Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Koorikage ❯ Geisha ( Chapter 3 )

Hello all. Right off the bat, I'd like to say that the way things are set up in the castle are obviously not in line with historical Japan. Since this is common in Naruto, that was intentional. I would appreciate it if I didn't get a bunch of reviews and emails telling me I got the samurai/daimyo system all wrong. I'll put this notice again in my end notes, since some people only read one or the other.

To those of you who actually read my author profile, you know why it took so long to update the last time. This all was supposed to be part of that chapter, but I just couldn't focus and decided to split it. Just as well, since this part is still horrendously long. The end here is one of those scenes I've had in my head since the idea of writing a Naruto fic first popped into my head.

Oh, by the way, so was that scene outside Tsunade's door in chapter 2. ^_^

Chapter 3 - Geisha

Sakura approached training field 34 wearily. Her vivid dream had made it very difficult to fall back asleep, and she didn't want to force herself twice in one night. So she trudged along, hoping she would arrive on time, but somehow not as worried about it as she felt she should be.

"I see everyone's here," came the Hokage's voice as Sakura approached the three figures standing in the field. There was no trace of agitation in the older woman's voice, so at least she wasn't in trouble. "That means we can begin the training," Tsunade continued. The girls all stood there, not really sure what they were supposed to do, or what they were about to learn.

"I will be teaching you techniques that will be useful on this mission and future missions, and techniques which I believe you are well suited to learn. Ino." Being called be her given name seemed to have unnerved Ino just a bit, but she calmed down when she realized it was a gesture of friendship from the older woman. She stepped forward.

"Hai, Hokage-sama?"

"I will be teaching you a strength-enhancing jutsu. Physically, you are the strongest kunoichi in the village of your generation. This was true for me as well. The basis of this technique is to use chakura to enhance the capabilities of your muscles for a short time. If you train properly, your muscles will actually get stronger under normal circumstances as well, and you won't need to use the jutsu very often. It can be performed with or without seals, but with seals yields greater results. Do you understand?"

Ino hesitated for only a moment before answering, "Hai, Hokage-sama."

"Very good. Hinata." The dark-haired girl stepped forward nervously. "I will be teaching you a basic healing jutsu. I understand you have already learned a few, is that correct?" Hinata nodded.

"H-hai."

"Good. The jutsu I will be teaching you will be one that uses your chakura to speed up the cell's regeneration rate in a given area, allowing wounds to heal faster. Internal and external wounds can both be treated with this technique. Do you understand?"

"H-hai, Hokage-sama."

"Very good." Tsunade smiled. "Sakura." Sakura gulped and stepped forward. She didn't have any special talents, except perhaps genjutsu. Was Tsunade-sama going to teach her a new illusory technique?

"You will have perhaps the most difficult task of all," Tsunade said. "I've chosen you to learn this jutsu because your chakura control abilities are beyond those of anyone else in your generation, indeed beyond those of most people in this village. The technique you will learn requires a great deal of control, but it also requires a great deal of strength and stamina - an area I know you need some practice in. Are you prepared?" Sakura gulped again and merely nodded. The older woman smiled again. "Very well. I will teach you Kuchiyose no Jutsu."

Sakura blinked and stared blankly. Kuchiyose no Jutsu was a jounin level technique - and an extremely difficult one at that. While she was flattered that the Hokage felt she could learn it, she was at the same time quite certain that she couldn't. She knew Naruto could summon frogs, but he was also a lot stronger than she'd ever be. Besides, the biggest one she'd ever heard of him summoning was the one he told her about when he fought Sasuke three years ago. What would Tsunade-sama teach her to summon?

"Hokage-sama…" she managed. She spared a glance at her teammates, who seemed as astounded as she at her given task.

"Don't worry, you'll be able to handle it," the older woman assured her with a smile. "Jiraiya said it took Naruto a month, but I think you'll be able to get a grip on it faster than that."

"A month? It took Naruto a whole month to learn it?"

"Well, Naruto never exactly was the fast learning type, ne?" Ino asked, making an attempt at lightening the mood a little bit. Sakura didn't feel like laughing.

"What will I summon?" she asked.

"You'll summon the same creatures that I summon," Tsunade said, pulling a huge scroll out a bag at her feet that Sakura hadn't noticed. "Slugs." All three girls face-faulted.

"Slugs?" Ino shouted incredulously once she'd recovered. Sakura was glad her friend was doing it; she wouldn't have had the courage to question the older woman on such an issue. "What good are slugs to anybody?"

"Why, they're plenty useful, Ino-chan," Tsunade said with a wide grin. "They excel in stealth, and therefore are good for information gathering. They can also assist in removing wounded companions from the battlefield, and although not exactly built for it, they can help in a battle in a pinch." The girls were silenced.

"All right then," Tsunade continued. "Sakura, you need to cut your finger, and add your name and handprint to the contract." She unrolled the scroll, and the girls could see a number of names written in blood with handprints underneath, Tsunade's being the most recent addition. Sakura did as she was told, and then after learning the hand seals from her new sensei and summoning a (very small) slug to make sure she had it right, was left to practice on her own. The Hokage would check her progress at the end of each day, but the other two girls required more direct instruction and supervision for the techniques they were going to learn.

And so it was that for the next week, Sakura practiced summoning slugs. She couldn't help but feel silly doing it, and even after Tsunade's explanation, she still found herself agreeing with Ino that slugs were pretty useless creatures.

Still, the technique was incredibly exhausting. After each summoning attempt she had to rest for at least a half hour before trying it again, and after four days she had yet to summon a slug larger than her hand. No matter what Tsunade said, Sakura doubted that a slug of that size would be of any help to anybody.

On the night of the fourth day of their training, the girls had decided to meet for dinner at the only place they could currently afford: Ichiraku Ramen. This turned out to be a bad idea, as Sakura had been effectively distracted from worrying about Naruto and the others all week so far, but coming to her friend's favorite food stop brought her thoughts instantly back to him, and the perilous mission he was on.

"How do you think they're doing?" Sakura asked Ino somewhat weakly after the three of them had ordered (large bowls rather than their usual small - they were too exhausted and starving to worry about their calorie intake). There was no need to say whom she was talking about. Even Hinata picked right up on the discussion. Ino took a noticeable pause before responding.

"I think they're fine," she said. "After all, they probably haven't even arrived there yet, right?" she tried for a smile, but it didn't come off very well. Sakura instantly felt bad for being a buzz kill on their evening out.

"Yes, Ino-san is right," Hinata said. "I'm sure they are still fine." It looked like something was troubling her.

"Hinata?" Sakura prodded. "What's wrong?" The dark haired girl looked into her bowl that had just arrived, stammering for her words.

"It's just that…Shino-kun and Kiba-kun were sent on a mission as well," Hinata said. "They have to track down a sound spy that is supposedly lurking outside the village. No one knows if there are more out there, and they could be in great danger."

"That's awful, Hinata," Sakura said.

"That's not what's bothering me," the other said.

"Oh?" Sakura was confused.

"Do you think it's wrong…am I horrible for worrying more about Naruto-kun than I am for my own teammates? For all I know, they might be in just as much danger."

Sakura felt a pang in her chest. All her empathy went out to this girl in front of her. And at the same time, it warmed her heart to hear that she was so worried about Naruto. If anyone in the whole world deserved to have someone care about them so much, it was him.

"I don't think that's wrong at all, Hinata," Sakura said, ignoring her own food for the moment and putting a hand on the other girl's shoulder for support. "It's never wrong to worry or care about someone. And you can't help it if you care about Naruto."

"Yeah, besides," Ino said from the other side of Sakura with a mouth full of ramen noodles. She slurped them down before continuing. "The fact that you're worried about it at all means you care a lot about your teammates too." She smiled widely as if that made all the sense in the world…and in a way, it did.

"Arigatou, Sakura-san, Ino-san." Hinata smiled at them both and began to eat.

* * *

"That was great!" exclaimed Ino as the three of them walked down the street after their meal. "I can't believe how famished I was after all that training!"

"How is training going for the two of you?" Sakura asked.

"Pretty well, actually. I'm definitely feeling stronger for one, and Hinata managed to fix my leg when I accidentally slipped and cut it open yesterday."

"Anou…it wasn't a very big wound, Ino-san," Hinata said humbly.

"Nonsense! You did a great job with it!" The blonde girl encouraged. "What about you, Sakura? How's your slug training going?" She pulled a face when she said the word "slug," and made no effort to hide her snickering.

"I can summon one big enough to sneak into your food," Sakura replied. Ino looked scandalized; Hinata just giggled.

"Well, unless you can get one that sniffs out assassins, I don't see how it's going to make this mission any easier," Ino said once she'd regained her composure…and finished mentally going back over eating her meal, making sure there had been no slugs in it.

* * *

For the rest of the week they trained, and on the morning they were to leave, all three of them were up early. Their agreed meeting point was field 34, and they were all there well before the time they had been assigned to set off.

"Are you two ready?" Ino asked as they stood around waiting for the Hokage, who wanted to see them off personally.

"I suppose so," Sakura said. In truth, she hadn't had so many butterflies in her stomach about a mission in almost two years.

"Hai," was all Hinata said, giving a small nod. The conversation froze up, and they spent the next five minutes or so in an awkward silence waiting for the Hokage to arrive. When she did, it was to the great relief of all three young kunoichi.

"Are you girls ready?" she asked them. They all replied in the affirmative in unison and gave a respectful nod. "Good," Tsunade said.

"Now girls," the older woman went on, "I know this mission is going to make you feel uncomfortable. You're probably feeling it already. I was sent on a mission of this type when I was not much older than you, and I won't lie to you; I wasn't very happy about it." The legendary kunoichi's face was completely serious as she spoke to them, and they listened with rapt attention. "Just remember that it's only an act. It's no different from any other mission where you would have to play a role. And the Daimyo knows that if anything…unacceptable happens then his contract with the village is void and you are no longer obligated to protect him. More precautions than usual have been taken in that respect since you three are so young. You are to report to me directly when you return. Is that understood?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," they answered.

"Very well. Good luck." She smiled at them in what seemed like an almost motherly way before they disappeared from the field.

* * *

Tsunade stood watching as the three girls bounded away from her. She let out an almost inaudible sigh.

"Sending three sixteen-year-old girls on a mission like that. We really are in a fix. Hopefully Jiraiya has found something. I don't know how much longer this can continue."

She began a slow walk back toward her office, taking the scenic route that went past the memorial stone and her old genin training grounds. She paused at the training grounds as memories flowed unbidden to the front of her consciousness.

"How much longer will you keep trying to destroy your old home…Orochimaru?"

* * *

"Did you see the look on Hokage-sama's face?" Ino asked as she and her two companions traveled effortlessly through the trees. "I don't think she likes this mission any more than we do."

"She doesn't," Sakura said bluntly. "Wasn't that obvious? It's why she taught us those new techniques. They're all jounin level, you know."

"I know that, but…what difference does that make? Naruto knew three jounin level techniques before his second chuunin exam." Sakura's face went blank, and Ino realized her faux pas too late. "Er…gomen, Sakura. I didn't mean to…"

"No, don't worry about it," Sakura waved her off, apparently needing only a moment to regain her composure. "We aren't going to worry about them, right? They'll be fine."

"Yes," Hinata agreed. "If we worry, it won't help them, and it will distract us from our own mission." This seemed to make sense.

"Right," Ino said.

"Anyway," Sakura went on, "Usually kunoichi are eighteen or nineteen before taking on a mission like this. It makes sense that she's uncomfortable sending us."

"I guess you're right," Ino agreed. "How long do you think it will take for us to get there?"

"Hinata, you've been there before, right?" Sakura asked the other girl. "How long of a trip would you say it is?"

"Anou…traveling at our current speed, we should make it there by around noon tomorrow if we stop to rest tonight."

"We probably should rest," Ino said. "No sense getting there while it's still dark, and we'll want to have our full reflexes in case anything happens." The other two nodded, and all trivial conversation ceased as the trip continued. Their rest was brief and simple; they couldn't afford attracting attention to themselves this far from the village, even if they were still in their own country. Spies were everywhere.

The next day when they arrived, they gathered outside away from the palace first so as to don their disguises and plan their mode of entry. If all went well, they would be able to place themselves inside with no one even noticing anything. The Daimyo was known for having many women inside his castle, so nobody would notice three more - especially three more who were well adept at keeping out of site when they wanted to.

"Remember, the first one to have…private time…with the Daimyo, let him know we're here and what's going on," Ino was explaining. She had been put in command of the mission. "Once we're settled in and in tune with the routines in the castle, we'll have to schedule it so that at least one of us is awake and near the Daimyo at all times."

"Anou, Ino-san," Hinata interjected, "if something were to happen, how will we get in touch with each other?"

Ino swore under her breath. "I've been trying to figure that out the whole time, but I haven't come up with anything."

"I have an idea," Sakura said.

"What is it?"

Sakura just grinned and bit the end of her thumb. Smearing some blood onto the back of her left wrist, she performed a few signs, and then slammed her left palm onto the ground, calling out "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" A slug no bigger than her thumb appeared. Ino - and even Hinata - sweatdropped.

"Um, Sakura…" Ino said flatly, "how is that supposed to help?"

"This is Jo," Sakura explained, holding up the tiny slug so they could see. "He was one of the first I was able to summon. Anyway, he's able to create a Bunshin of himself, and stay in direct mental contact with it. We could each carry one around, and if anything happened, we could let each other know immediately!" Ino's face visibly brightened, as did Hinata's.

"Forehead, you're a genius!" Ino exclaimed with a wide grin. Hinata nodded her concurrence. Jo proceeded to form two clones of himself, and one was handed to Ino and Hinata in turn.

"All right then, remember the entrance plan?" Ino said, going straight back to business. The other two nodded silently. "Good. I'll go first. Hinata, you follow when you see an opening, and Sakura you after that. Don't rush, we've got all day. As long as one of us is in there before dinner we'll be fine, and we'll definitely have all three of us in there by morning. It's time to split up, so I'll see you both inside. I'm going to scout for an empty chamber we can use as well."

"Good luck, Ino-san," Hinata said. Ino just grinned a grin that lit up her whole face and was off.

"I'll see you later then, Hinata," Sakura said as she began to set off for the other side of the castle. "Good luck to you too."

"And you, Sakura-san!" Hinata called after her quietly. Then she was alone.

* * *

It took Ino almost a half hour before she was able to spot an opening into the castle that wouldn't get her noticed. When she finally did make it in, she immediately began scouting the layout of the building. Of course, to anyone else, she looked like just another young geisha walking to or from her duties - depending on which direction she was facing. She didn't worry about the same person noticing her multiple times, as she wasn't spotted very often to begin with.

It seemed that the castle contained a lot of wasted space. There were a lot of rooms that weren't really used for anything, save for making the structure bigger. This would serve her purpose well, as she and her team could use any one of them to operate from. They could even move around to avoid drawing unwanted attention. There was no telling how long they would be here before the assassins would make themselves known.

After several more hours which were hindered by constantly having to duck out of sight, she located the Daimyo's bedchamber. It was nearly dusk, so she could make her move soon. She just had to make sure there weren't any other geisha around that could interfere and stumble upon her true purpose. The irony struck Ino that she was playing her mission out exactly as she would had she been the one assigned to assassinate the Daimyo.

As she was waiting for an opportunity to speak with the Daimyo, her Jo clone informed her that Hinata had successfully entered the castle. It was only a matter of time now before Sakura made her way in - with her Meimei no Jutsu she could basically enter any time she felt like it. As she was thinking this, she saw a samurai guard exchanging posts with another outside the Daimyo's door. This was her opportunity. Playing up her role, she strolled up to the door as if she belonged there. It must have been a regular occurrence, as neither guard spoke so much as a word, and she merely walked right it.

* * *

While Sakura waited for word from her teammates, she found it was difficult to keep her mind from wandering. The dream of Naruto's apology for Sasuke's betrayal had visited her again the night before in the forest, and was still fresh in her mind. Why, of all times was she having these dreams again now? Was it because of the mission Naruto had been sent on. She knew that despite her brave face she feared for her friend's life, and indeed the lives of everyone on his team. But why would that make her remember such things?

Then there was Hinata. She'd been visibly upset when told about the mission to Yukigakure, as was well enough expected. But Sakura worried for her timorous friend. It was beyond obvious that Hinata cared for Naruto a great deal, so this must be equally difficult for her. On top of that, she apparently had her own teammates to worry about. As they all were growing up and gaining skill, they were being given more and more dangerous missions - as evidenced by the one she herself was on. This was the first time it had really hit home how dangerous their job was…but how many more times would there be? They weren't even jounin yet; harder and more perilous missions surely awaited them in the future. She would have to learn to deal with it now, or she'd never be able to survive as a ninja. From a few of the brief conversations they'd had over the past week, Sakura had a feeling that Ino was experiencing similar thoughts.

She had no idea how long she'd been there thinking, but she had to cut her reverie short as Jo informed her that Hinata was now inside the castle. That meant she could enter any time.

"Ino said not to rush, but there's really no sense in staying out here. I might as well start making my way in now." She performed the seals necessary for her Meimei no Jutsu, and then, completely invisible and inaudible, strolled over to the castle and through the front gates.

* * *

"So the Daimyo knows we're here and that everything is under control," Ino was explaining to them the next morning in the unused room they'd chosen to use for the time being. "I had to spend the night in his bedchamber to keep up appearances, but there was a futon he had that he gave me. I think he's just relieved that we've finally arrived.

"Anything else we should know?" Sakura asked.

"He wants to let his head of security in on the operation, but I told him that's probably not a good idea. We'll work best if absolutely no one knows we're here."

"Are we going to start taking watch shifts, then?" Hinata asked.

"Exactly," Ino confirmed. "Eight hours each. If you get pulled away for whatever reason, make sure Jo has contacted one of the others so we can take your place. Someone needs to be near the Daimyo at all times."

"Hai," said Sakura and Hinata in unison.

And so their mission set into a sequence of boring routine. Each day they would trade off shifts watching the Daimyo, while the other two either slept or gathered information on everyone else that came through the castle. Some of the regulars they became quite used to seeing, such as the head of security, Kishimoto Sanosuke, and the Daimyo's mistress, Erika. Or maybe she was his wife. They weren't really sure.

Day in, day out, life passed in the castle, and no signs of an assassination were evident anywhere. After three weeks, the girls were wondering if this was all some sort of hoax. Then, just by chance (they had switched rooms again that same night), they happened to overhear a conversation.

Hinata was on watch, while Ino and Sakura were in their new hiding place, trying to devise a more active way to draw out the assassins, when they had to duck out of the way when two people came bursting into the room. It was Kishimoto Sanosuke, the head of security, and the Daimyo's…female partner, Erika. They were speaking in hushed tones, but they were both clearly aggravated.

"I thought it would be finished by now," Erika was saying. "You've had a month!"

"It took me a week and a half to slowly rearrange the guard schedule so that no one would get suspicious! These things have to be done gradually!"

"Fine. So what have you been doing for the last two and a half weeks then?" At this interrogation, Kishimoto faltered slightly.

"I can't seem to get him alone, even without the guards. His attendants hang around him like gnats, and it seems he always has at least one of those girls with him." At this, Erika made an annoyed growl.

"So kill them, too. They're just harlots anyway, of no real use to anyone. And it will assure you have no witnesses."

"I-I can't do that. They have nothing to do with this. I can't have innocent blood on my hands."

"Innocent?" Erika almost shrieked; she had to pause for a second to bring her volume back under control. "Those…girls are the reason I have a separate bedchamber on the opposite end of the castle from the man who is supposed to be my husband! I'm a laughing stock!"

"I know, but it's not their fault. Urashima-dono is to blame, not them. As soon as I see an opening, I'll carry out the plan, and then we can be together." Erika's face softened, and Sakura's and Ino's eyes went wide.

"I know, I trust you," Erika said. "And I admire your integrity, I truly do. It's why I fell in love with you." She kissed him passionately before continuing. "I have an idea," she stated in a suddenly firm voice. "One that won't require you to sully your hands at all, and it won't matter if there are witnesses."

"What's that?" Kishimoto asked, clearly intrigued. Ino and Sakura continued eavesdropping from their hiding place with rapt interest.

"Why don't I contract a group of ninja to do the job for us?" Erika proposed. Kishimoto gasped.

"Ninja?"

"Of course. It's what they do, after all. And there will be no danger of anyone tracing it back to you, since you won't have done it."

"I don't know," Kishimoto was hesitating. "It's usually my job to keep ninja out of the castle. What would it look like if they just got in?"

"My darling, the mark of a good ninja is that you don't even know they're there. Even if you were expecting them to come, you wouldn't know when, and Hideyoshi will be dead before you even knew anything had happened."

Kishimoto seemed to hesitate again, and finally gulped and nodded. Erika kissed him again before sweeping from the room, presumably to contact some ninja from another village. Ino immediately gave the signal for Sakura to spring into action. The pink-haired kunoichi activated her Meimei no Jutsu, and dashed over and apprehended Kishimoto. Ino swept over and shut the door, placing a seal on it so no one could get in. She then send word to Hinata that she and Sakura were occupied and to extend her watch before returning to the back of the room.

Sakura deactivated her genjutsu and removed her hand from her samurai captive's mouth. The man was visibly shaken.

"Wh-who are you?"

"I don't think that's any concern of yours at the moment," Ino said harshly. "Care to explain that conversation you just had?" Kishimoto looked back and forth between them rapidly for a few seconds, and then, knowing he was caught, lowered his head and began to talk.

"Erika and I have been lovers for the past year," he explained. "Her husband, the Daimyo, is truly a horrible man. He mistreats her and everyone else who lives in this castle. Moreover, he is abusive as a Daimyo because of the abnormally large amount of samurai under his command, as well as the ninja village of Konohagakure. He thinks he can do whatever he wants." Ino and Sakura blanched at the name of their home and in learning they were being exploited. They would have to ask Tsunade later if she knew about it.

"So the two of you were plotting to kill him, then," Ino supplied. Kishimoto nodded.

"It was Erika's idea," he said. "She said that the mistreatment of the people would end, and the two of us could be together because the people would naturally flock to me as the new Daimyo, since Urashima-dono has no heir."

"Real noble of you, isn't it?" Ino pressed. "The people are free for the time being and you just happen to become Daimyo and get your mistress all in one go."

"That's not the way…"

"Whatever," Ino cut him off. "Sakura, go catch up to that woman and stop her before she can contact the ninjas."
"Hai." Sakura prepared to vanish.

"NO!" Kishimoto yelled, diving at Sakura and falling face first onto the floor. "No, leave her out of this! Punish me, but leave her alone!"

"Look, she was the one who came up with this whole idea, and she happens to be the one sending for ninja. Therefore, she needs to be…"

"It wasn't supposed to happen like that! I was supposed to get caught and executed!" That froze the two young kunoichi right in their tracks.

"Nani?" Asked Sakura, still in the middle of a seal.

"They were supposed to catch me, but they never came!"

"What are you…" Ino started to ask, but then realization lit up her face. "You! You were the one who sent the anonymous tip! You were the one who sent for ninja from the village to protect him!"

"You mean, you two are leaf nin?" Kishimoto asked somewhat incredulously.

"Of course we are," Ino answered impatiently. "But why would you do that? Weren't you one of the ones plotting to kill him?"

"Yes, I was. But I found that no matter how much I disliked him, I could not betray my master. It goes against everything my father taught me. So I would attempt to assassinate him, and be caught and killed by ninja in the process. Erika would be in no way involved."

"She'd be pretty upset that her lover was killed though, wouldn't you think?" Sakura asked him. He merely hung his head. "Hmph. I bet you never even thought about that!"

"No, I did!" Kishimoto insisted. "But there was nothing that could be done. Erika would know I loved her, because I died trying to make a better life for her. And I would be properly punished for betraying my master." He hung his head low again, and the girls were momentarily at a loss for what to say.

"Well that's not going to work now," Ino finally pointed out. "If she gets ninja to do it, then you wouldn't be able to stop them."

"I know that."

"Then why did you agree to it?" Sakura asked.

A pause, and then, "I couldn't refuse her." Ino and Sakura both raised an eyebrow. "I couldn't let her know that I was unable to go through with the plan. So I would fight the ninja as was my duty, and be killed that way. Urashima-dono will die, and at least she will be free of him. That provides me comfort."

"Hold on a minute," Ino stopped him. "You think we're going to let that happen?"

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"We were hired to make sure that your Daimyo doesn't get assassinated," Ino stated plainly. "It doesn't matter if it was all a sham so you could kill yourself, that's still our mission. Sakura!"

"Hai!" The pink-haired kunoichi was gone in a puff of smoke before Kishimoto could do anything.

"Don't hurt Erika!" the young Samurai pleaded. He tried to get up, but Ino pushed him back down again.

"I wouldn't worry about that," she said with a smile. "If I know Sakura, she won't hurt her at all. She'd probably want to help you if we hadn't been assigned to do otherwise. But we can't let her contact any ninja. That would be…" she trailed off of for a second as a wide grin spread across her face at the thought of her next words, "too troublesome."

"You won't tell her that I couldn't do it, will you?" he pleaded some more. It was almost unnerving, seeing a samurai in such a state. "Tell her you turned me over to Urashima-dono. I assume that's what you were going to do anyway. Then I can be executed and be done with it." Ino frowned.

"I'm not going to lie to her," she said.

"Please!" he begged. "It's my final request before I meet my judgement!" Ino's frown deepened.

"I mean I'm not going to say I turned you in when I didn't," she said matter-of-factly. "Nor do I intend to."

Now it was the samurai's turn to frown. "N-nani?"

"I've been around Urashima-dono long enough to know that what you're saying about him is true. Frankly, I think he's a pig and would deserve whatever he got. The only reason he hasn't made a move on any of us is because he knows we wouldn't protect him anymore if he did." Ino's face twisted in revulsion as she spoke. "Our mission is to prevent his assassination. However, I wouldn't have any problems with helping you remove him from power. Just don't tell my superiors about it."

Kishimoto's face suddenly lit up. "Y-you would do that?"

Ino finally smiled again. "Sure. And I know my teammates would back me up. Sakura especially. She loves sappy romance stuff like this. Besides, the fire country could use some better leadership, and I think you'd do a good job." Ino knew she was stepping way beyond her boundaries, but if she could orchestrate the whole thing so it looked like a coup from the inside, neither she nor Kishimoto would receive any blame for it. The trouble was how to do that. She didn't have time to think on it though, as Jo's voice was suddenly yelling in her ear.

"Ino! Trouble! Hinata says there are three unidentified ninja approaching the castle with murderous intent!"

"What!?" She shrieked.

"What is it?" asked Kishimoto.

"Those ninjas your girlfriend hired…they're already here! How is that possible?"

"I don't know," he replied. "Did she have it planned in advance and not tell me?"

"You'd better sort that out later," she said forcefully. "I need to get to Urashima-dono right now." She performed a few seals and departed in the same fashion as Sakura, though under a bit more duress.

* * *

"Shit!" Sakura cursed as she ran. When she had caught up with Erika, she had found the young woman at a window. She immediately confronted the Daimyo's wife and told her she knew everything. Erika had replied that it was too late, and she had already signaled for the ninja that were waiting on the edge of the forest. They had come from her come country, Mori no Kuni, only two days ago with orders to assassinate her husband and bring her back home. The stories of Urashima-dono had reached even there, and her people were not happy. The three ninja sent had come to meet up with her first, and she had asked them to wait until she could get Kishimoto-san's approval. They had agreed, and had been waiting ever since. Now they were going to make their strike.

"Jo!" She yelled as she ran. "Tell the others!"

"They already know," her slug companion responded. "Hinata-san spotted them with her Byakkugan." Well, that was one less thing to worry about, at least.

"This mission just got a lot harder," she thought to herself.

* * *

Ino arrived in the overly large bedchamber to find that Hinata had positioned their charge in the back corner. It was the easiest place to defend, as it was small, only open to one direction, and away from windows or doors.

"Sakura is on her way," Jo informed her. It sounded like it was an afterthought to the slug, which annoyed the blonde kunoichi a great deal, but she said nothing; she merely nodded her comprehension.

"How close are they, Hinata?" she asked.

"They could be here any minute. I lost track of one - he's coming in through the castle. The other two are outside, coming up the walls."

"Great. Come on, Forehead Girl, hurry up!"

"Shut up, Ino-pig!" came a voice from the entrance. Ino could see no one.

"Sakura?" she questioned the darkness.

"Hai. I used Meimei no Jutsu so nobody infiltrating the castle could follow me here."

"Good idea," Ino smiled. "Keep it up. If they think we only have two, it'll increase our chances."

"Ino-san!" Hinata whispered loudly. "They're here!"

"Okay, go," the leader replied, making a jerking movement backward with her head. The dark-haired girl acknowledged the direction and leapt back, hiding in the corner on the ceiling directly above their charge. Then Ino saw three black-clad figures creep into the room: one came through the window, one through the door to the corridor, and one through an opening to the roof that she could not see. They crawled along the walls for a few seconds and then dropped, all facing Ino. They all wore masks and hoods, each having a hitai-ate with a tree on it over their foreheads. They all appeared to have masculine builds. They also each had a weapon or tool on their backs, but with the dim lighting and the dark colors, she couldn't make out what they were. A bad thing.

"So, he has protection," on of them said. "He has protection."

"Not much," said another. "Just one kunoichi."

"Don't be an idiot," the first one spoke again. "Are you a shinobi? For a protection mission like this, there will be others hidden in the shadows. Be on your guard."

"Why have you come to assassinate the Daimyo of Hokuni?" Ino asked in a defiant voice. She was feeling brave and competent for the most part, but a part of her was really wishing that Shikamaru and Chouji and Asuma-sensei were with her.

"Some people back home aren't happy with his diplomatic policies," the one that hadn't spoken yet answered. "Of course, if he willingly removes himself from power, we don't have to kill him." It was obvious the man was smirking. "But his wife comes along with us regardless."

"Y-you're from Mori no Kuni?" Urashima-dono asked.

"Be quiet!" Ino hissed from the corner of her mouth. Secretly, she was gathering the chakura for her strength-enhancing jutsu. She would have to do it without the seals, but hopefully it would be enough.

"That's right," the third one spoke.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves," the first one broke in. "Raku."

"Shaku."

"Bareru."

Each one took a small, mocking bow as he said his name.

"The elite oak triplets from the village hidden in the trees," said Raku. They couldn't be that elite, as Ino had never heard of them before. Still, that didn't mean they weren't at least jounin. This wasn't looking good at all. Then, the wheels that had been turning in her head since she'd left Kishimoto finally produced something. She had a plan, if they would let her use it. But the one thing that was bothering her was something Shikamaru always said. "Never go with `if.' Always have a backup plan in case `if' fails. And have a backup for that plan, too." She didn't have a backup, let alone two, so she had to go with `if.' And this `if' was a big one.

"Enough games!" Yelled Shaku. "Let's do what we came to do!" The three rushed at Ino, who barely had the time to react by dropping into a defensive stance. Suddenly, just as they were supposed to, Hinata and Sakura sprang into action. Hinata flew off the wall and landed a kick right on Bareru's jaw, sending him reeling across the room. Sakura had managed to sneak up behind Raku during the conversation and snapped his neck when he started to move, decreasing their number of enemies to two. Ino herself found herself in a taijutsu match against Shaku. All she needed was one good hit to send him flying just like his teammate. After a good ten seconds of sparring, she found an opening and landed a mighty punch in his gut, sending him crashing into the opposite wall. All three girls stood with triumphant grins on their faces.

"Was that the best that Kigakure has to offer?" Sakura mocked. She had become visible again.

"Actually, no," came a voice from right in front of them. It was Raku, whom Sakura had supposedly killed at the start of the battle. He was sitting up. "But we'll be more than enough to deal with you."

"What…how…" Sakura stammered.

"My brothers and I all wear special neck guards to prevent people from doing exactly what you tried to do," he said. He then sprung to his feet and flipped back to where his brothers were getting to theirs as well.

"Now that you've completely revealed yourselves, we can fight you seriously," Shaku said. "You didn't think I was that reckless, did you? My brother even warned me!"

Of course! Ino mentally smacked herself. He intentionally acted impetuous and pretended to underestimate them so that they would underestimate him. How could she be so stupid? She watched as the three of them each pulled the weapons from behind their backs. Bareru had tonfa. Shaku had a bo. Raku had a sword…no, wait. It was a bokken.

"A bokken!?" Ino exclaimed incredulously.

"Don't underestimate the power of a finely crafted wooden weapon. Our weapons are all carved from the strongest red oak in Kigakure. Our families' wooden weapons techniques are older than the village itself," Raku said calmly. "Now unless you were planning on surrendering, prepare to die. Ino felt her teammates drop into defensive stances, and she did as well. Then she spoke.

"Urashima-dono, we've been hired to protect you, and we will do so with our lives. However, in this situation I feel I should inform you that we will probably not win. Once these ninja kill us, they will kill you, too."

"Ino!"

"Ino-san!"

The blonde kunoichi quickly silenced her companions with a look. If this didn't work…

"If you willingly remove yourself from power, they will no longer be obligated to kill you. At this point, that is your best chance for survival."

"Chickening out, eh?" Shaku taunted. Ino ignored him. Hinata and Sakura still looked baffled, but remained silent.

"What are you saying to me, girl?" the cowering daimyo demanded. "Is this the best that the Konoha have to send to my aid?"

"We could have sent older, more experienced ninja if you weren't such a pervert and a pedophile," Ino jabbed with a twist of disgust in her voice.

"Now see here, young woman…!" the daimyo actually rose to his feet, but sat again after a threatening gesture from Bareru.

"I'd listen to your bodyguard," Raku said. His voice held a hint of…amusement? "Even the best ninja knows when a fight is gone. And we promise we won't kill you if you abdicate your power." He gave a sincere bow, and was mimicked by his brothers. On his way up, he winked at Ino.

She had to restrain herself or she would have gasped aloud. Did he…he must have! He'd figured out what she was doing, and was playing along!

Urashima-dono seemed to consider the options he was being presented with.

"Are you sure you can't beat them?" He asked Ino.

"We'll try," she said in what she hoped was an assuring voice. "But our best chance was what you just saw, and that didn't work."

Once again the man in the corner seemed to think hard on his decision, but the moment was interrupted by a commotion from the door.

"Urashima-dono!"

"Kishimoto-san! Don't!" Ino cried, but it was too late. The swordsman had dashed at the three tree ninjas, and with a whip of then end of his staff, Shaku sent a burst of air that pummeled into the young warrior and threw him into the wall. He did not get up.

"Kishimoto-san!" Sakura yelled out.

"Hinata!" Ino ordered.

"Hai!" The demure girl leapt over to the fallen warrior to assess him. The tree ninja did nothing to stop her.

"Fine," came a small voice from behind them.

"Nani?" Ino asked.

"I will abdicate my power. Kishimoto was a loyal servant, and I will not see him die for my sake if I can so easily prevent it. I abdicate my power and my title as of now, for his sake. Girl, if you can save him, I will give my title to him."

Needless to say, this surprised all three of the Konoha girls. Such a noble act was not to be expected from Urashima. It seemed that true loyalty was always repaid after all.

"He's bleeding internally, and he has a big bump on his head, but he should live," Hinata informed them. Ino could see she was performing the healing jutsu Tsunade had taught her.

"Very well then," said Raku casually. "We'll just be taking the mistress and be on our way."

"No!" Ino yelled, surprising everyone in the room - even Sakura, who had been about to do the same.

"Oh, what now?" Bareru demanded impatiently.

"Well, Erika-san is still the mistress of this castle, right?" Ino said, thinking quickly. She cast a furtive glance at Kishimoto, still on the floor. "She should stay here. Urashima-san, surely you would prefer one of the girls from the castle over an arrange political marriage anyway?" She was sweating nervously, and she could feel Raku watching her intently. She glanced at Kishimoto again.

"Yes, and I'm sure Kishimoto-san would allow that, after what you've given him," Sakura added, catching on. Urashima seemed to think this was a good idea, or at least sensed there was no point in arguing, because he said nothing.

"I suppose you're right," Raku said after a few moments of silence. "Erika-san was sent her for political reasons, after all. With a new daimyo here, it will be important to keep up relations."

"What?" Shaku blurted. "Raku, what are you doing?"

"Be quiet, you idiot," Ino heard him mumble to his brother. Ino allowed herself a small grin. Once again this guy had figured out what she was doing and was helping her out. He was very observant, and quick on the uptake. He reminded her of someone…

"He's awake!" Hinata exclaimed. All in the room looked over to where Kishimoto was now in a sitting position. He looked a little dazed, but otherwise all right.

"Er, Kishimoto-san," Urashima said, "there is something I must discuss with you." He walked over to his former servant and helped him to his feet, and the two left the room. This left just the six ninja, and Ino felt she had to say something to the Ki nin who had helped her out so much. She needed to thank him or something. She made to go over to him, but found he was coming to her instead.

"I like your style," he said bluntly. His eyes gave away his grin.

"Nani?"

"It was obvious what you were doing, even if my two idiot brothers couldn't see it. You knew as well as I did that Urashima was a poor daimyo, but you couldn't go against your mission. So you had him remove himself, avoided a fight, and accomplished your mission all at once. And - if I'm not mistaken - helped out a pair of lovers as well, am I right?"

Ino was flabbergasted. "How did you know all that?"

"I was trained to be especially observant of people's actions. When the context of a situation is factored in, it's often an easy matter to discern a person's true motives. And you were watching that samurai when you were insisting on Erika-san staying here. I think even Bareru caught on to that. Of course Shaku wouldn't notice anything, the dense brute." He chuckled. Ino looked over to where the two aforementioned shinobi were holding a conversation with her own teammates. Shaku seemed to be putting some moves on Hinata, who in turn seemed none to comfortable about it. She chuckled as well.

"No, he doesn't seem like the observant type." Then she thought of something. "When he came in and noticed me, was he just pretending not to know there were others here to put us off-guard, or was he serious?"

"You know, I really don't know," said Raku, putting a finger to his chin. "It wouldn't shock me at all if he was serious, since that's exactly the kind of thing he would overlook, but he can surprise even me with his tactics every once in a while."

"Well, thank you for all of your help," Ino said. "You certainly didn't have to do anything to help me at all, and I really appreciate it."

"Don't mention it," Raku said. "You're a very capable and compassionate woman…Ino-san, was it?" She nodded. "And you seem to me to be a fine shinobi and leader. I hope you'll pardon me for making this comment, but you'll make someone very happy someday." For some reason she couldn't fathom, Ino blushed slightly. "Or maybe you have already," Raku finished in a quiet, chuckling tone.

"Shaku! Bareru! We're finished! It's time to leave and report back to the village!"

"Hai!" They said in unison. They said goodbye to Hinata and Sakura (who didn't seem to mind that they were leaving) as Raku waved to Ino over his shoulder and the three of them were gone.

"That was some plan, Ino!" Sakura congratulated her friend. "I was really lost on what you were doing there for a while! Great work!"

"Hai," Hinata agreed. "I think even Shikamaru-san would be proud of you for that plan, Ino-san."

Ino blushed some more as she laughed and scratched the back of her head in a very Naruto-like gesture.

"Thanks," she managed. "Let's go see how our new happy couple is doing, ne?" And they left the room to seek out the new daimyo of Hokuni.

* * *

"Sayonara, Ino-san, Sakura-san, Hinata-san!" Kishimoto-dono waved from the front gate of his castle. He had his arm around Erika-san, who was also waving and smiling as she leaned into his shoulder. "Thank you for everything that you've done for us!"

The three of them waved back, and then turned and headed into the forest to make the day and a half journey home. It had all turned out well. Erika's marriage to Urashima had been annulled and she was going to remarry Kishimoto-dono. Urashima had been given a large house and some land on the edge of Hi no Kuni as a reward/compensation for stepping down willingly. He'd managed to convince one of the young girls from the castle to come with him and marry him, though none of the Konoha girls could figure out how. And, when the situation had called for it, each of them had been able to use their new techniques. Not to the full potential, but it was a start.

The trip home was uneventful. Truthfully, they just wanted to get back and sleep in their own beds again. They were all hoping that the boys would be back, but knew it was unlikely. Kiba and Shino had most likely finished the mission they'd been assigned, but were probably out on another one by now. And the other team had probably just had time to settle in up in Koori no Kuni. Still, the site of the massive gates of Konohagakure were a welcome sight indeed to the three kunoichi when they finally arrived.

When they entered the village, they ran right into Chouji, who was in the middle of giving a lecture to some first-year academy students on the importance of guard duty.

"Chouji!" Ino exclaimed excitedly. Hinata and Sakura appeared pleased to see a friendly face as well.

"Hey, you're back!" Chouji exclaimed almost as enthusiastically - it was hard to be as enthusiastic as Ino. "How was your mission?"

"Oh, Kami, don't ask," Ino said in an exasperated tone. "Has anyone else come back yet?" She asked hopefully.

"Well, Shikamaru's group isn't back, and we don't know when they will be. But Kiba and Shino came back about a week ago, and Kiba was looking pretty bad."

"NANI?" Hinata yelled. She was no longer the weary, glad-to-be-home person she had been a moment ago. She was now fully alert and her breathing was even accelerated.

"Yeah," said Chouji dejectedly. "He was hurt really bad. I haven't seen anything like it since…well, since we went after Sasuke. Shino carried him back just like that Kankuro guy did that time. He was really pale and had a big hole in his stomach. Hokage-sama has been working on him whenever she gets a chance since. Shizune-sama is with him the rest of the time."

"I need to go!" Hinata announced, and ran off as fast as she could toward the hospital. No one tried to stop her.

"So…is Tsunade-sama in her office now?" Ino asked. "Sakura and I need to give her our report, and tell her there's a new daimyo."

"Nani? A new daimyo?"

"It's a long story, Chouji-kun," Sakura said. "We'll explain later."

"Well, okay. Yeah, she should be in her office now."

"Arigatou, Chouji," Ino said. "We'll catch up tomorrow after your class gets out."

"Hai."

So Ino and Sakura delivered their report, leaving out a few details. Tsunade seemed amused and somewhat pleased when she heard of the political change, and she was glad they left on good terms with the tree ninja. Konoha had been at peace with Kigakure for fifty years, and it would have been a shame to destroy that.

After that, they were given some time off, as well as a pay bonus for "beyond satisfactory performance in a mission." Or something like that. So they had two weeks to rest and enjoy being home, and then they started getting guard duty. Well, Sakura and Ino, anyway. Hinata refused to leave the hospital until Kiba was in at least stable condition, and she was helping Shizune-sama care for him while learning some new medical techniques at the same time.

Anyway, Sakura and Ino had been added to the guard detail after a few of the guards had been promoted to jounin and sent on more important missions. It was a trifle boring, but they welcomed such a mission after their previous one. Then one day a few weeks into it, they received a shock. Two familiar figures were walking down the path to the gate. The two girls were on the ground rather than the wall, so the two figures were fairly close to them when they noticed.

"Is that…?" Ino asked. She wanted to run up and find out, but that would be abandoning her post.

"I think it is!" Sakura proclaimed excitedly.

Sure enough, Shikamaru walked up to them a minute later, supporting a very tired and fairly battered Naruto.

"Oi!" the lazy ninja shouted when he was close enough.

"Shikamaru!" Ino shouted.

"Naruto!" echoed Sakura. Forgetting all regulations, the two girls ran up to their friends, wondering if they should attempt a hug. One look at how much Naruto was depending on Shikamaru for his current vertical status told them that would have to wait for later.

"Oi, Sakura-chan," the blonde ninja greeted weekly. "G-gomen." Then he passed out, leaving a very confused Sakura wondering what he was apologizing for.

"Where are the others?" Ino asked Shikamaru.

"Back in Yukigakure, finalizing a treaty the snow nin are drawing up. Well, they're probably finished and on their way back by now."

"But why are you two back early?" Sakura pressed. "And what happened to Naruto? You obviously didn't fight the snow nin if the others were working on a treaty with them."

The answer they received was one that neither girl was expecting, and could never have been prepared for.

"We ran into Sasuke."

* * * * *

Ooodelaly, but that was a long chapter. Longer than I originally intended to be sure. Can you imagine if it was combined with the previous chapter like I'd planned in the first place? Yeesh.

Anyway, fret not, fans of the tree nin, for I like them and just might bring them back. I was originally going to have them fight the girls, but the outline for this chapter got changed a lot. Erika was originally going to be the villain and Urashima the good guy. Kishimoto was still the loyal servant/lover. In effect, his role didn't change at all. His ending did, though. ^_^

I was really looking forward to that end line, though. Like I said, that was one of the things I had planned from the start. Seriously. That whole scene and that line - verbatim - have been in my head since before I even started writing this.

Note: The honorific "-dono" has both pre-modern and modern connotations. Since Naruto seems to be a mix of both, I didn't know whether to use it or "-sama" when referring to the feudal lord. In the end, as you are well aware, I went with "-dono." If get serious complaints about it and someone can come up with a good reason why I should change it, I will.

And lastly, I mentioned it above and I will mention it again:

The way things are set up in the castle are obviously not in line with historical Japan. Since this is common in Naruto, that was intentional. I would appreciate it if I didn't get a bunch of reviews and emails telling me I got the samurai/daimyo system all wrong. Since it has now been said twice, if you see anyone commenting on it in a review, feel free to call them an idiot.

Mori no Kuni - Forest Country

Kigakure - Village hidden in the trees

Koori no Kuni - Ice Country

Hi no Kuni - Fire Country

As always, if there's any I forgot, let me know and I'll add them.