Woken in the middle of the night, what more could Ayumu hope for than three insane stories?
Osu was the first to speak up with a brief explanation as to how the group had come together. It all started out fairly normal until the cave in which dropped them into a cavern. "Oh dear," Ayumu commented before Osu continued. It was only going to get more insane from there. They had stumbled upon a large deposit of ore which was quiet a threat to Kumogakure. If that wasn't enough, there was a secret lab containing at least one giant monster creature which the group had managed to dispatch. The deposit of ore was enough reason for Kumogakure to take control of the site before anybody else did. The secret underground lab of monsters was further reason. However, these very reasons for needing to secure the location made it a potentially very difficult location for them to secure.
"I see. That's a sticky situation all around. We will certainly need to send a team there, but it's going to be complicated. We'll talk more shortly, Osu," Ayumu said, making note that Osu wanted to speak more later. For now, there were more stories to hear. Kiri and Kaji had tales to tell of their whereabouts as of late. Ayumu had thought he'd known where Kiri was this whole time, but it sounded like it was a bit more complex than he initially believed. This had been his first wonder as soon as he'd seen Kiri without Junko... now it was time for an explanation. According to him, it was by Junko's will that he had been allowed to go off on his own. From there, Osu's story explained how he had wound up in Ayumu's office. Junko, it seemed, was likely still busy near Port Cirrus. This turn of events was not ideal, but understandable. Yet there was more to the story.
Port Cirrus was not the first time Kiri had separated from his guardian. The first time had led the man to Konoha, their recent ally, without a passport. Ayumu could already guess that it hadn't gone well. He groaned and hid his face behind a hand as Kiri continued. The confrontation at the Konoha gates had led to the Hokage and Sennin becoming involved, which meant it had gotten pretty serious indeed. From the sounds of it, Kiri continued to resist cooperating with them until Junko arrived to save the day. Ayumu breathed a sigh of relief. The fact that he had not heard of this before now meant that it had not warranted him being contacted after all. He supposed he had Junko to thank for smoothing that over, though he was slightly perturbed that the man had let Kiri out of his sight to begin with. There was little time to think on that before Kiri suddenly dropped to the floor in a kneel, apologizing and accepting punishment.
Ayumu blinked, watching the man for a moment in silence. Though he was angry at the embarrassing display Kiri had put on in Kumogakure, he couldn't help but notice a stark difference between the man before him now and the one he had met in a cell all that time ago. He pictured Kiri in those chains, straining against them and snarling like a beast. Now before him knelt a seemingly different person, apologizing and accepting whatever discipline he was owed. Ayumu scratched his cheek as he studied Kiri's demeanor, failing to see any signs of disingenuity. Ayumu stepped forward, stopping in front of Kiri.
"Stand up," he ordered, waiting for Kiri to comply. As soon the the man had gotten to his feet, Ayumu reared back, balled a fist, and knocked Kiri upside the head with it. "You moron!" Ayumu exclaimed, folding his arms once more. "What the hell were you thinking?! You went to Leaf looking for assistance and you started an altercation?! Without your passport, they would have no way to know that you were actually one of ours. If Junko hadn't managed to smooth things over with them, who knows what problems this might have caused with the alliance? Putting that aside, they might have killed you and, frankly, been justified in doing so!" Ayumu chided, finally placing his hands on his hips and heaving another sigh.
"You're lucky Junko showed up in time," he said, shaking his head. He was silent for a moment as he let the annoyance slowly fade. "That said, you seem a damn sight better off than the last time I saw you in that prison cell, so at least it appears you're not completely hopeless," Ayumu admitted. The last time they had met, Ayumu had been concerned that they would be left with little choice but to imprison Kiri for the safety of the village. There was no denying he had improved since then, given his current demeanor, and that was relieving. "Don't get me wrong, I will be thinking of a punishment for you later," Ayumu insisted, lest Kiri think he was off the hook in any way. Ayumu sighed once more and shook his head yet again as he went quiet, mind already considering what punishment he might opt for. Whatever he thought of in the heat of the moment was sure to be severe... fortunately for Kiri, Haji piped up to insert his own tale.
Whatever Ayumu had heard thus far, this was the strangest story yet. What started as a story of a man having an almost tragic rock climbing accident ended getting weird, real fast. Ayumu was aware that they were many strange creatures in the world. Many looked just like the animals most were familiar with, only much much larger. Some of them, apparently, also flew when they were supposed to swim. And accidentally ate people. Lots of people. The kind of people that worshiped them and learned crazy fighting styles they were willing to pass on to the right strangers. Somehow Kaji had managed to make his way out of that mess until he stumbled upon Osu and the crew. The entire tale was insane and frankly a little hard to believe.
"Damn. You sure you didn't just go drinking your way through Lightning Country?" Ayumu asked, finding that version of the story a little easier to believe. Whatever the case, the fact that Haji was back now meant that he hadn't gone rogue. If anything, the punishment for being gone that long was not being able to make a dime from missions in the meantime. In addition to that if he lived on his own his stuff had probably been auctioned off after being considered long abandoned. Ayumu would have to find out later if there was any validity to the idea of flying whales in the mountains. Surely Haji hadn't been the first person to witness something that large. "Well, it's good you're back, anyway. You'd better report in to your branch after this lest someone tries to arrest you or worse," Ayumu said, scratching his head. At least the man hadn't been off causing international incidents in other villages. With the third person's story out of the way, Ayumu looked at Hoshi expectantly. The boy simply held up a bag of burgers, asking if anybody was hungry.
"What? No crazy story from you?" Ayumu asked, surprised. Regardless, he was hungry having been woken up in the middle of the night. Shrugging, he reached into the bag and pulled out a burger which he began to unwrap. It was still warm and smelled heavenly. Ayumu took a bite and savored in the late night snack. "This is why I like you," he said with a partially full mouth, pointing at Hoshi with a finger of the hand which held the burger. Ayumu looked back at Kiri, whom he had not forgotten about.
"Until I can confirm your story with Junko and figure out what to do with you, I want you to stick with Osu. You're only allowed to separate from him if he decides you're allowed. Do not get up to any trouble, you hear me?" Ayumu said, pointing the finger at Kiri before taking another bite of his burger. "You don't mind, do you Osu?" Ayumu asked. He figured, given how protective Osu had been of Kiri last time, that he wouldn't mind keeping an eye on his pupil for the time being. Whether Junko returned or needed to be contacted in Port Cirrus, it probably wouldn't take too long. He'd need to reconfirm with the gates that they would send word when Junko returned. If Osu refused or had reasons not to look after Kiri, it could end up that Ayumu had to do so himself, which was far from his ideal scenario.
"Does anybody have anything else they want to share? If not, you're free to go. Except you Kiri. You'll wait outside while I talk to Osu," Ayumu said, waiting to see if any other revelations were awaiting him.
Kiri was still a bit quiet and contemplative as they walked towards the Torre. He was exhausted, that was for sure, especially since they had stumbled in that chakra-absorbing tunnel which would be the center of discussion for this meeting with the Raikage. Still, he had other things to report to as well, such as a certain incident back in Konoha which he was certain that the Raikage had already learned about and so lying wouldn’t really do anything to help him at this time and the best he could do is submit himself to any form of punishment whatsoever. He sighed as they were let through and showed the way into the Raikage’s office where he felt more exhausted at every second that passed.
