[Kirigakure] Kage's Citadel

[Bloodedge]

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At the edge of Kirigakure lies a building equal in size to the academy. This serves as the home and office of the sitting Mizukage. It also functions as the holding place of scrolls, and the headquarters of the Hunter-nin Corps.

[Apollymi]

A small young woman walked through the halls of the Kage's Citadel. As she moved freshly cut crimson locks seemed to shift right around her neck just under her ears. Her eyes were a rather piercing green color and she seemed to be rather serious, but there was just the smallest of upturns to her lips, as if she was amused. She wore a small white shirt open over a bra which was red in color and exposed her stomach which was ever so gently covered in scars for some reason. Even so, she didn't seem at all bothered by much of anything, instead she entered the office of the Mizukage and bowed. "Mizukage-sama, I finished the work on the barrier. Everything is fine," she said, apparently having been to recently check on their borders and having returned without much thought to report on her findings. A headband for the Kirigakure could be found right on the left side of the young woman's hip, not worn over her forehead. She would stay in this bowed position until something was said, simply because this was the kind of respectful she was.

[Bloodedge]

"Koji desu," were the only immediate words of response from the Mizukage. The purple-and-white-haired man towered over a large, crescent desk with three stacks of papers surrounding him, and a pen in his left hand. He spoke softly, as if timid in nature. Regardless of his quirks, there was notification of some barrier work done by the bowing woman, which caused him to look up with golden eyes, only to be taken aback by the bow. "Eto. Could you not bow like that? I don't know how to deal with bowing," he said. "Neh, Tori-chin... those people are going to be coming back, aren't they?"

[Apollymi]

The retort of the Mizukage made the small girl look up at him with wide eyes. "I can't just call you that..." she said of using the man's given name. Such a thing felt utterly wrong, beyond this, the man didn't want her to bow or anything like that as well. "You don't now how to deal... with a bow?" she questioned this because it seemed odd, but the information caused her to rise from the bow. "Fine, I'll try and remember not to bow, but we're going to have to compromise about the name..." she said with an astute nod. As for his final question the girl's eyes widened just a bit and she thought about the people he might mean. A grin covered the girl's face, "Yes, they'll definitely come back, it's nothing to worry about."

[Bloodedge]

"I don't want to compromise," Koji said as his arms crossed atop the desk. As Tori spoke of the return he'd asked about, he let his head sink until his forehead met his arms. "Mendokuse..." he groaned. Apparently, he preferred the idea of these people not returning. It was simply something he didn't wish to deal with, or didn't know how to deal with. "Send them back out. I don't want them back. What did they even want again?" he asked, mumbling from the confines of his own arms.

[Apollymi]

"Koji-sama?" the girl said, offering the man's name with a proper honorific to denote his stature in her life and the lives of the rest of the villagers. She didn't really know what to say about the man not wanting the people to return. Confusion spread across the young woman's face as she looked at the man behind the desk with a bit of wide-eyed astonishment. "Koji-sama, they are coming back to broker peace with the village. They live on an island in the middle of nowhere, I would know..." she said thinking about how wrong a direction she would have had to go in, to end up in a place so empty as the Land of the Moon. "Besides, getting back out into the world will be good for you. They are nice people, and so are you. You just have to have a bit of faith," she said then she remembered that she'd likely over spoken, an immediate bow would occur as the girl blushed furiously. "Sumimasen, I over spoke."

[Bloodedge]

"Koji desu," he repeated. When given the reason for these people returning, he heaved a sigh. "Peace. That's something only the weak ask for. If they're coming to us to ask for peace, we could wipe them out and claim for ourselves whatever they have to offer. War is unfair... it favors the strong." With that said, Koji raised his head. It was then that he noticed Toriko bowing yet again, in spite of his earlier mention that he didn't know how to deal with such things. "Mendokuse..."

[Apollymi]

Toriko listened as the Mizukage spoke. He seemed to have some odd views on the nature of the visit of the people who wanted peace with them. She couldn't help but look up from her bow and straighten just a tad. "Iie, that isn't the case with everyone. Nor them, in particular. You'd find it to be a bit more bothersome trying to wipe them out than anyone should or would like," she said, knowing there wasn't much to be done against dojutsu though he did have an out or two. Usually people with those kinds of abilities also had a couple of outs as well, coming to stand up a bit straighter as she asserted herself. "I like those people, so I wouldn't help." she mentioned about potential warmongering. "Besides, I like to think it takes more strength to make friends than it does to wipe out your enemies, Koji-sama."

[Bloodedge]

"I don't believe you. If that guy was half of their strongest pair, their little island doesn't have any threats on it." Sighing once more, Koji lowered his head again. This time, he let the side of his face rest on his arms to avoid obscuring his sight, or sight of him. "I wouldn't need your help, and that's an unnecessary kind of strength. Negotiations should benefit both sides. If we're being given something we have the ability to just take, we might as well just take it."

[Apollymi]

Toriko couldn't argue that, though she found the kind of strength possessed by those on the island to be rather interesting. Their customs were also a bit strange, given how they chose to establish which of them was stronger, it was also technically likely that any one with more physical skill would be thought of as weaker while technically being capable of more. This point was moot, though as it appeared the Mizukage was rather set in his ideas. "Kichiro-san is nice and all, but... I wouldn't use him as a marker. Their clan also determines strength in a strange way," said the girl, she'd met this man after meeting Youko and even without that man being on the island she could then have faith that people came with different types of strengths.

"Iie, that is a bad attitude to go into negotiations with, Koji-sama. And lots of people could take anything they want, but that doesn't mean they would or should," the girl stated. "A bit of open-mindedness would go a long way..." Toriko mentioned as she pushed crimson colored locks away from her face tucking them behind her left ear. She figured he would know these things, but perhaps he didn't have as much contact with his sibling as she'd thought.

[Bloodedge]

"However they determine it, it's not enough. Kiri has the power to stop even the other major villages right now. Since you arrived, even Akatsuki is less problematic," he said as his head sank further. He didn't care much for this open-mindedness of which Toriko spoke; he only agreed to these moments of diplomacy because he felt his predecessor would have during her time. More importantly, with his plans coming together through this upcoming meeting, he fully intended to return the former Mizukage to power with everything in the same state, if not better, than what she once had.

Whether Koji liked it or not, the people he negotiated with were presently returning to his office. There were four in number now, instead of the former two. The first to approach the office was not one of the leader figures, but was instead a humble servant sporting a green keffiyeh and a long drape covering the entirety of his body. Standing in the doorway, he bowed before even looking toward the inhabitants of the office. "Sumimasen! The Lord and Lady of the Land of the Moon have arrived, and would like audience with the Mizukage at his earliest convenience."

[Apollymi]

"No, not that. Never that," this was the firmest thing that would come from Toriko's mouth. She could well, deal with all of this man's melancholy and even entertain the idea that they had the power to quell other villages if they needed to, but there was nothing here which would make her believe that somehow they'd find the Akatsuki less problematic. By virtue of the time she'd spent as part of that organization she simply couldn't believe that would ever be an option, and considering her own sister was still part of that organization to her knowledge and the man she followed, no... that wasn't even a possibility.

Soon enough there was a new group of people approaching, this group included one rather large chested white haired woman, who was standing behind the front runner of this group, who happened to be dressed in green with large green eyes. Toriko stepped forward from her position at the side of the desk, knowing that approaching visitors were in general her responsibility. "Ohayou Gozaimasu! No need to bow, Mizukage-sama doesn't tend to like that too much. Nor... me calling him Mizukage-sama. Gomennasai, Koji-sama." she said turning back to the man but forcing herself not to take the bow which usually came with such an apology. "Sumimasen, you're Kaede-san, yes? Long time no see," the red haired young woman said as she pushed hair back behind her left ear and extended her right hand. She was rather excited, she had gotten to know this man during her time in the Land of the Moon and was apparently excited to see him again. "Anyway, the Mizukage is expecting you, you all can come in."

[Bloodedge]

Following his opening statement, the bowing male was informed that the Mizukage was not fond of people bowing before him. This prompted a rise, at which point he recognized the woman in the room, and received her personal greeting. "Hai. Gobusata shite orimasu, Suzukou-dono." With that said, Kaede stepped forward to meet Toriko's outstretched hand.

At this moment, the others were permitted to enter the room. Among this group was a tall, long-haired man with a yellow haori over his white kimono and hakama, as well as a younger lad with much shorter hair, clad in all white. These male figures were Kichirou and Seijuuro respectively, and they were the individuals previously in discussion with this pair. "Mata oai dekite ureshii desu," said Kichirou.

[Apollymi]

Toriko heard what was said by Kaede and it made her smile, until of course he got to properly addressing her. The young woman's eyes widened and she shook her head from side to side as she shook the man's hand. "Iie, Suzukou-dono is too much. Toriko~" the girl said, firmly. She seemed to have the same kind of problem with her name that the Mizukage did, but for very different reasons.

Soon enough the man had moved out of the way and when this happened the white haired female with hair down to her ankles appeared. She as dressed as meagerly as she always was, with two straps across her chest and a red chrysanthemum flower joining said straps. She was tangibly more flesh than clothing not that this seemed to matter to her with her extraordinarily large chest pretty much on display fr the entire world. She had long black nails and teal eyes which were sharp along the edges as she spoke up for the first time. "It's no use, Tori-chan, I still can't get Kae-kun to call me by name either~" she said only to follow up a bit more. "You're looking good and happy. Also nice to meet you~" she offered to the Mizukage. "Natsumi-san, you look exactly the same, I'm happy to see you so well." the girl said to the woman who'd been among her saviors a long time ago. Seeing this young woman here, she was quite certain that this was the one she was looking for, and as a favor to another man she was supposed to be summoning him.

[Bloodedge]

"Yoroshiku," said the obviously lazy Mizukage, who didn't seem very thrilled to see these people in his office. Regardless, he sat up to prepare for the beginning of this little negotiation. "That's enough introductions. What do you want from us? Chirou-chin wasn't very specific before."

With the Mizukage seeming to be getting more serious about the discussion, Kichirou looked toward his wife and stepped forward. In the meantime, Kaede briefly looked toward Natsumi as well, knowing that she likely thought the same thing he did. He chose to fill his role while the leaders' chat took place, and so, he nudged Toriko before stepping to the side. If she followed, he would speak in hushed tones to the young woman. "Since they will be busy, I should take it upon myself to ask... Are you familiar with one of our clan named Katsuhara Youko?"

[Apollymi]

To Natsumi the Mizukage seemed a bit lax. She'd expected a bit more as far as his demeanor, but somehow the lax-ness of this individual made speaking to him a bit easier. He seemed keen enough to move on, so Natsumi would explain their position with haste. "It's actually kind of an exchange, though not a small one I realize. We'd like to adopt one of your Seven Swordsmen and have them train our island's swordsmen. The adoption itself would make them part of our family, giving them something for their service, and they would remain part of this village as well," the woman said with a quick nod. "In exchange we'd willingly give a few of our members and their skills as well as something specifically requested by you... as long as it's within our power to provide it," the woman said. Such peace talks were always strange, but it was mostly just easier for the approached to negotiate from a position of power.

While that conversation happened between the rulers of the two lands, Toriko was gently nudged and thus stepped away to have a conversation in hushed tones with Kaede. His words struck her and instant familiarity crossed the young woman's face. "You-niitan?" It was obvious she knew this man, but hadn't seen him in quite some time. Around the time she'd left the Sungakure in search of her twin, she'd been living with this man, her elder sister, and his adopted younger sister. She'd always been fond of him, though obviously not as much as her own twin. Still, it was sort of coincidental for the man before her to ask her about him. "I know him, he was around before I left the desert," she said not really thinking much of it, she'd left sort of abruptly probably causing the man and her elder sister to worry quite a bit. "He's alright, yes? I probably caused him and everyone else a bit of stress when I left, I should apologize."

[Bloodedge]

"Small?" the Mizukage questioned, somewhat sarcastically. "You want one of our swordsman for your own. The Seven Ninja Swordsmen are exclusive, and we don't want them just going anywhere. However... I want something I'm sure you don't want to let out of your land. Bring me the Tentai Mizu, and I will offer you a choice between five of the swordsmen. That is my only offer."

Toriko showed some recognition of the man called Youko, but when she made it verbally obvious, the white-haired servant seemed shocked. "Nii!?" he said, though a bit too loudly, causing him to immediately cover his own mouth. "Gomen nasai. He seems fine. He was recently in the Land of the Moon, and was given the scrolls you helped us with. He took note of the seal you used, and had great interest in reuniting with you. My mistress will likely be summoning him here once negotiations have ended."

[Apollymi]

"Tentai Mizu?!" it was now Natsumi's turn to be surprised by something. It was beyond her that anyone outside of the island would know about such a thing. Beyond that, though he was willing to give them what they wanted the price of it was rather steep. What he could not know was that reaching the Tentai Mizu wasn't something that any regular person could even attempt, most couldn't get up the mountain and even those who could, couldn't necessarily cross between the two tops and get what they were looking for. She seemed to recover quickly enough, "I am not sure it can actually be done. But give us a bit and we'll see if that is actually possible." Natsumi said looking to Kichirou as if this situation had suddenly become dire.

Meanwhile, Toriko was having a conversation with Kaede who seemed stunned by the affectionate way she referred to Youko. A bit of a smirk came to the girl's face as he was soon hushing himself and commenting that Natsumi would soon be summoning Youko after the negotiations were over. "Hai, You-niitan, he was always super nice to us before. You know, even if he randomly looks like he's gonna kill everything," she said, remembering a bit of random sternness which had initially made her a bit scared of the young man to begin with. But her elder sister's fondness of the man had made him grow on her as well. "Sugoi! That's good then, I can't wait... He'll be able to tell me how everyone is doing~" she said of the man she thought of as her elder brother, though unbeknownst to her that statement was a bit more real now than it had been before.

[Bloodedge]

Kichirou was also astounded that this man even knew of the Tentai Mizu's existence, but there was no changing the fact that he did know. All they could do now was continue with the negotiation, though Natsumi claimed it virtually impossible to obtain this "Tentai Mizu" of which the Mizukage spoke. "You said you encountered him before you left," he said, addressing Natsumi. "Did he have the information of the Sage. The stories I've read, and heard, all say the Tentai Mizu is connected directly to him, so perhaps we could make things easier. Though, I must wonder... why would it even be needed here?"

Koji's gaze rose, and his eyes narrowed. He wasn't fond of this question, but he supposed it didn't matter if he answered. At this point, he would do virtually anything to obtain this. "I searched for an answer outside of Edo Tensei to resurrect the dead. Tentai Mizu was the answer."

"He does have that look," Kaede agreed during his conversation with Toriko. "On another note, what placed you in such a high-standing position here?"

[Apollymi]

It seemed their negotiations were almost at a standstill now, but given that she was now being addressed directly by Kichirou, Natsumi turned to him, giving him her full attention. His supposition that she'd encountered 'him' was quite true, but the nature of that encounter told the woman pretty much all she needed to know, and the 'Sage' she spoke of, likely wouldn't give him or anyone else, just the thing he asked for. "He did have news of the Sage, but it isn't the sort that helps us here. On the other side of that, I doubt a wise man would just give up something like that for any old reason," she phrased these statements very carefully, but it seemed there would be an answer from the Mizukage about why he wanted such a thing.

"You... want to raise someone dead... using the Tentai Mizu..." this was Natsumi repeating the words because it was something that seemed noble at face value but without knowing the identity of the someone it might be hard to convince anyone else it was a worth while endeavor. "Hmm... yeah, we really might need a while for something like that... or maybe..." A thought came to Natsumi right at this moment as she remembered the kunai she'd been given. "I might have to consult someone else," she said holding the strange kunai in her hand, she'd channel chakra into it, and aim, by what she was told, to bring one Katsuhara Youko to this place directly.

Meanwhile, Toriko was busy conversing with Kaede who agreed with her summation that Youko in general had the look of someone who would murder everyone. As it moved right along, it seemed that the white haired man was a bit curious about how she'd gotten to this point. She thought about it, and shrugged, "I was technically trained as a ninja long before now, though I had no interest in it before. My other half wanted me to come here, and do what I could, so I did. I am the Jinchuuriki of a tailed beast previously held by someone important to Koji-sama, so he keeps me close. I'm also protecting this village with a jutsu I developed. I'm sure you've seen it," she explained while not mentioning the details of it completely, this was the easiest way to explain her rise in this village over the last few years.

[Bloodedge]

Kaede was standing with his arms overlapping within connected sleeves as his discussion with Toriko progressed. A smile crossed his face when her speech led to the technique she used to help protect the village. "So that was yours. It looked like you... if you were all-encompassing... and blinding to people like us," he said with the lightest of chuckles.

In the meantime, Kichirou received Natsumi's thoughts on Youko and the Sage they sought. When she spoke the word "maybe" though, he raised a brow. "You have an idea?" he asked while looking down at this strange kunai his wife held.

Mere moments later, a flash of white light appeared from the kunai Natsumi held. From this flash came Youko, bar his usual armor. He spawned, interestingly enough, in the woman's lap. One would note that he held a strange flower-shaped confection mere centimeters from his open mouth during this arrival. "A-... Ano..." he said in shock, moving the small cake away from his face and looking toward Natsumi. "Hello again. Got lonely without me?" was his initial query. This prompted Kichirou to clear his throat, bringing Youko's attention to the man. "Or... trying to spice things up a bit? Look, I'm pretty open-minded and all, but... not with extra dudes. And I was in the middle of some amazing cakes, so..."

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Kaede had recognized the technique as being a bit like her. She imagined any with the ability to see chakra it would likely be blinding, but more than that, the girl couldn't help the mild confusion which came to her face initially "Hm, well... I mean... " the girl said, only to think a bit further and get the joke. "I don't even have a proper response for that..." she said as she began to giggle instead. It was a rather funny joke. As she remained posted up in a quiet corner, the trio's negotiation was about to take a very strange turn.

"Uh...huh... So, I still didn't really expect you to just appear in my lap," said Natsumi. The man's commentary being what it was prompted throat clearing from Kichirou. Further commentary from Youko brought a laugh from the woman, who seemed to find this amusing even though it wasn't really what she'd called him here for. "Sorry, that definitely isn't what I called you here for. Firstly, I found the person you were looking for," she said nodding her head in Toriko's direction. "Second, we're in negotiations with the Mizukage here, and we have a problem you might be able to help us with." she said.

By the time she nodded to Toriko the woman's attention had already shifted, if only for one very innocent reason. "Did you say cake, You-niitan?"

[Bloodedge]

"That's fine. I wasn't sure how to follow that line anyway," said Kaede. Meanwhile, Youko sighed and removed himself from the lap of Natsumi. "Well, then you shouldn't have been holding the kunai where you were. Or... hold it a bit lower, I dunno. Whichever tickles your... fancy." For a moment, Youko's attention was pulled away. Not only did Natsumi state that she'd found who he asked her to, but that very individual now stood within the room questioning his mention of cake. "Wow! Tori, you've matured. You look a bit less... child-like than Mari does now. And yes, I said cake. Have some!" he said, tossing the singular confection toward the young woman. "It's from your homeland. We're attending the festival right now, and I might be a little drunk. Not important. Now, somebody said something about negotiations? How many clothes should I be wearing for this?"

[Apollymi]

A smile came to the face the red haired young woman, but soon enough a white flash alerted her to the coming of a specific gentleman who had mentioned cake and was now extricating himself from the lap of the Lady of the Moon. Now he was standing and mentioning that he had cake which promptly came towards the young woman which she caught with both hands looking stunned. "Sugoi!~" on the matter of her looking more mature than her twin she was a bit stunned. "You've seen Mari?!" she then thought about her sister's tastes and had but one thing to say. "She probably still keeps her hair long, everyone looks really young with long hair nee-tan likes hers for that reason as well..." she said knowing that any maturation of her face was due in fact only to the sharpness of the hair which surrounded it. Moving right along, she immediately took a bite out of this cake and soon enough her eyes widened at the taste of it. If this was from her homeland she was overdue to return at least for a confectionery visit.

While this happened the woman known as Natsumi soon was able to straighten her posture and cross her hands into her lap. To Youko's words she seemed a bit stunned. "A little drunk? It's the middle of the afternoon..." she said, but the man was attending a festival. "Must be one hell of a festival, anyways, this isn't that kind of negotiation. Like I said, the we're negotiating with the Mizukage and he wants the Tentai Mizu," she said, and preemptively knowing of a potential negative reaction. "We didn't tell him about it, he knew about it. And he wants it in exchange for what we want, which is one of the seven swordsmen to adopt and train our other swordsmen. So here we are..." she filled the man in on what was her afternoon so far.

[Bloodedge]

"Iie. You've got a different kind of maturity. There's loneliness in those eyes now. Trust me; it's a kind of strength I know better than most," Youko said as he sauntered around the room, glancing occasionally at everyone present. During this walk, Natsumi gave the real reason she'd brought him here. Youko quickly halted all movements when the Tentai Mizu was mentioned, and it suddenly seemed as if he'd even lost his buzz, so to speak. He didn't particularly care why the Mizukage wanted it, nor did he care about what the Land of the Moon would be getting in return. "You left out the part about calling me just so I could tell someone to go fuck themselves," was his retort.

"Nani?" the Mizukage said, seeming agitated as he rose from his chair and faced Youko. Youko, in response, stepped up to face this incredibly tall male as well. "I don't like your tone. You're one of that Blood Cult, aren't you?" the purple-haired man spoke. "You should fear me, little man. I killed dozens of your people during the battle on Nagi Island." Youko didn't seem amused by this claim at all. However, he also didn't seem disturbed in the least. "That's downright adorable. If that's all you've got, you should fear me. I killed the ones you couldn't."

At this point, the chakras of these men were spreading and stifling the room. Kichirou would be the first to speak on this matter. "This was a civil discussion until now. Youko, would you like to politely explain your point of view?" he asked. "There is no point of view. The answer is no. Under no circumstance is anyone allowed to get their hands on that. If it's swords and training you want, I make better weapons and have better skills than you'll find here." And with that, Youko seemed to have disturbed the standing Mizukage once again, though no words were exchanged this time around.

[Apollymi]

"You-niitan, don't say that, you'll ruin my appetite," the girl said, though she didn't at all stop eating this particular cake. She didn't know about anything that would have happened between these two groups of people, but she knew by the tone in Youko's voice he was likely about to upset everyone in the room excepting the people who were used to his antics.

Between the speech of the Mizukage and the speech of Youko, Natsumi could only sigh. "Seriously..." she said and it was just this word. She really thought about how this was working out and didn't really like it. Beyond this point it seemed that Kichirou was on board and would have preferred a more polite discourse. Youko's further words were ones which disturbed the Mizukage and didn't really upset Natsumi. Their peace had already been properly brokered this was just the extra bit for their continued friendship. Since they needed training to replace those who had fallen at the man's hands before. "You can do that?" she said only to shrug and look at Kichirou, a better option was right there so she didn't really care too much.

"You-niitan, it isn't like that, he has a fairly good reason to ask for it. He's trying to revive someone important to him, and it's a better option than the Edo Tensei," Toriko finally quipped over the cake she'd all but finished at this point. Natsumi had gone quiet at this point, Youko was a lot of things, but she knew him not to be completely heartless, beyond all this, she was also remembering something rather important.

[Bloodedge]

"Of course I can do that. Even if I couldn't, I'd rather learn how than even think about giving that away. You have no idea what it's even capable of," Youko said as his left hand subconsciously gripped the sheathe of his sword, Tenseiga. He soon began pacing again, only to hear from Toriko the reason this Mizukage sought the Tentai Mizu. "Revival? I'm guessing the body is still intact then?" he asked. Koji nodded to confirm this, prompting Youko to scoff and activate his Doujutsu in its Full Moon form. "... Sou ka. You're her brother. I remember now. That explains why she's not acting Mizukage right now. Take me to the body; I'll deal with it myself." For obvious reasons, Koji was not quick to trust this individual. However, Toriko seemed very familiar with him, so the Mizukage was left looking in her direction by the end of this command.

[Apollymi]

Natsumi held up her hands in surrender. "I never said I did, I didn't even know it was possible for anyone else to know about it. It's practically legendary among us. Regardless, you're here for specifically this reason... " said Natsumi who was finding this whole thing to be taking a rather sudden turn. It seemed Youko held some familiarity for the person whom the Mizukage wanted revived. 'Damn he gets around...' the woman thought absently wondering if her general nosiness would be offered any quenching by what was going on next. As Youko moved about he questioned this man about the state of the body and other such things as if he could help, then Natsumi remembered that he had a sword which could bring people back to life. Her eyes widened as she realized this was what he was going to do now, without any prompting or gain for himself. Then again, she wasn't completely surprised, Youko had always been a very giving person.

With the current Mizukage looking back at Toriko the girl finished her cake. She seemed rather pleased by Youko's words, and felt that he'd help regardless now that she'd mentioned something. Still, she had to reassure the Mizukage that he was making the right decision so she looked to the man calmly and explained. "You-niitan is a nice man, in spite of his current disposition, and the murder face. If he says he can help, he will... I'd trust him in this, Koji-sama," she said. Knowing if she was in a similar position she'd trust this man to help her out.

[Bloodedge]

"Fine," the Mizukage said in the end. "Follow me." With that, he stepped out of the office. Youko followed, and Kichirou seemed to be doing so as well. Assuming all the others present would be following Koji, Kaede lagged behind for a moment, if only to ask Toriko a single question. "So, is this what you meant when you said he seems like he's going to kill everyone?"

In a matter of minutes, the group would reach a chamber which held a podium. On said podium was none other than the body of the former Mizukage, most recently known as Kochou. Since his Kekkei Genkai remained active, and he knew of her clan's Kekkei Genkai and its workings, he looked at this body with a raised brow. Something was obviously off with this body. "Tori, which version of your clan's Kekkei Genkai did you have again?"

[Apollymi]

The Mizukage was getting up to leave after the assure of Toriko, so Natsumi also rose to follow behind him and Kichirou. Since everyone else was also leaving the room, Toriko followed as well, lagging behind as she did, apparently amused by the cake she'd so recently eaten and the amicable ending in their near future. To Kaede's question she simply nodded. "Hai, this is exactly what I meant. Seems like he's about to kill everyone, instead helps out~" she said of Youko. She knew this man most during her more formative years, so she retained a deep respect for him.

Soon after they entered this chamber which housed the body of the fallen Mizukage and Natsumi could see the resembelnce to the tall man who entered. But soon enough Toriko was being questioned and it was so out of the blue the girl seemed stunned by it. "Uh... you know about that?" she asked seeming to shake off the question almost instantly. "Never mind, the Chishikitaikei, why? The look on your face says something's wrong and I swear I've done nothing," the girl said, stating for the man that she possessed the simplest form of her clan's Kekkei Genkai. But if he had this much knowledge of it, she figured her elder sister must also presently have knowledge of it, which caused her to worry. She began biting her lower lip in an old habit as she thought about it.

[Bloodedge]

"Yes, I do. Everything is fine; there's nothing to worry about back home," Youko said prior to his attention returning to the "corpse" at hand. His left hand still held the sheath of Tenseiga, and now, his right hand gripped its handle. "Are... Kochou... whichever you prefer to call her, had two conflicting chakras in addition to the chakra of the Gobi. That's where her split personality issue came from," he explained as he hovered over the body. "Hai," the present Mizukage interjected to offer an explanation of his own. "That's Chiyosohi, our Kekkei Genkai. Members of our family are born with blood that has its own chakra. It becomes stronger at a faster rate than most shinobi, so it can be overpowering if it's not mastered."

"So that's why your hair has two colors. Between Are and Kochou, they had white and dark hair," Youko replied. Koji nodded, giving the white-haired man a bit more understanding of the situation. When he drew his sword, it glowed white, and a ghastly veil of sorts spread from it over the body of the former Mizukage. "She's not quite dead. Well... she's basically dead, but... look." The veil over the former Mizukage soon took shape, bringing forth the Shinigami and a silhouette of Kochou with a thin stream connecting the former to the latter, and another connecting the latter to its physical body. "I imagine plenty of time has passed since this happened, but the Shinigami hasn't taken her yet. Just an interesting little thing; it doesn't really make a difference." With that said, Youko slashed out at the thread connecting the woman's soul to the Shinigami, severing the ties to allow it a return to its body. "There. From the looks of it, her chakras have been trying to combine this entire time, keeping her from the next life. She'll be fine now."

[Apollymi]

"I'm not worried," Toriko said seeming not to have realized the old habits that surfaced in her in these moments. Moving right along, it seemed that there was a Kekkei Genkai shared between the current Mizukage and the Former. And this was at least partly to blame for the woman's shifts in personality. A bit of a brow raise would occur from the red haired young woman, because at the very least she remembered her elder sister's on again off again relationship. This was rather interesting to see, and it seemed that Youko had a bit to say about the 'death' of the former Mizukage as well as the state of her mind and chakra.

'OH?!' it seemed that Toriko hadn't ever seen this before this point. Beyond this, it was revealed that the former Mizukage wasn't really dead because of the combinations of her two chakras. Beyond all this, he was able to severe her connection with the reaper. A few seconds after the woman's chakra would stabilize and the former Mizukage would sit up touching her entire front and opening her eyes. Soon a grin full of sharp teeth would spread across her face. "Holy shit!!"

[Bloodedge]

With the ties to the Shinigami severed, Youko sheathed his weapon in time for the awakening of the former Mizukage. "Good morning..." he said, pausing briefly to view this woman's chakra and determine what she should be called. During this observation, he took note of a change occurring in the woman's hair. "Kochou. Long time no see. I like what you're doing with the hair," he concluded with a wink. Closer to the back of the room, Kaede stood with his arms within his sleeves, watching this revival with raised brows. "Did he just revive the old Mizukage just to flirt? Unbelievable."

[Apollymi]

"Yo, hmm... Yokkun~" these were the words of the Mizukage who seemed to not realize fully what had gone on. The commentary about her new hair seemed to make the current Mizukage swoon. "Oh? Really? Where's Red? I realize, I was a bit..." she held her fingers up very close together, "Of a bitch to her last time... she probably thinks I'm a psycho. I just didn't understand her. But I've been through some shit, and I've had some time to think..." she paused looking around the room, she saw her brother and her brow raised, she saw the other small redhead, and the other white haired people, and confusion seemed to settle in on her. "Wait, why the fuck does it look like a funeral in here, Ko-chan, did you grow? The hell is going on here?" The woman said as she hopped off the table, she'd have no idea how much time had passed nor that she'd been basically dead for almost a decade.

There was the matter of the rather flirtatious white haired man which simply made Toriko chuckle. "You-niitan is complicated... and a flirt, it's best not think about it too much." she said, it seemed the former Mizukage had no idea how much time was missing from her life, and it was about 9 years at this point. Two years after the disappearance of the previous Kazekage this woman had been taken and her bijuu removed by the Akatsuki.

[Bloodedge]

"Definitely. It really brings out the fangs. Speaking of, I'm sure you've got a way to work around those, right? Never got the chance to... Never mind." Youko chose to take pause again, simply to avoid a much longer and less-than-appreciated discussion taking place here. Besides, the former Mizukage wondered about someone dubbed "Red," who he knew to be Benihime. "Well, to be honest, you are a bit of a psycho. With love, of course~"

Koji had been relatively silent up to this point, but his formerly deceased sister had now acknowledged him. He wasn't quite sure what to say, but the woman obviously didn't know what happened to her before. "You... well... you were dead," he said, prompting Youko to complete the unspoken clauses. "You've been dead, probably for years now. From the looks of things, Tori here has your old Bijuu now. You were found by Akatsuki, weren't you?"

[Apollymi]

"Oh you, nice to know you still have a one track mind, Yokkun~" she said, in a voice which imitated the way the red haired woman she thought of used to say it. Of course, she also knew this particular conversation was not really one for the company of people she didn't really know. Though a quick glance towards the obvious couple in the room and she could at least see one thing she liked. Moving right along, it seemed that her brother was finally willing to speak.

"I was dead? Huh-huh..." the girl said an pushed her stomach a couple of times, squeezed her own bottom then pushed in the cheeks on her face. "Yeah, totally don't feel like I was dead..." she said as Youko went on to explain that she was likely dead for years and that the red haired young woman in the room had her bijuu presently. This prompted her to look at the white haired man. "Alright, so I don't know anything about that group, but I assume if I was dead, since your pretty face was the first one I saw that it was you who woke me up? Arigatou yo~" she said before turning on her heels and walking towards Toriko. She'd never seen this girl before, but her face... looked a bit familiar. "Eh, you look a bit like Red... but... the eyes are the wrong color. If ya' got the Gobi~ Good for you, I thought I felt weird," she said to the girl who could only chuckle. "Thinking back on it, I was bar hopping a bit outside of the village, ya' know, sneaking off for some fun because this job fucking blows." said the Mizukage. "But, I was just hanging out, I met a guy, but I don't remember much else afterwards... he wore this black cloak with red clouds, we all know it's my favorite color and shit..." the third Mizukage put together her night and realized what had led to her rather unfortunate fate. "Fuck, I got genjutsu'd didn't I? And fucking died?!" she immediately held up her hands in mock defeat. "Well, fuck, Little Red, how long you had the Gobi?" she asked the girl who looked stunned. She knew why the woman was asking, and technically speaking she could answer the question. "Little...Red? Really? Toriko seemed to think this nicknaming thing had gone a bit far. It was especially distressing knowing this woman knew her sister, even if she didn't presently know the other woman was her sister. "Nine years ago, I was... gifted with the Gobi." she said calmly. "Sumimasen..."

[Bloodedge]

"It's been years; cut me some slack," was the response Youko chose to give the former Kage. With that exchange seemingly over, the Jounin crossed his arms and leaned against the podium Kochou previously occupied. Discussion continued between the others briefly, eventually coming to the point of Kochou realizing how she met her end nine years prior to this moment. "Uchiha Yuichi," Youko interjected. "You were placed under Sharingan Genjutsu, and had your Bijuu removed... and likely not before spending some amount of time as a slave to that man's desires." Youko moved away from the podium then, choosing to step toward Toriko. He was gaining new information now, and it seemed to tie a few loose strings together. "And then he gave you the Gobi? That's where you got it, right? Why would he just give it away?"

[Apollymi]

A quick turn caused the Mizukage to stick her tongue out at the man. She was willing to cut him a bit of slack, after all, he'd never been anything but nice to her, and they were what most would consider to be friends. He'd also just raised her from the dead with no ill side-effects so she was technically in his debt. Beyond that the words from this young woman made her believe that they were in an even worst predicament than she initially thought. "Eww, that's disgusting. I'm glad I don't remember..." she said about the idea of being any kind of slave to any man who would use genjutsu to capture a woman who would more than likely have a go with him, no strings attached. Beyond this point one thing stuck out in the mind of the Mizukage. "Nine years? Fuck, I'm thirty-two. I'm fucking old," she stood there palming her face thereafter trying to pull herself together.

Soon enough though, Youko's attention was on Toriko, the red haired young woman sighed, but she was always honest in these moments so she simply began speaking after the man's questions. "Hai, he gave me the Gobi, he thought it'd be cute to have four and five be a pair of twins," she said as if she wasn't at all attached to this situation. "But right after he gave me the Gobi. I was talking to Mari, and she said she didn't like what was going on. That something about the situation was wrong, and what he was trying wasn't worth it. I voted we should run, go back to Sunagakure. But... she said he'd simply follow, that she couldn't get away from him... she was too far gone. But I wasn't. There was a small break between when I was given the Gobi and Mari getting the Yonbi, apparently because there wasn't anyone strong enough to take that Jinchuuriki at the time so Mari needed to be stronger and her cursed seal needed to mature. Whatever the case, he planned to keep us as a pair, but the break meant I went without whatever else he had planned for me..." she paused thinking about it. "One second I'm talking to Mari, and the next... I'm on a raft floating out in the middle of the ocean. With a puzzle box, detailing to me what she thinks I should do. She said she was saving me, and putting a hiccup in the plan to have all of the bijuu in one place. That she would stall as much as she could until other villages caught on. She wanted me here, said I could help, and that out here, was I far enough away from her, that it wasn't feasible to just send someone out looking for me. They'd done it once, so the rest could be picked up later. I still don't really know what the plan was... but I trust Mari, she saved me." she said finally stopping her speech.

[Bloodedge]

"Kuso... that makes things far worse," Youko said with a sigh. "It's been assumed that Akatsuki's members exist to each hunt down a Bijuu so they could revive the Juubi. But... that man was instead making Akatsuki members Jinchuriki? I figured Mari having the Yonbi was a coincidence, or maybe some special second-in-command privilege." The more he thought about it, the more this idea made sense to Youko. One could aim to revive the Juubi if they wanted, but there was little to no way even that much power could compare to controlling all nine Jinchuriki in the form of already S-ranked Shinobi. "This Akatsuki... am I right to assume it has nine members?" he asked to hopefully solidify his idea.

[Apollymi]

Toriko looked to Youko who seemed to be trying to piece together what the plans of the man who lead the Akatsuki were. She could only state information from the time she was there, and that wasn't very long considering what her sister had done. "Mari was supposed to have the Yonbi, but apparently there was a bit of a mishap right before the two of us were recruited. And someone hadn't been able to capture the Nibi nor the Ichibi, they'd instead been killed so there was a wait on their spawning again in the world. We knew Nee-tan had the Nibi but didn't bother mentioning it for obvious reasons, and the Ichibi was still too far out for it to matter," she said of the tailed beasts and their jinchuuriki. "It's why Mari wasn't told to go after the Yonbi, he didn't want to risk having to wait an extensive period of time, and why... he went after the Gobi himself, because his abilities let him capture her. Sumimasen." she said again to the teal haired woman who seemed to be taking all of this in, without so much as a word. "The members of the Akatsuki are supposed to total ten, including the man himself. But the numbers shift a lot... people are often the subjects of his experiments, Bijuu having to spawn because a capture attempt has gone wrong, application of cursed seals, and the like. I have no idea what that man's actual plans are..." she said with a shrug.

[Bloodedge]

"Sou ka. She certainly has the Yonbi now. I had a first-hand experience to prove it... twice now." As far as Youko was concerned, the Akatsuki having multiple Bijuu was nothing to be incredibly worried about. In fact, Sunagakure and his family alone had a full third of the lot, with Toriko now making about half unclaimed by the criminal organization. There were a couple of unknowns floating around somewhere, but in general, he was without worry... until Toriko gave the true number of Akatsuki's members. "Ten? That's incredibly strange, unless..." Youko stopped there. He had a general idea in mind now, but he dared not speak it. "Never mind. It's not worth it anymore," he concluded. This sparked a statement from the unquestionably tallest individual in the room, Koji. "He's right. After what Akatsuki did to my sister, I'll have his head."

"Don't bother," Youko said. "Not much point in looking for the guy's head now; I put a hole in his chest months ago." This statement did not sit well with Koji, who thought up to this point that he knew anyone of repute. "You? Impossible. Akatsuki is an organization that threatens all countries. There's no chance a nameless nin showed up and killed their leader," the man replied. This, interestingly enough, caused Youko to do nothing but grin.

[Apollymi]

"You don't sound pleased about that..." Toriko said of Youko's acknowledgement that her twin did indeed possess the Yonbi now. Whatever he meant about the nature of the 10 people needed by the man it was missed by most. Except of course the other people holding bijuu who'd actually been educated on the lore surrounding them. But soon enough the the conversation moved on, and it seemed that Youko had dispatched the man they'd been speaking about sometime recently.

Koji seemed to think such a thing impossible but, it would be at this moment that his sister spoke up. "Really? The guy just flashed into the room, probably told ya' off, and then raised someone from the dead. Are ya' really going to question the nature of his abilities?" she said with a chuckle. "Beyond that, I was around while he was being trained, he was strong enough to rival a Kage on a bad day back then~ He can only be better after almost a decade. Though I gotta say, putting holes in people's chests is more Red's thing, I thought you went way different than that~" the woman with the dual colored hair said with a bit of a smirk on her face. At this point Toriko could do nothing but agree. "You-niitan, has always been quite strong, and whenever he grins like that you can surely count on the honesty of his statements."

[Bloodedge]

"Should I?" he asked of Toriko, knowing she was fully aware of the possibilities here. With the current Mizukage speaking of the improbability centered around him defeating Uchiha Yuichi, the man's predecessor and sister was the first to retort. Her statement eventually came to the manner of execution he chose. "I sort of adopted it. Besides... I was having an incredibly bad day," he said. Youko's attention was then brought back to Toriko, coming with a bit of a shock factor based on her allegations. "Eh!? Since when do I have a tell? Are, Natsu, did you know about this!?"

[Apollymi]

"I suppose not, no need to ask where Mari is then..." she said, heaving a bit of a sigh. It would seem she'd continue to be without her twin for quite the foreseeable future. But at least she knew the young woman was alive at this point, which was more than a bit comforting considering she couldn't properly imagine how she'd deal if the other half of her died at any point while they were separated.

The Mizukage seemed to find some sort of amusement in the man's words about having adopted the woman's particular manner of execution and the statement that he'd had a bad day. The grin set in those jagged teeth only seem to grow a bit wider. "I can only imagine..." she said of his bad day. Soon enough there was the matter of his tell, and the quiet but rather buxom white haired woman seemed to look at him with wide eyes when he questioned this supposed tell. "You do have a kind of wolfish grin whenever you're... well, being you." the woman suggested innocently. The Mizukage referred to by her older chosen name seemed to only agree. "Ya' do seem to go all wild animal in the face when ya' think you've gotten away with something... speaking of, don't think you've avoided my question. Where's Red?"

[Bloodedge]

"Really? Huh..." he said while scratching his scalp, following the response of Natsumi. Since he'd asked Kochou as well, she also came through with a retort. When she did, Youko's scratching became a simple rub along his hair. "By wild animal, you mean irresistible, right? I'm just gonna assume that." With that said, Youko began pacing around the room again. Apparently, Kochou had previously asked him the whereabouts of his wife. Such a query must have slipped his mind during the moment, but as it was brought up again, he would answer before forgetting. "Presently... in her homeland. We were attending a festival when I was summoned here. Had some awesome cake. Tori here could tell you all about that."

[Apollymi]

A laugh escaped all the women present who seemed to find something in Youko's countenance to be funny. A few moments after that and the Mizukage seemed to gather herself enough to speak. "Well, as long as you're happy. I won't complain. Nice to know you're still funny~" she said of the white haired man with whom she rather obviously shared some sort of relationship. Beyond all this, it seemed that Youko thought about it and revealed the location of the red head she sought, along with giving information about why she was gone and apparently some tasty cake. Looking back to the girl whose name was apparently Tori, the red haired young woman was wide eyed. "The cake was amazing..." she said misty eyed. "You-niitan... if you're gonna leave or something and you're headed back that way... I'd enjoy some more cake. Just saying..." she said seemingly excited by the prospect. "Hm...hmm... well, never expected Red to make up with her mom, considering... but whatever. Bring her here, I know you can, and it's been ages~ I wanna see her. I'll also take some cake, I haven't eaten in ages~"

[Bloodedge]

"Not that I was trying for funny that time, but I'll just leave it at that for my own sake," Youko commented while stepping past Kochou. While continuing his stride, he produced a Hiraishin kunai from within his garbs, and began twirling it betwixt his fingers. As he did this, the seal on its handle began to change ever so slightly. "Cake all around then. Just give me a few. I have to... break up the festivities for a moment." With that said, Youko tossed the kunai onto the floor in front of Toriko, only to then vanish the same way he'd arrived.

Once Youko was gone, Kichirou crossed his arms and spoke for the first time in what felt like ages. "Still a strange character, I see. Resurrection, flirting with the former dead, and bringing cake. What's next?"

[Apollymi]

A smirk crossed this woman's face, as it was more than obvious she knew was he was getting at, she simply had a different sort of one track mind. Moving right along, she simply watched as he produced a new kunai and disappeared, with the leaving statement that he was breaking up festivities and that he'd be back with cake. "Woo! We're getting cake! Little Red, you're one of ours, yes? I don't have to worry about you running away or anything right?~" said the Mizukage who was content to wait for Youko's return with the woman she called Red and cake apparently. Toriko also seemed enthused by the idea of more cake and while she waited she inspected the kunai at her feet and took at least a step or two away from it, knowing exactly how the seal worked already. "I'm here to stay. I can do the most good here, I'll continue my duties as stated. Unless, you have something else you want of me." she said with a bit of a smile and a bow to the woman.

Kichirou's words were heard by Natsumi, who also hadn't done much speaking. "Honestly, I don't know. I feel like I'll give myself a headache if I try and think about it too much though," she said, though she made no moves to change her position. "It goes without saying that I am waiting for this cake though."

[Bloodedge]

"Un. Iko-chin is reliable. She's been taking care of things while I've been Mizukage. Keeps the barrier strong," said Koji to give credit to the redhead he'd come to know as the village's top Jounin. Mere moments later, Youko appeared next to Natsumi, using his own version of the Hiraishin seal instead of whatever he'd made of the other one. In his hands, he now carried a very large box. A sly grin was upon the man's face as he spoke to announce his arrival. "Heheh... I stole their cakes~♪"

[Apollymi]

Not long after the appearance of Katsuhara Youko a crimson flash would appear in front of Toriko who'd been in the middle of an acceptance of the praise of Koji. "Aww, that's nice Koji-sama~ Ariga-" her eyes would widen as the crimson haired woman appeared with one hand in her hair and one on her hip. "Oi! Long time no see, Tori-chan!~" the red haired woman said as her crimson gaze flickered over the other young woman who seemed stunned seeing her sister for the first time in almost a decade. "Nee-tan! Sumimasen, I shouldn't have left like that...~" she said jumping at the elder redhead and happily hugging her. "Nice to see you too. Seriously, I was worried, but you seem to be doing just fine. No need to apologize, I'm sure you were just doing what you thought was right," she said to the other girl who was almost clinging to her at this point. It was a bit amusing to her so she let it happen before averting her gaze to the sing-song voice of her husband. "I swear sometimes you are devious for no reason Youko..."

But soon it would be the former Mizukage speaking seemingly in a huff. "Red, what happened to Yokkun? Hmm? I swear you make me crazy, I wanted you brought here, you can't just ignore me!~" the woman said as she moved across the room, her arms open as if she expected a loving embrace. A sigh came from the Kazekage at this point as she turned poking her little sister in her upper ribs so she'd be released from the hold. When this happened the other redhead released her with an ensuing giggle. "You're surprisingly happy to see me, And I got no reason to call him that anymore... kinda feels wrong considering..." she said to the Mizukage who looked shocked, mostly because the woman seemed so sure on her assumption about the mood of the Mizukage. "And I wasn't ignoring you, but ya' did say something like, and do correct me if I am wrong about this, 'If you ever fucking look in my direction again, I swear I'll take your head and put it on pike outside by bedroom door'," the Kazekage finished hands on her hips to face the Mizukage who had the nerve to look a bit sheepish. "Well, I did say, that but I didn't mean it, come on Red, don't be like that. I'm sorry, look we all know I am a bit of a psycho bitch, but that is mostly fixed now, really. Don't leave me hangin'..."

[Bloodedge]

"Please, there's plenty of reason. You know, like... free cake," was Youko's reply to the redhead. Moving on, he placed the box of confections atop the podium Kochou formerly rested upon, finding it to be the only flat surface besides the floor in this particular room. It was a bit awkward, but since he wasn't exactly disrespecting the dead or anything, he didn't care much. Once the box was down, he opened it and claimed a few for himself. As he ate one, he looked toward the female Kages, gesturing toward the two with the hand which held the half-eaten cake when Benihime quoted Kochou. "She's got a point. Pretty harsh thing to hear from somebody wearing striped panties."

[Apollymi]

"Cake that was free to start with~" said the Kazekage in reply to Youko's supposition that free cake was a good enough reason for his devious behavior. Soon enough though the man was moving on to placing his box of stolen confection onto the podium which had previously held the Mizukage. The Mizukage to her credit seemed to be upset as her arms hung in limbo and Kazekage and her second in command seemed to comment on the harshness on her statements before. The latter even going on to mention how much of a juxtaposition it was given the kind of panties she'd been wearing at the time. "Oi, you can't just gang up on me right now. Sheesh, I'm trying to apologize and I really mean it..." she said seeming just a tad defeated. "Look Red, really I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that at all. I just didn't get it, but I realize not understanding wasn't really a reason to be such a bitch to you... okay?" she said. The elder redhead to her credit looked at the woman in a way which bordered upon indecent she had several thoughts for her but would keep them to herself for now. "Fine, I know you mean it... Not like anyone can properly lie to me anymore. But I wouldn't threaten me like that anymore, got me? Now, come 'ere," the woman said opening her arms for the coming embrace, and as they hugged in a manner most would consider indecent the redhead had but one thing to say. "It's been a while, you better not be outta practice~" she said offering a wink before she closed in on the woman's face where they'd share a kiss like they were the only people in this room.

While the two female Kages apparently made up, Toriko had headed over to this podium to retrieve cake. She then happily consumed seemingly amused by it, though she had two pieces. "Sugoi, this is even better than last time, Arigatou You-niitan" she said while eating only to turn around and catch an eyeful of the Kazekage being herself. While this occurred Natsumi stealthily approached the table and also grabbed a cake so she could eat it, a single bite would make the white haired woman's eyes widen. "Sugei!~ I need more of this in my life," she said only to catch the eye of Toriko who nodded in affirmation before speaking to her elder sister. "Nee-tan, nice to see things don't change too much~" she said before she walked away, apparently at some point she'd just gotten used to this woman's antics, she'd head over to Koji and offer him a piece as well, more than content to eat his if he didn't accept it. This would cause a pause in the women's behavior, "Sou ka, date later?" she asked of the Mizukage. "Hell yeah, no need to ask, anyways, best wake up ever. I'm gonna have cake now~" she said as she headed over to the podium and secured one for herself. The Kazekage was left running a finger across her lip, seemingly having a set of devious thoughts of her own as she watched the other woman walk away.

[Bloodedge]

"Hai hai!" Following this response to Toriko, Youko tossed the remainder of his half-eaten cake into the air, catching it with his mouth thereafter. As he chewed this final bite, his gaze shifted toward the Kages once more. Youko then stepped closer to Toriko and nudged her arm gently while chuckling. "Should've left her dead, yeah? Chopped liver already. Yeesh," he said with a light chuckle. Kichirou happened to be in the vicinity, since he had also gone to retrieve a couple of cakes. From this proximity, he heard Youko's hushed statement. "Aww. Not having fun being on the other end for once?" he asked in rhetoric. "Well, Kichirou... I'd like to say you'll know what it's like one day, but... yeah, no," was the Jounin's response.

[Apollymi]

A giggle would come from Toriko, as the man nudged her, apparently dissatisfied with being tossed aside for the Kazekage's old/new fling. She finished one cake and took pause. "There there, You-niitan~ It's alright~" she said knowing that her sister wouldn't abandon the man just to pursue the old Mizukage. Kichirou's commentary also wasn't missed by the girl who seemed to only chuckle. "This doesn't sound friendly at all~" Toriko mentioned. The Mizukage also approached the table seemingly happy to take a cake for herself. She'd have a bite before approaching Youko as well. "In case I didn't say, any dates do include you as well, Yokkun~" she said hopping up to kiss the man on the lips as well, proving the man's point to his clansmen that he wouldn't get to understand. When said moment would break she'd say a few words "Also, you might wanna get Red, she's uh... developed eyes for the big titty chick~"

As if a moment was all she needed, one would see Benihime en route to the 'big titty chick' pausing as others eyes came to her as if she'd been caught doing something naughty. "Alright, I know what this looks like, but... I can't be the only one who sees this. And she feels weird, so does he, but he's not really my type~" she said gesturing to Kichirou with a flip of her wrist while she was paused on her toes. "What you mean me?" Natsumi said with cake on her face seeming to have completely devolved into this so much that she'd only just looked up.

[Bloodedge]

"Hey, don't be mad at me because you got turned down for one of your peers," Kichirou asserted, believing Benihime to be nothing more than an in-village associate of Youko's, and the previous Mizukage to be perhaps an old fling who had obviously changed interests before or after reviving. "Don't feel bad, mate. At least my wife seems to be alright with you." Youko chuckled, knowing well that Kichirou was simply ignorant of the situation. It only took a few moments after this conversation for Kochou to approach with a statement toward the Suna-nin that left Kichirou confused and lost for words. "You didn't say. Even after all the work it took for me to bring you back, I get second invite? That's just mean," he said immediately prior to receiving the Mizukage's kiss. He even smiled through it, knowing Kichirou was behind him with some dumbfounded expression upon his face. When he pulled away, Kochou dragged his attention toward the older redhead in the room. "Oh. Yeah, I figured that would happen, but I forgot to mention. Beni, meet Natsumi. We had a thing going for quite a long time once. Natsu, meet the wife," he said, immediately moving on to address the strange feeling the Kazekage got from Natsumi and Kichirou. "Ichigotsuki. That feeling is the fact that their very existences are connected through their version of the Kekkei Genkai."

[Apollymi]

"Oh quiet," the Mizukage said after finishing their kiss and taking another bite. "It wasn't your feelings I hurt before. So, I had to make sure I apologized first or it wouldn't have been right..." she said, seemingly justified with their group dynamics. Kochou got a nice view of the look on Kichirou's face, and so did Toriko though the younger redhead managed to look away and stuff her face with more cake before anything could be said which would jeopardize her appetite.

Youko then went on to introduce the elder redhead to the white haired woman with the abnormally large bosom. His explanation of how he knew her, and his subsequent explanation of the woman caused a great pause in all the other women in the room. Meanwhile Benihime's grin spread wide because she felt the mass of confusion coming. She turned to the white haired man to give him the thumbs up, "This was all you? Nice~" the woman said rather nonchalantly. "WIFE?!" was the chorus from the trio of women, all of whom choked on cake to speak it. Kochou who had been dead, hadn't known they'd gotten married, Toriko had not be notified of such a wedding taking place, and was actually quite surprised given the personalities of both these individuals that they'd bothered with such a binding. While the shock settled in the room, Benihime finished her movements across the room and snuggled up to the large breasted woman running a finger along the outside of her body, finding there the line which was defined by the chakra. "Uh-huh... that is a surprisingly stupid commitment, binding two people's lives together..." she said, thinking strictly from the perspective of a kunoichi such a thing was rather unreasonable. Firstly, because it would tie two people together in death, and secondly because it didn't allow much room for mishap if something went wrong. "I hope it comes with something amazing..." she said finding a string of chakra that ran between the pair she flicked it with her finger in a manner similar to what had been done to Youko while they were in the Land of Whirlpools, this would likely inadvertently cause the special moon of this pair to trigger. "Oh, and I am glad it isn't just me, causing this kind of confusion..." she said waving an arm about.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah, yeah, excuses. I'll just run with the assumption that I'm being thanked for that revival at some later time~" he replied to the woman with dual-colored hair. With that said, he stepped away, taking a moment to look back and view the confusion upon Kichirou's face. "W-... Wife. Girlfriend. Girlfriend," he recited, holding up a finger at each word spoken, totaling - of course - three in number. With a sly grin, Youko raised his right fist. His fingers extended one at a time, falling in the order of: Fore; middle; ring; pinkie; thumb. He finished this with a nod and a wink toward the other white-haired male, causing an even more distraught expression. A sigh followed this exchange, as everyone in the room seemed to be content expressing their shock at his marriage. "Any other thing I'm going to experience for the first time today? Yes, wife. Moving on... Ichigotsuki is potentially the strongest of the Oborozuki at first activation, but is also the weakness. It allows the sharing of individual powers, in exchange for... well, you can see that for yourself," he said, looking toward Kichirou once more to see that his eyes were now filled with a very light pink form of Oborozuki.

[Apollymi]

"Yeah yeah, bill me for that shit!~" said the Mizukage, knowing it was more than possible for her to be included in some fun activity sometime later. Still there was a shock which permeated the group, apparently the thought of this pair of individuals marrying was a bit much for them. Toriko had bore witness to all of this and seemed to be fine with it aside from the fact that they'd gotten married. "Well, that is fine and all. I didn't mean to be surprised, but... I just didn't expect Nee-tan to marry a man. Sumimasen, You-niitan. Also I heard nothing about a wedding or anything..." the girl said as she contentedly went back to eating her cake, a tad bit pouty that she'd not been invited to such an important event. "It isn't that for me either, I am just shocked, the pair of you don't seem like the settling type. But I mean it is with each other. And yeah, Red prefers women so it's a bit confusing," said the Mizukage who was looking at the woman, accost another woman to further the truth of her liking women.

Benihime it seemed had triggered the Ichigotsuki in the eyes of this pair of individuals, as Youko went on to explain the power of it, and she supposed she could feel that now. Natsumi was rather shocked still as well, and now she was dealing with the non-purposeful activation of her own moon. "You don't get to talk about experiencing things for the first time. You're married? And she's... well... She just... " she said trying to think of how to phrase this. "Purposefully activated your Oborozuki by manipulating your chakra a bit. Yep. Sumimasen, I wasn't sure I actually could. But I found the line and I wanted to see what it did~" the redhead said. "Curious person huh?" she said to the woman not really having a problem with anything at this point. "Hai, been called that..." she said as if to further this she'd extend a single finger and draw it down from the woman's cleavage to her belly button with a bit of chakra testing the amount of sensation shared by this pair of individuals. Natsumi herself squirmed under the attention because it felt strange and oddly sexual for something so seemingly innocent. "For the record it still seems stupid. But... as long as you're happy."

[Bloodedge]

"Really? Both of you? If I end up with some sort of complex, it's on both of your heads. For now, I'll just interpret both of your meanings to be that I'm one hell of a guy to have pulled that off. And Natsu, you're also married, so I don't get where your surprise is even coming from." In the midst of this speech, Kichirou realized his Kekkei Genkai had been forced into its active state by the efforts of Benihime. When he finally noticed this, he deactivated it. Whatever Benihime intended to test at Natsumi's end, he wanted no part of it, and turned toward Youko to offer a parting statement before walking away. "Right. I've had about enough of this. We'll be expecting you to uphold your promise to our homeland, Youko," he said. "Alright. I'll bring a jar of salt with me. Don't wait up, Kichi-kun."

[Apollymi]

The two women tied to the Kirigakure seemed to shrug off his statement. "Take it how you want, I'm just saying... you two didn't seem like the types for 'wedded bliss'..." the Mizukage said complete with quotation marks on the statement. "Granted, it's been like a decade... so perhaps a lot has changed," she said with her arms up. She didn't really care either way, as it was more than obvious by the actions of all involved that they still kept the openness their previous form of this relationship had possessed. "I take no responsibility for any complex you develop You-niitan." she said, seeming to find this whole thing to be less amusing.

Soon enough though Natsumi's special moon deactivated along with Kichirou's and she alone was left to feel that tingly chakra feeling. "Sou ka, so they are just connected. That's really weird," but immediately after saying this the redhead lost all interest in the activity. "Hm, yeah, well I could have told you that..." said Natsumi though she wasn't at all upset. In fact, she thought the red haired young woman was now interesting. To Youko she had something different to say, "Also, I am married. Everyone expected me to be married. You... Wandering Loner, no one expected to settle down anywhere. It's shocking, no matter what way you look at it," she commented. But it seemed that Kichirou was content to leave. So she moved to as well. "Nice meeting you," she said as she slipped away from the redhead, content to slip in line with her husband. It wasn't going to be nearly as fun to test out if the male didn't stay and react.

Moving right along, Youko apparently made some sort of promise to this group in their negotiations before not that she was worried about them at all, she instead moved on to remembering something important. "Oi, Tori-chan, I forgot... Otou-sama is alive, apparently it was his twin who was killed. So, you can go see him if you wanna~" she said happily. Benihime was rather amused by her father's prolonged life. "Otou-sama?!" the girl seemed to be surprised and at the same time she was infinitely relieved. "Yeah, yeah, I thought you'd like that. Also made my day when I found out."

[Bloodedge]

"Weird is one way to put it. I like to call it disgusting," he said regarding this Ichigotsuki, sharing a mindset once common among the Hunter branch of the Oborozuki clan. Either way, the pair of 'Strawberries' as they were colloquially called were taking their leave about this time, and things in general seemed to be dying down. With this in mind, Youko figured it wouldn't be long before his own departure to someplace other than the Fire Lily Festival of Uzushiogakure. "Yare yare. You're still heading back to Uzushio, right? I don't think I should bother, what with me stealing their sacred cakes and all," he said, addressing the Kazekage.

[Apollymi]

"Well, I am not exactly on board with the idea of being connected so deeply with someone else. And my entire family is built around the birth of twins, so I totally get where you are coming from," the red haired young woman said with a bit of a smile. "Of course, points for bluntness are to be awarded because quite obviously you've got a way deeper problem with it than I do~" she chimed.

"I suppose I should. I kinda slipped out and all. I should at least make sure everyone knows there wasn't just a deadly emergency or anything," she said of returning to the Uzushiogakure. "Eh, maybe even finish up that fight with En-nii and have a look at these supposed seals which are 'sooo much better' than mine," she added finger quotation marks for emphasis, though she really did intend to have a look. She walked over to Youko and aimed to kiss him on the lips as she assumed they'd be parting ways at least for a bit. "Anyways, it's all good if you wanna go early, I didn't figure we'd stay there the whole time anyways..." she then turned and extended a hand to Toriko. "You wanna come? I'll even bring ya' back..." Toriko looked at her sister, then at the two Mizukage present. She wondered if they wanted time to catch up as siblings before anything else. "Koji-sama, would you be okay if I left for a few hours?" she asked, more than willing to go visit with her family for a bit, even if it wasn't the only family member she really wanted to see.

[Bloodedge]

"Liar!" Youko interrupted. "Say that all you want, but you're completely into the idea of that sort of link. Temporarily, maybe, but my point stands. I know how that filthy mind of yours works!" he continued, pointing at the redhead with a wagging finger for the sake of emphasis alone. "... Anyway," he said, switching the topic during the brief pause afforded by the approach and kiss of the Kazekage. "I have to take care of a few things. See ya' back home." With that said, Youko vanished, returning instantly to a Hiraishin seal at his forge.

Koji had been mostly silent, but when he was addressed by Toriko, he turned toward her to speak at last. "Mendokuse. Do what you want. It doesn't make any difference."

[Apollymi]

Benihime managed to look shocked when her husband accused her of having filthy thoughts about the nature of the connection of those who shared the Ichigotsuki. Of course, she couldn't really deny that she'd not mind such a thing temporarily, she already got to feel the intentions of others around her, she supposed the ability to legitimately feel their feelings in sexual acts would be amazing. "Accuse all you want, I never said any such thing, and ya' can't prove I thought anything~" said the woman who wasn't willing to show all her cards at the moment. A kiss later and her husband was explaining that he had things to take care of so he would be off and see her at home. "Yeah, ja~" she said as he disappeared.

In the time that he was gone, it seemed that her sister was content to ask her superior if it was okay if she leave for a bit. The man, as apathetic as he was, seemed to be alright with this, so Toriko reached out for her sisters outstretched hand. "Alright then, I'll be back soon, Koji-sama." she said. Benihime looked around the room and gave a wink to Kochou. "Oi, take this..." she said tossing the woman a Hiraishin Kunai which had the seal to summon the redhead. "Ya' know, in case ya' get lonely later," she said as the blade landed right at the woman's feet. The former Mizukage just chuckled though she went to retrieve her apparent gift. "Alright then, Red, have fun~" she said seeing the woman off which would garner the woman a puffed set of lips in return and the accompanying 'chu' sound. Then the pair of redheads would disappear in a flash of crimson light, headed for the Land of Whirlpools.