Pirate AU part 2
oOOOo
The town was smokey, a vague fog from candle wicks and lanterns that also came in with the tide, filling the streets and curling around my bare feet.
A dog barked a few streets away, barely audible over the din of the neighbourhood, but I froze, regardless.
Dogs 'round here could only mean one thing…
"Inu, you sneak," I drawled to an empty street. "You wouldn't sink so low as to stop a humble citizen from enjoying her evening?"
A white mask peaked over the nearest roof. "Maa, maa..." a lazy hand wafted away my words. "What citizen?"
He leaned back an inch and watched the throwing knife pass by his nose. "So rude, Neko-chan, I'm wounded~"
"What do you want, Inu?" I bit out.
Silver hair, bleached white in the night, swayed slightly as the assassin dropped into the alleyway beside me. Well...funky hair was the least you could expect after playing with lightning as a kid. Okami really was a pushover parent…
"Ahem," the dog coughed politely at the glazed look in my eyes. "There's someone who wants to see you."
I, however, was two steps ahead and feeling particularly uncharitable. When Inu raised his head from the polite dip (he was a hired 'gun', after all), the street was achingly empty.
A clawed finger longingly stroked the orange binding of his favourite book. Sigh...now he had to track her…
oOOOo
The Casino was a massive building, undoubtedly the nicest in town, all white stone and domed ceilings. A smattering of steps led up to the front door, guarded by two attendants in white shirts (and little else). Inside was clean and pretty, paintings covering the archways and expensive trinkets on display everywhere.
All of which and been, cough, donated by generous patrons.
The masterpiece above the main foyer, for example. It was huge, around a meter both ways, and depicted some wood nymphs washing their hair. Honestly, why Suna wanted a portrait of Hashirama, Toka and Itama was a great mystery to me. That had been a bitch to steal. For some reason the museum guards hadn't wanted to let me leave with it slung across my back.
Ahh well. I'd never liked the desert much anyway.
"Evenin', boys," I winked as I passed inside.
The place was heaving already, everyone dressed from cocktail-ready outfits to scruffy shirts and trousers. For my part, my leathers barely warranted a second glance.
Well. The accessories (and my rep) did have more than a few eyes lingering, marking my progress as I weaved through the crowd and started climbing the back staircase up to the balcony rooms. There were far less people up here, the exclusive lounges, and it wasn't long before I saw one of the game members.
"Well, well, well," A rumbling baritone rasped behind me and a huge, hulking figure came 'round the corner. He was well over 6 ft, closer to 7, and dressed in a open fronted black peasant shirt and dark breeches. "Look what the cat dragged in…"
"Surely, I'd be the one doing the dragging, in that case?" I smirked, looping an arm through the offered elbow. "I never knew you were such a gentleman, Kisame!"
His scaled hand, rested politely over my own, squeezed playfully. "Don't spread it around, I'd hate to undo all my hard work." With the slightest tug, the Shapeshifter started guiding us along the corridor. The carpets were a plush red, almost velvetine, and luxurious alongside the white walls and gold fittings. Our bare feet, one pair grey-blue and webbed and the other not unlike a panther's, looked a bit ridiculous pressed against it.
"Because my feline principles are so fond of fish, I'll do you this favour," I drawled, eying my escort out of the corner of my eye. He was leading us to one of the richer lounges...must be a big pot tonight.
Kisame's huge palm was pressed to the open front of his chest and his gills fared in mock-affront. "I'm not for eating, Neko!"
We stopped in front of a discrete doorway and nodded to the security guard to let us through. My parting line before we pulled on our game-faces left the Shark floundering, blushed purple in her wake.
"I promised you'd enjoy the experience."
The card room was low-lit, a single poker table in the centre and a fancy bar running along the back wall. Crystal glasses gleamed in the candlelight alongside jewel-toned bottles of spirits. Amber rum, emerald gin and golden ales swirled in their decanters as the bartender prepared the evening's drinks.
Most of the players had yet to arrive (I was a touch earlier than anticipated, damn that dog for making her rush) but one or two were already starting in on the martinis.
A fiery stream of lava, that burned itself up before it could fall to the floor, poured in an endless river down the back of a curvaceous figure. A figure who was drinking spirits almost as fast as the bartender could pour them.
A quip about the easiness of taking money from a drunkered tickled the tip of my tongue but….her loss, my gain, and the comment was swallowed in favour of slipping into the stool next to her.
"I've not played a game with you since Rain, my Lady."
The Cheruf turned to glare at me, the movement scraping the rocks of her skin against one another. She was, like most of her kind, gloriously beautiful. Humanoid in shape, her body was hewn from the volcano from which she was birthed, the magma of which would cycle forever in her core. The heart of one of these lava spirits was, therefore, the most precious stone in the world; a burning gem, clear and pure from the hellish heat, that maintained the fires within each Cheruf.
"That's the price you pay for playing in the water, Kiharu." Mei's voice was gravelly, a trickle of smoke drifting up from her open lips, but in a more husky, inviting way. God, Tsunade was a lucky woman.
"Considering the fact you're from Kiri, I find your hypocrisy amusing, my Lady." A dip of my chin and the bartender was sliding over a passionfruit martini. No, I wasn't going to pull a Catwoman and ask for White Russian sans everything but the cream. That was just tacky.
…I did love cream though.
"So, what brings you here tonight?" Heat licked at my face as Mei twisted in her stool to survey her but I didn't even blink. I'd lost any aversion to fire long ago.
After all, I'd be burned at the stake in my second life. Ahhh, fun times.
You know, studying the witch trials in school was very, very different from living through them. And it was disgusting how easily people turned on you just because you knew things no one else did, tried to create a few things, save some lives. But, nooooooo, it was evil to try and heal some people-
"You do that in the game and you won't have two coins to rub together." Kisame, apparently recovered, drawled over my shoulder as he reach to swipe my drink.
Moving the glass away at the last second, I shot him a pitying look over my shoulder. "Only way you'd ever get the upper hand, I'd reckon."
A blue thumb pointed behind the Shark, gesturing to the other players who had finally arrived. "Put your cards where your mouth is, kitten."
Mei and I exchanged a wicked look. "Wouldn't you," Mei started, slinking between us and winking at her finned bodyguard, "rather she put her mouth elsewhere?"
I cackled loudly, slapping a purple Kisame's arm as I went past and inclined my head to the Dealer.
Iruka grinned wirily back.
Fortunately, my friend was the Best Dealer around and the most exclusive. Very few of the players tonight would even know him (knowing of him was a very different kettle of fish), let alone be aware of the fact that I knew him.
That I'd planted him here, been the one to convince the teacher that a nocturnal activity was good for the blood, was, of course, a complete coincidence. A little help here and there was always a good thing.
I was a good player but, well, I was a pirate. I'd get what she want, regardless.
We all pulled out our chairs, settled ourselves in with drinks for the long haul, and Iruka dealt us in.
oOOOo
It was dawn by the time I was scooping up my final winnings (the pot, of course) and bidding everyone adieu (did winking at a plastered Kisame count?).
The inky sky was blushing rose pink as I ducked out of a window, clawing my way up to the top of the Casino and assessing the city around me. Golden sunbeams, tentative and frail, kissed the sea of terracotta tiles below her vantage point, turning the white walls cream.
A sea breeze, sharp and salty, blew the hair from my shoulders and raised bumps on my arms.
It was a glorious morning. To be a Pirate and a winner.
But, there was little time to kick back and enjoy the view unfortunately. Mikoto was expecting us all back.
This was partly so that they could catch the morning tide. Mainly so that any angered locals (Hana was most guilty on that front) would be safely left behind by the time most people were stirring.
So, I flung herself from the parapets, free falling then reaching a hand out and catching a lamppost before I could collide with the cobblestones.
A hound bayed behind me and I immediately set off in a sprint. Crap, I forgot about my 'tail'!
"Don't make this difficult, Neko," a lazy voice drawled above me and I dived into a side street mere seconds before a huge bulldog bore down on where I'd just been. The beast was ginormous, the size of a van from Life One, and had an angry face filled with very pointy teeth. That were snarling at me in a most unfriendly way.
Bugger.
"Took you this long, Puppy?" I tutted mockingly, not breaking stride as I leapt clear over a fountain and rolled through someone's front garden. "What a poor show of tracking!"
Three more dogs made themselves known as I dashed down the main market street. It was too early for most people so there were no crowds to slow me. None to slow the dogs either, though.
"He just wants a quick chat!" the silver-haired assassin wheedled. His dog mask smiled mockingly.
"Nah, not feeling it-" the port came into view, the ship ready to sail from the looks of things. Ensui's 'head' was just visible beside the hanging anchor and I made a frantic gesture for him to get moving.
Mercy of mercies, the Shadow Master actually moved quickly and The Matriarch started to pull away into the open water.
"Bye, Kakashi!" I ducked a final, lunging hound and then threw myself into the water.
The waves were a shock, icy cold and an overwhelming gravitational force on the heavy money pouches I'd tucked into my inside pockets.
Water pressed down over my head, the bottom of the ship moving further and further away before-
Perfect.
A swordfish, eyes glazed over from imouto's possession, darted through the aquamarine waves to skim along my side and, adrenaline pumping from the chase and the need to breath, I was able to lash out a limb and snag the fish's dorsal as it went past.
My unwitting helper glided through the water with enviable ease and speed, dropping off it's passenger directly below the boat.
A humanoid shadow formed directly above me, leaning out of the hull and quirking it's head.
I just knew that, if they were able of facial expressions, my friend would be smirking.
I took the offered 'hand' anyway.
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A/N- this was super fun to write, so if anyone has any character requests for the next instalment, let me know!
