Dark Lotus

((Sorry I haven't updated in forever, but I got a new job since the last update, and
been dealing with a lot of family and life stuff. I'll try not to go so long between
updates from now on, but I can't promise anything.

And as to pairings, I haven't decided that yet, but it's definitely NOT Naruto and
Nekomata. Heh, sorry ^^;))

“I can’t believe you’re drinking on a mission.”

Genma looked at Sakura with a slightly annoyed look, “Well, I’m not the only
one on this mission, am I? I can afford to be a little lax.”

“There’s a difference between lax and drunk,” Sakura said with an eye
roll.

“Why don’t you go yell at Nekomata?” Genma frowned, “She’s
over there playing mah jong with those old men, drinking and smoking like she was at
home.”

Sakura turned and looked over at the cloaked woman, watching smoke billow out from
under her hood, one of the old men sitting at the table looking around before leaning over
to talk to her, “I think she’s doing recon.”

“Probably betting for a case of sake,” Genma said, giving Sakura a smooth
smile, “That women can out-drink me any day. Probably even out-do Hokage.”

“I find it hard to believe you know anything about her,” Naruto scoffed,
“You help her out or something once?”

The look the man shot Naruto shocked them both, “Watch your mouth kid.”

Naruto glanced over to the table Nekomata was at, seeing the pipe she was smoking was
held halfway to her hood, and that her head was turned towards them. The hood turned back
to the tile game, and a moment later smoke began billowing upwards, “Can she hear us
or what?”

“Probably. Oinin have better senses than most shinobi,” Genma said, looking
at the door as Kakashi walked in, “Well noble leader, you get the low down?”

Kakashi sat down at the table, slouching down in the chair as was his fashion, “I
did. I’ll brief you all on it when we get situated.”

The copy-nin looked over to the other table and raised a brow, “Is she at least
winning?”

“Who knows,” Genma sighed, suddenly staring at the cieling with a serious
look on his face, “How long has it been since anyone actually saw Shihasu, Kakashi?
Ten years?”

“More like five, maybe seven,” Kakashi replied, “I’ve seen Nekomata
around plenty of times, but Shihasu’s usually scarce. I haven’t seen her since
Asuma’s funeral.”

“She didn’t go to it,” Genma frowned, “She was at the memorial all
day.”

“Why are you all talking like she’s two different people?” Sakura asked,
“They’re one in the same aren’t they?”

“No, actually, they aren’t,” Kakashi replied, “They have some
similarities, but they’re different.”

“It’s not split personalities, or any psycho bullshit like it if that’s
what you’re thinking,” Genma added, “It’s simply work and personal
separation. Shihasu’s not crazy, and never has been, despite what that idiot Ino says
she heard.”

“Why Genma, I didn’t know you cared so much," Nekomata's voice simply
seemed to float around them; soft, sensual, and dangerous, “If I didn’t know
better I’d think that torch was still burning.”

“I hate it when you do that,” Genma growled, taking a swig of sake, “You
know, I liked you better when you weren’t so sneaky.”

“Aww, poor little Shiranui. You mean you liked me better when you called me names
and I beat you up for it?” the chuckle following the question was nothing short of
murderous, “We can go back to that if you like; I’ve come to enjoy seeing how
much pain people can take before they start begging. I bet you’d last a pretty long
time.”

Sakura actually paled, and looked between Kakashi and Naruto, the latter looked
somewhat confused.

“It’s a jutsu,” Kakashi said, more to Naruto, and so he could ignore
Sakura's obvious distress, “She uses it in the field so you can’t detect her
with sound.”

“I think I’ll pass on that offer,” Genma said, shaking his head,
“Are you almost finished over there? We’re waiting on you so Kakashi can brief
us.”

“I already know why we’re here. I’ll see you all back at the hotel.
I’ve almost won.”

“Typical,” he growled, getting up and looking at his other teammates,
“Well, I say we go. She’ll be here all night. “

“Sit back down,” Kakashi said, taking out his book, “We all leave
together as a team.”

Genma began muttering, sitting back down and glaring at the back of Nekomata’s
head, and Sakura leaned over to Kakashi, “Am I rooming with her?”

“You two are the only women,” he said, his eye crinkling as he smiled at her,
“Don’t worry Sakura, you won’t be safer in your life.”

“Ha! I find that hard to believe,” Naruto said, putting his arms behind his
head, “I sure as Hell wouldn’t stay in the same room as her.”

“Really? Then maybe you’d like to stay with Sakura and keep an eye on her
tonight,” Kakashi suggested, his voice unusually caustic.

“Sure thing,” Naruto nodded, smiling broadly as he failed to notice the older
jonin’s tone, “Hear that Sakura? I’ll be there in case anything
happens.”

Sakura rolled her eyes, knowing that Naruto was more likely to fall asleep than do
anything useful, and then looked at Kakashi out of the corner of her eyes. If he trusted
Nekomata, or Shihasu, or whatever she was called, she supposed she could too. Well, as
long as someone else was around.

xxxx

“I was under the impression you were a boy Chibi.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Naruto snapped, watching the woman begin
emptying her pack onto the table in the hotel room, the cloak still covering her.

Sakura rolled her eyes again as she laid her own things out on the bed to inventory.

“You’re sharing a room with two women. That’s all,” was
Nekomata’s answer.

“Just to make sure you don’t try to do anything funny to Sakura,” Naruto
snapped.

“I see. Though I don’t understand why you think I’d intentionally harm a
teammate. That’s rather pointless,” she said, laying the various supplies
she’d brought in neat, even rows, “Besides, you’re Konoha ninja; I have no
reason to even think of fighting you.”

“But earlier, with Genma-” Sakura said, wishing she’d stayed out of it
as soon as the words left her mouth.

“That’s just Genma,” Nekomata said, sitting down and crossing her legs.

“Yeah, but-” Naruto began, wanting to point out the woman’s status and
supposed reputation.

“Shut up and go to sleep, both of you. I’m not going to slit your damn
throats, but if you keep yammering on, I may consider it to be a serious option!” she
barked, effectively silencing them.

They watched her dip half the senbon she’d taken out in some kind of liquid before
she put them up, and then sharpen her swords, a pair of Lungchuan broadswords. It was
interesting to watch the way she handled each piece of equipment, as if each were a sacred
artifact. Sakura glanced over at Naruto after the first half hour, and saw the young man
was fast asleep, no doubt lulled into dreamland by the soft, rhythmic sound of whetstone
on steel.

“You’re still awake.”

Sakura jumped slightly, sitting up and seeing the opening in the hood was facing her,
“I- I just can’t sleep.”

“I have that problem too,” Nekomata said, getting up and walking over to pull
the comforter back up Naruto’s body where he’d kicked it off before going and
opening the window, “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Sakura watched her leave, and raised a brow, going over to the window to look out.
There was no sign of Nekomata, and she closed the window, locking it before going back to
her bed. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, virtually exhausted from the
travel.

xx

Nekomata opened her eyes as a smirk pulled up her lips, “Been a long time since
you spied on me in the baths. Isn’t that more Jiraiya-sama’s style?”

“I’ve never spied on you,” Kakashi said, sitting with his back to the
shogi screen separating the changing room from the hot spring, “What did you find
out?”

“Probably the same thing you did. I’m not sure exactly what we’re
dealing with here. Supposedly, those samurai were from the Kinta clan. Not really a clan
known for being weak,” she said, putting her arms up on the edge of the spring,
“It’s either more powerful samurai, ninja, or some really lucky thugs. Of
course, the vegetation is a big help with ambushes, and it doesn’t take a genius to
know rice and cloth are easier to sell than pure gold ingots.”

“There’s something you aren’t telling me,” he said, “What is
it?”

“None of your concern Scarecrow,” she said coolly, “It has nothing to do
with this mission, or this team.”

“Why do you separate yourself?”

The question caught her off guard, though she quickly recovered, “Same reason you
do.”

There was silence for a long time, and she finally spoke, “Though I’m sure
it’s harder for you.”

“Why’s that?” he asked, watching her silhouette through the thin rice
paper as she got out of the spring and dried off.

“You don’t go to the extreme I do to separate myself, and I don’t have
much of anything left to lose,” she sighed, pulling on her clothes before she wrapped
the heavy cloak around her and opened the screen. He was already standing and waiting on
her, “One day I’ll realize how foolish it is, but for now, I’m content
knowing that Shihasu’s just a shadow, and Nekomata is the stuff of idle gossip when
no one’s husbands are cheating.”

“I find it hard to believe you’re content with that,” he said honestly,
“Considering your-”

“And considering yours, I’m shocked that you’ve deviated so much from
who you were back then.”

“You know why,” he said lowly.

“Then this was a futile conversation, wasn’t it?” she asked, her voice
cool, “We’re both the way we are because of a shared pain. I don’t
understand why you still feel the need to ask me why. Then again, we can’t be
geniuses all the time, can we?”

“I was just curious.”

“No, you want to know if I’m still grieving,” she said, catching him off
guard, “And it’s none of your damn business. It’s been nearly twenty years
Kakashi, and if I have any grief, it’s muted by everything else. But mine was never
really fueled by guilt, was it?”

“You’re still a bitch,” he said bluntly, “That much hasn’t
changed.”

She sighed, “And you’re still that arrogant, selfish, little boy deep down
Kakashi. You keep making the same mistakes, and one day, it’ll get you killed.”

“You don’t know anything about it,” he snapped, finally losing his cool.

“I know everything about it,” she snapped back, “You don’t really
want forgiveness anymore, because you’ve wallowed in your self-pity and guilt for so
long that you just can’t allow yourself to feel anything else. I may not be whole,
but at least I healed. You keep licking at the same old wound, and one day you’ll see
it hurts more to let it close and scar over than leave it open.”

“If that’s the case, why do you still go to the memorial?” he scowled at
her, “If you’re so high and mighty, and healed, why do I pass you every
morning?”

She was finally silent, and he knew he had her, feeling both like he’d won, and
like he was the biggest fiend in the world. She had stopped walking, and he turned around,
seeing she was apparently just standing there, until he saw the blood dripping from under
her sleeves. Her nails were obviously digging into her palms, and he saw her shoulders
begin shaking.

“Shihasu . . .”

“I told you not to call me that,” she hissed, beginning to walk again, her
anger almost palpable as she passed him, “Honestly, sometimes I wish she really was
dead.”

xxxx

“What are we watching for again?”

“For the tenth time Chibi, we’re looking for signs of a camp,” Nekomata
growled, spotting a slight disturbance in the vegetation below and stopping, “You two
stay up here, and don’t move until I say so.”

Genma nodded, watching her drop silently to the ground and crouch, a hand moving into
her hood for a brief moment before brushing away some leaves to reveal a small firepit.
Under the hood, a pair of eyes narrowed as Nekomata stood, a slight movement from the
bushes in front of her catching her eyes. Her eyes widened as a large boomerang came at
her, her entire body tensing.

x

Naruto went to move, and Genma grabbed his arm while he shook his head, whispering,
“Wait.”

x

The boomerang caught the middle of the cloak before slamming into the tree, imbedding
deeply into the trunk. From the dense vegetation, a large male figure walked out and
pulled the massive weapon out of the mutilated tree, picking up the cloak with a deep
frown as he ripped it in half, “Where the Hell did you run off to?!”

Nekomata‘s voice floated around the small clearing, “Now, what would be the
fun in that? You‘ll see me when I want you to.”

“A woman? Figures a woman would use such low tactics,” the man said, his
voice a deep growl, “Why not come out here and let me look at you. Been a while since
I had a woman.”

“And it’ll be a while longer,” she said, the smirk obvious in her tone,
“Tell me, to what do I owe the pleasure of your sudden company?”

“Enough chatter. I know why you’re here, and I know who you are. Some fool
ninjas from Konoha come to ruin the racket me and my boys have got goin’ on. Where
are the others? Hiding out to let you take care of big, bad me?”

“They’re not here,” she purred, “Just you and me big boy.”

“I like those odds,” he chuckled darkly, “Why don’t you come out
here and fight me like the man you seem to think you are?”

“Arrogance is really a flaw you know,” she said, dropping the jutsu and
crossing her arms.

He turned and saw her leaning against a tree on the opposite side of the clearing,
“Nekomata."