Welcome to Gaia! ::

::Hinata, herself still red, blinked a few times, letting his words sink it. After a few more moments she looked at him, searching his eyes quickly. Then all nervousness left her and she let out the most releived and joyful laugh, springing from her chair and tackling him in his own in a sudden fit of happiness::

Oh Kotai-kun!!

::her arms wrapped around his neck and she hugged him as tightly as she could, without choking him too much::

::she was now visibly more relax, still holding onto him and murmering into his chest::

I love you too Kotai-kun.

::she hadn't thought about what this would all mean. About the implications for him as an heir or a leader. She didn't think about what it meant since they were both shinobi, their life full of danger that could rip them away at any point. She just didn't care at the moment. For now, she was happy to know that she had found someone to make her happy::

::she smiled and gave him a bit of a squeeze. Chuckling she teased him::

Is this going to set you even further behind on your work? You know that they are already ragging on you about it

::she gave a breif glance over to his desk::

But you cannot just leave your responsiblity behind. We learned a long time ago that we couldn't. And now it may be even harder. We still have no Kage and we are still in some disrepair. Leaf is still shakey and I am not sure how any of them will take hearing our news. Some may not be as happy as we are

::she stood up and walked to his desk, examining the paperwork he had left there::

arrow Study

Kotai nodded sagely to Hinata. "I know, Hinata-chan, I know... but it is not my position to heal the entire Village, even if it was within my power. I am limited to full overseeing of the Aburame Clan and I have voice in the Akimichi Clan. Aside from that, we need a Hokage to take care of things the way they are now..." He smiled. "But what can be done, I'm working on... in the meantime, being in your presence is far more..."

Shunketsu trundled in the room about this time, catching Kotai mid-sentence and in odd position. "Little knocking does a world of good, Shunketsu-san." he muttered loudly.

Putting on his presentation form, he indicated the large bin for "Incoming" documents, which had just recently been halfway emptied due to Kotai's ceaseless work. "Just... just put it there. I will attend to it as I am able and in order of priority." He looked up at Hinata apologetically, crestfallen. "This had better be important..."

::she stiffled a snicker at the mention of fanmail and settled herself into a seat to listen to the breifing that Shunketsu was going to give them::

Against what this time? Are we even prepared to do that?

arrow Study

The Aburame leader laced his fingers and rested his chin upon the joints, staring at Shunketsu with a blank expression until he finished. A gusty sigh emanated from Kotai as he sat back into the plush chair and shook his head.

"Ridiculous. They didn't even have a proper reason for attacking us in the first place..." He looked over to Hinata, letting his gaze rest upon her for a moment before nodding. "Fine. By roll, the Aburame military forces are operating at 47 percent capacity pre-invasion, and 80 percent capacity from before this last battle. It's as high as it's going to get..." He took a breath before continuing.

"From what my information specialists have gathered, the other Clans are in similar form, with the Inuzuka suffering heavier losses. Unsorted shinobi that comprise Konoha's standing army are under the direct command of the Elders who stand for our lack of a Hokage, their number and operation capability rest with their documents, so giving my assessment on them is pointless. Our stocks are a little low, so I don't suggest a long campaign... we need to travel fast and make use of our shinobi abilities to avoid detection... we need to get as close as possible before we begin to draw attention and deal damage."

Kotai closed his eyes. "I have no idea as far as Sand Village, we'll need to have some sort of meeting with their chief planners and champions before marching out... and it'll have to be soon. The less time our mutual enemy has to prepare to attack us, the less force we'll have to deal with when we arrive in their home." He frowned at this. "We'll also need to send an emissary to Cloud Village, to either assist them or initiate a meeting to see where they stand. Any aid will be appreciated, here... likewise, we should also see to Stone Village, in my opinion, for possible reinforcements and as a way to redeem themselves for the pain they inflicted upon our great nation."

He finished, now, looking over to Hinata with some trepidation. It looks like that next battle came faster than they expected, but at least they would be fighting side by side again.