The Black Sky is Ours [Private]

[Kamitake]

And when the sun dipped, only then did the azure sky turn into a warm orange and darkle onwards into deep purple. The last vestiges of regularity faded as vendors scurried off from their posts while somewhere else women caked themselves to beauty as their men self-obsessively readied their attires over smokes and drinks. The night sky became illuminated with a hundred billion stars shining brightly only for a single moment before the familiar neon glow began usurping the luminous frame and erasing all else from the sky.

Behind closed doors prima donnas scrutinized the details of every one of their gay costumes for their upcoming shows while musicians limbered their fingers to jazz standards in their last minute rehearsals. Waiters hurriedly rushed to set up the various tables surrounding the ballroom floor while the manager checked both the bars and kitchens thrice in order to ensure that there was enough food and refreshments to sate the appetites of their would be patrons. A lone figure stood alone the organized chaos ignored by the traffic of bodies ever so close to grazing him. He watched intently with a cigarette gracing his smile gracing his youthful countenance before he extinguished it on a recently set-up table’s ashtray. A portly man with graying and thinning hair came half-running from a large, solid, black door before stumbling his way before the lone figure that everyone had come to loathe in their unique ways.

”My apologies Monsieur, there are simply no more tables for tonight. Perhaps another night, yes? We‘d be more than eager to make all the proper arrangements,” he nervously bumbled while wiping the sweat off of his moist forehead. He already knew before a word in response was spoken that he would be forced to call one of his wealthier yet significantly less dangerous patrons with a sudden cancellation and be forced to deal with the usual backlash that comes with angering a member of the elite.

The lone figure was dressed in the characteristic grey suit, white shirt, and black tie of so many a noir hero. He played the part of a good friend but spoke with a voice of pure ice that left little to the imagination. ”I’ve recently hired an accountant at the Torre Celeste. I've found they can be very thorough, especially when you offer then 20% from any clerical discrepancies.”. Whether he continued his ramblings or ended there was of little importance to the finality of the situation, the die had been cast. With a friendly clap on the blustering fat man’s back, he left the club in order to finish some of his own preparations while leaving the overweight manager at a loss for words.


---

A younger man dressed in Kumogakure's standard Chuunin affair paced himself through the immaculately paved roads in the Seki District's finer quadrant before he arrived at the Nara estate. Nervously, he made his way through the overbearing arcs and into the tended elaborately tended garden until he reached the doors of the estate which he promptly rapped upon. A servant of the Nara clan soon appeared to greet the Chuunin but instead only met the silent exchange of parcels. When the Chuunin finally excused himself, the servant noticed that someone in fine script had addressed it to Misombra. She had only heard that term once when a knavish blonde rogue turned Sennin had been around...

Spoiler

To my dearest Kotaza,

I have found myself with the good fortune of being the first and only individual swift enough to swoop on another’s cancellation to the elegant Stratus Nightclub. At the risk of betraying myself, I know of no other person that I would rather ask the favor of accompanying me on what promises to be an entertaining night of dinner, dancing, and a show. I shall be waiting ever the lone wolf at the same street we once shared a moonlight dance.

 

[Sanageyama Masaoko]

Nara Kotaza, iNPC​

Now, she was back into a swing of mundane motions and smiles as Kotaza got acclimated back into what was supposed to be her life long ago. Although it was particularly dreadful, she couldn’t help but feel like a fat woman pushed through a size two dress. She was an awful mess in this routine life of being a mother. The duties she had in the daytime were awkwardly placed around the bulges of her questionable desires, only to be fed at night when she was released from that horrible dress she called motherhood. The children would sleep and Kotaza would go out to wander. Though, she never got herself into much trouble. Watching, walking, wondering…

An interruption cut the seams of her dress one day. The quiet maid of the house stood at the edge of the gardens where Kotaza looked over the flowers that were slowly dying. The emerald eyed Nara saw the white envelope held delicately in her hands. As her pale fingers flicked into the air to grab it from the servant, she saw a single word perfected and addressed to her. Misombra. And Kotaza knew just who had stopped by to disturb her unwanted peace.
She swayed through the halls silently, flipping the parcel over through her fingers. When finally the woman had reached her chambers where solitude was truly hers, the chestnut haired doll tore open the seal. The message was brief, surprising for the long winded dipsomaniac. An invitation to the most seemingly normal night she might ever have with Souseiki.

A trick. More opportunity for him to dig up harsh feelings and pry at her fragile mind. A dark brow raised on her pretty face, contemplating the perks of each side. But, even she knew better. Kotaza wasn’t going to turn this down, even if it blared death to her. When her dark guardian wished her to be at his side, she would be his faithful shadow. Tonight would be another dance.

So, the young siren of Susukino’s dark alleys appeared in the veins of filth. The dim streetlight spotlighted on her as she searched through the familiar street. She was far too extravagant to fit in with the normal band tonight. What was often hidden behind wild, unattended hair and standard issued uniforms was on full display. Her luscious, chocolate locks twirled so lightly around her porcelain face, pinned loosely in a low hanging bun. Her emerald eyes inspected her outfit once more for any straying strands. The midnight dress hugged to her petite body. A perfect dress to dance and entice men with, hemline resting right above her knees to provide movement. She felt painfully cliché in all her splendor though. However, Kotaza knew it was better than just wandering around the streets. And far more dangerous too.

At last her eyes rest upon the figure who was neither friend nor foe. She traipsed forth from the spotlight with a cool gaze. “Souseiki, I didn’t take you for the shy type. If you wanted a date with me, you should of just asked in person. Afraid I was going to say no to your face?” Kotaza teased, her voice sweeping with notes of laughter and childish antics.

 

[Kamitake]

Perhaps he might have smiled at her comment if he wasn't so annoyed at the small strand of truth in her spin. The blonde man emerged from an alley dressed not in his typical suits but instead a sleek black tuxedo fashioned from the finest alpacas (or llamas or whatever the hell this region of Ninpocho has) that Kumogakure had to offer, a sophisticated white dress shirt and a black bow tie. Without a hint of love or kindness he walked directly at the supposed siren of the Susukino and put out his left hand.

"You should know by now that I never ask anyone for anything. I demand what is mine by the sheer power of will and I do not get refused because I do not lose," he softly but icily whispered to her as they both stood in the moonlight illuminated streets. To further his point, Souseiki would grab the petite woman's hand in a sudden, fluid motion. The moment was tense, the grip of a master swordsman that had never allowed his blade from his held her like a vice... until the lithe figure suddenly relaxed and his characteristic charming smile returned to his face along with the metamorphis of his venemous jade eyes into shining emeralds. He would kiss her hand gently before he led them away from the filth and fury that it seemed they only encountered themselves in for the lack of more appropriate scenery.

The sennin would lead her carefully through the vacant streets of Susukino. He pretended not to notice much about her way of dress on their journey other than the brief "You look lovely" comment he almost randomly allowed loose from his lips. They wouldn't walk far on the cobblestone roads before they reached the magnificently iridescent district. The night was alive and full of excitement as men and women joyfully walked between casinos, nightclubs, and the plethora of restaurants. Performers on the sidewalk displayed their talents for a gracious tips as men with booming voices declared with volume the virtues of their establishment over their competitors. The sennin paid them no mind to them and only paid scant attention to the few others aware of his position when they greeted and bowed to him. He took Kotaza further until they reached a smaller but no less vivacious location.

The Stratus Nightclub had been established only a decade ago but the management's talent at attracting the most stellar of performers from all over the world had made them legendary for their ability to provide a fun night. It was their other activities that had made them easy enough to force a vacancy. They might have destroyed Souseiki if Souseiki wasn't cautious enough in his craft to leave a relatively undistinguished but infuriatingly clean career. The couple would reach the front entrance where a nervous young fellow would blusteringly give his greetings before taking them inside to the angered groans of all the other people waiting in line. They walked on red carpet through the immaculately furnished entrance hall lined with all sorts of paintings and sculptures until the man opened a set of finely masoned doors into the bustling hall filled with ladies and gentlemen chatting away excitedly. They would both be seated at a table near the middle with a good view at the stage where the band would soon play.

"You'll enjoy this place. They're usually booked year round but I managed to be particularly persuasive regarding my services to their establishment," he commented to Kotaza before a waiter found himself in front of the duo. Souseiki ordered a whiskey for himself and an apple martini for Kotaza before the waiter managed to ask her. The Nanjirou drew a cigarette from a silver case before leaving it on the desk. He used his chakra to start a fire at the palm of his hand in order to light the cigarette.

"I'm tired of being interesting, you be interesting," he ordered in his particular brand of requests.

 

[Sanageyama Masaoko]

The young shadow master had to roll her eyes at his childish comment. He was expected to be handed everything because sheer will? She scoffed at the idea. He was deranged. The statement rang like a reminding bell, an echo of a memory, or the outline of someone she once knew. The demand sounded so close to her own brother. Although, Kotaza knew what happened when Obito did not get his way. Just what the hell would Souseiki do to her? In his display of sword master talent, Kotaza felt a line of the fear she would experience should he ever cross her with a blade. It startled her, but she composed herself to give a small smirk. Her emerald eyes crossed the path of those blazing, jaded jewels that bore so intently into the deepest of her vexations, unearthing an agitation and excitement she never found with anyone else. His lips grazed her pale skin, sending a shiver up her spine.

However, the siren did not know if she felt disgust or exhilaration buzzing in her skull.
The Stratus Nightclub was a highly talked about establishment with Kumo, where the rich dined and the poor could only dream of entering. Bookings were hectic and reservations were placed far in advance. Forget taking that nice girl you just met here, unless you consulted a fortune teller about her ages ago. Kotaza only could imagine just what Souseiki did to get a reservation. He was a Sennin after all, did they just get automatic booking? Highly doubtful. He probably came in during a drunken fit, threatened to destroy the property, and was given a spot if he promised not to demolish the club (so, Kotaza mind ran a little wild sometimes).

Those glimmering eyes of deep and precious emerald sparkled with such childish glint under the lights of the entrance hall. Where she had grown up was spectacular, but in a traditional sense. The Stratus was a whole new kind of marvelous for her to gaze at. As Souseiki pulled her along, he’d have to lightly tug her to move along. Often she would glance over her shoulder with youthful curiosity to get a better look at a painting. It wasn’t until they finally sat in place, when Kotaza let the elegance sink in. Hearing his voice brought her back down and to him again.
He vaguely began to tell of his persuasions to get the two of them inside when they were interrupted by a waiter. Kotaza quickly glanced downward at the table when he ordered for her, a sweet smile placing itself on her lips as the waiter looked to her. Not her first choice, but it would do. He swung on his heels and left the two alone once again. The dim glow of his chakra illuminated her pale face, casting an eerie otherworldly glow. The silver case clinked quietly onto the table between the two.

Kotaza sat back in resignation. “Me? Souseiki, you already know everything about me. Whether I want you to or not,” she mumbled, her hand lightly drawing to her mouth. Her knuckles brushed lightly against her glossed lips. “Although, I don’t tread lightly with my words, you should know that. So, why the hell did you invite me out here? What do you want from me? How many years has it been, and you can’t just leave me alone. Hell, the first day back in Cloud and you’re the first person I see.” Gloves were off.

 

[Kamitake]

”Well that wasn’t very entertaining,” he responded with a bitter smirk on his youthful countenance. The waiter soon returned with their drinks on a silver tray before he placed them before the couple. The blonde Nanjirou brought his close to his face before uncharacteristically sipping at it. ”I asked you to be entertaining, not for you to become utterly hostile. Regardless of what I know or can know about you, I had thought for a few bewildering seconds that you had enough of a personality to actually either say something intelligent or at least make a witty joke but I am beginning to doubt my judgment when it comes to you.” Souseiki finished his drink in one swig before he called over the waiter demanding more. His face was visibly irate from Kotaza’s badgering. She had struck a chord whether she was adept enough to realize it or not.

He wondered why it was exactly that he kept returning to her specifically when so many women of loose morality and cheaper fascinations were so easy to come by for a man of his political stature. She was pretty, he knew that much, but she didn’t have the breathtaking beauty that caused men to skirt the authority of heaven for a single kiss. He routinely had prettier women than Kotaza but none of them instilled such a morbid curiosity as his petite green eyed guest. Souseiki kept pondering on why as the waiter returned with another drink, as the band kept playing songs in the old styles, as the laughing and chatter of people buzzed about them until the noise made him as drunk as any spirit ever could.

”Fine then, I’ll have to the dashing and charming for a bit longer,” he coldly spat out as he took Kotaza’s hair and pulled her out onto the dance floor. His grip was firm on her and he held her body close to his as they swayed to the live band’s melodies. His jade eyes wandered from the surroundings onto her as he drunk her perfumed scent. She was warm and she felt fragile. Real fragile. Sometimes he wondered how hard could it be to simply snap her in half and rid himself of this inconvenient obsession. The Raikage would demand answers and there would be a hell of a damage control to implement before he had a snowball’s chance in hell but then he could be alone and proud.

”I love you,” he said to break the uncomfortable silence.

It was unlikely that he did but it would be the three words that he doubted she actually could fathom a retort to. It was the answer that she had wanted to hear or at least the only answer she could truly be satisfied with. If she had truly been so bothered by their parlay then why did she continue to engage him? She could have said no to this all, she could have left him in that dark alley with a cigarette in hand like so many were apt to. He wouldn't have minded, he truly wouldn't have cared and yet she showed.

”If you want me to leave alone then simply ask. I fared well enough these last couple of years without you and I can live the rest of my life without you.” He spun her before pressing close to her. His breath would tickle her ear. ”I dare you.”

 

[Sanageyama Masaoko]

Kotaza refused to let anything pass on her face but complete irritation. He threw a petty attempt at insulting her intelligence, but she knew it wasn’t meant to be a damaging blow. No, it was a mere distraction in their battle. Still, she was a Nara and she took pride in her intellect. Even a slight joke at her wit and the emerald eyed woman was on the defense. Souseiki was just as annoyed with her though. She was striking deep chords that shouldn’t have been messed with. Victory sung sweetly in her mind. She finally found something to dig at him with.

He was just as equally guilty. No matter how much he twisted and fought, Kotaza knew that Souseiki had pulled towards her as much as she. All this blame couldn’t be placed on the Nara. On most occasions, she’d let herself become the scape goat, but Kotaza had become tired of these old games. She was tired of playing. That childish shadow wanted nothing more than to throw the chess board from the table and see the world on a level that was real. No lies. No deceit. No more. Alas, that was a ridiculous wish that would never be.

She felt so unsure of herself as he took her hand and lead her to the dance floor. Kotaza could never rightfully gauge his emotions. He was one of the most inappropriate people she had the pleasure of meeting. He’d move right and she’d go left, always just missing him by an inch. However, she was getting quicker at swiping at pieces of him. In his cold, resolute clutches Kotaza watched Souseiki’s jade eyes flicker under the silver glow of the lights.
Still fuming over the petty insult, the chocolate haired woman focused only on the sway of their bodies and the warmth of his stature against her. They lived in a constant playback. Fight, drink, dance, and manipulate. Over and over again. Around they went.

The silence was unbroken by the whispered words of Souseiki. The moment paused as her eyes drew up to his face with surprise. She could feel herself grow weaker and weary of his little play. He really had nothing to say so that he threw out this pitiful desperation? His strike was weak and she could easily counter. He had run out of tricks to pull. Did he really think she’d fall for this little lie? It made her so sick to even think that her greatest adversary had been run dry of his creativity.

She let him finish what he thought was such a great ploy. She rolled her eyes at his last whispered words that brushed across her ears, sure he couldn’t see. It was time to play games with him. She let concern pass her face, like she seriously contemplated her love for him as well. Like she actually believed him. Please. Kotaza had been used by too many men in her life to ever trust those three little words. She was sure that he was too much of a demon to even fathom the word.

“Souseiki…” Pulling back slightly, her innocent charm lingered on her words. “Y-you really think that? But, after all this time…You’ve wanted to kill me. How can I believe you?” The fragile woman pulled away, looking as if she might faint. It was all over dramatic really, but she was getting a good, cold laugh out of it. She let a silence wash over them as her hand drew up towards him to rest on his face, but before she let their skin touched, Kotaza drew away with laughter.

“Please,” she said in between laughter. This was so ridiculous, she couldn’t help but fall into a fit of cackling. “Is that how you wanted me to respond!? You honestly think I’d eat that shit up? Souseiki, you can’t honestly have anything better to say than that? Really, where did your cunning go? Here I thought you were my equal. Someone to keep up with in a dangerous and entertaining dance. This is so…” Her laughter died as she paused to examine his face once more, “disappointing.”

“You’re pathetic.” Maybe he’d fall into a fit of rage and kill her right where she stood. Even so, Kotaza would die with laughter because it meant that she had won. If he really had nothing better to retort with, then Kotaza was right after all. He was just a little boy who had become obsessed with one of his toys.

 

[Kamitake]

The blonde man would take her verbal lambasting with all the suave charm his noir personality could muster as she struck him at his most exposed. He managed to evoke no reaction as she called him pathetic, not even a wince as she insulted him nor a half-hearted grab towards his perpetually hungering blade to salvage what he could of his ego. His heart beat as smoothly. Thump. Thump. It beat uninterrupted now as it had ever had. If he had been pained he did not reflect it on his handsome countenance as they continued dancing nor in his eternally relaxed body demeanor.

“My little shadow, how you hurt me so,” he told her after an eternity of silence with a voice so shamed it barely managed to be a whisper. Souseiki let go of her. His young face grew sullen. He sought her black heart to beat in sync with his so that his heart could know for a single second what it was not to be lonesome. “I know I have been cruel to you. Oh the heavens as my witness that I could take it all back and begin anew, to treat you like you should have been treated. I’d… I’d like to make it up to you if you would let me. I want this to work because you’re the only person I’ve ever felt comfortable with…” he stuttered as he nervously scratched his face. His eyes turned to look at her meekly once more. He bathed in her presence. A smirk grew… “I could always dress you up like a doll and insult you,” he pleaded in an attempt to persuade her. “I’ll even take you from behind and let you call me Obito if it‘d make you happy.”

Silence loomed for a single second before he answered her cacophony with his own laughter so dripping in sarcasm he nearly flooded the room. His voice boomed above beyond the melodic stylings of the house band. He paid little attention as an army of eyes turned to look at a young lady and a maniacal man man so formidable he had actually been deemed a Sennin. Souseiki kept laughing uncontrollably, wiping away the tears as he hunched over in order to catch his breath. He managed to make his way from the dance floor to the bar all while clapping several men and women on the backs as they nervously chuckled to a joke with no punch line or even body. He ordered an entire bottle from which he drank in hearty gulps as he finally managed to calm himself down.

He didn’t care about the taboo. No, Souseiki was too apathetic to the supposed conventions of society to care whether siblings warped their understanding of love into the physical. What that bastardly blonde man thought was so amusing was that she had thought that she had finally pinned him. How long had she waited, parlayed, sortie’d, wondering when he would slip? How long had it been before an opportunity had presented itself to her? Kotaza had thought that the moment was finally at hand only to discover it had been a simple ruse. He didn’t bother turning back to see if she was still there; he didn’t care enough to see either child tantrums or even womanly surliness.

 

[Sanageyama Masaoko]

She stood still in her sullen silence as he tried to string her along with his graceful words. He wanted her to dance with him so badly, but she wasn’t stepping into that trick. A beast like him could never love another human being. He was incapable and she wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice of blindly following a man. The green jewels of sparkling emerald dust studied his mannerism carefully. He was such a good actor. If she wasn’t so hard to the world, the young girl could be caught up in his illusions for eternity. If only it could be that easy.

He was trying to soften her guard. The words were inviting and so pretty on the surface, but she knew they held no meaning. No one’s promises ever did. It was expected for him to turn on her so quickly, but she hadn’t expected such a vicious bite from the cornered dog. That face dried of emotion keep an even gaze with the Sennin. The Nara evaluated the blow with not much feeling, it had left her numb. His laughter was a hard spray of venom. She was dripping in his hatred, burning away to mere bone. She felt so raw and teetered so easily on the edge of breakdown. Years of conditioning herself back to normal were done away little by little as the Nanjirou hacked at her with the blade of his words. The little shadow wanted to indignantly fall to the floor with a never ending fit of laughter at the most cruelest of all jokes played on her; her pathetic life.

However, she let the silence loom as she soaked the acid deep below that pale skin. When he moved past her and to the bar, Kotaza let herself stand in solitude amid the disgusted fleet of eyes. An eerie smile was born unto her lovely lips. Souseiki was just so amusing. He was the perfect playmate for her. When her brother had forsaken her, Kotaza was alone. There hadn’t been anyone to test her so. To fight so nastily with. But, that sole blonde haired, jaded eyed, deranged Nanjirou gave her a will to live for her own sick amusement. He kept her alive by keeping her dead.
She streamed across the floor with a silver grace. Towards the bar, she let her gaze reach on the man who had forgotten her for his choice of spirits. The shadow master stood a few steps behind him. He was in her reach, but they were lifetimes apart. Together in a league of their own, but so separate all the same. The isolation was candid. They were together. In the sinking waters of loneliness she drowned by his hand. It kept them from one another, but held them together. When she was a little girl, her step-mother had tried so frantically to drown her. It was an image that was burned onto her soul.

That black haired ghost held her by the throat with a tight grip of desperation, looming above the surface of the clear water. Even though she had a hold on the frightened little girl, Kotaza felt miles away from her would be murderer. Above the water was another world she had thought she’d never see. The dark siren had still been connected to her husband’s bastard child through the way of those terrible claws. That touch, the last touch the little girl thought she ever felt was comforting. To know she at least had the feel of human life before her own force dripped from her. The same was said for Souseiki.

His connection to her had not been one of good intent. It never had been. He had wanted to destroy her the moment he laid his cold green eyes on her. But, she had been comforted by it. He enabled her to fall back into that sinking regression of madness. It was acceptable to him. That wouldn’t satisfy Kotaza alone though. She wanted to pull him in. She wanted them to drown together and float through the void.

She clapped her hands together in a piercing disturbance to catch his attention. People looked at the two with fierce misunderstanding. They were mere fixtures of furniture in their dramatic play. When he turned to look at her, she let her hands fall slowly to her sides. “Bravo.” She toyed with the idea to slide closer, but kept a cool distance from him for the moment. “I had been worried there for a second that I had lost my one and only dueling partner.” Her simple steps towards him meant nothing much. It was probably foolish to reach out in the way she did with him, but Kotaza never actually felt threatened by him. She had mixed up his hatred and masked it as mere play in her head. Her mind had been too clouded to see any truth now in what he wanted and what was acceptable.

Her hand drifted up to his face, clutching onto his jaw with a gentle firmness. “Don’t try to pull me with such empty displays of emotion. I think we are past that. We both know very well that neither of us can love. However, we can play pretend, since I know how much you love charades.” She nearly spilled gently into him, her smirk teasing him. “Oh and, I think I’m past the doll phase.” Her mischievous laughter complemented the bare temptation of her playful eyes.

 

[Kamitake]

And as if on cue, Souseiki turned to face the petite vixen with a bottle on hand. He was apathetic to her caresses and even less entertained by the assumptions she so haphazardly made about him. His face was stern as he drank again from the bottle.

"No thanks kid."