Chapter 38:

The next day arrived faster than expected as Fuyōna slowly pulls himself out of bed. Today was the first day Haku and Kimimaro would be attending the academy, and they had been up late with excitement.

Fuyōna pulled his clothes on and walked down the hall to open their bedroom doors to wake them.

However, they weren't there.

"Where the hell have they gone?" He thought as he walked down the stairs.

Haku and Kimimaro were sat at the table to his surprise. Each of them setting quietly with an empty plate in front of them.

"Good morning, Fuyōna sensei." They both greeted with a slight bow.

"Good morning, boys. Have you eaten already?" He asked, noticing the empty plates.

"No... We were waiting for you, Sensei." Haku said with a sheepish look.

Fuyōna gave a big chuckle as he walked over to him and patted his head.

"Don't be silly. While you stay with me, you can eat as much as you like. No more starving." Fuyōna said with a severe tone.

Both of them seemed as if they were about to cry, and Fuyōna quickly changed the subject.

"Now who's hungry!" He said, getting a cheer.

After Fuyōna cooked them all breakfast, he told them to go and get ready for their first day as it was almost time to head out.

They did just that, and Fuyōna walked them down towards where they would be spending a lot of time.

"Alright, boys, remember. Try not to use your kekkie genkai as best you can, and dont kill any of the teachers or other kids, alright?"

Both Kiimaro and Haku looked at him and gave a nod.

"We promise Fuyōna sensei." They both said.

"Good. Now go and have fun." He said as he patted both of them on the shoulder, sending them inside the academy.

Fuyōna watched as they went in with the other kids, and he couldn't help feeling like a proud father.

"I will do my best to make you strong." Fuyōna thought to himself as he watched them vanish inside.

He didn't linger for long as he turned around and walked away. After all, he had more pressing matters to attend to.

Today was the day he had arranged a meeting with Ao and as many followers, they could gather within the villages ranks. It was tough as they had to choose those that would be willing to fight and those that would not betray them.

That left mostly only the subordinate of the leading members of the coup. Hopefully, Ao would work some magic, but Fuyōna doesn't want to get his hopes up.

Fuyōna headed to the secret location that the two of them had set. It was an old warehouse that had been abandoned and boarded up.

Ao had scouted it out using his byakugan, finding it had a large underground storage area that was empty.

Fuyōna had already placed a sealing tag inside it and entered an ice mirror, slipping out onto the platform as he joined Ao and the others.

Everyone was a little shocked at his entrance and suddenly went quiet at his arrival. Fuyōna hadn't realised there would be so many here, and at a glance, he counted around 60 shinobi.

"Sorry, I'm late." He said to Ao.

"It's no bother," Ao said as he walked over to address the crowd of shinobi.

"Better late than never, Fuyōna," Mei said, giving him a little wink as she walked over to greet him.

He hadn't seen her since their night together... And morning, and he felt a little bad.

"Hey Mei, good to see your here." He said, not letting himself feel awkward.

Mei smiled and crossed her arms over her chest, doing the same. After all, they were both adults.

"Fuyōna." A male voice that Fuyōna recognised called out.

Fuyōna turned around with a smile on his face as he greeted Hatsu.

"Hatsu, glad to see you got my message about the meeting." He said with a smile.

Hatsu nodded.

"That's right." He said as he pointed his hand to a man behind him.

"You remember Kaga." He said as the blond-haired man greeted him.

"It's good to see you again, captain Yuki!" He shouted with a razor-sharp smile on his face.

Fuyōna remembered that the last time he had seen Kaga was just after the whole Kazekage battle. He was glad to see he was still alive and well.

"Good to see you too, Kaga," Fuyōna said with a smile.

Ao suddenly spoke up as he got everyone's attention.

"Alright, you lot, settle down!" He shouted.

"Now, I have asked you all to gather here at the wish of a good friend of mine." He said as he stepped aside, allowing Fuyōna to take centre stage.

Everyone in the crowd started to whisper amongst themselves as they recognised who he was.

Fuyōna let them chat for a moment longer before he allowed his presence to spread, demanding respect and authority.

"Thank you, Ao." He said as he took centre stage.

"My name is Fuyōna Yuki." He said, letting it sink in.

"I have asked Ao and the others behind me to gather you here today to speak about something that may seem hard to believe."

He paused for a moment as he let his words sink in.

"It has come to my attention that our Mizukage is under a powerful genjutsu." He said, getting a hasty reaction.

Everyone suddenly burst out into murmurs as they couldn't help contain their thoughts.

"I know this is hard to believe. But he is being controlled, doing the bidding of another who is using him and our village for their own gain!"

Everyone was talking louder and louder now as they couldn't believe the news.

"Why should we believe you!" A voice shouted.

"Yeah, your one of those tailed beast monsters!" Another man shouted.

Fuyōna didn't respond as everyone else in the crowd started to shout at him.

"That's enough!!!" A voice shouted over them all, coming from the centre of the crowd.

Fuyōna looked to see who it was, surprised when he saw Ganryū, who was the team leader of the team Suiren was a part of.

"Those of you who know me know that I don't allow myself to follow others blindly." He said, getting their attention.

Ganryū was a respected member of the Anbu tracking unit and had completed many missions, holding a high success rate.

"I have worked with captain Yuki here before. If he says, it's true. Then it is!" He said, daring anyone to challenge him.

Ao also stepped forwards.

"It is true. I have seen it with my Byakugan." He said, getting a shocked reaction from everyone there.

"That's right. Fuyōna here is the only one of us who noticed it. Now you had better listen to what he has to say!" Mei said as she flicked her hair, getting a glance from all of the men in the room.

Fuyōna waited for it to go quiet again before he spoke.

"I have reason to believe that the one controlling our Mizukage is Madara Uchiha." He said, this time getting a seriously shocking reaction from everyone and not just the crowd.

Even Ao was shocked at the news as he looked to Mei to see if she knew this. She shuck her head and looked just as surprised as he did.

"I know this is hard to hear... But we must act. We must act before it is too late for our village. Before this, oppressor uses our Mizukage to start another war..." Fuyōna said.

This time no one spoke up against him, and they all eagerly awaited him to continue.

"Myself and the others here." He said, jesting to Ao, Mei, Hatsu and Kaga behind him.

"Have come up with a plan to break the genjutsu and hopefully save the Mizukage. If we can help it, we wish to avoid a battle at all costs."

This time Ao took the centre as he spoke.

"Our plan is to lure the Mizukage out of the village as far as we can get him so that if things get ugly, we can limit the destruction and number of casualties." He said, crossing his arms behind his back.

"It will be your job to stop any who remain loyal to the Mizukage through blind trust, from attempting to intervene in the battle, if it comes to that," Ao said.

"We wish to avoid a civil war if we can help it. But if not, we will need every able-bodied man and woman to hell fight for our villages freedom." Mei said, stepping forward.

The crowd of shinobi were starting to feel motivated as Ao and Mei stepped up, telling them the plan.

Fuyōna had counted on this, as the two of them were high in the ranks and held a lot of respect among the village forces.

Kaga and Hatsu had also risen in the ranks, making it to unit captain's and held a lot of respect from their own troops.

Fuyōna felt lucky to have made so many allies along his journey up until now, and he stepped forwards as Ao moved aside for him.

"Fuyōna Yuki will lead this operation as the strongest here. He is the only one who can break the genjutsu on the Mizukage. His word will be law for this mission."

No one said a word as they already knew his reputation. Being hailed as a Kage killer at the age of 14 was no joking matter.

"Alright. The mission will take place two days from now. There will only be one signal if things dont go to plan. I think you all know what it will be." He said.

The plan's full details had been laid out, and the crowd of Shinobi was dismissed, leaving only the leaders on the stage and Ganryū left in attendance.

Ao turned around to Fuyōna and asked what was on everyone's minds.

"How do you know it is Madara Uchiha?"

Fuyōna was expecting the question from one of them and crossed his arms.

"I thought he was long dead by now," Mei said.

Fuyōna nodded in response to their questions.

"It is true that I didn't tell you at first... I wanted to gather a little more information before we made a move. But now, my suspicions have come true. Do you remember hearing about the attack of the nine-tailed fox on the hidden leaf five years ago?" He said.

They all nodded as they came closer to listen to him.

"Well, it is beloved that Madara took control of the nine tails and battled the fourth Hokage."

The others gasped as he told them.

"How do you know all this?" Kaga asked.

"While I was away for three years, I wasn't just training. I was gathering as much intel as I could about the current events of the world. That is how I stumbled upon this information." Fuyōna said, telling an excellent lie.

He didn't want to lie to them, but he had no choice. After all, they would never believe the truth, even if he told them.

"If it comes down to it, I will be the one to battle against Madara or the Mizukage." He said.

"But Fuyōna, I can," Mei said.

"No." He said, cutting her off.

"If the mission goes south and we have to fight. I will need you and Ao to keep the others busy. We still have a few members of the seven swordsmen who remain loyal to the Mizukage and could pose a problem."

Mei didn't like it, but she backed down, knowing she wasn't as strong as he was.

Ao agreed with Fuyōna and listed the potential best matchups in case it came to a fight.

"Lord Fuguki and Kisame will pose a huge danger. Mei is the only one here other than Fuyōna who would stand a chance against them. Ao said.

"Don't forget about that kid, Mangetsu Hōzuki..." Hatsu said, reminding them.

He was one of the only members of the seven who had mastered all of the swords he had used and was considered an S rank ninja, not to be taken lightly due to his age.

Fuyōna remembered who he was and had yet to cross paths with him just yet.

"What about Zabuza?" Mei asked, noticing he wasn't here today.

Fuyōna sighed as he turned to look at her.

"We found out that Zabuza has gone rogue, leaving the village. I doubt he will be a problem." Fuyōna said, surprising those who didn't know yet.

"He went rogue?" Mei said in a surprised manner.

"I never thought he would do that."

"That should be the only other ninja in the village we will have trouble with," Ao said, unable to think of anymore else who would get in their way.

"That settles it then. I will take the Mizukage. Mei and Ao, you will handle Fuguki and Kisame." Fuyōna said, knowing it wouldn't come down to that as Fuguki would be dead, and Kisame will have left the village by then.

"That just leaves Mangetsu..." Ao said, sounding worried as he looked at the others.

"Even if all of you fight him at the same time, it could be a close one." He said.

Fuyōna placed his hand on Aos shoulder, calming him down.

"Don't worry, Ao. I can vouch for Hatsu and Kaga's strength. Besides, I dont think they will be alone." He said.

Everyone nodded and agreed on the plan that had been set out. Fuyōna knowing that Mei and Ao would also be able to deal with Mangetsu if needed, and against all of them, he wouldn't stand a chance.

They ended the meeting, and each of them left, going their own way. Mei, however, ran over to Fuyōna, trying to see if he wanted to hang out for a little while.

"You haven't called around in the last few days, Fuyōna... Should I be worried?" She asked playfully.

"Fuyōna gave a nervous laugh as he couldn't help notice her large breasts getting closer and closer to his face.

"Well, you see..."

"You can touch them if you want Fuyōna." She said, saying his name slowly in a sexy manner.

He had to admit he was very tempted and had to stop his hand from reaching out to grab them.

"I'm sorry, Mei." He said as he placed his hands on her shoulders instead."

Mei had a puppy dog expression on her face and pulled her lip down with her little finger looking sad.

"What's the matter Fuyōna, dont you want me anymore?" She said, clearly teasing him.

"It's not that Mei... I just think we should focus on the next few days before we decide to, well, fool around."

Mei sighed and pulled away.

"Your no fun, Fuyōna..." She said, crossing her arms.

She turned back to face him quickly, though, as her expression changed again.

"But you are worth the wait." She said with a wink as she blew a love heart-shaped vapour cloud into the air at him.

Fuyōna smiled nervously and realised she could melt him if he upset her and decided now was a good time to say goodbye.

With that, he gave her a wave before slipping into another ice mirror and stepping out into the kitchen of his new house.

It was already late afternoon, and Fuyōna hadn't realised how long that meeting had gone on for. He still had a lot to plan and think about.

He was sure he could take the Mizukage. The only question was, could he do it without killing him. Yagura was also a perfect jinchuriki and could cause a lot of damage if he got the chance.

Fuyōna pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind trying not to think about it anymore. He would do what needed to be done, and that was that.

As if on Que Haku and Kimimaro walked through the door into the house.

"Sensei, we're home!" Haku shouted as he ran into the kitchen, hoping he was there.

To Haku's disappointment, Fuyōna wasn't there.

"That's strange. I thought I could hear him." Haku said, turning to Kimimaro, who also walked into the kitchen.

Kimimaro suddenly turned around and blocked an attack from a bone club. Haku hadn't been so fast to react, and he got hit on the head.

"Ouch!" Haku shouted as he grabbed his head with his hands.

Fuyōna gave a small chuckle as he took a step back.

"Haku, what did I tell you about always being aware?" He said as he crossed his arms.

Kimimaro lowered his arm and smiled at the sight of his sensei.

"Well done, Kimimaro. Your reactions are already impressive. I expected nothing less."

Kimimaro couldn't help but smile.

"Thank you, sensei."

"No fair!" Haku said.

"Now, now. How was your first day at the academy?" Fuyōna asked as he rubbed Haku's head to make it feel better.

Haku forgot all bout the pain and smiled instantly.

"It was really fun, sensei. We got to practice with some shuriken today!" He shouted.

Fuyōna raised an eyebrow in interest.

"Is that so?" He asked, amused.

Fuyōna took both of them outside into the large garden. He had placed a couple of target around the area and even put one behind a barrier of ice so that it was protected by it.

"Show me what you have learnt," Fuyōna said as he laid out a bunch of shuriken, kunai and senbon needles for them to use.

Both of them quickly grew excited as they took some of the weapons, ready to show Fuyōna what they could do.

"Alright, Kimimaro. You're first." Fuyōna said as he crossed his arms.

Kimimaro eyed all of the targets, including the one behind the layer of ice. He concentrated and suddenly let loose the projectiles one after the other.

They all hit the targets as his shuriken made a thumping sound as they hit the wood. Kimimaro had tried his best to throw his last shuriken at a curve so it would glide down to the last target, but it failed and hit the ice.

Kimimaro's expression dropped a little as he missed, clearly disappointed with himself.

"Well done, Kimimaro, not bad at all," Fuyōna said.

"Alright, Haku, you're up next. Think you can hit that last one?"

Haku nodded his head with a smile and prepared his shuriken. Fuyōna noticed that in one hand, he held shuriken and the other senbon needles.

Haku started throwing them at a good speed as each of them hit dead centre into their targets.

Haku did the same as Kimimaro with his last shuriken sending it off at a curve to get it to spin, however. Haku threw a senbon needle at the last second. The needle hit the shuriken and chanced its trajectory, sending the shuriken crashing into the target behind the ice, hitting the bullseye.

The senbon needle also bounced off and struck one of the other targets, not going to waste either.

Fuyōna was beyond impressed at Haku's display of shuriken jutsu and couldn't believe how naturally he took to it.

"Well done, Haku, that was very impressive." He said, walking over to him and patting his head.

Haku smiled with his checks going red from Fuyōnas praise.

"While we are here, Kimimaro, I would like to show you a jutsu that only you can use," Fuyōna said, getting his attention.

Fuyōna extended his hand and let them both watch as small bones started producing out of his fingertips.

Kimimaro's eyes went wide with amazement as well as Haku's.

Fuyōna suddenly turned around, spinning at a rapid rate as he fired the bone bullets, hitting all of the targets and ripping through them.

Both of the boys were speechless at the demonstration, and Fuyōna turned to face him.

"Remember Kimimaro. With our Kekkie Genkai, every bone in our body can be used as a weapon." He said, getting a nod from the boy.

"Wow, Kimimaro, that's so cool!" Haku shouted.

Kimimaro looked at his hand and did the same thing before throwing the bone bullets at the ice, shattering it.

"That's it, Kimimaro. Maybe one day, I will teach you how to add an element to that." Fuyōna said.

"What about me, sensei?" Haku asked.

"Your Kekkie Genkai is Hyōton, ice release. It doesn't work like that for you, I'm afraid." Fuyōna said, trying to explain it to him.

He had already told them about their abilities and Kekkei Genkai's, but they still had many questions.

"Don't worry, though, Haku. I will teach you how to use it for something like this." He said as he patted the boys on their heads again.

"Now on to the next bit of training," Fuyōna said as he took them over to a large tree.

"This next exercise will involve the control of your chakra. You must learn how to do this as it will help in everything you do. That goes for both of you." He said, looking at them.

"Now pay attention." He said as he placed his hands together for effect and started walking up the tree.

Both of their mouths were open wide as they watched Fuyōna walk all the way to the top of the tree.

"The trick is to focus your chakra into your feet and let it hold you to the surface", He said before he dropped back down to the ground.

"If your concentration breaks, you will fall. This is an essential skill, and one I want both of you to master."

Both Haku and Kimimaro looked at each other as they nodded. Placing these hands together to focus their chakra as they tried to walk up the tree.

To Fuyōns surprise, they both stuck to the tree line and started walking up, getting about halfway.

"Well, I'll be damned..." Fuyōna said, almost not believing they were doing so well on their first time.

Suddenly both of their concentration slipped, and they fell back down to the ground. Kimimaro landed on his feet like a cat, while Haku flipped last second, managing to catch himself on a branch to slow his fall.

"Not bad at all, boys, not bad at all," Fuyōna said, impressed.

"Now, let's see if you can do it under pressure." He said with a smile.

The boys looked at him in surprise as he threw them each a Kunai.

"Now walk back up the tree and mark how high you can get before you fall. Make sure not to lose your Kunai and watch out for projectiles."

"Projectiles?" Kimimaro asked.

"That's right," Fuyōna said as he crossed his arms.

The boys started to walk up the tree again, each of them trying their best not to lose focus.

Fuyōna let them get back to about halfway as he threw a small number of shuriken at each of them as a surprise.

Haku noticed the projectiles and tried not to panic as he blocked them. However, his ability to multi-task was still lacking, and his left foot lost its connection.

"Argh!" Haku shouted as he slipped a little further down the tree before managing to catch himself.

Kimimaro noticed the shuriken, and instead of blocking them, he simply ducked. Fuyōna had already expected that, and he threw another set that was coming from behind the boy.

Kimimaro didn't notice them until the last second and allowed two large bones to spike from his back to stop them.

"Not bad, Kimimaro. But can you do both?"

Kimimaro also felt his concentration laps as he had focused his chakra on using his Kekkei Genkai. Both of his feet slipped, and he fell down through the air flipping around before he landed in a spiderman pose.

Haku started to run as fast as he could to try and reach the top, taking advantage of Kimimaros fall.

"At this rate, I will get there first!" He said.

Fuyōna watched him go and was impressed to see how fast the boy was improving.

Kimimaro didn't look impressed, and suddenly, he burst up onto the tree with impressive speed.

"Looks like they are getting competitive." Fuyōna thought as he let loose another bunch of shuriken.

Haku could see the top of the tree and set his sight on it, running as quickly as he could to reach it.

Suddenly a shuriken hit the tree just above from where he was, and a layer of ice spread on top of the bark.

Haku stepped onto the ice, unable to react to it and slipped as soon as his foot touched it.

Kimimaro was halfway now, and this time, he quickly deflected the shuriken that came his way, not even taking his eye off his goal.

Another shuriken hit the tree and created a layer of ice over it just as it had done for Haku.

Kimimaro didn't care and stepped onto it using the bones in his feet to act as studs, so he didn't slip.

"You crafty little bugger," Fuyōna said as he couldn't help be impressed.

Haku noticed Kimimaro quicky gaining on him and knew if he fell now, he would lose.

As the boy fell back, he placed his hands on the tree, using his chakra to grip onto it like his feet.

Pulling himself back down, he pushed off, and both he and Kimimaro raced to the top neck and neck.

Each of them slammed their kunai into the top of the tree as they each grabbed the top branch at the same time.

They gave each other a hard look before they smiled and looked down at Fuyōna.

"I win, sensei!" They both shouted at the same time, looking at each other again as they laughed.

"Good work, boys, but I'm afraid you are wrong." He said as he suddenly melted into water.

"I'm afraid that I won." He said from above them as he was already stood at the top of the tree.

"Wahh!" They both shouted in amazement as they turned to look at their sensei.

"When did you?" Kimimaro said, shocked that he hadn't noticed Fuyōna there at all.

"Wow, sensei, that's so cool!" Haku said as he jumped a little.

Fuyōna smiled as he crossed his arms.

"Now, how about we have some food!"

Hope you enjoyed! Check out my P-A-T-R-E-O-N for more chapters! Link in story Bio.

Also if you like m writing, please check out m original story. Tails of Astaria!