Disclaimer: All rights belong to Kishimoto. All OCs are mine.
Note: Special shout out to Kettobase who drew a lovely fanart piece of Noriko! It's such a spot on rendition of Noriko that I made it the cover image with her permission. XD The link is on my profile if you wish to see it in full (fanfiction kept cropping it weirdly on its own).
I also thank my reviewers, people that favorite, and/or followed too. :D
Warning: I changed the rating just to be safe.
ooo
Chapter 14
"Bee, I really don't think you should be doing this," Gyūki warned.
"Noriko-chan will never know, / of this I'm sure yo'," Bee casually dismissed Gyūki's concern as he continued to peep into the women's side of the onsen.
"I just don't feel comfortable in this situation, especially because she's a civilian," Gyūki complained.
"This is the mission I was assigned. / I don't think she'll mind," Bee rapped back impatiently.
"Ay told you to guard her door tonight, not watch her bathe," Gyūki grumbled. "I just know this won't end well," he went on to bemoan.
A few more moments passed before, "Don't you think it's an abuse of power to peep on the girl you-" Gyūki broke off in his attempt to persuade Bee to stop spying when he noticed that the Ojou-sama in question had finished bathing and was now getting dressed. "Finally," he muttered.
Bee had noticed at the same time and started making his way out of the onsen to follow Noriko back to her suite.
"Oi Bee, I've been looking everywhere for you for the past three hours! Ay thought you had tried to run away again since we are so close to Kumogakure now," Darui said loudly in complaint as he walked towards Bee on the males' side of the onsen.
"Bakayarō! Konoyarō!" Bee hissed to Darui.
A pause and then:
"BEE! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" from an outraged Noriko.
. . . .
. . .
. .
.
ooo
Throwing on my yukata haphazardly, I rushed out of the women's section and into the hallway. I immediately saw Bee trying to tiptoe away down the hallway while Darui was at the entrance to the men's section of the onsen. That proved it. I was not paranoid of being peeped on in the onsen. As I passed by a lackadaisical Darui at a run, I kept my focus on Bee.
"Don't you dare try to get out of this!" I yelled to Bee.
Bee glanced back at me and started running.
Knowing that my physical stamina was nothing compared to his and would never hold out, I taunted, "It's not every day you see an elite shinobi run from a little girl!"
That got his attention. His step had faltered.
Breathing heavy, I tried to suck in as much air to deliver the final blow, "If you're a man, you'll take your punishment like one."
Hah. He finally stopped and faced me. My original and real dad always told me that taunts against masculinity were the best to use in situations such as this.
My panting started to ebb away as I walked to him at a more reasonable pace compared to before.
"It's a good thing Ay-san is here. This way, when you die, the Raikage can clean up after you properly," I said in a menacingly sweet voice while I steadily approached.
I was lucky he had stopped near a bureau in the otherwise empty hallway that held several vases on top. In my mad dash, I hadn't brought anything to maim him with. These would do nicely.
Picking one up, I came closer and started smiling at the thought of blood.
"Yes, your blood will look pretty smeared on this vase," I murmured while caressing the vase.
He looked a bit panicked at that.
"It was just the mission I was assigned. / I didn't think you'd mind," Bee said holding his hands up.
"You know, you're right. That makes it totally fine that you invaded my privacy," I said sarcastically and launched the first vase about two feet from him.
It flew in a lovely little arc before crashing onto the floor in a pathetic heap.
"Well, there's always plan B," I said and gave up on the vases. Obviously, I couldn't aim at all so I needed to improvise.
"Oh? I can't wait to see," Bee said.
"You might want to consider shutting up. Smart mouthing will get you nowhere," I spat out and came even closer to him. That jerk, rhyming his sentences with mine. As if we were some retarded couple finishing each other's sentences.
Grabbing his vest, I said, "Come on." He had totally lost his personal bubble privileges.
I started walking back the way we came as I pulled Bee behind me. Passing Darui, who was still standing there, I said, "Don't even think about saving his sorry carcass."
It was at this point that I entered the women's side of the onsen and took Bee inside with me.
Stopping in the middle of the actual hot spring area, I turned to face him and ordered, "Alright, give me some rope."
Bee took out a storage scroll from his standard Kumogakure vest and unsealed some for me.
Passing the rope to me, I got to work and bound his hands in front of him. Then I knelt on my knees to tie his ankles together.
Bee made a soft noise and I said, "Don't be such a baby. It's just a little rope. I'm not even finished yet."
Looking down at my work in progress, I had never been so proud to have learned that skill in middle school. I still remembered learning my knots from my original father on rainy afternoons. It was a father-daughter activity we did.
"Anou, is everything okay in-," Darui abruptly stopped speaking.
There was silence.
Pausing in my knot, I wondered why he stopped. Peering around Bee, I saw no sign of Darui.
My brows knit in confusion.
Then it clicked.
Bee was facing me and not the entryway.
I was facing Bee.
Darui saw me kneeling down on my knees in front of Bee.
I was planning on torturing Bee.
Darui obviously thought I was doing some other type of "torture" entirely.
No. No. No. No. No.
"Darui is taciturn, / so there's no cause for concern," Bee told me.
That's when my murderous haze lifted and common sense returned.
I shouldn't be tying Bee up, I needed to get to bed before anyone else finds out about this! He's probably right, Darui will probably not tell anyone. Wait, he might tell Ay. You know what, I'll just think about it out later.
Though I cannot believe I was going to torture Bee. For that matter, I cannot believe I even thought I could. Guess all those action shows/movies saying anger clouds your judgment were right.
Standing in a hurry, I passed Bee as I started to leave. However, another thought occurred to me and I paused at the entranceway leading to the women's changing room.
"Why did you let me do all this?" I asked as I shifted my body to face him again.
Bee just smiled at me and didn't say anything.
"Nevermind, I'm going to sleep. Good night," I murmured. I didn't have time for this nonsense.
"Good night, / sleep tight," Bee replied.
ooo
After making my way back to my room without being spotted, I immediately laid down on my futon. I cannot believe no one woke up from that fiasco. At least, I can only assume so since no one accosted me upon my return and I didn't see anyone in the hallways. Maybe Bee ran damage control. Ugh, I suppose I would get my answers in the morning.
ooo
Morning came all too quickly. I watched the attendants carefully as they went about their duties preparing my items in the suite for the short journey left to Kumogakure. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
"Let's get a move on. We don't want to be late," Kimiko-san said.
It took a lot of effort, but I refrained from mentioning that we were already late because of the detour at this onsen. Therefore, a few more minutes really wouldn't be a big deal.
Although this did show that Kimiko-san was acting the same as yesterday too.
"Since you're dressed, we can already wait outside in our palanquins," Kimiko-san ordered.
I really didn't want to go outside. I wanted to stay and hide in my room forever. Bee and Darui would be out there. There's no telling what they'd say or do. Though that mostly concerns Bee.
As we walked, I ignored Kimiko-san since I was now more worried about how everyone else among us were going to act around me.
Making our way outside the resort, we separated to enter our respective palanquins.
As I strolled through the group, I tried to surreptitiously watch their reactions to me. Everything seemed normal. There were no stares or whispers.
"Is everything alright Ojou-sama?"
Startled from my perusal of a group of attendants, I jumped a little.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to spook you," Ay said sheepishly.
"Oh no, I'm fine. I should pay more attention to my surroundings," I replied.
"Is everything alright?" Ay asked again.
"Yes, why do you ask?" I queried.
"Nothing really. I just wanted to give you some water," Ay said and procured some in a glass from seemingly nowhere.
He held the cup out to me and I gratefully took some because the weather was a bit hot. Once I was inside my palanquin, its shelter would make the temperature cooler.
"So how was everything last night?" Ay asked just as I sipped.
I spat out my water in a very undignified manner.
Coughing a little, I tried to feign ignorance and asked, "What do you mean?"
All Ay did was give me a look that said he was not fooled.
Turning towards my palanquin, I tried as hard as I could to remember how to walk daintily away. After an attendant helped me get seated inside, I thought about last night when Bee told me that, "Darui is taciturn."
Yeah, and Ay obviously knows everything about the onsen incident because the Sage of the Six Paths came for tea and cakes last night.
ooo
"Ojou-sama," an attendant spoke from outside my palanquin.
Lifting up the screen of my window, I gave the attendant walking alongside the palanquin my full attention.
"We will be nearing the gates of Kumogakure in about ten minutes," the attendant informed me.
I smiled in my normal ditzy manner and nodded my head in response. Then I let the screen fall down into place again.
It was only the day before last that Bee had been spying on me. Now that I was almost at the Fukui estate, it seemed so surreal to be back. I felt all the bitterness and anger returning to me (not that it ever strayed too far from my emotions). Focus, Noriko. Focus. I had to pay attention to my surroundings and be alert to the subtle nuances for there to be any chance of attaining freedom or revenge.
That's when the palanquin came to a halt.
Huh, were we at the Fukui estate already? That was quick.
Normally, a shinobi would go ahead of the group to provide the paperwork and clearance so that re-entering the village was as smooth a process as possible.
The palanquin had stopped but had not been placed down. That's odd. Lifting the screen on my window, I softly called to one of the palanquin bearers, "Is something the matter?"
"We do not know, Ojou-sama," was the reply.
"Set the palanquin down," I ordered in the same tone as before.
After the palanquin touched the ground, I exited it with an attendant's assistance and saw that we were right outside the gates of Kumogakure.
Even more curious now, I made my way to the front of the group to investigate myself.
Upon closer inspection, I saw that Fukui Yuki and some of his aides were at the gate.
I froze.
That made no sense. Maybe it's a publicity stunt because he didn't care when I first got kidnapped? Although I would have thought he didn't care about anyone else's opinion but his own.
What was I missing here?
Moving again, this time faster towards the front where Ay was talking to them, I noticed one of Yuki-sama's aides taking out a scroll.
Almost reaching them, they noticed me.
As I came within hearing distance, the aide with the scroll said, "Ojou-sama, it is good you're here. You need to hear this."
Okay, the very fact he's not saying any of the normal polite phrases such as, "How was your journey?" meant that this was not a publicity move.
Glancing at Ay, I saw that Darui and Bee had also joined them. I couldn't read any of their expressions. That troubled me.
I just blankly looked at the aide in genuine confusion. Why were they meeting us at the gates and why did I need to be present for whatever was going on?
The aide spoke again, "The daimyo of Kaminari no Kuni has made a decree."
Ay interrupted here, "Yes, you said that earlier. What I want to know is why this can't wait until we arrive at the Fukui estate or my office?"
The aide glanced at Yuki-sama before receiving a regal nod and then proceeding.
"It needs to take happen here and within Noriko-sama's hearing," the aide answered.
"Very well," Ay said gruffly.
The aide opened the scroll and cleared his throat before reading:
"I, the daimyo of Kaminari no Kuni and head of the Fukui clan have born testament to the facts of Fukui Noriko upon her arrival in Hi no Kuni.
First are the validations of the witness Fukui Kimiko. Fukui Hana, the wife of the Grand Secretariat, validates the witness Fukui Kimiko. Araki Akira, State Treasurer, validates the witness Fukui Kimiko. Date Izuna, Imperial Scribe, validates the witness Fukui Kimiko.
The allegation is as follows: Fukui Kimiko witnessed Fukui Noriko in a compromising position with the shinobi by the name of Killer Bee in the palace of Hi no Kuni's daimyo on the fifteenth of April at noon.
The witness has been validated on the merit of three citizens of good standing and, therefore, is deemed credible.
According to the Noble Family Honor Law subsection Maiden Conduct of Kaminari no Kuni, Fukui Noriko is henceforth stripped of her family name and banished from the Fukui household upon her arrival at Kumogakure.
As the head of the Fukui household, I offer a deed of mercy. Noriko will be bound within the confines of Kumogakure and shall be spared banishment from the country. So sayeth the seventh daimyo of Kaminari no Kuni, Fukui Akihito, on the first of May at half past eleven."
The silence after that was palpable.
ooo
A/N: I've had this planned before I ever even posted the story. I hope you guys liked this chapter and that it didn't disappoint. If it did, please let me know in a review. :D Also, feel free to point out grammar errors and such. I am learning and I freely admit it.