“Are you a member of the Yūki rebellion?”

“No.”

“Are you a supporter of the Yūki ideals?”

“No.”

“Do you believe the Yūki are unjustly imprisoned? That they are blameless?”

“No.”

“Do you have family, extended or otherwise involved in the Yūki?”

“…Yes.”

“How long have you known about their involvement?”

“Since it’s inception.”

“And how long ago was that?”

“…Six years, as far as I know.”

“As far as you know…so you believe the Yūki could have existed prior to your knowledge?”

“…It is plausible.”

“Is it also plausible that the Yūki has been in operation against Kirigakure and its institutions without your notice?”

“The Yūki are not agent against Kirigakure.”

“Whether they are or not was not the question. Do you believe the Yūki could have been in operation without your notice?”

“I…I cannot say.”

“You are sworn to speak the truth before this council, Reina Yuki, are you refusing to speak now out of loyalty to the Yūki?”

“I am loyal to Kirigakure and its Mizukage alone!”

“Then untie your tongue and speak. Do you believe the Yūki could have been in operation without your notice?”

“…Yes.”

“That will be all, thank you.”

Aoto Karatachi watched from his high bench as Reina Yuki rose from her kneeling position, dipped her head in a perfectly respectful bow and backed out of the judicial room. The door shut and he turned to his fellows, Lord Funato and the Lady Megumi were cleaning up their bench of notes and preparing to leave.

He opened his mouth to protest but shut it a second after. The Judicial room exisited for times like these, times when the Mizukage’s seat was vacant for whatever reason and all that was left of higher-ups were the councillors— them.

They’d used this room quite often to mete out judgment on a plethora of matters both domestic and military during the month long wait before Yagura, Aoto’s star nephew proved himself worthy of becoming Mizukage. The Fourth Mizukage.

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Yet as he watched his fellows stand and pack their things to leave Aoto couldn’t help but feel the Judicial room was being used to start a war against the Yuki clan, a thing his not-so conscious nephew wouldn’t be happy to wake up to.

“Wait, we’re not done here for goodness sake.” Aoto said, his voice loud and clear. He snapped his fingers at the ANBU guarding the doors and they took the hint to leave without pause. Lord Funato narrowed his sneered gaze at him and was about to speak when Aoto raised his hand, “It’s been a week and this is the first time we’ve gathered like this, you’ve both been off doing your own things, plotting and scheming, it’s time this council actually talked.”

They shared a look and Lord Funato snorted as he plopped back down, “That may have been the wisest thing you’ve said but I have taken no part in plotting or scheming. I am the one who called for the council’s judgement, my aims are transparent.”

“And that’s why they won’t work.” Aoto countered as Lady Megumi sighed and sat back as well, “I understand you aren’t fond of Kekkei Genkai users but the Yuki clan has been a part of our village since it’s earliest days, Byakura himself accepted them and I don’t see why you’re in such a hurry to push them to rebellion.”

Lord Funato set a single angry eye on Aoto as he beat his cane against the hardwood floor, “If the Yuki or Yūki wish to throw their lives that is fine by me, the Funato clan will not stand by at blatant threats.”

“And neither will the Hozuki.” Lady Megumi said, her lips curled into a knowing smirk as Aoto met her gaze, “Do not misunderstand, Karatachi-dono, we are merely acting off of the proofs Yagura-sama himself acquired against the Yuki clan, their crimes are apparent.”

“Is that why you want to condemn some of the best shinobi Kirigakure has made to death? Because of the apparent crimes of a single Yūki clan member?” Aoto challenged.

Lord Funato glared, “You heard Reina, even she can’t be sure when or what the Yūki has been up to under our noses all this time. We cannot be certain how deep their treachery goes and I personally believe cleansing them would be the best thing to do, however, I understand you will never let such a vote pass.”

Aoto sneered, “No, I wouldn’t. Yagura does not wish for their punishment to be so extreme, he may be unconscious but anyone of us can attest to that. Besides, I don’t think we should be making any of these decisions before he wakes up.”

“Will he?”

“What?”

Funato opened both wrinkled eyes and repeated himself, “Will he awaken again? Will Yagura-sama stir from his coma and solve all these threats? The Kaguya he charted for have arrived already and-”

“And you’ve stuffed them all in the Yuki clan compound.” Lady Megumi announced with a sly, accusatory tone, “Putting all your problems in one basket are we, Funato-dono?”

Aoto opened his mouth to speak but Lord Funato was already yelling, “Can you blame me? It’s better that way! If we need to we can wipe them all away, besides, this isn’t the time to be harbouring internal threats on a long leash. Hanako-hime visited me yesterday.”

Aoto and Megumi shared the same surprised expression, “What did she want?”

Lord Funato snorted, “What do you think? A decision.”

Lady Megumi pressed for more, “Did she…is it an official ask?” Lord Funato shook his head, “A reminder then, the Daimyo must expect us to move out of the goodness of our hearts.”

“She spoke of the Third and Second Shinobi wars, referenced them heavily. The Daimyo doesn’t want to lose anything else in ending this war, not even to us, he’s calling in paid favours now, using all right his title carries.”

Aoto folded his arms and hummed, “That’s not much right, it was his father that helped us in those wars, not him. He should know better that debts die with the dead.”

Lady Megumi sighed, “Do they?”

A terse silence filled the room as each councillor digested the implications of the Princesses visit. Hanako-hime was the current Daimyo’s sister and a rare sight in Kirigakure as she often kept to herself despite her position as liasions to the Mizukage.

A visit now, from her in the middle of all the haste Kiri was undergoing was simply the start of a trend of pressure visits that would sooner or later snowball into demands that Kirigakure participate in the Daimyo’s war. Aoto observed his fellows, none of them had any right to negotiate war with the Daimyo, that was the domain of the Mizukage and right now…

“What did you tell her about Yagura?” Aoto asked.

Lord Funato looked more tired than angry now, “I lied.”