Necessary Debriefing

It had been a while since the Kaguya had returned to Konoha from the Jounin exams in Suna. Since he had returned not much had changed in his day to day routines. By day he either trained, relaxed at home, or went on with his shinobi duties such as being on guard. By night, he could be found at bars drinking himself to sleep. Not because he couldn't fall asleep on his own due to nightmares or anything hokus pokus as such. Simply, because he enjoyed it. Having been promoted to Chuunin at the Jounin exams by the Hokage, Kotsuzui was entrusted with a bit more responsibility around the village than he had when he was a Genin. If truth be told, the extra tasks given to him were nothing short of boring. Patrolling had to be the most boring thing of all. But after experiencing recent events at Suna, he now understood why constant patrolling was needed. On any given day, at any given moment, they could encounter outsiders with ill intent. It was this thought which was the reason Kotsuzui found himself walking down the road towards the Hokage's building.

He had been one of the few Konoha shinobi to witness what happened, whatever it was. He had information others did not have, as little as it may be. He had refrained from going to anyone at first because he remembered some other Konoha nin saying he'd take care of it, or rather something along those lines. But had he done as he said he would? Kotsuzui remembered seeing him leave Suna. Another note, was the Hokage still in Suna when all this happened? If so he'd already know about it and Kotsuzui would have no reason to speak of what he saw. But what if the Hokage had left prior to the events? Was he in the dark about it? It was all these questions swimming in the Kaguya's head which finally got him to go speak to someone. Once he did, he could put these questions to rest and finally have a clear conscious. Besides, whether the village was informed or not on the situation, it was best to have the view point of all those involved. It could provide significant information that others may not have. It may also put Konoha on high alert. And anything that made the village a safer place was something that Kotsuzui had to do. This was his home, his family.

Upon arrival, the Kaguya entered the Kage's building in search of someone to speak to. He bore his white cloak which draped over everything he wore, though everything under his cloak was also white except his shoes. In fact, the Kaguya never wore shoes. He was currently bare foot as per usual. Without speaking to anyone, Kotsuzui made his way to the stairs and up he went to the Kage's office. With the help of his Earth Sight, his bare feet took in the vibrations within the building and helped him map out the layout within his head. As he made his way up, he took in the vibrations from within the office. 

He quickly realized it was not the Hokage in the chambers, rather it was Ashi. He had met her previously, at the Konoha academy on a snowy day with Kisuke and Love if he remembered correctly. Why was she in the office? Had the Hokage in fact not made it back from Suna yet? Maybe he was still in Suna dealing with the affairs there. Whatever it was, he needed to speak with someone. With that, he knocked on the door informing Ashi of his presence.

The knock on the Hokage's door would remain answered for a few moments. Instead of jumping at the opportunity to get scolded by an angry councilwoman, pleaded with by a construction company, or petitioned by the sanitation department, Ashi continued reading behind her desk. The architects had dropped off the budget for the planned expansion of the academy earlier that morning and the Inuzuka woman had been reading it ever since. Contrary to popular belief, Konohagakure did not have an endless supply of ryo at its disposal and it was the Hokage's job to assure money was not being wasted. Who'd have thought a hardened anbu would come to fear a single word, 'budget', so much?

"Come in," she said at last carefully putting away the budget proposal in the drawer to her left.

The woman had taken special care to keep the office as clean as possible. Papers were all neatly filed away, flowers always kept fresh, paintings on the walls always straight, and not a single spec visible anywhere. Interestingly, one would be hard pressed to find any personal touches made by the Deputy Hokage as there were none to speak of except for perhaps the large brown dog who now slept in the corner to Ashi's right. In her mind, her position as kage was only temporary and thus her any amount of decoration would be arrogant in the extreme.

Now, the question was, who had come to see her?

She would have known if there was a formal meeting planned as her assistant went over each detail of her day in the morning. No, no meetings whatsoever. She hoped it was nothing too urgent; Chai needed a walk and she wanted to stretch her legs too.

Knock Knock, no reply. Ashi had Kotsuzui wait a few moments outside before she allowed him in. Was that simply to show her position of power and that she could decide how things went? If so she didn't need to make the Kaguya wait outside, Kotsuzui already knew she was his superior. She was probably just busy at the moment, maybe dealing with important matters that a Chuunin such as himself was too low in the rankings to have the good fortune of knowing what it was. Maybe he didn't even want to know what it. Being a Hokage you probably had to deal with so many small technicalities are the village, it must be a bloody nightmare. Sooner than later, she spoke the words 'come in' and Kotsuzui twisted the knob of the door pushing it open.

"I thought the Hokage would be back by now" were the first words Kotsuzui spoke as he entered the room, closing the door behind him. Was that really the best way to speak to the interim Hokage? Not only was Ashi a higher rank the Kotsuzui, but if she was qualified enough to replace the Hokage during his leave he'd better show a little more respect to her. "Uhmm...thanks for seeing me on such short notice, I know i don't exactly have an appointment with you" he'd begin, standing behind the chairs in front of the Kage's desk where she sat. He noticed her dog, if that's what it could be called. More like a dire wolf. "I'm Kotsuzui Kaguya, Kots for short. You may not recognize me, with the slight hair change and all" as he rubbed his hands over his mohawk. He may have changed his hair drastically, but he still had the same facial features. "But we met back at the academy on that really snowy day. We had tea, the two of us and my Uchiha partner Kisuke."

He waited for Ashi to gather her thoughts to see if she would remember who the Kaguya was. Even if she didnt, at this point she would have either offered the Kaguya a seat or not. If she did, he'd take a seat in front of her. Otherwise he'd keep his position where he was. "Sorry I come on such short notice" he started, "but I was unsure on whether or not I should come at all. Basically, I was in Suna during the disappearance of the Kazekage." Kotsuzui said that assuming she had already known the Kazekage was gone. He had no idea what was known or what had reached Konoha. He simply waited for Ashi to reply, not too sure how to proceed from here. Maybe she already knew all that went down and Kotsuzui wouldn't need to say anything, which would be a relief. He felt this weird sense of pressure, or rather nervousness. But he couldn't say why. It was a strange feeling, one he had never experienced before. The fear of the unknown. What had really happened to Suna? Would it happen to them in the future?

"I remember you Kotsu. The hair suits you," Ashi replied flashing a kind smile. "Please take a seat."

She gestured for the man to take a seat across from her. She couldn't very well run a village like an anbu barracks. Apparently, as one of her etiquette instructors told her, tact was important when dealing with shinobi of the village. Somehow she had to come off as both caring and commanding. The whole balance bewildered the interim kage, but she'd be damned if she wasn't going to try and achieve it.

"And yes, I expected the Hokage to be back by this time as well. Until his return, however, I have been asked to take up the mantle in his stead. Now, how can I help you today?"

At this point, Ashi half considered offering the man a drink but thought better of it. The first time she'd met the Kaguya he reeked of sake and she did not think it wise to indulge him too much. Plus, it would be too tempting for her as well. Better to stay away from the liquid altogether and listen to what the man wanted. Yes, listen now, drink later.

"Oh?" her eyebrows arched in genuine surprise at the man's revelation. "Please do tell me what you know. At the moment our intelligence is scant at best as it has been pieced together from refugees. Every small detail counts at this point in time."

She then fell silent and steepled her fingers carefully. Sunagakure, at the moment, was a conundrum. She wanted to send a black ops team to investigate, but at the same time, she did not want to send them into their death. Thus, for now, the best thing she could do was gather information. Funny how important information can be, no?

She remembered him, that was good. It also seemed she was surprised at the Hokage having not yet returned home. Until then, it was her task to run the place. He took his seat in front of Ashi before explain his reasons for the visit. She also seemed surprised that he had been in Suna, or maybe she wasn't expecting information to be coming from him in the first place. She informed him that all the information they had received thus far was from the refugees. He only wonder how much information that actually was.

Where to begin? "I was in Suna for the Jounin exams. All this happened a couple days after its end" he began, thinking it was best to include everything whether it was relevant or not. He was going to let Ashi decide what was important, thus leaving nothing out. Or at least doing the best he could not to. "It happened out of no where. The Kazekage released an unimaginable amount of chakra. I never thought one man could posses such power. He headed towards the gates of the village. So I did also, see what was happening. But when I got there I could no longer sense the Kazekage's chakra. He simply... vanished. From the way things were going, no one knew why and where he went. But he never came back." At least not while Kotsuzui was there. If the Kazekage returned during Kotsuzui's leave of Suna and return to Konoha then he had no idea. 

"I believe he was attempting to confront these two strangers who entered the village" he continued. "I have no idea who they were. One of them was a fit man, red clothing and white hair. The second was thinner in size. Blonde hair down to about his eyes. His eyes were red, maybe an Uchiha? I didn't get close enough to see. He also had read clouds on his cloak. Whoever they were, the Kazekage thought they were dangerous if he was provoked to release all that power. But nothing  went down, we simply helped get the villagers to safety. The two were confronted by Suna and Konoha shinobi alike." This is where things got tricky.

"One of our own, I believe his name is Yensung" Kotsuzui said, remembering seeing his name as one of the participants in the exam. "He was one of the many to confront the two. I stayed back just enough to pick up some of what was being said. The blonde seemed to have no business with Konoha, he said we could stay or go. He had come to do business with Suna alone. I know for a fact Yensung said he'd report this to the Hokage, I'm surprised he has yet to do so." He took a pause to try and remember what exactly was said, But at that point there were too many people around and he had trouble picking up everything.  "The white haired man eventually left. The blonde entered the village with a group of Suna nin. After that I left the village. Unfortunately, I was unable to pick up the reasons for his visit to Suna. Though one thing is for sure, if it got the Kazekage to attack before disappearing, it couldn't have been anything good."

Kotsuzui was certain he had given all that he had known. He wasn't certain how beneficial the information would be. At the end of the day it was still unclear to him as to why the blonde wanted a presence with the Suna higher ups. But he hoped his information on their physical appearance would help.

A nod here, an encouraging smile there, and appropriate eye contact at all times; this whole being reported to was easy. Having never taken up to the role as anbu captain, Ashi's life in Konoha had been one dominated taking orders and giving reports. Yet, now here she was listening to one. Truthfully? The whole thing felt a little strange to her as if the situation she now found herself in were just a dream. Perhaps she'd wake up soon and return to the borders for her fifth straight week of patroling—the wake-up call never came.

"Yensung?" Ashi confirmed without pausing. "I've yet to see him, but I'm sure it is only a matter of time knowing him. However, his whereabouts are not all that important at the moment."

She paused and absentmindedly ran a hand through her messy hair.

"These two men cloaked in crimson clouds, though, are worrying as we have not had any official communication with Sunagakure," the Inuzuka spoke carefully not wanting to scare the shinobi before her. "I suppose for the moment we can only assume the worst and hope for the best."

Behind the cool exterior of her words, Ashi's mind raced. From what she recalled from reports the Kazekage had always been a peaceful man. Thus, the news of him attacking newcomers could never bode well for anyone. There was work to be done. As much as she hated to say it, this mission called for the anbu...

"All the same, thank you for this information, Kotsu," she flashed a toothy smile. "It has been a great help. Is there anything else I can do for you with while you're here?"

Her next meeting was in an hour, so the interim Hokage had some time on her hands. What better way to fill the time than to see to her shinobi's needs? That was what leaders did, right? Care about and get to know those under their leadership?

Something like that.

"It was just the one named Maku who had the cloak with the crimson clouds on it. I do not remember seeing any of the white haired man" Kotsuzui added in, clearing up the information he may have miss-communicated. As it were it seemed Konoha hasn't had any contact with Suna, which was probably bad news. Kotsuzui could only wonder what the hell actually happened. It seemed there wasn't much Konoha could do either, as Ashi put it. Assume the worst and hope for the best.

It seemed Kotsuzui meeting with the interim Hokage was coming to an end as he had given all the information he could remember. She thanked him for it informing him it was helpful. Kotsuzui could only hope she were telling the truth, although he did feel a little better knowing he had spoken to someone about it. There was still the after thought of whether these people were also bound in Konoha's direction. She finished by asking him if there was anything else. At first thought the Kagya couldn't think of anything and was about to leave but quickly remembered something.

"Actually, I was hoping you could help me find someone" he started. "I'm training to increase my skills and knowledge in the art of Space and Time. During the Jounin exams I faced off against one of our own, Jace Uchiha. He was pretty adapt in the use of Space and Time. I was hoping you knew of his whereabouts. I'd like to train under him, but I haven't seen him since I departed from Suna" he finished. Despite having lost twice to Jace in the Jounin exams, Kotsuzui had gotten along quite well with him and would enjoy being trained by him.

Whether or not the old man wannabe wore red clouds didn't really matter. The two had entered the village together and therefore must've had some affiliation with each other. A difference in clothing wasn't the largest detail in the world. This Maku, however, due to his interest in Sungakure, had just become a person of interest for Konohagakure.

"Jace Uchiha?" She asked, shuffling through the stack of papers to her right. "That name does ring a bell...Give me a second."

Uchiha...
Uchiha...
Uchiha...
No, not Uchihawa...

Ah, Uchiha Jace. Pulling the boy's file from the pile she glanced over it. The were a few notes from his genin exams, but the bottom line seemed to indicate nothing good.

"It appears that Jace has yet to return from the Sunagakure," she turned the thin file on the boy over to the Kaguya—there wasn't anything classified on it so it would probably be fine. "See for yourself."

Ashi then fell silent. There were a few things that might have happened and none of them seemed good. However, she would allow Kotsu to come to his own conclusions.

She was going through the stack of papers on the desk in search of one containing information of Jace. During that time, Kotsuzui analyzed everything on the desk. All he could see were stacks of files and papers. Being the Kage of a village seemed like such a tedious job that no one really every considered. When people thought of the Kage, one generally thinks of the protector of the village likely the strongest shinobi in the village. But no one ever thinks of all the smaller, or even larger matters a Kage must tend to within the village. Kotsuzui only wondered how Ashi was handling all the work due to the late arrival of the Hokage. 

In no time she found a file on Jace. She opened it up, observing that Jace had yet to return from Suna. Kotsuzui took the file Ashi presented to him to quickly glance over it himself. By now everyone should have at least left Suna unless they had personal reasons to stay within the village. Maybe that was the case for Jace. Maybe something else had happened to him. There was no real way of knowing, only waiting for more information to arrive or for him to come back home. 

"Thanks" he said returning the file back to Ashi. "I think that's all for now" he added. With Ashi permission to leave and unless she had anything she wanted of Kotsuzui, he would get up from his seat and proceed to leave the Hokage's chambers. She probably had other matters to attend to now and even if she didn't, a moments break before getting back to work was always good.

[Exit if all is done]

[Sorry for the wait!]

"Very well," she nodded dismissively. "Then you're free to go, have a nice day."

Yes, she was trying too hard; being courteous didn't come naturally to the woman. According to her etiquette instructor, she was more than a bit rough around the edges, which Ashi had a hard time coming to terms with. Hard drinking, swearing, and general terseness were all hallmarks of her career as an anbu. She knew no other life and navigating the new social area of politics left her drained. Honestly? She liked being of service to politicians more than actually being one.

Well, back to work.

[Exit, thread closed]