Part Two: The Search

Chapter Four

The new town smelt like the sea too, but it was large enough to contain other scents besides salt. There were open florist shops where flowery smells wafted into the air, open food stands that flowed of goodies, and hanging laundry from the windows that smelt of fresh soap.

They had settled in another inn, the women exhausted from shopping. From the open windowsill Hinata was sitting on, half staring at the bustling town beneath and half watching Shikaku-sensei gritting his teeth on the toothpick, she smiled as a gust of exhilarating wind blew coolly against her hot cheeks, ruffling her hair in a playful way. She was glad that Shikaku-sensei had let her unwind the bandages around her eyes, even if it were for a moment.

"See, we got us all new clothes!" Anko-sensei gushed, excitedly throwing clothes at Shikaku-sensei and Aburame-san.

"Calm, Anko," Inuzuka-san said, smiling at the antics of the younger woman. "Settle and cool off."

Hinata's smile grew as Anko-sensei threw herself onto her bed, huffing out a huge breath of air. Her sensei was still twitching from excitement, but was beginning to calm. Lazily, Hinata petted Kuromaru behind his right ear, deciding to like this town at once.

"Tomorrow we'll find out what we can about their Tortoise God," Shikaku-sensei said, pulling off a shirt that had landed on his head due to Anko-sensei's sudden fit of clothes throwing. "For now, let's rest and eat."

They agreed, the women already starting to doze off.

"Hinata," Shikaku-sensei said.

"Hai," she responded immediately with curiosity.

"You're going solo tomorrow," he said.

"What?" Inuzuka-san said. "You can't. It's too suspicious!"

"Solo," he said, tone definite. "Tomorrow."

"Hai," Hinata obeyed, somewhat nervous.

xxx

After breakfast, they parted ways, Inuzuka-san and Anko-sensei a bit sceptical about letting her off by herself. They argued that since Hinata was supposed to be blind, she needed an adult with her in order to be inconspicuous. However, Shikaku-sensei would hear none of it, even though Hinata took reluctant, and slightly afraid, steps out the inn doors.

Now, Hinata was still walking along the streets - alone. She decided not to use her blood limit, in case something did happen and she really needed her chakra for running away or fighting back. Regardless, she still needed to perfect her "blindness."

She perfectly dodged underneath a ball that had came hurling towards. She gracefully swerved around a chair and table set out by the café. She elegantly stepped over a pot hole. She was getting good at this-

"Oof!"

She fell and skid her palms on the pebbled, dirt street. She hissed, feeling the throbbing pain as she lied still, not wanting to move her bloodied palms. How could she have tripped? It was just a tiny rock too...

"Oh dear, are you alright?" a man asked, bending down to check on her.

She activated her Byakugan to sear away her tears and saw that it was an old monk with a white beard who was looking at her with a worried expression. She nodded meekly as he slowly helped her sit up.

"Here, let me see," he said gently, slowly opening her hands.

She gave a little cry as her torn skin stretched. She was being pathetic, she knew. She had been in a much more worse state than this.

"Hmm..." he said. "We better clean it out or you'll get an infection. Come now, let's sit there, at the restaurant."

Carefully, he led the blind child into the building and sat her down. She watched him, through the bandages around her eyes, as he felt inside the layers of his priestly outfit and drew out a bottle and a box of cotton wads.

"Alright then," he said. "I'm going to clean your hands, and it's going to hurt a little bit, but bear with me, all right?"

She nodded mutely, still watching as he wet the cotton and gently dabbed it over her wounded palms. She hissed again, squeezing her eyes tight as the bloodied slits sizzled, killing the bacteria. It didn't hurt as much as other things, but Hinata was surprised that it would hurt at all, despite the monk's warning.

"Now," the monk said, taking out a roll of bandages, "let's get you wrapped up."

She smiled shyly at his attempt of a joke.

"Where are your parents, little one?" he asked as he worked on her hands.

"My father is at home," she replied.

"Where?" he inquired. "I'll take you to him."

Startled, she tried to find a way to get out of it. She couldn't tell him that her chichioya was in Konoha, in a country across the sea! It would blow her cover!

"I-I've c-come to..." she started, thinking... thinking... Tortoise! "I've c-come to pr-pray to the Tortoise God-d."

"Oh?" he asked, finishing up. "Is that where your father is?"

She nodded vigorously, not knowing what else to do.

"All right then," he said, getting up carefully because of his weary, old bones. "I'll take you up to the shrine. All right?"

She nodded, not trusting her voice.

Taking one of her hands gently, he led her out of the restaurant and into the streets. Deactivating her blood limit, her thoughts were a whirl as she let him guide her up a flight of stairs that led to a cliff where the Tortoise God's shrine was. Down below the cliff, she could hear the mighty waves crash against the stead rock, spraying salt water up in the air.

"Alright, we're here," the old monk said, smiling softly at her. "What does your father look like?"

"Um..." she said, stopping herself from fidgeting. She needed to stall. "C-Can I pr-pray first?"

"Of course!" he said, shocked at himself. "How could I not know? Come, this way."

He led her to the large shrine, but taking care to not have her anywhere near the edge of the cliff less she fall down to a watery grave.

"Please stay here while I get you some incense," he requested.

Hinata nodded and then heard his steps retreat from her. She got to her knees, knowing that the shrine was just in front of her and placed her hands together in a prayer. From all the murmuring under the noisy waves, she could tell that there were a lot of people around her praying as well.

A hand to her shoulder and immediately her byakugan flared to life. Twisting underneath the palm, she sealed two chakra points on the arm in a flash. Facing her opponent, on her feet, she looked up and faltered.

"A-Aburame-san!" Hinata exclaimed, ashamed of herself, flushing.

The kikaichu user stood up stiffly, left hand frozen, and regarded her silently. He had not expected her reaction, much less the speed in which she had sealed his chakra, rendering his left arm immobile.

"Excuse me?" the old monk was back, looking at the flustered girl to the stoic man. "Is everything alright?"

"Y-Yes!" Hinata stammered, nervous.

"Really?" the monk asked her, not trusting the man.

"R-Really!" she heard herself say as she slipped her hand into Aburame-san's. "Th-Th-This is-s my f-f-father-er."

Sceptical, but not wanting to push, the monk regarded the blind girl's father and nodded a greeting. "I found your daughter in the streets. Her hands were bloodied because she had tripped. Please, as her father, you should watch her more carefully."

Hinata sweated underneath her collar, hands clammy in his, hoping that even though he was scary and almost never talked, that Aburame-san would play along.

"Forgive me," the kikaichu user said, sunglasses glaring imposingly in the sun. "I had turned around for only a second and she was gone. I thank you for taking care of her."

The monk nodded solemnly, not at all intimidated by Aburame-san. "You're welcome. Here is the incense for praying."

With the parting words of wisdom the monk left the two at the cliff, shaking his head at the father's poor parenting skills.

"A-Aburame-san?" Hinata stuttered timidly. "I-I'm sorry."

The bug user, in response, merely reached behind him with his right hand (his left was frozen and therefore still "holding" hers) and detached a scroll from around his back. A giant scroll in which Shikaku-sensei had pilfered from a Cloud-nin.

Hinata, still as a statue, paled.

"From Nara," he said, pushing the scroll towards her.

"N-No," she said, shaking her head and backing away, her hand releasing his.

He frowned at this and stepped forward, but she only stepped back. Did the child not know that it was rude to run from an adult? He stepped forward again, and she stepped back. Before they knew it, with one more step back, Hinata slipped from the edge of the cliff.

Cursing himself for letting the girl distract him from their surroundings, he reached out with his left hand, right hand still clasping the summon scroll. But then, cursing himself again, he arm was still stiff. So when he reached out, he actually flung his arm out, throwing off his equilibrium.

They both fell down to the rocky waters.

Hinata, panicked, hurriedly opened up Aburame-san's chakra points in which he quickly used to grasp onto a rocky outcrop. She, on the other hand, had to hold onto his right arm, in which the bloodstained summon scroll was in her face.

"I cannot hold on," Aburame-san said. "My arm is asleep."

Hinata felt tears coming on as she looked below her and at the rough waters that would, ultimately, push her against the cliff - killing them both instantly.

One of his fingers slipped and Hinata whimpered.

"Quickly," Aburame-san commanded. "Run up the cliff and inform the others."

Shocked, she quickly screamed, "I-I can't l-leave you!"

"Yes," he said in monotone. "You can. Go, or we both die."

"I-I can s-s-summon Ph-Pheoni-"

"No!" he shouted. "It will blow our cover."

Another finger slipped and this time, he cursed out loud.

She couldn't leave him, despite the fact that it was logical thing to do. Shinobis were not supposed to have emotions - they got in the way. But so far, emotions, Hinata knew, had propelled her onwards. If not for the love of her mother, Hou-ou would not have been summoned. If it weren't for the love of Fugaku-sensei, she would never have pushed herself so much.

Now, even though she did not love him, for Aburame-san she will do what she had no intention of doing before. Quickly, with her free hand, she took the summon scroll from his hand and unfurled it into the erratic sea wind. Giving him one end to hold, she bit her thumb and wrote her name on the scroll.

"Hyuga," he started, the arm she was holding onto straining.

She cut him off. "Let go, quick. The largest wave had just hit the cliff, if you let go now, we can swim underneath the next one coming up."

He looked down at her grimly as medium height waves crashed against the rock. He looked out to the ocean and saw that, indeed, a big wave was gathering. After the big wave were small ones, then medium ones, and then another big one. It was a pattern - and she had figured it out!

A big wave crashed against the cliff and once it cleared, looking straight into the bandaged face, he let go.

"Summoning Jutsu!" Hinata cried over the wind and water as they plummeted. "Shark!"

They hit the water, manipulating their chakra to cushion the blow.

And then... nothing.

A heartbeat later... and still nothing.

And then, suddenly, they broke through the choppy surface, spluttering on the finned back of a giant Shark! Its size could have been a small whale. Fortunately, most of the Shark was underwater so that anyone who was looking down from the cliff, they could only see the two bodies seemingly floating on the water.

"What's y-your name?" Hinata asked the massive predator.

"Same," the Shark answered through large, sharp teeth.

Hinata's face softened as she said, "Thank you... Same..."

"Go for shore," Aburame-san said, his bugs slightly irritated with the salted water.

"W-Wait," Hinata said, but was then cut off by another wave. Gasping for air again, she continued. "The c-cave. We sh-should s-see it. I-In the last town th-they said th-that the Tortoise l-lived in a c-cave!"

She looked to him as he silently contemplated this. Truthfully, she wanted to go back too and dry her hands off. They stung as the salted water soaked the bandages, searing her hands. She only hoped that they wouldn't bleed... too much.

"All right," he said finally.

Quickly, Same slid against the water like a hot knife through butter. He was graceful, the King of Sharks, and fast. Sleek, he zipped though the liquid, no matter if the current was with or against him, and although he didn't want to obey the stupid little girl, he had to admit, she had guts.

Besides, he remembered his utter defeat to the Dragon Lord, and if the legendary dragon obeyed the girl, then who was he to deny her? Not when her chakra tasted so sweet running through his body.

With a newfound zeal, he slid through the water faster than ever, relishing this feeling.

All too soon, they were at the cave. For a moment there, there had been turbulence. The whirlpools and the crazy waves surrounding the cave were no easy obstacles, but he had managed with such ease that he wondered, truly wondered, what the little paled-eyed girl was made of.

Aburame-san took the bandages from her eyes, and when she opened them, they were pink from the stinging salt. Wordlessly, he took out a water bottle and splashed some water in her eyes. Similarly, after they unwound her hands, he cleaned them too. Once they were done, he swung the scroll onto his back and stood up.

"Stay close to the wall," he said, indicating the cave. "If an enemy is inside, they can easily see our silhouettes made by the light outside, or even hear and feel the strange air change as the wind moves around us."

"H-Hai, Aburame-sensei," she said, nodding.

He said nothing to his new name, but they both knew that he had heard. They both also knew that by him being silent, he had accepted it.

"Shibi," he merely corrected.

Smiling with her beginning to crack lips, she nodded. "Hai, Shibi-sensei."

Suddenly, he wasn't so scary anymore, even with his crazy hair and foreboding black sunglasses.

He hugged the right side of the cave, and she hugged the left. With her Byakugan and his kikaichu bugs on her shoes, they knew exactly where the other one was. Black like the deepest of inks, they crept forward, slowly. With the waves crashing ferociously against the outside cave walls, they hadn't really needed to mask their sound movements, but as trained shinobi, they did so anyway.

Hinata ducked under a stalactite, careful with her footing. The ground was slippery and uneven and-

"AH!" she screamed when the ground suddenly fell underneath her.

"Hinata!" Shibi-sensei shouted.

But it was too late, she fell down into the hole, rock and dirt and salt coming down with her. Heart beating erratically in her heart, she hoped that when she was older she wouldn't have a faulty heart because she was receiving a lot of impending dooms today.

"Legendary Summoning Jutsu, Phoenix!" she cried.

A lesser phoenix, wingspan of two meters, immediately flared to life in the air, illuminating the area. Talons, gentle and hard, took his mistress' left hand. He flapped his wings to go against gravity as they floated down softly. Breathing hard, she looked around at the lightened area from the fire the phoenix gave off, and saw that she was facing a semi-smooth rocky surface. Down below... she couldn't see.

"Hinata," Shibi-sensei said from above.

"I-I'm okay," she replied, her stomach feeling slightly queasy at the drop below.

A groaning of rock, and they tensed.

Was there going to be a cave-in?

"Up," Hinata commanded, hardening her face.

The phoenix flapped harder, slowly bring him and his mistress up to the mouth of the hole. But no sooner did they go up, did the rock in front of Hinata move aside to show a giant glowing eye!

"AH!" Hinata cried, the phoenix vanishing at once from her sudden relapse.

She was falling again, but then landed gently on another phoenix, this one much larger. This one, Hou-ou, was the Queen of the Phoenixes, a bright flaming torch of life that seared against the rock of the cave. The flames licked at the stalagmites and the stalactites, casting shadows to dance eerily.

"Hello," Hou-ou said, "Kame."

"Hello," the eye moved to reveal two, and then the eyes moved back to show a giant head, giant neck, giant shell and giant legs. "Hou-ou."

Gripping on the feathered fire, Hinata watched as the giant Tortoise craned his neck forward to get a better look at her. She looked at him too as Hou-ou landed on the ground, tucking in her wings.

"And you must be the summoner-nin that I have been waiting for, for all these long centuries," he said. "I am Kame, King of the Turtles, a Legendary Summon."

"I..." Hinata began, slightly intimidated. Forcing her back straighter, she began again with a renewed confidence. "I am Hinata Hyuga, the Summoner-nin."

Kame nodded, watching her carefully.

She remained motionless as he took her in, testing her with his eyes.

For a long moment, all they did was stare at each other. Shibi-sensei did not interrupt from above. He was too shocked for words. All he could register was that Shikaku had been right all along.

She was capable of taking care of herself.

"Yes..." Kame finally said. "You are everything I have never imagined. You, summoner-nin, are unlike all the others before you... Indeed, I have taken a liking to you already. Now, there is a scroll on the ground. Sign it, if you'd please."

Hinata let go of a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, and then slid off of Hou-ou's back. On the ground, she could see a large scroll, lying open, collecting salt and grime. Carefully, she reached forward and brushed aside the dirt before signing her name in bold, definite characters.

"Good," Kame said. "Very steady and graceful."

"She will do us all some good," Hou-ou agreed. "Mistress, shall we make for the top?"

Hinata, rolling up the scroll, answered, "Hai."

Climbing back on the flaming bird, Hinata watched as Kame gave her a small smile before disappearing. Scroll hugged to her chest, Hou-ou flew her mistress back to the surface. Within a moment, Hinata was facing Shibi-sensei with a bright and tired smile.

"To shore," he said.

"Hai, Shibi-sensei."

xxx

Hinata, curled in her Shibi-sensei's arms, yawned and buried her head into his shoulders. Eyes closed, she was falling asleep, and fast. It was such an eventful day that she grew tired just thinking about it. Thankfully though, Shibi-sensei was carrying her back to the inn.

"Wha-"

Anko abruptly cut herself off when she saw sweet little Hinata in the arms of a man crawled with bugs. She tilted her head to the side in question. Funny how the little girl had wanted to avoid the bug man just the other day, and now she was cuddling him...?

Shikaku was coming down the stairs, but stopped too when he saw the Hinata being held by Shibi. Scratching his chin, he simply said, "Troublesome."

"What's troublesome?" Tsume asked, Kuromaru behind her. Her steps faltered at the unexpected sight. Hadn't Shibi disapproved of the girl?

"She's hurt," Shibi said simply before going upstairs, leaving the women speechless and Shikaku thoughtful.

A second later, Shibi's words registered, sending Tsume to get the first aid kit and Anko to run for candy - cause what child didn't like candy? Shikaku, however, calmly climbed upstairs, following Shibi to see the damage for himself.

the point