"Very well." The older woman replied to Jun, her eyes shut as she spoke kindly, though the hint of annoyance was there, "Our village is home to a clan of beast warriors like yourself... though I fear their partners are a tad bit more... domesticated. We would all appreciate if you kept the mayhem to a minimum."<br/><br/>Maki bowed, "Thank you."<br/><br/>The woman turned to Tashi, her eyes still closed and her brow furrowing, "Most outsiders are not granted audience with the Hokage as readily as this. I should hope you do not sleep through what he has to say."<br/><br/>The door opened and out came a young girl running. Her hair braided in loops by her ears and her bangs loose and wild, she nearly bolted out of the building entirely before stopping, abruptly. She looked at Jun and Tashi and licked her lips. From within the office, a white-haired man came out, dressed in a breastplate and ninja attire. Fresh from the field it appeared, he called out to the girl, "Go along now. Get yourself some ramen, Imouto."<br/><br/>She nodded and left them alone, while the white-haired man drew the sliding door back, "Sorry to keep you waiting." He said, closing his eyes and smiling.<br/><br/>Within, the Hokage was sitting cross-legged behind a small table set with scrolls and quills. He was dressed in his robes, red and white, though his cap was hung by the door. The man was about as old as the lady that greeted them outside his office. Still, about twenty years Maki's senior he could still be considered attractive, with brown spiky hair and sharp triangular beard. The skinny man was smoking a pipe as Maki splayed the scroll out before him on the ground and sat on her knees, hands resting curtly atop her thighs.<br/><br/>"Lord Hokage, I bear a message from the Village Hidden in the Valley."<br/><br/>He looked over the scroll, his eyes scanning from top to bottom before he switched the pipe to the other side of his mouth. Also in the room were two men as old as he was, a raven-haired man with a cross-shaped scar and a frowning brown-haired man in glasses. The latter wore grey robes like the woman and the former wore black. The dark one was first to speak, "Tanigakure has been attacked?"<br/><br/>Maki nodded as the woman brought some tea for Tashi and assumed her place beside the two men. The white-haired man also remained in the room, quietly looming out of the limelight.<br/><br/>"By Sunagakure, no doubt." The scarred ninja said to the man beside him, "Daimyo Mitsuo sent them here to cement an alliance."<br/><br/>The Hokage remained silent as the other man spoke, "With what? However prosperous the Rivers may be, the Land of Fire is more vast and rich as well."  Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted them, looking the delegation from Tanigakure dead in the eyes, "You're sure he is from Sunagakure?"<br/><br/>"Who else could it be?" The man in glasses asked, with the woman replying, "Someone trying to a start a war."<br/><br/>"You have to be a fool to think Konoha would shed blood for such a petty village as Tanigakure." The scarred man bitterly remarked. The Hokage went quiet again, and it appeared as if Maki was afraid to interject- though her passions were starting to flare, "Danzō." The Hokage said at last, "Bring me the white scroll."<br/><br/>The scarred man was quiet for a long time, and then nodded. The Hokage turned to the woman in the bun, "Do you know them yet?"<br/><br/>"She calls herself Maki. Tanigakure's technician goes by that name, an expert in forbidden and hidden techniques. That one's a member of the Watanabe clan- her wolf is outside. And that one is a Mibu." She replied, opening her eyes as she relayed the information, "So they have come to offer us... jutsu or bloodlines."<br/><br/>More tea was served, for all of them. The Hokage himself spent a long time smoking his pipe before saying, "Konoha dogs have enough wolf in them. And the Mibu clan cannot rival the Uchiha or Hyuuga. That leaves only you, Maki." This was a hard man. Tashi had heard much about him from his time in close proximity with his Daimyo, who had always berated Hiruzen Sarutobi as being too soft and gentle. If this was soft, then what was truly hard? Perhaps his famed kindness only extended to the members of his own village. In that regard, Hiruzen and Mitsuo differed- the Daimyo was all too willing to spend lives in purchase of some other advantage.<br/><br/>The scarred man returned, handing the scroll to the Hokage, "There is a word forbidden to my generation here." Hiruzen said, "When the village was founded, Tōka Senju cast a permanent genjutsu on the children who would go on to inherit Konoha. Do you know what that word is?" The white-haired man looked confused, turning to the middle-aged shinobi with curiosity.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>In the village of sand, Chiyo was rummaging through a dark room full of crates and wooden dolls. Pieces of wooden machinery were strewn about the place. The woman turned around, sensing the presence of the Kazekage. She relaxed as the handsome man said, "You haven't left yet?"<br/><br/>"Soon, Lord Kazekage. I must be well-prepared if I'm going to do this."<br/><br/>He nodded and she went back to work digging through the warehouse, "I've been thinking..." he said, "This man who attacked Tanigakure. He's trying to frame us." "Most likely." She replied.<br/><br/>There was a long pause, "We need to have another war." The Kazekage had finally said, "The deserts cannot sustain us forever."<br/><br/>"No, Lord Kazekage." Chiyo replied, "No they cannot." She produced a small white scroll from a dusty old chest and secreted it into the sleeve of her ninja suit. She turned around and said, "I'm done."<br/><br/>"Not quite." He said, striding towards the older woman and taking her hand in his own. When he retracted his fingers, she found a small figurine in her palm. It was a little clay likeness of Chiyo, made from sand and water and chakra, "So it's come to this." He said, "My father's dying wish was for Aimi to be seen as precious to this village... I asked the village to forgive her. I created the iron sand so that she wouldn't feel like a freak, or alone... I had even charged the village's greatest kunoichi, the puppet master Chiyo to instruct her in the ninja arts. But it wasn't enough, was it?"<br/><br/>"You were right to let her go, Lord Kazekage." Chiyo replied, her face emotionless, "She killed people, whether she meant to or no."<br/><br/>He nodded, idly stroking a wooden machine in the shape of a horned man draped in tan rags, "All my life, I have been forced to put aside my personal desires for the sake of the village... At times, Chiyo, I feel like I am one of these puppets..." He turned his gaze upon her, "If someone wants to drag us into another... I see no reason not to let them."