HIT THE CITY LIGHTS! (Kisuke/Open)

[Hashimoto Tamiko]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-color: #e4e4e4; border-radius: 60px 0px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius: 60px 0px 0px 0px; -o-border-radius: 60px 0px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 60px 0px 0px 0px;][style=float: left; height: 100px; width: 100px; background-image: url(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af141/Jello_track_girl/tamiko10-1.jpg); border: 10px solid #111111; margin-top: 10px; margin-left: 10px; border-radius: 100%; -moz-border-radius: 100% -o-border-radius: 100%; -webkit-border-radius: 100%] [/style][style=height: 50px; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; color: #111111; font-family: georgia; font-size: 34px; font-style: italic; padding-top: 20px;]take me there[/style][style=height: 60px; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; color: #e4e4e4; font-family: georgia; font-size: 18px; font-style: italic; background-color: #111111; padding-top: 10px;]right away, wont you baby?[/style][style=background-color: #111111; padding: 15px; padding-top: 0px;][style=background-color: #0d0d0d; color: #6a6a6a; font-family: verdana; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify; padding: 5px; border-top: 5px solid #1b1b1b; border-bottom: 5px solid #1b1b1b;] Ah, Amegakure, not the sunniest or happiest population, but the wealthy did know how to treat their guests. Tamiko smiled as she leaned against the low wall looking out over her balcony. It was raining lightly, making her very glad for the tent erected over her head, and from here the rain had a sort of beauty to it. The buildings were more technologically advanced here than back in Iwagakure, and she liked how nothing was made entirely of dirt or stone. The streets couldn’t be, else they would be nothing but mud at least ninety percent of the time. She heard the door slide open behind her but she didn’t turn, knowing who it was going to be. “My lady, you told your uncle you were coming down to the party, and that was ten minutes ago.” His voice was strict but when she turned around he bowed, although she did notice his lips remained in a firm line. One of her “escorts”, really just a guard to make sure no one hurt her and she didn’t get lost. But after so many months on the road she and all of the guards have grown a lot closer. Even closer now were Tamiko and her Uncle, who was probably worried sick down in the ballroom. Tamiko sighed, muttering a quick, “Oh, alright then.” before going back into their room. It wasn’t that she didn’t like parties; in fact the young noble girl lived for parties, but tonight she felt a little off. Her uncle and her had been having nightly sessions of necromancy and last night’s session scared her a little bit. They had arrived in Amegakure and decided to talk to some of the ghosts who had lived there, but Tamiko was sure that they weren’t supposed to know what they had heard. The spirits told of transporting dead bodies to strange locations, a “God” who could see all, and not being safe even in your own home. A chill ran through the young girl as she fixed her headpiece in the mirror. As her uncle always told her to do she had a kunai attached on a holster around her upper leg under her dress, and if those stories from the dead were true she might need it. “Don’t think about it…” She told herself firmly, adjusting her dress and stepping away from the mirror to get a good look at herself. Naturally she looked stunning—she couldn’t wait to dance and gossip with all of the other upper class present! This prospect was enough to flush the worry and fear from her, a smile replacing her scowl. A small bubble of doubt remained, but she pushed it down, not wanting to bother with it now. “Ok, I’m ready--let’s go!” Tamiko said cheerily, taking her escort’s arm and following his lead to the door. The ballroom was elaborately decorated in all silver—ice sculptures decorating the tables and a glittering chandelier in the middle of the room. The floor was sparkling marble that made Tamiko’s shoes click as she walked, and the walls had flowers that looked like raindrops painted in intricate patterns. They found their table easily and had a lovely dinner, Tamiko talking and complimenting in turn to those she sat around. Finally the part everyone had been waiting for arrived; the dancing. Tamiko had been scouting around during the night for good looking boys, but of course none of them sat at her table. She would have to work her way over to them, which shouldn’t be much of a problem. Being a Hashimoto had its benefits—the clan was easily one of the wealthiest and most influential in all the world, and thus its members were much sought after for conversation and friendship. Of course Tamiko loved and abused this fully, but her first dance would be with her uncle. The dance floor was more crowded than usual, and she realized that she didn’t recognize some of the faces. Were these nobility from areas her and her uncle had not visited yet? Some of them had scars on their faces, sort of like some of the shinobi she had seen had. But she could only catch glimpses of their features as she danced, everyone moving much too fast to get a decent look. All too soon the song was over. She bowed to her uncle and ran off to the side of the dance floor, away from many of the other people. Pushing a stray piece of hair away from her face she squinted around the room, trying to see any other strange faces. What was going on--who were these people who were so clearly not the noblemen Tamiko was used to? Maybe she should use her family’s technique and talk to some of the ghosts; see if they know what is going on. But with so many people around it seemed like a bad idea to her, and she knew her uncle would most certainly not approve. Her brow furrowed for a moment and she bit the inside of her mouth, staring at the floor in worry. Maybe she should tell her uncle or one of her guards about her concern, but why ruin a perfectly good evening? She was just being paranoid, that was all—no one else seemed concerned about anything, so why should she? Tamiko pushed off the column she was leaning against and started to walk back toward the crowd, determined to have a good time. [/style][/style][style=margin: 10px; margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 30px; font-family: verdana; font-size: 10px; color: #787878;]words### tags Kisuke! notes yay first meeting <3 [style=text-align: right; color: #0d0d0d; font-style: oblique;]coded by zetta[/style][/style]

[Akuchi Kisuke]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0px,true][atrb=width,420,true] [STYLE=float: left; width: 90px; height: 90px; background-image: url(http://i662.photobucket.com/albums/uu348/Aka_Reon/MadHatterIcon.png); border-radius: 15px; border: #D13434 solid 3px; margin-left: 20px;] [/style] [STYLE=float: left; width: 50px; height: 60px; background-image: url(http://i662.photobucket.com/albums/uu348/Aka_Reon/MadHatterIcon.png); border-radius: 10px; border: #D13434 solid 3px; margin-left: 6px;] [/style] [STYLE=float: left; background-color: #D13434; color: #fff; font-size: 30px; font-family: arial; text-shadow: #fff 1px 1px 1px; padding: 5px; margin-left: 10px;] A [/style][STYLE=float: left; color: #222; font-size: 30px; font-family: arial; letter-spacing: -3px; padding: 4px; 2px 4px 0px;]KUCHI KISUKE *[/style][STYLE=background: url(http://i.imgur.com/45860.gif); width: 450px; height: 80px; border-bottom: #D13434 6px solid; border-radius: 14px 14px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 14px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 14px; margin-top: -40px;] [/style] [STYLE=float: right; color: #222; font-size: 9px; font-family: arial; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; padding: 4px; margin-top: -19px; margin-right: 8px;] MAD AS A HATTER[/style][STYLE=background-color: #1d1d1d; text-align: justify; color: #c2c2c2; font-size: 9px; font-family: arial; line-height: 10px; padding: 1px; padding-left: 122px;] ❚ WORDS --- ❚ TAGS Tamiko ❚ NOTES Let's do this~[/style][STYLE=background-color: #1d1d1d; font-family: verdana; font-size: 9px; color: #c2c2c2; text-align: justify; line-height: 11px; padding: 0px 30px 10px 30px;] "May I have this dance?" Rewind the wheels of time. A green suited man walks into the village hidden in the rain. He sticks out like a sore thumb and is constantly seen cleaning his shoes. He carries himself like a gentleman, and his eyes are covered by his hair and his green fedora hat. What was he doing here? No one really wondered why though. They all knew there was a formal ball later tonight. It made sense that people of nobility would come from everywhere to attend. This man was a little different though. He was not riding in a carriage and he was carrying a small bag on his back. The smoke from his cigarette created a light trail behind him. What was this man thinking? The man entered a small ramen shop. His appearance drew the stares of everyone for a second before they turned away. He walked slowly to the counter and tipped his hat up to reveal his eyes and charming face. Enter Akuchi Kisuke. "Can I have Miso ramen soup?" The ramen maker complied with the request and in a few minutes had his hot ramen ready. Kisuke ate it quickly and left. Staying in one place for too long was never a good option for a missing ninja. But who would know about him anyways in this village. It wasn't one of the great shinobi villages so it wasn't paid much attention too. This weather was really not a favorite of his though. He walked and walked and walked. He really had no idea where he was going or what he was looking for. His goal was to assemble a team of powerful or interesting shinobi to create his own village. He needed his group first. The only way to find people were to travel to different villages, looking for shinobi. His observant eye would be able to scout out the strong. As he walked he noticed many nobles come from carriages. Wondering what was going on, he turn to a pedestrian and asked. The pedestrian explained about the ball and Kisuke formulated the idea of attending this ball to scout out. But his real plan was to have a little fun of course. The ball was later tonight, so he climbed onto the roof of a metallic skyscraper, and waited. 2 hours later. It was time. The sun had set. The ball was starting. Kisuke opened his eyes slowly and yawned, stretching his tense body. He left his bag on the roof and jumped down, ready to attend this ball. As he walked towards the building that held the ball, he stretched his muscles. He hadn't danced in a long while so he waned to be prepared. The night was eerily quiet. The rain had stopped and the full moon shone brightly in the sky. Kisuke entered the ball after he finished admiring the moon. The place was beautiful. "The ballroom was elaborately decorated in all silver—ice sculptures decorating the tables and a glittering chandelier in the middle of the room. The floor was sparkling marble that made Kisuke's shoes click as he walked, and the walls had flowers that looked like raindrops painted in intricate patterns." [Horizon] There were many people around. It was crowded and this was Kisuke's first ball. He sat down upon a table and ordered his food. As he ate, his eyes dashed across the room, watching all the guests. They looked... different. They had scars and grim faces. They didn't look like the nobles Kisukes was used to. He brushed off the notion however and finished eating. It was time for everyone to dance. Kisuke danced with a few different girls. His charming good looks easily had him surrounded by women. After the first song finished, he took to the side for a little break. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a little girl. She was dressed pretty well and even though there were many people trying to talk to her, she went off alone. She was looking around the room. There was something about her. She too had noticed something about the attendants of this ball. That was interesting. In the fast moving crowd in the ball, she was able to notice something slightly off. Kisuke's interest sparked a bit. He decided to talk to her more. Another song started planning and walked up to her, his smile brightening his face. "May I have this dance?" [/style][STYLE=background-color: #1d1d1d; color: #434343; font-family: verdana; font-size: 8px; text-align: right; padding: 0px 10px 5px 0px;]made by ayu of btn [/style]

[Hashimoto Tamiko]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-color: #e4e4e4; border-radius: 60px 0px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius: 60px 0px 0px 0px; -o-border-radius: 60px 0px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 60px 0px 0px 0px;][style=float: left; height: 100px; width: 100px; background-image: url(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af141/Jello_track_girl/tamiko10-1.jpg); border: 10px solid #111111; margin-top: 10px; margin-left: 10px; border-radius: 100%; -moz-border-radius: 100% -o-border-radius: 100%; -webkit-border-radius: 100%] [/style][style=height: 50px; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; color: #111111; font-family: georgia; font-size: 34px; font-style: italic; padding-top: 20px;]take me there[/style][style=height: 60px; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; color: #e4e4e4; font-family: georgia; font-size: 18px; font-style: italic; background-color: #111111; padding-top: 10px;]right away, wont you baby?[/style][style=background-color: #111111; padding: 15px; padding-top: 0px;][style=background-color: #0d0d0d; color: #6a6a6a; font-family: verdana; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify; padding: 5px; border-top: 5px solid #1b1b1b; border-bottom: 5px solid #1b1b1b;] Her guard from before saw her approaching and smiled, nodding to her politely and motioning his hand for her to join him. She smiled, feeling safe now that she was under the careful and confident gaze of her attendant. She would dance with him and stay around her people during the dance, then go back to the room. Usually she liked to go off and talk to new people on her own, but after feeling something slightly off she sort of just wanted the night to be over. The music started up and she had almost reached the group of people where her fellow Iwagakure members…but suddenly someone was in her way. She came to an abrupt stop, taking a step back and touching her leg where her weapon was hidden. But it wasn’t one of the scarred figures, just a man with a funny looking hat. She straightened up to her full height, her chin tilting up as she studied him. He wasn’t like other nobles, but he was strangely handsome with mesmerizing eyes. She saw her guard approaching, eyeing the man with the hat with a frown. But Tamiko found herself waving him away, shaking her head ever so slightly at him. The attendant backed away respectfully and the young woman turned back to the gentleman, holding out her hand for him. “You may.” Tamiko said, ruining her regal tone with a sly smile. She liked flirting, even if most men here were far too old for her. It was a good pastime and she found it was easier to get the latest gossip if you play it cute and mischievous. Men were quick to underestimate what a little girl could do with important and delicate information. She had often found out things days, even weeks before they received official reports about them from Iwagakure. Tamiko liked being informed, and with someone as interesting as this man asking her to dance she thought it might be a perfect opportunity to learn something new. She also thought he might be the perfect distraction to get her mind off of the uneasy feeling she had. The song picked up and she recognized it as a popular classical song, the tempo building slowly toward the peak. The dancers began to move faster, and once again she saw flashes of scarred faces and scowls, but this time she realized many were aimed her way. Involuntarily Tamiko’s grip tightened on the man’s and a flicker of fear passed over her face. In an instant the look was gone however, replaced by a smile; her cover for when she knew she was in trouble. Looking around the man with the hat she tried to spot her uncle or one of her guards, but they had moved into the middle of the dance floor. Swirling dresses and the swishing of pant legs surrounded Tamiko and she started to feel claustrophobic. The song picked up speed, the tempo turning dark and heavy as the couples twirled on the floor. Slowly, almost so gradually she didn’t notice it, the lights in the ballroom began to dim. Tamiko’s heart was beating horribly fast and she was holding onto this poor stranger’s hand so tight his fingers must have been numb. Finally the lights went out all together—plunging the room into chaos. [/style][/style][style=margin: 10px; margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 30px; font-family: verdana; font-size: 10px; color: #787878;]words### tags Kisuke! notes AND THE DANGER BEGINS BWAHAHAHA!!! [style=text-align: right; color: #0d0d0d; font-style: oblique;]coded by zetta[/style][/style]

[Akuchi Kisuke]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0px,true][atrb=width,420,true] [STYLE=float: left; width: 90px; height: 90px; background-image: url(http://i662.photobucket.com/albums/uu348/Aka_Reon/MadHatterIcon.png); border-radius: 15px; border: #D13434 solid 3px; margin-left: 20px;] [/style] [STYLE=float: left; width: 50px; height: 60px; background-image: url(http://i662.photobucket.com/albums/uu348/Aka_Reon/MadHatterIcon.png); border-radius: 10px; border: #D13434 solid 3px; margin-left: 6px;] [/style] [STYLE=float: left; background-color: #D13434; color: #fff; font-size: 30px; font-family: arial; text-shadow: #fff 1px 1px 1px; padding: 5px; margin-left: 10px;] A [/style][STYLE=float: left; color: #222; font-size: 30px; font-family: arial; letter-spacing: -3px; padding: 4px; 2px 4px 0px;]KUCHI KISUKE *[/style][STYLE=background: url(http://i.imgur.com/45860.gif); width: 450px; height: 80px; border-bottom: #D13434 6px solid; border-radius: 14px 14px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 14px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 14px; margin-top: -40px;] [/style] [STYLE=float: right; color: #222; font-size: 9px; font-family: arial; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; padding: 4px; margin-top: -19px; margin-right: 8px;] MAD AS A HATTER[/style][STYLE=background-color: #1d1d1d; text-align: justify; color: #c2c2c2; font-size: 9px; font-family: arial; line-height: 10px; padding: 1px; padding-left: 122px;] ❚ WORDS --- ❚ TAGS Tamiko ❚ NOTES Let's do this~[/style][STYLE=background-color: #1d1d1d; font-family: verdana; font-size: 9px; color: #c2c2c2; text-align: justify; line-height: 11px; padding: 0px 30px 10px 30px;] [Note: I accidentally deleted this post writing the new one. Sorry D: ] [/style][STYLE=background-color: #1d1d1d; color: #434343; font-family: verdana; font-size: 8px; text-align: right; padding: 0px 10px 5px 0px;]made by ayu of btn [/style]

[Hashimoto Tamiko]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-color: #e4e4e4; border-radius: 60px 0px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius: 60px 0px 0px 0px; -o-border-radius: 60px 0px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 60px 0px 0px 0px;][style=float: left; height: 100px; width: 100px; background-image: url(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af141/Jello_track_girl/tamiko10-1.jpg); border: 10px solid #111111; margin-top: 10px; margin-left: 10px; border-radius: 100%; -moz-border-radius: 100% -o-border-radius: 100%; -webkit-border-radius: 100%] [/style][style=height: 50px; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; color: #111111; font-family: georgia; font-size: 34px; font-style: italic; padding-top: 20px;]take me there[/style][style=height: 60px; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; color: #e4e4e4; font-family: georgia; font-size: 18px; font-style: italic; background-color: #111111; padding-top: 10px;]right away, wont you baby?[/style][style=background-color: #111111; padding: 15px; padding-top: 0px;][style=background-color: #0d0d0d; color: #6a6a6a; font-family: verdana; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify; padding: 5px; border-top: 5px solid #1b1b1b; border-bottom: 5px solid #1b1b1b;]The room was pitch black but screams echoed everywhere. The sound of footsteps and people falling and pushing surrounded her and she shut her eyes, not knowing what to do. But it seemed that was being decided for her, because before she could move or say anything a pair of strong hands grabbed Tamiko and dragged her in an unknown direction. “Hey, let me go!” She protested loudly, almost positive it was the man with the strange hat who was guiding her. She knew she should have never danced with him, where was he taking her? Tamiko wanted to call out for her uncle, or for one of her attendants, but as she drew her breath she froze, dread slowly filling every fiber of her body. The darkened room, once so filled with shouts and panic, had grown almost completely silent. She stopped struggling, her body going limp as the hands moved her under a table. It had been almost a full minute since the lights had gone out and the music had stopped. Someone had pulled back the wall length curtain to let the light from the city stream into the ballroom. She could just make out the shadow of the man with the hat kneeling in front of her, his finger to his lips. She swallowed hard and nodded, her eyes round with fear. His words were fast and clipped with a confidence that almost made Tamiko want to trust him…almost. But what choice did she have except to trust him? He had carried her away from what seemed like potential harm to a hiding spot, and now said he would protect her. She gave him a weak smile and nodded again before he turned away. As soon as the tablecloth fell back into place she reached under her dress and retrieved her knife, holding it firmly in both hands. She heard him take a few steps away from the table and panic started to rise within her. She was alone and it was dark—two things she disliked very much. Without even thinking she muttered a few words under her breath and the little gold trinkets that were weaved through her hair shifted, their smiling faces turning to frowns. The air under the table dropped ten degrees and she let out a little gasp, sensing the dead nearby. Whoever dimmed the lights had already killed two, maybe three people; she could sense their spirits. She didn’t recognize any of their presences as her attendants or her uncle, so she slowly let her powers fade away, the temperature returning to normal. Tamiko knew the dead would not harm her; she was much more concerned with the living. Tamiko listened as the man who was protecting her spoke, remembering just then that he had told her his name…what was it? Ah yes, Akuchi, Akuchi Kisuke. She was just realizing that she had never properly introduced herself when through the tablecloth she saw dim lights, like flickering candles, being lit one by one. Slowly she lifted up the white cloth, peeking out to see what was going on. Surrounding Akuchi Kisuke were at least a dozen of the scarred men, all in much different clothing now and each holding a hostage guest from the party. Her eyes scanned the victims quickly, looking for her uncle or one of her fellow travelers, but they weren’t among the hostages; thank goodness. She did notice, however, that all the hostages were younger, and many of them sons and daughters of well known, wealthy nobles. Her gaze rose to the attackers, recognizing their clothing as something a shinobi would wear, except they were all in black and none wore headbands to show their village allegiance—this was not good. One stepped forward; and she noticed that he carried no weapon and no hostage, instead having the lazy air of someone who effortlessly commanded attention. This rouge addressed the man in the hat, laughing and smiling slowly, “Clam down, calm down! We don’t want anything from you, stranger, we only want our hostages—all of them.” A chill ran though her and she slid backwards, letting the tablecloth fall back into place. Tami hugged her knees and shut her eyes tightly, hoping that if she stayed perfectly still she could remain hidden. “All of them” echoed through her head and she buried her face in her skirt, hoping it didn’t mean what she thought it did. Where were her guards, or her uncle? Why didn’t they come save her? Tamiko might have been able to shut her eyes, but she could still hear everything that was going on. She heard something metal being unsheathed and the man’s voice from before, his tone still light and conversational; as if they were talking about the weather instead of murder and hostages. “But it seems we’re missing one, do you know where she might be, stranger? Here—let me give you a hint. She’s small, young, and worth roughly about… 90,000,000 ryō. You see, the Hashimoto family is not at all stingy, and we’d very much like to take advantage of their gracious fortune.” The other mercenaries laughed, and a tight knot formed in Tamiko’s stomach. [/style][/style][style=margin: 10px; margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 30px; font-family: verdana; font-size: 10px; color: #787878;]words### tags Kisuke! notes you can control the bad guys too, since you'll be fighting them and all ^_^ [style=text-align: right; color: #0d0d0d; font-style: oblique;]coded by zetta[/style][/style]

[Akuchi Kisuke]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0px,true][atrb=width,420,true] [STYLE=float: left; width: 90px; height: 90px; background-image: url(http://i662.photobucket.com/albums/uu348/Aka_Reon/MadHatterIcon.png); border-radius: 15px; border: #D13434 solid 3px; margin-left: 20px;] [/style] [STYLE=float: left; width: 50px; height: 60px; background-image: url(http://i662.photobucket.com/albums/uu348/Aka_Reon/MadHatterIcon.png); border-radius: 10px; border: #D13434 solid 3px; margin-left: 6px;] [/style] [STYLE=float: left; background-color: #D13434; color: #fff; font-size: 30px; font-family: arial; text-shadow: #fff 1px 1px 1px; padding: 5px; margin-left: 10px;] A [/style][STYLE=float: left; color: #222; font-size: 30px; font-family: arial; letter-spacing: -3px; padding: 4px; 2px 4px 0px;]KUCHI KISUKE *[/style][STYLE=background: url(http://i.imgur.com/45860.gif); width: 450px; height: 80px; border-bottom: #D13434 6px solid; border-radius: 14px 14px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 14px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 14px; margin-top: -40px;] [/style] [STYLE=float: right; color: #222; font-size: 9px; font-family: arial; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; padding: 4px; margin-top: -19px; margin-right: 8px;] MAD AS A HATTER[/style][STYLE=background-color: #1d1d1d; text-align: justify; color: #c2c2c2; font-size: 9px; font-family: arial; line-height: 10px; padding: 1px; padding-left: 122px;] ❚ WORDS --- ❚ TAGS Tamiko ❚ NOTES Let's do this~[/style][STYLE=background-color: #1d1d1d; font-family: verdana; font-size: 9px; color: #c2c2c2; text-align: justify; line-height: 11px; padding: 0px 30px 10px 30px;] There were at least a dozen of them. The room had grown eerily quiet. Too quiet. Then dim lights started appearing like flickering fires. The men had appeared. 15 to be exact. Each with a hostage. There was one in particular though. He stepped forward from among them. He had no hostage, however he had a sense around him that Kisuke noticed. This one man was the boss. “Clam down, calm down! We don’t want anything from you, stranger, we only want our hostages—all of them.”

[/i]

Hostages, ok. That wasn't going to happen with Kisuke around. Kisuke might not be such a good guy, but he couldn't just let this go. The men ruined his fun. He also needed to make a nice impression to the young lady behind him. Kisuke also noticed that many of these hostages were young. Sons and daughters. So these people only wanted money. They would keep the kids as hostages and ask the rich parents for ransom money. A pretty common strategy.

“But it seems we’re missing one, do you know where she might be, stranger? Here—let me give you a hint. She’s small, young, and worth roughly about… 90,000,000 ryō. You see, the Hashimoto family is not at all stingy, and we’d very much like to take advantage of their gracious fortune.”

That was a large fortune alright. But who was this Hashimoto family? Kisuke had not heard of it but he did not pay much attention to royalties. But who was this missing person? As far as Kisuke could see, all the children were taken as hostages... except her. No wonder everyone was trying to talk to her. She was an important individual. Hmm... maybe he could use her wealth for funding... He shoved off the notion. There were more important things to take care of right now. He couldn't just let the young lady be taken or let any of these children be harmed.

It was time to fight.

This battle was going to be simple. These people were mere simpletons and Kisuke was an ex- ANBU operative. One of them drew their katana but before they could charge at Kisuke, he was already at their feet, breaking the katana, quickly clenching his fist and punching the shinobi and taking the hostage with his other arm. In another instant, the boy was thrown to where Tamiko was as Kisuke dealt a kick to another shinobi. Kisuke's movements were quick and flawless. They made no sound and left the group of shinobi stunned as two of their men fell. Two down. Thirteen to go.

"Get him!"

But Kisuke was just too fast. As more and more of the shinobi fell, one by one, more and more did the pile of hostages increase behind that one table. Kisuke only hoped that Tamiko would stay hidden and keep the hostages quiet. Finally all but the leader remained. It must have been quite amazing to watch Kisuke. Well try to watch him. All the shinobi fell while Kisuke was barely seen. It took less than one minute for this great man to take down 14 shinobi. Now one remained.

"You... Who are you?"

"Akuchi Kisuke. And you're dead."

Crows started to appear from the air around them. They all circled the shinobi, cawing and cawing. A tornado of black wings with red eyes staring him down in this darkness. He noticed something on his arm. It was disappearing... forming into crows. The shinobi screamed as his body parts continued to disappear and form into crows. The shinobi continued to scream as this happened.

The genjutsu had taken it's desired effect. The hostages and Tamiko did not see what the shinobi saw. They only saw him flailing about and screaming to himself. Kisuke walked towards the shinobi and touched the top most knuckle of his fist to the man's chest. Kisuke had excellent chakra control and he had accumalted a good deal of chakra on the tip of his knuckle. As the knuckle made contact, Kisuke released the chakra sending the shinobi flying across the room and getting knocked out.

That was that.

Kisuke turned on his kneels and walked back towards the young lady and the hostages... that weren't hostage anymore. They probably looked scared and weary of this strange man. But hey, he just saved them. He deserves some thanks.

"Hey there, kiddos."

He smiled.




[/style][STYLE=background-color: #1d1d1d; color: #434343; font-family: verdana; font-size: 8px; text-align: right; padding: 0px 10px 5px 0px;]made by ayu of btn [/style][/td][/tr][/table][/center]

[Hashimoto Tamiko]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-color: #e4e4e4; border-radius: 60px 0px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius: 60px 0px 0px 0px; -o-border-radius: 60px 0px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 60px 0px 0px 0px;][style=float: left; height: 100px; width: 100px; background-image: url(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af141/Jello_track_girl/tamiko10-1.jpg); border: 10px solid #111111; margin-top: 10px; margin-left: 10px; border-radius: 100%; -moz-border-radius: 100% -o-border-radius: 100%; -webkit-border-radius: 100%] [/style][style=height: 50px; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; color: #111111; font-family: georgia; font-size: 34px; font-style: italic; padding-top: 20px;]take me there[/style][style=height: 60px; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; color: #e4e4e4; font-family: georgia; font-size: 18px; font-style: italic; background-color: #111111; padding-top: 10px;]right away, wont you baby?[/style][style=background-color: #111111; padding: 15px; padding-top: 0px;][style=background-color: #0d0d0d; color: #6a6a6a; font-family: verdana; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify; padding: 5px; border-top: 5px solid #1b1b1b; border-bottom: 5px solid #1b1b1b;]She waited and waited for what seemed like eternity for Akuchi Kisuke to reply to the man’s question, to give her away, but he didn’t. Instead she heard a clash, a clatter, and then a yelp as a body went skidding under her table. Tami scooted away quickly before realizing it was another child. He was only about nine years old, and tears running freely down his cheeks. Tamiko crawled over to him and put her finger to her lips like she had seen the man do, and the boy nodded. He huddled behind her while she moved forward slowly, peeking back out under the tablecloth to watch the battle. She was scared for Akuchi Kisuke, who was clearly outnumbered and not dressed for battle. But that didn’t seem to hinder him, because in the small time she watched four bodies hit the ground, unmoving. She couldn’t quite see where he was, it was only a blur. Absurdly she wondered how his hat stayed on when he was moving so fast, but it hardly seemed to matter, so long as he didn’t get himself killed. One by one the other children were thrown, pushed, and dragged under the table, making it quite crowded. Tamiko motioned for them all to be still and quiet, and for the most part they did so. A few of the hostages were older than her, and they smiled at her and reached out to hold her hand and the other’s comfortingly. By the end they were all under there, a few of them poking their heads out to watch their amazing savior finish off the last man. Tamiko didn’t watch at first, wincing at the bloodcurdling screams the enemy emitted. She would not like to meet his soul after he passed over; those who departed in pain were never the best or friendliest spirits. She couldn’t help but wonder what Akuchi was doing to make the man scream like that, and soon her curiosity got the better of her. Slowly she pushed her way over to the tablecloth, peeking out and watching the two forms. Akuchi Kisuke was walking slowly forward, not touching the man at all, yet the man was still screaming like he was being tortured. What kind of trick was this? Tamiko watched at the Akuchi stopped in front of the enemy, barely touching him and somehow sending him flying across the room. She pulled away, blinking a few times and not sure if she should believe her own eyes. The room was still quiet, but the adults had begun to whisper, their worry causing their volume to grow. In the heat of battle no one had seen where the children had gone—had the disappeared? Tamiko heard slow, steady steps approaching, and everyone shrunk back, huddling together in fear. It was Akuchi Kisuke, the mysteriously handsome man who could not only dance spectacularly, but also fight like a true shinobi. He was looking down at them all, a smile on his face as he spoke. The privileged children just sat in shock for a few seconds…then about half of them, the younger ones, cheered and ran forward, hugging the man around the legs. The rest of the kids, including Tamiko, crawled out from under the table as well. An older boy offered a hand to help the noble girl rise, and she accepted it with a shaky smile. The adults stood in shock, a border of unconscious bodies separating them from their children and the curious stranger who had saved them. But as the last of the children emerged from under the table the adults began to clap, and then rush forward to embrace their children. Tamiko was so relived it was over that she could cry, and many people actually did. As everyone pulled themselves together the men stepped forward to shake hands and speak with Akuchi Kisuke while the women embraced and kissed him in turn. The children pulled at his pants legs, asking him to show them how to throw someone across the room like he had. Tamiko smiled at the mysterious stranger over the crowd, nodding at him in thanks. She wouldn’t be able to get close enough to speak to him in this crowd, besides, someone was probably— “Hashimoto-hime, thank goodness!” Strong arms spun her around, and her guard, the one who had accompanied her down to the ball, was kneeling in front of her. Seeing him broke the barriers Tamiko had built up to deal with the scary situation, and she threw herself onto him, hugging him tightly. She felt him hug her back, albeit a little awkwardly since he was her servant, and slowly she pulled away, wiping off her eyes. It occurred to her vaguely that this should be her uncle, or one of her parents she was hugging, but her parents were hundreds of miles away and her uncle wasn’t much of the hugging type. “Don’t scare us like that, Miss, you had us all horribly worried.” He said, rising back up to his feet and holding her hand tightly. In the time it took Tamiko to nod and brush the rest of her tears away from her eyes, she was surrounded by three more guards, but someone was missing. “Wh-where’s my uncle?” She managed, looking up at the guard who held her hand. He opened his mouth to reply, but at the moment she felt a hand on her shoulder, making her jump. “Hm, I guess you would be jumpy after what happened, wouldn’t you?” The voice said, his mouth right next to her ear. Tamiko let go of the guard’s hand and turned her head to address her uncle, a familiar smirk returning to her face. “My dearest uncle, I’m afraid I simply don’t know what you’re talking about. If you didn’t notice, I was the only one who didn’t get taken hostage.” She replied coolly, making her uncle laugh. He was a man in his early thirties, tall and well built with flowing chestnut hair. His clothing choice was traditional, but two things set him apart from the crowd, other than his good looks, that was. The first was a dragon, made entirely out of gold, which he wore twisting up the length of his arm. The second was an eye patch that covered his left eye. Tamiko had asked him on several occasions how he had lost his eye, but he had never told her. He was the one who she looked up to—the man who had taught her everything she knew about self defense and their family’s secret ability. “And how did you manage that, exactly?” Her uncle asked, causing Tamiko’s smirk to slip ever so slightly. Should she tell him about how she had danced with the man, how he had taken her to a safe place and vowed to keep her safe before going off to defeat the enemy? Why not? Perhaps the Hashimoto would want to reward the man in some way… But for some reason Tamiko only said, “I was just lucky, I guess.” [/style][/style][style=margin: 10px; margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 30px; font-family: verdana; font-size: 10px; color: #787878;]words### tags Kisuke! notes sorry it's so long, I got carried away :3 [style=text-align: right; color: #0d0d0d; font-style: oblique;]coded by zetta[/style][/style]

[Akuchi Kisuke]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0px,true][atrb=width,420,true] [STYLE=float: left; width: 90px; height: 90px; background-image: url(http://i662.photobucket.com/albums/uu348/Aka_Reon/MadHatterIcon.png); border-radius: 15px; border: #D13434 solid 3px; margin-left: 20px;] [/style] [STYLE=float: left; width: 50px; height: 60px; background-image: url(http://i662.photobucket.com/albums/uu348/Aka_Reon/MadHatterIcon.png); border-radius: 10px; border: #D13434 solid 3px; margin-left: 6px;] [/style] [STYLE=float: left; background-color: #D13434; color: #fff; font-size: 30px; font-family: arial; text-shadow: #fff 1px 1px 1px; padding: 5px; margin-left: 10px;] A [/style][STYLE=float: left; color: #222; font-size: 30px; font-family: arial; letter-spacing: -3px; padding: 4px; 2px 4px 0px;]KUCHI KISUKE *[/style][STYLE=background: url(http://i.imgur.com/45860.gif); width: 450px; height: 80px; border-bottom: #D13434 6px solid; border-radius: 14px 14px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 14px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 14px; margin-top: -40px;] [/style] [STYLE=float: right; color: #222; font-size: 9px; font-family: arial; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; padding: 4px; margin-top: -19px; margin-right: 8px;] MAD AS A HATTER[/style][STYLE=background-color: #1d1d1d; text-align: justify; color: #c2c2c2; font-size: 9px; font-family: arial; line-height: 10px; padding: 1px; padding-left: 122px;] ❚ WORDS --- ❚ TAGS Tamiko ❚ NOTES Let's do this~[/style][STYLE=background-color: #1d1d1d; font-family: verdana; font-size: 9px; color: #c2c2c2; text-align: justify; line-height: 11px; padding: 0px 30px 10px 30px;] He was attacked... ...with hugs. The younger of the children he saved ran up to him and hugged his legs. As the last of the children emerged from under the table, the adults appeared. They were confused at first but slowly started to clap and embrace their children. They started to cry as well, and so did the children, but why wouldn't they after what they had gone through? It was a nice little scene. The men came up to Kisuke and shook his hand while thanking him. The women kissed him, and although he didn't need this, it didn't bother him at all. The men asked who he was and he answered with "just a wandering man". He was still an S-ranked missing ninja, giving out his name was not really a good idea. He felt his pants being pulled and he looked down to notice little kids. He bent down and talked to them. They asked about how he defeated the shinobi and Kisuke simply patted their heads and told them straight on. "Magic," he smiled. "Haha, no, kiddos. I am just a shinobi and shinobi are strong warriors that fight for justice." He patted them and got up. His intent was to find that girl and find out more about her. He needed to know if she was interesting enough to be placed into his group. His eyes raced across the room and landed on her... next to a man in his early thirties... that dressed a little strange. He was wearing a golden dragon on his arm and an eye cover on his left eye. A little out of the ordinary for a noble. However, the man looked great and Kisuke saw the young girl's eyes. She looked up to this man. Kisuke skillfully maneuvered around the ballroom towards them, interrupting their little conversation. He looked at the little girl, with a smiling face, and then turned to the man she was looking at. Kisuke's hand came up for a shake between men. "Hello, sir. My name is Akuchi Kisuke." [/style][STYLE=background-color: #1d1d1d; color: #434343; font-family: verdana; font-size: 8px; text-align: right; padding: 0px 10px 5px 0px;]made by ayu of btn [/style]

[Hashimoto Tamiko]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-color: #e4e4e4; border-radius: 60px 0px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius: 60px 0px 0px 0px; -o-border-radius: 60px 0px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 60px 0px 0px 0px;][style=float: left; height: 100px; width: 100px; background-image: url(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af141/Jello_track_girl/tamiko10-1.jpg); border: 10px solid #111111; margin-top: 10px; margin-left: 10px; border-radius: 100%; -moz-border-radius: 100% -o-border-radius: 100%; -webkit-border-radius: 100%] [/style][style=height: 50px; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; color: #111111; font-family: georgia; font-size: 34px; font-style: italic; padding-top: 20px;]take me there[/style][style=height: 60px; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; color: #e4e4e4; font-family: georgia; font-size: 18px; font-style: italic; background-color: #111111; padding-top: 10px;]right away, wont you baby?[/style][style=background-color: #111111; padding: 15px; padding-top: 0px;][style=background-color: #0d0d0d; color: #6a6a6a; font-family: verdana; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify; padding: 5px; border-top: 5px solid #1b1b1b; border-bottom: 5px solid #1b1b1b;]Tamiko returned Akuchi Kisuke’s smile, moving out of the way so she could watch her uncle and the man interact. Her uncle clasped Kisuke’s hand with both of his, smiling wholeheartedly and saying, “Hashimoto Izo, Tami's uncle, it’s a pleasure to meet the man of the hour.” His voice was smooth and charming, his one dark glittering eye focused on the man in front of him. The two made an odd pair, Tamiko thought to herself, seeing as how they were both dressed strangely for such a group of people. But she was used to her uncle’s style by now. The dragon was a family heir loom anyway, and was one of the many devises that helped speaking to the dead easier. While she had her hair ornaments and gold jewelry Izo’s artifacts tended to be more flashy and larger to hold his power. She looked around at everyone else, seeing families separated into groups, talking animatedly to one another, as if it had all been a game. It sort of felt like one after the fact, but Tamiko still remembered that dropping feeling in her stomach when the lights went out, the horrible sound of the man’s tortured screams. But even as she watched servants were clearing the bodies and derby out of the room; as if it hadn’t even happened. Out of sight out of mind, she supposed. “I heard you say that you are a wandering man; do you have some place to say? You are welcome to stay in our suite for the night, if you wish. It’s the least we can do, right, Tamiko?” Her uncle put a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him. He gave her a reassuring nod and she smiled at Kisuke a little nervously, not sure what to say to him after everything that had happened. “Yes, that would be nice.” Tamiko replied, and her uncle clapped his hands together, smiling. “Then it’s settled! We might as well turn in early—it looks like the party’s over anyway and we can order some tea up in the room, then!” Izo didn’t even wait to hear Akuchi’s response before he started leading the way out of the ballroom; that was just the sort of man he was. Tamiko smiled at the man in the hat a little apologetically, but her eyes were dancing with excitement. She fell into step beside him and the guards kept a respectful distance. “I’m sorry, my uncle can be rather…demanding.” She said, finally finding a proper word to describe him. She looked up, seeing Izo reenacting the battle that had just occurred with one of the guards. Tamiko smiled and laughed at their dramatic movements, even if the other nobles were glaring at her uncle’s erratic presentation. “I wanted to thank you...for saving me and the others, that is. It was an awful risk you took, facing so many men like that.” Tami’s eyes stayed trained on Kisuke’s face, watching for his reaction. A wandering man wasn’t able to take down over a dozen mercenaries and not even break a sweat, but if he was a shinobi where was his headband? [/style][/style][style=margin: 10px; margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 30px; font-family: verdana; font-size: 10px; color: #787878;]words### tags Kisuke! notes aosdkhnfaoiegha [style=text-align: right; color: #0d0d0d; font-style: oblique;]coded by zetta[/style][/style]