[b]Shikata Ayameko[/b]

Ayameko had arrived precisely when she meant to. The announcement of Kage meeting meant that she, along with Shiori, Shien, and Io would be required to present themselves in the meeting room. At this point, Ayameko, despite her generally pleasant demeanor had begun to have her fill of the grumbling leader of the Land of Iron. She had been regretting a few of the choices she had made on her travel to the Chuunin Exams...

Shien had handled most of the logistics of their journey - which she had done splendidly on. Typically the Sankage would have used the transport systems that were set up by the various nations with the intention of bypassing much of the tedious travelling, however this year Ayameko had opted to travel by foot in order to travel through some of the smaller villages and territories that may not frequently get her audience. It was valuable for her to ensure the people's needs were being addressed by their representative. Of course, Io was less than amused by the choice, Ayameko having conveniently not told him about that portion of the trip.

Ayameko, along with her contingency took their seats. Politely she nodded to each of the other leaders, while Shiori, Shien, and Io were directed to their seats into some seats away from the main table. While bodyguards were atypical for such a meeting, they were permitted - not that anyone at the table really needed the protection from a bodyguard.

"Fellow kage," Ayameko began her opening remarks, her starting first a perk of her being the oldest of the three national leaders, "I hope your journeys went well. As usual, we are gathered together to watch another year of hard work on display. As always, we would like to thank Kyoko for her leadership in organizing this event and moderating these meetings, which continues to be of the utmost importance. Given the importance of our continued cooperation, I would like to make a couple of proposals this year."

Ayameko cleared her through before continuing, "The first is the establishment of shinobi squads with members from multiple nations. The second would be the establishment of an exchange program, partially to facilitate the first. I look forward to your thoughts and recommendations on such programs."

With that, she concluded her remarks, opening the floor for one of the other leaders to speak in response. Typically these meetings were a mere formality, but this year Ayameko wanted to actually make them function beyond that. Their peace had been long, but complacency was never good. Deepening their ties would ensure that none of them took for granted the peace Ayameko had sacrificed so much for. 

Io was, of course, displeased with the Sankage's remarks, but it was not a forum he could protest in. However, his displeasure was not invisible to anyone, but given it was a consistent expression on his face it would be hard for anyone in the room to tell he was even more displeased than usual. Shiori, on the other hand, was pleased, having been a part of the council subcommittees that had helped flesh out some of the formalities from Kyokujitsu no Tochi's end.