Breaking Bonds

The Jugo had a lot on his mind on the back of the summit he had recently attended. As a result, he decided to seek an audience with his village Kage. The time and a place were booked and set in stone a few days ahead of the meeting. On the day, Satoru was dressed in his old jet black cloak that covered his entire body. In less than a year he had progressed as both as man and a Shinobi. He never thought his visions were achievable but time and time again he overcame adversity and the challenges before him in order to build his mind and body.

As it would have it, despite all of his accumulated ability – he still wasn’t on the level of the Kage that he had recently met. It was a difficult few days leading up to the meeting and it was with a heavy heart that the Jugo came to what would ultimately be the conclusion in his Kumogakure Saga. He washed, ironed and folded the Storm Operative attire that was provided to him for the purpose of the Protection Assignment. He gathered his belongings with a heavy sigh – placing everything into his storage displacement, leaving only his Storm Operative uniform.

With the Uniform in hand he made his way to the Kages Office, arriving 5 minutes ahead of the scheduled meeting time. The secretary eventually indicated to the male that the Raikage would now see him at which point Satoru would make his way into the awe instilling office. Upon entering, he would make his way towards Noborus desk, his face blank and expressionless as he placed the Storm Operative Attire on the desk.

He knew from the myriads of books that he had read over the course of his studies at the Thunderpeaks Campus that Satorus actions would be considered treasonous in the current state of affairs. But he didn’t want to make a foe out of Kumogakure nor the man that helped him turn his life around. Given the opportunity, the Jugo sat – loosening the band around right bicep that held his forehead protector firmly in place.

“Good morning. I’m sure you’re wondering about the nature of this meeting. I’m not sure how much you read about the report I submitted pertaining to the summit but the 3 Kage that we met in the Tea Country were formidable.” he paused, observing the Raikages facial expression. Every cell in his body screaming out in fear of retaliation. “I came to a realisation.” he spoke, eyes locking with his compatriot as the forehead protector came free, sliding down his sleeve before a light tug pulled it away from the bicep. “As painful as it is for me to say this – I think I have reached a ceiling in my progression. An- yet… I can’t see myself competing with the likes of the other Kage with my current skills and capabilities.” he let out an exasperated sigh, to some extent it felt good to get that off his chest.

He cocked his head back, releasing a heavy breath before shifting his attention back to the Raikage. “It’s with a heavy heart that I would like to ask for your blessing in allowing me to leave the Lightning Country?” with the words passing from his inflamed lips he carefully leaned forward, placing his forehead protector atop to Storm Operative uniform.

His request came with a brief pause as he continued onto – “I have a dream… and I need to become a lot stronger to achieve it” he looked down, breaking eye contact – his left leg shaking anxiously in response to his own rhetoric.

From among the piles of documents he had to read and sign, there came times where his ninja requested audiences with him. Sometimes, these audiences had their subjects announced, and some of them could even be delegated, yet when certain ninja requested audiences without a subject, Noboru knew he had to take them alone, always under the watchful eye of whichever Storm Operative looked from beyond the one way glass of his makeshift office gym. Perhaps Satoru wished to make a proposition similar to Ryuzaki’s; in truth, the redhead didn’t know how to view a request such as that. Yet, given the report from the mission, he could tell that Satoru would be ready for such a charge; he had provided protection to Ichigo in the summit, but also during an assassination attempt along the way.

Yet, until he arrived, Noboru had no choice but to sift through documents until the fateful knock came at his door. He called out for whoever it was to enter, and the orange headed goliath walked into the room. Noboru kept writing on the document he was writing while the youth walked closer, until they put a set of armor on his table. His black eye glanced from the documents to the armor, before landing on Satoru’s blank expression. “Have a seat, lad”, he offered, waving a hand to his left where the couch sat before getting up and moving towards his drink cabinet on the opposite side of the desk. He prepared two shot glasses and brought up a good sake out, filling the two cups, picking one glass with his pinky and ring fingers holding it against the palm of the hand while his three other fingers held the other cup, and on his other hand he brought up the sake bottle with him.

He made his way to Satoru, who loosened the band around his bicep, offering him the glass shot with his index and thumb, before putting the sake bottle down on his desk and grabbing the other glass. Satoru spoke, solemn in tone and dreary in speech, about the events of the Summit. Noboru tried to keep a stoic expression, listening intently but with feigned dispassion, a distancing technique he had developed to not allow his thoughts and emotions to betray intent before the hour of need. He knocked back the sake, allowing the taste to swirl around his tongue and gums before swallowing it down. Slowly but surely the headband around the bicep came loose, secured by Satoru’s grip as he continued his tale. He appeared to be relieved to be able to express what had been bothering him; in a way, Noboru knew exactly what he meant. When faced with the reality of the monsters of the world, it had cost him many a dreamless night. Between Kenshin Uzumaki, the man responsible for destroying the Kumogakure’s ambitious world spread empire, or Kutari Uchiha, the man who conquered the would-be conqueror and their beast, Noboru had felt trapped in a prison of his own making, as if an inescapable fate.

Then, the question.

Satoru leaned in and offered the headband, resting it atop the darkened skies that reflected the feeling within the Raikage. A bold question, to be sure. Not many who tried to leave the Kumogakure were offered as much as an opportunity for penance when their lives were taken from them, yet this man would come to the Raikage’s office and ask this of the man in charge of the village.

Noboru kept his composure through the talk, and now he picked the sake bottle once again to refill his glass, and would lean over to refill Satoru’s if found empty. “I’ve read the reports, both from this Summit but also from your missions. It’s clear you’re no longer the man I invited to Kumogakure last year.”

He would knock the new glass back, the drink going down quickly with a swift burn. “You no longer hide underneath rags, or hunch over clutching a cane. And even though you had no reason to take me on my word, you crossed the world to come to us.” Noboru nodded. “You’ve developed quite well, and I can see you’re much more confident than you were before.”

He sucked his teeth, looking outside at the clouded vista, before looking back at Satoru. “You were a foreigner, and a stranger. But you are now a ninja of the Kumogakure, and a citizen of the Lightning Country. I expected you to teach my son and daughter a few things of your own.” Likely a surprise to the lad to hear that the Raikage was a father now, apparently, a white lie at best, a worrying deception at worst. “So, if you wish to test yourself against the world, I will grant you a leave of absence, but under a few conditions. The first is that you report back on your travels. The second is that you ensure the secrets of the Kumogakure against those capable of extracting information from you. The third, is that you return safe and sound to share your talents with my children. How’s that sound?”