I stood and gathered myself for a moment after the door shut behind me. Lord Funato would be fine and well in time and I’ve shown my support by paying a visit as well as saving his life in the first place. What I was concerned about now was Mei.

My enemies have begun moving mad. Open hostilities are clear as day now and the future of Kirigakure would hinge on what Mei’s report on her assailants and journey back home would reveal. Though I already had a feeling what she would say I didn’t want it to be the first thing she said to me.

And so, as I walked down the stairs into the general shinobi wards of the hospital, away from the entire floor Lord Funato’s injured presence secured, I searched for a trustworthy shinobi I could bother with my Kage hat for a moment.

“Hello.” I greeted a lady at the reception counter, she wore starched clean uniform with Kiri and the medic’s insignia adorning them. Her work at her station kept her head down but she looked up with a fake smile that instantly wiped away upon seeing me, “Could you help me hold onto this, I can’t remember where my assistant went.”

I needn’t charm her with a smile but I did anyway and found her giggling, “Yes, of course, uh, I mean, yes, Mizukage-sama.”

“Thank you.”

It’s been six months now since becoming a Jinchuriki and five months of my reign as Yondaime. The village knew my face well, my picture was held up in every governmental office and quarters, the Jounin and Chuunin stations, the hospitals and several clinics, the prison and academies. My face was everywhere people congregated and in Kirigakure, as Kage, my name was their hope.

Right now, after yet another blatant attack on Kirigakure, my name was spoken in the soft corners of homes praying for safety I was terrified I couldn’t assure. How had the assassin gotten in? How did they manage to escape even Ao and his squad? When, where, who will they strike next?

As I approached Mei’s hospital room I put the nervous thoughts out of my mind, kindly reassuring myself I had all the knowledge to outmanoeuvre Amegakure and the Akatsuki if it truly came down to it.

Two knocks and her voice came through, “Come in.”

I gulped, Mei and I have been comrades in the hope for a Kirigakure free of discrimination, a unified village, one ready and able to negotiate with outsiders without paranoid fears. I haven’t laid eyes on her since the night we were summoned about the Third Mizukage’s death and yet I’d already given her orders as her Fourth Mizukage, she’s done her part well and yet I doubt if I’ve done mine at all.

Squeezed the handle and pushed the door open, a fair wind blew from the open windows she sat up at, there she was, the thin ray of light cast a luminescence on her hair— it had grown a significant amount since I last saw her, she looked slimmer too, skinny.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Mei.” I watched her shoulders jerk at the sound of my voice. She stood from her bed, her arms were wrapped in bandages all the way down to her fingers. She wore a simple hospital gown that was modest enough to cover her backside, though I glimpsed some stitches climbing down her spine from the curve in her shoulders.

She turned and my breath hitched, her eyes were bloodshot in a way I hadn’t expected. They looked as if they were bleeding out right now, one was as red as blood with a single spot for her iris, a frightening sight on her. The other fared better, with lines of burst veins stretching all over but not as severe as the other.

Mei’s lips trembled with a smile quickly turned grin, she stepped out of her bedside and made to sweep me in a hug but something stopped her and suddenly she fell down to a knee.

“No, stop! I’m not here as that, I’m just here as me, as Yagura, we don’t have to do that now.” I said, almost pleading for the shinobi in her not to force the Mizukage out.

She looked up and found my hand waiting for her, “You look terrible.” Is the first thing out of her mouth.

I snorted, “Do I? Compared to who?”

Smirking she let me help her up and let her hand linger in mine, “I have a very good reason to look this bad. But I guess you do too, I hear you’re Mizukage now.” She said, eying the haori that still hugged my frame. The hat was easy to get rid of if temporarily but the haori, after four months of wearing it nearly everywhere, had quickly become habit of my outfit.

A genuinely proud smile graced her face as she threw our hands into a handshake, “Congratulations, Yagura-senpai, you’ve done too well.”

Even with one eye looking like it had seen hell, Mei was a beautiful woman and I couldn’t help the blush of my cheeks and ears, “I wouldn’t say too well, Kiri is…a difficult village.”

She rolled her eyes at me and offered a seat, “We knew that already.”

“Yeah, I guess we did but…it’s different behind the seat yknow?”

She nodded and sat back on her bed, “Tell me about it, really, how have you been? What is…what is the village going through?”

Again I snorted, “You want me to chew your ears off with boring council meeting about tax, import and crimes?”

Mei shrugged, “What else? You said you don’t want to be Lord Fourth right now.” She emphasised my title with a mock sultry voice, “And I’m not too ready to relive my mission either, so, let’s just keep each other company, for now at least?”

I blinked at that, turned my head around and checked the time on the dusty wall clock. I had a meeting with Hidaki Yuki soon, even though I doubted the Yuki’s involvement in the recent attack, Shizu Yuki being the face of the assassin made it worth checking in with him.

Not to mention I was in the middle of organizing a war, and had security reports from the ANBU waiting for me alongside details on how the Princess Hanako has reacted to my ultimatum so far. There was a lot that needed my oversight, including the Sensor Division as this was their second failure to pre-empt an attack on the village.

But I hadn’t slept in two days and nights and Mei, she has yet to look at me with all the expectations one would of their leader. I wanted to keep it that way, for just a moment and enjoy her ignorant presence. It’s been too long since I’ve had a friend by my side.

I nodded, “Okay, just for an hour or two then.” She grinned and I cleared my throat, “I guess I should start with the good news then. There’s a new Bloodline clan in Kiri and I intend for more to join.”