The Crossing

Navi's walking manifestation of chakra came to be only a few miles outside of the summit. A couple of ANBU agents had ensured his safety thus far, but before he entered the meeting they would likely have to wait outside the borders until he returned. At present two ANBU operatives were on either side of his form, the Hokage's features hardening as he came to see the meeting place far in the distance.

Shinji had to face it sometime: he was lost. He had been on his way to the kage summit, but alas he was not really listening when the elders gave directions to the land of iron. Furthermore he had made the rather foolish mistake of taking only his intrepid and rather good looking anbu Cat who really had no better sense of direction than he did though she was willing to carry the lumpy sack that contained the segmented body of one named Sameonna Hoshigaki, so it was not all bad. Supposedly Xyxer and Kenchi would be coming at some point, but Shinji did not have patience for their dawdling, thus he had left without them-some exercise would do them some good. On the bright side he still had one last bottle of orange soda in his hand and the weather was not too bad-a bit of clouds here and there, but all in all not bad.

Giving up any real hope of orienting himself Shinji was now on the lookout for someone who looked like they knew their way around. Luckily in the distance he spotted a few figures. Hoping for the best he picked up the pace with Cat trailing behind him by a bit as she strained slightly under the weight of the body. Shinji would be coming up from behind the figures he saw: one man flanked by two others. Without a care in the world he called out to them in his normal sleepy voice as he still walked slowly closer to them in a rather nonthreatening manner: "Hey, could you lot help me with some directions? I seem to have gotten a bit lost." After yelling this he took a long swig of the orange soda and let it bubble down his throat with a satisfying fizz. Hopefully these people were not too jumpy. For some reason people seemed paranoid when crossing the borders. Hopefully the Tenkage hat and insignia Shinji wore would ward off most petty bandits.

Navi turned around to see the approach of the Tenkage and a single ANBU operative holding a large sack. Upon perceiving their approach he smiled, raising his finger to point at a stone building far off in the distance. It would only take a few more miles of travel, but the thick undergrowth often impeded progress to the central meeting place within the Land of Iron.

"As long as you keep heading in this direction, you'll come across it."

The Hokage's dojutsu eyes flickered on with a dim red flash, the man scanning the Tenkage and the girl accompanying him. It was fortunate that they had crossed paths with one another, as it seems that he could take care of a bit of business before the summit even started. With his unique eyes the man can see within the bag, realizing that it contains the remains of Sameonna Hoshigaki.

"I believe you're in possession of a bit of my property," he says, gesturing towards the large sack that the girl was carrying with a slight grin.

Realizing that he has gotten a bit ahead of himself, he pauses to more formally introduce himself.

"I am Navi of the Leaf Village, it is a pleasure to meet you." He extends his right hand respectfully to offer a handshake, the two guards still flanking close beside him.

Shinji smiled a sleepy smile upon being given directions on where to go-there was no doubt he would have been wandering around for quite a while had he not happened upon this other group. Perhaps this meeting was an omen for things to come? Then again Shinji did not put much stock in omens or prediction, so he discounted the idea and decided to make the most of the situation as he approached Navi.

Upon Navi mentioning his "property" Shinji merely jerked his head in a pseudo nod to Cat. Cat promptly stepped forward stood next to Shinji with the bag over her shoulder. Maybe it was first impressions, but Shinji rather liked how the Hokage got right to the point-none of the unneeded political gobble de gook that Shinji so despised. Alas it seemed that was not to last as now came the all important introductions.

As it turned out the man's name was Navi-for some reason that rang a vague bell, but Shinji disregarded it. Instead he accepted the Hokage's handshake with a firm grip-he did not try to be domineering nor too pliant as Shinji knew some people judged others by their handshake, which was odd. Once Navi finished his introduction Shinji made his own: "Well it is nice to meet you Navi. I am Shinji from the Skyscraper village....Now, as for your property...lets say it got a bit damaged in the process of acquiring it, but, it is as you said, all yours." At this point Cat would step forward and place the bag on the ground to the right of Shinji as a prompt for the Hokage or one of his anbu to repossess the body-she figured it was not the best idea to simply hand the Hokage a dead body, so hopefully placing it on the ground would do. Meanwhile Shinji hoped that Navi would not mind that Sameonna had been sliced into three pieces, which is what he would find were he to look in the sack.

{Whats inside the body bag #1:
-Sameonna Hoshigaki's trisected up body
-Her sharingan
-Zaku's air tubes
-Leaf Village Under and Over armor
-And drum roll please...........a fresh pair of previously worn contact lens, which can be found in Sameonna's eyes}

Upon grabbing the Tenkage's hand for the handshake, Navi's index finger would apply a slight burst of chakra to the man's wrist. The action would create a small seal the size of a dot, the jutsu allowing a plethora of abilities, chiefly the ability for the two men to talk from anywhere in the world. The Hokage's withdraws his hand after the greeting, secretly relieved to get such pleasantries over and done with.

"That will allow us to communicate telepathically, now we don't have to talk with crows anymore," he says with a soft laugh, eyeing the bag and noticing the damage inflicted upon the corpse.

With a simple gesture to one of his ANBU guards the man on Navi's left picks up the bag. After a peek inside he closes the sack and walks over to the Hokage, whispering briefly into his ear. Navi blinks a couple times with confusion before his gaze falls to Shinji.

"May I inquire as to where this ANBU operative's military equipment is? I would hope that it hasn't been relocated to Tengakure for personal use." He speaks with some level of irritation, unsure if the Tenkage had really stolen the equipment for himself, or if this was some sort of misunderstanding.

Shinji listened to the Hokage as he described what the dot on his arm did. Wanting to inspect it further after pulling away from the handshake he brought it closer to his one blue eye with interest. How interesting that such a feat could be achieved with naught, but this simple seal. It kind of made Shinji feel guilty as Navi's fuinjutsu skills showed up his own and he was an Uzumaki who were supposed to be the seal experts. Mentally taking note of his shortcoming and resolving to fix it he lowered his hand to his side and watched as the anbu investigated the contents of the bag.

Then came the question that Shinji was rather expecting and dreading: what had happened to the anbu gear that Sameonna had-or rather piece of gear. He did not want to particularly tell Navi that after being punched and thrown into the ground by someone he called a friend and then watched through blurry vision as the same friend removed the gauntlets and went off-yeah that was Xyxer....a real friend. Granted Shinji had allowed it to happen, because he knew Xyxer had just seen a friend and mentor cut down in front of him by another friend-it was not worth fighting a grieving man. Naturally that was a rather embarrassing story that Shinji did not really want to impart, but figured it was for the better to be truthful: "Thats a reasonable question. The only gear she had on her were a pair of anbu gauntlets. And, no, I personally do not use them." To prove this Shinji held up his arm to reveal the power bracers he wore and then continued. "As for the person who is now in possession of them I doubt he is using them either...Rather he is probably holding on to them for sentimental reasons...that crumpled body in that bag over there was his former sensei and companion at a point in time. I personally do not begrudge him for it as losing anyone close to you is hard, but if you truly wish for them back I can get them for you in an instant and without unnecessary delay." Shinji would indeed get them back if need be as he did not want to have any bad blood between the Leaf village and the Skyscraper village-there was already too much. Waiting for a response Shinji raised his left hand with orange soda in hand and took another gulp-not the most formal thing, but he was thirsty.

The Hokage's cold eyes stare at Shinji for a few moments, an ominous silence passing before he emits a light sigh. "Very well."

Tension between Tengakure and Konoha had been high for a long time, and Navi had no desire to further hurt the relations between both nations. He turns to the ANBU holding the bag, nodding once before the subordinate vanishes, departing back for the village with the body and all included belongings.

After turning back to Shinji, Navi puts his hands in his pockets and stretches slightly.
"Thank you for your help in this matter, I look forward to meeting you at the summit."

Should there be no more business between the two Kage, Navi and the remaining ANBU escort depart for the meeting place.

[Navi Exit]

Shinji's lazy gaze did not falter once as he felt he had done right thing in telling Navi the truth as opposed to thinking of some excuse. Luckily Navi did not ask for further action on Shinji's part as Shinji was not really in the mood to separate Xyxer from those bracers as it would simply be a bother. Nodding slightly to Navi's thanks and in turn farewell Shinji himself turned to Cat and instructed her to go find Kenchi and Xyxer as they were no where to be seen yet the summit was now within sight. With that order Cat blurred off to go find the two lazy anbu. Shinji, in the mean time, continued at his meandering pace towards the ever nearing kage summit stopping every now and agin to take a small sip of orange soda. He was content with the fact that he had finished off the nasty job of putting down a missing ninja-missing ninja always seemed to go back to the village they came from...one way or another.

{Exit and topic closed.}