A couple of weeks had been granted as vacation to the new chunins, who had just completed their exams. The exams were notoriously tough this year, and that was in part because A, the Raikage, had created the exams this year. As known, all the exams were different and most of the time the difficulty was dependent on the curator and manager. So, it made sense that, when a kage of all people creates the exams, the exams were going to be difficult. Perhaps that was a foreshadowing of the events that were going to unfold in the progress of the career of these chunin. It was not a secret, after all, that relationships between the villages had been on edge. They had been on edge ever since the Kumo-Konohagakure Alliance crumbled to nothing more than a piece of paper in a file cabinet somewhere. It didn't help, either, that A was extremely xenophobic of other villages, and would rather not work with them. For that reason it had been over ten years since a kage summit was held - there had been little reason to hold one, and it seemed that all the other kages shared the views of A, and were not interested in working together.
It seemed also that skirmishes were beginning to get more frequent - there were numerous reports of Kumogakure shinobi clashing with Kirigakure and Iwagakure shinobi from time to time, and Sunagakure had more than once encroached on Kumogakure territory, stealing valuable resources from right under their nose. That was not to say that Kumogakure never instigated violence and conflict, but that was rather left unsaid, and treated with careful wording to make sure it was understood that Kumogakure was always justified to take these steps.
However, now the vacation for the fresh chunin was over, and that meant they'd be called into service again. The jonins that were supposed to lead the new teams of chunins had been alerted to it a long time ago, before the chunin exams even took place - and as such it came as no surprise that day that they were called into the office. What A had to tell them, however, was a different story. A was famous in Kumogakure, and not just for her prowess in battle, but also her short temper and furious talking.
Early in the morning, A's assistant had been sent out. She was a traditionally dressed woman who was hired more for her organizational skills and her relatively calm personality when compared to the Raikage, A. She left as early as 8AM, a time where the Raikage and her staff would regularly not even be in the office yet. Her first visit would be to Minaru Gazo, who was somewhat of a name within Kumogakure. His position as a youthful jonin not only made him known, it also made him a prime target for the Raikage, to show Minaru that he wasn't a big shot like he thought just because he was young. Never the less, he was strong, but in the Raikage's eyes, that's not what constituted a good jonin. And she was sure to remind him of that, every chance she got.
The assistant, named Otsumi, knocked on his door twice, waiting for a brief moment before knocking once more. “Good morning Minaru!” she said, her sharp voice surely reaching inside his house. Without waiting for him to open the door - waiting for stuff like that would surely lower her efficiency - she opened the door for him and barged inside. “Your time to shine has arrived, mister Gold.” She walked up to his living room and folded her hands over each other in front of her body, looking around with a judging look. For what it was worth, she was sure she could tidy up his house a fair share more than he did.. seemed to do.. did he do anything at all to this place? Jack shit, it looked like. “To-to-to-to..” she said to herself, a tic she had whenever she was waiting, wasting time. “Well, whatever. Minaru, you're expected at the office in thirty minutes. I'll go get the other two jonin now! Until then!” And with all that said and done she turned around and left the house again, heading for her next target. A's son, Hageshī Nakamura.
It still felt a bit strange to repeat his surname to herself, since she was used to calling the Raikage 'A' and not by her real name. Oh well. Otsumi reached the house after a little bit of travel time. Luckily he didn't live too far from the office, unlike Sutemasu. She contemplated knocking on the door, but saw an open window above the door and decided that'd be far more efficient than knocking and waiting for him to answer. And given her closeness to his mother, she thought it'd probably be okay if she just barged in like that. Not that she cared when she barged into Minaru's home. “Wake up!” she said loudly when she jumped up into the window, standing in the window-sill of his room, apparently. She nonchalantly leaned against the wooden frame of the window while she stood there, giving off the air that she totally was in control of what she did. “Your mom wants to see you, so get your ass up and dressed. Make sure to wear something nice! She's the raikage after all. To-to-to-to-to, cya!” Another target down. It felt like this was a breeze, after all! She jumped backwards and landed on the streets below, casually continuing on her way after disrespecting yet another person's privacy.
The last target on the list was Sutemasu - a woman that Otsumi didn't know much about given Sutemasu was not a very important figure, nor a big name for most of the Kumogakure shinobi. Never the less, she was a jonin and was pointed out to lead a team, so who was Otsumi to question that. Sutemasu lived further away than the other two shinobi, so it was a bit of a chore to get her. After ten minutes of walking she finally arrived at the free-standing house complete with garden and low stone walls. “Ooh. Looks nice.” she mumbled to herself when she walked up to the door, ringing the doorbell.
Within two seconds, Sutemasu already opened the door. She caught Otsumi looking around like a child, since she seemed to not be expecting Sutemasu to answer so quickly. “Aaa.. Otsumi? Can I help you?” Otsumi reacted with a quick jerk of the head, trying to hide that she was gawking at the house. “Oh! Sutemasu! I was just.. looking at the birds. Yes, the birds. Nice day today, isn't it? A wants you to come see her! It's um, about the teams. Yes, the teams. That's why I was here. I'll go see to the meeting now, I'll see you in thirty minutes!” She turned around and hurried away, leaving Sutemasu wondering what was up with this woman. “U-uh, okay Otsumi! See you there!” she said with her typical lightweight girlish voice as she waved Otsumi off. It seemed to largely go unnoticed.
Thirty minutes later, the three jonin had been assembled within the raikages' office. Overlooking the village, it had a nice view if anything. A, the raikage, was sitting on the rather comfy couch that A, the previous raikage, had brought in. A coffeetable was sat in front of it where three envelopes laid. The raikage simply sat there looking at the three jonin for a minute, trying to intimidate them a bit before she stared the meeting. Finally she sat up a bit more, leaning forward and exposing her rather large bosom.
“A, the Raikage, famed for her prowess in battle and stunning looks.”
“YO! Thanks for showing up!” She immediately bursted out with her rather powerful, imposing voice. Like her kekkei genkai, it seemed that if she yelled loud enough she could crack walls - and bones - with merely her voice. “Today you're getting your teams! But.. you already knew that. Yes, so, I have other news too! You'll be going on a mission immediately. Together! With all your teams. Isn't that exciting!?” She leaned forwards a bit and shoved the envelopes forwards, having marked them with the names of the jonin. “Here's your teams. Enjoy!” She prompted the jonin to grab their respective envelopes and open them, revealing a card with the names of their teams.
Once they were done reading the team lists, she'd make sure to instruct them on the mission. “YO! Now that you're done reading all that, I'll explain the mission. You'll be destructing a metal refinery in Kirigakure. It's on one of their smaller islands, and they've been using it to refine metals for their weaponry.” She coughed, and covered her mouth with a fist, closing her eyes slightly. To the left of her, the jonin would notice the assistant, Otsumi, flinch in preparation for what was about to come.
“METAL THEY STOLE FROM KUMOGAKURE!” She burst out suddenly and smashed her hand against the wooden coffeetable in front of her, breaking it in two, and then proceeding to crack the ground under the table with sheer force of a simple fist-stomp. The entire building shook momentarily before it calmed again, and A slowly retracted her arm from the table. She coughed again and then looked up at the three jonin. “Sorry about that. Just make sure the entire plant is nothing more than ashes once you're done. And don't leave any traces that can lead back to Kumogakure!”
She clapped her hands, indicating that the meeting would be over, not even giving the jonins a chance to ask questions. They were to leave the room and then do as they pleased, though they were expected to leave before 12AM. It would be wise to gather the teams and meet up later before heading out given they'd all be attending the same mission.
