The next day seemed to pass by abnormally slowly. Naruto was busy sending back a messenger toad to Tsunade about the recent developments in the Land of Plains, meanwhile Azuko and Taki were still resting from the ordeal in the mountains, leaving Akari on guard duty with Tsugashi.
He was fond of walks she found and not wanting to be couped up in the small village either the two set off for a relaxing walk through the rolling hills at the base of the Gyokuza no Idaina mountains.
Of course considering the recent events Naruto had sent a toad with them and made Tsugashi summon some of his panthers just in case.
The walk was quiet and relaxing as they made their way through the only terrain feature in the Land of Plains. They had stopped for a midday breather when Akari asked him something.
"Say, Tsugashi-san," She said a bit cautiously.
"Yea?" He said turning to look at her.
"Would…Would you be able to teach me the Kuchiyose?" She asked nervously.
Tsugashi was silent at first, mulling over the idea. The Panthers were a difficult summons to work with and very few people that had signed their contract could use them well. He himself had only managed to gain their trust over years and great physical danger. Akari however seemed to take it as second nature.
Hyōji the cub he had sent to watch her in the hospital was rather fond of the girl and had even complained when he was sent back to the Kukai Ki Jungle. The other panthers she had met seemed to take a quiet liking to her in contrast to how they treated other people when summoned.
After a long moment of silence he shrugged. "Don't see why not." He said.
Akari who had been preparing herself for rejection in the long silence smiled broadly at him. "R-really?" She gasped.
Tsugashi nodded. "Oi, Hyōbun," He said gaining his summons attention. The hulking panther lifted it head and looked at them, while it had heard every word as clear as day, it was now acknowledging their conversation.
"You don't have any qualms with this do you?" He asked the panther.
Hyōbun stood up and walked over to them slowly, he came close to Akari looking her over and getting familiar with her sent.
Before he could say anything Akari reached up and began scratching behind the big panthers' ear.
She heard Tsugashi quick intake of breath and Hyōbun let out a low rumble of approval before walking away from the two of them and sat back down again.
"The last person I saw do that lost his arm." Tsugashi told her as Hyōbun sat down again.
"Really?" Akari asked somewhat concerned.
Tsugashi nodded. "The Panthers are rather picky about the people they allow to summon them and they rarely like other people." He told her.
Akari took in the information with a shrug. "Cat's always seemed to like me, never really got scared when I came up to them," She said. "Use to have one actually, but he died a few years ago." She said sadly.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Tsugashi said.
Akari brushed the words off with a casual shrug. "It was okay; he was twice my age anyway. Bit old for just a normal house cat." She said.
There was a moment of silence between them before Tsugashi stood up. "Well let's get to this summoning thing."
He made the necessary hand signs and summoned another panther. Like Hyōbun this panther was beyond normal size. Standing nearly two meters tall at the shoulder the Panther came down on its stomach and dropped the scroll in its mouth gently on the ground in front of Tsugashi.
The panthers large yellow eyes locked onto Akari and the girl offered the giant summons a smile before Tsugashi beckoned her over.
He unrolled the scroll revealing a handful of names written in dried blood, the last one being his own. At the bottom of each name Akari noticed the person's finger prints written in blood.
Tsugashi unrolled the scroll further revealing the next blank space. When she joined him he motioned for her to sit.
"It's a pretty simple affair." Tsugashi began. "What you need to do is write your own name in your blood in the contract scroll. After that imprint your finger prints on the scroll as well. Then you have officially entered into a summoning contract with the panthers of the Kukai Ki Jungle." He told her.
Akari nodded and used a kunai to open up a small cut on her finger. She let the blood thicken a little bit before she wrote her name 'Soji Akari' in the scroll.
Once she was done Tsugashi nodded his approval. "Alright then, after that is done what you need to do is make the signs of 'Boar, dog, bird, monkey, ram' and place the hand you signed the contract with some of your own blood on the ground." He instructed her.
She nodded and ran through the hand signs. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" The smoke cleared and Akari let out a triumphant shout.
Hyōji looked up at them expectantly as Akari did her little victory dance. He Panther looked at the girl curiously before shifting his gaze back to Tsugashi. "What's gotten into her?" The panther asked.
Tsugashi nodded over to the scroll on the ground next to him. The panther looked at the scroll for a second before its eyes fell on Akari's name. "I see." The panther purred happily.
The Day finally came where Azuko and Taki were fit enough to travel and the four set out again. Travel across the Land of plains was almost too easy; the roads from one village to the next were as direct as possible and to either side of them vast fields covered the majority of the land scape.
As they walked farmers and travellers waved at them warmly and Tsugashi explained the finer points about the Land of Plaines as the three Genin tried to sate their curiosity.
It took another day for the team to reach Howaitofīrudo on foot. Unlike the other villages that dotted the land scape of the Land of Plains Howaitofīrudo was a vast and bustling town near the centre of the land, it had a large well maintained battlement guarded by over a dozen men at arms at each gate.
Despite being the son of the lands Daimyō Tsugashi paid the due tolls and made sure everyone signed into the village's roster and guided the four Shinobi through the town. People waved and offered greetings as the small group walked towards Tsugashi's family manor on the far side of town.
They reached the Manor and the guard on duty waved them though as he bowed politely to his lord.
They reached the front door and Tsugashi greeted them into his home proper as they looked about the richly appointed villa.
The sound of footsteps as the group looked up to see a young woman probably Naruto's age, dressed in an immaculate royal blue Kimono walking down the stairs into the main room.
"Brother, thank goodness you're back." She gasped as she picked up her pace and gave Tsugashi a tight hug.
"Yokuna, what's wrong?" Tsugashi asked as he broke away from the hug, there was something off about his older sisters' reaction and he didn't like it.
Yokuna's breath caught and her eyes began to tear up. "Father's dead." She said eventually.
The Colour seemed to drain from Tsugashi's face and the next thing either of tm knew he took off running.
The atmosphere in the Manor became tense as Tsugashi became immediately buried in clan politics, like who the next Daimyō should be, when should the funeral be held, how to break the news to the land and when should the coronation of the next Daimyō should be held.
Naruto and the others waited patiently in a guest room off to the side of the Manor. A few servants brought them food and drink as they waited but there was little to be done to kill the boredom and tension that fell over the room.
After a four hour conference held with the heads of the land of Plains Tsugashi walked into the room the four Shinobi were waiting in and took a seat with them. There was silence for a few moments As Tsugashi collected his thoughts.
"I'm the new Daimyō," He said absently. Naruto felt like saying something congratulatory but there were more pressing matters at hand.
"How did he die?" Naruto asked after a moment, sensing there was something Tsugashi wanted to say.
"Most people claimed through sleep but our chief of medicine has found trace amounts of poison in his body, looks like assassination." He said bitterly. "If I had to hazard a guess I'd say this is the work of that Isalla fella we met in the mountains." Tsugashi said bringing his hands together.
The room fell under a tense silence before Naruto spoke up. "Well considering this recent development I'd like to send a messenger toad to Lady Hokage informing her of the situation."
Tsugashi waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry yourself a messenger hawk is being sent to Konoha as we speak."
"My messenger toad is faster, I can have a response from her in the hour." Naruto said. Tsugashi looked at him and nodded. "Thank you Naruto-san, I'd appreciate that."
Naruto gave a nod and made to stand but Tsugashi motioned for him to stay seated. "I don't need to tell you that the next few days will be rather hectic in the Land of Planes. We have a funeral to prepare and a coronation to hold, as well as Isalla to deal with." He said at length. "That is why, as my first decree as the Daimyō of the Land of Planes I would like to hire your services."
"What do you mean?" Akari asked.
Tsugashi looked at her and answered. "Technically your services as body guards ended the second I walked through the gates of the village, I had not hired you to protect the Land of Planes like I am asking you now and when you took the job Isalla was not a part of the equation." He explained. "I have no doubt that he will try to take over the Land of Planes before my official Coronation ceremony this week." Tsugashi said. "As such I would like to hire you four as additional security for both my Father's funeral and my coronation." Tsugashi told them.
Naruto nodded. "Of course, I'll inform Tsunade of the situation and tell her we'll be delayed in our return to Konoha."
"Are you sure she'll accept that?" Azuko asked.
Naruto shrugged. "Maybe," He said. "But even if she says no there is nothing she can do about it, it would take a team about a week to get here at full speed and I get the feeling this will take less than a week to wrap up." Naruto told them. "We'll discuss the finer point of mission payment after this business with Isalla is completed; now if you'll excuse me I have a messenger toad to send." Naruto said as he stood up and left the room.
Tsugashi thanked him again and turned to the other three. "For now feel free to rest and relax, my home is yours, I have some things to prepare so I'll see you later tonight." He said before leaving the room.
The next two days were rather hectic. The news to the country that their Daimyō was dead was greeted with great sadness, though it was kept top secret that he had been murdered instead, Tsugashi's address to the villages was that his Father had died peacefully in his sleep.
As the dignitaries from all over the Land of planes came through the funeral was set up and prepared. Messenger hawks carrying messages from other Daimyō's flooded the village offering their condolences and announcing that they would be traveling to the land as soon as they could, both to pay their respects to the pervious Daimyō and to greet the new one.
Tsugashi hosted the funeral well and Akari watched from the back of the field as Tsugashi addressed the other noble lords and families that had come from the surrounding country side.
They day after the funeral Akari was approached by one of Tsugashi's aids saying that he requested her presence immediately, she nodded a bit confused as she and Hyōji walked through the Manor towards Tsugashi's room. She knocked on the large double doors of his office as she entered as Tsugashi stood up to greet her.
He looked like he hadn't slept in days and his desk was covered in paper work. "Ah Akari, good to see you." He said, with the first genuine smile on his face she had seen since he had found out his Father had died.
"You wanted to see me My Lord." She said with a bow, remembering at the last second that she was talking to a Daimyō.
Tsugashi gave a short laugh and waved off the formalities. "Tsugashi will do fine." He said as he sat back down. He gestured for her to sit and a long silence fell over the two of them.
"As you know the official coronation is the day after next." Tsugashi said after a moment, breaking the awkward silence in the room. Akari nodded and Tsugashi went on. "I have been talking to Naruto about it and we both think that that is when Isalla will strike. As such I would ask you to be by my side during the ceremony." He said a little nervously.
Akari felt she cheeks redden and she quickly looked at her feet, she knew he had asked her because it was smarter for him to have a guard on standby with him, and seeing as Akari and Taki hadn't seen him before she knew she was the best choice for the job.
"Of…Of course." Akari said after a painfully long pause. The smile returned to Tsugashi's face and he nodded. "Thank you," He said, "It's another load off my mind; know you'll be there to help when things go south." He said somewhat sourly.
Akari nodded and stood up to leave. She got to the door before she turned around, looking down at her clothes. Despite the fact that Tsugashi had been wearing the same Kimono for two days now, he still looked much better and much more regal than Akari did in her black pants and tank top.
"Um," Akari said gaining his attention. "I don't think I have anything good enough to ware." She said somewhat flustered.
Tsugashi nodded and scribbled something on a piece of paper. "Take this to Gyoni," He instructed her, "She's my families tailor, I'm sure she'll have something for you." He said.
The night of the coronation finally came as Noble lords from across the Land of Planes and some other dignitaries that were already in the area flooded Tsugashi's family Manor. Akari fidgeted in the dress Gyoni had made for her. She had never been overly fond of them, seeing them as impractical.
This one was a curious mix of both; it was regal without been to restricting, a pale blue sleeveless dress with a long split running from waist to ankle on either side to allow for mobility without sacrificing modesty.
"You look wonderful." Taki said breathlessly as she stepped back to examine Akari properly.
Akari felt her cheek redden as she looked down at her dress. She felt oddly self-conscious about it as she looked herself over in the full length mirror in her room. "I don't feel wonderful." She said as she fidgeted with the high collar of the dress.
Taki smiled at her and pulled her hand away from her neck. "Stop worrying about it." She said soothingly. "Everything's going to be fine. And if anything people will be talking about how awesome you look in that." She said with a smile.
"Yea but what about when I have to fight in it?" She asked. "I can't even hide a bloody kunai in this thing, let alone my sword or a shuriken." She complained.
There was a knock at the door and the two girls immediately fell silent as Tsugashi entered the room.
He stopped dead as his eyes landed on Akari, his jaw hung open slightly and the only thing that he could manage at the moment was a silence 'wow'.
Akari felt her cheeks go red as she heard him and looked away from him embarrassed. The moment passed and Tsugashi seemed to regain his senesces. "Are you ready?" He asked her. "Their expecting us." He said.
Akari grunted and turned to look at him. "And how the hell am I supposed to fight in this?" She asked changing the subject.
"I'm sorry?" Tsugashi asked, not sure where she was coming from.
Akari gestured down to the dress she was wearing. "I'm supposed to be your body guard yet I can't fit a single bloody weapon on me." She said.
Tsugashi looked the dress up and down and had to agree. It left very little to the imagination and made it impossible to hide any size weapon.
"How about this," Taki interjected gaining both of their attentions. "Tsugashi-sama can take your tanto with him, seeing as he's already carrying his Katana people won't be too surprised to see him with a tanto as well, and if and when you need a weapon you can just take it from him." She suggested.
Silence greeted Taki's though until both of them agreed that that was the best option.
Strapping Akari's tanto to his right hip Tsugashi lead Akari by t arm to the main hall while Taki went to join Azuko on the roof as a look out.
And bam drama unfolds. Add your own stupidly energetic high school drama BS preview of the next chapter here
Also have none of you picked up one what I did? Mysterious voice in the back of her head, sudden spikes in her levels of Chakra, none of you see what I'm doing here?
Anyway, Next chapter has all the bloody violence I know you people want so yea, last boring chapter for the Land of Planes. This actually is longer than I though it was going to be actually.
Until next time I wish you all the best.
Yours truly.
Nicolai Grey.