11.3
New
okashihime
I like sweets.
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I was in a bit of a pickle, with no immediate way of solving the problem.
Meeting Zabuza and Haku was something I'd been looking forward to, Haku specially. It felt like it had been ages since I last talked with her, and I have several new pastries I'd like her to sample. I knew from previous experience in Konoha that my sweets were popular. Why not start spreading the love?
The problem wasn't the duo, or even Hōzuki Yuki (which I still couldn't remember where I'd heard that name from), but Ao.
I don't think anyone knew the man had a Byakugan hidden beneath that eyepatch. I don't think anyone was supposed to know, at all. The only reason I knew was that in the before, I always thought the Byakugan had been all but abandoned by the author in favor of the Sharingan. That had led me into a deep wiki dive looking for more information about it, and I ended up finding that Kiri had one eye taken from a fallen Hyuga during the third shinobi war.
The Hyuga would probably have made a big stink had they known, right? Or maybe there was some complicated politics involved that I wasn't aware of.
I wasn't sure why they'd send him specifically to greet us, but his presence put any secret we discussed between ourselves in danger. I couldn't even communicate that to my team because the all around vision from his eye would catch any attempt.
This felt like an ambush of another kind all of the sudden.
It was a good thing I had a Byakugan of my own.
The all around vision helped me keep an eye on Ao for any strange movements, while I pushed my chakra perception to make sure no strangers were getting closer to our position. I didn't want another repeat capture session this time. There was no way I was letting them take me, Ino or Karin. Hell, I wasn't letting them touch Yamato.
Not that I thought Yamato had any need of being protected.
Karin was the first to notice something was off. Her chakra bubbled and she kept sending me glances. Ino was next, saddling closer to me and sneaking peeks at my face.
Escorted by a full complement of shinobi, we didn't need to hide and pretend to be civilians.
Zabuza took the lead, followed by Haku. Green-kun led our squad, followed by Yellow, Red and me covering our backs. Behind us, Ao and Yuki closed the gap. There were more shinobis around our flank. It felt like we were prisoners instead of guests and visitors.
We traveled at ninja speed, hopping between tree branches, running over rivers and lakes and covering a good distance in a matter of hours. The port city we landed on the main continent wasn't that far from the hidden village. Before night arrived, we were dashing through dense mists covering the whole countryside.
Karin, once again, was the first to notice we were getting closer to our destination. She scrunched her brows, then signaled a message. Shinobi, many, ahead.
Yamato gave her a slight nod, signaling back. Kirigakure.
That was good to know. It seemed my paranoia was getting the better of me and there was no ambush this time. But I did notice that Ao seemed to react to our silent conversation. It was minute, but his chakra bubbled, and his shoulders tensed, but there was no attack.
The mists parted and at the front, Zabuza turned around, a wide, maniacal smile on his face.
"Welcome to Kirigakure," he said.
I took my first good look at another hidden village.
Like Konoha, Kiri had several sprawling mountains dotting the background, but that was where the similarities ended. Konoha looked like a city where ninjas also lived. There were a lot of people, civilians, houses and more. Kiri, on the other hand, had fewer buildings and the whole place was surrounded by thick fog.
Kirigakure's architecture had several cylindrical buildings, with a big one near the center, which I guessed was the analog to the Hokage's tower; it being the widest and largest. Most of the buildings had vegetation growing on their roofs and were built taller than Konoha ever did.
Part of our escort, the ones guarding our flanks, veered off at that point. I saw them hopping towards the bigger building in the center of the village, nary a look in our direction.
Ao pushed to the front, and turned to us as well.
"The Mizukage is waiting, you can gawk at our village later." He turned after that, dashing toward the Mizukage's building in the distance.
Zabuza laughed. "Don't mind him. One day he'll take the stick off his arse."
Haku shook her head, but didn't contradict Zabuza.
"Welcome to Kiri," she said as well. "We can talk more after official business is dealt with."
Our group was led towards the center structure with nary a moment to gawk at the view.
I had this immediate urge to climb those circular buildings and check out the vegetation on top: was it a garden? Some private retreat? Was it left to grow wild? I realized I knew almost nothing about Kiri other than the basic strokes.
It was a land plagued by civil war, with the population blaming bloodlimit Shinobi to the point of hunting them down. On top of that, Madara or Obito, I wasn't sure which, had been controlling the last Mizukage, and keeping the place in a constant state of tension.
Reports from Konoha told me the three tails had been dispersed with Yamato's help and that Mei was the new Mizukage. It told me almost nothing about their current disposition towards us.
Into the central building we went and I started to notice a strange pattern. There were a lot of young shinobi about. Most of them were about my age, maybe a couple of years older. Pretty boys and handsome girls who happen to be passing when we were close by, but I knew from my chakra perception they'd been just standing still until we approached.
When we arrived at the Mizukage office, she wasn't alone.
Terumi Mei wore a deep blue gown which left her shoulders and neck exposed. The luxurious red hair covered one eye, leaving the bright green contrasting with the red hair. She had the silly kage hat on her head.
Ao stood besides her desk, face as impassive as ever.
Standing guard near the walls was a full squad of Shinobi. only they were dressed to impress, all were boys and girls, all around my age, all eye candy.
That was how I found myself meeting Terumi Mei for the first time.
Meeting Zabuza and Haku was something I'd been looking forward to, Haku specially. It felt like it had been ages since I last talked with her, and I have several new pastries I'd like her to sample. I knew from previous experience in Konoha that my sweets were popular. Why not start spreading the love?
The problem wasn't the duo, or even Hōzuki Yuki (which I still couldn't remember where I'd heard that name from), but Ao.
I don't think anyone knew the man had a Byakugan hidden beneath that eyepatch. I don't think anyone was supposed to know, at all. The only reason I knew was that in the before, I always thought the Byakugan had been all but abandoned by the author in favor of the Sharingan. That had led me into a deep wiki dive looking for more information about it, and I ended up finding that Kiri had one eye taken from a fallen Hyuga during the third shinobi war.
The Hyuga would probably have made a big stink had they known, right? Or maybe there was some complicated politics involved that I wasn't aware of.
I wasn't sure why they'd send him specifically to greet us, but his presence put any secret we discussed between ourselves in danger. I couldn't even communicate that to my team because the all around vision from his eye would catch any attempt.
This felt like an ambush of another kind all of the sudden.
It was a good thing I had a Byakugan of my own.
The all around vision helped me keep an eye on Ao for any strange movements, while I pushed my chakra perception to make sure no strangers were getting closer to our position. I didn't want another repeat capture session this time. There was no way I was letting them take me, Ino or Karin. Hell, I wasn't letting them touch Yamato.
Not that I thought Yamato had any need of being protected.
Karin was the first to notice something was off. Her chakra bubbled and she kept sending me glances. Ino was next, saddling closer to me and sneaking peeks at my face.
Escorted by a full complement of shinobi, we didn't need to hide and pretend to be civilians.
Zabuza took the lead, followed by Haku. Green-kun led our squad, followed by Yellow, Red and me covering our backs. Behind us, Ao and Yuki closed the gap. There were more shinobis around our flank. It felt like we were prisoners instead of guests and visitors.
We traveled at ninja speed, hopping between tree branches, running over rivers and lakes and covering a good distance in a matter of hours. The port city we landed on the main continent wasn't that far from the hidden village. Before night arrived, we were dashing through dense mists covering the whole countryside.
Karin, once again, was the first to notice we were getting closer to our destination. She scrunched her brows, then signaled a message. Shinobi, many, ahead.
Yamato gave her a slight nod, signaling back. Kirigakure.
That was good to know. It seemed my paranoia was getting the better of me and there was no ambush this time. But I did notice that Ao seemed to react to our silent conversation. It was minute, but his chakra bubbled, and his shoulders tensed, but there was no attack.
The mists parted and at the front, Zabuza turned around, a wide, maniacal smile on his face.
"Welcome to Kirigakure," he said.
I took my first good look at another hidden village.
Like Konoha, Kiri had several sprawling mountains dotting the background, but that was where the similarities ended. Konoha looked like a city where ninjas also lived. There were a lot of people, civilians, houses and more. Kiri, on the other hand, had fewer buildings and the whole place was surrounded by thick fog.
Kirigakure's architecture had several cylindrical buildings, with a big one near the center, which I guessed was the analog to the Hokage's tower; it being the widest and largest. Most of the buildings had vegetation growing on their roofs and were built taller than Konoha ever did.
Part of our escort, the ones guarding our flanks, veered off at that point. I saw them hopping towards the bigger building in the center of the village, nary a look in our direction.
Ao pushed to the front, and turned to us as well.
"The Mizukage is waiting, you can gawk at our village later." He turned after that, dashing toward the Mizukage's building in the distance.
Zabuza laughed. "Don't mind him. One day he'll take the stick off his arse."
Haku shook her head, but didn't contradict Zabuza.
"Welcome to Kiri," she said as well. "We can talk more after official business is dealt with."
Our group was led towards the center structure with nary a moment to gawk at the view.
I had this immediate urge to climb those circular buildings and check out the vegetation on top: was it a garden? Some private retreat? Was it left to grow wild? I realized I knew almost nothing about Kiri other than the basic strokes.
It was a land plagued by civil war, with the population blaming bloodlimit Shinobi to the point of hunting them down. On top of that, Madara or Obito, I wasn't sure which, had been controlling the last Mizukage, and keeping the place in a constant state of tension.
Reports from Konoha told me the three tails had been dispersed with Yamato's help and that Mei was the new Mizukage. It told me almost nothing about their current disposition towards us.
Into the central building we went and I started to notice a strange pattern. There were a lot of young shinobi about. Most of them were about my age, maybe a couple of years older. Pretty boys and handsome girls who happen to be passing when we were close by, but I knew from my chakra perception they'd been just standing still until we approached.
When we arrived at the Mizukage office, she wasn't alone.
Terumi Mei wore a deep blue gown which left her shoulders and neck exposed. The luxurious red hair covered one eye, leaving the bright green contrasting with the red hair. She had the silly kage hat on her head.
Ao stood besides her desk, face as impassive as ever.
Standing guard near the walls was a full squad of Shinobi. only they were dressed to impress, all were boys and girls, all around my age, all eye candy.
That was how I found myself meeting Terumi Mei for the first time.