Time passed slowly but surely, The season changed, It was now winter once more, snow had already covered most of the elemental nations and many of the villages had even started their preparations for the celebration of the upcoming new years eve.
Inside Konoha, at the Hyuga district that had now completely recuperated and had been renovated, at the edge of said district inside a small traditional house, two people were sitting cross legged next to eachother as they drank tea.
Neither of them were wearing shinobi clothing, both were in simple garments.
"It's been a while since we've last had a chance like this… Kazuo." The woman said softly, her voice was tinged with the slightest amount of warmth however for her, that was already more than many would have thought possible.
"It has been a while… it is a nice day today atleast." Kazuo replied softly, his expression was soft, showing complete and utter warmth towards the woman seated by his side.
The woman didnt reply verbally, merely giving a nod in return before silence once more took over the room, it wasnt an empty silence however, it was a silence filled with warmth and connection.
'Good… very very good.' Kazuo thought inwardly as he gave a side glance discreetly towards the woman, his eyes for the briefest moment regaining their usual cold clarity before it was once more hidden under a mask of pure warmth and softness.
Saori Hyuga, Kazuo's wife had changed with the years, her face having matured further and so had her body, gaining more muscle, and similarly scars could now be seen more and more on her body, clearly showing the physical effect of past encounters with enemy ninja during missions.
'One of the strongest current Hyuga Jonins, a possible future pillar of the Hyuga clan, no… not possible, its very likely for her to receive a title of leadership inside the clan soon.' Kazuo thought inwardly as he lifted his hand and took the clay cup into his hand and slowly drank the green tea that she had served him.
In reality, this wasn't Kazuo's real body, it was merely a shadow clone that he had sent to check up on her and his other connections inside the hidden leaf village, and even then it was a shadow clone with the least amount of chakra he could use to make one, so as to make it as unnotacable as possible, and applied on top of that was a seal on its body which almost completely masked its chakra signature, a side effect of which was that he was unable to use jutsu with this body as his release of chakra had been completely locked inside the shadow clones body, meaning it couldnt subconsciously release a chakra signature which in reality was simple a slight amount of chakra being leaked from the body into the atmosphere, but being unable to release chakra to the outside meant that at most the shadow clone could employ jutsu inside his own body, which of there werent many, at most chakra enhancement or a few niche jutsu.
"The Patriarch of the Main and Side Branch have been meeting more and more recently, with the time for the side patriarchs son coming up for the branding… tensions have grown higher." Saori said as she took her own cup into her hands.
"I expected as much, and frankly… It's exactly what we wanted isn't it? That brand… it shouldn't exist anymore. I made you a promise before right? I'd try my best to change this clan for the better, together with you." Kazuo replied in an almost melodically soft tone of voice as his left arm lifted to touch her thigh in a reassuring manner.
"Kazuo…" Saori mumbled in what was barely a whisper as she leaned forwards towards his face, slowly…
Meanwhile on the other side of the elemental nations, inside the hidden rain village at a small secluded area, the real Kazuo was in the company of another.
A lilac haired woman wearing a black cloak covered in red clouds, the exact same outfit as Kazuo who was standing next to her as they overlooked the village.
"Your application of paper jutsu has already far surpassed mine." Konan spoke, her tone emotionless yet not cold.
"I wouldn't say that exactly, I am better in general application however your resources are clearly on another caliber." Kazuo replied in a tone similar to hers.
He remembered a scene from the anime of naruto very vividly. This woman had managed to practically split the sea with billions of exploding paper tags, almost managing to kill Obito Uchiha, which was a feat that couldn't be sneered at.
'Though ofcourse… If i were to actually fight you… would I lose?' Kazuo asked himself in thought as he pondered over his current capabilities and what he had seen Konan do both in his current life aswell as in the anime back in his previous world.
And he reached a resounding answer quite easily, not more than a few moments later.
'Nah, I'd win.' Kazuo thought with a soft chuckle inwardly whilst on the outside he maintained his facade and mask perfectly.
"There's a mission, Yahiko will be joining you." Konan spoke suddenly from his side.
"A mission? What exactly?" Kazuo asked curiously as he tilted his head slightly, a perfect display of both his curiosity and a slight amount of trust towards her. It was ofcourse all a complete act, however it was a good act.
"There's been sightings of a S ranked ninja in the land of iron, specifically in the village of the samurai, You'll be heading there." Konan replied.
'Samurai… I guess it wouldn't hurt to see where this mission leads, and I am in need of a new sword, one that could actually manage to further empower my kenjutsu instead of falling apart at the slightest use of chakra enhancement.' Kazuo thought as he released a soft hum.
"Alright, I'll meet with Yahiko tonight and discuss the plan." Kazuo spoke aloud after a few moments of deliberation.
'Samurai… wait for me, daddy's coming to steal some milk.' Kazuo thought with a chuckle at himself in his own mind.
'Ah shit, stop acting like an edgy emo, be sane… be sane.'
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