A Growing Affection

Chapter 43: Play Fighting

"Twelve oh one," Naruto said dejectedly, "It's now officially Yuletide Eve."

With the oil path Kankuro had followed gone, the three shinobi had been forced to use more traditional methods to try to find their targets. But checking with parts suppliers, and talking to people living and working around Nicholas's shop had proven fruitless. No one had seen anything strange around the toymaker's business, nor had anyone recognized the descriptions of the Sand rogues. After completing their canvassing, the allies regrouped in the shop; where Nyoko was waiting with four guards.

"Now what?" Kankuro asked.

"We could try Nyoko's plan," Naruto suggested.

"Would you know what to look for?" Hinata asked.

"Sort of," he grinned dubiously, "Kankuro described the renegades, and Nyoko can probably tell me what Nicholas looks like."

"That seems like a stretch," Kankuro was unconvinced.

"Besides," Hinata said, "you should save your chakra in case we need to fight."

The blond Chunin was ready to protest, but he shut his mouth.

"Ok," he agreed, "Man, its too bad we can't keep following the oil trail. You must a be good tracker, Kankuro, to follow some oil drips through the forests between the Land of Greens and here."

"I had some help," he admitted with an awkward chuckle. He took a small spray bottle hidden in his belt, and said, "Let me show you."

He took one of the splinters from the floor, and scraped up a drop of the oil. He held it up in front of them, and misted a small amount the blue liquid on to grease. The lubricant began to radiate orange light, and smoke slightly.

"Man, that stinks," Naruto covered his nose, "What is that, some sort of special tracking fluid?"

"It's a cleaner," he wiped off the wooden shard to illustrate, leaving it totally unstained, "I use it for maintenance on my puppets. The glow is just a side effect. Unfortunately, with the trail dried out, it's not any good."

"Maybe," Hinata considered that, "But maybe not. Naruto smelled the oil out front, even though there wasn't any to see. And now your spray amplifies that odor. Lets try it out in the shop. There might be enough particles in the air to react and let us follow them. Even with the patch."

"Worth a try," the Sand Jonin agreed, and they all moved to the front of the store.

"Do you still smell it, Naruto?" Hinata asked worriedly.

"Yeah," he answered after a few sniffs, "It's still there, but it's getting fainter."

"OK, then..." Kankuro squirted blue cleanser near the scratches Hinata had found. Neither he, Nyoko, or the soldiers noticed any change; but Naruto's nose crinkled in disgust.

"Ugh," he grimaced, "I can still smell that. How can you stand it?"

"It doesn't smell that bad to me," the puppet master shrugged.

"And I can see it," Hinata glanced back at them with silvered eyes. Kankuro betrayed a slightly shock, but said nothing.

"Then we can track down Nicholas," Nyoko exclaimed happily.

"Not we," Hinata shook her head, "You have to stay here. Or even better, return to the palace. You have school today."

"No, we have the 19th through the 23rd off for Yuletide," she smirked, "Besides, I'm the client."

"The contract is to find Nicholas, not to indulge your sense of adventure," the mission leader told her.

"But last time!"