To A New World

Anzo Aburame had sent word to Ayame Senju through carrier pigeon, being particularly tactful with his wording and carefully diplomatic in his verbage. The last thing he'd ever want would be to have the leader of the Senju, one of the three most powerful clans in Konoha to feel that the leader of the rather more lowly Aburame was being disrespectful. Particularly when he was asking for something that would likely cause Ayame a great deal of distrust and likely disgust for him, but he had heard that one of very few ways to attain some of the power that the Tsuchikage seemed to have would be through the Senju themselves, and likely only the Senju could replicate it. It was apparently a rumored capability that the Senju possessed, and it took a lot of digging through ancient texts to find even that small rumor, countless hours poring over the library to try and find out how Diana had managed to escape Konoha without raising any alarms. To that end he penned a letter, careful to avoid giving too much information; messages can be intercepted, after all.

"Ayame Senju, esteemed leader of the Senju clan, I write to you with a desire for a meeting. However, I should like to keep our discussions more discreet, for this reason I would like to request our meeting take place in Senju Park in a week around noon for an arrangement that I hope will be in your favor and mine.

With kind regards,
Anzo, Clan Leader of the Aburame"

He hoped that what he'd written was respectful and polite enough while also promising that this meeting would be worthwhile for the clan leader of the Senju, and he'd checked with a couple of other members of the Aburame clan, just to make sure. And so he'd sent it about a week ago.

Anzo stood inside Senju Park, having been let inside when he mentioned that he had written to request a meeting in Senju Park, and he stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his red jacket covering most of his body up to his nose, and his golden sunglasses glinting off the dappled sunlight that made its way through the leaves, using the tree for shade in this warm weather. Thankfully, the armor he'd received from Airi was also breathable, and with his back towards the entrance to the park closest to the clan leader's office, he was the picture of tranquility; he'd wanted this meeting to be maximally relaxed for the clan leader, as she would be the only person that would need any amount of convincing.

Ayame had been quite preoccupied with being the clan head of the Senju clan, and hadn't really seen much or done much with anyone outside of the clan for a while, so when the clan head of the Aburame had suggested a meeting, she'd taken it up without much pushback. She loved her clan, truly, but they could be real sticks in the mud about things, and just seeing somebody else would do her some amount of good. She'd had Peragus as a friend, but hadn't heard from him in a while, so she was starting to get worried. It was likely that he was on an extended mission or something of the sort, but she had no way to contact him.

She found Anzo resting against a tree in the park, and immediately she was put into a sense of ease. He seemed just like a normal person. The informal and relaxed nature comforted her. She knew some of the other clan leaders could be real sticklers for standing on ceremony, but in all truth, Ayame was just a normal girl herself. She hated all that backroom politic'ing and fake politeness that everyone always seemed to put on in political situations.

Anyone that had seen her might think that she only owned one outfit, and while that wasn't far off from the truth, Ayame just owned a lot of the same clothes. It was a matter of convenience for her to wear black sleeveless shirts, as she often turned her arms into trees and continually ripping her sleeves would have been a nightmare financially to always have to buy more clothes. Since she wasn't particularly worried about weather, sleeveless was always a good choice. Her pants were simply black leggings with some amount of stretch, and she wore a pair of combat boots. All in all: You've seen her once, you've seen her in almost all of her outfits.

"Oh thank the sage you're a chill person. Nice to meet you Anzo, I'm Ayame Senju, although you... probably already knew that... sorry, uh, I'm not sure how these things are supposed to go normally."

She went from having breathed a sigh of relief to chuckling a little nervously, holding a hand out for a shake.

"Is Anzo okay? Or should I say Lord Aburame? I don't know what you prefer. I'm just Ayame."

Anzo turns towards where he hears Ayame approaching, so that he's facing her instead when she speaks, and seeing her in such informal clothing, even he can give a little sigh of relief himself. As she approaches, he lifts one hand up to unbutton the first few buttons of the extended collar that was meant to hide the lower half of his face, in the traditional style of the Aburame. He'd decided to leave his gourd terrarium at home, since he didn't believe there would be any kind of fighting going on, and the sight of Senju wood used for another purpose might have potentially been a sticking point for any conversation. Once she's reached a distance near enough for a handshake, the collar is open enough that his face is visible, and he makes sure to pull up the sleeve of his right hand so he can lightly put his hand in hers, though his is far larger. Still, with the sleeve rolled up, it's easy to see that there are no Kikaichu making contact with her. While the gesture was usually ceremonial, it was done rather on reflex.

"Oh, Anzo is fine, Ayame! Sorry if the formality of the letter put you off, I just didn't want some scribe or messenger seeing it and thinking I was being contemptuous or something. That's a headache nobody wants."

Anzo lets out a pretty good laugh, but he stifles it quickly. He knew it was kind of weird to laugh at one's own jokes, but the request he was about to make was causing a bit of nerves. He gives her hand one quick and firm shake. While he knew who she was, he wasn't about to say anything about it. It was normal to greet someone with your name no matter how famous you might be.

"In any case, the Aburame clan leader work is stuffy for me, too, so we might as well take our time discussing what I had in mind. And there's not really a way to say this that isn't kinda awkward, so I might as well come out with it. I'm going on a very dangerous mission soon, I think. And our target, we believe, has access to a technique that I could only find rumors of, a technique that is rare even among the rare Senju that can use Wood Release. So..."

Anzo has to sigh a little. He knows it won't be easy to convince Ayame, especially with how secretive and protective his own clan is, and he decides to lay out his request flat out.

"Obviously I'm not asking for a transplant from the Senju clan for free. My offer would be for the Senju in question to receive training in highly powerful techniques taught to me by the legendary Peragus Hyuuga himself. The Senju will also be receiving an organ replacement, so that there will be absolutely no harm to whoever the donor is... It'd be nice if the Senju in question is strong, because the target I'm going after is also very powerful."

Anzo's face has become heavily serious as he speaks, but he lightens up again quickly, not wanting to drag her mood down.

"Shoot, an organ from yourself would practically be overkill, but it would be impossible for me to say no."