Chapter [NaN] |
Yor Briar was watching her target from the shadows of an alley with cold almost hated filled eyes while Mabui sat at an open-air café located just off the courtyard following Kumo’s main gate. She had followed the dark-skinned woman throughout the day, suspecting that she was planning to meet with another contact which to Yor would serve to confirm her status as a traitor. Although focused on her mission, she fretted a bit internally at her having needed to burn a vacation day in order to put the Raikage’s former assistant under observation, an action which had surprised her colleagues, particularly Camille as they had previously worked together in the Customer Relations Department, so the blonde woman knew it was genuinely rare for her to take a day off on such short notice. Although, truthfully as her previous supervisor had also worked for the same organization that she did, many of her killings, and subsequent time off for healing whenever they had not gone smoothly had been covered under the guise of her being on various business trips.
Yor stepped deeper into the shadows as Mabui looked around her, and frowned as if aware that she was being watched, but was unable to detect anything to validate her suspicions. She reached for the cup of tea which she had ordered as she waited, and although she looked calm, within her, Yor suspected there was some sort of internal struggle taking place. Namely, to meet up with the contact which if Yor’s suspicions were correct would prove that she was a traitor, and if so, she would soon come face to face with the Thorn Princess, the identity which she used as an assassin for Garden.
Although, she wasn’t quite sure how she was going to make that meeting a reality at this point, since the building that she lived in was rather secure, despite it just making up the top three floors of the Hidden Thunder Apartment complex, it seemed rather unassailable. At least according to the details that Garden had been able to provide for her when they had given her the assignment. The Shopkeeper suspecting that she would likely want to secure an apartment as close to her target as possible, had already investigated the possibility of getting her one on the same floor as Mabui. However, according to the file that she had been provided, despite the rest of the building’s apartments being listed through regular means those on the top three floors appeared to be invite only. The file had made it clear that while none of the actions that Mabui had taken had raised any red flags with the organization, the fact that the building was owned by the Great Tree Shipping Company, and Yugito Nii had also lived there prior to her defection had caused the building’s tenants to fall under the same umbrella of suspicion. This in conjunction with Mabui’s recent decision to quit her position as the Raikage’s assistant to work for the Great Tree Shipping Company directly as the local Branch Manager had resulted in her being assigned to watch her, and if guilty of seditious activity, to eliminate her.
A task easier said than done as she returned to considering how she would arrange to get her alone, as attacking her at her home was out of the question. Thinking over the security precautions her employers had provided, she knew the only access to the top three floors were via an Elevator, which although it also served the building as a whole, in order to access those floors, one needed to enter in an access code. Moreover, whoever had been sent to scout out the apartment complex, had ruled out trying to just climb up through the elevator shaft itself, as they had noticed a rather intricate seal placed over the access hatch on top of the elevator, and so surmised that the entire shaft would also be covered in them. With the obvious route being pretty much a no go, the roof would naturally be the next likely access point, but unfortunately for Yor this too seemed to be well guarded to ensure the tenants of the top floors were afforded the privacy that they desired. This was due to the roof having a protection barrier, which seemed to either to be perpetually on or had an activation method which Garden had failed to uncover. A lesson one peeping tom within the building had learned the hard way, when upon hearing rumors that atop of the roof was a pool around which various women gathered often in the nude had decided to see for himself, he had scaled the side of the building using chakra only to fall short as he ran smack dab into the barrier when he had attempted leap up onto it. He had nearly been fried to a crisp before the barrier had cutoff, and another of the top three floors tenants Karui had beat the hell out of what remained. The peeping tom after having been evicted, and recovering from his thrashing had not been deterred, so had tried again this time using suction cups in place of chakra to climb the building believing that was what had triggered the barrier. This time around he didn’t even make it to the roof, as upon reaching the building’s fourth floor, a different barrier had sprung into action which had repelled him from the building. Luckily being only four floors up, he had survived the fall, but he hadn’t exactly walk away from it, and was still walking with a limp.
Not wanting to end up like that, Yor had hoped to get close to Mabui while she had trained her and the other replacements. But, sadly befriending people wasn’t a talent which Yor found herself to be particularly skilled at, and so most of her attempts to strike up a conversation with Mabui had lapsed into painful silence. Furthermore, it appeared that Mabui had been rather annoyed at finding herself replaced by four other women for a job which she had performed practically on her own, and so feeling that she had imparted them with enough of her wisdom had abruptly announced to the Raikage that she was taking all of her accrued time off, at which point she would officially resign. Yor supposed that she couldn’t exactly blame the woman, especially after having learned that apparently, she had about two years’ worth of time saved up making it quite clear that it had been quite a while since Mabui had taken a vacation. Something to which Yor herself could attest to. Not that the Raikage had been particularly understanding as he had shattered a desk, while Mabui had remained calm while informing him to only bother her in case of emergencies before promptly walking off the job.
Yet, Yor had suspected that the display may have been a cover for something, and so had checked over all the work the grey-haired woman had performed that day. She believed that her efforts had yielded some positive results, although she couldn’t say for certain that Mabui was up to something as her hunch hadn’t paid off in the manner in which she had thought that it would. As she had believed that Mabui’s actions had been meant to provide some cover for her after she had slipped some file into the ones cleared by the other secretaries, and for which she had been responsible for signing off on after doublechecking the work of her replacements. So, while Yor had found something suspicious, unfortunately rather than being in the completed pile, it had instead been in one of piles which Millie had brought over that had still needed Mabui’s checking over of the younger woman’s work. With the pile in question being filled with the approvals for those who had requested visitation visas in order to enter Kumo for various reasons.
While not exactly incriminating, since it had been in a pile Mabui had supposedly not touched yet. She suspected that if Mabui had planted the file to get the person a visitor’s visa, then she had likely believed that no one would double check it after she had stormed off. A fair assumption, particularly as that had been exactly what happened as Millie had just mixed the two piles together later. With the suspected file still included since Yor had simply returned it to the pile, feeling that it would be a lead that she could use to prove whether or not Mabui was a traitor.
Yor frowned though as she continued to watch her target, since although finding her seemingly waiting near the Main Gate on the day the file said the applicant was set to arrive would likely to most appear to be a red flag. In all honesty, considering the virtual fortress her home was, and with the Great Tree Shipping Company only operating a small stand in the administration building where Kumo assigned missions, making her home the most likely place where she conducted much of the company’s business, Yor figured that would be the preferrable place for her to meet the man. This did leave Yor to question whether she was in fact just leaping at shadows, since the file had appeared to be done in Millie’s handwriting meaning she had been the one to work on it. Furthermore, it had also appeared to possess all the correct stamps from the location where the application had first been received and processed, which had been sent weeks in advance, with the relatively short turnaround from review to the person’s actual visit being due to the backlog which had been created as a result of Mabui’s duties being taken over by them, as even though she had been replaced by four women, they seemed to operate at a fraction of the speed that she had.
Still, even though Yor was beginning to doubt her theory, as she began to feel that even Mabui’s apparent agitation could be written off as her being more perceptive than she had given the former secretary credit for, so having felt herself being watched, was trusting her instincts despite not having spotted the tail she had on her. Unfortunately, due to the applicant that she had allowed to be passed on having belonged to a suspected member of the One King Movement, Yor couldn’t just go home as she would need to follow the man and ensure that he was eliminated before he could do any damage.
Mabui was dressed rather warmly due to how Fall always seemed to hit Kumo earlier then most places due to its location among the mountains. She took a sip of the tea which she had ordered as she waited for her companion’s arrival. She tried to remain calm, but found it difficult as she had felt as if she was being watched. A feeling that had followed her throughout the day since first leaving her home that morning. However, despite having tried several times to discreetly search her surroundings to see if she did indeed have a tail, she had failed to detect anyone.
Although this development did concern her, it wasn’t one that was entirely unexpected considering her recent and sudden decision to use her accrued time off. She smirked to herself as the Raikage had been furious, but she had simply countered his anger by stating that his hiring four women to replace her had simply enlightened her to the fact that he knew he had been taking advantage of her abilities. As such, she felt that she had trained the four to be adequate enough to get along without her, and wished to use the vacation time that she had otherwise been unable to use. Unless of course he wished to pay it off in a single lump sum, all the while being quite aware that her department’s budget could take such a hit.
“What has you looking like the cat that ate the canary?” the woman who she had been waiting for asked seeing the smirk that she wore.
Giving Ino a wide smile she said, “Oh, just basking in the feeling that comes with taking a long overdue vacation. Although, unsurprisingly he had issues with letting me go.”
Ino nodded, although her eyes showed that she understood the last portion of Mabui’s reply indicated that they may be under surveillance. “Can’t say I blame him,” Ino stated before pausing as a waitress approached them to take her order. After ordering a hot chocolate, the blonde continued, “He has to know what a blow losing you is going to be.”
Mabui smiled softly as she accepted the praise before stating, “I appreciate the compliment. But enough about me. How have you found Kumo so far?”
“A little disappointing to be honest,” Ino replied with a frown, “I’ve been milling about window shopping all morning, but haven’t really seen anything which piqued my interest.”
Mabui took another sip of her tea while the waitress brought the hot cocoa which Ino had ordered. The Yamanaka took a sip and her eyes widened in surprise as she said, “I may have spoken too soon. This is amazing!”
Mabui smiled, before stating, “Yes, Kumo is quite renowned for its chocolate. Mainly due to the exceptional dairy products produced from the surrounding area. It is one of the items that I planned to begin exporting to the other members of the Alliance.”
Ino took another sip of the heavenly beverage before stating, “I’ll be looking forward to them hitting Konoha’s shelves then. Although, I’ll probably need to stock up on some before I leave. Still, it’s surprising that there are no shops carrying anything like this near the entrance for visitors to take with them. Otherwise, the morning might not have been so unproductive.”
Mabui inclined her head, more so in recognition of her last sentence as Ino was referring to the task which had brought her to Kumo. But aware someone may be watching them she stated, “Well sadly as you can attest, Kumo isn’t quite as welcoming towards visitors as Konoha. Most people who visit tend to be dignitaries or people bringing job requests to the village. For the latter, they tend to be representatives of several villages that have already gone through the vetting process, and so leave just as quickly upon making their requests. Primarily, as they make a percentage from the jobs that they bring. For the Dignitaries, they tend to have larger business concerns which causes them to linger so all the high-end shops tend to be located around the hotels in which they stay. Those tend to be further in, and closer to The Main Administration Building, I’ll take you to some after we finish up here.”
“I look forward to it,” Ino stated giving her a pleased smile. Taking another sip, she changed her tone enough to indicate her question was a loaded one, “Do you think I’ll have time to order another cocoa?”
“Hard to say,” Mabui stated sending a look towards the Main Gate of the village where all new visitors needed to check in. She frowned as she noticed someone at the front of the line which caused a deep concern to well up inside her.
Ino noticed immediately, but seeing where Mabui was staring she asked, “Is there a problem?” Receiving a nod, Ino focused on the man which had captured Mabui’s attention and saw that he had dark spiky brown hair, and was dressed in the robes of a monk. She wondered what it was about the man which had so greatly concerned her fellow Family member, since she had noticed a large group of men who had been dressed similarly having apparently made the journey to meditate at the summit of the mountain. Moreover, she was so focused on him that it appeared as if she had failed to notice that a few stalls away was a woman who greatly resembled their target. Confident the preparation which she had put in place that morning would handle the rest, Ino turned her attention back to Mabui just as she waved to the waitress which had served them. Asking the woman for a pen and paper, she scribbled something down before instructing the waitress to bring it, along with a coffee to one of the closest shinobi on duty.
As the woman quickly moved back into the café to follow the instructions that she had been given, Mabui turned away to focus on Ino once more stating, “The man in the monk robes is a former Iwa-nin named Natsu. He was captured by Grass a few years back, but Iwa refused to pay his ransom. Not seeing any use in holding him, they ended up letting him go after a few years of captivity, there was some intelligence chatter that he had joined the One King Movement.”
The waitress walked by the table so Mabui turned to watch her as she tapped the nearest shinobi guarding the gate on the shoulders, the woman indicated to Mabui as she handed over a cup of coffee along with the note that she had been given. The shinobi turned towards where the waitress had indicated and his eyes shown with recognition, he appeared somewhat confused at first, but then direct his attention towards the note that he had been given. Reading what was written, his eyes reflected a similar concern that Mabui was displaying, before he thanked the woman and told her to return to the shop. The man then indicated to one of his colleagues on the opposite side of the gateway that they should begin closing in on the man just as he was admitted into the village.
Mabui frowned as the two men stopped in front of the former Iwa-nin, who tried to maintain the aura of a holy man on a pilgrimage. However, he didn’t bother to maintain the ruse long as he suddenly began to rotate the staff that he had been walking with. Doing so in front of him, apparently with the intention of preventing the two shinobi from getting any closer. At least until he suddenly stopped with it held in the horizontal position. At which point the two shinobi demanded that he drop it. Appearing to comply, he did as he was instructed. However just before it hit the ground, he gave it a kick causing it to fly towards the two men. The shinobi that Mabui had first informed of the threat, easily caught the stick, but then the shinobi infiltrator leapt back while he made a hand-sign which caused the exploding tag hidden inside the staff to explode. Fortunately, for the two shinobi in the immediate vicinity of it, the explosion wasn’t particularly powerful, although it ended up peppering the two Kumo-nin with wooden splinters causing them to clutch at their faces.
As the man landed, he tossed off his monk’s robes while he made another handsign which caused seals hidden within his robe to begin launching balls of exploding tags all about the area. Naturally, many people began to panic as he shouted, “Down with the false rulers who defy the Mandate of Heaven. Glory to the Daimyo!”
However, before he could create the last handsign, he suddenly froze, which as it was followed by a body slumping within the chair behind her, caused Mabui to breathe a sigh of relief, at least until she noticed someone charging from out of an alleyway on the opposite side of the courtyard. Reacting immediately, Mabui leapt to her own feet as well, and grabbed the chair upon which she had been sitting, intercepting the woman preparing to attack the frozen terrorist, she used it as a shield to block the kick that Yor attempted to deliver to the man’s throat.
Yor’s foot almost effortless passed through the seat of Mabui’s heavy wooden chair, but it provided just enough resistance that it caused her kick to land short. However, before Mabui could try to capitalize on her leg being trapped, Yor then spun, and yanked the chair free of her grip. Then using just the leg that she had pivoted on for her kick, she gracefully leapt back, and while still in the air shattered the remains of the chair with her hand just before landing. Glaring at Mabui with eyes that promised death, she asked, “What do you think you are doing?”
“Stopping you from causing an international incident,” Mabui answered calmly, while keeping her guard up. Then while making sure to keep an eye on Yor, asked behind her, “How are you holding up Ino?”
Much to Ino’s surprise, she was having a hard time stopping the man from making the handsign that would set off all the exploding tags that he had released so said, “Not as well as I would like. Can you restrain this guy before he takes us all with him?”
Yor’s face reflected her confusion at first, but then they opened wide as she noticed the slumped over blonde who was still sitting at the café, and quickly realized that woman Mabui had been conversing with must have been a Yamanaka. The bloodlust held in her eyes quickly disappeared as her face reflected her horror at her actions causing her to quickly bow as she said, “I’m sorry. I was just trying to stop him.”
“I know,” Mabui said somewhat surprised at the woman’s quick shift in demeanor, “Please attend to those two, while I bind our intruder.” Yor bowed deeply with all traces of the killer which she had appeared to be disappearing almost instantly, as it seemed to be replaced by genuine embarrassment and shame. Mabui was still rather surprised at how quickly the woman appeared to shift from killer to kindly, if somewhat socially awkward office lady. But she let the matter drop as Yor tossed her one of the pouches carried by the two wounded Kumo-nin, and used the restraints to bind the man’s arms behind his back. She then allowed Ino to release her hold over him. The man reacted with obvious confusion as he began to regain control of his body, which soon turned to pain when she snapped two of his fingers on each hand to prevent him from using any handsigns.
While the former Iwa-nin cursed her as being nothing but a dog of the false rulers, Ino quickly approached them to aid in tending the wounds of the two Kumo-nin. Naturally though it wasn’t long before the Anbu arrived at the scene at which point they began questioning the three of them. Mabui got the sense that the Anbu squad leader was angling for a reason to haul both her and Ino in, but fortunately the jounin that she had first contacted upon noticing the threat had vouched for her version of events, not to mention was clearly grateful for the medical attention that he had received from Ino.
When the ANBU Squad leader was finished with her, although he made it clear that they may call her down to their headquarters for further questioning, she turned on her heel intending to settle her bill at the café. Along with paying for the chair that she had used. However, before she took more than a handful of steps Ino stopped her saying, “I’ve already taken care of it. The café was going to comp us, but I insisted that they at least give it to our server.”
“What about the chair?” Mabui asked, and nearly jumped out of her skin as she heard a soft whimper from behind her.
Spinning, she found Yor looking miserable standing a few paces behind her, and not for the first time, she found herself shocked at how effortlessly the woman seemed able to slip past her guard. Before she could ask her what she was doing, Yor bowed her head quickly saying towards Ino, “Please forgive me for nearly attacking you.”
Ino held up her hands a little embarrassed by the display, especially as more people began staring at them so said, “Relax, nobody got hurt. Besides, you couldn’t really know that a Yamanaka was visiting your home at just that moment.”
“Thank you for your understanding,” Yor said politely as she stood up straight.
Mabui watched the woman somewhat cautiously, and allowed a hint of suspicion to enter her voice as she played a hunch, “But, that doesn’t explain why you were following me earlier.”
Yor was obviously caught off guard by the accusation, but rather than trying to deny it said, “I saw you leave your apartment this morning, and…well I had hoped to get to know you better while you trained us, but with your sudden decision to take your accumulated leave, I feared that I had missed my chance. So, when I saw you today… I just sort began following you while trying to work up the nerve to approach you.”
The dark-haired woman’s tone was a mixture of embarrassment and awkwardness, which made it difficult for Mabui to tell if she was being truthful. Judging from the embarrassment, she suspected her words contained a fair amount of truth in them. But, before she could really comment on the matter further Ino said, “That’s perfect then. Mabui was planning to take me shopping now. So why don’t you come along with us?”
Yor’s eyes lit up as she asked, “You don’t mind?”
Mabui wasn’t entirely sure that she wanted the woman tagging along as she still felt a tad uneasy around her. But seeing the hopeful look in her eyes admitted to herself that denying her would make her feel a bit like she had just kicked a puppy so replied, “Sure, the more the merrier.” So she then proceeded to guide the two women to the ritzier part of Kumo.
*******
“Welcome to the Ivory Tower, Miss Hattori,” the man working the counter stated as he finished checking a bespectacled dark-hair woman in. “I see you are booked with us for the next few months, planning to attend the finals for the Chunin Exams.”
“Among other things,” the woman who was dressed in business attire stated dispassionately, although her skirt seemed a bit too short to be appropriate for the rest of the outfit.
“Well, if you are interested in some of the finest dining in Kumo, may I recommend our own highly celebrated Golden Wind,” the man stated while handing the woman a pamphlet containing a few of the hotel’s amenities along with details for a few of the nearby restaurants.
“I’ll keep it in mind,” the woman replied bending over to pick up her travel bag which also didn’t quite match with her attire as it was simply a large duffle bag, which she slung over her shoulder. The desk attendant wished that he had been standing behind her, primarily since there was a large splash as a guest stumbled into the stream of water that ran from a waterfall built into the back wall, and surrounded the check in area, due to his gaze being glued to her rear. If the woman was aware that she was the cause of the commotion taking place behind her, as the staff tried to fish the man out, she didn’t show it as she dispassionately accepted the room key, and then made her way straight for the elevators.
*******
Using the key that she had been given, Lisa Yadomaru stepped into the large room that she had on the twenty-fifth floor, which would be her home for the next few months. Although, if she was in Kumo for that long then she would truly feel as if she was failing the mission that she had been given. She unslung her bag and tossed it onto the bed as she moved to the room’s large window while unbuttoning the business jacket that she had worn during her infiltration. Tossing the jacket over the back of a nearby chair, she opened the curtains, and took a moment to appreciate the scenery as the sun set behind the mountain tops.
“As far as punishments go, this one isn’t too shabby,” she admitted to herself, as she continued to strip. A punishment that she had brought upon herself due to her habit of eavesdropping on her Captain’s meetings. Despite her current feelings regarding her assignment, she also admitted that it had been a particularly frustrating one previously as she had continuously found her efforts to infiltrate the shinobi village through legal means stymied. She imagined that one of the reasons that her punishment had entailed performing the very mission that she had listened to hers and the other Captains discussing was because they had sincerely believed it would fail, as had the many other infiltration missions into Kumo before it.
Admittedly, in the months’ followings the Battle of Amegakure, the event which had prompted the Thirteen Shinigami Division to meet in the first place, she had truly come to regret her actions. Particularly, as each petition for a visitor’s permit that she had sent in to Kumo had been rejected. An extremely frustrating development, as it wasn’t just a matter of filling in some form, but required establishing an entire identity that had legitimate data trails that could be looked into. Luckily, as the Lieutenant of the Eighth Division, she had been able to call on the division’s resources to help, namely by tasking various lower ranking members who she could pass as with helping her establish some of those identities.
Still, it was hard not to feel that she had been given a cursed assignment as over the next several months, not only would the identity that she was in the midst of establishing be informed that their petition had been rejected, meaning that she would need to start again fresh someplace else. But, so too would many of her subordinates. Who unlike her, would then be allowed to return to the Land of Iron to resume their regular duties in the division.
Outside of herself, who had burned through three identities, only two of her subordinates had seemed to show any potential of slipping past whatever gatekeeper Kumo had screening the petitions. The first was a woman named Yuyu Yayahara, and if Lisa had to guess why she had probably lasted so long in the admission process, it would be due to her obsession with a recent fad of some younger women in the Land of Iron and Land of Honey to dye their hair blonde, while excessively tanning themselves. As such, even though the cultural phenomena could be tied almost exclusively to countries with strong Samurai forces, well the people themselves who participated in it, appeared so unserious and tended to stand out so much, that she imagined anyone screening the petitions doubted they’d make effective spies.
Fortunately, for her own pale demeanor, another of her subordinates had also managed to get her admission form past the last stage of screenings where most of the others had died, and would ultimately be responsible for establishing the identity that Lisa had adopted to enter the village. Also, fortunately for her, out of all the subordinates that she had roped into her helping her with her assignment, she shared more than a passing resemblance to this one in particular. The woman, Nanao Ise, was rather serious and pragmatic, and had no doubt taken to the assignment far more seriously than many of the others, as she had buried herself in the role of a mid-level business woman working for a company called Lay-Cola.
She suspected that one of the reasons Nano’s false identify hadn’t been screened out, was because unlike the other women, who had used assets of the Second Division to craft their identities and submit their permits, mainly because it was also known by the moniker of the Stealth Force, so was often used for infiltration and assassination missions. Nano had instead first gotten herself hired at the Lay-Cola company which had its headquarters in the Land of Rivers. Once there, within a few short months she had worked herself up to her current position, primarily by securing several lucrative contracts using shell corporations that the Thirteen Shinigami Divisions had established throughout the elemental countries. It was only after establishing herself at the company that Nano had then submitted her visitation request to Kumo. With the stated purpose of trying to get another corporation located within Kumo, Okumura Foods to switch to the soft drink brands offered by Lay-Cola.
A request that much to everyone’s surprise, seemed to have worked. Nano had offered to see the mission through to completion, since despite how much the two resembled each other, there was a chance someone might notice some discrepancies with the picture that had been submitted on the visa when she tried to enter. But, considering the nature of the mission, Lisa had refused to switch out fearing that it would be too dangerous for the promising young woman, who before she had left Iron to begin her journey to Kumo, she had nominated to fill in for her as lieutenant. Lisa smiled as she pictured how Nano would react upon learning the news, although considering the laid-back nature of the division’s captain, she imagined it wouldn’t be long before she would begin scolding him to take his duties more seriously.
Still, although she trusted that Nano’s diligent nature had proved to be the impetus needed to breakthrough the wall that had been getting a spy into Kumo. Lisa wasn’t one to trust in it entirely either. As such, upon seeing that there were perhaps two avenues developing which might allow her to infiltrate Kumo, rather than developing another identity after her third rejection, she had decided to try and infiltrate Kumo using more forceful means. To achieve this, she had used contacts that the Shinigami Division had within the One King Movement to spur them into putting a plot in motion. This plot was essentially to commit a bombing at the final round of the Chunin Exams. With it being the first exam to be held in years, not to mention the first one held by the Alliance thus meaning that shinobi who normally wouldn’t be squaring off against each other would be for the first time in such a venue, it wasn’t too much of a surprise when the contacts inside had informed her that they had taken the bait.
What had been rather surprising, and stung her professional pride a bit was when she had intercepted what she expected to be a rejection letter from the shinobi courier. Which she had intended to replace with a false visitation visa, before finishing the delivery. She had instead found that they had apparently managed to slip past the sentry who had become something of an unseen nemesis to her.
Nevertheless, even with it appearing that security at Kumo was slipping, Lisa still would have needed to intercept the message. Primarily, as when she had first put her plan into motion, it had been far from certain that either Nano or Yuyu would have received a visitor’s permit. Thus, her plan had required that she know which day Natsu intended to enter Kumo. As her original plan, assuming she would lack having a visa herself, she had intended to provide him a fake one, which she had hoped would spark a similar confrontation as had taken place earlier, and would allow her to enter the village in the confusion.
Naturally, this would have been a far from ideal means of entering as without an authentic visa, she would likely find herself unable to use any of the village’s amenities. Or at the very least, using a counterfeit one, would be rolling the dice each time she produced it, possibly leading to her discovery.
Fortunately, Nano had come through, but rather than abandoning her first plan completely. She had decided to combine the two. As despite how much work Nano had put into crafting her identity, some part of Lisa couldn’t shake the feeling that she might be walking into a trap. Especially, seeing as how someone as unsophisticated as Natsu formerly of Iwa had seemed to be able to secure a visa. This led Lisa to suspect, that perhaps she was walking into some sort of operation where those seeking to infiltrate the village were being allowed to enter, with the intention of capturing them to prevent them from enacting any plots during the exam, and potentially embarrassing Kumo. Thus, while using the visa that Nano had procured, she had timed her arrival to coincide with Natsu’s and much as her first plan had required, used him as a means to infiltrate the village. Although, this time he would serve as more of a canary in a mine, then as a means of brute forcing her way into the village.
Yet, as Lisa had stood in line one spot behind Natsu while waiting to approach one of the many stalls built across the gateway in order to present her visa, she had begun to believe that both visas were indeed legit. A conclusion that she had reached as it was clear that what security was in place at the gate, was not exactly expecting any issues. Which although this didn’t necessarily mean there wasn’t an unseen team in place that would tail them in order that they could take them down away from civilians, Lisa hadn’t felt as if either of them was garnering any additional scrutiny.
That was at least until Natsu had moved up to the front of the line. She wasn’t entirely sure what set the shinobi acting as security in motion, but as Natsu had approached a stall that had opened up, she had noticed one of the Kumo-nin within her view react to something. Likely some hand sign given by one of the other shinobi on duty. Despite her previous concerns, Lisa didn’t panic since if she was reading the situation correctly, what had set security in motion as unlikely as it seemed, had been someone recognizing Natsu as he had stepped to the front of the line. After the woman before her approached another of the stalls, Lisa moved to the front and tried to discreetly search the square to see if anyone reacted to her in a similar manner.
Her eyes briefly met with a blonde woman sitting at a café, but her eyes didn’t linger as they instead moved to her dark-skinned companion. Another of the stalls opened up, so Lisa quickly moved toward it as she discreetly shifted her gaze to the blonde’s companion. A woman, who despite her own attempts to remain discreet, was clearly concerned with Natsu’s entry into the village as he passed through the stall.
Lisa turned her attention away from the brewing confrontation as she instead focused solely on gaining entry to the village herself. Calmly giving the answers that the man working the stall asked regarding the nature of her visit. After which he gave her visa a cursory looking over before handing it back. She then stepped into Kumo without paying any further heed to Natus once it became clear that most of the security present was reacting to his entry.
As such, while being sure to keep her distance, she feigned a similar response of shock, along with most of the crowd when Natsu triggered his staff to explode, and allowed herself to be swept up in the fleeing crowd as it ran from the confrontation which it signaled. However, as she ran, she suddenly had a sense that she hadn’t entirely escaped someone’s notice as she felt a sudden focus on her, which had been followed by a surge of chakra that had caused her to tingle. She forced herself not to react outright as she continued to run with the crowd, but she kept her guard up expecting some jutsu to suddenly launch in her direction from one of the nearby buildings. However, an attack never materialized although she did notice what appeared to be white smoke leaking out of a second story window. Although unsure what it signified, she waited until the building was out of sight, before slipping away from the crowd so she could make sure that she wasn’t being followed.
She frowned, as while she searched her surroundings from the alley that she had ducked into, she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was indeed some phantom presence nearby, but catching no sign of a tail, she resolved to continue on with her mission. Still, she had taken a rather windy path towards the hotel that Nano had booked for her, and although she couldn’t shake the phantom presence, she began to concluded it was perhaps her own paranoia playing tricks on her.
A feeling that as Lisa finished undressing in front of her room’s window, she was coming to accept as accurate since she felt the phantom presence even now, even while there appeared to be no outward reaction to her basically standing naked for all to see as the window of her room didn’t appear to be one directional. She let herself relax as she closed the blinds, and headed to take a shower as she decided to take in Kumo’s nightlife while also scouting out a few locations that she suspected the man that she was tasked with locating would be. With that man being the Thirteen Shinigami Division’s greatest traitor, Sosuke Aizen who had disappeared nearly a century before, and had only recently reappeared as a part of the Raikage’s party during the Battle of Amegakure.
She wasn’t sure what had caused him to come out from whatever rock he had been hiding beneath for the past century. Although, rumors had circulated shortly before the outbreak of the Second Shinobi War that he had taken refuge among one of the shinobi villages. Rumors, that had been acted on, and had resulted in members of the Thirteen Shinigami Division entering into the service of the village that had been considered the most likely. While it had quickly become apparent that the information they had acted upon was incorrect, they had remained in place figuring that with the outbreak of war, whichever village had accepted Sosuke’s services would eventually make use of them. However, despite the outbreak of two wars since then, there had been no further evidence to suggest that Sosuke was hiding among any of the Hidden villages.
Although admittedly, there had been difficulties in getting any other assets into the remaining Shinobi Villages, at least in a meaningful way. So with that being the case, there had been rumblings that the Shinigami Divisions would be recalling those who had infiltrated Iwagakure. However, for the time being that decision appeared to be on hold, due to some promising weapon development research taking place which could be used to neutralize one of the Shinobi Villages’ Special War Powers. Lisa found it rather ironic that research the Shinobi Villages were undertaking themselves, would in time, potentially be used against them. But, such concerns were truly outside the realm of her own division’s purview. Thus, as she stepped into the shower, and used the water to wash away the grim that she had accumulated from her travels, she let the matter drop in order to focus on the one that she had been assigned.
*******
Ino caught sight of their target as she stepped out of the elevator and walked pass the bar in the hotel’s lobby where she, Mabui, and Yor had adjourned after hitting up a few of the higher-end shops that they had visited. She was wearing an amused smile as a result of Yor’s face, which was beet red, despite the wine that she had ordered having remained untouched and was due to Mabui describing just how she planned to put the lingerie that she had purchased to use later. She found it amusing how the dark-haired woman was both titillated and mortified at the same time, as evidenced by her holding her hands in front of her mouth as if unable to fully believe the calm, and seemingly demure woman that she had so briefly worked with could be so daring.
“…then just as both of their desires for me appear to be reaching their peaks from the striptease, I’ll drop down to…” Mabui said, her words having the opposite effect on her as their new companion as they caused her pussy to tingle while she pictured the dark-skinned woman acting out the event that she was describing.
“No, no more, I shouldn’t have asked what you wanted such fancy underwear for,” Yor said hurriedly grabbing her glass and downing the contents. Standing abruptly, she added, “Oh would you look at the time. I really should get home. Thank you for the lovely evening.” She left a small pause linger before shyly saying, “If it isn’t too much of a bother… maybe we could meet up again.”
“Of course,” Mabui said giving her a pleasant smile, “I’m sure we can arrange for another meetup before too long. Perhaps, I’ll bring Kakami and Meiko along.”
The color quickly returned to Yor’s face, which wasn’t too surprising considering Mabui making it clear how she planned to spend the rest of the evening, although sadly the person who would be filling the Kakami Takayama role wouldn’t be present due to Naruto’s participation in the exams. Still as she would be filling in for the Meiko role later, she knew even though the weather of Kumo was getting colder, it would be extremely hot where she was.
However, despite some reservations popping up due to Mabui’s giving her just a glimpse of how she spent her nights. It was rather easy to see that Yor appeared to be extremely pleased that Mabui was open to meeting with her again, so she gave a short bow before excusing herself.
Mabui waited until Yor had left the hotel before shifting seats to sit in the chair Yor had been using, and then began discreetly checking underneath the table to insure that she hadn’t left behind any listening devices or seals. Although already confident that she wouldn’t find anything due to the impromptu manner of their meeting. She was still rather pleased upon finding nothing, since she was hoping that given time, she had found the woman could replace her as the eyes and ears withing the Raikage’s office. But even as she considered the possibility, she admitted there were still a few red flags that she needed to check into before she could ever truly make the necessary introductions.
Particularly as Ino said, “She’s a rather interesting character.”
Nodding in agreement, Mabui stated, “I thought you might say that. She can be quite awkward around people, but she’s quite the competent worker.”
Shaking her head slightly, Ino quickly replied, “That’s not what I mean. Back when I had possessed that terrorist, and she moved to attack. I’m not entirely sure the killing intent that she was giving off was directed solely in my direction.”
Mabui frowned, but suggested, “Well, I was moving to defend you. Perhaps she considered me to be the bigger threat in that moment.”
Ino wasn’t convinced as she countered, “I don’t know. She claims that she was following you all day because she was unsure how to approach you. Considering how she just took off, I can believe she’s a bit awkward around people. But to be honest, when she asked you what you were doing after you prevented her attack from landing, it looked to me as if she was searching for a reason to attack you. That isn’t exactly the demeanor that I’d expect from someone who wanted to be friends to possess towards the person they wished to befriend.”
Mabui considered Ino’s words as she replayed the events from earlier in her mind, and although she could see where the blonde was coming from. She refused to draw any conclusions at the moment, which she relayed to her fellow harem member by stating, “To be fair, the situation would be rather confusing to an outsider. I mean, what were the odds that a Yamanaka would be present, so her seeing me rushing to intercept her attack would naturally lead her to draw some kind of conclusion that we may have been working together.”
Ino wore her skepticism openly as she countered, “Even if you were the one that raised the alarm about his breeching your village’s security?”
Despite considering Ino’s point to be rather fair, she was still inclined to give her fellow Kumo-nin the benefit of the doubt as she replied, “A fair point, but we are still assuming she witnessed that. I acted in the manner I did to avoid raising suspicions. But don’t worry, I’m not planning to drop my guard around her anytime soon. Still, I’ll admit that out of all my replacements I felt the closest amount of kinship to her though, which is why I’m hoping she might serve as my replacement.”
“Oh,” Ino said giving her an amused smile as she added, “and here I thought it was because you wanted to see the face that she would make as she comes on our lover’s cock.”
Mabui’s smirked as she picked up her drink and took a sip before saying, “Well, there is that.” However, turning more somber she continued, “But, truthfully unlike many of those who find themselves in the bureaucratic field within Kumo, she wasn’t a kunoichi with family connections that allowed her to attend the Shujin Academy. She lost both her parents during the Third Shinobi War, so graduated from the Kumo Shinobi Academy early and worked her butt off taking missions in order to take care of her younger brother. It was only after she was able to get him into Shujin Academy that she moved into office work.”
“So, you’re saying that you see a bit of your own situation in her,” Ino stated with a soft smile.
Mabui nodded, mirroring the smile the blonde kunoichi wore as she said, “Yes, my father died during the Third Shinobi War leaving my mother to raise me. But, it was a real struggle. So, you could say I followed a similar career path. However, while I worked hard, I found my own means of advancement from the Shinobi Forces blocked in favor of those with the proper connections. However, fortunately for me, I was able to master the Heavenly Transfer Technique and so was handpicked by the Raikage for the position of his assistant.”
“At which point, I’m assuming you tore down a few of the hurdles that had blocked your own ascension to your previous lofty position,” Ino said with a smirk.
Mabui nodded, with an air of satisfaction as she said, “Indeed, which I hope in some small way help contributed to Yor’s own ability to eventually rise up to become one of my replacements.” Turning the topic away from herself, she asked, “But enough about me, how are you holding up?”
Ino was caught a little off guard by the sudden change in the topic so asked, “What do you mean?”
“Earlier, I noticed that you were struggling to maintain your control over the terrorist,” Mabui said clearly concerned. “Nothing in his file suggested that he possessed a particularly strong will. Which begs the question of whether or not you are okay?”
Ino shook her head in disbelief as she deflected by saying, “You really remember everything his file contained, and well enough that you could pick him out of a line while he was disguised.”
Mabui nodded before stating, “To be fair, his disguise wasn’t the most creative that I’ve ever seen, but I do have an eidetic memory, which is what helped to make me so good at my former profession. Particularly regarding the screening of those to whom we provided with visitation permits. But, that isn’t what matters right now.”
Ino nodded, before admitting, “To be honest, I’m not entirely sure because as far as my abilities go, we’re operating in some undocumented territory.”
Mabui’s eyes reflected her concern, and some guilt at her requesting being the cause which prompted her to say, “If my request was putting such a burden on you, then you should have said so.”
“And I would have, if I had known,” Ino replied in a calming manner. “To be honest, I’m not too concerned. As it is entirely possible that my earlier issue with maintaining my hold over that guy was due to my creating several shadow clones to cover the courtyard so our target didn’t slip pass us. Especially since I needed to place them in locations where they could activate the Mind Body Switching technique with attracting anyone’s attention. So, my earlier issue was entirely likely due to my having spread myself a little too thin.”
Mabui did appear to be somewhat relieved by the Blonde’s explanation, “Are you sure? What did you mean by being in undocumented territory?”
“Pretty much just that,” Ino stated with a smile, “When it comes to my Clan’s jutsu, we pretty much stick to techniques that we have long since mastered. But, after the Second Hokage developed the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and the Yamanaka joined Konoha, there was some experimenting with it. But the clan quickly decided that they weren’t too useful when combined.”
“Why is that?” Mabui asked intrigued causing her to lean in.
Ino paused to take a drink of the chocolate martini that she had ordered before answering, “From my research, the main thought behind combining the two jutsu was that it would hopefully eliminate the primary weaknesses of the mind body switching technique. Namely, that if it misses it takes several minutes for our spirit to return to our body, and even if it successfully lands, our body is laying around being an easy target.”
Although Mabui was already aware of these weaknesses, since the Kumogakure academy had drilled into its students’ various countermeasures to take whenever they noticed a Yamanaka taking their famous stance. It did display to her the enormous amount of trust that Ino had in her fellow Family members, no matter their place of origin. Returning her focus back to Ino’s explanation, she listened in rapt attention as she continued, “But, it was quickly determined that it wouldn’t, and so any further research into them was abandoned.”
Mabui nodded, but asked, “So, what caused you to look further into this…”
“Mind Shadow Possession Technique,” Ino supplied the name of her new jutsu causing Mabui to nod.
Sounding proud, Ino replied, “In hindsight, the reason combining the jutsu to counteract the weakness of the Mind Body Switching Technique was destined to fail is because it practically requires one send their entire spirit into the target to control it. This is why we collapse upon usage of it in the first place.” Grabbing one of the breadsticks that resided at the center of the table, she said, “So, assuming this breadstick is our spirit, well upon using the shadow clone jutsu, it immediately splits, depending on the number of clones that are created.” She snapped it into four pieces, indicating how she had created three clones earlier to set her trap for the infiltrator from the Land of Iron before explaining, “So, with that being the case, it stands to reason that even if one of these clones managed to succeed in landing the jutsu it would lack the power to take over control. However, in this case, you didn’t need me to assume control as you are merely curious as to why the Land of Iron was suddenly interested in infiltrating Kumo following what happened in Ame.”
Mabui nodded, but found herself curious about another detail of the jutsu asked, “I was always under the impression that the Shadow Clone Jutsu just split a person’s chakra. But are you saying, it also splits one’s soul. Isn’t that rather dangerous.”
Ino inclined her head, before responding, “I probably would have said yes, before I investigated developing this jutsu for use here. As when we are young, and first learning the technique, to calm those afraid of missing with the technique, they are told that our spirits and bodies are linked by a chain, and so long as their body remains unharmed one’s spirit will inevitably follow the chain back. Yet considering how when using a shadow clone to use the jutsu, the clone immediately dissipates it would seem to indicate that there is no chain for that portion of the spirit to use to return.” Ino noticed that Mabui looked alarmed by her statement, so quickly said, “However, Karin was conducting some research on some of the White Zetsu, and she determined that they also appear to split the souls giving them consciousness upon using their spore cloning method. However, these clones are rather short lived, with only one eventually remaining. She believes that as the various clones are killed, that nearby ones absorb the soul over time with whichever one receives the most portions exerting greater and greater pull on the remaining pieces.”
“I understand,” Mabui said as her concern that Ino had endangered her soul on her behalf lessoned, “So that research gave you the confidence the jutsu was not dangerous to use.” Receiving a nod as an answer, she asked, “But, what made you believe it would be useful for helping us uncover what it is that suddenly has Iron so interested in Kumo?”
“Two things really,” Ino said snatching up a piece of the breadstick and popped it into her mouth before continuing, “First, when our body is killed while using the jutsu the spirit quickly fades away. Although, there are some folktales of some poor Yamanaka becoming powerful evil spirits that devour the souls of others to sustain themselves. But, legends aside, what the Fourth did with Kushina’s soul did demonstrate that it is possible to sustain a spirit by using the chakra of another living being. That is essentially what that portion of mine will be doing while it remains dormant within our visitor from Iron.”
Mabui nodded, since Naruto had been able to sustain Kushina’s spirt for over sixteen years, didn’t bother questioning if it could potentially harm the woman. But she did ask, “And the second?”
“Naruto’s own early experiments with his K clones,” Ino stated, but seeing Mabui’s confusion expanded her explanation, “Particularly, when that one clone he created that called itself D was murdered.”
Mabui wasn’t entirely sure what inspiration Ino would have taken from the event she mentioned, although she was aware of the incident, particularly as she suspected that it played a big part as to why Naruto refrained from creating such long term clones. Since he made sure to routinely dispel even the Menma clone every week or so before replacing it with another. Although, the reason that he gave was so that he could remain aware of developments happening regarding the brewing conflict between the Black Fox Gang and its many rivals. She also believed it was because the incident had left him with feelings for a woman, who from his perspective had succeeded in killing him.
Yet, upon recalling how he had first begun receiving those memories she was hit with a flash of insight as she said, “Ah, I see. You believe that over time you’ll begin receiving the memories from this latched-on spirit.”
“More than believe,” Ino replied with an amused smirk, “I couldn’t just put my faith in an untried jutsu. Not just in assuming how it worked, but also trusting that I’d be able to hit my target. So, I put it through the proper testing using my fellow Konoha-nin, mostly by trying to hit them without their being aware. Although, considering today’s events, I probably should have added a stress test to see how long I would have needed to recover before trying to use my jutsu again after splitting my chakra so much.” Receiving a grave nod in reply, Ino lightened the mood as she said, “Needless to say, it has given me some insight into what pervs some of us kunoichi have become. Do you know that Sakura’s taken to leaving her cum filled panties on top of the laundry pile hoping her mother will find them, and use them to pleasure herself.”
“A trick that I believe she picked up from you,” Mabui said as she sat back in her chair adding, “Back when you were tempting a certain red-head into becoming one of us.”
Ino blushed having not drawn the same parallel, but responded in amusement as she said, “Yeah, but I already knew about how big of one I had become.”
This caused Mabui to laugh out loud causing a few people to stare in their direction. She noticed a few of the gaze’s flash in recognition, no doubt due to her own unique relationship status had quickly spread among the upper society of Kumo. Seeing more than one of those gazes belonged to those who no doubt considered her to be one as well, she found that their judgmental stares didn’t phase her as she only wished that she could openly proclaim just how strange and wonderful her relationship was, as well as how happy it made her. She pictured herself one day doing so while sitting opposite a different blond, who regardless of the other patrons would whip his cock out and ask her to service him. Not even bother trying to hide under the table, she pictured herself crawling out of the chair to kneel before him as she eagerly licked his cock like it was the tastiest thing that she had ever put her tongue to, while aware that she’d be the envy of every woman in the room.
However, before receiving her creamy reward in her fantasy, Ino pulled her back to reality as perhaps sensing not only the gazes, but where her mind had been at said, “Now, how about rather than fantasizing about a blond who isn’t here. We go up to that fancy room you booked for me, and bring the one you were describing to Yor into being.”
Mabui gave Ino a sultry smile as she pictured herself kneeling before the naked blonde kunoichi in the penthouse that she had booked for her, while wearing the lingerie which she had just purchased, and rewarding her for the help that she was providing in uncovering Iron’s interest in her home. “With pleasure,” she stated before indicating to the bartender to put their drinks on the tab that she had opened with the hotel.
The pair stood and gathered their bags, before heading to the elevator in the lobby at which point Ino stated, “I do have one or two questions remaining regarding the other woman staying here.”
“Oh,” Mabui said, rather glad for the distraction as otherwise she felt she might make what they were going off to do more apparent. “What would those be?”
“Well for starters,” Ino said, while also fighting the temptation to begin making out with her companion, “She was a close enough match to the woman whose picture you showed me that I didn’t really question it was her, but I don’t think she was the same one who the identity belonged to.”
Mabui nodded, as she pushed the button for the same elevator that their target had exited earlier. With no one else waiting nearby to enter she said, “That is because I do not believe they were.” She could tell Ino was perhaps concerned that meant the woman in the picture had been harmed, so assuring her that wasn’t the case, she explained, “Rumor has it that the Samurai of Iron are unable to henge themselves. They see it as being beneath them or dishonorable.”
“Not to mention, it would be the first thing someone looks for in someone trying to infiltrate a village,” Ino added.
Mabui nodded in agreement as the elevator doors opened, and paused their conversation while the people within stepped out. Once alone again, after they had entered and the doors had closed, Mabui continued despite there being a camera present behind them since it didn’t have a microphone, “What had first alerted me to Iron’s sudden interest towards getting eyes into Kumo had been a sudden surge in petitions for visitation visas. Yet, just before this surge I had received a request from the woman who infiltrated today. I had rejected it, since it carried all the hallmarks of having been created by whatever organization is tasked with gathering intelligence in Iron.”
Ino nodded in understanding since her father often worked with the Konoha’s own Intelligence Division, and so had picked up enough information from osmosis to guess at what her companion meant. Namely, that each shinobi village or in this case Samurai Country, had a guidebook that they drew from when forging documents. Which, once you were savvy to made picking them out, if not child play, since the goal was to make the documents match as closely as possible. At least let one guess which were legit, or not. Often, with it not even being the documents in and of themselves which exposed the attempted deception. But the backstories or travel patterns being given to the false identities serving as the key factors one looked for. Guessing that had been the case for Mabui, and using the detail regarding the woman’s appearance Ino stated, “At which point, shortly after, you began receiving a barrage of such requests all from women who looked remarkably similar.”
Giving Ino an impressed nod, Mabui explained, “Yes, my guess is that she was hoping to flood the system expecting one or two would get through. Not aware that ultimately all the requests were coming across the same desk.” Mabui paused in her explanation to look at what number the elevator was currently at, and finding only they were only in the single digits still regretted booking Ino a suite on the sixty-ninth floor. Continuing she said, “Unfortunately, even though I ultimately signed off on them, and despite my curiosity on the matter, with my track record, I couldn’t just let one get by me without arousing some suspicion. That was why when the Raikage made is ultimatum to me about cutting ties with Kiyomi’s company I decide to put this plan into action. I hoped that in the confusion my sudden deciding to quit raised, it would help to explain how we were suddenly infiltrated without causing too much blowback for my replacements. Hence why I ultimately decided to allow the identity, the woman in the picture must have created to slip through. She was far more diligent in establishing it, and made sure to avoid using any of the routes Iron typically did in establishing identities which would be red flags” Mabui smirked in amusement as she added, “There was a second one that wasn’t quite as well established since it was clearly generated using Iron’s typical assets, but the woman pictured stood out. due to her being extremely tanned and caked in makeup that I imagined most people would find it difficult to believe that she was a spy.”
Ino tried to picture the woman that Mabui was describing, but quickly gave up in favor of asking, “Why not bring it to the Raikage’s attention?” As Mabui’s explanation caused the new question to spring up in her mind.
Mabui frowned due to the negativity that she now felt towards the man that she had once so admired, “Because I couldn’t be sure that he wouldn’t lie to me.” Anticipating Ino’s next question she explained, “Due to the timing, I suspect that what triggered this sudden interest was the Battle of Amegakure. But, what about the event would cause Iron to become interested in Kumo in particular. Granted, I couldn’t be sure this was the case, especially considering how lacking Konoha’s security is towards visitors, as all Iron would need to do is walk through your gate. But, I checked with Sen and Temari to see if they might have been aware of any pickup in Iron’s interest in slipping into their village, and while Suna’s security measures regarding visitors are certainly a step up from Konoha. It is primarily centered around stopping people at the gate. So, unless they caught them literally in the act of trying to infiltrate, it doesn’t really point to where they came from.”
Ino ignored the dig towards her village’s security, since she would rather live in a place open to visitors then one that treated even its own citizens as prisoners, in favor of saying, “Still, even if they were interested in all our villages equally, it doesn’t necessarily exclude the idea of what happened in Amegakure being the trigger.”
“No it doesn’t,” Mabui stated, “Although, if they had been I would find that to be something of a relief.”
“Why?” Ino asked confused.
“Mainly as Iron tends to keep to itself,” Mabui explained, “So, if it decided to begin investigating all the shinobi villages following what happed in Amgakure. I could probably write it off as being a kind of wellness check of sorts. With their attempts being to try and gage, the likelihood of another Shinobi War breaking out and who the principal players might be. After all, the one time they ended their impartiality was during the Second Shinobi War once it looked like nobody was going to be able to truly stop Hanzo the Salamander from making Amegakure into a True Shinobi Nation.”
Ino nodded recalling some of the lessons that Iruka had imparted about the war, especially the role that Hanzo had played in giving the Sannin their title. Which they had only achieved by being one of the few shinobi to ever stand against him and live. In that war which had lasted for over a decade. It had been towards the end, where after Amegakure had waited until the other shinobi villages had battered themselves to a pulp for nearly ten years. All the while he had kept his own shinobi from ever truly engaging, often resulting in harm coming to the populace of his country since nobody was trying to stop the major shinobi villages from using their lands as a battleground. All so that after the various villages had bloodied themselves sufficiently, Hanzo could then launch his campaign and begin trying to conquer territory in the Lands of Fire, Earth and Wind.
Naturally, with almost entirely fresh troops that he had spent nearly a decade training in secret, Hanzo had made immediate strides in his war of conquest cutting deep sways into Earth and Wind. He had also managed to conquer the entirety of the Land of Stone. On the other hand, he had made a pact with the Land of Grass to leave them alone, so long as they helped to secure his northern Border. Only the Land of Fire had succeeded to stop him just inside the border of Amegakure due to the efforts of the aforementioned and newly labelled Sannin.
At least until Iron’s Samurai had entered into the war as Allies of the Land of Earth. How the Earth Daimyo had secured their allegiance still remains a mystery. Particularly since the primary belief of the time had been that Iron harbored an animosity towards the Daimyo of the Five Great Elemental Countries for their sudden backing of the Shinobi Village System. As many of the Samurai, who would eventually move to and form the country of Iron had been nobles within those same countries, that with the shinobi system now in place found themselves effectively rendered moot. Mainly as the Samurai of the past had been nobles tasked with the protection of their lords land, often from the very mercenary shinobi those lords had now allied with, this meant they effectively served no purpose. Granted, they had still been considered nobles, but for many it had been the warrior tradition itself which had granted them that title. Not necessarily the lands that they had held in stewardship for their masters.
For a time, it looked like a civil war would erupt across the various countries following the Fire Daimyo’s announcement that he was allowing the Uchiha and Senju to found the Village of Konoha. This event, along with the scrambling of the other countries to find Shinobi Village of their own only increased the dissatisfaction of these more militant nobles, at least until the conclusion of the First Elemental Council. What exactly was discussed there, the shinobi of the time were not made privy to. But, one of the things that had resulted from it was the founding of the Land of Iron, where these more militant Samurai could remain true to what they believed to be the proper path. Still, there were a few who refused to leave, many who then found themselves put down by the Daimyo’s new enforcers of their will, the Shinobi. It was from these scattered failed rebellions, that many believe the group known as the One King Movement sprung up from. An irony Ino supposed considering that the modern backers of it tended to be shinobi.
Still regardless of how the Earth Daimyo had managed to get the Samurai of Iron to join in the defense of his nation, it had worked as for the remaining four years of the war, they had steadily pushed Hanzo back. This in conjunction with the Shinobi of Suna and Konoha, while not exactly working together, had stayed out of each other’s way while they also pushed Amegakure forces back into their own lands. Jiraiya had also played a huge part, as he was a one man guerilla army who had remained behind enemy lines to wreak havoc and hamper Amegekure’s ability to support its shinobi at the various fronts. Of course, this had also been the period of time that he had trained Konan, and her friends who would eventually form the first incarnation of Akatsuki. Eventually though, Hanzou had been contained, at which point the Daimyo of Five Great Elemental Countries had called for an immediate cessation to the war.
With this sudden end of the war, being a reason so many of the lesser countries on the continent bore their own animus towards the Five Major ones. Since it had been only after the war had spilled into their countries that they had agreed to end it once their borders had been returned to their pre-war boundaries. This sudden end is what gave rise to the One King Movement’s opposite number, the Eternal Sunrise who instead of revering the Daimyo blame them as being the cause for the majority of the Shinobi Wars due to their interfering before anything could be truly settled.
Ending the history lesson running through her head, Ino asked, “There isn’t anything to say one way or another that this isn’t exactly what their interest is though, is there?”
Mabui wishing that she felt that was the case, responded, “I would say their persistence in getting someone into Kumo does.” She looked towards her fellow harem member out of the corner of her eye, and seeing that Ino wasn’t exactly following her reasoning she explained, “If this was just Iron trying to gage the political temperature. The fact that they could more easily get spies into the other villages, to see if they were entering a war time mentality should serve such a cause well enough. If you can get people into Suna and Konoha, and it appears they are prepping for some major conflict. It should be easy enough to extrapolate that Kumo is doing likewise.”
“True enough,” Ino stated, before countering, “Although, that doesn’t necessarily mean you can rule out one village acting on its own. Especially considering how your home, while not outwardly preparing for a war, it is clearly signaling to the populace that the alliance is most likely coming to an end.”
Mabui nodded sadly, before responding, “You do have a point. But, then why not wait until after the Final Round of the Exams. It would be one of the few times where getting someone into the village would be relatively easy. Since then, they would just need to get their hands on some tickets, and try their luck at keeping a low profile. Granted, their odds would still be low, since the days following the exams, strangers are regularly prompted to present their papers. But, if just getting eyes in the village were their goal it should suit their purpose.”
Ino nodded seeing her fellow Family member’s point, so said, “Then you must have some idea as to what they are after.”
“I wouldn’t go so far as to claim that,” Mabui responded after a moment, “Less of an idea, and more like maybe it will help me to determine what questions to even begin asking.”
“I’m lost,” Ino said, “You don’t even know what questions to ask, but are afraid the Raikage would lie even if you did.”
Hearing Ino’s exasperation caused Mabui to smile as she stated, “Well, considering all that I’ve learned since joining our Family, can you blame me?”
“I can’t,” Ino admitted, considering the number of truths Mabui had been exposed to regarding the leader of Kumo’s true character. “Can you at least give me a hint as to what you’re hoping to find?” Ino asked, “I’ll be able to track where our guest goes while I’m in the village. But, I’ll need to enter a mediative state in order to receive a few flashes of what the shadow me is seeing. So, having some clue as to what you are hoping to learn may help me piece them together, since I will not receive all the memories it possesses until it ends the jutsu.”
“How will it do that?” Mabui asked, “I thought you said it lacks the strength to fully take possession of the body.”
“That it does,” Ino stated, before adding, “At least while they are alert and awake. But, it’ll be able to exert enough control to end the jutsu when she is sleeping or if she is caught and rendered unconscious.”
“Good,” Mabui stated since she was no longer in a position where she would be alerted should the latter happen, especially once Ino returned to Konoha. Addressing the kunoichi’s desire for insight into what she was hoping to discover, Mabui said, “Well, assuming Iron’s interest lay solely in Kumogakure, and it is tied directly to what happened in Amegakure. Then there are a few possibilities that I’ve considered as to what they are interested in. The first, is that they have some insight into what prompted the Raikage to change his mind, about attending the ceremony in the first place. Tsunade has made no bones about her belief that the Raikage received advanced warning about the attack. Especially, since reversed his decision after receiving a summons to the Daimiyo’s court in the capital. It could be they have some interest in who this source is, especially since The Land of Crows is a member state of the Three Blade Alliance. Considering the overall distaste Samurai have for shinobi, Iron cannot be pleased at Crow allowing Sasuke to establish a village within their borders. So perhaps they are hoping to learn who tipped the Raikage off, and want to use them as a potential source of information regarding the shinobi now operating within their own alliance.”
“Okay,” Ino said absorbing the information, “So, if this woman spends a lot of time hanging about Kumo’s administration building it might lend some weight to this being a possible reason they wanted entry into the village.” But, after a moment she said, “Still, wouldn’t it be easier to send agents to Lightning’s Capital since that is where the Raikage was summoned.”
Mabui gave her shoulders a slight shrug before responding, “There’s nothing to suggest that they haven’t. Also, there isn’t anything to suggest that the Raikage would have met any such agent there. The summons could have just been a ruse, and the actual meeting may have taken place along the route they took.” Seeing that Ino was processing the information that she had just been given, Mabui decided to help her along by giving her the conclusion that she was sure the blonde kunoichi was quickly arriving too, “I’m aware that this is probably the least likely reason for a spy to be sent here, or why Iron would be so insistent about it. There is no evidence to suggest that the Raikage has previously benefited from information this source has. Nor, that it is even particularly well placed within Sasuke’s village. It could very well be likely, that the Daimyo’s own intelligence operations had uncovered rumors of the attack, and provided them to the Raikage, who altered his stance on attending to take advantage.”
Ino having been about to state as much, nodded in agreement, but added, “Or, it is possible that Sasuke had the information leaked to him deliberately, anticipating that the Raikage would act in the manner that he did.” Mabui’s face reflected the surprise she felt from Ino’s suggestion for a possible source of the information that had changed the Raikage’s mind. She found herself hoping it wasn’t the case for a moment, as while it ultimately didn’t change much in terms of how the Raikage behaved. It bothered her that someone like Sasuke may have a better read on her leader’s true character, more then she did despite having worked with him directly for years. Despite seeing her observation had negatively affected Mabui, she decided to press on so asked, “If that is the least likely reason that they would expend so much effort in infiltrating the village. What would you say is the most likely?”
“I guess if the reason didn’t lay in why the Raikage suddenly changed his mind,” Mabui said after giving Ino’s question some further consideration, “Then it would have to be due to one of the people who accompanied him to Ame. That being either the commander of Kumo’s Anbu Kaname Tosen or the head of our Medical Department Sosuke Aizen. I suppose it could also be any of the individuals, who entered after the battle began and have since gone missing. But, personally I would probably lean towards it being Sosuke Aizen to be honest.”
Ino inclined her head as she absorbed the information, and tried to picture the group of Kumo-nin that had gone missing following the battle. Sadly, she wasn’t that familiar with the details of their involvement in the battle so couldn’t recall much about them outside of their being a collection of Anbu and Jounin.
But, she let the matter drop, since upon hearing the distrust in Mabui’s voice as she mentioned the head of Kumo’s Medical Departement prompted Ino to ask, “Why?”
“To be honest,” Mabui said not exactly sure where the unease that she was experiencing was coming from, “I cannot really explain it. It’s more of a gut feeling I suppose. In fact, considering his being the head of our entire medical program, he tends to keep to himself. I’ve personally only ever had a handful of encounters with him over the years. Typically, any dealings the Raikage had with him were conducted at the hospital and he is rarely ever found outside of it. I’m actually surprised the Raikage decided to bring him along to Amegakure. But it was probably due to his knowing Yugito was going to resist being brought back so wanted the village’s best medic on hand to keep her alive until the two-tails could be extracted.” As she spoke, and sounded out her reasoning aloud Mabui became more convinced that she was onto something, so continued, “Tosen being the head of our Anbu division, often can be found in the Raikage’s party especially when visiting other countries. So, with Aizen’s presence during the battle being rather unique, perhaps there is something about him which sparked Iron’s interest.”
Ino nodded in agreement, and added, “Especially since if he is the head of your medical department, it is rather hard to imagine that he wouldn’t also be involved in some of the experiments that we know your village has been conducting. If he is involved, the guy sounds like he’s as much of a snake as Orochimaru ever was. What more can you tell me about him?”
Mabui’s face reflected the shame that she felt from the knowledge that the Raikage was allowing members of his village to be experimented on, seemingly without their notice or permission. She frowned though as she tried to give Ino more details about the man, but found it rather difficult as despite possessing such an important position, as she had just mentioned, she had rarely interacted with him. As such she informed the Yamanaka, “Nothing really comes to mind. As far back as I can recall, he’s always been in charge of our medical program. A position that he seemed to inherit from his father, for whom he was also named.” Mabui tried to recall what made her feel that was the case, and found herself standing in the hallway of the hospital leading up to the Medical Director’s office. Along the wall, were various pictures of the administrative staff going back to the village’s founding. She recalled having walked the hallway shortly after ascending to her position as the Raikage’s assistant during one of the few times that she had visited the man running the hospital without the Raikage, and noticed that as she drew closer to his door, that many of the older staff seemed to get younger while Sosuke would seem to remain the same in many of them. Although, on reflection she recalled there would be various subtle differences in each, such as his brown hair which starting at what had been the closest to the current year, had been rather shaggy. However, after going back about twenty-five years or so judging by the number of pictures, the kind looking man who wore glasses had been replaced with a colder looking one, minus the glasses, and had kept his hair slicked back. The stark difference in how the two men had carried themselves had led Mabui, and she assumed most others to draw the conclusion that the harsher looking one must have been Sosuke’s father. Although looking back on it, when the current Sosuke had ascended to his position, he looked to be roughly the same age as the man that he had replaced. Moreover, the current Sosuke’s eyes also appeared to be less sharp, and lacked the coldness of the one that she assumed to have been his father.
Of course, at the time Mabui hadn’t really though much of it, after all the idea that someone wouldn’t age had simply not occurred to her. But, finding herself to be effectively immortal due to her relationship with Naruto, it suddenly made her suspect that rather than their current head of the medicine being a position that he had inherited from his father, it stood to reason that it may very well be that the same man may have held it for the past century. At first Mabui wanted to dismiss the idea, as she found it hard to believe that nobody within the village would notice. After all, among the many concerns that the Family to which she now belonged had, was how they would one day need to extract themselves from society due to their no longer aging. She suspected this must have been a concern for Sosuke as well, and suspected that the pictures outside of his office were a subtle manipulation to help prevent people from realizing the truth. After all, she was aware of certain techniques, where a person could even be made to not recognize a loved one, through the use of subtle manipulations using altered pictures or other items which they would be given via mail correspondence, or even over a period of time the pictures in their place of residence would be replaced, with the new photo’s having minor changes to their loved ones’ features. So that with the passage of time, a new person would be imprinted on their psyche. She had heard rumors that such dirty tactics had been used to manipulate foreign agents who often spent months, if not years, away from their home into dropping their guard, either into giving up intel to a shinobi who resembled the implanted image or in extreme cases, the shinobi would completely replace the original person the agent had cared for.
With Mabui now believing the photos along the hospital wall leading to Sosuk’e office were subtly priming approaching Kumo-nin to accept the idea that he was just some inheritor of his position, as opposed to an immortal who had held it since Kumo’s founding. This did lead her to reason that this wasn’t a subterfuge that could be maintained without help from certain individuals within the village. After all, how many people truly interacted with such a department head on a regular basis outside of a few key individuals. Leading her to suspect that many of the older staff were either in on the secret, as perhaps there was some important reason to keep such knowledge hidden, or perhaps had been subjected to a genjutsu which made them believe that every couple of decades a new Sosuke Aizen would step in to replace their father, or even grandfather.
Mabui imagined the rabbit hole that she had disappeared down must have shown on her face, as Ino asked, “What is it? You look like you’ve just unlocked some secret of the universe.”
“I might very well have,” Mabui admitted as she began explaining the trip her mind had just taken.
By the time she finished, the doors to the elevator opened leaving Ino to just say, “Wow, and you consider that the most likely reason.”
Stepping from the elevator with her fellow kunoichi Mabui said, “I know it sounds crazy, but you have to admit with everything that we’ve experienced over the past few years, it is not outside the realm of possibility.”
Entering the room that she had booked for Yamanaka, Mabui placed her bags down by the door before closing it behind them. She then moved to the room’s large window to throw open the curtain in order to admire the view of her mountainous homeland. She smiled as Ino stated behind her while heading to the room’s bedroom, “Nope, considering our own situation, it doesn’t sound that crazy after all. I guess we may know soon enough if we’re on the right path should I begin receiving flashes of our spy hanging around the hospital.”
Mabui figured that would indeed be the case, as her mind began working on the problem of figuring out what Iron’s interest in Sosuke could be. She quickly realized that she didn’t possess enough information to even remotely stand much of a chance, especially if she was correct and Sosuke Aizen had indeed been there since Kumo’s founding. But, much as Ino had stated, she guessed that they would know soon enough.
At which point, Mabui’s attention was pulled back to the present as she noticed said blonde’s reflection in the window as she stepped from the bedroom almost completely naked. With the only article of what could be considered clothing being the harness large orange dildo that was protruding from the harness that she wore. Mabui turned towards Ino, and was tempted to close the curtains, since the windows were not one directional as was often the case for buildings found in shinobi villages. This was because the Ivory Tower, having just recently finished being built, stood at seventy stories and thus was the tallest building in Kumo, and it was something of a status symbol to be able to stay there, especially in the upper portion of the tower. With that thought in mind, the architect had decided to forgo privacy windows in order that the guests could show off. Which many of them did, often in the manor Ino appeared to be about to as she approached her.
Still, while Mabui wasn’t too concerned that somebody would witness their scandalous affair, particularly since considering the caliber of the guests the building usually hosted, and who tended to be some of Kumo’s biggest clients, anyone stupid enough to try and blackmail one of them with anything they saw probably were not long for the world. Stil, although Mabui had made sure to book a room facing the mountains, as she hadn’t bothered to book the Yamanaka in using a fake name, she couldn’t say there was a zero percent chance that some ambitious members of the Kumo Intelligence Network or K.I.N might be camping out on the mountains hoping to find some blackmail material which they could use against a Clan Hean of Konoha, especially considering that many within the village suspected that the Alliance would be finished once the Chunin Exams concluded. With this thought in mind, Mabui asked, “Ino, what do you think you are doing? You realize anyone looking in can see you.”
Giving her a seductive smirk, Ino walked towards her confidently, the toy between her legs bobbing with each step as she said, “Then let them watch. I’m in the mood for some sweet chocolate.” Although amused, Mabui turned away to close the blinds, but Ino rushed her to pin her up against the window as she added, “Come on Mabui, even on the outside chance that someone is watching, they aren’t going to be able to do anything about it.” Lifting the front of her shirt and bra in a single motion, Ino caused Mabui to moan as she pressed her forward against the cool glass as she added, “After all, you invited me here to secure a trade deal for some medical herbs my clan grows, and which you fear will be in short supply should the alliance collapse. Surely, you’re willing to do anything that improve your chances of getting a deal done.”
Mabui moaned as Ino began rubbing the copy of the cock that had given both of them so much pleasure against her panty covered mound, reawakening it as their early discussions had distracted her from how horny she felt. Still trying to resist the temptation, Mabui moaned, “I…Ino, half of Kumo…mmm… already thinks I’m a slut because I’m seeing a man who was and still is already tied to another woman. You’d be asking me to shred what little respect that I have left.”
Ino seemed to be especially feeling it as she continued to pump the rubber cock between the dark-skinned kunoichi’s thighs as she said breathlessly, “Who cares what any of those people think. I saw the look in your eyes earlier, you’d happily show your home who this pussy belonged to if the opportunity existed.” Mabui moaned gutturally as Ino lifted the front of her skirt, and slipped her hand into Kumo kunoichi’s panties, “Look how wet you are. If it helps seal the deal, you and Kakami can spit roast me sometime during my stay, while whatever personality Meiko has adopted watches. Just, let me fuck you now.”
Mabui was a bit surprised by the need that she heard in Ino’s voice, even as the image that she painted using the false identity that Naruto had adopted, along with the snow-nin kunoichi who suffered from multiple personalities that his other lovers used when in Kumo, caused her desire to give in to increase. Aware that Ino was using those identities just in case there were any members of KIN listening in, or watching from afar, she decided to give into her growing desires as she said, “Fine, but you need to supply us with some of those Blue Spider Lillies that you’ve been cultivating in your greenhouse.”
“Fuck,” Ino moaned as Mabui squeezed her thighs around the rubber cock she was wearing which sent a pleasant, and unfamiliar tingle up her spine. “Fine, if you can meet our price, and I can only spare a few. They are notoriously hard to cultivate since they only bloom during the day, and only for a few hours at that.”
Mabui smiled, as she nodded before looking over her shoulder to seal the deal with a kiss. Which Ino hungrily accepted as she greedily and aggressively made out with her, while she began humping her thighs. Mabui was a bit surprised, since while the blonde kunoichi could be extremely passionate, she didn’t tend to get this excitable unless Naruto was present. She was about to ask what seemed to be pushing her buttons, yet before she could the Yamanaka said, “Gods, I need to feel your lips around me.”
To punctuate her words, Mabui found herself suddenly spun around, and she was caught a bit off-guard by the hungry look in Ino’s eyes, especially as she pushed on her shoulders indicating that she wanted her to drop down to her knees. Mabui did as the blonde wordless communicated, where she came face to face with the rubber phallus that she wore. Mabui cheeks reddened due to it glistening with the arousal that she had coated it with, showing her undisbutable evidence that Ino wasn’t the only one excited for things to continue. She leaned back, and ran her tongue across the toy, tasting herself on it, and was surprised when Ino let out a deep groan of satisfaction.
Mabui repeated the action, and found herself a bit surprised as she noticed that not only was the toy unusually warm which she had at first attributed to it having been nestled between her thighs, but as she ran her tongue along it, she began to notice what appeared to be seals appearing and glowing wherever she touched it. Reaching up, she began to stroke it causing Ino to let out a moan, as she said, “Yeah, stroke it, that feels so fucking good.”
She continued to study the seals, as they followed her hands while she moved them up and down the rubber shaft, at least until Ino placed a hand on the back of her head, and pulled it towards the toy. Getting the hint, Mabui opened her mouth and began to suck it causing Ino again to let out a deep moan as she called out, “Oh gods, does he get to feel this all the time.”
Mabui realizing that the seals must have been somehow stimulating Ino by conveying her actions into pleasure, began to please the toy in the same manner that she would if it was Naruto that she was kneeling before. A task which became easier as the more that she sucked on it, the warmer it became almost making her believe that it was a real cock that she was pleasuring. Especially as Ino’s moans grew in volume, and prompted her to bury her hands in Mabui’s hair, and begin fucking her mouth.
Ino seemed to become driven to attain release, as she began pumping the phallus that she wore faster and faster while Mabui sucked it for all she was worth. Mabui began to taste something sweet, almost as if Ino was leaking some ejaculate. However, before she exploded in pleasure, she sudden pulled it free of the Kumo kunoichi’s lips, and pulling her up to her feet spun her so that again her tits were once more pressed against the window. Then with almost an animalistic need, she pulled Mabui’s panties to the side, and plunged the cock inside her. Mabui cried out at the sudden intrusion as she raised her hands up and placed them against the glass as Ino began to pound her snatch using the toy.
“You’re so goddamn warm,” Ino moaned as she fondled her own tit with one hand, while she kept the other on Mabui’s hip which she used to pull her back and forth over her cock. “I can feel you squeezing around me.”
Ino wasn’t the only one feeling it as Mabui responded, “Fuck, it getting hotter, it almost feels like he’s fucking me right now.”
“That’s right,” Ino groaned as the seals coating the toy which were heating it, and was transferring the sensations of her movements to the portion of it which was nestled deep within her, stimulating her own pleasure nerves, “pretend its him fucking you right now. Hurry up and cum! I want to feel you explode around me as I paint your womb.”
Mabui saw no reason to deny the blonde’s request as she threw her head back, and shouted, “Cumming!”
Which Ino mirrored as she responded, “Me too!!!” As she squeezed Mabui’s hips, and buried the toy deep in the Kumo-nin while her spasming pussy, squeezed down on the part of the toy within her. Her pussy’s increased grip activated seals located within a compartment on the inside of the toy that caused it to push an edible solution that resembled cum and had warmed from her body heat into Mabui’s own spasming pussy. Mabui feeling the warm fluid entering her, exploded into yet another climax which triggered another from Ino causing her to further drench the harness along with her thighs as the puddle coating the marble floor beneath the two women expanded.
Both women felt weak in the knees, so sank to them as Ino held Mabui close while they caught their breath. After a few minutes, their panting began to ease with a glistening Mabui finally saying, “That was incredible.”
Ino nodded, as she said, “Yes, it’s almost enough to make me a bit jealous that I wasn’t born a man.”
“What the hell is it,” Mabui asked before then letting out a moan as Ino pushed her forward from the toy so that she could stand, and slip off the harness.
She let out a moan of her own, as the smaller end that had been within her slipped out and handing it to Mabui said, “That my dear Mabui is going to be the biggest selling sex toy of the next decade. They’re calling it the Woman Tamer.”
“They?” Mabui asked confused.
Helping to clarify for her Family member, she explained, “They being Mito, and a woman named Kasumi, who runs a sex shop in Konoha called The Promised Paradise.”
“That’s the shop that they used to stock the Den with gear in the past right,” Mabui stated examining the toy.
“And, who I commissioned to create the Hero of the Leaf toy,” Ino responded calling back over her shoulder as she returned to her room for a moment.
“For which we are all grateful,” Mabui said with genuine gratitude as her own had been put to frequent use during periods where either her or Naruto’s duties had interfered with enjoying a more meaningful encounter.
When Ino reemerged from her hotel’s bedroom, she was wearing a thin robe, while she gave Mabui an amused smile for her statement before continuing, “Well, apparently shortly after I made that commission, Kasumi was inspired to create something that would allow women to experience sex from a guy’s point of view. But, as she failed to complete the shinobi program, she found the means to bring such a thing into creation rather difficult.” She heard a tone of sympathy enter Ino’s voice leaving Mabui to believe there may be a deeper story there, but rather than filling her in, she continued her explanation stating, “Still, she was putting the work in, as she was studying seals which Mito noticed when she visited to place another bulk order with her store.”
“Gods, you Leaf kunoichi must be insatiable if you not only get the most access to him, but burned through all the toys that she purchased the last time.”
Taking a seat in a nearby chair, Ino smiled at the jest, before responding, “I think I might be insulted, if you didn’t currently look like a satisfied bitch with her tits and pussy exposed for all to see.”
Mabui realized she must make quite the sight, but rather than covering up said, “So, let me guess. Mito realizing what she was up to offered her own expertise with seals while pretending that she was the bodyguard placing an order, in exchange for a cut of the profits. I imagine that she also had a hand in naming it. So why not just call it the Kunoichi Tamer like we teasingly refer to the piece of equipment the original was based on?”
Ino shrugged not entirely sure, as she hadn’t really been all that interested in the toy when Mito had given it to her to try out while on her trip. Having asked only a few basic questions about it and its construction, with the majority of the answers that she had had received being the details that she had already conveyed to Mabui. But, now having experienced it, took a guess saying, “I imagine because someone found the name too limiting in scope. Especially, since I believe what had actually prompted Mito’s trip to the store in the first place was the new members of the WBA are advancing in their membership to the point where such items would need to be purchased. Plus, there seems to be some secret project that Kiyomi has been working on since her own trip to Suna.”
Mabui inclined her head figuring Ino’s hunch was most likely the correct one, especially as many of the women who had joined the Women’s Bathing Association after membership had been opened to women that Naruto hadn’t taken would have only been given access to the hotsprings. However, as rumors had abounded that all sorts of activities and pleasures were to be had by those who sufficiently advanced their seals, provided that they could be trusted not to diverge the organization’s secrets, it wasn’t too surprising to discover some of the women were reaching points where having such toys on hand was becoming necessary. “I can’t imagine that Seven has been too pleased by the development. Not only was she working on Kiyomi’s secret Suna project, but I’m guessing her talents were also needed to expand the WBA facility below the springs.”
“Honestly,” Ino replied her town indicating her own surprise, “She hasn’t really complained all that much about it. I think that she actually kind of enjoys the excavation work, and what comes with it. In recognition of her efforts, I think they’re planning to call the WBA facility in Konoha the Hive. With each of its eight levels being given their own identifiers. The top level that we used to call The Grotto, along with the other springs is now being referred to as the Paradise level.”
Mabui sighed in disappointment, as she stated, “I miss when it was just for our own private use. The hottub and pool we have on the roof of the Hidden Thunder Inn are nice. But, there was something far more… magically when those springs were ours.”
“You and me both,” Ino said not bothering to hide her feelings regarding how she felt the new members were trampling on something special. “But, there’s no use crying over spilt milk.”
Mabui nodded her head, before standing and touching the white substance that had been leaking from her pussy said, “Speaking of which. What exactly is this stuff?” Rubbing, it between her fingers, she found it had a consistency similar to semen although nowhere near as thicks as Naruto’s.
“That would be Urd’s little contribution to Mito’s project,” Ino said before tossing a small plastic bottle towards Mabui, who easily caught it.
Mabui arched eyebrow, a little surprised that the Eight-Tailed Bijuu born from the piece Killer B has sacrificed in order to escape from Akatsuki was involved. She let out a snort as she inspected the bottle to find that it was called Man-cream, while below the name of the product was a picture of a woman covered in the white substance, giving a thumbs up with a speech bubble saying, “It’s delicious.”
She focused on Ino as she explained, “She’s been quite the scientist of late. Not only is she helping with Karin’s study regarding the White Zetsu, but when she heard what Mito was working on, she came up with the formula for that relatively quickly. I guess the stuff that is already on the market, although non-toxic isn’t exactly edible since it made with silicon. From what I understand, this stuff kind of works similar to how his stuff has begun too, in that it doesn’t have a flavor of its own, rather you taste ones that you enjoy.”
Admitting that she was a bit surprised to learn that there were any such products on the market, Mabui said, “I kind of find it weird there was previously a market for it.”
Ino nodded in agreement, saying, “Well, I guess it was always something used in the porn industry, as a cheat to help give actresses a good glazing when an actor failed to produce enough naturally, especially if multiple takes ended up being needed.” A hint of distaste entered her tone, as she added, “Recently, it seems that tentacle porn has become all the rage in the Land of Fire. No doubt spurned on by the horror stories people have told of Furofuki’s attack on Konoha. I guess, they have the actresses pretend to be attacked, while lying among a mass of squirming rubber tentacles that they articulate somehow, and use pumps to spray the actresses during the climaxes.”
Understanding why Ino seemed put-off by the idea, but curious how the one she held worked she asked, “So, how does this one work. I don’t see a button or anything you could depress to cause it to fire.”
“Well, that’s because it goes off when you do,” Ino said sounding impressed, before saying, “Unscrew the part which was inside me.” Doing as instructed, Mabui saw that the inside was empty although residue of the fluid that it had contained remained. Following Ino’s instructions, as she said, “The man-cream goes in there, and you just screw it back on. The seals built into it, become activated by heat, so if you begin generating friction or say suck it, they then begin to respond. The seals on the phallus, convey the feeling to the portion the wearer has inside them, and when they climax, the pressure triggers gravity seals inside to push on the cream overcoming a pressure switch in the male end that allows the fluid to shoot out.”
Staring at the toy somewhat in wonderment, considering all the advanced techniques and science that appeared to have been poured into its construction, she said, “I really can’t imagine that this is something that could be mass produced. It sounds like you have to be a seal master just to understand the basics of how and where to apply them.”
“Well, I imagine that even if that is the case,” Ino replied, “these products turning up in the WBA would convince many of them of our reach and power. Especially, if they can only purchase them from WBA approved facilities. Although, I’ll admit that I didn’t really pay as much attention to Mito’s pitch as I probably should have, since I figure that I get to enjoy the real deal so who cared. But, having experienced it firsthand, I can see why they felt it was worth the effort. They’re going to fly off the shelves.”
Ino uncrossed her legs, and rested them on the arms of her chair showing off her glistening pussy as she said, “Would you like to give it a try yourself?”
Feeling a hunger growing inside her, as she watched the Yamanaka begin rubbing her pussy in anticipation, Mabui stood and stripped out of the rest of her clothes before donning the Woman Tamer herself. Giving the rubber phallus a stroke she felt a jolt of pleasure which started in her pussy but had soon ran up her spine, and knew almost immediately why Mito had given it the name that she had, since much as was the case when she had first experienced Naruto’s own Kunoichi Tamer, she didn’t doubt that she would soon find the toy was a distant second in helping her with achieving release. But, considering the pleasure that she had experienced at the end of the original model, a distant second was still pretty good.
So much so in fact, by the time the sun rose in the morning, both she and Ino were covered in the entire supply of Man-cream that Yamanaka had been given for the trip. Having taken turns fucking each other in every room of the hotel until they had passed out. As Mabui snoozed while bent over Ino with the toy still buried inside the blonde kunoichi, her dreams were filled with ideas for how to get the WBA Kumo branch off the ground as soon as possible. Confident, that if she could, just get these products in the hands of her fellow Kumo kunoichi, should the Alliance truly come to an end following the closing of the exams, there would soon be an army of angry women looking to depose of any leader that prevented them from getting access to more. An anger, which would still pale in comparison to those who had gotten to enjoy the original model, and now found their political masters trying to position themselves to be on a war footing against his home.
********
“Wake up, because you’re fucking dreaming if you think I’m going to team-up with that bastard!”
Quistis sighed as Ittetsu, having grown frustrated with the languid pace at which they had traveled at for the day, especially considering how despite their having taken what many considered the safe route, they had previously been moving at a shinobi’s pace. At least until that morning, when Quistis had requested that they took a more leisurely one. Ittestu had not minded at first, but as the day had dragged on he had become more annoyed, especially as he had begun to suspect that she had an alternative purpose. One that he had forced her to admit to just now, when after checking into a hotel for the evening, after having gathered for dinner, he had demanded to know why they had quit while the sun was still up in the sky. Although she had been tempted to come up with an alternative excuse, she had admitted to her true reason which was her desire to propose an alliance with Naruto’s team. A decision that she had arrived at that morning due to her feeling as if there was some aspect of the second portion of the exam which she had failed to discern.
After considering the variables, she had come to believe that one reason the participants had been given such a generous amount of time to travel to Konoha, was to permit some of the weaker teams, especially those who had failed to see the trap hidden within the last question of the previous exam, an opportunity to bolster their strength. Especially since she suspected that the teams that were already confident in their strength would simply take the shortest, and most direct route to Konoha. She suspected that there may be other reasons for the current time schedule, but at present lacked enough information to form any additional theories on the matter.
She sighed, as the reason that she had hidden her conclusion from her teammates, was because Ittestu had reacted exactly as she had anticipated to the revelation. She had hoped to keep it hidden until Naruto had arrived, hoping that his presence would quell Ittetsu’s bombastic nature enough that he would meekly agree to the proposal. As she highly doubted that he’d have the courage to call Naruto a bastard to his face.
Although, doubtful of its effectiveness she called upon her years as an instructor to say in a stern tone, “Mr. Ittetsu, while I can…”
“Oh, don’t try playing the teacher card on me,” he said harshly cutting her off, “That prick is the reason Lord Baki is currently sitting behind bars. So, I’d rather remain a genin for life then become a chunin with his help.”
Moderating her tone, she tried a softer approach saying, “You didn’t show such distaste at working with the Leaf back when our teams trained together in Suna. Plus, keep in mind…”
Again, he showed that he wasn’t in the mood to tolerate her arguments as he shut her down once more by saying, “Yeah, yeah, he’s the fucking reason that Gaara’s alive. Well, as far as I’m concerned that was probably only because the Leaf considered Gaara more amenable and crucial to maintaining peaceful relations with them. The fact that Gaara handed over his sensei without a fuss, shows that to be a damn certainty.” Quistis fought back a frown at hearing the Hardliner party’s latest attack vector for stirring up anger at the alliance and Konoha being recycled back to her. Although, confident that her male teammate was now entrenched in his position, she planned to make a pitch that he didn’t need to like Naruto in order to recognize that he was likely the strongest person participating in the exams, and as such it would be best to work with him instead of against him. While doubting her new argument would serve her better than any of the others, she never got the chance as he stood suddenly saying, “Save your breath. I’ve made my decision, and if you try to partner up with him, I’ll continue on my own. Then it will be a race to Konoha to see who can use their coin first.” Leaving his meal untouched, he quickly left the hotel’s restaurant presumably to return to his room.
Quistis watched him go, and as he entered a connecting hall, she thought that she had noticed another figure that had been just within it move to follow due to how the shadows began to shift. Although, tempted to investigate, she doubted that Ittetsu would have failed to notice the person up entering, and would remain vigilant if the person had decided to follow him. Plus, she had spotted a few proctors hanging about within the town so believed any fight which broke out would be short lived, so decided to let him fume by himself.
Sensing the eyes of their third member watching her, she asked, “May I ask what your thoughts on the matter are, Yome?”
Turning her gaze towards the younger woman, who if she had any strong feelings on the matter one way or another was deftly concealing them while she studied her in turn. Although, somewhat small in stature, Quistis had come to realize that the reason her previous teammates had seemed to tower over her was in fact due to Yome actually being several years younger than them, having graduated at the age of thirteen. While her teammates had actually graduate at the age of fifteen. This was because in many ways, Yome’s story was quite the opposite of hers, since as opposed to when it had been recognized that she possessed the Blue Magic ability which had allowed members of her now extinct clan to learn jutsu upon being hit by them, she had been forced to drop out of the Suna Shinobi Program and been made into an instructor at the academy. Yome by contrast, had found her career accelerated for a time when it had been recognized that she had developed a Dojutsu, which official was called Water Droplet Reflection Sight.
Quistis didn’t bother hiding the smile that came forth as she recalled Naruto had considered the name rather lame, and so had taken to calling her using it Eagle-eyed mode, a practice which Yome had picked up following a few of the training session that she had participated in with Naruto as he had been healing from the damage that had been done to his chakra coils in the aftermath of the Battle of Ame. The reason for that training, had been for the same reason that Yome’s upward trajectory had stalled out, and she had been placed on a team which most in Suna’s hierarchy hadn’t expected much from, namely the extreme weakness her Dojutsu had to techniques that caused blindness. As even a simple flash tag could make Yome almost completely ineffectual.
Unlike her instructors, who saw that weakness as being too glaring to bother sinking more training into Yome, Naruto had suggested that she turn the perceived weakness into a strength by learning the Hidden in Midst Technique to begin tracking her opponents by sound whenever they tried to blind her with bright lights. He had also begun to teach the Silent Killing Technique, since the problem wasn’t necessarily that bright lights had an overpowering effect on her, as with her vision she often knew the attack was on the way. However, it lay in how she had difficulty with disengaging her Dojutsu as even closing her eyes, tended to do little to mitigate the effect of a flash tag. To that end, Naruto had been in the process of teaching her the Silent Killing Technique when he had been called away to the Land of Ruins due to Yugao’s wanting to murder Baki for his hand in her fiancé’s death. The aftermath of which, had resulted in Baki’s current imprisonment within Grass’s infamous Blood Prison. At which point Naruto had perhaps wisely decided to keep out of Suna for a time.
Still, Quistis wished that she had perhaps encouraged Naruto to find a way to continue working with Yome, as then she might have an ally in which to convince Ittetsu to go along with her proposal. Or, at least a better idea of where she stood on the matter of coexistence with the Leaf. She began to feel a bit disappointed in the now sixteen year old kunoichi, as she started to suspect that her silence was due to her sharing a similar opinion as their departed teammate. Yome who had recently experienced a short growth spurt had caused her to lose some of the roundness that her face had possessed, this along with the relatively short time that she had known her was making her getting a read somewhat difficult. Something which didn’t exactly change as she said in an almost mocking tone, “So now you want my opinion?”
Although, it would be easy to read into the younger woman’s tone that she was of a similar opinion as their teammate. Quistis suspected that her ire lay more with her obscuring the reason that she had wanted them to delay reaching Konoha. Trusting her hunch, she said, “I’m sorry that I wasn’t up front with why I suggested we take our time reaching Konoha. But, I already had a pretty good idea as to how Ittetsu would react, and didn’t want you to feel an obligation to go along with my decision to hide my reasoning from him.” Yome nodded indicating that she had accepted, but still didn’t seem inclined to share her own thoughts prompting Quistis to say, “Would you mind telling me what you think of my suggestion? I’ll admit that I’m not entirely sure where you stand currently.”
Yome pursed her lips as she considered her response before finally saying, “I’m still not sure to be honest. I admit that I find it hard to believe many of the negative things people are currently saying about Naruto. He worked with me, even when my own instructors saw little reason to after they deemed my Dojutsu as being too flawed, and he even taught you a secret Leaf technique to help combat your own Kekkei Genkai’s weakness. Those are not the actions of someone who is a dog of Konoha as many within Suna are calling him.” Quistis nodded feeling frustrated at how quickly the people within her home had allowed their opinions to be shifted towards the negative. Still, she felt some rays of hope, as Yome continued, “So, I’m inclined to believe Lady Temari’s reading of the situation is the correct one, that Naruto only teleported Baki to Konoha because he felt it was the safest place for him at the time.” Quistis smiled pleased, since she knew that was the truth having heard it from the Uzumaki in question himself, but she felt some of her good cheer fade as Yome continued, “Still regardless of his intentions, he also hasn’t done anything to correct the situation either, indicating that he is alright with it.”
“What can he do?” Quistis asked with a fair bit of passion, “Baki’s already accepted the plea deal that he was offered for admitting his guilt and has been shipped off to Hozuki Castle.”
Yome gave a short shrug, before she returned her gaze to her plate as she resumed eating her meal. After swallowing a bite, she said, “The problem is that regardless of his intentions, his actions created this mess, and it appears to everyone that he is fine with it. Especially, as he sure didn’t have any issue with going against Lord Gaara’s wishes back when he tried to sacrifice himself when the Daimyo accused him of murdering Joseki.”
Quistis, resisted the urge to slam a fist on the table in frustration at how ridiculous she found the situation. Even as she began to understand why it was Naruto had tried to distance himself from the hero moniker that many had heaped onto his shoulders. As it seemed even his decisions not to act could be counted against him if he didn’t choose to behave in a manner various competing forces demanded. Although, she was tempted to direct the anger swelling up against her towards the Hardliners, in truth she found herself mentally cursing Gaara the most. As she found herself agreeing with Temari that the reason he had allowed Baki to be imprisoned was so he could empower the Hardliners, and undermine Naruto’s efforts to expand his influence within Suna. Although considering Ittetsu’s own apparent loss of respect for the Kazekage, which she was sure many Hardliners shared, she couldn’t help feeling that he was playing with a fire that could quickly burn out of control by stoking their anger towards the Leaf.
But before she could get too worked up over the matter, she found herself with a more immediate concern when Yome asked, “May I ask you a question now?” When she nodded in the affirmative, the brown-haired kunoichi asked, “What makes you so sure that Naruto and his teammates are behind us on this trail?”
“I… um… what do you mean?” Quistis asked in turn as she was caught completely off guard by the seemingly innocent question.
Shrugging her shoulders, Yome explained, “Well, it’s just that you seem so sure that he and his party are behind us, and that if we just wait here, they’ll catch up. But, honestly they could have just taken the direct route to Konoha, or even if they are taking the same one as us, could be further ahead. However, you seem certain that isn’t the case.”
Quistis began to panic, since she couldn’t exactly admit that she bore his mark and that it let her keep track of his location. So, she began to feel a little guilty, especially considering her earlier reason for not mentioning to Yome about her intention to propose a merger between their teams, as she began to fib, “I just assumed that to be the case, since we were among the first teams to leave Suna at the beginning of the second test. Since, they were not among those who had gathered at the entrance to leave at the test’s commencement, it stood to reason that they were probably inclined to take a more leisurely pace. She could see that Yome wasn’t quite convinced by her explanation, so hoping to change the subject said, “Not that it matters anymore, sadly. Although I am tempted to see if Ittetsu words were just talk. I’m not so uncouth as to cut a teammate loose just because I disagree with him. So, assuming tomorrow that he has calmed down some. I’ll apologize to him for not being upfront about my intentions for slowing us down, and we’ll continue on towards Konoha at whatever pace he wants to set.”
Yome seemed pleased that the differences between her teammates that had suddenly sprung up appeared to be heading to an amical resolution so let the matter drop. Which although pleased Quistis in the short term, as she resumed eating her own meal, she didn’t really bother trying to hide the disappointment that she felt at not being able to reunite with her lover and fellow Family members. Especially, as she had believed the faster pace that they had set off with earlier in the day had been because they had arrived at the same conclusion as her. She had noticed about mid-day their pace had slowed down, but had chalked it up to perhaps having encountered another group of exam takers who they had convinced to align with them. Although, she also suspected that it could be tied to the nagging feeling that there was some aspect of the test that she hadn’t seen or been exposed to yet. Which she felt could also explain why the sensei had not left Suna yet to meetup with their teams in Konoha. Information that she was only privy to thanks to the Fox Marks on Samui, Temari and Kurenai which informed her that all three were still in Suna despite the test being well into its second day. She admitted the reason for the delay may be due solely to concerns that some sensei may have been tempted to aid their students, and so they had been asked to wait until the third day before setting off. Since even a jounin would be hard pressed to reach Konoha in three days. Leaving them little time to mess with any exam participants except for the biggest of stragglers, who at that point would stand little chance of reaching Leaf Village by the deadline. Although figuring that she would know sometime in the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours, she distracted herself from her disappointment by working through a few other scenarios for what to expect in the future.
*******
Yet while Quistis let her mind work as she ate her meal, she was unaware of her being discreetly observed by Yome from out of the corner of her eye due to her having been not as placated by the former instructor’s answer as she had appeared to be. To Yome, it was easy to see the disappointment that Quistis felt at it appearing that they would not be linking up with Naruto. Moreover, it made it quite apparent that there was little doubt in Quistis’s mind that if they continued to dally in the current town, that they would soon encounter the Leaf Shinobi. To test her theory, Yome was tempted to suggest to Ittetsu that they linger a bit, to see if not only Quistis’s mood improved, but also to see if she had some means of tracking the Uzumaki’s location since she imagined the instructor may give some signs that such was the case the closer that he got to them.
But, she ultimately decided against with her primary one being that she wasn’t entirely convinced that Quistis was correct about this portion of the test being so that the various teams may form alliances. As, that seemed to be completely backwards, especially as it had been mentioned by many that due to the length of time since the last exam had been held, the participants of the current one could be expected to be some of the most skilled and dangerous to ever have taken the test. With shinobi such as Naruto being a perfect example of this being the case considering his long list of accomplishments. As such, she believed that the last thing the exam organizers would want was for large factions to form, and settle things in massive battles. Although, she could see that a case could also be made where allowing such Alliances to be made would perhaps be the only way for any of the weaker exam takers to stand even the slightest chance at besting those that stood at the top of the mountain. Seeing herself as being one of those weaker exam takers, she supposed it would make a certain amount of sense, and display some positive qualities to recognize such as being the case, and then seeking a means to mitigate it through the forming of alliances. But, again, she could just as much see proctors giving negative marks against those who would, believing they lacked the confidence to advance on their own merits.
Regardless, she supposed that it didn’t matter as she couldn’t imagine Ittetsu changing his mind on the matter as he had completely fallen in with the other Hardliners, which had experienced a massive resurgence following Baki’s incarnation. This resurgence had been led by Councilor Koji, who had used the negative opinions that his colleague’s imprisonment had generated and directed them towards the Leaf to increase his own standing among the Hardliners. A somewhat easy task Yome suspected, as she admitted that he was also somewhat easy on the eyes, and she also imagined that it didn’t hurt that he was considerably younger than most of the other Hardliners on the council, and thus had achieved much in injecting some much needed youth into the movement. Rumors were even circulating that he was hoping to parlay his current standing into getting his former teammate Shishio elected to occupy the seat Baki once had. Although not one to typical follow her village’s politics, Yome couldn’t exactly say how the bid was going. But, she would admit that considering how hard Gaara had argued against the previous Hardliners. She was surprised at how relatively passive he had remained regarding the reinvigorated movement.
Truth be told though, she couldn’t say that she cared too much one way or another. Since, if she managed to reach Chunin at the close of the exams, she intended to leave Suna and its politics far behind so she could join Shira at his command of the Earth Corridor Base, where she hoped to one day confess her feelings and become his one and only. Her cheeks began to color as she pictured what such an encounter would look like, and considered excusing herself so she could deal with the feelings that it caused within her before Quistis headed up to the room that they shared.
********
However, while Yome was debating on whether or not to act on the feelings her imagination was causing her to experience. Ittestu was currently basking in being buried deep inside a kunoichi that he had long lusted over, but had never imagined that he would ever get a chance to enjoy. “Fuck, who knew that you were such a slut Sana,” he groaned as the naked kunoichi bounced wildly on his cock.
For a moment she stiffened, and he thought her face reflected something akin to shame, but it happened so fast that he was sure that he imagined it as she looked down sultrily at him saying, “How could I not get excited after watching you put that bitch in her place.” Grinding her pussy down on him she continued, “She used to think she was so superior simply because she was born so special that they wouldn’t even entertain the idea of letting her get hurt. Meanwhile, people like you and me had to work for everything we are given.”
“You know it,” he grunted before a need for release suddenly hit him, causing him to shout, “Oh fuck, I’m cumming.”
“What already,” Sana said in confusion and shock before her demeanor suddenly changed as she became colder, especially once she felt his cum begun hitting her womb. Losing all interest in keeping up pretenses, she climbed from atop him and snatching up her clothes began heading for the exit while pulling them back on.
“Um, where are you going?” Ittetsu asked as he was confused by her sudden coldness.
“To wash off this shame,” she replied without looking back.
Leaving a confused, Ittestu behind who shrugged since regardless of how short it had been he had gotten to live out one of his fantasies, and had thoroughly enjoyed himself. However, after laying back on the bed, he suddenly surged back up as he scrambled to the edge due to the fear that she had been after his coin, but find it exactly where he left it in his pants pocket, he again shrugged at the kunoichi’s strange behavior before laying back in bed, and indulging in a fantasy where he could enjoy Sana and her sister at the same time.
Next Chapter: The Chunin Exams Part Deux: The Mad Rush Backwards! Part 3
Author’s Note: Hello again everyone! To begin, I would like to thank everyone that takes the time to leave a review. They truly keep me motivated and going. So, again thank you.
With that said, I hope this chapter proved to be worth the wait. Ultimately, it took a bit of a turn as I didn’t quite expect to spend quite so much time in Kumo, but that was just the shape it took as I was writing it. I like to believe it was worth eating up so much of the planned chapter as it deepens some of the mysteries, while also advancing just what Mabui had been previously hinting at she was doing. Plus, it gives some further insight into Iron. I was afraid it would be a shorter chapter, but it clocked in about 20K so I guess it was a good place to end it. This way the next portion can just dive right into the stuff that will tie into the Antithesis chapter that was already finished, but hasn’t been published yet. Which will come out shortly after the next chapter of Eroninja goes up, I want to post the Eroninja side of it first, for reasons that I think will make sense after everything is said and done. But, I do not want to give away now, as it may spoil a few things.
So, if you made it this far, thank you again for all your support over the years. And until next time, take care! Sincerely, The Lemon Sage.