Naruto: Tango with Death

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Upon hearing my command, Jiro exclaimed, "Princess! That man is a dangerous individual, it would be wiser to…"

I immediately cut him off, "Jiro, I know what I'm doing. If you hold any amount of trust in me, then please do as I say. And make sure neither my father or his wife hear about this."

Jiro looked conflicted, but after a bout of internal struggling he nodded and said, "I'll see what I can do."

Without another word, he left the room, while the one spying on us also left. In a matter of seconds though, the feeling of being watched reappeared. Actually, I wasn't 100% sure someone was watching, but I suspected it from the get go, so it could be paranoia or a badly hidden ninja.

While waiting for Jiro to come back, I looked around the room, and it really was luxurious. Even the Lakeside Mansion I had lived in for a month right before my promotion wasn't this luxurious.

It was a bit boring though, so I felt fortunate Jiro quickly came back, and not alone at that as Kisame stood next to him. This time though, he was not disguised as a noble, but he was actually dressed in battle armor, along with Samehada in his back, covered in bandages.

He entered the room without a word, and although Jiro tried to follow in, I stared at him and ordered, "Leave us alone, Jiro. He won't do anything to me."

Jiro bit his lower lip, but after a moment nodded and closed the door. Now that we were alone, Kisame and I looked at each other in the eye. We both remained silent for a while, until he finally broke the silence by saying, "Bold assumption of yours."

Sitting calmly on a futon, I replied without a ripple in my voice, "Hurting me in any way would endanger your operation in my country. You would alienate my father, and saying my mother-in-law is not fit to lead a country would be an understatement."

Kisame snorted softly in amusement, and sat down across me as he commented, "I do not like liars."

I smiled sweetly and replied, "Then you must love me."

Kisame groaned slightly, and asked, "You are more suspicious than ever to me. For all I know, you could be a ninja from Konoha. Or another village for that matters."

Picking up a piece of cotton next to me, I started wiping the make up I had applied earlier today as I said, "I cannot claim to know a lot about your ways, but I seem awfully young for being a ninja."

Kisame replied, "I've seen younger."

I scoffed, "Please, I may be a child, but I'm not stupid. I know how important my country is to both you and Konoha. Even you, who have the advantage, have brought an 18 years old as your youngest force…"

Kisame interrupted, "The boy's only 15."

I ignored his words and continued, "I doubt Konoha would send a 9 years old here. Besides, a ninja can't rule a country, they would have to return to their village someday."

I slipped in some nonsense on purpose, and it seemed it worked it's charm as Kisame did not show any emotion. He was probably probing anyway, although there are some young ninjas, I'm pretty sure it is unprecedented for a 9 years old to receive an S Rank Mission.

After a second, Kisame picked up on some of my words and asked, "A ninja can't rule? Then your aim is to rule?"

I finished washing off the pale make up on my cheeks, and replied, "Of course, who wouldn't in my position? I'm not going to take over my father though."

Kisame tilted his head, showing confusion as he asked, "Then why ask for me? To help you with your make up?"

I smiled, an image of Kisame helping me do my hair while in his Akatsuki outfit appearing in my mind, and said, "That would be fun, but no. While I will not take my father's place before he himself decides to hand his position over to me, I won't let him destroy our country because of something stupid like love."

Kisame said, "Stupid? Not very lady like to describe love as stupid."

I shook my head and replied, "Aren't you ninjas supposed to be tools? Why are you the one talking to me about love? For both you and I, it is nothing more than a restraint for our job."

Kisame paused for a moment, before saying, "Now I don't know whether I should like you or hate you. True yet full of lies."

I smiled and commented, "It must be quite a bother for a ninja to dislike lying… I don't know your name."

He stared at me unblinkingly, and said, "My name is Fuguki."

My smile brightened as I asked, "Didn't you say you didn't like lies?"

Kisame asked back without much of a shift in his expression, "What makes you say I'm lying?"

I shrugged and replied, "You look torn, from the inside. You dislike lying, but you still do it for your mission. Considering I am a possible threat in your clouded eyes, telling me your name could be detrimental."

Kisame scoffed lightly, before looking outside and asking, "Why would I consider you a threat? You have that old man at your beck and call."

This time, it was me who scoffed.

"Jiro? Please stop insulting my intelligence, I'm starting to get offended. No matter how similar I am to my aunt, someone in his position wouldn't be so easily swayed from his convictions. He is probably spying for my father or my mother in law."

Kisame stared as I finished wiping off my makeup, and said, "You look better natural."

I grinned and said, "You're going to make blush."

Kisame groaned in annoyance, before asking, "So, you didn't ask to meet me for chit chat. What did you want to tell me?"

I sent a glance at the door, and Kisame said, "The old man isn't spying on us."

I nodded and said, "Then, you need to work on the security."

Kisame squinted his eyes and asked, "Are you trying to get in my favours by repeating to me what I told the Daimyo already?"

I shook my head and replied, "You and I both know my father is no mastermind. What I mean is that your vision is clouded. Konoha will never attack this palace."

Kisame asked, completely serious, "And why is that?"

I gestured toward him with my head and replied, "Partly, you. But also because it wouldn't make sense for them to attack. Not yet, at least."

Now, Kisame looked interested as he said, "Their pawn was killed, why wouldn't they attack your family?"

"Because it wouldn't be worth it. Konoha has already been demonised in this country, so they wouldn't care about smearing their name off further. However, at the same time, killing my father and myself would be unproductive because you could simply place another pawn, and they wouldn't because of their reputation."

Kisame asked, "So you are saying Konoha needs to redeem itself to the people of this country before attacking you?"

I nodded, and Kisame snickered, "You don't seem to hate them that much though."

I rolled my eyes and handed him a small wooden tablet, placing the dirty cotton on it as I said, "Good and bad, righteous and evil, those are useless notions to me. Make no mistake, 'Fuguki', the only reason I would work with your village is because I was born into your side. If Konoha were to propose better advantages, and adequate protection, I wouldn't hesitate for a second to switch sides."

Kisame frowned, "You do understand you are not helping your case, do you?"

I took back the wooden tablet and replied, "You said you didn't like lies, so I'm telling you the truth. You are a tool to your village, so you would do anything your leader says. As for me, I am a guiding light to my people, or I will grow into one, and if I need to make a deal with the devil to accomplish that, then I wouldn't hesitate."