The title comes from Carrie Underwood's song Something In The Water.
This is a tribute to one of my most favorite characters in the Naruto universe. Enjoy.
13 things about Yagura no one knows
1. His favored way of fighting is a mix of Taijutsu and Ninjutsu – however, his true talent lies in Genjutsu, which he frequently uses to confuse his enemies. Majority of Kiri looks up to him because of his power, and not all of them are fond of the intricate ways of a good Genjutsu. So he lets all of them think he is a Tai- and Bojutsu specialist. It's not his fault they got his sphere of skills wrong, and he sure won't try to correct them. One shouldn't show anyone their cards, after all, especially if they can catch their enemies off guard.
2. The reason he started learning bojutsu with his 'weird' staff before he even entered the Academy was to honor his mother: when he had destroyed her flowers, she had told him tales of the scary yokai Isonade who would grab him with his hooked tail and eat him whole. He swore to always remember her as he stood in front of her grave, trying to hold his tears in. (When, decades later, the Jyuubi was sucking him and Isobu in, Yagura remembered his mother's tales, and laughed.)
3. 'Water Mirror' had been a technique of his own creation: he had the firm belief that all done should be returned equally, and even if it did no harm, it would stagger the victim. After the Water release jutsu was completed, it had become his signature one, and he used it in combination with his Genjutsu more than one could imagine.
4. Yagura hated the colour of his eyes – everyone who had the guts to say it to his face, commented that it only accented his already effeminate face. (He had them personally tortured and then publicly executed for that offence alone.)
5. The scar on his face was received from the Three-Tails, just before he was sealed within the future Mizukage. It had hurt like hell and as it never healed up properly, they stitched it together to prevent his face from splitting open. (He wasn't fond of it, because that had been the last wound he had received before he became a doll on strings; but it was the mark of the last conscious decision he had made: to not evade the attack of Isobu and let the bijuu kill him.)
6. The sister of the Second Mizukage was his grandmother, and his father was an Uzumaki. Thankfully, Yagura had seemingly inherited the laid-back and cool personality of his mother's family. That was proven untrue during the numerous temper tantrums he was prone to throwing when someone made fun of his height or called him a child. His Uzumaki Legacy was not only that – the Jinchuuriki had the annoying habit of starting to hum an Uzumaki lullaby every time he was starting to get nervous or afraid. (During his final battle, after he had spoken with Uzumaki Naruto, Yagura closed his eyes and started to hum a soothing, familiar melody.)
7. His favorite food had been clams until Isobu was sealed within him; after that, he never, not even once, glanced at seafood.
8. His favorite ninja art, just below Genjutsu, was Fuuinjutsu – a few well-placed lines could capture a beast rumored to have the strength of a god, and Yagura was going to damn himself if he didn't manage to find out how his seal worked. It would not do, after all, if someone decided to mess with it without him noticing. (In the end, it didn't really matter.)
9. When he was seven, his father had carved him a flute out of a bamboo near their house, and taught him an Uzumaki traditional song about their free spirits. He had taken to bringing it with him, even when his father was long dead and, in his strenuous training he had forgotten the melody. (Uchiha Madara had entered the village and was fighting him – and when Yagura was on the ground, coughing up blood, the masked man had looked down, grazing at the instrument, his light voice mocking as he asked 'Well, well, and what is this? A memento from your long dead parents, maybe?' and crushed it mercilessly under his foot.)
10. He didn't have anything against Kekkei Genkai users, initially. He actually thought of them as cool, when he was a kid, and wanted to destroy the prejudice everyone had for them when he became the next Mizukage. (When he was five, his mother had been killed by a Hyoton user. He was never the same.)
11. His fuchsia-colored eyes helped him greatly when he used Genjutsu – it was considerably easier to trap someone into an illusion if they looked the caster in the eyes. Pink pupilless eyes could not be easily ignored, after all.
12. When he had met Uzumaki Naruto, there was a barely noticed pang of jealousy and regret – Yagura was already dead, and would never be able to properly acquaintance himself with his unique clansmember.
13. Yagura was actually twenty-two when he died, through it didn't seem that way. The Mizukage had been really annoyed when it turned out he had a rather annoying medical condition: he would never be able to normally grow up. The medic-nins had absolutely no idea how to call his condition, and only knew of Senju Tsunade, who used chakra to make herself appear younger. It was a possible defect in his chakra system, they said. Yagura had never really managed to come to terms with it, though, and was always irritated when someone joked about his child-like appearance.
