Reika sat up in bed, woke with a start, panting. She had slept very fitfully the night before....she supposed she was just nervous. Today was the day....she had to go. The state of the village was, in Reika's eyes, a bit deplorable...she wondered if it was right to leave her country, which had so long struggled and floundered without a Kage, right as she was elected. There were very few Genin in the village, and what's worse, the higher-level ninja, the Chuunin and Jounin, were either missing-in-action, just missing, or they flouted the rules.... Yeah. Not exactly the best village a leader could leave behind with absolute trust.

But trust it she had to. After all...she was the Kage. Reika stood atop the Raikage's Tower, musing about these things. She couldn't help but think that something was going to go wrong at the Summit...she wasn't one to worry, usually, but this was big. Like, probably one of the biggest things she'd see in her time as the village's Shadow.

As she entered her house--which was ever so fortuitously relocated right next to her office--she began to get ready. She followed her normal routine. Only, this time...she was going to have to pack for travel. First things first. Tidy up, get all nice for the passers-by. And then...it was packing time. A few extra sets of clothes, she would be staying awhile...especially considering she wanted to go early. It would be best to meet the other Kage on better terms than accusing each other of murder or larceny or something like that.

Either way, the Land of Iron had a climate rumored to be quite cold...it was near Yukigakure no Sato, after all.

But now...she was all set. She just needed one more thing. She needed a bodyguard. The summons that the Hokage had sent...she could have two retainers with her at all times. Well...that made her feel safer. Even with her worry-free self, she knew that sometimes people liked to make secret pacts...the samurai might not be trustworthy...

Anyway. Reika made her way to a house down the main summit of Kumo. She knocked rather loudly on the door. and left a note on the door.

"Tsukino Raijin,

Please head towards the west gate of the village. You are to be one of my retainers for the imminent Kage Summit. I hope I can count on you.

Signed,
Misora Reika
Hachidaime Raikage

And with that, she left for the gate. She should have another waiting for her...one Kuroka Hiroyuki. He was a Jounin in the village, and would not fail to live up to expectations.

After waiting for about thirty minutes, neither was there. Reika just said 'screw it' and started her journey to Iron Country. At the gate, though, she thoughtfully sent a messenger bird to the same house she'd left the note. There really weren't that many reliable high-ranking ninja in Kumo at the moment...and Reika had heard so many good things about Raijin. She really didn't want to add him to that list.

Small flecks of snow came into view....it seemed that Iron Country was closer than she had estimated. Okay...now she just had to make Raijin aware of where they were. "Unton! Kumo-Kanri!" One hand at chest level with a half-Tori, and one hand stretched overhead with a half-tiger, Reika summoned clouds. She combined them with the already-existing clouds and made them swirl around, eventually spelling the ninja's name in the air. "That oughta do it."
[620/600]

Hiroyuki had been waiting for the Kage for awhile at the front gate but she must have been busy trying to get other shinobi ready for her departure. He didn't mind waiting so much as it gave him time to think about his plans when he got to the summit. Hiroyuki had never been been to something as big as a Kage summit and it made him kind of nervous. Five great shinobi, five powerful beings, five Kage. All in one place. It was something that he wanted to see. He felt lucky that he was picked to go. That and because of his personal liking of the Kage herself. He wouldn't call it love but rather a crush. She was beautiful and he thought she was smart. No reason for him to think otherwise. She was strong and just seemed like a person Hiroyuki would want to be around. He snapped out of his little thoughts when he noticed that the Kage had been walking up to the gates. He didn't want her to know that he was around. That way he could keep a better eye on her with out her telling him where to be and what to do.

He watched her as she sent a messenger bird out to someone and figured it would be to another shinobi. He didn't waste his breath saying anything and remained in stealth mode. He would make sure he had eyes on her at all times but also made sure that if she had the idea of looking around, she would not see him. He figured that she would be able to sense him anyways but wanted to make sure that if there were any attack, they weren't expecting more than one person. Hiroyuki would have the element of surprise on his side. He noticed that she was going at a normal pace. If anything, shouldn't she have been going faster? Weren't things like a Kage summit be important? Hiroyuki didn't really know much about it and didn't think questioning her would make a difference. He then began to notice snow, they must have been getting closer to their destination. He didn't like being out in the cold, nor did he think about it ahead of time. He had been wearing his normal clothing that just so happen to have no sleeves.

Hiroyuki simply sighed lightly and put his hood over his head and kept on going at the same pace as the Kage. Hiroyuki watched as the kage began making hand signs and manipulated the clouds above, along with making some of her own. He would watch as the clouds formed words and then he let out a small smile. Although no one would be able to see it with his half mask on. ~That's Reika for you.~ Hiroyuki thought as he stopped smiling and just continued on. It was no time to be smiling. He had to be on his guard when they arrived just in case if things got messy. It was up to him to protect the Kage with his life. He knew the situation in the village wasn't ideal so he decided to step up and show her that he could be counted on. Hiroyuki knew his abilities were a great compliment to hers and that he would make a great personal bodyguard. That was the main reason of him trying so hard. He wasn't like every other ninja. He didn't want to become a Kage. He wasn't that type of person; a protector is what he was.

He knew that if he could satisfy Reika during the Kage summit, she might make him a personal bodyguard. Although, his thoughts and hers might have been completely different. He wouldn't be able to say for sure but all he could think about with the moment is making sure she was safe. Things needed to be fixed and things needed to be dealt with. Hiroyuki could tell that they were close to the destination as it had gotten so much more colder than before and the fact that snow was almost everywhere. With that, he drew closer to Reika and prepared to show himself to her when they arrived.

[702/600]