Private/Closed Naruto AU: Roleplay

[Retro Master]

Dusk was falling rapidly by the time Shura, Takato and Tayuya arrived. Kiro stood up in respect for his allies and prepared to brief them on what he had found.

“Yeah, I got the information. It makes sense considering some evidence that I recently discovered. From about ten trees back, there were little sprinkles of dirt on the branches. We both know that dirt doesn’t grow on trees. In fact, those same branches seemed to have been weakened, probably due to the speed they were going at. I think we can guarantee that we are tailing a group. Whoever made the web must’ve stopped at the origin point that you spoke of. All the more reason why we should follow the threads.”

Kiro brought his hands into his pockets as a cool breeze gently made its way through him. The chilling sensation wasn’t all that new but his body still disliked the feeling. After a taking a quick glance at the darkening sky above, the Uchiha went on to discuss how they should proceed.

“As much as I hate to do this, I believe that it would be in our best interest to stop for the night. The temperature has severely dropped if you haven’t been able to tell already. With the low visibility, it’s near impossible for us without the byakugan to see the threads, let alone avoid them.”

Pausing for a moment, the Uchiha shifted his gaze towards the Nara.

“Plus if I am correct, then your shadow technique won’t be effective at night. That technique is essential to any strategy and the success of our mission. The shadows aren’t to be underestimated.”

Truthfully, the lingering memory of Azumi’s technique was what gave Kiro that impression. He did hope Takato would correct him if his assumption was wrong. Kiro doubted it was though.

“Anyways, it would be better to talk and strategize around a nice, warm campfire. Shura, if you wouldn’t mind, please locate us an open space. If an enemy was anywhere within atleast four kilometers, I’m sure you would’ve been able to spot them. So don’t worry about an ambush.”

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“You fail to understand...” Sakon looked he right in the eye, taking a step closer. “It’s a DEMAND.”

Kou couldn’t take it. He ran out from behind Zaku, who left the sound ninja very confused. Kou went over to Heshina, much to Zaku’s objection.

“Kid...!”

Kou didn’t respond, he turned his back on his boss and grabbed the jinchurki by the hand. He held the hand up to his chest, looking up at her.

“I know having a monster in you is scary, I-I mean it’s scary enough just thinking about it...but you don’t need to go it alone. We can help you, keep you safe. You don’t need to face this all by yourself...”

Zaku was half tempted to blast the jinchurki and take Kou from her grip. Right now, the kid was at her mercy with all that chakra in her and her hand on him. He kept a ready fighting stance, his hands ready to attack at his moments notice. His finger was on the trugger, metaphorically speaking. The silence hung in the air with the weight of Kou’s words

 

[kyuukestu]

Aesir

Stepping out of the Kage Mansion, Aesir tightened his vest around him. The fury black collar of his thick coat tickled his chin and obstructed the white breaths puffed from his lips. "Henshinas...huh. To think that little girl would've fled the village...I don't blame her. Still, orders are absolute...I suppose." Muttering to himself, Aesir the Leader of Kumogakure's Valkyries departed, his feet crunching against the snow coating the streets. His hands were tucked casually into his jacket, and he strolled towards the village gates without haste. If he knew Henshinas, the lassy wouldn't be captured too easily -if any at all. So relaxed was he that he stopped at a store and bought a pack of bubblegum. Popping the stick of candy into his mouth, the Anbu chewed as he strolled a convoluted path through the village. Occasionally, as he passed certain houses or locations he would dig the tip of his shoe into the ground and fling a wad of snow at a building's window or wall -creating a dull thud.

After 15 minutes, he finally arrived at the villages gates, the purple gum-bubble he'd blown popping as he promptly spat the over-chewed wad of candy to the side of the road. Raising his head to the sky, he observed the clouds -dark grey and pregnant with what he presumed was snow. Kumogakure was perhaps the village that was the furthest north, earlier snow than most other villages wasn't uncommon. The gloomy nature of the clouds was foreboding, an omen of disaster to come. As he scanned the clouds, his gaze focused. He lifted his right hand, clenching it into a fist -in defiance of nature itself. His fist crackled wild arcs of black lighting gathering around his arm. Flinging his arm to his side, lagging lighting bolts outlined his motion. The air crumbled under the surge of energy, molecules superheating before -predictably- exploding. Thunder rumbled, roiling across the village with deafening bombs.

Disturbing as it was, the denizens of the villages seemed to have expected it. In fact, the younger, hot-blooded, aspiring shinobi of the village had gathered at the front gate long before Aesir little display. They seemed -for lack of a better word- electrified with excitement. Their eyes gleamed as the stared at the lone figure in front of the Village Gates. No- he was no longer alone. Under the view of the spectators, 1 shinobi had turned to ten as nine feminine figures seemed to respond to the call of thunder, appearing beside Aesir in quick succession. Each crackled with lightning, smaller bursts of thunder peppering the ears of the villagers until -in a blinding flash of light- 10 thunderbolts sped out of sight. The melted snow and scorched trail highlighted their egress. It was customary of the Valkyries to depart in this manner, exiting with the rambunctious grandiose of a thunderstorm.

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
The Leaf-nin watched constantly as Sakura put her plan into motion. He had complete faith in her, as most of her plans ended up in success. In fact, this plan was so good that Taiyo began to question if he even needed to do anything. Regardless, the puppet-armed ninja decided to fire some poison darts at the twister, knowing that they would get sucked in, hoping that one of them would hit Kai. After he fired thedarts, Taiyo then decided to mockingly answer Kai's rhetorical question.

"No, not really. Your serpent barely put up a fight, some flower petals and some fireballs and it was shattered. Honest you would have been better off making some kind of ice toddler, it would have had the same effect, but at least you wouldn't be wasting chakra," The taunting, while mocking, was also playful in tone, implying that he wasn't entirely serious, still he'd like to get under Kai's skin, even if it was just a little.

You do know that if you do get under his skin, he's just gonna release another behemoth.

Yep, and then I'll break his toy again. Plus he should have thicker skin if a little teasing gets him mad.
Tsuki
At first, Tsuki was initially disappointed that her initial strike missed, adopting a pouty expression as result. However, a thought came to the Yuki-nin's mind, if the ice needle was supposed to be a regular needle and Sagiso was supposed to be the cloth, then surely the needle would be able to move in order to achieve its goal. Despite her uncertainty, Tsuki tried to move the needle and was pleasantly pleased with the result, with the needle changing trajectories, it was now heading for Sagiso's back in a swift and consider manner.

 

[Godjacob]

Kakashi had an eyebrow raised when Hama spoke of casual assassination attempts made on her own team, and how much better they were objectively compared to his own. As this was said, the ice serpent Hama bragged about seemed to wither away, and a clever bit of teamwork and use of an enemy's technique against them left one of the Kiri-nin in a large explosion.

"Care to hold that thought? Cause it appears that those "weaklings" and that "wilted flower" you deem so insignificant are handling themselves well. Maybe I don't have hired hands try to kill them to "test" them but perhaps that is not needed to grow as a ninja." Kakashi explained to Hama before he looked the Kiri-Jonin in the eye.

"If it is just a blood sample you want fine, we can negotiate that. I'm reasonable enough, the issue is my team will keep defending themselves until your team holds off striking them. Picking a fight with Kiri-nin is not the reason we came here, so if you stand them down my team will do the same; as we are simply reacting at this point." Kakashi clarified, as he seemed to make it clear to Hama that if she desired this blood then her ninja would have to stand down as by this point his team merely had been defensive rather than actively aggressively.

-----------

Flashback
​

Tayuya had a smirk on her face when Kiro asked what her condition for help would be, as she quickly bit into her thumb and slammed her palm to the floor. Within moments, smoke covered the area that once it had been cleared it revealed one of her three Doki; the muscular shirtless one with twin claws on both wrists.

"Simple. Fight me. If I am impressed enough, if I see what Lord Orochimaru sees within you...then I will consider helping you to harness the mark's power." Tayuya explained. What she aimed to see out of Kiro would be impossible to tell; perhaps she aimed to find that inner resolve or reveal his character. Maybe this was part of the process to honing the mark. Maybe it was just an excuse to let off some pent up steam at his expense.

Irregardless, Tayuya made her condition known to Kiro; as she took the time to pull her flute and rub her neck which contained the seal that cut her off from her own Curse Mark.

 

[Mystic Zander]

As the group fell into synchronized step behind Guren, a quietness she hadn't noticed before filled the air, allowing the sound of wind to wisp by crisply.
After several minutes of dashing through the treeline, Guren stopped in her tracks, nearly causing Katsuo, and by extension, Tomiko and Mori, to smash into her.

"Lady Guren....?" Katsuo spoke up in an unsure tone, staring at his team leader with a look of confusion.

"Just....should've noticed earlier. Combat....the sound of combat is occurring all around us....its faint, but it there." She spoke up after a long moment of silence, her heading snapping back and forth, appearing to be zoning in on areas of nothingness ahead of the group with a look of deep concentration.
"We should set up camp here soon, we're nearly at the edge of the island, but we wanna stay behind the treeline, so....here should work." The Crystal-nin added, dropping from the tree branch beneath her into a small clearing they had nearly bypassed.

"Set up camp? Do you really think that's a good idea, Lady Guren?" Katsuo spoke up, sounding a bit surprised by his team leaders course of action, but following suit and dropping from the treeline.

"You all need rest, we've got no choice. If we wish to complete the mission, you'll need more energy." She replied, an assertive edge to her voice as she planted her palm firmly into the earth beneath her, letting out the faintest of whispers as she did so.
"Secret Jutsu: Jade Threaded Tripwire"
In an instant, the dense treeline surrounding there small clearing was encased with what seemed to be a highly reflective webbing that began weaving itself around branches, bushes, and rocks to form a spider-web like cylinder, totally encasing the group.
"Now, I hope none of you are stupid enough to start a campfire....so don't. We'll be departing the moment sunrise hits, so get as much shut eye as you can in the meantime. If you'd like the luxury of a bed, ask Tomiko." Guren gave Tomiko a small nod after stating her orders, returning to the edge of the treeline where she sunk back against the crystal webbing, using it almost like a hammock.
"We'll be lucky if tonight goes off without a hitch, much less tomorrow."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Hama gave a passing glance towards the ice tornado that Kai has formed, then looked back to Kakashi with a quizzical expression.

“Oh Kakashi dearist, you mustn’t be so rash. He can make any tool he has a deadly weapon, even if that tool breaks over and over and over again. But now that you will see to my demands...”

.......

Kai’s eyes widened as he saw a field of pollen begin to rain down towards him. Crap! If I let my hands down to preform a defensive justu, the ice tornado will fall and I will be flanked. Difficult spot... Kai had no counter, he assumed to tank the hit when the strangest thing happened.

“Hidden justu, forbidden temptation~”

Hama gave a sigh, a thick cloud of mist coming from her lips. The mist tracked towards Kai, melting his ice tornado and covering around the boy. The pollen fell harmlessly onto the mist cover, seeming to sizzle in the air before it made contact with the mist. Before long, the remnants of the ice tornado fell to the ground, Hama giving herself a Hmph of approval of her work.

“What...just happened?” Kai spoke, the mist around him fading.

“Alright everyone, good battle~” Hama clapped out in the open, laughing to herself. “The leaf ninja here have been so kind to concede the battle. Now if you please Kakashi dear, the blood if you would be so kind~”

Kai twitched, approaching her angrily. “We...came all the way here...JUST FOR FOUL XENO BLOOD?!? WHAT KIND OF MONGREL-“

Hama put a finger on his mask, sushing him. “Now now Kai darling, you best be at top behavior, can’t have you soiling our team synergy now~”

 

[Retro Master]

Fifteen Years Ago...​

“Merry Christmas~”

That soft-spoken greeting came from the nurse who had delivered her child only a short while ago. Wrapped in a dark blue woolen blanket was her newly born son, seemingly sound asleep. The child’s jet black hair strongly resembled his father’s. Even as the nurse spoke, none of the words actually got to her. The woman’s gaze lay solely on the baby boy that was transferred into her hands.

Nothing could compare to the first time a mother touched their baby, but this was a close second. Sitting up on the medical bed, the brunette brought the boy close to her chest. As soon as body contact was made, the boy’s eyes slowly opened, making contact with his mother’s watery blue-violet.

‘Black eyes hm? The Uchiha blood must run deep in you.’

Once the door shut after the nurse’s exit, only the sound of soft chewing was heard from across the room. She hesitated to look in the direction of the annoying sound, not wanting to break eye contact with the baby. For all she knew as a first time mother, this was an important moment for them to bond.

“I can bet you didn’t listen to a single thing that girl said ‘Rina.”

The woman’s face flushed in embarrassment as the mellow tone of his voice reached her ears. It wasn’t fair that he could say even a part of her name so naturally. Rorina’s gaze remained intently on the baby and could only watch as the child tried shifting to face the direction of the voice. With that she too was forced to look at her child’s father.

The man’s upper half was covered in a black winter coat, with only the sleeves being a fair shade of red. His short black hair stuck out in multiple directions, less tamed than the baby boy’s. Other than that, the Leaf spy did his best to look like a common citizen of the Mist.

“All I needed to know was if my baby is safe. You on the other hand...” The woman watched as he casually took another bite of his snack while sauntering towards them. She continued glaring at the bitten cheese stick in the man’s right hand. Half envious. Half irritated.

Noticing the uneasiness in her eyes, the man paused by the bedside. There was a playful grin hidden among his closed, chewing mouth. “Oh, you want it now? My bad, I know how much you love sticks...”

Almost on instinct, Rorina pulled the baby away and shifted to the other side of the bed. His dirty thoughts would infect the mind of her child if this continued. She couldn’t allow it! “Zai, you won’t lay a hand on this child until you swear to me that he won’t learn of your foul behavior.”

The outburst from Rorina was to be expected. A strong, powerful woman such as her could never begin to understand how the mind such as his processed. He had to convince the woman before it was too late.

“Listen here ‘Rina. If a boy grows up without certain knowledge, they won’t understand how to handle women. One can’t hope too achieve true enlightenment without growing with this knowledge! They’ll end up a loner, stuck in a corner brooding about how much life sucks. It’s the same with most of the Uchiha. None of them take advantage of the Sage’s gift to us. You don’t want that for Kiro, do you?”

Unnoticed by both of them, the baby had a little reaction to the name ‘Kiro’. However, Rorina couldn’t believe her ears or the bullshit Zaiki was spewing. In fact, she made it a point to cover the child’s ears. “You animal! I won’t let you corrupt my baby. And did you just call him Kiro?! I thought you were joking! That’s literally combining our two names!”

Around the second mentioning of ‘Kiro’, the baby began to wail, causing Rorina to flinch. Instantly she sat up and fixed her posture while trying to comfort the child. Meanwhile, Zaiki was running his free hand through his hair, believing that it was his fault the baby had started crying. No matter what answer he gave, Rorina would still be pissed. In that case, telling the truth was probably the safest bet.

“Well I couldn’t think of anything else. I just made sure not to have Uchiha anywhere near his name. Besides, aren’t we supposed to register the name before the baby is born?”

That response seemed too agitate the woman even more. Rorina didn’t even bother looking his way and continued to focus on comforting their child during her response. “You’re such a dunce. ‘Kirei’. ‘Shiro’. Those types of names won’t stick out. ‘Kiro’ is too uncommon. Even though the Blood Mist era is nearing it’s end, we should still be taking any precautions possible.”

It was easy to miss, but on the mention of the name ‘Kiro’, the baby paused it’s cries for a brief moment. When Rorina continued on though, the cries began again. However, this did not go unnoticed by Zaiki as he took another bite of the cheese stick. “Honestly, I’m fine with him having an uncommon name. It makes him even more special than he already is. Besides, I think he likes being called Kiro. See, listen. Kiro... Kiro... Kiro...”

He continued to say the name in a softer, soothing tone. It was almost hypnotizing. Even Rorina’s nerves began to calm themselves. Each time Zaiki said the name, the baby’s cries grew softer. Eventually the cries stopped all together.

The Uchiha held a triumphant grin on his face, knowing he had won the battle. Rorina herself let out a soft giggle as the boy in her hands seemed confused by the silence.

“Kiro... that name will bind both of us together, now and forever. As for our child, even when he’s alone, just hearing that name will connect him to us. Hopefully we don’t give him any memories...”

As Rorina spoke, Zaiki just nodded as if that was his idea the entire time. After the Uchiha finished chewing on the last of the cheese stick, he yawned and stretched his arms.

“Do you think he’ll be mad when he finds out his birthday gifts are his Christmas presents? I mean, I know I’d be pissed if that were the case.” It was a random question and he doubted the child would entertain hatred due to the lack of presents. Anything was possible though. The last thing Zaiki wanted was for Kiro to fall into that darkness. He had to prove there was another way for the Uchiha.

“Not my child. If he starts complaining, then I won’t get him anything. It’s that simple. As for you, since it’s Christmas, I’ll let you hold him as my present.” Rorina was stubborn on the surface, but deep down she held a warm heart. It was something Zaiki admired about her. Hopefully Kiro would grow to see that side of her as well. After giving Kiro a gentle kiss on the forehead, Rorina lifted him up into Zaiki’s waiting hands.

Holding the child in his arms for the first time, Zaiki’s expression grew more serious. The child served as a soft reminder of the upward climb that lay before them. Even now, his time was dwindling. It was each time he set foot in the Mist. However, he did it for his village. The Will of Fire continued to burn brightly deep inside of him and that was his only reason for persisting as far as he did. Looking down into a reflection of his own black eyes, Zaiki made a promise to the boy.

‘Kiro, I swear as long as I draw breath, you will never fall into that curse. We will prove that the cycle can be broken.’

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

Lips quirking into a slight smile, Sagisō observed Tsuki's counter attack. Perhaps the girl wasn't familiar with the Hyūga or their Kekkei Genkai the Byakugan. Whether from the front or the back, it didn't really make much of a difference. The needle was a glowing little projectile that pierced through the air at full speed. Sagisō prepared herself for another dodge, shifting her position once again so the needle wouldn't pierce her skin. However, the amused -even somewhat casual- expression on her face froze solid the instant the successive voices of Hama and Kai rang across the battlefield. It didn't take much a genius to piece together what'd just happened. In fact, the Kiri-shinobi practically spelled it out in terms that couldn't have been clearer. Expression darkening into one of solemness, Sagisō dropped all pretense of playing around. Her fingers locked together in a knife-hand strike and with a moderate coating of wind-chakra, she severed right through the ice thread that had pierced through her clothes. Not bothering to spare her opponent even another glance she crossed her fingers in the sign for a shadow clone jutsu.

Springing up with puffs of smoke 5 clones of Sagisō appeared in a row in front of her. Without even waiting for the smoke to disperse they performed the transformation jutsu, new puffs of smoke mixing with the old. Gleaming through the wispy obstructions was the cold gleam of 5 metallic blades. Those familiar with shuriken would easily recognize them as the separate blades that would come together to create a demon-windmill shuriken. Spinning on her hind leg, the girl swept her hand through the air collecting the 5 blades and fitting them together into the full demon-windmill shuriken. By the time she'd completed her rotation the Shuriken was buzzing around her hand as she gave it torque.

Flinging the blade outwards the buzzing weapon swept right past Tsuki tracing an inverted arc that drew close to the ground before soaring heavenward. The blade seemed to wobble in flight. A testament to it's hastily built nature -or perhaps a planned flaw. As the windmill spun in the air, it broke apart at the center, flinging the 5 blades in 5 different directions across the battlefield. After a short flight, the blade undid their transformation, reverting into clones of Sagisō whose fingers were all weaving the exact same hand signs.

Sagisō had swiftly scanned the battlefield for any possible traces of Hyūga blood. She found quite a few belonging to Furījia, small splatters from when the girl had engaged Kai's Ice drones. They shone with the color of Furījia chakra and made excellent targets for Sagisō's clones. Completing the series of hand signs, the clones cupped a palm at their mouths blowing breaths which coiled into balls of wind in their palms.'Wind Release: Spiralling Wind Ball!' Launching the spiraling micro-cyclones across the battlefield they swept across the ground sucking up chunks of the ground along with any traces of Furījia's blood. Under the girl's careful manipulation, the battlefield was swept clean. The spiraling wind balls then begun to converge on each other, fusing into large wind balls until on one, large wind ball remained. The spiraling wind orb raced across the ground homing in on Sagisō's real body. It skirting around Tsuki, avoiding her entirely. As it moved past Sagisō, the girl threw several kunai tagged with paper bombs into its center.

The land-traversing ball spun into the distance and exploded, incinerating its contents until nothing could be recovered. Still, Sagisō's expression remained solemn -hostile even. Racing to Furījia's side the seized the girl by the arm, "We're leaving. Now!" Her voice led no room for argument and flanked by her clones she cautiously retreated off the field. She kept her Byakugan peeled, both confirming the presence of any samples of Furījia's blood -or the lack thereof- and firming training her attention onto the two Jonin who -at this point- were both threats as far as she was concerned. Clenched in the palms of her clones were several colored smoke bombs. Smoke signals she'd taken from the Hyūga treasury as ways to communicate with her mother in case of critical emergencies -and this certainly counted as one.

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
The littlest flap of a butterfly can cause a hurricane halfway across thebworld as they say. In short, that phraseology can be used to describe Taiyo's emotions. From a calm even cheerful mood to a sudden sense of rage unlike one he's felt before, the Leaf-nin began to slowly approach the two Jonin. An invisible aura of malice and a familiar glint in his eye, the FBS master stopped before turning to Hama.

"First of all, I'm pretty sure you sniffed one to many crushed ice cubes if you know what I mean, cause I didn't concede to shit. Secondly," the edge in Taiyo's voice soon became more defined as he turned to Kakashi," What. The. Fuck. WHY WOULD YOU LET THIS PSYCHO JUST GET AWAY WITH THIS SHIT?! WHAT KINDA PERSON MAKES PEOPLE WASTE THEIR TIME FOR SOME BLOOD? THIS IS WHY THE LEAF GOT INVADED, Y'ALL PEOPLE ON THE HIGHER UPS ARE COWARDS, WILLING TO BECOME A DOORMAT AS LONG AS IT RESULTS IN SOME SHORT LIVED PEACE. HELL, I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED IF THIS SHIT HAPPENED BEFORE, SOME CLAN LIKE THE YUKI BARGED IN ON LEAF SOIL MAKING SOME BULLSHIT DEMAMDS!" As if his fury wasn't apparent enough, when he proceeded to drag on Hama, there even more venom in his voice, "and as for you; IF BLOOD WAS REALLY WHAT YOU WERE AFTER, YOU WOULD BE BETTER OFF SPYING ON US AND WAITING YO STRIKE. IT'S CALLED STEALTH, YOU MIGHT WANNA GO BACK TO THE ACADEMY TO LEARN ABOUT IT, CAUSE YOUR TEAM OF 'ALL STARS' WEREN'T CUTTIMG IT. LET ME START OF WITH KAI; THIS BOY WOULDN'T KNOW THE MEANING OF CHAKRA CONSERVATION IF HE WAS REPEATEDLY BITCHSLAPPED WITH IT. ALREADY HE MADE AN INEFFECTIVE ICE SERPENT THAT GOT BLEW UP ALMOST AS QUICK AS IT ENETER THE BATTLEFIELD, AND NOT GONNA LIE, HE'S A DUMBASS FOR THINKING HE COULD WIN A 3V1. AS FOR THE WATER NYMPH, SHE'S COOL, BUT SHE DIPPED THE MINUTE KAI DECIDED TO GO FULL AX CRAZY MODE, TSUKI CAN'T EVEN FIGHT YET AND THAT LIGHTING GUY OF YOURS GOT KNOCKED OUT WITH A SINGLE KNEE. AND EVEN IF YOU WERE IN THE POSITION TO GET MY BLOOD, BITCH WHERE WOULD YOU GET IT FROM? MY ARMS ARE MADE OF FUCKING WOOD SO THAT'S OUT OF THE QUESTION, I'M WEARING JEANS SO UNLESS YOU WANNA TAKE OFF MY PANTS, THAT AIN'T HAPPENING EITHER. THERE ISN'T A WAY TO GET ME TO BLEED, SO YOU JUST BE WASTING EVERYONE'S TIME." Finally, Taiyo cleared his throat, adopting a much more mellow tone, accunetuating the venom that his voice was seeped with, "That's all I gotta say, now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna continue looking for that Jinchūriki," The Leaf-nin began to hurry away to avoid getting killed or even worse.

I'm a dead man.

Yep.

 

[Godjacob]

"My my Lady Yuki, you sure do love to put words in my mouth don't you?" Kakashi asked Lady Hama as he had overheard Taiyo's outburst which caused him to let out an internal sigh. This was a bit needlessly complicated, and in truth he had to remind himself he should have stressed not to take the words of a Foreign ninja at heart.

"Taiyo, I understand how you feel about this. But storming off like this is not gonna help anyone, neither you nor your team. Now calm down, and allow me to correct our Hyuga Head here. If you have reservations, speak with me in private once the danger passes rather than go rogue to endanger yourself and our village's cause needlessly. I never gave a concession, we at the Leaf do not give total concessions and if that is what you want your team to believe you've done here well..." Kakashi said as his Sharingan flared and he spoke with a firm, cool yet commanding presence as he made hi resolve clear; to both the Kiri-nin and even his own Team just on the hunch doubt was in the air.

"I agreed on negotiations. That we can talk this over like civilized adults, that does not equate to promises Lady Yuki. So in this instance don't begin to celebrate a "victory" that has yet to come to pass. Have I made this clear Lady Yuki, after all it seems you are open to talking this out are you not?" Kakashi asked as he clarified to everyone present, which offered some relief from his own student Sakura. Who herself had some confusion if not concern over hearing the words of Hama to everyone present. Naturally, if given the choice from hearing the words of her sensei versus the enemy she opted to believe her sensei above them.

With that, Sakura would move over to go and get Taiyo before he stormed off to leave himself open. "Taiyo hold on a sec..."

"Geeze, you kids are way too over-dramatic."
​

Sakura glanced down, as a small hole revealed one of Kakashi's ninja dogs. Pakkun, who seemed to greet the pair with a bored expression which had been par for the course. "I have to say if you all are so quick to believe the words of any random team we encounter, especially an openly hostile one, than this mission is gonna go south real fast. I would have hoped even you brats would be able to discern deception. It is par for the life of a ninja." Pakkun explained as Sakura had a frown.

"Don's suppose you came here to do something beyond just scold us, not like you've been very active in the battle." Sakura said with a scowl as Pakkun rolled his eyes.

"As a matter of fact Pinky, I have. But I doubt you'd appreciate the subtle nuisances of my work." Pakkun explained, before he began to sniff the pair of Genin which from an outsider's view would appear as just him making sure the two's vitals were okay, trying to find perhaps foreign substances that may have been on them unknowingly or simply picking up on their unique scents like dogs do. However, in truth he was keeping his senses trained for blood. Any mark, or injury in order to try and dispose of it which Sakura seemed to pick up on as she made a subtle motion for Raiku to come over as well while she kept an indifferent expression as if she noticed nothing of the sort.

While the Konoha kids had been busy clashing with the Yuki, while Kakashi and Hama had been busy with their discussion Kakashi's Ninken had been hard at work with another matter. After the intervention against the Ice Serpant, they had been hard at work; stealthily and quickly using Earth Style or even licking to go around the battlefield and remove any blood traces from the area. Hyuga, Konoha-nin, Yuki-nin it mattered not. Anything that could possibly be used for the Yuki's unknown but no doubt questionable ends was removed by orders of Kakashi's clone that had been left unattended much like the ninja dogs themselves.

 

[SageNeb]

Raiku was about to create a follow up to Sakura's attack but was cut of by Hama's destruction of Kai's jutsu and her sudden demands.

No... he didn't agree to ACTUALLY giving away our blood... did he? After all... we have Uchiha and Hyuga blood in our team, there's no way he'd give the possibility of the Mist obtaining our Kekkei Genkai away because he thinks that's the best way to finish this fight. Right...?

Raiku kept silent as Taiyo ranted and understood his frustration to a degree but still hoped Kakashi didn't do what the Mist Jonin said. His hopes were proven well placed as Kakashi corrected that he was just open to civilized talk, and not promises for the team's blood. He gave a sigh of relief and came to Sakura as she motioned for him to come so Pakkun could sniff him. He was a little confused but decided to trust her.

"Excuse me if I may make a claim, but I've seen the mind of one of the enemy team members," Raiku said as he pointed to Kai,"and I'm not even sure if we come to any compromise they won't just hit us from behind after they "left us alone." I do agree we need to get this over with so we can focus on the actual mission we were sent to accomplish, but I simply don't think the people we're talking to are civilized enough to actually reach a resolution with. Aren't one of their members missing? Right now they could be waiting for us to leave to initiate a trap while we think we reached a peaceful resolution... or they're already defeated and we can use them as a hostage so we can leave or they'll die."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Hama raised a finger to Raiku, not bothering to even look at him. Instead she just continued to look down Kakashi.

“Hush the squawking, the adults are talking~” Hama smiled, her eyes drifting to the rest of kakashi’s team. “In fact, it had seem the ones from the leaf have gotten to panicked for words, seeing as your token cripple has abandoned you and the one with the eyes has run for the hills~”

Kai crossed his arms next to Hama, remaining quiet. He did so for many reasons, primarily if he started to talk, he would speak of tearing out Raiku’s nerves, Which wouldn’t exactly be the best for negotiation. Though he utterly DESPISED the term...

Hama chuckled, eyeing Pakkun. “Oh ho, that dog has more smarts than your rag tag group of misfits~ Oh my this is sad. I’ll take pity on you Kakashi dearist, i’ll Let you choose two members of your team to give blood. Any less than two would simply not be worth the energy negotiating for. What will it be?~”

Kai has mixed feels on this situation. 1. DIPLOMACY... obvious con for a pure nation. 2. Getting Xenos to bow to your wishes, obvious pro. 3. What’s the point in getting blood? He couldn’t quite wrap his mind around the point

 

[Godjacob]

Azumi came in an saw Reaver, his face bloody as "trophies" he valued were scattered throughout the room. An impulse had Azumi flinch for her umbrella handle, but she hesitated as she scanned his expression behind the blood-soaked face. Reaver was having an episode, and filled with rage which had been troubling but Azumi worked to keep her composure. The last thing needed was to allow herself to grow on edge. Keep her cool, she reminded herself as she tried to focus past the blood and "trophies" to keep her focus square on Reaver.

Azumi frowned as Reaver had once more yelled at her, his tempter seemed to be temperamental again which could only cause problems. She needed to sort this out, and sort this out now. If not, Reaver might lash out again, and that alone would threaten not only their lives but also ruin any chance of this "one year trial" with Baiyan would be ruined.

"What I wanted was to see how you were doing. Check up on you, given you had been placed in such critical condition of that technique you used. Only to see you are ready to blow a gasket again." Azumi said, as she pinched the bridge of her nose as Reaver's attitude had grown tiresome. But, rather than curse him out anymore, she decided a different tactic was due.

"Listen, Reaver, you say you value honor a tremendous deal right?" Azumi asked Reaver, which seemed a simple enough question on its own.

-----------
In truth, even if Darui could not read Taji's mind the issue of stamina had crept into his mind. Even in the ideal scenario the Jinchuriki takes them at their word and fled, if they battled the Oto-nin that would only lead them to be exhausted and prime another team to go in for the snatch.

They needed a way to both deal with this threat without being overwhelmed. A way to conserve chakra cost in the likely clash, and as Darui thought it over he had an idea to allow if no one else the Genin a chance to maintain their stamina. He would mouth off to the group.

"You three stay close with each other, but keep out of sight. The main goal here is to drive the Jinchuriki away from the Oto-nin. Aisha, can you have your companions transform into a clone of yourself and Kenji?" Darui asked through lip speak, and given that she knew the man-beast clone technique it had been a simple means to mix it with a transformation as she gave a nod.

"Good...." Darui explained as he would transform himself into silently back to normal while Aisha worked to do the same with Luna & Sky as she transformed them into copies of Aisha and Kenji respectively. Naturally, Darui aimed to take advantage of the fact that Taji had been an unknown element to the Oto-team as she had no history with any of them. Darui then turned to Aisha.

"You transform into a wolf as well, and stick close with Kenji and Taji. Stay together and find a spot close by to hide in the area. Avoid making a sound and use lip speak or non-vocal signals. Understand?" Darui explained with lip speaking while Aisha translated as it seemed he aimed to put himself on the front lines with the Genin to act as support as a chakra conservation measure.

-------------
"Land here. It would be better to scout on foot."

Pakura gave her instructions to Madoka, as the latter had flown their make-shift craft that was Madoka's modified Raven puppet towards the island as they made their descent. The island's most telling landmark was a waterfall, but there had been a lot of ground to cover in the island's interior beyond that, something that Pakura bit her thumb and summoned her coyote pack as she aimed to use them to scout the island and try to pick up any curious scents as she scattered them about.

"Ideally, if they pick up any trace of the Jinchuriki, we'd want to try and lure here to an area of our design. Fighting a Tailed Beast host is no joke, so we should try and maximize our advantages. So we should set up a light base if we get any indication we are not alone on this island." Pakura explained to Madoka & Yasu, which seemed reasonable enough.

------------
Kakashi simply made a gesture to Raiku to advise that he stand down, in truth he had not fully disagreed with his view that perhaps negotiations would be unfeasible. They seemed pretty firmed in their desire to have this blood, but that itself seemed to raise a question for the Copy Ninja.

"A bit on the aggressive side for these talks huh? And misfits huh? Tell me something....you've spent quite the fair time belittling these Genin here, as it appears you think so lowly of them with no attempts to mask these feelings at all. And you all seem to have a natural strong pride in yourselves, in fact that Genin there of your own seems to trademark "pure mist blood" if I remember the exams correctly. So I wonder....why would you or the Yuki desire the blood of such people so lowly? You would have to take one if you desire the number you do and I would presume you'd want only blood from the best around. The elite of other nations. Rather than any Genin, especially considering this desire for foreign blood seems to clash with this "pure blood" ideology you proud Yuki seem to have." Kakashi asked, as he naturally brought to attention the apparent hypocrisy in praising one's own blood but having this obsession with the blood of foreign "xenos" they deemed inferior. Also bringing up the fact that the Genin blood was far from valuable especially since Hama seemed to go out of her way to take away value from them with her words.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Preach...” Kai grumbled in response to Kakashi

In truth, Kai agreed with Kakashi. Hama’s facination with Xeno blood was disgusting at least and traitorous at most. The fact that she wanted to call off the fight simply for impure blood made him despise this entire scenario. Hama however kept a level head and chuckled to herself.

“Oh why not? I’ll clue you in~” Hama coiled a white hair around her finger. “I’m starting a catalogue. All bloodlines from all the lands. With it, I can tell which bloodline is who’s just by a simple pinprick. It is quite shameful that no village has thought of that yet. But alas we of the mist always must take the lead in technological innovation...”

Hama move over towards Kakashi, starting down his Sharingan wheel eye. “So then, do we have a bargain?”

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
Despite his rant, Taiyo still felt incredibly upset with the whole ordeal, although thankfully Kakashi did make a good point that even got Kai in agreement, and so now, it was time to ask Hama a question that was plauging his mind.

"Okay then Ice Queen, let me ask you this," The Leaf-nin found the courage to open his mouth after he verbally spewed his wrath onto the crowd, "What is even the purpose of this experiment? And I don't mean research cause we all know you definitely plan on weaponizing our bloodlines, what Im saying is that what makes you think that there are even bloodlines to weaponize? Aside from the Dojutsu people here, no one here has any kind of Kekkei Genkai to speak of. Take me for example, save for a cool technique I developed, there is literally nothing special about me, and that includes my blood, so you'd just be wasting your time, that is, more than you have already," With that said, the Leaf-nin was ready to pack up his stuff and continue his search when a familiar face came by with a warm smile as part of the package.

"Fancy meeting you here~," To his pleasure, Tsuki had come to say hello to her old friend.

"Likewise, how has life treated you?" Naturally, Taiyo had returned the greeting and began to strike up conversation.

"Well, Kai didn't take too well to me hanging out with you guys and I even got a slave named...Oh right! Hang on, I gotta go find someone, I'll be right back," And just as quickly as she arrived, she left as if she was missing something.

Okay that was kinda rude but okay....

Feels bad man...

Actually there's something I should go do while I wait.

The FBS master turned to where Kai began to ram his ice serpent all over the battlefield and and duped his hands to form a makeshift megaphone.

"Hey water lily, you can come out now, the ice has settled!" Taiyo was referring to Hyoryugetsu, who has yet to show her face after she decided that she had enough of the Xenophobic Yuki's shit.
Tsuki
Another missed attack, but that was to be expected, this girl was a Hyūga, and as such she had the ability to see any attack, even the ones coming from behind. Now this would be where the Yuki-nin expected a counterattack from Sagiso, but surprisingly, nothing of the sort happened. Instead, she simply left the battlefield to pick up her little sister, not that she had any objections with that. Instead, Tsuki locked on to a new target, one that was still on the battlefield and had actually just finished releasing some rage. Of course, she meant Taiyo Akugami.

"Fancy meeting you here~," Her starting statement, complete with a rather incomplete attempt at being coy. Fourtunately for her, that didn't matter to Taiyo as he was just grateful to see the person who saved his life. He replied before she remembered that she had a slave to be responsible for, since she doubted that Hama-sensei, Kai or even Hyo would feel bad if Seiun had disappeared.

How could I have been so careless? He's my damn slave, the whole reason I got into the fight with Sagiso was because I was trying to get him back.
Seiun
After playing unconscious for a while, Seiun woke up to sore arms and a waist. Stretching as if he woke up from a long nap, the rouge shinobi decided to examine his area before coming to the conclusion that he had no idea where he was.

"It seems I've found myself in the middle of nowhere. My attacker is no longer after me and my teammates have abandoned me," As he said the word abandoned, Tsuki came into his line of sight, "Well, not all of them. Regardless, I find myself at a crossroads, do I flee and maybe try and find some place where I can quietly live or...who am I kidding I'm going with Tsuki," With that, Seiun began to reunite with his mistress, which gave him some Deja Vu on when they first met.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

In a flash, Hama came at a frightening speed at Taiyo, difficult to process that it had even occurred. He stopped right in front of him, a looming precense before her. She raised a finger, lowering it ever so slowly, until it booped Taiyo’s nose, creating an icicle hanging from it. She giggled.

“Oh the naivety of the young...” Hama shook her head. “So many assumptions. I could care less weather or not you have a bloodline or not. My archive will be able to pinpoint the nation of origin of every ninja and citizen registered. This would not only cut down on spies by an estimated whopping 98%, but it would also pinpoint the genetics to awaken what traits which would otherwise be dormant. It is a safety measure as well as a way to improve our already fruitful mist ninja. Villages will flock towards our service that only we can provide with our databank. Does THAT sound like a weapon to you little one?~”

So...we could tell if a Xeno was in the mist unwanted?! This is...miraculous. If we were to get that up and running then that could change our entire further as a village! This has potential, I regret doubting Auntie Hama.

“A noble goal.” Kai spoke, blunt but effective at giving the point. “If you greener’s won’t even work towards the betterment of all this world, then you would only be cementing your stand of villainy.”

“I wouldn’t go THAT far, dear Kai.” Hama hummed. “I would say that a truce with the price of persuing progress sounds like a winning offer to all those involved~”

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

The Jonin had a fair argument and Sagisō quickly saw the logic in his statements. Her actions did indeed subject both her and her sister to a fair degree of danger. In addition, their break from protocol did indeed have a chance of endangering the Leaf's cause. Presented with two persuasive arguments, the Nadeshiko Kunoichi pondered for a few seconds, then sneered derisively. While striking off on their own was dangerous, staying put was even more dangerous. The Byakugan was a Kekkei Genkai that worked wonders with distances and perception. She was fully confident that there wouldn't be many -if any- capable of approaching the duo and bypassing their detection.

Simply put, she had more confidence she could avoid any dangers on their lonesome, than she had confidence in Kakashi. It wasn't that she doubted his skill or anything. She was quite certain the Copy Ninja would act in the best interest of the Leaf Village, even if that wasn't in the best interest of the Hyūga Clan. And that attitude was precisely why Sagisō wasn't comfortable putting herself in his care. She wasn't from the Leaf, she wasn't concerned with the interests of the leaf village. She was a Hyūga, and simply that. She cared more for her Clan than the village, and her sister came before the mission.

Pushing Furījia behind her defensively, a smoke bomb clenched within her first, she prepared a plan. Decisively crushing the smoke bomb, the sextet of Kunoichi blurred into motion. When the smoke cleared only a single clone was left standing, the other 5 Sagisō as well as Furījia, had disappeared. The branches and trees vibrated slightly, charting a path that led into the forest. Having already fled a sizeable distance the vanishing figures of the Hyūga siblings could be seen. At the same time the Clone that remained removed it's Anbu mask, flinging it to the side and revealing the determined expression on her face. It seemed as if the Clone was prepared to risk it all to obstruct any pursuers.

However, assuming one hadn't been completely focused on the retreating figures of the Hyūga sisters or the actions of the clone, they might've noticed that that two additional branches had appeared on a tree off to the right.

Hyōryūgetsu

Floating rather peacefully within the water, Hyō was content to simply be a bystander now that Hama had called a ceasefire. She smirked at Taiyo's coined name for her but nevertheless didn't respond. Instead, she dully observed the proceedings. She had decided, however, that she would make an effort to save the boy should they be required to exterminate the Konoha forces.

Her boredom subtly influenced the water around her, causing it to swirl in idly eddies. She supposed Hama's plans were rather well-thought-out, but considering the Hōzuki's position in the mist, involving themselves with that blood-library would be very ill-advised. Geographically, the blood samples would not do well beneath the ocean tides, whether with regards to the crushing pressure or its inevitable dilution. Besides, blood didn't have a long shelf-life and she wanted none of the rotten liquid fouling her side of the ocean.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Reaver raised another trophy from the bed as he listened to Azumi’s words. The trophy was a hidden leaf headband taken from the chunnin exams from the dozens he slaughtered in the forest of death.

“Rubber.” He murmured

Burned alive

He then sliced another bloody streak upon his face, this time along the forehead. He exhaled deepily, remembering the history behind said trophy. The Gory mass that remained of the ninja who had held such a trophy. Sure he begged, they always do. As soon as Azumi mentioned honor, his recollection of the incident had vanished, his eyes got sharp. His head whipped to face Azumi, like a tiger who spotted prey.

“What of it?”

 

[DarkHydraT]

Mori barely avoided bumping into his teammates as Guren stopped and began to talk, judging by her jaw movements. He left the formation and made his way towards Guren's field of vision to see what she was talking about. When she finished talking he had to jump to avoid her jutsu for touching him. "We won't make a fire Lady Guren, don't worry." He said, finally getting somewhat to his loss of hearing. He decided that he could still talk as long as his conversation partner was looking at him, which was a bit troublesome in a group but it was better than nothing. He looked around the encased area and noticed a lack of accessable water, guess he had to learn to swim and face his fears back home and when he could hear again. He didn't want to miss out on crucial advice when surrounded by his mortal enemy.

He streched his body and let himself fall backwards onto the ground, clearly tired. "No need to create a bed for me, I can sleep on the ground." Mori said with a yawn and closed his eyes, ready for the night even though his attire wouldn't give him much protection for the night.

--------------

Taji had to admit, the plan wasn't half bad. Darui sensei wasn't the right hand of Lord Raikage for nothing, his power and intellect were pretty much unrivaled except by the Raikage himself and maybe the Valkyries. The group of powerful and beautiful women that could use powerful Lightning Release jutsu on their own and the incredible Limelight when together, Taji adored the group and would give everything to join them. "Darui sensei, do I need to transform as well?" She asked the jonin, unsure if she should as Aisha and her wolves transformed.

 

[Godjacob]

Azumi paid no mind to what Reaver did with his trophies, the import thing for now had been she got his attention as Azumi aimed to follow up her earlier point.

"Because quite honestly if honor has been the thing to define who you are, you've shown nothing but dishonor to me and this team since we began this mission. Honor means having respect, and to be frank you have shown absolute no respect to me, this team or this cause as you have gone out of your way to undermine all three. In spite of my personal....misgivings with your quirks I do have a respect for your abilities and what you could contribute to this team. And this has only ended up causing problems and it nearly resulted in this entire venture falling to pieces and two deaths; your own included. If honor is the core principle you live by, you have done little to show it." Azumi said to Reaver as she expressed her feelings on his "honorable" nature to this point and outlined the core issues that held this team and its purpose back from his actions. Even if Reaver disagreed with her view, Azumi had to hope he could at least understand her position which was the key to developing any sort of middle ground.

------------
"Don't worry guys, I got this!" Tomiko said with a grin at the mention of beds needing to be made; as her dirt from earlier had still been scattered throughout the area as she quickly formed some hand signs.

Soon enough, the dirt rose and formed several large beds in place as Tomiko made certain to soften the material with her chakra and even form some "pillows" to make it as comfortable as possible.

"How do these work?" Tomiko asked the group collectively.

------------
"As a matter of fact yes, but I want you three to change into bats. The aim is to be as inconspicuous as you can and there is hardly anything out of the ordinary. The key thing is to stay close enough to observe, but a safe distance at the same time to avoid being preemptively pulled into the fire. Stay close at all times...." Darui replied with lip speak, and now that he had been in his usual appearance no longer needed Aisha to translate, as both Aisha & Kenji gave a nod as they silently transformed into a pair of bats and waited for Taji to do the same. Kenji eyed a wall of the cave above the area where the Jinchuriki and the Oto-nin had been talking as it seemed ideal to meet that middle ground of "observing but not obvious enough to get in the way" Darui desired as he hoped Aisha and Taji would pick up on it; he flapped a bit in place to get used to the idea of flight and soon enough moved there along with Aisha who followed behind after her similar trial of getting flight down. Once they had gone, Darui would make sure to grant Taji needed to master flight and get in position before he'd walk away from their area as Sky & Luna's transformed forms followed close behind as they made their way to where the discussion had taken place as he caught the tail end of Sakon's "offer" to the Jinchuriki.

"Take it from me, when they mean a safe haven they really mean a prison. I've seen their utility of previous Jinchuriki, you'd be every bit a tool for them as you feel you've likely been for us." Darui said, casually, as he made his presence known to the Oto-nin and the Jinchuriki as he moved out in open view with "Kenji" and "Aisha" behind him. Darui first focused his view on the Jinchuriki.

"I'll say this outright because I know there's been bad blood between you and our nation. You are not our immediate focus, and if you desire to leave here you are more than free to do so. We've observed you, mindful not to intrude and determined you are no danger. Ideally we'd have preferred the chance to discuss this matter, but will respect your wishes for now and will not take action to stop you." Darui explained to the Jinchuriki, and he had spoken with the truth to her as given the word choice he had yet to tell a lie. Darui then turned to the Oto-nin.

"Though if your main worry was being used as a weapon, then what the ninja offer you is that fear magnified. As nobody quite knows how to weaponize Jinchuriki like your people. I believe that campaign against Konoha could attest to that no?" Darui said as he made reference to the Invasion attempt by Oto on Konoha where indeed Jinchuriki had been used as weapons in the battle against Minato and the Kage. His natural cool demeanor shinned through as he seemed far from intimidated by the Oto-nin.

If anything, he appeared to be bored. But there was a distinction between causal and careless, one Darui knew better than anyone...

-------------
Sakura herself flinched a bit when Hama suddenly appeared well within personal space of Taiyo as she explained her ideal to him while also making certain to make it as tense and awkward as she could for him; complete with making the tip of his nose a bit too chilly for her liking.

Kami this lady is such a weirdo!
I know, but right now we have to ignore that. Taiyo needs help.
What, are you saying we go up and try to get her to back down? She may be loco but she is still an elite Jonin of the Kekkei Genkai Yuki Clan. She could probably kill us by just looking at you funny.
I know....but we can't just leave Taiyo to himself either. We have to do something, anything. You do remember Kakashi's saying right?
*Sigh* Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scam. Yeah, I know....

Woosh!
​

Not a moment had passed as Sakura decided to act when Taiyo suddenly he had been swapped out with the second Kakashi that had given the Ninken their orders prior, as this Kakashi used a timely replacement jutsu to switch his position with that of Taiyo's rather than a log in order to move Taiyo a safe distance back with Sakura & Raiku. Not only that, but the second Kakashi had an electric kunai drawn as the electricity crackled just out of reach of Hama's chest. Though if the Yuki Jonin edged herself any closer, or made any remote aggressive action the electricity would be primed to give a shocking stab to her body.

"Now then Lady Yuki, I believe I asked for this to be a bit civil. I think that extends to not going up to my team like this. A bit too personal for my liking, so if you'd be so kind as to mind your distance." Kakashi or rather the one that had been speaking to Hama advised the Yuki-nin, as his Sharingan eye had been focused intently on her the entire time as he gave his stern warning. Despite his attempts to play to reason with the Kiri-nin, he would not hesitate to cut down even the Yuki Jonin if he felt that there was no other alternative to ensuring the survival of his squad. Something he hoped Hama would pick up on if she desired to get any blood sample out of this.

 

[Retro Master]

Flashback ​

“Oh, that’s what you meant.”

Kiro knew that the Doki summoned before him was only one of the mighty creatures Tayuya had control over. Combined with excellent genjutsu, courtesy of the flute, her skill was nothing to scoff at. But if this was supposed to be a test, how was she going to test him effectively without the cursed seal?

“Don’t take this personally Tayuya but I’d prefer testing myself against an opponent who is at full strength. Why do you think I haven’t attempted to murder you yet? Then again, being prisoners in this Hyūga infested...” Kiro paused himself before he went off on a tangent. That and the fact they were surrounded by a few clan members in the training hall made it unwise to speak ill of the Hyūga. He could even see one of them glaring at him from the corner of his eye.

“Uh, what I meant to say is that I’ve seen enough of their techniques already. It would probably be a waste of time to even fight a Hyūga.” Doing his best to say that last line with a straight face, Kiro reached into his weapons pouch by his waist and pulled out a kunai.

It had been awhile since his last battle. Even though Tayuya was trying to test him, Kiro also wanted to see where his power was at after all this time. He couldn’t hope to accurately measure himself if his opponent wasn’t at full strength. Plus Kiro felt a bit disrespected Tayuya believed he would want to test himself against a weakened opponent.

“Is this really the only option? When I beat you, I don’t want to hear any complaints.”

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
Naturally, Taiyo was very uncomfortable when Hama came and booped his nose, so much that his face turned a ripe shade of pink the minute her finger came in contact with his nose.

MOM DIDN'T PERPARE ME FOR THIS, WHAT THE FUCK?! WHY ARE ALL THE WOMEN SO SCARY?!

I'd file a restraining order on this woman, but all things considered, we're probably never going to see her again. At least I didn't need to back brown pants, but I will need to wash these, also maybe take a bath at some point.

Fourtunately, Kakashi was able to whisk him away from that whole mess and land him right next to probably his closest friends here, which didn't say much since Furījia might as well have stayed home.

"Sup," The Leaf-nin, despite that awkward...scene between him and the older kunoichi, attempted to sound okay with the whole matter despite him being very clearly scared.

Also I feel like the whole nose booping thing is a euphemism for something and I don't like it.
Tsuki
Fourtunately, it didn't take the two as long to reunite as when they first met up.

"You forgot about me. Anyways, what did I miss?" Seiun broke the silence with not only a sarcastic statement, but also a rather casual question.

"Sorry about that, and Hama-sensei called a ceasefire because we were apparently here to get blood samples, information she probably could have told us and saved us a lot of time but-" Before the Yuki-nin could finish her sentence, her slave cut her off.

"That would be too boring for her taste," The rouge ninja finished, causing Tsuki to give a mock-pout.

"Now what did we talk about interrupting me?"

"We didn't. Anyways let's head back, I'm sure the group is eagerly awaiting our return," Turning in a swift 180, a servant and her mistress began to regroup with the rest of their cell.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Reaver’s Sharp eyes galred back at Azumi’s. He got up from the bed with a steady creaking. After this, he approached Azumi despise his short stature and carried himself like that of someone three times his size. His deep voice gave one brief laugh, blink and you’s Miss it.

“Honor and respect are not the same, girl. Do not quote honor to me. You have no ‘Respect’ for any foreign Kage, does that make you dishonorable instantly? No. No it does not. Me coming along on this folly of a quest is already showing my ‘respect’, I require no other proof. But by all means, continue to spout your platitudes as if you think they are meaningful.”

Reaver huffed, the metal rattling in the room as he did so. He didn’t like his honor being questioned. Not a bit. And especially not by the likes of HER. Resisting the urge to kill her where she stood was difficult to fight back against. In his book, anyone who questioned his honor was already worthy of death.


..........


“Hama sensei...!”

Kai cried out as Kakashi appeared armed with an lightning field kunai right at their team leader’s chest. He knew of Kakashi’s Reputation, but he hadn’t expect him to move THAT fast. Perhaps his father’s title had been passed on to him... either way. Hama seemed to be in a bad spot...that is until Hama bursted our laughing.

“Oh ho ho ho! My my hasn’t someone gotten some guts?” Hama cocked her head with a smile. “Perhaps some of you Greeners actually do have a spine, I always thought it was a myth~”

Hama moved as sleekly as a cat, walking in strides around Kakashi and from the side of the blade. Her scarf flowed in the wind as did her hair. Suddenly, she plucked out two glass vials from her scarf.

“Simple deal Kakashi. Two vials. Two blood samples. Pick the team members that will so graciously donate, and we will leave your little band alone.”

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Woah!" Mori was caught off guard by the moving ground and sat back up on the edge of the bed. "These are surprisingly comfortable given they're made out of earth, but you didn't need to make this one." He said as he knocked on the bed he was currently on. "I can sleep on the ground so you don't have to waste chakra on me. You need all the chakra you need, I appreciate what you're doing but you don't have to. You can take my bed." Mother Hen Mori was coming out and he didn't really care. Tomiko worked and fought just as hard if not harder than him.

-----------------

"Understood sensei, I won't let you down." Taji mouthed as she transformed herself into a bat. It took her a while to get the flying down but she got it down fast enough to get in position next to Kenji and Aisha. "Not a bad way of signalling us, but maybe circle instead rather than staying in one place to seem more natural." She mouthed to Kenji and looked at the Oto-nin, all of them were grotesque save for the young kid that was holding the hand of the jinchuriki. Her gaze shifted from Kou to Zaku and furrowed her bat brow. "That kid's got some guts or is too young to understand the danger he's in. And is the power tattoo guy in this group, Kenji?"

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Henshina looked at Kou as he tried to confort her. She took a step back. "Whoa there kid. You're saying a lot here." She struggled to find a good way to talk her way out of her situation when Gyuki decided to act up. "That's it! They know who you are and they're going to take you away whether you like it or not. I'm taking control!" Chakra flaring up, Gyuki began attempting to take over control of Henshina's body. "Wait Gyuki, you don't have to resort to fighting them yet." The Jinchuriki argued in her thoughts. "You tried your way and failed, now I do things my way!" Gyuki shouted. Henshina's Biju chakra began rise up higher as the air around her began to stir. A tail grew out of Henshina's behind. "Gyuki Stop!" Henshina shouted. "Please let me handle this." Surprised at his partner speaking up, Gyuki decided to let go of Henshina. "Fine, but if things go bad, I'm busting us out of here." He said, Henshina smirked in response.

She put on hand on Kou's head. "You're a really nice kid, I don't get why you're hanging around these shady bunch." She said glancing up towards the sound ninjas. "Well there you have it, I am the Jinchuriki who fled the cloud." She began. "But i'm not going anywhere with you suspicious lot, I know what your boss is like." She continued. Henshina looked towards Darui when he suddenly showed up. "Hey wehre did those guys come from?" She thought as she listened to Darui speak. "Yeah, I don't need you to tell me what to do." She responded.

Shura arrived at Kiro's location and heard what he had to say. He looked to the sky and confirmed the time. "Yeah, I think that would be the best decision." He responded.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Kou was startled when a snip of chakra had flared from Heshina, deep red. What...? What is that? He didn’t have much time to think about it as she had quickly recalled her hand and consequently gave a rejection to team sound. Sakon’s expression turned to one of disdain as he took an assertive step forward.

“Let me make one thing clear, runt.” He growled. “That’s not a question, it was a DEMAND.”

“Heh, got some nerve on you.” Zaku smirked. “Looks like we just gotta tear it out...!”

“No boss wait!” Kou protested. “Maybe there’s something we are missing here? Like-“

Before Kou could finish, Kidomaru had flung a thick spider thread onto him, and then dragged him back with four of his available arms. Kou landed just behind Sakon, but back into their lines. Ukon shot him an annoyed glance from the back of Sakon’s neck.

“Tch. Not sure why Orochimaru brought you here if all your going to do is cause problems and delays. Stay back and be quiet. Don’t need you messing anything else up.”

Kou grit his teeth at Ukon. He never did like him all that much, even though Sakon was slightly more reasonable Than his twin. Kidomaru closed his eyes, grinning, aware of something the rest of his team weren’t.

“Fancy seeing more intruders here...!”

Kidomaru then turned a flash toward Darui, his hands ready to weave a web. Zaku questioned the new appearance of this new cloud ninja and split his hands int two ways: one towards the jinchurki and one at Darui

“Who’s this joker?” Zaku spat. “And what’s with the wig?”

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō ~ Flashback ~

"Ho~? Quite bold, aren't we?"

A playful smirk hung on her lips as the Hyūga girl pushed out of the background and presented herself to the two 'prisoners'. The training halls were a place that she frequented, seeking to hasten her familiarity with the gentle fist and integrate it into her own fighting style. Before the girl had been taken in by the Hyūga clan, she'd battled with Nadeshiko Style Taijutsu and a battle style reminiscent of savate. She had always been more adept with legwork than with fistwork, and that had shone through with her earlier approach to fighting -she hadn't thrown so much as a punch towards Kenji nor Kai. That being said, after integrating with the Hyūga clan she'd spent most of her time honing the clan's Hiden jutsu and had, of course, drastically increased the usability of her hands in battle. With plenty of practice, both during training and life-threatening combat, her familiarity with the gentle fist was at a level where she felt it was time to begin integrating it. Hence, she took more frequent trips to the training halls which were designed for non-destructive taijutsu battles. As a side-note, she'd also wanted to refamiliarize herself with her arm -the bone now mended.

"Then you'll have no issues with backing those words of yours...right?"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

.............
.............
.............
*********
10 Years Ago
*********

Have you ever wondered...what draws the line between life and death? When does one truly die? When their body stops functioning? When they cannot have memory? When they cease to give a pulse? Many of mankinds’s philosphies of life and death have been vauge at best...I never thought I would ever have to consider weather something was or wasn’t dead. it never occoured to me the horrors I saw that day were even possible.

I apologize, I haven’t even properly introduced myself. I am Jako Yuki, Honor Guard of Heart. As an honor guard, my sole loyalty is to the clan head, no other. You see, the Honor Guard of Heart’s role is to be a key advisor. To be the voice of the clan to the clan head. Not only that, but the master of raising our clan’s morale, knowing exactly what buttons to push, as well as knowing which kens would shatter the enemy’s morale. I have always been effective and timely about my duties.

The events of today were alarming, to say the least. After the death of lady Roanna, we mourned for her, and Haiahu of the Hü clan came to bid her sorrows and respects as well...or so it seemed. She quickly took the opportunity to take hostages once Jin had denied her revenge plot. Several hostages were taken from all around the village... including the families of my past life. As an honor guard we sever all contact with our past life. We put on our armor and never look back. No contact. No anything. We train to become a unified force built for our only goal. The kidnapping didn’t budge my resolve. Not in the slightest. As the Honor guard of heart it was my occupation to see through such morale shattering tactics.

After hours of delibeteration and planning, we set off to reclaim our forces, with Jin leading a stealth operation beforehand. It was unusual for the clan head to go a mission alone without a single honorguard to protect them, but we obeyed as loyal tools.

Soon enough, noise erupted from the compound, Jin had found hostages and were leading them out of the compound when Haiahu had found him. She had a large force of angry Hü to aid her. It would be a bloodbath....

...I didn’t know how accurate that term was.

If you had ever fought a Hü, you would think you would simply need to counter the enemy’s moves with help of your allies to overtake them. After all, with the numbers advantage we had it would have been easy.

That phrase could not have been more wrong.

They were savage, using their own blood and guts to forge weapons against us. I beared witness to dozens of men and women die by blood being Force down their throats and eyesockets. It’s an excruciating process, and the numb pain they were in...pure and utter evil

It didn’t stop there. Oh no. That's just the beginning. The Hü fought us with our own kind. Have you ever been restrained by the lower intenstines of your fallen comrades? Coiled with the mess of mop like hair and tounges, all tied up in a grosteque fashion. What’s the use of fighting an enemy if all the forces you bring are giving them fresh weapons to use? Numbers were useless.

Midway through the bloodiest fight in the mist village’s history, the Hü had unveiled a new weapon they had crafted. We coined them ‘Patchworks’. A Patchwork is where they took a single Hü and forced it to combine with hundreds or even thousands of pounds of meat and flesh, fusing them into gigantic forms made of pure msucle power. Some were crafted rather...delicately for a meat abomination, even having layers of skin to adorn them. Those seemed rather tame...but then came the latest wave. These Patchwork’s were rushed, like they cobbled them together in a hurry. There were still arms...HUMAN arms dangling from them. Ribs spikes through in several areas and even teeth lining the outer layer of the muscle. It had been abundantly clear that this wasn’t any ordinary meat. This was pure human meat.

They had so much of it, they must have been stockpiling them for years, decades even! They slithered, stomped, and squished onto the battlefield. Hordes of bugs followed their every moment, rotting flesh pouring from their orfices. The smell...Kami...the smell. It was what you would smell if you were in the Bottom most layer of hell.

One of these forms came my way, a fresh one by the looks of it. It had dark cyan hair dripping down from it’s ‘neck’...a rare hair color...but familiar. My own was cyan you see. A heavy coincidence. But then...my eye caught something heart wrenching. A wooden ring I had fashioned my mother from when I was six...was snuggly aroun a finger sticking out from the cheek of the creature. After all these years I had of trying to forget my past life and put it Behind me...she never forgot. Not even at the end...

I froze, falling to the ground. I yanked off my helmet and vomited on the gore covered ground. A nightmare. I was the Honor guard of Heart, unbrekable of will...broken. Just like that.

 

[Retro Master]

Flashback ​

A short huff of air from his nose was the only form of amusement Kiro displayed after hearing Sagisō’s rude interruption. The lack of manners was truly a stain on the Hyūga Clan’s classy image. In all honesty, he wasn’t surprised that she had inserted herself into another one of his matters. Such royalty had every right to do as they pleased against the filthy commoners. As for Tayuya, hopefully her generous mood wasn’t soured by the interruption.

After letting out an annoyed sigh, Kiro shared a glance with the Sound woman to state his apologies. “Don’t worry Tayuya, I’ll deal with this.”

He lifted his right hand up and gently began to rub off whatever dust was on his clothing. His kunai hand went to the weapons pouch and stayed there for a few seconds before coming out empty. Afterwards, the Uchiha made sure to straighten up his posture before he faced Sagisō. Kiro was nothing but a peasant in her eyes so it was only fair he treated her with the utmost respect.

“It’s always an honor to be graced by such a noble presence, Sagisō. Please excuse my language. The only words I’d like to back up for you is my gratitude to the Hyūga. I am truly grateful for the knowledge I’ve received in these past months.” The Uchiha even bowed his head while simultaneously resisting the urge too gag. That feeling was due to those disgusting words that flowed off his tongue. It was like a diluted, colorless poison being slipped into his seemingly pure, virtuous tone.

There was one major disadvantage in fighting the Demon Princess on Hyūga grounds. Kiro wouldn’t be able to kill her. Instead, he would be forced to settle for beating her into a bloody pulp were they to do battle. It was strange how two of the people Kiro wanted dead were there to fight him when it wasn’t currently in his best interest to kill them. How unfortunate.

To be fair, it would also be a bit suspicious if he was hesitant to fight Tayuya only to engage in battle with a one-armed demon. How could he take pride in defeating a lesser version of either? Three months had passed though, which meant her arm had to be healed.

Raising his head, Kiro glanced at Sagisō’s once broken arm before making eye contact. His black to her magenta. “Oh by the way, how’s your arm? It would be rather dishonorable on my part to challenge a cripple, don’t you think? If you’re going to spectate, it would be wise to keep your fragile body away at a distance. It would be unfortunate to suffer another injury so soon after recovery.”

 

[SageNeb]

9 Years Ago...
​

"Mommy! Daddy!"

Senshu woke up to a certain five year old bouncing up and down on his bed, clearly excited. The youth's excitement caused him to smile and woke up his wife.

"Raiku... why are you waking us up already?" asked his wife.

"Tomorrow's a New Year! We need to celebrate, like we always do!"

Senshu looked at his wife which had a gentle smile on her face, but then he became worried. She had been pregnant for a little over 9 months now and he was expecting a baby any day. If today was that day... he shouldn't make his wife work to prepare for the celebrations.

"Yes... I suppose that's true. I'll start working on the-"

"No. Me and Raiku will help create the food. You just relax and we'll take care of everything."

"But-"

"Trust me, it'll allow some bonding time for our son and I. With all the missions I have to take I can't spend as much time with my family as I'd like to."

"Yay! Me and Daddy can be the big guys and help Mommy!"

Due to her son's eagerness, Senshu's wife couldn't help but want him to be happy and let him help. She exhaled and agreed.

"Fine... I suppose if it'll make Raiku happy..."

.....

Senshu and his son were working all day until dusk and were about to finish when they heard a yelp of distress coming from Senshu's room. The two quickly rushed into the room with a worried expression on their faces with Raiku's mother having an even more concerned look.

"She's coming.... the baby's coming!"

Senshu's eyes widened and Raiku was a bit confused. Then he realized... by tomorrow he was going to have a little sister. His father as fast as possible got his family to the hospital and got his wife into a room for a doctor to deliver the baby. He helped his wife through the labor and when he saw the results his eyes widened and it seemed as if time stopped.

"N-no..."

Suddenly Raiku entered the room when he heard the finale of the birth.

"C-can I see my little sister?"

Senshu looked at his son with tearful eyes as that was the final straw. Raiku was a bit confused but hopeful. However he quickly knew what was going on. His son rushed to his mother and the baby and his eyes widened. His baby sister had what he thought was a rope around her throat. He blinked and cried, and when he opened his eyes they were now red as they turned into the Sharingan....



The time of the delivery was 12:00 A.M. That New Year was not a happy one. The whole family cried with sorrow and mourned the death of the baby. Raiku never got a baby sister that day. Eventually Raiku learned what the name of the baby was going to be... Atarashi. His parents named her that as they hoped they she would bring a new era of happiness in the family. Unfortunately... they were wrong.

 

[Godjacob]

"I respect those worthy of respect. Foreign Kage of the five great nations who step on those below them are not worthy of respect. Irregardless of the term, the fact you only seem to value your own interests without any consideration for anyone else on the team is the most problematic element to this Reaver. And maybe you are not familiar with the term, but honor and respect go hand it hand....the latter defines the former and for someone who cries about honor over and over again it certainly seems to only apply to your pride and pride alone." Azumi clarified to Reaver, before she let out a sigh.

"In truth, when I made my evaluation of you to our Kami I meant every word of it. Despite the fact you detest me, despite your....quirks. I did respect your ability, and I saw someone with the talent to represent our nation proud and make a true difference in the world. Yet since I made that choice you've seem to go out of your way to spit at me and the cause of this unit upon every opportunity. Wasting prime opportunity to better our nation and for you to get opportunities at those trophies you desire. Even if you'd detest me.....cursed my very breath, it would be appreciative if I could consider you'd honor this cause to any capacity." Azumi explained to Reaver as she figured by now the only chance she had to get through to him was to try and understand why she had this belief Reaver went against his own honor code and why he put not just their mission at risk but also his own personal gain of trophy collection with his outbursts and volatile eruptions.

------------
"You know, I'd have taken offense to that if I had any consideration for what you had to say." Darui replied with a dry tone to Zaku's "wig" comment before he decided to address his general comment.

"Well, you can just say I am a resident of Kumo doing some civil service. Last thing I expected while checking to see if the Jinchuriki was causing trouble or not when I happen to spot the snake's little flock. A shame too, Boss has a bit of a grudge against your leader and well....I might get a headache from him if he found out I saw you but did nothing about it...." Darui replied, his voice bored though he managed to work up the effort to convey a serious tone.

"Maybe, if you all decide to just leave the islands and inform the snake you found nothing....I'll forget I ever saw you, and things can be so much easier." Darui replied, as he gave his warning to the Oto-nin and showed he seemed far from afraid of the group as "Kenji" and "Aisha" observed in silence; which to the group probably just meant they'd be told to keep quiet and nothing more.

Meanwhile, the real Kenji & Aisha read Taji's lips as she advised a more natural slight pattern, as they followed suit to appear as inconspicuous as possible; all the while they observed Darui and the disguised wolves as they watched to see how this would play out.

------------
"Actually, thanks to my little Rejuvination sessions I pretty much have full chakra right now. It's a neat little thing, like I can recharge my batteries on the go. So it's no concern, please I'd rather you sleep on a bed then on your back on the ground. Besides, I already made four so it'd just be a waste not to use one of them." Tomiko replied with a grin as she removed her Terra armor while she made her clarification to Mori.

She appreciated the concern, but between him and Yasu she worried she'd be overly pampered; which was a bit troubling for her though she'd never admit that to him.

----------
Kakashi eyed the two vials that Hama displayed, and kept a neutral expression the entire time even as the clone never put the electric kunai away. Kakashi contemplated only momentarily before he glanced Hama right in the eye before he raised a single index finger.

"Well, given your attitude throughout this "discussion" combined by the fact it was an unprovoked attack on my team that started this I think we'll need to lower the asking price a bit here. After all, I can't turn a blind eye to one who get in such personal space and try to scare my team like that. So let's split the difference between ignorant concession and total rejection and settle for one vial of blood from one individual. You still get a key sample out of this, which is more than you entered here with, and then we can go our separate ways." Kakashi said, as he made his counter offer to Hama as it'd be hardly negotiations of any kind to give into the first offer so quickly.

-------------
Takato arrived not long after Shura, with Tayuya right behind them as it appeared that they'd be setting up camp for the night. Tayuya naturally cared little what the group did as she walked over to a nearby tree and sat along the base of it; arms folded behind her neck as she simply opted to scan the stars above.

Takato himself observed this momentarily, before he turned his attention to Kiro & Shura. "So, don't suppose we should set up camp now..." Takato advised to the pair.

------------

Flashback​

Tayuya had a sly smirk on her face when Kiro made his rather cocky stand against her proposal, but before she had a chance to retort Sagiso arrived as she seemed to gleefully offer herself in the Oto-nin's place for this little spar which only caused Tayuya to develop a deep scowl. Kiro urged that he had a handle on this when he went to address her, but once he finished speaking Tayuya decided to allow her own voice to be heard as she glanced at the Hyuga.

"Alright Hyuga Princess I didn't ask for your volunteer work. This is between me and him so it's better if you just butt out of it. Go find someone else to flaunt your "talents" towards." Tayuya replied, as she made it clear she would not be dismissed by the new arrival before she turned back to Kiro.

"And as far as your concern is don't worry. Curse Mark or no Curse Mark I am far from incapable. I think it's you who should be more concerned with "being at full strength" since you seem to have a habit of just going through the motions and half-assing everything. Which if you try to pull against me...." Tayuya said, as she played one quick flute command to have her Doki stab the ground as it easily pulled a large section of the earth from it that had been half as large as Kiro's body if not larger and held it in its claws.

"Well, let's just say this little "evaluation" is gonna bear grim results for you. So don't give me that bullshit about my strength, as you both can see I am more than sufficient for this." Tayuya said to both Kiro and Sagiso as she made her emphatic point while her Doki discarded the slab of earth that fell with a thud.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō ~ Flashback ~

"Ah, please don't destroy the flooring, mother says that type of wood is expensive..." Thinking back to her own experiences -a full 15 minutes where she'd needed to kneel while Hinagiku scolded her over destroying the flooring during her battle with Shura- a wry smile replaced her gleeful grin. Setting her hands akimbo, wrists pinned to her hips, she gave Tayuya a disapproving stare.

"Little Koshō...well, if you want to fight him big sister won't stop you." Although she was itching for a battle herself, as the bigger sibling she had the propriety to make way for the little ones. She supposed Tayuya was also out to find a suitable husband, she'd only fought male shinobi after all, what else could she be doing? As far as Sagisō believed, the sound followed the same principles as Nadeshiko -after all, why else would Zaku have accepted her battle? In addition to the way Tayuya had phrased her words, it seemed to be without doubt that Sagisō's assessment was correct. Since her little sister had her eye on the Uchiha, Sagisō didn't mind watching over her battle.

Perking up, Sagisō's eyes swept between the two 'prisoners', "It's definitely between you and him...", the marriage ceremony that is, "and your strength is definitely enough...", to produce strong offspring, "Well, feel free to carry out your evaluation", husband evaluation that was, "but take the battle to the training grounds."

Having only arrived recently, Sagisō had only caught the latter parts of the duo's conversation, and as such her mind brought together what bits of information she had, and pieced together a conclusion. An evaluation based on strength imposed upon a man by a woman. Something that was only between the two of them, and the passionate way they kept glaring at each other. The picture couldn't have been painted any clearer. Sagisō understood completely.

In response to Kiro's words, what came across her face was not quite anger, but rather a mix of pity, rage, and disappointment. "My arm is well," She flexed the appendage around to prove the point, "though granted your courtesy, I must return the favor, it's only right. How is...your back?" An almost mocking variant of concern entered her voice as she continued, "The Kiro I knew wouldn't have bowed...Hmmm, the Yuki didn't hurt you did they?" She blinked as she looked at him, her eyes almost innocent. Almost. "Maybe you should check the infirmary, your back might still be injured." Along with your pride. Her latter words were left unsaid. For now, they weren't needed. Although the thing, person, being, before her was not Kiro, he still had the faintest of the Uchiha's spunk, she could see it seething within his eyes -on the verge of being snuffed.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Reaver has a predicament, one he never thought he’d be in. Contradicting honors. On one hand he had a honor to himself to defend his word and reputation from those that sought to tear it down. And on the other he made a oath to the mission, a honor bound oath. Could his actions to defend his personal honor be interfering with and oath he had made?

Fighting the blind runt was hardly fighting the mission at every turn. Hell, I wouldn’t even considered that against the mission!

You know as well as I the Azumi is the team leader, and you did the exact opposite of what the team leader had said and...would have killed her if she couldn’t fly. Even you have to see that.

“....” Reaver couldn’t formulate the words to convert what he felt or meant. Instead, he shoved it aside and focused on The present. “A warrior must always honor an oath. Less they take their own life.”

Without adding anything more onto that, Reaver eyed a sword placed rather precariously at the side of the room. He picked it up the handle and stared it down intensely, as if he were contemplating something.


.......


“Heh, calls it like I sees it, Bub.” Zaku snickered.

Sakon clenched a fist as he looked to the dark skinned ninja before him. He couldn’t tell if the jounin was either stupid, suicidal, or a mix of the two. Either way, Sakon held his ground.

“How about I send a counter offer?” Sakon spat. “You leave now and we won’t invade your village next!!”

“You know just as well as I that fighting each other would guarantee both our failures in this mission.” Kidomaru cocked his head. “We have reinforcements on the way. We will win either way you spin it. Either right now, or in ten minutes.”

Meanwhile Kou just looked at either side of the argument, and back to Heshina. The poor girl was stuck between two factions that were already fighting for the right to kidnap her. He mouthed the words ‘Sorry’ to her as sincerely as he could.



........


“You honestly think I would walk out of here with just one vial?”

hama’s voice was stern and unnerving as she stood before kakashi, inches away from his face. The cold air was far more frigid than any icicle this Yuki could make. The silence was deafening, the wind blowing at an eerily slow pace. Fight would break out at any moment...!

“We...gladly accept the terms~” Hama practically sang.

Kai twitched from under the mask. She....thinks this is a game. What is WRONG with her?

“Now then Kakashi dearist, Take the vile and chose a member. I’m waiting~”

He plopped the glass vile in his hand, giving a lazy wave to him. It seemed this sudden shift of time was indeed genuine. Weather that was a good or bad thing was open to debate

 

[Retro Master]

“Yeah sure. We just need to watch out for any of those threads.”

Kiro responded to Takato after landing on the ground beside him. Besides the moon and stars, the sky above had become dark. The air itself seemed to drop in temperature to go along with the change. He contemplated starting a campfire but realized that the smoke could give away their position. Without the heat, it was going to be a long night...

Flashback ​

Nonchalantly looking back in Tayuya’s direction after his act, Kiro watched as the Doki pulled a large section of earth from under the wood. It appeared to be a display of her power and perhaps the slab was meant to be him. If that were the case, Tayuya was brutal in her ways of killing. At least Kiro made sure his kills were quick.

After hearing Tayuya’s convincing argument about taking her serious, he quietly listened to Sagisō’s response. First off, Kiro was surprised to hear they were sisters. He didn’t see the resemblance. All she did was restate the obvious between Tayuya and himself.

‘What else does it look like we’re doing? Getting married?’

The Uchiha just shook his head at that thought. Apparently all they needed was Sagisō’s permission. According to Tayuya, Sagisō was actually the Hyūga Princess so that was understandable. After their permission was granted, Kiro expected their conversation to be over. Instead, Sagisō had turned towards his direction with a strange look in her eyes.

‘What the... Why is she looking at me like that?’

At first he was amused when Sagisō asked about his back. Had she been offended by his mocking behavior? If so, then that comeback was to be expected. A pretty good one actually. It was simple trash talk between two foes, nothing too serious.

During these past few months Kiro had taken it upon himself to practice speaking and acting with respect. After all, his goal after waking up from the nightmare Fugaku placed him in was to become a better person. However, it seemed that formalities were just a waste of his time. They only served to humiliate him even more. After all, the weak only bowed to the strong. He had gone too far with his mocking attitude and it had bitten him in the back. A pathetic showing of himself.

But then she went an unforgivable step further and brought up the Yuki.

Kiro had been humiliated in battles, rescued as a loser, and even made into a worthless prisoner. Even the technique he took pride in the most was nothing but a failure. Still, none of that compared to the moment he had to get on his hands and knees to beg for his life. How could he forget his disgust for those who stood above him? That feeling to put his head down before someone...

In the end, Sagisō was correct in her assumption. The cold feeling of despair had crushed him both physically and mentally.

He could feel the fingers on his left hand attempt to grasp the air where the kunai once was. There was a feeling of anger and disdain flowing through him as he mentally cursed his blunder. Showing weakness to an enemy, even as a joke, was truly inexcusable.

‘Once again, she’s made me look like a fool. Making me even doubt myself. I’ve murdered people with these very hands, so there’s no reason for me to be concerned about a stupid act.’

He wanted to respond to her but knew it would be a lost cause. However, not responding at all proved that she was right. It was a lose-lose scenerio. Shifting his gaze away from Sagisō, Kiro glanced at Tayuya before settling in the direction of the training grounds outside. If he remembered correctly, they were interrupted last time.

“To think you were capable of hiding such a fact from me Tayuya. My stay here must be the reason why my head isn’t on straight. I’ve grown soft. Weak. Pathetic. It’s to the point where I even have doubts of my own strength.”

The Uchiha looked down into the open palm of his left hand. Kiro then closed it, squeezing his fingers into a fist before taking a breath. That served to calm the tenseness within him for the moment. Afterwards, he unclenched his fist and looked over at Tayuya with a fierce look in his eyes.

“The one I want is Sagisō. Let me have her and you’ll get your evaluation. I can guarantee that.”

 

[Godjacob]

Azumi watched as Reaver softly recited the Oath he made to himself, with the additional condition applied to it that had been enough for Azumi to raise her eyebrow slightly. Azumi had no belief he’d ever go that far with it, but she figured she needed to say something as she let out a sigh.

“As much as I’ve dogged on this issue, I still think we can work through it. The journey had a bumpy beginning, but it is only the beginning. So long as we strive to be better tomorrow and learn from this then there will be no irreversible damage. There is ample opportunity for me to learn better how to handle this situation and for you to prove true to your oath.” Azumi advised to Reaver.

-------------
Darui simply raised an eyebrow as the Oto-nin made mention of reinforcements, along with other comments which naturally had him on alert. Unknown to the Oto-nin, the disguised Luna & Sky who took the appearance of Aisha & Kenji had also been on alert and would subtly keep their noses sharp for any other scents in the air of these “reinforcements” so they’d be mindful of their arrival.

“Is that right? Funny you mention it being a “lose lose situation” earlier only to then say that you win no matter what. I think you are overlooking the risk of this situation, as reinforcements only gives incentive for her to feel she is being pressured. Which if I remind you, would be a risk to everyone present.” Darui said with a gesture towards the Jinchuriki as indeed if these “reinforcements” came in it would only lead to a mess and neither side likely to get what they want. Unless they were so certain that the Oto could beat his team and a Jinchuriki at the same time.

Which, given they were arrogant enough to presume they could topple Konoha alone with the other leaders present, was not an impossibility.

“It’d be advisory for you to stand down. If you insist to commit to this, now only would it result in heavy losses on your end but a failure of your objective. As proud as you all are, even you must understand this situation is both grim and pointless. If you value your mission and your lives in general, it is time to recognize you need to stand down and withdraw. Especially after you are quick to make such a callous threat against my people.” Darui explained, and even in his cool if not bored tone enough killing intent had been directed at the Oto-nin to get the point across.

Kenjia and Aisha flew around naturally as bats in their patterns as they observed, but Kenji caught the lip spoken works of Taji as he replied with a nod.

“Yeah, that’s him. The kid by him is harmless, why he’s here in such a situation I don’t know. But the others are even more dangerous.” Kenji replied with lip speak to Taji, as while he had not encountered them personally he had heard accounts of the Sound 4.

-----------
Kakashi’s expression remained unchanged, whether Hama had moved right to his face after she seemed to be against one vile to her sudden concession to his terms. This caused a lone eyebrow to raise, as while it was nice to hear the idea Hama would agree to casually seemed too good to be true, and that alone was reason for Kakashi to assume guard & proceed with caution.

As he took a step back, he had both hands in his weapon’s pouch. He dug through it momentarily before he pulled out a kunai he held in his right hand as he faced Hama with his typically composure. Even amist her attempt to spook him with her chilly face-to-face encounter as he gave a simple nod.

“I think it would be idea if I was the one to draw the blood here. Just comfort with one’s own weapon, I am sure you can respect that as Mist-nin.” Kakashi said, in refrence towards the scared blades Kiri held to such high value. As he made the rational and reasonable decision to want to use a weapon of his own and make the cut to draw the blood they desired himself. They still would get what they wanted, and it would be a smoother process which seemed fair to all parities.

Sakura herself just quietly observed, momentarily she had her hand over her pouch as she was driven on impulse by the chill Hama produced combined with her sudden closeness to her sensei, but gradually her hand shifted away. Based on her views of Kai, Hama's decision appeared to be a shock to her own team as well as them. It seemed suspicious, but she had faith in her sensei; he knew how to handle situations like this and would trust his judgement.

-----------

Flashback
​

Tayuya had an eyebrow raised when she heard the name "Little Kosho" directed to her from Sagiso and her confusion only grew when she referred to her as her "little sister" which itself raised too many questions. Though it had not taken long for Tayuya to understand the implication of Sagiso's words as her eyebrows frowned and she glanced at Sagiso with an annoyed expression...and mild blush.

"Okay, in no context am I your sister nor do you have any right to just pronounce yourself my older sibling here. Let's make that clear before the Uchiha here gets any wrong ideas...." Tayuya insisted before she glanced over to Kiro as he seemed to make his claim to want to face Sagiso quite clear which caused her to raise the eyebrow again....this time curiously. Seems Sagiso had insulted Kiro's pride, which seemed as delicate as a piece of used toilet paper, and that had been enough to get a reaction out of him. One with the most passion she had seen since Orochimaru made the original recruitment offer to him. In truth, while Tayuya was annoyed being disregarded in favor of Sagiso for this it didn't matter that much. All she needed was for Kiro to be pushed to his limits, and if Sagiso could accomplish that well the end result. Still...

"Okay, name me one reason I should accept being sided like this?" Tayuya asked, as naturally the "disrespect" she felt being glossed over as an opponent had not sat well. Even if she was not the most prideful around, she still had some that did mean something.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Reaver ran his clothed finger along the sword’s blade, following it all the way up to it’s sharp tip. His breathing was very audible through his mask as he digested the words Azumi had said to him.

“With a tounge like that, you could sell the devil brimstone.” Reaver mused. “Fine. This weapon shall be fined tuned under the throw of this team. As long as my end of the Oath is constantly fulfilled, we have no quarrel.”

Not looking in Azumi’s general direction, he slid the sword down, his hands flexing. With the flex of his wrist, the mechanical hand of the new Reaver suit had floated up to greet him. He growled at it. He had a long way to go if he wanted to build that suit. And most components lie in the rain. Between the chakra enhancing drugs, Spear of Lugh fuel, and many other technical components he would not be able to finish the suit until they had made it back to the rain.

“Where is our next destination?”

Reaver spoke, with a new resolution in his voice. Respect? Not quite. Politeness? Never. But a mutual understanding. One that tied right into his duty. Azumi had fought him the only way he couldn’t defend: his honor code. A fight Reaver would never confess she won.



.......


“And you suggest running?” Sakon gave a sadistic grin. “Heh...perhaps your not getting it. As they say actions speak louder than words...”

“Decapatating Airwaves!!”

In no time at all Zaku had sprung into action. His tubes coming from his hands exploding forth a powerful stream of air, rocketing at Darui and his general area. Kou was behind Zaku although still needed to brace hismelf from the air. His hair blew back intensely as the burst of air aimed to smite the jounin where he stood.

Something’s up with Boss’s arms...could it be...his powers have gotten stronger? Kou with his right hand covered the rat in his pocket, making sure it was shielded from the air blast.

Kidomaru wouldn’t stand idly by while Zaku had taken the initiative. Using the airwaves as a signal, Kidomaru’s cheeks swelled up with a large supply of spider silk, as he had begun to coat the ceiling of the cave with the substance, it would seem he was preparing for the oncoming fight.

Sakon stood there with his arms crossed, but bothering to move to attack or prepare for one. Instead he just awaited Darui’s annihalation by air cannon with a evil twisted grin on his face.



.......




“Oh by whatever means for drawing blood is little concern for me Kakashi dear. Knife, teeth, nails, or cheese grater all of them give the end result. By all means~”

Still in her ever chipper Sing-Song voice Hama circled around Kakashi, watching his every movement despite her cheery disposition. Kai has been watching too...that is, until two figures had made their way over to the rest of the squad.

“Tsuki? Seiun? Your alive I see...” Kai nodded approvingly. “I underestimated your fighting prowess if you had managed to survive.”

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
Looking in disgust at the whole ordeal, the Leaf-nin tapped his foot angrily whilst he waited.

Come to think of it, since when were Mr. Kakashi and the crazy lady so close?

I mean does it really matter?

No, I was just bored and maybe I could try and start a conversation.

Well instead of talking to yourself, you could go get a drink. You're thirsty right?

Come to think of it, I haven't gitten a good drink in a while.

Discreetly breaking away from the group, Taiyo went to the nearby lake in an attempt to get a quick drink. The water was surprisingly refreshing, especially since someone was probably in the water. Still, it was nice to just take a refreshing drink and relax.

...this is boring
...this is boring
Tsuki
The Yuki-nin gave a half-hearted smile at Kai's half assed attempt at a compliment. Still, she could use it to appease her boredom that currently laughed her mind.

"And for a second, I thought you didn't care~. And while I'm flattered, I don't give much credit to my fighting prowess, what little of it I have. My opponent more so ran away from the battle to pick up her little sister, and all I can say is; I felt rather disrespected," Tsuki added some mock sadness in her voice at the last part, Why? Simply because it was amusing.

Maybe Hama-sensei is rubbing off on me...
Seiun
As Tsuki was contributing something to the conversation, Seiun decided that it'd be rude not to acklowedge Kai's acknowledgement of their presence.

"Thank you, and I'm glad that you too were able to put up a fight against the Leaf-nin," Immediately afterwards, Seiun began to stare at his arms and began to worry.

What if the Hyūga disabled me? Cause if so, then I'd have an actual reason to retire...speaking of which, what would I even do? Art, agriculture, murder? No, the last one wouldn't even mean I'm retiring... and is why is taking so long to get a blood sample?

 

[DarkHydraT]

"You have a Rejuvination jutsu? That's amazing Tomiko! I don't think anyone else has that, this can really help you in your fights. Your opponents get tired yet you still are full of life and vigor and ready to beat them into the ground! I can't wait to see you use it when we fight, it will be awesome! That fight will show just how much we've grown since the academy!" Mori said with a wide grin as he faced Tomiko before trying to find Guren. "Lady Guren, Tomiko made four beds and she would hate to see one go unused. What do you say?" He asked as he waited for a response before sitting back onto his bed. "I do hope we don't have to swim anytime soon, I've yet to find a time to practice that and a drowned member isn't exactly a reputation boost."

-------------------------

Taji frowned as Kenji confirmed her question, if that boy activated his power tattoos they would be in some serious trouble. And as if on cue, Zaku attacked and his spider-like friend covered the ceiling with spider silk. Surprisingly, the third Oto-nin just stood there like there was nothing going on. Taji's brain worked rapidly, that non-attacker had something up his sleeve and she needed a way to help Darui. But to do that, she needed permission. Without it, she could only dodge the silk and fly around.

 

[kyuukestu]

Mudan

Lounging lazily in a leaf-woven hammock, the Brave star and de facto leader of the Kunoichi of Nadeshiko listen carefully to the hubbub of voices that whirled around the campfire. Well, one of several campfires. In fact, campfires dotted the hillside, flickering flames that could be seen from a distance and alluded to human presence. Stationed on the borders of the land of fire, at a location rather close to the divide been (land of) Fire and Water, 80 Nadeshiko Kunoichi were having open campfires. Although the campfires were scattered, the Kunoichi were in groups. 5 groups of 15 kunoichis each, and a 6th group containing only 5 Kunoichi.

Each of the 15-kunoichi groups was led by Nadeshiko's finest, a member of the 5 Tiger Generals. Herself -the 5th Ranked Brave Star, the 6th Ranked Majestic Star, the 7th Ranked Fierce Star, the 8th Ranked Prestige Star, and the 15th Ranked Steadfast Star. Each of these groups had a different target in mind. Her own group was heading towards Tonika Village which was on the outskirts of the land of Fire. The other locations of interest were Takigakure, the Ruins of Uzushiogakure, Howling Wolf Village, and Hoshigakure. While on the other hand, the smaller 5-kunoichi group was heading off to Takumi Village.

They were each after very specific things. Things that would benefit Nadeshiko in the long-run. Each team carried with it a bag full of wealth, the remains of their dealings with the Mizukage. They would attempt trade first, but when all else failed more unscrupulous means would be implemented.

With such a large mobilization of Kunoichi, Nadeshiko's main village found itself all but deserted. While this large group had moved to the mainlands, the remaining Nadeshiko were scattered on missions, travels, or had been mobilized on a different mission. The remaining 20-odd Kunoichi in the village had moved to the Main-Island of the Land of water, where they were to meet with the Mizukage's aide Ao.

Their assigned task...was an odd one. But the pay was substantial, and the danger was zero. The resources garnered from these missions would be used to supplement a few endeavors the Nadeshiko were interested in. Before they'd left out, numerous messenger birds were dispatched to track down and deliver letters to all the roaming Nadeshiko Kunoichi. The didn't have a large population after all, so they needed to make the most of their available manpower.

As night fell, one by one the campfires were snuffed out. They would rest during the day and travel under the cover of darkness. Although it reduced their movement speed, it granted them plenty of time to remove traces of their presence. This was a clandestine commission after all -or something close to that. When the last campfire when up in a puff of smoke, the Nadeshiko departed.

Sagisō ~Flashback~

"Hmmm? We've already been intimate with each other, what do you mean we're not sisters?" Disregarding Tayuya's objection, the Nadeshiko Kunoichi argued back. She'd encountered the sound shinobi on quite a few occasions in the Hyūga's bathhouse. Their intimacy was unquestionable. They'd engaged in skinship on many occasions -though Tayuya's protests during the processes were something Sagisō gleefully ignored.

"For one, fights between prisoners are a no-go," that was complete bullshit, the Hyūga didn't actually care if the prisoners wanted to beat each other to a bloody pulp. "Two, I figure you'd want to at least keep something secret from your captors. Your fighting style will be picked apart by the observers if you do it here." Truthful, but they could already make several conclusions about Tayuya's fighting style based on information gathered from the genin who'd been on the mission, as well as information they'd acquired from examining the Kunoichi. Her fight would only verify what they already knew, and add specific details. The Doki, for example, was likely being analyzed as they spoke. Sagisō had no doubt several gazes were trained on Tayuya's summon, and numerous conjectures being made based on information gathered by the Byakugan.