In a modest flower shop tucked away in Konoha, Mizuki sat behind the counter, nearly hidden by a wall of blossoms. His attention was fixed on a spread of papers, where he scribbled notes and diagrams with a borrowed pen. To any casual passerby, it looked less like a shop and more like a makeshift study hall. Unsurprisingly, the unapproachable air he gave off had scared away more than a few potential customers.
He hadn't meant to become a florist. Originally, Mizuki had just agreed to fill in temporarily until Tsubaki—his fiancée—could hire proper help. But recruitment had stalled, and in the past few days, word had spread that the infamous Mizuki now ran the neighborhood's newest flower shop. The realization made him visibly twitch.
"…Did she set me up?" Mizuki muttered. "Tsubaki must've planned this. After everything that's happened lately, she probably just wants to spend more time together. Or... is she still worried I might go running back to Orochimaru?"
Understanding women was more complex than mastering jutsu, but Mizuki didn't really mind. At least now he had time to read, study, and maybe make a few useful connections.
As he stretched his back, a familiar face appeared outside the shop window.
"Mizuki-sensei? Wait—you run this place?" It was Yamanaka Ino, the bright and sharp-tongued blonde from the Academy.
"Ino? Didn't expect you here. Yeah, this shop belongs to my fiancée. I'm just babysitting it."
"I thought so! But if I remember right, my family's shop is just a few streets over. Are you trying to compete with us, Sensei?" she teased.
"Compete? Please. I suggested opening a yakiniku shop. Way more profitable. But I can't cook, and I sure don't have recipes. So… flowers it is."
Ino glanced around and suppressed a laugh. "The décor gives it away. Some of these pairings are disasters. You'll lose customers like this."
"They all look the same to me," Mizuki admitted, confused. "Same color, similar petals—how is that not the same species?"
"I can't let this stand." Ino rolled up her sleeves and started rearranging the poorly arranged displays. Years of helping at Yamanaka Flowers had honed her taste.
"Ino, leave it," Mizuki said, watching her zip around the shop. "Tsubaki will be back soon. She can fix it."
"Tsubaki's your fiancée? What's she like? Are you two really getting married?"
"Why not? I'm an adult. You should worry about your own love triangle with Sasuke. I hear Sakura and he are glued at the hip lately. Proximity advantage, you know?"
"Hmph! I'm not losing to Forehead Girl," Ino snapped.
Mizuki chuckled. "Well, don't you have missions to run? Why are you so free?"
"I just got back and I'm on break. What about you? You seem awfully free too."
"I'm special," Mizuki said smugly. "Though not for long."
More and more shinobi were returning to the village. With the Chūnin Exams around the corner, the village was beginning to stir.
"Thanks for the help today, Ino," Mizuki said as she tidied the last shelf. "Here, take a bouquet on me."
"This one?" she asked.
"That's for funerals," he said.
She picked another.
"That one's for marriage proposals."
"Sensei!" she growled.
Eventually, she selected a simple arrangement and left. Mizuki watched her go, thoughts drifting.
The Yamanaka Clan's mental techniques… if I had those, maybe I could solve the clone memory problem.
He doubted he'd ever get access to their secret jutsu. But Yamashiro Aoba had learned a bit. How?
As Mizuki mused, his form puffed out of existence in a burst of chakra. A shadow clone. A second Mizuki emerged from the back room.
"Again? Still unstable. I need another workaround."
Mizuki had been experimenting with a modified version of the Shadow Clone Technique, originally developed by the Second Hokage. The clone's ability to transfer memories intrigued him. Mizuki had combined it with sealing formulas to enhance chakra efficiency and clone durability—but the core limitation remained: once the chakra ran out, the clone vanished.
He sighed. "Still no way around the time limit..."
He had also dabbled in summoning contracts, but progress was slow.
And then, one morning, a mobilization notice came. Foreign ninja had been seen in the village. Preparations for the Chūnin Exams had begun in earnest.
Mizuki, now fully recovered, headed to the Hokage's office.
Along the way, a few familiar faces greeted him with nods or surprised glances. He quietly took a seat in the back of the meeting hall.
What followed was exhausting: the Third Hokage speaking at length, squad leaders debating which Genin teams to nominate, and Iruka—of course—voicing his usual concerns. It was tedious.
Mizuki stifled a yawn. "I should've stayed in the shop…"
Then Izumo nudged him.
"Huh? What's going on?" Mizuki whispered.
Everyone was looking at him.
The Third cleared his throat. "Mizuki, how is your health?"
"Healthy enough," Mizuki replied with forced politeness.
"Good. Then you'll be participating in the preliminary evaluations."
"…Pardon?"
Too late. He'd been volunteered.
After the meeting, Iruka caught up with him. "Thanks, Mizuki. I owe you."
"What did I agree to?!"
"I just need help evaluating the Genin. Which one will you take? Naruto? Sasuke? Sakura?"
Mizuki groaned. "Naruto's unpredictable. Sasuke's a headache. Sakura it is. Easiest option."
"She's not as weak as you think," Iruka warned.
"Even so. I'm not wasting effort on a brawler like Naruto or a Uchiha brooder. At least with Sakura, I get a clean test case."
"You sure you're not taking this too lightly?"
Mizuki smirked. "I'll do it properly. You asked for help. This one's on you."
Kakashi appeared from the shadows. "Mizuki's in charge of Sakura's test? Now I'm worried."
"Have a little faith in your students, Kakashi," Mizuki replied coolly. "Or don't. I'm not the one with a reputation to lose."
Kakashi raised a brow. "It's not them I'm worried about. It's you."
"Iruka, you hear that? He thinks I'm the villain."
Iruka muttered, "Well, he's not wrong…"
Mizuki waved them off and returned to his workshop.
"Time to test the latest prototype."
He bit his thumb, formed seals, and slapped his hand to the floor. A faint swirl of summoning runes spread as a figure began to materialize.
"Stable… Good. Not perfect, but usable."
His eyes gleamed. "Let's see how you hold up… in real combat."