Do ANBU Get Overtime Pay?(P, NK)

In the cold morning chill, Haru Hyuuga slowly opened his eyes, having nodded off for a moment. He had decided it best not to return home, lest Xyxer send another of his friends after him in his sleep. His family was too dear to him for him to put them in danger like that, even though he was confident his grandfather could handle anybody short of Takeo or the Mizukage himself. There were too many variables, and Haru didn’t like it. It was strange to feel like at any moment, in his home village, he could be attacked.

He wasn’t worried for himself, of course. He was growing very tired of all these tests, but they weren’t something that he feared. Mostly he simply did not know how this new Kage would act, and did not want to take chances with his family.

Looking around the place Haru had drifted off, a bench in the middle of a park in the village. While one might say it wasn’t very subtle to sleep in the open when expecting hostilities, Haru knew they would find him anyways, and he had essentially gone two days without sleep. Even still, he slept lightly, awakening every few minutes to scan his surroundings.

When daylight finally returned, Haru decided to make his way to the Mizukage’s office. He figured they might need to have a word or two.

He found himself there in but a few moments, moving quietly through the streets, hands in his pockets. He was technically still on vacation, so he was off duty, so there was no need for him to keep his cover. He strolled into the Mizukage’s office building, exchanging casual greetings with the secretary that had replaced him, noting a few bruises on her face and sighing, glancing over at the other two ANBU, the ones who never really spoke to him and sort of did their own thing.

Standing before the Mizukage’s door now, Haru would note that writing a post about visiting the Mizukage was really annoying because he’s obligated to knock on the door. Shrugging, he would do just that, eager to get this topic hurried along.

Naturally, one of the two ANBU stationed within the room threw open the door that Haru had knocked on, allowing for him to walk in. Xyxer remained awake in his throne, rather incapable of sleeping as of late. As a result, his face had developed to become more gaunt, a ravenous hunger within his eyes but he desired he did not entirely know himself. Once the ANBU had entered, the other two closed the door. If he was to pay any attention to him, they'd notably be Wraith and Jester, the two ANBU favoured by Xyxer for his personal, and village, protection. Of course, Haru was most likely the most familiar with them than anyone else who had entered the room, although they had momentarily been segregated during their training before falling in line with Haru's lot again. His puppies fast asleep attached to chains on the wall, the male simply raised his eyes from the desk to the white haired male. He was quite upset he was not dead from the attempt really, it said a bunch about friendship. "What do you need?"

Haru looked around the office, noting Wraith and Jester, the two other active ANBU that Haru had the pleasure of dealing with. Wraith was fine, but Jester? Well, they didn’t call him “Jester the Molester” because he was fun to be around. He nodded silently at his comrades, stepping into the office. He noticed Xyxer’s dogs, chained to the wall, which Haru had never noticed before. He didn’t really see the Mizukage as a dog person, but hey, to each their own.

Bowing respectfully to the Mizukage, who appeared rather… feral… today, Haru answered promptly. He did not appear fearful or intimidated by the Mizukage, after all, showing an enemy fear was bad enough, but showing an ally fear was a thousand times worse. He simply remained casual and respectful of his village leader and commanding officer.

”Well, I never reported back in officially after returning. The whole fiasco with Altar made sure of that.” He said, his voice not showing his true feelings about the matter, mostly because he himself had not thus far uncovered them. ”While I’m unsure what your policy is regarding letting your ninja leave…” He began, referring mainly to Takeo, who seemed to come and go as he pleased. ”I get the definite feeling I won’t be permitted to leave again any time soon. Still, I must assure you that my leave of absence, however short it was, was a productive one.” He told the Mizukage.

”And so, I also have a small request, if you’d hear it.” He added lightly.

His eyes remained fixed on the features of Haru. Xyxer was always keen on studying the face of someone while they spoke, the little details they made while speaking, while listening.. they betrayed a great deal of emotions. Where sometimes a man would say a sentence with enough emotion to appear as if they were confident, a slight flicker of the eyebrows and a tensing of the cheek muscles would tell an entirely separate story. So, as the male spoke the words he cared to utter, the cold eyes of the Mizukage bore into him, attempting to separate his emotions from his words. Although, it did seem mostly neutral, which was good. He would not need to be tortured any further it seemed, if he had been at all.However, before the request could be made, he'd inquire with a sardonic smile, "Ah, yes, please enlighten me, Haru. What made your 'vacation' productive? Can I see small Haru Jr's coming to join my military force? The backs of soldier ants wanting to attack my village? You never did clue me in." He leaned back into his chair.

Hearing no response about being allowed to leave again made Haru uneasy, but it was not altogether unexpected. He preferred to stay at his home for a time anyways. As he spoke he felt Xyxer's eyes heavy on himself, presumably making a study of him. He wondered idly if the Mizukage actually enjoyed playing these sorts of games, or if he was merely dedicated to testing him even now.

Noting Xyxer's expression finally breaking into a smile, Haru wondered if this was yet another test. He was wary of the man now, as he always seemed to be up to something regarding Haru. Still, he figured the man was more interested in what had happened on his journey at the moment, as he went to the trouble of interrupting Haru before he could make his request to ask what exactly had happened, sarcastically remarking about the possibilities of Haru having conceived children or possibly bringing an army back with him.

"Something like that." Haru said, his expression matching the Mizukage's. If this man was playing games with him, then Haru would play them right back. "While visiting a friend in Konohagakure, I learned that they had possession of a pair of sharingan eyes. The first one had been claimed, unfortunately, but I managed to acquire the second one. I would have simply taken the first, but a high-ranking ninja was present, and I did not want to bring the wrath of the Leaf home with me." He explained to the Mizukage.

Nodding his head to words and watching him match the smirk he was exhibiting, his own simply grew. From what he had experienced, people whom were feeling fear mimicked something within their surroundings to try and blend in, to not feel alienated. Of course, Haru did not exactly want ot imitate a dog and start licking his rear in front of the Mizukage, and remaining as silent as the two ANBU behind him would just make him look like he had a mental disability, so was he.. imitating Xyxer? Was he scared of his leader? It wouldn't be the first time someone had entered his chamber with fear, it was a good way to remain alive. "Sharingan are always an asset. I have one myself." Smiling as he recalled all of the usaged he had with it. "How was Konohagakure?"

Haru’s smile faded, not completely, but noticeably, as the Mizukage asked about Konohagakure. Not so much because he was troubled by the thought, as he thought he felt the Mizukage growing uncomfortable with Haru’s attempt at breaking down the wall that made him feel alienated from his leader.
”It’s a useful thing to have, I agree. They’re a huge array of tools for a shinobi.” He said, regarding the sharingan, and definitely not a swiss army knife, which doesn't exist. Haru was a little confused at the man’s inquiry about the hidden leaf. It had seemed to Haru that he had little interest in villages other than Kirigakure, including the one he had once been called the Tenkage of. ”The hidden leaf was as good as one can expect, I suppose. It begins to lose its charm after your first visit or two. At least this time I wasn’t attacked by a rogue ninja.” He said casually, thinking back to the time he had found himself hopelessly lost in the village’s forest. ”Still, something interesting always seems to come my way when I visit that place, so I can’t complain.” He added, glancing with interest at the man’s hounds. ”You know, for what little I know about you, Lord Mizukage, I still could have sworn you wouldn’t be the kind of person to keep pets, especially ones so young.” He said to the man, nodding towards the sleeping puppies.

Listening to what the male had to say about Konohagakure, he nodded faintly. His description was incredibly less detailed compared to Kozata's description of Haven.. Xyxer believed it was a Shinobi's natural instinct to scan the defenses of opposing villages, apparently Haru did not consider Konohagakure an opposing village, despite being brought up during the war of Sky and Fire. Weird times. Looking towards his own puppies when the male spoke again, he allowed his smile to develop into a grin before looking back towards him, "Oh? And what kind of person do I appear to be, Haru?" It appeared to be as good a time as any to see how the people from Tengakure viewed him.

Haru’s tone and expression became more serious and businesslike, more official, even, as he noticed he’d led the conversation down the correct track. He was most interested in learning who exactly this Xyxer Gyojin was. He had seen the records when Xyxer was an ANBU. He seemed to have very erratic tendencies, frequently doing things that Haru was sure he’d lose his rank and badge for, such as attacking Shinji Uzumaki, then the Tenkage, and even executing a child to make Kenchi lose his cool. It was a marvel that he wasn’t ejected from the village, but then again, he definitely was powerful.

”Frankly, I don’t know much besides what I found on file while you were an ANBU.” He responded, thinking back to it. ”...After Yozora died, I was effectively the only active duty ANBU besides yourself and these two, who were generally confined to escorting the Tenkage, so naturally I tried to fill in the blanks as to who my comrades were.” He said, nodding at the other two ANBU in the room as he referred to them.

It was interesting that the Mizukage wanted to know what he thought of him. The two had not interacted all that much, and he doubted very much Xyxer was self conscious, so perhaps he feared his public image was growing unpopular? Certainly some did not like the new, militaristic regime, although few would voice it, and fewer still would survive doing so.

”They called you “The Demon of Kirigakure,” correct? It reminds me of an old story…  The records say you have psychopathicl tendencies, that you’re unnecessarily brutal and you even tried to murder your Kage. And yet, you’ve stayed with your village all this time, and reforged it into something greater. You’re hard to read, and I didn’t need the records to see that. Destroying a major village and moving to a new one is, well, not something a conventional leader would do. Then again, I imagine your time in the original Kirigakure had some influence on your decision. A lot of Kirigakure refugees came to Tengakure, if I recall, including my master. He spoke fondly of the place.” Haru said, dawning on the fact that he was now more like his master then he had ever thought. Just like Rin, his home had been destroyed in order to rebuild his master’s lost village. The irony was thick.

”To be blunt, I’m not sure what to make of you, yet, lord Mizukage. I trust your judgement, after all, you wouldn’t have managed to rise so far without good instincts, but I’m uncertain of what your intentions are.” He said, deciding to be honest, since his leader asked for an answer. Why bother lying among supposed allies?

The mention of Rin hit Xyxer with some value. It had been his death that had once awakened the power of the red eyes. A cardiac arrest, the coroners reported? The fact that Haru was his pupil had been entirely forgotten by the Abysswalker. Now that he had time to think about it.. Was Haru truly a shinobi of Tengakure? As far as he could recall, Haru was fond of Denkiteki, a former shinobi of Kirigakure.. He was trained by Rin, who was, admittedly, a figure that had once annoyed Xyxer with his petty ideals and morals. Now, he served under a kage who had ordered the destruction of his original village.. It made him wonder.. Would this man have challenged him if he had ordered the execution of every shinobi with Tengakure instead of it's sole destruction? He had never witnessed the male's combative ability, at least not in person. He knew he had the ability to regenerate to a small degree.. like Denkiteki. He had tripped Takeo at some point with.. wood? So there was some Senju in him.. He seemed like a man biding his time, mustering power when ever possible.

Letting his eyes run over him once more with the same sardonic smile he was known for, he shrugged his shoulders briefly. He paused. Was it around this point that Shinji would have took him to a restaurant for orange juice? It seemed this conversation was no longer entirely formal, and so a diversion may be better. Thank you Shinji-Senpai. Pushing himself up from the chair slowly, he moved towards one of the windows in the room and opened it. Looking down from the rather high drop, he turned towards Haru, "How about some Orange Juice?" Regardless of his answer, he'd simply let his body free fall from the window as he had done countless times with others. It was a nice feeling.. the one of being mortal. If he did not pay any attention, he'd die.. the end of a Kage from simple carelessness. Activating his armour at the last second, he crouched when he hit the ground to let the shock of the fall run through the armour, vibrating before dissipating and leaving him unharmed. He'd then proceed to a random restaurant, all the while speaking to Haru, "Why did I not see much of you in Tengakure if you were an ANBU?"