Chapter 17: A Daimyo's Tears

Disclaimer: I don't Naruto or any other references mentioned in this fanfic.

Double chapter today, hurray. Work has been something else because of all this Christmas hype so sorry for not getting to this until today.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Chapter 17

It was around 7 PM when Kenji finally stepped outside of the Hokage Tower.

In his hands was a copy of the contract he had signed with the Hokage as well as the deed to his new plot of land.

He wore a shinobi headband around his neck as a sign that he was finally a genin, his picture and license had been processed almost as soon as the meeting had ended. Of course in his chubby persona.

However the reason why he was so late was because he decided to take advantage of this opportunity to apply for every type of license available. The last thing he wanted was to be held back because he didn't have the proper documentation. Luckily had had already studied up on all of them so getting them was as easy as pie. Some of them he didn't have any use for right now, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Still, he was curious if he would ever get to use his new beekeeping license.

Akame peeked her head from the neck of his kimono.

"You were great by the way."

'Of course.'

He scratched her under her chin, "How about I treat you to some peking duck after this?"

'You better.'

"Go get the rest of the team please."

'Hmph, fine.'

Just like that she merged with the shadows inside his clothes and disappeared without a trace.

'Now then, one last thing to take care,' the blindfolded boy thought as he let his legs guide him to a familiar building.

Leaf Publishing

He could almost picture the crackling thundercloud over the building as he gulped in uneasiness

This was the most famous publishing company in the entire world, or rather infamous. It was the publisher to the Icha Icha Paradise series, a title that the current president loathed with all of her heart.

Opening the entrance, he walked all the way to the front desk that contained a preppy secretary. Kenji was sure that she must be taking some mood enhancing supplements (drugs) since no one could be that cheerful all the time. "Ahem, excuse me. I'd like to make-"

"Ah Ken-chan. Come on honey, you don't need to act like a stranger," the brunet said with a wide grin. "Are you here to see the Boss today?"

"Y-Yeah, Midori-san. Is she avai-"

She interrupted him mid-sentence, "Oh, then you can just go right on in. I'm sure you know your way by know. She's been moan about you all week."

Kenji gave up on talking to her, he wasn't good at dealing with overly cheerful people. It also unnerved him that she never seemed to blink. "Okay then, bye."

"Congratulations by the way on becoming a shinobi," she said throwing him a thumbs up.

He hesitantly returned the gesture.

He had been inside the building plenty of times already so it was easy to find the Boss' door even if he wasn't blindfolded.

The small boy raised a hand to knock on the door, but it was unneeded as it was promptly pulled open.

Standing there blocking the doorway was a beautiful raven-haired woman. She had black rectangular glasses, a white blouse, a black dress suit with black heels. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail and combined with her serious no nonsense expression it gave her an aura of ice queen.

However all of that melted away as soon as she saw the small boy who still had his hand raised in the air.

Her face morphed into a wide grin as she lunged at him, "Aww, if it isn't my little author, Ken-chan. I haven't seen you in weeks, I was starting to get worried. What if some bad person took you home." She said all of this while rubbing her face on his cheek, "Your skin is still as soft and supple as ever."

Kenji got goosebumps from the close contact and substituted with a nearby potted plant. He didn't like people touching him so he tried his best avoid it. The few times that he was forced too, he liked to be the one to initiate it otherwise it would feel weird.

"Yukiko Satou," the small boy said coldly.

Yukiko pouted, "Call me Yuki-chan… or onee-san."

The look Kenji gave her could only be described as someone looking at filth on the bottom of their shoe. It was rather impressive overall since he had his eyes covered.

The older woman clutched her heart, "Ahh, that cold expression… I suppose that is fine in its own way too."

There was a reason why Kenji didn't like to come here often, the president was a hardcore shotacon.

"Ahem. I passed my genin exam," Kenji started before he was interrupted by a massive surge of pink aura engulfed the woman. Ninshu was sometimes more trouble than it was worth.

"Legal shota. Legal shota. Legal shota," the perverse woman muttered under her breath in some sort of trance.

Kenji wanted to run away but forced himself to stay by thinking of all the money he would need in the future, 'The things I do for my survival.'

"Anyways, I was hopping that since I am an adult in the eyes of the law, I could finally sign that contracted we talked about."

"Oh? Oh! Right yes, the contract," she said standing up, "Come in, step into my office."

Suddenly the innocent office took a sinister look in his minds eye. He got a shield talisman just in case. He was glad to have the foresight to ask Akame for his ring back.

For the next two hours, Kenji and Yukiko crafted a contract with Kenji using his cute factor to twist the contract in his favor.

"Thank you, Yuki onee-san," the small boy said, even if he felt a small part of him die inside.

"Don't worry Ken-chan, just be sure to visit me okay. I'll personally hold your check, so you don't forget," the woman said with a cheerful expression.

'It's no wonder why Jiraiya's books were accepted. The previous owner was also a bit of a pervert. Must run in the family,' Kenji thought as he woman rubbed his head.

A nearby employee to ask Yuki a question but the cold glare they received from the woman made them do a 180 and head back without saying a word.

"I have to go now," he told her and left without waiting for her reply.

(Scene change)

According to the map that he was given, this entire land was his.

The Hokage must have really wanted to gain favor since he had not only bought the land that Kenji had been eyeing but also a bit of the surrounding land as well.

The distance between the village gate and the Hokage tower was 1.6 miles, meaning that the entire area of the village was 2.01 square miles. That was 1286.4 acres in total. (1 Acre is roughly the size of a football field.)

He was given 6 acres near the wall. It was mostly vacant farmland, with a couple of trees here and there.

Seeing just how much land he now had, meant that he would need to rethink his original plans. It would take a lot of time and money but he was sure he could build his dream shop.

Now that he had a book contract he would be getting a steady income. He had two years before the events of the original story were supposed to happen, which was plenty of time to transform his land into the most fortified home in the entire village. Immediately a scene of automatic cannons armed with Dragon Talisman springing out of the front lawn to chase away pesky door to door salesmen came to his mind.

First however he needed to make his base.

With the help of some earth clones, Kenji was able to set up the large tent that was his original shop. With a proud grin he set the shops sign for all to see.

Canopy Tent +16

Quality: Low-Human

Defense: 30

+ 700

10+: The inside of the tent is expanded to 4X its normal size.

12+: Applying chakra allows owner to adjust the appearance of the tent.

14+: Applying chakra allows owner to change the size of the tent.

16+: Can absorb chakra from ninjutsu attacks to form a barrier.

Chakra Points Needed to Upgrade: 130

"Moon Artifacts is back in business baby," he said rubbing his hands together in an evil manner.

He had been working on the tent in his spare time. Since he knew it would be his home until he could build his actual shop, he had spared no expense in upgrading it. The first thing he did was create a steel mesh that he attached to the inside of the tent. Then he coated the outside with a special potion that would make chakra jutsu slide right off. Then he used a mixture of ink, blood, and chakra dust to write scriptures all over the walls in an attempt to bless it.

Like mentioned, he didn't know what abilities the artifacts would get. But that didn't mean he couldn't influence the result.

Still, he hadn't expected the results to be so powerful.

Touching the wall, Kenji fed it some chakra while thinking of an image in his head. The cloth under his hand hardened and turned into a white color. The tent quivered as it began to transform. Taking the appearance of a two-story Chinese house. It had white walls with a blue tiled curved roof, a wide wooden door, and rectangular black windows. A stone platform grew under it with two stone steps leading to the entrance. Red lanterns hung off the overhanging roof lighting up the entire outside of the house.

Taking his hand off the cement wall, Kenji panted. Making changes took a lot of chakra.

Chakra: Genin

Chakra Points: 1,300/ 3,300

?

Opening the door of his temporary home, Kenji noticed that the wooden floor was polished to a shine. Some of his clones had started to set up lanterns to light up the room.

At the far side of the room were two wooden doors. The door in the very center of the wall led to the stock room and the one located near the left corner opened up to reveal a staircase which led to the second story.

Leaving the clones to finish their work, Kenji walked up the steps to his room.

It was twice the size of his previous apartment.

Frowning slightly at emptiness the small boy took some things out of his ring to liven the place up.

The first was the lavish queen-sized bed from his prison cell. Akame had gone back and taken it when no one was looking. Good job Akame!

The next was the small shrine he had made for Kaguya. He should see into building her a proper shrine later.

He was interrupted by a clone bargaining into his room.

"Master, there is someone outside," an earth clone informed him.

Kenji pulled apart the bandages on his face to peek outside, but it was useless. He had forgotten that the clones were placing anti-peeking talismans.

Readjusting his bandages Kenji began to make his way down stairs.

He saw a number of clones setting up different talismans around the shop. They would glow blue before disappearing into the wall, ceiling or floor. Some were to block any form of sight or sound, while others were traps set up to stop shop lifters or enemy shinobi.

'I wonder who it could be?" Kenji thought as he pocketed an upgraded kunai and a shield talisman.

Opening the door carefully, Kenji saw to his amazement a tall and burly warrior in red and brown armor (Or at least that was he guessed those shades of grey were). The lips on his grizzled face was set in a straight line and he sported an impressive mustache and beard combo. A leather eye-patch covered one of his eyes. He looked like a General that had stepped straight out of one of his novels.

However, on closer inspection he noticed that the armor also looked familiar, 'Wait a second. Didn't I design this armor? If I remember correctly it should be from General Gon from The Immortal Jade. But that would mean…'

"Yu-san? Is that you? Why are you dressed that way?" Kenji questioned tilting his head to the side.

Yu tried to hide it the best he could but Kenji could still feel the deep rooted embracement coming off him. "Hello brat, guess you're not fat anymore," the fire guardian said in his usual deep voice.

He received a slap of the head from Kana, one of the handmaidens to Lady Shijimi, "Be nice you overgrown bear. Ahem, hello Kenji-san do you mind if we come in?"

Kenji looked behind the duo and noticed a squad of people in cloaks behind them. "All of you?"

"Huh, no. Just four of us, the rest will stay outside," she said waving her hand.

"…Alright then," Kenji said after a moment of thought. It not like he could stop them if they really wanted to enter. If they were a threat, then it would be easier to fight them inside as a smaller number instead of all at once.

Kana gave what must have been the signal since two of the cloaked figures broke from the group and entered the tent.

Once they were all inside the two people removed their cloaks.

Immediately Kenji knew who they were. The Daimyo was easy to recognize even if he did look rather drained at the moment. Madam Shijimi was harder to connect since her whole appearance had gone through a drastic change but the space ring he sensed on her finger was proof enough.

Tilting his head to the side Kenji spoke, "Hmm? Daimyo-sama? Madam Shijimi? What an unexpected surprise."

Madam Shijimi broke into a wide grin, "Hello Ken-chan. It's great to see you again."

"Likewise, Madam Shijimi. I was not aware that either you or the Daimyo were in the village. Did you just arrive?" Kenji asked. Truth be told, Kenji didn't know what had been happening in the village since he was locked-up.

"No, we've been here for almost three weeks."

"…I see. Sorry, I've been rather … preoccupied these last few days."

"You mean your time in prison," Yu said tactlessly, causing Kenji's shoulders to hick up and Kana to pinch his ear.

Seeing that this reunion was going on the wrong direction, Madam Shijimi tried to smooth things over, "Ah, yes. The Hokage was gracious enough to allow us to witness the Genin exam since we were there at the time. We were able to see you're… performance."

Kenji appreciated her intent, still he gave an exhausted sigh, "I see. Well then there's no use hiding it. As you no doubt already found out, I was arrested."

"Got to say kid, you have some major potential. That last attack was something else. Hell, I'm not even sure if I could have avoid-"

"Yu-san. Shut up," Kana said with a sweet smile as she stabbed a senbon needle into his side.

Yu grunted in pain. He threw the smiling handmaiden a glare as he took out the needle.

With slumped shoulders Kenji asked, "Not that I'm not happy to see you all but was there something you needed?"

"Ah, yes! Ken-chan this is my husband Masakuni Shijimi. Dear, this is Kenji Yamamoto."

Kenji gave a 90 degree bow, "It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Daimyo-sama."

The Daimyo waved him off, "Please no formalities. My wife has told me many good things about you Kenji."

Rising, Kenji tried to act bashful, "I'm sure she was just being polite."

"Oh, I doubt that, she is a rather good judge of character," the leader of the country said as he stared lovingly into his wife's eyes.

Madam Shijimi tried to act coy as she turned her head to the side.

The rest in the room looked at their nauseating lovey-dovey act in contempt.

'Oy, you old geezers, stop acting like teenagers. Act your own age,' was what they all thought.

"Ahem, how rude of me. Let me prepare some tea," Kenji said before the two could get anymore hands-y.

With a casual wave, round wooden table appeared as if by magic. He took five chairs from his ring and placed them around the table.

Kana volunteered to make the tea, probably as a way to test for harmful substances. After giving her the canister containing the Spirit Tea Leaves and instructing her how to make it, they all took their seats.

"Thank you," the small boy said to Kana as she poured him a cup. They all watched him take the first sip before drinking it themselves.

"What?"

"Oh my?"

"This is-"

"How marvelous. Ken-chan you must tell me where you got this tea from," the now slim noblewoman said as she gracefully held the tea cup.

Yu and Kana stretched their limbs noticing the lack of aches almost immediately.

The Daimyo also stood straighter in his seat with his eyebags disappearing. He was filled with new found vigor.

"Ah, this is my special blend," Kenji explained, feeling relaxed.

Madam Shijimi took another careful sip of the golden tea, savoring the changing of flavors that danced on her pallet. "Oh this is simply heavenly. I'd love to have some myself. Is there any chance you can part with a few leaves."

Kenji shook his head, "Sorry, Madam Shijimi. The leaves to make this are somewhat rare. They can help revitalize the body and strength it as you can tell. Additionally, in order to make it, it needs to go through an entire fermentation process. I do have another canister but I'm unsure of when I will get the chance to make more so I'm rather reluctant to part with it."

"I'll give you 500,000 ryo for it."

"Sold!" Kenji shouted automatically.

Yu sighed at the small boy's shamelessness display, 'Have some pride dammit.'

Kana giggled at their interaction, and even the Daimyo had a small smile on his face.

Money was exchanged, and the noble woman was now the proud owner of the magical tea.

"So tell me Ken-chan, what have you been doing," Madam Shijimi asked after putting away the tea box in her spatial ring.

"Well after you left, a lot of things happened."

For the next hour the two caught up on each other's lives.

Kenji explained about all of his adventures, excluding his fight against the chakra beasts.

He told her of the Inuzuka clans latest weapons, of his training to be a genin, the different types of artifacts he was creating.

In exchange, she told him about life in the capitol. She explained her miraculous transformation with the help of the diet pills. The change in fashion.

Kenji threw Yu and the Daimyo a look filled with pity and understanding when he heard this.

She excitedly explained how wuxia culture was starting to take root in the capitol. She went on and on talking about his book, asking questions about different things in it. Kenji was happy to answer all of her question and even gave her the next three books in the series.

Part of Kenji felt extremely embarrassed about all of this, while the other was already thinking of ways to profit off this new trend.

Kenji had to admit that this was nice. He wondered if this what it felt like to have family. Both the Daimyo and his wife went out of their way to treat him like a favored grandson. Yu-san took the roll of drunk uncle which left Kana as the reliable older sister.

That however didn't mean that he dropped his guard around them.

Yu looked bored as he played with his tea cup, so he looked at Kenji, "So what's with the bandages? Something wrong with your eyes?"

Immediately the pleasant atmosphere in the room came to a screeching halt.

"Yu-san," Kana said threateningly.

The giant man snorted. "What? I have this remember," he said pointing to his eyepatch, "I think I'm allowed to ask this question."

"I'm sorry Ken-chan," Madam Shijimi began before Kenji shook his head.

"No, it's fine. It's a validate question," the small merchant said. He knew that there was no ill intention behind it. Gently he unwrapped the bandages on his head.

They group held their breath as the white cloth began to pool in front of the small boy. They were expecting to see scars or some type of sign that indicated that he was injured. However when the last layer was taken off, there was nothing, not even a blemish.

However when Kenji opened his eyes, they saw that his eyes were a deep gold color.

All of those gathered knew that he was good looking even with the bandages, but now with out them on, there was a whole new level. His almond shaped eyes added a new layer of attractiveness that was hard to pin point, but it made him look more fairylike.

'It's not as bad in here. Must be because of the talismans blocking the outside,' Kenji thought to himself before steadily releasing his hold on his vision.

The room steadily began to fill with different colored smoke. At the same time his pupil began to turn into vertical slits making them look animalistic.

"Is that it?" Yu asked sounding disappointing.

Kenji rolled his eyes, "Yes, this is the only physical change but…"

"But?"

"To be perfectly honest I'm almost completely blind," the small boy admitted. He couldn't even see six inches in front of him because of all the nature energy in the air.

He heard them gasp, and Kana asked, "How did this happen?"

Kenji shrugged his shoulder, "It's one of the risks of the job I'm afraid. Sometimes higher grade artifacts don't play nice."

"Don't play nice? Do you mean to say that they are alive?" Madam Shijimi asked concerned.

The small boy decided to explain it to them since it would be beneficial to his goal, "Not really. Let me explain."

He took out a low-human grade comb and a high-human grade fan from his ring.

"As you no doubt already noticed, I use a strange way of marking my weapons. There's actually a reason for that."

He showed them the comb that had a sigil of a red man inside of a square. Then he should them the fan that had the same sigil on the bottom only in gold.

"The man inside of the square signifies that it is a Human grade chakra artifacts-"

"How many grades are there?"

"So far the highest I've encountered is Heaven grade. It goes Human, then Earth, and finally Heaven."

The Daimyo who rarely talked made an enlightened face, "Oh, like the spirit artifacts inside of your book."

"…yes, moving on. The three grades are then divided into three additional tiers, Low, Mid, High. Red signifies low, Silver is Mid, and Gold is High. This comb is a low human, and this fan is high-human understand."

"Yes," the chorused.

"Okay the, the next thing to take into account is that the higher the grade, the less control you have. They aren't necessarily alive but they do have their own intentions. Human grade artifacts can be used just fine and are perfectly safe. Earth grade artifacts on the other hand should only be given to those that have a strong enough willpower to control them."

"Fascinating."

"So what does this have to do with your eyes," the giant man said.

His cat like eyes gave Fire Guardian a small glare, "I was getting to that. This is a result of using a Heaven grade artifact during the exam. I was not prepared for it, and it caused some… side effects. I like to test the effects of all my merchandise myself so that it is safe to sell. Of course there have been a couple close calls before, but this is the first time that I can't fix it."

Madame Shijimi looked worried as she nervously asked, "Y-You can't fix this. B-But didn't you regrow your arm in the exam?"

Kenji turned his neck so fast, that if he was a normal kid, he would have gotten whiplash. Combined with the narrowing of his eyes, it made for an intimidating sight.

Then he relaxed his gaze, "Right, I forgot that you saw all of that."

"Well normally I could, but my body doesn't treat them as a defect so there is nothing to heal. …I would have to reluctantly agree as well. Ironically I've been able to see more clearly."

Kana looked confused, "What do you mean Ken-chan?"

With a melancholy smile, Kenji explained. "Ever since my accident I've been able to see the world in a whole new light. It's like someone has peeled off the curtain of the world and laid it bare before me."

"Oh, that's quite the claim?" the Daimyo said unsure if the boy was being literal or philosophical.

Kenji smiled at their skepticism. "Perhaps a demonstration. Daimyo-sama you said that Madam Shijimi is a good judge of character. It just so happens that I am too." He turned to his right where Yu was sitting, "Tell me Yu, who is the most important person in your life."

"Ehh? Me, why are you asking me that?" the large burly shinobi said all of a sudden very shy even as he subconsciously thought of 'her'.

Still that was enough for Kenji, he saw what he needed to. While Yu didn't know it yet, but Kenji had used ninshu to read his heart. Bullshit powers for the win!

'What the hell? Doesn't this girl look like Shampoo from Ranma 1/2. But this can't be his daughter? There's absolutely no way this bear of a man could be the parent of such a cute girl. So that only leaves…'

Kenji made a creeped out face as he scouted closer to Madam Shijimi on his other side, "Lolicon?"

"What!? You little brat! How did you come up with that!" Yu said slamming his hand down on the table in indignation, causing the cups to rattle.

"I looked into your heart and I saw a purple haired girl about 11 years old."

"And that was your first guess!" the man roared.

"Well, what else am I supposed to think," Kenji said defensively.

Yu growled warningly, before he reached into the depths of his armor and took out a photo. He slammed it on the table and everyone gathered around to see it.

It was a picture of Yu standing next to a beautiful purple haired woman, the girl that Kenji saw was sitting on his shoulders, only she looked to be five or six.

"Ehh? No way? Yu, are you married?" Kana said as she looked back and forth between the man that was turning red and the photo.

The Daimyo also looked slightly stunned, "What a surprise?"

"How did you trick this woman into actually giving you a child. She has to be adopted? She's adopted right? Right? There's no way someone this cute could come out of you?" Kenji exclaimed, stating the true opinions of everyone.

Yu was steadily growing redder from either anger or embarrassment. He pointed one of his thick sausage fingers to the woman in the photo, "This is my wife, and this is our daughter."

"What? Could it be that there is something wrong with her," Kana said as she took the photo more closely trying to find any defects.

Ah, Kenji saw a vein pop on the large mans forehead. He supposed that they had taken their teasing far enough. "Could it be that she's a kunoichi?"

"…She is? But I'm not saying from which village?" Yu admitted before crossing his arms and looking away.

However Kenji was still able to see the image of a village on top of three mountains connected by three bridges. "Eh? She's a Nadeshiko kunoichi. Isn't that the one filled with amazons that fight male and then take them back to their village as husbands if their strong enough. I guess that makes sense."

Yu looked shocked, "W-what? How did you know?"

"I told you already that I can look into your heart? Did you think I was lying when I said that I saw the world in a whole new light?"

"Wow. Ken-chan that's amazing," Madam Shijimi complimented the small boy.

Kenji played with a strand of his hair in an embarrassed manner, "Ah, it's not that special. Usually it's very limited. Although it is just as much a curse as a gift."

Kana tilted her head to the side, "A curse?"

"Yeah, since I can see the true intentions of those around me it's hard for me to trust people. For example, what's the real reason that you visited me tonight Daimyo-sama?" he boldly stated in a calm tone that made those gathered freeze.

Madam Shijimi still tried to act innocent, "What do you mean Ken-chan?"

Playing with the cup in front of him, Kenji gave her a side-glance, "There's no use hiding my lady. Honestly speaking it would be better if you just said what you wanted instead of making me figure it out. It would save us a lot of trouble."

The Daimyo and his wife exchanged looks before resigning themselves.

(Break)

"…I see," Kenji said calmly as he stared impatiently, he could feel their guilt radiating off them.

The married pair had sad smiles on their faces. The Daimyo spoke first, "I apologize for our selfish request."

Kenji released a sigh, "Well I expected something like this." He shrugged in a 'what-can-you-do' manner before giving them a small smile, "Frankly I'd be a little insulted if you didn't at least try to use me."

Madam Shijimi who was feeling the guiltiest looked at him in worry, "…How does that leave us?"

"Before I make my decision, I think it would be better if I explained my 'healing ability' a bit," Kenji told them.

They all gave him their undivided attention.

"First I'd like to start by saying that my healing ability is special. To be honest it's should be considered a kinjutsu, or a forbidden technique. While it can heal life threatening injuries or even replace entire body parts a price still needs to be paid?" the small boy said ominously with narrowed eyes.

The Daimyo gulped in nervousness, "A price? What is it?"

Kenji was surprised to feel resolve building up inside the man.

"You really do love each other don't you," the boy muttered.

The usually introverted Daimyo stood up straighter in his seat and looked directly into Kenji's eyes, "Of course, there is nothing I wouldn't do to make her happy!"

"Urg. Can you please tone it down a bit. All of these emotions are hurting my eyes," Kenji groaned as he rubbed his eyes. "Well, it's nothing bad for you. My jutsu works by severing a portion of my total reserves in order to heal." He purposely left out that it was only a small amount.

Yu rubbed his beard in thought, "For how long?"

"Permanently. That portion of my reserve is lost forever, I can only hope to build it back up again. This flaw is the reason why I don't like to use it. It's more of a trump card. Another reason I tried to hide it, was because I didn't want people to come up to me in hopes of healing them?" he explained to them.

The mood had once again turned sober around the table.

As shinob,i both Kana and Yu knew how grave that price was, you were practically crippling yourself.

The Daimyo and Madam Shijimi, while civilians, had at least a basic understanding to know that what he had just said was a major thing not to be taken lightly.

The Daimyo tightened his hands into fist. He shot up from his chair so fast that it was knocked to the ground.

Everyone looked at him in concern, especially his wife.

He had a very serious expression on his face, which was very unlike his usual lazy expression.

He turned to Kenji and then gave a 90-degree bow. "Please heal my wife!"

The small boy was honestly stunned, he didn't think that the leader of his country would do something like that. He had been preparing to go back and forth for a bit before finally healing Madam Shijimi. But this had thrown him completely off track.

Kenji's voice was filled with confusion, "You would bow to me, a nameless orphan, a child no less and throw away your pride as the leader of this nation just to heal your wife, …why?"

Drops of liquid fell on the polished floor of the shop, and even though Kenji couldn't see the man's face, he knew that they were tears full of emotion, "Be-Because she means everything to me! There is nothing in this world that I wouldn't do for her!"

"Even your Noble's pride?"

"Pride! That's trash compared to her happiness!" the man said as he looked at Kenji in complete seriousness.

Tears were still trailing down his face but Kenji could see a burning inferno in his eyes.

Kenji tried his best to understand the emotions radiating off the man, but it was no use.

Standing up from his seat Kenji made his way next to the man and held up a hand as if to give a high five.

The Daimyo looked confused before realizing what the small boy wanted. He placed his palm against the tiny hand.

No words were said but a connection was made. Kenji was able to see into the usual meek man and saw an unwavering warrior with such a strong back that it seemed to be unbending even if the entire world was placed on his shoulders. This was a man that would do anything for his loved ones, the most dangerous type of man.

The Daimyo likewise saw Kenji's true self, but unlike the way that he portrayed himself, the man was able to see just how vulnerable the small boy was. The boy was full of doubts and worries, so much in fact, that he had built a persona of ruthless merchant to protect himself from others. In that instant he knew that Kenji didn't care for money or gold or jewels. No, it had never been about materialistic possessions, it had always been about the security that they brought. Money allowed one to be more free after all, and that was what Kenji truly yearned for, the freedom to live his life the way he wanted.

The contact only last for a fraction of a second but that was enough. Kenji took back his hand as if he was scalded by hot water and gave the Daimyo a startled look. The Daimyo on the other hand looked down on the small boy with an understanding expression.

Kenji schooled his face into a stoic expression and turned to the man, "…I'll heal her."

"Thank you," the Daimyo said gratefully as he gave Kenji a smaller bow.

The others didn't know what happened at all. To them it looked like they just touched hands before Kenji jumped back in surprise. Still at least one thing was certain, whatever had happened between them had somehow convinced Kenji to heal Madam Shijimi.

Kenji turned to the woman that had been watching nervously until now, "I'm going to heal you now Madam Shijimi, if that's okay?"

The beautiful woman looked stunned but a nod from her husband was enough to set aside her worries. "Yes, I'll be in your care."

Kenji took one of the woman's pale hand gently in his and activate the Yang Seal on his shoulder.

Madam Shijimi felt a shiver run down her body but there was suddenly a sense of fullness in her abdomen. With a trembling hand she reached for it and felt tears threaten to come out of her eyes.

Kenji on the other hand had turned pale as he shakily stood and had to grip the table to steady himself.

This wasn't a result of the Yang Seal, but since he wanted to sell this as some sort of forbidden mystical ability it would be strange if there weren't at least some side effects. That's why he used seal-less medical ninjutsu on his body to make himself pale and sickly as well as lower his reserves in case either Kana and Yu were a sensor. If people thought that he couldn't use it very often then they wouldn't rely on him so much.

Madam Shijimi wrapped him in a bone crushing hug as she cried, "Th-thank you! Thank you! Thank You!..."

As she continued to thank him, all Kenji could think was, 'Oh great, now she got eyeliner all over my clothes. It's going to be so troublesome to wash it off.'

After some more crying she finally let him go. The Daimyo rushed to her and they embraced each other passionately.

"I suggest you go to the hospital and run some test just to be safe," Kenji said in a tired voice, wanting them to leave his shop already. He was still frazzled from the brief connection with the Daimyo and want nothing more than to collapse on his bed.

"Yes! We'll do that right now!" the Daimyo declared as he helped his wife off her seat.

Kenji walked them out the door, making sure to reapply his bandages so that he wouldn't be blinded by all of the nature energy in the air.

"I'm sorry that the night ended in such a sour note Ken-chan? It was not my intention," Madam Shijimi said honestly to the small boy.

Kenji shook his head, "No, it was fun. I haven't interacted with a people in a long time so it was… nice."

"I'll be sure to find an appropriate reward for this Kenji Yamamoto," the Daimyo said in a serious voice full of commitment.

"There's no need Daimyo-sama. If anyone deserved my help it was you two. With this I've done my good deed for the year. Haha," the small merchant said rubbing the back of his head with a large smile.

"No, I'll be sure to help you in any way possible," the man said seriously, before he took out a gold token with the image of golden flames on one side and some engravings on the other. Madam Shijimi did the same as she took off one of her earrings and gave it to Kenji. It was a gold phoenix hand off a chain, and with a red ruby in its talons.

"This will serve as proof that you are under our protection. Don't be afraid to use them if you are ever in trouble."

Gripping the two tokens, Kenji smiled as he inclined his head, "Thank you Daimyo-sama, Madam Shijimi."

"We will be off for now, but I would like to speak more with you soon Ken-chan?"

"I will be waiting here."

Kenji watched as they walked away, then he walked back inside, making sure to look his door. It was already passed 11.

'Human sure are interesting,' the small boy thought.

Just as he was about to put away the table his shadow elongated.

"Akame? Where were you? You've been gone for a long time?"

'There's a problem,' the small rabbit said telepathically.

Raising an eyebrow Kenji asked, "Problem how?"

'The lizard became a Level 2 while I was gone.'

"What?! Drago the gecko?"

'Yeah. Don't be mad?'

"What about the others?"

His shadow shook its head, 'No one else.'

"Are they close by?"

'Here.' Akame said before the shadow stood up and transformed into a giant mouth that spit out his chakra beasts.

They all seemed to be gasping for breath.

"Can they breathe in there?" Kenji asked worriedly.

'No,' was all she said before she spit out Drago who was also panting for air.

"What the hell!" Kenji shouted in surprise as he leaped back.

He turned to Akame who left his shadow and hopped on top of the table.

"Why is there a velociraptor in my shop!"

A/N: Done. Hope you enjoyed this.

Next chapter will be posted in a few minutes.

What did you think?

Surprised?

Did you enjoy that little family dynamic?

I'll go into more detail in the next couple chapters.

PS: Drago can still turn invisible.