Private/Closed Naruto AU: Roleplay

[sSoul]

Taiyo
Hmm, he's being inspecfic with me, almost as if he was discouraging me. Hmm, maybe I could tell him why I'm here.
"Mr. Kakashi, with all due respect, I didn't come here just to eavesdrop, I believe I could be of use in assisting with your 'stuff'," Taiyo trailed behind them with a small bit of guilt in his mind, as in the eyes of an observer, he went from some kid to some annoying kid, and now, it would seem like he was a liar, "While Sakura did get the part right that I was involved in the rescue mission, she never told you about how I fought back and killed Jirobo with some help and managed to force Tayuya into tactical retreat," Both of which were truthful, Raiku did indeed kill Jirobo as he was held up with Taiyo, who was in the position of bait, and as for Tayuya, Kai convinced her to retreat. But in the end, did it matter if Taiyo was entirely honest, Kakashi wouldn't believe him anyway, after all to him, Taiyo Akugami was just some kid.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Jin blinked, not quite registering the anomaly of might guy. His honor guards, not expecting his arrival, lit up their spears with chakra as they energized made a loud resonating sounds. They all in unions aimed their spears toward Guy, until Jin raised a hand.

“Hot blooded you say? Thankfully, hot isn’t how we of the Yuki do things.”

He brushed past Guy, his honor guard still staying in place as he did so. He paused from a second, not turning back as his head remained forwards, looking st the sunset.

“But as respect for your father, Might Dai, who slayed four members of the seven swordsman of the mist, I will payback that kindness by not slaying that leaf female’s entire unit and simply taking them back.”

His cold deamnor was only matched by his words. The xenophobic leader of the clan jumped off, his honor guards jumping with him, hot on his tail. He jumped down mere inches from anko, the armored guards landing orderly beside him. His tall height was over that of anko. He looked down on her as his closeness was even more unnerving. Jin bent his neck and head even closer to Anko.

“I will be present, for everything done here. You will tell me every single thing you have planned, what Justus that will be used, and absolutely not brain tampering Justus. If you touch my son’s brain with your foul energies, I will execute the one involved immediately before killing you. Understand?”

He was stone cold serious. Even a rock would crack under the pressure he was giving on his targets. Kai made a note of Kanshi being amongst the ranks that came after him, which he was relived. Kanshi was strong and the most trustworthy mist ninja he knew. Sure he could be irritable at times with that beast inside of him, but he was a friend.

“That’s Kanshi over there.” He whispered to Kiro. “You can trust him. I would trust him with my life.”

 

[Retro Master]

‘Not prisoners? Is she serious?’ Maybe being escorted through an enemy village against their own free will was some type of kind gesture for them. Yes, it made sense now. That’s how the Leaf treated all their guests. How kind. Even the interrogation they were about to go through was perhaps a sort of welcoming ceromony. What interrogation techniques did they use? Breaking fingers, bones, teeth? How about an electrifying chair? No, that would be too kind. Mind torture perhaps? The possibilities were endless.

Well if they weren’t going to be called prisoners, then they were detainees instead. Well if the words of that nutcase had any value, then the custody of Kiro was a matter of national security for the Leaf. Kai’s custody on the other hand, only served to cause more of a fuss as evident of the engagement that was going on. Needless entertainment that only served to delay the inevitable. If this kept on, things would soon escalate out of control.

Sighing now, Kiro put on a cool and collected composure before he spoke. “Woman!” Kiro called out too Anko, still not knowing her name. “I believe I have a way to prevent this from escalating... for both sides.” His eyes glanced over in the Head Yuki’s direction before looking back at Anko. “If I’m correct in assuming that my custody is invaluable to your national security, then I think you would appreciate my proposal. First off, I can assure you that my ally, Kai, won’t be able to assist in your investigation. That being said, release Kai and I will willingly offer up any information you require of me. I hold no grudges against this village and I only wish to speed up this process without causing as much fuss as we have already. The Sound has harmed every nation in one way or another and it is only right to play my part in helping us solve their mystery.” Kiro could honestly care less if Tayuya was listening to what he was saying. She had given up her leverage way too early and now Kiro would capitalize on it. As for Kai and the Yuki, maybe they saw this as some type of honorable sacrifice. Surrendering himself to the Xenos for the guaranteed safety of Kai. A worthy sacrifice indeed.

 

[SageNeb]

Raiku made his way towards the interrogation corps and dropped off the scoll containing Jiribo's body.

"Make sure to have water style users ready, he's engulfed in flames." With that out of the way Raiku left and started heading back towards his house.

As soon as he opened the door he was surprised by a hug from his mother.

"W-wha-?"

"We were so scared! After the Invasion we couldn't find you and then we were notified of the mission and then we waited for you to come back and-and..!"

Tears suddenly were flowing from Raiku's mother's eyes and he began crying as well, then he hugged her back as hard as he could.

"I'm here mom. I'm alive and well..."

After some more moments they were both back to normal when Raiku suddenly realized that his father wasn't in the house.

"Where's dad?"

"He went on a mission after the invasion though I forgot the details..."

Raiku nodded as he understood that being a shinobi meant that you were ready to leave for a mission at a moment's notice. Then he started heading to his room to think and relax for a while...

 

[Godjacob]

Anko momentarily flinched as she saw the Yuki Head appear before her as the ANBU assumed guard, though Kiro's interjection interrupted all of them as Anko took a moment to consider his offer before them.

One of the ANBU had been about to reject the proposal, at the Yuki had no right to interfere in this manner but then Anko held up her hand to stop said ANBU as she faced Kiro before she looked at the Yuki-leader and gave a nod.

"Those conditions are fair enough. What say you, our honorable guest." Anko said curious how the Yuki-leader felt about the condition that one of his own nin gave for this. Given Kai was the member of the Yuki clan she figured that Kiro would not be overly fought over especially given he seemed willing to cooperate on his own which should not elicit too much protest. Besides, Kai was not the priority anyway given he lacked the mark of that snake so just him would give Anko what she & the village needed all the same.

Guy observed all the same, though he refrained from interjection as he had his nin focus on the Yuki leader's allies in the event any of them would try anything.

----------

Tayuya spat at the wind wall of her prison right where it would have struck Kiro as she uttered every curse she could think off the top of her head as Madoka let out a sigh in response.

"We thank you for your aid. Release the prison and we'll take it from here."

Madoka heard the command of one of the ANBU, and while freeing Tayuya seemed like the improper move Madoka decided to trust them as she broke apart the prison.

The second Tayuya was free, she attempted to flee immediately though one of the ANBU managed to restrain and wrestle her to the ground. Another ANBU pulled out a needle and aimed it for Tayuya's thigh.

"YOU SCUM SUCKING Sons of bit...."

Tayuya's curses were cut off as the Oto-nin fell limp. The narcotic having taken effect as she was placed over an ANBU's shoulder before he vanished. Presumably taking her to the interrogation room where Ibuki would await her.

----------
Kakashi sweat dropped at Taiyo's comment as it was clear he simply was not gonna go away, though he wondered he he worded this even as Taiyo listed off his "credible" achievements that he himself had no way to confirm or deny their validity. Though before he had a chance to speak up Sakura decided to as she moved in front of Taiyo.

"Look Taiyo, this isn't something you can just volunteer for. I was requested to come along and there's no way to know what kind of mission it is till Kakashi leads me to to the briefing destination." Sakura said as she figured that jumping in blindly could throw a wildcard into Kakashi's plans though that latter began to wonder what a certain Sage would think of all this.

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
Hearing Sakura's statement forced the stubborn donkey of a ninja to think for a moment. Assuming Sakura was being truthful, this mission could be rather dangerous, and he was indeed interrupting that. However, Taiyo wasn't just going to give up, he had already came a bit too far for that. Therefore, the Leaf-nin did something unexpected, he used his brain and attempted to reach a compromise.
"I can see that you're concerned of how dangerous and stupid it would be for me to just rush in blindly without prior knowledge. So allow me to acquire such knowledge, even if I don't go on the mission with you, at least let me know what I could get into, then let me decide based off of that, if allowed," After his attempt, Taiyo hastily threw in a bow to show respect for not only Kakashi, but to acknowledge the importance of this mission, even if he had no idea what the mission is.
Alright, this could be it, the power move that I need to attempt to help out with this mission, if this doesn't work, I have no idea what will.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

"Those conditions are fair enough. What say you, our honorable guest." Anko said curious how the Yuki-leader felt about the condition that one of his own nin gave for this.

The elder Yuki eyed Kiro, sizing him up and down, squinting at him. In truth, he never trusted the Uchiha. He had dialogues with several people of the leaf in the past, Might Dai, the white fang of the leaf, and his favorite, Hiruzen. He never forgot the tale of the Uchiha curse that he had found out about. The curse would say that an Uchiha, no matter who they were, would walk a dark path that would eventually lead to blood, weather their friend’s or enemy’s. That’s why he purposely raised Kai away from Kiro, as to not have that curse have any influence on his pure blooded son. He nodded to these words, much to kai’s surprise.

“I shall take Kai. I will expected Kiro back however by the end of the day at most. If I find him dead in your care however, there will be consequences.”

The honor guard energized their spears with chakra and sliced in between Kai and his capturers. The energized spears narrowly cut off one chunnin’s arm as it bled through the armor like butter. They pried Kai out of the formation without giving anko’s forces a second to comply with it. Kai immediately stared down his father.

“Why aren’t we going to follow them for Kiro?”

“Simple. He is not my son. Kanshi, with me.”

Kai was brought by the faceless honor guard from the convoy and alongside them. He looked back at Kiro briefly before his line of sight was broken by the escorting honorguard. Jin turned his back and begun to walk toward the gate of the leaf, however majority of the jounin and chunnin stayed on watch.

“But according to rule 21 of the book of Xenos, we must never leave a mist ninja behind!”

“We aren’t. We are waiting them out. I risked starting a war, and willing to slaughter those leaf ninja there for you, my son. That Kiro can have me or Mei bail him out later today as to avoid that. Without my interference, you would not have been freed in the first place. Be grateful.”

“Y-yes father.”

They made it to the gates of the leaf, Jin, surrounded by his elite guards turned to kai, towering over him in size. Kai couldn’t tell if his father was disappointed, enraged, concerned, or all of the above. His face was so hard to read, but it unnerved him nevertheless.

“Kai. Tell me what happened. Now.”

 

[SageNeb]

Kanshi was confused by the glowing off the jewel at first but then quickly remembered and closed his book. He followed Jin to Konoha and was above the Kage House next to his clan head. He quickly found Kai and was glad he was safe and sound. He'd be forever ashamed of himself if he let Kai go on a mission by himself that caused him to die. Luckily his trust was well put in Kai, as far as he was concerned.

I wonder what happened that cause him to alert our head to come to him...

At the appearance of Anko and her resolve to not give Kai angered him but he kept calm as he would not lose his temper so easily surrounded by fellow highly respected Mist Ninja. Especially when his clan leader is nearby. He was pleased when Kiro sacrificed himself for Kai to return to the clan and followed Jin when he commanded. When they reached the gates and Jin asked what happened Kanshi made sure to pay special attention since he was curious as well.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Lord Fourth is in no condition to talk to you, you will have to wait until we have found a suitable replacement. Besides, you are in no condition to train. Look at yourself, you are badly hurt. Not as bad as your friend over there, but still hurt too much to be training." The medical nin treating Mori said. "Don't get me wrong, we appreciate your offer, but you need to take care of yourself first."

Mori felt a jab of guit hit him, he was telling Tomiko to take care of herself first yet he didn't take care of himself. "Heh, you have a point there." As the medical nin continued to treat him they asked him a question that he knew would come sooner or later, but that didn't mean that he wanted to answer it. "Where is your headband? You are the only one without a headband."

Mori sighed. "I lost my headband to a Fire Style jutsu, it was too charred to restore. My loyalty is with Iwa, if that is a reason to stop treating me, go ahead and stop." Much to his surprise, the medical nin kept treating him. "I see. And you might be from a village known to wage war, you are hurt and need treatment. Now sit still and let me heal you." Mori was at a loss of words and only managed to say a few words. "Umm, thank you." His conciousness began to taunt him again, "See? Konoha is not a village filled with scruvy dogs, unlike what Onoki said.", but this time he ignored the comment and waited for the medical nin to finish treating him.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

After entering the Hyuga manor, Shura was met by on of Hinagiku’s attendants who instructed him to wait at the medical corp as Hinagiku was going to personally receive the reports. Hearing this, Shura walked to the Hyuga medical corp. Since he had only gotten a very brief patch for his injuries, he decided to visit the the place after he turned in his report for proper treatments.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

The sounds of steps on the ground resonated along the metal. Sakon, ukon, and Kidomaru branched off to their corridor, separate to where Kabuto was leading Zaku and Kou. Zaku noticed this and immediately knew something was up. Kou cling tightly to Zaku as the walk was dreadfully quiet. They entered a room that was filled with many of chambers, medical equipment, vials of blood, and stacks of books. Kabuto stopped walking, beginning to bring out some medical equipment and adjust them.

“So, your name is Kou, yes?”

“I-I...um....yes.”

Kabuto chuckled at Kou’s meek personality, finding it very amusing. He had brought out a small syringe, flicking it to assure it hadn’t any holes in the glass vial it was supposed to extract blood into. He turned around with it, revealing it to Kou and Zaku.

“If your going to become a part of the sound, i’ll Need a sample of your blood. Consider it your initiation.”

Kou made a small squeak, backing up into Zaku, who grabbed his shoulders carefully. Kou looked to the older sound ninja, nodding to Kou. Kou shakily nodded back, swallowing deep as the syringe crept closer. He gave a small cry when the syringe injected into his arm. He scrunched up his face, the blood filling up in the vial Kabuto extracted. With the procedure done, Kabuto took the needle out of the boy’s arm, as Kou immediately grabbed it like a wound.

“Don’t scratch it, you don’t want to die.” Kabuto cruelty joked, analyzing the vial. “Go now. I will address you and Zaku later. For today, Kou will belong in Zaku’s quarters. Go.”

Zaku was tempted to say ‘that’s it?’ But knee better to talk back to Kabuto sensei. He nodded, turning around back down the corridor, Kou shuffling along down with him, whimpering about the needle.

“Ow ow...it itches.”

“Just don’t mess with it. Everyone has to go through it, even me.”

“You...you did?”

“Yeah, in fact I was younger than you at that time.” Zaku said remeneced. “Back then Orochimaru saved me from the streets, Kinda like I did with you kid.”

.
..
...
“Hm...this geneology. It looks familiar. But I can’t place it.”

Kabuto was analyzing the blood cells and DNA, matching it up to other clans on record. It took a while, but he finally got a match. Kabuto arched an eyebrow at it.

“Hm? Odd bloodline to be in that region of the world.”

“Not nearly as odd as something...”

A new voice entered the conversation. A figure wrapped in bandages, having white hair protruding from the wrappings approached him. A single yellow eye was seen in between some of the wrappings as the being stepped ever closer. Bones began to jut out of the body’s shoulders, ripping apart bandages as the person inside grunted in pain.

“That you...gave me the wrong body!!”

 

[Godjacob]

With the mattered settled, least for the moment, Anko gave a nod to the ANBU guard as they would move forward as she would lead the party & Kiro to the interrogation room. Guy would lead his squad to the village gates to observe the Yuki clan more so to ensure they would not try anything funny though were careful to give them respectful space.

As Anko led the group inside the desired building she noted his willingness to sacrifice himself for his Kiri-comrade, in spite of everything that he was accused of being and what she suspected of him. Perhaps Orochimaru's claws had not fully sunk into this one like so many others, perhaps there was still some hope for the young man...

Soon enough Kiro was led to a room, with only a table and a pair of chairs on opposite sides of it as Anko motioned for Kiro to enter inside with the ANBU acting as guard outside.

---------
Tayuya's body was flopped inside the interrogation room, little care for where it landed by the ANBU before he walked away to stand guard outside. The room, which by comparison to Kiro's empty but still relatively spacious room, was more cramped; with dim lighting and a single chair in the room. Tayuya would remain unconscious for an unspecified amount of time before she began to stir, as the chair she was originally placed next to she found herself on. Tied up and held by strong restraints with sealed tags to cut off her chakra as Tayuya cursed and struggled against her bindings in a futile action. Though she quickly took notice that she was not alone in the room.

No, with her was the interrogation specialist of the Leaf. A man whose body was covered in head to toe from scars, most of which was covered by his clothing, as as he eyed the girl with a cold gaze. Ibiki Morino, though his dark reputation in the criminal underground did little to initially intimidate Tayuya as she gave a defiant glare to Ibiki.

"If you think I'm gonna say shit, you have another think coming." Tayuya cursed with venom in her voice, though as Ibiki tightened his gloves and made some hand signs her words seemed to unphase the interrogation specialist as he scanned her before he simply responded in kind.

"Oh, that's what they all say. We'll see if your spirit remains so stubborn as we move along.

----------
One of the ANBU had made a motion for Madoka to leave as, with her prison gone, she had no reason to stick around as much like this Yuki this was a matter of Konoha-national security and disclosure of said information to their ally Suna was for the higher ups to other higher ups. Not to a Genin.

Madoka seemed okay with it, as honestly with Sakura no longer part of the Oto-mission and Tomiko not a factor as well she honestly had no connection or reason to care what happened with Kiro. So Madoka reassembled her puppet Raven and quickly wrapped it up as she placed it on her back before she decided to go to the new medical wing to try and meet up with Tomiko to see if her friend was alright. She trusted Yasu was mostly okay given he didn't suffer too much damage but Tomiko was on the opposite end of the spectrum.

So Madoka made her way to Tomiko's room, as she caught the tail end of Tomiko's treatment as thankfully most of her scars had faded away from the procedure as Madoka was advised to wait in the hallway outside by the medical nin as the procedure would be finished soon by her own words. Madoka could only trust her word as she waited for Tomiko's operation to wrap up where hopefully she'll be back to one-hundred percent or at least close to it.

----------
Sakura blinked a bit as she listened to Taiyo's proposal. In truth, she figured that the idea of one listening to a mission to see what it was about before accepting it was not that uncommon. After all ninja starting out typically are offered multiple missions and given summeries of what they were. Though for something like this Sakura wondered if the same thing applied but before she could offer a retort the sounds of a sigh escaped his sensei's lips as he scanned Taiyo with a bored expression before he spoke up.

"Fine, you can tag along on that front I suppose." Kakashi said which surprised Sakura as she was quick to turn and question her instructor but a gesture from the Copy-nin quelled her question as Sakura decided to just trust her sensei. After all, for all of Kakashi's lazy tendencies he was still one of Konoha's Elite Jonin and she figured he knew this situation and whether Taiyo would botch it better than anyone. Though as Kakashi motioned for Taiyo to follow as he led Sakura away he only had one thought on his mind.

Well Jiraiya, let's see how you handle this...interesting x-factor to things.

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
When he heard his proposal accepted, the Leaf-nin wanted to break out in some sort of happy dance, but he restrained himself to only show a grin, which compared to how Taiyo felt, it was rather a mere skim of the soup.
"Thank you Mr. Kakashi, I'll do my best not to fall behind," The genin bowed once again and patiently waited for the journey there to begin.
Y'know, you can just never sit still, can you?
Well you know me, I guess I'm just a guy who loves adventure, I'm Taiyo Akugami!
More like a guy who loves getting beaten to a pulp...
Shut up...

 

[Retro Master]

“YOU SCUM SUCKING Sons of bi...”

Kiro had managed too refrain himself from making a comment when Tayuya was put down like the bitch she was. Whatever suffering that awaited her would be well deserved. As for himself, Kiro was pleased that his proposal was put into effect. Like he had expected, Kai’s recovery was the priority, everything else was secondary for Jin. As expected of a caring father...

Kiro continued too remain silent as he followed Anko and the other Anbu to where they planned to interrogate him. Once they were outside the room, Anko motioned Kiro too enter, which he did. Inside was a table with a pair of chairs on sides of opposite sides of it. Kiro didn’t complain as he expected to be in some sort of torture chamber. However, maybe this was also some trick. He couldn’t be sure just yet. Kiro looked down at the table, one hand resting on the top rail of the chair as he seemed to be contemplating his thoughts. Sighing, Kiro simply pulled the chair back and took a seat. Crossing his arms, Kiro leaned back as he looked up at Anko. “Before we begin, I would have you know that I deserved a larger share of that rabbit...”

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

....
....
“So that’s how it happen hm?”

Jin Yuki pieced together Kai’s story, which took a long time for the younger Yuki to fully explain to Kanshi and Jin. He told them about Team mist, their journey, fighting the sound four, finding Kiro, and the final battle with tayuya before anko’s team showed up, weaving quite a tale.

“That’s when I signaled with the Sapphire heart to you, showing that I was taken by the leaf’s forces.”

Kai gestured to the blue shiny necklace around him. He was lucky it hadn’t been destroyed in the chunnin exams, more specifically by Sagiso’s mountain crushing kick combo. He swore he could still feel his sides hurting from that attack. Jin nodded when the story was told.

“These sound ninja. These four, from the data we’ve collected from the invasion they seemed Chunnin Tier in power, it wouldn’t be too far a stretch to say jounin. You successfully managed to put one of them In such a state to be captured. However, you shouldn’t use the Forbidden justu so recklessly. There’s a reason they are forbidden.”

“Yes sir.”

“But the way you describe it, it seems as though Tayuya is telling the truth.”

Kai was taken aback by the statement. “What- how do you think?”

“I’ve seen all types of people there are in this world son. She’s a loudmouth. Loudmouths like her don’t lie, in fact, they find amusement in telling brutal truths.”

“You can’t honestly be saying that he would turn traitor would you father?”

“I’m saying that you shouldn’t blindly trust him simply on the grounds that he is a mist ninja. You must consider that he could have actually done those things she claimed.”

 

[Godjacob]

Anko had a light chuckle at this as she took a seat across from the Uchiha, as it seemed this Kiro attempted to lighten the mood which meant that thankfully she wouldn't be stuck with an emotionless brooder like a lot of the Uchiha flock.

.....hopefully.

"We'll discuss details of the rabbit distribution for another day. I think we have more important things to discuss..." Anko said, before an aid got to her ear and whispered something inside. Kurenai was apparently out on a mission and someone else would be brought in instead. Someone whose skill set was "better served" for this anyway. Though Anko preferred Kurenai's company she conceded she had little options as she would wait for her new arrival. But not before she looked Kiro in the eye and gave him a serious gaze.

"...for starters, the search team's account of things was that they found you with one of the Oto-nin which led to an engagement between the parities. Of your own accord. Yet when we arrived we saw you with that other Kiri-nin he mentioned of a different, conflicting story. Care to shed some light on this?" Anko asked, and this was more of a gesture than anything. When her "guest" would arrive she'd get the real answer, it was just a matter of whether the Uchiha would try to lie his way out of this or confess of his own accord.

-----------
Kakaskhi, with his eyes focused his copy of Icha Icha Paradise, walked Sakura & Taiyo until they arrived just outside the meeting place.

Which, given who they were meeting with, naturally was outside the local hot springs. As Jiraiya was conducting "research" on a group of unassuming women through a portable telescope which to most would appear as just peeping to outsiders...including Sakura. Who had a blush of embarrassment and a scowl on her face when she saw the familiar figure from the first exam.

Are you kidding me? Him...of all people?

Jiraiya took note of Kakashi's arrival, putting his scope aside as he stood up to face the Copy-nin along with his pupil and...someone else. Naturally this confused the Toad Sage who glanced at Kakahsi with an eyebrow raised.

"Huh, I thought you told me only one of your pupils would be tagging along?" Jiraiya asked as Kakashi set his book aside as she tilted his head to Taiyo's direction.

"He's a tag along. Was insistent on coming along and I didn't have the heart in me to turn him away. I am a big sentimental of course." Kakashi said with a heavy touch of sarcasm as Jiraiya rolled his eyes. The real reason of Kakashi being too lazy to get rid of him all too clear before he scanned Taiyo with an inquisitive gaze.

"So, if you are not Kakashi's, who are you then?" Jiraiya asked.

---------
"Alright, just about done here. Thank you for being so cooperative during this."

"Thanks! Feels good not walking around all stitched up like a torn up doll."

"Just be careful, you cannot make a habit of getting these kind of injuries. Won't have a long ninja career if you tax your body to such a degree."

"Yeah, I know. I'll avoid it in the future. Thank you!"

Tomiko walked out of her room, with her scars having become faded and her injuries healed for the most part. Now back at full strength Tomiko grinned as she took note of Madoka waiting in the hallway and offered a smile to her Suna companion.

"Hey Madoka, sorry if I kept you waiting." Tomiko said as Madoka turned and smiled back before she stood up to face her Iwa friend.

"It's fine, just glad to hear you are okay. Though I happened to overhear the nurse's words. Don't take them lightly, between this and the exam fight you push yourself too much. Need I remind you what you promised me?" Madoka said with a slightly scolding tone as Tomiko rubbed the back of her head while she gave a sheepish grin.

"Yeah, yeah. In my defnese we were against a monster so we had to go all out to survive. But I will keep that in mind, really the answer is simple. I need to train and get stronger, that way I'll be the one doing the hurting rather than just be a punching bag for everyone else." Tomiko said, as she glanced at one of her fists and tightened it as she thought back to her promise she made to Kiro before it all went to hell.

And I'll show you that I can surpass you, without betraying who I am or taking short cuts. You can bank on that...

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
The Leaf-nin shared the pink colored tint on his face along with Sakura, however his wasn't out of embarrassment. Taiyo had captured a glimpse of what Jiraiya was looking at, and for a lack of better terms, he was well pleased with what graced his eyesight. Regardless, the genin knew the time and place for everything and introduced himself to the Toad Sage.
"Well Mr. Jiraiya, I'm not here representing a school, I just came along for the adventure and to improve my skills, along with the primary objective of the mission . My name is Taiyo Akugami, and I didn't come here to botch anything or get in your way, I came to assist you in any way I can," Taiyo's voice had held respect, but his eyes held a certain golden gleam, it was undying determination, burning as bright as the sun itself.

 

[kyuukestu]

Yasu

It was always at times like this that the Suna ninja found himself hesitating. He paced back and forth outside the room to Tomiko's ward, a nervous swarm of butterflies threatening to burst through his stomach. People always spoke about how love made them feel happy, fluffy and fulfilled, but Yasu just felt sick. Anxiety could be seen on his face as he muttered softly to himself, occasionally looking towards the sun as it journeyed across the sky, taking with it the only time he had left. It was only a matter of time until both he and Tomiko would need to return to their respective villages and then, the next time they'd see each other would be in..? 1 year? 3 years? 10 years? never..? The very thought drove him to the brink of distress. It was now or never...but what would he even say to her?

The distinct click of the door unlocking snapped him out of his thoughts, and with speed that almost broke his neck, he whipped around to face Tomiko as she begun speaking to Madoka and merely listened in on their conversation. Hearing Tomiko's words blew away almost all his anxiety, a light-hearted smile crossing his lips. "Just coming out of the hospital and the first thing on your mind is training? Tomiko, you're irredeemable." Shaking his head in mock disapproval, he continued, berating her softly "Remember to balance your training and rest, if you end up too exhausted to do any 'hurting' you'll still end up a punching bag."

"but nevermind that...I'm glad to see you're okay."

Sagisō

It'd been a long day, and for the second time this week Sagisō found herself laying on a bed with little to nothing to do but talk to herself. This time, however, she hoped it would be without interruption. The impromptu split she'd created for herself had long since been taken off and replaced with something sturdier and more professional, a spiffy new cast that would keep the bone in place until it healed. She'd been injected with some form of anesthesia which, while not enough to knock her out, had all but shut down her nerves and had made her rather 'loopy'.

When she noticed Shura had walked into the room, an almost stupid smile crossed her lips as she slurred, "Sho mishter brokun back fiiinallly caught up eh?"

 

[Grand Master Koop]

After walking into the room, Shura sat down somewhere and a medical staff quickly re-bandaged his back in a more sturdy manner. He would then noticed Sagiso talk to him in a wierd voice. “Why are you talking like that? Is it the anesthesia?” He said with a slightly confused tone. “I alway said that stuff was too weak.” He added in his thought. He then heard the comment about his back. “My back isn’t broken, it’s just damaged.” He responded.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Kai was taken aback. He was in a predicament. On one hand be believed all mist ninja were trustworthy and would try to do the best they saw fit for the Mist, and then there was his father in the other hand, which seemed to believe Kiro had actually turned traitor on the village. Jin Yuki arched an eyebrow at Kai’s silence, picking up on what was bothering his son.

“Kai.” He said sternly. “You must remember that he isn’t mist by blood. He’s an Uchiha, cursed to betray and cause chaos. His bloodline is tainted. One mustn’t be too lax around such a being.”

“But father, we’ve had each other’s backs during the exams, and he proved Kiri proud during the final exam, carrying even further than I! Isn’t that enough proof?!”

His father shook his head. Kai was stubborn, just like his mother. He could never see the bad in any Kiri man or woman, aside the Kage that is. Kai’s Optimism was something that brought a smile to his face on the darkest of days, but now it seemed to be impairing his judgment when it mattered most. He also didn’t want to shatter his optimism...not like Jako. Never again.

“Fine. You have convinced me.” He said in a steady monotone.

Kai jumped for joy, throwing his fist in the air. It took him a second to remember he was in front of his father, the leader of the clan, surrounded by honor guards as well. He amquickly brushed himself off and took to a knee.

“Ahem...erm...thank you father.”

“Hmph.”



........


Kabuto took a step back as his master seemed enraged, cheated, and distressed. Orochimaru closed the distance between them and became only a foot from the grey haired ninja, breathing heavily.

“What have you done to me?!”

“The Uchiha was weak lord Orochimaru.” Kabuto explained. “His eyes hadn’t awakened yet, not to any useful state you’d have. Besides, I’ve learned if you plucked them like they are now, you would never awaken them.”

Orochimaru gripped Kabuto’s collar and brought him closer to his single yellow glowing eye.

“Choose your next words carefully Kabuto.”

“It requires a death of a loved one. Which is something you do not possess, am I wrong?”

Orochimaru was silent, before his eyes grew sharper and low laughs escaped his wrapped mouth. He let go of Kabuto’s collar and Analyzed his current state, opening his palms wide.

“Very true Kabuto. Which means we have to groom a Candidate for our Uchiha friend, a lamb to the slaughter if you would~”

“Unfortunately, the leaf took him trying to protect your ritual. There was no avoiding it.”

“It was anko.”

“...excuse me?”

“Only she would able to track me that quickly. Kehehe...funny how things turn out.”

Not seeming the least bit worried about losing Kiro, he tapped his neck, where a curse mark normally would be. He did it to try and signal to Anko’s curse mark, just enough to signify to her that he was still alive and kicking, and that he knew...he knew she was chasing him

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Alright, all fixed up. Now promise me that you won't come here again this week, even the kids that Might Guy trains don't visit this often." The medical nin said as he healed the last of Mori's wounds. "I will try my best to stay healthy, but if an enemy attacks me I won't run away so I might get hurt." Mori grinned as he spoke.

"Well, you better beat your attacker or you won't get anymore treatment. Now get out of here before you pick another fight." The medical nin laughed as Mori waved and left the treatment room. "Now where is the exit? Surely it must be around here." Mori looked around and decided to wander around until he found it.

"I better find it fast, I do not want to be in this place any longer than I need to be." Mori wandered around for a while before he finally found it. "Yes! Freedom! Now all I need to is wait for my teammates and report what happened, because I doubt that Konoha will accept the report of only one member of a team without a headband given they are supposed to be the friendly village. Now that I mention it, it is the only thing that was true so far from what I've heard about it; friendly, scared to fight and filled with scurvy dogs."

As he walked outside, he started to talk to himself and walk back and forth. He found out that although his teammates were annoying at times, they were reliable and even tolerable to some degree. At first he smiled at the thought before realisation struck and he nearly screamed. "Yasu is not from Iwa, he is from Suna! Why is he not mean? Why do I not mind the company of people from other villages? I am supposed to hate them, not become friends with them!" Mori was confused about his thoughts and became more and more frustrated as time went on.

"I am from Iwa. I am supposed to be mean and cranky to anyone not from Iwa, yet I created friendships with outsiders! One of them even is my rival, I gave him my headband! Mori! What is wrong with you?!"

'Ohohohoh! Finally realising that 'outsiders', as you so lovingly called them, aren't so bad? What is wrong with being friends with people from other villages? After all, you even told your girlfriend Tomiko to create an alliance with Ame when she becomes Tsuchikage.'

First off, she is NOT my girlfriend. And how can I trust these outsiders when they could very well have a grudge against Iwa? They could very easily stab a kunai in my back if they didn't like me!

'But they didn't, and do you know why? Because they see that you are not as big of a bully as you think you are. You gave your most prized possesion away to protect people that were not from Iwa, with the exception of Tomiko. Why don't you see that you are actually kind, you grumpy fool?'

I...I...I don't know, okay?! I feel like I'm someone else ever since I got to Konoha, especially after rescuing Tomiko and her friends. It feels so wrong yet so good to help outsiders, what should I do?

'You are not someone else, you are yourself without the constant propaganda you see in Iwa. You think you need to be a mean bully and hate outsiders because the Tsuchikage wants that. But take a look at yourself, you protected outsiders multiple times. You rescued your girlfriend and her friends, you saved the life of Reaver when you could have very easily killed him outside of his suit, you attacked the Uchiha which was a mistake but I see what you intended to do, you gave your headband away to protect everyone who was involved with the second Reaver fight and you lied against a medical nin to make sure Reaver wouldn't wake up with multiple Konoha-nin in his room. The reason that helping outsiders feels so wrong because you were taught that it is bad, and it feels so good because you are starting to let the real you out, and let's be honest. Friends are way nicer than dead bodies, don't you think? You might want to be careful though, since without a headband you could be seen as a missing-nin. For now, I'd say that you should wait for your friends to come outside and just relax. You have had a rough day, you shouldn't push yourself too hard.'

Mori thought about what his conciousness said to him and sat down, waiting for his teammates. He still didn't like that it called Tomiko his girlfriend, unless it knew something that he didn't. The explanation that he got about him helping outsiders was nice, but he hoped that Lord Tsuchikage wouldn't find out about it or else he could very well end up in jail. He sighed, this was gonna be a long day.

 

[Godjacob]

Clang!
​

It had been nearly two days since the incidient in the forest of Konoha, and about a day since Azumi & Reaver had returned to their homeland in the Village Hidden in the Rain; which true to its name, there was a heavy downpour at the moment.....

Clang!
​

Though within an open training field, this had done little to stall Azumi. Even with her body exposed to the elements, the Ame-native was in the middle of an intense training session with several of water clones. Umbrella's clashed which produced a light shockwave with each blow as Azumi parried each and every strike from the clones around her. From the moment Azumi made it back to her home, she wasted no time in getting back to her training. Even with her victory in the Chunin Exams, it was but a stepping stone for her and she focused her efforts to master the various techniques within the Forbidden Scroll she stole.

Something as "basic" as the multi-clone technique was taxing on her body, given she lacked the chakra stamina of an Uzumaki, but she managed to triple her clone total already and this was only the beginning for her.

"Hey! Miss Azumi?"
​

Azumi was brought out of her training when she heard the voice, from the sounds of it a child. Something she confirmed when she gazed to the source and found a young boy in a yellow raincoat, no older than 6 and a girl who appeared to be slightly older in a matching colored raincoat. Like a year or two Azumi would guess as they observed her with big grins on their faces. Azumi recalled her clones as she observed the pair, curious of why they were hear she opened her umbrella and walked to them.

"I think you should be inside. Or at least find some cover, what brings you out here alone anyway?" Azumi advised & asked as the kids smile at her before the older one spoke up.

"Oh, my brother just wanted to see the shinning star of Amegakure in the flesh. He's a big fan." The girl said with a smile as the boy nodded and, without thinking, ran up to hug her.

"You are so amazing! Standing tall against the whole ninja world. I want to be a strong ninja just like you~!"

Azumi was surprised, though maybe she shouldn't have been. Yes, her achievement in the grand scheme of things wasn't anything big. Heck, even other "losers" of the Chunin Exams likely made the rank of Chunin. Such as Sagiso and perhaps Zaku to name a few examples. And no nation celebration winning a simple tournament to this scale, not even likely other minor nations for that reason. However, the fact that Azumi...a "mere" Amegakure ninja not only made it all the way to the finals among talented peers from all the most powerful nations in the ninja world but stood at the top figuratively above all of them did mean something to her people. It represented the idea that they could compete with the superpowers of the world; that they mattered just as much even if they were not the biggest or wealthiest and Azumi for at least the immediate future found herself almost a pseudo-celebrity when she returned home. Particular among those in the Academy class, as when she passed by she heard a few echo the words this boy did with her just now of wanting to improve based on her showing in the Exams.

The idea that they could rise up and compete with the best ninja all around the world, that they had the chance if they worked hard enough despite not being among the privileged nations. That was what Azumi's victory meant to them. And it touched Azumi, even if she knew it was likely temporary and light praise to have inspired some people the way their Kami inspired them all was. Something reflected in the small smile as she crouched down and looked the boy eye to eye as she rubbed the top of his head.

"And you will, so long as you kept true to the faith to our Kami. But more importantly you continue to work hard, study well and aim to excel in every area. Can you promise me that?" Azumi asked with the most friendly tone of voice she had used, least compared to the exams as the boy broke the hug and had a toothy grin.

"Yes ma'am, I'll do my best to be the best!" The boy cried out as Azumi had a chuckle as she gave a nod to the boy.

"Very good. Now run along, you and your sister should get seek some shelter from the rain. Can't be at your best if you get a cold now can you?" Azumi advised as the boy nodded and went back to his sister before the two departed. Azumi stood as she smiled, happy to see the two off before she dawned her usual more serious expression as she thought over the state of Amegakure and where to go from here.

Kami, you salvaged the remains of our nation and gave us stability. Inspiring us all. Now I will ensure that this inspiration of my own off your model does not go to waste. And make an even better future for our people. One free of the fear of people those arrogant nations stepping over them over, the hour to act draws near...

With that, Azumi walked with her umbrella in the opposite direction. As her current aim was to find a certain other Ame-nin who made a name for himself in the Chunin Exams.....

----------
Jiraiya had taken notice of the flustered expressions on both Sakura & this Taiyo's faces, though given the subtle differences the Sannin had picked up on he figured they were for opposite reasons. Jiraiya overheard Taiyo as he explained his desire to take part and insistence to get in the way which only made the Toad Sage internally roll his eyes.

Not get in my way? Yeah right, only reason I even have company for this is because of Hinagiku's insistence someone needed to keep an eye on me...I'll need to pay her back for that when I get the chance. But first...

"Yeah, I appreciate the gesture. But I am no babysitter and managing the two of you could compromise the mission. So while I am appreicative of your generosity I'll have to have Kakashi here..." Jiraiya started to say before he noticed Kakashi had vanished which left him alone with Sakura & Taiyo. Which only caused the Sannin to groan.

Fantastic. Just what I needed today. This kid likely won't leave if I just tell him, he smells of the persistent type and it's better I have my eyes on him rather than he jump and get in the way randomly following us.

"....on second thought, I suppose one more tag along couldn't hurt. But just try to not get in my way, same goes for you little lady." Jiraiya advised to the pair as Sakura nodded before she decided to address the question that plagued her mind since Kakashi had her come along for this.

"So, what is the mission L-Lord Jiraiya?" Sakura asked, speaking with respect as despite his perverse antics he was one of the most acclaimed Konoha-nin alive so she needed to treat him as such. Jiraiya listened to Sakura's question and had a more serious expression than before.

"Well, given the current condition of our Hokage Minato we need someone to take charge until he fully recovers. An interim Hokage if you will, and I happen to know the perfect candidate for such a task." Jiraiya explained, though him not saying who it was then and there opened up the next logical question from the medical Genin.

"And who is that?" Sakura asked, as Jiraiya grew a small smirk in response to this before he uttered the name of their desired target.

"Tsunade. Tsunade Senju."

----------
Tomiko heard the voice of Yasu, as even with his comment she could not help but smile as she was happy to see her other Suna friend as she gave a nod.

"I think my hospital visits give me plenty of rest. But I see your point." Tomiko joked, feeling the need to be a bit playful even if she knew Yasu was right about this balance between working herself into the ground and resting so she doesn't destroy her body.

"I'm glad to see you are okay as well. Came in with that timely save against that mecha monster, owe you one for that." Tomiko admitted as she showed Yasu her gratitude. Though the desire to be the one to save him and not vice versa only increased as being a damsel was not what her goal in life was. Not for Mori, Yasu or anyone. Not that she did not appreciate their gestures, but she simply considered it an IOU and a debt she'd have to repay not a habit to fall into.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

*SMASH!*

A Vase shattered as a sword had cut clean through it, meeting the edge of another sword. The man had scars along his face, his sword dry with blood from many fights before. The person carrying the other sword seemed unknown. The scarred swordsman struck again and again, the opposing sword blocking every strike the swordsman attempted. That’s when the scared swordsman duck down during his neck attempt before slashing up, appearing to go for a killing blow.

*TANG!*

The sword hit a chest plate of metal. His opponet was none other than Reaver, decked out with a noticeably damaged armor from his engagement with the leaf. One could tell his arms were severely different, patched up in several locations and hastily fastened back together. The sword only managed to scratch the armor, reaver just looked at the scarred man like he was joking.

“He..hehe..Your swordsmanship is impressive.” Reaver’s deep voice laughed. “But now you will make an excellent trophy!”

Reaver then took advantage of the exposed position the swordsman put himself in, his drill extensions impailing him through the back where he couldn’t see, taking the life of the sccared swordsman. Blood splattered across the floor, soaking in the swordsman’s robes. Reaver’s eyes lit up as he emptied the sword from the cold hands of the swordsman, eyeing it up and down.

“This is perfect, quite a mountable trophy! Not as common as headbands for sure. I think i’ll Name it...futile! After it’s previous wielder, ha!”

.
..
...
He boldly strode into Town, rain battering on his armor. He dragged the corpse of the swordsman along, the sword in the other hand. A masked ninja dressed in a raincoat looked up, her long hair protruding from her coat.

“I see you’ve done as I’ve requested.” She said with a certain gratitude in her voice. “Sharan Tsu will no longer add to the rampant drug trade that has befallen our village. Thank you Reaver, here is your payment.”

She held a bag of ryo in her hand, which looked stuffed full. Reaver seemed pleased, dropping the corpse of the drug dealer carelessly on the ground, trading it for the bag of ryo. Reaver didn’t respond to her, mainly out of caring as he made his way toward his residence. The sword he carried would look brilliant on his wall, yes, yes.

He winced, his armor stopping briefly. Inside the suit, Reaver eyed his arm, which had previously been stabbed by Yasu the days before. He growled, the wounds opening up again. Curse that feather brat. If I ever see him again his scalp will be my trophy! He put a fresh pair of wrappings over the wound before the reaver suit came back to life, continuing toward his previous destination.


......


Yukimaru hummed quietly, strumming a Shamisen. He liked to calm down after a long stressful trip. He had lost his cool there for a bit and channeled his beast during the assault, something which he didn’t really like to do. He gently plucked the strings another time, closing his eyes. Incense burned in his relaxing room, the smell of lilac drifting along. It was peaceful. Just how he liked it.

*SCRAaAaAaAPE!*

Yukimaru broke a string of his instrument upon the ear shattering sound from the room next door. He sighed, as he knew too well who was responsible. Kin, in her room drug her talons along the metal aligning the walls. It was a terrible, terrible sound to behold. Yukimaru tried to be patient, clearing his throat.”

“Ahem. Um...kin?”

No response.

“Uh...Kin!”

“WHAT?!”

Yukimaru winced from Kin’s Snappy response. She wasn’t happy, even for her. Kin was upset at takato specifically for outsmarting her and managing not only to evade her, but send her falling down a cliff side. She yelled, stabbing the wall, which Yukimaru again heard.

“Well I...could you maybe channel this anger on tōki perhaps?”

Kin stopped scraping, seemingly liking the idea that Yukimaru had proposed. Tōki was a human sized doll made out of metal wire and mesh, alongside stuffing. Kabuto had originally created the doll so Kin wouldn’t take her anger out on the sound ninja in the compound. She took out a single talon of hers and approached the doll named ‘Tōki.’ Her single talon hacked away at several parts of the life sized vodoo doll, much to Yukimaru’s dismay.

“Take a stab to the eye and hope that they die, hit them in the leg and make them beg!” Kin chanted, like she had done this countless times. “A hack to the back, and kick to the hip, slash to the chest and then the rest!”

As she was done with her attacks on the humanoid doll. It slowly began to regenerate it’s damage. Blue linings beginning to reattach the fibers.

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
"I never had the intention Mr. Jiraiya," Taiyo had adopted a respectful tone for the Sannin, although well aware of his perverse actions, he knew that the Toad Sage's strength was nothing to laugh about. When brrifed about the mission, the Leaf-nin was put into thought about this. On surface level, this was just a simple mission to find someone who would replace Minato until he recovered, plain and simple, which brought up the question of why one of the strongest ninja to date needed some children to accompany him in the first place.
"So Mr. Jiraiya, when do we start?"

 

[kyuukestu]

Hinagiku

"So correct me if I'm wrong, but I sent you out to watch a snake, and not only did you lose track of you also managed to get yourselves bitten?"

Seated on a high chair in the center of the Hyūga's medical bay, the Mistress of the clan, Hinagiku, had her arms crossed as she gentle thrummed her fingers against the side of her arm. At first glance she looked calm, and maybe even happy. Dressed in an elegant set of robes only slightly inferior in flamboyance to the ones she wore to official events, and her hair tied up into a neat, classy bun, held together with a hair stick, her current appearance was an elegant frame to her natural beauty and the faint smile that hung at her lips only caused her to appear that much more charming. However, she only remained charming should one ignore the way she was blatantly flaunting her chakra, the usually formless energy having settled around Hinagiku like a dense fog which weighed heavily on the batch of genin and chunin present, and as if the physical oppression with her chakra weren't enough to satisfy her, her byakugan had long since revealed itself.

It went without saying that being subject to the scrutiny of one of the tree great dojutsu, especially the byakugan, hailed as the all-seeing white eye, was rather uncomfortable. The penetrating vision of the eye appearing to have transcended the boundaries of the physical realm, allowing its wielder to peer into the very thoughts of their target. In front of Hinagiku, the offending chunin/genin might as well have been naked- in every sense of the word.

Her tranquil and jovial expression was only a mask for the seething rage, a rage made palpable via her aura. As far as she saw it, her foolish little chicks had gone against her orders and almost gotten themselves killed in the process for a reason which she knew not, and that lack of information would be corrected promptly. Despite the smile that graced her face, the two words that she spat out were as cold, sharp and hard as gleaming blades.

"Explain yourselves!"

 

[Retro Master]

“Alright.” Kiro simply responded, sensing the shift of Anko’s tone. Though before she could continue with the important matter at hand, an aid came up and drew her attention away for a second. This gave Kiro some more time too consider his words, what he should and shouldn’t say. However, the more Kiro thought about it, he began to realize that lying would only lead to the same result. That result being his inevitable death.

No matter which way he spun it, the truth would still come out one way or another. It was just a matter of how and when. It wasn’t like the Leaf cared about the fate of a Kiri-Nin. All they needed was the information and he’ll be sent back to the Mist. Though Kiro figured they wouldn’t fully believe the Leaf, he knew there would still be suspicion. It would be enough for them to conduct their own investigation. Once they found out Kiro’s defection, his execution would soon follow. Contrary to the belief, the Mist didn’t need him alive. His body was just a host for what they really cared for. The sharingan. All they had to do was pluck the sharingan off his dead body and it was theirs. Knowing this, Kiro gave a light sigh as he made his decision.

Kiro watched as the aid took their leave before focusing his attention back to Anko. “First off, if you guys think I’ve been brainwashed, then no, that’s a lie. Everything I did was of my own free will. I did ally myself with the Sound. I did defect from the Mist. And in order to save myself, I lied to perhaps the one person who trusted me the most.” Kiro looked down at the table for a moment, the guilt of betraying Kai starting to weigh on him. However, he quickly shook it off. “But in the end, it was still my choice so I can’t complain. The snake offered me power and I took it, not caring about the consequences. Now look where it got me.” Kiro lightly chuckled, his laid back expression betraying the fact that he had just confessed to a few crimes.

“But yeah, whatever your search team told you is probably true. By the way, I would have you know I only acted on self defense. I did not attempt to engage any other member of that search team.” He still remembered Kenji trying to over exaggerate some claims, even making one up. Though Kiro had done some pretty messed up stuff, he didn’t feel the need to add on any unnecessary charges.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Hearing Hinagiku's voice, Shura flinched and turned towards her direction. Seeing the mistress of the clan sitting with a seemingly calm attitude along with her aura flaring around her and her Byakugan active confirmed to him that she was indeed furious. "I haven't seen miss Hinagiku this mad in a long time." He thought. Shura bent his head down and glanced upwards towards Hinagiku. "Miss Hinagiku, I apologize for what had happened during the mission, we made a mistake and were spotted by the enemy, we were forced to fight." He explained.

 

[kyuukestu]

Hinagiku

"A mistake you say..?"

Her focus slowly shifted to Shura, she had expected him to be the first to talk seeing as her daughter was now...indisposed. The kunoichi in question, Sagisō, had at some point nodded off to Lala-land under the effects of the anesthesia, and was muttering something entirely incoherent. A light, painfully fake, round of laughter slowly came from Hinagiku's mouth as she seemed to contemplate Shura's words. She held her head down for about 20 seconds, and when she was done she simply turned around and headed out the door.

She stopped just shy of exiting the room and gave her verdict, "Since it was a mistake then that's fine, everyone makes mistakes, after all. You'll all just need to keep practicing until you no longer make any mistakes! Once you've healed report to the training hall, you will spend every day there until we're satisfied there will be no more mistakes, got it!?"

With that said she exited the room, leaving only the fleeting figure of her back and the sound of her voice on the wind,

"Oh, and you're all grounded until further notice."

 

[DarkHydraT]

Mori started to get impatient, his friends took a bit too long to get outside in his opinion and he had a question for Yasu that he needed an answer for today. He went back inside and decided to look for them. "I hate hospitals, there is always something wrong when you come here." He muttered to himself as he finally found his friends. "There you all are, is everyone ready to report about our mission? I didn't want to leave everyone behind and report by myself."

'Awww, look at that. Grumpy didn't want to leave his friends and girlfriend behind, how cute!'

If you were real, I would've stabbed you ages ago. Tomiko is not my girlfriend and I did not want to take the inevitable punishment by myself.

'That's cute, and we both know the truth about you and Tomiko. The only problem is that you are as dense as a rock or just as stubborn as her, probably both.'

 

[Godjacob]

Anko gave a nod as she overheard Kiro's story, which seemed believable enough. The lure to power was an attractive temptation to those Orochimaru sought to bring "under his wing" in a sense so Kiro being one of those attracted to the temptation was not an impossibility.

Anko was prepared to add on a response, though she felt a sensation around her neck. Due to the seals around that mark, it was probably less noticeable than that certain individual who caused it intended to trigger but Anko got that message all the same as her eyes widened and she quickly clasped a hand over that spot on her neck, though she kept the mark hidden from Kiro's view.

That bastard. He's taunting me...I promise you won't be laughing and you will finally pay for your crimes. I swear it!

Anko however realized that she needed to focus quickly back on Kiro as she removed her hand from her neck. Though the fact they shared a mark did give her an idea as she looked Kiro right in the eye.

"I know what you are going through. It's oh so tempting, to get power beyond your wildest dreams and reach a level you think was impossible before. I know you won't believe my word on this, but trust me when I tell you what that monster offers you is a false promise." Anko said, and as if to quell the natural "what would you know about it" question she anticipated from Kiro she lowered part of her collar and showed Kiro her own Curse Mark. One that was surrounded by protective seals as she made certain he got a good view of it.

"Take it from me, I'd know better than anyone..."

-----------
"I'd like to leave the village within the hour, so I'd suggest you two pack any supplies you think might be needed for this mission. I'd expect that in this search we end up bumping into some low-rank rogue-nins and bandits. Though there is always the unknown factor with something like this but finding Tsunade should be the tricky part in it of itself though we'll worry about that when we hit the road. Now run along, I have some much needed preparations of my own before we depart." Jiraiya said with a serious tone...as he quickly went back to peeping or "research" as Sakura sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

Why...why does a ninja of his stature have to be so shameless?

Sakura quelled that thought as she knew she had to focus, and prepared to leave to go back to her apartment to get needed supplies for the journey ahead. Since her graduation, Kakashi had been quite helpful in reminding her of the importance of packing light and only bringing vital items. Which was thankful, cause if Sakura never met Ino nor had those discussions with her sensei she might have tried to pack a make-up kit along for the ride or something.

----------
Azumi wandered through the streets of Amegakure as she tried to find the location of her Exam ally, though one needed not try to hard to find him as the loud steps made by Reaver's suit made the Mecha-nin quite the easy individual to find as Azumi followed the sounds and saw the mechanical beast make his way to what she presumed was his residence as she quickly jumped over him and used her umbrella to gently glide down as she kept it open to protect against the rain.

"I presume that to be your latest trophy?" Azumi asked as she took note of the sword that Reaver was carrying around and made the educated guess it had to do with the sadist's cruel hobby of his.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Hahaha! It will look great on my wall, wouldn’t you say?”

Reaver responded, holding the sword triumphantly in one of his mechanical hands. Truth is, we didn’t stop battle, not for one day since he got back from the leaf. His recent fight with the leaf recovery team made him feel less invincible, which he has never felt before. So by killing and collecting trophies helped soothe that. He raised an eyebrow, a movement unseen while he continued his trek.

“What are you doing talking to me anyway? You never want to associate with me unless we are on a mission.”


......


Zaku finally made it to his quarters, sitting down in a metallic bed with a custion fastened on it. It looked like a prison cell that had been modified to be more living friendly. There was a second bed, empty but still available. Kou eyed it, but was a little suspicious of the cozy cot.

“Uh Boss. Who’s is that?”

“Yours now.” He said simply. “It’s not like Dosu will use it anymore.”

Kou gulped. It was the bed of the monster that tried to kill him no more than two days ago. He cautiously approached it, as if to be careful of traps around it, before touching the bed. Zaku lates down on his, his back cracking several times like he hadn’t rested in a long time

“Ah, that’s a load off.” The sound ninja said.

“Uh...Boss, come look at this?”

“What? Can’t you see I’m-“

Zaku looked over to Kou, to see him holding a book. The book was written over with many notes and references, found from dosu’s cot. The writings were of weak points in the infrastructure, notes to use is Soundwaves more precisely...and one specific note caught his eye. How to Kill and Snake Sannin. Zaku’s eyes widened when he read those words, before they fell back down into his smug expression.

“So, seems like Dosu was going to turn traitor after all. Hmph! I have no regrets about killing him!”

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
"Oh cool, I'll see you soon Mr. Jiraiya!" The Leaf-nin took one last observation at the Toad Sage's "research" before departing back home.
Come to think of it, I haven't come ack here since the final week of the exams, I guess so much happened in so little time that I could barely comprehend it.
The genin opened the door to his household only to be swiftly greeted with a starry eyes little girl named Susei Akugami.
"MOMMY! BIG BROTHER'S HOME," The six year old clung to her brother's leg, which only brought a smile on the young shinobi's face.
Yeah, I'm back....wait...what will Mom think about my arms? OH SHIT SHE'S GONNA KILL ME!
Responding to the child's call, the woman that gave birth to the both of them, better known as Kinrenai Akugami stepped away from her work to greet her son.
"Finally, my baby boy has come back home," The mother bear hugged her child. And all was well in their house until she took a look at Taiyo's arms.
"Wait...why are your arms wooden...?" This was the question that Taiyo was avoiding, his mother was a nice and caring woman, which made all the harder to tell her the truth or even worse, make her cry. If the Leaf-nin did the latter, he wouldn't forgive himself, so naturally, he attempted to word his explanation as well as he could.
"Mom, during the Chunin Exams I made a mistake against my opponent, I used a failed version of my now semi perfected Jutsu Flashing Burst Style, this cost me a lot of blood and my arms. Regardless I kept fighting and soon passed out of blood loss. A nice young woman named Tsuki Yuki kindly gave me some of her blood to allow me stay alive and another yoinv woman named Madoka gave me my puppet arms, to both of them I am eternally grateful for," The Leaf-nin winced, was his mother going to lash out in fit of anger? Or would she cry an ocean of tears? Or would she simply just ground him? As it turned out, she just had a horrified look of her face, her mouth was covered by her hands and the color of her eyes had vanished, almost as if she had seen a ghost.
"My baby boy.... I shouldn't call you that anymore, your not a baby anymore. I understand if you wish to follow the path of a shinobi, but please, come back home in one peace for Mommy, can you do that?" She was holding back tears, Kinrenai was trying to be strong, and Susei just looked confused. Taiyo quickly embraced his mother.
"Of course I will, I have to leave again to do a quick favor for Mr. Jiraiya, but when I'm done, I'll come back and we can be a family again, even if just for a day," These words finally allowed the seemingly single mother to cry her heart out into her son's shoulder. Once the whole ordeal was over, and Taiyo had packed his supplies, he had to say goodbye to his family again.
"Big Brother wait!" The little girl ran to her brother, holding some kind of pink bandana in hand, "Take this, whenever you miss me or mommy, look at that, I hope it reminds you of home," Taiyo almost cried of happiness as he immediately out it on.
"Thank you so much Susei, take care of mom for me," The sibling shared a long and warm embrace before the elder of the two set off to meet with Mr. Jiraiya once again.

 

[Retro Master]

Kiro’s focus remained on Anko’s curse mark for a moment, intrigued by this unexpected revelation. “So, you were also one of his pupils. Interesting.” Kiro spoke as if he were examining her, his thoughts circling the curse mark. Who was she and how had Orochimaru not caught her yet? Had he willingly let her go or had she managed too break free of Orochimaru’s will? Sitting up now, Kiro’s eyes locked onto Anko’s as he contemplated what his next words should be. Whether or not they were still in contact was another question, but from what Kiro could tell, she seemed loyal to the Leaf. However, the fact that the Leaf hadn’t branded Anko a traitor and attempted to execute her left an impression on Kiro. If the protective seals over her mark were any indication, it seemed she had received help instead. Maybe the Leaf wasn’t that bad.

“It seems that it must be true then. His promise of power was only for his own gain. I figured that may have been the case but to give an empty promise and then expect something in return is truly the work of a snake.” Kiro stated with disgust in his mouth. His expression seemed to show the disappointment he had for himself for even trusting someone like Orochimaru.

“Damnit!” Kiro suddenly raised his voice, enraged to the point where he smacked the table with his fist. “He played me for a fool! That bastard, I’ll-I’ll...” His voice slowly got quieter before he stopped speaking. He began too remember how powerless he was in this situation. It was all meaningless. Orochimaru had won the moment he induced Kiro into believing his words. The snake had turned him into a criminal, a traitor, and now had sentenced him to his death. Kiro unclenched his fist and looked down at the table. ‘No, I chose to walk this path myself, no matter the consequences. I can’t blame anyone else, not even that snake. Should the consequence be death itself, then I’ll accept it.’

With that thought in mind, Kiro looked back at Anko with a surprisingly calm expression. “Sorry about that outburst. I apologize. No matter how this spins, it’s over for me. Unlike the Leaf, the Mist isn’t as generous. But judging from that incident earlier, you already knew that.” Kiro lightly chuckled about that memory. The fact that the Yuki believed they could strongarm Kai out of the Leaf without any consequences was lunacy. However, Kiro found his mind wandering to what Kai would think when he found out about his actions. He quickly brushed over the subject as his mind went to another worrying thought. ‘Since when did I start caring about hurting someone’s feelings?’

 

[Godjacob]

Anko listened to Kiro's confession as well as his frustration over being played by the Sannin. Anko was pleased, it seemed as though Kiro had not developed into a blind follower, and that there was hope for him after all.

Though that depended on what happened to him when he returned to Kiri, as if he was revealed to be a traitor to them there was no guarantee what would happen. Though Anko had no control of that, even if she felt a degree of pity towards Kiro.

"Don't blame yourself. I was no different from you those years ago. He has a way to just...latch onto your desires, to present the most ideal scenario and make you believe that he has your best interest at heart. To make you believe he cares for you..." Anko said, an old memory of Orochimaru training her shinned through momentarily, but she quickly shook her head as she faced Kiro once more.

"And that's what makes him dangerous, he has that twisted ability to hide the monster he is and pretend to be something more. I admire your willingness to share things with you, and once my partner comes here for some detail vitrification we'll be done here and you'll be free to go." Anko said before she decided to address this concern Kiro had with returning home and being found a traitor.

"I'll say this, information makes you valuable. So long as you have dirt on that snake, any at all, they won't gut you till they get it. Hold onto it and use it like a life line." Anko advised to Kiro, and not soon long after Inoichi Yamanaka walked in as Anko explained the situation which only caused the Yamanaka to nod as he moved to Kiro and held his hand out which soon began to glow.

"Your compliance is admirable, I simply need to see the details of your meeting with Orochimaru for documentation. After that, we are finished here. So just stay still...."

----------
Sakura returned home, where her mother Mebuki Haruno and her father Kizashi Haruno waited for them. Sakura explained the situation to the pair, and they seemed understanding enough as Mebuki helped Sakura packed the essencials for the trip. Some herbs, medical supplies, ninja tools and a journey she aimed to record her time with a legendary ninja.

Pervert or not, this was a memory she knew she needed to immortalize as not everyone got the chance to tag along with a Sannin.

Sakura finished packing as she said her goodbyes before she left and traveled along the road where she saw Taiyo who also seemed to be ready to go as they arrived at the village gates where Jiraiya was waiting for them, as he caught sight of the pair and nodded in their direction.

"So, ready to go?"

---------
Azumi saw Reaver as he bragged about his sword, as she suspected either Reaver really needed those trophies to validate himself in general or he was just making a big deal of this one given what happened during the Chunin Exams. Not that it mattered as Azumi kept her usual neutral expression as she gazed and addressed the mecha-nin.

"Indeed, and what I have in mind might be the most important mission either of us ever partake in. One that could help with bringing Amegakure into a brighter future, and giving you more trophies of even greater value." Azumi said, as she tried to appeal to his desire for trophies with that comment.

 

[kyuukestu]

Yasu

With a soft, carefree chuckle Yasu responded, "Don't mention it, that's what friends are for right?"

It was at this time that Mori decided to make his introduction, their three-way conversation having just become a four-way. As he listened to Mori's words he arched his brow slightly, not exactly sharing the Iwa nin's enthusiasm to report their mission, and that said a lot considering Suna and Konoha were allies while Konoha and Iwa were...less than friendly. Throwing a glance towards Madoka, the other Suna nin present, he raised a questioning eyebrow, seeming to ask what she intended to do.

 

[Godjacob]

Madoka saw the glance from Yasu to her, as he was likely worried about giving in the report given the fact that Iwa-nin Mori & Tomiko were part of the nation and Iwa & Konoha had their own issues with one another so there could be a concern. Madoka placed her hand on her chin before she thought of an idea.

"Well, technically for our little party Kenji was the one leading. So I can speak with him and have him send the report and we can go with some careful and...selective wording about what happened." Madoka explained to Yasu and everyone in the room as she hoped that would help settle the issue.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Sounds good to me, but I brought everyone in danger by attacking the Uchiha so I will tell the mission giver that. Yasu, could I speak with you for a moment? Just between us if possible?"

Even though he didn't show it, Mori felt a bit nervous as he thought about the inevitable punishment that he would face when he would report about his recklessness. He could only imagine what would happen to him.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Ha! Of course she’s impressed! Why wouldn’t she be? I slain a master swordsman and took his sword for his own! I’m truly unmatched in this world! No one alone can beat me! No one! Hahahaha!

Reaver gloated in his head, even more so when Azumi fed it with mild interest, although not changing her expression. She then mentioned a mission, which was mildly interesting to him,that is until she mentioned trophies of greater value. He perked up, lowering his sword, eyeing her with a serious gaze of interest. He chuckled deeply.

“So you say...! Go on then, we shall go to my workshop and speak of this in confidence! Wait until the end of the day when I’m more prepared, and then we will see about this ‘lucrative oppurtunity’ hahahaha!!!!”


*******
10 hours later...
*******

Reaver had made it homey inside his garage of a house. It was a tall, eight story building, who’s inhabitants had long since died years ago. Now it was his and his uncle’s workshop. On the outside it looked like some sleek scrap spike sticking out of the ground. In the inside the building however, the first floor was decked out with several racks of machines, engines, and designs.

There were multiple reaver armors, none of them looking close to the reaver design known today however. One of them was only four feet tall, a casing around a small human being with very little actual machines in it, while another appeared to be a metal box with holes and mechanical tendrils covering it. There were about eight different designs in there, all of which with their own indention in the wall. Signs and blueprints were plastered over each alcove with each design in it, many of which had red lines of flaws in each design, some more than others. One alcove marked ‘Reaver Mk: VII’ was empty, Reaver himself outfitted with the armor. He was in the second floor with said armor.

On the second floor, reaver had just put up a bloodied sword from the swordsman he had fought before in a glass case, mounting it on the wall. The room was big, big enough to not only fit his mech suit with space to spare, but also hundreds of trophies. There were around sixty headbands alligned in the walls, each one put neatly to decorate it. 28 rock genin killed, 2 mist genin, 10 leaf genin, 6 cloud genin, and 4 rain genin.

Along the left wall which he were placing the sword on was many other treasures hat he considered ‘unique’. Maces, strips of armor, masks, bones, weapons, and even a Cannon was mounted up there, each one with a plaque describing the story on how Reaver managed to claim such a weapon. And each one had a title on what they were called and why.

The third floor was mysterious, as had an elevator that went up to it, however, no first floor access. It was becoming the time where he had to meet up with a Azumi to discuss his next venture with her. He walked down the metallic steps to the first floor, brushing off a few tools in order to make way for his armor.



.........


The Yuki’s patience had begun to run thin. The entire contingent of mist ninja awaited at the tattered gate of the leaf, it’s wall practically destroyed from both the snakes, Manda, and Reaver. The honoguard readied their spears, striking the ground, chakra resonating from the ground when they hit it to create a booming sound. This would grab the attention of the leaf for sure that the Yuki weren’t going to wait much longer. Each strike to the ground was slightly quicker than the next. It was a minute between each strike, and then thirty seconds. Now it was every three seconds they would strike to the ground.

Jin, Kanshi, and Kai all stood neck and neck with each other, the entire mist line behind them, staring daggers at the leaf. If Kiro didn’t show his head soon, things would get ugly and fast.

 

[kyuukestu]

Hinagiku

BANG
...
BANG
...
BANG
...
BANG
...
BANG
...
BANG
...
BANG!!

Brow furrowed and the continued but rather consistent and gradually increasing cacophony the Yuki had insisted on making at the village's front gate, Hinagiku decided it was about time she took action. She didn't know which gall the Yuki had eaten to brazenly march into another village and start making a ruckus, but she would be having none of it! They wanted attention? Sure, she'd give them all the attention in the village...

As the vestiges of an idea formed in her head, the Hyūga Mistress swished her sleeves and ordered, "Gather the men, we have a show to put on."
...
A few minutes later, a small, but sizeable, contingent of Hyūga arrived at the village gate lead personally by Hinagiku. Oddly enough, they weren't dressed for battle and consisted almost entirely of females in elegant kimonos, all dolled up as if to impress a would-be lover. The entire group gave a perfunctory greeting to the impatient Yuki clan, then immediately begun to ignore them as they set up their instruments and the female dancers took their position.

In but a few seconds, the musicians had chosen a perky, military-style song. The drums had been set up, the musicians had taken their place, the dancers in their elegant flowing gowns and splayed fans took their position for a fan-dance, and at the forefront of all of this were a few vocalists. The contingent of musical shinobi looked to their clan leader who promptly gave them the go-ahead. With the beating of the Yuki clan as a backdrop, the performance begun, chakra being infused into instruments and voices which allowed them to match the Yuki in sheer loudness. At this point, the traditional oriental style clothing and lyrics of the dancers and vocalists, combined excellently with the Samurai-like armor of the Yuki's honor guard creating an unnaturally authentic air for their 'concert'. With the Yuki performing the job of the steady stabilizing beat of the drums, the song begun, and off to the side Hinagiku watched, quite pleased with herself for having turned a threat into free-labor for a skit. It was common sense that after a depressing event had happened, such as the invasion, it was necessary to lighten the mood of the commoner by performing a festival. She intended on making use of the Yuki to clear the depressing air that would've hung over the village for days to come, by simply giving the villagers some 'fanservice'.

It was also a pretty good opportunity to boost the reputation of the Hyūga clan, the support of the people was quite important after all, and monopolizing an opportunity like this would pull the Hyūga one step ahead of the other clans. Naturally, however, Hinagiku had also brought a set of combat oriented Hyūga just in case those soggy chihuahuas, who were all bark but not much bite, decided to bite back.

As the song kicked into its main melody, and the dancers flourished their fans and decorated sleeves in animated dance, a crowd began to gather, composed of the villagers burdened by the sound invasion, and those who simply wanted to forget about sorrowful times in the heat of the moment. Slowly but surely the crowd was growing, and their gradually escalating cheers begun to drown out even the voices of the performers (who naturally added more chakra to their instruments to compensate). The cheers attracted more villages, and the villagers produced more cheers.

From her spot atop a nearby building Hinagiku smirked lightly towards the detachment of Yuki, "That enough attention for you?"

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Shura was sitting in the medical corp of the Hyuga mansion. His back leaning against the wall, Shura listened the music coming from outside as it blasted throughout the village, drowning out the banging from the Yuki clan. As he was now unable to leave the Hyuga grounds due to being grounded, he had been using his Byakugan to observe what was happening outside, at least what was within his field of vision. "Seems miss Hinagiku dealt with the commotion caused by the Yuki clan." He thought. He glanced towards Sagiso who was drunk about 10 hours ago. "How are you feeling?" He casually asked.