The Daimyo

by EyeWasBored

In which a Daimyo decides to become more proactive. O/C. Rated M for violence, and blood. AU.

18. Chapter 18

'Thoughts/Signing/Written Words'

"Speaking"

"Seal Symbols/Words"

Flashbacks

Disclaimer: I own nothing from Masashi Kishimoto. Enjoy!

Chapter 18

Aware of the new additions to her entourage, Sora exited the T&I building with Team Ro behind her. As she stepped onto the streets, she felt the eager souls of many Anbu members converging to one location. Her weapons shop. Sora blinked but said nothing when Inoichi walked beside her along with Ibiki. As Hound and Bear walked behind her, the rest of Team Ro disappeared into the shadows.

Feeling Inoichi soul flickering in curiosity, Sora glanced at him waiting for his question. "How long have you've been the owner of Masamaru's Weapon Shop, Daimyo-sama?" he asked, quickly hiding his surprised look. "If I'm not mistaken, the shop's only been open in Konoha for one year."

Deciding not to dwell on the older man's reaction to her gaze, Sora answered, "There is another Masamaru's Weapon Shop located outside of Konoha, Yamanaka-sama. I've been the owner of the business for about five years now." Giving him a smile, she continued, "But you're right, the one in Konoha didn't officially open until one year ago."

Inoichi glanced at her before asking, "Does the other location have the same intensive security protocols as the one in Konoha?"

Sora lips quirked in slight amusement at his question. 'He's fishing for information,' she thought.

Sora shook her head no and said, "The other location operate the same as you would a normal shop that sells goods. Its just the one in Konoha that's a bit different."

Everyone looked at her as Inoichi asked, "Is there a reason why?"

As they rounded the corner of the street, Sora glanced at him before answering, "There are a lot of reasons, Yamanaka-sama."

He watched her as she approached a shop with two large windows. It was nestled between the library and a vacant building. Displayed in the right window was a variety of swords. The handles of each swords were hand melded with intricate designs. On the left window were bo staffs and spears. Each one was labeled under the type of wood they were made of. In between the windows was a glass door. Above the door was a sign made of black cloth with gold calligraphic writing: Masamaru's Weapons Shop. Sora reached out her hand to pull the door open.

As the bell above the door wrung, a young boy's voice stuttered out, "W-welcome to M-Masamaru's Weapons Shop! I'll be r-right with you."

Sora lips twitched at the boy's shyness. 'He's gotten more comfortable speaking to strangers,' she thought as she felt the seal above the door frame pulse once before fading away.

Walking into the shop, Sora smiled at the familiar sight. On the left wall were fans of varying sizes on display. Some had a thin blade that lined the entire edge of the folded leaves, while others had their rib pieces elongated past the edge to form sharp daggers. On the right wall were the basic weapons that all shinobi use. However, each one was labeled under different elemental chakra nature affinities: water, fire, earth, wind, and lightning. Sora stepped to the side to let the others file in behind her. In between the aisles displaying more swords, she could see that in the back center of the shop was an empty counter with shelves underneath it. Aligned on the shelves were small black boxes. Stamped on the center of each box was a single golden wisteria plume. Behind the counter was an opened archway that lead into a hallway and into another room towards the back of the shop.

Hearing soft voices discussing an item, Sora turned to see the backs of a boy and a young woman standing in front of a section containing miniature weapons. The boy was dressed in black loose fitting pants and a black long sleeve. Wrapped around his upper left arm was his forehead protector. Standing beside him, the woman was wearing the standard shinobi outfit. Underneath the brown flak jacket, Sora could see a sleeveless red top. Inside the woman's left hand was a miniature kunai the size of a finger.

Noticing how the boy would shift back and forth each time he talked to the woman, Sora smiled and gently said, "It's been a while, Maki-kun."

The young preteen quickly turned around at the familiar voice. Light green eyes widened in surprise as he rushed towards her. "Boss!" he greeted excitedly, losing his shyness.

Once he was near, Sora reached out her left hand to ruffle his dark green locks. "You've grown," she exclaimed. "It's only been a little over a month since we've last saw one another."

Maki preened under her touch as he nodded in confirmation. "Mizu-san said I grew an inch since the exam."

Sora chuckled at him as she looked up to greet the familiar face behind the preteen. "Good afternoon, Yuhi-san."

"Good afternoon, Fujiwara-san," Kurenai greeted in confusion. Most civilians steered clear of weapon shops. Only those who were brave, or had a family member be part of the shinobi force, were the ones that dared enter a weapons shop. Seeing everyone standing beside Sora, Kurenai nodded in greeting to them, curious as to why Anbu and T&I was accompanying the civilian woman.

Maki gently took Sora's left hand and tugged her towards the center of the shop. Giving a hesitant smile at the black haired woman, he said, "Sora-sama is the o-owner of the shop, Y-Yuhi-san."

Red eyes widened in surprise. "I hadn't known," Kurenai muttered to herself as she stared at Sora in shock. She had heard the young staff member call Sora boss, but she didn't think that Sora was also the owner of said shop too.

"Maki-kun," Sora asked, not minding Kurenai's stare, "are the others in the warehouse?"

Maki nodded. "An order came in requesting for some infusion tantos, specifically for water chakra nature. Did you need me to get them?"

Sora shook her head no. "We'll be going to them in a bit anyways, so it's okay."

Sora turned to flip the sign on the door to 'Closed.' Giving him a wink, she turned to look at Kurenai and asked, "Have you've been inside the Trial Room before?"

Kurenai shook her head no. "This is my first time asking for Masamaru's other service."

Sora nodded to Maki to head towards the counter as she paused in her steps. "Mizu had mentioned something like that when we talked." Walking around the counter with her youngest staff member, Sora opened a hidden drawer compartment. "Before we proceed, you'll have to sign a liability waiver form, Yuhi-san."

Kurenai furrowed her nose. "A liability waiver form?"

Sora pulled out a black scroll with small patterns of golden wisteria plumes from the drawer. "For this particular service to succeed, there a lot of things taken into account in order to give you the best options possible. For this reason, I require everyone who is new to this service to sign a liability waiver form to ensure the protection of my staff and my business should things happen."

Kurenai furrowed her brows. "What do you mean by 'analyze everything'?" she asked.

Not at all minding the question, Sora answered, "I've been fortunate enough to be able to travel around the world, so I pick up on a few things more than most," Sora explained. "Because of this, depending on what you need from this service, I will be able to tell which region you'll be in. And, often times, how high up within the feudal court system you're trying to infiltrate."

Kurenai stared wide eyed at Sora in shock. Shinobi kill for the type of knowledge that she had. For a civilian to possess such information was jarring. "I see," Kurenai muttered. "I understand the need for the liability form now."

Sora nodded as she unraveled the scroll and gave Kurenai a pen. Sora pointed to the bottom of the scroll. "You only need to sign this waiver once and it'll be valid for as long as one Masamaru's Weapons Shop remains inside Konoha."

Kurenai nodded her head as she signed the scroll, ignoring the odd choice of words. Once done, Sora rolled up the scroll and pushed one end of the scroll. Kurenai's eyes widened to see a duplicate scroll appear with a soft smokeless poof. Giving the duplicate scroll to Kurenai, Sora said, "This is your copy."

Kurenai accepted the scroll while Sora dropped the original copy into a seal inside the hidden drawer. As she closed the drawer, Kurenai watched both Maki and Sora bow at the same time.

"If you could follow us, Yuhi-san," Sora said.

Kurenai looked at them then the others in the room, who looked just as perplexed as her. Looking back at the duo, she muttered, "Of course."

As Kurenai went around the counter to enter the archway into the hallway, she tried her best not to tense up as everyone else in the room followed. Once on the other side of the hallway, the group entered an open sitting area with lounging sofas and a round coffee table on the right side of the room. In a corner on the left was a stairwell that led up towards the upstairs balcony. Underneath the balcony was another archway on the right wall.

Sora led everyone through the second archway as warm lights throughout the corners of the room flickered on to show a windowless room with eight walls. Along the back wall were three sinks and three adjustable cushion chairs. Instead of a mirror above the sink, there were three dispensing containers labeled: hand soap, shampoo, and conditioner. Hanging from baskets on the sides of the sinks were blow dryers, hair clippers, brushes, and lots of towels. On the right adjacent wall were different squeeze bottles on the shelves. Under each bottle was a letter accompanied by some numbers. Next to the wall of squeeze bottles was a circular platform with three full body mirrors mounted in the center of the wall. The two end mirrors were folded slightly inward to wrap around the tiled platform. Different types of fabrics and threads covered the next wall, while an empty metal rack was placed beside it. On the opposite wall, there were varying styles of shoes, scarves, hats, and spectacles. Beside it was a wall that was split with items. On display on one half were different cosmetics, such as lipsticks and nail polish. On the other half were a variety of hairpins lined up into five columns. Near the entrance where everyone had gathered were closet doors with metal handles on the left side of the archway. Above each handle were square cuts of different fabrics hung by a cotton string. On the right side of the archway were drawer handles from floor to ceiling. Tucked beside the drawers was a desk and a simple wooden stool. Two black ribbons were draped across the wooden surface of the desk as well as a single small black scroll with printed golden wisteria plumes.

Ignoring the scroll on the desk for now, Sora looked at Kurenai, who was staring around the room with wide eyes. "We'll be having an audience for today's session, Yuhi-san."

Kurenai turned to focus on her and nodded. "I figured as much," she said, aware of the members of Anbu standing along the sides of the room.

Giving Kurenai a sympathetic smile, Sora walked towards the desk to grab the black ribbons. As she began to roll up the sleeve on her right hand, she heard a sharp intake of breath. Sora paused to look up to see Maki staring at her bandaged palm. Resuming on folding her sleeve, she reassured him. "Masa bandaged it up, Maki-kun. There's no need to worry."

Unconvinced, Maki walked towards her and gently pushed her left hand away. Sora relented as her youngest staff member began to fold the sleeve for her. He quietly muttered, "You were banned from testing foreign weapons for a reason, Boss."

Sora's gaze softened when Maki took in a big breath to keep himself calm, though his soul flickering in panic said otherwise. "Masa was here," she stated quietly as she watched him. "That's how Mizu was able to find me."

Maki nodded as he secured the folds with a black ribbon. "He didn't give us the details of the injury though. Just that you were injured."

Once the ribbon was knotted, he moved to fold the left sleeve. Not wanting to look up at her for fear of showing her his frustration at the situation, he grumbled softly, "Stop doing unnecessary things that will put you in harms way, Boss."

Sora nodded. "I'll try," she said.

"Better," he said as he focused on tying the last knot to secure the left folds. Sora smiled softly at him as she went to ruffle his locks of hair.

Now forgiven, Sora looked at Kurenai, who was staring at the wall of cosmetics with interest. "Without revealing too much details of your mission, Yuhi-san, tell me what you'll need."

At her question, everyone turned to focus on Kurenai. Maki shifted to stand beside the desk while Sora walked towards Kurenai. At Kurenai's uncertain look, Sora clarified, "I need parameters, Yuhi-san."

Kurenai's eyes widened in understanding. "I need something simple that wont draw too much attention for a simple evening out for a festival."

"I see," Sora said as she took a moment to think. "You must be referring to the Moonlight Festival. It's the only one occurring during this time of year." At Kurenai's stiff nod, Sora chuckled slightly. "Then that's where we're going to have a problem, Yuhi-san." At Kurenai's confused look, Sora explained, "Attendees of the Moonlight Festival are anything but simple. If anything, they are the exact opposite."

Kurenai stiffened. "Can you give me the most simplest option?"

Sora shrugged as she walked towards the wall of hairpins. "That depends on what you wish your look to achieve."

"Achieve?" Kurenai asked.

"On one end of the spectrum, something simple will be equivalent to a traveling oiran. On the other, it'll be a daughter from a poor noble," Sora answered, ignoring the looks she got from everyone in the room.

Kurenai furrowed her brows as she thought. "Those are most certainly not simple at all," she muttered. After a few moments of recalling her mission scroll, Kurenai looked at Sora, "Anything that you'd think best that can easily make me blend in with the crowd will be preferred, Fujiwara-san."

Sora nodded. "Now, we're getting somewhere, Yuhi-san." Turning to look at the hairpins, she called out, "Maki-kun, can you grab an empty Options Case?"

"Sure thing Boss," he said as he opened the bottom drawer under the desk.

He pulled out a small empty display case lined with velvet cloth on the inside with small curved divots. As Maki walked towards Sora, he took off the lid and presented the bottom piece to Sora. Sora reached up to grab the top two hairpins from each column on the wall and placed them into the empty slots. Once the hairpins were selected, Sora stepped back as Maki placed on the lid to close the Options Case.

Looking at Kurenai, Sora informed her, "We'll be going to the Testing Grounds now."

Kurenai and everyone else watched as Sora walked towards the corner of the room by her desk. Placing her hand onto the wall, a seal activated to reveal a doorless entranceway that led out into an open field. As everyone filed outside, they saw seven targets on the left side of the field. On the right side was a small warehouse. Metal pounding against metal could be heard coming from inside. Leading Kurenai to the target post on the far left, Sora ignored everyone who began to stand behind the white lines surrounding the perimeter of the target post area.

Once Maki stood in between her and Kurenai, Sora said, "Whenever you're ready, Yuhi-san. Please grab a hairpin and aim for the target in front of you."

Maki opened the Options Case and placed the lid underneath the bottom piece as he showed the hairpins to Kurenai. Kurenai glanced at the ten hairpins sitting inside the case. While every single one had the same chain and bell embellishment, some were longer, while others appeared to be thicker.

'They're definitely made of some kind of medal. Though, they don't seem to be arranged in any specific order,' she thought. Glancing at Maki, who gave a weak shy smile, she frown. 'Or maybe they are.'

Kurenai looked at Sora and asked, "Do I grab any one or start from the top?"

Sora shrugged, "It's up to you."

Kurenai nodded as she grabbed a hairpin from the middle. Testing the weight of it in her hand, she paused. 'Feels like the common medal used for weapons,' she thought as she threw it at the target. She blinked in relief as it hit the center of the target, despite it being on the lower edges of the center red dot. 'I'm reading too much into this. It's just a hairpin.'

"Please throw another one, Yuhi-san," Sora said.

Kurenai nodded as she grabbed the top one. This time it hit the top edges of the center red dot.

"Let's move to the next target, Yuhi-san," Sora said. As the trio stood in front of the next target post, she continued, "When you're ready."

Kurenai nodded, thinking to herself how bizarre this was as she chose the bottom hairpin. She smiled when the hairpin had hit dead center of the red dot.

"Again, please throw another one."

'It feels like I'm taking a test,' Kurenai thought as she grabbed a hairpin from the middle section. 'Maybe that's why it's called the Testing Grounds.'

Kurenai paused before she threw the hairpin. This time the weight of the hairpin felt weird as she hesitantly held it in her hand a second longer before throwing it. She let out a soft breath of relief when it landed just a little underneath the center of the red dot.

"Let's move to the next target."

Kurenai nodded as she moved to the next target. 'Fujiwara-san sounds like an exam proctor too,' she thought. 'It's hard for me to tell what she wants me to truly do.'

"When you're ready, Yuhi-san."

Kurenai looked into the Options Case and saw that there were only six hairpins left. Grabbing one from the top, she threw the hairpin. While it landed dead center, the bell on the chain chimed for a few seconds longer than the previous hairpins. She frowned in confusion. 'I thought for sure that was similar to the third one I threw.'

"Please throw another one as well."

For the next five minutes, Kurenai kept throwing the hairpins until there were no more left to throw. Leaving only two target posts free of any hairpins.

Standing in front of one of the remaining target, Sora said, "Yuhi-san, please throw a kunai at the target this time."

Kurenai blinked in surprised to see Maki pulling out a kunai from his pant pocket. Taking it, she paused to look at it in confusion. It was a regular kunai that was sold at Ninja Weapons Shop, rather than an infusion kunai from Masamaru's. Deciding not to think more on it, she threw it dead center at the target.

"Let's move to the last target." As the trio moved, Sora continued, "Please throw a senbon at this target."

Again, Maki reached into his other pant pocket but pulled out a senbon this time. Taking it, Kurenai noted that it was a normal senbon before throwing it. The senbon also landed dead center.

"Now then," Sora said as she looked at her youngest staff and Kurenai. "Let's return to the Trial Room."

A quick glance at the seven target posts told Kurenai that all of the items she threw all hit the center red dot. 'Then why do I feel like I failed somehow?' she thought as she followed the duo back inside.

Besides the Commanders and Team Ro, the rest of the members of Anbu and Inoichi stayed outside to stare at the target posts in wonder before going back inside. They all ignored how the sound of metal pounding against metal had stopped as two young teens exited from the warehouse. The two teens looked at the target posts as well before going towards the sink along the side of the warehouse.

Inside the Trial Room, Kurenai, Sora, and Maki stood in front of the wall of hairpins. Sora looked at her youngest staff member and asked, "Maki-kun, your recommendations?"

Maki took a few seconds to choose his words before stating, "Grades A and D are not suitable for Yuhi-san. Grades B, C, and E, are good candidates, but the thickness of Grade B is a bit awkward for her. I'd say C and E are the best options."

Sora looked at him and nodded as she took the empty Options Case from him. "I thought so as well," she said as she reached up to grab four hairpins with varying lengths of embellishments from the third and last columns. Once she placed them into the Options Case, she closed the Options Case and handed it back to Maki. "Have her try these out. I'll be staying in here."

Maki's eyes widened at the faith she showed in him to do his job without further supervision. "Sure thing Boss!" he exclaimed. He then turned to Kurenai and bowed, "If you could follow me, Y-Yuhi-san."

Kurenai had yet to move. 'This entire time, I thought he was only handing me the hairpins. When in reality, he was analyzing my throws,' she thought as her fists unconsciously clenched.

Feeling Kurenai's soul tinge with slight anger, Sora stepped to stand beside Maki, who was still bowing. "Are you dissatisfied by Maki-kun's choices, Yuhi-san?" Sora asked.

Kurenai stiffened at her question. She looked at Sora and said, "While I do not mean to sound rude," Kurenai said as she looked at the preteen, "I do not understand how Maki-kun was able to get all that just by watching me throw hairpins when he hasn't been a shinobi long."

Sora narrowed her eyes at Kurenai as her youngest staff member clenched the display case in his arms tighter.

A feminine voice from the entranceway leading to the Testing Grounds stated coldly, "You were the one who came to us, Chunin-san."

Entering the Trial Room was a fifteen year old boy with dark gray curly hair sticking out every which way. He too was wearing the all black uniform that Maki was wearing, except the bottom of his pants and parts of his long sleeves were covered in dust. Wrapped around his right thigh was his forehead protector. Next to him was a fourteen year old girl with white hair. On the right side was a pastel pink braided lock of hair. She was dressed in the same black uniform as the other two. Like her coworker next to her, the bottom of her pants and parts of her long sleeves were also dusty. However, her forehead protector was wrapped around her neck.

"And here I thought those who were of higher ranks were made of thicker skin," the fourteen year old girl, Mei, continued in the same cold indifferent tone.

"It's not professional to lash out on staff members who's only goal is to find an item that suits you best, Chunin-san," the fifteen year old boy, Ko, added in a casual tone. But Kurenai could hear the sharp warning tone hidden underneath. "You are preventing Maki from doing his job properly with your prejudices against Career Genin."

Kurenai balked at the teen's word as her face flushed in embarrassment. "I-," she said, "t-that's not." Kurenai let out a sigh and said, "Maki-kun being a Career Genin has nothing to do with his recommendations."

"Does it not?" Mei stated, rather than asked. "If it was Masa-san or Mizu-san, you would've accepted them without question."

Seeing Kurenai flinch, Sora assessed the situation that was happening before her. 'Why does this scene feel familiar?' she thought as she steeled her gaze.

"Rise, Maki-kun," she said firmly.

Maki quickly stood up to stare wide eyed at Sora at her professional tone reserved for unruly customers. "Boss?"

At his uncertain tone, Sora stared at Kurenai once before turning her gaze towards Maki, "From my understanding, Yuhi-san wishes to hear your full assessment."

Maki straightened as he turned to meet Kurenai in the eye. This was different to how he was earlier when he could barely talk to her when Mizu had left her in the shop with him.

Taking in a calming breath, Maki said, "The first hairpin you threw was too heavy and too thick for you. Your form was perfect, but you realized at the last second that the weight of the shaft of the hairpin will cause it to hit the ground faster than you would like. So, you tried to mitigate this by using more force than normal before you fully released the hairpin. However, what you forgot to take into account was the weight of the bell and chain. Both components weigh down the hairpin mid-flight."

This gained Ibiki's attention. 'This is getting interesting,' he thought. 'The kid was able to see these things just on the first throw.'

Maki continued, "The second hairpin you realized it was way too light so you threw it with less force. But again, you forgot about the added weight of the bell and chain. Because of the length of this hairpin, it tilted up midair rather than down when you threw it. The third hairpin, you couldn't gauge the weight as it was neither heavy nor light. So, you threw it as if you would normally any weapon, which made it hit dead center."

'He noticed Kurenai's little habits when it comes to using unfamiliar weapons,' Hound thought in amazement. 'Kurenai's been trying to fix those habits for the longest time.'

Maki continued, "The fourth one you threw, while the weight was the same as the first hairpin, it was thicker than you would like, making you stumble when releasing the hairpin. Your fingers got caught on the bell for a brief moment causing a delay and adding more drag than necessary. This made the hairpin hit just below dead center. For the fifth hairpin, you couldn't tell the difference in weight because it felt similar to the third one you threw. You treated it as such, but because of it's thinness, the shaft began to bend midair. When it made impact, the entire hairpin warped and shook, thus the bell chimed longer than the ones you've previously thrown. Anymore force than what you had inputted would have broke the hairpin in half."

Bear narrowed his eyes on Maki. 'He must be quick with his observations and analyzing skills to notice these things while an object is in motion,' he thought.

Seeing Kurenai's eyes getting wider and wider, Maki's cheeks reddened slightly before he forced himself to remain professional. He continued giving his full assessment. "All other throws after that were to confirm my observations. Throwing the kunai and senbon gave me a quick baseline of your throwing capabilities." Maki paused for a bit to take a deep breath from talking so much before he continued, "Your dominant hand is your right hand, and the preferred hand to throw most weapons. However, when you threw the senbon, you used your left. All the hairpins you've been throwing were thrown with your left hand, meaning that you've been treating them like a version of a senbon."

Maki gave Kurenai a small scowl, "You shouldn't have treated the hairpins as if they were a senbon. Nor should you view them as a kunai. Instead, you need to treat the hairpins for what they are and use them to suit your needs. Different thicknesses, weights, lengths, embellishments, and even tapered ends require adjustments to manipulate the hairpin to do what you want it to do." Maki looked at her in the eye and said, "As a shinobi, any object could be used as a weapon. But, one wouldn't fight using a spoon expecting it to react the same as a knife, Yuhi-san."

All the Anbu members stared at Maki in shock. They didn't expect him to notice these things so quickly. This level of observation skill were common amongst Chunin, not Genin. Especially Career Genin.

'Just what happens inside Masamaru's Weapons Shop?' Inoichi thought as he remembered how Sora said that the location inside Konoha was different.

A few long silent seconds passed as Kurenai took in the young teen's words as her anger dissipated. Swallowing down her pride, she bowed. "I apologize, Maki-kun."

Maki's eyes widened in shock as his face flushed in embarrassment. "I-it's okay, Y-Yuhi-san," he stuttered out, his shy personality returning. "I'm the n-newest staff member here so t-there's still a lot of things for me to l-learn."

Kurenai stood from her bow and asked in curiosity, "Learn?"

Maki nodded. "As e-employees of Masamaru's Weapons Shop, we have to attend c-classes taught by Ai-sensei. B-Boss sometimes teaches us too when she can."

Everyone turned to look at Sora, who froze at the stares before giving them a nervous smile.

Seeing his Boss's nervousness, Maki asked, "Did I say too much?"

Sora blinked at him and chuckled. "No Maki-kun," she reassured him. "You did well."

Maki looked at his older coworkers, who both nodded their heads in approval. He gave them a wide relieved grin. 'This was the first time giving my full assessment too,' he thought.

Sora glanced at Kurenai and stated, "If you find my staff's assessment unsatisfactory, you are more than welcome to take your business elsewhere, Yuhi-san. We can terminate your liability form and-."

"No!" Kurenai expressed out loud causing Sora to pause. Kurenai regained her composure and muttered as she looked at her feet in shame. "I do not wish to go elsewhere, Fujiwara-san."

"Yuhi-san, look at me," Sora said sternly.

Kurenai straightened and stared at Sora, only to see gentle eyes looking back instead of one filled with disappointment or anger.

Sora continued, "Because I have staff members who are part of Konoha's active shinobi force, it's almost second nature for them to gather information. All weaknesses and flaws are to be highlighted. In fact, it's encouraged. This is what sets apart this location from the other Masamaru's Weapons Shops location." Sora ignored everyone's scrutinizing gaze as she continued, "However, I am not as tolerant as others when it comes to one's prejudices and biases that does more harm than good. Therefore, every single staff of mine know where I clearly draw the line and are expected to follow it, even if they don't agree with it."

Sora went to grab Maki's shoulders and brought him to her side. "The first thing I teach my staff is to observe and analyze everything happening around them. Maki-kun has been doing this the moment you walked into the store." Ignoring how Kurenai winced, Sora continued, "Your time with us is short, Yuhi-san. If Maki-kun hadn't started observing you, he wouldn't have been able to pinpoint and focus on your weaknesses. This would have made choosing the appropriate items even longer than necessary. You will not have a lot of options to choose from given the location you're going to, Yuhi-san."

Kurenai stiffened as she recalled what Sora had said earlier before she signed the liability waiver form. "Take everything into account," she muttered.

Sora gave a single nod, "You understand now."

Kurenai said softly, "Yes, Fujiwara-san."

Sora nodded as she squeezed Maki's shoulders. She gave him an encouraging smile, "Don't be afraid to voice your thoughts, Maki-kun."

Maki's eyes widened as Sora walked away. He turned to Kurenai, who gave a small hesitant smile. She bowed and muttered, "I'll be in your care, Maki-kun."

Maki's face reddened as he stuttered, "P-please follow me, Yuhi-san."

Once the two exited the room, Sora raised a brow at her other two staff members. "Career Genin, huh?" she asked, wondering what that was.

'Is it even a shinobi rank?' she thought.

The two teens winced and averted their gaze. "We didn't mean to hide it," Mei said.

Beside her, Ko ran a hand through his hair, "We weren't sure if you'd accept us if you had known."

Sora blinked at them in shock before her gaze softened, understanding now what a Career Genin meant. How to others, it can be viewed as a disheartening rank to have. Almost taboo to even talk about. 'It makes sense now,' she thought as she recalled the interactions of the Genins inside the Hokage's office yesterday.

Beaming a smile at her two staff members, Sora said, "Now you know I could care less about rank and status, right?"

Their cheeks reddened slightly as they nodded. Giving them a wink, she walked towards the back wall where Team Ro were standing. Placing her hand on one of the closet handles, a seal activated as a click was heard. Sora pulled at the handle as a rack displaying different kimono and yukata came out. She kept pulling the closet handle until the rack had extended out to the center of the room. Walking beside the the rack, she gazed at her staff members as they watched her curiously. Giving them a smile, she resumed going through the rack. Sora grabbed a dark mahogany kimono with pink and white geometric shapes of triangles of varying sizes.

Walking towards the wall of fabrics and threads, she placed the kimono onto the empty metal rack. She asked, "Did you guys finish preparing the order for the water tantos?"

The two looked at one another with excitement. Trying to restrain himself, Ko said, "Yeah we did."

"We washed up too," Mei added, hoping it'll convince Sora.

Sora nodded as she placed a dark purple kimono with white and golden prints of large koi fishes swimming amongst silver metallic clouds. "Shall I give a demonstration then?" she asked as she walked back towards the opened closet rack.

Mei's and Ko's eyes widened as Sora pulled out a midnight blue kimono with a dark lavender dragon ascending up towards a pink silvery moon.

"You mean?" Ko asked, warily glancing at the others in the room.

Sora gave them a grin as she placed the third kimono beside the other two. "Why let this opportunity pass?"

Pushing the closet rack closed, she heard both teens exclaim out "Yes! Sora-sensei is back."

Sora grinned as the seal reactivated, keeping the closet sealed shut. Hearing multiple footsteps enter the room, she looked up to see Maki and Kurenai enter the room. Kurenai looked a bit shocked, if her fingers twitching was any indication.

"Your top three?" Sora asked Maki as the entrance to the Testing Grounds disappeared, leaving just a bare white wall.

"C3, E1, and E2," he replied. "However, C3 should only be used as a last resort since it's a tad too long and can easily get caught in things."

Sora nodded as she walked towards the wall of hairpins. She stared at it for a few seconds before glancing over at the three kimonos she had chosen earlier. "Yuhi-san, how many sets did you need?"

Kurenai came out of her stupor and quickly answered, "Preferably two. One for the day, and one for the festival."

Sora nodded as she looked at the wall of hairpins again. 'That'll work,' she thought.

"Maki-kun," Sora said as she turned to look at him. Taking the empty Option Case from him, she tapped the sides of the bottom piece to activate a seal. As the bottom and lid expanded into a larger display case, she gave it back to him. "Go to the front and assemble the secondary core items for Care Package 3."

Maki's eyes widened and nodded as he took the Options Case from her. "Sure thing Boss."

Looking at Kurenai, Sora added, "Take Yuhi-san with you. If something sparks her interest, you may add it to the case as long as it is compatible."

Maki nodded his head, understanding what he needed to do. "Of course." Turning to Kurenai, he bowed and pointed to the entrance, "If you could follow me."

Sora watched the two leave the room as she turned to Mei and Ko. "Because Yuhi-san is on a time restraint, I am only going to be showing how to get from Point A to Point B. I will not be stopping to walk you through each step." Seeing Mei and Ko nod in understanding, Sora continued, "Your main objective is to see what and how you can apply what you've observed to a scenario that will benefit you as a shinobi and a kunoichi."

Sora turned to walk back towards the shelves full of squeeze bottles. She added, "Don't forget to talk amongst one another as well. Another's perspective can provide better insight."

The two looked at one another in thought. "Another's perspective?" Mei muttered.

Her eyes widened as a light bulb clicked. Her gaze met Ko's as they both said in unison, "Maki."

Sora smiled when they took off towards the front of the shop. Without looking behind her, she reached up to pull down two squeeze bottles. "If you have a question, just ask," she said as she walked towards the wall beside the shelves to activate a seal.

The chairs next to the sinks shifted as three work tables rose from the ground next to each of the sinks. On the work tables were more hair brushes, hair combs, a box of gloves, and a box of precut foil sheets. Beside the box of foil sheets was a small container everyone recognized as tools to apply hair dyes.

Placing the two squeeze bottles onto the table, Sora heard Ibiki ask, "Does the liability waiver form prevent others from talking about this particular service?"

Sora shook her head no. "I leave that up to the individual's discretion."

Ibiki nodded in understanding. 'It's purposely being kept hush hush then,' he thought as he shared a look with Bear.

Beside him, Inoichi asked, "What do your teach your staff, Daimyo-sama?"

Sora glanced at him before putting on a pair of gloves. "The only difference between civilians and shinobi is the manipulation of ones chakra. When you compare the two side by side, civilians are no different from shinobi in a lot of ways."

Bear narrowed his eyes at her, which she ignored, as her staff members came into the Trial Room. "Maki-kun, select one hairpin from Categories C3, E1, and E2. Make sure they follow a motif of the three kimonos I've chosen. Add them into the Options Case. Once done, you can place the case on the desk."

As Maki walked towards the wall of hairpins, Sora looked at Kurenai. "Yuhi-san, if you could," Sora said as she pulled a black plastic sheet off from a cushioned chair in front of a sink.

As Kurenai sat down, Sora wrapped the plastic sheet around her neck and clipped it into place. Sora gave Kurenai an encouraging smile, "I assume that the person who had recommended me to you already filled you in on what I specialize in?" At Kurenai's nod, Sora nodded. "I'll try my best to get you out of here before sundown." Sora straightened as she said, "Let's get started."

Everyone watched as Mei, Ko, and Maki went to stand in front of the Commanders, Inoichi, and Team Ro. Not looking at them, Sora asked, "Did the others brief you, Maki-kun?"

"Yes Boss," Maki said, excited.

"Good," she said as a seal activated beside her.

It was a display of naturally colored hair extensions and wigs. Grabbing a small booklet hooked to the side, she opened it to a specific page. Six small circles of hair appeared. Sora placed it at the top of Kurenai's hair as she color matched the hair samples to Kurenai's natural hair color. Finding a match, Sora tapped on the wooden display hook as it lit up. The word 'Roots' appeared around the hook. Going down the length of Kurenai's hair, she found two more matches. The words, 'Middle' and 'Tips' appeared. Placing the booklet back, Sora took a brush from beside the sink and gently combed Kurenai's hair. Taking a large hair clip, Sora clipped parts of Kurenai's hair out of the way to begin attaching the hair extensions.

Ensuring that the hair extensions naturally blended in with Kurenai's scalp, Sora said to Kurenai, "I know longer hair is a liability in the field so if someone pulls with enough force, the hair extensions will pull away without much give. It'll feel ticklish once pulled."

"Will they still be secured?" Kurenai asked.

Sora nodded. "Civilians wont be able to pull it out."

"Got it," Kurenai said, understanding that it'll be an enemy shinobi who can pull out the hair extensions.

Sora gently turned the cushioned chair so that Kurenai's back was facing the sink. Tilting the chair backwards towards the sink, she pulled out the faucet away from Kurenai's face. She stepped onto the larger middle paddle on the ground of the sink as a gentle light shower stream started. Letting the water run, Sora stepped onto the smaller paddle on the left to adjust the temperature of the water before soaking Kurenai's hair. Once done, Sora turned off the water by stepping onto the larger paddle again, before returning the faucet to it's original slot. Placing her palm underneath the dispenser labeled shampoo above the sink, she pressed into the container as a blue dollop landed onto her palm. Lathering it up in her gloved hands, she began to wash Kurenai's hair. Turning on the water again, she washed the suds off. Once done, she gently squeezed out any excess water, then righted the chair upright. Taking multiple large hair clips, Sora began to clip Kurenai's still wet hair into sections.

From the sidelines, Inoichi asked, "She's not blowdrying Kurenai-san's hair?" He's seen many woman within his clan dye their hair, but they've never done it the way Sora is doing it now.

Mei shook her head no. "Sora-sama's hair dye formula is activated via water. Because of this, there can't be any oils on the hair or else the dye won't latch."

Inoichi's eyes widened as he watched Sora start with the lower sections and placed a sheet of foil underneath it. He then eyed the squeeze bottle on the corner of the lower shelf. 'It must be that color then,' he thought to himself. 'It has to be.'

Grabbing one of the squeeze bottles, Sora squeezed a bit at the roots of Kurenai's hair before combing it through the rest of the section of hair. Grabbing another foil sheet, Sora kept applying the first color until she was a third of the way up Kurenai's head. Working on a new section, she squeezed the second colored hair dye at the roots then rubbed it halfway into the section with her hands. She then squeezed the first color onto the rest of the section and brushing it through with the first comb she used for the first dye. Taking a large painting brush, Sora brushed the area where the colors met to blend them into one another. She kept doing this until she was done dyeing Kurenai's hair. Sora stepped back to take off the glove on her bandaged hand and disposed of it in the trash. She then grabbed the spray bottle on the work table and began spraying water all over Kurenai's hair, ensuring that each segment was soaked.

Placing the spray bottle down, she looked at Kurenai, "Give it five minutes to fully activate."

Kurenai nodded as Sora began to dispose of the items that she used and cleaned up the work table. Once done, she put on new gloves and began to remove the foil sheets underneath each section of hair. She took off the glove on her uninjured hand to tilt the chair back towards the sink. Grabbing the faucet with her ungloved hand, Sora turned on the water to rinse out any excess dye. Once the water ran clear, Sora turned off the water and returned the faucet in it's slot. She placed her palm underneath the dispenser labeled conditioner and pressed twice. Two drops of pastel blue dollops dropped onto her palm. Placing some onto the other palm, she began to message the product into Kurenai's roots and hair. Turning the water on again, she rinsed off all of the conditioner. Once done, Sora gently righted up the chair and began to blow dry the hair.

"Do you know how to style your hair into a head ornament, Yuhi-san?" Sora asked once the hair was mostly dry.

"Do female attendees of the Moonlight Festival wear head ornaments?" Kurenai asked.

Sora nodded. "Including small toddlers."

Kurenai shook her head no. "I'm afraid I don't."

"That's okay. I'll work something out," Sora muttered.

Turning the seat slightly to see the back of Kurenai's hair, Sora unclipped the black plastic sheet and threw it in the bin near the sink. Sora walked to her desk and opened her bottom right drawer. She then pulled out a basket with different items inside it and placed it on the desk. Walking towards the wall of drawers, she opened the bottom one to grab different plastic bags of gelatinous pieces. Tucking everything under her right arm, she picked up her stool and walked towards Kurenai. Placing the items on the cleaned work table, she placed the stool in front of Kurenai. Looking into the basket, Sora took a cup and filled it with warm water. Taking the hair clips by the sink, she clipped Kurenai's hair away from her face.

"Tilt your head back for me?," Sora asked as she sat on the stool. "If you get tired, let me know and we'll take a break."

Kurenai nodded as she tilted her head back. Opening the plastic bags, Sora grabbed a gelatinous piece from each one and placed it next to Kurenai's neck. Choosing a piece that matched Kurenai's skin tone, Sora placed the rest back and moved them to the side. She took a clean artist brush from the basket and dipped it into the cup of water. She began applying it to the bottom of Kurenai's chin all the way down to the base of her neck. Grabbing a small jar with a clear liquid from the basket, Sora grabbed a new artist brush.

"The adhesive is made of plant material. It will wash off with warm water and soap," Sora said as she began to apply a little bit to one side of a gelatinous piece. "Under normal circumstances, I would make a mold of your face but we'll have to wing it this time around."

Kurenai hmmed in thought as she felt something soft touch the bottom of her chin.

Aligning the gelatinous piece with Kurenai's chin, Sora kept applying a piece little by little to get the definition that she wanted. Once done, she took her blow dryer and set on the temperature to cold before gently blowing it in the areas she applied the gelatinous pieces, ensuring not to get Kurenai's face.

Once the pieces were partially set, Sora turned off the blow dryer and said, "Look straight at me."

Kurenai did as told. Sora then began to color match different parts of Kurenai's face. Once those pieces were selected, Sora began adding gelatinous pieces on the hollows of Kurenai's cheeks and parts of her forehead and jaw line. Sora placed the her brush down and stepped back to look at Kurenai's face. Nodding in satisfaction, Sora dipped her fingertips into the cup of water and began to smooth out the edges of the gelatinous pieces and blend them into Kurenai's skin. Taking a sponge from a compartment of the basket, she dipped one end of it into the cup of water. Squeezing out the excess water, she gently dabbed everywhere there were gelatinous pieces. She then turned the sponge around to stipple the dry end where certain areas needed more texture. Taking a silicon brush, Sora gently drew lines to mimic her natural indentations along the forehead and the base of her neck. Grabbing a smaller silicon brush, she began to add small marks to mimic Kurenai's natural facial textures as well as she could.

Taking a step back again, Sora nodded and said, "Let it sit for 10 minutes. Try not to move or everything will shift."

Kurenai stiffened and muttered, "Got it."

Sora gave her a smile as she began to clean up the work table. Putting everything back where they belong, she pulled out another drawer. She took out a plain brown hairpiece with an upper flap made of cloth and a metal toothed clip underneath it. Opening the top drawer, Sora grabbed a tomato pin cushion with multiple pins already placed inside. After securing the pin cushion around her wrist with the attached velcro strap, she took out a small case of needles. Selecting the size that she needed, she stuck it onto her pin cushion. Placing the case of needles inside the drawer, she grabbed a fabric sheer and placed it inside her hakama pant pockets. Walking towards the display of wigs and hair extensions, Sora began to pin multiple layers of the same hair extensions she had color matched earlier. Once satisfied by the volume of hair on the hairpiece, she went towards the thread wall. Seeing that the color she needed was at the very top, she looked around to see who was the closest to her.

Inoichi was looking at her with a curious stare.

Sora asked, "Can you hold this for me, Yamanaka-sama?"

Inoichi did not say anything but placed a palm out as she draped the hairpiece into his hand. He noted how realistic the hair felt, despite knowing it was fake.

"Thank you," she muttered as she walked towards the empty wall beside the fabrics.

Placing a hand on the wall, a seal activated as the wall receded to reveal a ladder. Sora grabbed the ladder and positioned it where she could safely reach the colored thread she wanted. Taking the hairpiece from Inoichi, Sora climbed up the ladder and pulled down the thread that closely matched with the colors of the hair extensions. Holding onto the hairpiece, she took out the needle and strung the thread through the eye hole. Sora pulled the thread down a bit more and began to sew the hair extensions onto the hairpiece to secure everything together.

From below, the three teens watched their boss with worry. She was still standing on top of the ladder. They all surrounded the ladder to ensure that they can catch her should she fall. Everyone saw them approach but did not say anything.

Once done, Sora tied two knots and snipped the thread. Placing the needle onto the pin cushion, she began to climb down the ladder, being careful not to step onto the hair extensions. Seeing her staff members standing closer to her, she raised a questioning eyebrow. They all stepped back in response.

Giving a small amused chuckle, Sora continued towards the wall of sinks as Inoichi asked, "What are you going to be doing with that?"

Sora turn to glance at him and replied, "Making a fake head ornament, Yamanaka-sama."

'I'm sure of it now,' Inoichi thought as he recalled meeting a young girl with black and dark red colored hair that was always sticking out everywhere. 'However, that child was constantly inside Konoha,' he thought as he continued watching Sora. 'From what Ibiki has told me, you don't come to Konoha often. Are you really her?'

Taking the hairpiece, Sora gently washed it with shampoo. Once she squeezed the excess water, she layered foil sheets on the worktable. Laying out the extensions, she separated them into layers. Putting on gloves, she began to apply the same hair dyes similarly to what she had done before with Kurenai's hair. After rinsing and washing the hairpiece with conditioner, she held the hairpiece in her hand as she blowdried it. Once mostly dried, she walked towards the wall of closets to pull out a metal shelf instead of a rack of clothes. On the shelf were different sized mannequins and head busts. Taking a head bust, she walked towards an empty work table. Activating a seal on the worktable and the bottom of the head bust, she aligned both seals and set the head bust into place. Grabbing the headpiece, she secured it onto the upper back of the head with a small seal. Tugging on the hair extensions to ensure that they were secured, she moved the stool she was sitting on earlier to be in front of the work table. Grabbing a hair comb, Sora set out to make a head ornament.

Not looking away, Sora said, "Yuhi-san, there are three kimonos I've selected for you. I need you to try them on." At the sound of Kurenai getting up from the chair, Sora added, "There's a seal around the rack so when you're ready, just tap on it. It'll provide you privacy."

Kurenai blinked at her in surprise and nodded in relief. While it was common to change in front of one's teammates, it was still uncommon to change in front of unacquainted males, such as the ones in the rooms. Even if they were Anbu. Seeing the seal, Kurenai tapped on it and was surprised to see a black curtain surrounding her and the rack. Only the tops of her head were poking out from above the curtain rails.

As Kurenai tried on the kimonos, Sora continued working on the head ornament. Every so often the sound of pressurized air releasing could be heard. Everyone noted how the hairspray Sora was using was unscented, unlike the ones that most civilians used, which strongly smelled of chemicals.

After half an hour, Kurenai said, "Fujiwara-san, the kimono with the dragon is the most comfortable as well as the one with the koi fishes. The other one is a bit restrictive."

"Okay, Yuhi-san," Sora said, not looking away as she finished the last bits of the head ornament. "I'll let you style your hair how ever you want for the kimono with koi fishes, Yuhi-san. But the kimono with the dragon should be worn specifically for the Moonlight Festival with the head ornament. Can you put that one on again so that you can get an idea of what the finished look will look like?"

Sora set the hair brushes down and leaned back a little as she let out a tired huff. She could feel her fingers trembling slightly as she felt a dull pain gaining momentum. Ignoring it the best she could, she looked at the black curtain in concern. Kurenai had not said anything.

"Is everything alright, Yuhi-san?" she asked, trying to keep her voice stable.

Kurenai quickly got up from where she was sitting and said, "Yes. Sorry Fujiwara-san, I didn't know how to undo the seal."

"Just tap on it again," Sora said.

'How much time has passed?,' Sora asked herself as she got up from the stool. She winced when she felt her head pounding. 'Stood up too fast,' she thought as she took in a slow breath to steady herself.

From the back of the room, multiple eyes narrowed at her subtle movements.

Hearing a poof, Sora turned to see that the curtain was no longer there. Sora grabbed the stool and placed it on the white circular platform in front of the mirrors. "I'll show you how to attach the head ornament."

Kurenai's eyes widened when she saw the head ornament on the head bust. It had multiple locks of hair looping around one another to form flower petals.

Sora chuckled at her worried gaze. "Do not be frightened by how it looks, Yuhi-san. It's very simple to put on."

'Just a bit more,' Sora thought to herself as she felt her legs tremble as she walked over to pick up the head ornament.

As Kurenai approached the mirrors, she took in a gasp of air. Gone was her slender face. Instead, her face was rounder and fuller. 'Is that,' Kurenai thought as her eyes widened, 'a double chin?'

Her hair color was no longer black. Instead it was white at the top that faded out into soft lavender. She touched the areas that Sora had added the gelatinous pieces. Her eyes widened. 'They feel just like skin,' she thought. Furrowing her brows, she watched as wrinkles formed on her forehead. 'They react naturally too.'

Kurenai looked up when Sora appeared behind her holding the head ornament. Sora chuckled at her surprised gaze. "I should've warned you in advance, Yuhi-san," Sora said, looking at Kurenai through the mirror.

"N-no," Kurenai said as she sat on the stool. "It is just different."

Sora gave her a smile. "Do you know how to style your hair into a bun to resemble a rose?" Seeing Kurenai nod her head yes, Sora handed the head ornament for her to hold. "When you make the bun, make sure you only use the upper half of your hair. Leave the bottom half to blend the fake head ornament into your natural hair to complete the illusion."

Kurenai nodded as she watched Sora quickly form a rose bun with ease.

Securing the rose bun into place, Sora took the head ornament from Kurenai and placed it on the upper back of Kurenai's head. Using the mirror, Sora adjusted the height.

"Clip the head ornament just slightly underneath the bun," Sora directed as she gently clip the head ornament onto Kurenai's hair. "There's a seal on the head ornament to make the weight lighter too. Let me know if it's still too heavy."

"It's actually not too heavy," Kurenai said. "Just enough to remind me that there's something there."

Sora nodded as she sectioned the bottom layers. Grabbing a section, she wrapped it upward and tucked it underneath the head ornament, then around the rose bun. Once done, she looked at the head ornament through the the mirror and added larger rose petals with the sections that were wrapped around the rose bun. "You can make the rose bun fuller by gently pulling out sections of the hair that were wrapped around the bun. However, don't make it too full that it'll block the flower petals."

Kurenai stiffly nodded. Asuma would do this to her hair often. To the point where he even taught her how to do it. 'I wonder if you were the one to teach him this,' she thought.

Ignoring how Kurenai had stiffened up, Sora continued, "Your natural wavy hair will match well with the head ornament if you'd like to loosen a few strands to frame your face," Sora said, pointing to the locks on either side of Kurenai's cheeks she had left untouched. "You can further secure the head ornament with the hairpins. Just make sure you run it through the rose bun too, and not just the head ornament," Sora informed her.

Sora took a step back only to realize her mistake as she missed the ledge of the platform as she began to fall backwards. She sucked in a breath as five pairs of hands caught her. She blinked to see Kurenai grabbing onto her arm to keep her upright. Ko, Hound, Ibiki and Bear were all supporting her weight to prevent her from fully falling backwards.

"That's enough, Sora-sama," Ko muttered as he felt her trembling form underneath his palm. Guiding her gently off the platform, he called out behind them. "Mei, go get the tea Masa-san had instructed us to prepare."

Mei glanced at Sora in worry before leaving the Trial Room and up the stairs.

"Maki, find the emergency kit that Masa-san made for Sora-san. It should have a blue apple," Ko said.

Maki nodded as he took off towards the hallway and into the sitting area.

Ko gently turned Sora around. He didn't let go of Sora's hand as he led her towards the back. Once she was standing in between Fox and Neko, Ko lightly nudged her.

"Sit," he ordered.

Sora blinked at him in surprise. 'Am I a dog?' she thought as she slowly lowered herself to the ground.

Sora watched as Ko took the Option Case from the desk. "We'll take care of it from here, Sora-sama," he said as he walked towards Kurenai. He paused to give Sora a small grin, "Afterall, everything we've learned up until now was taught by you and Ai-sensei."

Sora's eyes widened as Ko opened the case. 'I wonder,' she thought. She looked to her left when she felt someone crouch down to sit beside her. It was Hound. He gave her a once over before looking out towards Ko. Standing beside him was Ibiki and Bear, who also gave her a quick worried glance before focusing their attention on Ko. Fox had moved to stand in between Neko and Crow. All three looked at Hound curiously before turning their gaze to Ko as well.

"Yuhi-san," Ko said in a serious voice, "Just like in kunoichi classes where they teach you about the arrangement of flowers, the arrangement of hairpins are no different for a civilian, particularly those from the middle class and above." Kurenai's eyes stared at the teen in shock as Ko continued, "Based on the kimonos that Sora-sama have chosen, most of the attendees of the Moonlight Festival are from the middle and upper class. I'll give you some basic messages that you can use with the hairpins that Maki chose."

Everyone turned to look at Sora in surprise before Ko's voice gained their attention again. "For your head ornament, only put one hairpin. Any more and it'll draw attention and signify to others that you are from a noble family rather than a low middle class." At Kurenai's confused stare, Ko explained as he pointed to the hairpins, "These are all made of pure silver. As common as they are, only those from the upper class will purposely flaunt it by adding two into their hair."

Sora smiled as she tucked her knees to her chest. 'He's doing well,' she thought.

Ko pointed to the hairpin displaying a small chain of roses, "This is the E1 hairpin. Place this one on either side of the head ornament, and it'll tell others that you are looking for a potential suitor." Pointing to the hairpin with a chain link of a single small cherry blossom, "This is the C1 hairpin. Unlike the E1, this hairpin can display two different types of messages depending on the location. Place this one on the left of the head ornament and it tells others that you are attending the festival with company. But if you place it on the right, it sends the message that you're attending the festival alone." Pointing to the last hairpin with a small red crescent moon, "This is the E2 hairpin. This is similar to the E1 hairpin, in that there are two messages you can choose from. Place this one on the right side, and it tells others that you are happily in love and want to be left alone. By placing it on the left, you're actually telling others that you're open to spend one night with someone."

Feeling Kurenai's soul twitch, Sora internally sighed as she thought, 'It's going to be one of those missions.'

Taking deep breaths to keep her mind off of the pain that was wracking her body, she said, "I don't have time to fit a pair of colored contacts to your eyes, Yuhi-san. So, we'll have to go with one of our premade ones."

"Sora-sama," Ko warned when Sora tried to get up. He placed the Option Case back onto the desk and gave her a stern gaze. "Stay," he ordered as he walked towards her.

Ignoring her look of disbelief, he activated a seal to open a drawer above her head. He quietly warned, "If your symptoms worsens." Ko left the rest unsaid.

Sora let out a weak laugh, but stayed sitting, knowing that his threat was very much real. Drawing her knees to her chest, she rested her chin on top of her arms and said, "Give her I-93 to try."

Ko looked at her as she turned her head to rest her cheeks further into her arms. Frowning in worry, Ko grabbed the assigned numbered case and closed the drawer. The seal deactivated sealing the drawer closed as he walked back towards Kurenai. "Have you've put on colored lens before, Yuhi-san?"

Kurenai shook her head no.

"I'll show you how to do one side first and you can do the other side," Ko said. "But first, we have to make sure our hands are impeccably clean. Any dirt or dust trapped under the lens will cause eye irritation or could potentially block your vision."

Kurenai nodded as they both washed their hands at the sinks.

While Ko showed Kurenai how to put on the colored contacts, Mei and Maki came back into the Trial Room. Seeing Sora curled up on the floor, they carefully walked up to her and crouched down.

Ignoring how Hound was watching her movements, Mei softly nudged Sora's shoulder. "Sora-sama?" Seeing her sweaty forehead and reddening cheeks, Mei reached out a hand to touch Sora's skin. She let out a curse, "You're burning up," she muttered.

Everyone within hearing distance tensed up.

Mei's eyes widened when hot fingers gently took hers. "I'll be okay," Sora muttered as she shifted her head to look forward.

Mei frowned and handed her the tea. "Drink this, Sora-sama," she said as she gently placed the cup inside Sora's palms.

Beside Mei, Maki continued slicing the blue apple onto a plate with a kitchen knife. Taking a blue colored slice, he said, "Open, Boss."

Sora blinked and said, "Maki-kun, I can-."

Maki took this time to slip a slice of blue apple into her mouth. "Chew then swallow," he ordered.

Sora looked at her two staff members and let out a giggle before holding onto the other end of the slice Maki had given her. Taking a bite, she said with amusement, "Everyone's picking up someone's habit, I see."

The two looked at one another and shrugged. "Masa-san advised us that if we want you to listen, we have to be direct on what we want you to do," Mei said.

Sora grinned as she took a sip of her tea, letting out a sigh of relief. 'Chakra poisoning was always hard for me to handle,' she thought as she ate the other piece of the blue apple.

Sora lowered her cup and said, "Maki-kun." Maki looked up at her while handing her a new slice of blue apple. Giving him a smile of thanks, she took it and continued, "Please show Yuhi-san how to disassemble and reassemble C1. Reserve E1 and E2 to be dipped in her poison of choice."

"Of course, Boss." Maki said as he got up.

"Mei-chan," Sora said pointing to the walls of shoes. "Get Yuhi-san measured and then select a pair. Have backup options just in case." Mei nodded as she rose, only to pause when Sora added, "Mei-chan, make sure it matches both kimonos. Once selected, show Yuhi-san how to operate the pair."

"On it," Mei said as she walked towards the wall of shoes.

"Ko-kun," Sora called out. Ko turned to look at her as she continued, "Provide Yuhi-san Care Package 1 supplements."

Ko's eyes widened before nodding.

Seeing her staff preoccupied with their tasks, Sora let out a sigh as she moved the plate of blue apple slices to the side to stretch out her legs. She winced when the pain spread throughout her body. She watched as Ko walked towards the cosmetics wall and selected three shades of liquid lipsticks that matched Kurenai's natural lip color.

"Yuhi-san," he said. "These have been formulated to be mixed with poison. It goes without saying, choose a poison that you're completely immune to." Ignoring how Kurenai stiffened, he continued, "Please select a shade you like best."

Ibiki glanced down at Sora. "Poison?" he asked her.

Sora sighed. "At first it was a customization order. However, soon after, I kept getting requests. Before I knew it, they became a permanent item inside the Trial Room."

Ibiki gave her a look. 'Requests from who?' he thought.

"Add one drop of poison, then shake it to mix before applying the product. Once applied to the lips, let a minute pass to let it set," Ko instructed.

Ko went to return the other two lipsticks to the shelves. He then pulled out a small display case of different colored nail polish with white swirls and walked towards Kurenai. "These are also formulated to be mixed in with poison. Please choose a color you'd like for your nails."

Kurenai looked at the variety of colors, such as deep blues, and neon pink. Some were metallic, while others were matte. Seeing a light lavender with white swirls, Kurenai took it out of its slot.

Holding the display case with one hand, Ko reached towards the bottom of the display case activating a seal. Another layer of slots appeared in the front. However, all the nail polish were transparent. Picking up one with his free hand, Ko placed it onto Kurenai's hands. "This one changes colors upon contact with poison. Please reserve one nail for this product if you wish to use it. You can use it by itself as a base layer, or on top of the color you chose. If you choose to do the latter method, allow two minutes for the colored layer to semi-dry before applying the transparent layer."

"Another frequent request?" Bear asked, having a feeling on which individuals were making the requests.

"Mhm," Sora said as she took in a deep breath and slowly let it out.

Hound glanced at her and narrowed his eyes when he saw that she looked paler. 'She's no longer sweating,' he thought. 'Though, I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. She should've gone to the hospital.'

Hound looked towards the front as he heard Ko talk.

"Add two drops of poison, then shake to mix before applying," Ko directed as he deactivated the seal on the nail polish display. The transparent nail polish disappeared as he continued, "Both nail polishes will need 5 minutes to fully dry."

As he stepped away with the nail polish display, he paused to look at Kurenai and warned, "Do not try to mix Masamaru's products to your personal collection of lipsticks and nail polish. Poison retainability will not occur."

Kurenai's cheeks colored slightly as she thought about doing that as soon as Ko had mentioned that they were formulated to allow poison to be added.

As Ko went to put the nail polish display away, Mei stepped in front of Kurenai with a contraption in the shape of a rectangle. In the center was a gel layer, and sticking out from the four sides were silicon plates.

"Yuhi-san," Mei said, losing the cold voice she had used earlier. "This is a device that we use to help us give you the appropriate shoe."

Kurenai blinked at it curiously. She asked, "Couldn't I just give you my shoe size?"

Mei shook her head no. "Your normal shoe size that you use to purchase regular shoes will not work for these kinds of shoes. They were created by Sora-sama to fit a specific way, thus require a different measurement."

Kurenai looked at the wall of shoes in thought. 'They look like normal shoes. Though, I'm getting a feeling that anything inside the Trial Room is anything but normal.'

Kurenai glanced at the younger girl and nodded. "Have at it, I suppose," she said.

"I'll need you to step on it, Yuhi-san," Mei said as she set the device on the ground. "The gel will feel weird at first."

Kurenai stood up from the stool and placed her left foot in the center. She forced herself not to cringe when she felt something slimy move outwards as she put her full weight on her left foot. The odd sensation stopped as the excess gel space around her foot shrunk, bringing the silicon plates closer to her feet.

"Please keep still while I continue," Mei said.

Mei brought the top silicon plate down as she bent the sides inward to follow Kurenai's toe arch. Mei then pushed the bottom heel plate up and curved it to flush against Kurenai's heel. Pushing the side plates inward, she followed the curvature of Kurenai's foot. Activating the seal on the corners of each plate, the letter L glowed blue before the plates released back outwards at the same time.

"You may step off now, Yuhi-san," Mei said.

As Kurenai lifted her left foot, her eyes widened in surprised by how the gel layer reformed itself back to it's original square size.

"We'll do the same with your right foot, Yuhi-san," Mei informed her.

Kurenai stepped on the device with her right foot and felt the slimy gel move again. Mei repeated the same steps. However, when she activated the seals, the letter R glowed blue instead. Once Kurenai lifted her right foot, Mei took the device and stood up to walk towards the wall of shoes. Pressing on the L then on the R, Mei watched as side plates shifted wider slightly, while the indentations on the gel got deeper for the mold of the right foot.

Seeing that Mei had finished measuring Kurenai's feet, Maki made his way towards Kurenai. In his hand was the hairpin with the single cherry blossom.

"Yuhi-san, for this hairpin specifically, when you twist the shaft like this, the shaft will open," Maki said as he twisted the shaft clockwise to show a hollowed two piece compartment. "You can fill it up with anything, such as liquids or powder," he twisted it closed. "As to not add anymore weight to the hairpin, press the center pearl on the cherry blossom flower twice to activate a seal inside the shaft. The seal will also ensure nothing leaks or enter the shaft to contaminate the contents inside. When you want to dispense the contents, press the tip of the hairpin firmly." Maki tilted the hairpin upright and pressed the tip to reveal a small opening. He let go of the tip and the opening disappeared.

"Any questions so far, Y-Yuhi-san?" Maki asked.

"I think I've got it," Kurenai said. "That's the C1, correct?"

Maki nodded. "Correct. For all three hairpins, pull on the chain link and it'll disengage from the shaft." Maki did so as he said, "This will activate an exploding seal inside the shaft, similar to an exploding tag."

Seeing Kurenai's look of horror, Maki quickly added, "It's not activated yet, Yuhi-san. Everything inside Masamaru's shop is to remain inactive until it's been purchased, with a few exceptions of course."

Kurenai sagged in relief. 'Those are some dangerous hairpins,' she thought.

"How long have you've been weaponizing hairpins, Sora?" Ibiki asked, glancing at the ones in her hair warily.

Sora smiled into her arms at his question. "As soon as I opened up shop, I suppose," Sora said as Maki reattached the chain link to the hairpin shaft.

When Maki left to put the cherry blossom hairpin back inside the Options Case, Mei walked towards Kurenai with a pair of slippers made of wood, bamboo, leather, and cotton. She flipped the slipper around to reveal the sole of the slippers. "Yuhi-san, there are two areas that contain a seal to release a hidden blade," Mei said. "Just like the seal you activated for the black curtains, these seals don't require you to use chakra."

Tapping on the heel area, a small metal blade protruded backwards. She then tapped on it again, and it retracted. She tapped on the toe area and another small blade protruded. "Try putting these on and unseal the blades. If it doesn't work, I can get you another pair to try."

Knowing what was going to be ask, Sora muttered, "Those started off as customization but now have become a permanent item."

Inoichi looked at her and asked, "Is the Trial Room opened to the public, Daimyo-sama?"

"No and yes," Sora said as she lowered her head onto her arms as she looked at her staff members. "The Trial Room is mainly used for this particular service only. However, if a previous client who signed the liability form wants to purchase an item from the room, then I let them. The only thing I don't sell are the hairpins."

Inoichi nodded in thought as he stared at the hairpins. 'The child couldn't have gotten the hair dye from here,' he thought. 'There's something odd about those hairpins too. That's probably why Daimyo-sama refuses to sell them.'

Taking a sip of her tea, Sora saw that all three of her staff members were occupied. Shifting to pull out the scroll that was left on her desk from her hakama pockets, she set her cup down beside her. Taking a bite from a slice of blue apple, she unraveled the scroll.

After reading the message, she let out a soft groan. At her noise, Team Ro looked at her.

"Daimyo-sama?" Hound asked, unsure if she was in more pain than she let on.

Giving him a small smile, she said, "It's nothing, Hound-san." Rolling up the scroll again, she sighed and leaned against the drawers as her eyes closed. "Things have gotten more complicated it seems," she muttered to herself.

Hound gave her a look, trying to understand what she meant. A quick glance at the Commanders told him that they heard her as well.

Sora took in a long breath and let it go. When she opened her eyes, she saw that her staff members were already placing everything on top of a storage scroll she had created specifically for Masamaru's Weapons Shop. Kurenai was no longer in the dragon kimono, and her head ornament was now safely stored inside a box.

"Please add the Aftercare Package in a separate scroll with written instructions," Sora told her staff members.

The three teens looked at her and nodded. Mei and Maki began grabbing the items for the Aftercare Package as Ko began to write instructions for each item. Once everything was sealed into their respective storage scrolls, Ko handed a black scroll with a single golden wisteria plume to Kurenai.

"Yuhi-san, this contains the selected items from Care Package 1 and 3, along with the accessories," Ko informed her.

Not long after, Mei gave Kurenai a smaller black scroll, also with a single golden wisteria plume. "This one has the Aftercare Package for when your mission is complete."

"Yuhi-san," Sora said as she adjusted herself to sit cross legged. "Don't worry about the payment." At Kurenai's surprised look, Sora grinned. "For first time individuals, everything is free of charge. However, the next time you request for this service, there will be a labor and materials fee on top of any weapons you need to purchase, including any items from the care packages."

"Thank you," Kurenai said with sincere gratitude.

The three staff members bowed and said in unison, "Thank you for choosing Masamaru's Weapons Shop. Come back home safely, Yuhi-san."

Kurenai blinked in surprised before she awkwardly gave a bow as well. "Thank you for taking care of me."

The three teens rose from their bow as Kurenai left the Trial Room. The sound of the bell from the front door rung once then twice before nothing else was heard.

Sora let out a sigh, intending to finally relax, only to frown when she felt a particular seal activate. A golden seal appeared midair and began to float in front of her, making everyone look at her in surprise. At the center of the seal, there was a symbol of a sound wave. Around the edges were different symbols and characters that began circling clockwise.

"Yo, Ra-chan!" A deep masculine voice called out boisterously, making the sound wave symbol glow each time he spoke.

Everyone in the room froze in shock at the familiar voice, including Team Ro.

Sora ignored them as the voice said, "I found a lost kitty so I figured I'd be a gentleman and show her the way to the office."

In the background, Sora could hear a familiar feminine voice growl out, "Unhand me you fiend."

"However, who knew that she'd-," the voice continued

"Ma-san," another deep voice said coldly. The three teens shared wide eyed looks at the familiar voice.

"Wha-," the boisterous voice said only to pause. "My, Ra-chan. You sure have a lot of chakra signatures surrounding you."

Sora's fingers twitch from her hold on her cup, before saying, "You have impeccable timing, Ma-san." Sora finished the last of her blue apple slices as the boisterous voice laughed a deep guttural laugh.

The sound of skin hitting skin was heard, followed by string of curses from the same feminine voice. Ma said, "I know that tone, Ra-chan. The kind that means you have not shown this seal to whoever is in the room with you. Now that they've seen it, they're bound to ask questions."

Swallowing, she said nonchalantly, "It'll just be added onto my ever growing 'Not For Shinobi' list."

Ignoring the look Bear sent her, Sora took a sip from her tea. Glancing at the three glowing blue dots and the single glowing green dot in different areas of the seal, she said, "You seem to be surrounded by a lot of chakra signatures as well."

Ma chuckled nervously. "Well, you see. A certain individual thought the kitten was too curious for her own good, and-."

Sora let out another sigh. "It's fine." Feeling her three staff members looking curiously at her, Sora ignored their stares and propped her right knee up to rest her right arm on top of it while holding her cup of tea. She looked at the green dot a few seconds longer.

"Mizu," she said.

The three staff members tensed. They've never heard her use that tone on one of them before. It was stern.

"Do not involve yourself anymore than what you've already have," Sora stated.

Mizu growled out in frustration, "Why, Sora-san? Why shouldn't I-."

"I will not repeat myself, Mizu," Sora interjected coldly, making everyone in the room freeze. Her voice had a warning tone interlaced with her words.

A long moment passed where no one said anything. Then a soft gruff feminine voice asked, "Sora-sama, what if this is retaliation for you becoming the Fire Daimyo?"

Mizu growled at the woman's implication when Sora said, "You are referring to the impersonator that kickstarted Protocol Shadow."

"Yes," the feminine voice stated.

Sora swirled her tea cup for a few seconds before saying, "Then I will deal with it accordingly, Kora-san."

Taking a sip, Sora looked at her three staff members and internally sighed at their tense form. "Seeing as everyone is already here, we're having a staff meeting," she said, "Masa is already aware of the details so the rest of you listen up."

The three teens looked at one another before moving to sit in front of Sora. They ignored the stares that they were receiving as they paid attention to their boss.

"Ma-san and Ai-san, you two are to escort Mizu back to Konoha. Make sure to pack enough for three months," Sora said.

"T-three months?" Ma asked in disbelief.

Sora lips quirked. "You can't get out of this one. Masa requested you specifically." Lifting up her tea cup, she paused to add, "It seems that you've made quite an impression with T&I and Anbu the last time you were here."

"I-I can explain Ra-chan," Ma said, prepared to plead his case.

"It's fine, Ma-san. I'm not angry. In fact, it might play in your favor," Sora said as she finished the last bits of her tea. "There will be a joint collaboration between Masamaru's Weapons Shop and Konohagakure's T&I Division in regards to the BOLO that was sent out this afternoon. I assume you've all seen it?"

A series of yes was heard.

"Good," Sora said, ignoring how certain souls flickered in surprise. "Ma-san, you and Ai-san will be representing Masamaru's Weapons Shop, while Masa and his team from T&I will represent Konoha. Should Masa be sent outside of the village to continue the investigation, Ma-san, you are to accompany him. Ai-san will be staying behind to provide back up, if needed." Sora set the cup down with a soft clunk on the floor and said, "Let me make this clear, Masamaru and Ai."

Everyone in the room eyes widened at the reveal of Ma's full name.

"Both of you are only consultants for this investigation, therefore not allowed to provoke any enemy whatsoever." Sora took in a breath as she pulled her hairpins out of her bun. Letting the braided bun drop down to her shoulder, she continued , "That being said, if an enemy attacks first, all bets are off." Sora undid her braid and added, "The Testing Floor is open should either of you wish to use it."

"I'm excited to see what the second son of Hiruzen could do," Masamaru said with slight amusement.

Sora ignored the looks she got as she said exasperatedly, "Do not take it too far, Ma-san."

Masamaru laughed. "I'll be sure to treat him with the outmost respect that only a shinobi of his caliber deserves, Ra-chan."

Sora sighed as she heard a cold voice ask, "Sora-sama, are you expecting us to be attacked?"

Sora did not answer immediately. After a few more seconds, she said, "It remains to be seen on who the real target is, Ai-san."

"It's best to be prepared then," Ai concluded.

"Ai-san," Sora continued. "You'll also be helping me with something when you arrive."

"Of course, Sora-sama," Ai said.

Hearing his indifferent response, she added, "It's something that you've asked me about. You'll be needing your ex-students for this project."

Seeing the three teens' eyes widened, Sora gave them a wink as Ai lost his cold tone and muttered in disbelief, "You're serious?"

Sora smile widened. "As serious as me being the Fire Daimyo, Ai-san."

A cough was heard as Ai recovered from his shock and said, "I'll ensure Ma-san and I are well packed for the stay, Sora-sama."

Two of the blue dots disappeared from the seal, leaving one blue one and one green.

"Kora-san, I leave the investigation of the impersonator to you. Take Squad A with you." Sora said.

"Of course, Sora-sama," Kora said.

Before the blue dot could fully leave, Sora added, "Kora-san, take a detour to Location K first. And report back to me immediately."

"Is there something I should be looking for, Sora-sama?" Kora asked.

"No," Sora said. "I just want to confirm something."

"Will do," Kora said as the blue dot disappeared from the seal, leaving the green dot.

Sora stared at the green dot for a minute longer before asking softly, "Did you find what you were sent to look for?"

Everyone in the room stiffened. The three teens looked at one another in shock, then they shared empathizing looks.

A few moments of silence before Mizu gave a dry laugh. "How did you know?"

"I've known the moment you took my Blacksmith's Intern Exam for Masamaru's Weapons Shop," Sora answered.

Mizu sucked in a breath. "That long ago? Then why did you keep me around knowing that I was gathering information on you?"

"It's simple really," Sora said, unbothered. "You were genuinely interested in Masamaru's Weapons Shop. I'd take that any day over someone who only seek to gain the notoriety that comes with the knowledge of making infusion weapons."

"It's really that simple?" Mizu asked incredulously.

Sora laughed. "Yes it is," she said. "At the end of the day, you and the others are still a shinobi from Konoha. The duties you have to Konoha and Hokage-sama will always take priority. It also doesn't help that I encourage you and everyone else to gather information and exploit weaknesses at the shop. So, I'm not at all surprised you were sent to retrieve information on the Guild." Sora paused and looked at the green dot. "And under normal circumstances, I would've just let you explore to your heart's content. However, Protocol Shadow does not allow anyone outside of the Guild to enter the premises, even staff from both Masamaru's Weapons Shop locations."

"Then where did Masamaru-san take me to?" Mizu asked, confused.

Sora shrugged out of habit, forgetting that Mizu wouldn't see it. "It's probably a dud location."

"A what?" Mizu asked.

Sora sighed as she put her knee down to lean against the drawers. "Masamaru's Weapons Shops specializes in making chakra infusion weapons, Mizu. When we first opened, it was during the Third Shinobi War. During that time, many blacksmiths around the world were disappearing from their homes. This led to the creation of different blacksmiths guild throughout the nations, such as Fujiwara's Blacksmiths Guild here in the Land of Fire. Having multiple guilds world wide kickstarted the Blacksmith's Protection Pact. While a guild ensures blacksmiths' competitive rates and the right to refuse service, the Blacksmiths Protection Pact ensures each Daimyo remains accountable should a blacksmith mysteriously disappear. Not many people liked that, including hidden villages and other Daimyos, so they started targeting guilds. To combat this, the committee of the Pact started creating dud locations. Which was a good thing because the first dud location we set up for Fujiwara's Blacksmiths Guild got raided then set on fire."

"Why set up shop in Konoha then if it just draws in more attention?" Mizu asked.

Sora adjusted herself to sit crosslegged. "Konohagakure made an offer I couldn't say no to. In a nutshell, the contract with Konoha allowed me to run my business and guild as I please without the village getting involved. Of course, like many things, there are exceptions and limitations."

Sora took a moment to pause as she said, "Mizu, because we specialize in chakra infusion weapons, there are strict terms and conditions within the contract that I made with Konoha. This is to ensure that not only my business and guild is protected, but Konoha as well." Ignoring everyone's surprised reactions, she continued, "If word got out that a shinobi or kunoichi from Konoha was aiding in an investigation that the Fujiwara's Blacksmiths Guild was responsible for, other hidden villages can use this as a reason to declare war claiming Konoha was trying to arm themselves. It's a risk I'm unwilling to make, regardless of who's orders. If evidence shows that another hidden village is involved, I'll notify Hokage-sama. Until then, leave the issue to my guild, Mizu."

"I-," Mizu said, only to hold herself back as she suck in a shaky breath. "Okay," she relented softly. After a few silent moments, Mizu muttered, "Sora-san, I hadn't meant to abuse your trust this way. I just wanted you to know this."

Sora let out a sigh as she closed her eyes. Taking in a deep breath, she said softly, "Mizu, you aren't the first, and I'm sure you won't be the last person to be sent on a mission to try and get more information about me. I'm sure everything I've done this far is still shrouded with mystery to a lot of people, so its understandable. But, like many others before you, this doesn't change the fact that you are still one of my friends. Therefore, I'm always willing to lay down my life for you."

All Anbu agents in the room looked at Sora with surprised, understanding what Sora had wanted to convey not just to Mizu, but to them as well.

Hearing a soft noise that sounded like a sob, Sora smiled softly before running her hands through her now wavy hair. A hoarse voice said, "As the Fire Daimyo, I don't think its proper to announce that for everyone to hear."

Sora chuckled as she grinned and shrugged. "I've been told by my delegates that I'm allowed my, uh, liberties as long as I still fulfill my duties."

Mizu chuckled softly at this. She then said "Me too, Sora-san."

"Hm?" Sora asked.

"I'm willing to lay down my life for you too, Sora-san. Not because you're the Fire Daimyo now, or that you're my boss, or that-," Mizu took in a breath to compose herself. "You're my friend too."

Sora smiled softly. Sora rubbed the back of her neck and said gently, "Mizu, what I'm about to say isn't just applied to you, but for anyone who's ever been sent on a mission to gather information about me. I'm sure the others have noticed by now, but for every action and question you make when a mission dictates you to make it, you'll only get vague answers with keywords sprinkled here and there so that you can make the connections yourself. However, for every time you are genuinely curious about my life and what I do, I'll always answer with nothing but the truth." Sora paused, then added, "Of course, there's a few exceptions. However, I'm sure you know me well enough to pick up on my queues, Mizu."

Mizu let out a short laugh. "You're queues are not subtle, Sora-san."

Sora grinned and shrugged. "As long as other civilians don't notice it, its subtle enough for me."

After a few minutes, Sora placed her empty tea cup on top of her empty plate. "If you really need something to report to Hokage-sama, besides what we've already talked about, you can tell him this, Mizu." Hearing a sniffling, Sora ignored it and continued, "While they are all licensed blacksmiths, they are still only civilians." Hearing Mizu's soft scoffing noise, Sora chuckled and amended, "Civilians who knows how to use weapons very well."

A few quiet moments passed. Sora let out a soft sigh. "Mizu," she said softly as she propped up a knee again. "I grew up with the Guild even before it became one." Looking at her bandaged right hand, Sora opened and closed her fist in thought. "A motto that we live by is how one cannot make a weapon when one does not know how to properly wield it themselves." Sora opened her fist again and let it drop to her lap. "Hokage-sama will know what that means."

"I'll pass on the word," Mizu said quietly, understanding that only Hokage-sama can decipher Sora's message. After a few moments, Mizu commented, "Masamaru-san wields the bo the same way you do."

Sora let out a snort. "He should Mizu. We both learned how to use a bo staff from the same person." Mizu let out a grumble making Sora chuckle. "How bad did he get you?" Sora asked, ignoring the looks she was getting from everyone in the room.

"I couldn't even get three seconds in before he had me on the ground disarmed," she muttered in embarrassment.

Sora laughed. "That's Ma-san for you. He'll disarm first then assess the situation. Quite the opposite of what you're used to I'm sure."

"Yeah," Mizu mumbled.

"Are you coming back to Masamaru's?" Sora asked.

A few seconds went by before a very soft and weak, "Yeah, if you'll have me," was heard.

Sora smiled. "Always," she said before she looked at the smiling faces of the three teens sitting in front of her. "By the way, Mizu, you'll be leading the Ground Support Team with members of Konoha's Military Police Force. After you report to Hokage-sama, you'll be meeting up with Uchiha-sama at the Police Station to confiscate the bo staffs. Somehow, Ninja Weapons Shop missed the key detail of it being an unregistered infusion weapon."

"Ko-kun, Mei-chan, and Maki-kun." The three perked up at their names being called. Sora said, "Masa isn't aware of what I'm about to say so when you guys see him tomorrow, brief him on this." The three teens nodded as she continued, "We're going to utilize your duo statuses as shinobi and licensed blacksmiths to our advantage. Maki-kun, I know you're still an intern, however, this will still apply to you." Seeing Maki nod his head in understanding, she continued, "While Masa's and Mizu's teams are actively tackling the investigation head on, the rest of you will provide passive support using the shop as the attracting point. Because the bo staff is already in circulation, the only way to take it out is by allowing trades. If anyone comes into the shop with a bo staff wanting to trade, accept it. Even if what they want is from our most expensive set."

Sora sat up and stared at the teens. "Under no circumstances is anyone to touch the bo staffs. Do I make myself clear?" she asked.

The three stiffened and nodded. "Yes, Sora-sama."

Sora nodded. "Have the person put it on the quarantine table. A seal will activate and notify both Masa and Mizu if it matches the BOLO. Any questions?"

The three shook their heads no.

"While Ai-san will remain mostly inside the shop with you three, my seals surrounding the shop are not infallible," Sora warned. "So, what happens if the person with the bo staff starts displaying violent tendencies and it's only you three in the shop?"

"We are to activate the security seal to notify the Military Police Force of a violent customer," Mei answered.

Sora nodded. "What happens when the person outranks you three in terms of strength?"

Ko stiffened. "We are to utilize everything in the shop to get the hell out and book our asses straight to Hokage-sama to notify him that there has been a security breach inside Masamaru's Weapons Shops."

"And what happens if you don't reach Hokage-sama in time?" Sora asked.

"We are to use our strongest attacks we have in our arsenal and get away from the person as fast as possible," Maki answered.

"Good," Sora said. "You're all free to go. Just make sure you close up shop before you leave."

As the three left the room, two blue dots appear onto the seal beside the green dot. Masamaru cried out, "Yo, Ra-chan, we are packed and ready to go!"

"When both of your arrive to Konoha, the staff on duty will notify Hokage-sama and Masa," Sora said, grinning at his enthusiastic tone. "Masa will meet you both at the shop to give you both the credentials to let you in and out of T&I. Ai-san, your students will also be involved in the investigation so keep that in mind when doing the project."

Sora stretched out her body as she said, "Follow Protocol Hidden Village, especially you Ma-san."

Masamaru let out a groan. "B-But I heard there were so many new places opened."

Sora's lips quirked. "Either that or the shop."

"Fine," he grumbled.

"Good," Sora said, as she stood up. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Sora was about to deactivate the communication seal when she felt her intruder alert seal inside her home at the capitol activate. It was just a soft ping, but more stronger pings kept occurring right after.

'What the hell is going on?' she thought.

"Ai-san, split this communication seal into three," she ordered.

"Of course, Sora-sama," Ai said as the seal in the Trial Room shrunk into a small circle. It then split into three smaller circles. Two blue and one green.

"Masamaru, connect us to the communication seal at the Capitol," Sora ordered. The archway to the hallway began to close itself to form a wall as she activated her privacy seal to envelop the room.

"What's happening?" Masamaru asked, his tone serious as another communication seal appeared in front of Sora. This time, it was floating midair above the three colored circles. They all then merged together to form a new communication seal. While the center symbol of the sound wave remained the same, there were three colored circles inside three of the four quadrants. In one quadrant, there was a green circle, and inside two other quadrants, there were the blue circles. In the fourth quadrant on the lower right hand side was a crescent symbol. The circling symbols along the edges began going counterclockwise this time rather than clockwise.

"Someone triggered one of my seals," Sora answered. "But it's odd," she said, ignoring the looks she was getting from Ibiki and Bear. Frowning, she said, "Ma-san, expand the communication seal out towards the entire floor plan."

The floating seal got larger. There on the outer edges was a light purple dot. Sora sucked in a breath. "It's Koorogi-san," she muttered.

All the Anbu members looked at her in surprise as Sora opened her palm.

"Koorogi-san?" Masamaru asked.

"He's on Tonbo-san's team," Sora said as a glowing orange seal floated above her palm to show the layout of her entire house, including her backyard. "Out of all the Anbu teams, Team Ru was the only one I've ever actively fought alongside with. Though I don't think they knew who I was at the time. They were tracking someone who was tracking me."

"You talking about that slimy, scaly creep that you told me was stalking you?" Masamaru cried out, enraged.

Ai repeated Masamaru's description then he asked, "Orochimaru was tracking you, Sora-sama? When was this? Why are we not finding out until now?"

Ignoring everyone's reactions, she spread her palms out wider to show the forest and the streets around her home. "We can talk about it later," Sora said as she looked at the orange seal displaying her home.

In the forest, approaching at a rapid speed were four red dots. Sora cursed. "I wont ask you to do this Mizu, but Ai-san and Ma-san, you two need to head out to the Capitol. I think Koorogi-san is injured but a squad of four is tailing him."

Beside her, Bear spoke up. "Mizu, you are to provide assistance."

Recognizing the voice, Mizu answered, "Of course Anbu Commander."

Sora touched a small crescent on the floating communication seal. The crescent glowed white as Masamaru let out a curse. "When I see you Ra-chan, you are in so much trouble," he said as the three colored circles dissipated away.

Ignoring his comment, Sora focused on the floating communication seal as the purple dot had moved towards the center of the seal. Sora called out, "Koorogi-san?"

A soft familiar voice belonging to a male muttered weakly in confusion, "Fujiwara-san?"

"Can you move?" Sora asked. Not getting a response, she said louder, "Koorogi-san?"

A second later, Koorogi softly answered, "Not really."

"He must've lost a lot of blood," she muttered to herself. "Koorogi-san, can you hear me?" No response. Sora repeated, "Koorogi-san?"

"I hear you," Koorogi answered followed by shallow breaths.

"There's a seal under the counter where the medical kit is, Koorogi-san," Sora said, keeping her voice calm. The red dots had just exited the tree line behind her backyard. "You need to activate it now."

Koorogi cursed as the purple dot slowly began to move more towards the center of the seal, only to stop.

"Koorogi-san?" Sora asked, worried now as the red dots crossed her pond. Then her roses. Then her garden patches

The red dots moved back to her roses as an exasperated male voice said, "I thought we talked about your Anbu friends leaving blood everywhere?"

Sora let out a chuckle in relief. "You've made it."

"I'm not that slow, Ra-chan," Masamaru said.

"How is he?" Sora asked.

"Bad, Sora. Real bad," Masamaru replied solemnly.

"I thought so," Sora said. "Can you take him into the Healing Pool?"

Masamaru hmmed. "Already on it, but I don't think your protection seal will hold out for long." The sound of an exploding tag was heard in the background. "Whatever it is that they want from your cricket friend, they're using heavy artillery to get to it."

"I'm too far away to reinforce the seal," Sora said. "But please bring him into the pool."

A sigh was heard followed by the sound of moving water.

"Sora-sama," Ai said tentatively. "Are you safe?"

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

He paused before saying, "The people outside attacking your home have Konoha's forehead protectors."

Sora froze.

Beside her, Bear ordered, "Mizu, give us a full detail on the enemy."

"Of course, Anbu Commander," Mizu said. "Ai-san is correct. All four are showcasing a forehead protector with a leaf symbol. They are all dressed in regular Anbu attire and have the Anbu tattoos. But all of their masks are just white porcelain masks. None of them are painted."

Sora sucked in a breath. Looking at the orange floating seal displaying the layout of her home, she opened her palms wider. While her house was on the very outskirts of the Capitol, the damage caused by the self destruct seals will still be extensive.

"Masamaru," Sora said. "My seal will not be able to withstand four self destruct seals."

"Self destruct?" Masamaru squawked. "Who the hell is messing around with self destruct seals? That's a forbidden seal."

Sora took in a breath as everyone in the room tensed. "Listen to me very closely. All of you need to follow my instructions to the T. This is the only way to ensure you all get to Konoha alive, including Koorogi-san."

"Ra-chan," Masamaru said gently. "If we don't defend you're home, all the work you've done to create Tree Leaves will be destroyed. Everything."

"The house can be rebuilt, Ma-san," Sora said sadly. "The same can be said about Tree Leaves."

Masamaru clicked his tongue in anger. "They're running on empty."

"One of them just pointed to their mask," Ai added. "They're debating."

"Not much time then," Sora muttered. Gathering up her courage, she steeled her voice. "Inside the Healing Pool, on the back wall are three stone dragons. In each of their mouths is an orb. Inside the orbs, I placed emergency seals that will teleport whoever is inside the Healing Pool to a location inside Konoha. However, all three seals have to be activated at the same time and they can't be activated by chakra. They're activated by the blood of whoever holds the orbs."

A few long pause before Masamaru said, "Okay. Activate all three seals with blood at the same time. Got it."

Sora smiled at how he was trying to lighten up the mood. "There are a couple of caveats though," she said softly. "This location isn't just anywhere inside Konoha. It's specifically in the heart of Training Ground Zero."

Everyone looked at Sora in surprise. Training Ground Zero was known for its fauna and flora to grow exponentially and unpredictably. It was once used to host the Chunin Exams, but many who have entered never returned because everything inside had a mind of its own. It was even more dangerous than Training Ground 44, the Forest of Death. Because of this, no one has been allowed to enter.

"What's the other caveat, Sora-sama?" Ai asked.

"The seals draw on my chakra so either I enter a coma for a week, or," Sora turned to look at Ibiki and Bear. "I am unable to create, manipulate, activate, or prevent seals from activating for a week."

Ibiki and Bear both froze.

"Bear," Ibiki muttered.

"I need five minutes, Sora," Bear said as he disappeared with a flurry of leaves.

Masamaru let out a loud string of curses. "You are grounded for life when I see you, Sora. Do you hear me?! I don't care if you're the Fire Daimyo. You are grounded!"

The sound of water splashing furiously was heard along with curses.

"Morino-san," Ai said with barely controlled anger. "Please look after Sora-sama for us until we've arrive."

"Of course," he said as he looked at Sora in worry.

When five minutes passed, Masamaru said, "On the count of three?"

"One," they all said in unison.

Sora felt the first crack to her protection seal followed by a low buzz flowing threw her entire body. The sound of a loud explosion was heard from the communication seal.

"Two."

A second crack. Black lines began to spread throughout her body, including her hands and face. Another explosion.

"Three."

Her eyes glowed white as she felt the third crack then the sound of her home exploding before all sound was cut off. All the seals she had overlayed inside the Trial Room quickly disintegrated into glittering dust. The black lines retreaded back and her glowing white eyes receded to show its normal light sky blue color. She was only able to take a single breath as she began to tilt to the side.

"Daimyo-sama!" she heard as multiple hands cought her.

"I'm okay," she weakly muttered as she tried to stand, only to stumble.

"You need to rest," Hound said as he supported her weight.

Sora shook her head no, only to instantly regret it as a headache occurred. "The damage caused by the self destruct seals is too extensive. Fortunately, I don't have any neighbors that live within that range. However, right now, a forest fire must be occurring. My delegates and everyone in the Capitol must be panicking. I have to send a message to Lord Todiyori. I can't leave Konoha yet because we haven't had the budget meeting. If I leave, I'll loose the title as Daimyo and coming here would be for naught."

Hound and Ibiki looked at one another. "Hokage-sama must be notified," Ibiki said.

"Morino-san," Sora tried to interject.

"You need to speak to him about requesting a mission to the Capitol, Sora," Ibiki said, ignoring her.

"Wait Morino-san," Sora tried again.

"Only three self destruct seals went off, meaning one of them is still alive," Ibiki added.

"Just listen to-."

Trying to make her understand, Ibiki reasoned, "Shinobi are faster than messenger birds so it makes sense to-."

"Ibiki!" Sora cried out in desperation, making him pause in shock at her using his given name for the first time. "I can't go to Hokage-sama." Sora averted her gaze. "I've been barred." She turned to give him a defeated look. "If I go to him now without the Village Elders present, then Namikaze-san will loose his title as Hokage." In a softer voice, she said, "Even if the Village Elders were in the same room with us, if he speaks directly to me or I speak directly to him, he will still loose his title."

Everyone froze at the information.

Inoichi narrowed his eyes as he began to tie the pieces together. 'No wonder Shikoku was acting so odd last night when he came over with Elder Enchu,' he thought.

Inoichi asked, "Who initiated the traditional contract?"

Sora looked away, unwilling to answer. Inoichi scowled, "Hound?"

"Danzo," Hound answered, keeping an eye on Sora as she was beginning to show signs of fainting.