The New Heirs of the Will of Fire (Sequel to Tsunade's Daughter)

十三 ↬ Get better, Kei!

Everyone had been left completely shocked and horrified by what had happened during the last spar match.

Mai had clearly not seen that coming, neither had Kei or everyone else for that matter. She had been so afraid for her daughter. She wished she could have stayed by her side but she needed to have a talk with the Mizukage about that. She was waiting for him in her office, all alone. He must have been having a few words with his own student first, which she could totally understand.

Thank God, her daughter wasn't alone. She was well looked after. She was safe now, and that's what really mattered in the end.

There was a sudden knock on the door.

"Come in."

"Lord Mizukage is here," Shikamaru informed her.

"Thank you, Shikamaru. Please, let him in."

The Nara male did as told as he stepped aside, letting the blue-haired man in. Then he closed the door so they could talk in private.

The Mizukage approached her with slow steps and stopped at a respectable distance before he bowed his head down.

"Lady Fifth. I'm really sorry about what happened. I'd never thought things would go this way."

Mai just contemplated him in silence. He seemed to be much too ashamed to dare meet her gaze.

"Keep your head up, Lord Mizukage. I prefer to be able to look at the person I'm talking to," she said solemnly.

He did so after a few seconds, but he didn't add anything else.

"What happened is quite regrettable," she noted, her gaze fixed on his own. "I didn't want such a large crowd to witness such a violent bout of aggressivity."

"Neither did I, believe me. This should have never happened. I swear this wasn't intentional. It-"

"I believe you," she cut him off. "I know you are not the kind of man who would let this happen, let alone scheme against the peace between the different nations."

He remained silent for a few seconds.

"But I understand that you cannot turn a blind eye to this...I'd just like to avoid the worst for my village and people. I am ready to take full responsibility for Kagura's action."

Mai wanted to sigh, but she held herself back from doing so. How could she possibly impose sanctions on that man?

"I'm not going to start a Fifth great Shinobi War just because of this. Let's just forget about it."

As she had expected it, the Mizukage looked quite shocked and astounded at her last words.

"But he almost killed your own daughter..."

"But she is safe now. And I'm sure you will do everything in your power so this young shinobi won't ever try to kill someone ever again."

The man was left completely speechless by her answer. So she spoke again instead.

"Tell me more about him instead. He's quite interesting and quite promising."

She was really intrigued by the young boy.

The Mizukage seemed to hesitate, but he finally spoke after letting out a loud sigh.

"This is not the first time something like this has happened," he said in a low voice. He waited for a little bit before he went on. "Kagura is the grandson of the Fourth Mizukage, Lord Yagura, and because of this, he has a lot of insecurities. As a child, most people considered him as a monster because of what happened at the time of the Bloody Mist. But fortunately, some children saw him as someone normal, and not just the grandson of the Fourth Mizukage, Even if there were very few of them..."