Catharsis

Chapter 2.A New Mission's Sudden Appearance
Surrounded by towers of papers, save for a small opening at the very front of her desk that allowed her to receive visitors, Tsunade handed a message back to Temari, who looked weary and harassed. The Godaime looked sympathetically at the young blond kunoichi. It was a shame how war drained the color and energy of even those who were at the prime of their life.

"Thank you for sending me the report, and tell Gaara 'thank you' for organizing all the data," she said, gratefully. "Konoha is grateful for Sunagakure's help in this war."

Temari tipped her head in respect, and replied, "We're hoping that Hi no Kuni doesn't have to go through the same thing as Suna. Five of our six most prominent clans have are missing members. My bro--I mean, Gaara-sama--was considering restricting the mission activity of the remaining members, but... we need as many skilled people to fight in the war as possible."

Tsunade cocked her eyebrow. "That's understandable. The Ayase clan hasn't been touched?"

Temari shook her head. "But... you do have members of their blood in Hi no Kuni, don't you?" she asked, looking worried. "And, as you said, Team Kakashi is heading to Hi no Kuni's capital, where they live. If you'll let me, I can rendezvous with them in the capital to relay a message to that family. Sunagakure will offer them protection, if they consent to it."

Tsunade chuckled, "That's a kind offer, but Konoha's asked them to move to Konohagakure several times already--ever since third or fourth kidnapping--and the head of the family flat-out refused. I'm well-acquainted with her; she's not the kind of person to back down and live in fear, and she's passed it down to her children. That said, she has four children--two of them married with kids on the way, and twins who are getting ready to enter university. She wouldn't want to disrupt their lives."

"She at least knows about the war between the shinobi villages?" inquired Temari.

"What do you think?" Tsunade joked, taking a packet from the top of one of the mountains of paper. "She's the one who forcefully offered to pay for Konoha's war expenses."

"I see." There was nothing else to discuss or deliver, so Temari bowed to Tsunade. "Sureishimasu. I'll be returning to Sunagakure."

"Very well, then. Be careful going back."

"Thank you for your concern."

When Temari exited the Godaime's office, she found a certain young man sitting on the floor against the wall, puffing away at a cigarette. The blond kunoichi cleared her throat, then leaned over to pluck the cigarette away from his lips. He turned his head lazily to look at her, a mildly sour expression on his face. "What'd you do that for?"

"Shikamaru, don't smoke around the Hokage's office," Temari scolded. "It's rude."

He glared at her for a few seconds. It wasn't just the Hokage's office that she said not to smoke in: it was also the yakiniku restaurant, the teahouse, the shinobi lounge, the local park, and so many other places. When she returned the glare with her deep turquoise eyes, Shikamaru grudgingly muttered, "Alright, alright."

He picked himself up and followed the Sand nin out of the top floor of the Hokage's residence to the stairs outside. The pair descended in silence, but just before they reached the bottom, Shikamaru asked, "You're going back to Sunagakure?"

Temari looked back at Shikamaru. "Yes. I can't stay here forever," she said, matter-of-factly. Then, noting a look in Shikamaru's eyes that only she would have been able to read, she teased, "Are you going to miss me?"

They continued walking together, Shikamaru a few feet behind Temari. The pair spoke very little, save for a stray comment or two about the whether or how delicious the smells coming from Konoha's restaurants were, despite the long walk from the Hokage's home to the village gates. If they passed any one of their acquaintances, the two would only give a short wave and a smile before continuing on their way.

As they neared the village entrance, Shikamaru lit another cigarette. This time, Temari didn't even stop to take it out of his mouth or even reprimand him.

Finally, they reached the gates, and spoke to each other.

"You--"

"I'm--"

They paused, having just tried to speak at the same time. Shikamaru exhaled a puff of smoke, nodding, "Ladies first."

Temari waved off the cloud of smoke, her eyes watering. She warned with a simultaneously matronly and cheeky air, "If you come crying and wheezing to me when your lungs break down one day, I'm only going to say 'I told you so.'"

Cigarette in between his teeth again, Shikamaru snorted wryly, "Right. Like I'd go to you for help in that matter."

"You know I'd try to help you out anyway whether or not you come to me," the young woman retorted playfully. "Konoha and Suna need smart strategists around, and I need someone worth fighting, no matter how lazy he might be."

The corner of Shikamaru's lip twitched in an effort to keep himself from smiling. "I don't need another woman nagging at me, but the same to you," he said, coolly. "Do us all a favor and try to keep that beast of a fan hidden will you? Everyone knows about your fighting abilities and your relation to Gaara. Someone might try to capture you and hold you hostage or something."

"Excuse me, but that won't happen to me," Temari confidently declared. "So you can fill your head with all sorts of new strategies so we can win this war instead of thoughts about what might happen to little old me."

Shikamaru only rolled his eyes and muttered something about Temari being an "overconfident nuisance of a woman," but stopped when he felt something brush his sleeve. It was Temari, whose hand floated nervously by his arm. Tentatively, she tugged his sleeve, holding it between her thumb and her forefinger. A little more gently, she reaffirmed, "I'll be fine."

Shikamaru searched his head for how to react for several moments, finally settling on nodding dumbly. He was about to speak, when Temari cut him off again, by plucking the cigarette out of his mouth. Reverting back to her usual self, she scoffed, "You smoke like a chimney pipe. See you later."

Without further hesitation, Temari headed off. Shikamaru watched her back until she rounded the bend that lead westward and disappeared into the thick woods that surrounded the hidden village. He turned around, lighting another cigarette as he headed back to the Hokage's office. If only there were solid strategies that could effectively deal with women--unfortunately, most, if not all, women were far too volatile for even the most brilliant strategies. But maybe it was better that way.

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Naruto's jaw dropped--he had never seen a house that big or rich-looking. It put the feudal lords' homes he had seen to shame. It had a massive wall enclosing it and the lush grounds that surrounded it. Leading up to the front door was a path covered with smooth pebbles and flanked with dozens of beautifully carved lanterns on both sides, casting a soft amber glow in the dark. Around them, the grounds were literally a flowering garden, dotted with wisteria and cherry blossom trees at strategic points, as well as a winding man-made stream and its several elegant bridges.

The four crossed over one of the bridges, and Naruto only gaped even more at the decadence of the property. Whoever did the landscaping for the house deserved a cookie.

No, make that a thousand cookies.

Lily pads and their flowers were scattered about the stream, above them was a flock of black and white swans, below them swam vibrantly colored carp, all very fat and round.

Sakura was just as amazed by the home as Naruto, though her excitement was far less dumbfounded than his. Instead of walking numbly with her jaw hanging near her feet, she had struck up a very lively conversation with the portly butler that had greeted them at the gate's entrance. "I've never seen those kinds of lilies before."

"Because they're not available in this continent," the butler explained, "much of the plant life in the grounds were originally strains that didn't come from this country. The lilies were imported from a continent in the west. The wisteria trees are from Kusa no Kuni. And, afterwards, they were often modified to better suit this region's climate and the animals that would live amongst them, such as the swans and the carp."

"How long did it take to do all that?" Sakura asked, slightly bewildered.

"According to old documents, it took almost a century before everything was considered 'acceptable,'" said the butler. "But even afterwards, the Hibashira family continues to modify the plants in this garden, looking towards perfection. It's an ongoing project that's cost this family several hundreds of thousands of ryou."

If it was possible, Naruto's jaw would have detached itself clean from the rest of his skull. "Freakin' rich bastards," he moaned. How lucky they were to be able to spend their money on such frivolous things. "But at least Niikura baa-chan isn't like that."

Kakashi choked at the comment. He knew otherwise--"Niikura baa-chan" had personally designated him to be her "shopping assistant." That is, he and his Kage bunshin carried the dozen or so bags she collected shopping in Konoha, running back every so often to deposit them in her hotel room so they could carry a fresh batch of bags. In the hours following the ceremony, the woman had single-handedly financed most of Konoha's private businesses. Exactly what or why that woman had wanted to buy so many things was a mystery that Kakashi decided was best left unsolved.

"You'd be surprised, Naruto," Kakashi tried to laugh, though it came out as more of a deep, hoarse squeak. He coughed slightly, and took on a more business-like tone. "Anyway, there's a few things I need to go over with you, Naruto. Mostly etiquette and things like that."

A groan exited Naruto's lips and he pointed at Sakura, insisting, "What about Sakura-chan?"

Both Kakashi and Yamato looked at the young kunoichi. She was still chatting very energetically with the butler about the property; from the looks of it, she had him charmed. Clearly, she didn't need the etiquette lessons.

"She knows how to handle herself in social situations," Kakashi said. "You, on the other hand... you have a bad tendency of letting your mouth cut in front of your brain, and you say stupid things. We can't have that happen on this mission."

"It's a pass or fail," Yamato added. "The upper-class are steeped in certain manners of conduct. If you slip up even once, you're jeopardizing the mission. It'd be a lot easier to tell you not to speak at all--but then the people we need to meet will think you're stupid and they'll doubt Konoha's ability to choose capable shinobi."

"So... number one," Kakashi began, "if you need to introduce yourself... do it normally. None of that 'I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to become the Hokage of Konoha one day-dattebayo' business. 'My name is Uzumaki Naruto' will do. I'll take care of the rest."

"Number two," Yamato followed, "if they say anything that you'd consider offensive, stop. Don't yell, don't kick, don't do anything. The best thing to do is control yourself."

"Whoever we meet to take care of this mission, bow to them," Kakashi reminded. As if he'd thought Naruto didn't completely understand, he put his hand between Naruto's shoulder blades... and pushed him forward and down, so Naruto found himself walking with his body in an almost ninety-degree angle. "Respect is everything."

Yamato nodded, and continued the mini etiquette lesson. "You also need to..."

Kakashi and Yamato finally finished after another few minutes, when, at long last, they met the end of the long path to the front door of the mansion. Going through the already open door, the butler instructed them to take off their shoes, before leading them through a spacious foyer towards a wide set of stairs.

Naruto was momentarily distracted by an ornately carved marble statue by the foot of the stairs, until Kakashi pulled him back by the back of his collar. "And no touching," the jounin ordered hastily.

"I wasn't--!" Naruto protested loudly. Yamato turned to face Naruto, his trademark ghoul expression donned, and the blond silenced himself immediately.

The butler brought them up the stairs, and a few more sets of stairs ("Are we there yet?" Naruto whined quietly several times to himself) before they reached a long hall. At the end was a large door, decorated with what seemed to be the family crest: a bird rising from a blooming cherry blossom. The butler walked several feet ahead of them, and entered the doors before them, with a curt "One moment please."

At his request, the team waited silently at the door, with the exception of Naruto, who, despite Yamato's and Kakashi's quick etiquette lesson, was unable to control himself--or at least the fountains of questions he had to ask regarding the family that resided in the mansion.

Even though all of his answers led to even more questions, Kakashi decided that answering them was better than listening to Naruto spew them out nonstop with interjections of "Huh? Hey Kakashi-sensei, are you listening to me? Huh?"

Yamato watched Kakashi carefully out of the corner of his eye. He knows a lot more about this family than he's letting on, he thought to himself, noting Kakashi's cursory responses to Naruto's questions. He smirked. Luckily for him, Naruto's too dense to read between the lines and probe into it more.

The butler reemerged from the room, and held the door open for them, tipping his head slightly. "Thank you for your patience," he said, solemnly. "My Master will see you now."

After they'd all entered, the old man took his spot in front of them once again and brought them to the other side of a cavernous study, where a handsome, middle-aged man sat at his polished wood desk, scrawling through several ledgers. The butler presented, "These are the Konoha shinobi who requested an audience with you."

The man did not answer for several seconds, continuing to record what seemed to be finances into his books. After a somewhat tense silence, he finished whatever he was recording at the time, took off his glasses, and looked up at the four. Behind Yamato and Kakashi, Sakura blushed--he was quite handsome, well-dressed and trim with immaculate jet-black hair and hazel eyes. He asked, "I hear your mission brings you here. What is it?"

The pink-haired kunoichi's blush faded immediately. For all the man's good looks, his tone unnerved her. His voice was laced with... fear or hostility? She couldn't tell, but it became clear to her--and her teammates--that he didn't want them there.

Kakashi bowed over his desk, gesturing for the others to do the same. The team leader straightened himself up again, and revealed, "We were sent here by orders of the Godaime Hokage to escort Hibashira Aoi to Konohagakure for protection, if you will allow us. Here is the official documentation with the Hokage's seal."

The silver-haired jounin pulled out the message that they'd received and slid it onto the desk. To Naruto's and Sakura's surprise, the man didn't even glance at it. It seemed he only needed Kakashi's words to know what was going on.

"Is that it?" the man asked, the edge still in his voice. "It's about time you Konoha nin came."

Naruto and Sakura gave each other sidelong glances, looks that asked, "What the hell is going on?"

"Watanabe-san," the blue-eyed man called, snapping his fingers, "please bring our guests to Aoi's room."

"Yes sir." The butler bowed and held the door open for the group to leave.

Yamato, Sakura, and Naruto began to walk out, but Kakashi stayed behind. He stared hard at the older man. "The main family hasn't changed much, have they?"

"Old dogs don't learn new tricks," the man quipped. "We live in entirely different worlds--it would be difficult for someone like you to understand."

Completely different worlds? Kakashi wondered incredulously. What a bullshit excuse. Outwardly, he only shrugged. "But thank you for your cooperation."

The phone on his desk rang, and the man observed pointedly, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a call coming in."

Kakashi bowed one last time and headed out of the door behind his team. He chuckled softly at the high-pitched voice that came in through the receiver. He was glad he didn't have to listen to...

"What do you mean 'Aoi's not there'?"

The entire room froze. They didn't just hear that... did they?

"There is no way that he can get out, he's just a toddler. You might have accidentally left the door open. For all we know, he could be crawling around the house, burning everything he touches!"

Yamato shot Kakashi an apprehensive look.

The phone beeped, and the man yelled, "I have another call coming in. Until then, find and keep him from damaging anything. We have people here to pick him up." He slammed on the button to change the line. "What is it?"

A voice just as panicky as the first came through. Things were going from bad to worse. The shinobi team listened intently, not yet sure of what to do.

The head of the house bellowed into the phone, "They have Aoi, you say? Hurry up and catch--"

Kakashi snatched the phone out of his hand, and shouted, "Where?!"

A male voice stammered, "Behind the house! They're heading for the woods!"

Kakashi nearly knocked over the host as he scrambled to rip open the curtains behind his desk. Sure enough, torches were lit, zooming around the grounds like fireflies as guards chased after an unseen menace. Swinging the glass windows open, Kakashi scanned the grounds more carefully, searching.

He found it!

A blur appeared between two wisteria trees, and reappeared momentarily, knocking over some of the figures carrying the torches.

"Naruto! Sakura! Yamato!" Kakashi bellowed, preparing to descend the house's walls. "Hurry up!"

"Roger!"

One after the other, like synchronized swimmers diving into a pool, the team shot out of the window, and raced to the grounds. Kakashi swallowed a gulp of air and sped forward. They had two missions now: rescue Hibashira Aoi from his captor and bring the captor back to Konoha, where they could begin to unravel the mysterious kidnappings.