We Will Be Strong

[the guardian]

we will be strong ^{我々は強いでしょう}
INAUGURAL ADDRESS

Every inch of her body tingled. Her stomach fluttered as if imprisoning butterflies. Each breath she took was shallow and shaky. The black assassin, the general, the war hero. All of it was nothing compared to what she was now. A position people envied and hated, loved and adored. Saoru was now the Yondaime Raikage, and in moments she was to give a speech that would either make her or break her.

Bowing her head, she took a few deep breaths to calm herself, playing over how smoothly it would go. When her ascension to office had been announced days before, her cabinet had organized and invited the entire village, the Daimyō, and several other political figures from around the country and down in the Land of Frost to hear her words.

"You're on in thirty seconds, Raikage-sama." One of her overweight secretaries announced, nodding toward the balcony that extended off her office. The cool wind which entered through the open veranda did nothing to cool her frayed nerves.

Another deep breath. Closing her gilded orbs, she tried to apply her meditation techniques to the situation. No such luck.

"Aaaaand five, four, three, two —" The obese male spun his finger through the air and pointed out to the village. Saoru obliged, raising her head and calming herself in an instant. Her shoulder straightened, and she raised her shin as she stepped out to see her village below. They all looked up, wide-eyed and expectant. She knew many of them personally, and even from such a distance Saoru could see the Daimyō slap his thigh and point out to her while nudging one of his colleagues.

It was horrifying. For a split second, she thought of fleeing back into her office and locking all the doors. Any ANBU that attempted to get through she would have dressed as herself and thrown out onto the deck to face the consequences.

Instead, the newly-named Yondaime Raikage stepped up on the elevated dais and placed her slender hands on both sides of the walnut podium. Sweeping her feline gaze across the village, she gave a nervous chuckle.

"The majority of those gathered here today know me personally. For that don't, you should be warned that I am incredibly blunt when it comes to speaking my feelings."

A few in the crowd laughed, nodding their heads in response as they remembered the times when Saoru either told them they looked fat in their uniform or declared they needed to grow a pair.

"And that is exactly why I stand before you as Raikage. I'm not going to give you a long, fancy speech on what needs to be done following the devastation of war. I'm telling you what is going to be done."

Stepping down from the podium, Saoru circled around in front of it, crossing her arms behind her and looking out at the people she was to rule and guide into prosperity.

"We lost the Sandaime. We're going to get him back."

There were murmurs in the crowd and several nods. They believed it that the previous Raikage's granddaughter would do anything to return him back to the village. Dead or alive.

"We are poor. We will become rich."

Every single person, Saoru included, was feeling the cold hands of poverty closing around the country. Many of their funds had been put into the war effort, and many of it had been a waste once the Sandaime disappeared the village had to pull back.

"We were damaged. We will rebuild."

Both literally and figuratively. There was double meaning to her words. Lives had been lost in the war. Houses burned. Families torn apart. And the village had seen first hand Saoru's ability to mend broken lives after the First Shinobi War. Again, the village's murmuring had rippled like wildfire across the colorful crowds. They raised their fists and cheered, but a few remained passive and silent.

"We have become weak—"

At this, she unsheathed the kodachi at her back and screamed out toward the village with amazing vigor. Her words touched the hearts of all, and the glimmer in her eye and the strength of her heart radiated as Saoru claimed the few remaining souls with her inspiration.

"WE WILL BE STRONG!!"