Chapter 4:

A svelte man in a clean suit stood on the platform to address the guests. He was handsome, his long wavy hair tied back in a bun and chocolate brown eyes twinkling under the lights as he surveyed the gathered couples.

"Welcome, welcome, one and all to this glorious ball," he called over their heads. He was certainly a showman, spreading his arms wide to welcome them as if his words and clear booming voice weren't enough. "It's a great pleasure to have you."

Shikamaru's eyes wandered from the man on stage to the one standing beside the band. He was watching the man speak, smile on his face. He briefly looked away to view the assembled crowd and Shikamaru averted his gaze.

"Thank you for coming. This is a bittersweet night, I must say," the man on stage went on. "This marks the final night of the public couples' balls at my castle. I had been wanting to do this for some time and am glad I saw it through. I hope you all enjoy your time in this castle as much as I have."

Naruto kept his eyes on the man on stage. "So, he is our host. And it does sound like he's planning something."

The host of the party placed his hand on his chest and closed his eyes as if basking in a fond memory. "I regret to have not done more with my family's castle in all these years. I used to love spending the hot summers within these walls and staring out over the garden from the tower window, dreaming of true love. I made it my mission to use this castle to its fullest by hosting these parties and hoping you find joy within these walls as I have."

Some of the people began to whisper, taking his speech as proof of his intent to sell the castle.

"As added fun for this evening's entertainment," he said, opening his eyes to look at the sea of gowns and suits, "I've decided to judge a little dance competition. Show me how well you can waltz and the couple I favor best will be awarded a special prize to be announced later this evening. Make use of the dance floor until that time and enjoy yourselves. The competition will begin when I next step upon this stage. The band will let you know as well. And thank you once again for being here."

The guests applauded and the host stepped off the stage to mingle, exiting opposite the man waiting by the band.

The couples began to chatter excitedly, already preparing for the event to come. Shikamaru and the others chatted as well but for a slightly different reason.

"We should try to win the prize just to see what it is. There's a good chance the winner will end up vanishing."

"Even if we don't win, we should be able to see what the prize is when it's awarded."

Temari saw the man by the band move along the wall to avoid the crowd and decided to strike up a conversation with him. Plenty of people at this party were suspicious, but he stood out to her the most next to the sommelier.

At the same time, Sakura tried to catch up with the host of the party as he moved through the crowd to mingle at a rapid pace. He stopped to chat with a couple for a while, apparently knowing them, and Sakura hurried to stand nearby, waiting for her chance.

As he politely excused himself from the conversation, Sakura blocked his path. "Hello. Lovely party. Wish there were more. They're the talk of the town."

The man stopped to smile and speak with her, the praise snaring his interest. "Thank you, young lady. I'm so happy to hear you say that."

"My name's Sakura." She extended her hand, palm down.

He took it in his and kissed her knuckles. "Makoto."

"Why won't you be having more parties like this one?" Sakura asked him.

"I've inherited this castle but haven't done a thing with it for so long. I recently decided to get some use out of it. But the upkeep is enormous, as you can well imagine. Since I have no family to leave it to, I decided it was best to sell it."

"So, these parties are you getting some use out of it before the sale." It seemed the rumors were true.

"Correct, Miss Sakura. People have spoken about it in the past which inspired me to actually do something with it. I've allowed people to host events at this location under my supervision, such as auctions and using it as an art gallery of sorts."

Sakura frowned. "Auctions? Were you hosting those?"

"No, not all of them. People seem to really like the atmosphere, making it a good location for such an event. Gives it a touch of class."

"A lot of the items on auction were things from the castle itself. Are you saying those were done without your knowledge?"

Makoto chuckled lightly. "Not entirely. I did intend to sell some things and approved the ones that would be auctioned off so I needn't be here for it."

"How could you be sure only the items you approved of were auctioned off? Someone could have slipped something past you without your consent."

Again, he chuckled. "I make sure to keep a trusted friend close by for just such an occasion. Whenever I'm unavailable, he stands in as part of the collection of guests or staff. Since most don't know we're partners, few would suspect and he's free to take note of everything that goes on. People might try to hide things from him if they knew, so it's best if he were undercover, as it were."

"A trusted friend?" Sakura asked. "Who?"

Makoto waved to someone over her shoulder and excused himself, going to speak with them instead.

Sakura may not have gotten her answer, but she believed she could narrow things down based on the intelligence they've collected from other conversations and their own observations.

Temari followed the other man moving swiftly along the wall and towards one of the hallways. She kept her distance, but needed to talk to him more than spy. He noticed Temari right away since she wasn't trying to hide and stopped to address her.

"Can I help you?"

"Oh. Um, I was looking for the bathroom and thought that was where you were going. I was following you to see if I could find it that way."

The man pointed. "It's that way."

"Thank you, mister...?"

"Haru." He stood, waiting for Temari to head that direction.

Having little choice, Temari went into the bathroom and listened to hear which direction Haru took. She waited to make sure it was safe.

"What are you doing?"

Temari flinched. She was certain she was out of sight. Was she being too quiet so he thought she was spying on him?

"Nothing," came another man's voice.

Haru wasn't speaking to her but someone else down the hall.

"Sam, we've talked about this. You cannot go snooping for Makoto's winery."

"Wine cellar," Sam corrected.

"Whatever. That's his property. Anything he wishes to sell will be available at auction and not before. Go back to the party."

"The end of the season is almost upon us. If that wine doesn't go on auction, what am I to do?"

"Not my problem. Take it up with Makoto."

"Makoto is a stubborn man. I don't know how you get him to do anything."

"Back to the party, Sam."

Temari heard footsteps and waited until they were further down the hall before exiting the bathroom. She couldn't see the man's face, but Sam wore white gloves on his hand.


"Haru? Him?"

"Yeah. And that other guy. Sam. He's the wine waiter, I'm sure of it. He's the only one I've seen wearing white gloves."

"Haru was the one that guy pointed out being at every event. I'm pretty sure that's Makoto's partner."

"So am I."

The shinobi compared notes and thought they had a pretty good idea who everyone was and their motivation. So far, it didn't bring them any closer to discovering the cause of the disappearances or the women's whereabouts.

"The dance competition should be coming up soon. We should try to enter and win."

"Even if we don't win, we'll still be involved and be able to see who does win and their prize."

Sakura looked at all the couples still dancing on the floor while they stayed near the refreshments. "One of us should enter, for sure. But it would be a good idea to keep someone off the dance floor to see what goes on when everyone else is paying attention to the dancers."

"Good thinking."

Naruto pointed at Shikamaru. "You should enter. You're a better dancer than I am and it's couples only."

Shikamaru blushed. This meant he would have to dance with Temari in front of everyone.

She was blushing as well, same thought crossing her mind. They had never danced together.

This was going to be their first time. Under these conditions, it was hard not to feel intimidated.

Seeing their faces, Naruto tried to hand them each a glass of punch. "You're looking a little hot. You should drink something."

"I'm fine," they insisted.

Naruto put one of the glasses down and drank the other.

The heads of all the guests turned as Makoto made his way back to the stage, signaling the band to play a waltz and the start of the dance competition.

Shikamaru turned bright red. This was happening faster than he wanted.