Sima had taken a seat with his team as the crowd died down. Sasuke spoke much more than Sima would’ve ever expected of him. He addressed issues that pertained to their home as well as others that called home. Their worst fear has been confirmed; Kumo wasn’t the only capital ambushed however the land of lightning was the only major land that had been destroyed the most with very little survival rate and thousands of casualties. He had been saddened by the news but also angry. It would seem the only survivors from their land would be from Kumo alone.

However the most shocking news was that of appointing one man to rule over them all and that was Sasuke himself. He hadn’t thought Sasuke would ever take on such a role however he had been Naruto’s equal and it made perfect sense that’d he be able to lead a nation through these hard times. It was a new age of leadership and an empire and everyone would be unified from here on out, representing an entirely new land: the land of storms. Sasuke’s explanation was well thought of and it was exactly the kind of leader they needed.

Sima found himself conflicted when it came to wanting to let go of his home and exchange it for the future. Kumo would always be in his heart however this new land would have to suffice in the long run.

Once the meeting was dismissed he remained in his seat. ”It seems most of our questions have been addressed. I’m a bit spectacle that Sasuke has placed himself in such a role, considering that he is Naruto’s equal, but it also makes sense. He already owned the seat to be the next Hokage, so I suppose being the Lord of our new land will fit him well. This only means it’ll be incredibly hard to talk to Sasuke himself as he’ll be much too busy to take any duties pertaining to squads and missions. It looks like the only thing left for us to do is find out if any of your families survived,” he commented as he stood up.

When they had entered the stadium, Sozui couldn't help but look around to see if his parents were around. It was a long shot in such a crowded room, but it was instinct at this point. Alas, there were just too many faces and not enough time to scan through each individual one before Sasuke began giving the rundown about what has happened, and from the young Genin's viewpoint it looked like things were looking pretty rough. Two capitals went down pretty hard, and two more were still fighting. With that in mind, he knew that both of his teammates were going to take on bigger roles given their skills and abilities, which meant that he was going to be left with grunt duty again. At least this time, it wouldn't lead to him getting beat up by Tenshi, which was a plus he supposed.

"Speaking of squads, I guess the four of us won't be seeing as much of each other for a while, right," he asked as they got up to head to where Sasuke had said the lists of survivors were and to get his new headband. It was rather sad to let go of such a piece of his life, but the old headbands would just be things that kept all of the refugees divided so replacing them was the logical choice. "So where do you think we will all end up, sir?"

A long way from home, without many or any acquaintances, and stuck in some strange place. Things weren't exactly fantastic for Nakano but then again, so was the case for most people around these days. The aspiring Kunoichi had tried to argue in favor of staying back home to partake in the fighting, weighting the insight and new power she had gathered for herself, which in the end turned out to be not enough. Never mind the sinister methods that she employed to gain such insight, at the end of the day she was still deemed a little nobody and a liability at best over there. Besides, the shadow of being turncoats still loomed over and thus it stood to reason that she was sent over to Konoha.

The country and village themselves, while wildly strange, were surprisingly similar, certainly more than it would had been with other lands. More over, some of the things she loved most, were quite abundant there and that much she enjoyed and abused. To make things even better, save for the odd Iwa nin that knew her, she was a complete stranger to everybody, which suited her just fine.

---

When they were all gathered in the stadium and the announcement was made, Nakano met it with suspicion and mixed feelings. It made sense to have a strong centralized leadership for the struggle at hand, but making such a powergrab and placing themselves as nothing short of royalty while at the same time replacing not only the leadership but the identities of all the villages. It just reeked of something real bad even to little Kyoko. She however did know better than to voice any of her thoughts, however she refused to surrender her band, that is, she allegedly "lost it" and couldn't hand anything over when requesting the new one.

Nakano headed to check on the list of casualties for Iwa, not because she expected to see anyone she cared about there, after all, as far as she was aware, most of her family was still back home engaged in the bitter fighting and so was the case for much of the people she knew. But even then, it was still important to check just in case and to at least know who among those she knew of her home village were deceased.

Sima’s focus was adverted to Sozui with his concerned over the squad itself. He let a small smile appear on his face. ”I believe our squad will remain intact. I don’t have a reason to believe it wouldn’t. However I’m sure Tenshi will be the one parting from us as his skills will more likely be suited in combat or maybe even be sent with more elite shinobi. I, being a formidable shinobi from Kumo, haven’t been appointed on this new conciliatory so I can assume my duties are still here with this squad,” he explained.

”I wouldn’t look into it too much honestly. You’re all still young and have much to learn still but now all of you have a wonderful record of a successful S-Rank mission. I believe our duties for this war are far from over,” he finished as he watched most of the crow die down as they left the stadium. ”I’m more worried about the missing Kages. Still no progress on their whereabouts and it’s disturbinf,” he uttered, voicing his concerns. The Kages has been kidnapped before their very eyes and not one of them returned or no sign as to where they could be. It was evident they had to be located within the land of snow. There had to be a devious plan that nobody knew about yet and he had a gut feeling their time could be running out the longer the war stretched out. War was so pointless; the senseless killing was just plain sin and for what? Power? Sima seemed to allow himself get carried away for a second.

In reply to Nakano Kyoko (msg # 14):

Uchiha Sarada. The prodigy of the famous Sasuke and Sakura and the oldest of their two children. She had rose the ranks of her shinobi career, following the footsteps of her late uncle. With two formidable parents, her skills were extraordinary. With a rough childhood of an absent father, she grew to become cold but after having understand his absence she grew more friendlier. She had been on a special mission when Kumo had been ambushed and the famous five Kages were kidnapped. After hearing of the incident, she rightfully abandoned her mission and went back home. By then, war had been declared and she took on more herendous tasks. She took on a role of high caliber responsibility to lend aid to those who would send invoices for a cry of help. She organized the most dangerous of missions and chose specific groups and even commanded ANBU forces from the background to ensure success in the war’s effort for peace. Not only was she dealing with administrative tasks, she also acted as a diplomat, trying to gain alliances from neighboring lands in an effort to expand their military forces, some to no avail.

When her father took his place as interim Hokage, she worked her ass off to be recognized for her admiral record and high responsible duties of leadership as it was discussed about her fayher’s plans to unify the five nations. She had been the one to select the council members, her being one of the appointed ones along with her mother and now she was also known as the princess of the land of storms. The stadium gathering was not a nervous event that most her age would have felt, but she had been more honored to be recognized and personally addressed as a princess of the famously and almost extinct Uchiha clan that now has ownership of this new land. She swore herself to a promise to show royalty at its finest, extraordinary skills, and most of all, to make her parents proud.

After the meeting came to a close, she spotted her new land of storms headband, taking on a more mondernized appearance as she felt it was the right decision to bring everyone together and not segregate the lost lands. This had been an opportunity of hope and a chance to start rebuilding in the worst of wars. She had excused herself and went straight to the Omo’s building, lending aid with the refugees in locating lost loved ones or ensuring everyone was accounted for on the lists.

She noticed a young girl [Nakano] requesting to check the Iwagakure’s list. Sarada had been the one to hand over a copy of it. ”I hope you find who you’re looking for. I heard Iwa had the least survival rate. We plan to send forces to aid the remainder of the battles that are taking place to avoid full lost of the land,” she explained, trying to ensure Nakano something would be done for the devastation. Sarada assumes she was from Iwa as the request to see that part of the list was being sought out as oppose to other places.

Tenshi watched on as Sasuke more or less paraded himself in fornt of everyone. For now he agreed with most of what was planned. Something felt a little weird to Tenshi. it was one of those feelings that something was off. But like a good ninja he keeps all the inner turmoil buried within him. This however raised other questions about what would happen when the Kage's are retrieved. There wasn't much he could do but absorb the information. Hearing both Sozui and Sakuya speak. Hhe thought for a moment..

"Fuji-Sensei my feelings about leaving the squad haven't changed. I would prefer to stay on the team, right now while it may sound weird. I think we need to stick together." He fidgets a little wanting to go and see if any of his clan survived. But he would wait until they all went, since they still needed to check in. Hopefully this all turns out well was all that he could hope for. Once Sasuke had left, he would put his headband into his bag. It was something he wasn't ready to reliquish yet "I am concerned for the Kage's to, and I share your viewpoint on war.. It should be something two men should be able to walk out into a field and have a single duel, after all the leader of a battlefield should be the strongest Shinobi. But I know politics is not something that can easily be handled." He waited until they all went too got their new headbands..

Staring down at the handed copy of the list, Nakano answered with her face half obscured. "T-thanks!" Kyoko had a hunch that this may be Sarada or someone equally important but she just couldn't really say, had no idea how she was supposed to look and back at the stadium, she hadn't been able to get a good look at her from afar. So she preferred to play it safe and just not even mention the thing, not like it would make any difference if she did anyway.

Almost apologetically and in an exercise in futility, Kyoko tried to correct her and explain to the stranger why she was looking at the list. Not like her story was any special, there had to be hundreds of stories far more tear jerking than hers around the place with the huge influx of refugees and other survivors that flooded Konoha. "I am not looking for anyone in particular, but with what has happened, you know..."

In reply to Fujii Sima (msg # 15):

"I hope it is as you say, Sensei. I'd prefer not to be thrown together with a bunch of strangers for a mission when I am so used to have the three of you watch my back. It's not that I wouldn't do it if ordered, but in times like these a little familiarity helps keep one from being lost in the sorrow born from what we have lost." Sozui was also worried about the Kages, but he assumed that as a Genin there was going to be little that he could do to aid in finding them other than to do the less important missions so that the more skilled shinobi could tackle that one.

Speaking of needing to learn things, Sozui figured that with so many shinobi from different villages here it would provide a variety of teachers to learn techniques from. He really needed to specialize in a particular area of training so that he could stand out among the crowd. "So once we find out about our families, we should begin honing our skills, right? Never know when this war will provide us with the necessary free time to do so."

In reply to Uchiha Sasuke (msg # 9):


<<<<<<<<<<<<<Coming from Chapter 4: Homecoming<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Nori had made her way to the stadium where Sasuke was having everyone gather and perhaps it was because she was so wrapped up in what had happened to Sigmund that when their team had returned from the village, that she failed to take notice of just how many people had come here for refuge. This was just awful. She made her way into the stadium and upon receiving instruction of where to be, she climbed her way to the top. Once she took her place on the wall, she looked down and saw Sasuke's familiar figure take his place in the center. He began to speak of the situation regarding the crisis they were in. The reason for there being so many people here was because four major villages were ambushed and the capitals had been left in ruins. Nori's eyes widened. 'Simultaneously? How is that even possible?' she thought silently to herself. Was this mystery man and his men really capable of committing such atrocious acts?

She could practically feel the emotions of everyone that had been around her. This must have been devastating to them. To have lost everything they knew...she couldn't even imagine how that must have felt. It made her heart break. Sasuke began to speak of each individual capital one by one and upon hearing the first, Kirigakure, it caused Nori to look down at the pendant she still held in her hand. The land where her birth mother was from was now gone. It was no longer a place where she could go to to find her. A wave of different emotions came over her. 'I...I hope she got out okay. She...she had to have gotten out...right?' she thought silently to herself before she clenched the pendant in her hand and placed it over her heart. She closed her eyes briefly. She wanted to believe that her birth mother was strong and she wanted to believe that she was okay, but she didn't want to give her hopes up. Nori knew she couldn't allow herself to go there. 'Please...please just be safe...' She opened her eyes again and looked back down at Sasuke as he continued to speak.

That was when he mentioned that a list of citizens and refugees were put on a survivor list under each village and were in alphabetical order. As much as that would have made any person's life easier to find their loved ones, it made it more difficult for Nori as she didn't know the name of her mother or her father. She didn't have their last name and she didn't even know what they looked like. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. There went her chances. Did she even look like them? It would be hard to find at least one person in the crowd that looked like her. She had been lost in the thoughts of finding her birth parents that she barely managed to learn of the new council that had been formed. A council where great leaders would come together to represent everyone's needs in place of the Great Kages that were missing. It no doubt surprised her that Sasuke would be the one chosen to represent them. He was a great leader and a great man. It made her mind wonder back to Sigmund and just how much he admired this person that was speaking to them now. If only he were here to see it. She knew he would be in awe even though he wouldn't show it. 'Sigmund...' she thought silently.

In the light of this tragedy, it had been decided that all different villages that had come from different lands would stand together and unite under one name. The Land of Storms. They would rise against these foes and defeat them. There was no other choice. They had to stand together and take back what was respectfully and rightfully theirs. Each nation would be rebuilt. Renewed. And be made whole again. It would take time and it would take strong people, but it was possible. Nori brought the pendant down from her chest and unraveled her fingers from around it before she stared down at it. She undid the small clasp and brought the silver strands around her neck before she secured the pendant. She would not forget where she was from. While she was born in Kirigakure, Konoha was her home. She would fight to protect both.

Once the meeting was dismissed, everyone started to get up from their seats and make their way out of the stadium. Nori's eyes soon took in the sight of Nanami and Shiroma together amongst the crowd of people. She brought her hands down into curled fists at her sides before she made her way through the crowd and stopped behind her friend. "Very motivational speech, huh?" she said with a small smile.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:37, Wed 20 Dec 2017.

In reply to Nakano Kyoko (msg # 18):

She merely nodded, understanding the situation and view from the girl. ”Sometimes it’s just reassuring knowing a familiar face made it out. The list not only shows refugees here, it also shows who was left behind to fight if that’s any consolation,” Sarada explained with a small smile before someone else waved down her attention and she felt obligated to assist them as they showed hysteria and were not completely at ease over the situation. Taking an empathetic approach, Sarada successsfully soothed the emotionally unstable woman and was help to accurately find her son whom was on the list of survivors.

In reply to Yamada Nori (msg # 20):

Nanami turned around and looked at Nori, seeing Nori smile "Yeah in a way. I wasn't quite expecting this however. It is reassuring knowing my home withstood their assault. Its sad that so many others lost their homes." Nanami smiled lightly, their was that hint of sadness, and Nanami seemed to go out of her way not to talk about the mission "I wonder who our Jonin will be once our suspension is over?" That was one of many questions this speech did not answer. However it would likely be answered soon enough "Before the speech me and Shiroma were planning on heading to the training grounds, but now that I know there is a council, and I know my mother is alive. I want to swing by the Lord's building and ask if she is on the council. Also to see if my friend made it here."

She stretches out carefully "Well we should probably go and get our new headbands. Even though I am not to fond of giving up Konoha's headband." She looked at her friends "Shall we?"

In reply to Nara Nanami (msg # 22):

"`It is a relief to know that your home was able to withstand the ambush. It's terrible that all of this people lost everything they knew and maybe even their families. I feel so awful," Nori replied with a sympathetic expression as she turned her head and looked over at the people that were making their way out of the stadium. "I want to help them." She turned her head and looked over at Nanami once more at hearing her mention who their Jonin would be. "I guess that is really up to the discrection of Lord Sasuke. I'm sure he'll know who would be suitable for us. As the team from Konoha, I suspect a lot more responsibility will be put on us. Although, we...didn't exactly come through this last time." She curled her hands into fists at her sides and looked down at the floor. The last thing she felt she wanted to do was fail. She couldn't. "I actually wanted to head over to the Lord's building, too. There was something that I wanted to look into as well," she added and turned her eyes down to the headband that was strapped to her arm. Nori brought up her hand and traced Konoha's symbol with her fingertips. "I'm not exactly fond of the idea, either, but what this new band will stand for...I think it's good. It's a symbol of unity and that is what need to be right now. To come together and unite as one people no matter where you are from." She looked up at Nanami. "It's a good thing, isn't it?"

In reply to Yamada Nori (msg # 23):

Nanami looked down "So many things have been going through my mind.. Some good. Some bad. Something just feels off, about everything.. Though they are unfounded at this moment. Something I don't believe in is coincidences.. There are a lot if you think about it." She smiled "I am sure we can say we lost them for the time being if you wanted to hold onto the headband." This could bring a curiosity of hers to light. So she placed her headband in her small backpack. Then went up and retrieved her new storms headband. She looked it over. It was a well thought out design. She ties it around her bicep for the time being. Sense they were still suspended from active ninja duty..

"Well shall we head to the Lord's office? We all have some questions, and I am sure a few of them can be answered there.." She smiled and grabbed hold of Nori's hand "Lets go." Even after the announcement Nanami's mood was vastly improved "After which, maybe head to the training grounds and work on teamwork jutsu and such. Also I need to decide on a path to focus on for myself as well.." She smiled as they walked towards the Lord's building.

"We should make haste then...!" Sakuya exclaimed, visibly unable to wait much longer as she looked up to her teammates with the new headband firmly held in her hand, "I'm sure our family and friends are somewhere in the village. The sooner we find the list, the more relieved I would feel about this...!"

Sakuya was actually trying to keep her nervousness at bay, personally hoping for the best that her parents were safe and sound and waiting for her to show up. Sakuya also had to look for Nanami to ensure her friend that she was fine despite the intense experience of the mission as well as the harrowing journey to Konohagakure.

Sima’s group made their way back to Lord’s Sasuke’s new building and it was packed with civilians. It was obvious they were here for the same reasons that he and his squad were: the lists. Pushing through the crowd, ensuring his group stayed nearby, Sima managed to get ahold of a commanding officer and requested the list for Kumo. Upon receiving the list, it was short compared to the other lists he was witnessing being handed out. It wasn’t a good sign considering the fact that Kumo and the entire land of lightning was completely lost in the war effort.

He handed it to Sakuya so she could look at it first. If she skimmed through it, she’d notice a familiar name of her father...however her mother’s name appeared under casualties. It was evident that only her father managed to escape while her mother was lost through the evacuation. Sima remained quiet as he awaited for the list to be passed around amongst the group.

If Tenshi looked through, unfortunately no names he knew would be there, neither under alive or under casualties.

When Kondo looks over it, his family would appear in full.

Tenshi looked through the list "This is awfully small for the lack of bodies we found in Kumo. So that means one of two things. One they were taken as prisoners. But that would be a lot of prisoners to have to deal with. Two they made it to the mountainous regions in Kumo. I know there are cave systems up there that have outlets to the ocean and underground water. So food and water would be plentiful. As long as they had people who knew how to fish and how to purify water." His eyes were filled with emotion "My family most likely fell back to areas that were dense with trees, or the mountains as well. Places where they could hide and stay alive."

Tenshi looked at Fuji "Sense I have a feeling I will be promoted. I am hoping there is a squad or missions I can undertake to go investigate what happened to them." An arc of lightning dances from one eye to the other "Then I plan to aid in taking everything back.." It was in Tenshi's body language. He wanted to destroy the snow..

Sakuya managed to fight back her tears as she found out the condition of her parents. She was glad that her father survived and arrived here, but at the same time there was a sense of grief over the loss of her mother. She passed the scroll to Tenshi and Sozui as she took the time to compose herself.

"Will there be time to get some rest after this, sensei?" Sakuya decided to ask as she looked up to Fujii after drying her eyes. They had finished a long journey, and it would be nice to use what little amount of time they may have to catch up with family and friends.

Nanami arrives at the office building. At first she didn't notice Sakuya and went about the reason she wanted to come back. She knew Nori had her reasons as well. She bows to Sarada "Hime, three questions.. I was wondering if you could tell me if my mother Tamari is serving on the council? Can I make an appointment with Lady Sakura? And I would like to make a request to put on a concert for the village. Not sure if there are forms or something I would need to fill out?" While she waited for the answers to her questions. Her eyes scanned the other ninja and civilians from other villages. It was a sad sight so many people hurting, while others are rejoicing. At least either outcome meant her mother was alive, and her father is most likely serving on the council as well.

As she looked around the room she noticed Sakuya. This made her really happy, knowing she had survived. Nanami walks up behind Sakuya and hugs her "Sakuya!" She says with a very happy smile. She let out a long sigh of relief. At least this weight was lifted from her. Knowing her dear friend was alive.

Nanami looked at the three near her, including the older ninja which was most likely the Jonin of their group. She bows to them "I am Nara Nanami. I am glad you all made it here safely." She looked back to Sakuya "I am sorry if you lost family or friends in the attacks. Nanami sighed thinking about Sigmund and decided to not go into details about that incident.. She looked down for a moment then back up "I hope once things calm down, we can get a chance to catch up.."She smiles gently.
This message had punctuation tweaked by a game editor at 06:46, Fri 29 Dec 2017.

Sima nodded his head as the list had been passed around. ”Yes. You all deserve a break after everything. I’ll seek you out when the time comes or vise versa when you all are ready to get back out there. Take this time to grieve, reunite, rest, and train if need be,” he answered. The village was new for them all. ”Or even take the time to explore and get familiar with your new home,” he added.

Before he could say anything else, a girl had approached them, well mainly Sakuya and she was taken into an embrace. Sima’s eyes narrowed for a moment before going back to normal. She introduced herself as Nanami Nara. It was no surprise who her parents were as the last name was a dead give away. Sima merely nodded his head as he walked away, leaving his group behind to attend other business of his own.

Scanning through the list, a great relief washed over him as he saw that his family was okay, but judging from his teammates' body languages some people were either lost or unaccounted for. Sozui hoped that Tenshi's reasoning was correct, but he would refrain from encouraging or discouraging such thinking at the moment. It wouldn't be good if his voice betrayed what his inner belief on the situation was, and he was normally one to think toward the worst possible outcome of any possibility.

"I'll definitely be up for training once I touch base with my family," stated Sozui. While his family was safe, there were many people who had lost someone or were still waiting for someone to arrive, and he needed to be stronger so that he could help to make sure that those people got to their loved one's safely.

Watching as a woman walked up and began talking to Sakuya, he took a step back as to distance himself from he saw a rather private moment. "So what are you going to do next, Tenshi?"

Sarada has been assisting other refugees until she was royally addressed. It definitely was something she would have to get use to as Hime. The entire ordeal did make her uncomfortable as it would cloud the land’s perspective of her for her real skills as oppose to a princess. She was given several questions incredibly fast but the answers came just as quickly. ”Council members’ identities are prohibited for reasons being to avoid attempted assassinations or further kidnappings however to put your mind at ease, Temari was not selected to hold a seat,” she answered truthfully. The decision had been quite surprising when Sasuke had handpicked the members and for a great sand shinobi like Temari wasn’t on the council, it was a shock to all.

”As for an appointment with my mother and father, they’re not taking any appointments to be seen at this time. They have more important issues to delegate with unless your request is urgent and life threatening,” she replied politely. Her parents had so much on their plate that they didn’t even have time for their own daughter these days but she couldn’t blame them. The land’s needs were way more important in this era. ”As for your last request, I don’t see any harm in attempting to provide entertainment to ease our new guests and residents. As long as it doesn’t interfere with shinobi business, you’re free to do as you please but it won’t be an announcement we’ll make. This is your leisure period after all; you do this on your time,” she explained. Sarada knew the girl meant well and perhaps whatever the girl had planned, would help calm people down a bit and bring their spirits up. After her final answer wa sprovided the girl had taken off, whether in a rush or simply didn’t like the answers provided, Sarada would never know.

Sakuya let out a startled yelp when she felt someone hug and call her from behind. When she turned around and saw Nanami in front of her, Sakuya's eyes started to well up with tears as she then gave her friend a good hug of her own. Nanami could hear faint sobs as Sakuya tried to calm herself.

"M-mom... she didn't make it out from the attack..." Sakuya said as she held on to Nanami, "But... I'm glad to be able to see you, Nanami-chan..."

It took a while for Sakuya to collect herself again, wiping her eyes once more as she introduced her team to Nanami.

"That's right, this is the team I am part of from Kumogakure," Sakuya said as she motioned to her sensei and teammates, "This is Fujii-sensei, Akiyama Tenshi, and Kondo Sozui."

Nanami looked at Sakuya with a soft smile "I am truly sorry my friend.." She looked back at Sarada. She would remind herself that one answer had led to two more questions. Though she would wait until things with her friend calmed down before approaching again "It looks like if I take the initiative, I can put on a concert. It will take some time to organize. Hopefully when I perform you can come watch me?" She knew if Sakuya was able she would.. Nanami was slowly realizing her path. She had all the tools for offense, and to be able to heal and support her team. So she decided that her voice could be a strong method for both healing and harming. Thoughts on how to do this filled her mind.

When Sakuya introduced her team, Nanami bowed to them "A pleasure to meet you all.." She said with a smile..

Nori lightly folded her arms across her chest. "Nothing is ever really a coincidence, though, is it? Everything is linked together somehow, but I think I can say for all of us that we know just who it is," she replied and somehow part of her hoped that Sigmund wasn't a part of what was going on right now. She knew this mystery man wanted him, but for what purpose? Why did he need him so badly? Just to kill? He wouldn't do that. He wouldn't kill just for sport, but then again...from the last time she saw him...maybe he would. Right now, though, finding him seemed to be of a low priority and it's not as if she could. They were suspended, which meant they were stuck here until Lord Sasuke said otherwise. "As for these new headbands, well, it may not be Konoha's but Konoha is within it somehow. It is a symbol of unity and I will be proud to wear it." She gave her friend a small smile before she felt her hand taken by Nanami. Despite the fact that she had hardly said a word to her or Shiroma since they parted from Sigmund, Nori knew that she needed these two. Nanami was still her friend and she was grateful to Shiroma for having stayed at their sides despite how difficult it had been. "I will have to see about the training part. There's actually something I really need to do first before I can even think of doing that, but I am definitely for it. We have to get stronger and I have a feeling that we will be here for some time, so we can no doubt get plenty of training in."

When the two of them got to the Lord's building, Nori made her way over to retrieve her new headband while Nanami went about doing what business she needed to do while she was here. She took off her old Konoha headband, looking down at it with a certain fondness in her eyes. Konoha. Her home. She then looked over to the new Land of Storms headband and lightly gripped onto it with her hand. She couldn't help but wonder if Sigmund would be proud to wear this headband, too, should he have been here. She tucked away the Konoha headband into the waistband of her pants and tied the new one to her bicep. She brought up her hand and lightly traced the outline of it with her fingertips. She let out a soft sigh, but it was as she was doing so that she heard the door open and her head lifted up to see an elder woman dressed in a soft blue kimono with her hair tied back into a loose bun. Despite the world falling apart around them, this woman still managed to look refined. It was as if what was happening on the outside world didn't touch her.

The woman walked slowly in her direction with her head slightly bowed and it was just as she was about to walk past her that Nori felt her body pulsate. Something seemed...familiar about her. The woman soon passed her and went straight to the front desk. "Excuse me, young lady. I am Yumi Ishikawa and I come from Kirigakure. I was brought here by my daughter, Aria Miyamoto, along with my two other children. I have been unable to contact her for some time, but I know she was working with Lord Sasuke on some very important work. I was just wondering if there were any updates on her whereabouts? I am worried about her," her voice was both soft and gentle yet held the concern that any mother would have when it came to their children. Nori knew that voice well enough as her mother spoke to her in that voice, too. But wait. Did she just say that she was from Kirigakure?

"I understand your concern, madam, but unfortunately, I am unable to give you that information. All intel on personnel working with Lord Sasuke is strictly confidential," the young brunette replied as she shuffled through the papers that she was reading through in her hands. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Nori could see the look in the woman's eyes as she let them fall down to look at the counter and it irritated her that this girl seemed to just be dismissing her feelings. "I mean no disrespect, ma'am, but aren't you being a little insensitive?" she said as she walked over to the elder woman, who in turn looked at her. "She just wants to know if her daughter is okay. Is that really so wrong to want to know considering the time we are going through right now? As you can see, there are a lot of people here who are looking for their loved ones. How is she any different?" She stopped at the woman's side.

The brunette looked up at Nori and stared at her before she gave Nori a small scowl. "As I told her before, I can't give her any information. It's confidential. What don't you understand about that?" she said. "Now I am busy with more important thi-" But before she could finish her sentence, Nori slammed her hand down on the counter in front of the girl and looked at her with a fierce gaze.

"What could be more important than reuniting a woman with her child? If this woman's daughter is working for Lord Sasuke, which I suspect she is as you can't or refuse to say anything about her, than I'm sure she is doing a helluva a lot more important work than you are sitting safely behind your little desk while she's out there saving lives. Considering what we are going through right now, at least give this woman a little comfort instead of just dismissing her or do you not have any respect towards your elders anymore? You should be ashamed of yourself," she said.

The girl behind the counter looked irked and she set her papers down on the counter. The people that were there turned their heads and looked at the spectacle that was going on. They started to whisper amongst themselves and it caused the brunette to look around at them. Her eyes settled back down to Nori before she pushed herself up from her seat. "I will be right with you. Just wait a moment," she said with a hint of redness that had rushed to her cheeks with anger. She walked around the corner of the desk and went over to Hime to speak with her about the situation.

"You remind me a lot of my Aria. Full of spirit," Yumi said, causing Nori to turn her head and look over at the elder woman. She had the brightest green eyes that she had ever seen. They held a certain sparkle to them when the sun hit them just right. "Thank you for stepping in, but you didn't have to, young lady. I understood she was busy. Just as a mother I tend to worry about my children a lot. Especially when they go off on such dangerous missions."

Nori gave Yumi a small smile and nodded. "I understand. Believe me. My mother is the same way. She always tends to worry when I am gone for long periods of time. She's a big worry wart," she said with a light laugh as she rubbed the back of her head.

"It's our job as mothers to worry, you know. You are our children. We just want you to be safe," Yumi's gentle voice replied as she turned towards Nori. Her eyes fell down to the pendant around Nori's neck and she blinked. Wait. That pendant. It looked so familiar. Her eyes slightly widened. But it couldn't be...could it? "That pendant..."

Nori blinked. "Pendant?" she said before she looked down at the pendant around her neck. "Oh, this. Yes. It is...something that was given to me by someone very important." She brought up a hand and wrapped it around the pendant.

Yumi brought up a hand and lightly placed it against her mouth. "Well, it...it is very beautiful," she said. "If you don't mind me asking, who gave it to you?"

Nori tilted her head up and looked into Yumi's eyes. "Oh, well, it is...very complicated, but she is very special to me. I guess you can say without her, I wouldn't be who I am today, so I am very grateful for her giving this to me. I feel...very empowered by her," she said with a fondness in her eyes that Yumi recognized all too well.

"Well, I am very glad it makes you feel such a way," she said and without thinking, she reached up a hand and placed it against Nori's cheek, causing the young girl's eyes to widen slightly and her heart to throb in her chest. "It suits you well."
This message was last edited by the player at 07:03, Sat 30 Dec 2017.

Sarada had been addressing other questions when her eyes caught hold of the small spat that seemed to have drew attention. An elderly woman, Nori, a face Sarada couldn’t forget as she was on suspension, and another Jonin leveled desk attendant had caused a scene that had the entire room silent and gossip spread. It wasn’t long before she was approached by the brunette and was informed with the situation about a particular Jonin who had been assigned a confidential assignment. As Hime, her word was just as much as law as Lord and Lady Uchiha. She sighed, setting down her current questions, apologizing to the man she was talking to and had to walk over with the brunette in tow. The difference between Sarada and the brunette is that with her background, Sarada never cracked under pressure whereas this brunette needed more training as a leader.

Sarada walked behind the desk, witnessing the words of truth between that elderly woman and Nori. ”Yamads Nori,” Sarada announced sternly. ”It seems you’re causing a disturbance even under suspension,” she pointed out with a small smirk. ”And before you ask, I am very aware of who you are and your recent suspension,” she added before folding her arms across her chest. ”Now, I’m told you got vocal with an officer. For one, you are under rank. You do not speak to your commanding officers that way. And two, you’re under suspension so your little stunt right now was way more out of line than you know. Being under suspension means you’re not entitled to any shinobi business in any way, shape, or form,” she explained as she was the one who overheard of Nanami and Nori’s suspension through the chamber doors earlier that day.

”Now to address this issue,” she started as she unfolded her arms and looked at the elderly woman. ”I apologize for the behavior of this incident ma’am. As Hime of this land, you have my condolences. However as a Jonin leveled shinobi and the Lord and Lady’s third in command of this land, I have to provide the same answer as our assistant has. Your daughter is on a confidential mission. Due to the nature of that information, her whereabouts are also confidential. We won’t know the status of her being until she reports in. If any amount of time has passed and she still hasn’t turned up, that could mean a number of things from kidnapping, torture, prisoner, or even death. Aria Miyamoto knew the nature of the mission she was given and she accepted full terms and conditions. Because of these dire times of war, her whereabouts and status are strictly off limits. I apologize if we cannot help you more, however these are the policies and Lord Sasuke has them set specifically for the safety of the entire village and Aria’s sake as well,” Sarada explained as empatheticly as she could.

Her eyes turned to Nori once more. ”And you. You are hereby restricted to further suspension for breaking your first suspension. You are not allowed to step foot in any shinobi business buildings, districts, or the academy unless I personally summon you. Now please leave the premesis Ms. Yamada. I’d hate to exile you in front of the entire shinobi community in the future. Stay out of trouble,” she added as they stared at each other.