Private You Ask Me On This, The Day of My Cat's Quincinera?! (Hokage topic)

[Kairyuu]

His steps were confident, measured. Booted feet fall without a sound against the pristine floors as the man makes his way through the mansion with the air of someone who not only belongs, but has the authority to question anyone who stops him. Few even pause long enough to think about him as he glides by, leaving them wondering about his presence briefly before deciding he belonged.

He was armed, and armored, naturally. But in the village of Konoha that wasn’t anything unusual. Perhaps in the mantion it may have been but Maki was certain it wasn’t so rare as to stand out. He was wearing his old samurai slayer gear. It began with a black shirt, so tight as to be form fitting on his upper torso and short of sleeve. Over that was a red jacket that went from shoulder to halfway down his torso before ending abruptly where his ribs were. It had several symbols upon it which on closer look were symbols for the village of Konohagakure. Over the longer sleeves were red han kote that provided minor protection of his forearms. Under this were pants that were as black as the shirt, topped by red haidate that would provide similar protection of his thighs. He had black combat boots on, with red suneate that covered his shins. Completing the ensemble were the weapons at his side. Each appeared to be a katana, and one had a parrying ring built into the hilt. Something that was rarely seen.

He stops as he comes close to the restricted area, assistants and guards at the ready to make sure only those allowed in were able to get by. Child’s play, however, for the man who trained many of these guards in their early years. With a simple set of handseals, the warrior simply strides by invisible to the eyes of those watching for him, coming out on the other side of that mantrap undetected. And by his target.

The door was locked, a natural precaution in this day and age. Natural but useless to the former ANBU Sennin. A set of picks appear in his hands and masterfully run through the tumblers and pins, security pins in each slot showing just how seriously these people took things. A thin wire is next, shimmed between the door and frame and remove any nastiness which might be waiting on the other side. Finally he opens it, slipping in and taking a moment to relock and rearm anything he’d disturbed.

Brown eyes scan the room before settling on a familiar desk. The former Sennin walks over to it and grabs a nearby seat, kicking his feet up and grinning as he purposefully sets off every chakra-armed alarm in the place upon doing so.

(Summoning Takeshi to his office)

 

[Uchiha Takeshi]

It seemed like nothing would go as normal today, with the start of the day being hectic from the sounds of the mansion, with the masked ANBU moving around quickly, and even security rushing towards his office. He pondered if he really wanted to enter and deal with this, part of him wanted to turn away, after all just coming back enough mess was on his plate, but no that was not the Hokage way, this was a matter for him to deal with and he would. As he walked towards his office the familiar area to him as he looked at the door the men looking in and muttering between themselves.


"Well looks like I will not be having a quiet morning then doesn't it, shame as I really wanted to have time for a coffee at least before everything started, but sometimes needs must excuse me"

With that, he waved the guards away, no point in having more people around to get hurt if he could avoid it. As he watched the group disappear, the familiar figure became apparent sitting in one of the chairs, opposite the Hokage desk, it almost made a smirk appear across his lips as he wandered into the room with the man, allowing himself to turn around to the office secretary he nodded to her before shutting the door. Leaving just the two of them in the room together, it appeared that everyone was coming back, for worse or for the better he was having trouble telling, but at least for now, they were back.

"I mean you could have just arranged an appointment, or knocked, but I guess that is not your way of doing things now is it?"

Walking over he removed the Hokage robes and hung them up, dressed in the main branch gear he moved past Maki towards the desk and sat down in the chair, looking the man in the eyes he smiled slightly as he appreciated an audience with a friend at least.

"So what can I do for you?'

[Topic Entered]

 

[Kairyuu]

Maki watches as guards spring into action around the area, several entering the room to accost him and stuttering upon recognition. They milled around a bit, unsure of how to respond to this before his true reason for being here arrives in a slight hurry, dismissing them. Maki watches Takeshi walk in and take a seat, this exact scenario and setting quite familiar to both of them. Almost as if the clock had rolled back and none of the nasty business of the past ever happened.

As Takeshi asked a few things, Maki would reach into his jacket and remove a bottle to set on the desk. A quick reach into another pocket and he removes two discs which he unfolds into drinking cups, pouring some of the liquor he’d brought into them and offer one to his oldest and greatest friend.

“I mean, I could have sure. But as you said, that’s not really how I tend to do things. Besides, setting an appointment might have given others a chance to realize I was moving and potentially acting.” Regardless of if Takeshi takes his own drink, a fine vintage of whisky that had been aged for some time, Maki would take a drink from his own. “As for what I want….I’m worried.” His eyes look up to meet Takeshi’s own, looking for answers in the other’s gaze.

“I was retired, you know. Enjoying it, somehow. Had the clan waste a ton of money bringing in sand and water and trees to build a fake beach in one of the rooms just so I could waste time there drinking little drinks with umbrellas in them and relax.” Only partially a lie, anyone who knew Maki would know that he wasn’t one to remain idle long. “Then I begin hearing rumors of things. Attacks within the village, rogue shinobi running rampant, incidents at the gates…and most worrying is the disappearance of the Fifth Hokage. Even I couldn’t trace her down, and while Asuka and I were never friends we both cared about this village. But perhaps even more worrying than that is what happens after she vanishes. I understand you replacing her, a natural selection. And your wife is a good pick for Sennin. But, you handed ANBU over to a Cloud native.”

A bit of an edge creeps into his voice at this. Cloud and Maki had a history that was not pretty, one Takeshi was fully familiar with. “I trust your judgement, but you know me. I have to come see things for myself. Make sure you’re….in your faculties and not under some sort of duress.” He finishes his drink and looks to the other, levity gone suddenly.

“But, unfortunately, I think my retirement just ended. I closed off the world…and Leaf’s gone to hell without me noticing. Tell me where I can help, and I’ll be there.” For Leaf, and for his friends, Maki would move the cosmos if he had to. And this was one moment where he would rail against all to bring his new and old home into order.

 

[Uchiha Takeshi]

Takeshi watched the man getting out the glass, he allowed a smile to come to his lips, as it seemed as always Maki was prepared for anything, even for a drink and a casual chat, as he allowed the liquid to be poured, he picked the glass up swiveling it slightly before drinking it in one go as the words of all the changes came up very quickly and directly. As always his friend was welcome to say things straight and plain, he hated when people tried to just work their words in a way that tried to compliment him, no need for it in these situations if he was being honest.

"Well retirement was good to both of us I think, I mean let's be honest after the last orders we went on from the Fifth, I was looking to have some downtime in my life, but that was not meant to be the case it seems. I understand that and here we are, so where to start or end really..."

He pondered how best to lay all the facts out, well all the information that he had to hand as he sipped the liquid, it reminded him of the old days, when things were less of a mess, and brought him to the reality of how much times have changed since then.

"Asuka has vanished, leaving the village in chaos, with it the remaining Sennin voted to remove her from her position and place me back in as Hokage. At the same time, it was clear that the branches needed new leadership to change things up, they all suffered bar medical with Nao working hard, probably too hard to keep it afloat. As such the three Sennin we have now should allow us to grow and develop. This was Nao stay as Medical, Yuki moved to Main Brach, and from experience, she is done with fighting, its time for her to teach and lead the defense of the village as we need security tightened."

He paused from his words, as he took a drink the next bit might be hard for Maki to hear, but he needed to state the facts and the reasons that had seen the last promotion.

"Keiji, ANBU Sennin, well that choice actually came fairly easily, he was missing from Cloud, his work there was.......questionable, but he has stood by Leaf since coming, actually I think he and him have started forming a relationship, his loyalty has never come into question and his actions have always been in Leaf's interest, he has experience with covert operations, and I believe the branch can thrive under him. So I have no issue with that appointment."

Listening to the last part he allowed a laugh to escape his lips as he looked towards Maki, it seemed the man understood that right now neither of them had the choice of being able to just sit around and do nothing in old age, but times changed and like always they would.

"The first part before we go into the trouble recently, you want out of retirement, so I give you three options really, Hokage Advisor, paperwork, and pushing, however, the branches do need the help so that opens up Head Jounin to be able to assist Yuki with the students, or if you want to keep an eye on Keiji, then the ANBU Captain spot is vacant as well, so which one will it be?"

He wondered how Maki would reply to that last part, after all, it was quite an assumption to just give him positions, but he knew the man's abilities and understood that if anyone was able to do the workload it would be him, after all, they had seen hell together and come out alive.

"To catch you up, Leaf gates were attacked, the intruder slipped into the village, attacked Soku and the Head Jounin, wounded them pretty badly, and then vanished, leaving evidence of Sand involvement, however thanks to Cloud recently we found that this report was incorrect, it was a missing Ninja who was behind this attack and not Sand. So that clears that up, it doesn't clear up a letter we sent to Sand, I think I owe them a visit, or at least send an ambassador to smooth that over. And finally, Cloud as no one sent a report of this to them broke the treaty between our two nations.....so yeah welcome back to me and to you"

With that, he drained the rest of the glass and placed it back on the desk.

 

[Kairyuu]

Maki didn’t even remember the end of the last set of orders, something about kidnapping Umashi for Asuka and things going to shit from there. Typical for Asuka, half-based ideas and hair-trigger planning. He was far more interested in what came next, leaning back in his seat and raising a hand that was suddenly holding a metallic coin that he flipped between his fingers as he focused on what was said.

It was not good. Asuka had indeed vanished, not even Takeshi seemed to know where to. Worse yet, she’d let the leadership of the branches flounder and flail and go to shit. Yuki was taking over the main branch out of a desire to not fight, an acceptable goal considering all of the fighting and killing she’d done for the village previously; noble but not something Maki himself could admit he should do also. Teaching was all well and good, but he was far more likely to kill one of the students as an object lesson to the others and he felt that was frowned upon here.

But the meat and potatoes of things was square on the new ANBU Sennin, Keiji. The man from Kumo, a village that had a history of fucking Leaf over and not caring. A village with a history of sending them the absolute worst, such as Yuuto. The man who arrived, gained ANBU Sennin…and proceeded to murder another Leaf Sennin and try to cast the very man before Maki now down the ranks as a troublemaker and useless individual. And now another person from Cloud shows up…and is ANBU Sennin.

Maki lifts the cup and drains the remains, refilling the metal container and draining the next one in one go. This was fine stuff, sipping whiskey at heart, so he felt a twinge of guilt at treating it like bottom shelf swill. He needed to remove an edge though. The leader of the Isaki clan takes in a deep breath and releases it slowly so as to collect himself.

Takeshi was definitely himself. This was no transformation jutsu, that or the person who was utilizing it was a master of such skill Maki himself had never heard of them. He didn’t seem to be under any duress; there were no hidden signals for help or the like. That left two options – Senility or the man was as straight up as his truest friend was claiming him to be. If Takeshi had gone senile he was holding his own well with the liquor to a degree Maki couldn’t believe. Which meant this Keiji was less likely to be a plant.

But Maki was a paranoid cuss even at the best of times. He lets Takeshi mention the options, and mulls them over as the other continues to speak. An attack, an intruder, Soku and another wounded, intruder gone into thin air leaving evidence it was Sand. Sounds like Maki’s initial plan for things before Takeshi recruited him back into the village, actually. And Cloud, of all places, revealing it was a missing behind the attack….and then broke the treaty. Again. Again again, actually. He drains his drink a third time at the news.

“Well, I can safely say I would not do well with Head Jounin. You’ve seen how I handle it when a group of kids get too rowdy or start misbehaving.” Flashbacks to his wedding come to mind, using winds to pelt Maru with so much of the fine cuisine the poor kid looks like the main course afterwards. And of the time Maru sassed him and got split into pieces that were hidden around the village. And of course, their first meeting; when Maki slaughtered a willful youth right infront of the other for attacking him. No…Maki was not teacher material.

“As for ANBU Captain, if you believe I would be better placed there than as the Advisor so be it, but I think we both know I’m going to chafe under this Keiji’s leadership. And we both know if he tells me to do something, or not do something, against what I think best I’m apt to ignore him. I’d rather not take a position that results in destabilizing morale for the rest of the branch if its as rough as you say it is currently. As Advisor however, I can still keep an eye on things across the branches. I can also, once we’ve brought order back to this entire mess, make that visit to Suna and update them on things. If Kitsune is still in charge of Cloud it might be best not to send me there though.”

It was a tall thing, simply requested the Sennin spot after being gone so long. It was also something he believed would allow the most good to be done with his talents. Maki liked to think of himself as a problem solver. Be it the precision of a scalpel or the blunt impact of a hammer, he made things happen.

“But, for the moment, enough of the village. How are you holding up with things? It can’t have been easy getting dragged back into all of this so suddenly.”

 

[Uchiha Takeshi]

Takeshi listened to the words that Maki spoke nodding slightly as he knew full well that the future was always going to be shifting, all they could do was go along with the ride, even then that wasn't exactly a great plan. As he listened to the options, or why the options wouldn't suit Maki it seemed that he had made his own mind up on how he would best help the village, and the best position for him moving forward. Takeshi leaned back in the chair as he pondered a few more moments, before wondering the best response to give to the situation.

"I have a few things to do inside of the village, but once things have settled down, people are in place and the positions are all filled, we will both go to Suna. It has been too long since I have truly visited, and maybe this time between the two of us we can right any wrong then has been created for them. After all, I left the village at peace, and have come back to a mess my old friend, it seemed that though I thought I trained the right person, this might not actually have been the safe call to make."

He smiled slightly as he looked out over the village for those few moments, in the few days that had passed so much had changed, and so many faces had changed as well, he wondered if this would be for the best or if indeed he did need to question all the decisions that he had been making and if he had been putting people into the right positions. Only time would tell, but for now those people he had selected he felt confident with their abilities and guidance for each of the branches.

"Well since it seems you have made your mind up, allow me to make it official, full-time duty is restored, and you are no longer in retirement, on top of that the position of Hokage Advisor has been granted to you, I am sure you will get the paperwork sorted at some point, the office key is collected from reception and you have a few days to settle back in, I do expect you to be ready to travel as soon as I am though, after all, we have a lot to do and very little time to do it."

With that he would wait to see if Maki had anything else he wished to talk about today, it seemed that one person's return would bring a smile to the Hokage's lips, after all, it seemed everything was slotting back into place, all the players had returned, and if he was honest, it was good to see Maki still standing beside him after so long. He had to admit that even now he pondered how everything would turn out, he had no way of knowing or telling, one thing he did know though, the future would be challenging for everyone.

[Maki Promoted to Hokage Advisor]
[Topic Left Unless stopped]

 

[Kairyuu]

It seemed Takeshi agreed with his assessment, and wanted to take a small party to Sunagakure. It was a village Maki had many memories of, some fond and some not. And he wasn’t wrong about coming back to a mess. It seemed to be their fate to clean up after other people. At least Maki was good at politics, ironic for someone who grew up mute. The wistful look out the window told Maki all he needed to know about Takeshi’s state of mind. He was himself indeed, and he was questioning his own decisions, which was a good thing. It meant he was constantly justifying his decisions to himself and confirming the pros and the cons of them.

As he’s restored not only to service but his old rank, Maki gives a small grunt of satisfaction at things. It was almost as if the clock simply rolled back a few years. Sure, he still had some never-fading scars from those times, but his mind was his own again and he’d learned how to compensate for some of the oddities his body had undergone after his trials. “Well, I think we’ll have to catch up more at some point but someone just gave me a mountain of paperwork to inspect and fill out. How about my place, yourself and Yuki can drop by and Hoshirei and I will play host to a party the likes of which this village hasn’t seen in many a year?”

That said, he would chat a bit longer over small nothings before heading out to handle his new business.

(Topic also left, assuming Takeshi is poofing.)