Chapter 6

Beta'd by Black Sparrow

The will reading was thankfully in the afternoon so Shiori didn't have to ask for a day off from Echizen-san's tea house. The black haired young woman arrived shortly before the appointment in the office of the attorney in black clothes. She still had dark rings around her eyes and was paler than usual. In the anteroom was already a group of people waiting, they too were clothed in black but their wardrobe was distinctly better than Shiori's, they also had a rather arrogant and impatient air around them. When they were finally all called into the adjourning room, they sent deprecatingly sneers in Shiori's direction.

Inside the room Shiori was greeted by the sight of two Chunin who were standing behind Atsuka-san and were flanking him. The forty year something old woman, who seemed to be the ring leader of her group didn't seem to like their presence and asked the attorney why they were there in a rather rude way.

"Matoka-san, please calm yourself. It is standard in Konoha that at least two Chunin are present when the will of such a distinguished Jounin like Inoue-san is read. They are here to ensure that her last will is followed to a T," Inoue-san's attorney explained in a rather clipped voice.

The civilian woman's face seemed to pinch but she then just nodded and dropped the matter.

"Very well, if everybody has found a seat let's begin," Atsuka-san said and started to read Inoue-san's will.

I, Inoue Mariko a Jounin kunoichi of Konohagakure no Sato, being of sound mind, declare this to be my Last Will and Testament. I revoke all wills and codicils previously made by me.

I appoint Atsuka Heiji as my Personal Representative to administer this Will, and ask that he be permitted to serve without Court supervision and without posting bond. If Atsuka Heiji is unwilling or unable to serve, then I appoint Shiori of Kawa to serve as my Personal Representative, and ask that she be permitted to serve without Court supervision and without posting bond.

I direct my Personal Representative to pay out of my residuary estate all of the expenses of my last illness, administration expenses, all legally enforceable creditor claims, all Konoha estate taxes, inheritance taxes, and all other governmental charges imposed by reason of my death without seeking reimbursement from or charging any person for any part of the taxes and charges paid, and if necessary, reasonable funeral expenses, including the cost of any suitable marker for my grave, without the necessity of an order of court approving said expenses.

I devise, bequeath, and give my entire fortune, be it monetary or otherwise to Shiori from Kawa under the condition that she takes on my last name and will be known from now on as Inoue Shiori.

Should Shiori of Kawa not survive me by 30 days, her share shall be distributed to the Konoha orphan fund.

Inoue Mariko, Jounin of Konoha

When Atsuka-san had ended the group around Matoka-san broke out into outraged shouts only to be silenced when the two Chunins radiated slight killing intent. Shiori felt sick and shaky while she tried to keep her composure, she wanted to be far far away from this room and curl up somewhere to recover from this awful feeling.

Atsuka-san who was relatively used to the killing intent after having executed more than one ninja will in his time took a deep breath and stated, "This is the will of Inoue-san and it will be followed. Matoka-san, Inoue-san left a letter for your family, do you wish to hear it?"

The angry civilian only nodded, unable to say anything.

"Very well," Atsuka-san said neutrally.

To the family of my deceased cousin Matoka Shin,

in the last fourteen years of my life I haven't seen hide nor hair from even one of you, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that none of you will receive anything of the money I have earned throughout my life with my blood and my pain.

Inoue Mariko, Jounin of Konoha

There was a short uncomfortable silence, before one of the male civilians shouted, "That is no reason whatsoever to give her money to a stupid little servant girl that is probably an inheritance hunter!" his sentence was approved by the other members of his family.

Atsuka-san looked outraged before he calmed slightly and snorted. "Matoka-san as I said before calm yourself or I will have you and your family removed from my premises and fined with libel. Now Inoue-san has given me strict instructions concerning her fortune and I will see them through. Shiori-san if you would please come with me?" at the last part of his sentence his voice had taken on a gentler tone.

Atsuka Heiji had known Shiori for nearly three years now, she had accompanied Inoue-san to more than one appointment with him and in the last two years she had even been included into the proceedings concerning the flat and Inoue-san's investments. Probably to prepare her somewhat for her inheritance, Inoue-san was sneaky like that. He had liked the calm and gentle nature of the pretty young girl that was now turning into a stunning young woman and he was glad that Inoue-san had decided to bequeath everything to her, Shiori deserved it definitely a lot more than anybody on the Matoka side of Inoue-san's family.

He watched now as the chalk white and wide eyed girl walked into his personal office, the Matoka family in the meantime was escorted from the premises by the Chunins, Heiji was sure that they had enjoyed the humiliation of the rude civilians just as much as he had. The lawyer couldn't help but be slightly vindictive, said family had been harassing him the whole week about the last will of Inoue-san and that they had received nothing made him want to whistle.

After the door was closed behind her Shiori leaned against the visitor chair and took some deep breaths while she visible fought to keep her composure. Heiji commiserated with the young woman, this must have been quite a big shock for her because as far as he knew Inoue-san never even hinted to Shiori that she had changed her will in the young civilian's favor. After giving her some time to calm down somewhat he gently led her through the legal jargon and put the papers that would change her name in front of her. With shaking hands Shiori signed the papers and gulped when she saw the numbers on the bank accounts, if she wanted to she would never have to work in her life again. Inoue-san's investments were scattered through Fire country would make enough money that she could live quite comfortably without ever lifting a finger again. When the legal requirements were completed, Heiji handed another letter over to Shiori, Inoue-san had written it only a few months ago and he was curious what it said.

Dear Shiori-chan,

I know that my death must have come suddenly for you, but I have known that it was only a matter of months for quite some time now. You have given me a lot of joy this past few years and I am glad that I chose you to become my housekeeper. You are a beautiful and through and through good girl and I feel relieved that I can entrust my family name and fortune to someone like you and not those vultures of second cousins of mine. Beside my flat and a few houses which are rented out, there is the former clan compound of the Inoue's. I had it closed down after the last of my ninja relatives died during the third shinobi war. I know how you always dreamed of buying a house somewhere close to the woods and I think the clan compound would be the right place to fulfill your dream. Should you decide to use it please hire some ninja to go through the building before you move in. I set traps and other countermeasures before the house was closed down and they are most likely still active, so please be careful.

I also want you to fulfill your other dream. You now have the means to open up your own tea house and I want you to do it, your sweets need to be shown to the world.

I know I have never been able to show you how much your company has meant to me, but I want you to know that in the time I have known you I have come to love you as if you were my own grandchild.

I wish you a fulfilled life and hope that you will find happiness.

All my love,

Inoue Mariko

Shiori noticed that something was dripping on Inoue-san's letter, confused she lifted her hand to her face, she was crying silently. Gently she put the letter down on Atsuka-san's desk before the tears came in heaps and then she let out all the grief that she had been unable to let free the week before.

Atsuka-san stood helpless by her side, unsure what to do. He settled to just move the tissue box in front of Shiori and waved his secretary into the room. The slightly plump mother of three took one look at Shiori and took the distressed young woman in her arms. It took Shiori nearly half an hour to calm down again. When she had some of her composure back she apologized profusely to both Atsuka-san and his secretary Mamoru-san who just waived her apology aside, it wasn't the first time somebody had broken down in the office and it would surely not be the last time.

Atsuka-san agreed readily to take care of Shiori's new fortune as well as her properties and after signing a standard contract, Atsuka-san promised to inform the mission office about her wish to open up the Inoue-clan compound. Tired and emotionally drained Shiori left the building, thankfully the next day was Tuesday and she wouldn't be needed in the tea house. It was barely five pm when she arrived in her flat but Shiori fell directly in her bed and slept until late into the morning of the next day.

When she awoke again Shiori still wasn't sure if yesterday wasn't a dream but after she saw the paperwork lying innocently on her table she slowly accepted it as reality. With Atsuka-san as her attorney, Shiori now didn't have to take care of her taxes, Atsuka-san's employees would calculate the amount and she would just have to authorize the quarterly transaction.

So after eating some leftovers Shiori started to write a list of what she wanted to do or change. The first thing she decided was dissolving Inoue-san's renting contract with the end of the month. Shiori had spent a lot of happy hours there but without Inoue-san she didn't want to keep the flat. She wasn't sure how long the repairs would take on the Inoue compound and so she decided to wait with dissolving of her own contract for a little while longer. The next logical step that she should take was the dissolving of her contract with Echizen-san but at that she hesitated. Echizen-san had been her first employer in Konoha and it was also through her that Shiori had learned so much about running a tea house. Unsure the black haired young woman bit her lip before she breathed and decided to talk with Echizen-san the next day and give her notice for two weeks so that she could find another girl in the meantime. Nodding to herself Shiori finally came to the topic of her own tea house, she was unsure what to do after all she had never run such an establishment before. So Shiori put the name of her attorney down along with a question mark, hopefully Atsuka-san would be able to help her.

Just as she had promised herself she talked to Echizen-san on the next day, of course the woman wasn't happy about losing one of her workers, but nevertheless wished Shiori good look for her future. In the end they agreed that Shiori would continue to work in the tea house until a replacement could be trained sufficiently. When she visited Atsuka-san on the same day to add her teahouse idea to the long list they would be talking about, he informed her that the mission office had already assigned a team to her for the following afternoon. Happy that everything was moving so fast Shiori returned to her flat and baked some of her western desserts, she would use the opportunity to see how other people then Inoue-san reacted to them. She cut her desserts into sizeable piece and placed them into some Bento boxes before she put them into the fridge.

The next day after finishing with work Shiori hurried home and collected her treats and put them and two thermos flasks of tea into a basket along with some cutlery, napkins and plates. The food and beverages were hidden under a big picnic blanket that Shiori spread on the top of the basket before she made her way to the Inoue-clan compound.