Ch233- Court of Unity
“It’s an honour to work with you, Ao the Byakugan Killer!.” Minako said excitedly, her hand grasped tightly around Ao’s as they formally met for the first time…possibly ever.
I smiled at the scene, ignoring Junko idly picking at her nails beside them. Ever since Ao’s legend as the Byakugan Killer had taken root, Minako had longed to meet the man in the flesh. I’d almost forgotten how often she pestered me about taking the platoon south to reinforce the fronts where he fought, or how the others teased her for that fascination—at least until they realized where it truly stemmed from: a deep, lingering hatred for the Hyuga we clashed with during the war.
Looking at her now, the grin splitting her cheeks and the sparkle in her eye even as she lived with three prosthetic fingers, I knew her admiration hadn’t waned one bit and neither had her hatred. Unfortunately neither were necessarily required for this job.
“It’s great to meet you too, Minako Tetsudai, Lord Fourth spoke of you. You fought at his side when he earned his moniker, didn’t you?” Ao said smoothly, he seemed used to the fame his name garnered him in Kirigakure, in fact, I’d seen quite a number of Genin cosplay his one-eyed personality during the festival.
Minako nodded vigorously, her short brown hair bobbed with each swish. “Yes, back then he was much, much shorter!”
“Hey! What does that have to do with anything?” I yelled, not wasting a second to defend my pride. I’d been as tall as six feet when I lived as Jason, as Yagura the loss of an entire foot and change had been devastating to my self esteem…at least until I realized I could manipulate chakra.
Minako chortled and shrugged as she and Ao took their prepared seats. “It’s just…you’re much bigger now.” She looked around the office. “In every possible way, I guess it’s no surprise you grew taller too.”
Shockingly Ao nodded along to her words. “Yes, it’s true. I believe you’ve grown half a foot or more since you took power, Mizukage-sama. Must be something in the hat.”
I blinked dumbly for a moment. Getting taller was a boon to insecurities I inherited but I was curious how any of it was happening. It couldn’t possibly be something as simple as a late growth spurt, no, this was one way or another related to the frequent strain and tension I put my chakra network through. Kaizoku had spoken broadly about the effects of channeling Nature Energy through his summon path and being an active Jinchuriki already made all sorts of changes to my body— growing taller as a result or combination of either wasn’t all farfetched, in fact, it was very welcome.
Blinking away my mild bewilderment, I smiled and graciously accepted the compliments. “Thank you for noticing and saying so then.”
“Ugh, please can we get started yet?” Junko groaned loudly, having grown bored with picking at her nails she scowled at me as she huffed. “You said this was important, doesn’t seem to have anything to do with—”
“No, it doesn’t.” I said, curtly cutting her off as I gathered the organization proposal documents and shared them. “These are a little mock up of my vision for our inter-clan justice system.”
Ao raised a brow at that and Minako shifted in her seat as she flipped through. Junko was impassive and unimpressed as she read through, she took a deep breath as she set the proposal down.
“What do you think?” I asked once everyone had a solid read through.
“It’s a good idea.” Minako said.
“There might be resistance.”
“At least you’re not involving clans directly.” Junko yawned. “Well, I’m assuming you don’t expect me to use Hoshigaki clan resources to—”
“No, Junko, I don’t.” I couldn’t help rolling my eyes at her. “You might be a clan head but you’re not going to be declaring any kind of judgement. That’ll be left to Minako and a select few.”
Minako gasped and flipped through the proposal again. “Oh, I’m going to be the Mediator then?”
I nodded, “Yes, just like the proposal says your job will be to find a balance in the nuance, to be impartial and compassionate. But also to report to me.”
She snorted. “Of course, that’s the entire premise of this…Court of Unity isn’t it? Streamline inter-clan disputes to the point it isn’t so overwhelming for you to look through.”
Junko chortled loudly. “Oh there won’t be a lot of work to get through, at least not for a while.” She winked at me as she said this and I felt a bitter taste rise up my throat. My mood shift didn’t go unnoticed. “Or not? What is there already work to clean up? I thought this was just a proposal, words on paper.”
I brushed the feeling away with a weak laugh. “Haha, no, the Court of Unity is already approved. I might take some criticism on the inner workings of how this new body should work but I’ve already bought the land where it will be built.”
Ao hummed in approval. “Indeed, there’s no need to waste a moment. This is a good plan, Mizukage-sama, I’ll be honoured to act as the Court of Unity’s lead Confessor.”
“Confessor?” Junko muttered.
I frowned. “Did you even read the proposal?”
“I skimmed.” She shrugged, picking it up again and lazily flipping through.
Resisting the urge to groan, I sat up straight and explained. “Junko, your role will be the same as mine, at least in this early start.”
“Lawbinder huh?” She murmured, squinting at a page. “Sounds…furious.”
“No such thing.” I said with a strained smile. “Violence is a last resort but you and I will train them on its precise and non lethal application.”
“Train them? Ugh, don’t tell me that’s the first job you were talking about? A lot has happened in the village if you weren’t aware, lots of changes that I have to navigate as clan head. Training a bunch of wet behind the ears Chuunin isn’t—”
“All you have to do is say you can’t or won’t do it, Junko.” I groaned. It’d been this way with her since, the little passive aggressive comments, winks and unnecessarily boisterous bouts of laughter. I didn’t care so much about it though, I more or less expected it— Owl Mask and her team still hadn’t provided any tangible results to the Akatsuki or the Masked Uchiha as the world of bounty hunters now knew him.
“I know you’re restless, I know you don’t really care about these inter-clan matters but you threw your hat in the ring the moment you supported Mei and Lady Suikazan’s plans.”
Junko hiss. “I do care…how much I profit off of it.” When that earned a scowl from the rest of us she raised her hands in surrender. “Whatever, I just have to show some kids the pointy end of their kunai from the handle and tell them who to stab, yeah?”
“A little more complicated than that but…”
“Great, I don’t think you’d be too happy if I rejected your already approved proposal so…I’ll participate. For now.” Junko said, her eyes not leaving mine as she said spoke each word.
I scoffed at the continued implications of her words and behaviour, it was telling of what others within the village might be thinking. I’d considered it briefly but it seems one of the greatest effects of unleashing a purge on the village was a drastic change in how people thought of me. It irked me to think that out there in living rooms and restaurants my citizens and shinobi whispered of my cruelty, rage and swore I’d be worse than the Third Mizukage.
It’s alright, Yagura, you expected this type of thing to happen. Benevolent dictator remember? It can’t be helped.
I soothed my conscience with those thoughts but it was a bandage act. More than anything what weighed heavy on my heart and mind wasn’t what people said now but what people died. I picked up a heavy, brown dossier and slid it their way.
“Junko and I will train the Lawbinders — the enforcers,” I said, laying out the lines of duty. “Minako will mediate. Ao will lead the Confessors — investigators who turn chaos into evidence and bring their findings to the Mediators. That’s the chain: Confessors discover, Mediators decide, Lawbinders act.”
Ao smiled at Minako. “Looks like I work for you.”
Minako blushed through a grin. “We work together.”
“Yeah yeah, whatever. Can I go now?” Junko sighed, her hands already poised to lift herself out of the chair.
I shook my head and pointed at the brown dossier. “In there is the Court’s first task.”
Minako opened the dossier and Ao leaned over to read. Junko watched, waiting for the reveal. “This is…this is a casualty list, isn’t it?” Minako said in a hushed tone, she bit her lip as her eyes dashed from line to line and page to page. “Wait…these are all deaths that happened in the past week. This is—”
“Yes, it’s everyone that died in the arrogance purge.”
My office seemed to drop several degrees at the full mention of the purge, till now Junko had only implied and hinted but I could tell by the pained looks that crossed each of their faces that there were names on that list that stabbed their hearts.
Minako swallowed thickly. “What should we do with it?”
“This might be a task for just you and Ao.” I said, hardening my resolve and the audacity needed to give this type of mission to anyone other than my stone-hearted ANBU. “You’re to investigate each victim's connections, see if there are any persons capable or foolish enough to cause a ruckus about this loss. When you do, you're to take any action you deem necessary to eliminate such concerns.”
“Even murder?” Junko voiced.
“Except murder.” I hissed and sent a glare her way, she only grinned. “This is a pre-emptive move against animosity. We’re not to let anyone harbour hatred for Kirigakure without being soothed…at least in one way or another. I trust with the Tower’s resources at hand you’ll figure it out.”
Minako nodded dumbly, her eyes still skimming through the list of nearly a hundred names. “This will…take some time.”
“Don’t worry, Junko and I will be busy too,” I said, matching the chaotic Matriarch’s smile for the first time. She held her ground, unflinching, so I drew out the dossier of names and slid it across the table to her. “You’re free to go, Minako, Ao. Unless you’ve more questions. Junko and I have our own list to see through.”