The Time is Near (P)

Haru sat at the desk in his recently destroyed office, which was in the process of being rebuilt, the crater where the door used to be was currently being reconstructed. He sat at his desk, which was finally clean, and wondered if during the remodeling process, there was some way he could remove the desk.

Now, he'd sent for a few ninja in the past few days, testing the waters, and he was short a man. At first, he was stumped, but then he remembered one candidate in particular, one he'd met early in Kirigakure's new life, and one that had done extremely well during the Blood Games. How could he forget?

While waiting for Malvoes, Haru would set aside his papers, as he was about to be done with paperwork for awhile. The fun part of his job would soon be upon him.

Mal was dressed in his usual garb, ninja outfit complete, his scroll with Mantis in it firmly strapped to his back. He was headed to the Mizukage office, the new Mizukage, Haru, wanted to see him for some reason or another. He recalled meeting Haru briefly quite some time ago, now to hear that he had replaced Xyxer as head, it was very interesting.

As he made his way to the office he viewed the building from the outside, pondering what was going to go down, maybe he'd be requested to make yet another statue, hopefully this one wouldn't get destroyed.

He entered the building, making his way contextually till he came to a blown out door and saw Haru sitting at his desk. He glanced at the interesting destruction and wondered for a moment whether to knock on the wall to announce his presence.

Instead he cleared his throat, entering with a bow, "Lord Mizukage you asked to see me?" Mal would say, keeping his head down till he was addressed.

Haru glanced up at the boy, nodding and beckoning him in.
"Yes, I did. Don't mind the door, or rather, lack thereof." He joked. "Have a seat." He said simply. As the boy entered, Haru would stand up from his desk, walking to the back wall and pacing the room. Truly, he had been waiting for an excuse to get up and stretch his legs. "So, Malvoes. I watched your performance during the blood games." He informed the boy, coming back to the desk and leaning forward on it. "I was impressed, to say the least. Those who practice puppetry are rare, and those who do so skillfully are even more rare." He said, congratulating the boy. 

"Though, I'm sure you know, I didn't just call you here to tell you "Good job."" He said knowingly. "Malvoes, how confident are you in your abilities as a ninja?" Haru inquired to the boy, his tone growing somewhat intense. "Just how powerful do you believe yourself to be? There's no need to be modest. Precious few in Kirigakure dislike boasting, but if you count yourself among them, you've no need to fear." He assured the boy.

Mal smiled a bit and took a seat in front of Haru's desk. Mal smiled once again, "Such praise from the Mizukage is a great honor." He was a gracious person, if anything could be said about him, well, at least when it came to those above him. Which Haru was, not just by rank but also by pure skill, which was obvious from a look.

Mal met the stare of his acquaintance and leader head on, a hand going up to his chin as he thought. "I like to think that I am a competent ninja, I am not the strongest by far, but I am training and honing my physical skills, I have added some things to my repertoire quite recently in fact. But I know I have potential and I am clever above all else, my brain is my most useful tool."

He said this not with boastful pride but a matter of fact, this is how he saw himself and he knew this to be the reality of it.

Haru cocked his head, dissatisfied with the boy's rather vague explanation.
"There is always more power to be gained, but skill is something one cannot gain so easily." Said Haru. "I appreciate your honesty. I shall be blunt with you, Malvoes, I have seen you in combat. You are not as powerful as some of your peers, but I see great potential for improvement. Much more then I believe you yourself realize." He told the boy, standing up and beginning to pace around his office slowly.

"How loyal are you to Kirigakure? Do you believe this village to be your home, or do you long for the old days of Shimagakure? You need not fear punishment for honesty. I allow all of my ninja to speak freely unless I say otherwise." He offered the boy, awaiting an answer.