Well, his plans had gone out the window; but... well, that was expected. One thing his father had told him, as had his cousin and everyone else that had ever be stuck with the stupid hat and robes, "Expect everything to go to shit the minute you think you're set." Delightful. Maybe that's why he was just giving up, in a way. Fuck moving forward; or rather, fuck him trying to move things forward, as he was quite obviously not able to do that, not in any meaningful way. He'd screamed until he was blue in the face when they handed him the hat and office that he was the wrong choice, and now it seemed like people finally believed him. He wasn't his father. He wasn't his cousin. He wasn't anyone; just a famous name by his parentage, that wanted to make his own mark on the world; not be a rehash of his family lines. He was happy as an ambassador, he was happy as just being another Jounin that didn't have to make the major decisions. Shit, he'd be fine as a Sannin and a bodyguard, but not as the leader. He wasn't one, at all; even with his mental abilities, he was to indecisive, to peaceful at heart.

That pacifism nearly cost them a war. It drove his people and his family away. It nearly ended the growth and life of the village.

He needed to step down. They needed new blood.

Or maybe... old blood. Experienced blood. The mind and heart of someone that had lead before, with much better results.

Not his father; the old man was too tired and sick to take on the responsibility again; even if he claimed otherwise. Kenta would never claim otherwise; but they all knew he'd be dead inside of 6 months, or off starting a war with his attitude toward everything lately. Not that it much mattered anymore; but that was besides the point.

No... they needed someone a tad younger, and with more... sense.

They needed Aisling back. She'd been the best peace-time Hakage yet; and she was a damn site more likely to survive the tenure. Given she was suddenly perfectly mentally stable... he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Sweet fuck no. Not when this was likely the best opportunity for the village that had presented itself in years. So... he'd called her to come talk; not making his intentions anything but perfectly clear, and giving her time to think it over. If he knew her half as well as he thought he did; the time to think was just a gesture, and her mind had been made instantly. He was hoping for that scenario, because it would almost certainly mean that she was going to take over from him; and he was convinced beyond a doubt that was best for them as a people; not just for his own personally happiness and sanity.

Hell, he was pretty sure they'd end up sharing an office between them; given no one wanted to deal with the dank little shits they had down in the main admin complex. If anything, he'd made sure his office was accessible, but homely. Covered in the efforts of children and dogs and love and everything they'd tried to protect. It was a good place. It was a place they could deal with the world, and not be ruined. The walls didn't close in, they opened up to the world. If nothing, the office he'd build with his family and friends was what had kept him at this so long; that, and he was stubborn, to the point of self harm. Mentally, anyway. Yep.

Now, to just wait for her to arrive. Wait, and hope for a good answer.

Hakage.

The hat…

Was she strong enough for this? Physically.. yes. She was a force to be reckoned with. She was the sort of fighter who had many paths to choose from in a battle if one failed; a fighter who wouldn’t fall easily because she had so many defenses she could make an opponent give up out of sheer frustration. Add in a few body guards? A few people who she worked well as a team with? Unstoppable. It was not bragging it was simply fact. Everyone would fall eventually, everyone had someone stronger than them, and she knew this and acknowledged it as a fact… but that didn’t make her any less dangerous. If anything it made her more dangerous because she wasn’t cocky, she didn’t consider herself infallible, which made her more calculating, it made her think more, plan more…

But, mentally? Was she prepared for this? She had lost her mind in every sense of the word. She had broken beyond, or what was thought at the time, repair. She had left, had ventured off to the ruins of Konoha so she could live on instinct alone. And yet… here she was today back to the way she had once been: only stronger. Her mind had broken and repaired, and it wouldn’t be so easily broken the next time. Things had ended up working out for the better and now not only did she have her best friend and first love back, but her daughter whose very giggle and smile could brighten up the worst of days.

Yes, she was ready for this. And she would do this because it would be a way to unburden her cousin. A way to save him from breaking as she had. Aisling was always the savior; always willing to dive in front of the proverbial bullet to save others, and this instance was no different. Having the hat meant little to her; it was something she had had and had given up. She had never thought of getting it back again. And yet… yet she would take it. She would shoulder that responsibility, she would shoulder the weight of the village once more – and she would have people behind her to support her and help her get through all of the decisions, the drama, and the crap that came with having that hat.

So, with her decision made she entered into the office not by the means of the door because the door was for the ordinary shinobi; no she entered as she had so long ago through the window. She was alone for the moment; both of her ninken were off playing with Aella and Hoshi – likely still play fighting since that had been what they were doing the last time.

“Cousin…~”, she said with a smile on her face. Her tone of voice had been the same since it had been when she arrived: calm, collected, and happy. She knew her cousin could very easily look into her mind and see the answer for himself, but to make this more official she simply added, “I’ll take the hat.” Four words… and yet they meant more than most people could ever understand or appreciate.

“I’ll take the hat.”


Sweet fuck yet. That was enough to literally lift his shoulder; he was pretty sure he'd lost a few inches from the pressure on his shoulders. Given his spine was crackling.... yeah. This was gunna make for a chance to recover a few years back onto his life.

"Thank you. Just... thank you. You know how fucked up this job is... you know how screwed up shit's been under my 'leadership'." Shit, he even did the physical air quotes; which showed just how badly he thought of his job. Even using non-super famous Kage as a comparison; he ranked himself somewhere between "shit" and "apocalypticly terrible". Yay for shitty self image problems.

"I don't even really need to catch you up, beyond thank god for Kumo loving us, and Yokuchi not caring about anything outside of keeping the good flowing into and out of their markets. You know I'm not going anywhere outside of missions and shit, so you won't have to worry about that. Pretty sure no one's going to complain if you replace all my crappy systems with anything you know works; I think too much like an ambassador, so things are a tad more complex than they should be. Or something. I don't even know anymore; fucking elder's wrote me off weeks ago, and the Jounin council refuses to meet at all now. No amount of dragging their indigent asses into a room together will make them work, and I've already spilled a few gallons of their blood out of force. So yeah... let's see how well they respond to someone they like."

Aisling watched as her cousin seemed to inflate with life: as if a huge burden, or weight, had suddenly been lifted up off of his shoulders and he could stand tall once more. Yes, this was why in the end she had agreed: she couldn’t sit back knowing that a choice she had made resulted in unhappiness in someone in her family. Hat or no hat she would defend her family to the death – this was just a little less, or more depending on your viewpoint, dangerous.

She thought over her cousins words and shook her head as if clearing them out of her mind. “Cousin, don’t be hard on yourself. Some people are meant to be leaders others are meant to be advisors. No one can fill every roll no matter how much they may try. The village is still standing, and Aella is happy despite me leaving for so long, and that in itself says you’ve done quite a decent job. It doesn’t matter what other people say or think: for every single person you make happy three more will be unhappy. All that matters at the end of the day are those closest to you.”

With her words of wisdom spoken she turned her attention to the room her cousin was in; it reminded her of home – comfortable and friendly feeling, not the formal crap that a lot of the other office spaces were. It was a place she would be comfortable having to spent multiple hours a day in. “As far as everyone else goes… well, something tells me they’ll whip back into shape soon enough. I’m not above using my abilities to scare the hell out of them.” Sometimes drastic measures needed to be taken and that was exactly what she would do if anyone complained about her re-taking the hat and giving Hiroyuki the break he so desperately needed.

And suddenly, as if the room needed to be made anymore homey, the door to the office suddenly burst open and in came Aella covered in mud followed by Hoshi, Frost, and even Zoe who had decided that for once in her life she could act like a pup again. Aisling couldn’t help but laugh as she, the floor, and the walls became splattered with mud. Yup, it was definitely good to be home. Aisling bent down and scooped up Aella as she ran over, and hugged her. “Aella dear.. I have something to tell you.”

“What’s that, mommy?”, Aella asked as her head tilted in curiosity the same as almost every other member of the families did when curiosity got the best of them.

“I’m taking the hat again; Hakage again. So I want you to promise me something…”

Aella had a look of mild surprise and excitement on her face, but even still curiosity shined. “What’s that?”

“You won’t go anywhere without either an adult you know with you, or one of the dogs – and I know Hoshi and you have some skills of your own now but I’d feel better knowing someone else was there. Not everyone knows your secret, but it’s easy enough to figure out if you know what to look for; or sense. You’ll have a bigger target on your back than before: not only will people be interested in you because of Lil’ Bai, but now as the Hakage’s daughter and only child. Okay?” She didn’t want to scare her daughter but the child needed warned – she was in no ordinary situation after all.

“Okay, I’ll make sure I always got someone with me.”, Aella responded after a moment. She then wiggled out of her arms and took off out of the office giggling with Hoshi, Frost, and Zoe on her tail.

Aisling turned her attention back to Hiroyuki and grinned. “This is going to turn into quite an adventure…”

"Of course, of course. I was never as terrifying as you; but then again, I don't use my genjutsu to inflict fear, whereas people are instinctually terrified of Sharingan. Just flash that and watch them freak out." Oh, family? Yay. Much yay.

He slipped out from behind the desk, barely caring what he was doing when he flopped down in one of the larger dog beds and waited for the dog pile to ensue. He knew Shiroi was near by, even if she wasn't joining in the crowd; flaky pup was likely outside on a branch chasing birds or something; but the smell of the others would pull her inside quick enough.

"I'm going to take a break from things for a week or two; then try and figure out what's happened to my squad. One's missing, the other likes to hide, and then we have Aella, who doesn't need my training really. If anything, Dad should take her for a bit, he's been itching to give her dragons, if I remember correctly."

Aella and the dogs in tow ran their way down the many hallways, continuing to splatter mud and make a ruckus as they went. She could hear both physically and mentally the groaning and complaining that was going on by the younger generations and the chuckling and amusement of the older generations who knew how precious the time of a child was and the time where they could truly have fun and still be innocent. It was something everyone was going to have to continue to get used to: with her back that meant Frost was going to be back to his over-grown puppy self, and Aella was bound to be even more hyper and happy than she had previously been: those two combined made for a messy, literally, equation.

“That’s kind of what I’m hoping to rely on; scare tactics instead of actually having to bloody someone up. But, if it comes to that… well, it’ll be a scene none of them will forget.” Given how highly trained of a medic she was – leader of the Medic Corps and all – she could cause someone harm while keeping them alive, meaning the things she could do to someone to prove a point was endless. But, Aisling wasn’t a sadist, if she didn’t have to stoop to such levels she wouldn’t.

“Taking a break sounds like a plan; I’m sure Aella would enjoy being able to spend some time with you without worry of someone coming along and trying to pull you back into the office.” She thought over Aella’s training and smiled gently as she leaned her hip against the desk. “I think I’m going to just let Aella float for now instead of putting her on an official squad. There’s so much she can learn from everyone there’s no point in stunting her education with a formal squad.” It wasn’t like anyone would question her decision anyway: Aella was her daughter, her playing favorites was to be expected in a way, especially when she could prove it was for the best. Aisling herself didn’t plan on taking an official squad; at least not until she was back in the swing of things and accustomed to everything again: no point in pushing herself so far so fast.

"I think I'll wait a bit before I worry about taking on a squad as I did last time. Give myself some time to settle back in and get back in the swing of things. No use in pushing my luck and overwhelming myself so quickly."

"Yeah, waiting is a good idea. And I agree, no point in forcing traditional study on Aella now; she's shown she grows best by being able to learn at her own pace, and from whomever she wants to. It's not as if there's a shortage of qualified teachers in the family." Speaking of people; or dogs, rather; there was Shiroi, sticking her head in the open window and looking around for the source of the noise and familiar smells. "Come on, girl; come hang out."

"I figure, now that someone people listen to is running things, I can work on getting the programs and such pushed through we need; expand our medic corps, new specialists in the ANBU, etc. The current system is outdated as all get out; and it's proving that it doesn't work anymore. The insanity with Hana, Makkura, Kori, and whatnot kind of proves that. We can't claim to be better than our predecessors, when we're not even able to adapt our working models to fit new situations." blah blah technical crap. Boooring.

"Neh, we should get everyone together for a training slash family reunion type thing. Or something. I dunno. I need a reason to drag Dad out of the forest and get my sisters to admit they're home at the moment. Invite Amara and them, of course. Can't have family without family, eh?"

Aisling nodded in agreement: Aella was far from traditional in anything, especially her training methods. Most shinobi spent a life time trying to get as far as Aella was at that very moment in time and Aisling as well as everyone else knew she would only continue to get stronger as time went on. When Hiroyuki spoke of updating things she rubbed at her chin momentarily: thinking. “Yeah, it would definitely be nice to add some numbers to the medic corps. At the moment it’s just myself, my mother, and an individual known as Satoshi.---“

Before Aisling could go any further a bird flew in through the open window; a tiny scroll tied to its leg. She half expected it to land by Hiroyuki given how quickly things had just switched over, but the bird landed on Aisling’s shoulder and extended its leg. With an eyebrow raised she slipped the scroll free and opened it. Her eyes sped over the message and a chuckle escaped her at the end.

“Well… now that you mention Amara and I’ve brought up Satoshi… it appears that Amara heard I’ve become Hakage..” That wasn’t exactly something odd, after all, Aella and Gemma were just a warp away from each other at all times and Aella had likely warped to Kumogakure to inform Gemma who would have told her mother. “… Apparently Amara had stepped down in favor of allowing Satoshi become Raikage this way she can spend more time with family. She said in her letter that she’ll be coming for a visit as soon as everything is finished being settled.” Aisling knew that Amara had been reluctant to be made Raikage and had simply done it because Kumogakure had needed her and she was loyal to her village; but now that the rebuilding she had heard about had finished Amara was free to finally step down.

“Seems there’s changes happening everywhere…” Aisling had never personally met Satoshi, but that would definitely be something that would have to happen in the future to ensure the friendliness between the villages was maintained. It definitely would make her job harder for a bit, but it was nothing she wasn’t more than capable of handling.

"Oh wonderful. We can kidnap them for some decent visiting time; no random insanity pulling attention away. Or, well, no bull we'll pay attention at least. Just... need family time; we all do. Just a chance to relax and junk. First time in how long we're all safe, soundish, and not in danger of blowing up a country?" He had to laugh at the last bit, given his sister was always about to blow shit up, but that was beyond the point.

Aisling nodded: the idea of the family being able to spend time together was indeed appealing. The idea that Amara, Gemma, and possibly Raijin could even join in without someone having to be pulled away? Even better in her opinion. “Yeah, I agree. We need a good old fashioned family reunion. I’m sure Aella would enjoy that, too.” As she thought the idea over she couldn’t help but smile as a story her mother, Amaya, had told her popped into her head. It was a family reunion over twenty years ago: back when Amaya had been pregnant with her. Amaya had gone into labor and Ashi had… well, the freakout had been hysterical when her mother had explained it. The remembrance of the story made her grin.
 

“I can still remember the story my mom told of how she went into labor and the reactions behind it…”, she said with a chuckle. “It’ll be nice to have our own stories to tell.” 

"Yeeeah, I remember that. So many stories, they have; and so few do we. Our lives have been... simple? Until recently anyway; even with how much change we've experienced. It'll be nice to have a chance to fix that." Shiroimono had decided to come inside, and she was moving around the room to check in with everyone; a cold nose used as a greeting before she moved to flop on her master; slightly dwarfing Hiroyuki's scrawny form. She was no Aki, but she was still pretty large; enough to blanket him, even if he was fairly tall.

"The dogs are going to love this. First chance they'll have had in a long time to just... play without having to worry about anything. We're going to end up tearing down half the forest, I'd wager."