Basic Facts - [ Private ]

[Haruka]

Stone was running itself into the ground. A very basic fact to observe nowadays when it came to all of the people and places there were in the village. Men and women were dying. Outside forces were attempting to dictate what took place within the village. It had to have been one of the biggest train wrecks that had ever taken place right before one's eyes. How could anyone just sit back and let all of this go on like it was the easiest thing to watch? It was a strange, harsh world. At least, that was how most people saw it anyways. You had people running around and their mouths following at the very same pace. They would throw slander in directions that one couldn't even imagine possible. That was not what was needed to cultivate a proper village. It was not what the people wanted nor needed, shinobi or not. The manner by which the upper level of management had been ran in this village was embarrassing to say the very least. That was why it seriously had to be stopped. Whether it was by death, or by exile. Which ever force would be exerted in the most proper manner, or whatever force it took to give that push back... It had to stop. Evening time was when people were taking their time to slip out of the working world into the world that was far easier. The sun was slowly beginning to make it's descent into the horizon. It cast off an interesting orange and yellow hue across the land. Too bad this horizon needed to be bathed in blood, no? It was simply just the way that the shinobi world danced with one another. With one leg crossed over the other, the young woman sat in the office that belonged to the Tsuchikage and she would lift a hand slowly up to her ear. Making a depression into one of the buttons there on her headset, every single line in the village would crackle to life. If a person had a headset, they would be able to listen. They could hear the message that was about to condemn.

"Good evening, Iwagakure. This is your Tsuchikage speaking." Her voice would speak out slowly and she would lean back in her chair. "I hope that everything is going fine and well within our beautiful village. I recently met with our illustrious Sennin only to find a few different things out about them. A man that you all so willingly accepted into your academy and into a leadership position of the village is working to see our village fall. Kamaru as we all know him wants to see our village fall. Why? It's because of what happened to his previous village, Leaf. It angers this man to see our village thrive and be prosperous. Is that not such a sad thing? So he will impede any progress that we may make and he aims to send our strongest into battle to slaughter one another. He knows very well that war may be coming with Cloud and Sand, but... He still wishes to push this forward." Her eyes would roll now. "I say no. I say that this is foolish. He hardly knows our customs and our traditions, yet he sits here and wishes to plummet the village into such chaos and disarray that not even our smartest men and women will be able to pull it out." Shifting in her seat, she would lean forward on her arms, her fingers lacing together as she processed these thoughts.

"From this day forward, Kamaru is exiled from Iwagakure on the grounds of treason against the village. If he is seen within the walls of this village, he is to be killed on sight. If he is brought to me, then I will offer a generous reward. For any questions, comments, or concerns, please address them to the Spire." Now she would lean back and close her eyes. "Transmission over." Her hand would drop away from the button of the headset now.<i></i>

 

[Nakamura Hira]

Re: Basic Facts -

Standing within a shadow of evening, Irotsuya glared from behind Haruka. There was a tension in her voice that would indisputably shake the foundations of the earth. No stone would be left unturned in Iwagakure. The two of them would have none of it. His hand slipped out of the darkness from behind her, finding its way to her shoulder. The tips of his fingers wrapped down to her collarbone gently, stroking her skin as a means to calm her nerves. His index traced a circular motion around her cursed seal, beckoning the same energy forth that he had recently been forged from.

You seem responsible enough to hold yourself accountable for your actions.

His black tresses hung over his eyes, colliding with hers. He admired the sight; it was something akin to one shadow melding into another. There was something about the sight of their comparison that made him uneasy.

I will hold you accountable all the same.

His other hand gripped the edge of the desk before them. He could feel the scroll containing the former Tsuchikage's corpse up his sleeve, jimmying its way around as he moved it. Of course, he kept it there to remind himself of exactly what task he had set himself out on. The winding road was likely to be convoluted, but this was not a fear to him. His heart was spotless.

Stepping away from her, he withdrew his hands from her skin and walked to the large window in the room. The village was busy, and dusk had just began to fall. People were transporting all sorts of goods, bustling about in their livelihoods with blissful unawareness to the tempest beneath them. An earthquake was making its presence known.

Don't fear the next stages of your ascension, Haruka. It is not just a simple reality. It is an absolute truth. You can rest assured that I will personally rend asunder all oppositional greed we encounter. That is my pledge to you.

He looked down at the village gingerly. How much blood would it take to paint the spire red?
[MFT]
[Topic Entered]<i></i>​

 

[Haruka]

Tension? No. She was a leader. She had already been a leader far before this, so fuck the people that doubted her and her ability to lead. It made no sense in the back of her mind, but still... Sometimes people needed a lot more than just tough love. It was more like supplying them with a stiff boot to the back of their head and penetrating their grey matter with the spike of her heel. Ah well. There was no need for this situation to be hard, but there came the Kamaru's and Megami's of the world that decided that they wanted to fuck with other people on more than just a basic level. Oh no, they wanted to attempt to play these games that were liable to just piss more and more people off. Pulling the headset away from her ear, she would drop it down to the desk in front of her and she would clear her throat. "Naturally so. If a Daimyo does not act accountable for her actions, then she is no leader." The young woman would let out a small thrush of breath, however. She couldn't shake this odd, swimming feeling in the back of her head. What in the hell was going on? Shaking her head from side to side for a moment, she would stabilize herself and drop her hands to lay in her lap now. "Do as you wish, Nakamura-san." She would state very blatantly, opening her eyes to stare across the room. Why did a part of her expect Megami to attempt to burst her way through the door again? She wished that she would, almost. She would make that woman's head roll across this office floor. Give her any excuse to start a fight, and she would at this point. She was done with negotiations. It was absolutely time to place her game face on and be as shinobi-like as all of these people wanted her to act.

Still, though... There was this nagging at the back of her mind. This tug and pull like a migraine was settling in, constricting and clamping her brain down. Shit. She needed to just sit back and take it easy, but there was never any rest for the wicked. And that was hard to come to terms with. At least she had people to hold onto and rely on along the way. But she would never falter. She had to stand strong even behind the scenes, lest the sharks eat her alive. Bastards.

"I need a fucking nap." She would state very suddenly, very bluntly. How long had it been since she slept? It was a good question. So, she would place her forehead against the desk. It ain't easy being a bad ass.<i></i>

 

[Nakamura Hira]

He pursed his lips just out of Haruka's view in dismissal. He watched her from behind himself, giving her the allusion of privacy. No one was ever out of his view. He chose to create the appearance of being less perceptive as a means to deceive others, as it often served him so. Very few people could understand the actual perceptive intensity of seeing the world in 360 degrees constantly. Even fewer could accurately imagine it, especially based off of the poor analysis most Shinobi nations actually held towards the Hyuuga Clan's sacred doujutsu.

These rules of leadership are not contingent solely to the Daimyo. Such things are universally true of all leaders. The main distinction to beware of here is the pressure mounting beneath your feet... If you aren't careful, you will be sent flying like the cork of a sparkling wine.

He imagined the imagery he had prophesied momentarily, finding it quite ironic. The thought of Haruka being flung through space at several miles per hour was certainly comical. Comical, but accurate.

You are here on god's good graces, for the lack of a better wording. To forget that is to risk it all for naught.

Giving himself an up-and-down in the glass window, he gave off the appearance that he was finished viewing the city below. It had become quite dark, and all of the major details of its geography had become obscured by nightfall. There was only so much observation to be done, and so he turned his vision elsewhere.

You have a lot more at stake here than I think you are aware of.

His words trailed off, implying something to her. He already planned to milk this for all that it was worth. After all, it wasn't really the best time to reveal such things to a leader. She had enough on her plate.

I will do as I will, not as I wish. Wishes have no place in this world. Would you like to retire? I'm sure Inu Endo's private chambers are about the building somewhere. Let us go there. You shouldn't be over-exerting yourself right now. You need your energy for what must be accomplished soon.

He stepped towards her with pleading eyes, wondering if she would be reasonable with herself. Little did she know, he was looking out for the interests of another being. He, of course, had no intention of immediately revealing this.<i></i>​

 

[Haruka]

Stakes, at this point, what were they? She'd seen men and women die. With her forehead pressed lightly there into the desk, she would drag in a small breath in her response. Huff. Her arms would slowly wrap around her own body, fingers gripping into the fabric at her backside now as she mulled over the man's words in her own little silent world. What was he trying to allude to? There was far too much here to do than to just sit down and take a moment to sleep. No no, she had to keep on going and pushing the point. Whether it be a point of words... or the point of her sword dead center into someone's chest. "God doesn't mean anything to me. So to speak such words... doesn't register anything in my mind." She would state, lifting her head up slowly now as she looked around the room. Private chambers? A Kage afforded such luxuries? It almost made her want to roll her eyes now, but she didn't. After all, Hira was the guy with the all seeing eyes. So he would know far better than what she would know. Blinking a few times, she would lift her hand up to rub at the side of her face. No one had busted down the door, so she was thankful for that much. If such had happened, she would immediately have to snap into kill mode. Lifting her head up, she would meet his eyes with her own tired sapphire blues. Rest was the downfall of a man, but she could afford to, right? If any danger approached, she would know. Using her hands, she would push herself up to a stand. Stepping away from the desk, she would push it in underneath of it. Picking up her headset, she would look at it for a moment. Then, her hand would crush the little object and cause it to crackle and static. Pacing forward, she would drop it into the trash. She had many others like it stashed at home and upon her person, so she didn't need to deal with anyone ringing into her specific frequency right now.

"Lead the way. I have no idea where this place would be, so your guess would probably be far better than my own. I don't know why I'm so exhausted, but... I can only assume that the stress is finally getting to me." Her shoulders would square into a shrug now as she moved to walk beside Hira.<i></i>

 

[Nakamura Hira]

That may be so, but you still have much at stake.

Taking the reigns, he walked to the door and held it open for Haruka. She moved through the portal, passing on into the hallway at his lead. Together, they ventured off into the broad expanse of the spire. To his own surprise, the building was actually a great deal larger than the ivory towers of Kirigakure. It was configured in a similar fashion, but it held many superfluous spaces and vacuous offices left for an expanding infrastructure. No doubt there would soon be purposes designated to them, as the stagnant system that had fallen to the knaves would return to its former stature.

If you insist, my lady.

He was curt as he could possibly be to her. In some sense, he felt that his service to the Tsuchikage would be the first steps to assessing the damages to his homeland. If he pushed hard enough for her, he would eventually be able to place proper diligence into investigating the downfall of his homeland. Those objectives, however, were contingent upon the affairs of Iwagakure.

I've already had a chance to study the blueprints of this building. Granted, I was examining them from several floors above their storage. I do think that I have a pretty good idea of where your predecessor's quarters are. Perhaps I can help you do some re-decorating.

Walking down the hallway with her, he pointed to a set of stairs. Together, they began to ascend step by step up their marbled surfaces. It wasn't too many floors, anyway.

It should be up on the northern wing, about five floors above us. Think you can make it?

He didn't mean to mock her physical status, even though inside he actually was. Little did she know.

It looks like there's a comfortable bed there at least. It looks like he hardly used the place... Pity.

He grasped onto her left forearm with his right, gently guiding her up with him. There was no rush, and together they could move at the speed of their own collaborative drum. A good night of rest in the towers would certainly help assure victory in the coming days, if not weeks. There was certainly a lot of work to be done.

So, if you don't mind me asking, what are our priorities moving forward? I know that we will have to establish intelligence surrounding Kamaru's status. I'm sure there are other individuals in the village that might compromise its security. Do you have a dossier with information you can brief me on key points with? I would like to get an idea of what to expect guarding you for the next indefinite period.

He wondered if he had bitten off more than he could chew for a mere moment, but returned to the task at hand. It was too late to reconsider made decisions.

What are your primary objectives moving forward, and how can I be of the most assistance to you in fulfilling them? What do you desire?

He trudged upwards, trying not to push her pace.<i></i>​

 

[Haruka]

What in the world did she have at stake? He kept on repeating it like it was something that she had to listen to. So what had she done lately that would give her so much more than what she already had. She knew that she had Kei, but he was protected no matter what she did... And then there was Akechi who stood by her no matter what she did. She slayed men, exiled men, and still he was there, ready and willing to accept her proposal like she was any normal woman who posed no threat. "Just call me Haruka, Nakamura-san." She'd speak, walking beside him now. The walls and halls seemed to go on forever. They were long, winding, and hell, it seemed that her very vision was bending at this point in time, but she managed to trudge forward. It was never her intention to make someone feel like they had to wait on her. That was simply not her style. No, she just needed Hira's help to pursuade this village that she was the best choice that they could make at this point in time. As Hira spoke of the blue prints and whatnot of the building, she would squint her eyes in attempted to keep herself walking forward at a proper pace. She would follow his lead, her gait giving no hint towards what may have been happening within her mind or body. No, it was that same damned proud walk that she would hold onto no matter how far she had been tossed. Rubbing at her forehead a bit, she would swallow something back in her throat in hopes to make her ears clear out in a proper manner. She didn't like the way her ears seemed to dull. "I just need a nap is all, I'll be okay." She would speak in a low tone, following the man up the stairs. Leaning a bit to the right, she would feel as though she was starting to slip up the stairs, but a hand would reach out to stabilize her so that she did not make a fool of herself. Thank goodness. "Priorities, yes.." She would murmur, her eyes closing a bit. This headache... And the wooziness. How long had it been since she had slept? She kept on repeating the question in the back of her mind, but the answer never came to fruition.

As they finally made it to the stop of the stairs, she felt one of her knees plant down and then a turning of her stomach until she finally just vomited there upon the floor. It was harsh sounding, her back arching upwards as she spilled her literal guts all over the floor there at the top of the stairs. The contents of her stomach spelled out that she had not been taking the best care of her body, eating minimal amounts at best. "I..." She would shudder, lifting a hand up to grip at the side of his leg, her fingers tangling there as she looked up at him. "Sorry, I had no clue..." She would whisper in a surprised tone before she felt the unpleasant twist of her stomach, causing her to puke further there on the floor.<i></i>

 

[Nakamura Hira]

I wasn't trying to patronize you, my lady.

With a swift bend, he swept her from the ground and counter balanced her weight to stand. What a fucking mess. Forming a quick set of handseals, he sent a splash of water dashing down the stairs where it evaporated into steam. The contents incinerated, leaving behind a trail of smoke to clear the waste. Eying his technique carefully, his hand reached for a back pocket in his jacket where he removed the same indigo handkerchief he had used to cleanse her face with not too long ago. With a gentle caress, he wiped her lips clean of the rubbish and presented her a piece of crystallized lavender. To anyone else, it probably would have appeared to be some type of rock candy-- but within it, several plumes of dried herbaceous lavender laid dormant for consumption.

Eat this, Haruka-dono.

He looked into her eyes pleadingly, hoping that she would accept his offer. Placing it in her hand, he would clutch it shut as to continue guiding her towards their destination. He would certainly have to keep a very close eye on her physical state, for she was unaware of her condition to a degree that it would soon reveal itself to her with or without approval.

Do you usually vomit down a flight of stairs?

Any other person would have been joking, but Irotsuya was an interesting guy.

At first I thought you were using some type of water jutsu. Boy was I wrong.

He laughed heartily, trying his best not to make fun of her queasy stomach. She was going to have to put up with feeling the nausea for a few weeks at least, but he had little desire to reveal that. A pot of water always takes longer to boil when you are watching it anyway, ne?

Come now, let's get you to your quarters. Do you need me to carry you? Or maybe I could just put you in that scroll with Endo.

The laughter simply wasn't going to stop. He covered his mouth with his fingers, feigning an attempt to silence himself--but it was futile. No, the situation was too ironic for him to handle. The new Kage to be with a few surprises in store pukes down a flight of stairs, and is offered transport in a scroll with the former dead Kage's corpse. What kind of world were they living in?<i></i>​

 

[Haruka]

A swift hand would raise up now and she would pinch it against the bridge of her nose. What in the hell was going on with her? Was she just this stressed out? She was not entirely sure. All she knew was that her stomach was doing all sorts of gymnastics that she did not want to deal with. It was driving her insane. A nap would do well for her at this point, because she did not want to be sick and stumbling over herself because of all of this. Bringing her cool hand up, she would touch it against her facial features. Her face was burning up, warmer to the touch than what she expected it to be. Embarrassment was probably the leading factor in this as she was not feeling frozen down to her core and incredibly uncomfortable about it. No, she didn't normally puke her guts up in front of people. That was not her typical meet and greet. As she stood, she would bring her hands up and wipe them instinctively against her front to make sure nothing had collected there. "I'm not my son. You don't need to take care of me like I'm a toddler." She would whisper, blatantly embarrassed by the fact that she couldn't control her bodily functions here. The lavender hanky he used to wipe away her lips would also take away the amethyst colored lip stain she had on, and showed off the fact that she was far more pale than what she let on. All color except for her eyes and hair had drained from her face, leaving her look like a china doll more than anything. A very nauseated china doll. Meeting his eyes, she would quickly cast her gaze off to the side. Stubborn, that was what she was. Never did she want to be a mess in the visage of another person. "I'll accept it when I don't feel like puking again," she would speak in a low tone, her eyes trailing along the ground now as she wavered a bit. The candy was placed into her hand and she would clutch her hand shut as she was guided once more to their destination.

"I don't normally vomit down stairs, no," she would admit quietly. She hadn't vomited in a long, long time. Hell, there was no morning sickness to speak of when she was pregnant with Kei. It had to have been a few years since she had been genuinely sick like this. "And I'm fine, I don't need to be car-" Her hand would quickly raise to her mouth as he mentioned placing her in the scroll with the corpse and another wave of nausea rushed over her. Shaking her head from side to side, "The smell of corpses is burned into my senses, no more no more." She would beg against the flesh of her palm. They just needed to get to the room. That was what needed to happen here, and now. Reaching over, the young woman would attempt to hold onto his arm, supporting her weight on it as she walked. The nausea made the hallway waver, or perhaps it was her lack of sleep. Whatever it was, they just needed to make it there.

"Let's.. let's just keep talking business."<i></i>