An Odd Proposition

The gates of Sunakagure loomed over a man's body - their tall, majestic fortitude seeming to mock him, as if to tell him that there was no way he could pass.

Venin sighed at this and walked up to the gates regardless, his bare feet scorched by the sand around him and he waited patiently. There would be no guards foolish enough to weather this damned heat so Venin was in the clear, skulking in the shadow of the mocking gates. He swore to them under his breath, promising himself that he would find a way to get through these gates if only to prove them wrong and show everyone that Venin could cross whichever gates he wanted.

Venin's assessment was a correct one. There were no guards directly stationed at the gate at the peak of the day, when the sun shone brightest. They would be posted at nearby stations behind Sunagakure's majestic gates, but none would already know of Venin's presence. After all, he had yet to draw attention to himself.

The Kazekage glanced out of his window. The gates were far away, but he thought he could make out a blur of a a movement - perhaps even a person - against the vivid, surrounding desert. Reaching for a pair of binoculars resting on his table, he brought the figure into greater focus. It seemed he had done nothing yet to attract the notice of the guards, the Kazekage realised with a sigh.

He stood by the window, keeping the binoculars at hand. If need be, he would intercept the stranger at the gates.

"You had better watch this, Kazekage."

Those would be the last words any of the guards ever heard - Unless they spoke among themselves while Venin focused on bypassing the gates. Focusing his chakra in his eyes, Venin looked at the gates as six triangles appeared around his sclera - each marked with a tiny, indecipherable kanji. These kanji, when chakra was placed on them, projected themselves forward onto whatever Venin looked at, and with a small charge of chakra would converge at a single spot, turning whatever they hit to stone. The projections would only be visible to anyone with Venin's Gaze of the Gorgon, the Rinnegan or the Byakugan and this made it one of the most lethal abilities in existence.

Looking at the gate, Venin blinked once and the gate cracked and crumbled - becoming stone and shattering in the time it took him to blink. Venin's destruction of Sunagakure's gates would draw the attention of all of the guards, and they fleetingly jumped down to the mass of stone to check what the hell had just happened. They all saw Venin and, of course, charged at him - venom in their eyes as they sought to kill the man who had dared damage their home. One by one they all fell. As soon as Venin looked at a guard they turned to stone, and Venin turned them all to stone before they could so much as complete a jutsu.

Garasu would come to him and he would listen.

The Kazekage frowned, displeasure flickering across his face for a split-second. His gates were crumbling, and there was nothing his guards could do about it. It seemed as if he would have to come out to meet this ominous stranger.

---

Venin would see the mist first. It was quite a pleasant sight at first, appearing to be a glittering wind. In reality, it was a swirling, lethal cloud of tiny, razor-sharp shards of glass that could be controlled at the Kazekage's will. Venin could, of course, render it useless by turning it to stone, but he would have to nullify the mist a shard at a time. The mist began to arrange itself in a circle around him, leaving some space between him and the shards - but not enough to make keep comfortable.

The Kazekage, with an apathetic look, stepped forward to meet the stranger - albeit, with a thin sheet of razor-sharp glass between them. It was a circular shield, its radius wide enough to completely cover the Kazekage. At first sight, actually, the shield was almost invisible, so if Venin tried to petrify Garasu on sight, he would be in for a disappointment. It would not deflect Venin's Gaze of the Gorgon, but it would take Garasu's place, as the Kanji would project themselves onto the glass shield before him. And although this would render the glass shield useless, one thing the Kazekage never ran out of was glass.

"Good, I got your attention.

I am here to propose a deal, Garasu Suna. I've read into your history and you have a bloodline that I want... In return, I can give you something you want. Are you interested?" Venin mused, grinning slightly as he looked at the glass shield the Kazekage had raised - the light made it perfect for reflections and one such reflection had hit him straight in the eye.

"I am sorry about the gates and the guards, it was necessary to get your attention. The guards are not dead and the gates can be fixed."

"Sunakorosu," the Kazekage muttered, displeasure shooting across his face once more. But the look was fleeting as it was intense, and it soon disappeared to make way for his trademark neutrality.

"I care less for the gates than your deal, at the moment. Please elaborate." His words showed no hostility, as per his calm, indifferent approach, but the shimmering wind did not draw back just yet. He threw a glance toward the petrified guards, before returning his gaze to Venin. "What you said makes me think their condition is reversible. Sunagakure and I will harbour no ill will towards you, as long as they can be fixed."

"Consider it done, Kazekage."

Venin closed his eyes and turned around, the six triangles around his sclera gone for now as he pointed at each guard individually, whispering something beneath his breath as each guard took in a breath and the stone around them peeled like a shed skin - all of them looking around in confusion as to find the person that had done this to them.

With another gesture from his finger, Venin reformed the gates and they too shed the stone like a skin. This would give Garasu an indication of his ability - it lacked the ability to truly petrify anything, it coated things with stone. However, he did not know that this stone was truly unbreakable unless Venin wished it.

"The Shimasugan. I require a sample of your blood to cultivate the abilities I desire and remove the negative side-effects. In return I can promise something extraordinary - The Tsukuyomi no Dou of the prestigious Tsuki clan. The current Mizukage has one of the most powerful forms in existence - And I am sure you have seen him fight in the annual exams..." Venin smiled, looking at Garasu with some form of sickly sweetness - something about this man was wrong - horribly, horribly wrong...

The Kazekage raised an eyebrow. He did not know whether Venin intended him to see this process, but nevertheless he saw the obvious. His Gaze of the Gorgon did not cause the 'traditional' petrification, but that did not mean it was to be underestimated.

"It seems a fair exchange. I take it from your restoration of my guards, and the gates, that whatever your intentions, this is simply a deal between you and I." Garasu ran a hand through his hair, his expression nonchalant. But he was thinking. Could Venin really be trusted? And could making this deal lead to larger consequences?

"Very well." He finished. The silver wind drew back, even if just a little.

"A wise choice. I require a fresh sample of blood now, if you would." Venin smiled, handing Garasu a hypodermic syringe and looking expectantly - Garasu would have been correct if. He anticipated the deal having consequences, as nothing was simple when genetics were messed with.

The Kazekage took the syringe from Venin and, letting it hover over his skin for a second, took the sample without blinking an eyelid. The vial of blood at his neck, which he wore even now, hinted at the days where blood was a very active part of his techniques. However, he had sworn off the Shimasugan, fearing that corruption would take him over as it had done in the past.

Finally, after a moment of almost-silence, with only the lethal wind blowing around the two, the Kazekage handed the hypodermic syringe back to Venin. He anticipated that nothing would be simple, but this was for the greater good, and would help him to be a better Kazekage and protect Sunagakure from those like Venin, who had the power to breach it.

"Thank you, Garasu Suna. I will be back. And Suna is the family that got the doujutsu... So I will refer to you as a Suna." Venin smiled as he walked past the shocked guards, walking up to the gates and petrifying a small doorway, shattering it and walking through before reforming it. Garasu would see Venin again...

The Kazekage watched Venin walk from Sunagakure with a keen eye, right until the moment that the shattered gates finished reforming themselves, and the last glimpse of the vibrant dunes all but disappeared.

"Simply a visitor. But it may be more ... beneficial ... if one of you stayed on lookout next time, and from a less visible vantage point," the Kazekage spoke, facing the gates that Venin had left. The guards scrambled back to their posts, wary of his deal with Venin and the impact it had left on him.

"I despise that name," Garasu sighed as he walked in the opposite direction, toward his office. The shimmering wind followed him, giving him a brilliant luster in the desert heat.

-End-