Tree Rings
"Technically he's not the first Uzokage since all we're doing is restoring the village-"
"Shut up, Tomoya."
A loud dull thud shook the room as Boruto dropped a huge box that he was carrying on to the meeting room table.
Calling it a meeting room could be an exaggeration, or even a building for that matter. An aged tower in the old side of the forgotten village of Uzushiogakure laying in wait. The top of the building was completely blown off, and there was no way to get up unless someone had some kind of proficiency in chakra control. And... the new alliance of Uzushiogakure liked the "open architecture look".
The contents spilled with a jarring metal screech, before the room fell silent, the first time it had ever been completely silent as the new alliance gazed at the first batch of official Uzushiogakure headbands.
"Oh, nice headbands. Want to throw my other one away?" Tomoya quipped, a never ending fountain of remarks.
"Obviously not..." Boruto trailed off picking up the scattered headbands off the earthen floor. "Wasabi, you can help me out you know."
"I'm surprised the cat girl didn't already pounce on something so shiny.”
"Tomoya..." Wasabi glared at him knowing it wouldn't do much good anyways.
“Onto important matters…” Mitsuki interrupted, picking up one of the headbands off the floor and tying the band around his fingers playfully. “Our population has almost doubled in the recent months, but keep in mind it has only been about six months since the full reconstruction efforts started. So the actual permanent population is relatively low compared to temporary residents.”
Wasabi and Tomoya took a seat on crudely fashioned oak chairs near the front end of the large rectangular table, while Boruto heaved the box onto the table and sat at his self-proclaimed “Uzokage Chair”.
It was nothing more than the less damaged of the other oak chairs, with a weathered Uzo symbol etched on the top above his head.
Mitsuki took a seat on top the table near Boruto and crossed his legs on top of the other. “Our other officers are asking for support near the whirlpool junctions. We also have special jonin from Konoha making less than diplomatic visits, but are unable to get past the outer cliff barrier.”
“Of course, since we’re just off the coast of the Land of Fire.” Boruto commented bitterly, “That Hokage wouldn’t want something that he can’t understand to suddenly pop up and ruin his image.”
“Especially considering his maternal clan IS this clan.” Tomoya chirped, reading the mood, and choosing to ignore it.
“Lord Hokage probably wants to chase after you, since you left the village only as an experienced chunin. Technically this is an official mission but you went over your time limit. It’s pretty criminal.” Wasabi said indifferently, staring straight through Boruto with her cat-like eyes.
“Hm… but you decided to leave the village too, didn’t you, Wasabi?” Mitsuki replied, not so subtly coming for Boruto’s defense.
“Sure, I was already out, and I’m most likely declared dead so it’s no problem! Nothing much for me in the village anyways.”
“If you guys are done giving each other your backstories, I’ll take one of these and get back to work.” Tomoya interrupted once again, swiping the headband Wasabi was playing with.
“Hey, that one’s mine!” Wasabi rushed up and chased Tomoya out the room.
Silence fell once again, Boruto picked a flower that was growing through the dirt floor and twirled it around.
“Are we… doing the right thing?”
“I think it’s a little too late to be questioning yourself now.”
“The reconstruction efforts are almost all completely voluntary, and our scouts are out now trying to find the next generation of Uzumaki… if it all goes to waste...”
“The fact that people are volunteering their days must mean something good. And this home was stripped away from people long ago, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a new home for those who never belonged where they were.”
“I had a place back there. But I always knew that at some point I would never want to be under someone else’s shadow.”
“You’re acting pretty vulnerable today…” Mitsuki stopped the poor flowers torture by pinching the delicate stem right above where Boruto held it.
“I’m not sure what your goals are right now, in all honesty, this did seem like a rushed decision. But it’s been almost two years since we’ve started and there’s no going back now, Uzokage Boruto.”
“Don’t call me that…” It should have sunk in. He practically gave himself the position.
“Well, I’ll take my leave. I’m sure Tomoya’s doing a grand job of resource management, so don’t worry.”
“You know I’m not worried about that.” Boruto groaned, getting up from his seat. He took a look at the sky above, and sighed heavily, feeling ready to go out into the field once again.
But not before noticing Mitsuki slipping off his headband and replacing it with another.