Wandering Heathens

Kage Meeting

The heavy wooden chairs made loud scraping noises on the concrete floor of the Hokage Tower. Tsunade watched, with Shikaki by her side, the other two Kage who were sitting down at the large worn table. I wonder how many battle plans were discussed at this table. Did Grandfather decide to kill Madara at this very table? It's possible...

He was brought back to the present by Mei's and Gaara's voices. When they realized that he was waiting for silence, they ceased their conversation and looked towards Tsunade. "This meeting was called by Mei so I will hand over the floor to him" Tsunade said.

Mei stood and nodded his thanks at the Hokage. "It has come to my attention that our little 'friends'", he started, venom dripping at the word friends, "have a secret. I'm not sure they themselves know what it is but the Akatsuki know. Ao has done some preliminary research and has located the last known whereabouts of Konoha's traitor, Orochimari. The snake woman is holding onto valuable information, including that which could break the Akatsuki and turn this war in our favour-"

"That is all good and well but how do you know this information will cripple them?" Gaara asked from behind her fingers as her sea-foam green eyes bored into each person in the room. "What would the Ryōshi want to keep secret?" Temaru asked for his sister.

Shikaki sighed and stepped closer to Tsunade before clearing her throat. "The Ryōshi are, or were, the largest rouge-nin combat and spy network in the Nations. They switched sides during the Shinobi Wars based on who could afford their services and were instrumental in driving Madara underground. They pre-date the Hidden Villages and the First and Second Hokages used their services to advance and entrench their rule beyond their borders.

They were thought to have been killed off or died from old age except that the two who appeared at our gates several months ago were in perfect health despite being several decades old. Those two are the last remnants of a once powerful organization so it would make sense to me that they carry the Ryōshi's secrets. Once we find out what they're hiding, we can use the information to crush them" she finished, tired from her long speech and returned to her place slightly behind Tsunade.

Tsunade rapped the tabletop with his fingertips rhythmically as he pondered on what has been said so far. He didn't want a war, especially if it would involve Naruta, but he couldn't sit idly by while this threat roamed the Nations freely.

He, and Gaara, had agreed to help Mei establish a territory inside the Nations so that Kirigakure was no longer cast to the side and could play a larger role in National politics to the benefit of Konoha and Suna.

"What about the Hoshigaki clan?" Tsunade asked absentmindedly. Ao spoke for Mei: "For a price they will help us but should they succeed, they want a place in the Villages and to no longer be outcasts." Should we trust them to do the job despite having to give citizenship to such a primitive and foul clan?

"If they are successful then we will talk of citizenship. If they're not, it's no loss to Kiri or any other Village" Mei said with a bored tone. He was already tired of the invisible internal political wrangling that was being done in this room. Each Kage was trying to position themselves to reap the most benefit from this shaky alliance.

"Keep negotiating with them. In the meantime, give us the information on Orochimari's hideout. We can arrange for a spy to infiltrate her hideout and bring back the information. Once that is done, then we focus on the Ryōshi" Gaara calmly ordered. Mei nodded to Ao who approached Temaru and handed him the map with the coordinates. Temaru and Gaara nodded, stood up and left the meeting room without a word to anyone else.

"Shikaki. I want you to go over the Records and determine what tactics, Justus and weapons they used and to come up with a battle plan for when we encounter them again. Send Kakashi and Yamata to me when you see them." The Nara nodded and walked out of the room, hands in her pockets and a sigh leaving her throat at the thought of a perfectly wasted sunny afternoon.

Nodding to each other, Tsunade and Mei left the room, Ao following closely behind her Kage. "I will need to go back to Kiri soon so I leave our operations in Konoha to you" Mei said quietly to Ao. She nodded and gave his hand a comforting squeeze, walking to his chambers to help him pack.

Kakuza sighed wearily as the skyline of Ame came into view. It had been a hard journey made over several days and had cost her a pretty penny when Orochimari demanded extra payments due to the "emergency nature" of her visit. She was walking down the worn path that lead into Ame when a blur of red, black and orange appeared in front of her.

"HALT! STATE YOUR BUSINESS!" Tobi screamed at her while brandishing a branch from a tree. "It's me you idiot" Kakuza snarled and Tobi drew her branch back. Stepping out of the bushes that lined the road, Ryuu facepalmed himself as he approached Tobi. "Tobi! You're not supposed to challenge everyone you see! You're supposed to observe! That's the function of a spy!" He lectured her, standing over her with a hand on his hip and waggling a finger in her face.

"Tobi is sorry Senpai! Tobi will try harder!" She wailed and flailed her arms. Kakuza pinched the bridge of her nose to ward off a headache and gripped her briefcase tightly. "Let me pass and you won't get hurt" she said. "TOBI WON'T LET YOU HURT RYUU-KUN!" The masked woman screamed and dashed over to Kakuza who simply smacked her away with the briefcase, sending her flying into a ditch and clouds of dust obscured where she landed. She glared at Ryuu who simply motioned for her to pass. "Give my love to Shinjo" he called to her in a singsong tone which made Kakuza blush behind her mask. Growling, she resumed her course into Ame.

Kneeling down at the side of the ditch, Ryuu looked at Obita who was laying on her back with her mask askew, exposing her empty eye socket and her lips. "I don't think Tobi is a good choice for these "missions" you want to complete" he said to her. Groaning, she sat up and tried to fix her mask but before she could, Ryuu had helped her to her feet and planted a kiss on her lips. Obita pushed him away playfully and fixed her mask, saying "I don't think she is either but they expect me to be an idiot. Once my plan comes to fruition they will all tremble in fear of Obita!" She declared. Looking confused, Ryuu asked "what plan?"