9.18
New
okashihime
I like sweets.
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Life and death? By her posture, tone of voice and full body shaking, she wasn't talking about her grandpa's life. Her eyes were haunted and despairing, like the fate of the entire world hanged on the line. It immediately set me on edge. Was this going to be like one of those batshit Naruto movies, like the one where the Byakugan evolved and some lunatic on the moon tried to blow up the planet? There was no Naruto here right now to talk-no-jutsu out of disaster.
"How?" Tsunade's voice cut off my inner spiral. My head snapped back. Tsunade had a don't fuck with me face.
"G-grandpa Kahiko he—" The girl stopped, wringing her hands again. "He knows where the mine is, and these people kept asking him where it was."
Kahiko? That name was familiar. The same as the one who requested the mission, but also, mine? What was she talking about? I glanced at Tsunade, who didn't seem like she was going to ask questions.
"What mine are you talking about?"
More hand-wringing followed my question. She looked already halfway to vanishing into the grassy floor. I decided it was time to change tactics.
"What is your name?"
"I'm Emina."
I rummaged through my pouch and took out another of my lesser good impression kits. These contained far fewer pastries than usual, but I was poor. Out popped a few cupcakes. I offered them to Emina.
She hesitated, then took one.
"I'm Hinata," I said. "That's Ino, Karin, and Tenten. The mean, pretty one is Tsunade."
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Don't be a brat."
"I-I know her," Emina said, then took a tentative nibble. She shuddered, eyes closed, and a gasp escaped her mouth.
Girls and sweets! Success!
"Nerugui means anything to you?"
Emina was stuffing more of the cupcake in her mouth and seemed to forget we were there. She stopped and turned her wide eyes toward me.
"Finish eating," I coaxed gently.
She nodded, gobbled down the cupcake, but didn't manage to hide a stray tear from her eyes. Damn, that wasn't what I wanted.
"Yes," she said after a while. She seemed calmer. "He's our caravan pet, a ferret. He disappeared a while back."
I looked at my team, got confirmation nods from them. I handed her the bag of coins back. "You don't have to pay us," I said, noting the approving nods from Karin and Tenten, and Tsunade's impassive gaze. "Kahiko hired us to find Nerugui, and last time I saw him, Nerugui was running toward where Kahiko was taken to."
"R-really?" Emina asked, a bag of coins in one hand, a half-eaten cupcake in another, crumbles of sweets on her face.
"But tell me about this mine? Any information you can provide helps."
"I don't know much," Emina said. "I thought the stories were just that, stories."
While Emina was distracted, I rummaged through my seals, passing around the stored chairs. With practiced movements, chairs appeared, then a small table. Emina was so out of it that she didn't even notice when I sat her down and placed a cup with water in her now-empty hand, the cupcake already devoured.
Tsunade's gaze had a hint of incredulity. Yes! I managed to surprise the slug princess! I wanted to cheer, but knew it wasn't the time.
"He told us about our ancestors and the wars they fought and their destruction." She sipped the water, then blinked, looking at the cup like she couldn't understand how it had gotten in her hand.
She shook her head.
"He always speaks about a magic stone hidden inside a mine." She sipped more water. "I thought it was just that, a story, until these people came and demanded to know where the mine was. Grandpa didn't tell them, so they took him."
"And what does this stone do?" I asked, acutely aware of the one stone I had ripped out of the werewolf woman's throat, now stuffed inside my pouch.
Emina shrugged. "I dunno. But all the stories end in tragedy. The stone is cursed. If these people find the mine, something bad will happen."
Aside from Tsunade, the rest of the squad seemed to take the story seriously. Somehow, the sannin had a not-so-well-hidden exasperated look on her face.
I placed a few more sweets in front of Emina. "Can you wait a little while? I need to talk with my team."
Emina looked lost, then nodded.
I placed more sweets in front of her. "We'll be right back."
Then I moved away from the table and waved to my team to follow me. Tsunade also followed, even if I hadn't included her. That was fine; if the woman wanted to help, I wasn't about to refuse the help of one of the sannins.
It came to mind then that Tsunade wasn't as rough as I thought she would be. Aside from the grit from battle, she looked healthy: no dark bags under her eyes, no sunken cheeks, or sloped posture.
She was also the first one to speak once we were far enough. "You actually buy that story? I thought they stopped training shinobi to believe in fairy tales."
I didn't answer. Instead, I dug into my pouch and showed them the stone.
"What is that?" Tsunade asked, extending her hand toward the stone, then she recoiled like something had stung her.
"I took this one from the wolf woman," I said, still holding the thing. "I think this is why they can heal from almost any wound, and where their ninja-like attacks come from." My gaze dropped to the stone in my hands. "She died after I removed it."
It took longer to explain the details about these attackers to Tsunade. Some of that stuff she already knew. These people weren't ninjas. They didn't behave like shinobis and had a different attack methodology, relying primarily on their supernatural durability to overwhelm enemies.
I knew they didn't matter much in the grand scheme of things. These attackers were strong against regular people, maybe genin or weaker chunin. Once you learned about their regeneration, brute force was all that was needed to take them out.
As Tsunade proved, any jonin, or god forbid, S-rank shinobi could wipe the field with them. She was the one who killed most of the golems, splattering them into goo with those scary punches.
But what if this mine fell into the hands of a hidden village? I didn't even want to think about the consequences. We were fortunate, in some ways, that these people weren't warriors. Just opportunists that chanced into power and now wanted to find the source of that power.
"Do you have any way to track these people?" Tsunade asked.
I considered her question. If we had time, we could track their trails, or maybe even backtrack to where the fortress had been and follow its path. I don't think time was on our side.
"Your slugs can't do it?" I asked.
Tsunade looked at me like I was crazy. "They're slugs, not dogs."
Right, silly of me to think ninja slugs could do anything other than heal people and fight giant snakes.
I turned to the team. "Do you guys have any idea?"
Tenten shrugged. "Neji was our team's tracker."
Karin just shook her head. "I can't sense them anymore."
Ino also wasn't of any help. "My team always got support from the village when we needed help tracking."
That didn't leave me much choice, even if it gave me ideas.
I bit my thumb until blood seeped out, then placed my hand on the ground. Unlike Naruto, I didn't call out the jutsu name. I didn't know why he always did it. The summoning circle burned cold under my palm, lines of black chakra crawling out like cracks in glass. In a puff of smoke, Kumoko glared at me.
"Snake girl," she growled. Her tail lashed, but it was more of an excited lash than frustrated. Then she sniffed the air, growled louder, and tail lashed, agitated. "You reek even more of a snake," she accused.
Was it because of the sword? I had forgotten about the thing, not wanting to remember I had a snake lodged somewhere inside my body. A shudder ran through me.
"Don't you mind that," I said. I rummaged through the seals and took one of the honey-themed cupcakes. "Here, a gift." I offered.
She gobbled the pastries in two swift bites. Kumoko glared at Ino and Tenten, gave a reluctant nod to Karin, and pretended Tsunade wasn't there. Once she had finished eating, she looked around again, observing everything around.
"Where are we, and what do you want?"
"You always go about how I smell," I said, and Kumoko nodded, the little devil. "Can you track by scent?"
Her tail lashed, offended. "Of course I can."
I turned to Karin. "Can you lend me your bag, just a little?"
Karin walked closer and pushed the bag into my hands. I placed it in front of Kumoko.
The she-devil walked closer. She was small enough to enter the bag, which she did. Not long after, she walked out. "Stinks like a skunk."
"Not a skunk," I chided, "A ferret."
"You want me to track it," Kumoko said. It wasn't a question.
"Can you do it?" I asked nonetheless.
Kumoko raised her nose, sniffed the air. "This way," she said, bounding toward where I'd last seen the ferret.
"Kumoko, wait!" I shouted out after the she-devil. She didn't listen.
For all my bluster, I wasn't keen on dealing with this. I was no Naruto, able to overcome insurmountable odds through the power of bullshit. A glance told me that at least Tsunade was following us.
Well. At least there was that.
"How?" Tsunade's voice cut off my inner spiral. My head snapped back. Tsunade had a don't fuck with me face.
"G-grandpa Kahiko he—" The girl stopped, wringing her hands again. "He knows where the mine is, and these people kept asking him where it was."
Kahiko? That name was familiar. The same as the one who requested the mission, but also, mine? What was she talking about? I glanced at Tsunade, who didn't seem like she was going to ask questions.
"What mine are you talking about?"
More hand-wringing followed my question. She looked already halfway to vanishing into the grassy floor. I decided it was time to change tactics.
"What is your name?"
"I'm Emina."
I rummaged through my pouch and took out another of my lesser good impression kits. These contained far fewer pastries than usual, but I was poor. Out popped a few cupcakes. I offered them to Emina.
She hesitated, then took one.
"I'm Hinata," I said. "That's Ino, Karin, and Tenten. The mean, pretty one is Tsunade."
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Don't be a brat."
"I-I know her," Emina said, then took a tentative nibble. She shuddered, eyes closed, and a gasp escaped her mouth.
Girls and sweets! Success!
"Nerugui means anything to you?"
Emina was stuffing more of the cupcake in her mouth and seemed to forget we were there. She stopped and turned her wide eyes toward me.
"Finish eating," I coaxed gently.
She nodded, gobbled down the cupcake, but didn't manage to hide a stray tear from her eyes. Damn, that wasn't what I wanted.
"Yes," she said after a while. She seemed calmer. "He's our caravan pet, a ferret. He disappeared a while back."
I looked at my team, got confirmation nods from them. I handed her the bag of coins back. "You don't have to pay us," I said, noting the approving nods from Karin and Tenten, and Tsunade's impassive gaze. "Kahiko hired us to find Nerugui, and last time I saw him, Nerugui was running toward where Kahiko was taken to."
"R-really?" Emina asked, a bag of coins in one hand, a half-eaten cupcake in another, crumbles of sweets on her face.
"But tell me about this mine? Any information you can provide helps."
"I don't know much," Emina said. "I thought the stories were just that, stories."
While Emina was distracted, I rummaged through my seals, passing around the stored chairs. With practiced movements, chairs appeared, then a small table. Emina was so out of it that she didn't even notice when I sat her down and placed a cup with water in her now-empty hand, the cupcake already devoured.
Tsunade's gaze had a hint of incredulity. Yes! I managed to surprise the slug princess! I wanted to cheer, but knew it wasn't the time.
"He told us about our ancestors and the wars they fought and their destruction." She sipped the water, then blinked, looking at the cup like she couldn't understand how it had gotten in her hand.
She shook her head.
"He always speaks about a magic stone hidden inside a mine." She sipped more water. "I thought it was just that, a story, until these people came and demanded to know where the mine was. Grandpa didn't tell them, so they took him."
"And what does this stone do?" I asked, acutely aware of the one stone I had ripped out of the werewolf woman's throat, now stuffed inside my pouch.
Emina shrugged. "I dunno. But all the stories end in tragedy. The stone is cursed. If these people find the mine, something bad will happen."
Aside from Tsunade, the rest of the squad seemed to take the story seriously. Somehow, the sannin had a not-so-well-hidden exasperated look on her face.
I placed a few more sweets in front of Emina. "Can you wait a little while? I need to talk with my team."
Emina looked lost, then nodded.
I placed more sweets in front of her. "We'll be right back."
Then I moved away from the table and waved to my team to follow me. Tsunade also followed, even if I hadn't included her. That was fine; if the woman wanted to help, I wasn't about to refuse the help of one of the sannins.
It came to mind then that Tsunade wasn't as rough as I thought she would be. Aside from the grit from battle, she looked healthy: no dark bags under her eyes, no sunken cheeks, or sloped posture.
She was also the first one to speak once we were far enough. "You actually buy that story? I thought they stopped training shinobi to believe in fairy tales."
I didn't answer. Instead, I dug into my pouch and showed them the stone.
"What is that?" Tsunade asked, extending her hand toward the stone, then she recoiled like something had stung her.
"I took this one from the wolf woman," I said, still holding the thing. "I think this is why they can heal from almost any wound, and where their ninja-like attacks come from." My gaze dropped to the stone in my hands. "She died after I removed it."
It took longer to explain the details about these attackers to Tsunade. Some of that stuff she already knew. These people weren't ninjas. They didn't behave like shinobis and had a different attack methodology, relying primarily on their supernatural durability to overwhelm enemies.
I knew they didn't matter much in the grand scheme of things. These attackers were strong against regular people, maybe genin or weaker chunin. Once you learned about their regeneration, brute force was all that was needed to take them out.
As Tsunade proved, any jonin, or god forbid, S-rank shinobi could wipe the field with them. She was the one who killed most of the golems, splattering them into goo with those scary punches.
But what if this mine fell into the hands of a hidden village? I didn't even want to think about the consequences. We were fortunate, in some ways, that these people weren't warriors. Just opportunists that chanced into power and now wanted to find the source of that power.
"Do you have any way to track these people?" Tsunade asked.
I considered her question. If we had time, we could track their trails, or maybe even backtrack to where the fortress had been and follow its path. I don't think time was on our side.
"Your slugs can't do it?" I asked.
Tsunade looked at me like I was crazy. "They're slugs, not dogs."
Right, silly of me to think ninja slugs could do anything other than heal people and fight giant snakes.
I turned to the team. "Do you guys have any idea?"
Tenten shrugged. "Neji was our team's tracker."
Karin just shook her head. "I can't sense them anymore."
Ino also wasn't of any help. "My team always got support from the village when we needed help tracking."
That didn't leave me much choice, even if it gave me ideas.
I bit my thumb until blood seeped out, then placed my hand on the ground. Unlike Naruto, I didn't call out the jutsu name. I didn't know why he always did it. The summoning circle burned cold under my palm, lines of black chakra crawling out like cracks in glass. In a puff of smoke, Kumoko glared at me.
"Snake girl," she growled. Her tail lashed, but it was more of an excited lash than frustrated. Then she sniffed the air, growled louder, and tail lashed, agitated. "You reek even more of a snake," she accused.
Was it because of the sword? I had forgotten about the thing, not wanting to remember I had a snake lodged somewhere inside my body. A shudder ran through me.
"Don't you mind that," I said. I rummaged through the seals and took one of the honey-themed cupcakes. "Here, a gift." I offered.
She gobbled the pastries in two swift bites. Kumoko glared at Ino and Tenten, gave a reluctant nod to Karin, and pretended Tsunade wasn't there. Once she had finished eating, she looked around again, observing everything around.
"Where are we, and what do you want?"
"You always go about how I smell," I said, and Kumoko nodded, the little devil. "Can you track by scent?"
Her tail lashed, offended. "Of course I can."
I turned to Karin. "Can you lend me your bag, just a little?"
Karin walked closer and pushed the bag into my hands. I placed it in front of Kumoko.
The she-devil walked closer. She was small enough to enter the bag, which she did. Not long after, she walked out. "Stinks like a skunk."
"Not a skunk," I chided, "A ferret."
"You want me to track it," Kumoko said. It wasn't a question.
"Can you do it?" I asked nonetheless.
Kumoko raised her nose, sniffed the air. "This way," she said, bounding toward where I'd last seen the ferret.
"Kumoko, wait!" I shouted out after the she-devil. She didn't listen.
For all my bluster, I wasn't keen on dealing with this. I was no Naruto, able to overcome insurmountable odds through the power of bullshit. A glance told me that at least Tsunade was following us.
Well. At least there was that.