Hokage Castle Complex

[Comatose]

I was not of course without my own ulterior motives even besides the idea of killing the quartet. Throwing Aneun into dangerous situations was as purposeful as it was tactical, a ploy to unlock his gifts. Dojutsu were exceedingly powerful - almost like artifacts or relics in my eyes, something that needed be horded and safeguarded, a perfect deterrent for strikes from any enemy. The mission reports detailed nothing more of his progress, which was opposite of what I had wished. My index finger raised to my eye, pointing to it.

"Eyes. Sharingan. Your growth is much too slow. I have promoted you as a boon to your efforts but also as a reason to throw you into far greater frays. ."

I stood up and presented my arms, opening them as I looked idly to the ceiling for a moment.

"Your eyes beget your true nature for destruction, Aneun. They are Konoha's as much as your own and we need to use them and as they are now they are hardly of use."

My right hand balled into a fist as I lowered my left back down to my side, shaking my head some.

"And if your usefulness ever ceases to reach the measure I've assigned to you, you'll be discarded understand?"

The Uchiha which had grown into their Sharingan had always been a feral lot, biting at one another's heels unless properly curbed. Aneun was no different. The logs and accounts of their battles showed me the definite pattern of his continued self-righteous behavior. Soon the curse of Uchiha would come to him as it does all of them, the lust for power and emotional disability that came with such lust. I'd use him up before then.

[Anmida]

"Discarded?" He thought to himself as he smirked at the Hokage's words. While his reaction could be seen as contempt towards Asato's threat, it was not regarding the thought of being discarded that he smirked at. Rather, he found the situation amusing as this was not the first time he'd been discared; having been done so twice in his life. Such threats held no sway over his actions nor would they command any form of loyalty to the one before him.

Placing his left arm behind his waist with the right in front of his belly, Aneun bowed slightly to Asato; his calm demeanor taking hold once again before speaking. "Why of course, Lord Hokage. My power is at your disposal." A blatant lie and one he did not even attempt to hide. Both men knew neither would succumb to the other in this lifetime but instead opted to use one another for as long as they could. For now, Aneun would act as any trustworthy soldier would. He would allow himself to be used; allow himself to be trained and made into a beast among beasts. But as any beast, he would one day bare his fangs. And only then will destruction follow but not in a manner known to most. The raw form of destruction his brethren so enjoyed was too simple, too clean for the Uchiha. He wanted much more.

"My life and will for Konoha." He said as he rose from his bow. Another lie but this one covered by half-truths making it impossible to differentiate from a lie. He would indeed give life and limb for Konoha but what the village meant to him is a whole nother mystery. "If I am to increase my power, a fitting mission is required. What would you have me do?"

[Comatose]

The farce was tiring, and I could see reciprocation on that fact just by looking at Aneun's face. I wasted no further time on my monologue, sitting back in my chair and returning back to my relaxing position. The pieces were slowly fitting together on the next move, though even myself didn't know exactly what. That was a thing people didn't quite understand, planning was all fine and good but staying truly spur-of-the-moment afforded to an indispensable ability to act suddenly and seemingly without caution.

"I got a report some time ago from the Kage-replacement detailing a confrontation between himself and someone else within Kiri's Gates. Go there and take team Akuseru when you can. Figure out what happened. I've marked the location within your World Recorder."

I suspected that something had gone on there that would be of interest due to the report I had gotten recording that the confrontation led to the death of the Tsuchikage. How in the world did that happen? I didn't even know what to think about it and continuing to think on the matter had left me confused. Attack us? Such gall.

"If you find anything of interest, a body, or anything - bring it here. All of it."

I emphasized the notion due to the disappearance of a bag of money in the previous mission. My hand waved dismissively before I leaned back, returning to my relaxation.

[SCENE EXIT]

[Chomachi Akimichi]

Chomachi Akimichi had cleaned himself up after dropping off the herbs and antlers at the shop, no longer was his clothes and skin splattered with dried bits of blood as he made his way to the front desk of the complex. In his hand was a note from the shop that he had left sealed, not wanting to know what fate would befallen him. Still his hopes were up and he was satisfied with the job he had done as he approached the desk.

"Hello," His voice coming with a slight nervousness of having done this for the first time since becoming a genin," I got a note from the herbs shop about the mission they requested. Um, where do I take it?"

His inquiry declared with the lifting of the tied scroll in hand as to show that he indeed had what he said he did.

[Anmida]

Hearing the details of the mission handed him, Aneun answered with but a nod as his mind contemplated the details given to him. While not privy to information regarding other countries, for there to already be an invader on the recently destroyed Mist seemed odd. What could anyone gain from attacking a rundown city bereft of its resources and military power. Even its leaders were nothing but puppets playing along to Konoha's tune. Nevertheless, a mission was given and he would deal with it as he always did; shove the responsibility onto someone else should things go bad.

And the game was afoot! Performing a one-eighty turn, he walked away from the Hokage's presence with but a grin on his face. As he walked, his arms waved to and fro wave in a seemingly random manner. In truth, he was dancing and moving to his inner tune and acting similar to a composer orchestrating the opening melody of a concert. "Not yet. Not yet. Not. . . yet." He thought to himself as he carried along.

/Exit.

[Axcel]

Chomachi awarded.

Anmida: 53 EXP

Asato: 58 EXP

[Axcel]

Akuseru gulped as he traversed the halls of the Hokage Complex. He had completed the task given to him. Hell, he had even gone above and beyond by completing additional missions! Yet stress was what consumed him, not triumph or victory. Only fear. Fear of the Hokage discovering their. . . Lack of professionalism. Sure, they completed the mission exactly as specified by the Hokage himself, but as a shinobi of Konohagakure, Akuseru doubted that their merciless leader would have enjoyed hearing the finer details.

"Maybe we should become nuke-nin. . .?" Akuseru whispered as he turned to his more rational teammate, Jack. The idea of becoming nuke-nin was something Akuseru always brought up whenever the fear of failure had come up. Disappearing forever was much easier than facing the Hokage after all. Even though Jack had trained him on how to pin point any blame onto Aneun while avoiding fault himself, Akuseru couldn't help but feel nervous. Having three mouths had made Jack a god at bullshitting, at least that was the conclusion the Genin had come to.  Bringing the Tsuchikage in a pinata as a disguise (while repeatedly dropping it), Aneun taking most of her ryo, consuming Iwagakure's forbidden scrolls—they were all unnecessary details. That was how his teammate had explained it anyways.

The Genin approached the secretary outside of Asato's office, bear shaped pinata in hands. He took one deep breathe, calming himself and wearing an expression far too blank for someone as easily excitable as Akuseru.

"Team Akuseru here—we were told to meet with the Hokage directly for this mission."

[Hecatus]

You know… the bear shaped piñata seemed like an excellent idea at the time. And by that time, Jack had perhaps downed one too many drinks before making his purchase. That said, the object now within Akuseru’s hands left a deeply innate and lingering feeling of regret that one could only describe as attrition. The mere thought of seeing Asato’s face when presented with their so called mission objective made him cringe in his boots, causing more than usual discomfort when contemplating the idea of visiting the Hokage.

Though the mission as a whole could be considered a success, the professionalism in executing such a task was far from it. From the bottom of his heart, the Chuunin sincerely hoped that his comrades would stick to the plan of feigning ignorance regarding several key details – not just for his own sake, but rather for everyone’s wellbeing. Considering who his team mates were however, the man didn’t count on it. Already thinking up several excuses to exclude himself from the fiasco of a looting spree that had occurred, Jack absentmindedly followed his squad leader while proceeding down the complex’s halls.

Halting just short of the secretary’s desk and positioned to the back left of Akuseru, he’d finally snap back to reality before sighing once and finishing his mental preparations. Regardless of how much he braced himself, these sort of ordeals were always unpleasant at best.

[Anmida]

Another mission, another report to the Hokage. Not much had changed since Asato handed them the mission and that worried Aneun. The Kage gave the mission to increase their overall power and yet he remained mostly the same. His teammates had at least learned a skill of use - that would not be reported - but nevertheless, they gained some semblance of power whereas he had remained more or less the same. Even the so-called 'special eyes' he had did not change much, nor were they actually as useful as he was led to believe, or at least he had not seen their true worth yet. He knew the Hokage had some plan for his bloodline ability, but with how slowly they were progressing, he wondered if the Hokage would not just behead him, and use his eyes in some other manner. And that train of thought worried him more.

Frantically trying to think of solutions to his problem only served to give him a headache and him left with no choice but to do what he always did in such situations, go with the flow. As in try and throw his teammates under the figurative guillotine should he need to save his own ass. Some ass kissing might go a long way for the newly appointed Chuunin.

"Nuke-Nin? You think we'd survive if we did? I doubt it." The thought of going missing had always plagued their minds, but it had never been a real option for them. They, at least never actually thought deeply on the matter. The idea of going missing would only serve to focus Asato's focus on them instead of on other matters he likely had to deal with. And that would not bode well for the dastardly trio.

Standing parallel to Jack and to Akuseru's back right, Aneun continued to contemplate over his worries but would show no emotion on the matter. All the thinking in the world would not be enough for him to predict Asato's reactions, and that fell in line with his method of 'going with the flow.' While he did worry about the manner of transport they had used to move the body of the Tsuchikage, he hoped the Hokage would simply see it as amusing -- highly doubtful.

[Comatose]

The very walls shifted backward as the wall that separated the hallway and the office disappeared, the entire floor dragging the three forward into the room like a giant moving platform. The secretary itself simply merged with the floor as if genjutsu, an illusion of well placed paper. I had been awaiting their report for too long now, contemplating if they had finally actually died. I myself wasn't quite sure if I would prefer that over their oddity.

My arms folded together my sleeves obscuring them from view as I turned in my chair, looking at the three. Going from each one of them left to right it was hard to ignore Akuseru's pinata - ever the jokester. My brow raised as I pointed to it, noting the boy's expressionless gaze.

"The fuck. . is that?" I spoke bluntly, before my right hand raised to my face, my palm covering it briefly. Somehow I had hoped that our previous private conversation would have taken him away from these weird antics. I was wrong.

"Never the matter. Report. What happened out at that pile of rubble once called the Gates of Kirigakure?"

I had spent a few idle minutes of each day since their departure wondering what could have possibly happened to spring Oyaji into action. The report clearly spoke of Oyaji fighting with an individual, but the only man's mind had degraded to the point where he couldn't quite remember who it was - or that's what he wrote anyway.

[Axcel]

AHHHHHHH! Akuseru's heart raced while he began internalizing all of his fears when his surroundings began to change. It took all of his willpower to resist breaking the zen-like expression he had forced himself to wear during his meeting with the Hokage. As he entered the office, the Hokage would see a Akuseru who had an emotionless expression yet was sweating bullets.

"Uhh, that was Jack's idea." Akuseru tossed the bear shaped pinata that carried the dead Tsuchikage away from himself. It was an immediate reaction upon seeing the Hokage look at the Genin before face palming. The pinata, already having taken a severe beating due to Akuseru's clumsiness during their travels, would crack open and the late Tsuchikage would slump out of the figurative carcass. The boy's eyes slowly shifted towards the broken pinata carrying the Tsuchikage before pausing and then shifting back towards the Hokage.

"The body we brought back belongs to Iwagakure's Kag—former Kage." Akuseru began his report as if what had just occurred required no explanation and was perfectly normal. "By examining the scene for clues using Aneun's Sharingan and myself having taken a look at the damage done, we concluded that their was a short fight at the gates between her and a powerful Taijutsu user." Akuseru had turned towards his teammates to see if there was anything they had to add. If they didn't speak within a few seconds then he would continue with his report.

"We assumed it was the interim Kage you placed in Kirigakure. He wasn't immediately available and I prioritized recovering and returning the body of the former Tsuchikage to Konoha so we did not wait around," Perhaps getting the full story out of the interim was more important, but Akuseru did not want to linger around foreign lands for long while carrying the corpse of a Kage. If the Hokage had gone missing, it was likely all of Konoha would have been mobilized just to find him. Unsure if Iwagakure would have reacted similarly to the disappearance of their leader, Akuseru decided not to take chances. The risks weren't worth it.

To defeat a Kage with such little effort. . . Akuseru could only imagine who Asato had placed in Kirigakure as the interim leader. His imagination began to wander as he attempted to picture what kind of monster the interim Kage must have been.

[Hecatus]

Eyes widening curiously at the magical rearrangement of the floor, Jack‘s jaw dropped slightly at the spectacle before him. Rather than the Hokage’s office, it was more fitting to claim that this was his domain. From what the lad could tell, everything was made of paper, shifting to Asato’s will as if his own dimension. Were invaders to somehow reach this deep into the sanctum, chances were high they’d get no further. His awe was short lived however upon hearing their leader’s surprise at the piñata.

Face displaying a bit of discomfort at Akuseru’s statement, he’d continue to listen patiently while their squad presented the mission report. Seeing how the young genin had paused to allow for any additional details, the dark haired lad cleared his throat quietly before coloring their adventure more fully. “We can confirm the Tsuchikage’s identity through several means. The description matches that of the individual we reported about on a prior mission. Following suit with our suspicions, her hand also had the same marking we bear… however it’s faded since then. She also had the hat. Everything matches up save for the additional four arms. We’re assuming those were hidden at the time.”

Allowing for Akuseru to finish his snippet, he’d continue to stand silently behind the youth. It was only after the boy had grown silent did the Chuunin continue. “The corpse was transported in this manner due to… extenuating circumstances. As Akuseru said, lingering around to analyze the corpse increased the threat of interfering third parties. Instead, the squad opted to relocate. Since carrying around our mission objective in broad daylight has its own troublesome implications, we made do with what was available. Carrying cases used for normal travel were too small considering the increased volume due to the extra extremities. In order to preserve the body as best we could… we opted for a more unorthodox method.”  In hindsight, perhaps the trio should have ditched the pinata after safely entering Konoha's gates.  Unfortunately the trio was too short sighted to have thought of such. 

Shooting a brief darting glance at the two beside him, he’d attempt to gauge Asato’s reaction to their explanation. Hopefully he’d find it acceptable.

[Anmida]

"Not this shit again." Aneun said as the room around them began to shift and change, dragging them into the office where Asato waited. The paper-made office, and fake secretary brought an all familiar feeling, and a heavy sense of deja vu. In his previous meeting with the Hokage, a similar event had taken place where Asato disguised himself as a secretary with his paper skills, and successfully scared the crap out of the newly appointed Chuunin. With the Hokage's tendency to play around with his paper skills, Aneun made a mental note to always have his Sharingan activated when visiting their mad leader.

As the pinata hit the ground, and revealed the body of the deceased Tsuchikage, Aneun could not help but laugh. He quickly realized the situation he was in after his first peep, however, stifling his laughter rather unsuccessfully as his mumbled laughter could still be heard by a trained ear. The thought of how a Kage had ended up in such a decrepit state amused him, as he wondered if one day he would see Asato in a similar manner. He would, however, push his thoughts aside to contemplate his thoughts as his teammates spoke.

Once Jack finished his initial report, Aneun chimed in some minor information only he was privy to. "I must say, I saw quite the aftermath with my Sharingan. Though the battle was short, quite a bit of chakra had been expended by whoever fought the Tsuchikage. The Kage, however, barely used any. Judging from the multiple arms, and unique chakra infused threads I found at the scene, she is likely of the Sasanagi." A name Aneun had only heard in passing from his time in the Uchiha district. As a large number of his clansmen worked in the police force, they were privy to all sorts of rumors and gossip from the local townsfolk. And said gossip was always spoken about drunkenly at the local restaurants in the Uchiha district that he frequented. So he'd heard of clans that emulated spiders but never knew it was to such an extent.

"From what I could tell from the residual chakra, she barely put up a fight which is odd for a Kage. Not to mention she held the same gift we all received during that strange event." He said while presenting the backside of his right hand to show the strange seal present. "While it did fade, it happened sometime after her death which is strange. But I guess this means this thing isn't as powerful as we thought. Her opponent must have been crazy strong or she was weak, but then how did she became Kage I wonder. I thought all of you guys were supposed to be powerful?" He commented to Asato, forgetting the situation he was in and who it was he was talking to. Realizing a tad too late, he cleared his throat and averted his gaze from the Hokage, but kept visual contact via the corner of his eye; hands shoved into their respective pockets nervously.

[Comatose]

My legs folded over one another as I leaned back into my chair, one leg placing itself upon my table with the other subsequently upon it. The explanation was not far from what I had expected beyond the most glaring detail of the former Tsuchikage being involved. Oyaji - strong as he was, wasn't one for fighting anymore as his glory days were behind him. Every single time he donned his merit upon his shoulders and fought it took a bit out of him, bringing him closer to his ever looming deathbed. At his age he wasn't far from it. Logically, he wouldn't have fought unless he was attacked first or there was good reason, but why would either of those situations have come to fruition?

"I see. While I believe what you're telling me, none of it makes even the smallest amount of sense. Why would this happen? The interim kage I appointed is a skilled individual who wouldn't have done something like this without reason, primarily unless it was a threat to his own safety or the safety of the village. This means, without a shadow of the doubt, that Iwa sought either of those things."

My eyes peered over to the corpse in it's grotesque state, analyzing the lumbering extra forearms. Though I had never encountered a Sasanagi before I had heard of them, unusual beings who resembled spiders more than men. This one, the former Tsuchikage, seemed to have attempted with some success covering up her true horrible form. Though, it hardly mattered now.

I sighed as a paper floated toward me, a small origami figurine dipping a pen into an inkwell and bringing it over to me before I snatched it from it's grasp, signing the paper. A requisition, a form that allowed our funds to be dipped into for a special purpose - or in this case the preservation of the body in question, even when it was obvious some decay had begun. Though her organs and tissues were largely useless, they could still be used for study.

"You'll learn eventually that becoming and being Kage is less about one's actual physical strength and more about one's mental fortitude to lead. Likely, at some point, she had that sort of fortitude, though again, I fail to see why she would attack him. This is disturbing news though. Either she was acting of her own accord - which is dubious at best, or this was some hostile aggression against our country. . "

Coming off of the back of the war with Kirigakure and the absorption of their lands into ours under one banner, our resources were stretched thin. In reality, we were in fact struggling to maintain supply to both villages at once, and didn't have the manpower to actually distribute for a secondary cause such as war.

"So what do you believe happened, Team Akuseru? Why did she attack the interim Kage or Kirigakure?"

I grimaced.

"Also, I highly doubt this is all that was on the body. Ryo? Items? Map?"

This time I definitely wouldn't tolerate the omission of any such items.

[Axcel]

Why? It was definitely a good question. Akuseru couldn't help but wonder himself why a Kage would be by themselves at a foreign village's gates. Even during times of peace, it wasn't a surprise if shinobi of different villages fought for the smallest reasons. For the leader of an entire village to show up alone at the gates—well, it was mind boggling. Akuseru had been came up with his own theories during their travel back to Konoha.

"Perhaps she had lost the title of Kage even before she died," his eyes fell to the floor as he thought back to how the Tsuchikage showed up alone. Not every village functioned like Konoha—not every village had Asato ruling them with an iron fist. While the Kage's were the leaders of their village, being the first of their title meant they lacked precedent. Weakness would be exploited and when people lost faith in leadership things would get ugly. Considering the Tsuchikage's quick death to the a mere subsitute, Akuseru couldn't help but believe her to be weak.

"Rejected by her own people, she looked to Kirigakure refuge, only to find it under Konoha's rule. Rejection led to conflict and eventually death." She had a lot of money. Nobody carried that much money alone without a good reason—and to be running around with Iwagakure's scrolls and over two hundred thousand ryo? There was no way that woman was acting in the best interest of her village.

There was another theory he had as well. This one involved Sunagakure. "While on this mission we managed to complete a few more," Akuseru pulled out his world recorder and a Sunagakure headband. They had the Kage's Iwagakure headband as well, but it was in Jack's possession. Bringing the items to the the Hokage, he pointed out the locations of Sunagakure, Iwagakure, then placed the headband on his desk. When given permission, he would pocket the world recorder and return to his position.

"The location of Sunagakure as well as the headband on her person is suspicious in itself," Akuseru began before remembering their initial encounter with Yokozuna. "When we encountered the god-like being in the Rice Country, the former Tsuchikage and Kazekage specifically left together to speak in private—perhaps Sunagakure had manipulated her like a puppet into doing something so foolish." If he was right, then Kiri would be pitted against Iwa by Suna's doing without ever having to step out of the shadows. Only Kiri belonged to Konoha.

Those were Akuseru's theories, anyways. He rested his arms behind his back as he awaited his teammates to chime in. As for her belongings? The Genin wouldn't dare speak on it, for their thoughtless actions would surely be revealed.