Atsuka Heiji had known Shiori of Kawa for three years now, and in his opinion she was a pleasant if rather quiet young woman with eyes too old for her age. She was also quick on the uptake and willing to learn, so much in fact that he had considered offering her a job once or twice. That was, until a rather pointed comment of Inoue-san had stopped any kinds of thoughts in that direction, Inoue Mariko was not somebody you crossed lightly.
Shiori-san had accompanied Inoue-san to more than one appointment and in the last two years, she was even included when they discussed the proceedings around the flat and some of Inoue-san's investments. Probably to prepare her for her inheritance, Inoue-san had been sneaky like that. A dull pang of sorrow run through him at the thought of his former client, he had liked the old dragon and her no-nonsense attitude. For as long as he had known her, she had never left anything to chance, wickedly smart and sneaky as most shinobi of her age were and always watching everything. There had been an undertone of something ugly and sad in her that had become rather pronounced in her last years. So when she started to bring young Shiori with her, he had felt better that the retired kunoichi finally had somebody to distract her from her increasing bitterness. By the time Inoue-san had come to him to change her will in Shiori's favor he had been expecting it for quite a while. In his opinion the young girl deserved the money more than anyone on the Matoka side of Inoue-san's family.

Said family was escorted out of his office in that moment and Heiji was sure that the two Chunin enjoyed the humiliation of the rude civilians via Inoue-san's letter just as much as he had. The Matokas had been harassing him about the old Jounin's last will since the moment they learned about her death with no inquiry about the deceased's funeral arrangements. That they had received nothing and Shiori-san everything made him want to whistle. Days like these made him glad to be an attorney.

Speaking of Shiori-san, Atsuka watched a bit concerned as the chalk white girl walked into his office, she was visibly overwhelmed by what she had just learned and took deliberately deep breaths to calm herself. Heiji commiserated, this must have been quite a shock, the girl came from a rural background where it was virtually unheard of that somebody outside the family inherited. And as far as he was aware Inoue-san hadn't spoken a word about Shiori-san being in her will, let alone be her sole beneficiary. So he kept silent for while she situated herself in a chair, only when she looked calm enough to actually listen to what he was telling her he placed the documents he had prepared in front of her. Heiji led her gently through the legal jargon and pointed at the spaces where she had to sign for her name change. With shaking hands Shiori-san signed the papers and then paled even further when she finally saw the numbers on the bank statements, if she wanted to, she could stop working and live off her inheritance for the rest of her life. Inoue-san's investments were scattered all over Fire country and would make enough money that Shiori-san would never want for anything.
When the legal requirements were completed, Heiji handed another sealed letter over to Shiori-san, Inoue-san had written it only a few months ago when it became clear that she hadn't much time left.

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Dear Shiori-chan,

I know that my death must have come as a surprise to you, but I have known that it was only a matter of months for quite some time now. You have given me a lot of joy this past few years and I am glad that I chose you to become my housekeeper. You are an intelligent young girl and I feel relieved that I can entrust my family name and fortune to someone like you and not those vultures of second cousins of mine. Beside my flat and a few houses which are rented out, there is the former clan compound of the Inoue. I had it closed after the last of my ninja relatives died during the third shinobi war. I know how you always dreamed of buying a house somewhere close to the woods and I think the clan compound would be the right place for you, but that is up to you now.
Should you decide to use it I urge you to hire ninja to go through the building before moving in. I set traps and other countermeasures before the house was closed and they are most certainly still active.

This inheritance will also assure that you can open that tea house you have been fantasizing about, I expect you to succeed, you are smart enough for it. Don't let anyone discourage you from doing what you want.

I know I never thanked you in our time together but your company was much appreciated, if I was even an ounce more sentimental I would even say that you became dear to me as if you were my own grandchild. But enough of mushy feelings, I wish you a fulfilled life and that you find what you wish for.

Inoue Mariko

Shiori noticed that something was dripping on Inoue-san's letter, confused she lifted her hand to her face and realized that she was crying. With numb fingers, she put the letter down on Atsuka-san's desk, fuitely trying to keep her composure while more and more tears started to run down her face in rivulets. Shiori escaped a tiny sob and no matter how hard she tried to calm herself down, it only got worse, her sobs were now clearly audible in the room. All the grief, distress and confusion poured out of her, loss of face and dignity be damned.

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Heiji stood beside her, unsure what to do, he was part embarrassed, part empathetic. He knew Shiori-san as a level-headed, very polite young woman who strictly adhered to several in Konoha 'outdated' social customs that reminded him of his time in the capital. To see her lose her composure and cry was not something he had expected, nor wanted to witness again. He settled on moving the tissue box in front of the young woman and then left his office to get help from his secretary Mamoru-san. The plump mother of three took one look at Shiori and took the distressed young woman aside to comfort her. In any other situation, Mamoru-san's actions were terribly presumptious and could easily lead to the loss of a client, but there were times her consolation worked, and Atsuka was glad that he personally didn't have to deal with these kinds of outbursts.

It took Shiori-san some minutes to calm down and stop the tears from coming. As expected, the moment she had some of her composure back she apologized, mortified at her lack of decorum. Both adults politely accepted said apology and with that the topic was dismissed. Shiori-san wasn't the first person that had broken down in the office and she would surely not be the last one.
Atsuka agreed readily to take on Shiori-san as a new client, as well as the management of her properties and business. After she signed the standard contract she brought up the topic of the clan compound Inoue-san had left her, along with the warning. Atsuka felt his lips twitch, setting traps to teach trespassers a lesson was something he could see the late Inoue-san doing. He promised to contact the mission office about her intention to reopen the compound so that they could assign a proper mission. After another handful of formalities, he watched as the overwhelmed fifteen-year old girl left.

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Emotionally drained Shiori walked out of Atsuka's office, she was grateful that tomorrow was her day off and she wouldn't have to pull herself together for the public. It was barely five pm, not a time she usually went to sleep, but when she arrived in her flat she simply crawled into her bed on autopilot and slept late into the next morning, she was that tired.
Shiori resurfaced gradually from a confusing dream about Inoue-san, her parents and her grandmother. There was terrifiying a moment when she thought herself back in the tiny room in Kawa, alone and waiting for Fuji-san to arrive before she registered the, by now, familiar walls of her flat and relaxed back into her sheets. Shiori noticed the cold sweat that made her blankets stick to her skin and sighed deeply. Unwilling to leave the security of her sheets yet she ignored the sticky feeling while she pulled them further up and curled into a ball. Shiori was already on her way to develop a headache and she wasn't even completely up yet, maybe she should just stay in bed for the rest of the day. Then her eyes drifted to where she had placed the stack of papers Atsuka-san had provided her with and any thought of being lazy evaporated.

Inoue-san had made Shiori her sole heir.

The concept was so ludicrous that she had to read through the papers once again. Shiori had hoped for a small monentary contribution, Inoue-san had always been generous, so that she could realize her dreams sooner, but all of it? When Atsuka-san had shown her the numbers the day before Shiori had felt faint. She knew that Inoue-san was well-to-do, she had helped the older woman with some of her investments but these sums? Inoue-san had been the equivalent of a millionaire in Konoha! With this inheritance, Shiori would never again have to worry about her financial situation. To realize that after she had spent more than ten years in a state of hand to mouth with weeks and sometimes even months during which her family had to live in a near constant state of hunger was… it was both relieving and frightening. Shiori felt relief because now she had the financial security she had always craved ever since waking up with Eliza's memories and frightened because what if she did something inadvisable and lost everything again?

And then the name change! Only now the sheer magnitude of Inoue-san's stipulation hit Shiori. It was now on her to acquit herself in a way worthy of Inoue-san's family name, each of her actions would be connected to the small but proud shinobi clan that had been in Konoha since it's founding nearly sixty years ago. Shiori laughed hysterically while her fingers combed nervously through her long hair. Having that kind of responsibility pushed on her was intimidating! At least there was no dilemma about taking on the Inoue-name, after all her birth family didn't have a surname, so adding another was not a problem, or at least Shiori didn't consider it to be one. She suspected that her grandmother's birth family had one, but if that was true Shizuka-oba-san had never mentioned it.