Northwestern Gate

Mission Name: On the Job Learning
Mission Type: Guard Duty
Mission Rank: D
Mission Goal: Spend a shift at the Main Gate.
Description: Hibiki is a Chuunin in Konoha and actively enjoys teaching the next generation. Spend a shift with him on Guard Duty at the Main Gate and learn what you can from him. Nothing important is expected to happen, but you never know what kind of surprises you'll find walking in the village's front door.
Payment: 10,000 Ryo
Requirements: Genin

---

Sen wandered over to the gate while eating a grain bar. He had been assigned a job to sit in and experience a shift on guard duty. The man the mission had described was nowhere to be seen yet, so Sen took a seat just outside to wait for the appointed time.

Must not be time yet.

The aspiring genin had to admit, he had a small pit of anxiety forming. This was his first time doing a mission that felt so high-stakes, in comparison to everything else had had done. What would happen if some high-priority bounty target came by? Or a super strong rogue ninja? Sen needed to prepare for the possibility that he'd need to get serious here. To protect everyone.

Despite these thoughts, waiting for his mission partner and the mission's chunin to arrive, the most he spotted passing by were the occasional village ninja, friendly faces greeting him, and merchants now and again. Nothing special, and certainly no violence.

Just in case...

Sen began to aggressively eat grain bars, attempting to gain as much energy as possible stored up for the potential fight to come.

Hiroshi himself wasn't that far behind from the gates, taking a rather nice break from the previous mission from a little while ago, he felt that his hard work in these sorts of missions were starting to recognized if he was assigned to such a mission, to learn what they can from a Chuunin while playing guard duty at the gates. It definitely felt like a step up compared to silly missions like chasing someone's dog, or scratching the paint off the Hokage's face on a really hot day.

Nevertheless, Hiroshi gave a light wave over to Sen as soon as he came into sight, walking over and not too far behind seemed to be a Chuunin who appeared to be in his thirties, swept back black hair, a few scars here and there. A man who clearly went through some experiences, Hiroshi only just noticed him behind him as soon as he got near the guard booth that Sen is sitting at, the man took his time looking at the two Genin before saying something. "You're both here to learn guard duty at the gates?" he'd ask bluntly.

Sen piped up upon seeing Hiroshi, and even more so upon upon spotting the chunin assigned to them soon afterwards.

"Ah! Yes. Guard duty.", Sen blurted out while still eating grain snacks, spitting out chunks as he spoke.

Sen gave a bow, followed by a salute, not completely accustomed to the proper procedure greeting higher ranks. It wasn't very often he had to interact with them after all, being a glorified errand boy with the missions he had previously been on. Unlike those other ones however, Sen felt like this mission would be a step up towards his future as a ninja.

Can't afford to mess this up...

After finishing the consumption of his food, Sen pointed a thumb towards himself and then adjusted his armguards.

"I'm Sen! Are you Hibiki?"

Hibiki gave a light nod to the boy, moving on from the odd behaviour he showed with the bowing and saluting at the same time, as well as the bars that plopped out of his mouth. "... Yes, I am and I know who you two are, I was assigned the mission as well. I like to know who I work with." he moved over to the booth, sitting down and pointing at a rather large portfolio, as if he was preparing himself to say something extensive. "This job requires certain people to have a good memory, people reckon I have an eidetic memory where once I see something, I don't forget it anytime soon. I know which faces pass through so I usually let those go through without much trouble if it's someone who's obviously tied to the village, like the Hokage, or a well known Jounin, or a merchant with a reputation and so on."

He then opened up the large portfolio and went to a random page, showing what appeared to be a long list of alphabetical order names. "Though in case I suspect somebody of malevolent intent walking through those gates, I check this list to see if they have clearance to go through and if not, we'd have to do a intel check on their background. Depending on their ties and circumstances, they might not be allowed into the village." after that was explained, he let out a sigh and stood back up from the booth. "Understood? there are other aspects to consider with this job but I don't think you'll be doing guard duty should you ever become Chuunin, so I'll save your brainpower for something else." he then looked back at the gates, letting off a click of his tongue. "It's just a shame the gates aren't that busy today."

Sen's gaze intensified as he took in and absorbed the various things Hibiki was talking about regarding his job here. He nodded his head every other sentence, repeating specific words that popped up under his breath like, "malevolent" or, "intel".

"Mhm, mhm..."

He took a moment in silence to let it all process. Taking the information in, he began to visualize it. Simplify it. Alter it to suit his own perception of reality. Truthfully, he had repeated words he didn't fully understand the definitions of. Whenever somebody with Hibiki's demeanor and speech tried to teach him, Sen could never really claim that it was a successful tutelage. Here and now though, he'd give it his best to wrap his brain around it all.

"So you tackle the bad people and act nice to the good people, right? And then you fight the really bad people?"

Sen's beaming smile as if a light just went off in his head indicated that he was fully convinced that he understood the concept.

"Like that lady over there. She seems nice enough, right?" Sen continued, pointing to an elderly woman limping by with her cane towards the gate, smiling all the way.

Hiroshi himself grasped the concept well enough, and agreed with the tutelage of what Hibiki is pushing out, though it seemed to have... slightly flew over Sen's head. Hibiki noted this when he gave that sentence, just letting out a sigh and nodding to the Senju. "I suppose that's one way of looking at it." and when he pointed towards the elder lady, Hibiki gave a nod. "That's correct, I've seen her before and she lives in the village, so she's fine. However... this guy that's coming up? I don't know him." he was referring to an individual who looked to be in his 40's with long black haired that's tied up into a ponytail, what made his appearance somewhat suspicious is the armoured pauldrons. Hibiki walked up to him with a hand forward, signalling him to stop to which the man complied. "State your business."

The man didn't say anything, and gave Hibiki what looked like identification from a distance, though Hiroshi and Sen had no idea to tell since they weren't looking at the ID. Hibiki suddenly stood straight and handed the ID back to the man. "Apologies sir, go on right ahead." the man had an emotionless face the entire time, and continued his way into the village. Hibiki then walked back towards the Genin duo to explain what happened. "Sometimes, some individuals will have the right identification to enter the village, so that's one aspect to look for as well if you believe an individual shouldn't be allowed to enter a village, see if they have the proper ID for it first."

"Can those kinds of things be faked?" Sen blurted out.

It was the first idea that came to mind. The only thing that could beat the law, in Sen's mind, were liars. Crafty folk who could get around the basic and intended security guarding the village. On top of lying just being morally wrong, it was also something that got under Sen's skin.

He continued, once he ensured that Hibiki didn't have anyone else to pay attention to.

"After all, with the kind of stuff people can do..." he trailed off, thinking of the various ways that a ninja could easily get around identification.

"Like if they could transform, or something. They could pretend to be somebody else and just make their way in."

Furrowing his brow, Sen thought of more possibilities. If he was going to be given advice by somebody with more experience, he was certainly going to ensure that he got the most out of it possible. Not every day did this opportunity come by for someone of his rank and ability. It was his time to absorb as much as he could.

"Or could somebody sneak through the gates some other way? Like what if they snuck over the gate from a place where no guards were posted? What would happen then? Oh man, how do you guys keep this place safe all the time?!"

Sen's mind started to spiral out of control. He felt his very consciousness evolving on the spot as he thought of the possibilities for abusing the system, and the consequences involved with those who couldn't stop the criminals who did. Thinking this much was odd for him, and his head rang like a bell after putting that much effort in. He turned to Hibiki and Hiroshi again, concluding his barrage of questions with one final inquiry.

"I might be getting dehydrated a bit... do either of you have some water?"

The barrage of questions soon came well enough, with Hibiki being rather indifferent about it, to him, it just felt like a Genin who's willing to learn. Hibiki answered the Genin's questions in a well ordered way. "Firstly, they can be but usually a trained guard can spot the real deal and the fake well enough for an ID. Secondly, we have sensory ninja who can see through disguises like that. Thirdly, guards are posted on the walls day and night, even then... our defences aren't flawless and as you imagine, it's inevitable that someone with the right skill and desire can break into Konohagakure. We still have measures to take should that ever happen to quickly stop the threat before it becomes a serious problem." and with that, he believed he answered the Genin's question well enough. He gave a quick glance to Hiroshi however and tried to involve him in.

"You have any questions?" Hiroshi just lightly shook his head. When asked for water, Hibiki brought out a water bottle from his hip pouch and placed it on the guards table. "I came prepared, drink up."

Sen nodded along to the answers to his questions, paying attention to them all. What feels like his brain growing several sizes up all at once now affecting him, he gradually began to understand the concept of setting up a proper tactical, defensive position. In his own simple way. Set up a bunch of people that can each do something different to contribute, and have them work together as a unit to make work easier on all of them. He wasn't able to grasp fully the ability to plan, but he was trying in his own way.

"I think I get it..." he replied, scratching the back of his head.

An eyebrow was raised at Hiroshi's lack of questions. He turned to him and accepted his water bottle gleefully, downing half the thing in an instant. The refreshing cold was enough to normalize him, and rubbing his temple for a moment, it all came together to help bring his headache down. Sen handed the bottle back and shot Hiroshi a curious glance.

"You don't have many questions about this? I'll admit I don't get it fully, but don't you think this is a big chance to learn what keeps us safe?"

Pulling out another grain snack and munching it down, Sen shot his eyes side to side, trying to spot with his eyes anyone that looked suspicious. He nudged Hibiki and Hiroshi, and pointed as subtly as one could point while mowing down food at another man coming towards the gate. He seemed gloomy, and a bit ragged. No identifiable village or clan markings.

"What do you think? Is that somebody that should get stopped?"

Looking from left to right at Hibiki and Hiroshi, Sen was testing himself to see how well he had grasped some of what he had learned on the job so far.

Hibiki looked at the suggested man, which gave Hibiki a few seconds of him glaring at the guy until he finally backed off, realising the man to be a regular of the village. "Nope, he's fine. He went out earlier this morning." Hibiki sighed, the gates weren't as busy as he hoped they would be today so he couldn't really let the Genin feel the full experience, but he's also explained the necessary components of being on guard duty essentially, just keeping an eye out on anyone shady, use their identification or the portfolio of registered Leaf citizens to let the right people in. Hiroshi also shook his head once more towards Sen. "Not really, I think I get the gist of it." he's honestly somewhat a bit behind as well, but he didn't consider it that important as he doesn't see himself doing this sort of guard duty by the time he's Chuunin, assuming he gets to that point at all.

"With that out of the way, are there any final, final questions? otherwise... I think were done here. I'd usually keep you two a bit longer but the gates aren't as busy today, so I wouldn't want to waste your time."

It was the final questioning period, and though Sen would usually love to earn his pay quickly, he did have a few questions left to ask, regardless of how pointless they might seem to others.

"Yeah! How did you get to the point where you just know stuff about stuff? Like all the rules and what to do when, and such. I just couldn't really imagine keeping track of all those rules and plans."

Putting his finger to his mouth in thought, Sen pondered on if he had any other questions. Finishing his grain snack by popping the bottom half into his mouth, he chewed in concentration.

Don't wanna mess this up... learn what I can!

He looked up at Hibiki with curious eyes, and began to speak.

"What made you decide to be a ninja?"

Hibiki expected more work-related questions but he supposed with a bright genin like him, he wouldn't make answering those more personal ones. "Heh... just years of being a ninja, it might seem overwhelming at first but the more years you spend being a ninja, the more experience you get and the more you just get used to the procedures and protocol, it becomes second nature to you so to speak." though that second question actually made Hibiki think a bit more about his answer instead of just straight out giving it, he just gave a shrug. "Truth be told, I had the same, stupid dream of becoming Hokage like every academy student. I've had some uh... traumatic experiences that I wouldn't want anyone in the village to ever go through, and that's what put me on that path. I don't think I'll ever become a Hokage, but it's little jobs like this to ensure the village's safety and that's content with me." Hibiki rolled his eyes as he felt that was too wholesome in it's own way. "And the pay, the pay is nice as well."

He looked at the both of them with a curious look, as he seemingly had a chance to add his own comment about them. "Though, things can get rather progressive around here. A Senju and a Kazehana working together, that's a sight you don't see everyday... even though the Kazehana boy didn't contribute much in questions today... anyway, you're both free to go, collect your pay and enjoy the rest of your day." after that, he just sat back down at the booth, keeping a broad glance over the gates to see who's entering and leaving.

Sen smiled, content with the answers to his myriad questions. Nodding as Hibiki moved away, Sen felt like he had learned a little bit about the world. Even if it wasn't much, the progression day by day, learning new things, was a nice reward all its own. Though he still had to agree with Hibiki, the pay is definitely nice.

"For what it's worth, I think you should keep trying to become Hokage if you really want to! I think you'd be great!" Sen called out to Hibiki as he walked away, beaming with optimism.

Turning to Hiroshi and offering him a grain snack, he flashed a smile to him.

"Same to you, too... I know just about everybody's thought about Hokage at some point, but you should keep at it too! Don't let anything stop you!" Sen spouted enthusiastically, walking away from the gate back towards the village.

"There's a lot of good people here. I think I'd be okay with really any of them being Hokage, honestly. Whoever gets it definitely deserves it, I think."

Tightening his armguards again, Sen pumped himself up. The day was still young, and there was plenty he could still do to conquer the day. The future seemed bright, and while he had no true dreams yet, Sen's love for this village was all he could want for now. Turning back one last time to look at Hiroshi, he waved.

"Let's meet up again some time! I'll bring more snacks if it ends up taking longer! You can get the water!"

With that, Sen dashed into the village in search of more to do, reinvigorated by today's success.

[Exit to Konoha]

Hibiki heard the comment that Sen made, but only gave a light nod to it followed with a slight male from the almost emotionless man, meanwhile Hiroshi was just about to walk off until Sen had a bit to say, also offering him a grain bar to which he reluctantly took, just placing it in his pocket. He didn't know whether or not he'd actually eat it, but he felt like it'd be rude to not take it. He slightly scoffed at him to keep going for his goal of hokage and pointed at Hibiki. "I don't know, as it currently stands that guy has a better chance of becoming Hokage but... I'll keep that in mind." there went the rather optimistic side of Sen once again, it really didn't sit right with Hiroshi for some reason but it wasn't irritating or anything, he just tolerated it. He supposed he couldn't blame the kid for being happy with himself.

After seeing Sen run off and yelling at Hiroshi to get the water next time, he waved back at him and just yelled out "Sure!" just to play along. He probably wouldn't bring along water unless it was going to be a heated up day like that paint scrubbing job they did the one time. He found Sen's behaviour to be rather... eccentric, but at the same time he has pretty strong ideals of what a ninja should be and he could respect that, but he felt like there'll come a time when his own ideals will come into conflict with Sen's and a falling out might happen. He's probably thinking too deep about this stuff as it is, and decided to call it a day. He'd cross that bridge with Sen when it came.

[Exit]

Satomi was prepped. Easily the most noticeable face in the world, possibly the most feared. He was known by many names, which brought a certain weight to his being. Around him were two A-ranked Uchiha Guards garbed in ANBU attire and an A-rank Scout group along. They were to escort the Hokage on his journey. One of them were holding two important scrolls, this was the money they had taken from the bank. It was needed in order for his plan to go through.

Emperor Ozai was prepared for the journey, wearing his Mithril armor from head to toe, and was able to finagle his white Hokage cloak on the back. The fire looked real if you looked long enough. But not many would get to lay their eyes on it without being checked. It was a relatively short journey to Land of Grass. But it was a necessary one, they had great need of Kusagkure. And they would belong to Konoha before long. Add to the Emperors reach.

----------------

[Exit from Konohagakure to Kusagakure]

Using B-rank Speed.
Con and Per +

A pair of black combat sandals cover both feet leaving the toes and heel open securing up to his ankles. He wears a pair of common synthetic black pants personally having the bottoms wrapped in white bandage wrap to prevent it dragging or getting snagged. On right his thigh is a blue rectangular holster secured and backed by white tape. Gin wears a black single utility belt tightly secured to his waist. It holds one blue holster on his right side as well as a beige carry pouch around the back side of the belt. To his left was a short, studded club. His torso is covered by a sleeveless black shirt. Among this he was suited in a set of plated armor. A breastplate, set of arm guards, pauldrons, and faulds dyed red. Over all of this was a thick, black cloak which concealed the majority of what he wore making everything more of a surprise. Gin is a tall, lean male standing at 6'2 and weighing 175 lbs. He has a broad, moderately toned figure. He has a tan skin tone accompanied with rich hazel eyes and medium length brown hair stopping briefly past midway down his neck and shortly past his forehead.

Despite being ANBU he opted out of wearing his face mask. It was a hindrance to his vision and was, well, pointless. The masks were the same and eventually people would begin to associate him and his skills with the mask he had. Not to mention his weapons did not change either. It was all pointless effort for such primitive concealment. He was tasked with an escort to the Land of Earth once again to Iwagakure. The Earth village was a powerful one, which during its collapse, supplied Konoha with lots of substantial Shinobi. Now it merely serves as a stronghold for Konoha. Konoha has underwent massive construction since then growing into a modern city. It all did not matter much to him. He still lived a somewhat humble life. As a Shinobi he was not totally invested in the modernization of the world. His job more or less remained the same.

Gin accepted the fact that Kameko was not going to arrive for whatever reason. He speculated even her had fallen ill to the plague. After three hours of waiting he finished he would return to the Administration building to let the person in charge know he was abandoning the mission due to Kameko not arriving and hopefully find more information from there. Putting on his mask he would make haste towards the center of the city.

[Enter Konoha]

Masuyo and her party followed the main dirt road which led the them eventually back to Konoha. It was a route Masuyo knew very well and one her students were at least familiar with having traveled outside the country a few times under her wing. Toonami has remained within Konami the entire time, something that was probably for the best. It was ten in the morning before they could see Konoha's gates from a distance. As they neared Masuyo first noticed something odd. There was an increase in security with activity Shinobi standing on the walls while two groups of ANBU were on the floor handing those passing in and out of the gates. Yep, lock down. Just as I expected. Masuyo turned her head over her shoulder to speak with her students and Akihiro, who was late trailing behind and managed to catch up with them when they set up for camp in Hot Springs. "Have your IDs ready for check in. Sorry to break it to you, Konami, but you might not be allowed in after all this way. Konoha is on lock down which generally means no foreigners in under no exception. But we will see."

Her footwear consisted of standard black sandals fitted for comfort and security. With the toes and heel left exposed they provided additional balance, while the rest of the foot up to the ankle was protected by the thick nylon material of the sandal. The soles of the sandals are reinforced with hardened material to resist heavy impacts and weathering. She wore a pair of loose fitting black pants with the bottoms near her ankles taped securely in white bandage wrap. This provided balance and reinforcement to her ankles while closing off the ends of her pants. In addition, more bandage wrap was wrapped around her right thigh which allowed a navy blue holster to be strapped over comfortably. Around her waist she wears the basic utility belt which carries two green holsters on her right side along with a tool pouch around her back side and a canteen to the far left.

A black mesh shirt is worn under a common long sleeve black top having a red seal of fire placed on the outsides of each sleeve towards the upper arm. Over that was a fitted green flak jacket provided by Konoha's armory. The jacket was zipped up and secure firmly on her body. On both of her hands were a pair of fingerless black leather gloves, each fitted with a steel plate on the backs for protection as well as a means to fortify backhanded strikes. Around her neck Masuyo wears her forehead protector as a collar. The black cloth is tied in a knot around the back side of her neck with the steel plate facing the front for identification. The steel plate has Konoha's emblem engraved on the front. Masuyo has straight black hair which extends down to her mid back. Two strands of hair drop down touching her chest which leads into her bangs, those being cut shorter and swept to the side. She stands at 5'9 weighing approximately 145 lbs. Her fair skin is complimented with her voluptuous form which is completed with a pair of hazel eyes.

As the party neared the gates the attention of the guards focused on them as the unsettling feel of heads fixated as they approached within ten meters of the security check point; the guards were ready to pounce at any moment. "Howdy! This is Masuyo checking back in with Rin, Yui, Akihiro, and some potential visitors..." She'd express herself while flashing her badge to the ANBU on the ground level as she was given clearance to approach the security desk a few meters behind him where the process would actually begin. "No visitors allowed within the city on lock down." One of the ground ANBU stated glaring at Konami. Each of the Konoha Shinobi were required to show their ID with the ANBU and be given a quick glance over before approaching the security desk like Masuyo. The process was meant to give a physical glance over of their identity while letting their chakra record be recorded by the newly installed Sensory Center. A time stamp tied to their identity checked out at the security desk would be recorded the same time at the Sensory Center. At the end of the day the log books would be compared to track the signatures.

Separated from the group Masuyo would question the security. "What's with the lock down? I've been out since November." The Chuunin desk employee looked up at Masuyo before shifting his eyes side to side. Leaning in he'd cuff his hand over Masuyo's ear, which she allowed and willingly leaned forwards to make the process all the easier. He'd wisper so softly that those away from them would be unable to hear among the commotion. "It's the Hokage. He's been missing for about two months now with no word of his arrival in the Land of Grass. The Council is worried he may have been kidnapped. We have our scouts serving the area for any signs. That's all we know for now." Upon hearing the news it was in anybody's nature to feel a cold sweat and a surge of adrenaline after hearing such political impact. Was this an assassination attempt? Was a nation hold him for ransom? Could they face war? They were all the worrisome topics one would imagine upon hearing of a disappearance.

"I see." Masuyo said pulling away from the guard, her face devoid of any weakness. The responsibility has dawned upon her that she was next in command, and that this was an issue she had to hammer out. Great... Masuyo stepped aside letting the other Konoha Shinobi register until Akihiro was next. "Hey, Mister Big Brain. I need to address something with you in'a bit of privacy. Follow me." Masuyo would lead Akihiro around the corner of the security office in a corner between that and the wall. Meanwhile Konami would be prevented from getting any closer from where she stood, ten meters from the Security Office.

NPC Present:

Travelling for days was not exactly a comfortable feat. Especially considering they had been on a rush to get home since something appeared to have happened back home. They traveled all the way through the land of Lightning, Frost and Hotsprings just to get to the Senju Forest and then finally on to the Hidden Leaf Village. It wasn't a short trip by any means, but Akihiro was truly glad to see the green forests which filled the Land of Fire with life. The Sparrow could certainly appreciate the rocky hills and howling winds of the Land of Lightning, but there was no place like home.

Akihiro was still wearing his usual combat attire. A black cloak which covered him from shoulder to feet, which seemed like poor protection until one noticed it was padded with hardened eel leather underneath the first layer of cloth. This gave Akihiro an extra measure of protection again lightning release attacks, something he could certainly appreciate holding while visiting Kumogakure. Beneath the cloak, he wore a black field plate armor, made of jade and specially crafted to fit his small frame body. The armor included pauldrons, breastplate, and faulds. Akihiro still had the body of a child, despite having grown slightly taller in the past two years. Having this type of body meant he needed to find ways to protect himself against harsh blows and impacts while, at the same time, not slowing himself down. Jade and spider silk weren't exactly the most affordable or easily found materials on the market, but they were the best he could find to suit his purposes.

Very much like Masuyo, Akihiro noticed something was different from the moment the gates were within sight. The guard formation was much tighter, and there were at least three times as many men on duty than during regular times. Was the village on lockdown? What could have possibly happened? And why the hell didn't the Hokage allow his Mockingbird messengers to carry messages and inform him of the situation at hand? The only logical conclusion was that this had something to do with the Kage himself since he usually was very supportive of Akihiro's organization.

The Sparrow witnessed the guard telling Masuyo the village was on lockdown. This meant whatever had happened was serious. The ANBU's glare at Konami did not go unnoticed. "Interesting..." Akihiro's train of thought ran as he approached the security desk with his id. He went through the whole process rather quickly, and by the time he was leaving the desk, Masuyo approached him. Her expression was serious, although it showed no signs of fear. She addressed him, and he merely nodded before following her. She seemed to have already figured out what was happening. This was good, it saved him the trouble of doing it himself.

"So what kind of situation are we looking at here?" he would ask, once they found some privacy.

Masuyo waited in the corner between the wall and the security office as Akihiro was no far behind in his path. She'd turn around seeing the boy there inquiring about the situation. Masuyo wasted no time when addressing it. "Lord Satomi has not returned from his business meeting in the Land of Grass. He was expected to be out of town for no more than a month. It has been a little over two. He has not communicated with Konoha about his extended stay and they fear he might have been kidnapped." Masuyo spoke in a hush tone to keep their privacy private. "I'm sure you know Konami, the former Mizukage, who traveled with our party. She approached me in Kumogakure to inform me she intended to meet Lord Satomi to 'return a favor' after his aid in Kirigakure when setting up our alliance. Of course with the lock down she won't be allowed entry, not to mention she'll have no luck speaking to Lord Satomi since he's, well, you know."

Masuyo would pass a glance to the opposite side of the security office to ensure her students and Sachiko entered just fine and were on their way inside the village. She wouldn't waste too much time and would return her attention back to Akihiro. "I'm going to be honest, I was a bit suspicious about Konami and Toonami finding me in Kumogakure. I'm not entirely comfortable letting them in Konoha now that I know the gravity of the situation. Now, I was thinking we could station them in one of the surrounding towns. But what should we do about Lord Satomi missing? Should we tell them directly or cover up?"

Akihiro listened carefully to everything Masuyo had to say. His expression turned more serious and suddenly the eyes of an innocent, laid back 14 years old had become deep and serious, like that of an adult with adult responsibilities. He didn't interrupt her since it was important to listen to everything she had to say before jumping to conclusions. But from the moment Masuyo told him the Hokage was missing, the cogs in his brain began spinning. Satomi was a vital piece in Konoha and Akihiro's life: not only was he Hokage but he was also the leader of the Uchiha Clan. Without him, the highest ranked officer in the village within the Uchiha was the Sparrow himself, which meant the leadership could very well fall to him. This wasn't something he desired at all, but it was a possibility and not something he could easily dismiss.

Making an effort to push that particular problem to the back of his mind, Akihiro focused on the problem at hand. "I won't lie, statistically, he's likely to be dead. He is too powerful to easily contain, and if kidnappers wanted a ransom we'd know by now. If the enemy somehow managed to capture him for information only, then the next logical and safest move would be to kill him and extract more information from his body.

The other option was that he left on his own. But that is extremely unlikely since he had a wife and family in the village. I...assume they're still in the village, yes? We should send someone to make sure.

Either way we would be wise to try to track him, or his body, down. Lord Satomi's body holds many secrets, secrets I'm sure none of us would like to see revealed. Despite how late it might be now, we need to give it a try, within our territory if nowhere else. Lord Satomi was an immensely powerful shinobi- I refuse to believe someone managed to take him on without leaving a trace of what happened." Akihiro then discreetly glanced back at Konami, that was another problem they needed to see solved. Not that the ex-Mizukage twins themselves were a problem, but they needed to find a way to re-establish trust between them.

"I know the ex-Mizukages and Lord Satomi fought together to defend Kirigakure no Sato from a foreign attack once. Our records written by Lord Satomi himself confirm it. This could be the favor they mean. As for telling them about Lord Satomi's disappearance...

At best they represent Kirigakure. Kirigakure is either responsible for this, or not responsible for this. If they are, then telling Konami about it will tell them nothing new since they probably already know they succeeded.
If they aren't responsible, then we are informing an ally and that brings an advantage to us. The only risk is them backstabbing us in our moment of weakness but... I'd say they already know we're vulnerable just by witnessing this lockdown.

Plus if they rose to the rank of Kage, then they're not idiots. They'll know something is up by this commotion alone. Lying to them would bring us no advantage and we'd run the risk of causing distrust between allies and them getting pissed because we wasted their time.

On the off chance that they don't speak for Kirigakure anymore...well, tell them the truth either way. If they really are here for Satomi and to repay a favor, they will help us find him and our purposes align well enough. If they're using Satomi as an excuse to get inside the village, well, Lord Satomi is not inside the village, so we don't have to let them in." It was the only logical conclusion Akihiro could reach. This was a shitty position to be in, but in this shitty position, the best they could do was trust Konami had good intentions.

"I suggest we send out a tracking squad. Sachiko over there has a ridiculously keen sense of smell. If there's a corpse rotting in these woods for the past two months, she'll almost certainly be able to find it. I'd also like to accompany this squad with my sensory abilities. If Konami is willing, she could be allowed to come. The squad could also need more muscle in case we meet with the enemy- I'm a specialized long and medium range combatant and I'd rather not rely on the ex-Mizukage for close-range firepower. If you have the last member suggestion, I'd like to hear it.

Finally, we should immediately start enforcing security at our borders. We can't force the whole country on lockdown but we can certainly find out who leaves and enters. On the off chance that the attackers are still within our country. The reason we don't have any suspects right now is that we don't control our borders. That needs to change. I'll see to that, personally." Akihiro cursed himself silently. Over the past two months he had been distracted planning the Chuunin Exams and helping Kumogakure hosting them, so he had become lax and relaxed his spy network. He was technically in charge of foreign operations, so knowing who was entering and leaving the Land of Fire wasn't exactly his job, but he felt he could have done better.

As they all traveled together Toonami never came back out, it was really a shame as Yui wanted to talk to her more she had so many questions like how did she blow off steam when angry. The trip went off without a hitch. When they got closer things were certainly not normal the security was extremely tight and Yui own clan had some of the stronger shinobi of the clan ready to pick her up and take her back to her house. She was not sure what happened but one thing was clear it was big news.

Yui would wink at the twins as a sign she did want to talk more but for now she had to go back inside the village, she showed her badge as they did a chakra scan of her. She naturally checked out as she was the real deal and was moved inside the village with her own clan having her now guarded twenty-four seven. This was quite frustrating to her but what could she really do. She would not say a word and head inside, as much as she wanted to argue something bad was happening and she wanted to rush to the one thing most important to herself and that was Kanna.



[Enter Konoha]

The journey turned out to be quite uneventful which was good in Rin's opinion. Experiencing the fierce cold from the mountains in Land of Frost was everything that Rin expected plus some. In the land of hot springs however reminded Rin that he still hasn't attended to a hot spring before. It was something that he at least wanted to try once, but Rin didn't say anything. As usual he kept to himself unless called on to do something given that he's been rear guard and talking was kept to the minimum on his part.

Upon nearing the large village gates Rin couldn't help but notice that the gates is heavily guarded. As his sensory field becomes absorbed into a much larger field Rin detects that he's being watched. This certainly wasn't here before, and most other people would ignore it if they even register it. He already knew something wasn't right around here as the guards held a stern body language before one of them spoke glaring at Konami. Granted Rin is aware that they have been gone for about two months so anything could change during that time, but when the word lockdown slipped from the guard's mouth Rin knew something important went down.

Rin is a 14 y.o. young man with an athletic form. Standing at 5'7” weighing roughly 152lb. Garbed in thinner clothing than what he wore through the Land of Frost. His torso consists of a sandy brown short sleeved shirt slightly revealing the titanium mesh shirt underneath. Further protecting his torso is a leather vest. On both arms Rin wears a pair of steel armguards that held fuuinjutsu engraved into the surface. His utility belt contains a hip pouch containing most of Rin's tools on his right flank. Positioned just under the hip pouch is an iron karambit that is easily retrievable by Rin's hand. His legs is covered with black pants that has a dark green holster strapped on each thigh by white bandage and each holster contains a single kunai. The ends were tucked under the leather shinguards. Wearing a pair of open toed sandals and complete with a Konoha headband that consists of a black cloth with a steel plate wrapped around his forehead.

Rin's hazel blue-green eyes caught the sight of someone familiar as his ears picked up that someone was approaching from behind. Looking over his shoulder it happens to be Akihiro Uchiha, a more accomplished kin compared to Rin himself. Same age yet has done so much more. ”Been a while Akihiro. Working hard?” Small talk from Rin's part as they actually exchanged little communication given Akihiro's rank and the sheer amount of workload that he does. In truth Rin wished he could help, but unfortunately he was more suited to combat and perhaps espionage. After all he gathered intel from Kumogakure without drawing suspicion from anyone. But that was different.

Without further ado, Rin does the full procedure of stating his name, rank, and business for entry. Of course the sheer stare from the Anbu is intimidating on its own. Like this guy could take a life without batting an eye no matter who it was. Still Rin didn't have anything to worry about in regards of registering at the desk. Once everyone was signed in except for Konami and Toonami the Uchiha was ready to head back to his home. However his ears picked up on something, only a piece of what Akihiro was saying. ’Rotting corpse in the forest… perhaps someone made a grave error to strike at Konoha while we were away.’ Or so he thought and gave no indication on what he heard. If Masuyo was keeping something hushed then it was more than likely something Rin shouldn't be hearing to begin with. So Rin continues onward to his home.

[Enter]

The party finally arrived at Konohagakure no Sato. It was the first time the twins had been to this village and its splendor and might was apparent even from a distance. However, as the got closer the bustle of activity made Konami realize that something was off. The gates were heavily guarded more so than usual so when Masuyo turned to her and informed her that they may not be allowed in the village due to the heightened state of security, the Ex-Mizukage wasn't entirely surprised. Masuyo had left Kumo in a rush after receiving a secret letter. She went as far as to pull her Nin out of the Exams early and while they didn't speed their way to the village, Konami could feel a sense of urgency emanating from the party's leader. Toonami was sleeping at the moment but she'd be doubtlessly pissed that they had come all this way for no reason. Konami remained calmed and merely nodded as she took in the scene before her. She waited outside patiently as she considered the various possibilities before her. Konami was a strategist at heart and she approached political problems with the same careful methodology as she approached science.

It was common for Kage to attend the Chuunin Exams to watch their Nin in action. Satomi was not in Kumo or he would have left with the party. This was not unusual as the current Mizukage Takeo had also declined to attend. Yet she was here and he had not come out to greet her. He knew she could be trusted and so she expected him to vouch for her but either word had not been sent about her impending arrival or he was purposefully avoiding her. Konami considered the possibility that a Bijuu could be roaming the Fire Country which would explain the village's sensitivity to having an foreigner inside Konoha at a time like this. The Society's operatives could also have attempted a terrorist attack within Konoha or the surrounding towns. There was many possibilities, too many to say for sure what was going on but Konami figured that Konoha's top concern was security at the moment. She'd need to reassure them that she wasn't a threat and that she could aid them in whatever it was that threatened their interests. Satomi would believe them and Masuyo appeared to be at least partially convinced but given that there were other leaders in Konoha besides those two perhaps they'd need to do more.

The elder twin crossed her arms and stood outside the village reflecting on the various scenarios and what she could say in response to each.

Sachiko was wearing the same gear configuration she had been when she and the rest of the Konoha party had left Kumogakure. Over the journey, she had been fiddling with some stuff in her bags, setting up a few of her new toys so that if she needed them, she could have them readily available.

Luckily, it would appear that their travel over was more or less uneventful, until they came upon the gate, which was much more heavily guarded than usual. Sachiko frowned, looking around to the others in the group to see if she could read any of their reactions. It seemed nobody else really knew what was going on fully either.

Sachiko wasn't really interested in finding out before she needed to know, and seeing as she hadn't been informed, she did her usual check in and entered the city to go and get cleaned up.

(Entering Konoha)