Metal Catastrophe: The Return (Open)

There was an explosion near the center of town. There was no one around, so no one got caught in the blast. The smoke and debris rose high, making the explosion visible from most anywhere in the village. A shockwave was released beforehand, which shattered most windows in the vicinity.

The smoke cleared to reveal a hole in the ground. Strands of electricity danced and fizzled around the hole. A hand reached up from below to grab the edge, and begin to pull out a body. This person was revealed to be Kinzoku, a shinobi who'd done a great deal of unorthodox training around Hinowa months ago. For some reason he'd just simply vanished without a trace.

He'd told no one, not even the Kage, about his last bit of training. It would require him to spend months underground. What exactly he'd been doing while down there, no one knew, but today he'd achieved his long awaited goal of re-attaining his prized gourd. Since he'd decided to retrain himself from the bottom up, he could feel more attuned to it as well as his magnetic chakra.

Villagers saw a muscular young man climb up out of the hole. He was wearing a red top with yellow trim. The collar was large enough that it concealed most of his face from view, except for his yellow piercing eyes. He had on black loose fitting slacks, black fingerless gloves and black sandals. What caught their eyes first however was the large black gourd strapped to his back, the air moving and shimmering around it as if it were hot.

Inhaling fresh air for the first time in a long while, Kinzoku looked around his immediate vicinity, noticing several villagers staring his way fearfully. He looked up, to the sky and clouds, glad that this training regimen was over. Had Temaki send someone out looking for him? Was he a Missing-Nin now? Were people out to kill him? Kinzoku would cross those bridges when he came to them...

"My lady, there's been some sort of explosion in the center of town. Reports are indicated that Kinzoku was at the center of it."

Temaki looked up from the paperwork she had been bent over working on and to the Jounin standing in her doorway. The man looked worried, obviously he had jumped to all kinds of conclusions. But, Temaki wasn't so quick to follow suit. She had been made aware of Kinzoku's absense for a while, but it wasn't like Temaki held her villagers prisoner. She had an open door policy when it came to traveling to and from other villages: so long as no one outright caused trouble and then abandoned the village she didn't label her people as Missing-Nin. "I will go and handle it personally.", Temaki simply replied, causing the Jounin to bow and leave.

Temaki's eye twitched a bit; this was one of her newer Jounin, and hadn't yet heard that the bowing thing drove her nuts, just as much as the 'my lady' stuff he had pulled when he arrived. "Ugh. Come on Blast. Let's go see what's going on, eh?", Temaki asked her large orange and red colored wolf who got to his feet from the giant dog bed he had been sprawled out on nearby.

Not bothering with the door Temaki turned to her large floor to ceiling windows and jumped out of one of the open ones. She moved from roof top to roof top as to not have to worry about the crowds of civilians and shinobi alike below. She followed her nose as she went; explosions were events that had a particular scent to them, as did upturned earth. It didn't take her long at all to arrive upon the scene and see Kinzoku looking as if he had just climbed out of the hole. She jumped down, landing nearby and simply folded her arms across her chest as she took a relaxed stance with most of her weight on her leg left so that it would look as if she were leaning on something invisible. Blast came to a stop next to her and sat down with his tongue lolling out of his mouth - because Temaki was relaxed so was here which meant he was going to act more like a puppy than the beast of a wolf he truly was "Kinzoku. I was wondering when you'd return. You look like you've been doing a lot of training.", she said in a friendly voice, noticing the strange gourd he now carried with him.

The color of the leaves on the trees told Kinzoku that he'd been down there for quite a while. For some reason, he could smell things with much greater detail, much greater than he could before he went underground. A scent from the past reached his nose; the smell of the sandwiches made in the cafe below the apartment he lived in. When he closed his eyes, for some reason, he could see the chef, in the shop, which was about 5 city blocks over, making these sandwiches. He looked somewhat older. Kinzoku could even see who was there around him.

Opening his yellow eyes again, Kinzoku was somewhat confused, and could feel his chakra drained slightly. Was he losing his mind? Had being underground all that time done something to him? In any event, he discovered that he'd unlocked some kind of new Sensory ability. This was something he would have to get used to. Added onto his ability to track things, Kinzoku figured that with enough practice he'd be able to find anyone.

Chakra: 900/925

Another scent reached Kinzoku's nose, one that he'd only smelled one time. Who was it, again?... Ah yes, the Rakuenkage. She and that large dog of hers arrived on the scene, just as he thought she would. His expression didn't change much, still looking as if he'd just woken up, and he half expected her and the dog to attack him. She came to a stop, and the dog sat down, which told Kinzoku that he wasn't labeled as Missing.

Kinzoku wouldn't look much different, except for the muscle he'd put on underground. "...Apologies for disappearing," he replied, sliding his hands into his pants pockets. "The last bits of training called for me to... go underground and go through a specific kind of training... it's torture to an ordinary person. I didn't think you would have approved... Anyway, i'm finished..."

The cork came off of the gourd. The black substance slithered out of the gourd seemingly on it's own accord to begin closing the hole on the ground. Since it was made up of Iron Sand from the gourd, it cost Kinzoku no chakra. The Iron Sand cleaned the debris in the area and returned it to the hole as it was closed up. Concluded, the area looked like someone had recently dug it up. Villagers watched in fascination, wondering exactly what that black stuff was as it returned to the glowing gourd...

Temaki grinned a bit as she listened to Kinzoku talk; she didn't feel like he owed her an apology at all, especially since he had been off training. She knew that the higher ranked you got, the stronger you wanted to be, the more dangerous and extensive the training to do just that got. She herself often took off for decently lengthed periods of time to go train, leaving someone behind in her wake who would be more then capable of running the village while she was gone. Weak shinobi made for a weak village after all, and she wanted her village to be as strong as possible.

"Please, no need to apologize. I totally understand having to go on extensive training trips, and I definitely understand how dangerous they can be.", she paused a moment, eyebrows raising again as she watched the black substance that came out of Kinzoku's gourd begin to repair the damage to the ground from the explosion. "Wow, interesting. Anyway, I've been meaning to speak to you and was waiting for you to come back. You got a few minutes to spare?"

Temaki would glance down to Blast who was head tilting at the black substance and sniffing in its general direction; though he didn't bother going near it. Blast knew better than to investigate strange things, especially when those things were related in some way to a powerful shinobi - it was just a very bad idea.

Temaki said there was no need to apologize, and that she knew about leaving for long periods of time in order to train. She also said she knew how dangerous training regimens could become. Fortunatley, Kinzoku didn't plan on doing anything of the sort ever again.

She and the dog seemed fascinated with his Iron Sand as were the other villagers standing around. After saying it was interesting, the Rakuenkage said she wanted to speak to him, and that she had been waiting on him to return. Kinzoku didn't know how to take that. A few minutes to spare...

Was she about to lead him into a trap where he'd end up in a jail cell? Or even worse: Dead? Maybe this was an act she was putting on until she could properly do whatever she had planned.

Waiting on him to return. A few minutes to spare. Complimenting his Iron Sand... Did the Kage have some sort of... thing for him? Kinzoku never thought of what he'd do or how he'd act if some female were to come on to him. Perhaps this was not the case.

Though his mind was racing as to why she wanted a few minutes of his time, his tired expression never changed. Maybe Kinzoku was thinking too hard into things. "A few minutes; it's not like there's a worried family waiting for me at home," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "...Speak to me about what?"

"I'd prefer to talk in private, in my office. There is a position I'm curious if you're interested in, but I cannot say more than that where people could possibly eavesdrop.", Temaki would explain, keeping the same calm and relaxed expression on her face that she had been wearing the entire time.

If he was willing to come with her she would turn with Blast following behind her and lead the way back towards the administrative building. From there she would head inside and up to the top floor, nodding to several people as she passed them. Pausing outside of her office she would open the door and step inside, leaving it open for Kinzoku to follow her if he was still behind her. "Please shut the door behind yourself.", she would state as she crossed the rather decently sized office and headed towards the heavily scarred oak desk. It was piled with papers in neat stacks, as well as several scrolls and a cup filled to bursting with pen. The surface of the desk was covered in a clear thin piece of plastic due to all of the claw marks and scratches that covered the thing: it was old and it had belonged to her father, so she had felt the need to keep it.

The rest of Temaki's office was filled with a few couches, several chairs - including several in front of her desk - a few filing cabinets and several exceptionally large dog beds. The walls were plastered with various bits of artwork that her children had done, as well as pictures of her family. There were also various seals; most used for sound proofing and protections to keep the privacy of the office just that: private - regardless of doors and windows being open.

Temaki would take a seat in her chair while Blast sprawled himself out comfortable on the dog bed closest to the open floor to ceiling windows. She would motion towards the chairs across from her. "Have a seat if you'd like. I'm going to keep this as brief as possible so I don't waste your time..."

She said she'd rather talk in private. There was a position she wanted him to fill, but talking about it right here would bring eavesdroppers. There were still villagers standing around because of that explosion, and others were gathering still. Kinzoku still couldn't help but to wonder what this was all about. He considered that he was about to be lead into some kind of trap, or something else.

He'd grown all too used to the stares and the under the breath mumbles while deciding to humor the Rakuenkage, following her and her big orange dog. The least he could do is hear her out. There was nothing else to do; he would probably go back to accepting missions. If he was being lead into some kind of trap he'd deal with it as it came.

The ground trembled slightly under his step now, because of the weight of the gourd. Carrying it slowed his overall foot speed, but he would be still quite fast. The foot prints he left behind were deeper than they once were. People were still staring, pointing and gossiping as they walked along, but a black gourd that looked like it was glowing wasn't something one saw everyday.

He walked into the Administration Building behind the Kage and Blast to more stares. The floor beneath his feet squeaked and shifted under his step, especially on the stairs. Inside her office, Kinzoku closed the door behind himself as he was asked. She sat behind her desk while Blast laid out on one of the large beds nearby. Yellow eyes take in the interior of her office, noticing the pictures of the Kage and her family. The desk looked scratched up, leaving Kinzoku to figure that Temaki's family before her also had dogs.

Kinzoku didn't know how it was to have family, so he didn't look at the pictures very long. He was offered to sit down, but he didn't. She said she didn't want to waste his time, but, what else did he have to do? He respected the fact that she was trying to treat him like any ordinary person, but, he wasn't an ordinary person. Kinzoku blinked his eyes slowly and waited for her to reveal what this was all about...

Temaki took a moment to open the top center drawer of her desk after unlocking it. She pulled out a plain file with Kinzoku's name on it and set it down on her desk before closing the drawer. She didn't open the file, and instead simply leaned foward so that her elbows were resting on the desk. She noticed that Kinzoku remained standing and didn't mind in the slightest; perhaps he simply did not want to remove the strange gourd he was carrying around? She wasn't going to ask because she felt it wasn't really her business.

"So, I've been taking care to go through all of my villagers information. I've been looking for potential candidates for various positions around the village including some special ones. I noticed that you've done quite a bit, and you've definitely gotten stronger. I also see that you have some new tricks up your sleeve. I've also noticed that you've gone on a fairly decent amount of missions, which proves you've got a work ethic not often seen in this day and age."

She paused for moment as she heard a great rumbling snore start up and looked over to Blast who had fallen asleep. She chuckled and then turned her attention back onto Kinzoku. "So, I was wondering if you'd be interested in joining the ranks of ANBU? We could definitely use someone like you and you'd be given jutsu scrolls of special techniques that cannot be learned otherwise. However, the choice is entirely up to you; the position is completely optional."

The Rakuenkage stated that she'd been watching after her people, including him. She'd known about the things he was doing, like shutting down drug rings, moving secret files, and other things, like taking out trash that no one would miss. She'd noticed how he'd gotten stronger as well, and said she was considering putting people in positions within the village, including "special" ones.

She went on to mention that there was a spot in ANBU, and Kinzoku was welcome to it. ANBU was the village's Black Ops, behind-the-scenes guys. These were special agents that wore masks and had code names. These were the guys who protected the village from exceptional threats, conducted high risk missions into enemy territory, and dealt with extremely strong ninja. Kinzoku had already proven that he was perfect for this position.

A chance to learn jutsu that couldn't be learned under normal circumstances was further enticing. Kinzoku began to think that he was born for such a role. ANBU worked in teams typically, but especially skilled ninja were hand picked directly by the Kage themselves, as Kinzoku was at the moment. "I'll join," he said with a nod. How could he refuse? It was perfect.

I'll join.

The words caused a grin to spread across Temaki's face as she nodded her head: that was exactly what she had been hoping to hear. "Excellent. Now, I like to give my villagers are much freedom as possible in all things, so I'm going to let you choose your own code name you wish to be known by while working.", she stated as she opened up another drawer in her desk, this one done by sending a minute burst of chakra through one of the seals that kept it locked and shut tight so it couldn't be picked and opened by the wrong person.

She pulled out several items wrapped in cloth and slide them across the desk to Kinzoku. "You'll find your mask, as well as ANBU issued armor, in there. The information for the jutsu is in there as well: once you've read it the scrolls will burn to ash, leaving no trace that they were ever there: it's to keep anyone outside of ANBU knowing the jutsu they contain."

"You will, of course, answer directly to me. The police force cannot touch you without a warrant. I'll likely have a specific assignment for you within the next few days with the way things are looking; but I don't have enough detail on the matter right now. Do you have any questions?"

ANBU cape:

Temaki seemed pleased with his decision, and said she'd let him choose his own codename. She opened a drawer and slid some possessions in his direction. Seeing as how she had to open that drawer a special way, these items must have been pretty important. She said that there was an ANBU mask and armor, and the special jutsu that would burn to nothing once he used them.

Kinzoku looked over his new goods. He would add his own personal touches to them sometime later. Temaki said that he would answer directly to her, and that the authorities couldn't touch him without a warrant. Good news. Temaki also said that there was something in the works, a specific assignment, but there was more work to be done first.

"Not right now," Kinzoku answered while picking up the clothed items. "...But if I think of anything, i'll ask..."

Temaki watched as Kinzoku looked over what she had passed to him, staying silent for a moment to give him a chance to take inventory of the stock as well as ask any questions he might have had. When he said that he didn't have any, but that he would ask if he thought of anything, she nodded with another smile. "Alright, sounds good. You're more than welcome to come to my office at anytime, with any issue."

Temaki leaned back then, resting her elbows on the arms of her chair and intertwining her fingers in front of her. "I'll finish gathering the information I need for this assignment I'll need completed soon, and when I do I'll give you a call. Do you happen to have a wireless communicator? That's how I normally keep in touch with my higher ups; this way if there's an issue we can keep in contact without dely. If you have one that's how I'll contact you."

A black ops agent that handled the dirty dealings of the village from the shadows. He could think of no better position to have in the village; it seemed tailor made for him. He would have to make several personal adjustments to the cloak and the mask for his new life in ANBU, but everything she gave him would be perfect.

And already an assignment in the works... what sort of dastardly deed would the Kage have him doing? It didn't really matter. At this point in time, there wouldn't be anything that Kinzoku would refuse to do, even if it meant killing someone. He would unquestioningly follow orders.

"I have one," Kinzoku responded, pulling the communicator from his pocket, having never really needed a reason to wear one until now. He put the device into his left ear and clicked the small switch upon it to "on." there was a little static at first but this soon cleared up, being able to hear banter from some of Temaki's other people throughout the village. "I'll be on call from here on 24/7. Call anytime, i'll be ready for whatever task you have..."

With a wave behind him, Kinzoku took his new goods and exited the Rakuenkage's office...

[Exit]