After finally finishing all the meatbuns and a much needed trip to the Hot Spring to clean off and relax for a bit Shashu headed home for a change of clothes. She had hoped to find Kahako at the Spring, and if not there then at home, but the Med-Nin's presence was strangely lacking from her living quarters. Too lacking...as if she had not been there for some time. Even more of note was that the Shinrya Mansion itself seemed to be opened up and habited again. It was worrying...but Shashu could check that out later. She had to change and report to the Sileo for a debriefing, which she did with haste. The prospect of seeing Ayumu's face after her long trip certainly played a part in that.
Of course, there was something wrong at the Sileo as well. The stone halls seemed almost abandoned. What little life she did see seemed to consist of a skeleton crew of paper pushers working overdrive, probably to cover the work of all those not present.
Is there some sort of sickness going around? The ANBU thought. There's barely a soul here.
Aside from the desk jockeys hidden behind their fortresses of paper, what worried her most was that she saw not a single other ANBU. Normally she would have run into at least a few coming from or going to an assignment. More than a bit perturbed, she made haste towards Ayumu's office only to find it equally empty. That was worrying. Ayumu rarely ever got sick, and if the ANBU were this short staffed Shashu knew from experience that he would be entrenched behind his own paper castle chipping away, much as he would hate to be doing it. There was something very wrong here.
After a few minutes of searching she finally managed to corner a clerk who would give her the time of day to answer a question.
"What's the deal? Where is everyone else? Where is Ayumu-dono?"
The clerk squinted at her. "What? Have you been hiding under a rock? There is no one else-ever since the Sennin up and disappeared we've been hemorrhaging personal like a stab wound to the gut. If you're back from assignment report to the Torre. There's no one here to take your report."
What. The. FUCK.
She was gone a year, and the entire division turns to dust? The Sileo so understaffed that the only people left were office personnel, and assignments were being handled at the Torre? Shashu was once again glad for her mask, as it hid the shock plain upon her face. What...what happened?? Fortunately, the clerk had told her where to go for answers. And it just so happened that she had an appointment with the perfect man to ask...
A very short while later, Shashu turned stepped into the reception area for the Kage himself, still wearing her mask.
"E-excuse me. I have an appointment." Her words to the secretary were shaky, but hopefully the imposing visage of her mask would draw attention from that.
"With Shin. The Raikage. He asked for me specifically." She added on hurriedly. It wasn't like she had expected things to be a hundred percent the same when she got back, but this? Ayumu was gone, and Shashu had a bad feeling Kahako was too. Two of her closest friends gone, just disappeared? And Ayumu's branch in shambles... Shashu needed answers, and Shin was going to give them to her or he was about to have one very distraught ANBU on his hands.
[MFT: WC-595]
Of course, there was something wrong at the Sileo as well. The stone halls seemed almost abandoned. What little life she did see seemed to consist of a skeleton crew of paper pushers working overdrive, probably to cover the work of all those not present.
Is there some sort of sickness going around? The ANBU thought. There's barely a soul here.
Aside from the desk jockeys hidden behind their fortresses of paper, what worried her most was that she saw not a single other ANBU. Normally she would have run into at least a few coming from or going to an assignment. More than a bit perturbed, she made haste towards Ayumu's office only to find it equally empty. That was worrying. Ayumu rarely ever got sick, and if the ANBU were this short staffed Shashu knew from experience that he would be entrenched behind his own paper castle chipping away, much as he would hate to be doing it. There was something very wrong here.
After a few minutes of searching she finally managed to corner a clerk who would give her the time of day to answer a question.
"What's the deal? Where is everyone else? Where is Ayumu-dono?"
The clerk squinted at her. "What? Have you been hiding under a rock? There is no one else-ever since the Sennin up and disappeared we've been hemorrhaging personal like a stab wound to the gut. If you're back from assignment report to the Torre. There's no one here to take your report."
What. The. FUCK.
She was gone a year, and the entire division turns to dust? The Sileo so understaffed that the only people left were office personnel, and assignments were being handled at the Torre? Shashu was once again glad for her mask, as it hid the shock plain upon her face. What...what happened?? Fortunately, the clerk had told her where to go for answers. And it just so happened that she had an appointment with the perfect man to ask...
* * *
A very short while later, Shashu turned stepped into the reception area for the Kage himself, still wearing her mask.
"E-excuse me. I have an appointment." Her words to the secretary were shaky, but hopefully the imposing visage of her mask would draw attention from that.
"With Shin. The Raikage. He asked for me specifically." She added on hurriedly. It wasn't like she had expected things to be a hundred percent the same when she got back, but this? Ayumu was gone, and Shashu had a bad feeling Kahako was too. Two of her closest friends gone, just disappeared? And Ayumu's branch in shambles... Shashu needed answers, and Shin was going to give them to her or he was about to have one very distraught ANBU on his hands.
[MFT: WC-595]