The morning was not getting off to a good start. After all, how could it? It had been a few days since the incident, but finally the murder of the North side of the Kato clan out in the village hidden in the gale. It was a village that he had to admit he pitied, innocent apart from the sad fact that they had been the site of a murder. A horrible murder where ten of the most skilled Kato clan minds had been taken out of the picture in a single fiery blast. It hadn't been easy identifying the bodies, but eventually they had managed to find out that it had belonged to members of the Kato clan. The only one who hadn't died in the fire had been Tomoya Kato, who had apparently been out of town fighting Bandits at the time. That left only one thought in mind.... this had been a deliberate targeted attack, done by someone highly powerful with worrying skill. More importantly, why would they have killed the clan? there was currently no evidence to point it at another village, and when the ambassadors had asked the village elders who had used the building that day, they had not answered. This meant that they either knew nothing and were ashamed at this block in this information network... or they knew who it was and they had to protect them. He had no idea who in the world was both powerful and able to swing a lot of influence like that, but.... whoever it was, he had to hope they didn't see Sunagakure as an enemy or there was going to be a bloody war. However, more important for the moment, was the duty that Anshin now carried. He had to be the bearer of the news to the head of the clan, one Ray Kato.

Knocking on the front door of the main building in the Kato complex, he waited patiently for an answer. He was wearing his smartest uniform, and a small smile. He had taught Ray back in the academy, so they knew each other pretty well. Unfortunate, thus, that he was going to have to be the one to tell him that his family were dead. It was an utter crime of humanity that anyone would have to go through something like this. If Tomoya didn't manage to find a wife, there would be no next generation of the north side of the clan.

Ray sat brooding in his office, his eyebrows scrunched up as they did when he was worried. Sources had told him that now the village had found out about the murder, and they would be sending him to investigate the area in some time. And he still had to finish Tomoya's acceptance, and a few other things that he couldn't delegate to his subordinates. Oh, what a drag the life of a leader was.

His mind drifted off to the work that had been performed. He hadn't expected in the slightest that Tomoya would do something like this for Ray. Agreed, that the north side were a burden, and hated Tomoya, but to kill them was something that Ray couldn't bring himself to do. Sure, he had manipulated half of his clan, but yes, Tomoya deserved respect throughout the clan. That is why Ray was going to make him the de facto leader, a person with the same amount of influence and power in the clan as Ray had. Obviously, Ray would still be the head, but Tomoya would be his right handed man.

His keen ears picked up a sound, the sound of one knocking on the main door of the entire complex. Sighing to himself, he jumped out of the office window, free-falling for some time before landing on a roof and sprinting off towards the door. He somehow had a feeling that it was a man who had come to ask him about the murder. Ready to act, Ray opened the door, only to find a familiar person.

"A...Anshin sensei! Nice to see you here. Please, come in, and accept my hospitality". Ray motioned for the maids to bring some refreshments for the teacher who had taught him when he was at the Academy. "What brings you here, Sensei?"

As the door was opened, Anshin smiled gently as he saw Ray again. He looked like he was getting on well, but he had probably known about the murder by now. He raised an eyebrow as he saw maids. MAIDS? What fucking clan had maids? Hell, he was the brother of the Kazekage and he didn't have maids. The Kazekage herself didn't have butlers either. This guy was from a weird family. Still, not like he was going to mention it. Ray asked what he was going to be here for, and he replied softly
"I'm.. sure you know, Ray." He said quietly, before slipping his shoes off. He remembered that a lot of clans felt particular about people wearing shoes indoors. He knew they thought of it as rude although he didn't know well. Oh well, just silly people with silly beliefs he guessed. His pauldroned cloak stayed on as he continued through the house. He never took this thing off whilst on official business. It doubled as sand-protection so he didn't even need to take it off in the desert.

Clearing his throat, he started to talk.
"Ray-kun.... I'm sorry, I know it must be hard right now, especially with the only survivor of that section of your clan always away on business, risking his life for the village, but I need to ask you a few questions about the murder of the north side of the Kato clan. I'm acting as a representative of my sister, the Kazekage. You don't mind, do you? I'd have sent a message ahead, but these are supposed to be spur of the moment things so you don't try and come up with alibis." He said, before correcting himself "Not that I think you have anything to do with it, in fact we think it was someone from Ikegakure village, it's just a formality"

"I'm.. sure you know, Ray."

Ray closed his eyes. He knew all about it. And that was the exact reason why he was trying to keep it all mum. He watched on as Anshin removed his shoes, an unnecessary thing to do, as Ray still had his shoes on. Paying no heed, Ray took a sip of his cold lemonade, waiting for Anshin Sensei to speak.


"Ray-kun.... I'm sorry, I know it must be hard right now, especially with the only survivor of that section of your clan always away on business, risking his life for the village, but I need to ask you a few questions about the murder of the north side of the Kato clan. I'm acting as a representative of my sister, the Kazekage. You don't mind, do you? I'd have sent a message ahead, but these are supposed to be spur of the moment things so you don't try and come up with alibis."

"Not that I think you have anything to do with it, in fact we think it was someone from Ikegakure village, it's just a formality"

Ray sighed and nodded. He knew this whole procedure. As predicted, he would be a prime suspect. After all, he had been notorious in the academy for manipulating people against their wills, and causing them to turn on each other. And then there was Tomoya. Ray had himself created a fake schedule for Tomoya so it would seem like he was gone forever.

"Sensei, I never knew you were a Kuroka. That is some news. And yes, I do understand. After all, the head would have to be a suspect, wouldn't he? Especially with my record. As for Tomoya, I'm glad that he wasn't there, that he is now safe. He is very useful for this clan. Please, do begin your questions."

Nodding, Anshin appreciated his ex-student's courteous nature in this business. He smiled slightly, and continued on with what he was going to say.
"Well... Currently we know that Tomoya had nothing to do with the murder, after all he was in another village at the time, fighting marauders under explicit orders from the village council. But, that doesn't exclude you. You weren't seen anywhere the day of the murders, but that's also crazy... it can't have been you because of these files that we found, miraculously saved from the fireball." He pulled two pieces of paper out of his pocket. Of course, these were only copies, but they were the distilled information they had. The first one was a map of the Kazekage's office, with spots that looked like it was showing positions that would be best to launch attacks from, and another that was just like the first, only focusing around Ray's own office.

"These two were saved from the fire. The first one shows that members of your clan were trying to start a coup d'etat against the Kazekage, marking your clan as traitorous. Right now we don't know how many members of your clan were involved with this, but every single member that is proven to be involved with this plot is going to be executed . This is unforgivable, not only as it's a crime to plot murder like this, but also because it would cause a civil war if it were actually to happen. However, the most interesting one is here." He passed over the one about Ray's office

"I have reason to believe that the Kazekage wasn't the only one in the firing line for the clan's ambitions... this seems like it's suggesting that you were also going to be taken out of the way permanently. Have you heard anything about this before, or have you had any attempts on your life already?"