The cobblestones crunched beneath my geta as I walked down the narrow street. Sunlight illuminated the river stones that paved the path, and small buildings lined either side. Focusing chakra into my ears, I could hear the families and people going about their day. Looking up, I saw it was well past midday.
I had just come from a wealthy restaurant, having enjoyed a mouthwatering chicken soup dish. The restaurant catered to wealthy merchants and nobles, offering various entertainments, including a theater where plays took place from time to time—a perfect place to gather information.
It had become my routine for the past week since the meeting with the Daimyo. Every shinobi was assigned different missions, and mine, along with a few others, was to scout for possible enemy combatants or the Daimyo's hidden agents. I was chosen because I had apparently proven myself with my sensing capabilities. It wasn't perfect, as some naturally had larger chakra pools, but I was now more proficient in sensing their control and "flavor" based on their chakra flow.
I adjusted the kimono I had changed into, carrying only a single kunai underneth my sleeve and a storage scroll with most of my belongings in case things went south. Regulating my chakra, I suppressed it as much as I could, just as Hanami had taught me.
She was surprisingly good at it, something she had learned from Sayuri-san. It was a more intrinsic technique, and I wasn't entirely used to using it like the external techniques, such as the elemental releases. However, I had picked it up easily enough to surprise her, and she had commented on my talent. I smiled wryly at that thought; even Tsume had been surprised at how quickly I picked it up.
In return for teaching me this, I taught her water transformation and the Water Bullet Jutsu. The rest of our squad was split up, with Tsume and Riku mostly socializing with the nobles. That was the whole reason some of the shinobi were on this mission.
I snorted, realizing it was starting to drive her insane. Shaking my head, I reached the end of the street, which opened into a wider road filled with people. The capital was getting ready for the festival in two days, and you could tell by the cheer of the people. Lanterns were already being strung along the eaves, and vendors hawked candied persimmons and rice crackers shaped like koi.
Across the road, the main canal bisected the street. Graceful willows lined both banks, their long branches trailing in the current, leaves drifting down in lazy green spirals. Arched stone bridges connected the two sides, their railings carved with lotus blossoms and herons in flight. A pleasure boat glided past, with musicians plucking shamisen strings while passengers laughed and toasted with sake cups.
It was beautiful.
I turned, hearing a sudden commotion. Almost subconsciously, my hand drifted toward my sleeve, hoping it wasn't trouble. I didn't want to get caught in the crossfire; there were a surprising number of young masters running around the capital. By fate or luck, it wasn't, I thought with a snort.
Instead, it was an entourage led by a gorgeous young woman dressed in expensive clothing. Her beauty took me aback.
She was tall for a woman here. Her kimono was layered in pale lavender and cream silk, embroidered with silver cranes that seemed to lift off the fabric when she moved, and her long, glossy black hair was pinned up with jade combs shaped like falling snowflakes. Around her clustered other beautiful women, ladies-in-waiting, probably, and a group of young men vying for her attention, each trying to out-boast the last with louder stories.
Lady Tsurara, the Daimyo's daughter by one of his concubines.
Even though she was a known entity, I wanted a local's view. Looking around, I made my way to a man who looked like he belonged here, adjusting my posture and facial expression to seem like a wide-eyed traveler visiting for the festival. Acting was something I found I was good at.
I spotted an older man leaning against a stall selling grilled eel skewers. Perfect. I stepped up beside him, nodding politely toward the passing entourage.
"Excuse me, sir," I said, keeping my voice light and curious. "That lady... is she someone important?"
The man chuckled as he worked the skewers.
"Ah, you're new, aren't you, traveler?" He wiped his hands on his apron. "That's Lady Tsurara, Lord Rougen's daughter, though born to one of the lower concubines. But blood is blood, eh? She is quite favored by her father. And beauty like that... they call her the Water Flower of the Capital."
He gestured with his hands, his eyes following her as she laughed at something one of the young men said.
"She's of marriageable age now, and half the noble houses in the Land of Rivers have already sent proposals. But she's got a good heart, that one. Doesn't look down on common folk the way some do."
I nodded. "She sounds... remarkable."
"That she is," the man agreed. "Now, would you like an eel skewer? I assure you, it's tasty." His smile turned into that of a salesman. I laughed lightly, keeping up the charade, bought one, and left.
Normally, I would return to the palace unseen and report my findings, as I did every day. However, looking at the woman, I knew I had found something significant. First, she was known to be close to her dear aunt Kiyomi and more importantly...
focusing my senses on her, I could tell her chakra network was trained. She didn't have much chakra, not unlike an academy student. While she could have been taught by one of the many samurai in her retinue or by her father, something in my gut told me there was more to discover. With that thought in mind, I slowly blended back into the crowd, keeping her well within my sensing range, intending to covertly follow her for the rest of the day.
By the time the group had finished their outing, the sun was slowly setting. I shook my head at the day I had spent following the noble group as they casually spent the equivalent of multiple C-rank missions' worth of money at each stop.
They bought bolts of imported silk, a set of lacquered hairpins, and even a private tea ceremony at a garden pavilion where they sampled rare mountain blends while musicians played soft melodies on koto strings. By the time they settled into one of the city's higher-end restaurants—an elegant two-story place overlooking the main canal—they'd already spent enough to feed a small merchant family for months.
Inside, the group lingered for hours, ordering course after course: grilled river eel brushed with sweet soy glaze, delicate sashimi arranged like flower petals, tempura so light it seemed to float above the plate, and finally platters of mochi stuffed with sweet red bean paste and dusted with kinako.
Sake flowed freely as Lady Tsurara sat at the center, smiling politely at every compliment and engaging in conversation with everyone. Eventually, the meal wound down, and lanterns were lit along the restaurant's veranda as the group began to separate.
Lady Tsurara rose gracefully, bowed to her companions with perfect poise, and stepped outside. Four sturdy bearers in dark uniforms waited with a lacquered palanquin, ready to carry it on poles.
I had almost lost her, managing to keep up only due to my increased sensing range. Wisening up, I broke away before the palace gates and circled wide, slipping into the forested belt bordering the noble estates next to the palace. I climbed a tree, sticking to it using minimal chakra. From there, I could barely see, but I could still sense her.
Below me, Lady Tsurara's private estate stretched out, It was an elegant compound shared with her mother. An open courtyard dominated the center, ringed by carefully raked white sand. At its heart lay a large pond, fed by a trickling stone lantern, koi drifting lazily beneath the surface. Directly beside the pond stood her personal quarters: wide sliding shoji doors left partially open to the night air.
From my perch, I could just barely make out her silhouette moving inside, unpinning her hair and folding the outer layer of her kimono over a stand.
I settled in to wait.
Nearly an hour passed, and I began to think I was wasting my time. Then, I stiffened. A chakra signature, with a distinct wind nature, flashed through to the property in quick shunshins and entered her room.
A shinobi.
I cursed inwardly, paused for a moment, and looked around. Only trees, a lot of them very close to her room.
Deciding to get closer, I slowly made my way near the room, stopped, and leapt down to the ground. I flashed through hand signs, ending on the snake seal, and Earth chakra surged through my legs. I pressed both palms to the soil and sank into the ground, moving forward underground, using small holes above, making the earth above me porous.
Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole (Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu)
I stopped when I sensed the wooden foundation of her room just above me. The shoji doors were paper-thin. I focused harder, combining water with earth. Mokuton. The technique I'd been practicing in stolen moments behind our outer compound, hidden from the others in the team.
A single tendril of chakra pushed upward, growing a thin branch. It grew silently, threading through the soil, then through the base of her room, and climbed, slipping inside through a narrow gap in the foundation, becoming part of myself.
I shifted my consciousness along it. From inside the branch, I could sense and see the room clearly, the tatami mats, the footsteps of the two people inside.
A feeling of wry amusement curled through me.
All those young nobles trailing Lady Tsurara like lovesick ducklings earlier today, vying for a single glance or a polite laugh, was all a waste as from the unmistakable sounds and gasps and the sound of flesh striking flesh, she was enjoying having someone else inside her.
I sighed. Despite feeling this was more than a noble's sordid rendezvous, part of me felt stumped. I did not want to observe what was going on inside. I pulled away my consciousness and ignored her moans and the male's grunts. Some time later, I could tell they were done and heard faintly them discussing, "...when can we meet again?" Her tone was soft, almost pleading.
"Soon," the man answered, his voice rough but careful. "I'll be back as soon as the envoy arrives. Just... be careful of Konoha; they're dangerous."
Footsteps padded across the tatami. Fabric rustled as clothes were gathered and tied. The man stepped onto the veranda, pausing for a heartbeat, long enough for me to catch his silhouette: lean, dark clothing, a faint glint of metal at his belt. Then, he dropped lightly to the raked sand beside the pond.
I smiled in the dark. The sand moved beneath his foot almost fluidly, like water. It wasn't something we all did. He molded it instinctively, as if trained from a young age by necessity.
Well, well, now would you look at that... a Suna nin fucking the favored granddaughter of the Daimyo.
The man crouched once, checked the courtyard with a quick sweep of his head, then vanished in a blur of shunshin. I waited another long minute before beginning my careful retreat: easing my consciousness back down the branch, letting the mokuton tendril retract. Then I sank deeper into the earth, the ground closing over me like a blanket, and retraced my path. When I finally emerged, I was behind a thick pine.
I knew I had gold... and Had to report this back quick.