The shirtless teen watched unflinchingly as Yamato gave his spiel, following his release from Shin's crystal. The expression on his face was more like on of annoyance than acceptance, but even then he seemed almost devoid of emotion as the prodigy vented some of his rage and even threatened Shin. The Topaz didn't even bat an eye, until Yamato directly stated that he would kill Daiki if they fought again. "If you keep disregarding your comrades, you will find yourself all alone," Shin stated, his voice having detectable anger. "Your accomplishments will be meaningless if you die lonely." Unlike the two that were fighting, however, he was perfectly able to contain his emotions and stopped talking beyond the point he wanted to make.

Prodding Yamato like that wasn't very nice. His threat to Shin earlier wasn't an empty one, as Yamato would most likely try to attack him next time. But Shin felt that the prodigy wasn't so far ahead that he stood no chance. He had never tangled with Yamato in the past so he didn't know for sure, but Shin figured that he could beat his classmate if he really had to. The objective was to not have to fight his classmates. His blue eyes turned to Daiki as the prodigy walked away. It seemed that he got the idea and didn't wish to continue the pointless duel. The red-haired teen was soon snatched away by Aoi, to be scolded for starting a fight at her party. Shin never intended to scold either of the shinobi, but he wasn't the one hosting.

Daiki's response to her scolding, however, made Shin raise an eyebrow. It was evident that Daiki had some sort of pride investment when it came to Yamato, likely in relation to their clans' past feud. Or was it still going on? Why would it still be going on? Regardless, Shin narrowed his eyes at Daiki. He still intended to fight Yamato at a later date. Before he could interrupt, someone else did it for him. A feminine scream came from the forest that surrounded the small house and lake. Shin first looked to Jaakuna, finding immediately that the Sundance Kid was on his way to discovering the source. "Oh no..." he muttered to himself. This party was falling apart now. All he wanted to do was unwind and appreciate the nice bodies of some of his female classmates. But it seemed that fate had other plans.

Shin followed his friends to the source, arriving to see Aoi and Paneru tending to the sole survivor of a grisly scene of mutilated bodies. Bodies of his classmates. And the girl they were taking care of didn't seem to be in any position to survive. Not by normal circumstances, at any rate. "Stand aside," Shin commanded to Aoi and Paneru, approaching the severely wounded girl. He flexed his fingers a few times in preparation. His expression was stern, serious. All business, almost as if he dissociated himself from the scene. "Rena," he said her name as he stood above her. He brought his hands together, forming the Ram seal.

Much like how he intervened with Yamato and Daiki's fight, an orange crystal formed from the ground and encased the girl. The crystal was notably smaller, but his classmates may notice a slight difference in its apparent density. "I've crystallized her," Shin stated, turning his head to face his friends (who may be confused by his action). "She is basically frozen in time. Her skin, her organs, her blood. She needs medical attention that we can't provide here and now." His neutral expression seemed to grow sad now. His plan was practical and effective, no doubt. But he couldn't help but feel, in the back of his mind, that she still wouldn't survive. The shirtless teen faced away from his classmates as he hefted up the crystal encasing Rena, holding her on top of his shoulder. "Think about it, guys."

"These guys are all chuunin. Our classmates. We know they are capable of defending themselves... We need to warn the others." Shin finally turned completely around to face the others. He intentionally looked only at them, keeping his focus away from the gruesome corpses. "Yagyu," he said, looking at Paneru. "Come with me. We need to get Rena to the hospital. Someone needs to go warn everyone else about what happened and... someone needs to stay with the bodies..." The last task was the short straw, no doubt. It was the most unnerving and potentially the most dangerous. But if they left the bodies alone, there comes the possibility of the scene being tampered with or the bodies being taken altogether. "We can't lose our heads right now. Lives are on the line... C'mon, Wallflower. We can't waste any time." Shin held onto the large crystal with both hands as he jumped into the trees, taking the signature high-speed route of the shinobi. Jumping very fast from high place to high place, that is. The added weight of carrying Rena slowed Shin down slightly, but he also kept a pace slower than his maximum to allow Paneru to keep up. There was no point in leaving him behind, considering that time wasn't nearly as much of a problem in saving Rena's life. The only thing time was relevant to right now isn't in saving her life, but saving the lives of the rest of the party-goers.

"I am willing to safeguard the corpses," said Haruka matter-of-factly, the ninteen year old chunin approaching the area around the bodies. Though his demeanour seemed calm on the surface, although somewhat surprised by the sudden turn of events, closer appraisals would reveal a sense of tension to him. His right hand seemed to clench and unclench slowly, never drifting too far away from the sheath of his tanto. There was something dangerous lurking out there, he knew, and he refused to let down his guard when its capabilities and status had yet to be properly confirmed. "Is there anybody else who would like to stay as well?"

His left hand was forming half-seals for snake, though no chakra flowed through the channels of that arm. It was something that the green-haired ninja did frequently; forming hand-seals to ready himself and 'get into the mood' was a habit that he had not discarded over the last six or seven years of his career. He wasn't sure if it was really necessary, but it did seem to have a ... was the term placebo effect? Yes, possibly. It seemed to induce in him greater confidence, and that was always something he needed.

Hopefully he could get off Earth Spear before he was killed. If he was killed.

That would be terribly unfortunate for both him and his family.

So he planned on not dying today.

Takeshi R. Hanami

It happened in a flash to be honest, we was (unwillingly) talking to Sento and Aoi, then the next second he heard a woman scream which changed him into his serious mode. The mood for a relaxed party to a Chilling and down right fucked up murder scene. With Aoi consoling a girl by the name of Rena who sadly passed away due to blood loss. Daiki was giving order to those around him before finding Yamato in another location. Jaakuna and Paeru where also there silently grieving for the loss of Aoi's friends.

"Shit...I thought...that this type of killing would have stopped a long time ago." Takeshi cursed as he crossed his arm over his chest. and saw Aoi trying to stop the tears from falling. This made Takeshi upset "Hey...." Dispite being the silent and Anti-social, the green haired ninja crouched down and placed a gentle hand on Aoi shoulder "I know i don't have a say in much...but there are times where people need to let it out...judging by your status with her...you are really close right....Maybe not now...but soon: please let it out, it's bad if you keep it in." he gave a small comforting smile before getting up again.

"This feeling, i ain't liking it at all." his yellow eye narrowed as looked at any distress in the forest. It was then Shin Maru, another Chunin came to the scene and looked around. Seeing the Dead body of Rena, she muttered something before Encasing her in a Orange substance, which surprised Takeshi.

I've crystallized her," Shin stated, turning his head to face his friends (who may be confused by his action). "She is basically frozen in time. Her skin, her organs, her blood. She needs medical attention that we can't provide here and now."

"Right...smart thinking Shin." Takeshi though as Shin asked Paneru to go with.....Actually...for the time being, the green haired ninja though Paneru was a girl, having no contact with the girl in kimono, he nodded.

"Paneru, do you best: for all of us. We're counting on you to save Aoi's friend." He nodded at her before seeing yet another ninja come by. This time it was Uneo Haruka as the Ambulance and the Police force were near by.

"I am willing to safeguard the corpses," said Haruka matter-of-factly, the ninteen year old chunin approaching the area around the bodies. Though his demeanour seemed calm on the surface, although somewhat surprised by the sudden turn of events, closer appraisals would reveal a sense of tension to him. His right hand seemed to clench and unclench slowly, never drifting too far away from the sheath of his tanto. There was something dangerous lurking out there, he knew, and he refused to let down his guard when its capabilities and status had yet to be properly confirmed. "Is there anybody else who would like to stay as well?"

"You can count me in, Uneo: There's this feeling that this isn't going to be the only thing going to happen tonight." Takeshi put on his hood and got serious "Same here: I'm not going to let anyone die here tonight."

Several high pitched, long screams had alarmed Ayame during her moonlit nightwalk. She had been up all night so far, worried about Sentou and her being at the party. She was aware of.. the amount of boys at that party, and Sentou's somewhat annoying habit to strip down randomly. And what if there was alcohol? Maybe the screams came from a drunk girl. But as Ayame knew, a party wasn't a party unless there was screaming, so she hadn't thought much of the screaming. Perhaps there was just some funny guy throwing water on a girl.. matter of factly, that was probably Jaakuna. She smiled as she thought of the class of Sentou. She had met many of them during their genin years, recounting to herself the countless amounts of laughs she had had at each of them. Aoi the clown.. Jaakuna the sundance kid. Even kids like Takeshi who had a few tricks up their sleeves had managed to make Ayame smile. And that boy Shin, too. They were individuals with a unique personality, each and every one of them, these chunin. She didn't believe that the next generation always surpassed the old generation, but this was the case that made her doubt her beliefs.

She was broken from her peaceful thoughts when a young girl, not from Sentou's class but from the same year, ran up to her and yelled at her. Her eyes widened and shook a bit as she heard what had happened at the lake. “W-what?” Before waiting for an answer from the girl she jumped off, into a tree, and headed for the lake. An attack.. if only Sentou was alright. As she jumpe down from a branch, her cloak and long sleeves rising somewhat due to the wind, she noticed that other jonin had also arrived at the same time. Being the current highest ranking shinobi in the vicinity, she started barking orders at those around her. The first thing she noticed as she arrived was Shin who was attempting to rescue the girl with his crystal, which had several swords and sharp objects sticking out of it. “Shin! Drop the girl!” Her voice was hard and direct, not what Ayame was like in casual situations. Much like her brother, she changed 100% during missions or on-duty situations. It may seem counter productive to not help her. But in reality Ayame had to make a split second judgement, and the choice she made was a hard one to make.

Don't waste resources on someone you can't save. The words of her own sensei milled around in her head. It seemed that the old man was right, in the end. Taking the girl away to a hospital, knowing she would die, would mean.. the evidence, and the potential clues to who had done this.. they'd all go missing. Instead, it was a better choice to leave her here and to ease her suffering as best as the medical nin could while having a Uchiha specialized in these kind of cases do his work. “She will die. You're only making her suffer more, Shin. You know this.” Meanwhile medical nin dropped in, although they were not the hospital medical shinobi, but combat medics. They'd get on the girl to attempt to heal her, knowing it was practically futile, as soon as Jaakuna would free the girl.

Knowing that the girl was now going to be handled by the others she looked at a jonin and told him his orders. “Fetch Fujitora, the jonin commander. I feel like this is more serious than a spat between chunin, or even a rogue nin. This is too gruesome for that.” The jonin nodded and dissapeared in an instant. Meanwhile Ayame would look at the group of chunin that had gathered. “It's probably best if you go home - looking at the damage that was done to this poor girl.. you'd just get in our way if there was a fight.” She'd look at everyone individually with a serious look in her eyes - one that said 'listen to me, I'm not joking'. This was a serious threat, one that could rip apart any of these chunin from the look of things. “Go straight home and don't talk to anyone about what you saw. If there is any information you need to tell us, such as suspicious people or fights that happened that are of influence on the investigation, talk to either me or Fujitora. Please, go home.”

Ayame wasn't dumb however. She was a chunin at one point to, eager to prove yourself to the jonin and to earn that promotion. There was a big fat chance that they'd not go home. Feeling helpless and unsure of what to do, she looked at Sentou. Don't do anything stupid. Looking around the group once more, she raised her voice one last time. “By the way, where is Yamato? Isn't this his house?” She'd raise her shoulders after that, making it seem like she didn't care much. For one she knew Yamato could save himself - he might have some personality issues, but he was strong on his own. There were many like him in history and they usually ended up straightening themselves out. So why did she ask where he was? Well, if his home is nearby, perhaps the group would go take refuge there for the time being. Such was her reasoning. Besides it'd be easier to aid them if there was a remnant rogue nin in the area if they were all still together. Ayame glanced at a jonin. “Where's Fujitora, I asked for him 5 minutes ago!”

---

---

“Baaaakaa...” a man said with a deep and heavy voice, his face covered with a half-mask, which covered his mouth and nose, leaving only his eyes exposed. He looked mean, deadly and had a set of two large curved swords on his back. He was looking at a man who had an antenna coming from his head, who was forming the tiger seal. “Shut up, Urobaru.. I'm listening to their radio communications. Seems they found the bodies.” Both of them didn't look to happy, facing towards the last final member of the trio. An imposing man, though not as big and muscled as the first man nor as slender and tiny as the antenna man. He had an eye patch on, with a summoning mark placed over that eye patch. It didn't seem like he'd be able to summon eyes into his eyesocket, but it looked dangerous.

“Shut up you two.. Yotsu, are they going to search for us?” The man said to his colleagues Urobaru and Yotsu. Yotsu shook his head, indicating that the investigators would probably only deal with the investigation right now. In return the supposed leader of the trio looked at Yamato's house. “How annoying. Why did Jashin's reincarnation order us to do this anyway.” Urobaru raised his shoulders and looked at Yamato's house as well, while Yotsu opened his mouth again. “I heard radio chatter while I was spying on lord Jashin's reincarnate. Something about orders from a Yakuza boss called Reijo Minamoru to kill people. I don't know much but I guess the Yakuza boss Minamoru man paid lord Jashin's reincarnate in either money or blood. After all, we need blood for the upcoming ritual, master Bubusho.”

Bubusho, the leader, crossed his arms and looked around the house. “Well, next time they need to relay our orders better. I think we killed the right people and harvested their blood, but I don't know. Didn't Rumiko say to meet her here? What's taking her so long.” The other two raised their shoulders again. They didn't seem too bright.

-

Aoi, having brushed off Takeshi's support out of pride for her shinobi oath and responsibility for this situation, was the best placed to acknowledge Rena's gaze quickly drifting away into an empty void of thoughtlessness. She was indeed reaching the end of her life, but the young clown didn't want to let her leave on her own. At least until Shin decided to encase the young girl's body in his crystals in an attempt to prolong her condemned life. It didn't make Aoi smile, she knew this ability wasn't a miracle and that death was the only true deliverance for the suffering Rena. But before they could try, in vain, to save her, a dominating female voice echoed nearby. Ayame Choko must have heard from one of the others that something had happened, and intervened out of worry for Sentou.

As the Jonin gave away orders to let her friend die, Aoi didn't move as the crystal would inevitably fade by Ayame's orders. The affirmation that she'd die was already accepted by the clown, and despite the attempts of the crew brought forward by Ayame, Aoi couldn't hear Rena's breathing anymore. Maybe it was finally over, she was gone, freed from anymore suffering. Despite this, Aoi still had a hard time letting of, to leave the body. She felt as if she had failed her friend, even if this event wasn't even supposed to be possible. She gently caressed the dead girl's cheek, wiping off vulgar stains of blood before closing her eyes out of basic respect for her.

"I'm sorry, Rena."

She mumbled, making it inaudible for others, like a personal prayer repeated quickly, she didn't want others to hear it. Her mind was somewhat troubled by what just happened, it felt almost unbelievable that something so bad could happen in the warm embrace of their home, and yet it did happen and the blood soaked clothes Aoi was wearing were proof of it. She maintained her composure, like a performer fighting stress every second as they face a massive audience. It was her forte, to keep up appearances and control her emotions in the presence of people, but it didn't prevent her from being a very sensitive and fragile flower. Critique got to her quickly, just as brutal tragedies could.

Ayame ordered them to return home, Aoi felt that it was the best idea, forgetting entirely about the mess left at Yamato's home. Well, even if she could recall it, she'd just shrug it off and clean it the next day. She needed to be away from others, but then Ayame mentioned Yamato, something the clown did earlier which spiked her worry. Unlike others she didn't suspect him, yet. But she believed that he could be in trouble, and if that were true, Daiki would be too.

"Captain Choko! Daiki's up at Yamato's house!"

She warned impulsively, barely giving a second thought before darting toward the direction Daiki took. Luckily the house was really close, meaning the redhead was still in the bungee's range. She felt it still stuck on him as she tugged it. And so, she made it contract, though this time she didn't pull him in but pulled herself toward him, making her fly at him much faster than she would by running. But as usual, she'd control it and land a couple of meters behind him, making no sound in the process. Upon approaching him, she noticed a few men near the house, which caused her to hide behind a tree to avoid detection. She'd assume Daiki had done the same, or he had confronted them, something she wasn't too good at without managing the field a bit. She could only grab the ending of the conversation, which didn't help her in understanding anything. Ayame would likely be nearby and the Jonin commander was supposed to arrive soon, meaning these guys were likely going to escape soon. She just hoped nothing bad would happen to Yamato or Rei.

---

---

Another quiet night doing overtime in the office. Fujitora had a habit of sticking around at work during late hours, not because he loved his work nor to avoid anything in his home, but because he could actually smoke various experimental drugs he had concocted in the past and see how they affected his work efficiency. Luckily for those depending on him in this fair night, he contented himself with a simple cigarette and a newspaper dating back seven decades he had managed to dig up from the archives after a small internal investigation regarding corrupt acts between higher ranking chuunin involved in quality control of imported products. He had managed to cultivate himself during this gloomy night about the 11th Hokage's term and many trends that were completely dead today. Sandals were a thing again at that time, while today they are almost completely absent for shinobi at least. There was also one article about a now obsolete board game called Gungi. Interestingly it had no origins in the current shinobi continent and they were completely unknown as of now. Interesting indeed.

It was about the third smoke he had finished since he had started scrutinizing the details of that weekly, he head reached the final pages, when a knock on his office door abruptly ended his little session. Bummer, he was reaching the interesting jokes of the time he could probably tell his sister, only to be called names in return. Hey, he enjoyed that, people who knew him outside of work were aware just how bad he was with lame puns and worthless jokes. He didn't respond to the knock, as silence was consent within his walls, and as such, the jonin opened the door and presented the information right away.

"Sir. A message from Captain Ayame Choko." the jonin solemnly told his superior.

"Aya huh? Go on." the commander responded, apparently interested in hearing what his sister could want at a time like this.

"Alright. Her report indicates three bodies of recently promoted chuunin near the Minamoru household. She says your presence is mandatory given the conditions." he informed.

"Okay, I see how it is. I suppose the Hokage's cabinet needs to make good appearances to them from time to time. Make them feel safe. Can't blame 'em. Dismissed."

With that said, the jonin left without adding a single comment, while Fujitora got up from his chair upon dropping his little piece of literature on his desk. He really didn't want to go, especially not this late, but the Yakuza were suddenly way more involved than they should be. Meaning he had to make an official appearance to calm any possible tensions and insecurities. He walked over to the coat hanger right next to the office's entrance, grabbing his white trench coat as it was his main attire for field work, black gloves to go with it since evidence would likely be manipulated. When he walked out of his office, he pointed at two of his subordinate jonin.

"You and you. With me." he ordered, before pointing at a nearby third. "You, get captain Umene to control the ins and outs of the city. Blockade the entire west side of the outskirts." the jonin nodded, dashing to transfer the message.

The two followed as they went off, bouncing from building to building in order to reach as fast as possible his sister's location.

A few minutes later ...

The commander along with his small crew had arrived at the lakehouse, as it was where the incident had apparently taken place. He was hesitating to approach the main house first, but upon further thought, it may not have been a good idea. Ayame needed him asap, so he kindly obliged. A couple of chuunin noticed him and bowed before orienting him to his sibling. She seemed pretty annoyed that he was taking too long and just as he arrived a Chuunin bounced out of the scene. He could notice three corpses, two decapitated, and another probably just dead considering medical nin was still trying whatever desperate attempt they could muster. He'd tap his sister's shoulder.

"Is the Minamoru child linked to any of this? From what you and that girl said, it appears this guess isn't out of the blue, right Aya?"

He'd say with a deep yet not so serious tone. Sure he was probably the most professional person when it came to work, but her considered his sister high enough in the ranks to be a little more casual with her. It was to say he'd let that cloud his judgement, oh no. But the seriousness act wouldn't be really efficient with her anyway. He was unaware of what dangers lied just a few yards away, which explained his laid back attitude right now. The culprits were not entirely exposed yet, quite luckily for them.

Thinking back to the spar between Yamato and Daiki it quickly escalated still someone managed to stop them in time so it was all good right? Still it was probably for the best she didn't do it since she would have probably ended up using the water prison on them which was not exactly a good thing to use since it all things considered. Letting out a sigh things was never simple were they Fubuki thought to herself as she went about leaving the lake house it was a confusing thing to be honest well doesn't matter in the end. Jumping along the trees she headed out not caring about how the people though or looked at her if they wanted to complain they will come and get her she thought. Heading out considered where she would head before making a change in direction heading back towards Yamato's house might as well check what all the commotion earlier was about. She knew that if they caught her she could get in trouble still it was something she was curious about and decided to check what exactly happened. Under the pretense of visiting Yamato as a small excuse she headed back towards her starting point.

---

On the outside, Jaakuna was supportive to Aoi. He showed a deep feeling of condolence to her, but to her knowledge -- or anyone else’s -- he didn’t know what they were going through. However, on the inside, Jaakuna knew exactly what it felt like. He knew what it felt like losing someone that was so close to you. He knew what it felt like to know that, after the moment they passed, you would never be able to hear their voice ever again. Truth was that Jaakuna knew what Aoi was going through, but due to the sensitve matter of his father being killed for being a traitor, Jaakuna couldn’t speak and say “I understand what you’re going through.” He just couldn’t say that. He wanted to, but he just couldn’t.

A minute or so later, Shin arrived, seeing for himself what exactly had happened. Takeshi and Haruka also arrived shortly after Shin did. While Takeshi offered words of condolence to Aoi, Shin did as well, but he tried to at least do something more than that. He used his Crystal Release to encase Rena inside a thin, yet durable layer of his Orange Crystal much akin to what Daiki and Yamato were frozen with when their fight got out of hand. Shin would then ask that Paneru to accompany him to take Rena to the hospital.

Just as they were going to, the Jounin Commander’s little sister, Ayame Choko, ordered Shin to drop Rena. It wasn’t no casual order. Jaakuna could feel the seriousness in the tone of her voice. It was like an order that a superior gave to their subordinates. Considering that Ayame was all of the chunin’s superior, the order was heard in everyone of them. Ayame went on to say that Rena would die. She would then tell everyone to go home. There was a good amount of shock among the chunin, no doubt. It went from being there for Aoi to being told that there’s no more that they could do and that they all should go home. Ayame even stressed that they shouldn’t talk to anybody about this.

Jaakuna was going to say something, but Ayame then requested the location of Yamato. Jaakuna had a curious expression on his face. Yamato? That guy has been away for a good while, even.. Jaakuna didn’t want to finish that thought. He might have not know Yamato as well as most of the other chunin. Hell, he didn’t know much about yamato even when they were all still in the academy together, but he never once thought that Yamato would be capable of something like killing Rena and Shogo. Even if he threw Shogo into the lake in an antagonistic way not too long ago, Jaakuna stood firm on his opinion about Yamato’s innocence.

As Jaakuna came back from his own thoughts, he looked at everyone, unsure if they were going to heed Ayame’s stern order or stay around. That was when Aoi told Ayame about where Daiki was. That made Jaakuna think about whether or not Daiki had found Yamato or not. Still, it’s not like there would be anything worse to happen that what has already happened, right?

It was on that note, that Jaakuna followed in Paneru’s footsteps and he also went home. Added to the partying, the booze, the fight between Daiki and Yamato, and now the whole ordeal about Rena and Shogo being killed, Jaakuna did think it was a good idea for him to go home. He still had the lingering thought of if Yamato had anything to do with it or not. “Oh, of course he didn’t. He’s not that insane.” Jaakuna wanted to be right about that.

"Oh great. Mom is here right now. Sentou is dismayed when her mother, Ayame arrived at the scene. Later the police force of Minato City Branch who are assigned in the outskirts for more than a month, makes their debut. These police are Minato City/Smalltown's best of both worlds, Mari Uchiha, Yusuke Uchiha, and Pietro Hotsuin.

[Team Mari]

As the team arrived; the Uchiha siblings have their sharingan active, scanning the area for any unidentifiable disturbances. Although they aren't meant to be be here, it is still their duty tand carry on justice. Captain Mari Uchiha approaches Commander Fujitora Choko; she salutes him with the highest respect and honor, even her comrades Pietro and Yusuke do so.

"Commander and hello there Ayame. It is an honor to work with you; my team is here to assist. Furthermore the Uchiha specializes in all things forensics and C.S.I." The daughter of the Uchiha Clan Leader speaks. Then whisphered. "This is a lot to take in. But fret not, let's get to work." She said as she list it down in her notes.

The medic who is a Hyuuga arrived and listed Rena as dead on arrival, she is part of the anatomy team and collects dead bodies. She is the medical police ninja. "Commander. Permission for autopusy check." The Hyuuga Shinobi asked.

Sentou grabs Aoi; "Don't ask. Just come with me." "tch..cause mom is here. I don't want her treating me like I'm a defenseless child and overreact on simple things or things I did not do at all." With her current implications and body language, she expects Aoi to know what is going on. Her current state and implied behavior means that not to stay in Yamato's house and go somewhere else that isn't the outskirts.

Before Shin and Paneru could take the crystallized Rena to the hospital, sheer coincidence allowed Ayame Choko to appear at the scene. Topaz instantly froze when she gave the command to stop. He didn't want to believe her opinion, but on the inside he knew she was right. Rena wasn't going to survive, even with his effort to save her. The shirtless teen slowly set her down, the crystal surrounding her disintegrating into dust. Her body de-crystallized once she was 'thawed' out, unfreezing her and putting her back on the path to death. Shin kept his back to Rena, and subsequently the group, as they crowded around her again.

"Yeah... I know..." He didn't want to admit Ayame was right, but he had nothing to gain by defying reality. Rena was going to die, just like the others. Classmates that he couldn't save, friends forever lost. He only looked at the others when they were told to go home. "It will be difficult to just go home after this," Shin stated directly, turning to face his superior. "We let our friends die. In our own backyard." He opened his mouth to say more, but curbed his tongue. There was no point in moaning about the situation. Ayame was right in her thinking, and Shin knew he needed to think clearly too. "Sorry... Let us know if we can help any..."

Shin moved to put his hands in his jacket pockets before remembering that he left his overclothes at the lakehouse. He'd have to go and get those back. He began walking back towards the party, or rather where it was, when he noticed that Sentou and Aoi weren't exactly heading home. Those two are playing it dangerous, he thought to himself, watching the Uchiha follow the clown. I can't let two cuties like them get in danger. Especially not right now. We've already failed as a class once today... With a sigh, Shin decided to change course. He could retrieve his clothes tomorrow, assuming nobody decided to steal them. For now it seemed the best option was to tail the girls and make sure they'd be safe. Strength in numbers, at the very least. But Shin was on guard and prepared for an ambush. Nobody else was dying on his watch.

Ayame looked at her brother, Fujitora, with a serious glance in her eyes. That question he asked.. it was the question she didn't want to answer. “I'm not sure about Yamato. He's the only one missing, and this is supposed to be his house. If anyone were to be here, it'd be him. It's.. strange. I can't say I don't suspect he's involved.” She shook her head and looked at the group as they dispersed. She wanted to trail them, make sure they were safe. But they were chunin now, not babies. They should handle themselves. You can't save everyone, Ayame. That is also the ninja way. Why did sensei keep showing up in her memories, in her mind? She couldn't help but feel uneasy in this murder scene, it was so.. vile, so violent. Underneath her long sleeves she gripped onto her senbon, keeping them at the ready just in case. Something was off.

---

“Rumiko was supposed to be here already..” Bobusho said, as he put his hands on his hip. Fucking women. Almost as if she was laying in wait, a lady appeared on the top of Yamato's roof. She wore a kimono, but had loosened it and pulled it down, so that it was only attached at the belt they used - it was more like a sash at this moment. Her arms were freed up this way and she exposed her body in doing so. She looked fit, muscular and strong without losing her femininity. Under the kimono it was apparent she was wearing a tanktop. “Complaining again.. Bobusho..” she said, gripping a bloodied tanto in her hand. Bobusho remained in composure, assuring himself that he wasn't scared. The other two Jashinists cowered back a bit, obviously frightened by this woman.

Rumiko put away her tanto and turned around, looking at the moon. “Let's go.. don't want to keep lord Jashin waiting.” There was no answer, only the sound of clothes ruffling as the band of people dispersed and jumped onto the rooftop as well before continueing with Rumiko. Across the rooftops, with remarkable agility. It seemed like they didn't care if they'd get spotted. However, a quick eye would be able to discern the man with the antenna on his head forming seals. After two more seals he and the rest of his friends 'disapeared'. An invisibility jutsu. Maybe the teammembers hated eachother, you couldn't say they were a complete team.

The three men looked invaluable - they were proper shinobi, and looked strong. But the only one in the group that looked imposing was the woman. Her deep and mysterious voice, her uncaring appearance.. The way she handled her bloodied tanto was also discerning for who ever would watch them. Rumiko had dark purple hair, cut short in a bobcut. On her upper left arm she wore a shinobi band of the village hidden in the leaves, Konohagakure itself. But instead of wearing it proudly she had used a sharp tool to cross out the Konoha symbol. Rogue shinobi.. from Konoha, in Konoha itself? Daiki and Aoi, being the only ones close enough to hear this exchange of words and to see what these people looked like, would now have to make a decision. Did they tell everyone else about this, even if that'd mean that everyone would know Yamato and his father were somehow involved in this, and that Yamato's dad was a Yakuza boss?

The next day at 12:43, Aoi had decided to call everyone for a 'class meeting'. It wasn't so much a class meeting as much as it was a meeting for those who were involved in the accident last night. That meant basically all her close friends were invited, and yes, even Yamato. In Downtown there was a small area which had been used for hangouts a lot, which is where they decided to meet - away from prying eyes, such as Ayame's and Fujitora's. It was easy to discern why she wanted to meet up. They had to conduct their own investigation, since their friends had died. And it was obvious that they had to get involved even if Ayame said they couldn't. It was for the remembrance of their friends.

---

Yamato had been sitting at the hangout spot for about 30 minutes already. Not so much to be early, quite frankly he couldn't care less about this dumb meeting. More so he had to think about what had happened last night. He hadn't seen the scene of murder personally, but there was a lot of talk going around inside the village. Yamato had gone to do some grocery shopping earlier when he had heard about the murders. And that had to mean something with those men he had seen before that. “Where's Aoi.. idiot... calling me here and saying to meet in 15 minutse. She's late 40 minutes already..” Ofcourse, Aoi had let out that everyone else was going to be here. Likely she had known that Yamato wouldn't of shown up if he knew everyone else was going to be here. He closed his eyes and relaxed, as he leaned against the wall with 1 leg pulled up and the other extended fully, putting his hands behind his head to get fully comfortable. Aoi might be even later, but that didn't mean Yamato would let that bother him. “Aoi.. idiot.”

Takeshi R. Hanami

Ayame had told everyone at the murder scene to go home and not spill a word to anyone else, Takeshi was was guarding the body did as he was tolded and headed home, not saying to goodbye to the other he quickly entered his apartment, took a shower, had something to eat and went to bed.

However in the morning his phone was going off, casuing him the grunt in disgust before slapping his hand on his phone in order to bring it towards him, opeing his sand-filled eye he looked at his phone.

'AOI- Everyone to the hangout at midday'

Groaning again Takeshi buried his head into his pillow "Ech....why now?" forcing himself to rise from his slumber the green haired man dragged his body into the bathroom for his morning rituals "Something tells me that today is going to be a long day...." leaning his head against the bathroom tiles he settled for a small nap under the warm water from the showers.

..........The same day at 11:30 am..........



The now hodded man hummed a small tune as he held a plate of pancakes in his left hand, avoiding any collisions he made sure that his favourite treats were still good. "Jezz...why would Aoi what us to come here...is ain't my problem....then again..." he bit his lower lip "She just did lose a close friend." As he got to the hangout he could hear someone calling Aoi a Complete Idiot again and again "Seems i'm not the only person who came early."

"Excuse me, i'm coming in now~" Takeshi said in a bored tone, he slowly opened the door the see Yamoto sitting here, the two eye met as Takeshi nodded at his existence before finding a nearby table he sat is Plate down a took of a scroll on his jacket.

"Summoning Jutsu!" he unraveled it and slammed his palm into the center of the scroll before a huge burst of smoke filled the room before vanishing. Takeshi smiled as he saw his pre-prepared breakfast he had made prior to his.



"I like to eat big ok?" Takeshi looked at Yamoto as he ate his toast and egg, before chucking a Hash Brown at him "Eat this, you seem grumpy."

He slowly took his time eating as he looked outside the room "huh......"

"The lack of punctuality could be excused by the events of last night," said Haruka offhandedly from a nearby couch. He was lying upon the tattered piece of furniture, eyes watching as paint slowly peeled off the ceiling above. "The host is responsible for the safety of his guests, and that obligation was not successfully upheld."

He shifted into a sitting position as Takeshi entered with food, sending the other chunin a respectful nod. The green-haired ninja had already eaten earlier, but even so he could admit that what his compatriot had cooked was indeed quite delectable in appearance. He had actually been present in the room for a short while already, but as usual, he had once again blended into the background, another unimportant object in the scenery. Not that it really bothered him. Haruka enjoyed the peace and quiet, after all.

"Minamoru-kun, Hanami-san," he acknowledged politely. "Good morning."

It may have been after eleven, but noon had still yet to arrive.

Fubuki once again was answering another request from the Aoi and if her instinct was correct it wasn't about another party. Letting out a small sigh she walked towards the "hangout" entering the room where everyone else. With a small and lazy wave as a greeting she quickly claimed a corner and sat down. Brushing back a stray piece of hair she opened up her brown satchel and took out a single cookie from before starting to nibble at it. "So does anyone have any clue why the clown practically summoned us here?" Fubuki decided to ask seeing if anyone had a clue on what was exactly going on.

-

---

Yamato opened one of his eyes to look at the area Haruka was in. He kept looking at the boy while he spoke, only one eye opened while doing so. As the boy finished his little speech Yamato closed his eyes again and sighed. “Shut up.” The way he said it sounded less aggressive and angry than usual, this time, more bored and relaxed than usual. Something had changed Yamato's mood, or atleast that's how it would appear. That's when Takeshi entered and summoned an entire table of food. Was Yamato truly surrounded by idiots all days of his life? He didn't even bother looking at the guy, simply sighing as Takeshi spoke. “I didn't say anything about your eating preferences.” he opened, before continueing in a style more befitting of Yamato. “And I had breakfeast, so keep the food with you, you imbecile.” Yamato had opened his eyes briefly to stare Takeshi down, to make it clear he wasn't interested in having a conversation with this moronic guy. After having said his thing, he closed his eyes again and enjoyed his little moment. It wasn't often that Yamato had time to close his eyes - especially after last night.

It seemed to last only seconds. Yamato was interupted again when a flock of geese flew over, quacking loudly. Normally he'd have kept his eyes closed but for some reason he was annoyed by the geese and opened his eyes again. “Can't even relax here without some idiots interrupting me..” he said whilst getting back up on his feet, looking at Takeshi and Haruka. After that he looked into the sky, following the geese with his gaze. “Or animals bothering me.” His expression changed again. The calm and relaxed look dissapeared and he started frowning again, looking angry as always. Before he could look away, however, he noticed something flying in the air, something that wasn't exactly a goose. “What's.. what's that girl doing there.” he asked himself. Was that Paneru? Before Yamato could discover who it was exactly he noticed that a goose rammed into the girl and caused him to fall.

Then Yamato did something nobody else would've expected from him. Many saw him to be arrogant and aggressive, which is true, and others also saw him as egoistic. Although this can be said based off of his way of speech and aggressive demeanor, Yamato still felt like a Konohagakure shinobi and had pride not only for his family, but also for the village. As such he knew it was his duty to help those within the walls. For this reason he did what nobody would expect from him. Reacting quickly, way before even Takeshi or Haruka would've noticed the girl falling, Yamato had already dissapeared by jumping into a tree. From there he augmented chakra in his feet and within a second he launched himself into the air with a surprising speed. His arms opened, he would crash into Paneru slightly hard, but very controlled. As Paneru would no doubt still be recovering from the surprise rescue, Yamato would only utter a single word. “Idiot.”

Yamato looked down and noticed the ground coming in rapidly, so he started bracing for landing by augmenting more chakra in his feet to expel at the last second, which would cushion the fall a bit. It wouldn't be merely enough to make the landing soft, but then again, from that height even a jonin wouldn't land softly. As he landed a cloud of dust came up around them, a small indenture in the ground appearing where they'd landed, right at the center of the hangout. As the dust settled Yamato stood straight up again and set Paneru down, looking him in the eyes. “Two.” A weird thing to say, but to Yamato it was very clear. A count of how many times he had 'helped' Paneru. Whether the first time was actual help instead of blowing off steam was up for debate. Yamato turned around, sighed as if nothing had happened, and walked to the edge of the pavement, looking into the park that was around the hangout. Downtown was an ugly place. Casually he stuck his hand in his pockets. What a boring day..

---

With the shady ninja dismissed from Yamato's yard by their supposed female leader and the arrival of Ayame Choko on the scene, Aoi was more troubled than ever realizing the potential dangers Yamato could have been confronted to. Eventually Sentou got the clown out of there and helped her depart from the general area. But Aoi quickly detached herself from her good friend as they neared her home without even saying goodbye. In her little mobile-like home, humble in both its exterior and interior, she locked everything up before taking a very needed shower. She had bloodstains all over her body, especially her hands and face. She didn't feel much in that instance, she just wanted the blood off. She showered for a good hour, the hot water taking her worries away as she sat in the middle of her tub. When enough was enough, she went to bed, face against her cushion, and let it all out.

The next morning ...

She had a rough time sleeping, waking up frequently to go to the bathroom and taking longer and longer to fall back asleep. When the sun rose and people got up for work, she had the idea of calling at least the better friends she had for a little reunion at noon. At least by doing this Yamato's safety would be confirmed. Perhaps is was a bit quick but things were not so bright and someone was after them for some reason. That and she didn't really want to be alone during this morbid time. Although she was ready much before the intended time, the bags under her eyes made it evident she was sleep deprived. About an hour before the meeting, she had taken a short nap to at least look a little more fresh, but she felt as if something was missing. Diving in the piles of junk scattered around her room, she found a box filled with random pictures, usually taken during classes she kept. Most of them were from her phone, but the quality wasn't too bad in general. Many of them had the recently deceased in them.

While she skimmed through the sources of nostalgia and anguish, she lost track of time and realized she was already quite late. A bit stressed, she backed these up in a hurry and ran out of her home. It didn't take long for her to arrive but when she did there were already a few people who had arrived. This wasn't too good, not only was her event yesterday a huge failure but now she was late. Well at least she came with someth- Pancakes. She could smell them, the soothing aroma of syrup and warm pancakes emanating from Takeshi's being. That got some stress off her mind. Now she'd usually make an entrance in this situation, but considering the circumstances, she abstained and just went with being casual. She was dressed with simple black stockings with jean shorts and a green T-shirt, nothing too flashy.

"Hey guys! I got held back!"

She said, looking as joyful as usual, but her still tired look and lack of bizarre acrobatic movement such as standing on her hands made it clear she wasn't in her usual mood. She helped herself with a pancake and a strawberry, appearing rather delighted with a thumbs up dedicated to Takeshi. Now that she was set, she placed her bag over the concrete structure their location held in its center and set right next to the bag. She then took out the box holding the pictures, however she didn't expose them quite yet.

"Okay... I don't wanna talk about the party, but I was thinking that we could maybe do something about yesterday night."

She claimed, but there wouldn't be much to say about this, so she took a deep breath before saying what was stuck in her mind at this very moment.

"I mean, if anyone knows why the hell this happened... Oh, I also brought these if you guys care or we could give those to their families after this craziness is done! What do you all think?!"

She asked, trying to appear a little optimistic about all this. She had to keep up appearances, even if what just happened made things a whole lot like credible for her person. She wasn't too hopeful though, not everyone was here yet, so this could go literally anywhere. She opened the box to display the many pictures she had taken during the highschool days.

---

---

"Drug trafficking? Yeah. Organized murder? Yeah. Assassinate a classmate a few yards away from a party filled with classmates more or less of his level? Won't buy it. Unless the kid is as bad as they say around these parts."

He had said before his sister resumed her work. He gestured his jonin to assist her, as he didn't really have his place in this investigation. Neither did she really, but her little protege was more or less involved so he'd let it slip. He grabbed a singular cig in his coat's pocket an lit it up as he placed it in his mouth. Hey it wasn't damaging the crime scene and he wouldn't discard it in the forest so nothing illegal was being done. He didn't really know what to do, there weren't many witnesses other than the chuunin and basically all of them had seen him, making his presence very official to the eyes of the local rich folks.

Before he had made his mind to finally leave, one of his subordinates had alerted him via ear phones that a group of suspects were leaving the Minamoru household and retreating East. But before any intervention would be made, they vanished before a sensor could close in on them. Well great, now he would be forced to stick around and do a report. This was going to be a long night. He turned his head to peer down at the deceased lads, their cadavers illuminated by the police team's tools, making it clear just how barbaric the suspects were in this particular case. Not only were they slippery, but also annoyingly sloppy.

The commander pretty much spent most of his night supervising the operations, more and more Jonin and special investigation shinobi milled in the area, cleaning up the party's location as they gathered evidence while keeping most of the area sealed. Both Minamoru parents were gone and the children were found farther away. Because of a lack of links between anyone and the murders, they didn't have the need or obligation to detain anyone for questioning, even less the right. Right now they needed to see what the evidence would give them and hopefully the perimeter would catch one of these fools.

After making an official statement in front of multiple locals, Fujitora made his way to his office at the Hokage's mansion. He didn't sleep at all and morning had already arrived. It wasn't unusual for him to go sleepless, but he preferred avoiding those. kicking back, he received word from one of his Jonin soldiers that Tsukiko Umene had captured someone or something. The details were not clear, but one thing was for certain: It was likely not someone of the caliber they lost at the Minamoru household. Considering their evasion techniques, simple perimeters wouldn't catch them. But sources were reliable enough to confirm there'd be a link with the recent incident.

The captain, now free from his coat, had prepared a little interrogation room for Captain Umene and her latest prey. Of course, he'd let her do all the fun stuff, but he was there to control the situation. After all, his Spiritual Message ability was useful for just such occasions. There was but one steel table with a seal blocking out chakra flows and electricity, with three chairs of the same material, one on one side, two on the other. He was waiting in the actual room, considering it much more efficient than behind tinted glass.

" And you're sure of what you heard?" Mentor asked last night.

He and Daiki gathered in the backyard of head Naito house; Mentor rested on the wooden ledge of the large home while Daiki walked the grounds in a circle. His mind was too cluttered with accusations, fear, and decisions for sleep to come easy to him. Wearing a tanktop made it easy for the cool air to clutch his skin but it was barely noticed thanks to the hot blood pumping through his veins.

" Yes, Sensei. The Minamoru Clan is Yakuza and ... it seems this spawns from them. I don't know what to do."

"Who else knows about this? is it just you?" he asked, hood pulled up and clad in his black cloak. A certain danger was in his voice, a tense and strained importance.

" No. When I was heading there ... I felt Aoi pull on the bungee she attached to me. She heard it too."

" Listen, things have just gotten a lot more complicated for you. You're in a dangerous situation and its one that could rock the village and shake the world. These ... Jashin worshipers are worrisome, almost as much as the Minamoru being Yakuza," he sighed openly as if considering the two equally hard prospects. Then he stood up, approached Daiki, and clasped his shoulder firmly. " From here on out, use it if you must. Its your greatest tool and ally. The Uchiha still has a long legacy of being feared, you have very good eyes, Daiki. Don't be afraid of using them."

With a few more words of caution, Mentor started for the long track to exit the compound.

" Wait, where are you going?" Daiki asked, a tinge of fear in his voice. He couldn't fully explain what it was like watching his uncle leave but it was akin to watching someone die. It felt like he'd never see the man again, and that feeling pulled at his heart, chipped it with every step he allowed.

Mentor paused and a after a thoughtful moment, looked over his shoulder with a reassuring smile. " I'm worried about your safety, Daiki. You didn't really think I'd just sit around and do nothing. Things could escalate from here and I won't lose my nephew to someone else's conflict. I've already lost too much in my lifetime ... I refuse to lose you too."

After that, Daiki watched Mentor leave until the shadows had consumed his dark figure. The next few hours were filled with him just lying in bed, golden eyes focused on the ceiling. At one point, he grabbed his pillow and tossed it so hard that it flew through the traditional slider and outside onto the ledge. Through furrowed eyes, he covered his face with his arms and tensed his jaw in agitation.

I know what I have to do now...



Daiki sped through the treetops, the lush green of the village shimmering around him. He just a shadow amongst the thick branches but the leaves covered him in scintillating hues of emerald. This morning, the text he had received was just what he wanted, a way to convey the truth to everyone at one time. To him, it was the perfect setup.

While approaching fast on the meeting spot, he noticed a young girl flying over and in front of him. Trepidation gripped him once he saw a school of geese crash into her. He pushed himself faster to catch her, and he almost had when a figure rocketed from the trees below and intercepted him with a soft thud.

A moment later, he shot beneath the two like a bullet, body turning in mid-air as he landed on a steady branch. He eyed Yamato holding on to Paneru, time moving slow as he caught the heroic image and then rebuked it. He felt his chakra rousing inside and blood boiling behind his eyes. It was a bit strenuous but he held the Sharingan in check and descended after the two had touched the ground. The rattle of leaves buzzed shortly before Daiki dropped straight down onto the platform. With a cursory glance, he took note of the others. Though his attention resided on Yamato afterwards. A sense of duty kept him from outright blasting the prodigy's guilt.

Instead, he sat down on the platform, legs hanging over the edge. He popped his fingers one at a time as he waited. I'll wait for, Aoi so she can back me up. Then I'll confront him.

When Aoi finally arrived ... looking normal, Daiki had to steel himself from approaching her. She had been the first on the scene. Seen all the gruesomeness firsthand and by herself, without anyone shouldering her, took in the full brunt of the murders. He bowed his head a bit before interrupting her picture ceremony--if one could call it that. He climbed onto the platform and with a small pat on Aoi's shoulders, relieved her from speaking.

" Sorry about this, Aoi," he uttered before growing loud. " I know most of us don't wanna talk about what happened yesterday. But there's something that we all should know." His eyes fell onto Yamato again, a stabbing glow in its calm exterior.

He stepped off the platform and crossed his lean arms over his chest. " The Minamoru Clan is Yakuza and they ordered the killings. I heard it from the culprits as they hid out near Yamato's house. This wasn't just a coincidence. Or the first try at some psychotic killer. It was a planned action coming from the Yakuza Boss, Rejio Minamoru ... Yamato's father."

Then anger seeped into his voice, though his face remained steeled. " You left the party right before the screams were heard. I wouldn't put it past the Minamoru, so I'll ask you straight out. Did you kill those Chunin in the forest? was it you and your family's plan? You all ... your entire clan, its dealing with something big isn't it!?"

---

When Jaakuna got home last night, it was close to 1am. Jaakuna knew his mother and Aisha were asleep by then, so he didn’t really make too much noise when he got home. He didn’t really do much when he did reach his house. He went to his room and collapsed on his bed. He didn’t bother taking off his clothes or anything of the sort. He was so mentally and physically worn out that he just went to sleep.

---

The next morning, Jaakuna struggled to get up as he always did every morning, but especially after last night. He slowly reached over to his nightstand and reached for his red cellphone. The first few tries he got nothing but the soft, yet firm wood of his nightstand. The forth try, he got a hold of it. He gripped it tightly and brought to the gaze of his green eyes. He turned it on and looked at the time. It read quarter to noon. Jaakuna moaned as he wanted to go back to sleep.

Just as he set it back on the table, Jaakuna heard his phone vibrate a few times. He shrugged it off for a minute. He wiped his eyes and decided to check it as it kept on vibrating. As he touched his phone to go to the messaging app, he saw he had one from Aoi. It was addressed to everyone. It was titled “Class Meeting”. Jaakuna found it odd since they don’t have class together, but if it was sent to everyone, then perhaps he should make an appearance.

“Oh fuck me,” Jaakuna said, slightly grumpy.

Jaakuna always was grumpy when he was forced to go somewhere before having anything to eat. That’s why he would at least get something to eat from mother before doing anything. And that’s what he did as he went downstairs and into the kitchen. There he saw his little sister Aisha and his mother, Chrome at the table.

“Jaakie!!” Aisha said cheerfully as she got down from the table and gave him a big hug.

Jaakuna smiled as he embraced his little sister in a light hug. “Hey squirt.” His smile stayed.

“Jaakuna, sleep well?” Chrome said smiling as well.

“Yeah, for the most part.” Jaakuna took a seat at the table and saw a ham and cheese sandwich with salt and vinegar chips. ‘Oh, my favorite. You shouldn’t have.” Jaakuna picked up the sandwich and took a huge bite, all of the meet and cheese and bread going into his mouth. He let out a very content moan as he continued to gobble down his sandwich and chips.

His mother, Chrome, is a woman built modestly. She has long-flowing blonde hair and the same emerald-green eyes that Jaakuna has. Some say that he is the splitting image of his mother and even he got some of her personality traits(both good and bad). She was a retired nurse and medical-nin who was forced into her retirement due to injury.

“How was the party last night? ” Chrome asked as she took a bite of her turkey club.

Jaakuna stopped his eating for just a brief moment. He wanted to tell her, but not in front of Aisha. She was too young to hear such things and just like Hideyoshi, her happiness is everything to him. “It was fun until it wasn’t. “ Jaakuna wasn’t lying, but he would not say anything more about it.

“Of course.” Chrome somehow knew that Jaakuna wasn’t giving her the whole story, but she wouldn’t push any further.

The next five or six minutes was restively silent. There were a few bits of chatter between the three of them, mostly coming from Aisha. Jaakuna kept a content expression all the way through. Once each of them had finished their respective meals, they each had put in the sink, and rinsed it off with warm water. Jaakuna was the last. When he finished, he grabbed his phone and looked at the time. It was about half-past noon. Jaakuna remembered that the text said to meet at quarter-till 1.

“Shit.” Jaakuna cursed quietly. Running past Chrome and Aisha, Jaakuna was heading for the door. “Sorry, gotta meet some people. Be back later.” As fast as he said that, Jaakuna was out of the door, not even giving Aisha or Chrome a chance to even respond or notice he was gone until he actually was.

---

Jaakuna had rushed and rushed his ass to the meeting place. He knew he would be late, but he hoped that he would at least be able to make it before any of the real discussion got under way. He better hurry though cause based on the time, Jaakuna wouldn’t make it. Jaakuna was in downtown.

"Oh I know." Jaakuna got an idea. In the same moment, Jaakuna formed the Dragon, Tiger, and Dog hand seals in that specific order. “Star Release,” Jaakuna said as his body began show signs of flashing golden-yellow star chakra, “Meteor!” He said as he body became fully encased in his star chakra. At that very moment, Jaakuna took flight, flying at incredible speeds. At the rate Jaakuna was going, he would be able to get to the meeting place within half of a minute. It was good too cause that’s all he could do for the moment.

By the time thirty seconds had passed, Jaakuna flew way across Downtown until he spotted everyone gathered. He saw Daiki, Yamato, Takeshi -- pretty much everyone aside Paneru and Aoi. Just as Jaakuna was going to make his appearance known, he saw a blur of sorts. It was Paneru. Jaakuna almost lost control because he was so surprised to see Paneru come from the sky. He thought only the Sawadas did that. Luckily, he was caught by, of all people, Yamato.

Jaakuna cut off his Star Chakra as he was about five feet from the ground and did a front-flip as he landed on his feet. No doubt nobody saw it as he heard Aoi suddenly start talking. Most likely, in the midst of his shock, Aoi had arrived. Jaakuna took a seat next to Paneru.

When Aoi started talking, she began saying that she didn’t want to talk about the party. Instead she brought out a box of the pictures of all of them from their high school days. Jaakuna smiled at that, but before he could even have a chance to appreciate the gesture that Aoi was suggesting they all do, Daiki came in with a classic Daiki move. When Daiki began speaking about the murders from the party and how they were connected to Yamato, Jaakuna had no choice but to listen and that’s when he revealed that the murders were actions from the Yakuza’s Boss and Yamato’s father, Rejio Minamoru.

Jaakuna remember hearing some whispers about that not only from his father when he was still alive(long story), but Hideyoshi himself. There was even gossip when all of them were still in the academy and genin. “That’s one hell of a theory, Daiki.” Jaakuna said aloud.

Daiki continued on, this time directing his words straight at Yamato. He pointed out that Yamato left the party and right around that same time, Shogo and the others were killed. Jaakuna had to admit that was a strange coincidence, but it was absurd. “Daiki, now just hold on a minute.” Jaakuna said, “You’re jumping the gun a bit, yeah? I mean, sure Yamato is a huge dick and everyone here has at least one legitimate reason to thrash him, but you really think he’s capable of killing someone?” Jaakuna didn’t want to believe that someone he was friends with(somewhat) would actually go and kill his fellow shinobi. He had pride and love for his village. “Even if his father is a grade-A scumbag,” Jaakuna knows a few things about disappointing fathers, “I don’t think Yamato is that kind of guy. "

//Character card will come later.

Naomi hadn’t cared much for her surroundings as she listened to the world around her. It wasn’t something she did out of interest, instead it was a habit of hers that she tended to do whenever she was bored: what better way to ignore something than to listen to the heartbeat of the life around you? She had continued to silently listen to what happened around her until her peace was disturbed by the idiot Yamato who hadn’t even replied to her text that she had put so much time into typing.

“Yo, idiot, Daiki just got in my face.”

His voice penetrated the background noise and made her mind focus on it easily, however she didn’t react to his comment and instead just enjoyed the moment – after all she knew that Yamato wouldn’t be annoyed by her silence. They sat like this for a short time, both of them just sitting next to each other without uttering a word and instead just watching the world pass by. It was a common behavior for the two and neither of them had seemed to care much about the silence that sometimes existed between them. However, it still bugged her that he hadn’t taken the time to reply to her message – how hard could it have been after all? She turned her attention to the person sitting next to her, but before she could open her mouth and speak the words that was on her mind they got interrupted.

"How about a friendly spar," A voice spoke out in front of them, a voice that after a quick glance Naomi confirmed belonged to Daiki. While her facial expression didn’t say anything, her inner thoughts were filled with annoyance and wonder: who would want to have a spar at a time like this? But of course she was wrong, apparently some would…

“Don't worry about the party being ruined..” Yamato spoke out as he got up from the bench next to her. Naomi was motioning to say something, but was stopped once again, this time by herself. She knew it wouldn’t matter much, Yamato was clearly going to fight and there was never anything she could do about that when he had that look in his eyes. Instead she simple leaned back against the wall and settled in for the upcoming match.

It wasn’t anything too exciting to write home about as the match had barely started before it was closed down by their fellow party-members. It seemed that she was not, in fact, the only one wondering why anyone would fight at a place like this – after all if they actually wanted to have a proper fight, why not do it in an official arena or somewhere private where no one would interfere with the fight?
As she sat and pondered over the idiocy of the fight, even after it had been canceled, Yamato had walked back to her and began speaking to her: “I'm gonna go home. I'll hang out with Reihana. Feel free to come, or stay here. Not much fun to stay here though.”
A small smile found its way onto Naomi’s face. She couldn’t agree more: this place really was just filled with idiots and it wasn’t much fun either. However before he would let her open her mouth Yamato had begun his trip home, leaving Naomi behind. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do, after all the reason why she had even showed up had just left. She could take up his offer to tag along, but she could also just head home – ‘luckily’ for her she didn’t have to make a decisions because a scream pierced the darkness of the night. Most of the Chuunin reacted as they were trained to do: they began to diverge towards the same location. Naomi had a similar response: she got up from the bench she had been sitting on all this time and quickly followed the lead of the others, however she did not end up in the same spot as the others. Instead she had decided to take to the trees high above the grounds as it gave her a better overview of what was around her. As she others converged at the same spot Naomi wasn't far behind, she came to a stop on a tree-branch that was thick enough to support her weight and began to analyze what had happened: it appeared to be a scene from a rather brutal fight: bodies lay in a pool of their mixed blood, they had been slain quickly and effectively it would appear – clearly the work of a professional. However what had drawn the attention of the other Chuunin was the body of a young girl with multiple kunais stabbed into her small frame and a grotesque longsword pierced through her body. It was clear that she had been the sole survivor, but it was just as easily clear to Naomi that she wouldn’t survive much longer. She had seen too many similar situations to know the outcome of what had happened.
Despite the horror that lay on the grounds in front of her, Naomi’s expression didn’t waver once: she kept a neutral facial-expression while her sharp eyes gathered all the analytical data she could with an ice cold gaze that pierced every detail she could: she might have looked too distanced from whole situation as if she had seen this before.
It was at this point that ‘The Sewstress appeared. She quickly took over the situation and ordered everyone to go home. While most chuunin might have wanted to show off their skills, Naomi didn’t: she was used to following the commands of her superiors so instead of wasting any more time she quickly used Body Flicker to disappear, leaving only the few leaves behind as trace of her existence as they fell towards the blood soaked soil below.

The next day Naomi was once again disrupted during her daily training by the sound of her phone ringing. It was a message from Aoi telling her to show up at a meeting – likely because of the events of last night, though you never knew with Aoi. Grumbling a bit Naomi slowly collected her stuff and began to prepare to go out. It was truly an annoyance to have a phone: it constantly interrupted you when you were busy and often for reasons that were so unimportant that it became nothing but a nuisance to have it on her.
Despite this she still followed ‘orders’ and before she got out of the house she picked up her usual jacket and headed towards the meeting spot in the Downtown part of Konoha.

Naturally she wasn’t surprised that when she showed up the others were already in full spirit: Ayame was on his way to devouring enough food to supply a small village, Panaeru looked like he had just been tossed through the air as his hair fell in a mess of threads from his head. She spotted Haruka sitting on a nearby couch and Aoi – the disturber of peace and quiet, Jaakuna and Daiko were the only people that seemed to be talkative this morning. As usual Yamato was acting like he was bored out of his mind.
Naomi made her presence clear with a simple “Good day” before she made her way over to Yamato at the outer edge of the hangout. She turned her front towards the others before she casually spoke.
“So,” she started out in a bored tone, “any idea of why we are here?”