Journey of the Three Failures

Chapter 15: Six Month's Time

Journey of the Three Failures

Fifteen: Six Months' Time

Part One: Five Months' Time

Hinata ヒナタ

There were two voices in the next room over. Even more, three, maybe four rooms down – my ears sorted out a man, a woman, a younger girl, a preteen male. Here were footsteps; there sounded a knock on someone's door; somewhere else a simply ridiculous yawn was poured, pealing, into the air. At this moment nine faucets were running. Scratch that – six sinks, two showers, one bath. A sickeningly sweet conversation continued to flit over from the two in the next room, and I groaned groggily and buried my face in the pillow – which by the way, and contrary to claim, smelled like it hadn't been washed in a few visitors' uses.

Eew...

Sizzling noise – soon enough cooking bacon, sausage, egg, bread were caught up in my nose, and more subtly were found cold ham, cheese, rice, fish, pickles, freshly cut fruit (orange, pear, and apple apparently the most popular), along with jam, honey, butter, and the like. I turned my head stubbornly away, and my eyes squeezed all the more tightly shut when the brightness of the room escalated sharply, announcing the sun had at last surmounted the horizon. With a sigh of defeat I rolled onto my back.

Thud!

"Eep!"

The Byakugan blazed to life as I was abruptly on my feet, and an inexplicable kunai had instantly found its way to my hand. I turned sharply, wide eyes racing left, right, above, behind–!

Bed! Elevated! Right!

Blushing and now largely awake, I set down the knife and knelt to rummage through my bag. Then I remembered and went to open the door; I scooped up a neatly folded bundle of clothes and closed it again to change. They'd offered to take up laundry the evening before, and I had requested mine be left outside the door rather than delivered more safely to the room.

If the door had opened, I would have woken up.

Unlike the pillowcase, my clothes at least – which had been rank with sweat from training the day before – had definitely been cleaned. Pausing a moment, I smiled at the pleasant, flowery scent in the soft blue fabric of a sleeveless shirt before I slipped it on over my underclothes. Over it I zipped up a black, blue-hooded top, like a vest in that it was sleeveless and also cropped a few inches below the breast. Long black pants were cut off mid-shin by blue cloth tape that went on to dress the ankle and instep of each foot. Similar tape wrapped my right arm from below elbow to mid-finger, to hide and protect five jagged, only slightly raised lines on the forearm. For some symmetry's sake as much as that of concealment, the left was wrapped in the same manner but for stopping at the wrist, leaving hand uncovered. Once kunai pouch and shuriken holster were in place, black ninja sandals were put on, and finally I secured the Leaf headband at my neck.

My hands flashed through three seals.

"Henge."

In common sandals, a T-shirt, and shorts, weapon pouches and headband nowhere to be seen, I slung my bag over my shoulder and opened the door looking like any other blue-eyed thirteen-year-old girl.

As I was leaving a calendar by the door caught my eye.

"Nineteenth of June..." I smiled.

For almost five months now I'd been traveling alone but for Kurogiba's occasional company. I had been through four full moons; I had been near home and very far; I had trained rigorously, had gathered intelligence both trivial and vital. I could hardly remember a time I wasn't sore from exertion. I had gotten into a few fights, and I had thrice in the time been forced to dodge trackers for sleepless days on end. And since that winter day in Wave, I had tied four additional humans' deaths to my name.