Howl of Konoha Book II

It's Been A While. You Look Different

"Oh my god. Is that really you, Natsuki?" The brunette boy said as he walked further into my room.

I nodded and flashed him a familiar smile. "Yeah, it's really me, in the flesh. Can you close the door, please?"

Kohaku nodded and did as I asked before taking a seat opposite me and my documents.

"I see you've been keeping yourself busy these last few years. You look different than I remember."

"I guess so." I grinned. I wanted to catch up with this boy so bad but I needed to get down to business. I don't know when Tobi will finally decide he's had enough of being on his own, so I had to make haste.

"Kohaku, there's a reason I wanted to see you. It's really important so you have to keep this strictly between us. Okay?" My voice was laced in all seriousness.

Kohaku gently smiled and shook his head from side to side. "I figured you didn't just want to see me to catch up on old times. So, what do you need?"

I handed Kohaku a handful of organized papers and watched him flick through them. I noticed his eyes widen at some bits of the collected information.

"What is all this?" His voice was shocked and uncertain. His green eyes flicked up to meet my golden ones, waiting for me to speak up and explain.

"It's a list of shinobi I've been investigating. At the moment my information is a little on the short side. I've have 'plans' I need to sort out. However, because of my affiliation with Akatsuki, I'm not exactly free to go off on my own." I explained to the boy.

Kohaku followed along with me and reached over for another handful of papers and examined them. I waited for him to finish reading over the information before furthering the conversation.

When he finished he let out a long, ragged breath. "Wow, you really have been busy during those three years." I nodded in response. "So what do you need me to do?"

I smirked and intertwined my fingers together, resting my elbows on the top of the kotatsu. "Easy. I need someone reliable. Someone I can trust to gather as much as they can about the things mentioned in these documents without Akatsuki or anyone even slightly associated with them knowing."

"So you need a spy, your own personal information broker? And that's why you've come to ask me?" Kohaku questioned.

"That's correct. I don't have many leads to go on so you'll be pretty much flying blind. It also helps my case knowing that you're older brother working as Akatsuki's spy as well. Hopefully you can squeeze out some information from him, I'm sure he's discussed some of these matters with you?"

"Well, you're not wrong. There have been occasions in the past were I have helped with the rounding up of data and such regarding any persons of interest, so this shouldn't be too terribly difficult. However, I can't guaranty that the information I gather with always be relevant to you." Kohaku said eyeing up the documents he finished reading. His facials were scrunched up into the center of his face in concentration.

"That's fine, as long as you can supply the data, relevance is the least of my worries. As long as the majority of what you bring me is relevant then we should have no problems." I said coolly. I reach into my pocket and pull out a small slip of paper, handing it to Kohaku. "That brings me to my next order of business."

Kohaku takes the paper and unfolds it to read it's contents.

"With the Akatsuki already having a fresh supply of data on Konoha thanks to your brother, I would like you to look into these first. I will come find you here in this village once a week, on Tuesdays. You can't tell anyone about what we're doing, got it? This is strictly between us, not even your beloved brother is allowed to know." I say and reach over to place a hand on the brunette's shoulder. He looks into my golden irises, focusing on my words. "Understand that I am pretty much giving you my life. If what we're doing is found out, there will be hell to pay. Both of us will most likely be killed on the spot. Don't fail me."