A Friendly Spirit

Day 1
It began as a mere flicker the lights turning off and on as the phenomenon began. As the day went on more strange reports of odd happenings began. Whiskey missing from desks, lit cigarettes floating in the air with jets of smoke pluming from behind it. Someone even said a document for the kage's eyes only had been moved and opened yet no one had seen anyone enter or leave. It was guessed someone who could teleport or phase was responsible and with the villages defenses it had to be one of their own ninja. At least it was the going assumption, because unless everyone thought ghosts were real it was the only logical conclusion.

As the day shifted to night the scary stuff began. The televisions within the Unseen University began playing Rocky. The story of an anspiring queensguard who had to avenge his friend Apollo's death at the hands of The Ninja. A favorite movie of past Hogokage Kyousuke Snow who much like Rocky was a boxer himself. The ghostly form of the past kage entered the office of his student and now kage Ayato's office and took a seat in front of the desk.

If someone were in the room or entered after him, he would smile and wave. His giant muscles and orange hair making him clearly recognizable. He would say. hello, but no noise would come out. The planets creating this event were not aligned quite enough yet. The lights would flicker and the spirit would be gone.

WC: 256

Day 2
No one had shown up to witness Kyousuke Snow sitting at his old desk and see his failed attempt at speech. The following day was much different. Though during the day they could not see him, plenty of people heard their names spoken along with an eerie hello that sent a chill up their spines. It was strange that they would flee the room after he spoke at least to him it was strange. The former kage wasn't fully aware of what was happening.  The kage's door would open and close as Kyousuke sat down at the desk waiting for news of anything happening during the day. He searched around for his bourbon cache hidden in the office, but found nothing. Did someone remove my liquor? Even his cigarettes were gone. Someone was attempting to make him quit again and he didn't like it.



He would open the door once more and find a pack of unattended smokes to take. He would only take one however and return to the kage's office to light it up. There were yells about no smoking in the building from those who smelled it the giant just opened the window and sat by it to air out the room as he finished his final drags. He would make some seals and summon a slug which gazed at him in horror. "I felt your call, but did not believe it was you." Momma Dough would say in her gentle voice. To which the giant would solemnly respond "Because I am dead. Yet somehow I am physically in the living world."

WC: 269

It was thirty minutes after the sixth hour of the morning, in the walls of the unseen university. The world outside them is complete and grey. Ayato had entered the building dressed in a civilian garment before he swapped out a beautiful mantle of white and purple for his Kage clothing. 

In his hands was a large cup of coffee, a cappuccino with oat milk, and on his left was a box containing four ring donuts in sugar and vegan-friendly. This Kage had a sweet tooth and always seemed to meet his match in the Headquarters cafeteria, which he had rebranded ever since he became the Kage - with a solid insistence to introduce more vegan products into the mix, for Ayato did not eat meat.

He opened the door to his office, and the smell of cigarettes exploded in his nose. From the days of his Genin career, a familiar scent when he was green as summer grass - and his sensei trained him in the arts of ninja warfare. Kyousuke snow was built like a chimney and smoked like one too.

The scenery in front of him, a massive orange-haired man sitting behind his old desk, would not have been possible. The old Kage had been dead for over five years, and Ayato only had these memories to remember him by. “People die twice if you forget them.” Someone had told him once; perhaps he had said that out loud. Maybe that was the message someone was trying to remind him of this Halloween. 

“Very funny, Toneri. You even put Mama Dough up to this. You’re the ultimate Halloween prankster. Do me kindly and rise from my seat; I have a village to manage.”

wc: 286

The giant would look at Ayato and smile. "I don't know who Toneri is, but Congratulations on becoming kage. I saw the portraits in the hall. Someone skipped a number between three and five." Of course this was in reference to Valen's picture missing from the line up of Hogokage.

Thinking about it he looked so plain in that picture he was just standing there not flexing or anything. He would speak to Momma Dough. "I will speak to you later old friend." She would nod and return to her home in the forest.
"There is a box with a ton of pictures somewhere around, the photographer wouldn't let me show off my bulging muscles, so I asked Shina for help." He would scratch his head wondering where the box went. "Oh yeah, I'm dead! Its probably been years." He would look to Ayato. He wanted to ask him to put up a picture of him flexing with the kage hat and cloak on, but there were more important things to talk about.

"You doing okay? I know thats a lot of weight on your shoulders?' The former kage expected anger or sadness. He was prepared for both as Ayato had every right to be both and more. Kyousuke had abandoned everyone and this was one of the people he was closest to.

Ayato had stepped into his office with his usual air of confidence, the aroma of coffee and pastries surrounding him like a sweet cloud. It was a morning like any other, or so he thought, until he entered a scene that defied reason.

Behind his desk sat a figure that should have been impossible. Kyousuke Snow, his former sensei and the man who had held the title of Kage before him occupied the room. But this was not a flesh-and-blood Kyousuke but a specter from the past.

A momentary shock paralyzed Ayato as he struggled to process what his eyes were telling him. This was absurd, a prank, a hallucination. Toneri, his mischievous brother, must have orchestrated this elaborate ruse to unsettle him. Ayato's lips curled into a half-amused, half-exasperated smile, convinced that he was the target of a Halloween joke.

He scolded the apparition with a playfully scolding tone, fully expecting the illusion to dissipate.  But the ghostly Kyousuke's response was not what Ayato anticipated. He denied any knowledge of Toneri and congratulated Ayato on becoming Kage. He even noted the absence of Valen's portrait, the previous treasonous Kage.

Ayato's jovial expression slowly shifted into one of disbelief. His mind raced, seeking a rational explanation for this phenomenon, but none presented itself. Toneri couldn't possibly have orchestrated this. His brother might be a master of tricks, but a specter from the past was beyond even his capabilities.

The surreal encounter continued as Kyousuke, still wearing the casual demeanor of a living man, referenced the missing photographs and the photographer's reluctance to capture his muscles. Ayato's mind spun with the situation's absurdity, and he couldn't help but follow Kyousuke's lead.

Then, Kyousuke's tone shifted to concern, a genuine worry for his former student's well-being. He questioned Ayato about the weight of leadership, recognizing the immense burden of responsibility on his shoulders.

For a moment, Ayato's disbelief wavered. His gaze remained fixed on the spectral Kyousuke, a man he had respected and admired, whose guidance had shaped him as a ninja. There was no malice or trickery in Kyousuke's eyes, only a warmth that Ayato had missed for years.

The reality of the situation, or the unreality of it, began to sink in. Ayato's voice was unsteady as he finally responded, "Sensei... this... this can't be real. You've been gone for so long, yet here you are."

As the shock subsided, he realized the profound implications of this visitation. It was a chance to gain insights from a former Kage, a mentor who had navigated the complexities of leadership. Ayato's expression shifted from astonishment to a mix of gratitude and confusion. "I'm managing, but it's a heavy burden. I've missed your guidance and wisdom. But why now, Kyousuke-sensei? Why this return?"

In his heart, Ayato was still waiting for the illusion to dissolve, but he couldn't deny the overwhelming desire to seize this unexpected opportunity for counsel.

[WC: 486]