A New Life in Suna (Mizu)

Page had taken some time asking around the village abouts who he could talk to in order to become some sort of proper ninja for the Village Hidden in the Sand, asking around more and more as the only answer he got he was not the biggest fan of. All the people that gave him a legitimate answer in the village told him he would have to meet with the Kage. He was hoping he could get off with talking with some sort of clerk or some lower bureaucrat in the structure, someone who he would have to be formal with but if he didn't bring a suit and tie it wouldn't tarnish his reputation with the higher ups of the village, but hearing that this was the case, and that lady Kazekage would only accept visitors in her office far atop the tallest tower.

Just great, Page thought, me and Sheffield here gotta meet with the Kage, atop of all those stairs, in these ratty ass clothes that I've had since back at the farm. Jeez, guess I'm glad I got a chance to wash them before setting on this little trip for the day. Page stopped by a general store, bought a water bottle and started his trip up the tower. 


Three hundred meters up wouldn't be so bad if the stairs weren't forced to be so narrow, the former farmer thought, may as well stop worrying about walking and talking and just get to it, no wasted effort, as he started his way to the Spire. Page was surprised to see, after hyping himself up to take on the challenge of climbing up the stairs, he was simultaneously deflated and relieved as he realized he wouldn't have to go up the long trek both ways as he saw teleportation seals that led to each floor. He weighed his option for a second before deciding to talk to the clerk of the spire.

"Say," Page began to ask, "is the Kazekage currently meeting with anyone or have an appointment in the next half hour?"

"Well," the clerk replied, "She is currently in a meeting but that should be ending soon."

"Great, any way I could set up a meeting in thirty minutes with Lady Kazekage? I am looking on starting up shinobi work again and figured this village would be a great place to do so," Page said.

"Well I certainly can try," the clerk said.

"Fantastic, well I'll be on my way then," Page said, starting his way up the stairs. He knew that this trip could take him a very short bit if he were to try to rush up the spire, but he decided to take his time climbing the 100 levels of the spire, stopping every few levels to take a break, drink some of his water, and stretch a little bit before continuing on, knowing he had time. Eventually thirty minutes passed and with the time passed, Page had reached the summit of his walk, walked up to the door the the Kazekage's office, here goes nothing, and knocked. 

WC: 516

Mizu sat at her desk with her leg crossed over the other, staring at the door with interest - she had gotten word nearly thirty minutes ago that someone had stopped by and scheduled a meeting with her and … had taken the stairs. Admittedly she hadn’t even looked up from her paperwork until that last detail was noted, it had instantly made her scrunch her eyebrows together and look up as if she had mistaken the woman; but she was already closing her door again. It was strange to have someone choose the 100 meter winding staircase instead of simply waiting in the grove that surrounded the Spire and taking the seal up when it was time; honestly she had forgotten there were even stairs to take anymore. She had remained paused like that for a few moments longer before resuming her paperwork and resolving herself to finding out the being behind such a particular act. Thus she sat now in her deep mahogany chair waiting for the foreign sound of a new heartbeat to reach her ears.


The smile that formed across her lips was unconscious as the slightly labored heartbeat breached into her hearing, accompanied with the heartbeat of a slightly faster and smaller being - a child? Knock. “Come in please!” She would rise from her desk and go over to the side of the room that held a glass pot and mugs on a tray, glancing over at the entering figures her eyebrow would raise with further intrigue. “Have a seat won’t you, it’s not often we get a brave soul that chooses the 100 meter accent willingly.” Having motioned to the man to take a seat in one of the deep blue plush chairs that sat across the desk she would turn back to the tea and finger food she was preparing before returning with the tray laden and setting it on the desk between the two. The other heartbeat she had heard was from the great dog that was at the mans’ side - loyal and well behaved. 

“First, allow me to welcome you both to Sunagakure, it seems as you have both had a long journey with no real time to recover - and I apologize for the lack of hospitality shown to you. My name is Mizuki, second Kazekage, whom do I owe the pleasure of meeting?”, her tone was polite and inquiring as she poured each of them a mug full of slightly steaming tea, grasping her mug she would sit in her chair - once more crossing her legs. “And what can I do for you.”

WC 432

Hearing the Kazekage ask him to enter, Page somewhat sheepishly opened the door, stepping in followed closely by Sheffield, who had been absorbing the pets of the other occupants of the spire as they ascended the stairs together, soaking up the adoration. Needless to say, Sheffield was a happy dog, contrasting the nervous wreck that the former farmer had quickly devolved into as he entered the office atop the Spire. 

As the Kage asked him to take a seat, he got right to it, moving somehow both sluggishly and jittery, overthinking every move, feeling like he was in slow motion as he reached out to the chair he was directed to take a seat in, pulling back on it as to provide space for the former farmer to fit into the chair, but making what seemed like the fatal error of not fully clamping down his hand as he pulled back, causing the chair to in place of moving as a whole, tip back and almost fall over, only for good ole Shef to catch it before it could fall, bouncing it back up and into place, finally breaking the tension that had been building up in Page as he bellowed out a laugh. 

"My apologies Lady Kazekage, swear I'm not crazy, just a bit of a tension breaker that," Page said, realizing his random laugh may have been construed as some sort of sleight, "and on the topic of the stairs, I'm gonna be fully honest with you, thought it would look impressive but looking back on it now seems it may have just made me look foolish." Sheffield hopped on a chair next to Page's, taking a second to fit himself before lying down in it, sniffing at some of the food freshly laid out in front of it, and after looking at both the Kazekage and his companion, bit off a bit and began chewing.

"Sorry again for Shef, er, Sheffield. He is a bit of a connoisseur when it comes to food and if he smells something made well, there ain't no stopping him," Page said, before continuing on with the conversation, "Thank you for the welcome, I'm glad to be here. No need to apologize by the way, while I haven't had a chance to fully recover from the trip yet, that is entirely of my choice, the man I met at the gate was extremely welcoming and has been assisting me as I acclimate to living in the village, Raleth is his name."

"My name is Page" he said after some hesitation, taking out his Shinobi ID for confirmation, "and this here as I mentioned is Sheffield," pinning up the wolf's ID on his collar, the image matching down to the grin. "It is a pleasure to meet you Lady Misuki, er is the proper term to address you as Lady Kazekage?" Page continued, scratching the back of his head awkwardly, "Anyway I seek to properly join your village as a full fledge shinobi. Long story short I used to do the ninja type work a long time ago but... retired at a young age and took up farming. That life has hit a snag so I figured may as well go back to the only gainful employment I've had since, and Sunagakure here seemed like the best place for it."

"Great tea, by the way" the former farmer said, having taken a sip.

(WC: 570, TWC: 1,086)

The lively man took the compliment from the kazekage shedding his modesty for a moment, "Well thank you kindly for the compliment, Lady Kazekage," he said. "Not to be rude but if you don't mind I think that rolls off the tongue a bit better," he continued, repeating the obvious nervous tick he presented before, scratching the back of his head. 

"Raleth taught you how to brew that sweet stuff, ay? He offered me some training when I was entering and this is certainly an incentive to take him up on that offer," Page admitted, Sheffield nodding in agreement as his companion put the empty cup back down on the table. Page picked up the quill, smiled back, then went to read and fill out the document, his smile fading as he began to focus on its contents. He read over the pay, seems fair, he thought, simple enough, but as he got to the open entry section he ran into trouble. I can't just leave this blank Page admitted to himself, gotta fill this out somehow, and then it hit him. "Prefer missions where killing in not necessary, although should it become required will satisfy mission requirements. Loyalty is first and foremost to Sheffield." The last bit seemed like it may get him in hot water, but thought it was best Mizuki found out now as opposed to down the line when said loyalty may come to conflict. Having finished this up, he signed his name and turned it back over to the Kazekage, hoping to quickly get to work on Sheffield's document.

He looked over to the wolf only to see him decorated in a mess of ink, the document in front of him with a big nose print in the open section, a paw print in the place of a signature. "Aw shit, Shef let me clean you up," Page let out, forgetting his situation for a moment, "I mean, er, uhh, I'm sorry Lady Kazekage for my rude tone of voice and the actions of my ward," Page said, now more consious of the setting, rubbing furiously at the ink decorating his companion, Sheffield bearing a big grin as he was getting pet by proxy of being cleaned. "I can fill out another if this won't do for Sheffield, it's really no problem at all," Page conceded, but to his surprise, the kazekage accepted both documents.

"I think that all my questions here have been answered, you've done a great job welcoming me and I'm glad to be here, that said the mention of a nice bed truly is very appealing to me right now, been far too long since I slept in real comfort. I'll make sure to visit the mission board when I have free time and I can practically promise you that Raleth will drag me to one of the training grounds whether I want to or not," Page smiled, glad to finally have most of the things in the village sorted out. 

As the Kazekage slammed down on the table, Page mimicked the owl in the corner, jumping up for a second, before letting out a sigh of relief. Sheffield, however reacted by giving him a bit of a stink eye before doing the sort of laugh only a dog could describe. The former farmer graciously accepted the money, "Thank you so much, Lady Kazekage, and I think I'll take that advice regarding the seal, after all, I already made my first impression, time to ride the coattails of that for a while," Page laughed, accidently slipping back into the casual demeanor he had tried to avoid. Sheffield hopped down off the chair he was laying in, and led Page out of the office, "I wish you a good day, Lady Kazekage, and thank you so much for all the hospitality." And with that, Page put his hand and Sheffield's paw to the seal, teleported down and started his way back home.

WC: 660, TWC: 1,746
+9 stats Page
+8 Stats Sheffield
Tai to main, 3k/3k continued from Here
Hiding Like a Mole  1k/1k C rank
Storage Displacement 16/500
Oh, also +500 Ryo
[EXIT]

Approved

TWC 1281

Using Max Stat Discount 25%
1281 toward mastering Assimilating Aura V7 1580/7500

Approved