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"Is that all I can get you Master Aikou?" Toukiki asked. The elderly man sat down a saucer and small cup filled with tea at the table in front of Aikou. He then stood straight backed next to the table where the young teenage girl sat.
The man was of slender build, only lean muscle attached to his five foot, nine inch frame. His hair was already nearing a full coat of grey, only having hints of the jet black that once accompanied his younger days still remained. Those who mistook him as a weak elderly man was sorely mistaken though, as Aikou knew full well the agility and strength his slim body had hidden inside it. She never had the courage to ask his age, and instead she always assumed him to be in his late to mid sixties. Toukiki kept the face and smile of forty year old, but Aikou had known him enough to notice the age held in his grey-scale eyes. His words bore wisdom of many years as well, not without mention, the bite to accompany such experience. Despite being the Satsui family butler, he was not scarred to put them in their place if the situation called, and they respected him all the more for it.
Aikou simply nodded response to his question. The butler made a slight bow and turned round to the door and exited, leaving Aikou in the drawing room by herself.
She picked up the cup of tea that Toukiki had just sat down in front of her. Taking a large drink, she let the the warm liquid swirl inside her mouth before swallowing. It was delicious, as always. She then turned back to the scroll in front of her and picked up her pen.
Satsui, Aikou was shinobi of Konohagakure. Although at her current age of sixteen, it was strange to still be a genin, it was not unheard of. Given the past events that delayed her training and progression through the ranks, it was perhaps expected. The girl did not let her age dismay her though, and continued to move forward with her training. Being a member of a genin team, and a Juuin of the Mamorinuku - an organization tasked with the defenses of the Konoha village - she was already moving forward in great strides. Her mother thought it fit to increase the frequency of her training regiments in response ,and for the last two months the girl had almost no time to herself.
Getting a day to sit alone and work on her book was a rare occasion. She was already behind with her writing because of it. She was currently due four chapters to her editor, with another deadline fast approaching. This current book was one Aikou knew would not have anything else like it. She was working on a new set of Fuuinjutsu seals, a style of her own creation. It was in the work, but still held promise as a published set of ideas.
Her pen moved across the paper with fluidity. Hardly a moments pause between strokes. One hand at work, and the other feeding tea to her mouth, the girl labored in hard silence. That was until she heard the voices down the hall towards the front of the estate.
The Satsui family house was rather large. One of the more lavish residences inside the village and was set at the north western side. Many who saw it would expect a noble, or an ambassador to the Daiymo to live inside. They were wrong, though not far off the mark. The Satsui family had a large reputation, being one the families to help shape Konohagakure. As a long line of architects, they had designed and built many of the towers and structures that still stood strong in the village today. Their family estate was no exception. It was nearly as old as the village and large enough to be foreboding as it was inspiring. It was that size that allowed sound to travel through it, empty space echoed easily. That night itself was no omission, as the young genin could hear distinct voices as she worked.
"No, I am sorry he is not here and it is unknown as to exactly when he will return." Her mother's voice. It was one Aikou could not mistake.
"It is an urgent matter, I assure you. Can you not contact him?" This voice was male. Gruff and strong. Whoever it was held a poise of power and dominance in their words.
"I am sorry Sir. Contact with the Master cannot be done at this time." Toukiki now. Another voice that Aikou could not mistake. His voice did not stand the test of time as well as his face had. The man had been working with them all the way back to when Aikou's grandfather still roamed the halls after all, his years carried when he spoke.
"Is there no one of the family that could help us then? The building was designed by the family after all. Someone must have knowledge of it." Another male voice. This one was younger though perhaps a few years older than Aikou. While the previous man had booming arrogance to his voice, this one seemed humbled and respectful.
"I do not dabble in my husbands work, no. Toukiki has been with the family for years but he is not an architect. The only person who would be privy to such a buildings secrets is my husband."
"No one else?"
"Perhaps Master Aikou would know. She has quite the interest in such works and has labored over the study of the families creations for a long time."
"Aikou?"
"My daughter. But she is otherwise disposed at the time. She cannot be going out this late at night for some-"
"Where is she?" The other man interrupted. His voice radiating as more a demand than a question.
"Now listen here. I told you my daughter is-"
"This is not up for debate ma'am. I am under orders to retrieve someone with the knowledge we need. If that is your daughter than so be it. She will be performing her shinobi duties."
Footsteps began to move up the hallway. Aikou could assume they would reach the drawing room in only a mere half minute. She took the time to finish her tea and set the cup in its saucer. It looks like she will not have chance to write those chapters after all. With the thought in mind, she began rolling up the scroll in front of her. She turned just as the doors behind her burst open.
Four people poured into the room. Her mother, Toukiki, and two other figures cloaked in black.
The larger of the two looked to be over just six feet tall. Wide set shoulders and a muscly build could be seen even under the black shrouds they wore. Aikou assumed this one to be the arrogant voiced man. He held a stern gaze in his emerald eyes and she watched as they scanned the room and fell on her with a sense of finality. With his cropped brown hair, squared jaw and bulbous nose, he seemed to fit the definition of a strong man. Aikou no doubt would not like this man one bit.
The other was shorter, but still was reaching two inches over herself. Just as his comrade, his body was obscured by the cloak he had over his shoulders, reveling only his face. Unlike his friend though, his brown eyes showed compassion and care. His face was slender, near female in structure, framed easily by chin length auburn hair. He looked at Aikou with a sense of relief. Apparently the search for her father was stressing the young man immensely.
Aikou looked at both of them, peering at each in turn. "Hello. Can I help you?"
"Are you Satsui, Aikou?" The smaller man asked. His voice was strong, but held a soft tone to it. He was not demanding in his words.
"Yes." A simple reply.
"Do you know anything of the Hujikaru Temple?" He asked.
"Indeed. It was built two centuries ago by Satsui, Keishu as means to-" The larger man held up his hand, cutting off her words. Aikou frowned at this.
"You will have to come with us."
At this moment Aikou's mother burst forward, stepping between her daughter and the two men.
At a mere five foot six inches, Kea Satsui could not tower over much of anyone. Though the forty year old ex Jounin did not need height on her side to be imposing. The woman had a frightening growl to her voice, and a gaze that could put any man down on his ass. With her mother's back turned toward her, Aikou could not see if she was giving this look to these men now, but given the quick, recoiling step back that they made, she did not need visual confirmation.
"Hold it right there!" She barked.
"Ma'am, as I said we-"
"I don't care what you said, or what your orders are. If you think you can simply waltz right in here and take my daughter, you better think twice." The woman stepped forward now, moving directly at the larger man with no intention of slowing. Aikou knew once her mother got going, it took a lot to stop her. So she decided to end this confrontation as soon as she could.
"Mother. Enough."
"What? You don't just tell me enough young lady." she snarled.
"Mother. They are right, I am a shinobi. If the village needs me it's my duty. You know that as well as anybody." This seemed to slow her mother's anger, but not by much. Kea had been a ninja herself, a veteran Jounin and respected by her own right. She knew well the sacrifices of duty. Though that was also the reason she felt so strongly about the situation.
"She is right Master Kea. Although not an adult, she has chosen to take on adult responsibilities. You accepted that as well. Right now, you are the one acting a child." A standard Toukiki slap back to reality. He always knew what to say to hammer home a strong point. Satsui, Kea looked both offended and embarrassed by this. After a long moment of silence she moved to one side the room and opted to simply starring angrily at the two strangers.
"I am sorry. But Aikou's help is needed. We don't have time to explain everything now. We must get moving. If you please." The young man stepped sideways into the door way, motioning Aikou to follow. It looked like the conversation was over now. The genin was left with no choice. She nodded and rose from her seat. After taking a few steps she faltered, an idea popping into her head.
"Wait one moment." The look of exasperation on the men's faces were evident as the young girl strode across the room to a large rack along the far wall. Her hand swept over the area, and stopped at a single scroll among what could only be assumed as hundreds. She removed it from its resting place and tucked it under her arm before walking back towards the doorway.
"Okay then, let us go." Was all the explanation she gave for her actions.
* * *
"If you let us go I'm sure they will be more forgiving. Maybe they'll let you go, you didn't mean to hurt anyone right?" A man called over to Eitu from the floor, attempting to convince the crazed man to release his hostages.
"And then they come in here and kill me? No, no. I am not stupid old man. Now shut your ass up." He tossed a book at the man on the ground, hitting him in the shoulder with impressive accuracy with the improvised weapon. There were a few stifled screams from some of the other hostages, then silence.
"Much better." he sneered.
The man then went back to rummaging through the scrolls and books at the wall. What he was looking for was a way out. The temple was old, and Eitu knew these older temples used to be built like safe houses. They always had a back exit, a means of escape. He just had to find it quickly and get out before they ever noticed something was wrong. The task of finding the exit seemed to be the problem for him. He had exhausted what he thought the most likely areas for an escape route to be hidden.
"Shit!" the man yelled as he upturned a table behind him, sending papers and scrolls tumbling head ward and raining down over the scarred hostages in middle of the room.
He didn't have time to be scouring around a temple for hidden trap door. He had less than an hour left before his contact would vanish and he would fail his mission. The longer he spent pinned down in the building, the more likely he would dissapoint his brethren. Again he stuck his hand into his pocket, double checking the contents. A small item with big problems.
Eitu made his way back across the room and set his back against the wall near the window frame. Leaning carefully, he peaked beyond into the night. The figures were still outside , apparently setting up a perimeter. With their numbers though, there was not a lot they could do. Eitu smiled at this realization, thinking that once they spread themselves too thin, he could break their line and escape. His smile faded quickly when he noticed three more figures approaching the building and joining with the other shinobi. He strained his eyes to peer closer, as he was unsure of the truth to what his eyes saw.
"Is that a girl?" Sure enough, the man could make out a young teenager with the two men that backed up his enemies ranks.
"What the hell?"
* * *
Aikou led the two men down the hallway of her families' house. They knew the way to the door, seeing as they had come in from it. But Aikou still saw it fit to give her "guests" the option not to get lost, just in case. As she walked, she tried not to look at the men that flanked either side of her. She did not enjoy the company of males as it was already, and seeing as she could not change the situation at hand right now, getting to know them was not in her list of wants. She opted for simply looking straight ahead.
Jikoru, Aleci was a large man. He had been from birth. It was his size and strength that let him be a good shinobi. Which was lucky for him, as his wit would not have helped him. He was known as the "battering ram" by his teammates. They tended to drop into a zone expecting him to start tearing things down and clearing space for them. Hard headed, and even harder bodied. Right now his dull mind was trying to work the cogs inside his skull, an attempt to figure out why they were taking this genin out to the field right now. Even with the captain's orders, it seemed strange to him. He looked over to Oroki with a confusion in his eyes, hoping that his comrade would explain it.
Oroki glanced at Aleci, the large man walked on the girl's right, opposite himself. The look on his friend's face showed he didn't understand what they were doing. 'Typical, just leave the thinking to the Captain.' the young S. Jounin thought.
Saigo, Oroki was the newest member of the team. He had joined just under a year ago, and was already proving himself to be a great asset. He had the physical speed and mental endurance to put anyone on their toes. "Twister" by code name, he was a spinning, fast moving blur of orange hair and flashing steel. Unlike his friend, he was smart enough to show respect and compassion where it was due.
"Thank you for the help, Aikou-chan." He said to the genin. Hoping to ease her frustrations.
The genin simply continued walking, answering the man's comment with rigid silence. The girl was not one to make small chat with any random man, especially if they barge into her home and demand her help on something she was not even briefed on. They had simply said it was "very important". For shinobi, everything was important.
The trio exited through the front door and down the stairs of the front terrace. Once their feet hit the gravel walkway that led to the Konoha road Aikou stopped. She just realized the structure that the men had asked about earlier was roughly twenty miles away. Far outside walking distance.
"How urgent a matter is this. Seeing as our destination is a day and half from here." she asked.
Oroki smiled at the girl, and began walking further down the gravel path. Aikou watched for a long moment, before shaking her head and following after him. Aleci taking up the rear.
They went only twenty yards before Aikou noticed something on the ground directly in line with Oroki's path. he stopped in front of it, and once she got closer Aikou realized it was a large scroll. Written across its surface was a maze of characters and seals. Three open spots were evident among the Fuuinjutsu that adorned it's surface. It took only a moment for Aikou to realize the magnitude of such a Fuuinjutsu. She could see denotions of "travel", "displace", "body", and "transfer" among the seals. Whatever sort of Fuuin this was, she could only guess it was some sort pf Space/Time sealing technique. As she took her place in one of the open areas next to the two men, she hoped she could somehow keep the scroll after this and study it later. She would never have the chance.
* * *
A gut wrenching and blinding wave of light. This was all Aikou was able to see for almost four seconds. She counted them slowly, so she knew how many it took. The world spun, and a flash of energy seemed to sear her eyes from her head. She stumbled forward, and fell to her knees. She blinked, trying to get vision back to her brain. It wasn't until the glare in her eyes faded and she was able to see a mass of trees and foliage in front of her that she realized she was kneeling in wet grass.
The girl bolted upright, looking around to find she was now completely in a different area. "What the hell was that?"
"Travel Seal." Oroki said from behind her. "It's advanced Fuuinjutsu that allows shinobi to cover large distances rapidly. Does hell on your body though. I don't recommend using it often.
Aikou couldn't agree more. She could already feel her stomach starting to turn and a wave of nausea swept over her. It took a lot to keep from vomiting.
"This way please. We'll take you to the Captain."
Captain Nise, Shin was a man of true military stature. At a solid six feet tall, and a two hundred forty pound body, he struck fear into the hearts of many men through his years. At the age of forty-one, his brown hair had began to grey, and his face started to wrinkle around the eyes. But no one dared mention this, at least not to his face. "Steel Shin" was feared among his team. The Captain took no excuses and allowed no mistakes to go unpunished. Obsessive and strict on each detail, the man held standards that almost none could meet. Each mission could have been done better, and every task could be improved. "Good Enough" was not in Captain Shin's vocabulary.
As Aikou began to near the Hujikaru Temple, she could see this looming figure up ahead. She did not need to be told to know this was the "Captain." He stood out in the open of the field just to the south of the temple. Barking an order at a man wearing the same black cloak as Oroki and Aleci. The man snapped a salute and quickly ran off into the tree line. No questions asked, no comment needed.
The three of them neared quickly, stopped a yard from Captain Shin. The man peered down at Aikou, then at his two men. If concern or confusion was in the man's head, his eyes did not show it. Instead the black orbs seemed only to glaze over their existence, passing over the area where the three of them stood as if nothing out of the ordinary presented itself whatsoever. Aikou felt a primal fear rise in her as she looked at this man. Something about him unsettled her deep in her core.
"Report." The words fells from his mouth with sharp pronunciation. Aikou flinched from the sound of the booming, deep resonance of his voice.
"Captain Shin, the Satsui Family has offered their help in form of Miss Aikou here. A Genin Shinobi, but architect by birth and mind. We are assured she can give us what we seek." Aleci responded. Being careful to choose his exact words.
"Do You know what's doing on here Aikou?" The Captain's eyes bore into her with this question.
Aikou didn't know what was going at all. Why she was here, what was happening, how she got here. Only ten minutes ago she was writing her book and enjoying her tea. Now, she was at a temple her Ancestor built, and standing in front of the scariest looking men she had ever met. "No."
The man frowned and simply turned to the temple. Aikou followed his gaze, looking out at the structure standing fifty yards in front of her. The temple looked amazingly beautiful. Textured from natural materials, and surrounded by a ringed garden of flowers, trees and foliage. In reality it was a fortress, designed never to be penetrated. A single window adorned the wooden walls. It's roof was a four sided pyramid, sloping seams traveled the roof's fifty foot height before transitioning into walls. Walls, that Aikou knew to be three feet thick. A foot of steel plating stuck between thick wooden slabs.
"Inside that temple is a man holding ten citizens hostage. He is wearing a vest covered in twenty to thirty explosive seal tags. He is demanding we let him leave peacefully, and not pursue him. I want those civilians unharmed and him brought down." The Captain turned his head a peered down at Aikou once more. The same shilling fear ran down the girls spine as she stood under the man's gaze. "Do you know what Hostage Negotiation is Aikou?"
"No, sir, I don't."
The three of them then saw something Oroki and Aleci never would have thought possible in their entire time as a member of the Alpha Team, Captain Shin's face curled into a large grin. A devilish gleam cast itself down through his eyes under a raised brow. "Neither do I Miss Aikou. Neither do I."
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