Private A Small Discussion [Requesting Raikage]

[Kashino Yuu]

Yuu sighed as he walked down the hallway wearing a semi-formal outfit. Ever since he was appointed as a new Main Branch Sennin, he became very busy in terms of paperwork and several appointments with some shinobi. While most of his schedule were mitigated since he was still a minor (with his birthday coming up in a few weeks), he did have some time to make an appointment with the new Raikage. But the recent events weren't the only thing he wanted to talk about today. But he wondered if he could mention it to her during their meeting. She didn't know anything about what he just experienced and he might be worried if she would know all of that.

As he arrived in front of the office door, he straightened his jacket and slowly knocked on the door. While he did make an appointment, he was worried that he might unintentionally interrupt her work. "Miss Raikage? Sorry to disturb you, but can I come in? I'm here for a scheduled appointment."

Just the mention of that title made him more nervous than he ever had when he was walking down the hallway. While he did see her during her coronation, this was his first time meeting her in person. Yet, he tried to stop himself from shaking or showing any signs of hesitance. He was still the Main Branch Sennin and he has to act professionally in public, especially in front of the Raikage. The least he wanted in this meeting was a slight mistake in his first impression in front of her.

[Requesting Raikage]

[MFT/WC: 262]

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune was, like always, busy with a lot of paperwork. It was only a few days ago she sent a team of shinobi out to obtain dimiterium-based equipment, and in the meantime, she had branches to handle. The ANBU were getting a bit restless without a leader, and Kitsune had to calm things down. Then, there was the hospital which was mostly self-running because of expertly trained staff, though a bit lacking in examinators and similar positions, which meant she also had to handle exams for mednins. Most of them got extra nervous when they found out that the Raikage was their exam proctor, but when they realized she’d been Sennin of the Medical Branch beforehand, they relaxed a bit more.

Today however had a ton of paperwork to handle, letters to answer and more. It would seem another Tenouzan incident had happened in a village bordering the city state. More alleged chakra users had been pulled to the village square and drawn and quartered. A barbaric treatment performed on innocent people, but as long as they had dimiterium armor and weaponry, they had the upper hand and Cloud couldn’t act on it just yet. Kitsune sighed and held her head in her hands.

At that moment, her little fox summon hopped onto the table and crawled up upon Kitsunes arms as if to say she’d be fine and it’d all work out in the end. She chuckled and petted the small fox as she corrected her posture, just in time for a knock on the door. It was Yuu, her main branch sennin, here for a scheduled appointment that Kitsune had forgotten about with all the paperwork she had to do. ”Yes, of course. Come in.” she said, and would gesture to a chair once Yuu had entered the office. ”Please, have a seat.” she added to her gesture, while awaiting what was on Yuu’s mind.

[MFT; WC: 317]

 

[Kashino Yuu]

Once he heard the Raikage's voice behind the door, Yuu entered the office with a serious expression on his face. When he did so, he saw a beautiful red-haired woman sitting behind a stack of papers on her table, which made him a bit overwhelmed by just her appearance. Just that alone reminded him enough of a strong fox, akin to her name and her familiar. This made him more determined not to anger her by accident. Regardless, he calmly sat down and began speaking his first case for this appointment.

"I got the message regarding the mission. I want to say first that I'm sorry I didn't join with the others, but I have to tend with my duties as a Sennin." He wasn't kidding. He was still a minor and he has to adjust to his schedule to accommodate his new role. Not to mention he only has a limited amount of time to train to avoid being rusty in the field. "However, I do want to discuss that matter regarding this Tenouzan issues you've mentioned in your announcement."

Tenouza. That city struck him hard since it reminded him so much about that mission. He even wondered how those doppelsoldners were doing.

"For starters, do you hear of an incident regarding the Kondo Bloomery? I'm one of the shinobi who were assigned in that mission before my promotion." He didn't want to mention it again in his life, but he wanted to make sure if she was aware of those incidents several months ago.

[MFT/WC: 253]

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Rinya, being the curious little fox she is, hopped up onto a stack of papers with the grace of an Olympic figure skater, perching on the pile and watching Yuu very closely. Kitsune chuckled and shook her head slightly. ”Don’t worry about it. I hadn’t intended for it to be a mission involving sennin. Your job is much more important.” she said with a smile ”Running two branches and a village is straining enough, so a third would definitely be too much, even for me. But I did pick you for the job, because I thought you to be suited for it. Excellence knows no age after all.”

”And yes. I have heard of that incident. I even have the mission report lying here on my desk. Er… Somewhere.” she said, pausing and looking at the piles of papers and then adding the last bit. ”It’s part of why I didn’t specifically ask for you, and why this is mainly just a reconnaissance mission. The task I gave the team was a simple ‘get in, obtain dimiterium equipment for research, get out’ kind of deal. Of course, they’ll have to do it undetected, or risk facing a small army of Tenouzan fanatics.”

Kitsune let her gaze fall upon Yuu ”So! Do tell what you’re here for, Yuu-kun. I have a feeling it isn’t just a social call to ask about if I know the details of a single mission.” she said, chuckling a bit as Rinya had decided to hop off of the pile of papers and onto Kitsunes shoulder like some kind of bird.

[MFT; WC: 263]

 

[Kashino Yuu]

Now he understood the reason behind all of this. Even if he learned about this from the Raikage's announcement, he would still refuse due to his current work. And with the lack of Sennins in this village right now, he had to stay here and make sure to help her keep everything in the Main Branch in tip-top shape. However, what was surprising was that he learned the reason behind his sudden promotion.

He never followed the "think before you act" proverb in the past and he thought he only just restricted to the Jounin rank soon. But after meeting Yuri, he endured many missions and battles and because of this, he slowly grew out of his brash mindset and became more focused on the task at hand. However, he never thought that this resulted in him to be chosen as the next Main Branch Sennin by the new Raikage like her.

Self-reflection aside, Yuu's expression turned grim as he began to speak. "I don't know if this is confidential to you and some people here, but I'm a bit troubled regarding the aftermath of those events. For starters, do you even know who this Lady Senna was? According to my friend and path who was in that mission that day, he said she was formerly a shinobi and she seemed to know our Kinjutsu information from my license. Not only that, she seemed to know more about that this so-called Saint Isamu that she unleashed back then."

While he wasn't there at that time, Yuri did tell him what happened and how she knew everything about them. Not to mention how she managed to dodge Yuri's knife that was aimed at her throat back then. He knew that she wasn't just a mad scientist who was the accomplice of Kondo disguised as a nun.

[MFT/WC: 302]

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

A smile played on Kitsunes lips for a short while before fading again as Yuu began asking questions and explaining. ”It could be someone I once knew. But regardless, it more and more sounds like we’ll have to muster a proper defense while we plan exactly how we’ll utterly crush them.” she said, shaking her head a little ”In a perfect world, it wouldn’t come to that, but alas, this world is far from perfect, and to ensure the survival of chakra users in Lightning, we’ll have to take action. Could you imagine if they spread beyond our borders and learned that outside Lightning everyone has chakra?” she asked rhetorically.

”Long story short, it’s a preventative measure to save lives in the future. Even if it’ll cost lives now. The Tenouzan faith is dangerous, and we have to stamp it out.” she ended, placing her hands on the desk. ”While we await results from the mission team, however, I’m going to trust you to keep the main branch functioning in top shape. We’ll need all hands on deck in case things go bad. I’ll handle the other branches.” she said in a serious tone of voice ”It’s been years, but I’ve been to Tenouza once before, for a peace summit between Lightning, Bear, and Marsh. Even back then they had trouble with infighting and factions vying for control. If that’s still the case, we might have an option to slip in undetected and do some spying…” she decided, thinking maybe it was time for an ANBU or two to get a scouting mission.

[MFT; WC: 262]

 

[Kashino Yuu]

While she didn't exactly tell him who Senna was, he could tell how she has a bit of influence in the village before her fall from grace. Which meant that her skills as a shinobi could be the same tier as any Jounin in this village. As for the village itself, what Kitsune just explained was completely true for him. With a rumor that this Saint Isamu might put the whole chakra users on extinction, Kumogakure had to take measures to avoid that kind of catastrophe. It was also a bit of relief that he adamantly refused to follow the Tenouzan faith due to his neutral views on religion. If he did, it would end badly for him and the village.

As for him, he had his problems right now and as Kitsune stated, it was up to him to keep the Main Branch functioning as it's Sennin. "I understand. You can leave the Main Branch in my care. And I'll make sure most of the shinobi there are ready in case of emergencies." It might be a bit difficult for him in his age, but he has to endure the whole day maintaining the branch. "But can I ask what happened to Takaki Saeko? I haven't heard from her ever since the mission and I heard she was incarcerated for some reason afterward."

Takaki was his superior during that mission and ever since then, he was worried about her sudden silence after he heard about how she was arrested from that mission. He knew he wasn't involved on her private agenda and he barely knew her that time, but he wanted to know considering what they had been through that time.

[MFT/WC: 282]

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune scratched her head a bit ”Well. I’m sorry to tell you this, but Saeko-chan has passed away.” Kitsune said and sighed slightly. ”The report I was given said that she passed away from a nasty illness. Apparently they had to bury her immediately, but the report didn’t state where.” she continued ”So, in other words. Takaki Saeko has passed away due to a rapid onset illness and was buried in an undisclosed location, presumably to prevent a potential infection from spreading.” she finished and folded her hands on the table, keeping up a façade of being mostly emotionless, even though Saeko was her daughters half-sister.

Regardless, it would seem the meeting was heading towards its end. ”Well, if there’s nothing else, Yuu-kun, I’ll let you get back to your duties, while I attend to mine.” Kitsune said and gestured to the small leather bound book on the table containing her calendar and schedule. ”I’ve got an inspection of the hospital coming up in about an hour, and I’d prefer to have a general idea of what’s going on over there before I show u, so I don’t look entirely clueless about what’s going on at the branch I worked in for a good portion of my life.” she said with a slight smile.

If there were more to Yuus visit than what had just transpired, she’d of course listen to it, but if not, she’d begin going through the latest batch of reports from the hospital, including the progress with medical research, hoping to see a breakthrough of some kind in the projects she’d been forced to leave behind for someone else to take over when she became Raikage.

[MFT; WC: 280]

 

[Kashino Yuu]

Yuu's eyes widened at what he just heard from the Raikage. Saeko-san... has passed away?! He couldn't believe it. He was grateful to work alongside a Chuunin in that mission to the point he and Yuri risked their lives just to save her and yet, she unceremoniously died without his knowledge after time has passed. He didn't even thank her for everything she did as a mission leader.

"I-I see... I'm really sad to hear that. I hope she's in a better place now. I just wish I should say something to her before that happened." He would have asked more about the disease that she was affected, but for his own sake, he decided not to delve deeper on that topic. Then, Kitsune told him that she will attend to the hospital for inspection. He would stop there, but there was something else on his mind right now.

"One more thing, Ms. Raikage. Do you know someone of the name "Yakishuro Mukoro" in any of the Branches? It's not related to my previous mission in the bloomery, but I just want to know if someone by that name previously worked here." He asked while not breaking his calm composure. He didn't meet that person, but Kuni mentioned that mysterious person a lot and he wanted to know if they were a shinobi or someone who previously worked here. He knew he was a bit paranoid after his encounter with the possessed boy, but he needed to know more about him and his mysterious creator.

[MFT/WC: 253]

(OOC: If you want to know who this Yakishuro Mukoro is, let's just say they will be an important NPC for Yuu's future character arc.)

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

”One can always hope that’s the case” Kitsune said, referring to Saeko being in a better place. It wasn’t the first Takaki, Kitsune had lost. Saekos father, Masao, also the father of Kitsunes daughter Miyako, had fallen to his presumed death along with the leader of the kingslayers so many years ago now. Then Yuu asked about some Yakishuro Mukoro being in any of the branches and she couldn’t say the name ringed any bells, ”Well. I can’t say the name rings any bells, to be honest. But maybe someone else is aware of them. You could try rifling through the registry of all Kumo shinobi, past and present a few floors down from here. With you being sennin, you’ll have full access.” she suggested.

”If that’s all, Kashino-kun, I’ve got a few meetings to attend to in a short while, and I’d like to prepare for them.” she said, indicating that the meeting was over, barring some other sudden question or need.

[Topic Left unless stopped]

 

[Kashino Yuu]

The shinobi registry? He wasn't the nosy type of kid, but he was all too curious at who this mysterious possessed boy was. If he wanted to know more about this young man, he might as well drop by at the registry to see if this Mukuro person might be a shinobi or not. Although, he would stop visiting it after that unless he needed to look someone up as part of his Sennin job.

"Alright, I'll visit the registry when I have the chance. Thank you for that suggestion."

Yuu stood up from his seat and bowed in front of Kitsune out of respect and gratitude for answering his questions. "Okay, Miss Raikage. Sorry for taking your time. I'll take my leave now. Thank you." As much he wanted to ask more regarding that bloomery mission and the strange power he suddenly possessed out of Yuri's control, he didn't want to keep the Raikage away from her appointments. Besides, he has some other stuff to do back in his office and he needed to finish them so he could meet up with Yuri and picked his brother up from the academy. But as he left, he frowned as he remembered that sentence from his solo mission.

"You have to be careful, hum- I mean Kashino. Who knows what will happen if you let your darkness lose. You might lose more than just your parasite."

Just reminiscing that memory made him shiver. However, he has to pray that he will control this strange power within him soon. Otherwise, Kuni's words might come true.

[Topic left]

[MFT/WC: 259]