Ramen Talk [IO]

What was once a weekly family visit to a favorite ramen shop to eat and spend time with each other had turned into something to escape from what was a dreadful reality. Isami could reminiscence the memories like they were yesterday. Happiness, joy, the feeling of being united, and being surrounded by people she love. Now, she sits by the counter with a bowl of her favorite dish, Tonkotsu ramen all by herself. No mother, father, sister,or even a friend to enjoy it with.

With just a slight stern expression stuck on her face, Isami slurped some of the noodles and stuck a piece of pork in her mouth. After finishing what was in her mouth, she placed her chopsticks in the bowl while her other hand reached for a glass of water for a small sip. A soft sigh of temporary satisfaction was made as she placed the glass down.

"...Damn, I can really use a smoke right now." She muttered under her breath, her fingers combed through her hair. Unfortunately she couldn't smoke in the ramen shop, so eating ramen was the closest thing she could get for relaxation.

Mitsukai was exhausted after a long week of work and she really wanted to unwind for a little bit. She was flying through the air, trying to figure out what to do when she spotted a ramen shop in the corner of her eye. She withdrew her wings and slowly floated down to the street below her. She straightened out her black long sleeve shirt and black skirt which had gotten curled up a bit during her flight. She looked around to the surprisingly quiet street. She yawned and walked into the shop. She waved to the man behind the counter as she walked up and sat at the counter. She looked over to see one of the genin from her village. "Hello there, my dear. You are Isami, correct? What seems to be the problem? You don't seem to be having the best of days." She smiled warmly, trying to help the young woman. Turning to the counter, she ordered a bowl of Tonkotsu ramen to enjoy for herself. As she waited for the food to come, she would turn more towards the young genin, wondering what was troubling the young genin.

Isami lazily played around with her ramen by swirling her chopsticks around the rims of her bowl. She zoned out into her own thoughts, but only temporarily when a voice spoke out to her. To her surprise as she turned her head around, it was none other than the Kazankage herself. Though, her ability to keep a stoic expression remained. Not that she was so fond of the kage's persona with someone that thinks of themselves so godly. Pitiful as she found it, it was also entertaining. She even had to hold back a smirk from the thought. It was why Isami's reaction to the presence of the Kazankage was more lackluster than anything, especially with her reputation of punishing those that questioned her authority.

"I believe Isami is my name." She casually replied. Isami cocked a brow at the Kazankage ordering what Isami had, but she kept the observation to herself for now. When she was asked what was wrong, she belted an exaggerated sigh. "My, where do I even start?" She said while she shook her head. "Family problems. That much I think I'll reveal to you for now." She answered.

She then picked up another piece of pork and took a quick bite of it. "Though enough about me. What's someone as powerful and angelic like you doing in somewhere mundane as a ramen shop?" She asked.

Mitsukai nodded, hearing Isami say her name. She received her food and began to eat it. She ate slowly in a dignified manner. "Family problems. I have heard some stories of things that can happen. While I do not know the exacts, I will be here to listen and help in any way that I can if you wish for help." She sighed, saddened by the thoughts of one of her villagers having family problems. She wondered if there was anything that she could do. She ate a bit more, hearing her question. She giggled and smiled. "I grew up enjoying these foods and will continue to enjoy these foods, no matter how powerful I am. I wasn't always the angel you see before you. I do have things in my past that are painful. I grew to overcome them and become who I am as a Jinchuuriki, an angel, and as the Kazankage." She said casually. She smiled and enjoyed her food.

Isami only replied with a nod in response to the nurturing gesture. Not that she hasn't received such a gesture for the first time, but it was appreciated that the Kazenkage was willing to hear Isami's woes when she was more than ready to be comfortable in telling her story. She may consider herself as an open book, but there were a few chapters that she wouldn't want anyone to read. "Oh? And to think that someone as righteous as you weren't as angelic as you are now." She half heartedly chuckled with a small smug. "But can you really consider yourself an angel with a beast sealed in you? Aren't you, in a way, tainted?" She questioned. Being a Jinchuuriki herself, she was more than curious to know how she saw herself as a Jinchurriki; still angelic or otherwise?

Mituskai smiled as she was asked about her angelic nature. "I have gone through a lot of trials, growing into the angel that you see today. My wings formed when I was about 13, while I was on a mission. It was a crazy event and I'm glad that it ended the way that it did. Those wings gave me the spirit that I needed to go through that time. My parents and sister are what convinced me of my angelic nature. I am the Angel of the Ash Village, blessed by a goddess with angelic wings. I will do what I must to protect this village and its people." A hint of malice and ferocity entered her eyes and then faded. "I do not consider myself tainted as a jinchuuriki. I consider it a gift. One that helps me defend this village with all that I can. He is nice once you get to know him." No I'm not! The dragon yelled in her head. I would gladly eradicate these humans if you gave me the chance. You will not eradicate those I care about. Besides, you really are a kind soul underneath it. You were wronged by humans and thus you feel anger towards them. That is reasonable. If those people were still around, I would slaughter them for you. For now, stave off your anger unless its towards our enemies. She ended the conversation in her head and smiled, giggling to herself. "Tell me about the one tail. Have you discovered their name yet?"

Isami took another sip of her water as she listened to the Kazenkage. It was an interesting take from her journey from becoming an angel and her viewpoint of being a Jinchuuriki. "Interesting." She cooed. Isami herself never really saw herself "tainted" in a sense of becoming a host of a tailed beast, but it was a thought that made her curious. "Ah, him. I wouldn't say I've befriended him just yet but... we're acquaintance for now. His name is Ebi. A bit distant but... he's a wise one to converse with." She answered. "But if I must say, and I apologize if I come on too strong, but it's amusing how you see yourself so highly of yourself. I think you may be giving yourself more credit than you actually deserve." She smirked to herself with another bite of her ramen taken.

Mitsukai finished another bite of ramen, listening to what she said. "Well at least you are making progress." She said and glared her down. "I give myself too much credit? What makes you say that?" Her wings shuttered, tempted to fly open at the accusation. The dragon smirked as he whistled innocently, trying to tempt her to go into a jinchuuriki level rage. She glared him down and kept her composure to the best of her ability. "I do not believe myself to be perfect in any way. I will gladly deal with any threats against my people or my village and I will deal with them swiftly."

Isami eyes turned to her ramen while she lightly hummed a short song to herself. It looked like she struck a nerve. She didn't have any intentions, but it felt as if it was bound to happen. "I never questioned your ability to protect the village, I only questioned the position you claim yourself to be that can clash with what your actions say otherwise. You're not perfect, but angels are. Angels can do no wrong, but humans can't. That also goes against your whole character of being one, doesn't it?" Therefore, you've given yourself too much credit than you deserve if you call yourself an angel, no?" She asked.

She sighed as she listened to the young jinchuuriki. "No life is perfect. Only the gods themselves are perfect. Angels are imperfect beings of order. They suffer from flaws just like humans." She looked over to the young woman and she ate more ramen. "Order can be just as flawed as chaos. Angels and demons are sides to the same coin. Nothing is truly perfect except the gods themselves." She continued to eat her ramen, thinking upon the words that Isami had told her. "So yes, I still qualify as an angel in those circumstances and I do not give myself too much credit." She took a sip of water the help the ramen go down smoothly.

"Hmm... so what you're saying is that angels and demons are on the same coin, so that must mean they're no different from each other. After all, one side is praised for being holy and the other deemed damned and unholy for doing the same thing due to their reputation and nature." Isami spoke, her voice sounded as if it mockingly drifting off into thought. "By that matter, you're no different from a demon. So who's to say you're an angel if you're no better than a demon if you have the privilege of being praised for doing one thing and a demon being damned for the same thing an angel did?" She asked, casually popping another piece of pork into her mouth.

Mitsukai actually chuckled at this thought. "Yes and no. They are opposites. People misunderstand or misinterpret the nature of demons. Good and evil isn't always clear. People tend to associate good and evil with order and chaos respectively. I represent order and try to fight for the greater good of all living beings. You can be an angel and represent evil. You can be a demon and represent good. Angels are order, demons are chaos. That is the difference. Angels are revered as holy because many represent lawful good. That is why they are revered. Demons are considered evil because chaos is looked at as evil in many cases. Plus many demons fall along chaotic evil. Make sense?"

Isami's eyes went back onto the Kazankage as she squinted out of slight confusion. "Angels who've committed evil are fallen angels, and those same angels considered as such are associated with demons. I believe you're only making special cases for demons that can commit good, but you wouldn't find goodness in a typical demon now, can you?" She retorted. "If a majority represents one thing, what's the point of trying to scope out the small minority that doesn't fit into the big picture? I'll admit, I will give you the point that good and evil is more than black and white. However, even then there's a reason why people strictly associate nothing but good with angels and nothing but evil with demons. You say that you fight for the greater good now, but will your actions in the future say the same?"

Mitsukai sighed and nodded. "There is no finding the good in someone who wishes ill will towards my people. If a minority is good and doesn't fit the majority, you nurture the minority to ensure the betterment of the living. If you persecute everyone, you end up with more enemies. I fight for the greater good and my actions will prove it in the future. Believe in me and I will guide our village into the future. I will make sure that this village stands on the top." Mitsukai shifted her point of view towards the girl and smiled. "If anyone in my village ever has trouble, I will be there to help them if it is within my power."

"Hmm... yet you don't want to nurture the minority that have ill will and convert them into the greater good? Sounds a bit biased to me, but alas," She paused to finally slurp some of her ramen before she continued. "Who am I to try and convert people into my beliefs? But I will say this one thing:" Isami took another moment to finally turn her head at the Kazankage to give her her full attention. "You may have good intentions, will, and motivation, but you are no angel. By no means I doubt your ability to lead or protect, but I do doubt the self-proclaimed title."

"Not everyone is redeemable. I will try to convert those that do not follow our ways. I am not naive enough to believe that everyone can be brought over to my beliefs. I know that even if I try, I will not succeed at converting those to our ways. And the title is not self-proclaimed. It was given to me by my parents and my sensei. I trust their judgement in giving me this title. I accept it and will be the angel that this village needs. I do not care the cost." The malice in her eyes returned and disappeared within seconds. "If I have to prove it to you, then so be it."

"You're very persistent now, aren't you?" Isami giggled. "Then again, you're the Kazankage and I'm but a simple genin trying to get by. Do whatever you must is necessary for the village by all means. She said. Just when she finally finished her glass of water, one of her eyebrows rose at the other woman a second time. "What is there to prove to me? As I've said, I never doubted your ability to protect. The gesture to prove something to someone like me does raise a bit of excitement..." Isami stopped again and flashed a teasing smile at the Kazankage as she slid her glass towards the woman. "How about you be an angel and ask for a refill for me, yeah?"

Mitsukai looked at the genin with her eyebrow cocked. "Are you really asking me to get you a refill? One, that's not my job. Two, that's not really something an angel does. Three, I am pretty certain even if I did, the management here would rather not have me in their kitchen due to sanitation concerns." Mitsukai sighed and looked to the nearby worker who came over to refill the glasses as they were able to hear the conversation. Looking back at the genin, she then winked. "Although it raises some excitement for you, I don't think you will be my lover. Forgive me, but I don't think you would be my type." She giggled in her head. "Although, you are very beautiful. Love the hair." She smiled and finished her bowl of ramen and yawned. It was a very filling bowl of ramen and she had enjoyed it quite thoroughly.

Isami made a fake pout and rolled her eyes while she took her glass back just in time for a worker to refill her cup. "Some angel you are, then." She sighed. Then, for the first time since the conversation sparked, Isami made a face of confusion. She would be lying if she claimed what the Kazankage said threw her off guard for a moment. "But I- why would I-?" Isami took a moment to recollect herself before she sighed and finished the remaining ramen in her bowl. "Well, it was an... interesting conversation we had." She said as she hopped out of her seat. "I wouldn't say I'd like to find and converse again with you, but I wouldn't pass up the opportunity if I were to bump into you. Until then."