Measuring through Effort

The week had been very eventful so far. From the challenge of hunting down the thief to the news of Shikami's ascension to Mizukage, Dracoso had been curious about what the future held for the village. He had sent out a couple of letters recently to other Kages to ask if they were open to having him travel to their village. He had yet to hear back at this point, but perhaps they would respond in time. Until then, Dracoso still felt the loss of Gonk hung heavy over the village. He had tried to offer support to many of the civilians who had found solace during the few months the young Mizukage had been in charge.

With his loss, some looked to Shikami to see what the future may hold. Rumor of shifts and changes were abound.

Shikami had been looking over mission reports and sorting them out when he noticed quite a large number had been completed by a highly dedicated individual. Dracoso Hehane, Shikami had met the kid a couple of times at this point, even took him on a hand full of missions himself. It seemed fitting that what Shikami had planned that it was he who had done this next part. Shikami would send a messenger ninja off immediately to go retrieve the boy for him. All the Boy was to know was that he was summoned to the Mizukage's office and that the messenger knew it had to be the boys choice to do so, not to try and bring him in forcefully. With the Messenger nodding he took off to find the young boy and deliver the message from Shikami.

Shikami had fished out several scrolls that he himself had recently learned from. The boy had shown promise, it was time to see how trusted he could be. He also sent Chizu out to gather the other object he needed to bestow upon Dracoso, he told her to take her time of course. At which time Shikami would go back to sorting out the mission count. He kept his eyes on a couple of other people they may be due for promotions soon themselves.

If Dracoso is ever to show up, he would be allowed to step in through the door, at which time Shikami would look up from his paperwork and stand up and walk over to Dracoso with a smile, offering a greeting and a handshake, than offering the boy a seat and informing him that they had a couple of things that they needed to discuss.

The sun had risen high over the village as Dracoso was talking with one of the parents he had met back as a substitute teacher at the academy. She was asking him for advice on how to deal with a child who seemed to be learning too quickly. "And so he ended up teleporting the dog into our neighbors pool and we just do not know how to stop him!" She exclaimed. Dracoso rubbed the back of his neck as he replied, "it might help to find someone whose specialty is in space/time jutsu and have him teach your son better control over it. It might just be that he does not know a safe way to express his abilities. It might also just be that he needs someone who knows how to counter him and enhance the positive uses so that he grows in a good direction." The woman was deep in thought as a ninja ran up to Dracoso with word that the new Kage wished to see him. Dracoso was somewhat relieved to step away from the awkward conversation with the woman and made his way towards the Mizukage's estate.

He had met Shikami only a few months before when he was proctoring his genin exam. Dracoso had made jumps and leaps forward in his advancement and had even taken on a hunter mission recently, so his ascension to the next rank was rather quick. Hearing that Shikami had also just returned and had stepped up to the rank of Mizukage ended up taking him even more by surprise. He had noticed that Kiri had been quiet as of late, as the main ninja he had seen since arriving were Shikami and Karma. With how active he was, he felt like he was losing track of exactly how far he had gone. He realized from his last fight that he would need to take on a more forward approach and engage more threatening opponents as he grew stronger. With more skills and abilities, he could increase his strength further and even negate his opponent's strength.

His escort left him as he arrived at the estate. His mind was racing through options as he made his way through the halls. He could craft pharmaceuticals which could target the body, or chakra, or even how quickly a person moved. He could learn jutsu which removed the amount of energy a person possessed and absorb it into his own to continue the fight. He had heard mention of certain elements causing alternative effects and that the storm barrier around Kiri caused something similar to unwanted threats. Perhaps a mixture of elemental influence combined with pharmaceutical ingenuity would play out an interesting combination...

Dracoso became aware of his surroundings again just as he came to the front door to the Mizukage's office. He gave a firm knock before slowly opening the door and leaning in to see Shikami walking over to him. "I received your messenger. You wanted to see me?" he asked as he shook Shikami's hand and listen to his words.

Shikami would smile at the boy "Please come in and take a seat" as he side stepped to allow the boy to take a seat. Shikami would be following behind him and took a seat on the edge of the desk and faced the boy. "I hear you recently apprehended a criminal , congratulations, that is no small task I can tell you that. The Criminals are only going to get tougher from here, however you may feel as if they are some how easier, that will come with knowledge, tell me, how are you liking life as a shinobi? When I took over, I could not help but notice the many leaving our ranks and wished to get a review from one of our most active." With those words Shikami would reach back behind him and pull off the desk the folder of Accolades achieved by the young boy so quickly.

"I hear you also have a penchant for studying all that you can possibly learn, I dare ask just how many Techniques do you know?" Shikami had asked the boy these questions and revealed certain things that he had became aware of, but did not know to the extent about the boy. Shikami was playing a game of chess with his words purposefully. He had made his mind up on what he was doing for the boy, but he wanted to see where the boy's mind would go with all of the questioning and the types of questions that was being asked.

Shikami awaited a Response, Likely towards the end of the boy responding if he did so, the office door would open and a elderly woman, Lady Chizu, walked in and handed Shikami a package he had asked her to retrieve, to which he would thank her and set it on the desk behind him and saw her off before he would go back to the boy. At which time if the boy did not finish his words, Shikami would encourage him to go ahead and finish them.

Shikami read into the response as much as he could, trying to figure out certain aspects about the boy he had not yet known. Hoping to get a better understanding of him.

Dracoso would take a seat facing Shikami as he sat on the edge of his desk. The younger ninja would scratch the back of his head as the kage would describe his mission against Saito. "Well, I have not really encountered many other active ninjas in the area. We did have those missions we handled with Karma, but I haven't really seen her running around too often otherwise. For me, life in the village has been quiet up until a few months ago. You may have heard of the defector issue we had around that time with a young woman named Fuku who left. I was the one who had reported the reasons for her leaving with the threats leveled at her and it seems as if the lack of activity in the village may have made vulnerabilities that led to that outcome..." Dracoso would quickly look up at the kage and follow up, "not saying that Gonk didn't set up a good system of care and support before you, it just seems as if things are becoming very peaceful lately. Kind of like the eye of the storm, in my mind."

"I became a ninja to try to help others and answer to some of the issues which were manifesting at the time. I was able to learn rather quickly, which leads me to your next question about studying. I did start rather quickly with the help of the Grand Library we have available to all students, and so I was able to apply myself. As for techniques, I can say I am quickly approaching a hundred separate techniques, but there are still so many more to learn." Dracoso would take a breath at this point and give a soft chuckle as he relaxed back in his seat. "It feels like the more I know, the more prepared I can be for what may come. I want to be able to use what I have learned for improving life and, in my own words, take the world apart so I can rebuild it better for those in it. I am actually planning to branch out and build my own business soon and begin to craft more medicinal and combat-related pharmaceuticals." 

He would stop and look to the kage as Shikami would gesture to go on at any remaining information. "I am interest in expanding on some of my current techniques and I just recently begun training in Fuinjutsu and attained experience with the lightning element, so I do hope I am able to apply these abilities in time." He would decide to finish there and look to the kage for the next steps in their conversation.

Nodding to the young man as he spoke. Shikami would than take the package from behind him and placed a scroll on top of it. He would hand the package and scroll to the young male. "You should open the package first" If the male did so, he would find within it the Kirigakure Shinobi vest. This was a symbol of his rank up that the kage was presenting to him "Due to your hard work and dedication, I wished to personally advance you from a Genin to a Chuunin, which is oddly fitting for me to get to do, since I was there to proctor your exam to Genin as well." This was when Shikami would note the scroll and instruct the male to open that up. Upon the male deciding to do so, Shikami would inform him as he opened it "This is the scroll for Kirigakure's special element called Tempest Release, It is partly inspired from the Storm Veil that protects the lands of Island from outsiders." With that Shikami would fall silent to allow the male time to reflect before speaking once more.

"One more thing, I wish to employ you as a Teacher for the village. Your thirst for knowledge can be well placed by not just teaching others, but learning more for yourself and doing so for the progress of others as well, I can help to teach you the secrets of the Tempest Scroll, I have already studied it along with several others. I may rely on you in the future for testing or talking over technique ideas, and the more you continue to prove yourself, the more of these I can award you with. What do you say Dracoso?" Shikami left the discussion at that for the time being to allow the male his opportunity to retort or rebuttal about anything.

At this point, Rather the male said anything or not, Shikami would bring up to him "I do hope you stick around in the village, I do know about the messages you sent, at least the directions they were instructed for. I am sad to inform you that Due to some information that I found being the kage, Hoshigakure will likely not allow you in, and Sunagakure has their own issues with our village. Konohagakure was recently released from the control of Kirigakure, Your Best bet to try any communication is with Kumogakure. But allow me to be selfish and request you stay in the village at this time, we need you at this time. When the shinobi forces have built up and are well taught, we could visit ideas of visiting other lands, but at this time, is this okay with you?" Shikami sounded Sullen as he delivered the message, he could not divulge the secrets of what had happened, but he needed Dracoso to know that Kirigakure has not made friends in its time frame of being a village.

At this point Shikami would walk back around to his chair behind his desk and sat down in it. For this was a much more serious matter, while the other was formal it was more jovial tones used the entire time. But this was something he needed addressed and shown that he was serious about. He just hoped that it would not upset or offend Dracoso in the manner in which he did it.

Dracoso would receive the package and scroll, carefully putting the latter aside as he opened the package. He pulled out the vest and smiled at it as Shikami explained his promotion to Chunin and Dracoso would nod as he looked it over, inside and out. He was excited for this, as he had been running for so long and felt like this was a big mark of progress. "That is true, you did see me pretty much since the beginning of my journey as a ninja," he said in regard to the genin exam. He would look to Shikami with a warm smile and say, "I gladly accept this advancement and will do what I can to keep my efforts consistent, if not improve them."

Dracoso would carefully slip the best on as Shikami would gesture towards the scroll. The younger ninja would pick up the school and unravel it slowly as he examined it. The details and imagery depicted the three main elements Dracoso had already learned and outlined how the elements would be interwoven to create new effects and influences. Dracoso had witnessed the storm veil on the few occasions when he had traveled towards the borders of the country and wondered exactly how it managed to remain intact in the dome shape it was in. The scroll touched on how these elements could sustain one another, but Dracoso quickly focused back on Shikami.

"Thank you for entrusting me with this," he would say as he would run his hand over the scroll, looking at it as a kind of special piece of knowledge in his eyes. "I have been wanting to branch out more, and I do plan to learn as much as I can from it. The very concepts mentioned in this scroll seem to already advance quite a bit of what I was learning and may allow me to expand my understanding even further." At the mention of being a Teacher, Dracoso would give a mixed look of thoughtful confusion. He had enjoyed acting as a sub and helping students, but he always thought his overthinking ways would simply confuse people when he tried to explain things to them. Shikami seemed to have a strong feeling for how much Dracoso knew and the directions he mentioned seemed to all be along the lines of what Dracoso figured he would aim for one day.

"I.." Dracoso would pause as he imagined himself as a teacher and wondered if his wolves would help him to better prepare for this role. As he thought to this, his own teacher at the academy, his mother and father, and even the guards and hunter he had traveled with all came to mind. Each was a teacher in their own right and had helped him grow in one way or another. He felt his confidence rise as he thought on this and nodded to both himself and Shikami as he said, "I would be honored to take on the role of a teacher. I have been crafting a few techniques of my own lately, so I would love to see what is possible for the tempest element. As for learning it, if you have time free with your busy schedule, I would be happy to train together. If we find students who I can train or other ninjas who are looking to learn, then I would be happy to take on that role."

As the conversation shifted, Dracoso would nod and rub the back of his neck, feeling a bit awkward about it. "With the advancement and the new role as a Teacher, I can respect that wish. With the many techniques I need to learn and the Tempest element now in my hands, I will probably be spending a lot of time training and engaging in missions to actively learn." He would pause as he let the thoughts form before speaking. "My original intent for sending those letters was a mixed one. One main goal I have is to also learn of the cultures of the other villages and to understand our similarities and differences. During my time at the academy, I learned of our history and the subjugation of Konohakagure. I read on the recent tensions with Hoshi and some of the struggles with Suna. The blood games had quite a few stories to read and much of it pointed to a somewhat rampant use of power due to how strong Kirigakure had become. I had hoped, in some ways, to reach out an olive branch as a somewhat unknown individual to try to at least show good faith to the other villages, especially with how locked down it seems all of our different populations are."

Dracoso would pause again as he would think how to go into the next point. "Another point comes from what I mentioned earlier with my desire to start a business. I had hoped to possibly connect my business with other villages to allow for a more open trade ability between our villages and possibly share in some of the creations I make in the future. Some I plan to keep mainly within Kiri and only available to our ninjas, especially combat-related items. Otherwise, I thought it might make a good strong influence." He hesitated before moving on to the final point. "The last part comes down to a combination of Gonk's passing, rumors that were floating around with the unease of villagers thinking other villages might attack, and how silent our village had become. I will say that I had sent out one letter to the Kage of Hoshi as I had met a nice genin from their village during the dimensional visit to the beach activities and I wanted to see if he and I might continue training together. The second was to the Kage of Konoha as I had figured they might be one of the tougher ones to find a middle ground for and offer more of a challenge for settling past issues."

He would sigh and lean back in his seat as he looked to Shikami. "I do plan to stay in the village, now that things are picking up again and allowing for us start rebuilding some of what had become stagnant. I will say that I do have plans in the future to explore, whether it be to specific villages or to explore the lands further east from us. It seems like there is still so much combat and intensity across our land, but I want to see what else may be possible. For now though, I do not plan to travel any time soon." He would say as he returned a focused look to the Mizukage.

Shikami would nod, at which point he would get up and walk back around to Dracoso, He had grabbed a paper from the desk when he was over there and handed it to Dracoso and asked him "Do you think that this is a good incentive program to try and get more Shinobi to our ranks?" The paper would read that all current and Future Shinobi would be given a stipend for joining. The stipend would be based on the shinobi's rank, All Fresh and current Genin would get fifty thousand Ryo, with each Rank above them getting an Additional twenty five thousand ryo per rank. "One thing I was not telling them is that they could instead refuse the stipend, and if they did so, the higher ranks could get an option of the Restricted techniques of the village. What do you think?"

Shikami would wait to get a response from Dracoso before continuing on

As Shikami put the paper in front of him for him to read and then explained the alternative piece, Dracoso would shift in his seat. He would scratch his chin as he weighed the ideas coming to mind. "Offering a stipend seems like one option. Most expenses for food and shelter are already covered in the normal ninja wage. Many do receive a weekly pay which is used to increase their own supplies for any situation as well. Giving fifty thousand ryo to a starting genin would be quite a way to begin. The issue is, it may create a strong starting incentive, but may also cause a negative impact in the long run."

Dracoso would be a bit lost in thought as he spoke what came to mind, "if you received fifty thousand ryo, you could get plenty to start with and cover the majority of your needs from day one. At the same time, it might overwhelm some to get so much money all at once, and it may make the reward amounts coming from missions seem miniscule in comparison." Dracoso would tap the paper and say, "in my opinion, the amount may be too much to offer as just an incentive. Perhaps twenty thousand, as that would provide someone with a set of armor, a few weapons, and access to several minor items. We may even want to offer a general pack instead which provides a set of armor, one weapon, a short list of supplies, such as flash paper or military pills, and the ninja starter pack with the remaining value in ryo. The armor and weapon could be selected by the ninja themselves while the rest would be general items.  We could also just allow them to take the straight up twenty thousand ryo and spend it how they wanted. This gives more options to those who do not know what to buy while still providing the money to those who do."

Dracoso would rub one of his temples as he processed the thoughts that came to mind with all of this and continued. "We would want to also make sure that this is not seen as an offer to have other ninjas defect to our village. The main goal we are looking to is to train and rebuild our numbers so that we can aim for goals in the future. We want to provide a building point, rather than seem like the incentive program is bribing people to join. I have known people who received money for a job or work, only to run at the most opportune moment. We cannot predict for everyone, but we can at least be clear in our intentions."

On the last word, Dracoso would look to Shikami and say, "and with keeping our intentions in mind, we do not want to hide anything from those who are joining. The stipend should be offered to those who are brand new to being a ninja so that they can start off strong. I know it is already how we do things, but whether they get access or not to what is restricted should be based on a case-by-case situation. While forgoing the stipend may show character, it may also show that the person has no need for money. Some ninjas do not need tools or anything that is purchased, so it would just be natural for them to reject it. Either way, if we choose to not tell people something, especially from the moment they join us, they will question everything we do after that. We want to build on trust, not on unspoken truths."

Dracoso felt like he had said too much already but gave himself a soft shake and decided to end on a positive note. "We have more than just money and restricted techniques that people may see as incentives. I have been putting together several mission requests to help train future ninjas as of late and I have been considering putting in several more in relation to the Kiri culture. As I mentioned earlier, much of our history is bloody or combat focused when it comes to our culture. I think we can rework that and make it something more... appealing to many who wish to join. I can start working on it, if I get an idea of what kind of culture we want to aim for in the future." Dracoso would be absent-mindedly tapping the Tempest scroll as he thought a few things over. "Putting up that I would be available to teach new ninjas, both in terms of techniques and skills and combat preparedness, could be another beneficial point. Creating more materials and items specific to Kiri would also be another route to go to draw people in. Even then, it still comes back to the how and why for people joining us..."

At this point, Dracoso would pause and look back to Shikami for response, hoping he did not run off too far with his thoughts.

Shikami had listened intently to the words spoken by the young man, and he nodded his head as the male spoke. Shikami was put in a rough patch, they had R&D but to be fair not much of anything had been out putted by them in some time. Maybe Shikami would take a tour of there soon and set things in motion for them to start pumping out more items, unique ones to Kirigakure and hopefully ones that would give them the advantage. Shikami would take the paper and placed it back on the desk for revision later. The male had posed a great many points to the kage. Shikami nodded and spoke up, bring back up something that had not gotten past his attention, just was sidelined " And you said you have the want to build a shop yourself yes? something to eventually expand out to other villages. If the world is ever peaceful or under one rule again, than that portion of the dream could become a reality. However, the store could become something sooner rather than later if you so wished it. I would be willing to help you with the opening costs and such if it was needed. I could also set up for unwanted Materials to be bought for you from other Shinobi."

Shikami would await Dracoso's answer from the offer he gave. Meanwhile the ideas that flowed through his mind on what he could do instead, things to help the village out. He just hoped that it would be incentive enough like Dracoso said it likely would be. However Shikami would not throw away the idea of the starting Ryo bonus, but he would look into a revision at some point maybe. Shikami would grab a note pad and begin to jot down ideas for him to follow up on. Shikami would look up at Dracoso "I do have several candidates to look at for becoming shinobi. I plan on putting them in charge of certain things like our villages Research and Development program so that we can produce more high tech gadgets for the shinobi to use." Shikami would begin to jot down other ideas about what different Packages could be bundled together for the Kirigakure Shinobi to be able to purchase.

Shikami would than look up at Dracoso " So do you have any questions or requests from the newly appointed Chuunin?"