Date: January 24th, 13 years following the Kyuubi's attack
Time: 9:15 AM
All four members of Team 13 stood in front of Lord Sandaime Hokage, who was looking at a set of scrolls, and Iruka-sensei, who was sitting at another table with a rectangular file b. The Third is puffing contentedly away with his pipe, part of his usual grandfatherly image he projected when he was trying to not intimidate others.
"Well Miho-san." He says approvingly. "I see that your team has passed their test of your choosing, making them one of the few to do so… At least 13 of the 21 teams from this year's class are being returned to the Academy." He smiles at Kimiko and nods approvingly; the Third had been an uncle of sorts to her ever since the loss of her clan.
"Yes, Lord Hokage, they passed with flying colors." Miho replies. She pauses, "If I may ask..? Kakashi-sempai and my cousin?"
The Hokage took a deep draw of his pipe and exhaled with a sigh. Nakahito and Kimiko began to fidget in concern for their friends and family. A grin creased his face. "Team Seven and Team Eight have both been placed on the active duty roster."
He glances at Sho who is looking impassive as usual. "As has Team Ten." Sho looked momentarily surprised that the Hokage not only knew of his unasked question, but provided the answer. A grin crossed his face before the impassive mien returned.
The Hokage chuckled to himself. "Well then, I think it's time I give you your first mission then..." Lord Hokage replied. Haruno and Itou begin to look excited while Inugami remained collected; he already knew the kind of work they were in for... Lord Third looked at the scroll closest to him and nodded. "Ah, here we go," He says, looking at the team - an almost merry glint in his eye as Iruka braced himself. "You're to help clean the bathhouses in the hot springs village just outside of town today. Inside and out."
"WHAT?!" Kimiko and Nakahito gasp simultaneously while Sho merely rolls his eyes at their reaction. He had, after all, pointed out yesterday that they could expect drudge-work missions at first since they were all new Genin. Miho has to bite back a giggle as Iruka had to put his hand to his brow as if fighting a headache that he'd been suffering on and off all day.
The Hokage smiles at them. "Dismissed." Itou and Haruno straighten formally they turn to leave. The Hokage also stands. "Kimiko Itou, may I speak to you alone for a moment?"
Kimiko pauses as Iruka-sensei follows the rest of Team 13 out of the room. Once the door is closed, she runs over to him and gives him a bear hug.
The Hokage chortles. "I'm proud of you today, my dear."
"Thanks, Sarutobi-Ojiisan." Kimiko said calling him by her nickname for him as she lets go of him.
"Your family would be proud as well, my dear; even if you need to get some grace in accepting less than appealing assignments." Kimiko blushes faintly in embarrassment at his gentle rebuke as he pulls a long box from under his desk. "I got you a gift to celebrate your finally becoming a full ninja... Something that your father used to carry into battle as he never mastered the Wusha whip."
She opens the box and gasps as she pulls out a pair of Tonfa, identical to the ones her father had carried in the dream! "Ojiisan, thank you, thank you!" Itou was surprised that the Hokage had held onto such a minor pair of objects for the past decade.
She hugged him once again, tears in her eyes, but confused once more - was last night's dream REALLY just a figment of an overactive imagination? She hadn't even recognized him in the dream at first, but these Tonfa were definitely the ones Kimiko'd seen him holding; there was an identical notch in the wood!
Hiruzen Sarutobi smiles and pats her head, "You're welcome my dear." He says, "Now go; you've got a mission to do and your team is waiting for you." She gives him an abbreviated bow and as she leaves the room he sees her showing her teammates her new Tonfa.
Iruka Umino sticks his head into the room. "Is there anything else you needed me for, Sandaime-dono?"
The Hokage shakes his head. "Not today, Irukaio..." He says, using his nickname for the teacher as he notices water dripping outside the window of the room; despite that it was a sunny day outside and there hadn't been any rain recently. "Close the door behind you, if you don't mind." Iruka nods as he does so.
The Hokage sets his pipe down and walks over to the window, looking intently at the dripping water. "She's looking more like you every day," He murmurs, "I hope that one day we can tell her the WHOLE truth." He then sits back down and relights his pipe, waiting for the reports to start coming back in.
* * *
Team 13 had left the Hokage's manor, heading to the village gates to perform their first real D-rank mission. Kimiko Itou swung her new Tonfa cautiously as she grew accustomed to the combat batons. Nakahito Haruno was grumbling to himself, muttering words like 'pathetic,' 'maids,' and a few other curses in between. Miho Hyuuga shook her head in amusement at Nakahito's ire, remembering her own irritation at D-rank missions back when she was a new Genin.
Sho Inugami walked in his customary silence; unperturbed by the task assigned to them. As they reached a side street, however, he made a sudden right angle turn, breaking away from the group. He'd actually made it half a dozen steps in his new direction before his Jonin sensei noticed she was short a Genin.
"Where are you going?" Miho called after him.
Sho stopped and turned around. "If we're going to be cleaning a bathhouse, I just need to grab some stuff from my place. I'll meet you at the South Gate."
"The bathhouses will have everything you need." His Jonin replied.
Inugami shook his head with a slight grin. "I kind of doubt that they'll have the kind of cleaning materials I'm going after, Miho-sensei. As a medic, I take cleanliness very seriously and I have something at home that helps me." He glances at his red clad teammate. "Besides, I'm getting tired of hearing Nakahito repeat himself."
"Bite me, Oni." Nakahito grunted. "I signed up to be a ninja, not a..."
"Maid." Sho interrupted. "I know, I heard you the first three dozen times. But like I told you yesterday - and you have NO clue how much I hate repeating myself - we're going to be doing grunt work our first couple of missions. We have to prove that we can follow orders and that we're not slack-offs."
Miho smirked at Sho's surprisingly, given his age, mature viewpoint. "Very well, make it quick. I need to make a phone call anyways." Sho nodded, turning about to dart away at Body Flicker speeds. She looked at the other two Genin. "Is he always like that?"
Kimiko nodded. "Witty and sarcastic? Yeah."
"Pompous and arrogant, too." Nakahito growled, still in a bit of a funk over the mission.
"'Hito..." Kimiko said, giving him a warning look. "We're trying to be nicer to him, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah. But like he said yesterday, don't expect us to change overnight." He replied, waiving his hand. "Besides, let's face it, he is at times."
"He's also smarter than both of us combined, Bakamono-san." She replied with a grin. Miho Hyuuga chuckled at her retort.
Nakahito groaned, touching his forehead protector that was still lower than he preferred to hide the bruising Sho had given him two days before. "Yeah... You're never going to let me live that down are you?"
"Nope!" Kimiko and Miho said simultaneously.
* * *
Twenty minutes later, Team 13 is together again at the Hot Springs village. Sho had shown up a few minutes after the others had reached the South Gate, giving Miho-sensei time to use the phone while they waited, with a black leather bandolier draping from his left shoulder to right hip.
Miho spoke briefly with the owner of the bathhouses, confirming the details, before coming back with buckets and brushes for each of the Genin. "Okay. There are 3 Sento-style bath houses and 2 outdoor Onsen pools. It's not tourist season yet, so you'll actually be able to close the bath houses you're working on at the given moment."
"You mean that this is REALLY our mission?" Kimiko asked, optimistically hoping that the Hokage was playing a joke on her. Miho-sensei gave her a wide grin, a twinkle of humor in her eye. Itou slumped, "Great..."
"I'll get the Sento." Sho said, opening his bandolier to pull out three pairs of eye visors, two of which he handed to Kimiko and Nakahito. "You two can handle the pair of Onsen. These will help."
Haruno looked skeptically at the visor. "What are these?"
Kimiko took a minor leap of faith and slipped hers on. "Whoa! Why does the world look so... funky?"
Curious, Nakahito donned his pair. The world suddenly turned a dark blue, as if it were twilight before the lamps were lit, but there were large blotches of neon yellow all over the place. "Man... That is trippy!" He lifted the visor and his vision returned to normal. "What are these things?"
"They're sterile environment detection lenses." Sho answered. "We use them in the hospital to make sure that we've properly cleaned the operating theaters to minimize the risk of infection. Anything that's yellow can be dangerous to anyone with open wounds: disease, bacteria, dirt, etc."
"Now that's very interesting..." Miho said, gesturing that she'd like to see a pair, which Inugami obliged her by handing her a pair. "Oh, that's how, they're powered by chakra."
Sho nodded as she handed them back. "The Jutsu Research Department my parents run based them off of the Byakugan. They could never figure out how to seriously mimic it with any real success, but decided that being able to ensure a clean operating environment would give that failed experiment a measure of return for the effort they put into it. I've charged all three of these enough to last two hours. I figure if we split up, we can easily get this done in that amount of time."
"So are you saying you can finish your three houses before Kimiko and Nakahito can finish their two baths?" Miho Hyuuga asked. Of the three, Sho did seem to be the strongest, but he'd never been arrogant about it. "That's a lot of work for just one body… Unless you know some kind of body split technique." She paused, remembering what Okito had said about Uzumaki and Inugami's statement that he hung out with the Jinchuuriki occasionally. She attached an eyebrow. "You don't, do you?"
"No, of course not… I can do the basic Bushin and I know of more advanced versions, but I haven't studied them with any serious intent." Sho shook his head as he extracted a small book from the bag. "I just happen to know the sterilization jutsu that we use at the Hospital to clean a chamber thoroughly. It's kind of dangerous for anyone to be around me when it's activated and only works in environments that can be sealed and have smooth surfaces. That means I can't use it for the open-air baths, but for the Sen..." He paused, noticing something over Miho-sensei's shoulder. "Huh... What are they doing here?"
"Who..." Kimiko started to ask as she turned around. "Hinata-chan! Kurenai-sensei!" She cried in excitement, waiving at her friend.
The two ladies of Team 8 were both wearing outdoor robes instead of their usual outfits. Kurenai had a small bag slung over one shoulder and both had bathing pans, the simple container used at bathhouses to both carry bathing supplies but also used for holding water when cleaning off after getting out of the communal tub.
"Ah! Perfect timing!" Miho Hyuuga said, accepting the bag from Yuuhi Kurenai. Sho snorted slightly as his left cheek slightly distorted as he made a clicking sound and shook his head in bemusement.
Kimiko glanced at him. "What was that for?" She then glanced back at their Jonin leader. "What's the bag for, Miho-sensei?"
Miho smiles and patting the bag that now hangs from her shoulder. "Well, while the three of you clean the bathhouses, I'll be enjoying a nice soak in one of the Onsen that doesn't need cleaning with my friend and my cousin."
"What?!" Nakahito yelps in confusion. "You're leaving us alone? Aren't you supposed to be keeping an eye on us or something?"
"Whoever said I wouldn't be watching the three of you?" Miho Hyuuga asked with a bit of a laugh. "Or have you forgotten what my last name means?" She batted him playfully on the nose before walking off with the other two women.
Sho looked at Kimiko. "And that's your answer. When I first spotted them, I couldn't tell what Hinata and Kurenai-sensei were carrying. The second Kurenai-sensei handed Hyuuga-sensei the bag, I knew precisely what was going on. Since this is one of those jobs that doesn't require direct supervision, Miho-sensei will be able to just keep tabs on us by using her Byakugan: it can see through pretty much everything within a radius of 3 kilometers."
"Everything?" Nakahito asked in slight surprise. The Hyuuga Byakugan was well known in the village as being a powerful ocular jutsu, but the Hyuuga clan rarely interacted with most people that those without first-hand knowledge were not always aware of the full capabilities. "You mean, even through our clothing?"
Inugami sighed, rolling his eyes. "Rein in your hormones, would you Haruno? Nudity isn't that big a deal."
"What are you, Oni - a eunuch?" Nakahito demanded. "Are you saying you've never wanted to check out Hina...?"
"AHEM!" Kimiko, her face red as a beet, suddenly interrupted as she rapped her friend lightly with one of her Tonfa on the back of his head. "Hello?! Mixed company! You pervert!" Nakahito winced from the hard but light hit.
"In answer to your question, Haruno-iro, no, I'm not a eunuch." Sho Inugami replied as he grabbed a brush and bucket. "But given that I typically see naked women every other day in the hospital and that I've been studying human anatomy since I was four, it lacks the thrill for me that it apparently gives your hormonally-influenced, immature brain." He then turned and walked into the one of the sento.
Kimiko grabbed another set of cleaning implements as she tucked the Tonfa into her sash along her back to keep them out of the way. "You know, 'Hito, I never thought the day would come that I'd honestly agree with Oni, but he's right, you need to grow the hell up." She began to walk to one of the onsen.
"Kimi, wait for..." Nakahito started, trying to follow her.
Before he could take two steps, however, Kimiko quickly dipped her bucket into the nearby hot springs river and threw the bucket full of hot water in his face, drenching him from head to toe.
"Stay away from me, 'Hito. I'm really mad at you at the moment... I'll do one of the onsen, you handle the other. Maybe when you cool down a little bit, I won't be so mad." She then darted into one of the onsen bathhouses before Nakahito could say another word.
Nakahito Haruno, completely soaked and slightly scaled by the hot water, stood there absolutely dumbfounded. "What? Was it something I said?" He asked faintly to himself.
* * *
The onsen that Nakahito was left to clean turned out to be a large, rock-ringed pool with a tall bamboo fence to the one side that split the pool into two halves. According to the attendant at the front, only the side that Nakahito was on required servicing; the other half was currently in use and had already been cleaned by the usual janitor before he'd thrown out his back. The janitor's injury had necessitated the call for temporary service from Konoha; the nearest major city.
Nakahito started by scrubbing the floor of the area near the bamboo wall. After a few seconds, he unzipped his wet jacket and laid it on a nearby rock to dry off, leaving him in a sleeveless red mesh shirt. As he works his way around the semi-circle to the other side of the pool, he hears voices from the other side of the wall. With a start, he realizes that it's Miho-sensei's voice!
Pressing his ear up to the bamboo barrier, he hears, "Thanks again for helping me out yesterday, Yuuhi-san." Miho says. "I'm pretty good at Genjutsu, but you're an absolute artist. I really owe you one."
"Well," Kurenai exhales blissfully as the bamboo wall creaks slightly, suggesting that someone is leaning against it on the other side, "This will go a long way, Miho-san... I've been so busy getting prepared for running my team that I haven't been able to relax in weeks. In any event, I was glad to help; I just wasn't expecting such resistance from a mere Genin. That Inugami boy was definitely a hard nut to crack... It's a shame there's no test for mental discipline; I saw his record along with all the others when Lord Hokage had us review them all before he assigned teams. If I'd known his mind was so resilient beforehand, I might have actually managed to keep him in there for the rest of the planned storyline."
There was a momentary pause. "Enough shop talk, though. We're here to relax! Speaking of which, why'd you offer this trip out of the blue?"
"Well, you know how much I like being spontaneous." Miho answered. "When I found out earlier that the mission for my team was going to be down here, I figured why not treat us to a Girls' Day Out. Anyways, I'm also still trying to get used to the extra responsibilities of being an instructor. That, on top of trying to figure those three out, I needed this."
"Trust me, it may be difficult running a team of Genin you barely know, but if I'd had the opportunity to just jump right in with Team 8, I probably would have. Fortunately, the Genin I have appear to lack the kind of personality conflicts that you and, undoubtedly, Kakashi-san are going to have to deal with."
"Speaking of which, you're being awfully quiet, Hinata." Miho said.
Hinata's soft voice spoke up, far more clearly than the other two women. "I... I simply don't want to speak out of turn..." The wall groaned slightly as whoever was leaning against it on the other side changed their position.
Nakahito feels his heart begin to race as he thought. 'Hinata, Miho-sensei and Kurenai-sensei are in the pool over there... And they're all naked!' He starts to visualize the scene in his mind and a vacant grin appears on his face. 'I wonder if there's a hole in the wall underwater for passing the soap between sides like in a sento... This pool's fairly small and I might catch a glimpse of heaven!'
He slaps himself as his nose starts to bleed. 'Get a hold of yourself, Haruno! You're not a pervert! You will not prove Oni right! You will NOT piss Kimiko off any further!'
"Nakahito Haruno!" Miho Hyuuga suddenly shouted from the other side of the wall. "You're supposed to be CLEANING the bathhouse. Not lurking behind the wall, listening to our conversation and getting yourself excited! GET BACK TO WORK!"
There was a feminine squeak of fear from the wall, which groaned yet again as Hinata swam away from it. Nakahito, bright red from being caught, tried to run, but got the brush tangled in his legs and fell headlong into the water with a shout of surprise followed by a resounding splash. It took him a few seconds for the shock to wear off to get his bearings in the slightly murky water, although he did see that the bamboo wall was solid, save for a few small holes drilled through the thick grass allowing the water to circulate; contrary to his stray hope otherwise before surfacing.
That's when he heard the laughter.
"Na... Nakahito..." Miho Hyuuga asked, trying to catch her breath between bouts of laughter. "Are you... Are you okay? I didn't..." Her laughter increased, cutting her off momentarily, "I didn't expect that to happen!"
Nakahito swam to the edge of the pool, pulling himself out with as much dignity as he could muster. "I'm fine! Getting back to work, ma'am!" He answered before thinking. 'I just wish I could just curl up and die, but I'm fine...'
* * *
Sho Inugami stumbled out of the second sento-style bathhouse, looking half dead. "Damn... The jutsu's taking a lot more out of me than it usually does." He mutters to himself. "Well, I suppose it makes sense... These bath houses are a lot bigger than most of the operating theaters... On the plus side, this will help me improve my chakra control."
He let out an amused snort, thinking of his teammates. 'I wonder if either of them has realized that fact… Finding ways to make everyday activities into training is one of the main reasons these tasks are so pathetically easy. We build goodwill with the civilians, bring money into the village, and improve ourselves in the process: three birds with one stone.' He thought about it for a moment. 'Well, Itou might if she tries, but Haruno won't. He's too obsessed with a grandiose vision of what it means to be a ninja...'
Sho reached the third sento bathhouse and leaned against it as he consulted his watch. "An hour and twenty minutes down. If they were working together, Kimiko and Nakahito should have finished both of theirs already."
The clatter of wood on the stone tiles of the walkway caused Sho to look up to take in an unusual sight. An older man, probably somewhere in his fifties with a veritable mane of spiky white hair and a stripe of red paint running from below his eye line down his cheeks, was walking slowly down the main boulevard. He wore an olive-gray uniform that had a gi-like appearance with a crimson vest adorned with two yellow circles on it. A scroll the size of a man's thigh was strapped to his back and he wore a pair of old-style wrist bracers that offered better protection for the back of the hand than the standard ninja gloves. In addition, he had an unusually thick forehead protector that bore a pair of stubby horns and the kanji for Oil, which struck Inugami as unusual; it suggested ninja training without an affiliation to any particular village. The traditional wooden Geta platform sandals, whose distinctive sound had caught the young medic's attention, rounded out the man's functional, but eclectic look.
The old man paused as he realized that there was someone watching him. Something about his stance as he looked around told Sho that this was not your typical old man, so he simply raised a hand and waived to let him know that it wasn't a potential threat. Noticing Sho's movement, the old man smiled and walked over to him.
"Rather nice day out today..." He said, casually. "Not too many people around this time of year, though."
Sho nodded, making conversation with the stranger. "That'll change in a few months - Konoha's going to be in charge of the summer Chuunin exam this year. Five months or so to the beginning and then another month until the finals, if they go off of the typical plan. That plus the usual tourists in the summer means that there'll be a lot of new people."
The old man nodded as well. "That's true. So you're from around these parts?" Sho nodded, tapping his forehead protector to drive home the obvious, which caused the old man to grin. "You're right, that was a silly question. Maybe you can help me out... I'm a bit of a writer, so I wander about looking for inspiration. I find that women are typically better at helping me find it, preferably... Oh, how should I say this..?"
"Good looking?" Sho asked dryly, sensing that the codger was similar to Nakahito in some regards. "Old enough to drink, but younger than you?"
"You read my mind!" The man said, giving him a thumbs up gesture. "It's nice if they also have a spunky personality, but that's ENTIRELY optional."
Sho rolled his eyes as he listened to the message behind his words. Yeah, similar, although the old man was definitely dirtier. "The only ones I've seen around here today that meet that description are my Hyuuga clan sensei who said she was going to keep an eye on us the way only they can and one of the ladies she met up with here. I'd suggest not trying anything with her since she'll not only see you coming, but probably try to kill anyone dumb enough to try getting - what did you call it? - 'inspiration' from her or her cousin who's my age."
The old man gave Sho a hurt look. "Are you insinuating..."
Sho waved his hand. "Honestly, I could care less what you try and do; I'm not the morality monitor. I'm just the kind of person who puts out warning signs. If people don't pay attention, I could care less - I can't make people's decisions for them. Besides, you're at least three times older than me… Even if that weren't the case, something tells me I couldn't stop you even IF I were so inclined to try."
The old man's smile returned. "You're pretty wise for a youngster. You'll probably go far as a ninja." He turned away and walked off.
As he did so, Kimiko Itou walked past him over to where Sho was standing. She had the brush and bucket draped over her shoulder. "Who was that?" She asked, turning to look at the older man with the unusual appearance.
"Nakahito in forty years." Inugami quipped. She gave him a confused look. The medic gave a sotto voce chuckle to himself. "Never mind. Where's Haruno?"
"I threw a bucket of water in his face and told him to go work by himself. I had hoped that would get him on task, but about 40 minutes ago, I heard Miho-sensei shouting at him to stop eavesdropping and get back to work. I finished the mixed bathing onsen about 10 minutes ago. How are you doing?" She paused eyeing him. "Because you look like hell…"
"I finished the other two already, but they've left me kinda low on chakra, so I'll have to do this one manually. Care to lend a hand? We can probably get it done in just a few minutes - the other two were fairly clean, hopefully this one will be too."
Kimiko nodded. "Let's get this done. Then, depending what mood I'm in, I'll either beat on Nakahito for a few minutes and let you patch him up or we'll just meet up with Hyuuga-sensei and go back home."
"Sounds like a plan." Inugami said with a grin; he was finding that he was beginning to like Kimiko once again.
* * *
Nakahito Haruno walked out of the men's entrance to the bath house in his damp clothing. He'd managed to wring most of the water out of them and had re-cleaned the parts that had gotten messed up from his "accident." He stretched in the middle of the street, letting the sun warm him up a bit - the onsen had a number of large trees whose shade had kept his clothes from really drying while he worked.
"Heh heh heh! Wow! What incredible inspiration for my research!" A deep voice cackled softly from somewhere nearby.
"Rese... What?" Haruno said, looking around for the source of the voice. As he looked around to the right side of the entrance to the bath houses, he noticed a patch of white amongst the thick green bushes. Curious, Nakahito took a few steps over to find an old man with long white hair hidden between the bushes and the outer wall of the bath house.
'What the hell is that old man...?' Nakahito began to ask himself when he suddenly noticed that there was steam rolling out around him. Haruno's jaw dropped. 'The old freak is peeping on Hinata-chan and the senseis! Well, not for long...' He got closer. "Oi! What..."
The old man's arm suddenly whipped backwards to clamp over Haruno's mouth, pulling him in and down with surprising force. "Shh! Do you want us to get caught by that hottie of a Hyuuga? Or the other one?"
Having felt the man's grip strength Nakahito shook his head. How the hell had he managed to get himself into this situation? It was bad enough how much he'd misjudged Oni's capabilities, but this geezer, too?! The old man released his hold on Nakahito's jaw. "If you know she's a Hyuuga, then you know she's probably already spotted you!" He hissed softly.
"The Byakugan may be touted as all seeing, but it does have its weak points... I happen to be using one of those at the moment, but if she becomes aware that we're here, she'll be able to see through it, so keep your voice down." He looked back into the hole momentarily. "Gotta love these Konoha women, some of the best in the world... Oh, that one with her back turned and the short dark hair must be the younger Hyuuga the other kid mentioned."
The old man looked over at Haruno. "I'm only into the older ones, but would you like to take a look? The younger one looked like she was about to stand up and turn around..." He said with a lecherous leer.
Nakahito suddenly felt conflicted as his imaginary good and evil side started to do battle. 'DO IT!' The bad side screamed. 'Heaven's on the other side of the wall and there are two Hyuuga angels there! And Kurenai-sensei isn't hard on the eyes either. We might never get another chance!'
'If you do, you'll be proving Oni right! You'll also piss Kimiko off and be permanently hated by Hinata if she ever finds out. Not to mention what Miho-sensei or Kurenai-sensei would do to us. You remember what happened to that imaginary Cloud Jonin? They could make that REAL!' His good side reasoned.
'THEN WE DIE HAPPY!' The bad side shouted. 'DO IT! DO IT NOW!'
'If you do this, you'll make both Hinata AND Kimiko cry.' The good side concluded simply.
THAT particular point ended the debate immediately. "No, and I'm going to kick your ass, you old perverted freak!" He shouted as he threw a punch, his chakra surging into his fist in an unconscious action.
The old man caught the fist without thinking twice - or looking first for that matter. "Not a smart idea..."
"Who's over there?" Miho Hyuuga shouted from the other side of the wall. The demand was accompanied with the sound of shifting water, as if she'd just stood up in the spring.
"Oh... Oh, YES!" The old man breathed. "That's absolutely inspirational! The women around here are so incredible, it's a shame the exams are held here only once every few years! It's almost worth the fact that I'll need to find a new spot for next time. Speaking of which..." He turned to look at Haruno who was still struggling to pull back his hand. "Since you cost me my premium seat, you owe me a diversion." The old man said with an evil grin. He then rose quickly to his feet, pulling Nakahito off balance. His grabbed Nakahito's arm with both hands and then hurled the young man in red up into the air.
"OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUU...!!!!!!!!" Nakahito shouted as it felt like he was being launched into space.
* * *
Over at the third sento, Sho Inugami and Kimiko Itou both emerge. As Sho had hoped, the bathhouse had been surprisingly clean, even when viewed through the special glasses that Sho had borrowed for the process. They gave it a full cleaning anyways, but it was mostly superfluous. They'd left their brushes and buckets with the attendant who'd thanked them for their efforts.
Sho sighed as he stretched. His chakra had recovered enough to erase the sensations he'd felt earlier. "So, do you still need me to patch Haruno-iro up? Because I'm really wrung out."
"No. I suppose not." She said with a smile. "I just think that Kurenai-sensei gave him a bit too much wish fulfillment with the actions of those two imaginary kunoichi. There are just times I wish he were immune to feminine charms the way you are."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, there, Itou-san..." Inugami said raising his hand. "I hate to dash this nice image you have of me, but I need to point out that I'm not immune. No straight male with a healthy level of hormones can be." Sho said, rubbing his shoulder. "What I said was that mere nudity held no appeal for me. I assure you, if I'd been pulled into the same kinds of contact situations that Nakahito had been pulled into, I would have had a similar reaction: being sorely tempted. Where I differ from Haruno is that I refuse to deliberately torture myself with impossible fantasies."
"Like his thoughts towards Miho-sensei." Kimiko said, feeling something; what it was, she wasn't sure…
"Her and Hinata." Sho agreed, causing Kimiko to give him a look of curiosity. "Oh, please. Are you honestly telling me that you've never noticed how Hinata is always watching..?"
"OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUU...!!!!!!!!" A cry of terror drowned out the next words that Sho Inugami were about to say. The shout was accompanied by a red blur that rose from the ground by one of the bathhouses further down the road into the sky like a clumsy bird.
"That's Nakahito's voice!" Kimiko said her eyes tracking the moving object. "He sounds scared, but I don't see…" Then realization hit. "Oh, crap... That red blur IS 'Hito!"
The red blur rose some 8 meters into the air in a parabolic arc that would have covered some 3 meters worth of ground. Sho looked unconcerned. "Well, that's a survivable fall provided that he doesn't land on something sharp or too hard." As the red blur came in for a landing there was a loud splash and a small geyser of water. "Oh, even better... He landed in the water."
That was when a feminine shriek pierced the air.
Kimiko looked befuddled; she recognized the screaming voice! "That was Hinata-chan... Why would..?" She paused.
'Wait for it...' Sho thought to himself as the pieces clicked instantly into place for him, a grin already starting as he watched Kimiko. 'Wait for it...'
Suddenly Kimiko Itou's eyes bugged open as she finished putting the pieces together. "Nakahito landed in the pool with Hinata-chan and the others!" Her face colored in equal parts embarrassment and rage. "He's in a pool with three naked women? That pervert! That's it..! He's getting beaten like a dirty rug!" She looked down as she reached for the Tonfa the Hokage had just given her.
'Priceless.' Sho thought. He then saw a gray, red, and white blur run away from the spot where Nakahito had risen from. Itou was so irate that she didn't seem to notice.
Sho's eyes, accustomed to operating at Body Flicker speeds, was able to make out most of the old man's features. He was moving faster than Inugami had managed to handle up to this point.
'Oh, now that's rich. He got what he wanted and then lets Haruno suffer the penalty for it. Now that is funny!' The blur vanished from his view. 'He's really booking it; any faster and he'd be a match for the stories of The Yellow Flash.'
Kimiko, who missed seeing the old man, storms towards the bathhouse, gripping the Tonfa so tightly the wood creaked. Sho, shaking his head and trying not to laugh too loud, followed behind her.
* * *
"UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKKKKKK!!!!" Nakahito's scream concludes as his short flight comes to an end with a belly flop into the hot springs. The hit leaves him momentarily stunned, floating face down in the warm water. He starts to fade out when a shrill cry snaps him out of it. Nakahito looks up...
And finds himself in Heaven. Miho-sensei is standing in the water, about two meters away from him. Her long, dripping wet hair plastered to her skin. Kurenai-sensei, not sure what's going on, is sitting half reclined, in and out of the water. Hinata-chan... Is wearing a white, one piece swimsuit, but blushing furiously.
'Thank God for small favors.' Nakahito thinks to himself.
Then when what he's seeing actually sinks in, his nose gushes blood once again and he tries to breathe water. He struggles to avert his gaze, but trying to cough up the gallon of water he just inhaled slows him down. After three heartbeats, during which the image is burned into his memory forever, he finally just closes his eyes and sits in the water as he coughs up mouthful after mouthful of water.
Keeping his eyes shut, he is finally able to take a deep breath of air. "I swear I've got a great explanation!" Is the first thing he gasps.
There are sounds of water sloshing. Finally, Miho Hyuuga says. "You can open your eyes now."
Nakahito cautiously opens his eyes, keeping them on the surface of the water until he sees a pair of shapely legs disappearing under a wrapped towel. He lifts his head to look into the piercing gaze of Miho Hyuuga. The veins on either side of her eyes are more pronounced and there are lines within the normally unmarred surface of her white eyes. The change gives her a very feral look that raises the hairs on the back of Nakahito's neck.
"You have three minutes to explain yourself. By the end of that time, Kimiko will have reached here. Given that I see she's drawn her weapons, I assume she's planning on beating you within an inch of death. If I do not like your explanation, I'll LET her. Understand?" Nakahito nodded and started outlining the events of the last few moments. As he talked, Miho kept her gaze on his chest the whole time.
"Nakahito Haruno! You PERVERTED SLEAZE!" Kimiko Itou raged as she stormed into the bathhouse. "I'm going to send you back to hell with all the other peeping toms!" As she rounded the corner and entered the pool area, however, the young woman stopped short as she took in the situation. "Huh?"
There was utter silence as all eyes were on Miho Hyuuga's unblinking gaze. After an interminable moment, she finally spoke. "Nakahito Haruno..." Her eyes returned to normal. "I believe you. Kimiko put your weapons away; this was a legitimate accident."
The vindicated Nakahito took a deep breath of relief. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you believe me, but why? I mean I can't prove anything of what I just said..."
"Because she knows you're not lying." Sho said from his spot behind Kimiko.
Nakahito turned to look at him, absolutely confused. "The Byakugan can tell when someone's lying? Damn... That would suck, never being able to fib to your parents."
"Not exactly, Haruno-kun." Miho Hyuuga said, laughing. "Sho, would you please explain while Yuuhi and I get dressed?"
Inugami nodded as the two towel-wrapped senseis walked past him into the changing area. "Did you notice how Miho-sensei was staring at your chest as you were talking?" Nakahito nodded. "That's how she knew. Whenever someone tells an unrehearsed lie, their heart skips a beat. It's an unconscious and uncontrollable reaction; even in chronic liars. She was watching how your heart reacted to your words. Since its pattern didn't change, she knew that you were telling her the truth as you understood it."
Miho and Yuuhi re-entered the pool area, both dressed in traveling robes. "That's precisely right." She looked at her cousin. "It looks like you had a wise idea after all, Hinata-chan." Nakahito and Kimiko looked confused. "After I caught you listening in, she put on her swimsuit. Now..." She said, turning an imperious gaze on Nakahito again. "Describe this old man for me."
Nakahito shook his head. "I didn't get a real good look at him. And I only saw his face for a few seconds..."
"I can show you what he looks like..." Sho said.
Everyone else's eyes turned on him. "You can?" All but Hinata asked in unison. The Hyuuga princess was twiddling her fingers nervously in embarrassment.
Sho Inugami nodded. "I spoke with him for a few minutes before Kimiko joined me to finish the last of the sento bathhouses."
"Are you sure it's the same old man?" Yuuhi Kurenai asked.
"Yes, Kurenai-sensei. As I told the others yesterday during the Gambit, I have a photographic memory. I spoke with a fifty-ish man wearing a gray gi with a crimson vest. He had hip-length spiky white hair. Shortly after Nakahito was thrown into the air, while Kimiko was drawing her clubs, I saw a blur of gray, red and white run from where Nakahito came off the ground. He was also the only person with that color scheme that I've seen... pretty much ever, actually. Do you want to take a stab at what the odds are that it's two different men?"
Kurenai-sensei smiled. "I'll pass."
"Let's see him." Miho ordered.
Sho Inugami nodded and took a breath, fixing the old man's image in his mind before a puff of smoke appeared. Yuuhi and Miho raised their eyebrows at the Genin's lack of seal usage to perform the Henge no jutsu; of all the jutsu he didn't need seals for, the transformation skill had always come the easiest for some reason... When the smoke cleared, Sho had been replaced with a perfect likeness of the old man.
"That's the guy!" Nakahito exclaimed as Miho Hyuuga and Yuuhi Kurenai threw each other a surprised glance.
"He said he was some kind of an author that wanders about to get inspiration." The old man said with Sho's voice.
"Oh, I recognize him!" Kimiko said suddenly. "That's one you said..." She stopped abruptly as the medic's words from earlier finally registered. Itou began to giggle.
"What's so funny?" Nakahito demanded. "What did Sho say?!"
Sho answered for her. "I told her that it was you in forty years. She just got it." Kimiko's Tonfa clattered to the ground - followed quickly by the kunoichi herself - as she began to laugh even harder. Despite whatever the look between them had meant, even the two Jonin smiled at the crack. The only one who didn't was Hinata, who still clearly looked like she wished she could turn invisible. Nakahito grimaced as he realized he was the butt of yet another one of Sho's jokes. "In any event, it looks like the senseis recognize him."
Miho Hyuuga, sobering up, looked closely at her three Genin. "You're absolutely certain that that is the man you three saw?" All three nodded. She looked back at Kurenai. "I'll inform Lord Hokage when we report back to him." The other woman nodded.
"Sensei, who the hell is this pervert?" Nakahito finally demanded. "You know him?!"
Yuuhi Kurenai looked at him, gesturing at Inugami's impersonation of the old man. "That's Lord Jiraiya, one of the Sannin! He was amongst the first students taught by the Third Hokage himself. He TRAINED the Yondaime and is considered one of the few that are in the running to become the Fifth Hokage…"
"WHAT?!" Kimiko and Nakahito shouted simultaneously. Despite her embarrassment, even Hinata looked surprised, but remained silent. "This freak is one of THE Legendary Sannin?!"
Sho's reaction was a bit more expressive. He took a few wobbly steps towards the water to look at the reflection. As he looked at it, the illusion began to change fluidically: the red streaks and the forehead protector were erased, the hair shrank to shoulder length, and the outfit changed to a white coat with red-orange flames at the base – similar to the coat the Fourth had famously worn. He stared at the reflection for a few moments.
"You idiot!" He finally shouted at the water. "How the hell did you miss that?!" The illusion popped out, leaving Sho standing by the water, looking perturbed at himself.
Miho looked at him, confused. "Why are you berating yourself, Sho? Jiraiya-sama left the village before the death of the Fourth Hokage and hasn't been back since. You shouldn't have been able to recognize him."
"Master Jiraiya, the so-called Toad Sage due to his possession of the Frog Summoning Pact scroll and having trained as a Sage on Mount Myoboku." Sho began to say, his teeth clenched in frustration. "Trainer of Yondaime Hokage and author of the adult novel series 'Make-Out Paradise.' Well-known as a philandering ladies' man and for excelling at stealth observation techniques."
"Wait, he writes those perverted books they have in the book store?!" Kimiko asked. Then she blinked and narrowed her eyes suspiciously, suddenly worried she had two perverts on her team. "Why would you know that, Inugami?"
He looked at her, self-recrimination still evident on his face. "It's related to areas of interest… He's a member of the Sannin, a three-member Konoha ninja cell that played major roles in ending the Second Great Ninja War so that the Land of Fire benefited the most. Co-team members: Orochimaru, now a traitor and S class felon in the Bingo Book, and Lady Tsunade, slug summoner, master of the medical arts, granddaughter of the First Hokage... And my primary inspiration for becoming a medic-nin aside from my family."
He shook his head as he turned away from her. "We have a framed photo of the Sannin sitting in the place of honor in our house. I LITERALLY see it every single day. All the pieces were right in front of me and I didn't even realize it! Gaaah! I must be BLIND!" He shouted at the bamboo wall before punching it in frustration.
'Holy cow...' Kimiko Itou thought to herself. 'I've never seen him act like... like Naruto-kun. I didn't even think he could.' "Sho..."
Before she could continue, Sho raised a hand, taking a deep breath. As he did so, his entire demeanor returned to his usually calm and collected self.
'It's almost as if he's two different people...' Miho realized. 'There's the front that he usually shows to the public, but there's a deeper layer to him as well, but one that he keeps hidden... I wonder why?'
She clapped her hands together. "In any event, there's been no real harm done. Team 13, line up!" Nakahito, who'd since gotten out of the spring, stepped into place between Kimiko and Sho, both of whom had turned to face Miho-sensei. "Mission report!"
"Mission is complete, Hyuuga-sensei!" The three Genin answered formally.
"Very well. We will return to the village and give the Hokage our report. After which, you will be at liberty for the remainder of the week. As new Genin, you can expect that you will typically have one mission every other week. In the meantime, you are expected to train yourselves at your own paces, using your preferred methods and we will typically meet at least once per week beyond missions for joint training. Understood?"
"Hai!" The Genin replied immediately.
"I'll meet you at the entrance to the hot springs village in two hours, you are dismissed."
* * *
The younger members of Team 13 sat on the stones that marked the entrance to the village, enjoying a meal of bento lunches they'd purchased at one of the local stores. The three sat in a tense silence. Kimiko looked at the two boys. Sho had resumed his usual silent vigil over everything within eyeshot - his rage at not recognizing the old man either forgotten or buried alive somewhere hidden deep within himself; she couldn't tell which.
Nakahito was eating his bento with a neutral look on his face. He seemed lost in his thoughts, something very unusual for him. Kimiko felt her heart begin to beat just a little bit faster as she studied her friend's face. She opened her mouth to say something when a sudden change came over him. His face took on a vacant expression with a too-wide grin as he turned slightly red. A slight chuckle escaped him as he turned redder.
Icy anger flared through Kimiko's heart as she realized that he was reliving his splash landing for the second or third time in the last ten minutes. She grabbed one of her Tonfa and hurled it at him. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Chikan!" The club-like weapon spun end over end with such speed that Nakahito barely saw it coming, let alone have a chance to try and dodge it.
The long part of the club struck him diagonally leaving a red welt running from above his right eye to below his left. The blow knocked Haruno backwards off his rock and spilling what little was left of his lunch on the ground. "Oww! Damn it, Kimi, that freaking hurt!" He shouted from his new location on the ground.
"Nice throw." Miho Hyuuga said as she walked up; now dressed in her usual outfit. "Are you alright, Nakahito?"
"Yeah, I'm fine..." He said as he sat back up, rubbing his face. He looked at Kimiko, handing back the weapon she'd struck him with. "Are we even now, Kimi-chan? I've already apologized a dozen times!"
Kimiko sniffled slightly as she took back her father's weapon. "I'm sorry, 'Hito! I... I just don't know what came over me... I don't know why I'm acting like this..."
Sho rolled his eyes from his location and opened his mouth, but a hard glance from Miho, unnoticed by the other two, stilled his voice. "Well, we've got a long walk ahead of us. Let's go."
* * *
"...And that concludes the report from Team 13." Miho Hyuuga said to the Hokage thirty minutes later. "The employer was extremely satisfied with their services and will be sending payment with a bonus for exceptional work in two days."
The Lord Hokage nodded, taking a deep breath from his pipe as he made a mark on one of the scrolls. "Very well. Team 13 is dismissed." The three Genin bowed to the Hokage and filed out of the room. He looked at Miho, who remained standing formally. "Yes, Miho-chan?"
"Hokage-sama... During the course of the mission, my students spotted Master Jiraiya skulking about the Hot Springs village. He was… Up to his usual antics, but all three of my students positively identified him."
A wry grin crossed the old man's face. "His usual antics..." He said with an amused chuckle. "Still, that's excellent news. He had left the last village that he'd been seen in by the time the Jonin I sent to get in touch with him got there." He looked over at Iruka, who'd returned to help record the after action reports. "Get a standing order out to all Jonin currently in Konoha and those who will soon be returning to keep an eye out for Jiraiya while in the Hot Springs village. Station ANBU members not currently on assignment to observe all exits from there for him."
"I grilled both Nakahito Haruno and Sho Inugami, the two who had the most contact with him, on the walk back to the village. From the sounds of it, I suspect that Master Jiraiya is intending to remain within the area at least through the Chuunin exams. As Sho pointed out to him, it is about to become the busiest time of year for the Hot Springs village, as well as ours. You KNOW that he can't pass up the kind of opportunities that the tourist season brings."
The Hokage's face was momentarily obscured by a thick cloud of pipe smoke. "That is an excellent point. We'll still keep observers on the exits, but hopefully another ninja will encounter him and get him to make contact. There has been an odd current as of late and it bodes no good. I would prefer to have both Jiraiya and Tsunade return, but the latter is extremely unlikely. I have respected her wishes and allowed her to cut all overt ties to the village. Her movements are even harder to track than Jiraiya's…" He shook his head and smiled at both Miho and Iruka. "Forgive an old man's digression. That will be all for tonight; thank you both for your usual excellent work."
Miho and Iruka both bowed respectfully and exited the room. Iruka looked at his old friend. "I'm amazed at how well your Team has managed to pull together in such a short period of time. The Yondaime's Gambit offers some very impressive results, even if it requires a lot of work to pull it off."
"They still have their rough spots where they clash occasionally, but I'd say that's just a sign that they had a really good teacher." She said with a flirtatious smile. "If old man Gendou could see you now..."
Iruka grinned at the memory of the Ninja Academy's headmaster back when he and Miho were still students. "He'd wonder who I was and what I did with Iruka the Clown." He glanced at his watch. "Is it that late already? I promised Naruto dinner at Ichiraku's for his first successful mission. The Lord Daimyo's wife's cat escaped… Again."
"Again?" Miho asked with a laugh. "God, how many times did we have to catch that thing when we were kids, 'Ruka?"
"More than I care to remember."
"Well, let me give you something better to remember..." Miho said, kissing him on the cheek. She grinned as he blushed. "Don't leave your friend waiting too long." She then wiggled her fingers and dashed off.
'Next time...' Iruka thought. 'I'll try and ask her next time...' He took a deep breath to clear his mind and then began the familiar trek to the ramen shop.