MizuKage's Office

Slowly, the very tired and worn out Katsuoru Hyuuga made his way through the currently busy walkways of the Mist Village. His hair, currently uncouth in appearance, blew off of his shoulders as a light breeze danced throughout the village. He'd just come from yet another hard day's work of practicing and mastering his jutsu's and fighting techniques. This was a routine that he'd done ever since he was an academy student. Now, as the newly appointed MizuKage, he saw no reason to slack off in that aspect of his overall being. Although tired, his walk back to the Kage Mansion was very leisurely. The only tension brought to the atmosphere was the always lurking presence of the personally selected ANBU that rarely let a moment pass in which they weren't protecting their leader. Also, never too far from Katsuoru himself, there was always the presence of his "friends", the other members of Kirigakure's 7 Swordsmen of the Mist. One in particular was his childhood comrade from the prestigious Megami family.

Shin Megami and Katsuoru walked beside one another as they made their way towards the Kage Mansion. An air of relief could be sensed through the smiles on the villagers faces, as they felt more protected than ever with these two at the helm. Katsuoru and Shin both passionately protected Kiri during many missions, be it assassinations, escorts, defending, or random missions that were made to boost the country's economy. Their hard work ethic, along with the untimely passing of the prior MizuKage, prompted the higher ups to select between the two of them for the Kage title. Unknown to most, the deciding factor as to who would take the position came to a simple aspect: Who hated doing paperwork the least. As it stood, Shin despised that aspect of leadership a bit more than Katsu. So, as it stood, Shin became leader of the 7 swordsmen, while Katsuoru became the 6th Mizukage.

"Shin, you know, you should do my paperwork this once. I have... um... research to conduct." The words flowed as smoothly as ever from under the straw hat that was pulled low enough to cover his eyes. All that could be seen was the huge grin that one would mistake for that of a child that just received the Christmas present he'd always wanted. Other meaningless conversation ensued as the two continued to walk until they finally reached the mansion. Upon entering, there were a number of people standing around, likely awaiting orders. Katsuoru let out a sigh, slumping at the shoulders, all the while dragging his feet as he made his way behind his desk. Almost as though pure dead weight, he dropped into his plush chair, rocking back and forth slowly before finally placing his right hand in the air so to quiet the commotion.

The green haired ninja rocked back in his chair, tilted his straw hat backwards to allow those in his view to see his entire face, and addressed them all, "This may come across as informal, but those of you that know me know I do things a tad different. But, before I give out missions, tell me how you're all doin today. Also, once missions are given out, here's a little incentive to those who like to relax. First team to finish their assigned mission will be treated to hot springs, and dinner." As he watched everyone's reactions, he slowly leaned forward and reached for the mission scrolls laidd out neatly on his desk top. His brow twitched as he read over some of the requests that nearly anyone would deem ridiculous. Once finished browsing, Katsuoru's attention was drawn to a Jounin that even he once referred to as Sensei. "Inei, you have a great group there, especially with the Nara Clan member. I have a mission, for the 4 of you, that's labeled a B-Rank, with high potential to be an A-Rank", he spoke in a respectful yet stern manner. "Your mission is to quell the skirmishes taking place around the southern border of our country. I'd prefer you to detain the leader of the missing-nins causing the trouble. Should this not be an option, please eliminate him. Inside this scroll is the name of the leader, and a recent pic of him, attained from our ANBU. Is this easy enough for your team, Inei?"

Sîn, who was lazily staring at the ceiling while leaning against the wall, was quite surprised by the arrival of the Mizukage, and even more by his overall attitude. Sure he knew the man was young, but he never thought he'd be so warm and smooth and easy-going. With a little smirk, the Nara shinobi thought he'd likely go along pretty well with that man should they one day have to work together. The mission he assigned sounded like a pain, but then again so did all missions to Sîn so he was used to, and a good thing was it involved travel. Having grown under the over-controlling guardianship of his mother, he always loved to play or walk outside the village, for she couldn't find him there. Even as he grew older, he was more of a solitary person, and above all hated dense crowds, so he tried to get himself tranquil spots outside. Ironically, this is one of the things that developed his ninjas skills, for he was always looking for a way to discreetly leave the place unnoticed by the guards.

Sîn was brought back to reality by his sensei's voice when he replied to the Kage: "My team will be honoured to accomplish this mission for the village. We shall depart immediately, and so I wish you a good day sir." At these words, the three chuunin bowed to the Kage and made their way out of the room after their jounin. Just before leaving, Sîn turned around to get one final glimpse of the Mizukage... his remark about him being special sounded intriguing. With these Hyuuga eyes, it was hard to get a good grip on his expression, and it gave the man a mysterious aura. Why had he remarked him particularly...his records were after all pretty average...could it be he had seen or foreseen something grand within him ?

Either way, Sîn's interest was piqued, something that didn't happened so often, and he made it a point to at least try in this mission and get to see this strange leader of the village again.