Return of the Rokage

Kurisu Ametsuchi, the man myth and legend himself, had finally settled into an area for an extended amount of time. Aimlessly wandering around had led him to seclusion in Fang Country. He still fondly remembered the old Drunken Kage Bar he had opened in Kumogakure no Sato back when life was far more simple, a time when he had passed down his title of Raikage to his eldest daughter Misaki who appeared to be on the road to surpassing him by miles. So much had changed since then and yet here he was in a bar and no longer a kage, the circumstances were certainly different but in both cases he'd been given the chance to retire and settle down. In his head he ran through names that were seemingly lost to history, 'Kasuga, Misaki, Umeko, Yaju, Kaya, Kurisu Jr, Kyoto, Viper, Koroshi, Echo, Navi.' so many lost and that's if he wasn't forgetting anyone.

"Of course you can't remember all the names, you're a drunk." deadpanned the voice of Viper in his head. "Yeah idiot, good job thinking you could get drunk enough to remember all of them" his inner retard voice seemed to be agreeing with Viper. "Keep drinking! Order something!" the voice of Jack Daniels brought him to his senses. He had just been sitting on a stool at the bar, his attention now turning to the bartender. "Drinks, give now." he found the words, tossing down a few thousand ryo which the bartender immediately scooped up.

"Right away sir." the bartender had already had to deal with Kurisu for a couple weeks and this was the payment he'd been given so he was thrilled but knew better than to take a long time or else he'd end up like a couple of the other people that used to work for him. After a couple minutes he returned with various bottles of whiskey. "All yours."

It took no time for Kurisu to chug down an entire bottle, his tolerance wasn't quite as strong without the Yonbi inside of him but it still took an incredible amount to really start taking him down. With one bottle down, he casually drank from another while getting lost in his thoughts again. Perhaps it was time to permanently settle on one spot? Maybe he could take this bar over and try to retire again, unless someone or something gave him a new purpose.  


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400 WC
104300 - 3000 Ryo = 101300 Ryo left.

How long had it been? How long had she been searching, following lead after lead no matter if they went anywhere, holding onto hope as if she had nothing else to cling too? Umeko couldn't tell anyone if they asked her but she knew it was too long, especially for her. Giving up was easy but she couldn't do it, she wouldn't, and all that did was lead her to some shitty looking bar in Fang Country. For years she had heard passings of her fathers actions and for years like a dog she sniffed out his trail. Sometimes she thought she was close, like she could feel him, almost as if she just missed him by a seconds. It had gotten so bad at some points that she would question herself, " Maybe if I had turned around? " or " If I'd turned that corner . " Her mind played tricks on her because it was easy to do and she would always fall victim to it. Sometimes she wouldn't hear anything about him at all for months, almost as if he had fallen off the face of the earth. During those times she became violent, reckless, depressed. Hearing his name would spark some sort of joy and she'd hunt down the lead again with fervor. It was a destructive cycle, a frenzied dance that she willingly took part in instead of walking off on her own and carving out her own life. For years instead of getting stronger she relied on other things to get by, things she could never say aloud, things that sunk the most proud person into despair. Looking at the paper in her hand and then looking at the bar door once more she felt like walking away. Could she take another dead end? Could she bare having to start her search over from square one? Who's to say that he was even alive and there was some shit head out there using his name to drag on the coattails of a long gone greatness? No one is that stupid...

Heavy rains began to soak through her even heavier hooded cloak. She couldn't remember where she had gotten the cloak from but she was sure it wasn't bought legally. Her heart beat so quickly in her chest that she could hear it in her damn head. This was always the moment, the shake of the dice before the roll. The gamble itself was enough to place her on edge and never had she felt the elation of winning. Something inside of her, that little voice of hope cheered her on telling her  " Today is the day ". It happened every single time and she believed it every single time. Pushing her way inside of the bar she looked around before taking her hood off. Blue locs fell neatly though a little messy from the hood and crystal blue eyes scanned the bar once more. All this time and she couldn't even remember what he looked like. She couldn't even fucking remember what her own father looked like. She never planned what she would say to him had she ever met him, she only relied on her last name to lead her to him, or at least someone who could further her search. I'm looking for an Ametsuchi. Can anyone help me? I can pay good money for any help at all. She projected her voice to make sure all heard her as she walked further into the bar. Her heart continue to pound and she was on edge. She could feel her emotions getting out of hand as she prayed to any god that would listen. She wanted this to be her last stop, this had to be where her search ended, she couldn't take another dead end.

WC: 629

The man had drudged through many things on his way here to Fang Country. A place where he had once met another Kage in hopes of brokering an alliance between villages. That time had been long over in his mind as the world had changed beyond recognition. The red eyes pierced through the veil of the hood that the male had been wearing, dreary with the look of someone who had been dead. Luckily for him that had only been the case moments ago. In his eyes the doujutsu of the Hyuga clan had began to surface as he looked for sources of strong chakra. Ninja, whether they were retired or not, began to slowly appear in his vision like a hi def map and his journey lead him to a single bar. Memories of his times sitting within the Drunken Kage surfaced within his mind as he slowly clambered in, pushing past a few people and ordering something hard alongside a cup of water.

His throat was dry and screaming for liquid of any drinkable form, and nothing too suspicious or weird would he accept. Of course his presence came before the female who had been looking for a name long dead to him at least. As he obtained his drink, his eyes had peered from the hood at the young blue haired female as she asked a question that warranted a small chuckle from him,"They're all gone little one. Not a single one in this land still knows the name Ametsuchi. You're better off going to the Land of Lightning or something," his voice sounded hoarse, almost non-existent yet the authority was there. The tone he kept though low would have been able to remind a few people if they had known him in a past life, but he knew none in the bar. Or so he thought. As he took a long drink from the bottle he had been given, the hood came off to reveal his features. Raven black hair that stopped at his neck, showing off an intricate seal that had been there for a very long time. Only a few others had it in existence and he was the last. Red eyes shined from the darkness as he sat the bottle down and sighed," Now what is a greenhorn doing looking for the most infamous clan to ever grace Kumogakure? Of course you can't be one of em. Whoever heard of an Ametsuchi with blue hair huh? And one that apparently isn't drinking...Doesn't sound like the Ametsuchi of legend that i've heard so much about," he couldn't tell if it was sadness or pure spite that caused him to speak with such...venom. Not of the clan that he had sworn his life to protect and one who took him in as a son. No it was because he had failed in his duty.

'Drink drink drink. Drink drink drink. Driiiiiiiiiiiink.' the voice of Jack Daniels sang out as Kurisu continued to drink, finishing another bottle and then getting started on another one immediately. 'Should do something about the amount of people' an old voice in his head spoke up, though Kurisu had no intentions of listening to that voice for now. Even if he didn't plan on listening to the voice, its not like the voice was entirely wrong especially if some random person were to mess with him. Some random citizen bumping into the back of Kurisu, making the old Kage spill some alcohol from the bottle. 'That guy hurt me.' the alcohol spoke. 'Break him' that old voice was pushing him.

Turning around in his chair, it was at about this time that a voice spoke from near the entrance about search for an Ametsuchi. The voice seemed familiar but he couldn't quite plan it, perhaps another shinobi looking to take his head. "What are y-" the man that had bumped into him tried to speak but Kurisu wasn't exactly built on patience nor civility. While slower and weaker than in the past he was still far beyond a non-shinobi, his fist slamming into the man's face and cutting off his ignorant words whilst sending him slamming into the wall on the other side of the bar. Most of the people here were regulars and had already began to get used to Kurisu's ways and chose to ignore what happened.

Normally he'd consider leaving or attacking the possible threat searching for him, but the one searching seemed to get an answer from another familiar sounding voice that dismissed any Ametsuchi being here. 'Maybe you should look at them idiot' his inner retard voice wasn't wrong as usual. Wait, blue hair? Couldn't be could it? His glances moved from the girl to the man that had answered the question. Strange that both of them seemed to have heard of him but neither seemed to be giving off threatening vibes, he could swear he knew who both of them are. 'You're dense and drunk brother.' Viper's voice echoed in his head.

Taking a large drink from the bottle in his hand he spoke "Who dares to look for former Raikage and former Hokage, Kurisu Ametsuchi?" he yelled out to the blue haired girl and the black haired man. As he finished speaking he stood up, the black burned Kage hat slightly covered his face still, but it probably wouldn't be hard to see his eyes give off a faint glow in the shadow cast from the hat. The legendary eyes of his brothers' clan, three tomoe visible, after all he couldn't take chances nowadays with the bounty that was likely on his head, but assuming there was no threat then he'd end up reverting his eyes back to normal.

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476 WC; 876 Total WC

Umeko took note of the man who had sent another flying across the bar with a single punch. She didn't know what the other fellow did but she made sure not to go near his aggressor. Umeko couldn't afford to die, not after she had gotten this far in life. Dodging danger at every turn might as well been a mastered skill for her at this point. Looking from the man as someone answered her question though it was not what she wanted to hear. She didn't come all this way to be berated, and she could feel her blood boil. Turning her attention to the man that answered her caused her to frown. This man clearly knew nothing as he spoke, and as tempted as she was to come out as an Ametsuchi to show just how wrong he was about them being gone she cooled her jets and took a deep breath. His words bit deep into her as he cast her off as not being an Ametsuchi, commenting on her hair and drinking habits. Her heart swelled as she was reminded of how drastically she had to change in order to hide from those that wanted to cause her harm, to bring her back to Kumogakure to face a judgment she did not deserve. Her rich brown locs and honey brown eyes had to be permanently changed in order to take attention off of her. If he had known anything then he would have kept his mouth shut. Umeko walked closer to the bar, her eyes glaring at the dark haired man, he looked familiar somehow but not enough for her to think about it further. She felt a little discouraged enough to nearly turn around and not humor the man who was of no help to her in her search, that was until another voice caused her blood to freeze.

There was a pause on her end. She couldn't believe it, she didn't want to believe it. After all this time searching, after all the disappointment and failure and dead ends. Her lips tightened and her eyes watered but she didn't dare let tears fall. She felt like she couldn't breathe as the familiarity of the voice nearly brought her to her knees. I almost don't want to believe you, but I'm so tired of searching. I'm so tired of fucking looking. I heard Misaki died.. I heard brothers I never even got to meet Died. And you, you've always left me behind. You always forgot about me... But you could have at least remembered enough to come and get me from Kumogakure. At this point tears were streaming down her face as she walked up slowly to the man who towered over her, her eyes filled with a sadness as she spoke, her voice rung with pain. She stopped walking towards him, giving enough space between the two of them to look each other over. I don't even know what to say. I hadn't planned on actually seeing you again. The only family I have left to my knowledge... My father. Do you remember me at all? I may be a lot more difficult to remember since it's been Twelve years since the last time I saw you... She wanted him to be held accountable for his abandoment, she deserved just as much attention as any of his other children, but she got nothing from him. The only family she ever truly had was her sister, and that was taken away from her. She wanted to know why, she wanted to know if he knew and if he did why did he let it happen.  Apart of her wanted this man to be a fraud, so she could continue on searching, because at this point as she had come to realize standing there, it was better than facing the truth... That she was forgotten.

wc: 646/1275

The male had no time to ask or even berate the one in front of him. He wasn't in the mood or more accurately he wasn't willing to crush all that they had known, but for him all of the Ametsuchi were dead. The sudden outburst of the man caused his brows to take a sharp turn downward, as his feral like teeth slowly began to bare forth at him almost instinctively. He was quick to try and use the name of the one who had been essentially a father to him. Yaju began to cast his ire toward the drunken male who had been wearing a hat that was vaguely familiar to him. Where had he seen it? It was reminiscent of the hat he once wore on his head. His anger was certainly getting the better of him. As seconds slowly passed an infallible urge to crush both of them where they stood, but his power was not there yet...not yet.

In his anger he crushed the bottle in his hands as if it was paper, his eyes glowing a light red as he spoke," You think you are comical? Using the name of a man I honored and respected as my father? You sure know how to piss off the wrong person. If you are who you say you are then you surely know the forbidden technique that only the Raikage would know? Surely with all your infinite might you know what I speak of?," and as if on cue his body began to radiate pure nature chakra as he took on the form of the Fox sage. Nine tails began to slip into existence behind him as two red like markings appeared under each of his eyes and a hue of silver saturated chakra began to pour from him," Be quick to prove who you are or I, Yaju Hayate of the Mystic Kitsune Mountains, will hold judgement upon you!," the Sage of Kumo would not allow this farce to continue and if it came to it he would fight for the memory of his family.

It was such a rare thing for Kurisu's mind to clear up and really for him to be shaken to the core. Rarely would he ever be shocked into losing his drunken effects, sobering up just from unexpected news. This rare moment was brought on by the reappearance of one of his young daughters. The voices in his head were speechless, or at least Kurisu wasn't hearing them at this point. "Umeko? Its really you." hearing about Misaki's death only added to his increasingly sober mind. He heard what Umeko had to say and of course it made him feel like a horrible person but now wasn't the time for him to think about himself. He wasn't sure if he was allowed to hug her as he had been an absent father, but she had been looking for him so there had to be a relationship that could be salvaged. "I just don't know what to-" he was cut off by the shinobi who would turn out to be his adopted son Yaju, showing aggression but only to try and protect Kurisu's name so he couldn't be mad at the young man. He focused on Umeko once more, "Sorry, let me clear things up real quick so the three of us can catch up."

He carefully took off his Kage hat, letting the string under it allow it to hang from his neck and rest against his back. His eyes once more shifted, this time into their eternal form. A flex of chakra, suddenly he was crackling with lightning chakra around his entire form, the lightning release armor famous to the Raikage no longer was tainted with that red stain it used to have, instead it was as it originally was. His display of power would easily leave the bartender hiding in the back while all the non-shinobi in the bar fled. "Yaju, I'm proud that you want to protect my name but do you recognize me now?" he'd ask while giving a light smirk to signify that he was not upset, and assuming that did the trick he'd turn off the lightning chakra and revert his eyes back to their pitch black normal state. 

"I thought both of you were gone forever, I'm relieved and happy that's not the case." he almost wasn't sure if this was a dream but it certainly seemed like he was awake and that this was in fact real. "I can't believe you've been looking me, I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you." he mainly directed this line to Umeko, she had been so young when he left the position of Raikage to Misaki and vanished from Kumogakure no Sato. So much had happened and he would have searched for his family from Kumogakure but with everything that he heard had happened at the village and all the confirmed deaths he thought they were lost with the village and Misaki. He open up his arms offering a hug to Umeko but not trying to force it, after all he was unsure just how mad she and even Yaju could be with him. How could they truly forgive him for being the way he'd been for so very long. All that mattered now was repairing things with his kids and trying to make them happy.

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540 WC; Total WC: 1416

There too many things going on at once. The change in charka pressure almost brought her to her knees as the man named Yaju went off, trying to protect the name of her father. She could hardly remember Yaju, she saw him in passing when she was around her sister but she didn't really know who he was. But for a moment she was on his side, it had been so long could this man really be her father? It seemed that the man in front of her wasted no time in clearing his name as he let forth some chakra of his own causing her to nearly stagger back. She felt dreadful, like a mouse among lions and it made her sick, sick from...Fear. Her eyes still streaming with tears wanted so badly to punch and kick and cry some more but once she saw his arms open up she ran to him, right into his arms. DADDY! I.. I forgive you. And just like that she was a kid again, her face buried into his chest as she ugly cried tears of joy, relief, anger, and many other emotions that were fighting for control. She didn't want to let him go but they had too much to do now, this was just the start, it was going to be a long road ahead of them from this day forward and she wanted to spend every second she could with him. She didn't give any attention to the other man, she didn't come her for him, she came her to be with her family and she had achieved that.  Against everything she forgave him because now he was all she had.

wc: 282/ 1557

They said that moments often lasted for an eternity, slowly ebbing through time until someone had made a choice. A simple decision that would alter the course in which events would come to follow. Yaju had given the man the opportunity to truly show who he was, an opportunity he would rarely even give people in the past. As his ears stood at attention at the sound of lightning crackling into existence a look that could only be described as happiness...no maybe even the act of knowing that his family wasn't gone. The male who had originally been so filled with rage and anger slowly began to realize what had been going on. Bit by bit his sage chakra would begin to dissipate before he had stared into the eyes of Kurisu, hoping that this indeed wasn't just a trick of the mind. So much had been on his mind about it that he had forgotten where he had been for a moment. He wasn't fond of crying and he wasn't about to. Not in front of the man he had deemed a father to himself. Instead he held his head low, the loyal yet noble wolf who would only speak after a moment.

"I thought you were gone...from this world. I failed you Kurisu. I couldn't protect Kumogakure. I couldn't even protect Misaki...All of what has happened to our home. It is my sin to bear. I-," the male felt himself cutting himself off as he slumped onto a stool and sighed to himself. Was he simply beating himself up over events that he couldn't have predicted or controlled? No he was beating himself up over the promise that he made all those years ago. After only a few moments he ha composed himself for a moment and turned around, reaching over the bar to grab a bottle and began to drink rather slowly. "Four years...It feels like i've been gone four long years. Can you believe I had a child Kurisu...But I don't know where they are now. They were left in the care of...Her," for a moment he paused looking down at the bar for a moment as if he had been contemplating if leaving his child with her was a good idea or not.

The damage had been done and he could only hope that his child was still among the world somewhere, living his life as he would. Setting the bottle down with a soft thud he would turn to look at Umeko almost judgmentally before speaking," Another daughter huh? Doesn't really look much like you. Misaki definitely did," as he turned around to drink from his bottle almost mumbling something to himself. He wasn't too keen on this one and his displeasure in it was apparent in the way that he had acted, but he wouldn't arbitrarily state it. Not now at least.

TWC: 1,309

Funny how life works, he'd hit a low point and was so sure that it was going to be the point he'd have to stay at. Never able to see family or friends again whilst living on the run and only getting weaker as time went on. Seeing two of his kids again sparked something inside of him, the use of his eternal eyes and lightning armor again only adding fuel to the fire that was sparked. This had to be the moment he needed, being forgiven for his absence and getting that second chance at being a father. It probably would have been better for everyone involved if he just stepped away now and vanished once more instead of putting what was left of his family at risk after all wouldn't staying to be a father get all three of killed? It seemed very likely given his nature and lifestyle but hugging his now crying daughter Umeko and hearing Yaju's regrets, it was clear that even if things might end badly, it was better than abandoning either one of them now. 

He gave Umeko a pat on the head and a smile, "Well since we're all still alive, we should celebrate some. Drinks are on me." with that he walked towards the bar, flashing his lightning release armor on and off again in order to just casually break an opening through the wood to get behind the bar. "Still don't like doors am I right?" the voice of Echo joked in Kurisu's head, even though it didn't remove his smile it did make him miss the past. 'If only everyone else could be around for this.' It was a strange thought considering he was heading to the backroom in order to kill the bartender and take the bar over for himself. Maybe he needed to do it differently? 'No.' that old voice usually was right but he decided against it, besides he needed someone to hang around to keep the bar running during trips. Making a new decision, he tossed five thousand ryo in a bag towards the bartender upon entering the backroom. "I own the bar now, you can still work here." with that he grabbed a couple more bottles and added those to the collection growing on the bar counter in front of the stool he'd been sitting on earlier. He leaned against the wall and took a minute to let the moment sink in. "So either of you got plans now?" all he could do now was offer his help with any of their desires. 


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WC: 428; TWC: 1844
-Another 5k Ryo = 96,300 Ryo left.