Starring:
Date: August 12, 2012
Summary:
After being "captured" Naru and Arisu are sent off to one of the grand Daimyo's estates to be ladies in waiting, forced by the criminals to play into their hands and be selected to be married to the Daimyo, after dancing contest and the help of genjutsu they suceed.. Though once they retire Naru reveals the true reason why they were here… To kill the Daimyo.
Poster's note: Profanity filtered in obvious places.
"Leaf Amongst the Rain - The Daimyo's Choice"
Daimyo's Estate
Blind folded?! Of all things the two duo of chuunin captives was blind folded. It was the third day of their capture and they found themselves stuffed onto trolling wagon, blind folded with their hands "lightly" tied into their lap, there wasn't much to be heard from where their location was however, just a bumpy road and constantly being strung along… After awhile though the trip began to become short lived and eventually the trolley halted to a stop. “Hey! We are here!" One of the guards shouted from outside, the two girls were accompanied by the same nobleman who ordered their capture and his shinobi body guard.
"You girls do know why you are here now?" The man asked curiously as he loved over them, finally the shinobi reaches out to pull off their blind folds, the girls would find themselves adorned and beautiful clothes, padded on makeup until their skin was as white as a ghost, and they looked entirely like geisha.
“What the heck is this?" Naru replied back to the nobleman, she was still going on with the whole ordeal but was quite uneasy as to what may have happened next…
Arisu had already fallen silent, raising a brow at the man, but not voicing her questions quite as loudly as Naru did. She simply shook her head and responded calmly, "I have my suspicions… But perhaps you can enlighten us." She stares at the man evenly, and though it wasn't present in her expression, something about the way she was staring at him suggested that he should be thinking very carefully about what he said. She glances briefly at her arms, "I do think that keeping us bound like this is quite unnecessary, perhaps you can cut us free… I hardly think there is any danger of us attempting to run away, or attack you… If we had wanted to do that, you'd be dead already." She says matter of fact, without missing a beat, then adds, "Or worse…"
"Oh yeah?" The nobleman simply mocks as he offered them both a pretty serious expression, he grinned a little bit. " That’s fine, because if you pull off some royalty like that….That entire family is going to die, not just little girl we had locked up," The main explains, his grin was wild, almost as if he was drunk with his "power" over them. "Let them loose," The man finally orders and then finally the shinobi tucks out a kunai, cutting the wraps to set them free.
“You two are here because a very important Daiyamo is in town this week…. The money we make from having him choose one of "our" girls will be enough for a life time! So I need the two of you to shut up and behave and show a little skin," his voice trailed off but suddenly Naru clears her throat, she rubbed her wrists as the bandages were finally unraveled and perked a brow. "You want us…to court a lord from the land of Rain…?"
Arisu raises a brow inquisitively, "Hmm… It was rather similar to what I had imagined then. You are far too easy to read." She shuts her eyes and continues turns to look back at Naru, waiting patiently as she glances between the guards, the nobleman, and the Shinobi… They had been very quiet about their abilities up 'til now… and Arisu had an idea.
"And what, pray tell, if the Daiyamo has no desire to have EITHER of us? What if he sends the both of us away, and chooses some other girl… is you simply going to let us go?" She doesn't rub her wrists as her hands are unbound, instead slipping them neatly into her sleeves… There were no weapons to be found there, as most of those had been confiscated before their trip, but it was a decent way to hide any of the markings the bandages had left.
"Ah now you are following along…" The man smirked and pushed towards the wagon door, music, parading, and shouting could be heard from a distance, it was late in the afternoon, almost night time from how the sun began to settle in the distance. " We know that you two are more capable than most women, you steal the man’s heart…the money goes into our coffers and there won't be any problems, you can bite kick and scream if you want to once we have the money," the nobleman replied back with a grin, "Now…shall we?"
Naru carefully looked back to Arisu, though she herself didn't seem to be preparing for anything in general, her arm reached out and latched for the others, attempting to hold her close to her… so the only way out was to assure they were picked? "So the only way out… is forward," The Uchiha finally responded, of course she was now attempting to tug Arisu out a long with her… It was time to be charted off into the massive festival, unless of course there were more questions…
Arisu frowns a moment and nods, allowing her to be drawn to Naru, but looked more than a little irritated. "I suppose you're right. The only way out IS forward." And so that's the direction she starts moving. She glances briefly at Naru, an expression of worry starting to creep into her expression… She wasn't entirely certain that she COULD steal the man's heart. She was an emotionless train wreck half the time… but at the same time, she didn't much want to see Naru have to do it. "So be it… Let's hurry along if at all possible; I don't want to keep the Lord waiting…"
The situation was awkward but oddly enough they had their orders, even if it was from a group of lowlife criminals. After awhile of walking, moving around the festival grounds they weren't able to partake in any of the interesting events around them, instead they were horded into a massive estate, a castle like building which was the main household of the Daimyo, the spot where he over looked his nobleman and vassals and what not. There were many women, literally about a hundred for the man they choose from, beautiful, adorned in sparkling dresses, long hair, elegant, gentle, young and old…There were many flavors. Of course for now they all sat at their own particular places, the floor in the middle of the room was carpeted and wide to host many guests, of course it was empty right now aside from a lone instrument player playing as everyone entered… The Daimyo could be seen on his "throne" a large… yet well kept old man.
"How….are we supposed to do this…?" Naru thought quietly to herself, of course even amongst the groups of people she kept her arm clasped on Arisu, pulling her close. “How do we still a man's heart…?" Naru finally asked out loud, peering up at Arisu with a curious expression… Her mind was thinking but it really depended on just how things were going to go…
Arisu could personally only think of one way to do it… And she was glad that she had the geisha 'costume' to hide her frustration with the whole situation. She turned back to look at their escort, "Is there anything we should know about how this is supposed to happen? Is there to be a series of events, or are we simply to be paraded before him in a sort of primitive beauty contest?" She raises a brow, "Our strategy for winning his heart may determine whether you get paid for our efforts or not." She frowns.
"This bastard…Ahem! this man only cares about how a girl moves…This is going to be a dancing pageant where only the best of the best will be able to attract his attention, you two move like how you did when you decided to break into my estate, and you might very well win this," The man states, of course at the end of his explanation the Daimyo rises from his thrown, and motions towards the center stage. “How about we let the festive of this evening begin shall we?!"The larger man explains to the large gather, and finally begins to call each of them out by family names… Music began to be played, and many of the women began to move out into the space in the center, spreading out and moving with their partner in an elegant dance…
"Do your best, don't flatter him… be cute!" The nobleman speaks to the both of them and finally their "family" name is called, Naru blinks a little thrown off, peering around intently, she had kept a close look at what was going on, she wasn't at all a dancer…but picking up on someone else’s moves…that was something she can do.. “Ready…Ari-same..?" Naru whispered quietly under her breath, she reaches a hand out to her, hopefully for the both of them to take to the dance floor.
Arisu considers silently… dancing her could do… She knew how to do that. "Indeed…" She turns to take Naru's hands and simply shut her eyes, letting the music work its way into her ears… Her movements were slow at first, trying to remember just HOW to dance while throwing in some of her ninja training to make it look all the more impressive… It wasn't perfect, but Arisu felt that unless one was a ninja, it would have been hard to spot the mistakes, and that's where the training from her youth would come in handy… any young lady from a rich family was naturally trained how to DANCE, especially in settings like this.
Naru attempted to go on with Arisu's lead, as they both found themselves right along the side of the dance floor, her hands claps along Arisu's and holds her at a decent amount of distance, but then suddenly she was closing her eyes to dance? Naru gulped quietly, her fingers already getting a little sweat, she moved, fluidly but very…awkwardly at the same time, there was no point to her dance, a step here and a step there, she didn't have the slightest clue on dancing, and it wasn't like she could use her sharingan at a time like this either. “I’m… not very good at this…" Naru complained quietly to Arisu, she was being dragged along a little bit, but she attempted to keep up, Arisu's dance…was spot on….
The Daimyo himself seemed to be circling the floor, dismissing a few of the woman as he walked by, tears and crying fill the room and angry groans from the crowd… Still the two had a chance…
Arisu frowns a little, "Just follow my lead… Try to step in time with me." She looks up at Arisu, "If I step forward with one foot, I want you to step backward with the opposite foot…" She continues for a moment, then reaches for Naru's hands, taking her hands and making her twirl in place by making use of the positioning of Naru's arms, and her joints. It would have almost been a natural reaction, requiring only a little effort. "…If you have to, can you use genjutsu to make it look like you're dancing better than you are?" She raises a brow.
Naru wasn't able to keep up quite frankly, her cheeks swelled in a blush as she peered up at Arisu in frustration; it was really beginning to slow. “I will lose my focus…" Naru spoke softly, of course right now she was just embarrassed, more so that this was her first time really dancing with Arisu and she seemed to have no moves to show. Of course, Arisu's genjutsu was enough to definitely bring things in her favor, they danced fluidly, at least in the eyes of the daimyo, and by this time much of the stage was becoming clear, only about 10 more groups maintaining their position… The music became sweeter though and finally Naru began to relax, just a little bit, she removed her hands from Arisu's hands and instead wrapped her arms along her neck, she bit her bottom lip, her eyes were pleading…She was holding back quite a bit, but such a cute finish combined with the genjutsu might be enough…The Daimyo had eyes on them…
Arisu let her own hands fold over Naru's waist, maintaining her Genjutsu to try and hide any hints of a lack of dancing skill. She makes a quick twirl with the both of them, privately irritated that the elaborate hairdo she was forced to wear prevented the effect she wanted with the fanning out of her hair, but not doing anything about it. She briefly glances aside at the Daimyo, hiding her gaze with genjutsu once again, making it look like her eyes were shut, and her lips slightly parted. "He's watching…" She notes to Naru, then as the music picks up a bit, makes an effort to part from Naru and perform a slight flourish where she spins the younger Chuunin away and then back again, hoping to keep the Daimyo's attention for just a little longer.
The genjutsu was ever so subtle, and somehow the dancing duo managed to keep Naru's faults obscure as possible, the dancing was so well done it wasn't even noticeable, he smirked a little bit, and half the girls were dismissed leaving only 6 more to dance amongst the masses. Suddenly the music stops, and the Daimyo claps his hands together. “I just don't know who to choose!" The man exclaims, following a slight chuckle from the crowd, Naru gulped slightly, her arms which draped seemed to finally cease while she lowered her arms down by her side, she peered up at Arisu, and finally back to the Daimyo, the next words from her lips is what surprised her the most.
“I will take the remaining…For the next few nights to see which one I want the most, that is all! The festive will continue until I find the one right for me! Come!" The man waved his arms, gesturing for the women to join him by his side…. Naru didn't have comment, with quick exchange of looks she fixed her face, turning her lips to a light smile, frustration had went away but Arisu could feel she was uneasy….
Arisu's face remained a mask without emotion as she fell into step next to Naru, keeping close, but giving no hints at whether she was comfortable with the current situation. She moves to join the Daimyo, keeping fairly distant from him, outside of his reach at least, but not so far as to cause him to take offense. She glanced briefly at Naru, gently stroking her forearm a little in reassurance before hiding her hands in her sleeves again.
"Let the party continue in my absence… I shall be retiring for the night… Ladies…" he offered them all a sneaky grin, sizing them up for his own pleasure, a tongue slipped and licked his chubby lips, and he reached out from one of the girls, a woman with long brown hair and and a sparklingly yellow Kimono. "You will be the first to come with me… the rest of you shall be shown to your rooms…You will be called upon throughout the day, to spend just a little bit of time with me…" the man grinned and moved along of course there were a few guards to escort them…. They were being lead through the massive corridors…the Daimyo heading in his direction and the girls disappearing in their own section of the "castle"…For now Naru herself just kept quite…she wasn't very alarmed of the situation if anything she seemed a little dazed, checking out the area, looking around and observing the castle…
Arisu almost in perceptively bristles a little, she was NOT comfortable here. "Naru-chan… Can I see you in my room for a bit…?" She raises a brow, taking her arm and speaking quietly, starting to play the part of the shy young woman rather than herself. "I… I want to ask you something." She tugs on the girl's sleeve, trying to bring her into the bedroom designated as her own, at least for the next few hours.
"Is is that okay…?" She asks one of the guards, but of course all they knew was that they were just two defenseless women waiting to be picked, the man smirked a little bit. “We will be in the hall way if you need us…" he replied back and right away Naru went along ahead to disappear within the room, closing it behind her. It was the usual bed room, not nearly as big as the guest room of the estate, but there was plenty of space to relax… Naru let out a tired sigh, her demeanor was serious and irritated, and the makeup on her face was absolutely annoying… "Arisu-san…" Naru spoke softly, smiling at her briefly; she finally sits down at the edge of the bed and crosses her arms along one another. “I… have something to say…"
Arisu follows after Naru, looking around with a little disappointment at the room, "Yes, Naru-chan?" She raises a brow, turning her gaze back to the dark haired woman… "I do hope that whatever it is you have to say has something to do with a plan to NOT have to do whatever things that disgusting man wants us to do." She kept her voice down as she gave a little sneer back at the door, meant for the guards… and of course the Daimyo himself, "Because It's going to be awfully hard to fight back if my family is still being held captive… And if he touches either of us, I admit I am going to have the strong urge to…" She clears her throat a bit, "…inflict severe mental trauma on him."
Naru giving into demands, it did sound like how things had been turning out lately, there was a light smile on Naru's face, however soon that began to fade away, her light expression had become very grave and dark, her eyes, perhaps the most piercing as they had even bee, she pointed down to the ground, pointing a finger into the ground as she noted the foundation. "Everyone in this building…The Daimyo… the woman…any sort of noblemen…Shinobi, they will all have to die as soon as we wake up tomorrow… Do you think you can do that?" Naru asked her curiously, her expression was grim… This was a test, not only for Arisu but herself as well. “When one of us gets called into that room…That is when everything will have to begin…"
Arisu raises a brow, "You want to kill them all?" She considers for a moment, glancing back out the door, it was a rather large question. Could she kill them? Sure she could. Nobody aside from Naru was in the castle that she cared about… The guards were clearly corrupt, the Daimyo even more so… She did feel a bit bad about having to kill the other women. They had done nothing wrong, and in fact they were victims more than Arisu or Naru. But they were also witnesses… and after killing a Daimyo… you couldn't leave witnesses.
"I think I could. Do we want to do it as soon as one of us are called, or should we do it shortly after, so that one of us can be near the Daimyo when it all goes down?"
Naru maintained her seriousness, especially since they were reaching the pinnacle of their "mission" of course Naru would be careful to divulge whatever mission this would be, the facts were now out on the table, she was a little bit tense… Killing everyone else seemed a bit much but it was unavoidable. “Everyone, the guards, the Daimyo, maids, children… The Daimyo has a powerful shinobi guard…The best way is for one of us to be selected and to do it then…At that moment you "kill" yourself… remove your clothes…cover your face…And then we move on to what needs to be finished next, Ari-sama?" She perked an eyebrow, saying her name was merely just her way of asking the question. “Can you help me?"
Arisu nods, "I can manage that…" Her face goes back to a mask of expressionlessness. "If you mean with this particular part of the mission, yes I can… If you mean something else, that depends entirely on what you need help with." She moves to sit next to Naru, moving to pull a couple of the needles from her hair, some of her blonde tresses spilling over her shoulder. "I'll make sure to arrange for you to 'Die' as well… It'll take a bit of extra effort, but I'm sure I can manage it. I don't want anyone following us… I will secure a few extra weapons from the guards to help things along as well." She takes a breath, "It's the best I can do as far as weapons on short notice… Hopefully we can pick up some more traditional ninja weapons from the shinobi in the castle."
