Omake: Ninja Secrets
For the first time in his life, Hazou despaired. His mind, honed by a lifetime of plans and schemes, could find no escape. They had found out. They knew. He should have been smarter, figured out a way to use Iron Nerve to not leave behind evidence. But Iron Nerve was only useful once he was done. You couldn't make changes in the middle of an Iron Nerve replay. He'd needed to write them down first before they could be memorized and stored in the only truly safe place.
So he had made himself a hidden chamber. In the previous forts, they had proven a match for Inoue's sharp eyes. Even Kagome's paranoia had not been strong enough to point him at the truth. But the fort here in Hot Springs had been rushed, after a grueling run, and he must have made a mistake somewhere. And now he had been found out. After losing his home and his family for plots he had had nothing to do with, he'd created a new family with his team. A special, safe place where it was them against the world. And then this had happened. Because he'd been careless. Because he'd kept taking the same chance over and over again, like a rookie who thought if he wasn't caught the first time, he was invincible.
Keiko was the first to notice his arrival, the others too caught up in the implications of what they had found. She clearly couldn't even speak to him, just stared at him blankly from across the room.
Akane was the first of the others to notice Keiko's distraction. Hazou stared in horror as she turned in his direction. She must have seen something in his expression (How could she not? He had lost all control.) as a look of concern quickly overtook her. She was at his side before he could react, embracing him quickly. "I still think you're very Youthful," she whispered, and then she was gone, outside.
Kagome was there next. His eyes were wide with a fear that had been largely absent these past months. It killed Hazou to know he was the reason. "We gotta talk, boy. Your ideas... we - we gotta talk." And the he had also disappeared.
Noburi, unlike the others, took his time in his approach. The extra time did nothing for Hazou, who still couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't think. The closer Noburi got, the less Hazou needed the past months of training together to read past his mask, which was cracking to show the raw emotion underneath. "No million ryo would be enough for me to turn you over, buddy." And he walked right past, quivering with the effort to keep himself in check.
Hazou hadn't seen Keiko leave, but she was nowhere in sight, leaving him alone with Inoue-sensei. Somewhere deep inside himself, Hazou knew that his sensei would not lose her craft, that he couldn't trust the look of profound disappointment tinged with sadness that she held him with. Still, his gut roiled. "Hazou, I told you, Zabusa doesn't wear anything under his pants. There are no skivvies for him to be found in. Obviously the lot of you are going to need more training in keeping details straight." She paused for a few seconds before breaking into a huge grin. "Ah! Who am I kidding? Come here, you budding author, you!" And as she unfolded from her sitting position, Hazou could only think that if this had been a story - if this had been his story - he would absolutely have been able to dodge the hair ruffle heading his way.
