“I want to participate in the mission, Sensei!” Kazuo immediately said as he looked at Minato.
“You want to join the mission? Are you sure Kazuo? Your wedding is tomorrow, I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Minato replied whilst raising an eyebrow in confusion at his sudden enthusiasm.
The rest of Team Seven and Kushina turned their attention towards Kazuo as well.
“I know, Sensei, however, we likely won’t be having a lot of missions together anymore, and I just wanted to at least be part of as many as possible. You’re becoming Hokage soon, right?” Kazuo replied whilst his expression turned slightly downtrodden.
“Hokage?” Obito questioned aloud as he turned to Minato, who simply raised a hand and scratched the back of his head.
“You’re certainly perceptive, Kazuo. That’s right, this is likely my last mission before my inauguration.”
“Thank you, so am I allowed to join sensei?” Kazuo asked with a slight smile that seemed to show both sadness as well as joy at the same time.
It was a difficult expression to make, or at least to act out.
‘So this much is possible now.’ Kazuo thought inwardly.
“Yes, I’ll explain the rest of the mission details next week when we start, meet up with me at seven am at the gates next Monday.”
With that said and done the conversation continued, Kakashi and Obito deciding to join as well whilst Rin was still continuing her training in the hospital and so had no time to join.
‘Obito’s inclusion will certainly be interesting. It would be easier to see if the future has changed or if it is just a special timeline of sorts where I do exist, but in that future, I do not.’ Kazuo thought to himself before getting back into the conversation that continued until it was almost midnight.
Giving his goodbyes to the rest of Team Seven and Kushina, Kazuo returned to his apartment once more.
The night passed quickly, Kazuo had already mastered the art of falling asleep on command, though it certainly wasn’t a heavy sleep, at most it was light sleep, and at the least, it was as if he was half conscious and half asleep at the same time.
Still, it did the job of recovering his mental faculties as well as his physical body.
Before the sun even rose above the horizon, Kazuo got up and completed his daily routine, and finished some light body training.
Getting dressed in a suit that he had bought, He quickly headed out and used the body flicker to arrive at the Hyuga Clan District in seconds.
Arriving in front of the gates, he was quickly led inside and then walked towards the Branch Head’s mansion.
“Kazuo, you’re here,” Hizashi said as Kazuo opened the sliding wooden door to his office.
“That’s right, I can’t be late on such a day.”
Hizashi merely nodded his head before motioning for Kazuo to sit down.
Taking a seat on the floor in front of the man, Kazuo maintained the silence whilst waiting for the man to finish what he had already been doing before Kazuo had arrived.
Finally, after a few minutes, Hizashi finished working on some documents and lifted his gaze to look at Kazuo.
“I’m sorry about the wait, I had to finish some urgent work. Now then, I’ll get a maid to guide you to your waiting quarters, after which you will be called forth for the ceremony in a few hours. After those processes, as we discussed, you will be gaining the status of a pseudo-Hyuga, gaining the Hyuga surname, and will be granted a house where you will be residing.” Hizashi stated as he raised a hand, without even giving out a vocal order, a maid came inside the room and gave a bow to both Hizashi and Kazuo.
“Take him away, Kuina.”
“Yes Hizashi-Sama.” With those words, the maid turned toward Kazuo who gave a nod towards Hizashi and got up from his seated position.
“Well, then I’ll be going.”
Hizashi merely gave a nod in return before turning his attention back toward the documents in front of him.
Following the maid, as she walked through the different hallways of the large mansion, Kazuo felt like he was inside a maze of sorts.
‘Is it some kind of seal?’ Kazuo wondered.
‘It’s very likely, I have good perception and memory, however, I’m feeling like my sense of direction is becoming more blurry as we walk.’ Kazuo thought inwardly, his curiosity piqued.
Finally, after what felt like a much too long time to simply traverse a mansion, Kazuo arrived in front of a small sliding door.
“This will be your room for the moment, please wait until I come to get you once more Kazuo-Sama, there will be another maid who will be helping you get ready for the ceremony.”
“I see, thank you,” Kazuo muttered in turn before opening the door and heading inside.
The inside of the room was beyond plain with it only having a tatami floor and a mirror situated on the left wall.
Sitting in front of the mirror, Kazuo closed his eyes as he waited in meditation.
It was better to keep his mind as calm as possible and his body just as ready for any unexpected events that might occur.
After around an hour, the door slid open, and a new maid came inside.
She simply gave Kazuo a bow before taking out a traditional Japanese black kimono with a hakama as well as a large black haori with the clan symbol of the Hyuga clan embroidered on it.
Getting up from his position, Kazuo relaxed his body as the maid helped him wear the clothing.
Finally finished with that much, she quickly gave Kazuo another deep ninety-degree bow before heading out of the room.
It was only after another two hours that the first maid came back in.
It was time for the wedding ceremony.
Following the woman, Kazuo found himself walking through the maze of hallways once more.
He finally arrived in front of a large sliding door. In front of the sliding door was his soon-to-be wife wearing completely white clothes.
Walking to stand next to her, Kazuo kept his eyes forward toward the sliding door instead of staring at Saori.
The sliding doors were opened after a minute, letting in the sunshine as well as the sounds of the people who were attending the wedding.
There were two groups, and it was clear to see who had come for Kazuo and who was part of the Hyuga Clan.
The loudest ones were there for Kazuo whilst the ones with a stick up their ass were there for the political marriage alone.
‘Kazuo Hyuga sounds decent enough.’
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Here’s the chapter. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it.