“Anndd? What did you say?” Uncle Aoto leaned in over the chabudai, an excited grin splitting his face as he eyes twinkle with curious glee.

As I suspected, my aide’s actions were governed by his orders, Uncle wanted me to meet with the Hozuki’s, specifically the remnants of the Third Mizukage’s family.

Dutiful nephew and clan member that I am, I did, “I said I’ll think about it, Uncle, did you want me to say yes?”

He snorts and poured another shot of sake into our cups; I drink when he drinks, “No, no! Of course not, but you entertained the idea, didn’t you?”

We downed cups in sync and I shrugged, my face twisted in distaste but a growing fondness for the drink, “I offered to spend more time with Rina, I’m too young for a marriage right now and I think I’ll be very busy with training for…a long time. So I offered to practice Water Release with Rina.”

Uncle Aoto shook his head, waving his hands as well as his lips pursed at the sour tang of the drink and my words. He’s a broadly built man, not at all anything like stout Yagura save his iconic mane of grey hair and a stitched line tracing down both his violet coloured eyes.

“Too young for marriage? Nonsense!” He begins to pour another shot and I consider lamenting as I feel my senses begin to dull, “Yagura, you’ve shot us to the height of all Kiri, no, all of the Land of Water. You can’t waste any time choosing a bride to carry your legendary lineage.”

He snickers a bit and hiccups. Aoto Karatachi wasn’t always this jovial according to Yagura’s memories, within them the man seated in front of me was a hardened shinobi that contributed more than his share as star prodigy alongside Yagura’s mother in the early days of the Second Shinobi War.

To be honest, although his machinations are the kind I can’t help but get wrapped up in, I appreciated that the clan head I served wasn’t awful. He had a sense of humour but more than that, an opportunistic and straightforward mindset, one that influenced Yagura’s upbringing as a shinobi quite heavily.

Bashfully, I chuckled and deflect, “That’s true, yeah, but first I have to actually become Mizukage no? I’m going up against Fuguki Suikazan, an experienced shinobi and one of the Swordsmen of the Mist. I have to prepare.”

Uncle minded me with an understanding look as he rubbed the stubble on his chin, “Preparation is a given but you are Yagura Karatachi, one of my very best, no, the very best Karatachi. The Suikazan clan has little name to hold onto beyond Fuguki’s and his is not very impressive. There’s no chance in hell you’ll lose to a second-rate!”

As bright and cheery as the Karatachi clan head was, he is also a member at the top of the caste system kept in place and as such enjoys the many privileges with great comfort.

“Rina might not be the one you choose to marry Yagura, she may not even be the right choice. But you must solidify your reign with a prestigious heir and though as the future Mizukage I will have little power in bringing you to do so, you surely understand the importance this holds to the clan.”

He unfurled his feet and got up to the chamber behind him and slid it open as he spoke, “If you are so concerned about Fuguki then this should put you at ease…if you can master it in time anyway.”

When he returns he does so with a large, heavy scroll. He doesn’t let me stand to take it and instead sets it down beside me for me to examine the minute words written along the edges of the many maelstrom symbols.

Making them out I read aloud, “Requiem for the Whirlpool?”

He nods excitedly, “That is the gift your grandfather prepared for me when he chose me as successor. I’m no longer an active shinobi and so it should obviously go to the most prodigious talent of our clan. I wanted it to be your inauguration gift but here it is, don’t ask for another.” He winks.

I continued to study the inscriptions on the scroll and it didn’t take long for me to realize what it was. Wide eyes shoot up to him as I gasped, “A Summon? What kind?”

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He grins and presses a finger to his lips, “I am not one to spoil the fun of discovery and I’m sure you’ll enjoy making this discovery on your own.”

The wording of the sentence and his lecherous grin made a shudder run through my spine as I wondered what other silly plan he’s concocted. Still, a summon is something Yagura doesn’t have and as far as I’ve seen, in this universe, they’re some of the most useful and powerful beings even capable of withstanding a tailed beast.

I rise and bow deeply to him, “Thank you, Uncle, I will put it to good use.”

He nods and waves me to sit back down and drink, “I’d rather have you put something else to good use but it’s your choice!” He raises his hands in surrender as though he truly has on the matter but he’s only just begun.

Snickering at his antics I decide to toss him a bone, “I will see about getting married within a year of my reign, should I reign. I won’t dismiss your suggestions either.”

That seemed to brighten the man more than anything and he raised his glass to me, “To many children then! Kampai!”

I clinked my glass with him but didn’t follow his toast. Yagura’s only eighteen at the moment and is about to be saddled with the weight of an entire country’s political and military workings. Having children is out of the question.

As if reading my mind, the partly drunken clan head leaned heavily on the table and rasped, “Hozuki is the best clan to marry into, Yagura, not only for the prestige and might of Karatachi and Hozuki united but also for your sake. They will have no reason to come against you if you favour them with such a deal.”

Uncle doesn’t need to spell it out for me, I’ve felt more than a dozen set of eyes watching my movements at any given time and not all of them are confirmed as ANBU. I fully expected that at some point someone will make an attempt on my life for whatever reason. Kage’s are high-valued targets even more so in Kirigakure.

“The Hozuki and Funato have kept the office of Mizukage in their grasp, they won’t see it slip without sufficient concessions, even to a fellow founding clan.” Uncle droned and sighed. He downed one more shot of sake and stepped out to the large koi pond for some air.

The first Mizukage being of the Funato clan cemented their importance greatly but the Second and Third Mizukage’s were of the Hozuki, with the Third marrying a woman from the Funato clan.

His sole heir being Rina, a Chuunin with great prospects but not nearly enough to bolster her clan’s standing the way Yagura does with the Karatachi, the Hozuki hold out some hope at retaining a measure of their power through a marriage the same way the Funato clan did.

It is a win-win for both Karatachi and Hozuki if I do find a wife in Rina but unfortunately, I have more pressing things to worry about at the moment. Surviving Fuguki, Obito and whoever else might want to assassinate me before I get a chance to do anything as Mizukage.

Something disturbs the air, shifting it as it takes space and I turn to Uncle, finding him standing up with his back straightened and head held high. He stares down a set of three ANBU who have materialized atop the pond, their feet barely making a ripple.

I am immediately on my feet and at my Uncle’s side. Two ANBU wore masks with red and blue swirls that rose from the end or came from the bottom, neither obscured the wavy symbol of Kiri etched at the top. In classic ANBU fashion they had on sturdy flak jackets and baggy black trousers that tuck in at their ninja sandals.

The one with red swirls had a katana strapped to their back and the blue swirls had a massive shuriken. Their leader was much subtler.

She had her jet black hair fall at over her shoulders in two pigtails and was cloaked in a midnight black material that billowed at her arrival and concealed her weapons and even hands underneath it. Her mask stood out from the others though as the sleek porcelain contours out with the design of an owl, piercing golden eyes peered out of the eye-slits and seemed to narrow with the owl-mask’s beak.

“Aoto Karatachi, you are to come with us now, we have pressing questions.” The owl-mask spoke with an indifferent command, as if her announcing was only a courtesy.

“Am I under arrest?” Uncle beams, maintaining composure as though he hadn’t been half drunk a moment ago.

“That remains to be seen.”

“What is the meaning of this?” I stepped out of Uncle’s shadow and demand, “On whose authority are you seizing my uncle?”

“Are you resisting?” The owl mask doesn’t look away from Uncle as she asks this but the water beneath her feet ripple and Yagura knows she’s tensed and ready to carry out her orders by force if necessary.

Had I truly been Yagura I would’ve stubbornly welcomed the challenged but all I could do is grit my teeth.

“The council ordered this investigation, we move on their behalf.” The red swirly mask said in a softer tone, clearly not ready to get into it with a Kage-candidate and a clan head.

“Ahh? Is that what this is about?” Uncle mused and clapped his hands, causing all three ANBU to flinch, “You should have said so then! ANBU, always so rude. Don’t worry about me Yagura, this is just an internal investigation on the Sandaime’s…suspicious passing, yes?”

He turned the question to the owl-mask who bristled ever so slightly before nodding, “We will try to be brief but resisting is not wise.”

I felt her response targeted me in particular, as if telling me to stand down. I would, of course, if this is about the Mizukage’s death I knew exactly who killed him and how, not that any of them would believe me if I told them.

So I shut my mouth and returned a curt nod, watching as the ANBU lead Uncle Aoto away through the rooftops.