Fascination: Sequel

Fascination: Sequel: Part 16

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Fascination: Sequel

Part 16

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Oriko observed the exchange between Kakashi and the greasy sort of man in front of him whom, she assumed, based on the time Kakashi spent reading the scroll, was Kyokyou.

She kept her chakra supressed and her presence as concealed as she’d ever tried to; as the convoy began to move and the man wandered in, past the gates, Kakashi, disguised and the Chuunin, looked over his shoulder at the convoy and searched for – eventually meeting – Oriko’s gaze; ok! We’re on!

Oriko slipped back down to ground level as she kept up with it, but did her best to walk along side, whilst seeming that her natural course was the same as the caravan’s.  She shifted a few times, trying to get into position to follow Kyokyou directly but it wasn’t an easy task to do, whilst remaining completely inconspicuous.

Eventually, however, the caravan halted and its occupants left their carriages behind (apparently, Shimo dealt with a lot of travelling custom and the village was built around their ability to cater for the needs of caravans.) 

Oriko managed to get a good look at Kyokyou and he was quite nondescript – not particularly attractive but in the sense that he drew no attention to himself – the sort of face one could see but not remember; the ideal criminal façade, Oriko supposed.

Kyokyou paused by one carriage before he walked away towards a nearby inn – (Oriko followed him through the remaining streets between it and their caravan) before he walked into the inn.

Oriko memorized everything she could about the place. It was smart looking, clean and formal, but it certainly not at the top end of the market; it seemed that this group did not expect any trouble – or were expecting visitors of some sort, which did not need to be questioned at length by any of the inn’s staff. 

Oriko waited until Kyokyou returned to caravan and escorted who was presumably his boss towards the inn before she moved off to find a more hidden vantage point, satisfied that she knew where to find him.

The night was only a few hours away and Oriko and Kakashi had agreed that they would keep a vigil, but not make any moves until they had moved out of the populated areas of Shimo. 

Oriko was tempted to summon Pakkun to keep his eyes and nose on Kyokyou so that she could go and find Kakashi, but she had kept the pug out for a long time during the day and he was quite grumpy when she eventually returned his waistcoat and haitai-ate before dismissing him. 

She wondered if her partner’s level of chakra had been affected too much – he hadn’t expended much, but if they were about to face a potential battle and what could be a very drawn out game of pursuit and evasion, Kakashi would need his chakra to absolute maximum and as far as she could tell, the sharingan was deceptive with how much charka it could eat. 

As she settled into a more comfortable position, she knew the night would be long – Oriko could only hope that when they decided to strike, she and Kakashi would be at the top of their game.

…

Night had long fallen and Kakashi had met up with Oriko (and brought her an onigiri which was immediately devoured); she felt quite a lot like she was back in Konoha, as the majority of the lantern light kept the pitch darkness away.

“How should we get the scroll or separate Kyokyou from the others when they begin moving?” Kakashi met her eyes for a moment, considering her question;

“Hmm, well, considering what’s written in it and the cover function, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that he’ll keep it on him but I’m not certain as to how to get it off him…perhaps when they leave the inn here…”