Chapter 2:
Their mission was pretty simple, overall. They had to infiltrate their target location and gather information. Once they found out what was going on, they could take action.
According to the mission details, women have turned up missing after attending a party hosted by an unknown man. Only people who actually attended the party knew who their host was. No one on the outside did. He always introduced himself halfway through the evening and select couples to dance for him. Apparently, the couple who danced best would receive a special prize. No one knew what that was, but Shikamaru suspected it had something to do with all the disappearing women.
Their mission was to go in undercover and find out what was going on. If possible, they were to rescue the missing women and return them to their homes. They were also to bring down whoever was responsible for their disappearance and put an end to it.
Everything was carefully planned out. Some would go inside the party and keep an eye out from the inside, while others searched around outside. The ones inside would have to dress the part to not arouse suspicion.
Shikamaru and Naruto would be inside while other shinobi kept watch outside. Both had to dress up and look like gentlemen, which made Shikamaru uneasy. "Perhaps Naruto should keep an eye out outside?" he suggested.
"You don't think I can be a gentleman, do you?"
Shikamaru fumbled with his tie.
"Gee, thanks."
Shikamaru sighed. "At least Sakura will be keeping an eye on you. Don't blow this."
"I won't. At least I have a date to bring inside. You're going in by yourself."
"No, only couples are allowed in. I don't know who's coming in with me, but I'm betting it's Ino. We work well together and I doubt she would pass up a chance to go to a ball."
Naruto was looking at something. "Uh, Shikamaru?"
"What?"
"Are we doing this mission with another village?"
"Not to my knowledge, why?"
"Because I think that's your date."
Shikamaru turned around. His eyes widened in surprise and he felt his face heat up. "T- Temari?"
The girl from the Sand was walking his way with a bag over her shoulder. "Yo."
"What are you doing here? I thought…"
"I was asked to come along by your Hokage since I was in the area. I was just sitting around the Leaf doing nothing so I took him up on it."
Shikamaru gritted his teeth. "Dammit, Kakashi. What are you thinking?" he hissed under his breath. "That is the last time I mention canceling a mission for a date."
He had only dated Temari a couple of times. It was nothing spectacular. He just took her out to dinner and talked. He had fun, but it wasn't really romantic. Not to his mind.
He was expecting to see Ino. He could handle that just fine. Even dolled up, Ino didn't make him nervous. But Temari? He had worked with her before but not on a mission like this. He was already feeling nervous just knowing she would be accompanying him as his date. It was for a mission, but still.
He tried to compose himself. Hopefully he could push aside his nervousness and focus on the mission. This was going to be troublesome.
"Alright, good to have you. Have you been filled in on the mission?"
"I have. I just need a place to change." Temari held up the bag. "I see you two are all set."
Naruto struck a pose. "So how do I look?"
"You clean up good. Who knew?" She turned to Shikamaru. "Your tie is all crooked."
"Oh." Shikamaru put a hand to it as if to fix it. He didn't, favoring watching Temari walk away instead.
"I know it's a serious mission, but let's have fun with it anyway, huh, Shikamaru?"
"Mm," he grunted.
A few minutes later, Sakura showed up wearing a long pink dress and flowers in her hair. She spun around, letting her dress billow out. Naruto complimented her looks, but he wasn't as flirtatious as he was in the past. They both knew Naruto was thinking about Hinata instead.
A minute later, Temari showed up. "Is this feasible?" she asked, gesturing to her outfit.
"Wow, you look great," Naruto told her.
"Oh, it looks so good on you, Temari," said Sakura. "I love it."
Shikamaru stood frozen. The nervousness was back with a vengeance.
Her gown was beautiful. A strapless red dress that puffed out around her knees, showing off her legs and matching heels. Her hair was pinned up in a single ponytail and she traded her usual earrings for sparkling diamonds. Around her neck was a sliver chain holding a single diamond-shaped jewel which matched her diamond earrings. She also wore a silver bracelet around her left wrist, which Shikamaru only became aware of when she started playing with it nervously.
"Well, what do you think?" Naruto elbowed him in the ribs. "Nice ballgown, right?"
"It's a party frock, actually," she corrected. "I've had it for a while but never got the chance to wear it."
"Didn't you just come from the Leaf?" Naruto questioned. "Are you saying you carried it with you all-"
Sakura covered his mouth before he could say anymore.
In truth, when Shikamaru invited her out on a date, Temari wasn't sure how to dress so she brought the dress along just in case he wanted to do something formal. She wanted to be prepared. When they didn't do anything formal, she kept the dress with her in case they did on a future date.
"Beautiful…" Shikamaru mumbled. He had never seen her look so feminine before. Like a princess. It knocked him off guard and threw him into a daze. His brain stopped working properly.
"What did you say, Shikamaru?"
"Huh?" He quickly snapped himself out of it. "The dress. It's beautiful. It looks good on you."
"Really? Thanks."
Shikamaru felt so nervous. His body felt so hot. Why was this happening? It was just a girl in a dress. Maybe the suit he had on was made of thick material. Yes, that must have been it. No wonder he was sweating.
"You still haven't fixed your tie."
"Huh?"
"Here." Temari walked closer to him and took hold of his tie.
Shikamaru's face was burning. Having her so close to him in such an outfit was bad enough, now she was touching him. It felt good, though. He liked the gentle tugging as she fixed his tie. When her fingers brushed against his chest as she put it in place, he could feel his whole body heating up. The touch of her hand felt so good. So, she could be gentle when she wanted.
"There, fixed."
Shikamaru looked down at his tie. He purposely picked up his tie and pretended to examine it, wanting her to fix it again.
"Don't move it around, you idiot." Temari pulled the tie out of his hand and fixed it again. "Leave it alone, ok? This is the last time I'm fixing it."
"Sorry," he said, closing his eyes. He wasn't really. Any excuse to get her to touch him like that again. When he felt her move away, he opened his eyes.
"Ready?" she asked.
He nodded. "Ready."
Then he looked up and noticed Naruto and Sakura staring at him. His blush returned and he spun around to hid it.
"Uh, let's head inside. Our job is to blend in with the crowd and gather information. Keep an eye out for anything strange, ok?"
"Stranger than that?" Naruto whispered gleefully to Sakura.
Sakura put a finger to her lips, but she was smiling, too.
Shikamaru blushed harder.
The setting for their mission was an old castle rumored to be owned by their mysterious host. According to the locals, whenever there was a grand event, it was held in this location and the talk of the town. For this reason, they couldn't fathom the owner doing anything devious knowing all eyes would be on him. The disappearances must have been unrelated, according to them.
"They're just runaways," said a woman in a sequin ballgown. "Had their hearts broken at the ball for couples and took off. Nothing mysterious about it."
"I heard the owner of the castle is a wealthy bachelor," said another. "The women must have taken off to be with him. It always happens at the end of the evening when most are leaving, including the host. Must have gone to chase him down since he doesn't live on location. He just owns the castle."
Another woman fanned herself with a fancy sensu tipped with decorative feathers. "I heard rumor that the castle will be auctioned off at the end of the season. These couples' balls are a last hurrah before the sale."
"I heard he's looking for a bride."
"That makes no sense. Why invite only couples if he's looking for a bride? He should be inviting only women if that were the case."
"Whatever the case, hosting a ball in an old castle is too good a chance to pass up. Just about everyone shows up to these."
Shikamaru lowered his head in thought. "Yeah. A big draw like this… Few would pass up such an opportunity." He looked over his shoulder at Naruto and Sakura who nodded in agreement.
The host must have been luring people here with a purpose. Numerous balls have been hosted over the course of two weeks and each night one was held, someone disappeared. The same location, different nights, but the guest list changed constantly. The people in attendance tonight weren't the same as the ones last week. It seemed each neighboring village was invited a different night so the castle wouldn't be crowded and everyone would get a chance to attend.
This was the last village to receive an invitation, which meant this was probably the final night of the festivities. If they didn't discover what was happening or who was responsible tonight, it would be extremely difficult to do so afterward.
The crowd of couples drudged up the grassy hill towards the castle. There was no road to the castle from the main street, but there was a stone path as they drew closer to the old castle standing majestically against the darkening sky of twilight. It was so tall and there were vines creeping up the walls and into the windows of the tower which several chattering girls compared to a princess's tower.
There were men greeting them at the main doors which were wide open, a welcoming light shining across the grass. The men were all in matching suits, their only form of identification. They didn't have any nametags and no one had a clipboard with a list of guests. This meant it would be easy to get inside. It also told Shikamaru that the host was unfamiliar with the locals so it would be difficult to prove they weren't normal villagers.
"This also means unless they memorize a person's face, that couples from other villages couldn't come back on a different night," Shikamaru whispered. "Nothing's stopping these people from attending a ball they weren't invited to. They could just say they're from that village and there's no way to prove they're not unless these guys know their faces."
"Maybe these guys do have good memories and would know," said Naruto.
"Or they don't care," said Temari. "Could just be limiting the compacity for these parties by having a designated guest village per night. Or the host is up to something else."
"Well, we're going find out."
As the group stepped forward, the man at the main door stopped them. He looked them over with a raised brow. Shikamaru moved closer to Temari and held her hand. Feeling his hand in hers made Temari blush. The man looked over their heads at Naruto and Sakura who seemed more suspicious. Naruto kept trying to hold Sakura's hand but she kept batting it away until she saw the man looking at them and linked elbows with Naruto instead, forced smile on her face.
"All shapes and sizes, I imagine. Go ahead in." The man welcomed them with an outstretched arm pointing in the direction of the party. "Enjoy your evening."
"Thanks," Naruto said hurrying inside with Sakura still on his arm.
The hallway was freshly cleaned and had a red carpet stretched out before them towards the main room. Couples pointed at the décor, commenting on its splendor as they made their way inside. The double doors were wide open to welcome guests at the end of the long red carpet.
Shikamaru squinted as they entered the ballroom, the dazzling lights of the twelve chandeliers reflecting off every polished surface and sequin gown. The champagne glasses sparkled like clear diamonds in the hands of guests and on the tables alongside the refreshments. The stone walls and high ceiling helped keep the room cool but people were already helping themselves to the drinks. A small band positioned in the corner played gentle music, warming up for the main event to come. No one was dancing yet, but everyone was already enjoying themselves.
"Any sign of our host?" asked Shikamaru asked.
"I have no idea what he'd look like. Apparently, no one does," said Temari. "From what I've heard, he shows up halfway through these things and that's it. We probably won't see him for a while."
"Probably make a grand entrance, too."
"Who else is on this mission besides us?" asked Temari.
"We're on the inside," explained Sakura. "But we have two other shinobi on the outside in case anyone tries to make a run for it. They're not going to come inside. Not that they could without being part of a couple."
"Ok," said Temari. "Let's mingle and try to look like normal guests."
"We should probably stay close to our partners so people don't suspect," said Naruto. When Sakura glared at him, he added, "I'm just saying. We can split up but we're supposed to be a couple, you know. Let's act like it."
Sakura frowned at him. "Should we set ground rules?"
"I'm with Hinata and I know how you feel about Sasuke. No need. It's not like we're going to kiss or anything. Just hold hands and dance."
Shikamaru gulped feeling nervous again. What if they were pressured into doing something at this party? How was this going to work and not get awkward?
Temari looked away, nervous as well. Were they really a couple? They were for this mission, but in general, were they? How did Shikamaru see her? They had gone on a couple of dates and had a nice time but did that mean they were going steady? He never actually called her his girlfriend.
The front doors were closed as the last of the guests entered and the men stood outside in case of any late arrivals.
This brought the two back to mission mode, immediately suspicious that they were sealed inside the castle. The doors weren't locked, but it was still strange to close the main exit like this.
