Old lady Matsumoto

I was tired, all the way down to my bones. I couldn’t sleep much last night. It has been a few days since I’d gotten a good night's sleep. At the beginning, I was really hopeful that we’d be able to get away with enough capital for us to start over somewhere. But, that hope was dwindling by the hour. There was only one day left till our deadline expired. There had been some bureaucratic mix ups and delays at the bank that had to be squared away. The loan officer had assured me that they’d be cleared up soon, but it was starting to look like it wouldn’t happen on time.

Even if I did get the money, there were other problems. Jin was feeling a lot better, but was not really in a condition to travel. In fact, him moving too much could result in undoing a lot of his recovery. To add to my problems, as if there weren’t enough, that girl Hana had taken it upon herself to go visit her family in person. I’d told her I could get word to her family discreetly but she’d taken off without asking me. She’d left a few days ago and still wasn’t back yet. It might just have been that she decided to leave and wanted nothing more to do with us. But, Kuro could still track her down and there wouldn’t be a thing I would be able to do to help her if that happened after we left. I really hoped that she was coming back, for her own sake.

I decided to pour myself a drink. It wasn’t even noon yet, but I felt like I really needed a drink. I didn’t have much time left. Waiting till tomorrow for the deadline to expire was dangerous. I had to make a move today. I heard a knock on my door.

“Enter,” I said in a tired voice.

“This just came for you”, the guard stationed at the door said as he handed me an envelope. I thanked him and waited for him to leave before opening the letter. I let out a sigh of relief as I read the contents. It was from Nezu, informing me that Hana had returned. That girl had made it. Even just a few hours later would have been disastrous. I intended to give her a stern talking to. But, that could wait until we managed to get out of here.

I rang the bell and had my guard send a message to the people who were arranging our transportation. I also sent a message for Hana, Nezu, Mina and her family to get ready. I’d pick up Jin myself. We needed to be moving come nightfall. They’d be taking us to the land of lightning. Neither the shinobi from hidden leaf or the businessmen from the land of fire held much sway over there and the Raikage was a strong man. The land of lightning was said to be relatively stable. For most of my life, I’d kept a bad opinion of the land of lightning. They were the enemies of the land of fire for all the wars I’d known. Now, it would end up serving as a refuge for me in my old age.

With what I’d be paying for our safe passage, we would be almost penniless by the time we got there. But, I couldn’t afford to wait around for the money from the bank to arrive. I had to act soon. An hour later, I was preparing to move when I heard another knock on the door. The door opened to reveal Sugu, who I knew was the top aide of Boss Renji.

“Good morning Matsumoto san” he said in a chipper voice. He looked a bit tired but very happy.

“Good morning Sugu. Can I offer you a drink?” I asked.

“No, thank you Matsumoto san”.

“So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, Sugu?”

His facial expression told me that it certainly wasn’t to give me any bad news. I didn’t dare to hope but I could really use some good news right now.

“I just came by to discuss a few things with you Matsumoto san. First of all, let me convey the apologies of boss Renji for not being able to come and meet you personally. He is rather busy at the moment. He really wanted to tell you the news himself”. Sugu said with a smile.

“That’s quite alright Sugu. What news?”

“Boss Kuro is dead,” he said simply.

“Huh..wait.. WHAT?”

“Kuro is dead, Matsumoto san. It happened last night”.

I felt myself sagging back into my seat, releasing a breath I didn’t realise that I’d been holding. I was so overcome with emotion as I felt the tension that had been building up these past few weeks drain out of me. I didn’t know when it started, but I found myself laughing so hard. Sugu joined in with a smile of his own.

“How? Who did it? Was it you guys?” I asked after I regained my composure.

“He was found with his throat slit in his office last night. And no, it wasn’t us. Although, I wish it had been us that finally did him in. We still don’t know who did it, but we intend to take full advantage of the situation. Most of the power of Kuro’s organisation depended on his personal strength and connections. With him gone, they’re hobbled and we’re moving in. That’s why Boss Renji couldn’t make it. I expect we’ll be busy for the next few days till things settle down”

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He took a pause before continuing

“What this means for you Matsumoto san, is that you’re off the hook. Kuro’s organisation is going to be a bit too busy in the coming days to do anything about you. But, We’ll keep our guards posted here, just in case. You have the full support of Boss Renji Matsumoto san. Rest easy now, because from now on he’s not gonna let anyone bother you or your people. We’re gonna take back this town and restore the glory of our organisation.” Sugu’s tone was fully confident as he said this.

“Thank you, Sugu. I’ll never forget this” I said with some emotion in my voice.

“No, I think we should be the ones thanking you Matsumoto san. We have been trying to get rid of that bastard for more than 20 years and just as he was coming after you, he ended up dead at the hands of some mysterious assassin. Boss Renji’s father used to say that you were like a lucky charm. We’re starting to think that he wasn’t exaggerating.” Sugu said with a smile as he made his exit.

I returned his smile and sank back into my chair as he made his exit. I poured myself another drink as I savoured the flavour. This had to be the best turn of luck I’d had in my lifetime. I wondered whether I should go out and buy a lottery ticket right now. Kuro was finally gone and if Renji could strike fast and dismantle his organisation, he would become the undisputable top boss of the city like he was born to be. Since he now considered me closely affiliated with him, our fortunes could go up along with him.

I grabbed a sheet of paper from my desk. I had to inform the girls about this as soon as possible. We no longer had to run. Everything could go back to the way it was. No, things would be even better now that Kuro was gone. It seemed that Hana had returned just in time to receive the happy news.

‘Wait, Hana disappeared for a few days and came back just after Kuro was killed. Could she have had something to do with this?” I thought.

I laughed myself silly at the thought of a girl like Hana having to do something with killing a man like Renji. It had to be at least a Jonin class shinobi who killed him.

‘Ancestors, I was getting paranoid in my old age.’

I was still smiling as I finished writing the letter to the girls telling them that everything was going to be alright. Everything was going to get better.

Mina

I was doing some last minute packing. We had received a message from Old lady Matsumoto to be ready to move soon. I had already finished packing the essentials we would need to take with us a couple days ago. We were to leave the rest of our more unwieldy things packed here and Matsumoto san would try and get it to us at a later date. I wasn’t sure that that was actually going to happen. So, I’d tried to take most of Maya’s stuff with us as we left. She’d have to go through enough with being uprooted from here. The least I could do was make sure she didn’t lose most of her stuff.

‘The least I could do’, it seemed to be the only thing I was able to do for my daughter these days. It ate at me. I couldn’t even share my feelings with my husband as it would only make him feel worse. I didn’t have the heart to see Itsuki’s face droop as he would take all the blame on himself for what was happening to us. We still hadn’t told Maya the truth. We’d told her we were going on a staff tour from our restaurant for a few days and kept her home so that she wouldn’t tell her friends. I’d told her school that she was sick and would be absent for a few days.

Nezu was the only one I could tell my problems to. She was almost as sad as me about when we’d have to finally break the news to Maya. Hana had gotten back today morning. For a while there, I really thought she’d left us. She seemed to be the one who was least affected when we got the news that we’d have to move soon.

It seemed that she had accepted what would happen and had squared things with her family. She seemed to be in a much healthier place and was handling the situation much better than me or Nezu.

I was trying to figure out where to put one of Maya’s toys when Nezu came barreling into the room. She almost tackled me to the ground as she jumped up and hugged me.

“Nezu..” I said indignantly

“Mina, we’re saved. We don’t have to leave.. Yay..” She said before hugging me tighter.

“Nezu, What are you talking about?” I asked, feeling bewildered.

“We just received a message from Old lady Matsumoto. Boss Kuro is dead. He was killed last night. We don’t have to go anywhere".she said.

I was overwhelmed as tears of joy came into my eyes.

“Oh my god. Is it true? Is it really true Nezu?” I asked.

“Yes, Mina. We’re safe” Nezu said with tears in her eyes. I saw through my blurry vision that Hana was standing in the doorway with a smile on her face. I hugged Hana as well before heading out to find my husband and daughter. We were huddled in a family hug for a long time, both me and Itsuki showering a confused Maya with kisses.

It was much later, after all the excitement had subsided that I realised something didn’t add up. Hana had been way too calm. Right now and earlier when we received the news that we had to get ready. She’d been away for the last few days and only got back this morning. And just as she’d come back, we’d gotten the news of Kuro’s death. I couldn’t help but wonder if she had something to do with this or at the very least, acquainted with someone who knew something. It had also surprised me how quickly she’d taken to our work despite leading a sheltered life in a far off village.

I felt that there was definitely something that she was hiding from us. But, I knew that she had been nothing but exceptionally kind and friendly to me and my family. And if she had some secrets, that was her own business. Even if she did have something to do with getting rid of Kuro, that was a good thing. I wasn’t about to go look a gift horse in the mouth.

The only person who seemed disappointed in the recent developments was my little daughter.

“The staff tour’s been cancelled?” She had asked with an adorable pouty face.