Painting Heist (3)

The crew spent an entire day flipping through the mess that was the master painter's bedroom.

Shino and Hinata mainly concerned themselves with the countless stacks of paper left by the deceased. Kiba, on the other hand, took another angle entirely. He was crouching on all four, sniffing through the entire place together with Akamaru.

The team left the studio by the time that the sun was setting down. For now, they would discuss their findings and formulate a concrete plan for tomorrow's search.

In the room that Kurenai had booked in the town's inn, Shino laid out the things that he had taken note of.

"That painter is a quiet person, but he corresponded a lot."

Those stacks of paper were replies from his fellow artists who lived in various countries, as well as copies of his own letters. There were also personal notes containing his thoughts about his current projects, most notably his newest four-panel painting.

"The letters mentioned about the people of this town. I suggest that we ask around and look for clues about the deceased's behavior."

"That's a good idea," Kurenai nodded.

Kiba suddenly interrupted.

"Heh. That'll take too long! We've memorized that painter guy's smell! All we have to do is to follow that scent to his hiding place, and we'll find that painting in no time! Right, Akamaru?"

Woof!

The puppy barked energetically.

"Well, that's another way to find it, although I think only you can do it, Kiba..."

"Exactly. It doesn't guarantee results. If anything, you'll just get sidetracked," Shino remarked.

"And you think asking around is enough, huh? All you'll get are gossips!" Kiba retorted.

"Better than sniffing around like dogs."

"Oi! You got something against dogs, you bug freak?!"

The two boys glared at each other, neither wanting to back down. The clash continued for another minute until Kurenai stepped between them and pushed them apart.

"Alright, alright, that's enough. You're scaring the poor girl."

Ah.

They turned to Hinata, who was looking at them with a worried gaze. They quickly dropped the subject.

"Well, we've heard your ideas. What about you, Hinata? What do you think we should do?"

"E-eh? U-um... I-I think..."

She began fidgeting her fingers again. Everyone waited for her in silence, knowing that the girl needed some time to gather her courage.

"I-I think both ideas are g-good... h-how about we split up...?"

Oh.

Yeah, that's right, that works too...

"I guess I can ask the bodyguard team to lend us some men. What do you think, Kiba, Shino?"

"Hmm," Shino nodded, showing agreement.

"Fine with me," Kiba nodded as well.

"Good. We'll go with that plan. Now, let's have dinner."

Before she went out of the room, she seemed to remember something as she stopped at the door frame.

"Oh yeah. Don't forget to wash your hands before eating. Also, brush your teeth before you're going to sleep. That'll be all."

She left soon after.

""...""

"...Why is she saying the same thing as my sis..." Kiba groaned.

It seemed that, even though they were already Genin, Kurenai still treated them like kids...

---

"The name's Hyoumaru! Nice to meet you!"

"Seki... let's get along..."

As Kurenai had promised, the bodyguard team had lent them some additional manpower to aid the search. The former was an energetic-looking, well-built guy, while the latter was the gloomy, lethargic type.

"Thank Atsushi later for me," Kurenai smiled.

"Don't mention it, Ma'am! We're happy to help! So, I'll be going with this kid..."

"Shino," the Aburame boy gave a slight nod of acknowledgment.

"...As for mine..."

"It's me! Inuzuka Kiba, at your service!"

""...""

The dynamic seemed a bit lopsided...

Kurenai chuckled. She already predicted that this would happen.

"Well, I thought Hyoumaru can help Shino when talking with the residents, while Seki... sorry about this, but you're the only one who can keep up with Kiba's speed. Just follow behind the boy and make sure that he doesn't do anything reckless."

"Yes, Ma'am!"

"...Understood..."

The pairs quickly departed from the inn, leaving Hinata alone with Kurenai.

"M-Miss Kurenai, what about m-me...?"

"I'll be going with you."

"E-eeh?"

She grinned mischievously at the surprised girl.

"What's wrong? Disappointed?"

"N-no, I'm just surprised... b-because, I'm just a f-failure, so... I'm afraid that I'll j-just hold you back..."

The Jonin patted Hinata's head, rubbing it gently.

"F-fuwee?!"

"Hinata, remember this. You're not a failure," Kurenai stated, full of conviction. "You're stronger than you think. Never forget it."

The girl blinked repeatedly, unable to believe what the Jonin had just said.

Kurenai sighed. It seemed that the effect of Hiashi's cold treatment couldn't be wiped clean so easily.

'I guess it's not enough with just words... nevermind, she'll understand with time.'

"Let's go. We shouldn't waste time."

"Y-yes...!"

With the girl trailing closely behind, Kurenai headed toward the town's bustling marketplace.

---

The team regrouped back in the evening, flushed after a busy day of work. Seki had the worst time of all, being forced to follow Kiba in his mad dash throughout the town. The Chuunin's face was as pale as a corpse.

"Let's start. Hmm, is it fine if I read it in your place?"

Hyoumaru glanced at Shino, who gave him a nod. He then continued to recite the content of the notes in his hand.

"About the master painter himself, he's rather an oddball. He likes to walk around town and ramble about color and nature, that kind of stuff."

"It's normal for an artist," Kurenai added. "What else?"

"According to what we had read from his correspondence letters and the townsfolk's comments, it seemed that he had been working for this four-panel pieces for two years. Each piece took a different amount of time, however, with 'flower' and 'wind' being the fastest, taking only a month each, and 'moon' being the longest, taking an entire year to finish. In fact, it was said that he had just finished the 'moon' piece about a month ago."

"Maybe because it's the last piece of the painting, so he had to make it perfect. That's why it took so long."

"Yes, Miss Kurenai. Shino and I thought the same."

He flipped over to the next page.

"The painter rarely left this town. If he needed something that he couldn't get from the local shops like high-quality blocks, he would send mister Tendai to fetch it for him. Since that assistant didn't know the whereabouts of the 'moon' piece, we concluded that..."

"The painting, if it does exist, is still in this town," Kurenai finished his sentence.

"Exactly!" Hyoumaru gave her a thumbs up.

"Then, we'll present our findings as well. Hinata, your turn."

"M-me?" Hinata widened her eyes. "B-but, Miss Kurenai..."

"Come on, now. Don't keep us waiting."

"U-uuu..."

She took a deep breath before she started talking, trying her best not to mess up her speech from embarrassment.

"F-from what we've heard, the painter likes to draw outside of his studio... The townsfolk said that they usually see the painter and mister Tendai walking about town with sketchbooks in hand..."

"Ah, some of the people we've met also mentioned that," Hyoumaru remarked.

"Y-yes... also... the painter likes to drink rice wine..."

"Oh!" Kiba suddenly exclaimed. "That's it! That's the smell! I've been wondering about it for a while now!"

"What smell, Kiba?" Kurenai raised an eyebrow.

"When we took a glance over mister Tendai's room, there were these clay pots with stones on top of the lid sitting at the corner. The smell coming from those pots felt familiar to me. It must be amazake!"

"...So... that guy Tendai is brewing them for his master..."

"B-but..." Hinata continued, "the painter recently had a problem with his liver, so he couldn't drink anymore..."

"Then it seems that the wine would be wasted," Hyoumaru sighed. "I wonder if we can ask mister Tendai for some."

"Focus," Kurenai snapped her finger. "Your turn, Kiba. What did you find?"

"Heheh," the boy scratched his nose. "I've been following his scent all over the place. He most frequently visited the marketplace, and then the park. Aside from that, he also went outside the gate toward a small patch of woods nearby. There's a clearing that faintly held his scent, which meant that he had been there, but probably more than three months ago."

"Looking for inspiration. Nothing significant," Shino remarked.

"Going back to town, the other places that held his smell the most are the town hall, the restaurant in the residential district, and the temple at the edge of the town."

"From all those places, did you find any traces of the painting?"

"...Nope," Seki let out a sigh. "We've asked the people in those places, but they were clueless as well."

"What if the painter had buried the painting in the woods?"

"Impossible," Hyoumaru said. "If he really cherished that painting, he wouldn't do something so reckless."

The group fell into silence after that. Those were the information that they could gather at the moment, and yet they didn't seem to be useful to find that painting.

"Haaah... if only that geezer drew us a map!" Kiba groaned. "Hey, Shino, you found something like that in his letters?"

"How can it be so convenient?" Shino shook his head.

"Hmm... perhaps this could be a clue," Hyoumaru pulled out one of the letters. "The master painter had a correspondence with an aspiring artist in the same business. When asked about how he could produce such awe-inspiring works, the painter said that an artist has to blend with their crafts, to feel the thing that they want to portray with their own senses."

"So complicated!"

"Well, artists tend to speak in riddles, after all..." Kurenai smiled wryly.

"That's the only letter that related directly to painting. The rest of the letters are just regular conversations with friends..."

"Gaah! No other way, then!" Kiba abruptly leaped up to his feet. "The painting is surely in this town, right? Let's check every nook and cranny until we find it!"

"B-but, Kiba... t-the town is too big..."

"Then we'll just have to do it with guts! Just watch, I'll definitely find it! Let's go, Akamaru!"

Woof!

The duo was about to leap out when Shino abruptly shot out his leg, tripping Kiba face-first down the floor.

"The heck! Shino, what are you doing?!" Kiba growled as he clutched his bleeding nose.

"Calm down. Don't be reckless."

"I'm not reckless! If we want to find that blasted painting as fast as we could, then blanket search is the best method! We're just wasting time talking here!"

"That's called reckless. Now, sit down."

"..."

Faced with Shino's unmoving gaze, Kiba finally relented and sat back down.

"You seem to have an idea, Shino. Mind sharing them with us?" Kurenai remarked.

The boy nodded in response. Everyone quickly turned their attention to him.

"First, let me say that Kiba's idea... is not bad. It is doable."

"Then why did you stop me?!"

Shino raised his hand to stop Kiba's complaint.

"It will take too much time and energy. We can use it as our last resort, but for now, there's no need."

"Oh?" Kurenai smiled. "How so?"

Filled to the brim with confidence, Shino's next words left his audience with bated breath.

"Because, I've found the location of the painting."