They Have to Talk

Julia had brought Alex with her into the kage office. This time, the assassin didn't sneak around and merely walked past all the guards. Some eyed her with suspicion, while others greeted her with warm smiles. She nodded to both groups in either case. While she walked with Alex, Julia couldn't help but feel a tense sensation pass over in the pit of her stomach. Things in the office just didn't feel right, but she trusted Hinata had used the eyebot to its fullest abilities, when she left it behind.

They came to Hinata's office door eventually and Julia knocked on the door, before she opened it for Alex to go on in first, while she entered behind her.

"Lady Hinata, I've returned from the mission. As you may have seen, I had managed to save around 30 girls and women. On top of that, this is a girl who I have brought in. She saved my life and even helped with the intelligence gathering. Her name is Alex, and I believe she would be more deserving of any reward, than I." Julia explained to Hinata and gave a deep bow. When she rose once more, she loosened up and gently grabbed at her shadow. She started to pull out the papers and documents she gathered, waiting to present them after Hinata finished introducing herself to Alex, and then giving her thoughts on the mission end results.

When Julia returned to the office, it would look the exact same with Hinata sitting behind her desk. Hinata would have a warm smile on her face as she gazed upon Alex. However, it was a bigger smile than usual. When Julia finished speaking, Hinata couldn't help but giggle.

"My, I hadn't known you were such a bold person to give such a physical dispaly of intimacy in public, Shadow-chan." Hinata teased Julia. She would giggle if either of them responded, having guessed that there would be a little pink to both of them.

"But before we continue this conversation, let's get more comfortable." Hinata closed her eyes and the pressure of her chakra would fill the room. In seconds, the entire room would begin to change. It grew darker as the electric lights were replaced with scented candles. The bland tan walls became a dark shade of aqua mixed with violet. The large desk shrunk until it was like a kotatsu without the heated blanket. The chairs that Julia and Alex were sitting on would become ceremonial seat cushions, while Hinata's did the same with a much more intricate pattern.

A koi pond appeared in a corner of the room with a small garden and bridge going across it. Half of the room looked to be an outdoor Japanese garden while the other half looked to be the inside of a Japanese shrine. The wall that overlooked the village became transparent, allowing the others to view the entirety of the village. With the new office complete, Hinata sat upon her pillow with her legs beneath her and hands placed upon her lap.

"I was able to see the entire confrontation from here when I focused hard enough. I am proud of you Shadow, for freeing the prisoners even though I ordered no witnesses to be left behind. If you would have slain the girls, I would have lost my faith in you. I am glad my hopes were not misplaced." With her words, a chime would alert Julia to having money transferred to her account. When she checked, she would find an access of 1100 Cr there.

"And you, Miss Alex. I am very honored to meet you and I look forward to making your aquaintance. However, I would very much like to know everything you can tell us about the bandits whom kidnapped you and the others first." Hinata would take the papers from Julia when she offered after the introductions. She activated her byakugan, scanned for several seconds, deactivated it and then put all the papers down with a sigh.

Julia noticed the mirth in Hinata's smile and wondered what it was that made her so happy all of a sudden. That was when she mentioned Julia's rather bold way of handling the Alex situation moments ago. Hinata called it intimacy and worst yet, she deemed it as public intimacy. Hinata really topped things off, by referring to Julia in the "-chan" honorific. This made Julia's cheek tint a light pink and she wet her lips in an attempt to speak.

"Lady Kage, I was just..." Her speech was cut off when Hinata had released her chakra into the room. Everything about it, down to the very environment changed with just her will alone. Julia was deeply impressed by this display, due to several factors. One, it reminded Julia of the environment her own home was made into, and two, Hinata's excellent control and usage of her chakra, was akin to that of her own mother. Hinata truly was a remarkable person.

Julia adjusted quite nicely to the change in scenery and sat in the same manner as Hinata did. Julia peered out the window, to see the women she had rescued, being offered food, friendship, and much more. The actions warmed the icy heart she tried so hard to keep chilled. Julia turned her attention back to Hinata, who expressed her gratitude of not sticking to the mission entirely. Julia's head dropped slightly and she took a deep breath. For some reason, that compliment really resonated with her and she took it to heart. The chime was soon heard and she found that her credits had been updated.

"Thank you, Lady Hinata. I humbly accept the payment." She said after checking her account. Afterwards, Hinata went on to question Alex, and what it was like for her to be captured by the bandits. Julia was very much interested in the story herself, but paid close attention to Hinata, as she looked about the papers. She watched as Hinata put away the papers and sighed.

"Something troubles you, Lady Hinata?" Julia asked.

Alex had calmed down by the time they reached the Kage's office. Julia wouldn't know it, but she just made a very powerful rival. The games of emberassment were about to begin! As Hinata teased Julia, Alex would have made a comment on it, but she humbled herself for the moment seeing as she was in the presence of one of the strongest people in all of Vale.

When the room changed, she was left speechless again. This wasn't the type of power one got to see everyday. The moment was short lived, however, when Hinata asked Alex to recount her tale of being kidnapped. Alex's everlasting eternal smile once again found itself as a simple sad smirk.

"I s'pose I should start at the beginning?" Alex decided it best to start with her life and the workings of Grande in Vale. She told them of how she grew up poor in the lowest tier of Grande, about her friend Gemini, and about how she decided to change her ways after her best friend disappeared. (Please reference Alex's bio for full details.)

"Two months ago I was sent out for a cargo run with a couple of guys we had worked with. They were usually nice, so I didn't think nothing of it. However, once we were on the road and halfway to Malycio, they knocked me out." She paused, her smirk almost changing into an angry scowl, but she reigned it in quickly. "When I woke up, I was in the cargo cart with a few other gals. I was told I had been unconscious for two hours, but we had only made one stop at another bandit camp. So the girls in the cart were from Grande itself. Don't know how I missed that little tidbit two months ago..."

"Anyway, we did end up in Malycio. We were blindfolded and had earmuffs placed on us. Then we were taken into some basement. I only know because there were a lot of stairs. Then there was a lot of grabbin'. Hands roaming, grabbing, and scratching at whatever flesh it could its hands on. Luckily for me, I have my chastity clothing. Wankers couldn't get em off..." She paused again, this time clearly showing pain in what she was saying.

"But the others..." She looked down and clenched her fist. "Gals as young as six years old were being taken advantage of. They even killed a few of them. I would have stopped them, but there was some type of chakra blocking jutsu, or something. Even inside the cargo crates."

"After they knew my clothes weren't going anywhere, they settled for using my body as a moving punching bag. Oh, and I should really make my scarf into chastity clothing too. I don't think I should be kissing anyone no time soon..." She said disdainfully.

"For the six weeks I was there, they ever removed my blindfold. Regardless, my ears still worked. From what sensible gibberish I got from those pigs, there's a group known as the Red Cloaks out there making prime time cash off of selling women, specially as sex slaves. They have a base of operations in Malycio. I reckon we were at that base, or probably a smaller one. I also heard that some aristocrat in the 3rd tier is supporting them. But my time didn't last long there. After that six weeks, they grabbed me and few other gals and decided to take us on the road as they did their thing. We were to be their entertainment at their camps. It was only a few days ago that we heard about a raid being down here on the Night Terran. I'm sorry I don't have more information thatn that." She finally finished her entire story.

Hinata tapped her lips with her index finger as she thought for a moment after Julia's question. "The fact that these camps show ridiculous number of slaves is unsettling Shadow." She answered sternly. "Night Terran alone barely holds 100 people, yet these camps have from two to four times more." That fact not only unsettled Hinata, it set forth a bubbling rage inside her center that she was both thrilled and terrified to find out about. Then Alex told her story, making that bubbling feeling within Hinata's center grow intensely. The warmth spread to her womb and for a brief moment, she heard the anger in Alex's voice and it turned her on.

"Thank you Alex, you've been a wonderful help. That's far more information than I would have ever expected." She complimented. "Do you have anything to say Shadow?"

Julia's brow furrowed slightly at the information that Hinata had read back. When Julia looked back on first picking up the documents and the map, she did notice that numbers were too high for these crimes to go unnoticed. Someone had to have tried to find these girls, or at least put a stop to the organization that was performing these horrific deeds. However, they now had a name of the group, and the information presented painted Grande as nothing more, than an extremely shady, and possibly overly-corrupt government. The evidence slowly piled, but piled nonetheless.

Julia balled her fists up as she heard more about Alex's story. The children suffered the worse at such young ages and even Alex was victimized, even though she tried her hardest to protect herself. Julia remembered the smile that Alex first greeted her with despite the pain she went through beforehand. She remembered the pain in the child's eyes when they rode in the crate, and finally, she remembered when some of the women stayed behind to watch Julia decapitate the rest of the camp. Julia closed her eyes and took long, deep breaths. She quelled the rage within her being and used it to further encase her heart in ice. Ice towards the monsters that lurked on this continent. When asked if she had anything to say, Julia looked towards her Kage, and nodded.

"I come from a people who have seen nothing but war, war, and war. Eventually, my family had to put a stop to all of the senseless violence. None of them thought we were serious, but oh we were. We made examples out of other clans and people who opposed us. These examples, they went beyond simple executions. They were methods of murder and torture, that we forced the last generation and the next to watch, in order to show just how serious we were. These people in Grande, these bandits, these people on the continent, these corrupt people on the face of this planet; we'll make an example out of everyone of them. When the time is right, when our people are prepared, we will strike as the vengeful reapers. We'll be... Reaping shadows. Those who use the darkness as their cover and take the lives of those who are unfit to live in this world." Julia finished and took a look at her wound. It had stopped bleeding, but she reopened it a bit, and placed the blood onto her fingers. She drew several tribal symbols upon the table and would point at each one.

"Love. Family. Friendship. Truth. Justice. Death. Shadow." She said. "In the short amount of time that I've grown to know you two and a bit of the village, I can say I've developed a bit of love for all of you. My home away from home, my extended family lies with you two and the resolve you all share for change. Friendship, I have no reason to mistrust you two. We are friends. Truth, is what we all seek to this corrupt crisis. Justice, the judgement of the wicked will fall upon our blade. There is no need for a trial, only a swift blade. Death, is what we'll be exposed to and what we live in on a daily basis. We will become the reapers. Shadow, my alias, and method in which I formulate death. Our tool for the fight against the unjust who wish to bring horrible upon the people who only want to do good." Julia paused slightly and took a look at both Alex and Hinata. "This is my blood pact to all of you. I promise to fight by your sides to the very end and when this is all over, that we shall have exacted the proper revenge against these monsters." She concluded. A small smile forged itself on her lips and she held her hand out to shake their hands individually.

Alex had been on the verge of tears after her story, using all of her willpower to keep a small smirk on her face, even though her eyes probably betrayed all of the pain she refused to show in those weeks of captivity. However, that feeling of pain slowly turned to awe, and then admiration when Julia began to speak. Her words, though dark, were as bright as the sun to Alex. She wanted revenge. She wanted justice. She wanted to make the people who hurt her and the other girls suffer a fate far worse than the 6th circle of hell! Alex hadn't admitted that she got plenty of satisfaction watching Julia break those men at the camp, and had even got a little wet with her own form of torture with the acid.

"Reaping Shadows, huh? Sounds promising. I'm in." She removed a dagger from her hip and cut across her palm before slamming her palm onto the table as well. The bloody handprint that formed glowed with chakra for a moment before hardening into a crystal like substance, along with all of the symbols Julia created.

Hinata sat calmly through Julia's speech, analyzing the looks on both girls faces. She smirked at their declarations and internally shook her head. "My, this table wasn't cheap you know? Is it customary for guest to slather their Kage's things in blood where you two come from?" A small hint of ki backed Hinata's calm words. One would swear there was a red oni behind her.

"But I know where you're coming from, Shadow. However, we would only become the same monsters that we are trying to stop if we simply did this for revenge. As well, though Grande seems to be a terrible place, Alex did say she was taken to Malycio. So our biggest enemy may be there." Hinata placed reason on the table, attempting to calm the two down before either of them decided to go do something rash. "Nevertheless..." She continued. "Though we won't do this for revenge, as I don't want to drag any innocent people into this, we will show them an absolute hell. We won't make an example out of them. If a man commits a sin, his child should not have to suffer for it. Simply speaking, we will find each and every person who has something to do with this, and we will show them a fate far worse than death. Only when the women whom have been harmed by them are satisfied, will we give them a slow and excruciatingly painful death."

Hinata held her palm over the table as well, a cut appearing on her palm out of nowhere. She slammed her hand down onto the table as well, her print glowing just as the others. The crystal markings on the table seemed like an ornamental plaque now. Hianta picked it up and hung it behind her desk. A knew table appeared in it's place, clean as a whistle.

"I've only known you for a few hours, Shadow, and you for barely thirty minutes Alex. However, I am willing to take a leap of faith by placing my complete and utter trust in you two. You will be my eyes and ears where I can not be, and my sword and shield as I am yours. If you wish, Alex, that is. Julia has made her position clear, but I won't force you to join us."

(RTE: Alex agreed post haste. This was something she wanted to be apart of and felt the fellowship between the three women in the room.)

"Now, I am sure the women you brought with you could use some rest, as well as you both. I will not question any of the women if I don't have to. If we three can solve this mess on our own, then I would like to allow them a normal life in this haven. I will address them as a group n the morning and explain the situation to the rest of the women of Terran. What will you two be doing now?"

"But of course. It's called a 'blood oath,' Lady Kage." Julia said softly, though a bead of sweat formed near the side of her face, as she felt and saw the red oni behind Hinata. However, it was a necessity in Julia's eyes. Nothing better to bind the three together, than their own blood.

Hinata did explain that their plans weren't simply going to be for revenge, but they were plans of justice. This is something that truly calmed Julia down. The darkness in her own heart yearned for the death of those, who merely preyed on the weak. She had a better point of not letting the next generation suffer, but just the source of the evil, the last generation. Julia had no problems with that, she would pleased either way with putting the source on display, as the wrath of all those who have suffered by their atrocities. But in the end, Julia felt as though their end results, no matter how just and for the people it seemed, they would become far greater monsters, than any other monster known to the planet.

A shocked expression actually pierced Julia's face, as she saw Hinata add her own blood to the table and turned the great table into a plaque. Julia's eyes lit up with a sort of hope and excitement at the sight of Hinata placing the table on the wall. She looked at it with pride and nodded slowly to herself. She felt a little more comfortable as well, when Alex decided to agree right as Hinata offered.

"Thank you, Lady Kage. I'll serve as your shadow to the very end." Julia spoke softly.

Hinata explained that the women would need rest, which is completely true. Even Julia herself needed some rest after all of that, but she found her powers and emotional state to have fluctuated in that last battle. Something happened with her. When asked about what the two would do next, Julia looked at both Alex and Hinata, before she finally let herself go. She sighed out in relaxation and slouched a bit.

"I need to get this wound treated and I need to meditate, before getting some rest. Today wasn't the best of my days." She admitted and closed her eyes for a few seconds, before opening them again.

Alex shivered at the ki Hinata emitted but sobered up at her words. She was just looking for revenge, but Hinata put it into more perspective. It confounded Alex how a leader like Hinata could exist when she'd only known the atrocity that was the King and Queen of Grande.

After Alex agreed to join Hinata and Julia, she grew excited at the prospect of not only getting revenge, but stopping those who were harming women all together.

"I reckon I'll be going to the nurse's office too. Good way to skip class, yeah?" She nudged Julia with a small joke. "Although our sensei is pretty damn fine. Who'd want to skip class?" She called to Hinata. With a small hop, she kicked herself to her feet.

"Well loves, I've got myself a bleeding hand and depleted chakra system. After we hit the doc's place, how about some grub before bed, bath, and beyond?"

"I'm flattered Alex, however, I wouldn't want to get in between you and Miss Shadow. You two seemed so close out there in the courtyard with your brazen display of affection." Hinata mocked being bashful.

(RTE: Alex's body heated up red at her words and she immediately shut her mouth, once again being left speechless. She looked down as steam came out of her ears and she mumbled incoherently again.)

Hinata suddenly perked up at Alex's last few words though. "Oh! That's a great idea! I public bath and hot springs! That would be a great way for everyone to relax in town too. I don't believe there is one in the other towns either." A hotspring would be a great way to get to know her kunoichi and citizens better too other than addressing them formally. She stood up swiftly and glided over to a large tree that was growing in the corner of the room, on the outside Japanese garden side. She touched the tree and vines extended down with files and folders. She took two of the folders and opened them, activating her byakugan and going over them within seconds. Once done, she put them back into the tree and slowly moved back to the others.

"You two can get going. I'm going to plan this project out for now. Thank you two for your kindness and support." Hinata was in serious mode, the look in her eye showing she was still going over possibilities for the hot springs. When she set her mind to do something, she would see it through to the end.

Julia would have remained silent after hearing Hinata's remark. Her cheeks turned pink and she merely looked dead straight towards her kage. There wasn't much she could do about it, so she swallowed her pride, stood up from the small cushion, and headed towards the door.

"It's Julia." Julia said quietly, before she opened the door, and exited. While she walked down the hall, Julia thought long and hard about what Hinata hinted towards she and Alex. It was true, what Julia did was pretty bold, but she had thought nothing of it at first. Julia never before let her mind wander into the dark corners of her it, those being the attraction she felt towards certain things and people. When she pondered about these things, images of Alex and Hinata showed themselves to her. They all came in to embrace Julia gingerly. The two even kissed her cheeks. Her eye twitched and she quickly dismissed the thought. "Yep, I definitely need to meditate at this rate." She told herself.

She exited the kage's office soon after and straight away made her way to the nurse's office. The wound she had sustained from the mission before, would put her at a disadvantage for any other confrontation. While the daylight remained young, she figured that a couple hours of deep meditation, followed by several hours of sleep would do her some good.

"Julia...wonder what she meant by...Ooooooh!" Alex smiled as she got the meaning. It didn't help that Hinata had been looking at her with a deadpan expression when she started talking. With her same neverending smile, Alex stretched and yawned. "I reckon I should be gettin' out of ya hair too. Thanks for your kindness, love!" She dismissed herself and turned to follow behind Julia.

Hinata smiled when Julia finally gave her name. The bond between the three women was growing at an ever increasing rate. She was happy so too, because they would definitely need each other for the storm that Hinata felt brewing at that very moment, within their walls already. "There really is no rest for the wicked..." She sighed to herself as Alex left out.

To Be Continued...