The Five Kage Summit

"It's been some time." Kazuya greeted the Shogun with a bow. The two stood beneath the expansive outlook of the Three Wolves' Northernmost mountain, the center that would serve as host for the summit of the Five Kage. The Shogun had little interest in the primary reason for this summit's existence; the information he had received both from his scouts and the Hokage told him that the threat was isolated to the inner borders of the Major Countries, particularly those running along the Land of Fire. He was, however, interested in presenting his country as a powerful one, capable of standing alongside the five greats. And as it so happened, he'd met the person calling for the meeting once before.

"Welcome, Kazuya." The elder warrior, garbed in the customary slate gray kimono of his people, replied as he welcomed the Hokage into the large stone complex built right into the underside of the mountain. It was one of three, each one beneath one of the Three Wolves, separated by a central area that was isolated solely for the governing body of the Country; that is, the Shogun and his personal attendants, guards, and advisers. This particular complex was designed to host a variety of events, generally examinations for those graduating into a higher class of Samurai, where warriors would exhibit their swordsmanship against one another to prove their strength and earn the Shogun's respect.

There were also many meeting chambers, mostly along the second floor, and it was to the largest of these that Shinpei led Kazuya into. Though the two had met on the battlefield, they had developed a level of respect for each other, for neither could best the other that day. This respect was enough for them to exchange names, but little else beyond remembering each other for all of time. Kazuya and Shinpei had both become aware of each other's accomplishments in leading separate nations, but they still thought of each other as battlefield rivals. This is why the Shogun calls the Hokage by his first name, with no honorifics, despite learning even of the Uchiha's heritage, and why Kazuya often does the same.

The Hokage paced slowly about the room, inspecting every nook and cranny as best he could to ensure that it would be suitable for the first gathering of the world's great leaders since the time of the Sage. There was a circular table made of stone, quite large in circumference, but hollow at its center with an opening on the end facing the door, so that people could stand before all in attendance. A great many chairs lined the table's outer side, with seats enough for the leaders of every military on the planet, Kazuya suspected. The room was massive, perhaps too greatly so. "How well does the sound-...Ah, well enough, I see." His own voice echoed across the entire room; even at normal conversation level, he could easily be heard from the farthest end.

Two samurai stood guard at the entrance, with two more on standby just inside the room. It was actually a light guard, considering the heavily reinforced corridors and entries throughout the rest of the building, and especially the main entrance. It would serve well for the meeting required, and once Kazuya was satisfied, he returned to the Shogun and began discussing more sensitive details in a tone too soft to be heard by any else. With the occasional chuckle coming from the both of them, one could easily surmise that it was simply a chat of old times.

Upon entering the meeting chamber, Fenrir found himself... somewhat impressed. It was a fairly simple room, and although the table in the center gave it some level of grandeur, it was surprisingly practical, with none of the pointless decorations most rich people went for. Fenrir liked it, as he rarely got to see such simple and practical things in the Leaf. People always had their weird stuff everywhere, like signs, and flamingos, and gnomes. What was a gnome? Fenrir was unsure, but it sounded like a lawn thing. Back to the room he was now in, Fenrir took note of the space for a speaker. He doubted he would ever use it, but he liked the fact that it was there.

The Shogun was an interesting character. All Fenrir could tell from his appearance that he was an old friend, or possibly enemy, of the Hokage. It wasn't really possible to tell which, as an old enemy could be met with and spoken to in such a familiar way, but more likely was that they are old friends. While the two greeted each other, Fenrir simply bowed to the Shogun, waiting to rise until the two had finished their greeting. Once they finished, he would rise, and offer his name if it was requested, otherwise remaining silent. He would walk near behind the Hokage, keeping himself silent as they walked around the room. As he did so, he took in every possible detail of the room, memorizing every corner and edge. This would be a historic moment, and he wanted to remember every bit of it.

"So, this is where we're supposed to have a summit? How fitting," Nikuyo quipped, realizing the pun inherent in having a summit in a mountain when the mountains first came into view for his small party. That had been a day ago, and now they were approaching the mountain that had been designated as the meeting ground. A lone samurai had been their escort to the mountain, and he was thankfully far quieter than the escorts from the previous lands had been. Samurai took their duty very seriously it seemed.

The Mizukage was not dressed lightly like he had been on the journey to this land. Before reaching the location of the summit, Nikuyo had made sure to don most of his armor sans the spaulders and faulds and carried some of his weapons. He did not trust this, despite Hizashi's reassurance that this likely would not break out into conflict. Nikuyo wasn't the type to be unprepared on excursions outside of his lands, hence his insistence on coming to the summit dressed for battle. He had two holsters along the small of his back, one facing right and one left, both with a trench knife held inside. One pouch on each thigh carried a mixture of small arms, while a third on his left hip carried field provisions.

All of this was covered by a large fur coat made out of the skin of a brown bear Nikuyo had slain with a rock when he was in his thirties. He had tracked it down on his return to Kirigakure, allowing the possessor to live in exchange for the cloak. It wrapped around his shoulders, and without the bulk of his spaulders, gave no inclination that he was wearing armor. Its length also obstructed view of the weapons and pouches he had strapped to his person, as the tails went down past his knees. The coat was held together loosely by a sash around the Mizukage's waist, not even being in a knot, so that it would be a simple matter for him to strip it off if chaos erupted. Secretly, he hoped that it would. His Mizukage hat was resting against his upper back, a small piece of thin rope holding it up around his neck. In his right hand, he had a bottle of alcohol that he had been taking sips from all day.

When the group of four reached the entrance carved into the side of a mountain there were a couple samurai waiting outside as a greeting party. Their escort signaled for the group to stop before walking over and talking to the two samurai on guard duty. After a few words, their escort waved for them to follow him. Nikuyo turned to the chuunin who had been his pack mule for the trip before following, giving him an order. "Stay here. You're not needed inside this place." Nikuyo took a large drink out of the bottle before throwing it to the chuunin, since drinking and talking to world leaders was generally frowned upon. Even he knew that. The chuunin bowed respectfully, moving off to the side near the two samurai who seemed not to mind the company. Nikuyo and Hizashi would follow the samurai into the mountain, ready to see what the heads of the other five nations looked like in person. Nikuyo knew of all of them in spirit, of their deeds that brought them into their positions of power, and wondered briefly if they had gotten the chance to learn anything about him. Undoubtedly they had, unless they were truly awful leaders.

The mountain that they were advancing into appeared to be heavily reinforced, enough so that battles not between kage would be able to be fought without much harm coming to the structures themselves. It was an impressive display of engineering, though it interested Hizashi more than it did Nikuyo. Hizashi was dressed in a light blue kimono with the common shinobi sandals with only a flak jacket underneath as protection and was unarmed save for his sharp mind. His once black hair had a couple streaks of grey in it, though Nikuyo hadn't ever noticed his adviser gaining any more grey hairs as he himself was in the process of doing. Genetics at work, it seemed. It was medium length for a man, combed back and kept down with some kind of a hair product. Nikuyo was not one to care for such things, allowing his hair to remain disheveled or pulled into a ponytail as it was today. Nikuyo hadn't done anything of the sort with his beard, letting it stay as it chose to be on any given day.

After a minute or two, Nikuyo and Hizashi were brought to a hallway that had two samurai guarding a door on the other end. They were led to that doorway, where they were signaled to go in. Without hesitation, both Mizukage and adviser stepped through the door. They walked into a very large room, large enough for a war conference involving every clan head in Kirigakure at the same time, both major clans and minor. It was impressive, actually, encompassing more room than the buildings Kirigakure had built into some of her own mountains. In this room was a very large, round table with only one gap in its circumference to allow a speaker undivided attention from everyone at the table.

As soon as he entered the room his sensory abilities would activate. His right hand touched the wall next to the door and he halted for a couple seconds. This focused sensing gave him the rough layout of the entirety of the room while his eyes and perceptive mind scanned it manually. There were five others in the room besides Hizashi and himself, two guards and then three others who were close together. Two of them were talking, both of whom appeared to have the aura of leadership emanating from them. Nikuyo thought briefly on the descriptions he had been given on the other kage, pinning the name of the person he believed one of them to be after a couple seconds of examination. The fifth appeared to be a Konohagakure shinobi, likely a jonin to be attending a summit of the kage.

Nikuyo let his hand off the wall, keeping his sensory skill going just to be safe. This bear of a man towered over everybody else present, standing fully erect at 6'8" as he walked over to a chair that was labeled "Mizukage". Nikuyo pulled the chair out, lowering himself soundlessly into it before taking off his hat and setting it down in front of him. His eyes found the two chatting men again, who he assumed would stop chatting when he entered the room, cold eyes and a scarred face analyzing their worth. Hizashi took up a position behind Nikuyo, his hands clasped behind his back.

"The rest of them must have woken up a bit late," he said to them both, referencing the fact that the kage of the nation furthest from the Land of Iron was the second to get there. Even before the Tsuchikage, a neighboring leader, which amused the usually sour old man s little bit. "Nikuyo Yuki," he stated simply, indicating his name.




Active: Sensory

Calypso had finally arrived in the Land of Iron. It was a nice change, arriving at the place she was meant to be. She might be a little behind schedule, but she was within the land and that was something. She had noticed immediately the difference between her homeland, the rather warm Land of Fire, the pleasantly temperate Land of Earth and the Land of Iron: it was bloody cold. Ice and snow dominated the area, coating everything in a layer of white. It was beautiful to behold, but not the best for the way she had been dressed, nor was it the norm she was used to. Rather than complaining, she had simply pulled her direwolf fur pelt from her pack and slipped it around her shoulders, continuing her trek into the land without issue. She had it imported just for this part of her travels, as she knew it would be colder than she was used to and it always paid to be prepared.

Part way through her journey, she met up with a samurai escort. She smirked as she realized her escort was a female, she supposed one of the few female samurai just as she was the only female Kage. It was a bit of flattery she hadn't been expecting, but she would take it. The armor hid the other woman's body for the most part, but the woman wore no mask unlike many of the others in her ranks. She was tall, at least 5'10", with vibrant pink hair and shimmering green eyes. She had a pretty face, so at least Calypso would be traveling with someone that more than decent to look at. That wasn't all that Calypso acknowledged in a companion or traveling partner of course, but there was precious little else to focus on when her companion didn't talk. She had two courses of action: look at the other female or look at the scenery. She found herself alternating between them and counting down the time until she would reach the mountain.

They loomed above her, but she barely noticed. She was lost deeply in thought, of things that would most likely be considered inconsequential. Just random idle thoughts that occupied her minds at times. What octopi would be like if they had bones. What it would feel like to be a man twenty-four/seven (she could Henge into a man, but she had the feeling that it was fundamentally different from actually being a man). What the world would be like if they had two suns. How her life would've changed if her child had lived... That last thought startled her a little too much with its suddenness and the pain that it brought. She jumped a bit, drawing a quizzical look from her escort, which she met with a shy smile. Deciding that her thoughts were better off ignored until she had more important things to think about, she looked upwards towards the mountains before her. She sucked in a bit of air sharply in surprise. They were more breath-taking than she had imagined, and she had imagined them quite a bit. Calypso loved two forms of scenery the most, after all: the sea and mountain ranges.

The Raikage was led to the entrance to the mountain like a child being lead by her parents, as she was entranced by the sight above her. She felt like painting the mountains from different distances away, at different times of day and in different forms of weather. These variables were bound to give vastly different works, despite being of the same mountain range, but Calypso would have to return to find out. She had forgotten her paints, brushes and canvases at home. She hadn't expected the urge to create to be this strong, so she hadn't seen the point. She was kicking herself for her absentmindedness, now. She gave a small sigh and followed her escort into the mountain's entrance gladly, though with no small amount of longing for a brush in her heart.

Calypso asked the woman who was leading her if she could be placed in a room so that she could change and leave her things. She was shown to such a place, wherein she quickly shucked off her traveling clothes and slipped into something more.... elegant. She put on a long qipao dress, in her usual favored shade of crimson. It trailed down to her ankles, though opened in a slit down her left thigh, allowing her legs to move freely. She donned a pair of heeled shinobi sandals that came to her knees, setting her skates to the side for now. Black gloves that came to the middle of her biceps slipped over her hands, though they left her palms and fingers exposed. She brushed her hair a bit before pulling it back into a high ponytail, two strands falling down to frame her face gently. She pulled a mirror out of her bag and began on her make-up, though it was going to be a light job. Her lips were painted crimson and her eyes lined in charcoal. Her cheeks had a light dusting of pink ghosted over them and her eyelids got the same treatment, though in black. Once she was done, she put all of her things away in her bag and took back up her cloak, slipping it around her shoulders so that it completely eclipsed her form. She was one for dramatic reveals, after all.

Calypso thought about her little moment of vanity in the room, but she put it up to just doing her job. While she always wanted to look her best, be at her most beautiful, she knew that looks often got you what you wanted. She wasn't trying to be a seductress, hence her choice of dress and the lack of shown cleavage, she just wanted eyes on her and subsequent attention paid. Looking good would more than allow that. She entered the meeting room and looked about at the place, waiting for a moment to acknowledge the others. The room was large and spacious, the table at the middle holding enough seats to sponsor a meeting of multiple delegates from every country on the planet. It was rather impressive to say the least. The table held a place in the middle for another to stand, speak and be heard. It looked like a good set up, very good for large meetings. This place seemed to be more than well equipped for them. She turned her attention to the people there, now. Seven, all men. Two men a a bit away from her stood talking, while another that appeared to be a Jonin just looked aroun the area. Two more, one sitting in the seat of the Mizukage and another stood by him, while the final two guarded the door. She knew which was the Mizukage, and put titles to the two men talking: the Shogun and the Hokage. It appears she was one of the few Kage that hadn't brought an entourage, even though she had planned to before the start of her trek. She gave a sigh and moved to stand behind her designated Raikage seat "This place is more breathtaking than I imagined. And built like a fortress to boot. Wonderful, truly." She stated wistfully, waiting for a conversation to be struck up.

The Hokage and Shogun's conversation started to drift away once the footsteps of a large man and his escort resounded through the halls. People were starting to arrive, and Shinpei had some last minute arrangements to attend to. "So it seems." Kazuya responded to the elder Mizukage. He, too, found it odd that the person with the greatest distance to travel was the first to arrive. Hopefully tardy is all they were; refusal to attend may have negative implications.

The Hokage watched the samurai escort outside of the door move on down the hallway behind their leader, and then stood behind his seat at the table, across from the Mizukage. "Kazuya Uchiha," he introduced himself, "though I'm sure you already knew that." Konoha had kept tabs on the leaders in particular of the other villages, and he was sure they did the same. All of the Kage no doubt were already quite familiar with one another.

"How fares Kirigakure?" The Fire Shadow questioned, apparently striking up casual conversation but not so subtly seeking any confirmation to information that his Anbu had already gathered. They had some time to kill, so why not play a few tactical social games? The Raikage entered soon after Kazuya asked the question, with a comment that the Hokage responded to with but a nod. He did agree, of course, but preferred that the conversation stay on a topic that Calypso had probably not heard the start of. Mentally, though, Kazuya wondered if he might receive a response here from Iwa and Suna. He figured they would show, due to the nature of the threat, but something felt off about those two. There was hardly anything concrete beyond his suspicions, though he'd hoped to shed more light on that with this summit. Both the Kazekage and Tsuchikage being absent would certainly raise some flags, if not confirm outright what he somewhat unreasonably suspected.

Nikuyo did not reply to Kazuya's insinuation that he knew who the Hokage was, though he kept his eyes on the Hokage as he asked of Kirigakure's well being. A female had been approaching the room now for a few seconds and was set to arrive at any moment. As she entered, Nikuyo would reply to Kazuya. "You can't walk through the harbor for the fish," he said, referencing their abundance of that particular resource. He recognized the Hokage's subtle game, deciding to play along though he was not nearly as elegant with his approach. "How about Konohagakure? Your trees looked well enough on my way through."

About the time he was done with his final sentence, the Raikage would be stopping behind her seat and would comment on the interior of the building. Nikuyo's face remained passive at the comment, as he really didn't care about the interior of the Land of Iron's primary stronghold. It was too far from his islands to be of any concern, though Hizashi smiled at the comment and took to looking around the room again to admire the architecture. Nikuyo, rather than replying to her comment, would instead ask a question of the Raikage who had not seen fit to introduce herself. Perhaps it was because Nikuyo was here. The Lands of Lightning and Water have had a strained relationship at best for the last few generations, ever since the Lightning country had began incursions into the southern sea. "Were the other two kage behind you," he asked, curious on the possibility of the two remaining nations blowing the summit off. The political ramifications mattered little to him, but the missed opportunity at sizing up half of the kage other than himself.


Active: Sensory

After he finished looking at the room, which didn't take long with how simple it really was, Fenrir took a look at the Kages in the room.  The Hokage was still talking to the... Holy shit.  As Fenrir looked at the Mizukage, he felt a chill down his back.  This man had been through things, and it could almost be felt in his very presence.  Even without this, it could be viewed from the man's face, the way he held himself, everything about him showed off his clear experience in combat.  This was not a man to be fucked with, and Fenrir now knew it for sure.  The cloak he wore was almost certainly concealing weapons, much like Fenrir's, but the Mizukage likely had more, both in deadliness and quantity.  He would need to keep an eye on him, because if this guy decided to pull something, Fenrir was no longer as certain about the Kage's ability to fight him alone.  It was now that Fenrir once again thought about how this summit was literally a mixing pot with multiple grenades cooking inside.  All he could hope is that it doesn't blow.

Next his gaze wandered to the Raikage, the only female currently at the meeting.  For a couple of seconds he was completely stunned, still looking the same as usual, simply unable to think.  After this short period passed, he returned to his thoughts.  She was... god dammit it was hard to think while looking at her.  So, he turned away, analyzing her based on the image in his mind.  She was intelligent, he could tell by the look in her eyes.  She was also... fit, in more ways than one.  She looked less strong than fast, but her eyes were still what interested him most, at least when he looked away.  Unfortunately, when he looked towards her, he was distracted by... other things.  Things that caused a large number of dot dot dots to be placed in his thoughts.  But when he looked away, or focused intently on the eyes, he saw something strange.  Looking back to the current conversation, he did his best to avoid looking in her direction, which was fairly easy to do, as his focus was meant to be on the Hokage and his safety anyway.

Nee-san had never enjoyed the Land of Iron. He had led an expedition or two into the area as Jounin Commander and each time was more unpleasant than the last. The region had long been within the Land of Earth's sphere of influence but any sustained attempt at domination was met with fierce resistance by the Samurai. Hòu Zhuān, the First Tsuchikage, had made a pact with the Shogun where he insisted that he would respect every country's right to self-determination, sovereignty, and peaceful trade without the undue influence of stronger neighbors. Nee-san found the Shogun to be quite distrustful of the proposal but had presumably accepted it knowing that he could trust his Samurai to repel any invasion. As part of the deal, Iwagakure would be allowed to make occasional expeditions into the area to capture fugitives that often fled into the cold mountains to escape Earth Country justice. Entire bandit groups had nestled within the mountains with the expectation that any encroachment on Land of Iron territory by Iwa-Nin would be met with lethal force by the Samurai. With the pact signed, it had been Nee-san's duty as Jounin Commander to coordinate and on rare occasions personally lead excursions into the area. They were often accompanied by Samurai escorts who acted as guides, allies, and handlers. They were polite but stern. The few times Nee-san interacted with them were brief and the circumstances quite serious. They had no love for him and neither he of them. When he became Tsuchikage he had reiterated his commitment to his predecessor's pact. Unfortunately, it seemed that the Shogun trusted Nee-san even less than he did the First Tsuchikage and any attempt to further their relationship was willfully stonewalled by the country's foreign minister. It appeared that non-aggression was the only thing that the Shogun wanted and that anything beyond that was simply out of the question due to their nations' history. Worse yet, he had seemed to form the impression that Nee-san was dangerous and untrustworthy liar. He was of course correct as Nee-san had not long after departing from Iwagakure drawn up preliminary plans for a massive invasion given his recent discussion with the Kazekage.

Nee-san's trek was uneventful and it was clear that his escort had no love for him. Silence was characteristic of the Samurai and their emotions were hid by their masks. All the same, Nee-san could feel the man's hatred radiating off of him. Nee-san was confident in his abilities and did not expect that he would need to rely on the Samurai for protection and that was good considering that many were raised on stories of blood thirsty Earth Country Clans who had killed scores of their ancestors. Nee-san stared at the large mountain that overshadowed the building that the Summit took place in. The howling winds seemed to swirl with even greater intensity as they approached on horseback. He wore a massive fur coat that insulated him from the worst of it but it was a far cry from the far more temperate climate of the Earth. Underneath the coat he wore his traditional Kage robes and a black turtleneck sweater with dress slacks. As usual, he wore a pair of sunglasses although these appeared to be distinctly marked on the sides with a small discrete symbol; that of Iwagakure's military. When they arrived, Nee-san dismounted and walked inside. The building was truly a marvel and as an engineer he could respect those that had constructed. He handed his coat to an attendant and walked towards the main room.

As he did so he saw Shinpei exiting with an entourage of samurai. Nee-san walked past him only giving the slightest nod as a courtesy. The Shogun returned the gesture as they walked past each other. The proud Shogun obviously had no time for pleasantries and his suspicion of Nee-san was understandable but ultimately inconsequential. The Land of Iron would soon be his, Shinpei just didn't know it yet. Predator soon to become prey. he mused to himself.


Nee-san enjoyed arriving late. For him, it was a simple exercise of power. Others waited on him and not the other way around. He had expected to be the last one but he had misjudged it a bit. When he entered the room, his eyes narrowed in on each individual. Each were renown for their feats but Nee-san had gone the extra mile in gathering information on the basic details of their physical appearance. He marked each of them mentally and noted a few things about each person.

Kazuya Uchiha. Hokage of Konohagakure. Nee-san had never met Kazuya but he had heard of him. Kazuya was young but strong as were many in his clan. The Land of Fire had been wracked by war between the Hyuuga and Uchiha for generations and it was only recently that the two had forged a peace and created a ninja village. The peace was probably a direct result of other nation's forming hidden villages. The rival clans had put aside their differences to survive the changes in geopolitics. Nee-san admired that and he found their Doujutsu to be truly a curious medical phenomenon. When he learned that Konoha had selected an Uchiha as its First Hokage he was intrigued. He had expected the Senju to take the helm given that they were seen as neutral party and were likely a crucial element in mediating between the two clans. If Kazuya had taken control of the village then it could only be because of his strength and fighting prowess.

Nikuyo Yuki. Mizukage of Kirigakure. The man was old and gruff. He sported disheveled hair and a beard. There was something about him that reminded Nee-san of the First Tsuchikage. There was no longer any doubt that the tales of an ferocious old bear that massacred a building full of ANBU had some truth to them. He had the same spirit of violence and primal rage emanating from him that his mentor had but none of the poise and charisma. Just by his posture Nee-san could tell that he was probably more a warrior than a leader. If the Hozuki had allowed one of their own to fall to a Yuki without a peep he could only assume the removal of the First Mizukage was either sanctioned by them or swallowed by them. While he gave off an aura of raw power, he did not seem to have the brilliance associated with most military leaders. He wondered how such a disproportionately large and clearly beastly man had the patience to deal with the minutiae of administration. Something told Nee-san he did not.

Calypso Tethys. Raikage of Kumogakure. A sultry and well endowed dark skinned woman. The First Raikage had retired from what Nee-san heard. A boy had taken her place, one whose blood thirst was quite legendary. Nee-san figured that Seigi Chinoike would not last. He'd either die on the battlefield or end up poisoned by any number of enemies he was certain to have made. Pure fighting ability and bloodlust were not good qualities for a Kage to have. The fact that Calypso had returned to the position told him all that he need to know with respect to the Second Raikage. Calypso was indeed beautiful and she dressed in a manner that accentuated her womanly features. Nee-san did not care for her and lamented that she had returned from retirement. He found that kunocihi in general lacked the temperament for the job of Kage and that this Summit might be made more difficult due to her presence. In either case, Kumogakure was never a significant object of concern for him.

The Kazekage was not yet in attendance. That was a shame. He had hoped that he would be the last to arrive but he could only guess that Shin had beaten him to the punch so to speak. He was a bit miffed that he had arrived earlier than Shin but saw the good in it. The less they had in common the better off they were. Of course until they announced their true intentions to the world. Arriving at or around the same time could raise more suspicion than he'd care to entertain.

There was another individual who was accompanying the Hokage. A Jounin by the look of it. After giving each Kage a brief glance, he turned his attention to Fenrir and wondered why the Hokage thought so little of himself that he believed having a bodyguard was necessary. The Tsuchikage said nothing in response to the various words spoken by others nor gave any indication or expression that the people in the room were of consequence. It was as if he had entered a waiting room. He walked over to the place where he was supposed to sit, sat in the chair, and set his Kage hat down in front of him exposing his shiny dome. He removed a vaporizer pen from the inner pocket of his Kage robe and took a deep drag before exhaling. A single smoke ring wafted into the air high above them. He would rather not dispense with pleasantries or small talk. The Hokage had summoned them here to discuss a significant threat and the moment Shin arrived, he wanted to be able to discuss business.

A slight glimmer graced the Hokage's onyx eyes at the mention of fish. The Land of Fire was one with large ports and a fairly ample supply of fish in its waters; though perhaps not as endowed as Kirigakure in this regard, Konohagakure held enough potential to satisfy all of its needs. That's not what interested Kazuya, of course. His Land held more trees than he could ever know what to do with, and knowing the sparsely distributed parcels of solid ground lightly scattered about the Land of Water, he figured that Kiri might find a use for some of his extra resource. Though not a directly beneficial arrangement, the clever Hokage could see tremendous potential in an agreement of sorts between his village and Nikuyo's.

"Our forests are far beyond the needs of any one village. Perhaps after this meeting,
we could..." The Hokage's words trailed off as the Tsuchikage entered the room. He was certain the point got across, and the option could only truly be explored at a later date. Kazuya would need agreement not just between he and Nikuyo, but both of their Daimyo as well. There was no need to express any further detail in the presence of other leaders -particularly that of Earth.

Kazuya's eyes followed Nee-san all the way to his chair, where he sat, leaving only Kazuya, Calypso, and the two samurai standing. Some time had elapsed since when this summit was designated to take place, and with no sign of the Kazekage, it seemed that the meeting would need to start without him. This was unfortunate, but not for the obvious reason. The topic of discussion was a matter of importance to all villages, and Sunagakure's help would make this entire process easier, if only to know where they stand, but what really concerned Kazuya is what matters a man leading a village and bearing the name Kazehana might be attending to that prevented him from attending a meeting of the world's military leaders. The Uchiha suddenly felt an itch to return home.

Shinpei returned to the room with his samurai escort of two, bearing a large rolled parchment in his hands. He handed it to his warriors, who walked to the other side of the room -opposite the door and where the table opened up to its empty center- and attached the parchment to the wall as they unrolled it, revealing a large map. In the meantime, the Shogun took a seat at the end of the table opposite the map, with the Hokage and Raikage seats spread about the table to his left, and the Mizukage, Tsuchikage, and Kazekage seats spread about to his right; there was, for good reason, plenty of spacing between each leader, and many empty chairs to accommodate whatever people they brought along. With a nod, Shinpei prodded Kazuya to begin.

"It seems the Kazekage has been delayed, so we'll have to start without him." The Hokage began, setting his red and white hat, marked with the kanji for Fire, down on the table just in front of his seat. "First, I'd like to extend my gratitude to the Shogun,
Shinpei Eto, for hosting this meeting." He continued as he moved around the room and towards the map, expecting those still standing to take their seats. "Konoha scouts have found an object moving along the borders of our nations and destroying anything that gets close enough to see what it is. For this reason, we can't determine its nature, but we have found a path.
It seems to have originated to the Northeast of the Land of Water, or somewhere along that direction, perhaps the Land of Demons or Swamps. It then entered the Land of Wind, here." He continued, pointing towards the map. "Followed the border to the Land of Earth,
and, according to our most recent report, was last seen entering the Northeastern mountains in the Land of Lightning."

The Hokage turned from the map to face the other leaders, holding his hands together at his waist, beneath the cover of the sleeves from his large Hokage robes that covered all but the center line of his body, where parts of his black shirt and pants could be seen. "This thing does not appear interest in attacking any of our villages at the present, but that may change, and it has shown a destructive potential beyond anything an average group of shinobi can handle." He finished, awaiting the responses or input of the other Kage before offering his own assessment of how the situation might best be handled.

The Hokage began to speak about his trees, his words being cut short upon the arrival of the Tsuchikage. He seemed to have been hinting at a possible trade deal, wood for fish, though Nikuyo didn't care enough to consider the possibility. Anything like that, Hizashi would pick up on it and give him his take on what should be done. The Tsuchikage seemed to examine everyone in the room for a bit before finding his seat without a word to anybody present. Nikuyo, gruff though he may be, had at least found the ability in his frozen heart to give his name. Not that it was needed though, as Nikuyo knew of the Second Tsuchikage well enough. Supposed to be a very smart and calculating man, though the smart ones were usually the ones who were slow and weak in Nikuyo's experience. Perhaps the same was true of even a kage, though underestimation of an adversary was key in many a warrior's downfall. It was a mistake Nikuyo had yet to make in life.

The shogun of the Land of Iron entered with his guards, drawing Nikuyo's attention. The Old Wolf crossed his arms and straightened his back a little more than it already was, a minuscule adjustment, but one he needed in order to get a tightness out of his lower back. Getting old was a terrible thing he was finding, despite his promises to always be as good as he can be in his youth no matter how old and crotchety he got. The shogun displayed a map of the five great nations along with a few minor ones as the Hokage took a position next to the map and began to speak to the three other kage in attendance. The Kazekage had not seen fit to show up to this, and while this sparked a note of curiosity in Hizashi's mind, the Mizukage did not care enough about Shin Kazehana and his worthless sand dunes to pay much care at his absence.

Kazuya spoke of the unknown beast's journey through the lands, assuming its beginnings in the Land of Water. If Nikuyo was thinking correctly about his dates, then it was very likely that Kirigakure had been the beast's first target. Once Kazuya finished speaking, Nikuyo would wait a couple seconds before clearing his throat. "Whatever it was eliminated one squad of Kirigakure's best scouts without so much as a fight or a trace of evidence left behind. Not even a body." He stopped for a moment, allowing his report to run through each present kage's mind before continuing. "Average shinobi be damned, this... thing... is more capable than even the best shinobi. I'd think even we," his right hand momentarily unfolded itself, motioning around the table to the other kage lackadaisically, "would have issues dealing with it." Hizashi shifted behind Nikuyo when the Mizukage used the word "thing" to a position more to his left than directly behind him. Nikuyo paid him no mind, focused on the other kage in the room. More particularly, their chakra signatures. He still considered it a possibility that this was orchestrated by one of the other Hidden Villages to gather all of the kage in one location, and the Kazekage's absence did not help to reassure his suspicion.


Active: Sensory

The Tsuchikages arrival forced Fenrir to focus on him for a moment, seeing as many details about him as possible. Apart from his appearance, the man appeared to be much like the Mizukage, only less brutal in presence. He seemed cold, calculating, much like Fenrir, but... different. The man had intelligence in his eye, and seemed more focused on the power of his mind than his body. Fenrir saw no reason to continue focusing on him, as something more interesting was being said by the Hokage. A being of such power... this didn't seem good. Roaming the borderlands, destroying settlements, and killing ninja. This could prove to be rather problematic, seeing as he couldn't really do anything about it. If Kazuya was unable to deal with the issue, what would a Jounin hope to do? Not much of anything at all.

If anything, the Mizukage's words made the situation seem even worse, stating that the beast, if it could even be called that at this point, had destroyed a group of their best scouts. He even went as far as to suggest the Kage's themselves would be unable to take care of the issue together. If this was true, then the villages would need to come together to fight and defend their homes. Knowing what he knew of the villages, that would be semi-impossible, especially with the Kazekage not even showing up to the summit. This was generally disrespectful, and while that was an issue, the bigger issue that Fenrir saw was the distrust it would sow. Men of power are suspicious of all, lest they lose what they have acquired, and this was a deed worthy of suspicion. It even provoked such thoughts in Fenrir's mind, thinking of what the leader of Sunagakure may be planning that would keep him from something as important as this. After all, this was the first meeting of the greatest ninja in the world, and they could be seen as enemies in the right, or wrong, light. For now, Fenrir would simply keep his guard up, watching for anything that seemed suspicious, fully prepared for betrayal from any present, and especially the one who wasn't.

Nee-san listened to the other Kage speak their peace. The entity was of significant threat. This much was clear. His own scouts had confirmed it after much analysis and hearing it from the other Kage convinced him that this was no issue that could be resolved by them individually. Even the ruthless and notoriously skilled Mizukage believed the entity to be outside their collective power as Kage. Nee-san had an inkling of the threat they faced by he could not be sure until then it was best to provide a relatively tame solution. He considered that since Shin was not present he could only assume that given their prior discussions, he might as well be speaking for the Wind Country as well. If that was true then he'd need to tread lightly. After the Hokage and Mizukage had spoken he'd pipe up in a calm but quiet voice.

"This curiosity presents a significant threat to all our interests and it would be best if we dealt with it collectively" He paused to take a drag from his vaporizer pen and exhaled a bit of vapor. "I suggest an international task force to monitor and contain it. It may be more powerful than our best and brightest individually but combined... we stand a chance of neutralizing it."

It was a bold proposal but given the concerns voiced by his fellow Kage it would be the best step for the time being.

"I agree with the Tsuchikage. The question then becomes the nature of this team.
We want a force capable of handling the creature, but not one that takes so much of our power that any of us are left without defense should it, or any other threat, choose to attack us while our joint task force is away." Kazuya chimed in. Fortunately, at least two of the other Kage were on board with the assessment he had made prior to calling this meeting. The problem, then, would be maintaining village defense while providing sufficient support to aptly handle the threat. Too weak of a force could mean more needless death and less resources to deal with it later on, but too strong of a force could leave some or all of the villages without recourse should something unforeseen happen. What's more, the team would have to be skilled in enough areas to cover all bases. Maybe this was something that could be sealed, requiring a Fuuinjutsu user. Maybe it was immune to chakra, requiring weapons or Taijutsu. Maybe it had a hide too tough to pierce. There were a great deal of variables to consider, and it was something the Hokage had wanted to elaborate further on, but something stopped him.

Kazuya had paced back over to his seat, slowly, after speaking his peace, preparing what he was to say next, but his gait became slower and his posture began to slouch, as though he was having trouble standing. Suddenly, he stopped, gripping the back of his seat with one hand to hold him up while the other clutched his right eye. "I...my apologies. It seems I must take my leave." He said, his voice starting with a quiver and immediately balancing out. His stance never changed, nor did the pain, as he had simply fought through it long enough to let out a few more words. "I'll leave the specifics to you all, then, and my Jounin, Fenrir." The Uchiha finished with a cough before his chakra suddenly spiked. His eye had started to become a focal point for his inner chakra pathway, something only a person with sensing active would have noticed, but the spike was felt by all, with a sudden burst of air that accompanied it. The next moment, the Hokage was gone.

[Exit]

Nikuyo listened to the Hokage and Tsuchikage speak their peace, each keeping their dialogue blissfully short. The Wolf of the Isle's eyes focused on the Hokage as he was speaking however, his sensory abilities noting the area his chakra was flowing to. Knowing the Uchiha have special eyes, because who the actual fuck doesn't know that, Nikuyo was instantly on guard for whatever the Hokage may be about to do. His body relaxed completely in his seat, something Hizashi noticed due to his proximity to the Mizukage. He too relaxed, ready to react just as his kage was.

None of that would be needed though, as the Hokage appeared to be in genuine discomfort from this surge of chakra. He apologized, stating he had to leave which seemed more odd than anything else he had thought was odd during this summit. The buildup before the burst of chakra was responded to by Nikuyo with a his left arm raised to defend against whatever was about to come. The burst came immediately after, disturbing Nikuyo's sensory field for a brief moment. What the fuck, he thought with an irritated tint to his inner voice. On instinct, Nikuyo's own chakra would react by leaking from his person and rapidly chilling the air in his immediate vicinity while the rest of the room would have its temperature lowered moments after. If they were outside, snow would have begun to fall after his own outburst of chakra.

All in the room would be able to see just how close the Mizukage had been to engaging the Hokage, and it was a good thing he had made his exit rather than do all of that for show. Hands that had clenched into fists were relaxed, and a face contorted into one of complete and utter focus reverted to the passive scowl he had worn before. The air in the room would also begin to return to normal, though it would take some time to warm up to what it had been before. "I'm going to stab him the next time I see him for that," he said somewhat quietly and with aggression. Nikuyo turned to the Tsuchikage, completely ignoring Fenrir for the time being. "You both made good points. Each village should send three shinobi to form a joint task force comprised of at least one jonin. Kirigakure can supply any assault shinobi needed." He paused here for a moment before continuing, thinking about whether any of the other kage would be able to infer something from what he wanted to say before deciding he really didn't give a shit. "I've made sure my village has a good stock of them."



Active: Sensory

Fenrir would turn to the Kages that remained in the room. He chose to ignore the comment about stabbing Kazuya, assuring himself that it was just a joke, and even though Nikuyo ignored him, he still felt like saying something anyway. He had been included in the meeting by Kazuya, apparently so he could represent Konoha when the Hokage left the room, which was a surprise. Leaf Village can easily afford three shinobi, two others and I will be available for the mission. Now that he thought about it, that was really all that he needed to say. If no one else asked for him to speak, then he would simply remain silent until he felt there was something that needed saying. Until then, he would keep his eyes on the Kages, memorizing facial patterns and trying to figure them out. Even if they weren't enemies now, it was good to know their faces for... reasons.

Sorry for short post, on an IRL timer

Nee-san remained silent as the others accepted his proposal. It appeared that the Hokage however was not well. A sudden spike of energy infiltrated the room before the man excused himself and left abruptly. The event angered the Mizukage who responded with a flare of chakra of his own and threatened to kill Kazuya for his outburst. Nee-san made no reaction. He did note several things though. Chief among them being Kazuya's irritated eye, his departure followed by Fenrir picking up where he left off without missing a beat, and of course Nikuyo's choleric temper. Three shinobi from each village sounded like a good plan although he did not want Iwa to carry such a heavy burden by itself. He'd see to it that Sunagakure delivered some of its own Nin to form a three team strike force. The two villages were on the cusp of a great alliance after all. The Raikage was conspicuously silent however much to Nee-san's pleasure. He did not want the woman to speak and her silence was oddly in line with his views on how a woman should act. Nevertheless, he found that behavior to be strange.

"Suna and Iwa will form a joint strike force comprised of three shinobi. We've prepared for an eventuality such as this and believe that this international taskforce would benefit from our preparations"

Nee-san was alluding to the fact that Iwa and Suna would soon become one. He was curious to see how the other Kage would react.

The jonin from Konohagakure and the Tsuchikage both agreed to Nikuyo's proposal of each village sending 3 shinobi a piece. What surprised Nikuyo a little was the Tsuchikage seemingly speaking for Sunagakure. To most shinobi in the position of kage within their village, this would resonate as a bad thing. To Nikuyo, it was a hint towards conflict and with conflict came fighting. Killing. It sounded to be a grand old time to the Mizukage, though Hizashi was not so amused. He would flinch a little, almost imperceptibly, at the Tsuchikage's mentioning of a joint task force. Nikuyo however, he would not flinch at all. No, he would instead give a wicked grin to all in attendance. Anybody else who could sense chakra would be able to sense the excited surge that vibrated through his body at this same time.

"I hadn't thought the Lands of Wind and Earth to only have half a village a piece," he said with a tone indicating he was somewhat excited by the news. This would only be a slight waver in his voice, as if he had started to laugh but caught himself before doing so. Maybe this summit wasn't a waste after all, he thought to himself. Predatory eyes flickered to the Raikage who had been silent so far. If Iwagakure and Sunagakure were to work together, seemingly under one power, then why should the Lands of Water and Lightning not share the same fate? It might not be as seemingly peaceful a transition, but that was fine with him. This bloodthirsty attitude was backed by Nikuyo sensing the life within the Raikage fading rapidly. She had started earlier, but Nikuyo hadn't cared too much to detect such little fluctuations. Now though, it was almost as if she was about to go catatonic.

Nikuyo's eyes flickered back to the Tsuchikage, only being off of him for a second. "I don't suppose we could get all this in writing could we? Just to make everything... official." Nikuyo didn't particularly care about the paperwork aspect of this, but he did not want Hizashi to express any concerns over it later. He wanted absolutely nothing to ruin his sudden good mood. He had even forgotten to be annoyed at the Hokage, which was very unlike him. He knew that it was perhaps just his wild imagination giving in to hopeful expectations, but something told him that conflict was indeed a very real possibility in the near future. He would make sure of it.

"Certainly". The Tsuchikage ignored Nikuyo's comment about Wind and Earth having half a village each. The Kage could sense the blood lust emanating from the man. He was the sort that liked a challenge but not because it posed a strategic problem to be solved with cunning and wits, but because he was of the opinion that he could smash it with his fists. He motioned for an attendant who supplied paper and ink. Nee-san set to work drafting the document. It was all a formality as he trusted that his fellow Kage understood the nature of the threat that was faced and that they were all committed to taking concrete steps to solve it. The agreement essentially laid out the agreed upon quota and contained a few standard provisions explaining what they had discussed. There was no binding enforcement mechanism nor any of the far more elaborate provisions that were customary in international agreements. It contained a set of instructions, the rendezvous point where the forces would meet, and other logistical details. Once the document had been drafted, Nee-san signed the bottom indicating his assent.

"I suggest we leave the original copy here and we'll have duplicates sent to each of our villages for our own record keeping purposes"

The attendant noted his instructions and scurried from the room to make the relevant bureaucratic offices aware of what the Kage had decided. Nee-san would pass the document to Nikuyo for his own signature. He was growing tired of the Summit and had many affairs to attend to. It appeared that he would need to expedite the arrangement he had with the Kazekage in order to prepare for the conflict ahead of them. There was much to do and little time to do it. Once Nikuyo had signed the document, he'd stand up abruptly and take a quick drag from his vaporizer pen. He had no interest in Fenrir who had presumably taken up Kazuya's place in the meeting. Fenrir was just a Jounin to him and even if he had the ability to sign the document in the Hokage's place, what he said was even of less interest than what Calypso said. Speaking of Calypso, the Raikage made no motion or sound even as the Accords were making their way around the table. Nee-san looked at her curiously and realized that she wasn't breathing.

The Tsuchikage walked up to the dark skinned woman and placed a pair of fingers near her pulse. Nothing. "Fascinating" he said with an expression akin to amusement. It was the only real emotion he had showed since attending the Summit. Caylpso was dead and a thorough autopsy might reveal some interesting things about her. Nee-san tilted her head back, looked at the Mizukage, then at Fenrir. "The Raikage is dead" he said simply. The suddenness of her death gave him an inkling of what had killed her. He had seen a similar illness kill others in his day. The disease resisted all attempts at analysis and classification. Most of the time it only resulted in a temporary coma from which the patient awakened as though nothing was wrong although occasionally it resulted in death. In those cases, the illness ravaged the body such that nothing could be gleamed from it. The brain, organs, anything and everything that a scientist craved was rendered inoperable. A necrotic mass of flesh that was only fit to be disposed of. He conducted a minor medical test, opening her eyelids, examining her mouth, and her neck before concluding with a fair amount of certainty that Calypso's corpse would be useless to him. The illness was not contagious but outbreaks seemed to occur in clusters. He stepped back from Calypso's dead body and faced Fenrir and Nikuyo. "I am vaguely familiar with the cause of death. It is a as of yet undefined illness. It is not contagious but outbreaks tend to occur in groups. The disease is occasionally lethal so you may want to get back to your villages"

Nee-san turned to leave but before he did faced them once more and made a parting remark:

"This was constructive" he said with an air of uncommon honesty. "I do hope we meet again" he lied.

[Exit]

Traveling out of Land of Iron, across Northwest Earth Country to East Earth Country Iwagakure.

Nikuyo read over the document, not seeing anything that would do anything fishy if he signed it. With this, he signed the document and shared with the Tsuchikage in ignoring Fenrir. "Sending each village a copy works for me." The Tsuchikage moved to the Raikage, checking her pulse before expressing some fascination with her death. He then announced she was dead, to which Nikuyo grunted in what could be perceived as amusement. "Been dead for a couple minutes. Didn't think it was too important at the time," he said calmly.

With that out of the way, Nikuyo would stand and turned to leave as the Tsuchikage was giving his explanation of the Raikage's death. He didn't particularly give a shit, he just wanted to get back to the Land of Water. He had some business to attend to.



[exit]



Traveling through the Land of Earth, Land of Sound, and then the Land of Fire to get to Land of Water. 60 hour travel time.

Fenrir would place his signature on the document, not that it would really mean anything. He had agreed to give three men to the cause, and he would be doing it whether there was a piece of paper saying he had to or not. Essentially, the thing was worthless to him, even more so than the Kages seemed to deem him. He didn't mind, they were strong and had earned the right to have their opinions, so long as they weren't blatantly assholes Fenrir could ignore pretty much any level of disrespect. He was certain he didn't like them, but he would never say it aloud nor would he let it show on his face, still absolutely certain the Mizukage could beat him if he got a hold of him and unsure of the Tsuchikage's abilities or intentions. After signing the document and watching the other two leave, Fenrir would take his leave, returning to his home after a long absence.

A 10 day late exit
Traveling 60 hours to Leaf through Land of Earth and that little green place I can't read
(Most professional post ever)