Respect does not always equate to understanding [Req. Ayumu]

[Moyamaru]

She stood before one of the wall's in the office, her back turned to the door and her eyes scanning whatever may be upon or attached to it. The woman was not new to this place and neither would she be an unrecognizable face to the current Raikage when he arrived. Having been an older woman, even older than Ayumu himself, she undoubtedly would have shared some interactions with him over the years due his previous position. With her pupils diverting back and forth she found reason to pick up a small book. It was common script and one which she had brushed over before but in this time of waiting found reason to refresh her memory of the text. This would be one of the few times Ao would have been seen without her full anbu attire, being a woman starkly dedicated to the branch and it's codex. She would only adorn an overreaching black cloak with a collar high enough to cover the lower features of her face up to the nostrils. The book would by extension be held in such a way that the longer than normal sleeves brunched up along her hands so that the tips of her fingers normally hidden were exposed.

As her eyes moved from line to line she internally within the confines of her mind reassured her reasoning for coming here, understanding that Ayumu had become a man with a burden heavier than which he once shouldered. Though this understanding of his background, character and position is what required her to explore his thoughts as there were decisions which she personally did not understand that were made. It was her character, her nature to see everything from an outsider's point of view, a trait which had in effect made her highly susceptible to distrust. Whether this distrust was on a personal, decision or sporadic level it was by design a natural impulse to understand what was said or done. The current climate of the village, which was uniform as other villages throughout the shinobi world did not sit right on a logical level for her understanding. This was something Ayumu could either amend or embolden within her character.

Closing the book, her eyes deeply enriched with blue hues would stare with aimless focus as the decorum before her would all begin to fade from focus. She was caught within her inner thoughts, her vision unfocused and blurring together the surrounding before an inevitable opening to the office snapped her attention back into place.

 

[Kogami Ayumu]

A meeting at the Academy had called Ayumu away from his office for a short while. Of course the meeting could have taken place in his office, but any excuse to get out was a good one to him. It got tiresome looking at the same four walls for such long periods of time. Unfortunately, he would always return and as such he was headed back there now. As he passed through the lobby, a secretary waved him over. She informed him that someone was awaiting him in his office. A name was given to him, one which he recognized from his time in ANBU. They were no more than acquaintances, but he was aware of her and in his time as Sennin of the branch he had seen evidence in her reports that she was a reliable operative. That said, this meeting had come out of the blue. Ayumu always tried to make time for anybody that wanted to meet with him, regardless of whether it was scheduled beforehand or not. Fortunately, he had time to hear her out. He had another meeting scheduled for soon, but there was still time before then.

Ayumu walked the all too familiar path back to his office where Ao awaited. The doors were open as she had been allowed inside to wait while her fellow ANBU, stationed in the tower, stoically flanked the entrance in anticipation of Ayumu's return. Ayumu nodded at the guards as he approached and passed them to enter the room where he found Ao, seemingly snapped out of a good stare. It seemed that she had something on her mind, perhaps something she felt she needed to discuss with him. "Good evening," he greeted her as he walked to his desk. He pulled his two sheathed blades from his hip and leaned them in their usual place next to his desk chair, but did not sit yet. Sitting made him feel all that much closer to returning to his paperwork.

"What can I do for you?" he asked, curious to see where this meeting would go.

 

[Moyamaru]

With her focus broken out of the trace, Ao recovered rather quickly and refocused her attention and eyes on Ayumu. Turning the woman's gaze would meet those of the Raikage, following his pace without fault. Her impression of him having been nothing short of high regard for reasons on a personal and professional level. Ao was a generation above Ayumu and was already a trainee within Anbu before he would have even enrolled in the village's academy. Yet she had watched and lay witness (in person and by word of mouth) to evidence of his skill and possession of positive characteristics. She respected the Raikage because he had never shown an inability to pursue what was best for the village as a whole. Ao would never question the Raikage's unrelenting love of Kumogakure and his willingness to do whatever it took to protect yet. It was because she knew all these things about the Raikage was why she was here and she would make it known very quickly. With a respectful nodding of her head after he greeted her Ao would speak

"I am here for two reasons, the second being one of a personal nature that requires your seal of approval. The first and one which would dominate our dialogue is of a political, ideological, and purpose of duty level. There comes a time when we as shinobi must be reminded that what we do is not for naught and that we do it with the full embrace of our conviction. To ensure I wear this with no reason to have distrust in the village's structure"

Her palm ruffled inside the large belt pouch on her back waistline, removing from it her ANBU mask to eye level with Ayumu. This mask had been in Ao's possession since first becoming a trainee, being the same mask she trained in and later had marked after her promotion. It was the mask she had used and had been before sennin from former Raikage Akira Saito first term to the insulting appointing of Santaru Kouin to the now splinter of branch leadership. Many times had she seen the ugly side of their world and profession, their call to duty for the village at many times sacrificing normal taboos. Under various leaderships she had put life and mind on a pedestal that could only be overtaken by shear duty to execute orders and protect livelihoods. Now in her maturity and with recent events in the past four years, Ao found it needed to have her faith solidified. Aware of it or not but Ayumu's words would either spur Ao to wear her mask faithfully and without question or see the system flawed with need to restructuring.

"Twenty-two years I have worn this mask, watched various changes good and bad alter this village's course. Events of the past few years like the assassination of Hayata Shin at the hands of two of our own villagers and a foreigner. To the death of Nobuyuki and a few anbu operatives with the eventual appointee of their attacker-murderer as head of Anbu. I begin to question decision more now which is why I have come to understand why we have become so trusting of those from outside our country. To the point that it is almost normal to see them filter into seats of authority based on abstract loyalty. If someone of your stature and mind has no qualms about this then maybe knowing your personal viewpoints will stabilize my doubts."

 

[Kogami Ayumu]

Ao wasted no time in addressing her reason for coming. The straightforwardness wasn’t unusual for an ANBU, at least when they weren’t putting on a facade for the purpose of a mission. It seemed as though she was seeking to have a philosophical sort of discussion with him, something to reinforce the confidence she had in the village’s leadership. He couldn’t really blame her for having uneasy feelings. After all, it had been a turbulent series of years. First Shin was assassinated, then his assassin was named Raikage before being outed, then Saito forced his way into the position, now here was Ayumu. Who was to say there wasn’t something off about his ascension too?

Ayumu watched as Ao produced her ANBU mask and prepared to continue. She spoke of her long years of service in her branch and mentioned how fairly recent events had caused her to question decisions more than ever. It was fair, in his opinion. He didn’t mind giving her his viewpoint, if perhaps it would help her come to terms with everything that had happened.

”You certainly aren’t the first person to come to me asking questions like this. It’s good that people are paying attention to what’s going on. I’d be glad to give you my point of view, if it’s helpful.

I think a lot of the events of the past several years were precipitated by the fall of Kirigakure and Konohagakure. It brought on a new challenge for Kumogakure. So many refugees were forced to flee their homes and many of them ended up at our gates. We could have turned them away, but for the most part we decided to welcome them in. I had sympathy for the refugees, but a number of things happened that led to my eventual distrust of foreigners. I witnessed a former shinobi of Leaf murder our innocent civilians with callous disregard for life before I put them down. Not long after that, another Leaf shinobi attacked our gates, clearly out of his mind.

Then I learned of Hoshikata, a former Mist shinobi who brainwashed one of our shinobi with some kind of jutsu and forced him to leave the village. All of these events influenced me as I helped convince Shin to enact a ban on foreigners entering our gates which lasted for several years-- until Saito’s time. I was convinced that it was necessary to protect our people from those who would do them harm, even if it meant sacrificing the refugees who didn’t mean any harm.

When Shin, a man I respected greatly, was assassinated, it was announced that the deed was done by Hoshikata’s hand. For a while it had me convinced that my attitude towards foreigners was justified. But then I found out with everyone else that Hoshikata wasn’t acting alone. He and Daisuke were betrayed by two of our own while two others stood by and watched the traitors slay them and a brave Genin who died trying to defend them. I had been convinced that a foreigner was to blame yet again, but I found out that he alone would have failed and in fact was more or less a pawn in the schemes of our own shinobi,” Ayumu said, a disgusted laugh escaping him. The thought of everything that had went down still made his blood boil to this day.

”It blew my mind. I began to question my views after that revelation. I thought, maybe someone being born here or elsewhere doesn't mean as much as I thought? Anybody, not just foreigners, has the potential to do wrong. Anyone who comes to Cloud with so called good intentions could be full of shit like Hoshikata was. Any Cloud shinobi has the potential to betray their allies. But the reverse of that has to be true, too. Anybody has the potential to be good. To be an ally. I can’t just… assume that everyone that isn’t born here is evil. Prejudging someone just because they weren't born where I was born makes no logical sense. I have to judge them based on their actions.

Truth be told, I would never have allowed Kouin to join our ranks, let alone assume the role of Sennin. It didn’t matter to me that he was from Mist. What he did was not excusable. I’m not sure I’ll ever understand Saito’s decision. I can’t fault anybody for questioning it as well. Out of respect for him, as Raikage, and because of the way he revealed the truth about Shin, I didn’t fight it. I did have contacts within ANBU watching him up until he was removed from the position after I became Raikage,” Ayumu said, his gaze shifting towards the Raikage hat that was hung on the wall of the office. His response had gotten wordier than he had meant it to, but he was about to wrap it up. He had to assume that the reason these questions were coming up now was because of the recent interactions with Leaf, and Kaji.

”I can see why some have distrust of foreigners, having come from a viewpoint like that myself in the past. It's understandable. But my life experience has shown me that a person's origin doesn't determine who they turn out to be. My dealings with the Konoha shinobi as of late have only made that belief more concrete. They came extending an olive branch, and since then we have been establishing a relationship that is benefiting both of our villages. We've gained a valuable ally in Kaji. Will I blindly trust them and forsake caution? No. But I won't turn them away before they've given me reason to,” Ayumu concluded, hoping that his reasons would give Ao some trust in the decisions he was making. Of course, a long winded explanation wasn’t necessarily going to clear up all doubts, but perhaps she would be more willing to give him a chance. He waited to see if she might have any questions or comments, now that he had finished expressing his point of view. Maybe she would provide her own point of view.

 

[Moyamaru]

Ao held her stature and tongue for the entirety of Ayumu's words, not interrupting his talking points or objecting to insert her own opinions. Instead she stood still and silent, taking his words in through both ears and allowed them to rebound off the walls of her mind as she worked to understand his position. There were times in his sentences which she felt a difference of opinion then there were also times where there would be nothing but agreement on his analyzing of the current state of thing. Still though Ayumu had provided her what she was searching for and it would be up to her own understanding to take what was said and apply it to her own thought processes. Once he had finished however she would take her turn to address him, doing so only after placing the mask she held upon her face.

"It is some assurance that your decisions are made with solid thoughts well matured, make no mistake about that Lord Raikage however I do ask at least on the context of our relations with other villages....what have we gained? As a village we've taken in foreign shinobi who's only loyalty to this village was food and shelter. As you stated, it is difficult to truly trust even those born into the same environment as ourselves though for them to betray us is unforgettable. However for a foreigner to betray us would be considered natural, even now with Kaji he is not one of us. We have gained a shinobi who's origin is not attached here and he occupies a position where Konohagakure gains far more than we do. But that is not a topic I wish to indulge upon."

She truly wondered what it was that Kaji had brought to this village that could be considered so valuable that his occupancy to a position which offered so much knowledge about the village was worth the exchange. What had Kumogakure truly gained which was not overshadowed by the shear potential of information that could be sent back to where he was from. Standing before Ayumu's desk Ao would speak once more about something she hoped he would consider.

"I will not question your decision which you have taken to bring some sort of stability to the village however I do wish to formally request to be able to gather information from the other villages in an unofficial manner. If we are to have such open relationships then it is of at least some reassurance that we do not put all our trust in foreign shinobi and thoughts so blindly. Equally so to further layer our villages safety net, I do wish we should attain information on the other village's past and recent rogues as to have some knowledge of who may arrive here on false pretenses."

 

[Kogami Ayumu]

It was Ayumu's turn to listen to Ao's concerns, wondering what benefit Kumogakure had enjoyed for taking in foreign refugees. Certainly in the case of aiding the refugees it was not a matter of what Kumogakure would gain from it. It had not been Ayumu's decision to allow the refugees shelter in Kumogakure back then, but he was glad it had happened. He could only hope that if something similar ever happened to Kumogakure that other villages would be willing to do the same for its citizens. Ao wondered what Kumogakure gained by its dealings with Konoha and Kaji, arguing that there was risk in trusting Kaji with his position. Ayumu saw her point, but he valued the alliance with Konaha enough to take the risk.

Ao seemed willing to accept Ayumu's decisions, but had requests to make of him in order to help her feel more at ease with the increasing involvement with foreign influences. She wanted to gather information from the other villages including but not limited to data about rogue shinobi from other villages. It stood to reason that the rogue shinobi from other villages stood to cause the most possible harm given they no longer had villages to represent. Ayumu nodded slowly, considering the request carefully. More information was never a bad thing to have, certainly.

"Interesting. You want to gather more information on other villages? True, it would not hurt to learn more about those would be our friends. I have seen, through experience with groups like the Kingslayers and the group that invited and then attacked the shinobi at the Daimyo's daughter's wedding in Wind, that shinobi have no shortage of enemies in this world without making enemies of one another. For that reason and others, I try to keep our relationships with the other shinobi villages amicable. But you are correct, that doesn't mean that we can trust blindly. Truthfully, though it may sound strange, I am glad that you have your doubts about the alliance. I can only extend my hand in friendship because our shinobi are vigilant," Ayumu commented.

"What exactly do you have in mind, as far as gathering information from the other villages? Are you specifically looking at Konoha?" he asked, curious what Ao had in mind.