The Past Meets The Future

The sun shown brightly on this wonderful day in Ryūseigakure, the gears were whirring and the people flew by on various machines. Makaze turned away from the window he was staring out and sat at his desk. He was meeting with the Eikage today and was quite exited. He hadn't seen her ever since their meeting a year ago. He had been so busy with his work that he hadn't even been able to check the news on their town. He secretly hoped to see Akākato as well since they had had so much fun last time. Makaze though they kinda connected. He sighed as he sat in his chair, awaiting her arrival.

Warm air greeted the young Eikage and her bodyguards as their ship docked in the warm waters. Ahead of them lie the magnificent city of Ryūseigakure, alight with the sites and sounds of various machinery. Her Eikage hat strapped to her right shoulder, Akā grinned. It had been a month since Kemuri had selected her as the successor and the council with the Daimyō approved her decision. Her grin grew wider as she remembered the amount of arguing that ensued as the council talked of her reckless and spontaneous attitude when it came to handling various situations. "Let's go," Akā said as she and her bodyguards approached the gate of the village before being let through by the people escorting them to the Ryūseikage's office.

She paused once they had reached the building itself, staring at its size before walking in. From there it was a short hallway and then the Kage's office beckoned. Smiling once more while her guards followed behind in an exasperated manner, Akā burst through the door, not caring about the entrance she made. "Hey Makaze-kun," she stated as her guards caught up.

Makaze actually fell out of his chair in surprise. As he regained his footing he saw the beautiful red hair woman he had had so much fun with standing before him dressed in the robes of the Eikage. After a few more moments he vaulted over his desk and embraced her in a hug. "Akākato your the Eikage, congratulations! How are you?" He spoke as he let go of her and motioned for both their guards to leave and give them privacy. He then sat in his chair and pulled up a chair for her on the other side of the desk.

Akā's grin grew as she hugged Makaze back. She had missed him after that enjoyable night. He seemed to be all in order. "Thank you! I'm doing well, being the Eikage is pretty awesome," Dismissing her guards, she sat down in the chair Makaze provided. "So what have you been up to brain fart?" Akā asked, using her nickname for Makaze. With ease, they fell back into old patterns, their titles as leaders of their respective villages melting away. It would be interesting to hear what he had been up to, and whether his council harried him as much as hers did.

Makaze laughed at her antics. "Still using that name I see." He replied in a mildly amused tone. "Well for your information this brain fart has been conducting teleportation experiments. I'm about to finally have teleportation for anyone who needs it. No longer for only strong willed or those who can handle the space fluctuations, but for all." He triumphantly replied. "I also have been taking cooking lessons from my bro and we currently have some guests over." He finished before awaiting any questions she had about his life.

"Nice, apparently your brain doesn't fart all of the time," Aka teased before growing serious. "So you managed to crack the formula on teleportation....interesting," At that point she thought of a question. "Wait, your brothers are here? Do you mind if we meet them? I'm a bit curious as to how they are, considering you labeled them as two levels of crazy the last time we talked about them," Aka said, thinking about how they would greet her appearance. "Before we go though, what's shall we discuss? In the name of business/alliances anyways," Aka pondered offhandedly, "to think that you would be working on cooking lessons though...are you trying to sweep someone of their feet with some rad chef skills?" At this Aka smiled once more before settling into her chair.

Makaze laughed again. "Of course you can meet them. Since the only thing that we could remotely discuss is the teleportation but I need to finish that first." He spoke with a sigh as he quickly scribbled something in his notepad. He then began rummaging in his desk until he pulled out a tray of wrapped cookies. He unwrapped one and tossed it to her. "You be the judge of it's feet sweeping level." He spoke with a smile before placing his hand on her shoulder and warping the both of them to his home.

They appeared in a small room that seemed to be an entryway. It's walls were a calming cedar and the floors were lush purple carpeting. As he led her through the house their were glimpses of various rooms and things. As they finally reached a large arch Makaze pulled her through into a large kitchen. There was just about every appliance you could imagine sitting across the counters. A tall man with brown hair and blue eyeswas slicing various vegetables with his scythe. He was dressed in a black cloak and an apron that said "Worship the Cook" in a bloody scrawl. A ways away there was a large roundtable, seated in one chair was another tall man. This man was dressed in a very fine yellow suit, and wore a top hat and an eyepatch over his right eye. His hair was yellow and his one showing eye was black. He was using a tennis racket the hit a puppy over a miniature volleyball net placed on the table. At the other end a floating tennis racket returned his serves. Makaze sighed before speaking up. "Hey guys this is Akākato." He nudged her with his elbow. "Go on talk to them, one of them won't bite."

Aka bit into the cookie before being transported, sweetness and a sugary texture burst into her mouth. It was quite good, possibly one of the best cookies that she ever had. Before she knew it, they within a house, most likely Makaze's. She was about to make a comment teasing Makaze's carnal desires when he led her into the kitchen. It was the guy in the apron that caught her attention first, not for his size, but rather the kitchenware he was using, namely a scythe. "Who knew that scythes were good for cutting vegetables..." Aka thought wryly. The bloody scrawl didn't help matters. Despite the deliciousness of the food she had just ate, the method in which the cook was cutting the food made her a little queasy. She then turned her attention to the man hitting the puppy back and forth. Whether it was the puppy or his appearance, something about the second man seemed......off. Aka decided she would try her luck with the guy busy cooking, finding him less harmless, for the moment at least. "Hey," she said as she approached the scythe bearing cook, "the name's Akākato Uzumaki, though you can just call me Aka for short. Do you mind if I ask what you are cooking?" Pulling up a chair, she watched him continue to chop vegetables with frightening accuracy, though it could be the scythe that added the more frightening portion.

The man turned to her. "Ahh yes Akākato. No need for introductions, I probably know more about you than you do. Well I do about everyone I suppose." He laughed to himself before realizing how creepy he has just been. "Sorry to come off so creepy like that. My names Kaminoshi. I'm one of Makaze's quote on quote brothers and the god of death. I'm also the best cook to ever exist." He continued to toss vegetables before finally sling them all almost invisible pieces. He then motioned towards the oven with his hand and three loaves of bread came flying out. He quickly sliced them apart and embedded the vegetable savings within. "This is called Healthy garlic bread. It tastes like garlic bread but is actually more vegetable than bread. It is essentially like eating one of every vegetable per piece." He spoke while smiling. He then tosses the bread onto the table but saved one piece and handed it to her. "Try it."

"It's fine," Aka said while thinking internally, "A death god that cooks...now I've seen everything," A thought popped in her head, "Wait, I remember Kemuri mentioning about meeting you in the past, back when she went on her journey of sorts." When Kami handed a piece of the food he had just described, she hesitated slightly, before biting into the bread. As expected, it was delicious, the garlic bread's flavor coating her mouth. "Where did you learn to become such a good cook, Sir Death?" Aka said between mouthfuls, satisfied that she had come up with a nickname for the man standing across from her with his scythe. Now that she thought about it, hopefully he had a good sense of humor, otherwise that nickname could literally be the "death" of her. "So who's the creepy guy over there playing pingpong with the puppy?" Aka asked Kami as he continued to buzz around the kitchen.

Kaminoshi laughed at her little nickname. "Funny but please refer to me as Kami or Kaminsohi." He smiled before continuing to answer her machine-gun of questions. " Ahh Kemuri yes, I witnessed her daughters well....creation I suppose you could say. Those idiots sure know how to ruin a good book." As he grumbled he realized he had gone off topic. "Sorry about that, anyway I have been cooking since time began. Anything you've ever eaten is because of me. I am glad you like the bread though I just thought it up actually." He then sighed before answering her final question."That man at the table is name Genei. Makaze brought him here from another reality or something by accident and we kinda adopted him." Just them Genei jumped from the table while gracefully decapitating the puppy in midair. He landed on the other side of kitchen and flung open the the pantry. He then proceeded to fill it with as many boxes of lucky charms as it could hold. The boxes seemed to appear out of nowhere. He walked up to Akākato. "You rang the doorbell above my name? What is it that you require Daft Punk?" He spoke in a very upbeat and malicious voice.

Aka was speechless at Kami's revelation. "Wait...you were in the room while it happened? Kemuri never mentioned that detail..Oh my gosh. Were you spying on them? Like isn't that an invasion of privacy?" She stared as Genei decapitated the puppy, then filled the pantry with Lucky Charms, noting just how creepy that dude was. His offputting attitude came into effect as soon as he opened his mouth. It ticked Akākato off tremendously, and here she had spent so much practice on controlling her temper. "Do you have a problem?" Aka asked, standing up before staring up at Genei, having caught the malicious intentions in his voice. Her body began to glow dangerously as her temper started to flare up. While she had no problems with Kami, Aka had the feeling that her and Genei might not get along so well. Her eyes became a fiery gold as her caught fire as her body became flame incarnate. "So much for a quiet meet and greet," she thought exasperated.

"Cute but I feel your color is less red and more......hmmmm probably red I think. No No Maybe blue or pink. Hmmm Well regardless of this eternal paradoxical entanglement I dislike that fire." He spoke in scattered words as with a wave of his hand the flames around Akākato disappeared along with all control of her chakra. "Well Well Well." Gene mused looked at the powerless Akākato. "I think I win this game of chutes and ladders." He spoke as he floated back to his chair.

Aka was incredulous as her flames disappeared in their entirety, as well as her chakra control. When she tried to return them, they remained nonexistent. At that point in her anger materialized, as she ran towards Gene, aiming a powerful uppercut towards Gene's chin. "You masochistic bastard," Aka snarled, profanity slipping out of her tongue as the nature of what Gene had done dawned on her, serving to only infuriate her further. It was then that the flames reappeared once more, though they weren't chakra based in their nature instead being composed of her fiery will. They disappeared once more however as Aka focused all of her energy and willpower on making that uppercut materialize.

It was only then that Kaminoshi stepped between the both of them Stopping Akākato's hand with one hand and grabbing Genei by his skull with the other. "I'm terribly sorry Aka, normally we keep Genei in a cage when guests come over. However someone." He glared at Makaze."Forgot to tell us we were having guests."He spoke in a polite tone. He then repeatedly slammed Genei into the ground by his skull. After around 50 slams he looked into his eyes menacingly. "Undo it now or I'm using THAT again." He yelled at Genei. Gene immediately understood and waved his hands once again. Akākato would feel all of her power returning to her. Kaminoshi then snapped his fingers, making Genei disappear. "I'm terribly sorry about this Aka." He spoke as he walked to the table and sat.

Makaze walked back into the room holding some technological equipment to see the damage caused in his kitchen. "KAMINOSHI WHAT THE FUCK?" He yelled at him only to get a one word answer. "Genei." Makaze stopped for a second and then ran over to Akākato, dropping everything he was holding. "Aka are you okay? Oh god I'm so sorry normally he'll just gorge himself on overpriced cereal and tacos." He asked in a very concerned tone. "Dammit Makaze you fucked up again. Fuck everything." He spoke to himself but it was loud enough to hear.

Seeing Makaze's concern Aka chose to reply. "I'm fine now, you never told me you had such a....unique brother though," Aka said wearily. Now that her abilities had been restored and Genei banished to what ever place he was held at this time, Aka's anger ebbed, causing her fiery state to dissipate, returning her to her normal appearance. She sighed in an exasperated manner, before finding a chair and sitting down. Had she known one of his adoptive siblings would be so troublesome, she would have found a way to contact her guards. Despite her abilities returning, she felt emotionally and physically defeated. The fact that such a person could easily eliminate her chakra wielding abilities, leaving her to rely on her background in taijutsu was of deep concern to her. However, Aka remembered that weird moment when her flames came back, yet they felt different from the ones she usually conjured up. The ones that appeared felt like an extension of herself, rather a manifestation of her will.

However, that would have to wait, as she could see how emotionally distraught Makaze was over his idiotic mistake, though she wouldn't let him know that. The leader in Aka that Kemuri had sensed when she selected the fiery redhead as her successor took over. "Makaze, look at me. I'm fine, my chakra system is intact, and your adoptive brother is back in a place where he won't disturb the peace," she paused, "granted, what you did was a very stupid mistake, but everyone has their senior moments, brain fart," Aka decided to use her nickname for him, in attempt to bring some comedic relief to a tense situation. "Let's eat something," Aka suggested before looking at the time, "Sir Death, do you have recipes that would be appropriate for a late lunch or early dinner, a linner if you will?" Aka asked, using her nickname for Kami despite his protests earlier.

Kaminoshi glared at her before slowly turning it into a smile. "Well you seem quite set on that. I guess as a favor to Kemuri I'll let you call me that." Kaminoshi laughed. "Also for your information they decided to do that while I was already in the room. It's not my fault if a ninja can't sense someone reading in a room." He laughed as he stood and walked over to the stove. "I'm making steak with hell salt, you want it you eat it." He spoke casually as he began pulling cookware from seemingly nowhere.

As Kaminoshi worked Makaze finally stopped freaking out and began speaking again. "Aka you don't understand. Genei wasn't even serious, he was joking. If you made him angry, he could've erased you from existence. Only me and Kami have seen him angry and that look on Kami's face tells me, he was about to get angry." Makaze looked up at her with a very scared expression. "I need a moment." He then proceeded to get up and leave the room, disappearing into the house. Kaminoshi just sighed from his place at the stove.

"Well, Kami when people are deep in passion, they aren't exactly looking to see if someone else is in the room reading," Aka said while smiling. She turned serious afterwards however, particularly when Makaze went on a rant that sobered her immediately. The more that she thought about it, the more what he said made sense, a scary kind of sense. The fact that it was so simple for him to take away her chakra wielding abilities made it seem not that far a step from erasing her entirely. It was something that disturbed her deeply, very much so, as she sat at the kitchen counter once more. To be honest, she doubted that even if her guards had been here, that they would have made much of a difference, unless Hyon had created a barrier while Taira brought them all of the situation. Even then, Aka had her reservations about whether it would be fast enough.

Still, she chided herself for her naivety, and for leaving her guards back at the offices. Knowing them, they would have figured out by now that she wasn't in that room anymore, and would probably take to the streets in order to find her. All of which led to a gloomy atmosphere made all the more depressing by Makaze's nervous breakdown. She sighed, while asking Kami a question, "Kami, what is hell salt? I.e. what makes it different from normal salt?" Aka fidgeted with her finger nails while she waited for an answer.

"Yeah well they still should've noticed me. Actually they did but it was all cool, I made pancakes and we chatted. I still occasionally keep in touch with them too, I think I got brumch with Kemuri around a month ago." He spoke calmly as he grilled steak with various flames. "About you other question, hell salt is just like sea salt but from hell." He spoke calmly as he continued to work.

Aka looked forlornly at the hallway that Makaze disappeared into. "Do you know how long he's going to be like that?" she asked, staring at the multicolored flames that Kami was using. "To think that such a person can manipulate reality with such ease. It rivals one of the clans we had in my old village. Difference is, while they rarely had people who possessed the ability, much less controlled it, Genei is able to do so with relative ease. How do you negotiate with such a entity?" Aka pondered aloud.