A.N. TY all so much for the kind words, sorry for the long wait. Brief msg on my bio & I will try to update more regularly with news. Jah neh-
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I detected a faint familiar aspect to the driver merc's chakra but I couldn't put my finger on it. Goggles covered the merc's face and he had a bushy beard.
Kazu's hand shot out and closed around the merc's throat. "Your driving ruined my pants," he hissed. If you don't have a good excuse…" Kazu's fingers clenched and the merc made a strangling noise.
"Gov… government… construction… the road…" The merc grabbed desperately at Kazu's hands. Kazu narrowed his eyes. Then he released the driver and slammed the partition shut again.
"Impossible to get good help these days," Kazu muttered. "Damn feudal lord up my ass with this road, too. Cramping my style."
"It'll be harder to keep a low profile. Not that you'd have anything to hide," Koyote grinned. Kazu chuckled. He tossed the handcuff key at Koyote.
"Guess we were closer than I thought." Kazu stretched and put on his overcoat.
"Time flies when you're having fun," Koyote said as he reached up to my bound hands and slid the key into the lock.
The door opened. The bearded merc was standing outside. Kazu motioned at Koyote. "Get the slut and follow me. I need a steak. You can have her ass after we eat. I like a little entertainment before bed."
Koyote just nodded. Kazu exited the car. I gritted my teeth, annoyed at my own weakness. I needed to stay close to Kazu, to get in his bed as soon as possible so Kakashi could slip away to find our intel. My hands tingled as Kakashi released my wrists. The pearl Kazu had given me was still clutched in my left palm. "I'm hungry, too!" I sulked loudly.
"Shut up, Hachidori," Koyote snapped. "Just keep quiet!"
Kakashi's words were genuinely harsh and I felt stung for a moment. But then, he pulled the dress back down, too tenderly, so I was covered. He slid his hands under me, lifting me carefully as he stepped out of the car. The night air was cool and refreshing after the smoky, close confines of the car, and Kakashi's palms were warm through the silk of my dress. I could feel the strength of his arms and chest as he held me. He lowered my feet slowly toward the ground. I bit my lip, wondering if my shaky legs would hold up.
I tried to take a step in the too-small gold high heels and immediately stumbled from fatigue. Kakashi caught me and lifted me back into his arms. My mind warned it was wrong for his character, but I was so grateful and so tired I couldn't bring myself to come up with a peremptory act. My head sagged against him. My hand clutched the edge of his yukata, my knuckles brushing against the skin of his chest.
"Oh, thanks Koyote-san! I didn't realize I was so tired," I said with a yawn. "Sorry to burden you. And you too, Mr. Mishi!" I let my eyelids droop sleepily. It was the best cover I could manage to help out Kakashi. I let my head look like I was dozing off as I watched discreetly through my lashes.
Kazu raised an eyebrow when he saw me in Kakashi's arms. "I didn't take you for a chivalrous type, Koyo boy." The merc boss frowned and lit up again - this time a cigarette - as we started to walk up a crude gravel path. The bearded driver followed us at a respectful distance.
"Oh, I'm not," Koyote said. "I am, however, somewhat fastidious about my playthings," he drawled. "Being poor taught me to take care of what's mine. Unnecessary abuse is wasteful. Other kids would pull the legs off their action figures. I always got more pleasure from restoring the broken ones."
I silently took in what I could of our shadowy surroundings - fir trees, no city lights, rural wilderness. We seemed to have come a good ways from town.
"Hmph," Kazu said. He flicked ash on the ground with a wicked grin. "Unnecessary abuse, eh?"
A bat or owl flew above us. A slight shift in Kakashi's gait told me he'd noticed - he was on high alert. The fact made me feel more confident. "Well. At some point, everyone needs to be kept in line. I'd call that abuse necessary." Koyote said coldly.
Kazu chuckled in agreement. "How were you about sharing your toys?" He leered dangerously at Koyote as we crunched up a gravel path.
"Not very good."
Kazu shrugged. "You might need to get over it. They say partners who play together, stay together."
We'd reached a chainlink fence. The mercs guarding the gate froze in place and then bowed deeply to Kazu. One of them slid the gate open for us.
"Oh, I didn't mean you, Kazu," I heard Koyote say in a lazy lilt. "That's an entirely different story. Dregs like these, though…" he nodded at the lowly guards.
Kazu just nodded but I could tell he was flattered. "Mercenaries tend to share and share alike." He grinned at the younger man. They both had a hint of flush to their skin. I mentally noted their tolerances for alcohol, in case it came up again.
"What's mine is yours," Koyote said silkily, leaning his head close to the gangster. "I suspect there's… a lot… you could teach me…"
Kazu laughed and clapped Koyote on the shoulder before stepping ahead of us to lead the way down a long stone stair. It led into an open vale at the very foot of Akayama. The stair was brightly lit by cold white lanterns. Even though it was one or two in the morning at this point I could make out activity going on below. The stair swept down into a large concrete yard that had crates and pallets and was bustling with workers. The yard fed into a hangar built into the mountain itself.
At the bottom of the stair we passed Guru's head on an iron spike.
"You remember old Guru, here," Kazu chuckled.
Kakashi stopped. "Wait - the amateur porn guy? This is what you meant back at the hotel? Him losing his head. Literally. That's cold, Kazu."
"I know you had a deal with him," Kazu said. I felt anxious - this could go either way…
"I kept my end - in that stupid video - he was supposed to introduce me to you so I guess he kept his end… in the end."
"It wasn't a bad video."
"Kazu, you didn't…" Koyote swayed with embarrassment, turning to the gangster. Kazu was howling. I figured Kakashi must be making a face. He'd kept his voice warm but slightly nervous… a great choice.
"It's in my personal collection. Never to be distributed. Scout's honor."
"As if a man like you was in the scouts."
"You'd be surprised, Koyo. As long as you don't piss me off your little hot springs tryst is safe from public consumption."
We'd started walking again.
"I think you actually managed to improve his appearance…" Koyote sniped. Kazu laughed so hard he started coughing. The sounds of palletjacks and workers shouting instructions were all around, now. We crossed the flat expanse of the workyard with Kazu making a few gruff exchanges with underlings and Kakashi staying mostly silent.
As we passed beneath steel girders and the concrete changed to a smooth polished floor, it dawned on me: the reason that Sandaime chose Kakashi for this mission. Though not versed in espionage, Kakashi was well known for being liked - and simply able to manipulate people with his sweet-talking and je ne sais quois. Perhaps the Hokage had banked on that, knowing this Kazu Mishi's profile… and pairing us made sense, since I was probably the most experienced spy of adequate stats for the job…
A new thought flashed through my mind: what if Kakashi gets Kazu in bed, and I retrieve the intel… I disliked the idea as soon as I had it. I'd rather be the one to bear the intimacy requirements of the mission, since I'd done it many times before and if I could spare Kakashi anything, I would… but I had to admit either way could work. I also had to acknowledge that perhaps it would be some other permutation entirely. We were at the mercy of Kazu's whims, and would need to be adaptable to get the job done.
"Mister Mishi, sir! Boss, excuse me…"
We halted partway into the hangar and a merc ran loudly up to us. I fluttered my lashes and stirred in Kakashi's arms, yawning.
"What?!" Kazu barked at the minion. It was a smallish, young mercenary who showed visible anxiety talking to Kazu.
"S-s-sir, sorry sir! The feudal lord's machines is all parked out on Sandy Road, we can't get nothing past. And the shipment for Mister O is gotta -"
"Quiet!" Kazu cuffed the young man in the head. "I know the goddamn schedule. Can't you see I'm entertaining guests?! Shut your mouth and keep it shut."
The merc quailed and bowed, hunching back out of striking range. Kazu growled low in his throat as he threw his cigarette on the polished floor. It burned lazily on the shiny black surface.
"Looks like I have to wait for my steak and entertainment," he grumbled.
Koyote leaned in. "Can't you leave it to someone else?" he whispered suggestively.
Kazu shook his head. "Nah. Weak little shits. Still gotta do too goddamn much myself around here."
Koyote shrugged. "You're a hands-on guy. Admirable."
Kazu sighed. "You. Take Koyo-san here - and the girl - back to the baths and give 'em their pick if the rooms."
The young merc bowed again.
"But first clean that up." Kazu nodded at the cigarette. The boy knelt. "With your mouth," Kazu added. "That'll remind you not to interrupt so rudely when I have guests."
Or spill sensitive information in front of strangers… I guessed. The merc hesitated only a split second before doing as he was told, getting down on all fours and lowering his face to the ground. He took the still-lit cigarette gingerly in his lips. Kazu kicked him in the ribs. The merc flinched, closed his mouth around the burning cig and flinched again at the heat, then swallowed the whole thing.
"Ew,' I said in sleepy Hachidori voice. Kazu and Koyote guffawed.
"Make sure it's spotless," Kazu ordered. The young merc began to lave the polished stone with his tongue, cleaning up all the ash.
"Get some rest," Kazu reached out and patted Koyote's cheek before starting to walk away. He waved his hand. "I'll see you both later. And don't do her ass till I get back, you hear, Koyote?" Kazu's rough laugh echoed in the hangar.
"Got it, boss," Kakashi replied in Koyote's laziest, most honeyed lilt.
"Evening's gonna be fun," Kazu called before he vanished into the girder shadows beneath the mountain.
"Maybe we'll have a party…" I stretched and mused aloud in Hachidori's vapid way. Kakashi's arms twitched around me. I felt his grasp tighten.
"What did I tell you earlier, Hachidori? Keep quiet… or maybe I'll have you keep your mouth busy like this guy." Koyote nudged the guy on the floor with his toe and his voice was a cold snarl with no Kakashi in it at all… or was I mistaken? As I looked up into his face with a dopey expression on mine, his onyx eye glittered. Anger? Fear? I couldn't tell. But something about it gave me chills.
The merc stood up and wiped his mouth sullenly with the back of his hand.
"About time," Koyote said. "Baths? Rooms? You heard Kazu."
"Follow me." The merc headed deeper into the hangar. "Wouldn't wanna keep Mr. Mishi's latest toys waiting, now would I?" he muttered.
""What was that?!" Koyote said, all angry second-rate playboy.
"Right this way, Koyo-san," the merc grinned back at us. He started walking quickly, heading deeper into the bunker, opposite of the direction Kazu had gone.
The architecture of the mercenary base was sterile, cold and angular. Everything looked the same. The exposed pipes along the ceiling were reflected on the shiny floor, as were the repetitious, evenly-spaced large steel doorways. LED orbs threw cold, dim light along the hall. We walked for nearly five minutes in silence, passing only a few guards who nodded at our guide without a word. The operation Kazu ran seemed to be of huge scale, and I wondered how difficult it would be to find the information we needed. I had tried to detect a pattern to the guards' placement or their routes, but it appeared strangely arbitrary. The sparse staffing was also unexpected.
Our guide slowed as we approached another steel doorway about twice as wide as the rest and of a vaulted shape rather than rectangular. The young merc looked back at us and smirked. I noticed stunning blue eyes beneath the tinted glass of his visor, and a shock of white hair sticking out from his helmet. He raised a gauntleted fist and banged on the door. Kakashi sighed in impatience.
"Gilded turd," the young merc muttered. I had to struggle not to laugh in earnest. Whatever Kazu had done to this boy, it certainly hadn't broken his spirit.
"What was that?!" Kakashi said in Koyote's outraged voice. The boy just shrugged as the steel doors swung open. We squinted into the light that emanated from within.
Our guide stepped aside. "Guy'll take you from here. Enjoy yourselves. Or not," he chuckled. I felt Kakashi stiffen at the name "Guy." He hesitated at the doorway, blinking in the light and frowning. He feels unsure of our footing… My heart fluttered - if Kakashi took matters into his own hands, there was little I could do to stop him short of trying to physically incapacitate him, or taking a "double agent" approach and selling him out to Kazu to strengthen my own cover. But that would put us apart, basically working the mission from separate angles…
"Koyote-sama, I really want a bath!" I whined softly in his arms. "Didn't Mister Kazu say the baths are this way?"
"Shut up, Hachidori." Kakashi still didn't enter the new room. I started to panic.
"Koyote…" I sang sweetly. I let my hand trail down the V of his yukata. "I'll make our bath fuuuuuunnnnnn…" I let my fingers graze the fabric between his legs. Startled, Kakashi jerked back from my touch and set me down impulsively. The change in position was too quick - my legs were still weak and I lost my balance, gasping as I fell…
"Hey, now!" A strong hand grabbed my upper arm and kept me from hitting the floor hard. At first I thought it was Kakashi who caught me, again, but I immediately recognized the feel of the hand was different. I looked up in surprise. A dark-haired, dark-eyed shinobi was holding me up - one hand on my arm and one hand on my waist - and glaring at Koyote. Our guide poked his head around the doorway.
"Hi, Guy. This is Kazu's new rural boytoy. He and the bitch are supposed to get a room and stuff. I'm gonna go eat. Peace out." Our guide ran away down the hall. I noted that his broken way of speaking had disappeared when he wasn't around Kazu...
The man holding me up definitely wasn't the Guy we knew. For one, he didn't have a bowl cut. His ebony hair was stylishly spiked. He did, however, seem to be another amazing physical specimen - out of the corner of my eye I could see that his entire body was lean and chiseled, meaning he worked at it, or worked at working out, or trained at martial arts, as a hobby and something that gave him pleasure or gratification and not just as a job. His hands felt strong on my body. He smelled a little spicy.
"Since when are country boys so lacking in manners that a lady asks for a bath and she gets thrown on the floor?" The shinobi's coffee-colored eyes glinted as he addressed "Koyote."
Kakashi didn't say anything. He just stared back imperiously. His exposed eye was dark and stoic. Finally he reached up and scratched the bandage that crossed over and hid his sharingan. He tilted his head to the side and his dyed-lavender hair caught the lamplight.
"Who said she's a lady?" Koyote sneered.