Are You In, Or Are You Out....? |Akeuyota, Ryoga | PG-13|

Akeuyota Shigeko had just recently encountered a strange blond woman that sported a black robe with red clouds on it, and wore a straw hat. This woman had been very familiar to him, back at Tenchi Bridge, but he couldn't exactly put his finger on it. However, none of that mattered as he had made his way towards the Earth Country's border. He could see the rough terrain of the country, on the other side of the border - where the guards were that would determine whether or not Ake was allowed to enter. The terrain may have been very rough, but at the same time it evoked some sort of strange beauty, that was totally abstract. Only those that were very philosophical and thought outside of the box would notice such beauty in the simplicity of the raw material of the Earth, and that was something that this Special Jounin was capable of doing.

The guard requested to see what was in Akeuyota's bag, so he handed it over - and the guard also began to glance over at his katana. "Hey, your bag checks out.. but what is with the katana, sir? This is not acceptable, you better have good reason to be concealing a weapon when entering a foreign country." Akeuyota handed the katana to the man to allow him to inspect it, as he began to explain his situation. "Sorry sir, I am a Special Jounin from Wind Country. I tend to carry around this as protection, but I have the rights to keep it at my side. If you doubt me, you may contact the Kage of my country, he will tell you the same thing. Am I free to enter now, I have important business to deal with - with your Kage." The guard handed the katana back to the young shinobi, as he moved out of the way - signaling that Akeuyota was allowed to enter Earth Country. In the far distance, Akeuyota could see the location of the Kage in the village of Iwagakure.

As Akeuyota entered the large village, which was known worldwide, he began to search for the Administration Building which held the Kage's office. It was in the center of the town, in the distance, so he began to walk towards it. Along the way he noticed many people staring at him, one for his katana and secondly it was his appearance that may have been bugging them. He heard remarks about him that were mostly positive, they appreciated his looks, but some were intimidated by him wishing that he would come no closer. Nothing mattered, however, except the meeting with the Kage. He pushed the sliding door open to the building and walked into it, coming to a secretary like lady at a desk, in the dead center of a large room. She glanced at him as he came in and asked him his business. He cleared his throat and looked her dead in the eyes. "I am here to see the Kage, I have no appointment... but I am here to discuss an allegiance, if it was not formerly made, between Wind Country and Earth Country. You may contact my Kage, if you need further conformation." She obviously trusted his answer as she gave him the reply, One moment please, take a seat while I tell the Kage. With that she walked away, leaving Akeuyota alone in the room. He saw a chair against the wall, so he walked over to it and took a seat, awaiting the Kage or some security guards that didn't buy his story - to take him out of the building.

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Word Count: 609
Chakra Points: 12

Ryoga leaned back in his chair as he glared at the piles of paperwork sitting on his desk. He was just recently made Tsuchikage and he already had a lifetime's worth of work making his desk creak. Ryoga took a deep breath before leaning foward and picking up his writing utensil. He layed his elbow on his desk, put his fist to his forehead, and started writing. The writing became so repetative for Ryoga that after a few minutes he wasn't even paying attention to what he was writing. His gaze wandered towards the single window inside his office. The view was so spectacular that Ryoga moved his desk so that it was facing the window when he first moved in. The view outside the window showed a spectacular mountain in the distance with clouds surrounding the peak. He could see most of the village from his view, which he enjoyed quite a bit.

Ryoga kept writing absent mindedly for a few minutes longer before he brought his attention back to his work. He quickly realized that writing without looking at the paper you're writing on was a really bad idea. He had inadvertantly wrote the same sentence on every single paper that he wrote on. He looked at the out box to see 20 or so papers that would have to be redone. Ryoga dropped his pencil and dropped his head on the desk in front of him. He uttered but one word to describe how he was feeling, "Damn." Ryoga grabbed the pencil off the desk and fixed all the ruined papers one at a time. As he wrote he kept his head on the desk so that he wouldn't look out the window again.

Ryoga was writing away when he heard someone talking to his lovely secretary outside. He was wondering what was going on when she opened his door and stepped in. Ryoga set his pencil down, lifted his face towards his secretary, and smiled, "Can I help you Mizuri?" Ryoga could tell that he wasn't hiding the fact that he was glad to be interupted very well. Mizuri looked at Ryoga with distaste and pointed at him to follow her. Ryoga was used to his ill tempered secretary by now, so he stood from his chair and followed her while taking one last glance at his perfectly placed window. Ryoga turned his head towards his secretary and followed her through his office door out to the room next to it.

The first thing Ryoga noticed when he entered the room was the kid's hair. It was white just like his. As he drew closer to the kid he looked him up and down sizing him up. As Ryoga walked into the room he opened his mouth, "Who the hell is bothering me? I have some important work to do here!" Ryoga puffed out his chest and pointed his nose up trying to give himself the appearance of an egotistical man. Ryoga watched the kid waiting for his reaction.


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Word Count: 503
Chakra Points: 10 CP
Total Topic Chakra Points: 10 CP

He could now see the Kage coming out of his office, following his secretary like a puppy. There were three things that Akeuoyta noticed immediately about this guy. One, he had white hair just like Akeuyota. Two, He walked like he was trying to show off his breasts, like a perverted woman would do. Three, he was rather young, maybe to young to be Kage. As the two neared Akeuyota in his chair, he decided it was time to get up - so he leaped out of his chair. The Kage's facial expression already showed he was pleased yet irritated to see Akeuyota; this was more than likely because it distracted him from his duties. Akeuyota stood there for a moment just looking the Kage up and down, noticing each distinguishing feature about the man. He couldn't have been much older than Ake, which gave him hope for his dreams of becoming at least an S-Ranked Ninja, at a very young age.

It seemed as if the Kage was trying to intimidate Akeuyota, by the way he walked - and talked. Who the hell is bothering me? I have some important work to do here! That didn't sit well with Akeuyota, it made him quite angry; even though he was furious, he would have to bite his tongue out of respect. All Akeuyota could do in the Kage's presence was laugh and crack a devilish smile, which probably would scare the secretary and the Kage off. Before he even attempted to speak, he detached his katana from it's string and laid it in the chair he was sitting in, to show that he was not here to assassinate the man. Another step he took before speaking was to bow before the Kage, in respect. Now that he had made the preparations, he could speak, formally to the Kage. "Hello Sir, I want to first congratulate you on becoming Tsuchikage, your family must be so proud. And you must be so relieved to know that you received such a position. Now on to business... I am here, sort of, to request your alliance with Wind Country, or more so with me. I can easily influence my Kage into helping you in war or anything else that is necessary. I just think that I, myself, need allies, but so does my country. I am willing to spend months even debating this, if that is what it takes, sir." Now that Akeuyota had spoken, he had to await the response from the Tsuchikage - and hopefully it wasn't a negative one.

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Word Count: 428
Chakra Points: 8
Total Chakra Points: 12 + 8 = 20

When Ryoga finished speaking he was amused to see anger fleeting across the kid's face. This kid must not have a good sense of humour he thought to himself. But he watched as the kid let out a fake laugh and smiled a rather creepy smile. Ryoga laughed to himself realizing the kid was trying to scare him. Ryoga stood waiting as the kid set his sword down on the seat he was previously sitting in. He knew this meant that the kid was trying not seem like he was about to attack him. Then the kid proceeded to bow, which made Ryoga smirk. He still wasn't used to being bowed to and it took all his will power to keep himself from laughing his head off. Then the kid started talking, and talk he did. The kid just rambling on and on about alliances, congratulations, and a bunch of other stuff.

Ryoga nodded his head as the kid spoke. This kid likes to talk a lot, he thought to himself. He started to tap his foot waiting for the kid to stop talking. Ryoga started wondering if the kid was ever going to stop talking. Ryoga's head lolled to the side as he listened to the kid. Ryoga waited for the kid to finish speaking before he spoke himself. Ryoga brought his fist to his mouth and cleared his throat into it. Then he ran his hand through his snow, white hair which he did a lot. He dropped his hand to his side and started speaking.

"First of all it is customary to tell your name before you start babbling on. For instance, my name is Ryoga Fein and its a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for congratulating me, and as to all of your talk of alliances and such I think we should talk more in depth about that over a cup of tea," Ryoga smiled at the kid trying to not seem like a total jack, and waited for the kid to introduce himself.

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Word Count: 339
Chakra Points: 7
Total Topic Chakra Points: 17

Akeuyota listened as the Tsuchikage began to speak about talking more in depth, about an alliance. Tea. That would allocate enough time to talk about their lives and see if there couldn't be a window of opportunity for an alliance. This would allow the safety in numbers to occur, for Sunagakure and for Akeuyota himself, whatever may happen. Akeuyota was very loyal too, so even if this wasn't his Kage - he would still jump at the chance to help him, no matter what the situation required. Tea did sound nice though, and Akeuyota knew had had talked the Tsuchikage's head off, so he gave him a definite yes for tea time. "Okay. I am sorry sir, for not telling you who I am. Without further ado, I shall introduce myself, because I am a mystery shinobi to you. My name is Akeuyota Shigeko of the ancient Shigeko Clan. I am currently a Special Jounin in the village of Sunagakure, and I am here more or less for my own personal interest in the allegiance. As for tea, I do accept and I am glad that you would even give me the opportunity to present myself."

Ake bowed once again before the Kage, as he went back to his chair to pick-up his Katana. He quickly latched it back around his waist and stretched a little bit, due to the stiffness that the nervousness had caused. The thought of that woman at Tenchi Bridge was still tormenting his mind too, so he didn't know how well he would pay attention during the discussion about the alliance. If he could do it correctly, then there was an undeniable bond between the Sunagakure and the Iwagakure. If it was done poorly, then there was a chance that there would be no alliance; but also a chance that the Iwagakure could go to war with the Sunagakure. Whatever was on the line was about to be set, so it was really up to Akeuyota to get all the stuff sorted for the alliance and personal acquaintanceship with the Tsuchikage. All he could do now was slowly walk towards the Kage, and follow him where he went. As he appeared behind him, he cleared his throat to speak. "Okay Sir, where to?"

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Word Count: 378
Chakra Points: 378 / 50 = 7
Total Chakra Points: 20 + 7 = 27

Ryoga was amazed at the fact that even the kid's apologies were long. And when Ryoga heard that the kid, Akeuyota, was of the Shigeko clan he was impressed. He had never met any of the Shigeko clan before, but he had heard of them from some of the shinobi in the village. But after Akeuyota was finished apologizing he bowed to Ryoga again. This caused Ryoga to break into a large smile. Ryoga started having fits while trying so hard not to laugh. He knew that if Akeuyota bowed one more he wouldn't be able to stop himself from falling on the floor laughing. After Ryoga controlled his laughing urge he stood straight and waited as Akeuyota grabbed his sword. Ryoga stayed just a little bit cautious as Akeuyota walked behind him, but he make sure not to let it show. As Akeuyota asked where they were going Ryoga pointed to a door across the room.

"We're just going over there." Ryoga started walking towards the door, sure that Akeuyota was following him from behind. When he reached the door he placed his hand on the door knob and turned it pushing the door open. It swung smoothly making no sound, which bewildered Ryoga as all the doors in this place seemed to make as much noise as possible whenever he tries to sneak out. Ryoga pushed the squeaky door matter to the side as he stepped into the room. He stood to the side so Akeuyota could walk in, then he pointed to a table set with a couple of chairs and said, "You can sit there while I get the tea."

Ryoga moved to the far end of the room to grab the kettle full of hot water that was just previously heated by his lovely secretary. She knows me so well he thought to himself making him chuckle a bit. Ryoga grabbed the small towel sitting next to the kettle and used it to pick the kettle up by the handle. Even through the towel Ryoga could feel the warmth emanating from the kettle. Ryoga carefully walked back over to the table making sure not to spill any hot water on himself, and set the kettle on the table. He was about to sit down when he noticed that there were no cups, or tea on the table. Ryoga shook his head, disappointed in himself and spun around searching the room for the cups and tea. Ryoga located a small cupboard to the right of the table and walked over to it. He opened the cupboard and found four cups. He grabbed two of the cups, one in each hand, and walked back to the table to set them down.

"Now to find the tea," he mumbled to himself. He searched the room again when he noticed that there was some tea in the spot next to where the kettle was before. He couldn't help but feel ashamed at the fact that he was so unobservant to not have seen the tea sitting right next to the kettle when he grabbed it. He quickly walked over to the tea and snatched it from its resting place. He walked back to the table, for what he hoped would be the last time, and sat down. He made the tea as quickly as he could, handed one cup to Akeuyota, and set one cup in front of himself. He leaned back in his chair and took a small sip of the tea, "I hope you don't mind mediocre tea, I'm not really used to making it." Ryoga took a few more sips of his tea before speaking again.

“So, you came here to talk about an alliance between the Earth Country and the Wind Country. I have to ask by what authority do you have to be asking this? I know you say that you were sent here to make an alliance with the Earth Country, but you also said with yourself to. What do you mean by this? Do you need protection from something?” Ryoga had many questions to ask the young man sitting across from him. He was just recently made Tsuchikage and he didn't want to mess up his first meeting.

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Word Count: 707
Chakra Points: 14
Total Topic Chakra Points: 31

Akeuyota followed the Tsuchikage, the man that introduced himself as Ryoga Fein, into a room. He noticed that the door was even fancy, which wouldn't be seen in the everyday house of a citizen of Sunagakure or even Iwagakure, due to the prestige quality of such craftsmanship. In the midst of the room was a nice table, which looked to be made of either ebony wood or maple wood, but regardless of the type of wood it was - it was very nice. Akeuyota was appointed a seat at the table by Ryoga, as he went to go find the tea, cups and kettle. This was quite a funny site, watching the Kage run around frantically searching for tea and the kettle. That was a mystery to Akeuyota, and more than likely to the Kage - where the hell could all these materials even go? Akeuyota held back a laugh out of respect for the man, seeing as this was more or less a serious meeting. He sat down with the kettle, but didn't have cups - till moments later.

After awhile, the Kage had even found his tea, but told Akeuyota that his tea wouldn't exactly be fantastic. The quality of tea didn't really matter to Akeuyota, seeing as he had a thirst for tea that he couldn't possibly gain on a trip abroad. He sat down and drank the tea, sipping it slowly yet gently to show that he wasn't truly famished. The Kage attempted to start the conversation, by asking what authority Akeuyota had for such a meeting, for an alliance with the Iwagakure, but mostly for himself - not his village. Ake didn't really want to come out and tell the Kage that he was going to more than likely misuse this trust and do something dangerous, and fall back on Ryoga for assistance. As he sat there in silence, he was trying to contemplate a way of telling the man his intentions, without coming across as evil. This was going to be somewhat difficult, so he would either have to lie or stretch the truth, slightly.

"Okay, so I do not really have anyone's authority. That was a lie, I just needed to get here. I know that you know of the Akatsuki, and their abilities. They are extremely dangerous, and you know that they wish to destroy our villages and take control of the beasts inside of Jinchuuriki.... They are watching me, I know this. I met one earlier today, and I could swear I recognized her from somewhere. I am even having dreams where I see people in black suits with the pattern of a red cloud on them, and they are speaking to me. They are even requesting me to do their bidding, and they are getting to me... I really need someone to help protect me, and my village - because they will come for me, and destroy the Sunagakure or even the Iwagakure, or both..." As Akeuyota said this, he took a moment to breath, because he had just said a mouthful. He knew that this was irritating the Kage, due to his constant speech and never ceasing to stop. Ake dropped his head to the table slightly, and sighed - knowing that his misuse of the mans trust was not going to go over well with an act of diplomacy. "I am sorry I talk so much too, Ryoga... It is only natural." The sound was muffled by the table and his arms which were covering his face.

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Word Count: 589
Chakra Points: 589 / 50 = 11
Total Chakra Points: 27 + 11 = 38

Ryoga listened to Akeuyota's speech intently as he sat across from him. He nodded his head a few times when necessary, but mostly sat quietly. Though once or twice he fiddled with the butterfly necklace he wore around his neck. When Akeuyota finished talking Ryoga noticed that he lowered his head to the table. He was unsure why he was doing it when Akeuyota apologized for speaking too much. Ryoga shook his head and was about to laugh, but thought better of it. He took a few sips of tea before setting it down. Ryoga set his arms crossed on the table before speaking.

"Don't worry about talking too much Akeuyota, this is a discussion. So lift your head, it is undignified to lower your head while speaking. As to what you are saying about the Akatsuki, I do know of them. Though these plans you talk about are quite new to me. You say you have been dreaming about the Akatsuki, that they have been following you. No offense, but these allegations ring true of someone who is paranoid. And what would they gain from attacking my country? Not to be mean, but you are not even a part of this country, you're a ninja of the wind country. Shouldn't the alliance of you to your own country be enough to protect you? I'm sure there are just as many strong ninja there as there are here, plus you have your clansmen in the Wind Country." Ryoga paused his speaking for a second while he took another sip of his tea to water down his throat. He dropped the tea on the table, adjusted his arms, and began speaking again.

"You come to me asking to ally myself with you when I've met you just today. You talk of the Akatsuki watching you, entering your dreams. Please enlighten me as to why you chose me, and not some other country. Is it because I'm new to being a kage, or is it because I'm young?" Ryoga didn't know why he started getting riled up near the end of his own speech, but something about how Akeuyota tricked him into the meeting made Ryoga angry. Though he only just realized how infuriating it was after he started talking about the reasons Akeuyota might of had for picking the newly appointed Tsuchikage to ask for an alliance that made no sense.

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Word Count: 400
Chakra Points: 8
Total Topic chakra Points: 39

Akeuyota lifted his head up immediately after the Tsuchikage began to speak, listening carefully. The Kage seemed to always speak calmly and quick, yet at the some time he had some sort of hatred or annoyance in his tone. This was more than likely due to the random meeting that Akeuyota had started, without any real clearance. As Akeuyota continued to listen, the Kage began to make accusations of why he had come to form an alliance. Was it because he was young and naive? No. Was it because Ake was selfish and needed protection for no reason? No. Then what could it have possibly been? Akeuyota shifted back in his chair, trying to get as comfortable as possible for this meeting - making his gaze meet Ryoga's and nothing else. His crimson eyes should be enough to hold someone still, even more so - his Dōjutsu was active in his right eye. This allowed the all knowing phoenix to power his right eye, allowing him to know many things and to see many things, even though he hadn't asked for the help of his Dōjutsu. The eyes tended to work when they wished now a days, which wasn't good.

Akeuyota sipped his tea some, and allowed the tea to swish around in his mouth before he swallowed it. After his throat was lubricated with tea, he began to speak, after clearing his throat. "So I really have to explain myself now, sir. I am not here to take advantage of you, because you are young or naive or any of those choices. I am here just because long ago our countries were allied, and it needs to happen again. I will be truthful, however, there is no Kazekage at the moment.... the only person that is actually anywhere near being qualified for the position is me. I just wanted my country to be safe, and yours - and you are not the only country. I am trying to reunite all the countries so we can protect our people and stop the Akatsuki at whatever it takes. This is not about me, and I am sorry I said it was about me to begin with..."

Akeuyota began to sip his tea again, lowering his gaze to the necklace which Ryoga had been fiddling around with before. A butterfly, a symbol of new life. Was this a image that Ryoga found pleasant, or was it just something he thought was cool? Akeuyota wanted to guess the first choice, due to the misinterpretation of the Tsuchikage, based on the stereotypes of different age groups. He wanted to believe that Ryoga found symbolism for himself and his country within the image of the butterfly, and he wanted to steer clear of any thought of it just being a cool doodad. Akeuyota squirmed in his chair, reaching into his pack, which was now in his lap - to find something. He brought out several drawings of animals in the wild, and some that more than likely don't exist. The images portrayed dragons, butterflies, tigers, mongoose, and various other creatures. All this time out and about required some sort of hobby, and that hobby happened to be drawing. Akeuyota had taken up drawing and reading recently, even though he could do those already, he decided to spend more time on them and to do them for fun.

He laid out his drawings over the table, carefully moving the tea out of the way so it would not dirty up his drawings. Before he began to speak, he passed a butterfly drawing over to Ryoga, one that he had spent hours on. With a clearing of his throat and a shuffle through his drawings, he began to speak, not making eye contact this time. "The butterfly is an image that I suppose you find symbolic for something in your life, I presume? It is a beautiful creature, and if you value you artwork you may keep the picture that I show you. Take a look at these pictures, and I am sorry if I am detracting from the subject at hand - but that necklace reminded me of these things. Do not think that we are steering away from our conversation, I just wished to know about the necklace and the meaning of the butterfly to you - it was killing me."

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Word Count: 728
Chakra Points: 728 / 50 = 14
Total Chakra Points: 38 + 14 = 52

Ryoga took one final sip of his tea before it was gone. He set the cup down on the table and leaned back, his hands grasped behind his head. His ears were wide open as Akeuyota spoke. Ryoga was begging to nod off when Akeuyota stopped speaking. Bringing his attention back to the conversation Ryoga pulled his arms from behind his head and brought them down in front of his person. He took a breath and began to speak.

"So you say that you're the closest to being kage in your country. For that I am quite doubtful for if it was true you would have no country left. As for this alliance between all the countries, I would be much more happy speaking of such matters with the other kages. Therefore I would not like to speak about this alliance matter anymore. Do not get me wrong, I am in no way trying to anger you or go against you. Please consider yourself welcome in the Earth Country." Ryoga straightened his back, not trying to look more intimidating, but more professional. He flashed a sincere smile, hoping that Akeuyota wouldn't get angry. Ryoga knew that even one enemy could lead to disaster. So he tried to be as friendly as possible by answering the question about the butterfly.

Ryoga bent over the drawings sitting in front of him and inspected them with an artist's eye. Although he wasn't quite sure if he had one. "These drawings are quite good. As for the butterfly, it is a symbol for me. It symbolizes the cycle of life, the small caterpillar of adolescents., the cocoon of change, the butterfly of freedom, and finally death. It symbolizes the fleeting effort of a medical ninja like myself to keep people from that last cycle." Ryoga explained as best he could, the feelings that he had for the butterfly.

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Word Count: 314
Chakra Points: 6
TTCP: 45