KNY x Naruto

TWO

Ubuyashiki estate

Upon arriving at the estate, 'Giyu' immediately noticed that he was the last of the hashira to arrive. Perhaps he had been caught up in his own thoughts for longer than he had previously thought, however the master hadn't arrived yet so his late arrival shouldn't cause too much of an inconvenience.

Slowly walking through the gate and into the more central part of the garden, he silently joined his fellow hashira in awaiting the master. It seemed no one had noticed his presence yet, bar Gyomei- however ironically- who had sent him a small nod in acknowledgement. Not having much to do, he put his time to use by observing the other hashira's interactions. He was no idiot, a genius actually although he never bragged about it, he was more than aware of the other hashira's relationships with one another. Even Gyomei should be able to see Mitsuri and Obanai's love and obsessive amounts of simping for each other. Excusing the fact Mitsuri loves everyone, but she was the love pillar after all. Releasing another unintentionally loud sigh he decided not to think too much of it.

Apparently the sigh was loud enough to catch the attention of the other hashira, specifically an overly aggressive white-haired wind pillar known as Shinazugawa Sanemi. Itachi or 'Giyu' had realised this, of course, when the man had brazenly yelled at him from the other side of the garden.

 "Damned Tomioka, arriving fucking late. Is your ego so big that you don't think it's necessary to be on time even when it's an emergency?" Sanemi had made his distaste towards him clear multiple times but this had to be one the more verbal examples.

Being at a loss for words at the rather straightforward accusation and lacking a proper excuse he thought back to his days as an anbu. In particular his time with Kakashi as his squad's captain. Kakashi had always been late despite the serious business the anbu had dealt with and he was beyond capable and he was someone many people looked up to for his genius. With a slight raise of his eyebrow Giyu turned to face the enraged Sanemi to inform him of his situation.

"I apologise for my lateness, however I had gotten lost on the path of life."

If it worked for Kakashi, surely it should work for him, right? Wrong. The response seemed to thoroughly confuse the albino for a moment before his face returned to his usual scowl and just as he was about to call bullshit two voices sounded. Kuina and Kanata, the master's youngest children, stepped forward and announced master Ubuyashiki's arrival which immediately shut up any ongoing conversations as the hashira all took a knee to bow, greeting him as he was led out by his daughters.

"Good morning, my children." Ubuyashiki in a calm and authoritative tone. The comment was reciprocated, this time, by the flame pillar- Rengoku Kyojiro. "Yes master! And it's truly a pleasure to see you're doing well!" The fiery man's spirit matched his position and appearance perfectly, as he had exclaimed these words at the top of his lungs.

The master had smiled back, thanking him before becoming more serious. "I have called you here to discuss a mission." The hashiras stared at him expectantly and taking their silence an indication to explain further, he continued. "As I'm sure many of you know, where we live in Japan borders the five elemental nations. Each of these nations have shinobi villages and unique fighting styles that are kept in great secrecy within these villages. They have also never been troubled by demons. Japan has kept itself separate from these nations for some time, however according to rumours demons have managed to cross the border into these nations. They do not have access to the materials needed to make nichin blades or enough knowledge of demons generally and so I have sent crows to each of the daimyo to inform them of the issue and request that I send some of you, hashira, to assist with the problem before it becomes widespread."

Although Ubuyashiki had spoken calmly the hashira's minds were running at a hundred miles a minute. There were many risks of the mission, given the majority of them had never been anywhere near the shinobi world, but having demons spread over more land would be a worst case scenario. The deafening silence continued until the master started up again, "There are two among you, hashira, that are from the shinobi nations. I in no way intend to force any of you to go on this mission as there is a much higher level of threat than the ones you regularly complete but, despite this, I request that at least one of you attend to guide your fellow demon slayers through the foreign land."

A look of comfusion etched it's was onto the other pillars as they absorbed that information, Uzui being the first to speak. "Yes master, while I am originally from the shinobi nations, and am willing to participate, I left when I was quite young, about 7, so I don't remember much of it but to find out there is another here with a similar background as I has made today quite flamboyant. If I may ask who is the other that you speak of? It's likely they will be of more help in directing us." A few of the other hashira chorused in agreement while some just nodded silently l, eagerly awaiting a response.

Completely ignoring Uzui and the other hashira, Giyu stepped forward and raised a hand slightly. "I will gladly accept this mission and see to the living arrangements for the time we'll be staying for, all I require is to know who else shall be coming with." 

To say the hashira were stunned would be an understatement. The silent loner just spoke an entire 31 word long sentence whilst simultaneously claiming to be a somewhat experienced ninja. The reactions were as expected of such a crowd.

"Eeeh? Tomioka is a ninja? So cool!"

"The bastard?"

"Not telling people important things like that is quite rude you know, Tomioka, this is why no one likes you."

"Not quite as flamboyant as I had hoped."

"Ah, Tomioka, it's nice to find out more of my fellow hashira!"

"Poor soul, being exposed to such violence of the ninja world."

Itachi remained quiet for the time being, letting their comments continue for a while before turning to them and bowing slightly in apology. "I'm quite sorry for withholding this from you all, however I had not thought it necessary information and it had not come up I'm conversation until now." Turning back towards the master 'Giyu' asked again, "Please, if you are able to agree upon who is going as of this meeting, I should be able to set up appropriate accommodation and we could leave as early as tomorrow morning."

Nodding in both thanks and acceptance of his request, Ubuyashiki continued the meeting, selecting those who shall go and the ones that will stay to defend the people from the demons within Japan, before sending them home to pack necessities and agreeing to meet outside the water estate at sunrise the next morning.