Strolling Amongst Stalactites

Baiting

Last Time:

"I understand." Kakashi said knowing she was only looking out for Naruko. He too wanted to avoid scaring her too. Jade told where to go and went ahead as they walked to the sight where they found Barb, some other people and Naruko holding a lantern. He looked into those blue eyes nervously, "Hi, Naruko."

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Naruko looked carefully at the tall silver haired man before her. She's had the most terrifying nightmares about this meeting. The man wasn't from or even remotely responsible for her past trauma, but though she understood that it scared her. For all these years she was haunted by a certain cruel specter and the man before her looked exactly like him. Everything from his voice to his stature was the same, but she didn't see whatever it was that scared her. In fact, she was positive he was the one who was terrified right now.

Kakashi gulped nervously, "I understand if you don't want to talk to right now, but I'm here if you need me-" He gasped slightly as she hugged him around his waist. Kakashi nearly broke down in tears. He was so relieved. The mere thought of Naruko being scared of him kept him up at night. Letters were one thing, but this meeting is what worried him the most.

Jade smiled as she watched her daughter hug both Leaf ninjas. At first, this meeting worried her too, but not only did Naruko show no fear towards either of the Konoha ninjas, Naruko came back to her for a hug. Maybe it seemed silly, but the thought that the young blonde might want the two men who wanted to be her guardian over her worried her a little.It was clear she'd always be Naruko' s mother no matter who comes into their lives.

"Ok everyone! Let's move our camp." Barb said once she saw that the three hostages could walk, but she still helped them since they were still a bit weak. When they were in the safety of the forest and with the team of three backup ninjas who were helping observe, she let them all settle. As the hostages were looked over by another ninja she took the chance to explain. "We're happy you three are alright. Just so you know we you technically can't come to our village-"

"Please don't take us back to Mist!" Haku yelped suddenly almost in a panic.

The backup ninjas removed their masks making Sana gasp when she saw the woman with green hair and pink eyes, "Tula?" She was surprised to see none other than her mother's girlfriend.

Haru also gasped, "Gina?" It was a little surprising to see the Queen's guard there, but then she was Haru's aunt. With the reveal of their academy sensei as the third member it seems all three of the ninjas were someone they knew.

"We aren't able to take you to our main village for medical reasons, but we aren't going to make you go back to Mist." Tula reported seriously despite ruffling Sana's hair much to the girl's annoyance. "We know many places that will take you in and we will be taking you there if you want to go."

Karin scowled, "We don't even know why we were taken so why trust you when this could be another trap?"

"There's a fine line between a healthy dose of skepticism and being blind." Tula muttered getting some snickers and, of course, a glare from Karin.

Gina smiled, "The people that took you were from Mist-"

"Bullshit! Mist would've just killed us!" Karin snapped only to look confused when she saw her fellow hostage, Kimimaro, shake his head.

"I saw them. They were Mist ninjas ... except one I think." Kimimaro said, glancing slightly towards Kurama before looking back at the ground.

Barb chuckled when she saw the red haired girl scoff stubbornly, "There's a lot to war and the need for money is a big issue. You were all going to be taken to a special auction and sold to fund the war. This trip was more complicated than most as this young man noticed." She gestured to Kimimaro. "Someone decided to pull a double cross to get another man's attention, but that is neither here nor there now. These three ninjas will be taking you to a place you can call home should you wish to stay. Think about it as you sleep."