Disloyalty | B-rank:

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There were many words Eishun could use to describe the previous Mizukage. While some people would look at her as a polarizing figure in the history of Mizu no Kuni, who had helped the village become one, if not, the strongest in the Elemental Nations, the Kaguya, and some others had different opinions on the woman. The opinions were not shared openly with those loyal to her, for fear she would execute or charged them with some ludicrous crime against her. Instead, the statements of how they despised the  Kage was kept in hushed tones amongst the select few, after all, it is better that only a small group of people knew what they thought that a majority, right?

“Eishun, you sure you don’t want to join us on this? Word is the noblemens will pay good money to have us work for them.”. The Kaguya eyed one of the several men lounging in his living room. The man, like the others, were wearing the traditional Kiri attire with the only thing missing being the headband which spoke volumes of their lack of loyalty to the village. Taking a sip of alcohol, Eishun sighed, as the liquid burn its way down his throat. Maghony eyes turned to focus on the one who was speaking, regarding the question asked while the saucer was swirling about in hand.

His friends had come to him with a proposition that would alleviate their need for income. A noble family in Kibo, of all places, had offered them a chance to earn some money by working as personal guards. They would have to protect the clan head’s and his family from the forces who would look to cause them harm. From what his friends told him, the noblemen family had been targeted by assailants and was in desperate need for some form of protection. “How do we know that they will pay for us? They could just be bullshitting. People will say anything if it meant to save their own lives.”, Eishun responded back.  

While it sounded like he was concerned about getting paid for their services, there was something else that was stopping him from agreeing. Despite being the appointed heir to his father’s clan, he left Kibo days after his parent's death in the Land of Tea, leaving the clan to his oldest sibling who was more adapted in swordsmanship than he was. If he went back to Kibo, there would be no doubt his sibling would know and try to convince him to come back to the clan compound. He would not be surprised if they sent members of his clan to retrieve him, once word got out that he was in Kibo once more. For while his sibling was not crazy, they were big on family, and wish to unite all of the clan together, and without Eishun, the dream was simply impossible.

“They already agreed to pay us.”, a scroll was tossed on the table, unraveling, and coming to a stop at Eishun’s feet, “They even signed a contract as insurance.” Picking up the scroll, he silently read the contents while sipping on the alcoholic drink. The amount of money offered was quite a lot for what they were being asked to do. Essentially, each one of them would be getting paid equivalent to an A-rank mission every day for as long as their services were needed. Accommodations would be made for them such as lodging and board, food, etc, by the family in question. Going through the contents, more details of what they would be doing.

“We will essentially be shadowing them throughout the day. Watching their movements, and making sure no one tries to harm them. Shifts will be on rotation with some of us covering the nights while others cover the day. “ One of the other Jounin clarified. The offer was tempting. It had been a couple two or so months since he last received a paycheck from the administration office for his work as an Academy teacher. There were simply no funds to pay the men and women who were teaching the newer generation. While he did have money saved away for a rainy day, he did not like dipping into the fund unless it was absolutely necessary.

Thus, aside from buying the essentials, he had been living on the bare minimum, until he gets all of his back pay from work he had done. Though, considering how he only taught the classes when he felt like it now, considering he was not getting paid, he wonders if they would actually pay him back. So while the idea of working for a nobleman family in Kibo was off-putting, the money made it tempting. Still, “I think I will pass on this. I have some . . . issues in returning back to Kibo.”, he admitted, “But, you guys go ahead and do it. “

Instead of disappointment, or them trying to convince him otherwise, they understood. With them deciding to do this, they were, essentially, deserting Kirigakure no Sato, and could very well end up in trouble with the council. It was a risk. A risk that they were willing to take. “Alright, man. We understand. Well, if you change your mind, you know where we will be. Later.” Eishun nodded, watching as his friends left the house via body flicker. Kicking his feet off of the table, Eishun gathered up all of the empty saucers and put them in the kitchen sink. They would be washed later.

Making his way back into the living room, there was a knock at the door. Who could be visiting him? He wasn’t expecting anyone else to come over. Eyes flickered towards the large hammer resting beside the couch as he thought about grabbing it, but decided it against it. Wearing only a pair of dark blue camouflage pants, Eishun opened the door, “What do you want.”, he said.

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991 out of 3000

A lot had changed very quickly. Without Ayakashi the entire country nearly fell into chaos overnight. It was a slow process, of course, happening over the course of weeks, but at the same time they felt like overnight when there had been years of prosperity before that. In truth, it was more that Chigetsu just didn’t realize how bad it was. Given how rarely he took serious missions these days due to the stream of funds he had coming in from the Land of Snow, it wasn’t as if he really noticed that the Administration Building just stopped handing out payments. It had been at least two months now, if not three. While it was disappointing, in a sense Chigetsu could understand. No money means no food. If he were in different circumstances, perhaps he would have reacted in a similar way. Really, it turned out that Kirigakure’s strength was merely an illusion, propped up by Ayakashi but rotten to the core beneath that. Now that she was gone the masses who were dissatisfied under here were rising up to the top and making themselves heard. This was another thing that he could understand. After fighting on the front lines in Sunagakure, he wasn’t exactly the happiest with the former Mizukage either. The crime and chaos that were now being thrown up into the air by this mess was giving him an awful headache, mostly because now they were his problems to take care of. Given how lazy and inactive the council was, it was more or less his burden to shoulder entirely. Chigetsu wasn’t anywhere close to being fit to rule a nation, especially not by himself. It was some sort of divine error that he had even been given the position of Mizukage in the first place. He was barely competent enough to patch things together before this, often just by the seat of his metaphorical oversized clown pants. That wasn’t even talking about Kage-level duties, but instead when he were a mere Jonin. Most of his time after taking the seat of power too had been useless, cooped up doing paperwork instead of doing anything productive. The backlog of papers that needed to be signed and checks that needed to be stamped were enormous. As it turned out, not having a Mizukage for months meant the entire shinobi nation ground to a halt. In part he suspected that this was intentional by the council, who might have been swiping funds that would normally go to paying shinobi, but he had no proof of that at the moment. Very rarely he would be given the occasional chance to take part in a mission of putting down bandits or those who were dissatisfied with the state of things in the nation, but even that wasn’t enough. Everyone was dissatisfied. People were dissatisfied because they weren’t paid, people were dissatisfied because he wasn’t Ayakashi, people were dissatisfied because Ayakashi was the Mizukage, even though she’s not anymore. Everyone was mad about something. The only reason that he had been able to seize control of this position in the first place was due to his connections with the Land of Snow. As this was something that he essentially forced over the council and Daimyo, he was with very few allies now that he actually had the position. There was nothing he could do about that though, at least not yet. Repairing this country would be a gradual process, and something he would have to do inch by inch. Each little thing he did here mattered, and hopefully if he continued to do good there would be those who would soften up on him. He was no Ayakashi, of course, and it was doubtful that he ever would be, but at the same time Chigetsu earnestly wanted the best for the village. Right now, any Mizukage was better than none. Well, that may not be strictly true, but still. He would do everything he could.

And right now, that meant delivering mail.

The moment the door was opened, Chigetsu would slide his foot in to ensure it didn’t get closed in his face. Given that he was brand new as Mizukage, it might be that not everyone recognized him, and so he would give the man on the other side a sweet smile in order to make a good first impression. A small letter, stamped with the official seal of the Mizukage’s office, would be pushed in through the open door, towards the strangely shirtless man. He hoped he hadn’t interrupted something, or came at a wrong time.

“Official letter from the Mizukage’s office.” The letter would be turned, and the stamp would be shown off. “That’s me, if you weren’t aware.” Introducing himself in such a manner probably wasn’t the best idea, but now that Chigetsu already had one foot in the door he wasn’t about to be meek about what he had to say. “Kaguya, Eishun, correct?”

“Let’s have a chat.”

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[865 out of 3000]

When he had heard someone knocking at the door, there were many people who it thought it could be. From his fellow colleagues at the Academy coming back by, trying to convince him to return back to work, or ridicule him for not upholding his duties to protect and guide the newest generation into the future. To one of the Kaguya clansmen, trying to get him to return to the compound, and live amongst the family he had there. A family who, up until recently, cared a jackshit about him due to his mother not manifesting their fame Kekkai Genkai.

It could have been one of his friends, like those who just left, trying to tempt him in doing an odd job to earn money. With the village in turmoil, and people not getting paid what they are due, the thought would have been tempting. Sure, he had turned down a previous offer, though, the reason behind it was due to the location that they would have to travel. He did not feel like returning home, yet. But, if the location had been anything but Kibo? He would have taken his friends up on the offer. Yes, he thought it might have been one of the aforementioned people. But, alas, it wasn’t.

A foot slid inside the house, preventing him from closing the door, at least without causing harm to whoever had the nerve to do so. Before he could even begin to address the pink haired male, mahogany eyes widen at the sound of a familiar voice and snapped onto the girl beside the other man, who had introduced themselves as the new Mizukage. “So, you finally off of that island”, there was a brief pause in his voice as he simply stared at the child of his former sensei, “Maeve.”

Maeve, one of the few people who Eishun cared about outside of his dysfunctional families. Her parents were like second parents to him, especially her father. While Eishun always found himself gravitating towards Warhammer, it was Maeve’s father who taught him the skills necessary to use the unorthodox weapon skillful. Asides from being taught the skills needed by the man, he also learned values from him. When he found out Maeve had been kidnapped, and her parents killed, his world shattered that day. Though he knew she was alive, having come in contact with her on the island, he was just surprised to see her with them, apparently, new Mizukage.

Cracking his neck to the left and right, a soft smile made its way on his face, “I only wear shirts when I am required to do so. You should know that, brat. . “, he spoke before shifting his attention to the other presented. He knew another Mizukage had been elected after the other one had disappeared without a trace. There was a big event held to celebrate the new Mizukage, he just didn’t attend it. What would make them different from the other Mizukages of the past? Eyes flickered down towards the official letter, and back at the new Mizukage, “Unless you know of another Kaguya Eishun, then, you have the right one.”, there was no bite to his words, even if he sounded ignored. Eyes flickered back to Maeve, “I am sure, the squirt beside you could vouch who I am.”



“A chat?”, he asked rhetorically. Although he did not feel like having a chat right now. This was the Mizukage, and he couldn’t just slam the door in their face, at least, not while Maeve was beside them. “Come in. Shut the door behind you. Take a seat”, he turned on his heels and walked back into the living room. There is a large enough couch for the two guests. Taking a seat in the chair, right near his hammer was, he spoke once more, “Well, what is it you wish to talk to me about?”

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654[1645]