[Mission] Missing Cousins

[Willoria]

In her tasks to aid the Hyuuga and better her relationship with them, Aina shouldn't have been surprised when a messenger knocked on her door with a mission. She took the scroll and opened it as he left and looked it over. It was a rather important mission indeed, and there was no rank for the mission. It seemed to be estimated at B rank but the notes mentioned that there was no telling just what she might run into. Aina tucked the scroll away and went to get dressed, emerging only a little later as she made her way across the clan compound.

She knew some might question the decision she was about to make, she was a bannin being sent on a mission with quite a bit of uncertainty attached, why would she take a chunin? Simple, it was estimated at only B rank and Makoto was one of the only Hyuuga's in the clan that she actually trusted right now. She knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

When Makoto's mother answered the door, Aina realized she had never actually met the woman before. Placing a hand over her chest and giving a slight bow out of respect and in greeting, she spoke. "Hyuuga Aina. I was wondering if Makoto was home? I have a mission task I'd like for him to join me on." she stated simply, silently hoping this woman was among those slowly changing their minds about her.

[Ducks]

It was a difficult time to be a high-ranking member of the Hyuuga clan. Beat down, leaderless, and enfeebled by bickering, the clan had limped rather than charged forward in the months following the invasion of Konoha. But limping was better than crawling, and anything better than falling dead to the ground. So Yumi of the Hyuuga pushed and prodded and cajoled and threatened and otherwise did everything she could to keep the fragmented clan from falling completely to pieces.

Not that she had much else to occupy her time. She hadn't seen her husband in nearly a month, her eldest daughter in more than that. Her other child, her son, remained at home, but both kept so busy with their respective activities that days would pass with barely a word to or from or even a sight of him. They're relationship had never been a warm one; the hard, calm woman had had very little warmth in her. She wasn't bitter about it, nor regret the life she had led, no more than a fish wished for wings, or a desert snake craved a sight of the frozen north. She had been raised in the traditional way of the Hyuuga, married one who had been raised the same, and had in turn raised two children in such a way that no member of the clan could look down on them. She had done as had been done to her, and all her life it had seemed right. But in these last few months, following the attack, the armor surrounding her ego had been cracked, and through those cracks seeped trickles of doubt. Satomi had been a model child; disciplined, pliant, and more gifted than either of her gifted parents. Makoto was also disciplined, pliant, and gifted, but lately he had always been a bit . . . troubled. Whatever he thought of her (and she really did not know), she always had done her best to do right by him, to help him through the manifold challenges of growing up a shinobi. But now both he and his clan were floundering, and she felt powerless to help either. Hyuuga Yumi was not accustomed to feeling powerless.

But when an unexpected face presented itself at her front door one late morning, the woman that answered the door was the picture of proper, reserved serenity. She listened to Aina's brief piece with an expression of polite, unreadable calm. Of course, she knew the young woman on sight; Aina might have even recognized her, as one of the faceless faces that constituted the inner circle of the Hyuuga. For a moment, there was silence. "Hyuuga Yumi. A moment, please." The door slid shut (without an invitation in), and when it slid open half a minute later, another, somewhat smaller somber white-eyed figure stood before her.

"Aina, hello." Makoto greeted her with his smile, the one where he upturned his mouth to such a degree that it almost didn't look like a grimace. Sliding the door shut behind him, he joined her on the short path of snugly placed stones that made led up to their front door. "What's our assignment?"

[Willoria]

Aina wasn't surprised that there was no invitation into the home. Yumi was very traditional and Aina's appearance was enough to throw the woman off. Were Aina younger and a lower rank, Aina was sure she wouldn't have had the polite remark she had this time, probably would have been told to leave. But now that she was a Bannin and known to be focusing on Clan business she assumed the woman wouldn't be rude at least. But she pushed all thoughts aside about it as Makoto exited the home and Aina turned to walk with him. "Hello, Makoto."

"Two of our kin have been missing since the invasion and their trail was recently picked up by a tracker. But the Clan wants Hyuuga to take charge of the mission and so here we are. The trail ended at a nearby village, I've arranged a carriage to take us there though it'll take a few hours." She replied, turning and looking Makoto over as she tried to figure out if he was okay. She lead the way towards the village gates where a carriage would be waiting, sighing quietly as she went. She was tempted to ask him about Minoru, having heard he'd had a chance to see him, unlike Aina herself, but she knew that would only dampen the mood.

"How's that bird of yours doing?" she finally asked instead as they drew near the carriage.

[Ducks]

As the strolled off towards the village gates, a pair keen, white eyes followed their movements as far as it could make them out, which was quite a distance. Hyuuga Aina. Yumi pondered, sitting alone in her quiet, empty house. Traitor, rebel, prodigy, troublemaker, and now bannin . . . the tattooed girl was drawing quite a bit of attention to herself, inside the compound and out. The Hyuuga elder was not so fool as to blame her for the actions of madmen and murderers, but neither did she trust the girl. Yumi had read the reports; it was her job after all. Effective and skilled in the field, but with a temper and a persistent disregard for authority.

And yet, she had just let this feminine firebrand walk off with her only son, with nary a word or motion to impede them. Perhaps he will be good for her. Perhaps she will be good for him. It was a gamble, but with the current state of affairs, she could not afford to play it safe. She too had been approached by Aina's mother with the question of marriage, and although she had skillfully deflected the matter at the time (and the girl seemed unlikely to adhere to any such arrangement now), Yumi had kept the idea at the back of her mind. Clearly, the kunoichi was going to have an impact on the future of the clan. All that remained to be seen was whether the girl was to be encouraged . . . or crushed. Humming tunefully, she rose and went about her duties.

On the streets, Makoto heard the mission briefing with a serious face. Since the invasion? That did not bode well; many were declared "missing" after the attack, only to be discovered in the weeks following, to the distress of their loved ones. But it had been a long time since bodies had been found on Konoha soil, and if there really were fresh tracks, then there was a chance. He nodded, but did not speak.

Quiet though it was, her sigh caught his attention. A flood of memories sprang to mind unbidden: talking with her about Mino that day on her deck, the time they spent together trying to heal and forget, and that day not so long ago that his world had been flipped on its head once again. He flinched, but said nothing. What Mino did next was up to him; Makoto had spoken his piece, and now the Awai had to choose a path for himself. For now, it was enough to know that he was alive, and in no immediate danger. Any thoughts beyond that threatened to bring emotions with them, and emotions had no place on a mission.

In response to Aina's inquiry about Akira, Makoto rolled his eyes. "Ask him yourself." He said with feigned annoyance, slipping open a pouch at his waist. As if waiting for his cue, a bundle of bone, beak, and feathers extricated itself noisily from the container, cannoning several feet into the air before gravity brought him to an unsightly rendezvous with the ground. "I hope you don't mind." He said, tone apologetic. "He's as incorrigible as ever, but if he doesn't see some actual shinobi work soon I might as well sell him to a meneagerie." Not an unappealing idea, come to think of it.

[Willoria]

Aina grinned as Makoto produced the bird, chuckling as he hit the ground rather ungracefully. She bent and scooped up Akira in her hands and set him on her shoulder, leaving him there to sit so long as he didn't lose his balance. "I don't mind at all." she said, smiling at Makoto. "Maybe this will be good for him. Honestly though I don't think you'd actually sell him." she added, poking her friend in the arm and sticking her tongue out at him childishly.

She might have been a Bannin now, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to have fun and try to get a smile out of Makoto, she hadn't seen the man smile much but honestly she really wished he would. "Your mother seemed polite enough." she mentioned. "I know some members of the clan have been coming around, though not many... I've been working on some techniques to help defend our secrets since the invasion." she mentioned, sighing as she looked at the path ahead of them. She realized, standing beside Makoto, that she wasn't sure what to talk about on this walk. Sometimes she felt so close to him, and sometimes he felt miles away even though he stood right beside her.

"The two that are missing are a husband and wife pair." she mentioned, deciding that if she couldn't avoid the emotional topics, she'd talk about the mission at hand. "They had two children, one died when their home collapsed and the other survived but with serious injuries... I think she's like ten years old, and now blind." she added with a sigh, thinking a moment before finishing her thought. "I can't imagine growing up in our clan without someone... I was thinking about letting her stay with me so she's not completely alone... at least until her parents are found or something."

[Ducks]

Akira squawked amiably and latched on to Aina's garment with his vice-like talons. The merlin had grown significantly over the past year, though not nearly as quickly as ordinary bird; according to Makoto's falconry guides, this was a normal side effect of their extended longevity. That was fine and all, but Makoto wished the thing would hurry and become useful already. It seemed like all the months of feeding and training and tolerating had done was allow the small, loud fuzzball to grow into a somewhat larger, loud fuzzball. Irritatingly, the one thing that seemed to be developing quickly was its talon strength. A few weeks ago, he had made the mistake of inviting Akira to perch on his hand; he had just gotten the bandages off a few days ago.

Makoto snorted, as he usually did when Aina accused him of being fond of the bird. "You're probably right," He falsely conceded, pretending to misunderstand her (he was getting better at this "friendly banter" thing). "I doubt I could find any one to buy him. What about some merchants from Wind Country? They eat falcon eyeballs and raptor gizzards there, right?" Akira made a noise Makoto had never heard before.

He took the arm poke and tongue-sticking-out with a good natured half-smirk, but it vanished when when Aina brought up his mother. The woman and her son had lived in the same house for more than fifteen years, and yet Makoto had only a vague notion of what the woman did. She was very important, Makoto knew that, and had some authority or influence in both the clan and the village. When he was young, that knowledge was enough, but in the past few years he had gathered there was something more to know. Careless remarks not meant for his ears, the excessively (almost fearfully) polite way lesser clansmen behaved in her presence, and other assorted hints that, innocuous in themselves, taken together pointed to some sort of pattern. What that pattern was, he did not know. "Be . . . be wary of her. I don't know how deep her influence runs, but . . ." He broke off, not really sure what he wanted to say. "Just, you know, be careful." He glance away irritably, wishing he hadn't said anything.

He liked the next topic even less. A . . . daughter? His body remained in the city streets, walking alongside Aina, but his mind flashed violently back to that day in the hospital. There had been a girl then, lying alone on the hospital floor, no guardians or companions to be seen. He had extricated her from that hell, gotten her to safety - NO. He tried to shake his head, to clear the image, but the memory refused to vanish. There was no reason to suspect that she was a Hyuuga, and plus, smoke couldn't do that to a person, right? But I never saw her eyes.

Then he was back with Aina; stinging sensations on his raised hand and forehead informed him he had actually struck himself in the head to dispel the vision. Hoping the kunoichi took no notice, he quickly dropped his hand and nodded obligingly at whatever she had just said. He didn't remember hearing her words, but somehow he knew what they were. "That, that would be good." He interjected, lamely. "Is she really all alone right now?" The question escape him before he could quell it. No, DAMNIT, I don't want to hear more about her. No more. Swallowing hard, he quickly followed the question with another, hoping she would forget the first. "What are their names? The couple, that is."

[Willoria]

Aina couldn't help a chuckle at Makoto's remarks about selling the bird, honestly she was still certain he'd never sell the little guy, especially if it meant him getting eaten. As Makoto spoke, Aina reached up a hand to pet the bird's belly, smiling as she did so and listening to Makoto move on to the subject of his mother. "I've been trying to help with a lot around the clan lately... maybe instead of avoiding your mother I should have a talk with her. If she's as influential as you say, she could be a great help, especially against my own mother. She was always afraid of upsetting your mother... that could help me in the long run if I could prove myself to your mother." she replied, looking at Makoto and shrugging as if it wasn't a big deal. She was just trying to find a way to get along with her clansmen and maybe get to clan leader... but if she got there she'd certainly need the trust of a senior Hyuuga to help her in some decisions, maybe time with Makoto's mother wouldn't be a bad thing at all.

If Aina noticed Makoto's discomfort with any of the topics she brought up, she didn't show it, simply climbing into the carriage as they got to the gate and waiting for Makoto to hop in with her before they started rolling along. "I mean... she has the staff at the hospital." she said, speaking of the little girl. "They've been asking around the clan, trying to find her a home but it seems a clan of doujutsu users don't know what to do when one of us goes blind... she needs someone to help her find her way without her eyes. I guess for people like us, that's a very harsh reality to deal with." she mentioned, sighing quietly. It was clear that Aina felt for this girl somehow, and even now in the back of her mind she had already decided she'd find a way to help the girl, with training if she couldn't take her in at the least.

"Her parents were named Saki and Nobu. Honestly I never met them myself, but apparently they're home was adjacent to our compound border and their home was decimated by Enma and Yaku when they came into the grounds... we don't have much of a lead on who would take their bodies either. We just know Hanako, their daughter, said when her brother Takashi was covering her in the rubble he had said he took them out of the home before the collapse, from there a blood trail was found and it led out through the forest. I guess trackers found a way to trace the trail to a village, but that's it. So you and I get to talk to a few locals there and try to figure it out."

[Ducks]

"Hm." Was all the reply Aina's proposition received. It wasn't that Makoto thought it a bad idea. To the contrary, winning over people like Hyuuga Yumi was exactly how one such as she could regain the trust of the clan. Nor did he think his mother was an evil, or even selfish person. But her approach to the world and politics was (such as Makoto could tell) markedly utilitarian. For the clan and the village: he heard that phrase many times during his childhood. The good of the many outweighed the good of the few. While he had never felt threatened by her (he had no reason to be), he couldn't help but fear what would happen if his mother decided Aina's course was detrimental to the future of the clan. "Hm."

Swinging his small frame into the carriage, he settled into the seat adjacent his companion's. As a shinobi, he was used to and prepared for quickly travelling long distances by foot, but he was secretly glad that he would this time be spared the exercise. The less unnecessary exertion placed on his lungs, the less likely he was to suffer an attack. This mission promised to be an action-light affair, but he could not afford to compromise its execution. His recent mission record was unimpressive as it was- Don't be a fool. His self-awareness interrupted the immature train of thought.You carry out missions for the good of the Leaf and the Fire Country, not to stroke your fragile ego with nice marks on a piece of paper.

Any residual self-pity quickly dispersed as Aina elaborated on the orphan's (?) condition. He tried not to listen, to ignore her, to not picture a small, lonely girl, lying in a hospital bed, unseeing lavender eyes staring hideously ahea-damnit damnit DAMNIT. A stinging pain on his right thigh drew his attention, and he glanced down to see his own hand clamped onto it just above the knee, knuckles white with exertion. Slowly, deliberately, he relaxed his grip. As the blood circulated to his lower leg and feeling returned to his hand, he glanced irritably at Aina; hopefully, she would realize it was not directed at her. He wanted to say something. But he didn't; as he had to re-remind himself, this was no time to be getting emotional.

Plus, something about the parent's story seemed off. In a bad way. "So, something or someone took them from the middle of the village the day of the attack, something that hasn't tried to relay their condition to the village or demand a ransom?" He hated to think pessimistically before it even began, but their assignment was beginning to sound less like rescue and more like recovery; the Byakugan was a very valuable organ, and one the Leaf guarded jealously.

[Willoria]

Aina glanced over at Makoto as he seemed to fall into silence, noticing the way his hand gripped his leg. Frowning slightly she reached over and touched his hand. "Hey, you alright?" she asked, though as she lifted her eyes from his hand to his face, she saw the way he was looking at her and immediately removed her hand from his with a slight blush. She wasn't sure if something was bothering him or if he felt her touching him was crossing a line or something, and so like she had so many different things lately, she buried any thought of it and moved her hands back to rest in her own lap.

She was honestly grateful when he spoke again, though all she could really do was shrug in response. "Honestly that's all we know, so either their dead, or... worst case scenario, their Byakugan was stolen. Or both... honestly I'm trying to have hope for Hanako's sake but I just don't have much." she remarked, frowning as she kept her eyes on her own hands, hoping she wouldn't turn her head and see that look on his face again.

'You're a damn child, Aina. Knock it off, just focus on the mission.' she chided herself mentally before sighing quietly.

"Well the village we're going to is apparently small, most of the people there make a meager living at best... they don't see shinobi very often so hopefully whoever took those two stands out among them." she said, fighting to keep her mind on the task at hand.

[Ducks]

"Hm?" He asked innocently, as if he had no idea what she was talking, nor had noticed the brief, comforting gesture she had begun but quickly abandoned. He had a long history of ignoring things that made him uncomfortable or ashamed, and this did not seem a time to revise that policy.

So he sat back in his seat, clasped his hands on his stomach, and let out a long sigh. The melancholy was real enough, for his mind had slipped from the worries of the present to the worries of the far away. The feelings returned, but this time he did not try to quench them. It was a long journey, and he was in no mood to exhaust himself trying to micromanage his emotions. So he put it towards the back of his head, and told himself it didn't really hurt at all.

Aina's analysis of the situation seemed sound enough. Makoto, still reclining and looking straight ahead, allowed a few moments to elapse before replying: "Unless they somehow detected our trackers, they shouldn't be expecting us now, after all this time. So, what's the plan?" He asked, glancing briefly in her direction, if not actually at her. "Observation? Infiltration? Diplomacy? I'm afraid none of those are exactly my specialty."

[Willoria]

Aina fell quiet, leaning back in her seat as well as she turned her head to stare out at the passing landscape. She heard Makoto finally reply to what she had said and she thought a moment, trying to keep her own mind on the mission at hand and not let it wander to anything else. "None of the above really." she replied. "Honestly I figured we'd just be us, we'll go into town and set up a place to stay, start walking the town and asking questions from there." she told him, turning and glancing at him.

Her mind was literally all over the place it felt like, her own recent actions wasn't helping her confusion any. She wanted to ask Makoto about Minoru but knew that wouldn't help her confusion any, and so she kept quiet on the question. She was even tempted to ask him questions about Takeo, he had back Takeo's student at one time after all hadn't he? But that wasn't going to help either.

She sighed quietly as she turned her eyes back out towards the landscape. "Do you have any thoughts on what we should do?" she asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

[Ducks]

"Hm." He remarked with characteristic verbosity, shifting his gaze back to the sky above and path ahead. Fortunately for the dying conversation, he elaborated. "Assuming a malevolent entity is behind the couple's disappearance, which at this point seems to me the most likely explanation, I believe we should approach the task with great care. I doubt we'll find either of them-" he spoke the word as if it had a bitter taste "-there, but we have no idea what minions, informants, or lackeys they command." He sighed; it was a depressing thought. "If two Konoha ninja materialize in this village, which we believe is connected to the couple, who we believe are connected to them, well, our mission could be seriously hindered." This was also a depressing thought.

"If nothing else, I think we should give the place a thorough examination via Byakugan. With that, we'll at least be able to make note of any activated chakra networks and act accordingly." Shifting a bit in his seat, he lifted one leg over the other and forced himself to breathe deeply. He had hoped this journey would be a time to relax and rest, but relaxation was proving difficult. Already he felt himself drifting into worry, that aggravating state that gives neither the comfort derived from planning for a problem nor the peace yielded by ignoring it.

[Willoria]

Aina didn't say anything in return, nodding in lieu of speaking. She knew he was right, this mission was also a bust from the start. As much as she was hoping for it, she knew this wasn't going to have a happy ending. She fell into silence for the rest of the carriage ride, practically relieved when they arrived at the small village.

She got out first, waiting for Makoto to step out after her. She looked around, smiling to herself. It was a small town, clearly full of fishermen, farmers, and the like. It was a simple life. "I almost envy this." she said quietly as she grabbed her bag and motioned for Makoto to follow. She led the way into a nearby building, a small inn, and paid the innkeeper before they were led to their room.

Though it was one room there were thankfully two beds, even a couch and a small kitchenette. It was quaint, and Aina thanked the innkeeper before going in the room and setting her back down, going straight for a window. "This place is quaint, quiet, peaceful... part of me hopes this means we find them alive but... I know it's a longshot."