Shattering Expectations [P]

Kurisu Etai Ametsuchi, a young man who had risen to the rank of Raikage, rarely cared much for petty conversation and useless activities. Through immense training and sheer determination, he had proven himself worthy of the title of Raikage. Even with power to rely on, there was a political side to being Kage that proved to be just as important as having the power to defend a village. He had recently had a meeting with the Hokage that was similar to the meeting he was about to attempt and invoke. Few differences present themselves, but they had impact on the meeting itself. With talking to the Hokage, he lacked a sense of trust and still held immense anger towards Konohagakure but it was a Major Village. In this case, he held no prior convictions towards the person he was going to be meeting with nor held distaste for the village he was going to extend talk of peace and alliance towards. He was entering the Skyscraper Village, which was a place of mystery to him, heading to meet with a man that he had never met nor seen before. Speaking to the leader of a village was always tricky, there was a risk of talks breaking down and turning into something of violent nature, however; this was a minor village. It was not that he did not respect the village, but the fact that it was not among the Five Major Villages presented a less serious and dire situation in the event that violence erupted, at the very least there was a smaller population within the village. He was still at risk of getting attacked by the village leader and possibly dying, but there was almost no chance that he would be attacked by a large amount of village forces, such as the Konohagakure no Sato ANBU would do if the Hokage were attacked.

Stepping into the village confines he took notice to all of the scenery that the village held within it. Many tall standing structures were erected towards the sky at high levels, although; none reached the level of the clouds aside from one exceedingly tall structure that seemed to be centered within the village. Anyone could make the logical assumption that within the tail structure, the village leader was probably somewhere within near the top. He was a bit eccentric in his methods of entering rooms and in his methods of handling meetings themselves. Stepping through the village streets, he caught various looks from the villagers, his identity was made very clear with his bright yellow Raikage Hat strapped onto his head and his traditional Kage Robe adorned on his body, within the pockets on the inside of his Kage Robes he had brought various scrolls filled with important information. Approaching the entrance to the superbly elevated tower at the center of the village, it was just as clear as his identity that the rumors of his eccentric manner of entering buildings was well known, a few people standing at the front of the entrance seemed to be understanding of the fact that he would not be there if he did not have important business to discuss, and if he was looking to attack then it would have happened by now; those few people pushed the door wide open in order to encourage him to use the door. “I do not wish to start a war, I am here to discuss peace.” He said casually as he walked off to the right side of the open door, his right hand extended forward, he impacted the glass-like panel that acted as a wall. It took only a second for the panel to be shatter into millions of tiny pieces from the impact of his right hand which had been lightly layered in raiton based chakra for a couple seconds to make the shattering effect happen with relative ease. The action left the bystanders shaking their heads and some were in shock. It was true though, a Raikage never uses a door ever.

Making his way through the lobby area, he became a little more serious, his focus turning towards making his way to the top of the tower. He was still unsure of what he would be faced with when he made his way to the top, there was a chance that the village leader was not even located there, but it seemed logical to stay at the top of the highest standing structure in the center of the village. He refused to even acknowledge the strange elevator mechanism, making his way to the door that lend to the stairs, which he had no other choice than to take care of in his own manner. Charging up a larger amount of raiton chakra onto his right hand, he slammed his fingers into the door and tightened his grip within the structure of the door, then propelling his arm backwards he ripped the door of its hinges and tossed it to the side without much care. Taking the stairs was not a pleasant idea, but it was better than taking something slower and less reliable like the elevator apparatus, although taking an unknown amount of stairs could prove to be an annoyance. Raiton chakra ripped through the air around him, coming off his skin and infusing with his body; his hair spiked into the air and seemed to glow from the lightning crackling off his body. His speed and strength increased, and within seconds he was almost flying up the staircase, going at a speed that was comparable to that of the legendary Flying Thunder God technique. Reaching the top of the staircase in seconds, the lightning sparking off his flesh seemed to fade away into nothing as the technique was released, walking towards the leader of a village with lightning crackling off his skin would appear to be a threat of some sort and this was not that type of situation. Looking at the door before him he lifted his right foot into the air, figuring that he could probably just pay for the damages caused, he directed the flat surface of his foot that developed a nearly unseen layer of raiton chakra impacting the door with enough force to unhinge it and push it to the ground; there was not enough force put behind it to send it flying as he would rather not provoke a fight in the event of the door hitting someone. Stepping into the room he saw a man within the area that stood about twenty feet area from his own form.

“I’ll pay for all of that.” He said, not feeling the need to explain his unnatural urge to not use doors. He took a few steps forward, getting within fifteen feet of the opposing man in the room. “I’d like to have a discussion with you about some serious issues and the idea of peace.” He figured that there would be some irony in the air from his entrance and then mentioning the talk of peace, but it was just how he handled things and he was used to it. This meeting would prove vital to helping ensure the continued life of Kumogakure no Sato, and it might change the lives of other villages at the same time. He held certain expectations for this meeting, he had come a long way to make this happen and hoped that the leader would be willing to listen to him.

He stood upright as the man kicked in the door. Zachariah had been doing paperwork, and the wind off the falling door had managed to blow half of it off his table, which he had not been standing behind ever since someone called up yelling "RAIKAGE COMING UPSTAIRS! USING STAIRS! AVOID DOORS!" seeing as his desk was literally a straight line from the door. Zachariah had prepared to fight if the need be, what with steam already collected in the vents. However, he had held off, deciding to wait to hear what the person had to say. Zachariah stood there, legs spread apart, his hands in front of him. He was obviously prepared to defend himself. 

Then the raikage opens with an IOU. Zachariah's chest just fell. His upper body became a limp noodle as the tension just left his body. Then, forcing his body to respond, he stood straight up. His coat ruffles fell into position, and he straightened his tie. "Forgive the... Stance," he would say. His mouth curved into a smile larger on one side than the other. The larger side continuously twitched until he finished speaking this last sentence. Between tight lips and low teeth, he explained "I felt I needed to be ready if the guy who just broke into my office, literally, was attacking." With a deep breath, his mouth relaxed, and he could continue on as normal. "Now, Lord Raikage, if you would please to address me instead of the janitor, I would be much obliged." Zachariah would then walk back around to the desk where the janitor had been about to pass by as the door fell open. "Serious issues and peace? Is that not just serious issues? But continuing on," he would say, sitting down and gesturing for the raikage to take a seat opposite him, "what are these issues you mention, and why do you seek peace?" Zachariah could not truly trust the man, remembering what the late Taizen had told him. However, it had occurred to him more than once that people lie. So, had he? It would be Zachariah's task to find out such.

It had seemed that upon his rather unusual method of entrance, he nearly got himself into an unnecessary fight. To add to the situation’s turn of events, he had not even been addressing the leader of the village but rather a simple janitor. He did take notice of the stance that the man, who addressed him and was the one he wasn’t looking at until that point, noting that he probably would have been blindsided rather easily by what was most likely a powerful type of jutsu from his careless actions. He brushed aside the issue of him addressing the janitor and took focus on the village’s true leader. Apologies were rare with Kurisu, but he figured that for political reasoning and to defuse any lingering tension, at least for the most part, he should go ahead and provide one. “Well, I apologize for my entrance. Never saw the need in using a door.” Although it was not much of an apology it was still rather rare for him to even acknowledge the idea of apologizing for something.

The man had acknowledged his statement about discussing serious issues and the idea of peace, although he correctly grouped the idea of peace in with the serious issues. If the peace talks fell apart then there was no need to discuss other matters, it all seemed to hinge on whether or not they could reach a peace agreement and more so, become allies. “You are correct in considering the peace talk to be a serious issue,” he began to say as he sat down at the table across from the man, his hands resting on the table with a sudden urge to break the table hitting him, yet he resisted as that moment would happen later. “Before I get to the other issues, I suppose we need to discuss the relationship between our villages. When I took office as Raikage, during my readings about our relations with other villages, Skyscraper was listed as ‘neutral’ and I would like to discuss the possibility of creating an alliance. If you’re interested in the idea I can explain what the offer entitles in more detail.” He finished speaking, extending the option to more closely discuss their possible alliance. He wanted to make sure that the man was at least interested before explaining the things that Kumogakure would be willing to do for this village.

Flashback:
Zachariah stood in the basement of the central tower. He was in the medical wing, the mortuary to be precise. He released two seals from upon his scroll pack. From each body, he withdrew vials of blood. One vial from each body was then labeled and stored in a new seal, both together, and the bodies were resealed. Of of each vial was tested. The one for taizen turned up nothing special. The blood of the other, however, turned up as both Senju and Uchiha. Curiosity killed the cat, they say, and Zachariah tested a sample of the eye of this person. It turned up as pure Uchiha DNA, not matching that of person. That clinched it: these eyes were sharingan. The seals were all set, and the backpack brought back up to the top of the tower. 

Present:
Zachariah listened to the raikage speak. Peace intrigued him. He had nothing against the village, just the man sitting on front of him. However, his curiosity got the better of him. He would hear the raikage out. "Lord raikage, might I first introduce myself? I am Zachariah Zarakami Delamoure, hailing from the Suijouki clan, those who control steam. I am the leader of this village, as I am sure you now know. The idea of peace interests me. However, I cannot go in blind, nor allow you to go in blind. If you shall give me a moment," he said standing up, "I shall return with two things I think it wise you see before we continue." He moved the paperwork off his table, placing it on the floor directly under, and grabbed the pack beneath it all. Walking over TI the elevator, he pressed a button. "I would request you wait here, lest you feel the desire to hurl." the door open and Zachariah, with a hand seal, walked up the wall and onto the ceiling. He stood there, and pressed a button labeled "DROP". Before the doors even closed, the cord holding the elevator became loose. The elevator like device was in free fall. Under normal circumstances, the steam brakes would have kicked in at some point, preventing the rider from crashing. Zachariah, however, activated them prematurely, barely halfway down the tower, by forcing the steam into the brakes. The cord coiled around the top of the elevator for a moment, and then the engine picked up the slack and started pulling it up again. Zachariah places the pack on the ground and removed the seals for the two bodies, each of which were Kumo ninja. Once the cord was no longer slack, he altered the flow of steam inside the building to raise the elevator in which he stood. No more than three minutes passed before Zachariah returned to the Raikage, two bodies draped over his shoulders. He walked into the office. "These are what I wished you to see," he said, gently laying them on the floor. "This one," Zachariah said pointing at Taizen, "Was found dead in Konoha forests carrying weapons in his hand. In his pocket was found a note describing his purpose: 'Sent to kill Konoha elders. Raikage orders.' Unless we are mistaken, he is a Kumogakure ninja, as is the other. From what we can see, it seems this man was going to kill the elders at about the same time you had discussions with the Hokage. And this one," he said, pointing at the dead body of Itsuka, "is interesting. He dropped dead after a massive bar fight of what we assume was a natural heart attack. No poisons were found in his system. I have been informed that doctors tried to revive him but did not meet with success. We would have transported him back to your village for a memorial service, had we not tested him first. His DNA was reported as both Senju and Uchiha. Testing his eyes, they were purely Uchiha, and did not match the rest of his DNA. We are left to assume that he took the eyes of another shinobi and made them his own. This is a highly suspicious action, and we thought it in our best interest to hold onto the body. Seeing as you came to us, however, I saw it fit to reveal the body." Zachariah stepped back to allow the raikage to explore the bodies if he so desired. "So, now that I have revealed our entire hand, would you care to lay down yours?"

He sat there in his seat with no movement for a moment, listening to what the leader had to offer, although formalities were still in order. He felt somewhat naïve for not handling the greetings in the first place, after all it was necessary to know each other’s names. He learned that the man was Zachariah Zarakami Delamoure, hailing from the Suijouki clan, those who control steam. “I appreciate the greeting; I let that slip my mind due to my hasty urge to deal with this meeting, sorry. I am Kurisu Etai Ametsuchi of the Ametsuchi Clan that uses the Kenseigan Doujutsu.” He felt no need to neither explain his doujutsu at this moment nor activate it as to avoid causing any lingering tension over his eccentric entrance to spark up some unnecessary violence.

With the formalities out of the way, it was time to get to business. It seemed that Zachariah had some surprise in store for the Raikage, considering he talked about neither of them going into the peaceful discussion blind to certain facts. He would never have guessed the type of surprise that Zachariah had in store for him when he moved from the table and in a matter of minutes, two bodies were revealed before him. Rage coursed through his veins for a moment, his right hand instantaneously covering in a nearly unseen layer of lightning and rising into the air. He slammed his right fist down onto the table, smashing the center part of the table and breaking a dent into that was blown into tiny pieces and the rest of the table collapsing in towards the crater his hand had left, this had come to be referred to as his trademark tablepalm. Instead of yelling out and asking the man where he had gotten those dead bodies, he listened to the detailed explanation that was provided. It was the body of Taizen that he had sent to Konohagakure during his time meeting the Hokage, someone who had wondered about and assumed the worse which had just been revealed to be true. The other man was more of a mystery, he did not know Itsuka Senju very well, but they had developed trust and he had granted the man ANBU Captain Status, while acknowledging the man as a Sannin of Kumogakure no Sato. Upon hearing the news about the fact that Taizen had a note saying he was supposed to kill the elders and that Itsuka seemed to have Uchiha DNA and pure Uchiha Sharingan eyes, he was in shock from the news and knew he had some typing of explaining to do.

“That first one, Taizen, I did in fact send him on a classified S-Rank Mission. Seeing as we will hopefully become allies I shall be honest. I told him to go infiltrate Konohagakure without being noticed and to gain a meeting with the Elders and to find out if they intended to plan another attack on a village and continue being incredibly corrupt and then report to me with the details. I assume he felt compelled to kill them depending on the information, which is not what I wanted.” He sighed finishing his first explanation, he knew he had told Taizen to kill the elders if things went bad, but that was not the true intention of the mission itself, there was no need to discuss that. “As for that other one, Itsuka Senju, I did not know the man on a personal level but we had developed a level of trust. He was my ANBU captain and considered a Sannin of Kumogakure. The Uchiha DNA I did not know about, in a strange way I am sort of glad this happened, it seems suspicious to me as well. I should have paid more attention as his actions coupled with that new knowledge make me wonder if he had malicious intentions for Kumogakure no Sato. I appreciate you showing me these bodies, there is no need for me to examine them, I trust your words and I will allow you to hold onto the bodies.” He finished explaining what he knew of the people presented, and allowed Zachariah to keep the bodies in order to avoid conflict and to extend the branch of peace more easily. Now it was his turn to provide some information.

“I suppose we shall discuss peace last, you are wise in wanting to clear the air.” He said, providing a rare compliment, but it was true as he was unwise due to his young age and this leader seemed to be more knowledgeable and wise in discussing things. He reached into his pockets and pulled out four different scrolls that he had tied together with some simple rope. He casually tossed the ‘pack’ of scrolls over towards Zachariah. “Provided in two of those scrolls is a list of all missing and unaccounted for shinobi of both Konohagakure no Sato in one scroll and Kumogakure no Sato in a scroll. I figure those will be useful in preventing dangerous shinobi from infiltrating your village. Provided in one of the scrolls is all detailed information we have the attacks from Konohagakure against Kumogakure, which contains many details of corrupted actions by that village, namely the near entire destruction of my clan and the near destruction of Kumogakure by the hands of the previous Hokage under the probable orders of the current elders.” He paused for a moment, knowing that was mainly the only serious issue he wanted to talk about. “In that final scroll is something I personally wrote which adds to the detail from the scroll discussing the attacks by Konohagakure. I personally complied all the reasons that Konohagakure is still corrupt, namely within that scroll is certain issues such as the fact that one of the members of the group of shinobi that attacked Konohagakure no Sato is now an ANBU member. I feel as though there is an outside chance that Konohagakure was bold enough to have their village attacked to gain pity and get a new leader in place. I do not trust that village with its current leaders in place and I fully believe they are planning more malicious actions that will only lead to more death and bloodshed.” He finished explaining the partial details of the final scroll, figuring it would be better if Zachariah read the rest of it by himself to make his own judgments. He knew there would be a little more discussion into the matter but he felt compelled to add one final statement. “I look at Viper Uchiha, the Hokage, as a type of friend. He is more of a rival to me, but I find it hard to think about the idea of killing him. I hate Konohagakure and feel it needs to be dealt with, but I don’t know if my personal bias will allow me to act correctly. This is part of the reason I came here.” He finished speaking for now, now he waited to see how Zachariah would respond to the Intel he had provided.

The raikage introduced himself as Kurisu Etai Ametsuchi of the Ametsuchi Clan that uses the Kenseigan Doujutsu. Zachariah considered asking what this Doujutsu was, how it worked, but he thought better of it. That was a question for another place, another time. 

Zachariah had returned with the bodies, and watched as his antique oak desk was broken in half. He had half a mind to yell out how that had literally been put inside this building before it was even done. However, he could understand the anger. If Zachariah had been shown the bodies of two ninja, or citizens in general, of his own village, he would have flipped. Even that, however, had not prevented him from mentally reconnecting with the steam waiting in the vents, and preparing to disappear into a world of holograms, where time was an illusion, and food and water an unneeded luxury. Zachariah had personalized the office. No one knew why Zachariah had decorated the room as such, but it looked nice, so no one truly cared. Every ten feet or so along the center circular wall, there sat a paper lantern. Just as often, hanging from the window of this sky high room, there were more. They were Zachariah's footholds to reality. He had even hidden smaller ones in places no one would think to look, such as under floorboards and in the ceiling. 

To find that Taizen had been sent not to kill, but to examine, relieved Zachariah. This whole time, he had been worrying whether he should have called in more guards to the important people of his village. Zachariah considered commenting on the. We information, on how he had considered doing exactly the same, but decided against it. He would wait until the raikage had finished. 

The words on Itsuka were even more startling. Not just anbu, but head anbu. Not just head anbu, but sannin. To just drop dead of a heart attack was astounding. And even more so, the raikage had not known of anything Uchiha related that dealt with this person. Zachariah grew the same suspicion that Kurisu did. On the note of keeping the bodies, Zachariah would reply "I see no reason for us to keep the bodies at this moment. If you decide to leave them, I make no promise as to their sanctity." 

That led them to the scrolls. Two were the lists of ninja whose whereabouts were unaccounted for, be they rogue or otherwise, from both Konohagskure and Kumogakure. Them came the next two. They would contain all that would be needed to convince the village of skyscrapers to declare war, he was sure. He decided to once again take a seat behind his desk. 

"I have no outlook on Viper as a person. I have only considered him as a hokage, the leader of Konoha. However, even as such, destroying a major village is a massive undertaking. I do not know if I alone could handle such a situation, without unneeded death. I also know of no one in my village who I would want to send into the battle. I hope you shall consider joining me, and that we agree upon leaving those who choose to flee alone. However, Konoha has shown in the past how it is able to come back from even the worst of tragedies. I think it best if Konoha be replaced. Seeing as you already hold position over one of the five main villages, I hope you would allow me to build on the land, and maybe even take over the position of the big five that Konoha once held."

He figured that he might have reacted a little harshly in his action of destroying the wooden desk that his arms had been resting on, but the ecstatic feeling of breaking the structure under the force of his powerful hand was just too much. Regardless, he knew that the desk was going to add to the cost of ryo he was going to have to pay Zachariah at the end of this meeting, which appeared to be coming to an end rather soon.

“I have a few things that I would like to go do before I consider returning to Kumogakure. I’ll leave the bodies here for now, but I will be returning for them after I am done, if you are okay with that that is.” He replied to the statement about being allowed to keep the bodies. He still had some other people to meet with first and there was still doubt about whether or not he’d even want to remain as Raikage much longer, but there were still things that needed to be dealt with before he could consider leaving the position. He needed to set aside personal issues and act as a leader to try and create as much peace as he could before he attempted to walk away from the position.

He listened closely to the last thing that Zachariah told him, the parts about how he only saw Viper Uchiha as the hokage and thus leader of Konohagakure no Sato, and the parts about wanting to team up together to attack Konohagakure no Sato. One thing that did strike him as interesting was the idea of replacing Konohagakure no Sato and completely removing it. If there was anything that could be done to prevent Konohagakure from ever committing its crimes again, then replacing the village would be the best plan of action. “I would still like to see Viper be given the benefit of the doubt as he has had no chance to do anything wrong nor right. I am tempted to say yes to helping you destroy Konohagakure, but I would like to speak to Konohagakure first. I will not say anything nor even hint to anything about a possible attack against them, but I would like the chance to see where Viper stands and see if the corruption has infected him. One thing I will purpose to Viper is that he steps down from Hokage if I feel Konohagakure cannot change.” He began explaining his plan to try and create a more peaceful solution, yet there was basically no peaceful option. “All I really want is a chance to offer Viper a chance to live, I will not tell him his life is in danger, but if he is willing to walk away from Hokage position and leave behind the corruption in Konohagakure then there is no reason to hunt him down. If he chooses to stay and support the corruption of Konohagakure, then he shall be put down. I would fully support you taking over one of the Five Major Villages and being called a true Kage. Allow me to go speak with Viper while keeping your war plans secret and I shall return immediately afterwards to discuss war plans. I will help you destroy Konohagakure regardless of the situation, but first I want to try and see if Viper is corrupt.” He finished making his point hopefully clear. He would not say anything to Viper about a possible attack, but he felt the need to see if his rival could be saved from the corruption. “I suppose we can deal with the peace talk after I return. Are we in agreement to finish this discussion later?” he questioned, prepared to leave the area. He needed to get his other talks over with before he committed to battling in a war.

This is what happens when a man is determined. 

"I see where you are going with Viper. I understand your logic, and must consent to agree to you. However, I cannot agree with your plan to wait and talk. The longer it is put on hold, the more likely it is that the corrupt system will place its seed in his mind. Three days has the new year been upon us. The fifteenth day of this month marks the paper lantern festival. That day is fast approaching. I doubt you can accomplish all you wish to so quickly. On that date, I mount an attack, regardless of if you join me or not. The festivities shall place most civilians outside the village, and will provide for a minimum of unneeded deaths." Zachariah would not reveal his other reason for choosing this date, but it may become apparent upon the day of reckoning. "If Viper chooses to run, he shall feel my wrath, for he would abandon his village. Should he fight, I shall do my best to simply neutralize him. You have until the fifteenth to decide your own actions. Until we next meet, raikage sama." Zachariah walked to the windows, his back to the raikage. The clouds were tall this day. Dark and ominous ones. Lightning would come soon, and the room would be shuttered. No more than a few inches outside was visible. This left the mirror a near perfect shadow. "You lead the village hidden in the clouds. On a clear day, I can see you from here. An interesting thought, is it not?" The first bolt would come, curving across the glass just four floors under. Zachariah's body would be framed by an intense light, becoming no more than a shadow while his substance would leave this realm in a puff of smoke. The shadow grew with the smoke, and would capture the entirety of the space the raikage once occupied. 

There was nothing he could to deny the logic behind Zachariah's logic and reasoning for not wanting to wait around and try to talk things out. If there was going to be any attack and hope of victory then action had to be taken as soon as it could be taken without being careless. Waiting too long to take action could create a situation where doubt seeped into a person's mind. He knew that he needed to make his plans and take action of his own. Who would he help? Zachariah, a man he barely knew yet seemed to speak truthly and with great wisdom? Or the young man Viper Uchiha who he considered to nearly be a friend but was the leader of one of the most corrupted villages in the Shinobi world? Time would tell where his alliances stood, but he knew he needed to make a decision and he needed to be ready to fight when the day arrived. A change of his mind caused him to want to take the body of Itsuka Senju with him. "Alright, the date set is fine with me. I shall be ready come that day, there is a chance I won't even go speak with anyone else and simply focus on considering my options and possible decision. For now I will leave Taizen's body here, but I will go ahead and take Itsuka Senju with me." he said, walking over to the dead bodies and lifting up the dead body of Itsuka Senju and resting it over his shoulder.

There was no need to respond to the final statement, he didn't care if his village could be seen on a clear day from this village, this village was made of delicate materials as proven by his easy entrance. Giving a small cough from the smoke, he headed back to the stairs and made his exit from the area, going all the way down the stairs and back out the building and heading out of the village to places unknown. [Exit from Topic]