Paying respects

Tarnish strode causally among the graves, careful not to step on the end of his long robes. He had his left hand up, holding the tip of the large Kage that sat rather precariously upon the crown of his head. He was never fond of the of the attire that his position granted him, but wore it all the same. They were hard pressed to find one that fit him, and even then it was still rather long. There were several other pairs left that had to be altered to fit him, but he stuck with the first one he wore for the time being. As it was, he was picking his way through the graveyard more on a whim then anything. He had intended to meet somewhere hear outside the graveyard, but found himself stepping inside to view the graves and pay his proper respects. He finally came to stop at the head of Hokage Memorial stone. He frowned sadly, reaching a hand out to touch it. It felt cool beneath his hand, and he sighed slightly as he let his hand slide down the stone. He sat down on his knees, ignoring the dirt that would accumulate at the front, removing his Hokage hat. He rested it at the foot of the memorial plaque, and bowed his head in respect. He heard bird call above him, and glanced up in time to see his partner Talon the Falcon coming down in a lazy loop. He flew out wide, in a large circle, and as he drew closer to the ground, he tightened the loop until he landed on the ground next to Tarnish. Smiling sadly, he reached into the pocket of his robe, holding out a few seeds for his feathery friend. Talon hopped closer, and began to peck at the seeds in his hand.

Sighing again, Tarnish waited patiently for Talon to finish all of the birdseed. After his hand had been pecked clean, so to speak, Tarnish stood up, brushing the front of his robes free of dust. Reaching down, he scooped up his hat, placing it back on his head. He turned around and sat at the base of the monument, watching the entrance of the graveyard for his guest. Talon hopped on his shoulder, preening a wing before nipping at Tarnish's ear. Jerking his head to the side, Tarnish made a face at him. Flapping his wings in his face, Talon took to the air again, circling above them both as he surveyed the area around them.

Lane stood idly outside of the Graveyard entrance, briefly tilting his head up to see the Hokage's companion, Talon, scanning from an aerial range. He ducked down and slid against the wall separating the city from the graveyard. He clapped his hands together and fluttered his eyes shut, forming a sequence of three hand seals, respectfully being the dog, boar, ram signs. He had used imagination alone to create a flawless transformation into a teenage girl, bright blonde hair and sparkly blue eyes, wearing a short schoolgirl's skirt and a shirt with the Hokage's picture embedded into it. Yet, the usual smoke that appeared from the use of this technique did not emit and kept Lane concealed for the time being. He gathered out a few large books from the satchel resting on his shoulders. Cradling these books in his arms and placing them against his stomach completed his desired appearance of a fan girl, and he quickly rose up, skipping through the graveyard gates, humming a little high pitched tune.

Lane did not exactly expect the small prank to work, but he thought he might as well put on a performance for the Hokage and allow him to get a little bit of humor into his free time. He continued to prance along the lively green grass towards the Hokage Memorial. The falcon, Talon, might as well have spotted him already as he was already out in the open. His ponytails bounced up along with his hyper pace as he diverted his direction straight for the Hokage, changing from the girlish prance into a fast gallop. "Lord Hokage, oh my!" He cried out in a feminine voice, charging directly at the Hokage. Lane quickly stopped himself before he could ram into the Hokage and began to rummage through his books, ripping off a spare page and retrieving a pen from his pocket and holding both items out in front of the Hokage's face. "Oh Mister Hokage, may I please get an autograph, pleaaaase?"He pouted out his lips, giving him the look of a desperate puppy. Regardless of the Hokage's decision to sign it or not, he laid out the book with the pen placed in the margins onto Tarnish's lap. He sprouted out his arms in the shape of a 'T,' and a puff of smoke hid the deactivation of the technique, Lane reverting back to his original form with his original Jonin attire, bandaged up and all. "Ta-da! How was that, impressive?" Before Lane could even allow the Hokage to speak, he continued on with another sentence, "I don't think I've ever washed this uniform since I got it, anyways, what are the plans for today, why'd you call me over?"

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Transformation:

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Tarnish heard the faint call from above from Talon, and he glanced up at him. Letting out a quick series of short whistles, he waited patiently as Talon crowed back. He suddenly frowned, turning his gaze towards the entrance to the Graveyard. What Talon had said made no sense. He reported that a girl, a young girl, apparently, was headed towards him. It didn't make much sense, so he scanned in front of him and surely enough, a girl came strolling through the graveyard towards him. Before he could even call out, the girl seemed ecstatic upon seeing him. "Oh Mister Hokage, may I please get an autograph, pleaaaase?" she called out, striding up towards him with a pencil and a sheet of paper. He stared at her for a moment, dumbfounded. No one had ever asked him for his autograph before, but what really confused him was that he'd never seen the girl before. He raised an eyebrow, and was about to speak, when the girl dumped the pencil and paper on his lap. Holding her arms out in the shape of a T, a sudden puff of smoke shrouded her from view, and in her place stood Lane Sarutobi, one of the Legendary Sannin. Waving a hand to clear the smoke, he spoke. "Ta-da! How was that, impressive?" Before Tarnish could respond, he cut him off with"I don't think I've ever washed this uniform since I got it, anyways, what are the plans for today, why'd you call me over?" Tarnish stared at him for a few moments, unable to formulate the words.

Talon came swooping down towards them in a shallow dive, veering up right before hitting Lane on the top of the head. The wind from his descent ruffled his hair as he flared his wings to slow himself, landing on Tarnish's shoulder. Hopping around to face Lane, he squawked at him, flapping his wings several times. Tarnish gave him a look, and he turned away to preen a wing. "Thank you for coming here. And I must admit, that was most impressive," he said, turning back to face Lane. "I'll just cut to the chase. The reason I've called you here is the same reason that I called Masahiro here, another of the Sannin. I'd very much like to have someone I would consider my right hand. Originally I wanted an advisor, but I know see that it is my responsibility to make the necessary decisions, and that it would be best if I only sought council on the things that were beyond me. That being the case, I wanted to know if you would be willing to be my right hand, a bodyguard if you will." He clasped his hands together, resting his chin on them as he gave Lane a serious look. "You see, I have no intention of lazing about the village. I have some big plans for the future of this village. So my question is: Will you help me?"

Lane sneered at the falcon as it dived at his head and flew off, leaving his hair ruffled and messy. He dug his own hands into his hair, removing one of the feathers that had happened to fall off from the falcon. Holding it in his palm, he darted his eyes directly at the bird as the feather began to have visible blue streaks running along it. These blue streaks increased in number before large screeching sound was emitted and the feather turned to ashes. "You need a leash for the beast." Lane said humbly, tossing up the ashes in front of the bird's face. "I also realize I am impressive." He spun around and began walking in crooked lines, holding a single arm behind his back, and with the other he made distinctive movements that went along with his speech. "I will protect you, act as a bodyguard, as you say. But realize that my specialty does not involve full-on combat, although I am very well capable of it." He rotated his head back onto Tarnish and cocked up an eyebrow, "Masahiro might as well take the role of protecting you, I may prove useful in other situations."

"And where's Masahiro, he has left the village I presume?" Lane exhaled loudly, unzipping the front of his flak jacket and grabbing a hold of his own shirt, pulling it back and forth to circulate air to his concealed skin. "Who wouldn't want to take a vacation from here? Feels like hell here sometimes.." Suddenly, he covered his mouth abruptly, realizing he's in a scared graveyard. "My bad, perhaps I used the wrong wording, but you get my point."

Talon flapped his wings in front of him, diverting the ash and fixing Lane with a powerful glare. "I will protect you, act as a bodyguard, as you say. But realize that my specialty does not involve full-on combat, although I am very well capable of it. Masahiro might as well take the role of protecting you, I may prove useful in other situations." Tarnish cocked his head to the side. He shifted how he was sitting, rising from his knees and sitting down properly on his rump, leaning his back against the memorial stone. His head was outstretched because of the back of the hat, and displeased with his position, Talon hopped from his shoulder to one of his knees. He shuffled his talons to better accomodate himself, Tarnish twitching in discomfort, until he finally settled properly, preening a wing. "I'd be happy to have Masahiro as a bodyguard, but I already asked him, and he declined. He said he would offer help from time to time, and he has given me a means to contact him, but other then that I believe he has no intention of acting as a bodyguard." When Lane inquired about his whereabouts, Tarnish shrugged. "I can't say for certain. I do believe he has left the village, since I have yet to see him after our discussion some time ago."

Raising the hat slightly to get a better look at Lane, Tarnish gave him a reassuring smile. "Just because I intend to leave doesn't mean I intend to do anything reckless. I promise you that we won't be doing anything that would require the expertise of your full fighting ability. Unless of course, we're really, really unlucky," he concluded, stroking his chin slightly as he mulled that over. In all actuality, he was a pretty unlucky person. His first mission as a genin he was assaulted by an unknown shinobi, and had to be saved by the KazeKage, who was luckily on his way to Konoha. If that's not unlucky, he couldn't say what was. "At any rate, we won't be departing anytime soon. There's still much to be done. Besides, I still have no clear destination in mind."