Taking a Student (Flashback)

"Fhine by me." Mort would give a smile and put the pills back, opting to save them in case he did need them later and let his body recover chakra naturally, something about how if you let them fill naturally that'd help them increase your reserves or something along those lines. Looking out at the field properly now they'd see that there was some decent damage done to it, though as to where Hakkin's Fang went they had no idea. Hopefully Ryuko had recovered it and it wasn't kicked down the cliff.

'I wonder how the poison on the ground tastes?' 'Dear fucking god Mort just stay in the backseat and pull yourself together.' 'You never know.'

"Yes, the antidote kicked in quite well, and we do hope we didn't say anything too incriminating. As for the 'battle cry', that was an attempt to get her to focus on us to try and give you a chance of getting the key, though our efforts seemed to be in vain." They'd look over the field and "Even though it was a mock battle, we're are both a ninja and Kurama. To not use unconventional assets one has at their disposal, even ones less accepted or modest, is a foolish delusion no Kai could break."

Looking to Sophie, they'd let her dry them off with the tower. Their body, while functional, still needed rest, and they weren't sue how long the antidote would protect them. "We thank you for the concern, but pain is one of the few ways a Kurama can be sure they're not stuck in dreamland." A partial lie. They themselves couldn't even be sure as their bloodline could inflict pain that felt real, but shifting it to their lineage was often a good way to explain their behavior.

Taking a towel to clean off their blades, they'd listen to Siphie as she explained her...strange relationship with their mentor. "Symbiotic...a curious way to put it. So does that make you more of her mist-mph!" They'd clutch their chest as a pain hit them originating from their lungs. It seemed they'd also overexerted those a bit as well, though the pain gave him a chance to shove Id back wherever it came from, his mind clear enough that know he couldn't risk Id saying something truly idiotic to Sophie or Tamwyn. "Sorry, seems I pushed myself a bit harder with my final attack then anticipated. You'd think the jutsu would compensate for that, but I guess it wasn't made in mind for someone to also amplify it without training up their lungs first to expel that much air."

Ryuko's reaction to his comment of being envious brought a smirk to his features. "Of course I figured you would, I just wish I had clothes that prevented purple goo from seeping into them. The movie monsters and aliens everywhere would scream in fear." He would say, making a simple joke. Her response regarding clothing would cause his eyebrows to raise. This stuff was that potent huh? Alright then. "Very well, although Lady Sophie I remind you that you needn't bother with a full outfit on my account, just basic shinobi pants, and boots will do. The rest of my clothing is here, dry as can be." He would say pointing a thumb toward the back of his chair where he'd draped his cloak, shirt, and hat. The hat especially had been a good idea to set aside. It would've been a shame to have it become gunk shotted by all the rain.

The prospect of higher ranked missions brought a gleam to Tamwyn's eye and a small anticipatory smirk graced his features almost giving him the look of a predator on the hunt. He wanted access to higher ranked missions, wanted to show his stuff to the village as a whole. Wanted to obtain more money in order to bring himself into the higher society where he could slowly build his name up. If Ryuko was serious about giving him the opportunity to do so, he wouldn't let her down, not by a long chalk. The pale haired genin would nod his head in acknowledgement of Ryuko's statement as she formed the body flicker seal and disappeared in a plume of smoke.

Sophie's movement to help Mort dry off by effectively doing the deed herself. Commenting that he should be more careful in waking himself up. The addition of the suffix '-kun' to his teammates name brought a smirk to Tamwyn's face. Well, if she was into the guy she was into the guy. Perhaps he could do a bit of that nudging he'd thought of earlier. "You know, you two look absolutely adorable together." He would say, right at about the moment Sophie was imagining Tamwyn and Mort hanging out together.

Mort would put the pills away after Tamwyn declined the offer. The chakra drug dealer would move onto other things. Listening the pale genin would nod at Morts reasoning "Fair, I was mostly just poking fun. Sadly Ryuko was still far too fast for me to hit at a distance. I'll have to try to make something to remedy that for other spars." He would say as his brow furrowed in thought. He could work out techniques to do that and perhaps she might even let him test them on her. Maybe not though, either way it was worth a shot. As Sophie answered Tamwyn's question about how long she'd known Lady Ryuko Mort would start to say something better left unsaid if Tamwyn was to guess. As he watched, Morts eyes turned from purple, to gray, to green. Prompting an eyebrow raise from the yellow eyed lightning user. "What in the world is with your eyes?" He'd ask, his curiosity piqued.

Whether that was answered or not though it was time to hop up and get to it. "Alright, lets get to it though. Mort we need to go shower this crap off of us before Ryuko's antidote wears off. However if we're going to continue training then we need to clean the field too so that we won't have to repeat this process again." He would say, taking an empty scroll from his shirt pocket on the chair. He had planned to get some equipment to seal into it but this was a better use for it at the moment. "While we still have the antidote in us would be the best time to do this so let's hurry and then get to the showers." He would say before running out to the field and beginning to seal as much of the purple slop into the scroll as he could. It wouldn't be enough to seal all of it. It was only a small scroll and while each piece of land only had some of the congealing poison, it had come from a rain cloud that spanned the entire training ground. If Mort had any more scrolls to help then maybe they could clean it all anyway.

He had hoped to do this later as a D rank mission and make some cash on the side. But the prospect of learning new techniques, especially one like the Lightning Release Armor, was too much to take and he'd put in far more effort than this took for the opportunity. Moving quickly, he sealed as much of the purple crap into his scroll as could and freed up a surprising amount of space. Half the training field was clean of the gunk and provided Mort did his share they could have a clean training ground once more. Jogging back to the table he'd set the scroll on the bottom of the cart where he had placed the towel. It was probably best for it to be disposed of and he wagered Sophie had ways to take care of that if she was Ryuko's assistant. "I'm placing this here under the assumption that you can dispose of this Sophie? If I'm wrong please say so. I don't want to impose." He would say, his polite manner always in effect.

Afterwards he would nod toward the showers. A half hour had gone by filling that scroll and that meant fully half their time had been taken up by the task. Moving toward the bathhouse he would shed his pants, socks, and boots privately and set them in the basket for Sophie to take care of before heading into the shower. It took awhile, mainly because he had to make sure he was thorough to avoid complications from the poison. When he finally left the shower there was only a few minutes left and assuming there were clothes waiting he would don them and then move outside back to the table, his hair damp and handing straight down. He would wear the pants and boots, leaving his upper clothing off still due to the simple fact that if they were going to train more it didn't make any sense to put them. Should Ryuko have returned by then he'd make it way to her and should everyone else have arrived before him he'd grimace. "Sorry I'm late." He would say, looking a bit chagrined.

El had received the note some time ago, from the looks of the letter, but the problem was it was left in her little home at some point during the day while she was out and about, trying to train and get a little bit of a headstart on her chores for her mother.  Even now, seventeen years old, she still liked to help out, and because she hadn't been home, she had been late getting the notice that yet another teacher was going to try to see if they could handle her.  Not one who liked to be late, she had dashed off to try to find out who it was, as the letter didn't specify at all.  Apparently though, they thought they could do what no one else had been able to even approach; handle her personality.  There was no taming her, that was something that was probably in her file; many had tried to break her spirit in an attempt to make her personality a little more mild, but if they couldn't handle her just the way she was, there was no point in even bothering.

Standing at 5' 6", she had just really started shooting upwards and outwards, getting taller and filling out in all the right places, and wearing her basic black outfit she preferred that suited all functions.  Without a care in the world, she jogged towards the meeting area, cutting through alleys and working her way through the Village in a way that only someone who lived and breathed the streets could.  Many knew who she was, and even more of them recognized her because of her mother, Kagome, who if she was any indication, El was only beginning to grow.  Kagome was over six foot in height, and had enough curvature that it wasn't all that uncommon for people to forget that they were doing something or talking, men and women alike.  It had gotten Kagome in trouble before, but they quickly learned not to underestimate a woman who was a nigh master of medical ninjutsu; the last guy who couldn't take a hint wound up with a pair of broken knees.

Strolling into the open area, she noted two people who looked to be finishing up something, and looked around, her amber eyes looking for anyone who could be a Sensei, and not spotting anyone.  "Fuck my life... I knew I was late, but for fuck's sake, it looks like I missed out on all the fun!  Lookin' for the Boss, and since you two obviously ain't it, who is?"  She had already deduced that much from the fact that they were the ones stuck with cleanup; no Jounin would have done this kind of trivial task.  Regardless, those amber eyes sized up both of them a moment or two more, her gifted mind working over possibilities.  She needed to take some time and learn Sensory one of these days; it would help her get a snapshot of the two people without even trying. One of them had looked like they just came back from a shower or something, or perhaps got hit with some kind of Suiton technique.

[1]

“Well worry not.  As the proprietor of the Best Defence I shall see that you are equipped with a top of the line outfit free of charge.”   Ryuko replied as she eyed Tamwyn up and down mentally taking his measurements.    Even if she only replicated his current look the difference in quality and material would be staggering.

Even something as simple as Adamantite-woven silk could make a world of difference as he’d experienced firsthand when she’d blocked his lightning jutsu while taking relatively little damage from it whereas a normal glove would have no doubt been shredded.

“If you’re sure that will suffice then very well, boots and pants it is.” replied Sophie.  She almost wished she had her camera handy so she could begin taking shots she had the opportunity.  With the way Tamwyn was dressed now he’d be the perfect model for a charity calendar.  If she could talk Mort into matching the state of dress and take a picture of both of them together it would be the perfect fuel for her in more ways than one.  The thought was enough to almost make her breathing heavier.

“Does that also work for pleasure?” Sophie replied coquettishly when Mort said pain was one of the few ways for members of his clan to be sure they were awake.  The two sensations had a complicated relationship despite being on opposite spectrums, some people were machosits that derived pleasure from pain.  She hoped Mort wasn’t that type since she was more keen on the idea of keeping him grounded in another fashion sort to speak.  Though she won’t object to giving him a playful whack on the behind if he was into that sort of thing.

‘Oh my thank you! I see that you’re a man of discerning taste Tamwyn-san” said Sophie with a light giggle.  She was using a more reserved form of address with him while remaining respectful.  It wasn’t that he wasn’t cute in his own right, he just didn’t hit as many of her strike zones as Mort did and she tended to focus on one target at a time.

“More of her Mist what?”  asked the maid in an airheaded manner.  She wasn’t as smart as her master so the full implication of what Mort had been trying to say flew straight over her head which was too busy fantasizing about playing a couple and going on dates together to catch the curve ball he’d thrown.

She only came back to reality as Tamwyn began to clean up the training field.  She’d been planning to send for a Fuinjutsu specialist to tidy up while the boys were in the bathhouse.  She’d half been hoping to impress them when they came back to find the grounds were rendered spotless so quickly.  She started to open her mouth to tell him not to bother but she was already a minute too late.    

She couldn’t help but wonder if she should count this as a mission then or simply apprentices doing their duty?  It wasn’t uncommon in martial art dojo’s for the students to be in charge of washing down the halls and such so maybe the same principle applied here.

“Good work gentleman,  I’m grateful for the trouble you’ve saved me.” she said in way of appreciation as she glanced at the proffered scrolls. Rather than dispose of them it was more like she was going to place them in storage.  Her master hadn’t gotten so rich from having a wasteful attitude but because she tended to make the most of what she had on hand, an attitude that had rubbed off onto the lady in waiting as well.

By the time the boys made it to the bathhouse Sophie quickly went to work taking their spoiled clothing onto her cart for cleaning and placing fresh outfits for them.  Nothing too fancy. Just some black boots and pants as Tamwyn had requested and a light blue haroi with a darker blue nagagi and white hakama for Mort since she felt the outfit and colors would suit him.  By the time the boys had returned she was nowhere in sight presumably still busy dealing with the fresh laundry she had been given.

“Ah I see you’re here early Elliryanna, I appreciate the enthusiasm.” said a voice as Ryuko strolled back towards the field flanked by a trio of masked anbu on either side of her.  They quickly took positions around the training field, making sure nobody unauthorized would be entering or leaving the area.

She’d easily spotted the sporty looking younger girl and recognized her from the picture she’d seen on the file.  From the sounds of it, none of the Jounin that they’d tried assigning Eli to could handle the girl so Ryuko had arranged to meet with her to see if she could get to the root of the problem.  

She almost had to wonder if the other Jounin were simply being daft.  They were treating Eli like she was some kind of wild horse to tame.  Like they needed to break her in order to get her to fall into line rather than trying to build her up instead.   Still with the amount of teachers she’d gone though in such a short time it seemed only the village’s toughest could potentially handle her.

That meant either Ryuko or Shimiko and as far as the priestess was concerned given recent events the last thing she needed was someone who was already such a handful to become converted to the Jashinist church.

Standing straight with a big scroll strapped to her back and her sword having been returned to her at some point (Likely via Sophie)  the Vestal was an imposing sight.  Even without her sage mode turned on or tapping into Rafaela her compact form  seemed to brim with power.   She was the smallest one present standing at only  5' 3" and yet her presence loomed large.  

The plan was to speak to them individually.  First Mort as the day had begun then Eli after the training session and finally Tamwyn at a later date.   Her intention hadn’t been to take them all on as students or make them into a squad but it seemed her god had other plans arranging this little get together.

“Here you go. Please be careful with it and read only the sections I’ve marked out” she said as she  took the scroll off her back she held it out for Tamwny.   She’d put several sticky markers onto the scroll so he’d know where to look.    It was the section for Lightning release armor as well as several related jutsu.

The hellstab, The Lariat and the Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop.  Not to mention two lesser versions of the Lra that her own sensei Nariko had invented for times when the user wanted something a bit less energy intensive.  There were more exclusives she wanted to teach him but those would be for another time.  She didn’t want to crame too much into his head at once, and it was risky to show him that much when he hadn’t fully proven himself yet.

“Well I was at it I got the Soring shortswords out of the vault as well.”   Drawing two swords that she had placed in her holsters in place of the baton’s she had lent Mort, she flipped them around so that she was holding them by the blades. That way Mort would be able to safely take them by the handle and claim them as his own.

“Don’t worry, I haven’t left you out.” said Ryuko as she turend to Eli and gave her a wink.  Reaching into her pouch she pulled out a second scroll this one hand written by hers truly.  On it were some Taijtusu techniques she had personally invented like the Calm mind. Techniques she hadn’t shared with anyone until now.

Each of them were suited to different aspects of what Ryuko could teach.  She could show Mort some Kenjutsu and Genjutsu,  Tamwyn her lightning techs and Eli her Taijutsu and Ijutsu.  Overall it’d make for a very balanced squad to have under her as long as they could get their personalities to mesh right.

“Alright kids, say hello to your new squad mates.  I suppose we’ll need a designation so if you have any suggestions I’m all ears.”   she said with a grin.   Thundercats was out since that was the name of her old all girl squad.  Niko had potential to be one as she was a fellow crafter but none of her students really qualified especially given that two of them were of the wrong gender.

“How about we all introduce ourselves?  We can talk about our likes and dislikes, our hobbies and our future dreams.” She suggested going for the standard ice breaker that most Jounin teachers tended to use.  It wasn't anything fancy but for this situation it would have to suffice.

“As your sensei I’ll go first.  As you may know already I am Ryuko Shiuzu Von Rose, Elite Jounin and sage at your service.”  Given the many titles such as Priestess, Vestal or Doctor she could append to her name that was a modest introduction by her standards.  

“I like Tea time, Cats and People that work hard.  Conversely I dislike Corrupt Politicians, Lazy people and being shown favoritism simply for being born a noble.  My Hobby is making armor and my dream is to one day go to the moon.” she said with a wistful look in her eye.

[23]

Mort would ignore Tamwyn's comment on how he and Sophie looked adorable, as he didn't want to reopen that can of...not worms. Tentacles? Demons? Some sort of creature he couldn't make a good analogy for stored in a can, but it didn't matter as it seemed everyone else just wanted to pry it right open. His face would turn a bright red as Sophie asked about the ways the Kurama made sure there were in reality. "I...I'm not actually sure. Pleasure is often used in pacification genjutsu, so I couldn't say myself. I could ask one of the elders though or check the records." He legitimately didn't know as it was never brought up in clan training.

Thankfully, the lightning lad had another question that came up that he had plenty of answers for. "Oh, my eyes? That's...actually the doctors were never really sure. We know it's related to my bloodline, but the color changing is actually coming from my body and not the eyes themselves. In theory if I were to get an eye transplant they'd still keep changing color, but, well, I like my eyes. Suffice to say though as long as I make sure to take some Yang pills every so often, it's harmless enough." He wasn't quite comfortable revealing that his Id could temporarily control his body, though if Id had appeared through a genjutsu that would at least be easier to explain.

"Oh, d-don't worry about it! Mistery maid! Yeah, I read about them in an old book, like a super-maid/shinobi mix! Hey Tamwyn wait up!" Mort would get up and pull out some more scrolls to assist in cleaning up the mess, and with him as a fuin specalist while he didn't have as much chakra to spare, he'd keep up with his partner and take care of the rest of the field before going off to shower as well. He wouldn't even stop, he'd just toss the scrolls where Tamwyn had his and booked it to the shower as best he could.

As they showered, having set his clothing to the side as he unsealed a small personal set of showering items. Downing another white pill to make sure he wouldn't pass out in the shower he'd get cleaning, his mind ablaze at Id. 'I can't BELIEVE you'd even IMPLY she was a mistress! I know you dont have tact but I know that isn't the base instincts talking.' 'Is she not though? She assists Lady Ryuko in whatever she needs; cooking, cleaning, and the like as a lifelong COMPANION. not sister or family, companion. Sure they were playmates, but unlike you I pay attention to rumors, and the Rose supposedly prefers the petals more then the stem.' He had no response as they scrubbed their hair. 'And while we're at it, while I'll agree to help as you did manage to get ahold of some of Von Rose's chakra, you didn't fully complete the bet, and I'd hate to see Sophie hate you for showing your true colors. 'You do that and I'll make sure you can't enjoy a single moment controlling this body.' They were at an impasse, and for the rest of the time they's silently finish up, use some light fuuton to slow away the remaining water droplets, and use another scroll to wear their backup outfit as they went back, not even registering the clothing Sophie had brought for him as he was very much unused to people helping with his clothing choices.

Returning a few minutes before Tam, physically dry and refreshed by the shower yet mentally drained from the argument in his mind, he'd plop back down on the now-dried chair and wonder how he'd survived this long without having a mental stroke. He'd raise an eyebrow when some black-haired woman a little older then himself came up. Properly sitting up now he'd speak up "The Boss? If you mean the Raikage I have no clue." Thankfully he wouldn't need to have an answer as Ryuko had returned.

He'd graciously take the shortswords and even without proper time to adjust to them, he could feel the power they held. Pulling out a dry rag and some mineral oil he'd begin to polish the sword, the poor thing having been stored for so long. Whoever had had it last, while taking good care of the blade had managed to leave it wanting. "Thank you Lady Ryuko, I will make sure to treat them with care. Is the plan to go look at the medical files for the kinjutsu we talked about still happening?" He knew better then to say what exactly the files were for, as mentioning kinjutsu was usually a good enough deterrent. Looking at the others and their gifts, he felt a little envious, but he was fine with it. While he didn't know Elliryanna's specialty, Tamwyn's was obvious and he couldn't even try to use Raiton to save his life.

Deciding to be a little bit of a joker, once Ryuko had passed the metaphorical baton to the group (and slightly disappointed she didn't pass around the literal baton she had), he'd start off. "Hello new squad mates, the name's Mōtimā Midori-Okō Kurama, though I prefer to go by Mort casually. I'm fourth in line for the head of the Kurama clan, and current natural-born holder of the clan's Kekkei Genkai. I like weapons, theater and the open wilds; while I dislike religion, rain, and those who forgetting one's roots." He'd shift in his seat, pulling out a small notebook and pencil so he could make notes on his teammates, already writing in Ryuko's info. "As for my hobbies, I enjoy sewing and fencing, while my dream is to become a proper Warrior and defeat a god." He'd stroke an illusionary brown curly beard that had formed on him as he pondered group names, the illusion disappearing when he snapped his fingers. "Ooh, and a possible team designation could be 'Advanced Combat Elite Squad', or A.C.E.S. for short."

Morts answer regarding his eyes left a bit to be desired. Of course if it teammate didn't know, then he simply didn't know. Tamwyn himself didn't know why when he channeled lightning chakra his eyes glowed. It would be a bit unfair of him to expect Mort to have the answer to why his eyes were strange when Tamwyn himself didn't have them for his own. So he'd let that drop easily enough. Sophie's reaction to his compliment would cause a small smirk to adorn his features. Morts attempt to cover up his new screw up would widen that smirk and when he basically leapt to assist Tamwyn the pale haired genin would start to laugh. With his teammate cleaning up the other end of the training grounds and meeting him in the middle the evidence of Ryuko's poison rain would be completely gone. Sealed up safe and sound in a storage scroll or two.

At Sophie's thanks for the work Tamwyn would give a polite bow, hand over heart as he spoke. "Why of course Lady Sophie, we men things would get bored if all we did was sit around and let the ladies do all the work." He would say, his tone obviously that of a joking manner. With that they'd be off to the showers. While inside and with Mort easily within hearing range Tamwyn would speak, the sound of the rushing water and the distance from their original location making it impossible for the lady to hear. "So Mort, Sophie, you going to ask her out? It's obvious she's interested in you." He would say, wondering briefly if he had timed this poorly. If Sophie brought their changes of clothes at that moment, she might hear his question, or Mort's answer.

Relationship drama aside, Tamwyn wanted to know and if the answer was honest, of which he doubted his teammate would give, it would only help both of them should Sophie overhear. Once the showers were done and both were back at the table, Tamwyn in his simple shinobi pants and boots, hair damp and lank from the wet, but not dripping. A dark haired woman whom Tamwyn could intellectually appreciate as extremely attractive. Her manner was overtly casual, almost aggressively so and her style of speech spoke of one who gave respect in her own way. Such individuals didn't bother Tamwyn really, it was their own personality quirk, like Tamwyn's studied politeness and Morts..Eccentricities. Her demand to know of 'where the boss was' was quickly correlated to 'Where's Ryuko?' even though she hadn't used the woman's name. Who else would be here at this time who would warrant the title 'boss' after all?

"Not back yet, we took a small break for about an hour. It's about up actually." He would say politely a welcoming smile on his features. A person bringing a message to Ryuko perhaps? Maybe, but somehow Tamwyn doubted that quite a bit. Right after his statement, as if summoned, Ryuko-sensei appeared. The name she gave the woman was quite long and he honestly hadn't caught it on the first saying of it. He'd have to ask El-whatever what it was later. However apparently she was indeed supposed to be here. Beginning to put two and two together Tamwyn would make the simple leap in logic that this woman was to be their third teammate. That would fill them as a squad and he wondered what talent she might bring to the table as well. He wasn't entirely sure what Mort brought either, only that he would have to be talented for Ryuko to have taken him as a sensei.

Ryuko's words would draw Tamwyn from his thoughts and he'd look to find her holding out a large scroll for him. Taking it, and holding it near reverently he'd nod his head. The ANBU guards that had accompanied her were probably here for the sake of protecting this scroll while he got to read what he was being allowed to read. He wouldn't keep them waiting. Moving toward the table Tamwyn would unfurl the scroll directly to the first marked location for him, bypassing all else as he was asked. He didn't have permission to look at the other techniques. Coming to first in the list was 'Lightning Release Armor' reading it's passage swiftly he'd commit it to memory before moving on. The variants of the previously mentioned technique would also be marked and he'd memorize those two noting that they were downgraded versions of the former with lower cost and therefore lower output of power.

He'd quickly read through the entries for the 'Lariat', 'Hell Stab', and finally 'Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop.' Each of the techniques would be committed to memory. As he wasn't sure if he would train them today. As a matter of fact he severely doubted it. Taking up team time with his personal training was rude and so he'd learn them on his own later. Closing the scroll carefully, making sure not to damage it in anyway, he would seal it back up and hold the large scroll up to Ryuko. It would safer riding her back, or at least in her possession, than on the table for anyone to read. "Thank you Ryuko-sensei. I should've said it before, I'm sorry. I guess I got too excited." He would say, a small sheepish grin on his features.

Thinking back to what he'd heard in his subconscious he'd nod his head. She had given Mort a pair of short swords he'd been promised. Then told El-whatshername that she hadn't forgotten about her. Nothing else had been said in that so he figured either Ryuko would tell her on her own, or she had given her something. The scroll in their new teammates hands would give evidence to the latter. Finally, Ryuko would tell them to say hello to their squad mates. Which meant Tamwyn had been reading when he should have been being politely at attention. Wincing at his blunder he would stand, at remembering Ryuko's mention of a team designation Tamwyn would consider it for a moment. He would need to hear more of El-whatshername first.

The thought of introducing oneself was simple enough, and Ryuko would start by going first. Nodding his head as he listened, he would shift his attention to Mort as his purple haired teammate went next. Finally, it was his turn to have that metaphorical baton passed to him. "First, allow me to apologize to you all for my earlier rudeness. My personal excitement for new techniques should not have caused me to forget my basic manners." He would say, emphasizing the apology with a small bow with his hand over his heart, particularly toward El. As since they hadn't really spoken prior she had no frame of knowledge for why he might be so excited at the prospect of new lightning jutsu. So she would be the most slighted if anyone was. "My name is Tamwyn, no family name. My favorite time of day is dawn or dusk. I enjoy relaxing in a hot bath after a hard days training, improving myself, and honesty, which I understand is an oxymoron given our profession oft times requires deception. I generally dislike laziness, but I have been known to enjoy a day or two of relaxing. I despise losing, although try to do so with grace. About the only thing I truly hate in this world are Jashinists." He would say, his eyes becoming hard on the last. "As a matter of fact, I think it best to elaborate that if I can avoid it. I wouldn't speak to a Jashinist, or even outwardly acknowledge their very existence. There is nothing I would like more than to see that joke of a 'religion' abolished permanently." He would follow up, his voice strong as he drove the point home. He wanted it known so that if anything having to do with the heretical individuals came up it would be clear where his opinions would be.

"My hobbies include training, although as shinobi that one hardly counts. But I do thoroughly enjoy whittling, or woodcarving, if you're unfamiliar with the term. My dream is to become a legend. I want the world to know my name, for generations after my death. I see my talent for lightning techniques as my clear path to that end but I'm also working on saving the money to break into high society as someone who had nothing. Hoping that the prestige of being a member of Kumogakure's high society will give me respect and renown that my shinobi capabilities might not. I also hope to one day have a family. After successfully making my way into the upper echelons of the populace. I have nothing to offer a possible significant other at this particular time." He would say, explaining why he was so interested in going on higher level missions to make more money and why he was so hell bent on obtaining more. "As a team designation, I can't promise this'll fit. But personally, I like the ring of 'Team Aegis'". he would finish, giving his opinion of the potential team designation. Such a title had to be clear and simple, and easily be remembered. It had to be a name one was willing to be associated with and one that might strike fear into opponents who knew of the squad name. Team Aegis, was a good name that fit all of those criteria in Tamwyn's eyes, although if the others disagreed, then he wouldn't mind.

El twitched only slightly with her right eye as her full first name was used, turning and noting the new guards that rapidly spread out to give them some privacy between the team.  “Early?  Shit… I thought I was runnin’ late… but not about to look the gift-soon-to-be-Raikage in the mouth.”  She transitioned seamlessly, turning back so that she was facing the rest of the group, but she did give Ryuko the same full gaze up and down treatment that she had given the other two a moment ago.  Thus far, from the three of them, she liked what she saw.  The woman was well known even in the slums, Ryuko was a name both feared and respected by a great many.

She watched carefully as the woman began to give out a slew of gifts; a big scroll to Tamwyn, some swords to Mort, and then a scroll to herself, which caused El to blink in surprise.  “I mean… thanks Boss, just… I mean was not expecting any of this I guess.  Was waitin’ to find the next Jounin that thought they could take me on, not the cream of the crop group this batch of eye-candy is turnin’ out to be.  Hot damn… I didn’t know any better, I’d say I was dreamin’.”  She snickered a moment, shaking her head and opening the scroll to see exactly what she was dealing with, memorizing the information quickly and rerolling it, handing it back to Ryuko.  She had the information, and she would see about applying and learning it properly once this meet and greet was over.

She twitched again at being called a ‘kid’.  She hadn’t been a kid in her entire life, but that was diving into topics she would much rather leave buried.  A team designation?  She would have to roll that around in her mind a bit while listening to them go first.  Since she was the last one to join in, it only made sense that she go last.  First was Ryuko, and for once, El remained quiet as everyone spoke.  She had been through this process a dozen times, and while she normally would have no problem interrupting, she had learned that it could drag this process out far more than it needed to be.  Tea, cats, hard workers were good, some bad shit El logged into her mind for later, and a few hobbies and goals that brought a nod to the amber-eyed Genin, but not much else.

Mort, as he preferred, had a lot on his plate, but the biggest thing that drew El’s attention from it all was his desire to ‘defeat a God’.  They didn’t exist in this world as far as she knew, so that was going to be a little bit of a trick.  A.C.E.S. felt a bit cheezy to the dark-haired woman, but that wasn’t a big deal.  He seemed energetic and a bit of a jokester, so El doubted that they would butt heads too much.  Tamwyn on the other hand had the looks to kill but turned out to be a fucking square at first glance, but he at least seemed passionate and knew what he was going after.  His team name of ‘Aegis’ wasn’t too bad, she had read a few fairy tales that had that name in it.  Shield of the Gods, if she recalled correctly, or something like that.  With him finishing up though, it quickly became her turn, and she put her hands on her hips and grew a smile that looked like it would belong on some predator establishing it’s territory.  “It’s El, just El, please for fuck’s sake.  Half the people who try to pronounce my shit get it wrong and it pisses me off, so just El is good.  I like a good fight, and most of anything that gets the blood pumpin’.  Anything that looks like fun I’m game for, but I gotta little bit of a short fuse.  Ain’t no big thing, I can control it, but don’t come to me for no ‘voice of reason’ bullshit either.  I say shit exactly how it is.  No sugar coatin’.  No beatin’ around the bush.  You don’t like the truth, get thicker skin.  Plain and simple, ‘cause I ain’t changin’ for nobody.  That said too, since I prefer my name the way I do, if you don’t like a nickname I give ya, let me know.  I’ll keep pokin’ till I find one that’s decent as I get to know y’all, assumin’ I stick around that long.”

She paused for a moment, realizing she had gone on a little bit of a tangent.

“Dislike liars and asshats, stupid people… wasted time, food or energy, but I ain’t really got any hobbies.  Too busy; any spare time I got I use to help out my Mom.  For future dreams… Well, I guess immortality kinda, but not like any zombie type shit.  More like I’ll die when I’m damn good and ready, and until then Death is gettin’ the shaft.  Fuck’em.  That good enough Boss?”  She asked, giving Ryuko a sultry smile. "As far as a team name, I ain't got a clue. Kinda depends on how everyone shakes up, don't it? Murder Annihilator Squad don't really work huh?" she asked, clearly joking.

[2]

Seeing Mort’s reaction to the rather suggestive tone of her comment Sophie giggled.  She’d have to be careful not to tease him too much otherwise it might have the unintended effect of annoying him.   She doubted she’d be able to get a date with him if she pushed too hard.  Coming on too strong could make her seem like she was easy or a fluuzy and that wasn’t what she wanted either.    Sometimes you had to give men something to chase if you wanted to win them over.

“Well you aren’t wrong about that.” said  Sophie as she reached her right hand into her left sleeve and pulled it out to reveal a kunai.   “I’m supposed to be Lady Ryuko’s bodyguard but sadly she outstripped me as a Kunichi long ago.” she said with a long sigh.  She knew her master had worked long and hard to get where the priestess was today but the fact she couldn’t replicate it vexed her as it spoke to the difference in the level of talent between them.    

Ironic really when Ryuko was the one who had been told that she’d never be anything but mediocre as a ninja while nobody had ever said any such thing to the maid who was the very definition of a low level mook chunnin.  If a serious fight were to ever break out she’d be lucky to even buy her master a few seconds at the cost of her life.

Leaving the boys to their shower and their privacy as despite her fantasies she was no voyeur Sophie went about her duties, feeling a bit optimistic for the future for the first time in a while.  After years of worrying  her master had finally been returned to her and she had a boy she’d set her eyes on. Life was good.

--

A bit later as the discussion got going Ryuko cringed as El referred to her as Raikage to be.  That was supposed to be a secret but if she was to be honest it wasn’t the best kept one so she didn’t suspect Mort of blabbing.    Anyone decently smart like El was supposed to be would have been able to put things together from the context clues that something was up.  

The priestess had taken charge of the village budget immediately after waking up and at this point she was basically running the village in all but name only while the coronation ceremony
was being put together and planned.  Luckily becoming Raikage while true was good cover from the really shocking secret about her becoming queen which was kept in the family.   If anyone started blurting out lines like “your majesty”  then she’d have to start taking it a lot more seriously.

“Yes, we’ll be looking into those medical files in just a bit after dinner Mort.  But first I think tis would be a good idea to do some team building exercises together before we adjourn this meeting.” Ryuko said.  She’d been planning to show them a couple more moves but it would be harder to do now that all three of them were here since she didn’t have much experience with balancing her attention equally between more then one or two students at a time.  Just because she wasn’t smart didn’t automatically make her ideal for becoming an academy instructor or a squad leader after all.

If it were her own squad mates in the Thundercats that would be one thing since they were all equals or at least they had been at the time the squad had been together before her coma.   Dealing with people younger than people younger and less emotionally mature than her was a whole other ballgame.    Even one on one her track record wasn’t the best, she was supposed to mentor Seid but she’d barely given him one lessor before he’d bailed on her.   She could hardly take any credit for him becoming a respectable member of Anbu now other than maybe the time she’d stopped him for leaving the village without permission.

“Sorry for the condition the swords were in.  I wanted to polish them myself but the guards insisted that I not linger in the storage vault for long.” she said rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.   For one of the village’s prized relics it's been left in storage for way longer than it should have been.   So long that she was starting to suspect most people had forgotten it was even in the village’s possession.   Legendary weapon or not it was doing hardly anyone good if it just sat away rotting for the rest of eternity which was part of the reason she’d decided to entrust them to Mort to begin with.  

“Don’t worry about it. I get the same way with cool weapons sometimes.” she said, waving off Tamwyns apology with a light giggle.   He was bordering on being such a perfect honor student type that it was refreshing to see a bit of a character flaw from him.
Taking back the Jtusu scroll she wished she could hand it over to the guards but she couldn't when she was the only one with security clearance high enough to actually handle it.  With a sigh she created a shadow clone sending it and the scroll back away to the vault.    

With any luck El would be able to get Tamwyn to be a bit more laid back and he’d be able to get her to display a modicum of better manners over time.  That was the most she could ask for as she was aware expecting El to act like a perfect lady such as herself might as well have been asking for the moon and mars put together.

As for Mort he’d be pretty good if he could learn to get a handle of whatever multiple personality thing he seemed to have going on.    It seemed to her like he just needed to learn how to be more comfortable in his own skin more than anything.   Once he did that then maybe he’d be able to find a healthy relationship for himself even if it wasn’t with Sophie.

“I won’t pinch your cheek but I can safely assure you this is no dream.  I’ve hand picked each of you to be my students because as far as I’m concerned at least you ARE the cream of the crop.  Each suited to become the next generation of this village’s elite in your own ways but I’ll be explaining that in a bit.' she said before introductions got rolling.

She listened to what each of them had to say, some of it things she already knew to expect and others a surprise.  She never would have guessed for example that one of Mort’s hobbies was sowing or that Tamwyn had a beef with the Jashinist which could be a problem given Ryuko’s close relationship with Shimiko.  

El wanting to be immortal was also surprising, Ryuko couldn’t blame her as who wanted to die but she couldn’t help but wonder how boring that would become after a few centuries.   The cycle of life, death and rebirth was in place for a reason. Humans weren't meant to live forever otherwise they would be gods.

El has also said she didn’t really have a hobby but Ryuko couldn’t help but wonder how true that was.  The girl had said she’d tell it like it is but was she really opening herself up to them fully this soon in the game?   She knew how everyone had something to hide including herself.

“Alright just to make a few things clear I’m a Priestess of Hakkin so if you’ve got a problem with that you better say it now.” she said seriously.   The last thing she wanted was problems in the team over religion, especially when she was trying to get the country to be more open and tolerant about other people’s beliefs.   “Also  If you need a voice of reason I guess that would make it me for more reasons than one.” she said in jovial tone in an attempt to lighten the mode a little  

“Not to be insensitive but I’d like to ask you all about  what your living situations are like.   As El said, you're going to be the students of the next Raikage in a couple of weeks and that comes with certain expectations and I want to make sure you’re well taken care of. If you need anything feel free to ask me and  I’ll take care of anything as long as tis on a reasonable level.  That said training with the best means your regimen will be much more harsh and stricher than what you would usually get  so if you don’t think you can manage then you’re free to leave at any time.”   She warned letting them know that if they wanted to be lazy slackers like her one time rival Sora she'd send them packing.  

Tamwyn was clanless and El was from the slums. Ryuko was genuinely worried that they might be facing discrimination or having a hard time putting food on the table at the end of the day.  Nariko’s reforms had built the village into a metropolis which had raised most people's lifestyles overall but that didn’t mean people couldn’t slip through the cracks.    As the future ruler of the nation Ryuko was working hard to generate more jobs and improve the economy so more of her people could prosper and she wanted to make especially sure these kids who were to be her students benefited from that.

“I’m sorry but I’m going to have to take a hard pass on Murder Annihilator Squad.  I bet Shimiko would like that but tis has all sorts of negative connotations for when I’m taking you on diplomatic or trade missions.   Being a high level isn’t all about the action I’m afraid.  I like Team Aegis but that almost seems a bit conceded given my title as the Shield of Kumo.” said Ryuko as she pointed to the buckler currently strapped to her right arm.  It didn't look like much in it's current form but as a legendary tier artifact it was perhaps the mightiest shield in the world.

“How do you guys feel about something like say Team Archangel?” she asked.  Given the wings she could deploy that might seem a bit more self centric as well but at least it wouldn’t be based on one of her titles and could be applied to the entire team.  After they took a moment to decide on the squad name Ryuko’s face turned more serious as she turned the discussion back to where she had left off before introductions had been made.

“Alright team I’m going to be straight with you.  Right now each of you are like diamonds in the rough.  You have the potential to become great but it’ll take some work and polishing for you to shine.     Personally I’m hoping that at least one of you will go on to become the next Raikage but I’d be happy if you all succeeded me in your own ways.   All I ask of you is that you work hard to achieve your goals and that you at least try and set a good example for the other villagers for how a ninja of Kumogakure should behave.”   In other words as her students they would be her representatives so she was asking them to at least try and behave when they were in public.

“Do you mind if I call you Eli instead of El? Tis seem a shame to use something so unfemin sounding for someone as cute as yourself.”  she said slyly. Honestly El as a nickname almost sounded Spanish like when someone was calling out El Capitan.  It was so masculin it just didn’t fit.   Elliryanna might be a bit of a tomboy on the surface but she was still a girl at heart.  

She hadn’t missed the smile El had flashed at her but in her opinion it was a few years too early for the younger girl to be making a pass at her.  She was cute but that’s all she was, which wasn’t nearly enough to tempt her away from her thoughts of Nozomi.    

The priestess was a warrior at heart and she was seeking a partner that was at least strong enough to make a sparring match at least a light workout for her and not a total wash out.    The main reason Niko had been able to turn her head a bit wasn’t just because she was a bombshell
but because she had the strength to back the priestess up in a serious fight.   If El was truly going to make a serious pass at the priestess she had some serious work cut out for her if she was going to succeed.

“Anyhow I was thinking of taking you guys out for a mission tomorrow so make sure you get some rest after we go grab some dinner together. Which type of mission would you prefer, painting a fence or going to fight some pirates?” she asked knowing full well that no hot blooded gennin would chose the former over the latter but wanting to offer them the illusion of choice.  She’d never done a d-rank mission in her life and she wasn’t about to start doing them now that she had a country to run.

[24]

While they were in the showers, the not-quite-naked-genin many (but not all) called Mort would tense as his battle buddy asked him more words he didn't want to deal with today. Ryuko had asked, and that was already a tear at his soul. He couldn't put any blame on Tamwyn though; he didn't know about their conversation on his stance for dating, but to not say anything would make things worse. A part of him wanted right then and there to release some of the tension in his mind and let Id take over, to let it do something he wouldn't. But he had to be strong and not let his mental fortress wane.

In an exhausted tone, he'd reply. "We...I'm not ready for that sort of thing again, at least not till We've dealt with some bloodline-related demons. We'll tell you what we told Lady Ryuko: I'd rather not make my significant other's life short-er, even by accident." Mort wouldn't elaborate anymore if asked, not having noticed he was using we instead of I and wouldn't give any other responses during the rest of the shower as he was busy with his internal argument.

--

Mort would continue to make notes as his compatriots talked a little more about themselves. Tamwyn had apparently been lost in his scroll, and he couldn't help but let out a small snort to hold in his laughter. He wasn't immune to getting lost in something good, and while that had shifted from old scrolls on clan history to actual technique scrolls he could use in combat, the drive was still in him. He didn't however expect to hear how much Tam hated Jashinists. It brought a lot of questions to the front of his mind, mainly that of Shimiko Chinnoike and how he'd feel if he found out he'd been reading the publicly available Seikyōkai in an attempt to find ways to apply their teachings in a more constructive way, despite his religious distaste. It was thanks to the tomb he stumbled on the power of blood seals, and thanks to Ryuko he'd have some access to Hakkin's teachings, and the paradoxical perspectives could shed light on new ideas. Tamwyn's other traits were nice, and Mort was really glad he didn't say he wanted to become famous. He didn't care about high society, he just wanted to do what he enjoyed. The team name was also nice. He wasn't sue how it'd fit, but it was something

Elliryanna, or El as she preferred, was a mood whiplash. Unlike the prim and proper Tam the rough and tumble El had a mouth to her, though that by itself wasn't bad, just different. It was also a little refreshing hearing the slight accent changes that he hadn't heard in a good while. He didn't even need to make to many notes on her as the stereotypical 'rural tomboy' almost fit her to a T. Even it it was a stretch, their desire for immortality was a sort of stereotypical desire as well, as it could easily be seen as a longevity immortality from how it was described. Her team name though, while definitely not appropriate, was something neither Mort nor Id couldn't help but find to be a great source of more entertainment. It was like a so-bad-it's-good type of name, and it was a shame the poor thing was dead before it even hit the ground running.

With the thoroughly handled baton metaphor beaten by a dead horse and put back into the priestess's hands, he'd nod as he understood the seriousness of what he had technically signed up for. "I have no problem with you being a high-ranked member in your religion. I may not like religion, but I ain't gonna try to stop you from believing in what you want. As for my my living situation? I'm surprised you never looked into it given how you guessed the gift I'm working on. Currently I live in an decent apartment with my parents, though given a complex or two are basically claimed by the clan, so it's a pretty good situation." He'd pull out another notebook, this time an agenda. "If the timeline's right and everything we talked about isn't help up by burocrats construction should be about done once you've been promoted, so outside of needing a few days to get moved in properly I should be fine. I will need every other Friday off though unless it's an emergency, as those days are when I have clan training.

Team names, team names. And of course they were back at team names. He still felt his was the best as acronyms were just fun. Aegis was, well it was a solid choice and M.A.S was sadly removed from the lineup. And Ryuko suggested archangels, and it...kinda-no, no it didn't work. All of them, even his own where complete shit. None of them embodied any a linking trait between all four of them (or three, didn't matter) No, to Mort the only think linking them together was that of Kumo. "I think for now we should use Archangels as a placeholder name. Until we start working together and find how we mesh, we don't anything all three of us have in common outside of serving Kumo." He'd also give a small nod in confirmation to Ryuko's desire to see them become the best.

The strange sortaflirting between El and Ryuko hadn't go unnoticed, and while in his heart and mind he knew they were both consenting adults, it felt a little weird as that was their teacher and he knew he'd have to hear about it for hours from Id later today. But those thoughts were washed away at the prospect of fighting pirates and, even better, free dinner. It was painfully clear that it was a false choice, so much of an illusion that it almost physically hurt. "I mean, I do miss my talks with Miss Ninomae, and she made a chocolate that she claimed could make the Kage weep tears of joy, buuuuut being able to add to my arsenal of weapons isn't a bad idea, so I guess I'm game for pirates." His voice was dulled, but his eyes, shit-eating grin, and the fact he was shaking with excitement to the point he had to set the swords down or else he'd've cut his hands gave away his actual emotions on the idea.

Tamwyn would nod his head in response to Morts words regarding a relationship. "Fair enough, I wasn't aware there was anything like that involved." He would say simply, his apology genuine. He would drop that subject then. It was clearly something he didn't like talking about if the exhausted tone he had when he said it was anything to go by. He wondered if there was anyway he could help his teammate with his personal bloodline problems. He didn't have anything like that so he wasn't aware of what it might be like but he could imagine that it was a stressful experience. To have to deal with something that you were born with, a curse that you had to live it and deal with the consequences when it became a problem. The pale haired genin dislike the idea of such things but understood fully that it happened all too frequently.

But no, now wasn't the time to pry into his teammates bloodline. It was be rude, and make him seem overly nosy. He'd wait and broach the subject another time. When there was more trust between them as teammates. He would hate for his purple haired companion to get the wrong idea when all he wanted to do was help after all.

--

His new teammates speech patterns were moderately amusing to Tamwyn. He wouldn't be rude enough to say as such, but it was just so different that it was refreshing. Her response to being gifted a scroll by Ryuko as well would cause him to blink in mild surprise. 'Eye-candy?' He thought as he looked down at himself he wasn't that good looking was he? He doubted it, she was probably just being nice. One could be honest while still stretching the truth that honesty entailed after all. Ryuko's response would bring the mental image of his shorter sensei indeed pinching El's cheeks and he'd have to suppress a grin at the thought. Being told that as far as she was concerned he was a part of the cream of the crop of this generation brought a surge of confidence to him and that smirk he wouldn't be able to suppress.

At her statement of her being a Priestess of Hakkin, Tamwyn would shrug. "No problems from me here sensei." He would say honestly. His issues were with the Jashinist Cult, and no other religion. If someone upstairs had been stupid enough to not notice his sentiments in that regard and tried to assign him to Shimiko, he'd leave the team in a heartbeat. No matter how powerful one was, he couldn't forgive the Orthodoxy for what they had done to him and his life. He wouldn't bring it up again though. He didn't like being a broken record. At Ryuko's question regarding their living situation Tamwyn would shrug. "I live in an apartment in the slums. so I guess 'Upper-lower Class' in terms of social hierarchy. That's only for the moment though. I intend to invest heavily into Darhk Industries when I can afford to and hopefully use that money to set myself up for life in the upper class of the social spectrum." He would say, having no intention of asking for help in regards to getting to that point. He didn't really know what he'd do with the kind of home he'd have when he obtained it. Maybe see if his teammates wanted to move in? Perhaps, he'd have to wait and see.

In response to her statement that training would be much more harsh and strict than he would usually. The pale haired genin would smirk once more. "Bring it on, Ryuko-sensei." He would say, making his feelings in that regard perfectly clear. He loved the idea of a challenge and he loved overcoming them more. When she turned down Team 'Aegis' and Team 'Murder Annihilator Squad', no surprise there, she would suggest an idea of her own. "I like Archangel" He would say, agreeing with the idea. It would make for an interesting title. 'Tamwyn, Archangel of Lightning' had an awesome ring to it and it was the kind of name that would be remembered for generations. Which was exactly what he wanted after all.

In regards to Ryuko's words pertaining to them achieving their goals and acting like shinobi of Kumogakure should Tamwyn would nod. He already tried to do so, so to have that as her request for them was easy enough to fulfill. If anything this opportunity just meant he had to work harder and do what he was doing anyway. He had no hesitation to the idea of working hard. No fear of it, it only ever helped in the end usually. Besides he'd become stronger for it, which is what he needed. At her question regarding the fence or the pirates Tamwyn would smirk. "Take a guess." He would say, his eyes glowing yellow with anticipation on tearing through some pirate scumbags.

El couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow as Ryuko lumped her in with the other two as the ‘cream of the crop’ types. She believed it when it came to the other two; she hadn’t been slacking off and had done her fair share of slinking around and watching other people, listening in on conversations to discover who was worth looking out for and who was all hype, and had heard of both of them. She was a nobody. Didn’t have any fame to her name, didn’t stand out in the Academy… nothing. How did Ryuko have the capability to determine that she was worth the time to try to turn into the best of the best? Only one way to find out, and she locked eyes with Ryuko before speaking.

“Why me?” she asked bluntly, curious about her logic behind the statement and her reasoning for finding her in the first place. Tamwyn and Mort she understood completely… she could tell they were top notch. She didn’t even have the basics of Shinobi techniques properly learned, only a handful of good ones she picked up because she was smart enough to memorize them when she had the opportunity. She hadn’t been trying to gain the limelight, she had been a late attendee to the Academy, one who had been deemed a failure simply for starting things late. She hadn’t let them get away with such slander, mind you, more than making them feel small for saying such things, but no one wanted to work with her.

All they saw was someone who liked to make trouble and without a professional bone in her body, not bothering to inquire further, because that was all they were worthy enough to see. Weren’t worth the time of day to show her true colors to, and that was the small reputation she had built. So what the heck was Ryuko seeing? That was the point of the question. As the conversation switched to the expectations they would be facing and the living conditions they were in, El simply shrugged when it was her turn. “Me and my Mom live in a shack in the slums. Ain’t much but it’s home. Not sure anythin’ can be done ‘bout it either, since that one Noble asshat got her barred from having any real practice. She’s a damn good Medic too, but he made it to where she couldn’t get a real job anywhere in Kumo because she broke his precious little hand that grabbed her ass. Apparently his Daddy is one of the big boy politician people. Still workin’ on findin’ out who it was. Mom won’t tell me. And nothin’ against ya, but me and her don’t really do handouts. Earn what we get, ya know?”

Not a word had been disrespectful in the slightest, but merely informing her of the situation and the relevant information that went along with it. One day, El would be able to find out who it was, and when she was done, he’d have a lot more to worry about than a broken hand. She was brought out of her thoughts of vengeance however when hearing her dismiss the team name idea that the raven-haired woman had suggested as a joke, causing her to laugh, and then more so when the ‘Archangel’ idea was proposed… after a moment, she would wave, shaking her head.

“My bad my bad… I’m not laughin’ at you, but it’s just fuckin’ funny. You all might be angels or somethin’, but I ain’t nothin’ close. Closer to a demon, devil or some shit like that if we are goin’ by that spectrum. I ain’t got a ‘saintly’ bone in my body, let alone angelic. I ain’t gonna argue or nothin’, just sayin’ don’t expect me to dress up in white or some shit and pretend to be somethin’ I’m not.” Throughout the entire bit, she was still chuckling, getting herself under control from the full on heartfelt laughter that had caused her to pause from everything else. She did finally address the other question that had been sent her way then. “Eli is fine, Boss. Just not keen on my whole name bein’ said a lot. Most people fuck it up and it pisses me off. And I’m with them; it’s a Pirates Life for Me!” she said, mocking the soon-to-be deceased sea-going folk that they would be dealing with tomorrow.

[3]

Both Mort and Tamwny asserted they had no problems with Ryuko’s religious affiliation which brought a wave of relief.  The last thing she needed was to create more friction.  There was plenty enough of that going around dealing with the Jashinst and trying to avoid resparking the civil war.  

She wasn’t here to indoctrinate them but she was more than willing to teach them more if they asked.   She had to assume by El’s silence on the matter that she also had no objections.  It seemed rather unlikely that someone as outspoken as the spirited youth would stay quite otherwise if she had any objections.

“Hmm I wonder…”  Ryuko said teasingly in responce to El's question.  “Perhaps tis has something to do with you starting the academy late and yet caughting up and surpassing most of your peers on your test results.  Or perhaps because of your exceptional stamina.   In any case you have all the earmarks required to become a first rate medi-nin. Whatever you might currently lack in strength or speed can more than be made up for in effort.”  

As far as Ryuko was aware El was no doctor yet but neither had the priestess herself been when she’d first started out as a kunoichi.  While her rough and tumble attitude and tough upbringing made them seem very different on the surface they were surprisingly similar in a lot of ways once you started digging just a bit deeper.

Taking out a notepad and a pen the future Raikage began scribbling down some notes as her students began filling her in on their home lives.   She figured Mort being part of a prestigious clan would be petty ok but one could never be quite sure without asking.  She couldn’t just assume because if she did and she was wrong things would have gotten messy.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t looked into it a little but what was on file was sparse.  It was a ninja village but that didn’t mean they had to spy on every minute detail of their citizens day to day lives without good reason.  She had some of the border details about their history and their academy records and such and little else to go on other than what other Jounin the kids had worked with had to say about them.

“Every second Friday huh? Shouldn’t be a problem for the most part.  Given that I’ll be the Raikage I can’t be away from the village for too long so most of our missions will have to be the kind we can finish in a day or two.” she said with a sigh.  Honestly that part was the most annoying thing about being in charge since it restricted her freedom of movement so much.

She’d be able to take the occasional trip for diplomatic reasons so it wasn’t like she’d be totally locked to the village like it was a ball and chain but she wouldn’t have the same luxury most Jounin did to take longer term missions where one could be away for weeks or even months at a time.

Tamwmy’s situation surprised her however. To think he was living in the slumps. She never would have guessed it from the way he was dressed.  Getting him out of there was a high priority especially if he had any aspirations about moving up to high society.

“I was aware you were an Orphan but do you not at least have a guardian of some kind?” She asked. Either someone had to have put their name down as a guarantee of the apartment or it was being run by a rather shady landlord if they were willing to lease to someone who wasn’t fully legally an adult yet.   Little did she know from only speed skimming his files that he was actually around the same age as her or older.  His youthful appearance and rank had led her to assume he was younger, perhaps only 17 or so instead of being in his early twenties.

In either case she wasn’t about to offer to be adopting him.  Unlike Shimiko she didn’t want kids that were so close to her in age.  She wouldn’t even begin knowing how to process that and it would start all sorts of unsavory rumors she’d rather not have spreading around.   At most she’d offer to take him as a ward if necessary but she doubted it would come to that.

“Given my need for additional security I’ve recently had to move.  Perhaps we could turn my old mansion into a team boarding house of some kind.” she suggested generously.  By noble standards it was fairly modest as mansions went but it would still be several steps above anything they’d find in the slums.

When she heard what El had to say about her home life the pen in Ryuko’s hands quietly snapped in two as she reflexively clenched her fingers in anger.  Hearing of a fellow member of the aristocracy misusing his privileges  had lit a fire within her and she silently vowed to make sure he paid for his crime.

“Like Daughter like Mother huh? I guess that’s where you got your potential to become a great medic from. Do you think your mother would like to come work for me?  The village has all sorts of uses for a talented Doctor. Tis would be trivial for me to restore her medical license.” said Ryuko with a grin.

She wasn’t talking out of her ass here.  Given her position it really would be easy to accomplish.  As a Doctor herself she would be easily able to test El’s mother to see if she was still qualified and go from there and nobody was going to tell the Raikage who or whom not to hire.  If some noble objected then he’d just be giving himself away saving her the trouble of tracking him down.

Hearing El or rather Eli as she’d been given permission to call her talk so self deprecatingly about herself stung.   Who actually referred to themselves as demonic?  First the twins, and Shimiko had been calling themselves monsters and now this?  Why did so many people in her life only see the worst aspects of themselves when Ryuko herself saw the best?  

“You know, not all angels are good right?  There are stories of some burning entire cities to the ground.”  remarked Ryuko with a half serious smile.  Eli might be a bit rough around the edges but she was no demon or devil.   Just like she herself was no saint.

“Hmm let’s amend the name a bit shall we.  Instead of Team Archangel we can be the Royal Order of the Seraphim instead or just Team Seraphim for short.” she suggested with a light chuckle at her own private injoke. They likely wouldn’t get why she’d included the royal part until her coronation.  Honestly she was looking forward to seeing the looks on their faces when that happened.

“Excellent sounds like we’ll be pirate hunting then after all.” said the priestess more than a little smugly.  Taking a team of gennin out on what was basically a B-rank mission for their first outting might seem a bit excessive but sure was sure after seeing Mort and Tamwyn’s performance during their little spar that they would be able to handle it without too much trouble.   She hadn't seen what Eli could do yet but she figured the girl couldn't be too far behind her male peers either.

And well if there was trouble that’s what she was going to be around to bail them out of.  With her on hand the chances of things getting out of hand were fairly slim.  Well as long as her students didn’t all put on eye patches and start role playing as if they were pirates themselves at least.

“Right time for some food.  How about we hit up Ayano’s then, tis be my treat” ]she offered.  She figured that with two of them being from the slums, they’d be rather uncomfortable with the type of high class restaurants that she usually frequented.  So she’d elected a more family style one instead.  It went without mention that she was a major shareholder and was thus able to eat at Ayano’s for free.    There was nothing quite like being able to appear to be generous but not having to spend a dime at the same time.  

[25]

He'd shake his head as he heard Ryuko misunderstand. "Nono, every other Friday, not just the second one. I know that'll mess with the schedule somewhat and they'll understand if things are rescheduled, but yeah, every other." Technically until he understood the basics of their training he wasn't supposed to even take missions higher then D, but sometimes he could get away with it. Given they were going to be fast tracked up a military rank that would also be lessened, but the quicker he understood the clan's teachings the better.

Slowing his note taking, he'd listen to his comrades' living situations and was a bit surprised by the both of them. Tamwyn was apparently living on his own, and Mort couldn't help but feel a little envious. sure he had his own area in the complex, but he still relied on his parents at times. But that's all it was, envy for his freedom, but not the cost that Tam had payed without consent. He wouldn't have even guessed Tamwyn was living in such a way, though taking another look he could see where some of the seams indicated a rougher lifestyle, but not even that would've given that away at a first glance to him.

When El talked about her own living situation he understood why he had never heard of her even more now, as it was a part of their lifestyle to give back to those less fortunate. He never really understood that mentality though, not taking 'handouts'. It was free and had no strings attached, and unless the person handing it to you needs it more you accepted the gift as a sign of respect. Most of his own memories of the brief time when the Kurama were getting situated was lost to the ages, but that was a constant. Maybe it was just a pride thing, as that'd also explain their mother. Or maybe the clan just never got to them.

While the team boarding house was a neat idea, those thoughts were shoved away as El had described them an angels. Hearing El describe Mort as such strangely sounded right, but in more of how they were mentally an eldritch what-have-you that really wasn't of this world instead of a being of good virtue. It didn't bother him, he had mostly grown used to the fact he had Id which was probably more 'angelic' then he was. Would that make him more like a nephalim then? Id certainly was no goodie two-shoes, but if it weren't for them they'd've never gotten to the point they were at now as fast as they had.

"Royal? That feels a bit too blueblooded even for me, but...I don't have any major qualms with it." Maybe he could have some fun with the name and make it like like he literally had 'blue blood' with a genjutsu? Have his blood work as a trigger in case thing became really serious? What would even be his title? Seraph of Swords? Seraph of Illusion? Seraph of the Wind? Astral Sword of the Umbral Winds, Warrior-Weaver Seraph? Well if nothing else, having a long title would make it possible for him to have some fun in case someone recognized him for it.

With Ryuko's declaration that it was about time to get some grub, Mort would stand up and stretch. "Ayano's? The name sounds familiar, but I can't recall if I've ever been to the place." It rang some sort of bell, like a long lost memory or an offhand comment. Well, it didn't matter, seeing as if it was important enough to recall he would have.

Tamwyn would shake his head at the question regarding a guardian of some kind. "I'm eighteen, I wouldn't have a guardian now regardless. I'd be left to my own. However I never really had one out of the orphanage. Once I graduated from the Academy a while back most deemed that if I was old enough to kill for my nation then I was old enough to fend for myself in terms of a place to live. Drink too, I'm not sure if Lady Nariko is actually aware of all that though to be honest." He would respond to Ryuko, tapping the flask on his left hip as he spoke. "I don't really mind though, I'm going to make it rich sensei. You don't have to help me with anything regarding that, just sit back and watch." He'd say, the last with a positively vicious grin. He wasn't going to be denied his plans, perhaps if he proved himself competent enough on this mission to handle pirates she might give him access to even higher ranked ones? That would certainly be nice indeed.

"Royal Order of The Seraphim is a bit long for my taste, Team Seraphim though seems good to me though." He would say, commenting idly on the team name as he considered it's potential. Perhaps he could design a technique that would compliment the name well enough. Actually he could think of a few interesting ideas. It was putting them into practice that was the real kicker. What would his own title based on it be? 'Seraph of Lightning'? That had a good strong ring to it too. Although he'd probably have to explain with a 'Seraph' was to damn near every idiot who asked. He could deal with that though without any real issue.

At the mention of Ayano's Tamwyn would brighten a bit, he'd never actually eaten there. Mainly due to the fact that he usually picked up meals of pre-wrapped sandwiches or easily heated things because he frankly wasn't a very good cook. He always meant to learn, but it never seemed necessary at the time because he could get himself fed while still having all of the time used on cooking to further his shinobi skills. "I've never been to any restaurant before so I certainly won't mind having a new experience." He would say, already looking forward to spending this evening with his teammates and sensei. He'd intended to train during this time. His running into Mort and Ryuko had been an accident after all, but that could wait. Besides, now he had some really nice techniques to actually train now too. A prospect that he was rather excited for.

El listened to the reasoning, and by the time Ryuko was finished explaining, she issued a shrug, and then smirked. “And here I thought you just wanted a hot piece of ass to look at, but then again, I guess you got a mirror so that makes sense.” It was nothing serious in regards to flirting, but something that she simply wanted to say, and her normal lack of filter letting rip before consequences even registered in her mind. “Then again, considerin’ that all y’all are bombshells with people hangin’ in the wings chompin’ at the bit at a chance just to get some attention, maybe I’m on ta somethin’ after all.” She flashed them all a wide smile, and then returned to the topic at hand.

Learning a little bit about her teammates for a bit while remaining quiet, the raven-haired woman was watching Ryuko specifically but only out the corner of her eye; watching her changes in body language, in particular when she had started talking herself. The idea of moving into a boarding house of some kind was too akin to the handouts she had been trying to avoid and that she knew that her mother would never accept, so it was quickly tossed from her mind and only kept as a reference point for later on.

The snapping of the pen had been her cue, and the smile faded from El’s face rapidly as she locked eyes with the soon to be Raikage with an intensity she had not previously displayed. “No disrespect, but you find out who, tell me. I got dibs on kicking his ass. He hurt my family, and he deserves what’s comin’ to him from me personally.” Her tone had lost all it’s humor, joking nature. She was dead serious. In this small moment, she wasn’t a student addressing her Sensei and Raikage-to-be, but a woman who had been repressing a burning rage about the situation for years saying that, without question, she wanted to be the one who delivered vengeance to the one who made her mother’s life what it was.

But just as quickly, she warmed again, the smile returning. “And I ain’t gonna make no promises, but I’ll hint around it, see what she says. She’s pretty awesome, and I ain’t just sayin’ that cause she’s my mom, promise. As far as the whole names and shit goes, I’m down for that. I mean, ‘Seraph of Death’ sounds badass, and fits what I’m after, ya know? Control over who the good ‘ole Grim Reaper pays a visit. Scions are pretty awesome and fit the same sorta theme too, as an option.” The unanimous decision to hunt Pirates only brought a predator smile to the woman’s face, but it was quickly replaced with one of honest and innocent excitement at the sound of food.

“Fuckin’ awesome! I mean, I’ll make it up ta ya later, just name the chore or whatever you need me ta handle to pay you back, but I could eat my weight in some good fuckin’ food right now.” Funny enough, she wasn’t exaggerating all that much; she had a ravenous appetite that was not so easily quenched by what most people would consider a normal amount of food, and considering her figure, it wasn’t that hard to figure out where all those excess calories would be going. She had heard of Ayano’s, but could never afford it, and thus had to settle for catching whiffs of the food as she passed by the place once in a while.

[4]

Ryuko blinked in confusion at Mort’s comment.   Every other friday was exactly what she had meant but it seemed like she’d ended up talking past him by accident somehow.   Maybe she was more tired from the sparring match then she thought if her word choices were slipping like that.

Maybe she wasn’t the only one feeling a bit off given their lack of reaction to her point blank telling them that there was a high chance one of them would be chosen to become the next Raikage.   She would have expected at least a little more excitement about that prospect but perhaps they hadn’t caught onto the full implications of what she’d been saying quite yet.

“Tis no trouble to accommodate you Mort,  In fact why don’t you all have that day off.   Making sure to at least get a minimum of rest every now and then is crucial to maintaining peak performance.” It wasn’t like that would be the only day they would be getting off every two weeks but having a break to look forward to would help keep them motivated.

Ryuko’s eyes widened slightly in surprise when she heard Tamwyn’s age.   He was legally speaking for all intents and purposes an adult which she hadn’t been expecting.   It felt kind of weird to have a bunch of students who were almost her own age but considering her stance on keeping children off the battlefield it made sense.    The other kage would just end up laughing at her if she proposed banning child shoulders at the next conference if she had a squad full of them herself.


“I can assure you that Nariko is well aware of the drinking thing at the very least.  You have me to thank for that one being legal for gennin.  As a priestess I need to drink for religious reasons, but when I was starting out I used to get a lot of trouble whenever I tried to procure alcohol so I asked Nariko to change the law for me.”   explained the Vestal.  The fact that she omitted any honorifics when speaking of the current Raikage went to show just how close the two of them were.  


“Tamwyn you realize that you’re speaking to the richest woman in the entire land of lightning, correct?  I wasn’t always miss moneybags however.  When I first came to the village my clan gave me little more than a house to live in.  I earned everything else with my own two hands” She didn't want to brag much since having such a nice place to stay and her clan name still gave her a massive head start over what two from the slums had to work with.  

The bulk of her fortune had come from taking the money she’d earned as a shinobi and investing it.  First into her own stores and then into various businesses like Ayano and Damian’s.  Basically it took money to make money and she was really really good at doing that considering how much she’d been able to drag in when she had an entire nation at her disposal.  

The gross national product of her soon to be kingdom had gone through the roof allowing her to do some pretty crazy things like starting to expand the navy to over three times it’s previous capacity.   She hadn’t even officially taken over and yet her short time on the reigns had already transformed the soon to be kingdom into a financial juggernaut the likes of which were rarely seen.

With all the new jobs that she was providing she hoped that places like the slums would soon be a thing of the past.  What good was all the money she was bringing into the country if it wasn’t trickling down to those at the lowest part of the ladder?   Hakkin knew she already had more than she’d be able to spend in a lifetime if her only goal was to live comfortably rather then improve everyone else’s lifestyle.

“Even if you don’t want my direct help tis would be wise to at least seek my advice on such matters.  I can do things like point you to the missions with the best ratio for return of effort or help you source and secure the best locations to build a store where you’ll receive the most traffic among other things."   she said insisting that he shouldn't be so reluctant to lean on her expertise.

Ryuko’s face flushed at being referred to in such a manner by Eli.  She knew she wasn’t exactly what you’d call bad looking and that she had a refined air of beauty about her but she also didn’t turn heads the way Natsuru or Niko did when they entered a room.    She wasn’t used to getting that type of attention and it made her feel giddy even if she wished Eli could have put it a little less vulgarly.

“Eli you make tis sound as if we are fresh cuts of meat at the market to be sold.  I’m better than that, you are better then that.” Ryuko said chidingly. A small part of her almost had to wonder if the girl was attempting to catfish her or simply marry into money.  She hated that part of herself that always had to be paranoid about stuff like that.  

“Of course. Tis was my intention from the beginning.  I would like you to promise me that you won’t kill him however.”  asked Ryuko.  She wanted just retribution not vengeance.   If he was dead they wouldn’t be able to have a proper court trial where Ryuko could strip him of his nobel title and then take some of his assets to give to the people who  he had wronged. Namely Eli and her mother.

Considering Eli’s goal of immortality Ryuko made a mental note to make sure the girl was around if she ever had the opportunity to use her sword that could bring back the dead once she unlocked the ability to summon it.  Seeing that in action might produce some interesting results for the girl’s research after all.

"Speaking of blue blood I’ve never quite understood why they call people who were born as nobility that when we bleed red just the same as anyone else.   Tis may seem strange to hear this from me but our linage is not a guarantee of any particular merit, competence or expertise"   said Ryuko wisely.   She knew plenty of nobles who were good for nothings  who costed though life on the back of their family's name.

Hearing that Tamwyn had never been to a restaurant before made Ryuko feel very guilty indeed for the lifestyle she led where she was well fed each and every day.   She did so much to give back to the country and sponsored several welfare programs but was it really enough when  people like him and Eli were still going hungry?

“Right then follow me.” she said as she led the small group to the restaurant in question which was in a busier part of town away from the administration section.    Walking into the building she saw that not much had changed since the last time she had seen it a couple of years ago.   It was still the same middle class place it had always been catering to a wide variety of clients.

Without hesitation Ryuko headed straight to a section reserved for Vip and took a seat as if she owned the place which might not be far from the case considering her shareholder status.  She wondered what the owner Ayano herself was up to since she hadn’t seen the woman in a long while.

“I’ll take the usual.” she asked just to see if the staff still remembered it or not. “What will you guys be having?” she asked her students as they studied the menu. 'Just to be clear Eli their isn’t anything to be made up for.  As long as you do your job it’s my job to make sure you’re taken care of.    Keeping my students fed isn’t charity, tis business.” Ryuko declared in an effort to make clear that this wasn’t a free handout but rather a  necessary expenditure on her part.

[26]

He'd give a thumbs up as his alternating fridays were secured. While he probably wouldn't be able to get the amount of rest Ryuko was hoping for on that day, not having a schedule conflict was always a positive. It also was a nice surprise to hear Tamwyn was slightly older then himself, as that gave him a small excuse to act a little more immature. not too much as he still needed to act the part of a future chunin, but chunin had quirks no matter what and now he could have some fun with it.

Instead of returning Eli's smile, he'd instead raide his eyebrow in confusion, the accent making it harder to understand what she was getting at. 'Oh my god they're still flirting.' 'Flirting's natural. They're natural, unlike you.' 'Was she flirting with all of us?' 'Yes dumbass.' 'Why do people keep thinking I'm a bombshell of a hottie???' '...people like a person in uniform? That or their Id has no self control.' It was a truly surreal moment, as that made two people who theoretically liked him, and that thought was both comforting but also uncomfortable as he really wasn't ready for that sort of attention.

In response to her thought on the term 'blue blood', he'd idly respond. "I assume it's due to to some sort of bloodline or fuinjutsu. Both could easily be the culprit." But that was idle talk. No, now was the time for food! Sheathing the swords and attaching them to his person. He'd make a small little power pose just to take the moment in that yes, he really was wielding legendary swords of legend, and now he could carve his own legendary feats into more legends.

Following Ryuko to the restaurant, he'd note a few people were looking at them,and he had to wonder, was it due to Ryuko since she was famous, or the swords as they were just, if not more famous then the current Kage. Did they even know the swords existed seeing as they were in storage for so long? Too many questions, and no answers to be found. Thankfully though the trip was short enough and hid mind distracted from people watching that it wouldn't matter as they arrived. What was more surprising was that there was a VIP area.

Sitting down and looking at the menu he'd be simultaneously impressed by the selection, yet a little off by the disjointed feel of it all. Sure a lot of is worked, but Goose and Onion rings on the same menu? Not something he'd do, but to each their own. "I'll do Pork Gyoza and a Garden Salad to start, Chicken Fried Rice for the main meal with Spicy Vegetarian Chili & Baked Potato Skins as sides, and Fruit Parfait for dessert. Oh right, Lemonade and water for the drinks, the water coming before the Gyoza if possible please and thank you." Was it a lot for a ninja? maybe, but his body intook a lot of calories, and with him downing several Yin pills without any water was starting to get to him.

Tamwyn wouldn't say anything to anything that was being said. He wasn't really being addressed and he didn't really need to comment on anything. This would change though when the discussion turned to the topic of the term of 'blue bloods'. Tamwyn would wait until Mort spoke his thoughts on the matter before opening up. "It's a term coined by a small country centuries ago. Originally the pale skinned inhabitants intermarried with they're dark skinned neighbors. A few though chose to keep their family history 'pure' and shut themselves off in the mountains. You see, having darker skin was a sign of a lower class individual in that country and when those pale skinned inhabitants came out their pale skin allowed their blood vessels to be visible in a blue colour. Just like today, it's just that in that small country there were so few pale skinned individuals and they were all effectively royalty that they were referred to as 'Blue bloods' and the use of the term spread in the way that terms usually do between languages." He would say, citing the piece of history they were discussing about as he stood and began to put on his upper body clothing.

He couldn't very well go to this 'Ayano's Cafe' half naked could her? Although he supposed to that maybe that wouldn't matter much in a shinobi village where people were likely to have much fewer clothing than you might expect. Still, Tamwyn was a gentleman and walking into an establishment with no shirt on was unthinkable in his eyes. After a minute or two his upper body clothing would again be donned and he would be wearing his black undershirt, gray vest, tie, and the cloak he wore over it all. The symbol of Kumogakure shining in gold on the buckle that held the cloak together.

Once they arrived at the restaurant Tamwyn would sit down only after El and Ryuko had done so, choosing to be polite and letting the ladies sit first before doing so himself. Once he sat down and they had ordered would he do the same. Mort would order before him and Tamwyn would nod his head as the purple haired man ordered. It was a typical shinobi order, they did so many high calorie exercises just training that they always had to make sure when they ate that they replenished those calories. This was a basic fast of shinobi life and he highly doubted Ryuko expected any less. "I'll have the Pork Gyoza, Nigiri, Five-Spiced Goose, and Spicy Tsukemen, no dessert thank you, but for drinks I would like green tea, and water, thank you very much." He would order, politely and setting the menu in the restaurant aside.

As they were waiting for their food Tamwyn would decide to ask a question. "So Ryuko-sensei, you woke up from a coma a short time ago correct? How long were you in it and how do you find the village since you awoke if it's changed at all?" He would ask, curiosity within his yellow eyes as he waited, his hands folded in his lap as he made light conversation.

El only nodded to the idea of them all getting that scheduled day off, already mentally planning and working through what that would look like in regards to how her schedule worked now. Depending upon the workload, she would be losing a little more sleep, but that was about it, and that wasn’t too big of a loss. She wouldn’t put her mother aside simply because she ‘possibly’ had found a real Sensei and wasn’t going to be setting her own schedule anymore. Wasn’t worth griping about anyway, and based on what she had seen thus far, she and her mother were going to wind up owing Ryuko sooner than later anyway. It being legal to drink only barely registered in her mind; for the raven-haired woman, it was an unneeded expense. She only pouted for half a second as Tamwyn put his shirt back on, only teasingly.

She did, however, make sure to retain the information being given about how Ryuko could direct them to the most cost-efficient methods of making more Ryo because that was something that could come in handy for later. El decided that bringing it up now might have been a little out of turn though, and kept it mentally tabbed to discuss at a later time. She could do nothing but roll her eyes at the comment about them being labeled as ‘slabs of meat’. “Ain’t how I meant it. Just how I talk. But if you think about it, for someone who doesn’t even get meat very damn often, ‘fresh cuts of meat at the market’ sounds pretty damn heavenly to me. I just say what I think is all. Ain’t no time to be hidin’ shit and bitin’ yer tongue when you could wind up dead tomorrow, ya know? I’m an open book.” She then transitioned to the next subject and only nodded, a genuine, warm smile touching her face for a moment. “Deal. ‘Sides, Death would be the easy way out for scum like that…” she said as casually as if they were talking about the weather.

Once they arrived, El walked without hesitation with Ryuko, sitting in the corner of the room so she could keep her back to a wall and her eyes on the people inside casually. Her comment about it not being a ‘charity’ event to feed her only caused the woman to shake her head. “No disrespect, ‘cause I appreciate the hell outta what yer doin’, but you can either tell me somethin’ I can do to make it up to ya, or you can discover what I figure out on my own. Either way, I’m a big believer in ‘equivalent exchange’. That, and I’m not jokin’ about my appetite. I ain’t tryin’ ta drain you dry cause yer bein’ nice.”

She then turned to the server. “Big glass of water, no ice, for the moment.” she said politely to the waitress, still not having reached a solid conclusion with Ryuko yet, and not wanting to jump the gun in either direction. Looking at the menu, she shook her head side to side. “Anyhow, I wouldn’t even know what to get with all this fancy crap…” she mumbled, reading through to try to find some dishes she recognized and being rewarded with her stomach growling audibly, which she promptly ignored.

She didn’t look like it, but she was definitely listening for more information about the Coma that Ryuko was in too; that was important information.

[5]

“I’ve never heard of a clan that has literal blue blood but if they exist I’d love to study them.” Commented Ryuko in reply to Mort’s comment.   She listened as Tamwny gave a detailed explanation of the subject blinking in surprise at the obscure bit of knowledge her student had scrowenged up.     It just went to show that just because she was a sage didn’t mean she knew everything. She still had a lot to learn and even a teacher could learn from their students.

“How silly to mistake the color of veins for blood.  Tis nothing but a myth that blood inside the body is blue due to being deoxygenated.” commented the priestess with a dry laugh.  As a certified medical doctor she would know that sort of thing as a matter of course.

She could care less about whether Tamwyn was wearing a shirt or not since she wasn’t into guys to begin with.  This was a family dinner not a 5 star restaurant which meant the dress code was much more relaxed.   She wasn’t sure how to parse Eli’s reaction though.  The way she seemed to flirt with both men and women alike was something the sheltered Priestess wasn’t used to.

She was used to sexuality being a binary thing. You where either straight like most people where or gay like herself.  She’d never met someone who straddled both sides of the fence before and to be honest she didn’t think she had yet either.  She was pretty sure Eli was just teasing her since it wasn’t unusually for girls to be a bit playful with each other even as just friends.

“Ah Carpe diem” said  Ryuko with a knowing nod of her head.  She could understand where Eli was coming from with the statement about possibly ending up dead tomorrow.   Ryuko’s all too close brush with death was the perfect proof that you had to live for the moment since you never knew which could be your last.

“Oh please Equivalent exchanged!” Ryuko said with a dismissive scoof.  “What are you an alchemist?   The value of things can be highly subjective. As you just expressed, a fresh cut of meat at the market for you is heavenly where I purchase things like Kobe beef or Foie gras with my pocket change.”   she said listing some very expensive food products that graced her dinner table on the regular.

Looking at how conserative the girl's order had been so far she sighed.  It seemed it was going to take some work to get Eli used to the kind of casual good will that she tended to give out on a whim.

“Just eat something already. You’ll need your energy if you want to perform well on your mission tomorrow since I’m not going to help much beyond keeping you safe.”  she explained.  The truth was having them around on this type of mission was only holding her back  acting like a handicap.    

If the only point was to complete the mission as fast as possible Ryuko could easily do it on her own in less than half the time then she could by taking her squad with her but if she did that they’d never learn and grow.   What they needed most now wasn’t simply training their base stats but experience out in the field.

“Besides I doubt you could out eat me anyhow.” said the priestess in a challenging tone as her order began to arrive.   One one plate was a deluxe bacon double cheeseburger with onion rings while a second had several rice balls.   There was also a large bowl of king of kings ramen and a second of poiten topped with copious amounts of gravy and cheese as well as a large pepperoni pizza and a caesar salad.

For dessert she had a plate of dango as well as two extra large chocolate chip cookies and for drinks she had two cans of beer alongside a shirley temple,  a glass of fruit punch and another of chocolate milk.   It seemed like a proposturs amount of food for a woman of her size, especially as she didn’t seem to have an ounce of extra fat on her but she wasn’t such a high class ninja for nothing.   The higher the specs the higher the calories you tended to burn

Picking up her fork Ryuko was about to dig into her salad only to freeze like a deer caught in the headlights at Tamwyn’s unexpected question.  Her coma was kind of a heavy topic, the type of thing you didn’t really talk about that casually so she didn’t think it would come up.

“The world sure has changed since the last time I descended. All this fancy new technology the likes of I have never seen.   Lot’s of things I wish I could have had during my lifetime.” spoke a voice, clear like a bell that was definitely not Ryuko but was coming from her mouth anyway.  

If one looked closely at her they would see that the strand of hair near the front that where usually blue had turned blond and even her pupils that where usually white from Leukocoria had changed to the normal black.


“Hey, he wasn’t talking to you, cut tis out.” complained Ryuko as she took back control over her body.  Ever Since she had burned part of her soul to force activate Halo mode early there were moments now and then when Rafaela took over briefly the same way she had when she had first awoken on the training fields.


“Ahem.” Ryuko coughed as if to cover up the awkwardness of seemingly arguing with herself.  It made her wonder if maybe Mort was in a similar situation to hers given how he seemed to speak with more than one voice at times.


“To answer your question I was in a coma for roughly two years or so.  Tis been a bit of an... adjustment for me waking up and seeing all these changes.  My first student has gone on to become a Jounin without me.  One of my squad members had left the village and retired.   My best friend had broken up with her long time boyfriend and then gotten married in my absence.  Another friend seemingly went insane and got himself killed randomly attacking the kirigakure gates for seemingly no reason. “ she said with a haunted look in her eyes.  She hated that she hadn’t been here for her friends, hadn’t been here to diffuse the civil war before conflict had broken out.

“Tis been hard coming to terms with how much I missed while I was gone.” she admitted.  Missing her chance to duel Nozomi during the Shinobi world tournament still stung.  Ever since she’d woken up she’d been searching for the woman she had a crush on but so far to no avail.   If only she had some sort of lead to go on.

Glancing up at Eli and then to Mort and Tamwny in turn Ryuko graced them with a grin as a brillant new idea struck her. “You say you wish to repay me… Why not regale me with stories about what has been happening around here in the village and in the world while I was asleep.” she suggested.    She’d gone over a lot of the intelligence reports already but those couldn’t cover everything.     What better way to find out more than from people who pretty much lived on the ground level?  If anyone knew the word on the street it was those living in the slums.

[27]

While finding out the answer to the strange case of Blue bloods was pretty cool, and Eli explaining he reasoning behild the strange 'fresh cuts of meat' having long passed, Ryuko's comment on Equivalent exchange was something he did wonder about. Was there some sort of universal giv-and-take, or did the world itself have a consciousness and everything's value was truly subjective? Given that Hydra were real and supposedly summons could include things like oceans and bridges, reither of which really had a 'consciousness' to begin with, he couldn't help but get lost in the thought for a bit while they were going to Ayano's as he people watched.

Everyone seemed to have a reasonable enough order, though Ryuko somehow was an even bigger eater then himself. Was it the fight itself, or just that once you reached a certain skill level your appetite just got bigger? Or was his perception of food just skewed? He absentmindedly heard Tamwyn's question to Ryuko, but the new voice practically begged for him to look and see just who was talking.

The lock of hair and eyes did not go unnoticed by the mental duo, and neither did the new voice. Said Id & Ego were shocked, as the change could be several things, a lot of them very concerning. The hair and eye change didn't feel like their passive genjutsu, but the clan practiced internal sensory, not external, so that was a bust. There were really two explanations that fit: either they had a Bijuu-like creature shoved inside them, or Ryuko had some connection to the Kurama or a similar bloodline. Given how widespread the clan was and how recent the majority of the clan came to Kumo, it was certainly possible for Ryuko to be a distant cousin. But what they said didn't quite line up with either explanation unless Ryuko's possible Id had a God Complex.

His full attention on the conversation now, he'd raise an eyebrow and wait for an opportunity to jump in and ask about it. He needed to word the question carefully, as if she was a Kurama-offshoot she probably wouldn't know the subtle indicators that he knew and would be welcome. the Bijuu or Bijuu-adjacent didn't really work either, and if it was something else, well he didn't really want to accept his teacher might have more mental issues then half of his clan combined. Still, hearing the perspective of someone slightly displaced from their original life was unique. He knew about her group, and even met the Blood Raven, but even so the fact Ryuko was left behind, not even out of malice, made him wonder: would that happen to him? Or would he do it to them?

Unfortunately for Mort and his questions, they'd have to wait as it seemed Ryuko wanted the tro to tell some stories. "Stories for food, I think I'll have to pass on that one. Not because I don't want an excuse to not tell a story, no. To miss telling a good story is practically sacrilege to a Kurama. Nah, I just don't want to sour the mood as the only real story I have involves an...interesting run in with the Blood Raven and not much else in terms of recent events, just vignettes while I was at the training grounds and those aren't any fun for story time...aw shit now that I'm gonna be promoted to Chunin outside of the Exams I'm going to have to kiss Senou's shadow now." He shudder as he recalled his declaration to the woman when they were having donuts, and now he wondered how he was going to see the history those swords had now. As unpleasant of a woman as she was, swords were swords and he had a goal to undertake with said swords.

Tamwyn would nod at Ryuko's statement regarding how silly it was for people to mistaken the colour of veins for that of blood. It was true enough and even he knew that was a myth. Still, people did very strange things when they lacked information. Ryuko's order would arrive and Tamwyn would chuckle as the servers placed all of the food. An enormous bowl of ramen, a huge burger with bacon and meat and cheese galore, a bowl of some kind of gray lumpy substance he'd never seen before. A  plate with a few rice bowls and a 30 inch wide pepperoni pizza. If he had gauged El well enough, the girl was about to order left and right to try to out eat their sensei just to say she could. Tamwyn for one, was quite content to stay out of that little competition.

When he asked her about her coma she would pause, as if a deer in a headlights. To be honest, Tamwyn knew full well that the topic he had broached would be one most would leave alone. However this setting, and general mood made for the best time to bring up such topics in his opinion. Why would you want to make a bad mood worse? Here things were friendly, and content and given how the day had gone he doubted the topic would bring the mood down. That made this the perfect time in his eyes. Of course, seeing her pause like a poleaxed steer was amusing too. What he would not expect was a completely different fucking voice to come out of her mouth and a strand of hair turned blonde. Not only that but her pupils had turned black.

Blinking once or twice in confusion as Ryuko's voice returned and the strand of hair darkened to blue and her eyes lightened back up. Tamwyn would open his mouth, already moving to ask the question. "What was that sensei? Or rather, 'Who was that?'" He would ask with an eyebrow raised. That was certainly an odd occurrence  and he felt that perhaps knowing more about it would be good for him and the rest of the team if that was something that might occur again.

Her information about how she had just woken up after two years in a coma, and how much she had missed in that time would prompt Tamwyn to go into a pensive mood as he considered it. Could he deal with such an occurrence easily if he were in her shoes? He didn't know, and he hoped he would never have to find out. Still though, missing so much of the worlds events must have been an absolute shock to the system when she had awoken. It was no surprise that she was now asking for stories about what had happened in the world since she had fallen into the coma.

Tapping a staccato rhythm on the table with his fingers as he considered his words he would take a few moments to settle himself. Mort himself passed on sharing, mostly because he didn't have anything to tell. Tamwyn however had tried to get at least some things and there were others that most in the world knew. So with a breath he would begin. "Well, Kirigakure began to expand it's borders rapidly. From what I can tell, one Kage took over the nations surrounding The Land of Water and sent men and women to the Land of Demons. That Land of Demons mission was a disaster, as the man who went, Ken Tetsudashi, proceeded to commit what could only be described as heinous crimes to the men and women there. He's a mission shinobi now, although I don't know where. Land of Demons still ended up under Kirigakure control and the inhabitants were enslaved. I'm not sure myself if that was ever resolved. For all I know the minor nation is free now, but I simply don't know." He would say, beginning with what probably occurred shortly after she went into said coma.

"A short time later, the Blood Prison in the Land of Grass was attacked and countless inmates were released. I don't know specifics, but from what I do know the Society played a key part in the attack." He would continue the catch up as their food arrived, waitresses setting Mort and Tamwyn's food on the table before them. Tamwyn however wouldn't make a move to eat. Not until everyone had food, and that included El. He would wait to see if she would take the challenge to try to out eat Ryuko first and then wait for her food to arrive. "I think this was a different Mizukage ordering this, but sometime last year Kirigakure sacked the Land of Iron and robbed it of it's exclusives. Hana Kaguya was credited with the attack by Kyoji Hoshigaki, who I'm unsure if he was the Mizukage during the initial expansion." He would say, his eyes looked up and to the left, as if remembering. "Finally came Nozomi Himitsu's broadcast to the world." He would say, not knowing just how significant that name was to Ryuko. He would stop to take a drink of his tea, not eat anything, and continue. "Essentially in the broadcast Nozomi claimed responsibility for the attack on the blood prison. Doing so to rescue a girl named 'Chiheisen Otsutsuki'. Apparently the prison was funded by the major nations and many prisoners there hadn't even done any crimes, simply been considered 'too dangerous'. She proceeded to air out the villages dirty laundry, bringing up Konoha's conquest of multiple minor nations as well as the subjugation of Iwagakure and the Land of Earth, Kirigakure's assaults on multiple minor nations, including the Land of Demons, and the sacking of the Land of Iron. She talked about such things were considered 'acceptable' while what the Society had done was a crime of some kind."

He would take a breath before continuing "She talked about one named 'Akeno Tatsuda'. How she had gone to Konohagakure when the plague struck the Land of Earth like a hammer. She sought refuge for her and those of the Land of Earth, hoping to one day return to Iwagakure with it as another major village. When she returned however, Konohagakure attacked them and killed Akeno, continuing their control and subjugation of the nation." He would pause, signaling the end of that part. "Next Nozomi goes onto talking about how the nations would be made to answer for their crimes. She personally speaks to one named 'Akihiro Uchiha' who apparently tried to assassinate her outside of Kirigakure. Then she proceeded to broadcast the coordinates of Konoha, Kirigakure, and our own Kumogakure." He would say, finishing his recollection of that event before taking another drink of his tea. "Those are more or less the high points really." He would say simply, quieting down to see and hear Ryuko's reaction.

El’s eyes narrowed for a moment as the woman dismissed her principles all at once but then shrugged. A surprise method of payment it was then. It didn’t matter if those principles didn’t apply where Ryuko was concerned, because they mattered to the young Genin, and it wasn’t something that would be shaken off so easily. Ryuko would just find her home randomly cleaned or something one day and she would be able to call it even, but it was when the woman issued it as a challenge that the smile returned to her face as the spark of competition lit in her eyes, turning the dull bronze-amber hue to an almost red with excitement. She turned on the waitress and jutted a thumb at Ryuko.

“I’ll have whatever she’s havin’, but make it a double.” There was no joke there, and the waitress blinked for a few moments before nodding quietly and jotting it down, scurrying off to tell the cook the insanity that had just been ordered. Maybe Ryuko would have more than one favor owed in her direction, but for the moment, that wasn’t a real concern for now. Hearing a second voice come out of Ryuko made her pause though and blink twice in small concern for her teacher. That wasn’t the precursor to some mental break, was it? She was happy a Jounin was actually caring about her and all but wasn’t really sure if having one that couldn’t even keep their own shit together would be better than being alone.

Still, it was too soon to tell, so she reserved judgement and just logged the information she knew in the back of her mind. She couldn’t imagine going into a coma and missing out on all of those things that had occurred, even if the only one she was pretty sure would be affected would have been her poor mother. Considering she was a medical professional, it would have driven her insane because they wouldn’t have been able to afford proper medical facilities.

And now she wanted a story? Interesting. Mort didn’t have much of the way of stories, and passed in a way but still provided some interesting information, and Tamwyn gave them all basically a history lesson of the current events, most of which El hadn’t been tracking because of what she was about to explain. If this was how she was going to pay Ryuko back for feeding her, she might as well make it worth while.

She took a deep breath, centering herself, and sighed. “Well, I ain’t as learned as y’all, so my story prolly ain’t as good but here goes.” She gave them a weak smile first; it was obvious this wasn’t a story she shared lightly. “Y’all already know I live in the slums, but what ya don’t know is that my mom still works as a healer there. Ain’t like a ton of people got the Ryo to uh, pay for that sorta thing, so we do a lotta tradin’. Ain’t nothin’ super fancy, just like a couple loafs of bread in exchange fer healin’ a busted ankle. Shit like that. Well, in the slums, it ain’t easy for people to come up with stuff that’s worth the healin’ Momma can do. She’s like, really good at it, ya know? But people get desperate. Can’t tell ya how many times I’ve had ta bust someone’s chops ‘cause they tried to threaten her. It’s kinda why I learned howta fight early on.”

She paused, realizing she had gotten off topic. “Anyhow, the slums have always been bad, but lately, the past couple’a years, it’s gotten worse. It ain’t so much that it’s changed much internally, but no one really seems to remember that it’s there. Some of the more generous used to stop by and help out once in a while… that shit don’t happen no more. Makin’ that many people even more deperate, they get angry for no reason. It’s been goin’ downhill… it’s onna the reasons I’m tryin’ to become a real Shinobi; I wanna make sure that everyone who calls themselves a citizen has the ability to get their basic needs met. Ain’t no worse thing that tellin’ a lady that her starvin’ child ain’t gonna make it. Break’s Momma’s heart, ‘cause that was almost me.” She took a moment and shook her head, regaining her familiar smirk. “That’s about all the story I got for the past couple’a years. I’ve been stuck there or the Academy, so not really had time to do much else. Good enough?” she asked Ryuko, not seeming to be too bothered by it all; to her, it was simply a fact of life.

[6]

Ryuko sighed internally as she caught her students all giving her side eyes after her houseguests' little outburst.   Great now they probably all thought she was losing her mind or something.  Just thinking about trying to explain what was going on without sounding like a religious fanatic was enough for her to feel a headache coming on.

“Hmm how to put this…” She mused out loud. “You’ve all heard of Bijuu before and how they can be sealed away into people called jinchuriki correct?” she asked.   That sort of thing was common enough knowledge among the higher ranks in the ninja world but at the same time it wasn’t universally taught at the academy level either so there was a chance that none of her students had learned much about the subject yet.

“Bijuu aren’t the only entity’s that exist in this world.  I happen to be the host to one such entity myself, though I have yet to master the full extent of her power.”  said the priestess with a light nod of her head feeling slightly silly for overthinking things when it had been easier to explain then she’d expected.


“Pleasure to be working with you.  Rafaela at your service.” said the first vestal as she introduced herself.  She didn’t take over much without permission since the vast majority of Ryuko’s soul hadn’t been overwritten yet but if the priestess cooperated the process was pretty smooth.

“You’ve met Natsuru? How did it did go” asked Ryuko perking up a bit at hearing her teammates codename.  She hadn’t had much chance to speak to her friend since waking up and wondered if the Senou was the same old cold hearted woman to strangers or if her time away from the village had matured her a bit and made her a bit nicer.

As they were talking Sophie walked into the restaurant and over to the table slipping a manilla colored folder over to Mort with a playful wink.   Having overheard the conversation he’d had with Ryuko about going over the nature clan medical files later she’d taken the initiative to bring them to him as soon as possible rather than keeping him waiting.  

The folder was thicker than you’d expect given the small numbers they had access to, though still nothing in comparison to a phone book or encyclopedia.   It contained everything they had on Rajin from before he had deserted the village as well as the time he’d been treated after his loss in the shinobi world tournament as well as Ryuko’s acquaintance Akame.   Short of having an actual nature clan person to study this was the most comprehensive amount of info on the clan any person could hope to come across.

Ryuko listened patiently to what Tamwyn had to say.  It was largely stuff she’d heard about in the intelligence reports she’d already gone over but it never hurt to confirm the details from an actual person rather than reading it from a piece of paper.


“Well luckily for us the location for Kumogakure was more or less already an open secret after the Shinobi world tournament so no harm done there.   You wouldn’t happen to have any leads to Nozomi’s current location would you?  I’ve been looking to speak with her.”  Ryuko said careful to keep her voice neutral so as not to give away just how eager she was to meet up with a wanted woman.

“Careful not to give yourself a stomach ache. I hate if you ended up missing out on the mission tomorrow because you overindulged.”  Ryuko warned with an eyebrow raised at Eli ordering double what she herself had.  The priestess had her doubts about the younger girl being able to actually polish that much food off in one go.   The only reason she herself could was because she was such a high performance ninja that she burnt way more calories than what was average.

As she started to eat it was almost blink and you’d miss it as her fork moved so fast that it was a blur.  One second the Poutine was there and then the next the bowl was empty followed by the salad.  The speed which the priestess was clearing her plates was terrifying to behold and she had already cleared almost half of her total order only to pause as she listened to Eli’s story which was enough that she almost lost her appetite.

The fact that the slums still existed, that people in her country were living in such appalling conditions barely able to scrape by was very upsetting to her.  So much of her work as a priestess had been about making the country a better place.   She often went out of her way to take on missions below her station doing things like hunting bandits and clearing drugs off the streets but those where only bandaids to the route of the problem.

She felt more than a bit guilty about the decline in recent times.  She used much of her wealth for philpatampic works  such as running soap kitchens but with her out of commissions the distribution of charity had ground to a halt since all of her operations had been too depended on her presence to run without her.  A mistake she would have to rectify in the future if her new kingdom was to have any chance of lasting past her death.

“If you had control over the country what would you do to improve the situation in the slums?” she asked not just to Eli but to Mort and Tamwny as well.  She wanted to hear her students' opinions and brainstorm the problem with them rather than try and do everything on her own.  

[28]

The food finally arriving, Mort couldn't help but nibble a little on the Gyoza as while table manners were important, wasting the taste of warm food was even more of a crime against culinary practices. The salad could wait though, even if it hit room temp salad was just one of those foods that lasted a good while. As Ryuko gave her explanation on the...thing stored inside her, they'd internally sigh. "Oh. I'm somehow both happy and disappointed with this development." Well at last the mystery of whether she was a holder of the Kurama KKG was solved, well enough at least they didn't need to be concerned for her mental well being. "But a pleasure to meet you as well. I feel like I've heard that name before, but I can't place it down. Eh, probably just heard a similar name."

Mort would tense up a little as Ryuko drew attention to his comment, and wished he hadn't brought it up, but there was no turning back now. "It was...colorful to say the least. Apparently I'm a raisin, and maybe a dog? I don't recall much of it, but I know it didn't end well in my favor." Oh he recalled it, as it had been haunting him for a good while. He really didn't want to ruin the mood of their luncheon though, and while his awkwardness would probably bring the mood down a little, it was better then having to reveal that one of Ryuko's old allies had a stick shoved so far up you could swear you could see it just talking to her.

When sophie came in with the files, he was a bit surprised. A little dissapointed that they wouldn't go together as he was trying to keep his plan a little secret, but, well as long as he didn't elaborate on why he wanted them he would probably be fine. "Osnapple." Opening the files his eyes would spiral (Both figuratively and literally) as he tried to read the files. He'd stare at the first page for a good while as he looked at the print, and realized he was going to have a field day with this one. 'I didn't even know people could write this small.' 'No shit, I think this beats out old man Mikoto.' He could make out bits and pieces, but he was going to have to borrow some reading glasses if he wanted to actually read this. Thankfully it was legible, and not the sort of annoying 'oh yeah this is totally writing and not actually a single line of scribble that only I can interpret yet everyone plays along with' that he got from a doctor. "Thank you Sophie." He give a small smile and nod to her, then went back to trying to decipher what he could for the time being, chewing on another gyoza.

When he next looked up he'd blink in surprise as he saw that half of Ryuko's food was just...gone. Was the speed at which she fought them just her normal speed, or did that entity inside of her just cause her to have an even greater appetite? When the topic of the slums came up, he'd stay silent until Ryuko asked them about what they could possibly do. "Honestly, I couldn't say. Maybe trying to convince nobles that the worse off the slums look, the worse it'd reflect off of them so that they'd channel more of their unused wealth towards that, but other then that I got nuthin'." He wondered why the slums weren't getting as many people coming around, as that was something his clan often went out of their way to do. Maybe recent events and the threat of war had them focusing on their genjutsu more? He'd have to check that later.