When the world came back, Tsume was pinned against the deck, a knee in the small of her back, one arm wrenched up.

"I swear to the fucking Buddha, bitch, if you so much as blink--"

"This won't do." The new voice cut across Hibiki as if he weren't even speaking. "There can't be witnesses to who has this weapon. We want a refund."

Gurou spoke, his voice still carefully modulated, still pleasant. "These aren't witnesses. They're practice. We delivered the weapon as you paid for, and two ninja to try it on. We couldn't use our own ninja, of course, and we didn't think you'd want to practice on your people."

Tsume growled and shifted. A knife--undoubtedly Asuma's trench knife--drew a line of blood at the nape of her neck. She stilled.

"Now," Gurou continued, "if you just place your fingertips on those seals--exactly--and think of this one here--"

There was a quickly indrawn breath. Tsume flinched, straining to see what was happening. The clawless fingers of her free hand scraped at the deck. She couldn't twist far enough to see Asuma. She began to gather chakra again, pooling it in her torso. She'd do something with it, even if that was only feed it into her muscles to give her the strength she needed.

"Good!" Gurou was saying. "You see, he can't see or hear a thing."

She could hear Asuma's breath. The wind was bringing his scent to her, going sweet and acidic with panic.

"Now let the seals go--perfect. If you like, we can put these two back in the hold and you can stand above and practice on them for a few hours."

"And when we're done?"

Tsume could almost hear the smile in Gurou's voice. "We'll kill them, don't worry."

"Play nice," Hibiki hissed in her ear, and hauled Tsume to her feet. His knife moved, licking around the front of her neck.

The evening breeze whisked across her body, chilling skin hot from the day's burn. She stared flatly at the small row of spectators. All men. From them, she could smell nothing, but several pairs of eyes lingered as they looked at her.

One of them spoke. From the sound of his voice, the same who'd spoken earlier. He held a scroll in his hands, a single rolled piece of parchment. "They been giving you trouble?"

"Mostly this one," Gurou laughed, shoving Asuma toward the grate again. Asuma threw his weight back, and Gurou, still smiling, smashed him sideways into the mast. Asuma staggered and went still, and Tsume--tensed to move--relaxed. She couldn't very well make a bid while Asuma was half unconscious. She glanced over him, relieved to see what held him still was an arm-lock and the whip wrapped around his throat, and not a debilitating injury. If his brains weren't scrambled...

She shifted her weight, preparing to stomp back on the toes she'd ripped off Hibiki. The knife tightened against her throat.

"Ah ah. Don't."

She smiled at him, all teeth.

Behind his bandages, his eyes narrowed.

"I don't really think we need both of them," the new man said.

Tsume's attention shifted. There was a tone she didn't like. He walked toward her, handing the weapon off to one of the two men who followed him. Her lip lifted, a growl sliding past the knife at her throat. When he got close enough she swiped with her free arm--

Only to have it caught by the man behind him.

Asuma's blade bit into her jaw, cutting past skin to press against the bone, tipping her chin up and baring her throat.

The buyer smelled like arousal. She scrambled, feet kicking back against Hibiki, only to have the knife dig deeper and her arm twist farther along her spine. Tendons strained. Blood slid down her neck. She went still.

"Could we use the weapon on just her?"

"No," Tsume whispered.

Gurou laughed. "Sure. Just touch the seal and think about--"

The world went dark. Tsume froze, feeling Hibiki, the other man's grip on her arm, the knife biting into her jaw.

Soft fingers trailed along her waist. The smell of lust grew. She thought she yelled, but couldn't tell.

She twisted. A hand buried in her hair, wrenching her head back. There wasn't enough room to kick. She might have said, No-- No--, but no sound reached her. Only the scent of too many bodies, the smell of arousal, and the touch of skin and cloth against her flesh.