An Imperial Influence

[Kakashi Hatake]

Kakashi and his youthful companion followed the Morikage into the hallway of the infirmary, the latter closing the door quietly behind them. Tsunade placed the chart she had been eyeing back with the other clipboards, on a wire wall rack hanging adjacent the door. They turned to continue down the hallway, but were first greeted by the face of Galan. He had evidently been waiting for them.

“Apologies, Lady First,” the noble elf monotoned, bowing slightly. “While we wait for Minato to recover, might I question his students on their activities?”

Tsunade nodded. “Yes, that’s fine. We’ll walk and talk, though.”

Galan followed between Kakashi and Kito as they made their way through the hospital wing in the blonde kunoichi’s wake. Kito had remained silent about his own exploits, leaving Kakashi to do most of the talking. Given that banter was not really his strong suit, the masked ninja kept his explanations brief.

“I’m not really familiar with type of sealing techniques they used in their hideout,” Kakashi muttered, scratching his chin idly. It occurred to him that the fact that he was wearing both gloves and a mask might make this seem somewhat comical. He shook the thought from his head and continued. “It seems to follow rules similar to those of where we’re from, though.”

Galan glanced first at Tsunade, then back to Kakashi. “I’m somewhat familiar with your craft after working together with Lady First, but I must admit I do not fully understand what you mean.”

“I was able to break out in the same way I would have done back home,” the silver-haired shinobi clarified. “It seems to me that maybe the seals they're using are somehow related. Maybe just in concept, though; I’m can only speculate.”

Windforge nodded thoughtfully. “It is something to consider. And you say they used a strange weapon to subdue you?”

“Some kind of sound technology,” Kito piped in. “It knocked us both out before we even knew anyone was there.”

“That definitely seems to indicated Imperial involvement,” Galan agreed, nodding once more. “Where did you say you were being held?”

The group fell silent as they reached the stairwell, resuming as they exited onto the first floor. “I can show you on a map,” Kakashi offered. “It seems like an old Miu clan facility. It must not have been occupied in years.”

The elf nodded solemnly, as if such information was not new to him. “Is there anything else I should know?”

The copy ninja paused, thinking for a moment as they stepped out into the night air. “Actually, yes,” he said. “Lady Tsunade, you might want this.” He produced from his pocket the strange bit of tech he had swiped from the incoming shipment he had been investigating. “Here’s what they were shipping into the village, or at least one of the them. There was a whole cart full.”

Tsunade and Galan examined the gizmo closely under the dim lighting of the hospital’s entrance awning, each alternating between curiosity and suspicion. The village leader took it delicately from Kakashi’s offering hand, nodding. “Thank you, Kakashi. I’ll have to check the shipping invoices and see if we can track down what else came in.”

“I suspect we will find the information conveniently missing,” Galan muttered, shaking his head. “But I will send a few of my men to perform a thorough inventory of what we are storing. There are only so many places they could be hiding.”

“I have a feeling those two up there,” Kakashi replied, jabbing a thumb up toward Minato’s room. “Will probably have that information for us. The question is whether or not they’ll be willing to offer it.”

“With the beating that the Fourth gave them,” Tsunade said, chuckling. “They might find their lips loosened. We’ll hope for the best.”

“What should we do now?” Kito asked. “Should we keep looking into the other members of the Miu clan?”

“I think it would be wise to investigate the hideout you escaped from,” Galan responded. “We have enough to go on from our side. We can start to make preparations now, while you three try to uncover more information.”

The scarecrow nodded, bowing. “Understood. Thank you both.”

“And thank you two,” Tsunade said, smiling warmly. She turned to head back toward the Morikage residence, stopping for a moment to glance back over her shoulder. “Oh, and when Minato wakes up...tell him to keep the destruction inside the village walls to a minimum in the future.”

“Will do,” Kakashi replied, sharing a nervous chuckle with Kito.

A long moment passed between the two ninja as they walked quietly toward the nearest inn. “Do you think there will be an ambush waiting for us when we go back?” Kito asked, both curious and concerned.

“It’s likely,” the sharingan-wielder replied simply. “But now that we know what we’re up against, we will get the jump on them.”

The dark-haired genin nodded slowly. “Knowing what we do about the Miu clan’s involvement,” he started, staring down at his feet. “I’m hoping we don’t have to subdue any of them.”

Kakashi’s nodded silently as they reached the inn. It was something he had considered himself. “We’ll do what we have to do.”