Mei awkwardly patted Kurotsuchi on the back as she puked into the deep blue water below. "There, there," she said, much to the girl's ire.
"I'm fine," She growled out with spite seemingly being the only reason for her continued speech. As soon as she finished talking, another wave of nausea forced itself up out of her stomach, making her puke even more into the sea.
"There, there," Mei said, patting the girl on the back.
"I didn't think she would be the one to suffer from sea-sickness," Temari said, joining the two on the prow of the ship.
"What made you think that?" Mei questioned.
"I'd bet she would stave it off from sheer anger alone."
"I'm not always angry," Kurotsuchi muttered, looking down at the waves as they undulated up and down.
Up and down.
Up and down.
"You're right," Temari said, nodding her head up and down. "You're not always angry. You're just usually angry."
"Fuck off."
"Like right now."
"I'd kill you if we were on flat land."
"Well first of all," Temari paused as Kurotsuchi clutched the railing and looked like she was about to throw more chunks to the wind. When nothing came, Temari continued, saying "First of all, no you wouldn't. I'm easily stronger than you. Second, we're not on dry land, so get fucked.."
Kurotsuchi's response was to flip the bird and say, "At least one of us is getting fucked." Something which Temari found amusing to no end.
Mei hopped up on the railing and gazed at the horizon, at the dots of land popping up every now and then. She took a deep breath of the salty air and smiled. It was good to be back home.
Kurotsuchi vomited again.
"Should I call Sakura over?" Mei asked. "I know you're seasick and all, but don't you think this is a bit much?"
"I'm sure she'll be fine," Temari said, as carefree as the wind.
"Fuck… everything…" The seasick girl in question groused, launching herself away from the edge and towards the undercarriage where Sakura was. There had to be something to knock her out for another 36 hours. She'd only been on it for 12 and that was already way too much.
As Kurotsuchi trundled along like a severe alcoholic would away from a watering hole, Temari joined Mei at gazing at the horizon.
"So," Mei said with a smirk. "Now your husband and Yugito are off alone somewhere. Any twinges of jealousy?"
Temari shrugged. "Not really. I like her. And seeing how the two of them have bled into each other thus far, it would be reductive of me to wish ill will."
Mei smiled knowingly at the girl. "You're bi, aren't you?"
Temari quirked a brow at the woman. "At this point, Kurotsuchi is the only one who isn't. And even that's suspect to change by the time this is all over."
Mei put a hand over her chest in mock outrage. "My word, to presume my sexuality. Do you have no shame?"
"What I don't have are any refutations of my presumption from you."
Mei tilted her head to her. "Indeed you don't."
Temari cracked a smile, considering their exchange for a couple of seconds in her head and looking back to the door leading to the undercarriage, Kurotsuchi on her mind. "Huh… I'm probably going to have sex with that girl by the time this is all through." If anything, she sounded contemplative. It was a weird thing to say contemplatively.
"That depends if she reciprocates his feelings, and or directly engages with him. The latter seems unlikely…"
"And the former is only going to happen if he actively pursues with her. Which, knowing him…"
"Indeed, he hasn't been very dominant throughout this whole shebang, has he?"
"Not that you know of," Temari said, a smiled tugging at her lips.
Mei gained an impish look as she glanced at Temari. "Oh, is there something I should know?"
Temari's smile vanished at the same time as her jovial attitude. "I don't know? Is there?"
Mei's face soured and she looked away, back to the view of the islands in the distance. Back to her home. "I'm just having a bit of fun, is all. No need to take it so personally."
"Would it surprise you if I said that I'm not having fun here?"
Mei hated that. She'd had enough of serious conversations. She didn't want any more. The actions of the rebellion had devolved into what amounted to terrorism by the end of the war. Time spent not thinking about her decisions from back then was time well spent in her mind.
Mei decided to humor her. "And why not?"
Temari listed off the reasons on her fingers. "My loved one is depressed. The girl I share a bed with is unstable. They're being hunted by… I don't even know what anymore. And now they're off on some secluded island training to subjugate their tailed beasts, instead of here, with me. So no, I'm not having fun. I'm doing work."
"My work is my fun," Mei said, as carefree as the wind.
"Your work involves how my husband performs in bed?"
"He's my husband too, you know."
One of Temari's eyes twitched from annoyance. "I know you do it on purpose," she said slowly. "Everyone does. But that's your intention; otherwise you wouldn't do it."
Mei hummed quizzically.
"Hiding your emotions. How you speak. How your face looks. How you dress. How you feel." Temari joined her by the railing, leaning her elbows against them and looking at the same horizon Mei was. "It makes talking to you a pain and trying to understand you even worse. In all honestly, I hate interacting with you. People hiding how they feel… it's hard to deal with."
Mei's face remained the same as ever. Gazing over the water in such a way that Temari might have believed she wasn't even listening.
"What are your intentions with him?" Temari asked.
Mei didn't answer. She didn't speak again, choosing to close her eyes and lean back, letting the rocking of the boat lull her into rhythm with the sea. Temari clicked her tongue and followed the path Kurotsuchi took back below deck.
00000000
"Wow, you sure picked a great place to fight a civil war for, didn't you?" Kurotsuchi said sarcastically, face still dangerously pale as she stepped off the boat and back onto sweet, dry land.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mei asked, breathing in the salty, watery air. Nothing beat being home.
"You can't see jack shit, is what it means." Kurotsuchi's feet were still wobbling and she had to step carefully lest she faceplant. "Does the mist ever go away?"
"It wouldn't be a village hidden in it if it did," Mei said simply. In truth, it did, very often in fact. But it was sporadic and often hard to predict.
"At least in rock, we can see each other."
Mei pushed her index finger in Kurotsuchi's side suddenly, unbalancing the girl and causing her to fall face first into the ground, where she lay, breathing in and out and getting a feel for dry land. Though it was meant as a way to not so subtly show Kurotsuchi her ire, the woman had a feeling that laying on the grass was better for her.
She checked behind her at the railway to make sure the rest of the entourage were coming. Kurotsuchi had the worst of the symptoms of sea sickness, but almost everybody had been affected by it in some way or another. And as amusing as it was to see Onoki with a green face, it was definitely not as amusing to listen to him piss and moan the entire way through.
"Mei!"
The woman being shouted at turned to the boy shouting at her and let a small smile fill her lips. "Chojuro," she called back fondly, waving in turn.
Chojuro was jogging up to her as Ao followed from a way back, walking more sedately. There were new furrows in his brow, probably from dealing with mist while she was away, but he also did appear to be relieved at the sight of her.
As soon as the boy was within talking distance, he started babbling off questions to her. How are you? How was the trip? Is your husband an ass? Do you have any luggage? Are you feeling okay?
Though to others it might seem a bit too much, Mei was happy that he was excited. He usually approached everything meekly and with a quiet voice. It was like seeing a small dog up and about when it usually cowered at others' presences.
"I'm okay Chojuro," Mei said calmly. She then went off to answer his myriad questions with one or two answer responses and walk forward to Ao. "We'll speak more when I'm situated."
Ao walked up to her and nodded his head in a slight bow. "It's nice to have you back," he said. "I've taken care of the village in your absence, though it's been a bit of a tough ride."
Mei's smile never vanished. "As I'm sure it would have been. How's the public reception been?"
It was obvious what she was referring to. She wanted to know how the public was reacting to her being in a marriage with four other women and girls. She just didn't verbalize it that way. Ao nodded and turned his head to the village center for a second or two. "It was… rocky at the start, to say anything. Indeed, it's still not the best it could be, but ever since the trade routes got established and more products are easily attainable, it's improved. There are still those that don't see you as fit to rule, however."
She had a feeling that was going to be the case. She'd been very popular in the weeks after abdicating Yagura of his throne, however, that popularity waned when she took up the mantle of rebuilding mist back up to where it could be, as sacrifices had to be made to that cause. Higher taxes was almost never a good way to build support from the people. And when she broke the news to her most loyal subjects about the marriage idea, there was a huge amount of pushback, most notably from Ao and Chojuro.
"I see," she said, nodding her head. "Have there been any murmurings of revolt?"
He was quick to shake his head. "Drunken ramblings here and there, but no one wants to start something else so soon after the last civil war. Besides, political marriage or not, you're leagues better than Yagura ever was."
The corner of her mouth twitched a little bit at the mention of 'marriage'. She knew that she sometimes misunderstood his statements in regards to her relationship status and she may or may not perhaps overreact somewhat in those situations. Who wouldn't? She couldn't do that anymore, however. It wouldn't make any sense. Perhaps that line of reasoning sounded a bit too logical for what amounted to a situation dealing mostly in emotions, but that didn't refute it.
She was married now.
Faithfully married.
She turned around to look at the rest of the disembarking crew. They were all getting off now. Ai and Onoki and Shibuki and Jiraiya and Kakashi and Sakura and Temari. Their crew had been reduced and with them, their liveliness.
Temari stopped by the ramp to check up on the still recumbent Kurotsuchi, shaking her a little bit to make sure she was still conscious. Mei didn't make any delusions. The trip to her home nation sucked. Like, a lot.
She missed Naruto. And she missed Fu. Hell, she even missed Yugito. Now, all she had was Temari, who didn't know how to take a goddamn joke and Kurotsuchi, who was what amounted to an adolescent boy in temperament, thought, and action.
There were the others too, but they kept to themselves. It was nigh on impossible to carry on a topic with any of them.
Her expression lost its luster and she deflated, shoulders sagging and a long breath leaving her lips. Before the raid on the cavern that held Bee, Naruto had opened up to her slightly while they were alone. Being an orphan, he was alone all his life and without a family, which is why he wanted to be a Hokage, so that he would be respected and people would have to like him. That reason gradually changed for him. The way he interacted with all of them was as close to a familial bond as he had and he loved it more than anything else he'd experienced. And, more than that, he wanted that relationship to spread through all of Konoha, making everyone his family.
It was a nice sentiment he had. And for a second, she had deluded herself into thinking into something along the same lines. She liked being with them, sharing laughs and shouts and tears and just about everything.
But no, it was obvious that it wasn't real. Not in any tangible way. They weren't a family. They weren't even close.
"Mei?" Ao asked, brows furrowed from concern. "Are you okay?"
Mei cleared her throat and turned back to him. "Yes, I'm okay. What are we standing around for? I need to get back to work while I can."
00000000
Elsewhere,
Sasuke's hand twitched to his sword. In front of him was the stalwart figure that had haunted for so long. His older brother.
Itachi.
The older Uchiha took a step forward and the younger's hand grabbed his sword, pulling it out of its sheathe. They were standing on a dirt road which went from one small village to another. One might chalk it up to chance that they met on that road, but Sasuke knew that couldn't be the case.
"Have you finally decided to try and kill me?" Sasuke asked, a snarl on his lips. His heart was pounding. There was sweat on his temple. It took his all just to push those words out. This wasn't supposed to be happening. He was supposed to hunt Itachi. Not the other way around.
Itachi remained wordless as he bent his knees and got into a simple fighting stance. This wasn't how he wanted Sasuke to end things, but events had conspired against him. If his little brother was going to go back to the village that he loved so much that he killed his entire clan for it, things would have to end. Even now, he could barely stand from how much pain his body was in from the sickness.
It would have to end.
For the love god, it would have to end.
00000000
Mei took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, remembering and savoring the scent of her office. She remembered the first time she had walked inside of it, smelling the same smell that Yagura had smelled when he ruled over hidden mist. The smell had given her pervasive headaches for the first week, but she refused to add any perfumes or scented candles to make it smell different.
Now?
Now it smelled like home. Real home. Not the home you feel when you walk by familiar architecture, but the home you feel when you at last sit in your bed.
Yes, she was back.
And then Ao came in through the door with a stack of paperwork so high that he rested his chin on the top to keep it from collapsing.
Ah yes… Home.
"Hey now, don't look so disappointed," Ao said mirthfully. "You signed up for this, remember?"
"I know I signed up for something," she said, resting her head on a bridge she made with her hands. "I'm not sure if it was this."
They had gone through that routine perhaps tens of times already. It looked like neither had gotten too sick of it yet. He walked forward and plopped the papers down on her desk. The air it displaced whooshed by with finality in its breath.
Back to work.
There would be a brief aside where they all go to the land of iron where the minor village alliance would hopefully be happening, but after that… she eyed the papers distrustfully.
It wasn't that she disliked her work. She'd rather be a state builder than a revolutionary rebel any day of her goddamn life. It was just… quiet now.
Quiet… she liked quiet, didn't she? Quiet meant no screams of pain and no explosions off in the distance. Quiet meant no hushed whispering in a command tent figuring out which location to strike next. Quiet meant peace. Quiet meant good.
But quiet was lonely, wasn't it?
"Where's Chojuro?" Mei asked, looking up at Ao and away from her paperwork for a few seconds.
His single eye widened and looked away. "He's showing around your… uhm, your… the uh… the girls who uhm…"
His confused stammering worried Mei for a few moments before she realized what he was doing. He was trying to say 'sister-wives' in any other way than saying 'sister-wives'.
"My sister-wives?" Mei asked playfully.
His mouth pressed to a thin line and he regained his composure. "Yes. Them." His head was titled down with slight shame. "And, uhm… if it wouldn't be too impolite of me to ask…"
Her eyes closed as she smiled at him. "Yes?" She asked, drawing it out.
Ao usually wasn't one to mince words. Especially when things got serious. "Are you… doing okay?"
One of her eyebrows quirked up questioningly. That was it? "Yes, I'm perfectly fine."
He was drumming his index finger against his thigh. "And your… husband. That situation- that's perfectly fine too?"
Her face remained static as she processed his words. She looked down back at her paperwork and took a piece from the top, settling it in front of her. Mei was under no delusions about it. The reason she had put her hat in the ring for wifehood in the first place was because she had given up. No romantic love for her. No one to connect her heart to and spend countless nights just being around each other. Nope. Just a kid for the sake of her country. He was asking if she was still okay with it. And she was.
She just wished it didn't feel so lonely. Work kept her busy and away from thoughts of what her future looked like. And the mountain of paperwork standing defiantly against her gave her a slight inclination that perhaps that was it. Her future in paper form.
She nodded. "He's been a perfect gentleman. Well, as perfect as a teenager could be…" She paused slightly, brows furrowing as she looked back up at him. "I… I wasn't like that when I was a teenager, was I?"
Ao looked from side to side, unsure of how to respond. "Erm… well, I've never met Naruto, so I couldn't say. What I can say is that you were the pride of the rebellion when you were his age. You never gave up, no matter what happened. No matter what obstacle was in your way, you never wavered. You never gave up. And look," he said, gesturing around the office with his hands. "It all paid off."
She smiled a little bit, gaze filtering downwards. "Yes," she said. Mei took in a deep breath and swiped the paper from the top of the stack and put it in front of her. "It all paid off."
00000000
"Oh, for the lord above and everything else between, does this feel good," Kurotsuchi said in all one exhale as she sank into the steaming water. Her head titled back and rested on the hard volcanic rock, eyes closed as she savored the feeling of the hot water permeating her body. The trip to the infamous hot springs of the hidden mist was doing its job at the moment.
Temari eyed the girl from across the pool, smirking in amusement from the way her body melted into the water. She was feeling a little bit of ancillary joy from Kurotsuchi's relaxation. Listening to her minge and moan for 48 hours was enough for Temari to start feeling shitty for the sake of the other girl. Watching all the toxicity sap away was… oddly satisfying.
"I could get used to this," Kurotsuchi murmured.
Temari nodded along with her and sank further into the hot water herself. She was starting to think she wasn't really a bath kind of person, but she could appreciate a little bit of communal relaxation.
"So what's it like being the leader of a village?" Kurotsuchi asked explosively.
There had been silence for maybe 3 seconds between them. Temari started to think that Kurotsuchi wasn't really a bath person either. Temari shrugged. "Mostly just a shit ton of paperwork that doesn't make sense and feels like it could be done more efficiently in another way. When I get back, it's going to be more about public appearances, overseeing other people doing work, and other stuff."
"Sounds like a cushy gig."
Temari shrugged. "I'm not in immediate danger any more. If there is danger, then I'm on the front lines, to be sure, but now people are willing to die for me instead of the other way around."
Kurotsuchi whistled appreciatively. "That sounds like it sucks."
"It sucks and it doesn't suck."
A silence fell over them for another time. "What's it feel like to get dicked?" Kurotsuchi asked, just as explosively as the first time.
Temari's face scrunched inwards from the crassness of the question. "You have no eloquence."
"I have no idea what that means."
Temari sighed. "Feels good."
"That it?"
"Yup."
A couple seconds of silence.
"You sure?"
Temari let her head swivel on the rock so she could make eye contact with Kurotsuchi. She tried to talk again, but realized she didn't have an answer for her. Temari glanced away until she could come up with an appropriate answer. "I don't know… when I was a virgin, sex was this monolithically huge important giant thing that separated me from the adults. It was the special thing that only special people do. Now that I've done it, it's just… mundane now. It's just something that I do and something that happens to me. It feels good. I like it."
"What a slut," Kurotsuchi said, doing her best to keep the smile from showing on her face.
Temari let a chuckle spill from her mouth. "If that makes me a slut, I'm the sluttiest of the bunch. And god, if I don't love it. Why are you asking?"
Kurotsuchi rolled her head back so it had a good view of the orange sky. It was just about evening now. "Just curious."
"I mean, like…" Temari sat up in the water so that her shoulders were exposed to the air. Kurotsuchi sat up in response. The sand wife leaned in a little bit like she was about to divulge a great secret and the rock wife leaned in with baited breath. "It hurts like a motherfucker the first time."
"Is he big?" Kurotsuchi whispered scandalously.
"I don't… know," Temari said, doubting her own knowledge. "It's the first one I've ever seen, so I don't have a reference point, but the way Fu talks about it…"
"Wait, has she seen another one?"
Temari shrugged. "I don't think so. She was definitely a virgin, but the way she talks about… it, makes it seem like a fucking monster."
Kurotsuchi tilted her head. "I mean, she is smaller."
Temari nodded. "That's what I was thinking. Maybe it's just a proportional thing, but… man, I just can't say for sure."
Kurotsuchi looked down and to the side. "I hope they're okay," she whispered softly, so much so that Temari doubted what she heard for a split second.
Temari's mouth pressed into a thin line. She followed Kurotsuchi's body language. "I hope so too. But they're strong. If anyone could get out of it, it would be them."
Kurotsuchi blew out a hefty lung-full of air at the night sky. "Yeah, they're strong but… if it's not the challenges outside that wear you down, then it has to be something else. Nobody is invincible like that."
"Well…" Temari didn't know what to say at that. "Well, I have faith in them."
"That's good," Kurotsuchi said softly, her mood soured by the subject she brought up herself. "They need that."
00000000
Mei smiled distastefully at the man in front of her. In one of his hands was a glass of wine half-empty and four times refilled. He was portly and didn't know how to hold his liquor nor his tongue. He was also clad in decadent finery the likes of which most people in the room could only dream of. A noble of a nation to the south of Water. An important fellow, considering his nation, though small, made up a large sum of her mission requests. Importance aside, he openly stared at her tits, even when talking to her, and had a crass way of speaking. More than once already, he had made 'jokes' about giving her village large sums of money for only a night with the woman.
Hate was a strong word and she reserved it only for the most reprehensible of people. It didn't suit him. Less than hate, she found him absolutely deplorable. And it didn't take a high intelligence to figure out why the model-like woman with a fake smile plastered on her face was hanging onto his elbow like a lifeline, laughing at all of his unfunny jokes and listening with rapt attention whenever he had something 'insightful' to say.
And through it all, Mei grinned and nodded along with his words. She needed his business after all. More than that, however, she was looking for an excuse, any at all, to get away from his dribbling mouth and vapid stories to just about anyone else in the room.
Well, maybe not anyone.
She was at a 'surprise party', or as much as a surprise party anything could be to the leader of all the ninja in a certain region. Despite Chojuro's fervent denial of such a thing if he were pressed, the event wasn't really for her. It was for all the people who influenced the village and supported her coup. It was so they could see that the leadership was still helping the village and, more importantly, their interests. She did fight a war and those tend to cost money. Rare was the bill paid with the patriotic good feelings of the people. And the ones who invested wanted a return on investment. That in and of itself wasn't bad. She was prepared for that. She was even prepared for the occasional lewd comment, sordid backtalk, and undertones of sexual energy from nearly everyone who wanted something from her. She was using her body and her personality to her advantage in that regard, prying information from someone thinking with their dicks (or clits, for that matter) more than their heads.
It was a strategy. A big game.
The ones who thought they were clever were the easiest to manipulate. After all, they thought they knew something she didn't and could possibly lord it over her as a gambling card. Those gambits worked in their favor about as often as swine have taken to the skies. But, like the lord in front of her, there were also those whose interests were simple. They wanted to fuck hot chicks, go on decadent escapades, eat tremendous amounts of delicious foods, and drown in the finest of drinks. They wore their intentions on their sleeves and that made them easy to appease. At least until they turned their interest onto her. After all, what greater power trip was there than to thrust their pole or grind their cunt into the leader of a nation of shinobi? The answer being: few. And also by far seemingly the most attainable, especially when she owed them something.
Funny how that worked.
"Ah," Mei said, clasping her hands together and attracting her gaze elsewhere. "It seems my aide Ao is in need of my input on something. If you'll excuse me for a moment, we can continue this conversation another time."
Without waiting for another word to droop out of his gaping hole, Mei stalked away from him, beelining to a pillar of marble. The reception hall they were in was something of Yagura's make, before he went mad. It was large and stylish and spacious. His eye for the fine things were about as well tuned as his affinity for attempted genocide, it seemed.
She stepped behind the pillar, leaned her back against it, and belted out a sigh. She'd been going at it for about an hour already. Was there no end in sight? She peered behind the pillar to steal a glance at Tsunade. The woman had made it there slightly after her party and had spent most of the day trying out various watering dens while complaining to her now one-armed teammate. She was at the surprise party by a table with a variety of drinks. The woman hadn't even dressed for the occasion, deciding to go with her normal clothes. Mei wondered how she handled things over in leaf. Surely, she wasn't hounded after like Mei was. Leaf was by far the most influential village in the continent. If anything, she hounded others.
Tsunade took a swig of a drink straight from the bottle and burst out laughing at the absurdity of it, much to the chagrin of Jiraiya, standing nearby and also with no alcohol in his system. Mei had to wonder how that woman operated normally.
"Nice duds," Mei heard someone say past a mouth full of food. She turned around and saw Kurotsuchi standing simply with one hand full of some pastry or another. The girl was looking around at the architecture and the various people milling about in the hall. She was wearing a crimson dress that went down to her ankles and had even applied make-up.
"Thanks," Mei said, turning her face back into a smile. For herself, she was wearing a dark blue dress much like the one she normally wore, but with less function, more style, and more cleavage.
"You're really throwing those honkers out, aren'tcha?" Kurotsuchi asked, gesturing to her breasts with the hand full of food.
"It keeps others distracted," Mei said cordially. "That makes them easier to deal with."
The girl nodded, already losing interest in the line of conversation. Mei wasn't sure if that had to do with the topic of breasts or if she gave an answer the girl was expecting. Either way, they were suddenly lacking in the conversation department and Mei was hoping it would be one that would drag on so that a war hawk, pervy noble, or other nuisance wouldn't bother her. She'd already done the rounds. She didn't want to talk to them any more than duty dictated. And being alone was just asking for conversation.
"How are you liking my village?" Mei asked evenly.
Instead of giving a half-baked response like she had been expecting, Kurotsuchi leveled a suspicious gaze at her and shifted her position away from her. "You're getting worse. Is it the event, or everything else?"
One of Mei's eyebrows quirked upwards. "Excuse me?"
Kurotsuchi half-cringed away from the woman. "Man, it's like talking to one of Temari's brother's wooden puppets. If you don't want to talk to me, don't force yourself."
As Kurotsuchi made to walk away, Mei jolted forward and grabbed her by the sleeve. "No, it's not that," she said, glancing about to see if she had gained any attention from onlookers. They were still partially obscured by the pillars, so no one seemed to notice. "It's just the nature of these events," Mei said. "I have duties to fulfil."
Kurotsuchi didn't seem convinced. "Have you fulfilled these duties?"
Mei had to take a second to think about that. Had she? She had spoken to everyone individually and that was all that was truly socially required of her. But it was under the pretense of a party being thrown for her. She was sure that someone was going perform a speech or something. But it had already been more than an hour and the amount of people who were in no position to speak publicly was rising. "I might," she decided on noncommittally. "Anyway, it was a serious question. How are you liking it here?"
Kurotsuchi clicked her tongue and settled back into a relaxed stance. "The people leave something to be desired, but just about everything else is pretty good, including that hot spring." By the end of her talking, Kurotsuchi had narrowed her eyes at Mei. It wouldn't be new information to say that Mei usually hid her emotions behind a mask, but at this point, it was like the woman was clad in armor. No weaknesses, no openings, no areas for humanity to develop. It was odd speaking to her.
And she was worried for her! She had every right to be. Kurotsuchi didn't dislike the older woman. Hell, she quite enjoyed the fact that she was open with how she thought, albeit through a mask and with flowery language. The Mei right now looked like a toy wound up way past the point it should ever get. She looked like she was about to snap, both metaphorically and literally. Like every cell in her body was contracting, waiting for something to kickstart her into sudden and profound action.
Kurotsuchi glanced around her, making eye contact with more than a few distinguished guests looking in on their conversation. When she looked back at the woman, she had some insight as to why she was like that. Kurotsuchi leaned in and whispered "Hey, do you wanna leave?"
Mei blinked once, twice, three times. "Excuse me?"
"You fucking heard me. It's like everyone here wants a pound of flesh."
Mei took a deep breath. "That's how it is when you're the leader. Everyone wants to be on top. Everyone wants more than they have and I'm the easiest way to get there for them. They want their pound of flesh and I'm doing my best to not give them any."
Kurotsuchi leaned back and looked at the gathering of people. She didn't like that answer. "Okay, but if you need an excuse, just wave me down, I'll make a scene or something."
Before Mei could ward her off that line of thought, Kurotsuchi was already gone into the crowd. She was something of a unique existence and thus garnered much attention. She was already talking to a crowd of people in a very Kurotsuchi-like manner when Mei stepped away from the marble pillar. There was a noble or two already breaking away from their conversations to come speak to her when they saw her alone. She was getting prepared to speak to them when she heard the sound of a utensil hitting a glass.
Everyone's attention was brought to a raised part of the court where announcements were made. A man with a towering and intimidating posture was standing at the center of it, one hand with a glass and the other with a fork. Mei sighed in relief at his sight. He was the leader of a clan of kekkai genkai users able to make profoundly realistic illusions. He helped Mei fight in the rebellion and was also one of her cohorts easiest to get along with. He wanted prestige and power and she gave that to him as reward for him helping her. And, surprisingly, he was one of the few that actually contented themselves with that.
The speech he made was standard fare for any of the myriad of events she had gone to thus far. He thanked the guests for their patronage, reminded them of the hell that Yagura's rule was, commended her for her role in turning it around and state building, commended her ability, intellect, and beauty, and raised a toast for all in her favor.
The glasses went up, some were downed, and others daintily put to lips. A cheer rung out and Mei smiled with a humbled expression as they all cheered for her.
And there were all the boxes checked. She could go fuck right off and nobody would give a word edgewise. Thank god for that.
After waiting about for a couple minutes, Mei made a generic excuse to the people around her and made towards the side exit of the hall. It led to a small hallway and out towards the back of the structure. No grand hall exit with gilded statues by its side. Just a concrete hall with a glowing 'exit' sign just above the door.
However, the hall wasn't vacated. Just at the exit was a tall woman, towering over even Mei, who was someone naturally gifted in the height department and also wearing heels. The woman was fat and old and had a slight dusting of red on her cheeks. Her mouth reeked of alcohol. Though slightly intoxicated, the woman was obviously still in control. "I thought I might meet you here," the woman slurred slightly. She was leaning on the wall with her shoulder, other arm outstretched and blocking the way out.
Saki Sakara. A crowned princess of a nation to the east. Said nation was very affluent and aided the rebellion greatly during the civil war. Mei, and all of the hidden mist, was forever in debt to her and her family. The woman had also made clear her intentions of bedding Mei in very… lewd ways of speaking. Mei was disgusted by her very existence, but knew she couldn't do anything outwardly to harm the woman. Her family was too important to the hidden mist.
"And so you have," Mei responded curtly.
One side of her mouth reached to an ear, so great the half-smile was. It was a face that exuded both danger and slyness. Not a good combination to see from someone another was indebted to. "You've been avoiding me," Saki said, slightly slurring her words.
Mei continued to smile. "What makes you say that?"
"This is the first we've spoken tonight. You're so good about that with the others… well, it does make me feel a bit special, but not in a good way."
"If I have forgotten to speak with you, I can assure you…"
Saki reached over and cupped Mei's cheek with her hand. It took every fiber in Mei's being to not rip that woman's arm off right then and there. "Now… you and I both know that's not the case."
Her breath reeked, her hand was clammy, her everything was revolting.
But she had to smile.
She had to fucking smile.
"I keep on telling you over and over. Just one night. One night is all it takes for all the debt you owe my family to vanish. Poof. Like thin air."
Mei delicately pinched Saki's wrist and took it away from her face. "And as nice as that offer is, I'll have to, yet again, decline it."
"Ohh… Now why's that?" the woman asked, leaning in close enough for a kiss.
Mei had to suppress a small laugh. "Because I'm married."
"To a boy half your age."
"I'm half your age."
Saki frowned and leaned back, straightening out her shoulders and doing her best to look as big as possible, which wasn't hard considering her mass. "Do I have to remind you how much money my family sunk into your little rebellion?"
'There was a genocide happening.'
"If it weren't for us, you'd still be huddled around in tents thinking about your next move. It was us that gave you the resources you needed."
'We would have won without you.'
"And now, at the chance to make that obligation disappear, you pull away. What would your population think if they knew?"
'They'd understand if they saw you up close.'
Mei was keeping all those come-backs in check. The woman was just a bit drunk and feisty. Nothing to ruin the future of her village over. Nothing to commit murder over.
But did she desire.
All of Saki's supposed malice seemed to disappear from her face and she adopted a more relaxed posture. "I'm sorry, that was unbecoming of a lady such as myself. It's obvious my presence isn't wanted. I'll take my leave."
Mei didn't say anything as she brushed past her. A large portion of her was glad that nothing else happened and she was allowed to go back to her house and get some sleep.
And then a hand grabbed her by the ass.
Mei twirled around to face the obvious perpetrator. She wasn't sure what she might have done because any actions she could have taken were interrupted when Saki's smug, lecherous face swung around in the opposite direction like she had been struck by something hard.
A shimmer of the air and Temari came into existence, arm extended like she had just slapped someone. In her hand was a small collapsible fan. It still evidently retained some functionality, as it dripped with blood from the tip and there was a small splatter on the wall from the direction of the hit.
Saki looked like she was going to collapse for a fraction of a second before she righted her stance and looked at the girl who just bitch-slapped her. Her hand went to her cheek, feeling the slick red running down it. Temari didn't look the least bit regretful for her action. Instead, her hard brow just intensified at the look on the woman's face. "Do you know who I-"
CRACK!
Temari lashed out again, but this time hitting the side of her forehead, splitting open the skin and allowing a waterfall of blood to pour out. The woman screamed like a banshee as she held her head. "I'LL HAVE YOU FUCKING KILLED YOU BITCH!"
The girl's eyes narrowed. Her fan flipped open, showing that the edges of the fan were razor-sharp on the inside. She pushed it against Saki's throat, cutting into the blubbery skin slightly as she pushed her against the concrete wall. "One:" Temari said, her words as menacing as a rumbling volcano. "I don't know who you are. And I don't give a fuck. Two: be careful with where you levy your threats. I can kill you forty three different ways in three seconds. Three: if you ever make unwanted advances on Mei ever again, I'll carve out your uterus and rip off your clit. Understand?"
The woman's nose curled up. "I am Saki of the Sakara family. The hidden mist owes us a great debt from our service in the war. If they hear that her friend threatened to kill me, we'll pull all financial funding from the hidden mist. It'll bankrupt them."
Temari pulled the fan away and clicked it shut. Saki smirked in victory, only for her nose to be smashed in by Temari's fan.
Saki crumpled to the ground and held her bleeding face, screaming in rage and pain. "Any debt incurred will be paid in full by the joint shinobi alliance. Oh, and be aware that all your indiscretions will be backed up by me. Now leave while the damage to your face can still be fixed."
The woman scrambled away from the two of them and pushed herself out the door, screaming obscenities at the both of them as she went away.
Temari flicked the blood away from the fan and put it inside her dress. She turned to address Mei and crossed her arms over her chest. "So?"
"W-Why did you do that?" Mei stuttered.
"Why?" Temari asked that as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "It's because you're my friend."
Mei's mask finally cracked. A wellspring of tears flooded her eyes as she rushed forward and wrapped Temari in a big bear hug, crushing the girl's face between her tits. "I'm sorry," Mei blubbered. "I'm sorry."
Temari was taken aback by the woman's new extreme personality flip, but cautiously wrapped her arms around Mei's waist in response. "It- It's fine. You don't have to be sorry. You didn't do anything wrong."
Mei quickly wiped her tears on her dress and held her away by her shoulders. "Did you mean that?"
"Wha- erm… yeah, well, depending on how much you owe to them, we can figure out where the money is going to come from…"
"No," Mei said, interrupting her. "Not that. I could give a shit about that right now. The- The other thing…"
Temari's brow scrunched up, trying to understand her words. And then the realization dawned on her. "Yes, Mei, I'm your friend."
Mei's lips quivered and she had to look away. "I- I'm sorry that I insinuated what I did about your sex life. It was rude of me to pry. I'm sorry for being emotionally distant. I'm sorry for being blunt with my words. I'm… I'm sorry."
Temari patted her on the shoulder. "And… And I shouldn't have gotten like that on the boat. You were just having fun. I wasn't in the mood because… well, because of everything, I guess."
"I…" Mei's face steeled itself and a look of anger took over. "I fucking hate people like that. I hate that I can't hurt them when they do that shit because it'll hurt my image and my image is just about the only goddamn thing running this country. I hate that I have to go to these fucking things. I hate the booze. I hate the food. I hate all of it. I just wanna go home and soak in a bath and eat some chocolate and not have to worry about any of it. And…" Mei wrapped her arms back around Temari, burying her head in the crook of her neck. "And I'm happy you think of me as your friend. And I'm happy you did that but don't do it again."
Temari hugged her back, squeezing the woman to her body and laughing lightly. "No promises on that regard. Especially if they get handy."
Mei pulled away and looked her in the eyes. "I can live with that."
Temari tapped her elbow against Mei's. "Hey, we're family now. Living with each other and not tearing each other's heads off is just about the best we can do, right?"
Family.
Yes, Mei quite liked that.
Omake
Kurotsuchi peeled down the hallway, sword in hand. She turned the corner in a fighting stance, ready to carve up anybody who had hurt either Temari or Mei. When she saw Temari apply the genjutsu and head after Mei, she had stuck around the door just in case things went sideways, which was good, considering she hear the sounds of screams not minutes later.
When she turned the corner, she saw Mei and Temari laughing in a hallway lightly stained with blood. "What happened here?" she asked loudly.
At the sight of her sword, Temari looked at her searchingly. "Nothing much. Where did you get the sword?"
"It's my sword."
"But where did you get it?"
Kurotsuchi sheathed it and got back into her normal posture, seeing as there was no danger. "Every lady has a secret or two."
Temari whistled appreciatively. "To think that your vagina was long enough that you could keep your sword in there… bravo."
"HEY!"
"Not the vagina? Ass then?"
Kurotsuchi pinched the bridge of her nose, turned away, and trundled back to the party. She was never going to win, was she?