BE STRONG II

In the morning, Kotori's training continues. Surprisingly enough, there's a private garden of sorts connected to each room that visitors can use to relax or in the case of shinobi, to train. Naruto and Kotori are currently sparring and training her taijutsu. She's able to leap higher and further than before and deliver kicks mid-air, although Naruto blocks them with ease.

From the inside of the room, the original Naruto, Hinata, and Kakashi watch on.

"So that's what she's capable of." Kakashi scratches his chin through his mask. "She's quite good, considering she's so new at this."

Naruto beams with pride. "Yeah, she's really good at picking things up. She's a natural! At this rate, she'll catch up to kids her age in no time!"

Hinata smiles. "Although there are cases where kids have become Chunin when they were even younger than her." She turns to Kakashi.

"Yeah, well, I'm a bit of an exceptional case."

A bead of sweat drops from Naruto's forehead. "Kakashi-sensei, did you just call yourself exceptional?"

The training in front of them intensifies with Kotori becoming more and more aggressive. Naruto's Shadow Clone gives instructions with each movement or each hit she delivers.

"You're just tiring yourself out. If you can hit me, then hit me, but don't spin around and flail your arms." He catches one of her wayward punches. "Or this happens." And lets her go. They resume the spar.

Kotori goes in and delivers a series of kicks. Naruto tries to grab her but she pushes herself away. Mid-air, she forms the Bird seal.

"Ninja Art: Feather Curtain"

Dozens and dozens of condor feathers surround Naruto in an attempt to blind him. She braces herself and begins weaving a more complex set of signs.

Kakashi has a surprised look on his… eyes. "That girl. She has a kekkei genkai?"

Hinata does. "Apparently it's called 'Aviary' and belongs to a dead clan. Lord Raikage found details on it from years past."

Naruto's Clone rushes out and stops her before she can finish weaving chakra.

"That jutsu's not bad but it's still not enough. You need something more if it's gonna work as a distraction. You can't give me enough time to come after you, so either stop me or trick me."

Hinata calls out. "Kotori, try sparrow feathers. They're smaller and more difficult to ignore."

Kotori does as instructed and uses her Feather Curtain again, this time with the much smaller feathers. Naruto bursts out, but as expected, the much smaller objects get in his eyes and even his mouth a little causing him to spit out plumage. However, she hasn't stopped using the Bird seal. Some of the feathers twitch and wiggle while falling and begin rushing toward Naruto.

"Ninja Art: Feather Kunai"

The stab at Naruto's flak jacket but not enough to cause serious damage. The speed and impact wasn't as much as it should be.

Naruto stops his movement and plucks the feathers off of himself. "Looks like going from the Curtain to the Kunai is still difficult."

Kotori nabs a sparrow feather. "Yeah. If I use one, I can't make them become the other. I think the chakra I need to use is different or something."

"Maybe, but you're able to do it a little. So just keep at it! It's a good combo. How about we stop for now? Hinata wanted to walk around the city for a bit. You up for that?"

Kotori beams with joy. "Yeah!"

Before she can head off, Naruto stops her. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

She skids and turns around. "Oh yeah." She smiles, embarrassed and extends her hand, only her index and middle finger outstretched. Naruto does the same and they lock fingers in the Unison Sign.

Only then does she run over to the real Naruto and Hinata as the Shadow Clone disperses. She runs up and gives them a hug. "Let's go!"

Hinata leans down and cleans some of the dirt gathered on her. "Not until you take a bath."

The girl grumbles.

Kakashi chuckles from under his mask and places a hand on her head, ruffling her hair. "Your Mom and Dad know what's best."

"I know, Uncle Kakashi." She wrangles free and goes to the bath. The faster she gets it done, the faster they can go out.

The three watch on as the girl prepares

Kakashi places a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Minato-sensei would be proud."

Naruto gives a light smile. "Thanks. That means a lot."

Yokumaru's been up for a while now, doing whatever cleaning he can do to help his mother be at ease. She's still sleeping and thrashes and turns from time to time, her illness not making things easy for her. He prepares what little food he was able to scrounge for when she wakes up.

He swiftly turns around when he hears a clacking from the other room, something hitting the wooden floor. He goes to check and sees a man inside. Dressed MUCH too well for this part of town, in very fancy robes and shawl draped around his shoulders. He walks with a fancy black cane decorated with a very intricate golden head of a dragon. On his ring finger is an equally fancy ring with an emblem carved into it.

Yokumaru knows this man all too well and he hates him from the bottom of his heart. A loan shark who his father took money from and died while trying to earn it back. Ijou Keiji. And two of his cronies standing behind him.

"Get out." Yokumaru hisses.

"Is that any way to treat your guest, Yokumaru? It would appear your father didn't teach you manners before his untimely demise." His voice makes Yokumaru feel sick to his core.

The boy lunges for Keiji, bellowing a warcry but one of the goons simply swats him away. He lands on the ground, a stinging on his face from where he was hit.

"Tsk, tsk. You still don't understand your position. As long as you owe us money, your life is ours, boy."

"Please, don't hurt him." A pale skeleton-thin woman props herself against the doorframe. "I'll pay you back just please leave him be."

"As if you're able to do anything in your state, dear Yoi." Ijou smirks mockingly. "Your boy has a very special chakra and I'll utilize him however I see fit, since your husband's no longer around." He clicks his tongue. "We can't even sell you, looking like that."

Yokumaru grows angrier at the man for talking about his mother like that, but one of the goons stands between them.

Ijou looks to the boy. "There's some important VIPs from the Hidden Leaf staying in the Koukan Inn. You know the place, the most expensive inn in the city. Go through their belongings and take everything you can carry."

"And then you'll leave us?"

"It will be a start." Ijou throws some coins on the ground. "Consider this a prepayment."

He turns and takes his leave, his goons giving Yokumaru one final scare before they follow.

Yokumaru slams his fist over the coins.

Naruto, Hinata, and Kotori are walking through the streets of the capital, going from store to store, showing their adoptive daughter everything they can and everything she's missed. They've been fairly focused on shinobi training so far and haven't really given her the chance to just… be a kid. She's bought a good deal for clothes for herself and some various trinkets and accessories, such as a new hairband to tie her ponytail with. Some things they had to say 'no' to since they're going to be constantly moving around for the foreseeable future so they have to be careful what baggage they carry. Kotori was saddened but understanding.

While walking past the various stores and stalls, she sees a family and their young son walking past. The boy seems to be tired and reaches up to his dad who chuckles. "Alright, alright." and picks him and rests his son on his shoulder. They continued walking together.

Kotori smiles at the sight of a loving family but it also saddens her a bit. She lived so long in the orphanage that she missed out on moments like that with a family of her own. Now she's a bit too old for memories like that.

From the corner of his eyes, Naruto sees where her gaze leads to and he can safely guess why. It's the exact same thoughts he's had so many times in the past. He let's go of her hand and before she or Hinata can wonder why, he squats down and lifts Kotori over his head and onto his shoulder.

"Naruto?"

"Wha- Dad, what're you doing?"

"Oh, nothing much."

Kotori wraps her hands around his head and buries her head in his temple. "This is embarrassing." She protests but on her hidden face is a wide smile.

Hinata smiles at her boyfriend and holds his hand as the family continues walking together.

They go on like this for a while, with Kotori looking over more stores and Naruto and Hinata buying some necessary items. Kotori lets herself down from Naruto's shoulder to look around, running frantically from one place to another.

While looking at some necklaces, she sees a figure being watchful behind a corner. A young boy around his age with silver hair and ragged clothes. He seems to be ducking in and out and carefully watching the clerk. When the shop owner has his attention turned to another customer, the boy dashes forward and grabs a handful of necklaces and earrings and makes a run for it before the clerk even realizes.

Kotori runs after Yokumaru.

It takes Naruto and Hinata a few moments but they realize their daughter is no longer around. "... Kotori?"

In the alleyway, Yokumaru puts everything he took in a sack and ties it to his waist. He turns around to see a girl his age chasing after. She's actually keeping up with his faster speed; is she not a normal girl?

"Hey! Wait! You gotta give those back!"

Yokumaru turns around and slams his hands on the ground.

"Crystal Style: Crystal Wall"

A transparents glass-like structure juts out from the ground, blocking the way. That should stop her. He turns to continue making a run for it but her footsteps don't stop. He looks back just long enough to see her jump over his jutsu, forming the Bird seal. So she isn't a normal girl, after all.

"Ninja Art: Feather Kunai"

Two large condor feathers materialize around her and shoot forward to the boy. She's actually aiming in front of him to try and get him to stop but his movement just increases and Flickers in the same way she's seen her mom and dad. She continues falling and tries to land on her feet but her momentum is a bit high and she ends up rolling on the ground.

She stands up and tries to weave hand signs but before she can get halfway through, another crystalline structure appears under her. He's faster at weaving seals than her. She jumps forward and manages to avoid the Crystal Wall.

She turns the corner to go after him, but he's gone. She continues running in the direction she saw him last but is unable to find him. At that moment, Naruto and Hinata, Sage Mode and Byakugan activated, land next to her.

Naruto very lightly grips her head. Not in a way would hurt her in any way but is still annoying. "Kotori, you can't just run off like that in a foreign city."

"But… that boy stole things!"

Hinata leans down. "You're right, stealing is wrong. But what if you got lost and we couldn't find you?"

"But you did find me, with your cool eyes! I know you can find me, so I'm safe." She smiles in a way that makes Hinata forget she intended to scold her about what she did.

"Come on, let's go after him. I have his chakra."

Hinata takes Kotori and they Flicker away to where they sense the boy ran to.

They don't immediately intercept him, even though they easily can. They wait and watch from the rooftops until they see him enter a barely-holding together shack. They hop to the ground and enter.

The wood creeks as they step inside. They're ninja and trained to be silent, but their training can't fix rotted wood. Yokumaru flips around and looks frightened as he sees the girl, now accompanied by 2 adults. He notices their headbands. Hidden Leaf. No way, could these be the VIPs that scumbag Ijou mentioned?

He nervously looks around knowing he can't escape.

Naruto and Hinata also look around but for different reasons. They never would've expected this boy's living conditions to be this terrible.

Naruto steps forward and the boy takes a defensive stance and begins weaving chakra. Whoever he is, he's received training.

"Hey, you know you can't take those, right?"

"Why do you care? You're not from here, right? That guy won't miss these, it won't matter to him!"

"That doesn't make it right. You have to return it."

"No. You can't make me." Yokumaru tries to position himself in a way that he won't let them get to his mom, but this place is small. He doesn't have anywhere to move.

"Yokumaru?" A weak voice comes from behind him and his mom limps to the door. Just the simple act of getting up and walking to the door has exhausted her. "Who…" She sees the people in their home. "Ninja? Why?"

Some jewellery falls out of Yokumaru's bag, clanging on the floor. Yoi looks down. "Yokumaru. Please… tell me you didn't."

The boy grips his pouch. "I do what I have to to help you. I won't let anyone stop me. Not Keiji, not ninja."

Naruto and Hinata look on with mild shock at the woman's deteriorated condition. Kotori thought she was doing the right thing by chasing after this boy but… this is where he lives? And is that woman his mom? Is this why he stole? She grabs her Dad's shirt. She doesn't want the boy to get in trouble.

Naruto looks down and sees her expression, and then looks at Hinata who also seems reluctant. He sighs and forms a single seal of his signature jutsu.

"Shadow Clone"

Another Naruto appears from a puff of smoke and he tosses his Clone a pouch of money. "Go pay for whatever was taken, and tell them the matter is over and settled."

Yokumaru and his mom Yoi look surprised.

Through painful breaths, she manages to ask. "Why… help us?"

"Because I don't like seeing people in trouble. Whatever you're going to do with those, it's for your mom, right? Take care of your family."

Yokumaru seems to grow angry. "We don't need you. You're just gonna use us just like Keiji. You do us a favour and then you trick us! I know how this works so get out!"

"No, that's not it at all!"

A voice comes from the front door. "What seems to be the matter?"

They all turn to see a man who only Yokumaru and Yoi recognize and Ijou Keiji and his goons behind him. Yokumaru looks on frightened.

"Have my son and wife been a bother?"

Yokumaru begins seeing red. This bastard. He's pretending to be his dad now?! He's never been this angry before.

Ijou walks in, standing between the Leaf ninja and the family. "Please accept my sincerest apologies for whatever has occurred."

Naruto takes a quick but detailed look at the man. His clothes are far too fancy. Even his cane looks like it costs more than this entire shack. And the expression on the boy and his mom's faces. It's a heavy mixture of fear and anger. This man isn't family. This looks like a complicated situation. Should they interfere? Can they?

"If you'll excuse me, I'd like to speak to them in private."

Naruto steps back. He knows he needs to do something but right now he can't. This isn't an issue of blasting your way through. "Yeah, we'll go."

The Leaf ninja walk out, feeling uneasy. Kotori looks back to the shack, concerned. Hinata still has her Byakugan active. She doesn't tell Naruto what she sees inside but the expression he sees on her face is one he'd never seen, one of pure rage. He squeezes his shoulder tightly.

Over at the palace, Sasame is keeping watch in front of Lady Mikoto's room, along with another of her Fuma comrades. She leaves him to guard the door as she walks along the corridor, checking through the windows.

Outside, just below Lady Mikoto's window, the Hidden Mountain's leader, Kaidomaru, seems to be lurking. He's acting inconspicuous but the location is definitely suspect. The Hidden Mountain, are they plotting Lady Mikoto's murder? Losing his daughter would definitely throw the Daimyo out of it. Or better yet, kidnap her? Hold her ransom and force the Land of Rice Paddies to merge with the Land of Woods?

She walks, knocks on the door, and excuses herself. Normally this would be unthinkable but they have their orders- protection comes before privacy. Being women, only Sasame and Kotohime were given permission to enter as they please. Inside, Lady Mikoto is standing near the window. Sasame runs in and urges her to step away.

"Miss Sasame, what's the meaning of this?"

"My apologies, Lady Mikoto. Please stay away from the windows, for your own safety."

Sasame steps in front of the window to make sure she's seen from below, and draws the curtains closed.

In another part of the palace, Naruto has already arrived in preparation for the meeting, with Hinata and Kotori remaining in the city. His look is somewhat distant, staring outside the windows, thoughts still going back to what they saw earlier.

Ikkyu walks by and sees him sulking. "Ah, Naruto." He walks closer.

He turns his head slightly. "Mr. Madoka."

"Please, call me Ikkyu. Is… something the matter?" He notices the mood.

Naruto looks out the window to the edge of the city, where the poor neighbourhoods are. "Say, Ikkyu. You said you wanted to bring shinobi the recognition they deserve, right? What recognition do we even deserve? How would that even happen?"

Ikkyu looks stunned. "Those are a lot of questions, all very difficult in their own right." He walks over next to Naruto at the window. "I believe the main issue lies in how us non-shinobi perceive shinobi. People always tell themselves that they're better just because shinobi are always at war and fighting and killing each other. Makes them feel like no matter what they do, they'll always be better than that since they're at least not actively kill each other right?"

Ikkyu leans on the window and sighs. "You probably haven't been to the poor part of the capital, but the people there… They don't live the best of lives, and we're the reason they don't. People are being starved and treated like dirt but that's all justified because… hey, at least we're not stabbing each other like those shinobi, right?"

He turns to Naruto. "I'm sorry. I know those are probably not things you wish to hear, but my point is- that view needs to change. I want to show people that shinobi are so much more than they believe and that they hold values just like anyone and have precious things they hold dear. But there are people actively fighting against me. First, I'll need to deal with them and prove them wrong, before I can prove that I'm right."

Naruto gives a light smile. "I see. That sounds really difficult."

"But worth every bit of it."

"I know this may be a stretch, but do you happen to know of a person named Keiji." She also adds a description of the signet ring she saw him wear, as did his two goons.

Ikkyu has a perplexed expression. "Ijou Keiji? Why would you know of someone like him?"

He explains what happened earlier and what they saw.

The young man looks conflicted. "I see. So that happened." He sighs and leans against the wall. "Ijou Keiji is one of the people I need to take down, one of the people who are determined to keep the poor people poor. I have suspicions of his wrongdoings but no concrete evidence. I'm sorry you had to see something like that." Ikkyu shows him a ring on his finger that looks vaguely similar to Keiji's but with a different emblem carved into it. "These rings are worn by nobles and wealthy merchants, and people working for them and who have their support also wear them as a show of allegiance. To think Keiji's just parading around..."

"I'm sorry to just drop this on you."

"No, it's quite alright. I'm thankful, actually. You've shown concern for the people there. That… eases my mind greatly. You are as good a man as the people say, Naruto Uzumaki." He gives a genuine smile. "I intend on doing something about it, that much I can guarantee you."

At this point, a man from the palace comes to get Naruto to the meeting.

"Until our next meeting." Ikkyu claps Naruto on the back "Don't let your mind stray far. Keep focused." and walks off, leaving the young shinobi to get to business.

It's later in the day and Hinata figures the meeting should be over soon. She's still out in the city with Kotori and they're starting to feel exploring this place would take a few days. She and Kotori are resting at a local park, a bit of a walk away from the center where the palace is.

Their minds are also filled with thoughts of Yokumaru's home and what happened after they left, so their mood isn't exactly the best.

They remain seated for a while, Kotori absent-mindedly conjuring feathers and sparrows. From the corner of her eyes, she spots the boy from earlier, sitting on the grass. Kotori immediately springs to her feet and runs off without saying a word, Hinata calls out to her and follows.

Yokumaru is sitting against a tree, receiving glances from the people walking through. He's not paying attention to any of them, though, until one of them stops right next to him. He's heard a lot of variations of insults and threats, he's been told to go away and not ruin the neighbourhood plenty of times. He looks up and sees Kotori.

Kotori is taken aback when she gets a closer look of his face, a dark bruise on his face. "Hey, are you…" She extends a hand to him but is swatter away.

"Go away." Odd, it's usually he who gets told that by others, not the other way around.

Kotori takes a step back.

Hinata approaches and sees his state. She leans down. "I can help you with that."

"Don't need your help. Don't need anyone's help."

"That's not true!" Kotori protests. "Everyone needs help sometime."

He looks them in the eyes. "Why would you even care, you're just a pampered ninja kid."

"That's not true at all! I'm an orphan, or I was until Mom and Dad adopted me. I grew up with a lot of kids and I don't like seeing them or anyone else get hurt." She extends a hand again and grins. "So I wanna help, like I was helped."

"Please, would you come with us, back to the Koukan Inn? I know this might be asking much, and you've no reason to trust us or believe us, but my boyfriend, he has a really big loving heart and I've come to share in his ideals. If at any point you decide you don't like us, you can go home." She extends a hand alongside Kotori's.

Yokumaru focuses on their hands. He looks up to Hinata. She said the Koukan Inn, and she's wearing Leaf shinobi gear. Then they ARE the VIPs Keiji mentioned. If nothing else, this might be the perfect opportunity. Rarely do your targets openly invite you in their homes. If they want to help, then they definitely can.

He takes their hands and stands up.

Kotori beams. "I'm Kotori Uzumaki, and this is my mom Hinata. What's your name?"

"Yokumaru. Yokumaru Kigatsu." The boy's looking down, his long hair covering his eyes.

Hinata smiles and places a hand on both of their backs, and Flickers away with them, going from rooftop to rooftop to the inn. Kotori has experienced this plenty of times but Yokumaru, even though he has training and can use ninjutsu a little bit, has never traveled at such speeds, never seen the city from this angle. If he didn't know how dark and dirty it is, he might fall in love with the view.

She sneaks them into the room and begins preparing by setting the bath and ordering food. Yokumaru looks a bit uncomfortable being in such a place.

"I know this isn't ideal for you, but please don't feel guilty. I'll do everything I can to make sure your mom gets something, too, alright? And you can take it home to her."

That seems to put his mind at ease and he opens up a bit. He cleans up, using fresher water than he'd seen in a while, and once he comes out, he's met by Kotori holding a fresh set of clothes which she shoves into his hands.

"Here, you can have these. You're a little shorter than me so they should fit. Don't worry, they're not frilly or girly or anything."

"What, no, I can't take these!" He pushes them but they're refused.

"Sure you can. Just keep holding then, say thank you, and then put them on. It's easy!" She knows that's not what he meant but she wasn't about to take them back. She and Hinata picked out ones that might better suit him while he was cleaning himself up.

He holds the clothes closely to himself and quietly says. "Thank you."

That's more than good enough for her, though. She smiles and skips out to let him get dressed. When he does, he's much cleaner, his hair is brushed back putting his natural dark red eyes on display. Hinata couldn't help but be reminded of Kurenai-sensei and her captivating eyes. To Kotori, because his hair is sticking up slightly, she couldn't help but liken him to a white bunny.

Hinata straightens his clothes and smiles. "You look wonderful."

The three of them continued to eat dinner, with Hinata setting some aside and placing them in a separate box.

"For your mom."

Yokumaru draws it closer and tries to bow his head to hide his smile. Hinata and Kotori smile, as well, seeing him in such a better mood than before.

Once finished with dinner, Yokumaru and Kotori watch out at the room's private garden. The girl speaks up, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Hey, that thing you did, with the glass wall. It's your jutsu, right? A kekkei what's-it?"

Yokumaru nods. "Yeah. My dad had it, too, and he taught me a bit before he…" He trails off. "I can't only use the Crystal Wall, though."

Hinata sits next to them. She doesn't need that sentence to be finished. "So now you're taking care of your mom?"

He nods. "Yeah. Dad took money from a really bad man and couldn't give it all back. So now I have to."

"I'm really sorry." She goes to place a hand on his shoulder for comfort but the moment she touches him, he recoils and scitters back from her.

Hinata looks on sorrowfully. The poor boy must have endured a lot. She stands up to give him some space and heads to one of the other rooms. "You can stay as long as you need to."

Yokumaru tries to change the subject and look at the girl. "You use a kekkei genkai, too, right?"

Kotori hops to her feet and forms the seals for her jutsu. "Yeah! I couldn't show it off earlier 'cause you were faster than me but I can do this." She finishes and in a curtain of feathers, an adolescent condor materializes. Her big mistake last time was that she summoned a larger than average adult, so making it a young one works best. It screeches and spreads its wings.

"That's really cool."

"Right? I'm still learning but I can do some cool stuff. Hey, you wanna spar? I'm really curious about your glass crystal thingy!"

"Ah, I don't think we should."

From the other room, Hinata calls out. "Kotori, could you come help me for a bit?"

"Alright!" She calls back and turns to Yokumaru "I'll be right back. You can rethink that spar in the meantime." and she hops over to help her mom with whatever she needs.

Left alone in the room, Yokumaru looks around. There are multiple bags left out in the open, boxes of items purchased from the city- jewellery, clothes, maybe even coin pouches somewhere. He clenches his fist, gripping onto the new clothes he was given. He looks down at the food box Hinata prepared. He doesn't want to do what Keiji wants him to do, but his mind keeps going back to his sickly mother.

Over in the other room, Kotori is unaware of what's happening but Hinata's keen hearing picks up on the shifting and moving. She closes her eyes, a frown on her face. The poor boy's made his choice. When finished with what she'd called Kotori over for, they enter the room they were in before.

Yokumaru is missing, and so are many of their things.

"Wha… he stole from us? But why?" Kotori looks heartbroken.

Hinata places a hand on her shoulders. "It's fine. They're just things. He can have them."

Outside, running for dear life with tears in his eyes, Yokumaru clutches to the items he'd managed to take from the room. He doesn't stop crying the entire way, and this time nobody stops him, because he actually looks like he belongs in these parts. He looks clean.

Reaching his home neighbourhood, Yokumaru stands in front of a house of ill repute (or good repute, depending on who you ask). He tells the guards his business and is lead through the back, where he can see from between the ajar doors half-naked women getting dressed.

Upstairs, he enters a door and is met by Ijou Keiji's top dogs, the man himself not present.

"Ya look different, kid." One of them pipes up.

He shifts back a little. "I stole some clothes while I was at it." He places the pouch of valuables on the table "I got you your things. Money, jewels, whatever they had."

He opens it up and inspects it. Rummaging through the items, he whistles. "Got some fancy shinies here." He looks up and squints his eyes. "Ya weren't followed, right, kid? Cause if you was…"

"I know. I wasn't. No one saw me enter or exit." Technically true. "I stayed at one of the hideouts to make 'em think that's where I was supposed to go. No one came after me."

The other dog laughs. "Ya sure got a knack for this, boi. Keep this up and you'll become the boss' favourite."

Yokumaru lowers his head. "May I leave?"

The two men have already stopped looking at him and are focusing on the loot. They wave him off. "Yeah, yeah. Go."

He leaves, his head still lowered. He walks like that the entire way home, picking up the food box and some cash he'd stashed away on the way to Keiji's place. He comes inside, with clean clothes and cooked food.

His mother is hunched over the table, eating whatever leftovers they had, weakly holding the wooden spoon. He walks to the table and places the box.

"Yokumaru?" She gets a good look at him. "Where did you get these clothes, what's this?"

"It's fine, mama. I got you food. Look." He pushes the box to her and opens it, but she pays no attention to it.

"Yokumaru, please." She places a thin hand on his cheek.

He starts crying. "I'm sorry, mom."

Over the quiet and solemn night, with some people suffering and many unaware of the wrongdoings that have occurred, a tremor shakes the centre of the city.

Loud explosions echo through the streets as large plumes of smoke fill the air.

The people cry out in a panic, looking to get away from the source.

The Daimyo's palace is under attack.

Name meanings

Ijou Keiji (ケイジ イオウ, Keiji Ijō)= from 'keijijou', meaning 'criminal'

Yokumaru Kigatsu (きがつ ヨクマル, Kigatsu Yokumaru) = from 'kigatsuyokunaru', meaning 'to feel more confident'. From 'kigatsuyokunaru' to 'kigatsu yokunaru' to 'Kigatsu Yokumaru'

Yoi Kigatsu (きがつ ヨイ, Kigatsu Yoi) = from 'kigatsuyoi', meaning 'strong heart'