'Now, now. Let's not be too hasty. There may be a perfectly logical explanation as to why there is a secret passage that the Cursed Warrior just so happens to be using that is near the Daimyo's palace. This could be part of the plot to implicate the Daimyo should Mōsō plans to implicate Chomei not work out.'
'Do you really believe that?'
….
….
'Thought so.'
'Let's at least check things out before we jump to conclusion, ne?' Naruto asked with a slight sigh. It wasn't that he didn't agree with his tenant, because really, this was just too suspicious to be a coincidence and not even the most paranoid people would believe his previous proposal. Still, things never turned out well when someone made a conclusion about a situation that ended up being wrong. False assumptions led to death.
Anko had driven that into his head quite painfully.
A loud splash caught his attention.
'What was that?'
Looking over to the side, Naruto saw a large bamboo fence blocking off a large section of the area. Frowning, the blond Uzumaki carefully moved forward, using all his stealth skills, which were quite considerable, to not make a noise. He eventually reached the fence and leaned in to see what the noise was.
What he saw was... honestly not that surprising.
The first thing he noticed was steam. A lot of steam. So this was an open air bath than. Made sense. This was the Daimyo's palace.
The second thing he saw were the beautiful surroundings. The placid water that had steam rising up from it, the small waterfall that seemed to be recycling the water, or maybe bringing it in from an underground hotspring.
The last thing he took note of, which was really the first thing he took note of, was the naked woman washing herself. He couldn't see much of her because her back was turned to him, but what he could see showed that whoever this woman was, she was incredibly gorgeous.
Naruto's face began to redden as his eyes gazed at the small, shapely rear that was just barely visible above the waters surface. It sloped into an elegant backside that was surprisingly toned. Slender shoulders and a graceful neck were visible as the woman's long hair was currently parted at the base of her neck and moving down her front.
He watched as she lifted the pale filled with water and her left hand and used it to wash herself, dumping the water on her back. Naruto felt himself gulp as he saw adventurous droplets of water trail a sinful path down the woman's back, right before he jerked himself away from the sight, doing his best to keep steam from pouring out of his ears.
'Dammit! I shouldn't be peeping on girls like this!' Naruto cried out within his mind. 'That's ero-sensei's job! I'm not a pervert!'
'Could have fooled me.'
Naruto was about to snap a quick retort at Kyuubi when he paused.
'Are you ok?'
'Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?'
'I don't know. You just sounded... a little odd. Are you sure your ok?'
'I am perfectly fine. Now why don't you focus on what we came here to do.'
Naruto frowned. Maybe it was just him, but Kyuubi sounded a tad different than she usually did...
Whatever. It was probably just his imagination playing tricks on him.
Walking down one of the many narrow hallways in the Daimyo's palace, a young woman strode forward unimpeded. Her hair, tied into a tight not on top of her head and hidden by the Daimyo's hat, was a lustrous black and her eyes were just as dark. She had pale, snow white skin and soft lips that were set into a hard frown. Her figure was hidden under several layers worth of clothing, masking her gender from everyone, even her personal bodyguards that were stationed around the palace.
The young woman had the look of someone whose heart had long since hardened, her mind stuck in the past, constantly replaying the reason she had taken up the role that should have been her brothers.
Tears leaked from her eyes as she stared at the prone figure of her brother. Her mind was left reeling as she tried to come to terms with what had happened, with what the empty husk she now saw laying before her, but found she could not.
"Sagi..."
How could this have happened? Her brother couldn't be dead. Not now. He was supposed to be the Daimyo and rule over their people. He was supposed to be here with her, protecting her just like he had promised to always do.
"Why? Why did you have to leave me? Why did you leave me all alone?"
As tears continued to spill from her eyes, Toki fell forward, her face burying itself on the thick, quilted blanket covering her brother's dead body. She cried tears of anguish into the quilt, soaking it in her sorrow.
"I can't lose you," she choked out through her sobs. "Please don't leave me! Please!"
It just wasn't fair. First her father died and now her brother, who had been her best friend in the whole world, was dead as well. Why? Why couldn't she been the one who was taken? She didn't want to live without her brother. She couldn't.
She couldn't take it. She just couldn't take the pain of losing both her brother and father. Grabbing the kaiken she always had hidden within the sleeves of her kimono in case she needed to defend herself, Toki raised the blade to her throat, more than prepared to end her life. It was the only way she could see to end her pain, to stop the gaping wound of loss she felt at her brother's and father's death. And maybe, just maybe, she would be able to join them wherever they were. She hoped so. She wanted to see them again.
Just as she was about to plunge the knife into her throat she was stopped by a hand. Startled, Toki opened the eyes she had closed, only to gasp in shock when she saw what had stopped her.
It was her brother. Only, he wasn't quite her brother. He was pale, translucent. Like a ghost.
Toki looked down at the futon to see the body of her brother still laid out on it, then turned her gaze towards the ghost of her brother.
"S-Sagi," she stuttered, her emotions inverting upon themselves as shock settled over her fair features. The shock she felt was not just from her brother's death now, but also from seeing his ghost. "W-What are you –? How did you –?" despite making an attempt to, Toki couldn't seem to articulate the questions she wanted to ask the ghostly form of her brother. Would he even answer? Could he answer?
The ghost of her brother held one of her hands in his, while his other hand reached down and grabbed something laying by the futon. Gently, he placed it in her hand, removing his own so she could see what he had given her.
It was a pocket watch, a very old pocket watch made of silver and bronze. Toki recognized it almost immediately. The pocket watch was a family heirloom that had been handed down from father to son for generations.
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