Diplomatic Immunity

Iesada felt as if he'd left his stomach back in Kumogakure, interdimensional travel did not agree with him. One moment he'd been saying his farewells to Maku and the next he found himself under Hoshigakure's afternoon sun. His village leader's proclivity for bending reality to his will was no secret, but the diplomat had never experienced it himself. And, honestly? Well, he much preferred walking. Sure, it took more time, but it was much less jarring and camping had a certain charm to it.

Grumblings about Maku's preferred method of transportation aside, Iesada had a task to carry out. His former leader had dropped him at the furthermost extent of Hoshigakure's borders on a crossroads between nations. Squinting into the distance he could just make out the main road laden with merchant wagons. Surely, this was his path to the heart of the country and his ultimate goal: Hoshigakure's main settlement, the holy city.

Joining the sparsely populated main road was a breeze. In his younger years, Iesada and his late father traveled the shinobi world as merchants and his biggest takeaway had been simple: keep to yourself. Most merchants preferred to keep to themselves while on the road where a friendly face could be a bandit looking for a mark. Of course, it also helped that Iesada looked unassuming with his heavily laden pack and tattered brown traveling cloak. Even to a trained eye, there would be nothing that made him stand out as different than the rabble around him. No, the only difference one would find was in his intentions—his village depended on it.

An hour passed and the diplomat found himself among an ever growing throng of people from all walks of life. Merchants, rogues, and holy men all walked together with one goal in mind, the city. Iesada's cloak had since taken on a reddish color to match the dust kicked up by the mass of people and their animals.

He was getting close now.

Then he saw it, a city out of the story books he used to read to Yui. Tall builds topped by cupolas and accented by the odd minaret mingled with more modern looking buildings creating a skyline which spoke of a delicate marriage between modern and archaic styles. Words, for one of the first times in his life, failed Iesada; the city was breathtaking. He could only marvel at the alien architecture as he entered the queue for customs. It'd only be a matter of time now.

Luckily, waiting was something Iesada Saito excelled at.

Alas, one could only look at the same stone arch for so long before it got old. The customs line was long and slow moving. Indeed, by the time the diplomat arrived at the front of the line sweat dripped liberally from his brow, his water was almost gone and his normally fair skin glowed a distinctive red. No, for a man who lived much of his life in cooler climes, heat was not really his cup of tea. For now, he could only hope and pray that the approval of his papers didn't take too long.

"Iesada Saito," it was finally his turn. "Special emissary from Yukigakure here on business with the crown."

The old woman sitting at the customs desk looked skeptical. However, Iesada's winning smile and presentation of the proper papers quickly put such skepticism to rest. Naturally, the woman took her time reading over the papers looking for any inconsistencies, but there'd be none to find. Iesada's papers were very real, there was nothing fake to find.

Twenty minutes of checking and cross-checking the woman glanced back up over her horn-rimmed glances. Iesada always hated these customs dances; customs officers loved lording over people. Thankfully, in the end, they were all bound by procedures and procedure dictated only one thing in the case of legitimate papers...

"Mr.Saito, welcome to Hoshigakure," the woman stamped his papers and everything was in order. "Please enjoy your stay and if you have any trouble do not hesitate to report it to the proper authorities."

Thanking the woman he reclaimed his diplomatic papers along with a map of the city. The nice thing about having diplomatic status? No questions, preservation of state secrets and all that.

So, with naught but his wits and a map to guide him Iesada entered the village proper.

Hello, Hoshigakure.

[Exit. Claiming my 24 hour entry to Hoshigakure.]

Approved