Perfect Fit

Kitsuki had eschewed a grand opening for her new boutique. To do the whole red ribbon cutting ceremony would be rubbing salt in the wound. She was popular, wealthy, and quite influential. The whole city knew how she had acquired those things so she opted for discretion. Still, the wicked actions of others would not stop her from doing what she loved. There was a time when she wanted to do nothing more than make music and clothes. A simple civilian life for the daughter of two wealthy merchants. Unfortunately, the profession had called her and she had decided to answer. The pressure of her role as leader was crushing and if she didn't take the time to remember who she really was, she might let the power get to her. That's why she made the decision to open Quintessence.

Their first day open was relatively quiet. She didn't advertise. She had enough contacts and publicity just by existing. People would trickle in eventually and when they did, they'd be treated with X-Class service. She had hired some knowledgeable staff and allowed them to hold the sales floor while she retired to the fitting room. Kitsuki decided that her first "customer" was going to be someone special. An orphan she had taken in from the slums of Vandal. She had sent word for Lily to meet her at her new shop. The plan was to get the orphan some fresh new digs. It broke Kit's heart to see the babe running around her hometown naked like some kind of wild animal. She was the ward of a Princess and it wouldn't befit her to wear rags.

Kit slung her measuring tape around her shoulders as she waited for the kid to arrive.

Lily was in a good mood today. She had been hard at work the past few days, learning more and more about the strange place known as Kirigakure. While she had been spending most of her time in either Kit's big girl home, the training place where she was hiding her completed knives save the one of the sets of knives she had under her cloak right now, or the ninja magic school where she was learning more and more how to be a cool magical girl. Each of the knives were tucked into a small pocket she had made under her cloak, making it so she could easily draw them out, not that she need to here. Not that she needed it with her travel outfit, but every pocket helped.

It was a little...boring sad. No one here fought outside of the battle grounds, and if someone did fight, it was over quickly. Even her classmates went down very quickly, and she also found out something very sucky.

She wasn't allowed to kill.

It was boring. Boring boring boring boring boring. Sure she didn't need to kill anyone, but to have it be pulled away from her? For a few days, she was mad because she was right and the angle princess was wrong. Sure they weren't bad people, but bad people would try to kill them, so if they didn't know the danger of how bad people fought, well what good would it be for them then? At least the tasty sweetrolls she took from that boy's backpack who was being mean to her couldn't tell on her, that's what he gets for calling her a dumb child.

But now, she was making her way to the princesses new store, Queen-Ten-Sense. It was a silly name for a store, but it had the name queen in it, so it made sense. After walking around a bit, she eventually found the store, and walked right into one of the glass walls. confused, she'd try again, her face smudging up against the exterior. Being the bright girl that she was, she began to slide her way over, the squealing of her face on the glass quite audible as she eventually found the opening proper and went in.

The staff at Quintessence stared in horror as a little girl ran face first into the glass wall of the establishment. The continuous bumping followed by the dragging of her face along the pristine barrier elicited a cringe from the head saleswoman. She strode over to the door and was about to let Lily in when the girl figured it out all on her own. The Sales Lead suppressed a look of disdain and instead smiled as she recognized the child fit the description given to her by Kitsuki.

"Hello there! Welcome to Quintessence! You must be Lily! Kitsuki is waiting for you towards the back." The woman's proper pronunciation of the store's name would hopefully disabuse the child of her misunderstanding. The Sales Lead would point in the direction of where Lily was supposed to go but on the off chance the kid strayed from the path, she'd guide her there personally. Kit had hired her to be the eyes, ears, and voice of her business when she was not present. To that end, the woman was no-nonsense and had little patience for vagrants and loiterers. The basic cloak worn by Lily and her inability to operate a glass door had already placed her squarely in the troublemaker category, and but not for Kit's connection to her, she'd have been promptly bounced. She flashed a kind smile at Lily but the second the babe's back was turned she'd snarl and go off to the side to talk behind her back.

Assuming the Pit Princess made her way to the back, she'd find Kitsuki waiting for her. The VIP fitting room was lavish and consisted of luxury chairs, expensive carpeting, and assorted tapestries and sculptures. There were mirrors along the wall at every angle so that no portion of a textile would go un-analyzed. In the center of the VIP fitting room was a large platform akin to a mini singer's stage. This was where measurements were taken, clothes tried on, and advice given. Kitsuki smiled as Lily showed up looking as innocent as the day they first met. The kunoichi was wearing her typical uniform with the only real difference being a line of measuring tape hanging over her neck and draped down her shoulders like a religious stole.

"Hi there Lily!" there was real sweetness to Kit's voice. Unlike the Sales Lead, she was genuinely happy to see her. There was nothing more altruistic than taking in the downtrodden and showing them a better life. Unfortunately, the concept was easier in theory than in practice. Lily had been more than a handful and from what she heard from the Academy instructors, she had retained a lot of the viciousness that came with being raised in Vandal. Kit vowed to excise the offending parts of the girl's personality but that would come in time. For now, she was content to keep Lily from hoarding knives and killing people. It was permissible for shinobi to walk about armed but Lily was a high risk individual and it made sense to restrict her access to large volumes of weapons. She needed to learn discipline before she became a walking-talking armory.

"Welcome to my store....what do you think?"

She gestured to the grand and opulent room. Its design, and that of the store's, was crafted with the specific intention of instilling awe in the heart of the customer. This was where true fashion was born. Kit didn't want to overwhelm Lily but she wanted the girl to get used to this kind of atmosphere. Immersion in the finer things did wonders for one's sense of etiquette.

Lily gave a friendly smile to the woman who worked at the store, a little sad Kit wasn't there to greet her, but she quickly figured Kit-kit was making something really cool for her and was a princess, so it made sense for her to have a servant greet her. "Mhm, mhm! Thank you kind lady!" While her skill with the window menace wasn't the best, Lily was a smart girl who knew her directions. As much as she wanted to take a look around and ogle at the pretty things, making someone wait was a big no-no in her picture book.

Making her way into the VIP area and seeing Kit-kit, she'd properly take in the sight of the room."Hi Miss Kit! Thank you for inviting me!" While a biiiit too fancy for her taste, she was taught better then to be rude about it. It was also a little unnerving, seeing all of these mirrors with herself in it. Lily was not a fan of mirrors, they always tricked her into thinking that there was an opponent that wasn't actually there, but she was learning! Something as simple as a mirror didn't stop her for too long anyways. After all, Mirrors didn't hide their intentions like glass.

Taking another look around she'd try to appreciate the room, she really did, but it wasn't her...what did her classmates call it? Her style? Yeah her style. Except for the the large platform in the middle that made her want to go up to it and sing her heart out, it was suuuuper fancy. But this was also Kit-kit's big day, and to make her feel bad on a big day was something bad people did, and Lily was a good girl. It's really pretty Miss Kit. It looks like it was made for a princess, which I guess it is!" She'd give a big smile and two thumbs up, revealing she was in fact wearing decent clothing underneath her woobie.

Kitsuki watched with glee as Lily took in the wonder of the store. The Pit Princess appeared to genuinely like it and the compliment she paid Kitsuki was much more meaningful than if it came from the Emperor himself. She smiled and said: "Thank you Lily! That's the exact look I was going for." Kit looked around her store with a great deal of appreciation for what the child had said. Lily was brutally honest to a fault or at least that what she was like when Kit had met her. If she found Quintessence's style regal, then that was how she must truly feel. She figured the girl had retained most of that truthfulness and it was a shame that Kit would have to start tempering it. Little did she know, Lily was already quickly learning more about the unspoken codes of the civilized world every day.

Kit saw the glint of something underneath Lily's cloak but paid it no mind. It was probably a knife. The child was positively obsessed with such weaponry and while Kit didn't mind her going about her day armed, she had placed a limitation on the number of blades that she was allowed to possess while not on a mission. Unfortunately, it was the second time in rapid succession that the elder Princess had underestimated the younger.

"So I invited you here today to get your measurements and talk about your style. You're naturally beautiful so all we need to do is make a few neat additions to your wardrobe and you'll be the most charming genin in Kirigkaure"

Kitsuki phrased her words carefully. She did not want Lily to think that she was calling her ugly or poorly dressed. She knew that even a ruffian child like Lily could have a fragile self-esteem. Girls in particular were known to take criticisms about their appearances personally, even those that were tomboys. Kit had watched how her older sister had reacted to other people's judgments about the way she spoke, dressed, and acted. She didn't take the WASP's etiquette and style lessons as seriously as Kit, but what Kit did learn was how to better approach someone who held her sibling's perspective.

"These new clothes will also have some functional quality to them" Kit decided to elaborate given the kid's lack of sophistication. "I will make it so that it helps you fight better! You'll be the greatest warrior in your school!"

Kit was normally reserved and she was especially professional when consulting customers. However, Lily was a child and one that would become easily bored by serious personalities. Kit wanted to get the enthusiasm and energy levels high so that her student wouldn't grow bored and restless. The sales consultants in the front could hear her and they all looked at each other confused as to why Kit was being so....loud. It was very unlike her.

Lily smiled in kind when she got the question right, happy that she understood the intent of the store. Listening to Kit, she was a little confused, but she got the gist of it. While she didn't understand what Kit meant by her 'style', hearing Kit call her pretty was nice to hear. Sure she didn't care much about fashion as it didn't matter much in Vandal, but a compliment was a compliment, and compliments were good. Hearing she was also going to be given new clothes was a treat. She liked her current clothes, sure, but she only had a few pairs, and the people of Kirigakure didn't approve of her washing clothes without wearing any, for some reason.

She did wonder what sort of things her new clothes would be able to do. Her imagination started to go off the rails immediately, thoughts of her in metal armor that transformed into a Bijuu-sized robot that could shoot fire and ice and fly and shoot more fire sounded really cool, or maybe a dress made entirely of knives so she could spin and twirl like a princess herself and kill any baddies with her cool spinning movements. Or, or she could have a frog suit that tricked people into thinking she was a frog, but when she opened her mouth it would shoot a knife tongue out to cut their neck and pull them in, making it look like she was a dino-frog that ate meat, scaring any bad people into thinking she was gonna eat them.

It probably wasn't going to be any of those though. It was probably gonna be a white dress, not that it was a bad thing, hiding in the snow is useful.

"What sort of function? Will I be able to shoot fire from them or high heel where the heels are knives?"

Her excitement was growing, and while high heels were silly for a ninja to have, they were shoe knives and that sounded cool. She'd jump in place a little, her toes never leaving the ground and the knives under her cloak jingling a little as they touched one another, the sound reminiscent of sleigh bells.

Kitsuki was glad that Lily was enthusiastic about her proposed wardrobe update. The girl wasn't offended and instead appeared excited to learn more. She was bouncing up and down, and for a second Kit thought she heard something clink. She was too involved in the creative process to really notice it though and she was so used to such sounds being made from the clothing racks that she thought nothing of it. When she asked Kit what sort of function the new clothes would have, Kit decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to involve Lily in the process.

"Well....that wasn't quite what I had in mind....but I actually like those ideas. I plan on making you several outfits so those are some things I can add in if you like. I was also thinking to get you something that would give you some catalogue so that you can hide from your enemies. You're a small like I was when I was a genin so you can use that to your advantage against bad guys. I have a few more ideas but before we talk about them, is there anything else you'd like in your clothes?"

Kit wasn't sure Lily would be able to give a cogent answer but even if she asked for something outlandish like a dress made of knives, then Kit would know what was important to the girl and she could incorporate them into her designs.

As fun as a dress of knives might've been, Lily knew that wearing weapons was usually a bad idea. She had seen a few people try to hold weapons in places they were not built for, and if they hadn't trained hard enough they usually died to said weapon soon after. And the same thing usually applied to armor. Big blocks of metal armor made to rumble and tumble in were great as weapons, but thin silk dresses were not as good to attack with. Okay maybe they could be if she added needles and thread to fight with, buuuut those were better as weapons. Calming down a little, she'd bring her hand to her chin and give it a proper thinking before responding.

"...Hidden pockets, not just for hiding weapons, but to also hide exploding paper and caltrops and snacks. Or maybe a way for me to find people that I can't see. I know weapons better then clothes, so you have a better...history experience time background...you have more smarts then I do with clothes. But how does a catalogue help hide against enemies? I'm fast when I change, but I'm not that fast."

Carrying the clothes around wouldn't be that hard as she had found a cool scroll that let her summon new friends, but she was still trying to get the basics and wasn't ready to rely on them yet. Now that she thought about it, if Kit-Kit was going to make her clothes, she would need her measurements. Going over to one of the chairs, she'd take off the cloak and hold it in one of her hands, while beginning to undo the buckles holding her coat together. She had read in a fancy wedding magazine that in order to be measured properly, outerwear had to be removed. After all, while her clothes were tighter-fitting, they weren't skin-tight which could mess up the measurements.

"Where do you want me to set my clothes while you measure me? On the chair?"

Lily's ideas were surprisingly coherent. Kit nodded as the child mentioned hidden pockets. Concealment was all the rage in the Kiri-Nin fashion industry. As shinobi of the hidden mist, they often deployed stealth to take down their enemies. Hidden blades and poisons were considered staple with respect to such clandestine operations. She frowned a bit when Lily misunderstood the word camoflouge and said "catalogue." The poor girl wasn't stupid, just ignorant. She had spent years living in a pit town and knew nothing but fighting and savage customs. Kitsuki took out a pen and notepad from her jacket pocket and made a note to herself to hire a Language Arts tutor for Lily. She then returned it and corrected her ward.

"No not catalogue Lily....Camo-flouge. Its a style of clothing that blends in with the area. Like let's say for example, you're in the snow....catalogue would be wearing all white so that your enemies cannot tell where you are"

Kit didn't mean for Lily to take off her clothes just yet. It wasn't necessary for the measurements and she was practiced enough to account for clothing when taking them. However when the girl removed her cloak, Kit saw the armada of knives that she had been hiding on her person.

"Liliane Anastasia Sisyphus!" she shouted. Everyone in the store would be able to hear her and they knew that tone of voice wasn't good. It was Kit's Mizukage-killing voice.

"What are those?" she pointed at the myriad of weapons on Lily's body. "What did I tell you young lady? No more than three knives on your person unless you are going on a mission! You cannot walk around like that as a genin"

Kitsuki knew she wasn't being entirely fair. Shinobi were supposed to be armed to the teeth and most people could get away with carrying as many knives as they wanted to. Lily was special though. She had a hard time pure the martial world from the civilian. Vandal was basically a town of  violence and Kit had noticed that the constant state of conflict had a deleterious effect on Lily's childhood. She obviously wasn't planning on transitioning her into civilian life but she wanted to at least de-militarize some parts of her psyche. That meant restoring the divide between "working time" (on-duty) and "civilian time" (off-duty).

"Please don't come into my store....or any store really....wearing that many weapons. Remove that at once." Kit didn't like to be mean or shout but she knew that as a teacher sometimes you had to be strict. It was why she had learned so well at her private school. Discipline flows through loving but strict instruction.

Lily wasn't sure if Kit-Kit was playing a prank on her, as she had clearly heard catalogue instead of camouflage as the Princess explained what she knew, or thought she knew. Words were, well not hard, more confusing then hard. Everyone had a different way of talking, and somehow Lily was expected to understand and switch to their way of speaking here instead of finding a middle ground like she did in Vandel. There, as long as you got your point across, it didn't matter how much gibberish you spoke. Sometimes words weren't even needed. But here they were needed, and somatic gestures were less used, probably because of ninja magic.

As she took of her cloak, she'd freeze in place as she heard her full name called out, partially because she was still unused to hearing the full name, and because it was not a good sign that it was a shout. The hairs on her skin stood up as a hand had already shifted to grab two knives from her fight or flight instincts kicked in. In a stroke of either luck, restraint, or clarity her brain caught up in time before she pulled it out of it's holder, but the hand stayed on the blades. Maybe later she'd congratulate herself on how she didn't immediately attack Kit-Kit when she shouted, but right now she wasn't anywhere near the mindset to do such a thing.

Lily would stay silent as the Angle Princess scolded her. It wasn't fair. Kitsuki knew that her knives were her comfort blanket, a way to relax her mind as danger could be around any corner. In fact it was baffeling, they were ninja, and ninja were hunted more then regular people. To not carry as many weapons as was reasonable to hide was foolish, absurd even. But Kitsuki was also in charge, and if she wanted to become the Pit Champion of Kiri she needed to follow the rules like she did in Vandel. She'd let out a pained "Not fair," but she wouldn't fight it. She'd take the cloak and walk it to the front (still clothed sans cloak as it was interrupted), out the door and set the cloak on the outside glass wall. She'd then pull out a pink notebook and matching pencil and write out a poorly written 'Lily's Stuff, do not touch' on it before walking back in.

When Lily grabbed a pair of knives, Kitsuki didn't move a muscle. She didn't want to physically discipline Lily but she would if she had to. She remained totally calm as the girl seized with fear. She understood that shouting could be a trigger for her and so she exercised patience. Lily released her fear and complied with Kitsuki's request. She left the room and went out to store her belongings elsewhere. The staff outside watched as Lily set out the knives in front of the store. They knew it wasn't appropriate but they opted to leave it alone for the time being. They could say it was part of a guerilla marketing campaign or something.

When Lily returned to Kitsuki, the Princess got down on one knee to try and explain to her ward why she was being so harsh with her.

"I know its not fair Lily.....but you just have to trust me on this. When you are strong and safe in here...." Kit would point to the center of Lily's chest indicating she meant the girl's "heart." "I'll let you use all the knives in this world and beyond..." Kit gave her a friendly smile hoping that she'd recognize the importance of the lesson she was being taught. Kit wasn't expecting much, so if all she could get was obedience for now then she'd take it.

Kit stood up and gestured to the large platform before them. She did her level best to turn the mood positive.

"Now please step right up to the platform Princess Lily so I can take your measurements"

Hopefully the intriguing nature of the elevation would district Lily from what she had lost. Once Lily had complied, Kit would stretch her arms out to the side of her like she was T-Posing.

"Now stand like this and hold still"

Despite the words of the Angle Princess, Lily didn't feel much better. Sure she logically knew Kit-Kit was trying to help her, but it wasn't fair. She had show time and time again that she was smart with any sort of tool, not just knives. Lily knew the problem. It wasn't because she couldn't handle more knives, it was that she couldn't relieve her stress by her preferred means. Crafting more weapons wasn't doing it for her anymore, she couldn't kill or nearly-kill people here, and she couldn't drink any more adult drinks like ale, sake, or beer. Even if those adult drinks tasted horrible and made her throw up, they helped her relax in a way that felt similar to pit fighting. And she was tempted to try and find some here  in Kiri if this kept up, though she'd probably just set the stuff on fire instead of drink it this time. Destruction of adult property like liquor was also relaxing.

As much as she wanted to be a pain in Kit-Kit's side for making lily leave her knives outside, she'd give a half-hearted smile back to Kit and comply to get onto the platform. Once she was on the platform and Kit asked her to T-pose, a devilish thought cam upon Lily as the reason for why she lost her knives was recalled: She was declothing so that Kitsuki could take her measurements, and Lily wasn't completely done with that yet. And for some reason people didn't like when she wasn't wearing clothes, but nice clothes measurements needed her to be undressed. Grinning from ear to ear she'd give a big nod to Kitsuki.

"Okay!"

The buckles were already loosened, so with a twirl she'd do a small spin and take off all of her clothes as she did so, the clothes flying off into the chair she had originally intended to put them on before finishing off with the desired T-pose. After all, how else was Kit-Kit going to make sure that the measurements were precise enough? Fashion magazines said outerwear, and, well any clothes qualified as 'outerwear' in Vandal. Sure she wasn't there, but the definition was there and she'd use what little power she had right now for her petty revenge.

Kitsuki was glad that Lily was complying with her request. Despite coming from a wretched hive of scum and villainy, she was an agreeable and intelligent little girl. Kit couldn't have asked for a better ward. Because she believed Lily to harbor no ill will with respect to her commands, she had let her guard down. It never occurred to her that Lily was plotting her revenge through the most obvious means available to her: malicious compliance.

Kit grabbed the measurement tape and was about to begin the process when she saw Lily remove all of her clothes with a twirl. The child was now standing before her totally naked and T-posing as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

"Lily! Lil-Ly No!" Kitsuki shouted as the last pieces of clothing came off. Kitsuki immediately shut her eyes and turned around. The chica didn't have anything that Kit herself did not possess but it was still totally inappropriate.

"I didn't mean all of your clothes Lily! Please put your undergarments back on!" Kit was now panicking. This was the last thing she needed. The tabloids writing about how Kit had underage girls posing in a backroom. They'd remove the context and write the most cartoonishly vile hit pieces and they'd do it knowing that if she reacted adversely, many would see that as proof of its veracity. Kitsuki kept her eyes closed and started awkwardly feeling around for Lily's clothes. She had no hope of finding and dressing the girl without looking, it wasn't an impossibility per se given her training, it was just too awkward for her to attempt.

Hopefully the Pit Princess would have mercy on her sensei and re-robe before someone walked into the backroom and saw her little prank.

Thud!

Kitsuki heard the sound of something heavy hitting the raised platform and she chanced a look to see if Lily was alright. She wasn't. The girl was unconcious and lying spread eagle naked on her platform. Oh god! Kitsuki cried out mentally as she immediately looked away. She wasn't sure why Lily was knocked out cold but her best guess was that it was a sudden plague attack. Either this was all some elaborate prank or she needed to get her ward to the hospital pronto. Given how serious the disease was, Kit decided not to take any chances.

She continued looking away as she inched over to Lily's fallen form.

"Hey Lily....are you okay?" Kit shook the girl but did not feel a response back. "Cmon wake up Lily...." she tried again and the same. As awkward as it was, she'd have no choice but to dress Lily without looking and take her to the hospital. If this was the Pit Princess's idea of a prank then she wasn't laughing. Kitsuki sighed and started the unwieldy task of dressing the kid without looking at her. This was the exact sort of situation she wanted to avoid and if one of her numerous political enemies saw what she was up to then they'd undoubtedly use this as blackmail against her. Fortunately, Kit was able to clothe Lily in short order. She then carried the child out of the store and to the nearest hospital.

[Exit]