The most anticipated wedding of all time would soon be happening. Kimiko had lost track of time since everything had very quickly rushed by, and things were slowly falling into place. At this point, any other bride to be was bound to be feeling nervous about something or other, or the wedding as a whole, but she unbelievably calm and laid back; perhaps even more so when she had been planning the whole thing. She was given free reign of her own marriage, which made her undoubtedly very happy indeed, after having to share it with the very pushy in-laws she would soon have. Today was one of her ‘on call’ days, which basically meant a day off in every sense of the word. It wasn’t very often that an urgent mission of mass importance popped up out of the blue. Besides, she was a Sennin now; she barely did missions at all anymore, due to the simple reason that she was of such a high rank it seemed pointless sending her on tasks for the small fry. So she prepared herself for a day of much needed relaxation before the wedding preparations came to the forefront again. How would she do this, you might ask? She woke quite late, at around 8am and started to get ready for the day at a leisurely pace. She planned on getting some fresh air, something which had turned into quite the commodity since she had decided to be extra helpful around the Administration Building. Maybe she could do some light training, being careful not to wreck the training grounds in the process… whatever she wished to do, she would enjoy it and relish it for as long as possible.

She dressed in a casual cream jersey dress which clinched at the waist and billowed out at the skirts to above her knees, and styled her hair into a high ponytail to keep it out of her way if she did decide to go training later. A pair of flat blue sandals were strapped on her feet, and her numerous weapons pouches were then applied; around her waist, and both of her thighs underneath her dress. Oh yes, she looked utterly casual in terms of attire, but she must always be prepared for the worst. It was a saying that her father had been drilling into her for many years now, and she had never forgotten it. She bid her farewells to her little sister Aya who was staying in her apartment at present, due to it being a weekend, and left her humble abode to journey around the village alone.

It was bright and breezy, similar to a time ten years ago when she had met a particular snowy-haired young man (then a snowy-haired pre-teen). Odd for November, yes, but not entirely impossible. Konoha’s climate meant that it remained warmer for longer, and while every autumn/ winter so far had been chilly, every so often summer would drag out longer into early-mid November. Her walk led her through the bustling Shopping Strip, where she recognised many and greeted them all with great gusto. If anything, she had become happier and more at ease with every passing day since her engagement, which seemed bizarre indeed. But why wouldn’t she be? She was getting ready to spend the rest of her life with the man she loved so dearly, once a boy that she had formed a childish crush for. Today was a good day, and in less than a fortnight’s time, it would be an even better day which she would remember for the rest of her life. Towards the end of the walk, she arrived at the Village Gates, where she knew the local guards very well. One of them was a relative for her husband-to-be, and the other was a friend she had made way back in the Academy. They both greeted her with grins bright on their faces. “Good morning, Kimi-chan!” The taller of the two called, waving a hand towards the ebony-haired woman currently approaching them. He had crimson hair and hazel eyes, with quite a lean, lithe body build. Of Chuunin rank, he had been Kimiko’s classmate in the Academy. His current companion, cousin to the Sennin’s fiancé, was shorter by a couple of inches but just as slender. His dark brown hair swept over his left eye, which had been badly damaged in a fight which occurred during his Jounin examination, which he ultimately failed in. Not much of a talker, in great contrast to his partner, he was instead a listener that appreciated the company of others and spoke with actions instead. He nodded towards his future in-law, a small barely traceable smile on his lips. “Morning.” He muttered.

“Good morning, Satsuki-kun, Taiga-kun!” She called in return, standing next to the two males with a smile bright on her face. She proceeded to converse with the pair, asking them how their day had been so far, what they had been up to since they last spoke, and whether anything interesting had occurred yet. It was an ongoing joke, because nothing interesting ever happened at Konoha’s gates. They were so well-guarded that either a delusional idiot or maniac would try and breach their walls. Just then, as she had cracked the joke, Kimiko was aware of a portion of movement in her peripheral vision. She turned her head, a small frown of curiosity touching her lips as she looked down the dirt road towards a figure not very far away from their gates. She held a hand up to her companions and walked outside the gates, standing protectively just in front of them. “Who goes there? State your business and purpose!” She called to the stranger, chocolate brown eyes appearing particularly serious and full of wariness. Something about the figure brought uneasiness to her, and she couldn’t explain why either, which only made the sense much worse.

[OOC: Sorry for the delayed and short/ crappy reply D; My muse has been lost as of late.]

Silence. It was all that echoed loud and clear in the space between Konoha’s most celebrated shinobi at present and the stranger stood opposite. Kimiko didn’t take her eyes off him, assuming that he was male due to his bodily build and height. It wasn’t very often that one would find a female with broad shoulders and exceeding 5’9”, especially kunoichi. While the Sennin wasn’t deemed to be particularly intelligent or observant in usual circumstances, as of late (and actually for more of her life before this point) she had been increasingly aware of people and how they appeared. This, therefore, allowed her to make a few deductions about the stranger at their gates. He was a shinobi, that much was obvious, and he wore a mask; one that reminded her of Konoha’s ANBU, the elite services. Perhaps he was from another village where such a force was found? From this distance, she couldn’t place a forehead protector anywhere about his person, so whether or not it was hidden or just not noticeable was another point that confused her about the man. He appeared to be… perhaps a late teen, or in early adulthood. He wasn’t quite built to be any older, as she had found from her interactions and observations of older men exceeding their twenties. Following her words, obviously addressing the mysterious figure before her, it was unnerving not knowing how he would respond. She was so used to looking at facial expressions, gestures, or anything that could give her an indication of what would be said. With that expressionless mask, there was nothing.

They both appeared to be assessing, preparing, and using their cautious ways of methods of study. The ebony-haired woman was in half a mind to go over and ask ‘up close and personal’ which might have included a quick rough up, if the stranger hadn’t started to speak. She listened closely, and noted how his voice was particularly devoid of any emotion whatsoever. He called himself Jestre, calling it a kind of codename of sorts. This solidified her thoughts that he was part of the elite services of a village, due to their ANBU having similar codenames for operations. He started to talk of Kumogakure and how they had extended their democratic hand of peace towards Konohagakure, which Kimiko was indeed more than aware of. And then this odd man mentioned the marriage.

Of course, the marriage between some of Konoha’s most powerful shinobi; one half of which was standing opposite a strange visitor to her own village. She frowned when he didn’t seem to remember her name, in spite of how well-sung it was, but she said nothing. ‘Jestre’, as he wished himself to be called, stated that the Hokage had been informed of Kumogakure’s arrival in order to ease operations of this magnitude, and he was merely here to smooth the way for it to truly get underway. Upon saying as much, he had drawn out a scroll from a weapons pouch to illustrate his point, and undoubtedly give the Raikage’s word on this much. The Sennin briefly gave a glance over her shoulder to the friends apprehensively standing just behind their borders, and raised a hand to dismiss them as they were readying to call for back-up. “Don’t worry. I can handle this.” She told them briefly, before slowly approaching the black-clad stranger up ahead. As she walked, she made a point of never taking her eyes off the stranger, hands loosely at her sides and not assuming an aggressive stance in any way. In spite of her not appearing to be threatening, she made it more than clear that this man would be mistaken if he assumed that he could try anything without paying for it in blood.

“My apologies. If I had been paying attention to the date, I would have known that your procession would be here sooner rather than later, as it is indeed my wedding which you have arrived for.” She stated, stopping a safe distance from the strange individual, perhaps leaving three or four metres between them. “Katsumi Kimiko, one half of the marriage that will be taking place rather soon.” She introduced herself, and a small smile touched her lips upon saying as much. While it should indeed be common news and knowledge of her marriage, especially to herself, she found herself becoming excited whenever she mentioned it. “My husband-to-be, Hinamori Toshiro, is away from the village for a mission, and the Hokage has been busy beyond belief as of late. Therefore, as Konoha’s Sennin, I’ll be your official go-to for today.” She explained, still finding herself to be a little on edge around the masked man for one reason or another. Her eyes flickered to the scroll being held in one of his hands, and then held her own delicate digits out as a clear indication that it should be passed on to her. “It seems rather apt, considering this is indeed my own business.” She stated, an amused smirk crossing her features as she considered the whole situation. Behind her, she was aware of eyes bearing down upon her, as she knew that Taiga and Satsuki were both apprehensive of her meeting a possible threat head on. But why shouldn’t she? She was the highest ranked out of the gate guards, it went without saying, and if they were here and this Jestre character did prove to be hostile, they would have lost their lives in vain. It was better for her to be in the line of fire, because she could do much more about it. Following accepting the scroll from the strange operative, she scanned the document and found that it did indeed match the Raikage’s hand perfectly, thus a slight ease was brought to her tense body.

Since reading through the scroll which had been written by the Raikage, and hearing the operative’s explanation of the whole scenario, the ebony-haired woman undoubtedly felt more at ease. It was obvious in how she spoke freely and confidently, plus her natural skills with people beginning to shine through without even trying to make a point of it. She wasn’t a greedy, vain or overly proud person, but of course she had been shocked when the KYOBU (she thought that this was the name of Kumo’s elite operatives, she might be wrong) didn’t recall her name. It had merely shocked her due to the fact that wherever she seemed to go outside of the village, people recognised her for some reason or another. At the moment, it was more down to the wedding and how famous it was; plus how fast it was approaching. But before the engagement and its news leaking throughout the world, she had been known instead for her early rise to S-Rank strength. Even before that, it was her quick ascent from Genin to Jounin ranks, and famed unbreakable will. She seemed able to pull strength from somewhere that nobody else could, to make her much stronger than even her rank allowed or gave credit for. But, she was digressing. It wasn’t important, and aside from the slight frown from before, she showed no distaste for her name not being remembered. In time, the whole world would know who she was undoubtedly, as she saved everyone and was able to bring peace to their ravaged lands.

She lowered the scroll having read it in its entirety, and clapped eyes once more on the strangely (and extremely unnerving) emotionless masked man that stood before her. People were indeed her forte, for whatever reason, but it had always been the same. Masks, however, removed a person and instead placed a strange husk over their face. It robbed an individual of their identity, and it was this concept that seemed to get to her the most. ‘Jestre’ started speaking in that strangely deadpan tone of voice he kept, only slightly muffled by his mask as he asked whether or not he should stay in order to become known to the village as someone that wasn’t a threat. The question he posed was not made to sound like a ‘question’ at all; there was no intonation of where the metaphorical question mark should be. It was bizarre, and while Kimiko decided to ignore this fact, at the time it most certainly catch her attention. There was something about his way of speaking that told her what he probably wished for it not to tell. She was able to see that he was far too serious about this job, and thus was using the mask and demeanour as a means of… hiding, perhaps. Whatever it may be, this feeling didn’t escape her, so she repressed it and kept the casual smile on her lips. She rolled the scroll back into its neat state, and kept it in her hand, waving it in the direction of the village. “I hope that you don’t mind, but I’ll keep a hold of this. Part of the procedure.” She gave explanation for not giving the scroll back to its messenger, before putting the rolled parchment into one of the empty holsters on her weapons belt. Administration needed to see the scroll, match it to the Raikage’s writing and run some more checks before it was deemed reliable and therefore safe to allow access to the village for the man himself. As for his messenger, the odd elite shinobi who had experienced a personality bypass, he would be granted access to be signed into the village as a visitor, which he was.

The two gate guards seemed to have relaxed slightly for themselves, but still seemed a little on edge all the same. This was their friend in a possible line of fire, so it was natural for them to be so apprehensive. Upon seeing the young woman turn and nod her head in their direction, she knew that their visitor was genuine, and the screening process of getting him into the village officially had to begin. Taiga moved to the gatehouse, where he started writing a notification of the stranger’s arrival, and prepared a messenger bird to carry it to Administration. Meanwhile, Kimiko had gestured for this Jestre character to follow her to the gates. “How was the journey from Kumogakure?” She asked and continued to make such small talk until they arrived after a rather short walk indeed at the gates.

Satsuki greeted them, saluting and standing to attention before moving aside to let the Konoha Sennin to move through the gate. “Excuse me, sir.” He stepped back in front of their visitor, holding an arm out to stop him from passing. “I need to conduct a quick search, if that’s okay.” He looked at the KYOBU operative with an unwavering gaze, currently in his ‘serious gate guard’ mode. It didn’t happen very often, granted, but when it did, he used it correctly for the right reasons.

Ever perceptive and not allowing anything to simply slip by her unnoticed, Kimiko had been somewhat startled by the KYOBU’s clipped one-word response. It seemed that phatic speech and other such unnecessary things weren’t condoned by him, obvious to her from their first encounter only moments ago. He was by the book; what every great village wished to have in their shinobi, and therefore he lacked emotion. While it wasn’t particularly frowned upon by the Sennin, she found it odd. Konoha was undergoing a period of change within its walls, whether it was down to her influence or not, which meant that it was seeing a high rise in individuals and not mere soldiers. She didn’t comment on the very clipped response of her companion, and instead continued with smile before nodding her head slightly in acknowledgement. “In my experiences, travels between Hi no Kuni and Kaminari no Kuni are far from… uneventful.” She commented with a small tilt of her head, thinking back to her own exploits between the two countries. Compared to the very mild and predictable climate of Hi no Kuni, Kaminari no Kuni was highly charged with thunderstorms and howling gales. At least, when she travelled there, that was the common factor. It was possible to have fair weather, but the transition was usually very apparent. She held her tongue for a little while longer as they approached the village gates, deciding not to make a joke just in case her current companion took it as a direct insult. She didn’t wish to be on the wrong end of a sharp object… it was far too early in the day for that.

Having passed through the gates with no issues, it was now upon their guest to play their part. He was expected to comply entirely with a routine search, as was common for a person not part of Konohagakure. Satsuki had taken the lead, asking the stranger if it was alright for this search to go ahead. Instead of an instant answer, perhaps even a nod in response, there was nothing but deathly silence. Kimiko hesitated mid-step, turning back and looking at both her friend and the KYOBU operative. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the man who called himself ‘Jestre’, nodded his head as a sign of permission being granted for the search to start. It would be Taiga who would actually conduct the search, while his crimson-haired partner overlooked the mere routine check. Shinobi had a lot of places to hide things, so the search would take longer than the typical checks conducted for civilians entering the village. Weapons were taken account of, so that if things did go wrong, they could hold their hands up and say that they were aware of its existence. It was impolite to take weaponry from a ninja, of course, so they remained about the stranger’s person. Everything was going as it usually did, deliberate yet quick. Taiga was one of the quickest searchers on the gate guard team, due to his experience and sharp eye. He was able to tell if somebody was housing something shady usually from just looking at a person, and through patting the suspect down, he could pick up on things twice as quickly. The other gate guards could be a little sluggish, especially later in the day. Mid-search, the brown-haired shinobi paused as he found issue with something around the stranger’s torso area and back. He stated that something was underneath the shirt of the KYOBU member, perhaps body armour, but he wasn’t sure. This made Satsuki react quickly, albeit in a sheepish, quite embarrassed manner.

The masked man was asked to reveal what it was under his shirt, which he complied to with little hesitation. He seemed to realise the magnitude of the situation if he was sharp or made any sudden movements, as he was currently in an unfamiliar village with many shinobi on standby to restrain and kill him if he tried anything funny. As such, he dropped his coat to the floor and lifted his shirt, but it wasn’t any form of armour or hidden weapons underneath it. Instead, it revealed a great number of scars that seemed to have been inflicted deliberately upon his person. It was far too coincidental to have such perfectly spaced dents and cuts across his body, after all. After turning a circle for both guards to see his scars, the KYOBU operative lowered his shirt and asked if they were satisfied, to which both of the guards nodded an answer.

Kimiko merely stood and waited, her face a mask of neutrality as the stranger approached her. When he asked if that was all, she nodded slightly, clasping her hands together in front of her body before beginning to walk again. “For now.” She nodded, leading the way through the currently rather crowded streets in Konoha’s market area. They would have to walk through numerous long streets before reaching Administration, but even so it wouldn’t take them too long. Perhaps ten minutes at the most, as long as the market wasn’t too busy. While it was indeed heaving with civilians, many of them would move respectfully out of the way when they spotted a familiar head of ebony hair heading their way. “Good morning, Katsumi-sama.” “Lovely day, isn’t it?” “Not long till the wedding now, Kimi-chan!” Many different voices addressed her as she moved through the crowds, something which made her smile. The people of her village never ceased to bring happiness to her, because of how kind they all were to one another; how they all seemed to look after the village and other people.

They turned down a less-crowded street, giving a more direct route to the Administration Building; the stunning reed roof and kanji atop it not far away in the distance by now. “You have quite a collection of scars.” She commented casually to her current companion, turning her head and looking at him briefly. “Kept to make you remember, I presume?” She asked just as casually as before, directing her gaze to the street ahead of her once more. This was a mere theory of hers, but the main reason why shinobi tended to keep their scars was due to some form of remembrance or need for vengeance.

Following her question in regard to how the KYOBU member had received his scars, or, more accurately, why he had kept them on his body, she wasn’t surprised to see his immediate reaction. A small shrug tugged at his shoulders, barely noticeable in all honesty. She had only seen due to having her gaze directed at him while awaiting an answer. Otherwise, it would have escaped all recognition. Whether he was considering the scars or not in the pause that ensued was by the by, but soon enough he replied by saying that some were indeed kept to remember. Some, however, had simply become too bad for the Medics to heal. ‘A few’ were kept to remember, he stated. Kimiko nodded slowly in understanding, subconsciously finding her left shoulder tugging a little at memories of her own scars. In terms of lasting injuries, she had been rather lucky. The only scars she had retained were those that had originated in her fight with two crazed Nukenin back in Kumogakure. One where a blade had entirely penetrated her upper left arm, around her shoulder area. More across her thighs. Prominent only in certain lights were the thin and numerous scars on her hands, where she had literally seized the blade in her arm and pulled it out. There were others, of course, but none that she could truly place at present. They weren’t particularly bad as far as scars went either, and Medics could easily have healed them. Even now, it was in their power to use special Ninjutsu techniques to lessen the scarring, but she had no desire for such a thing. The scars on her body helped to remind her what she had done to earn the scars. She had fought, and nearly died for, her younger sister Aya. Why would she wish to forget such a feat, such a hard-won victory? It reminded her how strong she needed to be for her loved ones, and that she had to work that extra bit harder in order to return from a fight.

As far as shinobi went, her priorities were perhaps a little skewed; considering that they were raised from a young age to believe strictly in rules and enforcements, not companionship and feelings.

Nevertheless, it was how she fought and it was how she had survived the tough years of her life thus far. She wouldn’t change it for the world. In all honesty, after the masked man had stopped speaking the first time about remembering things with scars, she hadn’t expected him to speak again. He surprised her, however, by going on to say (after a considerable amount of time being silent) that some scars were there for him to remember the departed. This caught her off guard, noticeably so, as her eyes widened and she took a slight misstep in her flowing pace. This man, ‘Jestre’, seemed to be so bent on his duties as a KYOBU member that he didn’t appear to have emotions. But he proved right then that he cared for people, in one way or another, due to the tone of his voice. It was the only variation she had heard from him.

The ebony-haired Sennin nodded slowly, allowing this fact to sink in. What was such an elite operative doing having… feelings? It just seemed so out of character for him. She tried to push that much aside, and forced her expression back into one of the utmost neutrality. A small smile tugged at her lips, however, as she directed her gaze back in the direction they were heading. “As good a reason as any.” She stated, raising a hand to gesture at the approaching building ahead of them. The famed red building was literally only yards away now, proving that it was indeed almost time for the scroll to be checked thoroughly and for this stranger to be granted visitor access to the village. “Here we are. The Administration Building. Follow me, if you will.” She bowed her head slightly, and sped up her pace a little to overtake her current companion in leading the way up the few steps. She pressed a hand onto one of the glass doors and pushed it open, briefly holding it behind her for the masked man, and continued into the main lobby area. A young blonde woman was seated at the front-most desk, wearing a picture perfect smile and excellent complexion. She was the ‘face’ of Administration, basically a receptionist and nothing more. All she needed to be was pretty and at least slightly competent. “Good morning, Katsumi-sama. What can I… help you with… today?...” Her question trailed off as her gaze was brought to the black-clad guest following after the Konoha Sennin. Kimiko smiled pleasantly and gestured towards the man, before reaching and taking out the scroll that had been given to her in regard to the Raikage’s arrival to the village. “Good morning. This is part of the Raikage’s guard, and he has arrived in the Fire Country for the wedding in two weeks’ time. This is his word, documenting it, which will need to be filed.” She nodded as the blonde receptionist took the scroll from her hand gently, briefly opening and reading it. Slowly, it dawned on the younger woman what it was that she had to do, and she nearly fell from her chair standing up.

“O-Oh, don’t worry, Katsumi-sama! I’ll have this processed as soon as possible for you and mister, um…” She paused, not knowing what to call the KYOBU operative. She hesitated there, clutching the scroll and looking unbelievably awkward while her eyes begged for an answer. “Jestre.” Kimiko answered brightly in return, proceeding to make a slight shooing motion with her hands for the receptionist to get a bit of a move on and do her job. “H-Hai!” The blonde squeaked before rushing away into the back rooms of the first floor Administration. Finding the sequence to be quite hilarious, the ebony-haired woman proceeded to laugh slightly and shake her head. “She’s new to the job. Frightfully fidgety thing. She’ll be back soon, and then you can be on your way as an official guest to Konoha.” She smiled in the masked man’s direction, chocolate brown hues gleaming slightly either from the filtered sunlight or mild happiness that she felt. Behind them along a half-wall were a set of four somewhat comfortable armchairs, used for people waiting to be seen to by either the Hokage, or another Administrative assistant. The Sennin gestured in that direction, before sweeping to a seat for herself. One leg immediately snapped crisply over the other, and her fingers had meshed together being placed atop her knee, looking towards her current companion with a slight nod of her head. “On the subject of jobs, how long have you been part of the KYOBU elite?” She asked curiously, trying to get a better grasp on the mystery man that refused to show his identity. She had no idea how old he was, or how much combat he had seen thus far. It would be interesting to find out…

While it was indeed strange for the man not to take a seat when it was offered to him, Kimiko paid it no mind. She allowed him to do as he wished for now, which appeared to be merely standing with his arms folded. It was not lost on her that the attempts she made to try and get the stranger to interact and engage more in what occurred was indeed a lost cause. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop her from continuing their conversation, as she had piped up in regard to how long he had been on the KYOBU. Jestre seemed to be struggling with such idle chatter, but the ebony-haired Sennin waited patiently regardless. She watched as he moved to lean against the wall opposite her, keeping his arms folded and entirely indifferent to all that was happening around him. It seemed that he couldn’t even remember how long he had been on the KYOBU elite, which was bizarre in itself. If one were to ask the Konoha ANBU about how long they had served the village, they would probably be able to reel off an exact date since they were first accepted. She wasn’t sure whether his lack of remembrance was down to him, or the Kumogakure system or the like. He told her that life seemed to lose meaning and purpose when one was removed from the civilian community, which in all honesty, was true enough. ANBU weren’t supposed to be individuals, they were supposed to be ready to lay their life down for their Kage. In that case, the two services seemed to be rather alike.

He proceeded to detail how a KYOBU member would literally give themselves up for the profession, taking away their name and identity entirely. She nodded slowly to show her understanding, and to contemplate what had been said. His repetition of the word ‘expendable’ struck home to the Sennin as she realised just how lowly this young man viewed himself to be. Just a mere number, a foot soldier in the forward guard waiting to be slaughtered. It saddened her to hear it, but she didn’t make it known to her current companion. “For our ANBU, they too undergo the same process. They become affiliated to a codename which matches their specially assigned mask. And they dedicate their lives to the protection of the Hokage and the village.” She stated, nodding slowly as she recounted the similarity between the two forces.

She held her tongue, however, when she was about to reply to his comment about being nothing more than an expendable commodity for the Raikage. It wasn’t only because the ditsy blonde Admin assistant came rushing back, but she was also aware of how much she should be careful about what she said and in what context. While Konoha and Kumo were indeed very close to being allies in a formal sense, those bonds could soon be broken. It was her job as one of the unofficial faces of Konoha to make them feel welcome, and not to chastise the way their training was instilled for their elite forces. Of course she found it fundamentally wrong, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. What could she say? That this stranger wasn’t expendable? That everyone was an individual and therefore just as important as the next? She doubted that this was a man that listened to anything else but his Kage’s orders. Her trail of thought was broken when the blonde rushed up to her, holding out the scroll which now had a red ‘Approved’ stamp across the front, and it had been tied with official red ribbon as if to seal the deal. The young woman bowed deeply to her superior and the stranger, before scuttling back off again. Kimiko sighed deeply and got to her feet, dusting down her otherwise pristine outfit and turning to Jestre once more. She held out the scroll towards him, giving him a polite smile and bowing her head. “That is your official proof of visitor status in the village. It also extends to Raikage-sama himself, because the request was indeed written in his own writing.” She waited for her current companion to take the scroll from her before both of her hands dropped down to her sides briefly, clasping them together almost instantly after doing so.

The ebony-haired woman would take suitable time to pause and listen for any questions that the stranger had, and answer them should he have any. After finishing the formalities, she bowed her head slightly towards him and walked with him to the exit of the Administration Building. “If you wish to get back to your camp, the gate guards will have to search you again. Just a fair warning.” She stated, thinking back to earlier in the day when Jestre had been searched before by the two Chuunin gate guards who happened to be good friends of the Sennin. She stood on the top-most step with him for a while longer, making sure that he didn’t need to ask her any more questions before raising a hand towards him in a casual wave. “Please, bring the Raikage and the rest of his escort into the village and they will be accommodated for accordingly. Perhaps tomorrow now, due to the increasingly late hour.” She pointed out, glancing up briefly to fix her chocolate gaze on the slightly reddening skies. With that, she bid her farewells and started to walk away towards the Housing Area of Konoha, hence towards the South of the village. The whole time, there was an unshakeable feeling about him… but she couldn’t quite place it and thus put it down to her imagination.

Whatever her gut instinct, it hadn’t been a good one…

[Exit]

{Due to lack of inspiration for this topic in particular D: We can start another if you're up for it.}