[attr="class","APP3"]Seeing the hokage out in plain sight was a rarity. It was well known that she was rife with paranoia about the “old guard” of the village, she preferred the privacy of her inner sanctum and using subordinates to delegate orders. Some duties required the face of the kage. The Sound “Village” was different from most, different tunnels led to different places in the country. Still the places around their entrances were protected well and often featured outdoor amenities for shinobi to use.
She had gathered alongside witnesses at a pavilion that was painted in faded white over weathered wood. She stood among a small crowd with Ryota Sadao next to her.
“Today we gather to recognize chunin Ryota Sadao, for his valor in saving the life of his fellow platoon member in a deadly skirmish. Although Yusuke Uchiha has been hospitalized, he would not be able to return to his family without the bravery of Ryota. Therefore, with my authority as the Hokage, I am bestowing Ryota with the red ribbon of honor, one of the village’s highest merits.”
She pulled from a small black velvet casing a red ribbon with a golden emblem hanging from it. She seemed to be struggling somewhat with pinning it to his clothing, but eventually got it in over his left chest. As an old hazing ritual that held true, she lightly tapped the uncapped pin against his chest (not enough to cause any real pain) and leaned forward to whisper into his ear.
“You did well, thank you,” she said. After she was done she backed away. The Imperial attack could be any day now, so even a little good news was worth spreading to her people, even if it did make her nervous. She was sure that some hard asses would think giving the award to a relativly new chunin would cheapen it, but it was the actions shinobi performed that mattered to her most.
OOC: Mai will depart in a round or two, but if you want to do an after party or whatever feel free to segway this into a full topic.
If someone had told him a few weeks ago that he would go off on a investigation in the Land of Earth, and end up returning to some kind of honors, Ryota wasn't quite sure if he'd have believed them. And yet, here he was. Standing next to the Hokage. The whirlwind of events that had led him here still had his head spinning just a bit. All he had done was what he felt to be the right thing. His teammate had been injured, and they had mostly uncovered what was happening, which was what they had been tasked with. Making an escape was only the right thing to do.
So why was he being held up like this was some saintly thing to do? It was something that confused him, to a degree. But, he had been requested to be here on the orders of the Hokage. That wasn't something to take lightly. He kept his arms crossed behind his back, his left hand gripping his right wrist, index finger running a slow circle across his skin as he looked out at the crowd.
Some people looked irritated. Others looked bored. Some even looked jealous. He couldn't help but flash back to his graduation from the academy. The crowd had been the younger students at the time, but it was all too similar. If left to his own devices, it was almost certain that Ryota would have started zoning out. Thankfully, the Hokage began to speak, snapping him out of things.
There it was again. People calling him brave. He didn't feel brave. He did something he was sure any other member of his team would do for him. Of course, when she mentioned Yusuke, it took a lot for Ryota to not frown. He had seen what they'd had to do to him. It was more than likely that he'd be out of commission for quite some time.
They could have--no, SHOULD have done better. Even as that thought crossed his mind, he watched the Hokage pull the ribbon out of its box from the corner of his eye. As she stepped in front of him, he felt her fumble with pinning it a few times.
That was odd. Everyone had always called her the allseeing. Pinning a ribbon should have been easy..was she stalling for time or something? That had to be it. This was too simple of a task. She must have been dragging things out to emphasize the importance or something..right? His suspicion that she had just been stalling seemed to prove itself, as she whispered in his ear, congratulating him yet again.
"I did my best."
He whispered back. But something was..off. The response had been quick, but there almost sounded like he had a tinge of doubt in his words. His gaze hadn't shifted away from the crowd, who were now starting to talk amongst themselves, a handful of people starting to filter away already.
Had he really earned all of this attention, when things had gone so far south?
The Ametsuchi were always present during events and social gatherings. It mattered little if it was the inauguration of a new facility or the moving speech of the Hokage through the voice of her subordinates, if one were to look around, one would be sure to find one member of the family at the very least. Being the only one directly involved with shinobi affairs, Kei had wasted no time manipulating the agenda so she would be the one to attend. A hero, huh? It would be a lying if she said the topic had not sparked quite a lot of interest in her. You see, she was the kind of woman who didn't settle for mediocre, instead, she sought only the best amongst the best. And a hero, well, even if humble-looking, was worth approaching.[break][break]
For now, however, the white haired noble would keep her distance, respecting the authority that the leader of the Village possessed. Though Kei's ultimate goal was to stand where Mai Nobusuma was standing, as the most powerful and influential Kunoichi of the land, she was content with letting her occupy that throne as much as she wanted, at the very least until the Ametsuchi would rise as her successor. Ah, the confidence pumping through the blood of that beautiful genin was almost too much for the average person to bear.[break][break]
Some would welcome the good news with open arms, any reason to raise the morale before a decisive battle was a valid one. A minority did not find the idea of Ryota getting recognition very appealing... It was only natural: What they needed right now was not a hero who saved the life of his teammates, but a hero who could intimidate the empire and bring the hope back to the Hidden Sound. Solidarity was noble and all, but it did not play a major role in the big scheme of things. At the end of the day, might made right.[break][break]
The very moment they turned their backs to the stage ready to leave...[break][break]
A single gesture, a raised cup, froze them on their tracks. And so, like the puppets some of them were, they began clapping, a cheer suddenly erupting from the crowd as Ryota brandished a ribbon of honor over the left side of his chest. Just like that, without having to say a single word, the girl had changed the tide of the event.[break][break]
"..."[break][break]
Ah yes, a smirk had just been drawn across Kei Ametsuchi's face.
[attr="class","APP3"]Mai smiled and looked out towards the crowd with a blank smile on her face. She waited only a few moments before approaching Ryota once more and giving him a light pat on the back. She appeared to be peering around the crowd as many began clapping. The noise of it all brought things more to life for her, but was adjatating to her senses just as much.
She did not show much in the way of emotions. Her purpose as a leader had been served well enough, she told herself. She began to move away from the crowd towards a small farm house nearby which concealed the tunnel that would lead her back into chambers and coridors of the village.
Alongside her were two shinobi wearing white clothing with kitsune masks. Unless stopped she would quietly make her way out of the area to leave Ryota to enjoy revelry, jealousy, and whatever else might come.
Today had already been an odd situation. So watching the crowd erupt in applause seemingly randomly after they already started to disperse? That was just an extra shot of bizarre to add to the day. He didn't really know what to do. He hadn't become a shinobi for fame and fortune. He had become one because he just wanted to help people. Up until very recently, that had meant teaching others. Were his methods perfect? No. But he was trying. Thankfully, nobody seemed to want a speech. People were still dispersing, and the crowd itself was too focused on their own celebrations.
He was able to begin slipping away while the crowd was focused on the woman who had raised a cup. He had been given precious few moments to gather his own thoughts as of late. So with the offered distraction, Ryota slipped his way around the perimeter of the crowd, and slipped into the hidden tunnel that had brought everyone here. The Hokage had already been quick to remove herself from the event. Normally, this was the kind of scenario that Ryota would have been more than happy to attend. But there was too much on his mind for him to be as much of a pleasant people person as he usually was.
That being said, he could very much have been stealthier. If he wasn't so distracted by trying to parse out his own emotions, he might have been able to slip away in a way that wasn't so easily followed by the shinobi that had been in the crowd. There had been a few old guard, mostly retired at this point due to the effects of old age finally catching up with them. Even those people had been able to follow him. So the odds were good that if anyone wanted something from Ryota, it would be simple enough to follow them. All the while, he ran a hand over the ribbon that was now pinned to his chest, a small frown gracing his lips. He really wasn't sure if he deserved this or not.
Sure, he had saved someone. But if they had lived anywhere else, they would have been forced to live their life missing an entire limb. Was that really something to celebrate? Perhaps not. But then, he had always been most critical about if he deserved rewards or not.
"Maybe I should just stop worrying about it..." He muttered to himself as he walked down the dimly lit tunnel. Perhaps he was being too harsh to himself. The Hokage knew what she was doing, right?
