It was a really sad day for us when we buried those that lost their lives in the ground. Lives were certainly precious. My children were feeling a bit guilty about this. They did leave them behind when they died. It was definitely my call, but they did as they were told. With this being a major funeral, it was only human for certain "what ifs" that could have changed the outcome to run through their minds. People were very upset. I was not very close to their parents. That did not mean that their loses were not real and painful. I still was going to blame Chihiro for this. He had already spread rumors that I was the one to blame for this. Obviously, I had to spread my own rumors. I was not going to take the fall for this shit. They were not even lies. It was the truth that Manato was in his care. It was true that Manato was raped on the train in front of everyone. Chihiro could have stopped it sooner if he wanted to stop it. I brought it to his attention. We had some of the randoms of the team with the Akaimes come as well. Some of them had gotten friendly during their time looking for scrolls.
Weathering the storm of loss was something we had to do as a minor ninja clan. A couple of the randoms wanted to join. The other 2 would be leaving after the funeral. It was for the best. You did not simply join a clan. You had to put in the hard work. 10 clan missions at least. They would also have to live in the storage shed for the time being. Keisuke and I lived there at first. I had some fond memories rooming with him. I wondered if they were just as fond for Keisuke. He was a great guy and a cool friend. Just as I was getting ready to leave with the children, they asked me if they could stay with the others. I was not going to deny them this. They were very close to everyone thanks to the indoctrination they had received. Supporting others and being supported sounded great for them, so I let them all stay. Yoru, Asa and Hiru could return to the house when they were ready. I would leave with my wife at least. That was when I found myself surrounded. Keisuke, Rin, Asahi, Hibiki, Izayoi and Masaru all had their arms crossed. "Looks like it's time to pay us all back." Rin said.
Xenophobia was not something that I thought would be rampant here. That was why it caught me by surprise when I was told to chase away the 2 randoms that asked to join the clan by Masaru. I said that I would do their tasks with no questions asked. Because of that, he felt no need to elaborate. I did not want to piss him off or let him down. Due to that, there really was no choice but to do it. I went to the young man. I offered him all the money I had to convince him to go. He decided to take it from me and leave. The other guy did not want money. He wanted the status and fame as a retainer to a ninja clan. With that attitude, he would only be persuaded by violence. I was totally fine with that. Beating him to a pulp was easy. After I yanked him back up to his feet, I warned him never to come back again. He took the hint and ran as fast as his legs would carry him. That was Masaru's task over. The problem was that I had so many more to go. This was only the first of 5 tasks. Rin and Hibiki wanted me to finally join them for the elusive kunoichi training exercises. I sighed deeply.
