Genma had gotten what he wanted. The Hokage hadn’t responded directly to any of his or Aoba’s sinister allegations about their Team Captain, Kinoto. Instead, as he’d done the day he assigned them that mission, Genma alone was entrusted to send another message to Kirigakure’s Mizukage.
Taking a lone trip through border after border and crossing into what has long been considered hostile territory was a task Genma was long prepared for, however, daunting. What he was most concerned with was delivering the message itself.
Only he and the Fourth Hokage knew what the message was and only one other person was permitted to learn of it, the Mizukage. Working with the depth of secrecy wasn’t new or unexpected to Genma, it was part of the duties he’d sworn to upon becoming the Lord Fourth’s guard.
However, there was an unmissable tension to the Fourth Hokage’s instructions when he gave them and looking underneath the underneath, Genma could assuredly say the Hokage had taken his warnings about Kinoto seriously. His and Aoba’s concerns were not unfounded.
He wished the Hokage would have at least acknowledged it but he supposed being the trusted messenger was acknowledgment enough. Kirigakure didn’t feel quite the same though.
Unlike the first time he’d visited the village, Genma trusted himself to get lost wisely in the mist and for the natives to find and escort him to well reserved quarters. But apparently such a welcoming behaviour was saved for when they weren’t in a state of war and weren’t absent a Kage.
He could scarcely defend himself from the first four dozen senbon that whizzed through the thick mist at his tenketsu, and when he’d just about found his rhythm against the flurry a four-man team of Kiri-nin finally answered his shouts for an audience with the Mizukage.
Genma scowled as he recalled being identified and certified as one of the envoys from Konoha that visited last. And yet he was relegated to spend a night in a cell while they confirmed his credentials.
He didn’t spend another night there before being moved into a small but heavily surveilled room within the Mizukage’s administrative tower. He credited this change to the younger of three Elders, the one that resembled the Mizukage by the grey hair and scarred cheek.
Genma hadn’t spoken to the man or any of the other Elders of his mission, which was likely the reason the decrepit two decided to imprison him the night he arrived, however briefly. Being vague with shinobi invited aggression and though he’d only been asked by the Elders before they got sick of him, when Genma was approached by a shark-toothed boy claiming to be the Mizukage’s right aide, Genma knew giving a little hint of his purpose was called for.
And so, after five days of waiting, stewing in a budding paranoia, Genma was granted an audience with the Fourth Mizukage who had just returned to the village hidden in the mist.
He and Aoba only shared a brief moment breathing the same air as the Mizukage before Kinoto cut them out. Now only Genma did. He sank in his boots having politely refused to take any of the comfortable couches or padded stools as a seat. The Fourth Mizukage sat down behind a well sorted desk of documents, a stray, incomplete seal, a glass cup of water and Lord Jiraiya’s acclaimed novel seemingly placed to catch his attention.
The Kage had a fair, round face that sprung of youth and vigour enough to rival Genma’s own rather young Hokage. It’s a world of proteges. Genma thought to himself, he knew in his gut the man looking up expectantly at him was but a few years older and yet five times more accomplished. Don’t forget feared, wanted…hated.
Genma knew more than a few victims of Kirigakure’s past campaigns, almost having become one himself. As a loathful bile rose in his throat from fear, hate and more than most, his own anxiousness, Genma quickly recalled what the Hokage had told him before he left.
“We can’t bury the hatchet if we keep bringing it up to point out its flaws. It’s broken, we bury it and start anew.”
“Thank you for having me.” Genma began, breathing out the words with all its unwanted feelings. “The Fourth Hokage insisted I deliver his message to you and you alone, your response, should you have one, should be delivered through me.”
He leaned forward, dark coloured scarf slacking as he did, “I understand.”
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Genma braced himself for a reaction as he spoke, “Preliminary results on an ongoing investigation into Amegakure have brought Konoha to understand Kirigakure’s concerns. Your contributions to the latest discoveries will not go unrewarded.”
Genma felt the Mizukage’s gaze narrow and pierce, he gulped and tried to word himself better, “That is to say, the Lord Fourth agrees with your suggestion to meet within neutral territory and would take this opportunity to arrange where and when further dialogue can take place.”
Genman paused, he had much more to say, more conditions to include and even the Hokage’s preferred locations scarred in the back of his mind ready to be recited at the Mizukage. But the man had shut his eyes and hadn’t opened them once Genma announced the Hokage had agreed.
He wondered whether to recite the Hokage’s most secure suggestion or to wait for the Mizukage to—
“What has Konoha…discovered exactly?” his tone was level, relaxed, and non-threatening.
“I am not a part of the investigation, I couldn’t say.”
His fingers drummed against his desk, “Who is?”
Genma could repeat his previous answer and it would be partially true or he could be broad and assume many of Konoha’s ANBU would be participants of the investigation. Without being Hokage himself he would never know which specific ANBU was working on the case, except, he knew his Hokage well enough to speculate which shinobi was.
It couldn’t have been a coincidence that the Legendary Sannin returned just around the time Genma was given this mission, one that he gained for being one of the Hokage’s most trusted men. Who else could fit that category even more than Genma?
“I am—”
“Be truthful with your answers, Genma.” the Mizukage’s voice hadn’t shifted an octave but his gaze was terribly cold and driven.
The calculating manner he absorbed Genma’s form made sweat trail the back of his neck. Not for the first time he questioned if he was truly the right person for this mission simply because he could be trusted. The Hidden Mist had put a terror in him when he haplessly watched their Seven Swordsmen tear into his team captain, Choza Akimichi.
It was a small miracle only one life had to be sacrificed for their escape that day but surviving them once didn’t mean he was ready to face their Kage. He gulped and answered, trusting that this truth would harm any of the Hokage’s plans or his, “Lord Jiraiya.”
The Mizukage’s eyes sharply widened, his mouth hanging open for a moment before it shut definitively as he inhaled. Genma knew then he’d given the Kage a pivotal piece of information, where he should have or not, Genma did not know for certain.
“Fine, I will meet with the Hokage. What are his suggestions?” The Mizukage saying so melt Genma of some of his anxiety, even filling him with hope as that was the response he’d been waiting for all this time.
As if reading a script Genma said, “The Fourth Hokage suggests meeting within the Land of Tea for your comfort and security.”
The Mizukage raised a brow at that and said, “Konoha isn’t neutral in the Land of Tea and neither are we.”
Genma nodded and even allowed a sliver of a smile as it was finally going according to the script he’d memorised, “Yes, that is true but neither Kiri nor Konoha have greater sway of the country, they’re independent and have been since the start of each of your reigns…I mean, that is, yours and the Lord Fourth’s.”
The Mizukage smiled though his eyes were devoid of any mirth, “And what if that has changed in the past days?” Genma’s eyes searched for an answer but the youngest Kage merely chuckled, “Forget I said that, what else does your Hokage believe would be best?”
At this point Genma had reached the end of the script with only the major reveal left. This would be the tipping point for how trusting the Mizukage could be, at least, it would decide how Konoha would respond, who they would send along with the Fourth Hokage and potentially even what they would discuss.
Genma reached up to his bandana, he’s always had it tied around his head, having it hold back his hair save a few locks that peeked through. “As I am meant to be the only person you relay your response to, I am also meant to guide you to the Hokage via—”
“Flying Raijin.” The Mizukage recognized the seals scrawled over and under Genma’s bandana instantly, his breath hitched in a gasp of awe and intrigue more than the fury Genma had expected.
“Yes, the Fourth Hokage wrote it so it can only be activated when it’s folded in a particular way, so all the seal ends touch.” Despite the Mizukage’s relaxed reaction to having one of the Yellow Flash’s deadly seals in his presence, Genma did well to explain the conditions in which they could be activated, he couldn’t be too careful.
“I see security didn’t pat you down well enough.” Was all the Kage said, smirking down at the folded bandana, “So, you intend to summon your Hokage with this?”
Genma nodded, “Assuming you agree, we will travel to the meeting place and I will summon him with this seal. If it’s destroyed I cannot create another one and if you refuse to meet this way then a more formal and appointed time and place can be scheduled.”
“Konoha still controls all the cards, doesn’t it?” Genma didn’t know what to say to that, simple messenger that he was, so he kept his mouth shut and waited. “Very well then, I will consider this offer, you may go.”
Stilted, Genma bowed and walked out the man’s nicely furnished office, exhaling relief the moment the door shut behind him. A waiting period before a clear yes or no was expected, he would happily wait.