How Troublesome

Chapter 15: Irritating Information

Naruto burst into the clearing that was the training ground and ran over to a group of ninjas clustered around someone.

Shikamaru caught up with her and elbowed his way through the crowd. At its center was Kotone and Hisoka. Shikamaru quickly ran his eyes over everything. Kotone was pale, but apparently untouched, and a kunai was wedged deep into the bark of a tree right behind her.

He cursed softly. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened. Kotone had been attacked, and they hadn't been there to protect her. What was wrong with them? Him especially. This wasn't a vacation, but a mission, and a very important one at that. They didn't have time to be watching clouds.

Shikamaru watched as Naruto rushed to Kotone's side. "What happened, Kotone?"

Pale and wide-eyed, Kotone answered, "I don't know. I mean, we were just sitting here talking when Hisoka pushed me down, and then I heard the thunk of the kunai. Someone tried to kill me... again." Besides her, Hisoka nodded jerkily, his whole body tense.

Shikamaru spoke up. "Did anyone sense any unknown chakra signals?" As he expected, several quizzical faces turned his way.

"Aren't you a civilian?" someone asked.

Shikamaru shrugged. "I have a friend who's a shinobi, and we talk about stuff." His excuse was accepted at face value, and then everyone shook their heads. No one noticed any unknown chakra. He hadn't really expected anything else. With so many ninja present, the odds of pinpointing an unfamiliar chakra source was slim. Whoever had done this was either stupid, or really brave and knew what they were doing.

Naruto hugged Kotone and then grabbed her hand. "I think we should go home. I'll make you a cup of tea, and you can lie down."

Shikamaru knew what she was really doing. Naruto wanted to get Kotone out of the open.

Kotone nodded numbly.

Hisoka said, "I'm coming with you. Everyone else, search the woods. Whoever did this probably isn't there anymore, but still..." Usually, there would probably have been some annoyance at Hisoka giving orders, but not in this case. They all nodded and vanished into the woods.

Naruto led Kotone away. Hisoka walked at their side, alert to everything, while Shikamaru trailed behind. He'd pulled out the kunai and was turning it over in his hands. It wasn't really a kunai, but it wasn't a senbon, either. But a weird mixture of the two. The end tapered down to a needle sharp point, but the back flattened out, almost like an arrow. On a hunch, he held it by its tip and brought the flattened end down on the leaves of a plant. The leaves fluttered to the ground the ground, neatly cut in half. Okay, so the back and front of the thing functioned as a weapon. How the hell were you supposed to hold the thing in combat without impaling or slicing your hand he wondered.

They were back at Kotone's apartment house, and three minutes later, they were on the top floor. By this time, Kotone was over the shock of being almost being killed... again. "Stop babying me, Naruto. I'm fine," she said, getting up from the chair Naruto had pushed her down into. "Thanks to Hisoka, it didn't even touch me." She paused suddenly, and then said, "I need to go out."

Shikamaru along with everyone else, stared at her. Go out? That's the opposite of what you should do when you almost get killed. What was she thinking?

In answer to the incredulous eyes upon her, Kotone explained, "I take a basket of food to Mrs. Fugiwara every three days. She lives alone, and it's hard for her to get by."

Shikamaru held in a sigh and had the sudden urge to bang his head on the table. The woman is a saint. What's the first step in becoming a saint? Getting killed, probably. Or was that a martyr? It didn't matter. Did Kotone have to make their job even more difficult? He took a look at Kotone's stubborn face. Troublesome... "Fine, I'll go deliver it. Just give me the address."