Them Darn City Folk [IO,NK,Max]

Kozue knew she would probably be in trouble. With the change in leadership, she knew full well that the new kage would probably be pouring over the files right now, and hers would inevitably come up. She wasn't exactly a problem to the village, but there was definitely a good chance she'd get called in for a talking-to. To be honest, she had to admit that she was a bit of a loose cannon, not that she could help it or anything. Sometimes her temper and vernacular just got away from her. If they had a problem with it, she wouldn't have made it this far in the first place. Yeah, that's right. Those sons o' bitches only saw the results, so she'd keep giving them results. Still, it seemed like a good idea to try and make sure that the new brass in town wasn't out to git her from the get go.

She crawled out of bed, slowly but surely, the alcohol from last night's revel taking its toll. Well... shit. Clumsily, she formed the tiger handseal and felt the damage to her liver vanish as chakra knit her cells back together and cleansed her completely. Now without pain and with a clearness of mind, she got dressed and prepared for what she would do next. In her standard uniform and headband, she headed out into the brisk spring morning of Kumogakure's mountain air. In the frozen North where she was from, weather like this was a pleasant surprise. Without even realizing it, she started to grin as she headed towards the kage building.

A part of her wanted to enthusiastically show the kage the jutsu she was working on, but she felt like that might be a really bad idea. The concept she had in mind was something that could lay waste to frontier settlements in a matter of seconds, and was generally bad for the environment.
...
Well, fuck the environment. Kozue had no intention of stopping work on her technique, but neither was she going to tell the kage about it until it was good and finished. There weren't no sense in leaving a job half done or an enemy half destroyed, so Pop had always told her. Wise advice that she always kept in mind. Making sure the targets were good and dead was part of her job as a shinobi anyway, so the enjoyment she took in doing so didn't really matter one way or the other.

She entered the office and gave the secretary her information, taking a seat shortly thereafter. What was the new kage like? She hadn't really seen him at all since the whole transition happened, which she supposed meant that he was just busy. Then again, all these darn city people were, right? Rushing here and there, eyes to the ground, never stopping to smile at each other or give a hearty greeting. The young woman sighed, her eyes wandering around the office and finding nothing in particular to draw her focus. Fucking city people.

[506]

The secretary took the information and thanked the young lady. "You would be surprised how many people just stroll in here and head straight back to the Raikage's office." She would jot down some notes logging Kozue's information and then would send word back to the Raikage of the meeting waiting for him. Once that was done, the secretary would inform Kozue to go ahead back towards the office. 

Crawford sat at a chair in front of the office doors, facing the back of the chair and resting his arms on it while watching for anyone to approach the office. Seeing the young woman approach, the armed guard would stand up, "I take it you are Kozue. The little lord is waiting inside for you." And with that said he would open the door for the young lady and allow her entry into the office. 

Max would be sitting down at the desk that seemed far too large for the boy, stacks of paperwork to pour over sitting to his left. His attire was that of his formal Raikage robes, the hat sitting on the desk to his right. He would note  the entry of the young Jounin with a smile, "Greetings, Kozue. I am glad to see you. Please, take a seat." The boy would say, standing up and gesturing for the lady to sit in the open chair across from him. He would wait until she was seated before returning to his own.

"I am Max," he would say to the lady sitting across from him. Of course, she probably already knew this, but the boy was suddenly at a loss for words for some reason and wanted to introduce himself. "So, might I ask what brought you in to see me today?" His voice had a genuine softness and kindness behind every word. He would hope this meeting was a pleasant one, as he sought to speak one on one with all of his shinobi forces at some point. There was much to ask, but the boy would allow Kozue to speak her mind first.

Kozue nodded and headed into the room, unsure of what to expect. What she found, of course, defied any expectation she could have come up with.

Oh my god! He's so precious! I.... I gotta protect the kiddo!? What the hell is he doing as kage??

She tried not to show her emotions on her face, something that had been taught to her in training, but it was very, VERY difficult. What kinda world would put a kid like this in a position like that? The same sort of world that put YOU here, she thought to herself. Eh, fuck it. She wasn't going to get anywhere with thoughts like these.

With no visible delay, she sat down as indicated, looking around her a little nervously. It was decision time, and she was on the gosh-darned spot. Well, what would she do if this boy was just a normal guy? Ma had always said to treat everyone with hospitality, no matter who they were. Of course, while this certainly, couldn't truly apply to everyone, Kozue was pretty sure it did in this case. So, with only the slightest bit of hesitation, she busted out with the best question that she could ask.

"Hey, lil' guy, you want a hug? You look like you could really use one..."

[TWC 723]

Max would watch as Kozue sat down, the little lord then taking a seat after her. There was something about her… something that was throwing Max off. He was just about to begin to speak when she offered him a hug. Max hadn’t expected it, and it caught him a bit off guard. Most people didn’t see him as a normal child, one to be hugged and protected from the outside world. Most looked upon him with disgust before, and now that he had been Raikage people saw him as their leader even if they were a bit worried about his age.
 
“Yeah, I really could use a hug,” He would say with a nod. The young Raikage would then walk around the desk and outstretch his little arm for her embrace. It was a bit odd, to hug someone that you just met. Of course, Akihana hugged him the first time they met, and he ended up caring for her more than he could explain. Sometimes in this land of death and war something as simple as a hug could help remind us all that we were still human. While it may not be the ideal image of leadership, Akihana was a great queen and yet she still gave hugs to those that needed them.
 
Whether or not she followed through with her offer of a hug, Max would then return to his seat and ask “So how can I help you, Kozue? I admit I wasn’t entirely expecting you, but I am pretty glad you came. I have some things to ask you, but I will wait until you speak your mind about whatever it is you came here for.” Max would offer a kind, warmhearted smile at the young miss while waiting for her to speak.

As the child spread his arms, Kozue was filled with a peculiar resolve, a kind of feeling that she had never experienced before. She'd felt an urge for self-improvement, the allure of bloodlust, and even some of that patriotic pride that many of her other colleagues expressed on occasion. However, she'd never felt anything like this. She embraced him, bending down slightly to match her height to his.

What she felt was that maternal instinct she'd felt from her Ma before the long trek to Kumogakure. At that moment, she knew what her directive was.

No matter what, I can't let this young'un suffer. If the world paints him with its colors any further, it means I've failed.

As they sat down, Kozue had to resist the urge to smile like a total idiot. After all, as they were both aware, a hug wasn't all she had come for today. It normally would have worried her that he wanted her to speak first. People like that were normally trying to draw you into some kind of trap. However, today, she felt like the child put her mind at ease.

"Well, actually that was kind'a why I wanted to come and talk to you in the first place." She leaned back, taking her customary casual sitting position. "I'd heard tell them boss men didn't look too kindly on my activities and... pro-cli-vi-ties in recent months." Her enunciation on the latter word was slow and deliberate. One might assume by listening to her that she had difficulty with words like these, and, well... they wouldn't really be wrong at all. Kozue was literate, certainly more than any other who had come from her area, but she still had quite a ways to go before she could be considered well-read, unfortunately.

[TWC 1021]

The hug was warm and soothing, something that helped ease him a great deal. His tension would melt away as the embrace helped him forget about his troubles, even if only for a mere moment.
 
Max would quietly listen as the lady relaxed and spoke of her troubles. Her manner of speech was a bit different from the norm, but Max could easily understand her meaning. “You come concerned that you would be judged harshly for your actions, I see. Know that I prefer to form my own opinions of people, and I am one to understand that people can change.” He of course knew that not all could, or more accurately, not all desired to do so.
 
“I seek to better understand my people. So,” He would say with a kind, soft smile across his face, “What specifically were you concerned with. I’ll admit that I have not gone over your file in detail as of yet, but I would love to hear what you have to say regarding the matter.” This was true, as Max had a great deal of work to do, and couldn’t get to every single file on his shinobi. “Based on what I do know, you are clearly a capable shinobi if you have climbed the ranks to Jounin status.” He would say, his words hiding nothing. Something about this lady brought ease to the mind of the young Raikage, but yet he couldn’t exactly place it.

"Well, I've always been more of a healer than anything else, and I think that's part of the problem." Despite her tendencies, this was entirely true. Of course, there was always a twist that came with this, as she was about to explain. "But, I mos'ly end up healing myself when it comes down to it." She raised her hand, forming it into a knife-like shape. Although she was certainly no physical combatant, she was more than happy enough to use what she did know to demonstrate what she meant to the kage. With no hesitation whatsoever, she drove the nukite-like hand directly into her gut.

In a world without chakra, getting a gut wound like this would be brutal and probably fatal. However, by now, to her the pain was trivial. What she hadn't thought about was the blood. It was good that she had spare uniforms at home. Forming the tiger handseal, her stomach would steam slightly before the wound knit up entirely, the flesh looking as if the wound had never been there in the first place.

"I can heal other people too, but that's just the normal jutsu that every other medical shinobi in the village uses. This jutsu only works on myself, and has several other uses as well." She'd never had to use the other version of the technique all that often, and even then only in the most dire of circumstances.

"Well, that ain't here nor there. Point is, since I can disregard most injuries, I have a bad tendency to jus' dive right on into bad situations that put my young 'uns in danger. It's worked out for me pretty well so far, but at some point in the future, it could go wrong." She had considered asking the kage not to put her on any teams at all, but that was simply shirking her duties and would be looked poorly upon.

"You're the kage, so you know best when it comes to where I should be assigned. What should I do?"

[TWC 1361]

Max would listen, watching the young lady and her visual display of what her healing was capable of. There was a good deal of blood, but blood was something the boy had grown accustomed to at a very young age, his eyes would express his feelings of being impressed. While most medical specialists could do something similar, that didn't detract from the value of having another capable of rapidly healing at least their own wounds. 


"So you rush headfirst into danger. I can see how that would be... problematic for the pupils under you. If thrust into a bad position, many Genin would be lost and not know what to do. You don't have to worry much about your own injuries, but as a Jounin and a medical expert those that you do suffer won't be fatal and will heal rapidly. Genin just aren't equipped to handle those same levels of situations." Max would think back to his own Genin days, notably the attack on his team by Maku. None of them were prepared for such a fight, and they all nearly died for it. It may be best to keep her from being assigned a team...

"Someone of your skill can still be of great use, even if it is not mentoring the shinobi of tomorrow. There are plenty of missions and tasks that are best done without a team of Genin tagging along. High risk tasks are typically reserved for squads of Chuunin and Jounin. I can easily see you excelling in that sort of environment, where you don't have to keep as close an eye on those with you." Max would ponder for a moment what sorts of things these would be. There was the mission to Suna, but he couldn't send too many people without access to space and time ninjutsu. It would only increase the amount of risk and likelihood of casualty. 

"Depending on your medical capabilities, you can help in the efforts to revert those twisted by our former kage. Hato is currently trying to find a way to undo the transformation, though I am not sure such a thing is entirely possible." He would open his desk drawer, flipping to Hato's file and pulling it out. "She is also a medical shinobi. Perhaps she could learn a great deal from a capable Jounin like yourself." Max would slide the file over if asked for it, unsure if Kozue would be interested in more of a research role. 

"Of course, I also have intentions of testing the Genin and Chuunin here soon, and I have a task you could do in preparation for that, should you want to. I doubt it would be much trouble for you. Or you could simply beat the lower ranks into shape in preparation. How do any of these options sound?" Max would wait and see where the Senju would lean, if in any direction. She could of course desire to do something entirely different, in which case Max would gladly hear her out.

Kozue listened to his proposals and thought it over. The one with the minimal risk to her fellow shinobi, and especially the children, was to take on some kind of relatively harmless task, even if ended up being a little more onerous than getting in a good ol' fashioned brawl. The smell of blood and the feeling of violence would have to wait. Still, the healing part of her work was also enjoyable. One of the reasons she stuck with this career path at all was that both facets of it were engaging and fun, while also serving some greater purpose.

"Healing the corpse field victims sounds like a good choice, but I ain't sure where to start. Y'know, if we had enough resources, we could just put them all out of their misery and then resurrect them whole, but I think it'd take me a while to git that kinda process up and runnin'." The woman slipped back into her peculiar backwoods jargon without realizing it as she mulled over the difficulties of the task presented to her. "I guess I'll have to put mah back into it." She grinned at the Raikage, the realization dawning on her that this really would be a challenge. If conventional medical jutsu didn't work on the corpse field victims, then she'd have to resort to experiments. That's not the reason she was smiling, of course. The smile was just for the prospect of an obstacle to overcome.

Kozue didn't really like doing research and experiments, especially on people. This time around, though, it was different. She would be working to save the folks who had been turned into extra security for a village that could probably protect itself from destruction. At this point, she would've already made it clear to Max which option she had chosen.

[TWC 1665, sorry for the short post and inexcusably long delay]

"I'm sure that you will do well. Check with Hato and see what progress she has made. That would likely be a good starting point." 


Max would nod, his head starting to pound. His vision was going blurry. Something was amiss, he just could be sure what at the moment. 

"I'm am sorry to cut this meeting short. I must rest my mind for a bit." Max would say, permitting Kozue to leave so that he may retire for the day. 

---Exit---

WC: 1400
Claims:
1400 WC towards Fuin Spec
14 ap