Starring:
Date: July 31, 2015
Summary:
The wedding planning continues and this time, venues are being searched for! Yet, the search takes a turn for the better as bands have been arranged for selection by Jiro and Arika! Still, there's some unaddressed tension between Itami and her mother Kotone that may boil over later. The first battle has been waged in this silent war with the arranged visit of a couple of shinobi seeking out Kotone for past criminal actions.
"Wedding Bells - Exchanging of the Bands (No, not Those Yet!)"
Unknown location
"This would've been a nice venue, I suppose, but the arena is looking more and more appealing. I'm not a
particular fan of it, but it'll work," Kotone shrugged as she looked over the theatre from outside. Itami was standing
with her, without much being uttered in the way of agreement. "I suppose we can move on and find someplace else…" Itami
sighed. "We need someplace that will work for mass capacity. The arena is perfect for that." Kotone huffed. "Yes, but
it's ugly. Just terrible. It's appearance is bland, it has no color. Everything here is just one color!" Another sigh
comes from Itami as she answers. "We're a shinobi village. Blending in to our surroundings is best for us." Kotone waved
a dismissive hand. "Yes, yes, I know that. I don't really care about all that, honestly. I just wished there was a little
more to offer from this place. Oh well. Hopefully the decorations will spice things up a bit. I've turned disasters into
masterpieces before and I'm sure I can do it again. Besides, I have the most lovely team!"
And this is how the day is starting. Certainly, it's like any other day, normal, really. The sun is rising over
the village and soon the shadows will be gone that have encased it. Yet, this isn't a normal day for Itami. Nope, not one
bit. She has to spend it with her mother seeking out venues that she thought were already chosen. Ugh.
Arika keeps her perch on Itami's back, looking less grumpy than she has been since she's been forced to stay
within the village walls. SIGH! The girl finds Suna a bit boring sometimes, as there isn't much to do after exploring
most of the nooks and crannies that any ten year old girl would be allowed to see. But now there's some excitement!
Wedding planning stuff! The girl is pretty happy to be doing /something/, and she notes to Kotone, "The theatre is prolly
the second best for housing people! An' I bet after that fire it can be made super pretty. If you helped out with
renovating, I bet the theatre'd let you in for free!"
Hey venues are all well and good but you really need to get on with the most important stuff. We need an
orchestra! "Obaa!" Jiro cries out from up the street, waving a hand over his head to get the attention or Itami and her
mother. "The music people'r all here so you c'n see which one ya like!" He says, waving to try and get them to come his'a
way!
"See? My team is the best. That theatre really would be something. You should write a law or something to make
it get cleaned up faster," Kotone tapped Itami's shoulder as if to say 'get on that'. "That's not how it works, mother."
Kotone shrugged. "You're the leader of a whole entire village! Make it work," she laughed. As Jiro came running up,
Kotone clapped her hands together. "Oh, and here's the other third of my team! It appears the music people have been
arranged. Fabulous. I knew bribing you today would work." Itami grumped. "The fact that you had to use your troubles with
the law to get me in on this is…troubling to me. I believed you because you and I both know that they were real." She
can't admit that she felt foolish for actually believing her, but having her guard down around family shouldn't be this
bad.
"Take us to the musicians, we can't waste another moment here." Kotone moved forward to lead the group to the
place in question.
Arika hmms a bit and makes a handseal, making a shadow clone poof to life and start poking its head into the
theatre to see how reconstruction is going while Jiro shows them the musicians. "Are there super-cool instruments? Rikkun
played something funny called a 'koto'. And I seen people play this thing that you blow into before. Um… a flute or
somthing? I dunno. I forget what." She shrugs and rests her chin on Itami's shoulder.
"There's all kindsa differen' instrumen's an' music people!" Jiro calls to Arika, waving for them to follow him.
And where else would he have them set up but in the Arena! Duh! And, well…there's a lot of them. About a dozen
different groups have set up just so that Itame can pick one. Once he leads them in he waves to the groups, then looks
back to Kontone with a grin. "I hired 'em all so tha' you can hear 'em fer as long as ya need to decide."
"Excellent planning, Jiro. Us together will make this wedding something to envy," Kotone laughed greedily. Itami
hoists Arika up on her back so that she can adjust herself. "A koto is a stringed instrument, I'm sure you already knew.
It's been around for ages. I've known many people who played them at some point in their lives, myself included," Kotone
described. "Yes, of course you would, it's only one of the oldest instruments in the world. What have the past centuries
been like for you?" Itami snapped. "I'll have to get back to you on that on account of my lifetime being so immense, all
the memories just cloud together," Kotone returned the jab with a mild sneer.
"Anyway, it's an instrument that was considered high class in ancient times, used among elites most often. It's
sound can be very pleasant. I think it should be considered if one of the groups here have a person that plays one," she
nodded.
"Okay, so let me just get this straight. How did you all just come together and make this planning group? Things
aren't adding up here. There are two children and a woman of questionable youth together and they just happened to team
up into what turned out to be a wedding for me and my future husband that just so happened to /work out/? I was not a
great believer in fate, but it's really twisting me up right now." Itami lamented.
Arika beams happily. "Cuz we're the best!" she states cheerfully, letting her clone check up on the theatre.
Apparently, the construction is actually going well. Things are getting cleaned, seats are being replaced, and a few
levels are being installed, including balconies. It'll be grander than before! The stage is also being set up with new
curtains, and the lights are going to be protected so that a fire can't happen again. "And Jiro-kun is really good at
all'a planning. I c'n just tell if stuff looks good. And Kotone-baa-san is just good at all'a this!" Yep.
"Not ta mention with all'a the money Suna has it's easy ta get stuff!" Jiro adds before he vanishes over to the
first group before Itami can even possibly ask any questions or yell at him. "Alrigh', you guys firs'!" He says, pointing
at the first group. It's a group of five various stringed instruments and they start to play a lively melody. It's not
too shabby but it sounds very…bluesish.
"Who says Suna has all of this money?" Itami just felt herself die inside by a lot. She had to clutch her chest
just to tell if her heart was still beating. "And when did you pick up on his little quirks, hm? I've never heard you
talk like that before. You two are much closer than I thought." Not that she minded. It was for the best. This is exactly
what she had hoped for, after all. She had to admit that Jiro was quick on picking her up. She would have tried to
dedicate energy towards him, but she lost too much of it in his former words. Not enough to fight back quite yet.
With the first band playing, Kotone was already into the swing of what they had to offer. She could dig this
sound. Itami wasn't sure if it was appropriate for a wedding. "I like the sound, but at the moment, I'll have to place it
in consideration," she offered.
Arika pulls out a slip of paper with all the expenses on it. She had been keeping careful track of things that
Jiro had spent, and she had just barely managed to sneak a peek at the latest spendings of the village. Fortunately,
missions are still going. So the expenses aren't terrible to look at. .. Still bad, though. "We still got a buncha money.
At least a few million! But I think that we might end up going into the reserves if we're not careful," she says, handing
Itami the sheet. The music has her foot-tapping, but she isn't sure if this sort of music is good for the whole
wedding….
Jiro hears what Itami has to say and nods before he waves off the group. It takes them a little time to stop and
when they finally do Jiro stalks over to the next one muttering something about 'Jus' shut up ya stupid people.' Now as
he reaches the next group this one has added a few horns and is a little less on the strings. A cello, a violin, and a
few other things. Jiro crosses his arms and taps his foot. "Make it goo'." He says, waiting for them to start. When they
do it's…well, it's not /bad/. But they really have kind of a dark sound to them. Slow and eery.
Itami tried not to let her legs give out on her on such short notice. She knows she has some money of her own,
but not nearly enough of what's been spent here. She could only cry on the inside, but as they approached the next band,
she found herself rubbing her eyes in an attempt to hold them back. "Itami, you're getting emotional over this music?
It's a bit, err…morose for a wedding, don't you think?" Itami shook her head. "No, no, it's fine. I mean, it does sound
a little dark, but that's alright. We've got others to test out, so we can keep going," she cleared her throat and
sniffed. !@#$&* this wedding is killing her.
"Onward to the next band," Kotone remarks while thanking the present band for their presentation. They may come
back to them later. As they move towards the next band, a couple of shinobi enter the arena, looking around. Upon
spotting Itami, they approach and make their bows. "Kazekage-sama. We've arrived on some important business. We apologize
for interrupting this moment, but we have this report to present to you." A parchment was slipped out and given over to
her to read over. When she scanned it, she winced and soon lofted a brow. "Hmm…" She rolled the report back up. "I see.
Mother, did you have anything to do with damage of property at some point in time here in the village?" Kotone frowned as
she continued walking along with the group. "None that I know of," she remarked passively. "Why?" Itami tapped the report
in her hand. "Well, sometime ago, a visit to this village included a private auction. One that involved some criminals
and stolen jewelry and other expensive items. The ring was busted, but not without destruction to the property as this
report reveals." Kotone grew a bit tense. "It's starting to ring a few bells for me…"
Arika looks at the parchment because she can do so easily. She's on Itami's shoulder, after all. Unless the
dragon-lady doesn't feel like showing… She blinks a bit and tilts her head, not understanding what this parchment is,
really. "Let's just listen to the next band. This one is kinda… Bad for weddings, I think, Jiro-kun," she calls over to
her friend, flopping on Itami (as best she can without falling).
Jiro waves off the horrible somber music that the band is playing, muttering and shaking his head. "Tha's jus'
bad. Who was it tha' even tol'ja ta come?" He says, moving on to the next group. This one isn't so much a band as, well,
an orchestra! There's a good thirty people with all sorts of instruments getting ready. They even have a conductor. When
Jiro crosses his arms near the man he clears his throat, turns to the group, and gets them playing. It's so beautiful!
It's like…the Star Wars theme! It must be the London Philharmonic and John Williams!
"Ah, so you remember. Well then," Itami smirked deviously. "…I'll just go ahead and cover the damages, but
knowing that you did do this, that means I have a bit of leverage. I'm not going to cover the damages yet, oh no. That'd
just be too easy. I'm going to expect you to be on your best behavior." Kotone folded her arms. "This is absurd. You're
bribing me? Do you even realize who you're dealing with?" Itami chuckled. "You think I don't? You bribed /me/ today, so
I'm returnig the favor. It's this or a jail cell for a couple of days, your move." Kotone's brow twitched. "You win this
round, but this is only the battle, not the war." She pointed out to her.
She turned about and walked off to see the next band perform. Itami nodded to the shinobi and handed them back
the report. That issue had been handled long ago, but it's not like Kotone knew that. Victory for now. With her focus
invested in this next band, Itami could say for the first time she was invested in this selection process. This orchestra
was pretty good. That's what she could use at her wedding. They've already risen to the top of her list, but there's
still more to listen to and all should get an equal part in performing.
