[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

Kaede had a bad habit of throwing her for a loop. He was a drunk, a womanizer, and incredibly flaky, prone to disappearing on week-long benders or fucking off into the mountains for months at a time with nary a peep to be heard from him. That in itself was frustrating, but manageable. Kizumi understood that the Sages had a separate duty to Nature and to their contract animals that sometimes needed to take priority over the village, and was willing to be flexible. When Daisuke decided he needed to take a sabbatical to focus on his sage training, she was okay with that. Again, frustrating, but manageable. Now Kaede shows up at the front gate with a genin that she had on record as having died in the Plague, apparently hale and whole. She needed a drink. After quietly, privately catching up with Kaede, Kizumi invited the young apprentice to sit down with her for a chat, claiming a seat on one of the benches stationed along the many bridges that connected the various districts of Kumogakure’s mountains to each other. "Yamatsu, right?” Kizumi said, tucking one leg underneath her as she settled in comfortable. "Kaede said you’ve had a pretty tough time of things for a while. How’s it feel, being back in the village?”

Yamatsu -- 217

LAIKA OF THQ

[Yamatsu]

The Young Pup

Yamatsu sat on the bridge his legs crossed before him, his hands in his lap. He tried not to let nerves control him as the Raikage sat down across from him. She was not who he remembered but expected changes like this when he returned. He watched her trying not to make eye contact with the alpha of the village. He shook his head erasing the thought from his mind. She was the Raikage but this was not a wolf pack, however he hoped she still led like a strong head of state. Yamatsu finally looked up meeting her gaze a low growl unintentionally escaping his lips instead of words. "Yes ma'am it is Yamatsu, Ikinokoru Yamatsu..." His voice trailed off mid sentence. He averted his gaze again closing his eyes as she brought up the time he had spent away. His time with the pack was hell but he survived. Some of the wolves had treated him like their own pup while he was there. A small smile crossed his face remembering the sunsets and clear starry nights. "I'm not sure yet ma'am, walking the streets with all the building towering around me is like walking the mountain passes just... More crowded." For a moment he thought back to the empty house he had been to. "It is quiet in other places..." The house where he grew up did not have any new residence. Kaede had brought him there as one of the first places to see returning to Kumo. "Madam Raikage, Kaede-sama has said I am to learn the ways of the Wolf Sage. What does that mean?" His eyes looked curious but yet shown with a hidden need of information.

Kizumi -- 283

LAIKA OF THQ

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

Kizumi did some quick mental math as she sat down with Yamatsu, backtracking in her memory to the best of her ability—Godaime had been the Raikage at the outbreak of the Plague, which meant the village had seen a change in leadership three times over in the time that this young man had been out in the wild. He growled at her, but she was careful to keep her expression neutral, not reacting in any way to the odd noise coming from the boy’s throat. He caught himself and spoke politely to her, which made her think that he was just… undersocialized, and used to living with animals. The rough edges would smooth out over time, and giving him a hard time about it wouldn’t help matters. "I’m Hirana Kizumi,” she replied to his introduction, because she didn’t like to assume that people knew her name, and she watched his face carefully as he talked about the towering buildings and busy streets. His question was a hard one, because she had never and would never undergo senjutsu training herself—but Daisuke had talked about it with her from time to time, when he was deep in his cups and fretting about his future. "Kaede would be able to answer that better than me,” she said gently, but continued, "but from what I understand, it’s about forging a connection with the wolves—with Nature. Gaining…” Kizumi paused for a moment, thinking back to a late-night conversation with Daisuke, when he lamented the teachings of Don’yokuna in reluctantly admiring tones. "Wisdom,” she said. "Compassion, empathy, humility. Sages are shinobi and serve the village too, but there’s a bigger picture that the three of you are meant to look at—something that I, and other shinobi like me, could never really touch.” She smiled, genuine. "It’s something really special, I think. Kaede and Don’yokuna will take good care of you.”

Yamatsu -- 314

LAIKA OF THQ

[Yamatsu]

The Young Pup

Her words struck him deeper than he thought they would. Three years he had "bonded" with the animals who had for some reason given him a form of mercy instead of death. He wondered if his bond or maybe even the small hold on senjutsu Kaede had seen was the reason he felt comfortable in the wilds. Wisdom would be a welcome aspect to his new world, a form of learning to expand his mind to the nature around him. He looked up as Lady Kizumi finished speaking his mind searching for the words he needed to express. "Ma'am... When i was with the wolves I had a place in the pack. It might not have been a higher status but i knew my role..." All the loss began to come flooding back to him mind bringing tears to his eyes. "I just need to know..." Yamatsu locked eyes with the Raikage, his golden orange gaze full of purpose. "I need to know my place in the village. I need... I want... I have to know i still belong here." With his last word twin rows of tears fell down his face. The drops fell down on to his knees as his hands gripped the legs on his pants. He needed to know he was not being brought back here just as a number. He needed to know he could still find meaning to this world after everything before was gone. He quickly wiped the tears away trying to regain his composure but unable to stop his hands from shaking.

Kizumi -- 256

LAIKA OF THQ

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

Oh, oh no. Kizumi was, had always been, a soft touch—she knew this, had been accused of it ad nauseum, had never wanted to lead a genin team because of it, because she didn’t think she could handle being personally responsible for a gaggle of teenagers without being terminally too soft on them. Joke was on her, in the end, because now she was responsible for an entire village; and as she watched tears well up in Yamatsu’s eyes she felt like her stomach was giving in on itself. Sweet, sweet boy. Holding his gaze, Kizumi reached out to take Yamatsu’s hands in her own, clasping them together like a prayer. "You will always have a home here,” she said firmly. "I’m so, so sorry that we weren’t there for you when the Plague started, and that you felt like you couldn’t come home. I’ll make sure that you have a place to stay, somewhere you can come back to in between training with Kaede. If you want to return to being a shinobi, I’d be so happy to have you—that’s another part of your Sage training, working with other genin and with the village. But if you don’t want that—if you don’t want to be a shinobi or a sage or anything except yourself as you are—that’s okay too. You’ll still belong here.” Kizumi smiled, gently squeezing Yamatsu’s hands. "You’re part of Kumo's pack, sweetheart,” she said. "We protect what is ours.”

Yamatsu -- 243

LAIKA OF THQ

[Yamatsu]

The Young Pup

As the Raikage's hands closed around his he felt a sense of warmth. She spoke to him like his mother used to when he was upset as a child. Another singular drop of moisture rolled down his cheek falling to the ground. Memories of his mother and father flooded his mind as did the memories of their dying words. He knew it was no ones fault that he had been missing for so long. How could anyone expect an exact count of who died and when in that dark time. The whole time she spoke he never shifted his gaze but stared directly in to her eyes. There it was, what he had been waiting for, conformation he still belonged. It meant more to him than anyone would ever know. He lowered his head breaking eye contact looking down to his lap. Slowly he pulled his hands from hers bringing them down. "Ma'am... Lady Raikage, I was once told a phrase that did not mean much to me as a child." His right hand moved reaching in to his pocket. "My father used to tell me that, The Lone Wolf Dies But The Pack Survives. I never understood what he meant because it was just the three of us back then." His voice seemed distant as if recalling a dream. "Surviving out there.." He turned looking to the mountains. "To see how the pack lived together as one made me understand his words..." As his words ended his hand moved from his pocket. Held tightly in his grip was a Kumo headband, his eyes never left the horizon almost transfixed to the nature itself. "I was only a Genin for a year." His gaze finally moved to the piece of metal and cloth in his fingers. "I do not know how I managed to keep it intact all these years but I have." The strap was worn almost the the point of uselessness with the metal plate being scuffed and tarnished beyond normal cleaning. He held it out to the Raikage almost as if to hand it to her in a symbolic decline of her invitation. "I Yamatsu Ikinokoru swear again to offer my services and life for the village." He stood head raised to his full five foot frame. "I only have one request... I would like to please stay at my old home."

Kizumi -- 395

LAIKA OF THQ

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. A sentiment Kizumi was all too familiar with, and something that had cemented itself into her heart from childhood: though her tiny family had lost their parents, they were still together. Sacrifice was worthwhile if it meant the pack could carry on. It was why she’d enlisted as a shinobi in the first place; she was willing to risk her life going it alone if it meant her siblings were cared for. With the amount of time that had passed, the conditions he was in, Kizumi was astounded that he still held onto his hitai-ate. Even as tarnished as it was, he still had it. He held it out to her, and she was prepared to accept what she was sure would come next: that he just wanted a peaceful life, a simple life. She wouldn’t begrudge him; he had more than earned it, with all he’d been through. But he surprised her. Kizumi smiled, startled but warm. There was a certain amount of ceremony that felt appropriate here, so she responded in kind, standing up beside him: "On behalf of Kumogakure no Sato as Her Hachidaime Raikage,” Kizumi said, resting her hand on the scuffed and tattered hitai-ate, "I gratefully accept your services and formally reinstate your shinobi rank of genin.” She squeezed the hitai-ate, her heart swelling with a sudden surge of emotion. "Glad to have you back, Yamatsu. I’ll make sure that no one has taken up residence in your old home and arrange for any necessary cleaning and repairs—I don’t want you to have to worry about it.” Her finger trailed along the surface of the hitai-ate. "I could issue you a new one, but I think I’d rather have this one cleaned and repaired, if that’s alright with you. It’s been with you through so much, I’d hate for you to replace it now.” She would have no small amount of paperwork to sort through to get all this formalized—removing the KIA from Yamatsu’s file, evaluating his performance, issuing a new ID card, arranging for mission partners, maybe some subtle assignments with the med-nin to evaluate his mental health on the down-low—her mind raced with her impending to-do list, but at the heart of it all was a bone-deep joy that this boy had, against all odds, made his way home. Her irritation with Kaede had evaporated despite herself. "Do you have any questions for me?” she asked. "Once you have time to settle in we’ll get through more of the formal stuff to get you mission and training ready, but we don’t have to worry about that right now.”

Yamatsu -- 443

LAIKA OF THQ

[Yamatsu]

The Young Pup

He looked down and pondered her question for a moment. He had held on to it this whole time, he felt a sense of pride seeing that it had survived. At worst he could change the strip of cloth that was tattered and torn. He had planned to wear it here to his meeting with the Raikage but feared it would not hold. "I would like to keep this one ma'am, I think it could use a new strap if I am honest." He chuckled at himself for no reason. "I think this is all just so much to take in i cannot think of anything to ask, I am sorry." He was already planning how he would change the look and feel of his old home while still keeping the memory of his family intact. It would be an adjustment living alone however he felt up to the task. His gaze seemed distant as he thought of his future. The place he had in the world seemed suddenly so clear. He was not sure how long he had zoned out until his stomach rumbled with hunger. His face turned bright red through his tanned complexion. "I apologize ma'am i just have not eaten yet today." He bowed to her before taking his headband trying it around his left arm. "I will make sure i get this looked at as soon as i can. Thank you for meeting with me today it means a lot to me." He turned to leave looking back to give her a big grin. He stepped forward full of hope and confidence taking the first few steps on his road to being his life again. He stopped mid step his hand reaching up to scratch the back of his head. "Umm Ma'am..." Yamatsu turned back again looking down in embarrassment. "I do not remember the way to the market..."

Kizumi -- 314

LAIKA OF THQ

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

"That’s okay,” she assured Yamatsu. "If anything comes up, feel free to drop by my office, okay? And there’s plenty of shinobi in the village who’ll be more than willing to help you out as you get adjusted.” A mental note to assign someone to check in on the apprentice from time to time; this could even be a good learning experience for Shosuke, newly minted as a chuunin, who would undoubtedly benefit from being the mentor in a relationship as opposed to the mentee. Kizumi watched with no small amount of fondness and pride as Yamatsu tied the tattered hitai-ate around his arm, murmured a soft of course as he thanked her for her time… and her pride turned to mild confusion as he turned to leave in the opposite direction of where the market was. He turned back to her in embarrassment, and Kizumi laughed, a good-natured chortle at the silliness of it all. "Don’t worry, lovely, I got you. I’ll getcha set up, alright?” She paused, glancing around, and thought for a moment about who was on the roster today. "Taifuu!” A woman in a smooth white mask in the likeness of a fox appeared in front of Kizumi in a plume of smoke: the fox mask was a little on the nose, as she had a pair of large vulpine ears protruding from her hair, and a massively fluffy tail at her back. "Yes, Lady Raikage?” the woman said. "Can you do me a favor and go check on Yamatsu’s home?” she asked. "The address should be in the files on top of my desk. Round up a couple of the academy students and genin and have them make sure it’s clean and hospitable in like—three hours?” Taifuu nodded, then vanished in another plume of smoke. Kizumi clapped her hands soundly and turned back to Yamatsu. "Right!” she said brightly. "Let’s go get you some lunch, then groceries. Never go grocery shopping on an empty stomach.” She would pay for everything, regardless if Yamatsu protested; she was not above subterfuge, either, and if he insisted on paying, then she would simple reverse-pickpocket the necessary coin into his pocket, and he would find that he simply never ran out of money in Kizumi’s presence.

Yamatsu -- 377

LAIKA OF THQ