7.Festival.1

Bird chirped in the garden, even though it was still in shadow. The bustle of people getting ready for the new day could be heard from outside the building.

Inside the Hogei Inn, four of the most powerful women alive were sitting in their hotel room, dressed with deceptive casualness for the upcoming day.

"Okay, we're decided then." Kirema said.

"Yes, Kirema-sama." Kamome said.

"Yes." Echoed Yugito, quieter.

There was an uncomfortable pause.

"Huh?" Reiko said, looking up from her book. "I mean, sure thing, boss!"

Kirema pinched the bridge of her nose between her forefinger and thumb. "Reiko, at least pay a little bit of attention to these meetings. The fate of the village hangs in the balance."

Reiko snorted dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, a secret treaty mission with Hidden Stone, regarding the possibility of the Fourth Secret War." She scowled, and turned back to her book. "I'd rather keep working on my new electric flux technique."

"Don't be so disrespectful of Kirema-sama." Kamome said, her voice cold as she stared down at the slouching Reiko with an impassive face.

Reiko sneered back. "You'll be crying hardest when your precious students get sent to the front lines-"

"You're both out of line." Kirema said. Her voice was quiet but the room was suddenly filled with the crushing presence of her chakra. It wasn't sharp with killing intent, but it buzzed and hummed to their senses, an expression of her extreme annoyance.

The chakra sense dissipated. "Kamome. There is no need to speak on my behalf." Kirema scolded. Kamome bowed, humble but not humbled.

"As for you Reiko. I can hardly believe the words coming out of your mouth. Wasn't it you who pressed for escalation after the battle of-"

"The past is behind us." Reiko interrupted. "And that was a long time ago to begin with."

Yugito shifted, uncomfortable. She was at least 10 years younger than the other three women, who were talking about something she wasn't aware of, and that no one would explain to her anyway.

Kirema stared at Reiko for a long time. "Well." She smiled. It didn't reach her eyes. "Your orders are to make contact with the Stone Force, to arrange a rendezvous. Are your orders clear?"

Reiko stared back for a moment before looking down. "Yes, Kirema-sama."

Kirema's face softened. "It's not like we're definitely going to war. Just... we'll see what happens, and move from that position. This isn't a crisis situation."

Kamome cleared her throat. "Could we please repeat the code phrase?"

Kirema knew that Kamome certainly remembered but was grateful her subordinate was willing to change the subject so tactfully. "Okay, it's from the latest Princess Fuuin flick. You know the scene where they're facing down Sorcerer Mao on the glacier?"

"I hate that movie." Reiko offered helpfully.

"Right. That's great." Kirema said. "Anyway, display your headband discretely. Then, approach the potential and laugh a little bit. After that, say, 'So you have come all the way here! Princess Fuuin!'" Kirema did a surprisingly good imitation of Mao's voice. "Then they will respond 'You are Mao!'" Not only Mao, but also Fuuin's voice was dead on. "After that, the second member of the response team will approach and say, 'Your highness, please stand back.'" The impression for the secondary character Tsukuyaku was a little bit off.

There was a pause.

"I didn't know your were so talented as a voice actress." Reiko said, surprised.

"More to the point, who came up with such a ridiculous pass-code?" Kamome said, annoyed that she would have to participate in that kind of thing.

Kirema leveled a look at her. "They were decided on in secret communiqué between the Tsuchikage and my darling hubby." NO ONE insulted the Raikage in Kirema's presence. She was more than just the commander of the Kunogakure Discretionary Action Force, charged with politically important bodyguard and assassination missions, the ones who were directly responsible for the Raikage's safety; she was also married to that person.

It struck many as a convenient marriage to consolidate power for the politically vulnerable man who was rebuilding the village following the Third Secret War he had lost. In reality, she had decided she loved him and no one really dared to compete with the Black Ops commander.

"...Oh." Kamome said, weakly. "Um, what do we do after contact is made?"

"Verify the coordinates of the rendezvous bath." Kirema said. "As well as the time."

"Understood." Kamome said.

"That everything?" Kirema said, looking over the group. "Wait. Yugito, if you're approached, make sure to defer to someone else to do the talking. I understand that hubby wants to demonstrate that Cloud controls a jinchuuriki, but waving a weapon about at treaty talks is rude. Keep as much to the background as you can."

Yugito's lips were pressed in a firm line. "Understood. Kirema-sama."

"Just don't forget yourself." Kirema warned. "Your handlers assured me you can control your power, so I expect you to live up to that."

Yugito nodded crisply. "Yes. Kirema-sama."

"Okay. Everyone understands then?" Kirema said. "Then, move out!"

Rather anti-climatically, they all stood up and sedately walked out of the room. Shouting "move out" was really much cooler when all the shinobi could then leap off in different directions.

On the other side of the wall, Motoko set down the big cup she'd been using to listen through. It was a ridiculous trick, one suited for children, but placing the mouth of a cup on the wall and her ear on the bottom worked, and more importantly, did it without using any chakra. Sneaking about with as little chakra use as possible was a valuable lesson Naruto had learned when he was eleven.

He had spent four weeks evading the entirety of the Hunter Nin Office after he'd sabotaged Bagel Day with X-Lax.

The point was, doing things without using Chakra was important if you wanted to sneak past other (more competent, Naruto was willing to admit in retrospect) ninja, who could sense chakra better than Naruto could hide it.

Motoko stood up, dusted herself off, and set off to follow them. With the help of cleverly disguised Kage Bunshin, tailing them all would be easy.

So the youngest one was a jinchuuriki... Motoko wondered what that meant. She felt like she was supposed to know the term.

It made Motoko curious. She decided to tail Yugito personally, with her real body (well, as much as Motoko's body was the real body, anyway).

Whatever. It probably wasn't that important.

I I I

"Tsuchikage-sama." Tetsuko said, frowning. "Tsuchikage-sama, please wake up." The bodyguard assigned to the Tsuchikage was crouched over her boss, trying to get her to wake up in time for their morning briefing. It was well past dawn.

"Um... is she really asleep?" Okute said, wringing her hands, kneeling on the other side of the Tsuchikage. She just couldn't imagine the dreaded Ursura of Five Bears sleeping so blissfully while surrounded by other people.

"Yes." Tetsuko growled. "It pisses me off."

'Killing Intent!' Ursura thought, awake instantly. She kicked up, towards the source of the killing intent being projected at her, and grinned when she felt her heel connect. She spun around, throwing her arms out as she molded chakra in the fingers, the dreaded Bear Claws shimmering into being along her fingers.

Ursura frowned, and released the jutsu. "Tetsuko? The hell are you clutching your chin like that for?" She demanded, as she flopped down on the floor.

"You kicthed me." Tetsuko barely got the words out around her swollen tongue, sitting cross-legged to her leader's right side.

"Huh. Whatever." Ursura said, shrugging.

'So careless...' Okute wondered, a little horrified.

"So, what's the plan for today, anyway?" Ursura said, stretching her arms.

"Meeting up with Cloud nin." Chigaku said, as she walked in the room and sat down facing the Tsuchikage. "Using that silly code you bullied the Raikage into using. Double-check coordinates for the meeting tomorrow."

"...That was a surprisingly good summary." Ursura said.

"What are you implying?" Chigaku said darkly.

"Well, normally you just blather endlessly without ever reaching the point." Ursura said. "But, for once you actually got from point A to point B with, you know, a minimum of fuss." The Tsuchkage frowned, not noticing the darkening expression on her subordinate's face. "Then again, you weren't going on (and on and on!) about rocks."

"Hmph." Chigaku said. "Just because you're ignorant of the real power of your own village, doesn't mean you should take your jealously out on me!"

"Um..." Okute said weakly.

Ursura just grinned. "What, you're just angry that I'm better than you."

"That's a childish response." Chigaku shot back without missing a beat.

Tetsuko, still nursing her jaw, just growled. She was using a basic medical jutsu on her tongue, so she couldn't move it around to speak. Or scold her teammates.

"Okay, okay, sheesh." Ursura rolled her eyes. "Back on topic." She immediately whipped around to face Okute. "You had a concern?"

"Um, yes?" Okute said.

Ursura rolled her eyes. "I'm not gonna eat you. Sheesh, be more confident already."

"Yes." Okute said, more firmly.

There was a pause.

"Well? What was it?" Ursura asked, almost shouting.

"Oh! Um... do you really think this will cause a war?" Okute asked.

"Well... who knows?" Ursura said flippantly.

"It's true that we both hate the Leaf." Tetsuko said, touching her face lightly. Satisfied that the jutsu had worked, she continued. "There's a lot of bitterness against Those That Hide in the Leaves among both the Stone and the Cloud. Uniting ourselves by attacking the weakened enemy is natural."

"So... war?" Okute said weakly.

"The Third Secret War ended over a decade ago." Ursura said quietly.

"Uh..." Okute trailed off when she saw that Ursura was addressing Tetsuko, not her.

Tetsuko met Ursura's eyes for a moment, and then seemed to deflate a little. "That's true." She looked up. "But, don't discount the Fourth Secret War, either."

Usrura grunted sourly. Okute flinched as the Tsuchikage abruptly flung herself up into a standing posture and clapped her hands. "Okay! So we split up, and the first person to make contact with the Cloud eats free!"

"I'm going to have to veto that." Tetsuko said, gracefully standing up to face her leader. "It's my duty to make sure that you stay safe. Speaking frankly, the Cloud group is probably stronger than us... it would be bad if you walked into a trap."

Ursura chuckled. "There's a big difference between the strength of those elite jounin and a Kage like me."

Tetsuko grunted. "Then it could also be said the only person capable of rescuing an ambushed Stone ninja is you."

Even a Kage could be struck down with deceit.

Ursura sighed. It was loud. "Playing to my sense of responsibility for my cute ninjas, eh? It's true I won't let anyone I command die, but it pisses me off a little that you'd use that against me." Ursura turned to face Okute, who had sidled around to stand at the Tsuchikage's flank.

"Okute! Put that ridiculously huge chakra reserve to work, and contact the Cloud with a group of Kage Bunshin!" Ursura said. Abruptly, she frowned. "Wait, you don't want to, do you?"

"Well..." Okute mumbled, "I guess it's fine."

"That's totally not the image of Stone nin I want to send." Ursura replied. "Ah! No offense, of course!" She added, waving her hands in what she hoped was a placating manner.

"No, I understand..." Okute mumbled, crouched down in a corner with her arms wrapped around her legs. "I'm just too self-conscious and shy to send on that sort of mission." The heavy aura of depression around her was almost palpable. "Just a shy, dark, weirdo."

"Oookay." Ursura said. "Chigaku, it's up to you to..." Ursura trailed off as her subordinate looked up. She had a jeweler's eyepiece strapped to each eye and a big sandstone rock she'd pried out of the garden sitting on her lap. Her pants were already smeared with dirt from it. "...to support Tetsuko when she makes contact." Ursura finished weakly. "Don't wanna send the dirt-geek, either." She mumbled.

"I heard that." Chigaku shot back. She didn't look up from the rock she had her lenses pressed against, though.

Ursura sighed again. "I guess we gotta rely on your strength for this one, Tetsuko."

"I live to serve." Tetsuko said, bowing before she jumped, caught the eves, and swung up onto the roof.

"The hell are you, a genie?" Ursura grunted, before leaping after herself. It was true that jumping around wouldn't be too good, but they just needed to get around to the street.

Chigaku threw a thumbs up at the disappearing Kage, still not looking up from the rock she was hunched over.

"So strange..." Okute murmured, pressing her fingers together. This was her first mission working with the Tsuchikage and the legendary All-Earth Chigaku. They weren't really what she expected. At all.

"Okute! Start sweeping the area for the contact!" Ursura ordered.

"KYAAA!" Okute screamed, startled.

Ursura just shook her head before using shunshin again.

I I I

This was quite possibly the most annoying sweet old lady Sakura had ever met.

"Ah! Don't these statues look just so cute, Sakura-chan!" Shijimi cooed, fawning over the ridiculous animal statues that Snow Country seemed to enjoy sticking in the baths. Something about guardian animals. Sakura had learned about them in the academy but hadn't committed it to long-term memory.

"Yes, they're really... cute. Really cute, Shijimi-sama." Sakura replied. It was a little disturbing to her; she could have poured on the sugary sweetness easily even a year ago, but somehow, since joining Team Seven, she couldn't really do that anymore.

She blamed Naruto. Or maybe Kakashi. 'Yeah!' Her Inner Self said. 'Those two really strain your ability to put up with bullshit!'

"Ah, you don't need to be so formal with me, Sakura-chan! You can call me Shijimi-chan!" The highest-ranked noblewoman in the Fire Country said.

"It, wouldn't really be appropriate, would it?" Sakura said, a little weak. She picked up strength as she continued. "I mean, the Fire Lady should be addressed with proper respect. Shijimi-sama."

"Nonsense!" Shijimi tutted. "We're friends now, so there's no need to be so formal! In fact, I order you to refer to me as Shijimi-chan, hmm!" The plump old lady nodded, pleased with her answer.

'Her true colors show through.' Sakura thought darkly. Sakura wasn't a fool. Referring to a noblewoman so casually could have disastrous political consequences; as an active duty ninja, not using proper respect for the Fire Lady could seriously weaken her standing and reflect negatively on the whole village. On the other hand, a Leaf shinobi who disobeyed even such a trivial command from Fire Nation nobility was blatantly violating orders, a serious offense.

In short, Sakura was neatly trapped. Shijimi could theoretically punish her no matter what she said, now. 'The ruthlessness of the court, indeed.'

"Oh, that would be too embarrassing for a simple girl like me!" Sakura responded, putting her hands to her cheeks. "But... I guess I could call you Shijimi-onee-sama!"

Sakura wasn't the smartest girl of her generation for nothing.

"How cuuute!" Shijimi gushed.

Inside, Sakura was grinning darkly. 'Shannaro! Still got it!'

"Ah! Is that Sakura?" A voice said behind her.

Sakura turned. "Ah, you are... Temari!"

"One of your cute friends!" Shijimi squealed. "Please introduce me."

"Ah, right." Sakura said. "Shijimi-nee-sama, I would like you to meet Temari-san, a chuunin of the Hidden Sand! And Temari-san, this woman is the Lady of the Fire Country, Shijimi-sama herself!"

"I see!" Temari said brightly. "It's very good to meet you, Shijimi-sama!"

'Ah, that isn't her real face!' Sakura thought to herself. 'I guess Temari is skilled at playing the good little girl, too... since her father was the previous Kazekage.'

"A Kunoichi who hides in the Sand!" Shijimi said. Perhaps some of the surprise in her voice was even honest.

"Since we're from allied Countries, it's not that strange!" Sakura protested lightly. "We share the experience of being Kunoichi, so we already have a lot in common!"

"I suppose that's true. It's refreshing to meet someone so easy to forgive treachery, that's all!" Shijimi said lightly. "I would be a little worried about it happening again."

"That was the work of a faction that has been completely discredited." Temari said sweetly. "There's currently no possibility of war between our countries."

"Wasn't the leader of that faction the Kazekage?" Shijimi asked, surprised. This time it wasn't honest at all. "But since he died in the invasion..." Shijimi trailed off. "Ah! Please forgive me saying such a painful thing about your father."

"It's fine." Temari said. "Since he died a month before the invasion, it was the work of a missing nin. From the Fire Country, in fact!"

Shijimi just smiled in response. Her eyes were closed, and the muscles in her cheeks were tight.

'Completely outmaneuvered.' Sakura thought. 'Although, I wish it wasn't at the expense of our village.'

"I'm surprised that the whole village could be fooled so completely." Shijimi said. Sakura had to admit it was a good recovery.

"That's because the Leaf missing nin Orochimaru was so good with kinjutsu!" Temari responded, voice bright. Her smile was loosing sweetness in favor of a predatory look.

Shijimi smiled again, the same meaningless expression. "Well! I think I will get us some drinks... why don't you two stay here and chat while I fetch some tea!"

"Ah! It isn't good for Shijimi-nee-sama to go get us drinks! Please let me escort you and carry them!" Sakura protested.

"Nonsense!" Shijimi scolded. "It's natural to impress new acquaintances with kindness! You two stay right here and chat." She nodded. "And I have the utmost confidence in the perimeter security the rest of your team provides, so there's no need to fear."

"Shijimi-nee-sama?" Temari said wryly as she eased into a more relaxed sitting position next to Sakura.

"Don't be dense." Sakura retorted. "You were skilled enough in that last conversation to know where that kind of thing would come from."

"Hmn." Temari said. She paused for a moment, before shaking her head slightly.

"Is something wrong, Temari-san?" Sakura said.

"Ah, I said a pretty vigorous thing about not going to war... it might even be true." Temari smiled, a jagged expression.

Sakura smiled back, a little unsure. "What do you mean?"

"Well..." Temari sighed. "Even if it was helped along by that Orochimaru, the reasons we invaded so willingly still exist." She shook her head.

"I'm sure the new Hokage will work hard to avoid war, for both village's sakes." Sakura said placatingly. Additionally, the Leaf couldn't afford prolonged combat, not now.

"I guess." Temari said. "Listen, about that... how long does Tsunade-hime plan to hold office?"

Sakura wrinkled her nose. Phrased differently, that could have been a threat against the Hokage, which would have been very serious. As it was, though... 'Calm down!' Inner Sakura roared. 'Even though the fate of the village might depend on this conversation!'

'Oh great...' Sakura moaned to herself, 'even my own instinct is to be nervous.' She pulled herself together. 'But I still need to respond.'

"I honestly don't know." Sakura responded.

Temari smirked. "That's a convenient answer... so I guess I'll ask blatantly." She looked Sakura in the eye. "Is Tsunade a placeholder until Naruto is ready?"

Sakura could only gape. "What...?"

Temari frowned. "Well... I guess there's no harm in you letting the Hokage know what I'm about to tell you." Inwardly, Temari sighed. 'And I came on this trip to avoid this obnoxious kind of politics.'

"Gaara plans to become the next Kazakage, and he will almost certainly get the title." Temari said. "He's strong enough, but frankly, it's more important that he's the previous kazekage's son."

"That guy!" Sakura said, surprised. "He's so..." She managed to stop herself before finishing such a rude thought about someone so important, apparently. 'He's so bloodthisty!' or 'He's so psychotic!' were not things to be saying about a Kage-apparent.

"'He's such a blood-crazed maniac who doesn't care about anyone,' is that what you mean?" Temari said. She smirked, a little bit sad. "I would have agreed with you, but... he's really changed since the invasion, even going so far as swearing to try to understand the feelings of other people." Temari chuckled. "He's adopted Naruto's dream as his own and decided to become a Kage to give his life meaning."

Temari shook her head. "I thought he was just a fool, but he was that powerful… stronger than Gaara." Her younger brother was a monster, through and through, who freely used the power of the One-Tails to crush everyone as proof of his existence.

When Gaara had begun his transformation in the forest outside the Leaf Village, Temari honestly thought all three siblings would die. Gaara in monster-mode was unstoppable with normal jutsu. Even the Last Uchiha had only been able to slow him down. But there was probably a jounin somewhere in Konoha that knew kinjutsu powerful enough to kill Gaara.

And along came some blonde loudmouth with poor fashion sense, and he was able to force Gaara to completely unleash Shukaku. And that same idiot was capable of a ridiculously high-level summon, capable of going toe-to-toe with the One Tail.

But what terrified her most was when Gaara had said, "He has the same power as me." Temari, who had lived her whole life around Gaara and was sensitive to demon chakra, hadn't been able to tell. To think a fraction tiny enough that she couldn't sense it, to think that small amount of power had been enough for him to handle her brother, it was horrifying.

Worse: there was only one Bijuu that had died at Konoha—and it had died about the same time this brat was probably born.

It scared Temari on a very deep level that the Leaf Village commanded the strongest possible ninja, a jinchuuriki of the legendary Fire King, the Nine-Tails Demon Fox.

After the reports came back, there was no way a single member of the Sand Village Council would seek war on Konoha as long as Uzumaki Naruto was alive. The potential for complete annihilation was too high.

"Um... I don't think Gaara is anything like Naruto." Sakura said, rather pointedly, impatient with Temari drifting off in thought like that.

Temari just stared for a moment. "Then... you don't know?"

"Know what!?" Sakura demanded.

"Never mind. Anyway, I'm getting off topic. Is Naruto going to become Hokage in the next few years?" Temari asked.

Sakura couldn't help laughing a little bit. "Naruto? He talks about it, but, he isn't really the type." Suddenly, Sakura felt a flash of guilt. It was true Naruto had matured a lot over the last few months. "Well," Sakura amended, "maybe. It's possible, I guess."

"I see." Temari said, frowning. That his own teammate would so casually dismiss what the Sand Village Council thought was an absolute certainty... which was the side with bad information?

"Speaking of Naruto, he's not on this mission with us." Sakura wasn't about to mention that he was off on some training mission with Jiraiya. Come to think of it... that would tend to support Temari's thoughts, wouldn't it? Being trained by the Toad Sage would certainly look like he was being vetted for the tri-corner hat.

"Oh?" Temari said, arching an eyebrow.

"Yeah. So, his replacement is... Shikamaru."

Temari frowned mightily at that. "Why should I care about that bum?"

"No reason." Sakura said lightly.

"Ah, time to go back to work." Temari mumbled, using her eyes to indicate a point behind Sakura.

"Getting along well, I see!" Shijimi cooed.

"Of course, Shijimi-nee-sama!" Sakura responded with as much cuteness as she could manage.

I I I

"Damn." Motoko mumbled. "Lost her."

Yugito was surprisingly hard to tail. Well, Motoko amended to herself, surprisingly hard to tail without being obvious. The blonde-haired girl from Cloud seemed uncomfortable and skittish in crowds, and tended to move either faster or slower than the people around her. Occasionally she darted across lanes.

Keeping up with her without being obvious about it was really hard. Motoko wasn't one to give up though! After all, Uzumaki Naruto had managed to tail a Hunter Nin right into the Hunter Nin office at the tender age of eleven!

Usually it wouldn't be a problem. Although... this time was for real, it wasn't just a prank where the worst that would happen was a scolding (even if the scolding was mostly Killing Intent). The consequences were different this time, and besides, it wasn't like Yugito was going to be the one making contact, anyway.

Catching up with her again would be easy, but too obvious. Motoko nodded sagely. Yup, it was definitely smartest to give up for now.

Her stomach gurgled again. Motoko sniffed the air.

There was a ramen stand nearby... on the next corner... yes!

Motoko hummed a little ditty as she stepped under the curtain.

"Hey!" She called out. For Naruto it would have been a shout, but Motoko was just too cutesy for it to come out that way. "Can I get two bowls of Miso?"

"Sure thing!" Replied the woman at the counter. "Just take a seat and it'll be right with ya!"

"Ha ha, yeah." Motoko said, sitting down at the table. She smiled and fiddled with her chopsticks, thinking about her mission. 'Man... I hope I get a chance to see Chigaku in action, it sounds like she's really good at doton jutsu!' Motoko frowned. 'But I hope I don't see her use them against me. That would mean I would have failed my mission!' Motoko jerked left on her stool to catch a chopstick she had nearly dropped. 'Ditto with that jinchuuriki thing. I wonder what it means?'

Motoko froze as a new customer spoke from her left flank, sitting down beside her. "Um, can I get a beef Ramen please?"

It was Yugito. Motoko tried to watch her out of the corner of her eye, but she just wasn't subtle enough to fool another ninja. Or another person, really.

"Is something wrong?" Yugito said coolly. She looked archly at the girl next to her, who seemed to be about her own age, also wearing festival kimono.

Motoko looked back, staring into her eyes, and commented on the first thing that came to mind. "You know... you have weird-shaped eyelashes."

Yugito grunted coldly, turning away. It was surprising, she thought bitterly, that such casual words from a total stranger could still hurt her this much.

"They're cute, though." Motoko added, turned back to the counter. "They make you look cool and unique."

Yugito paused. Suddenly she wasn't so sure she understood what was going on.

Worried about the pause, Motoko thought back to what just happened. It took a little bit of careful recounting, but finally it struck her. Just like when Sakura always hit him after talking, and said "think about it!" when he asked why. Her cute gasp pulled Yugito's attention back to her.

"I'm so sorry! The first sentence was pretty mean, wasn't it?" Motoko said. "Please accept my sincere apology."

This was the first time that anyone had cared about Yugito's feelings. "It's... okay." She said.

"That's good, then!" Motoko said brightly. "Anyway, my name's Motoko. I'm happy to meet you!"

"Thank you." Yugito wasn't sure how else to respond. "My name… is Yugito."

Motoko nodded, spinning her chopsticks between her fingers. "It fits you."

"What do you mean?" Yugito asked, cocking her head to one side.

Motoko paused. "I don't know." She said honestly. "It just felt like the right thing to say, even though I don't really know if it fits your or not. Your name is an important part of your identity, I guess, but at the same time it's not, since it's not something that actually describes you." She paused. "Ah, I'm rambling aren't I? I'm sorry."

Yugito shook her head. "No, it's fine. I'd… never really thought about it."

"Order up!" The owner called.

"Ah!" Motoko said, delighted as the ramen was set down in front of her. "Itadakimasu!"

Motoko ate fast, but it was still more polite than Naruto was. Kurenai had taken that part of training very seriously—Motoko actually acted like a girl was supposed to, most of the time.

Yugito stared for a moment, before shaking her head and beginning to tap her chopsticks against the table. It was almost a nervous habit; she almost always tapped her chopsticks while eating in public. It drove Kirema nuts.

"Order up!" The owner called out, setting the bowl down in front of Yugito.

"Thank you." Yugito said quietly, before digging in.

Although Motoko was eating two bowls, she also had a head start. Yugito managed to tie with her on the last bowl.

"Ah... that was pretty good." Motoko said, patting her stomach with content. She turned to face Yugito. "You know, you're the first person that could keep up with me."

Yugito wasn't quite sure how to respond. "It wasn't... hard."

"Oh?" Motoko said, smirking a little. "Are you disrespecting my skill at eating Ramen?"

"Skill...?" Yugito said. "Well, Ramen is really good, so it's easy to eat fast."

Motoko's face became serious, as she leaned in closer.

Yugito leaned back. People very rarely got into her personal space, it was making her very uncomfortable.

Abruptly Motoko smiled. It was like dawn breaking between the high mountains, Yugito thought, warm sunlight that washed over the green hills and chased away the cold morning mist.

"I like you." Motoko said.

Yugito couldn't ever remember hearing those words addressed at her before.

I I I

Tetsuko browsed through the knickknacks, burning time while she looked for her contact. Since they were trying to be discreet, she couldn't carry around her huge iron club, or even wear her armor. It made her feel unprepared.

Instead she had a kimono, and her hair pulled up into a knot on the top of her head, just barely long enough to wrap around the (very sharp) chopsticks. Her headband was tied around her forearm, and the symbol of hidden stone was visible every time she lifted her arm to browse through the goods.

She moved on to the next stand when the owner finished with his current customer; she didn't particularly feel like putting up with his sales pitch.

The next stand was festival masks. It twisted her gut a little bit; Gotei had always enjoyed the masks at festivals. He had been an accident, but neither of them had regretted it, and Gotei had been the apple of her eye.

She reached up, lightly caressing an ANBU mask, the symbol of the elite killers at the command of the Hokage. The irony was almost too painful.

But she wasn't so distracted she didn't see the other come up beside her.

The woman had long hair, pushed back to fall away from her face. She wore a flowing kimono with long sleeves over a pair of wide hakama pants, the creases crisp. She had the edge of a forehead protector peaking out from the fold of the kimono. She raised her hand slowly, and pulled it out to show the symbol of the Cloud.

Tetsuko turned to face the woman, pushing her sleeves up to show her own forehead protector and then pulling them back down for a more formal position, before bowing.

The other bowed back. "Hailing from the Land of Lightning, ranked jounin among Those that Hide in the Clouds, I am named Asagiri Kamome."

"Well met." Tetsuko replied. "Also ranked jounin, I am Hidden Rock's own Tetsuko."

After a pause, Kamome began to speak in a hesitant monotone. "So you have come all this way, Prin-"

"There's no need to put up with my leader's ridiculous antics." Tetsuko interrupted. "We both know the Raikage only agreed because it wasn't worth an argument."

Kamome just nodded. Her smile looked a little more real this time.

"Why don't we walk this way?" Tetsuko said, nodding her head to the right.

Kamome nodded, and the two set off at a sedate pace. "The first meeting will take place tomorrow at nine."

Tetsuko grunted in agreement. "The meeting place will be the Upper Pool in the Sparking Rift Park. Is that acceptable?"

"Eminently." Kamome responded. "Until then." She bowed again, and turned away.

"Goodbye." Tetsuko said, with her own bow. "So, they sent Asagiri Kamome, the famous spearfighter, huh? Thought she had a genin team to look out for these days..." Tetsuko shook her head. 'Talking to myself now... I hope boss isn't rubbing off on me.'

With a shake of her head, Tetsuko headed off to meet with her leader.

Behind the two, a mother and her young child stepped away from the food stand where they had been looking at grilled eel cuts. They stepped into the alley between two stands and, with one last check around the parameter, each formed a hand seal shaped like a cross before disappearing in a poof of smoke.

I I I

Shikamaru was beginning to regret becoming a ninja. It was just one big unending hassle. Bad enough he had to run a parameter guard on the ladies hot spring; he had to do it with Sasuke and Kakashi. One didn't know when enough was enough and the other was seriously the most passive-aggressive guy Shikamaru had ever met.

And then it got even more troublesome.

"Doesn't this scarf look just so cute!?" Shijimi gushed, holding the gauzy fabric in question up for the approval of the two kunoichi with them.

"Ah! It's very cute, Shijimi-nee-sama!" Sakura said, hands clasped together.

Shikamaru rubbed the space between his eyebrows with his fingertips, trying to get his face muscles to relax. Occasionally, Sakura's lower left eyelid would twitch; it made Shikamaru's face feel tense just watching her spasm like that. At least it didn't happen while the Fire Lady was watching.

"It certainly is!" Temari added. "But, I think this one would match your complexion better, Shijimi-sama!" The wind girl said, pulling out a length of something in alternating bands of silver and gray. It was the kind of thing grandmothers wore when visiting other old people.

Bothersome. Shikamaru didn't know why Temari was here but he didn't like it. He especially didn't like the jagged smile on her face when she did something like that to the Fire Lady. Shikamaru was smart; he knew they were playing some female dominance game.

Shikamaru wasn't just smart; he was a genius, so he repressed his sigh. They might hear it and draw him in.

"I think this one would make you look cute, Shijimi-nee-sama!" Sakura said, pulling out a bright pink hair cloth. "Although, it isn't quite the right shade for me..." It wasn't. It was a different shade then her hair and thus, clashed horribly. Even Shikamaru, who showed up late to debriefings wearing clothes he had slept in, could tell.

Temari had fallen back to walk with him. "You look like you're keeping a thought to yourself."

Shikamaru didn't bother to look at her. "I was thinking when you smile like that, you look like a shark. Your eyes close like you're rolling them out of the way to bite and there are lots of teeth."

She cuffed him on the shoulder. "You'll never get a girlfriend like that."

Shikamaru grunted. He didn't rub his arm because that would just encourage her and really, she hadn't hit him that hard. Thinking about what that meant worried him. "Kunoichi are the wrong type of girl for me."

"Right, you want a girl that's soft and demure." Temari said, with what was almost a snarl.

Uh oh. "That's not it." Shikamaru said, annoyance leaking into his voice. He didn't really feel comfortable explaining his reasoning about girls, but Temari would be an absolute harpy unless he corrected that little misunderstanding. "Use your head. A pregnant kunoichi can't go on missions, and has to stay with the new born kid for a while. After months off-duty without enough practice, her skills will be rusty; the only safe missions above D level are long recon trips, so either she's never around for the kid or a rusty ninja is going off on hazardous assignments." Shikamaru paused, wondering whether he should go on. "That's not fair to anybody."

There was a pause, as Temari looked down at him. "You... you're serious about that. You've really thought this through."

Shikamaru grunted sourly. "I'm not a misogynist; I've got reasons for what I'm looking for in a woman."

"And heaven forbids something against your plan happening." Temari shot back.

Shikamaru shrugged. "I'm not going to deny or accept anything blindly. There's consequences to think about."

There was another pause. "You're alright, Shikamaru." She said, quietly.

"Yeah, yeah." He muttered.

"What kind of insecure response is that! One 'yeah' is enough!" Temari responded, smacking him again.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes towards the sky. "My mother says that." He said abruptly.

"Eh?" Temari said, off balance.

"When I say 'yeah, yeah,' she always shouts back, 'one yeah is enough!'" Shikamaru said. "It really annoys me, like she's always looking for conflict. Isn't life enough of a hassle without making trouble?"

"Maybe you shouldn't give your mom that kinda lip, then." Temari said, with a heavy voice that made it obviously his fault.

"Yeah, yeah." Shikamaru grumbled. She had a good point, but telling her that would be like giving her a license to criticize everything about him.

"Don't make me say it again!" Temari snarled.

'Oh god.' Shikamaru thought. 'this woman... this unbelievably troublesome woman, is the same as my mom.'

"You know, they say men usually date their mothers." Kakashi said from behind, the smile obvious in his voice.

Temari flinched, turning, but it was too much trouble for Shikamaru.

"Says the guy who reads pervy books instead of dating." Shikamaru responded dryly.

Kakashi blinked.

Temari snorted. "Kakashi zero, Shikamaru one." She grinned. "Looks like Gai's got some competition now."

Shikamaru just closed his eyes. 'Troublesome!'

"Yeah, I gotta go check on something." Kakashi said lightly.

"That's right! Run away!" Temari shouted as he used a shunshin. "So, where were we...?"

I I I

Okute was beginning to hyperventilate a little bit. A kage bunshin had reported that contact between Tetsuko and a Cloud agent had been successful, but she'd decided to patrol the area a little bit. Just in case.

She hadn't expected to find anyone, really.

It was just a festival in an unimportant country without any real strategic value or natural resources. No reason for any other high-level ninja to be there.

Like oh say SHARINGAN KAKASHI.

So Okute was beginning to hyperventilate a little bit while hiding on the roof, laying on her front, peering over the side of a building, to keep her profile down. She wasn't afraid, exactly, but she had no idea what to do. She had to report this but Ursura, for all her carefree antics, was still a heavy combat ninja that had come to power just in time to participate in the Third Secret War, and Tetsuko hated the Leaf.

What was going to happen!?

"Yo."

Okute flinched, spinning around to face...

to face...

oh jeez.

"Uhm, hello?" Okute said weakly.

Kakashi smiled back. Okute thought. She couldn't really tell through his mask, but his one visible eye (that, at least, was a relief since he couldn't hypnotize her with just eye contact)(yet) was closed like he was smiling but it wasn't that comforting because he was still the Copy Nin and a world-class assassin with over a thousand techniques while all she really had going for her was solid basic skills and the Kage Bunshin and she needed to breath a little bit now.

"Are you..." Kakashi gestured a little impotently. "you know, okay?"

"Me? I'm fine." Okute said.

"That's nice." Kakashi responded.

There was a pause.

It was getting a little weird, even by Kakashi's standards. "There isn't going to be trouble, is there?" He finally said. The Leaf and the Stone weren't at war, but they weren't at peace, either. It was more like mutual de-escalation had occurred and neither had mobilized after it.

Okute just shook her head franticly. "We're just here on vacation! If you knew the Tsuchikage it would make sense!" Even in this panicked state, dropping that name had been deliberate. It would be important for Kakashi to understand the magnitude of what was going on here.

"Hmm." Kakashi said, with no commitment. It did fit the character of the Tsuchikage, but then again, so did scheduling a secret rendezvous with Cloud agents, like Tsunade had briefed him (she had, Kakashin thought, acted like she hadn't wanted to spread intel around to people that didn't really need it, but didn't want ignorance to bite Kahashi in the ass more). Kakashi decided to tell most of the truth to this excitable Stone kunoichi.

"Well, my cute little genins were assigned a C-class escort mission. Because it's somebody important it had to involve an elite jounin (me!)." Kakashi said. "Basically there's no reason for any kind of confrontation."

Okute breathed out. "That's pretty much similar to our case. Right now, Ursura-sama isn't looking to cause trouble with the Leaf. I'll have to report to her, but she probably won't even want to meet."

"Great!" Kakashi said. "But, I'm afraid I can't let you go so easy. After all, you might just go stage an ambush!" You could almost hear the little heart doodle in his speech. It was totally at odds with the implied threat of his words. It spooked Okute a little.

Okute smiled weakly. "At the same time, detaining me would be a pretty hostile act. Such an open confrontation would be disastrous in the current political climate."

"You're talking about Yumi-sama and Dotoi-sama, aren't you?" Kakashi said.

Okute nodded. "It's still just a rumor, but it's a reliable one. If marriage talks between the Stone and Fire Daimyos break down because of us, it would hurt both villages."

Kakashi just looked her in the eye for a moment before nodding. "Okay, that pretty much corroborates Leaf intel." He stood up, and dusted off his thighs. "See you around. Or, you know, hopefully not." He disappeared with a shunshin.

Okute breathed a huge sigh of relief. Hidden Leaf didn't have enough people to spy on their own Noble Court as well as they'd like, so offering valuable info like that about what the royal families were up to went a long way as an olive branch.

The fourth daughter of the Fire Daimyo, Yumi-hime, and the third son of the Stone Daimyo, Dotoi-sama, were reportedly being arranged as marriage partners. It was an attempt by the Fire Lord to defray the possibility of war while his Hidden Village was weak. The motives of the Stone Lord in accepting were currently unclear, but it was widely believed it would involve Fire Nation tariffs on rice export.

It looked like the Fourth Secret War might actually have to be kept secret from the courts.

I I I

"Something wrong?" Yugito said.

Motoko blinked and smiled. "Nah, I just remembered something!" Motoko wasn't sure how else to describe the sudden influx of information from a cancelled Kage Bunshin, and she didn't want to explain it to Yugito in the first place.

"Oh?" Yugito said.

"Yeah!" Motoko said.

There was a pause.

"Well? Aren't you going to ask what it is?" Motoko said.

Yugito blinked. "What is it?" She asked, slightly hesitant, but willing to play along.

"AH! It's a secret!" Motoko said, pressing her finger against the side of her nose. She giggled at the expression on Yugito's face.

"You need to loosen up, Yugito-chan!" Motoko said, smiling. "It's a festival, so let's go have some fun!"

"I've never really been to a festival before." Yugito admitted.

"It's easy!" Motoko said, clapping her hands together. "All you do is hang out with your friends! Oh, and eat food. That second part is actually really important."

"Friends, huh?" Yugito smiled. It didn't look very happy, Motoko thought. "Well, I guess that's why I've never been to a festival before."

Yugito stiffened as Motoko abruptly threw her arms around her. It was, Yugito realized, a hug.

"In that case, this festival will officially be used to celebrate our new friendship!" Motoko said. "Now, let's go do something exciting. Like… uh…"

Yugito could only stare at the girl that was so unafraid of her. It twisted at her heart to think that it was only because she didn't know the truth about Yugito.

"Ah! What's that sound?" Motoko said, perking up as she cocked her head to the side slightly.

"Those sound like Taiko drums." Yugito said, catching herself. Even if it was just for a little while, there was someone who didn't mind her presence. While there were people that looked after her, Yugito didn't think of them as caregivers. Their job was making sure she was competent and skilled as a ninja and they didn't particularly enjoy it. Her childhood had been lonely, ostracized from all other children as a potential hazard and no one looked at her kindly. The Raikage was always polite to her, which was more than could be said for most ninja, but Yugito still resented him for his distance. Sometimes Yugito wasn't sure if the hatred that smoldered in her belly belonged to the demon, or her.

And here was someone that enjoyed being around Yugito, and had easily called her a friend. Yugito was sure she would take it back just as easily once she found out that Yugito was really a monster. But… did that have to happen? This was supposed to be a really peaceful mission, and Motoko didn't even have to know that Yugito was a ninja in the first place.

Yugito could have fun as a normal girl. Nobody else had to know.

Motoko tugged lightly on the sleeve of Yugito's yukata. "Come on, let's go see these Taiko drums! They sound really loud and exciting!"

Yugito smiled. "Yes, let's go."

I I I

Izumo contemplated the cup of coffee in front of him before sipping from it philosophically. Then he offered his opinion. "You're full of shit."

Kotetsu frowned. "Hey, I'm serious. I think Anko is trying to seduce Iruka." He was seated casually with his chair flipped around backwards, his hands resting on the back. The crossword puzzle in today's paper lay forgotten in front of him on the break room table.

Izumo shook his head. "And I think you're wrong. He's totally not her type. Maybe he was a prankster when we were kids, but he grew up and turned into a total square. She wouldn't even look his way."

Kotetsu leaned in. "See, that's the thing. Normally she just picks up somebody with a wild reputation and they go at it for a while until it just implodes. There's something different this time."

Izumo looked up from the coffee. It was good today, and they hadn't had to worry about glue or hallucinogens in the coffee even once since Naruto had been made a genin. There was a rumor going around that he'd even done something to that Bagel Day the hunter nins took so seriously, but frankly Izumo didn't think even Naruto was that ballsy.

"Why do you care so much about Anko's love life, anyway?" Izumo asked. "All of a sudden, you always seem to know everything about her relationships."

Kotetsu grimaced. "Her apartment building was wrecked during the invasion, so she moved. She lives right over me, now."

Izumo paused. "So?"

"So Anko is loud." Kotetsu said. "When she argues with her flavor of the week, the whole building knows. Plus she's a screamer."

Izumo snorted, and very nearly sucked coffee into his nose. "Okay, I didn't need to know that. Any of it."

"I'm just saying, there's something different this time." Kotetsu said. "She's always talking to him in the mission office, and she's never home any more. Or at least, if she is home, she's not moving furniture around any more."

Izumo paused. "…moving furniture around?"

Kotetsu threw up his hands. "I know! But, that's what it sounds like."

Izumo shook his head. "I think Genma has better odds with Shizune then Iruka has with Anko. He's just… not her type."

"There's something different this time." Kotetsu repeated. "I don't know what it is, but there's definitely something different."

"Oh, that must be the new filters." Iruka said.

"Iruka!?" Kotetsu said, jumping slightly and turning around. "When did you get here!?"

"I just popped in to get my lunch." He said, shaking the Tupperware container with a sandwich in it as he closed the door to the refrigerator. He pointed at the coffee cup in Izumo's hand. "And if there's something different with the coffee, we just switched to a different kind of filter."

"I see." Kotetsu said.

"I thought there was something different." Izumo said, looking into the cup. He'd thought the coffee had been secretly switched to decaf without anyone noticing again. That had been the cruelest of Naruto's pranks by far.

And then the world as Izumo knew it changed.

"Hey Iruka!" Anko said, launching herself from the door to wrap around Iruka.

Iruka grunted as she slammed into him, twisting around so she was leaning against his back. "Anko? Do you need something?"

"Not exactly." Anko said. "But, I have some free time, and I thought we could go out and get something to eat."

Iruka smiled at her, despite his discomfort at her insistent physical closeness. "I appreciate the offer, but I brought lunch today." Iruka said, raising the Tupperware sandwich almost like it was a Shinto amulet that would ward her off. "I really need to take a quick lunch today so that I can get right back to the mission office. We have a lot of D-class missions that need to get done today."

Anko frowned. "That's boring!" She announced. Her arm blurred, and the Tupperware (sandwich and all) smashed into the wall next to Izumo's head. "Anyway, you don't have a lunch anymore, so let's go out." She grinned. "I'll even pay. This time."

Iruka just stared open-mouthed at the mustard-soaked tomato slice that was slowly sliding down the break room wall. Finally he closed his mouth and shrugged. "Let's go."

"Great!" Anko roared, leaping towards the window. Iruka stumbled, barely able to keep up as she dragged him along.

Kotetsu and Izumo stared out the window for a while after that. The curtain fluttered in the breeze, mocking them.

Kotetsu quietly whispered "Kai," with his hands in the tiger seal, but nothing changed. The tomato slice fell to the ground with a mocking splat.

"Did that just happen?" Izumo finally said.

"Yeah." Kotetsu said. "Anko basically kidnapped Iruka for a date."

"I mostly meant the part where Anko offered to pay." Izumo said. Part of him wondered just how desensitized that made him. He shook his head. "In all the years I've known her, she has never once offered to foot the bill, even that time she lost a drinking contest to Ibiki."

"You're right." Kotetsu said. "She must be even more serious than I thought."

Izumo sipped from his almost-forgotten coffee philosophically. "I wonder if we'll be invited to the wedding."

I I I

"So those are Taiko drums?" Motoko said slowly, taking in the sight in front of her.

"Yes." Yugito said.

"Those… are so cool." Motoko enthused. She grabbed Yugito by the hand. "Come on! Let's get closer!"

Yugito smiled lightly as she was pulled headfirst through the crowd. Watching Motoko shoulder through people to get up near the stage was so funny. The girl would use her elbow as a wedge to pry her way through, shoving people out of her way, while pouting and saying "excuse me" in the most breathy voice Yugito had ever heard. Basically the girls' actions and words were totally at odds.

"There!" Motoko said, throwing a fist in the air, "the front row!"

"It's pretty loud." Yugito said, leaning in so she could speak directly into Motoko's ear.

"What!?" Motoko shouted.

"I said it's pretty loud!" Yugito repeated.

Motoko frowned. "You're from Cloud?" She shouted back.

Yugito's face clenched. She realized it was a coincidence, but it had still spooked her.

"I said, it's pretty loud!" Yugito shouted a third time.

"I got it the first time!" Motoko responded. "But, I decided to tease you!"

Yugito shook her head, unsure of what to do. She'd seen friendly bantering before, but this was her first time participating. She had an idea of what she should do, but she didn't want to punch her new friend on the shoulder, or stick her tongue out….

"Ah!" Motoko threw her arm around Yugito's shoulder, pulling the slightly taller girl down. "don't be sad, I wasn't trying to make you feel bad!" Motoko jutted her lower lip out. "Please forgive me!"

Yugito smiled. "I wasn't angry, it's just the first time someone's teased me."

Motoko looked at her for a moment, with an indecipherable expression. Then the girl hugged her again. "Don't be sad, Yugito-chan!"

Yugito shrugged uncomfortably. "I'm used to it."

"That's no excuse!" Motoko said. Passingly, she wondered if Yugito had a bloodline, and that was what jinchuuriki meant, or something like that. This way this girl smiled reminded Motoko of Haku, who had such a bittersweet expression. With a mental shake, Motoko pulled her attention back to the present. She didn't want to see anypone suffering from loneliness, even if it was technically her target. "Today you are going to experience as much friendship as I can possibly cram into the day!" Motoko roared. Yugito smiled.

The drums stopped pounding away.

"Eh?" Motoko asked, in the sudden quiet.

"Okay!" Said a man on the platform where the drums were set up, "let's give these guys a hand!" He looked expectant, and then pleased when everyone started clapping. "These drummers are from the Yukinoumi shrine on the northern coast. They came all the way to the Cute Polar Bear Hot Springs Festival to play for us!" He said.

Everyone clapped again. "So," the man shouted, "now we're going to ask for some volunteers to come up and help out the drummers!"

Hands shot up. Yugito was dismayed to see that one was her own, fingers laced with Motoko's.

"Pick us!" Motoko shouted, completely unembarrassed.

The man on the platform, who had already called forward a woman from the back, smiled down at the two girls in the front row. "And the two up front!" He said. They were very cute, so the audience wouldn't have any complaints.

"Yeah!" Motoko cheered, pulling Yugito up onto the stage with her. "Alright, what should we do?"

"Why don't you go help Fuuzaki over there," the announcer pointed Motoko to a priest with a whispy beard, who waved, "And you," he indicated Yugito, "can help Gozou and Mirai over on the big one!" He said, waving Yugito a drum that looked like it had been carved out of a tree that was 400 years old. It was immense, set up lengthwise, and taller than a man.

"Lucky!" Motoko said. "Yugito-chan gets the big one!" She smiled at her friend. "Get along well with Gozou-kun and Mirai-kun!" That said, Motoko bounced over to where the old priest Fuuzaki was sitting.

Bemused, Yugito walked over to the man on the closer side of the big drum.

"Hey there, my name's Mirai." Said the man, "What's your name?"

"Ah, my name's Yugito." The girl responded.

"A cute name for a cute girl." Mirai said, nodding sagely.

Yugito shrugged, not sure how to respond. It was sort of a meaningless response, but she was feeling distinctly out of her element.

"Alright!" The announcer shouted, saving Motoko from having to answer, "the most important part of Taiko drumming is the rhythm, so-"

BOOM!

Everyone started, and turned to look at Motoko, who was holding one of the cloth-covered mallets used on Taiko drums. "Hey! This is pretty fun!" She cried, lifting the mallet again. The audience laughed when Fuuzaki deftly pulled it out of her hands when she went to strike it against the drum again.

"What's the big idea?!" Motoko shouted. She crossed her arms, and with a great "Hmph!" looked away from Fuuzaki, pouting exaggeratedly. More laughter from the audience.

"What a little kid." Mirai said, chuckling.

Yugito shrugged. "Motoko is pretty excitable, but she's also very kind." She paused, hesitating for a moment. "I'm very glad she's my friend."

Mirai smiled. "I see! You two have been friends for a long time, then?"

Yugito bit her lip. "No, we just met earlier today."

The announcer spoke up again. "Alright! As I was saying," he glared at Motoko, who responded with a cute 'who, me?' pose, "the most important part of drumming is rhythm! Without a good rhythm, you're just making noise!"

BOOM!

Everyone turned, and Motoko stuffed the mallet in Fuuzaki's hands. "It was him!" She said, pointing.

The announcer stared for a bit before shaking his head. "So, if the audience could help me set a rhythm for the volunteers," he said, looking at Motoko, "then we can get going!" He started clapping his hands, and the audience began clapping along.

"Here!" Mirai said, handing his mallet to Yugito. "Hit the drum here," he indicated a spot on the surface on the drum, "on every fourth beat!" He paused, waiting for a moment, "now!" He said.

Yugito hit the drum.

It was loud. Louder than the one Motoko had.

Yugito hit it again, and looked over her shoulder. Motoko was furiously beating away on her own drum, regardless of the rhythm, completely ignoring the old man Fuuzaki who was desperately trying to get her to obey some sort of time scheme.

Yugito smiled, and hit her own drum at her time interval.

"Stop!" The announcer shouted, waving his hands. The drums stopped, and the clapping died off. He turned to look at Motoko. "You… you're really bad."

"That's so mean!" Motoko said, clutching her hands together. "Even if it is, well, true." She sighed, putting a hand to her head. "Not doing things when I'm supposed to is my biggest weakness!"

The announcer just shook his head. "That's not an excuse!"

"Well at least Yugito still likes me, even if you don't!" Motoko shot back. "And she isn't bald, either!"

"I'M NOT BALD." The announcer roared. While technically true, he also had a comb over.

Motoko just turned to the audience. "Let's poll the audience! Raise your hand if you think the announcer man is bald!"

Laughing, most of the audience put their hands up.

"You traitor Fuuzaki!" The announcer roared. "Put your hand down!" He did a double take. "You too, Mirai, unless you want out!"

"She's got a point, boss!" the drummer laughed. "What do you think, cutie?" He asked, turning to Yugito.

Yugito, suddenly aware of all the eyes on her, squirmed and looked down. She didn't have good memories of that many people looking at her.

"Ha!" Motoko roared, drawing their attention back. "Yugito's just too kind to tell it like it is! Baldy!"

"I'll show you bald!" The annoucer roared, lunging for Motoko. She ducked away, and he began chasing her around the stage.

"Bald!" Fuuzaki shouted, striking the drum at the same time.

"Bald!" Agreed Mirai, hitting the big drum.

"Bald! Bald! Bald! Bald!" the audience began chanting in time with the drums, laughing.

Finally, the announcer slipped when Motoko ducked to hide behind Fuuzaki, and his hair dramatically spilled over, revealing his shiny head.

"I hate you all!" He roared.

The audience laughed.

Except Sasuke. He frowned a little bit. "What's Motoko-chan doing here?" he wondered.

"Something over there, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, desperately looking for something to draw Shijimi's attention away from her.

"Unn." Sasuke grunted, shaking his head negatively. "Let's keep going." He turned and walked back to his team, away from the congregation laughing around the drums, and couldn't quite resist the urge to turn back and look one more time at Motoko, hamming it up in for the audience.

She was, Sasuke decided as he turned back to where Sakura was giving him an odd look, really cute in that festival yukata.

I I I

"You have pretty good comedic timing." The announcer complemented, as the drum group began packing up. "Even if you don't obey the rhythm."

"Thanks!" Motoko said. "Mostly."

Fuuzaki chuckled. "Well, you're welcome to come by again. Today was one of our most successful shows, thanks to you."

"Yeah!" Mirai shouted from the stage, where he was helping cover the drums for the night. "You too, Yugito-chan."

"Thanks, but Yugito doesn't like being in front of so many people so much." Motoko said. "So… we'll probably do something else, tomorrow. Thanks for inviting us, though!"

"You two are pretty close." The announcer said casually.

"Yeah, we're good friends." Motoko said.

"That's what they're calling it these days, huh?" Mirai commented to Yugito. He had been wondering why Yugito had been paying such close attention to the other girl the whole time. Now he was glad he hadn't tried very hard to capture Yugito's attention. "Well, it's pretty rare to see, ah, 'close friendship' between two girls in these countries."

Yugito shook her head. "We're… not like that." She protested weakly.

"Not yet?" Mirai said. "Or… she doesn't swing that way?"

Yugito blushed, and opened her mouth, but no words came out. She honestly had no idea what to say. She was mortified.

Mirai patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll give you a chance."

Motoko chose that moment to drop her arm around Yugito's shoulder. "Hey, what are you two talking about?"

Yugito could just die.

I I I

"You're late." Kirema said, as Yugito walked in the door.

Yugito smoothed the smile of her face, into her professionally blank expression. "I apologize."

Kirema shook her head. "Well, you didn't create a scene, but you should be more dependable in the future. If you're not there when I need you, you'd be a worthless weapon."

"I apologize." Yugito repeated.

"Never mind." Kirema said. "Moving on. Kamome, report."

"Contact made." The crane lady quietly said. "Meeting time affirmed, tomorrow at nine in the Sparkling Rift Park."

Kirema nodded. "Of the options we selected in our communications, that one is probably the most defensible." She paused. "Do you know who you made contact with?"

"Testuko the Crusher." Kamome said. "I also saw All-Earths Chigaku when I went to make contact. She wasn't hiding, my guess is that she was there as backup in case there was an escalation."

"An elite battlefield nin like Tetsuko the Crusher, and the unparalleled Doton genius All-Earths Chigaku…" Kirema said. "Well, the Crusher would probably lose to any of us four, but All-Earths is a tough opponent, too."

"Don't forget that Ursura of Five-Bears herself is here." Kirema lightly reminded. "If we're concerned with combat potential, Ursura could have brought three genin with her and still be favored for victory."

"Don't remind me." Kirema said, shaking her head. "That woman is probably the only rock-nin alive that could challenge my hubby. Against one of us, we'd turn to dust." She shook herself. "Let's not dwell on that. Kamome, could you go see where Raiko got to? Otherwise, you're dismissed for the evening."

"Hai, Kirema-sama." Kamome said, disappearing.

"Yugito, don't disappoint me like this again." Kirema said. "Other than that, just keep your head down, okay?"

"Hai, Kirema-sama." Yugito hesitated. "Kirema-sama… how do you know if you like someone?"

Kirema stayed still for a moment. "I don't believe the words I am hearing, Yugito. You are a jinchuuriki. You are incapable of 'liking' someone. Don't get distracted from your objective by a boy."

"Hai, Kirema-sama." Yugito said. She wanted to explain that it was a girl, a new friend, but Kirema would hear it and wouldn't understand, anyway. Fleetingly, Yugito regretted the thought that she could turn to this woman for advice.

"Don't make me regret bringing you along." Kirema said, before disappearing herself.

"Of course not." Yugito whispered to herself. She snarled. "Why would I ever want to make you angry?"

The sun had set a while ago. Yugito was alone in a room full of shadows.

I I I

Two bells rang, sometimes together, sometimes not, creating an eerie discord. The morning mists swirled around them. Dawn was still a little while away.

"So this is it…" mused the one on the left. "The Cute Polar Bear Hot Springs festival."

"Yes." The one on the right, the shorter one, responded.

The tall one on the left sighed, and shifted the wrapped bundle on his back, disturbing the bells and streamers that hung from his wide hat. "This feels so dumb."

"It's a good opportunity. That's all."

"While that's true… it just isn't ominous enough. I would like to operate somewhere a little more intimidating, and not… a festival."

The short one paused, glancing at his companion. "I didn't know you were so fond of melodrama."

The tall one snorted. "Oh, now he cracks a joke. Let's just get this over with, Itachi-san."

"Yes." Itachi said, and the two stepped through the gate into the laughing world of the hot springs festival. In black cloaks, with clouds of blood-red, they stood out painfully. At least there were very few people around yet, most of those stall marketers preparing for the day.

"Besides," Kisame mused, "no matter how much I like melodrama, our Leader's taste in uniform is worse."

"…yeah." Itachi admitted.

I I I

Motoko sighed, setting off for the for the park where the group was meeting. She'd made preparations in the dead of night, after she'd gotten away from Yugito. It had cut into her sleep a little bit, but operating on a few hours was nothing for someone with her (Naruto's) constitution. Now she just needed to get close enough to detect when they would be leaving, and move in afterwards.

"Hey."

Motoko did a double-take. "Sasuke-kun?"

"…yeah." The boy said, moving forward from the pole he'd been leaning against. "I saw you yesterday." She was wearing a different Yukata today, he noticed. This one had a complicated butterfly pattern; it was even better than yesterday.

"Oh." Motoko blinked. "What are you doing here?"

"On a mission protecting some old lady." It was habit to obscure the identity of the client. "Don't know what she sees in this place." Sasuke muttered. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"I'm vacationing at a Hot Springs Festival!" Motoko said, grinning. "I guess that makes me the same type as 'some old lady,' huh?"

"I didn't mean it like that." Sasuke scoffed. "I was just wondering why you were here."

"How very considerate, Sasuke-kun." Motoko said, rolling her eyes.

Sasuke just grunted.

"Well, if you're done taking up my time, Sourpuss-san, I have places to go and octopus balls to eat."

Sasuke wanted to ask if he could come with her, but he had a duty to perform. "Whatever. If I don't see you around… I guess I'll see you back in Konoha."

"Yeah, yeah." Motoko said, waving an arm as she walked off. "See you later."

Sasuke turned himself, walking off in the opposite direction.

"Sasuke." Motoko called. "Be careful, okay?" It would be bad if Sasuke picked a fight with one of the diplomatic groups. Not only would it start an international incident, they'd wipe the floor with him, too.

Sasuke waved a hand without looking back. It was… odd, he thought, to have a girl tell him that. Her injunction didn't annoy him the way it would coming from Sakura. From Motoko, hearing her say "be careful" was… nice.

Sasuke shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking about this kind of stuff during a mission. He jumped up onto the roof, scanning around to look for enemies, before jumping off to report in to Kakashi.

Yugito stepped out from under a building overhang, a plate of rice balls half-forgotten in her hands. She frowned, unsure of what to make of this. Was Motoko a leaf kunoichi…?

I I I

Tetsuko lowered herself into the bath with a happy sigh. There was a pair of guardian statues of, of all things, frogs on the shelf next to her, but that was fine. It would be a waste not to enjoy the hot springs. Even if they were just a vehicle for a meeting that would potentially result in war.

"Well met, Asagiri-san." Tetsuko said.

"Kamome is just fine, Tetsuko-san." Kamome replied, lowering herself into the water across from the Stone woman.

Both sat quietly, pondering how they would proceed.

"Man, you two are both so stoic." Ursura said, twisting her pinkie finger in her ear, leaning against a rock beside her subordinate. She smiled. "So, you must be Kamome the Soaring Lance. Good to meetchya, I'm Ursura."

"Tsuchikage-sama." Kamome said lightly, bowing. She was a little bit spooked that the Tsuchikage had been able to sneak up like that and get into the bath so close to her undetected. It was easy to forget that this woman across from her was at least as talented at assassination as Kirema. Speaking of which. "Might I introduce the commander of our party, Kirema."

Kirema slipped into the water beside Kamome. "It is an honor to meet you, Tsuchikage-sama."

"Same here." Ursura smiled. So, that guy had sent his wife, the feared 'Death Fog' Kirema. Spooky. "How's the Raikage? Still going strong, I bet."

"He is in good health." Kirema said. "I'm surprised that you moved so quickly to a face-to-face meeting between the two of us."

"Na, if we're going to be allies, we should trust each other." Ursura said, flopping her hand. "Although I'm a might concerned you felt it necessary to bring along that sort of war potential for this kind of meeting."

"Yugito is stable." Kirema said. "In truth, we just wanted to demonstrate that ours is more dependable than the vaunted Gaara of the Desert from the Sand village."

"Funny you should mention that guy… word is he got taken down pretty fast when the Sand and the Sound invaded the Leaf." Ursura said. "A lot of people saw him during the exam, but then nobody saw him accomplish anything… even though we got reports his chakra was felt, he didn't kill even one leaf nin."

"So you're saying that the Leaf have some way of countering jinchuuriki?" Kirema said, frowning. Their own intelligence had pointed in a similar direction, but that Stone's resources verified it… was a concern.

"Maybe even a jinchuuriki of their own." Ursursa said slyly. "But I've only heard rumors so far, nothing more definite than that."

Yugito, sitting out of sight behind her leader, froze. She didn't want to associate herself with the famously psychotic Gaara, but was there someone like her in the Leaf?

"So basically you're saying we can't rely on our jinchuuriki as a weapon to annihilate their village." Kirema said.

"Well… we're getting a little ahead of ourselves." Ursura said. "Anyway, let's just set the place for the next meeting."

"How does ten tomorrow in the Pine Glade Spring sound?" Kirema offered.

Ursura nodded. "That's good."

"Until then…" Kirema said.

"There's one more thing." Ursura said.

"Yes?" Kirema looked up.

"Sharingan Kakashi is in town." Ursura said. She smirked. "Don't worry, it seems to be a coincidence. Looks like he's guarding a VIP from his country that wanted to vacation… we've got him covered, but it's good to let you know, eh?"

With that, Ursura and Tetsuko stood, and vanished away with shunshin.

"Too much of a coincidence?" Kamome finally asked.

Kirema grunted. "I don't like relying on their intel so much… it's something we can check ourselves, but it would be bad if he found out we're also here, it would be too suspicious." She sighed, shaking her head. "I don't like that she so effortlessly made us seem like informationless fools."

Kamome bowed. "Naturally you're at a disadvantage, bargaining with a Kage."

"Still." Kirema said. "That's no excuse for sloppy diplomacy."

"Don't worry so much." Reiko said idly from the shelf overlooking the spring, casually stuffing her book into her hip pack. "It's not like we need to accomplish anything more than just a commitment towards an alliance, anyway. We'll do the real bargaining from more equal positions."

"You're right." Kirema said, nodding as she stepped out of the spring. "Kamome, Reiko, Yugito: let's go."

The four vanished away with shunshin.

Some minutes later, Motoko eased into the spring, and swam to the frog guardian statues. "Kai." She whispered, and the illusion binding the two unraveled.

"Oh man!" Gamakichi complained, "that was rough!" He shook a webbed finger at Motoko. "You didn't have to leave us frozen up like that for so long, did ya?"

"Gamatatsu doesn't mind as much, did you, Gamatatsu?" Motoko said, pouting. "Besides, I came as soon as I could without being suspicious."

Gamatatsu blushed, shaking his head. "Of course not, Motoko-chan."

Gamakichi scowled. "It's just too weird seeing you dolled up like that, Naruto."

Motoko pouted. "Mou… what kind of crappy summon can't even remember his summoner's name? It's Motoko, Motoko! At least for this mission."

"Don't gimme that crap!" Gamakichi shouted.

"You shouldn't pick fights with girls, older brother." Gamatatsu scolded.

The other two paused, staring at the younger of the two frogs.

"What?" Gamatatsu asked.

"You… you do know that Motoko is really…?" Gamakichi said, before giving up, shaking his head. "Whatever. The point is, they mostly just said they were going to meet again tomorrow." Gamakichi hopped in the pool, and happily began splashing around.

Motoko sighed. "What a pain… they just keep having meetings to set meetings, they're worse than ninja administration back home."

"Well, you'll never guess what else they said…" Gamakichi began.

"Don't tease me!" Motoko said, crossing her arms cutely over her chest as she shook her head back and forth cutely. "I just can't stand it when boys tease me!"

"Stop doing that!" Gamakichi shouted, wildly pointing at Motoko. "It's really creepy!"

"So you said there was more?" Motoko said, ignoring his outburst. Both ignored Gamatatsu's plaintive "older brother…"

"Oh yeah," Gamakichi replied, rubbing his webbed hands together, "see…"