Special Delivery! [SSM:E-Rank/Requesting Kazekage]

[Chikamatsu Shin]

The day came when he actually had a delivery to this special order to the Kazekage. The bundle of brightly colored desert flowers ranged from soft pinks to bright yellows with a range of golden oranges in between were specially picked by the boy and his mother, but the woman who placed the order insisted that a few extra flowers be added. These additions had a deep purple color and had more thorns than the average rose. Regardless the young boy added them to the bouquet after his mother left. He smiled at the tall blond lady as she left the shop in her pristine white dress. There was something about her that exuded a unique aura and a glimpse of an indistinguishable and obscure marking on her leg that oddly looked like a seal made the boy's curiosity peak. She was gone almost as quickly as she arrived but his mission was clear. Take the flowers to the Kazekage. The young Yamanaka pulled out a flattened piece of cardboard that once pressed on the edges pops open to form a box with a slotted whole that was designed to hold the green crystal vase. Sliding the flower creation into it's designated slot he grabbed another box and pressed it once more, but this one one pupped up into a lid. Carefully sliding the lid over the delicate petals Shin wrapped the box with a ribbon and tied it into a bow on the top. Carefully picking it up, Shin was ready to head out and to the tower.

The day's sun was high in the sky pulsating it's unforgiving heat to the village. Children were playing in the streets, kicking their balls through the sand in some sort of game. He smiled at them and waived, they seemed too invested in kicking their ball into a basket set on the ground to even give him notice. He chuckled to himself as he continued on his route to the Kazekage's Tower. He passed a few street vendors and they tried to hustle him into sales. He laughed and politely declined every time as he needed to save up his funds to buy some of the required ninja tools he'd need in class; mainly the scrolls needed to keep track of the varying jutsus he learns. He waived at the little ladies gossiping on their front porches and then old men checking out the old ladies. He let out a sigh, things never change. He slowly made his way to the crater before starting his descent.

The long journey down was tedious and took some time. Quite a long time actually. This path consisted of small stone steps close to the towering walls. There were a few rest areas carved into the bedrock that was set into place for some of the elderly and the ill. Carefully making his way he wanted to make sure that the vase wouldn't be dropped and shattered, after all this was a mission. A few minutes later he finally made his way to the bottom. Readjusting the case he let out a sigh before heading into the village to find the Kage. the vibe of the village down here was different than that up top. It had a more sullen sensation, as if they were still wanting to make the move to the newly habitable lands. He wondered how long it would take before his peers could make the migration to the dessert landscape and bring their businesses and homes. It was almost like there were two separate villages living side by side.

Finally, the young Yamanaka arrived at the Kazekage's tower. Pushing the door open with his back, due to his hands being full he slowly inched his way in. Well at least until a receptionist came around to open the boy for him. A slight chuckle came out before thanking the lady. He slowly made his way to the front desk. He sat the box down, took a step back, and stretched his arms out. He let out a sigh, that case with a large bouquet inside was surprisingly heavy. He explained that his delivery was for the Kage and that it had to be delivered directly to him. The reception said that she understood and gladly allowed the boy to pass. She gave him directions to the office where the man should be working. He smiled at her and took a few notes on some scratch paper just in case he got lost. It was the first time he was in this building and he didn't want to end up getting lost. The longer these flowers sat in their casing the more likely they were to prematurely wilt. He didn't know to preserve them any longer without damaging their beauty. Regardless it was time to find the man that was the leader of his village.

Slowly making his way down the different corridors and hallways he could hear people speaking to one another about topics he didn't quite understand and about villages he had never visited. Maintaining the peace between the lands must have been difficult, but he had heard that the largest threat was within our own nation. Soon's Haven and the Sovereign, the Cabal and Soragakure. All of these things were new to him. Even the term "Ancient" was thrown around in the thoughts of the men and women in the meeting rooms, but the way it was being used didn't match the only definition he knew. Still, he had to find the Kazekage. Hitting what he thought was the top floor he was pretty sure this was the room where the ruler of the Sunagakure worked. Taking a deep breath the boy walked up to the door before hesitating for a second. He balanced the case on his knee so he could free a single hand to knock on the door. He grabbed onto the box again with both hands before closing his eyes and sending out a telepathic message focused on anyone who would call themself the "Kazekage".

"Hello, I'm here for a special delivery for the Kazekage!"

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke would be on the receiving end of a telepathic message. Sousuke was a psionic by nature and did not find the message at all odd to be on the receiving end of. Telepathic messages were usually sent when one had something very dire or important. Yet he was told in this message it was a special delivery. He did not really receive any special deliveries, except from Lord Nobu who liked sending him boxes of wines on his birthday. His birthday was a month out, so ... that is what it could not have been. He wondered what else it could have been. He had no shipments coming in.

He would put down what he was working on which was an attempt to fix the antlers of his helmet. He would set them down on the table and he would walk across the room. The sounds of clicking could be heard as his metallic legs did the walking for him. Little motors moving and doing what they were meant to do. Sousuke would reach for the door with his metallic arm and he would indeed open the door. He would find one Chikamatsu Shin. "Good day, Shin of the the Chikamatsu household."<i></i> His eyes would look at the box he had brought and that was a curious thing. He looked at the box and went through the various things that it could have been in his mind. It most likely was not a mechanical object or a supply he needed. The reason, he ruled, was that the child would have had a very difficult time carrying the parts. He was listening intently to hear if he could hear anything metallic in the box. He would motion for the boy to come info his office. He would tap his fingers together. "A special delivery ... from who?"<i></i> He would inquire first and foremost.

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

Muffled clicking was heard coming through the door, perhaps the Kage was a tinkerer like the boy's father. He hadn't yet met the Kazekage in person before but has seen images of him and he knew of the legendary suits of armor he wore, so to say the least he was a little nervous. He heard the door click to open and when it did the boy was shocked a little bit. Here was his hero and a master wielder of many styles of jutsus standing before him. What made it even better was that this man knew who the boy was! Shin was kinda star struck. He nodded his head at the man as he was addressed. The boy shifted his weight to balance as it felt like his legs were going numb. The Kazekage must have had reports of his academy records and probably saw his testing scores. His heart sank a little bit. What if this man knew his scores were mediocre except his his written and genjutsu exams. What would happen if this legend knew how useless this boy was?

Snapping back to reality he was asked a question. A pretty good question at that. "umm..."<i></i> The boy's voice kinda broke as he was trying to talk to his idle. He took a gulp to try and tried to calm down as his excitement was probably visible in his eyes. Pushing his arms up to present the box to the man he once again tried to answer the question. "It's a delivery from my Mother's Shop, we pride ourselves in having the best greenery in our burrow of the village."<i></i> The boy's heart was still stammering. He took a second to recollect his thoughts. "A lady came in and had this delivered to you. She didn't leave her name though. She must be someone special."<i></i> He remembered the blonde woman. There was something odd about her.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke was at a bit of a pause. A woman came in. A woman came in and bought flowers. A woman came in, bought flowers and had them sent to the Kazekage tower? A woman attended the Chikamatsu flower shop. She offered them patronage. Said patronage was accepted. The woman then asked for a delivery to the tower. These were the facts. These facts were not in dispute. They were simply the facts. "Yes your mother indeed has an excellent shop. My father spoke well and always went to the store to purchase holiday wreathes to be used on the tower grounds."<i></i> Sousuke spoke of store. Indeed. Every December his father would return with a puppet convey carrying a number of wreaths. They were always a splendid emerald colour.

Sousuke took the box and looked at it. He then proceeded to narrow down the options of what the box contained. Not food. Not drink. Nothing overly dangerous. Yes. Sousuke considered it, but the possibility of what was in the box was now that he had the facts were ... well, thinking positive was not a bad thing. Sousuke would very carefully remove the wrapping paper. He held up his metal hand and produced a plasma knife. He very neatly and delicately cut through the paper. He would stare at the box before him. "Someone special indeed. She knew of my family's patronage with your store, maybe a coincidence."<i></i>Sousuke ruled out loud. He phased the plasma blade away and he would begin to wonder what woman would want to send him a package. He had ended his relationship with Yume because he did not want anything to befall her. He did indeed love Yume and she in return loved him. He considered it further and thought of the woman known as Fang. She was a woman of excellent combat proficiency. It was unlikely in the extreme. She seemed like to Roku, and Roku responded to her with a certain playfulness. He did not expect Naoki to be sending him flowers. It wasn't her style, but at the same time he did not think she regarded him ... in any manner except in professional and political terms. He considered Kuro's sister, Seika, but again unlikely. She was one to summon him there and then attempt to have a duel with him.

"A lady."<i></i> He repeated. A lady in terms of title? There were many ladies in the court but none of them had romantic sentiments. Lord Nobu might have asked his daughter to send him a 'feel good' gift. Equally the term lady could simply mean one of the female sex. Not the concept of intercourse, but a female. "Could you tell me more of this lady who visited your mother's shop?"<i></i> He inquired. He raised his hand of course and made a stopping gesture of sorts. "Deep breaths of course. You seem quite tense. There is no need for that."<i></i> He would open the box and await to find out what awaited him.

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

The boy smiled as the legend before him complimented the shop he was raised in and worked in for most of his life. When the box left the grasp of the young delivery boy lowered his arms, as they were actually getting tired. A chuckle escaped from his lips, but it was quick and rather quiet. He was still filled with joy to be in front of the leader of his village. "She might have, she even wanted to make sure there was a specific flower in there for you. I'm snot sure what it is but it must be important."<i></i> He watched as the man crafted a blade of plasma with his metallic hand with what appeared to be no effort at all. To say the least the boy was impressed, but then again he was in the presence of the strongest shinobi in the village. He could see the man trying to figure who the woman was but in all honesty the boy didn't know her name.

Letting out a breath to help him calm the excitement inside of him he would try and describe the lady. "Well she didn't leave a name, but she was rather tall. She had really pretty blond hair and wore a very nice white dress."<i></i> Not knowing the history behind the two the boy thought she was perhaps a secret admirer or just a citizen showing her appreciation for the protector of the village. Regardless he would smile at the man as he unknowingly described an Ancient.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke looked at the flowers. How nice. She even had them put in a vase. He inspected the vase looking for a name tag or anything. Maybe his secret admirer put it on? No. She did not That was rather unfortunate. He continued to look at the flowers, repositioning them on his table. When the child spoke of there being a specific flower in the vase, he looked over them. "Fascinating."<i></i> He spoke as he looked to find the one of a kind flower. Sousuke was at a loss for flowers, he was not a botanist. "I suspect like gemstones, flowers have meanings perhaps? An emerald for instances, not that I am sure it truly does so, but it is supposed to protect you from unfaithfulness but it is also the stone of successful love."<i></i> He considered it further, "It's kind of odd considering jealousy is represented by green ... but I'm not the philosopher in all of this. I merely question them as how they came by their ideas."<i></i> Again Sousuke took to repositioning the flowers and looking over them.

Then came the moment for pause, the description of the woman. Most of the description he could match to be one particular person. His secretary Rioshi. Time in that moment for Sousuke slowed down. Dress. White dress. Rioshi did not wear white dresses. That was kind of funny, and very odd. She very much liked her pants ... sometimes they were white leather. Yes... leather was a funny material. Some people had this weird fascination with it, and liked to wear it very tightly. The problem with doing so is ... smells become inescapable or so he was told. The problem. on the other side was there was that nagging feeling of who his secretary truly was. Why the devil would she send him flowers? Was she trying to sue for peace with him? Unlikely. Maybe this was an elaborate trick of sorts to get him to be paranoid, wary, and exhausted from dealing with her. Oddly she was not going on killing rampages to draw him out like she did one time. How much of her original memory when she was 'Shiori' did she retain? Time would resume once again for Sousuke. He was done with his considerations. "Taller than me, I presume?"<i></i> Indeed the woman, if you really call her a woman and not a gluttonous soul eating degenerate immortal swine, was quite a bit taller than Sousuke. "Taller than six feet?"<i></i> He asked.

Amongst the myriad of things to consider, Sousuke decided to go with ... perhaps she did mean good will, or perhaps this was ... some aspect of her old life in play.

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

The boy smiled as the Kage took the flowers and looked them over. This was one of the few arrangements where he had done most of the work, so hopefully the Kazekage would be pleased! Then the man began to speak about the symbolism behind the different gemstones and brought forth the meaning of an emerald. This reminded the young Yamanaka of the Language of Flowers. Each flower had a specific meaning and an entire thought could be told from a single bouquet. The boy would inspect the flowers with the Kage before speaking. "Well, there is actually an entire language dedicated to flowers. Each flower holds a unique meaning or idea behind them."<i></i> The boy would say before reaching out to touch a small flower. "If I remember correctly these are the Begonias, and they mean..."<i></i> The boy would pause for a second as he tried to remember his mother's teachings. ...to beware. This little Anemones represent forsaken while these Lilies are symbols of hatred. Unless I'm mistaken these are Nasturtiums which represent victory in battle."<i></i> The boy's cheerful smile disappeared as he began to analyse the flowers and what they meant. These bouquet seemed like a threat towards the Kage, but he couldn't understand why.

His attention was shifted to the added purple flowers. "Umm... I would have to say so. She was rather tall. She insisted that these purple flowers be added to the bouquet. They look like Chrysanthemums, but they couldn't be. as they don't have the thorns like these do..."<i></i> The boy began to wonder what these flowers could be. Surely they were the chrysanthemums as those were flowers of death, but they caused no real threat. Could these flowers actually be deadly versions of the reaper's flower? How could the boy have known what these were ancient flowers that here the ancestors to the Wolf's Bane that his clan utilized in battle. He couldn't have known that a pick of these flowers were as toxic as some of the strongest poisons used in combat. He just couldn't have known, but if he could investigate closely, very closely he could see the smallest amount of toxic sap beading up at the tips of the thorns like a ninja's kunai.

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

The boy smiled as the Kage took the flowers and looked them over. This was one of the few arrangements where he had done most of the work, so hopefully the Kazekage would be pleased! Then the man began to speak about the symbolism behind the different gemstones and brought forth the meaning of an emerald. This reminded the young Yamanaka of the Language of Flowers. Each flower had a specific meaning and an entire thought could be told from a single bouquet. The boy would inspect the flowers with the Kage before speaking. "Well, there is actually an entire language dedicated to flowers. Each flower holds a unique meaning or idea behind them."<i></i> The boy would say before reaching out to touch a small flower. "If I remember correctly these are the Begonias, and they mean..."<i></i> The boy would pause for a second as he tried to remember his mother's teachings. ...to beware. This little Anemones represent forsaken while these Lilies are symbols of hatred. Unless I'm mistaken these are Nasturtiums which represent victory in battle."<i></i> The boy's cheerful smile disappeared as he began to analyse the flowers and what they meant. These bouquet seemed like a threat towards the Kage, but he couldn't understand why.

His attention was shifted to the added purple flowers. "Umm... I would have to say so. She was rather tall. She insisted that these purple flowers be added to the bouquet. They look like Chrysanthemums, but they couldn't be. as they don't have the thorns like these do..."<i></i> The boy began to wonder what these flowers could be. Surely they were the chrysanthemums as those were flowers of death, but they caused no real threat. Could these flowers actually be deadly versions of the reaper's flower? How could the boy have known what these were ancient flowers that here the ancestors to the Wolf's Bane that his clan utilized in battle. He couldn't have known that a pick of these flowers were as toxic as some of the strongest poisons used in combat. He just couldn't have known, but if he could investigate closely, very closely he could see the smallest amount of toxic sap beading up at the tips of the thorns like a ninja's kunai.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Typical. She was sending him messages through flowers. Ominous messages no less. Sousuke would clap his hands together and told them under his chin. He would begin to rearrange the words the boy had said in various ways. No real sentence could be made. The oddest of them all was the Nasturtiums. His victory, or her victory? Mother Suna, if anything, was a ripe delicious fat ancient on a rotisserie waiting to be taken by the Daimyo for feasting upon. So was Mikaboshi. Of the two, Sousuke if he had to judge, Mother Suna was the inferior of the two in terms of intellect. Mikaboshi did not love or like his brothers, and if her designs to resurrecting Homura and Fuujin came to fruition ... well, he knew which side he had a better chance of living on. Mikaboshi would be put to the sword by his brothers, and he would not be able to talk his way out of it. Homura would if given time for boredom to set in would most likely attack Mother Suna out of spite or entertainment. Sousuke was right, but the time to prove he was right would be perhaps too late. Sousuke might be the one to get the last laugh, but certainly he would be laughing the hardest. Why would Sousuke be laughing? He wasn't sure. That was how the saying worked, he never understood why laughter was involved.

The Kazekage detected an unease in the boy. He was starting to come to his own conclusions. He was dissecting each flower's meaning and he did exactly as he did. The boy's smile which he had kept up ever so brightly had vanished. "I wouldn't dwell upon her choice in flowers. Each of these flowers are very pretty on their own."<i></i> He spoke in an attempt to reassure the boy. This was something he did not need to concern himself with. Yes, this was the namesake of the village seemingly threatening him, however, this was Sousuke's choice. The one flower that was the one of a kind he would begin to describe and explain. "The thorns?"<i></i> He inquired he would watch as the boy begin his own analysis. He would simply await for the young one to explain what he was getting at before he trailed off. Usually one would do so when they were lost in thought. What was it that skirted about on the outside of his mind?

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

"Well, Chrysanthemums are toxic if ingested by smaller mammals, but these thorns make me think of my clan's Ninja Wolfsbane..."<i></i> The boy took a step back before letting out a sigh. Turning to look at the Kage the boy would plant a hand on his hip before raising a single hand. "But then again I don't really know."<i></i> Looking down at his write the boy would take note of the time. He still had a few chores for the day that needed completion but he didn't really want to dash on the Kage. Perplexed by the situation he closed his eyes for a split second to debate the worse case scenarios of either situation: leave the Kage and maybe seem rude, or disobey mom's orders? A shudder went down the boy's spine before he once again opened his eyes. He turned to the door a little. "Well Lord Kazekage, If you don't mind I need to get back home and continue to work with mom."<i></i>

[topic left unless topped]