Reunion of Old Friends [Neru]

 

Saika had the largest smile upon her face, quite pleased that she had arrived in Kiri in a timely manner and without much incident, unless you count what happened in Konoha an incident worthy of her attention. When she had first arrived within the country, which had only be yesterday, she had the pleasure of greeting her lovely daughters, Kami and Haruna, though she did not believe Kami was all to fond of her at the moment. She couldn’t fathom why since she had most certainly saved the child from certain death, but she guessed it had something to do with the various items left behind during their grand escape from Konoha. The child was probably sour about the fact she had been kidnapped in the nude and thus had no clothes, having been wrapped in a cloak when she had arrived, courtesy of Haruna. But that was of no matter to her at the moment, she having given Haruna the money necessary to purchase Kami an outfit of two. Yet the concern of the child’s missing weapons would be addressed by Saika herself, she believing that Kami would at least be somewhat happy with clothes and her weapons back. But that would have to wait until later for there were a few things she desired to do before the day was over.

And one of those things was the meeting of her old friend, Mizukage of this wonderful village, Neru Ogawa. A woman that she was a decade older, but respected nonetheless, and  not many could boast that they had the respect of Saika Oshiro. And her respect list was quite short, filled with those who walked down the dark path, voided of those who walked the path of light, and a few that walked the fine line between light and dark. Her friend, Neru, had been placed into the group that walked the fine line of light and darkness. And despite the fact that the two were friends and she should be encouraging Neru to walk the path of light, she could not help but want to see her dear friend descend into the abyss of darkness. A place that the youngling could not escape from, and thus would be forced to walk the dark path that so many of her kind tried to avoid.

But, such plans as seeing her friend lose herself would have to wait, especially since the woman was trusted enough by the village to be appointed Mizukage. For if the woman was a Kage, she had proven her loyalties time and time again towards the village, and thus swaying the lady would have to wait until her resolve was shaken. Until than, she would enjoy the time she had with Neru before she would have to depart from the village for the meeting in Sound. And she desired to leave the place before the week was up, for there were some important things to discuss and she did not feel like moving the meeting closer. Thus she had plans to leave Kiri tomorrow, or the day after, for that would be enough time to prepare herself for the trip as well as round up those of her organization that happened to be in Kiri. And she would not be taking the children with her, it being far too dangerous for them to be amongst the ranks of big named criminals. Instead, she would leave them in the hands of Neru, of course if she would agree to the arrangement.

She chuckled as she continued to walk, making her way to the sole place she was sure to find her friend, though she was sure to find the woman amongst paperwork for it was part of her job. Though, Saika would love it even better if she found Neru trapped underneath mountains of paperwork, but that would not happen due to the woman being diligent in her work. Nonetheless, the reunion of two powerful beings would be one to be seen. Especially when Saika had not seen Neru since her clan went dark.

Upon arriving at the building that hosted the Mizukage’s office, she entered, walked pass the receptionist without exchanging pleasantries, and made her way to the Mizukage’s office. She knew that the woman would know of her arrival before she got to the building, her wild chakra making her noticeable to even the lowest sensor within the village. And thus, she did not bother knocking on the door, merely entering, flicking her hair before she did so, the door would close softly behind her. “Morning,” she would say, her smile still in place for she was excited to see Neru once again.

 

Despite no words of greeting flowing from the mouth of the Mizukage, Saika had known the woman enough to infer that the smirk upon her face as well as the nod of her head was greetings enough. “I don’t know. Should I have missed you?” Saika would reply to the woman’s inquiries, no matter how rhetoric they sounded. And as she answered the question, she decided to remove herself from in front of the door, moving to the left so that she may lean against the wall. Her arms folded across her chest as she gazed around the office, it looking quite bland but it was not like she expected vibrate colors to adorn the office. She actually did not expect any office that an important person used to have bright colors that were welcoming to even the worse souls, and thus she would not comment on the simplicity of the office. Of course, not until she wished to redirect the conversation to something trivial like the condition of the office.

Her eyebrows raised as Neru expressed her desire to ask something of Saika, what that pertained to was beyond this Oshiro. She hoped it had nothing to do with the dark side of the Shinobi world, for she had not come here to discuss such things. And if she wanted to discuss that subject, she could had stayed within her hotel and talked it over with Ichirou, even her daughter. But she would not brush off Neru, she owed the woman at least the opportunity to ask her question, the least she could do since she had seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth a long time ago. Yet, Saika was quite prepared to change the direction of the conversation if she felt like answering the questions of her dear friend would compromise her plans for the future. And she wondered if Neru remembered what kind of person her senior, in age only, was. Only holding the conversation could tell, and thus she decided to entertain the thoughts of Neru.

“What is it you wish to speak to me about?” Saika said, her voice filled with that familiar tinge of mock concern, the expression upon her face matching the tone of her voice. Yet, Neru would had known Saika long enough to know that the woman hardly was ever concerned about anything, and just because a question that may or may not pertain to her activities, did not mean she shall act concerned in the slightest. Or at least, Saika assumed that Neru would know that her concern was not genuine. It had been a long time though, and she would not blame Neru if she were to have forgotten how she operated. A lot had changed since the last time the duo had spoken, though Saika could not bring herself to remember the exact years.

Her eyes began to wonder around the office once again as she awaited for Neru to express any concerns that she had or to merely confirm what she already knew. Rather or not the dear old friend would receive the truth from Saika depended heavily on the question, for just because she thought highly of the Mizukage, did not mean that she was above lying to the woman. As she had stated to her family on several occasions, she was willing to make enemies with friends if it meant her plans would be pushed forward instead of back. And Neru, despite the length of time she had known the woman, was of no exception to this. But, Saika hoped that this conversation the two were about to have would not call into question their friendship nor jeopardize the friendship that had formed between the two over the years. Because Neru was her sole friend.

Thus as she leaned on the wall waiting for Neru to continue, Saika began to wonder if meeting the woman would end up being a bad idea.  

 

Saika chuckled, finding Neru to be quite adorable in this certain in, watching the woman as she stood up as well as listening to the words that came forth from her friends mouth. And the word uttered was in fact true for the two women. When you knew someone for such a long time, you learn to read them as well as pick up on their signals. One of best advantages of knowing somebody for so long was that you could see through their bull, but they could also see through your own. And despite the fact that she appreciated the fact that she would be able to see through Neru, she did not like the fact that the youngling could do the same. But it was not something she would concern herself with, nor should at the present moment.

Saika made a mental note to not try any of her usual tricks on Neru, for such tricks would be a waste of her time as well as that of her friend. And she sincerely had not the time to play, nor the energy to it either, having preparation to complete before the end of the day. Especially since the trip she would be taking was going to take sometime. As Neru continued to speak, Saika continued to stare at the woman, noting every movement as well as the tone of her voice. But above all, she paid attention to the words coming out of the woman’s mouth, for she would be responding once she was done. And though Neru was, what Saika believed as an attempt to not immediately jump to conclusion, she knew that Neru knew that she already knew. Because when you lived within her world, it would be hard for somebody like Saika to miss the movement of missing shinobi.

And since Saika knew Neru was smart, she could safely assume that the woman knew or believed she had something to do with the movements of missing shinobi, and she would not be wrong. She was the one that had recruited some of these big name criminals for her own purposes, but Neru did not need to know that. The most she could possibly know is that Saika was part of the movement, not that she led the movement. Either way, she would tread carefully as she replied to Neru, for she liked to keep her cards close to her chest unless that tactic proved worthless.

She smiled as Neru finished off, her response having been formulated within her head and ready to leave her mouth. Saika straightened herself up to her full height, head cocked to the side as she took a step further, raising her right arm and dismissively waving her hand. “Now, now Neru-chan. You are beating around the bush, for what reason really does not concern me,” Saika said, “you already know I know this information you have decided to share with me, or at least you should. And you should also know that it would be redundant to tell me something I already know.” She took another step, her arm dropping to her side but not before her hand quickly brushed her bangs from her eyes.

“Why not say what you truly want to say? It would save us from this game of did you or did you not have something to do with it. Neh?” Saika paused for a moment, her smile dropping off her face for a moment, though immediately the smile was back up. Though, there was certainly a change in what it conveyed. “You want to know if I have anything to do with the sudden movement of missing shinobi and the kidnapping of that child, but you know that whatever my answer is would be hard to consider the truth for I am a pathological liar - per the required tools of my trade. And thus you have decided to let me know that you know that I have something to do with these unsettling events, by sharing this information,” Saika said, having moved to the point that Neru and herself were within arm lengths of one another.

Her eyes gazed into that of Neru’s, her smile seemingly becoming much more malicious, and it was clear that the wheels within the crazy woman’s head was turning. “Though, you could had also just shared the information with me out of genuine concern,” Saika abruptly said, sharply turning her back and shrugging her shoulders. “What ever your reason is, I have no desire to speak of forces that may or may not be outside of my control,” she stated, casually walking back to the wall and reassuming her position on said wall. “I have come to speak of times of old, to catch up, and to discuss your love life, though I think you may be severely lacking in that department. Thus, if you desire to continue this talk, it shall shift to the topics much more interesting than the Shinobi world. Though, if we continue on your train of thought I may have to excuse myself, for I did not come here for that.” Her eyes closed, “but I can tell you one thing. The missing ninja who currently reside within your village do not hold ill-intentions towards yourself or Kiri. Rather or not you believe me is entirely up to you.” With that, Saika fell silent, having said her piece, the ball entirely in Neru’s court for the moment.

 

Saika smiled at Neru, the only person outside of her family she had grown an attachment to, one of the few things that could be considered normal about the Oshiro in her unusual world. She had read somewhere that relationships like friendships were a fundamental part of anyone’s life. She found it to be more trouble than it was worth, especially since people tended to snap when ever they witnessed the death of a friend. Thus, she decided it was best to keep her family close, and by not making friends with everyone, it decreased any sort of stress she may had received when she found out her friends were going out on missions that had the chance of killing them. But Neru was an exception, for she had never needed to worry about the health of the woman. Even with her time gone from the world, the thought of Neru possibly being dead had never crossed her mind. Though, she had never thought her dear friend would be Kage.

Saika smiled as Neru briefly commented on having ran into her immediate family, consisting of younger twin brother, Ichirou, and only child, Haruna. She had heard from Haruna the events of their meeting, and was quite pleased to hear that Ichirou did not immediately jump to flirting with her old friend. Thus, she had not been tasked with beating the living crap out of her brother for that, though she did promise to do him great harm for leaving Haruna unattended. Usually she would had delivered the punishment right there, but she needed her twin at the peek of physical health for the upcoming invasion. Ichirou should really thank the invasion.

“Oh? Has Neru fallen in love with a man? How unexpected, how interesting, how fun,” Saika would say, pushing herself from the wall so she now stood tall and proud. Her smile gracing her lips as she stared at the form of Neru, “who is this wonderful man who has managed to catch the heart of the Mizukage? I do hope he’s quite the nice guy.” Her smile grew wider as her eyes shone with mischief, “you should tell me about the man who has caught your eye. Or maybe, an introduction is in order. I must protect my sister from potential harm, neh Neru?” As per habit, Saika cocked her head to the side, genuinely intrigued about the prospect of her friend meeting a man, getting married, and having children that would run around with her otherwise troublesome Doujutsu.

She could imagine the terror Neru’s little ones could be upon growing up, especially when they had a fearsome woman to teach them.