A/N: About the update schedule: so, with the new year and new term, comes the regularly scheduled delay...yeah, exam week is upon me again, and while I adore reading the amount of texts psychology requires is quite a bit so...yeah, there's no way I can manage an update for next week unless I trim down the length to about a third of what my chapters are.
Chapter 31: Forgotten secrets
If there had been any doubts in her mind that Hatake Kakashi's reputation wasn't a well earned one, Kimi was sure, watching the man reaching the top of the mounting using only one hand without using any kind of chakra would've vanished them in an instant. There was also the fact that this was supposed to be the break he used to eat something and the way he'd quickly offered a slight bow as a greeting. He had managed to sense her even being in the middle of a physically enduring activity.
Of course, unlike last night with the little heiress, the Taisho matriarch hadn't bothered to hide her presence. It was fun watching the girl react like a skittish kitten, wary yet unwilling to back down, but the woman would rather avoid derailing from her original motive for this visit. Something that was sure to happen if she surprised a shinobi who was so clearly on edge. There were more important issues here for her to handle, issues that wouldn't even exist if her fool of a husband wasn't so stubborn. As it was, she knew all five of them were probably scouring the town right now. Toga was fine with her disappearing for the night; he fully trusted in her ability to choose her partners when in foreign lands, not once had any of them left with the misguided thought that they had any power over her. It was already noon, however, and the silver-haired man had to be panicking by now; it was clear Kimi wasn't just tasting the flavors in Hi no Kuni.
"They grow up so fast, don't they?" She hid her smile behind an open fan.
"Considering I have none of my own," the renowned jounin drawled, a wary glance was thrown her way. "I fear I'm not the best authority for this topic."
There was a certain exasperation to his voice that years in politics had taught her to recognize a person who had to go through mountains of paperwork recently. So, the girl moved fast. Probably had already asked for permission to visit the ruins of the Higurashi compound...That just so happened to be located outside the village's wall...and the people who wanted to go were the targets of a rogue maniac...yes, that was most certainly the voice of a man who just got done with paperwork. Probably done via bunshin, considering she'd seen him train the kids all morning.
It would seem like there was some genuine care for the children.
"Oh, trust me, by the time you notice, they'll be desperate to leave on solo missions." At least a normal team would, Kimi wasn't so sure about this one.
"Maa, can't deny that one." Everything in his posture hinted at a relaxed calm. He probably suspected every single word out of her lips. "Pardon my rudeness...but I doubt you of all people came here to talk about kids. "
"Oh, but that's precisely what I came to do." Now, what to do? Miroku had revealed their mission to the girl, but had she confided in her teacher? "You see, we've all heard so much about your kids, and since all of them passed...well, I can't imagine it can be easy to schedule their training."
"I manage." Dry and to the point, then. "What do you want?"
"Oh dear, so blunt. Remins=ds me of my husband a little, never enough patience to enjoy the games of life." With a laugh and a flick of her wrist, her fan closed. She had to take as much advantage of her turn while it lasted. "You see, my eldest is very much in the same predicament. All of his team passes (and we're absolutely proud of it, of course), but those three train together all the time. They know each other's moves to perfection..."
"You have a proposition?"
"Let us take the Higurashi heiress for a while." Just the slightest tension added to his shoulders, but the reaction to her words was still there. It was fine; there was no point pretending to hide their interest in the girl. "My children will get someone new to train with, and your girl will gain far more experience than she would get training with anyone else. Oh, of course, if they wish to, no one would object for those boys to come too.
"An hour a day or so would be fine, wouldn't it?"
The man hesitated, and the Taisho matriarch allowed her view of him to rise a little. Careful and clearly one of the few shinobi in this place taking the threat they were facing seriously. For a hidden village, they were still far more relaxed than they should be, what with a rogue nin slithering in the shadows. Especially considering taking on a shinobi village this size was not anyone with half a functioning brain cell would do without some sort of backup.
This was why she was so glad their clan
s agreements with the other countries were careful with their wording. Without the need to play pretend, their people knew better than to let their guard down around other powers. They knew peace was a fragile thing that could be shattered in an instant when it was them who were the weapons used to subtly provoke another country. In this place, security was too lax, too blissfully ignorant of the power struggles happening outside their walls.
"Kagome-chan has training sessions with one of my colleagues in the early hours of the morning, and I need them after that." So not refusing her offer but also unwilling to go all in. He was trying to retake some control. "Late afternoon works?"
"Should be doable." And if not, then Kimi would make it doable. "My son will be waiting for them tomorrow afternoon."
Not waiting for a response, the woman turned away. Honestly, to have to do this much work to try and fix Toga's mess...if the whole thing wasn't as entertaining as it was, she would've gotten upset with the man.
Speaking of...
Making her chakra spike for just the sliver of a second, the woman waited. It didn't take too long before the soft jingles of the preferred weapon of her eldest's strategist reached her ears. Not even a couple of seconds after she re-entered the streets, and she could already see the familiar silhouette of the young con-artist was already walking towards her. Just as expected, her little party was looking all around for her.
"My lady."
"Monk."
"Toga-sama has been eagerly waiting for you." There was a calm smile on his face that would probably fool most people around here.
"Of course, dear," There was a schedule to be arranged after all. The sooner it got done, the better. "Let's not keep him waiting, shall we?"
"Right away." he turned, his posture completely hiding the hundred questions that had to be swirling in his mind. "He should be back at the apartment by now."
Because of course he would, the stubborn man probably felt her chakra spiking and decided to return at once. Desperate to try and stop her from moving around, really, Toga should learn how to have fun with the little things in life.
Entering the borrowed room, it was evident not only had her husband raced back, but the children were also making their way back. Ah, they should try to take family outings more often. The image of all of them scrambling through town trying to keep up the facade of being leisurely strolling while panicking was simply too perfect for her to ignore. If this place survived whatever Orochimaru was planning, they would need to elect a new Hokage in a few years. Sandaime wouldn't last forever after all, and his age was already playing against him on the political board. Usually, it was just the two rulers who traveled to renew the treaties when a new leader was chosen for the Hidden Villages, but finding a mission nearby that could be pushed onto her son shouldn't be all that hard.
"Kimi."
"Darling."
"Would it be possible to know where were you this ?" In the relative privacy of the apartment, the man took a deep breath; he was probably preparing himself for her evasiveness.
"Want to hear the sordid details? Never took you for the kind." Her words flowed, unothered by the sight of her son crossing the door, likely repressing a suffering sigh.
"We both know that wasn't what you were doing. Spare us all the 20 minutes word game." His hand had moved to cover his eyes, and he called her dramatic?
"Fine, fine. Gods, you can be such a bore." Golden eyes flickered as the last two Taishos made it into the room. "How can Izayoi put up with you is something I can't understand sometimes."
"Please..."
"I spoke to the girl last night."
Silence followed her unusually blunt words, a plethora of emotions shown in each different face. Shock seemed to be the most common one.
"The hell?!"
"Inuyasha, language," Toga said almost in reflex before his brain managed to catch up. "Now, I'm sure we must have all heard you wrong, my dear wife...and you did not just say what I think."
"How do you want to have a read on her if you keep away from the girl, darling? She could almost see the logic of her words warring against his decision inside his eyes. "If you want to make sure you're making the right choice, whether it's to renew our alliance or to fulfill the promise, then you have to know her. And she's careful enough for that to be impossible without some contact at least.
Closing his eyes once more, her husband took a deep breath, clearly trying to push away his momentary panic (and pride) to accept finally accept she'd been right from the start. There was no denying the heavy resigned sigh that fell from his lips before he nodded slowly.
"Fine." It was almost like it pained him to say the word. "Fine, I was wrong about that, we can't avoid contact...children, please leave."
"Huh? Wait, wait." Brash, as always, Toga's youngest turned to face his father. "You were the one who had us acting like stalkers for weeks 'cause we couldn't just send Miroku to talk to her?!"
"It's wise to change your mind in the face of evidence, Inuyasha." The fake monk acted with the speed of experience to try and cool down the younger teen's temper.
"Why are we even here if they were gonna come anyway?!" Ah, so this was what he'd been wanting to say for the last few days.
"Just let it go," the only other female in the room sighed. "Come on, let's get something to eat."
"Ah, Sango, my dear. That's a brilliant idea. Come now, Inuyasha, we should be able to get something nice for the others."
They had a nice dynamic. Watching the other two pull the still screaming teen made her force back a laugh. A far better one than the one Sesshoumaru had had with his own team back in the day. Then again, her son had insisted on forcing his expectations on his teammates from the very beginning.
"So...what did you learn?"
"She's a smart girl." Shrewd was probably a better word for it. "Managed to keep up with me despite being caught by surprise...also, she has absolutely no idea what her clan used to be. Has never even been inside the compound, if I had to bet. Definitely has been isolated for far too long as well; both of them have." She also nearly had a panic attack. From as close as the experienced kunoichi had been, it would've been impossible to miss the slight tremors in her muscles and the way her fists had tightened. They really were still children. "That said, I didn't really manage to get that much from this one meeting.
"Which is why she'll be joining you as you train your team in the afternoons, starting tomorrow."
"Mother..."
It was honestly amazing, how two syllables could hold so much meaning when it came from her eldest.
"What!"
"I've already cleared it out with her teacher, so there's nothing to worry about that." This time, she had to flick her fan open once more to hide her amused smirk. "Chances are the Uchiha boy will join often enough, but I think that's already a given."
"When did you even have the time to do that?"
"Why this morning, when else?"
"And it's safe to assume..." Sesshoumaru started with a clipped tone. "That none of us get any say on this."
"I always knew you were smart, darling."
"What did you even tell the man." Toga was groaning; there was just no other way to describe it.
"Nothing much." Not a lie. "I simply made an offer. Unlike the rest of these naive shinobis, Copy ninja Kakashi seems to be well aware of the risks of having a nuke-nin wandering inside the village."
"I suppose then," her son bit out, ice covering every syllable. "That arrangements will be needed for tomorrow's schedule."
At her silent smirk, the boy barely repressed a sigh before standing up and leaving through the same door his team had just left a few minutes ago. She knew there had been no training regimen scheduled in place. They were all well within what the Hidden Villages considered a chuunin's rank level, so there had been no reason to bother with it. Instead, they'd only sparred lightly while focusing on their real mission. Trying to keep an eye on the Higurashi heiress took precedence, and ever since the knowledge of Orochimaru's presence, another task had been added.
"And...what did you tell the girl?"
Kimi allowed her fan to close before draping herself over one of the chairs in the room. Everything she did, she did for the clan. That was perhaps the one thing that had stayed her husband's hand from striking her down despite how often she disregarded his orders. Her actions bordering on treasonous from time to time. These were the only times she could feel the threat of danger directed at her so strong in his voice. It was oh-so-very interesting.
"Just the truth."
In this, she wasn't lying...per se...
Her implications about what lay within the ruins of the Higurashi compound was a shot in the dark. The matriarch had scoured their own libraries and made an educated guess about the kind of protections that would be placed around the ceremonial spots. And if there was something she had no doubts about was that there was something more behind protections that no one would be able to see through.
They really needed the girl to know the history behind her clan, the secrets her family had once protected.
Secrets not even the Taisho clan fully knew about.
With just a little luck, the journals their documents referenced, the ones kept by each head of the Higurashi, were still safe within the ruins of the once-legendary clan compound. And if they were, if Higurashi Kagome was sensible enough to read and agree with her predecessors, then they would be able to peacefully renew their alliance with the legitimate head of the clan. That way, her husband's wish would remain intact.
Dreary didn't even begin to describe the atmosphere that blanketed what was left of the place. This was likely once a well-cared-for main plaza, though the Uchiha doubted there was anyone who could picture how it used to look like just from looking at the remains. Half-destroyed walls that were struggling to stay standing under the weight of over a decade of vines and moss surrounded the empty space where vegetation had overtaken the asphalt. Only the sounds of their steps breaking the silence. For some reason, there were no animals or even insects trying to claim the ruins as a home...somehow, that gave the impression that death was still wandering around the place.
Slender fingers tightened around his own in an effort to stop trembling.
The offer to turn around and go back died on his throat as Sasuke took in the look on the girl's face. Determination was set on her features, even through the layers of the anxiety he could see behind her eyes. The implications of the Taisho matriarch comment's from two days ago were still heavy on her mind. If he was being honest, even before that, they'd already suspected that something might still be hidden within the Higurashi compound. The few non-technique related scrolls on hand contained some odd phrases, comments that seemed to allude to a different set of archives. When they confirmed the sharingan couldn't really see through reiki when it was being used as a barrier, the suspicion that maybe there was a space protected by a similar barrier was sown.
How someone from a clan that had no real relationship with the village could have that knowledge only seemed to suggest there was way more about the girl's blood-related family than everyone had been lead to believe.
That the same woman had gone and offered sparring partners for not only the young heiress, but him as well couldn't scream their interest any louder.
A slight tug on his arm was the only sign that Kagome had stopped walking, gaze locked on the half-destroyed pieces of bricks in the middle of the once-plaza...oh...that was probably a fountain once, wasn't it? If he remembered the tale of where and how the girl was found all those years back, then...
"Well." It sounded so loud, Kakashi-sensei's voice shattering the silence. "I will be checking the perimeter. We don't have too much time so whatever it is you want to do, do it fast."
"Thank you, sensei." Her grip tightened once more as she forced a smile on her face. "I'm sorry for the trouble."
"Maa, as long as you find what you're looking for..." With that, the man left. Whether it was to run away from the potential of the girl breaking into tears or because he really did need to check the perimeter, Sasuke wasn't sure.
Slowly, the Higurashi heiress pulled him along towards the broken fountain before letting out a sigh and sitting on the unstable remains.
"I think..." Her voice faltered. "I think we may be close. As long as this was built similar to the compound, then we shouldn't be too far away from the main house. Or wherever it was that the main family lived."
Honestly, if not for the fact that Kagome had brought the idea of coming here before the awkward meeting in their bathhouse, the Uchiha would've protested about the whole trip. But as her fingers slid from his grip to try and concentrate on looking for the feeling of the reiki that should be protecting whatever they were looking for, the boy knew they would've still ended up here.
What was she feeling?
Walking in what had technically once been her home before being rescued and taken to the Uchiha compound...
Not once had they really spoken about her biological family. Other than the constant lectures on their failures that his father had subjected them all to, it just never felt important. Not to him, at least. And he'd never thought about asking the girl her thoughts either...
Now that he thought about it, Sasuke was almost sure that on some level, he'd always understood it. Understood that the two of them would've never even met had her family not been massacred in the way they had...that if these people were still alive today, he wouldn't even know she existed at all...And a part of him that seemed to grow every day was not only indifferent but even glad that it had happened, stopped him from voicing the question every time.
After all, it didn't make a difference anymore, not now when so much time had passed. Her family would not come back to life, and they were already tied together, the two of them...and Itachi too.
"I think I've got it." Her words broke him out of his darkening thoughts. "There's definitely something here."
Linking her hand with his again, the Higurashi heiress stood up, clearly unwilling to let whatever momentum she'd gain be lost. With focused movements, the girl guided them through the ruins until she stopped in front of what had had to be the biggest building still around.
"We're going to have to walk lightly." The thing looked like it barely managed to remain standing. And Sasuke didn't really trust the walls to keep what was left of the roof where it was supposed to be. "This looks like it's about to fall apart."
"It's underneath. There has to be some sort of entrance to a basement level." Her voice was firm as her grip tightened around his hand to still her trembling.
Swallowing back a comment, the boy nodded and followed. At least, with the place being underground, it meant the foundations of the building were solid. Not that what remained of the second floor couldn't still fall on their heads, or trap them underneath, but he supposed if it resisted for over a decade, it would hopefully endure one more hour.
It was definitely here, she could feel the warmth of the energy under her feet.
Ignoring the Uchiha's unspoken worries, Kagome allowed herself to follow the feeling, doing her best not to look at the decaying furniture and broken artifacts around them...just like she pushed back the notion that this place resembled more a temple than a main house.
Not once had the girl been back to what had once been her home, and yet something felt oddly...familiar about it. It was more than just inferring about what the houses used to look like based on the remains...it almost felt like stepping back into an old home. It wouldn't make sense, not for even a second, but as much as she tried, the idea lingered in the back of her mind as the Higurashi heiress navigated them through dark halls.
At last, her steps faltered in front of what remained of what looked like a fallen, rotting bookshelf. A frown made its way to her face as the realization dawned on her. This was the place from where the energy felt the strongest. She hadn't wanted to touch a single thing inside the house since it all looked like it could carry a hundred and one diseases, but if they wanted to know what was being so carefully hidden, then there was no other option.
"Can you help me with this?"
"You've got to be..." the boy mumbled, clearly as happy with the idea as her. "Come on, then. Take this side, it looks less...fragile."
"It's right underneath this thing."
The crying sound of the wood being lifted startled her, her grip almost slipping as the silence shattered. The noise almost seeped through her bones. Steeling herself, the girl gave a second push, grateful that the thing was actually moving instead of falling apart and splintering everywhere. The sooner they could get away from here, the better.
She didn't like this place.
Not at all.
"Is there a hidden trapdoor?"
"Yeah..." It was barely there, a slight break in the energy she could feel around their feet. "I can feel the reiki...it's right here."
Follow your instincts.
Taking a deep breath, she allowed herself to take a second to ground herself with the feeling the coldness of the steel against her skin. The senbon she'd pulled was loose on her palm until, with a single motion, it sliced through her flesh, crimson drops racing to fall to the part of the ground where the energy was connected.
Without stopping to hear Sasuke's questions, Kagome let a burst of her own reiki flow through her blood.
And right onto a slip of paper that hadn't been visible. Resting in the middle of a trapdoor that hadn't existed until just now.
"Can you light the lanterns?"
"We don't have much of a choice, do we?"
As soon as they'd stepped inside what had once been the Higurashi compound, the stench of mold, dust, and abandonment had filled his senses. It was a smell they were both somewhat used to, thanks to the lack of maintenance most of the other houses in the Uchiha district sported.
Stepping down the stone stairs and into the darkness of the hidden basement, Sasuke could no longer smell it. And somehow, this trip felt too similar to the climb down the ladder of the Uchiha archives, the one that lead him to find Kagome in the middle of treasonous reports and coded messages. He supposed it was fitting; after all, the likelihood of this place containing just some technique scrolls was as high as Naruto deciding he hated ramen.
"I think there are some torches on the wall." Her voice wasn't quite stable as she shone the dim light of her lantern to the walls. With a burst of chakra, his vision cleared remarkably. "Ah, here they are."
"At least it's spacious."
Even with just the couple of extra torches, he could already see this basement level was not nearly as claustrophobic as the archives. In fact, it almost looked like an entryway of some sort. Symbols he didn't recognize adorned the walls that looked entirely untouched by the devastation outside. The religious influence of the clan was also far more notable in this place. With ofudas plastered on the steps, they'd just climbed down from and a shimenawa hanging above a gat some meters in front of them, it gave the impression of entering a temple.
"Think you need to do anything to open those?"
"I'm...not sure."
The feeling of reiki around her must be soothing her anxiety.
The thought came unbidden as he realized that despite being so clearly inside a mostly dark room, the girl had willingly let go of his hand. Even now, she still looked calm.
"Let's go."
Whether it was because they felt confident in the first barrier, or because the blood continued flowing from the Higurashi heiress' hand was enough for them to bypass any security measure the clan had designed, this set of doors opened with barely a touch.
Using the weak light of his lantern to find the wall in an effort to locate more torches, the Uchiha pushed back the worries he'd been feeling to the back of his mind. It was true he had no idea what it was they were looking for or what finding it would mean for them, but Kagome's intuition had never steered them wrong before. And there was no question it was that what was guiding her right now. If the sacred rope and talismans had left an unsettling feeling in his gut, that was just a personal problem. Nothing here would hurt them; otherwise, the girl would be far more tense. In all likelihood, it was just because Sasuke had never understood the point of religion when most of them condemned what shinobis did for a living. It was just that.
"Oh..."
With about half of the torches lit up, they finally had some semblance of what the room they were in looked like. It was bigger than the hall before, with bookshelves covering the other half of the wall. More symbols and ofudas covered the interior...and he could also see the outline of another trapdoor at the farther end of this room.
"How long do we have left?" Seeing her make her way towards him to answer soothed his own anxiety.
"Not enough to go through everything," she huffed as she looked at the second trapdoor. "We may need to make another trip here before we leave."
"That and stock up on storage scrolls." Because he was sure they didn't have enough to fit all the texts in here, and they had no clue what may be inside the next level.
"We're going to need at least a couple we can show to Kakashi-sensei when we get out of here..." Right, they still needed to deal with the man.
"Rolling them around the floor outside should be enough for them to look like they were underneath one of the broken tables or something similar."
"Keep a look for the name Taisho." The girl nodded before leaving his side again, her steps hurried as she neared the bookshelves. "There has to be some relationship between our clans, something that wasn't well known. Maybe the village never even knew about it."
"Do you think it's gonna be coded?"
"Gods, I hope not." This was, after all, already inside quite a fair number of security layers. "I can't just bleed all over the parchments and pray it works if they are."
Unsurprisingly, several of the contents seemed similar enough to what they'd found in the sanitized version of the Uchiha archives. Details about the state of the clan and its population over the years were written in dark ink. He could say there was no point in this, that they were wasting their time, but Kagome's curiosity was alight, and there was little chance she'd let this go. At the very least, they'd get a less biased view of the Higurashi family.
After a couple of scrolls picked from random bookshelves, there was finally some useful information about reiki-based jutsus that the Higurashi heiress had spent years trying to figure out. Just like the texts from the compound indicated. Making sure to get as many of those as he could, the boy made his way to one of the scrambled desks. A second set of footsteps softly trailing behind him.
They'd need to sort through these and pick the less useful looking ones to show their teacher, and they had to do it fast. His perception of time had been clearly affected by the atmosphere of the ruins, and he wouldn't be surprised if it was the same for the girl. Another round of sleepless nights were in their future, judging by the amount of parchment on the desk.
Even if this had nothing to do with Itachi, there was a chance they could still gain some useful knowledge about the village itself, considering this was one of its founding clans. Taking into account the number of things they'd chosen to hide from their recent history, the Uchiha wouldn't be surprised if there was more purposefully obscured information about its origin.
"I think this will do..." Her voice echoed through the room after some time
The trip upstairs was faster; neither of them wanted to risk having their teacher looking for them if they were late. As it was, there wasn't any doubt in his mind that the man had to have asked for special permission to get them both outside. There was no chance he wouldn't be looking for them as soon as the hour was done.
They barely had enough time to replace the moldy bookshelf on top of the trapdoor and get out of the ruins with their newly dirtied scrolls before they could see the form of their teacher walking towards them. At least, having to move the furniture made sure their clothes really looked like they had spent the whole hour scouring through the moss-covered ruins looking for whatever they could salvage.
"Find anything?"
"There were a couple of parchments half-buried under the rubble." Her smile was a bit strained, but it fit with the situation well enough.
"Good," Kakashi-sensei said, his head moving to look around the plaza once more. "We can review it tomorrow morning then."
For all of his talk about being safe from the snake Sannin, it was painfully obvious they hadn't caught the madman, probably were nowhere near close to it. And things were likely looking grim if Sasuke could see through the man's gaze.
Orochimaru.
He had tried to push them back. The words the man had said, about how he had met with Itachi at some point after the teen left the village in disgrace and with a bounty on his head. That was, ironically, the most useful information on his brother they'd managed to acquire. It wouldn't surprise him if that was the most they got for another couple of years. Especially considering that even with a chuunin rank, it was unlikely they'd be given any decent information on an S-rank target that had previously been an ANBU captain.
No, to get any information about him out of this pathetic excuse of a village, they would need to play the long game.
Although...did they, really?
Suspicion was too light a word to describe what he felt towards the rogue Sannin, but there was no denying that he'd met Itachi. He had information the likes they wouldn't be able to get their hands on until they made jounin at the earliest. Already, they lived surrounded by potential enemies, would meeting with a confirmed one to try and find out how much Orochimaru truly knew about be that much riskier?
The man wanted them alive, for now at least...and as much as he tried to ignore it, the memory of how it felt...to have such raw power flowing through his veins...it had been a futile exercise. If he could acquire that power as soon and as easy as he'd done back in the forest...
Meeting with the nuke-nin didn't even mean they had to agree to whatever it was the maniac wanted. He'd clearly talked about Itachi thinking their goal was still to hunt him down and kill him. No one other than Kagome was aware that his goals (their goals) had taken a drastic turn. And to manipulate someone, knowing their greatest desire was a requirement.
They'd been nothing but tools in his parent's eyes, still were just tools to Konoha...so why shouldn't the two of them be able to use others the same way they'd been treated?
His feet faltered, forcing his gaze back. Kagome had frozen a couple of steps behind him, azure eyes locked on something he couldn't see. Something not even their jounin sensei could feel.
"Kagome." His voice seemed to break her from her trance.
"Right...let's go home."
There was too much missing. Even after filling the bunch of storage scrolls they'd taken with them, there were too many gaps in the texts they had. Right now, there was no way for them to make any sort of cohesive narrative from the assort of reports and indexes they'd mindlessly placed them in their bags.
Though, even with that, the Taisho name was mentioned more than once. It didn't' take too much for them to realize that the two clans were very much in some kind of allied relationship. What exactly, was the nature of such a relationship, however, wasn't explained in any of the rescued texts. Which left the question of what was it that both families had gotten out of it in the air. There was no certainty there would be any detailed description of this alliance in the parchments they left behind. In order to get the information she needed, she'd likely have to get it out of the Taishos themselves. Though the Higurashi heiress wouldn't say this excursion was useless. She definitely got something out of it.
Azure eyes traveled to the small pile of scrolls that had more detailed information on her bloodline techniques. Reaching for the one that explained the special kind of barrier that had been used to protect the basement level, she could feel her suspicions grow. The jutsu was, by far, too advanced for her to even consider attempting, but that didn't mean she couldn't understand the instructions, or that the girl was incapable of feeling the way the thing had been set up before she allowed her blood to open the barrier.
Just like she'd been able to feel the hint of another one surrounding the ruins of her rightful compound...
As well as the broken remains of what was being described as anchors for the barrier on the scroll.
"What was the theory again, about how they were killed?" Her voice was cold as she spoke for the first time in hours.
"A traitor." Dark eyes focused on her; he'd noticed the change in her mood. "Someone from the inside brought down the barriers. That allowed whoever was against them to get in and take them all by surprise.
"Right," she continued reciting the words they'd heard for most of their childhood. "And they placed a barrier of their own to keep anyone from leaving. As well as a genjutsu to hide the fires."
"That's what was in the reports, yes."
For quite some time, the girl hadn't really thought too much about it, the reason for her family's demise. Oh, she had looked through the reports and the theories the Uchiha patriarch had made right after they returned from the hospital when they younger, of course. But, considering what had just happened, trying to find out who was responsible for the deaths of people she didn't even remember wasn't exactly high on her priority list. Let alone after they found about about the treason, and the chuunin exams came down upon them along with Orochimaru.
Now that she was taking her time to think about it...there was something odd there as well. Something eerily reminiscent of what had happened to the Uchiha clan. Things just didn't quite add up after taking a closer look at the place.
"Why?"
"This is the kind of barrier that was protecting the Higurashi compound." Carefully, the girl pushed the scroll in her hands towards him. 'If I understand this right, then this works based around anchors that tether the energy to the spot of land itself instead of relying on a person constantly maintaining a jutsu... Breaking this from the inside is shockingly simple, like with any other barrier, you just have to get rid of one of the anchors, and the rest will fall.
"There would be nothing left of them...
"If you try to do it from the outside, though, it becomes more like trying to ram through a brick wall. The foundations will remain there even if there's a gap in the middle...want to guess what I could feel?"
There was already a dark look in Sasuke's eyes as she looked up. He knew her well enough to know what she was implying.
"I thought I felt something when we first arrived, but it wasn't until I dismantled the barrier for the hidden basement levels that I realized what it was..." That and something else, but about that she still had no clues. "They were still there, the anchors were still there..."
"I suppose we shouldn't be surprised anymore." Something cold, violent dripped from his voice as he stood up, placing himself behind her with a couple of steps.
"It probably has nothing to do with what happened here, though."
"Naruto's situation has nothing to do with my family either." She leaned back, taking comfort in his warmth as he stirred up her own darkening emotions. "Will you tell me it doesn't enrage you?"
"...you know it does..."
"This is just one more reason to make sure we are throughout with them."
"Our best bet to find out if the Higurashis had a particular enemy will be the Taishos." His hold tightened around her, tension bleeding into him. She knew he disliked the group, but if he wanted them to investigate it would be necessary to make contact. "Would you rather we don't go? Even if we get no information, they're probably some of the strongest competitors for the finals."
"I know," he grumbled into her hair. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."
"Please don't start any fights." Her hand moved to caress the strands of midnight hair that was mingling with hers. "That woman is far too sharp for me to hide it all, and Miroku-san is more cunning than any of our classmates. If I get too distracted, I can slip up."
"I can't wait for the stupid thing to be over so they can go back to wander around." Like that, they were back in familiar waters.
"I'm right here..." Honestly, it was as much reassurance for him as it was for her. "Always together, right?"
"Right."
"Come on then." With a slight push, the girl stood up. "Let's try to get some sleep, or I'll fall on my feet in front of Kurenai-sensei tomorrow morning. "
"Remind me why you agreed to that?"
"Because my technique can use some polishing if I want to be able to use it against Neji-san...and because wasting a chance to learn as much as I can about the byakugan can place us in danger later."
"As soon as we have what we need from this sorry excuse of a village..."
"We're making progress," she reminded him. "Little by little."
A/N: So they get a couple of answers and lots of questions, it almost looks like a pattern here, but let's be real, where would a pair of genins get access to confidential information? There's also the fact that they have full schedules with training for the finals and so, not a lot of free time to try and figure things out. Also, had to change POVs more often this chapter, having just one of them during the excursion to the Higurashi ruins didn't really flow, hope no one minds.
As always, thank you guys so much for reading, and any review/comment/criticism is greatly, greatly appreciated.