Chaos herself's note:

Hello everybody!

Did you have a nice holiday, or are you at least enjoying the weekend? Here is another chapter to (hopefully) help you do that.
Have fun reading!

Chaos

...

Chapter 8: Unveil and Understand

"Can you tell me what in Rikudou Sennin's name happened back then at that gathering?"

Tobirama sounded seriously pissed; he just wouldn't and wouldn't let it go.

Touka, however, didn't care and let him rant all he wanted. There was a solid wall between the two of them while she was taking her sweet time soaking in the women's bath before it got crowded; getting up before sunrise for this sort of luxury was definitely worth it. The warmth of the steaming Onsen did wonders to her body so she just leaned back and closed her eyes for a bit while she listened.

"Have you lost your mind now?" he accused from the other side of the wooden screen, "Bringing your blades to a no-weapon-party...did you really think it a good idea to engage with Madara fucking Uchiha in a drunken fight in a small corridor? Facing this dangerous man all on your own, trying something funny..."

"Well, since my assassination plans unfortunately failed, isn't it good I brought my weapons then? I would have definitely been in a worse position if I had been unarmed," she replied calmly.

"You could have been dead if I hadn't noticed you two were up to no good," Tobirama heatedly rumbled and she heard him shuffle agitatedly behind the barrier.

"Either that, or there would have been one enemy less to worry about..." the Kunoichi breathed and contentedly stretched her toes under water. "Such a shame. Maybe I should have fed him even more of my Sake...or been more patient and had him fully captivated first," she mused. "After all he admitted himself that I almost had him."

"What was up with you anyways? Appearing all dolled up as if you suddenly were one of the Uchiha instead of a Senju, pouring him Sake all night long and then disappearing together...anyone would have found that suspicious if they hadn't been so drunk," Tobirama let out exasperatedly and the dull noise of palms against wood echoed through the whole Onsen.

"You know, even you'll get in serious trouble if you peep in the women's bath, Tobirama-dono," she remarked levelly. Touka slid underwater for a brief moment, let herself be completely surronded by the relaxingly hot liquid, that distorted the frustrated noise he made. Once her head emerged again and she breathed in the vapour filled air she finally responded to his previous opinion.

"Now, Madara didn't find it very suspicious or else he probably wouldn't have been as responsive in the way he was...and that was what counted. Besides, I was expected to wear these kind of robes like the other Kunoichi present, was I not?" she said while she busied herself with lathering and scrubbing her skin with the naturally mineralized water.

Tobirama grumbled disapprovingly. "No reason to take that felon lightly just because he's familiar to the sight of your boobs already. You never know with him and his Sharingan..." he argued.

Touka comfortably turned around, folded her arms on the pool edge and cushioned her head on them. "It's quite the other way round, Tobirama-dono," she calmly corrected him, "he was supposed to take me lightly by taking away the image of a warrior in his head and replacing it briefly with that of a woman...but all the preparation and getting friendly ever since we forged my blade together has come undone the moment he escaped my kiss of the dragon; and another seduction attempt wouldn't work on him again." She sighed and slowly blinked while she heared him gasp.

"That's more than half a year ago!" Tobirama exclaimed, "And ever since you've been meaning to-..."

"Yes, indeed. Aren't you glad, you have an experienced Kunoichi up your sleeve for the upcoming war who can plan battle strategies this far ahead?" she said with a slight smirk tugging at her lips. But her countenance snapped back into place when she noticed a noise coming from the entrance.

"You should better go now, Tobirama-dono. Unless you want to screw your reputation and henceforth be known as the pervert little brother of the Senju clan chief..." Touka whispered and sensed his presence vanish from behind the screen with so much as a grumble. Then she turned back around to observe who came to disturb her quiet, well earned bath.

Conveniently, she had already made a brief acquaintance with the entering Kunoichi during the very same gathering Tobirama got all worked up over. He probably had missed her quiet conversations beneath the fleeting silken sleeves of her Yukata, too, like he obviously had missed her likewise spirit away her drinks into the Uchiha's and his own Sake bottles and cups instead of bingeing with them.

"Oh, hey. Good morning, Senju-san...didn't think you'd be even earlier in the baths than our sort," she was greeted with a carnassial toothy grin; of course, it was the Inuzuka with her good nose who noticed Touka first. "Usually we're the first to be here, right?" - "Right."

"Good morning, Inuzuka-san, Aburame-san," she simply replied while she watched them climb into the Onsen and sigh delightedly as they were engulfed by the hot water. Just the people she wanted to meet...

"Ne, ne, Senju-san," Inuzuka didn't skip a beat and approached Touka's space in the pool with languid paddling movements and the curious stare of a mutt on the scent, "about what you said the other night-...you really believe another war is coming, don't you? Even though we just had this peace-party..."

Touka nodded briefly, her face impassive. "War is always coming," she confirmed sternly and locked eyes with both Kunoichi. "And no amount of alcohol and merry chatter is going to change that, no matter how much you try to delude yourselves."

The Inuzuka clan chief's wife exchanged a meaningful glance with the demure Aburame heiress who kept her heat-flushed cheeks discreetly hidden behind a small-boned hand; then they both scooted even closer so the brazen Kunoichi could slam her hand right next to Touka's head against the wooden screen and come face to face with her. Unfazed by the Inuzuka's action she gave her a hard unblinking stare.

She didn't indulge her whim to order her 'sit' and 'give paw', though.

"You even smell like war, Senju-san; the Onsen can't veneer the blood and steel and death clinging to your pale skin..." the Inuzuka sniffed, then broke into a canine flashing grin. She didn't seem to have caught on to the recent incident with Madara, though, so Tobirama was probably fussing over nothing again. "You clearly are a no-shit Kunoichi, and I like that. So...let's talk about that other suggestion you made!"

The bug princess nodded earnestly and seconded that; obviously the two of them had already entertained the thought...


Back in her quarters Touka busied herself with pottery again while the four girls went through a series of Katas like she had instructed them to; a small breakthrough in their training had boosted their spirits so they were even more eager to progress and finally start operating.

The young Kunoichi seemingly had tasted blood; which was a good thing, Touka thought. They would see and drink and bathe in so much blood of their enemies soon enough they would hardly know anything else anymore... that was what war did to you.

And, like Touka had told time and again, war was definitely coming.

The creative process left the squad commander enough room to ruminate on the structure and workings of their shadow organisation some more. While she waited for the oven to bake the painted clay she prepared two scrolls for Mokuren; one contained her findings on their modus operandi and a curt mission report with dried lavender and squill imprinted to the parchment, the other listed the new recruits and their aliases.

With a rhododendron bud she sealed the scrolls into the form of a stinging nettle and left her quarters. They needed to talk...

"Jigitarisu," Touka interrupted the Kunoichi quartett's orchestrated spar and extracted the youngest member from the squad, "Take off your mask and follow me; you others continue your schedule until I'm back to whip your sore asses into shape."

Chiyo snapped to attention and hurried to her side. "Yes, Irakusa-taichou," four voices intonated straight-spined and Touka simply turned around and strode towards town.

She handed the Kunoichi the message for Mokuren and instructed her: "Head to the Senju palace and deliver this to Mito-sama, the wife of my clan chief. If she's not there you are to look for her in the future hospital. You will not give this into any other hands than Mito-sama's and hers alone, understood? Go."

While she observed the teenager hasten off Touka changed directions and went to her official appointment for tea at the local Kissaten with two honourable clan ladies, Hotaru Aburame and Youko Inuzuka, who shared more than their distaste of traitors and a general weariness of a vapid peace with Touka now...

Tsubaki (camelia) and Akoneito (aconite).

These two seasoned Kunoichi would probably be a useful asset to their circle and bolster their reconnaissance and intel capacity vastly. Moreover, they would give Mokuren and Isakura more insight and influence to their clans and tie them even closer to the Senju than the teenagers could have done.

Discreetly implying things during a few intimate words at the gathering had been another well calculated risk; but further probing had led the warrior to believe they could as well give it a try. Youko and Hotaru had been as keen as mustard to sift through the dirt of this village and decimate the scum.

Irakusa would discuss the details with the recruits, brief them on their tasks and see what they really got to offer hidden between the light banter of meaningless 'coffee klatsch' over war experience, clan anecdotes and Shinobi in general...

Touka just hoped for Jigitarisu's own good the teenager didn't dally away relaying the message to Mokuren so she might have her answer tonight.