The Village People{Open to Leaf village ninja, nk}

Yes, stubborn as well, then again it could not be held against the boy, Shinji was, after all, a stranger and on top of that a foreigner in these lands. As such, the Uzumaki simply lazily shrugged his shoulders at the kid's response. It was readily clear now that the boy had very little interest or want to talk about himself-Shinji was fairly certain if he continued down this path he would get vague answers and roundabout avoidance. Thus, the Uzumaki elected to shift the topic of conversation to something more light and perhaps less personal, which he started after his dismissive shrug, " Fair enough, people are entitled to their privacy." At this point he unfolded his arms and, with his right hand, vaguely motioned behind him at the bulk of Konoha as he continued speaking, "So, I passed by a few restaurants on the way here, are they any you would suggest? If it isn't obvious I only recently arrived in Konoha and don't yet have a very good feel for the place just yet." After motioning to the village Shinji's hands fell to his sides and found a place in their respective pockets thereby making the man look much more at ease than he had been before.

Naturally Shinji had noticed the slight change of expression on the boy's face early, but he acted like he had not noticed it in the least. Of course the main curiosity that flooded the former kage's mind was a simple one: what had caused such a reaction from such a stoic boy. To his knowledge Shinji had never met the boy before so he discounted the fact that he knew him, perhaps he looked like someone the boy knew? Other than that the only real defining feature of Shinji's face were his two oddly colored eyes, he had no scars or any disfigurements of note. Honestly the whole thing was rather perplexing as the older man could not place his finger on the catalyst for the reaction, perhaps he would never truly know.

Light laughter followed the boy's quick stream of questions, it had been so much of a one sided conversation up to this point and now this? All the same the Uzumaki brought his laughter under control and took a more light tone as he responded to the boy, "Have you ever considered aspiring to become an anbu? You'd make quite the interrogator." Laughing at his own humor, Shinji calmed himself once again and dropped his tone into a more business like form, "All jokes aside, my name is Shinji Uzumaki." This time Shinji paused for a very brief moment as if he were debating on continuing with the truth, but this was merely a pause, "I am the second Tenkage of Tengakure and as for why I am here, well  as you'd say I have my own reasons, but suffice to say I am here, because my village is in peril that I alone cannot face and I require the assistance of the Leaf village. How about you, whats your name?" Cocking his head slightly to the right the Uzumaki was rather curious as to what the younger boy thought. Sure, he could be seen as weak for being unable to handle his own village, but he did not care. Then again the boy could very well consider him a madman spewing nonsense. Either way it would be interesting to see how he responded.

Always with the avoidance, Shinji still did not know the boys name, shame really as he had been kind enough to tell him his name. All the same, the Uzumaki was more than willing to oblige the boy and his questions, perhaps he could set a few things straight, "Well, in a manner of speaking I guess I did lose control of it. I left to look into a major disturbance and returned to find myself branded as a traitor and deserter. Naturally this left me with the option of cutting through my own people who now saw me as a traitor or getting help. I do not intend to harm anyone in Tengakure, even with the help of the Leaf village as they have done nothing wrong." Pausing once again the Uzumaki reconsidered what he had said and laid out a caveat with an pinch of malice in his voice that came out more as disgust, "Well, I suppose that is not altogether true, there are two people I may have to eliminate, the two at the root of my village's corruption. Though I honestly hope that it does not come to bloodshed. One of them was once a dear friend...." The former kage trialed off, Xyxer had truly been his friend, but he had betrayed him and that was unacceptable. As for Takeo, well, Shinji did not know much about him, but figured him as an opportunist usurper.

Kenshin Uchiha, go figure. Shinji had met quite a few Uchiha in his time, hell, during his time as kage one Uchiha had come into his office and proceeded to have a heart attack, odd , but true. Thus, the Uzumaki added Kenshin to his list of Uchiha he knew. Though Shinji felt a bit guilty, which did not show, as in his right eye socket resided one of Kenshin's clansmen's eyes. All the same the older man returned Kenshin's smile and then responded to his inquiry, "Well, it is nice to meet you Kenshin. Now, those two I mentioned are the two who are currently in control of the village, so yes, they are to blame. As for if they attack me, well, they would be fools as it has the potential to spark, or rather re-spark, the conflict between the Tengakure and Konohagakure, which I can assure you is something Tengakure is not prepared for. Then again the two in charge may be insane, which could lead to problems...." Shinji proceeded to trial off once again, he sincerely hoped that he would not have to deal with two insane leaders. The insane were unpredictable and thus the worst type of people to negotiate with.

{Forgot to subtract my last 4 posts, -40 ap for Solace, 934-40 = 894 ap}

This was not the first time Shinji had heard this advice. Oddly enough he had heard it from another Uchiha, strange times. Though the boy's genuine want to think of a solution was admirable, he definitely had a future ahead of him if he applied himself. However, Shinji felt slightly bad, he did not want to put any unneeded weight on the boy's mind. Thus, he made an attempt to rid any worry from the boy's mind, "I have done just that. In fact, the Hokage was the first man I talked upon arriving here. We currently have a plan in motion, which if you forgive me I would not like to go in depth about." Hopefully Kenshin could respect the fact that Shinji wished to keep the exacts of the plan a secret as if things went as planned it would leave the Hokage away from Konoha, well, one of them at least. "Though, I don't want you to worry yourself about something I messed up....Also, if you could keep quiet about this for a while I would forever be in your debt." Perhaps Shinji had gone a bit overboard on that, but he said it all the same. Secrets in the shinobi world were valuable.

{Sorry, rather uninspired post. -10 ap for Solace---> 884 left}

Kenshin would nod slowly as Shinji spoke "I will respect your wishes" he said as he slowly brought his gaze back to the man, realizing the current topic had come to an end as all they could have talked about had already occured and trying to continue would be fruitless. Attempting to shift the conversation towards something else, Kenshin would speak quietly "Seeing how you were once the leader of a village, you must be a very powerful shinobi am I right?". Kenshin seemed to be interested in the mans level of strength as of now considering he had not battled somebody more powerful than him and learned anything valuable during combat in a long time. It would seem crazy to most other genin but Kenshin wished to try and test his strength if the man would allow it, he had always wanted to see a kage in action and now could quite possibly be his only chance to witness it first hand. The expression on his face changing to that of slight excitement as he waited for the obvious response he expected, and if he got it, a challenge would indeed be issued.
(Rather uninspired as well)