After the funeral, Date returned to his clan home, to the sound of metal hitting metal, the smell of fire, iron, and burring wood. His father was concerned but knew from past experience how to act, so he did not try console his son he simply handed him a hammer and told him to get to work. For the past week, Date has been helping with orders and practicing his kenjutsu, not really thinking about the past or worrying about the future. He was intent on training hard to be better prepared especially since there is chance he might meet the old man or that sly fox again. He did not want to be at such a disadvantage, the feeling of having your life put in jeopardy just by a simple look is not one he wants to covet. His kenjutsu was coming along normally, the Watari compound had an amazing dojo (considering their profession) and an out door training ground. His father was a wealthy man even after the war and the move, so he made sure their new main branch home wold match their worth as a clan.

The attack did not rattle things here to much, the compound was intact and orders still came in, his brothers and sisters were still living and he still had his sword. His mentor/sensei was wounded in that attack but that did not stop the older jonin from visiting even staying with them for a day. It was good for Date because he did not need to stop training, in fact he needed to intensify it. What many have not noticed was his inner anger with himself, his village was not just attacked, but at the funeral his pride and ego suffered a blow. No mater what it may have been, the exam was still an exam and he did not put his best foot forward. It showed if his new Hokage could still pick up on things he was lacking. At the end of the day the only thing hurt was his pride and ego, but that comes with any failure.

The revelation from that our new kage was a twin parallel to the old is shocking at best, even his father was at lost of words. When they left the funeral, questions were still unanswered but he and his clan could do nothing but back the new Hokage and wish him the best. It was still a interesting development and one to watch, especially since he was worthy enough to be put on one of the response teams.

A week late there was a knock on on his door, Date went to answer and wasn't surprised to see the newly appointed jonin at his door, Sakana Uragiri, and Shizuka Ichimi. He knew about his up coming mission and was readily packed and waiting for the call to be made. This was that call and he answered in suit, he simply shook his head in acknowledgement, then grabed his small bag full of ninja tools, Howaitosupāku off the wall and stepped outside with the rest of the team. This squad was filled with blank faces and he only knew two of them by name, Date set a goal to make sure he knew everyone's name before the mission was over and at least something about them. "I am ready whenever you are." He said to the others with a simple smile, no warmth, no overt kindness, it was just a blank gesture. One that was solely meant to signal his readiness to leave and do what was required of him.

---

The silence of the music would signal the entrance of the leading lady of the show. Akuno was only a building away but with her partner being interrupted, she could be seen easier in her black cloak and mask. She honestly felt childish in the get up, for Lord Jashin did not require such things in his faith, he actually wanted less clothing. This made it easier to seduce those into death's embrace, but alas she had become a team player and when you played on a team you had to wear their uniform.

The Kazekage stood at the front of her mansion with what looked to be a pack of hounds at her side. It was a simple enough slip in behind her and stand opposite to her and the pact on the buildings roof. To Akuno's surprise it was not hounds but foxes, all this did was cause her to shake her head in general disinterest. Lord Jashin did not require you have such things as companionship, that was just another knot in the endless web of lies that life gave people, and Akuno was a loyal blade sent to rip these knots to shreds and free those bound by them.

"Now that is just harsh, cowards would have run but here I stand ready to receive you. Sticks and stones Ishi sticks and stones." Akuno said as she pointed her scythe at the woman in front of her. In the eyes of Jashin she was nothing but a woman waiting to be relived of her cures. She was not Madam Kazekage Ishi Kakumei like her file said, she wasn't even Ishi, just woman, Akuno cared not for what she did only that the little heart in her chest still beats and with every beat it calls to stop the endless torture. With her mood set, Akuno slashed Kurushimi in her "X" pattern and a second later the gale of compressed wind would follow aimed directly at the woman, her "1000 Cuts" would surely be a nice opening line to the last show Ishi would ever put on.

---

The primal rage was evoking his gravitational powers, each minute that was passing increased his anger and the amount of force constricting the land. His teeth were grinding against each other like nails on a chalkboard. The veins in his forehead began to protrude showing a healthy vein pulsating throughout his face and branching off into his neck and the rest of his body. If you looked at the man only the whites of his eyes were visible. The gravity giant was so transfixed on his post-traumatic stress disorder episode that he was unaware to his surroundings. It seemed as though the leader of the rain village wasn’t as daft or dense as the village hidden in the leaf was. The rain she used to cover her admired village was able to detect and filter out any unwanted visitors that had not passed her clearance list. Had havoc not been so consumed by the image of Kyokotsu, the other half of the black dahlia murderers, he would have felt like quite the celebrity urging to be on the list of names.

Several ninja with all black uniforms and facemasks entered the scene, one by one a black silhouette outlined the entire circumference of the lake havoc had just stopped by. Their words fell on deaf ears as Havoc was still in his catatonic state of cerebral warfare. It wasn’t until an aura of childlike innocence waved over him like a blanket, this feeling, it was familiar. Another premonition of déjà vu became prominent in his frontal lobe. Scattered pieces of Kyokotsu clogged his memory, times when her gentle touch reigned in the dark passenger that consumed him. Her miniature hands covered his eyes, enveloping him in darkness. A kick to his sides would otherwise trigger a warranted response of anger and self-defense, but Havoc was accustomed to the girl’s stature. Like a horse with no blinders, spooked out of his mind, the young girl bug her heels into him and ordered him back to reality. The dark passenger was being sucked back into the confines of his soul.

His eyes rolled back to proper position, only to be obscured by her tiny hands. His veins returned to normal with the gravity slowly disappearing. The environment thanked him for that, otherwise they would have most likely sunk into sea level. Grabbing her hands and pulling them away from his eyes, he returned them to his shoulders and around his neck for her to rest them. “My apologies Lady Kareha” he said regaining his composure. With his vision restored he was finally able to assess their situation, perhaps diminishing his gravitational field was a bad idea. However, havoc was not met with force, but rather an open invitation to civilities between himself and the rain queen. Havoc was a man of justice and had a strong sense of nobility even for a criminal, if he feels someone is corrupt or despotic he will eliminate them regardless if they are friend or foe, criminals had a code as well, on many didn’t follow.

Despite his stoic demeanor, Havoc couldn’t help but feel a shred of apprehension. Being met with battle would have been the preferred alternative, death was release. Without his patented sword and umbrella he was naked, somewhat vulnerable for such a powerhouse of his rank. Havoc answered with a simple nod before following the Sakai Ban’nin into the main chambers of the sickly nobility of the hidden rain. Upon entry Havoc surveyed the surrounding, his gravitational sense were working in overtime, feeling each and every tiny depression in his field. If someone dropped so much as a bead of sweat he would feel it and react. The room had been littered with guards and personal of the Amekage, Yogensha at center stage looking worse for wear. Abandoning his primary mission, the Gravitation ninja wasted no time in figuring out his personal affairs, something the Yomigaeri would look down upon for a man of justice.

The two had forgotten to dawn their robe and garb including their animal masks, yet the wolf skull was still tied to his waistband. Stuffing his hand into his yukata he retrieved the crumpled up wanted poster, flattening it against his chest and showing it to the magistrate. With a bony finger he pointed at the girls face and her signature silver hair and golden colored eye, “This girl. Where is she? Why is there a bounty on her head and being asked for dead or alive? She’s very important to me and I need to find her. I’ve waited two years for this.” He was rather short and lacked his general skill in coercion, the lack of respect and introduction was quite brutish which didn’t par well with his appearance. Acting out of emotion and not a fully restored havoc wouldn’t lend himself as a warm reception, it was only up to the leader to make heads of this persuasion.
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---

Shinko’s words elicited the response that was…less than savory. The boy had been clearly recovered by the group of criminal ninja who had sent him to poison the well. Shinko had not been fast enough to recover the boy or his brother, so in reality what use did he have besides being his brother’s shadow if he couldn’t even do that. “That’s where you’re wrong boy. This seat is nothing to be envious about, you saw what it did to us and where it got my brother, foolish. I have been astonished that men could die martyrs for religion, this seat doesn’t make you a hero it just makes you a target.” Shinko was quite bemused as to why the Uchiha felt it was necessary to show him his Sharingan, the pain was clearly manifested in his eyes. “The world isn’t so black and white kid, there is no such thing as an absolute right and wrong. You might consider what I’m doing is wrong, but who’s to say I don’t think I’m wrong either? I don’t care what the people think of me, I’m not my brother and if they wanted that they should have followed him into heaven.”

“The way I see it, people will bend the knee to me whether they like it or not. I’ll do what I think is best for the realm. And if that means my head ends up on the base of a guillotine that’s fine with me, I’ll be the villain this village needs. Listen kid, I know you lost your teammate and your girlfriend, I lost my brother and my best friend lost her daughter, or did you forget that Senna was Namine’s daughter? Your heads in the clouds, you’re a trained killer at the age of 12. We’re perpetuating a lie of security by training children soldiers to fight our wars. No shit you’re going to be suffering shit that I should be dealing with, I have no arm for fucks sake. You should be chasing your dreams and living your childhood with the rest of the ungifted kids in this world. If you want help, I can show you how to live in this corrupt dogma, the ouroboros.” Shinko retrieved a pack of smokes from his vest, slapping the box on his desk to pack the tobacco tighter. One singular cigarette popped up from the pack and slipped into Shinko’s match before a flick of hellfire danced to his finger tips and lit the cigarette in his mouth.

Shinko cocked his head with an empty stare at the young boy as he ripped through the cigarette, “Want one? They’ll kill ya” a hypocritical laugh escaped his throat. “Like I said I don’t mind dying, but I’d rather keep my head on my shoulders. I’m no self-righteous man or martyr like my brother. I’m a fallen angel, someone who flew too close to the sun. I’m no hero kid, that’s you schtick. You’re the one forging your own story, now whatever it is your going through will determine who you become, hell knows I can’t do that for you. Now did you come here to dance? I don’t really feel like fighting right now. Just look at the village and see Senna’s gravestone, I’m sure she would want that. I even made one up for your buddy too. No kids should watch their friends die, and no mother should lose her kid before herself, but that’s just the way the world works.”

Namine was quick like a viper, his words had been halted by her body language and her commanding words. Despite her appearance the scarlet haired Sanin was quite the revenant, Shinko couldn’t help but fall helpless to her lecture. It was better for her to vent out her frustrations before him rather than try to interject. Her clan had been through enough with Seijuro the first time and the monster had resurfaced and taken more of her life than she was prepared for. They both had their secrets and knew of each other’s, but Shinko had opened the skeletons in his closet. Shinko could only being to imagine the weight her kekkei genkai had on her situation as well, there was no better sensor than the Akizakura’s, but that wasn’t ideal for Namine in her situation, her feelings might as well have been felt tenfold.

Shinko was pushed aside like chopped liver, okay he probably deserved that, but he needed to stop the bleeding. Regaining his footing he reached out and snatched the girl’s wrist before pulling her towards him and forcing her to turn around. “I’m not asking for your forgiveness or sympathy since I don’t deserve either. Secrets kept are weapons wasted, the lie was meant to die with Ginsho, as much as you guys don’t think so. The village needed to know, they’ll remember him as a hero and I’ll be the one they hate. I’m sorry about Senna, I wish more people came to her funeral, but trust me I will find her body. I’ll finish what Ginsho and Jaakuna started. Now tell me, where are you going? And what’s in your hand? Call me what you want, but I will follow you wherever you go.”
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The young Uchiha listened to Shinko's words earnestly. Part of Kyo's heart still yearned for the light, for the good of things. But the puppet master had the boy convinced that what he was doing was for the greater good. He was with Shinko and was doing his best to logically process what he was saying without letting his pain and anger get in the way.

He unclenched his fist in a brief respite to accept a cigarette from the Hokage. He spit a tiny flicker of flame from his mouth to ignite it. Inhale. Exhale. His nerves settled down for but a moment. Another inhale. He enjoyed it, though as a Shinobi all substances were hindrances. He would enjoy this single moment of reprieve. It was short-lived, for Shinko touched a nerve when he said that it was what Senna would have wanted.

"You... how do you know what she would have wanted?! You didn't know her like I did! You don't know how fucking caring and benevolent she was!! She would have given anything for this village, and when she needed you the most, where were you?! Where were you when Ginsho-sama died?!" He lashed out in pain again. Another drag of the cigarette, and a deep breathe of fresh air afterward.

He calmed down before looking at Shinko with pleading eyes. "I didn't come here to fight.. I'm so tired of fighting... all I do is fight to protect what I love and I'm never strong enough... tell me Shinko, tell me there's another way to live!! Tell me you have the answer, and I'll believe you! I'll believe anything right now, just don't fucking lie to me like you did to everyone else!!" He took another drag of his cigarette before finishing it.

"You'll never take me back to the village, will you? Not after seeing me like this. You're not so easily forgiving like your brother. This is my path now.." His eyes trailed off to another world, an idealistic world where Senna didn't die for nothing, where she and Mizuki became Sannin with him and he became the Hokage and the Leaf flourished under his rule. A perfect world where no one had to go trough the pain he did. This was his dream, and with enough power, maybe he could make it a reality...



Namine spun around as Shinko grabbed her wrist, her glare intensifying as their eyes met. Tears welled on the sides of her face, streaming down her cheeks as she grit her teeth. A rare display of emotion from the naturally calm woman. She couldn't help it, nothing in life, no amount of death could prepare her for the death of her daughter. And at the same time as her best friend? The pain was palpable.

As she held her hand up, the crumpled up piece of paper was revealed, crinkling in her grasp. "Its a good thing you're not asking for my forgiveness or sympathy, because you'll receive neither. You just don't fucking get it, you stubborn fool. This isn't my choice, I don't want this. Sometimes we don't have a choice in things, I know you know that well." The contact that Shinko made on Namine's wrist would prove useful. For a brief instant she assimilated to him, now able to track his chakra. In that moment he would feel her pain, all of her grief, all of her sorrow. Shinko would also feel something else, a sense of unwillingness that she held. It was true that what she was about to do was not her own will.

"Go ahead and see for yourself." She would release the piece of paper from her grasp, and it would fall to the floor if Shinko did not grab it. But if he opened it, he would only see a blank canvas, nothing written. At that moment Shinko would feel the sly secrecy she was hiding, if only he could read her thoughts. The connection ended, their emotions falling back to themselves. Was this a joke? A trick? Why was she carrying a blank piece of paper?

She stared at him in a moment that lasted a lifetime between two old comrades, and once good friends. "Im not here to fight, and I can't stop you from following me, we both know your power outweighs my own. But you'll never know where I'm going. I can't tell you even if I wanted to. And Shinko, believe me when I tell you I truly want to tell you. I just... I can't." One more tear escaped her right eye as she winced from the emotional pain. How she wished her friend knew her secrets, and all the pain it brought her to be forced to hide them from him. But there was no other option.

Kaito Chosokabe

Kaito stood at attention by the side of his mistress. His signature smirk was his mask this day, and occassional giggle let out. Today was going to be interesting. Today, today he was a shadow blade, much better than an open fight. He still was rather bitter about the whole ordeal, but the Amekage had still praised him. And he was a bit preoccupied about that weird man he'd met. Something about an business venture during the middle of an invasion? Definitely out the ordinary.

In truth, following the chaos, it had taken Kaito quite a while to return. He was surprised he was immediately put on guard duty with Sayuri, but also glad. He'd simply turned in a mission report and continued as normal. In return everyone around him continued like normal.

At least he had a Byakugan user WITH him this time. He had all things he had to learn from her. Mostly how to kill an arrogant prick. Also probably a silence jutsu so he wouldn't have to hear him at least. Oh well. It was insignificant. Today he'd prove his worth anyways. Kaito halfway wished negotiations would fail. Not that he would influence in the least. He was loyal, and today, he was the dagger kept in his leader's sleeve.

"Sayuri, what do you see? Hehehe. This guy, is he anyone from the reports?"



The last few weeks had been more than weird for Ai. She'd been living for the sake of living. She hadn't actually gone to the Jonin exams to become a Jonin. She'd done it to pass the time. Hell, she'd even quit when she'd gotten bored, but was still apparently skilled enough to have been named. It brought up all sorts of questions Ai had never asked. Was she that good? Kazue had always just been a spare to an heir. Ai had always been someone who lived day to day. Why did anyone think of her as strong?

Even more disturbing to Ai had been the Tsuchikage's appointment of her to his assistant. Of the whole village, her? She wasn't sure if she owed him yet ANOTHER favor, or if this had been a chance to repay them. Still, she worked uncharacteristically hard, if only out of confusion. She hadn't even talked with her sister following it. Ai had made it... Ayame hadn't? Ayame was the heir, she was strong, Ai knew she was strong. How hadn't she? Ayame was someone important to other people. Ai was just a ghost.

The Akatsuki attacking was honestly the only thing in recent history that had made sense. She moved the crowd into the tunnels, listening to Koma's orders over the radio.

"Roger. I'll continue the moving of civilians. Kyoka, you good on your end?"

Hime sure talked a lot... Speech after speech, but... Maybe that was what she was good at. Boundless optimism. Bumu barely paid her mind at first, but gradually... 'It's the whole point of us being here.' Bumu slowly looked up from his bowl, eyes dragging their vision along the table counter, where he'd managed to spill some noodles. 'What do you think he would do?' Yeah, what would Ginsho do? Probably die... Nah, that was an accident. That wasn't part of any plan. 'No! He wouldn't give up, he'd keep going and use his memory of you to push him further.' Would he really push further? Slowly, Bumu's gaze drifted up. Bit by bit, he looked her in the eyes. Those sparkling eyes, of an ice fairy that just couldn't shut up. Why didn't she? Just leave him to his misery? Why was she doing this for him?

'But before all that, what you do is you promise to their grave and their spirit that you'll do everything you can!'
Bumu just looked at Hime, his face stuck in a frown as he wiped a noodle away from his nose. He... Didn't want here to shut up. For some reason, he didn't much feel like crying anymore. Slowly he raised a sleeve to his cheeks, wiping away tears that didn't exist. 'We'll punch Jaakuna in the face!' Would they? It seemed impossible. They were only Chunnin, it wasn't like they could just track him down and land a hit on him. He was the host of the nine-tailed fox, the strongest shinobi of his generation. But. The way Hime said that made it seem not only possible, but certain. They'd punch him right in that smug face!

'We could be happy, angry, tired, stern... Anything but sad, you know?' She was right, why be sad? There are many other emotions to feel. Slowly the sides of Bumu's lips began to rise. A smile, softly began to cross his face. Happy was better than sad, right? It must be, his heart didn't feel nearly as bleeding. It was almost as if she cooled the burning hate that boiled up in his chest. A cool breeze. It was nice, made the humid night and all this rain feel easy to deal with. 'And it's not very Bumu of you to be in a downer when you're always skipping about and being so cheeky and foxish.' She knew him better than he knew her it seemed. Bit by bit that smile was gone. Nodding along as he opened his eyes, no longer his traditional squint.

"Hey, that's exactly what I needed to hear." Pulling the bowl to his lips, Bumu slurped it all up in one go, sighing softly before the bowl clinked against the table. "I think I get it. I'm the only one who can be me. I can't just let the hard work of others vanish without putting up a fight. I don't need to be them. I can be Bumu!" He stood up, grinning from ear to ear as if something he knew had been reaffirmed.

"You know... Sometime I'll have to return the favor." Bumu said, looking outside of their little hut. The fox ninja smiled, and stood up as the rain had dried up well by now. "I think I'll return to the shrine. Think on things a bit more. You know? I think I just need to take some time... To be honest, you're the best human I've met." But Bumu was gone before Hime could ask further just what he meant.



The Land of Rain... A group of four had traveled the distance there, on orders of the Hokage. Kurin himself looked like a mummy, something out of stories from distant lands. But, part of him didn't care. It was a distinguished look that many great shinobi had pulled off in the past. Kurin was designated team leader, mostly because that was where he really shone. Nousagi and Kai where rather redundant, but Kai's presence was on request of the Hyuuga apparently. Something about needing a servant to take care of the trash. Made sense, the Hyuuga clan was infamous for their contempt for other life. Something about being the closest to gods with their eyes. Tashiro on the other hand was... Well Kurin couldn't help but feel it was something of a work in progress. The swordsman's style clashed with the rest of the team, with the byakugan users being powerful close range fighters, and Kurin himself being a great shinobi at area control and defense. A close range swordsman with the water jutsu though was probably in-disposable in this environment though.

Now, they stood on the border of the land of water, not yet having entered the rain soaked areas of the land. That was closer to the central village, but still they moved tightly as a group, as was the best way to do these things. "We have a few hours before we reach the village, the closer we get, the more on guard you should be. Apparently the new Hokage is not... Well liked amongst the other villages at the moment." That was an understatement. The Hokage's push for justice in the very recent Kage Summit had the Mizukage arrested, and charges even some of the elders of Konoha felt where trumped up. His grandmother in particular spoke fairly frequently in the last few months of her dislike of Shinko. In fact, he was well aware the Hyuuga clan wasn't fond of him. Mostly because he came out of nowhere, and his actions where already leading Konoha closer to war. "As such, we should explain our reason for being here if we're approached. We have the agreement that all kages where requested to sign at the Kage Summit." He was almost envious of the other squads, getting villages on better terms with Konoha.

"Before you proceed, the rain up ahead is full of chakra. It's a detection technique." Nousagi spoke, standing beside Kurin. Nousagi's byakugan was active, spying ahead of the group and easily detecting the chakra signature that loomed over the village. "It's Yogensha. This entire village reeks of her chakra." The young Hyuuga added, clearly keeping things to business. His aide, Kai, had been his special request. Something about their ability to synergize being the most important part of their moveset.
"Yes, but do you see any border patrol, we're still a good distance away before we even reach the rain." Kurin replied, glancing over to the duo of Hyuuga and Otsutsuki. "I'd like to make a good first impression."
"So... Tashiro. Member of the Hokori clan, correct?" Nousagi asked Tashiro, though it was more like a scathing remark than a question. "Your clan is literally named after dust, which makes a fair amount of sense. You yourself look like you haven't bathed properly in a good month. Strange, considering I've been told you use water jutsu, correct?"
"Nousagi, we're a team... Don't try to antagonize the others." Kurin scolded, recieving a smile from the Hyuuga. Clearly he was having his... Fun before the real work began.

---

Before the strangers that entered her lands could arrive, it seemed there was a nick in the plan Yogensha had crafted. She suddenly lifted her head, seemingly noticing another disturbance in her Rain Tiger at Will technique. “Konoha..” she slowly whispered to herself, before glancing to her left and nodding at one of the Black Ops. The man understood, somehow, and jumped off, running to the balcony and jumping off. Yogensha meanwhile immediately began calculating the time it would take for the two mysterious strangers - that could only belong to one faction - and for the Konoha nin to reach her tower. With luck, she'd be able to deal with the two of these groups in separate occasions. But that was reliant on an element of luck. Not the most favorable conditions.

When Havoc arrived, he was guided by four members of the Sakai Ban'nin, and brought along with him a passenger of some capacity, a young lady that seemed to ride him like a horse. It would have been comical, if it weren't for the fact that Yogensha recognized the man. He had failed to don a mask - perhaps on purpose - and his appearance was inherently tied to the existence of that girl that had lingered around Amegakure so long ago. Perhaps it had gone unnoticed to Havoc himself, but during the time he spent guiding Kyokotsu, he was shadowed by members of the black ops. And the day that Yogensha had finally approved of their assassination, the two of them split and vanished. Neither Kyokotsu nor Havoc was found again within Amegakure borders, and everyone forgot about them.

Until now.

But Yogensha was not one to hold a grudge, especially since she also figured that this man was inherently tied to this new organization that had attacked and decimated the village of Konoha, and the Hokage. So, she smiled politely, even when Havoc brutishly and rudely came straight to the point.

She would not have expected otherwise.

When he held up the paper, crumped but straightened out slightly, a black ops member approached and would take the paper from him, before handing it off to Yogensha. It seemed security measures were at an all time high for this meeting - not only a sign of apprehension towards the duo of Yomigaeri, but also out of.. some sick respect for their power. Normally, Yogensha would've relied on guards of some capacity as well, but due to her sickly nature there were many more than normal. However, she still felt capable of keeping up a fight. It was the problem that she couldn't last as long, and could certainly not kill them. Not unless she performed the Brahmastra, which was a one shot with her current status. It'd be better to simply talk.

She looked over the paper, and then glanced up at Havoc. “Kyokotsu. I remember her. To know what happened, I'd ask you to listen to the whole story. It's important that people know the truth about the minashigo-in koyō sābisu. Our orphanage.” She grabbed a hold of her wooden crutches and handed them off to her left, towards some black ops that was standing there, and walked forwards on her own. It was a slow process, but she was still capable of walking at this point. As she moved she even pushed away a black ops member that was trying to help her, much less gentle than she usually would be. It seems the sickness was making her slightly less patient too. She was thickly clothed to hide the bulging pieces of flesh that were moving under her body, though the eye that paid careful attention would see that very subtle bulges were also moving under her forehead.

When she came to Havoc, unprotected against any attack, she held out the piece of paper to him, letting him take it from her if he wanted. “I can tell she is important to you. Keep this, then. That way, you know who to look for.” When he'd taken it from her, she'd slowly stumble back, before taking her place next to Sayuri and Kaito. She'd place a hand on Sayuri's shoulder, resting on her slightly. “Kyokotsu was not originally from Amegakure. She was taken. Perhaps you know that. Perhaps you do not. In broader and more general terms, the other villages have insinuated we kidnap children that possess strong talents for the arts of shinobi's.”

She swallowed momentarily, glancing at the girl next to Havoc before looking back at the man himself. “In a way that is true. This practice is outdated now, but it still happens from time to time. Most of our 'recruits' in the orphanage were taken some twenty to thirty years ago - in fact, some of the black ops in this room right now are 'recruits' from the orphanage. You could ask them what they think about it, but fact of the matter is that it does not matter.”

She coughed, covering her mouth as she did so. When she moved her hand back and glared at it, she saw the blood she had coughed up. Her eyes shot upwards towards Havoc and his companion as her flat hand curled into a fist and was lowered to her side. She trembled slightly, but managed to stay upright with the help of Sayuri. “It does not matter because we gave them a better future. We find orphans that were created by war and bloodshed and we secure them, we give them a place in Amegakure. If they show promise as shinobi, we train them into strong shinobi. We give them purpose, we give them a right of existence. A right of existence in the same way that the Sage lived. What is more satisfying than that?”

She nodded then at some remark that nobody made - seemingly already anticipating it. “Yes, yes, the villages around us say we are stealing children because of their power. But they created those orphans. They should be taking care of them. But they do not - we do.” She stayed silent then for a moment longer than she had before, taking pause to let Havoc think on what she said, to make the connections himself, but also to afford her some time to gather her calm and peace. She was getting emotional. It might have been the sickness, it might have been her history as an outsider of Amegakure as well. When she continue, she was noticeably more calm and peaceful than before, even offering Havoc a polite and light smile.

“Kyokotsu was one of them. Amegakure black ops secured her as an orphan. They brought her here to live in Amegakure, to train alongside one of our best swordsmen. We had planned to bring her into the black ops. Then she killed her master. And his wife. And then others. It seems she was disturbed in the head, perhaps a result of the events that occurred prior to her arrival here. We continued getting reports of her slaughter until they stopped for a moment. When the reports continued, she was reported to be with.. some man. We trailed them for a long period of time, to consider capturing her and treating her psychologically.”

The rain strengthened. Her Rain Tiger at Will became stronger as she continued to speak, tracking the movements of the Konohagakure nin. It seemed the Amegakure black ops had made contact with them. She did not have long left, but there was so much more to say. During her pause, she looked up and to the left, into the corner of the ceiling, as if there was something there to see. She was focusing on her detection technique, and then looked back to Havoc. “Yes, treating her. That was my own idea, but my black ops urged me to just eliminate her and her new companion. Perhaps that was my mistake - I waited too long before ordering to kill them. I had hoped we could salvage this, to make it right. When I finally brought myself to give the command to eliminate them, they split up and vanished. Perhaps it was for the best. Everyone forgot about them. Everyone but me.. and you.”

---

---

---

---

The Sakai ban'nin of Amegakure had now reached the team coming from Konohagakure, hailing them and requesting their permission to enter Amegakure. As there was a writ of permission in the form of the Kage summit papers, they were allowed to pass through to Amegakure, under an escort of four shinobi from the Sakai ban'nin. It seemed none of them were too warmed up about receiving four Konohagakure nin, given the recent events surrounding the new Hokage. Despite being given passage, they were treated with a good air of disdain and disinterest, with none of the Sakai ban'nin speaking even a word to them. That is, until the Black Ops member sent out by Yogensha reached the team right when they were on the middle of the large lake that, perhaps an hour before, Havoc had used to travel to Amegakure under a similar escort.

“I'll take it from here. Lady Yogensha's orders,” the black ops informed the Sakai ban'nin, who obviously did not dare resist an order from the lady Ame herself. When the Sakai ban'nin had handed over control to the black ops, and disappeared, the black ops turned around and sped off, expecting the Konoha nin to follow him. The speed was picked up, much faster than the Sakai ban'nin had traveled at, so perhaps there was a sense of urgency. Or perhaps all of this had been one big, fat diversionary tactic designed to stall the Konohagakure nin. They'd never know.

The black ops guided them towards the large tower, central in Amegakure, and by far the tallest structure. And then began the climb. They'd have to climb, more or less, all the way to the top. Being shinobi, this was an easy feat, given that they could just walk onto the walls. As they arrived at the top, they'd be left in front of two large, cast-iron doors, similar to the ones they'd used to get into the tower. From behind the doors, they could only hear the muffled sounds of a conversation being had between Yogensha and the stranger that they were there to protect Yogensha against.

---

---

She smiled politely at him, though the story she'd just told him wasn't really something to smile about. It was just something she did. A smile, as if she were thinking back to those times. Nostalgia. She knew precisely who the man in front of her was, and she knew precisely why he hadn't donned his mask. “But that's not why you are here, is it? I fought one of your companions, as well as the one that turned into smoke. I thought I had made it evident I have no interesting in the conflict between your group and the five main villages. In fact, I offered them the ability to come talk and discuss with me at any time. It seems that I am still considered a threat to your organization. A shame.”

The question as to whether or not that was why he was here remained unanswered as the door opened up, revealing the black ops member and the four Konohagakure shinobi. Yogensha looked backwards and then glanced forwards at Havoc. It seems luck hadn't been on her favour, despite her calculations and attempts to speed up the conversation, to ensure that Havoc and his companion, and the Konohagakure would not meet today. “I see,” she simply stated before all hell would break loose. She'd make sure to smile at Havoc politely, attempting to inform her that this hadn't been her plan. “Forgive me.”

She then looked to Sayuri and Kaito. “Don't mind me, I can fight still. Go!” Although she had not explicitly informed them about this dealing, she had hoped that from the way the conversation had gone that Yogensha had no intent in killing or even harming Havoc or his female companion. Perhaps they'd pick up on that and simply 'fake' the fight. Or perhaps they would go in with full power. Whichever it was, the situation was out of her control now. Perhaps if she'd been not as sick, she would've been able to manage it. It seemed everything was taking its' toll on her.

As for Yogensha herself, she performed some handseals. She was clearly slower than she had been before, but still managed to form and mold chakra to her liking. “Indra no Teisai!” she yelled, and as she completed the jutsu, a light blue line appeared under her eyes.

Never the less, she continued forming handseals to prepare for the next jutsu. “Asura no Teisai!” she proclaimed, stepping back slightly to give both Kaito and Sayuri space to form a defensive line in front of her while waiting for the Konohagakure nin to make a move. As she performed her signature jutsu, two arms spouted from her backs, and then two more, giving her six in total. She resembled some sort of Buddha like this, and through her possession of yin and yang chakra, resembled the embodiment of Asura, Indra, and the Sage himself. Now, the move was Havoc's.

Heading to the rain village as part of the special task force to deal with the rogue shinobi group that attacked the leaf. Tashiro felt like the odd man out in this team. First was the Senju the leader of the team Kurin Senju, a wood style user with a lot of skills to follow up with his unique chakra nature. Then was the other member of this team the Hyuga with the Byakugan eyes Nousagi Hyuga. With the power of the byakugan that alone Tashiro thought would be perfect to send as a task force member to fight against a bunch of S rank criminals along with the other Byakugan user Kai who was also on the team. Then there was himself, Tashiro had been training since the funeral day in and out but he didn't feel ready for another meeting with this group of criminals. Tashiro felt like just the extra member of the team that was just for filling a spot up. Then again going to the rain village Tashiro's water based jutsu's might come in handy or at least that is what he thought was the reason he was added to the team going to the rain village.

Listening to what the team leader had to say, Tashiro was taught to at least respect the chain of command and to listen to who is in charge. Kurin gave reminder of sorts to keep on their guard as they get closer the basic kind of things a team leader would do then the remarks and comments from Nousagi. The comments from him was met by a glare like stare from Tashiro. Hearing the words about his surname, the meaning of what Hokori meant and comments on his own appearance. Even after Kurin's attempt to stop Nousagi and scolded him for his comments Tashiro was about to lash back with words of his own. If it wasnt for the greeting party from Amegakure he would have shared a few unkind comments about the noble clan of Hyuga.

After entering the village Tashiro felt the feel in the air about their presense in the village. They weren't very much welcomed, but Tashiro couldn't blame them. All of this was set together by the new Hokage who in which he was unsure about. Soon enough they made it to the tower they must climb. Tashiro looked at his comrades, "See you all at the top." Sending a steady flow of chakra to his feet Tashiro began to run up the tower at full speed looking to get to the top as quickly as possible when he started to hear people talking at the top Tashiro tried to push himself to move faster. It was obvious something was happening now and his was team needed. This time Tashiro was hoping to be some help against this rogue shinobi threat.

Hokage funeral, secret twin, imminent attack from unknown terrorist organization.. blah, blah, blah. All of that matter little to Kyoka finally achieving what nobody from her clan was able to do, become a Jonin. It was nice to hear those words but it strangely felt empty as if there was something more to achieve but there was time for that later. No doubt that Shark will be back and assisting in the preparation for him would likely be Kyoka's first and paramount assignment.

The moment the funeral ended (thankfully short), Kyoka would retrieve her cousin and begin her preparations. Unfortunately, Kyoka's observations with the Shark were rather limited and without that opportunity to fully experiment with that arrogant fish, there wasn't much Kyoka could prepare for. There were a few things, however. Kyoka was sure that her sodium powder would have exploded upon contact with that creatures wet skin, judging by the glimmer of being wet all the time. Plus the whole shark and water theme made it very convincing for Kyoka to prepare for water counters. Leading to the other thing Kyoka may have learned, the Shark had absorbed her Acid Wash. She was sure of it! The fact that there was no splash or scattering of the acid hose meant that he had to have been sucking it up, either through jutsu or something else. That bulky weapon was a mystery and a potential candidate for the absorption? Possibly since the confirmed period of absorption came after the apparent fuse with the weapon. The import thing to note was just the difference of power that the Shark had, thus Kyoka would have to make additions to her arsenal.

Kyoka would, of course, offer her notes to the Iwa Kage and the others who were likely to partake in the expected defense. There wasn't a guarantee that Shark would even come to Iwa so maybe all this preparation was useless but if the Shark's associates were all just as powerful, it'd pay to be prepared. Thus, Kyoka invested some of her time in developing a new shielding Jutsu to provide her a defensive measure. Her tarry armor had promise to develop into something but sadly she didn't have a lot of time to perfect anything new. Instead, the majority of her preparations were running through various experiments to create non-Jutsu bombs and reactions that could help. If all of the Shark associates could absorb Jutsu, they'd be doomed if they had to depend on it. Some of which, Kyoka had even tried to explain to her thick-headed cousin, not so much for her to understand but to use her later.

Fast-forward to arrival, Kyoka was pleased to see the arrogant fish hovering over her village on his dome as she had added quite a few bombs and chemicals to counter the watery creature. The Iwa Kage was in impressive form as his powerful earth Jutsu rocked the earth and waves and if she could, Kyoka would have just watched initially to study how the Shark and Kage interacted. Sadly, Rumia was very quick to leap into combat, not surprisingly in hindsight, but that meant Kyoka had to take a more active role seeing as she wouldn't want her darling cousin horribly maimed. Speaking of which, it seems like someone was trying to do just that...

Had it been one, two, or even a small handful, it was doubtful that Kyoka would have seen them so easily but two hundred small metal knives contrasted greatly like a flock of birds in the sky. All with the rough trajectory, they were definitely going for Rumia. Kyoka frowned as that meant there was some sneak amid their village, definitely complicating things. However, how to handle that would come later as Kyoka rapidly went through the hand signals, "Kraken's Tentacles..." Kyoka muttered almost sounding bored. She flung from her hand a black, tar pod that flew to meet Rumia, and being flung in between Rumia and the incoming knives, it burst into a small contained fire as soon as it was near her cousin. Thanks to Kyoka's closer proximity to her cousin than the knife thrower, her less aerodynamic projectile managed to reach her cousin first.

Three tar tendrils burst forth from the burning pod and coiled around themselves, reaching up further in the sky to protect Rumia's trajectory as the tendrils formed an impromptu wall. The knives that were most dangerous to Rumia flew right into the tendril's of the kraken, embedding and then exploding. The molten tar made an excellent medium to absorb the blasts and despite a few chunks of tar breaking off quickly cooling to ash, the knives that would have hit Rumia were blocked, allowing any others to explode harmlessly in the air around her cousin.

The doll, Koma Hitsugi, chimed in amid the static of the radio, suggesting that there was at least a dozen, albeit clones, running amok in the village. "How annoyin'." Kyoka said to herself thinking people keep using her last name despite it being much longer to pronounce than her first, before turning to the radio and answer back "Just Kyoka, hun. Imma be good n' help but I reckon I gotta protect my Rumia! So Imma be distracted!" Kyoka turned her attention back to her cousin, watching to see what would become of her charge and willing to support anyway she could.

---

_{Ishi's Will}
Ishi nodded as the woman took her place and sent a wind Jutsu her way. Wind was recognizable perhaps through the process of deduction most of all. Every other nature was so clear that it made wind just as clear in comparison.

“Scatter.”

She commanded her pack, and immediately five went right and five went left. They all stormed the woman’s current location. Ichi and San leading the packs the foxes looked like beasts from an old wives tale. They drooled in anticipation as their backs arched in a way that seemed both reminiscent of a wolf and a large cat. As soon as they reached the building, they would dive seemingly into the material used to construct it itself. Seemingly swimming towards their target they were beyond petty Jutsu now. However that still left Ishi and the wind Jutsu. She didn’t have much in the way of defensive techniques, so instead she had to meet a show of force with something more. Her hands rapidly weaved together four handseals as she put the final seal to her lips.

“Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu.” She uttered, expelling a large quantity of water towards the wind Jutsu, causing the two Jutsu to clash in midair. As she continued to release water she seemed to blow past the technique and towards its user. She used one more handseal to release lightning around the stream of water amplifying the destructive power of the technique massively.

The move was on the cultist. But knowing that this technique was unlikely to kill her Ishi began to plot out the various ways in which her opponent could dodge the assault. She was prepared for almost any mistake the girl made. Ishi was out for blood tonight.

The group had the element of surprise but Sano didn't care. He just straight up let loose another large amount of water, like he did in Kohona. Sebun did not like where his partnership was heading. Sebun glanced around to locate Seijuro and Jaakuna, the other two that they embarked with. Both of them were absent, vanished without a word to complete their mission which was to find the Mizukage. As Sano's attacked headed for the village, the area suddenly shifted changing the whole layout of the village. Revealing their prey, the Tsuchikage. Sano did what Sano did best and headed to attack the esteemed leader of Iwagakure. It was now Sebun's turn to make sure that Sano didn't have any unwanted interlopers crash his party. Before Sebun could even prepare for the rush of attackers, a disgusting little girl launched into the air and fired some sort of ray at Sano. That was not going to fly, Sebun had gave Sano a small dagger from his armory, and Sebun would use that to warp to the Shark man. Sebun appeared next to Sano in an instant, and pressing the seal on his right forearm, Gluttony manifested. Sebun slammed the forked tail of Gluttony into the ground facing the direction of Rumia's incoming attack. The attack would hit Gluttony, but would be reflected in a random direction after impact. The Blacksmith would turn to the Tsuchikage next and raise his hand. As his hand was above his head, swords would start manifesting. Not just a few swords either. That was several dozen swords, all aimed in different directions. He would let the lose, all scattering around the small battlefield that they were standing on. Hopefully that would push the Tsuchikage back and give Sano breathing room.

Sebun let the little female continue on her voyage to Sano. She wasn't gunna be much of a problem for the Shark man. As Sebun removed himself from the battle another person was trying to interject themselves into the fight. Sebun definitely wasn't going to let that happen. Sebun formed the necessary hand-seals to create several shadow clones. Each of them scattered to several corners of Iwagakure to begin creating havoc to force the denizens of Iwagakure to respond. Four clones in all were created. Each of them outfitted with one of Sebun's Sins. Lust went to the north corner, Wrath went to the east corner, Envy went to the West corner and one more clone to the South. While the real Sebun created weapons and aimed them at Kyoka. The weapons weapons were directly aimed at Kyoka and would serve to block her from reuniting with Rumia. "Ah, little lady. Threes a company, but four is too much. Do you mind having a chat with me instead of interrupting the Tsuchikage and my esteemed friend? Let me introduce myself, I am Sebun. What's your name?" Sebun said smiling through his monkey mask.

The Clone carrying Greed had appeared in the south. Standing at top the largest building there. Blow him there were civilians trying to evacuate from the village. There were hundreds of them, and this made the clone smile. This would be a great way to attract some of the shinobi away from Sano and the Tsuchikage. He raised his hand in the normal fashion that the original Sebun would. Weapons began to form as the usual, and he let loose the swords into the fleeing crowd. The screams of women and children should attract some people there. If not, the Clone would kill of the fleeing villagers.



Metsuki emerged from the ground and saw that the new group of terrorists were making an attack on Iwagakure just like they did in Kohonagakure. It was quite interesting. Instead of them coming out in force like before, it seemed that they were operating in groups of two. The two that were attacking Iwagakure was Sano the disgraced wielder of Samehada, and the man named Sebun. Whether or not it was the Profaned Blacksmith of the Past was yet to be seen. The man does bear striking similarities to Sebun Chimei-Teki Tsumi, this turn of events warranted more investigation. Metsuki wanted to observe this attack firsthand but that would not be the case, there were more of these terrorists out there and he would locate them. Metsuki bit his finger and placed it on the ground, summoning several small chameleons. The Chameleons turned and looked at the half emerged Metsuki as if asking what his orders were. "Head further into the village and watch both Sano, Sebun, the Tsuchikage and locate the Mizukage. Report back to me after the end of this attack." Metsuki said before disappearing into the ground.


Chise was in her house meditating after her training when the village started to shift. That means that this new terrorist group had set their eyes on Iwagakure like they did to Kohona. She wasn't there for the first attack at the Jonin exams but she was here for this one. Chise was ready she had been waiting for this to happen. It would be her way of showing that she did in fact deserved to be apart of the Jonin exams that she was not allowed to participate in. The Explosive Boxer jumped up and grabbed her coat and ran to the Southern most corner of the village. That's when she saw a man wearing a monkey mask standing on top of a building. He raised his hand and weapons started to form. A second later, he dropped his hands and the weapons flew into the crowd. Chise forced the chakra down to her feet and created a explosion that launched her forward toward the weapons. As she landed back on the ground she again focused the chakra into her right foot and stomped the ground. A decent sized boulder launched from the ground and managed to knock two of the swords from their original trajectory missing two of the fleeing villagers. Chise's reaction time was good but not good enough to stop the other weapons. Soon the screams of villagers began to fill the air. "I need a medic here!" Chise screamed at the top of her lungs.

The earth technique was one she had seen before, and figuring out which side the foxes would appear on was easy enough. She would respond accordingly and dance with the foxes, making them the first few ritual sacrifices of the night would not be so bad. But still, Akuno sighed at the pacts attempt to pin her between a rock and a hard place. But was still not satisfied, she wanted to see the blood thirstiness that lies with in each of us, not some motherly advances.

Akuno reacted quickly, making the tiger seal and creating 3 shadow cones on all sides of her. The two clones on the left and right faced the direction she assumed the foxes would come from. The first clone would appear behind her and leap a few feet away form the scene to be and began drawing the mark of Jashin on the ground using her chalk with her in the middle. This was in preparation for her ritual, and these foxes would be her first sacrifices of the night. The two clones would face forward on the left and right side of Akuno, and await the fangs from the pack.

Akuno would remain between the two clones standing only 3 feet from each, she primed her scythe with wind chakra and cut in the "X" formation to let of another 1000 Cuts. The two jutsu would clash and the initial gale of wind would stop the water while the compressed wind that followed would counter the lighting. Akuno followed that with the bird seal and aimed the air bullets at Ishi . The jutsu clashing caused her heart to beat a little bit faster and gave Akuno hope that the she might see the kage's beast within.

Ryokō Niken

Ryoko woke up in the inn, sore and exhausted from the fight last night. It had a month since she had left the village on her leave of absence, and already she was getting bored from the fights she got into with the locals from the small towns she had visited. Last nights fight wasn't that bad. She challenged a group of drunk locals who looked like they could hold their own in a fight. She could obviously take them on one on one and win easily. So she challenged them to a five on one, with one arm behind her back. It wasn't as easy as she expected. The men were better than she expected. They actually had some amount of skill. The fight was done in about thirty seconds. She took some solid hits but hit back harder.

Ryoko got out of bed and headed downstairs, still half asleep. She had been bouncing around from small town to small town following rumors of powerful fighters that she could challenge. Almost entirely, disappointments, the rest not so much. As she walked out the door she heard something that got her attention.


"-the Hokage's Funural."

Ryoko's ears perked up. The Hokage's funeral? That was horrible news. She heard good things about the Hokage. Many people would be there. That was it! Many powerful people. That's where she would find someone worthy to challenge. She quickly ran out the door and headed toward Konaha. She'd have to hurry if she wanted to get there before they all left.

The lavender Kunoichi stood assembled with the rest of the village. Matching in black with the rest of her student body, superiors and then some. She had never met the Hokage, but had a deep rooted respect for the man - as he did lead the village, and in a way encouraged her to become a better ninja. The respect of the man was deeply engrained from birth - one of respect and compassion. Though, the empath couldn't exactly show much empathy as many others- she had never met the Hokage. So this death was stifled for her in some way. Her fingers delicately pushed her glasses back upon the bridge of her nose, feeling Shizukas arm gently glide over her shoulders. Her hands lacing in front of her, the exams seemed to bring about a new life while in the midst of tragedy. Though this blossoming duo held no relevance to that of Konohas current predicament. 

She looked to Shizuka, staring at the boy that for some reason took an instant attraction to her. Through the trial the girl found herself enjoying the cool breeze that blew off the windy boy. Kiku looked back to the Hokage to see the change, her eyed widened with confusion as the transformation unfolded in front of her. Her hands clasped to her face as a gasp escaped her lungs - brows burrowing together in confusion. Her eyes scanned thr crowd seeing the bewilderment flow through everyone, conufsion ensued and a small rumble of voices could be heard collaborating on what had just unfolded before them. Her hands fell back to her sides as she examined the crowd around her, absorbing every emotion that was resonating from the beings around her. She swallowed a lump in her throat had formed, and leaned slightly into Shizuka. He for some reason could always settle the nerves of the Kunoichi. Something that dumbfounded her.

The mood seemed to switch as the man that stood before them reigining as the doppleganger settled the crowd in  just a few short sentences. He seemed at ease, confident, and commanding of the whole crowd. Like a light director, he knew the cues and scenes to play out amongst the crowd to perfectly set the emotion of the show that was laid out before the village. It was then after his speech, that the assistant rose forward and listed the names of those graduated. Her stomach tightened and  jaw clenched - the names weren't raddled off that quickly, but it seemed to fast. Did she miss her name? Kiku let out a breath, and crossed her arms - her demeanor changing to a guarded one. Her face turned towards Shizuka, and she smiled at him widely with closed eyes "Shizuka! You did it! I'll just have to try harder next time..." She opened her eyes to focus in on his face, and her eyes quickly shifted away. Jealousy gripped the young girls heart, but it also illuminated another pathway for the girl. She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, and then held him out at arms length, "We'll have to celebrate". Though the girl was upset, she couldn't exactly ruin someone's else delight.



The graduated Shinobi seemed to frequent her days. Typically in the later mornings/afternoons as to Kiku would wake up far too early to train - while the effervescent boy slept so purely.  He appeared at her home today, a rare sighting in the Kurama household. Somehow the boy had a breakthrough with her ever so overly protective father, and he appreciated the boys existence. It weirded out the young girl, as she watched them talk and seem to bond. Her eyes rolled too frequently, and one might assume she was malfunctioning. It almost irritated her as some days it seemed the boy came over only to talk to her father, which her father took a great delight in igniting the boys fleeting mind with stories of his past. Shizuka was quiet the conversator, and her father greatly fed into it. 

Though this time, Kiku and Shizuka were perched on the back porch of her home. He seemed to put forth more effort in ensuring that she knew she was a great ninja - mainly due to her not passing. It seemed to haunt the girl, as she now trained longer hours - but these hours also included far more stretching then previously. As her muscles were still damaged from the lava, the pain  was still noticeable as she lept, or attempted quick moves. Kiku couldn't tell if it was a mind over matter deal, but it seemed with her rigorous and dedicated training schedule - she was beginning to adapt to the pain, or possibly heal. As the two enjoyed the company of each other, Shinko appeared and elaborated a message to the two young ninja. Pursing her lips, she looked to Shizuka who also seemed to be caught off guard. A deep sigh released itself and she began to chew on  her lower lip, her concentration being caught short by his words  - Kiku turned to face him and smiled half-heartedly. "I don't think you should....These are orders from the Hokage. Despite how it makes us feel, we should have faith in each other. As comrades..." The girl smiled weakly at him, of course - she'd rather know his whereabouts. But after the dismissal of her graduating to a higher rank, she felt a need to just follow orders and execute them perfectly to hopefully advance. 

It wasn't but mere seconds later there a shift in the wind, and that a black eyed Shinobi landed in front of them, followed by a vibrantly red-headed Uzumaki boy. Kiku blinked a few times out of confusion, and watched as he rose - and listened as he addressed them so smoothly. He was a Shinobi Kiku knew by name, but never once had she heard him speak. Kiku then inhaled sharply over his next sentence, her eyes narrow. Clearly, it was looked down upon by many due to her actions of abandoning her team - and now Shizuka seemed to be taking the brut of the blame. Before she could open her mouth to detest his sentence, Sakana left his distaste of their leaving on the floor in  front of them - and removed himself to the rooftops. Next, the Uzumaki boy voiced a short but sweet and effective sentence - following Sakana soon after. Arms crossed, she narrowed her eyes and watched them both leave -  her gaze fixated back on Shizuka. "I don't think we'll live that one down..."  She huffed, and then gave him a quick hug resting her hands on his shoulders as she pulled away - "Go on, I'll be fine, and so will you. We'll see each other again, I should gather my things and go find my team as well".


_{Interaction with: @Grey Sama @Altered Tundra @BladeX Location: West Gate/ Konoha}

After what seemed to be a wild goose chase, Kiku had finally found every member of the Special Forces team she had been put on and was now standing with all 4 members, herself included, of the new founded team as they deliberated over their situation. Kiku had already worked with Jaakuna and knew of his abilities, though wasn't sure if he wore the disdain all the others did for her leave during the Forest of Death trial. The other was Kaba. The boy was in her class, and though she had never spoken to him much - she never felt ill will to the boy. The hardest to find was Ryoko as she had no idea who the girl was. But so far, so good - she sensed nothing ominous emitting from her.

"Well, since Ryoko is from Kumo - we should let her guide us around and take lead," Kiku spoke to Kaba and Jaakuna - appearing to take on a leaderly role. "If you guys have everything you need, we should leave now". Kiku had a backpack, as well as her usual black and purple garb. The backpack containing minor details for a successful travel to Kumo. Kiku felt a bit nervous for the travel, only because of her legs and the muscle damaged, it had decelerated her movements but may have only been noticeable to her. "Ryoko whats the best way there?"

---

The air was thick with some form of emotion that was lost in translation, it was neither fear nor anger, but something much else something more taut. The black ops member seized the parchment from his hands which left a little less than pleased reaction from the gravitational ninja. Had he not wanted to know the whereabouts of his better half he’d have crushed the ninja’s skull right there and then. The rage that turned men evil needed to be suppressed for the time being, it gnawed at his mind like an imaginary itch from heroin withdrawals. Havocs eyes became focused on the Lady Yogensha, his icy cold blue eyes with the tinge of flaming gold speckles burned themselves into her flesh. They wouldn’t leave her body once, unless of course his senses picked up a disturbance worth noting, but he had Kareha there to deal with that and buy him enough time to act accordingly.

An orphanage? While it was true Havoc had spent many years of his life devoted to the rehabilitation and teachings of the world to the girl, she never mentioned an orphanage. While they were rather intimately close, the only bit of information Havoc knew was about her adoptive parents. How could he have been so foolish as to just assume she came from a normal orphanage? The twisted, tangled, roots of fate had seemed to be branching off into the lives of all three shinobi in some way. Havoc knew better than to interject, without any rebuttal or force of entry the frayed and worn man looked onward to her pressing story. Despite her calm demeanor, the empress was hiding something beneath those layers of civilities. Havoc, unlike some of the Yomigaeri, prided himself on his analytical ability. After all he had to pay attention to detail with his art of death and being illusive enough to elude the bounty on his head prior to capture.

The once great leader of the rain was now quite sickly and weak, crutches tossed to the side to give off an heir of pride and strength. It was quite admirable to see, however, Yogensha had to have known that this display of weakness and fragility would be enough for Kareha and Havoc to secure their attack and take Yogensha down. Allowing the two to know this much added a layer of honesty to the story she began to weave, why else would she let her guard down? So much so she moved to face Havoc with skin bubbling through her forehead, his eyes narrowed, but he managed to take the paper back from her with an heir of grace and appreciation. Havoc would attempt to reach a hand out for the stumbling mistress, but to no avail as she found solace in the safety of her two bodyguards. Folding the paper into a nice square, he stuffed it back into his tattered yukata before letting the rain queen continue.

The idea of Kyokotsu being kidnapped and forced into structure like this angered Havoc, the veil of control slipping once again. Clenching his fist into a ball letting out a few audible cracks, left him somewhat in control of the ever-changing power shift inside, his dark passenger constantly trying to reach out. Blood, it was something he was feverishly intimate with, her eyes told her tale when she connected to Havocs. She was so defenseless, he held the flame of her life in his hands, but would he extinguish it for Kyo’s sake? “Who are you to say that you gave them a better future? You haven’t given them even an option. It is called kidnapping for a reason, they were taken without will and trained to serve your personal army. I’m no expert on the Sage, but I do believe he would never agree to this kind of proposition masqueraded as ‘help’ for a brighter future.”

The self-righteous figure was still remarkably adept at parlaying with a wanted criminal such as Havoc, with the subtle tendencies only he would pick up on. The mention of Kyo flickered attention in his eyes as she spoke down of her, this lecherous woman hadn’t known Kyokotsu like he did. “Stop right there. Some swordsman you have there, I assure you I’ve seen and trained with better. Take Kareha here, a prodigy in the sword and now one of the seven swordsman of the mist. Hold your tongue with matters that you do not know the magnitude of. Kyokotsu didn’t kill her master and his wife due to some deemed disturbance. Kidnapping was the onset of this manifestation of behavior, how can you raise a thief and punish them when they’re of age? That master of yours also fancied the flesh of little girls who weren’t as powerful. That was the last time he would take advantage of any helpless little girl, or do you not know of the demons the people of whom you break bread with?”

“She doesn’t need any help, she a perfect little shinobi like the rest of your droll horde here. It’s a shame that you can’t undo that mistake, I would have liked to tester their skills.” Having heard her truth spoken, Havoc returned the favor. “You’re mistaken, I only came to speak, you’re no threat to our organization in your current state and I wouldn’t be able to revel in your death in that condition. I’m simply here to ask you what you know of the Dark Continent that lies beyond, I hope you weren’t thinking of handling an expedition or withhold any information from the first expedition all those years ago. The Yomigaeri would greatly appreciate it if you handed over any information regarding said affa—" Havoc was abruptly interrupted by the impending number of depressions outside the door, that yogensha had been making her way to. ”Forgive me’

An ambush and she knew, no wait, Amegakure was never considerate to the other villages. Konohagakure must have known they would attack and send extra forces to bolster their defenses. If havoc was wrong, Yogensha would have him cornered. With some semblance of mutual appreciation, Havoc hoped he was right and this was a small farce. “Kareha, it’s time to play. Go! Chikara o Yōsha” A condensed form of gravitational force formed in Havoc’s throat as he inhaled deeply while standing straight, before bellowing out the unrelenting force towards the door to prevent the Konoha ninja from entering the palace. If the attack was successful the doors would bend and fold onto each other closing off one possible entrance, but also an exit for the two Yomigaeri. Havoc threw on his mask and black cloak, keeping his hands free, prepared for a counter attack.
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Shizuka’s conversation with the lavender haired girl was cut short by the arrival of what seemed to be two of his new teammates. The tension was already there, the fish looking boy was already seeking a grip on this power struggle. Sakana was everything Shizuka was not, he was abrasive, arrogant, and seemingly close minded. Whether these were nurtured or conditioned traits from his past was unknown to the wind seeker. The boys words were sharp not skipping a beat, however it seemed like everyone tried to paint their own rendition of what occurred in that forest between the team. Shizuka’s eyes narrowed and his eyebrows furrowed, a new emotion developing, anger. Biting his tongue the wind seeker refused to comply with the actions that the fishboy had undoubtedly meant as condescension. Kiku had misunderstood the Hokage’s announcement and sped off, leaving her exposed to danger. Kurin had told Shizuka to follow suite and entrusted them with the scrolls of the other two, it wasn’t reckless abandonment. None would believe them now or perhaps ever, Shizuka would have to prove himself viable on the battlefield for the upcoming mission. Their names wouldn’t be sullied or honor less if he could prevent it.

Then there was the assumption the wind boy was planning on leaving the team, it all seemed to convenient not to use against him. His ruby red eyes flickered with burning resonance while he swallowed the verbal abuse. Shizuka simply wanted to switch spots with a ninja from the intervention on Kumo, there was no running away from him. If anything Shizuka always ran towards the problem, this mission was already starting to frustrate him. His words were like venom, he vanished onto the rooftops before Shizuka could issue a rebuttal. The red haired Uzumaki walked in his shadow throwing a jape of his own. Turning to the crossed girl, “No, I’ll make sure people know the full story though. We did nothing wrong Kiku. Or at least you didn’t.” The young kunoichi relaxed the flustered boy with her soft embrace, she had a mission of her own, and it was selfish of him to force her to doddle around with the strudel boy. “Yeah you’re right, be safe cloudy eyes” Shizuka left her with a small peck on the cheek before he flew up into the air, catching up to his adoring teammates at the Watari residence.

Having caught the tail end of Sakana’s marketable speech skills. Shizuka walked past the mute red head while muttering under his breath, "Ketsumedo yarou". Afterward. Shizuka forcefully turned the fish boy by grabbing his exposed shoulder. “First of all, I’d be remised if I didn’t ask you if you spoke like that to everyone. Whatever anger or prejudice you have residing in you is none of my concern, although you will not question me until you have seen me on the field otherwise. I made Jonin rank just as you have so there must be some causation for that. Next, don’t play god and judge us when you’re missing a few of the pieces. I’ll have to earn your respect and I fully plan to without abandoning the team, but you will respect Kiku or we can settle this gripe here and now.” His ruby eyes tunneled deeply into the antithetical black sclera of Sakana.
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"Compose yourself, Raikage."

A voice that punched the ruler with sheer authority. The tone was imposing, and experience from age molded the delivery of this simple order.

"If my goal has been to simply kill you, poison in your tea would have sufficed. While our only goal is, ultimately, to kill you, it cannot be done like in Suna."

The tips of his index and major fingers would push the small plate holding his empty coffee cup away from his side of the table. The same handkerchief he had nabbed from Yui was employed for a final scrub of his visage before the General would finally orient his single-eye gaze toward the blind Raikage.

"You will die to protect your people. And your people will understand how weak you've become, with this era of peace. This weakness that drove me away, made me lose faith in this system."

His hand reaching into his back, while his eye remained fixed onto the Bakuto. A wallet was pulled out, and from it he'd extract a few generous bills. Tossing them at the center of the table, it seemed Gozubura wasn't going to leave the café without covering the duo's order.

"Though, it'd be incorrect to say this same thing drives me to murder you, today. I would like to say there is a whole lot more at stake than just the thrill of killing you, but in the end, it is but the ambition of a forgotten, maddened artifact that we exact this plan. Not much of an improvement. Would you like to indulge in something, by the way?"

Arms crossed, the General did not seem tense whatsoever as he'd remain seated on his preferred spot in the café. The customers were likely threatened, as they had likely heard the Raikage's call. His presence likely put them in even more unease, combined with the explosion they all heard.

"Regardless of what we do, it seems more than a few want you dead, Raikage Bakuto. Whether you're replaced or not does not seem to be a concern to these people either. In the end, the Kage will fall, and something new will rise. Whether it is by the relic of the past, or something else entirely."

He would finally stand, his opened navy-blue costume would be closed as if he had just finished some sort of business deal. All eyes were likely on the General at this point, likely wondering if hell was going to break loose or not.

"Shall we? I understand there is a field in the outskirts. My partner will ensure nothing gets in our way."

Starru directed his hand at the Café's exit, as he invited Bakuto for the duel that'd determine the fate of Kumogakure.

---

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It seemed her laser would perturbed by something else, prompting a squint from the rushing monstrosity. Nonetheless, Sano was the red to her bull-like vision. There could be a God between her and the shark for all she cared, she was tackling the beast. Unfortunately this bullrushing wouldn't be so simple.

An attack, and an undesired interloper. Jaakuna Aka's clone was going to mess with Rumia's assault on Sano, and it'd be a cheap shot at that. This most certainly would earn the beast's ire, as her body would barely pivot in order to face the upcoming assault before something intervened. It was Rumia's faithful cousin, Kyoka, with her revolting tentacle attack. The steaming, sticky mass born of her unusual acid chakra would serve as a shield against the exploding shuriken, causing only sticky fragments of the now destroyed gooey edifice to spread around the area, supposedly inert.

"Tsk. I ain't giving ya' a ryo fer that one, Kyoka. Not like I had any trouble or nuthin'."

As she acknowledged Kyoka's appearance in the scene, Rumia's index would be pointing right at the direction of the clone. She could sense it, and it was just a clone, making it not the most efficient tool to evade detection. Very suddenly, a thin, red beam would be fired at the clone's neck through the accumulated smoke of the synchronized explosions. It wouldn't be hard to believe that such a basic construct would be struck by this surprise counter. If so, perhaps she would be able to get a glimpse of Jaakuna's appearance before the clone would poof away.

Now then, without hesitation, Rumia would twist her body back before having her jets flare wildly. She'd once again dive to attack Sano ... But stuff happened again. Another strong presence, the same that had countered her first attack, was nearing Kyoka. More jets countered the ones that offered her so much momentum, before she'd spin around to recognize what was going on. Some geezer was getting way too close to her counter, and with levitating weapons no less.

"Oh no yer fuckin' not."

Jets fired even hard as the Shinrikyo blasted herself back toward Kyoka. The same index she had pointed to the clone was now aimed at the direction of Kyoka, this time charging under the form of a ball of red energy, before being fired. Last second, she'd direct the aim toward one of the blades in the air, and upon contact, the large beam she'd shoot would explode on the construct. Harmless to Kyoka and Sebun, but served as a means to brush away the weapons. The strength of the explosion was around the one of a tag's.

Her speed allowed her to regain Kyoka's side, jagged tail emerged and passively surrounding both her and Kyoka. Yes, it was stretched quite long here. Rumia was playing guardian quite seriously with the blonde, and made sure she could sponge an attack before it'd smack the Heisenberg.

"Ain't lettin' no gross geezer deflower m'cuz. Ain't no one touchin' this 'ere girl without gettin' through this bitch."

Her thumb pointed at none other than Rumia herself.

---

Sakana gave Date a short nod when the boy affirmed he was ready to leave on command, when he felt a hand grabbing his shoulder and forcing him to turn around. It was, who else, Shizuka. Sakana listened to the boy say his piece, though the rant earned little more than a disinterested slap of the hand against Shizuka's hand that was gripping his shoulder. “You'd best think twice before putting hands on me, Shizuka,” he calmly stated, almost matter-of-factly. He unzipped the flak jacket he wore, and lifted the mesh shirt underneath, revealing the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing. “Hit me hard enough and we both might just vanish.” He then gave Shizuka a shove, forcing him to back off. He wasn't exactly keen on being touched by strangers, especially not in an aggressive way like Shizuka just had.

“But at least you're showing fighting spirit now. That seemed to be lacking when I met Kurin, in the forest of death. You could've earned my respect then, but you weren't there. In fact, my companion here, Kamui Uzumaki, saw you and your girlfriend in another direction, and also happened to see you didn't come to help when we engaged Kurin and Jaakuna.” He made a short gesture with his hand in the general direction of Kamui, 'introducing' Kamui through that. Shizuka had made an already poor impression on Sakana even worse by doing what he had just done, and failed to realize that there were others nearby as well.

“So, to inform you. I'm Uragiri Sakana. This is Uzumaki Kamui. Then there is Watare Date, who I've never met either. And you are Ichimi Shizuka. Pleased to meet you.” He glanced at Shizuka one last time, his eyes shooting daggers, before turning to face Date and Kamui both. The mission ahead of them was quite important, from what Sakana knew, both for the participants, the receiving village, and Konohagakure itself. So, it would probably be best to set some ground rules for the mission, and explain the roles of each member. Or at least, how he proposed things would go.

“Me and Shizuka are in command. Since Kamui is a sensory and medical nin, command will go to him if both me and Shizuka die. In battle, it would be easy to establish a tactic now...” he said, slowly raising his hand and scratching the back of his head slightly, thinking about the tactics they could use, but slowly he'd sigh and come to a conclusion. “But that would probably change in the battle, since we don't know what it looks like, or who we will fight. So, just use your instincts.”

He'd glance around the circle of four shinobi, before nodding at himself, affirming the plan to himself. “Understood? Okay. Let's go,” he'd say in a commandeering voice, and before they could react, he'd have taken off towards the rooftops and sped off in the direction of Sunagakure. The distance to get there was quite large - and since access to Amegakure was now blocked, they had to travel a small while around it. With hindsight, that meant they would arrive too late to welcome the two criminals that set themselves upon the Kazekage, but there was no way for them to know it at that time.

During their travel, Sakana instructed the four of them to take a standard travel formation - Sakana was at the front, Shizuka next to him as they shared a rank and thus, the command. Although Sakana had his doubts about Shizuka, he was willing to reconcile his opinion if the boy proved his worth, and to do so, he was willing to share the position of leadership. For now. Following them would be Kamui, since he was quite vulnerable as a sensory and medical nin. Then, closing the line and guarding the rear, would be Date. “Kamui..” Sakana would speak up, alerting the boy once they got closer to Sunagakure. “Please begin using your sensory technique. I don't want to be surprised again, like we were with that giant shark guy.”

After an hour or two of travel, the party of four would reach Sunagakure, where they were met with a sandstorm that covered the edge of the border. “Tsk,” would come from Sakana as he sucked in the air through his teeth. This was a problem. They could't exactly wait for the sandstorm to die down, and it didn't seem like there was an opening.

As if on cue, a lion seemingly appeared from nowhere, standing behind them and suddenly casting a very large shadow over the team of four. It made Sakana turn around and immediately pull out his two knives, that hung horizontally across his back at his hip. “Hien!” he yelled, with the blades suddenly flowing blue with chakra. But, it seemed the Lion was not intending to pounce them and devour them as if they were a snack - rather, it offered the passage through the sandstorm.

“I see.. you are the reinforcements from Konohagakure no Sato.. you are late,” the lion boldly stated, although it made no attempt to reprimand them beyond that. “The kazekage is currently engaged in a fight with two.. scandalous criminals. But, to access them, you must pass through the sandstorm. This would be a problem, if it weren't for my expert knowledge of sand, and all things related to sand.” Hm, yes, the lion seemed to be quite particular and strange. Never the less, it continued, giving them 'the key.' “Simply form the tiger seal, and walk through, and you will find yourself on the other side unharmed. Really, it's such a simple trick, I wonder why nobody ever found it out.”

Sakana couldn't help but feel slightly strange at the giant lion talking to them, and giving away the trick to getting through the sand as if it were nothing. Perhaps that's why the Kazekage had placed him here however. And there was no reason to doubt it - if it were one of the criminals' summonings, then it would likely not have gone through the trouble of setting such a convoluted trap for them. So, Sakana sheathed his blades again and looked towards the sandstorm, then began walking towards it.

His trust in fate guided him, though his bravery played large part too. As he hit the sandstorm, he formed the tiger seal, and continued walking, half expecting to be trapped forever in this hellish sand, though in a short period of time he found himself on the other side of the massive wall of sand. From here on out, Sunagakure was only a short distance away.

They'd continue their travel, with the objective coming closer with every step now. Sakana propelled himself onto a building on the edge of the village, providing an overlook onto the situation in front of them while waiting for Kamui to prepare some status report for them to use. “Seems like we're late, like the Lion said,” Sakana mumbled, though it was aimed at nobody in particular. From what he could tell, there were massive jutsu going off left and right, though it was hard to tell who was who. Additionally, it seemed like the entire village had been terraformed into some massive water oasis. A good basis for his water jutsu, but less for his fire. He slowly surveyed the region before speaking up again. “Kamui, sitrep. Shizuka, Date.. any ideas?” he glanced back over his shoulder, waiting for Shizuka or Date to speak up after Kamui had given his sitrep.

The snake had successfully slithered away, and it appeared he was even able to shake that incessant Jaakuna off his tail for once. He stood in front of a hidden prison which had been made known to him through The General's intel on Iwagakure. He had interrogated the sources of this information to assure him it was not a trick. Upon arriving at facilities front door, he would enter through the front door. Very obviously.

When he opened the door he would be met with a cloud of thick black gas, thanks to his puppet Zetsumei on the roof pouring in thick black plumes of necrosis in through the ventilation system. The building would be littered with dead guards. Not even the intelligent Tsuchikage would have the knowledge of Seijuro's friend Zetsumei as he had only been built within the last few weeks and had never been used in combat before. It also helped that the Mizukage was immune to poison, another piece of intel that was very useful to his plan.

As he entered, he shut the door, keeping the black fog trapped inside. His presence would be entirely hidden from sight within the fog, allowing him to quickly maneuver to where Ocha was imprisoned. He stepped over the bodies of the old timer and the greenhorn guards on duty that had recanted Ocha's old war story. "You're quite the popular one here..." The snake hissed through his serpent skull mask.

"I'm short on time, these guards and the rest of this facility aren't going to be the only thing stopping me from getting to you, even though I'm already here. Here's the just of it-" A massive titan of a puppet appeared next to Seijuro amidst the black fog. The Third Tsuchikage looked down on Ocha with its lifeless stare. "This tool here is either going to bring you salvation or death. You are going to be traded to Konoha for information, and in return the new Hokage Shinko Omawarisan- who is nowhere near as benevolent as his brother, by the way- is going to publicly execute you for allowing two of your criminals to escape and then subsequently not informing him of it in time to protect your village. Your choices are simple, I will break this seal and you will willingly enter this puppet and come with me, or this puppet will lock itself into the ground and function as a siege weapon to annihilate you and this entire facility. If you should choose to lie to me about your choice and attack me once I free you, I will kill you where you stand. I have intel on your strengths and weaknesses; you will not survive. What will it be, Ocha Kyusu, Fifth Mizukage of the Hidden Mist?"

As soon as he was done speaking, the seal on his arms activated and two more puppets appeared, their faces obscured by the black fog. One was missing the arm, and the other was a small girl. While not necessarily daunting silhouettes like the Third Tsuchikage, these were two of Seijuro's newest puppets and were Seijuro's way of saying 'if I let you out and you double-cross me, they will kill you'. Yeah, Seijuro wasn't giving the Mizukage much of an option. He wasn't trying to play it pretty and glamorize the idea of trading one prison for another, but he wasn't given much of a choice. Death right now, coming with Seijuro, or faking coming with Seijuro followed by more death.



"So you know of me then..." The 'shark-nin' remarked as his grin almost doubled in size. The shark's widened eyes met with Kazayatsu's, their killing intent matched. He let out a hearty laugh which turned into a maniacal cackle as he clapped his hands together and in succession formed three more hand seals. His focus was solely on the Tsuchikage. His partners knew this, and were quick to react to the Chuunin-level fly buzzing around in the air. Sebun was proving himself quite useful after all, but Sano's indomitable bloodlust for the Tsuchikage was insatiable.

As the earth began to branch out into smaller pillars, before the Tsuchikage could complete his technique the shark thrust his hands forward, a massive water shark forming at his back and instantly charging forward trough the water. "Water Release: Great Shark Bullet!!" The pillars would crumble into dust as they were absorbed into the shark. Growing slightly larger from this the beast would head straight for Kazayatsu and should he dodge it or be unable to stop it in its entirety, it would continue through him and gladly claim a generous part of his village as its prey instead.

While Rumia would no doubt be dealing with the hundreds of exploding shuriken, and Kazayatsu dealt with the massive shark bullet, Samehada slithered up Sano's arm and fused into his body. The shark let out an inhuman roar before forming two hand seals in quick succession. The first activated his Mizugokoro technique, and the second would form two Water Clones, one on either side of him, forming a triangle with the original at the forefront still facing Kazayatsu. Was he going to come to Sano, or was Sano going to have to come to him? Either way, regardless of whether he defeated Kazayatsu or not, he was already accomplishing his role in the mission.



Kisuke had caught the fox's attention. This was a start, but fox's were finicky creatures. You had to continuously hold their attention as well. "Playing the ignorant follower card, eh? No clue why you're here, 'please don't kill me I'm just following orders'?" Kisuke chuckled at the concept of that thought, his eyes closed in such a carefree fashion.

He tapped the side of his head with two of his fingers with his right hand as if poking at a thought in his head. His left hand subtlety switched from the wakizashi onto the nodachi in sequence with Jaakuna placing his hand on the war fan. His eyes still closed and a quirky little smile still plastered across his face, he incessantly continued tapping against his head, now appearing to be poking the thought out of his head as it manifested itself. "You really think you know that much about my intentions already, ah? I'm just wasting my time because I have nothing better to do while Kazayatsu has bigger fish to fry.." Kisuke was quite the bold man, he had already displayed his ability to deduce a situation fairly quickly, and was now denouncing Jaakuna's own inferences, specifically the fact that he believed he knew what Kisuke's motives were.

The swordsman let out a little chuckle, maintaining his smirk as the fox let out a gust of wind from his war fan. "You have no idea what I want from you, Jaakuna Aka." If his opponent were truly as clever as a fox, he would instantly pick up on the fact that Kisuke was the only one to formally introduce himself. Jaakuna hadn't given his name, and yet Kisuke called him by name. If Jaakuna was really as perceptive as he liked to claim, he would also take note that Kisuke only appeared to be in his mid twenties at best, much too young to have any recollection of the Sannin Jaakuna from twenty something years ago. So how in the world did this man know exactly who he was fighting?

In one fluid motion Kisuke unsheathed his nodachi, grasping it backhanded with the blade facing down as he cleaved upward through the gust of wind. Part of the gust swirled into the blade and was absorbed, leaving only a tiny gust to ruffle the swordsman's black cloak. Continuing with the fluidity of his sword strike, once he was at the peak of his uppercut he would release Shinken from the awkward way he was holding the sword, allowing it to toss upward in the air, doing a quick 180 as he grabbed it with his right hand, holding it normally now. In the same motion he slashed downward, planting his back foot down for support. As the sword came down it cleaved through the flames, sending two separate fireballs to either side of him as the flames rushed past him, burning the surrounding buildings to a crisp.

As the flames parted and swirled into Shinken, Jaakuna would see Kisuke gazing directly at him, his entire demeanor having switched back to being deathly serious just as the flames gave way for him to be visible to the fox. "Tell me... Are you still sure that we're just wasting time here..?" He observed the fox's every reaction down to the smallest detail, every movement of his body down to the inflection of every syllable he spoke.

"Is that what you're doing while you're back in the world of the living, Jaakuna... wasting time?" He especially paid attention to how the fox would react to him having knowledge of this key point in Jaakuna's story. How many people could possibly possess these facts? It seemed Kisuke could see Jaakuna's hand while being the dealer, kept his own cards face down on the table.



Kai followed Kurin, Tashiri, and his incorrigible cousin Nousagi only for so long before he devised his own role in this ragtag band of Konoha Shinobi. Using the fact that he knew Amegakure wasn't too friendly toward Konoha Shinobi right now, he did not enter the village. Upon Kurin remarking that the rain they were about to enter was a sensory technique, and seeing that the rain held the same chakra as the woman who attended the Jounin exams a few weeks ago, Kai did not enter the area of Rain Tiger at Will.

"Go on ahead without me, I'll watch over you with the Byakugan. I'll locate Yogensha and monitor the situation, if you really need my help, I'll show up at the right moment, but honestly I'll be watching to see if they ambush and kill you all for being from Konoha, that way someone can report back to the village that you all died by their hands and not by those villains who attacked our home" And so Kai sat back and watched.

Just as he suspected, a group of Ninja surrounded them and escorted them. But Kai was focused on what was going on inside the tower. Once he had located Yogensha he focused on her lip movements as well as... the guy who invaded Konoha and practically blew up the forest?! He could not read their lips perfectly and thus could only get the jist of what they were saying but apparently Amegakure collected and trained orphans including one of her bodyguards and one of the acquaintances of the man known as Havoc.

Yogensha was very sickly, her movements indicated so. But it was what Havoc said that peaked Kai's interest. Something about handing over any information regarding a so-called 'Dark Continent'. Kai had only heard the phrase used to describe the land north of where Shinobi had laid claim to. What lies beyond was merely speculation and rumors as far as he had gathered. And what's more, Yogensha was simply putting on a front for the Konoha Shinobi, and she was truly engaged with the Yomigaeri in some form. This was top tier intel right here.

It was impressive, discussing stuff like this again. Most fights in the old days where like this. A good bickering just to get a feel of who you fought. All the great names did it, since killing without letting people know who did it never left a reputation. But to that extent, it was interesting to know his legend was passed on a bit past his death. After all, wouldn't Iwagakure remember him. "Old news, buddy. But I'm setting up the biggest prank of my life." He chuckled, teeth flashing at his opponent.
"Right now, you and I are just filling in the gaps of a much bigger story. I think you'll be my filler villain. I could use a few of those."

Notably it seemed Kisuke had a weapon that could absorb chakra. Since he so easily seemed to cut right through both of his attacks. That was always a fun thing, and unlike Samehade it didn't seem like Kisuke's weapon had a grudge against eating fire. At least the man seemed nice enough, still lots of chatting. "So in all honesty, the real question is this, Kisuke Sagara. What do you think we're doing? Are you setting up something bigger? Because I can tell from a glance something special about you." There was a pause as he brushed his hair aside, allowing the two to match eyes for a moment. "You're playing a game of your own, aren't you? I played fake before, and I can smell it on you. You've been at this game a long time. The way you hold yourself, the way you speak. You can fool others easy, but me? I think you and I have a bit of a thing going on~ And I like that a lot. It's actually pretty interesting picking my words right, so I don't spoil the surprise for anybody spying. But you're good. The good kind of good that makes me excited." A smile for extra measure crossed his lips.

He took a step closer, letting his fan drag along the ground. "So, because I haven't introduced myself formally... My name is Jaakuna Aka. It's nice that you know my name, cuts out some of the bullshit on having to tell you my past." He spun the handle, taking another step closer, as if he was ready to greet a friend. "I've got bigger fish to fry too. But, if we're going to play this game, then how about this for a game. You ask a question, and then I ask a question. Deal?" He didn't give Kisuke a chance to reply, since what fun was a game without a little pressure. He darted forward, striking out with his fan in small quick swipes. It all seemed, playful. "I'll start. What's your favorite color?"

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Clones - Doing something wicked...

It was a nice house. Small, didn't stick out at all and Jaakuna may have missed it if he wasn't looking for it to begin with. There was just one problem, the family living there. The house was occupied by five people at this point in time. A father, clearly in his later years judging by the stripes of white hair. Then there was the mother, who was just as old, and kinda haggy looking judging from the wrinkles and how she hunched over. And a daughter, about the age to enter the academy if she was even able. Finally, there was two clones of Jaakuna, one standing in front of them, growling with his teeth bared like a feral dog. The second was seated comfy and stretched out on the dresser as if the whole world revolved around him.
"WHERE is the cellar!" The first clone growled, holding the man off the ground with a hand. His teeth snapped in rage as the man panicked before him.
"T-There is no cellar! I swear, I don't know what you're talking about!" He pleaded, hands clutched together. "Look, I've lived here fo-"
"Twenty years, right? Well the guy who lived here first had a cellar, so where is it?" Jaakuna growled, tossing him to the floor. "Trust me, it's either you show me where the door is, or I bust your floor open!"
"You know, I think Seijuro would have been smart enough to seal it off..." The second clone said, huffing softly and rolling his eyes. "So we'll have to break the stupid floor anyway."
"Don't you dare break my floor!" The older man shouted, kicking the clone uselessly. "I will not be treated this poorly in my o-"
THWACK! The man hit the wall hard, and the crashing sound of plates and cups filled the air. "Oh shut up..." Jaakuna said, raising his hand and smashing it against the floor. Large cracks began to form along the floor, spreading slowly before another strike caused the center to cave in. The third smack broke the floor completely, and the two clones fell into a secret room. The family left on the first floor, with a hole stuck between them and the exit.

The room below was surprisingly large, as it managed to stretch well beyond the area originally set. It was the home of Seijuro for several years, plotting in secret, with plenty of puppets hidden away for him and him alone to use. Large scrolls lined the walls, But now they where probably empty. Their puppets removed and placed in a better hiding spot. But there was one puppet left of any value, and as the two clones looked around the dust filled room, they pushed aside piles of paper. Plans and design schematics for other puppets, including one of all things a schematic for a human puppet based off Jaakuna himself. Though considering all the old members of his criminal team where given similar documents, it was clear that Seijuro may have been expecting them all to die at one point.
Looking over a desk, the first clone began to unravel a set of larger scrolls. Each marked with a number counting up. 一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, and 八. Number 1-8.
"I got it." The second clone grinned from ear to ear as he picked up the largest scroll in the room. Marked for all to see was 九, exactly what they where looking for. The number marked on it was the one for nine, but the clones took whatever scrolls they could carry either way, slinging each of the nine scrolls over their back. Only the 九 scroll mattered to them, but the rest could be useful. They leapt from the hole, and vanished. Making their way as quickly as they could out of the village. And they where gone.



"Well, I guess we're moving in as a team of three." Kurin said, turning to look at Kai. He handed the Byakugan user a radio, just to make sure they could remain in contact if things went south for either team. "Nousagi, Tashiro, I'll take point." despite the team being oddly set up without a jonin captain, Kurin knew he could make it work. Shame they didn't have one, but that's just the kicks isn't it?

He kept things rather polite between himself and the border guard shinobi. Mostly explaining the situation, and receiving silence in return. In all honesty, he knew why. Nobody liked having the safety of their village questioned, especially by a Hokage who couldn't protect his own. But as things where, it was best not to push matters more than they had to. He gestured for the others to follow along, making note that the pace was fairly simple. Nothing too fast, suggesting there was no urgency, but faster than a leisurely stroll, suggesting they had some reason to be moving. Either because they wanted to get this over with... Or... He decided not to think too hard on it.

Nousagi though was the most aware of the group. His eyes where active, gazing ahead of the group to make sure there was no ambush. And yet... He noticed something before the others. "Tashiro, you where there fighting the terrorists, correct?" He kept it... Civil, so nobody thought too much of his question. "Tell me, what kind of men did you fight? I heard they wore black uniforms, with skulls on them. Kind of childish to be honest. And what about a fan? I heard one of them had a fan on his person." He was leading Tash on, knowing that if Tash corrected him, and mentioned an umbrella instead... Well, with his eyes, he could tell from a great distance that Yogensha was in a meeting. When the Black Ops shinobi came, they had to increase the pace. So as his eyes narrowed in, he caught snippets of their conversation.
'I fought one of your companions- I had made it evident I have no interesting in the conflict between your group- I offered them the ability to come talk and discuss with me at any time.'
Interesting, but for now there was no point to jump any bridges... But the Hokage would be interested. Nousagi followed Tashiro up the tower, pulling his focus back just a bit. Judging from the state of Yogensha's heart, she wasn't afraid, instead... He suspected some kind of calmness... Planning. But it was clear that their arrival would breed conflict. May as well cut their conversation shorter...

Kurin was the first into the room, Nousagi to his right. From the odd wink from the Hyuuga he knew something was wrong. A morse code of speaking, so he wasn't surprised to see members of the terrorist cell when he stepped in. He raised a hand, and it began to splinter and grow. Already ripping the bandages of his arm apart and slamming into the two doors. The twisting metal wrapped around the sudden growth, which forced them easily apart. A hole opening up wide enough for the three to step in. "You know, you could allow us the moment of greetings before attacking." Kurin said, before looking over to the Lady Yogensha and her two aides. "Sorry for the arrival, the Hokage asked us to speak with you. I was unaware you had guests already. We would have gladly waited outside for our turn."

"Nousagi, take the swordsman with Tashiro. I'll see what I can do to keep this encounter brief." Kurin said, a direct order to his two allies. Hopefully both Amegakure and Konohagakure could work together on this, but... He figured it was better than nothing. At least they had the number advantage. "If you surrender and lay down your arms, I'm sure we can discuss some kind of arrangement and a proper trial for your crimes."




Ocha was seated comfortably as the shinobi began to die in front of him. Their corpses falling to the ground, spasming out as life left their bodies. And the seal that kept his power restrained died with them. Clever Tsuchikage. That idea that if somebody tried to show up and kidnap him that he should be more than capable of fighting back. He clasped his hands together, well before Seijuro entered the building. Slowly a mist began to seep from his body, vanishing and mixing in the poison cloud that filled the entire building. That was just enough of what he needed. Because by the time Seijuro stepped in, whatever he had in mind was... Meaningless. Since he now entered a world where Ocha himself was in charge.

Seijuro was a puppet, that much was clear at a glance. Judging merely from the creaking of his joints, and just the smell of him. The Ocha Kyusu he met in his cell was rather relaxed, smiling even at the dead who littered the floor. He didn't seemed scared, in fact he seemed amused. Though in a way it helped that such things where a frequent occurrence for him. He'd never manage to count on ten hands the number of times he'd been met with would be assassins or others who claimed some kind of greater claim over him. He drummed his fingers together, and kept his eyes on Seijuro as he spoke. "Well... That's clearly a tricky situation." He said, leaning forward. "Either I go along willingly, or you kill me. Mind I ask what you even want of me first? After all, if you're merely holding me hostage for something I'm not interested. If you have something else planned, I do have a morbid curiosity. Since I'm more than aware that Sano is a part of your gang."

It may take Seijuro a moment, but they had met before. Briefly, and long ago back when Ocha worked under Sano. He was his bodyguard, having operated for the previous Mizukage, and then for Sano when the tides had turned. Being close to the man in charge had given Ocha a few, albeit brief chances to meet the mastermind behind the last great shinobi war. Ocha himself having done a fair amount of research following Seijuro's death, so he wasn't surprised by this whole ordeal. "You see, I'm rather busy. I have a village to run, and I don't plan to be in Iwagakure much longer. My original plan was to walk out, but you've complicated that a little. So, to keep things brief, tell me what exactly you want of me, and you can be out of this village without a wasted effort. I appreciate it so much more when others come to a better understanding of each other."

Ocha stood up, and pressed his hand against the cell door. Easily he pushed it aside, looking the puppet master in the eyes. "You are a smart man after all. There is no point in killing me, and I've no interest in sitting in a cage without reason."

Standing there listening to The General made Bakuto's blood boil. At first Bakuto was amused at the notion that he believed just simply poisoning something he was about to eat or drink would be enough to kill him. Bakuto turned to follow the General commenting on how he will die and what it will mean, "I may die protecting my people but as for becoming weak over the years of peace you know nothing of this village. How do you think I got to my stature of Raikage the first one since the annex ever since the Third Raikage signed our village away to the Mist? So lets go to the field on the outskirts of town and there this will all be decided."

Bakuto made his way out of the cafe after the General, signalling for the Kumo's shinobi to stay out of this. Even his clones backed off but Bakuto didnt end the jutsu keeping the clones together as they could still be of some use later. Bakuto then asks calmly as he does as the General told him to do for now, "So is your little friend coming as well? I assume if you fail she is your contingency plan? That or whatever you used to create those explosions. I guess we will see when we get there"

He knew very well he was out numbered and he knew this group had already murdered the Hokage of the leaf. If he wasnt on his guard he knew he too might end up like the now former Hokage. The General had fought the previous Raikage but Bakuto never got to see this in person nor was he ever part of the war itself that made Gozubura so famous. Bakuto's at that disadvantage and advantage of this while he did know personally what Gozubura could do but the same could be said the other way around. Their experience in battle Bakuto lacks what the General has but Bakuto has youth. Maybe the Raikage's youth, unique techniques and unorthodox fighting styles will help him against a Gorubura and maybe against the girl he has on his side. The latter of which Bakuto knew nothing of this girl.

Yui Matou a mystery to Bakuto and which worried him a bit more than the opposing threat that the General was. Bakuto could also assume she was on an equal level to Gorubura to be his partner in taking on a kage. Gorubura killed many on his way out of the village with the show of his terrible jutsu if he could do that what could this girl do. Bakuto had to assume she would be next in line to fight should the General fail to kill him. Bakuto wondered if the allies for the special task force had reserved the message about this attack, and how long does he have to hold these two off for before anyone can arrive if they were coming to help.

Bakuto's four Clones sat back waiting for a signal to act but listening for a signal from the original. For now they seemed to be just siting doing nothing. Most likely they are going to follow the original to keep close should they be needed. As Bakuto gets ready to leave with the General Gorubura.
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Grumbling a bit when asked questions about his fight against this rogue shinobi group eventually answering, "I fought against them yeh. Met two one with an umbrella the other was...the one that killed Lord Hokage ..." Tashiro trailing off getting as he reminded himself who he really faced back in the forest of death. His goal was to get strong enough so he can fight and defeat Jaakuna Aka one day with his own hands and sword.

As they got to the top of the tower it took Tashiro a moment to register who was all at the top of the tower. First the Amekage of course but the other was....Havoc!

The instant Tashiro saw him he draws his sword and the moment it is out the sword lights up with blue chakra and water instantly starts to form his water saw jutsu. Tashiro didnt even hesitate as he drew upon the water in the air of the rain village. A place where it rained so much made it too easy for Tashiro to form the water saw's shape with ease within ten seconds he had the water needed he needed a just a moment to get the sword up to cutting speed to make it into a saw made of water.

"You again...fought my teammate last time this time you fight me..." Tashiro was motivated at a second chance to fight this man even though he never had a chance to fight him thanks to Jaakuna Aka. Hime fought him though and rumor was she hit him so Tashiro was going to do anything he must to stop this man should he have to.

Kaba stared ahead aimlessly among the crowd of people of varying origin. Ever since the attack on Konoha, an aura of sadness afflicted the village. Many innocents lose their lives that day, including some that Kaba personally knew. Most hurtful was the loss of their Hokage. The fact that the Hokage was killed effected Kaba in a way that made him feel almost personally responsible. He felt as if he and his colleagues should have done a better job in protecting Konoha and its innocent inhabitants; especially their prideful leader. He knew he would need to now push his limits. The perpetrators had successfully escaped after initiating turmoil throughout the shinobi world. Kaba knew it certainly would not be the last time he would face the strange foes.

He wanted to use the recent failure as fuel for future growth for the sake of his clan, and for the sake of Konoha. But this newfound motivation wouldn't last long. To everyone's surprise a figure stood and revealed himself before everyone. The man was eerily similar to their fallen Hokage, and led Kaba to believe that they were possibly being toyed with. What was even more surprising was that the man suddenly began to read the names of the newly promoted Jounin. Kaba intently waited for his name to be uttered, but it was not. Once Shinko seemingly revealed the last shinobi to be promoted, the rest of his words became a jumbled mess to Kaba.

The barrier shinobi's head dropped, and his eyes were now burning a hole in his lap. After convincing himself to be motivated to push himself, the news brought him crashing back down. Unfortunately, he had been sitting next to his grandfather, Yagura Joukaku, the current head of the clan. Kaba didn't even have to move his head or eyes to know that the asshole was looking down upon him. He had failed again, and now he possibly had lost his chance to take over his clan and change it's outlook. Once the activities were complete, Kaba did not head home. He disappeared from the area almost instantly and isolated himself. A sweeping darkness entered his body, and his mood formed into somewhat of a depressed one. He had trained intensely for the exams but still ultimately failed. At this point, Kaba questioned if he should continue to practice as a shinobi...



Weeks had passed and Kaba's mood has not changed. He attempted to take on a few easy missions to get out of his funk, but nothing worked. He barely trained since the revelation of his failure and was closer than ever to just quitting and leaving the village altogether. To his shock, his grandfather hadn't said one word to him since that day. In fact, Kaba barely saw the man despite the fact they were often near each other. However, he wouldn't complain. He almost enjoyed his new antisocial life and was growing more comfortable with being alone as the days passed.

At that moment, Kaba sat upright in his bed reading a book detailing specialized ninjutsu, particularly Jikukan Ninjutsu, something he was quite interested in which was ironic, considering he had barely trained to hone his own jutsu in weeks. As he flipped a page, a figure appeared seemingly out of thin air within his room. It was the same man who revealed himself at the Hokage's funeral. As he noticed who it was, Kaba immediately exited his bed to pay proper respects to his new Hokage. The man exuded a similar presence to the previous Leader of the Leaf but there was an obvious difference. As Shinko revealed why he was suddenly standing before Kaba, the boy's eyes widened with shock. He was being sent to Kumogakure as a part of a special forces unit due to his interaction and experience with the foes who ravaged Konoha.

The news didn't completely knock him out of his funk but he was honored to be given the chance. Maybe he would encounter the evil shinobi once more and gain a chance to exercise his demons? A part of him secretly hoped not. Even so, Kaba wasted no time bowing to the Hokage before his clone dispersed. "Certainly, Lord Hokage. Thank you." Kaba began to gather his supplies and change into his usual gear. Just as he was finishing, Kiku appeared at his residence to retrieve him for the mission ahead. She was another fellow lead shinobi he had classes with but never interacted with enough to known much about. However, he was sure they'd become acquainted soon, as well as the other two that he now found himself teamed up with. In another moment, the group was at the gate and Kaba was ready to depart. He had barely said anything to the other 3, still in a gloomy mood but he would try his best to be a great comrade so that they succeed by any means. The barrier-nin stood waiting for the Kumo native to lead the way.