What this boiled down to, essentially, was a walk in the park. Tetsu knew where Nakamura could be found, it wasn't exactly difficult to find any named shop within the village, and the shopkeeper, except for his beard, was making no actual effort to hide. So, wait till the shop closed, watch the man leave, follow him home to whatever shack he lived in, break in, shave the beard. Only the last part would potentially cause him any trouble, but even that could be circumvented by putting the man into a deep Genjutsu based sleep. Easy peasy chicken wheezy.
Boy, the man must have been making a run for the kage position too. This level of humility was actually brilliant enough that Tetsu just couldn't help but respect it. First, Nakamura successfully quelled what was apparently a very serious threat of revolt from somewhere within the country (he hadn't really focused too intensely on the specifics, given the relatively straightforward nature of the mission), and then actually seriously avoids rewards and thanks by hiding out in the village. Of course he'd know that he'd be discovered eventually, but it wasn't so transparent that you might guess it without giving it some semi-serious thought. Modesty and foresaking appreciation; for some reason, these were the qualities that the stupid unwashed masses valued above all else in the designation of their king. Mobs were unbelievably easy to manipulate, all you had to do was think without using any of your logical faculties to understand them, designing your narrative accordingly.
Night fell while Tetsu was resentfully appreciating Nakamura's strategy; he was tempted even to wake him and just fill him in on the whole thing, maybe getting some PR advice in the process, something that some would argue the boy was in dire need of. As he was standing over the man's bed, he thought better of it and started to weave some handseals together, but the man, seemingly directly from sleep, reached out to grab his wrist. It didn't matter much, Tetsu literally had the power to sing him to sleep, and most people would fall under his spell without much trouble. Regardless though, the boy's curiosity, as usual, overwhelmed his professionalism. "Listen, this all looks suspicious, I know, but council just wants to thank you, and I don't really care enough to tell anyone you knew about this de-bearding." At first the man looked at Tetsu confusedly, and the boy became aware of the fact that Nakamura was not privy to his train of thought leading up to this moment, and was likely trying to decipher what very likely simply seemed like lunacy. He went on, "You're Kyoto Nakamura, right?" The man feigned a slight undercurrent of distress, "Yes." He was good.
"So, time for your great unveiling. I am really curious what kind of position you're aiming for in the village, I'd like to give you some support if I'm able to."
"Wait, wait, wait." He seemed to be struggling to find some words, and Tetsu was growing less hopeful by the minute that the man would accept someone as their confidant who had snuck into his house when he was sleeping. "They don't know for sure that I'm Nakamura, right?"
"I really don't care and I've made up my mind on what I believe here, you really don't have to continue with the show. It's not going to change anything."
"Okay, it's just a show then, but I can pay you to just leave."
"How much and why?"
"I have two hundred thousand ryo I can give you."
"And why?"
"Does it really matter?"
"I won't even consider your request unless you tell me."
"I don't want anything, please. Don't make me take it. I'll have to kill myself if you do."
"Not that that would stop me, but why?"
"Have you ever killed someone?"
"Are you talking about the leader of the revolt? You've never killed anyone before that?"
"No. Have you?"
"Well, no."
"I watched him die. He wasn't a leader of a revolt then, he wasn't anything else. He looked at me, and... He knew he was going to die then, there was nothing left. I could feel his regret. He was afraid, and alone. He wasn't anything but a person dying, knowing that he shouldn't have been there."
"Well, he would have done the same to a lot of people if you had let him live." There was a pause following this, but the man's eyes were still. He didn't appear to be searching for some response, but one seemed to bubble to the surface after a few seconds.
"You won't understand yet, but then you'll never be able to forget. Listen, drop being a shinobi if you can, nothing is worth it. You've been lied to."
"Well, I'm not going to do that, but I appreciate your concern."
"I tried."
"Listen, I'm somewhat inclined to believe you, but why would you stick around? You could have left, I'm sure."
"I couldn't bring myself to betray the village. I know, none of it makes sense to me either, but I just couldn't do it. I guess I'm just soft now."
"Yeah, anyway." Tetsu responded after a moment's contemplation, holding the man down and shaving off his beard. The man struggled at first, but soon gave in, knowing that the knowledge of who he was would be out there now with or without his disguise.
