Okay, what just happened? [Requesting Saito]

[Kogami Ayumu]

"And that, children, is why you should always practice safe shuriken throwing," Ayumu concluded, standing before a classroom of Academy Students who ranged from disinterested to half-asleep. Ayumu couldn't really blame them, it wasn't the most interesting of subject matter. Safety lessons never were. He had been invited here by the Academy Teacher to teach the lesson. She had likely hoped that somehow having the Sennin give the lesson would peak the interest of her students. She wasn't completely wrong. At first they had been somewhat excited to see him and had asked a lot of questions, but as soon as he began speaking on the subject matter most of them immediately checked out. 'Oh well, it's over now,' Ayumu thought, sighing a breath of relief. He was probably just as tired of talking about it as they were of hearing about it. With his section over, the teacher thanked Ayumu and had the class repeat the sentiment before bidding him farewell to return to his duties.

As Ayumu stepped out of the Academy doors, he heard his radio buzz to life. Blinking, he reached down to pull his earpiece up to his ear. "Repeat that," he said, now that he could actually hear what was said. The person on the other end began speaking as he went on Ayumu's eyes widened. "WHAT?!" he shouted, startling a poor little Academy Student nearby. With that, he leapt and found himself on the top of the academy building. Ayumu had been out of the tower when the council had been invaded and invited to leave. Perhaps that was calculated somehow to avoid unnecessary conflict, as Ayumu would have been obligated to intervene, not knowing what Saito knew. He did, however, hear pretty quickly of a disturbance at the Raikage tower from staff at the tower. The reports were odd, however. Despite there being a disturbance, it didn't sound like there was much if any fighting involved. Whatever it was, was surprisingly civil.

As Ayumu returned to the tower dashing across the rooftops with all haste, more, increasingly strange, reports came in through his headset. Akira Saito had interrupted a council meeting. Akira Saito had convinced all of the council members to simultaneously turn in their resignation. Akira Saito had declared himself the Raikage with powers of the council. Sure, they needed a new Raikage and Saito had Ayumu's vote back when the election had taken place. Saito was probably the best candidate at present, but this was not how Ayumu saw this going down. Perhaps a decision by council as had usually been the way, though definitely not another village wide vote. That had turned out poorly given that the candidate only stuck around for a very short while. In fact, he reckoned that was what the council had been talking about when they were interrupted.

'What the hell is going on?' Ayumu thought as he reached the front of the tower. There really was very little signs that anything was off. "Where is Saito now?" Ayumu asked a contact through his headset. The message came back quickly. For now he was still in the tower. If Ayumu was going to get to the bottom of this, it was best to go to the source. He entered the tower and sought out Saito. They hadn't had much interaction since Ayumu was named Sennin of the Main Branch by the brief and former Raikage, Haruka. Since she had departed the administration of the village had been in a bit of disarray. Ayumu wasn't sure whether this would be classified as progress. Gained a Raikage, lost a council... but was it even legitimate? He aimed to find out.

"Saito... might I have a word?" Ayumu asked once he found the apparent new Raikage, if word was to be believed and this was all to stand. Saito was a shinobi of renowned strength and skill and many were devoted to him and would follow without question, as was evidenced in the events at the tower that day. Ayumu certainly held respect for the man, but he would have been a poor excuse for a Sennin if he simply let this happen without explanation. "I don't really know any other way to say this, so... what the hell just happened here?" Ayumu asked, the confusion clear on his face. He had heard a few things on his way, but he needed to hear the truth of it from Saito before he made his decisions on how he would react.

[OoC: Wasn't sure where Saito would be so I leave that up to you to decide where Ayumu found him. I'd put this RP shortly after the events of your other RP.]

 

[Junan]

As Ayumu arrived he would likely witness dozens of ANBU leaving as Akira had just finished up a meeting with them. Those who had remained to talk to Saito were also leaving the offices about now but Akira had moved to one of the Raikage rooms to have a breather.

It seemed that this was not to be as Ayumu entered however.

Akira was caught with his face in his hands as he had relaxed in a large chair, but drew in a deep breath as Ayumu watched and pulled his hands away from his face to look at the other Sennin... or rather, his Main Branch Sennin.

"Saito... might I have a word?" Ayumu began but Akira sat up a bit as he did, his hands pressing on the arms of the chair as he began to stand.

"I don't really know any other way to say this, so... what the hell just happened here?"

Akira nodded as he stood up before the other. It would have been rude to remain seated.

Please come and sit Ayumu. I will let you know everything as the ANBU Sennin will be performing an investigation into it and the Medical Sennin is already aware on the truth of everything.

Once Ayumu moved to take a seat Akira would sit once again and he would begin.

So as I'm sure you're aware I've taken over as Raikage, and you probably are aware of my disbanding the Council. I will explain why I have performed these actions.

When Shin died I felt that 'justice' had been reached far too quickly and far too efficiently. Three deaths put at Isaki Hoshikata''s footstep, yet the deaths not forming a real pattern, and Ai being placed in the medical ward. I quickly found out that there were more than simply that in the room. The original occupants before the fight broke out were Hoshikata, Ai, Haruka, Kitsune, Keiji, Ejji, Daisuke and Shin.

This much probably wasn't huge news, it would have been information most people could come across if they looked into it, but if Ayumu hadn't looked into it then chances were he wasn't aware.

The story we were given after that by the Council was that Ai had gone insane, that Hoshikata had been taken down after he displayed god-like powers and killed Shin, Daisuke and Ejji. The original autopsy revealed this to be a lie. In fact the person who seems to have done the most damage to people was Ai, there were other signs of physical damage which showed that he didn't act alone, but all the attacks were from one direction with Hoshikata, Ai and Haruka all being in and around that place. It seems they only fought those who stood against them, which means Kitsune and Keiji stood by and didn't act against this attack. Kitsune admitted to me the truth, a truth I believe as nothing she said went against any of the evidence I had, and only confirmed what they led me to believe, the gray areas where I was having to fill the blanks making more sense with her explanation.

The council covered everything up and backed Haruka. Knowing this I couldn't let them remain as the council, I had to remove them from office and I had to do so quickly and quietly to reduce any type of conflict.

I've requested the new ANBU Sennin conduct his own investigation into my activities so that the truth can be revealed from an objective opinion. I don't want to be thought of as someone who took the title of Raikage by force with a rumour it was because I was angry over my best friends death.

 

[Kogami Ayumu]

As Ayumu approached Saito's location, he witnessed a large number of ANBU departing. They didn't try to stop him, which was a good sign. Naturally he knew most of them, although he wouldn't recognize them unless they weren't wearing a mask. They would mostly know him as well, after all he was the ANBU Sennin for a couple of years. Past them, he found Saito in his office of choice. The good thing was that it didn't seem like it was Saito's agenda to just completely overthrow the government, including Ayumu, by force. When Ayumu approached him in his office, Saito calmly asked him to enter and sit. Ayumu decided to take him up on the offer and entered, taking a seat across from the man as he did the same. He sensed no hostility, though he remained on guard just in case. Truth be told, he found it difficult to believe Saito didn't have a good reason for this. He hadn't really given any reason prior to doubt his character, but Ayumu certainly needed to find out what was happening all the same. From the sound of it, a new ANBU Sennin had been elected, although Ayumu would get to that in a moment.

He remained silent for the moment as Saito began to explain, nodding when Saito acknowledged what he had done. The story went back to when Shin had died. A time when Ayumu's chakra had been sealed away leaving him out of commission, lest he would have been there himself. The blame had been laid upon Isaki Hoshikata, whom Ayumu had never trusted. The others involved came when they heard commotion but were unable to save the Raikage. Investigations had apparently been done into it and this was the scenario that Council had presented to everyone. Already Saito's story differed from theirs, stating that many people were already in the room when the fight began. Saito had decided to conduct his own investigation and apparently found from the autopsy that Shima Ai had done most of the damage and that he wasn't alone... Hoshikata was still implicated, but none other than the brief Raikage Haruka was accused. Ayumu's face revealed some shock at hearing this. It was difficult to believe and he wasn't certain that he did.

Before he could ask how Saito could possibly have confirmed this, Saito continued. Kitsune, the Medical Sennin and Keiji, Kahako's friend that had recently gone missing were also at the scene. This was known already, but the thought that they stood by and didn't aid their Raikage was not. Ayumu's hand clenched into a fist as the mere thought filled him with anger. What was more, apparently Kitsune admitted to it. This also explained why Keiji had suddenly decided to go AWOL without any explanation. The outrage only continued as it was revealed that council had covered up everything and allowed Shin's alleged murderer to become the Raikage. As a result, Saito removed them from power and assumed the position of Raikage himself in the meantime.

"If this is all true... and I will need to see the evidence which convinced you.. then I'm not sure I could have done things as calmly as you seem to have managed. If it's true, you have my commendation for the way you conducted this and I won't contest your new position. I'll do my own investigation as well to verify what you've said. But assuming this is the truth, what of Kitsune? Would you truly have her remain as the Medical Sennin given what happened? How can she be trusted if she was willing to watch our Raikage die and then remain silent about it as council covered it up until you began putting the pieces together?" Ayumu asked, managing to keep his cool at least for the most part. Perhaps it wasn't fair that Kitsune was the focus of his ire, but she was the only one left. Keiji had gone missing likely predicting this would happen eventually. Haruka had conveniently skipped town just before this happened. Yet, Kitsune was going to brazenly remain as if she had done no wrong? "How convenient that Daisuke died in the same battle and she was to be his successor. Hell, she was almost elected Raikage which I'm sure she wouldn't have minded. How long will it be until a convenient opportunity presents itself to her again?" Ayumu asked.

 

[Junan]

Looking at the man as he replied to Akira's words Akira gave the other a small smile and a nod of appreciation to the way he'd done things. It was only based on his assumption of whether what he said was true or not, but Akira hadn't taken these actions recklessly, and was confident in his conviction. He was amazed himself that he'd held together this far, though he knew he couldn't manage it much longer. Already the feelings of rage, of hate, of pure agony and desire to just hurt those who had hurt his friends built up inside him, burning in the roof of his mouth. He wanted to scream, to just have something he could target and kill with ever ounce of his strength. Perhaps Nobuyuki would see this in the patterns of Akira's movements over the past weeks, his stalking of the gates in the hope that some fool would give him a target to release some of the pressure.

Yet none of this was seen, he couldn't let it. He sat calm, feeling everything, wanting to let himself act like a missing nin, but this wouldn't solve any of the problems. Shin was dead. Akira could only honour his memory with his actions.

Ayumu asked of the Medical Sennin Kitsune and Akira's position on her. It was a fair question, but also one which Akira had only had the briefest time to consider.

I don't know. It was as honest an answer as he could say She failed our Raikage, she failed in her duty as a shinobi of Kumogakure, and as you said, she could have come clean earlier but chose not to. I don't know what to do with her. Daisuke himself chose her as his successor, she seems to run the medical branch well, I can't fault her leadership.

Certainly as Ayumu pointed out she had benefited from the deaths, and whether this was what she had planned or not he didn't know.

We are speaking about a woman who is older than I am who looks your age, a woman who is so terrified of her own mortality that she cannot bear to see it in a mirror. If this is not the most pure form of cowardice I don't know what is. Perhaps though I see this wrong, perhaps that isn't her being a coward but is instead an insatiable greed? A need to have everything? She certainly seems to have come about her fortunes late in life as well, perhaps an elaborate act of a shinobi who hadn't been in the village long enough to have created. Given that many years in hiding I think you or I could have suddenly had some strange tie to being Shogun if we wanted. It was too much for him though, he knew it was a topic he'd need to figure out, but he'd just overthrown the village.

At any rate, she claimed that she was being threatened to keep quiet. Both herself and Keiji being forced into silence. She had just witnessed Ai and Haruka take down the Raikage, a Sennin and an ex-Mizukage in one go. If I believe her to be a coward then this would make sense. I feel that the child died because he wasn't, and yet because of her cowardice I am able to get the truth.

A finger tapped on the arm rest where his hand rested, and then he leaned forward, anger touching his words.

Every ANBU who was on duty that day, every single one of them is dead. The cover up by the Council went as far as to order them on missions with members of the Harvesters. The Harvester would return, the ANBU would not.

A fierce look of pain, anger, filled his eye as he stared at Ayumu. His hands gripped the chair so tightly that to someone watching they might wonder if the wood would be crushed under the strength held in his bunched muscles. Taking a breath he eased back in his seat, his hands letting go once more.

The council had been lucky that they hadn't put up a fight. He had needed only the slightest of excuses to show them the danger that he really was to his enemies. To show them a glimpse of the boy who was Shinbatsu's student.

 

[Kogami Ayumu]

Ayumu leaned back in his chair as Saito began his response to the things Ayumu had said of Kitsune. He began by recounting what she had done wrong. She failed the Raikage and her duty as a shinobi of Kumogakure. Yes, Ayumu would certainly say that was true. She had simply stood by and watched as the village's leader was assassinated in order to save her own hide. Not only the Raikage, but her Sennin and an innocent younger Genin. And what if she and Keiji had stepped in to help? Would they really still face defeat and death when the numbers would be in their favor five to three? They could have at least called for help and held on until it arrived. Saito also was fair enough to point out that she did a decent job of running her branch. This was, perhaps, the only thing that kept her where she was now.

Saito then went on to tell Ayumu what he really thought of Kitsune. Given what had been revealed here, Ayumu didn't have much to say in disagreement. He had never seen her use of science to prevent herself from aging as cowardice, but perhaps there was some truth to that after all given how much of her honor she was willing to throw away in order to avoid death at the hands of those who killed Shin. Or maybe it was greed, as Saito suggested, which only gave more credence to the prospect that she kept quiet and stood by in order to find herself in the position of Sennin. Apparently she claimed that she and Keiji both were threatened to remain silent, which did make sense. Did that absolve them of anything? Not really.

"It's hard to make sense of... if it wasn't by her own admission I might have had trouble believing it. Back in Tenouza we believed that she gave up her life to heal us when the battle went south. But she's still alive, isn't she? Maybe that was just falsehood, too," Ayumu said, looking back to when it had happened. Shin had been in very bad shape while Ayumu still had some fight left in him but not enough to take on the Kingslayers alone. It all looked bleak until Kitsune had done something to heal them and bring them back from the brink. As a consequence it seemed she had died. Masao had even attempted to use the "holy grail" to bring her back to no apparent effect. But then she showed up months later apparently fine. At the time it seemed a miracle, but now even that seemed called into suspicion.

Saito continued, visibly restraining his anger as he spoke of the lengths council had gone through to cover up the conspiracy. They had gone so far as to arrange for the deaths of potential witnesses. Now that Saito revealed this, Ayumu put some things together in his mind. He had known some of those who had died, having been in ANBU up until now. They had died not in the line of duty, but as a result of greed. 'No... i'm sure they thought they were doing the right thing in some twisted way,' he thought, shaking his head, 'The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.'

"Absolutely disgraceful... to think, she put me in the position I'm in now. How did I fit into their plans?" Ayumu wondered aloud. He had to wonder if some part of Saito questioned whether Ayumu was involved as well. After all, he was put into power by the guilty party. Ayumu sighed, shaking his head in disbelief. "I have no reason to contest what you've done today, pending my own investigation, of course. You're one of the very few that has the experience for the position anyway and council certainly isn't going to be choosing a Raikage right now. As for Kitsune... I'll leave it to your authority as you're the Raikage now, but if there are other options for Sennin I would advise that they be taken as soon as possible. I don't believe we can place any trust in her. I know I won't have any faith in her watching my back in a fight," Ayumu concluded matter-of-factly.

 

[Junan]

Without a council I'll be relying on the Sennin's to help me running the village more than perhaps they have been relied on ever before. I need to make sure that I am able to be trusted by the three of you as much as you can be trusted by me. I don't know if they had plans for you, but as ANBU Sennin I trust your judgement, this hasn't changed over the course of a couple of hours. Nobuyuki has been granted the title of ANBU Sennin, I believe you would be familiar with his hard work and very hard nose approach to truth and the law. He smiled, a small glint of humour in his eye despite the troubling times.

His arms rose up, like one opening themselves to receive a dagger I surround myself with people who would stand against me. His arms returned to the arms on the chair, his eye still showing the humour he found in this For they are the ones I trust the most. He then said, the truth in his words running strong. Nobuyuki, Ayumu, these were two men who would take him down if his actions this day were not right, they would stand against him should it be deemed that he was wrong. Kitsune would not stop them doing so, indeed she would probably aid them to show unity if nothing else and to try and maintain her position. Yet this is in part what he wanted. He didn't want to be surrounded with sycophants, people who were strong worshipers of Shinbatsu, people who would protect him and his image against anything and everything.

For they were blind, and likely unwilling to see truth when it mattered most.

Speak with Nobuyuki, he has been granted full access to all files concerning this matter. He has my research, and now he has access to the council's files. I'm sure he would be happy to work with you, or give you copies of information you need.

Looking around him suddenly he stood again.

Once this matter is sorted we will go about rebuilding the council and can sit down as the leaders of the village and decide on Kitsune's fate.

Akira gestured for Ayumu to stand and follow him, walking Ayumu to the door before opening it.

Oh, one last thing. I have already performed one act as Raikage. I have restructured the ANBU Branch so that they will only take orders from the village leaders for village required missions with a focus on targeting shinobi conflict. Previously their specialty had been on 'killing' but now I want it to be more clear than that and move to what it had previously been. This will mean they will be in charge of village protection, the gates, policing shinobi activity within the gates, as well as any shinobi activity outside the gates which we believe could threaten the village.

I hope that this will allow your branch to have the freedom that perhaps it previously hasn't had to invest in combat training and create groups which previously wouldn't have received much work because the jobs they would have been performing would have been given instead to ANBU. I believe the change benefits both branches and thus the village as a whole. I hope you approve of this.

 

[Kogami Ayumu]

Ayumu had said his piece about his fellow Sennin and that was going to have to be enough for the time being. He knew for himself that he couldn't trust her, and that he would need to be careful never to put himself in a vulnerable position with her around. Best case scenario she would just continue to run her branch and they wouldn't have too much interaction. Unfortunately, she was also Kahako's sensei which was going to be awkward. 'I never thought I'd miss having Kushin as the Medical Sennin,' Ayumu thought, remembering the brash but loyal Sennin. But that was for another time, for now he was going to let it go. Saito continued speaking, expressing that he was willing to put his trust in Ayumu if Ayumu could do the same for him. He also revealed his chosen successor for ANBU Sennin, Nobuyuki. Ayumu was familiar with the name and it seemed like a solid choice on the surface. Hopefully it would prove to be the right one in the months to come.

Saito continued, explaining why the Sennin in position were worthy of his trust, at least two of them. Hopefully both of them would prove to have the integrity he thought they would, enough to make up for three Sennin's worth. It seemed he had the right idea. He wasn't looking for lemmings to just blindly obey his orders. He wanted people he knew would call him out if they disagreed. Ayumu remembered back to Shin's reign while he was ANBU Sennin. He might not have always saw eye to eye with Shin, but Shin was open to hearing the council of his Sennin. He didn't simply make up his mind and ignore the opinions of others, at least it never seemed that way to Ayumu. That was a good trait for a leader to have. It seemed like Saito could be a good thing for the village, but Ayumu hoped to make sure this time. He thought that Haruka would be good as well, but apparently she had been deceiving everyone. Ayumu wanted to make sure about Saito, so he would surely take him up on his offer of taking a look at his gathered evidence that led him to the actions he took today.

Saito addressed Kitsune one final time, delaying the decision of her fate until a later time. It was true, everything related to the conspiracy needed to be verified before anything could happen on that front. Ayumu stood as Saito gestured and followed Saito to the door. He wasn't going to waste any time looking into this. He needed to see the truth for himself. "I'll be sure to begin my own investigation immediately," Ayumu stated as he made for the door. Before Ayumu could step out the door, Saito had one more bit of news. He had decided to make clarifications on the distinctions between the duties of ANBU and Main Branches. As a former member of ANBU and the Main Branch, not just as Sennin, he was familiar with the frustration that came with each perceiving the other to be stepping on toes. What each was tasked to be doing became muddied over time and there was too much crossover.

"Well, I'm sure clarification of duties will help immensely as a start. It's important to have those with the right skill sets tasked with the missions that suit them. I think this will help with that. At any rate, we've both got work to do so I'll leave you to it," Ayumu said with a nod towards the new Raikage. He hoped that this sudden change in the political climate was a sign of good things to come but only time would tell. For now it was time for him to find out what really happened to Shin and he was anxious to do so. "See you later," he said with another nod before exiting through the door and heading towards his office. His staff was going to be running around frantically even more than normal today and he had a lot of reports to go over now. A busy day indeed.

[Topic Left]

 

[Junan]

I look forward to hearing the results of your investigation. He said as Ayumu took his leave.

Closing the door he looked around the room and thought about what it would have been like working as ANBU Sennin under Shin. The way Shin was with his tastes for things and his organisation still filled this room. Haruka clearly not being in office for a long enough period of time to make changes to it.

It was with a heavy heart that he stood there. So much pain filled his mind, pain which he'd not entertained, he couldn't entertain while he was performing his duty. But his duty was now to right the wrongs, it was to set Kumogakure back on the path that Shin had laid out for them, but do so without fear. It was unfortunate but Akira felt that his friends decisions were often not his own, and though taking council was a good thing, not having the constitution to stand behind your own ideas was not.

His friends were dead.

For the village he would need to grieve. Otherwise one day everyone might pay for his bottling up of rage.

[topic left]