So It Goes [Mizu]

Although Guren stood with his guard up in front of the Second, the words she had spoken to him did not present any malice in their tone. Sighing to himself, he couldn't help but remind himself how this conversation was one he was reluctant on diving deeper into. Upon issuing her first point, Guren would rebuttal in the seconds before she'd wear a sad expression.

"My leave from the village was under village orders, as I was assigned to complete missions. What you seem to be describing does not seem to be comparable."

With that interjection, Mizuki would continue on. She expressed the policies of Sunagakure, admitting that she had no fear of Sunagakure functioning properly without her at the helm. His face bore a confused look. Yes, it was true that Sunagakure had an open door policy. "But our tolerance of missing ninja is specific to those of other villages. We do not have defined policies on missing ninja from our own village. And I know you understand the level of caution that should be exercised when the kazekage leaves from the village? Think on if Kenshin, or myself were to leave Sunagakure permanently. Would you have been willing to let us walk with all of the knowledge we have over the village?" He questioned. He was not seeing the point she was trying to counter with. Though he could feel her somber heart emanating its longing to be free from the shackles of servitude to the Sand Village.

Her further comment would sting, implying that Guren thought little of her. He'd roll his eyes and his shoulders would drop lower. "It's not about what I think of you. I have, and always will hold you in high regards. But you and I both swore an oath to protect this village. Whether information is willing shared, or it is extracted from you from our enemies...that is a risk. Would you agree? And in response to the point on you leaving the village to me, I trust your judgement. And I need you to trust mine."

He would pause hesitantly as his brain rifled through a number of scenarios in his head. He'd cross his arms, folding them across his chest and think on the situation at hand before he came to his first plausible outcome.

"I have a proposal. To satisfy my concerns over the security of Sunagakure, what if we were to develop a way to erase only your knowledge of Sunagakure's inner workings as well as its secrets?"

In anticipation of the proposal issued to Mizuki, he would closely monitor her body language for a reaction. It was a large ask, but one that seemed appropriate given the upcoming plans of the current kazekage. Still though, he would understand the hesitation that Mizuki may respond with.

 WC = 463. TWC = 3232

"Perhaps you are right in calling my proposal an act of mistrust, and perhaps not. But it is a merely a suggestion, that pales in comparison to the act of leaving a village. And understand the difficulty in trusting someone who is detaching themselves from the allegiance I have sworn to. I mean...what is the point in loyalty if it is temporary?" Guren would say aloud in response to Mizuki's first and second set of comments. Her face turned, to the extent that her expression was hidden from his point of view. Suspending his arms from their previously folded state, they'd hang by his side as he watched the Kazekage fold her own arms across her chest as she openly dismissed him from her current presence and from the role of Deputy Kage. Then she would fully turn her back on Guren, just as she was admitting to turning her back on Sunagakure. He himself would remain positioned where he was, staring into the back of the second.

"I interpret your desire to leave the village as you becoming a missing ninja, because that is our background. We are a village of former missing ninja. And I understand what that lifestyle entails and how it shifts one's own moral code and priorities from serving their village to themselves. However, it is a past for a reason. My life is devoted to serving Sunagakure, and you seem to be realigning your own life to serve yourself...So everything I've said to you has been with Sunagakure's interests in mind, seeing as you are Kazekage, I thought you would understand that. And yet all it has been received as is a personal attack." 

Pausing momentarily, he would scoff at the next thought that came to mind. "And for you to try to punish me for me being as cautious as I have always been is...unbecoming of you. What weight does it, and any new order of yours, even hold if you are leaving Sunagakure?"

Although the conversation had gone poorly, Guren himself was not frustrated. He could not feel sorry for what was said, and more so for someone who seemed to gain what she wanted from the village and then leave it when she grew tired of it. And this conversation had only further confirmed that Mizuki herself was in fact the "crack" and the "weak spot" she had alluded to at the start of their conversation. He couldn't let Mizuki just freely leave from the village. Yet now wasn't the time for him to take action. Instead, he would take his leave. Walking from the right side of the room towards the exit, he'd maintain his gaze on Mizuki until he had departed from the office. 

-Exit Unless Interrupted-
WC = 454. TWC = 3686

Max Stat, 25% Discount Claims:
- 1500 WC towards memorizing Mizuki Ohta's chakra signature
- 1875 WC towards MASS, A Rank

Discussed with Mizu privately via Discord DMs. Exit for Guren as well as claims are approved.

The tears still hot on her face stung against her cool skin, leaving trails of burning heat as his final words to her sunk in like claws of a predatory bird on a carcass. It was only when the door snapped closed that the tears stopped and her body calmed into its usual stillness - wiping her face clear of the tears she shed earnestly moments before she would turn to face the empty room, all sounds of heart beats and words on echoes in her memory. Was she resigning herself to serve only herself instead of an entire village? Thats one way to look at it, but for her it really came down to clan or village - and her clan needed her more than the village did. And to the last words he proposed to her, ones that questioned the weight to which her actions and words carried as a Kage on the way out - she supposed they held very little in the grand scheme of things. 


Taking a long sweeping look at all the furnishings and adornments of her office she would file the memory of this place away, for if his words told her anything - she was not going to be allowed exit from the sands of Sunagakure without resistance. She still knew the codes fuinjutsu for the Sand Barrier and there was no time for him to change them before she met them once again. With a stony expression she melted into the ground using Mayfly and would resurface at her home to prepare for her exit. In less than 10 minutes she had everything she needed and was headed toward the gates, knowing that anyone joining her would be there waiting.


wc 285
twc 3459
Reallocating Stats from Speed to Vigor - NOW Speed 78 and Vigor 117
1500 towards Fuuinjutsu Amplifier V7 B rank 1500/1500
1500 towards Hiding Like a Mole V7 B rank 1500/1500
459 towards Breath Seal 765/1125

Approved