Private Just a talk (Hon)

[Chigokai Yuna]

Yuna's thoughts got the best of her. It's been a long while since she had last seen Hon, and it had gotten her worried that she might never see him again. Not in any romantic type of way, no. Yuna had promised herself after pouring days after days into reports and notes about Miro, that she didn't want to end up just like her. How many people left the branch, or even the Village with Miro leading the Anbu. Yuna wanted to be a strict leader, but more importantly, a kind one as well.

The last time she had seen Hon was a couple months back with the incident at the gates. It's a grim thing that she had done, but it is a job that she had to do nonetheless to keep the secrets of the village safe. Is she proud of what she's done? No, she isn't. But it won't change the fact that even the girl seemed weak on her own, there is always the chance of something catastrophic that could happen if she was let go. Shaking the thought out of her head, she had another anbu member go and search for Hon and ask him to meet her here.

 

[Honnou]

Hon wasn’t in the best of spirits after the incident at the gates. Life really knew how to throw his emotions into the gutter… but Ziren’s words – his last words, or perhaps his words past his last words (if that was even a thing) – still lingered in his head. Wasting away in shadows alone… wouldn’t do. Not alone, not like this.

If only his predecessors could see him now, and give their advice… but such a thing was unlikely to happen twice.

“…” Hon was sitting under a large pine tree, around which a coiled-up Kokurenga was taking a nap. The serpentine dragon’s breath grew heavy as a scent hit its nose, the scent of a stranger causing it to growl. Hon had already seen them approach his location – an ANBU, likely with a message for him. “Calm down, Kokurenga,” he asked his companion to relax, patting the creature’s large nose to make it at ease again. Kokurenga was always so wary of people, even other Cloud civilians got the squinty eyes from him… wait, him or her? Oh well, Hon hadn’t really checked, and he didn’t particularly care.

“… Understood.”

It didn’t take much more time from that point on until Hon arrived inside of the ANBU Sennin’s office, one knee on the ground, in his full ANBU gear. His mask, previously purely foxy in inspiration, now had a pair of small whiskers running down its lower length, reminiscent of Kokurenga’s whiskers.

“Sennin-sama.”

 

[Chigokai Yuna]

"Rise and please sit." She would motion to the empty chair next to him. Yuna was used to the whole thing being called Sennin and the honorifics that follow, but it doesn't mean that she is used to this much of respect. Her voice more asking than demanding of Hon. She didn't have her mask on and had it set on the side. In a place like this, at the heart of ANBU HQ, she felt it unnecessary to have it on at all times. "You can take the mask off if you want. I find that it can be quite stuffy from time to time." She said, breaking the figurative ice.

Letting out a sigh she would then continue, "I'll be honest with you. Once I was given this rank of position and learned of what my predecessor had done, Kagami Miro, I had promised myself to not follow her footsteps. Because of that, I may seem more on the cold and calculating side of things." She would pause for a moment before continuing on, "Wednesday, or rather now Orochi Sakura Main branch Sennin, was right in her explanation of her reasonings. However, even with that in mind, one cannot deny what could be to come if we had allowed for something like a slap on the hand for someone trying to go missing and cut ties with the Village. We may have never known her reasons for leaving the Village, but also we won't know if she would have had the chance of causing damage in the future. Now killing... It isn't something I would have liked to have done in that scenario. And I would take it back if I can."

Yuna took a deep breath, "But I can't. What's done is done, and all we can do is protect the Village, from both inside and outside threats. Which is why I remade the branch, gave it more meaning and more of an idea what we do. We need people who can get the job done no matter what. We need people who can stay their blades and use words to make friends instead of enemies. And most important of all, we need people who can gather information and make sense of it. Because it is knowledge that makes the most powerful, and to make sense of that knowledge even more so."

"So I'm asking this of you. Don't forget that you are also Hyuuga Honnou. This job isn't easy, but if you focus too much on it, it will drive you mad. If you ever see anyone struggling, anbu or not, see if they need help. Because I don't think any of us want to have another Shun Sora willing to throw their life away." Yes, she had learned of the girl's name. A girl from the main branch, a mission gone awry and she had become weak. "Also, if you ever need to talk, about the incident at the gates, your own career, or even just about life, my door is always open."