Burger Time

Appearance:

Hana sat in her desk, time already passed since her meeting with the Hokage, still in confusion and anger. Political matters never really mattered to her as a Jounin. She was just a military unit before and did what she was told. The consequence was generally put on the Mizukage or the Council, but anything regarding repercussions of a mission was generally kept very secretive. Now that she sat in the Mizukage's desk she had to answer and atone for all of the nation's mistakes. She expected that much and was an inevitable consequence. Hana didn't have any ambitious goals for the nation. Peace was always an option for her since she didn't generally fancy war and conflict. She was willing to pay reparations and go through the hoops in order to straighten out her predecessors mistakes. But that ship has sailed.

Kumogakure had proven time and time again to their desire for conflict. It was one thing to attempt to poach Konoha from the Kirigakure alliance, but Kumogakure fully intended to use that benefit for war. And to make matters worse they did it all with a straight face. They showed up to Kirigakure to participate while hiding their true intentions. Hana was kind and always willing to cooperate, but she would not be taken as a weak leader and turn a blind eye to traitors.

She stared idol at the scroll the Hokage gave her. It was opened across her desk having read it dozens of times trying to convince herself that this wasn't the true face of Kumogakure. Within the room stood ten guard units and two outside the closed door. The Mizukage office was recently relocated to another room in the sky scraper, and like all rooms in the building they were heavily tinted. Hana was abnormally quiet and has actually been clean from burgers for three days now. It was hard to be normal when dealing with the stress she was given. The only cure was to make an action. Numerous questions buzzed inside her mind. What was Kumogakure's ultimate plan? Does Konoha still honor their alliance? Or is this all a facade to get Hana to lower her guard? She could ask questions all day, but without the information or intellect to put together the pieces she was left by herself for hours at a time...thinking.

Oddly enough, Akihiro managed to make his way quite well through the streets of Kirigakure no Sato. He had never quite explored the village before and the only time he went inside the gates was probably on the back of some heroic mist ninjas who had saved him from the unpleasant torments of dying underground after his fight with Nozomi. Alas, the streets of the village were well designed and made sense, Akihiro could easily guess where most essential buildings after knowing the location of a few for certain. And since the village was apparently hosting the Chuunin exams, the people seemed used to foreigners by now and had very little issues with answering Akihiro's questions.

So after meeting and figuring things out with Kimiko, Akihiro's next stop was the Mizukage complex. It was imperative that he spoke with Hana as soon as possible, but he couldn't simply burst into the office demanding a meeting. It was annoying, but these things had their processes. Still, as he stepped up to the balcony and explained the urgence of the matter Akihiro must have done something right because within the minute he was being invited inside the office.

The two guards outside the door allowed him in, and after knocking and listening for a positive reply Akihiro opened the door and entered the office. He was definitely surprised to find Hana sitting behind the desk- he didn't know the girl's name or anything but the two had met before at the gates of this same village. Back then she looked like she had been in charge, but not this much in charge. Had things changed? Well, it didn't matter. If she was in charge, then she was the one Akihiro needed to speak to. And speak he did.

"Good afternoon. Apologies for the intrusion but I bring matters of great urgency to discuss." Akihiro would take a few steps into the office, moving from the door and closer to the desk. "My name is Akihiro Uchiha. For a few years now I've been Jonin commander and head strategist of the Hidden Leaf Village, serving it faithfully and fulfilling my role as a shinobi. We've met before, when I attempted to neutralize the rogue ninja known as Nozomi Himitsu. Truth to be told I had come to Kirigakure to collect a debt, but fate placed duty above pride and I engaged in battle. I woke up at your village's hospital after that fight, so I can only assume you're responsible for taking care of me. For that, you have my gratitude." He gave a slight nod to Hana. She and her organization had saved his life, but he wouldn't exactly bow before her. Bows and gestures were useless. There was something else he could give Kirigakure.

"I returned to the village shortly after waking up, only to find out that Konoha had been robbed by the Society, and the Hokage had branded me a rogue ninja. Naturally, I had to leave the village...but as I did, I noticed a large shipment of goods being transported from the village. A very large shipment, hundreds of wagons. Realizing something was off, I followed the trail. And I found this, being loaded into the cargo hold of an East Indiaman." Akihiro slowly took what looked like a wrapped piece of cloth from his cloak's pocket and placed it upon the table, unwrapping it carefully to reveal a black powder within it.

"Explosive powder. One hundred and fifty tons of it. Enough to wipe out the ship, the harbour and a large piece of mainland with a single spark. " Akihiro then took out a piece of paper from another pocket and also placed it upon the desk in front of Hana. "The ship's manifesto, and its planned voyage. It was headed to Kirigakure no Sato. You should be aware that Konohagakure no Sato's fleet is entirely controlled by the Hokage, which means the Hokage deliberately loaded enough explosives to wipe out a village into a ship and ordered it to sail right here." Akihiro would let that sink in for a moment.

"About an hour ago I intercepted the ship at the harbour, neutralized its guard and took control of it and its crew. It is currently anchored at the Land of Fire's bay, awaiting my orders." Akihiro made a small pause, intended to allow Hana some room to be relieved before needing to absorb more information.

"So that's the first thing I wanted to tell you. Your village took care of me, and I'm taking care of your village now. Let it never be said the Uchiha Clan doesn't pay its debts. And while this doesn't settle all of our...transaction issues, there are more important issues at hand. Which brings me to the second thing I wanted to tell you."

Akihiro would make sure to let an intense gaze upon Hana's eyes at this point. It wasn't a threatening look, just...intense. Determined. The eyes of a man with a mission. "I know the Hokage is in Kirigakure for the Chuunin Exams. I'm going to be taking her head. Please note that I'm not asking for your blessing or permission, I'm informing you that this will happen. I would like to respect your sovereignty over this land and not go against your will while I'm here. But this time I cannot allow anyone's will to be above my objective, this madness must end. And so I am left with no choice but to follow through with my intentions. Although... " he made a small pause. "I imagine you might want to settle some things with the Hokage as well. If you know where she is, I'd be pleased to have your company so we can settle this matter swiftly and with as little drama or material damage as possible."

He smiled. It was...unnerving, how natural that smile would look. It wasn't a smirk, and there was no ill intent present in his eyes. He had just invited Hana to be a part of an assassination as one invites a mate for a coffee. "What say you, Lady Mizukage?"

The silence Hana relished in was broken by a cordial knock on the door. The Mizukage immediately turned into high guard as her sensory activated. Was it the cat again? Or a Kumogakure representative? There was not a lot of distrust held towards the Konoha ninja and the Hokage, but right now she would rather not deal with foreign affairs. Hana had trouble choosing a side and would prefer to have silence to think over her next course of action. Her sensory technique picked up an oddly familiar chakra signature. She was acquainted with it, but she wasn't familiar or fond of it enough to recall exactly who it belonged to. When the door opened she saw the intruder.

"Akihiro?" She said in disbelief. He was bound to recover from his fight with Nozomi, but he didn't imagine it would be so soon. And why exactly he presented himself now. Like Hana mentioned to the Hokage, she was unaware of all of their motives. Nozomi, Akihiro, or Rin. The chance to learn more about them was interrupted by the spring of combat. Hana had to sit through another exposition dump, her fragile brain almost unable to handle the stress of yet another hard to swallow truth.

Hana sat and listened, her expression on her face as clear as day that she was frustrated yet again. The substance he presented before Hana sparked her curiosity as she rose it to her nose and gave a brief whiff, the chemical substance immediately causing her nose to wrinkle. It was chemical for sure. Setting the sample back on her desk she let Akihiro continue as what was once many stars dotting the night sky became a constellation. Everything was finally making sense to her again. Oh yeah, it's all coming together. Hana's eyes narrowed into slits glaring at the sack of powder for a second before she came to clarity. She knew what needed to be done. "Despite what Kirigakure has done to your former clan leader, it is reassuring to know the Uchiha clan represent the rationality and loyalty of Konoha. I swear by every hamburger in Kirigakure that the Uchiha will receive reparations. But you are correct. There is something urgent we need to take of."

Hana rose from her desk and stepped towards door with a brisk pace. The Kaguya didn't even bother to tuck her chair into her desk showing exactly how hard she was. "To believe the two nations invited to these exams as a gesture decrease tension was abused. Rion!" Hana called one of the guards standing outside. "The village is going into lock down until my order. The Genin are distracted by the exams and will be for the next few days, so there should be no alarm. I also need you to quarantine our waters. Do not allow any ship from Konoha, Kumogakure, or their territories to enter our influence. Join us when you're ready." Hana utilized all of her resources to track the Hokage discreetly. Not much would change, really. Patrols remained the same with the order of reporting to Hana immediately when the Hokage was spotted. The description used was those Hana had access to.

Grabbing the scroll given to her by Tatsu, Hana used its scent as a means to find the cat. The hunt would begin as Hana would search the Metropolis far and wide for the cat. Hana had access to her temporary residency, as it was provided by Kirigakure. Any commodity provided by Kirigakure, Hana had access to. There was little the Hokage had to avoid confrontation. And Hana was going to make sure she wouldn't leave Kirigakure without paying her dues.

[Exit]

Akihiro was a bit surprised at the promise of repaying the Uchiha under oath of...well, burguers. For a moment he thought Hana wasn't really taking him seriously but the expression on her face clearly said otherwise. Hana was...an odd person, but she seemed to be taking the threat quite seriously and her intentions alligned with Akihiro's. He was glad this was the case- it would be infinitely harder to track down the god damn cat and kill it in a foreign village.

Alas, the burguer lady raced out of the office, and Akihiro simply followed her. The fact that the village had been locked down made Akihiro feel a lot better- the cat would not escape as easily now. Well, as long as Hana could find Tats (and the way she walked out clearly indicated she knew exactly where to find it), Akihiro would just follow her. The two of them walked out of the office along with Hana's guards. He really didn't think they'd need this many people to assassinate Tats, but when in Rome be a roman so Akihiro just went along with it. As he stepped out, he'd signal Kimiko to follow them. The plan was in motion.

[Exit, following Hana]