[Benihime x Youko Gaiden] The Crimson Kunoichi & The White Ronin

Kazumi had taken her place properly within the lap of Youko, and was soon enthused that the young man was pulling down either side of her kimono exposing her chest to himself and then spoke rhetorically in a way which was confusing to her. "What do you..." her eyes widened then because Youko took this moment to give himself a rather immediate hair cut. "Sugei!~" she seemed really pleased by this action which she knew was done exclusively to make her happy. He was then speaking to her rather closely, stating that such a thing was more painful than he thought it would be and that he'd be holding her responsible for it. A lump formed in the young girl's throat as this was rather threatening but also rather intense. "Hai!" she said seemingly excited by the prospect knowing nothing she wouldn't enjoy could come from this man while he was looking at her in such a way.

Meanwhile Benihime had taken a few too many seconds to think about what to do next. The assailant had already lined up, she wondered if he would be going for the direct approach if he did, it would be fine, but in all likelihood he didn't intend to get that close. At the time where she had to decide what to do, a single chime came from the bells at her side, alerting her to an increase in chakra happening before her, one which contained strands of white for some reason. 'What the...' she took off in this moment. 'Beggars can't be choosers I suppose...' as she moved at a speed which most couldn't follow she did so in a sight line. Her left hand finally came way from the mark at the top of her right and in this moment, the Raiton chakra she'd been holding back and hiding condensed. It would sound like a thousand chirping birds around the kunoichi and the lightning itself would harden in her hands giving her the extra staying power as she aimed to push her arm straight through the center of her opponent. Her hand and chakra would aim to obliterate his heart, killing him instantaneously.

When Youko's hand finally returned from discarding his severed hairs, it found itself upon Kazumi's left breast. The girl's reactions thus far were satisfactory, but he would be making sure these things were not yet par for the course overall. "Let's get you sorted then, yeah? You're obviously too tense, so we should make sure something gets done about that." As he spoke, Youko used his left hand to pluck at the lace binding Kazumi's obi until it loosened entirely. He would see to it that she was placed in a state of total immodesty, but not quite stripped entirely. Soon, he was staring down from her face, toward her miniskirt. "So, what all is in my way today? I'm aiming for the rushed look here, but I'm not sure if we're there yet in terms of functionality."

The assailant had all but eliminated his target from afar, using a blow dart-style tool filled with Wind Chakra. Shortly after fixing his sights though, a sound the likes of which he'd never heard struck his ears. Just the same, a bright light was emerging from the Daimyou's study, prompting the man to sway far left using his equipped wing. This was not the ranged assault he thought when first spotting it, but instead a person that somehow flew without the same tool he'd used. Closer inspection revealed to him falling strands of white, which had to have been the bridge used to reach his location. Nevertheless, his piercing wind shot now had a new target: Benihime. A quick turn and shot aimed to see the redhead penetrated through the right side of her midsection, clear through to the other end of her.

A blush hit Kazumi's face in this moment and when Youko's hand found her left breast she moaned. This was still exciting and new for her, she never knew what was coming but always knew she'd be satisfied by the end of it. As if to affirm this, Youko mentioned making sure she was sorted, and noting that she was too tense from lack of this particular activity. Soon enough the entirety of her chest was exposed and she seemed to look like she was in a state of rushed, like she was trying to get dressed but wasn't quite there yet, or she wasn't quite getting naked fast enough. "I don't know, I decided to go for something different this time. These took ages to find, you better like them~" the girl said shifting up her skirt to show a very small pair of underwear made of silk and seeming to be just a string and a triangle of fabric also in a light pink color. And since she'd already shifted she aimed to stay up on her knees a bit in his lap to give him a bit more freedom of movement as far as disrobing himself.

Since this assailant had immediately shifted his attention to Benihime once she made herself visible, she immediately had one fewer thing to worry about. Still this man's attempted assassination was strange, he had tools not like anything Benihime had ever seen attached to a Samurai, and what's more he used something which looked a great deal like a jutsu. 'Shinobi?' she questioned mentally but now that her jutsu had been fully released she found herself tapping the seal once more on her arm, and at the same time cancelling what she'd done to do a quicker hand seal and perform a different jutsu. This one was the Body Replacement Technique which made it look as if the girl had indeed been hit in her right side by the Wind Chakra based bullet aimed her way, only for a log of wood to fall from the sky as it splintered into pieces. Benihime herself would seem to have disappeared during this time. But she hadn't, she'd merely used the Body Flicker jutsu to close in on this particular assailant. Having switched from her original thought of facing a Samurai to facing instead something more like a Shinobi with tools, Benihime allowed herself to release the jutsu she'd been trying to use once more at a much shorter range. This time there was no charge necessary, and a chime of the bell would aim to get this man's attention, if he acknowledged the bell sound and turned behind himself and slightly to the right, Benihime would be immediately aiming to run him through with the assassination technique which sounded like the chirp of a thousand birds.

"Hoh?" Youko said with a mild hint of surprise in his tone. What he witnessed when Kazumi lifted her skirt further was quite visually appealing, even though he was likely to be doing away with the visual at some point. On the other hand, though... perhaps this could just be shifted out of his way. One final glance was given to the chakras of the others, and he decided he would not be needed outside at all. This kunoichi would be more than enough in the long run. For the time being, he was granted enough freedom of movement to pull down his hakama and free his tool for use in a matter of moments. Before moving on, though, he took hold of Kazumi, aiming to shift the pair of them around until he could stand behind her while bending her over the bar counter. Should his efforts prove fruitful, he would be found leaning into her right ear while pulling her hair away from his voice's path. "Your dad is in his office, you know? If you're feeling particularly adventurous, I'm sure he wouldn't miss his bedroom for a while... unless you're not willing to wait."

A moment of hesitation came from the assailant after the replacement for Benihime became apparent. His arms slid into his sleeves after the wing tool was placed on a holster at his back, as if he had something better to use them for. Whilst airborne, he was approached by the kunoichi once more for a second attempt at her electrical technique. There was seemingly nothing to be done about it, leading to the lightning-clad hand piercing his cloak and body. Just then, though, a secondary log was revealed to have been used, this one by the intruder. All that remained was his cloak, and the wing tool. Only a second later, the assailant dashed through the air to retrieve the wing, using it with his forward momentum to jet through the window to the Daimyou's study.

The phrasing chosen by Youko along with his subsequent actions was enough for Kazumi to take it as approval. A shift in his movements would free his cock and soon after shift this young woman's body so that she'd be bent over the bar of this room. A squeal escaped her, but she was no less excited by this turn of events than she had been, and soon enough, Youko's voice would be heard directly in her right ear. The deviousness of the idea and its delivery made her swoon, but the question was, was she actually patient enough to wait for the change of scenery. "Eh, that sounds pretty fun and all, but I need this right now!" she demanded, as per usual. It would seem the change of venue would be on the back burner for the young woman for a while at least as her hips wiggled impatiently.

While the pair of the Daimyou's daughter and Youko enjoyed something in their afternoon. The newly hired Kunoichi didn't get the satisfaction of the kill she'd been seeking. Though knowing this assailant was much more like a shinobi than a samurai made her expect to have to work a bit harder for the actual satisfaction. Moreover, her hand went through a log and once again she found herself tapping a seal and falling, only to see the trajectory of the assailant change. As he reclaimed at least his wing and aimed for the Daimyou's office. A grin of malicious intent came to Benihime's face as mid fall once more she disappeared in a crimson flash. The forward momentum of this assailant would bring him through the window of the Daimyou's study, at the same time Benihime was launching herself towards this man from the seal left at the doorway of this very room. Her legs bent and added to the extra power needed, her right arm already drawn back, as she glided over top of the man's desk. If this turned out right, she'd end up ramming straight into this assailant atop the desk of the Daimyou and finishing the thing she'd started. An instantly lightning covered hand would aim with almost dire precision to pierce the chest of the man. And this time she was almost assured she'd be too close to miss.

As he heard Kazumi's response, Youko flipped her skirt over to let it rest inside-out on her back. Her response led to a wolfish grin from the male as he leaned away, taking in a full view of her ample and wiggling ass. One hand steadied his manhood while another shifted Kazumi's undergarments aside, both making proper allowances for a slow, yet somehow forceful entry into the lass beneath him. An exhale ensued, followed immediately by his retort. "Huu~. Need? That's a strong choice of words, but I guess I can't say much."

Only seconds separated the intruder from a successful assassination of the Daimyou himself. Soon, this land would be free from the influence of this man. On the other hand, there was no possible way he could have expected some form of actual teleportation from a hired guard. He didn't even have time to be surprised by the sudden appearance by the kunoichi, before he was impaled by the same strike of lightning he'd managed to avoid twice now. Nothing but a wide pair of silver eyes could be seen on this man's visage as he slowly lost the light of life within them. The Daimyou, who'd been surprisingly nonchalant about this sudden occurrence, merely returned to his book. "Looks like he was one of ours once, just like most of the others. Our samurai are starting to become more like ninjas, and that's against our warrior's code. Something must be done about this."

Her seconds of wiggling were followed and consumed by a few movements of Youko which included the young man lifting her skirt and likely having a thorough look at her ass with what she imagined was a very animal-like grin. Regardless of this, soon enough her underwear were being pushed to the side. All of this was taking too long for the young woman, she was almost about to complain but before she could the slow but aggressive entry of Youko silenced her complaints and turned them into a moan instead. "Aaaah~ It's the right choice of words!" she claimed as pushed her hips back. This was amazing and the feel was beyond what she expected, two weeks shouldn't have let her forget this, but in their lost moments this was like a brand new experience for her.

This time Benihime made contact with the would be assassin of the Daimyou. And she subsequently got to watch as the life drained from this young man's eyes. She stared for quite a few seconds, and then her ruby red eyes, flickered over the desk to the Daimyou. This man was surprisingly enough unperturbed by the fact that someone a few seconds prior had been trying to kill him and had just died on his desk. In fact he was so unperturbed that he just kept reading his book, and felt the need to comment about the now dead one on the desk. Benihime pulled her hand out of this individual's chest, after making sure his heart was properly crushed and looked over to the Daimyou. "Sugei, Daimyou-sama has nerves of steel," she mentioned as she sparked a bit of electricity to burn the remaining blood off her finger tips getting rid of the evidence of what she'd done, like she would if this mission was to any other random place. "Samurai...ninjas? That... is going to be a drag," she said aloud.

Of course it was the case, against a Samurai the most she'd been prepared to worry about was weapon drawing speed. Against a ninja there were an arsenal of other problems to deal with, including scattered and erratic movements. Shinobi were also fearless and taught to hide which would mean she'd have to go out of her way to keep an eye on the entire area, and her little bells might not be enough to completely shift the targets. Assuming she was properly dismissed the young woman would bow and turn on her heels but something was bothering her now that hadn't before. 'If this one is an old one, why are you still wearing similar armor?' she mentally questioned. The things revealed to her in her first day at this place were beginning to look like a mystery, and the Daimyou was seeming to be more and more sketchy by the moment. This couldn't have been his first encounter, he had to know he was still dressed like his attackers, why would he continue it? It wasn't her place to question this information, she'd instead put it away for later and begin work on a couple of new things to aide in her fight against Samurai with Ninja skills. 'There is also that other guy... who seemed most likely to possess those skills in the first place.' Benihime's eyes narrowed in that moment as she walked away, a single second of murderous intent leaking from her person. 'Ah, but he helped me... probably... ugh, this is getting to be too confusing.'

"Whatever you say. I just hope you've got a few more words left for me after that," he said cheekily, still pressing forward until he baited out some sound or movement that would act as a mark for where his stroke would end. Only at that time would he pull back at all to begin the series of back and forth movements that would contribute to this young woman's - and his own - eventual satisfaction.

The comment on his apparent "nerves of steel" caused the Daimyou to peek up from his book, viewing the redhead who'd spoken to him. "I am Tokudaiji Ouetsu. If there is one thing I have forgotten in all my years as a warrior, it is the sensation of fear," he replied. With that said, he waved his hand to shoo the woman, who seemed to already be moving on her way regardless.

"Aaaah!~" the girl's mouth fell open, and she was having a very good time. In fact, she was so close to flourish she could feel her insides tighten with delight. She would continue to enjoy this as she seemed to be falling just a bit, her legs beginning to weaken and her knees beginning to buckle. In fact, there wasn't much time left for this particular young woman, as she reached the epitome of the pleasantries this girl was very likely to fall into unconsciousness.

But before such a thing could happen Benihime was pacing around the house. Unlike her earlier movements she was walking apparently with no purpose in particular. Her steps were measured, and just a bit annoyed. The closing sentiments of Ouetsu made her uneasy. Not immediately understanding the nature of this Katsuhara Youko was also a bit disturbing to her. Her secondary mission here, was to figure out what was going on with the ninjas who'd come here and gone missing, and put a stop to it. She couldn't do this, when everyone around her seemed to be up to something. 'Ugh, if he actually helped me, then he might not be up to anything...' she thought as she took ten paces up the hall. 'But... if he is behind it and just aiming to gain my trust, I'm going to be in a very bad place later...' she said taking ten paces back down the hall. By the time she moved again she had a hand in her hair and she was itching beneath her skin, obviously there was only one thing to do. "Fuck it." she ended up saying aloud as she moved back towards the bar she'd abandoned earlier. She needed to see if she could pick up this young man's trail and do the direct thing and ask him about his involvement. She obviously had no real way to tell if she was being lied to, but if he gave her the creeps she could at least get a feel for how he could be right here and right now. It seemed better than anything else, and with that in mind, she moved to open the door to this bar.

"Maybe not," Youko said only a few moments after his previous statement. A certain amount of clenching from his partner gave him all the signs he needed to begin his work in earnest, but there were other signs of other things occurring nearby. Not even minutes into the act, Youko's right ear twitched, and his nose flared. He rather quickly reacted to these occurrences by extricating himself from Kazumi, righting her skirt and kimono as he did so, and taking a seat by the bar with his legs crossed and both hands in his lap to cover the sizeable bulge beneath his hakama. He also made sure his eyes returned to their normal state, as he couldn't easily showcase this ability of his to any and everyone nearby. "On alert," he said in a tone most casual, as if this were something that had happened to them before. Mere moments later, the bar's door was being opened, revealing none other than the kunoichi of Sunagakure whom they'd so recently been in the presence of. "Yo. Back for seconds?"

If Kazumi knew one thing, even in the middle of these passionate moments, it was that Youko knew when they were about to be caught. They'd avoided being sighted on multiple occasions within seconds both of them were ready, and Kazumi herself was sitting her already weakened legs down as well. The person entering wasn't her father or mother or any other random servant but the kunoichi her father had so recently hired to protect him. Benihime to her credit entered this room and didn't expect to actually find anyone within. She was confused by this and her left brow rose as this perfect pair of individuals was sitting as if they hadn't done a thing wrong. Something about this scene looked oddly familiar to the redhead, perhaps because she'd often found herself doing such things way more often than most. A single inhale with flared nostrils let her know her thoughts on this matter were about right. "Seems like you've already had seconds. Sorry for interrupting, by the way~" she said offering a wink to Kazumi which made the girls eyes widen but she turned her head as she crossed her arms over her chest and waited. "Anyways, I just have a question... do you know about this Samurai-ninja thing?" she asked in the most straightforward way possible. In fact the question was so direct most might question this woman actually being a ninja, but when things confused her and she couldn't decide how to feel about someone or something, she was oddly direct, this was one such moment.

Youko had much faith that Kazumi would situate herself in time to not be caught in an unsightly state. Over time, this had become quite the regular occurrence for this pair. After all, it would have been quite hectic if the Daimyou had caught his daughter being "deflowered" by her personal guard. Youko always imagined the same end would be met if he were to encounter the girl's mother under the same pretense, though he'd always intended to meet with her as well to see exactly how long of a stay he should be looking forward to in this land.

Benihime's entrance was strange. Upon stepping into the bar, she sniffed the air and bore an expression Youko was somewhat familiar with. The next words out of her mouth gave credence to the first thought crossing Youko's mind. She knew. That didn't really seem to matter at the time, but Youko rather quickly regretted even bothering to pull out. "Well... to be perfectly honest, I only just took the cap off," he said. It seemed this woman had returned simply to ask him a question, regarding some "Samurai-ninja thing" as she called it. A brow upon Youko's face rose when she asked this. "Samurai... ninja... thing? Right. No clue what you're talking about. Given what you just went through, I take it you're more informed than I am on that."

A chuckle escaped the redhead as Youko confirmed he'd been interrupted before the pair of them had gotten properly into the act they were going for. And for her part in this, Benihime was actually a bit apologetic, hell she'd been about to start something herself before the interruption caused by the assassination attempt. "That sucks... you didn't have to stop on my account. But you wouldn't have known that before now~" she said and she truly meant that. As Youko continued to speak he answered her question with a quizzical expression and the redhead's eyes narrowed. Benihime wasn't sure how to feel about this man before her, nor the girl he was in charge of. She knew she was now at the very least more than a little skeptical of her boss, but given present company she couldn't just say that.

"Yeah, I figured you'd say something like that, but..." she paused her left hand finding the back of her head while her right rested on her hip. "After killing that guy you are the first person I thought of... and I don't like that... I don't like not being sure," she said frowning. "You don't strike me as a Samurai, and you definitely move like a ninja... better than most actually, it's a bit disturbing," said the redhead. "My problem is I am about to put a lot of work into trying to kill them, and I am gonna be super pissed if you're on the list of people I end up having to deal with..." she said, and it happened again. That nagging little feeling of murderous intent, the little tingle at the back of her mind, and in her right hand which is why she hadn't really moved yet. There was quite a bit of tension in Benihime in this moment, but it would soon enough be broken, as Kazumi yawned. "This sounds like boring guard stuff. I'm gonna eat and have a nap... ja." the girl said seeming surprisingly evenly tempered as she excused herself and completely unaware of the context of this conversation. A small smile came to Benihime's face and she wondered what it was like to be that carefree, as the Kazumi got up and left she passed Benihime and held up two fingers to let Youko know what time she'd be meeting him in his room later this night. Another thing they were always ready for.

"Is that so? Well, the last time I heard that sentence, it was because... well... never mind." As Youko thought about the next words that would have escaped him, he remembered words spoken by the redhead earlier this day, and decided against whatever he was prepared to say. A sigh escaped him instead, but this was soon followed by a curious expression as Kazumi walked away from the pair. He took special note of her hand's movement when she left, putting to memory the number she gave. "Hai. Sleep well," he said, waiting then until she was gone before addressing Benihime again. "Funny. I seem to be the first one a lot of people think of for a lot of reasons, and most of them aren't good. Still... I'm not much of a samurai. Ninja move like me. There isn't much else to it. Besides, what reason would you have to be pissed if you had to try dealing with me?" As these words were spoken, Youko found his groin to be returning to its normal state. This allowed him to stop covering up, as it were, and rest both of his arms along the edge of the bar counter while speaking with this woman.

Benihime took note that Youko had started a sentence flirtatiously and shifted it for a reason likely connected to her earlier idea of having nothing to do with him. When the Daimyou's daughter left the momentary ebb in tension disappeared. Youko also waited until Kazumi left to speak again, but they seemed to have some kind of code going on between them, not that Benihime was prone to noticing such things, nor would her agitated state allow her to care about it very much. When the white haired man did speak he apparently made it clear that people often found him to be a bit suspicious and he further made the claim that ninjas moved like him and that he didn't consider himself much of a Samurai. Benihime chuckled just a little and then shrugged. "First off, I would love to wake up with that much confidence..." she said about his mention of ninjas likeness to him. As for his actual question the answer was likely not going to make much sense to anyone else. "As for why..." there was a pause from Benihime. She didn't lie, but she wasn't the type to give too many details. The gist of her situation would be knowable. "Sensors, bother me a bit in the first place. But you've been nice to me, and even helped me out with that guy I just killed. My condolences about the hair by the way," she said seeming to get a bit distracted. "Anyways, I'm not really a psycho or anything, but finding out random nice person is lying to me way after the fact is the sort of thing to piss me off. So... I need you to be less sketchy to me..." she said as her right hand lowered from her head for the first time. "And I only know one way to accomplish that right now," the words finished and she settled on her actual thing to do. She was going to attack this man here and now, they would fight and she'd get a feel for him which was proper and after they were done, she could have good faith in him as a person. Explaining such things took way too much time though so the redhead launched herself forward immediately aiming what would likely be considered a sucker punch with her right hand at this man's face with a great deal of swiftness and force.

Once again, Youko's brow rose. He was slightly disturbed by the kunoichi's laugh at his previous claim, but he did suppose she had no reason to believe he was being honest. "That isn't confidence. Shinobi move like my people. As much as I'd like to go into detail, I'm not going to," he clarified. As for the comment/condolences related to his hair, he shrugged. "It'll grow back soon." Again, Youko's claim was more true than he cared to specify. He didn't much care how skeptical this kunoichi was of him; any business they would have had with one another was already confirmed to be nonexistent in reality, and Youko did not work in conjunction with others. More importantly, the murderous intent was resurfacing in the redhead, moreso than it had before.

'Yare yare. Don't let this happen today. I'm in the exact opposite mood right now! Let's just...' Youko's train of thought was interrupted by the sudden movement of the woman. Her right fist was primed to make contact with his face, but his reaction time was more than ample enough at this distance for his left hand to rise against it. Said hand caught Benihime's fist before it could connect, and his face immediately peered around the pair of hands. His eyes looked toward Benihime's, where a moment of reciprocation would result in his eyes - which suddenly held the appearance of the new moon - forcing the remainder of the interaction to occur within the Suna Nin's mind. Everything would proceed as normal within this Genjutsu, of course, starting with Youko's reactive maneuver. He fell back to allow Benihime's forward momentum to continue while his right hand rounded toward her side. Overall, his intention here was to push her over the bar counter while spinning himself into the standing position. "Really? Usually, the fighting doesn't start until I've known a girl for at least a few months. We haven't even had a dance yet."

Benihime would have commented since this man claimed he didn't have confidence, that it was quite true that ninjas moved a bit like the people of his family. She understood at least that families were complicated, her own was one of those so she fully understood. More surprising than that, there was the fact that her fist was caught by this young man, and she would have been uniquely surprised by this if she hadn't already observed him quite a bit. "This might actually be fun for a bit~" she muttered, only to turn her head, and in a second of eye contact see something she'd never seen before, eyes like full black moons which would trap her within the Genjutsu of this man's creation. Of course, she wouldn't know about that at first, no, she'd only notice the doujutsu. "Doujutsu and not a ninja. Damn it Machi, these missions are always fucking with my good time," she said as her body was pushed further over the bar counter, but she was used to this sort of thing. Way more than her job would imply, as such she was back up and over the bar within a few seconds standing back before Youko bouncing on her toes as she rotated her shoulders. "Really now, no warm up before the dance? This is my opener, especially when I don't understand something. Well, with men anyway. I totally get it with the women..." she said a smirk coming to her face. "I've got similar problems~" she chimed before moving again, this time she added a flurry of movements at speeds which would cause her body to blur, a set of ten rapid punches aimed at this man's torso only to be followed by a quick upper cut with her left hand. All while the nagging feeling at the back of her mind, began to stir something else within her, the beast which seemed to be hidden underneath her chakra sleeping.

"Machi?" he questioned right away, seeming to find the sudden name-drop strange. The stance he took after flipping the kunoichi over the bar was no more than a casual stand, while she took on more of a boxer's role. As she prepared herself, she was also content to pick up on the banter Youko initiated a few moments prior. This was quite surprising, but also somewhat disturbing, considering how their earlier interaction had ended. "Right. You're confusing the absolute hell out of me. I'm struggling to realize whether you're trying to kill me, or this is foreplay in some elaborate 'hard to get' routine you've had planned this whole time."

Benihime was soon enough approaching at a rapid pace. Within this world of his own creation, he had no worries whatsoever. Youko's avatar in the Genjutsu was still, taking the flurry of punches to his torso without so much as a flinch, and only having his head raise slightly from the woman's uppercut. "So... how exactly is fighting me going to make me seem less sketchy? I'm really not following here."

After mentioning Machi aloud Benihime sighed. She realized the mention of this name wouldn't make sense to other people, and as such she had no real problem explaining it. "Machi is the Kazekage, he's also a jerk who put me on a boat for three days to make me come to this place. I've been cursing him in my head for days... that one just slipped out~" she added. Multiple punches seemed to land on this man but none really caused him to shift. He wasn't built in any obvious way like he could take that sort of punishment and this caused a bit of deference to the young jounin. This was odd. Beyond that this man expressed great confusion in this woman's methods and she looked at him strangely in this moment. "I am going to be very honest here, I am almost always winging this. I don't plan anything, you said something and got the first response in my head. If that is confusing for you... I am pretty sure we're even," she mentioned. His follow up question and lack of real damage make her confused, this wasn't the feeling she expected.

As if to cue her suspicions, a voice rather docile whispered in her head. And in her own mind she saw the yellow and green eyes of a large flaming blue cat creature open. 'Benihime-sama, did you realize already?' asked the cat in a manner most respectful. 'Did he really genjutsu me?' she thought to which she got a nodded reply. 'Do you need assistance?' asked the cat who seemed willing enough. 'Nah, Matatabi, gimme a minute... this could be kinda useful, maybe?' she said, taking a rather big risk. Aloud though Benihime now found herself looking at the man she'd backed away from opening and closing her fist. She looked at her hand and explained herself which again was likely rather strange considering. "My big brother says punching things usually clears up indecision. It's always worked thus far so I decided I'd just fight you and figure out if you had sketchy vibes and are actually okay, or if you are actually sketchy and think of other ways to get rid of you. Which would be a pain in the ass since you seem to know when I am thinking about killing you." said the young redhead. "But... did you really fucking genjutsu me?"

"... Sou ka." There was much hesitation prior to Youko's reply. Many things this woman had said and/or explained simply added to the confusion as to why she even bothered, but that was an aside. His initial cast of this Genjutsu was for the simple purpose of getting information out of Benihime without having to go through with the fight she'd initiated. At this point, though, it seemed there wasn't much necessity in doing that, as it was not her intention to try killing him here. "So... neither? You attacked me... just to figure me out? Yare yare daze," he said as he raised a hand to push through his hair, realizing there wasn't nearly as much of it as he remembered. An expression of disappointment crossed his face in that moment, but he supposed it would grow back soon enough. "It's a learned skill. I happen to be very used to people wanting to kill me. And... yes, you're in a Genjutsu. I thought it would be best to figure out what the hell you were doing; I'd rather not risk killing a ninja and start another pointless war when I don't even know what's going on. Would you like to be released now?"

Youko might have been in a state of confusion about Benihime's behavior, but she was just as confused by him as she'd ever been by anything. Even so, he seemed to understand the reasoning behind her random attack of his person. "Well... yeah," she said as if this as the simplest thing in the world. He went on to speak as if this was somehow annoying and Benihime smirked seeming to find his lack of hair just as disappointing as he did. Regardless, he went on to explain that he'd simply learned to know when malicious intentions were aimed his way as a consequence of people always wanting to kill him. "No one is starting a war over me. If anything it is going to happen irrespective of anything done to me here, but I'd rather not hear Machi's mouth about starting another 'international incident'," she said which was her main reason for feeling even slightly tense in the first place. "Yes I would like to be let out, but before that... I have another question and I'd rather not be overheard," she said looking at this young man. This genjutsu fight didn't give her a feel enough for whatever Youko's actual intentions were, but... his earlier conversations with the Daimyou let her know at the very least the Daimyou didn't like him and that he likely didn't respect the old man very much. "You don't know about the Samurai Ninjas, but... do you also think there is something strange about the Daimyou?"

"Another? Sounds like a party to me," he commented. Banter aside, Benihime voiced her preference for being freed from this Genjutsu, albeit with one hang-up: She had a question that needed to be asked without prying ears nearby. Her question involved the Daimyou, and any strange aura surrounding him. Of course, Youko had many suspicions about many people, and the Daimyou Tokudaiji Ouetsu was far from an exception to this. However... trusting a random shinobi who appeared only today to serve that very man, with any suspicions of him, did not cross Youko as a very good idea. "If I did, should I really tell you?" he asked after heaving a long sigh. "You may think I'm sketchy, but what about you? Espionage is in your job description, and we just met, what... maybe two hours ago? Who's to say you aren't here to find out if I'm trustworthy? You haven't exactly given me a reason to believe you're on my side, y'know?"

Benihime grinned international incidents would seem like fun times to ones like this one. "Yeah, yeah... it's all fun and games until people are yelling and passing out new rules and shit," she said with about all of the humor she normally managed to gather into a single moment. Still it seemed this man wasn't keen to directly answer her question. He instead in a round about way implied that she was just as sketchy to him as he was to her. She couldn't help but laugh at this just a little. "Uh-huh, so yes is the answer to my question..." she said shrugging it off. "Yep, espionage is in my job description but, you know my real name, know how my jutsu works, and you're in my head right now. Obviously this is already your show..." she said and it made sense to her. "You can let me out now~"

Youko grinned throughout the kunoichi's retort. She at least had the capacity to keep up with his skepticism and respond in kind. As she did, he took steps toward the woman until he was able to lean forward and look her directly in the eye from a few centimeters away. "Hmm... You're definitely right about that. It's a bit weird that you knew you were in my Genjutsu without trying to get out yourself, though," he said. "Anyway... I don't have much to go by, but if I find anything solid to go with my assumptions so far, maybe you'll be the first to know. Date?" With this offer on the table, Youko held out his right hand as if to seal the deal, fully intending to - if Benihime were to accept this - undo the Genjutsu he'd placed her under. Their return to the outside world would leave the pair of them in the exact same position they'd been in at the end of the illusion.

Benihime couldn't help but find something amusing in this exchange. Regardless of the fact that she was currently in a Genjutsu which was something that she generally hated, she was fairly certain this man didn't mean her real harm. Going along with this, her next sentence would clear up any confusion about why she hadn't been trying to free herself. "Full disclosure, I don't think my file to Ouetsu includes anything recent about me. Getting out of this Genjutsu would cause me to have to do something fairly obvious that I'd rather avoid until I am sure about what he knows," she said. It seemed that kunoichi was still secretive but not nearly as much as she should be considering.

Still it seemed that he was at least accepting of her general disposition and her underlying skepticism and as such she could agree to aid him a bit. After all, he'd been pleasant enough to her that she could accept this. His right hand extended and he offered her a date at some point to perhaps discuss the nature of their common unease. The proximity he'd gain to her over the last few seconds was a bit much, but she supposed she could offer a hand shake in all fairness to him. "Hai, it's a date~" she said offering her own right hand to him as well. The illusion disappeared around them and she was left looking this man in the face into giant empty black sparkly moons. Her left brow raised it seemed that she wasn't the only one keeping things to herself. But on this assumption she could at least be satisfied that she wasn't the only one keeping things from the Daimyou.

Apparently, the Daimyou's file on Benihime was missing some rather crucial information about her, much to her potential benefit when it came to discretion. Youko found himself wondering if this was somehow related to the strange behavior of the kunoichi's chakra, but that was none of his business or concern at present. What was his concern, was the agreement they had now come to, which Benihime accepted in a strange way. Being the type of man he was, Youko replied in a very specific way that naturally came to mind. "Yosh. Kiss on it?" he said while the moons in his eyes waned, returning his pupils and golden-hued irises. "You said I wasn't your type, but I've had a very drastic makeover since we last spoke."

Benihime found herself chuckling at this man before her. His question following their agreement would have already confused her, if she didn't have him pegged as an outrageous flirt. Even so, he went on to explain himself, bringing up the fact that she'd previously said he wasn't her type only to point out his rather drastic makeover. A small smile crept onto the Jounin's lips as she leaned forward just a little and spoke directly into the man's right ear, taking note that his eyes had waned back to normal. "Maybe when your hair grows back, Katsuhara-kun~" and she said. While she'd rate him pretty high on the attractiveness scale the thing she'd noticed about him first was all that gorgeous hair. Beyond that she still wasn't sure how she felt about him one way or another. But she was quite sure she'd figure it out over time.

Youko's eyes widened, and his brow rose once more. Everything this woman said regarding him was seeming to contradict everything else she said. This time, she got a rise out of him by simply moving forward, only to speak into his ear something which led him to confusion once more. "You do realize you haven't made an ounce of sense since we met, right? If I'm being honest, I have to admit to not having a single clue how to approach you. It doesn't exactly make me want to stop, if that's what you were aiming for," he concluded. All things aside, an agreement had been made, and Youko had no other business to take care of for the day. As such, he was content to release the kunoichi's hand, and retire to his quarters... which happened to be in the building he'd been meant to show Benihime to. "Oh, and... I happen to be checking in for the night soon. We're almost roommates. You wanted me to show you to the guest house, right?"

Benihime's witty retort to the white haired ronin, seemed to confuse him in some way. Instead of mulling over it for whatever reason, he decided to share the problems he apparently had with the redhead's words and actions. He admitted to having no idea how to approach her, but not really wanting to stop doing it. If she wasn't properly discouraging him, she didn't know how to do so. Shooting most guys down a couple of times generally worked, but... now that she thought about it she wasn't really trying to do that. "If I am being honest, I never have any idea what I'm aiming for ahead of time. Just do what you want, it's what I do and it always tends to work out~" she said and this was rather true. The redhead's life was one of momentary decisions which made the most sense, this generally didn't involve romance with men, but it wasn't as if she was unused to male attention. There was something about the male before her she found strange and she also wasn't sure how to deal with it, or what exactly it was. But it seemed their deal had been made and as such Youko was content to let go of her hand. His subsequent action was to offer to take her to the guest house they'd apparently be sharing. "Hai, lead the way~" she said thinking that with one foiled assassination attempt on the books and some extra information on the sort of things she'd be fighting, she might want to consider some newer tactics to help her out while she fights.

"Well, that's... helpful... maybe." He sighed once more, choosing in that moment to let the discussion between them drop where it was. Since Benihime was content to be shown toward the guests' house, he began to move while beckoning toward himself, taking the quickest path through the mansion to reach a path around back. Upon exiting the main building, their temporary abode would be easily seen at the end of a semi-long walkway. It was a bit much for a building intended only for guests, trumping the houses of even those who fall just short of nobility in such a country. A casual walk resulted in this trip taking a couple of minutes, but Youko was given much time to think about the future of all people in this overarching scenario. He came to a decision eventually, but when he stopped in front of the guests' house, he realized there was something he needed, which Benihime may or may not be capable of assisting him with. "This is the place, but I have a question before you go in. You don't happen to use Fire Release as well, do you?"

Benihime found herself chuckling again. She knew full well, nothing she said was ever truly helpful, especially when it came to herself. But it seemed with this the conversation was dropped and she followed the white haired young man on the fastest route out of the palace towards the guest house they'd be occupying. As she moved her eyes caught that fur which trailed along behind him, and she fought with herself over the desire to touch it. If he already found her confusing, randomly touching him probably wouldn't help him work it out. Besides in her own mind she shouldn't really care. 'Why does it look so soft?' she questioned. 'It's divine... I just really wa~' the young woman's distracted thoughts came to an end because this male spoke to her and she'd only barely heard it. Luckily enough even her distracted mental rambling wasn't enough for her to completely lose track of someone speaking to her. They were in front of this guest house but he was asking her a question about the nature of her use of jutsu. Her eyes shifted in his direction and she became suspicious, but not enough to feel immediately murderous. "Fire release is what I tend to use primarily... why?" she asked the suspicion of this question allowing her to clear her head of the desire to touch the fur attached to this young man. She supposed most wouldn't realize everything that made her a proper kunoichi made her not really want to answer the question. What if she needed it at random against him later. But she was trying to break the habit of thinking like that, in this moment because he seemed to be about his word to say the least.

"Sugoi!" Suddenly, Youko seemed to be excited. A one in five chance placed most shinobi with an affinity for a certain nature transformation for their chakra, and the one sent here happened to be capable of using the element he needed. She hadn't even agreed to do what he wanted yet, as he had yet to ask, but there was at least a chance already. Since she'd said yes to possessing Katon skills, he veered off the given path, leading the way toward a stone pit just outside of a closed stable. Only then did he answer her question. "Would you mind helping me with something? I wander around a lot, so I smith in exchange for food and shelter. I never took the time to pick up fire, but... I need these coals hotter than hell. The atmosphere in this area isn't very good for the kind of flame I feel comfortable working with, and I hate to make shoddy equipment. So, since we can't kiss on our deal, how about a trade instead? You keep me from getting rusty, and I'll make something that'll really help you out later."

The answered the rather sketchy question presented to her by this white haired man, and he immediately seemed to be excited. Her eyes widened in this moment, because she hadn't expected this sort of reaction from him. She hadn't actually said anything other than that she was capable of using Fire Release. It seemed an explanation would soon be coming so, Benihime followed the man around the back of the building and saw before her a pit before a closed off stable. Her left brow rose as this man explained what he needed of her, and it was well within her skill set to provide it to him. If he was at all concerned that she wouldn't do this there was no need to be, she found the idea of a blacksmith rather interesting, she actually didn't know any personally. "Ara, never met a blacksmith before," she said looking at the dead pit. The air around this place wasn't really conducive to keeping flames, she understood that, and as such she stood back. Her tiny hands rather nimbly strung together a series of seven hand seals, all while inside her body she kneaded chakra from the depth of her belly, soon enough she held up her left hand to her mouth and exhaled a stream of fire along with the name of the jutsu. "Katon: Gōka Messhitsu," the stream of condensed flames danced over the coals, and she managed to keep this entire thing confined to the size of the pit, though the pyromaniac within the young woman wanted to watch more than just the bit burn. At the end of the jutsu the coals would burn brightly. "Will that work for ya?" she asked as the temperature around this fire pit rose to levels most would find sweltering at best, but she didn't seem to care very much.

There wasn't much hesitation from Benihime after hearing his reason for the previous question. She rather quickly decided to utilize a fire technique that ignited the coals of Youko's makeshift forge. When he saw the flaming coals after the woman's funneled technique, his eyes were alight as well. As for whether this quality of flame would work or not, he could only say that it most certainly would. Immediately, he moved toward a large sack nearby, emptying it of steel slabs and a rather high-quality set of blacksmith's tools. "Sugoi, sugoi! This might be the best flame I've ever seen in a forge! This'll keep me busy for a couple of hours. Arigatou!" Without further ado, he lined up the tools and materials he would be needing, and decided he would be performing this task in a way he felt most comfortable. As such, he formed a strange hand seal consisting of his right hand being cupped over his left fist. "Guess I'll see you tomorrow then. I'll have something for you at that point," he said before moving along, channeling his chakra through his hair - of all places - to grow it to its former length. Once he was comfortable with that, he pulled his kimono away from his torso, revealing that the same markings that were on his face were also present on his lean, yet oddly muscular, arms and torso - even on his lower abdomen. He suddenly felt perfectly comfortable in front of the burning coals, so he proceeded to pick up he first slab of steel with a pair of blacksmith's tongs, and held it over the open flame.

After she used her jutsu Benihime was left standing with one hand on her hip and the other on her head. For some very strange reason, she managed to look a bit abashed with her head turned slightly left as she shrugged off the praise this man gave her about the state of his makeshift forge. "There isn't a need to thank me or anything... you already did me a favor any way," she managed aloud. 'A couple depending on how you wanna look at it...' she thought with a gentle red tint that spread to the tip of her ears. Regardless she soon enough found herself watching this man without making any real moves to remove herself from the place she was standing. Moreover the young man was using some sort of strange hand seal, and even going past that to regrow his hair much to the young woman's surprise. 'Sugei!' she thought with no idea as to why she should care about it. Soon enough Youko removed his kimono and prepared to begin working. His entire upper body now exposed he somehow seemed more comfortable, and Benihime found herself staring rather blatantly and she couldn't even begin to understand why. 'Is he covered in tattoos that would be strange....' she thought absently. She could rather suddenly feel her heart beating in her chest as she watched him begin to heat the metals he would be using. Strangely enough the young woman didn't feel like leaving right just now and she couldn't really explain it. "Um, I'm actually a bit curious now... you mind if I stay and watch for a while?" she asked this question because she was a bit unsure of what his answer would be, but knew that she didn't want to leave for whatever reason.

"Not used to taking praise, I take it..." he commented. Whatever the case, Youko was already beginning to immerse himself in his work. Benihime, in the same respect, was apparently content to stay and watch this task he'd chosen to take on. He wasn't quite sure why she asked if he minded, but of course, he replied immediately with a chuckle. "As you like. I don't think I've ever had an audience before; this is usually pretty lonely work. Actually... since you're here, do you have an empty scroll I could borrow? I could use a full one here in a bit." As Youko shared words with the redhead, the steel he tempered reached a golden-orange hue. His hammer was to come next, first with powerful strikes to knock off excess metal, then with weaker, more precise strikes meant to shape the small slab which remained afterwards as he removed it from the heat. "Just so you know... you won't be getting a scroll back if you give me one."

Benihime had no response to not being used to taking praise. The fact is, she was so used to not getting praised at all, it was always really strange for her when people recognized her abilities. That being said, surprisingly enough the blacksmith didn't seem to mind of she stayed and watched him work for a while. This was of course, a relief to the redhead, because she didn't really want to have to go full ninja and try and hide herself properly from a sensor, especially one possessing a doujutsu, just to sate her curiosity. That being said his agreement came with the idea that he could use a scroll. The young woman reached into the frills of the outfit she wore and removed a small scroll opening it and pressing her hand to it, to grab another empty one. She brought a great deal of things she thought she might need with her in this way. "Here, empty scroll. And don't worry, I don't need one back, I have a shit ton of them," she said in reply to his last statement.

She held this scroll in her hand while returning the other one to the place on her person she'd taken it from and after she was done, she got to hear the sound of hammer striking metal and get a very nice and unabashed look at Youko while he worked. It wasn't just the metal work which was interesting to the young woman, but the movements of the marks on his skin, of his randomly muscled features and of that long white hair trailing down his back. 'Sugei! He's so interesting to look at,' she thought, feeling a knot at the pit of her stomach. Her eyes hadn't left this man at all, but unlike earlier she wasn't at all thinking of killing him, she was simply genuinely curious. She'd never physically appraised a young man the way she was looking at Youko presently. Her eyes traveled over his body, over the markings on his torso... seemingly without shame.

"Arigatou! If you don't mind, could you just leave that next to my bag over there?" he asked as one final favor, addressing the sack he'd originally taken his steel and tools from, which sat upon a long, stone table. "Funny thing, someone used to work in this area to make horseshoes. By the time I got here, the forge had been all but torn apart, but everything else was still here. I tried my best to put it back together, but it wouldn't be worth much salt without this fire of yours. Must be why it was taken apart in the first place." Youko's speech at this point was nothing more than a bit of small talk to pass the time as he worked. He'd really never had anyone in the vicinity while he worked a forge; most of his patrons tended to send him on his way until the work was done. Now, he was content, but without much knowledge for what to say. So, he merely said whatever came to mind while chiseling the heated steel down to the size of what seemed to be a large, misshapen kunai of sorts, with a blade far too wide for functionality.

Soon enough Benihime's concentration was broken by Youko's voice. For a man who normally worked completely alone, he seemed to talk quite a bit. The crimson haired lass had no problem with this of course, and found him to be rather interesting, even if the current subjects weren't really ones she could contribute information for. "Hai," she said of the final favor asked of her. She left the empty scroll on the stone table only letting the young man leave her sight for a few seconds. But in the moments of making the short trek to the table she decided it had just as good a view as her standing position, as such she took a seat at the far end of it, leaving Youko's bag, with the scroll beside it to the far left while she herself sat lightly atop the far right corner, one knee pulled up to her chest so her chin could rest upon it while she watched the man work. "Well, if there was a guy working it as a horseshoe forge it probably just closed up because he stopped doing it. I can't say I've seen any horses or anything... but it's good to make use of things like this," she said finding a bit of happiness in the extra resourcefulness of this blacksmith and somehow being a bit proud that she could help. She also felt a bit strange just watching, but given Youko's own sentences apparently it wouldn't break his concentration if she continued talking. So, she did, but similar to the man, she also didn't really know what to say and found herself commenting on the thing which was most curious to her. "So, is your whole body just covered in seals?" she asked quite curious about it. She had a few herself, a couple of her own creation, and one which was made by Machi and slightly modified by her a while afterwards. But only the two on her arm were ever really visible.

Eventually, Youko was applying a finer chisel to the tool he was crafting, turning its singular blade into three separate prongs, much like a "webbed" trident in kunai form. "I think it's a little wasteful to tear down a perfectly good structure just because it isn't being used for its original purpose. At this point, why didn't they take down the stables as well? You'll just end up with horses that have naked hooves, otherwise," he chimed. This was about the limit of his small talk, especially considering the fact that he did not know the young woman he was conversing with. Soon enough, though, she brought to the proverbial table a topic of her own: the markings Youko bore. A moment of hesitation followed, but the silence was eventually filled with his answer. "... Yeah. They're all seals."