The rain was heavy, pouring down over the village and bringing with it the unshakeable feeling of depression. The guards standing around the front of the Administration complex were looking out on the town, moaning to each other about how they ended up being on duty during a rain storm. They hadn't even done anything yet today other than get soaked out in the storm. One of the three of them decided he was going to go for a tour around the building, but it was actually a clever ruse just to get a walk. After all, standing around doing nothing in the rain is one of the most depressing things you could have to do, and doing anything is better than it. Just to get your mind off of the fact that your clothes were slowly getting more and more clammy and damp. He finally disappeared from their sight and went to the back of the facility, continuing his walk


Kai was sat on one of the rocks of the cliff-face, staring up at the room where the kage should be working right now. When he'd met the last few tsuchikages, they had always used that room, but maybe the new one was going to mix it up a little bit, do his work somewhere else. There were a lot of offices in the building, so it really wouldn't matter all that much where it happened. But, he really wished that he knew. He could just climb the wall and slip in. If he did that in the wrong room, not only would he disturb someone who had no involvement in this, but he would likely have to deal with the guards. All he wanted was to talk about his ascension to the next level of ninja, yet those guards had already hassled him in town today. The rain always made them more abusive, as if the moment they were in a bad mood they would instantly take it out on him. Well, actually, that was surprisingly accurate. He didn't even want to bother to try and get in the main entrance. They would likely just shout at him, call him worthless and then send him away. That was not something he wanted this morning.

Getting up off his feet, he decided that he'd use the back entrance to the complex. After all, this way there was less guards and he'd be able to get in normally. The moment he was in, there would be different guards on duty and he would be able to just blend in like he was a normal person. He moved towards it when he suddenly heard the sound of running feet. What the hell? He turned to where he'd heard the noise, but all he saw was something black, and heading very quickly for his face.


The door to the tsuchikage's office opened suddenly, a young man was dragged into the office by two of the guards, head wrapped in bandages, blood pouring from his nose and his hair sticking to his face, absolutely sodden. All he'd wanted was to talk to the tsuchikage... why did they do this to him? He could feel the warmth of the blood sting his face as it touched the cold, damp skin of his face. But he wouldn't let any pain be obvious. No, he would not let them win.
"Tsuchikage, we caught this little creep sneaking around the back of the complex. Probably casing the place." The prejudice shone clear in his voice, they were accusing him of being a thief. Why? They had no evidence, they just assumed he was one.
"I just wanted to talk to Arashi!" he all but screamed, anger and frustration clear in his voice. He would not be meek, he would not be subservient, they might have him tied up but they didn't have his dignity.
"Sure, then why weren't you going in the front?"
"Because, oh I don't know, I thought you might punch me in the face for no good reason? Now untie me before I rip off your genitals and staple them to your forehead!"

OOC:

Gah... A rainy day. There were few things Ara hated more than a shitty rainy day... He was currently in his office, to which he was just introduced a couple of hours earlier. It was the same office Dengen used to work in... The same office Ara met him. The same office from which they departed to Konoha, for the chuunin exams... Ara was really tied to this place, in an emotional manner. It was a bit small, yes, but he refused to accept the larger one. This one, room 574 was just perfect. The tan walls, the weird blue rose at the window which was there for decades... (or so Ara heard) Simply perfect. But, one detail wasn't perfect, and that was the huge pile of paperwork stacked on Ara's desk, hundreds and hundreds of sheets, stacks next to stacks built one on top of the other, with Ara being practically hidden behind all of it. And he was not amused, not one bit.

Somewhere deep inside him, Ara felt like they didn't make him start actually doing to Tsuchikage thing for the past week or so for the sole purpose of stacking enough paperwork to make his life a misery. It did seem like something the idiotic Iwa elders would do though, and Ara was already considering replacing them with some awesomer people. Not arrogant and filthy rich, at least. Just then, while filling a form about his personal life, the "Childhood" section more precisely, he heard his doors open with a clash. I don't think I invited anyone... Ara stood up, with his head peeking above the piles of paper. His messy hair and bags under his eyes could be seen from miles ago, as he was currently in a zombie state of both body and mind. God, it was a depressive day... Why couldn't he just sleep?

The people in his office were two Iwa jounin, only one of which Arashi knew. They both looked pretty similar, pretty tall and with medium length brown hair. They were fairly muscular, and wore the standard Iwa Flak Jackets and uniform. The left one was called Miru, and he was one of the first to speak to Ara of him becoming the Tsuchikage. But they were carrying another man? He was fairly younger, Ara wouldn't say that he was over eighteen actually. His hair was also brown, and there actually was a resembelance between all the shinobi there... As far as Ara knew, it could've just been some random man from the street, as he hadn't met him before. They spoke.

"Tsuchikage, we caught this little creep sneaking around the back of the complex. Probably casing the place." Sneaking around...? The kid spoke next.
"I just wanted to talk to Arashi!" The kid shouted, ignoring the bandages.
"Sure, then why weren't you going in the front?"
"Because, oh I don't know, I thought you might punch me in the face for no good reason? Now untie me before I rip off your genitals and staple them to your forehead!"

An eyebrow rose on Ara's face, as he started realizing what was going on. He had a pretty confused look on his face, before he started shouting all of a sudden, possibly frightening his... (Unwanted) guests.
"THAT'S ENOUGH! Men, drop him."
Ara would look at the younger man's eyes, before speaking again, now with a calmer tone but still showing plenty of authority. He spread out his arms behind his head, showing his laid back attitude.
"Alright, so who're you?"
He listened carefully for the younger's explanation.

He looked up at the tsuchikage as he told them to release him. However, even when releasing him they weren't being very ceremonious about it. They threw him down on the floor, his face slamming into the cold stone, bringing a new fountain of blood from his face. But, at least they weren't touching him any more. He could deal with being covered in blood, bleeding, being in pain but their touch... it disgusted him. He slowly looked up under his fringe, and saw him sitting there as if nothing had happened. He glared for a moment under his fringe, but he had to admit as inappropriate as he was, as damn casual as he was about the clear assault that had gone on in this office, he had gotten them to let go of him and that was one thing. With their hands off of him he could slip his own binds off and sweep his hair out of his eyes. He looked slightly more dignified as he made himself look more presentable.
"My name is Kaiten. Kaiten Uranai Ryokosha, head of the Uranai branch. Your predecessor allowed us to join the village five years ago." he said, to which a clear dissenting mutter was heard from the jounins behind him. Something along the lines of "Yeah, and he was a complete idiot" "Who would trust those freaks?" He looked over his shoulder, wanting to attack them for everything they'd said and done to him, but he was in the company of the tsuchikage, he had to present his case properly.

"I wanted to ask you... Please, make me a chunin!" He said, bowing his head as if he was asking subserviently. He had little respect for this man, he hadn't earned it in his eyes, and he was in charge of the entire village. He was just lucky that the village hadn't claimed the life of any of his people or he would have hated this man as much as he hated the Yukikage. But, even if he had no respect for the man, he had to keep up appearances. Miru fell into a cruel laugh, before saying with a voice filled with venom.
"Sir, you can't trust this man or anything to do with his clan. They steal, they murder, they cheat, they seduce and they betray. There is not one good soul amongst his entire clan of dogs." This... this would not stand. Lashing out with his leg, he kicked Miru's feet out from under him, sending him sprawling onto the office's floor. The rage that filled Kaiten was no longer reasonable, he wouldn't stand for this.
"My clan has done nothing wrong apart from protecting ourselves from the daggers of men like you. Who's fault is it that we had no home if not the ones who refused to admit us to somewhere? Who's fault is it that we had to steal, if not those who would not let us earn the ryo honorably? Who's fault is it if we kill those who want to exterminate us just because we don't come from the same place as you do?" he turned to Arashi and said, quickly regaining his composure
"I was told by your secretary that I had done enough for this village that I would be entitled to ask for chuninship... please, I want to protect my clan's honor from scum and bigots like the people you have as your guards!"

The Jounin did as Ara said, and Kaiten proceeded to speak.
"My name is Kaiten. Kaiten Uranai Ryokosha, head of the Uranai branch. Your predecessor allowed us to join the village five years ago."
Arashi had to read all the Iwa related records when he became the Tsuchikage, in them the clan list. And he remembered somewhere that he heard of the Ryokosha Uranai. Though, he couldn't remember any real details. He nodded, as he heard the Jounin mutter about the clan. I wonder, what's so special about them...? The man continued.
"I wanted to ask you... Please, make me a chunin!"
An eyebrow rose on Ara's face as he heard the words being said by the bowing man. Miru started laughing histerically, before he spoke. It was true that he was beginning to go on Ara's nerves by then.
"Sir, you can't trust this man or anything to do with his clan. They steal, they murder, they cheat, they seduce and they betray. There is not one good soul among his entire clan of dogs."
Arashi was quite surprised by Miru insulting the clan like this, but it was nothing to what happened next; Kaiten kicked Miru, and pinned him to the ground. It was true that Kaiten was provoked, but attacking Ara's Jounin... It was simply not okay. Arashi decided to stay on his toes, ready to interfere if anything went over the line. Kai spoke to Hiru, who was laying on the floor face against the cold stone.
"My clan has done nothing wrong apart from protecting ourselves from the daggers of men like you. Who's fault is it that we had no home if not the ones who refused to admit us to somewhere? Who's fault is it that we had to steal, if not those who would not let us earn the ryo honorably? Who's fault is it if we kill those who want to exterminate us just because we don't come from the same place as you do?"
I didn't think it was this bad... People really seem to hate these Uranai...
"I was told by your secretary that I had done enough for this village that I would be entitled to ask for chuninship... please, I want to protect my clan's honor from scum and bigots like the people you have as your guards!"
Scum and bigots? Oh hell no. You don't insult Iwa shinobi in front of Arashi, just no. No, no and no. An agitated expression appeared on Ara's face, as he decided to speak. Before so, he would look in his Ninja Record book to check Kai, but he quit. I mean, he had lots of trust in Lilyth, so it wasn't really necessary. So, Ara decided what he would do, and spoke.
"Men, back to your stations."
Luckily for Kaiten, Miru decided not to kick his ass. Hell, Miru was a person who would even make Ara sweat in a battle, the genin would be dead within 3 seconds at best. With the Jounin now out of the office, with the doors shut, Ara was ready to actually get down to business. Though, he wanted to discuss the issue with the Jounin first.
"They've been giving you trouble, eigh?"
Arashi's voice was friendly in a way, but still flat and nearly emotionless. He kind of wanted to get his all sorted out as soon as possible, he really had tons of paperwork to take care of... The sooner it was gone, the better.

The kage looked pissed off, angry even. Well, it wasn't like Kaiten particularly cared. He knew that the jounin couldn't just kill him for no good reason. Besides, he had a few tricks up his sleeve. However, as he ordered them back to their stations, Kaiten was actually shocked for the first time. He was... protecting Kai? He had actually expected him to condone the violence, or to kick him out as the last few tsuchikages had done. Especially the one before Dengen, he was a hard-ass. Ripping a part of his bandages off, he used it to clean up the blood that had now dried and caked onto his face. It did little for him other than wipe away the blood, it didn't dry his face, nor make it look any less sad, beaten and starved. Now that he didn't have to pretend to be strong in front of the jounin who had attacked him, he could show his outer exterior. It wasn't weak, no, but it looked... desperate. His eyes, usually holding a strong glare, had fallen into what could be more described as puppy-like, his entire body language slumped as if it was a moment away from collapsing out of sheer exhaustion, and his strong and self dependent grin turned into a mere frown. He looked tired and even a little empty, but he was better now than he was. Honest, and showing the true exterior. He didn't even show this to the clan, they would think he was weak and crumbling under their pressure. That would not do, he would never let them think he was weak again. No matter the cost to his body, to his soul, to his mind. Though, the next question sent him into a flush of rage once more. He... he didn't know?

"You... you bastard..." Kai whispered under his breath, too low for the man to hear, a tear of rage springing to his eyes. How could he not know? The entire village, everyone, they attacked the Uranai without constraint, and the kage didn't know? Was he blind? Was he just stupid? Was he really that much of an ignorant ass? He choked back the unshed tear, his eyes drying up once more. This was his boss, the man responsible for the entire village, he couldn't voice his opinions, so he had to be polite and honest with them. As polite and honest as he could be, under the circumstances.
"You really haven't noticed, sir? They persecute my clan with no right to do such. They attack us in the street, use us as target practice, attack us with words as well as with swords. They call us thieves, worse than dirt. Your jounin abuse their position and use it to bring "law" down upon those they accuse of stealing, even when they haven't done anything. Cross the wrong one of your men on the wrong night, and we end up dead." he trailed off before he quietly said "They've even forced a few of us to share their beds." This was quieter than the rest, but it was still audible. Perhaps with a tone of embarrassment, as he could no longer bare to stare the kage in the eyes and instead blushed. What he was implying should have been clear, and he was also a victim of that particular form of abuse. They were treated as little more than objects by those who were supposed to protect them... it was no better than Yukigakure. For a second, there was a pregnant pause.

Ara saw Kai mumble something, but it was silent enough for him not to understand. Honestly, he didn't even want to understand. The man kept speaking, with Ara listening to him quietly.

"You really haven't noticed, sir? They persecute my clan with no right to do such. They attack us in the street, use us as target practice, attack us with words as well as with swords. They call us thieves, worse than dirt. Your jounin abuse their position and use it to bring "law" down upon those they accuse of stealing, even when they haven't done anything. Cross the wrong one of your men on the wrong night, and we end up dead." he trailed off before he quietly said "They've even forced a few of us to share their beds."

Arashi was astonished by the boy's words, and couldn't really believe him... All he knew, Kai could've been telling the truth. Arashi knew that these Jounin, most of them at least, were born at the time of the Kage before Dengen. And as much as Ara knew, he was a blood-thirsty idiot who encouraged his men of raping and violence, just when Iwa was starting to get it's reputation back. They were raised in such an enviorment, so there was no escaping of becoming what they had become, or that was Ara's theory at least. He was kind of left speechless, but had to say something.

"Thank you for you honesty, courage as well. Now, I'd need to test your abilities. Meet me at the Fissure Grounds at the end of the week."

Ara would sit back down and start filling the paperwork. If Kai wasn't to leave the room shortly after, Ara would look at him once more, before speaking.

"Off you go now."