Date: April 22nd, 13 years following the Kyuubi's attack
Days since Teams 11 & 13 reached Mizumiyo Palace: 4
Time: 8:30 PM
A mysterious-looking masked woman - clad in a tight-fitting black combat jumpsuit with purple accents, a commander of others and a formidable swordswoman in her own right - talked with a couple. They were her clients…
For the time being at least...
Once the contract was completed they would mean nothing to her. If her next client – or the one after that – wanted them dead, then they would die and she would have no qualms over the matter if that were her assigned task...
"I was finally able to get in touch with my contact within Mizumiyo." She told them in a smoky voice that conveyed very little emotion. The woman's name was Kari, a Jonin from the Village Hidden in the Sand, and she was a genuine ninja to her very core. If she had had a family name, she'd long since surrendered it in service to Sunagakure. "He confirmed that the rumors that have been circulating for the past few days are true... Reiyuriko wa Mizuzaki has indeed returned to the Palace."
The man, the one who'd originally hired her for one task, before renegotiating with her village for an expansion to the mission once they'd successfully infiltrated Kawa City, looked at his female companion with a smile. "Has she, now?" Kodansyo wa Kosha chuckled in amusement. "Well, well, well... How intriguing; wouldn't you agree, my dear Princess?"
"Indeed I would, Kodansyo-sa... Especially considering that I'm sitting right here..." The true Reiyuriko wa Mizuzaki - the missing Imperial crown princess herself - murmured as she nuzzled his cheek with hers and gave him a tender kiss. "I sense Shao-kohai's ingenuity at work here... After all, the Daimyo Convocation is a little over a week away and they haven't found me yet. Fukamichu-san must have found a body double somewhere and is using her as a stand-in."
"I don't envy that poor girl." Kodansyo, the Regional Prince in exile - an exile he was flagrantly violating by being within 100 kilometers of Kawa City, let alone the heart of it - said. "My former peers are sure to be far more annoying than usual. They'll see my exile as their golden opportunity to comfort you on my shameful behavior… That or the fact that you and Muso are no longer a likely item. All in an effort to woo you and become the next Lord Daimyo as a result."
Reiyuriko giggled as she drummed her fingers on his back just over his right kidney. "Not that any of them would have ever had a prayer of doing that, my Prince. Muso was okay, though his heart had always been elsewhere; pursuing me only to satisfy his father's ambitions. But the other self-absorbed buffoons undoubtedly think that will I forget my past with them just because I've become of age or that I don't hear the stories about some of them." She rested her head on his shoulder. "Besides, the Goddess has spoken."
There was a glint in Kodansyo's eye. "Very true, my love..." He then turned to the Jonin who'd been waiting in silent patience. "Sorry about going off on a tangent, Kari-san... Please continue."
The kunoichi ignored the apology, much as she had the byplay between the clients; it wasn't part of her mission, so it didn't matter. "The Imperial coach apparently was accompanied by a ninja team bearing the mark of Konoha, the Leaf Village."
Reiyuriko nodded. "Father prefers to deal with Sarutobi-dono for sensitive matters; either he placed the order or Fukamichu did so of his own volition because he knows of Father's preferences from before he lost himself."
"The Jonin in charge was a kunoichi about my age with waist length jet black hair that had purple ribbons woven into it." The Sand Jonin repeated her contact's words. "Assuming the Princess is a body double as you say, the Majordomo may have found the replacement in the Land of Fire where Reiyuriko is said to have been on a goodwill tour to explain her absence from public view."
The runaway noblewoman blinked in surprise; there had been a few Leaf ninja in Mizumiyo over the years, but only ONE with that particular look. "You're certain the purple ribbons were actually woven into her hair; not merely clipped in place?!" Kari nodded. "Miho-chan! Oh..." Reiyuriko sighed, shaking her head with sad wistfulness. "It's ALMOST a shame I can't return to the Palace just yet... I haven't seen her in so long." She stroked the prince's back. "I'd love to be able to talk with her right now; tell her what's going on and ask for her advice... Hyuuga-chan's stories were amazing and I came to think of her as a big sister: she always seemed to know just the right thing to say to give me perspective on a problem I might have been having."
"She's a Hyuuga?!" The masked woman gasped in surprise. The princess nodded in slight confusion, not really understanding the reason for Kari's concern - she'd known Miho as a friend, not as a Hyuuga ninja. "Damn... I wish I'd found that out sooner! Four days; we're lucky she didn't find us yet..!"
The kunoichi turned her head to the door. "Amaya, Kane, Tarnia! In here; NOW!" A few seconds later, the wooden door to the couple's private sanctum - an underground rock-lined chamber created recently through the Earth techniques of one of her charges - groaned open as the Jonin's three Genin responded to their master's call.
First in was a young woman who'd turned fifteen years old during this mission, sharply dressed in a black kimono liberally covered with pink floral decorations and a tightly drawn pink belt that served to accentuate her hourglass figure and her well-developed breasts. Her eyes were a piercing navy blue and the almost porcelain-white skin of her beautiful face was framed by silken brown hair that carried natural red highlights. Her looks, combined with her immodestly modest clothing and evocative manner of walking, caused just about any male head to turn and stare. While ninja typically tried to blend into the background, this kunoichi's appearance did just the opposite.
Exactly as it was supposed to.
Amaya Satou was the team's distraction and seduction specialist. Each of the nubile young woman's steps, glances, and gestures were specifically calibrated to maximize the effectiveness of her impressive physical attributes. She was the team's eye candy, but her beauty was only skin deep - Satou was arrogant and selfish; an absolute diva.
'Her poor attitude is not entirely her fault, though.' Kari thought to herself as Reiyuriko covered Kodansyo's eyes with her hand to limit the Genin's influence on him. The Imperial Princess trusted her "unofficial" husband (as she had not yet announced to the Convocation her choice,) but she'd seen how effective the Sunagakure woman's powers were on him; even when she wasn't trying. 'That's more a clan trait than anything else.'
The Satou Clan was Sunagakure's only matriarchal clan - ruled by the women rather than the men as was more common. This was due to the extremely rare ability - a Kekkei Genkai - the women of Satou were gifted with. They had the power to generate a wide array of pheromones designed to cause those who inhaled the odorless chemical compounds to experience whatever emotional response the kunoichi chose. Hate, Envy, Lust, Despair, Joy and everything in between: the entire rainbow of human emotions was a weapon at a properly trained Satou kunoichi's command.
Over the past few centuries, this ability had allowed the Satou Clan to systematically weave superior physical, mental, and magical prowess into their genetic line by allowing them to select whichever man the woman desired and influence him want to play such a role. Thanks to the results of this selective breeding process, the more recent generations of Satou women hadn't required much effort to get men to cooperate… Satou clanswomen were the standard of feminine beauty in the Five Shinobi Nations.
On Satou's dress-tails was her first cousin, Kane Suzuki - her mother's sister's firstborn child - and the team's Ninjutsu and Taijutsu artist; specializing in Earth techniques. Kane was a rarity in the matriarchal Satou clan; the first male born into the family in over three centuries that had been permitted to live. This small miracle was because the Genin's mother had had multiple miscarriages and the Suna doctors had informed her that the pregnancy that resulted in Kane was likely to be the last one she would be capable of. And a Satou woman without at least one living child – even an inferior male one – was considered a disgrace to the Clan, which was still trying to rebuild after nearly being wiped out twenty years ago during the Second Great Ninja War.
It turns out the doctors were wrong, but Kane was 4 before they'd found that out… Found out too late to rectify their "mistake" as, by then, Suzuki had been admitted to the Suna ninja training school; making his life the property of the Village.
Due to the fact that only women of the Satou Clan were capable of using the Kekkei Genkai, the head of the Clan had declared Kane unworthy of the name Satou and stripped him of it; all so that the Clan could continue to pretend that their judgement was as flawless as their complexions.
Instead, Kane had been given his father's family name - the name Kaito Suzuki had surrendered when he'd accepted Akiko Satou's proposal. Although Suzuki was incapable of developing the skill that his cousin had nearly mastered despite her youth, he had at least reaped the benefits of the Satou Clan's selective breeding program... Kane Suzuki was a black-haired, good-looking, heavily-muscled powerhouse with a sharp mind and a boatload of raw chakra at his disposal.
In other words he was stronger and harder than any bad girl's dream.
Unfortunately, like his maternal cousin, Kane Suzuki had significant personality defects… The teenager had a chip on his shoulder the size of the northern mountain range that bordered Bird Country and the Land of Earth due to his status as a second-class citizen within his own family. His parents and younger sister were treated normally by the Clan; Kane alone suffered for being born male in a woman-centric family. As a result, Kane had developed a bit of a sadistic streak that troubled the leadership of the Hidden Sand Village at times, but was generally felt that it would serve the village well if Suzuki could learn to channel that rage.
'After all, the LAST thing we need is another self-absorbed sociopath like that freak Gaara.' The Jonin thought to herself with a shudder. 'It's a shame that every attempt to kill him has not only failed miserably, but hasn't so much as left a scratch on that monster.'
The final member of Kari's team was a woman who appeared to be in the same age group as Amaya and Kane, but it was difficult to say for certain how old she actually was. The woman's face bore a striking resemblance to Princess Reiyuriko wa Mizuzaki, but three major complications had prevented Tarnia Nakamura from attempting to pass herself off as their client's companion and give Team Kari unfettered access to Mizumiyo Palace.
The first issue was that Tarnia's long hair was a stringy mixture of white and pink - naturally and unalterably so. Every attempt to cover the color with a dye the same chocolate/chestnut brown as the crown princess - or any other color for that matter on past missions - had failed. It was almost as if the Taijutsu specialist's hair itself rejected the dye's efforts to adhere or the bleach's efforts to remove the pink pigmentation.
Second was that, unlike Reiyuriko, Tarnia had rather piercing violet-color eyes instead of a soft brown. They had attempted to use color contacts before, but the kunoichi was unable to cope with the feeling and would constantly rub her eyes in an effort to get relief.
The final problem – the one that removed any hope of using her in an undercover situation – was due to Tarnia's feral upbringing. The young woman had been found by Hanzo Nakamura when returning home from a mission. The young woman had been nude and in the company of a pack of desert foxes when she'd been on the verge of adolescence. Because of the lack of anything resembling a normal education during her formative years, Tarnia's verbal skills were strained whenever she tried using more than one or two words at a time.
This was not to say that the girl's mind was addled... Tarnia, despite her age when she'd been found, had been granted admission to the Sunagakure Ninja Academy by displaying that she was satisfactorily quick-witted and had possessed well-honed instincts, Taijutsu skills, and endurance. She HAD survived in the Great Desert for several years, after all, and had clearly been there since early childhood - a fact assumed given how long it took the girl to grasp the concept of clothing.
Nakamura's greatest challenge as a ninja was the fact that, despite five years of living among humans, she was still mentally geared towards being part of a pack. She enjoyed the successes of the team rather than taking pride in individual achievement and was less confident when operating in solo situations.
'Until she does that, she'll never progress beyond being a Chuunin... Maybe a Tokubetsu Jonin at best...' Kari thought to herself. 'And though I can't prove it, I think her linguistic problem is limited to human speech. She must be extremely eloquent in her native language - that of the desert kitsunes - to be able to control them as well as she does. After all, when Hanzo-san found her, she was the leader of her pack.'
Amaya Satou gave a flirtatious wink and a coy smile at the Jonin, which Kari felt the seductive draw of; despite knowing that neither she nor the Genin swung that way. "Team Kari reporting as ordered, Kari-sensei."
Kari, better known as "The Desert Rose" for her twin ninjato - the straight-edged short swords preferred by many Jonin from every nation - that had been modified to allow her to attach a series of slim blades - which could pull double-duty as shuriken - until the twin swords came to resemble a pair of thorn-studded rose vines. The appearance was accentuated when Kari coated the swords with a greenish-black poison the Jonin reserved for assassinations or wartime situations.
The assassin's poison of choice was a creation of Sunagakure's legendary rogue-nin: Sasori the Puppet Master. The microscopic amount of poison that was absorbed from a light scratch of a coated weapon meant almost certain death within hours - sooner if there was a greater concentration of the deadly compound administered - unless given a complex antidote by a truly gifted medic-nin, like the equally legendary Tsunade of Konohagakure.
Beyond the records and stories of the Jonin's prowess as a ninja, very little was known by those outside the village's leadership about the swordswoman. She never discussed personal matters, nor had she ever removed her mask around her Genin, whom she kept at arm's reach emotionally.
According to the stories, the Desert Rose only bared her face - which was believed to be as fair as those to be found in the Satou Clan - to those whom her sword/thorns were about to claim the life of. It was even said that if, for whatever reason, Kari felt any pity or remorse for her victim - which even the stories agreed was rare - while her feelings would not stay her hand from landing the killing blow, the woman was said to send them to the afterlife with the feel of her lips on theirs as their last physical sensation in this world.
To date, in her twenty year career as a ninja, Kari the Desert Rose had failed to hit her target - some did manage to survive from luck and fast medical treatment - on only one occasion due to interference by an Uchiha of Konoha. The encounter with the man with red and black eyes - and the devastating Genjutsu illusion he'd subjected her to - had left a significant phobia in the assassin. Fortunately for the assassin, the Uchiha clan had been wiped from the Earth nearly seven years ago...
But the fear he left in the Jonin remained.
Those dumb enough to mention her sole failure typically lasted as long as someone who had aroused Gaara's ire... And their deaths were about as painful.
"New intel." The Jonin kunoichi said peremptorily, as was her personal style. No diplomatic niceties or polite conversation - though she could and did use them with the grace of an aristocrat when necessary - just raw details. The three Genin stiffened to attention; Kari-sensei expected complete focus when discussing a mission.
"In addition to bringing the Hidden Leaf Village and a body double into the mix for us to contend with, the Palace has arranged for a Hyuuga bloodhound for us to try and sneak around." A moan escaped Satou and Suzuki, as they were well versed in the lore of the Hyuuga Clan, but Nakamura cocked a pink eyebrow in confusion.
"Given that, we can assume the Leaf ninjas' mission, undoubtedly, must be to find Reiyuriko-hime and return her - as well as those responsible for her disappearance - to Mizumiyo Palace. In the case of her 'abductors,' however, their stay will be rather short and they undoubtedly would be departing without their heads attached." Satou grimaced, touching her fair neck fearfully.
"Priorities?" Tarnia inquired as she petted the "fox stole" that was draped around her neck lovingly. "Str-Strategy Changes?"
Kari-sensei shook her head. "Our fundamental strategy isn't changing. With a few minor adjustments, this chamber that Kane created with his skills can be masked from the 'All Seeing Eye' of the Byakugan - at least from a distance. Amaya will continue to utilize her Kekkei Genkai and Genjutsu double whammy to probe the minds of those who approach the Shoppe and redirect the attention of those who take an unhealthy level of interest in it. Kane will remain here as bodyguards for our clients and to back her up if she can't distract them." She stared at the only male on her team. "Non-lethal force only, Suzuki; no exceptions… We can't afford to cause an incident here in Kawa City of all the places."
The man grimaced, but nodded in acceptance. He preferred one-on-one fights to the death – ones that he would typically win – so that he could collect trophies. Suzuki's trophy collection was the one thing that brought genuine happiness to the young man's life.
"Hmph!" Satou said, crossing her arms just under her already impressive bosom and then pushing up slightly to accent her womanly attributes and causing the upper half of her kimono to part, revealing a generous amount of cleavage. "I think I've just been insulted... My wiles have NEVER failed to work on those I've used them on, Kari-sensei."
"In ANY case." Kari said to override the young woman's vain objections. "While the two of you do that, Nakamura and I will continue our search for any evidence of the conspiracy that resulted in Kodansyo-kou's exile." She looked at the Prince. "What about our in?"
Prince Kodansyo bowed his head slightly. "It has been arranged... I managed to persuade my father, Daimyo Kosha, to hire his bodyguards from Suna this year rather than Tanigakure as he usually does. He'll also reference my contract number when he hires your fellow villagers."
"Excellent! Doing so will cause the Operations directorate to include instructions to the leader of the new team that they are to follow my orders, allowing Satou and myself to attend the Gala Ball in place of two of his team members. If we are to have any hope of finding out who conspired against you and what means they utilized to see to your expulsion, the Ball will be the place where we'll be able to find the ringleader behind your exile."
The Jonin looked at Satou. "You ARE absolutely certain that Genjutsu was involved, Satou? It means we need to get an actual confession if we are to exonerate our client."
Amaya sighed; she hated constantly being questioned. "For the hundredth time, YES, Kari-sensei… The residual energy of a Genjutsu technique is very distinctive and obvious to those who know how to look for it. Not even a master can eliminate EVERY trace of the art on those they influence. Those traces typically remain in a subject for months, potentially even years afterwards. We're dealing with at least two, but likely a whole team, of highly-skilled Genjutsu specialists, like me, but who get a sick, twisted kick out of messing with other people's minds."
"Not that you don't." Kane smirked.
The illusionist shot her cousin a remarkably foul look. "Bite me, Suzuki."
"When, where, how long and how hard?" He asked with a straight face and a cruel grin.
"Enough!" Kari growled, raising her voice to cease the bickering between the two family members. "Continue, Satou."
"Well, as I've said before, I can't tell which village the illusionists are from. As with Ninjutsu, Genjutsu techniques are fundamentally identical from one user to the next. Trace remnants of Genjutsu, however, possess detectable differences that emerge from the mental wavelength of the one who shaped the spell - a psychic calling card, if you will. Ninja that come from the same Genjutsu training school will have similar 'calling cards,' but have individualized differences."
She gestured to Kodansyo. "Upon inspection of the Prince's mind, I detected two distinctly different calling cards that bear remarkable similarities to each other - the casters not only had the same training, but likely the same instructor in Genjutsu. I've neither detected these particular cards nor any similar to them before, so I can safely say the ones who manipulated the Prince into violating Princess Reiyuriko's bath are not from Suna, Konoha, Iwa or Tani villages."
Amaya shook her head in disgust. "It's really frustrating! There are just too many other possible options to narrow it down…"
"Would you quit whining, 'Maya?" Suzuki griped. "You're starting to give me a headache."
Satou whirled on her cousin. "You're just lucky it's only a natural headache, ass."
"Yeah, it's a real shame that neither you nor the other stuck-up, haughty bitches you call family can't use that end-all-be-all Kekkei Genkai of yours to force me to toe the party line like you do my father and the others, thanks to my immunity to it that a true Satou naturally has to the family power. That or the fact that your Genjutsu is only Jonin caliber when used in conjunction with that Kekkei Genkai so I can shrug off your techniques with a thought..." He opened his mouth in a mock yawn. "Wake me when you actually find some unique threats for a change instead of rehashing the same old boring ones."
"Enough." Tarnia Nakamura said, finally tired of the bickering within her human "pack" and cuffed the cousins on the back of their heads simultaneously. "Unprofessional."
Kari-sensei nodded acceptance of the fox kunoichi's actions and words. "I agree. Satou, Suzuki, I'm docking both of your pay for this mission ANOTHER 100 ryou and you now owe me TWO sets of inverted calisthenics when we get home."
The bickering cousins moaned in dismay. Inverted calisthenics were one of Kari's more tortuous training methods… Using the wall-walking jutsu to cling to a ceiling and perform a full cardio exercise regimen - from start to finish - without falling was a bear to begin with. The Jonin's twist was that if you fell, you had to start the workout from the beginning and weren't allowed to stop until you did it right or passed out from chakra exhaustion.
Even for two blessed by the Satou selective breeding process, a single set could take HOURS to do correctly…
"All right; all of you get to bed. We've had a long day and they're only going to get even longer as the Convocation draws closer. We've got to stay on top of things; now more than ever, since we've got opposing ninja in play." The Genin of Team Kari straightened up, bowing respectfully to their Jonin and the clients before departing silently.
The Jonin then turned to the Prince and Princess that were paying Team Kari's salary. "I apologize for the poor behavior of my students, Your Highnesses." The two clients nodded in acceptance. "I trust that continuing to ask that the two of you not leave the shelter of this chamber until this situation is resolved won't be TOO big an inconvenience, will it?" Kari asked, as a twinkle of honest emotion appeared in her sky blue eyes and her mask contorted with a hint of a smile crossing her lips and coloring her smoky voice.
Princess Reiyuriko blushed slightly and giggled girlishly as Prince Kodansyo's hand slipped up under the back of her shirt to tickle her "birth" mark. "You know, Kari-san, I think my love and I can find SOME way to make our confinement bearable."
'Young love...' The Desert Rose thought wistfully as she turned her back to let the royal couple enjoy their endearments in private. 'Shame that it typically dies young... As it did for me, those long years ago…'