Hokage Castle Complex

[Comatose]

In the center of Konohagakure lies an immense castle that looks very clearly different from everything else. Around the castle, several other small stone buildings dot a larger complex, though none of them feature a door. The architecture of these buildings, though familiar, leave an air of grandeur not seen in any other building around them. A small wall surrounds the larger castle complex - if only to stop it's encroachment into the main village, patrolled by masked ANBU who keep out anyone who is not authorized to be within. Those who are caught within the walls without this authorization are quickly sent to the oubliette.

While students all ninja of Konohagakure live here, receiving intense tutelage and the most lavish of lives as to show them how they could live. During their years as students they will never want for anything, never need for anything, and be allowed any of their worldly desires. However, upon graduating they are kicked out into the world - the village, and given nothing but a meager stipend to survive on. For power was key in Konoha, and until they showed their worthiness they did not deserve and would not see such lavish accommodations again.

---

The Castle

[Floor 5] - Kage Office

[Floor 4] - Jounin Quarters

[Floor 2] - Chuunin Quarters

[Floor 2] - Administration

[Floor 1] -  Behest Board

[Basement 1] - Underground Highway

ANBU Building

[Floor 2] ANBU Leader Office

[Floor 1] ANBU Administration

[Basement 1] ANBU Forward Command, Underground Highway

Academy Building

[Floor 4] Dormitory

[Floor 3] Dormitory

[Floor 2] Dormitory

[Floor 1] Training Rooms

[Basement 1] Training Rooms, Underground Highway

While roleplaying in this thread, please take care to note where you are, especially in relation to others, before you finalize any post.

[Comatose]

[attr="class","asato1"]

len'autre

[attr="class","asato2"]asato

[attr="class","asato1"] [attr="class","asatoicon"]

"I don't give a shit, I said make sure you get that shipment." The tone of my voice betrayed my calm face, displaying clearly my level of anger. Lately, there had been unusual happenings when it came to shipments of materials in and out of the village. The sources of our shipments - settlements to the east, had begun simply not providing as per agreements. They spoke of further negotiation, threatening to stop sending materials if we didn't agree to their terms. Normally this would be unfathomable, as the merchants would never think of angering a ninja village, but now they spoke of calling upon a third party, 'manji'. Who or what Manji were still was not known to us, and my own spy network of ninja across other villages told me that such was the case everywhere. It was becoming troublesome.

I turned quickly from my position viewing the courtyard below, facing the man who was in my office now, savoring his clearly pained expression. Yes, that's it, I thought, that's the face. There was a sudden explosion of color and chakra, as I shifted my form, turning from a solid entity into many hundreds of paper in a fleeting instant. The man had no chance to react, such was the limitation of normal individuals, and seemed to slow as my speed overtook him. I assembled myself directly in front of him with a sudden thrust of my hand forward, my knee coming up into his sternum as I took his throat into my hands. Feeble.

"I suppose you must be understanding your position now. You merchants think you have any negotiation power? You think I couldn't crush your larynx right here with less than a microcosm of effort?" I probably should have, but I didn't. I released the man, who gagged on his own saliva as he gasped for air, and dusted myself off. The two ANBU stationed outside my large office had come inside, and I could see their confused expressions even from underneath their masks. I nodded and they took him away - spared.

I did not have time to deal with the merchant further for I was expecting company, my wife. The duties of being a Kage and the hardship of descion-making should and never did distract me from my home life. I could be as stern and true as I was loving and faithful. With a large sigh, I moved back over to my desk, passing by the couch which sat next to the doorway out into the corridor. Things were happening now and there was no telling what. A nice vacation, if only for an hour or so - talking and being close with my wife, would do much to lighten my mood.

Shouldn't be long now.

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[addy-hime ♥]

As my foot fell upon the top stair that lead to the fifth floor, a distant sound made me pause; I steadied myself with a hand upon the wall. Someone was speaking in an angry tone, although not quite shouting. It was no uncommon occurrence for the Hokage to reprimand one of the townsfolk or a lesser shinobi, yet I felt my heart quicken its pace nonetheless. I hurried the rest of the way into the corridor, just in time to see two ANBU dragging a man from the office. I stepped aside as they passed me, feigning indifference, but noting the man's wide eyes and labored breathing. Once the trio had gone, I turned my attention back to the office and leisurely strolled through the door. I averted my gaze to the floor upon entering, humbling myself to any potential inhabitants of the room. In short order I sensed but one pair of eyes on me, and so tilted on my heel to direct my efforts to the Hokage's book case. I was intentionally ignoring him, with no real reason. A part of me wanted to see if he would broach the subject of the man without prompting. To give him time, I snatched a well-worn book and sat down upon the arm of the couch. Subject? Kuchiyose. I'd read this book many a time, but its contents never ceased to be interesting. Or, rather, I was quite good at making it look like the first page held the most amazing words I had ever the pleasure to read. I held the ruse for but a minute. My husband could likely smell my curiosity, so when I lifted my gaze to finally meet his gaze, I did not bother to conceal my expression. "I always seem to miss the fun, don't I? It is not so much fun to terrorize the Genin; they know that their lives are assured for a while longer. Yet you always seem to find someone to play with." Asato had seemed preoccupied of late. He had a tendency not to discuss important matters with me without some prodding, doubly so if he did not have all the information required. I snapped the book shut and tossed it onto the cushion next to me. "Alas, I am relegated to the sidelines again. There was not even a mission that could satisfy my craving for confrontation." That was the crux, wasn't it? The real root of the issue. I hadn't even realized it myself, but I was looking to pick a fight with him, if only to spice up the day. To soften the blow, I smiled at him, a cheshire cat's unsettling grin.

[Comatose]

[attr="class","asato1"]

len'autre

[attr="class","asato2"]asato

[attr="class","asato1"] [attr="class","asatoicon"]

Her aversion to me was instantly obvious as she entered the room, my eyes following her form as he walked over to the bookshelf and took out a book. She knew of course that the bookshelf harbored nothing fancy, being an amalgamation of things put in there for both quick reference and also 'bulking' up of the bookshelf. I had always meant to put more books in there that could be be of far more interest to me personally when I got a break, though it wouldn't matter as I never did quite get one.

I approached her slowly, stopping just short of the couch to look at her now, only speaking once she was done. "I didn't really want to do what I did... well that's a lie, that individual was an asshole even before he thought he had leverage. My point is, it was necessary because he needed to understand his lack of a position." I threw my hands in the air, my shoulders raising into something that resembled both confusion and fatigue concerning the situation. "Whatever the hell Majin is, has started to cause a real problem. Have you heard anything about it lately? I heard even the Genin are speaking about it now. The list of missing ninja has grown a full page since it's started to become a commonplace name."

Though I awaited her respond, I did not await invitation onto the couch, slipping next to her instantly and pulling her into an embrace - one arm going around her and bringing her in for closeness. Her warmth soothed me more than any other method could ever.

"And on the topic of Genin, missions, and the like. I told you that you should round up some Genin to make a team out of. I'm sure any would jump at the chance to both be taught by a Jounin and specifically you. Afterall, we teach them to seek advantageous positons and it isn't a secret we are married. They'll think they can get in with the boss if they follow you faithfully into battle."

I let a small smirk develop on my face, "They won't until later even know what they are getting into." The poor bastards.

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[addy-hime ♥]

"Mmm," I mumbled, the smile curling into more of a smirk as Asato pulled me close to him. He was clearly not going to rise to the bait easily, which was frustrating, but thoroughly predictable. Still, I could not deny how much I enjoyed his affection; I had no intention of pushing him away, and even snuggled closer. After a few moments of listening to him talk, I had relaxed so much as to wipe the expression from my face and close my eyes. "I considered the possibility of forming a team, but you know how attached I get. It's not quite as fun as tormenting the ones that I'm not responsible for. I will probably hold some kind of ... oh, I don't know, audition or test. There is no point in mentoring the weaker ones, after all." I intentionally avoided the subject of the man he threw out of his office, even though he asked me a direct question. In truth, I did not know much about Manji, and that embarrassed me - part of my duties as a Jounin and wife to the Hokage included gathering intel that he might not be able to get from the village at large. The villagers did not exactly trust me, but they had no reason to suspect anything strange from a disguised Kage Bunshin. I blew a breath of air from my nose, a quiet laugh directed at my own thoughts, but not entirely appropriate for the lull in our conversation. Really, though, I was just so very bored. I had spent the entire day doing paper work, as well as the day before that. None of the missions looked interesting or valuable, and the lower ranked shinobi were busy as bees. It fell upon my poor husband to help take out my pent up energy, and there were only two ways he could do that. Both were viable, sure, but the first could wait for a more appropriate time and place. My lips felt suddenly dry; I slowly licked them, and then pulled away, standing up from the couch. I turned to face him, tilting my head to the side, mimicking curiosity. "So, you're telling me you can't even get some information about Manji from a lowlife like the man you tossed away? I think being locked up in here is dulling your instincts." I raised my eyebrow at him.

[Comatose]

[attr="class","asato1"]

len'autre

[attr="class","asato2"]asato

[attr="class","asato1"] [attr="class","asatoicon"]

Naturally, I had considered the possibility that the man had info, but only for a fleeting moment. That merchant was quite simply too low order to know of anything of use about an organization like manji. In fact, I wasn't even still sure if it was an organization or a group way out of the negotiation deals we had done prior - everything we knew was conjecture.

"No, I think it was quite clear that he didn't have information. He was put in far too stressful of a spot and didn't seem like the type. If he knew something, anything, he thought was concrete he would have spilled it right there."

I lifted myself off the couch in one smooth bound, facing her for a moment. It was quite clear to me what she had wanted, and I knew she also knew that it was clear. I turned and walked back over to my desk suddenly and without word, stopping just before my legs met the end of the desk-table. My hands slammed down on the table with a sudden boom before I motioned a few handseals.Two bundles of paper floated about my frame, circling faster and faster before I too circled, turning back around to face her. My face was a clear comparison to my sudden mood shift, betraying my emotion of being angry - at least as much as one lover could be to another.

"Ohhh? Well. Show me if your instincts have been dulled by torturing hapless Genin over and over."

I fire the two paper shuriken off in her direction, not actually intending to hit her at all, but rather provoke an aggressive response.

The ANBU will be even more confused and have to do a lot cleanup after this one.

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[addy-hime ♥]

As usual, a minor insult was all it took to trigger the reaction I was looking for. Some might think our relationship strange, but there was a catharsis in skirmishes like these that drew us closer together in the end. After all, the circumstances of our meeting were not too different. As Asato slammed his hands upon his desk I could no longer hold back a broad grin; the excitement was welling up in my chest and my breathing had already quickened. He loosed his paper shuriken on me and I made no attempt to move or even shield myself from them, at least to the untrained eye. When they were about to hit, Asato would instead find that they had lodged in his desk chair. "Baby, I think you'll find that you have to be on guard around children who always want to play rough," I purred, allowing an angry inflection to the sentence - which was spoken from directly behind him. After the successful Kawarimi, I had begun forming handseals before taunting him, not wanting to give up my advantage too early. Then? Well, I exhaled. It would have been something of a gasp if not for the rush of chakra that surged through my system, to my lungs. I felt the spark of its power even as the air I blew out condensed into a cone, one that would pack enough destructive force to at least throw him against the opposite wall like a rag doll, if he was not able to move. I had not considered what Daitoppa would do to the building itself, but it was likely the walls would be able to stand up against my Fuuton techniques for a while. After all, I reasoned, the place didn't topple over with every thunderstorm. "Perhaps if you paid me some attention the past few days, you would know that I have been practicing my battle tactics in my free time. You've been so focused on your work and Manji that you hadn't thought to ask, much less offer to help. But I can show you."

[Comatose]

[attr="class","asato1"]

len'autre

[attr="class","asato2"]asato

[attr="class","asato1"] [attr="class","asatoicon"]

"Ooh, sneaky."

I spoke before immediately reacting to the sudden appearance of her behind me - it clear that she was there simply due to the sudden change in direction of her voice. My body leap into the air, spinning upon it's own tilted axis, before I miniaturized, becoming flat as paper. Controlling my own body relative to my area of influence, I continued to spin - backwards toward the door the thin width of my paper body pointing toward her. As her explosion of air ripped forth it would meet no resistance and instead my new body would simply 'cut' through it - the wind bending over my frame like the wings or empennage of an aircraft. Just as it did an explosion would ring out - my paper, combusting over my own will. The combination of the explosion and her own burst of wind would certainly produce a quick blast of debris and smoke, blasting first toward the wall and then back away toward her.

Though I was confident in the structural integrity of the castle, I was quite sure that it wouldn't be able to take such a blast - and it didn't. The entire wall in her direction - being an outside facing wall only connected to the exterior of the building would give.

I allowed all of this commotion to veil my digits, calling forth a massive wave of my own paper all in one go, my body still relatively '2D' due to my transformation, my hands holding the final seal. This wave of paper would most obviously be directed at my wife, though I was confident she would find a way to avoid all this.

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[addy-hime ♥]

Me, sneaky? Nah. I conceded that he was the sneaky one; he always had a way to escape even a minor blow such as this, and he always used it. Inevitable. Clearly, I should have seen that coming. "Tch." As his explosion and my wind combined, I flung my hands up as if to protect my face. However, this movement generated a gust of air that was mixed with my own chakra, albeit at a much higher concentration than before. It was a bit literal of me to use kazekaeshi to redirect the blast, but I could think of no other protective action. Thus, the center of the concussive force would be deflected back at him with the same intensity that it had come for me. To my left and my right the walls of the tower exploded outward, sunshine streaming in only to be obscured by the dust and debris created when the wall hit by the deflected blast exploded, too. We were playing a dangerous game of wind tennis inside a cramped space, and at this rate it would be an innocent bystander who would receive the brunt of the damage. Well, and the building, but who really cared? The reflected explosion would likely delay his counterattack, but I had no plans to stay rooted in one place. As the debris covered the air my body would fade from existence, seeming to disappear on the spot. I shunshined to my rear and over the edge of the broken wall, but did not fall into the gaping abyss of the daylight. Rather, I kept a constant movement speed, running, running - down the wall.

[Comatose]

[attr="class","asato1"]

len'autre

[attr="class","asato2"]asato

[attr="class","asato1"] [attr="class","asatoicon"]

I guess I'm lucky I didn't switch back, I spoke to myself. I had never intended for things to escalate to this extent, not really realizing the true damage I would cause. While I knew my wife could handle everything I had thrown at her I could tell it been taken too far. I did not attempt to dodge her redirection even upon noticing it but rather took it - accepting whatever pain that would come with it for sake of ending the quarrel. Though I was knocked with quite some force it did not deter my handseals, and thus my paper still wrought forth.

"Stop!" Since there was no longer an explosion ringing about, I had hoped it would reach her ears.

Two separate waves rushed out from my frame, covering portions of the room and folding into the damage sections to take the place of anything that had been damaged - going so far as to replace things entirely. Similarly, once these papers reached the edges of the building they would begin the reconstruction, some literally pulling the exploded wall sections together like a sort of binding agent fueled by chakra. All of this was difficult - but not impossible, afforded to affluent levels of chakra control and shikigami mastery.

Had she heeded my call, we would find ourselves back in a relatively identical room - everything replaced and upon inspection the same, down to how soft the sofa felt. It was midday and the Academy students would be training now - explosions a mere backdrop for their lives up until this point, the ANBU that had led the merchant away hadn't returned, everyone was out on missions and the room had been reconstructed. Things had been reset to a relative norm, though my chakra reserves and body had sustained a notable blow. Luckily, such things could be veiled when one able to switch from human to paper form and back.

"So, I love you?" I smiled, though recognized she would most definitely be somewhat unhappy.

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[addy-hime ♥]

Stop! I barely heard him over the din caused by our fight, but my body seemed to react almost subconsciously, my foot frozen in the air during its preparation to flee. It was perhaps for the best, because then I saw his paper crash against what was left of the wall like a wave, creating a new one in its wake. Really, it was handy to have this ability. The lower ranks would hardly tolerate our squabbles if they needed to pay more taxes every time we rebuilt this office. I set my foot down and relaxed my arms at my side, wiggling my fingers tentatively. Chakra and adrenaline still surged through my body, as I had been preparing to use it but seconds earlier to make my escape. I blinked and refocused my vision on him, unsurprised to see him looking relatively unruffled. I could feel the dirt settled over my skin and the disheveled state of my hair; I lifted a hand and ran it through the pink locks, hoping to regain some of my composure. "...I love you too," the response eventually came. Post-argument, my woes and frustrations always seemed much more trifle than beforehand. Sometimes I felt embarrassed, but usually not. Everyone had different ways of communicating; this was ours, and it had worked well for us all these years. Still... "Sorry." I walked over to him, slowly, cautiously, and extended my arms for a hug. However, I did not close the distance fully, because I wanted to see where his reaction stood. For him, the anger I provoked did not always go away when we stopped before the crescendo of our fight. Surely he was still pissed that I had even taunted him to begin with. "You haven't paid me much attention lately. You've been so busy. I thought perhaps this might force you."

[Comatose]

[attr="class","asato1"]

len'autre

[attr="class","asato2"]asato

[attr="class","asato1"] [attr="class","asatoicon"]

There was obviously no way I would not return her hug, despite the fact her apprehension was somewhat logically motivated. I had meant what I said and no amount of fighting or any such thing would change that. So I merged the gap between our forms and embraced her as hard as I could, still a bit weakened despite my look. I allowed the hug to linger for quite a while, breaking it only to reply to her directly to her face rather than over her shoulder.

"You aren't wrong. ." I noted, my voice lowering a bit due to feeling a bit bad of it myself. My hand rose to my head in a sort of frustration, attempting to relieve my mind of all the tension in order to relax a bit. There had been so much going on to tend to I had even had the chance to have a good night sleep in weeks. Not to mention, this was in our well-ordered village - I could only imagine how it would be to a Kage of some much more liberal village.

"I'm sorry. So much has been happening lately, especially because of these Manji and now . . that. I even had made a mission to investigate and possibly protect it for our own use--- a group of Genin took up the offer. In reality, it was probably a death sentence. "

Though nobody had been able to make heads or tails of what it was the giant light cascading down to the earth from the heavens clearly held significance. My own intelligence reported that whatever it was held great power, for even arriving within thousands of meters of it our sensor could detect the faint glow of it's chakra and hear it's low humming. That was another thing too, ever since it had appeared there had been that god-awful hum, low and just audible enough to drive me crazy.

In reality, I was doing everything I could to make sure everything with smoothly within Konoha even given if some sort of horrible catastrophic happened. Though, it wasn't much to protect a loved one who wasn't happy with the circumstances of life in the first place.

"I obviously don't blame you for wanting to incite something after all this time."

FADE TO BLACK.

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[Hecatus]

Floor 1 – Behest Board

Heeding the kage’s words, Jack would swiftly return to the castle complex. Upon arriving at the first floor, he’d approach the administration desk in order to officially report his team’s successful venture. Leaving out specifics, he’d instead state that the village leader had been directly informed, saving himself much unwanted paperwork. More likely than not, it’d go unquestioned since very few were willing to lie to such an extent due to its equivalence of being a death sentence were one caught. “Please add the necessary funds to each squad mate’s account as well as to Masafumi Sarutobi's.”

With that? He’d proceed to go about his own business.

/exit
PS: Please give EXP for posts in the gate thread as well!  [x]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Mission Completed}Investigate - New Threat
Rank: S
Description: It goes without question that anyone can see the giant pillar of light in the sky. Taking this mission, a mission of utmost importance, tasks you the Konoha-nin to leading our glorious country to greater understanding of the phenomenon. Go and investigate this pillar of light. At all cost. Special correspondence will be made to you when you take this mission, a letter from the most glorious Hokage.
Restrictions: None.
Rewards: 75 EXP, 5000 RYO

vegapunk Anmida Axcel

OOC: Ya'll don't have to post here, Ace just told me to cash in for all of us.

[addy-hime ♥]

Hecatus, vegapunk, Anmida, Axcel
+ 75 exp & 5,000 ryo each.

[Comatose]

"It's done." If you want real results you got to do things yourself.