Private/Closed Naruto AU: Roleplay

[Godjacob]

Azumi sat on a bench within one of Amegakure's larger cemeteries. The meeting spot she instructed Reaver to arrive at when he finished....whatever he was doing back at his place.

The rain was not as intense as the day before, only a light drizzle as Azumi kept her umbrella up all the same as she waited. Azumi had visited this site every day, to the point where she could almost memorize every name on each headstone. Especially in a special section that had been dedicated to those lives lost with a large, black-stoned memorial.

Names of brave nin who defended their home from invasion. Along with the names of those innocent lives lost in wars their land should never have been part of. It was easy motivation, a reminder of what she was fighting for and what she vowed to prevent from happening to her people ever again.

And the first phase in her plan was close to beginning, she just needed Reaver to come...

----------
Tomiko, who along with Madoka, agreed to travel together as far as they could when the time came to return to their home nations. Naturally, they invited Yasu & Mori along but made sure to set off themselves to enjoy the trip. As there was a pass that would branch off towards Suna & Iwa once they made it beyond Konoha's borders.

Least they could extend their time together, tough Tomiko promised both Madoka & Yasu that she'd visit Suna in the future and soon enough the pair came up to the fork in the road as Tomiko turned to Madoka.

"Well, I think this is where we depart. For now, anyway. It's been a blast and I know we'll see each other again. Stay strong." Tomiko said as Madoka smiled at her Iwa friend.

Friend, a word Madoka did not think she'd associate with anyone when she first arrived at Konoha for these exams. But yet Tomiko, Yasu and others happened and Madoka had to admit she did not regret her time her, even if she failed to achieve the goal she came here to.

"You too Tomiko." Madoka said before she felt Tomiko give her a big hug, which startled her for a moment before she smiled and shared in the warm embrace.

---------
"Alright, according to Tsunade's history and public records this is where she was last seen."

Ranshina Village, a harbor town at the beyond Konoha's borders into of the Land of Fire known for their steel production. Sakura observed the town as she noted the impressive buildings that likely were a product of the steel production they took pride in. Jiraiay took a moment to scan the place as he tapped a finger on a chin.

"If I were Tsunade..." Jiraiya mumbled to himself as he thought over possible search places before he was struck by inspiration...

"Alright, if I know Tsunade like I think I do. She'll either find someplace to gamble or drink. Probably a place that offers both." Jiraiya mused which caught Sakura's attention.

"Gamble?" Sakura asked confused, which only caused Jiraiya to develop a toothy smirk.

"Oh yes, she's a cumpulsive one. Willing to make a bet about anything, problem is she has the worst luck. Like, you cannot try to be as unlucky at gambling as her. We even developed a supersution around Tsunade as a kid, because in those blue moon moments she did managed to do well in a bet or gamble things tended to go bad for those around her." Jiraiya said with a laugh which only caused Sakura to sweat drop.

Jiraiya is a pervert...Tsunade is a gambling addict and Orochimaru is....Orochimaru. Why are such revered ninja like this?

----------
Kenji had began his own long trip back to Kumo, and in truth while he had made some friends in his time here Kenji could not help but lament in his time spent there.

He felt he underachieved and put on a flat performance. Getting humiliated by Sagiso in spite of his efforts and reliant on Sakura to literally carry him to the prelims only to face a quick exit at Yasu's hands.

Kenji really discovered he was quite a ways away compared to his age peers, and to make it worst now he questioned why he wanted to be a ninja in the first place. He had this desire to face Sagiso again, but they seemed in opposite ends of the spectrum and really all he managed to prove to her was that he was maybe a decent babysitter for her sister. Kenji shook his head.

Pathetic. Is this the kind of ninja I am? No, there has to be something more than this. There has to be...

With that Kenji continued his path out of the Land of Fire, eager to return home to Kumo to rethink things after having a wake-up call beyond wake-up calls.

 

[Retro Master]

“So you’re wondering what I’m doing here? Well, I don’t blame you. Let me start by saying it’s been a long day.”

Ten Hours Ago...

Spoiler

“I’m not getting that rabbit back am I?” Kiro glared up at the official in front of him, who seemed be chewing on the senbon in his mouth. “Like I said before, it was delicious.” The jonin gave a grin as he once again claimed he had eaten the rabbit. “There's no way you ate the whole thing.” Kiro replied, his tone filled with skepticism. “Yeah I did.”

The back-and-forth conversation continued another minute until Kiro gave up and sighed. ‘This guy, I’m not going to get anywhere with him.’ The jonin also seemed to have the same thoughts as he muttered something. “Why did I have to be put on babysitting duty?” The jonin questioned his orders, as did Kiro. That was beside the point as this was the opening he needed.

“You’re annoyed too, huh?” Kiro suddenly asked, speaking as if he was trying to start another conversation. The jonin saw this and simply grunted. “Good eyes.” Kiro didn’t expect a response as the attention was good enough. “So, uh, if you’re going to be watching over me, can you atleast tell me your name?” Kiro asked, surprising the jonin enough to change his expression into that of a slight grin. “Just call me Genma.”

Seven Hours Ago...

Spoiler

“I can’t believe you dragged me into this.” Genma sighed, a look of tiredness on his face. “Well if you weren’t going to tell me where it was, then I figured I would find it myself.” Kiro said, proudly watching as Genma carried the rabbit on his back. “Why am I the one holding this again?” Genma asked as the rabbit’s rather large ears dropped over his face again. Kiro lightly chuckled as he saw this, remembering when the same thing happened to him a few days earlier. “I mean, you still want the other half, right?” Genma sighed as he heard this. It was a good deal if he was being honest. A week’s worth of food for free. He was not going to pass that down.

“Yeah yeah, whatever. Before we head back, I’m going to go hit up an old friend. He runs a nice weapons store.” Genma seemed to look over in another direction as he spoke. “Where is it?” Kiro asked, thinking to go as well. “There.” Genma pointed in the direction of a small building as he walked to an alleyway beside it. “But they don’t let animals in so I’m going to rest this here. You coming?” Genma asked as he looked up at Kiro who simply shrugged. “Why not? Might as well check out what Konoha has to offer while I’m still alive.” Kiro took one last look at the rabbit before he followed Genma in. ‘Who’s going to look to steal a huge rabbit from here of all places?’

...

About an hour later, Kiro walked out the store, feeling like he had just wasted his time. “Don’t look at me! I didn’t say all his stuff was good!” Genma chuckled as they walked to where the rabbit was supposed to be. Kiro sighed as they came to a stop at the rabbit’s supposed location. “Whatever, let’s hurry up and go cook this thing.” Kiro stated as he looked down calmly. “Yeah, I’m starting to get a bit hungry myself.” Genma replied as he too looked down with a calm expression. A gust of wind blew by, followed by a moment of silence before they both looked at each other and spoke in unison. “Shit!”

Three Hours Ago...

Spoiler

“I thought you said no one would find it there!” Kiro spoke up, his agitation for this unfortunate situation showing. It had been three hours of miserable searching until they finally got a tip from some old lady after Kiro helped her cross the street. That tip had led him and Genma to what seemed like the slums of the Leaf. “I don’t remember saying that. But it’s your fault for leaving it there. To be honest, you could’ve just stayed outside since you didn’t...” Kiro let out a long, drawn out sigh, interrupting the rest of Genma’s words. “Fine, you’re right. Now let’s just focus on...” They both froze as they something familiar on the ground in front of them. “Is it...?” Kiro started before Genma finished his thoughts. “Yeah it is. Come on, follow me.” All these two exceptional ninja needed was just a single hair to know where their target was... right in front of them. It was a little boy, his clothes were basically rags as his messy black hair had white fur all over it. What Kiro took special notice of, was the boy’s rather frail body. But Kiro had no time to ponder this as the boy bolted into an alleyway.

Too say that the Chunin and Jonin duo had easily captured the boy would’ve been a great lie. These slums were no ordinary ones as they were extremely difficult for even Genma to navigate. Small openings and thin pathways followed by sharp turns wasn’t a good combo for the duo. It was almost never ending. To their surprise, there were even traps, but they seemed to be mainly for small animals. Had they even attempted to wall run, they would’ve easily lost the small boy who at the moment was quickly crawling through a decently sized pipe. “That’s it! Fire Style...” Genma grabbed Kiro hands and glared at him. “No! You go after him, I’m going to see if I can get above. Just whatever you do, don’t harm that boy.” With that said, Genma let go of Kiro’s hands and hopped away. “Damnit.” Kiro cursed before he began to crawl through the pipe.

After a few more obstacles, Kiro found himself standing outside a building. It looked like it was an old but vacant miniature warehouse. “Strange.” Kiro mumbled to himself. He contemplated waiting for Genma but decided to just go in himself. The best case scenario would be Kiro getting the rabbit for himself and escaping before Genma caught him. Looking through the empty frames, Kiro could see the last rays of sunlight from the setting sun make their way into the darkness. The light slowly diminishing the further he walked in until he was in complete darkness. “Hello!” Kiro shouted before only receiving a ‘hello’ back, his voice lightly echoing through the building. “Maybe I was wrong.” Kiro spoke, but quieter than before. For a moment, there was nothingness. Then Kiro heard it. Almost like a whisper, one so subtle that Kiro would’ve missed it were it not for another one. Then another. Soon a dozen whispers could be heard, all around him were voices of which Kiro could not make out the words. It drove him mad. “Alright, enough! I just want my damn rabbit!” Kiro shouted, his voice overtaking all those that dare challenged his authority.

Suddenly there was light. Not just any light, but the light of flames. Kiro heard the fire crackle as more light grew from the darkness. Though the lights of the dying lightbulbs only covered tiny fractions, together, they may as well have lit the whole damn building. Too bad his side still bled darkness. In front of him, Kiro saw groups malnutritioned children muddled in with some teenagers, some sitting and some standing, around the multiple concrete pillars holding up the structure. In the middle, near the fire, was none other than the rabbit along with the boy they had chased earlier. Kiro took all of this in as he stood on his side of the room, in the darkness, all alone. He sighed before taking a step forward towards the rabbit. As he walked, he took note of the fear on their faces. They knew the power they wielded and the power they lacked.

Only a few feet away from the rabbit now, Kiro looked at the little boy who stood in front of the rabbit as if he were protecting it. All Kiro did was take one step forward before another boy, probably older than himself stood in front of him, shielding the boy and rabbit. “Please.” Though the word itself came out as frail, barely audible, it was like a switch. One by one, every person who was sitting, stood up, glaring daggers into his soul. If they attempted to jump him, it would’ve been futile as they all knew, as did he, Kiro could easily slaughter them.

Though it was little, Kiro gave a shred of respect to the boy who stood up. “Why?” It was a simple question but yet complex in its own way. A question that could’ve requested an answer detailing the foundation of life itself. Perhaps even a simple sentence could’ve sufficed as an answer. However, a squeak from the child was all it took for Kiro too understand. Though subtle, Kiro didn’t miss when the older boy in front of him looked towards the younger child who tried to speak. The answer was as clear as day. Looking around, Kiro understood. They were all together, one large family. Kiro actually smiled before he placed his right palm on the little boy’s head, uttering two simple but meaningful words. “I understand.”

One Hour Ago...

Spoiler

“You should feel proud of your actions. Though I’m surprised you didn’t bother to have even a tiny share of the rabbit.” Genma stayed as he looked at the quiet Uchiha. Though he had heard the rumors from the reports about Kiro’s treacherous behavior, his genuine actions seemed to prove he had a not-so-bad side to him after all. “You know the boy, he asked me for my name before we left. I don’t know why I said my full name. Maybe it’s just because I was in the moment, but that word...” Genma knew that Kiro felt dislike the ‘Uchiha’ but he didn’t know it was so bad that the boy was disgusted to even say the clan’s name with his own. “Always, like I was saying, we’re ninja. Aren’t we supposed to kill and leave the nice stuff for the other people to do.” Genma smirked when he heard this remark, referring to a conversation they were having a few moments before. “Well, who do you think are the other good people?” Genma stopped there as he decided to let Kiro think that over for himself.

Listening carefully now, Genma grinned as he could hear the slight sound of banging. “It seems the festivities have begun. You know what, I’m going to check out what’s going over there. Here, go grab something to eat. You’ve earned some freedom in my book.” Genma handed him some ryō before smiling. “So you’re about that night life then. Alright then, Genma, you seem pretty chill.” Kiro lightly chuckled as he looked away. “Th-thanks.” Genma nodded at Kiro’s words. It must’ve been really hard for the boy to simply accept help. “It’s fine, just don’t go too far or else...” In an instant, Genma had teleported a good amount feet away from Kiro, slightly grinning at his reaction. “...I’ll catch you.” Kiro just watched as the jonin casually walked away like he had no worries in the world. ‘Insane speed.’

“And that’s how I ended up here.” Kiro told Ayame, the daughter of Teuchi. Her father was also the owner of this little ramen place, ‘Ramen Ichiraku’. The ramen was however, by far the best he ever had. Having not eaten in nearly two full days, Kiro had already ordered his third bowl and found himself conversing with the two.

“So basically, you were hungry.” Teuchi blatantly stated, simplifying his entire story. Kiro sighed as he thought about it. “I mean yeah, I guess. Just saying all of that was probably a waste of time to be honest.” Kiro said as the third bowl was placed in front of him by Ayame. “No, it was good! I mean, who would’ve thought the slums were so bad. That was a wonderful thing you did. I mean, it was an experience for you as well!” Kiro nodded as Ayame had a point there. He did experience something or rather realize something. However, before Kiro could respond, the music playing got even louder. Kiro lightly chuckled as he chewed on a piece of pork before swallowing it. “But what if I told you that if I went to where that music is coming from, my death would be sealed?” They all laughed, even Kiro, but through it all he realized he wasn’t willing to give up his life just yet.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Reaver slowly approached the meeting spot he was told to come at. Naturally, he was suspicious of the location, as he didn’t trust many people. It could just be his paranoia, but he couldn’t be sure. He’s never lost a fight before this month in his long history, so he was reasonably cautious. He caught a glimpse of Azumi, gazing with longing eyes at the dead but no forgotten here in the cemetery, something Reaver could understand.

“They died warrior’s deaths. Most of them. Died in battle, as all warriors and ninja should. Anything less is disappointing.”

Reaver looked at a certain gravestone and growled. It had the name “Suzuki” written on it, saying ‘Here lies a boy who died too young’. Reaver remembered the name, and he couldn’t have died young enough in his opinion. He was the one to do him in. He raised a mechanical foot and crushed his gravestone, smothering it into rubble purposely. He gave a chuckle of satisfaction before looking back to Azumi.

“So what’s the plan?”


......


Jin didn’t seem angry that they made a festival, right in front of their intimidation attempts. He was actually impressed on the hyuga’s quick wit in this scenario. One of the few clans that could occasionally outpace or keep up with the Yuki. However they forgot that they kept that time limit they put on Kiro seriously. When the sun went down, they’d retrieve him by force. No amount of music or festivities were going to change that. Kai started to fidget, looking back at his dad, breaking formation.

“He hasn’t come back yet, it’s been ten hours! Where could he possibly be? Permission to go or and find him!”

“Permission granted. However. In thirty minutes we will begin our Alpha 1 maneuver.”

He gulped at the manuver Jin chose. It was the first and most ruthless tactic in the book. Extremly ruthless considering the situation. He needed to find Kiro quick in order to avoid such a catastropy on the Xeno village.

He hoped up, jumping across trees before jumping to the top of the wall. His eyes traced across the festivities, looking for the mist Uchiha in question. It was extremly hard to find evidence on where Kiro was, that is, until he found blood on a bench. He landed down at the scene, analyzing it. There was a sign of compression, meaning that the bloody thing in question must have been laid down, meaning it was small. Like a rabbit!

He had gotten his first clue. He looked from the blood sight to the nearest shop: the weapons store. Of course he’d be there! Kai marched inside, however not finding Kiro. Instead, he found a rather annoyed shop keeper, appeared to be dealing with buyers who wouldn’t buy all day.

“You there! Filthy Xeno!” Kai called out. “Where’s Kiro?”

In two seconds flat, Kai was thrown out of the store, landing on his butt. The shop keeper cursed a few times at him before slamming the door shut. He didn’t know why the shopkeeper was so angry after being told his rightful place? Gears don’t get mad if you call them gears. It didn’t make sense. He chalked it up to Xeno animalistic anger. Kiro...where was he?

He apparently didn’t go to the weapons store, or at least didn’t buy anything. He looked across the festive crowd for more clues, before he spotted a figure hunched over, several bowls of ramen bowl piled up beside him. He looked familiar, so he had to take a closer look. He took several steps forward, noticing his garb was similar to-

“Kiro!” Kai exclaimed, coming up beside him. “What are you doing here? Your no longer being tortured here, so there’s no reason to be subjected to the Greener city anymore. Here, come, I know where they are. They are dying to see you.”

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
The fact that they would likely be dealing with a drunk Tsunade would be difficult, seeing as the Senju would be saying her mind and drunks were usually harder to reason with for starters.

"Mr. Jiraiya quick question, if there are alcoholic drinks there, how are we going to talk to her? What if she doesn't want to comply?" Taiyo was reasonably concerned with this fact, seeing as the entire mission was a matter of convincing, and the genin had no way of knowing if she was a reliable person.

And this isn't even considering the fact that this is supposed to be a respected shining, I dunno who decides the Sannin, but with Jiraiya the perv, Tsunade the drunk and Orochimaru, I think I could become a Sannin like that.

 

[DarkHydraT]

Iwa was far away, and it didn't really feel like home anymore after his recent discoveries. Mori reluctantly left Konoha and made his way to the border, Tomiko went ahead already with her Suna friends. He had no idea where Yasu was but he asked the question that was on his mind and that was all that mattered.

He sighed, Konoha might have been his home for only three days but it felt much nicer than Iwa. As he made his way to Iwa, he thought about the last few days. Sure, he was too late to participate in the Chunin Exams and nearly died a couple times, but he was still alive and able to fight so it could be much worse. He fought a mechanical monster twice and made him his rival, lost his headband and surprisingly made friends from other villages. All in all, not too bad for a genin.

But the thing that made the most impact on him was the question he asked Yasu; 'Do you hate me for what I did on that mission or because of my village?' Mori expected Yasu to hate his guts, for one reason or the other. He told him that he would not attack him if he told the truth and that he would use the answer as feedback to grow as a person, but he could only hope that Yasu believed him.

"Time to leave pleasant temperatures behind and get used to hot days and cold nights, yay." He said with an obvious layer of sarcasm. "Why am I even walking? This is much faster! Earth Style: Hiding like a Mole!" Mori sank into the ground and dug his way towards the border. "I should have done this to begin with! Much faster than walking."

After a significant amount of time had passed Mori made his way to the border and he decided to get out of the ground. "Don't want to scare them by accident." As he saw Tomiko and Madoka hugging it out, he decided to wait until they broke up before interrupting. When they let go of eachother he decided to make his entrance. "Heya, everyone ready to go back home?"

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

For a few minutes, Sagisō actually pondered Shura's question...How was she feeling? and the answer was... she didn't know. She wasn't happy, a broken arm didn't exactly elicit emotions of joy and elation after all, but she wasn't sad either, Kai had made sure of that. During their return journey, she'd spent a fair deal of it absolutely gleeful over the expression the clouded Kai's face the entire time, that alone was worth the chakra expenditure needed for her Byakugan to pierce past his mask.

Right now, both happiness and sorrow had passed and she was simply...listless. Though that feeling wouldn't last for long, after all, wasn't there a festival going on? Sitting up in the bed Sagisō stared at Shura, a mischevious smirk plastered onto her face, "Feel like breaking curfew with me?"

 

[Retro Master]

‘How can someone be so persistent?’ Kiro had literally gone accross the village for the sole reason of getting away from the Yuki. Yet here Kai was, once again crashing on his ‘escape’. Kiro simply sighed. How long had he known Kai? That’s right, only since the beginning of the exams, only a month ago. So why was this guy so fixated on him? It was so bad that only Kai had been blinded by his blatant lies. Even a fool see Kiro for what he really was. A lying, treacherous, power hungry idiot who only cared for himself. A ninja was supposed to see through deception so how was Kai still so blinded about Kiro’s true self.

If he was being honest, Kiro could simply use Kai’s good will to get back to the Mist. But what then? The truth would surely come out. Sure Mei could do something but she would still have her suspicions. Even if Mei ruled not to execute him, she would have basically overruled everyone else who wanted him dead for attempted treason. Too betray the village and join up with none other than Orochimaru was probably one of the worst crimes one could commit. Kiro mentally chuckled at the thought of having that on his resume while he proudly walked through the streets of the Mist. Unlike people with a death wish, Kiro did not wish too live in a village where an attempt on his life was a daily ritual. Kiro didn’t doubt his skill to handle these assassins but it would just get tiring to deal with. Then he would find himself in the same predicament he found himself now.

Kai asked him to come back, but deep down inside, Kiro knew he couldn’t go back. No more lies, he had to tell Kai the truth. The thing was, Kiro wanted to do it civilly because he knew if he flat out told Kai he had betrayed the Mist, everything would go to hell. He needed some way to ease him into the topic. Luckily for him, Teuchi seemed to read the situation well as he placed another bowl of ramen in front of him. Kiro knew how tough it would be to deny another bowl, so he didn’t try. However, Teuchi went a step further as he told Ayame to go make another bowl for Kai. Knowing Kai’s attitude, he expected a straight denial but still decided to give it a try.

“Kai, come sit with me for a moment.” Kiro motioned over to the stool on his left, offering the Yuki-Nin a seat before he tried to explain himself.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Kai blinked at the seat that was offered. The Xeno seat looked like it was sit on by tousands of Xeno behinds before, which unsettled the mist ninja greatly. He would have flat out denied and insulted the person who suggested it. But since it was a mist ninja, he decided to comply. He went stiff, sliding into the seat given to him. He was on edge being in a Xeno restaurant, wary of the smallest things. As a bowl of ramen was given to him, he took a finger and slid it aside, as to desregard it’s existence. The last thing he wanted was to get some Xeno disease and bring it home.

“What did you have in mind to speak about?”

He was wondering why Kiro wasn’t in a hurry to come back to the mist. After all, the leaf has only captured and threatened to kill him, it’s not like they were giving him a good service. Perhaps it was shame that he got himself captured, and he didn’t want to tarnish his name?

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Shura looked at Sagiso with a lowered eyebrows shocked at what Sagiso had just suggested. "Break curfew? What is she thinking?” He thought. Sagiso might’ve been brain dead when Hinagiku showed her silent rage earlier but defying an order from someone who she called her mother surprised the masked Hyuga. “And she’s asking if I want to go with her?” He thought as he processed what Sagiso had just asked him. But thinking about it, Shura did think about the festival that was going on outside and how he boring it would be to stay in the medical bay as he had nothing to do. The mischievous smirk on her face also gave him a bad feeling. “I’m going to regret this.” He thought before looking back towards Sagiso. “Alright, I'll go. But miss Hinagiku can probably see us if we tried to go out with her Byakugan, how will we sneak out like this?” He asked.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

"Sneak out..? Do you have a way of sneaking past he Byakugan?" Raising an eyebrow at Shura, she asked questioningly. "I was expecting to get caught so I was going to hop the wall...In any case, I'm her daughter, at least I know she won't kill me...but you on the other hand." Snickering softly, Sagisō revealed her plan, which was essentially no plan.

Leaping off the medical bed, Sagisō ran out of the room, leaving only her voice and a peal of laughter, "I'm going to change into something more appropriate, meet me at the Clan gates if you're coming~"

Yasu

It was a long and silent trip to their meeting point, but Yasu didn't particularly mind, it gave him plenty of time to think uninterrupted about what his next actions would be. The almost monotonous view of the gravel beneath his feet was somewhat calming, it wasn't quite a sturdy stone but wasn't exactly as loose as sand... It was a harmonious mix of sorts. In the end, he thought a lot but didn't really come up with any concrete answers or plans of action. A frustrated sigh escaped his lips as he muttered to himself, "Guess it's now or never..."

Conviction burning in his eyes, he lifted his head and aimed his gaze forward. For now...just for now, he'd throw caution to the wind and go full speed ahead, just like his battle with Zaku. He smirked to himself, and taking a deep breath, he sped ahead. It wasn't long till he came to the spot where Tomiko, Madoka, and Mori stood, he had, after all, already traveled quite the distance while brooding to himself. As he pulled to a stop next to the group, his eyes radiated an air of...not quite confidence, but something along those lines.

Eye fixed onto Tomiko, he spoke slowly, in measured words, "Tomiko...we need to talk."

Throwing his head over his shoulder, he gestured to a point a short distance away from the group. It would still be in full view of both Madoka and Mori, but it was just far enough that the wind wouldn't carry their voices over.

 

[Retro Master]

Kiro silently watched as Kai disrespectfully shoved the bowl of ramen away to the side. Though Kiro wanted to say something, he decided not to make a fuss out of it considering that getting Kai too sit was a victory in itself. However, the most difficult task would be explaining his betrayal without Kai trying to spill his blood in the ramen before the end. ‘He won’t attempt to murder me in public, would he?’

Kiro took a deep breath before he spoke. “Kai, let me ask you this first. Do you know what the Mist does with traitors?” It was a simple question, one he knew Kai could easily answer. However, that wasn’t the point of the question. Kiro wanted Kai to understand his reasonable fear for stalling as much as he did first. He wanted to Kai to gain an understanding as to why he couldn’t go back to the Mist.

- - - - -

The head of the Uchiha remained expressionless as he stood near the back of the crowd, silently watching as the Hyūga put on a show. Fugaku wasn’t one for festivities and he was much more interested in the group standing outside the gates of the village. He gave the Hyūga, or rather Hinagiku, credit for how they handled this situation. The fact that this clan from a rival nation had the nerve to even step foot in their village and make demands right after the disgusting invasion by that snake was outright disrespectful.

He could only imagine if word got out to Danzo, that an enemy clan had done as much as stand outside the gates in such a manner. Though he disagreed with many of Danzo’s beliefs, had the Uchiha recieved an order to clean out the trash, Fugaku would’ve gladly accepted it. The child they had sent into the village should’ve considered himself lucky that Fugaku didn’t know the entire details of the situation.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Kai cocked his head at the question. While it was an easy question to answer really, it was odd that Kiro would ask such a thing. Not thinking much of it, the hunter nin simply decided to answer the question in detail.

“That’s very easy. The mist ninja created the hunter nin corps specifically for killing traitors and defectors. Being a hunter nin myself I’m very well acquainted with this. And if they can be brought back to the mist, each limb will be frozen over and broken one by one before they die of shock. A suitable process for those homicidal defectors I’d say.”

He traced a finger in his chin. Reading kiro’s body movements and expression in the hunter nin fashion, he quickly deduced that the boy was disturbed by something, troubled. For some reason, inside the xenophobic ninja, he couldn’t stand for Kiro to be like that. He couldn’t shake why he felt such a attachment. Shaking such thoughts out of his head for now, he decided to focus on the task at hand.

“You seem troubled Kiro, what’s the matter?”

 

[Retro Master]

Even though Kiro knew the answer, even having personally witnessed the punishment once himself, hearing Kai describe it aloud didn’t make things better. Teuchi and Ayame also cringed as they heard of the Mist’s brutal ways. Though they had heard their fair share of stories from other customers, just hearing such a thing would send a chill up any common citizen’s spine. Kiro had nearly lost his appetite by now but still continued to eat.

“I’m troubled because if I go back to the Mist, they’re probably going to kill me.” Kiro responded to Kai after he finished swallowing the ramen noodles. “Kai, I wasn’t brainwashed. All of that was an act. This curse mark, I willingly accepted it from Orochimaru himself. It was after my battle with that Iwa-Nin in the third round. He came up to me and promised me power. Unimaginable power. Too have that kind of power...” Kiro paused for a moment as he knew that deep down inside of himself, he still wanted it. ‘No, not now!’ Kiro forced his mind to get refocused and not distracted by his lust for power.

Kiro sighed as he dropped the chopsticks into the bowl, turning his attention fully on Kai. “What I’m trying to say is that I may have actually committed treason.” Kiro blatantly stated, unsure if he had explained himself well enough for Kai too fully understand.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Shura stared at Sagiso with a blank face as she walked out of the room. "I thought she would have a plan for this." He thought before sighing. He had already decided he will go with her and didn't plan to change that. "I just know this is going to end badly for me. If I die, at least I won't die from poison." He said to himself as he walked to his room. He took off his tactical vest and ninja pouch and placed them on a table before and changed into a different set of clothes that looks pretty much the same as the one he was wearing before but less ragged before walking to the clan gate to meet with Sagiso.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Kai’s heart stopped beating. He couldn’t believe what his ears were hearing. Kiro, committing treason? The one that he, Mei, and so many others put this much faith in for all this time? His body was rigid, his hands scooting the ramen bowl back in front of him. He took out two senbon and began to use them as chopsticks for the ramen. It’s a shame he didn’t eat it earlier, that way he could blame the Xeno food for the dillisions he was hearing. Taking a bite from the ramen from under his mask, he paused. Removing his hunter nin mask, which was incredibly peculiar for him to do this in front of so many Xenos.

“Kiro...” He said, turning to look at the Uchiha. His face wasn’t drawn with anger, but with worry. “Did you...consciously betray the mist...on purpose?”

Kai was probing Kiro now. In the Yuki handbook it explicitly said to kill or immediately take in a mist ninja that had betrayed. But somehow...he couldn’t bring himself to do that. At least not for now

 

[Godjacob]

Azumi saw as Reaver smashed one of the tombstones, as she assumed whoever it belonged to was someone that Reaver held in contempt. Azumi really felt it was a cold move to make, but she kept that comment to herself as she hopped off the bench and looked the mecha-nin in the eye. Or at least tried to, anyhow given his protective covering sort of made that part not so simple for the Ame-kunoichi.

"Yes, but died for a war that never should have happened. Along with countless innocents. I will ensure these deaths don't go unaccounted for, but this is something I cannot do alone. I need your assistance Reaver." Azumi said, giving a pause before she would then explain her idea to her fellow Ame-nin.

"I desire to form a team Reaver. One made up of gems among nations that have been overlooked and undermined by the Great Nations of the world. An elite team that can help with eliminated famed ninja of the great nations and work to destabilize them. Already we've seen a full on invasion from one nation to another is not enough to destroy one of them. So we need a way to target and eliminate key figures to cause power struggles, political destabilization & general chaos that should set off civil wars within those nations and have them destroy themselves. An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again, one that is destroyed from within...stays buried forever." Azumi explained, well the roughest outline of her general idea as she picked up on Orochimaru's failure with a standard invasion and knew she needed another method to combat those nations.

Amegakure could not hope to fight any of the great nations in a full on war, so Azumi aimed to simply have those nations turn against themselves or perhaps each other and have them do her dirty work for here leaving her to clean up the scraps. However, that was farther down the line, the first part was to assemble the team itself as she glanced back to Reaver.

"For this to have even the slightest chance to work, we need the best of the best among nations who deserve far better than they've been given. In spite of your...trophy obsession, you certainly have the strength needed for such a task. Least, I hope you would." Azumi said before she developed a more scolding tone.

"However, your desire for trophies seem to impact your performance. As you failed to advance to even the exam prelims and in our engagement put yourself in an unwinnable situation against far too many enemies. I am not so certain you are fit for the task. Which is why I desire a...confirmation test." Azumi explained before she faced Reaver with a stone cold expression.

"I challenge you to a duel Reaver, if you impress me enough I will let you join the team where opportunity for trophies beyond your wildest dreams await you. Course, you are free to simply decline and I can begin my trip to find more suitable members." Azumi said, naturally she aimed to goat him into an agreement as she needed to see for herself if Reaver could put his trophy obsession long enough to focus on a given task. Reaver had the power she would no doubt need, but if he used it as recklessly as he often had that power would prove pointless.

----------
Jiraiya overheard Taiyo's question as indeed that would be an issue to deal with, as an intoxicated Tsunade was a nightmare to deal with to have said the very least. Though Jiraiya had not come all the way here just to give up on the assumption an addict might be drunk during the mission as it was inevitable as far as he had been concerned.

"Well, first we need to find her. And hopefully get her in a situation where she is willing to at least hear us out after she is done getting wasted. In spite of her...departure from Konoha I truely believe she still loves the Leaf. Otherwise she'd have left the Land of Fire ages ago, and I know she has a soft spot for Minato. Given the fact Kushina had been a member of Tsunade's Genin team before the war forced her to take a "permanent" leave of absence.

Minato's condition could be just the emotional heart string & motivator to get Tsunade to consider a position she likely would have had no interest in.

Sakura considered Jiraiya's words as she thought about obvious locations Tsunade could be. Bars, casinos if they were there and really any food place that sold alcohol seemed like obvious targets to her.

"I say our best bet is to split up, I go off on my own to search one section of the town, and you two tag along to search the other. We'll make a signal once either side manages to find Tsunade. Is that easy enough to follow." Jiraiya asked, as he figured the kids would mainly slow him down and felt they would be more beneficial if they stuck together and away from him to allow them to cover more ground.

----------
Tomiko had been prepared to address Mori's question before she overheard Yasu's request to talk with her in private. He seemed nervous over...something, but she was clueless as to what and simply decided to hear him out as she offered a small smile and a nod.

"Sure thing." Tomiko said as she followed Yasu over to this secluded spot while Madoka decided to go speak with Mori given she had nothing better to do.

"So...you and Tomiko seemed to know each other yes?" Madoka asked, as she didn't know the exact details about their history beyond being academy classmates and had been naturally curious to learn details.

----------
Kenji continued to treck through the Land of Fire forests, as they seemed to expand forever on out. Which made sense, the main ninja village here was called the Village Hidden in the Leaves so really what was he supposed to expect out...

"Man, for a lightning-nin you move rather slow. Haven't even made it to the border yet."
​

Kenji was naturally startled as he heard a familiar voice, and glanced behind him as he saw Aisha along with her wolf companions Luna & Sky as Kenji was rather speechless.

"Aisha? I thought you would have gone back to Konoha to reunite with the Inuzuka Clan." Kenji asked as Aisha had a friendly, but toothy grin on her face in response to the question.

"I was actually, but as I saw you depart I sensed that your spirit was troubled and after all you've done during that skirmish with the Sound & Rain I figured I needed to repay it in some capacity. So I followed you hoping to get a chance to talk it out before you left." Aisha said matter of factly, and Kenji was curious how Aisha could tell his "spirit" was downcast but the girl, bizzare as she was, seemed to read him like a book as he was unsure how to respond.

"Look, Aisha as...flattering as that is to hear, it really is nothing big. It's better if you go back to Konoha, you might get in trouble if you just skip down on the Inuzuka to follow around some Kumo-nin." Kenji pointed out, only for Aisha's smirk to grow.

"Actually, since I never got in contact with them. Technically, I am a wild-girl still. Meaning I can follow you all the way to Kumo if I wanted you to pester you. None. Stop. And there'd be nothing to stop me, so if you want to avoid that it'd be wise if you shared what was troubling you now." Aisha said, as Kenji felt dumbfounded that some jungle girl managed to pull the wool from under him like that. Kenji had no counter as he let out a sigh and gave a nod of concession.

"Fine, but let's try to make this quick."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“The exams? The exams?! Ha! I never wanted to pass the exams!” Reaver laughed whole heartedly. “I was in it to kill as many genin as possible to grow my collection! This way it would be legal and they could do anything about it! I’ve still collected dozens of trophies from that excursion! It was glorious!”

Reaver had failed to see how is drive for trophies was a bad thing. He practically devastated many village’s youth. Double digits in total for many villages killed by his hands. He had shown more of a kill count than any other genin ranked ninja in his village, most likely the chunnins as well! He showed results, and he was half offended she considered this a negative.

Azumi made a long deceleration for a duel. One that Reaver couldn’t believe she did. She was either extremely dumb, or suicidal to even consider fighting him. He gave a low chuckle, before breaking out into a fit of deep laughter!

“Hahahaha! You have the audacity to challenge me? Reaver?! You must have a death wish to think you have a chance at winning! I’ve surpassed you Azumi. I’ve become stronger in every way than you, that’s a fact! My bones are made of iron, and my blood is made of oil! You can’t hope to defeat an engine of destruction like myself! I won’t pull any punches, I promise you that!!”

He was pumped, more so than an usual trophy endeavor. Ever since he was...his ‘past life’ he had always dreamed of defeating Azumi, and taking the glory for himself. She had always been the most talented person in class, surpassing everyone. Now here she stood, declaring to fight him. It was a reenactment of all of his childhood fantasies. Finally, he could show that he, Reaver, could bring the pain to the likes of her!

 

[DarkHydraT]

"I know Tomiko from back home, that is indeed true." Mori was uncomfortable talking to a puppet user as he had no experience dealing with them, but so far she seemed not interested to fight. As he said the word 'home', he looked down a bit. It was his home, but it didn't really feel like one anymore. "We were in the same academy class, and although I was goofing off more than once a week Tomiko caught my eye. She was not like the other students Mr. Sato sent to fetch me, she didn't take no for an answer and she tugged me along towards class more times than I can remember. Eventually I stopped skipping class and found myself looking at her more and more, she really was something else. Even though she possibly had the worst start a child could have she refused to give up and let her background determine who she is. I remember that she even created a group of other kids from the slums and made them believe that they were not worthless vermin."

"Tomiko refused to let injustice happen to anyone and constantly stood up to people who were bullying anyone, that habit made her almost always have a black eye and a few wounds yet she stayed positive. I was so used to her having a black eye that I once asked her if it was some kind of decoration, not my smartest idea but she took it pretty damn well. We lost contact after our graduation for atleast a solid few months before we met up again in Konoha, still the same girl that refused to give up and let injustice happen. I really think that she can become Tsuchikage, I just hope she keeps her determination after she becomes it." Mori said as he felt a bit embarrassed after talking with such vigor about her.

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
"Alright then Mr. Jiraiya, what do you have in mind to signify one of us finding Tsunade?" Taiyo asked again of the Toad Sage, seeing as Jiraiya couldn't just send telepathic messages to the kids, else the use of a signal would be meaningless. A bird call would be too impractical as the sound wouldn't travel that far, however, a smoke signal would be too conspicuous, someone would be bound to notice. If they had something like communicators then that would solve both problems.

Wait last time I checked, Sages don't get telepathic powers, do they? Then again, if they did that would be pointless since Sakura nor I could do that if it was Sage-exclusive.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

Since she didn't have that many sets of clothes available at the Hyūga mansion, and she also couldn't have one made in time, Sagisō settled for a floral patterned Kimono with sleeves long enough, and wide enough to conceal her cast. She would at least need to look the part of a party-goer, and for that, she couldn't afford to be lugging around a broken arm. Soon enough, after a swift session of dolling herself up and redoing her hair (soon being an operative word as what consisted of soon for her was almost a full hour), making herself generally presentable, she arrived at the Hyūga clan's gate. She'd expected Shura to have at least changed and put on some more...fitting attire, it was technically a date after all, but instead, he appeared to have just removed his combat gear and showed up as is...

Marching up to him, and using her good arm to grab his collar, she pulled his head down to her level where she could properly leverage her crimson pupils into a death glare. "Go change! Now!"

Yasu

Once the duo had arrived at their partially secluded spot, Yasu swiveled on his heels, turned to face Tomiko, and looked her dead in the eye, mustering up all the courage he had, he began speaking. "I'm...pretty bad at this sorta thing...but bear with me.."

"I like you, and I don't mean as friends, I mean as something more than that...something that might even be l-lo-...love." He'd started out giving Tomiko a hard stare, one that conveyed his sincerity and conviction, but as he got closer to the accursed 'L-word' he faltered, stuttering a few times before pausing, taking a deep breath, and managing to spit it out, disregarding the crimson blush spreading across his cheeks. Steeling himself, he continued in spite of the embarrassment, he stepped forward and placed his handds over hers, grasping her smaller digits. "It might seem sudden... but it can't really be helped, we live in different nations after all and we may never see each other again or worst, our next meeting will be on the battlefield..."

A sense of bitterness seeped into his voice, a hint of resentment over his unfavorable circumstances. "I don't want to rush you though, and I don't want to harm what we already have between us..." At that moment, Yasu released Tomiko's hands, while his owns hand found his way into his ninja pouch and retrieved a small, delicate box. He pushed the box open, and there, atop plush embroidered fabrics lay a single black feather, far more illustrious than the ones Yasu normally used for his attacks. As he looked down at the box, a hint of wistfulness flashed across his eyes. "This feather...belonged to my mother, a memento from her former days..."

Carefully withdrawing the feather from the box, he stuck the quill into Tomiko's hair. "I want you to have it...in case we never meet again, at least to remember me by, and if, by some chance, we meet again, and you still have the quill with you then..." His words trailed off, simply being summed up by the hopeful, but somewhat bashful, smile on his face, "Besides, it looks good on you!"

A few silent moments passed, and Yasu realized he had nothing more to say. He didn't want her to respond to him now, he wasn't ready for a painful rejection, or an even more painful acceptance as they would part ways regardless. Instead, he simply turned around and begun walking back to Madoka and Mori, leaving his final words. "I'll wait for your response...the next time we meet..."

He timed his pace just right so that should Tomiko recover from his confession, she would still be able to respond with a few words before he rejoined the other two.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Shura stood at the game waiting for Sagiso as she was getting ready. “She sure is taking her time.” He thought as an hour passed. When she finally arrived, Shura looked at her attire. “Huh, kind of overdressed in my opinion.” He thought before Sagiso suddenly marched up to him and grabbed him by the collar. A confused look grew in Shura’s eyes as it happened then he heard what Sagiso just said to him. “What’s your problem?” He said as he pushed Sagiso’s arm away with his own. “I did change clothes, if you’re asking for me to change into something in the category of what you’re wearing then i’m Sorry beacause I don’t have any fancy clothes.” He said. “This is a festival, who are you to dictate what I wear.” He added.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

Staggering backward, Sagisō glared at Shura with utter disbelief. To be frank, the girl was quite incensed, to think she invited someone out to a festival and they chose to wear their best 'hobo-clothes' to meet her. Wasn't this practically spitting in her face? To think Shura would've had the nerve, and the gall, to humiliate her by turning up in such manner, his clothes still ripped and sullied from his latest mission. Her face flushing with anger, Sagisō prepared to pepper Shura with her extensive vocabulary of words little ladies such as herself should never utter. (She had after all been raised in an Amazonian environment, and they certainly weren't a batch of prim and proper ladies.) But, at that moment, she staggered, her legs buckling under her and she slumped down to her knees. A killer headache had just assaulted her and for several seconds the world performed tightrope acrobatics which left Sagisō simply squeamish.

When the ground had stopped spinning, Sagisō carefully rose to her feet and brushed the dust from her Kimono. She swallowed down whatever threatened to burst from her stomach and after a short round of panting, she raised her head, thin beads of sweat dotting her face as the Kunoichi struggled to keep herself together. Despite all this, her death glare was still going strong, locked on Shura. As soon as she regained her breath she would lay into her with the fury of a thousand- "Wait...what happened to all the rips in your clothes?"

Confused, and taken back, Sagisō scanned Shura's body, almost certain that they were ripped and tattered mere moments ago. Slowly, her eyes begun pounding with pain, and she brought her useful hand up to cover her left eye. A discomforted grunt escaped the Kunoichi as she slowly pieced together what had happened. Perhaps, all the medicinal concoctions she'd been subjected to as she slept were still running their course within her body, particularly the anesthesia which was certainly messing with her vision.

Considering that she wasn't supposed to be out of the medical bay, it was no wonder that whatever they'd injected her with was still active in her bloodstream, and it must be the reason for her, less than comforting, condition. On the bright side, whatever was causing her hallucinations had also numbed the pain from her injuries. In fact, she couldn't even feel her broken arm (She'd yet to decide if that were truly good or bad, but less pain was always a good sign.)

Sagisō shook her head back and forth thoroughly, in an attempt to shake off her hallucinations. Then turning to Shura she apologized, "Sorry, I think I'm still under the influence of the anesthesia...I'll be fine though."

Her claims at being fine were immediately disproved when she brushed past Shura, staggered onto the street, and walked straight into the nearest lamp-post

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Shura stared Sagiso down as she gave him a death stare. He watched as Sagiso was about to say something. “Great, here comes the nagging.” He thought when suddenly he witnessed Sagiso fall to her knees. Confused, Shura looked down towards Sagiso. “What’s wrong?” He asked in a surprised tone. He then watched Sagiso got up after a bit and continue her death stare, but then she asked about the rips in his clothes. “I told you, I changed them.” He said. Shura would then watch Sagiso cover her eye and realease a discomforted groan, the expression on Shura’s face turned concerned. He listened to Sagiso apologize and say she’s fine, which caused Shura to frown. “Yeah right, you’re obviously not fine. Great, now you got me worried.” He thought. His worries were further reaffirmed when he saw Sagiso stagger to the street and go against the nearest lamppost. He ran up to her. “Are you sure you want to go out? We’re not supposed to be out anyway.” He said with a worried tone.

 

[Retro Master]

Teuchi and Ayame went from a skeptical to a more neutral expression as they saw Kai finally bring the bowl back towards himself. They believed that he was finally warming up to the idea of trying their ramen. However, Kiro had a feeling that wasn’t the total reason. It wasn’t like Kai to simply eat the food of a Xeno. No, it was more like their ongoing discussion had pushed Kai to a higher state of disbelief. A state so high to the point where Kai needed something to make him believe he wasn’t going crazy. A bowl of Xeno ramen.

“It’s good, isn’t it?” Kiro threw the question out there, not really expecting an answer. It was moreso a question to buy himself some more time.

Kiro knew how serious Kai was when it came to his position as a Hunter-Nin. The fact that Kai was also a Yuki also made his potential actions a bit predictable. Truthfully, Kai has nearly all the rights a Yuki-Nin needed to kill someone in Kiro’s position. But considering that Kai had managed to keep his temper for this long, Kiro figured he still had a chance to reason with him. However, it was easier said than done... and considering his track record on explaining himself, he would probably mess this up.

“Kai listen, if I’m being honest here, I did. It’s why I tagged along with that the Sound in the first place. Too attain the full power Orochimaru offered me.” Kiro started off by simply giving the truthful answer. He found it difficult to look directly at Kai’s now exposed face, but Kiro did so anyway, just as he did when he decided to own up to his sin.

“I’m only telling you this because you’ve earned my respect... even though that must mean little to you now. Countless of times you have gone out of your way for my sake. Even now, you’re sacrificing yourself just by coming back into this village for a traitor. It would only be a waste if I dragged your generosity into the dirt and pretended to go back to the Mist like I did nothing wrong. You shouldn’t be worrying about someone like me. In fact, I would understand if you wanted to kill me right here.” After speaking his mind, Kiro went back to his ramen as he awaited Kai’s response. Whatever it may be, Kiro believed he was ready for it now.

 

[Godjacob]

Seemed Reaver was more than eager to accept her challenge, and with a nod she walked with her umbrella up and began to lead Reaver away from her graveyard.

Soon enough, they arrived in one of the training fields where a carved in character of their "angel" with its wings extended rested on the floor. Azumi made sure to give her silent thanks to said angel as she scanned the field; which was mainly open space with a few puddles scattered around from the downpour the night before.

Azumi moved to one half of the training field and reserved the other for Reaver as she turned to her mechanical would-be ally and unfolded her umbrella as she rested it on her shoulder and locked eyes with the metalic maniac of malice.

"We'll begin when you are ready." Azumi pointed out simply enough as she would give Reaver a needed moment to ready himself before they would begin. One way or another, Azumi would find Reaver's worth with her own eyes...

----------
Tomiko was...speechless to put it kind, as she listened to Yasu give a literal deceleration of love to her. Tomiko had a pink blush streaked across her face as she had not expected to hear Yasu say this about her.

Tomiko cared for Yasu, a tremendous amount. Along with Madoka he was her best friend, but was he just that to her? Yasu didn't ask her to give an answer yet, as he expected or at least was prepared for the possibility they'd never see each other again. But still she felt she needed to think of this now even if it was not Yasu's intent. She did think about Yasu quite often, especially after he helped to snap her out of her post-exam depression when she was near crippled and humiliated by Kiro. And Tomiko did recall showing great concern for Yasu and expressed great worry when she saw him push himself so hard against Zaku and realize he had done it for her sake.

And now, to top it all of, Yasu gave this wonderful gesture and placed a prized feather into her hair that clearly meant so much to him. Tomiko took a hand and gently brushed the feather before she set her gaze to Yasu as she was unsure what to do.

"Yasu, I...this is, this is wonderful. It really is beautiful, and I can't even begin to describe what it feels to know that someone thinks of me and is willing to give me something so meaningful." Tomiko said, with a small smile as she thought over what she would have said if Yasu wanted to answer....and drew up blanks as to what she felt they were.

I...I don't know how I feel. Whether I see you as just a friend or something more, I've never had this feeling before, these butterflies in my chest. I want to be honest with you, to give you an "I love you" or "I just see you as a friend" but I-I can't. I hate this, I am so pathetic and I can't even give you an honest answer after everything you've done for me. I'm sorry...I swear when I do know how I feel I will come find you and let you know...

"I don't...I don't think you should be so worried. I'm sure we will see each other again, and who knows? Maybe then well...maybe then we'll have gotten to know and understand each other better. I do wish you the best and thank you for all you've done for me during these exams." Tomiko said, though she had another thought in mind when she made that comment.

And maybe I'll find an answer then...

-----------
"Wow..." Madoka said, as she overheard Mori's comments about Tomiko which gave Madoka a new perspective on her friend. For a while, she just assumed Tomiko was stubborn and this whole "never give up" stitch was something she had because she was too prideful to admit defeat and little else. But there was something deeper about this, a desire to rise up and help others rise up from seemingly hopeless situations to something greater.

"...I can see why you have this belief in her. And in truth, I do hope she can realize her dream. I think once she learns to fight a little smarter and not nearly kill herself every fight she'd make a wonderful Kage. Make sure you give her my best wishes for me." Madoka said with a small smile to Mori.

----------
Jiraiya rubbed his chin in thought when Taiyo mentioned of a needed signal, something subtle but something that would be spotted even if they were across from each other in town. As Jiraiya thought it over he glanced over to a nearby kite stand as he then shot back in the air and took note of a couple kites in the sky, but not that many. Seems it was a passtime among some kids here, and it gave Jiraiya an idea as he went over an made a purchase of a couple of them; matching pink kites with emerald tortoise designs on them as he handed one to Sakura and kept one for himself.

"Seems to be a decent breeze today, and I happened to get the only pink kites he had so if one of us gets lucky and finds Tsunade we simply hand the kite in the air and the other goes to that spot. Does that work for you?" Jiraiya asked as Sakura looked at the folded up kite and had to admit she was expecting something a bit less....out there then this for a signal from a Sannin, but in truth it was nothing too obvious and it was noticeable enough that it should work so she decided to avoid an argument and simply nodded. Jiraiya turned to Taiyo curious of his impute.

-----------
"So, you feel inadequacy because of your lack of success during the exams, and feel you have no purpose as a ninja?"

"Yeah, that basically sums it up."

Kenji explained his situation to Aisha, as he had taken a seat on a fallen tree while Aisha rested on a stump and her wolves laid by her. From his domination at the hands of Sagiso to being literally carried to the finish by Sakura to being beaten as a half-beaten man already by Yasu and overall his ineffectiveness in battles. Aisha took a moment to think it over before she responded.

"I feel you are overrating to a degree, I mean yeah you hit some bad luck here and there but I wouldn't say you were totally ineffective. I mean you did save her sister during the cave in and managed to be an effective leader during our mission. So you have not been a complete liability." Aisha pointed out as Kenji shook his head in response. He knew she meant well but in truth he was too down to consider that view.

"That's a nice thought, but I didn't keep Furijia safe. I was basically her babysitter and I lucked out when others helped me along the way. Not to mention we'd have been screwed had it not been for the good fortunes of those Iwa-nin and that Suna-nin coming to provide aid while I put all your lives at risk in a battle that never should have been fought. I was poor as a representative of Kumo, showed I didn't belong with the other more talented peers and even failed as a leader...a role I never should have had. I don't even know what kind of ninja I could be at this point." Kenji said with a sullen tone as he shifted his gaze down & away from Aisha.

Slap!​

Naturally this caused him to miss her frowning as the wild-girl walked up to Kenji and give him a hard smack across the cheek. Kenji was rather stunned as he rubbed his cheek before he shot a glare at the girl.

"What the hell!?" Kenji yelled out as Aisha let out a sigh before she began to explain her sudden action.

"Look, I get you've had a not so great time. But whining about it and moping around doesn't help you in the least. So you feel you are weak, well nobody is stopping you from doing something about it. You think you are useless? Well nobody says you can't change that. Nobody except you, so I say you need to get off your ass and work to get better. Your problems won't go away no matter how much you sulk and how much you beat yourself up about them." Aisha said, as Kenji listened to this speech and had to admit, as outlandish as her "motivation slap" may have been it did help to put things into perspective as he closed his eyes and had an amused grin as he shook his head.

"I guess you have a point there....even if you didn't need the slap to get said point across." Kenji said as Aisha had a toothy smirk on her face.

"Hey, it worked didn't it? And hey, maybe I can help you with this." Aisha said which only caused Kenji to raise an eyebrow.

"Help me?"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

No rule in the book of the Xenos could ever have prepared him for the words that had came from Kiro’s mouth. The hunter nin hadn’t the computing necessary to respond quickly. He held the eye contact with Kiro, his fingers still holding the senbon-chopsticks. A single tear had fallen from his eye, racing down his cheek, hitting the floor, crystallizing at it hit the ground, shattering. He hid his face amongst his hair, looking down into the bowl of ramen.

“My father had always warned me of the corruptible Uchiha blood. He’s never trusted you for that reason. He didn’t want me to interact with you as children for that very reason. The curse of the clan he called it.”

“....”

“...but...”

He swerved back to Kiro, red eyes, but wiping away any other tear. He had grown affirmed, closing his fist and gritting his teeth. Not out of anger, but out of determination. The same determination that has shown up when he defended Kiro from a Giant snake, defeated Tayuya in kiro’s defense, and many other occasions. This will he shown was in a great contrast to his father. A zeal to protect his loved ones.

“That snake can twist the minds of the strongest of heart! All those people under I’m his ranks had been subjected to his mind games, you were no different! It wasn’t your fault! It’s this damn Xeno seal...this cursed Seal! Taking away people from their lives, but not this one, he won’t win today! He won’t take out the prize of the village! He won’t take your body! He won’t take your soul! Not you! Not the man that I trust, not the man that I believe in! Not that man that I L-“

He clenched his fists, putting a hand on his head. He was breaking down. Here, in a cursed Xeno establishment, with all their cries of joy and cheers echoing around with their loud insufferable music. Dear lord the music. It was not a time to be happy! They should all freeze and die...all of them. Every. Last. One. His palms grew a layer of frost over them, as he cut off the last few words of his rant.




.......



Reaver snickered under his gas mask. Azumi seemed so confident, even after she prayed to her angel. There would be no god to save her or angel to welcome her to the gates of the afterlife when he was done with her! His engine reeved up, and his armaments were ready. He was not going to let up. Charging ahead, he shot several rail road spikes her way, followed by two spenders covered in paper bombs, were she to dodge to the right or left. If she were to fly above, he had begun to weave a powerful contingency for it...

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
"That's perfect! So is everyone ready?" Taiyo surveyed his group, now waiting for them to answer. If one was an outsider looking in, one might observe that the leaf-nun was taking the most initiative between him and Sakura, and maybe even out of the entire group, as he seemed to be the only one who was asking nessesary questions to ensure the missions success. Jiraiya was the one who was leading the operation to begin with, but as for Sakura, she was the one who had yet to add anything to the success of their mission, ironic that the actual tag along was more useful than the person who was invited.

 

[Retro Master]

A tear? This shinobi had spilled a tear for him? Kiro had never seen something like this before. No, maybe he was seeing things. He had eaten four bowls of ramen already so maybe Kai had a point about Xeno meals. Maybe it was an allergic reaction that caused Kai too act like this. Then again, maybe this was an elaborate attempt at a genjutsu to trick him into believing someone actually felt sympathy towards him. ‘That’s it!’

Kiro cursed his stupidity as he activated his sharingan to check for any traces of genjutsu. No matter how much Kiro disliked it, nothing could fool the sharingan. Kiro internally laughed at the idiocy of whoever tried to place a sharingan user under a genjutsu. But still, Kiro could find no traces of any chakra disturbance. He examined Kai, before he looked into the ramen. No, there was nothing in there. He looked up at Teuchi and Ayame, who slightly flinched at his sharingan. It didn’t seem like they were apart of whatever elaborate scheme this was. There was now only one way to solve this.

Looking back at Kai, the only thing Kiro could do was pat his shoulder, which surprised even himself at this action. Here he was, trying to comfort someone who could potentially try to kill him at any second. It was a weird feeling, which Kiro had only experienced once before. A memory that he dispelled from his mind as soon as it came up. “Kai, um, are you alright? I know this is hard for you believe and if your reaction is truly genuine then... then you should probably leave me. If I go back to the Mist, then things will be worse for me. Though yes, you’re the son of the Yuki’s Head and Mei is the Mizukage, but there’s only so much two souls can do.” Kiro sighed before he decided to tell Kai something that may jeopardize even his life.

“Kai, the remnants of the Blood Mist era are out there. I have a history that runs deep with them. When they realize I tried to get out, it won’t be good. Over the years, they have planted seeds in the Mist, all the way up to the Council themselves. Though Mei may deny it, they are hiding in plain sight, biding their time and building power, waiting for the opportune time to rise up from the Mist’s ashes. Hell, it may not even be until the next generation when they finally think about revealing themselves. But either way, I will be on that list of targets marked for murder on sight. Even if you were an ally, the Bloody Mist shows no mercy.” Kiro stated the last fact with coldness in his voice as he knew this to be true.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"I will, don't you worry. I don't intend to let her out of my sight anytime soon, so I can aid her in any fights and keep her alive for as long as possible. It is just annoying at times that she loves to get into fights, she should take care of herself first. Yes, such a strong sense of justice and empathy could really help her as Tsuchikage, but it won't be of any use to her when she is in grave danger." Mori sighed as he spoke.

"At times I wonder who'll die first; Tomiko from getting in a fight she can't win or me trying to keep her alive. I guess only time will tell, and I hope neither one of us dies before reaching their goal. On a positive note, she can't be as bad as the current Tsuchikage." He was visibly pained by saying such an insult, it still was a delicate topic for him.

"You can trust me to keep her safe and sound, as long as Tomiko decides to listen. Let's hope the next time we meet isn't on the battlefield, but on a visit to propose peace between our countries. If we do meet on the battlefield, I hope that we fight side by side instead of against eachother, ehhhh. Sorry, I don't think I got your name." Mori said as he scratched his head.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Kai let our another small sob after Kiro began patting him on his back. He wholeheartedly believed Kiro couldn’t have betrayed on his own. The seal of betrayal...the one constructed solely to make people defect to the sound...THAT is what did it, not Kiro! It wasn’t fair for him to pay for the crimes that seal and it’s creator committed.

“You fool. A mist ninja must not leave another behind! I fought this hard to bring you back, I’m not going to let that snake stop it! Lie! Tell them that you didn’t do it!”

Kai was trying to find any way to bring him back to the mist, even if it meant underhand methods like lying, cheating, or other such tactics. It was low, but...the only way. Upon Kiro mentioning the blood mist and their possible claim to power, he didn’t seem entirely convinced.

“They aren’t, as half of the councilors picked my father over Mei during the invasion.” He sniffed. “Screw Mei, screw the bloody mist, screw everything! Let’s just go back to the mist, make up a story about how you got in that position, and go on Living our lives like none of this even happened? I doubt your parents would be happy that you never came back...heh...”

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

Rubbing her nose, having bumped it a bit too hard for comfort in an intimate encounter with the lamp post, Sagisō straightened herself stubbornly. "I'll be fine!" She insisted, shaking off her disorientation and continuing on towards the festival. It wasn't long before she, somewhat drunkenly, made her way toward the gathered crowd, and had even managed to squeeze her way to the forefront of said crowd.

Yasu

Responding with nothing but a smile, Yasu prepared to head back to the group, "Come on, we should get going before they start getting suspicious." He thought about Tomiko's words, her belief that they would meet each other again, and he also agreed. They'd definitely come across each other soon enough...but it probably wouldn't be the situation she would expect. Due to their close proximity, Suna and Iwa were constantly fighting small skirmishes, and at any moment either one of them could be deployed to that battlefield to face the other in combat. Of course, the chance of that was highly unlikely, for their respective nations to have just so happened to deploy both of them at the exact same time to the exact same battlefield...that'd be too great a coincidence.

It would be best for the both of them if they were never involved in the skirmishes between their nations and it was very likely that he wouldn't be deployed, he wasn't one of Suna's prided puppet users after all. However, Tomiko was different, she aimed to become Tsuchikage and would inevitably appear on the battlefield. The mere fact that he knew she would appear was discomforting. Although he didn't doubt Mori's ability to protect her, Tomiko was Tomiko after all.

Sighing to himself, he decided to apply for the Suna-Iwa battlefield upon his return. On the off chance that she did appear among enemy forces...he could at least secretly keep her safe.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Seeing Sagiso get up and insist that she is fine caused a sigh to release from Shura. “Nothing I say will change her mind, I just know it.” He thought as he watched Sagiso drunkenly walk through the crowd. “Darn it, now I can’t turn back even if I wanted.” Shura thought as he scratched his head. He would then run after after Sagiso through the crowd. “Hey Sagiso, wait up.” He said a he followed her.

 

[Retro Master]

“I doubt your parents would be happy that you never came back... heh...”

Kiro’s mind zoned in completely on Kai’s last remark, completely disregarding everything else the Yuki-Nin said. ‘So he’s actually going there, huh?’ He removed his hand from Kai’s shoulder before he looked back down into his ramen bowl. Perhaps he had taken some form of amusement from Kai’s words as Kiro slowly began to snicker. He stirred the ramen with his chopsticks, apparently playing with his food. A short moment later, Kiro slightly grinned as he seemed to find what he was looking for. ‘Ah yes, finally.’ The last piece of pork was now found.

For some reason, Kiro must’ve been exerting too much force with the chopsticks. When he tried to lift the piece of pork up, the delicate piece of meat fell back into the bowl in two halves. Kiro sighed as he reached for one of the halves with his chopsticks. Unfortunately, the same scenario repeated itself as two more pieces fell back in the bowl. Kiro had a visible look of frustration on his face before he just completely gave up when it happened once more.

Standing up, Kiro pulled out all the ryō Genma gave him and smacked it on the counter. It was enough to pay for both of their meals. “Thanks for the meal.” Kiro told both Ayame and Teuchi, who both had wary expressions before smiling. “No, thank you. Please come again.” Teuchi stated as he watched the boy turn around and take a step outside. However, Kiro stopped to tell Kai something.

“You know, it would be interesting to know what my parents would think. But if I really wanted to know, then I wouldn’t be here right now. Interpret that how you want, I’m done discussing this.” Before Kai could even react Kiro vanished from his sight to an unknown area.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Kiro- where are you going? Kiro!”

Kai was suprised af Kiro sudden, erratic behavior. Instead of giving chase, he slowly got up, put him mask on, and walked into the crowd. He wasn’t in a huge hurry to find Kiro. If he did give chase not only would it arouse suspicion, but probably drive Kiro away as well. So he calmly walked the crowd, his palms still covered in frost. He tried to trace the clues to where he was going, although in a crowd proved it to be difficult.

Even if he didn’t find him, the Yuki would come in and find him for the young ninja. They’re ere more effective with their numbers...however it wouldn’t look good for Kiro if he weren’t going to come willingly. He HAD to have known that. And Kiro lacked the skill to evade the royal guard, a mist contingent, and his father.

 

[Godjacob]

"Water Style: Water Wall Jutsu!"
​

Azumi had been quick to respond to Reaver's opening assault on her, as she formed a protective wall around her but she knew it'd hardly do much to stop the attack. It only was meant to stall as she made more hand signs behind the wall just as the weapons and explosives struck it.

Boom!!!​

Naturally, a large explosion happened that either evaperated or caused the water to splash apart everywhere as the tacks ran through it...only for the smoke to clear and for Azumi to have vanished. Only a puddle and some mist were left in its place.

Least, till Azumi's figure rose from the puddle as she apparently used it as cover from the force of the explosion and to avoid the railroad spikes as she eyed Reaver before she quickly tossed her umbrella into the air and fired dozens of sharpened senbon at the mecha target.

Naturally, barring a lucky shot in joints that could jam it, these would be little more than the equivalent of flea bites but it seemed to mainly be a distraction as Azumi flashed some hand signs and several of the puddles previously present began to ripple.

"Water Style: Hydra Swarm Jutsu!"
​

Several snake heads of water, with visible fangs, charged at Reaver from all sides as they would aim to bite down or wrap around the mecah-fighter; with the intent to seemingly hold him in place as they'd try to tear his suit apart bite by bit as the senbon continued to rain towards Reaver.

Azumi had an expression of cold determination, which seemed to show Reaver she was taking this and him quite seriously. All the while she mentally evaluated what Reaver had done in this fight.

-----------
"Okay, that sounds good." Tomiko said with a smile as she allowed Yasu to lead them back to the group, though as she stroked the feather he gave her she could not help but dwell on the future for them. Given Iwa & Suna had had various skirmishes over the years, the possibility of them meeting again on the battlefield had not escaped her. And no matter what positive view or spin she tried to give it, that thought was disheartening to her.

The one thing that caused her to move forward, was the fact that they were just that. Skirmishes, and full blown war between the two nations directly had been avoided to this point. Even in spite of Iwa's history with Konoha and Suna being Konoha's key ally which gave Tomiko some hope that she might get lucky and not be asked to fight Madoka or Yasu and that even if a fight was unavoidable it would be for something minor and she could reason with them and vice versa to come to a fair stand down.

"Madoka. Your words mean a lot to hear, and let's hope that conflict between our nations can be avoided." Madoka said, as she herself had mirrored Mori's view that there had been some bad blood between their nations, so she had to hope they wouldn't be made to fight each other and would simply hope that they'd never see each other in that specific and unfavorable context.

Madoka saw Yasu & Tomiko approach as she waved over for them, content to keep her conversation with Mori private as Tomiko likely would throw a hissy fit over being "protected" as Mori vowed to do. Her pride was endearing, but it could also be her biggest downfall if she was not careful. She'd just have to trust that Mori would keep an eye on her and hope Tomiko will mature in the future so she doesn't end up dying a premature and unneeded death.

----------
"Right, follow me Taiyo. I've taken a decent scan of the village and know of a couple places we can begin to look." Sakura said, who had remained quite as she allowed Taiyo the chance to ask questions while she focused on collection visual information about the town itself that would help with the search. Once Jiraiya gave their signal, she would tuck it in her pocket and motioned for Taiyo to follow her as she saw a bar sign ahead which seemed like a fair place to start looking.

Jiraiya himself grinned as he poofed into smoke, vanishing as he would begin search on the other end of the town

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Reaver let his deep chuckled echo as the explosion occurred. As the seam cleared however, it seemed Azumi was still in one piece. Perhaps it was just wishful thinking to believe she would be knocked out so fast. Before he could formulate an attack pattern against the female ninja, Azumi took the initiative. She bombarded reaver with senbon, needles flying everywhere. Is she a fool?! Ha! Tiny little sticks won’t do anything to my armor! Especially if you simply sprinkle them on me like salt! Pathetic!

Soon, Reaver realized there was more going on then it seemed, but all too late. The water snakes coiled around his arms and legs, the mechanical parts restricted from movement. He was strong, but the way they cooled the joints put leverage over him.

“Clever...Very clever...” reaver said, his metal rattling from the attending to bite down his armor. “Restricting is useful...very powerful of a tool. Unless your opponet is a living tool themselves!!!!!”

Out of the shoulder pads came Two drills and two saw blades. Signatures from Reaver’s attack on the leaf. They quickly decapatated the heads of each of the water beasts that had constructed him, feeeing him up for movement. He had many tools In his metal body, he wasn’t just a pair of beefy metal arms and legs!

His right arm changed a seething, trying from a fist into a cylindrical tube. It cycled some kind of round in it before it fired, a large metal net appearing to hurtle toward her, laced with barns and spiked shrapnel. To make matters worse, his left hand fired pop shots at Azumi, two more rail road spikes shooting her way. She had impressive power, but could it stop some restraining of his own??

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
The minute Jiraiya's smoke cloud dissipated, there was a gleam in the Leaf-nin's eye that resembled that of child-like wonder. Clearly, after seeing the stunt that the Toad Sage had performed, Taiyo thought that dissapearing in smoke was a cool concept, as it was something he wanted to do himself. However, he was snapped out of his daze when Sakura gave him instructions.

"Right away Ms. Sakura! Would that be our first location we search?" Taiyo pointed out the sign that the two were heading in. Despite this being a serious matter, and the genie trying to focus 100% on the task at hand, he simply couldn't. To him, there were so many new things to see, and he was still hung up on how Jiraiya had managed to magically disappear.

But for real though, how can Mr. Jiraiya be able to pull that sort of stunt like that? Imagine the party tricks and the entertainment I could supply to the children, especially Susei. Also I should probably become a sage or something later down the line, I may not have a Byakugan or Sharingan, and I barely have skills to contest with the likes of Azumi, Sagiso or Kiro, I at least have FBS... Wait, Taiyo this isn't the mission! Stop getting distracted, focus!

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Madoka huh? I'll remember that name. My name is Mori Utamara."Mori said as he looked around. "As soon as we are back in Iwa, I am going to request an audiance with the Tsuchikage to stop these skirmishes and try to make some allies. I just hope that the old geezer will listen to a genin who lost his headband and doesn't throw me into jail or something." He sighed again. "I love my village, but the people in positions of power are so stubborn and refuse to let change happen that it is amazing that we still exist. Can't wait for some political figures with an open mind or just new political figures altogether. They will hopefully come soon, or I am going to take matters in my own hands."

He looked back as he saw Madoka wave and saw Yasu and Tomiko coming back. "It seems to me that whatever they had to talk about is now resolved, guess there isn't an excuse anymore to stay here for much longer. I wish you and Yasu safe travels, let's all do our best to improve the relationships of our respective village and stop thinking only about ourselves. War is inevitable, but we can atleast try to fight a common enemy and keep the peace in the world instead of attacking eachother and giving way to anarchy."

 

[Godjacob]

Azumi frowned a bit as she saw the incoming projectiles, and quickly opened up her umbrella out, only taking a pause to cause some hand signs behind the umbrella as it observed her gesture, before she held it up and jumped to glide in the air and avoid the projectiles as she flew over Reaver before she landed behind him and folded back her umbrella.

Predictably, her senbon failed to leave an impression as they had been easily blocked by the armor and scattered about. The water snakes also dissipated and splashed all along the ground once Reaver severed their heads. Though these setbacks had not unsettled Azumi as she kept her composure as evident by her cool expression.

"You are wasteful of your resources. I'm sure even your bulky "masterpiece" only has so many toys it can fire at me. Too careless." Azumi said with a lecture as she assumed a battle stance with her umbrella. However, as she talked her shadow had already began a subtle motion from the hand sign she made earlier with her obscured motion.

A tiny sliver of her shadow extended out and traveled before it quickly connected to one of the small shadows of a senbon. Then traveled to the shadow of another...and then another...and then another, advancing towards Reaver as Azumi aimed to distract Reaver with her words as the shadow traveled along the shadows of the senbon to mask its movements as she tried to get her shadow underneath Reaver for the needed shadow possession to take place.

----------
"Well, there is this bar right up ahead. Figured it would be the safe enough place to start looking." Sakura said to Taiyo, as she had seen her sensei Kakashi use a similar technique as Jiraiya so she considered it handy, but didn't see it as big a deal as Taiyo as she approached the entrance of the bar.

"Gah!"

Sakura stepped back when a patron was knocked through the doors and rolled along the ground. A black eye visible, as he seemed to have gotten into a scuffle as Sakura glanced over to Taiyo before she advanced any further.

"Stay on your toes, seems this place has some...volatile tendencies." Sakura said to Taiyo before she would lead the way inside....where several individuals were spursed throughout. Either playing a game of poker, getting drunk by the bar or just mingling to each other. There also seemed to be a table for some arm wrestling and two patrons seemed to be in a fist fight on the ground that no one else seemed to care about. Sakura had a sweat drop at all this.

Great...just the kind of crowd I wanted to meet in the search.

----------
Kenji had an eyebrow raised at Aisha's suggestion. Help him? Kenji was understandably confused by this as he wondered how a wild Inuzuka would help him and more importantly why she'd want to? She didn't owe him much, despite her words and they were of different nations so her capacity and willingness to help was questionable.

"I...I appreciate the gesture, but I don't want to take you away from your goal of getting to know the Inuzuka Clan better and we live in two different nations. There'd be no practical time or place to train." Kenji pointed out as Aisha had a toothy grin on her face in response.

"Ah that's a bunch of nonsense. I'll have an entire lifetime to learn of my clan, and as of now I don't have a nation to call home. Nature itself is my home, and nature expands everywhere. No matter the nation. I think taking a trip to Kumo to help train you in my style would be kinda fun, besides it's the least I could do to repay you as you were my first contact with Konoha and did help us out." Aisha said as both Luna & Sky seemed to nod in agreement as Kenji thought it over, but even if he continued to decline Aisha seemed insistent and this girl was quite the clinger so really he had no choice.

Besides, if Aisha could actually help him improve....then he had to take the chance. If he were ever to hold his self promise of beating Sagiso and more importantly trying to find some self worth or even discover his reason for being a ninja this seemed like the best way to begin to go about it.

"Fine, I'll accept the offer. Though it is a long way to Kumo." Kenji pointed out as Aisha grinned and her wolves perked up and she began to walk ahead of them.

"Well then, why are we standing around? Let's head out!"

----------
Madoka listened to Mori as he expressed his best wishes as well as outline his desire for them to improve the relations between Suna & Iwa for a better future. While it seemed a bit overly idealistic to Madoka, she could not fault him for the desire and if there had been anything she can do if she advanced in rank and influence she'd make the effort to try.

"Sounds like a plan for me, I wish you and Tomiko a safe journey. And the best future, for both our nations." Madoka said as Tomiko walked back over to the pair as Madoka took note of the feather on Tomiko's head but decided to not inquire about it. Tomiko turned to Madoka first with a grin.

"Well, guess this is goodbye. For now. I wish you and Yasu safe travels and look forward to the chance to see you guys again." Tomiko said, with the understanind that she meant outside of a battle between their homes as Madoka nodded and Tomiko turned to Mori.

"So, are you ready to go?" Tomiko asked Mori as she moved by the divided path that would go to the direction of Iwa while Madoka moved to the path that would lead to Suna as she waited for Yasu while Tomiko waited for an answer from Mori.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

"You are wasteful of your resources. I'm sure even your bulky "masterpiece" only has so many toys it can fire at me. Too careless." Azumi said With a condescending tone.

Reaver seemed out of characteristicly calm with the quip she made. He only had deep laughs in response. He didn’t seem worried at all! His hands remained outstretched like they were when he had fired his weapons.

“Hehe...your ego blinds you, as always! Fall to your knees and beg!!”

With his left hand, underneath his armor he stopped controlling his left arm of the suit in order to bend the metal net that had been dodged by Azumi. On the outside, it didn’t seem as if he was moving any part of his body at all, so it seemed inconspicuous. His right hand however switched ammunition, the cannon arm firing a cluster bomb of poison all around his position. Purple smog flew up from the gas, his mask protecting him from the effects. The same could not say to Azumi.

With the net flying silently from the back of Azumi and the poison cloud spreading all around his position, it seemed that he had unknowingly cornered her. Then...

*ZING!*

His movements had been paralyzed, a shadow stretching to him from somewhere unknown. The senbon used as a third party to extend her shadow. Reaver cursed her for using a coward’s skill, but rufused to say anything in the gas, as that would reveal his position. He awaited the barbed net to wrap around and puncture her skin