Ah man titles are hard (Haven)

It wouldn't take long for the group to find the capital of the country, once the central hub of the large land before missing ninja had begun to pillage the area due to its lack of a shinobi military force. The few locals they had encountered had told the story Den expected to hear, it seemed that whatever group had killed Min was indeed making a power grab here, and as he walked through the streets of the damaged city he could plainly see that the attackers had been fairly powerful, and honestly Den wondered how the capital had managed to survive the attack.

Of the damage Den mostly noticed burned houses and constructs made from Wood Release, it seemed that the splinter group that had attacked Min hadn't been an anomaly, there must be more than just a few Senju with them.

The attack had been recent as well, injured and dead didn't quite litter the ground but corpses could be seen under the rubble of some buildings still, and the cries of the injured echoed throughout the village as those who had managed to survive unscathed attempted to rescue and treat them. It was likely that Akihana would leave the group temporarily to go help care for the wounded.

A few moonflys would drift from Den's sleeves and float through the air as he marched towards the capital building, a large palace like structure in the center of the city. Due to their small size only a few people would notice the balls of light slipping from his sleeve, and while they would at first seem ready to attack Den thinking he was perhaps the start of the next wave of assault by shinobi, once the ball reached someone and began healing them the people began to lower their weapons. Den was aware of the initial hostility but paid it no mind, if someone did attempt to attack him thinking he was an enemy he could easily get out of the way before their weapon even got close to reaching him.

Upon reaching the gates of the capital building Den began sensing higher levels of chakra, was this what had saved them? As he approached the gate two figures jumped down in front of him, it was clear that they weren’t used to people able to track their speed and they expected Den to not be able to react to their presence until they were already standing in front of him. They landed way to close, if Den had wanted he could have taken them out before they had hit the ground, but there was no need to be aggressive, neither of the two figures had drawn their weapon.

“What’s your business here stranger?” The first to speak looked about the same age as Den, in his late teens perhaps early twenties, just an inch shorter than Den but possessing a slightly stockier build. His voice was angry, aggressive, though the sword at his hip wasn’t drawn the young man seemed ready change that and try and cut Den down. The other man, who seemed middle age and stood a few inches taller than Den, seemed to look down at the boy disapprovingly at his aggressive tone, but didn’t seem to harbor any good will towards Den or the others within the group as well. Both men were dressed in golden colored attire.

Den tone remained civil as he responded, “Me and my associates merely saw the state of your city and wondered is you needed assista-“

“We don’t need help from the likes of your kind.” The younger man spoke again, and seemed to want to add to the sentence but the older man gave the boy a hard look and he became silent.

The older man then turned to look at Den and simply asked, “What sort of aid could you give us?”

Suppressing his smile to see that at least one of the two men wasn’t prejudice against shinobi (or at least wasn’t letting any prejudice cloud his judgement), Den was quick to come up with a response, “Well some of us are trained medical nin and can help treat the wounded, and all of us are trained combatants and could hel-“

Once more the younger man interrupted Den, “The Queensguard don’t need any help from filth like yo-“ The older man put his man on the youngers shoulder and he was silenced.

“Go tell your sister that someone has come to speak with her, we will be there shortly.” The young man looked at the elder at first with surprise, then angrily stormed back towards the palace building, before picking up the pace and to the eyes of all but the shinobi disappearing as he jumped towards a distant window.

“You’ll have to excuse him… a group of shinobi has been ravaging our lands the past few years and they’re all he knows of your kind.” He would continue to speak as he opened the gates and allowed the group in, walking beside Den and leading them onward, “The truth is…. Our village has been in the need of shinobi for the past few years. Us Queensguard… we are trained to use chakra, and can fight shinobi, but there are so few of us left and so many of these rogues.”

The inside of the palace would feel quite large and was extravagantly decorated. Unlike the city, it seemed the palace was untouched, and many servants and what Den guessed were nobles seemed to be going about business as though their home hadn’t just been attacked.

As they moved through the mass of people the elder man continued to speak to Den, “You see, actually, we have been trying to gather funds to create our own shinobi force, to gather a few skilled shinobi and have them begin to train a few students and steadily begin creating our own army of ninja to combat these rogues.”

It seemed that Den’s interests and the countries co-aligned, they indeed wanted his help. It wasn’t long before the group arrived at a grand door, however the mood didn’t seem quite as disconnected from the one outside the walls of the palace as the rest of the place. Doctors seemed to be rushing in and out of the room, and Den arrived to see a woman in a bed, the young golden clad fellow at her side, as doctors continued to tend to her wounds, Den noting quickly that no medical ninja were present.

Tomoya and Toma would be left at the door as Den entered, and possibly Akihana as well if she didn’t go and help the civilians.

Upon entry the details of an agreement were formed, and the Queen was very upfront about her feelings with shinobi. Essentially she didn’t trust shinobi in general, however during her last battle she had been poisoned and it seemed no doctor could cure her condition, only delay the effects. If Akihana was not present, Den would offer her medical services to the Queen, believing she could come up with a cure for the poison that would save the queens life. If Aki was there he’d allow her to speak for herself instead, or not if she chose to.

After a short time the deal would be struck, if the Queen were cured of her poison she would grant Denkiteki land within the city to build defensive structures, and they would begin to remodel the country’s military structure to support more chakra users. Den would have to find a way to gather those with naturally high chakra reserves to begin training shinobi himself. The Queensguard would be in charge of the shinobi to ensure that the monarchy was in control of these new soldiers and that Den didn’t simply use the government’s money to build his own army, he and his associates were simply to be brought on as teachers and soldiers, not military leaders.

If Akihana was not with the group, Den would quickly send Toma to go find her and bring her to the palace, and would have him inform her of the Queen’s condition and that if she were cured she would believe their intentions were sincere and would not only accept their aid but actually request to have them begin teaching people shinobi arts for use by the military.

It was the stench of the Capital that hit Akihana first. The stench and the flies.

Had the blonde not seen so much in her time as a medical ninja, there was no doubt she wouldn’t have been able to stomach the sheer amount of desolation this place reeked off. As she and Den neared the Capital, the gates looming in the distance, Akihana saw around the structure. Anyone could see the battered state of the city but few actually stopped to conclude what it implied. As a cloud of flies crowded a fallen building, the blonde tried to keep her face from reacting, a sign that decaying bodies were still underneath. The only city that did not bury their dead was one that lived in fear of death every moment. The wildlife around the area was scarce, no doubt hunted by the locals as a means of survival. Where cats and dogs would be plenty given the amount of decaying bodies, no  mammals crossed their path and only dry brush served to ring the city in sparse, crackly thickets. Signs of burnt buildings and unstable wooden structures that testified to the presence of a crude shinobi with wood release were aplenty too, as though despite having achieved the advanced element, the shinobi in question had not thought to hone their skill with it, or thought of the ramifications of building more wooden structures in an area where building seem to frequently get burnt.

The few inhabitants of the city that dared to approach their little company did so with fearful eyes and even more fearful footfalls, as though they were used to strangers walking into their city and causing them harm. Looking at their spindly limbs and defeated, vacant eyes made Akihana stop in her tracks, casting a look towards Den as if seeking silent permission to stay back and help. She knew they had a mission but this was more important. Though few words had been exchanged between Den and the locals while Akihana mostly stayed back to observe, the story was quite clear. The town didn’t simply reek of death and decay, it also gave of the sense Akihana had been all too familiar with a few months ago, the sense of hopelessness.

“Mama!” a voice rang out, quickly followed by the pounding of little feet on the sun scorched, uneven path. “Mama, Nym’s trapped in the water gardens, she can’t get out.” The owner of the voice was a little girl who appeared to be no older than Arata, her feet bare and blistered as she ran in the heat and her dress ripped at the shoulder, one sleeve almost missing, her ink dark hair in wild bunches around her dirt streaked, tanned face. “Mama! Where are you? Nym can’t move.” Tears had sprung in the little one’s eyes and that was Akihana’s queue. With another look Den’s way, the blonde broke off from the company, heading tot eh little girl.

“Come here, sweetie, what’s wrong? We might not have time to get your Mama, let me help please.”

The child regarded her with suspicious, her coffee brown eyes studying Akihana through the tears, Clearly she wasn’t used to strangers offering help but the urgency of the moment propelled her to trust this newcomer for want of another option. “It’s my sister,” the girl admitted, reaching a dirty hand to wipe at her eyes. “She tried to find water. I told her there’s no water in the water gardens anymore but she was thirsty and the Queensguard haven’t come around yet… she… part of the old gazebo fell on her and and…” As the child spoke, Akihana activated her bloodline limit, searching as far as her ability would allow for structures matching the description. The water garden made no sense since nothing here looked remotely green and water… well that was a different thing entirely.

“Please take me to her, we can get ger out,” Akihana encouraged and picked up the child in her arms, giving the little girl the picnic basket to hold. “Now you tell me where to go and I’ll carry you, we’ll be faster that way.” The girl’s surprise at being picked up by the strange woman was only surpassed by her amazement at being handed a picnic basket, one that might contain food. Still she pulled herself together and pointed, holding on to Akihana and the basket tight as the kunoichi applied chakra to ehr feet and ran.

They found Nym under what looked to be a very old and crumbling gazebo – as it turned out this place had once indeed been a lush green garden – and Akihana was able to get the girl out by clearing a small path underneath the girl and pulling her out while making sure none of the collapsed structure fell on the girl. Nym was injured but not fatally so, no, the girl’s mean problem seemed to be dehydration,, Akihana noted. With Ara – the child who had led her here – helping her, they both laid Nym down and Akihana held her hand up to the parched teenager, trickling a tiny stream of water into her mouth and on her face. At first the older girl was too weak to react but after a few minutes of steady water moistening her lips, she finally opened her eyes, took a deep breath... and then flinched when she saw Akihana.

“No Nym, it’s okay, this is the Promised Princess,” Ara replied and after a moment, Nym just shook her head.

“Don’t try to move yet,” Akihana instructed, continuing to use the water to bathe the girl’s forehead and then arms to cool off the teen. Once she had judged it safe to turn off the water, the blonde reached out to heal the minor injuries Nym had sustained. Ara watched in amazement as Akihana’s hands glowed over her sister’s body, healing her cuts and bruises and replacing her cracked skin with a fresh new layer.

“Are you one of the Queensguard?” Nym finally asked once she was able to sit up. Akihana merely shook her head even as Ara said that girls couldn’t be Queensguards. Nym then explained that only the guards had the ability to make water appear like that which led Akihana to deduce that either this faction was skilled with chakra or just the suiton element. What did confuse her was why the population was nearly dehydrated if there were shinobi present who could generate water. The answer was revealed as Akihana was walking the two girls home, Nym still weak from her episode and leaning on Akihana while Ara clinging to the kunoichi as she once again carried the child who in turn carried the basket, now with an air of pride that she was being trusted with something that belonged to the “Promised Princess”.

“This whole place used to be the water gardens,” Nym explained as they walked through the dry, prickly brush, the telltale horde of flies lingering here and there to show where a fresh body was hidden in the bushes. “It used be to be so green and little streams ran in paths through it. People used to come down here for picnics, to hang out, my parents got married in that gazebo I was under just now. But then those bad people came.” At this, a hush fell over both girls as their identical coffee tinged eyes looked around as though speaking of these bad men would make them appear. “They just came out of nowhere and said they were going to take over. The Queensmen – that used to be our local police force, the Queensguards only do palace work - tried to stop them but these men had strange powers and soon… soon enough…” Nym trailed off, a wetness in her eyes that she tried to hide.

“They took daddy,” Ara offered. “I don’t remember because I was too young but Mama said Daddy become a star in the sky after those men killed him. He was one of the Queensmen and all the Queensmen were killed so it fell to the Queensguards to defend the city.”

“Only, the Queensguard weren’t enough,” Nym continued after discreetly drying her eyes. Akihana could imagine what the girl must be going through. She was older, had probably been there when her father was killed. She stayed silent out of respect for the girl, letting her take her time as she recounted the story.

The three females had begun their walk from the water gardens on their own but as they headed towards the main city square, it looked like people were coming out of their houses to gawk at the trio. Never comfortable as the center of attention, Akihana kept her gaze on the two girls with her, supporting Nym on their slow progress to where the sisters lived as she listened to the story. As it turned out Haven had always been something of a matriarchy. Instead of Diamyo and kings, it had always had a queen and through some kind of geneticanamoly, the queen was always blonde. At least that explained why Ara thought her sister’s savior was elated to royalty. Haven had been a largely vicilian country that ahd mae it’s mark in trade, education and religion. There were remains of many temples, mosques and mausoleums across the country if Nym was to be believed. At one time, scholars from far and wide had travelled to Haven in search of education and apprenticeship opportunities. The country had always prospered with kind to negligent rulers but no outright cruel ones and everything had been alright until a rogue band of ninja had arrived and decided to target the country for all its resources and to make it a base. Haven was just far enough from Suna to go neglected and just nondescript enough to not evoke sympathy from other shinobi villages. In the greater scheme of things, the country practically didn’t exist, something these ninja had taken great advantage of.

“But why didn’t the Queensguard defend the capital,” Akihana asked. The reply didn’t come from the two sisters, it instead came from one of the group of little children that had taken to trailing the tree travelers. Not only were Akihana and the girls causing a lot of interest in the locals but the children were now brave enough to come out and fall in behind her, as though she was some kind of pide piper leading them to a wondrous place. More than once she had heard the moniker “Promised Princess” whispered among the kids and ignored it. She was no princess, and if she hung around long enough, everyone would know that. Until then, let the kids have their fun.

“Queensguard only look after the Queen don’t they,” a boy who looked to be about ten and very sullen offered, looking up at Akihana with a mixture of wonder and suspicion in his dark gaze. “There are only six at most at any time and they’re supposed to protect her first. They come down and try to help out when they can but they need to take care of her too, she got sick ever since the water gardens dried up.”

“Are you really the Promised Princess,” the girl beside the boy pied up, her dark brown plaits messy and reaching almost down to her waist. She looked like the rest of them, thin and malnourished but the curious lilt in her voice belied her bedraggled appearance. “Because I’m not getting my hopes up if you’re not. The last time there was a lady with pretty hair and everyone said she was the Promsied Princess… but they killed her.”

“Oh?” The medic raised a golden eyebrow in surprise. “Was she like the Queensguard too?” Akihana asked casually, trying to figure out if this girl was a shinobi.

“Pfft, she was much better than those goons,” the sullen boy replied, a hint of admiration in his features. “She was awesome, she fought those men, she made them bleed. She could take on five at once and still win.” A small blush had begun to spread on his face as he spoke, alerting Akihana to the global phenomena of little boy brushes on older girls. “Minorin was ten times the fighter those guards would ever be. And she actually fought them. She didn’t do it because she wanted to protect us, she just fought them… I don’t know.” A lost look took over his eyes as his pace slowed, his slim form getting lost in the dozen or so children that were now crowded around Akihana. The blonde however had managed to catch the name.

Minorin.

As Akihana and the children entered the housing area where Ara and Nym lived, Ara now on her feet and Nm walking without any help, a welcome committee seemed to await them. Word had gotten around that Akiha could “make water appear” and looking at the parched populace with something akin to hope in their haunted eyes, Akihana couldn’t help but oblige. Soon enough the kunoichi had created a small fountain in the main street where now close to a hundred people crowded, getting a drink, washing their faces, bathing their wounds. Akihana surveyed the scene with a sense of accomplishment. At least she had managed to help the people here in some way.

“Princess, you won’t leave us will you,” Ara asked tugging at Akihana’s cloak, her smile not quite masking the fear behind her eyes.  The blonde wished she could promise this grl that yes, she would stay, butt he truth was that she couldn’t do sucha  thing. Luckily she was saved by the appearance of a very familiar face among the crowd of locals.

“Miss Akihana, Den sent for you,” Toma spoke softly once he was near enough. It took another ten minutes to wave goodbye to the children and the rest of the adults but finally Akihana and Toma were both flying off in the direction of the palace, their bodies leaping over the roofs of structures to avoid the crowd still pouring into the street where the fountain had been made. Past the crowded streets and the town square, up to the relatively intact palace and inside it to the Queen’s private rooms Akihana and Toma travelled, the male coming to a stop right outside the room and motioning for her to go ahead.

Akihana entered the room to see a frail, older woman lying in bed, someone who looked like she had been ill for quite a will. As Den filled her in on the condition of the ruler of Haven and the deal that had been struck between him and the officials, Akihana listened with one ear, taking in everything he said but keeping her eyes on the queen. If she had been poisoned and Den had extracted it, she should be fine, color should have been returning to her skin. Yet the ruler did not look as though someone who was overjoyed at her recovery. In fact, she looked like she was steeling herself for a greater battle to come. Her watery blue eyes couldn’t focus on one point for too long and from the way her body sagged, Akihana doubted the queen had moved much in a long time. The form hidden beneath the layers of blanket hinted at atrophied muscles and the lack of luster in her hair and skin bespoke of a chronic illness, more than just a poison.

Once Den had finished, the frail monarch raised an arm, greenish veins poking through the skin. “Come here, child,” the older blonde spoke, gesturing for Akihana to draw closer, The kunoichi obeyed without thought,for sick as this woman was, she was clearly used to issuing commands, and obedience came easily to her. “Let me look at you.”

Akihana stood still as the queen scrutinized her, what she was looking for, the kunoichi ddin’t know. All she did know was that the scrutiny reminded her of a much younger Akihana standing uncomfortably in front of her mother and sister, waiting for a reprimand on something she had done wrong. A long moment of silence followed before the queen laid her head back on the pillow, closing her eyes.

“Yes, this one will do nicely.”

And that was the end of the conversation.

(2728 words)

Over the course of the next few days Den began his work helping Haven begin its transition towards becoming a shinobi utilizing country. While Aki was meant to care for the Queen, Den was given land with which he could make an academy for now. Construction had not taken long, as Den was easily able to create the framework for the academy himself using his advanced wood Release technique, creating the wood he needed during the night and basically putting he framework of the building together himself, as the foundation had already been built. Den actually ended up having to do most of the construction himself after that, as the workers didn't have the strength nor the tools to break through the wood Den had created. The electrical team needed some assistance from Den to attach things to the framework, but other than that they were fine and once Den had finished nailing together everything the rest of the workers came in to finish the interior and exterior and the building.

The academy was given quite a bit of land, but Den did his best to try and utilize it efficiently. The academy was built so that it could house the students as well as the teachers. The building was west from the capital, its pathway perpendicular to the east and west running road it was attached to, the building facing the road as well. It was going to be a 3 story building, with sections dedicated to living quarters, class rooms for various types of lessons, and the top floor contained a floor that was almost entirely constructed from Den’s wood Release, even having grown wood over the electrical cords that led into the floor from the lower part of the building. The only entrance would be a door at the top of the staircase, which Den would have a lock constructed for at some point. This room was meant to serve as the barracks for the teachers, and contained a lab/medical area for any procedures they didn’t want recorded in hospital records.

The workers all seemed malnourished as they did their part in building the academy/barracks, so Den made sure to have clones around to assist in heavy lifting and also would periodically summon food from Sanctuary and make water using his chakra to help the workers get some strength back. Other citizens began to flock towards the location, and Den was forced to use more and more chakra to get food and create water, that he had to disperse 1 of his 3 clones. Some of the citizens noticed Den was starting to tire, and began helping the workers carry heavy tools and boxes of wood and things like that, allowing Den to disperse the other 2 clones and essentially work on feeding the citizens who were approaching. Den saw a few people watching in the distance, not joining to eat but instead looking at Den and those eating with strange, almost angry looks. One woman held her daughter back from going towards the food, and Den wondered why she wasn’t letting her child eat.

It took a moment for Den to realize, having grown up in Kiri where he hadn’t grown up under a sort of religion, to realize these people thought perhaps his food was cursed, and as he focused on the people his advanced senses began to pick up bits of what they whispered, what they said to others who approached. They thought he was evil like the rogue ninja, a false savior who was using god like displays to win the trust of the people so he could corrupt them. Creating one last large summoning of food because there were still so many hungry, Den decided he wanted to leave the capital for a bit, not wanting to continue to display his power more and upset the religious people, he believed the food he provided would be enough to last the citizens who had arrived for now.

Leaving the capital, Den actually began heading back down near the east, close to the Iwa borders where they had traveled towards Haven. The workers could finish construction without him now most likely, and there hadn’t been any attacks from the rogues so Den honestly thought it would be best to patrol around the country to make sure there weren’t any powerful shinobi lurking about.

TWC: 2124
1701 towards finishing Senju Healing Power
423 towards SA

Exit

just because you have words going towards a SA denied.







approved

The next few days that followed their arrival in Haven were both moving too fast and too slowly for Akihana to keep up. Through carefully hidden sexism or pure coincident, Akihana had not been present at the meetings between Den and the officials, her knowledge of what had been discussed coming only from Den and the senses she kept sharp around the palace. Her duties seemed to be more confined to the queen and her failing health. Akihana wouldn’t have minded being told to stay out of government matters had the officials been forthcoming. Growing up in a very tradition clan with similarly traditional values, she understood gender roles better than most. She had no problem following them for the most part until they interfered with her own personal moral compass, something that happened the very next morning when Den was off beginning the work on a ninja academy.

“You’re required at her highness's chamber,” a Queensguard informed her at breakfast. Overnight, gowns had appeared for Akihana to garb herself in, jewels too, big shiny ones that made the kunoichi extremely uncomfortable though she would never admit that to her gracious hosts.

“I have seen to her medication,” the blonde replied politely but firmly. “I was about to head out into the city, I will look in on her upon my return.” The look the elderly man had given her assured Akihana that her presence was in fact, not a request so sweeping her light green gown around her – the most modest of the collection allotted to her wardrobe – Akihana followed him to the queen’s chamber. Once she had examined the reigning monarch yet again, she assured the older woman that there was no change in her condition but that rest would improve her health, a prediction to which the queen merely shook her head.

“I doubt it, I have lived too long and seen too much. I no longer fear death, child. But I have yet to reach a point where I welcome it.”

“You wouldn’t have to welcome anything, your grace,” the medic replied with a small, comforting smile at the queen. “Both my associate and I are fairly decent medical ninja, we won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I had a daughter,” the queen began, but it seemed just the mention of said daughter was too much. The queen closed her eyes once more and Akihana took that as her queue to leave. Once she had left the room, she made her way back to her chambers, her floor length gown rustling through the hallways of the elaborately decorated palace and making her even more uncomfortable. As a ninja, Akihana relied on moving silently and all these accessories were getting in the way of that. Once she had reached her living quarters, the blonde changed once again into the gear she had arrived in but open exiting her room, saw two guards stationed there, guards obviously meant to keep her in.

“Why am I not allowed to venture out into the city?” she asked plainly, taking care to phrase it in a non-argumentative way.

“It isn’t safe out there, those rogue ninja could attack the city at any time. Just two nights ago they killed two of our best people… Her Highness doesn’t wish to risk your safety.”

Akihana could have taken the moment to remind them that she could look after herself, reassure them that the city needed protection more than she did, but all that would achieve was a disagreement and that had never been her style. Obediently, the kunoichi reentered her room and closed the doors, the very picture of docility. Once alone, she created a clone of herself and made sure to keep it moving through the rooms for the men outside to hear. Once that was done, the original made her way to the window and with a backwards glance to ensure the clone was following instructions, leapt out and scaled down the palace walls to the crowded streets of the city below.

Either Akihana had not remembered how completely crowded the capital was or her night at the mostly empty yet vast palace had thrown of her sense of crowds, whatever the reason, Akihana had to catch her breath at the sheer amount of people surrounding the palace, the traffic heading towards a very clear direction, the land where Den was supposed to be building. At first the Kunichi tried to lose herself among the people, only to fail miserably due to her hair colour. Not only did people separate to let her pass despite their mad rush for whatever it was they were hoping to find near the academy but she heard more whispers of the moniker Ara had given her the previous day. This time, it wasn’t just children who stared openly at her but adults too, their dark gazes unashamed as they took her in, confirming to themselves that she wasn’t a myth.

“It’s the promised princess,” someone finally cried out, making Akihana duck her head and cover it with the hood of her travelling cloak. The damage was done however as a young mother approached her with a baby in her arms.

“Please your grace, some water for my baby. There is food on the other side of town but he might not make it until then.”

“Oh, of course,” the blonde conceded, raising her palm once more to manipulate water from the atmosphere into being. In a few minutes, she had created another fountain just like she had the day before, offering rest and respite to passerbys. It seemed Den was attempting to feed the people too, something that didn’t surprise Akihana one bit. Making sure to keep the water going to distract the crown from her, the kunoichi managed to lose herself once again in the throng of bodies going to the opposite direction. This time she kept her hood firmly up so her hair wouldn’t be spotted from afar. She still didn’t quit fit in with the pristine cloak that refused to get dirty no matter how many dust covered bodies bumped against it but at least she didn’t stand out as vividly now.

Akihana had convinced herself that morning that she was venturing out into the capital in search of whatever structure the citizens used as a hospital. And to keep up that illusion, the kunoichi wondered around, listening to people, talking to others and even following the injured being led to places until she located it. It wasn’t so much a hospital as a crude wooden structure where the wounded and dying lay on simple mats on the ground. Three women seemed to be the only ones in charge of looking after them, none equipped with medical ninjutsu. Approaching the building, Akihana lifted the hood of her travelling cloak off her head – a much easier and quicker way of introduction – before stepping in. “I’m here to help, where can I start?”

The next four hours were spent with the sick, Akihana healing those she could and making comfortable those she could not. Replenishing the shelter’s supply of fresh water and sterilizing tools for surgery with fire. Had the structure been more sound, she would have helped with electricity too but in its current state, that was too dangerous. The kunoichi made a mental note to ask Den to send in the team of electrician’s working on the academy to this area too. A hospital was a very important necessity, something these people seemed to have been going on without these last few years.

As she healed her patients, Akihana took the time to chat with them. She had always believed that in order to get to know a place, you had to get to know it’s people. She Ireland many things about the capital that day, for instance how it had once been known as the blessed city of stars. The holy priests from a monastery deep into the rural area of Haven had been said to have blessed it upon the birth of the first monarch and to this day, everyone who dwelt in the city became a star upon their death. She also learned of the strife that the capital and the country had been subjected to due to their lack of a protection force, hopefully something they could change in the near future.

She heard of old fairy tales of the queen’s ancestors descending from Heaven to rule this place, she heard of the great university that had once stood proudly a few kilometers south of the capital and which was now in ruins, she learned of how beautiful the water gardens had been in full bloom, she heard everything accept the bit of information she had been hoping for all day.

“With hair like you, your grace? No, only the royals have golden hairs, it is a sign from the Gods,” the heavily pregnant woman Akihana had been checking up on replied, her dark eyebrows raised quizzically over her eyes.

“I told you, you don’t have to call me that, Raabail,” Akihana grinned, not trying to show how important the query really was. “I just wondered, I lost someone along the way here, but I’m sure he’ll find his way back to me.”

“I will say a prayer for you to find what you lost,” the woman assured her. “Your Grace.” Akihana simply thanked her in defeat. It looked like there was no escaping the title.

Akihana made her way back to the castle near sunset and had just managed to sneak into her rooms when someone knocked on her door rather sharply. Without waiting for an invitation, the Queensguard from that morning burst in, not giving Akihana time to even pretend that she hadn’t been out and about for almost the whole day. Not that Akihana would have lied if she had been asked outright. If her moral compass didn’t allow her to stay in a palace while the commonfolk outside suffered, it also did not allow her to lie when asked about her adventures out in the city.

“The queen has been informed of your excursion, she would like to see you immediately,” the man offered as a threat and without another word, walked out of the room, leaving her no choice but to follow. For the second time that day, Akihana found herself in front of the queen, expecting to be admonished.

“Leave us, Ser Trent,” the queen spoke and her guard exited, leaving only the two females in the room. The queen turned her faded blue eyes to Akihana next. “You disobeyed my orders, girl. I told the guards to keep you indoors.”

“Forgive me, your grace. But I was of more use outside than in here. You’ll be pleased to know that food is being brought to the capital in droves and water flows freely in as many areas as we can be at once. The injured are being healed and the ones whose ailments are fetal are being comforted. When you get better, you can go out and see for yourself. The capital looks overrun at the moment but people are hoping, hoping and living.”

“You sound so much like her..” the monarch whispered, reaching out a hand towards Akihana. The kunoichi moved to the queen’s bedside, taking a seat beside her and grasping her frail hands.

“I had a daughter…. I couldn’t give her much. A falling country, a weak monarchy, an all but shattered government system… and s lifetime of hopelessly fighting against an enemy she could never hope to defeat. But I did love her… with all my heart.”

“It’s not hopeless anymore,” the young blonde attempted to comfort the ruler. “We’re all going to help. We’ll drive all those rogue ninja from Haven, that’s why we came here. Your daughter will rule a country of peace and prosperity.”

The queen merely shook her head, mumbling the words "too late" repeatedly as tears started pouring down her bony cheeks. Akihana waited in silence for the older woman to finish out of respect before the queen could speak once more. It turned out that the crowned princess had been killed not two days ago, She had been plagued with the same notion of helping the populace as Akihana had and in a fit of courage, gone out with the captain of the Queensguard to fight a group of raiding bandits. She had lived to see the captain die before one of the rogues had killed her too, leaving her body strung up in front of the palace for everyone else to find.

“There is no one left to rule this country after me,” the older woman finished, sadness ringing clear and deep in her voice. “I have a cousin in bird country that we’ve sent word to but given how difficult the journey is… But I must be strong enough to draw breath until she arrives. This is the last thing I can do for my people. They have lost much over the past decade, they cannot lose their queen too.”

Akihana left the queen soon after, wondering a great many thing as she made her way to bed, trying very hard not to think about her fruitless search earlier.

The next day she was allowed out the front doors, it seemed the queen had relented and let Akihana go out into the city but this time the kunoichi had made sure to borrow a more discreet cloak from one of the kitchen girls. Her blonde hair tied into a small bun behind her head and the hood of her old brown cloak – slightly torn and dirty at the bottom – on her head, the medic managed to lose herself into the crowd much more easily. Den’s work appeared to still be in progress when she arrived at the land where he was setting up the academy. His hard work as his clones attempted to feed the hungry and inspire the citizens to help made Akihana smile with pride. Den was a good man but more than that, he was the hope she saw in everyone. Everyone had the potential to be kind and generous; they just needed someone to believe in them. Mrs. Hayato would be proud.

Leaving the area, Akihana made her way into the poorest district of the capital where huts replaced houses and children ran semi naked down the street, their parents past caring what happened to them. This was the area most neglected by the government it seemed and Akihana tried not to flinch as she noticed the surplus of rodents and vermin running among the children and out from underneath the huts. She spent the rest of her day there, talking to more locals and learning of how their area was this neglected, offering food from her limitless picnic basket and water where she could. At one point she instructed the men to build a bonfire in the middle of the street and someone fetched a tub which Akihana fled with water. Adding in the vegetables and meat she carried as a food source in her basket, soon she had a hearty round of soup/stew going, nowhere near a full meal but enough to feed these people as she heard both their gratitude and their stories.

And yet still no sign of Maku.

But no news was good news, she reminded herself as she picked up a toddler off the ground, brushing the little baby’s ink dark curls out of her eyes and watching the little one giggle happily at the attention.

“Your Grace, our Nur–Afroz may know something about the thing you lost,” a skinny man with an amputated arm approached her after a while, his teenage daughter standing shyly behind him. The young girl seemed to be looking in wonderment at Akihana, a thing the blonde was slowly getting used to by now even if it did make her uncomfortable.

“Hi Nur-Afroz,” Akihana smiled at the girl, only for the teen to blush a brilliant red. A few moments of coaxing later revealed that the skinny little girl had not seen anyone resembling Akihana but knew that the bad guys occupied a certain building on one side of the capital. It looked like a restaurant though no one from here ever went there, for obvious reasons but the clientele that visited there were highly suspect. Nur-Afroz’s father also offered that sometimes they took locals girls into the restaurant, abducted them and then those girls were either found dead or worse, not found at all.

For the second time, Akihana returned to the palace unsuccessful. Checking on the queen first, the kunoichi headed to bed upon making sure everything was okay with her highness. The young woman fell asleep that night to dreams of a butler dressed as a toad looking for something he’d lost as he stood at a doorway, unaware that the frame of the doorway with its moving pictures held the answers all along.

On the third day, Akihana spent more time with the queen, giving her both medicine and encouragement to wait out the time until her cousin finally arrived. No bird had yet flown to the palace to announce that the new princess was on her way but that was only to be expected given the political climate of Haven at the moment. The queen instead took Akihana through the portrait room at the north wing of the palace, the kunoichi wheeling her highness on a wheelchair as the queen pointed out her various ancestors and their kings consort. Her own late husband’s portrait was at the end of the hallway, a smiling fair haired man with piercing blue eyes and a genial enough smile. The plaque beneath him read “Suicide”. Akihana averted her gaze politely, if the queen did not wish to talk of her husband’s death, she would not encourage it. Instead she tried to distract the ruler by pointing to the empty spot beside her husband’s portrait.

“Why the space?” she asked innocently.

“That one is for… for my daughter… with all that’s been going on, there was no time to finish the portrait… and I refuse to use an old one of her as a little girl. She died a brave young woman and that is how she will be remembered.”

Later that day as they sat over tea, one of the guards delivered the news that Den’s academy was almost complete. The news bought smiles to both women’s faces but Akihana’s dimmed slightly when the man continued to report that Denkiteki himself had left the scene with no information on where he was going. “Oh well, I wouldn’t worry too much,” Akihana reassured him and the queen. “Not only can he look after himself well but Den never goes back on a promise. He’ll be back to finish the little bit of work still left.” After tea, the queen retired to her chambers, the day’s activity having worn her out, leaving Akihana to explore the palace on her own. The whole day the blonde had spent in a lavender floor length gown with a cut less modest than she was used to and as soon as the queen left, Akihana took the chance to retreat to her own room and fetch the servant’s cloak she had borrowed the day before. Using it to hide her dress and face a best as she could, Akihana found herself making her way up and up towards the palace roof, traversing the grand marble stairways, then the less grand wooden steps and then, as she ascended higher, the rickety, almost dangerous narrow flights of stairs that the servants must use to clean the ceilings and walls or refresh tapestries that hung down to the throne rooms. Her efforts paid off as she finally emerged on the roof, the cold night air blowing her cape away from her body and sending a small chill down her spine. Though it wasn’t the cold that caught Akihana’s attention.

It was the millions and millions of stars that seem to descended upon the city in twilight, each one glowing softly against the dark backdrop of the night. Looking up at the stars, Akihana could truly appreciate why the city was once named after the sparkling gems above.

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Not long, not long at all really. It was the difference between here and there really. These foes that choose the darkness for whatever reason had already begun to loose a bit of a foothold. At least, he assumed that was what was happening. Could it be possible he himself was being played? A puppet moving chess pieces unaware of the strings. Such a possibility far from sending a shiver of fear stirred something quite the contrary within his soul.

Truly a marvelous game of cloaks and daggers could very well be afoot. Maku would see the game played, to the pinnacle of the way it deserved to be played. For his part 2 and a half districts now answered to him. Was there crime? Of course. Was there murder? Maybe a little. Was there general uncivilized behavior? Well yes why not it is a city.

What was truly different was the lack of the attacks that had been occurring prior to his coup. Usurping those who had taken the city was no small feat, and yet it had happened quickly. Charisma, strength, a touch of flare, and a knack for genjutsu saw most of it accomplished. Of corse the leaders had to be executed, but really one couldn't have to many bosses. It just made a messy work environment.

Even as he walked the cities sipping out of a local Brewers glass, more territory was coming to heel. This hadn't been his initial plan, yet it was what had presented itself so he would be foolish not to take it.

The city, at least where he controlled, was quit. He had put a stop to u organized and wishy washy crime. Instead more organization was what was needed. His experience in running Yukigakure, had been of a great aid.

So now he walked in silence as the symphony of lights struck a tune above. Though, he couldn't say the consumption of a feast of lights was his sole purpose to be out and about.

Spies, whisperers, it didn't take long to conclude where and what his allies were doing. The news of the academy and that Akihana had been spending a lot f time in the palace had met his ears. They were doing a lot of work as well it seemed. Integrating to the city as easy as he had, though of course they seemed to occupy the other side of a coin.

Using this news, he had decided a stroll around the palace would be an excellent use of his time. Through the back gate, across the kitchens and up a dumb waiter he found himself quickly and silently in the heart of the palace. Even as several servants saw him, he simply employed the most ancient of spy tactics. He would pretend to scribble on a clipboard and out of an air of "yes I am supposed to be here thank you very much, may I ask why your talking to me and not doing your work?"

Old school but hey, still worked. Following the winding passageways, he eventually came to the room he was looking for. His chakra had remain completely suppressed has he had moved throughout the palace and up to it for that matter. And now, his cloak saw him the rest of the way.

Having used it to pass unimpeded by such things as guards and doors he found himself standing over an older women sleeping in a bed. Deactivating the cloak and leaning forward he knew should she have been awake she would feel his breath.

With the care of a surgeons scalpel, he brushed a strand of air from her face careful to not wake her. "I've never killed a queen, but there's a first for everything.......but not tonight." With that he would stand upright and clap as he blinked straight through the window. Undoubtedly startling the old women from her sleeping reveries, with no explanation as to why.

Unseen and crossing the grounds a familiar feeling hit his nerves. Her signature was....subtle and light yet he had been around it enough to recognize it anywhere. Standing below the roof, he looked up and thought he could just make her out.

Releasing his suppression so she could feel the signature of his chakra if she was so inclined, he would scale the building in a matter of moments to sit beside her. "Really I think this should be my spot.....maybe you could ask me to let down my hair so you could come whisk me away from my tragic trappings even? Wouldn't that be a story, don't cha think?"

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It wasn't that she hadn't seen stars before, the kunoichi reflected as she sat where she was, the slight upward curve of her lips recognizing the familiar aura making it's way towards her before her mind fully caught on. The blonde wasn't on high alert, not anymore. As Maku slid in beside her, the young woman had to remind herself that it was rude to impose on someone's chakra signature like that, no matter how familliar.

I guess I owe Raabail thanks, she mused quietly to herself as the presence beside her joked about growing out his hair. Akihana let her smile brighten an octave more, there was legitimate excuse now. A smile and the slight pink on her cheeks was definitely warranted.

"I don't know," she teased back slightly, gathering her cloak securely around herself, the solid earthy brown giving her more comfort than the flimsy lavender it covered. "People have grown pretty attached to a female playing that role, though I suppose it's only fair we let you try your hand at it." There were so many things to ask, common among them where he'd been, what he had accomplished, how difficult had his stay been, but in the end, the one Akihana stuck to was simple, and perhaps unimportant to most but it was one she had to ask anyway.

"Have you been eating properly?"

The blonde would wait for a reply, her golden eyes shimmering slightly as she took in Maku and then reverted back to the stars. The medic would wait to see if he followed up her question with one of his own, if so, she would reply accordingly before moving on.

"I suppose I don't need to ask how you got up here, do I have to ask if there's anything you don't know about the city yet?" They'd been here three days, or at least she and Den had been. Maku had perhaps arrived earlier, and if three days was enough for her to make progress, she wouldn't be surprised if the other blond in their team had managed a whole lot more.

"I have nothing against female roles.  It's just,  well I I'm prettier I think it should come to me, don't you think?"  He would say smiling and laughing.  She seemed much happier than she had been at the last time they had been alone.  Though, the circumstances where much diffrent.  It seemed she wasn't wanting and was having a fine time adjusting.  He knew a little, one of his spies worked as a scullery maid in the kitchens, and then there was the third servant of the main house.  Both kept him supplied with the information he wanted.  

As he looked out over the city his eyes drifted to the norther sector.  The one even now he was seeking to control.  No doubt the leader had been assassinated by now, and the ones who would work for him left to live, and the others.....well thy made incentive for the first lot.  "Eating proper?  No I shan't say I have been.  After all, only I am capable of making a proper meal, and I'm afraid I've been ever so buy for such a thing."  He would say in answer to her question.  The smile had never left his lips and perhaps it would only get wider.  He really hadn't had a chance to cook, perhaps it was time to change such a thing.

Standing he would offer a hand.  "Why don't we remedy this injustice.  If you could come with me, I think I already know where the kitchens are."  He would wait for her response.  Should she say no, he would use a variety of guilt inducing phrases, and faces, and noises until she conceded.  In fact he wouldn't take no for an answer.  

Once she was convinced to come, he would lead her through an open window, and like a child who had snuck out of their rooms, lead her throughout the palace to the kitchens.  Diving behind potted plants, hiding in doorways, and maybe even once standing silent in a wardrobe while a servant polished a silver tray.  

Her question while asked on the walk would be an easy enough one to answer.  "Well, I can't know everything, after all I don't know what you want to eat."  He would say as they made their way into the kitchen.  The very maid he had thought of earlier was standing within, and with a click of his tongue she vanished as only a proper servant could in sucks a big house.  Finding a chef hat, he would place it on his head and wait for her answer as to her desired dinning delicacy.  Pullin out a stool so she would sit.  And insisting, forcefully, that she was not to help in the slightest.

"How goes palace life?  It's a far cry from where we started.  It's much nicer than were I've been staying.  Perhaps I picked the wrong path to go solo."  He would chuckle as he made ready some pots and pans, and lit the oven.  Not once using ninjutsu or any additional powers.  "Though, I think I've made a lot of headway in my own small way.  Crime sure has come down, though I'm sure that's from you and Den more than I."  He would say with a playful tone.

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The blonde let out a small giggle at his comment on his looks. It never failed to pleasantly surprise her how much Maku thought of himself, an admirable trait indeed even if one she could never emulate. The kunoichi had to give it to him though, he seemed to really take his personal grooming into account. Something she would had taken for granted before now, always having been used to going around in clothes that in some way or other bespoke of either her baking or the fact that she had a child who liked pulling at them. Now though, for some reason she had been required to dress formally every day, instructed politely but on no uncertain terms that yes, she was to wear the gowns she had been so generously afforded by the crown and the jewels too. What made her even more hesitant in following those orders was the knowledge that some of her garments had belonged to the late princess.

When he mentioned he wasn't eating properly, Akihana opened her mouth to speak, intending to offer to cook him something decent, only to close it again when he claimed only he could make a proper meal. This was new information, he hadn't mentioned he liked cooking before. But she supposed she might have guessed from the way his personal "home" appeared to be a restaurant, of the few times she had glimpsed it.  She could have lived with his claim of being prettier but this one of being the only one who could make a proper meal she could not take sitting down.

"Is that so? I guess we'll just have to have a cook off sometime then."

Regardless of his lofty claim, the young woman took his hand, expecting the gesture would be needed to blink them directly into the palace kitchens. Instead what followed was a scene that could have been right out of one of Arata's cartoons of two people sneaking around a huge area and ducking into the oddest of places to keep from being scene. Akihana tried not to laugh as Maku whisked her into a large wardrobe, still amused at the unnecessity of it all. But who was she to spoil his fun.

"Something filling and positively dripping with carbs," Akihana answered readily when questioned what she wanted to eat. Never having been one to shy away from calories, she felt completely alright suggesting foods she would never be served otherwise. "And there best be dessert after." It was only as she spoke of food and cooking that the kunoichi realized how actually hungry she was. Often outside or too busy with the Queen during mealtimes, she usually had a tray delivered to her rooms or ate what the commonfolks ate outside - very little and always of poor quality - so the offer of a good meal was one that was very much appreciated.

Once they reached the kitchens and the servant there had been shooed away, Akihana moved to help, only to be motioned to sit back down. Hitching a golden eyebrow questioningly, she waited only to realize that Maku intended to be the only one cooking. This was certainly a new experience. Akihana had cooked and baked for a lot of people over the years but no one had ever cooked for her before.

Crossing her legs neatly in front of her, Akihana rested her elbows on the table, deciding she liked the chef's hat her companion had managed to scrounge up from somewhere. Her expression grew serious however when he asked her of palace life. "It's... different," she began, trying to explain it as accurately as she could. "Everyone seems to be grateful for the help but they are proud people - as are we all I'm sure - they don't like being so dependent upon a power they neither fully trust nor understand, the irony of course being that they're so deeply religious and when you think about it, that's almost the same thing."

She paused a beat before continuing. "The Queen seems to be convinced that she's going to die. She was poisoned a while ago but we've extracted that completely. Now it's just a matter of rest and recuperation but the only thing she seems to be lacking is the determination to get better. Her daughter was killed a few days ago, the murderers left her body in front of the palace along with their captain of the guards. I think since then she's just given up hope. I try to lift her spirits but she claims she's just hanging on until her cousin from Bird Country gets here to take over the throne. Perhaps she'll cheer up some once the new princess gets here?"

"As for the crimes rate going down, maybe it's simply because people are being given enough food and water," she guessed seeing as that was all she and Den had been doing. "Okay well, not enough but we've been trying to at least get the water going in major areas, a few spots in each of the four districts. The locals say that the Water Gardens were once full of streams and little rivers until the rogue nin dried those up. So I suppose now that we have the academy nearly done and plan to start on the hospital next, the water gardens will be the next thing to restore."

Having delivered her news as simply as she could, the blonde now raised her topaz eyes to Maku. "And what about you, what have you been doing these last three days so successfully that in a city where blonde hair are a neon lit sign, no one has managed to spot you?" The question was raised politely but not without curiosity. He didn't need to know she had tried to find him, it wasn't important. What was important was what she could tell Den if Maku didn't manage to run into his brother first.

"Preparing for the annual jousting tournament? I hear it falls on the Queen's birthday this year. The city folk seem very excited about the holiday despite her highness's condition."

"Mmmm very well." He would say in answer to her request. Adjusting his hat he quickly began to maneuver the large kitchen. Removing ingredients from here, and there. Saucepans quickly appeared being heated, and oil and butter flowed to grease them already filling the air with an aroma to entice the stomach.

What would be of special interest was, that as he began to cook his eyes shifted from the blood red and black back to the bright blue. His sharingan off, and no jutsu used, this was something he did of his own skills. No need to mess with art with such cheating ways as ninja skills after all. He listened to her talk about her time in the palace and the people. Taking it all in even as he flattened pasta and sliced tomatoes, while a creamy white sauce simmered on the stove top.

"Do you really think it's the same?" He would say at her when she mentioned their religious tendencies. "Is what we can do equal to their religion?" He would pose the question innocently enough, but it was clear what he meant. "Certainly they don't understand, but I would never compare it to an entire religion."

"Crime rates are down, perhaps it is the water. Hunger and thirst can drive a man as crazy as any animal. sad but true, especially when you see everything we have here." He would say gesturing around the kitchen. By now the meal was essentially complete and he leaned against a counter as it continued to cook. Sprinkling a spice every now and then, or crushed herbs at what seemed to be random intervals.

"As for this queen, well that is traumatic. Can't blame her. Her daughter was very pretty and full of fight, truly a loss indeed." He would say wth a coy grin. It had taken a bit to learn the identities of those he had killed, but.....after all that was the base of his raise to power. Killing the captain of the queens guard and the princess......one could hardly do more to gain a reputation in the underground.

The news of the Bird country girl coming to town though, that was of interest. It was a shame she most likely wouldn't make it to the palace. Alas that was the way of the world. It wasn't always someone's fault, thy just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Me?" He would say as he served the meal. An elegant, and hearty portion of pasta drizzled with the sauce, tomatoes bright red standing out like rubies. "O a little of this and a little of that. No doubt I have a lot of catching up to do to make a useful contribution as you two have done." He would say dishing out her plate.

Taking a bite he would consider the news of the tournament. "Afraid I hadn't heard. Though I may take part. Perhaps Den would enjoy as well, it might be fun to put on a show. It wouldn't be the first time." He would say with a laugh. He would then recount the story of his concert in Iwagakure. Where he had been charged with raising the moral of the citizens as the rebuilding of the once proud village had been going on.

He even mentioned Youka's act with the dancing golems. The past brought a light to his eyes that often seemed absent. Even though he tried to kept himself laughing, this would be one of the first and most sincere times she would see him happy. It had been a different time, a different world.

"And you? Will you take part?" He would joke with her as he started on a baked Alaska.

As he began the very footman he had thought about earlier entered. Tall and tanned the man modeled a perfect straight backed servant. "Sir, Tanvir wanted you to know, the south is quite." Maku would wave nonchalantly and he man would leave. Honestly, he would have to have a talk with these people and the lack of subtlety.

Though the news was not heard with disdain. 3 down, one to go. No doubt the real rouges would soon surface. How could they not after all this. "I think I'll take the head chef job here." He would say conversationally to Akihana. "I like this kitchen." His confidence at his ability to achieve the post was absolute. As if the deal was done, even though it was late and anyone with any say was long asleep.

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