Stroll through Sunagakure

Within the Kage tower of Sunagakure the abnormally tall Kazekage standing at a height of seven feet five inches in height stood by the window of his office gazing down into his village below. The blistering sun baring down upon his village and all of Kaze no Kuni, as heat waves could be seen across the sandy dunes of Sunagakure. His dark coal eyes gazed down upon the village made of sand, his emotionless eyes staring intently, his village protected by his watchful gaze. He had been in the seat of Kazekage for twenty one years now, now he was fifty-two years of age one of the oldest Kage's currently living. He had started his shinobi carrier when he was eight years of ages having lived the life of a shinobi for forty-four years now. In those forty-four years the Kazekage Makai Kasai Akumuyami had gained himself a fearsome reputation across the element nations.

The tall Kage turned on his heels as he brushed a few stray bangs of his spiked black hair behind his ear. His hair fluttered up, held in its usual ponytail as his black spikes ran down his back. His black Haori sat upon his shoulders as he walked calmly to the door of his office. His blackened clothing hanging from his limbs, within the blistering heat of the desert the Kage seemed completely unfazed by the heat. His pale white snow like skin out of place amongst the tanned skin of most Suna Civilians and Shinobi. Upon his body numerous swords a total of six two on each hip and two strung up across his back.

Makai wrapped his fingers hidden by the sleeves of his kimono around the knob of the door connecting to his office. Slowly he turned the knob opening the door with a loud creek, as the strains of the old wood and nails echoed through the hallway and office. The Kage made his way through the door reaching over to a the wall grabbing a single long cane using to lean against as he took of moving slowly through the hallways heading to the elevator of the tower. Pressing the button the Kazekage stalked inside standing calmly as he pressed the button for the bottom floor. The Kage shut his eyes and waited calmly as the elevator came to a move before coming to a stop followed by the doors opening.

Standing before the elevator two Anbu one with a lion shaped mask the other a dog shaped mask. The two bowed deeply to the Kage who gave a brief smile before walking past them with a slight limp in his walk, as he headed out the front gates that lead to his office. The elderly Kage though fifty-two to those around him only appeared thirty-five thanks to a powerful Genjutsu he had casted on himself through the use of Fuuinjutsu.

The Kage stalked the streets as he headed down the main pathway of the village. Stalls and stands around him as the streets were abuzz with noise. It brought a small smile to the Kage's face to see his village buzzing with such noise and activity. The merchants and civilians on the street made a path for him bowing to him and greeting him. The Kage merely waved at them as he walked on.

Since the start of her new "group" called Akatsuki, Akane Kai had been scoping out different sceneries and villages. Today, it was the dry and heated Hidden Village of Sand. Why anyone decided to put a town in a desolate desert puzzled Akane to no end. But maybe this would be a good place for another base.. After all, the Land of Fangs would already seem suspicious to anyone. Should someone notice the giant boulder in front of a cave, The Red Clouds and The Red Leader would be ended. The Sand seemed like a good place to wait and build up power..

Either way, the woman with red hair and erinite eyes was walking on the relatively crowded streets of Sunagakure without her signature coat. Too hot for that. But at least she fit in without it. What with tan skin and red hair.. No odd looks were thrown her way as she calmly stepped on what seemed to be a main street. Little kids and shinobi in training ran around at random with bright smiles full of energy. Akane smiled back with seemingly kind eyes when they smiled at her. Even though the she was fake, at least she seemed sincere. Otherwise it would've just been awkward and her walking may not have seemed so casual.

As the female strode down the street, it seemed there was something going on in the distance. Trying to squint her eyes to see more clearly didn't work. The distance was just distorted because of the mirage from heat. To her luck though, it seemed to be getting closer. People were crouching down and spreading ? What was going on? Was there some sort of Deity walking past? Citizens in booths and little shops came out to see whatever spectacle was walking down the road. All the Kai did was observe and take mental notes.

Whatever it was approached slowly. Oh? It was a man. A really tall man. A very tall man. He looked to in his mid 30's and carried himself calmly. Akane Kai slowly back into an ally to observe this man as he walked past. The villagers bowed as if he was a God or something. Then it clicked in the mind of the Leader that he must've been the Kage for this village. Another chance like this won't come..

Akane simply stood in the ally, hiding. Taking in all of his features and the feel of his chakra.. This man seemed to be only about 34.. Yet he had a cane. And wore black on such a blistering day. Such pale skin, too. A different man, he was. He was passing very slowly. The head of Akatsuki did nothing but stare expressionlessly between two buildings, hoping no one would notice her as she stared at the Kazekage.

The aged Kage continued his way through the streets as the shop keepers came to greet him presenting him with the latest in stock. One of the blacksmiths came walking over carrying the latest Kunai he had forged. He presented them to the Kage as he knelt before him. The kunai were twin edged each about five inches in length. Makai took one of the knifes and carefully spun it on one of his fingers before balancing the tip of the blade on his right index finger as he tested the weight of the blade. He pressed his thumb ever so slightly against the blade only for a trickle of blood to run down the blade showing just how sharp the knife was. The Kage handed the knife back, and spoke in a raspy yet cold voice.

"Impressive as always Takamichi-san. I'll order ten sets" spoke the Kage as he eyed the blacksmith. The man bowed and ran off to get to work and forging more knives for the Kage. The Kage hid back a smile as he continued on his way through the main streets. The sound of a bouncing ball echoed through the paved streets as a soccer ball came bouncing down the road. The Kage bent down slowly using his cane for support as he caught the ball. As he did half a dozen or so young children around the ages of seven to six came running down laughing and giggling as they ran up to the giant kage.

The Kage raised the soccer ball out of the kids reaches smiling as his eyes softened. "Is this your ball?"asked the Kage as he held it with two hands as he brought it down. One of the kids a young girl smiled up at her leader and giggled.

"Hai Ojii-Kazekage-sama (Old Man Wind Shadow)" spoke the young girl as he held out her hands; "Can we have our ball back pwease" said the girl as she looked up with the biggest chocolate brown eyes the Kage had seen. The Kage handed the ball to the girl and ruffled her hair as she ran off kicking the ball down the street with the other kids.

The Kage slowly climbed back to his feet heading past the alley way that Akane was hiding in. He watched carefully from the corner of his coal black eyes staring briefly at the woman in the alley way as he came to a brief stop. His eyes narrowing as he had never seen her before. Makai turned his attention back to the streets and walked off. As he did he made a discrete hand sign to one of the Anbu watching him to give the woman in the alley a note to meet with him at the Golden Dragon a popular restaurant. He had never seen her in the village, and when it came to his village tourist or not he was always cautious, as everyone within the village were like children or grand children to him. It was the same with most tourists or visitors that entered his village he always made sure he spoke with them, to see if they were a threat to the safety of those in the village.

The Anbu hidden in the shadows nodded and quickly vanished in a puff of smoke. The Anbu appeared on top of a building staring down at the girl. He let a scroll fall from his hands falling in front of the woman with a loud clang as he went up in a puff of smoke. The scroll was addressing the stranger to meet with the Kazekage at the Golden Dragon.

Oh, he was so kind to his people. So sweet to little children and old merchants that simply adored him. Hm. That probably means he really does care for them. In turn that also means he'd fight to the death for them. Any sort of fight or disagreement that included the Village Hidden in the Sand would have to be on hold until Akatsuki grew. Oh shit. Oh. Did the Kazekage just look at her or was Akane imagining things? He walked on the other way.. No, he must've seen her. The man stopped for a second, and it didn't seem to be for any other reason. Crap. The red headed woman kept her slight panic to herself.

Wait. Someone was above‐‐ They dropped a scroll in front of Akane Kai.. Now she let the panic cross her features. Mr. Kazekage must know that she doesn't belong in Suna. Tentatively, the Ex‐Kunoichi picked up the scroll from its edge and opened it with careful fingers. Reading the letters made Akane's eyes widen. He wanted to meet her at this restaurant called the Golden Dragon. What if she was being watched? Acting time.. Her wide eyes turned into a facial representation of pleasant surprise and the Kai laughed a little.

Running a hand through her hair, she looked both ways on the street from her little alleyway. Everybody was back to normal. Little kids playing and shop employees at work. The little girl who retrieved a toy from him was now the figurative queen out of her friends. How cute. Young prejudiced minds at work. A blacksmith who was apparently named Takamichi was hard at work, melting metals and shaping them. Metal worker.. That would have to be kept in mind. Akane was thinking getting someone to forge her a chakra channeling sword. Someone. Maybe the green eyed girl could get the Kazekage to be on her side..

Would that work? Tan skinned legs stepped out of the crevice and began walking down the street in hopes of finding this Golden Dragon. But if she could get on that powerful man's good side.. Maybe she could become a member of the village. That would be kinda nice. Getting inside while the outside gains momentum.. That was a great idea! Each member would get into a village and gain information! Akane Kai didn't even need to lie to do it. Akatsuki would just have to be a hidden group until they gain enough information about the villages. Akatsuki would just be left out of Akane Kai's life story, at least to the Kazekage it would be. Genius.

Silently stepping in thought, the sign for Golden Dragon came into sight on her left. It brought a grin to Akane's face. How exciting! Meeting the Kazekage.. Boy wouldn't her parents be proud.. Kind of. At least he wasn't unkind and hideous. Kai would just be a traveler to him, looking to join this village. The idea actually psyched her up. Maybe he would test her strength, too. It would be really exciting to show him what she could do. The glimmer of a possibility shone in her eyes. Because even more than helping Akatsuki, the only Kai was excited to be a part of something bigger than herself, Van, and Akira.

She put one foot in front of the other and walked into the nice looking restaurant. It'd been so long since she'd been in one. It smelled wonderful. A lady that looked like a female version of The Leader's subordinate Van assisted The Leader by asking if she was waiting for someone. "Yes, actually. I'm supposed to meet here with the Kazekage." Her words were spoken with a wide smile and happiness in her eyes. The lady seemed a bit surprised, but escorted her to a table nonetheless. Sitting down, Akane took a deep breath and examined her the tips of hair with a small grin on her face while waiting for the tall, pale, and most certainly odd Kage of Sunagakure.

Makai walked down the main street taking his time as he headed in the direction of the Golden Dragon. In the village the Golden Dragon was a six star restaurant one of the best Sunagakure had to offer, most times a Kage couldn’t even get a reservation there. However Makai always had a table reserved, as he helped set up the Golden Dragon having rescued the owners while he was away on one of his missions. They had been heading to Sunagakure when they were attacked by thieves, and just by chance Makai happened to be running by. At first Makai had chosen to ignore them but in the end turned back to help the two owners out a man named Hiroko and his wife Minami. After he had rescued them and returned from his month long mission, to his surprise they had set up the popular restaurant the golden dragon, with at all times, Makai was welcome within the building often allowed to eat for free....against his will.

The Kage chuckled at the memories he had obtained every time he visited. The two were a lovely couple having raised two young boys and three girls since they arrived twenty-five years ago in the village. Makai shook his head returning to the thoughts of current events especially concerning the woman from the alley. From what he could tell her chakra reserves were quite large at least that of a Kage, so there was no way she was an ordinary civilian or traveller, and why had she been watching him so intently? Was she an assassin? A spy from another village perhaps? Who knows what she could want, but whatever it was Makai would have to stay on his toes, even so the Kazekage was ultimately curious as to who she was and why she was in Sunagakure. If she was a threat Makai would eliminate her himself, it had been quite some time since he last had the time to get some exercise, he feared his skills had gotten quite...rusty. Makai rubbed his temples in annoyance, as he hoped it wouldn’t be liked another incidence with the Sunagakure Council, the civilian half was giving him a migraine, what foolish people.

The Kazekage looked up as the sight of the Golden Dragon came into view. The restaurant was massive four stories tall, at the front a giant golden serpentine like dragon coiled around a long katana, in each of the dragon’s eyes as the image of his Kyouka Meimugan. The dark purple eyes staring intently down to the ground, with the odd flower like pattern inside with black trims around the first layer of light yellow flower petals a total of six, with six light blue slits between each petal, and another black flower pattern in the middle. The iris was slitted and light blue kept inside of a red pupil with a light pink ring around the pupil. The sight of the two eyes made him smile, it felt nice seeing those eyes used for good and not evil, that and he felt pride that the owners respected him enough to place those eyes within the dragons.

Makai approached the large golden doors, only for them to suddenly open as the hostess smiled at him. Makai smiled at the young woman as he bowed to him, “Greeting Kazekage-sama we have been awaiting your arrival. Please allow me to escort you to your table and the young woman you are meeting up with this lovely afternoon” greeted the woman in an angelic voice as she turned giving a wink to her Kage, as she turned she gave a slight seductive sway of her hips as she walked off. Makai walked after the young woman holding back a smirk at her actions, she had been trying to seduce him for the past three years now, it surprised him even with everyone knowing he was fifty-two they still thought he was only thirty-five thanks to his appearance. The tall Kage followed the young hostess as she led him to his table. As she did, he could see the young woman at the table, allowing him to get a good look at her. His eyes narrowed as he analysed her, she appeared to be maybe in her mid twenties, around twenty three to twenty six perhaps? Her hair was a shade of ruby red, her skin tanned, like most in Sunagakure.

The old Kage though young in appearance made his way the young woman as he hoppled on his cane. As he got closer he could definitely pick up that her chakra reserves were as larger if not larger than a Kage’s. Makai’s eyes hardened as his smile vanished as he put on his Kage mode face. Most in Sunagakure knew Makai had four faces his Shinobi Mode for missions and battles, his Sensei mode when teaching, his Kage mode when dealing with Kage matters and his regular face that most warmed up to. His Shinobi, Sensei and Kage mode all had one thing in common the cold and emotionless look he always held. Makai unstrapped the two swords from his back the first a six foot eight inch long Katana the second five feet long Miao Dao a rather odd sword to be found in Kaze no Kuni. Makai removed the five feet two inch long katana and three feet four inch long Wakizashi from his right hip and laid them beside his cane and the other two swords at the end of the table. Lastly he removed the four foot five inch katana and four feet six inch katana from his left side stationing them at the end of the table with his other four swords and cane. Makai slid and sat down opposite the young woman his hands together placed upon the desk as he eyed her carefully.

Makai stared into her eyes with his emotionless coal black gaze, his eyes held no emotion what so ever, as if one was staring into an infinite abyss of darkness. Makai leaned back slightly and spoke in a harsh, raspy cold tone of voice.

“Who are you? Who do you work for? What is your purpose? Why do you have Kage level reserves?”spoke the Kage in a demanding tone, as he did he leaked out a small amount of killer intent and bloodlust. His intent and blood lust concentrated in the booth, so only the woman would feel his intent, as they rose to the level that could scare a Kage level Nin. His tone commanded respect one of an aged and wise leader. As he released his intent Makai channelled a small amount of chakra to his eyes as they transformed. His eyes transformed to the Kyouka Meimugan matching the eyes of the dragon on the banner outside of the restaurant. The cursed eyes of the Akumuyami clan glared down at the woman as the flower spun clockwise in both eyes.

Intimidation is not an emotion that Akane knows. Seeing this powerful man get serious and even slightly violent only cleaned the grin off of Akane's face and replaced it with a serious expression. It was only natural for him to be like this, though. The chakra pool in Akane Kai is quite large. It was understandable in her mind why he would be as protective as he's being. His eyes changed, too. This man seemed malevolent. A completely different person than the Kage on the street. Also being that they were in a public place, Akane could assume he had good control over his power and if this was only the tiniest bit of it, she needed to get on the side he was most kind with. What interesting eyes, though. Such an immense amount of chakra within them. They felt emotionless, yet angered. Interesting Kekkei Genkai. And all of those swords. It was no doubt that he would certainly put up a grand fight. But in the middle of a packed restaurant? The red head knew better. He wouldn't do that. Not like this.

The cane, too. He had to have been an old man. Just a jutsu to stay young. Akane would not be afraid of this man, despite his appearance and despite what he was portraying. The woman looked straight back into his eyes. The best way to go about this would not be to anger him, but to give him respect and thorough answers. Plead him to let her into the Sand. Akane didn't have a killer intent towards him yet, after all. The wisest thing she could do was give him truths.

"My name is Akane Kai. I work for no one but myself. My purpose.. if I understand correctly you mean my reason for being here, right? I don't want to be nothing anymore, I want to be in the Sand Village. I have Kage Reserves because I trained over the years for them. And to be honest I kind of regret it. In all the training I did I lost who I was. I lost my friends and I lost my Mom and Dad and I was alone. But I didn't realize I was slowly losing everything until my parents died.. Because they were who I was training so hard for.." And without realizing it, explaining herself turned into pouring her heart out and bringing herself near tears.. "I didn't realize it while I was training because I was training for them.. They meant more to me than my friends ever would.. I should've kind of gotten the hint that I was doing too much when some of my friends left me because I was just devoted to nothing but working on perfecting jutsus because I wanted to make my Mommy and Daddy proud. I reached jounin. ANBU was in my grasp. Then they passed away.. I gave up ANBU and left the village because I couldn't stand to look at people who used to love me and live in a house that I could've taken care of them in.. They were ANBU before they retired. They retired when I became a Jounin or a Chunnin. I don't remember. I should. I was their only child. They cared so much, even when I shut them out. They still made it known how proud they were.. And I didn't have time to thank them... I didn't realize what I did."

It didn't occur to Akane that she was talking too much or revealing too much. She just felt raw and hurt. All this time of being empty, the young woman was just suppressing her feelings. Now, without even realizing it she was letting them out to a complete stranger who wanted her head. A tear slid down her face and she still told her story to the man, still looking him straight in the eye.

"I just let them go. I let everything go. I left my mask at their grave. I left Konoha for a life of misery and loneliness because I messed up something that I can't fix, anymore. It makes me feel worse that even though I treated them like that, they still loved me and supported everything I did. I feel like an absolute monster, I'm a terrible person," Her voice cracked but she maintained the stare in his eyes, hoping that there was some comfort in there and a home in the Sand Village for her.

"I can't believe I did that to them.. I'm alone, now. I don't even have friends. I was like the kids here, once. Then I just became insane. I'm sorry I did that. I'm sorry. But I wanna be here, now. Please. Please Please let me be in the Sand Village.. People here don't know me, and now I can't mess up because I won't make the same mistake again." More tears erupted and she discreetly tried to hide them. It still didn't occur to her what she was doing. Telling a stranger her life story in the middle of this amazing restaurant, a KAGE no less, in a 6 star restaurant! People were probably judging her. The thought of that made Akane Kai hurt more in her raw state. She broke eye contact with the man and dug her palms into her eyes, stopping the tears. It still hadn't occurred to her the fullness of what she'd done, but how he was going to react scared her

Makai watched the woman intently as she began to answer him. Makai listened to her intently as she told him her name. So Akane Kai was her name and she worked for no one? That in its self was interesting. Makai cut the flow of chakra off from his eyes allowing his Doujutsu to deactivate as he eased up on his killer intent and bloodlust sealing it away as quickly as it appeared. He placed his chin on his hands as he listened to her words carefully. Ah to train oneself and to forget about the world around oneself, to be completely lost in the feeling of making your parents proud. Makai knew the feeling somewhat but he had been forced into training by his family to make his family proud as he was the only one to possess such power in his clan, so in a way his life wasn’t so different from the woman before him. Makai shut his eyes so he could purely concentrate on what the woman before him was telling him.

She had lost all her friends and her parents. She had been devoting to nothing but working on perfecting her Jutsu all to make her parents proud but in the end she was only losing her friends, family and loved ones. Her parents had passed away, not even knowing when they had returned at Anbu, as she was too roped up in her training to remember. To a parent their child is always the most cherished possession no matter what, even as she said she had shut them out yet they still cared and were proud of her. He opened one eye watching as a salty tear slid down her face landing on the table as he gazed into her eyes.

Makai opened his other eye as she continued saying she left her mask at the grave of her parents and left Konoha. The girl was telling him a stranger about her life of how she felt and how she had treated her loved ones, saying she was a terrible person. She was all alone, no friends, no family no nothing. She went on to say that she wanted to be here. Begging him to let her join the hidden Sand people, stating people didn’t know her and that she couldn’t mess up and make the same mistake again. More tears were streaming down her face.

The aged Kage sighed to himself as his eyes softened slightly. He leaned back in the chair and removed a silk handkerchief from one of his pockets and placed it before her as a sign to wipe her tears. The Kage released a long sigh as he shut his eyes beginning to think over his current situation. He couldn’t fully trust her for all he knew she could be faking all this even the tears. Her Kage level reserves though meant she was exceedingly skilled to have another strong Shinobi within his village would mean good thing for his village. Makai rubbed his temples and folded his legs over as he glanced at the girl opening his soulless black eyes.

“You wish to join Sunagakure no Sato the Village Hidden in the Sand huh” spoke Makai as he eyed the woman carefully. Makai brushed a few bangs from his face and sighed again, “To join my village...how do I know I can trust you. You must understand on my part I cannot let anyone join wily nily especially a Konoha Shinobi, you could be making this up in an attempt to join our ranks to gain Intel on this village and those within it. As a Kage I cannot take the chance. If I do allow you to join your skills are unknown to me, they would need to be measured to make sure Shinobi can be selected to capture or eliminate you should you turn out to be an enemy spy or assassin”

Makai slowly climbed to his feet grabbing his cane using it to support himself. The seven foot five inch giant towered over the young woman as he stared down at her with his cold eyes, “Surely you understand as a Kage the precautions I must make. If you do join you will be required to have a number of seals of my own devise placed upon your body so we my keep track of you at all timers and subdue you if necessary, secondarily you will be watched closely by my Anbu guards and thirdly for a period of a month you will be required to stay within the village, unable to take missions of any sorts until that time is over. If you accept those terms we may begin the process by a spar me against you to test your skills”

Makai moved one of his hands to one of the swords to his side placing a hand on the handle of his wakizashi and pulled the scabbard up. He placed the end of the scabbard on the table and held the handle to the blade as he waited for the girls reply. If she chose to join the village and except his terms, he would place the Kouyou Fuu the Gravity Seal on her so if needed he could increase the gravity on her body to force her to the ground to be captured with ease. The Hakkaku Fuu or Detection would also be placed upon her and himself so he could know if she was close to him or not, especially if she turned out to be an assassin. If it came to desperate measures he would use the Dorei Fuu or slave seal a last resort Fuuinjutsu that would turn her into a completely loyal shinobi to Sunagakure and himself, but it was only a last resort as he hated using the seal to force people to submit to his village and his own will.

EXIT