[Graded] The Salaryman Special

[Drak]

“This arrived for you, Hyuuga-sensei,” his assistant placed the unassuming paper on his desk.

“Thank you,” Akito replied, not looking up from the jutsu scroll he was scrutinizing. When he finally felt he understood the theoretical properties of the hand seals behind this particular ash jutsu, he marked his place and grabbed the paper.

The note was simple: Drunkeo’s Left Dumpling. Tonight. Midnight.

It was unsigned, but bore the official seal of the Hokage.

“Kagura! Who left this for me?” he asked, raising his voice to just below a shout.

The young woman with her dark spectacles peeked back in.

“I didn’t see them. Why? Is it something weird?”

Akito held up the note to show her the seal. Even beneath her tinted glasses her surprise was clear.

“Left in secret you say?”

“Maybe secret. Maybe just while I was out.”

Akito sighed and rubbed his temples.

“I suppose I have little choice but to find out what this is about.”

---

That night, Akito made his way into the dingy izakaya. It was on the furthest outskirts of the village, and the jounin wore his mission clothes – black pants and a turtleneck – complete with flak jacket. If nothing else, it would demonstrate that he was no easy target. He pushed aside the curtain and was immediately hit by the smell of charcoal smoke and stale liquor. The atmosphere was quiet and tense, as if this quiet refuge at the bottom of a bottle had been interrupted by an interloper.

Then, Akito saw a wave from the corner. There at a table was the Hokage. Akito strode over.

“Taiga-sama,” he said, bowing low. “What is this about?”

[Hayate]

Taiga was perched at the bar seeking salvation for his parched and particularly thirsty gullet. Only the finest of spirits could improve his spirit after a day of essentially stamping papers for 9 hours straight... and, when one was in search of fine spirits there was in fact no finer establishment in Konoha than... his eyes darted to the menu to... Drunkeo's Left Dumpling. Ah yes. The epitome of quality and fine dining. Legend had it the glasses were finely aged- seasoned like a cast iron pan that hard carefully and intentionally never been washed.

There had been one paper in particular that morning that had willed him to not only make a plan to be here, but to share that plan by phasing into a building and put a letter on some ladies desk.

The paper was a shinobi file for one Hyuuga Akito- someone Taiga was all too familiar with. He was part of the inner circle, and in the past five years since Fanho's disappearance a trusted confidant for solving the utmost mysteries. As Taiga had reviewed his file, it was clear to him his pay grade wasn't right and it was due time for a promotion for the Professor.

When Akito arrived, and bowed, Taiga would simply wave his hand diminutively.

"No need for such formalities." he'd say, waving to the bar keep to fetch Akito some drink.

"First, you drink."

[Drak]

An aborted bit of speech came out of Akito as the Hokage told him to dispense with formalities.

"Very well, si-" Akito stopped himself from injecting a "sir" as he took a seat on the cushion opposite Taiga. "Very well."

A waiter arrived and placed a small bottle and a single, tiny cup in front of Akito.

"Excuse me," the Hyuuga said, turning around as the man hurried away. "Might I trouble you for-"

A sneeze of such vehemence and volume that it seemed to shake the walls interrupted him. While he didn't quite jump, his eyes darted to the source of the noise. A chef, manning the charcoal grill in the bar had sneezed directly onto the dozens of skewers comprising just about every part of the chicken that exists. Akito watched, perturbed, as the chef proceeded to wipe his nose on his hand and immediately start to flip the yakitori.

"Never mind," he said with a grimace, turning back to Taiga.

Why are we here? Not just why did the Hokage summon me secretly, but why are we here? In this... shithole.

Akito's white eyes darted to the drink. From the characters on the bottle, it appeared to be shochu. He uncorked the bottle and poured himself some. The moment the smell hit his nose, it was clear that this was no ordinary shochu. He had heard about a variant of the stuff they drank on the Shrimp Continent which was rumored to taste like lantern fuel. The clear spirit he held in his hand certainly smelled like it could burn.

"Kanpai," he announced, locking eyes with the Hokage. Then he sent the drink down the hatch.

The moment he swallowed, his eyes watered and he let out a cough.

"My gods, what is that?" he wheezed. "And what are we doing here?"

[Hayate]

Taiga wasn't going to be the one answering questions. He sipped his shochu then turned his gaze straight to the white eyes of Akito.

"Man those things creep me out..." It always confused him where to look when doing eye contact with Hyuuga. He cleared his throat, then, without pause, repeated his exact line from earlier.

"First, you drink." he pointed to the shochu. Loose lips sank ships, but more importantly he didn't want to talk to a man held back by his inhibitions. He wanted an honest, frank discussion. In the meanwhile, some of the first batch of Yakitori had arrived. Taiga took one off the plate and cleaned the meat off the stick with shinobi precision. After the man would take some more drinks, Taiga would finally speak, but only when that occurred.

He put his hand on his chin.

"Akito, what does the Will of Fire mean to you? In your own words- your own definition."

Bannin wasn't just about who was the strongest. It was about dedication. It was about those who would not only protect the next generation, but educate it. Raise it. It was the most hallowed role in the village and it needed various types, but more importantly it needed people who would ensure a better future than the day prior.

It couldn't just be about ambition or strength or rising up in the ranks. Not for Taiga. His Bannin needed to be built different.

[Drak]

“It is in the deepest of darkness that we fight. In the most dense of forests we thrive. Our Spirit, though troubled, cannot be conquered. Our Heart, though heavy, cannot be broken. Our Mind, though clouded, cannot be deceived. It is by sheer force of Will that we live, and that we die. A Fire burns within, a flame you cannot extinguish. Spirit, Heart, Mind, Fire, via these are we protectors. By these are we saviors. By this we swear, we are the Shinobi of the Leaf,” Akito began, now several drinks in as he idly rolled a yakitori skewer in between his fingers. He had passed the point where the burn of the shochu bothered him. His eyes fell closed for a moment, as if contemplating the words that had accompanied him since his earliest days. With a swift motion, he snapped the skewer in half.

“Shinobi,” the word hung in the air for a moment, awaiting its own context. “To conceal. We ply our trade in darkness and too often become monsters to fight monsters. Show me one accomplished shinobi without one hand dipped in blood.” He paused to lock eyes with the Hokage. Despite the alcoholic slur creeping in around the edges of his words, his skill as a lecturer was on full display.

“The Will of Fire brings us back from that monstrous brink. It binds us to each other, and to the better angels of our nature so that we are not consumed by the darkness in which we work. Spirit, Heart, Mind: those are the ties by which we are bound as a village. The Fire that engenders is what pushes back the darkness. We are saviors not because of the tasks we carry out, but in spite of them. It is the duty of Shinobi of the Leaf to save each other from darkness and barbarism in all things. And it is the accomplishment of such that makes us Shinobi of the Leaf, and not simply Shinobi.”

[Hayate]

Uncharacteristically Taiga was silent as he locked his eyes on the "Professor" and listened to his master class. He thesis was boring, and just when you figured there was nothing to it, a true nothing burger, the hook came. The pull. The interest- dangled like a carrot in front of a horses mouth.

“The Will of Fire brings us back from that monstrous brink. It binds us to each other, and to the better angels of our nature so that we are not consumed by the darkness in which we work. Taiga blinked. This line was like pure poetry- a salve to a dry and cracked soul. His eyes blinked once. He raised his drink to his lips and drank it, still listening with incredulous fervor.

He put his drink down when Akito finished, and merely bowed his head in silence for a brief moment. A fleeting ten-twenty seconds, before putting his hand on Akito's shoulder and lifting his head.

"Coulda paraphrased that to probably one or two sentences..." he said with a joke, chuckling lightly as he applied a gentle squeeze to Akito's shoulder.

"Akito, I'd like to promote you to Bannin." he said as he removed his hand. A rack of chicken skin skewers had just arrived. He was quick to take one and munch on it, continuing on with a half-full mouth.

"Whaddya think, Professor...?"

[Drak]

This had been some time coming, and yet Akito could still feel the tug of powerful emotions at the words. Bannin. The pinnacle of achievement for a shinobi. Frankly, he had thought that this last step would be harder. Instead of a final challenge that marks the transition from one stage to another – of the sort his long-ago chuunin exam was – this felt more like a simple recognition. Albeit a recognition of a long-running transmutation which had turned an outcast Hyuuga half-breed into one of the most respected shinobi in the Leaf.

He took a deep breath in and out, steeling himself as he fought to avoid being consumed by the heady mixture of nervousness, pride, fear, and most of all, alcohol.

“To paraphrase to one or two words: I accept,” he said, his voice managing to hold steady. “I assume there will be formalities which will have to happen, but…” Akito trailed off and took another deep breath. “I am honored.”

From his face, it was clear that there was something else he wanted to say. In fact, there were many things that he wanted to say, but one was quickly bubbling to the top. Akito filled Taiga’s cup, then his own.

“To the Will of Fire,” he nearly shouted. “And to the Leaf.”

When the two had toasted, Akito finally prepared to broach the topic which had been brewing in his head for a some time.

“While I have you here, I have one further thing to ask you about. It is about the Hyuuga clan.”

[Hayate]

Taiga would nod; talks with Akito had always been rather humorous and enjoyable to him. The man was in many ways an intellectual opposite and match to him. Though they likely would have varied levels of elegance in their words with Taiga resembling a pre-schooler more than a professor, the two would likely find their minds getting to the same place. He appreciated that.

"Good paraphrase. Dororesu, my assistant, will take care of any paper work." he said as he clinked his cup against the new Bannins and repeated after him to the will of fire and to the Leaf. A noble goal and a more noble cause.

And then came the favour ask.

"Isn't there always one more thing..." the Hokage chuckled as he stuffed a chicken skewer into his mouth, chewed it barely, and like all salaryman swallowed it down with his shochu with shinobi precision. He gestured with the empty skewer like an orchestral conductor queuing a soloist for Akito to continue.

The Hyuuga had recently become a rather annoying clan to deal with. There insistence on meaningless tradition was a barrier to the village progressing more..

[Drak]

A grin spread across Akito’s face as he let the warmth of the shochu spread through him. His face was more than a little flushed, and the telltale signs of a life of combat were all that saved him from looking like too much of a blushing pretty boy as he prepared to speak seriously again.

“You should know as well as I that the clan head is not long for this world,” he started, setting his cup aside again. “And while her progress in recent days has been… admirable, I have my doubts about Tsuki’s fitness to lead the clan. The Elders see her as a good choice because of her particular mixture of pedigree and ease of control. If that comes to pass, the clan will be stuck as it is for what will almost certainly be the remainder of our natural lifetimes.”

The professor cleared his throat again, his head and shoulders swaying slightly from the drink.

“When the old man dies, there is an alternative. The Elders are not bound by any law or regulation to choose Tsuki. They are not even bound to choose a member of the main branch. If a… suitably strong candidate were to present themselves – perhaps one with the quiet support of the Hokage – it may be possible to drag the clan into the modern era.”

It seemed as if he might continue. To present his plan explicitly. But it did not come. In this case, Akito decided to let the loud part remain silent. Instead, he only capped his suggestion with something that Taiga would have been well familiar with by now: a wink so fast and expressionless that it could have been mistaken for a one-eyed blink.

[Hayate]

Taiga had begun to twirl the empty skewer between his fingers as he listened to Akito speak. After playing with it enough, he'd give a gentle flick, the stick sent vertically into the air. It fell gently back to earth and landed on it's point, straight up on Taiga's finger. He'd balanced it, as he continued to listen, then opened his mouth, the subtle movement causing the stick to loose its balanced and fall back onto his plate and the counter with a clatter.

"Something wrong with your eye? You are my choice for the next head." he said simply, and resolute.

"That of course does mean there are things I will expect you to co-operate with, when it comes to strengthening our village and managing our key talent." he said as he let out a slight yawn. There was no chaotic sense to his words, just cold logic that he expected equal back scratching in the equation.

He lingered on his thinking face before speaking up again.

"I can't have an in-war in your clan, so I also suggest finding a way that Tsuki isn't even part of the choice to be made; heirs rarely ever want the job after all..." he said as he flashed a cold, dead stare for Akito. It was always hard to read a Hyuuga by their eyes. Those damn creepy white things that they were.

"Peacefully, of course."

[Drak]

The reply came so suddenly and bluntly that Akito could do nothing else but laugh, his face reddening just as much from the drink as from the Hokage’s parry of all his subtlety.

“Just like that,” he mused, still grinning. “Of course there will be some reciprocity, although I think you will find my platform amenable. Better relations with the other clans. More integration into village affairs. General-” a hiccup interrupted him. “-openness insofar as I can pull the Elders.”

As the topic turned to Tsuki, Akito’s drunken, jovial expression drained from his face in an instant, replaced with one both stern and thoughtful, mirroring Taiga’s.

“I intend to work with ANBU to track down some of the more prolific Hyuuga missing-nin, among other ways of raising my profile within the clan while minimizing Tsuki’s candidacy as a factor. The details are truly a clan concern,” he explained, “Far beneath the dignity of the Hokage. Suffice to say, you have my word: I will keep it bloodless.”

[Hayate]

"I keep an ear to the ground, you might say. I know far more about what happens in Konoha than I may let on..." the Hokage joked. He could after all go anywhere he wanted- hide in any inconspicuous object. Be in any wall. "I believe there are leverages you will have even when it comes to Tsuki..." he noted as he ate a bit of a skewer than took a swig of his drink to wash down the salty flavor.

He laughed at the sudden and unexpected abortion of the integration comment from a man who otherwise spoke so smoothly. He winked, and added:

"The Byakugan is one of the great gifts of the Shinobi world; and I want more of them in my village. Integration may be the best way." he said jokingly with an eyebrow raise as he looked at the man before him. A subtle nod that the affairs of the Hyuuga- or rather their exclusivity that prevented a better birth rate irked him.


"Then, my support for you, as it was before you even ask, is assuredly unwavering. I suppose that's all" he said as he slapped the new Bannin fo Konohagakure on the back, then stood from his chair. He wiped his mouth with the wet cloth they had been provided, then turned, reaching for his pocket only to be left with an empty expression. He scratched the back of his head.

"Of course, this also comes with a huge pay-grade update.... I uh, forgot my wallet... so you don't mind getting the bill to celebrate your elevated earnings?"

This establishment would let him eat free if he asked, but it didn't sit well with him to use his war hero and kage status to hurt the bottom line of a restaurant owner.

He grinned ear to ear.

"Gochisousamadeshitane!"