#I had just ordered the other Karin statue! I would have ordered this set instead

[ruby-phoenix]

SK figurines!!! So cute! Finally a couple statue of both Sasuke and Karin in a set! I am so happy will be ordering asap as soon as I find a good store that stocks them <3

[electraposts]

AIC 30

Her day started ludicrously early, but suffering was just her lot in life so it made sense. Aiko was incredibly morose about it but she made it to the office at 4:30, right about the time that a wan-looking Nishikawa unlocked the doors. They exchanged a commiserating look. Aiko's protection detail merely stared at them, miserable and baggy-eyed a few feet back. The woman leaned against the wall while Nishikawa shuffled off to turn on the lights and turn off the security system.

She took a moment to wonder if her supposed bodyguard was going to keel over and die. It didn't seem like a bad option, honestly. The sun wasn't even up. Aiko was an absolute monster for causing her staff to be at work this early.

Silently, Aiko put a hand in her pocket and offered the bodyguard a candy from her stash.

The chuunin took it on a nimble reflex. Then she looked at her palm. Her mouth came open slightly and lines formed on her forehead. She looked genuinely confused about how this state of affairs had come to be. She was not ready to live in a world where there was a cherry candy on her palm. She had not prepared for it.

'I think the night shifts need to be shorter,' Aiko decided. '11 pm to 7 am is unreasonable. This lady is going to die.'

That seemed like a good time to go and start the coffeemaker. Aiko filled the one intended for her office staff and just stood there, waiting for it to percolate. Nishikawa came in as the machine was finishing up.

He gave her a mildly concussed stare, as if he wasn't completely certain who he was looking at. “Ah, thank you, Mizukage-sama.”

She meant to tell him it was no trouble, but she wound up yawning at him instead. He pretended not to smile and instead turned to pull out milk from the fridge.

She had already sorted through the dishdrainer to find the cup with his name on the bottom and set it next to hers on the counter, so she poured coffee the instant the dripping stopped. He took his mug gratefully and drained it as-is while she tore open sugar packets. He was half-finished by the time she leaned against the counter and started stirring with her usual yellow spoon. Security wasn't allowed to eat or drink from the same sources as the kage, so the chuunin went off to secure the premises.

They were both on their second cup before Aiko dredged up the will to focus on work. “Today.” She rubbed at her eyes. “I have a meeting with Sakurai at noon. Right?”

Nishikawa took a moment to respond, eyes flicking upward. “Yes,” he said slowly. “I'll make reservations and tell him where to meet you. Do you have a dining preference?”

“The private room in Koyama.” She yawned. She covered her mouth with her wrist. “Also invite Yuusaku and Karin to this lunch. I'll bring Gaara with me when I go. So make the reservation for 5, I suppose.”

He just nodded. “Would you like to order at the time, or for me to select from the menu?”

“We'll order,” Aiko decided. “Karin is picky, I think.” She knocked back the rest of the cup, and oh there was a deposit of sugar that she hadn't fully dissolved. Yes. So good. She deserved this. “Other than Sakurai, assign that group as working on the reserved space with me. Add Keisuke and Ryuusei too, tell them to report by 1:50. Kanagawa-sensei confirmed his group, right?”

“Un.” Nishikawa rinsed out his cup and filled it with water. “So you'll be out there from about 2 until 6?”

“Sounds right.” She gave a stretch. “I'll be back in the office around 7 to handle any correspondence and signover paperwork. Ask Saito-san her opinion on the two accountant candidates, but you'll make the final decision. I want someone starting on Monday.” She refilled her coffee and started tearing open sugar packets. “Priority is the letter to Nadeshiko, have Sakurai bring it with him to lunch so I can approve it. If it's good, send it with a three-man team.”

“Of course, Mizukage-sama,” he murmured. He watched her stir her coffee. “Is there anything else?”

She pursed her lips, but couldn't think of anything. “I think we're good.” Aiko lifted her coffee in salute on the way out. “Once more, into the breach.”

“It's Thursday,” Nishikawa called after her.

“I know. Twice more into the breach just doesn't sound that good,” Aiko yelled back. She heard him laugh as she opened her office door. Her protection detail had already unlocked it and circled the room to end up behind the genjutsu curtain. Aiko took pity and asked the chuunin to watch for threats from the vantage point of the couch. It did not take much convincing.

She spent way too much time doing paperwork. Other office workers began trickling in after a couple of hours, as well as her change in bodyguard. Aiko sent one of them away with a stack of documents to be filed when Mira came in. Saito came in with a particularly hard jaw to take the mission assignments. Aiko took the correspondences out to Nishikawa's desk personally.

And they were off. Gaara brought in a report about his investigation into the poison, and then sat in on her interview of the team that had escorted the relevant shipment.

“All the way from Nadeshiko to the processing,” Oda Kai promised. He managed to meet her eyes when he said it.

His twin sister nodded agreement. “We noted no irregularities. The merchants' identities and papers were verified in Nadeshiko, one of us was present and alert with the group at all times during transit, and no signs of tampering by the merchants or any outside party were discernible.”

“Right.” Aiko glanced down on the profile of the four-person merchant team. She had already checked over the information for the farmer and the processing plant where the tsukemono had been made. It looked legitimate so far as she could tell from Kirigakure. “This was the second such mission you have taken from Nadeshiko, correct? Have you done similar missions in past?”

The twins exchanged a glance. Kai tilted his head at Aoi. She sucked in the side of her pockmarked cheek and took the initiative. “Many. A truly numbing amount, but there was a break of several years between these escort missions for Nadeshiko and the missions we did prior.”

Gaara gave Aiko a sideways glance at that, but kept his mouth shut.

The movement had drawn both chuunins' attention to Gaara. Aiko considered their obvious curiosity and thought about publicly sharing Gaara's apprenticeship status. She should do that. Eventually. After she got things sorted out with Temari.

“The merchant company that came left Kirigakure after less than 24 hours within our walls. Does this align with their implied plans before your arrival?”

Kai nodded. “It does. And while that is an unusual profile for many merchant visitors, it aligns with a merchant delivering a pre-arranged contract. They would have a financial interest in returning as soon as possible to their home state.”

The interview didn't yield anything outright useful. Gaara rounded on her when the door shut behind the chuunin.

She leaned back and took a deep breath.

“The long period of time between their previous escort missions and the Nadeshiko escort is a discrepancy. Why?”

Aiko wound some hair around her fingers and pursed her lips at her student. She tried not to look too disappointed, because the answer there was easy. “You need me to tell you why that's true?”

Gaara looked a little affronted. He stood perfectly still and narrowed his eyes at her.

She tilted her head.

“Changes in leadership and economic troubles,” Gaara said.

“Pin-pon.” Aiko gave him a thumbs-up. “Good thought. They would have done that kind of mission routinely as experienced genin and novice chuunin. They would not be taking those missions now if we had caught up on the backlog of low-level missions.”

“So it is not relevant to the poisoning.” Gaara looked away.

“It isn't,” Aiko confirmed. “But it was good to notice that detail.” She felt mean to shut down his line of inquiry, but not all ideas were correct. Noticing the oddity in the first place and wondering about it was a sign that Gaara was applying analytical thinking. He was doing well.

She shook the thought off with a sigh. She'd bring it up at his next performance review. Giving feedback all the time wasn't a good use of their hours together.

“Do you want to personally come with me to Nadeshiko to speak with Shizuka?” Aiko put away his report and started digging for what she would need next. “I'm going to wait until a day or so after she should have received our official complaint about the issue. She will undoubtedly look into the incident on her end immediately to ensure that none of her people put her in breach of contract. So it's best to give her some time and cut down on waiting.” Aiko found what she was looking for and unrolled the long scroll onto her desk top. “Look at this, please.”

Gaara took two steps closer. “Accompanying you is acceptable. Is this the park project for the day?” His tone was neutral.

“It sure is,” Aiko said cheerfully. It was nice to be done with the absolute desperation measures. The bare bones of infrastructure for safety and housing were in place, so some community works could be done before pivoting to updating things like aging water lines. “You're going to help me dig out this lake here, and move the soil and sand over to form this bank and planting area. At that point, my genin- chuunin, sorry, my chuunin and the two genin teams will work on filling the lake with fuinjutsu while we go and retrieve the saplings.” She flexed her fingers. Then she went to dig out the hospital funding report, because she needed to talk to some old people about hallway width and secure storage for medicine.

“And then I will direct the Academy students in planting small trees,” Gaara said.

Aiko gave him a quick look through her eyelashes, because it was hard to read his mood from his voice there. His face didn't bring more enlightenment, so- “Yep. And poor Yuusaku gets to direct his teammates and Karin in using all the lumber to assemble the planting beds and park benches. Or maybe split them up from the genin teams...”

Gaara actually looked at her for that. He took a long, slow breath in. “Karin-san will not be pleased.”

“Karin is a genin,” Aiko said absently. “She can be as grumpy as she wants, she is a village asset just like everyone else. And we are making a pretty park together like a family.”

He gave her a long, steady look that implied he was weighing her chances of surviving that conversation. “This path here. What purpose does it serve?”

Aiko took a look. “Running path, for civilians and Academy students. It's a safe, central location away from the training grounds. It will also be very pretty when the plums and cherries are blooming.” Eat that, Konoha. They had pretty shit too.

“And the herbs will scent the air,” Gaara said. He seemed to be just a bit amused by the whole thing.

“That's practical,” Aiko defended. She sat back in her chair. “Planting herbs and fruit trees and vegetables for public consumption is part of combating poverty and hunger. In combination with the rice subsidy-”

“I did not mean to criticize.” Gaara unfolded his arms. “My apologies, Aiko-sama.”

She watched him suspiciously for a moment, but allowed her student to back away from his sass. “Go survey the area,” she ordered. Her attention was already turning to her next meeting. “Take the plans with you. After that, the morning is yours until you will meet me here at 11:45 to head to lunch.”

“Mizukage-sama.” Gaara rolled up the scroll and tucked it under his arm. He paused at the door. “There was one more thing.”

“Oh?” She tore herself away from the report. “Not about the poisoning- our guest?” Hell, they still had Raidou. Maybe they should, uh. Let him go or something. Or move him into diplomatic housing once it had electricity. What was he working on now? She should check up on that...

“The unconscious guest.” Gaara, bless him, said with with no humor at all. “He has awoken. About four minutes ago.” He seemed perfectly fine with the party line about the Konoha delegation and how they were enjoying splitting their time between Mizukage-inflicted hospital arrest and hard labor.

'Not like Utakata.  The sighing every time he has to talk about the situation is getting old.'

Aiko considered telling him not to leave his sand on strangers to spy on them, but it seemed counterproductive. It was useful. “Alright, thank you. I'll go check on that soon. For now, he should be in good hands.”

'Am I being a bad mom by not correcting his manners, though? He should respect peoples' privacy. Sometimes. Why did he even want to spy on Sai? And why didn't he get bored with that? Sai has been unconscious for weeks. That was commitment. I want to be impressed but I also want to make him apologize.'

She touched a pen to her lips as she leaned back to watch her most confusing child leave.

Sanbi heaved a sigh and rolled over. He didn't even pretend to be interested in the dilemma.

God. She leaned on her elbows a bit, reflecting about how sorry she felt for herself. She would never have imagined her life turning out this way. She was a single parent and manager of a large flock of murderous lunatics. No one else was going to help, so she had to raise all her illicitly relocated children by herself.

...Actually, fair enough.

'But no, Karin is above-board. Her village head knows she's here to spy on me. So I didn't do anything illegal there anyway.'

Sanbi slapped against her mind. “Please let me rest. Your justifications are giving me a headache.”

The moral highground was a lonely place. Shame that all the turtles were down in the lowland of sinners.

The hospital board came and went, although they had the newly appointed head doctor with them this time. Utakata stopped by to make sure she drank some water and hovered until she finished eating the apple he cut for her. Someone came to apprise her of the change in Sai's condition and confirmed that her genjutsu hadn't fried his brain, which was pretty good to know. She approved some serious painkillers for him and fought her way through the rest of the morning and tugged her hair unpinned as she and Gaara left for lunch. It fell over her shoulders with interesting pin crinkles and some humidity frizz. Aiko made a mental note to get a haircut, because she had uneven ends from some fight or something. She couldn't keep track anymore.

Sakurai kept remarkable composure when his working lunch ballooned into a social gathering. Yuusaku arrived next, looking neat in his new chuunin jacket. That netted him a look of approval and a few minutes of chatting until Karin strolled in and pulled out her chair with a screech.

“Good afternoon,” Karin said cheerfully. She was already flipping the menu open. “It's a good day for oden, don't you think?”

Gaara sat back and watched her as though he suspected she might choose to bite someone. He didn't seem afraid for himself or anything, just as though he was certain a sudden smiting was an easy possibility.

'I wonder if that healthy wariness has to do with Karin herself or if it's an impression that Temari left about older sisters.'

“No, not when we're going to be using a lot of chakra. Oden is relaxing at home on a cold day food. I want steak,” Aiko said. She signaled over the waitstaff. “Hello, thank you. Could I get this? The sweet potato side, and tea. Water as well.”

Karin gave her a sharp look, but amended her order to katsudon. She didn't say anything else until the man left to take their orders to the kitchen. “What's this about a lot of work?” She turned her face a little to the side and tilted it so that her chin was at a positively dangerous angle. “I have a full day of training planned.”

Gaara went so still that it was obvious he was working not to lean back.

'I guess Karin laid down the law. Maybe about the way he drips everywhere out of the shower? That would drive her mad. I should be home in the evening more to keep an eye on them.'

“Karin, this is Sakurai-san.” Aiko gestured and repeated the introduction the other way. “Karin is my relative, a current genin. You might have heard of her. And Sakurai-san is a member of my administration who oversees the city development and planning.”

Karin's eyes glazed over. “Wow. That must be a fun job.”

“I like it,” Sakurai said mildly. “It's very nice to meet you. Will you be working with us today on the park project?”

“She will,” Aiko said cheerfully. The look she got from her prickly daughter was pure poison. Karin was going to be vicious one day and it was absolutely precious to look at the seeds. “She's going to learn how to interpret the diagrams for the wooden parts from Tazuna before he leaves today, and then she will be in charge of supervising the two genin teams working with us today.”

It was kind of beautiful, Aiko reflected. Karin puffed up to argue until the part where it became she was being involved as management. Then her curiosity won over her pride and she leaned in to ask-

“What is this project about?” She adjusted her glasses, because Yuusaku was frowning at the way they reflected light into his eyes.

Aiko nodded to Gaara.

His voice started off a bit gravelly. “It is a community welfare project that will increase the attractive qualities of the city, as well as serve as intensive training in water and earth ninjutsu for the lower-ranked shinobi involved.”

Karin frowned, but she didn't seem sure of what to think. “I see.” She pursed her lips. “I can see why you'd want to clean the place up a bit. It is pretty bleak.”

'Fuck is she talking about? Is Otogakure lined with fucking daisies? Orochimaru got a lot of fountains?'

She could feel a scowl coming on.

Sakurai swooped into the conversation, even and reasonable and ever so deserving of a raise. “We have many projects planned that will increase the visual appeal of Kirigakure as well as raising the quality of life here. We believe that it is an important factor for morale and mental health.”

blood splattered on the cobblestone steady steps behind but she was racing ahead of Tsunade. Touch one, two, three. They fall, they fall, they fall-

Aiko shook off a memory and crossed her legs. Kirikgakure didn't always make a great first impression, it was true. “This is going to be a large park, the west side dominated by a lake with a running path surrounded by various scented and edible trees and plants,” she said. “The east part is planned to be recreational fields as well as some gardens for relaxation and consumption.”

“Huh.” Karin wrapped a fist around some of her hair and leaned forward. “That seems alright, then.” She sniffed.

“Yuusaku will be supervising the jutsu usage of his team and supporting an Academy class in clearing the riverbed.” Her student seemed pleased to know his role, smiling slightly. “Gaara and I will help around, and then work on filling flowerbeds with the plants we have so far.”

Sakurai was hard to read, but at the least he didn't protest about the staff she had chosen for the project. The odd group got through lunch alright. Afterward Aiko snagged a finger through Karin's collar and tugged her along to meet Tazuna. He and his men were already packed up and ready to go. The village head was clearly waiting. He impatiently walked to meet her, face verging on thunder and precious architectural plans held in the hand that wasn't a fist. Aiko smiled at him and waved to some of the men milling behind. One of them ducked his head away, but a couple of them nodded. Three of them appeared to be sleeping on their luggage.

'It is definitely time for them to go home for a break. It is probably a week or two past the time they should have gone home. I need to make sure they're adequately compensated. I can't afford them to have a negative preconception when we are remaking our image.'

The brusque old man opened the plans and started talking as soon as Karin was within earshot. “I'm not repeating any of this. The namby-pamby arches are going to be death from above if you forget about the support here, so don't. It needs to go in at this angle. Benches are less dangerous, worst you'll get is a sore ass if someone screws up.” His grouchiness levels went down slightly at that point.

Karin gave Aiko an incredulous look. She smiled placidly back.

Tazuna drew his posture up aggressively, earning Karin's attention back. “But don't screw up anyway. Look at this here- don't skip it, I know it looks ornamental and it's a pain in the ass but it'll keep the damn thing around til the wood rots.” He cleared his throat and put his free hand on his hip. “You got all that?”

“I do,” Karin replied primly. She took the plans in a quick movement that Tazuna clearly didn't register until she was holding them behind her back. “I'll follow the instructions precisely. Is that all?”

Tazuna blinked at his empty hand. Then then veteran construction worker seemed to really look at Karin for the first time, with her sharp eyes, confident posture, and neatly tailored jacket. He sighed. “I liked those Konoha ninja I had around for a while, but I gotta say they make 'em a bit smarter in Kirigakure, don't they?” Aiko covered a snort as Tazuna shook his head. “You're a young lady like Hikari-chan, aren't you?”

'Ah, right. She has no idea that he thinks that's my name.'

Karin followed his nod to Aiko with a carefully neutral expression and no comment.

“She is,” Aiko said. She looked at her clever little cousin and felt proud. She swayed just that little bit closer to give Karin a companionable bump with her hip. “She's spying on us for a foreign country, but I like her just the same. I was sneaky when I was a teenager, too. It's a good phase.”

“What.” Karin's lips didn't entirely close. She took just one step back, turning so that her body was facing Aiko. She looked remarkably like she had been hit in the face with a squid. One hand slowly crept up toward her chest and stopped, unsure of what she should be doing. Panic? Become defensive? Deny it? Run away?

Sanbi started laughing. “Your youngling-” he cut himself off with a chuckle. “Her face. Ah, I think she understands my suffering.”

'It's good for a girl to be knocked off her high horse every once in a while,' Aiko thought unrepentantly. 'Tsunade did that kind of thing to me, and look at how I turned out.'

“Moral and considerate?”

'Nah. Sturdy.'

“Could do worse,” Tazuna agreed mildly. “She does remind me of you at that age.”

Aww. He was so dadly. Aiko tried not to let her expression soften as much as it wanted to. He had actually met her when she was not much younger than Karin. Not this specific Tazuna but hey, details. Aiko warmed at the implied compliment anyway.

“Yes, I hope she also ends up deposing someone to rule her own country when she grows up.” Aiko put a hand to her cheek and smiled warmly at her cousin.

She gave a quick check over, trying to read the younger girl's thoughts from her face and body. Karin's heels were thoroughly on the ground, her body language tense, her chest facing Aiko dead-on. A little defensive, but… Karin had correctly read the air and skipped right over the fear reaction for confusion, which meant anger was coming any time now. “We Uzumaki are born to be queens.”

Tazuna snorted. “Are we ready to go, your highness?” He made some fluttery motion that was probably not respectful enough for her station and dignity.

“Hold up.” Karin made a sharp hand motion and scowled. “Wait, what? You know that I'm a spy.” Karin crossed her arms and widened her legs. She was smart enough not to try denying it. She was brazen enough that the statement came out as an accusation. “What are you thinking?”

Tazuna sighed and turned around to rejoin his workers.

“Of course I know,” Aiko said mildly. She tilted her head down at her cousin, because come on. It had been very silly for Karin to think otherwise. “But I'm not worried. You don't know anything that could damage me, you haven't yet been contacted, and I'm going to have to kill Orochimaru-san anyway.”

Fury sparked in those red eyes. “Like you could,” Karin spat. She leaned into Aiko's personal space. “Orochimaru-sama is incredibly powerful.”

“He is,” Aiko agreed. “He's certainly one of the best shinobi in the world, and a genius. I would not feel eager to face him alone.” It wasn't difficult to keep her tone and body language neutral, because Karin just did not intimidate her at all. “But I'm strong as well, and I am working with two other nations to get back something that he stole.  This is the way the shinobi world works- your personal strength is not always enough. A shinobi who lives without powerful allies is always at risk.” She put her hair back up with the ponytail on her wrist. It was time to get back to work.

“Hm.” Karin just watched Aiko adjust her hair, angry but silent. The vertical lines pressed between her eyebrows were proof enough that she was thinking over every possible angle. “You're very certain.”

Aiko nodded at the point, because of course she couldn't absolutely know. “We will probably kill him,” she amended. “If Orochimaru-san kills me, of course you would be wise to return to Oto. But if Orochimaru-san dies, I hope that you will consider staying with me. Family is important.” She smiled.

Karin was silent and impassive.

'Look at that. Two minutes after having her cover blown by a foreign kage, and she isn't panicking or putting herself at risk.' Aiko tried not to be too visibly proud. 'I told you that she was a clever girl. She has all the self-preservation instincts that skipped over the rest of our family. She'll outlive us all.'

“I did not contest her wit,” Sanbi said. He was clearly having a good time. She got the sense that he was leaning forward to catch every word that was said. “Now say something disinterested and walk away. That will be satisfying.”

'You're my best friend. Of course I'll be dramatic.'

Her voice came out serene. Aiko was hyper-aware of how having her hair up made her neck look long and dignified, her chin tilted at just the right angle to look at Karin through her lashes. “In any case, your outside loyalties are why you cannot be promoted or given much responsibility at this time. When and if you reconsider, you may be elevated. You may follow Yuusaku now.”

She nodded to the figure waiting not too far off, because keeping an eye on Karin was part of his job. Then she made eye contact with Tazuna and held up a hand to indicate she was ready to go.

Her sweet baby cousin stiffened at the dismissal. Karin looked like an offended Pomeranian, with her round eyes and wrinkled nose. If she'd had fur, it would be standing straight up. “Ugh.” Karin gave her a look somewhere between confusion and disgust.

Aiko gave a little wave and sauntered away.

“Ah, satisfying. That was an interesting approach,” Sanbi said. “Why do you not employ secrecy?” He sounded curious, not judgmental.

'Karin is direct, and it's important for her to respect the people she works for. She would never respect me if she thought that she was more clever than I am,' Aiko responded absently. She gave a little stretch before holding an arm out to Tazuna. 'If I let her view me as a mark, she won't want to stay here. I'm letting her know that she has actual options. If I just killed Orochimaru, she might stay here, but she would have the baggage of trying to conceal her original reasons for coming and fear of repercussions. I'm removing that consideration.'

“Seems like a sweet kid,” Tazuna said absently. He hefted his knapsack and kept his left hand on the straps. His right reached out to shake her hand, which had not been the plan but whatever.

“That's true,” Aiko agreed instantly. She grabbed the closest construction worker by the shoulder and took them to Tazuna's house. “I love her.” She let go of those two, flickered back to Kirigakure, and motioned over two more men.

But it was understandable that other people might not realize how sweet Karin was off-hand…. Aiko took a moment to ruminate on how ridiculous the first group of young shinobi Tazuna met had been. She dropped two construction workers at Tazuna's house. She went back to Kirigakure and motioned over two more people. Team 7 had set a false standard for young shinobi eccentricity. She thought it over while she efficiently transported the entire crew back home.

It was better not to correct those misconceptions, she decided.

She stood around and smiled and said the right things when Tazuna gave a little post-trip speech to his workers and their gathered families. He was supposed to wait to announce it, but he launched right from talking about how much money they had made to how Hikari and her little friends were going to revitalize their village by building things. For a group of about 30 people, they made an impressive ruckus when Tazuna started talking about how a girl from their village was the Mizukage. Wives, children, and random assorted relatives gave Tazuna delightfully baffled expressions at that. Tazuna and his men looked at her cheerfully.

There was a visible ripple of confusion from the villagers who had not spent two months in Kirigakure. They looked Aiko. She looked at them. She clasped her hands in front of her hips and gave a pleasant little nod in response to all the scrutiny.

Aiko smiled, but she felt tension run through her body. She didn't want to use genjutsu on any noncombatants if she could help it. She was not good at that. Sai still had a heaache. She looked over the crowd faces, cataloging their thoughts and reactions. Would anyone refute it?

“Wow,” someone said. And then the crowd erupted into excited conversation. A middle-aged woman gave Aiko an interested look and leaned to ask her husband something. He shrugged in response, showing his palms and a cheerful flash of teeth. Similar interactions were happening all around.

She tried not to laugh. 'It almost looks like none of them remember me,' she told Sanbi. 'How odd.'

“They take him at his word,” Sanbi noted. “This is unreasonable.”

'It makes some sense,' Aiko disagreed. 'Most people don't like to publicly tell their leader that he's wrong. And it's in their best interest to believe it- it's flattering for them. They'll probably spend the next couple of days deciding that they remember me just a little bit, especially as the people I put under genjutsu months ago chime in with unremarkable stories about my mother coming into town occasionally.'

The day dragged on. She returned to Kirigakure and hollowed out a lake. She and Gaara moved the leftover soil to the planting beds that Yuusaku had managed to direct into being so far. He gave her a tortured look over the heads of shrieking, muddy Academy children who were nominally helping. Keisuke was bent over picking a splinter out of someone's thumb while an Academy teacher directed the more obedient children in laying boards.

Aiko nodded at Yuusaku and gave a stretch. She swiveled her head over to check that Karin hadn't killed any genin yet. Everyone looked quite alive. Good, good.

She brushed her hands off and took Gaara to pick up the plants she had prepaid for. The salesman gave her a look of polite confusion that became stronger every time she carried potted plants behind the building, set them in Kirigakure, and hiraishin'd back for another peach tree. He gave his watch increasingly concerned looks and left at one point to splash water on his face.

“Will he ask?” Gaara said in an undertone.

Aiko shrugged. She bent down to deposit a particularly large plum tree with the small forest they were settling a few hundred feet from where Karin barked orders. “If you thought some two strangers were buying your whole stock and putting it in your alley, would you want to say something?”

“Yes.”

“Huh.” She cast him a curious look. “We are different people. I would just let that go. Sounds like none of my business.” They twined arms, crossed continent, and then dropped their contact to briskly walk into the greenhouse again.

The elderly man behind the till gave them a distressed look and pretended to be reading a newspaper. Aiko put a plum tree on one hip and a rosebush on the other, held the door open with her foot, and walked out the door and just around the corner. Gaara was carrying four plants with no sign of strain or wobbling, which was unbelievable until she looked close enough to see that they were actually hovering in place. A pot of lavender bumped cheerfully against his heel where it couldn't be seen from behind the counter. She suppressed a smile as she led them into the alley. As soon as they were out of easy sight Gaara obligingly touched his elbow to hers and then they were in Kiri. They set down plants. They returned. The old man took a step back from the window and started talking under his breath.

“Aiko-sama.” Gaara sounded thoughtful. She glanced down at him. “I will arrange the transport for the second shipment of seedlings.”

She shrugged. “Whatever you like. One less errand for me.”

“You will transport me,” Gaara disagreed. “And attempt to have a pleasant conversation with the floral staff while Yuusaku-san and I put plants into a wagon. Then the wagon will be pushed out of town. At that time, I will ask you to use your transportation technique.”

Aiko sighed and wiped some dirt off her shirt. “Your way sounds fine too.”

“Mizukage-sama.” Mei casually surveyed the work happening around, eyes lingering on the line of genin doing their best to fill the new lake. It was going slowly, but, uh, they were genin.

“Mei,” Aiko greeted. She kicked a pot over a few centimeters. “It's lovely to see you. Did you have a report from Ao-san?”

“Yes.” Mei's nose wrinkled. “We will have a visitor from Konohagakure in two days.”

She eyed her subordinate. “Is it Jiraiya?”

Mei's jaw was tight. “It is.”

Aiko sighed, and it was like all her energy left in that breath. Great. Jiraiya. He was such a great houseguest. “I'll greet him personally. Anything else?”

“Sunagakure has sent word ahead that we may expect them at the outer border tomorrow.” Mei cast a lazy stare on Gaara. “We will host a three-man team.”

“Ugh.” Aiko scrubbed at her face. “We'll have to work to keep Jiraiya ignorant, he's such a goddamn snoop. I'll babysit him. In that case, I need to run an errand out tonight. I don't want to leave Kirigakure while he's here unless I can help it.” She yawned, feeling a wave of exhaustion pressing down while the sunlight faded. “Thank you for the information. Oh- Raidou. Have him in my office at 9pm. I'll have a talk with him.”

“As you wish.” Mei nodded and turned away. “Mizukage-sama.”

Aiko watched her go and admired the way all that red hair moved in the wind. “Gaara.”

Her apprentice stopped and gave her an expectant look. The line of potted plants hovering en-route up the hill stopped and bobbed in place.

She reached out and ruffled his hair. “I'm never going to be as impressive-looking as Mei is, am I? She looks so cool. All the time.”

Gaara sighed.