5.14

5.14

It didn’t take long to find the rest of my team. Sai was still out cold, sides cleaned and bandaged. Next to him, Yamato and Hayase talked. They looked alert, but not worried. My arrival didn’t go unnoticed. The jounin waved me over.

“Welcome back Hinata-san, how did the investigation go?”

Out of the armband popped my communication’s board. I don’t really think I had to keep it hidden anymore. I wrote down part of my report. “Victims confirmed to be the missing shinobi family from the town.” I took out the clan symbols and notes and personal items that confirmed that idea. “My current theory is this family decided to fight against Orochimaru, and in turn, were experimented on.”

Hayase’s eyes were glued to the items I presented, but then he looked at me. “How did you arrive at that result?”

I tilted my head. For someone so smart, Hayase did ask silly questions. I shrugged, wrote on my board. “They were turned into monsters. I don’t think anyone would have signed up for that.”

Hayase nodded. “That is a fair assumption.”

“Anything else of interest?” Yamato brought us back to topic.

From inside the pouch, I took the parchment with the coded message. “I found this, I couldn’t decipher it, however.”

The chunin’s eyes sparkled. He leaned forward, eyes intense. “Can I see it?”

Good thing he asked. Hayase was the reason I brought those papers. I remember him geeking about ciphers and codes. Papers exchanged hands. Eyes sparkled with even more interest. Hayase soon took out a notebook and pen and started scribbling and mumbling, lost to the world.

The impetus to join was there. I wanted nothing more to help, learn more about this kind of stuff. It was right up Fangirl-sama’s alley. I shook my head, there was more stuff to do. I turned around, left Hayase lost to the world. My steps took me back to the corpses. Yamato had followed me, thankfully in silence.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

When we arrived at the location, I wasn’t sure how to do this. Options flashed into my mind. Use barriers, explosions, or even doton jutsu to open up a hole in the ground. I shook my head. Somehow, I didn’t want to. Didn’t feel like the right thing to do. I thought about the many tools I had stored in my seals. My hands searched for one in particular. Out popped a spade and I got up to dig.

I nodded at Yamato in thanks, ignored Hayase who was still lost in his own obsession and hadn’t even seen the house spring out of the ground. We ventured inside, Yamato carrying Sai to one of the bed rooms. I went straight toward the kitchen. I wanted a decent meal. No more cold dinners and eating dry travel rations.



I cooked, we ate, Sai still slept, Hayase was still not with us.

I took this time to work on my still unnamed barrier jutsu. I had managed to use it before that explosion, even if the barrier didn’t hold up like I wanted. But it was progress. I think that after that trial run, I could at least name it. What would be a good name for a jutsu like that? My musings on possible names were interrupted by a shout from Hayase.

“I got it!” The chunin yelled, a fist closed, pointed at the sky. “I broke the code!”

That got our attention. Yamato soon returned from the bedroom where he’d been keeping vigil over the still unconscious Sai. I moved closer as well, keen on learning if those notes had any useful information.

Yamato’s stoic voice congratulated the chunin. “That is amazing work. Did you learn anything useful?”

Hayase beamed. Shook the original note. “Better than that, the note was a secret communication of the Fuma clan. They were using a mix of the Hashirama principle with two other sets of encryption to hide the message. It took me a while to break it. You see, I don’t think I would have managed if not by—”

Yamato coughed, interrupting the tirade.

Hayase scratched his head, looked embarrassed. “Right, sorry. The note is a secret communication of the Fuma clan detailing a plan to attack Orochimaru’s hideout. It has information about where the place is.”

“Good job Hayase. I doubt anyone else would’ve managed it in such a small time frame.” Yamato praised the chunin again.

I nodded, gave him a small punch in the shoulder, then a thumbs up and a smile when he looked my way. Hayase looked happier than I ever saw him. I even forgot my gloomy mood as well. It felt good, knowing that finally we had a conclusive clue. From there, I took out the area map we got from the town, and using the clues provided, Hayase was able to pinpoint the area the hideout was located in. It still wasn’t the definitive location, but better than we had before.

“You guys did well. Make sure to rest and prepare for tomorrow, we don’t know what we’ll find there.”

I nodded. Gave the map one last look. With luck, tomorrow we’d find the place. With even more luck I would find information to help me up with my seals. Or if fate smiled on us, we’d find Kabuto. I won’t lie here. I was hoping for the last one. Somehow, I wanted to blame, maybe punch someone, and Kabuto was the perfect target.