Lightning Among the Leaves

It was a warm, sunny, breeze-filled day in Konoha. Kei enjoyed the sun. It made his golden hair glisten and his skin shine. It was a different feeling from the cold north in Kumo, but Kei embraced it with optimism. He hadn't been in Konoha since he was a boy. This one his second-to-last stop touring the great villages, making acquaintances with the Kages. He knew that the Hokage was a woman from the Uchiha clan, and already more advanced than her predecessor. He was looking forward to the meeting, despite the trouble it was to travel all week.

Kei arrived at the Village gates where he was escorted to the Administration building. There he waited outside the door. Kei sighed, he was hungry and ready to be home, but he still had two more stops before he could return to Kumo, and Konoha was one of them. "Here it goes..."

Knock. Knock.

Luckily for the hungry Kei, the Raikage was not made to wait long before he was shown to the Hokage's door. After he knocks, a young boy of approximately 15 opens the door and bows, "Lord Raikage, sir," he replies by way of welcome. It takes him a moment to realize that he is blocking the door and preventing the Raikage from entering the Hokage's office and then he suddenly scoots to the side of the room with a slightly awkward and embarrassed look on his face.

Almost immediately behind him is the Hokage. She's dressed in a simple blue kimono, her Hokage robes hung on the back of her desk chair and the Hokage's hat nearby, hanging from a peg on the wall. She offers a friendly smile to the Raikage and bows her head respectfully in greeting. "It is a pleasure to see you, Raikage. Please come in and make yourself comfortable." There are two chairs in her office in front of her desk, both simple wood constructs. There are a pair of couches with a table between them in a corner of the office, a far more comfortable alternative to the more authoritarian setting of sitting across the desk from a Kage.

Kei smiled and bowed to the Hokage. He then looked fondly at the boy who had helped him in. He was obviously excited, and Kei couldn't fault him for that. Seeing the wood chairs and the couch in the corner, Kei immediately went to the couch, momentarily stretching out before sitting upright. He looked around impressed, and then turned his gaze to the Hokage.

"Pardon my intruding on your couch, its the first soft thing I've seen since I left Iwa. Thank you for allowing me to visit today."

Roku shifts a bit nervously under the gaze of the Raikage, but flashes him a quick smile. He lingers in the background, waiting for any orders that come from the Kages.

Tomoe smiles and gracefully takes a seat on the couch across from the one that Kei is making himself comfortable on. "Since Iwa? That's quite some travel you've been on. Would you like something to drink?" she offers, "Tea, perhaps? Or something stronger?" She's not aware of any particular proclivities the Raikage may have, but it's always best to offer a foreign dignitary some refreshment before getting down to business.

"Anything stronger would do."

Kei removed his travelers cloaks. Beneath he is wearing a white shirt and black sweats. He sets his cloak over his pack that his next to the couch. Preventing a yawn he pulls out a map from his back pocket and sets it on the table before them.

"I started in Kiri, then traveled a tiresome long way, going through the minor countries to Iwa. The Tsuchikage is a fair woman, who seems to rule with looks as much as brains. The Mizukage is old as cranky as ever, both seem that a Summit would be most useless. But I'm trying to convince them otherwise. Rumors have begun to spread."

Tomoe nods at this request and her assistant in the back goes off to make himself useful in procuring something stronger for the Raikage. He's perhaps a bit less quiet than one would wish of an assistant.

The map prompts Tomoe to scoot to the edge of her seat and lean in to get a view of what the Raikage has to show her on it. She listens to him with interest and nods. "It's rare that a ninja does not hear of rumors about something or other going on in the world. Which rumors do you speak of today?"

Kei leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. He was wondering where he should begin. Thinking quietly to himself he found a starting point and went from there.

"I happened to be traveling to Kusa when I noticed a convoy of Kusa-nin leaving the village. They were leaving the village, fleeing more like. When questioned they panicked. Some had the nerve to say that they had been exiled by the Kusakage."

Kei leaned back in face to face with the Hokage, a sly smile creeping across his lips. "Last I checked, there wasn't a Kusakage. Now, after I asked around, I heard from a few different sources that Kusa was preparing for something big. They have been training relentlessly, bring back tactics used in Kiri's Blood Mist days."

Tomoe listens with obvious interest to these stories that the Raikage brings with him on his visit,one of her eyebrows raising slightly at the mention of a so-called Kusakage. "How very interesting," she replies, before quipping, "Somehow the Bloody Grass doesn't have quite the same ring to it," with a slight grin.

She scoots back in her seat and at that moment Roku returns with some sake, his take of 'something stronger', and some savory snacks to go with it.

"Any idea where these exiles were fleeing to?" Tomoe asks, wondering if perhaps they could be tracked down for more information.

Kei helped himself to the snacks as well as downing a cup of Sake before pulling himself a second and sipping on it. He nodded a thankyou to Roku, and turned his attention back to the Hokage. "That is the troublesome part. They were fleeing into Iwa, over the rebuilt Kanabi Bridge. Which means Iwa knows that there are struggles in Kusa. I wouldn't put it pass our pretty Tsuchikage to sink her teeth into the Grass Country."

Kei had finished the second cup and was starting his third. A little light-headedness was nothing for Kei, and he didn't mind whatever condescending or judging thought the Hokage may of been thinking watching a total stranger help himself to heavy amounts of Sake.

Tomoe pours herself a cup of sake as well, but she seems far more inclined to sip than gulp it down. If she is judging the Raikage's drinking habits, she neither comments on it nor casts judging looks at him. Roku, on the other hand, seems ready to go off and get some more sake if need be.

"Quite interesting. I wonder if they have made it into Iwagakure or elsewhere within that country. But a rebuilt bridge… now that is also something else." She sits back into the couch and sips at her sake while pondering. "So, we have refugees from Kusagakure, a rebuilt bridge, and a man calling himself the Kusakage. Quite interesting developments."

She fixes a direct look on the Raikage. "And your interest in all of this is...?"

Kei responders to the Hokage's look by looking directly into her eyes, setting down his cup for the first time since Roku handed it to him. Her gaze was steady and graceful, he couldn't help but be impressed.

"For years the villages have sat idle. Never quarreling with each other, but the occasional skirmish with a lesser village. Kumo knows that, we were there 10 years ago against Oto. I lost people in those skirmishes. I know what happens when these villages bite off more than they can chew. Call me a philanthropist, but I don't care to see it happen again. Whoever is at the helm of Kusa is a potential threat to us. Is that so suspicious Ms. Hokage? Or is it Mrs?"

Tomoe can not help but be wary of anyone claiming their motives are purely altruistic. Nonetheless, she keeps up her interested expression and nods her head, not letting her suspicions show or be voiced. "Ms," she replies simply, with just the barest of irritation at the question creeping into her voice. She resumes speaking in a more even tone as she returns to discussing 'business' with the Raikage, "It would be unwise for us to assume that other villages are sitting idly with no intentions of stirring up trouble. These stories you bring suggestion that there might indeed be something going on. I take it that is the matter you intend to bring forward at a Kage Summit?"

"Of course. And I assume by talking about the summit, you mean to go to one if I should call one?" Kei downed a third cup, setting it on the table. This time not refilling it. He folded the map and placed it back into his pocket. "And now, could I bother you for a walk in the village? The trees, the breeze, it's different from Kumo. Of course you will have to visit some time. Truth is Ms. Hokage, Kumo and Konoha should establish relations. I'm not going to lie and say I haven't tried with the other villages. Kiri is irrational at best, Iwa behind an unstable leader, and Suna quiet and shy."

Tomoe nods her head slightly, "If there is a Kage Summit called about such matters, I will attend." Of course her choice of words implies that if the Raikage were to call a Summit for other matters, her attendance might not be guaranteed.

"It would be no bother at all," Tomoe replies in response to his request. "A walk out in the fresh air would be a welcome break from time spent in this office," she says with a friendly smile. She shifts slightly in her seat in anticipation of standing up. "I see no harm in potential relations and collaborations between villages. Peace does not mean we need to sit idle and isolated from each other. In fact, I expect a peace won't last long if each of us keeps entirely to ourselves."

Kei stood up after the Hokage, ready to follow where ever she lead. He pulled out a small book and jotted in a couple notes about the Summit. His expression was nonchalant and bored, though for him Konoha was a much better site than Kiri and Iwa combined. Mist and Rocks everywhere was depressing. He was used to hills and mountains, and Konoha was a decent second to home.

"Ms. Hokage, please call me Kei. I don't do well with formalities. My I ask your name?" Kei already knew her name, all of the kages were pretty well known, but he would not be so rude as to say it.

"Tomoe, which you are more than welcome to use instead of Ms Hokage," she replies as she stands, her expression still friendly as she invites the Raikage to be less formal during his visit.

She grabs her Hokage's robe and puts it on, then heads for the door, "Shall we?" she invites making sure that the Raikage is ready to depart her office for a nice stroll through the scenic parts of Konoha.

Kei followed happily, putting away his notebook and moving outside of the office. Konoha was a beautiful place, full of lively youth much like Kumo. An alliance between the two villages would bring good tidings to the village's future.

"Tomoe it is. Can I ask you something, did you always aspire to be the Hokage, or did it just of happen? Its always interesting to hear the other Kage's stories."

OOC: going to bed for tonight, will respond again tomorrow evening.

When Tomoe exits the office, her assistant does not follow her and the Raikage. "When I was growing up it was not something that had crossed my mind as a goal to work towards," she replies honestly as they walk down the hallway towards the stairs that lead to the ground floor of the administrative building where her office is located. "When I grew older, it became a possibility and was a goal I decided to work to," she adds. Although the real story is perhaps a bit more complicated and Tomoe has decided to approach the idea of an alliance between the two villages with an open mind, she finds this a sufficient amount of information to go into for now. "How about yourself?"

During their conversation they would come to the doors of the Administrative Building and exit them, where they would be greeted by the brilliance of the sun and the coolness of a pleasant breeze wafting towards them, carrying with it the faint hint of flowers.

Kei listened to her story, his eyes darting to his surroundings, taking it all in. He figured she would of had a more interesting story than that, but his personal questions were found to be an annoyance across his travels.

"I sort of fell into it. 'C', the previous Raikage before me, decided that I was to follow his path. I didn't have much say in the matter."

Perhaps someday Tomoe will share the more interesting aspects of her story with Kei, but for now that summary should suffice. While they walk down a tree-lined street, not quite in the central districts of Konoha where there is bustling enterprise and plenty of civilians, she casts a curious look at the Raikage. "No say in the matter? You mean to say it was forced upon you against your will?"

Ah the warm sun, Kei felt drowsy under the warm heat, standing in it without moving could prove amusing. The air smelled clear and clean, much like Kumo. It took him a moment to register Tomoe's question. When he did he smiled lost in thought, thinking a few minutes before answering.

"When lightning strikes, you hear thunder. The closer and bigger the bolt, the louder the thunder. I struck too loud, and when people heard, they wanted to see the bolt behind the noise. In Kumo thunder doesn't bother people. Instead, people listen for it. If I could stay silent I would, but the position has grown on me."

Tomoe sets an easy pace down the avenue, heading towards the Konoha memorial park, a location chosen not just for it's history and significance to the village, but for it's beauty and peacefulness.

"So perhaps not entirely unwilling, then," Tomoe replies with a slight smile and just a hint of teasing in her voice, meant to be friendly and not mocking. "And how do you find that this role suits you now? Is it everything you expected it to be?"

Kei followed her, taking in the scenery as he went. A bird flew down to his shoulder, looked at his face and cocked its head, then flew back to a canopy.

"The role is bothersome. Paperwork, real work, and then work. I'm not one for work. But every once in a while you get to leave the office and enjoy beauties you might not normally see as a shinobi." Kei smiled slyly. All of his time as a shinobi he had never traveled to Konoha. He wondered what Seiya or Shunsuke would think of it.

"As for what I expected it to be, yeah its pretty much what I thought it would be. My turn, i'm going to ask the same questions you asked me. Solid answers, please." Kei's sly smile appeared again, but quickly turned to an awed face as a butterfly landed on his hand.

Tomoe smiles and appears to be genuinely pleased, possibly due to Kei's obvious enjoyment of Konoha's scenery, or his turn of words, or perhaps both that make up the current situation. She continues to slowly walk towards the Memorial park and the great monument looms ahead of them, surrounded by a very pleasant and well-tended park.

"I can sympathize with you about the paperwork," she says with a wry smile. "It seems counter-intuitive to me that the village nominates one of it's best fighters to move from active duty to a desk, but I suppose I shouldn't complain too much about that. If I were leading troops at the front lines, as is also expected of a Kage, it would mean dealing with the darkness and death that the inevitable loss of life in war brings with it."

As if wondering idly aloud she adds on after a brief pause, "I'm sure my predecessor had war times in mind when he selected me, after all a good leader must be prepared for any eventuality, but I wonder if the same choice would have been made if we'd been in the middle of a war at the time I was chosen to be Hokage. How about you?" she asks, glancing over at Kei.

For the first time Kei's expression and mood seems to damper. His biggest fear was for his village to have to endure a war. He knew what war meant and Tomoe was correct. It was simply loss. There are no winners, no victory parade. There are funerals. The reward for winning a war is going to fewer funerals than your opponent.

"My sound came from war. Otogakure had risen up from ashes a decade ago. At the helm was a man who thought that Oto could thrive once more, and push the likes of Kumo. They tried, and succeeded to some extent. I like myself now, I don't care for Kei when war is at hand."