Chapter 5
Location: Yugakure
The new Yugakage walked around his village, smiling. He admired the village’s quaintness, the blooming flowers and, of course, the hot springs. They were for what the village was known.
He felt the breeze shift towards the Leaf Village. Suddenly his village seemed small and lonely with no one about with whom to speak. He glanced around once before departing for the Leaf Village, hoping to catch the Hokage.
Location: Hokage’s Office
Komadori watched as Rein left, and then she turned back to Tsukimiya. "May I ask how it was that you knew she wasn't lying? I am quite curious towards that...talent of yours."
Tsukimiya sighed wearily. "It's something I was born with, nothing the Shukaku can grant if that is what you were thinking. This red eye of mine," she lifted her bangs and gestured to it, "can see the dark matter that permeates one's aura when they lie. It does not always work, but I am confident in my ability to judge." She let her bangs drop and leaned hard into the desk.
~Shikabane~ Yes that is my name wolf dog. Please do not judge my mistress harshly; she is simply a girl who has a large responsibility on her shoulders at far too young an age.
Tsuki stood and gestured for Shikabane to stand as well. As she sat in the window, she called to the Hokage "I am quite sure that that friend of yours has a poor opinion of me. Tell her I apologize for the harsh treatment but I needed to ensure my own safety and that of my followers. Oh, and Shikabane would like to have another conversation with her in the future. If you wish to speak to me further, just send your dog, I'm sure he can find Shika-chan." With that she dropped from the window, hair streaming behind her. Shikabane followed suit not a moment later.
Komadori watched wide-eyed as the Kazekage jumped out the window, "Wait! Where are you going?!" She yelled after her as Komadori ran to the window. "What did you mean your tiger wants to have a conversation with Rein?" Tsukimiya was already gone, and from anyone's perspective outside, Komadori was just leaning out the window yelling at air. "Way too much commotion today," She muttered as she walked back over to her desk. Shadow had gotten up and was slowly walking over to her. He was looking out the window. "Hmmm, did you have a chat with her tiger?" She asked him. She could communicate with him on a basic level, enough to get the gist of most of what he said.
~Shadow~ Well Shikabane, I'm sure my partner can relate to yours, since she herself is three years Tsukimiya’s junior.
He reached Komadori’s desk and lay down beside it. She bent down and patted him as he went to sleep. Glancing over onto her desk, she could see a few piles of paperwork. Might as well get it all done now, she thought to herself as she sat down and grabbed a pen.
Location: Mizukage’s Office
Alister stopped working after a few minutes. As a break, he got up and looked at the Mist Village through the window. While watching the citizens go about their daily lives, he realized an important detail of the assassination. He quickly left his office and took off towards the Leaf Village.
Location: Hokage’s Office
Kiroku appeared just before the Hokage's office door. He knocked, not wanting to barge in and disturb the Hokage unexpectedly and rudely. "Hello? Hokage sir, I am the Yugakage of Yugakure. Is it alright if I come in?"
Komadori heard someone knocking on the door. "Oh yes of course. Come on in," she said.
Kiroku opened the door and walked in. He smiled. "Hello, Hokage. It's strange, I came here to visit you and I don't even know your name. My name's Kiroku Yashimaru, First Yugakage of the Village Hidden in the Hot springs." Kiroku reached out his hand for a handshake.
Komadori put down her pen and stood up, accidentally waking up Shadow in the process. "Komadori," she replied cheerfully, reaching out to shake hands herself. "So, what brings you here?" she inquired.
"Well, as you know, Yugakure is a pretty secluded village. We haven't been receiving news like we used to.” Kiroku thought for a second. "I heard something about the Tsuchikage, what was that?"
Komadori looked back at her desk for a moment. Ahh, here it is, she thought to herself. She grabbed the paper and handed it to him. "It appears that the Tsuchikage was mysteriously murdered," she said calmly. "The Hidden Stone has a suspect, but I am quite certain that she is innocent."
"Jeez..." Kiroku read the paper then placed it back on the desk when he was finished with it. "What has the Shinobi World come to? Assassinations left and right, wars in the woodwork," Kiroku said, sighing. "Have any of the other villages aided in investigation?"
Komadori sighed. "I have already been visited by both the Mizukage and the Kazekage. They were involved in the investigation as well as I. However, after digging into for a short while, we realized that the Hidden stone's suspect is almost certainly innocent. So at the moment, we are at a dead-end in the investigation."
"Hm. Troubling, I see..." Kiroku said, scratching his chin. "I shall send an investigation team from Yugakure. They'll investigate Amekagure, the Hidden Rain Village. That place is full of thugs and bounty hunters. In the meantime, let's keep the smaller nations and the five great nations in touch. I should leave now; I want to have some of this village's famous ramen. Goodbye Lord Hokage." Kiroku left with a smile and a wave, closing the door.
Komadori smiled. "Very well then," she said as he left, "goodbye." Sitting back down in her chair, she sighed again. Shadow was going back to sleep beside her desk. Grabbing her pen once again, she continued with all the paper work.
"Ahhh, finally finished," Komadori said to herself happily a bit later as she leaned back in her chair. There aren't any new missions for me to assign either, she thought, smiling. Looking down at Shadow she could see he was still sleeping. She bent down and nudged him awake. "What do you say we head to the forest and see if Rein's still there?"
Shadow yawned.
She laughed. "Still tired?" He got up and walked over to the door. "Oh, so you do want to go?" She got up herself and opened the door. "Let's go then." They left the building and headed to the forest.
Location: Leaf Village Forest
Rein had just left the Hokage's building and began to walk towards the forest. Once she had found her way into the forest she looked around and sat down under a tree.
~Squirrel~ You got any peanuts? Huh? Huh? Huh?
The squirrel spoke to her, since it knew she could talk to it... She seemed to give off a vibe that the animals always picked up on.
Great... just what I needed right now... a crazy squirrel asking me for food, she thought to herself.
~Rein~ No, I haven't.
Since she figured no one was around she spoke out loud to the squirrel. Won't I look like the fool if someone were to walk into me right now? she thought.
~Squirrel~ Aww, Come on. I know you must!
The squirrel jumped onto her head.
“I am NOT in the mood right now!” she yelled at it and started flinging her arms around trying to get the squirrel off her head, but it just ran onto her back out of reach. "Ahg!! GET OFF! I DON'T HAVE ANY PEANUTS!!"
~Squirrel~ Aww. This is fun… ha, ha, ha.
~Rein~ Don't laugh at me you rodent! I'm getting annoyed with you!
She continued to fling her arms around trying to get the squirrel off her back.
Location: Leaf Village Lake
Alister made it to the lake, slightly out of breath. He felt that someone was nearby but he ignored them. They posed no threat.
Five Anbu who had followed him stood in the shadows, awaiting his orders.
He heard yelling and took off in that direction.
Location: Leaf Village Forest
Alister found himself in a forest. The yelling was louder now. He turned a bit and saw Rein. He smirked as he watched her waving around.
Rein heard someone coming and saw Alister. Ooh of course, It just had to be a Kage that saw me acting like this, she thought to herself. The squirrel was still on her back facing the opposite direction from Alister. Maybe if I'm lucky he won’t see the squirrel...
"So...how’s the squirrel?" Alister laughed.
"Ooh... so you have seen it..." Rein sighed and laughed a little. "Yeah... it simply will not ... LEAVE ME ALONE!" She yelled the last part at the squirrel.
Alister laughed. "For some reason animals bother you a lot." He smirked. He walk closer and sat next to her. "So what have you been up to Rein?" he asked with a smile as he looked up at the sky.
"Not too much really." The squirrel jumped back up onto her head and sat there proudly. Rein sighed and sat down. "I give up... This squirrel doesn't look like it intends on leaving me alone anytime soon." She laughed a little.
Alister smirked. “I thought you were with the Hokage, what happened?” he asked.
Rein sighed. "Some one was waiting in her office when we got there. We had a talk and I left afterwards." The squirrel somehow had managed to untie her hair and run away with her hair tie. "HEY!" Rein grabbed for the squirrel but it was already to far away and ran off into the forest. She looked at Alister and tried not to laugh. "Not everyday you get robbed by a squirrel now is it...?”
Alister laughed. “Tough luck.” He smirked. “Hey, are you in an academy, Rein?”
"No." Rein chuckled.
“Have any family to talk to?” Alister asked softly, now looking at her.
"No." Rein sighed.
“I don’t either. I just remember waking up one day and a village elder was taking care of me. I think I was about 13 or so. I thought of him as my father.” Alister smiled slightly. “But now he’s gone. It’s just me and my village.”
"I wish I could say I have my village... But I have this village and your village now... so I'm not alone anymore." Rein smiled under her mask.
Alister put out his hand on her head and patted it softly. "Yes you do, Rein" he said with a smile.
Rein smiled again and looked at him. It was so nice to have friends again, she had been alone for so long that she had almost forgot what having friends was like.
Alister looked again at the sky and watched the clouds. He whispered, “such beauty and peace reminds me of my father.” He sighed softly.
"Huh?" Rein looked at Alister, having not heard what he said very well.
"What is it?" Alister looked back at her.
"Ooh, I didn't hear what you said. You were talking too quietly for me to hear," Rein said, looking at him.
Alister turned his gaze upwards again. “It’s nothing. I was just remembering a moment with my father.”
"Ooh, I'm sorry. I can understand how that would feel... losing your father, I mean... I understand that, the feelings." Rein looked up at the sky with him.
"I know you do Rein," Alister said softly.
Rein looked at him again calmly. "Thank you... for being my friend."
“Thanks for being my friend too. You’re always welcome to talk to me about anything, Rein.” Alister said, smiling.
"And you are always welcome to talk to me," Rein said with a smile. Suddenly a squirrel jumped from a tree and back onto Rein's head. "Ooh... So it's you again... I don't suppose you brought my hair tie back?" she asked the squirrel. "No... of course not." She laughed.
Alister laughed as he watched them.
The squirrel began playing with the bandages on Reins arm. "Hey! Don't touch that!" She pulled her left arm away from the squirrel.
Alister smirked.
Rein saw Alister's smirk and laughed, still making sure to keep her arm away from the squirrel.
"You need some new bandages Rein," Alister noticed.
"Yea, probably." Rein chuckled. "I'll find some new bandages later, I'm sure there are some around here somewhere."
Alister laughed too. “Has there been anyone else hunting you or trying to take you back to the Stone Village?”
"Not recently... I don't think that my village knows I'm here, otherwise they would have hunted me down by now." Rein looked at the squirrel; it had fallen asleep in her lap and was finally being quiet. She smiled.
Alister smiled. "That’s good." He looked at the clouds.
"Yeah." Rein pulled a shoot of grass from the ground, pulled down her mask and put the grass in her mouth and began chewing on it, pulling her mask back up right after. She leaned back and stretched her back.
Alister looked at Rein. "Why are you eating grass" he asked, laughing.
"It's actually pretty good." Rein chuckled and plucked out another piece, pulled down her mask again, put the grass in her mouth and pulled the mask back up again like she did before. "It's nice to chew on every once in a while." She smiled under her mask again.
"Okay....but I’m never going to try grass.” Alister smirked and removed his Kage robes. He placed the hat next to him, exposing his black hair.
Rein chuckled. "That's alright, it's all personal preference." She lay down on the grass and folded her arms behind her head. The squirrel woke up and ran back up a tree.
“You need to eat some normal food. Living in the forest has effected your appetite,” Alister remarked, looking at her oddly.
"I guess it does, but I don't mind it really." Rein shifted her gaze up into the sky.
“If you came to the Mist Village, all your meals would be on the house. That way you could eat real food,” Alister said with a smirk.
Rein laughed. "Thanks. I'm going to live in this village, but I'll visit your village as well sometimes." She smiled.
"You better or I will find you and drag you down there, kicking and screaming," Alister said, laughing.
Rein laughed again. "Don't worry; I'll make sure to visit." She looked at him and laughed some more.
Alister laughed with her. “Being a Kage takes up so much of my time. It’s always work, work, and work really. I’m only 22.” He sighed.
"I can imagine. But at least you are getting a break from all the work right now, when you are visiting this village." Rein smiled.
"Yeah." Alister looked at the sky. "Has the Kazekage been here?" he asked.
Rein looked at him. "Yeah, she was here."
"There’s more isn't there?" Alister asked, looking at her
"What do you mean?" Rein looked at him again.
"Is that all that happened? The Kazekage just visited?" Alister asked.
"No… she came to question me... After that I left and came to take a walk in the forest." Rein sighed. "A lot has happened today and I just needed to take a break. So I came here..."
“Okay. So, you’ve got a lot of drama going on. Just join the Leaf’s academy and take some time off to become a powerful kunoichi.” Alister looked back up.
"Yeah, but I already know a lot of jutsu; do I really need to join the academy too?" Rein whined.
“Yes you do. It doesn’t matter how many jutsu you know; you’ll never be a real ninja if you don’t join an academy,” Alister said flatly.
Rein sat up and looked at him and sighed. "Fine... I guess I have no choice."
"Just ask Lady Hokage if you can join," Alister said, smiling.
"I will when I get around to it." Rein sighed.
Alister laughed. "Let’s see how long that will take.” He smirked.
Rein sighed and looked back into the sky.
(And that's it for Chapter 5! If I didn't end it here, it would have gone on for a lot longer before the next suitable break came. Hope you enjoyed it and will stay tuned for Chapter 6!)