Chapter 42: The Fire (Part 4)
Kaname was woken up by someone knocking on her doors, opening her eyes she noticed that the sun slowly started to rise from the east.
"*Sigh* I slept for two hours only"
Opening the doors she saw the black-haired woman she met yesterday.
"Kana-chan, Hokage sent you a message back with his fastest falcon. It seems urgent, here it is" Tōu stuck out her hand with a tiny coiled scroll.
"Thanks Tōu-chan. I will need some time to get ready" Kaname received the scroll, she noticed that the wax seal on it was intact.
"Hehe, you will have to sit behind the Raion-san as his bodyguard, right?" the woman laughed with a stupid grin on her face.
"Yep, freaking customs" Kaname replied.
"Hehe, I will be back in three hours to help you put on the yukata, you got one right? I would love to see how you look like in one"
"I got one. But after yesterday's events, I think I will need some more freedom of movement for today's most likely occurring chaos. I will buy something more exotic in Fire City, you can help me with my hair later. Now I need to see what does Sarutobi-sama has written. Thanks and see you later"
"Hmm, now you awoke my interest. But okay, I can wait for it. Ta-ta" Tōu waved and left the room.
Kaname broke the wax seal and using a keyword they both established in Konoha she started to decode the message.
'Kana-chan,
Thank you for the report. I carried out a long debate with Danzo, of course, he is abjuring from leading any secret ninja corps. We both know he lies, I received many reports of probable root agents last week from the sources I trust, unfortunately, as of yet, I didn't receive any material proofs I could show the Daimyo to prove the treason of his councilor.
Thanks to you I could protect Konoha from a disaster. I sent an Anbu squad to the Fire City officially they are to destroy a bandit group hiding inside the city. In truth, they will infiltrate the tavern you pointed out, after getting through it they will eliminate all affiliates and destroy any mentions of a bounty being rewarded in Konoha.
Team Inu will be there in six hours, an hour after passing the title of Daimyo to Raion-san. Protect his life at all costs, I believe your intuition about Danzo trying to create a puppet for himself. Whatsmore for the last couple of months I was receiving reports from Jiraya-kun about emigrants flooding our country from the Land of Rice Fields, he heard some rumors about inhuman experiments done on innocent people there. I think you understand where I'm going with this.
Please be careful and return to us in one piece.
Hiruzen Sarutobi
Sandaime Hokage of Konoha'
'*Growl* Fucking old cockroach, you just can't get rid of him. Someday he will make a mistake...And Land of Rice Fields sounds like MO of the snake-bastard, it's getting better and better' Kaname thought.
She made her way towards the neighboring palace, the seals were left untouched the last three hours. Easily walking upon high vertical walls she entered the open terrace.
"Onee-san!" shouted out a young girl when she saw Kaname.
"Hi, you can call me Kaname. What's your name little one?" she asked patting the head of Raion's daughter.
"Mito!"
"Hmm, your name has got a lot of history Mito-chan, you know that?"
"Yep! It's from my father's aunty!"
'Heh, who would have thought aunty Kushina learned it from Mito-sama?'
"I need to talk with your papa. Can you call him Mito-chan?" she asked.
"Sure. Wait for a second Kaname-onee" the girl ran into the interiors of the palace.
Soon the little girl returned pulling her father by his hand "Good morning Kaname-san, what do you need to talk about?"
"Hello, Raion-sama. I got the name of a most likely suspect of our yesterday's topic" Kaname bowed her head."
"Hmm, interesting. Mito-chan can you stay here for a moment? Me and mommy need to talk with this Onee-san privately."
"Mou- I'm not a little kid! I know someone wants to hurt you. But okay, I will give you some time" Mito replied pouting with her face.
"Thanks Mito-chan. Kaname-san, follow me" They entered a spacious living room. Getting near the middle of the room with a table and a full set of red puffy chairs and a sofa. He spoke again "Sit here for a moment, I will call my wife" and disappeared behind the doors.
Two minutes later through the same doors entered the woman Kaname saw yesterday, "Good morning" she bowed her head in a greeting, "... I'm sorry for my yesterday's demeanor, I shouldn't be so sarcastic"
"Don't worry Kaname-san, it was wrong for me to yell at my savior as well Let's call it even, and here comes my husband. I brought some tea, it's a beverage from the south, I hope you will like it. Now what was that about the bounty for his head?" the woman asked putting a tray with three cups of a hot drink on the table.
"Thank you" Kaname took one of the cups and sat back down, "As I had some time yesterday I conducted an inquiry to name, find and eliminate the establisher of the said bounty. Unfortunately, it seems a big fish in a pond wants you dead Raion-sama"
"Who?" he asked while slowly slurping his drink.
"The traitorous snake Sannin Orochimaru, pretty much the second strongest villain of Konoha in its history"
"Oh… Yeah, that sucks" he answered.
"Kaname-san, can you find this Orochimaru guy?" his wife asked.
"*Sigh* I would love to, bastard took three of my friends hostage, and they're still held captive somewhere in his vast network of hidden facilities. If I could find him I would do it years before"
"Sorry to hear that, Kaname-san" the woman replied.
"Nah, don't worry. He will get his due. But there is a problem, As much as I don't like him, I can't say he is stupid if he planned something I'm sure it will happen at the party"
"That's a problem, there will be an insane amount of guests coming to it. It can end in a massacre and international scandal" Raion noticed.
"That's why I'm here. If we can't stop the party, we can put as many obstacles for our enemies as we can. Can we change the time of the party, best would be to accelerate when it happens"
"I would like to, but it's impossible with so many important guests and daimyo's" he replied.
"*Tsk* Okay, when will the Daimyo-sama show up? Can I count on help from Twelve Guardians?"
"He will not attend the party until almost the end of it. I'm pretty sure the Twelve Guardians would help you, but their first reaction to an emergency is to shield the daimyo, so until my father officially says I'm one I will be open to attacks"
"Can I bring a hidden weapon to the party?" Kaname asked.
"Let's say I didn't hear that question" he winked at her.
"What question?..." she smirked, "I would like to ask you one thing" Kaname turned to the woman.
"Yes?"
"Please stay here with Mito-chan, it would make my job insanely easier without potential hostage situations"
"*Sigh* I… I need to be there, I'm sorry Kaname-san. But I will make Mito-chan stay here"
"... Okay, I will make it somehow work. Where will the party take place, can I put up some seals for safety? Orochimaru maybe isn't a seal master, but I'm sure he has a vast knowledge of them"
"You know it's frowned upon to put dignitaries under the influence of a seal?" Raion asked.
"Who is talking about seals dear?" his wife retorted.
"Dunno, I didn't hear anyone talking about them either,..." Kaname said.
"Yeah, whatever. The party will take place in the Crater Royal Coronation Chamber, it's a closed area with two side terraces, it's suspended over the crater of the volcano"
"No easy ways in… nor out. Can I check the room?" Kaname asked.
"It's closed off area with tons of guards on patrol, no one can enter there being seen" another wink went Kaname's way.
"Now about food, have you got your poison testers? There are still some freelancers hunting for you, and that would be the easiest way for them. What's more, Orochimaru most likely has wet dreams about poisoning his victims"
"The food is checked in the kitchens and right before it's put on the tables"
"What about the carcinogens?"
"What?" he asked
"The poisons that will kill you over time, most likely inducing cancer and leading to slow painful death. Such poisons exclude the freelancers, they wouldn't get their reward. But Snake bastard wouldn't mind killing couple bystanders just to get you"
"That isn't covered. Can you secure the food?" he asked.
"Maybe, I can place a clone on the exit of the kitchen, it will scan everything coming out of it. But if you need to be sure 100 percent I need to check everything before it's served on your plate"
"Nah, it would look stupid for you to check everyth-" the burly man stopped speaking when he saw two females piercing him with their eyes.
*STAAARE*
*STAAARE*
"Okay-okay, I lost. Do whatever you need Kaname-san"
"Good, now the last thing, it's to the both of you. Under any circumstances, don't walk away from me for more than five steps. Before the party, I will create a clone and transform it into something small for it to hide somewhere on your body"
"Okay, I understand Kaname-san. Is there anything else?"
"I'm… *Sigh* I believe I can trust you with this, there is a possibility that your youngest brother is being played. I found some traces, but no material proofs, that he is being controlled by a member of Konoha Elder Council with promises about the position of Daimyo"
"*Growl* Konoha?" Raion asked.
"Not Konoha Raion-sama, a member of it's Elder Council"
"Who?!" he yelled.
"You want to know? I do not have any proofs"
"Maybe I don't know your character after only a single day Kaname-san, but you're not a liar"
"Thank you. The group that attacked you yesterday was compromised of three jōnins, not sure about the two of them, but before the third one died I saw the slowly disappearing remnants of Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal. The seal is activated when its user dies, it pretty much melts the brain preventing from claiming any information from the body. It's used only on agents of an organization called Root. It's a private army of a man known as Danzo Shimura. He is a slippery bastard, please be careful around him Raion-sama"
'Check, your move Cockroach' Kaname thought.
"Now I understand, it would make a lot of problems for your village if this piece of information was found. Kaname-san I thank you for your honesty, we will work something out after today's events, I promise"
"Thank you, I need to go now to prepare for the party. Thank you for the tea, I forgot how it tasted like, it's extremely pricy in Konoha. I will come for you in two hours" Kaname disappeared in a poof of smoke.
The real Kaname was shopping for a new dress for the party, one of them drawn her eye. It was a white body-hugging dress with red floral accents, it left her hands and legs below her knees without a cover, and additional indents on the side of her thighs allowed her additional freedom of movement. She just had to be sure to not kick to high, she didn't want to flash someone with her undergarments.
(AN: Something like this - replace the (dot) with . modernqipao(dot)com/product/red-flroal-short-white-summer-cheongsam/)
"Hello young kunoichi, I see this dress caught your eye?" said the old shopkeeper.
"Hello, is it suitable for a party with some foreign dignitaries?" Kaname asked.
"Yes, I got it from the west coast of the Land of Wind, I heard that most people living there wear such dresses for parties. But unfortunately, this trend didn't come all the way here. You can always try to start a new fashion"
"Meh, whatever. It's still better than to show up in armor…" Kaname tried it on and bought the dress.
'Oh, my clone popped. Hmm, okay let's try to ninja our way into the chamber…'
An hour later, Kaname was tired already, she found sixteen… SIXTEEN explosion seals that were hidden all around the place where Raion was going to sit, every single one went flying down the crater. His seat was spiked with forty tiny senbons full of poison, Kaname had to cure her hand eleven times before she was sure she took out all of them. The chamber was divided in the middle by an unactivated seal formation that would lock out any reinforcements from coming to help or see what's happening inside, this entire formation of twenty very well hidden paper slips went down the drain as well.
She made her way to her room to prepare for the party, in front of her doors she saw a black-haired woman smiling at her.
"It's 9 in the morning and you look like shit already Kana-chan. Nyahaha" Tōu laughed.
"Guh, just let me take a shower…"
"Nope, show me what have you got there"
"It's called Cheongsam, I'm not sure if it's suitable, but honestly, I don't care anymore" Kaname replied showing off the dress by laying it on the bed.
"Hmm not bad. The white would be a nice contrast to your black hair. I approve!" Tōu gave her a thumb-up.
"You don't need to be in your dress?"
"Nah, as the only bodyguards in the entire party, we're to be unseen"
"Hmm, I understand. Can I ask you for a favor? I know the first thing you need to do is to protect Daimyo-sama. But when he is safe can you check if I'm doing alright? I'm not sure if I have everything covered" the young bodyguard asked.
"When I will be close enough to help you the party will be almost over. Daimyo-sama comes at the end of the party, it was planned in this way for Raion-san to get some new contacts and potential allies himself. I can only wish you luck Kana-chan"
"Shit… Okay, I will take a shower first, then you can help me with my hair"
"Sure"
Soon in place of Kaname stood someone that could easily be mistaken by a young woman, her hair was now going straight on her back reaching just below her shoulders, the front bangs were gently cuddling the front of her face. After a long discussion, both friends compromised on giving Kaname a light makeup, giving her face a look of a sixteen-year-old girl, her eyelashes became longer and darker, her lips had a delicate red gloss. Her body stood at 165 cm (5ft 4.96''), the dress showed off the curves of her body and budding B cup breasts.
"Damn Kana-chan, we made you look like a little seductress. I could easily eat you up" Tōu said.
"Down girl, I said that makeup makes me look older. And I'm only thirteen, you pedoph*le! Now let's get this shit started, I'm tired of the wait."
Five minutes later playing the bodyguard and standing 2 steps behind Raion they made their way towards the chamber. Kaname already felt almost fifty chakra signatures inside the room, many dignitaries came with their security, some of them were most likely a ninja, the problem was to understand which one of those signatures were the enemy. Before they entered the chamber Kaname felt someone's eyes on her back. Turning around she noticed green eyes of a black-haired child hiding behind one of the pillars.
"*Sigh* Raion-sama, don't open the doors yet. We have an unwanted guest here… Mito-chan, I see you" Kaname sighed.
"Kyaa!" the girl hid behind the pillar.
"Mito-chan, it's okay, you're here already, come to us"
"Sorry Kaname-onee, I didn't want to stay alone at home…" the little girl sadly replied.
"It's okay, but promise me not to leave your mother's side, okay?"
"Okay!"
"When things turn ugly cover her eyes, don't let her see the brutality of what will happen, she is too innocent for that" Kaname whispered to the woman.
"I will, but… who will cover my eyes?" Raion's wife replied.
"Okay, let's enter. Guards open the gates!" the man ordered.
When the chamber started to open Kaname saw at least three hundred people there before they entered a loud voice announced the arrival of Raion and his family, the entire chamber got silent looking at a new to be Daimyo and his family, luckily Kaname was able to hide in his shadow, guests started noticing her only after a moment.
"Welcome, and thank you for coming, my dear guests" Raion loudly proclaimed standing in the middle behind the main table.
Kaname noticed at least ten chakra signatures standing as far away as possible, one after the other tried to activate their seals their faces full of greed, soon turned into one of incomprehension. All of those freelancers slowly trickled out of the chamber.
'I would love to catch them all, but there are more important things to worry about now' Kaname thought while looking at a twentieth "guest" retreating from the chamber.
Sitting behind Raion, she tried to assess who is dangerous here. One of the high chūnin chakra signatures was walking around the chamber, after looking with her eyes, Kaname soon saw a woman, with a black loose yukata, her legs and shoulders stayed uncovered, her face had a perfect example of a fake smile when she was talking with men all around the chamber.
'Hmm, that's one way to wear a yukata. I didn't think of that, at least I don't look like a prostitute. I should be wary of her, who else?'
Kaname noticed an ongoing fashion, twenty men featuring as bodyguards all around the chamber had a tattoo of three circling black tomoes on their shoulders. Every single one of
those guards had a low chūnin chakra reserves, excluding one who let out at least a high chūnin signature.
"...-san, Kaname-san!" Raion's voice broke her out of thinking.
"I'm sorry Raion-sama, I was checking out the guests. How can I help you?"
"It's okay. This is Wind Country Daimyo, he wants to speak with you"
Kaname took a look at the man in his early forties staying in front of Raion. He wore a purple garb over a brown kimono with a purple hat to match, it made him look like a wealthy merchant.
"Hello Daimyo-sama, my name is Kaname, how can I help?" Kaname bowed her head.
"I was just interested where did you find this dress Kaname-san. It comes from the islands west of my country and the fashion slowly started to seep into my royal court" the man with a black short goatee asked.
"I bought it in Fire City Daimyo-sama"
"I understand. Would you allow me to have a conversation with you in private, I have an offer for you"
"I'm sorry Daimyo-sama. With all due respect, I can't leave Raion-sama's side now"
"Eh? Pity" he turned around and left.
"What was that about Raion-sama?" Kaname whispered.
"I think he wanted to take you away from Konoha"
"No chances for that, I have a lit- Hmm?"
'So the cockroach is making his move, but why is his agent going there?'
"Raion-sama, it seems the real party starts, but instead of you, they're going for your second brother. He is going to get his arse poisoned, do you want me to help him?"
Raion turned his head left looking at the far side of the table where his brother was right now seduced by someone looking like a prostitute and was filling his cup with dark red wine.
"*Sigh* As much as I don't like him, he is still my family. Help him"
"*Pst* Mito-chan, can you let out my clone from your hands?" Kaname whispered to the girl.
"Bu- But I never had such a pretty butterfly to play with, they always run away from me!"
"I will give you another one to play with later"
"... okay," the girl said opening her hands, the clone that was transformed into a butterfly flew away.
'Let's start the party' Kaname thought.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
dahnik
dahnik Wow, 3,4k words of almost only the dialog and plans for the next chapter :-). There will be mistakes and plot holes in here - it's the downside of writing such chapters. I'm thinking of making Danzo a little more desperate, it will allow me to draw my story away from the canon. No one likes Danzo, but everyone knows he is one of the hardest to kill villains in the Naruto universe. He will strike back. Waiting for your comments :-)
The next chapter will have a lot of blood, explosions, and fire. I have so many plans I'm not sure maybe it will end with the enclosure of this 5 part episode, or I will divide it in half :-) I will post the chapter when it's ready :-).
If you found any mistakes please inform me :-) I don't like mistakes :-).