To Address The People [Solo]

[Mikaboshi]

Sunahoshi Katsuo - The Last Sunahoshi

The atmosphere outside of the Kazekage Tower was one of confused energy and excited chatter as the grouping of media reporters and local citizens which had caught word of the gathering and come to see what was going on loudly speculated to each other what could possibly have precipitated an emergency press conference. The office of the Kazekage had issued a statement to local news agencies that the Kazekage would be making a special address this afternoon about an extremely important matter of administration and encouraged them to be in attendance. It was a very strange occurrence as the Kazekage that they knew-- Takahashi Sousuke --was not well known to be an engaged public figure. That wasn't to say that he was a bad leader by any stretch but certainly not one that had proven much for regular public speeches or appearances. A small stage had been pulled together outside of the doors of the Kazekage Tower complete with a podium and a rudimentary speaker system for the benefit of those in attendance but also to record and broadcast the upcoming speech.

After a few minutes, the doors of the Kazekage Tower opened and instead of the Kazekage Takahashi Sousuke that they were expecting came a much taller man with short reddened hair and bright yellow-gold eyes. He was dressed in a formal black kimono and hakama set with a long white haori bearing the crest of a lightning bolt gripped in a tense fist-- the symbol of the Sunahoshi Clan and the first man to be seen wearing it in over a decade --embroidered upon the left breast and upon the back of it as well. Katsuo came to a stop in front of the podium and the crowd began to quiet down both in preparation for the prepared remarks from this man who apparently was representing the office of the Kazekage and confusion over where the Kazekage they knew was.

Reaching into his haori, Katsuo brought out a small stack of cards that he'd prepared and looked out across the crowd of faces looking up to him. It was a strange experience being this nervous about something. He'd faced creatures in the past several times his size, stared demons in the face and worse. Traversed the Diamond Maelstrom and even done battle with the legendary Wind Country sand worm before. And yet he had dreaded this moment. He'd never been much of a leader in the past despite the fact that his mother had been Primarch of his clan. Others looked up to him but he'd never had the words of encouragement or leadership that he knew that they wanted from him but today that had to change. Like it or not, these were his people now and it was his responsibility to help them feel safe and protected despite the evidence to the contrary.

"Ladies and gentleman, thank you for coming." Katsuo began, glancing down at the cards. Suddenly he wracked with indecision about the words he'd chosen. Should he have put out a press release first about this? Was it really the right decision to just surprise the public with the transition of power? Should Sousuke have been the one to make this announcement? Doubting thoughts bubbled up through the cracks in his resolve and for a moment Katsuo seemed to stop before taking a deep breath and tossing the prepared remarks away and deciding to go with what was in his heart.

"My name is Sunahoshi Katsuo. I am the first and only son of the Eighth Kazekage, Sunahoshi Hiro. Earlier this week the Ninth Kazekage Takahashi Sousuke resigned his position to me as the rightful heir to the throne making me the Tenth Kazekage. Some of you may already know me as Masashi Katsuo as I have been present in our city for some time as I came to terms with the revelation of my heritage and the responsibility that comes with it."

He paused, searching for the next words with his heart as much as his mind.

"I never knew my father. When I was very young my mother and I were sent away from Sunagakure to protect us from a threat that only he knew was coming and in the end he was killed before he could expose it. Today I return to take up that fight once more. Some weeks ago we as a city-state declared war against that governing body of Wind Country and today it is with a heavy heart that I reaffirm my intent to carry out that battle. I have often found myself saying in recent days that some battles must be fought because peace and justice are not something which are just given to us. They must be fought for and protected at all costs and so it's in that spirit that I have a message for both the people living here in Sunagakure and the people who are out there still under the thumb of the regime that is responsible for this war."

Once more, Katsuo stopped and left a pause in his statements. The words came more easily to him now than they had in the past. The fire in his heart burned and from it came forth the sentiment that he wished to convey.

[BGM]

"Firstly to the people of Sunagakure. I have seen your strength. In the years I've lived here, we have seen monster after monster and threat after threat come against us and we are still here. We have watched as our world collapsed or our city burned and we are still here. Once upon a time Sunagakure was the protector of the realm of men in the Wind Country and we can be again. Today I stand here to remind you of who you are and to ask you to keep fighting as you always have to make tomorrow better than yesterday for every living person in Wind Country."

Scanning the faces of the crowd, Katsuo could see the uncertainty in their eyes. How could they just accept his words when war loomed on the horizon? He understood that feeling. The feeling of being so far in the dark that it became hard to remember what it was like to stand in the light. But Sunagakure's people were a hardy and resilient one,
he believed in that.

"And to those outside Sunagakure who live in fear of the daimyo's wrath, I say this: we are not your enemy. This war is on the tyranny perpetrated by the Wind Daimyo Ishii Shiro and those that choose to be complicit in that evil by standing with him. We know that you risk much by choosing to resist him and if you cannot fight back all we ask is that as the battle comes to a head that you simply stand aside and let justice take it's course."

"Finally, to those that choose to stand with Ishii Shiro and to the daimyo himself: we have withstood countless assaults from your forces. Generations ago our ancestors defeated the ancients and freed mankind. We defeated the Diamond Maelstrom you created to drive us underground. We defeated Barnyx the Ancient not once but twice. All of that and we're still here. Still standing. Still breathing. Still fighting."

Bracing himself against the podium, Katsuo steeled himself for his next statement.

"What chance do you really think you have?"

The crowd was stunned into silence after Katsuo's last statement. There could be no mistaking the remarks that the new Kazekage had apparently just made. He'd made quite clear that he intended to continue carrying out the war that was informally announced by one of the Sunagakure sennin several weeks ago and to top it off had broadcast a challenge directly to the Daimyo's power within minutes of announcing his own ascendancy to power. Wetting his lips slightly, Katsuo eased up from the podium and nodded his head a little bit.

"Thank you all for coming."

And as he turned from the podium the crowd of reporters and news agency representatives exploded into a cacophony of cheers, yells and questions. At the very least it could not be said that the new Kazekage had not arrived with some aplomb. Behind the reporters Katsuo could hear the cheering of the crowd as he entered the doors of the Kazekage Tower and one of the various aides of office took to the podium to try and answer the torrent of questions which were now crashing against him. Finally releasing a breath that felt like he'd been holding since the beginning of the conference, Katsuo stopped and looked down at one of his hands and found it shaking from a combination of adrenaline and excitement. This was the beginning of their campaign to fight back, he told himself. In truth only time would tell if that was true to be the case.