OPEN!: Kisame's whirlwind diplomatic tour

[noboatbigenough]

Who: Hoshigaki Kisame, and whoever wants to meet him/work with him on his mission
When: Late March-mid April ..ish? I'm flexible!
Where: Kirigakure -> Sunagakure -> Konagakure -> ??? -> profit!
Notes: Kisame has been named Kiri's official ambassador to Suna and Konoha and possibly other places. The latter is because he and his clan have been pushing for it, and the former is because Yagura is a dick and likes sending Hoshigaki to the desert.


In Kiri, before leaving

Kisame almost hadn't expected it to happen, even with the pushing Great Grandmother had been doing, and the hints he'd dropped, and the more outright pointed statements that had been calmly delivered. When it did, he was as unprepared as he could be, having been eyeing an assassination that had looked fun. Having a mission scroll shoved into his hands like that had almost pushed Kisame into being visibly off-guard. The papers were first, declaring him an official ambassador, and Kisame had to smile.

He didn't know why Mizukage-sama had suddenly decided to do it (and give it to him of all people) but he was going to have a chance to get in those spars he'd promised--

Suna. Well! Now Kisame wasn't so surprised. It would be like Mizukage-sama to give him what he was asking for but not what he wanted, though it wouldn't hurt to get some more desert training in. Kisame wasn't going to let this disrupt him.

It didn't take long for Kisame to prepare. A debriefing or two, a notice of his absence, and a little packing was all. It would be interesting, he thought, as he headed towards the travel seal.

In Suna
The desert burned, as usual, and Kisame had work to do this time. There was an escort to meet, first, and then maybe he could wrangle a tour. He'd probably already seen most of it, but seeing a native's reaction to the place could be telling.

Then there were meetings and paperwork. Kisame actually had an idea of a program that might foster closer ties and make them both stronger. He wasn't a stranger to how hard the desert was on Kiri-nin, even non-Hoshigaki ones, and he'd noticed more than one Suna-nin having trouble in return. A brief exchange for training purposes, probably of genin, would help both sides adapt better to the opposite environment. He had a Suna-nin to thank for giving him the idea, if he saw her.

And, of course, he couldn't be in Suna without hoping for another spar. The one with Sephiroth had been invigorating, and so many of the locals seemed strong. Kisame wanted to test it.

In Konoha
Konoha was as interesting as last time, and this time Kisame was himself, Samehada and all. If they didn't respect his weapon, he'd be a poor ambassador, so he'd brought the sword. That, and he hadn't wanted to leave it behind and find out one of his cousins had gotten drained close to unconsciousness after getting too close.

The official business was much the same here, though Kisame had fewer ideas on ways to improve relations. Well! Official ones, anyway. He had more than one "gift" of treats for the Hokage, and sparring was always an act of at least a minimum of trust when it happened between shinobi of different villages, so that might work in his favor.

He wondered who his escort would be this time, and if he might get to spend more time looking around, this time without the burden of reporting every little detail back.

((ooc: The top post is a general glossing of what Kisame will be doing! Put up a starter, or for something more focused, ping me and I'll write up something in post.))

Comments

In Konoha: For Adela

[noboatbigenough]

[Kisame has been cautious about sending even coded missives, or using the scrolls, but he had promised to check in. Now that he's here, there's less danger of it being intercepted by someone who would raise alarms that didn't need to be raised.

It didn't take long to pen a quick note on an afternoon he had more or less free and send it off by bird.]

In Konoha. Will be waiting at the visitors' training area.

K

[Short and very few details, in case it was intercepted, and if Adela didn't show up, well, it was no skin off his back.]

[thebestuchiha]

He'd be getting an escort, but Obito had heard the man was coming today, and had decided to drop by and greet him for himself instead of waiting for the man to come to him in his tower. Not proper procedure, but he liked ambushing his foreign guests sometimes, and it was an admittedly bad habit he'd picked up over the years that his advisors despaired of breaking him of.

"Kisame-san, you made it without any issues?"

In Kiri

[withfocus]

After informing Sephiroth of his impending departure, Naoki took his gear and a second hat to give to Kisame. He doubted Kisame would bring one of his own. Another trip to the desert wasn't exactly high on the list of things he wanted to do, but each time he went to Suna it was a little easier. And at the very least he knew a few shinobi over there.

"Hey Kisame-san." He said, giving a little wave when he saw the jounin.

In Suna naturally

[abluntwind]

When she was given the assignment of escorting the envoy from Kirigakure, Temari had to bite back a snort. That wasn't in her job description and it didn't matter if she was an ambassador for the village or not. What could her watching some jounin from Water Country possibly do to benefit her or the envoy? But she was there just inside the mouth of the narrow passageway that lead from the blistering desert to the village proper. She hated the waiting as the guests made the trek from seal point to the village. It bordered on mind-numbingly boring standing there. Leaning back against the warm stone, she propped one foot up against it and drummed her fingers into her arm.

So imagine her surprise when a familiar silhouette approached. She raised an eyebrow when he got close enough to see but otherwise remained the picture of bored escort.

"Well I guess we can skip introductions can't we Hoshigaki-san?"

In Konoha

[notveryspecial]

Last time she followed a visitor from Kirigakure, she'd ended up with...at least something interesting to observe. She couldn't say yet that the information was useful, as her line of investigation had taken a sharp and unfortunate left. Still, now that her leg was doing well enough to use properly again, once she heard they had another such visitor, it was worth delaying her usual schedule to search for him.

...Were all Kiri nin so tall?

She squinted up at him once she spotted him on the road, and then approached him, hand on her hip. Just how much of his appearance was induced and henge to make him look intimidating to those around him?

"...Isn't it difficult to blend into a crowd?" Of the questions that occurred to her just looking at him, that was the one she couldn't resist at least saying. There was more to ninja than fear, after all. At least in Konoha.

In Konoha

[disgruntledmountain]

It didn’t really do the man justice to say he stuck out. Frame and coloring aside, he had a presence that should make anyone want to hide, freeze, or reach for a weapon. Even in a place like Konoha, he attracted some attention. Fugaku had not expected to run into foreigners today.

Fugaku would have kept walking, but he recognized one of them. The smaller of the two, less a man more a boy. In fact he’d seen that one not too long ago. Coincidence, something else? Something in between?

As prudent as not messing with whatever diplomatic soup Obito no doubt had stewing might be, just walking away when he’d vaguely met one of them might look suspicious. Or proof his eyes were as bad as Mikoto said they were. And it provided a decent opening for some casual conversation.

“Kashima-san, I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.” Perhaps not the most inviting welcome, but no one believed Fugaku when he tried to be welcoming.

SUNA | MARCH 31ST

[wind_and_whirl]

Hoshigaki was certainly a popular name in Suna. Kazue may not have been overtly social for her focus on training to increase her strength and power and expand her art, but that didn't mean she didn't have ears good and sharp enough to catch and discern such things, nor did it mean she was ignorant as to the significance thereof. Punctuated questions had followed to shore up her knowledge for a particular curiosity and a departure by her person that was all too familiar to her acquaintances had followed; though, this one was admittedly more hurried for a focused intent, to the point that she moved swiftly, seamlessly through Suna's streets in search of their esteemed guest from Kirigakure, her tanuki puppet poised atop her shoulder with a paw set above his eyes as though in search.

That search would conclude with a sighting that would see her draw such speed as to fluster any native in the man's company only to abruptly grind to a halt several feet in front of him, sand swirling at her feet for her insistence upon the tactic. She was appropriately wary of retaliation and ready to move at a moment's notice of the situation called for it, of course. Drawing herself up, Kazue straightened and immediately shifted her gaze so as to size this Kisame Hoshigaki blatantly up, then lifted her eyes to lock gazes with him. There was no fear to be seen or felt through her own gaze, only a powerful determination and she was prompt in address, prompter than his company in reprimand, at least, who was rather unfortunate to find the eyes of the tanuki puppet atop her shoulder cautioning them into silence.

"You look strong," Kazue said, a note of approval audible despite her tone. For her words, Takkun shifted his gaze to Kisame and leaned forward curiously, earnestly as his puppeteer continued speaking. "People speak highly of your strength and ability, Hoshigaki-san, but words are words. How strong are you and how skilled in water release? That's what I want to know. I want to know if you're strong enough to train me."

In Kiri, before leaving

[thegreatninja]

Yuffie wasn't really do anything in particular. Her hands were shoved in her pockets and she was walking until her feet took her somewhere she wanted to go. She could always train which was what she spent most afternoons doing.

Her eyes flicked up towards Kisame. "Hey." She was just going to walk past him but she stopped.

"Where are you going?" More likely than not her curiosity would just get her in trouble again.

[ooc: I didn't know if you wanted past CR with these two.]