The Beginning. [ANBU Meeting]

[Keigo Oen]

Tama had enough time on his hands now that he would be able to call to arms and present the newest information regarding the direction of the branch. Giving it an open door policy to him as long as he had time to give. Though, he was a very detail oriented person. He sent invitations to the main ANBU and Guardians he had moved their shifts to coordinate with this alotted time slot he wanted for such a meeting. So things would be short and sweet. . . hopefully. This was his first thing he would do as the Sennin. The first, anything. . . he'd gotten the job alittle less than a week ago and this would solidify his position. He was now a clean Twenty-Two years old, his dyed white hair spiked in its normal fashion, and no mask on today, though his spiral mask on his shoulder, along with his black gi outfit. It was a chilling morning as they would be high in the altitude of Stone. Above the village floating amongst the masses, in a giant ball in the sky. 'How can anyone be inconspicuous here. . .' , Tamashii would think as he looked out the window of the room he designated for them to meet. How could he give them a fire that would ignite them to be more expansive in the village? How could he rally them. They were the elite, in their own right. But 'elite' did not mean perfection. They would never be perfect. It was something he could not expect from himself let alone anyone else. . . however, he could demand excellence. To be and give your best effort to every notion moving forward. . . Hmph. . . It was worth the shot right?

He'd stand with his back to the wall before heaving deeply. This room was quite big. He expected the best turnout, if all the current ANBU and Guardians that were free during this time would show, he'd be grateful. Humble. He wanted to lead this group to allow Stone to form comms and intel in other coutries without starting wars. . . and if a War did come they'd be ready. With a steady hand and a wonder amongst all others Tamashii was indeed light in thought, and fresh from his surgery with the scar still present on his face and the eye concealed with a clenched eye. He would find it truly astounding that. . . this would be a wonderful notion of the future. . .

He'd nod to himself finally stating low under his breath, "Here's to the future. . ."​

<i></i>

 

[Kimi]

Guardian of Silence​

Well this was strange. It wasn't every day that the ANBU and Guardian sennin called for a meeting,
let alone one for everyone in the branch. Then again, who knows what would happen. They had a new sennin
now. Who knew what sort of things would be changing. For someone used to living in the shadows, stepping
forth and meeting with her fellow branchmates seemed a little out of nature. Then again. Just because
they were known as the ninja hiding in the shadows doesn't mean they should hide from each other as well.
How could they expect to work together if they hardly knew each other existed. That would be highly impractical.

Kimi took a deep breath before stepping into the meeting room. She had dressed formally for the
event, making her look even older than she currently did. Her violin attached to her back in a strange, new
sort of attachment. It was a simple collection of ties and cloth, leaving most of the instrument open. The
black paint was faded from years of use; it was obvious that the instrument was well loved. She was early.
She noted the strange lack of people in the room, and internally groaned. Now everyone would think of
her as the try-hard. It didn't help that everyone seemed to know about her..she did become a Guardian
rather early. She, Kei, and Chi. She paused, passively wondering if Kei and Chi were on the way. They'd
be showing up there, for sure. They were Guardians as well. Kimi realized that, in all the confusion, she
hadn't even gotten around to asking her friends what their Guardian titles were. That was an oversight
on her part. She made a mental note to ask them about it at some point.

A soft whisper, one obvious not to have been meant to be heard, caught her ear. She stepped over towards
the speaker, the voice ringing familiarly in her ear. "So, we meet again." she grinned,
greeting the man she had recently enjoyed a late night chat with. "Am I early?" she gestured to
the empty room around them.​

 

[Hanone]

Uxi had been in the ANBU for a long time. Several years. He'd never aspired to be anything more than just that either. Promotion required responsibility and possibly, even more governing than the lower positions. Answering to your superiors in his position usually meant a slap on the wrist. Answering to your superiors as a captain or sennin meant you were personally responsible for any fuck-ups that happened by you or anyone under you. Still, there was some pride in the job. The ANBU were the secret ops. It was their job to do the dirty things the rest of the village was to remain ignorant of. He'd killed more than a few people in his time in the name of his village and his leaders and it didn't bother him. It was part of what he became when he put on the mask.

So when Uxirusu, or more presently known as 'Mushi', came responding to the mandatory meeting call, he came in full ANBU gear. The visage of Uxirusu was normally such an obvious and eccentric one that he was required to be masked, and shawled with either long sleeves or a transformation jutsu in place to alter the telltale tattoos the man bore. His mask was fairly boring in design, just a flat white oval with thin slits over the eyes and two vertical stripes of green running from his chin to forehead, parallel with each other.

He entered the room silently, not speaking in greeting or giving some attendance. He arrived only a moment after the girl in the room had mentioned being early. Given she was without a mask, and the man in the room was clearly the new sennin (some news travelled through the grapevine afterall), he was given to believe she was a guardian. This drew the only sound he would muster. He snorted in derision... guardians.... then beelined for the far wall, pivoting on his heel smoothly as he approached it and dropped himself into a crouch an inch from the wall. His gloved hands came up to link before his knees, allowing him to relax in the squatted position until called on or spoken to if the time came. If not, he was contented to just listen and wait.

 

[Keigo Oen]

[24 hours until I post again. Everyone after this post will be considered late]

 

[Haruka]

A meeting? It didn't seem like that was too far out of the question, but did it matter to her anymore anyways? She was the replacement for a fallen Kage for the time being and the Daimyo, so did they want to see her face in a meeting? Probably not. But that was all her time had been filled with here as of late. Hell, did she not have another meeting set up somewhere in the Spire? Heh, with a fake leader none the less. It didn't concern her time, but why deny a man his delusioned comforts? Leaning against one gloved hand, she would peer silently out over the village. Why was she wasting her time here again? She could be out struggling to find her son in Arcadia.... But perhaps this was her momentary break. The search had been relentless and it bore no fruits to show for her vigorus labor. Sleepless nights though attempted, and eating the bare minimum that she needed. Yeah, that was her life right now. Reaching up, another hand would trail along her hair line to make sure that she was still presentable. Time was no longer relevant to her. Oh no, she couldn't bother keeping a track very well. It seemed that she would go into the ground when the sun was still sleeping... and come up when it went to bed. Now, if only she had some kind of chakra tracking, but the man was good at hiding his damned chakra. He always was. In her silence, she would listen to various people arrive to the room, but she did not bother twisting her body around to see who had shown up to this little meeting. She figured that the numbers were spread thin, but were they really spread this thin? Who knew.

All she knew was that Megami had driven this poor branch into the ground. Now, she could only hope for Tamashii to restore it back to it's former glory. It may have been a daunting task, but she found herself able to place at least a small amount of trust into whatever the man was doing here. Her mask, the face of the previous Kage's skull, lay on the arm of the chair next to her atop of her dark cloak. No need wearing it right now. It obscured her view of the outside world a little bit too well.

"What are we doing here?" Her tone was not so nice. Hell, she didn't even turn around to address the Sennin and the people here. Leave it to Haruka to make amazing impressions right now, but she didn't have the energy levels that would allow her to be all bright and cheerful right now.<i></i>

 

[Keigo Oen]

</FONTFACE><FONTFACE fontface="san-serif">It wasnt long before they started to come in. . . but as quickly as the three arrived. . . he would feel as if no one else would. 'I'll make a good note of that for the future.' thinking to himself he'd look to the three, one of which was the Daimyo of the country. He'd wonder why she decided to show up, granted she had an ANBU background but she ran the country. She didnt have to be present at this level of endearment. Though he respected the fact that she did indeed show up. It was exciting to say the least. "Seems you're right on time Silence, seems you're right on time.", he'd finally break the silence from Haruka entering the room with sudden questioning. Though it was this question he wanted to build from. So turning to his ANBU and Guardian. He would nod.

"Indeed. . . what are we doing here, as the Daimyo has questioned. Well I personally called this meeting to be bigger than this, but I'll be handling the ones who did not come. I surely hope they have a good reason. Either way. . .", he'd pause pulling his hair from his face and pulling the mask from his shoulder plate. "Who are we? What is our identity within our village? I feel like we must make a stride towards the future. History says Guardians were some of the strongest of the village. This is why they need not to wear masks. They felt pride looking their enemies in the eyes and allowing them to know the honor of who they were to be slain by. However, this is not the case anymore. . .", nodding he'd roll his shoulders feeling like he was going to do more talking than he wanted to.

"The future is seemingly the ANBU way of things. To approach from the silence of darkness and infiltration. To destroy enemies with strategic and planned strikes. However, there are cons with this. The people will think lowly of us because they were masks. The people never have a personal relationship with them. . . because of the deception and mystery. Though what does that matter when we're getting our jobs done.", nodding once again he'd look outside to the city below. "This place was risen above the rest to allow the arrogance of our ancestry to rain over the people. . . To look over them as if they were peasants under the guise of 'looking over them for their protection'. Which I wish to change. We are not an ego driven branch. Alot of what we do will never go noticed like the Medics and Shaman. Or the Main branch for their abrasive push at the gates during gate duty. So I ask this question. . ." he'd pause again taking his mask into his hand tightly before looking at Kimi and Uxi.

"Who are we? What is our identity? What do you want to be your identity? What does the future hold and how do we plan for it?", he'd leave the floor for them to respond if they so pleased.

 

[Hanone]

It was a disappointment to see so few of their ranks make it to the meeting. In fact, he was the only ANBU member it seemed and behind his own mask, the man sighed. Uxi, or better known as Mushi while wearing the disguise, lowered his head so his eyes were focused on the floor as their new commander spoke to them.

It was sad. The politics of the land necessitated the village leaders to create monsters whose jobs were to undertake the most unsavory of jobs: assassinations, covert operations, silent infiltration of other countries to either spy or kill. And those jobs needed both a skilled killer and/or spy... ones who could work in antonymy and even die before giving up any information. It was how the shinobi world worked... it was also why the ANBU needed to be so picky who was allowed in. But... it also meant that they were feared, revered, and hated interchangeably.

Many times over the years, Uxi had spoken to people within Stone who gave voice to their disdain of the ANBU. Mostly, it was assumed they just sat on the gates all day like some glorified scarecrow, but others thought the ANBU were devils and mercenaries. Many wished for the death of the heathens who worked behind the masks, unknowing if it was their own sons and daughters looking out from behind those two eye holes. It never bothered Uxi though. Being the necessary evil and of course, working without the chance of recognition, praise or disapproval just meant he could get what needed to be done, done.

So as the sennin's words came to a close, Uxi rose his head, looking through the round eyeholes at the white haired man and spoke first. There was no need for hesitation or deep thought on the matter. With a voice much lower than his natural one (thanks to the transformation jutsu), Mushi said "We're the silent workers, senpai. We shouldn't be concerned with the displeasure of others. Without us, there is no safety, no protected secrets, no normal day-to-day. It's our job to continue making their lives easy by doing the hardest tasks. In the mask I am Mushi. I am the mask and not the man behind it."

He pressed a hand to the white, flat plate over his face, gripping it with his fingertips. "I am a jounin beneath this mask as you should know, senpai, and only you now and my kage, when we are blessed with another, should know who I am when I am not Mushi. I have an identity when I'm in the public eye and am a tool for the village in my mask. However, what we do from here is not up to me to decide. I am yours to command, even if that means to my death or the dissipation of my position. But, I strongly believe we need the ANBU."

Uxi had his own ideas, as anyone did. He could see the branch becoming more secluded, even blending the guardians with the ANBU so they were one group, or having one guardian to one ANBU, partners, but it was not for him to say. He was not one of the sennin's captains, nor a man of position.

 

[Kei]

This was bad, really bad. Kei was late, how was it possible that one of the fastest member of the branch could possibly be late. He'd been up half the night looking over from one of the missions he'd done as an academy student, he felt like he'd missed something obvious but couldn't figure out what it was. Even so, Kei rarely overslept, and always took his Guardian business seriously. Even more this was a meeting he'd wanted to attend He'd dressed in his gear quickly pulling his shirt over his head even as he ran out the door. In his wake were left a series of almost comical afterimages. Kei arrived at the Anbu headquarters a few seconds later, had he clocked himself he probably would have achieved a new record. He composed himself as he reported to the area. They had gotten a new sennin not long ago and Kei still hadn't gotten to know him well enough to form a strong opinion. He wasn't expecting any leniency for his lateness though, this wasn't the sennin who had advanced him to full guardian against protocol. He had to maintain a record of excellence to prove he'd earned his rank. Tardiness was just unprofessional.

He entered the room quietly and quickly took note of the small group assembled. There was Kimi, the Sennin, an Anbu Kei did not recognize, and the Earth Daimyo. He sure had picked a hell of a day to be late. He managed to hear the tail end of the sennin's question as well as the response of the Anbu he didn't know gave as he took a position near Kimi. What in the world was going on? It was impossible not to notice the turbulence in the village of late. It wasn't too much of a stretch to believe that even the Guardians and Anbu would have to adapt their ways for the protection of the branch. Kei saw them as the foundation of the village, if they were weak or fell, how could the village as a whole survive? No wonder the Daimyo had made an appearance. Sennin sir, I apologize for my tardiness. He said, when he felt like his statement would not cause too much of an interruption. He stood attentive, hoping someone would bring him up to speed.

[Topic entered]
[.c. holidays have been crazy for me, sorry for lateness]

 

[Kimi]

Guardian of Silence​

Kimi frowned. The new sennin seemed to be eager to work towards making the branch reach it's fullest potential. That was something Kimi could see the benefit for. "As inferred by my chosen title, there is value in silence; in secrecy and deception. Darkness is a useful tool; one that definately should not be forgotten or abandoned. Then again, what use is a group so intimidating, so deceptive, that they can't even be approached by the general public if there's an important matter. Deception and mystery in the field is much more useful than the same in day-to-day functioning. The citizens should trust us, and feel safe knowing that we are here to protect and guard them." She paused, trying to find the best way to say all she was thinking. "Then again. Keeping the identity protected has always been a part of the duty, whether through the title of the Guardian, or the mask of the ANBU. There is value in each of us wearing a mask, becoming a faceless icon of justice and honor within the village. The title of Guardian has been known throughout Stone as a title well-earned and respected by all. The other villages may not, however, see it in quite the same way." she stopped there, nodding her head to signal that she was finished. It wasn't her place to speak on what she felt they should do, but it was her branch as well. And their sennin did ask for their thoughts.

She then turned towards the familiar voice of her friend and teammate, Kei. "Nice to see you." she smirked at the phrase. She then turned towards the ANBU who spoke before her. She didn't recognize the voice, and the figure didn't seem familiar either. Kimi was struck with the realization that, despite being part of the branch, she still hadn't met quite a few of her supposed coworkers. That was something she'd want to change, if given the chance. She noticed that Chi hadn't arrived, and passively wondered what was going on with her. She hadn't seen the firey girl since their exam was completed. So much has been changing recently, and Kimi noticed that those she had been close to in the academy have been going their different ways. She was just grateful that Kei was still around. Even Souji had less time for their usual interactions with his new work and everything.

[mft]​

 

[Haruka]

As the Daimyo had questioned: What a laughable notion. Really. It had been so long since she had been addressed as such. It was almost like with the disappearance of Endo and these ANBU's former leader... All of her dignity had been restored. Everything that she had been taught to do and what she was good at had been given back to her. Ah, perhaps she needed to kill more Tsuchikages to establish that order within the world again? Or even Kazekages or Raikages... but little did she know about the former, eh? Pushing her body up to a standing position, she would lay the palm of her hand against the glass, her glove keeping any smudges from appearing there. Listening to what Tamashii had to say... eh, it was boring. Her cousin sure had the status of a rambling man, did he not? So much to say, so much to fill their minds with. There came a slight crackle as her hand froze at the glass, the jagged designs dancing outward. "Tools," she would murmur in her melodic voice, turning her body towards the group that had poured in from the cracks and collected there. Her eyes would examine over each and every one of them: "We're instruments. We are here to perform the bloody, gritty, the dirty work that no one wants to touch. Everyone wants to preserve their grace and dignity, but we are the men and the women who will sift through the dirt and the grime and sling mud over our good names just to make sure that this village is in proper, working order." Closing her eyes for a moment, she would give a small chuckle. Reopening those eyes of her, she would watch each and every one of them for a few moments.

"Why else would I have killed the vainglorious bastard who claimed to be the best this village could get? He was no Tsuchikage of mine, threatening war and chaos upon this beautiful village. Why would I call out his cult comprised of the Ryujin family and their detainees? I would not bend at the knee for scum such as them who terrorize the village like a plague. We're not right up in..." A finger would raise, tapping against her temple now, "here. We're not sane. And I don't think we're expected to be all there." Dropping her hand now, she would cross her arms over her chest for a few moments, letting out a cold breath that would float up and away from the group.

"Despite my reign as the leader of this country, I prefer to be faceless. Masked and able to roam freely and do my work without harassment. ANBU has always been what I do, how I function. It is the best option for the defenders of this village so that we are not reprimanded for our judgment calls."<i></i>

 

[Keigo Oen]

</FONTFACE><FONTFACE fontface="san-serif">Tama listened, and boy did he listen to everything. Taking into account that there would be a wave of new thoughts due to the influx of ANBU minded Warriors that joined their ranks. Tama revered himself as an ANBU, he wore the mask, he did that whole song and dance. Though, what else was there? He was raised to believe in the Shaman and Guardian ways of life. Somethings he agreed with but, in the end, ANBU had a better way of dealing with things. It protected their families. It protected their village. They did the job nearly with no questions asked. Guardians were fueled with consistent questioning because of the Gods, and the people, they protected the future of the village. Guardians just went about it with the Ego of... 'You will see the face of who your killer is.' As opposed to the mystery of the mask. The history lesson in all of this was Tamashii would be changing the direction of the past into a glorious future that would fit many people.

"Guardian Kei. . . If you are ever late to an important meeting I called you to again, consider yourself no longer apart of thsi branch.", and with that he'd turn to Haruka's words. . . she was talking about how she killed Endo again. . . like one of those odl people talking about the good ole days, but it was more than enough they all knew. Endo was gone. Things were being changed. Though maybe it was the context she spoke about killing the former Kage. It was the fact that they all had to succumb the notion that they were all indeed tools to the village. Hell that could be said about every branch... but what separated them from the rest?

The fact that they did it with no glory. They wore the mask that would protect them, their village, their country, and all doing so without want of glory or praise. So Tama would nod, "And with that the Daimyo is correct. From now on, all of you, Guardians and ANBU this is the only place you are allowed to show your face when not on duty. The moment you return to duty. Use the Mask summoning technique or get a warp seal placed on your mask. All of you must register a mask, name, and Rank.", nodding he would turn to the group.

"We are all Guardians of the ANBU Branch. IF you wish to keep your Guardian Identity, do so. However, know that we are governed by the law of the land. The Gods may guide those of you who are truly believers, but as a branch we have to be consistent. WE must be vigilant. And to do so, we have to all stand on one accord.", once more nodding he'd look to Uxi, "You've given me an idea. . . I wanted to divide the Branch into three portions. . . all of which do the same job just an expertise of sorts.", looking back around the room he'd nod.

"Two. . . Maybe three squads. A Main tasking force. You go handle fights, chase down runners, and handle external missions such as escorts and imports. The other side... Intel. We need a core of minds that are given the details and are able to relay those details to other countries as well as gain intel on other countries, just as a sense of preparation for the future, handling the gates for high profile entrees, Such as Sennin and Kage of other villages.", He felt good about this idea, it was something he'd wanted to do with the branch for quite a while. . . but he never suggested it. Now he was in control, this was his turf. "Questions? Concerns? Anything before I move on?"

 

[Keigo Oen]

[Hello?]

 

[Haruka]

[ waitin' posting orderwise. idek i'll post if no one else does in the next 24 hours. ]

 

[Kei]

Kei had to fight not to smile at Kimi's greeting, the irony of the statement not lost on him. He knew her well enough to know that her lack of sight wasn't much of a handicap. He was glad to see her, it had been a while and they were both busy with their guardian duties, but still they were friends. Kei made a note to ask if she wanted to hang out later, he was thinking of heading into Arcadia to follow up a potential lead anyway.

Kei merely nodded as the sennin roughly addressed him. He hadn't expected anything less and there was no point giving excuses. There was no point wasting anyone else's time or derailing this meeting any further. He listened intently to his peers and his superiors as the entire future of the branch was called into question. Some of it rang true with him, there were significant advantages to the way the Anbu operated. Before Kei graduated the academy he had been unsure of which division to join, he'd honestly considered asking if he could join both anbu and guardian. He thought back on his reasons for becoming a guardian, for all those hard weeks of training for his exam. The guardians were the Elites and Kei aimed for a spot among them for that reason. Not because he had a high opinion of himself but to challenge himself to be the best he could.

As for how he felt about being required to conceal his identity on duty, Kei wasn't sure. He'd considered doing it before so he wasn't particularly against it. What really peaked his interest was the reorganization of the branch. He liked the ideas presented by the sennin. It allowed for faster distribution of tasks as well as for the shinobi in each division to further hone their unique skills allowing for unprecedented specialization within the branch. Missions requiring multiple aspects of the branch could then be carried out by a team comprising of member of each relevant division who skills most closely matched the needs of the mission.

"Sounds like a good idea to me. I think the greatest benefit to this plan, to concealing all of our identities, is that it creates more solidarity within the branch. A single unified branch of masked shinobi has huge advantages. It prevents us being singled out, for example. Transformation jutsus have their limitations but if I traded my mask with another Guardian how would the enemy know the difference? I guess my only concern is the people of stone. We can be a stubborn people and don't break from tradition easily. The branch may lose their trust with such an apparently drastic change.

 

[Kimi]

Guardian of Silence​

A deep frown. The conversation was going in directions Kimi wasn't sure she completely understood, or agreed with. Granted, there were some benefits to wearing a mask. Then again, there was also a good argument for not wearing one. Ultimately, she didn't completely like the idea of having to wear a mask whenever she was on duty. Kei brought up one of her main concerns, and she sighed. At least she wasn't the only one worrying about the downsides. It just didn't feel...right. She was a Guardian. A member of Iwagakure. And Guardians don't wear masks. At least, that was how Kimi felt. She had grown up in a city where the elite force were open and able to be talked to as a normal member of the village, yet still given the same amount of awe and respect they deserve. What would a mask do to that? How could the people of Iwagakure view the Guardians the same way if they were suddenly shut off from the general public in such a way? She wasn't sure. But that was what her sennin wanted. Obviously he thought it was for the best.

"How would these task forces be decided?" she inquired, trying to think through things. The division of the branch, however, seemed like a good idea, so long as it wasn't some sort of all-exclusive thing where one type of group couldn't do another type of job. The divisions could allow for each of them to focus better on their tasks, making sure every job, every mission, every situation, got handled to the best of it's requirements. Nothing would be slacking. It could be useful.​

 

[Hanone]

[Sorry, my babies and I have been sick all week. I'll be posting tonight. x.X;]

 

[Hanone]

The Daimyo, a handsome woman. He found her to be a particularly interesting person, but had little more than watched from afar. He'd never personally met her, but admittedly, he was sure a lot of people were in the same boat. Most people knew her by face or name, but hadn't met her. In the most literal way, if she told Uxi to jump, he would. If she told him to kill, again, he would and without question. The Tsuchikage was the leader of the shinobi village, but the daimyo was the leader of the country. Any kage they would have would answer to her. He'd kill the kage if she told him to...when they got a new one.

Behind the mask, blue eyes watched her stand and freeze the glass, watched her mouth as she spoke then met her gaze steadily after she began to look over each of them and finally linger on himself. He felt no need to shy away from her eyes. But as her own words came to an end, the sennin resumed, beginning by berating Kei for his tardiness. It was then he looked away from her and settled his gaze on the sennin once more.

So he listened, a quiet watcher. His hidden face split into a look of displeasure at the prospect of revealing his face here, though no one would see it behind the mask and his body language did not change to reveal that opinion. ANBU were usually secret from even each other, let alone with the guardians. He waited to hear if he was going to be required to remove his mask, but the order did not come... for now. He remained quiet as the sennin spoke, only nodding in return to the sennin when he acknowledged the ANBU with his own.

The late boy piped up quickly once the sennin said his piece, revealing that he felt the the typical distress of a guardian at the prospect of having to conceal themselves. Uxi was sure this was because of arrogance and the desire to be revered. They were hardly selfless, in his opinion. And there was nothing anyone would say that could convince him otherwise. So...How did he feel about the direction the branch went in? Well, as long as no one was asking him not wear a mask or forcing him to join the religious fanatic faction instead, he was okay with whatever came.

Well, actually there was something else to address, but he wasn't sure if now was the time. The ANBU and Guardians had diminished in number. Looking around the room would tell you just how badly. And there wasn't much in the way of leadership. In fact, for a long time Uxi would take missions and tasks on alone, without a group with him and definitely without a captain or leader at the helm.

The youthful looking guardian girl spoke next, asking only about how the division that could ensue the groups, but her frown showed the depth of her displeasure. Maybe she felt as badly toward ANBU as he did toward Guardians. Or maybe she was just like Kei.

Then a little lightbulb went off in Uxirusu's head; a not-so-welcome lightbulb. He wasn't sure he liked the idea, but given the lack of people in the factions and the worry of public verses private identity he thought maybe it made sense, like it or not. The ANBU hung his head, looking at the floor through his eye holes. If he was going to speak, now was the time.

"Senpai, how many people are still within our ranks? There are so few here now... Do we even number a dozen in each faction? A dozen combined?" It had been a growing concern of his and to be honest, it did feel right to bring it up now. But so he would not lose his chance to report his idea, he continued quickly, "Perhaps, to work in both the shadow and the light, we pair guardians and ANBU. Permanent partnerships from each branch. The guardians are always the face of the village, so why not they be the voice. The people can feel as though we are more transparent and wish to take their concerns to heart while you can still utilize the anonymity of mask when it's needed? If a guardian acts alongside an ANBU, the village may be happier than just seeing the ANBU alone." It was just a thought. And a lot coming from him. God forbid he be stuck with someone unbearable.

[ooc, ya that didn't happen on time. oops. More sickness! Yay...]
mft

 

[Haruka]

There was no statement that the woman needed to make at this point. After all, her identity within the ranks had always been skewed and obscured. That being said, it was due to the fact that she just did not need foreign diplomats recognizing her or something along those lines. Though, those lines had absolutely been blurred at this point. Placing herself in the chair in a comfortable position, she would turn herself back towards the window as she stared outside. One leg would cross over the other and she would hold the opposite arm's elbow in each of her hands. Listening to the dismay of one shinobi after another, it almost made her want to cross her eyes. What was the point of being known? It was bland. No, really, it was dry. And it caused people to come after you, of course. That wasn't the point here though. As she listened to the one man's response to team up with one another, she would soon give a sigh that would trickle through the entire room, and the temperature would drop just a few degrees--- subtle enough. So, so, so much was wrong with that. Someone could get a hold of who were partners easily. A locked door didn't stop shinobi from gathering that information. Hell, why they were even discussing this was beyond her. Tamashii said what he said, and in her mind it was really time to lay the whole schtick of Guardians or whatever special snowflake name they had down. If Tamashii wouldn't, then she would have. Intervention at it's finest, non?

Without even turning around, she would continue watching outside of the window. "The guardians are pompous assholes: Your most prime examples being Souji and Megami." She would state in a monotonous tone, but it was short, quick, and she didn't care who's feelings were hurt. "And I won't work with them. Assimilate or leave the forces. It's simple, really. Guardians were some way to honor the so called Gods that watch us grovel in our own shit. A dead religion. So quit worshiping like dogs and act like the damn Gods you all are." <i></i>

 

[Hanone]

Well, a call was a call.

Uxi had been intent to stay in the room, listen to the words on his sennin and leader, but just then a small staticy noise went off in his headset then a voice came through. It was quiet enough so only he would hear, that was unless someone else was on his channel and wearing their headsets as well. The voice calmly told Uxi that his target had been located and to come immediately. Meetings were important, but so was the job.

He stood suddenly, with no intent to interrupt anyone, and made his way quietly toward the door. His sennin would know about his mission if he was up to task and know why he had to leave, but if not, hopefully he would not be complaining about his leave.

He moved toward the door and left as a shadow.

[sorry, had to go]
[topic left]