There was a report of a renegade group after the Mizukage's head. It had peaked Sero's interest as he reached over to it and began to read. His pale fingers flipping the soft pages of the detail as his dead like grey eyes twitch back and forth reading every minute piece of information. It had been discovered rather recently with in the depths of the Cavern. It had been dealt with by two individuals he had recently assigned to Squads Three and Four. Isamu Maeda and Boruda Sodaina.

He closed the folder and crossed the circular office. It was designed to be a perfect circle 40 feet in Diameter. The door to the office Sat as red wood for its Sturdy nature. A Chandelier Hung in the center with candles burning. Enough to light the room but still cast its Shadows. A single lamp sat on his desk lighting the clean space and the leather chair behind it. The walls where lined by book cases in alphabetical order and Behind his desk Sat a lit fireplace. Convenient for burning things he wanted gone. A Safe was in plain view in the center of the book case to the left of the door. Only he knew what was in there. The shadows flickered across his features as his grey robes seemed to blend into him and his surroundings.

Shaking his head he turned and walked to the door at a brisk pace. He wanted to know more. A hands on experience might do him some good. Turning the handle he opened the door a crack to send Orders to go and send summons to the two Genin. It was dusk but he expected it to be done as soon as possible. He then closed the door and returned to his desk. The burn hand prints still there in the wood. Before he settled into his chair to wait and contemplate.

Isamu rushed to the kage's mansion as soon as he got the order, without even reading it first. He assumed he was in some sort of trouble, but instead was greeted with a contemplative and pensive Sero rather than an angry one as he ran into the office. He was told that Boruda would be here as well, so he took a second to think. He'd only known Boruda since the last mission he did, and piecing it together in his mind, he realized that that must've been it. He carefully walked over to a seat and sat down. He could smell something burning, and looking to his left he found a burnt handprint in the table. Maybe Sero was mad after all. He shook his head and turned his attention to the kage who was standing over him.
"So, Sero, I take it this is about the mission me and Boruda just finished? What's the problem? Has Sato got any accomplices or something?"

Thoughts of what was to come passed through the Bald Shinobi's as he walked toward the Administration building, a few minutes earlier a man had claimed the Mizukage himself wished to see him, apparently the conversation he was going to have was so important that the messenger broke into his house, and entered the bathroom while he was showering to state that the Kage required him immediately. The only possible reason he could think of for such a meeting was due to the mission the two had been on, his report stating that he killed the psychopath in self defense, hopefully his comrade hadn't sold him out...

Entering the building Boruda was immediately escorted to the Mizukage's office spotting that his Comrade had already been collected, and the Mizukage sitting in his seat, " Mizukage-San, I've come as soon as possible. Your man caught me in the middle of showering" he spoke candidly gazing over at Isamu, his suspicions at least partially confirmed.

Sero paused in his musings as the door opened with out so much as a knock. He frowned at that as his dead grey eyes watched the boy enter. he watched in silence as he studied the genin. They shared a remarkable amount of features really. The biggest difference was Isamu appeared to be more lively while the Shadows played across Sero like a dread lord. He watched the boy sit down and look around Before Sero too returned to his Desk. Settling into the chair warmed by the fire in the fireplace behind him. Those grey eyes studying the genin and listening as he spoke.

"So, Sero, I take it this is about the mission me and Boruda just finished? What's the problem? Has Sato got any accomplices or something?"

A name of the one who had been terminated. He had mixed feelings on the issue really. A small fry would have led him to anything more in seconds but these two had killed him instead. The frustration at the thought caused the fire behind him to flare out briefly but Sero let out a breath. Obviously formalities where not to be a thing here. As none of them had been recognized. The insolence was astounding but the fact that he was useful far out weighed that. He waited a moment as his middle finger tapped the desk in thought before replying.

"Our investigations have led me to believe he was not working alone. Those questioned mentioned others who had been back and forth and it appears this Sato was at the bottom of the food chain. It is a pity I did not get a chance to question him....Isn't it?"

With that another had been escorted in. A bald man older then Sero himself by some margin. Still he had manners enough to call him by his title.

Mizukage-San, I've come as soon as possible. Your man caught me in the middle of showering"

A very open statement that was enough for Sero to raise a brow. But it was a good enough excuse to be only a little late. Sero nodded for the guards to be excused and lifted a pale hand with long fingers to indicate a chair next to Isamu. Waiting for him to be seated before continuing to speak.

"Sit back and relax. I have called you both here because I have questions that demand answers. And the dead don't speak as much as I would like."

Isamu shuddered at the chilling stare that Sero had, and the grey that seemed to wrap around him like a fading shadow seeking warmth. He sat back in his chair and fiddled with a strand of his hair.

"We don't really know much, ourselves..." he started, hesistantly. The sheer power that seemed to emanate from the Mizukage was getting to him. But Isamu also realized that this man was his leader, whom he had faith in. His tone evened out and he calmed down as he finished: "We didn't really expect it to be a human at all. We thought it was bears or something, but upon searching, we found a headquarters of some sort. I managed to get the captives that were kidnapped by Sato back to the hospital, and as far as I know, they are all doing fine. There were 5 others who were killed; their bodies were mutilated beyond recognition. They were a mess of blood and organs and bone, barely having the remnants of what was once skin. I left the scene immediately to help the captives, as they were injured, and I carelessly didn't investigate the HQ further. I apologize deeply for that." Isamu was about to spout out another excuse for why he didn't search for more clues of other conspirators just after this apology, but caught himself and stayed silent, accepting the blame. He crossed his legs and continued playing with a tuft of his pure white hair, rolling the silky strands between his fingers, setting them back into place. His eyes darted to Boruda, then back to the Mizukage's cold gaze. He was already getting used to it, and found it intriguing now.

The Mizukage's stare was the stuff of legend, death seemed to have made it's home in his eyes as the cold stare penetrated the Bald Shinobi as if he was looking through him, him stating that it was a shame that the murderer hadn't gotten his due process was also quite discerning, still Boruda still agreed with what he had done in the cave, replying simply "Quite the shame." smirking as the thoughts of the cave passed through his head once again. So, it seemed the Mizukage had called the meeting to light, as apparently some of his information had led him to believe that Sato, the dead boy, was working in a larger group. The idea itself wasn't all that far-fetched.

Boruda stood silently as Sero indicated a chair next to his younger counterpart, speaking plainly "If it doesn't make any difference, I'd rather stand." clasping his hands behind his back in hopes that the Kage wouldn't take offense to him refusing a seat, who knew with this man?

As to the question, Boruda barely had the time to open his mouth before his counterpart began to speak on the situation, deciding to let the boy finish he stood in silence, staring now at Isuma instead of Sero. By the time he had finished Borduda had became fairly perturbed, not only with what he said, but also by his body language which screamed a testament to the boy's submissiveness.

Finally his eyes returned to the Mizukage, "For the most part what my comrade stated is correct. While he was tending to the hostages I was in battle with Sato, the murderer, which lead to me striking him down. An unfortunate situation...I make no excuses for the mistake of not grooming the area for any other suspicious activity after the incident." pausing to once more look over to Isuma who had just compiled a mountain of just that, excuses. Of course his gaze only lasted for moments as he returned to speaking to the Mizukage, "I am the one who killed the boy, and thus I take full responsibility for any lack of information we may have gained from him, if he were alive now." his eyes remaining set upon the Kage, readying for a possible punishment for his mistake.

Sero nodded slowly and watched the two of them. They responded much how he expected of those who had not been brought up like himself. On the outwards appearance of his child hood it had been fairly normal but he had been pulled aside and trained differently. His first time maiming some one was still on the academy grounds. He had removed the kid of skin and damaged many of his internal organs. Still with how damaging it had been he had lost a lot of his social skills with the absence of people afterwards.

Still his eyes remained like the deepest, darkest pit. Perhaps he overused the thousand yard stare but he still enjoyed the results. Yet they apologized as if he where accusing them of complete failure. He had to reduce the amount of discomfort he was causing them some how. His thoughts drifted to the Bourbon in the fancy glass jar and the table to the side far enough away from the fire to stay cool. He was still unsure why it was in there if not for decoration. Regardless he turned to Sōdaina and lifted a hand to indicate the fine drink.

"I do not blame you for such. On the contrary I encourage such lethal behavior. Please pour us each a drink. You will be wanting it for the assignment you are about to receive."

He waited till everything was settled. Smiling in that cold snake like way if drinks where poured or frowning in displeasure if the drinks where denied. Sipping his own drink one way or another just to enjoy the warm sliding sensation down his throat. Before he spoke again. This time standing while facing the fire. However he did not fully put his back to them. He was not that over confident.

"You have proven useful. Not only are you capable of discovering a villains hide out but you handled survivors and annihilated a target. While preventing a foolish child from forcing me to snap his neck. I think a score of three out of four is still passing don't you? With that in mind your squads will now be in a joint task to locate these traitors and end them. Tell Eiji I don't care if he doesn't want to. He will remember our deal."

Isamu couldn't help it. A huge smile broke out on his face. Sero knew that he was making them uncomfortable; he had softened up quite a bit all of a sudden. It was nice to know that Isamu's soft-hearted approach to things wasn't being ignored or insulted. Sero and Boruda drank, and Isamu watched them exchange glances as Sero explained...

"You have proven useful. Not only are you capable of discovering a villains hide out but you handled survivors and annihilated a target. While preventing a foolish child from forcing me to snap his neck. I think a score of three out of four is still passing don't you? With that in mind your squads will now be in a joint task to locate these traitors and end them. Tell Eiji I don't care if he doesn't want to. He will remember our deal."

Isamu's smile faded. He knew that this wouldn't be an easy task, because they had no idea how many of them there would actually be. But he wasn't afraid. He was almost excited about it. The reason his smile had disappeared was because of the grueling training he would go through soon. He knew that with his current skill level, he couldn't be an offensive ninja. This was proven in his battle with Sato. He could barely be a good supplementary ninja, as his only healing technique was his kekkei genkai. Kuremachisu, who managed to sneak his way in somehow, flew in and landed next to Isamu's hand. Looking down at Machi, Isamu decided to become stronger, not only for the sake of this task, but to be a better ninja in general. He finally reverted his attention to the Mizukage.


"When exactly would you like us to start searching?"

A mask of security dwindled over Boruda's face as he remained standing silently, awaiting for the Mizukage to dole out the punishment he was expecting. Yet, the Mizukage instead of reprimanding the two of them exposed that in fact it was quite the opposite, it seemed he would be rewarding the two, telling Boruda to pour the both of them a drink, leaving out Isamu as he was a minor. A slight smile crossed his face, before immediately fading away, the prospect of sharing a drink with the Mizukage was quite exhilarating but he still felt he needed to maintain utmost professionalism, smiling just would not do. "Certainly Mizukage-San" Boruda stated simply.

At a brisk pace Boruda quickly made his way to the alcohol, the glass bottle sat alone aside from a few glasses. His eyes idled over the container of Bourbon, it seemed as though no one had taken a drink from it, then again the Mizukage didn't seem like a casual drinker. With the proficiency of a life long alcoholic Boruda quickly took the glass of alcohol in hand judging the quality as fairly good, certainly up to his tastes. Pouring the drinks Boruda moved back toward the Mizukage's desk handing one of the two glasses to the Mizukage.

Holding the glass up to his nose he inhaled the smell of the drink remarking "A fine Bourbon Sir." tilting the drink back to his lips reveling in its soft sweet taste, obviously distilled from wheat...

Standing silently once more the Bald Shinobi held the top of his glass at waist level, watching as the Mizukage stood partially facing the fireplace, striking quite the pose, one might even suggest that someone should paint a portrait of the man while he was doing so, those thoughts were fleeting of course as the Kage spoke.

Immediately as Sero spoke of taking down this organization of traitors, a spark flashed throughout his eyes, the prospect of going on a more important mission was thrilling. Sero spoke of Eiji, a man he had yet to formally met, he only knew him from a file which was given to him whence he was selected to be on the man's squad, a man who had a love of fine Liqueur as Boruda did himself " Yes sir, I will inform my Sensei immediately." looking over toward Isamu, it appeared that they would be taking on a few more missions together.

Quickly he gazed back to the Mizukage "It has been quite the honor meeting you, Sir." And with that Boruda exited the room off to find Eiji, his new squad leader. Albeit with drink in hand, no way he was going to waste such high quality booze.


[Exit]

Sero had listened as each spoke. His own glass still hardly touched as he contemplated the point of it all. Who wanted him dead? Was it personal or was it just some one seeking power. Either way they where apparently not confident enough to actually face off with him. His hand clutched the glass in irritation at the thought as the contents rushed past boiling point. The flash of light as the liquid lit on fire brought him back to reality before he sighed and set the glass down on his desk. Empty of its contents as a single plume of smoke rose from within the glass and faded away. He turned to Isamu and nodded to his question as he indicated the door. He had no real idea of sleep schedules so he did not care for how obscene the request seemed as he spoke.

"Now would be best."

"Now would be best."

The statement was straightforward. Isamu nodded and stood up, giving the Mizukage a smile. "Okay, then, Sero. I'll go catch up to Boruda, and we'll set up something between our squads, I guess." A moment of silence, and Isamu took a few steps toward the door.

He didn't have time to train. The Mizukage could be in great danger if something wasn't done soon, of course. He hadn't even thought of that. So he contemplated, and realized that he could use their task as a time to train in itself. Yes, that's what he would do. With newfound hope, he crossed the threshold of the room and out of the building, letting Machi lead him out on tiny, excited wings.

[Exit]