38 Barely Undercover

"The Things I Do for My Village…"

"I don't see why you can't use a bigger needle, Tsunade. That girl needs to feel the pain I felt when she ruined my notes! Five months of research, gone in one big splash." A frustrated noise, then, "What are you smiling at? She took complete advantage of my situation." From where she waited outside the office, Kotori could easily hear the two voices arguing and wondered what would be in store for her when she passed through the doorway. "Just what kind of a freak is she, anyway? She's a menace to society – I almost drowned."

"And whose fault is that for challenging a Water Style user in her own element?" the other voice, that of an older woman, replied with a quiet snicker. "I've heard stories about her, and I wouldn't mind finding out which ones are true. In the meantime, though…" A pause, thoughtful hmm, then, "Now we'll see if this works. Kotori?"

Kotori swallowed nervously and opened the door that would lead her into the Hokage's office. Whatever this is, hopefully it's not as bad as anything I've endured within the past few months. "Coming, Hokage-sama."

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Taking one last sip of his tea, Taiki looked over the finalized mission orders once more. "I can't say I like this one, but it will be a tribute to all involved if we can carry it out right." His eyes skimmed down through the parameters and personnel requirements, his expression somewhere between a smile and a wince as he read. "As much as I dislike it, I imagine Tori-chan will like it even less. It might be wise not to let her know I recommended her as my partner…"

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The raging burn across her skin alerted her to one of the presences in the office before she even entered, and it took a supreme act of will to remain professional as Kotori shut the door behind her. Giving the older man a curt nod, Kotori then turned to the third person present and bowed deeply. "Reporting as requested, Hokage-sama. I await your instruction."

"I see at least one of the stories is true," Tsunade muttered, giving the teenager that stood in front of her a critical look-over. "It's medically impossible for someone your age to have the body type you do, but you and natural science obviously parted ways some time ago."

"For what it's worth, yours are still bigger," Jiraiya commented idly, shrugging off the twin stares of indignation from blue and brown eyes elicited by this statement.

"Enough – that's not what I called either of you here for. Your arm please, Kotori." Doing as she was told, Kotori crossed to stand next to Tsunade's desk and held her arm out. First came the cool tingle of rubbing alcohol against the skin, then the tugging sting as a hypodermic needle delivered a mysterious solution into the girl's body. "If this doesn't work, I don't know what will."

Kotori glanced down at the almost drained contents of the needle and grimaced at the silvery-white color of the liquid within. "Might I ask just what this is?"

Easing the needle out of her patient's arm, Tsunade set it aside and stood back to watch for a reaction. "No one should have to suffer from perverts any more than is normal, Kotori – " this last was said with a pointed look at Jiraiya, who affected an expression of mock-innocence " – and being allergic to them is something even I would hate to imagine." The brilliant rash that up until this point had colored Kotori's pale skin now began to recede, leaving in its place a blessed coolness that caused Kotori to sigh in audible relief. "Good. I'll have this made into a powder that will be easier to take with you on your next mission, which should be by the end of this week."

Massaging her arm to ease the soreness, Kotori gave the older woman a puzzled look. "Mission, Hokage-sama?"

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Rumors of instability in Konohagakure following the invasion have permeated even to the borders, causing a lack of faith in the local governments and allowing crime to once again gain a foothold in what had been otherwise peaceful, prosperous lands. Many of the problems may be traced to a crime lord named Masuyo, who has organized freelance criminals and local gangs into a syndicate of sorts that is doing a brisk trade in counterfeit and/or stolen goods, narcotics, prostitution, and slave trading.

We cannot risk attracting attention by sending a large group, so we ask for at most three skilled operatives to infiltrate the criminal operations mentioned above and gather information as to the persons involved. Once we have a clearer picture of the situation we will send instructions on how to proceed, and we ask that this be undertaken as soon as possible to prevent further injury to the citizens and territories of the Fire Country.

"Sounds like a picnic," Taiki grumbled, reading the rest of the instructions before folding and placing them in a jacket pocket. "And I imagine Kotori will have a few things to say about this as well, once she receives her orders from Tsunade-sama. I say it'll be about five minutes, give or take, before Tori-chan starts screaming bloody murder…"

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"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, but…" Taking a few steps back towards the door, Kotori did her best to compose herself and failed utterly. "What the hell! With my luck, I'll wind up working in a… a gentleman's club… or worse! And I'm not even of legal drinking age!"

"All the better," reasoned Tsunade with a sly smile. "You'll be able to focus on the job at hand without any distractions. Besides, if I can make myself look younger, you can make yourself look older and no one will be the wiser."

Kotori shivered at the implication and tried to think of some other way to protest the decision. "You do realize that this could turn into a death-trap quite easily, don't you? And you're sending me and at least one other unlucky sod in there unarmed and unprepared, so what do you expect us to do if things get ugly?"

"If what I've read and heard about you is true, then you have nothing to worry about." A cold edge crept into the smile as the older woman added in low tones, "And if you should fail, you'd be disappointing a lot of people. There's more to a Legendary Swordsman than the weapon, hm?"

There was no choice for Kotori other than to sigh and concede the point. "You're right, ma'am."

"Of course I am! They didn't give me this job for nothing." Satisfied in her victory, Tsunade waved her hand in a dismissive gesture to the girl. "Now that it's settled, go and get ready. Your teammate will meet with you soon to give you your orders."

"Understood, Hokage-sama," Kotori murmured and bowed once more before leaving, walking away as fast as her steps could take her to avoid making a scene. Had she been slower, she would have heard the following dialogue:

"I'll be leaving for the border first thing tomorrow. Any special instructions?"

A heavy sigh from Tsunade, then, "I would tell you to behave yourself, but I already know that's a losing prospect."

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"So what do you think?" Taiki asked Kotori as the two sat in her living room the next afternoon, having tea and a snack while they made plans for their upcoming mission.

"I think the whole idea is mad," pronounced Kotori as she finished reading through the written orders given to her by Taiki. "Even if we do have a third person working with us, they had better be something special. Face it, Tai – even though you think you're the next best thing since hot miso with your ability to channel Death itself and all that, you're actually going to have to act like a normal human being for this one, difficult a concept as that may be for you."

Speak for yourself, Taiki silently grumbled, refusing to say the words aloud for fear of aggravating Kotori further. Even so, his thought had as much impact as if he had vocalized it, Kotori narrowing her eyes in a mixture of indignation and disbelief as she tried to figure out what kind of trick her mind was playing on her. "What? Is something wrong?" Taiki asked, also wondering what had just happened.

Kotori shook her head quickly, trying to clear it of the strange ringing sensation that had vibrated in her skull for the past few seconds. "No, nothing. Anyway, back to what I was saying… My point was, we'll both be severely limited as to what we can do – no lightning for you, no sword for me, only wits and instincts. Do you really think we have what it takes?"

"Of course I do, and obviously others do too or else we never would have been allowed to take this mission. And, ready or not, it's ours for the doing." Taiki sighed and sat back, trying to conceal the doubt that lurked in the corners of his mind from the uncanny intuition Kotori had shown earlier.

"All right then, genius, any idea as to how we're going to do this? My skills lie more in swift, painful death, not in tactics and intrigue."

Praying that she wouldn't divine the idea before he brought it up, Taiki ventured, "Promise not to kill me?"

"Killing you would be counterproductive at this point," grumbled Kotori, folding her arms across her chest and fixing Taiki in a dark glare. "And though I dread what you might say, it's better than nothing."

"Well, um…" Suddenly at a loss for words, Taiki paused and uneasily drummed his fingers on the table while he tried to phrase his idea. "I was thinking that with your… assets, you could…"

It was Kotori's turn to sigh as she guessed where this was going. "I work on the body while you attack the brain, so to speak?"

Taiki coughed in embarrassment but still nodded. "That's a more polite way than I would have put it, but yes. We would travel undercover as a shady dealer and his – ahem – personal assistant and offer our services to Masuyo and his buddies once we get to the town they're operating from."

"Simple enough, I guess." Kotori gave the orders one last glance-over and shook her head. "I'll tell you not to expect any fringe benefits from this arrangement, though. Anything you do get you'll have to earn."

This merited an eyebrow raise in retort. "You'll find I'm a lot gentler than most others you'll meet out there…"

"That may be true, but I'll break your face if you try anything without my permission." Inwardly relishing the pout of disappointment this brought, Kotori rose from her seat and moved to leave. "I'll meet you at the main gate at dawn two days from now, but no sooner. We move then."

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"A 'personal attendant,' huh?" Kotori muttered thoughtfully under her breath, standing in front of her open closet and looking through the limited selection of clothing. "Why didn't he just say 'hired whore' and get it over with?"

In case you haven't noticed, he's been trying very hard to get back in your good graces. The Nekomata stretched, gave a purring yawn, and settled back down. He knows he embarrassed you with that whole fight thing and he's afraid of offending you even further.

"Thank gods for small favors, then." Having searched her wardrobe back to front and found nothing satisfactory, Kotori frowned. "Looks like I'm going to have to call on Naeko once more…" A disgusted noise, then, "What am I supposed to tell her? 'Hey, long time no see. I need another favor – can you make me look like a skank?' She'll either faint from shock or die laughing."

It looks like you've got no other choice, the cat mused, grinning. You'd best get to it.

Kotori sighed once more, shaking her head in resignation. "The things I do for my village."