40

Chapter 40: A Job Not Finished

Naruto once more found himself sitting in seiza position within the room that he had first met Mōsō. Just like last time, said man was sitting before him, his happy smile etched upon his plump looking face. This man really did remind the blond Uzumaki of a clown or jester with that smile.

"I would like to thank you on behalf of Tori no Kuni for solving the mystery of the Cursed Warrior," Mōsō was saying. At least, that's what the blond thought he was saying. Naruto was only paying half attention to the man. He had already heard this spiel before back in Nami no Kuni after the battle on the bridge. He hadn't felt like listening to anybody's platitudes then, he didn't feel like listening to them now. Albeit, for different reasons.

Sitting beside Mōsō was none other than Chishima, the guy who even now kind of reminded Naruto of a puppy. The fact that he was looking at Mōsō like he was the sole center of the universe really only hammered that fact home.

Really, sometimes he wondered about that guy.

'Naruto...'

'Right. Focusing.'

"You're welcome," Naruto responded automatically simply to be polite. Ugh, diplomacy. The one reason he might actually rethink his decision to be Hokage. It wasn't necessarily that he minded diplomacy per se, just that he didn't like having to actually think about what he was going to say before he spoke. If people got insulted or offended by what he said, that was there problem. They should learn to be more secure about themselves and take his words with a grain of salt, dammit! "I'm just glad I was able to figure things out so quickly and before anyone else was seriously hurt."

"And you did a marvelous job," Mōsō continued heaping on the praise. Really, didn't this guy know when enough was enough? "Chomei has already made his confession. It seems the Cursed Warrior was all a ploy to stir up unrest from the public so he could seize the Daimyo's throne."

'Naruto...'

'I know.'

"I'm surprised you managed to get a confession out of him so soon," Naruto rubbed his chin in a look of thoughtful contemplation. "I mean, it's only been a few hours since I brought him in." He sighed. "And here I was thinking he would have held out a little longer."

"Well, Chomei has always been more of a tactician than a warrior," Mōsō answered with that damnable smile. Was there ever a time when this guy was not smiling? "I suspect he realized that once we managed to bring out all the evidence, he would have no chance of stealing the throne. In this case, simply admitting to his wrongdoings will earn him a lighter sentence."

Which essentially meant that instead of outright executing him, they would allow him to commit seppuku. Basically they were going to let the guy commit ritualistic suicide by disemboweling himself in front of a group of witnesses. Not exactly what Naruto would call a consolation prize.

So much for lighter sentences.

"So the bad guys been caught and it looks like peace will soon return to Tori no Kuni," Naruto hummed.

"Indeed," Mōsō stood up from where he sat and walked over to the open shoji screen doors so that he could gaze upon the land outside of his humble home. "Peace will come to this beautiful country now that the terror and unrest Chomei tried to set upon our society is gone. And with it, your mission is now complete." The man turned his head, offering Naruto that ridiculously large close eyed smile. "I hope you have a safe journey home."

"Thank you," Naruto said, standing up along with Chishima as the meeting between himself and the odd fat man concluded. With those last pleasantries finished, Naruto found himself walking back to the room he had been allowed to stay in. It was a small room, with the only equipment inside being the futon he had set out and a couple of scrolls he normally carried with him at all times.

As Naruto knelt down and began rolling up his futon, Kyuubi decided to contact him.

'So what do you plan on doing now?'

'I'll leave a kage bunshin here to keep an eye on things,' Naruto told his tenant, withstanding the urge to shrug his shoulders. 'That Chishima tends to get himself in trouble from what I've seen, and there's definitely something up about that Mōsō character that I don't like. Maybe because he smiles too much. Anyways, my clone will be an eye on them both. In the meantime, I'll need to do a little investigating of my own.'

'I don't see why you're doing this in such a roundabout way,' Kyuubi huffed, and though he could not see her, he knew she was crossing her arms under her chest and glaring. 'If it were me, I would have just killed him.'

'If it were you, you probably would have squashed him flat. Along with the rest of the village,' Naruto countered.

'Hmph!'

Chuckling a bit at having managed to pull one over on the red head sealed inside of him, Naruto finished sealing his futon into the scroll he used for camping supplies.

He stood up, pocketing his scrolls and looking ready to begin his journey home. It was in that moment that Chishima walked in, carrying a box wrapped in a light blue cloth. Naruto's nose told him it was some kind of food, or at least something that smelled vaguely like food.

"Yo, Chishima," Naruto greeted. "Did you need something?"

"No," Chishima shook his head. "I'm actually here because I wanted to thank you. You've done so much for my country and Sagi-Sama that I don't know how I could ever repay you, and I can't help but feel bad that we weren't able to pay you the amount that missions like this would have normally cost." He held out the box for Naruto to take. "It isn't much, but I wanted you to have this as a token of my appreciation."

"Ah, well, thank you," Naruto looked at the box curiously, his nose twitching as the unusual scent got stronger. "So, um, what's in the box?"

"A local delicacy," Chishima said with a bright smile on his face. Naruto felt dread welling up in his stomach. "Bean Jam stuffed wings."

Within his mind, Naruto got an image of a very skinny looking bird wing with little to no actually substance stuffed to the brim with bean jam inside. It wasn't the prettiest picture he'd ever seen. Just how anyone could actually enjoy the full and meaty taste of bird wings and the sweet taste of bean jam combined was beyond him.

This was, of course, neglecting the fact that the bird wings of Tori no Kuni seemed to lack much of the meat that made wings taste good.

'That does not sound pleasant at all. I hope you don't decide to eat any of those, because I am so not going to be helping you with indigestion if you do.'

'Ugh, what makes you think I would eat those?'

….

….

'Do you really need to ask?'

Naruto's eye twitched.

'Shut up, Kyuubi.'

"Naruto-san, are you alright?" asked Chishima in concern as he saw Naruto's right eye twitching violently.

"I'm fine," Naruto said, his right eye still twitching. He could hear Kyuubi snickering in his mind as he tried to gracefully accept the... gift, bestowed upon him by the well meaning, if naïve man. "Thank you. I'm sure I'll be able to make good use of this on my journey home." Maybe he could use it to feed the birds?

Chishima smiled in obviously relief. Maybe he thought Naruto would refuse? Well, he wanted to, but it wouldn't have been polite if he did. And Chishima was an upstanding guy, even if he was naïve. He didn't want to hurt the man's feelings.

"Thank you very much. I wish you luck on your journey."

Yeah, luck. As if he needed luck.

Naruto smiled as he stood on a ledge overlooking Tori no Kuni, just taking a moment to get some rest in before he headed off towards his destination. It really was a beautiful scene. The small village looked like nothing more than a bunch of tiny dots to represent buildings, their more earthen colors offset by the blue lines that signified the rivers running through the town. And the village was nestled into a surprisingly dense forest with just the right combination of lakes and clearings to give off the mood of a country at one with nature. It may not have anything on Konoha, but Tori no Kuni definitely possessed a beauty of it's own.

"Well, time to head home, I guess," Naruto said to himself, seeing as there was no one around for him to talk to.

Patting down his holsters, Naruto made an about face in order to turn himself towards the road. Without any fanfare, the young shinobi shot forward, running along the dirt road that would take him out of the country.

As the blond disappeared down the road, part of a large stone sitting on the side began to shift and morph. two shapes emerged from the stone. They were both human. One was large and stocky, with what looked like a wide brimmed hat. The other was thin, but possessing what looked like a large coat of some kind that went down to it's knees.

The human like figures with rock-like skin attributes began to change even more. The many gray hues of rock that made up their skin shifted into colors. It soon became clear that the two figures were, in fact, human.

Both figures were male. The stocky looking one had a face that was just as blocky as his body, with a square jaw and nose and black eyes. He was wearing a drab gray poncho that wrapped around his torso and covered much of his upper body, a pair of tan pants that looked more like a sack that had been cut into pants and was tied around his waist by a piece of cloth. On his head was a wide brimmed hat, his feet were strapped into a standard pair of waraji, and wrapped around his wrists were a pair of gray bands.

The other figure was indeed wearing a coat of some kind, a long, tan colored haori that opened at the front to reveal a nagajuban (1) that was tied together with a black obi. His pants consisted of a pair of gray hakama that closed around his ankles by the fish net wraps he was wearing. This mans hair was a light blue, and had a single string that looked more like it was used more for decoration than anything else. He had one large bang framing his face on the left side, and a smaller one framing his face on the right, allowing his larger than average black eyes and slightly more feminine features to be visible.

"Hmm. It looks like the interloper is finally leaving," the blue haired one spoke.

The blocky guy did not look over at his companion, but responded all the same. "Do you want me to follow him?"

"No, that's alright. You go on and report back. I'll follow him and make sure he leaves the border."

"Right."

The two shinobi soon disappeared, one heading back to Tori no Kuni while the other made to follow Naruto, leaving the small roadside empty once again.

Mōsō smiled as he sat in his quarters, idling drinking tea. It was the same smile he had worn during his meeting with that blond brat, Naruto. Yet for some reason, the look on his face was not mirthful or joyous like the one that had been presented to Naruto. This one seemed to be more malicious, malignant, and just plain evil.

Considering he still looked like a clown the evil effect was ruined, but it was the thought that counted.

Bringing the tea back down to his face, Mōsō's eyes caught site of a figure kneeling upon his ceiling from the reflection on the teas surface. The figure turned out to be the same blocky ninja that he had sent to follow Naruto along with his other subordinate. He hoped that meant what he thought it meant.

"Your report?"

"The Konoha shinobi has been seen crossing the border," the blocky ninja reported dutifully. "It appears he is heading back towards Konoha."

"Good. Very good."

Everything was going according to plan. Chomei had been convicted of a crime he did not commit and was going to be committing Seppuku some time today after he listed off the man's crimes to a crowd of citizens and defaced him in front of the public. And soon, the Cursed Warrior would also be dealt with. Yes, everything was going exactly as he intended.

"You are dismissed."

The shinobi kneeling on his ceiling bowed his head before disappearing, leaving Mōsō to drink his tea in peace.

Neither of them noticed the tiny mouse hidden underneath the tatami mats, listening to every word that had just been spoken.

Mōsō also didn't notice the puff of smoke that appeared when the rat was dispelled.

'Hoh?' Naruto turned his head in the direction of Mōsō's home, his eyes gaining a contemplative look. 'So the fat man is the one behind all of this? Or at least, he's the one controlling the ninja that had been sent to kill Sagi. I suppose I should have expected this.'

'I'm still not sure why you didn't just kill him when you had the chance,' always quick to give her opinion, Kyuubi spoke up from where she was most likely lounging around her bed in the seal. 'We already knew he was a ninja. You might not be a sensor type, but you have enough aptitude in sensing chakra to feel how much he has. That man's only got the equivalent of what you humans call a Chunin. You could have slaughtered him by now.'

'I could have,' Naruto conceded, 'but I knew he wasn't working alone, but I don't know how many ninja he is working with,' he answered patiently as he turned back around. He was standing outside of the small wooden hut that he had caught Chomei and the Cursed Warrior at last night. Since he had no leads on where he should go from here to discover the Cursed Warrior's identity, this was the only place he thought of to come. 'Plus I don't know if he's the one in charge, or just an underling doing the dirty work for his boss.'

'Ha...' Kyuubi gave a monumental sigh. 'Ok, I suppose I could see why you wouldn't just turn the fat one into a bloody smear on the wall. I still don't like it. You're my vessel. As far as I'm concerned, that makes you my avatar for this world since I can no longer take part in it. How are you supposed to generate a proper amount of fear in humanity if you pussy foot around like this.'

Naruto rolled his eyes. Of course Kyuubi would be thinking in terms like that. How could he have ever thought she would think any differently?

'You don't have to like it,' Naruto responded a touch dryly. 'And I am not your avatar. I just have the misfortune of having you sealed inside of me.'

'Misfortune?' Uh oh. There was something dangerous in Kyuubi's voice. And not the normal kind of danger, this was Danger with an emphasis on the D. 'Am I really that horrendous that you think having me sealed inside of you is so horrible, Na-ru-to-kun?'

As Kyuubi spoke, her voice taking on a hint of seductive overtones, an image came unbidden into Naruto's mind. An image of Kyuubi, completely naked, with her nine tails around her as the only things covering her modesty, and they weren't doing the best of jobs as there was far too much skin being shown. Really, the only thing he couldn't see were her nipples and her sex.

Naruto's face burned, it burned so hotly that the blond was sure sticking it in the sun would have cooled it down. He honestly wouldn't be surprised if he found out that steam was pouring from his ears that was how hot his face was getting. The blood that had begun dripping down his nose didn't help.

'N-Not now, Kyuubi,' Naruto wiped at his nose, grimacing as he did so, his face still a mass of mottled red. 'I need to focus.'

Kyuubi huffed. 'Fine, fine. Go do your ninja thing. I'll just sit here, doing nothing, being bored. Pay me no mind.'

Naruto rolled his eyes. Sometimes that woman could be so over dramatic.

Frowning, Naruto looked around the clearing that contained the little, broken down wooden shrine. This was where he had ran into the Cursed Warrior, twice he might add. There had to be something about this place that was special.

Looking around, there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary. At least at first glance. A closer look however, showed Naruto something that anyone who was not a ninja probably would have missed.

'Are those kites?'

'Looks like it. They're all black. How... unsightly.'

The pair found themselves looking at what appeared to be several kites that had been combined together in order to form one very large kite. The kites were all diamond shaped, and painted black. They were currently hanging from a tree that they seemed to have gotten snagged on. Naruto was surprised no one had come to pick them up.

'Well, at least now we know how the Cursed Warrior was able to fly. He used these kites, and since their black, they blended into the night, essentially making them invisible.'

'The things you humans come up with to accomplish something beyond your nature.'

'We can't all be powerful spiritual entities made entirely from youki.'

'Very true. I'm so glad you've finally admitted to my superiority over you apes.'

Naruto ignored Kyuubi's words. She was probably just bitter about being sealed inside one of those 'apes' as she called humans by another 'ape'. That woman could carry a grudge with the best of them.

Deciding there was nothing more that could be learned from the outside, Naruto figured it was high time he took a look inside.

Walking into the shrine, the first thing Naruto noticed was that the place was empty. There was absolutely nothing there. The ground was covered in a thick layer of dust, the walls were barren. There was nothing to indicate that anyone, Cursed Warrior or otherwise, had ever used the ramshackle shrine before.

Of course, that just made the place even more suspicious to Naruto. That there wasn't even a footprint when he had seen the Cursed Warrior come out of this very shrine not but a day ago was enough to make anyone paranoid.

'There's a breeze coming through here.'

'I know,' Naruto looked around, his eyes narrows as a soft breeze ruffled his hair. He walked further into the room, trying to determine where the breeze was coming from. 'It's coming from below us.'

Kneeling down, Naruto began groping along the ground until he found where the breeze was coming from. A small crack in the floor. The dirt covered it well, but not well enough to mask the breeze coming through the floor. There was a secret entrance right there, and Naruto aimed to uncover it.

Pulling out a kunai from the seal written on his hand, Naruto spun the tiny implement around by the ring before grabbing it in a firm grip with the blade pointed down. He found it almost ironic that he was about to use the kunai for a purpose that was close to the original one it had been created for, rather than the ones ninja used them for.

After stabbing the kunai into the crevice several times, Naruto finally discovered the reason there was a breeze. A set of wooden doors that were often found outside of houses that led to the basement were embedded into the floor. Undoubtedly, this was why the Cursed Warrior always came back to this place after terrorizing the town. It was likely that this trap door led to the place where the Cursed Warrior was quartered up in.

Naruto was quick to pry his hands in between the doors and pulled them up. The hinges creaked a bit, showing they were old, but it was a lot quieter than he would have expected. Someone had been oiling these hinges recently.

With the doors lifted, Naruto saw the passage they revealed beneath them. A set of decrepit stairs descended into darkness. It was only thanks to Naruto's enhanced vision that he could see through the darkness creeping up from the depths of the passage way.

Curiosity got the better of him as he wondered where this passage would lead to. Taking the plunge, Naruto began walking down the stairs and into the darkness that engulfed the passageway.

'I hate being in the dark like this.'

Naruto raised his eyebrow at the strange inflection in the young looking woman's voice.

'Oh? So even the great Kyuubi has something she fears?'

'I do not fear the dark!' Though Naruto could not see her, he could practically feel the scowl she was giving him. Were she able to physically manifest herself outside of the seal, the blond was sure she would be drilling a hole through his head with her eyes at that moment. 'I just dislike the feeling of claustrophobia I get whenever I'm in dark, enclosed spaces. I am the Kyuubi no Yoko. Do not forget that. I enjoy open spaces and freedom.'

That was the whole reason she hated humans so much. They were the ones who took her freedom away, locking her up in a cage so they could use her powers for their own purposes. Oh sure, they might say it's because they thought she was too dangerous to let go, but she knew otherwise. Humans were greedy and selfish. They wanted power, and they didn't care if they forced others into servitude and slavery to acquire it.

'Well, I suppose that makes sense,' Naruto admitted. 'I know I would hate to have my freedom taken away like that.' Really, it did kind of put a whole new perspective on his perception of the woman who was sealed into him. She actually seemed to have a reason for not liking humans. The blond could only imagine how he would feel if he was locked away behind steal bars.

Eventually, Naruto reached the end of the tunnel. Frowning, the blond looked at the dead up before switching his gaze up towards the ceiling. There was a small square patch that was textured differently than the rest. Where most of the ceiling was dirt packed together and filled with rocks, this part of the ceiling looked like cement.

'A way out?'

'There's only one way to find out.'

Naruto nodded, climbing up the wall using chakra until he was 'standing' above the potential exit. The square patch that might very well lead to the outside world was small, he noted, only big enough to fit maybe someone a few inches wider than him. Just how did someone wearing all that armor fit through this?

Shrugging the thoughts away, the blond put his hands against the cement and pushed. Whatever the thing was, it was a bit on the heavy side. Nothing he couldn't handle of course, but something noteworthy. He pushed the object up and then began sliding the panel away, allowing sunlight to filter in through the hole. This was definitely the way out.

Grinning, the blond looked at his new surroundings, pleased to be out of that stupid passage. He was surrounded by a lot of greenery, mostly shrubs, but there were a few trees as well. The one thing he noticed the most was the large building he was next to. It was much more majestic than the rest of the buildings in Tori no Kuni, and it was familiar to him, even if he had only seen it from a distance.

'That's the Daimyo's residence.'

Within the confines of his mind, Kyuubi chuckled.

'If that isn't damning evidence I don't know what is.'

'Now, now. Let's not be too hasty. There may be a perfectly logical explanation as to why there is a secret passage that the Cursed Warrior just so happens to be using that is near the Daimyo's palace. This could be part of the plot to implicate the Daimyo should Mōsō plans to implicate Chomei not work out.'

'Do you really believe that?'

….

….

'Thought so.'

'Let's at least check things out before we jump to conclusion, ne?' Naruto asked with a slight sigh. It wasn't that he didn't agree with his tenant, because really, this was just too suspicious to be a coincidence and not even the most paranoid people would believe his previous proposal. Still, things never turned out well when someone made a conclusion about a situation that ended up being wrong. False assumptions led to death.

Anko had driven that into his head quite painfully.

A loud splash caught his attention.

'What was that?'

Looking over to the side, Naruto saw a large bamboo fence blocking off a large section of the area. Frowning, the blond Uzumaki carefully moved forward, using all his stealth skills, which were quite considerable, to not make a noise. He eventually reached the fence and leaned in to see what the noise was.

What he saw was... honestly not that surprising.

The first thing he noticed was steam. A lot of steam. So this was an open air bath than. Made sense. This was the Daimyo's palace.

The second thing he saw were the beautiful surroundings. The placid water that had steam rising up from it, the small waterfall that seemed to be recycling the water, or maybe bringing it in from an underground hotspring.

The last thing he took note of, which was really the first thing he took note of, was the naked woman washing herself. He couldn't see much of her because her back was turned to him, but what he could see showed that whoever this woman was, she was incredibly gorgeous.

Naruto's face began to redden as his eyes gazed at the small, shapely rear that was just barely visible above the waters surface. It sloped into an elegant backside that was surprisingly toned. Slender shoulders and a graceful neck were visible as the woman's long hair was currently parted at the base of her neck and moving down her front.

He watched as she lifted the pale filled with water and her left hand and used it to wash herself, dumping the water on her back. Naruto felt himself gulp as he saw adventurous droplets of water trail a sinful path down the woman's back, right before he jerked himself away from the sight, doing his best to keep steam from pouring out of his ears.

'Dammit! I shouldn't be peeping on girls like this!' Naruto cried out within his mind. 'That's ero-sensei's job! I'm not a pervert!'

'Could have fooled me.'

Naruto was about to snap a quick retort at Kyuubi when he paused.

'Are you ok?'

'Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?'

'I don't know. You just sounded... a little odd. Are you sure your ok?'

'I am perfectly fine. Now why don't you focus on what we came here to do.'

Naruto frowned. Maybe it was just him, but Kyuubi sounded a tad different than she usually did...

Whatever. It was probably just his imagination playing tricks on him.

Walking down one of the many narrow hallways in the Daimyo's palace, a young woman strode forward unimpeded. Her hair, tied into a tight not on top of her head and hidden by the Daimyo's hat, was a lustrous black and her eyes were just as dark. She had pale, snow white skin and soft lips that were set into a hard frown. Her figure was hidden under several layers worth of clothing, masking her gender from everyone, even her personal bodyguards that were stationed around the palace.

The young woman had the look of someone whose heart had long since hardened, her mind stuck in the past, constantly replaying the reason she had taken up the role that should have been her brothers.

Tears leaked from her eyes as she stared at the prone figure of her brother. Her mind was left reeling as she tried to come to terms with what had happened, with what the empty husk she now saw laying before her, but found she could not.

"Sagi..."

How could this have happened? Her brother couldn't be dead. Not now. He was supposed to be the Daimyo and rule over their people. He was supposed to be here with her, protecting her just like he had promised to always do.

"Why? Why did you have to leave me? Why did you leave me all alone?"

As tears continued to spill from her eyes, Toki fell forward, her face burying itself on the thick, quilted blanket covering her brother's dead body. She cried tears of anguish into the quilt, soaking it in her sorrow.

"I can't lose you," she choked out through her sobs. "Please don't leave me! Please!"

It just wasn't fair. First her father died and now her brother, who had been her best friend in the whole world, was dead as well. Why? Why couldn't she been the one who was taken? She didn't want to live without her brother. She couldn't.

She couldn't take it. She just couldn't take the pain of losing both her brother and father. Grabbing the kaiken she always had hidden within the sleeves of her kimono in case she needed to defend herself, Toki raised the blade to her throat, more than prepared to end her life. It was the only way she could see to end her pain, to stop the gaping wound of loss she felt at her brother's and father's death. And maybe, just maybe, she would be able to join them wherever they were. She hoped so. She wanted to see them again.

Just as she was about to plunge the knife into her throat she was stopped by a hand. Startled, Toki opened the eyes she had closed, only to gasp in shock when she saw what had stopped her.

It was her brother. Only, he wasn't quite her brother. He was pale, translucent. Like a ghost.

Toki looked down at the futon to see the body of her brother still laid out on it, then turned her gaze towards the ghost of her brother.

"S-Sagi," she stuttered, her emotions inverting upon themselves as shock settled over her fair features. The shock she felt was not just from her brother's death now, but also from seeing his ghost. "W-What are you –? How did you –?" despite making an attempt to, Toki couldn't seem to articulate the questions she wanted to ask the ghostly form of her brother. Would he even answer? Could he answer?

The ghost of her brother held one of her hands in his, while his other hand reached down and grabbed something laying by the futon. Gently, he placed it in her hand, removing his own so she could see what he had given her.

It was a pocket watch, a very old pocket watch made of silver and bronze. Toki recognized it almost immediately. The pocket watch was a family heirloom that had been handed down from father to son for generations.

Why had he given this to her? Was this some kind of symbol? Was he trying to tell her something? She looked down at the watch again. It was broken now, she noticed. The hands had stopped moving.

Toki looked back up at her brother's pale face, her eyes narrowing in determination as she realized what she had to do. What her brother was telling her to do.

"I promise, your murder will be avenged. Then time will pass once again for you, whose hands were stilled too soon."

This was the only thing she could do, Toki realized as she began to don the outfit her brother had once worn. In order to allow her brother to rest peacefully, she needed to avenge his death by killing the one who murdered him. Then and only then would time finally begin to move again and she could pass on to be with her brother and father once more.

That had been the day where time began to stand still for her, and until she had her vengeance against the one who murdered her brother, she would never be free.

Maybe that was why she felt so unsatisfied with how Mōsō planned on having Chomei executed. How was she supposed to get her vengeance if someone else killed the one responsible for the death of her brother?

Which was why she had no intentions of letting Mōsō or anyone else kill Chomei. That was her responsibility. Her right. She was the only one who was allowed to kill him. It was the only way her thirst for vengeance would be sated. The only way she could force time to start moving again.

Making her way down the hall, Toki slid the shoji door opened to her room, shutting it behind and her walking deeper into the room where she would begin getting dressed for the Cursed Warrior's last debut.

Only to freeze when she saw there was someone else in the room.

"You!" she said in shock. There, sitting on her bed was that annoying blond boy who had the gall to call her an asshole. And now he was here in her room!? Sitting on her bed!? Such insolence! "What are you doing here!? How did you get passed the guards!?"

"Uh... hello, ninja," Naruto said, pointing to himself an unrepentant grin sitting on his face. That look only served to piss Toki off more. "And I came here because I needed to talk to you, Mr. Cursed Warrior-san. Or should I say, Ms. Cursed Warrior-san?"

Toki's eyes widened in shock. He knew?

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Toki tried to play off her shock and anxiety with a scoff and some anger, both of which she directed towards the blond. "Now get out of here before I call the guards and have you killed for breaking and entering into my palace!"

"Come now," Naruto's grin got even wider. "You may be able to fool everyone else, but you can't fool me." The blond sniffed the air. "Mmm... lavender and lilac. Not a very manly scent, is it?"

Toki gaped at the blond. That was how he had discovered she wasn't a male? Her scent? Toki felt like cursing. How could she have been so stupid as to neglect something as basic as changing her scent. Such a thing had never even occurred to her in the past.

Then again, she hadn't really expected to meet anyone capable of sniffing out the subtle aroma of her perfume. She didn't even know ninja were capable of doing that. Or was this one different?

"So you found out," there was no use hiding it from this boy. If he could actually smell that she was not a man than lying would do little good.

"Wasn't that hard," Naruto thumbed his nose, the vulpine grin still on his face. He really looked like he was enjoying himself. That was something she would have to rectify soon. "The moment we first met and I caught your scent, I knew you weren't a man. No self respecting male would wear perfume, especially one with such a feminine smell."

"It doesn't matter," Toki unsheathed the kaiken hidden within her kimono. She regretted not having her katana or naginata with her, but then again, maybe that was a good thing. Those two weapons were much longer, and while they provided her more reach, they would be difficult to swing in these enclosed quarters. "Now that you know, I can't allow you to live."

There was nothing left for her to say. Everything that needed to be said had been said, and now all that was left to do was kill this stupid boy for being foolish enough to interfere in her affairs.

She closed the distance between them as quickly as she could, her kaiken coming up to stab Naruto in the chest. It was her hope to end this as quickly as possible. She could not afford to dally here.

Sadly, Naruto proved to be a much more formidable foe than she had imagined. The blond quickly fell backwards, dodging the attack as he rolled off her bed on the other side and got back to his feet.

"Oh, not bad, not bad," Naruto said, his tone playful and teasing. She wished she could wipe that smirk off his face. "You're pretty quick on your feet, Hime, but you should know that your pretty much moving at a snails pace in my eyes."

Toki nearly snarled as she jumped on the bed and tried to slash out Naruto's left eye. A kaiken was not a weapon made for slashing, being such a short bladed sword. They were mainly used for stabbing, but that didn't mean they couldn't easily slice an eye out if given the chance.

Naruto was not going to allow her that chance. Quick as whip, the blond stepped to the left and twisted his body, letting the blade pass him by a few inches. This girl was quick, but she didn't have the ability to enhance her body with chakra like a ninja or those Samurai in Tetsu no Kuni did.

Lashing out with his right hand, Naruto knocked the kaiken from Toki's grip. The startled girl gave a gasp and tried to jump back, only for Naruto to grab a hold of the bed sheets she was standing on and give them a quick yank.

Toki fell back with a yelp of surprise and a harsh crash, hitting the ground and getting the wind knocked out of her. She coughed several times as her lungs tried to fill themselves with the oxygen they had been so brutally deprived of. It took a good deal of time, time which Naruto used to grab her kaiken and move to stand several feet away from her so she couldn't try anything.

She made to sit up, her long raven hair spilling out behind her head as the fall knocked both her hat askew and undid the knot in her hair. Looking over to see the blond boy... man, staring at her with a surprisingly calm look that had not been there before, Toki let out a sigh.

"If you're going to kill me than you might as well get it over with," she said harshly, causing the blond to frown.

"What the hell makes you think I'm here to kill you?" asked Naruto. Toki blinked and looked up at him in surprise, causing the blond to lose his calm look snicker a bit. "You didn't seriously think I was here to kill you, did you?"

Toki felt her face warm up. She was surprised she could actually feel any emotions at all, much less embarrassment. But for some reason, this man laughing at her for what seems to be an incredible misunderstanding if she were to judge from his words, embarrassed her a great deal.

"Well if you're not here to kill me, then just why are you here?" she asked, huffing a bit as she stood up. Sighing as more of her hair fell out of the knot she had made to keep it in place, Toki began retying her hair. She then looked around for her hat. It wouldn't do for people to see all the hair she was hiding. Thankfully it wasn't too far from where she had taken her fall, and she quickly scooped it up and put it back on her head.

She then looked over at the blond, who was staring at her with a strange look.

"What are you looking at?"

Blinking several times, as if just now realizing what he was doing, the blond offered a shrug.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about how you look much nicer with your hair down," he replied honestly. His words caused another reaction in Toki, who felt herself feeling a bit flush again. It wasn't that he was complimenting her. Before she had put up the charade of pretending to be Sagi, men had complimented her all the time and it hadn't bothered her than.

No, the reason she was feeling flustered was because of how unassuming his tone was. It was like he wasn't actually complimenting her and just stating an honest opinion.

"W-Whatever," Toki huffed, turning her head to the side a bit in a poor attempt to hide her blush. Not that it was needed. Naruto didn't seem to be paying attention to it anyways. Shaking her head, she decided to try and finally get down to business and discover why the blond was here. "Now why don't you tell me why you're here, and be quick about it!"

"Alright, alright, yeesh," Naruto grumbled. "You need to learn to relax, Hime." When Toki just glared at him, the blond Uzumaki sighed. "The reason I'm here is because –"

Before Naruto could even begin to give out his explanation, which he felt was pretty damn important seeing how it could mean the difference between sending an innocent man to the gallows (so to speak) and letting him live, the shoji screen door was practically slammed off it's hinges as a soldier rushed into the room with little heed for the current situation.

"Sagi-Sama! I bring you urgent news! We just found – eh?"

The random soldier who had barged into the room looked between Toki, who thankfully had her hair hidden and now looked like her brother, Naruto, who was just looking confused, and the bed that looked like it had taken a heavy beating.

"S-Sagi-Sama!" The soldier squeaked, his voice ricing several decibels. His face was turning red too. Obviously, he had come to an entirely wrong conclusion about what was happening in his Daimyo's bed quarters. "I-I had no idea you were into that kind of thing!"

At the man's words, Toki found herself groaning. This was just what she needed, someone believing that she was gay and they had just interrupted her with her male lover. Why was this happening to her now? All she wanted to do was get revenge on the bastard who killed her father and brother. Was that too much to ask?

"Well," Naruto chuckled a bit. He sounded more amused by the whole situation than offended. Bastard. "This is kind of an awkward situation."

"Shut up," Toki snapped, before whirling on the hapless guard. "And you! This isn't what it looks like!"

"Ah... um... oh, of, of course," the man stuttered. He seemed to still be trying to come to grips with the fact that his Daimyo might be gay if he weren't actually a she in disguise. Not that he knew that. Hence the coming to grips part.

"You said you had important news," Naruto pressed, causing Toki to blink. That's right. He had come barging in saying he had urgent news.

"What did you want to tell me?" she asked, her voice sounding very much like her deceased brother's now that she was with someone who didn't know her true identity.

"Ah! That's right!" The man snapped back into focus as he was reminded of the urgent news he had to give his leader. He cast a suspicious glance over at the blond, who merely waved at him with a cheerful smile.

"You can trust him," Toki said, sighing a bit as she realized there likely wasn't much she could do to make him leave anyways. "This is the ninja from Konoha that was responsible for apprehending Chomei."

"Right," the guard still didn't seem sure of what to think, but at least was game enough to just ignore the awkward situation for now in favor of delivering that news he had considered urgent enough to barge into his Daimyo's bed quarters were. "We just found Chishima. He was washed up on the shore of the river and it looks like he was severely injured. He's being treated as we speak."

"What!?" Toki almost slipped out of her Sagi persona at the news. Her friend was injured? When? How? "Take me to him!"

"Of course, Sagi-Sama!" the guard snapped off a salute and began exiting the bed chamber. Toki moved to follow, only pausing when she saw Naruto come up along side of her.

"I'm coming too," Naruto said, his face surprisingly serious. "I have some information you're going to need to hear. I'm pretty sure I know who attacked Chishima."

Toki was surprised by the news, but quickly nodded as they both hurried to catch up to the guard as he got further and further away. She would hear his news later. Right now she had a friend who was injured. A friend who, despite her being cold to, still meant a lot to her. After she determined that her friend was safe, she would listen to Naruto's words.

And then she would get her revenge on those who wronged her.