The room, by all accounts, was massive and a fitting residence for even the richest lords. Decorated with multiple plush bamboo chairs, intricately carved mahogany furniture and a select litany of extravagant paintings, the room's very design was to impress, awe, and woo whoever might take habitation here. Unfortunately, the one person in a position to partake in its opulence felt little compunction to do so.
Tayuya let out a suffering hiss of pain as she sat down on the lone hard chair in the room. The cold, smooth cut of the ivory furnishing aggravated her still tender flesh, but the redhead ignored the dull sting in favor of pouring over the mountain of maps, charts, data statistics, and tomes laid out before her. Occasionally, she would direct a dark look at the painting that dominated almost an entire side of the wall. It was a larger-than-life rendition of the Yamata no Orochi, the fearsome eight-headed and eight-tailed beast of legends.
The painting stood in direct contradiction to the room itself. Whereas almost everything else was beautifully soft, soothing and placating, this single painting screamed power, dominance and intimidation. It reminded with pictorial clarity that the attendee's VIP status existed only at the pleasure of the reigning ruler.
Orochimaru of the Sannin; S-rank criminal, traitor of Konoha and the unchallenged dictator of Hidden Sound. For Tayuya, it was hate—or at least disdain—at first sight. That hate was reinforced with each additional visit and tempered most recently by a touch of anxiety.
As the ranking ninja of her village's secretly deployed expeditionary force, the young, but also immensely gifted redhead had the unfortunate duty of coordinating operations and sharing intelligence with Sound ninja. To this day, Tayuya still could not believe her Kage chose her for the top leadership position. For one, she was not a proponent of the secret alliance with Sound. While she did not oppose it per se, she was also unwilling to suspend all logic (like so many of her colleagues) simply for the sake of seeking vengeance against Konoha. Hidden Sound was an unknown entity, and a dangerous one at that since an ex-Konoha nin led it.
Tayuya also really disliked the environment. Being in Hidden Sound gave her the feeling of being in the belly of the beast and only her tough mental constitution shielded her sanity from the Snake Sannin's legions of fawning followers. The redhead gagged the first time one of the snake bitches presented Orochimaru as the Otokage with emphasis on "Kage." She thought it was a joke until he was addressed thus each time thereafter. It was one thing for one person to be seized by delusions of grandeur, it was completely another for an entire community to be seized by the same delusion regarding another person.
The redhead didn't try to hide her disdain for the people or the leader of the village, an act which gained her many enemies and few friends. But that wasn't a major obstacle for the fierce redhead. She never found much use for friends whereas she could always test herself against her enemies. Plus, she more than proved her mettle, both on and off the battlefield. In the latter case, her efforts directly led to Suna joining in the upcoming plot to invade Konoha.
True, it was Orochimaru's silver tongue that ultimately wooed the Kazekage, but it occurred only at the suggestion and guidance of the fourteen-year-old foreigner. Before Tayuya came along, no one even thought of approaching Suna to join the conspiracy. People assumed that since the countries of Wind and Fire were such good allies, then Suna and Konoha, their respective hidden villages, must have been good allies as well. A sound, logical assumption, right?
Wrong! Nothing could have been further from the truth. Due to the pervasive paranoia and frequent occurrence of armed conflicts and full scale wars, more often than not, inter-organizational relationships in the elemental countries were zero-sum games. Increased cooperation and trust with one group inevitably led to decreased cooperation and trust with another group. As the Land of Wind grew economically closer to the Land of Fire, its dependence on its own hidden village, Sunagakure, lessened. The Wind Lord, a young, high minded, but hopeless idealistic fellow, approved heavy cuts in military spending and shifted a number of high level missions to Konohagakure. Tayuya knew the Kazekage was ripe for the picking. After all, this was the man whose lust for power drove him to sacrifice the life of his own spouse, just to trap the power of a tailed beast.
Tayuya remembered that fateful strategy meeting well.
Others had laughed in derision when Tayuya introduced her proposal of seeking Suna's assistance. "Silly little girls and their silly little ideas," was what they said. No one bothered to give it a thought, no one except for the serpent that is. Orochimaru silenced everyone when he asked her to elaborate. The request actually caught her by surprise. The redhead was prepared for a long, grueling fight to win over support for her proposal. It ended up taking just one hour for her to obtain the full backing of Hidden Sound, courtesy of its leader.
It was the first time that Tayuya felt something other than disdain for Orochimaru. No, it wasn't respect or admiration or any of that crap. It was fear; fear of what he was capable of and of what he could do. Here was an immensely talented and perceptive man, a master manipulator and player, and also a creature who could and apparently did butcher babies and smiled while he was doing it. So long as their villages' interests aligned, everything was rosy. But what if their interests diverged? What then?
Tayuya chose not to lend voice to her concern and threw herself into the cooperative project. The entire "convert Suna mission," from beginning to end, took less than a week.
One day after the Kazekage formally committed Suna to the anti-Konoha conspiracy, Tayuya was relocated to her current residence. No one had since dared call her a little girl, not even behind her back. The Sound ninja that had been present at that fateful meeting would not look at her face for a whole week. The redhead relished that sense of power and success far more than the reward itself. The room was excessively gaudy and flashy. It was far more suited for a spoiled teeny-bopping actress than for a hardened kunoichi. The enormous king-sized bed, with its color coordinated satin sheets and extra large fluffy pillows, was very alien to her. After all, Tayuya was a girl of the streets, one who took to sleeping in dumpsters to escape the nightly gang rapes. Yet, she knew better than to refuse a gift that turned almost every resident ninja green with envy.
The redhead peered above a massive topographic map to look at the Yamata no Orochi painting once again. Curious, why did she feel like she was being watched, but with no malicious intent or hostility?
"Kin, you can come out now." A girl with long raven hair and roughly her age appeared.
"I was wondering when you would notice me." The voice was light and playful. Someone was in a good mood and Tayuya had a good idea of why that was the case.
"You realize that trespassing the sanctuary of a ranking ninja with access to restricted information is considered a high crime, right? I could have your fucking head for this, genin." Kin's happy mood instantly evaporated and the girl suddenly looked distressed.
"You are so fucking easy, Kin." The other girl glared, which drew a dry chuckle from Tayuya.
"Geez, someone's in a nasty mood."
"You would be too if you had to go through fifteen stitches without anesthetics." Kin's eyes bugged out in shock.
"My cursed seal prevents most pain killers from working properly, so I went without. I got used to it." Another reason to detest the bastard snake. Of course, Tayuya's mind skipped over the part where it was at her Kage's suggestion that Orochimaru gave her the experimental cursed seal. It was a modified curse seal, one in which she retained control of herself. The Snake Sannin was undoubtedly displeased that someone he could not control survived the procedure.
"I don't think I could if it was me," the Sound genin admitted. Tayuya gave the other girl a piercing look.
"You better if you ever want to make it to jounin. From what I have seen, your Orochi-sama doesn't coddle his ninja." Kin winced at the other girl's semi-harsh rebuke. Trust Tayuya to be blunt and upfront. The foreign girl did not wait for a response as she turned her attention back to her work.
Kin was tempted to leave. The fiery redhead was not a great conversationalist even at the best of times, and a pissed off Tayuya was just about the last person she wanted to hang around with. Yet, the genin kunoichi hesitated at the door. She really did want to thank the foreigner for what she did and quite frankly, Tayuya was the closest thing she had to a friend. Sad, yes, but then again, the ninja of Hidden Sound didn't exactly keep making-good-friends at the top of their to-do list.
An idea then popped up in Kin's mind when she saw Tayuya twitching and squirming uncomfortably in her seat. A thin smile appeared on the youth's face.
Tayuya grunted as she shifted once again. She was tired and sore and ached all over. By all rights, she should be recovering in the infirmary, but the proud kunoichi was never one to enjoy the sterile environment of hospitals. As long as she kept off of physical activities, she should be fine. But the lingering pain of broken bone and bruised skin remained. Tayuya felt justifiably humiliated after having been half dragged back to base by an exhausted Yugito. Every twinge and every itch spurred her to imagine what she could do to the Konoha shinobi in the upcoming invasion.
Tayuya lifted a coarse hand to touch the fresh scar on her face. Even though the Konoha jounin was directly responsible for her facial wound, she knew he was not truly the one responsible for her defeat. That distinguished honor belonged to the person who stole her sacred weapon, her trademark flute. She had already imprinted his facial image firmly in her mind; that unholy mass of yellow hair, those peculiar whisker marks and that unjustifiable orange outfit. With luck, she would meet that freaky blond kid again and when she did, she would take great pleasure in dismembering him piece by piece. So enthralled was the redhead in her imaginary quest for revenge that she almost missed the presence of someone beside her.
"Kin, what the fuck?! What did I say before about sneaking up on me? I could have taken off your head!" Kin Tsuchi only smiled benignly in response as her hands reached forward and began massaging the base of the redhead's neck.
"Relax. I'm just making you feel better. You are tense as hell." If Tayuya was surprised at the unexpected boldness, she did not show it. The only bodily reaction she exhibited was briefly tensing her back before relaxing to the other girl's touch.
"Try rubbing harder. You have soft hands." Was that a compliment or a dig? Kin could not be sure, but a part of her found the whole situation hilarious and a bit frightening. The genin still remembered what the foreign kunoichi did to the last guy that came on to her. Of course, the guy had been an idiot and had treated the honored guest like a street whore as opposed to a leader of an allied shinobi faction. Needless to say, no one made that mistake twice. In fact, no shinobi so much as even dared to approach or proposition the spitfire redhead ever since.
"I guess congratulations are in order, then."
"What?" Kin was momentarily thrown by the non sequitur.
"Isn't that why you are here?" Tayuya turned her face towards the other girl. "It wasn't very hard to put you on one of the genin teams for the upcoming Chuunin Exam."
Suddenly, Kin remembered. Yes, that was very much the reason why she was here. It was also the reason why she first settled for tagging alongside Tayuya like a puppy. With no family or close personal friends to help her and not nearly brilliant enough to rise through the ranks on her own, the raven-haired girl was prepared to offer herself much like other young females had in order to advance their own future. But before she could resign herself to her fate, the secret alliance happened and Hidden Sound was flooded with foreign ninja.
Tayuya was an unlikely godsend. Foulmouthed and anti-social, the redheaded newcomer rubbed nearly everyone the wrong way, but something drew Kin to her. After mustering up her courage, she offered the foreign kunoichi her personal assistance and aid. At the time, she did not think much of the private meetings where she briefed the other girl. Yet in very short order, Tayuya's status and position rose to unbelievable heights. She was currently classified as the third or fourth most influential person in the region. The jounin saw to it that her indigenous assistant was rewarded. Kin was stunned when she was selected over the heads of a dozen other ninja for an open position on one of the genin teams scheduled to take the upcoming Chuunin Exam.
"You will have a chance to prove that you are chuunin material. You got what you wanted so why are you still here?"
The blunt question, vaguely accusatory, made Kin frown. True, she had an ulterior motive for befriending the foreign kunoichi, but she genuinely looked up to the other girl. Yes, she was sometimes jealous, but she also respected and admired her. Despite their common age and similar backgrounds, Tayuya possessed in ample quantities both the raw skills and the innate personal strength that Kin could never hope to emulate. Too bad her feelings worked only one way. But then, what did she expect? She was a genin, and a modest one at that, whereas the other girl was one of the most powerful and feared jounin around.
Unsure of how to respond the question, Kin remained silent and Tayuya did not pursue her for an answer.
"I said do it harder," the redhead stated at last. The black-haired girl grunted with a touch of annoyance.
"I can't in this position."
"Then change position!" The exchange happened so fast and so naturally that it took a minute for the words to sink in at which point both girls blushed; or rather Kin blushed while Tayuya merely twitched a bit.
Flushed and embarrassed but determined, the impromptu masseuse did what was suggested. She sat behind her redheaded client, cushioning her back from the touch of the hard, soulless stone slab with her own fleshy body. Tayuya was confused by the intimate contact, but did not protest as soft hands descended upon her neck and spine. As the young jounin emitted several uncharacteristic meows of pleasure whenever a stroke hit the spot, Kin thought she must be doing something right. It was a good thing she actually paid attention to those kunoichi lessons.
"Ah, you need to take off your shirt and lie down if you want me to work on your lower back as well." Tayuya initially tensed and it looked like she was going to refuse. Then, without a word, the redhead leaned forward and slipped her shirt over her head. With widened eyes, Kin watched as the redhead laid herself sprawling over the massive mahogany table.
"Go ahead." The redness on Kin's cheeks deepened, but she obeyed as instructed. Her soft, slender fingers danced across the other girl's naked backside. In the midst of such intimacy, profound silence reigned. That is until a none too subtle cough broke both girls' reverie.
"Am I interrupting something?" Kin instantly turned pale like the color of a melon. Tayuya, on the other hand, either because she was just too angry at being disturbed or simply immune to such embarrassment, immediately lashed out at the intruder.
"What the fuck, Jiroubou!? Ever heard of knocking, you shit hole!?"
"I wasn't aware that you were entertaining company, Tayuya?" The hint of amusement in the large boy's voice enflamed the genin's blush. Kin, who was straddling the other girl's back, tried to maneuver out of the compromising position, but Tayuya was having none of that. The foreign jounin leaned back, trapping her masseuse between her body and the back of the chair. Kin was almost apologetic, but a stern dark look killed her question. She then realized why Tayuya did what she did. Should the Sound kunoichi move, Jiroubou would gain a direct line of sight on the naked female in front of her. The redheaded jounin was many things, an exhibitionist she was not.
"Turn the fuck around, Jiroubou, before I make you cut off your own balls and have you eat them." Sighing, the shinobi quickly turned around as instructed. Tayuya knew some rather exotic genjutsu and possessed a vicious—bordering sadistic—streak a mile wide. He had seen his potty-mouthed associate carry out that particular threat before and he was not willing to risk his manhood on the off chance that it was an idle threat.
"So you want to tell me why the fuck you decided to barge into my room or should I just get on with gutting you from bow to stern?"
"You have been summoned by Orochimaru-sama–" Jiroubou started to say before being cut off almost immediately.
"I don't give a flying fuck what that serpentine–"
"–and the Tsuchikage."
The Kage of Iwa, here? Tayuya's mind was thrown into turmoil. The Tsuchikage was not scheduled to arrive for at least another week. Did something happen? Did she do something that warranted her Kage's personal attention?
"Yes, they are here," Jiroubou answered, as if sensing the girl's unspoken question, "and they are expecting you in the main war room."
"Fine, I'll be there in three minutes. Now, get the fuck out so I can get dressed." Jiroubou nodded and left the room, but not before casting a calculating look at Kin and then at Tayuya.
Fully dressed, the young Iwa jounin turned to her all purpose indigenous helper. Kin remained unusually quiet, making Tayuya suspect that the genin was putting the pieces together. She was right.
Kin did wonder how come her small ninja village was suddenly bristling with activities. She wondered why equipment and weaponry that were once possessed only by select jounin now became standard wares for genin. The answer was rather simple.
Hidden Sound is being propped up with resources from one of the major powers. That realization only led to more questions for Kin. Surely, one did not expand such efforts while trying to conceal those efforts for no reason. There must necessarily be a target or goal for the buildup.
"Kin, I hope I don't need to remind you to keep your thoughts to yourself."
Kin looked at her in shock.
"No, I'm not a mind reader, but I know how perceptive you can be. Why do you think I kept you after all this time? Do you think I would allow just any genin barge into my room at will? I don't fucking think so." The genin blinked. Did Tayuya just compliment her? It sounded like one. Kin was not able to find out for sure as the Iwa kunoichi was already at the door.
"But just in case, I'm confining you to my room until my return. A security detail will be assigned but I won't have you forcibly restrained." Giving the genin a look that was a cross between a warning gaze and a leer, Tayuya added, "Don't make me regret not having you tied to the bedpost."