Naruto Online: The Lost Girl

Chapter 11

When Hikari finally came to, they were deep in a forest. It was so misty that she could barely see her captors' faces.

"Are we there yet?"

"Kumo..." Noble sighed.

They haven't realized I woke up...

"Kumo, you should be able to tell how close we are to the estate by now." Mimi said.

"Er..."

Hikari felt Noble's grip on her shifted.

"I'll tell you again anyway. Always remember gravestone, frog pond, then mist." He said.

"Once the mist surrounds you, keep northward and the estate will reveal itself." Mimi added.

Kumo nodded and the group continued their trek in silence. As they moved, Hikari continued to feign unconsciousness. Her mind processed the information she heard.

Gravestone... Frog pond... and north through mist...

Noble began whistling and Kumo hummed along with his tune. Mimi remained silent.

The scenery around them began to change.

Thick forestry became rocky cliffs and plateaus. It was then Hikari began to shuffle, alerting them.

"Good morning Lady Hamako." Kumo said cheerfully.

She groaned back a hello.

"I'm glad you finally woke up. My arms were starting to cramp." Noble laughed.

Hikari climbed off him and stretched a bit.

"Where are we now?" She asked.

"Home."

Hikari looked at Mimi, who pointed to a large eastern style building in the distance. High on cliffs besides them was a white and blue daimyo castle with several smaller ones around it.

It was nothing like she had ever seen before. She couldn't help but smile at the magnificent view.

But when she turned to ask the three if the place always looked so amazing, her grin disappeared.

Kumo and Noble both looked uneasy. In fact, the latter bent down to pet Ace, who howled lowly. Even Mimi's eyes held a flicker of fear in there.

What they were afraid of, she didn't know.

But she definitely knew now that looks were deceiving.

Someone, or something, was not right in the palace before them.

"Alright, let's move." Mimi said, breaking the tense silence.

Hikari nodded and followed the group through the rocky path and up the stairs to the extravagant palace.

As they walked, she looked around at her "home". Women with blue hair like hers stared at her, whispering amongst themselves as they passed. Men with hair as white as Mimi's stared as well.

The halls were lavishly decorated and furnished. She'd never seen such expensive decor before. A woman with white hair and and man with dark blue hair were furiously scrubbing the floors and dusting.

As they continued down the halls, it became evident that all the servants in her home had similar traits. Every male servant had some shade of blue hair while all the female servants had white. They had all kept their heads down as they passed.

No way that's a coincidence.

She looked back at Mimi and Noble. They weren't servants but ninja instead. Hikari glanced at the blonde Kumo.