__________ POV Narration __________
Mifune hummed slightly as he walked through the streets of the Leaf Village.
He was closely surveyed by anbu that worked directly under the Hokage, but they didn’t restrict him in any way, they were there mostly to ensure that he was not getting lost.
Mifune didn’t need protection from anything within the Leaf, they were in allied territory. The Hokage also had no reason to be wary of him, as the Iron had already proved to be a great ally of the Leaf.
But right now, he was in no real danger of getting lost, he was going exactly towards the apartments that the Dark Brotherhood disciples were resting in.
His aim was specifically to see his granddaughter. This was also a big part of the reason why he took the job of representing the Iron in that meeting.
He had already heard that Yue had been the only one to flunk the exams from the Dark Brotherhood.
It was a rather stark contrast to the other villages. A team had failed from both the Uzumaki and the Leaf, the Cloud also had a team disqualified and the team of Samurai was forced to return and failed halfway through the exam, with their deaths staged for the rest of the examinees.
Clearly, the Dark Brotherhood had sent the highest quality of recruits over. But everyone had essentially sent their young powerhouses to compete as well.
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From Jinchuriki to special bloodline holders, the winner was not going to be that easily determined, despite the overall quality of participants being greater on the Dark Brotherhood’s side.
But to Mifune, it was already clear that the Land of Iron’s participants weren’t going to be winning. Hell, the chances of them getting into the finals were extremely low.
Alas, there wasn’t much they could do. The Land of Iron was built on hard work and discipline. It took him decades of hard work to get to the level that he currently was, he had no shortcuts to take.
Talent played a part in all of it, of course. However the training for Samurai was fundamentally different from shinobi, and it also started later in life.
Only the children of noble families were sometimes trained earlier, but they were sorely lacking in experience.
Yue herself was also trained from a younger age than most, but her real training technically started only after she went away with Ken.
Mifune was extremely proud of her progress in such a short time. He had actually hoped to see her compete as well, as he knew that she was strong.
Alas, her hot-headedness had gotten in the way of the exam. It was to be expected.
What Mifune didn’t expect upon reaching the Dark Brotherhood’s resting area, was to find her having a loud argument with what he assumed were her teammates.
’The only one I recognize at first glance is the One-Legged Devil...’ Mifune already knew some of the children of the Dark Brotherhood, but he didn’t really know all of their names.
He of course knew Tatsukio as he was the most powerful among the recruits, and had even made a name for himself already.
But he had no knowledge of the names of any other of the top 10 or even top 5 within the recruits. It wasn’t like Yue spoke too much about their names with him, so it couldn’t be helped.
"I’m telling you that I’m coming with you all tomorrow!" Yue screeched at the top of her lungs, anger boiling underneath her soft skin.
"No, no you are not Yue... It’s just a written exam, you can’t accompany us to speculate there." Tatsukio shook his head, his arms crossed and his gaze seeming a bit saddened.
"I told you that I am not spectating shit! Grandpa and Master are both in the Leaf right now! They’ll definitely let me compete!"
Yue seemed to be really sure of herself, so deep in her own delusions that she didn’t think to check over her shoulder to see the disappointed gaze of her grandfather.
’I guess she has always been more on the spoiled side... Even when she started wanting to murder people we kinda let her do her own thing and even provided her with a personal tutor...
No matter how much discipline Ken tried to instil in her, she still reached her rebellious phase...’
Mifune silently shook his head, giving a rather disappointed sight internally. He also gave an apologetic glance towards the Anbu that were surveying them.
It was normal for contestants to not like the results of a test, but too much such a scene out of it was simply disgraceful.
’Well, her father was also like that once. No, I hear he was even worse... So I guess the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.’ The Beheading General still found some amusement in the situation as he walked forward.
It wasn’t long before the others noticed him, even Yue turning around and gaining a wide smile on her face.
He shot the others a rather arrogant glance and quickly put on her nicest act.
"Grandpa!" She ran up to the old man and hugged him. Normally Mifune would have been elated at such a thing, but he already knew that Yue was just looking to gain something from him.
"Yue... It seems you were having an argument earlier... What happened?" Mifune was not about to beat around the bush with her, he shot the children of the brotherhood a glance, almost apologizing to them in a way.
He did truly feel responsible for the sense of entitlement that Yue had. It wasn’t like he was jumping about and trying to make sure she wasn’t spoiled rotten by her father.
But in between his own training and his duties as a general and figurehead for all samurai, he didn’t have much time to take a closer parental role.
"Well, we were just arguing because they couldn’t understand that I was going to compete either way! I mean, there’s no way you or Teacher would allow me to be kicked out during the first phase of the exam!" The little princess voiced out her frustrations almost instantly.
Yue, in all of her delight at seeing her grandpa and her delusions that he’d fix everything for her like all adults in her life tended to do, didn’t seem to notice the look of slight disappointment that he shot her.
"..." Mifune sighed deeply as he looked at the children from the brotherhood, all of them seemed to be displeased with Yue’s behaviour.
She always liked to spout the mantra that Ken had taught everyone, but she out of everyone she was the one breaking it the most.
"Yue, look at me." Mifune decided to not beat around the bush with her either. He immediately grabbed her shoulders firmly.
He lowered his gaze and looked down into her slightly confused and expectant eyes.
"You are not participating in the Chunin Exams anymore. You failed, you disappointed both me and your Teacher.
You put your entire squad in danger and were nothing more than a liability during the most important parts of the exam..."
Mifune knew that it was a bit late, but he decided to take the tougher approach.
After all, Yue was likely not willing to listen to others telling her the truth, but she wouldn’t try to gaslight her grandfather that she hadn’t made major mistakes during her exam, right?
"..." Yue seemed to look down for a moment, mulling over some thoughts before turning her head back up, her eyes shining in the moonlight as she gave Mifune a look he never thought he’d see in someone he had held so dear.
"That’s not right! You suck Grandpa! Dad will hear about this, and Teacher will surely help me!" She slapped away Mifune’s arms from her shoulders and took a step back, keeping that same spiteful look on her Grandfather.
Hell, her hand was even reaching for the needle blade that rested on her waist, seemingly out of instinct.
’... I guess I should’ve expected that...’ Mifune sighed, this time looking genuinely concerned.
Not for his safety, of course, but rather for Yue.
’She’s always acting all nice around us, she never tells us what’s actually on her mind... Maybe she’s truly growing up into a spiteful child...’
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There was no place in the world for a spiteful child. If she was let loose, then she would likely bring about her own demise sooner than anyone could predict...
The old general couldn’t help but feel disappointed, but this time not in her behaviour, but in himself...
Sure he didn’t have the time to discipline her, but he could have talked to her Yuichi. He could have talked to Ken.
But he didn’t. He just figured that everything would be just fine.
Ken likely also was too busy with other things to notice. He had a hundred other children to look after as well at the end of the day.
And he was also apparently constantly plotting behind the scenes to bring about world peace.
the Red Dot was an extremely busy man... Or rather teenager.
’Maybe we sent her away into training a bit too soon... Maybe we should have continued teaching her etiquette, and she would’ve turned out fine... Or it would’ve happened as Ken suggested, and her desires eventually got the best of her and she did something stupid...’
Mifune was truly conflicted, unsure what to make of things, what he could’ve done to make things better.
He was many things in his life. A great warrior, an honourable samurai, a man that many looked up to...But he was ever a father to his own child.
He had become some sort of a surrogate grandfather to Yue due to often finding himself by her side... But he didn’t have any experience with children of his own.
Yue continued to gaze at him with those eyes, and that was about the same time that the ’Teacher’ also arrived.
Looking almost as if he had stepped out of Yue’s shadow, his masked face tilted and his long spiky hair flowing in the wind.
The children behind Yue noticed him immediately, thier gazes lighting up in either awe or reverence.
He moved one of his hands, his cloak moving to reveal the pristine blood-red samurai chest plates underneath.
The Blind Assassin immediately grabbed Yue’s shoulder. His fingers gripped her shoulder muscles with force.
Yue immediately grimaced and was forced to take a knee, her hand shooting up and grabbing Ken’s immovable wrist.
Mifune forced himself to look away, not wanting to see the slightly pained face of his beloved granddaughter.
"Yue... What is the meaning of this tantrum of yours?" Ken’s voice was cold, unforgiving. It didn’t have the caring tinge that Mifune’s had.
"T-teacher! I-it all a misunderstanding! I-I didn’t fa-"
"I don’t want to hear any more lies from you." Ken immediately interrupted her, knowing that she was likely looking to proclaim her innocence and that she was somehow not deserving of failure on her first exam.
"You know what you did. You know that without others cleaning up for you, you would have either died or gotten someone else killed in your stead..."
When the safety of the children within the Brotherhood was concerned, Ken was not quite as friendly towards those who put it at risk.
"T-that’s not- It was just an exam! No one would’ve died!"
"But you didn’t know that it was an exam at the time. You simply showcased your incompetence in a life or death situation, even if the situation turned out to be a simulation..."
Yue was speechless really, she couldn’t even begin to try and lash out at her teacher. And by the way, he was forcing her to kneel, it was rather clear that no honied words or sweet lies would make things easier for her.
She had gone and done it, made her teacher truly mad at her. And since she blew up at her Grandfather, he was also not interfering.
"..." Ken scowled underneath his mask as he felt the little princess’s emotions twirling. He could sense plenty of them within her, but he couldn’t sense any shame or regret.
"From now on you are no longer allowed to go into any missions. When we get back to the Brotherhood you will be confined to your room, you are no longer allowed to train, and all you will do from now on is read and write."
Ken shook his head and decided to hit Yue exactly where it hurt her most. Missions were always an outlet for her, a way for her to display her art.
"T-teacher! That’s too much!" The princess immediately retorted, her eyes watering a bit as Ken let go of her shoulders and she turned around to face him.
"If you are going to behave like a child, then you are going to be punished like one too.
You will be reading books about how one should conduct himself in society, and writing everything you have learned. I will task Tosho to periodically check on your progress."
"B-but... For how long do I have to do that?" Yue asked as her tone took a rather drastic turn. She couldn’t bring herself to act spiteful or angry with her teacher.
Unlike Mifune, if she bared her fangs at Ken then he’d just rip them out. He was the one who gave her fangs in the first place after all...
"Until I am satisfied enough with your behaviour. And no, you will not be allowed to go visit your father or Mifune during this period." Ken then pointed to the apartment rooms behind him.
"Now get back to bed." He didn’t even give her a chance to respond, not that he would’ve cared to hear her opinion on her punishment anyway.
He needed to take a harder stance on her behaviour as it had already spiralled out of control.
Yue seemed to tear up even more, before shaking her head and running to her room while crying.
Ken sighed as soon as she left, and Mifune also looked at her apartment as the door closed behind her.
"Sorry that you had to bear with that children... I may have underestimated how difficult it would be to raise a child born in nobility..." Ken then addressed the other children, who seemed to not blame him at all.
"No, it is completely fine father... Rather, I am a bit worried about her." Tatsukio sighed as he also looked at the others, who seemed to share his sentiment.
"More than worried about her, I am more so concerned that she’ll be driven to do something stupid..." Morita was among the few that saw the situation differently.
Ken turned his head towards him and nodded.
"Very well... You can go ahead and keep an eye out for her..." Ken seemed to very much understand Morita’s worries, and gave everyone one last ’look’ before turning around and leaving.
"Let’s go get some Ramen Mifune." Ken walked up to the General as the other children headed back to their rooms.
He tapped the older man on the shoulder, but stopped when he felt the slight depression welling up inside of Mifune. After all, having his granddaughter almost point a weapon at him was no pleasant experience.
"Or rather... Let’s get something to drink." The Blind Assassin immediately changed the destination and dragged the samurai along.
’This is going to be a longer night than I had anticipated...’
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Hope you liked the chapter and fight! Tis was fun to write, I’m tired now tho, so I go slep
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