Hidden Villages

I: Inner Voices

His small frame plopped unceremoniously onto the futon while his violet eyes stared at the wall. A silence permeated the jinchuriki's bedroom as Yagura continued looking at the wall. Eventually he spoke out loud to himself. "I hate my life. I hate this village. I hate the people in it."

The room faded away from view and he found himself lying in a few inches of water. The water slightly covered his left eye and part of his mouth as he continued looking at the vast field of water. A deep sigh escaped from his mouth as he continued looking at the water realizing he was now in Isobu's domain.

The jinchuriki thought to himself. As he continued watching the water he saw a few white lily's appear scattered across the water. His mouth clenched shut tightly upon seeing these flowers. "Why?"

"It's not very fun when you're down on yourself Yagura."

The female voice made Yagura turn onto his back so he might look up at the person speaking to him. A young female with short brown hair and hazel brown eyes looked down at him. Her mouth twisted into a wide smile between the two purple rectangles on her cheek. These marks and the headband indicated her clan and the village she was from. He took a deep breath. "Rin."

Her hand reached down in an attempt to help him up from the ground. Floating through the sky were pink petals from the blooming cherry tree Rin decided was appropriate additions to Isobu's world. His eyes looked around the place while the tailed beast lounged with his eyes closed. For a moment Yagura thought Isobu was smiling in amusement at him.

"The flowers..."

"Good grief. You remind me of Kakashi. Lighten up. Plus, guys can like flowers."

"I'm honestly not sure whether my like for such things is actually my own like or if it comes from you." Yagura sat looking at the water and the white lily's floating in the water. "Hey. Could you tell me about your graduation ceremony again?"

"My graduation ceremony." Rin sat down next to him and folded her arms across her knees. Her hazel colored eyes looked up at the rosy sky above. "In my village we don't kill each other to graduate."

Yagura let out a sigh as he found himself starting to relax. He leaned back in the warm water and closed his eyes. "Go on."

"It's kind of boring," Rin laughed. She still described the testing process each student went through to graduate.

"Sounds nice."

"You've said that before." Rin laughed again. "You know, if you became Mizukage you could change things for the better."

Yagura's eyes snapped open. "Me?"

"Yes, you. You've got a good heart."

"I'm not sure I do, plus..." Yagura felt his violet eyes narrow as he switched to sitting in the same manner Rin did. "... my being soft, that's a weakness."

"A weakness? I think it's actually your strength." Rin continued smiling. "You could change things in your village for the better, but you'd be a good Mizukage."

"I'm not going to kill the old man." Yagura rested his chin on his arms. "I know my place."

"Don't tell me again that being a jinchuriki means you're a tool."

"Every shinobi is a tool in this village." Yagura closed his eyes again. "And don't tell me I should become Mizukage again and change things."

Rin let out a sigh. "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself."

"Tell me more. When you graduated, you were placed on a team."

"Yes. I was placed on a team with Obito and Kakashi. Obito was super sweet but also hard on himself whenever he messed up. Kakashi - he was a bit cold, but he did care. He was also super smart. I'd tell you more, but I'm not going to reveal village secrets."

"He was the top student in your year?"

"No. Kakashi didn't graduate with us. In fact, he was already chunin by the time we graduated."

"You'd not told me that before. I thought he was your age."

"He was - is. I guess was is apt because he's now older like you are." Rin leaned forward. "He should have been in our year and graduated with us. I think that was one of the reasons Obito never got along with him. Kakashi was a genius and things came to him naturally, but Obito - I hate speaking of my friend like this - he struggled."

"In our village..." Yagura found himself pausing.

"I know. Someone like Obito would never have graduated. He would have been killed off in the graduation exam, but nobody would have batted an eye as that is seen as a way to cull your ranks of the weak. He may have struggled, but he wasn't useless."

Yagura pinched the bridge of his nose as he leaned forward. "That's a nice thought. Despite being weak a person isn't useless. That is so different than how it is here."

"The fact he struggled didn't make him weak. The fact Kakashi didn't struggle doesn't make him without weaknesses." Rin let out a short, soft laugh. "He struggled with getting along with others where as Obito got along with everyone. I rather miss them both. I miss Kakashi more, which is why I guess I didn't move on."

"You not moving on may have to do with feeling guilty for making him kill you like that." Yagura watch the smile on Rin's face fall away.

Isobu's voice boomed within the tailed beasts domain. "That wasn't very nice of you to say."

"Why do that to someone you love so much?"

"Because I couldn't have lived with myself had I killed him."

"Sounds a bit self centered to me." Yagura looked down to see the lily's starting to wilt.

"A little. I mean, I did make him cry." Rin rested her chin on her arms, yet her smile remained gone.

"You also saved the life of the person you cared for, but saved who knows how many other lives by not letting me go on ramage," Isobu chimed in. "I regret the fact your body was not compatible for me being sealed in, but there is nothing any of us can do about that now."