It was odd. This place was odd. These people, seemed to be odd. He could not rationalize a situation where someone would enter their estates and be treated in a similar fashion. He was a welcomed guest by the Steward, and if he had welcomed someone into his home he would be mortified if his family had treated them in the same manner as he had been treated. Yet, this was not his home. Not yet.
The punch would strike him and cause his head to turn with the force of the punch but he would stay standing. It would not be the first time he was punched, nor would it be the last time. Heck, it wasn't even the first time he had been blindsided by a punch. Taking a punch, for him, was not a big issue. There would be a sensation that would sear throughout his mouth as something would dislodge, a tiny bit of something, and begin to float around on his tongue.
Well, he packed a bit on that wallop.
As the figure would grip his collar, he would spit out a portion of collected blood and a small chipped shard of a tooth. It would be at this time he would actually turn his attention to the person who was now pulling him in close to accost him further. His eyes, the eyes of a caged animal ready to be unleashed, would merely glare into the eyes of his attacker...and for a moment his expression would change to that of confusion.
Who the fuck is this... woman?!
He would let her vent, let her express her grievances towards him, someone she didn't actually know and he wouldn't say a word. No, he would just continue to coldly glare at her. He was not honor-bound to not hit a woman, not that he would just do so randomly as this woman had done to him, but within his clan women could be and often were just as capable warriors as men. There wasn't a gender normed placement in their structure, at least not at the very baseline of its practice, so him fighting a woman would not be some big no-no. He just didn't understand this fight, which made it meaningless. Fighting was pure, this was not.
"Now's your chance, kid."
Age-wise, there didn't seem to be much of a difference between the two of them, at least not from Raizo's perspective. Height-wise, he was the tallest of everyone present, from his vantage point. Including the little girl approaching him in a metal collar.
Little girl approaching me in a metal collar...
His eyebrow would raise as he would turn to the girl, who seemed ready to burst out with tears at any moment.
"Oy, oy , oy... no need to fret. It was a sucker punch, I've taken way worse than that."
He would smile to the concerned little girl, the only truly genuinely helpful person he had met in this village outside of Sousuke. It was nice to know that there was a point, apparently a very young age, that people within this village were still rational and sane.
"I truly appreciate the concern. Thank you for your help."
Did she physically help him, no, but she was a nice reminder that there was seemingly some good within this village. His eyes would then turn back to the other two, the man holding his hand out to him as if to shake hands. The thought of shaking the man's hand, who seemed to be in cahoots with the crazy woman was laughable. The audacity of the two of them was as much funny as it was terrifying. He would listen to their names but would hold up his hand as if to stop both of them.
"If you two are current examples of this village's shinobi, then I don't think it is my merit that is in question. In fact, whoever the hell the two of you are..."
He would look back at the young woman and allow the pause to grow pregnant. What he wanted to say would be stifled, out of sheer respect for the tiny human. However, it was shameful sight to see. Was this result of the Sunahoshi disappearing or was the Sunahoshi lazy in his cultivating of this village's warriors. It would be something he would need to work on as he continued in his most recently appointed position.
"You two aren't needed. You can continue your pastime of accosting strangers for your own messed up reasons... I will be more than enough to handle this matter."
He would pause for a moment at the ledge of the rooftop.
"I am the interim Kazekage, after all."
And with that, he would be off.
Damn... should have told them to enjoy the lovely sand!
He was learning.
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OOC: Topic left, and I will wait for the mission thread. I will have to tag along with you two as Raizo does not actually know where to go, so I already have my first post idea prepped to make this all make sense when the time comes.