Shimmering Fireflies

Deception

Following the two ninja, Emi and Mizuiro exchanged a puzzled look after they noticed they took a turn towards Konoha. Apart from the long list of questions Mizuiro wished she could ask Shino right now, she was also missing his presence dearly. There was no way for her to tell if he was doing fine. Even if she trusted Kyousuke, the lack of facts about their safety made her quite anxious. Unfortunately, that was one of the many realities of a ninja who had ninja friends. At least, Emi was by her side, which reassured her temporarily. Thinking about her, Mizuiro saw her teammate stop unexpectedly. She did the same, observing the beetle on her shoulder. It was not moving either; simply looking forward.

"I think they want to jump over." Emi whispered while pointing the distant fortification of Konoha.

It was obvious that the Konoha Barrier Team* had noticed their intrusion by now. However, seeing how quickly the trespassers moved, the team would probably arrive too late to intercept them. As soon as Emi and Mizuiro saw them disappear behind the wall, they hurried towards it. They jumped, clinging on the edge with their hands, then peeked on top of the wall. Mizuiro let out a subtle gasp.

"What?" Emi asked her.

"That's Takihiro-san's place. What are they doing here?"

She saw them hide in between the luxurious plants around the residency. One of them suddenly jumped on the roof, holding a small sword, while the other looked like he was guarding the back door.

"That doesn't look good..." Mentioned Emi.

Mizuiro addressed her a nod, gently picked the beetle on her shoulder and left it on the wall. Emi jumped over rapidly, making herself detectable right away. She propelled three kunais towards the ninja on ground level, allowing Mizuiro to sneak in the back yard. While Emi ran in direction of her new opponent, Mizuiro dashed through the garden and eventually landed on the roof as well. The sword holder was taken aback but decided to ignore her. He proceeded to break the skylight in the roof and entered the house, rapidly followed by Mizuiro.

Inside, after seeing she was visibly not going to let him go, he threw a bunch of shurikens in her direction. Gracefully, she evaded them one by one, ever so focused about stopping him. After all, someone's life was in danger. He made several jumps in direction of what looked like the master bedroom. The fact that the intruders were caught red-handed didn't seem to be of importance; it became evident that they were targeting the home owner, no matter what. Fortunately, Mizuiro was able to reach him in time. She was sure thanking her past self for all of these speed trainings. She engaged him physically with a high kick that pushed him on the left. Then, she threw him several punches that he was unfortunately able to stop.

Mizuiro then reached for a kunai in her right pocket to compete with his blade. Their confrontation produced many clashing sounds that seemed to alert the person sleeping in the room. She tried to fend off her opponent further from the door, sustaining a brief cut on her left elbow. He was able to get a hold of Mizuiro and pushed her to the other side of the room, knocking her head on the wall. He kicked down the master bedroom's door and jumped on the bed. Takihiro-san woke up instantly and screamed by reflex. Mizuiro came back to her senses and dashed on the bed to kick his sword from his hand. The poor target proceeded to escape his bed clumsily while Mizuiro fought his assailant physically. He couldn't compete with her agility. When she was proven efficient by her swift moves, she rapidly stunned him with another kick on the head. As he was knocked out, she proceeded to tie him with wire strings, just to make sure.

"Are you okay!?" Takihiro-san exclaimed. "What-what happened!?"

"I'm alright," Mizuiro sighed, standing up. "and... I don't know."

Suddenly, there was a loud shattering noise in the room. The shoji screen next to them was destroyed by a body being forcefully pushed in. Takihiro-san protected himself from the blow and Emi jumped indoors, proudly placing a foot on his opponent's inanimate chest.

"Just WHAT is going on!?" screamed the homeowner.

Meanwhile, a member of the Konoha barrier team appeared in the corridor, a surprised look on his face.

"Oh," he said casually. "Good job, you two."

~ ~ ~

The intruders were taken to the Hokage while the two kunoichi helped to clean the house. Emi and Mizuiro were informed that this matter was now in the hands of the barrier team. Nonetheless, they had to pass by later for an investigation about this. Fortunately, there has been more fear than harm done. Mizuiro felt bad that Takihiro-san's house would probably bring him back troubling memories from now on. After reassuring him that it should be over, she went back to the garden behind his place and retrieved the two beetles, now sticking around together. She put them on her right shoulder for the road. They proceeded to reach the Hokage's office, and as soon as they arrived, the briefing started.

"They have been put in custody," Kakashi mentioned. "We'll interrogate them until we know what that was all about. However, there clearly was an attempt on your life, Takihiro."

The Hokage's eyebrows made a downard curve.

"What about Shino and your other teammate?" he added.

Emi shrugged as she exchanged a puzzled look with her friend.

"Kyousuke went to check on him but... so far we have no feedbacks."

"Shino is involved?" Takihiro inquired. "Do you think he's in danger?"

Mizuiro took a deep breath, trying not to think of this probability.

"If I may", she suggested, "I could go check the onsen as well."

The Hokage didn't have time to answer; there was a loud knock on the door behind them.

"Uh, yes?" said the Hokage.

A ninja guard opened the door and Kyousuke showed up. In fact, he just wasn't able to get any sleep. He had quietly left his room by the window, hoping he would be back tomorrow morning. He had to inform his team. Fortunately, Konoha was only 3 hours away from the onsen with the running speed of a ninja. His presence surprised everyone. However, Mizuiro couldn't help but notice that he was alone. Despite herself, she didn't feel entirely reassured right now.

"I found him." He stated. "He's alright, but there's more..."

He was about to tell them about Haruka's plan when he noticed another man standing next to his teammates. He also saw that two beetles were now resting on Mizuiro's shoulder.

"Is your name Takihiro, sir?" Kyousuke continued.

The man himself nodded, confused.

"Oh... so I guess Shino's plan worked then!"

"Spill it, Kyousuke." Emi reprimanded. "What are you talking about?"

"Hum... maybe Takihiro-san shouldn't be here." He inquired.

"I insist," the man said. "There was an attempt on my life. I have the right to know!"

Kyousuke sighed before asking the guard to close the door behind him. He told them everything about Haruka's plan to execute his cousin, witnessing betrayal taking place on his face.

"They should come back to Konoha in a day or two," he continued. "Like nothing happened! Hopefully, Shino's bug guided you in time! I was hoping that you could intercept her when she arrives if I told you in advance... but I must go back there to watch over him. He's supposed to be his alibi and she has two ninja on her side."

Mizuiro quietly exhaled; she was glad he seemed to be ok for now. Shino was technically still in a slippery slope, but he would come back soon. Most importantly, the worst had been avoided. She wished Kyousuke good luck and he ran away, showing them a reassuring smile.

______
* naruto.fandom.com/wiki/Konoha_Barrier_Team