Seizing Up [Mugetsu/p/nk]

"I swear to God-in-tapdancing-heaven, you're the only friend I have."
Kozai stared unfocusedly at the bottle in his hand. There'd been a discount on a liquor that was already cheap, so he got some to keep him warm on the way home. He'd found quickly, however, that somehow, he was unable to walk in a straight line, so he had picked out a park bench and sat down. In his old ragged jacket and unshaven state, he looked quite like a hobo, not that he was conscious of it, much. Some woman quietly steered her children away from him as he took another sip.

"Acchhh, that's the bad shit." Works well enough though, he mused silently. The afternoon sky above was choked with clouds, but he couldn't really smell the rain coming. Maybe tomorrow. Fuck the weather, right? So damn unpredictable and uncontrollable, he thought to himself as he almost fell over where he sat.

Bah! Milennial weathermen and their airy assumptions about what the temperature was going to be like. What the fuck did they know? Kozai trusted the aching in his joints more than their idiotic babbling about meteorology. Of course, the temptation was always there to just reach out for that well of power and FIX everything. End the aching, end the pain. End the river of alcohol coursing down his alimentary canal.
...
Nah.
At least he didn't smell too bad... yet.

Lucifer knew he would need to find a group of people he could trust, looking through the file of ninja he would see a particular person that would interest him. This man would be the first of a few he would interact with and ask for their help before the inauguration which was taking place in a few days. After the attack of Kumogakure, the village seemed to be going strong once again so if he was going to do this it was now or never.

Making his way through the village he would look around for the man Kozai Senju, surely he would be that hard to find or at least that what Lucifer originally thought. After not finding him at his home Lucifer would roam the area around his home, "Please dont tell me he died in the Attack..." It was then that Lucifer would smell the all to strong stench of alcohol pass him as a lady and her child passed him on the opposite side. In between the three of them had been the source of the alcohol smell. A man quite homeless in appear would pass him before taking a seat on the bench...

"Kozai... Kozai Senju is that you?"

The information in the ninja info files were horribly outdated, he could tell that the Kozai in the files were much younger and cleanly in the picture. But the man in front of him appeared to be no more than lost and broken, what in the world happened to him. In any case Lucifer still needed help if there was anything that Kozai could do to help him reach he goals he still had to try even if the man clearly had personal issues of his own.

"I am Lucifer Jugo, you may had heard of me by now but I was wondering if we could have a quick chat, I need your help..."

Through the metaphorical cloud of liquor surrounding his brain, Kozai could make out some guy... maybe. Was he important or something? Was he supposed to ha-

Wait a second.

That beam of lightning. The cloak of lightning chakra that he'd seen some time ago. So, this was some bigwig in the village, was he? Kozai briefly considered ignoring the man, but realized quickly enough that this would be to his detriment. With a little effort, he tried standing to attention and succeeded in getting to his feet. Wobbling slightly, Kozai would give Lucifer an unfocused stare. Be careful what you wish for, he told himself silently. He'd wanted to get back into the field in some way, to get his mind off of the literally unimaginable fear assailing his amygdala, but with his current state, he doubted anyone would remember him or take him seriously.

Unless....

That fight... and the fact that Lucifer recognized him like this... he had to have pretty high clearance.

Stay away, his subconscious warned him. You don't want him to tell you anything you might not want to know.

Of course, as always, Kozai chose to ignore his gut feelings.

"What?"

He'd keep it brief. No need to fuck around with formalities if he was talking to a goddamn millennial.

Lucfier had tried hard to hold back a sigh that was coming to him. The most promising ninja he had saw in the outdated files was nothing short of a hot mess, he was barely capable of standing up not that he had to Lucifer was not one for formalities which Kozai was one to ignor anyway which did not bother Lucifer.

"If you might not know I have been elected to become the next Raikage by not only the deceased first Raikage but the village elders if you do not believe me there is one piece of undeniable proof..."

Lucifer would close his eyes for a few moments. A look of pure focus would cover his face for a few moments before a cloak of black lightning chakra would cover his entire body in less than a few seconds. Opening his eyes to look at Kozai's response he would smile slightly as he noticed the shimmering black color of his lightning. He was truly proud of his new Black Ligutning Kekkai Genkai, this alone would be the proof that he was the true successor of the Raikage. Releasing the Black Enhanced Lightning Release Armor around him he would return to what he wanted to say.

"I came to find you today because there are not many people in this village I can trust at the moment... Since the incident and the discovery of people using false bodies or copying appearances without any noticeable differences has had me on edge. Honestly you could be one of those people as well but with me being the Hokage I need to learn to trust at least a few people... But maybe I have come looking for help at the wrong time."

Lucifer would remain quiet and wait for the man's response he didn't quite know what to say but he was sure he made it clear that he needed help, if not from Kozai himself maybe from someone he knew of that was a trust source.

Upon hearing the man, Kozai's expression would change from one of distant focus to one of half confusion and half derision. Of all the people in the village to pick, this... kage-to-be had selected HIM? He wondered what the man actually wanted. Milennials were never direct, that was the damn problem with them. They had to dance around the fucking issue. He sunk back down onto the bench, the cynical look still directed at Lucifer. People were stealing bodies, huh? It's a good thing he kept a little bit of his research from the administration, or this guy might not trust him the way he did now.

"Kage-elect or not", he'd begin, "dragging me outta retirement might not have been the besht idea." He'd shrug, slurring a little as he finished his sentence. "Shtill, I'll try my hardesht. Gotta lot of holes up here, if you catch my drift." He indicated his own head with his index finger, letting off a wry grin. If this guy really had access to the kage files, he'd know what Kozai meant by "holes". Imagine a book, but every vowel and every proper noun has been excised with a knife. Then maybe you could get a sense of how ragged Kozai's consciousness was at the moment.

He agreed randomly visiting and asking a man whose a total mess to once again become a ninja was not the greatest idea he had ever had, but if there was any other choice Lucifer would have already explored that option. Even in his current state Kozai was still more useful to him then having no choice at all. While his head were certainly filled with the 'holes' the man mentioned there was nothing stopping him from coming back stronger. He knew for a fact Kozai had not forgotten the ways or a ninja there were still there they just needed to be repaired and strengthened and if that is what it would take to accomplish this Lucifer was ready to open the can of worms.

"Yes I apologize for suddenly showing up and dropping such a responsibility on you but I need to know that there is someone who has my back throughout my transition of becoming a Kage... Somehow the Black Sun members were easily able to get to Apollo and take out his guards. Im not worried about not being able to defend myself but I wont be able to move as freely as before and need someone who maybe capable of handling dangerous tasks. I can help fix those holes and get you back to your prime but I cannot do that unless your willing to try..."

"For this village? Ha!" He gave off a wry half-laugh half-scoff as he considered the man with jocular eyes. Then, his expression turned much more somber, as he felt himself somehow slowly coming out his stupor. "Absolutely. I'll do anything you ask of me." This guy was gonna be the next kage, right? He only hoped that Lucifer would put him back on some of his old assignments... whatever those were. He was sure he'd remember if he saw them. It wasn't the work that he was afraid of, not at all. It was something else. There was a certain genre of literature for a niche set of people out there that relied on "horror so unspeakable" or something like that. Either way, that was more or less what plagued him at nights.

"Just tell me where you need me and when. In the meantime, I'll.... try and get back in shape." It was gonna be hella difficult, he knew. He had actually just thought about picking up a new habit today. Shuffling around in his pocket, he pulled out a few suspicious looking red pills and crushed them in his hand before tossing the remains into a nearby wastebin. Rest in piece, "good shit", he thought to himself.

It was clear that Kozai was being serious about helping Lucifer, while it did seem like he was intially against it and for whatever reasons Lucifer would probably never l know he was glad he has the help we was looking for... Well at least some of it. The Jugo man would watch as Senju crush some red pills in his hand that Lucifer could only assume he was going to take soon. It was pure luck that he had reached him before then. In anycase he needed to build more trust with Kozai as it seems it wouldnt come very easy.

"I wont ask you to do anything your not comfortable with doing. I just need there to be an open line of communication. Whatever made you to be this way I just want to make sure I dont push you down that wrong path again."

Lucifer decided to stop before he said to much. He felt that was enough to get his point across now there was only one more thing he had to discuss with him. A potential mission that could cost the life of those who choose to participate. But first he would allow Kozai to express himself should he feel the need to there of course needed to be an open line of communication not just barking out orders like a dog and its trainer...

"Sure. No problem. It's not like I have any real complaints at the moment..." Except for the millennials always taking bike rides over his lawn.
There was probably a "yes, my lord" that would have happened if he'd been a younger man, but as far as he was concerned, this guy was still less than half his age. Seniority wasn't the problem here, it was merely a matter of age.

How old am I again?

Fifty something, right? No, much younger than that.

I guess it depends on what you mean by "I".

Still, he resolved himself to do the best he could. After all, if the village needed HIM of all people, things must be pretty bad. Scraping the bottom of the barrel, as his generation used to say.
Still, it wasn't like he had anything meaningful (that he could remember, at least) to communicate to the kage. Everything important would most likely already be in his case file. Oh, he'd certainly need a couple of days to prepare. See which memory blocks were safe to remove, try and relearn some of the old tricks that always worked. Hell, maybe even pick up something new. It wasn't impossible for someone of his impression to learn, despite his age.
Was he willing to sacrifice himself for his village? Oh, yeah, sure. He'd always been. But for the first time in his life, he felt an odd reluctance to do so. He didn't mind oblivion after death or whatever, but he did worry about what might happen in the real world if he died.
Either way, with that affirmation, he'd begin his active duty once again.