It took a few days to get things in order after I was named Mizukage. We still don't have everything figured out yet, it will probably take months for everything to be in place and running smoothly like elders Shun and Shohei warned me about when I said I wanted to go through every ninja and their recent mission logs to place them where they would best fit. So far Shozouki has successfully put together enough shinobi in his protection division for him to start scheduling them already. I was shocked that he was able to find that many people who he trusted and were willing to protect me. I don't think I'll never not be shocked about it.
Otherwise, I officially talked to Ao about being the head captain of the hunter ninja and he has accepted. I also talked to Mei about being the head captain of Mun. She hasn't accepted the position yet, which I kind of already knew would happen being that her brother currently holds that position. Mei did say she would think about it though, so that's good. Chojuro even agreed to be my right hand. At first he was shocked and didn't know what to say, but once I explained that he was currently the only person I could fully trust he started blushing and stuttering some nonsense about how flattered he was or something.
Today, Chojuro entered my office and pushed the files I was looking at further away from me so that I couldn't see them. Lately he's been less shy than he normally is around me and honestly, I kind of like it that one less person tiptoes around me. Still, I seriously need to get the last of the divisions reassigned and I have to get these mission assignments out to them as soon as possible. The mission assignment that's been bothering me lately is Kisame's. I don't even know if I should send a squad of hunter nin after him or if I should just think of it as a lost cause.
"Chojuro, I need to finish this." I reached for the files only for him to pick them up and set them on a chair on the other side of the desk.
"You've only just become Mizukage and now you work harder than you did when you were constantly away on missions for the Fourth." Chojuro frowned as he looked down at me. "You need to leave the tower Ketto at least for a little bit."
"And what would I do exactly?" I can't really disappear to the South sea to train with Kofuku anymore. What if I accidentally revealed a jutsu to my protection unit that I shouldn't?
"You can come with me to the academy today." he smiled wide as if he just had the greatest idea. "As a member of the seven ninja swordsmen I teach at the kenjutsu academy. Wouldn't you like to see what the next generation of shinobi will turn out to be? You'll have to pick someone else to wield the Kubikiribocho in your place now that you're Mizukage."
"That's right, another thing that I'll have to do." I thought about the time I would have to dedicate to training this new person so that they could effectively wield the Executioner's blade. The time it would take for me to find someone who would be compatible would take forever too.
"I only suggested it so that you could leave the tower. Don't give yourself more work to do." Chojuro sighed as I stood up from my seat. "The class I teach isn't until later, but we could go to the academy now and the kenjutsu academy after."
"That works out perfectly, let's go." I left my office with Chojuro following. "You know, this will be my first time at either academy so you'll have to show me around."
"I can do that." he made sure to stay a few paces behind me as he walked.
I made my way down to the main floor of the tower without running into anybody. Since I've become Mizukage there hasn't been a need for as many people to be in the tower. I gave them all time off until I decided if I wanted them to stay, which includes all cleaning and administration staff. While at the academies I can ask about each schools representative, I want to be more involved in the development of the village and the growth of each shinobi is a part of that.
When we first exited onto the street I was amazed that no one stopped to stare at us. We were just given brief glances and then they went back to what they were doing. Even as we continued to walk, no one paid us too much attention. I thought it was strange. I've never experienced this in the village, or at least from what I can remember.
I didn't want to call attention to the odd behavior, but I was too curious to let it go. "Chojuro, has something happened to the villagers?"
He turned to look at me with a frown on his face. "Why do you ask that?"
"It's just that by now I'm used to the looks of mistrust and hatred and now all I see are looks of indifference." I said, I looked from one side of the street to another and only found one person who was discreetly following me with his gaze.
"They've all accepted you as the Mizukage, for the most part." Chojuro said. I thought that was strange, I definitely thought more people would have been against me being Mizukage because I killed all of those kids during my graduation. "They may not like the things you've done in the past, like your graduation, or the things Lord Fourth had you do to those with kekkei genkai but they do believe you are a strong person to fill the role." Now I understand, the villagers only accept me in the way that I'm strong and that's why they have gotten used to the idea of me being Mizukage. I guess I couldn't fault them for that.
Chojuro brought me to the academy, I've only ever heard of it so I was surprised to see that it was a tower that was nearly as tall as the Mizukages building, it just wasn't as wide and there were more windows on the lower floors. We walked in and I didn't know where to go, "Where should we go?" I asked Chojuro.
"I know one of the teachers who would let us sit in on one of their classes," he said. "Come on, this way." Chojuro motioned for me to follow him and I did. "He was my teacher here at the academy. When I was younger I did some training with the seven ninja swordsmen and attended the academies."
"You did all of that? You must not have had much free time." I hardly had any free time with my training with the swordsmen, additional training with Zabuza and anbu missions with Utakata. "I was always training and away on missions even then."
"Lord Fourth made sure to keep me busy too. I barely had any free time." Chojuro said.
"Uncle Yagura had a hand in your training?" I was confused, I didn't really think he was that involved in the village.
"Orphans of the village fall under the Mizukage's guardianship." he said. "My parents died when I was young so Lord Fourth was in charge of finding a place for me to stay and help set me up for the future."
I've never thought about the orphans of the village. There are plenty of them but I always thought someone else took care of them like a distant family member or something. This will have to be another thing I'll have to look into.
Chojuro knocked on a closed door and we waited for someone to open it. We didn't have to wait too long for a man with short chocolate brown hair and blue eyes to open it. He looked like he could be close to the same age as uncle Yagura. He looked nice enough, for a Mist ninja anyway, there was still a hard look to his face. "Chojuro? And Lady Mizukage? What brings you here?"
"Rinzu sensei, Ketto wanted to observe the teachings at the academies and I thought you would be kind enough to let us sit in on your class?" Chojuro started strong in his request but then he seemed to lose confidence and become more sheepish like he always used to be.
Rinzu looked from Chojuro to me. "You wanted to sit in on a class?" he asked.
"Yes, I've never been to either of the academies and I wanted to be involved. These students are the next generation and I want to have a hand in some of their training." I answered.
"And this isn't the sole reason why she's here, but she has to find someone else to wield the Kubikiribocho. It would be best if she could observe as many students as possible." Chojuro said.
"I'll consider any recommendations you may have." I added.
"Very well." Rinzu said. "You may sit in on my class, today we are focusing on sensory abilities. There are some students who are more promising than others when it comes to sensing." Rinzu opened the door wider to allow us in. He walked to the front of the classroom as I stepped into the room. Chojuro was behind me, he closed the door again after we all entered. "Class we have some visitors, Lady Mizukage and a past student of mine, Chojuro. They'll be observing our class today."
The students looked young, if I had to guess I would say they were eight, which isn't surprising considering some kids start at the academy even younger than that and then depending on their chakra control and their ability to walk on water they'll also attend the kenjutsu academy. I wouldn't be surprised if several of these children were attending both already. Honing one's ninja abilities is a high priority in Kiri.
Most of the children were boys, there was only a single girl in the class. I wasn't too surprised, everyone is still stuck in the mindset that a ninja's job is one for a man because they are most likely to fulfill it. The little girl seemed familiar to me yet I couldn't place why. She had hair as black as ink that was in a clothed bun with some longer pieces of hair framing the sides of her face. Her eyes were silvery blue and there was just something about her face that seemed extremely familiar to me.
The children were whispering among themselves as they kept looking at me and Chojuro. "Alright everyone settle down, we'll begin our lesson." Rinzu said. He turned to me and Chojuro, "One of my students is absent today. One of you can sit in his place and the other can take my chair."
The only open spot that I was able to find was on the far right side of the classroom near the window. The little girl sat at a table by herself, separated from all of the other kids. Chojuro grabbed Rinzu's chair before I could move so I walked over to the girl and sat down in the space next to her while Chojuro followed with the chair. He put his chair at the end of the desk and sat down.
Rinzu called the attention of his students. "Today will be a sensory day. Everyone will pair up with their desk partner and try to get a reading on their chakra. Remember, the more skilled you are at sensing the more you'll be able to get a more accurate and detailed reading."
"That'll be a bit difficult." Chojuro muttered. He suddenly had an idea and turned to the girl. "If you want, I can be your partner?" he suggested.
I also turned to look at the girl to find her already looking at me confused. "Why do you not have chakra?"
"It's an advanced technique for sensory types. Depending on the level of skill, we can conceal our own chakra to other sensory types. We can also sense if another ninja is currently trying to sense for us and determine their range of sensing." I said. Most of what I said was true, to some extent I can conceal my own chakra but the combined chakra of both Isobu and the demon of the Mist are hard to keep hidden away all the time. That's why I use the seals on my body. "For instance you have a large range for sensory. It's more impressive than that of your classmates who can only go up to a couple of feet."
"You could tell all that? I can only sense on a basic level." Chojuro said. He slumped into his chair looking a bit defeated.
"You could ask Ao to train you." I suggested. I think Utakata was the one to teach me about sensing, I'm sure Ameyuri had something to do with it too. At some point I ended up spending more time with Utakata on missions than I did training with Zabuza, who only ever focused on ninjutsu and strength. I turned back to the girl, I was even more curious about her now that I knew her abilities were more advanced than her classmates. I don't know why, but she seemed like someone who had something to prove, what girl isn't in that position though? "Do you have supplemental training outside of the academy?"
"When they have time, my father and my uncle take turns training with me and my brother and cousins." she said. "They didn't want to push me into becoming a kunoichi, but they wanted me to defend myself."
"They're smart." I said. "What made you decide to become a ninja?" If she didn't have to be here then why is she? What motivates her?
A small smile crossed her face, "You."
"Me?" I could feel my brows furrow as I frowned. "You became a ninja because of me?"
"Yeah, my brother only ever says great things that you do. Like how you are a good leader and that you care so much about everyone in Kirigakure." she said. As she talked about me I wondered who her brother could be. While she continued to talk, I noticed that a sparkle appeared in her eyes, she was praising me. I've never had someone look up to me like this before. No one has ever worshiped me in the way this girl did and I don't know how I feel about it.
"Who's your brother?" Chojuro wondered.
"Mitsuru Onishi, he went to the land of Fire with Lady Ketto." she said.
"Mitsuru talks about me at home?" that's even more strange. Mitsuru mostly keeps to himself, I honestly didn't think he liked me despite his previous actions of trying to get me to eat.
"Big brother Mitsu likes working on a team with you. He was so happy when you chose him for the protection detail." the girl said.
"What's your name?" I wondered.
"Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Hikari." she answered. "Do you think you can teach me some ninja skills?"
Chojuro answered with, "Ketto is very busy with her Mizukage duties and hardly has enough free time as it is. I'm sorry but she will have to decline."
At the same time I muttered, "Why would you want me to teach you?" I was still having a hard time understanding why she would idolize me and want me to train her. Does she not know that I once hunted her family during the kekkei genkai wars? I'm part of the reason she can't claim herself as a Yuki.
"Really? I was hoping Lady Ketto would help me become the greatest kunoichi in the land of Water, better than even Ameyuri Ringo." Hikari looked dejected when Chojuro rejected her request in my place. She also looked up to Ameyuri? As much as I liked Ameyuri, she wasn't a good person. She refers to her opponents as her prey and toys with them instead of killing them outright. She never leaves survivors and anyone who gives her a challenge she considers them meals. She gets great joy out of killing and lives for the thrill of it. Maybe Hikari knows about the things I've done too?
"What about your father and your uncle?" I questioned. "You said you did supplemental training with them."
"I do, but I don't think they'll mind if I did some training with the Mizukage." she said.
"I would rather talk to your father first, there's something I need to talk to him about anyway." I should really clear things up about the past when I pretty much forced their family into hiding. They should know that they don't have to hide who they are anymore. Actually, I should contact the feudal lords of all the islands in the land of Water and let them know that kekkei genkai users are now allowed back on the mainland. It could be one of the first good things I do as the Mizukage.
"Wait Ketto, you can't really be considering this?" Chojuro looked to me confused. "You really don't have the time. I had to drag you out of your office today because you've been giving yourself so much work to do."
"Chojuro, I'm personally invested in the future generation of shinobi." I said. "Before it didn't matter as much to me but now I want to be proud of our nation. We're strong now, that's true, I would say we are the strongest nation when it comes to our military, yet someone needs to guide the future generation."
"You really don't have the time." he said.
"I might not right now, once all of the divisions are restructured I would have more time. You said it yourself, I need to find someone to wield the Executioner's blade. I know it won't be Hikari, her chakra doesn't match there's something that doesn't seem to fit with the blade. Maybe it's her bloodlust, it needs to be greater." I said. Hikari's chakra was impressive, but I really don't think she would be a good fit for the Executioner's blade. I can't detect any bloodlust from her, I don't even know if she has had any previous training with a blade before. She would definitely need to do some excessive strength training to wield the blade. She also hasn't experienced a great loss. Those of us in the seven ninja swordsmen have had a great loss of some kind that in some way affected us. Hikari's family was technically banished, but she was still brought up in a loving family. It doesn't seem as if anything traumatic happened in her life, that would explain why she didn't have any bloodlust. I shouldn't judge her too much, maybe she becomes a different person with a blade in hand much like Jiro? I doubt it. "Still, if I train with her it would get me used to training a student for when I do find that person."
"Okay class" Rinzu gathered our attention. "Has anyone's range of sensing expanded from last week?" A few students raised their hands. They didn't really have a range that was overly impressive so I wondered what it was like last week before they started practicing. Sensor types are needed in many of the divisions of anbu, so hopefully these children become more skilled than they are. "Is anyone able to sense the chakra of a water clone?" The students didn't say anything so Rinzu continued, "It's the same as sensing for ninja. Maybe an example would help."
Chojuro jumped to his feet before anyone could volunteer. "I can make a water clone." He did the hand signs and a single water clone appeared next to him.
"Thank you, could one of you stay there and the other go to the other side of the room?" Rinzu asked. Chojuro followed his instructions. He stood next to his chair by me while his water clone moved to the other side of the room. "Now everyone sense for the two and tell me the differences."
Hikari was the first to say anything, she didn't even bother to raise her hand. It didn't look like anyone else was going to speak up. "There is no difference, not right now anyway. The thing with water clones or any clone in general is that the user of the jutsu can give their clone any amount of chakra they want to, it might be different than the original. Like if you wanted to make a clone for a specific reason you would only give it enough chakra to carry out that purpose. Otherwise, when making a clone half of that person's chakra is usually used."
"Good job Hikari." Rinzu said. He didn't really praise her for the detailed answer, but I have a feeling Hikari doesn't care. This was so strange, the most capable student in this classroom is the only girl and no one is going to call much attention to it. I would love it if more girls went to the academy, maybe that could be something I work on during my time as Mizukage. I'll admit that our military is strong enough with mostly men, but we could be even stronger with women actively fighting too. I remember when I was in the anbu, there was only one or two other women that I knew of. In a way it surprises me that my mother was an anbu, but at the same time it doesn't. She was the Mizukage's older sister, it would only make sense that she was an anbu.
Chojuro and I observed the rest of the class, I wasn't all that impressed with any of the students other than Hikari. I know that this lesson was planned appropriately enough, but I wondered if the other classes were too easy for the students. Is that why their chakra levels don't impress me? Or could it be that I've always been surrounded by strong chakra presence from those around me and I wouldn't know what was exceptional for academy students. I tried to tell myself that the class I observed was full of eight year olds and then I remembered myself and a lot of other ninja who have done more at a younger age.
After the class was over and Rinzu dismissed them Chojuro and I approached him. "Thank you for allowing us to sit in on your class." I said.
"Yeah, thanks sensei." Chojuro smiled.
"So, have any of the students caught your attention?" Rinzu asked.
"Only Hikari Onishi, I was so impressed with her that I didn't notice any of the other students. They paled in comparison to her." I said. It's true, I tried to focus on anyone but her and I couldn't do it. In a way she reminded me of myself when I was younger. I didn't idolize other people like her, but I always felt like I needed to do my best so that uncle Yagura and Zabuza would be proud of me. I started to care more about my abilities when I was paired with Utakata, I didn't care about him, but he was my partner and there was no way I was going to let anything happen to him while we were together. It would weigh heavily on my mind if my inability to protect him is what killed him.
"Out of all the students in my class she has the most potential." Rinzu agreed. "She only started here a couple of months ago, her father didn't want her to be a kunoichi but her passion for becoming one of the strongest ninja is what drives her. She hasn't gained any friends since she's started. All the boys have grown to dislike her because she's a more promising student and they can see that."
"It should push them to work harder." Chojuro said.
"Most of them don't acknowledge her anymore, they're being childish." Rinzu sighed. "Lady Mizukage, if you would like I can talk to the other sensei's into letting you sit in on some of their classes as well?"
"That would be nice, thank you for offering." I said. It adds more to what I need to do this week, but I didn't care. As soon as Mei accepts her new position as being the head of Mun that will be one less thing for me to worry about. I'll also need to talk to Emon about being the new head of the Cypher division. Once that is sorted out I'll have more time to get other things done. Hopefully I'll have decided whether or not to send a team after Kisame. As a rogue ninja, I would have to send a team, but with his skill I don't think it would be wise to.
"I'm sorry Rinzu sensei, but I have to teach at the kenjutsu academy and Ketto was going to come with me." Chojuro apologize. He gave me a nudge to start moving and I did. "She'll be back tomorrow."
"I look forward to seeing you again Lady Mizukage, it was nice seeing you Chojuro." Rinzu said. Chojuro smiled as he gave a small wave goodbye.
"We need to get our swords." as we exited the academy he pointed to a nearly identical building next door. "That's the kenjutsu academy, I'll meet you there as soon as you have the Kubikiribocho. I have access to the battle room today, it's on the lowest floor."
"Alright, I'll see you soon." I separated from him to go back to the Mizukages tower to get the Executioner's blade. I decided to leave it there earlier because I thought it would be best that an entire building of academy students didn't think I was there to kill them all. As I walked it was easier to detect the movements of my protection detail. Mitsuru was one of them. Before I didn't focus on them as much because Chojuro was with me and I was distracted by the villagers behavior. I suddenly looked in his direction and locked eyes with him. He was shadowing me closer than his comrades. It was easy getting his attention. He moved to walk beside me instead of at a distance.
"I met your sister today." I started.
"She didn't make you uncomfortable did she?" he asked. He looked in front of us as we walked.
"Why would she make me uncomfortable?" I asked.
"You still act strange about me and Jiro being on a team with you. Being that Hikari clearly idolizes you I thought it would bother you more." he said. He looked in my direction. "Look about her request, you don't have to. It's just that ever since she learned about you and Ameyuri she's wanted to be like you."
"Does she know about-"
"She knows," Mitsuru but in. "She also knows about Ameyuri's hunting and she still looks up to you because you're the two most significant kunoichi Kirigakure has ever had."
"You mean she doesn't condemn me for anything I've done?" I was surprised, I didn't think anyone could overlook that so fast.
"She sees you as someone immensely strong who works towards being stronger and she admires that." Mitsuru said. "It's not like she has many kunoichi to look up to. Really though, you don't have to take her request seriously."
"You see, I've kind of always wondered what it would be like to have someone train under me. When I was in Suna, I taught Temari and Kankuro some of the taijutsu the seven ninja swordsmen taught me, but that won't be the same as if I was training Hikari. Any milestone that she achieves would be because I was the one who helped her get there." I said. "I'll have to talk to your father first, she said that he was the one that was doing all of her training outside of the academy. Besides, I have to talk to him about something anyway."
"And what is that?" he wondered.
"I thought you would have guessed already." I was quiet for a moment in case if he realized what I was talking about, but he didn't say anything so I continued, "Don't you think it's been long enough? You should all be able to take on the name Yuki again."
He suddenly stopped walking, so I also stopped and turned back to him. "What are you saying? You know the Fourth gave out that order many years ago, you were the one he sent to fulfill that order."
"That's true, only I didn't do much killing." at Mitsuru's confused face I explained more. "I was tasked with hunting them down and killing them, but the order said that they couldn't be on the mainland. I gave everyone sufficient time to relocate to a different island in the land of Water. Those who stayed were killed."
"But so many people were lost." he said.
"It was after a war that relied strongly on kekkei genkai users. Those who were nonusers were terrified of a power they couldn't understand, so they acted on their own. Neighbors, friends, even family members turned on each other because they were afraid."
"Did you always want to give us the name Yuki back?" he asked. He still looked confused. This was different than how I usually see him, he's always calm and collected, right now he seems far from it.
"I knew it wasn't right that your whole family had to go in hiding, but at the time I found out you really were a Yuki I had absolutely no power to even try to make that a reality." I explained. "Is it okay if we start walking again? I need to get the Executioner's blade and meet Chojuro at the kenjutsu academy."
"Yeah, let's continue." he started walking again, keeping pace with me.
"If I'm being truthful, I forgot all about making your family Yuki's again. I've been so busy since I've become Mizukage, reestablishing the anbu, going through everyone's mission reports and placing them where I think would be best, reading through all current mission assignments and laws. That was when I found it, the order to eliminate those with a kekkei genkai. It was a long list with clan names and detailed descriptions of their kekkei genkai. I revoked it, your father and uncle are welcome to come to the Mizukages tower tonight so we can discuss more." I turned to him before I entered the Mizukages tower. "Make sure you tell them about what we talked about." then I left him as I walked into the tower.
I quickly went it to my office where I left the Executioner's blade and made my way back to the kenjutsu academy now wearing my sword belt and the Executioner's blade. Mitsuru wasn't outside where I left him and I couldn't feel his chakra nearby, so I only assumed he switched out with someone so that he could go home.
At the kenjutsu academy I took myself to the lowest floor like Chojuro said to. The battle room was two floors underground. While I was walking down the last flight of stairs I was greeted with a frosted glass door, I couldn't see through it but I knew this was where I needed to be as it was the last floor and this was the only room. I didn't bother knocking on the door, instead I opened it and stepped inside.
The room was huge and it was all water. The room consisted mostly of a large rectangular pool of water that was tiled. There was enough walking space all around the pool so that a few people could walk comfortably side by side. Chojuro was here with a group of at least fifteen students who were all waiting for instruction.
"You made it!" Chojuro called. He waved me over to them and I walked over. "Does anyone know who this is?"
"That's Lady Mizukage…" one of the boys said. His appearance shocked me, I almost stopped walking to stare at him, but I didn't. This child had wheat colored hair and bright pink-purple eyes with a noticeable scar on his left cheek. There's no way he could be a Karatachi, could he? Maybe I still miss uncle Yagura and I'm wanting to piece together things that don't belong together? Is this boy's hair really wheat colored or does it just look that way with the lighting of this room? The same could be said for his eyes. "What are you doing here? Don't you have other things to be doing?" he said rudely.
"Zagura, show some respect. She's your Mizukage." Chojuro scolded. The other boys in the class stayed quiet as Chojuro snapped at the boy, Zagura. I wouldn't be surprised if this was the usual behavior Zagura usually shows. Also, the name Zagura is very similar to Yagura. If I wasn't already going to, I now have sufficient reason to look into this Zagura.
"Your name is Zagura?" I questioned.
"Yeah, what about it?" he fired back.
"I was wondering about your family name." I was surprised to find that Zagura had a strong chakra when I felt for it. It was impressive like Hikari's, yet his bloodlust is greater. I bet he gets into fights at the academy and fights the other kids. He has that personality.
"What's it matter to you?" he wondered. Zagura had his brows furrowed with a frown on his face. He doesn't seem like a happy kid. I wonder if he's ever happy or if he's always frowning?
"Zagura, I'll send you home for today if you don't knock it off!" Chojuro raised his voice.
"No, it's fine." I told Chojuro. I turned back to Zagura, "You're family name doesn't really matter to me. I was just curious. Chojuro is an orphan and never knew his family name so he doesn't have one. I was born a Momochi, but was adopted as a Karatachi. I was wondering about you." Then I looked to the other boys in the class, "I would like to know all of you as we are spending this class time together today."
"You still didn't say why you were here." Zagura said. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited for a reply from me.
"Zagura, I'm not going to tell you again." Chojuro warned.
"What sensei? It was just a question." Zagura said indifferently.
Chojuro looked like he was exasperated with Zagura already and the class didn't even start yet. I wanted to smile because Zagura reminded me of uncle Yagura's savagery when he was talking to misbehaving generals, yet I didn't. I maintained a passive look on my face.
"I'm here to observe your class. Your sensei reminded me that being I'm the Mizukage now I can't be a part of the seven ninja swordsmen anymore, so I am looking for someone with a strong enough chakra and with certain characteristics that I could train to take my place and wield the Kubikiribocho." I said this to all of the students and not just Zagura, who didn't seem to be to concerned. All the other children whose ages looked to range from eight to twelve seemed excited. "For the duration of this week I'll be observing classes at both academies before I make my final decision."
"Alright everyone, pair up with your partners and get to sparing." Chojuro said. "Ketto will be observing from the sidelines so do your best today."
The boys all paired up and picked a spot on the water to start sparing. I was impressed with their ability to walk on water considering most of the kids in the class at the academy earlier didn't seem as if they had the chakra control for it. Then again should I really be impressed? I thought this was the age academy students had walking on water mastered?
"Chojuro, I was wondering about Zagura." I said. I watched Zagura and his partner, they both held katana but Zagura's grip was strange for a katana. Each strike he made was powerful. The clashes between his and his partners swords echoed the loudest. It was almost as if Zagura should have been wielding a war hammer instead of a sword.
"He looks like the Fourth." he said. "I don't know too much about Zagura's home life. Just that he lives with his grandmother and he's been skipping his classes at the academy, but he never misses a class with me. I wish I could tell you more, I'm curious about it too."
"That's alright." I said. I noticed the way Zagura held his sword again, he still hasn't changed his grip. "Have you suggested to him to change his grip or maybe a different kind of sword?"
"I have, but he's so stubborn." Chojuro sighed. "He claims that he knows what he's doing. He's not really learning anything by acting that way, he still gets experience and that's why I kept him in the class. Also, his chakra is pretty well developed for a kid with his temperament. As long as he gets the experience with a blade he'll realize there's an easier way."
"Don't let him push you around, you're the sensei, stick up for yourself. You made it to jonin just fine, so you know what you're doing." I said.
"We don't rank our ninja Ketto, you know that." he said. I could feel him looking at me, so I met his gaze with my own.
"I think it's time we change that. I'm hoping it'll motivate the younger generation and they'll try harder in their classes. Things aren't as they used to be when I was younger and I think it's because the graduation exam was taken away." I said.
"You're not going to bring that back are you?" Chojuro asked shocked.
"No, but we should still make the academy experience challenges and give all shinobi a title to look forward to. What do you say Chojuro? As my right hand will you help me evaluate and rank the shinobi of this village?" I asked.
"That's a lot of shinobi. There's no way we could do all of that on our own and so many people would be furious as having to prove their skill." he said.
"It won't be just the two of us. There will be others like Emon, Ao, Shozouki, Shun, and Shohei. Also, I think it would be best not to evaluate the skills of anyone who has been in any anbu branch for the last five years. That should take a big chunk of the work away." I said.
"You really like giving yourself work to do don't you?" Chojuro sighed, "But I understand the purpose of it so I'll help. Like I would let you do this all alone anyway. Listen, starting tomorrow, I'm going to be helping you with some of your office work. It'll help lighten the load of everything else you have to do, besides, I'm free in the mornings until classes are dismissed at the academy."
I smiled knowing I won't have to worry about doing all of the Mizukage duties by myself. That is at least until everything is figured out, then I could start doing everything on my own again. "Baki could even help a bit, he leaves in a few days to go back to Suna. Genma too, he's staying for longer I think, he could also help."
"Do you think that would be wise for two shinobi from different nations to be involved in something an internal as that? What if they report our strengths and weaknesses back to their nation?"
"It's better than them reporting that everything is falling apart and in disarray here." I said. "It's only been a few days since I've come back to the village and become Mizukage, but each of those days there has been an attempt on my life. Or at least those are the ones I'm aware of." It's true, I would sense their chakra and then it would suddenly vanish like the first night I was back and Shun intercepted them. "Tsunade ordered Genma to stay here until those kinds of behaviors were resolved, but I already know he'll be here for a long time."
"I guess I didn't realize people were still trying to attempt that." Chojuro said. He got all quiet and before he could say anything else I changed the subject.
"Who is the one sparring with Zagura? He seems to possess a strong chakra and excellent skill with his katana." I said. The boy had messy white hair that was sticking up every which way. He looked older than Zagura or maybe the same age? It was hard to tell.
"Futto Ikari, age nine, amazing with a katana, strong chakra reserves, could potentially work well with others." Chojuro listed. "He's a good kid, he's the only one who'll volunteer to partner with Zagura. He claims he doesn't care who he spars with as long as it isn't a waste of his time. I would say that he's one of the more advanced students in my class. Well, they're all pretty remarkable I guess, this is the advanced class afterall."
"The way he moves with a blade, it's so graceful. He has the patience to wait for the right moment to strike. He plans each movement and has such good balance and coordination." I observed.
"Were you thinking about him to wield the Kibikiribocho?" Chojuro asked.
"No, he doesn't have the right personality for that. While his bloodlust is strong, it would have to be greater if he were to wield this blade." I said.
"Then why have you taken an interest in him?" Chojuro wondered.
"Nuibari." It was as simple as that, his movements reminded me of Kushimaru. If I trained him the same way Kushimaru trained me, I bet he wouldn't even complain about it. He would definitely question it, who wouldn't, but he would still do it. "Doesn't he remind you of Kushimaru?"
Chojuro was now observing Futto with as much interest as I was. "You're right. He does remind me of Kushimaru. However, that doesn't mean he's compatible with Nuibari."
"I know, we'll test that a different day. I would really like to test out their skills myself, they already know each others movements because they've been training together for so long." I saw Zagura out of breath, his powerful attacks were finally taking a toll on him and he was losing stamina. He lasted longer than I gave him credit for. His match was over as soon as his chakra was used up and he fell underneath the water's surface, yet he was not the first to fall. I've just been paying more attention to him and Futto. With Zagura down Futto waited for Zagura to surface before leaving the water and taking a seat off to the side.
We waited for the other students to wrap up their matches before Chojuro addressed where each one of them should improve. Zagura seemed to be off in his own little world when Chojuro told him about his grip and that he should adjust it. Eventually he'll realize that Chojuro was right.
"For the second half of class you will take turns battling Ketto on the water." Chojuro said. I didn't know if he would allow me to do this or not, but at least I get to do more than just observe today. I walked out to the center of the space on the water and waited. "Who would like to go first?"
All the students looked unsure, even Futto, except for Zagura. "I'll do it."
He grabbed his katana and walked out onto the water to meet me. He still held his blade the way he did before, completely disregarding what Chojuro just told him about his grip. "Adjust your grip." I reminded him.
"It's fine." he snapped. "Are you going to draw your blade or not?"
If he isn't going to listen to what we have to tell him then there's only one way to settle this. "Alright, prepare yourself."
I detached the Executioner's blade from my sword belt and held it in front of me.
"Ready, and start!" Chojuro yelled.
Zagura came at me fast with his sword raised to deliver one of his powerful blows. When he was close enough I swung my sword up in an arc with just as much power as his blow would have had. Being that he had an improper grip on his blade it flew out of his hand at the force of my hit and landed in the water to the left of me. Zagura suddenly stopped moving, he stood in place with his head facing down. "Damn it." he muttered.
"Get your blade." I moved to stand straight, taking myself out of my previous position.
"What?" he questioned. Zagura looked up to me with confusion in his pink-purple eyes.
"You heard me. Go on, retrieve your blade." I urged. Zagura hesitated, but then he ran off to the side a few paces before diving into the water for his katana. He quickly surfaced, pulling himself out of the water and walking back across the water to the other awaiting students. "We're not done yet, take up your position." Zagura stopped walking and then took up the same position as before all with a confused look on his face. He seemed even more surprised when I attached the Executioner's blade to my belt and walked towards him. He took a step back, not knowing what to do when I grabbed his wrist to the hand that was most incorrectly positioned on the handle of the blade. I fixed his grip and said, "This is the correct grip, now position the blade in front of you. This is swordplay, not hacking away like a lumberjack."
I distanced myself from him again and pulled out the Executioner's blade. I didn't wait for Chojuro to tell us to start before I started running at Zagura. He reacted quickly and dodged my first attack. He struggled to parry the second and he lost his sword again on the third. "Your grip was good at first and then you went back to the way you usually hold it. I don't think a katana is the weapon for you, try a different blade."
He huffed as he walked away, he collected his sword again before joining everyone else. "Who's next?" Chojuro asked. Futto immediately stepped forward and took his place across from me. "Ready, and start!"
Futto didn't make the first move, instead I had to. He watched all of my movements and adjusted his own position relative to mine. He attacked fast and with a purpose. He took any opening that I gave him and used it. He was definitely more cautious than Kushimaru but he still reminded me of him. I didn't use my full strength, I only wanted to test these students not destroy them. My match was over with Futto when he ran out of chakra and fell through the water.
The rest of the matches went much the same way as Futto's did. None of them really stood out to me, still only Futto and Zagura did. Once all of the matches were done Chojuro dismissed them for the day.
"Your students were more impressive than the academy students this morning." I said. Chojuro didn't even have to use Hiremeikari today, I did all the fighting for him.
"Yeah, some of the students are more promising than others but they're developing at a normal rate," he said. Chojuro and I left the kenjutsu academy together to return to the Mizukages tower. "You can get back to all of your paperwork now."
"I also thought of more things that I should be doing. Up until today, I didn't think my uncle was involved with the village enough to take an interest in the orphans. That's something I should give some attention to as well as meeting with all of the sensei's at the academy and going over some of their lesson plans to see how efficient they are. There's some civil things I'll have to deal with too. Mitsuru's father and uncle may be visiting the tower tonight." I said.
"That's not even everything." he said. He remembers that we talked about many other things today too. "Evaluations of shinobi for the ranking system, arranging to sit in on classes at the academies for the rest of the week, and you'll have to check in with Shozouki and Ao to see if they have fully selected ninja for their divisions, not to mention you'll have to talk to Mei to see if she accepted her position and you still have to select a head for the Cypher corps. Just thinking about all of that makes me tired."
"That's okay, not everything will be done at the same time." I said.
"What would you like me to start on for you?" Chojuro asked.
"Arranging the week at the academy, getting together a list of shinobi that needs to be evaluated, and look into the number of orphans in the village and do a bit of research on them. What are their current housing arrangements? Training schedules? Things like that." with Chojuro helping I can get started on some of the other things and get more done in a shorter span of time.
"I'll get started on that right away," he said. We entered the Mizukages tower and went to my office where I handed him a pile of shinobi registration files. "What is this?"
"These are the shinobi that have not already been selected for a division and have been out of the academy for less than five years." I said. "I already knew I wanted to do this so I sorted these yesterday."
"Alright, well I'm going to go and contact the sensei's at the academies first and then start on everything else." he said. He tucked the files I gave him under his arm and started to walk out of the room. "I'll check back in before I go home and let you know about my progress."
"Sounds good, I'll see you then." I absentmindedly waved goodbye to him as I sat down at my desk and pulled some papers closer to me. The one on the top was the mission assignment for Kisame, that's right, I was undecided about that earlier.
I opened one of the drawers of my desk and pulled out a new piece of paper to rewrite the assignment. I don't think I want the hunter nins going after Kisame, no matter which squad I piece together to go after him the fact still stands that he's still considered a tailed beast without a tail. My attachment to Kisame is probably what will get me killed one day. As much as I didn't want to admit it uncle Yagura is right, I even know it's true that Kisame will kill me if he needs to. He is a comrade killer after all. For some reason I thought it would be different for us, Kisame cared for me more than Zabuza did. I could be mistaken, but I thought Kisame had genuine affection for me. He called me little sister the last time we met in the land of Fire. He broke the code of caring for me and I still wouldn't be surprised if he tried to kill me.
The Cypher division can gather information on Kisame and Akatsuki. I'll have to put together a team that would be perfect for this. I wrote down a detailed description of the assignment for this mission before setting it aside to put with other assignments that would be going to the Cypher division once I confirm the new head captain. I'll also have to put together a few teams to send to Suna to develop their intelligence division.
A copy of the agreement I signed in Suna arrived before I returned to the village, it was buried underneath mountains of paperwork but I found it the other day and I keep thinking about it. I should send a few squads of ninja back to Suna with Baki when he leaves at the end of the week to start training their military. I would prefer going, but as things are now there's just too much I have to settle before I can go. If I could even go, now that I'm Mizukage I'll have to restrict my movements outside of the village. This arrangement was perfect for uncle Yagura, by making me Mizukage he insured that I would still have strong ties to our village after his death. A smart move for him, to chain the villages greatest weapon to said village to guarantee the village is protected. With Utakata gone I'm all that's left for a tailed beast.
Utakata. I remember seeing some mention of him in one of these mission assignments. I looked through the piles of papers on my desk but couldn't find what I was looking for. Where else could I have put it, I know there was something about him. I stood up from my seat and moved to the front of the desk, maybe I dropped something? There wasn't anything on the floor, but I noticed a manilla folder resting on the ledge of the window sill. That's right, I left it there last night when I skimmed over it the first time. It's a file of the original mission assignment uncle Yagura made sending a squad of hunter nins after Utakata. It seems as if he's constantly been on the run since he defected from the village. The squad of hunter nins reported that on several occasions they lost him as soon as they found him. For the last couple of years he's somehow evaded them long enough to disappear again. Their assignment is to figure out his movements and then kill him whether or not he seems to be plotting to attack the village.
I don't like that, I want to change that so he can come back to the village if he wants to. Would he even want to? It's not like he has anyone waiting for him here either. He's an orphan just like I am and he killed his sensei because he tried to extract Saiken, or rather Saiken detected the threat and killed Utakata's sensei himself. There really is nothing here for him, but it would be nice to know you could return to your homeland and not worry about being prosecuted.
I'll have to do something about this, the Cypher division should be able to handle this too. With the manilla folder in hand I sat down at my desk once again and immediately started writing out a new mission assignment regarding Utakata.
Someone entered my office and set a plate of cubed beef with a savory looking sauce, chunks of cooked potato, and a colorful salad topped with dressing on my desk. Just looking at it upset my stomach, there was no way I could eat all of that and keep it down. I looked away saying, "I'm not hungry."
"Lady Mizukage, you haven't eaten since you've returned to the village. For your own health, I suggest you eat something." I was so concentrated on my work that I didn't realize who it was that brought me food. The last I heard, he was stuck in the Leaf village helping with restructuring the village and making new buildings around the time all Mist shinobi were summoned back to the mainland . He must have managed to come back more recently because I haven't been able to find him.
"How would you know that I haven't been eating if you were away?" I asked. I continued to finish writing the mission assignment for Utakata, the smell of the food seemed pleasant enough but I still wasn't hungry.
"I didn't have to be here to know. You've always been like this. You would come back from a mission and be too occupied with preparing for your next mission or training and you would forget to eat." Emon said. "Also, I ran into Genma of the Leaf village in the gathering area. He's been keeping an eye on you since he's been here. It's his mission to stay in our village until you are no longer in danger from anyone that wishes to cause you harm. He's just keeping an eye out for your health. You should eat at least a little bit of it." he pushed the plate closer to me again.
My eyes trailed from the paper to the plate of food and I sighed. There was no way he was going to let me get away with not eating, and he's right, I haven't really eaten anything since I got back to Kiri. "You might as well get yourself a plate too."
"Lady Mizukage?" Emon sounded confused, and I suppose he should be. I've never taken the time to include him in anything. He's always there, but as a shadow that no one notices.
"Don't make me repeat myself." I said. I turned back to the mission assignment for Utakata and worked on finishing it. I added that when the time comes, I'll be the one to tell him he's welcome back to the village. We need him and Saiken to be protected and the sooner the better. "Go on, I'll wait for you."
He left the room without another word. When he comes back I can use that time to talk to him about becoming the head captain of the Cypher division. As soon as I finished writing up the mission assignment for Utakata, I placed it on top of the one for Kisame to start a pile that will go to the Cypher division. I should probably create another mission assignment sending a squad out to gather information on the Akatsuki specifically. Or maybe I'll just let Emon decide that if he accepts being the head captain.
Before that there's something else that will need to be done first. I may trust Emon to some extent, uncle Yagura trusted him with confidential information and by default I trusted him, but how can I trust someone whose face I've never seen? Once I've seen his face is it really okay to give him that kind of trust? He really was the shadow that took care of me when I was younger. If Kisame wasn't there to drag me out of the tower for mangalore-style crab sukka then Emon was there to make sure I ate.
Emon came back with his own plate of food and sat in one of the chairs on the other side of my desk. He didn't seem to know what to do, which is strange, I've never seen him so uncertain before.
"You can take off your mask, we should probably be properly introduced anyway, don't you think?" I moved any papers that I had in the way and pulled the plate of food towards me. I kind of was looking forward to the beef, the flavoring wouldn't be as drastic as it was when Temari make curry, but it would still be packed with herbs for flavor. There was just enough of the herb sauce to cover some of the beef cubes any of the sauce that's leftover I'll use to give the potatoes flavor and I'll probably eat the salad last if I don't get too sick by then.
Emon took off his porcelain mask with the three violet slashes going across the left eye hole. I was a little bit surprised to see that Emon didn't have any visible scars on his face. He actually looked familiar to me but I couldn't quite place my finger on it. Or I was just overthinking his appearance like I did when I saw Zagura. I've known Emon's sandy blonde hair and green eyes for years, it's just his face was very similar to uncle Yagura's face. Then again what would I know about the characteristics of one's face? I don't normally observe people that closely, I could care less about what they look like, though I guess you could say I paid more attention to the select people who were closer to me.
"I know that your code name is Emon, but what is your real name?" I asked. I tasted a bit of the beef and was surprised by how much I missed the taste. So far my stomach didn't disagree so I continued eating at a slow pace.
"My name is Akira." he said.
Akira didn't say anything else, "No family name?" I wondered.
"No," I didn't push him, I have no business knowing what happened to his family if he chooses not to associate with them or if he was an orphan that's his business.
"Am I correct in assuming that you know many of the villages secrets?" I asked.
"I suppose you could say that." Akira stopped eating for a moment to ask, "What kind of secret would you like to know?"
"I'm not in the need of knowing any of the villages secrets. I feel as if I know too many of them." I said. "I only asked because I think you would be a good head captain to the cypher division and the fact that you are skilled enough to get information that you need without raising alarms is a skill that would come in handy."
"I'm sure other people are more qualified?" he asked.
"I don't think so, besides there are only a select number of people I can trust." I said. "Shozouki, Jiro, and Mitsuru were with me in the Leaf village during the attack and then later on in Sunagakure. Ao was once my commanding officer, he's intelligent and is willing to do what needs to be done. I hardly trust Mei, but she's family even though it's very distant. I also trust her more than Saizo, that's the one I would like her to replace. Would you accept the position?"
"I think I would prefer being in the shadows, I've grown so used to wearing my mask that it's strange not wearing it." Akira said.
"You would still be in the shadows, you would just have to get used to not wearing the mask. Obviously, you would still have to wear it when you're on missions, but it will be awhile before that happens." I said. "When I first found out I was Mizukage the first thing I did was start to restructure each of the divisions. Shozouki and Ao, are nearly finished choosing who would be in their divisions, so I'm sorry if there isn't many talented ninja for you to choose from."
"You're talking as if I've already accepted." he said.
"You haven't given me a definite answer yet, so I'm going to just act as if you already said yes." I finished my beef and moved on to the potatoes. So far my stomach was holding out just fine, but I could already tell that I'll have some issues later.
"Give me a reason of why I should say yes?" he asked.
"You seem like the kind of person that enjoys secrets and figuring them out." I started. "Recently an organization has surfaced calling themselves the Akatsuki. We don't know a lot about them just that one of their goals is to harvest all nine tailed beasts. From the information that I know, there is a duo of men who are tasked with collecting the bounties of ninja listed in the bingo book, so it's known that they have a more long term goal even though we don't know what it could be. The duo consists of Kakazu and Hidan, their villages are unknown. I also crossed paths with another partnership who I believe are tasked with the collection of the tailed beasts. Kisame Hoshigaki and Itachi Uchiha are on one such team. I'm not sure how many more teams or members they have."
"That seems interesting…" Akira thought for a moment. "I'll do it."
"Before you or anyone can do some reconnaissance, you'll have to choose the others who will be in this division with you. Right now all ninja registrations are sorted by the divisions they are now currently in. There's a pile over there of ninja who haven't been placed yet that also include ninja registrations from those who have been released from the academies less than five years ago. They'll need to be evaluated for skill, I was thinking about having Shozouki do it with Ao and Genma and Baki could assist but if you would like to be there too it would be best for you to assess these ninja while they're being tested. Actually, if you want you can go organize that as soon as you're finished eating."
"It's getting late, I would rather do that in the morning." he said.
I noticed that it did start to get darker outside, but I have no clue what time it could be. "That's fine." I just finished my salad grateful that I didn't have more to eat. The food I ate sat heavily in my stomach and didn't feel the best, but I really did need to eat something so I didn't complain.
"I'll take that." Akira got up from his seat with his plate also empty. He placed his mask on his face and then pushed it to the side. Then he grabbed my plate before heading to the door. "Please try to get some sleep tonight Lady Mizukage. Don't stay up too late."
"I have a bit more to do tonight." I said.
"It seems as if you have some visitors." Akira said. I felt for the chakra he mentioned and found Mitsuru and two other chakra signatures that were similar to his.
"I've been expecting them," I said. "Actually, I didn't think they would come."
"I'll leave you then." Akira continued out of my office.
I waited for the trio to make it up here. While I waited for them I pulled out the order that uncle Yagura wrote out years ago along with mine that revoked it. I was thinking about presenting it to the public tomorrow, but maybe Mitsuru's family can do that for me. Mitsuru was the first to enter my office with two men following him that bore a strong resemblance to each other. I would say they were only a few years apart in age from each other. The three of them had the same inky black hair and icy blue eyes as each other.
"Good evening would you care for a seat?" I gestured over to the two available seats, one of them would have to stand.
"Is it true that you've gotten rid of the order that targets kekkei genkai users?" the older of the two men said.
"Dad, don't seem too eager." Mitsuru said. Even though he was the one to say it, he also didn't seem as relaxed as he normally is.
The other man took a seat and patted the one next to him. "Sorry about my brother, he's just shocked. Obviously it's true, you know of our family being Yuki's and living under a different name. If it wasn't true you would have had all of us killed already."
I handed the two papers I pulled out for them and handed them over the desk which Mitsuru's father took. "The original order had a list of family names and detailed descriptions of their kekkei genkai. I thought the whole order was ridiculous considering kekkei genkai users were the people who helped win the war, but I do understand the need to get rid of a threat to an already existing power. I'm not speaking in favor of it, only stating that I understand why the Fourth did it." I didn't know if I should tell them, but I felt the need to show them that they can trust me, or at least show Mitsuru's father that he can trust me. "It was revealed to me after his death that my uncle was placed under a genjutsu sometime ago and that this other person has malicious intents. That's actually the reason why I created the protection division tasked with protecting the Mizukage against any other or maybe the same outside force from manipulating my mind. I'm immune to most genjutsu, but incase if this person made an attempt on my life or whatever other reason they could have to cause me or Kiri harm it would be stopped."
"So whoever was controlling Lord Fourth was the one responsible for creating that order in the first place?" Mitsuru's father asked.
"Yes, I suspect it was to eliminate a rebellion from forming or a take over from within the village." I said. "I was going to address the rest of the village tomorrow, but I wasn't going to tell them as much as I've told you. I thought you should be the first to know."
"Why should we be the first to know?" Mitusuru's uncle asked.
"When my brother defected from the village he came across an orphaned boy." I started. "They traveled together for years, Zabuza showed that boy the same interest he had for me, I'm almost certain he saw that boy as a weapon, but at some point he started to care deeply for that boy. The two of them are dead now, during our month break from the chunin exams I went to the Land of Waves to arrange for their bodies to be brought back to Kiri, the two are buried together in the Momochi family plot in the cemetery."
"That still doesn't have anything to do with us." Mitsuru's father said.
"That boy's name was Haku Yuki, he was precious to my brother and out of respect for him I believe your family deserves to know first."
It was quiet for awhile and I was surprised when Mitsuru's father was the one to break the silence. "Thank you for your consideration." He stood from his chair, his brother following his actions confusedly. Mitsuru's father stood across from me and held his hand out. "My name is Vanu Yuki, it's a pleasure to meet you in person Lady Fifth."
I hesitated a bit, but I took his outstretched hand in mine and gave it a firm shake. Mitsuru's uncle let a smile across his face as he did the same. "I'm Maru Yuki." I did the same with him.
"Hikari told us that she met you today while she was at the academy." Vanu said.
"Yes, I'll be observing more classes this week too. I've been wanting to know where to make changes in academy courses to produce stronger more skilled shinobi. I realize things were different when I was younger, but the students of this generation seem to be lacking." I said.
"So you show a genuine interest in the development of the village?" he asked.
"Of course, this next generation is the future of Kiri. I need to make sure they develop all the skills necessary for them to be successful." I said.
"Hmm, I see. I think you'll be a remarkable Mizukage." Vanu said. "Hikari talked to me about wanting you to train her. If you would like you can."
"I still don't understand why she looks up to me." I said.
"She doesn't realize it, but I recognize that you possess the courage of water and that in itself is admirable." Maru said.
I've never thought of myself as someone having the courage of water. I don't think I believed that was found in many people anymore. I would deny ever having possessed that courage, but certain things remind me of that truth. Like fighting on the front lines in a war, or letting that Kaguya boy live when I was ordered to kill him. I suppose I do have the courage of water.
"We should get back home, let's go Mitsuru." Vanu said.
The three of them left my office leaving me alone. I didn't feel like doing anything else tonight, my stomach hurt more than it did when I first finished eating. I definitely ate too much, which isn't all that difficult to do considering I haven't really been eating lately anyway. I got up from my chair and crossed the room. I turned off the lights and closed the door as I walked to uncle Yagura's room. I've been lying awake in his bed the last couple of days unable to sleep, but even I acknowledge that I should try and get some sleep like Akira said too.
Before I could get in bed I ended up in the attached bathroom puking what I had just eaten. Damn it, I thought I could hold it down. When was the last time I even ate before today? I think I last had breakfast with Kankuro before I left Suna and that was more than a week ago. Hopefully tomorrow it'll be easier to keep my food down.
I crawled into uncle Yagura's bed and covered myself with the blankets before my consciousness melded with Isobu's. Lately, I've noticed that the two of us can share thoughts instead of having to go fully into my subconscious. "Isobu, is it possible for you to use your chakra to help me sleep? Normally I'm the one helping other people sleep, but now I'm the one that needs help."
"Don't worry about it, just close your eyes and embrace my chakra." his gravelly voice responded.
I did as he said and I was able to feel his chakra get stronger the more I focused on it. Soon enough I felt light and fuzzy, the feeling you get just before you sleep and then I was sleeping.
