Seeking an Audience

Katsumi eyed the sky warily for a moment, considering for a moment bringing an umbrella, but deciding against it. Her pride wouldn’t allow for her to walk around, fearful of water simply because of what it might do… who might see... She still hadn’t seen the Mizukage yet to figure out exactly what level of her own abilities, side-effects, and everything else that came with having a beachball sized Bijuu with more power than it knew what to do with sealed into you. As a bit of convenience, she had the chakra tattoo that was on her back converted into the seal, enabling her not only to hide it more effectively as it wasn’t visible unless she was flexing chakra, but also making it into a format that wouldn’t easily be seen. It also wasn’t the typical place where a Bijuu would be sealed into a Jinchuuriki, making it a more difficult spot to target on her.

She hadn’t cut her hair yet, a deal she had cut with the little monster in order to make it stop babbling constantly about everything. It apparently hated it when she would push mass into her hair and cut it off, calling it a waste of biomass that it was constantly absorbing, and the easiest method was by simply absorbing water, which it was mostly comprised of. It made sense why they shared the weakness to lightning that the Hozuki clan had, but they also were weak to fire, which was much less of a problem. Lightning and Rain were two of the most common things in Kirigakure, and she couldn’t deal with either of them without having been paralyzed and a gloopy mass on the ground, or the size of a small giantess. As entertaining as that thought was, without the permission of the Kirikage, she wasn’t supposed to let anyone know she was a Jinchuuriki. A living weapon was usually less effective when the enemy knew it was coming unless it was so powerful that nothing could stop it. Katsumi was very decidedly not powerful at the moment.

Katsumi was dressed in the outfit she had been in when she had first arrived at the village, standing at just over six feet tall and working her way through the streets towards a very particular location. See, Katsumi had learned that being brazen and confident was great when you were strong, and she was, in most senses of the word, very strong. But she didn’t have the control… she hated that she couldn’t even touch the person she was going to see for fear of hurting them. The Hozuki Clan was literally made out of water, which she passively absorbed instantly… she was going to have to see if she could find a work-around for that. It was slowly approaching dusk, and if her information was correct, Chigetsu should have been in this area somewhere. Blue eyes scanned the vicinity searching for her target.

She had heard by eavesdropping through the market that the current Mizukage, a woman named Hana, was in a relationship with the Hozuki named Chigetsu. Her plan was to get to know Chigetsu and then work on finding out more about this new Mizukage, then ask to see her with the consort in tow. She wanted things to go smoothly, but Hana hadn’t even been the Mizukage when she had been sent away to learn what she was dealing with the Bijuu getting shoved inside her. The creature was dangerous, but in a completely different way than typical Tailed Beasts… it simply saw humans as a food source. Only through agreements, like not cutting off the excess mass, was she able to operate even slightly without the creature trying to wrestle control from her and eat the people nearby, quite literally.

Once she had spotted the person who had best met the description that Katsumi had been given, she walked over to the Hozuki and waited patiently for a moment, ensuring that they weren’t busy with something or in mid-conversation. “Excuse me… Chigetsu Hozuki? My name is Katsumi Kurahasa. May I borrow you for a moment… in private?” It was, after all, a very sensitive topic, and the last thing they needed was eavesdroppers.

[1]

Chigetsu was the sort of person who was easy to spot out in a crowd, especially once you already had a description of them. Just by looking at him it was easy to tell how he stood out, starting with his hair. It was a bright pink, and hung past his neck it was braided into a thick, ropey braid of hair that continued down to his hips. At the end would be a tightly wrapped black bow, matching with the other two would be tied into each side of his head. A solitary locke of paper-white would run down to the left of her face in her bangs, being the one remnant of her natural hair color. He would be dressed in an airy purple and white striped crop top. The shirt freely exposed his navel and belly-button as well, although on top of it would be a warm-looking fluffy purple hooded jacket that contained a variety of seemingly unused pockets. A similarly simple pair of black thigh-high stockings would run down her legs, only exposing a bit of her thighs between where the socks began and her skirt ended. With his general appearance it was almost impossible to tell Chigetsu apart from a girl, which was the exact sort of aesthetic that he was aiming for.

This little spot outside the Hozuki Clan district, right where the district ended and bled into the rest of the village, had become a popular spot for Chigetsu to come whenever she had spare time. There were a series of benches, and the scenery was almost park-like despite it being an entrance gate. The gate of course was entirely formal, just for show, but together with the flowers and the few cherry blossoms that were set up lining the pathway it made for a very scenic place to relax. It was the time of year where all the beautiful pink petals were present on the trees, but before the point where they would begin falling.

Although engrossed in thought, Chigetsu would very quickly notice when Katsumi approached. The girl was over eight inches taller, and would tower over Chigetsu even if he was standing and not just sitting on the bench like they were. Craning his neck to look up at the woman, he would be taken off guard for a moment. The fact that Katsumi knew his name was something that was a bit shocking - It wasn’t as though Chigetsu was really famous enough for people to know his name, outside of maybe those who followed the Chunin Exams. There were always those associated with the Hozuki Clan too or the village’s bureaucracy who might know of him, but the name that Katsumi introduced herself as explained the situation right away. Kurahasa was a name that Chigetsu recognized, and then Katsumi too. This was Kitsuki’s sister. It made sense. There weren’t so many people who were so dark skinned in this village, so the Kurahasa Clan probably should have been the first place his mind went. Still, Chigetsu didn’t expect Kitsuki’s sister to be so… tall. The two siblings had a completely different aura to them.

It was while thinking about this that Chigetsu would stare up at the girl, completely lost in thought for a few seconds. As the realization hit them Chigetsu would turn away, averting his eyes so as to not stare rudely any further. “A-Ah! Katsumi! Okay! Private? I --” He was immediately flustered, trying to say several things all at once before his mind could start processing anything.

“I-If you want, we could talk in my apartment. If that’s private enough.” He would be quick to offer, seeing the seriousness of her demeanor. Quickly he would hop off the bench he had sat on, dusting his skirt off. Depending on if Katsumi would agree or not, Chigetsu would begin off in the direction of his apartment, which wasn’t all too far from the district's gates. With her permission, Chigetsu would begin to lead her, although not without nervously looking back over his shoulder to continuously make sure she was actually following. It was an odd situation heere, and Chigetsu didn’t really know what to say. She stated the desire to talk in private, so small talk out in the open was probably unlikely. The somewhat serious nature of what Katsumi brought up made him a bit nervous, but that was also his default state.

The Hozuki were the wealthiest clan in Kirigakure, and this wealth showed as they traveled further into the Hozuki District. Just from the architecture and the amount of wealth put into making the streets scenic was clearly visible. Chigetsu would eventually lead Katsumi into an apartment complex, one not too far from the gates, but the building would look more like some sort of luxury hotel complex than what was typical for apartments. A few flights of stairs later and Chigetsu would be fishing down beneath his belt to retrieve a key, which would be plugged into the door of his apartment to let them both inside. The interior was exactly what one would expect from the luxurious building. More like a fancy hotel than any normal apartment, although it was immediately clear that it hardly looked lived in. Despite being kept fresh and clean by house cleaners, there was little inside to characterize the rooms as being connected to Chigetsu’s personality, and so it sort of gave off a bland and impersonal look to it.

“Uh, Sorry. I hope this is private enough for you.” He would move to close the door behind her as she entered, making sure to lock it. Although a simple lock wasn’t likely to do much to deter someone if they really wanted to listen in on a conversation, it at least prevented something like house cleaning from barging in.

Katsumi’s first impression of the young man who looked like a girl, which was an interesting fact in and of itself, was that he was very skittish. Still, he seemed to be able to function through it, and suggested the young man’s personal apartment would be enough. The tall, dark-skinned woman would give a nod that she thought it would be satisfactory, and then begin to follow her, only raising an eyebrow at how much the man kept looking over his shoulder to make sure she continued to follow. Katsumi had been born into a relatively wealthy family, the Kurahasa’s, but this area was starting to make her wonder if they weren’t more ‘middle’ class than anything. Katsumi couldn’t help but frown just a little at the apartment’s lack of style, but that wasn’t a big deal at the moment; she had come here for business, but she needed to put this guy at ease a little bit too. He was too on edge.

“This will work fine, thanks. No one really knows I’m back yet aside my sister so I don’t think anyone’s spyin’ on me yet. And sorry ahead of time… me being all prim and proper doesn’t really mesh well with my personality, so forgive me if I’m a little rough around the edges. Also, for your safety, don’t touch me… it won’t be good for ya.” With the preface and warning out of the way, it was time to get into the meat and potatoes of their visit. She didn’t like doing things this way, but there weren't a ton of options at the moment, and the blue-eyed woman needed to get this done sooner than later.

“Long story short… you know how I haven’t been around for the past six months? Well, after I finished my fight with Bone Boy, I got yoinked and stuffed into this sealed cave. The previous Mizukage is tracking all of this by the way, but not the current one. Long story short, I got a fake Bijuu sealed into me… and I know that makes me both a really powerful asset to the village, but also a fucking bomb that could go off and cause problems for everyone around me. I got it under control for the most part, but I need to talk to the current Mizukage and bring her up to speed on the situation and lay out the plan movin’ forward, ya know?”

She took a breath, letting the Hozuki process that bit before moving on to why Katsumi had sought Chigetsu out specifically, and for a moment, gained a distant look to her eyes.

Your hierarchy is still confusing to me. Why is this human so important?
Thought you were going to keep quiet so long as I don’t cut off my hair?
I never said for how long. Cut it off and I will ensure that I introduce myself personally to this particularly delicious looking water-human.
You do that, his girlfriend is gonna kill us both.
Surely you jest.
Remember how I said the Mizukage is the strongest in the village? Also his girlfriend.
Oh… I will reserve judgment and continue to observe.
That’s what I fucking thought. Now shut up and let me do what I gotta.

She took a moment and shook her head side to side to clear her head. “You are datin’ the Mizukage from what I heard. I need to know a bit about her so I don’t walk in there and get turned into a puddle of paste for sayin’ some shit that might offend her or make me think I’m more of a threat than I’m worth. An introduction wouldn’t hurt neither.”

[2]

Without thinking, Chigetsu had led this stranger into his home. It was a certain sort of paralysis that set in, where he could still move and think, but his body compiled without question and he failed to think of the right things. It wasn’t until they were both already together inside his apartment that he realized that there should have been a better way, somewhere less personal that he could have suggested, or some questioning that he should have done before allowing this all to happen. The situation was already out of his control though, mostly because he had allowed it to be so quickly, responding in panic to something that shouldn’t have required any. The feeling when this set in was the same as it every other time you realized a mistake was your fault and it was too late to fix. The tall, dark-skinned woman would loom over him, taller by far than the nervous pinkette. The fact that Katsumi was Kitsuki’s sister made the situation a bit more manageable, but the inherent anxiety that followed the little Hozuki around was difficult to escape entirely. The difference between the two siblings was also immediately obvious, although perhaps Chigetsu only really thought that because of the height difference.

“I didn’t plan on touching you. I’m not some sort of creep…” It was said with a bit of a confused tone, unsure of how to take what was said. It almost seemed for a second like Katsumi was accusing Chigetsu of being some sort of pervert, at least without the context behind the statement.

A lot of other things came next. Someone called ‘Bone Boy’, whoever that was, and references to events and concepts which made the poor boy’s head swirl. Artificial Bijuu? Missing for six month? It was all a lot to swallow.

“U-Uh…” Chigetsu would stare with wide eyes. “You heard? I didn’t know that it spread around like that…” It honestly hadn’t been that long since they started dating. Taking a step back, Chigetsu would skim their eyes down to the ground, and then to the wall. “If you want a meeting with Hana, I think it’d be easier to just go to the Mizukage Complex and do the paperwork for a meeting, or something like that…”

Katsumi slowly shook her head side to side, realizing she hadn't really explained the situation all that well.  Of course, Chigetsu would be confused.  Taking a moment she took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled.  "Sorry for that... not gonna lie, it's takin' a lot for me not to freak the fuck out myself.  When I was told I'd be trusted with somethin' important, I thought they were talkin' about a mission or some shit... not this."  She took another moment to herself, considering her options for a moment on how to explain better and ultimately decided it would be best to break it up into little bits at a time.

"OK, first, a little backstory.  I was supposed to be Hana's student before all this shit went down.  I sorta know how she is, but I need to know what, if anythin', has changed about her personality so I don't walk in and get wrecked cause I didn't know that no one told her where I went.  It's possible too... this was some super secret squirrel shit they put me in.  Like, the last Mizukage is a Missing Nin now too if what I'm bein' told is true, which doesn't paint me in a good light either.  But Hana, last I knew her, was chill as fuck when we weren't trainin' or workin'... but got real serious when it was time to get some shit done.  She still pretty much the same way?  And you know any tricks to land me in her good graces off the bat?"

Because as much as she would love to walk into her office and say 'Hey I'm back even though I vanished off the face of the earth and look almost completely different and could possibly become a threat to the village', she knew that it wasn't likely a great idea in the first place.  She needed to know Hana now, instead of basing it solely off the Hana she knew from six months ago when she had just been a Jounin.

[3]