[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

Of all the faces she expected to see while on her way home from the office, Kekkan Mitsuda’s certainly wasn’t one of them. Not that it was a bad thing, mind. They’d crossed paths many times over the years, and while Kizumi wasn’t as close with him as she was with, say, Toshi, Mitsuda had come to Kumo for joint missions countless times in the twenty-odd years of Kizumi’s career, and Kizumi had made countless trips to Konoha for the same. Mitsuda never looked a day over twenty-five. She could strangle him for it. He was a dry man, deeply sarcastic and difficult to read, but Kizumi had always enjoyed his company on the rare times that their paths had crossed; and he was the inimitable Snake Sage, which abruptly gave her an idea. She was going to say hi anyway, but while he was here, maybe she could pick his brain for tips on how to handle her struggling lupine assistant. "Mitsuda-san!” she called, waving at the man and jogging over to him. "Hey, it’s good to see you! What brings you to Kumo?” There were any number of joint missions that Kizumi was still in the process of assigning, though his name hadn't come up as a candidate for any of them yet. If not business, maybe pleasure? They did have some damn good whisky...

Kekkan Mitsuda -- 227

LAIKA OF THQ

[Kekkan Mitsuda]

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[attr="class","mitsuda"]Traveling seemed to be a consistent requirement in Mitsuda’s life–such was the life of a Sage. There were few people in the world with the right to travel from place to place without much question or need for permission. Mitsuda was well-traveled, and Kumogakure was no exception.

The land was much different from his own with its dry, earthy climate nestled in the mountains of Tsuchi no Kuni. Hidden from the eye of the average man, Mitsuda had it well mapped in his head. If someone was not aware that he was from Konoha, they would likely assume he’d lived here all his life. Truthfully, much could be said about all of Konoha’s allied villages,

He had just turned in papers that required a more discrete and confidential approach. Mitsuda was called upon to deliver them, and now that he was done, the rest of his day remained quite open. With it being too late in the day to really head back across the country to Konoha, finding a quiet place to have a drink seemed to be creeping into the back of his mind.

That was until a familiar voice called out to him, one that caused him to stop in his tracks, though he didn’t offer the effort of turning his head to her. The voice was that of Hirana Kizumi, or Zoheisho, as he also knew her. He would mockingly call her Zozo…though he dared not do it aloud.

Mitsuda waited for her to jog over and then continued walking, assuming she could match his pace. "What doesn’t bring me to Kumo, Kizumi?” He said with a melancholy yet somehow charming voice. There was a hum in the back of it which didn’t match his flat-faced expression. "I was delivering some confidential material to a research facility here. I believe we are sharing intel on a new treatment practice between villages.” Confidential didn’t mean he wasn’t privy, though as Kage, Kizumi may have already known about this as well–perhaps.

"I should be staying a day or two, though. There were a few people I wanted to check on while I was out this way.” He looked over at her, noticing her aged appearance. "God. You’ve gotten old.” He said this matter-of-factly, placing a hand atop her head. "Pretty sure I remember seeing you without a headband once. Look how much you’ve grown,” he mocked playfully, but again his tone was quite flat. If someone didn’t know Mitsuda, they would think he was simply being mean, but it was clearly banter that over the years Kizumi would likely pick up on–he hoped.

He paused for a moment, tilting his head briefly to the side, "I never did congratulate you, I suppose," he said in reference to her promotion to Kage.

hirana kizumi

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

Kizumi brightened at the mention of a new treatment practice, keeping pace with him easily—though she walked a little faster to match his longer stride. "Have you met Rei, then?” she asked. "She’s our head medic now—has been for five years or so, I think. Fantastic to work with.” And then, the kicker: old. Kizumi wrinkled her nose, sticking her tongue out like she was five years old and swatting at the hand that laid atop her head. He didn’t also have to rub in that he had over half a foot on her, but here he was. "Disrespect,” she replied flatly, matching his banter. "In my own home, no less. I’m calling ANBU, I’m being attacked.” (I’m not actually being attacked, she whispered under her breath, just in case any sharp-eared ANBU agents took her a little too seriously.) I never did congratulate you, Mitsuda said; she waved him off. "Old news, ojii-chan,” she said, and out of a simple desire to move off the topic—and avoid any potential weirdness about her fancy new hat—she said, "hey, one of your girls was here recently. Yakitsukeru? Sharp, very compassionate, even if she’s a bit awkward about it. You got a good one, there.” Her head tilted, vaguely in the direction of the kage tower. "One of the wolf apprentices is my assistant now, which seemed like a good idea at the time, but he’s… a handful. I dunno how you guys do it.”

Kekkan Mitsuda -- 243

LAIKA OF THQ

[Kekkan Mitsuda]

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[attr="class","mitsudapost"]Rei? Mitsuda thought for a moment before shaving his head. "Can’t say that I’ve had the pleasure.” Clearly, he did not consider himself to be missing out on having not met someone, being generally disinterested in others. Time had done many things to him, hardening his heart and increasing his dissatisfaction with social situations was of the many changes. There were few people with that Mitsuda still found the muse to socialize. Kizumi was one. Most seemed to lack the level of maturity that he craved. Kizumi was still young, as much as he would banter otherwise.

Mitsuda huffed. "I never said old was inherently bad,” he shrugged. He was old. If anything he would agree she had grown to be quite stunning and a powerful, well-respected kunoichi. He was proud of her in his own way–not that he would admit it. "Old news for an old man. I find it’s harder to keep up with these things, you know.”

He would turn his head to face her and for a moment staring blankly, "Ah, yes. Yaki. She’s a handful, but she and Mairusu have great potential once they mature a bit.” Mitsuda spoke about them as if they were some aging fruit, though truthfully he cared for them both. Mitsuda laughed softly, "Really she seems to handle me more than the other way around.” Yaki was a fierce girl and Mairusu was just as passionate. Seeing them both climb made him feel younger some days. "I’m glad to hear about your assistant. We should schedule a time for them to meet if they haven’t already.”

The two continued to walk, though Mitsuda had plans in mind. A drink sounded right up his alley. "Care to join me for a drink? I could use the break.”

hirana kizumi