-Prologue-
Remembrance
Present
A young figure walked along the corridors of the Mizukage building in the city of Kirigakure no Sato, steps brisk and yet unhurried while sharp magenta eyes focussed intently on the door at the end of the hallway. His steps were silent, a mere breath of sound coming from the rustle of his clothing against his staff that attached to the strap around his shoulder and waist. If it wouldn't have been for the sight of the young male himself, the ANBU operatives wouldn't have been aware of his existence.
He reached the door, the door opening immediately by one of the masked guards so he could walk through without having to ask. Although easily a foot shorter than the masked guards in the inside of the room, in which the young figure entered, he strode in with obvious importance and superiority, and the armoured security recognised his authority.
The room consisted of a black, tear shaped table, charcoal in colour, with twelve blue chairs surrounding it. All but one of the chairs were occupied, by various council members in the nation of Kirigakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Mist. The deep blue walls surrounded the people sitting in stony silence, the ceilings tall and open and shrouded in shadows due to the lack of a concrete light source. The single light sat at the centre of the table, a paper lantern giving a light aquamarine glow on the faces of the occupants.
The young figure sat down at the ball of the teardrop table, the point of the table on the opposite side of the room as him. The sharp tip of the teardrop faced the doorway out of the room, and six by six sat on either side, faces turned towards his own with the same expressionless features.
He laced his fingers together upon the cool, shiny surface of the table and said softly, "I declare this meeting in session." His voice, a light and wispy sound, echoed in the room regardless of the lack of volume in it. The others present would've heard it no matter the cost, mostly because most shinobi had superb hearing and the mere fact that if they asked him to repeat himself, they would promptly die. He continued after a small pause, magenta eyes glancing at all of the attendees present, his voice just as soft as before, "On the matter of the Akatsuki, does anyone have any intel of this group?"
The man on the young figure's left farthest down on the table straightened up in his chair. Large man, with large teeth and large eyes and a large everything, down to the size of his fingernails and the cord of his seaweed green hair. The man, named Takeo Joji, was the head of intel for the entire country. He had many connections within governments abroad and even some criminal organisations, excluding the newly formed Akatsuki. However, due to his mission to find out as much about Hoshigaki Kisame as possible, he was gathering information on the shady group due to the missing-nin's involvement. He spoke in a very deep voice, "They're doing freelance work in the countries, mostly shadowed assassinations and terrorist plotting. My connections don't exactly know what the Akatsuki is up to in the long run, we do know that they are heaping up bounty heads, selling the bodies and getting large sums of money for the deceased persons. However, after the disappearance of the jinchūriki of the Village Hidden in the Waterfall, and the Akatsuki's supposed involvement in the capture, it is safe to assume that they might be after the bijū, Mizukage-sama."
The young figure, also known as the Mizukage and the most powerful shinobi in the entire Mist Country, straightened to his full fifty-five centimetres and said in the same wispy tone, "Should we do anything about our own jinchūriki to make sure that nothing can harm us?" Only eleven sitting around the table barely flinched, knowing full well that the two carriers of the immense chakra monsters that Kirigakure had in possession were currently in this very room. One was at the farthest of the table, one that didn't shiver at the thought of the bijū, twirling a little bubble-producing instrument with his long, spidery fingers. His black eyes didn't look up, opting instead to watch his own movements with curiosity, as if slightly amazed that it was happening. But regardless, he spoke in an odd, slightly dreamy voice, "I don't believe that an organisation can take down one of us." The Seven-Tailed host was a relatively new jinchūriki, having carried the bijū for only twelve years to Yagura's possession since birth, and wasn't in the best of control of the beast. Therefore, he was very overconfident in his ability and could very well result in capture if his attitude didn't change. "Yagura-kun and I have been in possession of these bijū for many years and will not be taken lightly."
"Show some respect, Utakata!" hissed the woman to his side, a beautiful woman with deep mahogany hair, half of it pulled up in a top bun and wrapped in a blue ribbon. Her jade eyes were framed with long, dark lashes, and her long, tanned face were accented by her full red lips. The woman's name was Nyoko Takara, one of the young figure's most trusted mercenaries. She was also the woman that he had chosen as his successor if he somehow ended up dead or unable to make logical decisions.
The Six-Tailed jinchūriki named Utakata just raised his little brown reed and blew a stream of bubbles out the tip, his eyes wide and completely involved in his act. Takara rolled her own eyes and huffed, laying one hand on her forehead in exasperation. But regardless, she was very close to that jinchūriki, and didn't reprimand him further or too much harshly.
Yagura focussed his magenta eyes on Joji and said softly, "I would have to agree with Utakata-san. Extra security, maybe, on him, just to make sure that nothing out of the ordinary happens, and it's nearly impossible to get near me let alone get past all of my own ANBU."
There was some more arguing about that one, especially about Utakata's irresponsibility in the field and the need to keep him out of the outside missions, and that was agreed upon by most, even Utakata himself. It wasn't a huge secret that the Rokubi no Namekuji would rather lounge around and practise his bubble jutsu than be out potentially dying outside the village. It was a huge difference from the other jinchūriki of Kirigakure, Yagura himself, for he would've loved to been out in the field and doing as many S-ranked missions that he could get his hands on, but he had a duty to be the Mizukage, and he would provide that service until he decided that he had had enough of the position.
Joji spoke up again after a relatively quiet period, and his deep voice rang in the room loudly, "And the information on Gatoh is becoming overwhelming. Tazuna the bridge builder needs proper protection if we're going to throw off Gatoh's corporation, but I've received intel that points to Tazuna hiring shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Leaves for protection. I think that it might be satisfactory to provide our own assistance, to show that the government is willing to help our own country. Besides, it would be of great gain to us if we could investigate the matter of Momochi Zabuza, who is rumoured to be working under the Corporation that Gatoh controls."
"Any information on the shinobi that were hired?" the Yondaime Mizukage asked, slightly bored with the proceedings. It was a new lead on what was going on in this country, but nothing that Yagura didn't expect to happen anyway. But Joji's next words were what really caught the magenta eyed leader's attention. "It's a four-man cell. The Jônin in charge is quite the famous face, I've heard, for it seems that Hatake Kakashi is the leader of the Genin team." A collective murmur of surprise and interest rumbled in the room, and Yagura's slender eyebrow raised. But Joji continued, "The names of a kunoichi and one of the shinobi are unknown accompanies him, but the other male Genin is a very well-known name, even in this country. He is the Kyuubi no Yōku, Uzumaki Naruto."
"The Konohagakure jinchūriki? This is an interesting development," mused Takara absently, her mind jumping with internal possibilities and her thoughts completely in outer space. Utakata blew more bubbles, unconcerned. He didn't care much for anything but amusing himself, and so nothing really cracked into his shell.
However, Yagura was very intrigued in the whole situation.
The jinchūriki, Uzumaki Naruto, was immensely interesting to the Yondaime Mizukage. The Kyuubi was the more powerful of the bijū, and in theory more difficult to control. As most containers quickly found out, they were discriminated against and feared due to the nature of the chakra monsters. Yagura was very interested in meeting the child, to know what he had become under the pressure of hate and distrust. And he was curious about the demon itself, but that was another story. It was in his nature to wonder about a distant relative to the Sanbi currently sealed in Yagura's stomach.
As for the Jônin leader, the Mizukage could safely say that he was vaguely nervous about the silver haired man's appearance in the country. It had been a long time since they had last met: back before he was the Yondaime and the leader of his village, before the creation of the Akatsuki, before Hoshigaki Kisame had went rogue and tried to assassinate Yagura for power, before the Seven Swordsman of the Hidden Mist had disbanded and were still united, before Uchiha Itachi had killed his Clan, before the peace treaty between Kirigakure and Konohagakure had been issued, and before Yagura had been hardened and sobered by what the past held.
Yes, Yagura remembered Hatake Kakashi. Even if sometimes it was too painful to remember.