[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

What had been shaping up to be a pleasant evening with a bottle of whisky and a shitty romance novel was swiftly derailed by a knock on her door: Azarea, cold and focused, ready to report a "training accident.” It was a brief exchange: "Did anyone die?” No one died. Just attempted murder on myself by an Uchiha. "Does anyone need to die?” If you can make the crazy Uchiha go away that’d be great, but I handed them off to Shigure to prevent an international incident that would cause us problems in Kuwana. "Are you hurt in a way that needs immediate medical attention?” Not a scratch on me, Ma’am. (This itself gave Kizumi pause—but she could have Azarea elaborate later. More urgent tasks at hand.) "Are you hurt in a way that needs a drink and a hug?” ... I would like a drink and a hug, though. (Naturally, Kizumi handed off her whisky, and naturally she gave the younger woman a warm, tight embrace.) "Alright. Stay put, I’ll go handle this.” Thank you, Auntie. And Kizumi, half a bottle deep, was off into the night: luckily it wasn’t too much of a trip from where the Kumo shinobi were boarded to the Konoha quarters, and Toshi’s room was easy to find. She knocked on his door. "Hey, sensei, it’s Kizumi,” she called; and if he allowed her entry, she would go in. It wasn’t hard to put the pieces together; she loved Toshi, but gods, his family was a goddamn mess, and it didn’t take a genius to connect ‘attempted murder by a crazy Uchiha’ with Azarea’s family drama. The first step was to get information; then, clear the diplomatic air; then, check back in with Azarea. The last thing either the Leaf or the Cloud needed was for this to get blown out of proportion. "Sorry for dropping in on you so suddenly,” Kizumi said, closing the door behind her. "It’s… urgent. Have you heard from Azarea? Or Shigure?”

Hatake Toshizō -- 333

LAIKA OF THQ

[Hatake Toshizō]

"damage control". "A man who can't uphold his beliefs is pathetic, dead or alive." I NEED A DRINK After Azarea's message, Toshizou was getting ready to reach out to Kizumi. He knew the Raikage well, and was sure they could talk this out. He was furious on his own way, for he had hoped to avoid such type of interaction, and while he had managed to talk to Azarea about it, Tokaku seemed to have slipped his mind, and then shit hit the fan really hard. Sitting on the desk of his room, he was starting to draft a letter addressed to the leader of the Hidden Cloud Village, when he was surprised by a knock in his door. It was late at night, and he wasn't expecting anyone. But before he could open his Mind's Eye to get a good read on that chakra, the familiar voice revealed who she was. He sighed, and walked towards the door, opening it to allow her in. As she walked in, she apologized for dropping in so suddenly. "No need to apologize. I was writing a letter to you." he said, pointing at the draft letter he had on his table. Then, when she mentioned it was urgent, and asked if he had heard from either Azarea or Shigure, he sighed and nodded. "From both of them actually. Azarea thew Tokaku's sword through my window last night, with a message. And Shigure...-sama dropped by after taking Tokaku to the hospital." since he was before an authority from a different village, despite being close friends with her, he forced himself to address the "Hyuuga boy" with the suffix his position demanded. "Honestly... I'm very angry at Tokaku for acting like an idiot... But I am to blame. She tries too hard to be like me. And this is not healthy." he sighed, sitting on one of his chairs, and offering the other one to Kizumi, as he grabbed a bottle of sake from the counter. "Sake? I know I will need some right now..." he admitted. "You can train a dog with food. You can buy a person with money. But there isn't a man alive that can put down the Will of Fire. Some things will never change. The Will of Fire will never be extinguished" Kuwana Toshi's room [hirana kizumi] [330 words]

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

I was writing a letter to you, Toshi said, and Kizumi grinned. "Great minds,” she joked, though it fell flat even to her own ears. The initial sense of reassurance she felt at Toshi’s confirmation that he knew of the situation was promptly bowled over by Azarea threw Tokaku’s sword through my window, to which Kizumi was only able to pinch the bridge of her nose in a vain effort to stave off the impending throb of a headache. He offered sake. She’d already been drinking that night, and something in the back of her head told her she shouldn’t, but—what harm would one more drink do? And before she could refuse her mouth was already saying, "Gods, please,” while she took the seat Toshi offered. "My understanding of the situation,” she said as he poured, "is that Tokaku followed Azarea around for a while; they had a little spat; Tokaku drew her sword; Azarea told her to back off; Tokaku attacked with a smoke bomb and some fireball jutsu and things escalated from there.” Her leg bounced, though she didn’t seem entirely aware of it. Nervous tic. "Azarea called it ‘attempted murder.’ But I also know that Tokaku is in the hospital, while Azarea doesn’t have a scratch on her. She was pretty proud of it, in fact.” Sighing, she rubbed the side of her head, slouching in her seat in a distinctly un-leaderly manner. "I trust her immensely—she’s been very helpful to me so far—but I was hoping that you or Shigure might be able to shed some more light on exactly what went down, and why.”

Hatake Toshizō -- 269

LAIKA OF THQ

[Hatake Toshizō]

"damage control". "A man who can't uphold his beliefs is pathetic, dead or alive." TEENAGERS Toshizou poured sake for both of them, but the sake didn't remain in his cup for more than a moment before he refilled it. To say he was an alcoholic was not innacurate, regardless of the fact that he was a functional one. Then, Kizumi began telling him about her understanding of the situation and he nodded to that. It seemed accurate enough from his own understanding of what had happened from the multiple reports, and Tokaku's own words, after he filtered the playing the victim card the Uchiha seemed to have been growing fond of. "Your understanding is pretty accurate. If I can add to that, Tokaku stalked Azarea thinking she was one of my... Friends." Kizumi knew better than using the word friend if she was the one to describe it. "As they talked, Azarea said she was blackmailing me, and in a way she is. She is forcing me to... And keep this between us for crying out loud..." he sighed, gazing away as his cheeks turned a hue of red; Toshizou was embarrassed, if that was even possible. "Long story short, I agreed to go for some therapy sections. Anyways... The situation escalated, and Tokaku drew her blade, which I already told her not to do. And Azarea reacted. I do agree she could've handled it better... But I have to admit I didn't do well with people pointing weapons at me when I was her age, so I would've done something similar. Ultimately... Tokaku is a complicated girl. She is an Uchiha, so that just adds to that. And she lost her mother... And she wants to be just like me. Terrible idea, but she has been proving hard to dissuade. Gosh... I can only hope Shinde won't be as much of a trouble as a teenager." he said, sighing and massaging the bridge of his nose. He was not ready to deal with a teenage daughter. "You can train a dog with food. You can buy a person with money. But there isn't a man alive that can put down the Will of Fire. Some things will never change. The Will of Fire will never be extinguished" Kuwana Toshi's room [hirana kizumi] [323 words]

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

Kizumi drank her sake only moderately more slowly than Toshi, some small gesture towards the idea of pacing herself… though she would need a refill by the time he was done explaining. Immediate concern creased Kizumi’s brow when Toshi said that Tokaku hadn’t been wrong when she claimed that Azarea was blackmailing him, a demand for more information and why she hadn’t been told about this sooner quickly rising to her lips—but then Toshi blushed, something Kizumi wasn’t entirely certain she’d ever seen before, and said Azarea was making him go to therapy. It took a godlike amount of self-restraint for Kizumi not to laugh out loud. She deserved a promotion for her discipline. Instead, she hid the growing smile she couldn’t fight back behind a long swallow of sake, and by the time she put her empty glass back down she had both managed to contain herself and get a better understanding of what, exactly, had happened. "Right,” Kizumi said, exhaling. "I’m guessing Tokaku doesn’t know that "blackmail” equals "therapy,” and she thought she was defending your honor, or something. I get the impulse, but it doesn’t excuse attacking a foreign—allied—shinobi in public in the middle of an international event.” Kizumi grimaced, recalling the reported extent of Tokaku’s injuries. "Even if the attack wasn’t… exactly successful. Azarea should know better than to engage with shit like this, and probably could have left before it got as bad as it did—but she’s got a temper.” A wry grin. "Like someone else I know.” She rubbed the back of her neck, leaning back in her seat. "I don’t think this needs to get blown out of proportion,” she said. "Azarea’s pissed off, but she’s fine. Tokaku’s supposed to make a full recovery. Make sure they stay away from each other—I’ll talk to Azarea to make sure she understands that I need her to de-escalate these kinds of problems. Tokaku… needs help.” Fingers drummed on the wooden arm of her chair. "It takes a lot of anger to do what she did. Deep anger. She needs support more than punishment, I think.” But then, Kizumi wasn’t a mom—she couldn’t tell Toshi how to parent his own kids, or how to discipline his shinobi. That the actions would be one and the same… that was a more complicated problem than what Kizumi had the ability or jurisdiction to resolve.

Hatake Toshizō -- 396

LAIKA OF THQ

[Hatake Toshizō]

"damage control". "A man who can't uphold his beliefs is pathetic, dead or alive." THE PRICE WE PAY Yeah, therapy. It went withou saying he didn't want to do it, and that he was indeed blackmailed into doing it, but he had accepted it nonetheless. Well... After placing the cursed tongue seal on his therapist, so they could never talk to anyone else about what he was sharing with them. It was perhaps an abuse of his position as the commander of Root, yes, but the man knew when to be a tyrant if he needed to. When asked if Tokaku knew what the blackmail entailed, he nodded. "She didn't know at the time, and I don't know why Azarea would let her imagination wander, other than just to torture her a bit, but it did escalate the situation. I did reveal to her later, when I visited her at the hospital, what the blackmail entailed, so that should be clear to the girl now..." he sighed, clearly bothered to have more people knowing he was taking some counseling. "And I agree. Nothing excuses her actions, and everything about it makes it worse and I made sure she knew that. I scolded her pretty badly, even though I'm not sure how much of it she took to heart." and when she mentioned Azarea had a temper like him, he grimaced, but nodded in agreement. Fortunately, both of them didn't want this to grow out of proportion, and he confirmed with a nod Tokaku would make a full recover, even if she retained perhaps a few scars from the encounter. It would be a good thing to remember what happened and avoid future mistakes he thought. Still, when Kizumi mentioned she needed more support than punishment, Toshizou arched one of his brows. "You really think so? Maybe I can do better... I'm trying, but... Honestly, I wish I never fucked with an Uchiha. They are a handful... She is already causing me trouble by wanting to be a Hatake, and I just can't allow it. Of all people I should've have fucked, Aiya is at the top of my list... But gosh, she was hot." he sighed, as he poured more sake for both of them. Toshizou was now paying the price for thinking with his cock. "You can train a dog with food. You can buy a person with money. But there isn't a man alive that can put down the Will of Fire. Some things will never change. The Will of Fire will never be extinguished" Kuwana Toshi's room [hirana kizumi] [372 words]

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

"It might be worthwhile taking Tokaku to one or two of your sessions, or encouraging her to talk to someone herself,” Kizumi said gently. She had never been one for therapy, personally—felt like a waste of time—but this was a thicker knot than either she or Toshi had the ability to pick apart. "It’s hard, when your dad is also kind of your boss. Since her mom’s… well, gone, she’s going to need another trusted adult to talk to. You know?” He made her cackle out loud, though, rubbing her forehead in dismay even as she laughed, snatching her freshly-filled cup of sake from the desk. Her head was thoroughly fuzzy, now, though she would insist until the moment she passed out that she had everything perfectly under control. "Protection, Toshi,” she crowed, waving a disgusting hand in the general direction of his crotch. "You can fuck whoever you want with protection!! ‘It doesn’t feel as good’ is horseshit and you know it, so I don’t wanna hear it!!” Kizumi was giggling now, fully relieved to be off the topic of burned children and family trauma and onto the much funnier topic of Toshi’s poor decision-making. "Do I have to be worried about any more little Toshizous running around ten years from now?” she asked, leaning forward with a gleam in her eye. "I should get ahead of the curve, you know. I need the intel to be prepared.”

Hatake Toshizō -- 245

LAIKA OF THQ