Meeting Akihiro [Private]

One of Neko-Sama's shadow clones that regularly spread throughout Konoha to do the various errands and keep everyone guessing on who the real body was. Was currently making it's way to see Akihiro, the Clan Head of the Uchiha clan, and had recently returned from the mission for the Blood Prison.

It annoyed Tatsu that it didn't have any real information outside of that it was requested that they go over and give aide. But now that little piece of the puzzle could come to a close. But more importantly, Tatsu felt it was it's obligation to check up on the clan. After all, Shinso, one of her precious Genin, was a member of the clan.

And as cat-like as Tatsu normally was. It wasn't the type to just abandon someone under it's care. And with that came an interesting thought, that it could possibly entice Akihiro and select clan mates a free stay at the Resort, give him a nice bit of relaxation from the toils of rule.

As the Neko-Sama form sauntered into the main building it got the attention of one of the clan members and requested to be escorted to Akihiro directly for a private meeting.

[1]

The Uchiha cemetery held a lot of significance for Akihiro. The 14 years old boy (12 at the time) had seen a lot, probably more than anyone else at his young age. This cemetery was where he once met the 1st Hokage- Uchiha Kazuya. Back then the village was young and hadn't set itself properly. The fact that such a young village composed of enemy clans like the Uchiha and Hyuuga had survived was in many ways thanks to the first Hokage. But everyone met their end, and Kazuya was no exception.

Akihiro had witnessed the rise and fall of many great ninja. With many different abilities. Both Kazuya and Satomi's eyes had reached the highest level within the Uchiha Clan, they could crush mountains, obliterate fields and even bend the laws of space and time. And yet...

And yet they all ended here. That's what was so fascinating about this place. It's that no matter how strong they were, how much people respected them, how they changed the world around them... They all ended up here. Resting peacefully among their brothers and sisters, perhaps expecting more of the next generation. Akihiro couldn't help but wonder what Kazuya or Satomi would say. The Uchiha Clan was being led by a talented, yet very young boy. Would Akihiro be able to live up to their expectations? And on the other hand, did their expecations even matter at all, considering they were dead?

The Uchiha let out an audible sigh. The most recent victim of the ninja way of life had been Gin. A man he did not know well, but whose abilities had granted him the right to lead the ANBU unit. Their mission however, had failed. And Gin had died, along the Warden of the Blood Prison. The only survivor had been once again Akihiro.

The Sparrow had come out stronger, for sure. But at what cost?

"Sir, there's a...hrm, cat. Here to meet you."

Akihiro's sharingan eyes glanced at the Uchiha kneeling a few meters to his right. It was still strange being called "sir", but the clan was very traditional. The cat had to be the Hokage. Akihiro had only arrived a few hours ago, but he'd heard the news. After all he was an information broker.

"Send it in." he replied.

Neko-Sama prowled into the Uchiha Cemetery. Akihiro was young for a clan head; and from what Tatsu had been able to read had gotten a meteoric rise through the clan through a lot of loss. It was something that Tatsu could sympathize with, having come from the devastation of Iwa's civil war, seeing friends, family, and neighbors dying left and right. And in the middle of all that loss finding oneself rising above in ways one would never have foreseen.

As Neko-Sama looked in the eyes of the current head of the Uchiha he gave a short nod of his head, and spoke, "Hello Akihiro-San, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. Although I'm sorry it's under such less than ideal circumstances. My name is Neko-Sama, I've been appointed the most recent Kage, and I'm making my rounds to interact with the various Clan Heads. Introducing myself, learning more about you all, and seeing how we can move into the future together to make Konoha the greatest empire this world has ever seen."

[2]

Akihiro's eyes met the cat's. It was a pretty weird feeling, that a cat had just announced itself as the new Hokage. But akihiro had seen a lot, a not many were the things that could still surprise him. Still, this one was pretty high on the rank of odd things that happened to him. Perhaps only bested by that one time when Akihiro and Zurui fought pumpkin men inside a vampire's castle. Weird times.

"Yes, my apologies. I have yet to congratulate you on your promotion. I have just recently arrived from a mission and haven't had the time to take care of such business. But I am glad you came, and am happy to congratulate you." he made a small pause, and smiled at the cat. It still felt weird, but if the elders had chosen this cat to lead an entire nation, they must have had their reasons. "Those are pretty high ambitions for a nation small as ours. But others came before you, and had partial success. Perhaps you will, too." Masuyo has perhaps been the most successful Kage the village had ever known, apart from the First Hokage who had founded the Leaf. She had managed to conquer Iwagakure no Sato and double the village's income and prosperity. It wasn't going to be an easy job, to outperform her. Could this cat do it? Akihiro's interest was certainly peeked. In what he could help, he would.

"Well, the Uchiha are stable. For now, at least. As for myself, you know my name. I have been head of Intelligence in the village for the past two years, but my organization suffered a heavy loss with the last mission, so we're a bit in shambles currently. We did acquire valuable information, but the Blood Prison was compromised and many dangerous criminals escaped." He made another pause. Akihiro had become head of Intelligence in the village at the age of 12. While his physical attributes were still developing, his mind's prowess was quickly recognized by his peers and put to use. This had forced him to grow very quickly, but he didn't mind.

"Along with many of Mockingbird's men, we lost Gin Akiyama. I would like to take his place as head of of the ANBU branch in Konoha." He stated bluntly. There was more he could do with access to ANBU's resources.

At hearing about the other Kage's partial success. Neko-sama gave a cheshire grin, "If you'd be interested Akihiro-San I'd love for you to be a part of what I have planned, the recent kidnapping of Yui, and an overview of the mess our nation is in. Has led me to the conclusion that we need to do some things in order to ensure that we never get blindsided again. While maximizing our nations profits. Which sadly, are something that can't survive a serious blow."

At hearing about the substantial loss of his organization, Neko-Sama cringed, there were lots of things that would have been useful to have them around for in the upcoming plans. But Tatsu, and the rest of Tatsu's forms were very good at adapting. It was as Masuyo said not too long ago, 'survived by slipping through the cracks it found.' Giving a sympathetic mewl, replied, "I have a great love for the Uchiha Clan to be honest. Shinso was a genin in my team before I was given the position due to several acts I made in only a month long period; and Mizuki is a Kami-Sent blessing of a Personal Assistant.

"But as for your organization, and the losses at the Blood Prison, I'm going to need a full debriefing when you have the chance. But it seems our previous Kage ... well let's say that when shoved into the position. I still have problems finding all the little shenanigans that Masuyo was up to. After she fled office. So I'm sorry I didn't know in time to send you reinforcements or keep a tighter eye on such a dangerous mission. You have my condolences, and if you think any of those who died deserve special accommodations and recognition for their acts. Let me know and I'll see to it.

And let me know how I can help the Mockingbirds, to help bring them recuperate from your losses."

That's another thing that Tatsu had picked up. You take care of your employees; Give them nice, shiny carrots; and don't screw them over. And it made for quite a loyal work force, willing to turn a blind eye to a lot. And helping the Clan head with all the problems facing him at the moment was a decent carrot before dangling a bigger one on Tatsu's hobby for world domination. Not necessarily for power over others, but to keep her loved ones from getting yoinked again, as well as for the fun of seeing if she could.

But it was the last bit that sent Neko-Sama rocking, his ear's drooping at hearing of Gin's death, "That is unfortunate, I had plans for Gin for the upcoming things ahead for our nation. But yes! Of course! If you'd like we can even merge your group into the ANBU to further their efficiency. What are your plans as head of that organization by the way?"

[3]

"Well," Akihiro began responding, a little hesitant because even the Sparrow himself wasn't exactly sure of the details of what they'd be doing. He would have to sit down and think about it for a while which wasn't something he had had time to do yet. Regardless, he kept on speaking. "I believe the first priority should be to rebuild our scouting network. We need to know of enemy movements in advance if we wish to have any hope of reacting in time." This was true. He needed to train men and send them to several key points in the continent in order to monitor and be aware of the movements happening in the land.

"For that we will need men, equipment and time to train them. So the sooner we start, the sooner we'll get the important results we need." Akihiro made a pause, and took a moment to take a kunai out of the holster on his lower back. He carefully examined the kunai and passed his hand over it, making sure to note the dimension, weight and sharpness of the object. "There is one more thing." He'd say. The young boy would then place his hand upon the kunai blade and attempt to perform this technique for the first time. It was an incredibly useful jutsu called the Flying Thunder God technique and while Akihiro had managed to learn how it worked, he had yet to put his theory into practice. This ended up being a lot less difficult than he initially believed and by the time he took his hand off the kunai there was a formula imprinted on the blade.

Akihiro smirked, and would then pass the kunai onto the cat. Although it may not be very practical, Akihiro knew the Hokage would find a way. After all where did Neko keep all the equipment when he was in cat form? "It's important that you keep this with you at all times. I will be able to reach you instantly if an emergency occurs and is detected by our scout and ANBU forces."

Trained: Flying Thunder God S-rank 350 words needed 400 typed

Neko-Sama nodded at the wisdom of refreshing their ranks to replace the one's lost in their latest incursion, but those things took time. Not to mention that most of what  they had were out in the world scouring for Yui, "That would be good, normally I would say refilling the ranks of those lost in your latest incursion would take time. But I have a plan to refresh our troops easily. As well as ensure that the theft of one of our own never happens again.

"I'll tell you in private later. But I need a list of strong Ninja that you think are capable fighters and loyal to Konoha and it's secrets. Will you be willing to help Konoha and it's future generations have the bright, safe futures they so deserve?"


Neko-Sama would take the Kunai with his tail, and with a deft flick, place it in it's Kage Sash, "So what is this for anyways? What does it do?"

[4]

Akihiro nodded. He didn't share Tatts's optimism in believing that their ranks could be that easily refilled, but if nothing else the young Sparrow at the very least hoped she was right. "Of course I'll be willing to help Konoha and its future generations. It's what I've been doing since the day I graduated from the academy." This was pretty much the sum of his life, although he hadn't always been successful.

"As for your list, I'm afraid we're a bit short in terms of military power right now. Sachiko has a lot of potential but she'll need more training before I'm confident enough to send her to the frontlines. Rin is incredibly skilled and I've heard he became a Jinchuuriki. He's a very valuable asset and the Uchiha Clan is proud of him. There are quite a few promising young men in the Uchiha as well, but we'll have to wait to see how they do."

Akihiro would then glance at the cat as it put away the kunai with a rather graceful movement of tail. "That seal will allow me to reach you regardless of where you are. That's the gist of it." Akihiro answered, intentionally keeping his answer vague. He still needed to experiment with Flying Thunder God and its full potential, and wasn't willing to disclosure the secrets of his most valuable technique so soon.

At hearing about Konoha's current military situation Neko-Sama gave a low hum as he thought about Akihiro's insight, "Well, I'm going to be counting on you to help me figure out what we need. I'm currently sending Scouts to the Land of Rain; Land of Waves; and Land of Hot Springs. They'll be traveling through most of the other nations between here and there making a nice in depth report of what's going on. And while they're doing that. I'm sending you and Sachiko to the Land of Tea.

"It should allow you to train her till she's at optimum combat potential; as well as to get her ready for the battles to come. After we're finished, Konoha will be the strongest, and safest place on the planet. And my family, and those important to me will never again stolen from us. Just let me know what you need, and how to improve Konoha's military.

"I'll be honest with you. The only reason I was Kage was because I successfully broke into the Village to see my cousin Yui; and then broke into the Kage's office on a lark within the same hour. Or it could be a mixture of that, and I'm a financial genius. My skills aren't for leading wars; it's for finances, healing, destroying entire villages while leaving their infrastructure with no one  left alive, and infiltration. So I'll be counting on those who have skills and capabilities to help me turn Konoha into the financial powerhouse, and empire I know it can be."

At hearing about how the kunai would allow the Uchiha to reach Neko-Sama instantly, he gave a nod, "I'll keep it on me when I'm not feeding my infiltration addiction, or when I'm not in secret missions that require a certain degree of finesse. So most of the times I'll have this on me, else I'll be leaving it with Mizuki Uchiha or one of my confidants to keep it safe."

[5]

Akihiro did little more than nod while the cat spoke. "Yes, I was already planning on sending scouts to those lands, but my men are mostly new and still need training. Perhaps we could make better use of the veteran Konohagakure no Sato's veteran scout units to find those valuable targets. "

Alas, akihiro had only just arrived and yet another mission awaited him. There were so many things he still wanted to do in the village, but duty called and he was not the kind of ninja who would slack of. The thought of Sachiko accompanying him in the mission both troubled and pleased his mind. On on hand, he would certainly enjoy the company and it would beat travelling alone. On the other hand however, things could easily turn bloody very fast in conquest missions and he wasn't sure she would be up to the task- not in terms of capability, but in terms of willingness. Alas, they were ninja and this was their life. there was no escaping it.

"Very well then. If you'll excuse me, I have arrangements to make before I leave. Squads to organize, people to meet, instructions to leave, you know. The usual. We'll return within 15 days with our mission accomplished, have no doubt."

And with that Akihiro would retire himself towards the Uchiha mansion.

[Exit]

Tatsu watched as Akihiro left and started grinned a Cheshire Grin of things going so far according to plan. With a bit more pieces moved across the board then Konoha and Iwa would be safe. And they would have resources to ensure that it's people would never worry about getting stolen again, and anyone who tried.

But  the first things first. Was going to be sending scouts to see their surroundings to make sure that everything  was going smoothly.

Then when it was time, they would ensure the betterment of Konoha. Moving with the brutal efficiency Tatsu had when doing any form of business, Soon, very soon. Most of the continent would belong to Tatsu and her birthhome, her two nations she ran, and all the minor nations that bordered them would belong to it. And never Konoha would reach it's Golden Age, where nothing would be able to stop them.

[6]
//Exit