”And so after these several months of my secretive actions now over,” the Kazekage began after a pause, "I've come back with renewed determination to see our village rise beyond its current state. When last I saw Suna, I was worried for her. Coming back from beating down a threat to her, there is only one way for her to go: forward."

A part of Joan wondered if the Kazekage had written this speech out beforehand, before she shook her head and banished the thought. There was almost no doubt that there had been some major planning going into the preparing of this speech, especially with the fragile peace over Suna on the line. Every word must have been brainstormed over and over to reveal enough to sate the population's curiosity, while hiding enough so the population didn't rise up.

"It is true that this village has seen better days. It has also seen worse. Still we stand here today. While even threats rise against us today, another one falls beneath us like the sand we trod. In my latest movements, I witnessed the state of other nations and their growth. All I saw was quantity. But what I see here, now, standing before my eyes is quality.  The other villages live through times of plenty, but we have been fighting for what we have since day one. None can compare to our training regiment as we have grown to thrive in a desert. Nature itself works against us out in this harsh, dry land. That is what separates us from all the rest. We our bred into a finer quality of men and women than any other village in the world could hope to reach. And it’s of such high quality that I expect us to constantly prove ourselves worthy whatever future trials come our way. Outsiders look at us and think us insane to live in such a wilderness. They think it worthless and futile to live here, and beyond this they think the land a boring wasteland. Yet they’ll never know what marvelous sunsets exist here, nor the starry skies, nor the vast horizon that lies before us. Limited by the comfort of their own environment, they will never understand the true struggle and the true beauty we witness every day.”

A typical response from a leader: imbibing the population on their immediate surroundings and how it had supposedly shaped their culture and their way of understanding the all-so-subjective notion of one's strength, and how it had made them so much more unique than their neighbours, of how it was a strength that no one else could copy.

Yet, even with the knowledge that this was all it was, a perfectly rehearsed speech meant to strike inspiration in the hearts of the people and to rally the ninja, Joan couldn't help but be drawn towards the voice that was her Kazekage's, the rich tone of it bringing along charisma that demanded Joan's full attention. Even as one part of her argued that this was all politics and faked, the rest of her couldn't help but ask, 'So what?'

So what if it was faked? So what if it was rehearsed? So what if it was nothing but intra-village politics that had the Kazekage waving her robe at her ninja, dressed in formal clothing that would never see the light of day? So what?

It didn't change that this village, led by this woman and built up by this woman, had housed Joan when she had been lost, been searching for more meaning to her life than a human trophy to be wedded off to the first suitor who knocked on her parents' door. It was this village that offered her a tuition in the arts of ninja, to pursue the career that her father still acted on, and it was this village that helped her grow up as more than just a maiden, learning and growing and learning and growing.

”I’ve returned with renewed strength from facing this latest threat, and I encourage you all to hone yourselves in a way that no one else can. We are the Hidden Sand, shinobi and kunoichi of a much higher grit because we toil through the harshest of environments. So grow, and train so when the next threat rises against this village, the world will know the Hidden Sand are the highest caliber ninja that ever did live!”

With this, Joan couldn't help but close her fists even at the obvious ruse that the Kazekage had, with the firework-esque performance ending her speech. It was all a performance to get her accepted back into the village, but Joan couldn't ignore that it was working. While she likely had the least right for something like this, she still supported the woman crowned as their Kazekage, and she genuinely, past all her doubt and skepticism, looked up to this woman for having returned to the village instead of running off like she very easily could have, especially with the loss of her father tormenting her mind.

She had returned.

She had returned.

She had the guts to return to a village she had abandoned. To return to a home she had abandoned.

And maybe it was time Joan did the same.

WC: 898
TWC: 2368

OOC: I'm guessing Tkamaru and Masayoshi Mari aren't going to respond this round.