Fresh Start (p/nk)

Sephora walked through the beautiful village of kumogakure. No wonder so many people lived here. Her letter said for her to meet Uncle Kuro at the Raikages office, if she remembered correctly, Kumori said that Yaju and Psychosis knew each other. Not bad, expecially since Sephora had her own relationship with Yaju. Not the 'in love' kind but the two were close and he had always been there for her. Now, she waited to meet her uncle.

She arrived at the Kages office and sat down to wait on Kuro to arrive, wondering what to reallu expect.

"Saya-san, please make sure these files get to Lily and Tsubaki. The sooner we finish work on the extra wing of the hospital, the better," Akihana informed a messenger kindly, making sure the young chunin understood before she entered the waiting room that led to her own office situated directly outside the Raikage's chamber. However, before the blonde could go any further, she found a young woman waiting quietly in the room. Turning politely to address the young lady, Akihana spoke.

"Hello there, can i help you with something?" she asked, trying to remember if she had seen this kunoichi before. "I'm the Raikage's personal secretary, Akihana. I'll be glad to help you with anything you need." Her golden eyes twinkled softly as she took in the stranger, wondering why the girl was here.

"Oh, and would you like a cronut? I brought a whole batch to the office this morning."

The mad mystic, after an ill fated attempt to start an island of dinosaurs, had received a letter from Sephora about possibly letting her stay with him. Knowing she was less hassle than any normal kid, since they were related at least somewhat, he was happy to oblige, provided she didnt fuck with the Raikage. Or fuck the Raikage, regardless of how Yaju seemed to be into kids, if Kumori's age was any indication. And Kuro was the sick one? Pfft. In any case, he had been watching the gate for a while now. Well, not really watching the gate so much as noticing it because byakugan. Yes that excuse got him quite far in terms of knowledge, as it was reasonable and easily understood.

Aaaaanyway, the mad mystic decided against the traditional entrance into the Kage's office. Said traditional entrance was kicking down a wall and shouting that he was an assassin. It always ended with him being amused at the varied reactions, although he was rather curious what Akihana would do if he had done so. She probably would have screamed and threw something/someone at him. As hilarious as that would be, she could also have a heart attack and he was too soft to really let that happen. Or maybe he was too cruel in that he would make her suffer his shenanigans instead of letting it end in a simple heart attack. Although the actual chances of a ninja, let alone a medical ninja, having a heart attack and dying because she got scared, albeit by the most terrifying kumo ninja, were imperceptible. Though the solidity of his actions was a well known and discussed concept by now, it was his ingenuity which allowed him this new form of entering the office. Or rather, the room before the office. While he could easily bypass Akihana to annoy Yaju, Sephora was stuck in that room until Aki let her in, if she ever did. Doubtful, considering this was an unknown ninja, even if she presented herself as if she were harmless. Aki was no fool, after all.

A door appeared on the wall, right next to the entrance to the kage office. The door slowly opened to reveal Kuro, in all his glory, though as his creator was far far too lazy to describe how he was dressed, we shall ignore that part, unless you look at the stat page for said character. Anyway, Kuro blinked three times, before speaking. "Well this isnt my kitchen." Let the games begin!

Sephora looked up at the nice lady. So Yaju had a personal assistant? Smart man! And she seemed rather nice. Sephora smiled at her and shook her head yes at the offer of food. "I have traveled quite a ways, I am here to meet my Uncle Kuro Shikyo. I will be staying with him for a while and he asked me to meet him at the Raikages office." She said taking the treat she was offered.
She saw someone enter through a door they created. "Did you create your own door that quickly? What the deuce? Wait, are you my Uncle?" Sephora asked staring at the man who entered with wide eyes and her jaw almost hitting the floor. "I have a feeling you may have slightly missed your kitchen." Sephora added with a smirk playing across her lips.

When the young lady welcomed the offer of cronuts, Akihana turned, picking up the box that lay conveniently on a desk for people to pass by and grab one. With all the rest of the work that the Kunoichi was busy with, she hadn't had time for more home baked goods. luckily the blonde had been sent a box of complementary treats by one of the bakeries she usually supplied her things to and of course, the secretary had brought it to work to share with everyone.

It was as she was in the middle of turning back to the new comer that the blonde felt a familiar chakra in her presence, the soft waves radiating in a both lazy and mischievous glow and a warm look entered her golden eyes. "Kuro-san," she said fondly without even turning around. There was no mistaking that kind of presence anywhere.

Finally, the medic turned, balancing the box of cronuts on one hand and reaching to hug the blue haired mystic with the other. It had been too long since she'd seen him.

"I believe this is your niece," she informed him, gesturing to the pretty young girl who had mentioned Kuro was her uncle. Opening the box of treats, Akihana offered one to each. "Here you go, eat up. I'll let Yaju know you guys are here."

Leaving them for a moment, Akihana knocked politely once on the door before entering. And immediately upon her entrance, the signs were not good. It seemed the Raikage was still exhausted from using his various chakra reserves and still in the form of the nine year old redhead he had become since after the battle.

"Yaju, Kuro-san and his niece are here to see you," the medic informed him, keeping a straight face as she beheld the Yondaime Raikage on his chair, his tiny hands flying over his paperwork. "Should I send them in?"

Kuro grinned, amusedly. "I tend to miss my kitchen rather often. Maybe because I dont have one." The tower he lived in was rather open and spacious, leaving only two 'rooms', being the main floor, and then the throne room, which gave an absolutely marvelous view of the forest and village. Even better, it had a very comfortable throne. He had fallen asleep in it before, and he had trouble getting to sleep in his own bed! Although that may have something to do with his mind constantly moving towards the next goal, making him feel more like a machine sometimes. 

Kuro chuckled as Akihana hugged him, hugging her back, which lifted her off the ground a bit. Of course, since Kuro was naturally tall, and all his various forms had that in common. He liked being tall. "How you been doing Aki? Been a while, hasnt it?" Although he had changed much between now and then. Indeed, before he would rarely touch another human being, let along hug them back, unless it was someone special. Granted, Akihana was someone special but that was beside the point. 

Kuro slid between Akihana and the door before she could knock, before kicking it in. He shouted "DIE KUMO SCUM" Before throwing a javelin, made with COAT, right beside the kage's head, all at full speed. Wait... when had Yaju become a child? Kuro stared for a moment, before laughing violently, holding his sides. He fell to one knee, and kept laughing, his normally cruel and dangerous laugh being replaced by the most mirth filled laughter he had ever shown. Oh this was too rich.

As she followed Akihana ans her Uncle Kuro into Yaju's office, she tilted her head slightly staring at the Raikage. She tried not to smile;e or laugh, she actually felt sympathy for poor Yaju! But at the same time, not knowing the full story, she couldn't help but...stare. "What the deuce happened to you?" She asked as she just stared at him! "I leave and you are full grown and I come back, and you are a child! Wait, is this some way of feeling sympathy toward your pregnant girlfriend?" Sephora inquisited with her arms crossed! It was bewildering indeed seeing her friend like this!

"I swear you can't be left alone for a minute!" Sephora joked with a smile. "No but seriously Yaju, what happened?" Sephora finally asked being serious this time. All joking aside she was curious.

Work is all that he had been doing in the past couple of days, with the village being rebuilt and some other things on his plate like another jutsu being made, he could not help but feel drained...even in a child form. So thus the Raikage had been in his office working, his eyes fluttering between their normal state and a symbol he had been working on which had been a visual jutsu casted by his eyes and used Fuuinjutsu as a base. Of course this had never been done to his knowledge before so being the master at fuuin that he was he was going to create a form of it to benefit his uses. As the seal began to form in his eyes it would cut out every now and again as he struggled to keep it under control, the cause probably being him in this accursed child form but one could never truly know.

Anyways blah blah with the work until he had picked up the keen sounds of someone walking...no two someones walking towards his door. Through his advanced chakra sensory he could discern the first one easily, his secretary and friend Akihana yet the other...made him cautious. Once the second set of footsteps had stopped at his door and the pressure buckling the door had happened he was quick to act as his fist shattered the door as soon as it was launched from the walls, his eyes glaring in anticipation of another attack as the black colored lightning danced around his body. The spear that had bounded past his face made him certain that it was only one person that had been doing this and his eyes lowered while his stance remained firm," WHY THE BLOODY FUCK WOULD YOU DO THIS DAMMIT I JUST GOT THAT DAMNED DOOR FIXED, FUCK YOU MAN FUCK YOU!!!," of course he was pissed off that this was the second time he had to fix this door but when it was your friend it was .... odd.

With that being said he allowed the male to have his laugh for a moment but it was when Sephora tried to poke fun at him, the black lightning around his body would crackle violently as he stared at her," Best watch your tone child or i'll show you that this stupid setback can still put your face into that wall and then some. Anyways what the fuck are you two doing here? You," of course he pointed at Kuro because he knew that Kuro went wherever the fuck he pleased," don't answer because you really just go where you please...Now what the fuck is she doing here though," of course he didn't plan some kids tour into his building nor did he care...maybe he was cranky that he had no sleep.

Hugging back Kuro warmly, the blonde nodded. It really had been too long since she'd seen him, and she had missed him greatly even if she never told him as much. A lot of communication between their group was non verbal, they simply seemed to connect on a much higher level and understand the other. And this was the reason why when the mystic slid between her and the door, the kunoichi's panic level id not rise, not even in the face of a weapon thrown at the Kage she had sworn to protect. Because Akihana knew Yaju and Kuro like very few people did. It was when they weren't throwing deadly objects at each other when it was really time to worry.

The Raikage of course gave as good as he got, his child like form not keeping him from smashing the door and sending shrapnel flying everywhere which some poor unfortunate intern would have to clean up later. What did interest her was the aura of black lightning around him. The Kunoichi had seen it a few times before so she knew more or less how he manipulated the chakra to make his electrical attacks more potent but never had she thought to try it herself. The thought only occurred now as she stood, watching the nine year old cuss out the blue haired rinnegan user and then turn his language on the newcomer.

"Yaju, language," the blond warned, her tone automatically reverting to "mommy voice" when Arata said something she disapproved of. Akihaha couldn't help it really, the more she saw Yaju in his nine year old form, the more protective she felt of him, the more like Arata he became despite his clear power and focus.

And peaking of power.

Raising her hand, the blonde tried to imitate the black nature of Raiton marauding Yaju, focusing her energies on the way his worked and holding out the palm of her hand. It was a bizarre scene. Kuro was on one knee, laughing uncontrollably as a very peeved Yaju threatened all sorts of things with the youngest member of the four simply watching in awe. To her credit, she seemed to be taking all this quite well. Any other girl would have run screaming.

A small round ball of black lightning formed on her fist, not quit enough to do anyone harm but just enough to shoot between the two males and create a temporary electrical barrier that formed for about fifteen seconds. The barrier was only visible due to the black film across it, symbolizing the skill form which it was created and though it was weak enough to simply be dispelled on its own, it was nonetheless a small step towards mastering eh skill. It also served its purpose in that moment, for it wasn’t meant to hurt, simply catch the two boys’ attention before they decided to do to the building what Kuro had just done to the door.

"Oh look, I can make it work too," she mumbled, surprised before turning to the boys.

"Okay, no more cussing. Yaju, b nice to this young lady. I'll leave you guys to talk and... see if i can get another door." With that, the blonde waved at everyone and left the room, leaving the three to discuss whatever it was they needed to talk over.

[Exit Akihana]

TWC: 1030 words.
Using 1000 wc for Black Lightning

Kuro finally stopped his fit of laughter, before standing. "Jeez, brat, you sure know how to raise that voice of yours. Just wait till it drops." Oh yes, he was going to have fun with this. Considering his notoriety for jokes, he would indeed keep going with this running gag until he could no longer breathe from laughter. " Bye Aki, I may swing by later, see how Sephora here likes Arata. Im here to adopt Sephora here." As a show of good will, as if it was needed, Kuro waved his hand an repaired the door. 

(Short post, but three long posts deleted so...)