It seemed that, just as the story had started for Murakumo, she was already slamming headfirst into the brick wall known as writer's block.

She gripped the drawing pen in her hand so tightly that she nearly could have snapped it in half. The frustration was already beginning to get to her.

Sitting in front of her, at her work desk, was the first page of the latest chapter of her newest comic. The cover page had been sketched, inked and colored, but this was the very first page that would be seen after passing that one. She had been working on said comic for many months, nearly an entire year, and she had never faced an issue like a lack of ideas or missed imagination before. Because she was a ninja herself, the story-line of a beautiful and courageous kunoichi facing against the evils of the world had seemed to flow easily. She knew how to depict the fights, how to write the dialogue, and how to craft the drama so it would be just enough to gradually tug at the reader's heartstrings. For Murakumo, she could not have been prouder of this comic.

However, she feared that she may have let her imagination run a little too wild in some parts, as the heroine of her comic, essentially an avatar for herself, had fallen in love with a rogue ninja from an ally clan. They had faced each other several times in the past, even fighting on opposite sides, but now they were reunited and their true feelings for one another were supposed to finally give way. It was the issue where the two of them would ultimately kiss and express the undying love they had fostered over the years.

Murakumo didn't know how to depict a romance scene, though.

"Arrrrrgh!" The young woman gripped her head in her hands. "I...I can't do it! I just can't! It's impossible!"

Murakumo hardly knew enough about dating or romance in general to even feel like she was ever qualified to so much as try to depict a realistic relationship between two people, especially a kunoichi and the rogue ninja that she was smitten with. Murakumo knew the characters well enough, she had made them after all, but she didn't know how they would possibly work as a couple. She didn't even know how a real kiss should look. The idea of attempting to draw that scene of passion made her afraid she would heat up from embarrassment so much so that she could set the page alight. To be a real writer, she either needed to do lengthy amounts of research (which she had done many times in the past, for numerous parts of her comic) or have some proper understanding of the experience she wished to draw so that it would seem honest and heartfelt. Murakumo didn't think any amount of reading or searching the internet would help her understand a kiss. There was only one other way...yet...

She'd never kissed anyone before, despite actually having a girlfriend herself. A girlfriend...who she just realized right now might be the only one appropriate to help her at this moment. Murakumo trembled. She didn't know if she could go so far as to give up her first kiss so casually, even if her girlfriend had insisted on it many times in the past, but this was no longer a matter of protecting innocence, it was a matter of finishing one's 'life's work'. She may have had to finally give it up after all.

Murakumo got up. She grabbed a camera to take a photo of the kiss, to study from it when she was drawing the scene, and she snatched up her mask from off her bed as well, slipping it over her face just before stepping out the door.

She needed to find Shiki.

"Ha ha ha ha! I know, right? I mean, she just has no fashion sense, you know? A skirt THAT long in THAT color...ugh, I feel like I want to puke just imagining it in my head. Yeah, you're telling me. She's gonna need some serious help...no, no...I'm not the one going to help her! I thought that's what you were going to do! You know, offer to do it on my behalf because you're such a good friend? What? No? Oh, come on! Man, you just can't find good help these days. Look, I'm going to work a bit more on my blog, but I'll chat you up later, babe, okay? Okay? I'm not mad at you or anything. Okay? Okay, like, talk to you later! Ciao!"

Shiki snapped her phone shut. She placed it aside and resumed typing speedily on her laptop, watching the stream of text fill out before her very eyes. She had been putting out new posts for her blog all day and she wasn't particularly thinking of stopping anytime soon. She had a heck of a lot that she wanted to say, especially when it came to whether or not it was fair for someone to step in when they thought that one of their friends was well on their way to being arrested by the fashion police. It was all ultimately insipid and pointless, but Shiki found it something enjoyable to chat about, and apparently people liked to listen to her opinions on the internet, so she would take all of the attention she could get. Shiki giggled as she read a comment on her newest post, some of the people she knew were just so damn funny.

Of course, there was a certain someone in the very same school as her that she wished would give her more attention these days. And, speaking of the devil...

"Murakumo, you thought you were good enough to sneak up on me? Hmph. Cutie." Shiki said aloud all of the sudden.

The masked girl stopped short of reaching the couch. "I...I wasn't trying to sneak up on you, Shiki..."

"You might want to wear shoes that make less noise, a skirt that doesn't shift so much when you walk, take lighter steps, and maybe a tighter bra too, so your boobs aren't noisily bouncing around everywhere." Shiki teasingly offered a few pointers.

Murakumo made a little squeak from behind her oni mask.

Shiki looked over at the other kunoichi while she continued to type with one hand, knowing the exact placement of every key by memory. "What's going on?"

Murakumo bashfully revealed the camera. "I...I need your help...with something...if that's okay with you, Shiki."

Shiki's eyes lit up as soon as she saw the photo-taking device in Murakumo's hands. "Ohhhh~! You want to take some pictures or something, is that it? Heh heh, you are an artist after all, I could imagine what sort of pictures you would need! Should I, like, go and slip into something a little more...appealing for you, my dear?" the blonde offered a playful wink at the end.

Murakumo waved her hands in a panic. "N-No! No no no no! It's nothing like that AT ALL!"

"Oh? It's not...?" Shiki frowned, looking disappointed that she couldn't get a chance to dress up sexy.

"I need to know how to kiss," Murakumo replied, and then quickly added, "For my comic, I mean!"

Shiki shut her laptop immediately, placing it onto the table beside her. No blog was about to keep her from the kiss that was definitely a damn long time coming.

"You want us to kiss and take a picture of it? You want a selfie?" Shiki asked, making sure she understood everything correctly.

Murakumo nodded. "Just a tiny kiss, if that's okay! I want to make sure I write the romance in my story correctly, and that's why I need it! I won't do anything p-pervy with it, honestly...!"

"Sounds legit!" Shiki laughed.

"I thought you would be really into it, Shiki, and...and you're my girlfriend...I wouldn't ask anyone else to kiss me..." Murakumo's blush must have been hot enough to make steam pour out from behind her mask, because Shiki just started giggling even louder. It was like church bells to Murakumo's ears, although she didn't think she'd ever have the courage to say something like that out loud.

"Oh my gosh, Kumo! You are such a doll! A total puppy! Oh, I could just pinch your adorable cheeks! ...And I might not just be talking about the ones on your face either..."

"Sh-Shiki! Please! Stay focused here!"

Shiki laughed some more. "Right, right, I'm sorry! Okay then, so you really want to kiss me, eh? After all this time? Even though it was your comic that inspired you to go for it, and not the fact that you have beautiful, lovely me waiting on your call for a smooch? Ah well, whatever works! So take off that mask and let's pucker up!"

Murakumo reached up toward her face, to remove her mask. But her fingers stopped just short of grasping it. The idea of kissing Shiki, it was an enjoyable one, on many different levels beyond simply getting material for her work. It would have satisfied a hidden lust inside of her. But...she was afraid to confront that lust. She hard been so used to concealing herself behind a mask, cowering inside her makeshift shell, for so long, that she was actually terrified of the thought of stepping out of it. Even when she wanted to be courageous, her brain would start bringing in those little thoughts of doubt.

"I...I don't know..."

Shiki was not amused, and she made it so known in the roughness of her voice. "What was that?" she put her hands on her hips, eyebrows knit into a glare.

"I'm...I'm embarrassed..." Murakumo started to tremble.

"Come on, Kumo!" Shiki groaned.

"...Is there any way we can do this...with my mask still on?"

Shiki stomped her feet. "Come ON, Kumo! Don't do this!"

"Ah! Y-You can kiss me through the mask!" Murakumo started to explain. "It's just a thin screen here, so that I can breath, so you can probably kiss through it! It would be easy! I'll look up some kissing pictures online later and use them for the drawing! It should be fine this way!"

Shiki's hair fluttered as her chakra levels started to rise; she looked like she was ready to start throwing a fit. She stormed straight up to Murakumo, who flinched, but she didn't dare try to run away. She knew about how fast her girlfriend could go, especially when she was dashing on the battlefield, and it far outstripped Murakumo's own speed. Running would have been a pointless effort on her part.

"Sh...Shiki...I'm sorry..."

Shiki's arm shot out, nearly faster than a bullet. Murakumo didn't have the time to react, to protect herself. The blonde snatched the oni mask straight off of Murakumo's face. With her eyes flooded by the room's artificial light, Murakumo let out a shriek, and Shiki leaned in and slammed her lips approximately over the other girl's, closing them shut and capturing them whole. Murakumo's eyes bulged so wide they could have taken flight, but Shiki had hers closed as she held the kiss for a few more seconds. Murakumo made a partial squirming movement and Shiki grabbed her by the waist to keep her still. Murakumo could feel Shiki's tongue on her mouth, in her mouth, running along the tops of her teeth, rubbing against her own tongue...Murakumo couldn't deny the tingling sensation that was starting to arise from deep below, a place where Shiki wasn't even coming in contact with.

When Shiki broke away, she was all smiles again. "Now THAT'S a kiss...finally!"

"Ah...ah..." Murakumo was gasping for air.

"Did you like it, Kumo?" Shiki giggled. She ran her hands up and down Murakumo's waist. "I tried holding off until you were ready, but when you teased me like that, saying you wanted to kiss but then backing out, of course I got a little frustrated! You're not mad, are you?"

Murakumo shook her head. "No, I'm not mad...and...and I liked it...alot!"

"Hehe, good to hear!"

"Ah, but, wait, we didn't take the picture!"

"Oh, that's right! Hmm, okay, how about we do it again? I can take it with my phone, and I'll send it to yours in a text later?"

"O...Okay..."

Shiki picked her phone off of the table and flipped it open. She held it over her and Murakumo's heads as they moved back in for another smooch. Thsi time, Murakumo was much more natural about it, her concerns over wearing her mask forgotten in light of Shiki's soft, tender lips enclosing against hers.

Minori fought back a chuckle from her hiding place, concealing herself in the room with a fake strip of wall, a typical piece of stealth-based equipment for a kunoichi such as herself. She had managed to watch the entire thing, having walked into the room just as Shiki and Murakumo first shared a kiss. Neither of them noticed her because they were so distracted with one another, which suited the childish ninja just fine.

She couldn't wait to tell Yumi and Yozakura about this new development in their friends' relationship.