"Hey, Dave, are you free this afternoon?" Kakuzu's voice came through the phone.
"Yes—no, actually, I'm not. What do you need?" Dave froze for a moment, then hurriedly corrected himself.
"...One of the village's retired officials passed away. Danzo just called the company and told us to suspend operations this afternoon. All the village's shinobi are supposed to go to the memorial to pay their respects." Dark lines appeared on Kakuzu's forehead...
"...Oh, I see. But doesn't paying our respects just mean listening to Danzo yammer for two hours?" Remembering the last time, Dave shuddered as he asked.
"It's just a ceremony anyway. We only need to show up."
"I'm going to see Danzo."
Inside Danzo's office...
Dave approached the door and kicked it open without bothering to knock. He froze when he saw the paper in Danzo's hands trailing onto the floor, looking a good dozen meters long...
"Have you no manners?! You think you can just barge through the door of my Hokage Office?!" Danzo's attention was entirely on the eulogy in his hands, and he didn't even look up to see who had come in.
"Is all that what you're going to yammer—sorry, deliver in your speech this afternoon?" Dave ignored him and asked, staring at the dozen-meter-long paper.
"Huh? Oh, did you need something?" Danzo paused at the familiar voice.
"A retired village official died, and you're just going to give a little speech?" Dave asked, sitting on the sofa nearby.
"What else?" Danzo rolled his eyes at him.
"Shouldn't you give him Three Bows, Six Prostrations, and Nine Kneels?" Dave sneered.
"...Get the hell out of here. I didn't even do that when my dad died." Danzo's face darkened.
"Ahem, just kidding. A retired official! A retired official who dedicated his entire life to the