Uncomfortable Meetings - Side Story

Tsumi made his way through the streets of the village, moving at a slow pace as he was tired from his travels. After a few days of checks he was finally allowed to walk the city freely and was deemed a member of the village. He was set up with a place to live along with given a mission to do once he was approved to leave the village. Before that could happen however, he was told to report to Setsuna's office for a meeting with her on a personal level. Tsumi had heard a great deal about the women that led this village, but this would be her first time meeting her in person. He wasn't sure what to feel, he'd just have to play the meeting by ear.

Tsumi entered the building and made his way up to the office. He was asked to simply take a seat and wait patiently until Setsuna was ready to see him. Tsumi didn't really have any plans the rest of the day, so he took a seat and made himself comfortable before glancing around the area. He released just a small breath of air before having his hands hold one another in his lap. He'd wait until he was told that she was ready. After that, things would get interesting.

He wouldn't be waiting long before Setsuna's diminutive secretary raised her head from her work to speak to Tsumi.

"She's ready to see you now. Enter whenever you're ready." Setsuna didn't like to personally welcome her guests into her office as that could be seen as a little intimidating given her reputation and position as leader of the entire village. She preferred to allow people the opportunity to collect their wits and calm their nerves before they entered at their leisure. This man wouldn't be any different.

Upon entering the humble, yet well decorated room that held Setsuna's desk piled with neatly stacked paperwork, Setsuna would stand from her seat and round the desk to meet the newest member of her village with a firmly subtle handshake and a greeting.

"Welcome. Mr. Sukunaku, correct? It's nice to meet you."

Tsumi nodded before standing up and walking in to the room. It was humble, but Tsumi couldn't have expected much more. While Setsuna was the leader of the village, it was still a small village and the wealth here couldn't be anything too grand yet. Perhaps in time she'd have an office that matched the weight of her responsibilities.

"Tsumi if you'd prefer, but yes, the pleasure is mine" the Jounin said as he shook Setsuna's hand. Compared to Setsuna, the man felt like he didn't even have a decent handshake to offer. He said nothing though and took his hand back.

"I hope that I'm not here because I'm in trouble, I only just got here after all" the man said with a small laugh, mostly out of nervousness as he honestly wasn't sure why this meeting was being held exactly. He was just told that Setsuna wanted to meet with him, he wasn't told whether that was a good or bad thing yet.

"There's no need at all to worry," Setsuna answered his expressed nervousness with a reassuring smile and motioned toward the seat on the other side of her desk for these sorts of meetings in particular. "I just like to personally meet new members of our village face to face, especially if they exceed a certain level of potential danger. You can read all the files available on a man and never really know his character until you've looked into his eyes and really stolen a good look at his soul..."

And that appeared to be exactly what she was doing right now, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly as she met his gaze like a stone-faced statue, daring him to reveal something he had hidden deep inside.

"So I know that you've got enough skill as a shinobi to be considered jounin level, but are you actually prepared to uphold Hone's vow of non-conflict?"

"That seems wise..." Tsumi said but felt a bit uneasy with just how exactly Setsuna was looking towards him. She knew that there was more to him than he appeared. Tsumi had been vague in his stories to gain entrance, but perhaps it was time to tell someone the entire story. After all, with her question Tsumi knew that he couldn't lie to her.

"I feel that keeping the people of this village safe would give my life purpose again. But...to answer your question, I don't know if I could hold to that vow. I want to, but I have enemies in Suna that I wish to see dead. While I can't actively pursue them, if I ever came across them I don't know if I could just walk away" Tsumi said quietly.

"What they did to me...." he stopped as he seemed hesitant to share his story with someone that was practically a stranger.

"Please explain," Setsuna requested, her expression softening, though her tone kept just enough edge to let him know that the request was more of a formality and if he didn't plead his case there was a good chance he'd be tossed out of the village on his behind. "Any past grudges could be a serious problem if you kill someone from Suna and it gets traced back to our village. Even a single person could become a catalyst for the destruction of our fragile village."

Tsumi nodded and just held up his hand as he needed a moment to compose himself before continuing with his story. He raised his head to look at Setsuna directly. "I was raised in a village on the outskirts of Suna. I had been trained as a shinobi, but nothing too high in skill. Our village was peaceful, and we frequently traded with Suna for food and supplies. We had no enemies in the village...but that didn't stop them" he said quietly.

"One night, our village came under attack by an entire unit of shinobi. So few of us had any training. Most of the people there were peasants or scholars. They were cut down without hardly any resistance. I tried to fight, but my family was killed in front of me, and I only escaped because they thought I was dead" Tsumi said before forming the kai hand sign. Setsuna would see the skin on Tsumi's skin change before her eyes as deep burns appeared all over the exposed parts of his body, and likely continued underneath. "They broke my hands and threw me into a burning building before it crashed down on me. I survived, but this daily pain...this constant reminder of what they did to me, my family, and the village I loved...I don't know if I can ever forgive them for that"

"But like I said, I can't pursue them anyway. I only ever came across one shinobi from that attack I recognized. I questioned him about who all was involved with the attack. He was a good shinobi though, didn't give me any names...I killed him, and I didn't do it quickly" Tsumi confessed. "It's been over a year since then, and as much as I'd like to avenge my family, I know it just isn't possible. I'm only one man, I'd never be able to find the shinobi that butchered my village"

Setsuna remained poker faced as he told his tale and revealed the physical damage that had been hidden behind an illusion jutsu. She listened calmly and unmoving until he'd reached the end and she had an opening to form a reply.

"Do you know what the purpose of this raid was? Why did Suna suddenly attack your unprepared village with an unexpected full force assault?"

"We found something," Tsumi began to explain, "an artifact that apparently meant a great deal to Suna. I didn't hear all the details, but it was some type of spear that some past shinobi used. There was a lot of historical value to the object, but it meant little to us. The elders of my village contacted Suna in the hopes that they would purchase the weapon, allow us to have better tools and obtain more lands to farm. Suna apparently decided that there was no need to pay when pure force would allow them to obtain what they wanted" he remarked as he looked up to Setsuna.

"I at least assume that's what it was about, we were attacked a day after sending our message"

"Hm..." Setsuna attempted to not give away her sudden shock as she instead took on a more thoughtful expression, casting her eyes to the ground as she held her chin in her hand. "I see. I know the weapon you speak of," she remarked gravely. She knew it well and even held it in her hand once the attack on her newest ally's village had come to its end. She and Natsume had both been there. For a brief moment she considered explaining her place in this man's misery before thinking better of it. It would likely mean that one of them would have to die and she'd rather there not be any more blood shed. She'd have to keep him in the dark. It likely wouldn't be difficult considering the only ones in the village who knew of the raid were she and Natsume and neither of them liked speaking of it. "I am sorry for your misfortune. As a former shinobi of Suna I feel that the blame is at least partially on my head." She'd leave it at that.

"Many people are sorry. It's always appreciated, but it doesn't change what happened" Tsumi said quietly. "I can see why you left Suna. I always heard that the mist village were the butchers, but every shinobi village is just as bad. I just let myself believe the stories of how they'd protect us...I never thought my little village would fall under their wrath" he spoke.

He slowly sat up straight before bringing his eyes forward to make contact with Setsuna. His burned skin was still visible to her as he didn't want her to feel like he was hiding anything else. "Was the weapon so important? Was it really so powerful that it was worth spilling so much blood over?"

"Right..." Setsuna answered with a solemn tone as he effortlessly shot down her attempt at an apology for what had happened in his life. She recovered quickly to answer his question in a short statement.

"Other than significant historical value and some prideful boasting it held no more value. It didn't age as well as the Kazekage had hoped in the dry sands. It certainly wasn't worth the lives of an entire peaceful village. Nothing is worth that sort of cost."

Tsumi just nodded slowly, having suspected as much. While he wasn't a great shinobi, he felt he was knowledgeable enough to know if the spear had any sort of hidden power within it. So it had all been for nothing, the butchery, the massacre....all just wasted lives and opportunity.

"Sorry...but it's stuff like this that made you leave your village wasn't it? You couldn't handle it either huh?" he asked quietly.

"While I understand that sometimes violence is a necessary evil, the greater villages have begun to take their aggression to heights that left me far too uncomfortable to stick around until my life was forfeit needlessly along with everyone else in this village. I never expect to swing such a great influence as to halt the war that appears to be looming on the horizon, but we will survive it and perhaps convince even more of the alienated to join our cause before it's too late."

Tsumi nodded, knowing that Setsuna was right. He cleared his throat to try and compose himself before looking towards Setsuna. "So what can I do? If this is truly your goal, I'd like to help. I didn't receive training in a village, but I think my skills can still be useful. I'll help in what ways I can"

"All I can really ask of you is to live as peacefully as you can and help our village prosper. If you're a capable ninja we'll need to register you as such, which will give you access to the standard mission list that any other shinobi village would also have so it shouldn't be entirely unfamiliar. That would be a good way to begin getting up on your feet. Otherwise there are a number of other tasks around the village in need of attention that either this office or another resident may be willing to pay you for." She finished the statement with a smile of confidence, meeting his eyes in an expression of assured prosperity. No one who had come to the village yet had fallen on hard times. She expected Tsumi to be able to stake his claim in the village quite easily despite his past.

Tsumi gave another nod. "Okay, I can register. I want to be useful to this village, and I feel like my genjutsu can help in at least a little way" the man said before offering a small smile. He made a handsign as the illusion over his body once again took form, allowing him to maintain a "normal" appearance. "Was there anything else that I could do for you at this time? I know you wanted to meet, so if there was anything else you needed I'd be happy to stay longer"

Setsuna gave a quick shake of her head at that, shrugging off his question of whether she needed anything else from him at the moment. "There's nothing I need from you at the moment, I just like to gauge the character of anyone with reasonable experience with jutsu who seeks permanent residence in our village. One can never be too careful in a village built as this one was. You passed the test. Just speak with my secretary and she'll give you the paperwork you'll need to fill out to become a registered shinobi of this village. Thank you. You may go now if there's nothing else." She gave one last, quick smile before attempting to return to the work already present on her desk.