New Sunan [Katsuo and Natsuru]

[Senju Kazuki]

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Natsuru had finally decided to accept Kazuki’s proposal that she should join Sunagakure just like her older brother and the rest of her clan had done in the past. While it had been strategically sound to leave her as unaffiliated before, now that they were officially on war with Ishii Shiro and his ilk, she would be better equipped to operate under the banner of Sand. They had recently arrived from their travels to the Fire Country and Tea, when the Hyuuga announced her intentions to the Senju Overlord. As a Sennin, the White Wolf had full authority to give her the necessary clearance for her to become a fully fledged Sunan citizen, but there was a new management in town. While Sousuke would have not batted an eye to it, given their past and the accomplishments they had done together, Katsuo was a different sort of breed. The Shadow Sword wasn’t as familiar with the Sunahoshi as he was with the Takahashi. He had no doubts that the new Kazekage trusted him, but they didn’t have the same built relationship the previous one had with the Occult Sennin. Therefore, instead of going with simpler method, Reaper opted to arrange a meeting with the Sunagakure’s War Leader, in which he would share some knowledge about the Senju Clan, just like had done with the Steward once and request that Katsuo make Senju Natsuru a Sunan shinobi.[lb2][/lb2] Kazuki walked around the tower, noticing how most of the personnel shivered when he passed by them. His deathly cold aura had become stronger than ever since his trip to Konohagakure where he absorbed the souls of countless deceased warriors to be used in the war efforts. Before he had done that, he could could suppress his aura, almost, but now he unable to do so, not without significant effort from his part, at least. Even so, he knew that those with sufficient willpower had the ability to ignore what his body was emitting. Sousuke had always been one of those individuals, never affected by it. He wondered with the new Kage was one such individual. Coldness, was, however, not the only thing that occurred around him. Shadows in his vicinities also gained an uncanny behavior, they became livelier, stretching towards him as if he was a long lost relative they were trying to reach. The Senju Overlord had lost a portion of his shadowy powers when his body was rebooted by the Senju’s Sacred Tree, but this connection to the shadow element had not been lost.[lb2][/lb2] After reaching the door of the Kazekage, the White Wolf would knock once. ”May I come in?<i></i>” he would question. Katsuo would be expecting him because Reaper had sent him a letter, requesting a meeting and explaining the motive for such gathering. A talk about the Senju clan and about admitting a new shinobi into Sunagakurian ranks.[lb2][/lb2] [MFT - 480]​

Black Omen [lb][/lb] Senju Kazuki – Occult Sennin[lb][/lb]

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[Mikaboshi]

There was no audible response to Kazuki's request to enter the Kazekage's office but the door quietly creaked open to reveal the visored face of the Kage's bodyguard Masashi Reiko who peered at Kazuki for a moment through a cracked door before slowly opening up the door with a single finger raised to his lips to indicate quiet. Reiko was only stationed at the door to keep guests who might distract the Kazekage from his work away from the office and the Wind of Death certainly did not qualify for that. Each of the three current members of the Four Winds were busy men in their own right and if they had a reason for visiting the Kazekage's office it certainly wasn't for something as unimportant as a social call.

Across the Kazekage's office and near to the large windows at the back stood Sunahoshi Katsuo with a scroll unfurled in his hands, reading quietly with his back to the door and a... dusty brown and cream colored bird of prey standing quietly on the edge of the window that was ajar. Anyone with a reasonable sense of observation would likely be able to ascertain that the Kazekage had received a missive by hawk for one purpose or another which was somewhat unusual in the land of Wind. Birds of prey in the Wind Country were notoriously hard to catch and even more so to train leaving only a few of the desert tribes and clans that heavily used them for any purposes.

Blowing an almost inaudible sigh, Katsuo turned from the bird to set the scroll out across his desk before reaching over and retrieving a pen to sign it and then re-roll it and return it to the canister strapped to the bird's leg. With a motion Katsuo then sent the bird on it's way before shutting the wind and turning to regard Kazuki with a smile that for anyone that didn't know Katsuo would have likely appeared entirely genuine but for someone like Kazuki that had seen Katsuo during one of his most vulnerable moments shortly before he'd nearly sacrificed his life for Suna's it would likely be clear that the smile was anything but genuine. Falling backwards into his chair, Katsuo spun it slightly to align with his desk before scooting forward and placing his elbows on the surface of it with his fingers interlaced in front of his chest.

"Kazuki, good to see you." He said, perhaps a bit more stiffly than he usually did. "What can I do for you?"

 

[Senju Kazuki]

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Kazuki’s inquiry wouldn’t be answered audibly but by the door opening. Reiko’s visage would become visible at the door made its way toward becoming fully open and the Kage’s bodyguard motioned for silence as he allowed Kazuki to enter Katsuo’s office. Besides Reiko, the office was occupied by one notorious last Sunahoshi that was reading a scroll near a large window. Near him, a bird of prey was perched. It wasn’t exactly hard to deduce that the Kazekage had received a letter. The Senju Overlord was aware that, unlike in Konoha, were correspondence was usually transmitted with birds, such methods were quite rare in the Wind Country. He was not aware of who, among the many denizens of this country, resorted to such methods, therefore, he didn’t know who had sent a letter to Katsuo. The White Wolf would remain silent, patiently waiting for the last Sunahoshi to finish reading. A sigh later, the Kazekage would sign the letter and send the bird away with it. He would then present the Occult Sennin with a less than genuine smile before seating down behind his desk. The Shadow Sword could have presented a smile back but his own would seem even less truthful, so he excused himself from it. "Kazuki, good to see you. What can I do for you?"<i></i>[lb2][/lb2] What could he do, indeed. The Deep Court Hybrid’s goal was clear but how to present it to the leader of Wind Country’s Hidden Village. He would clear his throat before speaking, but he would also glance toward Reiko, in case the guy was still there. ”I trust you remember when you came to my rescue, when I was fighting against Suna. Though I do believe you are not aware of why were fighting at all. I was summoned to the gates by Neophyte, an ANBU-in-Training, that was the Ancient known as Suna. She had infiltrated our ANBU Corps, something I discovered in that moment. Why was I summoned to the gates, you may wonder? A woman named Senju Natsuru had reached Sunagakure and over the course of question this foreigner, Neophyte discovered and deduced she was my sister. Fearing her to be an impostor, she called for me. After arriving and realizing this Natsuru was actually my long lost sister and after shedding Suna’s disguise as Neophyte, things went south. I am not going to say I am blameless in how things rolled out, but I believe no one can blame for siding with my sister.”<i></i> Kazuki would shrug. ”And she is the reason I am here. When she rejoined me and her brethren, she was not ready to become a part of Sunagakure’s military, but given how things are evolving with the Wind Daimyo and his Sovereign, she is ready to enroll. I could have given her citizenship, but I prefer, given you are our Kage, after all, that you do it instead. I can call her and she will not take much time to arrive so you can officiate in her presence.”<i></i> The Senju Overlord readily assumed the last Sunahoshi wouldn’t object making the female Senju a part of Sunagakure, but that was always a possibility.[lb2][/lb2] ”That, however, is not the sole reason I am here today. You already know I am partly Ancient, of the Deep Court variety. But, more importantly, I am a Senju. What did Sousuke tell you about the Senju clan? We are not from around, though we do have infants that have born within the walls of Sunagakure, nonetheless, we still have foreign customs. I shared some secrets with Sousuke that I wish to know if he did the same with you and I want to know if you want to learn anything about my clan.”<i></i> Just like with the former Kazekage, the White Wolf wouldn’t reveal everything about the Senju Clan. There were secrets that were for Senju ears only, but there were things he could reveal. Information that could prove to be useful in allowing Katsuo to better understand with whom he was dealing with. ​

Black Omen [lb][/lb] Senju Kazuki – Occult Sennin[lb][/lb]

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[Mikaboshi]

Katsuo blinked quietly as he listened to Kazuki give him a novel's worth of exposition about his sister and their coming to Sunagakure. Katsuo didn't even know that Kazuki had a sister. Katsuo didn't know Kazuki very well at all really. The only things he really understood about Kazuki was that he was a loyal member of Sunagakure's military organization, he was a good friend of Sousuke's and he was distantly related to Mikaboshi but had mostly rejected and in doing so been rejected by that part of his heritage. When Katsuo had rushed to Kazuki's aid in his battle against the Lady of the Desert, he had only known those things about him but that had been enough for him to put his trust in the sennin.

"I see. Well... putting aside the conflict with Suna which we can only hope is at an end for now," Katsuo started, blowing a little bit of a sigh at the mention of the Desert Queen. They'd neither seen or heard from her since that event and Katsuo had been holding out some amount of hope that his choice to nearly burn out his own existence would have won them a little bit of trust but at least she wasn't attacking them anymore. Maybe that was the best they could hope for. "If your sister is a capable fighter, I'm certainly not in a position to decline that offer. We need all of the active combatants that we can get. She understands that we are at war though, right? That she'll be expected to fight for a country that is only recently her own?"

Katsuo only just learned of Natsuru's existence and had to be sure that she fully comprehended what she was asking for by looking to officially join the Sunagakure military.
If she joined, she'd be expected to fight. Katsuo couldn't afford to play favorites and excuse some members of their organization from the dangerous responsibility of being called into battle against the Ishii Regime. His own brother served as the state in a way despite his condition. As long as Natsuru understood that obligation and was willing to put herself on the line for Sunagakure... how could Katsuo refuse her request? If Kazuki trusted her enough to vouch for her, that was good enough for Katsuo.

"We never really got to talk much about that." Katsuo remarked. Kazuki had assumed that Sousuke had spilled the beans about his heritage to Katsuo when in reality that information came straight from Mikaboshi himself. "Sousuke hasn't... really told me anything about you. I spent some time with our mutual acquaintance Mikaboshi kicking around in my skull piloting me around like a meat suit and it... I don't know. Linked us, I guess. When he was in my head, I was in his head and as a result we got sort of jumbled up a little bit where our memories are concerned."

It was sorta disquieting to say out loud, actually. Katsuo had thoughts and memories kicking around his skull which were older than any living human but none of them were at his disposal. The memories came in flashes, like long-forgotten flashes of insight from a life that he'd lived hundreds of years ago. He sometimes would think or feel something only for him to realize a moment later that the thought which had bubbled up into his mind wasn't his and was instead something that he'd inherited from his time as mental roommates with the Lord of the Deep Court.

"So really, I don't know anything about your Senju Clan to speak of. I'm happy to listen if you're looking for someone to share with."

Katsuo was no stranger to foreign weirdness or customs. The Masashi were unlike any of the clans that lived within the walls of Sunagakure thanks to their generational self-exile from the city. In the earliest days of mankind's freedom from ancient-kin, the Masashi had been tasked to safeguard the wilds and the frontier from all the things that went bump in the night making them some of the first Rangers to ever have walked the desert even though they'd never officially joined the order due to their distance from Sunagakure proper. They had a lot of their own strange desert-minded thinking which sometimes came across as barbaric or uncivilized to city-folk but that was just how things were out in the winds.

 

[Senju Kazuki]

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"I see. Well... putting aside the conflict with Suna which we can only hope is at an end for now. If your sister is a capable fighter, I'm certainly not in a position to decline that offer. We need all of the active combatants that we can get. She understands that we are at war though, right? That she'll be expected to fight for a country that is only recently her own?" Kazuki would refrain from immediately answering the Kage’s questions. Not because he didn’t know what to say, but because he wanted to formulate it best. ”Natsuru is more than capable. I have no shame in admitting she is better than me. The only reason I am the leader of the clan, instead of her, is because I trump her in other departments.”</GLOW><i></i> the Senju Overlord would momentarily pause so Katsuo could process that she was a powerful fighter and having her at their side was a boon. ”I have made it abundantly clear to her that we are at war and she will have to fight for her life, if she wishes to survive this entire ordeal. Because my condition as a Hybrid is starting to get widely known, she will also be a target by Sovereign. As for the notion of fighting for a country that is not our own, that will not be an issue at all.” The reality was that any Senju were now bound to Sunagakure, incapable of betraying it and not defending it. Despite being born in Konohagakure, the White Wolf was deeply loyal to Sand now and so Natsuru had become as well.[lb2][/lb2] "We never really got to talk much about that. Sousuke hasn't... really told me anything about you. I spent some time with our mutual acquaintance Mikaboshi kicking around in my skull piloting me around like a meat suit and it... I don't know. Linked us, I guess. When he was in my head, I was in his head and as a result we got sort of jumbled up a little bit where our memories are concerned. So really, I don't know anything about your Senju Clan to speak of. I'm happy to listen if you're looking for someone to share with” the last Sunahoshi would admit. Reaper’s expression would frown for a brief second. That was problematic. They didn’t have time for a history lesson about the Senju clan, but the new Kage needed to know with whom he was dealing with. ”That is problematic, I must admit. I believe you should know with whom you are dealing with to avoid potential problems in the future.”<i></i> the Deep Court Hybrid would declare as he quickly summarized everything he wished to convey to his leader. ”I will try to be as brief as possible, but beware that this may still take a while.”<i></i> Kazuki would warn Katsuo before he began.[lb2][/lb2] ”History tells us that Konohagakure was destroyed a long time ago by a massive flood. The Senju Clan predates such event and it survived through it, albeit barely. Nonetheless, this survival meant a change for us. The sole Senju survivor of this flood consumed fruits from a tree that grew from the waters that destroyed Leaf and he was changed. He became obsessed with power, unable to stop consuming the fruits and utterly loyal to Konohagakure. He renewed the clan under his image and we became a clan whose each member is obsessed with something and is completely loyal to each other and to the village they belong to. I was born in Leaf, ergo, my allegiance remains with that Hidden Village. Still, I have no desire to return to my former home nor I feel the need to. Since such loyalty can change under very specific conditions, something that has taken place for me, for Natsuru and for the rest of my brethren. We are loyal to your village. It has become ours as well.”<i></i> the Senju Overlord would pause so the information could sink in, he was, unfortunately, still far from over. ”I have told you we are all obsessed with something. In my case, I was always, and still am, obsessed with souls. Long before I awoke my Deep Court heritage, I was already taking souls for my benefit. I cannot say when a Deep Court Ancient mixed with my forefathers or not, nor how much ancient genes you can find within my people, but I can say with certainty that I am the only one that has awakened such heritage and has possessed such hunger for souls. As far as Hybrids go, I may be an unique case. Michi was made into one, the Sovereign are being made into them, but I became one without external interference. In fact, when Suna and I got along, she was astonished by the amount of ancient power I had, so I am going to guess she did not expect me to bear so much. Perhaps it is because of the souls I have been capturing all my life.”<i></i>[lb2][/lb2] He didn’t know why he seemed to be different than the rest of the hybrids and those that could, potentially, answer the questions were not to be found and would not share such information lightly. Only Suna and Mikaboshi would probably known for certain, but the White Wolf wasn’t going to ask them that. Unless the last Sunahoshi could somehow have those answers deep within his mind, given the link he shared with the Deep Court Lord, but it was a rather long shot.[lb2][/lb2] ”What I am going to tell you next is a secret and I want you to vow completely secrecy about what I am going to tell you next. In Sunagakure, only two individuals know about this. One of them is Toraono Kuro, which earned the right to know given the Senju live in a wing of the Toraono Dojo and he had to know what I was going to do. The other is Takahashi Sousuke, the former leader of this village. Not even those of Konoha know of this, not their former Hokage, not their current, Uchiha Takeshi. I am sharing this with you, because you deserve to know, because your station, and because I trust you. Misplacements of trust is something I do not take lightly.”<i></i> Any Senju had a deep, ingrained hatred for traitors and their current leader was no different. ”The tree I have mentioned earlier still exists and is the basis for our obsession and loyalty traits. It is still protected deep within the Senju compound of Konohagakure. The first Senju of this new age was the only one that consumed its fruits and sap as, nowadays, we only drink the sap and, without it, we would perish. Because we were forced to leave Leaf, I have planted two more trees. One inside Iwagakure and one in Sunagakure. That is the reason we are loyal to Suna, because we have been drinking the sap of a tree that was planted within this soil. Each three is virtually indestructible, but if something were to happen to this one and, if we were unable to plant another, we would all die or forced to an exodus.”<i></i> Yes, it was silly to hear a grown man, capable of exuding a deathly cold aura, speaking about trees and drinking sap. But it was what it was.[lb2][/lb2] ”Do not share this with anyone.”<i></i> Reaper would warn him again. There were secrets and then there were secrets. The former was not so secret, but the latter was paramount to the survival of the Senju. ”I will summon Natsuru now.”<i></i> he would announce after a while so the Kage had time to process everything and inquire anything he liked. The history lesson was over and both were busy man.[lb2][/lb2] <GLOW glow="darkred">"Natsuru please come to the Kage's office at once."[lb2][/lb2] [Calling Natsuru][lb][/lb] [MFT - 1308]​

Black Omen [lb][/lb] Senju Kazuki – Occult Sennin[lb][/lb]

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[Uka]

Natsu had seen the tower multiple times whilst she was staying in the village, heck she had scaled it at one point in order to get a better vantage point, which had almost resulted in a rather grim scenario when she narrowly managed to avoid detection by one of the guards. That being said she hadn't had the opportunity to explore it from the inside. It was an interesting experience, even if having to wait in the corridors wasn't as much. Time seemed to be dragging its feet as she waited and waited for what seemed like an eternity and yet it wasn't ending.

The clicking of her heels echoed through the surroundings as she walked around from window to window, until she finally got the summons she had been waiting for and not a second too soon. After all she really wasn't known for being someone who dealt with boredom well at all.

Natsu quickly turned around on her heels and walked over to the door her brother had gone through, knocking twice before taking a step back and away. The creaking of the door broke the silence that had set in once she had stopped moving. The former kunoichi would slowly make her way over and past the kage's guard to stand next to her brother. She would briefly bow her head before assuming a rather relaxed-looking stance, though as all the trained shinobi in the room would notice it was nothing more than a rouse of sorts to hide her alertness.

"Senju Natsuru, former medical ninja and anbu of konohagakure."<i></i> She would introduce herself once she had raised her head.

[MFT]
[Topic Entered]

 

[Mikaboshi]

Were he not the man that he was, Katsuo might have been inclined to take umbridge with the way that Kazuki had phrased his demand to keep his secret as commands. The part of him that had merged with Mikaboshi certainly rankled at the idea of being given an order in such a manner by a subordinate but Katsuo understood Kazuki's position too well to make more out of their interaction than there needed to be. If Kazuki was being entirely truthful then he had just shared with the Kazekage a weakness inborn into each of those born into his clan-- a form of leverage that could be used to manipulate Kazuki and his clan to do whatever Katsuo wanted them to do if he so chose to but that was not the type of man Katsuo was. The enormity of the secret that Kazuki had shared with him was plain enough and that much was not lost on him but Katsuo's first thoughts were not of domination but instead of protection. It was paramount that the information Kazuki had just shared with him never left the room. Katsuo glanced to Reiko who stood in the shadows of the room but the expression of his little brother was hidden as always behind his sensory deprivation mask. Still, if there was anyone that walked the face of the planet that Katsuo trusted-- it was his brother Reiko.

"Your secret is safe, Kazuki. Thank you for trusting me enough to share it." Katsuo said after Kazuki called for Natsuru.

After a quiet minute, once more there came a knock at the door and Reiko went to his self-appointed duty immediately of answering the door and then closing it behind Natsuru as she entered the room. It took a moment for Katsuo to place her but the sense of familiarity was immediate. He was sure he'd seen this woman someplace before and as she introduced herself, it dawned on him. She had been the kunoichi which had been briefly arrested for street fighting with the rogue shinobi Miroku Akkuma. There hadn't been anything to really hold them on, nobody was hurt and no property was really destroyed and so both of them had been let go almost immediately-- much to Katsuo's chagrin where Akkuma was concerned --but Katsuo had not stayed with the attending ANBU to see the processing through. Now he wished he had.

"Senju Natsuru, former medical ninja and anbu of konohagakure.

"It's good to meet you officially, Senju Natsuru. I didn't realize you were so closely related to one of my sennin the night we met." Katsuo responded, a smile wide on his face. He had not had any reason to doubt Kazuki or his loyalty but there was a not-insignificant piece of him that was happy to have another person who seemingly did not care for Akkuma on board. Katsuo didn't trust the Miroku Clan Leader to any extent but he was too entrenched in the village to simply have removed and as Katsuo had outlined to Kazuki only minutes earlier Sunagakure was not in a position to turn down potential allies no matter how loathsome he found them. "With you officially joining our ranks it's probably only fair that I ask-- do you have any criminal history that I should be aware of which could complicate relations with other village states?"

The question was as direct as it needed to be. Katsuo had no intention of backing out of his agreement to bring her into Sunagakure officially but he needed to know if her status with Konoha could, in the future, create any tension between them. He was slowly growing used to the way that the daimyo and his ilk operated and if news reached them that Sunagakure had brought a known fugitive or criminal from Leaf into their ranks then the daimyo could use that as a method to bring Leaf into the war against them and that would be a death sentence for Sunagakure.

 

[Senju Kazuki]

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"Your secret is safe, Kazuki. Thank you for trusting me enough to share it." Katsuo would reassure Kazuki. Getting such reassurance was great but the Senju Overlord still felt uneasy. The only people he actually trusted with no reservations were the people of his clan. The White Wolf had no doubts about their commitment to him, just like they had none about his. Truth be told, Reaper’s trust levels had never been too high to begin with and they had suffered a major blow when he was forced to flee from his ancestral home. Still, of Sunagakure, he did trust some of them. Takahashi Sousuke and Toraono Kuro were two individuals he trusted the most. Sunahoshi Katsuo also deserved a manner of trust given they had fought side by side twice now and, from what he had been able to gather, the last Sunahoshi was someone he could depend on if needed. And it was why he had decided to convey the Senju’s main weakness to his leader. Not because he was trying to give the other man some kind of leverage over him and his clan, but because he was trying to enlighten the Kage about what could happen and what some of the man’s choices could mean.[lb2][/lb2] The Occult Sennin would have but the briefest of moments to nod back before a knock on the door announced Natsuru’s arrival. Though, in reality, a full minute had passed. The pale kunoichi would enter with determination and she would halt her progress once she had reached her brother’s side. "Senju Natsuru, former medical ninja and anbu of konohagakure."<i></i> she would announce. "It's good to meet you officially, Senju Natsuru. I didn't realize you were so closely related to one of my sennin the night we met." Katsuo would respond with a wide smile plastered on his face. Reaper would give his sister a quick glance. He was not aware they had met each other before, it was a surprise to the Deep Court Hybrid, one that, hopefully, he had aptly disguised.[lb2][/lb2] "With you officially joining our ranks it's probably only fair that I ask-- do you have any criminal history that I should be aware of which could complicate relations with other village states?" the Kazekage would inquire. Kazuki knew that her, along with himself and the rest of their clan, had been pardoned by the Hokage. A silliness given they could be considered missing to a village that was no more. ”Uchiha Takeshi, the new Hokage, gave me a letter where he pardoned every surviving member of the Senju, so, by the law, we are not considered missing nin.”<i></i> the Senju Overlord would clarify. He could only, though, talk about himself and his clan, for the most part. He knew Natsuru had been pardoned as well, but he could not speak about the time they had been apart. She would have to defend herself now.[lb2][/lb2] [MFT - 486]​

Black Omen [lb][/lb] Senju Kazuki – Occult Sennin[lb][/lb]

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[Uka]

"Ideally I would have preferred to meet the new kage under better circumstances, but I honestly wasn't expecting to run into a rogue demon of such strength within the village. Once more my apologies for the commotion caused."<i></i> She would respond with a very light smile, barely more than a curl of the corners of her lips, an unfortunate side effect of a rather violent detox.

"As I am sure you know both myself and nii-san are former Konohan shinobi from the original village, prior to its destruction, so in a sense we are rogue ninja in that regard and I did suffer head trauma around that time."<i></i> Natsuru would begin her explanation, shifting ever so slightly to her left leg, finding a better standing position as she continued her elaboration.

"I worked as a bounty hunter at that point for the provinces of Suna, Iwa and Kumo and I have violently dealt with a fair share of targets. As far as I know I am not wanted anywhere and have neutral relationships."<i></i>

The kunoichi would finish before throwing a glance to her brother, remaining quiet for a moment before finally asking. "I assume you have already mentioned the Senju disposition towards the villages they reside in, nii?"<i></i> It was a fairly round-about way of asking if Katsuo knew more, but not enough to lead to a question she wouldn't be able to get out of. Considering that Takeshi knew it did seem very likely that the current kage also knew, but she wasn't exactly one for acting in a way that would end up causing harm to her brother. Frankly she could care less about what happened to her, but her brother was a completely different story.

[MFT]

 

[Mikaboshi]

”Uchiha Takeshi, the new Hokage, gave me a letter where he pardoned every surviving member of the Senju, so, by the law, we are not considered missing nin.”

"With respect Kazuki, I need to hear it from her." Katsuo explained calmly with a light raise of his hand and an understanding smile.

Kazuki wanted the best for his sister and was speaking on her behalf to encourage Katsuo to invite her into the ranks of Sunagakure but for Katsuo to be willing to do that he needed to hear her answer his questions herself. Katsuo didn't have any superhuman methods of lie-detection or truth-telling but he was in many ways still a simple country boy who believed in the value of face-to-face and eye-to-eye talks. Turning his attention back to Natsuru, he motioned for her to continue.

"As I am sure you know both myself and nii-san are former Konohan shinobi from the original village, prior to its destruction, so in a sense we are rogue ninja in that regard and I did suffer head trauma around that time."

He didn't interrupt but he nodded along, keeping his eyes focused on hers as he did. Katsuo didn't mind the idea of rogue ninja even though he'd discovered that the concept was something of a touchy subject with many in the shinobi world. There were some that believed membership to a hidden village was a covenant that should only be broken by death and anything short of that was a blasphemy deserving of imprisonment or death. That way of thinking was antiquated to Katsuo and it was one of the worst of the many rough edges that their society had developed over the years in his opinion. No man or woman should be put to death for wanting something other than a life of bloodshed and battle in his mind.

"I worked as a bounty hunter at that point for the provinces of Suna, Iwa and Kumo and I have violently dealt with a fair share of targets. As far as I know I am not wanted anywhere and have neutral relationships."

Again, Katsuo said nothing as Natsuru explained herself. He had some personal experience with that himself. Before coming to Sunagakure, Katsuo had made a name for himself in the frontier of Wind Country as a sort of hero-for-hire called the Iron Wolf. He went from place to place killing monsters and creatures but also men who wished ill on others for personal gain. Despite his way of thinking today, there was quite a lot of blood on his hands that he preferred not to think about if he could avoid doing so. The room fell quiet then as Natsuru stopped speaking and looked to Kazuki before adding a question about whether he had went into detail about their clan and their relationship with the village that sponsored them. Katsuo already knew the answer but he owed Kazuki the respect to be allowed to answer his sister's question without being talked over.

He'd called this meeting, after all.

 

[Senju Kazuki]

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"With respect Kazuki, I need to hear it from her." Katsuo would stop Kazuki as the Senju Overlord explained she was not a missing nin from Konohagakure, just like the Occult Sennin wasn't nor the rest of their clan, for that matter. He wasn't trying to convey more than that. "I am merely stating that we are not missing nin from Leaf, whatever happened between the Great Exodus and now, only Natsuru can disclose." the White Wolf would reveal his point of view. He understood where the last Sunahoshi was coming from, but he had to explain he wasn't trying to hide anything to protect his younger sister. She knew how to defend herself. "Ideally I would have preferred to meet the new kage under better circumstances, but I honestly wasn't expecting to run into a rogue demon of such strength within the village. Once more my apologies for the commotion caused. As I am sure you know both myself and nii-san are former Konohan shinobi from the original village, prior to its destruction, so in a sense we are rogue ninja in that regard and I did suffer head trauma around that time. I worked as a bounty hunter at that point for the provinces of Suna, Iwa and Kumo and I have violently dealt with a fair share of targets. As far as I know I am not wanted anywhere and have neutral relationships."</GLOW><i></i>[lb2][/lb2] After a slight pause and a meaningful look, the Hyuuga would question. "I assume you have already mentioned the Senju disposition towards the villages they reside in, nii?"<i></i> The Deep Court Hybrid would only take a moment to answer it. <GLOW glow="darkred">"He knows what is necessary for our survival and protection. Including up to knowing we are incapable of betraying Sunagakure as we are unable to stop breathing." which was a nice way to say Katsuo knew enough of their inner workings. Kazuki's focus would return to the Kazekage and solely to his leader. "If you accept Natsuru into the shinobi ranks of Sand, I will induct her into the ANBU branch as one of our ANBU." he would reveal. It was a move that made sense. She had ANBU training and experience and the Senju Overlord needed a bigger presence within the ANBU branch and he needed someone he could count on.[lb2][/lb2] [MFT - 388]​

Black Omen [lb][/lb] Senju Kazuki – Occult Sennin[lb][/lb]

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[Uka]

The kunoichi would briefly nod. She had the answer she wanted. It seemed the list of people who knew was steadily growing and that just might come back and bite them in the behind later down the line, however this was her brother's decision and she would stand by it as always.

Natsuru would divert her attention back to Katsuo. "In addition to bounty hunting work I am both a trained anbu operative and medical professional. During the times before Konoha fell I was in active duty as a medical shinobi working directly with the anbu and as such I went through the full training required, including the required missions to attain the right to have the title."<i></i> The Senju would elaborate as soon as her brother had made his suggestion. Though it had been years ago at this point it was not something one could honestly forget. It was just one of those things that stayed with you no matter how much time passed and came as natural as breathing. Muscle memory was very hard to remove, even if it could grow rusty after all.

"I am fairly confident in my abilities, even if I have not been in active duty for a while and due to our circumstances you can rely on us to work for the benefit of the village, even at the cost of our bodies."<i></i>

[Apparently minimal sleep doesn't help my brain at all. Pardon the crappy post.]

 

[Mikaboshi]

"ANBU, hmm."

Katsuo mused out loud, looking down at the surface of his desk as he thought for a moment before leaning over to a drawer and producing a long pipe from it. Smoking wasn't a particularly healthy habit but Katsuo had found that the pipe helped him focus his thoughts when he needed it. He repeated the word ANBU once more as he fiddled with his pipe, first filling it with a small amount of blackish-brown looking planet material that was almost certainly some kind of tobacco product and then lighting it with a small zap of lightning that he generated with a flick of his fingers before taking a short pull and blowing a small cloud of soft-grey smoke out of the side of his mouth. Where most forms of pipe smoke were acrid and offensive to the senses, this particular blend smelled almost pleasant-- or at least as pleasant as the smoke of burning leaves could smell --with an incense-like earthy scent to it.

"You say you're a trained medical professional as well?" Katsuo questioned, looking up at Natsuru. He had no doubt that if she could take on an opponent like Miroku Akkuma and hold her own-- and the report he'd read regarding the incident she'd been involved in had indicated that she'd come out ahead in their little "training exercise" --then she would be a formidable presence in the ANBU corps but Katsuo also had other parts of his military to consider as well. Their medical branch had been overworked and understaffed for a long time and some new blood and new ideas could do a lot to help out that situation. "How married are you to the idea of working under your brother in the ANBU?"

It was a fair enough question. Ultimately Katsuo could have just assigned her to medical duty if he'd wanted to-- it was well within his authority after all and if she were serious about joining the Sunagakure military it would had been a decent litmus test for her willingness to follow orders --but he also wanted to know that she would be comfortable with what he had her doing.

 

[Senju Kazuki]

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"ANBU, hmm." Katsuo would remark upon hearing Kazuki’s words. "In addition to bounty hunting work I am both a trained anbu operative and medical professional. During the times before Konoha fell I was in active duty as a medical shinobi working directly with the anbu and as such I went through the full training required, including the required missions to attain the right to have the title."<i></i> the Hyuuga would be quick to add information. The Kazekage would prepare a pipe and he would begin smoking while Natsuru shared information that was pertinent to the case they were discussing. The Senju Overlord watched with curiosity as the last Sunahoshi expelled a small cloud of soft grey smoke from his mouth. Smoke didn’t have a pleasant scent, but the one Katsuo was expelling wasn’t quite so offensive to the nose. It almost resembled earthy incense. "You say you're a trained medical professional as well?" he would repeat after Natsuru finished talking. The White Wolf would simply nod, even though he had not been questioned directly. He was quite aware of what Hasegawa Mana had tried to do. The Medical Sennin of Konohagakure had tried to create a foothold inside the Occult Sennin’s branch, though it had failed because Natsuru’s loyalty lied with her brother, more so than with the branch she was in.[lb2][/lb2]"How married are you to the idea of working under your brother in the ANBU?" the Kazekage would question the younger Senju. Again, this was an inquiry to Natsuru, nothing Kazuki could say about it. This is all on her shoulders.​

Black Omen [lb][/lb] Senju Kazuki – Occult Sennin[lb][/lb]

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[Uka]

The Senju would grow quiet as she observed the kage, trying to decide which version of him was the true one - the one she was seeing now or the one she had seen when she had ended up fighting that demon. This one seemed more… natural in a way, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on why she thought that. In a way it seemed more… natural really was the best word.

”I worked in the Konohan hospital from the day I graduated the academy up until the village fell. I took a … forced two year break and after that continued maintaining my knowledge, mainly practicing on myself during my work as a bounty hunter. I would say I currently have around ten or so years of active duty as a medical shinobi and medical shinobi in training.<i></i> She would answer after a few moments of thought. It was starting to become annoying to keep track of these things. After all there was far too much to remember at this point.


”It was nii-san’s suggestion. I have no real preference between one and the other honestly. Though I would say that I am more skilled in combat than I am as a medic as I haven’t actively worked in a hospital for quite a long time at this point, even if those things are difficult to forget.”<i></i> She would answer calmly. Frankly she didn’t mind either way. It would be preferable to remain within the shadows. ”The only concern I would have that people would prefer to be treated by other doctors out of.. worry since I would be a foreign shinobi in their eyes. Even if these are times of relative peace some still hold such concerns. Can’t blame them with the nature of the work really. Within the anbu I would be another faceless enforcer, albeit one used to working on my own nowadays. Though this decision is not mine to make”<i></i>