Nimbus Entry: The Lucid Princess (Part Four)
v.
The sparkler burned to the edge, and a squawking mother cried at her child to drop it before his arm burned off!
Sakura’s eyes followed the edge of the sparkler. It mesmerized her; it looked like a star that was dying in fast-forward. It stood out brilliantly against the darkness, if what this was could honestly be called darkness. The sun had hardly set, but the square already glowed with lanterns and lights from within stalls.
Sakura leaned against the stall and tried to hide her smile as Daichi fumbled to fulfill the orders for sparklers that besieged him. The crowd was demanding, and he had little idea of how to handle it without his sister’s expertise. Terumi and the two men who worked for her had gone to set up the fireworks, which were due in a couple of hours.
“Sakura-chan, why don’t you do something to help?”
“It’s more fun watching you struggle.”
A smile flickered on an otherwise frantic expression. “You’re not as nice as I thought you were,” he said, although his tone was fond. Sakura had found quickly that, if anything, they were more friendly now than before.
Kakashi, on the other hand…
Sakura’s eyes wandered to a stand in the far corner, where people could have their wishes written on lanterns (for a price) before the lanterns floated into the air. Sakura had wished to pass her jounin examinations. She’d made another round before, embarrassingly, returning to write only six characters:
Hatake Kakashi.
She turned back to Daichi and the stand.
Where is he?
The Aki-hime would be announced soon. Sakura’s hand tightened around her stick of dango. She’d painted her nails her favorite shade of seafoam, and her pink, silk sleeve caught the light prettily. Even so, she knew that she wasn’t going to be the one to catch the daimyo’s eye.
“Excuse me?”
Sakura’s head jerked up. For a moment, she thought her prince had come to collect her. A beat of fear pulsed through her.
The man in the mask nodded at her. Beneath his mask, Sakura could distinguish that he was one of the same youths who’d come to examine the fireworks that morning. The attractive one. Her stomach twisted. “May I speak to you a moment?”
Mystified, Sakura only nodded. He moved, and she followed. Perhaps he was the young daimyo. His mask was shaped like a bird’s, with a large protruding beak that covered much of his face. It creeped her out. But maybe that was because they were going someplace darker, where the firelight didn’t illuminate so much as it pronounced the shadows. His mask didn’t seem terribly royal, but what did Sakura know?
Behind the teahouse, things were quieter. Darker, too, athough the stars, lanterns, and moon still provided considerable light. Sakura could see little bright spots along the hill. Families sitting on blankets, a lantern at each one, with the occasional flicker of a sparkler.
“You were with Shibata-san yesterday morning, correct?”
His tone was conversational. Sakura nodded. Something told her he was talking about the female Shibata.
“Good. And your name is?”
“Adachi Sakura,” she answered promptly. Maybe he was just interested in Terumi - and used to having his questions answered - but her suspicion waxed. Anyone who asked a shinobi for her full name during an undercover mission was to be suspected, and the fact that he had dragged her behind a building to ask her this didn’t help his case. Her guilt sent her fingers unconsciously to the place inside her sleeve where she’d sewn in the narcotics vial (even if Sakura wasn’t the Aki-hime, she supposed a knock-out drug would make a fine gift to the unlucky girl). The masked man misread her gesture, and his hand jolted out to stay her wrist.
They was a pregnant silence. Sakura’s eyes flickered up to his, although they were obscured by the mask. Someone with that kind of speed was no ordinary person.
No daimyo moved like a ninja.
Quicker than she could think, Sakura infused her free fist with chakra and pummeled him in the stomach. He crumpled, but in that same heartbeat someone had yanked Sakura from behind.
The masked man popped into smoke just as an immobilized Sakura felt the tip of a kunai to her throat.
Definitely a ninja, then.
She couldn’t see him. She could only hear the pounding of her heartbeat, beating in time with the flickering, oblivious lights on the horizon. She could scream, but what would that do? Innocent bystanders didn’t deserve whatever harm this man might see fit.
Besides, Sakura thought, at least there only seemed to be the one attacker. Although being taken by surprise was something no ninja relished, she could handle it.
“I’ve got your wrists,” he pointed out. “Adachi-san. If that’s even your real name, which I doubt.”
Sakura noticed that his kunai hand was very even. A seasoned professional, then, if his clever ambush hadn’t been telling enough.
“How did you know?”
“Oh, you’re not so bad. It was just your bad luck to be partnered with Hatake Kakashi - the man’s infamous. His picture’s been in the Bingo Book for years. Walking around with a mask and a covered eye doesn’t exactly help.”
Next time she saw Kaksahi, Sakura resolved to kick him in the shins and tell him she wanted someone nice and normal as a partner for her next mission.
He hadn’t bound her feet, Sakura noted, so he didn’t realize that she could be just as deadly with her other appendages. Perhaps he didn’t know of her reputation, if he’d recognized Kakashi and not her. If he was really a Rice nin, the information he had about Konoha would be severely outdated, especially in regards to its youngest generation.
She infused her foot with chakra and pounded it down - hard - on his.
Sakura heard the crack of bones. She muffled his cry by whirling around to clap a hand over his mouth, but too late. One of the closer lanterns stirred. She could make out a shadowy figure coming toward her from one of the blankets. Was he a concerned villager or the ninja’s partner? Sakura glanced at the masked ninja before fumbling for his knife and plunging it into his heart. No time to extract information. She needed to tell Kakashi. Now.
She hurried back into the light, shaken. Blood had gotten on one of her sleeves, but only a few drops, and only on the underside. Whatever. She could pretend they were part of the floral design. Her eyes jumped through the crowd, trying to hone in on Kakashi, but the crowd moved like water, ever-changing.
She raced through it, narrowly avoiding a collision with the cloth dragon players. She smelled barbecue and incense. The smells, all thrown together, made her nauseous. She didn’t fear for Kakashi, but she feared for herself. And for Daichi.
“Oh, hey,” Daichi said when she arrived, “There you are. Where did you go? Who was that man?” Business seemed to have subsided to a reasonable pace, though Sakura was too busy looking around to really take note. Nothing suspicious, but how would she know suspicious from not-suspicious?
“It might not be safe here, Daichi-kun. Keep your guard up.”
When she turned her head to face him, he looked worried.
Sakura bit her lip. She didn’t have time to reassure him. Instead, she raced off, still looking for Kakashi.
She bumped into someone. Immediately, she tensed. She drew herself a step away from him and stiffened to avoid going straight into battle stance.
It was the second man, the one who’d accompanied the ninja she’d just killed the morning before.
He wore the mask of a dragon, which seemed at odds with his bland personality. He smiled at her slightly and walked past. He seemed harmless. But then again, she hadn’t sensed the other ninja’s chakra, either. He’d concealed it exceptionally well.
Sakura followed him and caught him by the shoulder. He looked taken aback, and he turned to get a second, closer look at her.
“You’re… you’re that girl who was with Shibata-san.”
“Yeah,” Sakura answered, deciding whether she wanted to kill him here, interrogate him, or let him go. She eased her grip and decided to keep her cover. “Do you know where she is, by any chance? I thought she said something about meeting you…”
“Meeting me?” He sounded perplexed. “No, nothing of the sort, you must have misheard. Actually, I was, er. On my way to her stall right now to see when she was going to return.”
“She’s preparing the fireworks… why are you looking for her?”
The young man evaded Sakura’s gaze. “I - er.”
“It’s okay,” Sakura said supportively, “I’m her friend. We’re very close.” Ha. “You can tell me.”
He only looked more unsettled by this.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
“Ishikawa Hiroto,” he replied, without hesitation. Sakura took a renewed look at him. He couldn’t possibly be the daimyo… could he? She’d heard others speak of him as a ‘boy’, but he could be no older than her. He was taller than her, but had little presence, and still struck her as terribly plain, despite his sleek clothing and fine features. Could he really be the head of the grand estate? Or was he another ninja, trying to trick her?
“Are you… making her Aki-hime?”
He bit at his lip. “Yes,” he said reluctantly.
Sakura felt her eyebrows rising. She couldn’t imagine Terumi being raped by - well, anyone, but especially by this guy. Then she realized that something dangerous was going on, rape aside. And that she still needed to infiltrate the Ishikawa manor.
“Terumi can’t do it,” she said, without thinking.
He looked even more unsettled. “What? I mean, why can’t she?”
“Um…” What was a good reason? “…She’s, um.” Brilliance hit her. “She’sonherperiod.”
Well, she certainly did act like she had a constant case of PMS.
“Wha-“ realization dawned on his face. “Oh.”
“I mean, maybe you don’t mind, but I know she’s really sensitive during this time of month and -“
“No, I understand.” He’d buried his face in his hand and was rubbing the bridge of his nose. “No… oh. What am I going to do?”
Sakura made a face that he couldn’t see. What was he supposed to do? There were gorgeous girls everywhere for the doing, but, specifically, there was one right in front of him.
Well, Sakura refused to be done, but he didn’t know that.
“I could do it,” she said, trying not to sound eager. Trying to sound, rather, like a valiant girl willing to take a knife for a friend.
He looked up at her. “You truly wouldn’t mind?”
She shook her head and tried to concentrate on her peasant-girl-best-friend routine. “I’ll do anything I can to help Terumi-chan. I don’t want her to get in trouble.” Well, she and Kakashi were shorting her on a transport mission, so this was the least she could do.
“You are pretty,” he said, carefully. “I suppose you’ll do.”
Sakura nearly said something sharp, but she kept it in. Meek peasant girls didn’t reply sharply to condescending comments. Instead, she bowed her head to hide her grimace.
She felt his hand on her shoulder.
“Please,” he said, “don’t feel badly about this. I promise you this won’t be an unpleasant experience.”
Sakura’s grimace only went fouler. Not an unpleasant experience? Tell that to last year’s rape victim.
He led her through the crowds. Sakura would’ve kept her eyes on the floor, but she was still busy trying to scan the crowd for the merest sign of Kakashi.
The young man led her up to the stage and tugged his mask off. The stage looked better than it had yesterday, all nicely painted red and gold now. He gave her hand a would-be comforting squeeze and tugged her up the stairs.
Everything went quiet. The fluid movement of the river-crowd slowed to a trickle, and Sakura stared out at the people. They stared back at her, eyes taking in her kimono, her hair. Sizing her up against the Aki-himes before and past.
Sakura tugged at her bloodied sleeve and hoped that it wasn’t visible. Her eyes locked with another’s in the crowd: Kakashi’s. She suddenly went still. She felt a tug on her non-bloodied sleeve. She looked over to find Hiroto kneeling before her. “Put your hand over my eyes,” he said, sounding worried. Suddenly stricken with an acute case of stage fright, Sakura reached out clumsily to place her palm over his eyes.
A servant of some kind approached and handed Hiroto a candle. He held it out. It took Sakura a couple seconds for her to understand that she needed to take it, and she reached out awkwardly for it with her free hand.
Sakura looked over to catch Kakashi’s eye again. He gave her an awkward little wave, and she responded in kind, with an even more awkward wave of her candle. Okay. So she probably looked like a total idiot here.
The next second, she saw two men approaching Kakashi.
She opened her mouth - and her eyes, wide - in warning.
At that moment, she heard the familiar boom of fireworks going off.
vi.
Kakashi must have seen her expression, because as the rest of the square watched the fireworks, he glanced - nonchalantly, like it was no big deal - back at his two pursuers. He gave a last, quick look Sakura’s way before nudging to the edge of the crowd. Sakura felt herself release a sigh. Good. Kakashi could take them on.
Couldn’t he?
“Take your hand off,” Hiroto said, sounding exasperated. Sakura quickly removed her hand. He yanked her candle hand so their hands were both around it. Then he put his arm around her shoulder, perhaps a bit too stiffly, and turned her so their backs were to the majority of the crowd as they, too, looked at the fireworks. Oh. She must not have heard him the first time he’d told her.
She longed to turn and catch a last glimpse of Kakashi, but Hiroto held her stiffly. Terumi’s fireworks were brilliant, but all Sakura could think was What have I gotten myself into? Ishikawa Hiroto was no ninja, but there were nin around, and Sakura had no clue where they’d come from or what their agenda was. Well, seeing Hiroto with one seemed to indicate that they were connected, but unless they were planning some kind of serious ambush (she hoped not), Hiroto didn’t seem to be privy to the fact that Sakura was a ninja - or, at least, traveling with a particularly infamous one.
After the fireworks display, he led her off the other side of the stage.
“What now?”
He seemed grudging to talk to her. “We go back to my home.”
“Wait -“
Wait for what? Kakashi flashed to mind. “There’s someone I need to speak to before this. He doesn’t know about this.”
Hiroto’s face softened for a moment. “A boyfriend?”
“Not really,” Sakura said softly. “More like family. I was looking for him when I bumped into you.”
He nodded. “All right,” he said. “Let’s go find him.”
She led Hiroto to the place where she’d thought Kakashi was heading, but he wasn’t there. She didn’t see any traces of a skirmish, either; no bodies or blood. Perplexed, she headed back to the fireworks stall. Perhaps she could trust Daichi with a message.
When she got the stall, Daichi wasn’t there, but Terumi was. She glowed with the pride of a job well done, her smile growing bigger with every compliment from the gathered Rice citizens. When they caught sight of Sakura and Hiroto they scurried, casting up questioning, reverent looks as they parted.
“Sakura?” Terumi stared. The glow seeped out to give way to puzzlement.
“Terumi-chan,” Sakura said, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice.
“Shibata-san,” Hiroto said, “Your friend offered to fill in for you, considering that you’re….” he trailed off. It was a long trail-off. He obviously didn’t want to talk about female bodily functions, especially in front of the female in question.
“What? I’m what?”
“Terumi-chan,” Sakura gritted out, “Ishikawa-san was ready to grace you with the title of Aki-hime this year. But I told him that it was, you know. That time of the month.”
Terumi looked confused and suspicious, but not entirely ungrateful. Sakura was unsurprised that Terumi was uninterested in becoming Aki-hime, or in looking Sakura’ gift horse in the mouth.
“Oh,” she said. “Right. Yeah. It’s true.”
Hiroto clasped his hand before him and bowed slightly. He looked like a nervous child. “Shibata-san,” he said, “I hope you understand that I meant no insult in initially choosing you as Aki-hime, nor in choosing your friend so easily over you. I’ve enjoyed your fireworks for years.” He smiled slightly, and Sakura found herself less impatient with him. “They’re one of the things I remember most vividly about my childhood.”
“You told me so yesterday morning.”
“I did. And it’s true. I heard of your father’s death - both of our fathers passed away these last three years - and… I only wished you to reap some of the benefits of the title. I didn’t mean to dishonor or displease you. Please accept my apology.” As an aside, to Sakura, he said, “For your friendship, I shall ensure that you receive the benefits, too…?”
“Adachi Sakura.”
“Adachi-san.”
Sakura hadn’t realized there were actual perks to being the Aki-hime, but she supposed it was to be expected. Any whore worth her salt would expect payment.
Terumi’s mouth pressed into a line. Sakura knew she didn’t appreciate this kind of patronizing charity, but even Terumi couldn’t stay hard-hearted against such sentiment. “It’s really not necessary,” she said, “but I appreciate the thought, Ishikawa-sama.”
“Please,” he said, “You can call me Hiroto-san.” He smiled boyishly, and for a moment Sakura wondered if he really did have a thing for Terumi.
“Terumi-chan,” Sakura put in, “Have you seen, er. Kakashi?”
“He’s right behind you.”
She whirled around to find Kakashi. Relief broke through her, and she sighed in relief.
“Kakashi!” she said, again carefully leaving the ‘sensei’ off. He looked quickly up at her, a question.
“Sakura’s the Aki-hime,” Terumi informed him.
Kakashi’s eyes flicked to Hiroto, then back to Sakura.
“Well,” he said. “Congratulations.”
Sakura felt severely put-out. “Yeah,” she said. “Thanks a bunch.”
Then he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her.
Sakura may or may not have breathed in quickly. His clothes rustled against hers; she could feel the brush of his mask against her cheek. His lips were very close to her ear. Very, very faintly, she could smell the cigarette smoke that brought back her memory of their kiss.
“I’ll follow you,” he whispered. For a second, that sounded very romantic. “Keep your eyes sharp. Do you have what you need?”
A goodbye kiss would be nice, a little, ridiculous part of her thought. “I’m good,” she breathed back. She had her narcotic and her fists; she would be fine. She inhaled the scent of him. There. That would get her through. He pulled away. Maybe it was her imagination, but she thought he’d lingered a little longer than necessary. Her imagination, definitely.
“Please be gentle with her,” he said, jokingly, to Hiroto. Hiroto, probably about as intimidated as Daichi had been, only nodded.
As he led her away, Sakura stole one last look at Kakashi.
He was reaching up for the edge of his mask, lighting up another of Daichi’s cigarette.
His eyes hadn’t left her.
This Way To The Lucid Princess Part Five