71: Welcome to Club N: Part II (2)

Sara stopped her camel as lights illuminated her before she reached the passage that led into Suna. She patted the side of her mount to calm it as it reacted to being blinded and from sensing the appearance of several Suna-nin in front of it. Having expected as much, she had fared much better so remained composed when the man in charge barked, "Identify yourself!"

She noticed the men tense as she removed the veil covering her face to keep the dust from her airways as well as to help the process along. "I'm the Lady Sara of the Roran Tribe. My caravan is still several hours out, but I rode ahead to announce its impending arrival as well as to visit my daughter."

The Suna-nin pulled out a packet and flipped through several pictures before holding it up to compare. After a moment, he replied, "Very well. The Lady Seramu informed us you were coming. You may proceed forward after submitting yourself to a scan. Your caravan will have to wait until sunrise before being allowed into the village. We will need to search it and we do not conduct them until light."

"I understand."

"Good," the Suna-nin replied, "Are you carrying any weapons?"

Sara smiled as she wanted to reply with a flippant comment about being a lone female rider at night in the desert so naturally she was armed. However, aware that the man was simply following procedure and that he asked as a simple lie there could imply she was there for nefarious reasons said, "Quite a few actually." She then quickly began producing them, included among the weapons was a well-crafted replica of the chakra blade her dream warrior had given her. She handed the weapons to a kunoichi, before the man in charge raised his hand. Sara felt slightly uncomfortable for a moment before he proclaimed, "She's clean. I detect no more weapons on her."

Sara during past trips to the village, even before becoming Naruto's lover, as Suna was one of the places her tribe visited to peddle their wares had asked how they could be sure, especially in a world where seals could be used to stash weapons. She had been politely rebuked so could say that one small benefit to becoming Naruto's lover had been to finally have her question answered, which was that even weapons hidden in seals still gave off slight magnetic waves which altered a person's magnetic aura calling attention to the locations. Confident she wasn't hiding anything, the kunoichi returned her weapons causing Sara to nod politely to the guards as they stepped aside and the light illuminating the area shut off. Prompting her mount forward, she proceeded through the long entrance to find the village still quite alive.

Not an overly surprising thing as the sun had only full set an hour before her arrival, but she attributed much of the activity to being a result of Suna placing much of its entertainment district near the entrance. Sara understood the reasoning since after a harsh desert ride; she felt a desire to enter many of the establishments to get a soothing drink. She ignored the desire as she figured her daughter would have something prepared for her since she had alerted the guards of her arrival. Turning down a side street she saw several companies that also had a reason to be stationed near the main entrance. She approached the one that had the sign which read, "Great Tree Shipping Company: Suna Branch."

She prompted her camel to kneel near a post in front and after getting off tied the reigns to it. She noticed a pair of women approaching and although she had never met them in person, she knew they shared a common point of interest. Sara felt rather eager to meet them since unlike most of the women tied to Naruto, she didn't get a chance to slip away as often due to her tribes constant traveling. Therefore, her encounters with Naruto were generally reserved for when they reached a village or town where they could expect a degree of privacy. Although, Sara smiled they had often included her daughter as well. That was at least before the last time they had visited Suna.

The women reached her and she was a little surprised when the blue-haired woman said, "Good evening. You would be Sara, correct?"

"Yes, how..."

The blonde woman beside the one that had spoken answered the unfinished question, "Naruto has spoken a great deal about you. Although to be honest it would be easy enough to see from the resemblance with your daughter."

Sara smiled, but said, "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage then. Although to be fair, most of my encounters with Naruto do not leave a lot of time for small talk."

The two women shared an amused smile before the blue-haired woman said, "I can imagine. I am Konan and this would be Karura."

"It is a pleasure to meet you both," Sara said with a smile. "What brings you out tonight? Was it just to make introductions?"

Karura sighed as she said, "Truthfully, we have business with the woman in charge of this trading post. We wanted to arrive earlier, but my council meeting dragged on all day."

"It is understandable," Konan said beginning to head towards the building, "You did drop quite the surprise on everyone about leaving the council to join Akatsuki."

Sara spun towards the blonde woman asking in surprise, "Why would you quit the council to join a..." The former queen of Roran stopped as she was about to describe the group in a less than favorable way as she realized the Konan had used to be a part of it as well from rumors she had heard in her travels.

The woman she was afraid of offending gave her a slight smile that showed amusement as she supplied, "A criminal organization. Believe me, you would not be the first to have labeled it as such today. Sadly, it is an accurate description for how we conducted ourselves for a majority of the time it existed. My goal is to reclaim our original intentions and restore Akatsuki's honor. Karura has agreed to help in that endeavor."

Sara nodded in understanding before stating, "I'm guessing that you are recruiting women associated with villages that might be hesitant to see Akatsuki restored to help calm their fears you are up to something sinister."

"Yes," Konan answered, "As well as to provide another example of people from various villages working together. It's sad to say, but Akatsuki was one of the first to recruit shinobi from villages that could be considered enemies with each other. I just wish our goal had been a noble one."

They reached the entrance of the building and giving the door a quick knock proceeded inside. Sara had been to the Great Tree Shipping Company's Suna office many times as she worked with Guren in securing supply routes and goods. Their ventures tended to be successful, but Sara had known that the former Sound-nin had been rather out of her element. The Branch office had shown that in past visits by having stacks of papers lying all over the place. Not to mention a wall of them which usually resided on the desk Guren sat at.

Seeing the branch office was currently spotless, Sara smiled as she suspected the change was a result of her daughter's help. It was easy to imagine as Guren was currently napping at the desk which except for the paper she was drooling on was clear. Seramu appeared from the back room and spotting her mother said, "Mom!"

She closed the distance between them to wrap her in a hug, her sudden movement being enough to wake Guren. The woman snapped to attention and seeing Karura and Konan had a similar exuberant reaction as she leapt over the desk asking, "Did they go for? Please tell me they went for it so I can get out of this dusty hellhole."

"This hellhole is my home," Karura said with a frown.

Guren didn't offer an apology as she replied, "I meant this damn shipping company. I'm not cut out to be a merchant. I was drowning in a sea of paperwork before Seramu agreed to take over for me."

Seramu had progressed from hugging her mother to kissing her in an undaughterly way. She paused their kiss leaving a strand of saliva connecting them to say, "You handled yourself quite well. You just didn't have the stomach for the paperwork that followed."

Guren nodded before turning to Konan to ask seriously, "There's not going to be paperwork in this Akatsuki of yours, is there?"

"None you need to concern yourself with," Konan replied with a smile feeling her new Akatsuki was off to a good start, at least in terms of atmosphere.

"Good," Guren said before turning sympathetically to Seramu to add, "Then this dive is all yours."

Konan held up her hands as she cautioned, "Not quite yet." Guren looked somewhat perturbed but relaxed as Konan explained, "Suna was but the first step. Granted, Konoha is more of a courtesy as we will have the votes there to proceed. But, convincing Kumogakure that reforming Akatsuki is a good thing will be a tough sell."

Seramu pulled away from her mother as she moved to sit on the desk that would be hers once Guren left as she would be taking over the outpost, "To be honest, I'm not sure why you feel the need to have your plans approved by the villages that make up the alliance. Wouldn't it be easier to just reform it, and have your actions demonstrate your intentions?"

Konan sighed as she said, "I wish that was the case. But I would like for this incarnation to contain members tied to not just villages we wronged, but to almost be viewed as a reformed vision of the one Tobi took control of it. To that end, I would like it to have members such as Karura who are not leaving Suna in disgrace. The only way to achieve that is with its leadership's permission, and granted Gaara could have given his mother his blessing. But having it go through the council gives it just a bit more legitimacy then it might otherwise have."

"It must not have been easy if you are just now visiting us," Guren said concerned.

Karura put the woman she would be working with in Akatsuki at ease as she said, "Actually, the council didn't take that much convincing. I think Konan surprised them with the knowledge that citizens of the minor countries are not exactly found of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. They were the ones that would hire Tobi's Akatsuki rather than say Suna or Konoha. It was how they attained a good percentage of their funding."

"Really," Seramu said surprised, "That it was made up of S-ranked criminals didn't bother them."

Konan nodded as she explained, "You could say it was in some cases a selling point. Most of the major battles from the Three Great Shinobi Wars have been fought in minor countries. It has long been believed that we minor countries existed as a kind of buffer so that these wars could be fought without impacting the major ones. It hasn't gone unnoticed that whenever a war turned too poorly against a major country that suddenly the Daimyo stepped in forcing the villages in their territory to sue for peace. The Second Shinobi war was an exception, but this was mainly because Hanzo killed the Daimyo of Rain Country and tried to unite the lands under him. It was a major free for all, but even then it was mostly fought in minor countries until the end when Konoha began winning on three fronts. It pushed into Wind, Earth, and Lightning and probably could have decimated all three shinobi villages, but was called back by the Fire Daimyo. This I believe was something the Third Hokage desired as well so he complied. Hanzo's ambition was mitigated by trade embargos that Iwa, Grass, Stone, and Konoha all agreed to which decimated The Land of Rain and was why Yahiko's Akatsuki formed to depose him."

Sara's kingdom had been a city-state that had existed within the Land of Wind so despite it possessing a potential powerful weapon in the Ryūmyaku it had remained relatively conflict free. Therefore, she couldn't profess the same mistrust of shinobi that people from minor countries might have. But she had seen it among citizens within the Land of Wind as well. Mainly due to shinobi showing up only when paid to deal with threats that didn't potentially endanger their villages. It was one of the things that made the tribal lifestyle that she now lived so dangerous since bandits could almost operate with impunity until people threatened by them scrapped together the large sums of cash needed to deal with even some of the weaker outlaw groups. It was a feeling that she had noticed shifting lately in the shinobi's favor primarily since with their home village's economies changing to depend less on money from missions. Suna, Konoha, and Kumo were targeting bandit groups even before they forced the civilians in their homelands to pay for their services. As such, many civilians were viewing the shinobi as being more beneficial protectors then the territory governors and their samurai magistrates. It was a sentiment that hadn't yet begun to reflect poorly on the Daimyo primarily since it was still commonly believed that the Daimyo and Kage worked in conjunction to protect their countries. But Sara knew it wasn't exactly how the system worked, since the tribute the Daimyo provided was more to keep the shinobi on retainer than to actively deal with threats unless directed to.

With that in mind she asked, "Aren't you concerned that you'd lose the support among the minor countries by seemingly working with the Main Villages?"

"It is a concern," Konan admitted, "However; Toki has encountered considerable resistance with even getting the leaders of the minor countries together. So relying on them to help support Akatsuki is a difficult proposition to begin with. Plus, for now the main goal of it would be to curtail plots that start in the major shinobi villages but affect the minor. The most grievous offender may be Iwa currently, but men like Joseki and Danzou both operated in similar manners."

"So meeting with the leadership of the Main villages is about putting them on notice as well," Guren said in understanding. "Is that why you were so late? I bet that didn't exactly sit well, especially with the Hardliners on the Council. I'm sure even with the Council's permission the Hardliners will be a pain in the ass for us."

"You'd be surprised," Karura said with a note of caution, "Not all Hardliners can be just summarily lumped together. Most of them were just as disgusted by Joseki's actions as everyone else. His disgrace before his death has also forced many of them to reconsider what being a Hardliner is. They might not be jumping on the let's bring the villages together bandwagon, but we can't assume they are all plotting in the shadows to break the villages apart." She could see her point that labeling those that didn't share their views as future obstacles before they proved themselves to be, could be considered little different then refusing to accept the idea that the villages could work together and thus work against it as Hardliners like Joseki had. "In truth the reason we were so long delayed was because the Council didn't wish to wait in picking my replacement. Many of the Hardliners as you can imagine did wish to nominate someone that shared their views, but ultimately someone without a well-known political belief system was chosen."

"Really?" Guren said in surprise since she knew the Hardliners had at first been glad when Karura was revealed to the village as they saw a chance to gain a new voice on the Council. When it was revealed that her political views had shifted, naturally many of them had been angry. As a result, Guren couldn't imagine the group not trying to gain the seat for themselves so knew the person selected was either extremely strong, or whose actions on the village's behalf were such that being viewed as opposing their selection to the council for political reasons would reflect poorly on the person or persons doing it. Suspecting it to be the latter the crystal user said, "Whoever it is, they have to be pretty popular if the Hardliners were willing to give up on your seat."

"Again you might be surprised," Karura said with a hint of amusement as Guren blew out a frustrated breath at being corrected again. "Gaara nominated the new head of the Suna Medical Program Ameno to fill my chair. She has basically done for our medics exactly what Joseki hoped to achieve by kidnapping Rin. It hasn't been lost on some of the Hardliners that she has achieved this by working with Konoha, particularly Sakura. In fact, Gazo who was so against forming an Alliance with Kumo actually convinced his fellow Hardliners to back the vote. It still took a bit of convincing, but at the end of the day they saw the wisdom in it."

Guren had heard good things about the Jounin medic. She did attribute the woman's rank though to primarily being due to Suna's shinobi on average being less talented then Konoha's. It was a gap that was primarily born of Konoha's Shinobi Academy structure and with Konoha's aid in developing Suna's curriculum it was a gap that was closing. Still, it meant that becoming a Jounin in Suna didn't have the same level of skill attached to it that it did in Konoha. Keeping that in mind she asked, "Who did the Hardliners nominate before backing down?"

"They nominated her teammate actually," Karura said feeling glad that Ameno won. "He's a shinobi named Koji. I suspect he was made aware that the Hardliners were pushing for him to join the Council. He showed up like he expected to be named there. He does have some skill particularly in Taijutsu as he can manipulate sand to a small degree to form hardened weapons. Still, I believe the better candidate did win today."

"Do you think she will make a good addition to the Family?" Seramu asked giving her lips a slight lick at the idea.

Karura smiled as she said, "Perhaps. But it was my understanding that plans were already underway to increase our flock's size in Suna." The women perked up as they felt the presence that signified the plan that had just been mentioned was already underway. The women smiled at each other and decided to head to the newly christened Hidden Oasis Inn in hopes their lover would pay them a visit afterwards.

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Yukata sat in a gym that the youngest children of Suna's Shinobi Academy used to practice their skills. The mats that they used to cushion their falls where currently stacked off to the side. It was also the place where all the students would gather for assemblies or demonstrations. As such it was rather oversized for the current meeting which consisted of her and five other kunoichi. Not to mention a guest of honor that had yet to make his presence known. Four of the women much like herself had experienced Naruto's touch while he had been using the Ghost persona to lure in Pakura. Because of that Yukata felt a certain kinship with them, which had only grown as the women had shared their experiences with the Ghost.

The puppeteer's gaze settled on Selphie Tilmitt first as she had led off the night's discussion since it was agreed that Yukata would go last. She was wearing her standard outfit which consisted of a hybrid yellow mini-dress slash overalls. Yukata wasn't surprised to learn the unique piece of clothing was something of her own design. On her feet rather than the standard Shinobi sandals, she wore brown boots that reached just above mid-calf. Yukata felt it was fitting that the kunoichi led things off since she also happened to be the group's first member, outside the founder. An event Yukata learned was in part set in motion by Sari when she had impersonated the woman heading up the Suna Paranormal Support Group, Quistis Trepe, to approach Selphie in order to learn more about the Ghost. Sari had done so mainly due to issues she had been having with intimacy between her and Gaara, so had been drawn to the rumors. But, by posing as the Suna Academy instructor it had caused Selphie to seek out the genuine article and talk about what she had experienced when she had trouble forgetting her time with the Ghost.

Needless to say Quistis had been rather shocked to learn that women who had been a part of the Training Force had been groped by some invisible stranger. But likely more so to learn about just how many of the women had enjoyed those experiences. Yukata suspected that the true reason for the Suna Paranormal Support Group's existence was to allow Quistis to monitor them just in case there was something sinister going on behind the scenes.

She noticed Selphie rub her thighs together as the woman talking went into details of how the Ghost had made her feel. Yukata took the opportunity to go over other facts she knew in regards to the kunoichi. From what Yukata had learned Selphie was an orphan, but still seemed to possess an upbeat personality. However, she suspected that it existed for a similar reason that Naruto had forced himself to be happy as a youth, since it would be too easy to fall into despair otherwise. She also knew the woman was something of a gearhead as she was one of the people often consulted whenever the black-market tech someone was manufacturing from Snow Country's designs was captured. For the most part that consisted of a few chakra suppression devices that were liberated from gangs or bandits that Suna had eradicated, but Yukata knew it was a matter of time before a set of chakra armor appeared. Particularly, after what had happened during the Whirling Tides Manor grand opening. It wasn't the only piece of Snow Country tech that Selphie was infatuated with as she also seemed to love trains so dreamed of one day riding one. At present, Yukata knew of only two countries that had them with one being Spring Country while the other was the Land of Honey. Selphie much like her, was also one of the first women to have visited the Summoning Circle. This was because she had also been present for the story when Sakura had first told it after Naruto tested the circle out on her.

Her gaze next drifted to the blonde woman sitting next to Selphie. She was listening to the current speaker as well, and also was struggling against the desire to give her likely dripping pussy a discreet rub. Yukata knew the woman was something of an outcast, mainly due to her heritage as an Al Bhed. Rikku noticed her staring so gave a quick smile before looking away again. Yukata noticed that peeking up from beneath the orange tank top she wore the woman's nipples were hard. She couldn't blame the girl as her own were hard enough to cut glass although it had less to do with the story as opposed to how she imagined the night going. Fighting the urge to begin rubbing her pussy, she busied herself with recalling the details she had gleamed about the woman.

For starters she knew that Rikku was the only Al Bhed in Suna's forces. This was due to a long standing feud between her tribe and Suna. The Al Bhed unlike most tribes that called the Land of Wind home were not migrant in nature. Instead, they made their homes in ancient ruins which dotted the deserts. They also tended to explore for more, which upon discovering they would then begin to study. However, the locals where these ruins were discovered tended to view it as grave robbing. This in the past had often led to Suna being hired to drive the Al Bhed out so the locals could then profit from the tribes hard work. The Al Bhed though refused to be pushed around so gave as good as they got thus resulting in the bad blood between them and Suna since its inception.

Surprisingly it was Gaara's father that made the first overtures to settle their difference by signing a nonaggression pact with Rikku's father. It had prevented Suna from accepting missions geared towards driving the Al Bhed out of whatever ruins they discovered. As such it had forced the locals that genuinely were interested in preserving their history to work with the tribe. To many that did, they learned the Al Bhed respected the ruins almost more than the original owners did.

Yukata suspected that one reason for the Fourth Kazekage's decision to establish relations with the tribe was because outside of gaining access to the vast amount of knowledge the Al Bhed had about the history of the world, they were also amazing engineers and inventors. She suspected he had wanted to eventually incorporate them into Suna in order to put their knowledge towards building war machines for the village. Regardless of the Fourth's reasons, Gaara had stepped into his father's role as peacemaker although Yukata knew it was to genuinely see the bad blood between Suna and the Al Bhed put to rest. To that end, he had suggested an exchange program between Suna and the Tribe. It couldn't exactly be considered a success since to date Rikku was the only Al Bhed to accept, while Yukata was sure whichever Suna member was exchanged had been assigned the job. Still, Rikku proved to be an upbeat and caring individual causing those willing to look beyond her heritage to form quick friendships with her. Considering their shared interest in technology, Yukata wasn't surprised that Selphie and Rikku were close friends.

The woman speaking finished causing the others to begin clapping which Yukata joined in. She took the time to study the woman as she sat back in her chair and who was dressed in desert camouflage pants, and wearing a simple white A-shirt. Her attire did little to hid how her nipples were standing erect as much from reliving her memories as from hearing the experiences of the others. Yukata was friends with the woman as they hung out in the same circle of kunoichi which consisted of her, Matsuri and Sari. It had been Kashike, who had first clued the Kazekage's girlfriend into the existence of the Ghost. She had done this when she admitted that her relationship with a shinobi named Tsuchino had fizzled out due to his failing to live up to the Ghost's skills in pleasuring a woman. Although Kashike hadn't gone into great details about it while she had spoken, Yukata knew the reasons extended much deeper than just a failure at making her climax. But, that it also extended to Kashike's desire to have a satisfactory relationship that didn't also derail her shinobi career.

This was because Kashike was currently the only female ANBU within all of Suna's forces. A goal she had been striving for since being a child first entering the academy and which had caused her to pretend to be a boy throughout most of her career. Granted none of the academy instructors or her jounin sensei had been fooled, but they had admired her dedication to her goal and maintaining her ruse. A ruse which had eventually come to an end as her body developed and her breasts could no longer be hidden away by taping them down. Kashike had eventually come clean with her fellow classmates including Tsuchino, who had probably been relieved that the boy that occasional flirted with him was in fact a girl with a crush. Yet, she had maintained her dedication to joining the ANBU which had paid off shortly after the Training Force had returned to Suna.

The reason that she had gone to such extremes to join the ANBU division, was ultimately what led to her failed relationship with the boy that she had desired throughout the Academy. Which was mainly that while under the current system kunoichi were respected and valued, that respect always came with the assumption that they were in essence playing at being shinobi. That mainly their time as genin and chunin was mainly just the period in which they searched for a husband before settling down. It didn't escape Yukata's notice that while there were women like Tsunade and Yuugao that achieved important positions within their villages, it was also generally because they had lost lovers thus in essence freeing them to raise to higher ranks. As far as Yukata knew, Tsume was the lone exception to this rule among Naruto's lovers. She imagined that even the Mizukage, who was suspected to be a woman, had some sort of tragedy in her past that had prevented her from getting married and starting a family. Ultimately, she found that was one of the reasons Naruto was so successful with the kunoichi that he targeted, which was that he encouraged them to become stronger and stronger, and didn't expect them to put their careers on hold. In fact, she could easily imagine that if Naruto did change his mind about having children one day, that he would gladly stay home to take care of them while his women went on to achieve greater and greater prestige in their careers.

She suspected it was something that, while it hadn't brought Kashike to the Ghost, it was something she could gleam from her time with him, and thus what had kept her coming back. She suspected her involvement with the group was because the woman regretted ending things with the Ghost so that she could start a relationship with Tsuchino after making ANBU, especially as despite his only being a Chunin had made it rather clear he expected her to retire should their relationship progress to the point of children entering into the equation. Kashike had been unwilling to do so, especially as upon achieving her goal now had her eyes set on becoming the Head of Suna's ANBU division. A goal she knew that Naruto would wholeheartedly support her in, even if it didn't benefit the Family's goals.

Yukata's gaze settled on the woman speaking and would be the last before her. The Puppeteer couldn't exactly call Sen a friend, although they had worked together on occasion and took the Chunin Exams together several times. The blonde haired kunoichi had achieved the rank in the exam held just before Pain's Invasion of Konoha as a good portion of the Genin in the Training Force had been called away after dealing with the Prison Rebellion to attend the exams.

She had also appeared in the same Chunin Exams that Yukata had taken part in along with several Konoha kunoichi that she was now tied to throw Naruto. There Sen had been partnered with a kunoichi named Yome and a shinobi named Shira. The three had been together as a team ever since graduating the academy and Yukata recognized the two kunoichi both respected Shira due to the hardships that he had overcome to achieve his rank. Particularly as Shira could not use Genjutsu or Ninjutsu and as a result had been barred from entering the Academy. Still, he had not been deterred training himself using unorthodox means to overcome his weaknesses. In time his skills in taijutsu had caught Gaara's eye, who made an exception for Shira.

Shira would end up becoming a Chunin in the exam after having faced Rock Lee, the shinobi that had caused Gaara to do away with the rule. Despite the exams being called after only two tests, Gaara had seen fit to promote both Shira and Ameno, both of whom were having stellar careers. Shira's though had taken him away from Suna and the friends that had supported him when no one else had. Sen didn't fault her teammate for it since he had always planned to return to man the Suna outpost up north near his home village. But she felt he had been rather cold in how he had dismissed Yome's feelings for him. Yet, at the same time Sen was also partially grateful for his telling Yome to stay behind as shortly after making Jounin and being assigned to his desired positing he had been part of a mission in which he had been the only survivor.

Yukata knew the Northern outpost was not a place that most people willingly chose to be assigned to. In the past it had been a way for Suna to deal with troublemaking shinobi as it was located in an area called The Earth Corridor. The reason for this was due to it bordering the Land of Stone, which was close allies with Earth Country and as such was where most spies from Iwagakure tried to enter the Land of Wind. Naturally this made being assigned to the Northern Outpost one of the more dangerous assignments a shinobi could receive, and as such troublemakers either shaped up or were dealt with, usually by the hands of an Iwagakure shinobi. One of the reasons Gaara had agreed to assign Shira to it was he hoped his attitude and work ethic would rub off on the rest of the Shinobi stationed there.

Shira's presence was having a positive effect from what Yukata had heard, but she suspected it was because he had been the only survivor of a mission that had claimed a good portion of the Jounin and Chunin that had been stationed there before his arrival. The mission had been a simple C-ranked one which had been to return a merchant's daughter who had run off to join a cult with her boyfriend. According to the official report, neither of the two had made it to their destination as they had run across a bandit group that had killed the boyfriend and sold the girl into slavery. The Jounin and Chunin assigned to bring them back had run afoul of the group and engaged in a fight in which Shira was the only survivor. He had been found unconscious in an area just isolated enough that the investigators ruled that he could have been overlooked. Shira had claimed that a lightning jutsu had hit near him blasting him away from the battle. Considering how most of the men killed had also been blasted to pieces by Lightning Jutsu it had been easy to believe that the one behind it hadn't been too worried about survivors. Not to mention Shira had stated the attacks appeared from out of the blue since up till then the Suna-nin had things well in hand.

From what Yukata could tell the incident was the reason why Sen had upon making Chunin decided to enter into Suna's intelligence gathering division. The blonde hadn't come out and said anything, but Yukata believed that Sen was of the opinion that there was something more to the incident then Shira was perhaps letting on. An opinion that Yukata shared as the Cult that the two lovers had supposedly wanted to join was the one that had sprung up after the appearance of the Black Kyuubi. She knew that at present the Bijuu were somewhat wary of the group due to their veneration of the Moon and because of their incorporating the appearance of the Black Kyuubi into their doctrine. Granted the Cult hadn't been tied to any nefarious dealings, but Yukata was willing to bet their being at the heart of what happened was not a coincidence.

As Sen continued to describe one of her times with the Ghost, Yukata shifted her focus to the woman that had founded the Suna Paranormal Support Group. Quistis Trepe was a strange case in that her ranking was officially listed as Instructor. The reason for the unique title was that although many considered her a prodigy, it was all on paper. She had very little actual combat experience although she had put her time in as a genin that was the last official rank she had achieved. The reason for that was due to her possessing a unique Kekkei Genkai that allowed her to copy certain jutsu, but the downside of her ability was that she had to be hit by them first. Naturally, it was an ability which Suna would love to develop but at the same time the risks were considered too high. Therefore, as Quistis was the last person with her bloodline alive, she tended to be kept in reserved, and since a person couldn't be promoted to Chunin without going through the exams the special Instructor title was created for her.

This left Quistis in a unique position in regards to how her fellow Suna-nin treated her. Most of her students adored her, with a number of them calling themselves "Trepies" in honor of her. However, while many of the kunoichi that she instructed still thought of her fondly, a good deal of the shinobi resented her special treatment. Yukata suspected that no one resented it more than Quistis though. She had heard more than one person disrespect the woman by claiming that, "Those who can't, teach those who can." Quistis though didn't seem to let the disrespect bother her as she still performed her duties admirably.

Yukata smiled as she suspected that even her starting the Suna Paranormal Support Group was born out of her dedication to the village. After all, having been made aware of a group of women being influenced by some unknown individual, she had taken it upon herself to monitor them. Her smile turned a little lecherous as Sen described the way the Ghost's fingers had felt as they rubbed her sensitive insides, and she noticed the instructor squeeze her thighs together. Noticing the slightly older kunoichi squirming in her seat in a similar manner as the others, she decided to proceed with her plan since to be honest she felt Quistis might have been the one obstacle to it. However, confident that she desired to experience what the others had, Yukata didn't doubt her own contribution to the meeting would be well received.

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"Thank you Sen," Quistis said as the woman finished her story. The woman nodded as the other members clapped in support. The instructor figured it was also to keep their hands from running over their bodies or teasing more intimate spots. Quistis tightened her grip on the notebook she used to record the stories. She claimed it was to help mark the women's progress in getting over the feelings the Ghost had left them with, but more often than not she used it to fuel her fantasies when she took care of her sexual needs. She directed her attention on Yukata as she said eager to hear some new tales, "Please lend your support to our newest member Yukata as she opens up to us."

Yukata smiled, and then crossed her legs an action that for a moment showed those present that she wasn't wearing any underwear due to her wearing a light summer dress. Quistis couldn't say she was surprised since she knew some of the other women tended to go without during the meetings, as on more than one occasion they had excused themselves to "freshen up." Still, unlike other new members in the past that at first were embarrassed to be admitting they were still desirous for the touch of a man that they had never seen, Yukata seemed almost proud. She rested her hands on her just crossed knee as she said, "Hmm, well where should I begin."

"Since this is your first time speaking," Quistis suggested helpfully," Perhaps tell us what brought you to the circle in the first place."

Yukata shrugged as she replied, "I guess, but as far as really juicy stories that one is kind of boring. I mean unlike most of the women that would visit it later. For me it was actually my interest in the paranormal that brought me there. I mean the idea that someone created a seal that bound his soul to the mortal plan was just... exciting. I guess you can say I was a little disappointed when it turned out to just be a pervert." Quistis noticed an amused smile appear on Yukata's face and she had the sense that the woman wanted to turn her head like there was someone else present who might be offended by her words. "But as just about everyone here can attest. That disappointment didn't last long." Yukata closed her eyes as she said in a breathy whisper, "It's hard to put all the feelings into words. But, there's something magical about a man that knows his way around the female form. It isn't just about the pleasure he was capable of giving though... it was hard to describe at the time... but now, I guess I would say you could tell he took making us feel amazing as his personal goal as thanks for letting him explore our bodies. It really is pretty amazing when you consider we weren't the ones he was shooting for."

Quistis and the others sat forward in earnest with the instructor asking, "What do you mean?"

"I mean those of us here lamenting about not still experiencing his touch were just byproducts of a plot to bring another kunoichi into his arms," Yukata answered.

Quistis frowned at the woman's reply since she had feared the Ghost had been some kind of enemy agent hoping to lead some kunoichi of Suna astray. "Where did you hear this information?"

"That's jumping ahead a bit don't you think," Yukata said with a coy smile. She then continued, "Like most of you when the Training Force disbanded, I found myself haunted by what I had experienced with my Ghost. It probably comes as no surprise that my puppet was inspired by him and our time together. There's a very specific reason he has such a delicate touch and can turn invisible. But, as I'm sure you can all attest. There's just no substitution for the real thing."

Rikku frowned as she said sounding hurt, "But you said he didn't view us as anything but afterthoughts to the woman he was really after."

"Did you feel like an afterthought when you were with him?" When the Al Bhed shook her head in the negative Yukata said, "That's because when he was with us in the summoning Circle he was there for us. The reason I said we were byproducts was because he underestimated his impact on us. He had simply thought that it would be an enjoyable experience for us until the kunoichi he had set his eyes on became interested. Then afterwards when the Training Force disbanded, we'd all go our separate ways. I for one though couldn't get those experiences out of my mind, and so dedicated myself to recreating them. I even went so far as to recreate the summoning circle."

Quistis while still alarmed about who the Ghost was after, but felt her interest peak at the revelation and noticed that the other women's had been as well. Naturally they all had the same question on their minds which was, had it worked?

Yukata didn't need to hear it put into words as she told them, "It didn't seem to at first, but then one day." She uncrossed her legs giving the women a clear view of her wet slit as she spread her legs in order to lean forward to put her hand on the ground. From where she touched a circle of Kanji spread out until it reached the walls of the gymnasium. It then coated them in a blue chakra that caused the walls to take on an almost otherworldly appearance. For those women that had visited the Summoning Circle before, they instantly recognized the effects although it was much larger than the one they had visited in the past.

Sen sat forward in earnest asking, "A...are you calling him here?"

Yukata didn't seem to hear the question at first, causing Sen to frown but then she noticed that Yukata's breasts seemed to be moving slightly. She let out a soft moan, and it became apparent that the room had another unseen occupant as the outline of hands appeared beneath her dress as they began to fondle her tits directly. Yukata gasped as the hands reached her nipples and began to pinch them.

Yukata focused on the Blonde Suna-nin as she answered her question, "He been here since I arrived. I told you that he tends to underestimate the effect his presence can have. So I thought it might be beneficial for him to hear how you all still had feelings you couldn't part with. I know this because I was the same." The hands retracted from her dress and then Yukata was lifted into the air. Her legs were spread wide apart displaying her pussy for the gathered women. The lips of her pussy began to move as something slid along them. As the puppeteer's wetness coated it, the outline of the Ghost's cock became visible at least until Yukata let out a moan and her snatch began to spread as his dick slipped inside.

Yukata let out a soft cry as she was impaled on her lover's cock. Her arms reached behind her gripping the back of his head as he held her steady while pistoning his manhood within her. The stunned women could practically see deep within the dark-haired woman due to the transparency jutsu. They could see the way her inner muscles coiled around the Ghost's manhood as her pussy tried to keep it buried deep inside her.

Quistis felt a tingle between her legs as her pussy let it know how badly it wished to be in the woman's position. A feeling that doubled as Yukata gave the women a look which communicated just how much pleasure she was feeling, before she then looked over her shoulder and stuck out her tongue. It then began to dance around as the kissing sounds that followed let those present know the Ghost was making out with her. The instructor raised a hand to her lips as she wondered what it would feel like to be kissing the man.

But then she pulled back as she realized she was getting carried away. Trying to compose herself she realized that although the Ghost had occasional granted unique requests of the women that had visited him. He had tended to draw the line at kissing and even the women reciprocating, she suspected that due to what Yukata had revealed it was so the women didn't grow too attached to him. Thinking analytically was helping Quistis stem the lust that she was feeling so she began to wonder what had changed. She looked at the other women present that were transfixed on the woman being fucked before them. She could see that they were falling deeper and deeper into the lusts she knew they felt when discussing the Ghost, and were beginning to openly tease themselves. Selphie's hands were tracing over her breasts lightly at first, but soon became more pronounced as she slipped further and further into the pleasure her touches created. Rikku by comparison had her hand buried between her legs as she tried not to call attention to what she was doing. Kashike wasn't hiding how she was dealing with it as she had pulled her A-shirt to the side exposing her right breast, which she fondled and teased, while her other hand was buried down the front of her pants. She rocked her hips as she rubbed her pussy violent moaning loudly as she imagined the Ghost doing the same to her. Sen had left her seat completely as she crawled on all fours to the seemingly levitating kunoichi. Her red dress rode up her hips as she did so revealing that she wasn't wearing panties either. The fishnet body stocking she wore beneath it did little to curtail the juices leaking from her and running down the sides of her thighs as she moved. She stopped several feet from where Yukata was moaning deliriously as the Ghost began moving her in time with his thrusts making it so that Quistis was sure the blonde woman could practically see the entrance of the puppeteer's womb. Sen apparently liked what she saw as she brought a hand between her legs and began fingering her hole for the other women's viewing pleasure. Sen's behavior gave Rikku the courage to stop hiding as she slipped out of her green shorts and panties to begin rubbing her snatch openly as well.

Quistis felt a desire to let go and join in, but felt doing so would be admitting that she had forgotten the original reason she had started the group, which was to monitor the women in case they were being influenced. With definitive evidence of it, she knew that it was time to inform the Kazekage of what was going on, so although tearing her spectacled gaze away from the woman whose face screamed sexual contentment being one of the hardest things she had done she moved for the gymnasium exit. However, moving proved rather difficult at first as her pussy with each stepped reminded her of the pleasure it was ready to receive. But she managed to not look back and move for the exit which seemed to be almost miles away. She cursed upon finding the door wouldn't budge like it was being compelled to remain shut by a poltergeist. She looked back as she heard Yukata let out a high pitched scream and despite how the exit had looked so far away found the opposite was true when looking in the other direction as she could see the dark-haired woman's insides turning white as the Ghost came inside her. She let out a soft whimper as her pussy quivered as it wanted to drink the same white cream Yukata's spasming cunt was.

But before a decision could be made to try to force open the door somehow or return to the circle of women around Yukata a hand clamped down on her shoulder. Before she could scream, she was teleported away although the other women in the room didn't notice.

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