Team Yumi re-entered the Hidden Leaf Village as the sun began to set over the Hokage Monument. They had just finished a mission, and were on their way to report their success to the Hokage. Despite the time of day, various villagers were running, talking, playing, and laughing through the streets. A few ninja discussed their most recent mission, while vendors tried to sell goods to annoyed customers.

 

"Heh... I really missed being in the village!" Koukon grinned, happy to be back home.

 

"Yeah. We can finally rest." Hikari wasn't as enthusiastic as her friend, but still smiled. "I can't wait to go eat some ramen." She rubbed her stomach, having missed her favorite food.

 

"Of course, that's the first thing you think of. It's always ramen with you." Koukon teased Hikari. "I guess that going to Ichiraku wouldn't hurt, though..." He looked over at his teacher. "Yumi sensei, is it fine if we head off?"

 

"Yeah, I'll go check in with Lord Hokage. You three can go off and get something to eat." The woman smiled back at her students.

 

"Alright!" Koukon shouted, and looked over to his teammates. "Let's go, Hikari! Are you going to come with, Kiniku?" He asked his best friend, hoping that the three of them could go together.

 

"It's been a while since the three of us got to go to Ichiraku together, hasn't it?" Hikari asked. "You should come with us, Kiniku."

Kiniku

 

The Matsuyo Clan member got nervous; rarely did he ever feel this way, nor did he ever find himself speechless, and he could tell Hikari was just as nervous as he was, making things even worse for him.

 

"... Uh.... did you find anything?" He asked, deciding that focusing on the mission was probably the best solution.

Hikari

 

I was hoping he wouldn't try to ask about anything... "No, I haven't found anything." She replied, not turning back to face her teammate. She activated her Byakugan again, hoping that putting more effort into the search might get him to stop talking. She knew there was no way to shut Kiniku up, but she figured it was worth a shot.

Kiniku

 

Kiniku could now tell that conversation was not on Hikari's mind at the moment. Quite frankly, he was glad. His ability to speak was failing him anyway. Kiniku looked away from Hikari too and looked out on his kinkuchi trail, seeing if he could find anything for himself.

 

Dang it. You could cut the tension in the air with a kunai... Kiniku frustatingly quipped in his thoughts. Probably wouldn't even have all this tension if she'd just talk to the Old Man...

Hikari

 

While Hikari's main reason for activating the Byakugan was to find any leads on what caused the incident, she also kept an eye on Kiniku. She could tell that he looked frustrated with her. Ugh... He needs to learn to mind his own business. My own personal affairs don't matter to him, he needs to quit prying into them.

Kiniku

 

Kiniku could feel himself being watched now. He twitched his eyebrow in further frustration. There she goes, gettin' all hot and bothered again. I swear, you can feel it coming from a mile away... Kiniku thought. It wasn't exactly a secret that Hikari had a slight temper problem, ironically stemming from her father, not so much her mother. Funny how she resembled her more in the looks department....

Hikari

 

Hikari sighed. She was getting sick of the tension. She wasn't as talkative as Kiniku, but being around Koukon made her adjust to noise. She couldn't stand the silence. "What's your problem with me?" She asked, turning to face Kiniku.

Kiniku

 

"My problem?" Kiniku asked back. Now that things were beginning to go up in the air, he was starting to feel his inner frustration with Hikari pour out.

 

"The better question is 'what's your problem!" Kiniku added, a little more fiercely as he turned around and looked Hikari in the eye.

Hikari

 

"What do you mean, my problem?" Hikari asked back, now more frustrated. "I didn't do anything to you! You're the one who got mad at me out of nowhere!" As she shouted, she remembered what happened when she went off on her father before. Calm down Hikari... There's no need to yell. She took a deep breath, and turned around. "I don't get it... Why you always act like my problems matter to you."

Kiniku

 

"What are you talking about? ... You're my friend. 'Course they matter..." Kiniku said truthfully, though it was sort of hard to let it come out. Through the big fuss he made over Hikari and her issues with Naruto, that really was the reason why he was so concerned. Well, one of them at least, but it was still a very big reason nonetheless.

Hikari

 

Hikari was speechless. She knew that her friend was right, and she felt bad for constantly ignoring him when it came to her own problems, but she didn't know what to say in response. "... You're right. I'm sorry..." She managed to speak, much more quietly than before.

Kiniku

 

"Look..." Kiniku began, finding it hard to look at Hikari directly now. "I'm not trying to butt in on anything that isn't my business... but the fact is: the Old Man is your dad. He's family... in the Matsuyo Clan, we have one rule: "don't ever turn your back on your family".

 

"Fact is... I've been where you are now. Trust me what I say: it's not worth getting pissy about it... do you want to know why?" He asked.

Edited November 29, 201410 yr by Firaga Sensei

Hikari sighed. He's trying to help, but he doesn't understand what my problem really is... This is why I never told him, he always jumps to these conclusions. "Why...?" She asked, not wanting to make her friend upset.

Kiniku

 

"Because... before my parents died... the last time I got to talk to them... I was angry at them. You see, back then, I didn't look like this..." Kiniku said, pointing out his large and muscled appearance. "I used to look like a twig. A frail twig at that. Being that my mom and dad were leaders of the clan... everybody expected me to be great just like them, and tough too. But I wasn't, and it ate away at me all the time... and... one night, I just fell off the wagon. I yelled at my parents... and... I told them that... I didn't want to be their son anymore..." Kiniku paused, he could feel himself starting to tear up, and quickly rubbed his eyes. "Then right after... a rouge ninja came and kidnapped me in the middle of the night. My parents came following, but... well, you know what happened." Kiniku said, sighing to himself. "To think that I couldn't even say anything nice to them before they died... do you understand what I'm trying to say, Hikari?"

Hikari

 

Once again, Hikari didn't know what to say. He's... Not that different from me... I never would have thought he had to go through the same problems I'm dealing with... "I didn't know you ever had to deal with that..." She began to feel guilty. She'd always been frustrated that she was constantly compared to her father. As much as she hated being associated with him, she had never thought about what she would do if anything ever happened to him. "I'm... Sorry, Kiniku. I was being selfish. I never should have acted the way I did..." She fought back tears as she spoke.

Kiniku

 

"Nah... It's fine," Kiniku said, trying to fight off his own sense of guilt. "But look, just know this one thing: The Old Man... he loves you. In fact, he loves everybody in the village. It's pretty much part of being the Hokage... and I know that he knows you're strong. Super strong. And he only wants you to get better. So don't be so hard on yourself. Alright?"

Hikari

 

"Alright... Thank you, Kiniku." Hikari said. She was too embarrassed to look at her friend, but she really was glad that he had talked to her. Of course, at the same time, she was still worried... Worried about how she could live up to the expectations of her father and the rest of the village, or what she'd do as a ninja.

Kiniku

 

"Anyways... we should focus on the mission. There's gotta be some evidence around here," Kiniku said, now inspecting the scurrying kinkuchi on the ground to see if they were leading to anything of interest.

Edited November 29, 201410 yr by Firaga Sensei

"Y-yeah." Hikari nodded, and continued scanning their surroundings with her Byakugan. As she searched, she quickly noticed someone nearby, wearing a mask similar to the one that the man on their last mission wore... She stopped in her tracks, and whispered to Kiniku. "There's someone over there. They look really suspicious... We need to sneak up on them."

Kiniku

 

Kiniku stopped and took notice of the man that Hikari had spotted. "Right..."

Hikari

 

"Alright... I'm moving in. Be careful, he's got the same mask as that guy from before. There might be some sort of trap hidden on him, too." Hikari whispered, eyeing her target. She summoned two Shadow Clones, both of which closed in on her opponent. They attempted to attack the enemy from both the front and behind, but when they closed in, he dodged the attack. He then threw shuriken at their chests, destroying both clones. While he looked for the two chunin, Hikari rushed in, and threw a kunai at the man. He dodged this attack too, but instead of countering, stood still.

 

"Heh, there's the real one..." He spoke through the mask.

 

"We've got some questions we need to ask you." Hikari said calmly, then looked back towards Kiniku.

Kiniku

 

"That's right pal. Don't try to hide anything either. If you don't spit it out, then we'll knock you out." Kiniku threatened the rouge, balling his right hand into a fist.

Hikari

 

The masked man laughed. "You kids won't get anything out of me." He mocked Hikari and Kiniku.

 

"You're outnumbered. You think you stand a chance against us?" Hikari asked.

 

"Hm... You're the Hokage's daughter, aren't you?" The man quickly changed the subject. "We could use you.." He began to walk towards Hikari, who backed away.

 

"What's your problem, freak?" Hikari asked, now gripping a kunai in self defense. "If you touch me, I'm cutting your hand off."

 

"You're a tough one, aren't you?" The man asked. "Well... Sorry, but you're coming with me." He formed a few handseals. "Earth Style: Earth Corridor!" He slammed his hands to the ground, and a large dome of mud surrounded the three ninja. There was a small opening at the very top of the dome, but aside from that, there was no way to escape. "Heh... You're all trapped, now."

Kiniku

 

"Please... my grandmother could make a better earth corridor then this." Kiniku said, unaffected by the rouge's useless prattle and his useless jutsu.

 

Kiniku simply walked to one end of the corridor and gave the wall a nice hard punch. It easily made a crack and shattered part of the wall itself.

 

"Alright, pal, are you gonna come quietly now? There's no use in acting tough. Me and my partner here already broke through your lame attack. Plus, you'll be hurting a lot less afterwards if you behave well..." Kiniku said, cracking his knuckles and giving the rouge a spirited glare.

Hikari

 

Even Hikari felt embarrassed that the opponent had used such a pathetic attack on the two. That's... Really sad. She thought to herself. However, she quickly composed herself, and now stood in a more offensive position. "Yeah... If you come with us, you won't need to get hurt." She said.

 

The man growled. "I-I... Won't stand to be insulted like this..." He ran towards the two, holding kunai in each hand. "You won't get away with this!" He shouted. He slashed at Hikari, who quickly dodged the attack. I won't even need to worry about reserving my strength for this one. She leaped to the side. "Gentle Fist: Air Palm!" She shot a blast of air at the enemy shinobi, hoping to weaken him.

Kiniku

 

"I won't waste the techniques of the Matsuyo Clan on you!" Kiniku said, rushing towards the rouge before swiftly jumping over his head and locking him in a full nelson, hoping that Hikari's attack would hit now that the rouge was held in place.