just who are you swinging that blade for?

[anomia]

It turned out to be not too difficult to find Uzumaki, fortunately.

Raimei only mistook someone in orange for him twice before stumbling on the right one. (Who thought that many people in a ninja village would wear such a loud color? Sheesh! Her directions were clear!) Randomly skulking throughout Konoha and questioning anyone in orange she came across was maybe not a great search method, but it did work eventually.

She knew that because when she dropped down from the roof in front of him, pointed dramatically, and said, "Aha, it's you! You're Uzumaki, right?!" he verified it for her.

At least she kept Kurogamon, the long traditional katana she carried with her, sheathed in her off hand.

Comments

[thinhammer]

Naruto was just minding his own business, wandering his village at a leisurely pace on his first day off in weeks. Typically he hated days off and the boredom they brought, but today he was enjoying spending his time obtaining a few groceries, hiking up onto his tiptoes to peer into the small steam openings of the bath houses, dodging street vendors who often shooed him away for stealing the odd bite of bread or of something sweet... So when he was literally assaulted with the surprise appearance of a girl demanding his identity, it was safe to say he was a little shocked.

He looked gormless for a minute, then hitched his shopping higher into his arms and squinted at her.

"Yeeahh...?" Despite being a ninja, Naruto had never really managed to get his head around the whole shrouded identity thing. "Why? Who's askin'?"

[anomia]

Raimei was hardly any better about hiding her identity. Although she wasn't in the strictest sense a ninja, her failure had nothing to do with that-- she was just terrible at subtlety.

"Shimizu Raimei!" she declared proudly, letting her finger lower. "You're Konoha's jinchuuriki, so, as part of the Shimizu clan, I'm here to supervise you!"

Who the Shimizu clan was was probably a good question, given that only Raimei and her brother were left alive after the tragedy five years ago. Historically, they've been incredibly significant... but to anyone who hasn't studied political history or specific history of jinchuuriki before this decade, it's not likely to sound familiar.

Of course, this is a real motive for Raimei. It's just not her only, or even primary, motive.

[thinhammer]

His squint intensified to the point where his eyes barely looked open, leaving him entirely unimpressed at her explanation. Supervise? Oh no. No way. That sounded way too close to babysitting as far as Naruto was concerned.

"Eh?? You're not supervisin' me, I don't need supervisin', I'm gettin' along just fine without anyone supervisin' me, least of all some girl I've never even met before." He sniffs indignantly, and turns his back on her to walk down the street.

And then he turns back to her. "Who sent ya, eh? Was it Granny Tsunade? I know she's got it in for me, ya know, ever since I saved her life it's like she's gotta give me a hard time!"

[anomia]

Raimei is not surprised by this response, and not deterred either. She instantly trots after him, pigtails flying behind her.

"No one sent me," she insists. "I'm part of the Shi-mi-zu clan. You would have met one of us before, but since it's just me now, it's taken me a while!" Raimei says this stridently, absolutely closed to any implication that she needs sympathy for what she's just inferred.

"Plus..." She frowns. "I didn't know who you were. But it's my duty to be here, and I'm not giving that up!" Ordinarily, her mother would have told her once she came of age. Raimei steadfastly ignores any harsh pangs that reminder causes. She's here for a reason, and if she stays here, she's both fulfilling the obligation passed onto her by her mother and is sure to run into the man responsible for her death eventually.

He has to come after the jinchuuriki eventually. He has to. And this is the most visible one.

[thinhammer]

He glared her determination down as if she would fold eventually, but some familiar burn in her eyes told him that if he continued to think like that he'd be standing there for a very long time. Nevertheless he hiked his hands onto his hips and firmed his expression.

"I don't remember no Shizumuzu or whatever," Good attempt, Naruto, but entirely wrong. He didn't seem to notice. "Maybe you got the wrong person." Again, wrong. She'd already told him she was here for Konoha's jinchuuriki, and incase they were hosting another fox demon under the floorboards of the academy, it was pretty clear that she meant him.

"What's it your duty for? It's not like anyone's helped me any up until now, I've got by fine on my own."

[anomia]

Her eyes narrow, miffed, at his mutilation of her clan name.

"There's no way you're the wrong person! You answered to your name-- I checked!" Raimei puts her hands on her own hips right back, and leans in for good measure, hair sliding forward off her shoulders as she stares at him demandingly from close up. "It's my duty because you shouldn't have been unprotected until now, and I have to make up for it. You've probably already had people try to coerce you into doing things for them, right? Because you're so powerful?"

Raimei straightens up. "Our clan is dedicated to preventing that. It's not something people are supposed to use for themselves, you know? If you won't accept me, I'll just hang around anyway!"