Return of the King

Kaede arrived on the sandy beaches on one of the islands. He had changed his attire mid boat journey and was now back to something suitable for the tropical climate of the islands. A few people greeted him upon his arrival back. Kaede wasn't that surprised from the mediocre reception, after all the man had not been gone all that long. So the man took the long walk back to his office. If of course nothing were to prevent him the man would simply enter his office and sit back in his chair, his control over the village resuming as if he had never left.

Naoki was in an office. Not the office, but there was more than one. No, he was actually one floor below, in the Intelligence Division, overseeing exchange of certain bits of information, when he heard the news. The room he was in was fairly big, quite a few work places, some people and a lot of paper, some still some moving around, being handed from one desk to another, some being flown around with chakra. Well, all of a sudden some random guy would enter the room and shout that the village leader Kaede has returned. Obviously this was big news, in a considerably small village like Shimagakure. And as the one left in charge while the Uzumaki was away, Naoki decided it being his personal responsibility to confirm his return and hand back the village. Also report what little has transpired while the leader was away.

So, quickly finishing the work he was doing the Jounin would head to the stairs where he would make his way to the next floor and to the leader office. At the door he would stop, the chakra inside was certainly Kaede's. Opening the door Jounin would step inside, into the office which has seen no change after the Uzumaki's departure. Naoki understood his place as a temporary leader and did not do anything that would indicate him being in charge, nor did he do any changes in the village. Softly closing the door behind he would be silent for a moment. "Welcome back. How was the trip?" he would finally ask.

Kaede had only been sat down for about two minutes when the door to his office opened. The man refrained from letting out an irritated sigh. He'd only been back an hour at most and already he had work to do. Of course those thoughts ended when the man noticed who it was that had entered his office. He lazily waved to Naoki as he entered the office while leaning back in his chair. He listened as the man greeted him and then asked him about his trip. "Uneventful for the most part." Kaede replied, letting his feet come up to rest on his desk. "I'll probably head out again at a later date." He glanced to the Uchiha from under his shades and paused for a moment before speaking, "So how did things go here?"

Hearing that Kaede will likely head out again in the near future conjured mixed feelings in the Jounin. He preferred to have someone stronger looking out for him and the village, someone he respected. At the same time, it meant he would be left to run the show again, and while being only a substitute did not grant as many perks as one might think, he enjoyed the feeling of running a village, of going through all that information in the intelligence office, it was perfect for his skill set. So, to that part he would simply reply with "I see." Then after a moment, when asked of how were things here he would start his report. "Nothing really major happened in the village, while you were gone. They opened up new bar on the far southern isle, near the beach. An underwater cave collapsed during its exploration a couple weeks ago, nobody got hurt though." He would on purpose miss the detail that it was him and Sanada responsible for the collapse, more the Chuunin really, but he did not want to pin the blame on the man he has grown to admire so he made a positive spin on it. In contrast to... "Ah, a couple people got eaten by sharks that have found their way into the inner bay of the village, but that has been taken care of. One of the sharks was eaten by the victims' brother. Crazy stuff. Oh and finally, there was a letter from someone named Arcanis Hedatari." Naoki was prepared with this, so he had copies of the letters with him, which he would now place on the leader's desk in front of him. "He asked for permission to gain entry into the village, I requested additional information about him, which revealed that he is a Chuunin from Iwagakure and wants to offer us some sort of business proposition." For now the Uchiha would let information sink in, as he had a bit more to add on the Chuunin.

Kaede was polite enough to remain silent as Naoki recounted all that happened over the time of his absence. He frowned at both the news of the cave collapse and also the news of the sharks. Closing his eyes the man took a moment to let the news sink in. It was always sad to learn of the deaths of villagers. He grabbed a pen and scribbled something down onto a sheet of paper. It was a small message to himself. It was a reminder for him to go and visit the victims family at some point in order to offer his condolences. Kaede opened his eyes once more when Naoki continued, mentioning something about a letter. A Chuunin from Iwagakure? Kaede took a moment to try and remember the name. "A business proposition? I hate dealing with businessmen, it's always a pain." Taking off his glasses he rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Did he say when he would be arriving?"

"He did not provide a specific date or time. Everything is in the letters through" The Jounin would gesture to the papers he put on the leader's desk. "When he replied with enough information I agreed to grant him the passage and safety, provided he submits to our security standards, search and is unarmed..." the man wanted to add more to this case, but he really didn't know what to say, as they had not received any update on the situation and their relationship with Iwagakure was pretty much non-existent to the point of not even knowing who the hell was leading the village, which was crazy as it is only natural to know such details about the neighboring countries, especially since they were ninjas, the masters of stealth. "Honestly I had expected to hear from him by now." After this there did not seem to be things to speak of at the time, so the Jounin would excuse himself and if allowed, take his leave. On his way out he would say "It's good to have you back, sir"

Kaede nodded as Naoki answered him. It seemed the conversation was over after the talk about the Chuunin, as Naoki excused himself moments later. The parting words brought a smile to his face. "It's good to be back." After Naoki had left he would lean back in his chair, his eyes roaming to the ceiling. Perhaps he would stay for a bit longer than he had originally planned to.

[Topic Closed]