Chapter 19: Suspicion

Walking with a scroll in her hands, her golden hair swayed to the rhythm of the wind.

"Ha~ they all say the same thing" Ino sighed tiredly.

She had spent the last thirty minutes asking the different people she encountered, but they all claimed to know nothing about the disappearances.

"It's already getting dark."

Looking up at the sky and dropping her arms over her shoulders, Ino sighed once more.

"What am I going to do?" Looking down at the ground, Ino lamented, after all she hadn't managed to gather relevant information, the few things she managed to research were already in the scroll she received from Yamato.

(I should give up, maybe the same thing happened to Hinata) Closing her eyes, Ino started walking.

*Wind sound*

Ino looked back due to the sudden sound, but found nothing.

(What was that?) Ino thought, even if she turned her gaze the instant she heard the noise she didn't manage to find the cause of it.

"How strange..." Ino said, after that she continued walking, ignoring what she heard before.

But, in a place a bit far away from where Ino was, that man with the spear stood.

His eyes glowed for a second, before disappearing into the darkness.

-Somewhere with Hinata-

"Um... excuse me, can I ask you a few questions?" Hinata said, but was completely ignored.

She had been trying to interrogate random people for over thirty minutes, but in the end everyone ignored her as if her very existence had no real value.

(Why are they ignoring me?) Hinata asked herself.

Even though she tried not to be rude to people, in the end they all ended up ignoring her.

"I haven't been able to gather any information..." Looking down at the scroll in her hands, Hinata sighed, but that wasn't going to be enough to make her give up.

(I shouldn't think about that, for the time being I'll look for someone who is interested in answering the questions) Looking around, Hinata thought.

It didn't take her long to find someone, it was a young man, his age was possibly between fifteen.

"Uh... good afternoon" Hinata said, making the boy look her in the eyes.

"Yes?" the boy said.

"Well... can I ask you some questions?" Hinata said, still a little nervous about interacting with a stranger.

"Of course, what kind of questions?" With a soft tone of voice, the boy answered, something that made Hinata calm down.

"This... about the disappearances, do you know anything about that?" Looking at the scroll in her hands, Hinata asked, the boy simply smiled, and in a gentle way answered.

"Yes, I know some things, if you were asking everyone in town you should have noticed that no one knows anything, and it's just that everyone prefers to ignore that subject. There are many who are afraid about those things."

(Fear?) Hinata asked herself, it was obvious that the people in that village would be afraid, since people who disappeared didn't come back, but still Hinata doubted, since no one seemed scared or worried.

"There are also certain rumors, they say that a giant spider is the one that kidnaps people and eats them. But that's just a rumor, still, that makes the people in this town scared."

"A giant spider... Could it be someone's summoning?" Hinata asked, in a second the expression on her face changed, now her face showed seriousness.

"Well, it's unlikely, since there are no ninja around here nearby that have the chakra ability to summon a giant beast. Still, it's just a rumor. That's the little I know, I hope I helped you" Said the man while smiling kindly.

Hinata just looked at the ground, she had finally managed to find valuable information.

"I understand, thank you for your time" Bowing, Hinata left the place.

(Giant spider, fear... this is strange, I can't figure out what's going on here. No one seems to be scared, but he said that everyone prefers to ignore the situation, yet for some reason he kept contradicting himself over and over again...)

Staring at the scroll in her hands, Hinata closed her eyes for a second as she thought.

The contradictions in the boy's words were strange, but they didn't seem to be on purpose.

"I should tell Yamato-sensei."

*wind sound*

"Huh?" Hinata looked around at the sudden noise her ears heard.

Quickly Hinata's Byakugan activated, she immediately realized that someone had been spying on her.

"Who is it?" Hinata asked, thanks to her Byakugan she had been able to slightly make out the silhouette of the person who had been spying on her.

(Disappeared?) Hinata thought, the moment she blinked, the silhouette disappeared.

Hinata was a little confused, she didn't quite know what that had been, but that someone had been sneaking a peek at her didn't mean anything good.

-A few minutes later.

Night had fallen over the land of fire and the land of the waterfall, causing the inhabitants of that village to light the lamps they had in their homes.

"Here it is, the dish I am best at preparing."

Placing a few plates full of food on the table, a smile formed on Miroku's mouth.

At that moment team 11 was at Miroku's house for dinner.

"It looks delicious" Ino said seeing the food served on the table.

There were different dishes ready for tasting. Among them was that famous ramen that Toru usually eats when he doesn't have time to cook.

"Thank you for the food" Toru said as he clasped his hands together and said a prayer.

At once, everyone started eating, but there was something strange in the atmosphere that made Toru's eyes sparkle strangely.

(A strange smell...) Toru thought.

That scent was something salty, he could smell it in the air, but he wasn't sure, plus the others didn't seem to detect that smell.

(Blood?)

Toru's eyes widened slightly as he looked at Miroku, he knew there was something strange about this town, but he couldn't jump to a hasty conclusion until he checked it out himself.

For a few seconds Toru looked into Miroku's eyes, she seemed to have noticed, but misinterpreted the intentions in Toru's gaze.

(Even though he is a boy he is still a man) With a slight smile on his face, Miroku got up from his seat and sat down next to Toru.

Everyone looked at Miroku's strange behavior, but she just smiled pleasantly and held Toru's cheeks with her fingers.

"Smile a little" Miroku said as he stretched Toru's face.

Toru just kept quiet as he admired the plate of food in front of him.

(What are they doing?) Ino wondered to herself, Toru and Miroku's attitude was kind of weird, but that had a very logical explanation.

Yamato had said that the village had been created five years ago, but the Torii at the entrance of the village itself looked older, Toru realized that when he saw it, but it wasn't enough to come to a conclusion.

The next thing was the attitude of the people, for some reason, every time Toru interacted with someone, they seemed to have some delay when answering questions, as if they were trying to process the information.

And the last thing, the man with the spear and the man with the spiked rings. Amos' voice sounded muffled, as if they were hypnotized, and that could be confirmed after talking a bit with the blindfolded man.

But one thing still needed to be confirmed.

"I'm not hungry anymore" Rising abruptly from his seat, Toru spoke and looked at the two men who were sitting in the farthest seats.

Yasu, who had that golden spear and Kouta, who had both of his eyes blindfolded.

Toru sighed and tried to leave to the inn, but Ino got up from her seat as well and stopped Toru by grabbing his shoulder.

"You're being too rude" Ino said while looking at Toru with an annoyed face, after getting up so abruptly from his place, Toru made Miroku fall backwards, that was the reason why Ino decided to stop Toru.

Yamato, who up to this point had kept quiet decided to do something about it.

"Toru, Ino..." Yamato said while making that strange face that for some reason wasn't scary.

After that, Ino let go of Toru's shoulder.

(This idiot, does he want to ruin the mission?) thought Ino as she looked at Toru, who at that moment was leaving the place in the direction of the inn.

(Toru-kun...)

Even Hinata was confused by what had happened.

"Don't worry, maybe he got angry for some reason. You don't have to bother about it" Getting up from the ground while shaking off his clothes, Miroku spoke.

"Yasu-chan, Kouta-chan, can you help me clean up?" looking at the two men, who had remained obedient the entire time, Miroku smiled in a kindly manner.

After that, both Ino and Hinata headed back to the inn, but Yamato decided to stay behind to help clean up a bit.

-Later on the roof of the inn-.

From the roof of the place, as the wind caressed his face, Toru's eyes shone brightly accompanied by the glow of the moon.

(All the pieces are starting to come together) Toru thought as he remembered all the information he had collected.

A few hours had already passed, so the whole place was completely dark. And that was perfect to start the real investigation.

-Inside the inn-

*Knock Knock Knock

Someone knocked on the door of the room.

For a moment Yamato sighed, before getting up from the bed to open the door.

"Who is it?" Yamato said as he opened the door.

It didn't take him long to realize who was standing in front of him was Miroku.

"Good evening" Miroku said with a kind smile on his face.

Yamato kept quiet for a few seconds before replying.

"Goodnight, what's wrong?" Yamato asked, this made Miroku look down at the ground sadly.

"I haven't been able to sleep these past few days, so I was wondering if you want to go out with me for a walk for a while?"

Yamato's eyes widened a little, though it was a little strange, he had no problem with that.

"I've been awake all this time, so I don't see a problem with that" Closing his eyes a bit, Yamato sighed before leaving the room.

"Thank you..." Miroku said, for a second a smile could be seen on his face, but he quickly changed the expression on his face to the same as always.

-On the roof of the inn-

Toru narrowed his eyes, looking at the two people leaving the inn.

(Yamato-sensei?) Toru watched Yamato walk beside Miroku, for a few moments he could feel a strange thirst for blood, but instantly that feeling disappeared.

(I mustn't waste time) Toru closed his eyes for a second, before opening them and disappearing into the darkness.

In less than a second, Toru was in front of the largest house in town, which was obviously Miroku's home.

(The smell disappeared...) Toru thought, a few hours ago he had been able to smell the smell of blood coming from inside the house, but now, that smell was completely gone.

Toru was sure that there was something strange in the house and he could confirm it when Miroku started acting strange during dinner.

(I have no choice) Toru thought as he entered through one of the windows of the house.

His feet slowly touched the wooden floor, Toru didn't take long to start searching.

With slow and silent steps, Toru observed every corner of the place, but strangely found nothing.

(Hm... I wonder if...)

Following the hallway in front of him, Toru came across a door, although it was somewhat old, it still seemed to be holding steady.

Toru opened the door making sure not to cause any noise that might alert Miroku.

(¡¿?!)

The instant he opened the door, a horrible smell of blood reached Toru's nose, he immediately covered the lower part of his face with the scarf to prevent the smell from continuing to enter his nose.

*Steps*

Toru followed the path until he reached another door, when he opened it, his eyes widened as he remembered the past.

Blood was still pouring out of the lifeless bodies. Toru's breathing became heavy as he saw that scene.

"You shouldn't have come in here."

A voice was heard behind Toru's back.

The instant he looked back, a strong kick sent him flying through the walls and into a tree.

(What?!) Toru thought while still in the air.

"I didn't think you were so bold" Said the man while swinging the spear.

For a few seconds Yasu smiled before his eye flashed brightly.