Naori left the temple's training ground having watched Hanami working with Jade to improve her fighting abilities. She had received word from Goenitz that three of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Moon Goddess had fallen. In truth, the news had actually been well received by her as she had never much cared for Goenitz or his group. A part of the reason was primarily due to how blood thirsty they were, especially when under the influence of the Divine Blood. She had wondered why those that accepted it often become so murderous since it was derived from the Favored Son himself and thus the ultimate source was the Goddess they hoped to return to the world. The Favored Son claimed it was likely a result of their inability to truly assimilate the divineness of it so along with increasing their power caused them to become baser versions of themselves.
She accepted the explanation having seen the baser instincts of man firsthand which was why she believed it was necessary to return Kaguya to the world. In the world she would create people would be able to live out their lives in the ways there hearts truly desired, and even if the heart was filled with darkness their indulging would not hurt others as they all slept blissfully in the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Entering her chamber she knelt before the statue of Kaguya, and after a moment a hazy figure appeared before her to hear her report, "Go ahead my child."
"Favored Son, the Heavenly Kings destroyed the Tablet of Hyuuga, although only Goenitz was spared as he remained behind," Naori stated keeping her head down.
The Favored Son could read her heart though as he said amused, "I'm sure the news was well received although I bet you were hoping it was a complete loss."
Naori lowered her head further as she said, "It is as you say. I never much cared for their methods. I know that makes me a failure as your priestess since in their own way they are indulging in their heart's desires."
"True, but your recognizing your fault with our doctrine is what makes you such a fine shepherd to our followers," The Favored Son replied kindly. "Besides which, you have experienced the cruelty of those with similar desires as them. A difficult thing it is to be sure to see sinners and saints both being elevated by our beliefs. But, that is a world where our pursuing the truth in our hearts leads us. It can be a hell for some and a heaven for others. Returning our Holy Mother is what shall make it a heaven that all can enjoy fully."
"It is as you say Favored One," Naori said keeping her eyes down.
"Still, this could cause us complications if the Leaf learns of their connection to our teachings."
Naori nodded, but replied, "One of the reasons I did choose them to destroy the tablet was because they were not seen as practitioners. Furthermore, they would be wise enough not to give us away."
The Favored Son saw through her again as he added, "Plus, like a moth is drawn to the flame that eventually destroys it. You used what was in their hearts to destroy them. The Divine Blood made them formidable, but their chances of escape were slim from the beginning. I'm sure Goenitz saw through your ploy as well. He is not one I would trifle with if I were you."
"I do not take him lightly," Naori replied letting a small smile appear on her face as she looked up for the first time. "I'm more than aware that he desires my position which is why he seeks to raise such a large flock. He hopes to gain your favor as I gained it from the previous Priestess. But in doing so if there is a connection that the Leaf finds between us and the Heavenly Kings, we can offer up Goenitz."
"Provided he doesn't gain my favor before then," the Favored Son replied amused.
"If I fail to live up to your expectations then my life has always been yours to take," Naori said reverently as she lowered her head again.
"There is little chance of that happening my child, as your heart's desire is the same as mine," the being born of the divine mother said pleased. "In the meantime, where do we stand with recovering the vessel?"
"My instincts about Jade were correct," Naori said pleased. "She has used our intelligence network brilliantly and believes she knows where it is being hidden. I shall dispense our followers to retrieve it."
"Hold off on that," the Favored Son said. When she looked up questioningly he said, "You disapprove."
"The idea that our Mother's Vessel is in the hands of some unknown group is unbearable to me," Naori said passionately. "It was bad enough turning it over to that pretender who claimed to be a god. I only wish he was still alive so that I could see the look on his face when he realized what a true God is."
"Indeed," her master said, "However, as he possessed the keys it could not be helped. The reason I want you to wait is the vessel will do us little good without the keys. Place eyes on where it is located to verify it truly is there, but wait for my signal. The petulant child I'm currently serving will soon present us with the opportunity to get our hands on them. Once I have secured them you will be free to secure the vessel."
"As you command," Naori stated eagerly, "But what if the collected Bijuu have been removed. Whoever has them has succeeded in keeping them out of play. Without them is there any hope of awakening our Holy Mother?"
"There is always a reason for hope," the Favored Son answered, "But when you have been planting the seeds for our Mother's return for as long as me. There is little reason to need it. In fact, I'm on my way now to check on one such seed that is about to bear fruit. I will be in touch when it is time to reclaim that which is ours."
Naori stood and felt her spirits buoyed by what the Favored Son had stated for she had feared the unseen players that had secured the vessel were aware of what its true purpose was. If that was the case, then by exiling just one of the Bijuu as the Leaf had attempted with the Three tails could have put returning the Holy Mother in jeopardy. Yet, she should have known the Favored Son would have planned for even that eventuality. After all, he had barely been fazed when the plan he had enacted with Akatsuki had fallen apart. She would have figured he would have grown despondent to have come so close only to have his goal slip from his grasp. Yet, he had proven his divinity when he had simply gathered what pieces remained to put new events into motion, while collecting what he needed from plots enacted years if not decades before to solider on in achieving his goal. She was aware that in many ways she was just another plot for him, and if she failed he would react with similar dispassion at her passing. The key though was simply not to fail, and of that she had no intention. Feeling energized she decided to rejoin Hanami and Jade in training before convincing both to join her in a more pleasurable way of getting hot and sweaty.
*****************************
"What the hell do you mean we aren't going to hit these bastards back," Kukaku asked annoyed as her red-headed sister looked at a sheet of paper. Kukaku studied the paper that was so fascinating her sister at the moment to see that the side facing the Five Tailed Bijuu had rather immaculate writing over it. Another reason for her anger though, besides being ignored, was that after the attack all the Bijuu had been recalled home from their missions after completing them, and despite all being present she was the only one arguing for them to return the favor.
Kiyomi looked up as she asked calmly, "And just where would you direct your anger dear sister? Officially, the attack has been written off as a strike by our rivals. While we have been able to identify the attackers as missing-nin from Kumogakure, that does us little good in actually tracking down those responsible. It seems this Shermie, Yashiro, and Kurisu all went missing about the same time. There were rumors about them joining a cult of some sort based on writings that were found in their homes according to Mabui. But..."
"Which considering you have been investigating these Descendants of the Moon should be all the hint you need as to where we should strike," Kukaku replied angrily. Her gaze shifted to Nel, who was sitting contently in Naruto's lap eating a bowl of ice cream which Kiyomi had given to her having initially lost her temper as well when she learned the diminutive Bijuu had been playing with the tablet rather than giving it to Tier who would have properly secured it. Not to mention been better informed of what the attackers had been after.
That anger had melted though when her sister had reached under her helmet to produce a rubbing she had made of the tablet. Kiyomi turned the sheet over to reveal the rubbing to the others which was done in various shades of crayons. When the red-head had seen it, her anger had instantly switched to joy which was why Kukaku suspected she was not letting her emotions get the better of her now.
Kiyomi maintained her composer as she explained, "There are several reasons why that is a bad idea. The first of which is in Jade's note even she was unsure of who it was destroying the relics. She may have learned that fact after she sent the tablet to me, but currently there is no proof the Cult is behind this. Unfortunately, I fear we will never learn the truth from her."
"Why do you believe that?" Naruto asked sadly.
"The ninja courier that delivered the tablet was found murdered outside the village," Kiyomi said feeling guilty for getting the young woman involved. "If those people that attacked us are a part of the same group then it is reasonable to expect they dealt with her in a similar manner."
"I'll let Tenten know," Naruto said feeling despondent as he knew the archeologist and his weapon using lover were friends. After a moment he asked, "Do you really believe the Descendants of the Moon had nothing to do with this though?"
"I think it is highly likely that they did," Kiyomi answered, "But that doesn't mean there is anything that we can currently do. For starters, there is nothing connecting them directly to the Cult. Therefore, what caused us to suspect them would in turn cause the Cult to raise certain questions about us. I told Jade my interest in such tablets were due to my hoping to use what happened in the past to unravel what may be happening now. We have to assume that at the very least if she is alive or not, she definitely told them where she sent the tablet. Ninja Couriers after all have a reputation of being tough to catch. For him to be killed after dropping it off means they must have known of his final destination. He likely would have been more on guard if they had been pursuing him here. They also likely wouldn't have waited for him to deliver it."
"Unless she didn't divulge anything and they were interested in who the recipient was," Tier pointed out.
Urd shook her head as she stated, "Then why wouldn't they attack during the handoff? You kill two birds with one stone. No, I'm with Kiyomi on this. But the cruelty of killing the courier doesn't exactly smack of the Cult either. For the most part they're preaching about living life to the fullest and how there is no such thing as overindulgence."
"Sure there is," Nel said cutely, "Like eating too much ice-cream and getting a stomach ache."
"True," Urd said amused, "But I'm talking about more adult forms of indulging in what people enjoy."
"Oh," Nel said licking her spoon, "You mean like when you and Rangiku drink too much and complain about Nel making too much noise."
Urd groaned as she said, "Honestly that was one time."
"But she does have a point," Naruto said patting her helmeted head, "Some people if told to indulge to their hearts content might find their hearts lead them to some pretty dark places. I would say this doctrine really doesn't exclude such people being among them. But, if there are, they aren't exactly going to use them to advertise to people tempted to join them."
"All valid points," Kiyomi said, "Plus, from what Ibiki has been able to learn. These cults operate more like cells then one centralized religion. They claim there is a high priestess, but to date no one outside the cult has seen her. There are even rumors that she is at least a century old. But that's beside the point. It is how they are set up that would make our attacking the cult pointless. We could take several of them down and would possibly not even be attacking the group responsible. It might also cause us to look like the bad guys if we really bungle how we handle this."
"So we do nothing then," Kukaku said displeased, "We could just have lover boy seduce one of these members to have them give us their secrets."
Nel looked up at Naruto to asked, "What does seduce mean?"
"Um... well... it means..."
Seeing that Naruto was floundering Rangiku said, "It means Naruto is really, really nice to a lady and makes her feel good so she'll tell him whatever he wants to know."
Nel's eyes grew wide as she then turned in his lap to say, "You make Nel feel good. Are you seducing her? I'll tell you whatever you want to know."
"Um... well that's not exactly what Rangiku meant," Naruto replied. "She was thinking of more adult ways of feeling good."
"Nel wants to feel good in those kinds of ways too."
"Um, maybe when you're older," Naruto replied quickly.
Nel's gaze grew annoyed as she pouted and crossed her arms before spinning and dropping down in Naruto's lap. He groaned slightly as she wasn't too gentle as to what she jostled when she did so while she said, "Nel's the same age as everyone else. It's not fair that she is treated like a child."
Yoruichi picked her up, less the diminutive Bijuu damage the pole she and several of the other women enjoyed as she said, "That's enough of that now. If you want to be treated like an adult you can't pout every time you don't get your way. Let's put you off to bed now."
"Nel's not tired," she said although she yawned moments later as Yoruichi rocked her and carried her from the room.
Kiyomi smiled but then grew serious as she answered Kukaku, "It isn't that simple. The Cult might operate in cells, but even within those cells there are levels. It seems to operate pretty similar to must cults in that the more you buy into the doctrine, the further up a ladder of believers you move. Some people are even giving up all their earthly possessions in favor of joining the cult full time. There are rumors that those that move up to the highest positions within a cell are then invited to a compound of cultists from different cells. Since there are several of these compounds it's likely that there is a centralized temple that members can eventually reach. But, how many steps it takes to get there is impossible to know without getting someone inside."
"So it might take a while," Kukaku retorted. "We have time."
"It isn't that simple," Naruto said politely although somewhat distantly due to who he was addressing. "First, I'm not going to seduce a woman and send her into a situation where I have no idea what it is she will face. It was hard enough doing something similar with Konan, and with her it was simply having to play a role she had been in for years."
Kiyomi placed Jade's letter which had the rubbing on the back of it down as she added, "Plus, as with most cults they have ways to brainwash people into becoming true believers. Either through a long term process indoctrination or likely through quicker means. In fact these levels I spoke about can in simplest terms be considered stages of indoctrination. The more indoctrinated a person becomes the higher they move up the ladder. By the time any woman we send in reaches those top levels who knows how twisted around she would become. We would have to send her in with very little idea of who we are to insure it isn't our secrets that are revealed."
Kukaku sat down in a chair stating annoyed, "So what is your brilliant plan then?"
"At the moment I don't have one," Kiyomi said letting some of her frustrations bleed into her voice. "For now, I'll let the Leaf and the J.A.I.N. intelligence networks do most of the leg work. If there is a connection to the cult I'm sure they'll find it. During their investigations it might also serve to illuminate how exactly Shermie became involved with Kanji. She was one of the women he had defending his compound."
"Why do you care?" Kukaku asked unconcerned.
"I care because depending if she is a part of the cult and when she officially joined them there is perhaps a chance that they are aware of the Binding. I don't think I need to point out just how dangerous this jutsu could be in the wrong hands," Kiyomi stated, and was pleased that even Kukaku could see the danger if the jutsu fell into the hands of someone without Naruto's morals. Kiyomi knew that considering Kukaku's promiscuousness getting hit by the binding would be a type of STD even a Bijuu couldn't shake. It was a fear that was rather unique for the Four-Tailed Bijuu considering the other women were gladly bound to Naruto. Although the death of the person casting it would free Kukaku depending on the circumstances she wasn't sure the others would kill the man that used it on her. After all, it would be a cage of her own making in a sense. But still, she could see a cult using such a jutsu as a means to increase their numbers at an incredible rate. After all, they wouldn't need to spend years bringing people deeper into their faith. Instead they'd be able to simply reprogram women in moments by teaching it to their male members. Also, she doubted that many other practitioners would display the love and affection Naruto had for the women bound to him. She felt most would quickly fall into the Kanji camp when it came to how they treated those that they gained control over. For every Naruto, or even the Prince of Zu that created the jutsu whose harems loved and adored them, she was sure there had been dozens who had begun to abuse the jutsu.
Still, she did at times wonder why more of the scrolls hadn't made their appearances over the thousands of years since the jutsu's creation. As she at times doubted most people would be able to keep such a secret, since while she doubted the men that used the jutsu would let people in on their secret, since a woman's knowledge of the Binding seemed to correlate to how much control over her was needed to keep her in line if it was against her will. She was sure some women would have found a way to slice the throat of a man that hadn't properly controlled them, at which point she figured the knowledge of the Binding would be out there. That it wasn't common knowledge seemed to suggest there might be people out there endeavoring to keep it a secret. Naturally, she could picture two reasons for such a thing. The first was a group of Harem masters that didn't want their secrets out in the open so silenced any of the voices trying to raise awareness of it. The second was a group doing everything in their power to insure the jutsu and knowledge of it were removed from the world. In either scenario, Kiyomi admitted that she suspected Naruto at some point might become a target, and even though the Harem masters could be possible allies, considering she suspected they would be closer in morals to Kanji rather than Naruto she doubted such an encounter would be friendly.
She pushed such thoughts to the future to return to the present discussion as she added, "Plus, if Kanji picked her up after she became a member of the Cult. Then it's possible he knew some of their secrets."
"Which we have no way of knowing since most of his records were lost when his compound was destroyed," Naruto stated.
"True, but if we can determine where they crossed paths and if she was a member then it might just lead us to someone that we can get some answers from. Someone ordered those bastards to attack us, and it might take some time, but I look forward to showing them how much of a folly it truly was."
Kukaku was pleased by the predatory smile her sister wore as she said, "Good, then since for the time being we aren't doing any shipments. I'm going to have a certain itch scratched."
Kiyomi gave her a dismissive wave not interested in the woman's sex life. Plus, she suspected that it annoyed her Four Tailed Sibling when she didn't receive a reaction to her announcements. Something she took more than a little satisfaction in, since she was convinced she made them to annoy those that had chosen to be with Naruto so felt turning it around on her was fair play.
Naruto stood as well and although Kiyomi was sure that much like her siblings they all wanted him to stay to spend their evening with him in a similar way as Kukaku planned, but she could tell from his face he wasn't in the right mood. She suspected it was because he would have to tell Tenten of the potential fate of her friend. But after kissing each of his lovers goodnight, he did stop to ask, "Where's Mira? Why didn't she attend? She's not still injured is she?"
"No," Kiyomi answered for her siblings, "I'm not sure why she didn't join us. She has remained in her room for the most part since the attack."
Naruto nodded, before saying, "I'll see what's going on before I leave. I need to thank her for what she did." Kiyomi nodded confident that whatever was bothering her six-tailed sibling, her lover would be the cure for it.
*****************************
Mira sat in her bed where she had been for the most part since the attack as she was experiencing a rather extensive bout of depression. The reason for it was because of how poorly she had done against the group that had attacked her home. Having felt the return of her other siblings she could almost imagine the teasing she would receive, particularly from Kukaku. She knew she hadn't been the only one to do poorly, but of the mansions defenders she felt she was the only one that wasn't diminished in some way. Unlike Tier she hadn't sacrificed any of her tails, and Cyan was a being that had been born of that sacrifice. As such, she felt she should have been more than enough to deal with the group that had attacked them, and her failure to do so had sapped her of the confidence that she had gained since taking her current form.
A knock against her door pulled her from her gloomy thoughts long enough to say, "Go away."
"Mira, it's me Naruto."
She nearly told him to leave her alone, but due to it being one of the few times where he was seeking her out, she asked, "What do you want?"
She heard the smile in his voice as he replied, "For starters, how about letting me come it."
Mira had cleaned herself up after awakening, but seeing as in the couple of days since then she had only lain about her room, she imagined she didn't exactly present an image of beauty. However, she didn't care at the moment particularly since she doubted it would make any difference so said, "Fine."
Naruto stepped into the room, and saw Mira sitting on her bed wearing a pair of black cotton sleeping shorts with a red sleeveless shirt. He smiled at her asking, "How are you feeling?"
"Why do you care?" she replied bitterly.
Naruto sighed before grabbing a chair from her makeup table and pulled it up to the bed. Sitting on it backwards so he could rest his folded arms on it he replied, "Why wouldn't I?"
"I don't know," Mira said venting her frustrations with the blond man, "Maybe because when I threw myself at you, you would reject me."
"That might be," Naruto responded, "But that doesn't necessarily preclude me from carrying about your wellbeing. Despite what you might think I don't dislike you."
"Then why do you insist on rejecting me," Mira said angrily as she felt tears threating to fall.
"Because while I might not dislike you," Naruto said after a moment of thought, "That doesn't mean I can say I like you either."
"Then why don't you just leave and stop pretending to care," Mira said laying down and rolling away from him.
Naruto frowned as he replied, "I'm not pretending to care. The truth is Mira; I like to believe you are a decent person. It is easy to believe that when without a thought to your own safety you flew that bastard out of here saving a lot of lives. That is someone I can definitely say I like. But then there is the part of you that openly mocks Urd, Apacci, Mila, or Cyan as being lesser beings due to their origins. Obviously, that is someone I can't say I care to be around."
Mira did look back at him over her shoulder to ask stiffly, "So you want me to go back to being everyone's doormat? The slug that was overly polite so as not to get made fun of by the others."
"No," Naruto replied, "But I would think that someone that used to act like that so as to not draw the ire of others to avoid being teased would also understand how much words can hurt." A small look of guilt appeared in her eyes prompting her to look away so he continued, "I can understand why upon changing forms you might act the way you do. You probably feel like you went from an ugly duckling to morph into a beautiful swan. I suppose that from that confidence it would feel it was your time to be the one that looked down on others." Naruto trailed off, but the six-tailed Bijuu remained silent so he stood and returned the chair as he prepared to leave. Reaching the door, he stopped as he added, "We really aren't so different in that regard, Mira. I was ignored as a child so for a time acted overly nice hoping it would prompt people to accept me. When that didn't work I began to resent it so began to act out."
"And now you're loved by all," Mira stated derisively sitting back up.
Naruto looked at her and gave her a soft smile before replying, "Which is why I know how it must feel good to not be the target of insults because things turned around. In the end though you're free to be whatever type of person you want, but I think it wouldn't hurt for you to remember how it felt to be the one that used to be the target for others to bully before engaging in it yourself. I'm glad to see you are well though, and thank you again for putting yourself in harm's way for my village."
Mira watched the door close after he left and felt a measure of both happiness, and thoughtfulness. She recalled how she used to be so skittish around some of her siblings since her self-consciousness about her form had made her an easy target when they were annoyed. She had noticed that for a time Urd had acted in a similar manner when she was around, at least until the new eight-tails had become one of Naruto's lovers. Afterwards though the power dynamic between them had shifted as her barbs about the new Bijuu's origins had lost their venom, while Urd gained the advantage from Mira's inability to attract Naruto. However, Urd had not used that advantage to mock her rival although she would respond mockingly to her taunts if pushed. Those encounters had often left Mira with the feeling that more of Urd's taunts had hit their mark.
Mira understood that it was likely because she hadn't truly gained any confidence from her new appearance, but had simply hoped that by acting as she had it wouldn't be noticed because she was on the offensive. Feeling drained as she began to feel guilty from how she behaved, she closed her eyes to rest. Resolving to find a new balance, she wasn't sure how she would behave going forward, but did hope it might be someone that Naruto would look upon fondly.
****************************
Yoshino took a sip of her drink as she watched the blue-haired woman dancing on stage. For the Nara there was something rather surreal about the moment. It wasn't that she was sitting next to a handsome young man, while wearing a red seamless long-sleeve chemise which although it could almost pass for a dress, with the small fishnet pattern of the top and sleeves which gave way to bigger geometric cutouts as it reached her stomach and wrapped down her side, it definitely fit the bill of lingerie. The skirt portion though did reach down to just about mid-thigh and was were the cutouts turned solid to cover her front and back, but the sides showed the flesh of her thighs through the missing material which to anyone with eyes could see she wasn't wearing panties although she had only removed them after coming down from the stage. The reason why that wasn't strange for her was because it had been her life a few times a night for the past several weeks.
She recalled her first time from when she had learned about Club N and had unceremoniously been pushed out on the stage. She had found that the lights that shown on the stage had been angled so that she couldn't see the audience. She had stood motionless for several moments as she wanted to flee, but like a deer that paused when you shined a light on it found that she couldn't. She probably would have if the crowd had catcalled her, but it had remained silent as if to give her the time to gather her wits. A soft soothing flute melody began to play, which Yoshino found she was swaying to almost hypnotically. She began to assert control though as the melody gave way to a slow number from the speakers which caused her sashay her hips. For a moment she forgot where she was as she recalled dancing for her husband in a similar manner and was wearing a similar plain dress. He had just come home for lunch but she had been feeling rather playful so had done a striptease for him. Needless to say it had ended with her being the meal.
Yoshino reenact the scene dipping low as she spread her legs wide, but her dress hid her panty clad mound from the audience. Then as she moved to stand again she arched her back as she spun about to so that her back faced the crowd. She then reach behind her to pull the zipper of her dress down, before again spinning to now face the audience while holding it up as she slipped her arms from the sleeves. She then held it to her body before turning away again and let it drop.
The garment pooled on the ground and she used her foot to kick it towards the curtain as she stepped backward. She then spun and grabbed the pole, like she had the counter of her kitchen of the memory she was reliving and began to rock her hips as she had to entice her husband. She felt herself grow moist as her memory showed her that the actions had the desired effect as Shikaku had stepped forward to claim her. That was also when the music came to an end so snapped Yoshino out of her fantasy. Realizing what she did she instantly straightened, and stared at the crowd which although she couldn't see them, she did hear them as they began clapping. She began to panic so raced down the stage and snatched up her dress before disappearing behind the curtain.
She began to pull it on as Mito said, "That was amazing. The crowd loved it."
"They're just being kind," Yoshino said as she pulled on her dress. "I can't believe I did that."
Mito smiled as she said, "Well our D.J. did help somewhat."
"You placed me under a genjutsu," Yoshino said her temper beginning to flare.
"Only to get you moving," Mito responded amused, "After the flute ended that was all you. I really hope you decide to dance here."
"I...I really don't think..."
"Think it over," Mito said when Yoshino trailed off. "I'll send someone to check on your decision when an opening in the rotation appears."
Yoshino had been escorted from the Club and back towards the Grotto with Mito reapplying her henge as they exited. Yoshino was rather surprised that as they stepped outside the colors of the hot spring seemed sharper. It had caused her to look back towards the grotto as she wondered if it really was because for the few minutes on stage she had felt alive again. The change she had noticed didn't fade in the few days that passed, but her thoughts did begin to revolve around the Club in the days after. They turned to what she would do if she accepted an invitation to dance again. As the days passed without "Kiyomi" asking about her decision she found she was growing rather antsy. She began to wonder if perhaps the patrons hadn't enjoyed her dance. She began to use that nervous energy in more productive means as she began to train as she would admit she had let herself go somewhat. Therefore, when Ino had come over to ask if she wanted another opportunity to star at the club, Yoshino had eagerly accepted.
Ino had laughed which did cause her nervousness to return since she realized she would be dancing with the likes of the stunning blonde kunoichi. But Ino had quickly put her at ease and they had even gone shopping together for what she would wear. Yoshino had insisted the lights be turned the same way so that she couldn't see the audience. But, this time she hadn't retreated to past experiences to provide inspiration for her dance, but some of the routines she had come up with as she trained. She suspected that was why as her set ended rather than stepping behind the curtain, she had stepped down from the stage to pass through the audience. She had wanted to see if the applause she received was simply the crowd being polite, or if there were elements of genuine desire. She had been pleased to see that more than one member of the audience had been giving her a standing ovation even as they didn't leave their seat.
She had been invited to return the following night and she had quickly accepted. Furthermore by the end of that night she had begun to mingle with the audience. She found that so long as she wore the Lady Shadow mask she could be as flirty as any of the other women of the club. Ino often teased her as she also tended to spend her time among the younger patrons. She had a few favorites one of whom went by the name Menma and had been the dark-haired youth she had seen the first visit. She found him to be extremely attractive which she attributed to his resemblance to Naruto since she felt deeply indebted to the blond. But what she found amusing was that Menma tried to come off as a kind of villain, but she could see the kindness lurking just beneath the surface. To her it was like he was playing, and he had pouted rather cutely when she had told him as much.
But by far her favorite patron was Naruto. At times, she suspected that all the other members of Club N seemed incomplete. Like she was only seeing a portion of their personalities, or like Menma an entirely false persona. With Menma especially it felt like he was practicing how he should behave and had seen one too many gangster films. She supposed she shouldn't be too surprised since she didn't really let them see the true Yoshino as instead she was Lady Shadow while in the Club.
Yet, with Naruto, she found she tended to put the mask to the side figuratively speaking at least. She had felt a little self-conscious about her behavior with him especially as she knew he had a girlfriend. But that had faded as Ayame had joined him on a few occasions although she kept her distance then and seemed flirtier with the women then him. She had even witnessed the two of them and some of the dancers disappear behind the curtained off area. Something which Yoshino had yet to do herself.