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The Chronicle which details how such a strange set of individuals became the pair to decide the fate of the Ninja World.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/788/4...0eca2c9c_o.jpg
The Chronicle which details how such a strange set of individuals became the pair to decide the fate of the Ninja World.
Approximately one decade prior to the current day and age, something was amiss in the Land of Silence - a samurai-led country on a distant continent. This country, while run by samurai, had a Daimyou of its own. The goings-on were directly connected to a conspiracy surrounding the Daimyou, his wife, and their daughter. Not only had samurai been affected, but also ninjas all across the globe. One particular samurai trained in the Land of Iron had very recently been appointed to be the personal guard of the Daimyou's daughter during this time.
The guardian in question was no local, neither to here nor the Land of Iron. He was from a stranger land yet, where all inhabitants sported flowing white locks of hair, and odd markings on their bodies. His forehead bore a blue crescent moon mark, and there were two red hash marks on each of his cheeks below a pair of golden eyes. In the middle of the afternoon, he sat against the wall next to the mansion's front door. Unlike most samurai, he sported a white kimono with red cherry blossom flower crests on its sleeves and neckline, and a pair of sashinuki hakama tucked into ankle-high black boots. He had armor of his own, but he was currently without it. What he was not without, though, was a strange tuft of pure white fur on his right shoulder, long enough to drag the floor if he were standing at the time. All was silent for the time being, but that was sure to change eventually...
The Land of Silence was destined to have many visitors with varied concerns. One of whom was recently off a boat to this very place. 'I hate boats, my legs still don't feel right. Machi is going to get such an ear full about this later...' she thought frowning intently. This far away continent was somewhere this particular individual had never been before and she found herself walking towards the front of the Daimyo's Palace with nothing to her person apparently. She was dressed in fishnet shorts with frilly red cloth attached to either side. If one paid close enough attention they would see a few small scrolls attached to the inside of these frills. As well, the girl's village headband which was attached to her right thigh and worn like a garter. Additionally, fishnets covered her chest along with a bustier which matched the frilly bits attached to her bottoms. She eyed this entire place with narrowed crimson eyes, on the top of her right arm a figure eight like symbol with a single dark mark under it. The most startling feature of this young woman by far, was a mass of crimson locks, placed in a ponytail atop her head, but untamed by the holder, crimson locks escaped around her face and moved around her body as if bristling. The length of this hair was phenomenal by most standards hanging down far enough to reach the young woman's ankles, without the ponytail to keep it off the ground. As she took in the view she saw the young man posted up outside of the building and her face didn't seem to change very much. 'He's got a kind of girly face with all that hair,' she thought absently.
But this wasn't what was important right now. No... she'd been sent here on a mission. Well, technically two, the first was of which was to be a guard to the Daimyo of the Land of Silence, which was hardly work by the young woman's standards. Her secondary mission was by far her most important, and it was to find out, what happened to several different groups of Shinobi from several villages sent to the area, as well as finding out if it had any connection to the problems being experienced by the Daimyo. Given this, she'd become a staple of the area, but that wouldn't stop her from taking in the sights, nor was she particularly rude so she spoke, coming to a stop before the entryway. "Ohayou gozaimasu."
The white-haired male was told to expect a shinobi some day soon, so it was no surprise to him that one appeared this day. The crimson mop upon this kunoichi's head was something to catch his eye the moment she came into view, but that was an aside. Perhaps he should have been disturbed by the sheer amount of hair this woman possessed, but he hardly had room to judge, considering. Whatever the case, the steadfast samurai stared blankly in the direction of this encroaching kunoichi, until he was inevitably greeted by her. "Ohayou gozaimasu," he replied. Still, he had a job to do. If this woman wasn't the one intended to serve the Daimyou, she could potentially be a threat to the one he was sworn to serve. With that in mind, there was some information he needed to pry for. "Who might you be? What are you doing here?"
'Sou ka, I thought he looked like a guard. Pretty well dressed one... but,' whatever thought the redhead had coming she let pause. She knew for a fact that it would not be good to try entering a place such as this without getting someone to acknowledge what she was before hand. She expected this sort of thing, she could even understand it, she did similar things when she was at home in the Sunagakure. An exhale escaped her as she began speaking on her name and reason for appearing here. "Suzukou Benihime," she said letting her name leave her face with a gentle pause. "Jounin of the Sunagakure. I am meant to be on retainer to the Daimyou here. His new personal guard," she said monotonously. "Tell me this is the right place. I'm not getting back on that boat," she said with some extreme amount of distaste. She was no real threat to the family here, nor any of their personal servants, unless of course they crossed her on her secondary mission.
Following his questioning, this woman revealed herself using the identity Benihime. This introduction prompted the samurai to look her up and down a few times over with a stare that was almost to be considered glaring, but such was his natural expression. When his gaze met her face again, his eyes closed for a few seconds; he spoke again before they opened. "About time they sent a woman. Weird, though... No shinobi thus far has given their real name," he said. His eyes opened again after these words were shared, and a sigh accompanied his rise from the ground. A katana and a sheathless, double-edged jian that were previously propped up beside him were taken up and both slipped into the left side of his obi.
"Guess I've been reduced to messenger/gatekeeper today. C'mon. I'll show you to the old man," he said while turning toward the building, intending to lead Benihime directly to the Daimyou's room. He moved with steps that were leagues lighter than even most ninja, despite visually being a seasoned enough samurai to forego their typical garbs and weaponry. The movements he made also caused the fur - which should have been made filthy via dragging the ground as he walked - billow through the air behind him, avoiding the ground as if it were doing so of its own volition.
This man sent a gazing glare Benihime's way, which she met impassively. 'Wow, someone looks like he woke up all kinds of cranky,' she thought but soon enough this gaze was ended and he thought to comment, about the legitimate nature of the name she'd given. "Ugh, sensors..." she frowned. "The only people to realize I am not being pretentious and calling myself by such a name..." she muttered aloud to the statement, with a strange use of vocabulary. Shinobi were taught to lie as if it was second nature. To act in complete secrecy, most didn't start missions by giving their full name or any kind of information, but Benihime was quite different from a standard Shinobi. The young kunoichi had been on many of these missions before, and never had to lie about anything. She could always just kill any one who crossed her in an unnecessary way.
Still this young man seemed amiable enough and intended to show her to the 'old man' as he called him. This was fine with Benihime who nodded and waited as he led her inside. She took several steps inside her left hand reaching out to touch the door frame a seal would leave her hand as her fingers brushed the wood. And such an action would happen several times as she moved, but her eyes, were locked onto the young man before her, and the fur which dangled from his person. As she moved she found herself almost hypnotized by its movements and beyond that, she really wanted to touch it. 'What... is...' she shook her head and tried to clear her consciousness. She aimed to concentrate on something else, anything else as she moved and found herself noting the lightness of this man's footsteps and the fluidness of his movements. 'I hope he's not involved, it seems like he'd move almost as well as I do,' But along with this man's light movements hers made no sounds, despite the fact that there were two bells attached to the top of her outfit, which should for all intents and purposes chime with her every foot step.
From her initial reaction, it seemed this Benihime had some prior interactions with sensor-type individuals - likely shinobi - which were not all too wonderful. He had no comment about this to speak of, but there was something he found strange about this woman's mannerisms. To be most specific, as they walked through the building, the samurai found himself looking over his shoulder with a curious mind as this woman's hands reached out to touch various surfaces. This was no simple check of the decor or structural integrity; something was odd about this woman's chakra every time contact was made... as if it were being left at every location she made contact with. "You shinobi are so low on fear, but so high on discretion. It's interesting. What sort of technique is that?" he asked, finally shifting his over-the-shoulder gaze until it once again found the face of this redhead.
As she moved seals were left around, almost invisible to the naked eye, but it seemed that her sensor companion noticed her dealings. He had a gaze of her over his shoulder at several points while she acted. She all but expected this, even so, the crimson haired lass was rather suddenly confronted by the man's visage as he mentioned the amount of discretion seen from Shinobi contradicting in some way their lack of fear. "Shinobi are trained as such, to be fearless and to act as shadows. No one should know what kind of technique will kill them or who lurks in the dark. They should simply know they are going to die," she said seemingly without any emotion or attachment. Regardless of this, she seemed to have no issue at least explaining what she'd been doing, it would likely be for the best and considered a bit of preparatory work for her job here. "This technique is a summoning seal of my own creation, specifically it summons me..." she mentioned. This kunoichi was particularly gifted with the creation of seals, and using them to her own advantage. Most of her techniques were connected to her ability to create or manipulate seals. It was one of her greater strengths as an individual, most wouldn't be able to understand the mechanics of it, and even if they did, it was hardly fathomable. It was one of her greatest feats to date, the creation of these seals which she could leave anywhere and travel between any two, not that she bothered explaining that last bit.
"Like I said... interesting," he replied to the nature of shinobi. In many ways, it was very similar to his own upbringing, albeit less hellish in his own mind. He continued moving forward, taking note of the seal Benihime explained. "You teleport, then? Hmm..." Nothing else was said by the samurai until they reached the office of the Daimyou. Before them then stood a somewhat elderly man with long hair bleached by his advancing years, and a scar on the upper left side of his face that was stained by malicious chakra. "Toku-jii, your new hired hand is here," he greeted, showing little respect for the old male's title. A voice much younger than the Daimyou's appearance implied came from the man after the samurai's speech. "I've had about enough of your sassy mouth, boy. Why are you not in the company of my daughter?"
The samurai sighed. It had been made quite obvious that he would be keeping guard until the hired shinobi arrived, but the Daimyou apparently had an issue with him leaving his original post now. "Obviously because she went to the bathroom. If you expect me to watch her from in there, you might be a little too overprotective... Or underprotective; whichever you prefer. Ja." With nothing more than a lazy wave given, the samurai turned and walked away, intending to vacate the Daimyou's office while the man addressed Benihime. "Tell me Sunagakure has sent me a hired hand with more respect than what my own people have provided."
Apparently this samurai found something of interest in the life of a Shinobi. It made her wonder what his life was like that he would even show interest in such a thing. Beyond this, it seemed that he had a greater understanding of what she was doing with her self-summoning seals than most of the people she'd ever explained it to. The redhead's eyes widened and then for just a second a smirk appeared on her face. "Yeah, something like that..." the young woman said as she continued her work right until the reached the Daimyou himself, with her last seal being placed in the doorway of his office. The way this young samurai chose to address the man in charge was something a bit stunning. And given the Daimyou's own reaction it wasn't something he appreciated. 'Oh... I really hope I don't have to try killing that one...' she thought as the man took his cue and aimed to leave. "Arigatou Gozaimasu," she mentioned the young man as he left, there was no need to be rude and she wasn't usually.
As the Daimyou himself addressed her finally she bowed before him before standing. "They sent me, it isn't really my place to judge where I fall on the respectfulness scale, Daimyou-sama," she mentioned. She spoke to him this way, not out of some great respect for his title, but because she'd only read his name a couple of times and didn't have a face to place it to, and had thus forgotten it completely. "That as an aside, I was only briefed that you'd need a personal guard. If I may ask, what kind of threats do you face?" she asked, it was a strange thing, but the girl wanted to know what would make this man believe he needed someone of a greater caliber than the average ninja to protect him.
"Hai hai. Remember to cover up the goods next time; old guy's a creeper!" he said in passing to the redhead. With that said and done, he made his exit at last. He supposed he would be encountering this woman a second time this day, given the outrageous expectancies of the Daimyou toward him. All prior experiences told him he would eventually be showing the kunoichi to the guests' quarters, in which he also resided. For now, though, he was content to wander around until locating the one he was contracted to.
In the meantime, the Daimyou himself was scoffing at the younger male's fleeting statements. "Then leave the judging to me. At least you know how to address others, unlike that brat," he stated. There was a certain amount of information he'd expected his new guard to be given, but it seems the full message was not delivered. Luckily, she questioned things here and now. "A group of assassins threatens my life. I've been led to believe my own people have turned against me, and I will not stand for treason! It is your job to see to my safety until this issue has been resolved. Any further questions?"
The parting words from the samurai who'd brought her to the Daimyou had Benihime suppressing a chuckle. In fact, she'd had to turn her head with a great amount of swiftness to avoid the sound of laughter falling from her mouth, and doing so caused the bells on her top to chime for the first time since she'd arrived. She calmed down immediately after and managed to stifle cough her way into a normal conversation. It seemed within the Daimyou's office he was content to discuss the matters she'd been acquired to deal with. "Treason, huh? Sou ka, that is fine. I've taken the liberty of making it so I can move about the palace with relative ease," she said very calmly. "The only question I have to ask is, if I should come across an assassin, would you like them assassinated on the spot or do you want me to capture them for interrogation?" she asked. It seemed the man didn't know who was out to get him, and since his safety was her primary concern she'd have no problem killing any targets she came across. But if he needed to know what group was actually after him, a capture or two for interrogations might be necessary as well.
With Benihime offering an additional question, the Daimyou looked over a file containing the listed skill set of this kunoichi. "Investigation isn't listed here. The Kazekage must not have updated this in some time. Whatever the case, I'd rather they be killed. You seem to be very adept at that, so do avoid anything that could be a little more troublesome. Besides... they seem to have a habit of getting into people's brains and making them disappear. You're dismissed now. Have Youko show you to where you'll be staying for the time being." With that said, the older male of the residence opened a book and began perusing its pages.
It seemed the listing that had been given to this particular man didn't include all of the kunoichi's skills. It made her wonder what exactly Machi was planning or thought was happening here that he thought this man didn't need that much information. She would have sighed had she been alone in any place, but instead she simply held her tongue and nodded. "Hai hai, killed on sight. Ja ne, Daimyou-sama," she said it seemed this man intended for her to speak with someone named Youko to find out where she'd be staying while she was here. That name didn't even sound remotely familiar to the young woman but she figured she could find out with relative ease in the near future. With this out of the way and the Daimyou seeming to go on to reading, the young woman bowed and excused herself moving back out into the hall with the same impassive look on her face. 'Yare yare, what have you gotten me into Machi?' the woman thought as she began wandering about the house. She mentally decided to look for the young man she'd previously spoken to as he was most likely to know where to find this Youko person she was looking for.
Within the halls of the mansion, the white-haired samurai seemed to be at a loss for what to do. He could have easily located the Daimyou's daughter, but doing so required a particular skill set he was not keen on using until it was an absolute necessity. At the end of a thought process regarding where he would be going, he merely found himself slipping into the Daimyou's personal bar, which he'd previously been led to by the very girl he was sworn to protect in this household. If she wasn't going to reveal herself, he'd occupy himself with a glass or five of something that'd let him relax a bit. "Yare yare. Maybe now I can stop hanging out in front of doorways."
The Daimyou's daughter had indeed left the side of the samurai to go to the rest room, but she'd also ended up taking something of a detour before returning to find him. Whatever she was busying herself with, the white haired man was now in the private bar of the Daimyou apparently having a drink. In the meantime the red haired kunoichi was running about the house shifting seals in various places as she did so. Bedrooms, bathrooms, the kitchens and the like. The final places the crimson haired young woman found herself was a room off of one of the studies which appeared to be a bar of some sort. "Sugei!~" she chimed looking over the place only to have the white haired man she'd been looking for come into her vision in this place. "That's coincidental. Uh... do you know who Youko is? I was supposed to have that person show me where I should actually be," the red head mentioned as she took a moment to scope through the liquor that was being hidden here by the Daimyou.
Midway through his third glass of whiskey, the samurai was fated to receive a visitor. He had expected none other than the Daimyou's daughter, the girl responsible for his frequenting of this place, but alas... it was instead someone entirely new to the estate. Her approach was direct in asking who one known as Youko might be, but a single glance in her direction alerted the male to the wandering eyes she had for the bar scene. Putting down his own glass, he reached for a secondary drinking apparatus, as well as the bottle he originally poured from. One glass was filled anew after he topped himself off, and this new glass was slid down the counter. "Here. Toku-jii will miss a few ounces before he misses a whole bottle. May as well dust it off in that case, yeah?" he asked in rhetoric. Not expecting to be turned down, considering the look on the redhead's face after seeing the bar, he held his own glass up in her direction to formulate a toast of some sort. "To what? Indentured servitude?"
Benihime soon enough had the samurai she'd met earlier speaking to her, but he didn't answer her question. Instead, upon taking note of her interest in this place began moving things around so much so that he eventually pushed a newly filled glass towards the red haired young woman. She stopped it with her right hand and looked at it for only a second. The speech which came from this young man about how the ounces would be missed before the bottle made her laugh. "You're probably right about that," she said examining the glass with wide eyes. It had been quite a while since she'd had a nice drink and now she was going to be having a drink with this man, which didn't seem like it would be too bad. "Indentured servitude? That sounds dreary~" the young woman said as she lifted her glass. "But I'll still drink to it~" she said as she drained this glass of at least half of its contents after said toast was made. Still there was a bit more, he hadn't answered her question, so she made an assumption here and now, especially given how the Daimyou had referred to this young man's attitude. "I take it you're Youko... nice to meet you~" she said, thinking there were way worse ways to have met someone than having a drink in the middle of the day.
"Probably? I've been here just long enough to know for sure." Whatever the terms of this toast were taken as, he tilted his glass upward until its contents poured into his mouth. Benihime took it upon herself to assume his identity as the Youko she sought, and when this happened, he lowered his glass and sighed. Just as he thought, the Daimyou had nonchalantly pushed another task off onto him. "Hai. Katsuhara Youko, at the service of you and everyone else on the planet, apparently. Well... I'll take you over Toku-jii. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu, Suzukou." Once again, Youko raised his glass to drain the rest of the whiskey from it. Upon lowering it, there was the lightest flush to his visage. This made about three and a half drinks for him since leaving the office, and he'd yet to eat this day. Whatever the case, he thought it worth celebrating that his workload had officially been lightened. "Guess I've got a housemate now. I'll show you to the way. Though... I should be looking for Kazumi right now..."
The young woman took her moment of silence to look over her glass while waiting extra speech and confirmation from Youko that he was who she thought he was. It didn't really matter to her much at this point, but it was quite nice to know that she could get top shelf booze whenever she wanted so long as she was committed to drinking an entire bottle. "Hai hai, Katsuhara-kun," she said raising her glass as well only to polish it off within a few seconds. It seemed that this young man had been given a task that he didn't really want to do along with finding whoever Kazumi was. "Sou ka, this is one of those places with a guest house..." she said thinking of how she normally lived she frowned just a tad. 'Obviously, I am spoiled getting to live in the Kazekage's Mansion and all...' she thought absently. Whatever the case, she thought to be at least a reasonable person about her new companion. And it would be easier to eliminate him as a target or confirm him as one for her secondary mission if he was within such close quarters. "Kazumi? What's she look like?" asked the redhead, while spreading herself around the place she'd seen several people around and she might be capable of helping this man out just a bit.
The young woman known as Kazumi had finally emerged from the restroom she'd run off to, which had turned into a trip to her bedroom and a change in clothes as well as the gathering of several servants for something which she was now planning to spring on Youko. "Kaa-san! Is the barber in yet..." the girl asked in a manner most demanding. In the dressing room of the house, connected to the Master bedroom, was a young woman in a pink kimono with a miniskirt with nothing on her feet but socks stomping and demanding the attention of an older woman who looked very much like her though her the physical shape of her was much more filled, and the blue of her hair a bit tinted. She turned to look over her shoulder as a set of servants helped to tie her obi. "Yes, he's downstairs... so is everything else you demanded for the day. Last I heard your father was meeting his new bodyguard, and given how that goes, yours should be around somewhere. I am quite surprised you let him out of your sight," said the young girl's mother as she huffed with crystal blue eyes. "Fine, I'm going then, good day..." she said leaving her mother in a huff to slide around the hard wood floors in her socks headed for the place she mostly likely felt she'd find her bodyguard, which surprisingly wasn't her father's private bar, but figuring he'd gotten stuck giving a tour to the newest guard she thought to peek around a few other places first.
"Hai. It's a pretty nice place... normally with lots of privacy. If you're keen to avoid the loud arguments this family has, it's preferable to the building we're in now." With both glasses emptied, Youko went about refilling the pair of them with what remained in the bottle. "Kazumi looks like... well... She's a very free-spirited person. I hear she looks a lot like her mother, but that's someone I've never met. That should tell you a lot about how this place works, and how demanding Toku-jii is. Either way, she's pretty obvious if you see her, but she'll probably run into me eventually." Without further ado, Youko picked up his glass again, sharing only one additional word before draining it dry. "Cheers." After finishing his last drink, he placed the empty glass on the table. A few more words were then sent Benihime's way, regarding a strange sensation Youko had gotten from her only a few times thus far. "If you're thinking about any need to kill me at any point, you're free to give up on that clause whenever you like."
The young man with her was currently a wealth of information, which Benihime accepted. It seemed that their living quarters was indeed separate from the family, but given that they were prone to an extreme amount of privacy. This was good news, both because of the precautionary seal placement of the red head and because of the kind of person she tended to be, and figured she would end up being here eventually. Youko worked to refill their glasses, and explain the look of the person who he claimed he should be looking for. She found it strange that he'd been working for this family for at least a little while, but he'd never met the mother of his charge. But she'd met the Daimyou and figured he just didn't want single young men around his wife. "Sou ka..." she said of the information, immediately abandoning the idea of looking for his charge. She picked up her now filled glass once more and acknowledged his utterance, "Hai hai~" she said draining the contents of her glass as well. The only thing which stopped this behavior would be the end of the glass, but after Youko finished drinking, he seemed to have one more thing to say to the lass one which caused her eyes to widen ever so slightly. Soon after though and probably quite to the contrary of the sort of situation she was in presently, the young woman smiled as if she'd heard something funny, and had at least the decency to seem a bit abashed. "Ara, don't take it personally. If I didn't at least consider that I might have to kill you at some point, I'd be setting myself up for a bad time. Besides, I am almost certain you've done the same thing~" she chimed seemingly amused by the situation. Irrespective of the fact that he might be telling the truth and it might not be necessary for her to try and kill him, she still had to consider it an option until she knew with some amount of certainty.
The air around this pair of individuals had undergone a certain shift, but now it was about what Youko was used to in the presence of others. Benihime explained why she'd entertained these murderous thoughts today, and also made the assumption that he'd considered killing her as well. "Gomen; you'll have to go without the flattery this time. Your hair isn't the right color for me to think of taking your life. It's just the right color for me to think a lot of other things, but... I'm a bit drunk. Maybe we'll end up touching that subject on another day, unless drunk works for you."
Benihime seemed to smile more than she intended to in this moment. This man admitted that he didn't actually think of killing her and instead thought of other things to do with her. She found this amusing for many reasons, mostly because it meant at the very least if she could take him at his word she didn't have to worry about him trying to kill her in the meantime. "Nice to know red hair makes me seem less threatening~" the girl said while chuckling, this guy was funny at least her time here wouldn't be terribly boring, assuming of course it didn't become necessary to kill him. "Though, for someone who isn't thinking of killing people you have a very angry face~" she chimed. As he mentioned that he was drunk so they could visit his apparent offhanded proposition at some other time she looked at him quizzically. "Drunk isn't really a problem..." she said honestly. "But, that face aside, I don't think you're my type~" she concluded, without much more description. When Benihime had originally started speaking she'd meant that to be a compliment, but upon thinking about it, she decided it came out a bit more backhanded than she'd planned. "Oops, that wasn't how I meant that, gomen," she said taking her turn to apologize and move along.
"It's not just your hair, though it really does suit you. It's just... the people I want to kill look different, is all," Youko said as his empty glass slid across the counter, tapping against the equally empty bottle. "Don't get me wrong. I'm always thinking of killing someone, but you're not on that list. Most people aren't." Soon enough, Youko was getting up to clear the table. This was started under the assumption that Benihime would be foregoing a full second bottle on the first day of her active duty, but if she were to say something to the contrary, he would leave her glass and perhaps take up his own again. As for his previous comment about the things crossing his mind in place of murder attempts, the return comment was far from what he normally received. It was shocking, to say the least; Youko even paused to consider what he'd just heard. "Wow. Believe it or not, that's the first time I've ever heard something along those lines. I might need to keep drinking."
Benihime found herself eyeing this man rather strangely. She'd heard many things, from many people regarding her appearance but never had she heard that the color of her hair suited her in such a statement. "Ara..." she was without a response initially as red tinted her face in a way she couldn't rightly explain. Beyond his statements of flattery there was the matter that apparently he didn't often think of killing random people and instead had some very specific set of people he wanted to kill or thought about killing. "Hmm, that is somewhat reassuring, and a bit weird, but I don't have room to talk~" she said about the direction of his murderous intent. Moving right along it seemed that he'd taken to heart, her dismissal of his proposition. And according to the man himself he'd never been turned down in such a way. The young woman chuckled at this as she got rid of her own by sliding it towards the man her head tilted to the side. "Well, it's good to experience new things... or so I am told~" she said in a rather haphazard manner. "You're pretty funny, if you wanted to keep drinking I'd drink with you... help you heal that minor wound I just inflicted~" she said standing and stretching in a manner that most would find surprising. But as she did this she leaned her head to the left. "Hm... maybe next time though..."
Benihime spoke those words because she heard sounds. She wondered if this man had good ears and heard them as well. The hurried footsteps which slid clean past the door only to stop at the end of the hallway and double back. If she had to make an assumption someone was headed this way, and given the speed of the movements she assumed it was someone young. "Youko! Are you in here!" said a rather free spirited looking young woman. She was dressed in a pink kimono which showed a great deal of cleavage and a short frilly skirt which moved up her hips as she swayed inside. She was alone but the fuss she'd made getting here made Benihime's brow raise. She also rather unabashedly look in a full view of this young woman and found her more than reasonably attractive if a bit young for her personal taste, though they were likely around the same age. "I've been looking all over for you, and you've just been introducing the new guard to your bad habits!?" she demanded only to look at the young woman with wide eyes.
"Yeah... I'll pass regardless," he replied quickly. "If I keep drinking, I'll keep trying. I'd rather just cut my losses here. Besides..." As the pair spoke, Youko's gaze wandered toward the door to this room. Like he'd said moments ago, the lass named Kazumi would eventually find him, keeping the white-haired male from having to search for her instead. She had certainly done this now, and with no better timing than to save him from further shunning of his advances.
Kazumi entered in due time, being just as demanding - and disorderly by normal standards - as always. The first words spoken directly to him by this lass regarded some apparent pollution of the new guard's mind with what were apparently Youko's own bad habits. "Wait... what do you mean my bad habits?" he questioned right away. "You're the one who showed me this room."
A grin passed this young woman's face. She had much respect for the man before her, for having the decency to stop himself before his feelings were more acutely hurt. He was interesting to say the least, but she knew at best to only expect a varied form of friendship. Irrespective of this a rather abrasive girl entered the scene and Benihime gave this girl a full looking over while she berated Youko for apparently spreading his bad habits about. 'Hm, she's pretty cute... if she looks like her mom, I am a bit curious about what that body looks like all grown up...' there was a devious light in this red head's eyes as she got an idea of something she probably shouldn't be doing, but that she fully intended to do as soon as she left here.
While Benihime sat relaxing and thinking of what this girl's mother must be like, the abrasive girl before her seemed to be laying into her personal guard, pushing off her own inconsistencies. "What? I mean, yeah... I showed you this place, but it isn't like I have a job to do or anything like that. So it's your bad habits," she said. And while a bit self-serving Benihime could see why this couldn't really be argued. It was in the moment after saying this that the other girl's attention diverted properly. After her initial shock, "Tou-sama... said his guard from the Sunagakure was supposed to be a big time assassin, but you don't look much older than me," she said to the red head which made her chuckle. "I am probably not much older than you... but we lead very different lives~" she chimed. Not really addressing the fact that she was an assassin at all. Regardless of this point the girl seemed very sure of herself and continued. "Well, just don't pick up his bad habits, Tou-sama isn't as forgiving as I am..." she said crossing her arms over her chest and speaking matter of factly. "Hai hai, I appreciate it and I'll definitely keep it in mind," the dynamics of this family were quite strange, but there was an aspect obviously missing from this equation and the young kunoichi intended to find it. "If you'll excuse me, I have something I need to check on... it was nice meeting you." she said offering a bow to the girl she now considered as at least partly her employer. Such an action made Kazumi smile, she enjoyed being acknowledged properly by other people. "Of course, see you around..." the young girl said, seemingly placated at least for a moment. If only her father did the same thing, she'd be a much happier teen. Regardless a moment later Benihime passed the young woman and turned on her heels to have a look at the woman's bottom her eyes widening in this moment. She looked towards Youko and gave him the thumbs up in a random bit of approval about the young lass, though she was more interested in something else at present. And with that action complete the young woman would disappear from sight within this mansion. A second thereafter her attention returned to Youko. "She seems nice, for what she's supposed to be but..." the girl paused remembering what she'd come here for. "Oh! Right... the barber is here, you should get a hair cut..." she said springing on this young man the reason for her constant searching and tantrum throwing of the morning.
"Mendokusai yo!" Youko blurted out in response to Kazumi's chastising. "Drunk or sober, it's not like you have anyone after your head. The third-rate thugs that show up here and there are easy enough to deal with." As he spoke, Youko fully cleared the counter of any evidence left by his drinking today. Benihime had taken her leave, but Youko couldn't say he approved of the initial interaction between these two women. Most specifically, he thought ill of Kazumi questioning a shinobi the way she did, but that didn't presently matter. What did matter here was the reason Kazumi had spent so much time searching for him, and the reason for the tantrum which followed her finding him at last. "Gomen... it sounded like you said there was a barber here, and that you expect me to get a haircut. Maybe I shouldn't have drank after all."
Kazumi's eyes rolled at this young man's rebuttal. Granted he was quite correct and to her knowledge no one was actually after her life in a way that was even remotely reasonable, she still didn't know if having a drunken guard was a good idea regardless of the level of skill he possessed. The new Shinobi hire seemed to have a much more agreeable personality and she wondered if her father would end up keeping her on as a permanent hire because of this. Regardless of this there was a more directly pressing matter and it was that of Youko's hair cut, which he seemed to be against and his tone let her know this would likely be an uphill battle, but she intended to win. "Yes, I did say that exactly. You can't be that drunk. You need a hair cut, you look like you've been living out in the wilderness forever. It isn't presentable. A cute hair cut will do wonders for your image," she said. And if this sounded like something she was willing to negotiate this wasn't at all the case. "Plus, you're my guard, and I am ordering this hair cut. No need to argue, just come on!" the girl said. This young woman was merely sixteen years old but she was oddly demanding. She'd taken a liking to Youko when she showed up, and demanded her father let her marry him, but he'd refused this request, one of the first he'd ever done to the young woman. This had broken something within her, not allowing her something she wanted, even so, he'd given her this man as her guardian, and while this was the case, she'd work to make him more presentable so that she could bring up her case with her father once more. Of course, all of this was being done completely without the Ronin's knowledge, but that didn't really matter at present. It wasn't as if he'd actually say no or anything, at least this was the case in the girl's mind.
While this battle over a hair cut took place, the crimson haired lass found herself wandering one of the upper floors in the mansion. After looking around a bit, she'd found this was the place that the lady of the house was most likely to be found any given day, and as such she went searching, while also taking the time to note the place for future quick entrances and exits she hadn't seen in her earlier explorations. She'd soon enough find this woman hanging out of a window looking discontentedly at the sky, a grin passing her face as she took in a full view of this woman's rear end and immediately felt the quickening of her own pulse. 'Damn! The Daimyou's wife is amazing!~' she chimed mentally as she marked this room with a brush of her finger tips and moved about within making the bells attached to her person chime to catch her attention.
Youko eventually returned to the bar counter from the side opposite to where he'd previously been sitting. Taking a side there, he leaned against the counter to directly view the Daimyou's daughter while addressing her rather outrageous demands. "First, I am definitely not that drunk. Second, I have no reason to be presentable. This order of yours has absolutely nothing to do with my ability to act as a guard, so I don't exactly have a reason to obey, do I? Let's not forget that I'm not a guard because you needed one of your own, but because your dad didn't want you to be upset with him."
This argument between Youko and Kazumi seemed to be leading only in circles. The white haired man was soon enough standing opposite the girl in this bar area, presenting some very sound reasoning for why his personal appearance had no bearings on his work. And how beyond that he wasn't even necessary for the girl's personal protection, but had simply been a gift to her to keep her happy, which was something her father seemed to do on a regular basis placate her demanding attitude. Given this of course, the girl was used to men giving her, her own way, and she was quite determined that Youko be among them. "Exactly, Tou-sama let me have you as a guard because I wanted you. Whether or not you believe it's important to your work shouldn't matter, because it's important to me. Keeping me safe and happy is your job, and this will make me happy so you should do it," this girl said succinctly with her arms crossed over her chest. Her request was outlandish but she should be getting her way here as far as she was concerned.
Bells jingling made the woman at the window turn giving the red head a fuller view of her which made the biggest of grins spread across her face. "Ohayou Gozaimasu, Onee-chan~" she chimed which made something of a blush come to the woman's face, a light pink tint and widened eyes. "Onee-chan?!" she questioned, seemingly stunned. "I... I'm the Daimyou's wife, no one calls me that," she said seeming stunned by it. Benihime didn't take this statement the way it was really intended and found herself giggling just a little. "Sumimasen, I didn't mean to be disrespectful, Onee-sama, then? Sorry to interrupt of course, I just didn't want to spook you while I was walking around," she said which made the woman laugh. "That isn't at all what I meant, but I suppose, it's flattering really," she said of the young woman's greeting. This made the redhead smile as she approached taking perch in the window instead of doing anything remotely useful. The woman saw this and found herself stunned, she'd assumed this girl would leave without her target being in this place. "I assume you're the new guard, if you are looking, the Daimyou is rarely up here, he's likely downstairs, in his study," she said finding this girl's relaxed nature stunning. "I know, I've met him... I was kind of just having a look around and preparing, but... it'd be rude not to talk to someone all alone, right Onee-chan?" she said which made the woman's eyes widen. "Seems like you like that one better anyways..." this woman seemed stunned. No one but her daughter and a few choice servants had bothered speaking to her in ages. This young woman's attentions seemed strange, but also familiar, it was something she wasn't sure how to react to. "Shinobi aren't usually so friendly. But of course, I can't say I mind agreeable company," the woman said as she returned to staring out the window a bit further away from the young woman who'd so recently invaded the space. And so Benihime would end up chatting with the wife of the Daimyou for quite a while to come.
"If that's how you want to put it, you do have a point. But..." Youko stopped himself mid-sentence, flipping onto the counter to take a seat atop it. In doing so, he propped up his left arm using his right knee, while his right leg hung loose and his right hand reached out to lift the chin of the girl before him. "As your sworn protector, I am to put your safety first. I have to consider that, in the middle of getting a haircut, someone could sneak by me and do harm to this precious face of yours. If I allow even a scratch to get by like that, how would I be allowed to continue my duties? Regardless of how you want to look at the situation, it's going to take a lot of convincing for me to go through with something like a haircut. Think you have enough bargaining chips?"
A smile spread rather gently across Kazumi's face as Youko flipped himself over the bar and took a seat. His words almost implied acquiescence which was what she really wanted in the first place. But, as he lifted her chin her expression softened immensely. The young girl's mind started to wander quite a bit, and not about the initial statements he made about potential risks to her safety, but about how she could actually bargain to get him to do what she wanted. "Well, if you are half as good at doing stuff as you claim nothing bad will happen to me as long as I am with you. Your own words state that no one is after me which should be anywhere near a problem for you, even while getting a hair cut. Your duties wouldn't be compromised and I'd be happy," the young woman said even so a small smile came to her face. "I bargain with plenty," she mentioned. Of course, this girl had assumed that the man before her wouldn't go get a hair cut of his own accord, she'd gone to change clothes accordingly. That pink mini skirt of hers slid further up her hips as she moved closer to him, her top slid further down as well, revealing even more of her massive cleavage as she leaned into his face. "Hair cut now, and you can have me later..." this was of course her final offer.
In the time period Benihime had been chatting with the Daimyou's wife she'd learned quite a bit. A smirk laid on her face as the woman had relaxed into their conversation. She was laughing, her face livened up by the attention her husband didn't pay her. She'd even found out that this woman, her daughter, and her husband always seemed to be at odds, though her daughter chose her husband's side in most cases. "Sou ka~ Sounds pretty normal to me, except leaving you out of course. You're way too stunning for that... Onee-chan~" she said which made the woman's eyes widen significantly and her face tint severely. "Surely you can't mean that... I'm old enough to be your mother..." she muttered which caused Benihime to lean forward her right hand stroking the side of this woman's face. "Oh, you're nothing like my mother, I could show you exactly what I mean by that of course, Onee-chan, you'd love it~" the crimson haired lass mentioned as she leaned in... the tension of this moment intensifying as she drew her face in closer, and to the surprise of many this woman didn't seem to turn away, she was locked in, this was all that was left. 'Sweet!~ I don't even feel bad, the Daimyou leaving such a tasty treat to rot here...' she thought as she closed the distance of their faces to mere breaths away.
Youko's eyes wandered down the length of Kazumi's being as she shifted about. This was exactly the sort of reaction he'd come to expect from her when he wasn't keen on doing whatever it was she initially wanted, but her offer implied that she thought it would work from a different perspective. "Hoh? So you weren't already offering yourself to me? I was under the impression that you were overdue for your next fix. How long has it been now since your father has had me doing things elsewhere?" he asked. Of course, there was more to be said regarding his abilities, both related and unrelated to what Kazumi had mentioned. As his right hand trailed down from her chin, sharp nails gently tracing a line down into her plentiful cleavage, it was Youko's intention to speak on this. However...
His eyes suddenly widened. When they did, the normal pupils and golden irises were replaced with what looked like a pair of full moons. "Someone's here. Your father is in danger." True to his word, a mysterious assailant had already entered the building from above. In this land of samurai, an individual with a movement pattern and lightness more akin to ninja darted through the building, heading toward the Daimyou's study downstairs. Such a combination should not have existed in this land, and though Youko himself possessed such a trait, he thought it strange to see such chakra moving about in this way.
"Yes! It's been like two weeks. It isn't fair... it's like he's doing it on purpose!" the young woman mentioned in a manner most akin to a brat. Of course, this was gently quelled by the feeling of sharp nails tracing her cleavage. If she worked this correctly she might get a couple of interesting things out of this exchange the first of which would be this man's hair cut. But just as suddenly as the attention started, it shifted, Youko's attention shifting to something else entirely and his eyes changing to denote this. His next words were not at all about what she wanted them to be. "Of course he is, guess we are about to find out how good his new assassin is..." she said rolling her eyes. It was just her luck that her father managed to thwart her indirectly even when she was well invested into the activity of the time. "I guess you're going too right?" she asked of the man frowning intently.
Benihime was rather close to closing her own deal, but there was a shift in the wind. The bells attached to her person jingled, and she frowned. "Damn, sorry Onee-chan, we'll have to get back to this later," she said without further explanation she pushed herself out of the window. The Daimyou's wife found herself looking stunned as the young girl moved away. But before she could fall she disappeared in a flash of crimson light. All the tension in the air just ceased, and the Daimyou's wife was left looking completely stunned. 'What did I almost do?' she questioned herself, her heart beating faster than it had in years, something strange had almost happened, and somehow she didn't know how to feel about it. The woman began pacing trying to think through her own behavior in this moment.
When Benihime reappeared she was shifted to one of the seals on the lower floor, then another, and another, each time she seemed to be gaining speed and momentum. Each of her footfalls was silent and her chakra suppressed. 'Damn it all, I almost had her!' it seemed this young woman thought her work was getting in the way of her fun, not that this mattered. As she rested her left hand against the bottom of the seal on her right arm. She had to wait a moment, but once she was sure she could unleash the attack she had in mind, to kill the coming assailant. To one watching they would have seen her appear and disappear, and the build up of the Raiton Chakra nature even if they could not see what she was doing as the seal on her arm gave her the ability to charge her attack invisibly. Her crimson eyes narrowed as she would appear perched on the ceiling of the Daimyou's study in absolute silence, waiting for the assailant to spring her attack.
Two weeks. In two weeks, the Daimyou's daughter had not seen an outlet to tension, and the same could be said of Youko. What's more, he'd already been stripped of one potential outlet this day; not that Kazumi would be informed of this in the moment. To say the least, this assailant's timing could not have been much worse. "Well... In all honesty, it isn't my job to protect the old man. I'm here to look out for... and when I'm lucky enough, at you," he said while that singular nail of his aimed to tug down at the kimono worn by Kazumi. All the while, though, his periphery was picking up chakra traces from every other person in the building. The one he recognized as Benihime's began to move, but the one nearest to it prior to this was what he pinned as Kazumi's mother's. 'What was she doing there? Is Toku-jii just pushing guards off on his family members instead of himself now?' he wondered. Nevertheless, he watched the assailant move throughout the building, and watched Benihime's chakra vanish and reappear where small traces of it had been left previously. Something was strange about how this woman's chakra behaved, but soon enough, it gained a color denoting a lightning element.
The masked male intending to have the Daimyou's life eventually reached the man's study, as if he knew exactly where it - and the Daimyou himself - would be. However, he continued moving into the next room over, and exited through the window. A strange tool in his left hand produced a large wing from a rod, which the man used to fly outward, likely to reposition himself. In the meantime, the Daimyou looked up from his desk to find Benihime on the ceiling with a technique in progress. "What is the meaning of this!?"
This man continued tugging down on her shirt and becoming a bit more aggressive in his intentions. Kazumi seemed to be faltering just a little. She bit her lip and sighed. If he really started touching her all would be lost. She'd lose her leverage and at some point likely her consciousness in this endeavor, might it be worth it though? 'I guess I could let this go for now...' she thought absently as she leaned in. It became obvious that this man wasn't going to leave any time soon as such she aimed to slid up into his lap atop the bar. "I mean this isn't really over or anything, but..." her pause would lead to her reaching for his cock, she knew well enough to know that she could leave this alone for now and perhaps just arrange the barber some other day, when sex couldn't be so easily used to sway her.
Meanwhile Benihime was perched on the ceiling, she expected the assailant to come at her directly but a gentle chime from the bell made her avert her attention to a nearby room. She heard very little by way of foot movement and then, the target she was looking for launched himself out of a window. Her eyes widened. 'This country isn't supposed to have anything in it but Samurai, what is with this guys movements?' she thought. 'And how the fuck am I supposed to get to a flying target without taking out half this palace with him?' as if her own thoughts weren't enough with the charging of her jutsu nearly complete there was also the matter of getting within range. And the now disturbed Daimyou below whose studies she'd apparently interrupted. "There is an active attempt on your life right now, I'm just doing my job is all..." she mentioned her gaze now shifted to the window as an assault from outside now seemed like the obvious choice. 'Ugh, need something solid to run on, and if I make the chains, I'm going to have to stop the Chidori, I'll lose charge time...' she had to figure this out and quickly, and though mentally she was quite stressed, her eyes were deadpan and her expression hadn't shifted.
"Atta girl," he commented while the lass rose to take a place in his lap. All the while, he kept the goings-on outside of this room in his sights, finding the assailant's movements to be strangely expansive, and Benihime's to be just as strangely lacking once the intruder was outside. 'No anti-air, huh?' was what crossed his mind during this time. Both of his hands had begun occupying themselves by pulling down either side of Kazumi's kimono, until it bore all the flesh above her diaphragm, but he thought it best to take a brief pause. Of course, he quickly thought of a way to offer some assistance to the newcomer kunoichi while also servicing himself in the long-run. "Y'know what? Why don't we all win today?" he asked in rhetoric. A swift movement of his right hand allowed his already sharp nails to form full claws, which he used to lop off the vast majority of his hair, leaving it rather short. What he did with the rest though, was throw it toward the window with a bit of influence from his chakra. This produced a temporary staircase of Yang chakra-infused hair strands leading toward the assailant who was now putting the Daimyou in his sights. Youko left it to Benihime to take note of this while his attention fell to the young woman sitting atop him. "That was more painful than I thought. I'll be holding you responsible for that, you know?" was his follow-up statement, spoken directly into the face of Kazumi.