So word had recently reached his ears that someone else had come along and claimed leadership of Makkura, the village he'd brought back from nothing with his bare hands...literally. It made Alec want to laugh, honestly. Who was this person? They had to have courage to wander into the land of shadows and call themselves taking over.

Part of Alec, the nasty Chaos Squad criminal part of Alec wanted to find this person and show them what their intestines looked like. This part of Alec wanted to torture this person within an inch of their life, and do all sorts of unmentionable things to them for even thinking they were in charge of what he'd repaired, what he'd built, what he'd done.

The sane, rational part of Alec want to meet this person, to see what they looked like, to find out why they were so brave as to come here and call themselves Kage of this dark, forsaken place; why they wanted to be leader of an area that once housed a band of notorious criminals that went on to be left unchecked by this society's “heroes.”

Alec simply walked outside of the tower, and let his chakra radar go into play. The first thing to do would be to locate this individual, where ever he happened to be at the moment, and go meet him. Alec didn't really know what he was going to do once he saw this person face to face, but, he'd cross that bridge when he got to it....

Donk! The sound of the Kuraikage's shot glass smacking against the mahogany table echoed throughout the village's local bar. Saito slid the empty glass over to the disheartened-looking bartender and asked for another shot. Sluggishly, the Kage called over to the man. "Don't look so sad, Bar Man! Be happy! See my smile? I'm happy!" Saito's nauseating display of happiness gorged through his smile, infecting anyone in the vicinity. It was strange -- a man of such high standard was visiting and spending time in the local bar, like any other individual of Makkuragakure. Still, Saito wasn't one who worried too much about public opinion about his self. He was more concerned about what he thought of himself.

After a few more shots, the Kage brushed himself off and headed out for the village roads. As he stepped outside, he appeared to soak up the sun's energy and turn it into exuberant happiness. It's so good to be alive... he thought to himself. After all, if he was dead, how would he be able to marvel at the world's beauty? How would he be able to fill himself on alcohol once a week? These things would be impossible if it weren't for life.

With a smile that showcased every inch and crevice of the young Kuraikage's mouth, he set out back to his office. He had plenty of work to do and could hardly afford dilly-dallying any longer.

”You must be him.”

Alec wasn't far away. He spotted the man, coming out of the bar and seeming to soak up on sunshine, but, this was the Land of Shadows. The sun never came out here; even in the daytime, the place looked like eternal night. This man definitely looked out of his element. He was smiling and looked ridiculously happy. Did he know what he was getting himself into? Alec didn't think so.

”Am I right, then? Are you the person who stepped up and claimed leadership of this village? Because neither I or my people have ever seen you here before. In which case you need to be informed of some things.”

A tall man was speaking this to Saito. A tall man with white hair wearing a black cloak with a hood. This man was wearing a blindfold over his eyes, yet was seemingly staring right at Saito. His left hand clutched a black walking stick, used to “see” his way as he walked, but this stick was actually much more than that.

Alec braced himself upon the walking stick as if it were a cane, waiting for the response of this smiling man.

Still in a somewhat sluggish state of mind, Saito was somewhat distraught when a man in dark clothing approached him. He squinted at the man's face, trying his best to remember if he had seen it before. After a few seconds, he came to the conclusion that he hadn't ever seen this blind individual in his life.

"How about a hello or something first? Yeah, I guess I am who you're looking for. If you have any information regarding the village that you suspect may be new to my ears, I'm more than happy to listen to you. Then again, when aren't I happy?" Like always, a smile preceded and succeeded the Kage's words. He continued looking the man up and down, examining his dark attire and his cane. How did this guy even find me? He's blind... A look of despair mixed with uncertainty washed over Saito's face. He shrugged the thought away -- after all, he had seen weirder things in his years here on earth. A blind man capable of noticing someone didn't rank too high on the list, frankly.

Saito retreated to a rather unnatural pose, his hands forming a circle near his belly/waist. He didn't know this man, but it never hurt to be prepared.

Alec gave off the illusion that he was blind, and perhaps helpless. Good. That was exactly how he wanted to portray himself. When aren't I happy, Saito said. This statement sort of made the grin that was on Alec's lips drop some, as well as the crazy smile on Saito's face. Once he looked Alec up and down, he looked sort of worried, or scared. Saito then took a strange stance with his hands at his mid-sesction in a circle. Was he preparing to attack? This is what made Alec grin again, and if such were the case, he was more than prepared.

”...You... If you really want to call yourself the leader of this place? That's fine... but you should know that it was I who brought this village back from the shithole state it was in 5 years ago. It was I who restored order, established the trade routes, ran off the invaders, built everything back up from the nothing that it was when I first came here all that time ago...”

Some of the villagers who were standing around, who were still loyal to Alec and his family, began to nod in agreement with him, remembering back to the armpit status that Makkura was in before his and his family's arrival.

”...And then you come along, claiming owner and leadership of what I repaired. Like I said, that's fine... So long as you understand who's really in charge? Who's really responsible for the village being in the beautiful condition that it's in? Well... you won't have to lose an arm, or a leg, or worse case scenario, your head. Most of all having your brains turned into hamburger, or risk a small child coming along and burning you to death.”

He grinned as he said this, but he was dead serious. Alec was a lot more forgiving and lenient than his son. Junior? There would be no talking to the child. He was a shoot first, ask no questions type of individual, and it was probably a good thing that he wasn't in the village at the moment...

The mystery man's words troubled Saito a bit, but Alec had gotten the Kuraikage all wrong. He had never taken the Kage position for power. Power didn't mean anything to him. He took it for influence, for a goal that he had yet to reach. All of his decisions were premeditated and one-hundred percent based on the current state, and future state of the village (as far as happiness goes).

"I am grateful for what you have done for the village... However, your threats, and words I fear, are currently unnecessary. I never took this position to call myself a leader, or even for personal benefit. No, on the contrary. I took this position because it allowed me a podium from which my words could be heard." Saito paused before continuing. "As far as I'm concerned, the title of 'Leader' remains arbitrary when pertaining to this village. Everyone owes it to themselves to act as leaders to help make this village a better place to live -- no -- the best place to live. We owe it to ourselves, neighbors, and ancestors."

A grin even wider than before overtook the Kage's face. "As for your threats.... Please, keep them to yourself. I don't know you personally, but someone who adores this village is a friend of mine." Saito held out an outstretched hand. "I look forward to hopefully cooperating with you in the near future to make this village a better place."

Alec listened to the man. He claimed that he wasn't 'trying to take over' or 'invade Alec's turf' so to speak. He claimed the title of Kage 'because it allowed him a podium from which his words could be heard' according to him. The question in Alec's head at the moment had to be, what makes you think anyone here wants to hear what you have to say, and why do you consider yourself so important that anyone should listen to you?  Alec didn't ask Saito this, of course.

He said, in so many words, that the title of “leader” was pretty much pointless and empty, and asked that Alec keep his threats to himself, commenting on how someone who loved the village was a friend of his. He held out a hand after his speech, probably hoping to possibly make friends with Alec. The bindfolded criminal simply looked down at the outstretched hand, and back to the face of the smiley man, wondering if he was for real. Alec had family members that got off to torturing individuals such as this. He didn't ever see them becoming friends, and Alec didn't ever see this man becoming a legitimate leader of the Land of Shadows. So, keeping his hands upon the top of his Blind Fury stick, Alec let Saito's outstretched hand hang there unanswered.

”...So long as we have an understanding. Otherwise... things could get get messy. Be sure to remember this.”

With this said, Alec turned and began to head back toward the large tower in the center of the village without another word.

[Exit, unless prevented]