Chapter 4: Window Dressing

"My medic says I owe you my life." Higa contemplated her quietly from across the room. He'd showered and changed into a dressing robe.

Sakura stood by the door. "It was him. You don't owe me anything."

The morning sun filtered in through shimmering curtains, illuminating details of his bedroom she had not picked up last night. On the wall, a mounted katana caught her eye— two and a half feet of tempered blue steel with a dragon-hilt to match. An heirloom or a real weapon? The dossier didn't mention any physical abilities of note.

"You've received instruction." It wasn't a question.

"I work at my grandmother's apothecary. She taught me about the different herbs we stock and some basic treatments. I think she wants me to take over."

Higa raised a brow. "This was hardly an illness."

"We're located in a small leisure town. There's a pleasure district that's quite popular with traveling shinobi."

"Did you grow bored with your lessons? Sneak away in the night to go play with those men?" The smirk in his tone set tension to her jaw.

"This is my first time doing anything like this," she said. He's see right through her if she claimed anything else. "I've worked in the shop since I was a girl. Every night after work, I walk home through the lights, the music. It was a whole other world. And the women looked so glamorous and seductive. I just— I wanted to know what it'd be like."

"You found a madam?"

An instructor. "Yes."

Higa digested her words. "Who am I to deny an enterprising spirit?" He untied the cloth belt of his robe with deft fingers.

His athletic frame unsettled her, far from the softness she would expect of a businessman. His skin was unmarked, but scars could be healed, as Sakura knew all too well. A small tattoo marked the edge of his clavicle, but parts of it were smudged, as though he'd tried to have covered. A clan insignia? A village affiliation?

He undid his trousers.

"Wait, right now?" she squeaked. He'd just recovered. "Don't you want to talk more first?"

"Not at all." He rummaged through his bedside table and produced a bottle of lubricant. "I'll need an hour. You may go after."

Did he only interact with the courtesans during sex? She'd expected otherwise, considering they lived with him. But this was far too soon. She needed leverage... A half-baked plan formed. "No."

"No?"
"I'd like to talk more first," she said.

He loomed over her, smelling like oak and spice cologne— a strike against shinobi.

"In case you've forgotten, Nanami, this is a business transaction. I give you gold, and in exchange, you allow me to do what I please between your thighs per our negotiations. Unless you've changed your mind?"

"I haven't forgotten. But in light of the circumstances, I think there are grounds to renegotiate terms."

He raised a brow. "I thought you absolved me of debt?"

"I revoke my statement," Sakura said stiffly.

Higa retied his robe and poured himself a measure of sake at the console table. Sakura bit back a cringe. "State your terms."

She hadn't quite thought this far. Please hand over a detailed summary of your assets, investments, and illicit contacts. Thanks.

"Uh, we get to know each other first. Before—" her eyes darted to his bed "—before that. And no orgies. For me that is," she added hastily.

"No orgies for you." The timbre of his voice took on an edge. "Tell me the truth. Why are you here? You could have simply demanded payment and gone home. Don't lie to me again about the glamorous hookers."

Why hadn't she stayed in the hospital?

"Your company," Sakura said, palms slick. "I've heard about your success all my life. I want to know what it takes to make it as far as you have, at such a young age."

"Did your procurer tell you to say that?"

She shook her head. "I've heard you have mineral and scroll holdings around the world."

"I'd be a fool to believe that you're here to sate a passing curiosity. Fools don't fare well in business."

"That's a self-fulfilling prophecy," she pointed out. "If you doubt the intentions of everyone around you, you'll drive the well-intended away." Sakura stopped. Too far?

"How impetuous." He leered at her over the rim of his cup. "Alright. I accept your terms. Two weeks, at our negotiated rate."

Sakura considered haggling for longer, but she was pushing her luck as it was. "Thank you, Higa-sama—"

"Masao."

"Masao," she said.

A predatory smile consumed his face. "Have you ever watched a bout?"


When she returned to her room, there was a russet hawk perched outside her window. Sakura took the message: Meet us at the NW corner of the roof— S. "Thanks."

The hawk waited, yellow eyes darting around the room.

"No chicken today. Sorry."

"Ow— hey!" He pecked her hand and, with a chwirk of utter betrayal, sailed pompously out the window. She'd spoiled that thing rotten.

Sakura shoved her boots on, and in short steps, scaled up the complex roof was deserted, covered in leaves and dotted with ventilation fans.

She spotted a faint shimmer, and the air split around a disembodied arm, waving at her. Inside the genjutsu tent, Sasuke and Sai stood with radios in hand. "I thought Higa had chakra-seals up?"

Sai gestured at Sasuke. "He found a dead spot."

What couldn't his sharingan do? Sasuke stiffened as soon as she approached. Good. He'd never been a poet, but his words in her room stung. "Your hawk was kind of grumpy." Just like his master.

"Stop feeding him."

"I'm not," she lied. "Did you guys catch what Higa said about the dojo? I think he might have some combat training. There was a sword in his bedroom, and he has a weird tattoo on his ribs. Can I borrow some paper?" Sakura drew it on Sai's scroll.

"Never seen it," Sasuke said.

Sai shook his head. "You got him naked in three hours, hag. That's a record."

"Sai!"

"You should join—"

Zzzt! The recorder in Sasuke's hand crackled to life.

"—For heaven's sake, Masao, it's only noon." A low female voice was barely audible over the ambient sizzle.

Sasuke turned the volume all the way up, amplifying the static. "Where'd you hide this?"

"Behind the bookcase—"

Sai pressed a hand over her mouth.

"It's half past twelve and we have reason to celebrate." Higa sounded cheerful. "You read my proposal?"

"Keep it away from the wall," Sasuke said, as Sakura swatted Sai off.

"Your offer is generous, but… the eighteenth? Did you mean of next year?

"I meant upcoming."

"I can be quick, but I'm not a god. That area is completely undeveloped. I'll have to build roads, power lines, not to mention the mine itself. The crew have to prospect before they can begin excavating. You want me to move a mountain in a week?" the woman said.

"You don't have to. It's done."

"What?"

"Perhaps I was impatient," he said.

"Shinobi again? How do you work with those savages? Why, one false step, and you could find yourself burnt to a crisp! Frozen solid!"

"One right step, and a mountain pass is carved in a day."

That required a powerful Earth-style technique. He'd most likely contracted jonin from Iwa.

"How many did you hire? My crew needs security. You know the stories about that region."

"What? The Scorpion? It's a ghost tale, Kaede. Written to dissuade men from seeking their fortunes in the mountains."

Sai and Sasuke exchanged a look.

The radio struggled with interference for a few minutes and returned with the woman's voice.

"— What if they refuse?"

"They won't. They want it more than we do. Soon, they'll be at each other's throats for the biggest share."

"Which village are you considering?"

"Oh, all of them," he said.

Sakura frowned. Well, one thing was clear— the Intelligence Division's fears were not unfounded. Higa was up to something big. "What's the Scorpion?" she asked.

"He worked with Kazuzu. Wanted for weapons trading and inciting mass casualties." Sasuke said. "Ask Kankuro if they know more."

Sai nodded.

Sakura shuddered at the memory of Kazuzu— the undead bookkeeper, sewn together with his Earth Grudge techniques and five hearts. It'd destroyed Ino to lose her sensei, while Shikamaru plunged into a fleeting darkness, intent on destroying the Akatsuki. That Sasuke had once affiliated with those terrifying criminals was unfathomable.

Had he worked with Kazuzu? Had they been teammates?

Sakura met Sasuke's blank expression. "What do you think the mine is for?"

He shared a cryptic look with Sai, who nodded.

"What?" She hated it when they did this. Why was she so out of the loop?

"There's a folk tale of a mountain in northwestern Stone that's filled with a legendary ore," Sai said. "Developers have been sending scouts in for years, but no one's made it back alive." He turned to Sasuke. "See? It's a good thing we came."

With any value to the ore, Higa's mine would draw enterprising mercenaries like sharks to blood in the water. With Konoha's money bankrolling the whole venture.

"It didn't need to be us with her," Sasuke said darkly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sakura asked. He was so encouraging last night.

Sasuke said nothing.


The dojo was located near the center of the complex; sunlight streamed between sliding doors from the courtyard. Dense, tatami mats padded the floors and a large sparring area was raised half a foot off the ground. On one wall, an assortment of blades— katanas, broadswords, tanto— to rival the Academy's collection hung. Unlike the worn and chipped student equipment, Higa's were leather-handled and sharpened to a mirror's edge.

On the platform, Higa faced his opponent, a stern-looking fellow with arms like hammocks. Both wore black robes, chest guards, and rashers. He brandished a sword, one and one half arms-length with a tempered edge. Definitely not a practice sword. Definitely capable of hacking through a measly inch of leather and freeing some entrails.

"I thought some exercise was in order," he said. For a man brought back from the brink not twelve hours ago, he looked quite vigorous.

The two men fell onto one another, a flurry of limbs and steel. Higa moved with unexpected agility; clearly, he had earned his physique. Minutes turned to hours.

"Nanami." Higa wiped his brow. "Where has your mind wandered?"

She glanced around. They were alone in the dojo. "I was watching. You're skilled."

"I thought this was your first time at a bout."

"It is." She smiled.

He shrugged off his leather vest. Underneath, his cotton shirt was damp with sweat. "Would you like to try?"

Sakura swallowed. "Sword-fighting? I'm not an athlete."

"Try."

"I-I'm not dressed for it."

Higa's eyes flitted to her loose dress. "Come here."

Sakura's heart was in her throat. What was going on? He said he accepted her terms. Was this a test?

At her inaction, his expression flattened. "Or perhaps I should send a team of Iwa-nin to that leisure town? I'm sure they'd bring your store some excellent business."

Oh, it was a test.

Fine, she could pretend. Sakura stepped onto the raised sparring area. Higa offered her a matching sword, blade down. "It's so heavy," Sakura said.

"Thumb flush to the guard."

It'd been nearly a decade since she'd graduated Academy, which was the last time she'd held a sword, except Sasuke's. Sakura turned the guard to the inside of her wrist, the way that incensed Iruka. Pronate, pronate, pronate!

"Turn the guard out more." Higa's voice ghosted along her neck as he circled her. "Widen your stance." A foot slid between her legs to guide her into a squat.

His sword was unsheathed.

"Now, parries." His hand wrapped around her right wrist. "One—" he adducted her arm, an outside block "—two—" swinging her wrist in, an inside block "—three." He raised her arm high, an overhead block.

"This is hard," she said.

He faced her in an offensive stance. "You'll get it."

Without warning, he lunged. The sword sliced through the air, too quick for a novice to parry. Sakura stumbled, and the blade missed by inches. She stared up at him. Grey eyes met hers with a touch of surprise.

Had he intended to test her or kill her?

"What are you doing?" a voice growled from the entryway.

Sasuke swept into the room like a storm. He'd traded his mask and vest for fitted black trousers and a loose tunic that covered his ANBU tattoo. Bindings wound up his thick forearms, concealing summoning seals on the right and the council's penitentiary seal on the left. From his waist, Kusanagi hung in its enamel sheath. He was a promise of death on legs...

... who should have been keeping a low profile.

He stepped onto the platform and hauled her to her feet. Pitch black eyes scanned her for injuries before flicking to Higa. For a second, she could have sworn they gleamed red.

Higa frowned. "Who are you? How did you get in?"

Tanaka hurried to the side of the platform. "This is Ito Kyouya. Nanami is one of his courtesans."

"I see." Higa's gaze lingered on the forty-inch sword at his waist. "If she hasn't informed you, we signed a contract. What she and I do the next two weeks is none of your concern."

"Her safety is my responsibility."

"Fulfilling my desires is her responsibility."

"This isn't a toy." Sasuke seized the sword. "Indulge your battle fantasies with someone else."

"Or what?" Higa sneered. "What will you do, young procurer? Terminate our contract? You'll never find a wealthier client. You're lucky Hideo put in a word for you as it is."

When was the last time someone had spoken to Sasuke so callously? A nightmarish vision of the warlord's complex burnt to its foundations and its owner at the center of the pyre flashed before her eyes. "Ito-san," she said. "It's fine. I'm not hurt."

Higa could never strike her, but if Sasuke decided to draw his sword, no force on Earth could keep Higa's head on his shoulders. She wasn't about to let him throw five years of probation away over petty posturing.

She glanced pointedly at the door. Leave. Go.

Stiffly, Sasuke turned to Higa. "That was impudent of me, Higa-sama. I apologize." Using the honorific appeared to bring him physical pain.

Sakura wrestled sword from Sasuke with great effort. "Shall we continue, Masao?"

Higa's lips spread in a slow smirk. "You heard her."

Sasuke's eyes burned like coal, but he stepped off the platform. As soon as Sasuke was gone, Higa collected her sword. "Perhaps that was cruel of me."

"You don't want to practice?"

"I'm tired," he said. He hung them on the storage rack. "Your procurer is quite..."

"Hot-headed?" He was doing that to provoke Sasuke?

"Not the word I had in mind."

"He's just cautious. He's lost a previous courtesan before."

"Hm, that is a poor investment." Luckily, Higa didn't press the issue. "I have business to attend to. Jun will return you to your rooms. I'll see you Friday night, Nanami."