Red Riot - Chapter 16 - Red homecoming (Patreon)

The mists around Kirigakure had lightened.

I and several others stared at the revealed harbour as our ship cut its way through the water towards its designated berth. On the street, people called out and a general air of celebration seemed to have swept through the people.

The fact that we could see the street despite it being hundreds of metres past the harbour was just… weird.

I glanced behind me towards the circling mists that orbit Kirkgakure, making it difficult to navigate without a skilled helmsman or someone who had experience. that, and the multitude of Shinobi that occasionally flitted past or under us, checking that we were who we were supposed to be.

During the journey, I’d been able to pick up a few skills such as rope tying and navigation by the stars thanks to the helmsman. I’d needed to find something to do when I wasn’t grinding at my ever more precise chakra control or chakra sensory skills and they’d been the obvious choice.

Still, I found myself wondering if the ship hadn’t taken us to the wrong port.

Was this the Land of Tea, or Sky perhaps? With their smiling people and visible sky?

I fluctuated my chakra and felt nothing change.

Akiko glanced at me and smirked, her lips twitching upwards and only hitching slightly. It made her look artfully playful. “Not used to seeing the sky back home eh?” she said.

I nodded. “It feels a bit surreal,” I said. “I’ve grown up with the mists always being there.”

“Ah,” she said, understanding my issue. “The mist is mostly there to make things far harder for any enemy shinobi wandering around. People who grew up here have no issues navigating the mists.  Think of it as a training exercise that has now ended.”

“Huh, I don’t even know the hiding in the Mist jutsu,” I said.

“Damn, as a Chunin and more importantly my apprentice we’re going to have to fix that as soon as we can,” she said with a shake of her head.

I merely grunted and we passed the time until the ship docked with silence. At first, I had to wonder why we didn’t have a mass exodus of shinobi piling out of the ship and sprinting for the closest bar or their homes, then I saw a trio of men standing on the docks waiting for us.

Each of them wore masks denoting them as Hunter-nin. I frowned and focused my attention on the nearby ships and noted the flickering signatures of other shinobi lying in wait. “We’re not allowed to just enter Kiri? Are we?”

“No, we’re not, we’re to be checked off against lists. We’re not like other Villages with walls surrounding them Those are for show and keeping the civilians in line anyway. If you’re entering or leaving Kiri you only ever leave through set points like the docks or the north or east side of the Village.”

“What’s over there?” I asked having never ventured that far into Clan controlled territory.

Akiko blinked and shot me a look before chuckling. “Forgot that this was your first tour and that you’re a freshie instead of a hardened nin with you reaching chunin.”

Akiko shook her head. “Just another thing to look into with our training. There are going to be a lot of holes that you should know as a chunin that you just won’t. Expect us to talk as much as we train our bodies and ninjutsu,” she said.

I nodded, knowing that I’d be able to do both with how my chakra control exercises had become passive peripheral activities these days. I’d need to find ways to change it up and challenge myself again. Perhaps I’d try using as much chakra as possible on certain jutsu. How powerful could I make a water bullet jutsu?

I pondered this as I mentally kept track of the Hunter nin flitting around us. They served as a good training exercise to push my sensory abilities.

When the ship reached the dock the shinobi that were openly waiting for us vanished in a blur of speed before appearing in front of Akiko.

“Jonin…” The man paused’s words came from the mask like an echoing spectre.

He tilted his head and made a show of looking Akiko over. “...” There was a moment’s pause as they considered what to say before apparently deciding to ignore Akiko’s restored good looks. They must have known her before she set out.

“You are to report to the Mizukage,” said the man with a more controlled drone.

Akiko merely nodded. “Very well, we need to secure a payment as well from Suna,” she said gesturing to the hold.

“It will be take—”

“No, I’m taking it to him, I’m not having it vanish off the books, it’s mine to deliver,” she said squaring up on the hunter-nin.

The man observed her through the slits of his mask before his head jerked tightly. “Do not delay.” With the warning given the man blurred off to a nearby sail to monitor us.

Akiko huffed and turned. “You, you, you, and you!” she said pointing at the nearest and biggest shinobi she could find. “Get down into the hold and secure the cargo! I want you up here in seconds! Homura, Rurika! You and I need to report!”

“Shit!” muttered Jonin Rurika, who was a short man as he staggered towards us. “Fuck, Gengetsu’s in a good mood! That’s almost as bad as him in a bad mood!”

“Easy there Ruri,” muttered Akiko, “We got some things to keep his focus,” she said gesturing to the men that had reappeared with the payment.

“Fucking about time we got rid of that. You know how many people I’ve had to beat down for sniffing around that as they looked for grog on this ship?”

Akiko shot him a look that she very much did know.

This felt like an old conversation being retread rather than any new ground between the pair of them.

“It can be Lord Mizukage’s in a few minutes, if anyone attacks us now we’ll have plenty of witnesses.” She frowned for a moment before marching over to the nearest carrier and began rifling through the pack.

When she was satisfied with that she moved on to the next bag. Then she moved through to the next. When she’d inspected each bag she nodded. “Good, it’s all here,” she said. She then shot a glare at the men carrying the bags. “I’ve confirmed it if any goes missing…” she trailed off ominously.

Rurika chuckled as Homura marched up, the three of them and the attached shinobi departed.

“Matsu, stay out of trouble. I’ll find you when I’m ready to work with you. Relax for now,” she said with nod towards me.

For a moment I considered going with them but then I stayed where I was.

I hadn’t specifically been asked for, and right now I really should keep my head down. Turning up at the Mizukage’s office wasn’t going to help me keep a low profile. Also that was just begging for drama to find me. Gengetsu… wasn’t the most stable of individuals.

I instead turned towards my comrades for the past few months, Hito, Hanzo, Dende, Suzi, Ala… and in the last few weeks, Maiko, Yayoi, and Mari. “How long will we be held for?” I asked them, settling down with a pair of senbon twirling end over end on my fingers.

Hito tracked the senbon thoughtfully. “Give it a few hours for them to go through the lists. Should be home soon,” he said.

His words proved true with a number of ANBU and Hunter nin moving through the ship asking questions of us quietly. When I was approached a kunoichi got close to me, kunai in hand. “Who did you kill on the day you graduated?”

I blinked and was about to say I hadn’t killed anyone that day, but that wasn’t true. “Geta, I killed Instructor Geta,” I said.

The woman held for a moment before nodding her head and moving off without another word. I licked my lips. That was a hell of a challenge entry protocol. Was everyone being asked soemthing similar?

I eyed the other shinobi I’d spent months with and saw a few of their faces dipping into scowls as the questions came their way. A handful of faces flickered into smiles for a moment and I marked those people down as people to watch my back when I was around them.

A moment later a genjutsu flittered into my coils and I was just starting to crush it when it whispered. “You’re free to leave.”

I got up and moved off waving to my comrades and beginning the trek through the streets to the Okiya. On the way, several people shouted in my direction.

“Well done sir Shinobi!” “The war is won! Five percent off dear sir!” “Many blessings!”

I nodded amicably and this seemed to encourage people to continue lauding me for ‘ending the war’. I held in a frown. I had no idea if we’d actually won. I’d gotten into a few fights that we’d come out the other end on the better side of things, but how had the overarching campaign gone?

I hadn’t a clue.

What was supposed to happen canonically?

Uzushio gets destroyed as does the Hidden Village in the Land of Sky… if that’s canon.

Most of Naruto focussed on Konoha, so what will have happened for them? Sakumo will have gained his title as Konoha’s White Fang, I’d even witnessed that massacre.

The Sannin will be a thing, so there are four, if not five S-rank shinobi with Sakumo, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Hiruzen.

Tsunade… will she have lost her brother and her lover by now? I scratched my chin in thought. I couldn’t remember the specifics of that timing but then again it was usually quite vague.

Jiraiya would be spending the next… period of time training up the founding members of Akatsuki.

So Konoha was currently in a strong albeit not as strong position as they could be. Jiraiya would be missing in action for a while as would Tsunade, leaving only three S-Rank shinobi.

Only three powerhouses.

I snorted at the joke. Who did we have in Kirigakure?

The Seven Swordsmen? Some of those would be a threat but I knew them to be A-Rank unless certain situations played out in their favour.

Gengetsu was the only serious S-Rank threat.

When was he supposed to fight Mu and die?

I entered the red light district and garnered a few looks from people and double takes from those who vaguely knew me. “Eh? Isn’t that Matsu?” asked one man who I would occasionally buy some dumplings from.

“Hey old man,” I said casually. “No time to stop I’m heading home!” I called as I continued to walk. I let myself keep up my normal pace as I approached the Okiya.

I quested out with my chakra senses and felt all the typical chakra signatures that I expected along with a few that I didn’t expect. Feeling a touch mischievous, I drew in my chakra and shook off my kit to hide in an alcove I’d created on the roof. Then I dropped into the backyard where I’d spent years training.

I assumed the form of one of the girls with a henge. I drifted through the halls towards the sleeping areas and knelt before the door I’d been seeking out. I scratched lightly to draw attention to myself and the door opened to reveal Rei in a much nicer dress than I’d seen her last time.

Her hair looked long, shiny and full. Her cheeks looked full, and she grinned at me in my assumed form. She looked like she was healthy and happy.

I smiled at her just like I knew the girl whose appearance I’d taken would. “Ah, hello a message was delivered,” I said calmly.

Behind Rei, Shoto shifted and shot me a disinterested look. Rei waved for me to enter to deliver said message. I shuffled in only to ‘stumble’ and land with my hand out on Shoto’s stomach. He blushed furiously at this but I just dropped my Henge and grinned at him evily.

“And point to me,” I said with a smirk.

Shoto shot backwards, his hand reaching for a kunai only to pause as his thinking mind caught up with his reactions. “Matsu? Eh! Wait no that’s cheating!”

I grinned and leaned to the side to catch Rei as she threw herself into a hug.

“Ohkamiyou’rebackand you’realiveI’msohappy! Yougrewoutyourhairitlooksgreat!” babbled Rei as she tried and failed to squeeze the life out of me.

I pushed Rei off me to grin at them. “Hey you two, hanging out in my room? Should I be worried you’re divvying up my stuff already?”

“Eh you don’t have anything too interesting,” Shoto said, regathering himself. “Also are you sure you want to keep playing that game with me?” he said with a jut of his chin.

I chuckled and sat against the wall. “Well, I just got one up on you, so I think I take this victory and let it tide me over for a while, so sure let’s leave it behind,” I said.

Shoto’s eyes narrowed as he realised that if we stopped playing I’d end on a win. “Prepare yourself,” he said with a mock-threatening tone.

Rei just huffed. “You boys can touch each other up later! I want to catch up! It’s been months!” she said.

“It’s a stealth game!’ snapped Shoto while I rolled my eyes.

“Sure thing, I can tell you about it seeing as the war is over now,” I said. Thankfully this was even true. There wasn’t anything beyond the very obvious secret of the Hyuga eyes that I needed to avoid mentioning.

“So I was stationed in the Land of Wind it turns out. I had to work it out myself though cause the orders they gave me were super vague. So what I did was call around about the ship I was being ordered onto and—” I happily gave up all the tricks I used to put myself in the best position possible.

When I told them about how I’d tricked Shunin En into giving another person training while I was in the room Shoto guffawed while Rei giggled. When I mentioned the fights I got into and how Konoha had counter-attacked they were quiet as mice sneaking through a cat lady’s house.

“You met the Kazekage?” said Rei in shock.

I nodded. “Served him tea actually,” I said with a smirk.

“Did you poison it?” said Shoto excitedly. “You’d get so famous if you did that!”

I snorted as his immaturity reared its head. “Nah, 'cause that would have ended up with me and my team dead more than anything else,” I said with a flat look. Shoto coughed and mumbled something about it still being cool but I just ignored him.

“There was also their chief Puppeteer there,” I said when he still seemed for his idea.

“So?”

“So the Puppeteer Corps are the best poisoners in Suna. They were so good that Konoha, the Village best known for its medics had to get some super genius to counter them,” I said giving Tsunade a bit of praise. I hadn’t witnessed this but I could fairly safely spread it to my friends to let them know who the big threats were.

Needless to say, if they encountered any white-haired older Konoha shinobi, they’d be sure to retreat after I told them of how Sakumo butchered his way through a cohort of Suna nin. If that resulted in them retreating in the face of Jiraiya?

Well, it was still a good move.

“So, what’s been happening here?” I asked, relaxing back as Rei and Shoto started telling me about life after the academy in Kirigakure.

“Sayuki’s not as good as you,” Shoto said straight away. “She’s gotten people working on trianing exercises and improving when we have downtime together but it’s hard We all have different roles and sometimes we’re not even in the Village.”

I nodded. “That’s pretty much what I expected. We didn’t have a lot of ideas about what life after the Academy would be like. Anyone…” I trailed off meaningfully.

Shoto grimaced. “Some close calls. Sahrkbait was running a message to a rearbase and almost ran into of Kumo nin who were circling around wide. He informed a nearby patrol but then got in trouble for his message being slow… the message was meant for Jun Yuki!”

I sighed. “Clan Leader?” I asked.

“Yeah! He’s a really big deal! He used to be the assistant and right-hand man for the First Mizukage! He was touted to be the person everyone expected to become the Second Mizukage only for Lord Gengetsu to win a lot of support and to duel him. Lord Gengetsu crushed him!”

“That makes sense, how’d Sharkbait live?” I asked morbidly.

“Kumo attacked at that moment and Sharkbait was no longer Jun’s biggest priority,” said Shoto.

“What’s Sharkbait doing now?” I asked.

“He’s running a mission with a bunch of Chunin that have been… well not absolute dickbags to us. They’re doing some easy mission in the Land of Bird that will take a while.”

“Hmmm good, hopefully if he takes long enough Jun won’t hunt him down,” I said with a sigh.

“That’s the hope,” said Shoto. “So did you learn any cool jutsu you can share around?”

I chuckled. “I did, but first, Rei?” I asked looking at her.

She tilted her head. “You want to hear what I’ve been up to?”

I raised an eyebrow. “You’re my friend aren’t you?” I asked.

Rei perked up and Shoto coughed as he realised his mistake. Rei began telling me all about how things had been going for her with her new life in the Okiya.

“So the Madam has me learning the courtly script and she thinks I have a lot of skill with the brush, she even displayed one of my words in the foyer and it’s apparently gotten a bunch of compliments!” she said with a bounce.

“Impressive,” I said. I’d spent a considerable amount of time working with an ink brush and paper, knowing that it would likely have a lot to do with fuinjutsu in the future and I’d only gotten a few pieces to the stage that the Madam had deemed them display-worthy.

“I’m a bit envious if you’ve only been working on the courtly script for a few months,” I said.

Rei blushed and shrugged, twirling a finger around her hair which she’d grown out. “There’s not a lot I can do with myself these days, so I just keep busy in the back. I found some of your old writing practice tools and have been using them so the Madam wouldn’t have to pay for as much ink.” She shot me a shy look.

“I like how you’ve grown your hair out,” I said.

“Thanks!” she said with a huge smile she then eyed my own much shorter but still present locks of hair. “Your looks good as well,” she said.

I ran a hand through my own, still growing used to it after having shaved myself bald for a while during the academy. “Thanks,” I said.

I eyed Shoto and the two extra bedrolls that were resting next to mine in the open cupboard. “I hope you’re paying rent to the Madam,” I said faux seriously.

“What?!” Shoto exclaimed in surprise as he realised I’d caught sight of the bedrolls.”Well… what about you? How much rent do you pay?”

“I was born here, also I performing healing on some of the girls,” I said casually with an imperious tone. Shoto winched and I realised that the casual abuse of the Geisha that I’d grown up with wasn’t something he was used to. His eyes flickered to Rei and I adjusted that comment mentally.

I shifted gears mentally. “So what missions have you been doing?” I asked prompting things towards easier topics. Shoto relaxed and I felt myself settling in as I reconnected with two people that I perhaps trusted the most in this life.

Eventually one of the Ladies of the Okiya came in to offer Rei and Shoto a meal only to pause when they caught sight of me.

“Hey Sakura,” I said with a lazy wave.

“Eeeee! You grew your hair out!” she squealed before throwing herself forward to hug me.

I hugged her back, amused at her excitement which quickly turned to fear as she sprinted out of the room to summon what felt like most of the other off-shift ladies to welcome me home.

After the fifteenth lady jogging in I shot Rei a pointed look. “What’s going on here?”

“They miss having easy access to a free, convenient healer,” she said without shame.

Tora, the latest woman to hug me turned and pinched Rei’s cheek. “Oh, little sister, you have such a mouth on you, you truly underestimate the bond that we have for our dear little brother,” she said.

I chuckled as Rei tried to pull away from the woman’s grip only to find her other cheek grabbed up.

“So you’ve missed me,” I said as I accepted another hug.

Tora beamed beatifically at me and perked up as the Madam’s cane announced her arrival.

“Madam,” I said sitting up.

She looked me over with an imperious eye, “Feh! You come back but don’t enter through the front doors? What sort of child of this establishment are you?”

“One who knows that patrons don’t want to see the possible results of their entertainment wafted under their noses,” I rejoinder easily.

The Madam nodded. “Good! You still have common sense!” she said. Her face softened then as she looked into my eyes, the barbs around her retracting. “Are you… well, Matsu? Did you fight at all?”

I nodded. We got into fights but I came out the victor, or at least made it out whole,” I said.

That drew a hissed inhale from a few of the girls. As much as they might have joked about wanting me for my healing they did care. A few more eyes drifted over my form thoughtfully and I waved a hand. “I made it out, and I made several good comrades,” I said.

I glanced over at Shoto. “I think they might solve some of the problems Sayuki has been having,” I said. Shoto perked up at this only for the Madam to cough.

“Come give me a hug Matsu, I wish to see how tall you’ve grown.”

I stood and blinked in surprise as I realised that I now was taller than the Madam. She smiled at me and drew me in while I was still coming to terms with my increase, and her perhaps decrease in height.

“You’ve grown,” she said simply. “Make sure you keep doing that, hmmm? Some of these ladies have been bemoaning you not being around.” she said, slipping back into her thorny mask of an uncaring old Madam.

“Awwwww!” cooed the ladies that had stuck around for the show. “You care!” they chorused like some sort of background Disney song group.

The Madam scoffed and waved a hand towards one of them. “Ruri has crabs, see to her so she can handle tonight's shift won’t you?” she said causing the woman who’d been singled out to splutter as Shoto began to snigger quietly.

“I do not!” she shrieked as the Madam whirled and marched away, her cane now thumping into the ground more softly than before.

I smiled as she straightened up, realising that I’d healed her aches and pains from the hug. She shot me a questioning look and I just smirked.

I had grown more than just taller in the last few months after all.

“She doesn’t,” I said with a smirk.

The ladies all frowned at this casual admission before their eyes tracked to the Madam who began to walk more upright without any grunts or snarls escaping her lips.

A few of the ladies who had some minor medical issues drifted away to subtly check themselves over. I’d snuck a few of them some subtle creams which I still had about my room depending on what they’d had. With how touchy-feely they’d been it had been easy. I lay back down and began trading stories and learning what everyone had been up to.

I quickly got a feel for Kirigakure’s or at least a small snippet of it once again.

With the introduction of experience an exposure to more shinobi, I started asking more pointed questions, such as if anything was happening inland from our Village. Did any shinobi clans have servants that came into the Red Light district, what the prices of certain goods were along with what news there was regarding various shinobi.

It might not be as widespread as Jiraiya’s spy network, but it was a start. I sat and listened, slotting the various pieces of information and weaving a complex tapestry of how things looked within Kiri.

Overall? Things were looking up with taxes announced as coming down within the next week, celebrations were abundant and missions resuming. The celebrations were widespread and a lot of shinobi that were usually out on the mission fronts had returned and were spending.

Also, two of the seven Swordsmen were dead.

That caused me to pause. “How do we know that and which ones are they?” I asked.

“Well, remember that lady that stopped us when you first went into the Academy a few years ago?” said Michiru, the woman who’d escorted me. Her face held a rather soft blush to it as a few women tittered. “She… rather liked what she saw and when she felt it right she returned a few months ago and asked for my… company,” she said.

“Okay,” I said my mind recalling a woman with sharp teeth and a man named Tora that had threatened us. “She helped us when that shinobi tried to stop us, no?”

Michiru nodded, “Yes well it turns out that they were apprentices to the Seven Swordsmen and well, Lady Ringo is now a fully-fledged Swordsman of the Seven.” Michiru looked to the side bashfully. “She mentions some of these things as she is rather vexed that the Swordsmen is rather dominated by men to hear her speak of it.”

“Huh,” I said. It noticed the teeth but hadn’t equated her as… “Did you say Ringo?” I asked.

Michiru nodded her head. “Yes? She’s part of a small family of shinobi that have worked at their blade skills. It has been considered a rather large victory for them to earn the right to wield the Kiba blades, although she may not be able to for a while as she is starting to show,” she said.

I mentally tilted my head. So she had Michiru on the side, a… husband or at least a donator on the other and she wielded the Kiba blades. I was suddenly very interested in this kunoichi’s situation in a manner that made me think that the love of dramatics that the Okiya ladies had must have rubbed off on me.

It was the only explanation.

I paused as a memory rose of another woman who wielded the Kiba blades. A woman by the name of Ameyuri Ringo. I rubbed my chin. “Does Lady Ringo ever complain about her health or be more tired than you would expect a kunoichi of her skills to be?”

Michiru blinked cluelessly and I waved it off. “Alright, that’s impressive information, thanks for the intel big sis,” I said. “If she ever complains about any aches or pains feel free to offer my services, it would be nice to have an in with a…” I considered my words. “Solid-sounding kunoichi,” I said.

Michiru tilted her head. “And how do you know she isn’t a beast? Some women can be just as bad as men you know?” she said with a curious tilt of her head. I noted that she had a pleased look in her eyes so I suspected that the relationship wasn’t just a one-way street.

“You don’t have any bite marks, bruises or hairline fractures,” I said easily, my eyes not shifting to the few women who lingered about my room who had had such issues before they’d hugged me.

When the ladies were done detailing what had been going on they departed and left me with my friends.

Shoto stared at the door for a considerable time. “That… I never even thought they did all that. It’s super useful for you isn’t it?” he asked.

I waffled my hand back and forth. “It’s a market of interchanging favours and tidbits. They want me to succeed and I want them to be healthy and aware of threats. This sort of gossip happens regardless if you’re there to listen for it, it can be targeted though if you prompt people to nudge conversations along, and the Geisha in this part of town? They’re very good at subtly drawing out conversation, trust me on that.”

Rei nodded a thoughtful look on her head. “It’s kind of impressive, how much they pick up on,” she said.

“It’s required, they have to keep their ears to the ground and be excellent judges of character,” I said. “It’s also how I’d start creating a spy network,” I said casually.

Rei blinked and glanced at me. “Through the ladies?” she asked.

“Yup, it might not seem it but they have a wonderful read on the Village. They’re integrated in a lot of different levels and people come up to them and allow themselves to relax. It doesn’t need to be much but with small nuggets of information applied across multiple different points of view. They also sometimes go on ‘tours’ of the nation or other nations depending on their fame, which allows them to cast a very wide net to filter back in.”

“What did talking with the girls just now tell you?” asked Shoto.

I considered what to say for a moment before shrugging. “Kiri did rather well in the war.”

This caused Rei and Shoto to frown. “Of course we did?”

I shook my head. “Most of that is propaganda. You need to be able to see past it or otherwise, you’re only ever going to know as much as the administration wants the public to know.”

I waved a hand towards the window. “The celebrations are widespread and lots of good cheer is being spread around. The number of dead aren’t enough to cause a huge dampener and it seems we achieved a lot of whatever it was Lord Gengetsu wanted when the war began,” I said.

I pinched at my hair and rubbed it. “Most of the objectives that I can determine are rather obvious. First, to reduce the operational force and projection of strength of the other four great Shinobi Villages. This has been mostly achieved with Suna getting mauled.”

“Konoha is still present and while it won a number of battles the number of battles they would have been engaged in due to their geographical location would have been an issue. They have more high-ranked shinobi now however so there is that to balance the scales.

“Kumo and Iwa? No idea about them, hopefully, more information can trickle in from some of the comrades I made during my stint in Suna,” I said.

I tapped at my head. “The other objective? The destruction of Uzushio, which was a strong ally for Konoha, along with the removal of a threat to Kirigakure,” I said.

Shoto nodded and I perked up as another thought. “Also I heard about the Land of Sky’s shinobi Village being destroyed. This might not seem like it, but it’s a good thing for us as no there is less of a military presence next door to us,” I said.

“Meaning we’re freer to move through the nation to the east,” said Rei thoughtfully.

“Yes” I said pointing at her like an Instructor would to a correct answer. “Konoha, Iwa, Kumo and Suna all have to sail around us to reach the eastern nations, but we’re next door. Convenience more than anything else will see a lot of money and resources filtering to Kiri,” I said.

Shoto chuckled. “Damn, all that from just talking with people? You’re scary Matsu.”

I shook my head. “Most people can learn this, it’s about having as many pieces as possible and knowing that not all of it will be accurate,” I said.

“Anyone can learn this?” asked Rei, her thoughtful expression coming back.

“Yeah?” I said carefully.

“Hmmm okay, I think I’ll try and become your spymaster! Or  Spymistress!” she said with a bounce, “I’ll take lessons with the madam and learn how to run an Okiya and then! I’ll run all the Okiyas!” she said with a huge smile.

Shoto shifted uneasily. “In the street?”

Rei beamed. Shoto grimaced and shifted again. “In Kiri?” he said, trying again.

“The world!” declared Rei with all the seriousness of a child. For a moment I felt like I was watching someone different. At first, I wanted to shake my head and reject her dream as something silly.

But then I tilted my head and smiled. “That’s ambitious,” I said. “I like it, if that’s what you want to do, then you’ll have to work hard and be more than just a Madam of the Okiya, remember, an Okiya is only one way to garner information. I’ll be waiting eagerly for the day you control the Red Light districts of the world,” I said mischievously. I doubted she’d ever really do it but well, it had a certain appeal to me. Rei would be able to really help out if she could do it.

Rei shot me a suspicious look like she knew I doubted her. “Just you wait, I’ll be the ultimate Madam!”

“The mega-madam?” I said with a playful smirk.

“The most Mega!” she declared, her lips twitching as Shoto became more and more worried the more Rei spoke.

She and I held each other's gazes for a long drawn-out moment before she giggled and I laughed. Shoto exhaled. “Oh thank goodness you were just joking, for a second there I thought you thought you could do it,” he said, and for just a moment he glanced away from Rei, thus missing the flash of indignation in her eyes.

Oh, dear, he’d just told a young girl she couldn’t do something. I saw Rei set her jaw and smile.

“We’ll see,” she said with a carefree tone.

I hid a smile, knowing that Shoto had done more than I had to set Rei’s feet upon her self-declared path in life. He’d just given her the equivalent of a shove. I’d have to keep an eye on this new development.

I leaned back and chuckled, enjoying the feeling of being home.

It sure as hell beat running over the sand dunes of the Land of wind.

I certainly hadn’t reached the stage of Anakin Skywalker, but seriously, fuck sleeping another night in the desert.

______________________________

The next morning I luxuriated in the feel of clean sheets for an extra hour before sitting up and smiling at that actual sun. Damn, was that what my room looked like in proper lighting? It wasn’t nearly as depressing or small, but at the same time, it was very cramped with Shoto and Rei tucked in their own beds.

I tapped Shoto on the nose. “I’m awake,” he said before I could pronounce him dead.

I huffed, annoyed that I hadn’t put any effort into it before standing and stretching. “The gang still meet up at the same place?” I asked.

Shoto sat up and smacked his lips together. “Nah, Kizan started being a dick and bringing his group around, which led to some tension that Sayuki didn’t want to deal with so we found another place.”

Shoto smirked. “Pissed Kizan off something fierce 'cause I think he wanted to cause some tension and drive people back into his group.”

“Hmmm,” I said, considering that little wrinkle. “Well hopefully if we give our group some results we can show people the error of their ways,” I said casually.

Shoto nodded and shot out of bed to lead me toward the new training ground. As we approached I was surprised to learn that we weren’t the first people there.

The first however was not waiting out in the open. I shot Shoto a thoughtful look and he rolled his eyes. “She’s been hiding the last few days instead of training with us. If you could deal with it it’d help me out. She’s been getting on my nerves hiding like that.”

“Did you try fighting her?” I said as I landed on the open rooftop.

Shoto landed on the wall and adopted a sit to watch what was to come. “Yeah nah, screw that! I saw what happened to you when you did that! She’s all yours to deal with.”

I shot him a smirk, “Can’t beat her?” I said before turning and smiling towards the hidden kunoichi.

A moment later Himeko Kaguya appeared before me. “Hey—” I started to greet her only for her to lash out.

I batted her fist aside, using my bracer to avoid the bone protrusion she’d started to grow. I grinned and stepped into her guard more than happy to test myself against my old sparring rival from the Academy.

I launched my own series of attacks and Himeko had to step back as they landed on flesh, causing her to stumble. I didn’t let up stepping forward again and again and not letting up on her.

Himeko grunted as each hit landed only for her to give up on her defences entirely as she began to swing back at me. I shifted slightly, adjusting so that I could parry and counter her hits.

When she chose to throw a particularly vicious punch I slid, applying a chakra trick I’d worked out to make me glide easily out of danger before anchoring myself an instant later as I countered.

My fist thundered into her stomach and she buckled around me spit exploding out her mouth before she sank to her knees. She heaved in the air as she struggled to regather herself.

I put a hand on her neck. “I think we’re done here,” I said, applying a bit of force to let her know that if this was a serious fight, I had a serious weak point exposed to me.

“I wouldn’t die from that,” she snarled rising up and challenging me.

I slammed a fist into the side of her head as she did so causing her brain to jolt from the force and her to collapse to the side.

“And I wouldn’t break your neck if we were fighting properly. Your bones would be too strong to get through. There’d be other options,” I said coldly. I put my hand on her chest and locked eyes with her. “You’ve gotten faster with those bones,” I said indicating the cuts and tears I had about my body.

Himeko smirked only for it to vanish as she noticed that I’d already healed all the damage. “Shit, you’ve gotten stronger too, more than I have,” she said her eyes flitting over me. “You’re colder too, didn’t hesitate to get in close with me.”

I offered her a hand up and she accepted it. “Thanks, I’m looking forward to trading pointers with you,” I said, pretending it was no skin off my back to fight her.

She scowled and huffed at me. “Yeah well, I’ve been told to tell you that Kitoma wants his rematch. He knows your ship docked yesterday.”

I hummed in thought as I glanced around. While we’d been fighting the others had turned up and were perched around the room watching the fight clinically. A lot of them were grinning happily.

“Yo!” I said giving them a casual two-finger salute. They darted in eagerly and clapped hands on me like I was a returning Champion. I chuckled at their comments and clapped them back on the shoulders while seeking out Sayuki. She hung back and I nodded in her direction.

She marched up to me, the others moving out of her way. She stopped before me with a scowl. “You certainly left me with a thankless task!” she said.

“By all accounts it looks like you’ve done an amazing job,” I said easily. I bowed to her. “Thanks for keeping everyone alive,” I said. When I straightened up Sayuki looked flustered.

“You don’t have to go that far, but… thanks,” she said scratching at her cheek. She then straightened up and held out a hand. “I want some jutsu though, not your thanks!” she said like a cheeky brat.

I laughed. “Well, you see, the thing is,” I started to say, my lips twitching as Sayuki and the others looked downcast as I pretended to start making excuses. While I said that my hand ducked around my back to tug out a handful of scrolls from the small carry points in the back of my chunin vest.

“I’m not sure which you will want to learn first?” I said depositing them in her outstretched hand. A few scrolls started to fall out of her hands only for her to snatch them up, her eyes boggling in surprise.

“Which are you going to learn first? Or do you want to hear from some of the Chunin that I met who said they’d help teach us some tricks?” I said with a grin.

She gaped. “You did that well?” she said incredulously.

“Well, they aren’t all jutsu scrolls, some of them are insights into fights I had with some of the Konoha fighting styles. I I think I got a good read on the Water whip Jutsu, the Lightning Whip Jutsu, the Water Prison, and chakra strings.”

That was enough to draw Himeko in, her interest which had been minor ratcheting up instantly. “Who’d you fight?” she said.

“A Inuzuka and his ninken, a Huyga, and…” I trailed off leadingly. “A bunch of Konoha ANBU,” I said causing gasps of awe.

I smirked feeling like a cool older brother who had come home for his kid siblings with gifts.

“Tell us! Tell us!” one of them chanted causing others to sit down, the scroll set aside but not forgotten as they stared up at me.

I sighed theatrically and retold my version of my deployment to Suna yet again.

By the end of it the awe people were showing was a touch disturbing with how their eyes were almost glowing with stars so I clapped my hands and smiled widely. “Let’s see what you’ve been working on!” I said deciding to encourage them.

Sadly it wasn’t as much as I could have hoped for. But then again, as Genin who had just entered the system and more importantly clanless shinobi, we didn’t have easy access to trainers. Kiri had no system like Konoha did for making up teams with a senior shinobi.

Kiri didn’t have a lot of systems that I could see, methods that had been discussed and argued over in my past life.

I blinked as Hiemko tapped me on the shoulder. “I need you to come with me,” she said seriously.

I was about to jokingly wave her off, and tell her that Kitamo could wait. Then I saw how fixed her facial expression was. How tense her jaw was, and how desperate her eyes were.

I pulsed the diagnostic jutsu through her and frowned at all the microfractures that she’d yet to heal along with the soft tissue bruising, only some of which I had contributed to.

“Sure thing, but first,” I said as I put a hand on her shoulder and flushed my chakra through her. Himeko stiffened as she felt my chakra sweep through her. It took a few minutes but the amount of injuries was more numerous than the one or two that the ladies in the Okiya had.

When I was done Himeko rolled her shoulders and danced from foot to foot with a scowl. “Urgh, I should have demanded you heal me before I fought you,” she said huffily.

I smiled, deciding not to point out how it might come across as a loss if she needed my help. Instead, I just nodded. “Yeah, you should,” I said. “Let’s go, you need Kitamo to get his backside kicked in?” I asked.

Kitamo nodded and jumped off the roof with me following her. The rest of the gang all followed along like ducklings. I frowned but decided to not wave them off. If things went south then it would be useful to have someone to back me up.

Our flight over the rooftops drew a bit of attention with several shinobi glancing up and a few even popping up to see what was going on.

Surprisingly Hanzo was one of them. “Little man!” His eyes darted around the group, documenting everything before alightning back on me. “What’s happening?”

I waved. “Hanzo, these are my friends. Can I cash in that favour with you to give them some help?”

Hanzo shot them a look with the kids looking back hopefully. “Hnn, guess I could. Where we going right now?” he asked.

“I’m going to go fight some Kaguya kid from my class,” I responded easily.

Hanzo blinked only to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Right, of course you are. I’m going to get the others, I’ll meet you there,” he said vanishing in a blur of motion.

Himeko and Shoto shot me glances but I just shook my head.

The field of bones as it was known, was a wide open expanse of hard-packed earth. I found several tall, powerfully built men and women standing around watching some fights. All of them were taijutsu and all of them were furiously engaged in a fight that was beyond merely sparring.

It was about dominance. It reminded me of the cage fights that MMA fighters took part in except with no referees or rules. They also wore minimal clothing to allow their bone jutsu and bodies to do most of the fighting.

One of the fighters was pinned only to have their arm broken a moment later. The broken arm fighter pushed on, bones forming up and making the limb move correctly to slash a huge cut across their opponent's chest.

A moment later the match ended with the slashed opponent whipping a kick into the skull and stomping on the throat.

The victor roared his cry, a man approaching and locking lips with him. The loser gurlged into the gorund and was dragged away by a beaten looking kunoichi.

Hmmm, how forward thinking of them, I idly mused.

I landed with Himeko and instantly our group had attention. A tall white haired man with his hair done into tightly wound braids strode forward. “So? This the boy who beat my little man eh?”

He looked me up and down. “Don’t look like much.” His eyes then flicked to the others that were landing behind me, his eyes narrowing on them for a moment and his lips twitching downwards.

“Good,” I said rolling my shoulders and shaking out my limbs. “Deception is a skill I’ve worked hard at,” I said glibly.

The man shot me an oddly intense look before snorting. “Whatever, KITAMO!” he roared. A silence fell over the groups even as the sounds of flesh being slammed into continued as the fights didn’t stop.

Kitamo broke off from a group that featured a lot of familiar faces. “Ah! Good! You didn’t run away! I knew I liked you!” he said with a savage grin.

I snorted. “Did you hear? I ran all the way to Suna to get ready for this fight!” I said jokingly.

A few of the kids chuckled nervously but it died off. A moment later a loud booming laugh rang out as a woman who looked like she should have been fat stepped forward. Her body clacked as she moved revealing that the additional body mass was made up of loose bones that she must have projected under her skin to stretch it.

It was a bit grotesque if I was honest but I had to stop as my mind began trying to work out how I would actually stop her. I’d have to aim for headshots.

“Ha! Little man has jokes! Let’s see if he has skills like you claimed Kitamo!”

I grinned as Kitamo growled and glared at me. “You better use your best!” he said.

I nodded shifting the flow of my chakra and the way my chakra strings wove about my body, deactivating the restriction weave and instead empowering myself.

I noted that the ground still buckled under Kitamo slightly. He looked like he’d gained a bit of muscle mass and for all that I’d grown upwards, Kitamo had shot upwards.

I started to trickle chakra into my body warming it up while reading the pseudo Body Hardening jutsu as much as I could. I felt like I’d need it.

I bounced from foot to foot. “So we just start throwing punches or you got a system?” I asked.

“Fight!” roared Kitamo’s dad and just like that Kitamo lunged forward throwing himself into a sprint.

I forced a grin onto my lips and counter-charged.

The Kaguya hooted and hollered at the show but I ignored them. My mind was already locked onto the closing threat. Kitamo pulled back a fist and threw it launching a brace of bone kunai at me which I tumbled to avoid.

As I rose Kitamo closed and tried to bring two bone daggers down onto me.

With my feet underneath me, I let loose my chakra and pulsed it all at once. I felt my world sharpen and slow as my perception grew. My pulse felt like it evened out.

Kitamo’s daggers plunged even as light of savage glee entered his eyes as he assumed he’d won.

Then I surged, pushing with my legs and letting loose my chakra.

Suddenly I went from merely moving to rocketing upwards despite feeling like I had all the time in the world.

My fist powered forward and slammed into Kitamo even as I batted the bones away with my other.

As I rose I twisted, adding extra power to my punch while also allowing me to line up another attack. It was a trick I’d learnt from watching the Jonin spar with others during the voyage over to Suna. Never settle for one attack, always line up multiple attacks or actions.

Lasting in a fight against a Jonin wasn’t just about the next step but the next seven. If you wanted to win? I had no idea as yet how many that would take.

Before Kitamo could be knocked too far back my leg snapped out, unleashing a pair of heavy blows into his jaw and then temple.

I felt Kitamo’s jaw give and saw his eyes dull so I aborted the third kick of the sequence, instead landing to the side.

I adopted a stance and prepared myself in case Kitamo had learnt a new trick.

He didn’t land gracefully and instead slammed into the ground like a sack of potatoes.

When he didn’t get up I inched forward and nudged him so that he rolled over. “Urrrrrr,” he slurred as he rolled.

I knelt and checked him over only to realise that my punches and kicks had been enough to rattle him, he was delirious from the blows.

“Shark shit,” Shoto said, his words cutting through my inspection of my downed opponent and making me realise that there were a lot of eyes on me.

I decided to ignore them and went about fixing Kitamo back up. When he roused he did so with my hand glowing in his face. He lunged only for me to knock the blow aside, my chakra still being in his system meant that I was able to make him very weak indeed.

It was like batting away a kitten.

“Wuh?” he mumbled.

“You lost,” I said. I patted him on the cheek. “Going to have to work on that. It seems I’ve outgrown you,” I said with a smile as I stood and moved past him.

I spotted Hanzo, Hito and Dende watching me with huge grins on their faces while my cohort of friends watched on with huge grins.

“Where do you think you’re going?” asked Kitamo’s dad.

I paused realising I didn’t know how things usually went around here. “Oh? Did you need something?”

He grunted. “You’re new here, so you wouldn’t realise it, but when you come with a posse to show off? You fight at least five times before you leave.” He grinned maliciously at me like I should crumble at this news.

Sadly my bluff game was my strongest trick. I merely grinned and spread my arms wide inviting one and all. “Oh? Is that so? Who’s next? I can do this all day!”

I instantly had a trio of Kaguya from my year charging at me causing Kitamo’s dad to click his tongue in annoyance.

I held my faux bravado and met the charge head on, lashing out with punches and kicks only to have to backpedal when two of the Kaguya kids started chaining their attacks to box me in.

I twisted and spun kicking up a cloud of dirt before darting low into one kids legs before I stood, spinning and twisting to launch him into another.

This left the third with wide, startled eyes as I leapt at him raining punchs down into him.

When I was satisfied he wasn’t getting up again I rolled forward and caught sight of the other pair pushing each other, their prior cohesion vanishing due tjuste tripping them up.

A whistle ringing out from the side had them looking up jsut in time to catch me advancing on them. I kicked one in the leg to trip him before aggressively going at the other.

When bones erupted from their rib cage I reached out and grabbed them, tugging them towards me as I threw a fist straight into their face.

When they reeled back but still had enough cohesion to try and stab me I wrenched my arm jerking it up and down in a whipping action.

The bones in my grasp shattered and the girl I’d been brutalising keened painfully. I swung a leg into her head and knocked her out before flipping over myself as I felt the third and final Kaguya try to tackle me to the ground.

Instead of me being driven down I landed on his back and rode him down. I then punched him in the back of the head, ending the fight.

I stood and took a deep breath before eying the watching Kaguya clan members who were now eyeing me with interest. I winked at another kid in my age bracket causing her to growl, taking the bait while others also took affront.

A few made to step forward only for Kitamo’s dad to raise his hand. “He’s mine!” he barked.

He strode forward and growled causing thin lines of bones instead of the usual huge spikey protrusions the younger ones favoured. It gave me pause as I analysed what he was doing.

Then suddenly Kitamo’s dad was in front of me his arm swinging and batting me across the field like a bug. I barely got my arms up into a brace position. I felt my body buckle under the strain of the blow even as I was skipped backwards.

I dug in with my chakra and a groove formed around me as my heels sank into the earth.

Hmmm, strong and fast. I lowered my hands and eyed him. “I didn’t get your name Mr Kitamo’s dad,” I said innocently.

I wanted to shake out my hands but resisted the urge. It would only display weakness, but damn that had hurt! I felt that in my shoulders as much as my forearms! If I hadn’t hardened my body I’d have broken arms for sure!

The man snorted. “I am Gantu! And you are not going to dishonour me more than you already have with beating my son in front of your gang!”

“Twice!” I called out, my mouth not knowing when to shut up.

He growled and once again accelerated. With the extra space, I could now just barely make out his form coming at me, fist cocked back.

I twisted to the side and pushed him while planting my leg so that it hooked around his ankle.

When he allowed himself to tip and spin around my body I knew I had to move. I launched myself out of that situation. I looked back and knew that I’d been right in trusting my instincts as Gantu’s body bristled with thornlike protrusions that would have shredded me if I’d committed.

I landed only to find him closing again lashing out with a dangerously clawed leg that he tried to rake me with. I skipped back enforcing my body hardening as much as I could.

I felt my skin split and my blood pour onto the ground.

I felt my arms quake from the aftershock of the hit and clenched my teeth. Alright, I couldn’t let that happen again.

I sighed and let myself relax like I always did.

Gantu glared at my arms before glancing at his legs with a frown. A murmur broke out amoung the watching Kaguya which I didn’t listen to.

Instead, I shifted most of my attention inward to my coils.

This was becoming far too often my go-to option of late.

I opened the gates and felt my chakra which had been a river before become a raging torrent that I controlled.

This time when Gantu came at me I had a much greater chance of watching him, my eyes tracking him. He noticed this though and adjusted so that he wasn’t coming in as recklessly, tightening up his form.

He shot probing attacks and watched as I batted them away only to attempt to counter where I could. He easily deflected or twisted to avoid the blows and I growled as I knew I needed to reach for more.

The second gate opened and I felt myself become more as my body became a whirlpool of energy. I began hitting Gantu only for him to form shields of bone with small scales protruding out of them forcing me to direct most of my chakra into the skin, muscle, ligaments and bones of the limbs I used to launch my attacks, making them denser and harder.

I imagined they were like metal forged through the application of hammer-blows that came with Gantu’s counters. I blocked and twisted, still feeling like I was outclassed as I failed to penetrate.

He leapt back and formed a large spear with narrowed eyes before re-engaging me and suddenly he had range and diversity as the spear twisted and flowed like liquid.

I reached into myself for more and called open the third gate lashing out with a kick to send the spear sailing away before spinning and slamming a back kick that utilsed every muscle in my body into Gantu’s face.

His nose broke under my foot and I felt my grin grow only for horror to set in as he caught my foot before I could retract it.

“Shit!” I said before he whipped me over his shoulder and slammed me into the ground. Then he let go as he tried to fall on me with a skewer of bone.

I detonated chakra out the left side of my body and threw myself to the right causing me to launch up and away. I landed on my feet feeling the ache from that last blow my fists rising up.

“Hmph, you are strong little one but your trick won’t last much longer, I can endure much more than the children,” said Gantu as he snapped his nose back into place. “I shall be serious now, prepare yourself!” he said as he formed twin sabres of bone that he started to twist around.

I snorted. “Yeah, yeah, don’t mind me, I can do this all day,” I said with a smirk. I raised a hand and made the ‘come on’ gesture. “Let’s add a sixth Kaguya to my list for the morning!” I said.

Gantu growled and stepped forward only to pause. “Sixth?” he said.

I nodded. “I wasn’t going to leave my friend high and dry when she asked for a throw down,” I said with a wave to Himeko.

Man, those punches and body slams must have done a number on me because I was being way more mouthy than I should be, I did not like the idea of having to open up another gate to match this asshole but I’d do it, and damn the body ache.

It was looking like the only way I’d win this match.

It wasn’t like my arms weren’t already aching.

Gantu shot Himeko a look. “You already fought him and lost?”

Himeko nodded her teeth bared. “He used me as a warm up it seems,” she said.

I flicked my eyes back and forth. What was going on?

Gantu sighed. “Hmmm, it seems it is not my time to put you in your place. By our way you have met the requirements to pass this day despite provoking us by bringing such a large group with you,” he said glancing at my group of friends.

“Eh?” I said intelligently.

Gantu frowned and considered me with a serious expression. “Ah, you didn’t realise you were doing such. You brought your friends to merely watch and not partake no? It smacks of arrogance, but one that you have lived up to.” He waved a hand and snorted out a glob of blood. “You may depart and I, nor any other shall pursue.”

I blinked feeling an odd sense of relief run through me. I got the impression for all his anger, Gantu hadn’t really taken off the kid gloves yet. They're had to be more to this…

“What about our—” I started to ask only for Akiko to suddenly be at my side smiling as she clamped a hand over my mouth.

“Thank you Special Jonin, I think I’ll take it from here,” she said nodding politely before dragging me off.

Oh damn, I thought, registering Gantu’s rank. He must not be just a meat head to make that rank. He must have had a lot more under the hood so to speak.

Akiko dragged me to the side and shot me a venomous look. “You’re the kami damned stupidest smart kid I’ve ever met. Why the fuck are you making waves on your second day back? Do you not remember pissing off the clans got you sent to Suna?” she said hotly.

“Ah, I wasn’t going to be able to escape them, I needed to play their games for now,” I said.

She shot me a look and sighed. “This apprenticeship suddenly feels like it’s going to be a lot rougher than I thought. You better learn to deal with gray hairs ‘cause I’m not losing my renewed status as an eight cause of stress.”

“You’re at least a nine,” I said easily.

“Aww that’s sweet but pull the other one,” she said before she pinched my cheek. “I’ve seen the women you spend time around.”

I shot her a look and she scowled. “I went looking for you this morning and lo and behold I found you pissing off the Kaguya! I was going to just have a talk with you but now? Now, it’s time for some training,” she said dragging me into a shunshin.

We reappeared in a distant training field. She marched over to a handy stack of training shinai.

“I’m going to fight you, and while I’m doing this you’re going to tell me all the things you did wrong since you woke up this morning. Then I’m going to correct you,” she said. “Everything you miss means I will hit you once,” she said through bared beautiful teeth.

“I shouldn’t have gotten out of bed?” I suggested and from the gleam in her eyes I knew that was a good answer but it wouldn’t be enough to stave off her wrath.

Damn my need to test myself. I might also be able to blame Himeko but I'd stepped into that situation all too interested in finding out how strong I'd gotten. Sure it had been partially for Himeko, but it had also been for my ego.

It turns out? I'd gotten much stronger.

Akiko must have known what I was thinking as the next hit came harder. I grimaced, knowing this wasn't going to be a fun training session.

Damn Akiko for knowing that I could heal away bruises.

It just allowed her to hit me more.

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A.N. Thanks go to my Patreons.

Hot damn did this chapter balloon out. I got it done last night and ironed out. Thought it might be a nice holiday gift for some people!

1. For those who track such things. The third Mizukage appears in an appearance for the first Kage meet-up as the bodyguard/assistant to the first Mizukage but then is one of the only people to not become the Second Kage for their village. Their names also don’t get called. So I eyeballed the picture and went. Looks like a Yuki which plays into the dynamic the Hozuki and the Yuki have in this story a little I think so it works for me.