Scarlet Justice: Full Blossom - ep. 83
"Stopping Over"

"The overall aim, as you must have surmised, is to prevent any rash decision making on the parts of our neighbours in these troubling times."

Today's jounin meeting is at capacity, an unusual but understandable thing given what's been happening lately. The recent announcement of the incoming Five Kage Summit has put everyone on edge, and the elites of the village would have much to worry about. Along with the usual faces, there are some others who decided to clear their schedules for today's event. Reika is diligently taking notes while seated near the front. The two members of the Leaf Council are seated on either side of the Hokage, obviously sitting on chairs because they're special little snowflakes. Because of that, the old man is sitting in his own chair with a high back. Shikaku is still on the floor, taking it easy as always. Inoichi and Choza are nearby, of course. Erika is at the back of the room, looking over everyone and everything while paying attention to the meeting. She's been doing her own investigating lately, along with everything we've been working on together. Neji is here too, with one other clan member. Guy and Kakashi are together, the Leaf's most inseparable duo. One is reading his usual erotic fare, the other is furiously taking notes as if his life depended on it. And of course, neither of the vaunted Three are in attendance. They're not fans of meetings, and use their privilege as often as possible to get out of them.

"Good work has been accomplished with the deployment of the recently formed platoons, as part of our Akatsuki Task Force," Hiruzen says from his seat. "Their activity has decreased sharply within the country, and we are seeing increases to the frequency of mission requests on top of revenue. We have consistently shown the quality of our work, and our care for clients and their safety. Thank you all for your work in this matter, and I know that you will soon see material reward for your due diligence."

"The recent issues regarding changes to standards and compensation should be ironed out by now," Shikaku says. "As always, you can bring your concerns to General Aomine if you can't find me, or you want to talk with someone else you can trust."

I see Reika nod. "Yes. Commander Nara has been very quick and responsive with regards to our needs, and I suggest that we continue to deal with him and the Hokage's Office in good faith. As brothers, sisters, and cousins of the Leaf, we should strive to treat each other with respect and kindness, even in the midst of disagreement."

Hiruzen nods himself. "Well said, well said. We have completed our talks with Sand on some previously disputed properties, and will be assigning a selection of missions for research and other types of information gathering. Our intention is to avoid any encroachment unless our local agents make recommendations to that effect. There will be rotations from the east within the next week or two, and some reports on conditions in the area. If there is anything..."

"What's the situation looking like for you two?" I ask my companions while the meeting continues. Asuma and Kurenai shrug near simultaneously at that.

"Nothing changing," he says. "Far as I can tell, anyways. We haven't had any problems with finding people for Mirai, so...it's mostly about staying out of trouble."

"Apparently the Akatsuki big shots haven't been coming around to our neck of the woods lately," she says. "Could be just a matter of time, though."

"I imagine they wouldn't ignore the Leaf for too much longer. With the recent strike, they're down to about half of their membership with two thirds of the tailed beasts remaining," I say. "Whether it's desperation or pragmatism..."

"We've gotta see what the borders look like in a few weeks, first off," Asuma says. "Can't plan too far ahead."

"The downfall of many a king and their kingdoms. Mm. It turns out that being overly rigid doesn't work for ideology or physical structure."

"Planning on any major plays?"

"Nothing for the next while, aside from the usual blood spilling that comes with shinobi business. If it were just a matter of buying our way into a peaceful era, this village could have done it on its own. If it were a matter of negotiation, we would have world peace within the week. If it were a matter of force...well, nothing much needs to be said about that part. You know who I am."

"Don't we all," he says with a chuckle.

"I'll be taking it easy for the most part until the time for the summit arrives. Actually, I might have you take me to your supplier for those trench knives of yours. There's something I want to see."

"Hey, just let me know when. The guy's ancient and kind of stuck on some things, so...you know."

"Yes. I'll try not to make him piss himself for overstepping his bounds."

Asuma nods sagely. "Great. I'll give him a call before we come by."

"You sure have a way with words," Kurenai says dryly.

"You have to be a little rough with people at times before they come to an understanding. Society can be slow in catching up to the ideals it professes to have," I say with a flip of my hair. "Most would be thankful for a guiding hand like mine."

"I'd rather the guy have both his arms working, for the next time I need some work done," Asuma says. "Best thing for everyone."

Hiruzen goes over a few more things before we finish up. Everyone stands and puts away their cushions as always, with the usual amount of chatter going back and forth as we step outside.

"I'll leave you two to take care of things at home," I say as we clear the entrance. "I'm going to see if there's anything to clear up before going home myself."

"Sounds good," Kurenai says. "I was thinking about doing some shopping for Mirai before we went back. They have those jumpers we were looking at a few weeks ago on sale."

"Works for me," Asuma says. "We'll see you later, Lili. Get some more rest in."

"I surely will. Take care, and send Mirai my love."

I get a hug from both of them before we wave and go our separate ways. A quick stop at the office complex to check my work box. Nothing important...I suppose that's a sign to stop worrying about things for the next while and rest again. The necessary rounds of dinner dates have been done, meeting with Nami and the girls, resuming our morning runs through the village...and I can't worry too much about anything outside of the village, either. Midori and Luna will let me know if anything comes up with regards to the serpent world.

"I wonder. Is there time to head out of town and see Rose? Maybe not...the summit confirmation can drop at any given time, and I need to be here when it happens. Calling her later will have to do..."

I make it to the hotel lobby before I see a familiar face at the front desk.

"A pleasant day to you, Yuno."

"Just the woman I wanted to see," she says with a smile. She turns to the receptionist and has a quick chat before leaving. "I just called up to ask Fio where you were, and she said that you'd be coming back from a meeting."

"The scheduled jounin meeting for this week, yes."

"How are those?"

"Lovely affairs, believe it or not. The atmosphere is quite relaxed, everything is done in an orderly and concise fashion, and you can bring whatever you like for refreshment whilst gathering with your friends and gossiping. Helps that there aren't so many of us compared to the rest of the regular forces."

"Wow. That sounds pretty cool. Being a jounin sounds like a lot, but at the same time...it looks like you can also get a lot of space to do what you need to."

"For most, the road is long. But once you get here, it's more than worth the effort. You do get to focus on your specialties immediately and with adequate backing. It's just that in most cases, the specialty is killing a lot of people."

"Yeah. Gives me a bit more hope for my future, though. I'll have to see about training properly for a promotion. Maybe special jounin at the least. But, uh...I didn't come around to make you stand in the lobby for small talk. There's some other stuff I wanted to talk about. I mean, if you're free."

"I didn't have anything in mind but leisure time, and that can easily wait. Did you want to head upstairs?"

"I wanted to get some outside air, if that's fine with you."

"As said, anything is fine. Let's go for a little walk."

"Thanks."

We head back outside, walking through the village streets until the crowds thin and the noise that came with them lessens. Yuno has her hands in her sweater pockets, looking a bit dishevelled and tired around the eyes especially.

"Is everything okay, my love? Are you being harassed by anyone recently?" I ask, concerned.

"No, no. It's nothing like that. Aniki and Nami have been taking care of me really well, and most people aren't the type to bother me about my transition these days. They're pretty cool with it, you know? Yeah, it's...not totally over with, but I'm doing alright on that front."

"That's good to hear. So this is about something else, then."

"Yeah. Kind of complicated." She lets out a breath. "I haven't been taking care of myself, and Nami's scolded me more than once about it. Just lack of sleep, since I'm eating to keep my energy up and all. It's like...like...just sparks and heat dancing in my chest. Excitement of all kinds. Keeps me up at night, reading. Learning how to do new types of math so that I can write out the crazy equations that are in my head, and have them make some sort of sense. Things like that. We haven't started too much on the big project, which makes sense. Gotta establish protocol, figure out what clearances we need and don't need, locations, materials, personnel, and it keeps going like that. Nothing to be too impatient about. We all need to be safe and sure of what we're doing. Makes sense, right?"

"Perfectly so."

"Right. So...in the meantime, I thought I would go out and get some knowledge, or advice, things like that from people who are smarter than me and know how the game is played. I could have all the notes I wanted, but it's all about experience sometimes. And I like learning from people. Then, I just..."

She stops, and somehow she looks even heavier than before. Like weight is being pressed onto her head and shoulders. Her walk slows until we're standing still on the side of the road.

"Yuno."

"All I can think about now is the one thing, really and truly. Lili, I know that you're going to change everything about this world we live in. That all of the goals and plans you have for us will come to life, and that none of this work we're doing will be wasted. Between this and what you've done for me, personally, I don't have a reason to doubt that you'll come out on top. But...that just gets me thinking, in a loop. What happens when you change the world, but the people you need on your side think that better things aren't possible? What happens when you bring a bunch of people into a world that they haven't ever considered, that they don't see as real, that's just temporary, or some kind of fiction?"

"You worry about creating a world around people who don't believe in anything."

She nods, eyes brightening as she sees my understanding. "Yeah. Yeah, that's about it. That's the feeling. Maybe it's...not a great thing to think. Selfish, or even bitter."

"It's not an uncommon thing to wonder about. The question has been on my mind before, and answers never come easy for these types of things. But before I say anything...what made you feel this way, Yuno?"

"I went around and like, shared some of my ideas. Based on what we're trying to do, jutsu origins and construction and research into the potential of various techniques and chakra usage. Not enough to be overwhelming, and not with anything that talked about what we were doing in specifics. Nobody I talked to was mean, or rude, but...from all of them, I knew that they didn't think things on that level were possible, or that we could get past first and second order effects. There was always an issue to consider, and...that's normal. That's fair. It just came off as so pessimistic and hopeless."

I pull Yuno to my side, and she leans into me.

"I understand what you mean by that. The belief that we shouldn't move too far, or too quickly. That things cannot change, until they do, or that there has to be a certain way things change else it end up as an invitation to chaos."

"Yeah. That sounds right, too."

"The answer is to fight forward. Simple, and strenuous. That's how it is and will always be, a struggle to bring your vision properly to the masses."

"Is that all we can do?"

"As things are now, yes. Belief is a heavy thing for people, especially in this world. To believe in something means in a lot of ways to put yourself into it. Parts of you, placed at risk in the near endless tides of life. To believe in something is hard. Sometimes, it might even mean your life, and all it contains. Exceedingly strong men have walked into the abyss because their dreams came to a sudden end." I rub Yuno's shoulder. "Your frustration is valid, and necessary. It's not something that will disappear on its own, nor is it something that should. The struggle against this world and all that holds it in place will continue on."

"So we just...keep fighting, and give the people something to believe in."

"Yes. As for the difficult parts of changing the swaying hearts of mankind...that's nothing for you to worry about right now, as stressful as it is. Your work will be legitimized in the public eye soon. Everything that you worry about now is temporary. But you should know that I understand and empathize with you, Yuno. I have my own path to walk down, as you might have guessed."

"Something even harder than what I'm trying to do. But those are the kinds of things you deal with on your level, right?"

"That's right."

"Alright. I feel better after talking about it. And I feel like I have a few things to prove now. Lili, thanks. I didn't want to talk with Aniki or Nami about this, even if they would understand and make me feel comfortable. I just thought...that you would have a different view of things, and it would help a bit more."

"That's the kind of insight that will help us solve that big mystery sooner rather than later. Whether the world is ready for us or not, we will be on our way. The future won't stay the same under our watch."

"Definitely." She looks up at me. "Lili?"

"Yes, love."

"When you mentioned walking down your own path earlier...did you mean alone? Without us?"

"I did. I know that changing the entire world on your own is something very difficult to do. The Sage of Six Paths managed for a little while, before his desires were corrupted to create the very ninjutsu we use to wage war with each other. Then the Founder, Hashirama Senju, managed to slow the tide of destruction by uniting with the Uchiha to create this village we stand in currently. It inspired the creation of other villages like it, and gave way to brief periods of peace."

I kneel down to pick up a few blades of grass, and hold them between my fingers.

"But even that has come with its own share of darkness beneath the surface. We are only ever moments away from more years of pain and destruction, times that become more bitter the more we humans grow in terms of population and knowledge. We do not mourn the loss of one library with a hundred scrolls over the library with a hundred thousand, gathered from the vast repository of human knowledge. The beauty of youth turns into a nightmare instantly. Children, witness to martyrdom of their peers and loved ones. Boundless energy tinged with fury until it is completely taken over with maddening colour. A will of hellfire that rivals the same which gave rise to peace, uncertain as it was and ever would be."

The grass blades leave my fingers as soon as I ease the pressure on them, flying upwards into the sky.

"You know how dramatic I am by now, of course."

"One of your best qualities," Yuno says with a smile, looking up into the sky after me.

"Of course. It was said in the holy book that Momma showed me...the Christ, who was called saviour of the world and holder of the throne on the right hand of Almighty God, was separated from his divinity in the midst of bringing mankind its redemption. I don't profess to take on the sins of creation, or any such thing. But...there will be a time where I am separated from existence, as both a human being and an agent of heaven."

"That sounds like a trip."

"Unfortunately, I can't say much more about it. There is an understanding that reaches beyond us both, in many different ways."

"Hey, that's alright. I don't think I'd be able to keep up anyways, and that's not me saying I'm dumb or anything like that. I can just barely make sense of Koichi whenever he gets...er, inspired."

"Still a handful, then."

"Mm-hm. But he's my handful now," she says with a smile. "Quirky as he is, I couldn't ask for a better big brother."

"Lovely."

"I guess it's back to work for me, then. My head's clearer than it's been in a while."

"I'll join Nami in her scolding. You need to get yourself some proper rest. A girl simply must look her best while out and about," I say to Yuno.

"Yeah, I'll try to remember. Though it's sort of good practice-"

"For special missions. Nice try."

Yuno shrugs. "Worth a shot. Promise I'll go home after this and take a good nap."

"I'll hold you to it, love."

She smiles and hugs me tightly.

"Thanks again, Lili. I love you lots."

"And I love you. Be good, and send my love off to the family."

"Got it~." Yuno kisses me on the cheek before taking off. I watch her go, feeling a bit of pride in my chest.

"She's really growing, inside and out. I love to see it, truly. There's no way I can get to the top alone..."

Speaking of rest, I should head back and take that advice for myself. We can try the hot tub today. The little out of the way one is my favourite, and Fio's too. Hopefully it's all clear by the time we get ready.

Hm. Something did come to mind. Tomorrow might be a good time to seek that one out.

"The Rasengan? For research?"

Jiraiya is sitting at one of the Leaf's many small vendors for alcohol, enjoying a bottle of sake. What else would he be doing, aside from spying on women. Conveniently, there's a natural hot spring nearby with plenty of lightly dressed women occupying it, and what looks to be an easily compromised barrier separating it from the public eye.

"Yes. It will help with some problems that we've had with visualization and chakra control readings, and so on."

"Hm. And what exactly are you kids up to?"

"That's classified, unfortunately."

He turns his head to me, annoyed as usual.

"And despite what you might think, you can't make the Hokage force me to reveal it to you. It's far out of his reach."

"Yeah, whatever." He shakes his head. "Do whatever you want, just keep your head on straight when it comes to protocol."

"Of course, sir. We have a few other techniques in play that would be very problematic to see revealed to the shinobi world. There's quite a bit of trust in me that I have to maintain."

"As long as you get it. By the way, congratulations on whatever you did out on the sea. You used some jutsu to take down a tailed beast, eh."

"For the most part. I'm sure Lord Hokage has disseminated the recent report to you."

"Yep. You win some, you lose some. Can't be mad at you for that. You did some good work, and I'd be a fool not to acknowledge it. Keep that up, and not whatever weird annoying shadow business you've got going on. I'd rather you not raise a generation of snake women to take over the village."

"Because they would recognize you for the reprobate you are?"

"Because it would be unbearable."

"That sounds about the same to me. I personally think it's better than having your chest caved in."

"You really are a twerp, you know that? And with all this congratulating I'm doing? Don't get yourself a big head. Alright? As much as I want to put you in your place, you're still a valued comrade and member of the Leaf family."

"Oh, how sweet of you. If you let me sit in your lap and feed me candy, I might very well melt in your hands," I say.

"It's impressive how much of a bitch you are."

"You haven't seen the half of it, I assure you. Well, I do appreciate your praise of me, and will continue to remain humble in all things. After all, we still have a ways to go before this world is made whole again."

"Right. We can agree on that much."

"Before I take my leave, how goes your investigation?"

He shrugs slowly. "Nothing bad, nothing great. More space to move, so thanks again, annoying as it is to say."

"It's a good turn for all of us, surely. The platoon deployments can remain unpredictable and allow us to cover more ground than before."

"Yeah, things opened up right away. I haven't picked up much else...might take a trip to a certain village."

"I don't think that would be a good idea," I say quickly.

"Why not? Not that I'm particularly inclined to take your advice on a personal level, but...you are in actuality an elite jounin of the village. So we can work on that basis, if you can handle that blow to your ego."

"Thank you," I say with relief. "The information blackout is one thing, as well as the secretive nature of the Hidden Rain as a whole. But intel from those in the region has indicated that in anticipation of the Five Kage Summit and the disruption it will create, there might be more surveillance than usual in and around the Hidden Rain Village." I reach into one of my sleeves and take out a scroll. "There's data here if you want to see it."

"Thanks." He lazily opens and scans it, muttering a few things to himself before nodding. The scroll is rolled up and handed back to me. "You make a compelling point, Colonel. I'll consider it in my final decision."

About as close to him saying no as I'll get, it seems. "Thank you for accepting my input, Lord Jiraiya."

"No problem. Anything else?"

"Nothing for now. I will leave you to your pleasures."

"See ya. Don't grind your face off with the Rasengan or anything dumb, it's a big jutsu for little girls."

"I'll be sure to consider it in my final decision," I snark at him. He waves me off and goes back to his sake.

Fellow of the Leaf, huh. Well, I suppose it's good he's slightly less annoyed with me these days.

"That's good. Solve the next one here, and don't worry about how fast you are. I want you to be accurate with the exercises first."

Hanabi takes the paper from me and sets it down on the round table, furrowing her brow in thought as she traces the blunt side of the pencil along the diagram.

Today I've made time for her and Hina, and we've found a quiet corner of the gardens on the Hyuuga Estate to study in. The flowers are as lovely and fragrant as ever, which fills me with a sense of calm and relaxation rarely found in the village or anywhere else. It's very nice. It doesn't make me want to be any nicer to some of these stuck up children, but it's nice.

"Remember, don't rush."

"Yes, Lili-nee."

"Are we doing well?" Hina delivers a small tray with tea and biscuits on it for us both.

"Very well. We skipped to the advanced sections since Hanabi was making light work of the first few questions I prepared." I hand her the sheets and she looks over them, impressed.

"I see. And you've been keeping in touch with her instructors here, I hope."

"Be serious. I'm not going to let a bunch of hags push me around because they couldn't do more than keep her wheels spinning."

"Lili."

"I'm not wrong and I'm not going to apologize. Hanabi's been giving them the packets with reports that I wrote for convenience. I'm not a barbarian, no matter what certain people might tell you."

"I can count that as cooperation."

"There we go. Problem solved."

She shakes her head.

"When is Hiashi going to send her into the Academy, if at all?"

"We're planning for next year at this pace. If not then, within the next two or three years at the latest."

"Good. It will serve as a proper test for the intangible qualities that a shinobi must have."

"You mean like charming the pants off instructors and stuff?" Hanabi says eagerly.

"You won't be doing anything with anyone's pants. Focus on your studies," Hina tells her. "What Lili did at the Academy wasn't on the curriculum. Not really."

"I was hungry for extra credit. And I suppose I was a bit spiteful, what with my treatment earlier."

"Quite load-bearing, that so called bit."

"Indeed."

"It's nothing you can be blamed for. You were a child, and a lot of us were terrible to you."

"You excluded."

"Right," she scoffs. "I know well enough that silence was just as good as complicity in that situation. Perhaps I wasn't the cause of your grief, but I also didn't anything to stop it back then."

"Maybe not. But you made up for it, and more besides."

She beams at that. "If you've somehow forgotten, I'm the lucky one here."

"You two fight like you're married," Hanabi says. "Are you sure you want to keep dating Naruto-nii instead of-"

"Go back to your work and stop causing trouble."

"I'm just saying...there's a little thing called bisexuality you might wanna try, sis."

"Hanabi."

"Shutting up now~."

Hina shakes her head and sighs. "Lili, you've somehow become a great and a terrible influence on my little sister, all at once."

"Light and dark, together in one uniform shell. The duality of man," I say before biting into a biscuit.

"If you keep up this lewd talk, I'll make sure that you and Hanabi experience the duality of vision instead."

"Yes, Mother."

"At least you're taking it easy for once, so I can't be too mad at you."

"You never are for long. Even when I don't bribe you. Speaking of that," I say as I reach into my pocket.

Her eyes widen. "Lili. No."

"You can have one bite, can't you?"

"You'll...you'll ruin my appetite, and my weight."

"Hmhm. Don't you worry, a plump Hina is fine for me~. And your wonderful athleticism would hardly suffer for it, hm?"

"You're not going to get away with it."

"I already have." I unseal a plate of warm, frosted cinnamon rolls. "Homemade, Hina. Warm and fresh..."

"..." She gulps as she starts to blush, tongue sliding across her lips. These really are a terrible weakness of hers. Good thing only a few of us are privy to it.

"Maybe instead of a wife, Lili-nee can keep you as a house pet," Hanabi says.

"I'm going to get both of you, if it's the last thing I do." She grumbles and lets out a breath. "Can I?"

"As much as you like, Hina."

"Thank you." She pulls away one of the rolls with a napkin in hand and glares at me, ineffectually as ever. "I hate it."

"I know, love. Enjoy."

Taking the precious treat in both hands, she bites into it. I can see her vibrating with happiness as she chews.

"Ugh. Scrumptious. So...unfair."

"Lili-nee, all done. How'd I do?" Hanabi asks.

I look over Hanabi's work. "Not bad. I would give that about...mm, an eighty."

"Darn."

"It's not bad for your first foray into these things. Well, I'm understating it a little. Try this next one for me while your sister has her usual out of body experience." I get out of my seat and put Hina into it while she's wrapped up in her blissful eating, then pass Hanabi one of the new sheets before sitting on one of the rests.

"Wow, this one looks a lot harder."

"Same as before, love. We'll make a genius out of you yet."

"Yes, ma'am~."

I rub Hina's head as she eats, muttering occasionally about how she's going to get me. She's just the cutest.

Hm. I think I'm getting the hang of this whole rest and relaxation thing after so long.

"..."

Well, maybe. We'll see.