Ch. 9

One Week after the Kidnapping and Rescue of Lady Dove

Notes: Shikamaru's chapter! Yay! FYI, this will have lots of interesting facts and stuff about the isles. They'll also be going back to the main island of Kypriang, to the capital of Rajmuat. His is a kind of transition chapter, with lots of planning and little fighting on his part. It also ties in with the other chapters and wraps up loose ends. In retrospect, Kiba's chapter and Naruto's chapter will probably be the shortest. It'll definitely be interesting, so don't complain about lack of action!

Shikamaru sighed. This was so troublesome… He had spent about a month working as Lady Dove's clerk, and mostly all he'd been doing was paperwork.

He hated paperwork.

Ah, well. He had made some progress on the espionage front. He had discovered that the captain of the guard here was a spy for the crown, and had begun monitoring his mail, making sure that no information got out that he didn't want to get out. Truthfully, there wasn't all that much editing to do. The man wasn't all that bright, and he'd swallowed the story that they were new helpers easily.

After the first few days, Shikamaru had traded his Chuunin's vest and ninja-mesh shirt for a less-noticeable dark gray shirt. Less noticeable because it looked a bit more like what a clerk would wear and less like a military uniform. But only a bit. I didn't really matter that they wore their normal clothes here, because here on Tanair, everyone dressed however they felt. Many men wore only the skirt-like man's sarong, kilted up between their legs for more freedom of movement, and some women just wore the sarong and a simple tube-top like shirt. Lady Dove had to dress Luarin-style, but she usually wore a simple lawn dress over a paler undergown, nothing fancy.

As for protecting Lady Dove, there hadn't been much to do on that front, other than the two incidents that Kiba and Lee had taken care of.

Shikamaru pondered those two situations, thinking about how he could use them to his advantage. The incident where Kiba stopped Onyx from killing Lady Dove had been put about as mere luck, though it galled Kiba to pretend that he wasn't as good as he really was. Lady Dove and Eda Bell had kept his ninjutsus a secret, and nobody seemed to suspect anything other than extraordinarily good luck.

As for when Lady Dove had been kidnapped by pirates…that had been troublesome.

Flashback

Shikamaru was taking a break from the seemingly endless paperwork that he'd been doing. He lay on a bench outside, watching the clouds drift by. The front gates were open, as was usual during the day. The guards were watchful, but not especially tense. Then a young boy, no more than eight years old, came running through the gates, looking determined. He searched the grounds, as though trying to find someone specific, and then spoke to the guard, who pointed towards Shikamaru. The boy jogged over to him and said, "Are you Lady Dove's clerk?"

Shikamaru turned his head to look at him. "Yeah. Did you need something?"

"My village was attacked by pirates, and Lady Dove has been kidnapped. I was running here to get help, and a guy with big eyebrows met me on the road. He said to tell you or someone named Neji what was happening."

"What?" Shikamaru sat up. "Lady Dove-sama was captured?"

"Yes, but he said not to worry, because he'd take care of Lady Dove. So I came right here."

At least Lee was already aware and doing something about it. That meant Shikamaru just had to make sure that he was alright, and keep his involvement secret from the soldiers… "Did you tell anyone else about this?"

"No, just you."

"Not even the guards?"

"No, he seemed so sure that you'd know what to do, I just came straight for you."

"Good, I'll make sure that your village is safe. You sit here and rest, and don't tell anyone what's happened."

End Flashback

After Shikamaru had told the other ninjas what was happening, he'd given an edited version of the story to the guards. They'd left some of the soldiers, as well as all of the ninjas except for Shikamaru, behind to guard the castle, and the rest had gone to help the villagers. Shikamaru had said that, as the swiftest, Onyx should go to assist Lee in rescuing Lady Dove, and he'd disappeared into the trees right away. By the time they had arrived at the town, the villagers were just cleaning up. Apparently the pirates had left a while before, and Lee had pursued them. The soldiers helped with the restoration of the village, while Shikamaru had gone off to see what Lee was doing. He'd arrived at the spot where the pirates had anchored to see that Lee and Onyx had already left to pursue them.

He'd said nothing to the soldiers when he returned to the village; instead, he'd begun quietly interrogating the villagers, asking them exactly what had happened. They had been surprisingly coherent. He'd carefully fielded questions by the soldiers as to what they were going to do about Lady Dove, but he'd told the villagers, discretely, that the Strong One was on his way to rescue her. He'd also told them to make absolutely sure that none of the soldiers found out, since they would be obligated by duty to tell the crown.

They'd been more than happy to keep the secret, but they'd told Shikamaru that it didn't matter if the soldiers found out, so long as none of them was a paid spy. When he'd asked why, they'd replied that anyone who informed on his master, and hadn't been told to spy by the crown, was considered a double traitor; firstly for working for a traitorous master, and secondly for turning on that master. The penalty was death by torture. A loyal servant of a treacherous master was simply shot.

That's just sick. He'd thought, but kept it to himself. He'd told them to keep the secret anyway, in case he had missed a spy among the soldiers.

When Lee returned from rescuing Lady Dove, Shikamaru had asked Hinata to stay with her and get her story without letting anyone else find out. Once he knew exactly what had happened, they'd put about the story that Onyx and Lee had found the pirates, and the sight of his mistress in danger made Onyx go berserk, killing almost all of them. Lee had had no problem with pretending that he had simply picked up the Lady and put her on the back of the Kudurung Stallion, Sequiro. They'd pretended that he'd been shot trying to escape with her. All of the players knew their parts and the true story, but the outsiders didn't.

Things were nice and quiet again now, and Shikamaru wanted to keep it that way if he could. But he knew he couldn't. Even if they were never discovered, there would come a time when they would have to do a coup or even start a full-fledged war. From what he'd read and seen and heard of the Luarin royal family, they were far too paranoid and power-hungry to simply surrender the rule of the Isles. They'd have to be pulled from the throne, kicking and screaming the whole way.

And it looked like the peace was even more short-lived than he'd thought. He sighed, picked up the letter he'd been reading, and, folding it so that it looked unopened; he left his little clerk's office to find Lady Dove. He knocked on the door of her study. This time of day she usually read quietly in the window seat. "Come in!" he heard her say from inside. He entered.

She was sitting in the window seat, reading a book called The Language of Flowers.

That sounds like something Ino would read, he thought.

"Is something the matter, Shikamaru?" Lady Dove asked.

He walked over and handed her the letter. She read it, and sighed. Setting her book aside, she sat up all the way. "Hinata, could you bring your friends here?" she called to the girl who was sitting quietly in the corner. She had been reading a book about etiquette in the Luarin upper class.

"Of course, Lady Dove-sama. I'll be right back." Hinata left the room.

When she returned a few minutes later with all of the boys, Lady Dove was sitting behind her desk, the letter in front of her. "Please, sit." she said, indicating the chairs she and Shikamaru had set up in front of her desk. They sat down, and waited for her to explain why she had called them. "I called you here because we have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that my oh-so-noble cousins have seen fit to forgive me for whatever forgotten offense caused my family to fall out of royal favor, so I'm back in favor. The bad news is that, so thoroughly have they forgiven me, that I am expected to move back to the capital of Rajmuat, on the main island of Kypriang."

"So? That doesn't seem so bad. And what do you mean, 'back in favor?'" said Kiba.

"Noble houses generally have land on another island besides Kypriang. However, the head of the house and his immediate family are expected to live in the capital of Rajmuat, supposedly to show their loyalty to the crown. In actuality, it's so the crown can keep an eye on their activities, and a sword at their backs. When a family falls out of favor, it means that they are suspected of treachery, but there is no basis for this suspicion. The crown sends them off to their family lands, and keeps them there until they are either back in favor, or their guilt has been proven. In the first case, they move back to Rajmuat, in the second, they're executed, and their bodies are hung in the Rajmuat harbor. So while it's good that I'm back in favor, it's going to be much more difficult to keep your activities secret in Rajmuat, understand?"

Kiba nodded. "And since it's all new territory, the exploring Akamaru and I did will be practically useless. Oh well, at least it was fun." Akamaru barked his agreement.

"According to this letter, we've got one week to move. That's enough time to wrap things up here, and to decide who goes and who stays. All of you will go of course, but I need to leave some of the other ringleaders behind to keep track of things here. I just wanted to tell you all beforehand, so you wouldn't be caught by surprise. Also, I wanted to know if any of you had concerns about something."

They looked at each other, and then Neji spoke up. "None, Lady Dove-sama."

"Very well, you're dismissed. Shikamaru, could you stay please?"

"Sure."

Everyone else filed out of the room; going back to whatever tasks they had been at before. Hinata went to Lady Dove's chambers to do some minor repairs to clothing.

Shikamaru shut the door behind them, and then turned to Lady Dove. "So, what did you need me for?"

"I have someone I'd like you to meet, or rather, several someones." She reached inside one of the big drawers of her desk and took out a big jar of what looked like ink. "They just arrived today, by crow messenger from the village at the coast." She unscrewed the lid, and poured the contents onto her desk, where they lay in a large, mounded puddle. Shikamaru leaned towards the puddle, interested. The puddle shivered, and then split into dozens of little balls of black goop. The largest ball squirmed, and changed shape, forming a small lump for a head, which it cocked to one side, 'looking' at Shikamaru with curiosity.

"What is it?"

"Why don't you ask him?"

Shikamaru turned back to the little blob, asking it, "Well, what are you?"

The little blob quivered and formed a mouth-like slit in its head. "Darking."

"What's a darking?"

"Darking is spy."

"Huh?"

Lady Dove interrupted. "Darkings are creatures which were created for the purpose of espionage. They were born from blood, water, and darkness in a cave in the divine realms. They're sort of like living shadows."

"Darking know good spy! Darking know secret, know sneaky, know quiet-quiet. Darking not get caught, unlike loud and clunky funny humans. Darking know follow too, and what one darking know, all darking know!" piped the little thing.

"And what's your name?" asked Shikamaru

"Inkblot."

"Well, Inkblot, my name's Shikamaru, I'm Lady Dove-sama's clerk, and her spymaster. That means that you work for me, okay?"

"Okay! Spying is fun-fun Shika! We all spy now?"

"Not yet, I've gotta figure out who all of you are, and where to put you."

"Well," said Lady Dove, "I'll leave you to it." She got up and left the room, shutting the door behind her.

"All right," said Shikamaru, turning back to the desk covered in darking-balls, "One at a time, introduce yourselves, and tell me how to tell you apart."

"Inkblot will start! Inkblot is Inkblot, and Inkblot is all dark."

"Lace is next! Lace has pretty lace pattern!"

"Feather has crow feather inside!"

"Magnolia has flower from tree!"

"Leaf has leaf hat!"

"Peony has flower from ground inside, see?"

This went on for a while, until there were only two left.

"Jelly shakes all time…" the little blob shivered.

"Secret is very young, just split off week ago. Secret is very small." He certainly was that. Secret was only about one-third the size of the other darkings. But something else bothered Shikamaru.

"What do you mean, split off?"

"When darking get big enough, need make more darkings. Darking splits in many pieces, makes new darkings. One new darking is same as old darking, and is biggest. All darkings here but Secret are from Inkblot." Inkblot piped.

"So that makes you their father, right? Or is it mother?"

"Is called mother, but darkings not have real sex. All darkings same like that; and all darkings can make new darkings. Darking is given name and sex by first human darking meets. Daine is first darking Inkblot meet, and Daine call Inkblot boy. Peony is called girl, Magnolia is called girl, all rest is called boy. Secret not have sex yet, you give?"

"Uh…" this was a weird conversation. "Sure, Secret's a boy too, okay?"

"Okay!" Secret was happy with that, and began bouncing in place.

"Well then, all of you, let's get you set up. Feather, Lace, Jelly, Leaf, Secret, and Inkblot, come here, I'll set you up with one for each of my friends and me. Magnolia, stay here, and when Lady Dove-sama comes back, tell her I said to stay with her. Do what she says, as long as it doesn't interfere with orders I give you, okay?"

"Okay!'

"The rest of you, hide in one of her drawers, I'll have assignments for you later."

All of the darkings did what he had told them to. With his pockets full of darking, Shikamaru set off to find the other ninjas. He found each of them, and after briefly explaining what was going on, gave them each a darking. Feather went to Neji, Lace went to Hinata, Jelly went to Naruto, Leaf went to Kiba and Akamaru, and Secret went to Lee.

When he returned to the study, Lady Dove had just finished talking to Magnolia, and was in the process of letting the darking form itself into a bead necklace. She smiled at him as he came in. "Did you need anything else, Shikamaru?"

"I did have a question about when you were kidnapped by the pirates."

"Yes?"

"You said that while you were dealing with their captain, he said that he wanted to keep you around longer, "no matter what their Highnesses said." Do you know what he meant by that?"

"Unfortunately I do. He meant that my royal cousins, their Highnesses Imajane and Rubinyan, were the ones who ordered my kidnapping."

"That means that the pirates probably reported back to them about what happened, so they know about Lee." Oh, shit, that'll make it harder.

"I doubt it."

"Huh?"

"You remember how the Royal family treats traitors? Pirates aren't even supposed to be in the Isles, they wouldn't dare return to the regents and tell them that they failed; they'd be killed on sight, or captured and tortured for everything they know. They probably won't even stay in the Isles, for fear of being caught by them. I doubt you'll have to worry about our secret for a long while."

"That's a relief. I did have one more thing to tell you, though. I'm giving all of the main players a darking, but since we're moving so soon, there's no point in setting up a whole lot of them here. I was planning on leaving just one to watch over the place, but did you have any suggestions?"

"Actually, yes. Eda Bell won't be going with us, so you should have her darking take care of things here. Though you may want to leave one in charge of the mail as well, since you can't do it yourself once we move."

"That sounds right. I just need to collect the rest of the darkings now. The ones that I don't give assignments right away will go back in the jar until I have assignments for them. That way, I don't have to worry about them being found." Shikamaru collected the darkings; put them in the jar, and left, saying, "If you'll excuse me, Lady Dove-sama."

One Week Later, On the Ship Heading Towards Rajmuat

After his conversation with Lady Dove, Shikamaru had given Eda Bell her darking, an oddly-patterned one named Thatch, who had immediately curled himself inside her belt. He had assigned another darking named Oil to monitoring the mail, because the little fellow had an uncanny knack for oozing into people's property without them finding out. Inkblot had assured him that Oil was the best one for the job, and Shikamaru trusted the little blot's judgment.

It seemed that Inkblot was one of the oldest existing darkings. A few of the original fifty-two that were created had died during a great war, in which they had participated mainly as spies, but also on the front lines. The rest had died from too many divisions. Apparently, darkings could only divide so many times before their personality was lost, and they subsided into puddles of useless goop. Inkblot had only divided twice before, saving himself and his children for future service. Despite his advanced age, he had plenty of divisions left before he died.

Currently, Inkblot was hiding inside Shikamaru's shirt, under his collar. When he wanted to talk, he sent a pseudopod up to curl around the back of his ear, like a wireless earphone. It worked pretty well, and nobody seemed to notice. Shikamaru stood near the ship's prow, looking towards their new temporary home, and the staging field of their rebellion. From this distance, it looked to be one tough shogi board. The city was a maze of winding streets, and not only were there the normal streets to worry about, there were overhead ones as well. Between the rooftops of the houses were strung rope bridges, which connected them to each other, crossed the streets below, and circumvented most of the street traffic. All in all, it looked to be a rather prosperous city, as would be expected of a capital city.

Shikamaru was pulled from his thoughts by the sight of the harbor mouth. Between two stone pillars was wedged a beam of wood from which hung two corpses bound by ropes in varying states of decay. Seagulls circled and picked at the remains, as did a few crows and ravens. Shikamaru tried not to gag from the stench as they passed them on their way into the harbor.

"They're called Examples." Shikamaru turned to see Lady Dove standing looking at the remains sadly. She wore a soft lavender gown and pale lilac undergown today. "They're those who were either found to be guilty of treason, or were unable to prove their innocence. Their Highnesses the Regents follow the example of the first Luarin conquerors, and display them as a symbol of their might and ruthlessness. The one who brings the Examples to the regents is their current spymaster; no one even remembers his real name anymore, and they just call him Topabaw."

"Topabaw?"

"It means 'blood-soaked' in the old Raka tongue. He's infamous for cruelty among commoners and nobility alike, to the point that his name cannot even be used as a threat, for fear he'd find out about it, and retaliate."

"Is he really that terrible?"

"I don't know, but he's been at it for over thirty years, and he's still alive and on top."

Thirty years. That means he probably has a very extensive network of spies. But if he's getting older, he's probably swollen on his name; using the terror his name creates to frighten obedience out of the people and his underlings. It's possible he's not as good as he once was…but I can't take that chance, I'll have to check him out as soon as possible. One thing is certain… Shikamaru looked back at the Examples dangling pitifully in the harbor mouth. …he's evil. We can't let ourselves get caught; if we get caught, we're finished.

The ship docked, and they disembarked, careful to stay within their roles. Hinata, Shikamaru, Naruto, and Lee still maintained their old jobs, but they'd had to change into more appropriate clothing. The boys now wore the loose slacks and loose, long-sleeved shirts and vests typical of Luarin commoners and workers, with slight differences depending on their jobs. Hinata wore an outfit similar to Lady Dove's, though pale pink and cream in color. Shikamaru had decided that Kiba and Neji needed to take new positions in the household. Kiba would have to take the job of messenger, since that would give him excuses to run all over town with Akamaru, and he got to keep his normal outfit.

Neji was now Lady Dove's personal bodyguard, a position that fit his serious outlook perfectly. His usual outfit was good enough for the position that he didn't need new clothes yet, and though he'd had to rid himself of his tool bag, he'd kept his shuriken holster, transferring it to his hip so as to be less noticeable. All of them had removed their Konoha forehead protectors a long time ago, so as not to draw attention, but Lady Dove had determined that Neji should wear his, because it was extremely similar to the symbol of House Balitang, and it wouldn't be unusual for a bodyguard to wear such a thing.

Shikamaru had spent long hours with Lady Dove discussing what exactly they could expect to happen when they arrived, so he was prepared when about ten soldiers approached them. Neji immediately came between them and Lady Dove, keeping a watchful eye on their leader, who was an attentive-looking Luarin man. The captain nodded appreciatively at the move, then addressed Lady Dove directly. "We're to escort you to House Balitang, Milady."

She nodded with dignity, and Neji dropped back to let her walk beside Hinata, still keeping an eye out for trouble. They moved out, and as they walked, Shikamaru made a mental map of the area, and saw the others doing the same, especially Kiba. Shikamaru's outfit was a somber grey on grey, perfect for a serious clerk. It made him seem a bit older, and compensated for his lax attitude. It was also a good color for moving about at night, as he was sure he'd have to do. Appearances can be deceiving, but appearances can also be important for first impressions.

As they neared their destination, Shikamaru noticed that all of the Raka would stop what they were doing to watch them as they passed. They were actually starting to form crowds who stared at the Lady as she walked down the street. It's understandable; they recognize her as the One Who Was Promised. But it's damned troublesome. If I've noticed, then it's certain that the guards have too. Let's just hope that they don't make an issue of it… I'd better make it seem as though we've no idea what's going on. "Do the Raka always stare at nobility like this?" he drawled to the guard closest to him.

The guard shrugged and replied, "Probably shocked that she got back into favor after so long, especially since your Lady's part Raka. It's almost unheard of for a part-Raka noble to survive being out of favor with the crown for so long, and to get back into favor is really surprising." He grinned. "Or maybe they're just staring at how pretty she is. Gods know I wish I was nobility, so I'd stand a chance of courting her."

Well, at least the guards don't suspect anything, that's good. I just hope any of Topabaw's spies that are watching are as nonchalant. And that he doesn't think much of it in a report.

The contingent of royal guards left them once they arrived at their destination. House Balitang was nearly as large as Tanair Castle, though much more aesthetically pleasing. The stone walls surrounding it were made of flat-cut granite, with a subtle pattern of light and dark blocks cut so that the edges seemed to fuse together, even without mortar. The top of the wall, made of copper-covered sandstone, was smoothly rounded in such a way that it prevented grapples from catching hold, and also conveyed a natural smoothness and symmetry. The copper was embossed with vines whose leaves really did resemble the Konoha mark remarkably well.

The gate was a massive affair of beautifully polished mahogany-wood, with copper vines decorating the over-sized panels. When they entered, they were greeted by the sight of well-cared-for lawns and a shielded sandstone path to the house itself. Shikamaru noticed that the top of the wall was accessible by a stone stairway at every corner. The copper top was actually a shield for inside forces, and he was certain that it had arrow-slits in discrete, yet effective, places. Whoever designed this place was a damned genius; they made it incredibly defensible, without sacrificing its looks at all.

The House itself was equally impressive; its walls had the same flat cut and same subtle pattern as the main walls, and all of the windows on the two lowest floors were too narrow for anyone but an anorexic child to fit through.

Or a darking.

The doors all had the same copper vine-and-leaf decorations, which doubled as reinforcements. The roof was tiled with overhanging copper-decorated eves that protected the top-floor windows from airborne missiles and those walking along the edge of the house from rain.

As they walked up the path, an elderly woman came out of the house to greet them. She was dressed in a stern yet beautiful gown of pearly grey, which complimented her silver-grey hair. "Aunt Nuretin! What a pleasant surprise!" exclaimed Lady Dove, and embraced the older woman fondly. "I had no idea you were here! What brings you to the main house?"

"Your father entrusted me with its care when you were exiled. I've been living here the whole time." Although she spoke severely, her eyes were kind. "Please, come inside. You must be weary after your journey, and we've news to exchange." She turned abruptly to Shikamaru, who straightened unconsciously under her gaze. "You'll be Dove's new clerk, I suppose?"

"Yes Ma'am, Lady Nuretin-sama. My name's Shikamaru."

Lady Nuretin Balitang raised her eyebrows at his way of speaking, but didn't comment. Instead she said, "You'll take care of seeing that everything arrives correctly then. Until Dove and I are finished, you'll be in charge. Any mistakes are your responsibility, am I understood?"

"Perfectly, Lady Nuretin-sama."

"Good. Come along, Dove, and bring your lady-in-waiting." Lady Dove and Hinata followed as Lady Nuretin Balitang swept into the house.

No wonder she's called the Old Dragon of the Balitangs! Shikamaru thought. What was that saying again? 'Beware the matriarchs of the Copper Isles, for they are the queens without crowns.' She's almost as scary as the Godaime-sama. He sighed and began getting things in order.

Notes: Yay! Finished! No real action, but lots of good and interesting stuff about the Isles! Also, after this point, there'll be mentions of Shikamaru's plans and orders on the espionage/ sabotage front in the other's chapters. So even though you may not see him working overtly, trust me, he's doing a damn fine job of working behind the scenes! Also, the next chapter is for Neji and Hinata, but I may split it into two smaller chapters, since there are two of them.