The New Kazekage [Kinzoku, or Invite]

This was all… highly unexpected, to put it mildly. Mitsukai had been in Sunagakure since the day she was born. She had beat up monsters, slaughtered villians, and dealt with more than her fair share of psychopaths and sociopaths – those who liked to cut up the bodies and those who liked to put them up on display for scare tactics. Yes, she had seen some serious shit in her young fifteen years of being a shinobi… but she hadn’t seen this. No, she hadn’t seen herself being passed the Kazekage hat and put into a position of such power.

But, that was what happened when a Kazekage suddenly disappeared and a village was left without leadership. That just couldn’t happen for very long, especially in the land of shinobi, and thus Mitsukai had been offered the hat. Who was she to deny it? Who was she not to accept? The village she fought every day for to protect needed her and she would serve it: it was as simple as that. It was something she had done a hundred times over again in the past.

And so, with these thoughts still racing through her mind, the young female stood in the door way of her office; both doors thrown wide open as were the windows across the way. The office was spacious, incredibly so, with ornate beautiful rugs, decorations adorning the walls as well as fuuinjutsu seals she quickly recognized, many couches and chairs, a circular table off to the side for smaller meetings, and finally her desk…a huge ornate thing that likely weighed several hundred pounds with a matching chair behind it that looked like it had been made to keep the butt comfortable on those long hours of doing paperwork. And speaking of, there was already a pile on her desk of things waiting for her to read and sign…

A sigh escaped her as she stared up at the ceiling. “I don’t know if I can do this… but my village needs me…”, she said softly.

Living here was troublesome, but it gave the young Kinzoku plenty of practice. He wasn't an "official" ninja of the village; if he were, he'd be considered among the highest caliber Shinobi of the village. Kinzoku didn't care much for titles, ranks, status and whatnot. He knew much, more than your average ninja, but he thought he still had alot to learn.

From a young age he'd often go after bounties and missing-nin, most of the time killing them, but sometimes leaving them alive, albeit with broken arms and legs. The rest of Kinzoku's time was spent alone, or tussling around with bullies. Many occupants of the village either avoided or had a problem with the child because of his past, and the unfortunate incident with his mother. He questioned it at first, but it was because of the bullies that he finally found out the truth. It was because of what the bullies revealed to him that he became hard-boiled, distant, withdrawn, uncaring. Only several things brought a smile to his face. Stealing used to be one. Fighting was another. Murder - those who deserved it, of course - seemed to be the most enjoyable activity to the kid nicknamed "The Metal Catastrophe."

Even with a rare combination of styles and a special gourd left to him from his deceased grandparents, a legendary gourd that seemed to have a life all it's own, Kinzoku still had problems with bullies. From the plain expression that seemed to always be on his face, he didn't seem to have a problem with it. There were always the same 3 kids: Jun, who's best skill was Katon, while also being a moderate Taijutsu fighter, Fan, who's best skill was Fuuton, while also being an average Taijutsu fighter, and Motsumo, who was big and slow but very tough. Almost daily they would attempt to beat up Kinzoku, because of Kinzoku punching Jun in the face when they were younger out of anger. Kinzoku's hand was covered in metal at the time, resulting in Jun's jaw being broken and his skull being fractured. He was fine now, but his face was visibly crooked because of the incident, making him the butt of many jokes.

So a rivalry was born, and to the entertainment of some villagers, epic battles would be fought in the streets of Suna, until someone older came along and happened to break it up. Attacks came from multiple directions, but none of them made contact with Kinzoku, primarily because of the sentient shield that surrounded him at all times. It was so protective of Kinzoku that it would even prevent him from committing suicide, should he ever attempt such. Kinzoku wasn't interested in killing any of them, or even hurting them much. Them attacking him used to piss him off, but nowadays he found them as an excellent way of keeping his skills sharp. As usual, a crowd was drawn to watch the 3 on one battle, nearby the Administration Complex where the Kage office was located, in which Jun and Fan moved around at a rapid pace to try and get around Kinzoku's shield, while Motsumo tried muscling his way through with his weight and abnormal power. None of them were having much luck, and Kinzoku remained still within the center of them all, his arms folded.

Mitsukai had entered into her office slowly, as if the place would suddenly swallow her up, and had gone over to the open windows for a breath of air when a scene began to unfold in front of her that she could see from her position. Three people were attempting to attack a fourth who even from this distance looked familiar – was that Kinzoku? There was a crowd beginning to grow around the battle: onlookers who were apparently interested in seeing how things went down, people who could accidentally become involved and be hurt in the process.

A frown suddenly crossed the Kazekage’s face and she turned sharply towards the coat pole that held her robes and hat. Given her current outfit the robes would be far too hot, but the hat… well, the hat would show who she was and hopefully make this a lot easier in dealing with – and hopefully a lot less violent. The last thing she wanted to do on her first official day as Kazekage was spill blood or whoop ass, but an example needed to be set, and she couldn’t do that by hiding behind the other shinobi who would handle the situation with a snap of her fingers.

So out of the office and through the administrative building she darted, and straight out and into the streets. She moved around the people with blurring speeds: speeds she was known for by now. She came upon the scene, several Jounin having already arrived before her. She raised her hand to stop them from interfering and approached herself while they hung back to watch – and while they hid their true expressions she knew they likely weren’t happy with her choosing to handle it herself. With the hat upon her head she folded her arms across her chest in a bit of annoyance as she came to a stop a good seven feet away. “Now, I know you four are not about to give me more paperwork on my first day as Kazekage, are you?”, she spoke in a voice loud enough to easily carry and be heard above the fighting that was going on – or rather, the three’s constant attacks that did absolutely nothing to Kinzoku.

For now she would keep her hands clean of the situation and simply stand back to see what was going to happen. From what she could see and had seen while traveling here, Kinzoku didn’t seem to be attacking them back – as they surely would have been broken beyond repair by now if he was – and so this was an attack that they were launching at him… something that only annoyed her further. While she had never spent a great deal of time with Kinzoku she did indeed know who he was, and that only fueled her agitation to see people attacking him like that. Of course, she attempted to keep the majority of these emotions off her face – she was a Kage, she couldn’t wear her emotions on her sleeve anymore.

"The new Kazekage!"

Many people were saying this. Many were looking in Mitsukai's direction in surprise and wonderment. The piercing yellow eyes of Kinzoku move in her direction to look, recognizing the girl. He didn't have much interaction with her back in the day, but he did know who she was, and that she wasn't one to judge him on his past.

She'd be able to see that he looked like he always did. Kinzoku was wearing a red top with yellow trim; the collar big enough to conceal all of his face beneath it except for his eyes. He wore black loose fitting ankle length pants, black fingerless gloves and black sandals. His village headband could be seen attached to a large strap that went across his chest. Kinzoku had a tanned complexion and short fizzy black hair.

The ground erupted beneath Kinzoku's feet. The surface of the ground burst open to allow a tornado of a black substance 9 feet in height to form, throwing all 3 of the attackers harmlessly in either directions. The musty black substance stank of blood. It curled to begin forming itself into a gourd upon Kinzoku's back. Fully formed, the gourd began to glow, moving about as if it had a life all it's own...

Jun spit out sand as he stood up, looking at Mitsukai, then to Kinzoku with an evil grimace. "The Kazekage had to save you this time! We'll get you again!" he said, which caused Kinzoku to nod his head, still with his arms folded and his expression blank. The 3 rivals gathered themselves and ran off, into the streets of Suna. With the fight concluded, the audience that was watching began to disperse.

Kinzoku picked up on the fact that the new Kazekage was on her way here with some of her Jounin guard, and thought he wasn't the one to start the fight, he looked forward to ending it. "Sorry," was what he said to Mitsukai, looking in the direction that his rivals had run off to. "They've had it in for me since I was little, because of what I am... I don't mind."

It was an everyday thing. Those 3 were always after him, and possibly would be until someone ended up dead, or severely injured. Until it got to that point, Kinzoku didn't mind the practice...

Mitsukai blinked, watching as the sand seemed to erupt and send the three individuals who had been attempting to attack Kinzoku flying. They landed harmlessly enough, and even if they hadn’t Mitsukai wouldn’t have much cared: Kinzoku had been defending himself after all and she didn’t punish people for doing that. Those who had been attacking Kinzoku would be looked into later – she wanted to know all she could about them – but for now that would wait.

“No need to apologize, it’s not your fault. I don’t fault people for defending themselves.”, she said softly in response. She glanced back to the Jounin who had gotten here before her and gave a nod for them to leave: she didn’t need people to watch her having a conversation after all – besides, she didn’t think Kinzoku would attack her, she had done nothing to him after all, and didn’t judge him.

She knew that those who had been attacking Kinzoku would likely come back later, as they had done many times before, but Kinzoku would be able to defend himself… that in itself rose up an idea within Mitsukai that caused her to look thoughtful. “You know… if you’re interested I have an idea that’ll put your time to better use than just waiting for those three to attack you again. It’d be a chance to use your skills against more challenging enemies. I’m not going to sugar coat though; it’d be dangerous.”, she spoke honestly.

“You see, I was recently made Kazekage – today is my first official day in fact – and I’m lacking… a bodyguard of sorts. A right hand man, if you will. There’s a lot of paperwork I’m going to be in charge of getting completed, and that means I won’t be able to be running around like I used to and busting all sorts of behinds… however, I don’t want these people to have to worry about some missing-nin wandering into our village and causing trouble, or some sort of monster for that matter. You’d be in charge of my security as well; my protection – especially when I’m off traveling. Essentially you’d become a ANBU member which means you wouldn’t have anyone but me to answer to. This would allow you certain freedoms…” She knew she wouldn’t have to go into many details about what this freedom meant: there’s be no consequences to have to worry about unless they came directly from her, and as long as he was acting under her order he’d be fine.

“It’s up to you, of course. I just felt I’d offer…”

Mitsukai wasn't mad at him. The fight wasn't his fault, after all. Kinzoku knew they'd be back for more later on or the next day, and welcomed the challenge. It was all he had to do pretty much, besides going after a bounty, or someone who left the village without permission. It would seem pretty pathetic to some, but what else was there for someone like him?

Kinzoku considered possibly going somewhere to get something to eat, doing a job, going after a criminal, or even possibly renting a room like he usually did to get some sleep, but Mitsukai continued to speak. She said she had an idea for something other than waiting for Jun, Fan and Motsumo to come back for another round, and when she said it would be dangerous is when she had his full attention. Mitsukai said that it was her first day as the new Kazekage, and she was lacking a bodyguard of sorts, a right hand. Furthermore she said that he'd become a member of ANBU - ninja black ops. A secretive position in which he wouldn't have to answer to anyone else but her, and allowed him freedoms... Kinzoku knew exactly what these freedoms meant. The power to do whatever he wanted and not worry about any consequences except if they came from Mitsukai personally.

This sounded like exactly the kind of thing Kinzoku was born for. He had no known family remaining, no love interests, or anything that was trying him down. The only thing he seemed interested in was developing his abilities, and using those abilities to kill scum who deserved it. Kinzoku didn't take long to answer her at all. "It's not like I have anything else going for me, sure. Why not, sign me up," was his response to her offer.

Mitsukai had been prepared to give Kinzoku as much time as he needed to think the answer over but apparently she wouldn’t have to wait for very long at all. With yes being his answer, an agreement that made her glad, she smiled and nodded. “Good to hear. We should go to my office if you have time now; go through all of the proper procedures, and I have special armor of course for you as well.” Yes, there was a bit of formalities that had to be addressed, and she wanted to get them done as quickly as possible so that Kinzoku could start with his new title as soon as possible. No point in dragging it out, or so she figured.

“You’ll also be above the other members as well, as I’m naming you Captain. And if you ever need anything from me, don’t hesitate to ask.” If Kinzoku was prepared to follow her now Mitsukai would turn and begin to weave her way through the crowd of people that parted quickly enough – a crowd she had used to keep their conversation hidden due to the great deal of background noise.

As she moved through the village and back towards the administrative building she was glad in her choice: Kinzoku would make a fine ANBU Captain, and an excellent bodyguard, of that she had no doubt. This would also help him were he to get himself into a sticky situation, since even the highest ranking Jounin of the village could no longer touch him. Yes, this was definitely for the best.

As the administrative building approached she walked in through the door and headed down the hallways she was becoming more and more familiar with and finally to her office. She would wait for Kinzoku to enter and then close the door behind him before nodding towards one of the comfortable and plush chairs by her desk. “Have a seat if you like, this’ll only take a moment.”, she stated before heading to one of the seals that lined her wall – a seal that hid a secret area. She pressed her hand on the seal and pushed a small bit of chakra into it until it activated. The seal glowed softly for a moment before the entire area of the wall opened up like a hidden door to expose a room beyond. She entered into the tiny closet sized room and rummaged around for a moment before walking back out: holding a particular mask and set of armor.

“Now, I know with your gourd you’re easily recognizable – at least among the people of Sunagakure. However, this mask will not only protect your face – not that you seem to need it – but it will also block visual Genjutsu of A rank and lower from affecting you. The armor will protect against any sort of physical attacks of such ranks and lower as well… both are optional of course, but they’re yours nonetheless. I also like to keep my people, especially my bodyguard close…”, she added on as she placed the armor and mask on the desk for him to take at his leisure. “… and with that said I would like to offer you a room in my residence upstairs if you want it. You’d be in the room right next to mine; and there is a closet that acts as a passageway between rooms – I found it earlier.”, she added the last part with a grin. Exploring had been such fun these past few hours. She went quiet to give him a moment to think – there was only two more things she wanted to do after he figured if he wanted the armor or not, and wanted to move in upstairs or not and those two things were placing the ANBU mark on him, as well as… a seal of sorts, that would allow her to teleport to his side at any time.

Kinzoku unfolded his arms. Mitsukai said that there were procedures to follow, and a set of armor that would be waiting for him. As he had a sentient wall of sand that protected him at all times, there was really no use for any armor, but he'd take it anyway. He followed after her when she said he'd be named Captain of ANBU, a rank that he was fine with. He'd be honestly satisfied with any rank, but to make him Captain, that was fine with him.

Kinzoku went with her through the Administration Building and to her office, hearing her close the door behind him. When she offered him to sit down, he did so, after taking off the glowing gourd and resting it on the floor next to his chair. She went into a closet and came out moments later with a mask and a set of armor, explaining their functions. Protection against Genjutsu and Taijutsu, up to a certain level. Mitsukai also offered him a room here in the complex, stating that she liked to keep her guards close. A room next to hers, connected by a passage between closets. She stated this with a grin, making Kinzoku look somewhat confused, at least, what could be seen of his face behind that collar of his.

He didn't actually think it was because she had a thing for him or anything like that, offering him a room right next to hers. Either way it went, he didn't mind; it saved him the trouble of blowing all of his money on some crummy hotel room inhabited by roaches the size of hands among other wild life. He want going to reside in the former abode of his grandparents either. Too many bad memories. Kinzoku picked up the armor and the mask. "I'll put them to good use, when I have to... This gourd protects me even when i'm not paying attention, so i've never been worried about defense..." The gourd seemed to wiggle and move in response next to him.

Mitsukai nodded to Kinzoku’s explanation of the sand gourd, having figured it functioned something like that. Seeing it respond and move on its own though, as if it had a life of its own, peaked her curiosity a bit: but, it wasn’t her place to ask how it worked, and some secrets were better left as just that, secrets. If Kinzoku wanted to tell her one day, then he would, but she wasn’t going to go snooping around in his personal business.

“That’s fine, I figured if anything the Genjutsu protection from the mask would be of the most help anyway, however sometimes – like when we’re traveling – you’ll need to wear them. Otherwise, I really don’t care what you wear, whatever you’re comfortable in is fine with me.”

“I’ll need to place the ANBU mark upon you; normally it’s done on the shoulder. There’s also… something else I’d like to add. I have an ability, most commonly known as Flying Thunder God, that allows me to essentially teleport to a pre-marked location, anywhere that location happens to be. I’m capable of putting it on someone, or even something of theirs, so that I can teleport to them in an instant. It seems, given your new title as my bodyguard, this would be best to do in case I find myself in a sticky situation I cannot handle and you’re not nearby.” She doubted a situation would arise such as this, but it was always better to be safe than sorry, as the past so often proved. However, she waited to see if he would agree to the two aforementioned things and go from there.

That was fine. He wasn't going to wear the armor and mask around the village, because mostly everyone recognized him from that large black glowing gourd that he was never separated from. So for now, until he needed them, Kinzoku neatly folded and pushed his new items into the gourd; its walls moving somewhat like water to allow him to push them harmlessly inside for safe keeping. The gourd was more than large enough to carry it until he had to travel with Mitsukai to another village, or a serious confrontation arose in which he would need to put them on. Nothing like that had happened yet of course, and he had his doubts that a "serious confrontation" would ever happen. In which case, however rare, Kinzoku was more than prepared.

Next Mitsukai said that she needed to put the ANBU mark on him. He removed his slightly muscular left arm from his red top, leaning it on the top of his gourd. This was when she began to mention her Flying Thunder God technique, which made him take sort of a surprised look. He'd only heard about such legendary techniques, said to be lost to the ages. The fact that she was capable of executing such a legendary ninja technique made Kinzoku think that this girl had to be something else. To be able to teleport almost anywhere, instantly... interesting.

Kinzoku tapped the side of his black glowing gourd again. "If you have to tag something, tag my gourd," he said. "It never leaves my side. It always protects me, but it can protect friends and associates too, if I want it to. I have a connection with it... It was my grandfather's, he left it to me when he passed on. He had some strange old Suna magic, he once said it was alive. I didn't believe him at first, but sometimes it does things on it's own without me wanting it to... If you have to resort to summoning it, i'll get pulled along for the ride as well."

Mitsukai nodded as Kinzoku presented his arm for the mark while wondering if his gourd would react when she started the actual tattooing. She went and grabbed up the needed ink and other supplies from the same secret closet and then returned quickly enough. She pulled a chair over and got to work on adding the symbol to Kinzoku's arm, provided the gourd didnt react and stop her. After several minutes and a steady hand the mark was finished and she got back to her feet. "Alright, that's done. Let me just clean up and Ill add the seal to your gourd."

Mitsukai put everything back and cleaned up the cotton swabs she had used before loooking towards the gourd. Kinzoku had said that it had a life of its own and she found herself wondering how it would react to the seal.

She coated her fingers in chakra as she activated her finger carving seal. She hesitated for but a moment to see if the gourdwould react before she started making the Flying Thunder God seal. "Ive been working on a seal that will allow you to teleport or be pulled to me but it isnt finished yet so this will have to do..", she said as she finished and stood back up.

Kinzoku didn't flinch at all, or even change the plain expression on his face as the ANBU tattoo was applied. Besides wiggling around somewhat as she began, the gourd didn't react to Mitsukai at all. She didn't have hostile intentions, nor was Kinzoku in an amped up violent mood; 2 factors that played heavily on whether or not the gourd would defend him.

When she was done, Kinzoku rolled his sleeve up so that it could dry properly after putting his arm back in. Mitsukai still had no hostile intentions, so the gourd still didn't react even when she placed her seal upon it. Kinzoku wondered if this was the beginning of something. A new Kazekage, and her new bodyguard. Would someone underestimate her because of her young age? Would someone underestimate him? One could say he'd been training and developing himself all his life for something just like this. He wondered about confrontations with the other hidden villages; about testing himself against the many different styles and techniques.

She was done, and she could jump to him at any time. She spoke of creating a reverse jutsu, but it wasn't quite done yet. This was a vulnerable time, and Kinzoku knew that anyone could challenge for the hat of the Kazekage at any time, so he would have to remain vigilant. He stood after she did to put the glowing black gourd onto his back again. "Appreciated, Kazekage... after I look over this room you gave me, i'll be around..." he said, then he pointed to the communicator beneath his collar. "If you need me for whatever reason, i'm not hard to get a hold of. In any event, i'll never be too far away."

With a wave behind him as he stepped back toward the door to the office, Kinzoku opened the door and stepped out...

\Exit\

Mitsukai was glad to see that the gourd didn’t respond violently towards her, though she had a feeling that that might have something to do with Kinzoku’s own emotions and the fact that he was willing to accept both the ANBU tattoo as well as the seal that would allow her to teleport to where ever he was at any time.

She nodded when Kinzoku spoke of going and checking out the room she was giving him, noting that she was going to have to get used to being called Kazekage now while doing so. “Alright, I’ll see you around.”, she said before he left. With a new bodyguard taken care of, and all of the proper procedures gone through, she figured it was time to get back to work and handle the mountain of paperwork that she needed to get through as soon as possible.

So, as Kinzoku left she turned and walked back to her desk where she sat in the overly large but rather comfortable chair. She pulled the first stack of paperwork towards herself, grabbed her pen, and got to work on reading and signing… or denying.

[Exit]