Debriefing Part 2 (Ashi)

Salzem waited down in the Hokage office lobby, waiting for the acting leader of the village to call for him. Unlike some, he was actually asked for rather than going there himself and kage-knows he didn't want to be here right now. Salzem had but one run-in with the current leader of the village and he can easily attest that it wasn't his best moment. It was one of the reasons he stopped going to the graveyard lest he devolve like that again. In anycase, there was no way he could, in his right mind deny a call by the acting Kage and, with much hesitation, he went with nary a smile on his face.

He wondered what exactly he was being called here for despite him already knowing the answer... It was one he didn't want to explore so soon after it's happening: The disappearance of Koroshi, the former Kazekage and the passive conquering of Sunagakure... He imagined he'd be reprimanded for even being alive right now, for not standing his ground against this threat and giving his life for his ally. He imagined that whatever pride of dignity he had in himself would be picked at and probed in a way akin to hungry wolves over a scrap of meat. He imagined that this probing would force him to look back on what happened and how he chose to do nothing but watch as Sunagakure was taken without a single jutsu weaved or a weapon tossed, how easily he and everyone else were subjugated. Well... if there was any solace to this was that at least something as nonexistant as pride couldn't be poked at after all...

Suffice it to say, it was all Salzem could do to stand still... because sitting at this point wasn't an option. He kept glancing at the clock as the seconds ticked by, each microscopic passage of time feeling exponentially longer.

The clock struck noon exactly...

"Salzem Algahara," the secretary across the lobby from the chuunin spoke up. "The Hokage will see you now."

Ashi Inuzuka, interim Hokage and former anbu operative, sat in her office waiting. On the desk in front of her sat Salzem's file, not that she really needed. During her time in the anbu she had become well acquainted with the boy. Having once been a rogue, Salzem was once wanted by Konohagakure only to have been pardoned by Kurisu. In Ashi's opinion? The whole thing smelled fishy and being a part of the Inuzuka clan she knew her smells quite well. Yes, fishy was, without a doubt, the correct word here.

Today's meeting, however, was not about the boy's past transgressions. Rather, Ashi had noted the boy was in Sunagakure for the jounin exams. So, it was only natural that she'd want to discuss and hear firsthand about the event. Even the words of a one-time traitor were worth something, right?

If the boy had the common sense to knock before entering he would be greeted by a flat emotionless 'come on'. Interestingly, though, when and if he did enter a different image of the woman he once met would be sitting at the large oaken desk. Instead of her normally wild hair it had been tamed into long straightened lock and tied back in what her hairdresser called the 'hottest fashion' where her bangs were pulled back and braided behind her head.

Yes, Ashi Inuzuka, once a hardened anbu, had been assigned a hairdresser. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Apparently, it was important to look presentable as a leader, who'd have thought?

OH how the lycan's heart nearly stopped right there in his chest as the secretary informed him that the kage would now see him. And just as he was getting comfortable standing there in the waiting room, getting used to the painful anticipation...

"Uh... Thanks..." The lycan offered before making his way up the stairs, doing his best to not fight himself. What he was really thinking and what he WANTED to say was "Please kill me" if nothing else than to alleviate the tension but somehow... he knew that wouldn't go over well in the long run.... or the long-short-run in this case. Making his way up the stairs in a way that could only be equated to a movie protagonist in a horror-movie, Salzem knocked on the door lightly, announcing his presence to the, no doubt, livid creature inside... Instead of being sucked in to his imminent demise as he anticipated, he was merely met with a brisk and neutral "Come-on." This choice of words confused the lycan for a moment, expecting something more along the lines of "enter" or "come-in" but apparently Ms. Kage-person-lady had her own way of doing things... somehow this relaxed him a bit. Hooray for small comforts.

With this invitation taken, Salzem entered the Kage's chambers as if the floor was alight with slow-acting fire, his steps deliberate, but cautious, remaining vigilant for the pain to come.

Salzem did not sit in the chair across from Ashi's desk, nor did he make a move for it. He was not asked to sit, he was not offered that chair right there. He stood, his eyes making subtle journeys across this new.... style the current Kage had picked up though they always quickly retreated to those dead ones that rested on her face. After all, a dead-thing told no tales.

Frustrating.

"You asked to see me, Lady Hokage." Salzem offered, his voice as straight and to-the-point as Ashi's expression indicated.

"Yes," her voice softened—her advisors had instructed her not to go for the throat directly when talking with people apparently it was offputting or something like that. "I was looking through my files here."

She gestured to the papers on the desk in front of her.

"And I suppose congratulations are in order. Our last communique from Sunagakure indicated your promotion to chuunin, an impressive feat for a genin in a jounin exam."

If one could say anything about the new Hokage it was that she was fair. A life in the anbu bred a strong belief in a meritocracy. Thus, she gave credit where credit was due and Salzem deserved some credit. The operative word there being 'some'. There were still quite a few questions that needed answering and, in Ashi's experience, she got the answers she was looking for one way or another.

"However," her tone shifted sharply to one the misbehaving academy students of Konoha once knew all too well. "As you know, that is not why I called you here today. I would like a report on what happened in Sunagakure directly after the exams. The intelligence we have on the fate of Sunagakure is minimal at best and, at the moment, any information at all will help."

Ashi then fell silent. She'd neglected to mention what the reports she'd already received in hopes of not biasing the boy's report. She wanted the truth, not the truth Salzem thought she wanted to hear.

Salzem listened, a confused expression on his face as she referred to him like he had achieved something in the Jounin exams... Specifically, that he had jumped rank from genin to chuunin... No, no no... that wasn't correct in the slightest! In fact, the lycan was a full-blown chuunin at that point in time and had been for a long time now... How could the Hokage have access to such inaccurate files...?

Before he could offer counterinformation, something to right these files' wrongs, Ashi's tone shifted from one someone MIGHT consider soft-ish to one as harsh and sharp as any blade. She stated that she wanted information regarding what happened at Sunagakure directly after the exams, that the information they do have was weak at best. The lycan only continued to look at her with the mildest hint of strangeness.

"With all due respect, mam, the information regarding my exam is incorrect. I was and am a chuunin and had been from when I first left the village to here I am now. It has been a long time now since I completed a mission alongside Risako, Yensung, and Draconis." He spoke plainly, as if this was part of his report. "Sunagakure was under attack by two very powerful men, those I speculate are quite possibly each stronger than the Kazekage was individually. I was having dinner with.... a friend of mine when they arrived at the gates and their mere presence alone was a testament to their power. Of course I, along with several other Sunagakure and Konoha ninja arrived to investigate before the Kazekage himself arrived... then disappeared."

The straightness of Salzem's features gave way to nothing, indicating he was telling the truth.

"He blinked out of existence mam, and I haven't seen or heard anything from him since. After his disappearance, needless to say that no one knew what to do. We had no leader, no one to coordinate us against such a powerful force and no one was stepping up either. I can't speak for anyone but myself but I didn't step up because these men had the power to destroy Sunagakure easily while flicking us aside in the process. If no one antagonized them, then no one would be killed... Little did I know, they would fall under Kumogakure's banner..." Salzem paused a moment, a mild splash of regret upon his features.

"As for what's happening now, I do not know, other than the fact that they are allowing foreign ninja and personnel to leave rather than keeping them locked up as prisoners. They don't seem here for bloody conquest."

Mental note: fire the archivist.

Shuffling through Salzem's file, Ashi found the mistake. It appeared as if the recount of Kotsuzui Kaguya's promotion had somehow been mixed in with Salzem's file. The whole thing was pretty strange. Oh well, it was nothing a new hire couldn't fix.

"Ah, my mistake," Ashi said as if it were of little consequence. "It appears your files were accidentally merged with another..."

...It probably had something to do with your former rogue status...

She then fell silent and listened to the rest of the boy's report. She's heard it all before, ironically from Kotsuzui. However, she could not help but raise an eyebrow at the mention of Kumogakure. Now, here was a new detail she had not heard before. Kumogakure's involvement changed everything and probably saved Salzem from the dressing down she'd intended to give the boy.

"Kumogakure you say?" She asked skeptically, drumming her fingers on the desk. "That is more than a bit worrying. Do you know anything about Kumogakure's aims in the village?"

Of course, Salzem's report would need to be confirmed. However, if everything checked out then this surely meant war. Konohagakure could not allow the annexing of an allied village to go unanswered. This also meant village security would have to be ramped up much higher—no one save for Konoha citizens would be allowed in.

Salzem nodded silently as the Hokage recognized her mistake and carried on. Although Salzem was aware he was a complete idiot sometimes, he was perceptive and noticed how little Ashi wanted him to be here. It wasn't so much the way she looked at him or her body language. Such things were easy to hide within a veil of barbed neutrality. Rather, it was simply the air of tension in the room, the roughness of her voice or the way she spoke a few words. He didn't know why she cared so little for his presence at this moment, but that didn't matter...

When he mentioned the work of Kumogakure, it seemed the Hokage's interest spiked, her fingers now actively drumming on the face of the table while Salzem nodded grimly. Yes... Kumogakure. Were it not for Kira telling him this, he would only be able to assume it was the work of two missing ninja superpowers but at least they knew the ultimate power behind the action... Salzem frowned and shook his head at Ashi's next statement, crossing his arms in thought.

"No... I have no idea what they want..." He paused a moment before a smile began to creep into his eyes. "But... I think I might be able to get one... I have a friend in Suna, Lady Hokage, one who I might be able to get further information out of... I don't know for sure and I can't promise anything mam,  but it might be worth trying."

"Tell me a bit more about this friend," her fingers stopped drumming. "Is this, by any chance, the same friend you mentioned having dinner with?"

In Ashi's experience, information was paramount to any serious operation. And what Salzem was suggesting would indeed be a serious operation. Developing an asset in hostile territory involved careful planning by all parties. However, most importantly, it required knowing each party well enough to trust them or, at the very least, know what they would do in any given situation. So, yes, the Hokage needed more information on both Salzem and his friend.

"To get to the point, can you trust this person?"

The question she didn't ask, naturally, was did he feel comfortable betraying his friend for the good of the village. That question would come later. Leading with the dark side of developing an asset was not normally a good idea.

Salzem paused for a moment as Ashi made the connection faster than he expected, asking if this friend he kept mentioning was the same one he had dinner with. It took very much all of his strength to choak down the blush under visual view.

"...Yes, mam. She is." He confirmed nodding his head, but only barely. He noticed that the Hokage's fingers had stopped drumming there on the desk, that her attention was now fully on him. He was glad she realized how much of a risk he was taking even telling her this, not only to himself but to Kira as well... If she would even do what he was going to ask.

"I trust her with my life." He stated on no uncertain terms, his eyes as rock solid as his tone. "We've known each other for the longest time, Lady Hokage and... to be brutally honest, I love her." Salzem took a moment to compose himself, raising a hand up to his face to wipe the blush and sweat he could already feel forming right off his face. It was so hard to say to anyone other than the girl it really mattered to... DAMMIT! THIS WAS THE VILLAGE AT STAKE! HE NEEDS TO GET HIS PRIORITIES STRAIGHT!

"*Ahem*, Her name is Kira Uzumaki, a chuunin from Sunagakure and specialist in Fuuninjutsu, my lady Hokage. In fact... Because of her skills in such things... we have a connection of sorts that makes communication easy for us." The lycan grabbed hold of his left gauntlet with his right hand, pulling it off to reveal the limb underneath but more specifically, the dot on the back of his hand, barely larger than a pinprick... The telepathic seal the two of them shared that allowed two-way mental contact.

"This seal allows me to contact her even now telepathically... possibly safer than sending a contact or a message."

"You love her?"

It was an honest question with no malice or doubt attached. Ashi did not have much experience with love. Life as an anbu operative left little time for frivolous things like love. In fact, it would probably be safe to say that her closest friend had four legs and the occasional bout of fleas. No, the Inuzuka didn't know much about love, but she did know enough to conclude that perhaps Salzem did not know all that much either. After all, would you ask someone you love to do something that may very well imperil their lives? Honestly, Ashi couldn't be sure, but she also couldn't allow a lead such as this to fall by the wayside.

"Interesting," the woman tilted her head slightly to get a better look at the small fuinjutsu seal. "If you feel comfortable asking her for help Konoha would be forever thankful."

The Hokage mentally cringed at the words she was now saying. I mean who said these kinds of things, like really?

"We are in desperate need of eyes on the ground and any information they can provide," she paused a second to consider her next words. "However, more importantly, we must assure Sunagakure that the Leaf has not forgotten her."

At this point, Ashi might very well have been talking to herself. Planning on the go was her specialty, but it most definitely was a process. And, more often than not, it was a process fraught with trial and error.