Sealkeeper: He Who Binds
Chapter 131-A "Touché"
Patron Release 2021.01.05
"Yep, just like I thought." Yaiji squinted critically at the approaching station, unbothered by the squealing of the engine's brakes. "You've overshot by…" He paused to make a quick estimate. "Twelve, maybe fifteen meters." Patting Juugo on the shoulder he smoothly stepped away from the engine and onto the station platform as Juugo continued onwards for a few more seconds. "Beyond that, very well done. It can take some time to get an instinctive feel for how long it will take to brake at a given speed and while you've been building the tracks I doubt you've paid too much attention to their actual lengths. You'll get more familiar with the routes in time."
"...I should have started right after that turn, the one with the circle of stumps."
"And you'll get used to landmarks. Yes, exactly right. At the speed we go though that turn starting your brake right at the stumps will get you almost all the way to this station. You'll want to release for just a second about a hundred meters off." He paused, considering his words. "Well, I suppose you could release the brakes for a second anywhere but if you do it a bit farther out it gives you more time to correct things later."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Good," Yaiji gave an approving nod while Juugo grabbed his bags and jumped down from the train. "That's exactly where it should be." Fishing in his pockets the man pulled out a half-crushed box of cigarettes and picked one out with his lips. While his other hand went looking for his lighter- he knew it was here somewhere- he shook the remaining cigarettes in vaguely Juugo's direction. "Want one?" He mumbled around his smoke, raising a brow.
"I don't smoke."
Yaiji shrugged, stuffing it back in his pocket and pulling out the lighter he'd been looking for. Even competing against the few lights of the newly constructed station the small flame of the lighter seemed especially bright in the first hours of night. The Crew-Lead took a long drag, spending a few seconds longer than usual to enjoy the simple, familiar action before exhaling it in a breath that was as much relief as it was smoke.
"You want to start?" He broke the silence, brow raised again, but he didn't even bother fishing his remaining cigarettes back out. He already knew the answer before he asked.
"I'll pass, thanks."
"Suit yourself," Yaiji shrugged again. "But know this position has more than its fair share of stress. I'd recommend finding something that helps you take the edge off so that this job doesn't wear you down too fast."
"I'm strong."
"Maybe." Yaiji fell silent again, scattered specks of snow fluttering close and being illuminated by the end of his cigarette with every breath. "Well, not maybe." The chuckle that escaped him left with small burst of smoke. "I know you're strong, physically, but while this job is definitely hard on the body it's more mentally exhausting than anything. The constant stress of deadlines and shortages- labor and material- add up. The axe hanging over your neck only ever seems to get closer. As well as you do it only delays it, they don't push it back. It's always a good idea to help relieve some of that tension, even for just a bit, so you have a chance of recuperating before it all starts again in the morning."
Juugo couldn't say he really understood what the man was saying but he was wise enough to know he probably should ignore any advice that was being offered to him.
"What sort of things would you recommend?" There was no harm giving some of them a try to see if he liked them and then, if nothing else, he'd know what he could do if he ever experienced what Yaiji was describing.
"Smokes are easiest by far. You can carry them with you throughout the day and pull 'em out if you need a quick break from the stress. Chewing tobacco's a bit more messy but same basic idea. Booze is hard, you can only really get away with more than a sip or two after work and if you drink too much the next day ain't going to be much fun for you. I suppose some like to hire.. company...when they can afford it." He paused as he noted Juugo's confused look. "Prostitutes, whores, ladies- or men- of the night. Soiled doves. Take your pick. They'll hire a companion for a night of carnal pleasure and hope to work the stress away like that."
"...Does it work?"
"For the night? I'd imagine so but it comes with its own host of problems. Money's the big one, followed by finding someone who's willing and clean. You have to worry about catching something from them, sometimes they'll try to rob you if you fall asleep on them, and of course Yuki no Kuni officially frowns on the act. You'll spend a few nights at a guard station and get slapped with a pretty fine if you get caught. Course most of these boneheads will start spending their whole workdays thinking about the women they're plannin' on spending the day's wages on." He shook his head in disappointment. "Not the sort of job that you can afford to be distracted doing, it's how you lose fingers or- gods forbid- take 'em off someone else."
"And you can't take them with you during the day."
"Heh, yeah, you're right about that. Tobacco really is the best option, I've found, but if that don't suit you there are other substances you can try. Thing is most of them that help relax you are going to affect your judgement or make you hallucinate or reduce your touch to reality in some other way. Really not something you should be doing on the job so make sure to restrict that sort of usage for afterwards. Other than that," He gave yet another shrug, disturbing the small amount of snow that was beginning to collect on his shoulders. "I don't know- get a dog or something to greet you when you get home each day? Whatever works for you, I guess, everyone's different."
"Thanks, I'll consider trying some of those."
Yaijin waived off his gratitude. " It's fine, you would have been pushed to them before long anyway. I'm just giving you a head start. In fact, you probably shouldn't thank me, I'm just pushing you to an earlier grave if anything."
" Hm." Silence returned, falling as softly as the light snow, and the two stood there on the station platform for a few minutes more.
While Juugo knew it wasn't, standing in the light of the station seemed much more warm than the surrounding darkness. A pool of heat and life in a world that had ceased to exist beyond its boundaries.
A distant cheer reminded him he was wrong, the crews that had built the tracks and stations were still celebrating a job well done beside the residents who looked forward to the increased business it was likely to bring with it.
Good enough reasons to celebrate, Juugo thought, but he was also fairly certain neither group had needed much of an excuse to party.
He squinted off into the distance, able to see the faint glow of lights from where he assumed the majority of celebrants had gathered.
"You can join them, you know." Yaiji spoke up, only briefly glancing in the direction of the sound. "You're the main reason they're celebrating, anyway, only propper you make an appearance.
"What about you? Not going to celebrate?"
Yaijo made a show of looking down to the lit cigarette hanging from his lips and then returned his gaze back to Juugo. "I am celebrating."
"I thought that was what you did anyway."
"No, I simply celebrate the end of every workday. There's a difference."
"Ah, of course."
"But," The man continued. "Since this is a special occasion I'll also celebrate by going to bed as soon as I get back to my room." His gaze flickered over to Juugo's bags. "I can take those for you if you're going to be celebrating, do you already have a room?"
"No, not yet." Juugo frowned. Maybe he should have done that before they left, hopefully there was still vacancy. "I should go take care of that now, actually, maybe I'll join in afterwards."
"Suit yourself." Yaiji shrugged. "Come on, it's fucking cold out. Let's get the fuck out of here."
It wasn't that cold Juugo thought to himself as he trailed behind the senior Crew-Lead - It was barely below freezing.
"Juugo!" He heard her call as soon as he stepped into the "lobby" of the little hotel they would be staying in for the next couple of weeks. With no more than a potted plant on a low table and a single chair it was closer to a spacious doorway or, perhaps, just a hallway.
What she had been doing in a space quite obviously not intended to have occupants for more than a minute or two at a time he wouldn't be able to say.
"Kari." He gave the woman a nod and a small smile. "I would have expected you to be out celebrating."
"Yeah," She shrugged, momentarily diverting her eyes. "I'll celebrate in a bit."
Something was off about the way she said that but before he could get too suspicious she continued, those bright blue eyes returning to meet his gaze.
"So, do you have a room yet?"
"No, I was going to see if there were any left." He gestured towards the hotel office behind her. He was fairly certain it was just one of the rooms with a window cut out of the wall to serve as a check-in desk. There weren't a whole lot of rooms here- a dozen would be a generous estimate- but while the town didn't usually get a lot of visitors it was currently hosting Yaiji's crew and the crews that had constructed the station itself. Space would be in high demand, something probably pretty rare for the hotel owner.
Maybe they'd pull in enough to afford touching the place up a bit. With the railroad making it much easier for goods from the mine to leave and for people with wares to make it to the town it wasn't a bad investment to put this increased income right back into the hotel.
He also knew that with roughly three rail crews here in the town for the foreseeable weeks there were probably going to be a few more visitors in town looking to help unload both stress and paychecks from the workers.
Honestly he was a bit surprised no one from the last town had tried to jump on the engine when he and Yaiji were heading back. It wouldn't have been the first time.
"Well there aren't." She said so quite confidently but one look at the confused man who had stepped up to the counter upon hearing a new guest told Juugo she was quite mistaken.
"Ah, no Ma'am, we ha-" He stopped as soon as she had turned to face him and it didn't take a genius to know she was probably giving him some form of death glare. "I mean, uh, yes, sorry. We're...full."
Even with her facing away he was able to tell when her glare instead became a smile- he didn't need to see the relief in the expression of the man behind the counter for that, either- and she turned back to him to share it.
"As I was saying," Kari continued. "There's no more vacancy but you're in luck."
He still had no idea what on earth she was talking about or trying to do but he decided to play along anyway.
"Am I?"
"Ayup," She gave a single nod. "That's right. You're in luck because I'm so generous that I'm going to let you bunk with me free of charge."
Juugo still wasn't quite following but a look of understanding dawned on the hotel manager- or perhaps owner, Juugo hadn't had a chance to find out yet- and he excused himself back into his office.
"...Okay. Thank you."
"Come on," She grabbed his arm and started leading him down the hallway. "We're at the end."
With no reason not to, he followed, his arm hanging limply in her grasp.
….Eight, nine, ten rooms. The hotel had ten rooms. He probably hadn't needed to count at all considering Kari led him straight to the last room displaying it's number in aging paint but he'd needed something to occupy his mind with as they walked.
Maybe instead of purchasing property to rent out he should look into getting a hotel. It was pretty similar, wasn't it?
She withdrew the keys for the room from her back pocket and splayed out her free hand grandly as she shoved open the door to display the room.
"Ta-da! Our little home for the next few weeks. What do you think?"
It was small but still bigger than he'd been expecting. The presence of a queen bed was both surprising and made the room a tad cramped but the overall effect was...cozy, he supposed. Being in the back corner of the building it actually had two windows- one directly behind the desk and another on the right wall- though they were currently closed.
He supposed that even in the early hours of the night there wasn't too much to see out of them anyway. Taking up the left corner was what he assumed was a bathroom which he was quite grateful for. Two hotels ago the only option was communal and he'd not been a fan of that.
The bed took up most of the right side of the room, flanked by tables with lamps, and across from it a few poles were mounted to the wall with hangers on them. As he stepped into the room itself he was able to see the front left corner was taken up by a counter with a sink and a microwave. There wasn't going to be much cooked in here but Juugo couldn't cook anyway so that was fine.
Overall, he was pretty impressed.
"It's better than the last few rooms I've been in," Was his answer. "How much are they charging you?"
"You're not going to believe it," She grinned, closing the door behind her. "Only 4000 a night."
"What?" That was ridiculous, he'd been paying 6500 for a smaller room in the last town and nearly 8000 in the one with communal bathrooms. Apparently those were a "feature" and not an "inconvenience" or "major pain in his ass".
"Well, It comes to 4367 after tax, but hell of a deal, huh?"
"I'll say." With few other choices Juugo dropped his bags on the floor at the end of the bed and, luggage sorted, turned back to Kari. "You said you were going to join the celebration, didn't you?"
"No, I said I was going to celebrate."
"What's the difference?"
The lock on the door clicked into place. "The difference is that this celebration is going to be private."
Oh.
Oh.
So that's what the hotel manager had realized.
The size, price, and amenities of the room had all surprised him when he'd first seen them but Juugo found himself again surprised at the quality- and cleanliness- of the soft white sheets that had been pulled up to his sternum.
If he did end up going for a hotel instead of rental property he would probably be looking into buying this one. He was not going to mind spending the next few weeks here, that was for sure.
Of course, no small part of that was also due to the woman currently curled up with her back pressed into his side. He glanced down to his right where she lay right beneath his extended arm, the sheets draped over her just loosely enough to hint at her form without exposing anything except the tanned skin of her upper back.
He couldn't see her face from this angle, a combination of her position and the loose curls of reddish-brown hair, but from the soft breathing he was fairly certain she was asleep. He should probably be joining her on that front. They didn't have work tomorrow but Juugo preferred to stick to his sleep schedule and if he thought about it he was a bit behind on sleep anyway.
The one problem with that, of course, was that the light on Kari's side of the bed was still on and his arm didn't stretch nearly far enough to reach it. He considered, briefly, slipping out of bed to turn it off but as soon as he tried to move he felt her sleepily press back into him, seeking his warmth. Before he could further contemplate either removing himself more quickly or just trying to sleep with the light on he felt her shift more until she rolled over to lay half over his torso, light blue eyes looking up into his brown with far more alertness than someone just waking up should possess.
Perhaps he had been wrong about her being asleep after all.
"Where are you trying to go?" Her voice was quiet but, like her eyes, held no hint of a recently shaken off slumber. He wondered how long she'd been awake for or if she had even fallen asleep in the first place.
"I was going to turn off your light."
She gazed over to it for a second before reaching over only to fall short. "Sorry, I can't get it either."
"...You could move over and reach it."
Her response was to shake her head into his chest. "No, that would require me to get up and I'm comfy."
"Ah."
Silence dominated the room for a few long minutes, only to eventually be broken by a Kari Juugo was certain had fallen asleep on his chest.
"...Juugo…?"
"Hmm?"
"What are you doing in Yuki no Kuni?" Her face was still hidden between a combination of his chest and her hair but Juugo raised a questioning brow anyway.
"I'm working on the rail-"
"No." She looked up from his chest and locked eyes with him. "What are you really doing here in Yuki no Kuni? Why are you here?"
Holding her gaze for a few log seconds he slowly repeated. "I'm working on the railway." He paused briefly, still holding her gaze, and continued. "And I'm working my way up the department until I have enough information to pass on to the person who gave me my mission who will pass it on to the person who assigned them theirs who will proceed to use it as a gift to gain favor with someone else."
"All this for a gift?"
Jugo could only offer her a shrug. "It's the entire job of the person who gave me my mission to secure gifts for someone. They didn't tell me who, exactly, but I think I have a pretty good idea."
"Sounds like quite an important person."
"His boss considers them so. From what I hear it's devotion to the point of obsessiveness."
"And you can't tell me who any of these people are, I'm assuming."
"My...boss, I guess, is Jirobo. He's the one who gave me this mission and is assigned to gather gifts for someone his boss very much wants to impress."
"Is he going to be impressed by trains?"
Jirobu hesitated, trying to determine if he knew anything about Orochimaru's obsession that would grant him insight into the matter. Eventually he settled for giving another shrug.
"I have no idea, I've never met the man. Jirobo seems to think it would make a suitable gift, at least, and that means I'm here trying to get it."
She was silent for almost a minute before speaking again. "...So, what happens once you have it?"
"Honestly?" He shrugged again. "I don't even know. I...well...I didn't spend much time around anyone else before this. I've thought about asking to stay here in Yuki no Kuni."
"..Any reason why?"
He gave her a soft smile at her question and moved his right arm down to wrap around her waist with a gentle squeeze. "I've found I rather like it here."
She frowned for a second, hoping for perhaps a more overt answer, but in the end accepted it for what it was. "I suppose that will have to do." A wicked gleam entered her eyes as she was struck with sudden inspiration. "Actually, I think that answer could use a little bit of work." Without warning she pulled herself more fully atop him, pushing away the sheets as she took her new position straddling his waist.
"What are you-"
"Shhhh" A single finger was placed over his lips. "Just lay back and relax, I'm going to make sure you have a very good reason to stay in Yuki no Kuni."
He was of the opinion that he already had a pretty good reason for staying but there was no way in hell he was going to be bringing that up.
Juugo was no idiot.
Tayuya folded her arms across her chest, looking down at Hanabi behind her- or Mai's, rather- desk. "So where can I get an explanation about why all my stuff from my room has disappeared?"
The young Hyuuga looked up, raising a brow, and a second later she understood what had happened. "The Wolves were only ordered to leave Naruto's, Orochimaru's, and my own room alone. I would assume they've already packed yours up."
"Packed up? Why?" There was some small kernel of fear that she had done something wrong somehow and was being sent back to Otogakure because of it but she was fairly certain she hadn't done anything-
Unless that's why she was being sent back. In which case she had most definitely been doing things.
Like the Daimyo of Nami no Kuni.
That had probably been her favorite thing to do here since benign assigned the position by Orochimaru.
"You haven't heard?"Hanabi's quizzical expression only lasted a moment before she remembered. "Ah, you were running an errand for Orochimaru, weren't you?"
"Yeah, sent me to grab something from their office back in Otogakure."
"Strange, I thought one of the reports I read the other week mentioned Orochimaru practically packing up everything."
"From their main, private lab, yeah. Not from the office, half of that's still there. So, what did I miss?"
"The Wolves are leaving Konoha. We don't know where Naruto intends for us to go just yet, though he has mentioned that he doesn't plan on it being Nami."
"Oh?" Tayuya's arms dropped back down to her side and she leaned against Mai's desk, much more at ease now that she knew it had nothing to do with what she did- or didn't -do. "You know why we're leaving? I thought Naruto-kun was pretty fond of Konoha. Seems strange for him to just up and leave." The man had dissuaded Orochimaru of all people from attacking the village, if nothing else that spoke volumes about how he viewed it-
-And the scary amount of influence he held over her boss.
If the world knew he had the Orochimaru at his beck and call willing to do anything to please him he'd probably have minor villages lining up to be under his rule just to avoid becoming a future target.
Then again, if they knew how much he indulged those with his favor- of which she was sure Orochimaru was one- they might move in the completely opposite direction. She couldn't really blame them for that, either.
It was just a sensible sort of thing to do.
"I hear he got into a...disagreement...with the Hokage, though I really don't know the details." She'd have to remember to ask him when she next saw him, she doubted it was something that necessarily needed to be kept from her and was probably just something he hadn't thought to explain to those working under him.
Probably.
"What, and the Hokage's not dead?" Tayuya scoffed. "There's no way some Hokage could force Naruto-kun out if he didn't want to leave."
That was a strange sort of thing to say, Hanabi realized, but it was probably stranger still that she whole-heartedly agreed with the statement. There was something wrong with that, she couldn't help but feel, even when she knew he was Tsukuyomi. A Daimyo- regardless of how well off his country was or the allies he had- should not be a match for a Kage when it came to physical might but the thought that he would be weaker than the Hokage was just impossible for her to wrap her head around.
She was even fairly certain he wasn't stronger than- or even capable of taking out the Hokage.
There was just something about him- maybe his presence- that made it hard to consider him lesser at anything.
"No, it would seem they came to an understanding."
"Hmmm." Tayuya frowned in thought, trying to figure out why Naruto would have agreed to such a thing. She came up with absolutely nothing.
"I just can't see it." She shook her head. "What on earth could he gain by agreeing to that?"
"I don't know, if you see him before I do feel free to ask him."
Tayuiya scoffed again. "If it's something involving people like the Hokage he probably intends to keep his goals under wraps, I doubt he'd just let me know."
"Doesn't hurt to ask," Hanabi shrugged. "But you're probably right. He might let me know considering most of the reports are going through me anyway but if it's serious enough he might not even let Mai know."
A whistle escaped the redhead's lips before they turned up into a smile. "Kind of hope that's the case, I'd love to see her face when he tells her the matter is above her."
"Is there a reason for that?" Hanabi questioned. She was aware the two didn't really get along but Hanabi had never understood why. They may have been quite different but they both seemed to share a common focus- Naruto. It would take an absolute idiot to not see that in-fighting would displease him greatly and she couldn't imagine either of them would continue the...rivalry...if that was the case.
"Well, mainly because I find it entertaining to mess with her. She's always so serious and propper, seeing her on the backfoot or expressing frustration is always a treat. Orochimaru also figured she could use some motivation to speed up her...relations...with Naruto to make sure he was getting what he needed. If I was just someone taking care of those needs she probably wouldn't think much of it but if she doesn't like me then the fact that I'm the one seeing to them becomes an insult to her pride."
"...You definitely didn't come up with that."
"Well, no," Tayuya's arms folded across her chest and she looked away in mild annoyance. "That was Orochimaru's move but you don't have to call me out like that."
"Sorry" Her amused expression told Tayuya that Hanabi wasn't sorry in the slightest for her comment but she let the matter slide anyway. She wasn't that upset.
Still stung, though.
"Don't lie to me."
Hanabi shrugged and moved on. "Orochimaru's orders, huh? So is that why you were so determined to go after Naruto?"
Tayuya blinked, surprised that was actually a question being asked. "Are you kidding? Of course not. I don't need Orochimaru to tell me Naruto-kun's a damn fine choice and if he's willing to respond to my advances I'd be an idiot not to see how far things can go."
"I don't know, seems kind of weird to me for so many people to be going after him like that. You'd think at some point the amount of women he surrounds himself with would dissuade more from trying to join in."
"Think it has the opposite effect, really. They see so many women close to him and figure that must mean he's a good catch so they try for him too. Wouldn't be able to tell you how many of them think they might be able to steal him away all for themselves but it wouldn't surprise me if at least some of them thought that way."
"And you?"
"What? No, I'm not stupid. He's used to spending time with a lot of different women, there's no way I can compete with a couple of them willing to share and I'm not really inclined to either. I know I've joked about marriage but even then it's inevitable he'd end up with mistresses too. Hell," She scoffed. "He pretty much already has mistresses, even if that wasn't something practically expected from someone of his position. I'm just happy for what attention I can get."
She paused, frowning in thought. "Speaking of which, have you seen him recently? I haven't run into him since I got back which is strange, he usually doesn't leave his office all that much."
"One of the Wolves mentioned he came back and spoke with Kakashi-" She had not been pleased to learn the man had apparently just been hanging around in Naruto's office unsupervised. What would have happened if she'd sent sensitive files there for Naruto to look over? It was an absolute security nightmare around here. "- before leaving again to take care of something with Anko. I have no idea what that could be."
Well, she did, she just had nothing to go off of but a guess so who knows how accurate that really was. Not that it was a huge stretch to imagine he was making sure she was ready to come with them. She couldn't imagine him not taking her and, even more, she couldn't imagine the woman just staying behind.
Maybe that's why Naruto had decided to just let her come along, it was cleaner and easier for everyone involved.
"Aw, so she's not available either? Damn." Tayuya grabbed a chair from in front of Mai's desk and dragged it over towards Hanabi's side before taking a seat, leaning back and resting her feet on the old oak.
"...What are you doing?"
"Well if Naruto-kun and Anko are busy and Mai isn't yet back from her vacation I guess I'll just have to bother you to entertain myself."
"What makes you think Mai's not back?"
"You're at her desk and she hasn't yelled at me for being in her office."
"Touché."
Sealkeeper: He Who Binds
Chapter 131-B "Terrorizing"
Patron Release 2021.01.13
Purple eyes looked up from their work and blinked in surprise. After a few moments of silence he slowly looked over to his calendar- he was pretty sure he was on the right day- and then back to his unexpected visitor.
"...Either I've misplaced nearly a week or you're quite early, Mai."
She didn't look amused, arms folded and a hip cocked to the side as she tried to melt Naruto with her eyes alone.
"Done something, have I?"
"That's what I hear." Her voice was short and clipped, filled with frustration. "Something about getting into fights with the Hokage?"
"...I sent Deijiri, didn't I? I had intended to send Kuyara, she probably would have had better tact."
"Tact has nothing to do with you picking fights with the Godaime, Naruto."
"We had a small, verbal spar. Nothing serious." He waved off her concern and returned his gaze back to his work. "We came to an agreement, anyway- possibly an understanding, even, but that might be giving him too much credit."
"An agreement that involves the Wolves leaving Konoha." He didn't have to be looking at her to know the exact expression she was wearing.
"Yes."
"And you were just going to up and leave while I was out of the village?"
"You were on vacation." His gaze returned to her, becoming pointed. "The purpose of which was for you to relax and unwind, not worry about matters of the Wolves."
"You can't expect me to "relax and unwind" when I know there's something so important going on."
"Which is why I originally contemplated not notifying you at all."
She blinked in surprise at that, her stern expression momentarily lost as she processed his words. It was back quickly enough. "You weren't going to tell me?"
"I had wanted to avoid causing you more stress while you were on vacation."
"And you think me finding out immediately after my vacation that the Wolves aren't just moving but are gone was going to be any better?"
The look he shot her was filled with resigned disappointment. "Hence," He stressed. "Sending you the notice ahead of time."
"...Oh."
He didn't bother dignifying her realization with a response, again turning his attention back to his work and filling the otherwise silent room with the sound of his pen scratching against paper.
"...Sorry." Her voice joined the pen almost a minute later but her eyes had trouble looking in his direction. "I just got really worried when I heard you had been fighting with the Hokage and the Wolves were being forced out of Konoha."
He looked back up at her, waiting for her black eyes to meet his weary purple. "Do you really have such little faith in me, Mai, that you cannot trust me to take care of our children?"
That hit hard and Mai was pretty sure she had actually winced as the words reached her ears.
"I-I can," She assured him. "But I worry when I haven't seen to things personally."
He gave a nod. "Good."
"...What?"
"Good, It shows you care."
"You're…" She hesitated to ask, as if her question would suddenly make it so. "You're not mad?"
"Mad? At you? No." One brow rose and his lips twitched in amusement. "How could I be mad at you for worrying about your children? I do it all the time."
Naruto leaned back into his chair, tossing his pen to land gently onto the few scattered sheets of paper that covered the surface of his desk. "I'm a little disappointed you weren't able to finish your vacation properly," He admitted. "But I'm not mad about it. It was your vacation, not mine. I'm not going to force you to stay somewhere you don't want to be."
"It was lovely, though I would have appreciated it if they gave me a straight answer about when checkout was."
"I told them not to, I didn't want you worrying about how much time you had left instead of enjoying the time you were spending."
"And if I ran out of time?" She raised a brow that he returned.
"You say that like I wasn't prepared to extend that vacation for as long as you needed."
Oh. Oh.
"Were they reporting back to you?" There had been Wolves with her at the resort, close enough to come to her aid but distant enough to be respectful of her privacy. Of course he'd given some of them orders to keep him informed about how she was doing-
"No."
"...What?"
"No." Naruto repeated. "That would have been impractical at that distance. I just gave them instructions to extend the reservation if you hadn't managed to fully unwind yet."
Yeah, that made much more sense.
"You know, Hanabi and I still have things pretty much under control." Naruto pointed out. "You could finish your vacation here in Konoha, if you like- maybe staying at the Inuzuka compound? Otherwise there are hotsprings here and some fairly nice hotels we could get a room for you at…."
That was pretty tempting, actually, and she would be close enough that if anything went wrong she'd be able to return and help take care of it….
"I...I think I'll take a look at some of the reports first, just to make sure nothing's been missed."
"Of course," He gave a shallow, bobbing nod. "Put your worries to rest first, then you can resume your vacation. Should I reserve a room for you somewhere?"
She bit her lip in thought. Considering how much time she'd just spent with Tsume it was probably best that the woman had a chance to see to her own clan matters and wasn't distracted by Mai's presence. There was also nothing to say Tsume couldn't join her in a hotel room so she could resume the vacation Mai had cut short.
"...Maybe for tomorrow night."
"For tomorrow, certainly." He paused to think for a second. "I don't think your office has been completely packed up yet as Hanabi's been using it. If your Wolves' reports aren't there let me know and I'll have them retrieved for you."
It was a not so subtle reminder that he was well aware her own favorite Wolves were providing reports directly to her but as all other times it had come up he didn't seem at all concerned about it. In a way she thought he might be trying to point out that having them do so was a waste of time when she should just be able to access any other Wolf's report or ask him directly but it wasn't like she had ever intended for it to be some secretive thing she was doing. Reports from Wolves ended up on her desk, reports from Wolves that had spent their day around Naruto detailed things he had been up to. Thus, inevitably, she ended up with what were basically reports on Naruto through no intention of her own.
Though she had, admittedly, made sure to arrange things so that at least one of those reports would end up in her pile of paperwork rather than Naruto's. It just made more sense that way too, why would Naruto want a report that just told him he had done all the things he knew he did?
"I don't think that will be necessary, I'll just look at any reports for the preparations."
He bobbed his head again. "As you will. Let me know if you need anything." His gaze fell away and he returned to his work as she left the doorway, closing the door behind her.
It was...conflicting...having her back. He really did enjoy the chance to see her again and she was terribly attractive when she was angry- which often made it very difficult for him to take whatever had angered her as seriously as he should- but the fact that she was back seeming just as stressed as she had been when she left concerned him.
How was she supposed to rest and recover if she just spent the whole time worrying about the Wolves? Admirable as that was, she had desperately needed a break from it.
He really did think the presence of Tsume would have distracted her enough to get them through the entire vacation, though to be fair to the Inuzuka matriarch her presence was likely what had kept Mai at the resort for this long.
Maybe next time he just needed something better than a hotspring resort, though he was at a loss for what else might make for a good vacation.
Shaking that train of thought from his head he returned his focus to the pseudo-seals that were scattered over the desk. He thought he had the individual parts figured out enough, now it was just going to be a matter of understanding how it all worked together.
First, however, he was going to need to have Orochimaru go over it with him again to confirm he was right about these.
Having the maker of the seal here really was quite convenient.
"Ah, Mai, I was told you would be returning after we left." Hanabi looked up as the woman in question entered the room before hurriedly moving the papers she was working through into a neat pile on the side of the desk and vacating her chair.
"That was the plan, I hear, but then word reached me that someone might have been picking fights with Kage and we would be leaving Konoha."
"Ah, well…" Mai was her direct boss, technically, but at the same time did she really want to be informing the woman of what Naruto may or may not have been doing now that she knew he was Mai's boss? Either way, he certainly didn't want to be saying anything bad about either of them or even saying something that might make them look bad.
That, naturally, left her in quite the predicament.
Mai held up a hand and Hanabi was more than happy to fall silent before she said anything that might get her into trouble.
"I'm going to go through some of the reports to see where we're at," She sat down at her desk and opened the top drawer where she knew her favored Wolves would have left her enough reports to get a good grasp on the situation. She was not disappointed. "But is there anything that would require my immediate attention?"
Hanabi frowned in thought, scrunching her brows, and after a few moments without an answer forthcoming Mai looked up at the young woman to send her a look of silent inquiry.
"I- no." She finally answered. "No, everything's been pretty much under control." It felt a bit strange to say that for some reason- perhaps it had something to do with the skeptical brow Mai rose- but isn't that how it was supposed to be? Things were supposed to progress smoothly, wasn't that the goal? "In fact, it's all gone very smoothly since Naruto announced we would be leaving. In the next couple days we'll be fully ready to depart."
Mai blinked in surprise, taking a second to confirm she really had heard what she thought she did. It's not that she didn't believe what her assistant was claiming or didn't have faith in Naruto's ability but she knew Naruto's luck- something out of his control always went wrong.
For there to have been not even a single complication seemed beyond impossible.
The man attracted trouble like nothing else, there was no way it had finally decided to leave him alone.
"...You're sure? Nothing strange happened that complicated things? Nothing at all?"
"...Uh, yeah, pretty sure."
"I see." There was a slight pause. "...No offence, Hanabi, but I think I'm going to need to go through these reports before I can actually believe that."
"Maybe I missed something," Hanabi shrugged in plausible agreement. "But I really don't think anything happened that was worth noting. Naruto's been busy visiting people before we leave and I've been overseeing the preparations of the Wolves."
As bad as it was to think, Mai had a suspicion that the only reasons complications hadn't shown up looking for Naruto's attention was because the man hadn't really been involved with the preparations after initially handing them over to Hanabi. It was the only thing that really made any sense.
"Then I look forward to seeing how you did in that role." Mai removed the stack of reports from the manilla folder they had been left in, spreading them over her desk. "Perhaps there's some aspect of the preparations that would benefit from your direct supervision for a time?"
Hanabi was able to understand what she was really saying easily enough- "please get out of my office so I can work"- and gracefully acquiesced.
"Of course," She gave a fairly shallow bow and spun to leave the office. "I'll see what areas of opportunity I can identify."
The door shut with a soft click and Mai turned her attention fully to the reports that had been set aside for her. As much as she wanted to believe that everything had been going perfectly she also really, really didn't want that to be the case-
Surely she hadn't worried and returned to Konoha for nothing?
She wasn't a fan of that thought, not in the slightest, and if it turned out to be true she was going to feel very, very foolish.
"...I'm not even going to ask." Naruto stared up at the two Wolves who had entered his office, one slung over the shoulders of the other in a fireman's carry. The one being carried shakily extended an arm and Naruto made note of the letter tied to his hand.
Was this-
He paused to give a scrutinizing look to the Wolf being carried. The uniforms were all the same and masks were identical but slight mannerisms and other small details had been allowing him to better identify his children.
Curly brown hair, dark blue eyes, and he could just barely make out a vertical line from a scar that ran through the Wolf's left eyebrow.
Tsukuyomi-damnit, it was who he thought it was!
Pinching the bridge of his nose he gave a deep sigh and then proceeded to massage closed eyelids in a futile effort to chase away the oncoming headache.
They waved their hand slightly, just enough for the fluttering letter to catch Naruto's attention again. He reached out for it, untying it from his child's hand and setting it on his desk. That would be the report he'd requested from Ganju, then, but he was having trouble finding the motivation to read it at the moment with the current...distaction.
As much as he hated it, he could tell exactly what had happened to lead up to his Wolves taking this particular action. He wasn't sure if being able to follow what passed for their logic was a good thing or spoke poorly for his own mental health.
"Both of you find a room and get some rest, now." His voice left little room for argument but the one still standing rose a hand in question.
"Uh, I think most of the rooms have already been packed up, Tsukuyomi-sama."
"Then find one that isn't. Use my room if you have to, I don't care." He shot them both a serious look. "Just. Get. Some. Rest." He pointed to his standing son. "You aren't even supposed to be here, you should be in Yu no Kuni."
"I could start heading back there now, Tsukuyomi-sama….?"
"Did you not hear me?"
"Tsukuyomi-sama?"
"I said 'get some rest'. I'm not ending you straight back after you carried your brother all the way here already." His accusing finger moved to the carried in question. "And you should not have required someone to bring you back in the first place. My orders are not an excuse to ignore your own well being."
"Yes, Tsukuyomi-sama."
"Good, now that you both understand that go follow my orders. I expect you both to eat and get a full night's sleep before you even consider doing anything else."
"Yes, Tsukuyomi-sama. Of course, Tsukuyomi-sama." The two bowed- well, the one standing did- and retreated from the room.
Shaking his head in disbelief- where on earth had they gained such a disregard for their own health and well being? - he reached for the letter. As expected, it was addressed to him from Ganju but he had known that much when he saw who was delivering it.
He really was hoping for good news on this front but he was also well aware of just how long it had been since Orochimaru last used this particular base. The chances of it being inhabitable soon were really quite low.
There was, however, only one way for him to find out for certain. Reaching for his letteroppener he slipped it through the envelope to retrieve the report inside.
Time to see how his luck was holding out.
He had almost finished reading through Ganju's report when he was again visited by his most favored Wolf.
"...Sorry."
"Hm?" His attention lifted from the report up to Mai, making note of the way her gaze drifted away to avoid his own. "What on earth are you talking about?"
"For...uh...doubting you." Her cheeks flushed slightly. "Everything seems to be in order and well-handled. I just didn't believe things could possibly be going so smoothly."
"And you think I do? I'm as stunned as you are, Mai, I was sure there would be at least three complications by now. So far the biggest issue I've found is trying to sell some of our property and we don't even have to be doing that anyway."
He paused, glancing down to the report on his desk.
"Well, and this." With a flick of his wrist he gestured to them. "I had hoped one of Orochimaru's old bases would be in good enough condition for us to relocate there immediately and vanish fully from the public eye long before Iroh learned Asuma asked us to leave Konoha but it looks like we may be in Nami for a bit before that can be arranged."
"Can I…?"
He waved at them again. "By all means, feel free. It's no good news but I can't say I'm terribly surprised. I was due for a bump sooner or later, I suppose we're fortunate it's such a small one."
She moved closer to the desk and he slid the report towards her. As he'd said it wasn't good news but she was grateful it wasn't something bad.
"So we'll be in Nami until this base is ready?"
"We don't have a lot of alternatives unless there's a country you've had your eye on you'd like me to capture for you." He paused before raising a brow and shooting a hopeful look her way. "..Is there?"
She felt her lips twitch in amusement, which only increased when her answer caused him to frown in disappointment. "No, Naruto. I don't have my eye on any countries." He had probably been spending time with Anko lately because that frown of his was very, very nearly a pout.
"Ah, well, can't be helped, I suppose."
"You, on the other hand, seem to have one in your sights." She continued. "Deijiri mentioned there was a meeting back in Hanahime before your return to Konoha….?"
"Oh, that's right." He straightened up at his desk. "You wouldn't have been there for that." He frowned. "Did I not tell you?" The look on her face told him no.
"...Have someone else tell you?"
Still no.
"Send you a letter?"
Nope.
"...it wouldn't happen to have been included in one of the reports that crossed your desk, would it?"
His shoulders slumped. "Yeah, didn't think so. Sorry, I thought I had taken care of that." Naruto glanced over to his still mostly empty calendar. "I really need to keep better track of what I actually manage to complete."
"You need an assistant." She corrected him, her weight moving to her right hip as she shot him an accusing look. "Weren't you supposed to be working on that?" They were both very well aware that technically Mai was his assistant but neither said anything about that. Their workloads were individually large enough that they could both do with their own assistant.
At the moment, however, only one of them seemed to have one.
"Or you need a second assistant," He proposed, coming dangerously close to bringing up the fact they were both avoiding. "Then we can spend more time on the really important tasks."
Which could also be read as 'and then you can go back to being my assistant.' and they both knew it. By unspoken agreement they wouldn't actually voice it, no matter how much the idea reminded them fondly of simpler times.
"With how much you end up piling onto your plate you would still need an assistant to keep track of it all, otherwise we'd end up focusing on the wrong things."
He conceded her point with a shrug. "That's fair." It wouldn't matter much in the future but who knows how far off that might have been. Probably best to get an assistant now just in case and he could either keep them or pass them onto Mai to help her with her duties later.
Now it was just a matter of finding someone suitable, something he didn't hold much hope for. He'd already found Mai and Hanabi was somewhat similar, what were the chances of finding anyone else like them? He wasn't going to be holding his breath.
"So...Nami…" She brought his attention back to the original topic.
"Yes, yes." He nodded. "We'll probably need to stay in Nami for a bit- maybe a few weeks. Hopefully a month, month and a half at the absolute most. Ganju and his team should have the new base at least habitable by then."
"And the new base is…?"
"Ah, yes, that's what we were talking about, wasn't it?" He shook his head in disbelief- he wasn't that old, why was his memory already abandoning him?- and with a grin that was half dry amusement and half morbid concern he continued. "Yu no Kuni was suggested by Anko and after letting her explain her thoughts it seemed to be quite the pick. Orochimaru has an old base off the north coast we're trying to get operational so we can base our activities from it. Nami no Kuni is a bit too well-known as our territory for us to really get away with any covert troop movements anymore."
Mai thought it over for a few moments. It was pretty close to Hi no Kuni but also close to Nami no Kuni. There wasn't a hidden village in the country so they didn't have to worry about that. Actually, it was by Ta no Kuni too, wasn't it? That meant Orochimaru would be able to lend aid from Otogakure with relative ease should they need it.
Yes, Mai agreed, she could certainly see the benefits of choosing Yu no Kuni. The fact that they would be by a coast only made it better because they would be able to ship supplies there from Nami no Kuni without much trouble.
"Okay, and does Yu no Kuni know it will be hosting us?"
"No, not in the slightest so long as Ganju's team hasn't drawn any attention."
"I see, so you have no plans to take actual control of the country?"
She was answered by silence.
"Naruto?"
"Well, not exactly."
"Naruto." Her arms folded. "Explain. Now."
"I may or may not have given someone the impossible task of infiltrating the Daimyo's palace and replacing him with our own agents."
He what?! She couldn't believe he would have given any of his children- or even their allies for that matter- such a task. Was he trying to get them killed? Had he finally lost his mind?
"Who? Who did you send?!"
"Akishi."
He sent!- wait, she...didn't know that name. Who the hell was Akishi? She blinked in confusion as the anger began melting away. If it wasn't someone she knew it probably wasn't a Wolf so that was already a major positive. As long as it turned out this person wasn't Hyuuga or Inuzuka then everything was fine.
"Who?"
"The Ak'Gyun Au sent. She was determined to prove the worth of Au's children so I gave her a task to do so."
"...What?" The hell had she missed?
He paused, staring at her in thought for several long seconds before the realization bloomed in his purple eyes.
"Ah, you were on vacation when she arrived, weren't you?" He gave a lazy wave of his hand as if to dismiss the matter. "Akishi is the half-snake half-woman child of Au- The Golden Serpent God of the Sun."
The..what?!
Mai opened her mouth to question his words but couldn't bring herself to ask the multitude of questions that had risen. Closing her mouth and her eyes she took a deep, calming breath and tried to fend off the oncoming headache.
How had something like this not ended up in those reports?
"Naruto."
"Yes?"
"I think I'm going to have to finish that vacation."
"Certainly," He shrugged. "I've already rented a room. You can check in at two."
He watched curiously as she spun around and walked out of his office.
Had it been something he said?
It felt...weird… being back and Tsume couldn't decide if her memories of vacation felt like a dream or if sitting at her desk with a stack of paperwork and no Mai was some sort of nightmare.
She was leaning towards the second.
Maybe she should have stayed for the rest of their reservation when Mai gave her the option.
If nothing else, she was fortunate in the fact that the Inuzuka clan really didn't generate much paperwork. Submitted pedigrees, requests for training, requests to be given a partner, and proposed repairs and improvements to the compound made up the most of it and right now there weren't any young Inuzuka ready for partners, though there was a new litter of puppies that would need to start training soon. Might be a future Ninken or two in there and the rest would probably end up sold as hunting dogs in the Inuzuka's only real form of clan income.
Not that they needed that anymore, not with the Wolves- and by association Nami no Kuni- supporting them. Tsume frowned in thought, If they didn't need to be selling them as hunting dogs- to any nobles or other rich individuals throughout the elemental nations- maybe they should be sent to Nami instead.
Either the Wolves could use them in their patrols or Hana could use them to train some of the children there. Well, assuming that wasn't already happening. There were Inuzuka stationed in Nami no Kuni as Hana's escort and she'd not really checked into the genders of their companions. For all she knew there could already be a litter or more that had been born abroad.
She'd have to remember to ask Hana about that they next time they spoke or, more likely, in their next exchange of letters.
She'd get to that after she checked through the current paperwork.
Or if she needed a break.
Probably when she needed a break. In fact, a break did sound pretty good about now….
No.
With a sigh Tsume hung her head for a second, defeatedly accepting the fact that she needed to get this work done. She'd been gone on vacation- her first one in many, many years- she had no excuse not to be working now that she was back.
Reviewed, reviewed, accepted, denied, reviewed, acc- what?
Tsume blinked dumbly at the page, trying and failing to wrap her head around what had been written.
'...Propose further joint exercises with the Hyuuga and Aburame to further our ties to influential Konoha clans and cement our position within Konoha.'
That made sense- the first bit, at least. They did things with the Hyuuga and Aburame all the time as part of tracking teams, nothing new there. What stood out was the reasoning behind this joint training. Cementing their position within Konoha? What was that about?
Still confused she tentatively signed off on it but moved it over to the side of her desk to be looked further into later.
'To better integrate ourselves with the civilians of Konoha, dedicating a section of the compound as a public dog park and offering training classes for non-Ninken pets could help endear ourselves to a greater portion of the populace…'
That one wasn't any better. Again, what was being suggested seemed perfectly normal but for what reason would they need to gain civilian support? Had she missed something?
There was a brief knock at her door- had someone let themselves into her house, too?- before one of her clanmates poked in their head. "Tsume-sama, I heard you were back. Have you had a chance to look at the suggestion I left?"
She ignored the fact that they had invited themselves both into her home and office, focusing instead on the possibility of figuring out these strange requests that had landed on her desk while she was away.
"Which one was yours?" She asked, ready to search for it.
"Ah, requesting funds from Nami no Kuni to start a few businesses and eventually obtain seats on the civilian council for the Inuzuka clan to further our influence?"
She stopped her search and slowly looked back up at them.
"Why on earth is that something you think we should be aiming for?"
"When you were gone Tsukuyomi sent someone to inform us what he expected from the clan after the Wolves were gone. He would have told you but considering you were on vacation…." He trailed off.
"Ignoring the fact that he apparently wants us integrated with the civilians for some reason-"
"Konoha," He interrupted, earning a glare.
"...Further integrated into Konoha, then, you're proposing these things-" She gestured to the recent papers she had come across in the stack. "Because you received instructions from him while I was gone?"
"Uh, no."
"Then why are you suggesting them as formal requests rather than just passing on Tsukuyomi's message now that I'm back?"
"With all due respect, Tsume-sama? Naruto fucking terrifies me."
She found herself blinking in surprise again.
What?
"You." She pointed to the chair before her desk. "Sit. Explain. Now."
Someone was going to need to explain to her how the hell it had come to be that Naruto was now terrorizing her clan members-
And how the hell it had apparently been so damned effective.
Well, the results of the poll came back with the majority of participating patrons not caring. The benefit of them not caring, however, is that I can proceed to count their votes for any of the other choices too.
Naturally, that's going to be the reformatting because I like the way it looks, it was well accepted, and it continues to list those who have been providing their support. So, without further ado, our Patrons;
Lord Generals
Cephalon Keeper, Michael Huber, B4NH4MM3R
Lord Marshals
Ronji, Nathan Carlson, MythicFool, EagleE, Pope Gregory Trivium III, Konan, Sedition
Lord Majors
The SHARP fox, Malte Krain, StayFrosty, Noah, Alex Robb, Jeremy Webb, Jamel, McKinzie, Tjk9399, Raymond Saragian, Elypsus, magicheart 0, Gamer91, Theepicslime, Kurogane, Marcothephoenix
Lord Commissars
Stan the Drunkard, Tim Keizer, Akira, Ashley Pfeiffer, Daron Smith, gabriel reynoso, Romulan, Shi_no_Kage, Whatzzzzzzzup, Nick Payne, Christopher, Desertgem1, Daniel Witry, Liam Kearney
Lord High-Inquisitor
Janus
Lord Inquisitors
Jaykay2307, Angel Morales, Haistos, Bob Ross, Brendon, Joe Schumacher, Michael Friede, Cameron Yourell, Nilzor, Chase, Maroner, Forseeti, Carlos Campbell, Thanyx, Chace Gannon, Slip123, Godfrey Kawi, StoneMonkey, Nicholas Hoover, Nicholas Liu, Supernowy, Milton Pereira, YGO, Louis Lennin, OldManCain, Sivellan, Brandon Romero, Vio, MB, Brandon, LoneSaiyan, Para, Angel de la torre, Nekrull DeUmbrus, Jennifer carpenter, HKaz, Pantheras, Marin Dimovski, MasterT941, J. G., Tyrell2000, Draku, Gobo, Theo McPherson, June Tai, james escobedo, Sebastiaan asselbergs, ChaosFox, Perez, Hentai Prince, James, TheGreatBubbaJ, TheAbsoluteMonarch