[Log] ["Party Night"] [Itae & Kisa]
Itae was never opposed to looking clean and pristine. But this was a bit different than that. No, it involved dressing somewhat provocatively, too. And being an Uchiha, she had borne the same curse as her younger sister of having more than enough admirers when she was in Konoha. She knew perfectly well that provocative clothing only made it worse.
But what else could she do when she wanted to make sure the guards paid more attention to her than to Kisa? The shark woman was mixing cosmetics and genjutsu, but if one looked close enough and had much sense to them it could be risky.
Not that eliminating every guard within a five mile radius would bother Itae, it would just be a little messy and not so enjoyable to explain to Leader-sama.
-
Kisa stared at her reflection, tucking a few locks of her now black hair behind her ear. The distinctive gill-markings were gone, replaced by a smooth expanse of skin that wasn’t blue. Her eyes (which someone had once said were her best feature) remained a deep gold, framed by thick lashes that she fluttered experimentally.
The situation was so absurd that she couldn’t help but break into quiet laughter.
Pale-skinned hands straightening her clothes one last time, Kisa turned to face Itae, still smiling a little. If there were any problems with the genjutsu, her partner would spot them immediately.
“What do you think?”
-
Itae shifted her red gaze and took in Kisa’s visage in a moment. The genjutsu had been woven correctly, there were no flaws. It was odd to see the pale skin and know that it was still Kisa. It almost struck Itae as wrong or some kind of corruption - but a mission was to be executed with exactness.
“You look the part.”
She got to her feet and set a hand to her pile of hair, making sure that not a strand was out of place. It wasn’t often that the Uchiha had her hair in such a complex style, but it seemed to go with the dress. Itae wouldn’t stand for an image to be incorrect or incomplete.
“Shall we?” Itae spared the mirror a single glance to reassure her own face was done correctly. She had never really needed cosmetics, but it was always useful to know the proper manners in which to apply it. Something she could thank her mother for.
-
“Yes.”
A small part of Kisa was extremely pleased to hear that it was flawless. Illusions were all about subtlety, which she had never really been good at. Being partnered with an Uchiha had done wonders for her otherwise average genjutsu skills, dispelling seals in particular.
On reaching the room where the celebration was being held, they were greeted at the door by their host. As they bowed, Kisa didn’t miss the way his eyes lingered on Itae a little longer than they should have. She sincerely hoped that this mission would end without much incident. The other woman didn’t take too well to being flirted with.
-
For Itae, the hardest parts about going to social occasions like these were things that usually were the very easiest for everyone else. Smile, laugh, flirt with the important men and sidle up at the right moment to get just those certain words whispered into the ear…
It all seemed so frivolous.
Why not just strap them to a chair - though not even that was necessary - and extract the information while making them writhe in pain? It certainly took less preparation time and it was much faster. But so be it, she was here at this party. And she would look the part. Granted, she usually played it coyly, flirting in the very giddy manner just looked awkward and was a blatant blow to Itae’s cover.
She bowed respectfully to the host, pushing back her dread and sighs at having to be here. And she felt the gazes, knew exactly when and how the man was looking at her. All the better for the mission. Perhaps her pretty face would be useful once again.
But if he got frisky she would snap his wrist once she had the scroll, if not more of him.
They entered the foyer and mingled their way through, Itae glad for Kisa being taller and taking most of the initial attention. She could spend more time scanning the crowd then.
-
This was the sort of occasion where Kisa could really appreciate the large amount of chakra at her disposal; maintaining the genjutsu was nothing. She had practiced with it long enough to require only a minimal amount of concentration, allowing her to focus on more important things like finding what appeared to be the quickest route in and out of the room.
It was a little difficult when young men kept coming up to introduce themselves.
They fell into their respective roles, Kisa being the less reserved one who smiled and laughed and flirted occasionally. She introduced Itae as a distant cousin of hers, making a show of encouraging her to be a little less shy and enjoy the party.
Although she had hardly taken missions like these before she left her village, Kisa found herself actually having fun. It was almost nice to have men look at her without focusing on the gill-markings, or the blue skin, or the fact that they were about to die by the hand of one of the Seven Swordswomen of the Mist. Almost.
-
Itae had learned to use the Sharingan at a very young age, but that did not mean she could not use her normal eyes with eerie proficiency. It was true, with bright lights for extended times she would feel far more pain than the average shinobi, but Itae would never speak of it. A weakness of the body was to be worked through, to be pushed.
The party could have been worse, but she was glad to have Kisa to handle most of the talking. She could do it if she must, but then she would have less of her mind to focus on her surroundings. It was not in this room, that was taken in instantly. And with such a large house to examine, Itae was eager to move into the quieter environments. But with her pretty face and low-cut dress the admirers continued to approach. To wear anything much less provocative would make her stand out. Itae had a pretty enough face, but was not so well endowed that any dress would extenuate her figure. And so it fell to exposing more skin than she liked.
Kisa seemed to be enjoying herself and that pleased Itae. And they’d soon be out of this room. If her calculations were correct, after this twelfth man stopped Kisa - his intent was obvious - they could start into the second room. And that one was much less crowded. So the search should go faster.
“I’m very pleased to meet you,” she bowed her head just when expected.
-
After making small talk with their quickly growing group of admirers, and glancing sharply at one who was staring far too obviously for her liking, Kisa murmured something about having spotted someone she needed to talk to.
“It was very nice meeting you all, gentlemen, but if you would please excuse us…”
Smiling apologetically, she ushered Itae into the next room. It was, thankfully, less crowded and seemed to be made up of people talking business and politics. Perhaps they would hear something useful; the Akatsuki could always use more information.
-
Itae knew the hand was coming, knew the man was going to try and detain her. It took far more will power than she liked to restrain herself from striking him down. What she didn’t expect was what happened afterwards.
“Now wait just a second,” he pulled her towards him and as Itae turned to face him, she regretted sticking so closely to the wall. Now she was surrounded completely by him. He smiled and kept her in place with both of his hands on the wall beside her head.
“Excuse me,” Itae whispered, keeping her eyes down to complete the image of passivity and possibly allow her to utilize Sharingan if she must. “But I really should be moving along.”
“I just wanted to speak to you alone. We could go get a drink or something.” He smiled and gestured back to the first room.
Were Itae in any other situation, she would have already crushed the man’s hand for touching her without permission. And his neck would have been snapped for even thinking of trapping her. But she had to keep this bloodless if at all possible. And the guards in the next doorway made her wary to use any genjutsu - she couldn’t gauge how strong they were yet. Not with so many other things to think about.
“Come on, I don’t bite, sweetheart.”
“I really must ask you to release me.”
-
The scroll they were looking for was obviously not in this room either. As it would be slightly suspicious if they left mere minutes after coming in, they had decided that it was best to mingle a little more.
Kisa nibbled at something she had picked up from the tray of a passing waiter while listening in on a nearby conversation. It was, in her opinion, rather foolish of these people to be talking about the daimyo’s latest decision involving Iwagakure where anyone could hear them.
Any other thoughts regarding them quickly disappeared when she saw Itae’s little predicament. Her first instinct was to go over and distract the man, who was practically asking for trouble. There was no knowing what the other woman would do if pushed too far. But they both knew the mission came first. And Itae, of all people, didn’t need to be rescued.
Relaxing a little, Kisa decided to watch what happened and intervene only if things got too much out of hand.
-
Itae kept her face away from the man, if only because it worked for being coy and kept her from being touched just a little longer. He kept speaking, trying to coax her into a drink, into a chat. Things she’d been trained as a kunoichi to see as the usual signs of affection, things that she should be suggesting. But she had a different kind of mission and she’d been very much disinclined to participate in any of those missions, anyway.
She much preferred snapping a man’s neck to caressing it.
He leaned in closer, a very persistent one he was, and it was then that she heard a metallic clank against the wall. Her eyes focused on the ring and she actually smiled. He was wearing the daimyo’s seal. While trying to avoid male contact she had managed to attract the daimyo’s son. And when opportunity knocked, Itae took it by both hands.
Though she’d have to swear Kisa to secrecy about this.
“Perhaps a quieter place would be better,” she finally said, turning her face to him and meeting his eyes for only a moment. “I don’t much care for such loud crowds.”
-
Well, that was unexpected.
Kisa watched the man, who now wore a satisfied smirk, lead Itae out of the room. Their plan had been to check every room for the scroll; this particular development could either speed up their search or slow it down. However, if Itae’s smile was any indication, it would be the former.
The logical thing to do now would be to search the rooms anyway. It would be like a race, she thought with amusement. A contest to see who could find the scroll first, despite being on the same ‘team’. Smiling inwardly at her own childishness, Kisa headed towards the nearest exit.
The guards standing outside the door glanced at her as she stepped into the hallway. Looking around uncertainly, she gave a small sigh before turning towards them.
“Excuse me, but could either of you gentlemen tell me where I could go to freshen up a bit?”
After receiving directions to the nearest bathroom, she thanked them with his most her most charming smile. The younger of the pair appeared to blush a little. Laughing softly, she gave him a quick pat on the cheek before heading off down the hallway.
-
Itae had never envied kunoichi missions. Never wanted any. And that hadn’t changed since leaving Konoha. But she would do it this way. She wouldn’t even have to genjutsu any guards. Well, not yet at least.
He led her into a room that made her smile more. There was the vase. In plain sight. Completely unprotected, no seals, no civilian protections. Though the two guards posted outside the room were what they thought kept it safe. As if that could even stop a genin.
“Is this quiet enough?” he smirked and ran a hand along her upper arm, right past her hidden ANBU tattoo.
It rather amused her. “It will serve my purposes nicely.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Purposes? Perhaps you ought to share just what they are…” he leaned down as if he was going to kiss her.
A quick flash of her Sharingan and he was limp in her arms, head lolling and mouth thankfully quiet. She eased him onto the floor, on the far side of the bed so he wouldn’t be spotted immediately and she wouldn’t have to step over him to get in and out of the room.
Itae reconfirmed that the vase was unprotected with her improved vision and then spotted the seal on the interior. It would take a bit of work, but she was supposed to get the vase as well. Why, she wouldn’t understand. Plus it would be good to get out even sooner.
She slid a hand under her dress and found the scroll attached to her inner thigh, unrolling it and quickly adding the proper markings for her next jutsu. A few seals, some chakra and the vase was now inside of the scroll. Mission accomplished. The scroll was reattached and she straightened herself up in the mirror. No one was in the hallway so she could dispatch the guards without having to deal with anyone else.
As she expected, the guards looked to her in surprise as she opened the door and walked back into the hallway. A quick glance returned to them and they slumped against the wall. Too simple, really. Itae disengaged her Sharingan as she approached the crowd again, keeping her eyes open for Kisa.
She wanted to leave now.
-
Kisa hadn’t run into any more guards and was in the middle of exploring her third room when she sensed a tiny flare of chakra. Which probably meant Itae had found the scroll.
Seeing no point in looking for her in the maze-like hallways, she decided to go back to where the party was taking place.
It didn’t take too long to spot Itae in the crowd. Making her way over and subtly pushing aside the admirers that had already started to gather, Kisa grabbed one of her hands. She had a feeling that a quick exit was what her partner wanted, so that was exactly what she would get.
“Fugami-chan, look at the time! I promised Uncle that you’d be home by now!”
Hoping Itae wouldn’t mind too much, she tugged the other woman towards the door while calling hurried goodbyes to the surprised men.
-
It wasn’t until they were out of the party that Itae let go of her hand, simply to keep up the image. And a touch she didn’t mind was all right to be prolonged. It wasn’t more than two minutes at most, not even that.
Kisa’s hand was certainly better than the brat’s on her arm. At least the headache he’d have would make up for the unnecessary physical contact.
“Who picked the cover names?” she asked, heading back to the hotel at a steady pace.
-
“I did,” replied Kisa.
Pulling at the pins that kept her elaborate hairstyle in place, she gave sigh of relief when the entire thing came undone. She would have to wash out the black dye once they got back to their room, but it felt good to wear her hair down again.
“Anything wrong? I know they weren’t the best, but…”
-
To be honest, nothing was wrong. It didn’t bother her, only made Itae pause for a moment. And Kisa deserved to know, especially because Itae had brought it up. What was a dead woman’s name worth, anyway?
“Fugami was my mother’s name.”
No hatred, no irritation, just simple words.
-
Although she didn’t use the phrase very often, the first thing that came to Kisa’s mind was ‘oh shit’.
Of all the names she could have picked… She had no idea what Itae thought of her family now and had no intention of asking. But there hadn’t been anything in her tone to suggest that she was annoyed, or anything else for that matter.
“I...see.”
-
Kisa’s hesitation said it all. Of course the shark woman would assume it had offended Itae or brought up some painful memory. Parents were supposed to mean something emotional.
“Just a curious choice in names.” A pause to look at her partner. “No harm, no foul, Kisa.” She returned her gaze to the road, lifting her head a little higher. “I’ll be glad for the usual uniform. These heels are atrocious.”