chapter 140

Eiji very deliberately laid out a scroll on the table in front of him, slowly opening it to reveal the storage seal inside. Then, looking up at the Mizukage and her advisor, he nodded. That was all the ceremony he offered to them before doing what he'd set out to do. With a puff of smoke, the item inside the seal was retrieved, laying on top of the scroll and almost hiding the paper from view.

"Samehada," Mei mumbled, looking in awe at the living sword. "It's really back," she added, taking an almost thoughtless step forward and raising her hand. Fortunately, she was smart enough not to touch the thing, but she did trace the silhouette of the weapon. "We weren't planning on getting it anytime soon, with Kisame as its wielder. We thought we'd have to wait until the man grew weak with age or until he passed it to someone that was less of a monster."

Her advisor cleared his throat, but she waved him off.

"I won't be downplaying this, Ao. This is a great service, the one you've done for us, Weaver," the woman said, standing a little straighter. "Quite honestly, this is worth much more to us than what you asked for. Even if our forces had to fight Akatsuki, it would've been in our own best interest to do so."

Behind her, Ao twitched, which was very amusing for Eiji, quite honestly.

"It was a desperate time for me, I had to make sure," the boy replied, regarding the village leader for a moment. "If it makes you feel better, it'll probably be a while before I give you back Nuibari. I've grown attached to it, and while I know I can't keep it forever, I do want to find it a worthy wielder."

"We'd want nothing else," the woman told him, as if she were completely fine with Eiji keeping one of their legendary weapons. "Nuibari is as good as ours as it is, we can be patient."

"And you wouldn't say no to me feeling like I owe you something," the teenager added, drawing a shameless smile from the Kage. "I don't know if I should be amused or annoyed by the fact that you aren't even gonna try to deny it," he commented, visibly displeasing Mei's advisor. Eiji could care less about the man though, to be honest. "You are amusingly direct with your ulterior intentions… But that's also annoying, seeing as I can't fool myself into thinking that you haven't considered certain aspects of things."

"I've found that it's better to be direct about certain things. Less chance of people being offended when they might have been too stupid to consider them," Mei replied with a shrug, earning a chuckle from him. "Besides, I thought you in particular would appreciate that, seeing as you seem to be a very direct person yourself."

"I am and I do, but it's still weird to be on the receiving end of that," the boy said with a slight smile. "Anyway, if that is all on that front, I have a few things to talk about with you, if you have the time. Nothing too important, really."

To that, Mei gave Ao a look before the man gave a very stiff nod.

"Certainly, what did you have in mind?" the Kage asked him curiously.

"Well, first of all, I was wondering if there's anyone that would be agreeable to spar with me and my team," he said, making both of the people in the room widen their eyes. "There's only so much I can limit them when fighting weaker people like bandits and criminals. There comes a point when it's basically not worth it."

"I think I could put together some people, but I don't know how close to your team's level they will be, let alone you," Mei replied, looking like she had expected just about anything other than what he had asked. Not that he could blame her. It was a bit of an odd request, he supposed.

"That's good to know, since this ties a little with what we were talking about before we were… interrupted," Eiji said, pausing for a second at the end. It felt like ages ago since he had his talk with Mei and he received that message about the attack in Suna. So much shit had happened since then, but it had been a relatively short time since then, really.

"Oh?" Mei voiced then, suddenly much more invested in that conversation. "I guess I'll have to revisit the list of things you are looking for."

"That'd be for the best, yes," Eiji told her with a nod and a pleased smile. "No promises about taking any of them. The Squad has a… particular dynamic that I don't want to break. It's about more than just being capable."

"They also have to be insane?" Ao asked, the words seemingly getting away from him, considering the way his eyes widened. His face paled dramatically then as Mei turned to regard him fully. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

"I mean, you are not wrong, really," Eiji agreed with a chuckle, surprising the man and making the Kage turn back to him. "I guess you could say we have, and I'm looking for, a particular brand of crazy."

"I'll keep that in mind," Mei commented with a grin that said she had a few ideas already. Good for her, he was almost looking forward to whatever weirdos she managed to put in front of him. If nothing else, it'd be an entertaining time to meet them.

"I had another request too, one I suspect might be a little harder for you to agree to," Eiji started then, making the woman raise a curious eyebrow and Ao tense. He was honestly surprised, he didn't know the advisor could be even more stiff than he already was. Still, with a calm smile, he spoke.

What was the worst that could happen anyway?

[}-o-{]

Tayuya swayed from side to side as she played her music and if she could have, Eiji was sure she'd have been grinning widely, even cackling. As it was, he could still see the mean amusement in her eyes as her melody washed over her surroundings, ensnaring the three poor bastards that had been pitted against her in the redhead's very own world of madness and illusions.

Eiji turned to the side, letting a slight smirk form on his face at the terrified look of the Jounin ninjas that Mei had gathered for his Squad to battle. The Kage herself was watching and she seemed to be torn between being entertained and concerned. It was an amusing sight to be sure, but it couldn't be nice to see some of her best ninjas get toyed with three on one.

It'd have been one on one, but after Temari almost boredly dispatched of her opponent… Well, this had been made to give his team something interesting to do, so they'd pushed things up a notch. Three on one was still easy, but it required just enough effort to be fun.

Fu's words, not his.

"I think that's enough, don't you?" Eiji called, smiling at his girlfriend as she turned to look at him. Then, with a shrug, she switched her tune a little and the three poor bastards started fighting each other. It took less than a minute from there for them to be out of the fight. "Had your fun?"

"Could have gone on for longer," his girlfriend replied with a shrug. "But I guess it wasn't all that bad. They put on a decent enough fight at the start, I guess." And they had, snapping each other out of the genjutsu Tayuya weaved around them and keeping themselves on guard. That would have been enough to give a normal genjutsu user a lot of trouble… but the redhead wasn't normal by any means.

Her special way of applying her illusions had really messed up with the unfortunate trio.

"You are up, Fatass," Tayuya said, half-heartedly high-fiving Jirobo as he moved to the center of the arena they were using to fight. The fact that she did that at all was surprising in itself, really. The Squad had a strange sense of team pride though, so when Fu swapped places with Yugito like that, the rest of them followed suit.

As he entered, Jirobo turned towards Eiji.

"No Mark, no chakra absorption, otherwise… don't reshape the whole place," he set as limitations for the spar. With a nod, the big guy narrowed his eyes as he considered how to proceed from there. Even with as harsh as those conditions were, Eiji wasn't too worried. Not only was Jirobo a very strong fighter, but he was also an Earth Release user, the weakness of Water Release users, which most Kiri nin were.

Tayuya, for her part, made him blink as she sat herself on his lap. She remained stubbornly silent when he looked questioningly over her shoulder, fixating her eyes forward to the arena. With a slight smile, he wrapped his arms around her and dutifully ignored the way she shifted, pressing her back even more against his chest.

Thus, the couple settled to look at the spar as it began.

'Oh?' Eiji's attention suddenly shifted to something that was quite unexpected at that moment. 'How'd you end up here?' he wondered, looking at one of Jirobo's opponents. A young man with white hair, purple eyes and shark-like teeth.

An interesting development to be sure, but Eiji didn't overly care for that. It'd all depend on how well he did in the spar if he was worth more attention. On top of that…

"Notes are vague," Hachi informed him during the spar, which he expected. If there was anything that he should know about him, chances were that he'd remember that at least. As it was, he only knew the dude existed, which meant he wasn't very important, in the grand scheme of things.

Still, there was potential there. The guy was fighting admirably well, especially so when one compared him to the rest of his team. There was nothing for him to do though, he was at a disadvantage and… Eiji narrowed his eyes.

"Stop," he said, not really shouting but Jirobo still froze where he was. The other guy didn't, but he was prepared for that already and tripped him with his wires before he could react. "Give the guy a sword, preferably a big one."

It took a handful of seconds before a greatsword was thrown, embedding itself next to where Jirobo's opponent stood. His teammate, meanwhile, narrowed his eyes and readied himself. Evidently, he expected things to go differently after Eiji interfered, which was smart of him, really.

"Go on," Eiji said with a grin when the man looked at him questioningly. The spar resumed and there was a marked difference from before. The guy was keeping up with Jirobo much better than before now that he had a weapon in hand instead of only Water Release.

Granted, it wasn't like the tides of the battle had changed, Jirobo was still pulling ahead and going to win, but this was the closest any single person had come to giving a challenge so far. Eiji grinned, looking at the guy and considering what to do. Maybe he'd found himself a new Squad member.

"That poor fucker has no idea what he's getting into, does he?" Tayuya asked with a malicious chuckle, earning a similar laugh from Eiji as the two observed the spar. "It's going to be fun getting him up to speed."

"I wanna fight him next," Fu declared, bouncing where she sat.

Then, as the spar ended, Eiji traded a look with the Mizukage, grinning widely. A second later, the woman whispered something to Ao, a pleased smile on her face. When the man disappeared, Eiji knew that he'd have a new team member now. Hopefully, he wasn't being too hasty but… Well, he'd be on probation for some time, he supposed.

[}-o-{]

Eiji's boots resounded loudly through the corridor as he walked. There was no need to even try to be quiet to begin with, and there was some nice dramatic enjoyment to be taken from just that. Behind him, Yugito and Kabuto moved as silently as they ever did while in front of him Mei and Ao walked, the former with about as much care for subtlety as he had and the latter doing the same as Eiji's squad members.

"Here we are… Be careful," Mei said, unlocking the door but not touching it further than that. "I don't need to tell you that if anything happens, it'll be on your heads, do I?" the Kage asked, making Eiji roll his eyes.

"No, there's no need," he replied with a nod as he moved towards the door. "Thanks for allowing this," he added, before twisting the handle and stepping inside the room, followed by his teammates.

"Eiji Satou, the Weaver," the person inside said from behind a table. Silently, Eiji moved and took the seat across from them, Kabuto and Yugito flanking him. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting?"

"You know about me?" Eiji said, ignoring the question entirely. "I'd have thought you wouldn't, considering I was a nobody back when you were still… in touch with the outside world."

"Somewhat, you mean," the person corrected wryly. "And yes, whispers about you and your team have reached even the likes of me. It's an impressive achievement in itself, you should be proud."

"I guess I should," Eiji commented idly, leaning back on his chair and considering what to say. "I honestly don't really have a reason to be here. I just… felt like it?"

"A whim, that's what brought you to be in front of me?" the man asked, looking amused.

"A bit of that, I guess, and a bit of curiosity," Eiji admitted. "I wanted to know what Yagura Karatachi would be like in person. Honestly," he continued, looking the guy up and down. "I thought you would be taller."

Instead of getting angry, that comment made the previous Mizukage now turned prisoner snort.

"I've heard that before. That has never ended well for other people before… but I guess you shall be an exception considering the circumstances," the Jinchuriki said with a shrug that was both helpless and uncaring. "What can I do to assuage your curiosity, Weaver?"

"Well… I'd like to start with this question," Eiji said, leaning forward and resting his arms on the metallic table. "How close are you with your… tenant?"

The ex-Kage blinked then, obviously not having seen that question coming.

"The Sanbi and I have an agreement," Yagura answered, tilting his head. "He helps me when I need him and I allow it a measure of freedom when I can. Haven't been able to do much of either since the Civil War ended."

As he spoke, Eiji idly noticed that the man was… calm. Not really cold, or closed off, or calculating. He just seemed to be… in peace, was the best he could come up with to describe it. It was very interesting.

"Hm, can you call a bit of its chakra? Tell it that I'll make it worth his while," Eiji said, but before he even finished, dull gray chakra started emanating from Yagura. Immediately after noticing this, Eiji called on Tsuchigumo, the chakra beast all but snapping a leg out of his back to touch the Sanbi's chakra.

Yagura very evidently didn't see this coming and his eyes seemed to widen a moment later. Eiji almost wanted to know what was going through the man's face. Almost, but not quite. Besides, sweet little Tsuchigumo told him plenty as he heard her speak animatedly with the Sanbi, who replied in its own taciturn way.

"You aren't a normal Jinchuriki," Yagura said, a statement instead of a question.

"I'm not," was all Eiji said, because that was all he'd allow himself to say in that regard, at least to Yagura. "Say, do you play shogi?" he asked, taking Yagura off guard once more. Eiji would admit, he found doing that very amusing. Maybe more than he should have, really.

"I do," the ex-Kage replied slowly, blinking when Eiji placed a seal on top of the table and took out a shogi board. "You are a strange person, Eiji Satou."

"I've heard that before," Eiji said, repeating the man's words back to him and drawing a snort from him. "Your move."

As they proceeded to play, he kept an ear on Tsuchigumo's conversation with her three tailed uncle. It brought smiles to his face at random moments, but Yagura never commented on them. If anything, he got curious looks and baffled expressions at random times too, making Eiji wonder what part of the chakra beast's conversation had elicited them.

"What do you think about what happened?" Eiji asked out of nowhere when Tsuchigumo's chatter slowed and the cute little thing calmed down. Evidently, Yagura had been expecting a question of the sort the whole time, because he didn't even react, his eyes thoughtfully going over the shogi board.

Behind him, Eiji was sure Kabuto and Yugito were watching intently. The whole point of having them with him was to ascertain, as best they could, how truthful Yagura was. Eiji was confident that between him using Senjutsu with the Kage's help, Hachi, Kabuto and Yugito, they'd be able to get a good enough read on the man.

"I already had a dislike of Bloodline Limits before the war," Yagura replied, making his move and looking straight into Eiji's now beady black eyes due to Senjutsu. "I thought they were an unfair advantage for people that often didn't deserve them. I favored those without them, because everything they got was earned through their own effort instead of luck."

Then, the man paused, his eyes turning to the side, but Eiji knew he wasn't contemplating the plain gray wall there, that was for sure.

"They were still my people, however, and many of them had earned my respect, grudgingly as it might have been given. They were welcome in my forces, they were offered opportunities… Until the damned Uchiha came," the ex-Kage hissed. "It was disgusting, what he did. He twisted my own thoughts, all the little whispers against Bloodline Limits I'd pushed down or outright ignored were suddenly so much more powerful… He turned me into someone else… How I hope I could get my hands on him-"

"He's dead," Eiji interrupted, earning a blink from Yagura. The statement seemed to catch the ex-Kage off guard but it was also because it seemed the man had gone on a bit of a rant there, forgetting the original question and such. "I killed him myself."

"Truly?" Yagura replied, tilting his head. "Then you have my gratitude. The only regret I have is that I wasn't the one to do it, but it's still better than him being out there while I rot in here."

"Yeah, fortunately for you, neither of those is happening," Eiji commented, making a move as he stood up. "I win, by the way," he added with a slight grin as he let Yagura take in the board. A moment later, he re-sealed the thing and started moving out with his teammates in town. "See you around, Yagura."

The jinchuriki didn't speak, but Eiji could feel his eyes following him until the door of the room closed behind him.

[}-o-{]

"Is the way back better?" Eiji asked, a slight smile on his face as he sat at the top of the boat that was carrying them back to the Land of Fire. "Because it's going a lot better for me already."

"It's ok," Tayuya mumbled in an uncharacteristically shy tone as she buried herself deeper into his embrace, attempting to hide her face in his arms. "Don't make me talk, idiot," she grumbled before groaning. Yeah, she wasn't quite over her sea sickness, apparently, unlike Temari, who now wouldn't let her live it down, possibly forever.

With a chuckle, Eiji shook his head.

"Guess I'll have to do all the talking myself," he mused as he looked down at the deck, where the team was training up their new member. "Suigetsu is settling in rather well, I'd say," he commented, drawing a somewhat agreeing hum form his girlfriend.

Finding Suigetsu and taking him in had been a bit of a gamble, but those felt a lot easier to make now than it had been back when he had to deal with other things on top. Now that the major things had been dealt with, it was a lot easier to do risky things, since he only had to worry about those. Besides, Kabuto and Yugito would keep an eye on the guy, and considering that they'd had Sasori in their midst and the guy hadn't dared do anything by himself, Eiji had faith that Sharkboy – As Tayuya dubbed him. – wouldn't cause too much trouble.

As it was, Fu and Yugito were having some fun smacki- training the guy so he wouldn't be too far behind the rest of them. It'd take some time, but they'd get there. Until then though, they'd have some fun with the newbie. Eiji had no doubt that the Two-Tails jinchuriki was enjoying being on the other side of things after they'd had to make her catch up in the Land of Rain.

"Somewhere in particular you'd like to go to now?" Eiji asked absently before continuing as he heard Tayuya grumble something unintelligible. "I was thinking we could stay at the beach for a while. Kiri's were nice and all but it was a bit too… misty. I'm sure some sunny, clear ones will be nicer."

Tayuya hummed something vaguely positive.

"And I'd love to see you in a swimsuit, honestly," he added with a chuckle. To that, his girlfriend grumbled something, once more trying to make herself disappear in his arms. "I just hope I don't look too weird with only trunks. Might make the scars more evident, nevermind the arm."

"I'm sure you'll look damn fine regardless," Tayuya commented then, finding strength to say that, which made him smile and squeeze her with his arms a little. "Idiot," she added absently as she relaxed.

"Thanks for that," he whispered to her ear with a smile before pulling away slightly and continuing. "Anywhere, I think I want to go to Konoha and then we can start some sort of rotation or something. We are supposed to be a neutral party now, after all. Can't have the other villages getting jealous, can we?"

To that, Tayuya snorted.

"They'll find something to complain about anyway," she mumbled.

"True enough," he agreed with a slight smirk. "But that's why we have to be seen around. That way they'll never quite forget that we're there if they do something stupid," he pointed out with a grin.

"And if they do, we can give them the Kumo treatment and fuck them up," Tayuya commented softly before groaning and shifting on his lap. "Too much talking."

"You really can't find it in yourself to shut up, huh?" he commented with a chuckle. "Anyway, we might as well visit some of the other Lands, right? Might find or see some interesting things there, I guess. Ultimately… We can do whatever we want now. Most things have been dealt with. At least the more urgent ones, I think…"

He looked to the side where the blue sky met the equally blue waves.

"I still can't quite believe that it's over," he commented, resting the side of his head to the back of Tayuya's. "But I guess it is…"