Bycrest wrote:Acroticus wrote:"Hm?" Zankuro was confused but only for a moment; his mind quickly caught pace with reality. The puppeteer had been inside the entire time! That was why he couldn't find him. Zankuro listened carefully to the man's words, but they filled him with anger.
"Your puppet! That's what you're worried about?!?!" Zankuro lifted his arm to reveal his burnt right hand. "You toasted my with a flamethrower, but you're worried about your puppet!" Zankuro sneered before he continued. "And a bounty hunter? Pffft. I'm a ninja from Kumogakure not some paid bounty hunter! I approached you because I suspected you of illegally entering this village, with the intent of harming those within it. And you turned around and attacked me!"
Zankuro pulled his trident from the ground, and slowly approached the man who emerged from the puppet.
"Now tell me; who are you and why are you here?" As he said these words, he raised the Kinzotora, pointing it towards the man.
"Well of course I'm worried about my puppets. There are tons of medical ninja that can fix a burnt hand, there are only so many puppet masters in the entire world that can help with this mess. And getting your hand fixed will defiantly cost less than rebuilding and entire suit of armor."Maris moved over to his ruined puppet, completely ignoring the other man. "Also, there are, or were, a bunch of people entering the village. Why single me out as a suspicious character, huh? The only reason I attacked you was because I thought you were a hunter, that's completely justifiable, not so much for your case. As for who I am, I'm-"
"That will be quite enough, Maris." Maris was cut short by a voice calling out from down the road. It was the Kazekage who had left Suna earlier in the day to make it to Konoha and meet with the Hokage. Zenko wasn't expecting to see his agent fighting with a member of the Shinobi Union task force. Zenko and his guards walked over to where the two men were, his guards moving to help Maris gather the pieces of the destroyed puppet.
"This man is a special agent I employee to keep an eye on places I cannot go. He was currently assigned to scout out the Leaf for any potential danger. To see the task force here only heightens my suspicions and shows that there is reason to be on alert. Come with me to the Hokage's mansion and brief me on the situation." Without another word, the Kazekage started walking into the village with Maris and his guards in tow. He expected the task force operative to follow as well.
Zankuro Masoka
Konohagakure, The Land of Fire"Whaaaa?" Zankuro was surprised to see the Kazekage show up suddenly, only to protect that man that had just barbecued his right hand! But the Kazekage did appear to be legitimate; he had the requisite retainers, and clearly moved as an accomplished ninja. Zankuro had no choice but to submit. He grabbed the Kinzotora and placed it on his back once again. As the Kazekage began to walk away, Zankuro ran after them.
"Lord Kazekage, this man is really one of your associates? But he... he's clearly not... I mean he attacked... I apologize for my stuttering." It was at this point that Zankuro had realized he had been very rude. "I apologize again, Lord Kazekage. My name is Zankuro Masoka of Kumogakure. I am part of the task force, as you suspected, charged with protecting Konohagakure. I would be happy to brief you on what has been happening in the village, but I was hoping you would be able to tell me more about why you had this rogue attack me in the streets!" Zankuro shot Maris a look.
Kazuo Namura
Cloud Tower, AmegakureHitori Yoshinaga was a very old man. As a young man, he had joined the force trying to revitalize the Rain Village, and successfully became its leader. He won over the hearts of all the people, and, with the help of the Rebirth, brought life back into Amegakure. He was given Cloud Tower, the tallest tower in the village, as the administrative building from which he did all his work. He reformed the Amegakure secret ops, known as the ANBU, and worked with thousands of citizens and shinobi alike. World renown as a great medical ninja, he had put his powers to work for good for his community and country.
How the mighty had fallen. Hitori now lay on a bed on the top floor of Cloud Tower, struggling to move. Now in his seventies, he appeared to be far older. He looked sicklier than anyone Kazuo had ever seen. Kazuo himself felt honored that he was close enough to the great leader to be among the few that he interacted with daily, but working in his vicinity always depressed him. Kazuo owed Hitori everything he had, from his powers to his position to his standing in the community. As a medical ninja, he had been trained by Hitori to a significant extent, although he was never able to achieve Hitori’s proficiency.
Together, these two men sat, awaiting a special guest whom neither of them thought would arrive. The guest’s name was Reiko Yoshinaga, the granddaughter of old Hitori. She was reckless, ambitious, and obnoxious; Reiko was often late for meetings, or skipped them entirely. Ever since she had assembled her own ANBU squad, she had been reluctant to interact with others in the village. Kazuo didn’t much mind her not showing up, however. He had been friends with her, but that was a long time ago. She had grown obstinate, and fought against him at every turn. He had begun to avoid her as much as he could, to his own dismay.
As Kazuo was thinking this, he heard the doorknob klick. The door opened, revealing Reiko herself, still in her ANBU uniform. Her short green hair was so familiar to Kazuo, and as much as he had wanted to avoid her, he was admittedly happy to see her. He and Hirito smiled as she entered the room.
“Grandfather,” she began as she walked over to Hirito’s side. “You wanted to see me?” She spoke in monotone, very official. Kazuo thought that this was an odd tone to take with her grandfather, but did not want to say anything about it.
“Reiko,” Hirito replied. “So good to s… see you. Please come here; I want to talk with you about something.” Reiko nodded and silently sat in an empty chair at Hirito’s side, across from Kazuo. She glanced over at Kazuo, shooting him a look as if he didn’t belong. Kazuo furrowed his brow to show confusion, but did not show anything else. She quickly turned back to her grandfather when he continued speaking. “You know that I have not been well… not for some time. My illness is progressing; we still don’t know what it is, and even with all the help from my own jutsu, as well as Kazuo, I cannot live in perpetuity. As such, we have begun planning for what happens when I’m gone.” Reiko remained quiet, but nodded along as her grandfather spoke.
“I have worked my entire life to bring Amegakure back from the ruins of the past. This village and those within are dear to me. It is important to me that I choose the right person to protect the village. My successor needs to be willing to spend the rest of their days in this Tower, working to serve the people. As such, I have decided that… that Kazuo will be the next leader of Amegakure.”
As Hitori said these words, Reiko’s face visibly twitched. Both Kazuo and Hitori knew that Reiko had wanted to follow her grandfather. But both of them also knew she didn’t have the proper temperament to lead the village. With the world in the state it was in, the larger nations fighting the Rebirth, the Village Hidden in the Rain would need to be led by someone with a steady hand. Kazuo wasn’t sure he was the right man, but he knew that Reiko was not. She was justifiably unhappy. Kazuo guessed that she wanted to scream and cry, but she maintained her composure and nodded along. When Hitori was finished, Reiko thanked him, and left. Kazuo stood to leave as well, but was called back by Hitori.
“Kazuo. Come sit with me a moment longer.” Kazuo turned around and nodded to Hitori, as he returned to his seat.
“What is it, Lord Hitori?”
“It’s about Reiko; you know she won’t be happy with this arrangement. I fear that she may try to take the village from you. I thought it would be important for you to be prepared for this eventuality.”
“You don’t have to worry! You’ve trained me well. I’m sure I’ll be able to handle it with what you’ve left me. After all, you dealt with much worse circumstances.”
“That may be true, Kazuo. But nevertheless, I would still like to give you one last thing: the Curse Mark.”
“Lord Hitori, you don’t have enough chakra! Even if you did, it would take away from the jutsu keeping you alive. It could reduce the time you have left significantly! And..”
“I’m aware of the risks, Kazuo. But this way I can protect you long after I’m gone. I’ve made my decision.” Kazuo nodded and removed himself from the chair.
“At least let me give you some chakra.” Hitori nodded, and Kazuo knelt to the ground. From his bed, Hitori weaved several hand seals before placing both of his hands on Kazuo’s neck. Kazuo felt a sharp pain, like a needle, and the curse mark appeared on his skin: three, curved dots in black. Kazuo stood, rubbing his neck, looking down over Hitori.
“Thank you.”
“Of course, Kazuo. Now, we need to discuss the remains of my compound…”