"Something's really been confusing me today…" Tia said as she leapt through trees alongside Suigetsu and Chojuro - with Jugo, Tenten, and Killer B just behind them - on their way to the Hidden Mist Village.
"What's on your mind, Tia-san?" Chojuro asked.
"It's Hozuki's group! Travelling with a Leaf ninja, a Cloud ninja, and a Sage? What's going on with you guys?"
"Let me explain." Jugo interjected, picking up his pace to jump with the Mist ninja. "Tenten, Killer B and I are on a quest to visit every Senjutsu School in the world. It's my dream… Anyway, I learned a month ago that a Shark Senjutsu School exists, and that Samehada is an outlet to achieve Shark Sage Mode. We thought that by checking the Hidden Mist's records and figuring out how you acquired Samehada in the first place, we could trace its place of creation from there, and that will lead us to the Shark Senjutsu School. Since Suigetsu was coming here to battle Chojuro, we decided to stick together for the time being."
"Does that explanation satisfy you, Tia?" Suigetsu asked.
"I guess. But I'm not sure how much help we can be. All records pertaining to Samehada disappeared at least nine years ago, before Lady Mei took office at the very latest."
"You're no stranger to what happened then, Suigetsu-kun." Chojuro grimly remarked.
"Yeah, I know. Kisame defected and took Samehada with him, Big Bro was sent to take it back… and Nashiken killed him during their duel… Oh! That might be it!"
"What are you thinking, Suigetsu?" Jugo asked.
"You weren't there when it happened, Jugo, but Sasuke told Karin and me lots of stuff about Akatsuki in a story he called Rise and Fall of the Moon Eye Plan. The important thing is that in between the Nine-Tails Attack on the Hidden Leaf and Kisame Hoshigaki's defection, the Fourth Mizukage was being brainwashed by Akatsuki's mastermind, Obito Uchiha."
"So our hypothesis was correct after all…" said Chojuro. At the same time, Tia's jaw dropped.
"But get this!" Suigetsu continued. "Kisame knew about this before he even defected! Obito approached him about joining Akatsuki right after he killed Fuguki Suikazan for selling village secrets and took Samehada for himself, while he was still loyal to the village! And what's more is that Kisame was told about the Moon Eye Plan. He was the only member of Akatsuki without a position of leadership that was let in on the plan, even!"
"But that doesn't make any sense!" Tia objected. "It was Kisame who murdered Lord Fourth. That very crime pushed Kisame's bounty into S-Class territory! And we all know that Lord Fourth was the Three-Tails' Jinchuriki; a member of Akatsuki would have taken him alive instead! He couldn't have joined up until after that, right?"
"That might have been the whole point." Jugo said. "Killing a Jinchuriki deflects suspicion away from Kisame knowing all along, which in turn removes evidence that Obito was behind the Fourth Mizukage. Obito would just wait until Isobu was revived to collect him for the plan."
"Meanwhile, Obito gets Kisame to destroy his puppet, Lord Fourth." Chojuro inferred, "Leaving our hypothesis that he was under mind control conveniently unverifiable…"
"I was thinking that maybe something in Samehada's history had evidence against Obito and Kisame and they opted to get rid of it." Suigetsu explained. "The timing can't be coincidence."
Chojuro sighed with relief. "Thanks for all your help, Suigetsu-kun."
"Yeah… It's a real breath of fresh air knowing for sure that someone else was behind the worst part of the Bloody Mist Era." Tia added.
"But we're still at a loss as to how the village acquired Samehada…" said Jugo.
"We can worry about that more when we get there, Jugo!" Suigetsu shouted as he picked up the pace, prompting the others to speed up just to keep up with him. "Right now we've got to focus on getting to the village. I'm dying to see how the place has changed since I left!"
[X-X-X]
Suigetsu, Chojuro, and the others arrived in the Hidden Mist Village the following morning. The group of six was heading for the Mizukage's office, but along the way Suigetsu noticed a pole on the side of a street they were running down and he stopped and looked up, to most of the group's confusion and to Tia slamming into his back by accident.
"What made you stop so suddenly, Hozuki?!" Tia vehemently asked as she stood back up.
"Sorry about that… There's something I have to do."
Suigetsu promptly ran for the pole, then up the pole, until he was finally standing at the very top, looking at the entire village at once.
"I get it…" Jugo remarked, watching Suigetsu from below. "This is just like when Sasuke came back to the Leaf during the war. This is the first time Suigetsu's set foot in the village in nine years… He has to give himself time to reminisce and confirm his resolve."
"This place… I can hardly recognize it!"
At that moment, Suigetsu's eyes lit and he pointed to a building under him and a little ways to the right:
"Oh… That's our house! And that," he pointed to a field a little further away, "is where we trained together! … Big Bro…"
Suigetsu remained silent for a few seconds, but eventually he resolutely nodded to himself and ran back down to the others. "I've decided! For better or for worse, I'm going to win the whole damn thing!"
Tenten raised an eyebrow. "Or worse?"
"Well, yeah. I might have been pardoned for my crimes, but I'm still a Rogue. I'm sure a lot of the villagers wouldn't be too happy if a traitor ended up winning. The crowd's going to boo me, and I'm prepared to win anyway."
"By that logic, they'd rather you win than us." Tenten remarked, pointing to herself and Jugo. "The Hidden Mist is still your home; we're total outsiders!"
"Whatever!" Tia interjected. "Right now we need to get to Lady Mei and register. Time runs out at noon today!"
"Right. Lead the way to the Mizukage's office."
By Suigetsu's suggestion, the group continued to the Mizukage's office following Tia's and Chojuro's lead. When they arrived there, Suigetsu saw the Fifth Mizukage for the first time since the war sitting at her desk, and behind her stood a young man wearing the standard Hidden Mist uniform with wavy white hair and the same green eyes as the Mizukage.
"Chojuro! Tia! Welcome back!" said Mei.
It was then that she noticed Hiramekarei still at Chojuro's back. "And you won your duel with Suigetsu-kun, too… I'm so proud of you, Chojuro!"
"Actually…"
"Actually, I won our battle! I just let Chojuro keep Hiramekarei because I want a different sword!"
After Suigetsu interrupted Chojuro, he made his way past Chojuro and Tia and slammed his hands on the Mizukage's desk. "Sign me up for this tournament! Kiba's going to be mine!"
Mei froze as she stared at Suigetsu's face during his rant.
"What's up with you, Mizukage? I don't have Ice Style in my veins, so what gives?!"
Suddenly, Mei's cheeks turned red:
"Oh my… You've grown up so much, Suigetsu-kun… You're just as handsome as Mangetsu was…"
Suigetsu stepped back, unnerved. "The hell? You're asking kids out? Between your position as Mizukage and that smokin' body I thought you'd have gotten -"
"That's enough!"
In a panic, Chojuro quickly placed his hand over Suigetsu's mouth. Then he turned to whisper into Suigetsu's ear:
"Lady Mizukage is… sensitive."
"No, by all means…" Mei replied with a smile, which quickly turned upside down as she continued, "… let him finish."
Upon Mei's orders, however reluctantly, Chojuro released his hold on Suigetsu and stood aside. Suigetsu, meanwhile, gave the Mizukage a distressed salute:
"Forget what I said, Mam! Just here for business!"
There's only one woman I want being violent with me… Suigetsu thought.
The Mizukage smiled once again. "Good! You want to enter the Strongest Under the Mist ninjutsu tournament? Alright. Yuri, you know what to do!"
"Yes, Lady Mei!"
After replying, the man in the back pulled out a paper from a stack next to him and gave it to Suigetsu along with a pen. "Fill this application form out." He told the homecoming rogue.
"Could you also give two of these to Jugo and Tenten? They wanted to compete with me, and unlike Killer B over there, they don't have Swords of the Mist already."
"What do you think about Suigetsu-kun's proposal, Lady Mizukage?" Chojuro asked.
"Hmm… Bring them in here."
Jugo and Tenten stepped into the room for the Mizukage to see. She stared at Jugo for a brief second before sighing and nodding:
Acceptable.
"Very well. It couldn't hurt too much including you, and Tenten's inclusion would contribute to fostering our relations with the Hidden Leaf… Yuri, give them forms too."
Yuri nodded in response to Mei's words and passed two more application forms to Jugo and Tenten. Suigetsu quickly filled his registration form in and proceeded to give the pen to Jugo, who filled it in next, and finally Tenten filled out hers, and once she was finished she passed the pen back to Yuri while all three laid their registration forms on the Mizukage's desk.
"Thank you, Suigetsu-kun, Jugo of the Scales, Tenten." Mei said as she picked up the registration forms and began reading them over. "Chojuro, resume your post and invite Lord B in. Tia, Yuri, see the three of them out. You can't be involved in any further preparations, so you're dismissed."
Tia and Yuri bowed in unison. "Yes, Lady Mei!" they said. Then they promptly led Suigetsu, Jugo, and Tenten out the door and the office. Meanwhile, Chojuro was seeing Killer B in as they walked off.
[X-X-X]
Once Suigetsu's group was outside the Mizukage's office building and back in the streets of the Hidden Mist Village, they resumed talking.
"So who are you, Yuri?" Jugo asked.
"Ah, I haven't introduced myself, have I? My name is Yuri Joki. My father is Lady Mei's mother's younger brother. That is to say, I'm Lady Mei's maternal cousin and have the Boil Style Kekkei Genkai."
"Yuri and I have known each other our whole lives because we're both related to Lady Mei." Tia added.
"Hey, why did the Mizukage kick you two out of preparations?" Suigetsu thought aloud.
"Because we're competing." Tia and Yuri said at once.
Suigetsu, Jugo, and Tenten's jaws dropped.
"Keeping the structure of the tournament a secret from the competitors, I take it?" Tenten remarked.
"Pretty much." said Yuri. "All we know is the location of the first round."
Jugo tilted his head in confusion. "And where is that first round?"
"Bamboo Blade Battlefield." said Tia.
"You know where that is, Suigetsu?" Jugo asked.
"Never heard of it. Big Bro and I trained at Bloody Blade Battlefield, but a place called Bamboo Blade Battlefield is news to me."
"They're the same place, actually." Yuri clarified. "After Lady Mei took over, she changed the name to dissociate the village from the Bloody Mist Era."
Suigetsu stroked his chin. "That makes sense, I guess…"
"The first round starts at 8:00 AM tomorrow morning." Tia said. "We can help you find a place to stay the night until then."
"Don't bother! We can just stay at my old place! I want to check it out and spend the night there! Jugo, Tenten, we can have a sleepover!"
"Sorry, but there's a problem with that." Yuri sombrely objected. "It's kind of hard to say this, but since Mangetsu-san died and you defected, the house was vacant… and someone moved in."
"What?!"
Suigetsu started shivering. "It has been nine years… I guess I should have expected this… Ah, whatever. I'm still going to check things out for old time's sake. Maybe we can even convince the new resident to let us stay… Let's go, guys."
And so Suigetsu left Tia and Yuri, depressed as he nonetheless led Jugo and Tenten to his old house, where he desolately knocked on the front door.
After several knocks, someone opened the door and showed themselves. They were a boy with shoulder-length spiky black hair, sullen brown eyes, and a fairly disheveled outfit; even though Suigetsu was now the one without a home, it seemed as though this boy was the one who didn't belong.
"What do you want?" the boy asked, keeping his eyes down and away from Suigetsu's.
"I'd like for me and my friends to room with you for the time being, if it's not too much to ask. I lived here before you came in, and we need a place to stay for the duration of the tournament."
The boy bit his lip in apprehension. "So you're competing too…"
"Wait… you're going to compete? But you're so young and small… fresh out of the Academy, if I had to guess."
"I know I probably won't make it, but there's a reason I have to compete. Did you know that Lady Mizukage is going to grant the winner one wish?"
"This is the first I've heard about it. I'm just in it for the Kiba anyway."
"It can be anything within Lady Mizukage's power to grant, except for more Swords of the Mist and the title of Mizukage. I have a wish I desperately need to come true… That's why I have to compete."
Suigetsu kneeled down to look the boy in the eye. "What wish would that be? Maybe we can help you with it."
The boy turned his back on Suigetsu. "My wish… is revenge."
"Revenge? What do you mean by that?" Suigetsu asked as his voice hardened.
"My father was murdered, and the people that killed him haven't paid for it. If I win, then I'm going to ask Lady Mizukage to imprison the killers for life and make them think about what they did."
At the proclamation, Suigetsu laughed:
"You're a kinder soul than I am, that's for sure! If I was in your shoes I'd probably ask the Mizukage to assassinate the killers instead! … You know what? I'll help you. If I win, then I'll use my wish for your sake and get the people that killed your father to answer for their crimes. How does that sound?"
"Thank you…"
The boy turned back around to face Suigetsu with a smile and a single tear falling from his left eye.
"We'll help you too!" Tenten added from behind Suigetsu. "Four participants with the same wish are much better than one!"
"Then please come in…" The boy greeted as he stepped aside, giving room for Suigetsu, Tenten, and Jugo to enter.
"So what's your name, kid?" Tenten asked.
"My name is… Gekido. Please stay here while I go upstairs and get your beds ready."
And so Gekido hurried upstairs and out of sight.
"Gekido looked so sad." Jugo said.
"But we'll be able to save him, won't we?" Suigetsu asked as he looked around his old house. "I'm usually the bad guy, but just this once, I really feel like playing the hero. I know the pain he must be feeling… I'd do anything to ease that kid's suffering."
"Wow." Tenten remarked. "That actually sounded somewhat cool."
Suigetsu chuckled. "This time, Sasuke won't be around to steal the spotlight either."
Just then, Gekido came walking back down the stairs and motioned for them to follow him up. After the group surveyed their beds and Suigetsu fondly remembered the whole house, the four of them played together, ate together, and after Gekido set his alarm clock for 7:00 AM to give them an hour to reach Bamboo Blade Battlefield on time, the four of them finally went to sleep.
Suigetsu, Jugo, and Tenten all woke up to the sound of the alarm, but they found that Gekido was still asleep. Suigetsu instinctively stood over top his bed side and sharply poked Gekido in the forehead. Gekido woke up in a panic, but soon relaxed himself when he saw Suigetsu's smile looming over him:
"Come on, Gekido. It's time we made your wish come true."
And with that, Suigetsu led Jugo, Tenten, and Gekido out of what used to be his home, and toward Bamboo Blade Battlefield.
The Strongest Under the Mist tournament was about to begin.
(A/N): Welcome back! I have to explain this at some point, and here might be the best spot to do it. Anyway, yes, this follows Suigetsu after the events of Hawk's Final Hunt. This story will be much shorter than HFH, though. I also have stories like this starring Karin and Jugo planned, but by no means do you have to read this one before them. I just happened to write it first, so I'm re-uploading it first. Then Karin's story will come since I've also finished it, and Jugo's after that since It's not quite finished it yet. But these three sequel stories are designed so you can read them in any order after HFH. With that out of the way, I hope you continue to enjoy Champion of the Fang and maybe leave a review here before the tournament really gets going.