
"Something wrong with my face?" Naruto questioned.
Click. Hinata's eyes widened, suddenly aware of what it was as soon as Naruto mentioned his face.
"Nagari-kun, good morning." Akira called from behind, already behind Naruto.
The chuunin in disguise began to turn his head, ready to reply to the newcomer. Hinata panicked, not sure what to do. In a moment of confusion, she flung herself forward, and captured Naruto's cheeks with both her palms before he could fully turn.
Both Akira and Naruto turned to look at Hinata strangely, not knowing what to make of her sudden actions.
"Hina-" The blue-eyed six-teen year old started, cocking an eyebrow to his teammate.
"Nagari-kun, we haven't finished talking yet." Hinata said, rather nervously. She was looking at him pointedly.
"I'm sorry?" The Kyuubi container was totally at a loss, as well as the young inn keeper. Akira was left with a 'How are you?' hanging in her mouth, not sure if she should speak.
"Akira-san, will you excuse us? We were in the middle of something." The indigo-haired beauty replied with a half-smile directed at the other girl in the room. She still had her hands clasping Naruto's face.
"Sure… I'm sorry I interrupted." Akira said slowly, looking at Hinata like she was crazy. "I'll see you around."
Hinata waited impatiently as the girl retreated to the other side of the room. Once she had crossed the kitchen's doors, Hinata could breathe again.
"What was that all about?" Naruto inquired, still feeling Hinata's palms around his cheeks.
The girl sighed as she retrieved her hand, a slight blush on her face. "Nagari-kun, you forgot to cover your whisker marks."
"Oh." Naruto said, feeling his cheeks himself. Then it downed on him. "Oh, shit! You're right!" No wonder he felt he had forgotten something as he left his room not twenty minutes ago. Thankfully he didn't meet anyone else on his way to the restaurant. Akira would surely think there was something wrong with him if she discovered he covered his birthmarks. Not only she would be suspicious, but she could denounce him to the authorities.
"You ought to cover them before anyone else sees you." Hinata advised urgently. Naruto did just that. He left his half-eaten breakfast and hurried back to his room, a hand covering the side of his face as he went up the stairs.
"That would've been awkward, neh?" The black-haired chuunin said with a chuckle as they travelled through merry streets of Yugakure.
"It was." Hinata replied, still embarrassed by the whole situation.
"Don't worry. She'll probably brush it off as some joke." Naruto said dismissively.
Hinata shook her head. Did he not understand just how she made them appear before Akira? She was probably thinking they were a couple by now, and that she was a very jealous girlfriend.
"Where do we have to go now?" Naruto asked, not noticing Hinata's reddened cheeks.
They were supposed to gather information about five young men who had disappeared less than a month before. They first visited the last place they had been seen and started asking questions to at the local business that were nearby. Some of the business owners weren't eager to cooperate, but thanks to Hinata's charming nature the two undercover ninjas managed to learn they all had been seen accompanied by a group of no less than three people. Sometimes even four, but they hadn't been able to get a clear profile on them since it was always night time and it wasn't easy to make out their faces.
"They were probably drunk when they were kidnapped." Naruto pointed out, as he handed back the menu to the old lady who took their order.
"Why do you say that?" Hinata inquired, taking the plastic straw to her lips and drinking from the cold glass of iced-tea she had on her hands.
It was their third day of research and they had looked into twelve cases of male-related kidnappings without any clear clue as to who might be taking the villagers. Sai and Sakura were in charge of looking into the children and women cases, while Yamato, Kiba and Akamaru were looking for traces of Kudo, the leader of the enemy forces.
The blue-eyed chuunin leaned over the map they carried, and encircled with his finger a certain spot in the map.
"Ten of the twelve we have investigated were last seen somewhere along the red-light district." The blond drew a circle with a red marker around said location. "That must be how they work, you know? They know the people that go there will no doubt leave drunk from the bars and brothels. It'd be easy for them to lead them away from prying eyes in their state and knock them out."
Hinata seemed to think about it. It was true that the vast majority of the names in their list visited the red-light district before being taken, but she still had doubts with Naruto's theory.
"I don't think so, Nagari-kun. Look." She pointed to the black dots highlighted in the plastic paper. "These six were either owners or workers in some of the establishments in the area. We confirmed that they didn't assist to any kind of entertainment the red-light district offered." The girl continued. "In fact, they were known to work diligently so they could go home early."
The natural blond pursed his lips in thought. He was sure the red-light district was key to the abductions of the males in their list, but he didn't have solid evidence to refute Hinata's theory.
"We can't be sure of everything they say, Hin." Naruto replied, playing with the chopsticks on the table. "I mean we're just tourists and people are really careful around strangers, fearing they might be the next to get abducted. And even if they had been honest, how can we be so sure they knew them all that well? Coworkers can either be close or totally strangers among each other, they might not even care what they did on their free time."
Hinata marveled on Naruto's well thought logic. He had thought not only what they had gathered but also considered the implications of information that wasn't really there. He was right, and that made the mission all the more difficult.
"We're only theorizing here, we need to get first-hand information… something we can trust." He said, leaning over the table and closer to his partner.
"Yamahiki-san told us not to get too close or people might get-"
"Suspicious, I know." Naruto finished for her. "That means we have to get close in a way no one will question."
"What do you suggest?"
"Well, we are tourist and young. It's natural for someone like us to roam around at night, looking for someplace to party and have fun, maybe get a drink…"
"I doubt he allow us to go to such places, he only let us go out by day."
"He doesn't have to know…"
The blue-eyed boy saw Hinata's discomfort with his whole idea. Hinata wasn't one to break the rules, just as he remembered.
He sighed. "Let's just take a break from theorizing. My head hurts and I'm hungry." Naruto said grumpily. Hinata smiled at Naruto's rapid transition to his younger self. Just as the girl was folding the map, their food arrived.
They had chosen to eat in a restaurant that specialized in Yakitori* dishes. Hinata had ordered the fried chicken bathed in BBQ sauce, the house special. Naruto's was miso beef, sprinkled with spices. Each plate came with a pair of rice balls.
"This looks good." Hinata said, as she dipped her chicken in soy sauce.
"Hmm." The dyed-haired teen agreed, already having a mouthful of meat on his teeth. Once he had chewed and swallowed he added, "Too bad there wasn't any ramen shop around."
"You could have ordered the noodle soup." The girl drank on her tea.
"It's not the same."
They fell in silence as they focused on their meal. Naruto's eyes diverted to Hinata's clothes without his knowledge, since he wasn't really focusing in anything in particular. It was an unusual hot evening in the city, so she chose to wear a tank top and blue shorts.
His memory of her always included a jacket engulfing her whole upper body, so it was refreshing seeing her like that. Nothing fancy, just casual. But still her pale skin seemed to glow under the hot sun, and the silver necklace she was wearing pressed against the fabric of her top, making it attach perfectly to her breasts.
'No.' The whiskered young man caught himself rapidly, as soon as he noticed where his eyes had fallen. She would definitively not appreciate him looking at her like that. They had just reunited a little less than two weeks ago and he didn't want her thinking he was a pervert, just like Jiraiya. Naruto turned his head hastily to the left, looking at the opposite direction of her with a frown.
"What is it? Didn't you like it?" Hinata inquired, cocking her head.
"Hm?" Naruto was confused as to what she might mean.
"Do you want some of mine?" She offered, gesturing to her two remaining steaming chicken sticks.
"Uh… I'll trade you one of mine." The chuunin conceded, offering his plate as well. He waited for her to take one of his meat sticks before going for hers, but then he noticed something on her shoulder.
"Hey, what happened to your shoulder?" he pointed at a faint scar that covered the front part of her shoulder. It was almost invisible but something serious definitively happened there; Ninjas gather scars is there aren't any medic-nin around to cure them in a short period of time. Either Hinata didn't get medical assistance soon enough, or the wound was really big.
"Oh, that was almost two years ago." Said Hinata, running a delicate finger across her scar thoughtfully. "The first time I visited Sunagakure, and also the first time when I discovered my blind spot."
Naruto stayed silent, waiting for her to continue.
"Uhm she was a wind type, and could make her kunai fly wherever she wanted to. She waited for me to stop spinning and blocking, so she could locate the back of my neck and aim at it. I noticed and turned around just in time to save my neck but my shoulder got pierced."
"Ouch." Naruto wanted to wince. He knew how much it hurt to get a knife through your chest.
"I defeated her, but it took two days before the nurse could see to me." Her eyes ran through Naruto's arms, trying to locate any scar at all. "You don't seem to have any on you."
"Yeah, I heal quickly so it doesn't show." The blond said quickly. Hinata knew that already, since she used to visit him at the hospital every time he got injured when they were younger.
"Not even one?" Hinata asked, incredulous.
"Just the one." Naruto said, unbuttoning his shirt discretely. The girl tried not to get too nervous at the sight of his chest. "You know this one, Sasuke did this to me and it didn't heal that well."
Just the sight of the star-like, reddened scar made the girl bite her lower lip and produce a low whine. Memories of Naruto's still, bloodied body entering the doors of the hospital plagued her mind. And the worst part was that it was right on top of his heart. Hinata knew all too well he was meant to die that night, but thank God Tsunade-sama treated him immediately.
"Sorry, it doesn't look that good. And here we are eating…"
"That's not it." The Hyuuga hurried to say. "It just brings me back to that night."
"Yeah, me too sometimes." He tried to smirk but couldn't. Hinata imaged him every morning in the mirror looking down at the scar that ignited this whole set of unfortunate circumstances, recalling just how his best friend could do that to him. Then it downed on her that maybe that's where he got the motivation to get out of bed every day and give his best on all his missions, including this one.
'He'll never be able to forget his past when it hangs on his heart every day. No wonder he hasn't faltered in his quest to find Sasuke.'
"Maybe…" Her quiet voice made Naruto snap out of his trance, where he had imagined Sasuke's blackened arm trespassing his chest once again. "Maybe we could talk Yamahiki-san into letting us have a night out in town, and we could investigate this sector thoroughly."
The whiskered boy stared at her face for a minute, before breaking into a wide grin.
"This place is empty. No one's been here for a while." Kakashi announced to his companion, feeling the hopes he had garnished falter in a matter of seconds.
"It's the biggest lair we've found in years, there still may be some clues as to what he's been up to or, more importantly, where he went." Anko said in a more energized tone, hoping that her words could cheer up the taller man. It was clear for both of them that the purple-haired woman meant the snake master, while Kakashi had never stopped thinking about his former student.
She was right. The underground cave was huge compared to the petty, makeshift hideouts Orochimaru had left unattended in Suna or Konoha. The dark lobby they were standing in was part one of the headquarters Orochimaru owned all around Oto.
"We'll send word for a team to look around, I don't want to be the one to make the report about this place." The grey-haired ANBU deadpanned, turning on his heel.
"Wait, are we not even going to search this place?" Anko questioned. "We just got here!"
"As you said earlier, it is empty. Our mission is to find Orochimaru's whereabouts and this is clearly no it." Kakashi suddenly found himself being constricted by a 10 feet long snake, product of Anko's not so unusual tantrums.
"I've been searching for something like this for five years." She seethed, growing closer to her captain with narrowed eyes. "I'm not foolish enough to think that finding that bastard would be easy, but this place's going to bring us closer if you just let my snakes sniff around."
The Hatake sighed heavily, as he felt the snake's slimy skin wiggle around him. "We're wasting precious time right now. The faster we get out of here and look for his trail the better."
Oddly enough, Anko's attention had been switched from him to the snake, her frown deepened. "What is it?"
The snake couldn't take it anymore. It released Kakashi and slithered away from him and towards the eastern hall.
"Is it a trap?" the man asked, looking around and ready to pull his headband from his left eye.
"No." Anko said, adrenalin filling up her whole body. She started after the snake. "She's found something. C'mon, Cyclops!"
The Sharingan wielder didn't have any other choice but to follow her. They followed the snake up to a brown, heavy door not too far from the main entrance. The snake was watching intently the door, its tongue slithering out of its mouth in rapid intervals.
"It's here." The kunoichi announced excitedly. 'It must be something big for her to act like this.' They expected the door to be locked, but it opened easily at Kakashi's touch.
At first neither Kakashi nor Anko knew what to think of the thin in front of them. The snake that had led them there was so distressed it puffed out of existence.
"What the hell is that?" Kakashi's only eye travelled the object that was big enough it covered the whole room. He was dimly aware of the king-sized bed in the middle of it. He looked back at Anko, whose eyes were wide as plates and her mouth was hanging open in disbelief.
"I-It's…"
The waver of her voice and paleness of her lips made the Hatake frown in concern. He thought he'd never seen the vicious Mitarashi Anko speechless.
She was finally able to articulate her words.
"It's him."
Kakashi's head snapped back to the giant white snake's corpse that was looking at the entrance door with its dead eyes.
He gasped.
"Oh! That looks very nice." Hinata said appreciatively, looking over Sai's shoulder. The boy jumped a little at her voice, since he had been so concentrated in his painting. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."
The older shinobi turned to look at her. He had been sitting in one of the lobby's chairs after dinner, determined to draw one of the colorful plants that adorned the table in front of him. He shook his head.
"It's okay." He said, returning to face his almost finished painting. After a second thought, he handed his sketch book to his companion for her to examine. "Are Yamahiki-san and Kitaru back?"
"I'm afraid not, they're sure taking long." The girl replied. They had arranged another meeting with Watari, but it was past nine o'clock and they hadn't return.
"I didn't know you knew how to paint." The Hyuuga in disguise said, sitting next to him and analyzing the gentle strokes of pink and green.
"It's all I know, although I don't always fill it in. I mostly just sketch and draw." The black-haired man said simply, although he did feel glad that the girl liked his simple piece.
"It looks beautiful." The girl said with a smile, handing him back the notebook. "What else have you drawn?"
"Not much in this sketchbook, although I've been looking for something interesting to draw inside this hotel." He then proceeded to show her different scenarios that belonged to the building. There was a sketch of the trees one could see outside his room's window, one of the hot springs and, surprisingly enough, one of Naruto sleeping.
"I did this one out of boredom." Sai explained, also looking down at the Uzumaki's resting features. Hinata sweat-dropped.
"Uhm, I think you shouldn't draw someone without their consent, Sachi-kun." The indigo-haired kunoichi. If Naruto found out about this, he would surely confront him about it. "Especially when they are sleeping."
"Oh, okay." He said, retrieving his book from her hands. "May I paint you?"
The question caught Hinata off guard.
"You want to paint me?" she asked, pointing at herself.
"Yes. I think it'd turn out quite lovely, since you're so beautiful." Sai let his words escape, while he fixed his eyes on the face of the Hyuuga.
"Uhm, thank you Sachi-kun…" The girl said, managing to taint her cheeks with a dash of pink. She didn't expect to be called beautiful, and much less by her teammate who she didn't know at all.
The short haired male cocked his head to the side, with a slight frown. 'It's still not a full blush.' Condemned Sai in his mind. He knew Hinata had the potential to make her face as red as a tomato.
Ever since he'd experienced Hinata's behavior around Naruto, Sai had the urge to know what was causing the unusual change in her personality around the blond; the most prominent feature was the actual blush that her cheeks gained as soon as the blond opened his mouth. So he decided he would first discover the nature of her blushing.
'Maybe I need to use a different approach.'
"- That's very nice of you to say, but I think I'll pass." The girl offered a smile.
"That's very sad to hear." Sai started, looking back at the hot springs. "I already had planned the perfect location for the painting. I was thinking you could stand naked in the middle of the springs, so only your top half would be showing, and add a bit of steam around your nipples. Maybe you could splash some water on your chest, so your tits could stand out in the canvas."
The man watched with satisfaction how her face gradually escalated in redness, making her look positively embarrassed.
'There it is.'
"Sachi-san, I'm not willing to pose for a portrait of any kind." Hinata was trying really hard to tone down her flushed face. Sai knitted his eyebrows together in confusion. Whatever kind of embarrassment Hinata's face was showing wasn't the same she did with Naruto close by. Her lips were pursed together and her eyes had become rather dark while she looked at him disapprovingly.
"And I would appreciate it if you'd stop referring to my body in such unbashful terms." The long-haired girl then made a curt, stiff nod, and turned on her heel. Sai watched her walk away, disappointed to have failed to push the right buttons to the Hyuuga, and slightly guilty after his scolding.
Naruto was just coming back from the hot springs when he noticed Hinata climbing up the stairs with a scowl on her face. He wondered what in the world could've irked her so much she actually broke her calm demeanor and felt the need to express her discontent. It was just then that he approached the hall and noticed Sai looking the way Hinata had left. Understanding filled the chuunin's mind and decided first to make sure Hinata was alright. But he did made a mental note to confront Sai about whatever he said/did to the Hyuuga.
"I'll get to you later." He promised threateningly.
"Oh no." Kiba's voice was heard over the entrance, eyes wild mad looking down at Sai. "Leave him to me."
Sai then remembered that, even without using chakra, the Inuzuka had a pretty good sense of hearing.
"Hinamori, is me. Let me in." Naruto called, after knocking on Sakura and Hinata's room. There was a shuffling sound coming from inside. The door swung open and there was Hinata on her pajamas.
"Hey." Greeted Naruto, smiling at the girl. "May I come in?"
"Sure." The girl replied, standing aside. As soon as Naruto crossed the door, he noticed the girl's room smelled much sweeter than his and Sai's room. While their room carried the scent of Sai's cheap cologne and alcohol-based paint, this one was filled with flower scent and vanilla.
"It's been so long since I've seen you so mad." Naruto started, making Hinata raise her head. "If I recall correctly, you were shouting at me at the hospital, right?"
"I wasn't mad, maybe just a little…"
"Furious?" The black-haired chuunin offered, recalling the hot, angry tears that were falling down her face that day almost three years ago.
"Frustrated." Hinata corrected with a smile. "And I wasn't shouting."
"You weren't exactly whispering." Naruto chuckled. "So… what was it Sachi said to get you so worked up."
"It was nothing, I may have overreacted." The girl sat down on the bed next to her, which Naruto assumed was hers.
"Hyuuga Hinata overreacting? Like I could believe that." He crossed his arms waiting for her to answer him truthfully, but even now he could see she didn't want to bring it up.
"Nagari-kun, you shouldn't speak my real name. Someone might here us…"
"Let them hear us." The chuunin replied, looking at her. "Maybe that way we could get some action in this mission. I'm so fucking bored of sweet talking the citizens for info."
Hinata didn't say anything. Her gaze was fixed on her hands resting on her lap. The blond sighed.
"Should I make Sachi apologize to you?" He knew she would refuse but he felt the need to hear it from her. Hinata shook her head vehemently, looking scandalized at his words.
"Maybe it's just me but I think standing idle so long has emotions running high among us." The blue-eyed boy sat down next to her.
"Maybe…" Hinata confessed with a shy smile sent his way. 'Finally.' Naruto thought triumphantly at the ghost of a smile on her face. He laughed and placed an arm around her shoulders, squeezing reassuringly towards him. Oh, she was blushing all right. They both knew it. By the look of his spiked hair hanging low over his head and the fresh, clean scent that emanated from him, the girl could tell he had just bathed.
"You know, it sucks that we're stuck in our rooms when there's so much going on right now downtown." The girl rolled her eyes, knowing exactly where Naruto was going with this. "Are you willing to reconsider my proposal of getting away while Yamato's not here?"
As much as she'd like to take the chance to have a small escapade with the Uzumaki, her sense of commitment to the mission wouldn't let her.
"He'd notice once he gets back, Nagari-kun." She said, glancing with apologetic eyes to her partner. She was surprised to see his blue eyes glinting devilishly.
"A couple of clones should do the trick, don't you think?"
Without waiting for her to reply, the blond performed a quick hand sign and summoned a pair of clones: one that looked exactly like he did, and the other a replica of the Hyuuga beauty. Oddly enough, Hinata didn't feel him gather any chakra to summon the clones, which meant Naruto had an spectacular chakra control. She knew that even with her Byakuugan activated she couldn't find any difference between the clones and the real deal.
"Naruto-kun!" she chastised, turning to face him on the bed. Whatever it was the effect she wanted to cause on him, it wasn't the Kyuubi container breaking into a wide grin.
"My, my Hin. You shouldn't call me by my real name, remember?" Hinata found her cheeks warming up at his teasing and her mistake. He sure was enjoying this.
Taking her hand and leaving no room for arguments, Naruto lead Hinata down the window, throwing his head back to warn his clones not to goof around.
Yamato was usually a patient man.
He had once waited for a whole day in front of his entrance door for the new release of Wood Architecture Now! The secrets of tree houses without even going to the bathroom, so he could read the book as soon as it arrived and he could finish it before heading out for a mission the following morning.
But now his right foot pounded nonstop on top of the polished wood floor of the lobby, where he was still waiting for Watari to see him. It had been almost three hours now but not even his secretary was in sight, and that made him even more nervous. He hated to admit it, but he had a feeling that something really bad had happened.
The only sound in the whole room was his foot against the floor. After a brief internal struggle, Yamato decided to go directly into the Councilman's office to see what was taking so damn long.
Climbing four flights of stairs in a hurry and muttering a low "excuse my intrusion", Yamato found himself in the middle of a thrashed office, one that had been finely decorated once but now displayed broken vases and stained floors. The stench of iron floating round the air confirmed the presence of blood in the room and the mission captain knew exactly what had happened.
Watari had been murdered by the bandits roaming the outskirts of town. They had somehow infiltrated the group of councilmen and discovered Watari's call for help to Konoha.
They knew they were in town.
Yamato only hoped that they didn't know who they were.
Naruto waited patiently for his turn. Everyone's eyes were on him. He'd had a pretty good run but now it was time to move on, so he pushed four neatly arranged stacks of colored chips into the center of the table. He ignored the collective gasp and murmurs of speculation around him; it was all or nothing.
"All in." He smirked. Hinata's hand was gently placed on his back. A minute ago a delicate finger tapped his back three times, signalizing the coming of a winning hand right to his place. They had been at this for almost an hour, and Hinata's heightened eyes had proven invaluable in the casino. It took about fifteen minutes to convince Hinata that it was necessary for the investigation he had in mind, but it was worth it.
The elegant middle-aged man in charge of the table lifted his eyebrow for half a second. He proceeded to deal the cards.
"Hit me." Naruto said after feeling the girl's finger hitting his shoulder blade once.
"14" announced the older man.
Another tap to his shoulders.
"Hit me." The blond motioned with his hand to keep the cards coming. The man just nodded.
"17"
Tap.
"Hit me." The blond said, although not as confident as before. He could feel the tension running through the small crowd around him, but Hinata's hand was firm.
"19."
A few people gasped in relief. Most of them were rooting for him, while others were submitted to a serious case of envy to the boy. Not only did he have a hell of good luck, but he also had a smoking hot girlfriend by his side.
"What will you do now?" questioned the green-clad man.
"Erm…" Hinata tapped him again. Naruto had the urge to turn his head around and see if she was being serious, but he couldn't do anything suspicious now. There were a few guards watching him curiously. "Hit me?"
The man hesitated, but did as ordered. Taking another red card from the container, he set it up in front of the blond. "20."
The blond let out a nervous chuckle. Hinata had him worrying for a second there. He was about to let his hand as it was but another poke came from the woman behind him. This time he gulped.
"I…"She was taking this too far, he had clearly won already.
"Sir?"
"Right." The blue-eyed boy cleared his throat. "Hit me?"
There was an incredulous silence all around the table. "Sir, are you sure?"
Poke. "Yes."
The man sighed and Naruto swore he said something about immature players, but his attention was wholly focused on the card in the man's hand. The fifteen or so people, including Naruto, held their breath as the card was revealed. A red-hearted Ace welcomed them.
"21" called the man. Naruto whistled in surprise, while everyone erupted in applause. He even got a few claps in the back. Trying to make his reaction as astonished and ecstatic as possible, he turned around with his arms lifted as he whooped, and hugged Hinata's middle. The girl hugged back, and felt herself being lifted momentarily in the air, while the hidden muscles of the Kyuubi container dug into her sides. It all happened so quickly the next thing she noticed was that she was back on the ground and Naruto had turned back again.
"Well done, sir." Congratulated the dark-haired man, handing Naruto his winnings.
"Thanks. Have a drink on me." The blond said, leaving a handsome tip and walking away. His hands were full so Hinata helped him carry the other half.
"You had me worrying there for a second." Whispered the chuunin to his partner. The girl chuckled.
"Do you doubt my eyes?" The indigo-haired teen asked as she turned her eyes to him.
"Not after this." They cashed in their chips and got over 5,000 yens. "We should do this more often." The blond said, as they left to an empty table on the restaurant inside the casino.
"This is a one-time only, Nagari-kun." Hinata said seriously. The boy knew she'd say that. "You said that this was solely for our research."
"Right." The blond agreed, although he didn't seem too happy about it. "The research. I wish you'd be more willing to bend your morals for bit, Hin."
The girl opened her mouth to reply but Naruto kept talking. "Then again, the fact that you don't is one of the reasons I like you." He added with a small laugh. His words effectively shut the girl's mouth and mind, while a pretty blush extended to her face.
"Let's get something to eat before we start sniffing around."
After eating something light and sharing a cup of wine, which Naruto really didn't like but Hinata loved, they headed outside and into the cold streets. After walking for a while, they got into the darkest places of the red-light district, until they stopped in front of a rundown liquor shop in the middle of a deserted street.
"What are we doing here?" Hinata asked, digging her face deeper into the scarf around her neck.
"This is where six of the missing men were last seen, according to the report, remember? I'm gonna go ask the owner a few questions."
"But we already did, Nagari-kun. He wasn't much help."
"Yeah, well…" The black-haired boy took off his red jacket. "I'm gonna be more assertive about it. Believe it or not Hin, shop owners know far too much for their own good, specially his kind. They overhear drunks speaking of what they shouldn't. If someone's got information it's gotta be him."
"Nagari-kun we shouldn't attract attention to us. If they know we're asking about the abductions they'll definitively be onto us." Hinata said with concern.
"I know, you just wait here. I'm gonna need your scarf though." Naruto said, unraveling the piece of fabric from her neck. "Use this to keep warm while I'm gone. This shouldn't take long."
He handed her his jacket and wrapped the white scarf over his neck, nose and mouth. Hinata watched him enter the establishment while deciding if she should put on his jacket.
Naruto walked purposefully into the bar. He ran his blue eyes quickly over the almost none-existing clientele and smirked. There were two men in different tables, one snoozing off while he stared mindlessly into the contents of his drink and the other one definitively dead to the world, drool coming out of his mouth and into the dirty table. 'Too easy.'
The owner had just come out of the bathroom and once he noticed the boy he headed for the counter. "Fuck off, kid. I'm not selling booze to a snotty-nosed brat on a Wednesday night."
"Good. 'Cause I'm not here to buy anything." Naruto said through a mouthful of Hinata's sweet sweet scent, which had enveloped him as soon as the scarf hit his face. The vanilla scent helped to cope with the air filled with booze and vomit. The old man's wild eyebrows rose in understanding and he hurried to take a knife from under a cabinet.
"If you try to mug me I'll cut your balls off." Warned the old man, showing off his rotting teeth. The blond dismissed the threat and strode towards the man. Whatever courage the owner had, completely vanished as Naruto swiped away his rusty knife with ease and grabbed him by his throat.
"Urgh." Spluttered the old man, feeling himself being dragged away from the counter and into the ladies bathroom. It was so dirty and smelly you would think the man had been raising a herd of pigs in the room.
"How 'bout we talk about your balls?" The black-haired kid asked with a smile, one which the old man couldn't see. The bathroom was dark, so the only thing the bar's owner could see was the sparking eyes of the boy. "I'm gonna stab them both if you don't tell me everything you know of the missing men."
Naruto pointed the knife to the man's groin to make his point get across. The man paled.
"Please! I already told everything I knew to the police!" The man said through a constricted throat.
The chuunin cocked his head to the side. "Your words stink of lies, just as your breath. I'm gonna count to three, if you don't tell me how and who and where the abductions are taking place, I'm going to rip your sack off, and hang them in this same bathroom as a decoration."
"Please!" the man said with a terrified stare.
"One…" The boy said in a muffled voice.
"They'll kill me if I spill anything!" he sniffed.
"Two…"
"I'm begging you!"
"Three! Time's up." The jinchuriki motioned to the knife and just before he rammed it up into the man's pants, he screamed "Wait!"
Naruto smirked. "Yes?" he asked sweetly, a smile playing on his lips.
"They come from down the street, always with some thugs who buy them a drink, drug them and take them away, but I don't know where!"
"I was expecting you to be a bit more enlightening. That still only saves one of your balls." He aimed the knife to his left one.
"There's a club!" the bearded villager squeaked, sweating profusely. Naruto raised an eyebrow. "I don't know what kind, but somehow they 'choose' them while in there and then bring them here. I swear that's all I know, just stop please!"
Hinata rubbed her hands together, trying to get some feeling to her numb fingers. One part of her mind was fussing over whatever might Naruto be doing to put their mission in danger, while the other was fuzzing about the warmth that provided the oversized jacket on top of her shoulders. Kami did he smell good!
She was half expecting for someone to approach the place but for some reason this side of the street was completely deserted. There was no one around for about five blocks and most businesses around were closed.
After ten minutes, she heard the door of the shop barge open and saw Naruto trotting towards her with his hands in his pocket.
"Nagari-kun, what-" the black-haired boy grabbed her by her arm and guided her away from the establishment, scarf still stuffing his face.
"Not here, he might recognize you." He said. The rounded the block and made sure no one was following them, the boy pulled down the scarf so his mouth was visible. "Sorry I left you hanging." Hinata ignored his apology.
"What did you do?" she questioned. "Did you find something?"
"Oh yes." Naruto smiled triumphantly. He narrated the bits of information he gathered. "We're getting closer. You see? It was a good idea to come out tonight."
"But how did you manage to convince him? Did you threaten him?" The girl accused with a slight frown as she crossed her arms. Naruto gulped. He didn't know why but he didn't fancy being the target of Hinata's unexplored fury.
"I just gave him an incentive, Hin, don't worry he's unharmed." He tried to appease her.
"Unharmed?"
"You know what, we should look further down the street to see if we can find that club." The blond spoke quickly. "Now would be a good time to use your Byakuugan to see if we find something else."
"I…"
"We already broke a few of Yamahiki's rules… A couple more won't matter now."
After a few moments of internal struggle, Hinata acceded to Naruto's proposal and activated her blood limit without as much repressed chakra as possible. The Uzumaki had to admit she had very good chakra control since he didn't feel any chakra coming to her eyes even though he was just by her side.
"Most of the buildings are deserted except for a one three blocks to the right." Hinata explained. Naruto watched fascinated the veins on her eyes. He hadn't seen an active Byakuugan for so long. "There are lots of people gathered in the basement, but I can't tell exactly what they're doing from here."
"Let's find out then." Naruto suggested, following the girl into the dark streets. "I still have your scarf. Thanks, by the way."
Hinata watched as he started to unwrap the scarf from his neck. "It's okay, you jacket was better at keeping me warm than the scarf." She unzipped that jacket.
"In that case keep it. You look like you need it more than I do." Naruto said with a smile.
"Oh no, I couldn't." Hinata blushed timidly.
"But you already did." He chuckled. "Don't worry about it. You keep the jacket and I'll stick with your scarf. Really, you'll be doing me a favor."
"How so?" The girl asked. It felt weird watching him with her white scarf so comfortably under his neck.
"It smells so nice it keeps the stink from getting to my nose." Naruto motioned to a bunch of toppled trashcans flanking the street. Hinata blushed prettily.
Finally they reached to what looked like a low-class disco with a sickly looking bouncer in the entrance. Hinata looked at his arm and noticed multiple pointed scars, which clearly came from incrusting needles into his skin. At first he wouldn't let them in because of their young age but after a bribe from Naruto's he himself guided them in.
The place wasn't much, it smelled like piss and the music was horrible. Only a handful of people, mostly young, were lounging on the tiny dance floor.
"That way." Hinata nudged towards a door guarded by two big men. She took Naruto's arm boldly and hugged it as they approached.
"Would you mind if we go through that door?" She asked sweetly towards a dark skinned bouncer, who had a missing tooth.
"I'm not sure you want to go down there, love." Snarled the brute.
"Why don't you take your boyfriend somewhere else?" suggested the other guard with a snide smile. He was bald but had a bushy beard that went up to his ears.
"Now boys, we just wanna explore everything there's to this town. Let us have some fun." Naruto stepped up with a crooked smile, hugging Hinata with one arm.
"It's unlikely you'll have fun down there. It's reserved for people with a different taste of entertainment."
"Why don't you let us decided that for ourselves? I'm sure whatever may be down there will be most educational. In the meantime," he took a couple of big bills from his pocket and planted them on the first guy's shoulder as they made their way through. Before the bills could fall to the ground, the brute's big hand grasped it. "Have a drink on us."
The two guys smirked ruefully but let them pass nonetheless.
"Why would a rundown place like this need people like them?" The Uzumaki whispered in her ear, as the climbed down the stairs. Suddenly a strong smell of sweat hit his nostrils, not even the scarf could block it away. The girl scrunched her nose in disgust, but her eyes suddenly widened. "What?"
They had finally reached down the lowest floor, where a dark orange hue of light hit the entrance. Grunts and screams from several people could be heard from down here. Naruto, having a sense of smell better than most people also caught the scent of blood around the air.
"It's a fight club." Hinata announced, as a makeshift ring marked with white paint came into view. Shirtless men were fighting and rolling along the floor.
Naruto slowly widened his smile until it turned into a grin.
'Now this is fun.'
Author's section
Voices of Violence – Billy Talent
Yugakure no Sato – Village Hidden in Hot Water.
Getsugakure – Village Hidden Under the moon
Onsen – Hot Springs
Yakitori – skewered fried food, primarily chicken.
Happy Holidays everyone
Thanks for reading!
- Patty