CHAPTER FIVE
In our midst-part 2
The post-mission after report went by quickly for Naruto and his team. Shikamaru was great help to the exhausted ninjas, and a few details were simply skimmed over. Kakashi stamped one more document before looking up to the team standing in front of him.
"That will be it, you're dismissed. Enjoy your break guys"
"Thanks a lot Kakashi-sensei" Naruto said while giving a small bow
Kakashi rolled his eyes and looked at the blonde shinobi in front of him. "Somehow, I prefer that title over being called Lord Sixth". His smile was almost visible under the mask that covered half his face.
"Enough yapping, go home to your girl Naruto" Shikamaru placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. "If you miss her as much as she's missed you then you must be eager to see her this moment". Naruto nervously rubbed the back of his neck, a silly smile on his face.
"Thank you very much Hokage-sama!" Konohamaru declared with a bow before leaving the room, his teammates in tow.
"Whew, finally!" Hanabi gasped a sigh of relief as she left the Hokage's building. "I can finally relax, and get something to eat too". With that, she released the hairpin she had kept on for most of the mission, allowing her smooth brown hair to spill over her shoulders and back. Her completely innocent action caught the eye of a flustered Konohamaru, who hesitated for a moment before saying what was on his mind.
"You uh, you mind grabbing something to eat with me…Hanabi?"
The Hyuuga turned around to look at her fidgeting teammate and rolled her eyes. "Fine, but you're paying for all of us"
"All of us?" Konohamaru asked nervously
Moegi stepped forward and wrapped her arm around his shoulder. "That's really sweet of you Kono, a little feast to celebrate our first completed B rank mission!"
"Y-yeah, what better way to celebrate with my closest friends am I right?" Konohamaru managed to speak over the feeling of disappointment that weighed heavy on him. He looked at Hanabi again and to his surprise she actually…..smiled at him? He could feel his face practically erupt in a shade of red. This wasn't good.
"Sarutobi, you look terrible, like you're going to pass out anytime soon" the person responsible for his condition laughed at him.
Konohamaru managed to restore eye contact and shot back at her. "Well we'd better hurry up and buy some food before that happens don't you think? Or we can stay here and keep yapping away if you're okay with carrying my lifeless body around"
Hanabi's smiled faded away, replaced with the familiar scowl she had on whenever she spoke to him "Maybe you should-"
"Guys, let's just goooo!" Moegi wrapped her other arm around Hanabi and dragged her teammates with her in the direction of Ichiraku Ramen. "I don't have time for your bickering today!"
Naruto walked down the street, in the direction of his apartment. He returned the usual wave and greeting, but there were only three things on his mind at the moment.
Hinata. Food. Sleep.
His mind went back to the key he gave her before he left five months prior.
Preferably, he'd be getting all three in the same timeframe.
As he walked closer to his building, he couldn't stop himself from praying Hinata was in his apartment, waiting for him. He had seen Hanabi head off to Ichiraku with the rest of the team, so that was one major distraction out of the way. He also confirmed from Shikamaru that she was off-duty. Surely, there wasn't much that would keep her at home in the Hyuuga compound.
But as he approached the front door, all his joyful anticipation was replaced by an unexpected wave of nervousness.
Pushing himself, he slid his key into the lock and twisted it, opening the door to an empty room. Disappointed, he noticed a new pair of sandals next to the door and felt another rush of excitement. He hoped she didn't just leave them behind for some reason in a previous visit.
"I'm home" he announced as he opened the door.
There was no immediate response, and his heart fell.
"Welcome back!" a light voice drifted to his ears and he raised his eyes to find her stepping out of the kitchen.
She looked as beautiful as ever.
Hinata ran up to Naruto and slammed into him with unexpected force, nearly toppling him over. He wrapped her in his embrace lifting her feet off the ground in the process. She squeezed him tighter, wrapping her arms around his neck and couldn't stop the tears from dropping on his collar.
Naruto whispered into her ear again, voice cracking with emotion.
"I'm home".
In the Hokage's office , Kakashi pushed away a stack of papers to clear his table for him to rest his elbows on. He leaned on them, holding his head up in his hands as he looked at the pink haired young woman standing in front of him.
"Don't tell me…."
Sakura nodded solemnly and opened her mouth to speak "There's been…another case Hokage-sama"
Kakashi got up from his seat and started outside the large window behind him, towards the great stone faces that adorned the mountain overlooking most of the village. He could make out some construction equipment and tall buildings casting their silhouettes against the town's skyline, a symbol of the rapid development that was taking place in Konoha. The era of peace they were in was the chief factor in heralding this rapid growth, peace that was hard-fought and earned through the sacrifice of thousands of lives in the last great war. Kakashi remained deep in thought until Sakura shot him a question.
"Should we declare a state of emergency?"
"No, that will cause too much panic among the people"
"Lord sixth, this is the fifth murder in the last two weeks" Sakura stated as she took a step closer to the table. "All the victims have been Kunouichi….this is clearly the work of a single person"
"What has the police force been able to find?
Sakura shook her head and simply replied, "Nothing"
Kakashi thought for a moment and replied "What was the medical team able to uncover?"
Sakura produced a brown envelope and handed it to Kakashi, who went over it's contents.
"The latest victim was an Akimichi, a chunin who had served mainly as a border guard. Cause of death is the same as the others, a punctured heart"
Sakura hesitated, before continuing in a low voice, "She left behind two children and a husband"
Kakashi sat back down on his seat. This was new territory for him, he didn't know of any Hokage that had dealt with a serial killer in Konoha's history. Sakura regained his attention again.
"Have you considered if this is the work of an external force? Maybe some criminals are weakening our forces for an attack"
"But why only female ninja? If a foreign force was trying to invade us, why attack only our kunouichi?"
Sakura let out an exasperated sigh and shook her head, "We still don't know sir, we're all as confused as you are"
Kakashi leaned on his desk again, "Should we establish a curfew for all our Kunouichi? Our forces are at risk in the field-"
"But it's part of what we signed up for, we knew the risks involved when we became shinobi" Sakura interrupted him. "We can't sit around and do nothing when a killer might be on the loose or our village is at threat, and what if they just start targeting male Shinobi?"
Kakashi sighed and looked her in the eye. "You have a point Sakura, but we still have to make reforms in light of recent events. From now on, all shinobi will work in two man cells at a minimum, constantly. I will make the official declaration very soon"
"Yes, Lord sixth. Thank you for your time, I will be heading back to the hospital now" Sakura made to leave the room but was stopped by Kakashi.
"Why don't you take the rest of the day off Sakura? You've been working nonstop for a while now"
"I appreciate the concern, but I can't rest now, not when we could be in danger"
"No, I insist" Kakashi smiled at her. "You need the rest, I don't know if you've heard it from anyone else, but you look a mess"
Sakura felt her cheeks redden in embarrassment and courteously bowed in front of Kakashi. "Thank you, Hokage"
Kakashi continued "Nah, don't mention it. Take a break, go welcome back your old teammate, he must miss you very much"
Sakura froze. "Naruto is back?"
"Yes, he just arrived today. You should catch him at his home"
"I will, thanks again Lord sixth"
Kakashi waved his hand in dismissal as Sakura left the room. "Come on, don't call me that"
"Thank you for the food….. Hinata" Naruto said with a satisfied look on his face.
Hinata had gone all out for his return, and Naruto couldn't really thank her enough for the feast she painstakingly prepared for him. She mentioned not being sure what exactly he would've liked to eat when he returned, so she made a bit of everything. Collapsing into his bed, Naruto was truly glad he didn't stop at Ichiraku before heading home. A few moments later, Hinata walked into his room and he made room for her on the bed so she could join him.
Wrapping his arm around her, Naruto kissed the top of her head as she snuggled up to him. "I missed you Hinata"
"I missed you too Naruto-kun" She raised her gaze to meet with his. "How was your mission? Anything exciting happen? How did Hanabi do?"
"Nothing much really, just the usual….Hanabi was fine" His voice trailed off towards the end of his reply, and Hinata took notice of it. Raising herself on an elbow, she looked him in the eye.
"Naruto, what's wrong? Did anything happen?"
"No, everything's fine….I mean it"
Hinata wasn't convinced with his reply still. She could tell that something was on his mind but she wasn't sure if pressing him to share his thoughts with her was a good thing to do at the moment, maybe he was just tired.
"Naruto-kun, you can always talk to me y'know?"
Naruto let out a loud sigh and closes his eyes. "The thing is….I don't know how I can put this without sounding…." He paused to look at her again. Her pale eyes met his own and he could see the anticipation in her face as she waited for him to continue.
"Hinata, for the first time in my life I had someone else welcome me back home"
Her heart rate calmed down drastically with his words, but the emotion behind them had another effect on her. She was expecting him to tell her something terrible, and a few thoughts she was ashamed of had drifted through her mind.
"I mean, I sort of expected to meet you here but actually getting to experience it was…"
Naruto shifted his gaze to the ceiling, trying to fight back his tears. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything"
Hinata learned forward to kiss him on the cheek and whispered to him, "It's okay, I understand". She knew how lonely Naruto's childhood had been, and a part of her felt guilty although she knew she wasn't really to blame for anything.
Naruto was finding it harder to hold back his tears as he allowed her to cradle him in her bosom, trying to soothe him with her words.
"Naruto-kun, I'm here now. And I always will be"
"Always?" he whispered in between sniffles. Hinata reiterated her words with a smile on her face.
"Always. I'm going to discuss with my family about moving in with you"
Naruto looked back up at her in shock "You mean it?"
She flashed him a wide smile and nodded. "I've actually been considering it for a while now"
"Thank you" was all he could mutter as he finally gave in to the tears. "Look at me, the great war hero, sobbing like a toddler to his mummy" he made a light chuckle before adding, "Konohamaru was right, I probably look so uncool"
Hinata giggled and ran her hand through his spiky hair, "True, but I don't mind. I like this uncool Naruto…..plus you need a haircut"
"I definitely do". Naruto wrapped his arms tighter around her and closed his eyes. "I love you"
A sharp knock on the door cut Hinata off before she could respond to him. Naruto cursed lightly at whoever it was that ruined their moment as he got up to answer the door. Didn't they know he was supposed to be resting? He grumbled loudly and swung open the door, ready to tell whoever it was to come back later.
"Hello Naruto!"
"S-Sakura-chan?"
His old teammate, who he considered one of his closest friends found herself wrapped in a bear hug before she could say another word.
"I see you've missed me too" she laughed, barely able to breathe. Finally, he released her from his embrace and placed each hand on her shoulders, scanning her from head to toe.
"Wow...you look terrible!"
"And you look like you've grown a bit tall….huh? She felt her face heat up with his observation.
"Come in Sakura!"
The two shinobi stepped inside to see Hinata walking towards the front door
"Sakura!" she walked over to her to give her a hug which the medic nin returned eagerly.
"Hi Hinata"
Sakura took a step back and looked at the shirtless Naruto then back at Hinata who looked like she just got out of bed. "Am I…interrupting?"
Hinata's face flared up as she opened her mouth to speak but she was interrupted by Naruto who obviously had no clue what Sakura was implying.
"Interrupting? What could you be interrupting?"
"Nevermind!" Sakura waved away his question to follow up with her own. "So how was your journey Naruto? I'm sure you visited some fancy locations"
"The lodging must have been top notch too" Hinata joined in the conversation as the former teammates took seats in the living room. She whispered something to Naruto and left for the kitchen.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head in thought as he tried to come up with a reply. "Look, it was alright, I guess? But maybe I can talk about it some other time, I want to hear what you've been up to Sakura"
"Well I've been really busy at the hospital….like very busy"
"Huh, was there an outbreak or something?" Naruto asked just as Hinata returned with a tray carrying three cups of tea.
"Thank you" Sakura said, accepting a cup from Hinata, who sat next to Naruto on the sofa across her. Sakura stirred her cup nervously, not knowing if revealing such a serious issue to Naruto just as he returned was the right thing to do. But she decided he had the right to know. She raised her head and faced Hinata in particular.
"There has been another incident"
Hinata's expression fell almost immediately. She instinctively covered her mouth with her free hand with Sakura's news.
"Was it….is it related to-"
"It was another Kunoichi" Sakura's reply came in one breath. "We have reason to believe it's the same perpetrator".
Hinata dropped her cup of tea on the coffee table and bowed her head into both hands letting out a frustrated sigh. "When will this end?"
Naruto looked around the room with a confused expression on his face. "What's going on? What happened?"
Sakura directed her attention to him and took a deep breath.
"Naruto, there's a serial killer on the loose in Konoha"
Ino stepped out of her flower shop that afternoon and looked at her watch. It was noon, just in time for her appointment with a certain someone. She shielded her eyes with her hand and looked around the street trying to spot a particular face. This was strange to her, he was always on time, in fact he was always ahead of time.
"Don't tell me he forgot" she mumbled to herself while scanning the street. Ino reached for her purse when she was startled by a voice from behind.
"Good afternoon gorgeous"
She whipped around only to spot Sai, smiling at her with a bouquet of flowers in his hand.
"Stop patronizing the competition Sai" she said as she accepted the flowers from him with a smile. "You're late"
"I apologize, I just got caught up at work" Sai took her hand in his and they started walking down the street. "So how has your day been?"
The couple chatted as they strolled past Ichiraku, bumping into team four exiting the restaurant.
"Auntie Ino!" Hanabi's face lit up as she saw Ino and Sai heading towards them.
"Hanabi! Oh I've missed you!" Ino pulled Hanabi into a tight embrace before the Hyuuga could protest. "Look how you've grown!" She gasped in surprise, taking some locks of Hanabi's hair in her hand. "And look at your hair!"
"It's been only five months haha" Hanabi replied, finally returning her embrace.
"Five months too many!" Ino squeezed Hanabi even tighter with her statement, drawing a wheeze from the teenager, as Konohamaru and Moegi stepped out of the building .
"Ino-chan, she just ate" Moegi pleaded jokingly
"Quite a lot if I may add" Konohamaru's addition drew a small smile from Sai, who had been watching the whole exchange expressionless thus far.
Team four chatted with the couple for a bit but then decided to head off home. As they watched the young ninjas say their goodbyes and leave, Ino clasped Sai's hand with hers and sighed hopefully.
"They remind me of when we were their ages, you get that nostalgic feeling too don't you?"
"Not really" Sai's response was straightforward.
"Not even a little? Hmph, I don't really get you sometimes"
"Me too, but that's part of the experience of being in a relationship is it not? We learn more about each other"
Ino smiled and leaned in closer to Sai. "Yeah, that's true, I want to learn more about you Sai…but first you need to take me to this place you've been going on about for so long"
"Of course Ino, I promise you won't be disappointed"
Later that evening, the couple strolled past the Nara district chatting away. Sai had a rose in his hair while his partner sported a headband of assorted flowers.
"You need more colour in your wardrobe" Ino chided him, referring to the flower she made him wear. "Girls are into more…flamboyant guys these days"
"But I'm already in a relationship?"
Ino gave a light chuckle and interlocked her arm with his. "It doesn't mean you can't be fashionable, especially when I'm your girlfriend"
Sai rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Well, you are the expert, I suppose my wardrobe could use an upgrade if Ino Yamanaka herself has taken notice"
"Well, you don't have to if you don't want to…" Ino's voice trailed off. The couple made a turn into the road that would lead them to the Yamanaka district.
Sai smiled at his girlfriend. "No, I would like to try new things and gain new experiences, especially if I can share them with you"
"Aww, Sai!" Ino reached up to kiss him but he pulled away to her surprise.
"We're in public" he laughed nervously.
"Then let's go somewhere private for a bit" Ino said with a devious expression on her face, pulling him to a nearby alley before he could protest. They had barely made it into the alley when she pulled him into another kiss, needier than the last. Then a small noise drew their attention further down the alley.
Please
Sai stepped in front of Ino, hand hovering over his kunai pouch.
"Is anyone there?" he called out, but no answer came. Ino reached for his shoulder to get his attention.
"Maybe it's a rat" she said, but a deep, pain-laden groan coming from the shadows further down the alley disproved her theory.
Help
Sai produced a flashlight to illuminate their surroundings, seeking the source of the groan. As the small alley was drenched in light revealing it's secrets, Ino's hands clasped her mouth, unsuccessfully stopping the loud gasp she made the moment she realized what she was looking at.
There was a trail of blood on the ground in the alley, a trail that led behind a large dumpster. And there next to the object lay a motionless woman, bleeding from a wound on her chest.