She's The Girl All The Bad Guys Want
Orochimaru's Experiment
Chapter 33
"How the hell did you get invited to dinner with the Kazekage?!" Kakashi exclaimed.
"Apparently, he wants to know who's hanging around his kid." Akita shrugged from her seat on the bed.
"Uh huh," Kakashi deadpanned, fixing his student with a neutral gaze. He, being a seasoned jounin, didn't believe that for a second. "And he told you to come to dinner tonight?"
"Yup," Akita said as she sorted through the clothing she had packed for the exam. "So, what exactly does one wear to dinner with a foreign kage?" With a sigh, Kakashi went over and started looking through Akita's pack.
"Well, normally you would want to be very formal. Most people wear kimono or some other formal attire," Kakashi explained as he started pulling out clothes for her. "With Daimyo, it's expected to be dressed as formal as possible. With kage, however, it's a bit more acceptable for shinobi to wear their uniforms. Unfortunately, you are a gennin and don't have a uniform to wear. So, we're going to make due with this." With that Kakashi held up the clothes he selected for her. Black leggings and a purple tank top with a high collar, some of the clothes she had packed to relax in during their down time.
"So, I guess you'll be wearing your usual then?" Akita asked as grabbed the clothes and stepped into the bathroom. "After all, you don't seem to really deviate from the standard jounin uniform."
"That's the plan." As he spoke, Kakashi worked on clearing the desk in their room. They were going to need it. "Which is fortunate since I definitely don't have anything more formal." As Akita came out properly dressed, Kakashi directed her to sit at the desk. "Now we need to do something with your hair." That made Akita stop and stare at him.
"Are you telling me that you know how to do hair?!" Akita exclaimed. Kakashi nodded, prompting more yelling. "You look like you haven't combed your hair in a week, and you expect me to believe you can style a woman's hair?!"
"Believe it or not," Kakashi deadpanned as he guided Akita into the chair and forced her into it with a shove, "I have several years experience and some of my missions required physical disguises. Not everything can be solved with a genjutsu, so I learned how to do hair and makeup for missions."
"Makeup?!" Akita exclaimed spinning around. Kakashi fixed her with an annoyed look before grabbing her shoulder and forcing her back around again so he could continue to work on her hair.
"Yes, makeup." Carefully, he began pulling it up into some sort of twisted updo. "Makeup is actually quite important for a shinobi. It's all about the art of disguise." Akita scoffed and rolled her eyes. She may have learned some bits of how to be 'girly' and accept it, but makeup was simply one thing she struggled to accept as necessary. Even for a shinobi, it seemed like a waste of time to the young teenager. "Don't worry, we're not worrying about makeup tonight. Now let's finish getting you ready. Even I wouldn't want to be late to dinner with the Kazekage."
After having their weapons confiscated, and being thoroughly searched, the two were allowed into the private living quarters of the Kazekage tower. Once there, they found Gaara waiting for them with clear aggitation on his face. Akita, not put off by his near constant foul moods, lit up with a smile and rushed forward to hug him. The hug wasn't returned, but Akita did notice how he relaxed slightly and, when she let go and stepped back, he didn't look quite so angry anymore. "Sooo..." Akita said as she looked around, "Lead the way?"
"Hn." Gaara turned after a moment and started walking. Akita rushed forward to walk beside him, which Gaara did not object to, while Kakashi and Maya took up the rear. Gaara tried to ignore everything around him, but couldn't help glancing at his new friend on occasion. She was busy observing his home and trying to learn the layout, instead of paying attention to him. Which is why he had to grab her arm to stop her when they reached the dinning room.
"Sorry." Akita grinned sheepishly as Gaara stared at her. After a moment, he let go of her arm and opened the doors.
As they proceeded inside, Gaara went to his seat while Akita, Kakashi, and Maya stood (and sat) at the end of the table. The Kazekage sat at the head of the table, with his other two children on his left. Gaara ended up sitting at the end of his siblings, next to the boy Maya had tackled in the market. Once Gaara was seated, his father stood and acknowledged their team. "Welcome. I trust you had little trouble being allowed in?"
All three of them bowed as Kakashi spoke. "Your hospitality and generosity is greatly appreciated, Lord Kazekage. We are honored to be joining you and your esteemed family tonight." Akita had been warned that Kakashi would most likely be playing a political game, because everything involved politics on some level, but it threw her off a little to actually hear the way they were speaking. She was well trained enough not to openly react, but she still wanted to understand. The Kazekage had asked a question that he should have already known the answer to, and Kakashi didn't even answer the question. Instead, he flattered the man. As they stood there in a row, Kakashi didn't say anything else. He simply stared at the Kazekage. It wasn't an intimidating stare, nor disrespectful. Instead, it seemed to Akita that he was respected the Kazekage and his position, but also showing that he wouldn't back down from the man if push came to shove. After a moment, the kazekage sat back down and motioned to the empty seats on his right.
"Please," He said, "Sit with us." Following Kakashi, the trio walked over and took their seats. Kakashi took the seat directly next to the Kazekage, using himself to create a barrier between him and Akita. He was feeling extremely wary of this shared meal and sought to protect his student from any perceived threats. Even if that threat was a Kage. Maya, with complete disregard to how the Kazekage might feel about it, jumped right up into the chair on the other side of her girl and grinned. The kazekage paused taking a drink of his water to ask, "Your wolf sits at the table with you?"
"You'll find that I'm rather inclined to do as I please," Maya spoke, the shock of which caused the Kazekage to actually stutter a bit as he sipped his water. "Don't worry, Sir. You'll find I have exceptional table manners for one who has no thumbs." Akita couldn't help but giggle as Maya continued to grin at the Kazekage, though she tried to hide it behind her hand.
"Yes," Kakashi drawled. "Maya may be Akita's ninkin, but... she's still quite a character with a very strong personality."
"And she speaks," The Kazekage stated, keeping his eyes on Maya.
"Yes. While not common, Konoha has several ninkins capable of speech."
"I see. Well then, I expect you to live up to your promise of exceptional table manners." With that statement, the Kazekage clapped his hands and several people walked in carrying plates. Each person had several covered dishes placed in front of them and, once everything was placed, all the lids were lifted simultaneously. Akita found herself presented with roasted bird of some sort with an elaborate sushi roll and a steaming bowl of ramen on the side. Akita couldn't help but think about how ecstatic Naruto would have been, though this wasn't the kind of ramen she would have eaten back home. It appeared to be the main source of vegetables for their dinner, which broccoli and ginger being the most obvious at first look. A glance at the table showed that no one else had moved to begin eating yet, so Akita didn't move. The three siblings sitting across from her all appeared to be waiting for their father. Kakashi was putting up a nonchalant front, but he too was waiting. Finally, the Kazekage reached forward and took the first bite of his meal and the three siblings began eating, along with Kakashi and Maya. After a second, Akita joined the meal. It was another thing to ask Kakashi about later. Why did everyone wait for the Kazekage? She understood the respect, but why would he eat first? What if it had been poisoned?
Maya, true to her word, did indeed demonstrate wonderful table manners. She kept her paws off the table and took small bites delicately off her plate. Except for needing to ask for her water to be emptied from her glass into a bowl, which one of the staff was quick to oblige, Maya had little trouble with dinner. She was delicate with her soup so as to not splash all over the table. All in all, Maya was just as good as the humans at the table.
"Lord Kazekage," Akita said suddenly, breaking the silence, "I am told I am lacking considerable social skills and I tend to speak very bluntly, so I appologize if I offend you, but I was hoping I may ask you a question." Akita didn't notice how Kakashi's hand tensed and Maya paused after swallowing her bite of bird, nor did she notice the way the Kazekage's children looked at her. She was looking at the Kazekage and hearing her heart begin to pound in her chest as he studied her back. Eventually a small grin graced his face.
"Speak child."
"Why did your men bother to search us and confiscate our weapons when we arrived?"
"I would think that would be obvious, child," He said as he resumed eating and the rest of the table followed his lead. "Such measures are to protect both my life and the lives of my children. It would be foolish to allow anyone to come here so heavily armed."
"Except it changes nothing," Akita shook her head, "because we're shinobi. We don't need physical weapons when we have dozens, if not hundreds, of jutsus at our disposal." She held up the chopsticks that were presented with the meal. "I mean, you take our physical weapons away, only to give us new ones. Chopsticks are basically slightly less sophisticated senbon needles. Plus the knives and various cutlery. So I really don't understand the point."
"Akita," Kakashi placed a comforting hand on her head. "Sometimes it's not about the weapon itself, but what could be concealed within it. With shinobi, such protocols are not to protect against danger, but infiltration. The Kazekage's elite shinobi would protect against actual danger." Kakashi went back to his meal, somehow eating without anyone seeing him remove his mask, while the Kazekage regarded Akita with amusement.
"You feel I have presented you with weapons, girl?"
"With all due respect, Sir, we're shinobi. Everything is a weapon if you're resourceful enough."
"And you question the effectiveness of my shinobi?"
At that, Akita leaned back in thought. "Not intentionally, Sir. I merely find the apparent futility of it confusing. I see some merit to what my sensei says, but I'm still not sure I understand. But I also understand that I am only a gennin at the moment, so there are probably several layers of security protocol that I am simply not aware of. I don't mean to imply that your men are slacking, it just seems odd to me." After a moment, the Kazekage chuckled.
"I find your mind to be... refreshing, child. It was Akita, yes?" At her nod, he continued. "If it would please your mind, you have my permission to attempt at attack with what you perceive as weapons in this room." He chuckled as Maya growled at him. "It's not a trick or a trap. You have my word, and everyone in this room is witness. Should you manage to injure someone, you and your team will not be held responsible." Akita tensed, not expecting such an invitation. She finally noticed the way Kakashi's chopsticks had stilled over his food and Maya was tense and ready to move to defend if needed. She looked again at the Kazekage, sure her unease showed on her face. Seeing this, the Kazekage smirked and forward to rest is chin in his palm with his elbow on the table. He raised an eyebrow at her as if to say, I'm waiting.
"Hmph!" Akita's unease turned to determination and, without giving herself time to hesitate, threw her chopsticks the same as she would have thrown her senbon. The Kazekage didn't flinch. Just before it would have struck him, a kunai swept in front of his face and blocked the chopstick. The Kazekage's grin grew as the previously unseen Suna ANBU bowed and vanished once more. Akita made eye contact with him once again. Then, the Kazekage laughed.
"You are bold, aren't you, girl?" He asked. "As you can see, defending me is no problem for my shinobi and it only makes their jobs easier when our guests have limited options." Akita held his stare for a moment, before she couldn't hold back her grin anymore. Besides her, Kakashi relaxed slightly.
"Forgive me, Sir," Akita started, "I wouldn't have said your shinobi were slacking earlier, but I would now. They did an excellent job defending you, but..." She pointed at Gaara and his siblings. "What about your children?" All humor gone from the Kazekage's face, his eyes snapped to the sand siblings.
At first glance, all three of them appeared fine. But, when the girl spun her head around to examine her brothers, one of her ponytail holders snapped and her hair fell into her face. As they looked around further, they found Akita's second chopstick sticking out of the wall behind where the girl was sitting. "Even with your invitation," Akita stated, "I am not stupid enough to actually try to hurt you or your family. But, I believe my point is proven. Your guards were so focused on you, that I was able to land a hit on your daughter and break her hair tie. Anything is a weapon in the hands of a properly trained shinobi." Then, suddenly appearing bashful, Akita clasped her hands in front of her and slouched slightly. "Fortunately, I am an honest and honorable shinobi and have no desire to start a war. Now, may I please have a new set of chopsticks? I'd like to continue eating..."
Dinner proceeded without further incident, and Kakashi was actually able to relax a bit by the end of it. As they were saying goodbye to Gaara, they finally got a proper introduction to his siblings ("I'm Temari, this is Kankuro! You owe me a hair tie!") and Temari was very interested in how she learned to throw chopsticks like that. They chatted for a few minutes before parting, with all three of the siblings wishing her luck in their own way for the tournament. But, it was only once they were safely back in their hotel room that Kakashi really relaxed.
"I think that went rather well, don't you?" Akita asked as she sat on the bed and slipped her socks off. When she looked up, she jumped back, startled to find Kakashi's face an inch away from hers and fixing her with a dead stare.
"Akita," He growled, "Don't. EVER. Attack a Kage again, even with an invitation!"
"Why?!" She exclaimed with a grin and a chuckle. "He invited me to try! And there was never any chance of actually hurting him!" Kakashi remained unamused, and Maya was looking at Akita with an equal look of discontempt.
"Even with an invitation, if you had succeeded, it could have started a war."
"What?! That's ridiculous! Why would we go to war for accepting an invitation?!"
"Because, if you had been sucessful, it would have been seen as a show of force. Suna may have been compelled to wage war simply to weaken us as response."
"That is such BULLSHIT!" Akita exclaimed jumping up. Kakashi stepped back and sighed, running a hand down his face.
"It's politics," Kakashi mumbled, resigned to Akita's ignorance.
"FUCK POLITICS!" Akita exclaimed as she jumped and started to pace. Kakashi sighed before sitting on his bed.
"Go to bed Akita. We can discuss this more tomorrow if you wish while we continue to prep you for the next stage of the exams."
AN: Well... It's been a while hasn't it? So, a few months ago I had brain surgery. Seriously. I am recovering from brain surgery. It sucks epically. The surgery went well, and I am recovering well, it just sucks. I got fired because of brain surgery because my time off got screwed up. That job decided to could go back to work 2 days after fucking brain surgery! Yay! I have a new job now and... yup... I'm angry at the world, severely depressed most days... it all sucks. But I am writing again! Yay! I make absolutely NO PROMISES to keep a schedule! With brain issues and job stuff, I honestly don't know when I'm going to have time or motivation to write. So... yup...
I would love some reviews! Let me know what you thought of the meeting with the Kazekage!
Matane!
TheWolfSannin
