August Star: Past, Present and Future

August Star: Past, Present and Future

Life was never easy, especially if your village still found ways to keep you extremely busy ten years after you left the world of shinobi operations. Whoever said diplomats had it easy? Exhaling a sigh, Densetsu dragged himself through the huge gates of Konoha as the pleasant smell of laundry greeted him, signalling the end of another hectic month long mission hundreds of kilometres away from the Land of Fire. The three officials at the gates waved at Densetsu, shouting their greetings which had been long overdue, but all the tired Uchiha could do was curtly nod while touching the tip of his straw hat as he trudged along, eager to stop by the Dango joint before heading to his home all the way on the opposite side of the huge village.

The tired nodding continued as the villagers delivered their greetings on the busy morning, and finally, he reached the shop, parting the curtains as he entered the air conditioned room. The proprietor was the first to acknowledge him from behind the counter.

"Ah, Densetsu-san! Here's one face I haven't seen in a while, what'll it be?" He called. Seating himself at a table filled with a few gentlemen of his age group sipping on alcohol, he called back. "I'll have the largest glass of orange juice you can muster." Densetsu's typical love for juice drew the chuckles from the alcohol consumers, as Densetsu good naturedly joined in the laughter which was directed at him. A few younger girls a few tables away whispered excitedly as he took off his hat to reveal his long, silvered hair; but the tired man was in no mood to pay heed to the usual female audience.

"We've been hearin' all 'bout how ye' sat yer arse all month in that godfersaken tundra they call the Plateau of Ice, dawdlin' bout with those short fused natives, were they really tha' important to good ole home to make up fer the trouble?" One of the tipsier men asked him, a familiar face around the parts; and Densetsu stretched backwards into his chair as he replied. "Well, people do generally get pissed off when you exclude them from the technological boom for so long, so that kinda explains their frosty attitude, but well, we've got ourselves new trade partners...they've got the resources, we've got the tech and cash. You get the drift, even seeing the fact that I can't divulge the details of my work," the Uchiha stated, oversimplifying what had actually been a task classified as a 'genuine pain in the ass'. The less the public knew, the better anyway, even for fairly trivial diplomatic matters.

Another one of the men leaned forward, this one still fully sober, his half full glass in hand. "Well a whole load has happened over the past few months, seeing as Konoha has kept you consistently busy with all the goodwill bullshit." Densetsu was interested to listen to the man, who happened to be one of Konoha's information brokers. While Densetsu was very well informed pertaining to information outside of Konoha, domestic affairs hadn't been something he kept up to of late. Especially over the last five years. Times he spent in Konoha he spent with his family, or sorting out paperwork. The usual clan drama, political pictures and staff theatrics barely reached him anymore. "Enlighten me on whatever you feel would keep my ears tingling." Densetsu spoke as the orange juice arrived.

The man flashed a toothless grin before continuing. "It's about that lad, Rayuga. You heard of him?" Densetsu nodded, "Yeah, heard of the kid. Old man Shinzui was teaching him his variants of life lessons, plus he's Raido's kid, Shenron's kid brother. He came over to Konoha in less...strenuous days. Whaddid I miss?" The toothless grin widened as the information broker continued. "He's been on the rise lately over the past few years...came over and joined the Crypt Analysis Team when he was all fresh and green, rose up and got big enough to reestablish the Konoha Police Force, heh heh, and if he wasn't becoming big enough, you've gotta hear the punchline..." He trailed off as Densetsu raised a brow, leaning back and folding his arms as he gulped juice. The man trailed back. "...he's been made a Shukage lately, big stuff that kid. That's the reason we ain't been paying you much heed, Human Torch." He winked and laughed, bringing a chuckle from Densetsu.

But the Uchiha's interest had been peaked. His kids probably knew about Rayuga Uzumaki's exploits, but Densetsu had nothing to do for awhile, so checking the lad out didn't seem like a bad option. "I hope you don't charge me anything for this information of yours," Densetsu joked. The man shook his hands. "Nah, I'm too afraid of you to go that fair. On the house return gift." Densetsu smirked as he stood and tossed two coins in the direction of the proprietor, heading to the doorway. Before leaving, he turned to the information broker with a comically alarmed look on his face. "Kinda freaky how much you know, I wonder what secrets of mine you've divulged."

The man flashed his ugly toothless snicker at Densetsu again. "Only the good ones." But his words were uttered to the wind, as the tall Uchiha had already disappeared into the streets of Konoha.