Disclaimer: This is a fan written work based on the works of J.K. Rowling. Also features Naruto which is owned by Kishimoto. It might possibly also have some elements of a number of other works. There is no money being made from this, it is merely a work meant for the entertainment of myself and the masses. This is merely for fun, and no profit. I repeat: I am not making any money out of writing this.
Warning: OCs OOCs Sues, and some crack. You have been warned.
Note 1: AU.
POWER
chapter twenty-six
Refugees of untold numbers had been arriving in places that still remained untouched by war. One such place was Mori no Kuni, which was protected by the being locals called Yuurei no Mori, or the other way around. None that had ill intentions for the residents of the land were permitted to leave alive, or enter for that matter. Also the only soldiers that could enter the country were the soldiers of the land, none from the other nations were permitted entrance, each that tried, those with good intentions, mysteriously found themselves back within the borders of their own countries, unharmed, but away from Mori no Kuni.
While Yuurei no Mori no longer accepted students, or lost persons into his hidden home, he still helped by providing supplies for the newly arrived refugees. He was the undisputed and unofficial ruler of Mori no Kuni, the Daimyo himself waited for signs from him before making major decisions. One such decision being which country to send aid to, Tsuchi no Kuni or Kaze no Kuni, which were the two superpowers that were on either side of its borders. A perilous decision, they were being pressured by either country to take a side, to take a stand, and the Daimyo needed a decision to be made.
The sign for this particular decision was in the form of a man, Ryoku had finally decided that it was time to leave his hideaway once again, and venture forth into the outside world, leaving automatic magics in place to continue his work as the Yuurei no Mori, the one providing protection for the inhabitants of Mori no Kuni, the overkill protections would shut down when the war would be over.
"Kaze no Kuni needs it more than Tsuchi no Kuni," Ryoku said appearing in the study of the Lord of the land.
"Who are you? How did you get in here? Guards!" the Daimyo shouted and demanded and called.
"None shall come," Ryoku stated, "I have made sure that no sound escapes this room."
"What do you want with me?"
"I want nothing more than to inform you personally and no longer through signs, that Kaze no Kuni should be your choice," Ryoku said, "And even if you shout yourself hoarse, they will not come, and even should someone enter the room, they will not see me, for I am only visible to you."
"Prove it," the Daimyo demanded, "I have told no one of the signs I have seen, prove that you were the one to send the signs."
"Concerning the trade treaty with Mizu no Kuni, I sent a clouds in the shapes of a pod of whales, to show you that the treaty should be approved, it was the same sign I showed your grandfather," Ryoku stated, "The significance being that Murasaki Kujira was the Daimyo that had planned on having a treaty with Mori no Kuni."
"Then you really are him," the Daimyo said, "What purpose have you come here, aside from the side Mori no Kuni is to take in the present conflict."
"I have come to tell you that while something will remain the same, it is time for me to leave," Ryoku informed him, "I go to Mizu no Kuni, but worry not, Mori no Kuni will continue to be safe, I have made sure of it. Supplies will still mysteriously appear, and the like will still continue to occur."
"Is that all? Why did you find the need to tell me of this?"
"For you are the end of your mother's clan's line," Ryoku said, "The last direct descendant, of my last pupil as the Yuurei no Mori. It was that pupil that convinced me to stop aiding the world as I used to, and now I am here to inform you that I will stop aiding you, as you have grown far too dependant on me. Make your own decisions, and stop questioning yourself when you make decisions of your own."
"I...I will, Yuurei-sama."
"As I have never introduced myself, I shall tell you my name," Ryoku said, "I am Ryoku. For now, I bid you farewell."
#
"We shall wait, he will arrive, and come to guide us as he did when he founded the village all those years ago," Hoshigaki Ginrei stated confidently.
"How can you be so confident, Ginrei-sama?" Okasaka Omoi asked the representative of the Hoshigaki in the village council.
"The Hat has disappeared, and the sword is stuck in the floor of the council conference room once more," Ginrei said, "I personally placed the Hat on the Kage's desk in the Kage's office, in the Kage's tower, and watched alongside ten witnesses as it vanished. He said he would return to take up the position of Kage, and so he shall."
"But how are you so confident?" Omoi asked, "I mean, for all we know the disappearance of the Hat could be attributed to his having finally died!"
"Now," a new voice spoke from behind the two old men, "If I knew that I would be dead at this time, I wouldn't have wasted that request, now would I?"
"Gah!" the two men shout out and get into defensive positions as Anbu flood the room.
"Who are you?" Omoi demands, while the Anbu unsheathe their blades just in case.
"Relax," Ginrei said, "I feel the link, Ryoku-sama, it is good to have you back."
"It is good to be back," Ryoku said, "How long has it been since the Sandaime passed away?"
"A week and a day," Ginrei informed him, "I presume you have the Hat."
"I do," Ryoku said as he laid it on his head, "Ah, Mejin really did take good care of it."
"The blade is where you left it," Ginrei said, "But I have a feeling you will not be claiming it."
"I do not need an inferior blade," Ryoku said, "It is a good thing that I was able to leave precautions in place against Uchihas wanting to gain power in this land, else I would have asked 'how long since he disappeared'."
"An Uchiha did come, and try to take the place of our beloved Sandaime, it was through his guidance that we were able to stay out of the present conflict for so long," Ginrei said, "Now that you are here, maybe we should present you to the people, there are always those that have been waiting for the Yondaime to be announced to them."
"Let's get this over with," Ryoku said, "I'm sure the Sandaime left me some paperwork to accomplish."
"Ah, heheh..yes, there definitely is that," Ginrei said, and lead Ryoku to where the announcement would be made.
Ginrei lead Ryoku to the roof of the Mizukage Tower, which was where such announcements were made. There really were people milling about on the street below in front of the tower, they were waiting for the arrival of the one that was to be their Yondaime, a living legend. Before Ryoku arrived the people that had actually decided to camp there, noticed that the Hoshigaki clan had arrived en masse. The entire clan was there, from the youngest members to the oldest, the only one missing was the council member Ginrei.
"Why's your whole family here?" one man asked a Hoshigaki clansman.
"He is here, the Yondaime Mizukage has arrived," the Hoshigaki clansman replied.
"How can you be so sure?" the man asked the clansman.
"We Hoshigaki had a connection to the legendary man himself, a pact made between the clan through Hoshigaki Hibari with the Yondaime Mizukage well before the founding of the village itself," the clansman replied.
It was at that time that Ginrei appeared for all to see, walking behind him was a Ryoku, who looked to not have aged a day over fifty wearing the uniform of the Mizukage, minus the Hat. The people on the ground only looked up once they noticed that the Hoshigaki were looking up, even the newborns. They really did have a connection with the Yondaime Mizukage. But the first person the people saw was Ginrei, and grew a little depressed, and thought that the Hoshigaki were liars, but that train of thought ended as soon as they saw Ryoku standing in front of the village elder and councilman.
He stood proud, he stood tall, his gaze washing over the people on the ground below, and even those on the rooftops who tried to get a better look at him. He wore the robes of his position, the only thing missing was the Hat, the hat that all of Kiri had at one point in time had witnessed being used to send a wave close to a tsunami in size toward the coast of Kaminari no Kuni to stop an invasion attempt before it was even able to leave their docks. It was just as famous as the Shodaime's Oyster Big Bang Bomb which could send just as big waves, but in all directions unlike the hat that only sent waves in one direction.
"I present to you Ryoku-sama, your Yondaime Mizukage!" Ginrei shouted for all to hear, his chakra amplifying his voice for it to be heard throughout the whole of the village.
Ryoku then walked up to the rails, his hands hidden beneath his robes, he gazed upon his people once more, an emotionless mask covering his face.
"How can he be the Mizukage? He's got the robe, but what of the Hat?" one civilian asked aloud.
As if hearing the question, Ryoku reached out a hand, and pointed a finger at opposite horizon as if signalling something. The sentries patrolling the walls, and guarding the gates into the village were astonished at what they witnessed at that instant. The mists that surrounded the village began to swirl, and condense into forms a great many creatures, from simple fish to the most intricate of dragons. These creatures of the mists then poured over the walls of the village, entered the gates, but even as the outer limits of the village were covered in mists, the mists that hid away the village seemed to grow even thicker, and in some places hotter like steam. From this steam more forms began to form, humanoid forms, then human forms, from children to elders, and some even resembled people long thought gone, and others that truly were. These too entered the village. The mists all converging in the palm of Ryoku's hand.
It was an amazing sight, one which most could not comprehend why it was happening, there was no chakra used to manipulate the mists, there weren't any visible hand signs, nothing. It just seemed to happen. The question from that random civilian served as a trigger for Ryoku's and the mists' actions.
They swirled around Ryoku, growing in density, until he, along with the tower, was no longer visible to the naked eye, not even those who had the ability to see through the mists were able to see through this dense cloud surrounding Ryoku.
Just when someone was just about to think the thought wondering how long this presentation would last, Ryoku dispersed the mists, blowing them all back out of the village, and back to where they served as a natural boundary between the outside world and the hidden village. Revealng him standing there in the same place as before the mists gathered around him, he was finally wearing the Hat, he had created all those years ago.
While other villages simply viewed the hat as decoration or as a symbol, Ryoku made sure that the Hat could at least be used as a weapon. Which was how Mejin had been able to send that tsunami like wave to the Kaminari coast by simply throwing the hat over the sea in that direction. The hat had spells on it that made sure that no matter how far away it was, it would always eventually return to the Mizukage. It was a village treasure which was nex to impossible to steal.
"Unification and peace within the bloody mist," Ryoku whispered, a whisper which was heard by all of Kiri, those in and out of the village at the time, "Blood is thicker than water..but the mist is thicker than both."
"Mizukage-sama?" Ginrei questioned.
"Where Konoha has its Will of Fire," Ryoku said in a slowly rising voice, "We, of Kirigakure no Sato, have the Will of the Winds, of the Waves, of the Waters, and of the Mists! We are the impenetrable storm, the howling gale, the constant ebb and flow of the tides! We are the heart and soul of Water, the lifegiver and lifetaker!...I founded this village all those years ago after thinking for years of a way to unite the bloodied clans of this land into one unified force to be reckoned with. I chose not to take the seat of power as it was not my right as I saw it. I wished for this village to grow from a mere drop of water into the mists that safeguard this village and this land today. From this day forward, til the day I resign, I shall lead this village to even greater heights, that no man in the Shinobi World will be able to question our right to be among the Five Great Shinobi Villages!"
At first the people did not know what to think after hearing the speech of their new Kage, and founder of the village. Then one person began to clap, followed by another, then another, the sound growing louder, until it was like waves crashing against the shore, then the shouting started, then the cheers.
"I know you've all been waiting for a week and a day for my arrival," Ryoku said, loud enough for all to hear, while still remaining at a normal volume, his voice being carried by the the gentle breeze, "I propose a week and a day long celebration, before work officially restarts."
After the announcement or decree, Ryoku began to make his way to his new office to start his first day on the job, while the rest of the village began preparations for the celebration. Accompanying him to his destination was Ginrei.
"The village doesn't have enough to spare in the budget for such a celebration," Ginrei said as they walked at a sedate pace to the office.
"I'll take care of it," Ryoku said, "I have lived long enough to actually have accumulated wealth enough for this."
"So what are you saying?" Ginrei asked.
"My first official act was to declare the celebration," Ryoku said, "My second will be to donate a great sum in the form of pearls to the village treasury."
"A great sum in the form of pearls? While I am aware that pearls are a commodity, to actually donate the sum I would think is great to the village treasury..you don't look like you have any with you," Ginrei said.
"I am a walking talking storage scroll," Ryoku said, "Think of me as a jinchuuriki of sorts, but instead fo a demon sealed within me, I have a great number of objects instead."
"No two pearls are alike," Ginrei said.
"I am aware of that," Ryoku said, "Which is why, I will share with you the secret to the pearls I will be donating."
"In your office?" Ginrei questioned.
"Just have a Chunin fetsh a bucket of spring water if he can find any, and summon the Seven," Ryoku said.
"I'll do that," Ginrei said, "Are you sure you'll be able to find your way to the office, its been years since you were last here."
"I'm sure I'll be able to find it," Ryoku reassured the elder.
'Maybe I should have memorized the blueprints for this damnable building...I can only remember where the conference rooms are...and the bathroom..' Ryoku mentally grumbled as he was been wandering the tower for close to two hours, still being unable to find his own office.
In his blind wandering he had decided to change out of his kage garb, and into his Keigo attire and persona, a form which few in this day and age would be able to recognize. After the third hour of wandering around, he was sure that by this time Ginrei was probably laughing his ass off at his Kage's predicament, Ryoku decided to ask for directions from the first person that passed him by.
"Excuse me," Ryoku said to a young woman, probably still a teen, she had dark red hair and green eyes, "But can you point me in the direction of the Kage office?"
"Huh?" the teen said, "Uh, sure..I'm actually headed there myself, Ginrei-sama asked me to fetch a pail of spring water for Mizukage-sama."
"So you really did get some spring water?" Ryoku asked her.
"Oh yes, since there are a lot of hot springs around the village, the water was easy to find," she said as they walked up to where the office was, "Say..are you new here?"
"Something like that.." Ryoku said, "I just can't remember where everything is since the last time I was here."
"Were you on some kind of long-term mission or something?" she asked his curious, he did look like a Jounin after all in his present outfit.
"Long-term mission? No..nothing of the sort.." Ryoku said as he followed her.
"So what are you?" she asked.
"Me?" Ryoku said, "I'm a delivery guy of sorts."
"Really?" she asked, "What are you delivering?"
"Myself," Ryoku said.
"No, seriously, what are you delivering, its the Mizukage's first day in office, and it woldn't do it just about anybody walked into his office, for all I know you could be a spy or an assassin," she said, stopping in front of a door.
"Where could he....be," Ginrei said as he opened the door only to find the Chunin he ordered to fetch the pail of water and Ryoku standing there, Ryoku actually about to knock, "You got lost didn't you."
"Hehe..funny thing that.." Ryoku said scratching the back of his neck, a little bit embarrassed by that fact, "Yeah..luckily I ran into her," he pointed at his companion.
"Well come in then," Ginrei said.
Within in the room were the Seven, each one wielding their swords, one of them being Hoshigaki Kisame.
"I had a feeling there'd be another one in this room," Ryoku said as he moved into the room.
"You trained the first batch, and we've been improving since," Kisame said, bowing to Ryoku, as did the other Seven, "Mizukage-sama."
"M-Mizukage-sama!" the Chunin exclaimed surprised at finding out that the man she had helped find, and accused of possibly being a spy or an assassin was in reality her Boss, "I..I a-apologize for saying those things I said on the way here, I didn't know...I..I..I'm sorry!" she was in a deep bow by the end of her spiel.
"Stop with the bowing, I don't mind," Ryoku said, sitting on his desk, not on the chair, but on the desk itself, "Just place the bucket in the middle of the room."
"Here?" she asked as she put the bucket down in the middle of the room.
"Perfect," Ryoku said as he hopped of his desk, and made sand appear out of nowhere, and directed the sands into the bucket of spring water, "Now watch and learn Ginrei, watch and learn."
"But there aren't any..." Ginrei began to say that there weren't any oysters in the bucket, but he was proved wrong as the sands that magically flowed into the water began to form oysters, "Those can't be..thats not possible.."
"Oh they're real alright, alive too," Ryoku said, "How else did you think I was going to have pearls appear?"
"Why don't you just create the pearls instead of the oysters?" the Chunin asked.
"Oh, so the Chunin speaks," Kisame said, taunting the Chunin, "This way is cooler."
"Had I decided to found Iwagakure no Sato, I would be creating diamonds at this moment," Ryoku mumbled, then said, "This way is more accurate, and this way the oysters can be dumped into a hot spring to breed, I'm not using up all of them for the pearls."
"But you said, a great sum," Ginrei said, "How is one bucket going to be able to produce that much?"
"Ye of little faith," Ryoku said, "Watch and learn of the great wonders that I may perform. After all, it was my fault that chakra came into existence and not that first student of mine."
"Student?" the Chunin asked, the Seven had already been briefed of what history or background was known about Ryoku.
"Yes student, I named him Takeshi, always wanting to learn new things that one did," Ryoku said, reminiscing a little bit.
"Who's Takeshi?" she asked.
"He's that guy that beat up old Juubi back in the day," Ryoku said before he dived into the bucket.
"Did he just dive into the bucket?" Miyaki Tezuka asked not believing his eyes.
"I believe...that I'll believe anything he says now.." Maeda Yon stated, "What's he doing in there?"
"Are there seals on that bucket, Mei-san?" Ginrei asked the Chunin, "Ones that would allow something like this to happen."
"None that I know of," she said, "I only picked it up from the janitor's closet."
"Cool, he's swimming in there!" Kisame said as he and the other six crowded around the bucket, peering inside, and watching as their kage swam here and there collecting what looked to be grains of sand.
"I wanna try!" Yon said, and prepared to attempt diving right in.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Ryuumusha Ryoku said from the chair behind the desk of the Mizukage, "We wouldn't want the Tower to be filled to the brim with pearls and oysters, now would we."
"Who the hell are you!" the Seven unsheathed and pointed their blades at the Ryoku that was in the chair.
"I didn't think it was possible..." Ginrei said, "Mizukage-sama, at least wear your robes when you sit there."
"Mizukage?" the Seven exclaimed in shock and disbelief.
"Hole in one boys and girl," Ryuumusha said, "One of my abilities it to be in more than one place at any given time. In this form you may refer to me as Ryuumusha, I taught the first Ryuuko Kimura."
"Ginrei-sama, when you said Living Legend..you really weren't kidding," Hoozuki Moto said to the councilman.
"Would I be correct in assuming that the Mizukage that walked into the room was not the true Mizukage, but one of these more than clones?" Yagura asked.
"That is correct," Ryuumusha said, "The one that entered was Keigo, former head of the Ryuuko clan's military branch."
"Are there any other forms that you will be taking or have taken, Mizukage-sama?" Kawa Kintaro asked, "We as your guard deserve to know these things."
"There is also Shinobu, whose garb is that of the ancient shinobi, the only part of his body that will ever be shown is a single eye," Ryuumusha said, "Shinobu was the Kage that trained the Ryuuko clan shinobi branch."
"The Ryuuko clan is Tetsu no Kuni's Daimyo's clan isn't it?" Mei asked.
"It is," Ginrei said.
"Which means that you taught the first Samurai Lord...the first Kimura..." she said, amazed.
"I did," Ryoku said standing beside the bucket, in his Kage robes, Ryuumusha having vanished from his spot on the chair, "Kisame, find a team of idle Genin, and have them take out from the bucket as many pearls as they can within the span of the rest of the day, and place them in sacks to be brought to one of the empty conference rooms."
"Hai," Kisame said as he shunshin'ed out of the office, taking the bucket with him.
"Anything else that needs my attention today?" Ryoku asked the people in the room.
"Let's go fetch his paperwork," Ginrei ordered the remaining six swordsmen and the single Chunin, "Don't leave the office until we get back Mizukage-sama."
'Wonder how much trouble I'll get into if I drop water balloons on people..' Ryoku wondered as he conjured some water ballons filled with colored water, opened a window, one which faced a busy street, and dropped a water balloon, making sure that there was an illusion in place to hide himself from view.
Thirty minutes later, Ginrei and company returned to the office only to find half of it filled with boxes of water balloons, and their Kage looking out the window and dropping water balloon at the unsuspecting people walking down below, some of the time he would fling the balloons a little further away to keep suspicion away from himself.
"We've got the paperwork," Ginrei said not bothering to knock and simply dumped his stack on the floor, followed by his companions.
"Hey Chunin! How much you wanna bet that Kisame freaks out if I hit him with a balloon?" Ryoku said, not really paying attention to Ginrei, the paperwork vanishing into his mindscape where the other parts of his being began finishing them.
"I...what?" Mei said, not really knowing how to answer that question.
"I bet a stick of dango he'll know it was you, Mizukage-sama!" Yagura said.
"I'll raise that stick with thirty," Yon said, "But instead of Mizukage-sama being accused, I bet you'll be the one, accused."
"I say he freaks out and blames Yagura," Ryoku said, "How 'bout it?"
"Its a bet!" Yagura and Yon agreed.
"Mizukage-sama..the paperwork?" Ginrei said.
"Don't worry, its being taken care of," Ryoku said as he andYagura searched for Kisame.
"Hey..no fair...they wont burst," Koori Kani said, as he tried to poke a balloon with the tip of his tri-pronged sword.
"He's over there!" Yagura pointed to Kisame who was directing three genin to enter the Tower to deliver the sacks that had already been filled, ten in total, they were aided by some off duty Jounins, Kisame was standing in the middle of the street.
"Three...two...one..." Ryoku counted down, "Drop!" then dropped the balloon while Yagura continued to point in Kisame's direction. Ryoku had his illusion up, while Yagura was completely visible.
"Gyah!" Kisame's voice was heard, after the first shout of surprise he cursed up a storm, then was hit in the head by a frying pan which was being carried by a passing old woman. He looked up and spotted Yagura laughing at him, "YA-GU-RA!"
"You guys owe me dango," Ryoku said, smirking, while sitting on the window's ledge.
"Hey get off from there!" Mei said, noticing Ryoku sitting where he was, and so she approached him and tried to pull him back into the room, as half of his body was out of it, "That's dangerous."
"Mei-chan, stop manhandling the Mizukage," Moto said, "You might cause him to fall."
"I'm not trying to push him you know," Mei said showing that she was pulling the Kage inside the room and not pushing him off the ledge.
"That pulling motion could be seen as pushing too ya know," Moto said.
"I'm pulling him into the room," the Chunin said, "Not pushing, pushing is like this," she demonstrated what pushing was by pushing Ryoku out the window.
"H-hey Chunin!" Moto shouted as Ryoku did fall out of the window, only for him to burst into smoke, revealing no log.
"I love Kagebushin," Ryoku said from his chair, smiling.
"You know what Mizukage-sama," Moto said.
"What?" Ryoku said.
"The chance of us Seven dying are very slim...but the chance of us retiring are greater..." Moto said, "I almost had a heart attack."
"If it wasn't treasonous, I'd kill you for that stunt," Mei said.
"I wasn't the one who pushed myself out the window," Ryoku said, smirking.
"Yeah well..." she said.
"You do know that simply threatening the Mizukage is an act of treason, right?" Ginrei rhetorically asked from the door, the other swordsmen behind him, laughing a little.
"I...crap.." Mei said, a little bit defeated, "What do I do now?"
"We'll skip the trial and move on to the sentencing," Ryoku said, "I need an assistant, you're it."
"That's it, I'm retiring," Tezuka said, "She can have my job...or I'll train her for the position, but this is to whacky for even me."
"..." - the rest of the swordsmen + Ginrei and Mei.
"Resignation accepted," Ryoku said, "But you retain the rank of Jounin..so when the next batch of genin crop up, you're to be an instructor."
"Ginrei, I have a question," Ryoku said, "There is a shinobi by the name of Momochi Zabuza, what is he?"
"Rookie Jounin, why?" Ginrei asked.
"Is he apprenticing under anyone?"
"I'll answer that," Kintaro said, "He's apprenticing under me and hopes to make it into the Seven, not necessarily to take over my position."
"He has a bright and bloody future," Ryoku said.
"What do you mean?" Kintaro asked.
"Don't think too much on it," Ryoku said, "Just know that one day, he will be great. Dismissed."
"Hai," the occupants of the room, left, but not before noticing that the boxes of balloons had been replaced by stacks of papers, and none of them knew how it had happened.
"Chunin stay," Ryoku said, "Take the stacks labeled Out, to the departments and offices that they are meant to be delivered to..."
'Day one on the job..wonder if she's related to Kujira..' Ryoku wondered as he continued to do the paperwork his way.