Original Publish Date: 24th-December-2015
A/N: Merry Christmas! Happy Yuletide! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Festivus! Merry Solstice(even though that was on the 21st)! Eid Milad-un-Nabi Mubarak! If I've missed any other festival, it is through ignorance only; please PM/Review and I will put it up here.
In India, we call it Star Wars Day! First Day First Show baby! :D
The first part of this chapter is dedicated to the weirdo guest reviewer called 'The Hand' who left me review number 300. He sounds like the kind of creep who shuts himself in a room for ages. Well, 'The Hand', the first part of the chapter is intended to show you just what happens when you isolate yourself for too long!
The second part of the chapter is dedicated to ME! Because I am fucking awesome. Word.
(Okay, 'The Hand' isn't really a weirdo, he's my friend. He knows who he is.
…all right, he is a weirdo.)
Chapter 13 – She's A Lady
Well, she's all you'd ever want
She's the kind I'd like to flaunt
And take to dinner
But she always knows her place
She's got style, she's got grace
She's a winner
- She's a Lady, Tom Jones
3 Days Later, Degarashi Port: 4465617468
In hindsight, I should have known that I was going to be shoved in a barrel of stinky smelly fish.
"Why don't you pose as a business magnate? Pssh! And be treated respectfully by the locals while being toured around the nation? Fuck that! Besides, I always wanted to know what the inside of a fish barrel smelled like! This is first class travel!" I started to sarcastically clap at myself, but the movement caused a fish to dislodge and slap me on the mouth. I closed my eyes and wanted very hard to slam my head against the barrel; but I suspected it would have a similar effect.
"Why the fuck are Kiri importing fish anyway!? Aren't they a freaking island nation!? Shouldn't they be the ones exporting it!?" But of course, at that point the information that had been relentlessly drilled into my head 3 days ago by Jiraiya and Sarutobi reared its ugly head; this was a particular variety of freshwater fish that was considered a delicacy by the denizens of Mizu no Kuni. Ugh.
"Great, now I don't even have anything to complain about. What should I do? I know! I'll talk to myself! The barrel is sealed soundproof and chakra-proof, so I'll just make the most of it! In fact, since I'm talking to myself, I'll at least do it the right way!"
With that, I made a Kage Bunshin within the confines of the barrel I was stuck in, further cramping the space available. But atleast now I had company.
I stared at the clone; the clone stared back at me.
.
.
.
…it became awkward very quickly.
"Err..." the clone said.
I groaned grouchily. "By the Log! WHY did I think this would be a good idea!?"
"You tend to say that a lot, boss."
I scowled at the clone and slapped him upside the head with a fish, causing him to dispel. "Log-damned smartass clones. I swear they laugh at me far more than everyone else does. Combined!" I groused.
Did I mention I'm not a fan of waiting patiently?
I wiggled around in the barrel, wishing for the life of me that I could stretch out to scratch my back where a goddamned fish had stuck its scales into me. Fucking fish.
"HOW MUCH LONGER DO I HAVE TO BE STUCK IN THIS LOG-DAMNED BARREL!?"
32 hours and 47 minutes, my internal clock promptly informed me.
"...how long have I been in here?"
68 minutes.
I groaned and banged my head against the barrel; I was proven right. It did indeed cause more fish to slap me across the face with their smelly disgusting corpses.
Somehow, my ponytail had come undone; and my hair was all greased up with the natural oils that the fish secreted. "Eww! Gross! My hair! The smell will take forever to wash out!"
At the silence that greeted my statement, my eyes widened. Complaining about my hair didn't make me sound like a little girl, did it!? I'm still a manly man, right? Only manly men can pull off the long haired look, right?
Right?
.
.
Suddenly, I was reminded of the scene in Sarutobi's office three days ago, when I had offered to share the Wall Transparency seal with Jiraiya. 'Minato! Your son is a true man's man!'
Phew. Ero-Sennin thought I was a manly man. That counted. That definitely counted. My masculinity was secure.
29 hours and 33 minutes.
"FUCK!"
"Are we there yet?"
26 hours 17 minutes.
.
.
.
"Are we there yet?"
26 hours 15 minutes.
.
.
.
"Are we there yet?"
26 hours 14 minutes.
.
.
"Are we there yet?"
26 hours 14 minutes.
"`&*^$*%^* (#%+!"
After a point, I had started naming some of the fish. The one with the missing fin was called Sandu, the one with the scar on its side was called Haru, and the big one that had no visible flaws was called Masao.
I fucking hated Masao.
"You just think you're so perfect don't you?" I asked Masao with a growl. "Floating around at the top of the pile like you're better than everyone else."
Masao continued to smugly sit at the top, lording it over all the other fish.
"I really don't like you. I don't have to put up with your crap! In fact," I grabbed the puffed-up fish and dragged it to the bottom of the pile and kept it under my foot for good measure. "Take that! Log-damned stuck up fish. Ahh…" I let out a sigh of satisfaction as it sank to where it belonged. Finally, I had some peace of mind.
21 hours 58 minutes, my internal clock informed me, immediately ruining my good mood.
"DAMMIT!"
"Haru! Hold on!"
"No Sandu! It's too late for me! Let me go! Masao's evil scheme has me in its evil clutches! Let me go and run! Live to take your revenge another day!"
"There is one thing I can still do, Haru!"
"You don't mean…that!?"
"Indeed."
"But that will mean you will die, Sandu! Don't waste your life on me!"
"You are my precious friend; I will happily sacrifice my life for you! Suicidal Summoning: Eldritch Sea Monster!"
"Rawwr!" The 'Eldritch Sea Monster', my mouth, opened wide.
"Attack and destroy Masao!"
"Rawwr!" Masao was wedged between my teeth as I flailed my head around.
.
.
Naturally, this was when someone unexpectedly opened the barrel I was hiding in.
.
.
For a few moments, I just stared at the guy; and he stared back with wide eyes. I'm sure I must have made quite a sight, a random guy with a facemask pulled halfway down and a whole fish in his mouth. I briefly considered letting the fish drop from my mouth; but decided against it. Maybe he would be too weirded out and close the barrel, thinking he was hallucinating?
.
.
No such luck.
"Uhh…" he said. He opened his mouth another couple of times, but didn't make any sound. I just stared at him unblinkingly; fish still hanging from my mouth, for all the world looking like he had interrupted me doing something important. "Are you with the Resistance?"
I heard the way he had capitalized the word. My next reaction would determine the overall success or failure of my mission to free Mizu no Kuni from its despot. With as much dignity as I could muster while kneeling inside a barrel full of fish, I let 'Masao' drop from my mouth. "If I say yes, will you call for the shinobi guarding the ship?"
A sudden sound in the galley outside made him lower the barrel lid quickly. "Meet me behind Murasa's warehouse on the dock at sundown tomorrow" he hissed at me, replacing the lid. "This one's all clear!" he called to someone I couldn't see, before walking away.
For the next few minutes, I could hear the remaining barrels being searched; but now that the lid was back on my barrel, no sound would escape. Maybe that guy was secretly a loyalist and was lulling me into a false sense of security. Whatever. The entire mission might be compromised; but anything was better than being stuck in a barrel full of fish.
I glared at Masao. "This is entirely your fault!"
16 hours 3 minutes.
I sighed, and let my head thwack against the side of the barrel.
Let's just say… that the last 16 hours were… not uneventful.
Somehow, enough time finally passed and I found my barrel being carried out of the ship.
Fun fact about barrels: did you know that when barrels are transported, they are rolled to their destination?
I didn't.
Not until this very minute.
"Urrgh…" I moaned piteously. What fresh hell was this? What kind of karma did I have? It wasn't enough being stuck in a fish barrel for a day and a half, noooooo. I had to be rolled inside the barrel too.
After an indefinite amount of time being unceremoniously rolled, jerked around, and I swear thrown from one location to another, my barrel finally came to a stop. I was completely green and seconds away from throwing up. The natural fish smell was bad enough, but the disgusting smell of fish guts coupled with the unnecessary roller-coaster ride had made me lose whatever sense of bearings I had. I was literally at the point where I said 'fuck it' and threw open the barrel and faced the battalion of shinobi that the guy who had opened my barrel had undoubtedly summoned.
Just as I clapped a hand against my mouth and the second hand against the lid of the barrel, I heard a couple of knocks from the other side of the lid. "Leave in 2 minutes, I'll distract the guard!" It was the same hissing voice of the seaman from earlier.
2 minutes.
Oh Log, please let me last two minutes.
I had been here for almost 2 days, please let me last another couple of minutes.
Don't throw up, please don't throw up.
The smell of one of the destroyed fish had made things worse.
I lasted 1 minute and 45 seconds.
I threw open the lid and threw up as quietly as possible, leaning out over the rim of the barrel, chucking out whatever remained in my stomach. Once I was done, I wiped my mouth and finally took a look at my surroundings.
I was in an empty warehouse; no enemy shinobi in sight.
Praise be to the Log; For with the Log I may find peace; An unbreakable bond which I will honour with my life.
After my quick prayer of thanks, I quickly started to climb out of the barrel; and I will swear to my dying day that the barrel pushed me out!
I turned to glare at the damn thing; how dare it push me out! I was the one who had been stuck inside the damn thing! I opened my mouth to yell at it; but for once in my life my common sense overrode my stupid sense. Arguing loudly with inanimate objects in enemy territory would be right up there with the dumbest things I had done. I took a deep breath and shook my head, quickly destroying the seals on the barrel lid and replacing it. I wasn't above giving the barrel a good hard kick though.
I then snuck out of the warehouse, past the guard that the seaman who had helped me so far was distracting, and quickly found a dark corner in an alley.
This would be the hard part.
I had to simultaneously create a Kage Bunshin and Henge into an inconspicuous form; and the Kage Bunshin had to quickly draw the seal across my stomach and heart that converted all the chakra escaping my tenketsu into Senchakra, while simultaneously locking me into the Henge. Then, I had to escape the area before any sensor shinobi came to see who had released their chakra in the port.
I extended my limited senses, trying to figure out if any shinobi were in the nearby area, but I got nothing. This didn't mean I was safe though, because I wasn't a sensor. If I still had access to Sage Mode, I would be, but enough about that. That shit didn't fly anymore, it was time I adapted.
"Right" I muttered to myself, still not having gotten over the isolationism that had messed with my head for the past two days. Maybe it was for the best that Sarutobi hadn't inducted me into the ANBU? The solitude would definitely have sapped the remainder of my sanity within a week. Ugh. Focus. Enemy territory. Seal. Henge.
I took off my shirt and drew the seal on myself as much as I could, before it became too unwieldly to do so. Right, it was time. I took out a ratty cloak from my pouch, the second of three things I had actually carried with myself. The other two had been a ration bar (long since consumed) and the ink-loaded-brush I was currently using to draw the seal on myself.
I kept the disposable brush in one hand and the cloak I tried to keep three things in mind; forming a Kage Bunshin with its fingers on the brush so it could draw the seal immediately, the seal itself, and the form of a nondescript brown haired man with dark eyes, the form of my Henge. I had to make sure that the Henge didn't have the wrong kind of musculature, otherwise an observant shinobi might see through my disguise anyway.
I took a deep breath, and then let my chakra flow out through my tenketsu.
Immediately, the brush was snatched out from my hand as I transformed into the form I had chosen for myself. The Kage Bunshin quickly completed the seal and applied a precise burst of chakra, activating it and dispelling itself. I immediately drew the ratty cloak around myself and jumped to the other side of the alley the wall blocked off. All in all, it had taken less than 5 seconds; I was pleased with the result.
A quick look around showed me that nobody was on this side of the street, so I took a quick leap away, intending to nonchalantly walk away from the scene of the 'crime', so to speak.
Of course, my life is rarely that easy.
No sooner than I had landed I heard two shinobi pop with the distinctive sound of a Shunshin into the alley I had been in less than 10 seconds ago. In another second, they would make the same jump over the wall and spy me walking away. If I ran, they would chase me and my cover would be blown. If I stayed, I would definitely look like I was loitering and be questioned.
It was at times like this that I let my stupid sense override my common sense.
Raw terror was flowing through me, causing me to breathe heavily, and I didn't even try to control it. Instead, I just let my stupid sense do the thinking.
It turned me around and made me start walking towards the wall I had just jumped over.
Exactly as I had predicted, a second later one of the shinobi jumped over the wall, causing me to stumble in shock. I didn't even have to feign my panic; it was all-consuming and it showed in my face.
"You there!" the shinobi thundered, and my heart raced. Oh Log, if there was ever a time I needed your help, please listen to my prayers now!
"Y-yes." I cringed at the fear in my voice, maybe I was overselling it? Still, even if I was, I had to own it. There was no going back now. I dropped my gaze to my feet and let my shoulders tense; looking like the quintessential browbeaten civilian.
"Did you see anyone jump over this wall?"
"N-no. Just you, sh-shinobi-sama."
He then asked me the question that was going to haunt me the rest of my life.
"Why do you smell like fish?"
"…I'm a fisherman, shinobi-sama."
His eyes gleamed, I observed through my eyelashes. Thank the Log he didn't suspect me. I was almost there. Now as long as he didn't ask me about my identification, I would be home free. Apparently in Mizu, you needed to carry around an identification document that proved that you didn't hold a bloodline. Being caught without one was an instant death sentence.
"Show me your identification."
Fuck.
My stomach had dropped from the first syllable that had left the shinobi's mouth. What did I do? Did I run? Fight? Neither option was especially appealing. Fucking fuckity fuck. I was fucked. I was fucked enough to not be able to think of any more fucking swear words. My mouth was completely dry as I started reaching with a shaky hand inside my ratty cloak, hoping to buy myself a few seconds.
Then, the decision was taken out of my hands.
"Hirako! This way!" the second sensor shinobi called from the other side of the wall.
Without giving me a second glance, the shinobi jumped back and joined his partner, before simultaneously leaving in a Shunshin.
I literally collapsed on the sidewalk from relief.
I immediately started berating myself for the dumbass amateur mistake I had just committed. I was supposed to draw the seal inside the barrel where I was safe! What had I been thinking, doing that in the open!? Did I want to get myself killed?
A few seconds later I got up and started walking away in the direction I had originally planned. It was time to locate this Murasa's warehouse and find a suitable place to wait the day out without drawing the attention of the shinobi who were almost literally crawling over the place.
Easier said than done.
It wasn't easy, but somehow I had managed to keep under the radar for the entire day. I had made sure I didn't run into the shinobi from earlier, and didn't let any other ninja see me twice. It was beyond nerve-wracking, but for the sake of the mission I persevered. Log only knew how career spies managed to keep their sanity.
Then again, looking at Kabuto, perhaps they didn't.
Still, it was just past sundown, and I had heard rumors of a curfew, so I needed to find a place to crash quickly. I had planted a few Hiraishin markers around the place, so I was reasonably certain I could escape if it came to a fight; but I had just spent a couple of days inside a barrel full of fucking fish to avoid that. I had to find another way, and so far the seaman who had not tattled on me was my best bet.
Hehe, seaman.
Cracking a smile at my juvenile humor I walked into the alley, fully expecting a bunch of Kirigakure shinobi to attack me. Once more, I was pleasantly surprised to find that only the seaman was there. Hey, maybe this karma thing was good for something after all!
He gave me a wary look and looked around; trying to give the impression that he wasn't loitering in a dingy alley after dark. I rolled my eyes and walked up to him. "It's me."
He gave me a weird look, "Who? I don't recognize you. Get away from me."
I rolled my eyes. "Would it help if I had a fish in my mouth again?"
He gaped at me for a moment, "You're a shinobi!?" he hissed in a combination of panic and incredulity.
I locked eyes with him, "Yes." I said quietly.
"Fuck! Please don't kill me! I'm sorry! I'm not with the Resistance!"
I rolled my eyes, "I'm not a Kirigakure shinobi."
He gaped at me for a moment with his mouth open wide, before he turned tail and started to run.
He had taken two steps when, in a quiet and firm voice, I said "Listen."
I'm not entirely sure why he stopped, but I was glad he did. I had his attention; now I needed to keep it until I convinced him to help me.
"All day I've been walking around here, scared out of my mind that someone will catch me and kill me, and I've only been here for a day. I have no idea how hard it must be for you to live under this sort of oppression for years. I may be a shinobi, but you're a stronger person than I will ever be."
He had turned back to me, regarding me with wide eyes.
"What's your name?" I asked him gently.
"M-" for a second I was irrationally pissed that he was about to say 'Masao', but thankfully he didn't, "Musuke."
"Musuke-san, it's nice to meet you. I'm Nanashi."
He blinked in surprise, before narrowing his eyes. "How do you expect me to give you my trust if you give me a fake name?"
Ugh. I forgot about the dog-crap name the Sandaime had saddled me with. I went with the same thing that I had told Naruto, "I'm an orphan. I didn't have a name at the orphanage, so they just started calling me Nanashi. I don't even notice it anymore, it surprises me when people ask about it", I said sheepishly, rubbing the back of my head.
"Oh" he looked surprised, then confused. I let him take a moment to gather himself, even though we were effectively out in the open and exposed.
"Uhh…why did you come here?"
I smiled at him, "I came to help your Resistance overthrow the tyranny of the Yondaime Mizukage."
His eyes had widened to the size of saucers. He wordlessly gaped at me; he was making a habit of doing so, I realized. But the time for talking was over.
"Can we go somewhere safe?"
He blinked in surprise a couple of times, before shaking his head and gathering himself. "Come on. Curfew is soon, and I don't want to be caught in the city once it hits."
It turned out that he knew a way out of the city which wasn't guarded, so we snuck out that way, making the point of me not having any identification moot. Once we were out of the city he started leading the way, walking briskly since it was getting very dark very quickly. In fact, it hadn't been 30 minutes since sundown and the sky was the almost pure black of the night. It must be an island thing…oh. The country was more to the east, so days here began earlier than the Fire Nation and consequently ended earlier as well.
It was already quite dark, so I didn't really get to appreciate the natural beauty that I knew that Mizu possessed. On the other hand, the stars started winking into existence full force; I was quite sure I hadn't ever seen as many stars from the mainland. There was just something magical about the place; the scent of the salt in the breeze, the stars twinkling overhead, the gentle sound of the waves creeping along the sand of the beaches. For a moment I just stopped and let the place wash over me, raising my head to the skies with my eyes wide shut and my arms raised slightly, taking a deep breath. I don't think I had ever been at peace like this before.
I opened my eyes and spied the curious eyes of Musuke on me. "You have a beautiful country, Musuke-san."
He was still looking at me strangely, but he finally turned and started walking again. "That's why I believe it's worth fighting for."
I just stared after him for a minute. Earlier, when I had told him that he was a stronger person than me, I had been using a simple psychological trick to make him more pliable to me and my ideas. But I truly looked at him now; he was a simple civilian, a dock worker and a sailor by vocation. He had no strength to speak of whatsoever; I could kill him in 15 different ways in the time it took for him to blink. Any shinobi worth his salt could, and he knew that; and yet he was fighting against the regime just because he thought it was worth fighting. He couldn't make too much of a difference in the long run, but he could help a little. And every little helped; he instinctively understood that, and was more than willing to do his bit.
I swallowed. He was truly far stronger than anybody gave him credit for, myself included. There are different kinds of strength, in the world, but he had the one that mattered most, strength of character.
In a few minutes, with barely a few sentences, he had turned my perception of civilians completely around.
I wonder what else civilians could teach us shinobi that we were missing.
I shook my head at my philosophical thoughts. I hadn't been on this land for more than a few hours, and it had already started changing me. I started following him again.
We moved off the beaten path after another 20 minutes of walking, following a goat trail. After another few minutes we made it to a small house in the wilderness with a small goat pen at the side. At this time of the evening the goats were quiet, but the noise made by the insects was raucous. I don't think I had ever heard these many insects in my life; I wonder what an Aburame would make of it. Shelving that thought, I followed Musuke into his house.
"Welcome to my home", he said with a bow.
I bowed far deeper than he had, thereby honoring him. "Thank you for your hospitality."
Once again, he had that gob-smacked expression on his face. I couldn't help it this time, "If you let your face stay that way, an insect will probably fly into your mouth."
He shut his mouth quickly and gave me an embarrassed smile.
Once I was inside I quickly drew up a sealing barrier circle on his living room floor and channeled the tiniest amount of chakra through it, causing it to snap shut around me. The barrier was now active; therefore whatever chakra was channeled inside it was not going to be detectable by any means. I quickly created three more Kage Bunshin who immediately cleared the seal holding my Henge together, allowing me to breathe a sigh of relief; this caused me to immediately choke as the overwhelming smell of fish quickly overpowered my nose.
"Yuck! Can I impose on you to take a bath, Musuke-san? A fireplace to burn these fishy clothes would also not go unappreciated." I had no idea why I was talking so formally, but hey! I'm in a new place; I can try a new personality.
Musuke nodded at me, "Of course, Nanashi-san. But I haven't had a chance to buy any soap since I landed back on shore, so I'm afraid you will just have to make do with just water." He then tilted his head as his eyes fixed on a spot in my hair. "Uhh… you have a little…"
My hand reflexively went to the place where his eyes were centered, combing through my spiky locks until I found something tangled in them. I picked it out and put it in my palm before taking a long, deliberate look at it.
It was a squishy piece of fish gut, the remains of 'Masao'.
Musuke stared at the piece of marine entrails in my hand with a sort of confused fascination. "Is that…"
"I don't want to talk about it." I interrupted him, sounding short.
Even by my own standards, the final 16 hours inside the barrel had been weird.
I tossed away the stupid piece of fish out of a window, before quickly making my way to the bathroom to forget that any of that shit had ever happened. Fucking fish.
The water was cold, but somehow it was refreshing instead of chilling. There was also something…soft about it. I can't explain it, but it wasn't the same water that we got in the Fire Nation. There was probably a water filtration plant or something involved there, whereas here it was au naturel. Still, I enjoyed taking a long bath, scrubbing as vigorously as I could without soap or shampoo, and compensating for their lack by using far more water than I normally used.
Hey, this was Water Country, they had plenty to spare.
One by one the Kage Bunshin I had created came back into the Sealing circle I had erected and dispelled, their jobs setting perimeter seals and a few Hiraishin getaway markers completed. There was no sense in taking any chances; I wasn't entirely convinced that Musuke was a true member of the Resistance, but my doubts shrank with each second that I spent in his presence. His reaction when he had thought that I was a shinobi was very telling; I hadn't detected any falsehoods on his part.
One of my Kage Bunshin's was on guard anyway. There was no sense in taking unnecessary risks.
"So what's the plan?" I asked him, back in the living room of his one bedroom house.
He scratched his head, "Well, I don't really know…Usually I get my instructions from underneath a loose stone in a public bathroom."
A dead drop. It made sense. "Who is your handler? Surely you can get in touch with him?"
His eyebrows scrunched in confusion, "Handler?"
"The person who you keep in touch with; the person who brought you into the Resistance."
"Ah." His confusion cleared up, "He's in another city that's far away from here. I stumbled on him accidentally, but he told me about this drop site. I've not actually seen anybody in the Resistance since, other than two more dock workers. They know about as much as I do though."
I nodded. "All right, then tomorrow, instead of taking instructions, you leave them instead. Address it to the guy who recruited you, and set up a meeting with him. Tell them you have found a possible benefactor; then hang around the dock like you normally do. At the end of your shift, check again for instructions, and then come straight back here. Understood?"
He nodded; his eyes serious as he committed everything to memory. "What about you?"
I grimaced, "I don't have any identification, so it's not safe for me to be around the city. I nearly got caught as soon as I left the warehouse today. " I tilted my head at him, "Unless you can arrange for identification for me?"
His expression turned grave as he shook his head in negative. "It's not at all easy. Someone higher in the Resistance can probably help you out later, but I'm too low on the totem pole."
I nodded with a reassuring smile, "That's all right, you don't need to overextend yourself. You've helped me out tremendously as it is. I had no idea how to go about finding the Resistance; running into you was a tremendous stroke of luck."
He looked at me calculatingly and murmured, "Or maybe it was meant to happen."
I inclined my head. It was quite possible.
We discussed a few more details before we had a quick dinner of rice and fish. He retired to his bedroom, while I stayed on the couch. I didn't let myself fall completely asleep, but I let my body relax and allowed my mind to drift in a state of restful wakefulness. If any threats made themselves known I would barely take a second to react.
Thankfully though, there were no threats that night.
It was extremely early the next morning when Musuke left for his shift; the sun rose far earlier in the eastern nation. This also meant that I was all alone with my thoughts. Unlike the Barrel Experience I didn't lose my shit this time, but instead I started wondering about all the other stuff in my life. I didn't think about all that I had lost in my own life; but instead I thought about what all I had started to make for myself in this life. The way I saw it, I had two lives. Thinking about the people from my first life was far too painful; not to mention that pushing the personalities of the people I had grown to love and care for, on to children was beyond unfair. This especially applied to people like Hinata and Sakura-chan; I had to treat them as if they were completely new to me. Otherwise I was the only one going to get hurt.
In any case, I had already mourned them and moved on. Going backwards held nothing for me.
That said, moving forwards came with its own set of problems. Namely, my newest relationship; if it could be even quantified as such. I had tried to talk to Anko about our relationship on two or three occasions, but she always managed to distract me; usually by shedding all her clothes. It was an effective technique, and after the last time I had taken the hint. She just wanted to keep things physical; that was fine with me too. I would have liked to have something deeper with her; despite being terrified of her I was still attracted to her, and our verbal spars were something I genuinely enjoyed. There was a lot of fire between the two of us, and she was more than willing to fan the flames. That's not to say that I just lay there and let her have her wicked way with me; heh, not by a long shot.
In fact, on the few occasions I had taken charge, she had proven to be surprisingly docile.
It was something that had really surprised me. She had always seemed so sure of herself, always so in control, I would have expected that to extend to the bedroom; but whenever I asserted myself she turned very compliant, eagerly allowing me to set the pace and just letting herself go.
It was yet another piece of the enigma that was Mitarashi Anko.
I let out a sigh as I looked at the sun continuing its ascent. It was going to be a long day; that much was certain. I also had nothing better to do, so I let myself think about my problems again.
I was…dissatisfied with the relationship that I had with Anko. Don't get me wrong, the sex was fantastic and kinky, so I had no complaints there. I've had purely physical relationships before, most notably with Kurotsuchi, formerly of Iwa (my time); I know that they had their own place in our lives. No, what I didn't really like was the way there was no intimacy between us. I really missed that, talking with someone all night until the sun came up and not feeling the least bit tired; lying with someone in my arms for hours, doing absolutely nothing, letting the world spin on its axis while we were on a different planet entirely.
Still, I knew that Anko cared for me on some level; she wouldn't be training Naruto otherwise.
Yeah, she was mean to him and made fun of him, but it was never pointless, and she was never cruel to him. She pranked him, but always made him think. It was a very weird way to teach someone; but then again Naruto was a very weird kid. He was broken, just like Anko was.
Just like I was.
I shook my head and sighed again. The really weird thing was the last night I had been in the village, after I had dinner at Ichiraku's with Naruto. Anko had come over as usual, and once we were done fornicating she got dressed as usual, but instead of her usual 'see ya later shitstain' she gave me a very quick chaste kiss before quickly leaving. It was really confusing. She hadn't said a word during the entire night at all.
Ugh. In any case, if things went well here I wouldn't see her for the next year; at least. She could sort out her feelings in the meantime. It wasn't like there was anyone else on my mind.
In another part of the country, Terumī Mei daintily sneezed as she read over the report from the port informing her that there was a possible shinobi benefactor for the Resistance.
I then turned my attention to the other relationships in my life. Firstly I thought of the Sandaime, who, now that I thought about it, looked quite tired before I left for my trip to Mizu. He was probably worried about the logistics of the mission; it was potentially the biggest mission in his reign, first or second. Uniting the 5 great villages together was no easy task; and this mission could blow up spectacularly in his face and cause a war. I had lost sleep over that possibility as well.
I hadn't had a lot of time to spend with Jiraiya; but he had travelled with me to Degarashi Port, and we chatted all the way, quite easily falling into a rhythm. It was new to him, but he was always one to go with the flow. By the end of our journey we were talking and laughing as if we were old friends. It was something that truly made me happy, reconnecting with the most important figure in my life, bar perhaps Iruka-sensei. It was a shame that I wouldn't get time to spend with him for more than a year, but that was all right. The very fact that he was alive was a balm to me and filled me with happiness. I couldn't wait to share a drink with him; something I had missed out on last time around.
Naruto, of course, was the one person that I spent the most time with. I made sure to spend enough time playing with him and goofing around, giving him the childhood that I had been denied; it was cathartic for both of us. Having someone to take care of him and dote on him was a new experience, and we both made mistakes and fought, being naturally stubborn people; but every time we had a fight Naruto insisted we follow the Way of Ramen and cooked us a batch of instant noodles as a peace offering.
It was extremely effective. Truly, Ramen could change the world.
But our time together was not all fun and games. Since I had a unique insight into his mind I helped him with his Academy lessons, and actually caught up with them myself. Hey, 13 years late is better than never!
When I had told him that his chakra was different to everyone else's he whined and complained; but grudgingly completed all the chakra control exercises that I had assigned to him. It wasn't his fault, since our father had just sealed the Yang half of the Kyūbi into him he naturally had problems with control, since Yang was all about essence, not shape. But once he saw the results of training I had assigned to him, his vociferous complaining had reduced in quantity and volume.
I had made especially sure to swear him to silence about his chakra control exercises. There was no sense in letting Mizuki sabotage him any further.
Taijutsu was something that he couldn't really get into at this point, what with him being a squirt and all. Still, I gave him another few exercises that were designed to get him faster. I already knew that he would be better-than-average with the Toad-style Taijutsu, so I simply lay the foundation for that.
Genjutsu…ah well. That would never be his forte. If things got really bad, I would probably ask Tsunade to help me draw the Genjutsu nullifying seal that was on my own Gate of Life.
Speaking of genjutsu, my thoughts turned to Kurenai, who had surprisingly become a good training partner and sparring partner as well. Although I did notice that she smiled less at me after the day Anko had walked up to us, I put it down to a weird feminine pissing contest between the two. In any case, Asuma sensei and she had had a child in the future; I wasn't going to come in the way of that.
I had picked up the Illusory Arts quickly, which was surprising to me initially; but I had always had a good imagination. In hindsight, utilizing an art that was basically messing with people's heads sounded almost tailor made for me. I had learned a few moderate Genjutsu's, the strongest one being B-ranked. Where I did hit a block was at my chakra control.
Don't get me wrong, my control was pretty fantastic at this point, far beyond what I had ever dreamed. However, Genjutsu was all about the feather-touch; slipping your chakra into an enemy's tenketsu and travelling up to their brain before they ever even knew that they were under attack. I got the hand of the battlefield genjutsu pretty well, but the ones that were geared towards silent assassination were beyond me. The reason for it was simple.
I refused to introspect any further.
I never said that I hadn't come out of my war unscathed.
There were some wounds that I refused to heal.
If it meant that I could never use the Illusory Arts to their fullest potential, so be it.
But there were more uses for Yin chakra. Iryo-ninjutsu had always fascinated me, and now that I had better control I decided to give it a try. To my surprise, I was able to use the Shōsen (Mystical Palm) technique, something I was informed that not everybody was able to pull off. The Shōsen worked by converting one's chakra into a form that stimulated cell growth in whatever it came into contact with, thereby causing healing. Skilled medical ninjas were those that knew the body inside out, and could therefore turn their chakra into the exact place it needed to go, repairing only what was needed without causing any unneeded regeneration elsewhere. There was a lot more that went into it, of course, but as a blanket explanation it sufficed.
I didn't have the patience for learning the anatomy of the human body, so I decided to stick with an incomplete form of the Shōsen. It was akin to drowning the affected area in drugs and hoping something worked, but it was effective as a stopgap measure or battlefield healing; which was what I was aiming for to start with, so I came away from the training pleased with the outcome.
One of the training sessions I was invited to for Iryo-nin's was also attended by Kabuto; it took me a lot of self-control to not as much as look at him, lest I snap and kill him on the spot.
To my surprise, I realized that it was past lunchtime.
As I fixed myself a quick meal I wondered what Musuke was up to. Hopefully his message had been picked up today itself; if it was still in its drop site at the end of the day the process would take significantly longer. Still, Jiraiya had trained me well enough; I knew that being a spy meant that one had to be extremely patient. I could do it, but that didn't mean I had to like it.
All right, that was enough introspection. Maybe Musuke had a game board? That way I could play against myself via Kage Bunshin. A cursory search of his home failed to turn up anything, and I refused to go into his bedroom out of respect for the man. Having nothing better to do I flopped down on the sofa with a groan. I might as well take a nap.
4 hours later
A mental nudge from my sentry Kage Bunshin jerked me into full alertness. Despite my best attempts, I had let myself fall into a deep relaxing sleep, reasoning that my Kage Bunshin were guard enough, and not knowing when the next time I got a full cycle of sleep would be.
I took a moment to quickly analyze my surroundings, before hearing footsteps come closer to the house. A quick check outside proved the visitor to be Musuke, who was walking calmly. I quickly analyzed his body language, looking for any subtle clues of his impending betrayal; but I found none. Instead, he seemed excited, if the speed of his footsteps were any indication. I nodded to myself, but kept my chakra wound tightly inside myself, ready to use the Hiraishin to transport myself out of trouble at a moment's notice.
Musuke quickly entered the house, sliding his door shut behind me with his face betraying his excitement. "They replied! They want to meet you! Tonight!"
I blinked in surprise. That was unexpected. I was fully prepared for a long stakeout, perhaps even sneak into the port under Musuke's guise and identification looking for the higher ranked members of the Seperatists; but this was beyond my wildest hopes.
Naturally, I was instantly suspicious.
"That seems…very fortunate." I stated noncommittally.
"Not really! Today is usually the day I get my orders, so I left early to leave them instead! And it worked!"
I nodded slowly, "So it seems."
Musuke wasn't a fool, immediately catching on to my somber reaction to the good news. "I thought that this was what you wanted…"
I nodded again, and said lightly, "Of course it is. It sounds like everything just fell into my lap easily." I narrowed my eyes at him, "Too easily."
He tilted his head in confusion and wariness, "Look, I did what you asked for and got the response, just like you wanted. What more do you want?"
I let my voice drop into a dangerous tone, "If I go to this meeting and it turns out to be a trap…" I deliberately didn't finish the sentence, letting him fill in the blanks.
Instead of a look of fear like I expected, his countenance was overtaken by fury. "Or what, you'll kill me?" he spat. "I should have known better than to think that you were different; you're just another one of them, a shinobi." The sheer venom in his voice took me aback; but Musuke wasn't done. "Here" he carelessly threw the paper at my face, but it flew past and landed on the floor. "Take this and get out of my home."
My mouth opened in shock. This was not how I had envisioned the conversation ending. "Liste-"
"OUT!" he yelled, his eyes wide and his face reddening with anger.
I silently picked up the piece of paper and walked to the door, quickly slipping on my sandals before sliding it open. As soon as I was outside I turned and bowed to Musuke, as deeply as before, "Thank you for your-"
SLAM!
"-hospitality." I sighed. "That could have gone better." I muttered to myself as I started walking again, leaving the sentry Kage Bunshin where it was. The sealing circle was still present on Musuke's floor; the Kage Bunshin would sneak into his house later at night and wipe it clean.
Once more, I was forcibly reminded that the world was larger than shinobi. When Konoha had been formed a century ago, it had more or less heralded the end of the samurai, who were the undoubted leaders of the organized fighting forces till then. They had been dying a quiet death ever since; a death that had lasted a century. Their code of honour was obsolete in today's world.
Just like shinobi had been rendered obsolete in my past.
Did we really make things better for everyone?
I shook my head, now was not the time for this kind of thinking. I lay the page flat on my palm, allowing the moonlight to illuminate the page and see the note. It turned out to be a map with an 'x' marking the location, and a scribbled 0:30 written at the edge of the page. I quickly memorized the map, noting the differences with the ones that I had been poring over back in Konoha. This was a regional map, mostly showing the sprawling port city in the center. I had to travel to the south and slightly to the west, apparently in a location with no beaches.
I quickly started making my way over, stuffing the map in my pocket. I had procured clothing that was exported to Mizu no Kuni, so that I could blend in with the locals. I didn't have my Henge on at the moment, but I don't think it truly mattered. Nobody knew who I was in this world. Yet.
But maybe I should wear the Henge, in case the meeting was a trap?
I shuddered as I remembered the scene in the port outside the warehouse. I didn't want to set off any more chakra flares if I could help it.
I travelled as quickly as I could without leaving a noticeable trail (thank you Ao-senpai!), so it was more than two hours before I reached the meeting place. It still meant that I was about four hours early though, so I cautiously swept through the area for traps before climbing a nearby tree to hide in.
The area was a forested cliffside overlooking the ocean, so it was quite chilly at this time of the night. I didn't dare use my chakra to warm myself, so I was stuck shivering in the cold. I found a branch that stuck out so that the trunk protected me from the wind directly, but I could do nothing about the temperature. I tied the ratty cloak around me as tightly as I could, hoping it would be enough.
The only thing left to do was wait.
Unlike the Barrel Experience and the day lazing around Musuke's house, this wait was fraught with tension. I had to keep my senses extended as much as possible and simultaneously keep my chakra as suppressed as possible; it was not an easy balance to maintain. Combined with the elements I was extremely strained, and very close to the breaking point. But atleast the four hours had passed, and it was past midnight. 'Hold on just a few more minutes' I thought to myself.
But 0:30 hours came and went, and there was no sign of anyone approaching the cliffside.
I was almost frantic at this point. What was going on? I spread my senses as far as possible; but there was nobody in range. The only sounds were the wind whistling against the trees and the splashing of the water against the bottom of the cliff.
The rhythmic splashing.
With a start, I realized that the messenger was already there.
I tore out of the tree and ran as quickly as I could to the edge of the cliff. I looked down to see a small two person boat slowly moving away from the cliff already. Fuck! I couldn't yell at the boat to stop; neither could I use chakra to run down the cliff. Both of those options would definitely draw attention.
Which left jumping off the cliff.
I sincerely hoped that there weren't any rocks underneath.
I took a deep breath and took a running jump as I dived towards the water, more than a hundred meters below me.
The feeling of flying through the air was exhilarating; an adrenaline rush unlike any I had ever felt. I luxuriated in the feeling of absolute freedom as I flew through the air, for a moment just enjoying the release and feeling the wind tear through my hair as I felt myself at peace.
If there was nowhere to land, I wouldn't have been scared at all.
But reality hit in the form of an incalculable weight of water; thankfully there were no rocks underneath the surface to dash me to pieces.
I spent a few moments underneath the water, shocked at how cold it was. Then I saw the way the bubbles were rising and quickly followed them, my hands cupping the water as my feet kicked, spying the surface of the water after a few moments. I broke through the surface of the water and spat out the salty liquid, taking a few deep breaths to calm my racing heart.
That had been unbelievably fun!
I quickly spied the boat and swam toward it, promising myself that I would definitely do that again. The guy rowing the boat had likely stopped rowing as soon as he had heard the splash, because the boat was drifting slowly. I swam towards the one of the sides before hearing a gruff voice say "This side." I quickly switched sides, coming around the side the voice had indicated. A dark figure knelt over, sticking out a hand; one that I gratefully grasped as I pushed a foot against the bottom of the boat for leverage. I was very careful not to use chakra, suppressing my instinctive reaction to do so.
I flopped ungainly on to the 'deck', leaking gallons of water on to the boat. The guy who had pulled me on gave me a moment to catch my breath. "You the benefactor?" he asked me in his gruff voice. I nodded, picking myself up and taking a seat. "Where are you from?"
"Does it matter?" I asked him. He grunted and started to row.
A few minutes passed and I noticed us going further south. "Where are we going?"
He grunted, "Does it matter?"
Despite myself, I felt a smile twitch my lips. I started looking at the continually changing landscape, enjoying the hypnotic sounds of the waves and the rowing of the oars. I'm not experienced enough with boats or naval travel in general, but I think that the boatman steered us into a current so that we moved quickly for a part of the way.
An indeterminate amount of time later we finally started pulling into shore. I couldn't make out any village or dock nearby, so we were likely going to a hidden location. Once we were in the shallow water he jumped out and started pulling on a rope to drag his boat to shore; I jumped out and assisted him, receiving a grunt of thanks in reply.
Once he had secured the boat by tying it against a tree he started leading me down a path through the trees. By now I was almost completely certain that this wasn't a trap, I was really in touch with the Separatists. There wouldn't need to be this much cloak-and-dagger nonsense, they could simply have overwhelmed me with numbers back at the cliffside. Of course, I would have escaped via Hiraishin, but that was beside the point.
No sooner had that thought crossed my mind that I felt a large number of chakra signatures ahead of me.
I gulped silently. Either it was the rebels, or I was fucked. Using the Hiraishin to escape was a dead giveaway, and every shinobi village would hear about it in a matter of days, and know that the Yellow Flash lived again. That would put a serious dent into making nice with Iwa, let alone the fallout with the regime of the Yondaime Mizukage.
We finally came into a clearing where a small house was situated; but it belied the disproportionate amount of chakra signatures I could sense. Underground then. I let the boatman lead the way into the house and head towards the kitchen, where he moved the table out of the way before pulling a cleverly hidden trapdoor open. He led the way down the stairs and stopped before the door, before giving a coded knock on the door. The door creaked open and he looked at someone before nodding once. He then moved aside and gestured me to enter the through door.
I walked into a dingy, dimly lit corridor.
The door slammed shut behind me; but I didn't jump at the rather obvious scare tactics. Instead I just turned and raised an eyebrow as if to ask 'Really'? The guy who had tried to scare me just scowled in reply. My eyebrow remained raised; clearly he was supposed to lead me somewhere, since the boatman remained on the other side of the door. His scowl deepened, but he pushed himself off the door and walked past me, deliberately jostling into me.
It pissed me off, but I kept my cool.
As I followed him I caught glimpses of people around the base; hard faces, haggard faces, hopeless faces. The scene was eerily familiar to my own time, when my ragtag group of ninja hid in base after base. Unconsciously my walk had changed, I started to emit an aura of power, looking everyone in the eye and nodding seriously. It was a way to keep morale amongst the troops, let them know that one of the most powerful people saw you and acknowledged you. It was so ingrained in me, so natural; I didn't even realize I was doing it until I felt the eyes of everyone in the corridor upon me.
I wanted to swallow. I wanted to fidget. I did none of those things.
I was a strong shinobi.
That was the only impression these people would get from me.
I had been busy memorizing the corridor layout, trying to identify potential exit points, memorizing the number of people, analyzing their potential attack styles with a look.
I was in the zone.
This was definitely the Resistance.
I got another boost of confidence, one that I hadn't needed. I had been in this situation before. A lifetime ago, I had helped people like these. I could help these people. I would help these people. My sandals snapped firmly against the floor as I reached the end of the corridor, sensing a large concentration of chakra signatures inside the door.
An almost violent sense of anticipation ripped through me. I smiled savagely underneath my facemask. I'm ready to change the world.
Inside the War Room, Rebel Hidden Base, Unknown Location, Water Country
Terumī Mei was a beautiful woman.
She had always known it. She had always used it to her advantage.
Terumī Mei was an exceptionally strong kunoichi.
Her father had made sure of that. The Bloody Mist Village had further honed the blade.
Terumī Mei had been a prodigious seductress, going so far as to earn the moniker 'Red Widow' due to her vibrant hair color and the death that she brought to her victims; this came to an abrupt halt when she became too famous for such missions.
Once she had outgrown the seduction corps, she used her unique dual-Kekkei Genkai to become an absolute monster on the battlefield. She had a large amount of chakra, likely due to having an Uzumaki as a grandmother. She had risen quickly through the ranks, becoming one of the strongest Jōnin and one of the most recognizable shinobi in Kirigakure. Clients regularly requested her services, diplomats always asked for her to be in their guard, her Bingo Book entry labelled her an A-rank kunoichi at the relatively tender age of 20. She was a rising star, and rightly proud of the fact.
And then Yagura had plunged her village into a pointless civil war.
Terumī Mei never called Yagura 'Mizukage'; in her opinion, the psychopathic despot did not deserve to be called as such. He had wreaked an unprecedented nightmare on the village she had sworn to protect; for his treason, she intended to execute him. She was a strong and capable ninja, she was almost certain that she could take on the jinchūriki Kage and win; she had managed to hold him off while the rest of the Bloodline wielders had escaped their village upon the declaration that all Bloodline holders were 'impure'. That was when she had founded the Resistance. She kept it going through sheer force of will; their numbers grew every day. It might take her years, but she would bring Yagura down.
Terumī Mei was 26 years old. She was of prime marriageable age; yet there were no suitors worthy of her hand. That's not to say that she hadn't had offers; heh, no, not by a long shot. Men had always lusted after her, they had always undressed her with their eyes, always thought that they were being discreet when their lecherous stares molested her. She had had the pleasure of melting such men with her Yōton (Lava Release) before, and doubtless would again. But good men were hard to find. Good men who were nice men were even harder.
Good men who were nice men who were also good looking were impossible to find.
And she wanted a good man who was nice, good looking and strong.
Her parents had raised her with the belief that men and women complemented, and therefore completed, each other. Seeing how utterly besotted they were with each other only served to underline the lesson. She had always wanted love in her life ever since.
Terumī Mei had never been in love. There had been a boy who she had been infatuated with when she was 15; but he broke her heart. She reacted…poorly. Violently. And since then, she had promised herself that she would never settle for anything less than the man of her dreams.
Needless to say, she was still looking.
Terumī Mei was sincerely worried that by the time she found such a man, she would be too old and too wrinkly to be pretty enough for him; even though her Uzumaki heritage made such a thing unlikely. But all women had their deepest, darkest fears; hers was being too ugly to attract the man of her dreams.
But above all else, Terumī Mei wanted to bring peace to Mizu no Kuni. Her people had always been savage isolationists, coming from the different islands that made up her country; they were obsessively xenophobic towards anyone who wasn't from the same island as them. Sometimes, they were even resentful of people who lived on the other side of the river from them.
It's a Mizu thing.
All things considered, Terumī Mei was surprised that Kirigakure had even been formed in the first place. But then, she supposed, the only thing stronger than the disdain the denizens of Mizu no Kuni felt towards one another was the utter revulsion reserved for people from other countries. She sighed; and she wanted to become the leader of this nation of selfish conceited elitist pricks. But it was her duty to single-handedly drag her nation into modern times; she would gladly sacrifice everything for her duty.
Even her dream of marriage.
Terumī Mei had received word of a 'benefactor' earlier this day. She had mentally scoffed; doubtless it was another attempt at infiltrating her Resistance. Atleast Kiri had used better vernacular this time; not to mention that the witless dock worker was still alive at the time the 'benefactor' had been picked up. Usually the loyalists didn't even wait that long to execute 'traitors'. Still, she was not going to let her guard down.
Which was why she had brought a sizable fighting force with her.
She had an exfiltration plan once the 'meeting' was revealed to be a trap. Still, there was an infinitesimally small chance that the 'benefactor' was real. Even though borders were locked down and exits from Mizu were strictly prohibited, word about the civil war was bound to get out. It was the nature of ninja business, secrets rarely remained secret. But she was not foolish enough to take chances.
Terumī Mei could hear the confident clacking of the benefactor's sandals in the hallway. This was a surprise; he had been reported to be a shinobi, and shinobi were quiet. It was definitely a statement of intent then; the benefactor was certain that he could take on whatever was inside the room.
Then the door opened, and Terumī Mei's life changed.
The very first impression that she had of her visitor was that he definitely wasn't a Kiri shinobi. In fact, looking at the masked shinobi in front of her, she was reminded of the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on, the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato. This man was of the almost the same height as the deceased Hokage, and was clearly in his early twenties; the same age that Namikaze Minato had been when he passed away a decade ago. While this man likely wasn't the Yondaime Hokage, the resemblance was too uncanny to ignore. He was probably of the same bloodline; therefore the likely 'benefactors' were Konoha.
The second impression that she had of him was that he was a powerful shinobi.
Whenever a shinobi walks into a room, they always take a cursory look around; noting entrances, exits, potential hiding places, potential weapons, the number of people in a room; you know, standard information. This man was so confident in his abilities that he did none of the above; in fact, since he had walked in, he had locked eyes with Mei, and was staring unblinkingly at her. She could feel his chakra wound tightly inside him, the potency of it, the power he held…he was definitely a powerful shinobi.
The third impression that she had of him was that he was definitely a pervert; just like every other man she had come across. His piercing blue eyes had finally drifted away from hers and were wandering, first to the crimson lock of hair that obscured half her face, no doubt imagining tucking it behind her ear (exactly as she intended). Then his eyes trailed to her lips, no doubt imagining lewd acts that she would never perform again. Undoubtedly the next destination his eyes would journey to would be a quick stop at her cleavage, before he… oh?
He hadn't even taken a cursory look at her décolletage; in fact his eyes were locked with hers again. His pupils hadn't even dilated when his eyes were on her lips, meaning that he hadn't even taken a discreet look at her body.
Mei actually blinked in surprise. She didn't know whether to be pleased or offended; was she not pretty enough? In any case, her third impression was…not entirely correct. Perhaps this man was not a complete pervert.
Her fourth impression was that he used the same fish oil on his hair that her mother swore by. While it gave her mother's hair fantastic volume and an unbelievable shine (while also preventing split-ends), the trade-off was that she smelled like a fish almost all the time. But her father had never complained; in fact, whenever her mother washed out the oil, her father found any excuses he could to run his fingers through her mother's hair. Mei had decided not to smell like a fish, but perhaps she should reconsider…
CLANG!
She whipped her head around to glare at the absolute idiot who had carelessly dropped his kunai. To make matters worse, it was a guy who was supposed to be hidden on the darkened roof of the room; a source of a surprise attack should the trap be sprung. The poor man started wilting as if she had used one of her Yōton techniques on him instead of an ocular attack. From what she could gather, his pouch had been on the wrong side of his body and gravity had done the rest.
Great, now the benefactor probably thought that her shinobi were unprofessional.
She turned back to the man with the haunting blue eyes, only to see that he, too, had been glaring at the idiot who had dropped his kunai. She needed to distract him before his impression of her forces sank in too deep.
"Why are you here?" she asked him in a low tone.
His eyes had snapped back to hers the moment the first syllable had left her lips. He tilted his head, considering the statement, searching it for hidden meanings; but he didn't respond verbally, instead he just raised an eyebrow at her. It was an effective response, if her query had been taken at face value: his very presence in the base had answered that question. If there was a hidden query in her question: he gave nothing away. People's reactions to ambiguous statements often give away more than their words, and this man knew the value of words. Mei felt her estimation of him rise even further.
"Why do you want to help my people?" was her second question.
Once more he tilted his head, before his eyes, the only visible part of his face, crinkled in a smile.
He had said nothing, not a single word; and yet he had captured the attention of everyone in the room, herself included. He had taken charge of the conversation; it was her base, she was supposed to be in charge. On a whim, she decided to antagonize him to observe his reaction.
"If you thi-"
"Salutations to the Godaime Mizukage, Terumī Mei." He spoke in a strong voice, his posture confident, his shining blue eyes fixed on her. Despite her misgivings about the man, she had to admit that he had charisma.
Also, this was the very first time she had been referred to as the Godaime Mizukage. If the silence from her subordinates had been wary before, it was absolutely pregnant with anticipation now. With just one sentence, he had inspired hope in her people that they would be successful in their crusade for justice.
Also, it stroked her ego. This man was good.
"My Kage would like to discuss the terms of an alliance with you and your village." He tilted his head again and gave her his eye-smile once more. "May we speak privately?"
Mei was shocked to realize that she was flustered. She already knew that his words had inspired hope in her ragtag group of rebels; but she hadn't realized till that moment that it had inspired hope in herself too. She had been the heart of the rebellion, the rock from which everyone drew strength; but she was human too. In her darkest moments, she too had suffered from a crisis of faith; but being a leader meant that she could never show that side of herself. It meant that nobody was there to inspire her.
And yet, the man in front of her had done exactly that.
She took a moment to gather herself, and then said to the charismatic blond, "Follow me."
She heard the confident clacking of his sandals as he moved up behind her, following closely. She was feeling a little heady; this was really happening! Her rebellion had got the attention of one of the Great Five villages, arguably the greatest of the Five, and they wanted to help! Of course, they would expect concessions in the future, but that was to be expected; but the important thing was that they were not alone!
And yet, her favourite part about the whole situation was that the man behind her wasn't even staring at her ass. Her pervert senses were at full power, and they didn't register as much as tingle. She felt her lips twitch in a smile as she walked towards the door to her private office, hearing the rhythmic clacking of his sandals behind her.
She was a few feet away from her door when it happened.
The clacking suddenly increased in frequency, but she was too lost in her thoughts, and had committed the cardinal sin of a ninja.
She had let her guard down.
She suddenly saw the man's hand reach towards her and she froze, completely defenseless.
She should have known it was too good to be true. Yagura had played her perfectly; and now she was going to be assassinated. The Resistance was going to fall apart without her and Yagura's tyranny would be complete, causing Mizu to fall into a dark age from which it would never recover.
And yet, the last thought in her mind was the regret that she had never found the right man for herself.
All these thoughts warped through her mind at the speed of light; and then she was confused as the man reached past her as he drew level with her.
Then he walked past her and his hand landed on the doorknob, and he opened it and stood beside it, waiting for her to enter.
Once more, Mei blinked in surprise. Then she felt her heart give the most ginormous thump it had ever given as she felt the blood rush through her body.
He was being chivalrous.
Mei locked eyes with the man once again and this time gave him her special smile; one that regularly reduced men to drooling wrecks. The blood that was undoubtedly rushing through her face and the relief she was feeling only heightened the effect. She didn't even wait to see the results of her smile; something that she always did. It pleased her to see men's reaction to her beauty; but this man had earned that smile.
'Handsome, powerful, not a pervert, charismatic and chivalrous', Mei thought to herself as the smile refused to leave her face. It was official.
Terumī Mei was intrigued.
3 Minutes Ago: 4465617468
The scowling guy opened the door and gestured me in. I walked past him like he didn't even matter; he probably didn't, in the grand scheme of things. I was here for the big guns, whoever… they…
.
.
.
.
…gorgeous green eyes…
.
.
.
.
…long red hair…
.
.
.
.
…lips…
.
.
.
.
CLANG!
I GLARED at the motherfucker who had interrupted my moment. Didn't he see that there was an absolute goddess in front of me?
In fact, how had I forgotten that Terumī Mei was a total babe!? Was I really that dense as a kid!? (I decided not to pursue that line of thinking).
I suddenly realized that during my musings, Mei had asked me a question. The blood was still thundering in my ears, so I hadn't heard what she said, only a vague impression that her voice was as beautiful as the rest of her.
I tilted my head and raised an eyebrow, hoping that she would repeat herself. It would be too awkward to admit that I had taken leave of my senses.
Then she repeated her question, and I found out that I was wrong. Her voice was far more beautiful than the rest of her, it sounded like the song of a choir of angels. I just knew that she would be a fantastic singer. So enchanted was I by the sound of her voice that I completely forgot the words that had escaped her lips, focusing instead on her melodious voice. …this could be very embarrassing.
Suddenly, a light bulb came on in my head. This was what Jiraiya had been trying to get me to admit to, back in Sarutobi's office! He thought I wanted to storm the castle and save the princess! No wonder he had looked so green when I said Ao-senpai's name! An unbidden smile broke out across my face before I could control it. Hehe, it really was too funny.
Suddenly, I realized that I was just standing in the middle of a base, surrounded by potential enemies and smiling to myself like an idiot. I didn't shake my head, nothing so overt, but I snapped my mind back to mission-mode. There was work to do.
I think I interrupted her, but I just let my mouth do the talking. "Salutations to the Godaime Mizukage, Terumī Mei." Great. Now she probably thought I was a pretentious jackass. My mouth could really land me into trouble sometimes. Ugh. Well, nothing to do but own it. I charged ahead, "My Kage would like to discuss the terms of an alliance with you and your village." I really wasn't helping myself, was I? Blah. This wasn't a conference with a Daimyō; it was a clandestine meeting in a shady location with a bunch of shabbily dressed rebels. I suddenly recalled Hinata's words, 'When in doubt, smile'. Might as well. I tilted my head and smiled, hoping that that would do the trick. "May we speak privately?"
I saw the utterly gorgeous Terumī Mei think for a moment. No doubt she was wondering who the weirdo was, and whether she wanted to associate with the likes of me. Atleast she didn't know that I was from Konoha. If things went south, I could always escape.
"Follow me", she said in that harmonious voice; I actually had to work to separate the words from her voice to understand what she was saying. I know I had always been weird, but this was new even for me. Great, I had barely been here two minutes, and already I was in danger of failing the mission due to being an incompetent dumbass.
The least I could do was not spoil what was undoubtedly a terrible first impression; which is why I was chanting to myself as I walked behind her, 'Don't stare at her ass, don't stare at her ass, don't stare at her ass'. Then, as we reached her office, I saw certain salvation.
A closed door.
Manners long since drilled into me by both Ero-Sennin (surprisingly) and Hinata suddenly took over, and I walked quickly past her to open the door. She had stopped exactly where a lady should stop when she expects a chivalrous man to open the door for her; great. She was used to this sort of treatment. Ah, well, at least I hadn't worsened my horrible first impression. That counted for something, right?
Then she gave me a beautiful smile that made me weak to my knees.
I swear, my mind shorted out for a minute, as I stood at the door long after she had already walked through, like a dumb guard. I don't think I had ever received a smile like that before. In fact, I've had sex that wasn't as good as that smile made me feel. I then shook my head, clearing my thoughts.
Maybe my first impression wasn't so terrible after all.
Author's Note: Happy Star Wars Day! I'm off to have a sleepless night with the Machete Order before 9pm tomorrow evening to the event of the year!
What did you think about Mei? It took nearly 100k words till her first appearance in the story. Was it worth the wait? Or did you find it lacking?
Also, I have no idea where the whole 'fish' thing came from. I got bored and wanted to torture Nanashi, so I arbitrarily decided to shove him into a barrel full of fish. That got me thinking, how would Naruto react if he was forced to spend an inordinate amount of time in a barrel full of fish?
Sometimes, this story really weirds me out. Apparently, Nanashi is going to be smelling of fish for the rest of the story now. Don't ask me why, the story demanded it.
So, what were your thoughts? Like it? Hated it? Review! Let me know!
To all my reviewers: you are the shining light of my life. Your words put a smile on my face every morning, and I hope that my story puts a smile on yours!
To the rest of you: Less than two percent of the population who reads this story has left a review. I CALL BULLSHIT. This story is fucking amazing, and it deserves far more than what you've given so far; especially since it's crossed the 100k words mark. It's the season of giving. Leave a review. Make your author happy. Don't be Grinch-y.
That is all.