welcomed or restrained?

A sigh of relief escaped Kouse's lips as he stared at the gates of konoha. He was home at last. He hadn't expected in the least that leaving home would take so much toll on him. He couldn't wait to get home. His konoha head band was sure to be seen by the ninja posted at the gates and he would be let in quickly. 
Kouse was no fool..he had left konoha in a hurry to get to suna as fast as possible and he hadn't been thinking properly. Maybe now he would face the consequences of his foolishness?..or would he by some miracle be able to get to his home and bed without any incident?. That was highly unlikely but kouse hoped for the best.
And waited in apprehension for the ninja at the gate to attend to him.

I could really use a drink...

As the sun dipped beneath the trees and the chill of night set over the land operative Wolf found herself falling victim to her old vices-drink in particular. From within the village she could vaguely hear the music and singing floating through the air from the bars that were no doubt just opening. How she longed to be one of the people passing through the gates to partake in drinking the night away. Yet here she was, on guard duty.

Now, one might think 'Oh an anbu on gate guard duty? How silly?'. And, yes, it was rather silly. Operative Wolf was used to prowling the borders fending off drifters and vagrants. That was where she belonged, or so she believed. The village gates, after all, were more or less a formality. Any real threat would hopefully be stopped before reaching the gates themselves. In theory it was a great system. Yet reality had revealed more than a few flaws in it. So, here Ashi was filling in for a regular gate guard who had fallen ill.

Without a mask she looked like anyone else in the village-a normal gate guard. Truth be told she was wearing the armor of the anbu, but it lay hidden by a black cloak that almost reached the ground; her identity was safe. Even Chairomaru looked normal with his dark brown coat and black splotches with no evidence of the dye he was often bathed in. The whole day had been uneventful to say the least. She had sat in the customs booth of the Konoha gates stamping papers and checking people into the village. It was all very boring.

At least Chai is having a good time, lucky guy.

Chai had spent the day sleeping at his companions feet only bothering to raise his head every once and a while. There really wasn't much to do. The off-duty-anbu's only consolation prize was that her shift was almost over. Then, despite her better judgement, she planned to slip over to the bars to indulge her vice. Lost in dreams of the night yet to come Ashi was alerted to a newcomer at the gates by a nudge from Chai.

"Evening! If you would be so kind as to come over here we can get you all squared away," Ashi said with a wave while poking her head out of the booth in which she was seated. There was little chance she was getting up to greet someone who probably should have come over to the booth anyway. Waiting for the boy to approach the booth she retied her hair back into a messy ponytail so as to look somewhat professional.

Only a little bit longer...

She could almost taste the sake.

'Evening! If you would be so kind as to come over here we can get you all squared away' made kouse to instinctively turn to look at the person that had said that. He saw a female waving at him from the booth and he slowly walked towards her.
He took a deep breath as he approached..he didn't know what to expect..he hoped he wouldn't get into any serious trouble.

Kouse got to the booth "good evening"..on saying that a light gust of wind would blow past partially covering his face with his long hair.
"I'm ready to answer any questions you may have" kouse added with a smile..trying to hide his nervousness

A single eyebrow, Ashi raised a single eyebrow. Normally people were already ready when they came to the gates. Traveling papers out and ready to go, smiles on their faces and a genuine relief to have finally reached their destination. Yet this boy led with wondering what questions she had for him. The whole affair was very odd. Though, Ashi's face did not show such oddity. Rather she nodded once and ruffled through a few papers picking out a few here and there. Putting the papers on the desk in front of her she turned them so the boy could see them himself.

"Alright, first we will need your name, where you are coming from, goods to declare, village of origin and your reason for being in Konohagakure," Ashi said pointing out the required fields in the papers in front of her. Simple stuff really. At her feet she could feel Chai shift uneasily. How was Ashi to know that the shinobi in front of her was in fact from Konoha?

Yeah, I know Chai. This feels weird for me too.

Putting on the best smile she could, which amounted more to a fanged grin than anything else, Ashi pushed the papers forward. With any luck that uneasy feeling would be gone soon. Maybe it was just how the boy looked? Tall, long-haired, no, that was not it. Ashi could not put her finger on it. Maybe it was his smell?

He didn't know what to expect..but he hoped for the best outcome as kouse watched the ninja at the booth sort through some papers.
She then turned them towards him and spoke up 'Alright, first we will need your name, where you are coming from, goods to declare, village of origin and your reason for being in Konohagakure'.
Kouse didn't expect that..not in the least..he expected being taken in chains to a prison more than he expected that he wouldn't even be recognised as a ninja, more importantly a konoha ninja.
He hesitated considering this and what he meant..he took a look at the female ninja and saw the smile she shot at him. Was this a prank or something? Kouse wondered. Well if it was he'll play along.
He took the papers and quickly scribbled down the details needed.
'Uchiha kouse, coming from sunagakure...konoha..well I'm a konoha ninja and I live here?' Kouse wrote.
After writing all this kouse would shift the paper back to the female ninja..taking a deep breath and forcing himself to relax...he would be fine he consoled himself.

Not expecting too much, Ashi took the papers from the boy and began scanning them over; he was probably some traveling performer. Kouse Uchiha...Sunagakure...Konoha native. Wait? Konoha native? Glancing over the papers at Kouse  she mustered a half hearted shrug before putting the papers on the desk in front of her.

What a pain...

When it came to Konoha natives she had to check the mountainous filing cabinet for travel records. Turning to said cabinet she pulled open the drawer and lazily flipped through the seemingly endless papers until she reached the U's. Slowing her search she looked for the boy's name. First look through? Nothing. Second time? Nope. Third times the charm? Still nothing. With furrowed brow Ashi turned back to the boy who hopefully not bolted by this point.

"Unfortunately we do not have your leaving the village on file here, Kouse," Ashi said, in the best customer service voice she could muster. "As a result we will need you to fill out a more detailed report of your travels, which we will be checking up on. So, please be as truthful as possible."

Pulling a new sheet of paper from the pile in front of her she handed it to Kouse. If he took it Ashi would speak up again. The sheet probably needed a bit of explaining.

"We will need your reason for going to Sunagakure, people we may contact who can validate your claim of being in Sunagakure and any extenuating circumstance we should know about."

Sunagakure was a close ally with Konohagakure. Everyone knew that, so, as a result, it would only take an inquiry with Sunagakure as to if Kouse had really been there. At her feet Ashi could feel Chai relax-the tension had drained out of the air.

So much for anything exciting happening today...

Kouse looked at the female ninja closely waiting for her reaction on seeing the details he had just filled. He didn't expect her to shrug and turn to some cabinets and begin searching through them though.
She went through a certain stack of files three times...no doubt looking for my name kouse thought. He knew there was absolutely no way she would see his name..he hadn't made it known when he was leaving after all and there was possibly no way she would see his name no matter how much she looked.
The inevitable statement was finally uttered 'Unfortunately we do not have your leaving the village on file here, Kouse'.
Kouse raised an eyebrow and waited for her to finish.
She wanted more details of his journey to suna and she handed him a new sheet of paper. Kouse quickly collected said paper and was about to begin summarising all that had happened in suna..which would take awhile but to his pleasant relief she offered even more help.
'We will need your reason for going to Sunagakure, people we may contact who can validate your claim of being in Sunagakure and any extenuating circumstance we should know about.'
Kouse with a forced smile took a deep breath and began scribbling down the required answers down.
'I went so hurriedly to sunagakure cause I heard a good friend of mine who now resides in sunagakure made a relatively costly mistake and went to try to talk him out of it' kouse wrote this down quickly on the sheet of paper 'well among others I met the kazekage..I think that's sufficient?' Kouse would add with a devious smirk 'nope none at all..everyone in sunagakure were unexpectedly welcoming to me' kouse chose not to mention the incident between him and the person he had gone to meet sal..they had a mutual understanding which others won't understand.. So it was best to not be mentioned.
Kouse would quickly pass the paper back to the female ninja waiting, watching for her next move...to let him in? Or ask more questions?. Kouse only had to wait a few more moments for those questions to be answered.

Waiting patiently, Ashi absentmindedly picked at the fingernail on her right index finger. Somehow a bit of dirt had gotten under the nail and it was quite annoying. Sure, Ashi wasn't one for pampering herself, but she did like having cleans nails. Thus, having dirt under one of them just was not something she could allow to stand. Picking at it while Kouse filled out the form, Ashi finally got it free flicking it to the floor to her right. At this point the boy standing across from her had finished the necessary forms.

Taking the paper from him, she read over its contents much like the last couple. Went to Sunagakure...ya-da-ya-da...Met the Kazakage? Interesting. Helped a good friend...The whole thing seemed a bit cut and dry. Taking the papers Kouse had written up Ashi took each in turn and stamped each. The one redeeming factor of the job was the stamp. The ink it used smelled vaguely sweet and it made a satisfying thump with each paper she stamped.

One...thump...two...thump...three...thump...four...done.

Everything seemed to be in order. Well, almost everything. Ashi needed to clarify one last thing. Just who was this friend Kouse was visiting? Ashi hated vagueities with a passion. It was through stories, like Kouses, that she lived vicariously the life she would probably never have, a carefree one.

"Alright, everything seems to be in order here," Ashi said with ease. "Only need you to clarify who it was you were visiting. You mention him or her being a close friend who recently moved to Sunagakure. If you have a name that we can verify it will go a long way in saving yourself any unneeded trouble."

Every word Ashi said was truthful. One way or another the village would find out who Kouse was meeting with. It simply depended on what time they would learn it; now or later? Not that Ashi really cared, the kid seemed level headed enough.

Hurry up kid, I have a night on the town in front of me.

His eyes steady..kouse watched the female ninja..waiting for her next set of questions.
But her next words made his steady gaze waver a bit. 
'Only need you to clarify who it was you were visiting. You mention him or her being a close friend who recently moved to Sunagakure. If you have a name that we can verify it will go a long way in saving yourself any unneeded trouble.'
'Oh oh' kouse almost said it out..what kind of trouble would he get into if he mentioned Salzems name?..he was a missing ninja after all...'visiting' him wasn't a good idea after all.
No! He wouldn't answer her question. He would just keep his mouth shut and face the consequences. Yes that was what he would do.

Thoughts of hikari popped into his mind, her smile..her eyes. She was waiting for him..they hadn't still gone for the date they had promised each other...and it wouldn't do to get into trouble he could have prevented or at least reduced.
He sighed in defeat "he's name was salzem".
Kouse would quickly add "He was the one that led me and my friends on missions when we were genin and suddenly I heard he was a missing ninja..and he was in sunagakure.. But I didn't believe it..I just had to see him for myself and if said rumours were true..try and get him to come back to konoha".
Kouse didn't know what drove him to explain to this female ninja to try and get himself off the hook, he wasn't that way normally... Or was the thoughts of hikari still clouding his mind?.
Kouse would wait..praying the worst outcome won't occur but the best.

Salzem Alagahara.

Yes, Ashi knew the name instantly. She'd be negligent if she did not know the name of Konoha's latest rogue shinobi. Taken in by a jounin of the village and put in jail. Ashi had talked with the guards of the cell. The prisoner had a tough run, jeering, spitting; the whole lot. The people of Konohagakure did not look kindly on missing ninja, too much bad blood and broken trust. Suffice to say Ashi was acquainted with the curious case of Salzem Alagahara. What self respecting anbu operative wasn't?

It's not every day a shinobi simply teleports out of his cell. He should have been watched by the anbu from the get-go...Damn politics...

"And the rumors, were they true?" Ashi asked, suddenly more serious than before.

This could be our in to Salzem.

Any information at this point was valuable. The boy seemed to be telling the truth thus far. If he continued to tell the truth he just might get off with a slap on the hand. Though in the back of her mind Ashi felt another part of her, the Wolf part, telling her to can the boy here and now. End the charade and lock the kid up for fraternizing with a missing ninja. Yet she remained still, as still as she could waiting for a response from Kouse.