Civilian!Diplomat!Reader is in Uzu on business
You've heard a lot about Uzushiogakure, that a group of Leaf Ninja threatened to defect and were made to restore the home of the Uzumaki clan (you'll never know, but that's not how it happened).
In any case, you are greeted by a pair of cheerful girls in colourful yukatas (you'd never guess they were kunoichi, used to being driven through hell to reach their goals) who direct you to where you need to go. The Citadel, a stone building with huge windows, looms over the street, and once you enter, you are again cheerfully greeted by several people, only two of which are sitting at desks and sorting paper.
You obtain the necessary paperwork, as a diplomat, for a stay in Uzushiogakure. Though you can't help but frown when a silver sashed man informs you
"You need to have a preliminary audience with one of the Betas, of course." A girl with a bronze sash tied over her green komon butts in
"Better hope you meet with Gekkou's Bitch, or better yet, the Yuuhi Bitch." A silver sashed woman tuts
"And that you meet with the Alpha Bitch. The males have been in a mood." You thank them for the unlooked-for advice, grinding your teeth at how liberally the word 'bitch' is used. A little later, you pick up a copy of The Shinobi Villages Survival Guide: Uzushiogakure edition. It reveals that 'Bitch' is a compliment, jonin are Betas, chunin are gammas, and genin omegas.
The Alpha pair consists of Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Amaya, with a sidenote: Do not insult the rest of the Alpha Pack, that will result in you being gone before you can blink.
A list of photographs and names follows, and it includes ranks. Frighteningly, there are six men with the title of Senior Beta, and two women. Shaking your head, you stride down the hallway to the room you were told to go to, where a Beta is waiting to assess you before your appointment with one of the Alphas.
There are three Betas seated on carved wooden chairs in the conference room of the Citadel. One is a woman with a purple mane, clear eyes locking on you as red lips purse. Doubtlessly Uzuki Yugao, the younger but more senior of the Beta females. The one in center is a plain faced man, black irises cast to the window, probably Yamato Tenzou, second highest ranked Beta male after the Second, Uchiha Obito. Third is Uchiha Shisui, dark curls falling over the black seal on his forehead. Each wears a complex golden sash denoting their seniority and allegiance to the Alpha.
(One of the many things you'll never know about Uzushio is the swordsman at your back, hidden in a cleverly placed shadow, ready to strike if you threaten one of his packmates)
Your meeting with Yamato Tenzou, captain of the city guard (the Ayakashi, who are ANBU in any other hidden village) goes as well as can be hoped. Even with a frowning Shisui examining the room constantly (one of the Hyuuga stationed within the Citadel has already scanned you for weapons, did you know?) and Yugao sprawled like a hunting cat at rest, Yamato's grave pronouncement that you will be added to the list of visitors happens anyway.
You go on your way, booking your room at the wonderful inn (visiting shinobi are hosted by one of the Alpha pack, but you'll never know, civilian that you are), and grabbing a map of Uzushio. Once your luggage is settled and you have eaten, you make your way to the Pavilion.
The Pavilion is a white marble marvel, with four arched pillars and a higher-than-usual dais. Most of the dais has names inscribed on it, so you assume it is a monument and the meeting will be conducted in front of it. It is a shock, when the Alpha Pair arrives with their entourage (Team Seven, Hayate, Shikamaru and Shino) and a pair of cushions are tossed on top of the of the carved dais, and the Alpha Pair hops up and seats themselves.
You stumble through the rest of the meeting, consulting your Uzu edition survival guide after, horrified to find that the Alpha Pair always conducts business atop the Scroll of the Dead, not, as you had assumed, an actual scroll, but a slab of stone with the name of every person who had died for Uzushio right from the founding of the village.
According to the guidebook, there are two other Scrolls of the Dead, one in the Citadel (the conference room wall where you had been earlier, called the Temple), the other on the wall of the Archives.
(A bone deep ache you'll never know healed a little, in Kushina, when Kakashi declared Uzu would never let their fallen be forgotten, even those from the founding)
Your time in Uzushio goes well, all told. You attend several more meetings with the Alpha pair, several members of the Alpha pack always in attendance. Slowly, you learn to identify the on duty nin, off duty nin and civilians from each other. Civilian spouses, though rare, and young children (far less rare) of the Uzu nin tend to wear browbands and chokers and bracelets with the Whirlpool emblem on them, whereas on duty nin tended toward hitai-ates and forehead seals. Off duty kunoichi wore flowing yukatas, komons and kimonos (even the scary Yugao), but being on duty meant sleeveless black shirt, nin-pants and long sandals. The men usually just threw a haori over their gear.
Your second-to-last night in Uzu in spent attending a festival. The Sky Pavilion (the flat, gated rooftop of the Citadel) is lit with braziers, there is food and dancing and music, and you can see the ocean sparkling beyond Uzu in the torchlight as the last of the sun fades.
But when it is time to pack and go, you truly don't mind. Uzushiogakure is a lovely place to visit, but for someone who is not inherently a warrior, who does not have a child or grandchild dedicated to protecting this place, it feels like a true demon nest when you are here too long.
(If you look back, could see the ninja of Uzushiogakure gather in the training fields and walk the walls, you wouldn't see the protectiveness of these men and women, you would only see the bloody death so many others see, but that's okay, they are Uzushio, they are the unending Whirlpool)
