The Diplomat to the Mizukage

A lackadaisical wind blew quietly through the Village Hidden in the Ash the day Zirikpachi had asked Onimaru to journey to the Mizukage and present a modified treaty for the Kage's approval. Onimaru's hand caressed his own cheek as he remembered the lonely wind blowing, he dropped his hand back to his side, and opened his crimson eyes to view the village before him. A fine enough village it seemed, if a bit on the unorganized side, then again, Onimaru mused quietly to himself, almost any village seemed unorganized compared to the efficiency of the militaristic village his father ran.

None of that was remotely important to the mission at hand. Onimaru's hand rested on Shoukin's pommel as he leapt from atop his vantage point and landed gracefully on a roadbed leading into the Mist Village proper. His identifying plate flashed dully in the early morning light, the blackened silver still clearly showed the symbol of what used to be the Village Hidden in the Flames, a circle outlining a wildly flickering flame, this, of course was only barely made out when one squinted and peered into the fire blackened silver. Onimaru smiled quietly as he considered it, his father truly was a sentimental old fool, having kept the headbands of the fallen shinobi of the Flame Village. Apparently, Zirikpachi still saw the flames of the Leaf ANBU and could not let go even of these headbands.

It seemed that Onimaru's feet had carried him, finally to the first of many checkpoints into the Mist Village. Onimaru handed his paperwork to the Jonin in charge of the station, along with his headband for identification purpose. Onimaru quietly leaned against the wall of the checkpoint, lazily watching the clouds floating by until the checkpoint Jonin motioned him through, handing him back his paperwork and identification band. The diplomat sighed inwardly, for the process would have to be repeated several times before he even got into the village.

Several hours later, the sun was up, and Onimaru was finally inside the Mist Village proper. As he wandered through the stalls that dotted the streets, he purchased a meat dumpling on a stick from a nearby vendor for his breakfast as he made his way to the Mizukage's palatial residence. Having finally reached the building proper, he nodded deferentially to the Jonin guards that flanked the entrance to the building. He completely disarmed himself, and turned his weaponry over to the clerk, as was customary of the diplomats of the Ash Village. Onimaru was ushered inside, and was seated in the foyer, as he waited for an audience from the man himself.