When the knock on the door came Hisoka didn't look up from the paper before him. With a certain grace he finished his signature while calling: "Come in." to the door before him. He placed the paper to his right where a considerable amount of sheets had formed a considerable tall tower. "Please sit down." He said before Kiyomi had good and well entered the room. He gestured to his right.
Walking into the Hokage Office, Kiyomi bowed before she moved to the right of Hisoka. Eying the paperwork, she decided to report in first. ''The mission was a success. I have seen some promising work from the genin, Hayate. Leo Hasewaga sadly wasn't there to help to subdue the animal, but both are now ordered to meet up with Team Nimatsu.'' Kiyomi's green eyes glanced to the paperwork. She had a bad feeling about it. ''But is there something you wish from me, Lord Hokage-sama?'' Kiyomi asked.
The Hokage added another paper to the pile before looking up and nodding. "Good work. I'm sure Kensuke will be delighted with some more people to drill into the art of swordmanship." He said in a slightly joking way. He leaned back in his chair and observed his apprentice. "Yes." He replied simply to her question. "You are aware that your duties to your team are only a small part of your duties as Hokage Apprentice. The other part is way less glamorous, but is something you will have to deal with. These duties will take up the rest of your day. I take it that that is not a problem." Before Lilia could answer Hisoka continued talking and placed his hand on the pile of paper.. "These here are mission reports. You know them, of course. You fill them out yourself. 3 months worth of missions that need to be reviewed and filed according to type of mission and the name of the shinobi. As Hokage I need to be aware what my subordinates are doing and check if nothing is going wrong. So we are going to read these and file them correctly."
At first Kiyomi felt the need to sigh, but she didn't. Understanding that this was required of her, she simply nodded. ''I will do my best, Hokage-sama.'' Kiyomi said as she looked at the pile of paper work. It would likely take the whole day. If not three! It was something that she already disliked, but the importance was outweighted the boredom and dislike she already harbored for the paperwork. ''Ready when you are, Hisoka-sama.'' Kiyomi said, already trying to pay attention to what report they would first read together.
Hisoka shove the pile towards Kiyomi as he took out another package from his drawer. "Go ahead. You'll read by yourself. If you think you see anything that is strange, speak up." He gave her a look. "Understand thus that I am trusting you here with this reading. I will not read those myself. It is up to your judgement. Your decisions on what to notice and what to skip can make a huge difference. So read carefully."
Nodding, she searched for a chair and then moved it to the desk to sit down next to Hisoka. The pressure that was placed on her shoulders was something that bothered her at first. She didn't want to make any mistake, but Hisoka wouldn't let her do this if he had no trust or faith in her. Picking the first report, she began to read. It was about a team that had helped to rebuild a fence. A team of starting genins. That was a fairly easy one. That was thus a D ranked mission. Nothing strange. Still Kiyomi read what was reported. One of the students had actually broken a part of the fence, which made Kiyomi almost giggle. But knowing she had to be serious, she filled it in as a D ranked mission and filled that it was a success. Turning to Hisoka, she presented him the paper. ''Like this, Hisoka-sama?'' Kiyomi asked.
Hisoka shot a brief glance over the paper. "Seems about right. For now you can sort them in piles according to mission rank. Later we will put them away in the right folders according to the shinobi's name." He handed the paper back to her before returning to his own. Kiyomi smiled as she nodded again and focused on her task. For a half hour, it went quite well. Mostly C ranked missions and no abherent or weird things. Sometimes Kiyomi had the urge to read something out loud that she found funny or interesting, but she knew that it would waste Hisoka's time. He wasn't here with her to discuss something or make fun. It was something serious.
Then she read something strange. ''Since when is it a mission to capture a shinobi from a country that isn't on hostile ground with us?'' Kiyomi slowly asked as she continued to read. An ANBU team was set to reinforce the border patrols, but a secondary mission was added for one member. To see if it was possible to capture a shinobi of the Wind country.
Frowning the Hokage lowered his own page and rubbed his eyes, trying to think which mission that could be. He had given so many lately. Had there been one like that? "Who's team is it from?" He asked Kiyomi. "Who did they capture?" The question was directly answered as Kiyomi didn't even need to look at the paper. ''An ANBU Team, under leadership of Harumi Uchiha. Capturing a shinobi from Sunagakure.'' Kiyomi glanced back at the paper. She was thinking why Hisoka had given such a mission. To be aware what the Sand was doing? To get some intel on something else? What was the aim to order such a mission? Already, Kiyomi could decipher that if the mission had gone wrong that it would had have some serious consquences. It was a heavy transaggression from Konohagakure to commit such an action. Aware of the relation that was between Konohagakure and Sunagakure, Kiyomi still hoped he would answer her question.
Harumi. Again Hisoka paused a second at that name. He should really... have a talk with her. A sigh escaped his lips. "Since when do we order missions like that? Since ever. We are a big country with many enemies who will not blink when doing the same thing. I cannot be unaware of what is going on behind our borders which is why I send Harumi to check it out for me. You have a problem with that?" He asked the girl before him, genuinely interested in the answer.
''No, I understand the reasons.'' Kiyomi said back without even needing to think about it. She glanced at the paper. ''I have been thinking after the talk you and Mata-sama had. Sometimes you will need to do something that people might condemn to be low and dirty. But we, shinobi, shouldn't have honor that high, should we?'' Kiyomi asked, thought it wasn't a really serious question. She was well aware that honor was very nice, but it could get you killed. Certainly in this field of work. ''I would suspect sending spies in order to harvest intel about the other villages and try to remain aware of what they are doing in such a manner. But I can see the advantages of this manner as well.'' A smirk crept on her lips as she shot a glance in his direction. ''The only problem I have is that if its ever found out that people will somehow complain about it. It seems many keep forgetting that shinobi don't fight on fair terms, do they now?'' She said as she wanted to mark the patrol mission as a B ranked, while pondering on the capturing part. That was either A ranked, but due the risks and the consquences, she considered it rather S ranked.
"Someone once said to me that while samurai gladly throw their lives on the line for what they believe in and uphold their honor all the time, shinobi do even more for their country or lord. They throw away their honor in favor of the cause. They strip themselves of their pride and hide in the shadows while the samurai fight and die with glory. We are not out to seek fame or acknowlidgement. People indeed seem to forget that. And if they want to complain, let them. People will always find something to complain about. The world is never perfect for anyone." HIsoka spoke. There lay no fame in killing someone as a ninja, he had realised that long ago. And he had thrown out the notions about honor and pride too, a long time ago. That was what leaving one's village meant.
''I know.'' She said, before writting and placing the paper where it should be. Kiyomi continued as she didn't find anything interesting or that was standing out. While she read and marked the reports, she forgot the time and after finishing a report, she decided to quickly glance outside. Not sure how late it was, she was very sure that the sun hadn't been that low. While the pile had shrunken quite, there was still a lot that needed to be done. Thinking, Kiyomi snapped her fingers as she proposed something. ''May I make two shadow clones to speed up the process? That way it will go faster as two can read and mark the reports and documents and one organize it!'' Kiyomi suggested.
"Sure." Hisoka replied. He shove his chair back and got up, stretching his back and cracking his neck. He paced back and forth a couple of times before halting before the window and looking out over the city. He rubbed his eyes again, feeling a headache coming up. "How is your training coming along?" He asked suddenly without turning back to the working girl.
Kiyomi heard the question as she had made two shadow clones. With a shadow clone, she went through the papers, read them and then marked them. The other shadow clone organized the piles as Hisoka had said he wished to do afterwards. But the question caught the attention of the orginal Kiyomi who briefly looked up. Her green eyes looked around the Office. ''I am making some progress. The Blue Fire is something I am starting to become better at. Same as sharing some of Mata-sama's chakra. I learned that its almost a second nature of the Bijuu to share their chakra. However,'' Kiyomi paused as she seemed to be a bit disappointed about the next point she would bring up. ''Even while my body is capable of holding the massive chakra amount, I can't fully control Mata-sama's chakra alone. I.. can summon outside of me, but the fact is that it won't be the full deal. Its actually similiar to a shadow clone. Not as strong as he could be.'' Kiyomi finished, but she wanted to say something else at the end. Instead of strong, she wished to say 'free', but she knew better. Hisoka wouldn't like to hear that she desired to give Matatabi more freedom while she was part of Konohagakure.
"I see. You'll have to show me during our next training session. Also I don't want you to try and use the full strength of the Bijuu on your own, or within the city. I understand that your bond with the beast is good, I have experienced it, but we don't know the consequenses might... things escalate." Hisoka turned back to Kiyomi and looked with mild interest how the Shadow clones were running around. Even with those to help her Kiyomi would be stuck with this task for a while. It was a lot of work. He opened his mouth to ask another question when an ANBU appeared in the room, kneeled with his head down. Hisoka frowned. The masked head of the ninja turned to Kiyomi for a moment as if he was waiting for the girl to leave, but the Hokage mentioned that he should go ahead.
"Lord Hokage, we have received a message that bandits have been raiding a village near the border with the land of Lightning. They ask for assistance."
Hisoka shot a look to Kiyomi, his eyes serious. "Go ahead," he said to her, "What would you do?"
That Hisoka wished to see what she could do already with the Blue Fire made her only smile. His interest in it was something she felt proud off. After all, it was the Hokage that took an interest in what she was trying to develop. Or developing from Matatabi's chakra. When an ANBU appeared, Kiyomi glanced at the man and felt the need to leave. Only to notice that Hisoka asked what she would do. Thinking about what she knew, Kiyomi knew that there was some kind of good relation between Kumogakure and Konohagakure. The two had aided each other in the past wars and conflicts. ''Depends. If the village is under our mantle, we need to act right away. If its not the case, I would be less inclined to help. I can recall we have some good bonds with the Land of Lightning, but to rush to their side is a bit too much. We're aren't allied at the moment.'' Kiyomi said. Thinking further, she then formed her answer.
''I would assemble a group of around some chuunins and only be led by a jounin. If it are only bandits, then a group of ten chuunins would be more than enough to clear them out and restore the peace. Maybe even help to repair the damage and such.'' Kiyomi said. ''We have the manpower to spare, so it could be something that would benefit the relation between the Fire and Lightning country. Maybe something that can be used to in a meeting or when discussing a treaty with the people of the Lightning country?''
The ANBU had barely looked at the little girl as she spoke. His mask remained pointed at the Hokage. He had the final say in things after all and the ANBU wasn't inclined to listen to anyone else's orders. Hisoka, however, nodded slowly at Kiyomi's words before turning to the ANBU. "Any report of how many?" He asked.
"An average amount. About 15." The ANBU replied curtly.
Hisoka was silent for a moment, thinking, staring to the shadows in the room. "We'll dispatch a team of 10 Chuunin then, as suggested. They are to drive the bandits away and help with repairs in the city. The protection of the people of the village will have main priority. Please inform my assistant of my words."
Without more words the ANBU nodded and disappeared in a flash. Hisoka said down on his chair again. "And now back to paperwork." He said to Kiyomi with a slight twinkle in his eyes.
At first she wasn't sure if her answer had been one that Hisoka found pleasing or approved off. But when he ordered that a team of ten chuunin had to be dispatched, she felt no worry about it. Wïth the ANBU disappearing in a flash and Hisoka saying that she should go back to the paperwork, Kiyomi nodded. Together with her two shadow clones, she continued her work. But a question still lingered in her mind. And after fifteen minutes, she couldn't hold it anymore. Glancing in the direction of Hisoka, Kyiomi decided to ask the question. ''What did you think of my response?'' She asked.
"Quick." Hisoka replied, seemingly not very surprised by the question. "You judged the amount of Chuunin and their jobs before you asked the ANBU how many enemies there were. We might have a lot of manpower, but we don't want to waste it." His tone wasn't accusing. "There is nothing wrong with questioning the man who comes to tell you something. You can't know everything that is going on and you can't for a decision based on things you don't know. So don't forget to question." He looked up from his own work after a moment of silence. "How does it feel to be the one not going out there?" He asked.
''A bit weird.'' Kiyomi seemed to focus on her work as she gave the short reply. She sighed and flashed a smile in his direction. ''I am so used to being in the field. The one that is there to help others. But I already noticed with leading the Guardians, that a leader isn't always in the field. A leader should be the one that takes the decisions. If I would head there myself, it would mean somebody else would lead in my place.'' Kiyomi said, turning her head back to look at the document she was holding. ''I think that will be kind of hard for me. To stay here while others risk their lives, because I ordered them..'' Kiyomi continued to read the document and rated it as a B ranked mission. It was about escorting a wealthy merchant that was afraid of getting robbed. The money he had paid for to be escorted by shinobi was something Kiyomi found a bit too much, but she wouldn't complain. After all, it already had happened and the mission had been a success.
"If you have faith in their capabilities then there is nothing to worry about." Hisoka said. "As leader you put as much trust in your subordinates as they put in you." He filed something S and put it away in one of the drawers near him. He was going to have to remember that one. "But yes it is hard sometimes."
''Its even harder, because Gramps Jin-Jin told me that the Hokage is like the shield. I realize that it won't be literally, but if one would be a shield, it mean to protect something. Thus being there to actually protect a person.'' Kiyomi said. She briefly glanced out of the window that provided a view over Konohagakure. ''Its a bit hard to believe that one can be a shield while staying here.'' Kiyomi said, thinking back to the lessons and teachings of Jinkama. It made all sense, but at times like this she was wondering if she fully understood the meaning of his lessons.
"One can protect a person in many ways." Hisoka said. "By sending out the right people you can often accomplish more then by going out yourself and thus you protect more then what you could have done on your own. No one said that being a shield was fun and easy."
''I know and never imagined it would be easy nor fun.'' Kiyomi replied. She started to focus again on the report, but kept something in mind. She had taken a decision too fast without asking about the details of the situation or what the intel was regarding the situation. Making a mental note that she should try to do that more often, Kiyomi marked something C ranked. A team of genin helping to guard a village. After giving it to the shadow clone who organized the papers, Kiyomi took a new one from the pile.
