Date: May 2nd, 13 years following the Kyuubi's attack
Days since Teams 11 & 13 reached Mizumiyo Palace: 14
Time: 7:35 AM
"The team escorting your father and your sisters will be arriving here in about 5 minutes, Kodansyo-kou." Kari of Sunagakure informed her principal client.
The exiled prince sighed as he looked to his wife, though their marriage was not yet official by the laws of the Land of Rivers. "Then I guess it's time for me to return to our room. Are you really SURE you want to do this, Rei-sa?"
Reiyuriko, the escapee Crown Princess of the Land of Rivers, nodded. "I know it's a bit of a risk, Ko-sa, but Kosha-tousan is our ONLY means of getting access to Father's inner court during the Convocation! If we get him involved, he can be our eyes and ears in the meetings that only the Daimyo are permitted to attend, like the annual audit of each Region's financial records by Father tomorrow morning. We know at least one ninja village was involved in getting you exiled and we know that it wasn't the Sand Village."
"As I've said before, we rely too heavily on River Country's Lord Daimyo and the western Regional Daimyo like your father to fund our operations budget. The Kazekage wouldn't potentially risk either Mizuzaki's displeasure or your own, Princess, to have authorized such a mission." The Desert Rose agreed wholeheartedly.
"So we have to hope that during the Capital Expenditures analysis your father can get an accounting of the fifteen other Daimyos' ninja service purchases. Negi Asakurasana's auditors monitor each Daimyo's books with an almost inhuman passion that attempting to disguise such a major expenditure is the textbook definition of futility. If we focus on any individual payments greater than 200,000 ryou or a village given more than 400,000 ryou in the past year, it can narrow the list of who Kari-san and the others will need to focus on during the Gala."
"You're right of course, my love." Kodansyo agreed with his wife's logic. "And as much as I miss my family, they'd be obligated to turn me over to the Guard if they saw me here or potentially suffer criminal charges." The prince sighed in regret as he turned to disappear through the door to their inner sanctum, which the royal couple had been permitted to leave only after Kari announced that steps had been taken to prevent the Hyuuga Jonin from searching the Flower Shoppe from a distance.
There was a knock at the other door and Kane Suzuki hobbled in - his knees had yet to fully recover from the run-in with the blonde Leaf Genin. Tarnia wasn't a good enough medic to do much more than emergency care, though she HAD managed to completely heal Amaya's scars...
The physical ones, at least.
The distraction specialist's ego was still bleeding profusely, however, and that suited Satou's disenfranchised cousin just FINE.
"The other team is here, Kari-sensei." The Genin announced with a grimace. "They sent Larissa Satou and her team of kinswomen." Kari sighed. She and Larissa were much like Kane and Amaya: barely capable of being civil with each other.
Amaya's clan aunt - biologically removed so many times that it was simpler to call her "aunt" than try to figure out the precise relationship - had attempted to seduce Koga, Kari's lover who had later died, away from the then eighteen-year-year old assassin about 5 years ago.
Kari had responded to the "higher classed" woman's attempts by afflicting Larissa with a nasty, slow-acting poison that had given the would-be man-thief the female equivalent of impotence. The poison would have eventually killed her unless given an antidote, but, luckily for her, Larissa had learned her lesson to not mess with the Desert Rose or her man before the poison could cause any permanent damage to her sex drive - something almost all Satou women seemed to prize above everything else.
The two kunoichi hadn't been friends before THAT little debacle... Nor had they had any reason to become so since that time.
"She either managed to piss off someone important or Lissie was the only one expendable enough for the job..." A grin creased her purple mouth shield. "I'll have to try not to enjoy this too much."
Kane grinned at the Jonin. The normally misogynistic Genin acted respectfully to the black and purple clad killer. The normally irreverent young man's respect came not from fear of Kari - which he HAD plenty of for the assassin; he'd have to be an idiot not to - but for the simple fact that she had always treated him with something resembling respect. Respect from women was something of an aberration for the young man that had grown up in the matriarchal Satou clan.
She shot him down when he and Amaya went too far, of course, and she ran a tight ship over her three wards, but the Jonin had never once treated him unfairly.
"They didn't tell her you were lead on this, Kari-sensei. You should have SEEN the look on Auntie L's face of horrified disgust when she saw me... It was priceless!" He kissed the side of his right thumb and index finger before gesturing towards heaven.
Reiyuriko shot the ninja that had enabled her escape from Mizumiyo Palace an odd glance. "You really don't play well with others do you, Suzuki-kun?"
The Earth jutsu specialist grimaced. "Yeah, well... Remember how you said you felt when your father banished your Prince despite your efforts that should have worked?" The Crown Princess nodded pensively. "Imagine feeling that way every day of your life from the time you were old enough to remember until now. THAT'S the 'Satou Clan Legacy' as far as I'm concerned..."
He turned and hobbled to the door Kodansyo had vanished through. "Now if you'll both excuse me, I think I've spent enough 'quality time with family' for one month, Sensei. I'll go keep the Client company while you talk."
"You do realize Larissa will be in charge here and staying with one of you other cousins while Amaya and I are escorting the Daimyo and his daughters to the Palace, Suzuki..." Kari pointed out warningly.
Kane Suzuki grunted in acknowledgement, a grimace on his face - like he'd swallowed a stink bug. "Yeah, I do. But at least Tarnia will still be here. SHE at least doesn't treat me like dirt like most of the Suna girls my age do in order to curry favor with my vast family of emotionally-shallow kunoichi." He pulled open the door and passed through, sealing it behind him.
The assassin sighed, realizing that the young man was too emotionally charged to think clearly. "Shall we, Reiyuriko-hime?" The Jonin asked, gesturing to the main door. The Princess nodded.
As they approached the door, an older man's voice thundered through it. "I demand to know why you brought us to this store rather than the Palace! We have no need for flowers and I don't want to be within 10 kilometers of this accursed city one INSTANT longer than absolutely necessary!"
Reiyuriko grimaced as she looked at Kari. "Daimyo Kosha's taken the exile of his only son rather hard as you can imagine." The Desert Rose nodded in silent understanding.
"I have my orders, milord..." The melodic voice of Larissa Satou purred in soothingly. "There's someone who needs to see you and your daughters in private before we proceed to Mizumiyo Palace."
"And who is it that can compel you to disobey your Client's orders?" The Daimyo countered. "I NEVER had this problem with the Leaf or Valleys guards I've hired in the past!"
The Princess took a deep breath of courage as she opened the door. "That would be Us, Kosha-ojisan."
In the other room stood the flaxen-haired sixty-something Regional Daimyo and his twin daughters: chestnut-haired Chizuru and walnut-haired Chisame, aged fifteen and the youngest of the nine Princesses of Mizuzaki the 27th's domain. The broken family of her husband was surrounded by Amaya Satou and a bevy of buxom women with varying hair colors: one around Kari's age and three ranging between those of the three Princesses in the chamber.
The upset man and his daughters blinked in shock, bowing almost unconsciously. The bow was echoed by the four newest Satou women as they realized the importance of the newcomer. "Reiyuriko-sama!"
The woman fought the urge to tell her father- and sisters-in-law that such formality was no longer necessary or appropriate. "Forgive Us the need to resort to such measures."
The Daimyo's eyes began to water as he looked with regret at a future that had once seemed assured, one where Kodansyo's children would have played alongside Reiyuriko's; now dashed by the machinations of Fate. "I wanted to thank you for your request for clemency, even though it fell on deaf ears, Princess."
"It is just that matter that brings Us here today, Uncle Kosha." Reiyuriko explained, taking a nearby seat, gesturing for him to join her. "We trust you've heard of Our trip to the Land of Fire."
Chizuru giggled. "Was that seriously the best story Fukamichu-san could come up with?" Her father shot her a glance that caused the girl to fall silent.
"We didn't exactly give him advance warning, Chizuru-chan." Reiyuriko pointed out. "We never would have been able to leave the Palace unattended as long as We did if We had."
The Daimyo raised a hand to still his daughters' tongues. "Princess, what is the point of all this? You have always been the first to support your father's position as Lord Daimyo. I must admit, even I felt some trepidation when I heard that you had vanished from the public eye so abruptly."
"To revoke Kodansyo's exile, of course, Ojisan." The old man began to choke on his own breath in shock as the younger Princesses dared to look hopeful. "As you can imagine, this is not something to be discussed within the Palace's walls. And because of that, I asked my Sand ninja to make the arrangements for this meeting." She explained, dropping the normal formality of the royal pronoun usage.
"You mean there's a chance Oniisan could come back home?" Chisame gasped in awe at the crown princess and her father.
Reiyuriko nodded to the young woman. "Your brother Kodansyo used an ingenious way to communicate with me despite his exile, 'Same-chan. After he was banished, he joined a caravan headed to the Land of Winds and used every ryou he was allowed to accept from you, Kosha-ojisan, to hire Kari-san's team here in the hopes they could find some proof to clear his name."
The blood drained from Kosha's face. "All 300,000?! But that was to allow him to set himself up in a business! All for a foolish quest?! How will he survive..?!"
The Princess patted her secret father-in-law's hand. "I know, Ojisan - I would have been worried about it too if not for the fact that I know - with absolute certainty, no less - that your son didn't do anything wrong." Kosha looked at the crown princess in surprise, but feared to ask her for details. "I discovered as much before he was exiled, which is why I begged my father to simply put him out of the Palace. I don't know why my father didn't give Kodansyo-kun any mercy, but I left the Palace in protest because of it. Until now, at least; I have to be there to keep our Country from falling into anarchy. But your son and I need your help to do that, Uncle. You're the only one we can rely on!"
Shock atop of surprise caused Kosha to tremble. As angry as the Regional Daimyo was with the Lord Daimyo, the thought of truly conspiring against the Aquamarine Throne was so contrary to his personality that the conflict filled him with an almost agonizing foreboding. "Wh-what do you mean, Princess?"
Kari stepped forward. "Lord Kosha, in the course of our mission for Prince Kodansyo, we have come to the conclusion that some measure of foul play was involved in the incident that ended in your son's exile; specifically, that a ninja team specializing in the art of Genjutsu was involved in the events."
"Ninjas?!" The Daimyo roared in renewed ire. "Which Village betrayed me?!"
Reiyuriko shook her head, patting the older man's hand to try and calm him. "We don't know yet, Kosha-ojisan… THAT'S why we waited to get you involved until now – neither your son nor I would want you to potentially be accused of conflicting loyalties – but it now becomes necessary. Since a task like getting Kodansyo exiled without leaving any proof that he was being set up would surely carry a sizable price tag..."
The Regional Daimyo instantly grasped where the Imperial Princess was going with her chain of thought. "I begin to see! The Audit..." He trailed off since it merely saying it was self-explanatory.
"Exactly!" The Princess nodded. "We need someone who can attend the private Daimyo meetings to keep an eye out for any sort of a hint as to who may be involved so that Kari and her team can focus on those with suspicious transactions during the Gala tomorrow evening..."
One of the older of Larissa's kunoichis - the one that had waist-length blonde tresses that glittered as if made from pure spun gold perked up. "Gala?"
Chizuru and Chisame nodded. "It's the annual gala ball that marks the end of the first full day of the week-long Daimyo Convocation." Chisame explained.
"Anyone who's anyone in the Land of Rivers will be there. It's a chance to meet the movers and the shakers of our country and those who make the trip from the other major nations." Reiyuriko continued.
"It's also where ladies of the court can 'announce' their availability on the court marriage market." Chizuru finished with a slight blush. "My sister and I are to make our formal debut at this year's Dance..."
The Crown Princess blinked in surprise. "What?!" Normally a Princess had to be at least 17 to make their first appearance at the Gala. She looked at her secret father-in-law in disbelief.
Daimyo Kosha sighed. "We have no real choice in this matter, Reiyuriko-hime. As you know, I have long had an illness that will eventually start to rob me of my ability to maintain complete rationality - within three-to-five years or so if the specialists' estimates are accurate." He looked at his daughters sadly. "With my only son exiled and unable to take my office, unless I can start making suitable arrangements before my mind begins to deteriorate, my daughters risk the whims of whomever Mizuzaki chooses to be my successor."
Kosha sighed bitterly. "I once believed I could count on your father when that time came, but my faith in him - at least as a man - is not what it once was... I can and will still renew my fealty to the Aquamarine Throne with a clear conscience, though in my heart I do not know if I would do the same to he who sits on it if it were the one who demanded of me without his authority."
Princess Reiyuriko sighed at Kosha's distressing remarks, a familiar heartbreak starting once again. "Ojisan..."
"I know, child, I know..." Tears fell from the Daimyo's eyes as he patted her hand. "I miss the man your father once was, too." He coughed. "We should probably get going. If it takes us too long to reach the Palace, Fukamichu will know something is going on."
Reiyuriko nodded. "Agreed. I'll be sneaking back into Mizumiyo later to fulfill my roles in the Convocation," The Crown Princess said, feeling a twinge of guilt for lying to her new Father.
The Imperial Princess had no intention of stepping past the inner line of the Blue Wall unless her husband was beside her, but she had to make sure that word of this meeting would not reach the ears of those looking for her or - worst of all - her body double under the assumption it was really her.
"When you see me next, we all must act as if we will be meeting again for the first time since Kodansyo's exile whenever we speak within the Palace. Also, we mustn't discuss this meeting with each other under ANY circumstances within the Palace walls." She looked at her new sisters. "Not even in the unmonitored parts of the castle, girls. Understood?" Kodansyo's sisters nodded agreement.
"How shall I report any findings to you, then, Princess?" Kosha asked in confusion.
Reiyuriko gestured to Kari and the assassin's Satou. "That's the other reason your guards brought you here, Uncle Kosha. The leader of the team your son hired and Amaya-san here will be taking the place of your Jonin and one of her Genin so they may legitimately search the Imperial Palace for clues. She'll also inform you as to what to focus on during the Audit."
Larissa Satou swelled up like an irate toad at being informed of this abrupt change in plans and the thought of missing out on such a major social event but managed to keep her peace.
Kari looked at the raven-haired Jonin kunoichi and rolled her eyes. "You can always leave your Genin here and crash the party, Lissie." The Desert Rose said condescendingly. "As I recall you've turned it into an art form."
"And what of this place?" The kunoichi asked, barely able to keep from shouting at Kari in frustration.
The assassin shrugged. "Keeping our base disguised has required only one Satou up to this point. Surely you've trained at least one of your Genin to be at least on par with mine." Larissa gritted her teeth at Kari's insult, but the Desert Rose focused on Amaya, ignoring the other woman's rage. "Satou, pick two of your cousins you feel are best up to the task of assisting you during the Dance in gathering information."
Amaya Satou bowed respectfully. "Amara," She said, gesturing to the blonde girl a year older than she was, "And Asuna," pointing at the woman Reiyuriko's age with shoulder-length hair artificially dyed green, like the hue of the sea to the southeast of Suna.
Amaya looked at the third girl, who had short platinum hair and was the youngest of the four Genin kunoichi, apologetically. "Sorry I have to saddle you with Suzuki, Ayaka-chan... On the plus side, though, he injured his knees a few days ago so if he gets out of line, just kick him there a few times and consider yourself lucky you only have to deal with him for a week."
"Satou..." Kari growled in annoyance; Amaya's pettiness only fed Kane's pet peeve. "Add an extra hour."
"Hai, Sensei." The brunette sighed in response at the chastisement.
"Go grab your travel pack; we head out for Mizumiyo in five minutes. After we get checked in at the Palace and get Lord Kosha and his daughters settled, we'll find what's currently in fashion in the way of evening wear." Amaya bowed and ducked into the living space she shared with Tarnia Nakamura.
Kari turned to Larissa Satou. "After we depart, Nakamura and Reiyuriko-hime will fill you in on the details they apparently left out of your mission briefing."
"Like you?" The black-haired Satou asked wryly. "When we return to Suna I must remember to find out whose brilliant idea this was and thank them… Satou style."
"Satou style" gratitude involved hitting an opponent with a powerful cocktail of the almost Amazonian clan's Kekkei Genkai pheromones to magnify the recipient's sexual passions and then trap them in a layered Genjutsu that prevented acting upon those passions. It was a nasty trick that typically engraved the kunoichi's image permanently in the victim's subconscious so they would always be comparing anyone they were with to the Satou in question.
Very few who endured the experience had the mental resilience to be able to have normal relationships afterwards. It was a life destroyer that had built the matriarchal clan as much enmity in the Hidden Sand Village as it had fear-induced respect.
Amaya emerged, tying her Sand forehead protector that was bolted to a wine-colored sash into place. "Ready, Kari-Sensei."
The Desert Rose nodded briefly and turned to Daimyo Kosha. "Then, by your leave, Kosha-sama, we are ready to take you to Mizumiyo Palace."
The ruler of one of River Country's 16 provinces rose with a spring to his step that he'd believed lost forever after the events six months previous. "Very well, then, Kari-san. Lead the way."
* * *
Time: 8:55 AM
"The first carriage is arriving." Miho breathed into her concealed jacket lapel microphone from her station atop Mizumiyo Palace's third story roof, allowing her to monitor the arrivals without interference. From her vantage point, even without using her Byakugan, she could see everything that happened atop the hill where the Palace stood. The ornate carriage was escorted through the metal gate of the Blue Wall, heading to the main stairs where Shao Fukamichu and Hoshi Fugato stood to welcome the members of the River Country Kuge.
"First carriage is confirmed." Sho Inugami's voice came over the communications line from his post in the secret chamber on the second floor. "According to the Blue Wall guards, it's Daimyo Kon of the 4th district and his three sons along with a team of Hidden Valley ninja."
"Kentaro, Kimiaki, and Masayuki." Kimiko said drolly over the microphones that were hidden in her princessly raiment now that she had to look the official part of Reiyuriko wa Mizuzaki. Miho turned her gaze to see the false Princess and her handmaiden sitting in the Imperial Family's garden, tending to the real Princess's pride and joys. "Or the Baka Brothers as Princess Reiyuriko wrote in her journal. We are SO glad we decided to have Oji-" Itou coughed. "Father and I stay out of sight until the evening's banquet. From the stories I've read about them, it's WAY too early deal with them."
"Here we go, here we go..." Sho breathed excitedly; with any luck, his theory was about to be confirmed. "Base guard station reports that the carriage with Daimyo Kosha of the 7th sector and his twin daughters are now arriving." He paused, listening in on the Palace Security band before cursing foully.
"What's wrong, Sho-kun?" Motoko's soft voice asked over the line, not sounding shocked by the white-haired young man's coarse language. Miho Hyuuga had noticed an odd shift in the medic's and the swordswoman's attitudes towards each other in the last week or so, but had lacked an opportunity to delicately broach the subject with either Genin.
The medic-nin's voice was thick with annoyance. "These guards are idiots! The Kawa City Gate reported when they let him into the city that Daimyo Kosha was accompanied by four Sand Village kunoichi of staggering beauty with black, gold, silver, and green hair. I'm seeing two women with green and gold hair - as there should be - but they're with a pair of brunettes on the video monitors. One of the brown haired women is in a black kimono with pink flowers – the kunoichi Takahashi ran afoul of by his description – and the other is in purple and black bodysuit with a mask like Hatake-sensei."
Miho Hyuuga felt her aplomb fall as she recalled the detailed report that Takahashi had given of his run in with the Sand Ninjas - a report she knew Sho was aware of the details of as he'd been caring for the injured Genin while the report was given. 'The Desert Rose and at least one, maybe three, Satou illusionists.'
The kunoichi flipped her transmitter to Okito Tanaka's private line. "Yaiba; SHE'S here, guarding the Daimyo we talked about."
"Understood." Tanaka said, sounding like he'd swallowed a stink bomb. There was a click as he changed his transmitter to the main frequency.
Hyuuga followed suit. "-ami, are you certain Prince Kodansyo fell from the Blue Wall? It's because of that we gave the recommendation to have Daimyo Kosha and his family to be guests of the Imperial Family..."
"And letting a known assassin get that close to the Lord Daimyo is less than acceptable, I know!" Sho retorted hotly. "And you saw the same data I did: a long series of unauthorized, systematic deactivations of the Blue Wall's pressure sensors that began when the Prince disappeared and ending around the SAME time as Kodansyo's abrupt appearance in the Onsen. The brief flash of color that was the same shade as the Prince's clothing spontaneously appearing from nowhere on one of the six video feeds over by the Onsen shortly before Reiyuriko screamed. It's all circumstantial, I know, but there's no other logical conclusion!"
"Any ideas why half of the team we assume work for Kodansyo are suddenly guarding his father?" Miho asked her student.
There was a moment of silence as the medic-nin processed the new situation and the facts he'd overheard while Takahashi had been preparing the report. "The only thing makes any sense at all is that they assume - as we do - that someone with an issue of Mizuzaki or Kosha hired the ninja that arranged the incident that got him exiled. They probably sent word to Sunagakure and had the team guarding the Regional Daimyo swap out their Jonin and one of the Genin for the Desert Rose and this Amaya Satou Takahashi described to allow them to mix in during the Convocation to see if they can wheedle anything out they can use as proof. The others are likely still in that flower shop you declared off limits."
"Any potential risks to the Lord Daimyo?" Kimiko asked, fervently praying there was not. She'd just found her uncle-in-law and had no desire to see anything happen to him.
Miho Hyuuga shook her head. "Extremely unlikely... Where in Konoha 80% of our operational funding comes from the Land of Fire's Lord Daimyo, we estimate that Sunagakure's Lord Daimyo, whose name shows up on requests in Konoha rather frequently, only covers 35% of the Hidden Sand's operations. Lord Mizuzaki and his court covers at least 60%."
"So taking any action against the Daimyo would be the equivalent of shooting themselves in the foot." Motoko confirmed.
"Without a doubt." Sho agreed. He paused as a stray thought struck him. "Miho-sensei? What about the Daimyo on the Fire side of Rivers that might hire from Konoha? Kimiko and I aren't exactly unknowns back home and surely someone would be able to recognize Tanaka-sensei."
"The Sandaime would likely send any teams hired from the minor villages rather than Konoha proper. We shouldn't run into anyone that will recognize any of us." Hyuuga answered as Daimyo Kosha's carriage passed into the inner courtyard.
There was silence on the line for a few minutes. "The Kawa City Guard reports that Daimyo Bankotsu and his sons, Princes Renkotsu and Suikotsu, of the 10th prefecture are arriving with a team of Amegakure ninja. That makes the last of the three expected before 11 AM."
Okito Tanaka sounded surprised. "Really, Hidden Rain ninja? Man... I haven't seen one of them in nearly ten years. They almost never leave Rain Country…"
"I know I've heard about the Village Hidden in the Rain and the nation it's part of before, but I can't recall the specifics..." Kimiko Itou murmured contemplatively over the transmitter.
"It's the border nation immediately north of River Country, Princess." Sho/Keitaro answered the kunoichi. "It separates the Lands of Earth, Fire, and Wind from each other. Because of the descending cold air from the mountainous Earth Country to the northwest, the hot, dust-laden air of the Wind Country's Great Desert, and the warm, moist air from the Fire Country's forest jungles meet in that area, it causes a nearly perpetual rainstorm that covers at least 65% of Rain Country at all times."
"I see... And it's that continuous rain that generates the dozens of rivers here that give my nation its beauty." Itou smiled as Sho's prompting refreshed her memory.
"Ano..." Motoko Hata spoke up. "I understand how the Land of Rivers managed to maintain its identity after the Great War, Sho-kun - that none of the Five Nations wanted ALL of this country's wealth belonging to any one or two of the others - but how did the Rain Country maintain its independence?" Motoko asked the medic-nin.
Miho Hyuuga grimaced at the memory of the opposing General at the battle that had left her father a paraplegic - a prisoner in his own body - from the time she was very young until his death during the Kyuubi's attack when she was 10. "Hanzo of the Great Salamander."
"Pardon, Hyuuga-sensei?" The confused redhead asked.
Okito Tanaka cleared his throat to keep Miho from working herself up. "Hanzo was the leader of the Land of Rain's ninja at the tail end of the Second Great War. His power probably rivaled that of the five Kages of the time, but his country lacked the size or military might to allow him the title of Amekage - the Rain Shadow. The man was a tactical and strategic genius who knew when to press the advantage and when to give way. He managed to take on an entire cadre of Konoha ninja - 16 teams, 64 ninja in all, led by the Sannin themselves - near the end of the War. Hanzo had twelve ninja with him, eight of which were injured Genin or Chuunin. Hanzo was the winner of that confrontation."
"Holy cow..." Kimiko Itou breathed in awe. "That must have been one insane fight."
"The Rain had Tsunade-dono, Jiraya, and the then still-loyal Orochimaru at his mercy." Sho picked up the narrative as he knew the story from Lady Tsunade's biography. "He could have executed them outright and dealt the Land of Fire a devastating morale and military blow, but Hanzo had seen the might of our Village and knew that it would be Konoha that would be the ultimate 'winners' of the war - if there is such a thing - and spared the trio, naming them the Sannin of Konoha." The fake aristocrat paused. "Did Hanzo die recently, Tanaka-sensei? You used the past tense when you spoke of him."
Miho Hyuuga sighed. "No one really knows, Sho. Amegakure and the Land of Rain are a rather reclusive bunch. Paranoia being the rule rather than the exception; no one really knows what's happening under the surface and they, for the most part, managed to avoid being involved in the Third War." She frowned to herself in an unspoken jab that was rather inappropriate for a teacher to make. 'Sort of like your family, only on a national scale.'
"Ah." Sho Inugami replied, clearly hearing the Jonin's unspoken thought - it was a complaint that the medic-nin had heard all too often from Hiro Jeitsy, the closest thing Sho had to a genuine peer in his age group, and numerous others - but opted against responding to it. After all, doing so would open him up to questions he REALLY didn't want to answer.
"I'm logging out now; Keitaro Urashima needs to make his presence known. I'll get Takahashi in here and let him take over giving you the running report of arrivals."
"Understood, Sho." Miho Hyuuga agreed before there was a *snick* of feedback indicating the medic had turned off his comm unit.
"Is he really this serious all the time?" Okito Tanaka asked the three ladies out of curiosity, a hint of a surprised frown in his tone.
From their respective positions, Kimiko Itou and Miho Hyuuga nodded despite knowing Tanaka couldn't see them. "During missions, usually, yes. I have to admit it's one of the things about him I wouldn't mind being able to do: push everything not related to the mission aside." Kimiko said simply.
"Same here." Motoko agreed wholeheartedly. 'I just wish Sho-kun wouldn't act like he's ALWAYS on a mission, though...'
The female half of the Hata twins bit her lower lip as she usually did when thinking about Inugami. The medic-nin and the swordswoman had already been in a weird place after their accident in the Sento. After the events the night Motoko caught a glimpse of – and had even talked with them directly! – Sho's inner demons that seemed to plague Inugami on a nearly constant basis, it had only gotten stranger...
The only positive things that had come of the whole mess was her new ability of Auric Sight - something she was still keeping to herself, the fact that Sho-kun's nightmares had stopped, and she hadn't heard the dry voice - or even a hint that it was surely saying something perverted - of Sho Inugami's biologically driven Subconscious. Either she'd turned off the psychic radio or they were no longer as synchronized as they had been that night.
The only major disappointment - at least in the kunoichi's mind - was that there hadn't been any more of the hyper-real dreams involving the future versions of Sho-kun and herself.
The red haired young woman would have killed for someone to help her find some perspective on the whole mess, but Motoko Hata was still too embarrassed by these accidental intimate moments to discuss them with ANYONE. And Sho-kun... "He won't breathe a word about it to get help for himself until I do..."
Miho and Kimiko, from their respective locations, looked at the young woman, both making the natural - and correct - assumption that she was talking about Inugami. "What won't Sho ask for help about?" The female Jonin asked; worried that there was something going on that she might need to know about in her role as mentor and educator of the medic-nin.
A furious blush crossed Motoko Hata's pale cheeks. "Gomenasai! I didn't mean to say that out loud. It's nothing; I just have so much to think about at the moment that it just spilled out..." She explained rapidly in the hopes of cutting off any questions.
It worked. Kimiko Itou gave Motoko a comforting smile, abiding by the red haired young woman's demand/request to let her and Sho figure things out on their own. "Guess my stress is starting to rub off on you, Momo, sorry; too much going on and not enough brainpower to handle it all."
Miho Hyuuga, ever the observant one, got the hint that Kimiko had missed in the Sento a few days earlier and let Hata's outburst drop. Daimyo Kosha's carriage, accompanied by the dread Desert Rose of Sunagakure, finally crested the top of the hill to enter eyeshot of those not gifted with the Byakugan. "Well, team... It's finally show time." The kunoichi breathed anxiously.
* * *
Time: 10:30 AM
Keitaro Urashima/Sho Inugami leaned against the wall that separated the doors leading into the castle and the traditional rice paper privacy screen hiding the Imperial Family's quarters, appearing to be laying in wait…
If one were able to see through the steel-core wood doors, that is.
On the other side of the heavy doors, the medic knew, stood a pair of guards wearing samurai plate armor - complete with helmet and mask to hide their identities - that had been liberally decorated with intricate layers of gold and platinum overlays. The armor alone had to weigh twice as much as the medic-nin, but the two men were so massive that they made Okito Tanaka look small in comparison.
The scary part was that despite their size and their armaments, they were probably still nimble enough to be able to give Miho-sensei a run for her money in terms of maneuverability.
'They'd be outclassed by a ninja using offensive Ninjutsu, but if I wasn't willing to kill them in the process, I sure as hell wouldn't want to try to mess with them.' Sho thought to himself as he listened for...
"... rooms have my Lord Daimyo seen fit to grant my daughters and I during our stay, Fukamichu?" A snide voice demanded as the speaker came close enough to project his voice through the hardwood door. "Bunk space with the Imperial Guards? The dungeon perhaps?"
Shao Fukamichu's voice sounded puzzled. "Why ever would you think such a thing, Lord Kosha?"
"To further my humiliation before the others, of course…" Daimyo Kosha said scathingly. "Mizuzaki clearly showed how much more he values his pride over our forty years of friendship when he banished my only son."
"Don't be so sure of that, my lord..." A pause as he apparently turned to the door warders. "Open the River Lord's way."
Inugami stood up straight and took a half step back to make it look like he'd been about to go out as the doors groaned open.
Urashima's right hand was raised as if he were reaching to knock at the door as he became visible to the others. The pseudo-nobleman made a show of surprise as he looked out to see the majordomo, Daimyo Kosha, his daughters, and the quartet of Sunagakure kunoichi. Keitaro blinked as the two parties looked at the other in surprise.
The young man caught Fukamichu's eye and sighed in relief. "Oh, good... Someone was about to come in; I was starting to think these guards were psychic! I mean, opening the door right when step up to it and all..."
One of the regional Princesses - Chizuru if his guess was right, the girls were nearly identical twins - and the golden haired Sand ninja both giggled slightly at his "impromptu" joke.
"Ah, Urashima-sama!" The majordomo said in surprise - Sho hadn't informed the client he was going to be lying in wait; it guaranteed that the man's surprise at his appearance was genuine. "Is something amiss?"
Sho/Keitaro shook his head, grinning as he took a double take of the six ladies, the five dressed for high society, the last for war. "Not at all, Shao-san, not at ALL!" He smiled charmingly at them, looking at the surprisingly comely Sand kunoichi with a masculine hunger that was not nearly as false as Inugami - or Motoko Hata, had she been within eye or earshot - would have liked. "And I thought we knew how to raise gorgeous women on the eastern side of the Land of Fire! These ladies are like the light of the sun when all that one has ever known is a flashlight!"
The Regional Princesses blushed demurely at the medic's words, but the three unmasked kunoichi made barely concealed smiles that were equal parts pleasure at the compliment and dismissal of the one giving it. It was precisely the reaction Inugami/Urashima wanted from the Sand - by dismissing him because of his assumed persona, they wouldn't realize that he was someone they needed to be cautious around. And while the Jonin - the so-called Desert Rose - was not so easily disarmed as the Genin she was supervising, the masked woman had more to worry about than the possibility of a second team of Konoha ninjas being in the Palace.
Inugami's disciplined medical eye could see a familial resemblance between the three unmasked women, albeit a distant one. 'Very interesting display of selective breeding of traits in humans… I'd heard stories that some clans and villages were utilizing such measures to grow better ninja, but I've never seen it done so effectively before. I wonder how they managed it...'
Daimyo Kosha frowned impressively - confused by both the presence of the young man flirting with his daughters and the fact that the majordomo had ordered the guards to open the Imperial Family's quarters. "Fukamichu, what the hell is going on here? Who is this?"
Shao Fukamichu gestured to the white-haired young man. "Lord Kosha, allow me to introduce Keitaro Urashima from the court of Hiro Akamatsu, a regional Daimyo on the far side of the Land of Fire. Lord Akamatsu was kind enough to host our dear Reiyuriko-hime during her recent adventure abroad. Urashima acted as a guide and chaperone and, in the process, impressed Princess Reiyuriko so much that she invited him to attend the Convocation as a guest of the Imperial Family in gratitude for his services."
Amaya Satou shot Kari a glance of confusion that the Jonin gave a furtive gesture to remain silent in response to. No one but Inugami could have seen it, but it rang a bell in Sho's mind as being out of place.
'Curiouser and curiouser... The two that have been here longer seem to know there's something amiss with my cover story, but aren't sure what it means, while the newer pair are taking it at face value.' The medic thought to himself while keeping his face frozen to keep his thoughts secret.
Keitaro/Sho then bowed properly to the regional Daimyo. "A pleasure to meet you m'lord; I understand that your family will be staying in the other two suites of back here as the guests of honor during the Convocation."
"What?!" Kosha demanded, surprised, as he looked at the majordomo, who winked at him. The rooms were typically reserved for a Daimyo of Lord Mizuzaki or Princess Reiyuriko's choice - and Kosha's family had been given run of those rooms every other Convocation for the last 10 years; alternating to show that while Kosha and the Lord Daimyo were close friends, there was no true favoritism being given. This year was SUPPOSED to have been the off year and, given the events earlier this year, Kosha had doubted they'd ever have reason to stay in the Imperial Family's suites ever again. "Whose idea was this?!"
Behind Sho, the privacy screen slid open, revealing Mizuzaki the 27th. Everyone - even the medic-nin, who hadn't been able to sense the man's approach; a rather unnerving prospect if he thought long and hard on it - blinked in surprise that the Lord Daimyo, who typically wasn't supposed to be seen until the evening's opening banquet, was there. "Mine, Kosha."
"Mizuzaki-dono." The majordomo intoned, bowing in conjunction with the six ladies. Only Keitaro - whose fealty theoretically belonged to a different Lord Daimyo - and Kosha - who had issues with the Lord of Rivers - did not follow suit.
Kosha gave his "master" a look of irritation. "What's the meaning of this, Ayanami-kun?" He demanded, openly using the Lord Daimyo's birth name in a "polite" insult. "Trying to score some political points? Because I'm not going to play along if that's the idea."
Mizuzaki sighed as he shook his head sadly. "Kosha, did you ever stop to consider that I might simply be trying to mend fences… Within the limits of my legal powers?"
Kosha blinked in surprise as he heard the unspoken apology in the Lord Daimyo's voice; an apology that, by long-standing social code, the Lord Daimyo was not permitted to give.
"What are you talking about?" He asked warily, not sure if there was a game being played at his expense.
The man who commanded the powers of the Aquamarine Throne made a follow me gesture. "Not out here. My office, please..." He then glanced at the Sunagakure ninjas. "Actually, on second thought, the Library; your ninja should be able to confirm my story while Shao-kohai gets your daughters settled." He gestured to Inugami. "Urashima-san, might I importune you to act as a witness on my behalf? You were here when the ninja from your nation uncovered the issue involved."
Sho/Keitaro had to fight the smile at how deftly the Lord Daimyo had skirted the truth without actually lying; after all Keitaro HAD been there, the others didn't need to know the fact that he was the Konoha ninja that had actually DISCOVERED the tampering to the Daimyo's mind or treated it.
He bowed to the older man. "I would be honored, Lord Mizuzaki. After all, helping to maintain peace down here serves my master's purposes."
The Lord Daimyo smiled as he, his disaffected friend/servant Kosha, the disguised medic-nin, and the four Sunagakure kunoichi took the quick walk into the large book-and-scroll-filled room. As they passed through the doors, the Lord Daimyo almost unconsciously reached up to pull the power cord from the back of the video camera.
It was a blatant disregard for Palace operational security, but who would be dumb enough to protest to the man in charge about it?
The seven took chairs at a table, the same one - ironically - that Kimiko Itou had unrolled the scroll on that had given the Konoha ninjas a hint that Daimyo Kosha's son, Kodansyo, was likely the key to Princess Reiyuriko's absence. Mizuzaki and Inugami sat opposite the other five, like two teams in a negotiation - which this was for all intents and purposes: between Mizuzaki and Kosha and - secretly - Konoha and Suna.
Kosha looked across at the man he once knew as Ayanami wa Mizuzaki. "What is all this about if not to try and make a show of solidarity, old friend?" There was a sarcastic lilt to his voice at the word "friend."
Mizuzaki coughed uncomfortably. The Lord Daimyo was basically about to show his entire hand to the other man in the hopes that doing so would wash away the river of bad blood that had carved a divide between them in the past year.
"Kosha, I'm about to tell you something that could be grounds to remove me from the Aquamarine Throne." Daimyo Kosha blinked in shock at the other man's admission as the Lord Daimyo of the Land of Rivers continued. "I'm doing so because I believe that once you hear it and know that I have faith in you, you will have reason to trust and have faith in me again. If I fail to convince you, you can use it against me; I know my opponents have been courting you for years during the Convocation. I'm giving you a bomb that, in the right hands, could mean the outright end of the Fourth Dynasty."
Kosha paused, seeing that he was being given a win-win situation on a silver platter if he was but willing to listen. His throat bobbed as if it were suddenly very, VERY dry. "Very well; I'll try and be open-minded..." He tilted his head slightly. "For old times' sake, if nothing else."
"It's better than I probably deserve, given the circumstances, Kosha, my friend." The Lord Daimyo paused, shoring up his confidence.
"Kosha, I discovered, about three weeks ago now, that for the past several months, my mind has been addled due to external stimulus by magic. Shao Fukamichu and Hoshi Fugato managed to keep the worst of it under wraps so it didn't have any adverse reactions for our country. They were not, however, so lucky in preserving my more personal relationships."
"By the Kami..." Kosha was stunned by the revelation; as were the four Suna ninjas. Mizuzaki hadn't been joking - it was the mother of all political bombshells! As it sank in, the Regional Daimyo's jaw dropped open as the next natural question came to mind. "H... How long..?"
"I think you already know the answer to that question, Kosha."
Tears appeared in the Regional Daimyo's eyes. "You mean, my son..?"
Mizuzaki nodded bitterly. "Had someone not been pulling my strings without me realizing it, he NEVER would have been exiled by my edict." A trace of gratitude escaped Kosha's face amidst the tears that the Ayanami wa Mizuzaki of old was still alive and well.
The Lord Daimyo grimaced. "But as you know, I am prohibited from revoking my Imperial decree of exile without physical evidence that provides a new perspective on the facts I had on hand at the time, lest I be using my authority to show favoritism for a long-time friend. If not for that, I would have revoked Kodansyo's exile the instant I received treatment to banish the influence."
Kosha looked suddenly wary - it was like a dream coming true that his faith hadn't been in vain, but Kosha had learned in recent months that dreams were not always a good thing. "How do I know you aren't spinning me a yarn, Ayanami? Don't get me wrong, I have prayed to the Goddess every night since I got word of what had happened between our children that it would all work out, but..."
"So easily?" The Lord Daimyo asked wryly, getting a sickly chuckled of agreement from Kosha. Mizuzaki gestured to Inugami and the Hidden Sand ninjas. "As I said before, Keitaro Urashima here was present when the Leaf ninjas treated me, so he can corroborate my story. And, to prevent anyone from saying that I've been coaching him since his arrival, the ninja you hired should confirm the treatment. They apparently utilized a..." He looked at Sho/Keitaro. "What did they call it, Urashima-san? I barely remember that night."
"They said it was a Sealing jutsu or something to that effect." Sho explained, trying to make it look like he didn't really understand it. "It was supposed to stop the influence, protect against further intrusion, and heal any damage all at the same time from what I recall." He paused and handed the Daimyo a handkerchief. "Oh and of course the need for your makeup, Lord Mizuzaki…"
"Ah, yes, good point!" The River Lord said, accepting the piece of cloth. He reached up to rub away the flesh-tone makeup hiding the kanji glyph upon his forehead. Kosha rocked back at the revelation – his master had never born such a mark before. "Fukamichu will simply have to reapply the concealer later."
The Desert Rose nodded in agreement as she looked at the sigil. "The features you're describing ARE consistent with a standard restorative sealing technique… And that IS the Kanji for Konoha's Layered Seal technique."
Kosha looked at Kari, the Desert Rose, hopefully. "Can you..?"
The black and purple clad woman nodded once again, seeing the opportunities here to make her task far easier. "Sealing jutsu are called such because they are used to block access to something AND they leave a visible mark, indicating the fact that the seal is in force." She gestured to the young woman in the black kimono with the pink floral designs, "My student, Amaya Satou, is a specialist in Genjutsu matters. She should be able to readily test if the Lord Daimyo has an anti-Genjutsu seal on his person."
The Regional Daimyo eyed Satou with anticipation drastically different from the kind the seductress or her kin normally instilled in a man. "Do it."
The reddish-brown haired kunoichi nodded demurely before rising to approach the Lord Daimyo. For a wonder - sensing the importance of what she might find - she did so with the best of behavior, minimizing her sexual magnetism as much as a Satou woman could. "With your permission, Mizuzaki-sama?" The Lord of Rivers nodded acceptingly.
Sho Inugami coughed warningly to get the attention of the woman who had attempted to vamp Takahashi. "I do recommend being careful, Satou-san. I seem to recall the ninja that performed the jutsu said that it was carefully layered to both heal the lasting damage and protect the Lord Daimyo from further influence. By force, if necessary…"
Amaya smiled at Sho confidently, dismissing his warning, as she put a hand on the side of the Daimyo's head. "I'll be fine. I'm going to simply perform a passive scan of his mind; it can't be THAT sensitive a seal." Her eyes rolled up as she reached out with her mental powers.
After a few seconds, the Kanji on the Lord Daimyo's head turned red in warning as a thin arc of golden bioelectrical energy began to circle his head; summoned from the Lightning Barrier contained within the Layered Seal. The energy bolt swatted the kunoichi into a bookshelf with the disturbing ease of a giant hitting a falling leaf.
"Satou!" Kari shouted as the others gasped in surprise before both the Jonin and Sho Inugami jumped to Amaya's aid simultaneously. The assassin looked at the aristocrat uncertainly, putting a hand on his chest to keep him at bay. "What are you doing?"
Sho/Keitaro smiled wanly at the assassin; his medical training had caused him to jump to the aid of the injured before his mind could stop himself as it was drastically out of character for the aristocrat.
He gestured to the thrown kunoichi, who was clearly dazed, borderline unconscious. "I have some limited medical training, ma'am; my family were not always Kuge members. Look, I don't know much about ninja magic, but I can at least make certain she hasn't been injured too badly."
Kari eyed him for a few more seconds before she removed her intercepting hand. "Very well… Do what you can."
Sho knelt by the stunned young lady, dampening his chakra as much as possible as he delicately ran his fingers around the areas of her body that had struck the bookshelf. 'Looks like her scan wasn't as passive as she thought it would be... On the plus side, now I at least know the counter attack seal is working the way it was supposed to; had her efforts been more invasive the full power of the barrier would have probably fried her nervous system.'
He made a contemplative sound for the sake of the audience. "Well, I don't think she's hurt anything vital. She'll probably be sore and have one hell of a headache." He shook Amaya Satou's shoulder. "Miss, are you okay?"
Amaya Satou moaned as she opened her eyes. "Oww, Oww, bloody fucking OW!" She blinked as she suddenly remembered where she was and blushed suddenly. "Sorry."
Then her eyes met Keitaro's and she smiled at him coyly. 'Well, now... I didn't notice how good-looking he was before…' She thought as she unknowingly let a small trace of Desire 2 seep from her tenketsu pores. "However shall I reward you for your kindness, milord?"
As the pheromone compound hit Inugami's bloodstream, his eyes lost focus momentarily as they worked their near irresistible biological magic.
> Dude... < The dry voice grinned at him in silence. > This nice guy stuff might actually get us some. Just smile and run with it. <
"Uhhh..." He stumbled, his mind coming up with images of their bodies intertwining. Sho felt his blood begin to warm and his mouth go dry as the kunoichi's Kekkei Genkai tried to compel him to desire the mysterious woman.
'Wha... What is this..?' His rational mind demanded. 'I don't even know her... I'm better than this...'
The dry voice moaned. > Don't knock it; just go with it, man! <
'NO! This is a sham! These feelings aren't mine! They don't belong to me!' Sho mentally protested as he fell backwards, shaking his head in confusion. 'Hata-san... I care about... I want to be with Hata-san; not this stranger!'
Kari the Desert Rose noted the medic-nin's confused distress and suddenly realized what was happening. "Satou! He's a foreign diplomat; he is not to be one of your playthings!" She ordered, disgusted by the amorous young woman's penchant - so much like Larissa's and the other women of her clan - for chasing any man that caught her fancy, as she pulled her Genin's shoulder.
Amaya blinked at the Jonin in surprise and immediately focused shutting off the pheromones as she realized what had happened.
While the Satou Clan Kekkei Genkai was mostly under each kunoichi's conscious control, every now and then, some part in the back of their mind developed a longing for an emotional connection of one kind or another. As a result, their Kekkei Genkai occasionally generated pheromones of its own volition.
The psychological exams that Sand ninja were periodically required to take suggested that Amaya had a deep-seated need to be loved and cared for and her body responded accordingly. In Amaya Satou's own case, she was almost always generating a Friendship Grade 3 aura about herself; her conscious mind had yet to figure out how to turn it off.
This was the first time, however, that her body had released Desire without her active will to do so.
"I'm sorry, Sensei; I don't know how it happened, I swear!" Amaya protested as she turned off the Kekkei Genkai's output.
The pheromone cocktail of Friendship 3 and Desire 2 lost its latter component and the flood of lust dissipated. Sho Inugami shook his head as his rational mind beat back the hormonally-driven natural mind. "What on Earth..?"
Kari extended a hand towards the befuddled white-haired aristocrat. "My apologies for my Genin's behavior, Urashima-sama… The Satou clan specializes in the use of pheromones in order to gain the upper hand in most situations. I would have expected her to know better than to use that ability on a foreign nobleman." Amaya looked hurt, but a look from the assassin stilled any further declarations of innocence.
'Pheromones..?' Sho Inugami contemplated. 'That doesn't make sense; I've encountered pheromones before, but none have had such a potent effect on me before...' A light clicked on. 'Ah, of course, THE Satou clan; I should have made the connection before! They seem to have bounced back after nearly being exterminated between the Second and Third Wars... I'll have to take a closer look at those blood and skin samples I removed from Kyouran's claws and fur that I haven't had the chance to test yet; see if I can find a compound to enhance our team's biological defenses without trying to use the Illusion Break jutsu. In the meantime, I'll have to weigh whether keeping the fact I'm a ninja a secret is worth being subject to the whims of this girl... And no doubt her cousin/teammates.'
Sho accepted the older kunoichi's help, smiling at her. "Eh, no harm, no foul. I just normally try and keep a tighter rein on that particular side of my mind. Having the horse suddenly snap its reins was just a bit disconcerting; that's all." He looked at Satou, smiling in an effort to keep up his cover persona, who was a bit less conservative about such things than Sho was. "Maybe we could resume that conversation some other time... Perhaps when my duties don't require my continuous attention…" He lied through his teeth with a wink.
"Anytime, anywhere, U-ra-shi-ma-sama..." Amaya Satou playfully extended his name as she dusted herself off and found her footing.
She turned to the Lord Daimyo and the Regional Daimyo - both of whom were hiding their amusement at the byplay between the Sand and Leaf ninja pair rather well. She coughed to recover her wits. "Ahem, so, as you saw, Kosha-sama, there's definitely a seal-type effect in place on the Lord Daimyo." She rubbed her well-formed behind. "A pretty strong and extremely sensitive one, too... If I'd ACTUALLY been attempting an intrusion-type Genjutsu, I'm guessing it would have reacted even more forcibly. It probably would have been put me into a coma, assuming it didn't kill me outright..."
The kunoichi turned back to her Jonin instructor and leaned in, whispering. "Sensei, I detected a similar psychic calling card to the one I sensed in our OTHER client in the Lord Daimyo!"
The assassin stared at the woman in the black kimono in astonishment. "What?!" She said louder than she meant to, stunned by the implications of the Genin's words.
"What? What is it?" The two Daimyo demanded simultaneously.
Amaya looked at Kari, who nodded. "You might as well tell them, Satou."
The brownish-redheaded young woman turned to the others. "Genjutsu is different from normal ninja magics, my lords. For example, Ninjutsu can destroy things, but there's nothing that allows you to conclusively say whether ninja A or ninja B cast it unless you watched them do it. With Genjutsu, however, the ninja leaves a little bit of him- or herself behind after the effect is completed; a calling card of sorts. The ninja that attacked the Lord Daimyo is more powerful, more disciplined than myself, but his calling card is similar to others I sensed once before." She glanced at Daimyo Kosha. "In the mind of your son, Prince Kodansyo."
Daimyo Mizuzaki's eyebrow arched at his friend and the kunoichi, but he chose not to ask further. After all, knowing more would obligate him to take actions he'd probably rather avoid. "So what does that mean, young lady?"
Amaya blushed slightly: "Lady" was not an adjective that she typically heard in relation to herself. "At a guess, he - at least I think it's a he - probably trained the other three ninja whose psychic calling cards were left in Kosha-sama's son."
It took every fiber of Sho's willpower to avoid gloating in confirmation of his theory that the Suna ninja were indeed working for Prince Kodansyo. It didn't get him any closer to finding Reiyuriko, but having something finally go right on this crazy mission was more than satisfactory to the medic-nin. The white haired young man looked at the two River Country Daimyo. "It would appear my lords that someone is actively conspiring against the two of you and, in turn, your nation. Who could be so foolish?"
Both of the older men grimaced. "It could be any of the other Daimyo, Urashima-san." Kosha explained. "I have always been Mizuzaki-dono's supporter and the closeness of our children became a major bone of contention amongst the regional Daimyo with their eyes on the Aquamarine Throne after Queen Mizuho passed on without leaving a Prince to claim the Lord Daimyo's title. That is why Prince Muso was chosen to be the first contender to be Reiyuriko-hime's future husband; to avoid any appearance of favoritism."
Lord Mizuzaki nodded. "A chance to change the course of history in the Land of Rivers is not exactly a common occurrence, as you might imagine. There are a few of my less scrupulous servants with delusions of grandeur strong enough to make them consider such a foolhardy gesture." He snorted. "If not for the fact they've actually managed to piss me off, I could almost, ALMOST appreciate the artistry in their plan."
"Who do you think, Ayanami? Bankotsu, Kon, or Shinji?" Kosha snarled, naming the most outspoken detractors of the Lord Daimyo. "If we catch them, I'll have their guts for garters for this..."
"If it's any of them, we'll never prove it, Kosha-kun." The Lord Daimyo said sadly. "Even if it were any of them, they'd be too cautious to leave a trail that leads directly to them, circumstantial enough that it could be any one of them but prevents us from identifying any one traitor, or, worse of all, points to an innocent member of the court." He gestured to the Sand ninja. "I assume they're here for more than just bodyguard duty, right?" Kari and the Regional Daimyo nodded. "I'll inform Kurosaki and the leader of the Leaf team not to interfere with your investigations."
Kari shook her head. "I ask that you not do so, Lord Mizuzaki. It would hurt us more in the long run because if any of the conspirators have the ninja with them that assaulted Prince Kodansyo or yourself with them - either to continue the assault or clean up the loose ends - they will surely notice that something is out of the ordinary. Given that we don't know which village was involved, we would be unable to predict their reactions."
Sho Inugami nodded. "She makes a very valid point, Mizuzaki-dono. I remember how much of a mess we had a few months ago when the political intrigues back home started involving ninja..." He shuddered in rather convincing horror.
He then looked at Daimyo Kosha. "In fact, it would probably be better to act as if this meeting never took place... Given what I saw of Kosha-dono's attitude when we started talking, if he were to continue to act that way - under the belief you had betrayed him - the conspirators MIGHT try to use him to denounce you. Planting a spy in the enemy camp is a lot easier when the enemy considers you an ally."
Daimyo Mizuzaki pondered the words of the two ninja for a few moments. "You both make excellent points." He looked at Kosha. "What do you think, my old friend? Can you stay so vociferously mad at me for another week or so?"
Kosha snorted in self-derision. "As I recall, Nodoka-chan was the one who referred to me as 'the bombastic one with the cute wife and son' when she first met me." He gave a wry grin that caused the two of them to chuckle at the fond memory. "I think I can handle it."
"Then that is the way we shall handle things." The Lord of Rivers declared, declaring an official end to the meeting. "May Undine Kawa's blessing be with us all."
* * *
To be continued