Side Story: A Tourist Trap?? - Complete

[KageYuuki]

Orikanyo KageYuuki AtlannianSpy

Hideki, Hotaru, and Yukari have been sent to the resort town by Yuwaku Beach. Unfortunately, they aren't there to take in the white sand beaches and clear blue water. Instead, the trio has to investigate the recent and ongoing string of disappearances.​

 

[KageYuuki]

Yukari glanced around the rather plain room that was currently serving as the Hokage’s office. There were still a few ANBU stationed nearby as guards, she guessed it would be that way until the village had finished rebuilding. Even if the Mist hadn’t been too aggressive following the destruction of their own village. She glanced over at the pair of chuunin that had been called in with her.

Hideki only really knew one of the others in the room, the heiress that he so brazenly spoke to a bit of time ago. She looked… Good, surprisingly so. Like she suddenly healed all her wounds in no time at all. He rose an eyebrow as the two met gazes for a moment and looked at the other person they were with. A head of green hair, green framed glasses and… Somebody Hideki never met before.

He’d introduce himself, but given the fact they were called here he figured that introductions could wait… She was pretty cute though…

Hotaru sat with her bag in her lap, her legs swinging underneath her. What kind of people had she been matched up with? She remembered their faces from the exam but nothing other than that. And from the way they looked at each other, the two seemed to at least be acquainted.

Am I... maybe third wheeling it here? Well, that kind of thing can be interesting too...

Hotaru wondered if they had been gathered because their skills were relevant to the mission or if it was more a case of simple availability. Either way, it was good chance to get some novel data with a new set of subjects. That kind of thing appealed to Hotaru and she smiled privately.

“I’ll try to keep this briefing short,” Gou set a few papers aside before looking up at the gathered trio. The Hokage seemed drained, it was likely he was still recovering from the attack during the chuunin exams. “You three will be heading south to Yuwaku, we’ve received numerous reports of visitors going missing from the town. In a few instances, even entire families have disappeared. You’re to find whatever may be behind this and put a stop to it.”

Yukari would admit the idea of going to Yuwaku was an exciting one. The town had become famous for its beaches for a reason. But people vanishing… If she was called along, could there have been suspicion of something otherworldly at play?

Or maybe they just wanted a byakugan user.

“Yu...waku…” the young man clued in as he thought about the place. It was a resort town, and a very popular one at that, many events happen there and it prided itself on its beaches. Pretty much the whole area was sat on the beaches, white sands, beautiful water…. It fell heavily on his heart that he’d be conducting a mission there and not patrolling the grounds in a fashion.

His eyes glanced at his two partners in crime and smiled for a moment. “Understood sir, we will put an end to this at once and report back our findings.” He replied as he was taught, professionalism was key to success after all.

He sounded confident, but he wasn’t quite certain what his teammates could do just yet… he had to ask their capabilities later.

“Is there any kind of pattern among the victims?” Hotaru asked, raising her hand as if she was in class. “In terms of their physical characteristics or the timing of the incidents? Also how many cases are we talking about?”

Hotaru realized halfway through her questions that the Hokage might be expecting them to find out this stuff for themselves once they arrived but her brain had already ticked over into investigation mode.

Gou picked up a sheet of paper, pausing to study it for a few moments. “The vast majority of victims have been female with no real pattern in terms of age. At this point, they’re suspecting more than one hundred disappearances.”

“But why would they have waited so long before coming to us about it…?” The Hyuuga quietly mused.

“It was likely they didn’t want word getting out and harming their reputation.”

“Maybe… Wouldn’t be the first time something has been swept under the rug.” Hideki added, thinking about it for a second. “Well, we know it’s there, that many people don’t disappear without a reason. We should hurry if there's no other information we need.” He’ll admit to feeling a bit excited to be going on a mission with a whole new squad. Hopefully, they get there in time to help rescue a lot of folks…

Maybe they’ll get time to rest afterward? Maybe?

“Well it’s going to come out one way or the other now,” Hotaru said, tapping the corner of her mouth with a finger. “It should have been possible to hire someone like us discreetly well before now. Maybe we shouldn’t discount the possibility that someone within the local government is involved.” With that Hotaru jumped to her feet quite suddenly. “Well there’s a limit to what we can figure out here, we need concrete, first-hand data to work with,”

“Then it’s best to leave as soon as you’re ready, it’ll be a bit of a trip there.” Gou nodded to them, “You’re dismissed.”

Once dismissed, the group filed their way out of the office, left to their own devices now they were finally free to let out anything they wanted to say beforehand when they were bound by the unspoken rule of law: don’t fuck around in front of the Hokage.

Hideki let out a sigh once they were clear of the office. “Well, always wanted to head to Yuwaku, can’t say like this. But take what you get I suppose.” he cracked a knuckle before looking to the other two. “Been awhile Yukari, you look like you healed up pretty well. Sorry I didn’t stop by again, it’s been go, go, go since I got back from my last mission.”

Milky hues glanced over at Hideki, noting the sword he now carried before meeting his gaze. “Don’t worry about being busy, village needs all the hands it can get.” Plus there was the issue of her father, but there wasn’t much point in adding that.

Hideki nodded, pausing to take a look at their third. The way she spoke earlier certainly showed she had a good head on her shoulders. That intelligent look certainly wasn’t for show. “Sorry for not introducing myself earlier, Hideki Ukita. Squad 6.” He held out a hand to shake, looking relatively friendly. “You the brains of your squad? You handled yourself pretty well back there.”

“Hotaru, Hotaru Hagano Squad Seven,” Hotaru said, taking Hideki’s hand then pulling it forward and stepping around to study his arm guard curiously. “Don’t let my teammates hear you say that by the way, they’ll start sulking,” Hotaru suddenly looked up from Hideki’s arms to make eye contact and grinned suddenly. ‘I’m pretty much a genius though.”

The young man looked over the arm guard that Hotaru was staring so intently at, he’ll admit, he was taken aback. But in terms of quirkiness, she was much better than Mai. He chuckled, “A genius, eh? Heh, we need more of those. What I’d give to have more brain than the brawn we got in my squad. Well, I’ll enjoy it while you’re here, eh?”

Without letting go of Hideki’s arm Hotaru turned and waved at Yukari with her free hand. “So you’re Yukari… Hyuuga, I’m guessing. This will be my first time seeing those eyes up close so is it okay if I take notes?”

Yukari slowly nodded, “Yeah, from Squad Five.” Seemed Hotaru was a rather energetic sort, would be more interesting than who she normally worked with. She blinked at the girl’s next question, “well… you don’t really seem like you’d take ‘no’ for an answer.” The Hyuuga shrugged, “It’ll just be easier to ask questions on the way. Can’t really afford distractions in an actual fight.”

He nodded towards Yukari as he then looked back to the hall, everyone was busy, and they were no different. “Alright, you two, got everything you need? Not likely we’ll be able to find much equipment in the town we’re heading to, and you know train stations don’t exactly carry paper bombs.” He began moving on ahead of the group, his equipment clinking together with each step. “Forgot to ask, what do you two specialize in? Didn’t get a chance to get a look at you both… Well, I saw Yukari in a fight, as one-sided as it was for us.” He asked as he waved them on, time to get walking and talking.

“I have all the equipment I need.” Yukari rolled her eyes as Hideki brought up their clash with the Mist jounin, “Not sure that was really a fight…”

“On your shoulder,” Hotaru said brightly, adjusting her glasses as a brown, mottled moth silently settled on Hideki. “Don’t worry they only bite when I tell them to. They can also sense chakra, and can scout and relay information back to me. I’m more of a support type overall so I’ll be relying on you guys to handle the grunt work.”

Hideki just about reflexively swatted the moth that was upon his shoulder, he stared at the creature for a moment, taking it in and the fact it’s somewhat… Cute… for a moth. Though it had some wicked nippers on its face that was for certain… Moths… Aburame… So she made these things huh? Some of the clans were certainly weird, but to imagine these coming from a person was…. Disconcerting… Or did she grow them outside her body? Don’t the bugs eat chakra? Why would it need such big nippers like those for?

“Scouting and close range combat are more my thing.” Yukari chimed in. For such things, the byakugan proved invaluable. Hikari was also good for scouting ahead, provided she felt like cooperating. She gave a low hum in thought, “didn’t think anyone outside of the Aburame used bugs.” Though moths seemed like a rather fragile choice.

“Hah don’t compare my babies to those antiquated conservatives.” Insisted Hotaru, waving a hand dismissively. “The future of insect-based ninjutsu is in moths, they represent a bold new direction!”

"Uh... right."

“Right, a sensor. I’ll keep it in mind.” He kept glancing back at the impetuous little fluttering thing on his shoulder as he listened to Yukari. As one might expect, some scouting, and taijutsu, that was what the Byakugan helped with best.

“As you might expect from the shield on my back I try to keep my friend’s heads on their shoulders. But with my jutsu choices recently I do like to set up ambushes with subterranean voyage… And I have skill in kenjutsu and ninjutsu. I make usage of earth elemental jutsu the most.” he clutched a hand into a fist.

“Oh! I have that one!” Hotaru chimed in helpfully. “I probably use it more for running away than ambushing though,”

“Earth isn’t as flashy as other elements, but it has some very strong techniques. So I guess I can do the heavy lifting defense wise… Or if we need to really destroy something quick.” he gave a quick low down of what he could do, leaving out the whole… Blood Sword… thing.

“...If we’re gonna be heading into civilian territory I might want to hide my stuff… You two mind if we stop by a buddy of mine? He’s good at seals and owes me a favor.”

“Seals huh? Someone like that would have been useful on my last mission,” Hotaru mused, putting her arms up behind her head. “I’ll tag along though, I don’t really have anything else to do,”

The Uchiha compound had managed to make strides in rebuilding. While far from complete, the members were no longer living in makeshift shelters and tents.

Wow and I thought the Aburame got hit pretty bad, Hotaru thought, surveying the battered compound, but electing to keep the thought to herself.

“So… if you two don’t want to come in I won't take too long. I’m sure you’ll be fine heading inside.” the young man shrugged, standing before what was once the gate so long ago.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine, the Uchiha aren’t nearly as bad as my clan.” Yukari seemed more interested in the cat rubbing against her legs than the compound in front of her.

Hideki shrugged. “Alright, if neither of yea have problems, let's head on in.” the young man walked forwards, into the gate of the compound. He took a moment to look around first, waiting for a guard or greeter to show up. “Hey! Anyone? Man.. usually the guards are on point, are they busy?”

“Or just know you at this point,” Tsubaki said behind them, watching them with clear red eyes. “Yuuki’s probably still out by the targets. Been working on shurikenjutsu most of the morning.”

Yukari jumped, turning to face the source of the voice. She studied her for a moment, noting the keen gaze of the sharingan. The red tattoo on her shoulder caught the Hyuuga’s attention next. ANBU. That explained plenty to her.

So that’s the sharingan, Hotaru thought silently, studying Tsubaki in a way that was probably a little unnerving, or at least impolite. Compared to the byakugan, the Uchiha’s crimson eye was more overtly intimidating. The byakugan was an incredible tool, but the sharingan was a weapon capable of ending a fight in and of itself.

“Oh, used to them at least checking me in.” The young man barely reacted to the sudden appearance of the jounin, he turned around to face the glowing eyes of the woman. “Kinda wish he’d teach Aiko how to use em, but I’ve come to ask him for a small favor.” he seemed at home here, even under the blazing red gaze of the Uchiha.

Tsubaki shrugged, “you need to get Aiko to actually talk to him first. She never really talks to anyone here.”

Or maybe it’s just the colors, Hotaru mused. Red and Black, some poisonous insects have a similar scheme to warn away potential predators. Not sure what kind of monster would try to prey on Uchiha though...

Hideki scratched his head, giving a bit of a nod. “Yeah… Getting her to listen to me is like pulling teeth..” he shrugged, before looking around the compound. “Alright, talk to ya later. Gonna go find Yuuki.” he began to walk off towards the training grounds within the compound, it was a familiar path, even with all the broken stuff around, he had taken this path many times in the past when Yuuki felt like getting an ass kicking…

...Well, at least he can call it that in his head, lately, they haven’t been getting together too much, maybe he should cool it on ditching the guy? But he is kinda like his good luck charm in that way…

Ah well, time to find the guy.

Yuuki stood hunched over in the middle of the training field, breathing heavily. Pieces of paper were scattered all around him, most of them blank. He looked over at the group as they approached, raising an eyebrow at Hideki.

“...Writing up some letters?” the young man approached, a smirk spreading across his face. “Jokes aside, hows it going?”

“Smartass…” All the paper came to life, swirling around Yuuki for a moment before shooting at Hideki. Any pieces that touched him quickly stuck tight.

The young man rose an eyebrow and was quickly covered by the huge mass of papers. Looking as if they were trying to mummify the poor boy. “...I feel at home already. Been busy getting new tricks, huh?” The young man asked, looking at his friend past the single eye that WASN’T covered in paper.

“A few,” the paper released Hideki, fluttering into neat stacks nearby. “So why are you here?” The Uchiha asked as he sat down.

"Right to business, huh? Not even gonna ask whats new? Maybe who my friends are?” he scratched his head, happy to be un-mummified. “Well, long story short. I’m kinda needing some help with sealing away my equipment. Got a mission that requires us to get sneaky in a resort town so… Can’t exactly walk around with a sword and shield on my back.” he motioned to the combo in question before looking at the guy again.

“So… since you’re the only buddy I have that knows about seals and such… And you do owe me one.”

“Well, I assumed mission, only reason the Hyuuga heiress would ever be within a meter of you…” He heard Yukari scoff at the comment. “Also, bullshit. I don’t owe you anything.”

“How rude,” Hotaru said with a false cough. “I also wouldn’t be within a meter of him if it weren’t for this mission,” she said, her tone more playful than anything else.

“We’re friends, actually. If you call her handing me my ass in Go friendship. And Hotaru, I deal with an ice queen in my own squad, are you gonna play queen bee?” he smirked to the two a bit before getting down to the argument that he really knew was coming… who wouldn’t? “You don’t remember the raccoon then? It was only a few months ago.”

“That was also your damn fault!”

“It was most definitely not my fault that you couldn’t keep your balance. I had the cat under control, you couldn’t balance on a trash can.”

Yuuki rolled his eyes, “I’d love to see you stay balanced when being shoved off.”

“It’s not my fault you made the raccoon angry, my plan was to get the cat and go, but somebody had to fall in the trash can and need me to catch him when he rolled down the hill.”

“You’re full of it and you know it.”

“Will you two knock it off!” Yukari snapped, “We do have a train to catch.”

“Whatever, do you have a scroll?”

“Yep.” the young man quickly grabbed the scroll he had brought and took off his gear, he looked at the sword and grasped the handle. “Not gonna let me stay, hmm? It’ll be awfully cramped in there.” the voice echoed in his mind as he simply took it off his hip and put it forward with the rest of the stuff.

“Thanks, Yuuki, I’ll owe you this time.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Yuuki grumbled as he unrolled the scroll and wove several hand signs. A thin trail of smoke rose from the paper and wrapped around the items, quickly drawing them in. “There,” Yuuki’s voice wavered slightly as he tossed the scroll to Hideki.

The young man caught it as he stood up. “Alright, thanks for the help. I’ll treat yea when we get back safe and sound. Don’t get too many paper cuts from your new technique alright?" he smirked at the young man who promptly flipped him off before looking to the others. “Alright, let's head to the train. Assuming you all don’t have something else you want?”

“I’m good!” chimed Hotaru. “I need a hat but I’ll pick up something touristy on the way, gotta blend in!”

“Yeah,” Yukari started for the village gates, “Let’s just got on the road. Don’t want to be waiting at the station forever.”

“Right, lets head off then… Should take off our headbands while we’re at it Can’t quite hide in public with your allegiance on your sleeve.” the young man gave a small wave to Yuuki before leading the group out, considering he did kinda lead them in.

“What kind of food do you think they got at the resort? Aside from fish…?”

 

[KageYuuki]

“So can you see inside your own brain?” Hotaru asked eagerly. She was sitting cross-legged, with her feet up underneath her on the train seat and a notepad in her hands. Outside the train, the countryside whizzed by silently. The train was appointed fairly modestly, with simple wood flooring and walls. But the seats were comfortable enough and there was a well-stocked snack bar in the hallway.

Yukari blinked a few times at the question, leaning back in her own seat. It wasn’t really something she’d ever thought about. “Yes and no? I guess it’s… kinda like seeing your nose. Like, you can see it, but you never really register it’s there.”

“Hmm, interesting, so your brain subconsciously filters out nonrelevant visual data. Now that I’ve brought it up, are you more aware of your brain? And if so does that awareness change its visual appearance for you? I had a theory that Hyuuga subconsciously sorts out novel or important visual patterns and relegate the rest to greater transparency.” Hotaru scribbled furiously in her notepad, a smile she was seemingly unaware of tugging at her lips.

“Well I’m not actually using my byakugan right now, so no. Unless I’m using it, my vision isn’t really any different from what yours would be.” She paused for a moment, “Well, at least I don’t think it is.” She hummed in thought, “But yeah, unless I’m focusing on something or someone, I pretty much just see everything as an outline. People kind of light up with their chakra too, even civilians that can’t use it, it’s just dimmer on them.”

“Outlines? But how do you distinguish them from each other?” Hotaru fished another notepad out of her bag and then held both up in front of Yukari, one in front of the other.

“So you can perceive both of these at once? What does that picture look like as opposed to looking at one notepad? If I kept increasing the number of notepads, one in front of the other would you eventually have trouble distinguishing how many there were or singling one out in particular?” Hotaru’s voice was now very subtly muffled by the two notepads in front of her, but half of her face, including one bespectacled eye, poked out from the side to stare at Yukari curiously.

“Where does all this extra processing take place I wonder? Do your thoughts or emotions feel different while your eye is activated?”

“Shape, clothing, chakra signatures are also a big help.” The veins near the sides of Yukari’s face became more apparent as she willed her byakugan to activate. “Since I’m focusing on you and your notepads, they don’t really look any different. Outside of not really being colored anymore... “

She shifted, glad her hair made it hard to see her byakugan from the side. All it would do is attract unwanted attention. “I wouldn’t know how it’s all processed. I don’t really feel any different mentally, though. But I will strain my eyes if I’m not careful, I’ve even been left blinded a few days from overdoing it. Not that I couldn’t see, it just hurt too much to have them open.”

“Fascinating. I wonder what it is exactly that the byakugan is reacting to. I don’t know how interested you are in biology but a regular eye works because it’s sensitive to light right? Light rays hit different points on the eye in different wavelengths and intensities and the different reactions of the light-sensitive cells form a picture that is converted into electrochemical signals for the brain to process.

But when your byakugan is active it can see through things that light doesn’t penetrate and while it can detect heat or chakra it can see in detail things that don’t emit either. When you see, something hits your eye. That something can pass through seemingly almost anything, but when it passes through them its altered enough that your eye can distinguish the difference,”

Hotaru paused, tapping her cheek thoughtfully with her pen. “As far as I know, something like that doesn’t exist in nature. It might be that the byakugan reacts to something that is otherwise completely undetectable and therefore unknown to the rest of the world,”

Hotaru suddenly leaned forwards until her face was very close to Yukari’s, staring into her eyes. “If that were true the implications would be tremendous... I’m not really sure how to confirm any of this without dissecting you though,”

Hideki, who had been out getting himself a snack from the service car, can come back at this very moment of the conversation, he was certain they would have a chat while he was gone but… Well.. he didn’t expect it to jump to killing each other. He stood in the doorway of the small seating area as his eyes went from one of the kunoichi to the other, trying to get a read on what was going on.

“...So… Uhh… You guys seem to be getting along.”

“You may be cute, but personal bubble.” Yukari lightly poked Hotaru’s forehead, pushing her back a little. “And I’d rather keep my eyes, thanks.”

Hotaru pouted, playing up her alleged cuteness and then sat back in her seat. “That’s what everyone says. Well, not the eye thing specifically but that’s the general sentiment,” Hotaru turned to Hideki, “They have anything good?”

“Not too much, aside from actual food snacks are kinda limited to bland stuff. A convenience store could do better.” he sighed before plopping next to Hotaru, leaning forwards as his attempt at snack wrangling was uneventful. He did raise an eyebrow at Hotaru’s acting, never seen somebody try to pout so hard before.

“...So… Dissecting huh? What were you two talking about?”

“Hotaru trying to learn more about my eyes,” Yukari shrugged, leaning back in her seat as her eyes relaxed.

“I wasn’t really going to dissect them,” Hotaru said airily. “Unless you wanted me to- That’s just kind of how science works. If you want to see how something functions you have to take it apart a little bit,”

Hideki stared at Hotaru for a second. “...Cute and dangerously curious… I’d still take you over dangerously courageous.” he sighed scratching his head for a second. “Shouldn’t you be more focused on observing them in action first? You can’t do that if they’re in pieces you know.”

“That’s true,” Hotaru nodded. “But it’s relatively easy to gather observational data, I’d just have to make a Hyuuga mad, or better yet, convince some else to make them mad. Compared to that getting my hands in an actual sample would be exponentially more difficult, especially if I wanted to survive in order to continue my research. So I thought I would ask even if was a long shot,”

“In all honesty,” Yukari spoke up, “Just telling you what I have is enough to get the both of us in deep shit. Plus I kinda need my eyes to do just regular stuff, so… no.”

“I get it, clans are all sorta prickly like that. One day I’ll find my perfect test subject so for now let’s focus on a successful mission,” Hotaru said, nimbly leaning over to poach one of Hideki’s snacks.

"Yea let's make sure this missio- Hey! You coulda asked.” he barked his hand now relatively snackless. “Speaking of… Have you two heard anything about Yuwaku? I’ve heard it’s a beach resort but not much else.”

“Have a sandwich in trade,” Hotaru said, fishing out a pair of tightly wrapped packages. “I’ve got chicken salad or peanut butter and honey.” Satisfied that she had made amends Hotaru unwrapped her spoils and thought for a moment.

“I do know you can find some pretty rare beetles in the woods nearby, rare enough that you could make some money selling them on the collector’s market and some people are probably coming for that instead of the beaches. Doesn’t sound like that has much to do with our cases though,”

Yukari snorted, “Yeah, probably not.” A fluffy looking white cat jumped up on her lap, laying down to be pet. “If anything it’s famous for its white sand beaches and clear water. But there are other things to do to, like famous restaurants with food from all over and a shopping district with stuff even a jounin would have a hard time affording. Lots of clubs and bars too so the nightlife is another big draw.” She hesitated, “Hopefully you guys are good with transformations.”

“I’m alright, haven’t really had a reason to use them in the last few missions.” the young man relented to accepting the sandwich peace offering. "Beetles, beaches, food, and clubs huh? Must be the place to be for adults…” he looked over the sandwich in his hands with a tentative curiosity… peanut butter and honey huh…?

Though the new appearance of the cat again made him perk up more. His eyes immediately staring straight at it again, it just was too cute not to watch! How he longed to pet it too… “...A good restaurant sounds good to me about now though.. Maybe we could squeeze out some time at the beach after all is said and done?”

"I’m pretty confident in mine,” said Hotaru, electing not to mention that she mainly used them for poking fun at Tsukiashi. “And I could definitely go for hitting the beach, as long as we have time,” Hotaru tilted her head at the cat. “Friend of yours?” she asked Yukari.

“There are some restaurants definitely worth trying, it’ll be my treat.” If anything, there were at least a couple advantages to basically come from nobility. She glanced at Hikari, “Kinda. She’s my summon, but she kind of comes and goes as she pleases.” The cat slipped off her lap, stretching before padding over to Hideki and jumping up on him.

Hideki felt as if Christmas came early. His hands were slow as they made their way to stroke the cat who had finally, FINALLY came to him. But why the change of heart? It didn’t matter! She was far too cute and fluffy and soft and cute to think twice about petting. The young man didn’t quite respond anymore as he was fully engrossed in the cat.

“Hmm? That’s a summon huh?” Hotaru asked curiously, watching the cat turn Hideki’s brain into mush. “I was sort of envisioning them as being more… ferocious or something, but I guess this one is formidable in its own right,”

Yukari laughed, perhaps a bit louder than she should have on a train. “Her fire release is nothing to sniff at, not to mention the claws.”

“Yea, her claws are pretty sharp. But if looks could kill~!’” he stroked the cat slowly down the back ending just where the tail begins. “Man… wish I had a summon like you…” any chance of him coming down from the clouds in his head were far gone. “Wait… fire?” he questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“What, you think only people can use nature transformations?” A slight smirk crossed her lips, “You probably don’t remember, but she did use a few jutsu during our fight with the Mist.”

“...true enough.” he relented, the stroking becoming automatic, but no less enjoyable. “Makes me jealous, you both have somebody, or lots of things, to work with.” the young man smiled earnestly, though he doubted the moths were much in the way of companionship…

Hotaru caught Hideki’s expression and nodded understandingly. “Keeping insects isn’t really like having a pet,” she said thoughtfully, as one of her moths escaped from her bag and landed on her outstretched hand. “It doesn’t give you any sense of companionship but there’s a different kind of pleasure involved. Watching something grow and live in front of your eyes, encouraging it in one direction or the other. It’s probably not dissimilar to what people who like gardening enjoy about their hobby,”

“...So.. it could be like a… parental thing? Gardening works to as you say.” He played lightly with the cat’s ears as he spoke, the Aburame pretty much could breed insects as easy as breathing. He’s never really thought about the bond between them.

“What are you talking about boy? You have me!” the voice came up once again, causing the young man to wince slightly, it seems even when sealed in a scroll it could still bother him. “You are so very content to try and forget… but know I’m here forever~!”

“You alright?” Yukari’s pale eyes seemed to watch him closely.

“Ah? Yea, just a tiny bit of a headache is all. Not used to trains.” he sighed, a little white lie to ease the problem. Hopefully, anyways.

The Hyuuga frowned, seemingly not believing him. “Anyway, we should probably have a plan of some kind for when we get there.” Sure they had a long ways to go, but they also had a lot of ground to cover.

“Well we probably want to make contact with somebody who can show is where the previous victims were abducted and put us in touch with witnesses if there are any.” Hotaru said, suddenly all business. “We might find a straightforward lead that the locals weren’t able to pick up. At the very least we should be able to start figuring out how they operate and put together an ambush from there.”

 

[KageYuuki]

As the train began to finally slow down towards their destination the trio could easily see the veritable paradise that awaited them, beautiful sandy beaches with a near endless stretch of sparkling blue ocean. The resort itself seemed to be a place people dream of, with large signs proclaiming the various distractions present within the hotel and the other clustered buildings within the grounds.

From restaurants, a casino, the beach to the large hotel itself, there was enough there to keep even the most stingy of people entertained. But their mission was a serious one, and would not allow them to get distracted, for beneath this den of relaxation was a sick heaving pox, a sickness that they have come to cleanse from the place.
...While hopefully enjoying themselves a bit while they were at it.

The train began to slow to a stop as the trio got ready to disembark, stepping into the open area of their destination.
Yukari glanced around the busy station as she stepped off the train. The smooth marble floors and walls only served to amplify the sound of the bustling crowd. Seemed the kidnappings had done little to deter tourists. “Still crowded as ever,” she muttered, looking for a quick route through the mass of tourists. “Guess our first stop’s the hotel then, see what we can get out of the owner. Swear if the bastard makes us pay for a room after all this…”

“We could always just skip out on the bill and act like we didn’t realize we had to pay,” suggested Hotaru, from underneath a wide, floppy beach hat she had acquired from a tacky stand just outside the station. “What’s he gonna do, hunt us down?”

“Likely take it from our pay….” Hideki sighed, following up on the two, rubbing his sore neck from the shitty sleeping conditions on the train. He took a moment to stare at Hotaru’s nice hat, raising an eyebrow after a bit of time fully digesting the fact she was, indeed, wearing a hat a bit too large, and highly “unprofessional."

Granted, likely most things were too large for her.

“Hmm?” Hotaru felt eyes on her new accouterment and turned to Hideki. “Oh! Sorry, they only had one left, there’s lots of stalls like that one around here though so I’m sure you’ll be able to find one of your own easily enough."

“Right… So.. We have to go to the hotel and talk to the client there.” He spotted the large looking hotel none too far off. “What luck they got to have a nice beach and a hot spring for their hotel… Gonna need to loosen up after that ride.”

“Mmm, that could be nice,” Yukari mused while trying to make her way to a less crowded spot. At least this hotspring wouldn’t try to kill you on your way there. “Depending on what we find out, we’re probably going to be working mostly at night anyway.”

“My usual methods will definitely be less conspicuous at night, but we ourselves might stand out a bit if we leave it too late,” Hotaru opined, tagging along behind the other two. “None of us are exactly old enough to drink. I know we can transform but we’d have to maintain it for a long time potentially.”

“As long as I don’t get into anything too taxing I should be able to maintain a transformation for most of the night.” The Hyuuga shrugged, “Slipping away for a couple minute break shouldn’t be too hard either.”

Hotaru tilted her head thoughtfully. “By the way isn’t it a little strange our client is a hotel owner and not the city? I wouldn’t expect someone like that to front up the cash to deal with a city-wide problem, I wonder if there’s a personal connection?”

“Maybe they didn’t want to admit there was a problem? Who knows…”

“Could be likely it’s politics, or maybe the mayor is in on it... We’ll see in due time. We have a meeting to get to.” Hideki started towards the hotel, it wasn’t too far off but they would have to weave through crowds of people.

And a lot of people there were, children, adults, some giddy as can be, others drunk already, there were many different types of folks in the hustle and bustle. Though some yelling could be heard from two people, looking like they were getting rather heated as a third person looked in disapprovingly.

Though security was keeping the peace, they gave the trio a wide berth as they began to leave for who knows where.
Other than that, the way was clear.

“Finding the source of the problem might be easier said than done with all of these people around…” Yukari muttered, looking over at the pair in the middle of an argument. It was too noisy to really even pick out what was being said. Probably a couple fighting over money or something was common enough in these places.

It didn’t take long to reach the hotel, a grand tower that stood out in the city. As they approached a pair of employees moved to open the doors for them. “Welcome,” one spoke up, studying the odd-looking group despite his smile.

“Hiya!” Hotaru beamed up at him, studying him openly in return. “We have a meeting with, hmm… the boss? Anyway, they should be expecting us."

Hideki sighed. “...We’re from Konoha, he is expecting us. Or so we were told.” The young man added in some more information, if the idiot couldn’t understand why teenagers would be called to the boss.

“He should still be at the front desk,” the doorman nodded in its direction.

“Thank you,” Yukari turned and led the group away. As they walked, they could hear the workers quietly talking behind them. “Why are ninja here?”

Hmm, you’d think after this many disappearances that would be obvious,Hotaru thought to herself, letting out a quiet whistle as they entered the richly appointed lobby, searching for their contact. Someone’s done a pretty good job of keeping this whole thing under wraps.

“Maybe we should work on the whole… Not… looking like ninja thing?” Commented the tired young man, the richness of this place was obvious… And honestly hurting his tired eyes.

“Uh hello? Already on it!” Hotaru said, wiggling the brim of her floppy beach hat indignantly. “I don’t think we look especially like ninja, it’s more that you told them we’re from Konoha… Well,” Hotaru glanced at Yukari. “The eyes might be a bit of a give away though, maybe you should have picked up a pair of shades from one of those stalls?” Hotaru caught sight of her own reflection staring up at them from the polished marble of the floor and then sighed. “Actually this probably isn’t the kind of place where you can get away with wearing shades indoors."

“You’d be surprised how many civilians outside of the Hidden Leaf that can’t recognize the byakugan,” Yukari shrugged. “A lot of them seem to think I’m blind.”

“It’s probably not the ones who can’t even recognize that much that we should be worried about,” said Hotaru thoughtfully, but then she shrugged. “You’d know more about it than me though. I think it’s going to be a while before anyone recognizes me out in the wild,”

“Either say where we’re from or get used to sitting in a waiting room for a guy who's expecting ninja, when he’s putting off seeing the actual ones.” the boy waved off the whole thing before continuing on. “That aside, I don’t got much special about me either. The kit is packed away anyways.”

“Putting off seeing you? Far from it,” a tall man in a fine suit approached them. “Apologies for the wait, there was a matter with one of our guests I needed to attend to.” He offered a bow, “Tonrei Hisegawa, at your service.”

“Actually we just got-” Hotaru blinked suddenly and then continued speaking normally. “-Here, Your lobby is beautiful by the way!” Hotaru wheeled and gestured grandly with an outstretched arm as if to encompass the lobby and all of its rich features. However, Hotaru’s eyes revealed an intense, analytical expression as she searched the lobby for whatever had her moths tapping out an insistent pattern against the inside of her bag. A pattern indicating that they could sense a particular chakra pattern, one that was highly atypical but which they’d encountered already…

Could he really be here? Hotaru wondered, studying each person in the lobby in turn.

“I see… You have likely gotten our identities from the village. But I am Hideki Ukita. We’ll need to talk about the issue that we are to address on the premises as soon as possible.” he got right to the point, not quite feeling sociable at the moment.

Tonrei raised an eyebrow at Hotaru’s wandering gaze. “Come, we’ll speak in my office.” He turned and walked across the lobby, opening a dark wooden door and stepping inside. The office was no less impressive than the rest of the hotel. Fine artwork hung on the walls and a pair of filled bookshelves sat behind the spotless desk. The owner took a seat behind the desk, gesturing to a few chairs across from him.

Hotaru let a few of her moths slip out as she was entering the office, letting the creatures scatter to patrol the hotel. Last time she tried to use a similar method to track him it hadn’t exactly panned out but she might as well do what she could, there might even be other threats in the building.

“Well let’s not waste any time,” Hotaru said, smiling as slid neatly into one of the seats and took a pen and notepad out from her bag. “If we want to get to the bottom of this then we need to know everything you can tell us about the incidents in question,” Hotaru said, looking expectantly at Tonrei with her pen poised to write.

“Well, in this business, it’s expected to have the occasional guest that decides to leave without paying their bill.” Tonrei shrugged, “whether or not they take their stuff with them is a toss-up, really. With as many guests that come and go, it was a little while before we noticed something else was at play here.”

“The disappearances… Did the ones who disappeared act oddly before their departure? Any complaints or similarities to where they had gone. Anything that you can tell us could be important, any small detail.” Hideki posed the questions, taking up a seat himself. “Typically kidnappers have patterns, tells that a person would be a good target, we’ve heard the majority have been young women.”

“Not that I can think of… I can give you a list of who’s left without paying in the past few months. But whether they just skipped on paying or are a victim, I wouldn’t be able to say.”

“That should be fine. That said, we should have the employees be informed to report any suspicious activity or larger gatherings with you telling us anything that comes up. Naturally, the choice of which employees are to be trusted is up to your discretion. If we are to end this, with no impact on the hotel’s reputation, we should act as swiftly as possible… Though I recommend looking over your security personnel most carefully…”

“Mmm that would be helpful,” said Hotaru, scribbling in her note. “Do you have much information on victims from outside your hotel? Or are your guests primarily the ones being targeted?” Hotaru leaned forwards as she asked this, it was subtle but Yukari and Hideki could now see what she was writing, Hotaru gently kicked their shins to grab their attention.

Someone I recognize is in the building.

Bad News

‘Bad News’ was underlined twice.

“What my guests do while off hotel grounds isn’t exactly something I can keep tabs on, I’m afraid. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the local bars are common places for the disappearances to occur.”

Yukari could only spare the note a slight glance. They’d just gotten there and already complications. With any luck, whoever this was would leave them be. “What are some of the more popular bars in the area?” It was small, but a lead was a lead.

“The Silver Leaf and Melting Spot always seem to be the most crowded.”

Hideki’s glance at Hotaru’s notebook brought him to nod. But nonetheless, he continued the conversation, dealing with the new issue would have to come after this… “That seems like a good place to start. We will be making our way as soon as possible… And we will need a place to act as our headquarters, I am certain you could provide correct?” the young man continued his stern demeanor throughout, they were ninja, Konoha’s chosen for this mission.

They should seem the part.

“I suppose we could work something out…” It seemed Tonrei hadn’t expected to offer rooms to the shinobi he hired.

 

[KageYuuki]

It was barely even sundown and already the place seemed packed. Being the closest to the hotel, the group decided to check out The Melting Spot first. The music’s heavy beat could be felt from anywhere in the beachside bar. Yukari leaned back against the counter, looking over the crowd. Her chosen transformation hasn’t been anything dramatic, an older looking version of herself with deep violet eyes replacing the blank gaze of the byakugan.

A familiar mottled moth lazily circled a nearby light. Hotaru wasn’t too far off, likely someplace with a decent vantage point.

I never did figure out how to get them to stop doing that Hotaru mused, sensing her moth flutter uselessly against the lamp. I suppose there are certain edge cases like this where it would be suspicious if they weren’t attracted to light

There weren’t a lot of really good hiding places along the mostly flat stretch. There were some stalls and beach huts and the like but they were too busy to set up in even this late in the evening. Luckily Hotaru didn’t need direct eye contact on Yukari so she could afford to hang out somewhere further away and less conspicuous. Nestled among a patchwork cluster of beach towels with a half-open paperback and her new hat Hotaru looked like somebody’s nerdy little sister who had been asked to mind the belongings of her more adventurous siblings. When the last of the flagging sunlight dipped below the horizon few families that remained would pack up and Hotaru would need to find somewhere but for now, she was pretty inconspicuous.

In the end, Hotaru had decided to just play Daisuke’s presence by ear, if only because the idea of him being here to ambush three chuunin was laughable. Hotaru had her moths spread out through the area keeping an eye out for his bizarre chakra but in the end whatever he was here for was likely far more interesting than a string of kidnappings. It was tempting to try and track him down just for that reason really, after all of her research it was frustrating to have to back off now that he was so close.

Hideki had his own job, he was the advanced lookout of a sort, the one keeping an eye on the whole perimeter of the scene. Hotaru was to watch over Yukari, and he was looking over Hotaru. At Least in terms of watching for anybody acting suspiciously around the area, or just blatantly looking at his hidden chuunin compatriot.

The young man was laid upon a beach chair, stretched out and wearing his swimwear, he kept his scroll hidden nearby under a bit of sand, covered by a thermos of water… Which he didn’t really need as it WAS evening, bridging onto the night proper.

He’ll admit, for bait, Yukari worked best, worked pretty well considering the general targeting range for the kidnappers. Though he himself withheld any comments, as he wasn’t exactly dealing with Mai or Aiko here… He could deal with those two, but… he’d rather not get his ass beat by a Hyuuga, nor eaten by bloodthirsty moths.

It was, however, difficult to keep paying attention… As it seems the bar was indeed crowded and filled with people, though he has yet to be bothered by anybody, guess people his age weren’t hanging around a popular beachside bar. Or maybe the drunks didn’t want to talk to the 15-year-old young man who looked like he was doing crunches since he was 3…

Drumming painted nails against the bar top, Yukari scanned the crowd once again. It was a shame transformation jutsu couldn’t hide her byakugan if she activated it. But it would have made watching the crowded dance floor easier. She stood with a sigh, gotta do it the hard way then.

Just then a sudden commotion disturbed the breezy atmosphere of the club.

"Aww C'mon baby don't be like that, you'll have fun! I've got the penthouse suite! It's a killer view," The speaker and center of the commotion was a muscled, tanned man in a purple silk shirt and the young woman he was holding by the wrist.

"I'm not interested!" Snapped the woman, pulling her wrist away and stumbling back a few paces on her heels when the man suddenly let go, now aware of the eyes around the room fixed on him.

"Okay I get it, just a misunderstanding," The man said with a too easy smile holding up his hands in a peaceful gesture that was as much for the crowd. The woman stormed out of the bar and when nothing else exciting happened most of the other patrons went back to their conversations or dancing. Most of them never saw the subtle nod the man in the silk shirt gave a to a trio of thuggish looking men slouched at a table near the entrance. Nothing happened for about fifteen seconds but then the trio got up together and left the bar, heading purposefully in the same direction as the young woman from before.

Yukari clicked her tongue, watching the scene play out. Several tenketsu along her back lit up with various pulses of chakra. An altered form of the code all Leaf shinobi were taught in the academy. More importantly, it was something Hotaru’s moths could take back to the others. She gave a brief description of what happened, that the guy who caused it was still in the bar, what he looked like, and to apprehend him. She would tail the trio that left.

She watched the moth flutter away before she started out the door and down the street.

Hmmm, that was quick Hotaru mused, sending a cluster of moths to forward the message onto Hideki. I should take the one while Hideki and Yukari take the three, we’ll have an easier time communicating that way.

Hotaru relayed that thought to Hideki as well and then stood up, brushing herself off and ducked into a changing room to transform into an older, brunette version of herself who exited them just in time to snatch a glance of the silk-shirted man walking purposefully back into the city center.

Hideki gazed at the fluttering moths nearby, the code was simple enough, follow the three guys coming out, and keep an eye on Yukari… Not that it was hard to do so… The young man sat up once more and took up his thermos, slipping the scroll into the false bottom and began waiting for a good moment to get following the three and Yukari. He hoped Hotaru was going to have an easy time with the one man…

The three men Yukari was tailing moved with purpose and confidence down the darkening street, up ahead the woman from before glanced over her shoulder and then quickened her pace, both hands moving to the stylish bag on her shoulder.

At a signal from the middle of the three men, his two partners split off and headed down allies on either side while the remaining man kept pace with his target. This was obviously part of a rehearsed pattern because a few minutes later the pair appeared in front of the woman, blocking off her path while the man behind her closed in with a nasty smile.

Disgusting… Yukari threw a shuriken at the leader’s back before speaking up. “Three on one hardly seems fair, you know…” She called, her voice calm as she approached them. Three thugs would likely be little trouble, especially with Hideki already close by.

The thug whirled around at the sound of another voice, at just the right speed to get a shuriken lodged squarely in his shoulder. “Ahhh what the fuck!?” shouted the thug, tugging at the shuriken and then immediately giving up as it produced a wave of hot pain.

“Are you okay, Boss?” asked one of the other thugs, prompting his leader to whirl back around to shout at him.

“Do I fuckin look okay?! I got a fuckin ninja star lodged in my shoulder! GET THE BITCH! She looks like she’ll get a better price anyway!”

With that, the two thugs in front pushed their way past the stunned woman they had been pursuing and charged Yukari, one of them clumsily drawing a switchblade from within his jacket.

“Ah shit.” The boy rushed ahead past Yukari to take on the switchblade-wielding man, having been set up a few seconds earlier behind a nearby garbage can, he had grabbed the lid on his way to serve as a weapon/shield as it would take too much time to get out the scroll.

With a toss the lid sailed up and smacked the knife holding man straight in the neck, toppling him over with the sudden strike… And a large blow to his windpipe. “Always comes down to a fight, huh?”

“Aw, are you worried about me?” Yukari gathered a large amount of chakra in her hand, releasing it as she caught a poorly thrown punch. The burst of strength easily crushed the man’s hand. A quick kick snapped his knee back and sent him crumbling to the ground. She turned to the apparent leader, “Now then, big guy, you can come with us or end up like your goons here.”

“Y-You brats are crazy!” Sputtered the head thug, turning on his heels and sprinting away, past the hapless woman who had been watching the fight with her mouth agape

“Yet he thinks he can outrun us…” Yukari smirked, glancing at her teammate, “You want him, or should I?”

“I’ll get him, as much as I’d love to watch ya.” the young man leapt up to a nearby window sill and then used it to jump up to a building nearby roof. Rushing ahead, he followed the flow of the buildings, watching the man as he was forced to take a sudden turn in the street, only to have Hideki jump- down atop of him from above, pinning him down perched atop of his back.

Before the man could try and push him up, he used earth spear upon his arm to weigh him down. “And tag… Good effort. Keep moving and I’ll break your spine.”

“Argh! Ahh this is not my night,” Sighed the thug after a token amount of wriggling. “Look, I dunno much right? We grab people and take ‘em to our contact, he pays us and we never hear anything more about it, Shogo’s the one who does most of the talking and stuff! So really I’m not that useful to you and you can...just...let me go?”

“Who is Shogo. Answer me and I’ll think about it…” he grasped the base of the man’s neck with his stony grip, slowly increasing in tightness. “Right here could leave you in a wheelchair… Or a vegetable… Really up to chance.”

“Ah! Arggh Shogo’s just our buddy! Or kind of our leader? All of this was his idea! He’s the one who picks out the girls and then we snatch ‘em, then Shogo makes contact with our buyer who sets up a random dead drop!” The thug was rushing to get the words out now, syllables tumbling over each other as he worked to keep his spine intact. “It’s never the same drop point so Shogo would have to be making contact now! He’s uhh- fit, tanned guy, bleached hair, normally wears shades and silk shirt,”

“And tell me… Just where could I find Shogo right now?” he rose a thumb dug it slightly on the skin, not puncturing, but testing a bit.

“No-NO I don’t know! He always goes off on his own while we grab someone! I dunno where he goes he doesn’t tell us!”

“Good, then is that all you know?" he began to slightly release the grip.

“Hey, I’m just the dumb muscle man!” Protested the thug weakly. “I’m in over my head! A mere pawn, really I’m as much a victim here as anybody!”

“A good soldier, listening to orders. Sadly, that doesn’t excuse the blood on your hands... “ he pulled out the scroll and quickly summoned the sword. “But you have your uses, even if it means shutting up a certain voice that won't stop complaining that it’s hungry.” He took up the sword handle in hand… trying to ignore the glitter that was seemingly planted in the scroll as well... Damn you Yuuki.

“But I guess even in the end, you’ll be used by your betters.” With a swift thrust down, he planted the weapon into the skin, letting the thing work it’s… “magic.” Once finished, he dragged the body under the earth as he did once before, erasing the evidence of his act.

Resurfacing around Yukari, sword inert, but still in hand as he remembered he could take it out… But couldn’t quite put it back in. “Done, got the info we need, guy was pretty talkative.”

“Well, that was easy enough,” Yukari had finally dropped the transformation, the woman they’d saved long gone.

“Guy named Shogo running this scene, sets up dead drops, gets the contracts. Bleached hair, fit, tanned, shades and silk shirt typically worn… “

“So what do you wanna do with these two? Doubt they’re going to change their ways so easily.”

“These guys are nothing but goons. We can turn them in as muggers. Or maybe you got a different plan?” he looked towards Yukari as he looked for a place to store his sword hilt… figuring tying it to the side of his shorts was simple enough, hell, maybe he could say it’s just a good luck charm?

If he had a shirt he’d hide it in there… But…

Well, how else was he gonna show off his work?

“Not really, let’s just drag them to the police and be done with it.” Hotaru likely wouldn’t be too much longer, assuming she didn’t already have the guy.

“Sounds good. So that's what you think you’ll look like when you're older, huh?” he smirked, grabbing the rope that tied the two together to drag them along.

“Heh, it’s the best guess I have anyway.”

“If the way you are now says anything, you got a good future ahead…" Yukari felt a slight blush cross her features. Hideki paused, Eh? Moths?”

While Hideki and Yukari were talking a small cluster of moths gathered nearby and began working in concert to spell out a simple message.

Found something good following this dude! Some kind of meeting? Gonna listen in so be sneaky if you come to back me up

-H

 

[KageYuuki]

Following her target was childishly easy. The man clearly wasn’t in much of a hurry and with her moths keeping tabs on him Hotaru didn’t even have to maintain visual contact, she could just follow along about a block behind him.

Hotaru did note that the area they were in was steadily becoming seedier the further they traveled from the touristy waterfront area, the number of people out and about was steadily dwindling and those that remained did not look especially friendly. Hotaru was just starting to wonder if she should have gone for a male transformation to avoid having to defend herself when she registered her target’s chakra signal stop moving, right next to another, fairly unremarkable signature.

Realising this might be some kind of meeting, Hotaru ducked into a nearby alleyway and then scaled one of the walls to reach the rooftops where she picked out what looked to be the least stained spot and sat down crosslegged. Next, she produced a single moth from her bag let it rest on the back of her palm while she wove some handseals, sending a pulse of visible chakra that swept over the moth, running from its legs to the tip of its wings.

Hotaru closed her eyes and then smiled, it was working, she could see what the moth was seeing, hear what it was hearing and with a bit of concentration…

The insect took off, fluttering down to the two chakra signatures Hotaru was interested in, not because it was responding to a normal command but because she was in complete control of its nervous system. The experience was something Hotaru had yet to tire of since developing this technique even if it tended to make her nauseous, but right now she needed to focus on the meeting taking place.

“You’re late again,” a gravelly voice muttered. “I hope you have an actual reason this time…”

“It’s...a...beautiful evening?” tried Silk shirted man gamely, flashing a very white smile at his conversation partner. “C’mon don’t be like that Kandou, at least I always deliver right? And this one’s a real looker too, I almost didn’t wanna give her up,”

Kandou muttered something unintelligible, lighting a cigarette. “Did you at least manage to not cause a scene this time around?”

“Yeah,” answered Shogo breezily. “I mean probably, I had to split off from the boys before they made the snatch, I was running late remember? It’s not like anyone’s actually going to interfere with you keeping the heat off our backs,”

The other man was quiet for several moments, just idly smoking. “You’re wrong,” he said bluntly.

“Hey now,” Shogo lifted a hand to his sunglasses, pulling them down to peer at the smoker over the top of them. “That was the deal remember? We do all the dirty work and you keep everything on the down low for all of us. It’s been a very profitable arrangement so far."

“Oh I can handle the cops just fine,” he blew a plume of smoke in Shogo’s face. “You’re the one that stopped watching what’s going on around here. Seems some ninja from the Leaf showed up this afternoon.”

“Shit, ninja?” Shogo’s composure disappeared as he glanced around furtively, perhaps expecting sinister, black-clad figures to leap out of the shadows. “Well fuck man, my boys aren’t pushovers but what do you want me to do about ninja? Maybe we should just lay low for a while?”

“That’s your problem,” Kandou leaned closer. “Right now we don’t know what they’re here for. If it’s us, chances are your boys are already dead.”

“My boys are… Shit! I gotta get out of here! Listen it’s been real but I’m done, I ain’t sticking around to get my throat slit by some psycho,” Shogo ran a hand forcefully through his bleached hair as he turned to leave.

Kandou sighed, stamping out his cigarette, “Idiot.” In a movement that seemed all too practiced, he drew a knife from his belt, clapped a hand over Shogo’s mouth, and drove the blade into his back. “You wanna leave? Be my guest.”

“Wh..? Argh,” Shogo sunk to his knees as his eyes went wide and glassy, a dark stain rapidly spreading over the surface of his silk shirt.

Up on her rooftop perch, Hotaru exhaled softly. “Nasty,” she muttered under her breath, directing her moth to stay with this Kandou person.

“It is rather nasty business,” a voice softly spoke beside her. “But it’s part of being a shinobi, is it not?”

Hotaru’s blood ran cold and her expression froze on her face. Even if the chakra beside her wasn’t totally unique she would recognize the voice. She knew exactly who she was talking to. “Well it’s certainly a career full of surprises,” she said sweetly, if tensely. “That’s what I like about it.”

“It is at that,” Daisuke sat down, keeping a healthy distance from the kunoichi. “Better than work that grows dull and unchallenging over time, however.”

“Sooo, friends of yours,” Hotaru ventured, gesturing vaguely at the now limp form of Shogo. “Or are you here for the beetles?”

He shook his head, “Far from it. Hardly even seem worth the trouble of hiring shinobi to take care of.”

“Well I wouldn’t have thought so either but here we all are,” said Hotaru. “Apparently this operation is behind hundreds of disappearances and while I’d love to only take missions that interest me intellectual curiosity alone doesn’t pay the bills.”

Hotaru kept one eye closed to maintain her jutsu and used the other to glance sideways at Daisuke. “It does sort of beg the question though, of what exactly you’re doing here. If those gentlemen down below aren’t of any interest to you then there really isn’t much to recommend this rooftop, certainly not the smell,”

“Hmm, what indeed? Perhaps it was the kunoichi I crossed paths with all those months ago? How are you teammates fairing, by the way? I hope they haven’t jeopardized any more missions as of late.”

The other eye opened, dispelling the jutsu although the moth remained in position to track Kandou’s chakra. “Oh you know,” Hotaru began airily. “They’re… trying their best. I mean they aren’t actively sabotaging… well… They’re hearts are in the right place you know?”

“It’s a wonder they haven’t gotten you or themselves killed yet.” Daisuke replied flatly, “the three of you should have been more than enough to take Akira down, perhaps even kill her.”

“That’s just how the Leaf does it, teams are meant to balance each other out,” said Hotaru, looking up a the sky now. “I mean if it was anyone else looking after them they’d definitely be dead right? And I’m kind of curious… to see what kind of shinobi they become,”

The red haired shinobi quietly hummed in thought, “Their development could be interesting, should they progress at all.”

“I thought that night would force them to change! To... reevaluate,” Hotaru said, visibly frustrated for the first time. “So far it hasn’t, which makes me wonder what exactly it would take to shock them out of complacency.”

“If near death and loss of what should have been a manageable battle won’t… I’m honestly not certain what would…”

“I don’t know either, maybe if they had to deal with the consequences of their carelessness by themselves for once… Are we really that interesting to you? I don’t know what you’re planning in the long term but I get the sense that it’s big,”

“I’ll admit you’ve certainly caught my attention, Miss Hagano.” Daisuke looked over at her, “you’re a lot like I was at your age.”

“But cuter, right?” Hotaru said cheekily. “In all seriousness though… If I remind you of my past you might be able to extrapolate something of my future. What do you think I should do?”

“The best course would be to quit waiting on the pair that are only holding you back. It would be such a waste for a brilliant mind to be lost to one of their mistakes.”

“Maybe… Maybe that is my way forward,” Hotaru said quietly, her expression troubled. Suddenly she looked up as her moths detected familiar chakra signatures. “That’ll be my partners for this mission, umm, I’d like to avoid a scene for now if we could?”

“That would be for the best,” Daisuke stood with a slight sigh. “Ah, before I go,” he reached into his jacket, withdrawing a small notebook. “A small gift, if you would humor me.”

“Well, it would be so rude of me to refuse,” Hotaru said, standing up to take the notebook and brush herself off. Hotaru’s eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to her new prize but she didn’t want Yukari and Hideki to spot it and so tucked it into her bag for later. “One way or another I have a feeling this won’t be the last time we meet, so I’ll just say bye for now.”

“Good night, Hotaru, and best of luck in this mission. A sickness runs deep in this city.” In a small cloud of smoke he was gone, not even the slightest trace of chakra left in his wake.

 

[KageYuuki]

In the end, grabbing the man known as Kandou was the easy part. He might have known one end of a knife from the other but that was a far cry from being able to fend off an ambush from three chuunin. With the aid of Hotaru’s moths, the three of them tracked Kandou down to a rather dingy apartment and seized him just as soon as he opened the door. Within minutes the three of them had Kandou unconscious, tied to one of his own chairs and blindfolded.

“I don’t think we have to worry about any unexpected guests,” called Hotaru, they had split up to search the apartment for anyone else and she had taken the kitchen, now she was staring at stacks of discarded Chinese takeout containers. “This dude is clearly single,”

“No kidding… Didn’t want to touch half of the bedroom…” the young man grumbled, carrying around a black leather wallet and a bag with a bunch of cash inside he found under the bed… Among... Other things. “Still, found cash, and a wallet, guess he forgot it on the way out.” he tossed the two objects on a table. “He really was selling people from the amount he’s got..”

“Neighbors aren’t home either,” Yukari relaxed her byakugan. The other apartments were just as bad as the one she stood in. One was even worse. “Didn’t think we’d get so lucky on the first night. Either the client understated the issue or it’s worse than he knows.”

“Any ID in that wallet?” asked Hotaru, entering the living room. “The way he was talking made it seem like he had connections, although judging from this dump he can’t be anyone too important. Personally, I’m starting to think the reason this has gone on for so long at this scale is because the authorities are involved. Or someone inside them at least,”

“Seems to be his, got a bunch of IDs… a picture of a… Cute dog actually. And… Hmm… The location of a meeting? I think its where you were watching Hotaru.” he flicked the small piece of paper onto the table. “Still, bunch of cash around… maybe he was thinking of running soon?”

“Who knows, maybe we’ll find out when he finally wakes up.” Yukari moved into the kitchen, scanning the mess, “Wonder if there’s anything actually edible in here…?”

“Haaaard pass on that one,” said Hotaru, vaulting over the couch and settling into the least stained portion of it. “Some of those cans in there look to be older than us. You said he had cash right Hideki? Let’s get takeout! I’ll send a clone,”

Hideki pretended to not to have been thinking about doing that beforehand. “Good idea, what should we get though? I think there’s a good pizza place in town.”

“This city literally has a little of everything,” Yukari slid a wooden chair closer to the group before sitting down. “So it’s a matter of what you want. Obviously plenty of sushi places to choose from.”

Hotaru put her hands together and wove some seals and some of her nearby moths clustered together, transforming with a puff of smoke into a perfect copy of Hotaru herself.

“Seriously? You created me to go pick up pizza?” The clone put her hands on her hips, looking unimpressed.

“It doesn’t have to be pizza necessarily,” Hotaru said amicably, picking up Kandou’s wallet and picking out a few bills to give the clone. “Just hit up the first place that looks decent. If it is pizza, I’m feeling… custom order 22, no 36.” Hotaru turned to Hideki and Yukari. “What do you guys normally get?”

Hideki scratched the back of his head. “Pepperoni? Cheese? I don’t really go too far with pizza really.” he felt only slightly embarrassed with his plainness with food… Should he start opening up with that more? “Can’t say I eat too much sushi either.”

Yukari shrugged, “ham and pineapple’s really good. It’s just a pain to actually find anywhere. But I’m up for just about anything.”

“Aww you guys need to be more adventurous,” Hotaru said, looking disappointed as the clone departed to track down their food. “Mum doesn’t really like to cook so we get pizza a lot when it’s her turn. We’ve empirically tested over one hundred and twenty different topping combinations in an attempt to create the pizza of the future!”

"Pizza of the future….?” Hideki rose an eyebrow, looking confused. “Well, you can have one to yourself, not like we don’t got the cash. Wana split one Yukari?" he rose his head towards the woman. “I’m not gonna eat a whole pizza, you that hungry?”

The Hyuuga snorted, “I’m fine with sharing.”

Hotaru leaned over to reach into her bag and withdrew a notepad. “Now before this guy wakes up we should get on the same page. If this guy was thinking of running, whoever is running the show has to be getting antsy as well and once they realize he’s missing they’ll really start moving. We need to get the name of the next person up the chain or a base of operations out of him as soon as possible”

“...Yeah… We should also get the words outta him quick I guess. I’m sure he’ll talk with a couple moths fluttering about.”

“It’s just a matter of when he’ll wake up,” Yukari muttered, glancing at Hideki, “You did hit him pretty hard back there.”

“He talked shit, got hit. Plus, can’t let a guy like that talk to two cute ladies that way yea know.”

“Aww that’s sweet,” Hotaru, taking out a senbon and gently poking the man in the eyelid, eliciting a sharp twitch but not much more. “Hmm I thought he might have been faking it, trying to listen in,” Hotaru explained, leaning back. “I guess you really did hit him pretty hard,”

“It was just one punch... Guy has the fortitude of a paper bag I guess.” he will leave out the whole earth spear part… but he's always kinda wanted to try punching somebody with it like that…

Yukari snorted, rolling her eyes in mock annoyance. “Guess we’re stuck here til he decides to wake up. But even with Hotaru’s moths keeping watch, we should probably try to keep it down. In case any neighbors come by.”

About thirty minutes passed by more or less peacefully. Between the moths and Yukari’s byakugan it really would have been difficult to ambush the team but nobody tried and the most exciting thing was Hotaru’s clone returning with their food, inviting the enticing aroma of warm pizza into the room.

“One medium, half pepperoni and cheese, half ham and pineapple,” the clone said, setting down one of the boxes and holding the other aloft. “And one small, salmon, red onion, cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced green apple and a wedge of lemon on the side. I had to drop another 200 ryo to get one of the delivery guys to run out and find the apple, I hope it was worth it,”

“You gotta make sacrifices in order to achieve perfection,” Hotaru replied, taking the box with a gleeful expression as the clone placed a bottle of iced tea and some plastic cups on the coffee table before disappearing, leaving behind only moths which soon scattered.

On the other side of the room where he was tied up, Kandou groaned weakly.

“Figures he’d wake up now,” Yukari muttered, setting down her slice. She stood and moved over to Kandou, “Finally back with us?”

“Ngh, who the hell are you?”

Hideki sat on the nearby couch, pulling out a slice of pizza to get to eating, he could practically smell Hotaru’s nearby…. It… wasn’t pleasant… To him at least. “People sent to hunt down scum like you. Now, we have no qualms with finishing what we- This is some good pizza by the way, -what we started, judging from this place, and your type of work, nobody will come and try finding your corpse for a good few months down the line.

If you don’t owe them money of course.

But with that said, we’re here, because you stepped on the wrong feet, and now, those who own those feet called in friends, thus you are now two bad moves away from having your throat slit.” He quickly got the explanation over with. “Trust me, you’d want to go someway other than being eaten by bloodthirsty moths.”

Kandou shifted slightly, failing in his attempt to not appear nervous. “Then what do you want.”

“Just a couple questions answered,” Yukari said, moving back to the table. “Nothing you shouldn’t be able to answer.” She nodded to Hotaru.

“Mmm!” Hotaru chewed hurriedly and then swallowed forcefully. “Alright! First up who’s your boss? And if he has a boss we want to know about them as well, I doubt you and your buddy back there were solely responsible for an operation this large,”

He was quiet for a moment, “You’re the kids from the Leaf, aren’t you?”

“That’s not an answer,” Yukari chimed, perhaps a little too sweetly.

“Ooh is he resisting?” Asked Hotaru, looking a little too eager. “Cause if he is I have a thing I really wanna try!” She rummaged through her bag for a bit, reappearing holding a single blood moth larvae which she placed gently on Kandou’s leg. “This little guy is huuunnnngry! And he mostly eats flesh,” at an invisible cue from Hotaru the larvae began chewing through the material of Kandou’s pants, hacking through the fabric with commendable speed. “So before he gets to the good part, how about we try this again! Who’s.your. Boss?”

“Gah! Her name’s Chiyoko!”

The Hyuuga chewed thoughtfully for a moment, “Mmm, Chiyoko huh? She the top of the chain or is there someone else running the show?”

“She’s in charge, as far as I know,” Kandou said, leaning back as far as possible in his chair to keep the larvae in his vision. “She’s a... local official for the city… she’s been using her connections to shut down any investigations,”

“I figured it was something like that,” Hotaru pouted. “Are you sure you don’t wanna resist a little more? I really would like to gather a little more data here,”

“I’m pretty surprised he didn’t,” Yukari mused. “So where can we find her?”

“I-I don’t know where she lives. But there’s an auction tomorrow night, Warehouse 15 by the pier.”

“Haha he really was planning to take off, you called it,” Hotaru said to Hideki, before turning back to Kandou. “You’re a real survivor aren’t you? Well, we’re almost done here, I would like to know what kind of security we can expect at this auction though,”

“Hey, lucky guess and the clues were there.” the young man shrugged, the third slice of pizza now making its way down.

“Don’t know, honest! She was pretty pissed this morning when you guys showed up, said something about hiring extra help.”

“Hmm well that can’t be helped, you’ve been very helpful,” said Hotaru, patting their captive on the head before glancing at Yukari and Hideki. “What do you want to do with him?”

“Well, let's see… We have incriminating evidence in that official, we have a witness and co-conspirator in our hands. This is going to be one hell of a report, but having him alive to squeal can help.

Especially since we’re up against a public figure.

We could leave him with the cops, or just with the hotel security to hold him until we’re bringing the whole house down. The security is in case the cops are in on it, politics and all that.”

“It might be risky to involve other people before we bust up the auction, The safest bet would be to keep him here but… we’d also have to sleep here instead of the hotel,” Hotaru wrinkled her nose distastefully.

Yukari drummed her nails against the table, “He already said she’s got control of the police… I doubt hotel security’s really up to the task… Sounds like more trouble than it’s worth.”

“So.. lock this place up and collect him in the morning?” Hideki looked to the others. “Bind him more, gag him and leave him on that dirty rag he calls a bed?”

“I doubt he’d escape,” said Hotaru thoughtfully. “But there is the possibility this Chiyoko sends someone to take care of him, his house is probably the first place they’d check… Hey, Yukari did any of the nearby houses seem abandoned?”

“There was one place that was pretty empty. Barely any furniture or anything.”

“Why not leave him there? Tied up and gagged like Hideki said. I doubt he’ll be able to get himself free and if anyone comes for him they’ll see his house empty and assume he left already,”

“With the money gone too, good idea. Let’s get moving… Or... Maybe after you two eat?” Hideki stood up, the last of his part of the pizza gone.

“I can just finish it later,” Yukari stood, letting her byakugan flare to life.

“Ahh it’s gone cold,” sighed Hotaru, packing up her things. “Where’s a fire user when you need one?”

“Sorry, elemental stuff isn’t really in my skill set…” The Hyuuga studied their captive intently for a moment before striking at the center of his body. The blow was hard enough to tip the chair over, Kandou unconscious before hitting the floor. “But I know someone that can help.”

 

[KageYuuki]

Yukari shifted from her crouched position on the roof. Despite being summer, a cool breeze came off the nearby ocean. A concert on the beach just a few blocks away could still be easily heard. Across the street from the team was warehouse 15, supposedly the location of tonight’s auction. The Hyuuga had finished scoping out the building not too long ago, there were plenty of people inside. None of them dock workers.

“The whole thing’s fucked up,” She muttered, crossing her arms. “Such a big crowd in there…”

“And they’re barely even hiding,” said Hotaru thoughtfully. She had taken up a position on the roof next to Yukari but her moths were already spread out through the area, studying the warehouse from dozens of angles. “If we weren’t certain about corrupt officials this would have to seal the deal, having an auction right under their noses. They might as well have a stall on the promenade,”

“Lot of Rich folk here… nobles… Rich merchants… Are they here for buying protection? Workers? Or…” he grimaced at the last thought.. The one being sold right now looked hardly older than 14… Poor girl. He noted a few people standing guard, two at the stage, likely to stop people from getting any closer to the “product,” two handlers were holding the people to be sold as others were watching the crowd, roughly four of the latter. “We need a way to shut this down and free the captured prisoners… they’re likely all being held in the back... Doubt any are being shipped out until the end of the auction in case somebody skips out on the money…”

“I’mmm not too keen on taking on every scumbag down there and their entourages,” said Hotaru, trying to get a rough estimate of the numbers through her moths. “But I could leave a moth with every prisoner to track them. Then at the end of the auction we just need to grab the leader and their sales records. With that much evidence the police will have to act and they can track them all down and free them. They might even bust up some other operations, I doubt anyone here is squeaky clean,”

“Probably not,” Yukari finally stood, “But this is assuming any real names are being used here.” Part of her really wanted to just storm the place, but that wasn’t going to do them any good here.

“Best chance we have, aside from forcing each and every one of these assholes to give a name… We’re gonna have to break this place open and scurry them like rats… grab what we can… The host of this place, our main target, might be more willing to talk if Konoha offers to… Squeeze the info out of her… Likely this is an invitation only affair.”

He shuffled his kit a bit and looked to the crowd below. All peddling the lives of others… Rich fat cats thinking they own lives like any other material good… Worthless swine… Fattened by the blood and tears of the people… How he wanted nothing more than to go in and slaughter as many as he could, a righteous merciless reckoning…

But… his bosses wouldn’t like that… And there’d be hell to pay…

“We should secure the prisoners, then see about getting our target pinned and begging for their lives. Without the head, the snake dies. Let’s see to it nobody gets sold here tonight.”

“I’ve got a fix on Chiyoko,” Hotaru said, she had closed her eyes to be able to see through one of her moths. “Female, she’s watching over the auction from on top of a shipping crate… The signatures around her don’t seem like civilians, could be trouble,”

“Tch, figures.” Yukari glanced at the white ball of fluff now weaving between her legs. “Seshin and the others ready?”

“They are, nyah,” the yokai easily leapt up onto her shoulder.

Yukari nodded, glancing at the other two chuunin, “Hikari and the others can protect the prisoners and scatter any thugs that get bold.”

Hideki stared at the cat, lost in thought, the earlier thoughts washed away in the white fluffiness of the cute kitty before them… NO! He must remain determined! The cat must wait, he must remain focused!

“Alright. How shall we proceed? Who’s doing what?”

“See that wall behind the prisoners?” Hotaru said, mostly speaking to Yukari since Hideki would struggle to see through to it. “I say we bust in through there with tags. You can use your byakugan before hand to pinpoint any nearby guards and we can take them out while their disoriented, I can make some clones to escort the prisoners somewhere safe while we cover their retreat and keep a moth on Chiyoko. Once the prisoners are clear we can track her down.”

Yukari nodded, quietly humming in thought. “Hikari, once the rest of us kitten position, you and the others go raise a little hell.”

“Easy enough, nyah. Been too long since I got to sink my claws into something.” With that, the yokai jumped off her shoulder and ran off.

“Alright, So… Should I keep guard while this is all going on? I have a few explosive tags to add to the pile.” Hideki offered, pulling out what he had. “Most my skills come after the whole exodus.”

“Sounds good,” said Hotaru, pocketing the extra tags and standing up to jump down the building. “We should get moving then, it’ll take us a while to work our way around safely,”

“Got it, the ground here may be covered in concrete, but voyage can still go through simply enough. So if things get hairy at least two of us have an easy escape. We can cover Yukari easily that way as well. I’ll keep watch of our backs if we’re fighting against groups, maybe they’ll swarm.. Maybe not… We’ll see after the cat's out of the bag.” with that, he set off to get into position.

Having moved to the wall Hotaru pointed out, Yukari quickly sketched out who was where. It made sense most of the guards would be near the… ‘product.’ Hopefully that would change once all hell broke loose inside.

Hotaru slid down from the wall she had been clinging too to place the final explosive tag, landing next to Yukari with a soft thump and, after studying the sketch gave a quick thumbs up.

After making sure she had Yukari and Hideki’s attention Hotaru held up five fingers.

Then four...

Then three...

Two...

One…

*BOOM*

In the same instant the tags detonated, a small horde of cats made themselves known. Between their speed, claws, and flecks of flame, it didn’t take long to scatter the cowardly lot inside. The explosion only sealed the deal.

Now it was the young man’s turn, he grabbed at his back and flipped up a hood, raising up the thing over his head, as he activated a jutsu to aid in the fight down the line, and cutting off the binds.

Technique: Cat Covering

He then rushed through the hole they had just made he had came into the prisoner area, many were shocked by the sudden explosion, others screamed and yelled for him to help. Naturally, thats why he was there.

With a quick flash of a kunai he cut one of the more stronger looking prisoners binds, handing them a knife with instructions to do the same to others as a nearby guard was being accosted by a particularly stubborn cat on his face.

He then began his way down to cut other’s binds, getting a couple thank yous and some “Thank you Cat dude!”

He decided to take it as a compliment.

Hotaru hung back a little to weave some handseals and soon there was a trio of Hotaru clones that rushed forwards to usher the freed prisoners towards their newly formed escape route.

“Right this way please!”

“Gonna need you to pick up the pace a little!”

“Mooooove!”

The real Hotaru meanwhile caught up with Hideki, taking a moment to nod appreciatively at his chakra ears and then set some moths to scanning for the three enemy shinobi. If they were going to intervene they’d do so soon.

Yukari lunged forward, striking at guards that were busy trying to fend off the attacking nekomata. A barrage of chakra filled blows forced them to drop to the ground.

Eight Trigrams: Sixteen Palms

“Alright… We’ve nearly got em all out, where's the resistance? We’re likely not getting outta this without a fight..” the young man gazed around, his now feline eyes staring around the place. “Got a feeling… they’re close…”

As if on cue, a torrent of water shot at Hideki and Yukari. The Hyuuga jumped in front of him, almost glowing blue as she spun.

Eight Trigrams: Palms Heavenly Rotation

With the dust and smoke cleared, it was easy to make out the rest of the scene. Buyers either cowered from the attacking Leaf nin or had already bailed altogether. However, a woman with blonde hair sat all too calmly on a stack of crates. Three shinobi stood around her.

“I don’t suppose you feel like surrendering quietly?” Hotaru asked sweetly, with an innocent smile. “We’d really like to wrap things up as soon as possible,” With so much chakra already spent on clones it really would be ideal if she didn’t have to fight, but somehow that didn’t seem likely. She’d just have to be careful.

Silently, subtly she directed the moths scattered around the warehouse to converge on Chiyoko and her three bodyguards.

“Mmm, to think three kids were able to make such a mess of things…” Chiyoko mused, seemingly uninterested in Hotaru’s request. “The one with the weird eyes should be worth a good amount, but kill the other two.”

“Jeez… Could you play off the typical evil bitch role any better? I think she’s gunning for an award..” Hideki felt the need to add his two cents before looking to the two. “Time to put in the work.” and with that, he went underground once more.

 

[KageYuuki]

One of the three shinobi sighed as Hideki moved underground, with pale blond hair he had a pair of swords hanging from his belt. “Ah geez, wonder if he realizes we’re above water or drowns himself…?” Weaving a few signs, he held his hands out in front of him, a ring forming in the air in front of them.

Storm Release: Laser Circus

Three light colored beams shot forward, one at each kunoichi and one near where Hideki vanished.

Not having anything capable of blocking what looked like a pretty nasty attack Hotaru simply dove to the side, rolling and coming back to her feet a few meters to the left, circling around the three bodyguards to present less of a grouped target. Meanwhile Hotaru’s moths retaliated on her behalf, swarming in from all angles, some attacking the eyes of the guards while others landed silently on their legs and back to begin chewing painlessly through cloth and flesh.

Another of the three bodyguards seemed completely unperturbed by the moths… or anything really. He simply sat down and pulled out his flute. He began to play a song, and around the guards, a green snow started to appear. The moths suddenly had a much tougher time chewing through any of them. The guards were covered in a green dust, however.

And the boy simply continued to play his flute with his eyes shut, enjoying the sound more than actually fighting.

Well this could be an issue Hotaru mused, continuing to move as her Moths relayed a startling lack of progress. Is that moss? Interesting It was tempting to attack the flute player directly, to see if putting a stop to the playing would disrupt this unusual jutsu. But if he was looking that relaxed then he likely had some means of defending himself so instead Hotaru rummaged through her bag, slapped an explosive tag on a kunai and threw it at Chiyoko instead, forcing the guards to protect their employer.

The flutist opened his eyes, and simply changed tunes. A crate by Chiyoko suddenly grew on one side, taking the kunai instead. His tune changed again, though no visible effect occurred. He seemed to be having a field day with his medley. He wondered how long until the moth girl tried a genjutsu break. Everyone always tried that against him.

“Well I guess that confirms you weren’t paid up front,” Hotaru said, raising her arm. A disappointing first result but it did mean she got to try something new and that was always fun. Suddenly a barrage of moths erupted from Hotaru’s sleeve though instead of their usual brown and rust coloring these ones were suffused with chakra and glowing blue. They were also much faster than her usual moths, assaulting the flutist almost like shuriken.

Dance of the Blood Moths: Heartseeking Bloodwing Technique

While the bulk of the moths rushed at the flutist’s now open eyes one of them, using the flurry as a cover made its way for the opening of the flute, carrying a larva that would attempt to block it up with silk.

The man switched melodies again, to the first melody he played. The green dust on him grew, becoming a respectable armor covering him. He looked like a hedge at this point. A very defensive hedge that absorbed the incoming insects’ blows like they were mere bugs. As he played, he noticed his flute becoming weaker and weaker. He threw the flute to the side, and with a single handsign, formed a new wooden one from his palm.

Wood Release: Hand Tool Manipulation

He broke off it off, unable to play for a second while it formed. The bright side was his green armor was pretty effective.

One of the glowing moths broke off its fruitless assault to fly at the forming flute and its now razor sharp wings simply sliced it in half. A few more moths broke off to prevent him from reforming another one while the rest buzzed around his head, forcing him to keep his armor up.

Well it’s definitely wood release. Just like Sensei, not that he ever gave us any pointers on how to fight it. Or..anything else really. Hotaru narrowed her eyes. That wasn’t entirely fair, he had taught her that sometimes you had to jump into the deep end if you wanted to get things done.

While her moths kept the flutist busy Hotaru charged him, putting both hands into her bag as she ran. Hotaru was pumping her chakra into the insects, letting them rapidly convert it into silk which swelled their little bodies. When the larvae were fit to burst Hotaru unshouldered her bag and threw it into her opponent’s face where it simply exploded, showering him with sticky silk.

The flutist sighed, annoyed that his flute had been broken again. With a single handsign, he sunk into the box he was sitting atop. His hands stumbled on the handsign, as if he was not proficient in using them.

Mayfly Technique

Several boxes down, he dropped inside the box, and quickly did a few hand signs. A dome of wood from one of the boxes rose up, and covered Chiyoko, trapping her in it, as well as protecting her. At least he should have some space he thought to himself. Of course, the moment he managed to reform his flute, Hotaru would know exactly which box had him, the one musical one.

Hotaru didn’t even need to wait for the music, it was relatively simple for her moths to track his chakra signature even through the wood so Hotaru approached his crate weaving handseals, completing the jutsu in time to put one of her feet on the crate.

Earth release: subterranean voyage Hotaru, the crate and the person inside all suddenly sank through the now liquid floor towards the water below.

The flutist didn’t seem to much care. As long as he had his flute, he was perfectly happy it seemed. A quick melody sounded. The ground shook as he sunk, above his box started to shake. Finally, he spoke, finishing his melody as he spoke to the ground as they delved.

“You do know paper beats rock? I’d really rather not fight, I just have a job to do. Ugh… I left the Leaf because of responsibilities… Hiro Senju, btw’s.”

Suddenly his box seemed to catch onto something, and refused to sink anymore. A large root shot from the top of the wooden box, catching onto nearby boxes. Again he disappeared from inside, his chakra disappearing from inside. Being cut off from her insects above would make tracking him rather hard. Hiro reappeared at the bottom of the dome Chiyoko was in.

“Well, we’d best be escaping. Looks like you lost all your stuff… hmm. Oh well, only paid to protect you.”

It took Hotaru a little while to work her way up out of the hole she had literally dug herself into and she looked less perturbed than most people would under the same circumstances.

Shouldn’t be too much longer now she thought, folding her arms and resting on the lip of her hole as Chiyoko and Hiro seemingly made good on their escape

The dome opened up, and Hiro walked out, sighing. He theatrically pulled out his flute, and paused as he readied a breath. He made a shoo’ing sound to Chiyoko. It seemed like he was going to have to do this himself. And he performed. A medley of notes came out of his flute at an ungodly pace, and his fingers were ablaze. No normal human could play his speed, it seemed to be making multiple notes from the sheer speed. All around him, a green mist appeared, then started to shoot out like a blizzard. All around, spores attached to everything, and everyone. Hiro turned red in the face from the effort, but continued. The spores not only landed everywhere, they started to grow, dangerously, threatening to consume everyone, and turn the entire warehouse green.

Wood Release: Enchanted Forest: Green Snow

And then, without warning the roof above Hiro simply gave way, plummeting down towards him, a single clone of Hotaru visible standing atop it.

About midway through their job of escorting the free prisoners to safety Hotaru’s clones had sensed the ferocity of the battle going on back at the warehouse. It had taken them a while to get into position directly above Chiyoko’s sheltered dome and even longer than that to patiently saw through the supports in that part of the roof, thankfully the warehouse itself had been rather poorly maintained. The results were certainly spectacular enough to justify the effort however, as the falling heap of metal crashed down on Hiro, letting in a square shaft of summer light to shine down on the aftermath.

“Aaand scissors beat paper,” Hotaru said, standing up and brushing off the now inert green powder dusting her arms. “Sorry Hiro but you’re not even the most annoying Senju I’ve had to deal with… Hmm?” Off to the side of the wreckage was a small patch of color, a tangle of vines and a dash of elegant pink.

When did he summon this? Hotaru wondered, walking over to study the flower. I’m lucky he didn’t get a chance to use it, this looks very poisonous... Still, something like this could be… useful Using a pair of her few remaining senbon Hotaru plucked the flower and tucked it into a sealed pocket on her jacket.

Now what the hell are we going to do about that Hotaru wondered, turning to where Hideki was holding... A sword? If the thing could even be called a sword. Whatever it was it looked nasty.


With Hotaru diving one way, Yukari was forced to dive the other. The beams cut deeply into the concrete floor, only relenting so the blond could swat at the moths with a lightning covered hand. With clawed fingers Yukari swiped in front of her, sending arcs of chakra at the trio of shinobi.

Bird Killer

Instead of fleeing, one of the guards stepped forward, a man covered head to toe in immense, and thoroughly spiked steel armor. His hair, which was quite long, flowed around him and seemed to harden into spines, absorbing the blow. “YOU THINK SUCH A PUNY STRIKE COULD BREAK THROUGH MY ARMOR!?” the sound of a man with no concept of an inside voice rang out from the mass of spikes.

“BE WARNED FOOLISH…. FOOL! YOU DARE TO STAND AGAINST THE MIGHT HUMAN PORCUPINE!!” he continued to yell, the hair unfurling once again, but not losing its spiky flowing strength.

“Seriously,” the blonde grumbled, “stop yelling in my ear…”

“Oops sorry Tsu-tsu… Where was I?

I WILL CRUSH YOU! POKE YOU! SPLATTER YOU ALL ACROSS THESE WALLS! BEG FOR FORGIVENESS FOR DARING TO… TRESPASS AGAINST… IS TRESPASS THE WORD?” he mumbled/shouted for a second. “AGAINST THE MIGHTY BEING THAT IS I! NATS! THE HUMAN PORCUPINE!”

“...You’ve already introduced your title!” a voice called from outside, along with the sound of splashing water.

“SHUT UP!!!” he yelled as the spiny mass of anger and pointiness rushed Yukari, the moths that tried to nibble him seeming stabbed through upon his body.

“I swear, I always end up having to deal with the weirdest shit,” Yukari muttered, thrusting her palm forward.

Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm

The eyes behind the spined mask narrowed and he immediately curled up into what seemed to be a large ball, right before he was blown away. The ball spun in the air and impacted one of the girders supporting the ceiling, but instead of his guard breaking, the beam itself bent heavily upon impact!

And not only that… the man bounced back!!

Spinning mid air the big ball of spine and metal came straight for Yukari!

Spiked Human Bullet Tank

Yukari growled, diving out of the way and towards a ladder. She couldn’t just keep knocking him back and out of the way, it’d drain too much chakra. The narrow catwalk wouldn’t allow for that trick of his and maybe buy her a moment to think.

“YOU THINK YOUR HEIGHTED….HEIGHT GIVES YOU AN ADVANTAGE!!?? NATS THE HUMAN PORCUPINE NEEDS NOT RISE UP TO DESTROY YOU!!!”

He got up on all fours and rising up from the mass of pointy hair fired an almost endless amount of needles!!

Hair Needle Senbon

As Yukari lept back along the walkway, Hikari stalked towards Nats before letting loose a stream of fire at his turned back.

“AHHHHHH BAD KITTY!” yelled the man as he suddenly started spinning in place, quickly putting out the flames and creating distance. But it was easy to see from the clever trick, some of the hair was indeed burned away!

And… Causing the warehouse to smell even worse actually, in fact, the man’s hair was still smoking quite a bit. “KITTY! WHY MUST YOU BE SO MEAN TO THE HUMAN PORCUPINE!!”

“Because you’re annoying…” Hikari muttered.

His heart was broken by the sudden burning of his wondrous flowing spiny locks, but still he held a defensive stance, now situated below the catwalk Yukari was on.

Yukari jumped off the side of the catwalk, launching another vacuum palm diagonally at Nats. Just had to knock him off balance.

This time the man stood his ground, the wave of force rattling him, but his strengthened stance only caused him to be knocked back a small amount. “I SHALL EXACT VENGEANCE FOR MY BEAUTIFUL LOCKS OF STEEL!!!” he countered with a hefty and surprisingly fast punch, should it hit it would likely shatter bone!

But his other hand started to reach for something at his belt as well!

Not only that… A distinctly malevolent aura appeared in the area, perceivable by Yukari and Hikari.

As luck would have it, the vacuum palm shoved the man far enough away the punch couldn’t connect. Though she still slashed at the outstretched arm with claws of her own. Before the Hyuuga had a chance to do much more, a feeling of dread washed over her. A demon? Here? Now?

But where is it? It was times like this the byakugan’s near 360-degree range of vision came in handy. Not that she wanted to lay eyes on the sword…

Not far off, she could see Hideki battle Tsubasa, another of the Kyodai, but in his hands was a horrendous looking thing, the blade was fleshy, revolting and seemingly beating with a heart of its own as it stared down Hideki’s opponent with joyful glee in its one large, yellow eye.

As Yukari looked upon it, Nats continued to throw punch after punch, distraught from his loss of hair, enough to begin sobbing uncontrollably, each punch getting messier….

Until he smirked, Yukari could see within his hidden hand explosives tags, ready to be thrust upon her lit and on a dangerously short fuse!

But little did he know… The Byakugan sees all... And a bit too much at the same time. As it was clear to Yukari the man was apparently also wearing very little under that armor.

Seeing the glow of explosive tags, Yukari was forced to snap her full attention back to Nats. She spun, using palms heavenly rotation as more of a shield. Too hairy for my tastes…

Tossing the tags forwards the man rolled backward, the spines causing sparks to fly off the floor below. “TAKE THAT!” He called, now near the forced open hole in the wall to the world beyond.

The shell of chakra had managed to take most of the blow, but the Hyuuga still have to take a moment to catch her breath. It was a taxing move and she’s had to use it twice now. A low hiss came from near the damaged wall. If Nats were to look, he’d see a pair of nekomata sitting in his path. One black and the other white.

Spotting the cats, he rolled up once more “EVERYONE! LET US LEAVE!” he called to the others before he began building speed, rolling forwards once again, rushing towards Yukari with impressive speed.

Yukari growled, pouring far more chakra into this vacuum palm in a bid to send him rolling backwards into the waiting cats.

Now, instead of rolling into the incoming force, it appears, with an almost comical bouncing effect, the rolling ball “jumped” over Yukari, as if he were a ball tossed down by a large hand. But the momentum was not lost as the spined man crashed into the other wall of the building, making yet another opening in the wall.

And it appears… he wasn’t stopping it seems.

“THE HUMAN PORCUPINE SHALL RETURN! JUST YOU WAIT!!!” For such a large man... He was quite quick when rolling it seems…

“I’d rather you didn’t…” Yukari muttered, watching him flee. Now, what was she going to do about Hideki’s weapon? She paused, hearing a rapid melody cutting through the air and green ‘snow’ falling. Moss was growing wherever it landed. Crap! Her hands coated in chakra, the Hyuuga tried to brush off the growing moss.

A loud crash and the melody stopped, the moss giving up with it. Yukari blinked, did… Hotaru literally collapse the roof?


Despite his… well... accident... Hideki was trying to make the best of his situation, now that he wasn’t drowning. He swam his way over to a better position and tried his best to climb up through the floor like the way he came in…

Only just barely smacking his head on a crate that was right above him.

“First battle with the girls… and going so well..” the boy grumbled as he resurfaced again a bit out into the display area of the whole scene. A couple of people screaming and running away from his sudden arrival… Out of the floor. “Well, at least I still have some element of surprise.” he spoke too soon.

The one dubbed Tsu-Tsu looked over at the sudden commotion nearby. Yep, kid went for a swim. Pulling several shuriken from a pouch, he threw them at Hideki.

Lightning Triple

The young man couldn’t help but let out a slight hiss as he leapt to dodge the strike, which hit a particularly fat customer that was beside him. “Gah! Could yea wait five damn seconds? Damn well got that sea water all over myself, do you know how damn horrible this place smells? I’ll be smelling like fish for months!”

The young man retorted, looking at the rightfully damn near dead man that was beside him not a moment ago.

“Can’t say you’re much for customer service huh?” he was on all fours now, trying to keep agile and moving. Lightning, huh? Then earth spear was going to cause more trouble than good on defense.

The other shinobi scoffed, resting one of his drawn swords on his shoulder. “Not like we were brought in to protect the bastards.” He lunged, swiping both swords at Hideki in a cross slash.

Quick Shift

Quickly shifting his position and circling around his attacker he leapt forwards to strike with one of his clawed hands, the other grabbing a couple kunai in his fingers for his next step. He tossed the kunai towards the crowd, hitting one of the more… bulkier of the hiders among the crowd.

“Whoops, butterfingers..”

The blond swordsman snorted, a stream of water coiling around one of his swords. “I’m gonna go out on a limb and say you enjoyed that.” He swiped the weapon at Hideki, a large stream firing from it the moment it made contact.

Water Release: Water Forge

Hideki rose up his arm to shield himself the skin turned black as coal, while it stopped the blade. It most certainly didn’t stop the impact. Now blasted quite a few feet away and digging his claws into the ground to stop himself, he gazed at the armguard he had moments prior actually on his arm, and was now dropping off like a ruined rag.

“Whew… that's one cool sword.” he admitted and put a hand upon his own. “But do you think yours can stand up to mine?” he smirked and listened to the sounds of groaning and weak attempts at breathing from the man that was struck by his opponent’s first attack. “Do ya wanna see?”

The other swordsman frowned slightly. His white sword looked as though it was still coated in a thin layer of water, the black crackled faintly with lightning. “Seems I will regardless of my answer,” he mused before body flickering towards Hideki in a series of slashes.

“Good, because I think it could use a meal.” he quickly drew out the sword and the invisible blade caught the incoming steel, and then the next, and then the next, the form of the blade catching each slash with barely an effort from the young man, even with the water enforcing it.

Hideki backed off, his sword handle held as it normally should… But the blade held in the man’s hand still felt like it had clashed against another. “Boy you should’ve told me you were bringing me to dinner~!” the demon cackled as lightning seemed to spark upon the invisible blade, but not traveling far.

“Dinner and a show, but only because you’ve been good this past while.” he smirked as screams came from the crowd around them. Seems a ruckus is being raised.

The swordsman’s frown deepened as he leapt back and sheathed his weapons. Blood was being forcibly drawn from one of the nobleman’s wounds. “The fuck…?” He wove a few hand signs, forcing chakra into the pools of water left from knocking Hideki away. High-pressure jets of water launched at the Leaf nin.

Water Release: Blades of the Deep

Hideki swung the sword towards the incoming watery blades, the blood that was now slowly manifesting upon the invisible weapon impacted it, tied with the force the attack became neutralized well enough, though still coating the young man thoroughly… Again.

More and more blood started to seep into the battlefield of the duo, running along Tsubasa’s legs like an endless flow of crimson, sticky water. “Lots of injured people around.. Lots of people to take it from I suppose... Never knew you had this much range.” Hideki spoke to the sword openly.

”I shall feed upon it all, not a drop shall escape me~! Hehehehe~!’

The first nobleman hit was visibly wilting now, near dry.

“So then. I don’t know your name, but I got a few friends to help out. So how about you either run off or die. There’s enough blood here to feed Eijuu Aikata, do you really want to add yours?” he was honest at least, though the blade was most certainly not invisible any longer…

Tsubasa went to reply but hesitated at the melody suddenly cutting through the air. Figured Hori would go along with the plan of bailing, “Fine, you win.” He gave a slight wave, backing off. “Our contract said nothing about dealing with some demon weapon anyway.” With that, he took his leave just as the strange snow started.

“Fair enough, don’t let the door hit you on the ass on your way… Is that snow?” the young man rose an eyebrow at the floating stuff all around. What the hell was this stuff? He didn’t have to think of that for long as it seemed Hotaru was keen on bringing down the house.

“Well, that's one way to deal with an opponent.” he shrugged, his sword still in hand. “Now… Where is that lady..?” he questioned, taking a look at the crowd and towards the bank. “Anybody see a rich asshole around?”

“Room’s full of ‘em,” Yukari called, still trying to get the layer of moss off her clothes. Hair was a lost cause at this point.

“True enough, she didn't get away did she? I was stuck dealing with a lightning user, dealing with my elemental weakness tends to take a lot of focus.” he says, when he’s really never fought a lightning user before. Guy was pretty lackadaisical for a somebody holding a demon sword.

“She didn’t uh… get away per se,” said Hotaru, joining the others, she scratched her cheek and gave an embarrassed smile. “I sort of… buried her,”

“...So that WAS you huh..?” the boy rose an eyebrow, debating if they really were ninja if they had this idea of subtly.

“Hey the guy’s moss armor was really tough!” Hotaru said defensively. “And I don’t have a lot of powerful attacks, I had to improvise,”

“True, can’t fault you on that. Had that guy ran earlier I would’ve helped…” the boy shrugged.

“Well…” Yukari observed the pile of rubble with her byakugan, “she’s definitely dead…”

“...Whelp… Guess we did complete the mission. We broke apart the crime ring. Literally.” Hideki sighed, scratching behind his head with his free arm.

“It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t take her alive but I can’t say I’m too sorry,” said Hotaru, looking down at the pile of wreckage. “Why don’t we head back to the hotel? The police will be arriving here soon and my last clone took all the prisoners there. I’m sure Tonrei and his staff are rather confused at the moment,”

“Uh… yeah, let’s…” Yukari mused, seemingly distracted. Letting her byakugan fade, she turned towards the large hole they’d blown in the wall.

“Alright, mission complete. Let's get going and leave the rest to the authorities. We have a report to do.” He sheathed the blade and began walking towards the big hole in the wall, no sense sticking around.

Yukari grabbed him by the shoulder as he passed, “We need to talk later.” She whispered.

 

[KageYuuki]

The Coastal Paradise shopping center was aptly named. With sparkling, sandy gold tiles, sea blue walls and pillars decorated to symbolize palm trees it was almost like walking along a beach full of stylish retail outlets with none of the heat and sand that might possibly bother someone the center’s upmarket clientele.

The illusion of being outside was further supported by the sheer scale of the building. Three voluminous floors, with vast, glass ceilings that let in natural light, there was even a small water park located in the center.

“Wowee the lengths some people will go to to avoid nature,” said Hotaru, whistling softly. “Anyway! I dunno about you guys but I need a new bag and swimsuit before we hit the beach and we ARE hitting the beach if I have any say in it,”

Yukari chuckled, “I don’t think you’re going to find a bag that suits your needs. Unless you’re thinking about some designer handbag?”

“Well obviously I’ll need to make a few aftermarket modifications,” said Hotaru, sweeping her hair back in a preening gesture. “But there’s no reason the base can’t be something a little more stylish than my last one. Although I’ll really have to stop going through them at the rate I have been…”

“Your call,” The Hyuuga hesitated slightly, “Though I wouldn’t recommend letting anyone find out what you’re going to use it for.”

“Bah, they should be flattered,” said Hotaru “Not just any bag is good enough for my babies!”

“Trust me, they won’t be.”

Hideki was fully lost, he wasn’t the most fashion-minded individual when it came to himself. Though he knew how to appreciate it at least. He kept mostly quiet on the matter as the two went back and forth, his eyes looking around to the various stores all around him.

“Well, with an incoming payment of 160,980 ryo.. Pretty sure we can splurge a little.” the young man looked at the various clothing stores around, wondering if he even had the fashion know how to look halfway decent… it took some work to get this setup to work nicely in his eyes.

“I’d say we earned ourselves a fun day~!” Yukari chimed, “Though dinner’s still my treat.”

“Oh yea you did mention that huh?” he remembered, thinking about what types of food might be out there if the clothes were THIS… nice? Some were weird, to colorful. “Man… Just who would wear a floral pattern shirt like that…?” he stated, even if he had temptations to wear it.

“Actually I can definitely picture my last Sensei rocking something like that,” Hotaru said, wrinkling her nose in distaste, before brightening as she saw the curious look in her teammate’s eyes. “But Hideki if you’re looking to update your wardrobe I can definitely help you out,” Hotaru said, raising a finger.

“Not many people realize this but the underlying principles of fashion are all based on biology and evolution. Bright colors, patterns, and symmetry suggest genetic fitness and the ability to gather excess resources while keeping up with trends fosters the group dynamic social animals such as humans need to truly thrive,” Hotaru nodded, clearly pleased with herself. “With a quick and largely nonintrusive battery of tests I could determine through scientific principles the ideal outfit for your genetic makeup!”

Hideki stood there stunned as the explained concepts and SCIENCE went clear over his head and flew off into the sunset. Her words seemed to blend together in a flurry of movements, sounds, and SCIENCE, leaving the young man only really catching the rough ass end of the whole thing.

The boy, unsure of what happened, was faced with a conundrum, does he say yes, or no.

Feeling like it was the best approach, plus it was hard to say no to a face like that, he decided to nod. “Uhh, sure?”

Yukari snorted, turning away, “You two have fun with that.”

“Aww that’s no fun,” Hotaru looked disappointed before turning back to Hideki, a thumb on her chin as she studied him with the expression of an artist regarding a blank piece of canvas. “Well Yukari will just have to be our test audience post-transformation,” she said, grabbing his hand and leading him confidently towards a nearby boutique.


The store was a modern chain ambiguously titled “The Edge” with an aesthetic somewhere between expensive hotel bathroom and a warehouse, lots of glossy black tiles and mirrors combined with harsh, industrial lighting and folding tables.

“The important thing to remember with fashion is that your clothes always send a message,” Hotaru explained as she led Hideki through past a trio of blazer wearing mannequins. “The natural world is full of species that communicate via their plumage or coloring and humans are no exception. Even if you aren’t paying attention to what message you’re putting out, even if the person looking at you isn’t thinking about it, you’re still sending out all kinds of subconscious signals.”

Hotaru picked up a shirt and studied it for a second before putting it back down and shaking her head without explanation. “So Hideki, what kind of message do you want to send?”

Hideki stared at the young woman with curious interest. She was certainly taking this up easily, hell she knew quite a bit for somebody he expected to be more interested in other things, other nerdy stuff? She's likely just applying her knowledge in a manner that could be used in this circumstance.

“Well…” he looked himself over. “I kinda wear what I feel is functional for the day, Only really have one style so…” he tried to use the same analytical side he used way back when at the hot spring… But...it was hard to judge himself. “Well… Guess the standard for what a guy wants, or what others want in me I guess…? Or… what works for me?” he was uncertain, it was more difficult than he thought coming into this.

“Hmm well we’re basically on holiday right? Let’s try something fun and casual. Something that says ‘I’m approachable and don’t take myself too seriously’ without looking lazy or sloppy.”

Hotaru picked out a bright yellow tee with a bold, black design. “Logo tees can add a great splash of color and there’s tons of variety so you can find one that looks great and speaks to you in some way if you’re willing to look” Hotaru pinned the shirt to Hideki’s chest and looked him up and down with an analytical expression then returned it to the shelf. “But it’s vital that the rest of the outfit shows some thought otherwise it’ll look like you’re just grabbing stuff out of your closet with no thought. But if you find the right jeans and shoes you can really come off as cool without trying. Why don’t you look through this section and pick out a couple you like? Then we’ll move on and find some stuff to match with them with.”

“Uhh… Sure…?” Hideki simply went along with what she said, looking a bit… unsure about the shirts. “Well.. this stuff... Kinda seems very… Normal for a teenager.” his hand hovered over the shirts, unsure… he could kill a man without blinking an eye but… fashion?

He hovered over some but… Really didn’t choose any he saw. “Man, I really am at a loss.” he muttered, before picking out a few from the line and sheepishly glanced towards Hotaru.

“Don’t stress about it too much,” Hotaru said reassuringly “Those look fine but the important thing is whether you’re happy with them. If you’re not sure where to start just go with your gut reaction, people are only going to look directly at it for a moment,”

Hotaru looked through the shirts he had picked and then nodded. “Right we can work with these,” she said, leading him over to another section. “The easiest way to match shirts and pants is to have one half sorta ‘pop’ right? See this one-” she picked out one of the shirts Hideki had grabbed “it’s really bright, sorta eye grabbing, so the pants that go with it should be more subtle, so that they aren’t clashing, one is supporting the other,”

Hotaru grabbed a pair of grey, loose fitting jeans and handed them to Hideki. “Go try these on with this shirt, the fit is really important,”

“Hmm… You sure..? Alright..” he grabbed the clothing and set off into the changing room. There was a bit of fumbling about in the place before Hideki came out, looking a tad bit uncomfortable in the brighter colored clothing, looking like a dog forced to wear clothes.

“Hmm,” Hotaru studied Hideki carefully, frowning. “The fit is pretty good but it’s not quite working is it? It doesn’t feel like you. Let’s try a new approach,” Hotaru said, returning the rest of the clothes to their proper place on the shelves. “Go change back, then we’re gonna take a walk, we’ll look in every store in this center if we have to but before we leave you’re going to find ONE piece of clothing, could be an awesome pair of shoes or a cool jacket, that speaks to you, that feel like… putting on a piece of your own skin!”

Hideki was all but happy to be out of the clothing, changing in record time and was still fiddling with his scarf on the way out, putting the clothes back. “Alright, I just need some civie clothes… maybe a jacket? I’ve always wanted a nice jacket or something. That isn’t flak.” he noted, thinking of how he left his father’s at home, another momento, he supposed.

“Mm! Mm! A Jacket can be a great signature item and if the quality is good they’ll last for ages and go with tonnes of different outfits,” Hotaru nodded enthusiastically. “Maybe like, leather?” she asked, gesturing to a display model wearing a modern looking piece with zipped pockets of varying sizes and angles. “Or we could find like a real retro, classic one? Go for the greaser look with a plain white tee underneath? Then again a parka could really suit you, something in an understated color with the fur lining?”

Hideki began thinking about it, a jacket… there was certainly quite a few choices. “Hmm… Something fur lined sounds actually pretty cool. Though hot in summer, some with a greaser look would make me look tougher, though I gotta keep up the part too, clothes make the man.

I’m not against leather, but something modern might.. Not be me.

Let's see about the fur lined stuff, preferably… Something soft.” he made a slightly embarrassed smile.

“Hmm.. leather… fur lined… classic…” Hotaru lit up suddenly. “What about an aviator jacket! Soft and cuddly on the inside but cool and classic on the outside! Just like you!”

Hideki stared at her with a sheepish look. “...You know me so well already..” he scratched behind his head, sighing with admittance, couldn’t help but blush a bit. “Flattery will get you anywhere Hotaru, let's try one on and see how it goes eh?”[/color]

“HeHee, I think I saw one on the way in that’ll do the trick! Let’s go!” Hotaru grabbed Hideki’s arm again, leading him away before he could change his mind.


Yukari quietly hummed, studying the small table on display at the center of the shop, a single bag hung from her arm. The sculptor certainly had form in mind over function when they designed it. She didn’t really believe the clerk when he said it was meant to be a jellyfish. Yukari thought it looked more like melting glass.

Hideki shuffled a bit in his new jacket, feeling the softness of the fur lining on his cheek as he rubbed against it slightly. Yep, this was great, gotta hand it to Hotaru she had one hell of a good eye for these things.

“Maybe I should take you to all my shopping, brilliant on the battlefield, off it and in fashion. You wanna join up more in the future?” he chuckled as they came closer to Yukari, the young man feeling more confident than ever in his new jacket.

“Hey Yukari! How's it goin’?” he smirked, hands in the pockets rather than behind his head for once.

“You better believe it!” Hotaru said chirpily, trying not to look too pleased with herself. “This is just the first step on your fashion journey! One day you’ll have to learn how to do your own shopping though, hey Yukari! Find anything good?”

“Hm?” Yukari turned towards them, “Oh, hey guys. Nice jacket, Hideki.” She tilted her head, “How are you not hot wearing that?”

“Good question, honestly it feels alright even in this weather… Guess it’s worth the price tag if it’s this good at staying cool.” Hideki shrugged, not fully certain about it himself.

“They keep the AC up pretty high in these places,” said Hotaru, pushing up her glasses. “Cold triggers instinctive resource hoarding behavior, encouraging you to buy more stuff to hoard for the winter. Just make sure you take it off before we go outside,”

“...Or what she just said.” Hideki felt suddenly used by the weird air conditioning… thing. “I’ll keep it in mind. Half a mind to call you “Brains” from now on.”

“Seems you guys were successful at least,” Yukari commented.

“What were you after Yukari?” the young man asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Swimsuit,” she gestured to the bag on her arm, “didn’t even think to grab mine when we left.” A slight shrug, “Oh well, needed a new one anyway.”

“Oh, darn me too!” Hotaru exclaimed. “I got so sidetracked I completely forgot! We should figure out somewhere to eat, then I’ll quickly hunt one down and meet you guys there,”

“Well…. Yukari DID say she was gonna treat us.” Hideki stated, definitely hiding the twinkle in his eye at mention of swimsuits and the beach. Nothing but pure thoughts in his mind, yes sir.

“Yeah, I did. You guys name the place.”

“Well, we did say something about seafood awhile back on the train. So.. why not? Should be a good restaurant nearby right? I mean, it’s.. On the ocean…” Hideki shrugged, he was certain one was nearby, the name escaped him though.

“The places on the promenade actually have less fresh stuff cause the fish has to be moved into storage in the industrial areas than back out to the restaurants, those places are overpriced tourist traps, we gotta find somewhere the locals go!” Hotaru supplied, her enthusiasm perked by the idea of a free meal.

“So… somewhere in a really quiet part of town,” Yukari mused. “Guess we have some searching to do.”

 

[KageYuuki]

The food came with a triumphant wave of smells and heat upon the faces of the young chuunin. The somewhat lacking conversation they had been having before in silently wanting expectation of their incoming meal finally abated. The chefs of the Glass Ship did much to impress, before them sat their meals.

For Yukari, some fresh seafood in the way of the Tide Grouper Carpaccio.

For Hideki, the largest steak he could find on the menu, stating something about needing some extra protein.

And for Hotaru… A dish that made the other two take a pause with revulsion at the scent that wafted from their partner's plate. Hideki, the one next to the Entomophilic young lady, seemed to lean further and further away from the stuff before her. It… looked like tofu?

Maybe?

Smelled like a horse’s ass, though he couldn’t say he was well versed in such scents, but god damn it was better than what was coming off that “Tofu.”

“...Uhh….” he finally managed to croak out. “..What do you have there, Hotaru?”

“It’s fried, fermented tofu,” said Hotaru, slicing off a thin chunk of the meal in question, seemingly unphased by her teammates’ reactions. “Want some?” Hotaru asked innocently, brandishing the chunk of tofu with her chopsticks in Hideki’s direction.

“Commercially fermented tofu has a less prominent aroma but the stronger smelling strain of bacteria are actually better at suppressing potentially unsafe, external infections so it's necessary to use them for homemade batches. The smell is how you can tell the chef’s here ferment their own which is impressive for a modern restaurant and fairly uncommon,”

The young man seemed to lean back, almost as if the young woman were holding poison right up to his face. “Uhh… Maybe.. Some other time…” he didn’t want to hurt the girl’s feelings, but he could barely understand her beyond the… STENCH that came off the stuff… His only solace was that his steak also has a scent that was indeed calling to him.

“Aunt Momochi’s always going on about how good that stuff’s supposed to be,” Yukari glanced up from the paper thin slices of fish on her plate. “Granted… now I see why father wouldn’t allow any in the house.”

“It’s certainly an acquired taste and a rather counter-intuitive notion,” Hotaru said, relenting in her torture of Hideki with a private smile. “The person who first made a practice of fermenting food must have been a true culinary pioneer. My hat’s off to them whoever they were,”

"No kidding, in a way I guess its opposite than what one would want. Letting food rot just a bit, or in certain ways to get a different taste. Well.. Rot's a bad word for it. Ferment, but the thought is still the same.” he began to tear into his steak, carefully cutting off the fat on the sides.

“I heard of some people who eat their steak in a way called “blue”, just barely cooked at all. Must be pretty bloody on the inside… not sure why they would call it blue though…”

“I mean, Natto’s pretty good,” Yukari mused. “Probably came about more from avoiding starving than anything. But I can’t say I’m versed in food history.”

“In the end humans can become accustomed to almost anything,” mused Hotaru thoughtfully, taking a bite of tofu. “Because the process of becoming accustomed to something is itself a survival mechanism. After becoming accustomed to something its a short step to taking pleasure in it. Which raises the question of how much of what we value is innate versus a product of our environment,”

Hideki paused in his enjoyment of his stake to get another lesson from professor Hotaru. “..Huh… So I guess that's why there's alotta weirdos out there…” he thought out loud as he cut into a tougher part of the meat and stopped. “...I mean that in a way that’s polite enough for dinner conversation manner by the way..”

Just in case one of them thought he was being a perv… At least at the dinner table, there were bigger things to deal with than that stuff.

“Precisely,” Hotaru said, gesturing with her chopsticks and politely accepting Hideki’s hasty correction. “Just yesterday we were rounding up a whole pack of men and women for whom ‘normal’ was snatching people off the streets and selling them into slavery. That was their nine to five and it must have eventually become mundane. From their perspective, the strangest part was probably when three teenagers broke up their whole operation. I mean we aren’t even old enough to drink,”

“I get you… it’s hard to believe for most to imagine we’re able to kill with a flick of a hand or command moths to chew somebody to death…” he motioned to Yukari and then to Hotaru as he mentioned the two ways. “But for me… This is the weirdest part of being ninja… We’ve been in life or death battle not a few hours ago and now we’re… Just eating steaks.. Hell, I bought a damn jacket not too long ago…

Can we really just flicker back and forth from Ninja to civilian?” the young man sat back in his chair cutlery dropped to the plate and half-eaten steak before him.

He felt a shiver up his spine, he wondered, how many had he killed by using the sword that moment? Could he really enjoy a meal like this so soon after that? A normal person would’ve vomited their guts out from fear after that fight, a normal person wouldn’t have to think of all this… The young man seemed to be losing his appetite, a complex confused expression appearing on his face.

“Probably not…” Yukari sighed, setting her chopsticks down on their rest. “But… it’s also something we’ve been involved in and preparing to do for several years now.”

“Mmm, even at times like this we’re still primarily ninja. Being a civilian is about having no experience of stuff like that whatsoever, it’s a fragile thing that can’t be recovered so easily,”

Hotaru rested her chin on her upturned palm and studied the other patrons of the restaurant, most of them chatting and eating happily with the violence of yesterday far from their thoughts. “On the other hand, I think it’s fine for us to do stuff like this from time to time. Ninja isn’t a label that encompasses our entire identities after all,”

“I guess that's true…” Hideki shrugged, returning to his steak for a bit.

“..Speaking of, what’re we gonna do after this? You two seem pretty keen on heading to the beach. Still feel like taking a dip?” he began to bridge towards something better to talk about. He was excited for the beach, for many reasons, but coming from the somber mood was tougher than he thought. “Oh also, I know Yukari has a hobby of smashing my face into the ground in games of go, but do ya got anything you like to do while not on missions?

Like I’ve been using working out to kill time, but it’s kinda fun seeing how you can train your body in different ways. I’m happy with the progress myself.” he seemed to smile once again.

“Hmm well I usually read when I have spare time,” said Hotaru, experimentally poking Hideki’s bicep. “Which I like to think of as training for a different kind of muscle.

“I like to collect insects as well but it's sometimes hard to find time for that, I didn’t bring any of my equipment either,” Hotaru shrugged. “Besides I didn’t rush around trying to find a cute swimsuit so I could do all the stuff I do at home! When opportunities like this come you gotta grab ‘em! You should be excited too Hideki! You can show off that bod you’ve been working on all this time!”

Hideki’s eye twinkled a bit. “That is true, not many chances to show off in Konoha, but I gotta say I really do miss sweets… Had to give up so much for this.” the young man looked longing over the loss. “I guess healthy stuff is good, depending on how you make it, but I really miss chocolate covered fruit..”

Yukari shrugged, “Honestly as many calories as we burn in a battle, the occasional treat isn’t going to do any harm.”

“Oh I love those!” said Hotaru said eagerly. “I’m lucky they’re so hard to find in Konoha or else I really would be in trouble!”

“Yea.. I guess it wouldn’t hurt… but then first it wouldn’t hurt, but then the second time wouldn’t, then the third… then the fourth… I know myself, I can easily get addicted to stuff if I’m not careful.” The young man sighed, one of his larger failings it seems.

“Can’t really help you there.”

“Hmm there are lots of classical conditioning style treatments you could do if you wanted to give them up completely. You know the obvious stuff, dose them with mild poison that makes you nauseous or rig up some kind of electrical shock whenever you eat one. But that kind of thing won’t be as useful if you're only trying to eat less” Hotaru mused. “If you can find the individually wrapped ones you could try hiding them around your house and only eating one when you do a nearby chore. My mother used to do that to get me to help out around the house,”

“I’ll… keep that in mind…” he shied away from the rather… useful… information Hotaru gave. He began at his steak once more and quickly set about devouring the wonderful, yet slightly warm, meal. Once finished, he cleaned his mouth and sighed.

“Well, that was pretty good, wonder if I’ll sink to the bottom of the sea with that in me..” he paused for a moment, feeling the siren call of the dessert menu…

Yukari snorted, “Didn’t you already do that once today?”

The young man appeared to want to say something in return… But found himself without an answer… He seemed to be trying exceedingly hard to find something to counter with… “...Let's… get the bill and go for a swim shall we?" He tried to hide his embarrassment, putting on a forced pleasant tone.

 

[KageYuuki]

“I’m going out for some air!” Hotaru called over her shoulder as she left the hotel room. It was a balmy night and cool evening air would certainly be refreshing, but the real reason Hotaru was taking the stairs up to the hotel rooftop had to do with the notebook concealed in her jacket.

The gift she had received from Daisuke was looking a little worse for wear after her fight with Hiro but Hotaru had confirmed that the actual content of the book was more or less safe. Now it was time to read it.

It took a little fiddling to get the rooftop door open, but that just meant she was less likely to be disturbed. Hotaru breathed in the fresh air as a few moths poked their way out of her new bag to check out the single light bulb illuminating the area.

Hotaru settled down on the concrete under the light, with her back supported by the nearby wall and opened the notebook to the first page. The weathered book was filled with research notes on the Kaguya clan’s Shikotsumyaku. Pages of sketches, details on the kekkei genkai, observation notes, experiment results, and subject information was neatly organized within. Most notable to Hotaru was likely notes on Subject #278A - Akira, the first major success in reproducing the once extinct ability.

Well that explains why I could never find anything on her Hotaru thought, smiling hungrily as she scanned the pages as fast as she could.

“An extinct kekkei genkai,” Hotaru murmured, flicking a page. “If this kind of result can be replicated the implications would be tremendous…”

“And replicated it has,” Daisuke’s low voice came from beside her.

“I was wondering whether I’d see you again before we left,” said Hotaru, sighing to hide how startled she was, Daisuke clearly still had no trouble sneaking up on her.

“But more importantly, how did you do it? Just from these notes and my brief run in with your lovely assistant, it’s obvious that the shikotsumyaku is tremendously complex and inextricably tied to the rest of the subject’s body. If a normal person could manipulate their bones they’d just end up shredding their organs,”

“This particular kekkei genkai has to be introduced before the subject is born to allow the body to adapt.” Daisuke shrugged, “Even then the chance of success is still fairly low.”

“I guess there’s still not much risk of having to contend with an army of bone manipulators then,” Hotaru said, her tone a mixture of relief and disappointment. “In utero genetic modification, I can’t even begin to imagine what kind of facilities you’d need to pull that off,”

“Fairly complex, I must admit. But I’ve spent most of my life studying kekkei genkai, I will spare no expense in furthering my research.”

“So why kekkei genkai in particular?” Hotaru asked, light from the single bulb reflecting off her glasses. “With that kind of dedication, you could probably revolutionize any area of study you set your mind to,”

A light smile played at his features, “Why not? They’re powerful abilities reserved only for single bloodlines. What if someone could break those clan boundaries? What would that do to the stranglehold those clans hold on the shinobi world?”

“It would almost certainly shatter the delicate balance between the major villages. When alliances and treaties no longer accurately reflect the current balance of power war usually results as the newly strengthened parties seek to set new boundaries. Old tactics and strategies would no longer be viable, those unable to adapt would fall and those better able to respond to their changing environment would be able to step into the power vacuum.

In short, it would be a change comparable to the formation of the hidden village system, a period of rapid evolution with whoever controlled the technology behind it all at the forefront,”

Daisuke hummed thoughtfully, “It would indeed give rise to chaos. But chaotic times always have given rise to some of the greatest innovations. There are many shinobi from the Warring States Period whose legacies have yet to be surpassed, after all.”

“Of course, that’s how evolution works. If the environment doesn’t change then over time ecosystems stabilize as different species carve out their own niches and settle into a consistent relationship. These evolutionary holding patterns can last for millennia unless something disrupts the system, sparking another period of rapid change as species.

Human society operates in much the same way, rather than strive for continual advancement they tend to move towards a convenient holding pattern and then stagnate until some disruption forces them to adapt once more,”

“And I can think of more than a few of the so-called ‘great clans’ that have stagnated in their ways.” Shaking his head, Daisuke moved towards the edge of the roof and looked out over the city. “So tell me, Hotaru, what is it that drives you? What are your goals in this world?”

“Hmm what are my goals?” Hotaru looked up at the moon thoughtfully. “I think I’m supposed to have some kind of grand, prepared answer to that question, ‘become the Hokage’ or ‘change the way people think about jutsu’ But none those seem quite right… In the end, I think all I want is the truth. Not in the sense that I want people not to lie to me and not in the spiritual sense. I want to experience as much of this world as possible, to see and touch things no one else has then rip them apart and see how they work.”

“My, it’s almost frightening how similar you are to myself at your age.” He turned back towards her, “I’m guessing your current situation is only hampering such desires, is it not?”

Hotaru hesitated before replying. “There’s… a way forward, they aren’t smart enough to hold me back forever. It’s just...slow, agonizingly slow. So much of what they want me to do is boring and pointless, so much of what I want to do they think I’m not ready for,”

“And if you were ever given the opportunity to break away from them, pursue your own work as you pleased?”

“I wonder about that. If there was nothing holding me back or slowing me down how far could I go? How much could I see...? Maybe one day I’ll find out,”

“Perhaps; it’s just a matter of taking that first step. Gaining freedom from a village is always such a chore.”

“The first step huh… Maybe I’ve already taken it?”