Behind the Waterfall

#18 Wedding

"My name is Hirana, I am the strategic leader of Kusagakure. I thank you for delivering the letter, I trust that there were no issues?" The now identified woman greeted them.

"We ran into a squad from Sogen, but other than that we got here smoothly." Fuu replied, earning a satisfied nod.

"Well, we have actually already suspected that Hiatsu would do something like this. We have been preparing our army for a while. I will send a bird to Takigakure with a quick message." The village leader revealed, confirming Kurama's suspicions.

"Wouldn't it be better to send shinobi? A messenger hawk can be easily captured or killed." Naruto argued, earning a smile from the woman in front of him.

"Not these birds, wolf. I have yet to lose one of them." She stated, going through a small set of hand seals. A small cloud of smoke appeared on her shoulder. When it dissipated Naruto's eyes widened. An eagle sat on her shoulder, its orange beak swinging back and forth as it assessed the situation. Apparently Hirana had also prepared a message, since she pulled a letter out of her coat. Quickly opening it, she wrote a few more words down, before swiftly attaching it to the bird's neck.

"I have never heard of an eagle summoning contract." Naruto thought, watching the bird spread its black wings.

"Me neither. Although I am not surprised, there are too many species of summons to keep track of all of them." Kurama replied. Watching the bird fly through the dome, Naruto's eyes widened again as part of the ceiling simply disappeared and let the eagle fly through into the sky.

"They are so much safer than hawks." Hirana commented as she looked down again, her eyes resting on the two rogues.

"I am sorry, but until I get a reply from Shibuki, I can not let you leave the village. I hope you understand." The woman stated, her words kind, her tone, however, calculated and cold.

"It was to be expected." Kurama stated in Naruto's head.

The two masked shinobi only nodded.

"I assume we will be shadowed as well?" Fuu asked, earning a nod from Hirana. Apparently pleasantly surprised that the girl had deducted the fact, if the small smile on her lips was any indication.

"Do you have a place for us to stay?" Naruto questioned further. He really didn't want to have to set up camp in the middle of the village.

"Yes, I will have Hikaru lead you there." The village leader replied, while the guard that had led them to her bowed slightly at the mention of his name. They said their goodbyes, before the tall guard walked off, expecting the two rogues to follow him.

"Think they are already following us?" Fuu asked, as they went into the small appartement Hikaru, the guard had led them to.

"Yeah, Kurama told me when we went out of the dome that they were already on us." The red haired shinobi replied.

"So, what do we do now?" The girl asked, looking through the three rooms for anything suspicious.

"I guess, we can't do much. Just relax and wait for Shibuki's answer." Naruto said, as he got to the bedroom.

"You can take the bed, I'll just sleep on the floor." The man said, chuckling at the sight of the large bed in the room. There was no couch or anything else and he didn't want to impose on Fuu, so it was clear what he would suggest.

"What?" Fuu had not yet come into the room, confused she walked through the door and laughed as well.

"Come on, we are shinobi. We trust each other with our lives, I think we can manage to sleep in the same bed." She teased, turning around and falling backwards on the bed.