In the Valley of the Shadow of Death

[Azure]

There were few things that could spook a man of wisdom and optimism, who had the power to twist the world’s tidings if he saw fit. But as he stood on the edge of Kusagakure no Sato, peering across the division line of life and death in the five kilometer radius with his Byakugan eyes, Hyuuga Yatako was afraid. He could feel the every heartbeat in his chest and could recount every one of them in the wordless moments he stood gazing into the barren field where the Village Hidden in the Grass once stood. Could the yokai had done this? The ones who had attacked Metroplois were feral, but this scene depicted a structurally untouched village with every morsel of green and life sucked dry. The buildings still stood only with minor heat damage as if a fire had washed the village but left no ash. “Empty, Master Hokage.” A small blackbird dropped from the sky and perched on Yatako’s shoulder. No one, from what his summon could tell was still in the village. A village was a sprawling place, there was always a chance someone might be hiding- but a whole village? No bodies and no scent of anyone.

Yatako and the Iwagakure guard had landed in the Country of Grass and traveled by foot towards Kusagakure after his birds had reported a disturbing message. Kusagakure had been destroyed. Regardless of tracking Syaoran, it was his duty of Hokage to investigate this and a Hidden Village was most likely to house the Alchem. It was the best place to start looking. He had to look upon this disaster with his own eyes and say his own prayer for the missing lives. “The reports of Ikasama Isalnd after Syaoran had fought General Rakurai remind me of this.” He finally spoke, turning his attention to the two men who followed him in search of their Kage. “We he and I originally went there, we destroyed the NCIA base, the only structure there. Yet…from the reports I got, the landscape was obliterated, this is untouched. It may look Alchem wrought, but the five kilometer radius proves that the chaos was controlled.” People might start suspecting Alchem though and gossip spreads like wildfire. It was an unsettling notion, but certainly a possibility. He doubted the Bijuu was behind this, he had plenty of opportunities to siphon control of Iwagakure, there was no need to destroy the peaceful nation of Kusagakure. Even an arrogant fool would know that would be suicide. The Bijuu was smarter than that, he could be reasoned with and this certainly was not reasonable.

If this wasn’t due to the nature of one of the Kage or Hachinin, who else had this power? Though, betrayal was much more disturbing to him than a new unknown. But the variables were known in betrayal. “Not a natural disaster.” He noted, knowing that nature too was uncontrollable. This phenomenon hadn’t been recorded before, neither had yokai. But yokai were kept secrets and society had repressed that knowledge. His quick scan of the Byukaguan had rendered unsettling news. All the chakra was wiped clean of the area. Even dead things held miniscule amounts of chakra, but nothing here radiated even the slightest bit. “If a jutsu was used, you would think some chakra would have been left as a residue, but there’s nothing. If our friend is here though, maybe I can get his attention if his memory is good. When we first went to Ikasama island, we would communicate through tremors.” It was a very crude language, much worse than Morse code but it had seemed to work. With a single seal, Yatako knelt down and placed his finger on the dry grass.

A small hole cracked upon when he touched it and released a small tremor sparking out beneath the ground. The tremor, while slight would reach far and wide and even though Hara no Kuni was on the border with Tschi no Kuni, Kusagakure no Sato was far enough away to make a tremor seem peculiar and unmistakable.

[cntrstrk14]

Ken'ichi and Sakuya had followed the Hokage in relative silence, the two only giving thoughtful looks to each other. The trip had its small talk, but once they arrived at the devastation of the Kusagakure no Sato they had both been mute. Ken'ichi looked like he was fighting between waves of anger and sorrow as he kept looking at the wildlife where people once walked. Sakuya's face was a stone, no emotion leaking out. Both waited for the Hokage to make the next move.

-----

In the center of Kusagakure no Sato, atop what use to be the Harakage's Tree, sat Syaoran with his legs crossed and fingers pressed against each other in deep thought. He had arrived instantly only to find something that his worst nightmares could not suppress. It was only minutes here until the Alchem had regained control of his body, it seemed that something had caused the Bijuu to relinquish control at least for a time. Syaoran was not naive enough to think he had won, but it seemed that the tailed beast had decided to not fight at this moment. Maybe he was waiting, somewhere deep inside, for Syaoran to puzzle this out. It may simply be another plot to use him. Either way, Syaoran was hours beyond that line of thought as he sat with his eyes closed amiss all this void. His thoughts were many and deep, and he was finding himself slowly being buried by the consequences of his inaction. He could not have known what would happen, but something obviously had. It was too late now, but he couldn't help but feel the mountain on his shoulders getting heavier. Grief threatened to overtake him as he thought of all the families that had called this home. Lily and Kia were in his mind and he forced himself to not think of Raz. Maybe he would be spared, it was impossible to tell who had been in the village during the disaster. Maybe he would be spared, no matter how many had not maybe he would be.

A small tremor would pass across the surface of Syaoran's consciousness. It was unnatural here, the Iwagakure ninja knew that all too well. He had expected Yatako to follow, the man was not one to give up easily, a good trait in a friend. However, Syaoran hesitated for a moment. He was not sure if he wanted to be found just yet. He was not hiding however, Yatako's Byakugan eyes would find him if he looked hard enough. Regardless, Syaoran would channel the smallest tremor through the tree, alerting Yatako that he was indeed close. He would let the other man take however long he wanted to find him as Syaoran went back to thinking.

[Azure]

Yatako waited quietly for a reaction- if any. But it was not like he was even waiting at all, more like his attention had switched back to the horrifying scene before him. What of the Harakage? Of Korin? He sighed, realizing that Raz would probably wonder the same thought, ardent with worry if his toads had lost communication with him. The Hokage wouldn’t be alone for long, he guessed- and maybe that was for the best, depending on what he found here. One Hachinin was missing, one would be unstable, and another was with a demon in him. This didn’t bode well.

The return came in the form of a tremor as well, which came as a severe relief to the man. Flashing on his bloodline, Yatako was able to spy the embodiment of an all familiar chakra within the dead village. It was exactly Syaoran’s and while it didn’t appear to be spliced with the Bijuu’s power, the demon did suppress his chakra once while in control of the Alchem. Yatako waved his hand forward, signaling them to follow as crossed the line between things living and things dead.

If Syaoran wished for a few extra moments not be found, the universe would kind in granting his desire. His Byakugan picked up something remarkable roaming through the dead village. Though it had been deprived of chakra, there was still something alive but not Syaoran roaming the village. Changing his course without consulting the two Iwagakure ninja, Yatako would arrive outside of what appeared to be a living establishment. Scorch marks licked the foundation wood and the place already looked dismal at best. Compared to the other abandoned buildings, this was the poorest upkept, which Yatako figured it might have been an orphanage. The strange thing was- outside of the orphanage was a flickering figure of an elderly man in robes with a flowing beard kneeling as if embracing children running to him. “Ghosts. Or something like it. It’s made of chakra…and natural energy.” It was as if the elderly man had been knit into the tapestry the world’s energy entirely. Usually ninja manipulated chakra or natural energy and combining them through the conduit of a body. This was already existing , an anomaly unknown. Then the man faded away, but when Yatako opened his Byakugan to see its trail, he saw a distorted figure of the man breaking apart and phasing from one spot to another, like the energy was unstable and being bounced around randomly. Shaking his head to try and free himself of the images, he resumed the target on Syaoran’s chakra. "Come on, it's not too far." They meandered through the dead village until coming to the chopped Harakage tree where the body of Syaoran sat.

The Hokage held out his arms, as if holding back the two Iwagakure ninja so they wouldn’t charge up to their Kage. “Syaoran. Which one is this?” He called out, waiting for the man to respond before mentally deciding which personality he was dealing with. He had hoped even if the Bijuu was mimicking Syaoran, there was small details that would give it away. Regardless, this man looked troubled, over more than this scorched scenery.

[Lemon]

The grasses crackled beneath the soles of Mizujin's feet as he slowly made his way down the barren, dead streets of Kusagakure. The dead foliage had blown into the streets, the once lush landscape looked like it had the life sucked right out of it. The young Uchiha remained silent as his cold blue eyes idly scanned the abandoned village, searching hopelessly for signs of life, for a survivor to make some sense out of all the carnage.

He idly adjusted the shinobi mask that covers the bottom half of his face while walking along the bank of a small stream, trying to plot his next course of action. He had spontaneously fled Iwagakure after the attack by the yokai , driven by his instinct to find the truth behind the recent catastrophe as well as his urge to release the seal on his eyes.

"That fucking monster" Mizujin mumbled, his words coming out as more of a growl. With the clarity of his sharingan he would be able to piece the puzzle together and hopefully discover the cause of Kusagakure's demise. "I've never heard of a technique capable of such widespread destruction... How could this have happened right under their noses?" The smaller Hidden Villages were always messing with powers beyond their control. Had a shinobi attempted to wield a jutsu of this magnitude in the center of Konoha, Mizujin was sure the Uchiha's police force would have stopped it.

His thoughts were interupted by a slight tremor that ran through the ground and sent ripples over the deathly still water of the stream. "Weird..." It was the second geological anomally within the few hours Mizujin had been around Kusa, and it was not something that usually happened in the area. His eyes turned to the burnt husk of the Harakage's tree looming over the village. The tree was the center of the 'dead circle', and he had a feeling there were answers to be found there. He took a swift step into the water and vanished with a splash, reappearing seated atop a fountain near the Harakage's tree. WIth a quick sweep of his hand he moved his wet hair out of his eyes and peered up at the top of the tree where the Tsuchikage was seated.

"Just the man I was looking for." Narrowing his eyes he stared inquisitively at Syaoran's face. He sensed no strange chakra, but his skill as a sensor was severely limited without his bloodline. "Or should I say demon?" Mizujin tilted his head, still studying the Alchem. Syaoran looked worried, and wasn't displaying the arrogance the bijuu had earlier. Mizujin hoped his intuition was right, the Tsuchikage would be more easily reasoned with than an apparation of evil.

[cntrstrk14]

Syaoran would open his eyes as Yatako spoke, looking down at his old friend with emerald green eyes. He would let out a single hollow laugh as he closed his eyes again, not leaving his sitting position. He was in unmarked clothing, his Tsuchikage robe gone and a simple black ninja vest that could be from any village. His green goggles were hanging around his neck.

"Even if I were to give you an answer, would you be able to believe it at this point?", Syaoran said softly, his hands clasped together as he continued to think things over. Ken'ichi and Sakuya were with him, Syaoran did not expect the two of them to come along as well. Of course, they probably felt responsible for him given their task for the festival. The relationship between them was... hard to put into words. More like rivals than comrades. Syaoran was younger than them, but he had exceeded their skill in a short time and even become Tsuchikage. Neither of them were weak though, they were strong members for the village and either could make Syaoran fight seriously if it came to that. Maybe it was better they came along, Syaoran was not sure how Yatako had matured over the last few years but the Bijuu could run a bit wild when he was in control. The near limitless chakra of the beast along with Syaoran's abilities created a rather formidable match. Of course, Syaoran couldn't tap into that without the beast being in full control. Power was not worth anything unless you could control it.

Mizujin appearing as well was less surprising, as Syaoran assumed he came with Yatako. This place was about to get noisy, and Syaoran was not sure that was for the best. But was there a real way to prevent it? They were on the cusp of a change in the world, for good or bad. Like Yatako, Syaoran found answering the question of 'man or beast' pointless because the answer was impossible to be certain of. It was like riddles he read as a child. Instead, he changed the direction of the conversation.

"Have you seen them? The reflections?", he asked suddenly, not moving from his meditative state.

[Azure]

Yatako smiled up warmly to his old friend. The hollow laugh Syaoran let out was filled with enough for this Hyuuga to pick up on. “Yes, I could. The Bijuu would be much less self defeating.” Yatako insisted, believing that the power of observation could overrule a façade and find the truth in any situation, or something close to it. An ignorant Hyuuga left their power of observation solely in their eyes, but a wise one knew to look deeper.

Both Kage were out of their ceremonial clothing and while Yatako still wore robes, they were black and plain but knitted with an almost impossible durability. The only regalia that planted him as Konohagakure shinobi was the village emblem crested on the headband covering his curse mark. His alabaster eyes shifted to Mizujin as he showed up, which Yatako figured was to get his blood seal undone, or for revenge- maybe even both. “Mizujin, as your Hokage, I forbid any engagement with Syaoran in any form. We’ll get your blood seal released, I promise you, but I fear how much time we have alone.” I’d hate to see him leave in a body bag. Everyone was on endge, confused and probably scared. Predictability of behavior was now less reliable than ever and the chance of something wild happening was too high for liking. If he were to try anything, aside from Syaoran or the Bijuu there was still Ken’ichi and Sakuya, who would probably pounce like bears on him. As morbid and harsh as it felt to think it, even as his Hokage, Yatako objective solve the grave puzzle before them, not start a battle.

“Yes. I’ve seen them, they’re like phantom limbs only you can actually see them.” Whatever they meant, it wasn’t a good sign. Things were going to change and it was irreversible, Yatako sensed it. The yokai running around, a whole shinobi village annihilated- it was like the universe had collaborated a nightmare in retribution for these Kage declaring peace amongst warring ninja.

“Aside from them, there is no chakra or natural energy in this place, not even trace amounts. Even a barren desert would have some, meaning under any observations man has made, this is unnatural. What’s more, I’ve had an assumption that the yokai attacked Metropolis because of the dense chakra resonance. They seemed focused on individuals with high chakra and now two of them are standing here like a lighthouse in the dark. If anyone else follows the trail back here…well it’ll be sharks to an open wound.”

As long as they didn’t use a profound amount of energy, they should be fine. There was a gamble taken with the tremors the two men had used to sonar each other, but hopefully they were too small for alert. “Do you know why you came here?” Yatako posed to Syaoran, wondering if it was more than just curiosity to the Bijuu. The Hokage figured Syaoran wouldn’t be meditating here out of mere curiosity- as a scientist, he would be testing or thinking somewhere safer.

[cntrstrk14]

Syaoran would give a small laugh and shake his head.

"We don't know if this is natural or not. As you said, you can find chakra everywhere, people are not the only thing to hold it. I've never seen anything like this on a scale so large, but we only have about 500 years of history that was reasonably recorded. This could have happened in the past, it could be a natural event. We just don't have the data.", he said softly, looking down at his hands. "I don't believe it was natural, but it can't be ruled out with what we know."

"As for the danger, you can probably tell how much under wraps I am keeping mine.", he said as he lifted a hand to the bridge of his nose and rubbed it, he was developing a headache. Aside from the small tremor, all of Syaoran's energy had stayed wrapped up as far as he could manage. His bloodline didn't ever allow him to hide his chakra completely, but he knew how to keep himself from accessing it when he needed to. Looking down at the four of them for the first time and actually seeing them he gave a small smile to Ken'ichi and Sakuya. They both still looked grave, but they nodded acknowledgement. They were both as aware of the situation as Yatako, though what they would do in a battle was still unknown.

"As for why I am here...", Syaoran thought about it for a moment. He knew what the demon had thought when it decided to take the route here. The concept was actually rather terrifying for him to think about, and sitting here he could not confirm or deny it. This event, the way it was done and the precision to which it was taken out pointed to one very scary fact.

"Whatever this was, it looks like a textbook molecular inversion but on base elemental parturition- which is impossible. Euclidean space has been broken, Levi-Civita connection specifies that the connection on the tangent bundle of a manifold must always have been contingent, but the polynomial bisector is crossing threefold- which might explain the reflections.", Syaoran paused for a moment, growing silent and thinking deeply. "I can't say, there is too much going on here. It's hard to even comprehend the depth at which this has occurred. If Euclidean space was broken here, the detonation might not have even existed in our reality."

[Azure]

Yatako believed himself to be a fairly intelligent man, who could hold his own in the most basic understanding in any scholar circle. When Syaoran showed off his stupendous lingo though, even the Hyuuga felt lost, as if his entire vocabulary was now foreign in the presence of such dense terms. From what he gathered, space had broken space which impeded on the law that stated that all matter should probably remain where they are, lest the entire fabric of existence fall apart. Life was so fragile if you looked at it such a way, but apparently everything wasn’t unhanded for breaking the rule. Demons just poured out of ever faucet. “With parallel universes?” Yatako had always found it more interesting that people considered the presence of multiple universes than divine beings.

“Regardless, I’ve done some research to these events happening on the records of past generations and civilizations. Legend says that strange, dark creatures of all sorts of sizes and shapes once walked the earth. They were like sentient beasts, but not quite that of summons but the ancient people saw that they performed what seemed to be religious rites towards ‘The Tenth-Heaven Eye’, which I think was the Ten-tails Juubi. The yokai were here before…and then disappeared.”

Yatako would have molded a fine chair of stone to sit in, but he feared the miniscule craft of chakra might become dire. Instead, the Hokage folded his legs and sat, as if he were going to meditate. “Now they’ve arrived back. To me it looks like the only explanation of such a perfect execution of this altered molecular pattern would be: a deity, an immortal who spent centuries studying and experimenting or an Alchem.” Yatako was careful to watch Syaoran’s reaction of considering his family, who (to Yatako’s knowledge) had been wiped out for all but Sanji and Syaoran and now Lily.

[cntrstrk14]

Syaoran would reach a hand up and rub the bridge of his nose as his face fell to a grimace.

"You know as well as I do that the Alchem are not the only users of alchemy on the face of the planet. You are speaking about fairy tales and children's stories, I know the histories as well. There is no proof of these creatures existence in the past, they very well could be a re-occurance or they could be a new creation in the likeliness of the stories to lead us to believe that. If this is natural, I tend to agree that it may be a cycle, but if this is a man made creation we need to be careful to not fall into the logical mind traps that have been set for us. Nothing is certain!", he said, his voice raising as he came to the end until he slammed his fist down into the building. He was not a Taijutsu user, but the way the pavement gave slight way to his fist was just a sign of the power of a kage no matter their specialty. Taking another breath to calm himself he would speak again, this time emerald eyes on fire meeting Yatako's.

"I apologize, I've had a harder time keeping my temper in check. The fact of the matter is that there is too much uncertainty here. Focusing back on the "ghosts", I wouldn't consider parallel universes at this point. Our reality is not as linear as we believe, and much more malleable. A force of this size has left much damage impressed across the fourth dimension at specific third dimension locations. The people you see are people that existed here, in our timeline. Their chakra, at ground zero, was impressed upon various locations in the fourth dimension and reverberated for an undetermined amount. As we progress through time at our constant rate, we come across these impressions and to use they appear as these looping ghosts. If you watch a single location, you will notice that the same imprint will occur at a locked time interval. For instance, this one.", Syaoran said as he gestured to the square in front of them as a series of young men in Kusagakure no Sato Jounin vests appeared in their blue ghostly image. They were totally silent as they moved, two laughing as another talked their way across the clearing. Then they were gone with a burst as the flicker disappeared.

"That illusions happens ever one thousand one hundred and twenty three seconds, or every 18 minutes and 43 seconds. Each illusion has its own time frame, but it is occurring consistently. In layman's terms, its like if you were listening to an old record. If you took that record and drew a line with a knife from the center out to the edge, it would skip at precisely the same point every rotation. That is vaguely the same type of damage that was sent across our continuum.", Syaoran ended, returning to his meditative state. He took a moment and looked towards the two Jounin men that had come with Yatako. His eyes locked with each of them before nodding.

"I suppose you two came to confirm what you already expected. Teluum-Falcon, Three-Four-Seven. As of this point I relinquish all titles and positions held within Tsuchi no Kuni to the Iwagakure no Sato Council, until the Council decides to return them.", he said with a small sigh and a smile. Sakuya and Ken'ichi both nodded, their faces still solemn slates of stone. Ken'ichi winced the tiniest bit as Syaoran recited the code, but it was gone as soon as it was there. Without a word, they both disappeared.

[Azure]

As Syaoran’s face grew sour, the Hokage knew that he was treading on hot water, but frankly he didn’t have the luxury to care. In this situation, he was prepared to examine all likely possibilities, even if it were into the tender territory of a slaughtered family. “Nothing is certain.” Yatako agreed with a tight growl to return the fire spit retort Syaoran dished out. Even were Yatako a paragon of patience, that wasn’t to say it wasn’t infinite, nor that it wouldn’t wane to annoyance. “But my friend, I’m not without evidence.”

Yatako’s fingers plunged into his robe and fished around a bit before producing a gold koban coin. Luckily these weren’t the currency or he would feel really silly producing money as proof of yokai prior existence. The coin itself didn’t appear strange, but as he turned it over in his hand, one side had written “luck” while the other said “fate”. “When I arrived in Iwagakure, I said I said something to discuss with you and I thought it could wait until after the festivities. Although one bit of evidence may not be enough, it’s the only thing we have. This I received from a yokai before leaving the Country of Fire. Before any of this began. Try hard enough and you’ll know the chakra in this coin is akin to the yokai we encountered last night, I can attest that with my own eyes. It called itself a lesser spirit, claiming that his kind roamed the planet before. Judging that they can be intelligent, I can’t help but wonder if the ones we encountered acted as a scared human would do: something rash, dumb and desperate.” Yatako flipped coin in the air, which appeared to be the only shining thing in this dismal town. The coin echoed much louder than a coin ever should in a village, due to the nature of the silence. Landing again in his hand, “luck” had shown face up. “Maneki told one more thing: that there was an Alchemist wandering about, probably looking for the remaining yokai. His apprehension made me believe that ‘dangerous’ would be a kind description of the Alchemist. So when I saw Kia alive again…I didn’t believe you would have, but I needed to be sure.”

Yatako met Syaoran’s fire eyes with his pearl eyes of stone. There was tension mounting for everyone involved, but at least Yatako didn’t have a demon inside of him, that was always a plus. The blue ghostly images moving about of the Kusagakure citizens were disturbing to say the least. Syaoran believed that these illusions were a result of time skipping among itself, or trying to correct itself with the bits of data it once had. A line hard crinkled across the Hyuuga’s brow as he began to contemplate this again. These were two incidents, possibly related but now there were two results. His white eyes drifted around his surrounding, honing his telescopic eyes to peer around the village. “No bodies, or evidence of ash. It’s like there was a mass kidnapping, though there is no sign of resistance. It’s almost like this detonation had absorbed as essence of life itself.” The implications of that was even more frightening. If life force could be targeted, then it could no doubt be used as an energy source and mined or harnessed.

The Hokage remained silent as Syaoran recited an Iwagakurean code that stripped him of all titles and power- at least he assumed. Perhaps Syaoran realized that as long as the bijuu was inside of him, it could have unlimited access to the shinobi of Iwa and command them how it will. Yatako’s throat suddenly felt dry- did Syaoran think it impossible to dissect himself of the demon? Or perhaps the Alchem thought there was another reason…or he intended to keep the bijuu. At this, Yatako turned to Mizujin, “As ANBU, you are sworn to secrecy upon penalty of death. Ambiguity will not be tolerated, suspicion of treason alone will be dealt with severe repercussions. Mizujin, leave us for a moment, locate anything suspicious and make sure nothing is lurking.” The promotions was unorthodox, yes, but Yatako had no other choice. No normal shinobi without explicit bondage to their country should be witness to this. Now, he turned back to Syaoran, his eyes et and hard with an unapologetic look across his face. He stood now, swinging his arms and crossing them under his chest.

“Your control won’t last forever, I would rather discuss what you’re going to do with this bijuu inside of you before I lose you again and have to take matter in my own hands again.”

[cntrstrk14]

The Alchem would give a mirthless laugh at the final question, his eyes moving to Mizushin before the young man could leave and then deciding it didn't matter anymore what the Uchiha heard between them.

"I feel the more appropriate answer would be 'what does he plan to do with me'.", he said standing finally.

"You know me, Yatako. Few people really do. There are many alchemists in the world, though I like to think none as powerful or knowledgeable as the Alchem. Though even among the Alchem, I am not an ordinary case as I am sure you can imagine. If all the Alchem came to the point I am now at they hardly would have been wiped out like they were. Though even so, I've spent many sleepless nights wondering if it was not all for the better. I am not a believer of deities... but sometimes I wonder if there wasn't a more intelligent hand that removed my family from the face of the earth for a reason. The power we have is not meant for humans, we are not something that should exist in the natural world. Sanji... cannot reproduce. When I learned this, I had decided then and there that I would not either. However, fate has a way to change that as you know, and now that Lily exists I do not have the power to finish the job that fate could not.", he said this with a sad chuckle. He was done dancing around it, with only the three of them there he was not afraid to admit his true intentions. The thing he had been hiding from himself and others.

"I have kept a close check on myself and Sanji, on what we do and allow ourselves to do. We may not seem like it, but we have a strict moral code that we stay to. However... we are not the only Alchem who survived the slaughter. There is one other who was banished from the village twenty two years ago that I believe still survives, though I have no evidence to say either way. He is not held by any moral code, and the amount that he has learned is unknown. He could be a simply man making his way through life doing simple tasks aided with alchemy... or he could be beyond even my knowledge of the arts. He has many years of study on me, but the potential also has to be there.", Syaoran took a moment to pause here, considering his next words.

"You asked what I was going to do with the bijuu. I refuse to turn it over to another innocent, no matter the conditions. I am going to take this power and I am going to use it to rein in my clan. That is my responsibility as clan head. And I hope that if the time comes where you do need to step in that you do."

[Terrick Sukrai]

"Pray then that he would be the ONLY one to need to... But I doubt the demon inside of you would let it be that easy," came Terrick's voice. As the Kusa-nin stepped into view, it was clear that not all of those who had dwelt in the village were gone. The man still wore his cloak, masks, claws and jounin vest, but even with these hiding his features, there was a slight haggardness to his movements which indicated that he wasn't there to fight, and that he hadn't been idle during this strange time. Still, he was alert, since even though Terrick knew OF the other Hachi-nin besides Raz and Korin, he couldn't recall being near these ones and thus didn't know what they were like except through stories.

"Pardon the intrusion, but then you are still technically in our home... or at least what's left of it. Things are a little hectic at the moment..."

[Azure]

The sound of the earth shattering was not akin to a large tremor splicing apart the lands and seas itself, but rather the tiny and silent realization that your dreaded hypotheses were, actually, validated. IT was true, Yatako knew Syaoran, to the point where he knew that there was seldom the chance that the bijuu’s chakra was inside of Syaoran by accident. If there was demon chakra in him, it was done with precise purpose, else the Alchem would have devised a plan to escape the fate of control even if it meant silencing his own life. Syaoran wouldn’t have sealed a demon inside of him just to do away with it, but rather to accomplish a task far more titanic than he ever believed was possible alone.

“Ever since I met you, you’ve followed a moral code that made you alone take the weight of the world on your shoulders. As if you were showing the universe not all Alchem were evil, or just to be the compliment of that amoral Alchem.”

Yatako’s eyes broke from Syaoran’s for a minute to gaze into the sky, as if the tapestry of time were playing out on its screen.

“But I could never be one to condemn you for that. I was never any good at letting someone else fall to danger when I had the capacity to bear the burden.”

A guilty smile stretched across the Hyuuga’s face. Of course he doubted that Syaoran was taking the right measures, but that was only because he was a dear friend- but put in the same situation, he would follow the same steps. In the same vein though, he could foresee the twines of the world they built becoming undone. Trust in the Hachinin might fall asunder and that might bleed bad blood for the unification and peace they attempted. Yatako focused back in Syaoran with the sour thoughts that there might come a time where Yatako would have to fight Syaoran in more than spar.

“If that time comes, my friend I will intervene. You will not be without resistance if word gets out, but if this how you will reign, I will not abandon you in that.”

Even if that cost him his village. His daughter even. There were no easy choices anymore, but if Syaoran believed as Maneki did that this Alchem was severely dangerous, then Yatako’s responsibility was to ensure the goodwill of the planet. He had seen the effects of a scientist gone amoral before, but when one could reconstruct the building blocks of the planet- the threat grew exponentially. Perhaps he himself would have to discover something to combat the demon if things turned to bile- a new exposition the sage would take on. He was reasonably surprised when a new voice chimed in- not a ghost or an illusion, but a real Kusa ninja, who survived. An initial rundown of the man led him to believe violence wasn’t the desired outcome here. He turned and inclined his head respectively. “I am Hyuuga Yatako. Kusagakure’s absence from the Chuunin Exams and the recent appearance of yokai led us to find this…catastrophe. Where is the Harakage?” He asked, though he already had a reasonable idea.

[Terrick Sukrai]

Terrick responded with a nod of his own as the Hyuuga asked him a question. For a moment he considered keeping silent, but realized there was little point in doing so. "She is... indisposed at the moment... She had to take some drastic measures." It was clear that he wasn't going to elaborate on the matter, but given how his gaze went towards what looked like a carved statue of the woman grown into the cut-down trunk, it wouldn't take too much of a leap of logic to understand it. "We've been having a bit of a demon problem as of late, and this... well this caught us blindsided really. We still don't know how many are gone. Only that whatever it was acted quickly."

[Azure]

Yatako didn’t even need to turn his head, but merely tune his Byakugan to the way Terrick was looking and he had seen horrifically the fate of the Harakage. He had only seen her at the Battle of Fang, but it didn’t take many clues to know that the woman had given her life of her own choice to resprout her village. It was the honor found in a true Kage, but the fine details carved into the wood were malignant to see and it was only the beginning for them. They weren’t even at war and yet the world seemed to collapse inside of itself in retribution. “When Raz comes…we shouldn’t risk being here.” It wasn’t ‘if’ Raz comes, for the Hyuuga had already predicted it was a matter of time until he came searching for his wife and found her permanently indisposed. In the wake of that emotion, anyone can be the cause of victimization.

“It appears as though Kusa was hit the hardest, but demons have flourished all around the continent.” After falling from the sky, out of a streak of silver light. It was something out of a fairytale, a very real fairytale now. “Gather your survivors and take shelter. Konoha will open its borders to your survivors if you wish. It’s only a matter of time until the demons discover us as well.” It was the only thing Yatako could do in his position as Hokage. He had no answers, nor a promise of protection, only that there was greater protection in numbers- but that may not even be true. It was curious though, what it had been like to be outside the village as It was wiped out while they were gone.

“How did you survive?”

[cntrstrk14]

ooc: Feel free to keep posting without me, Syaoran is merely observing the exchange at this point.

[Terrick Sukrai]

"I'll talk to Raz myself when he shows up, I have some things I need to discuss with him anyways," Terrick replied. Truthfully, he didn't know what Raz's reactions would be, but it was bound to be bad. A friend should at least be there to help him out in times like that, right? The news of demons hitting everywhere else though? That was new. And rather disturbing when you thought about it. "Survivors are our main priority yes, as is shelter. And I thank you for the offer, though until I talk to the others I cannot say yes or no as of right now."

And then of course came the thing. That question that feels like you're addressing the elephant in the room. "Korin and I were outside the village at the time, dealing with some... other matters..." Terrick replied a little uneasily. "When I came to investigate, this is what I found. I sent some of the others off on a mission, and will probably be spending the next Kami-knows-how-long rounding up every straggler that thinks it's time to bail in order to get a head-count. Other than that... I can't tell you if it was good luck or bad, but that's pretty much the only reason any of us are alive. We had plenty in Neirol, but as I said, exact numbers are unknown at this point..."

[Lemon]

Mizujin had remained silent during most of the heated conversation between the Hokage and the possessed Syaoran. His features were twisted into an annoyed scowl, he was not particularly fond of the way this was turning out. Being unable to use his sharingan eyes had him feeling useless in this particular situation, and that had him pissed. The genius Uchiha was a man of action, but the balances of power in the world were shifting here beneath his feet and there was nothing one single man, no matter how talented, could do about it. He clenched his fist as the ghosts of a few Kusagakure jounin flickered in and out of existence. An entire village, wiped out in an instant. So many innocent lives lost for no reason. His hand relaxed as Syaoran recited a code to his comrades, rescinding his position as leader of the village. At least that damn beast won't have an entire village in its claws.

His eyes widened slightly when Yatako addressed him, promoting him into the ranks of Konoha's ANBU on the spot. The reasoning behind the promotion was obvious, Mizujin had learned a lot of sensitive information since the end of the Chuunin exams and his silence needed to be assured. "ANBU, eh? I've only been to the village a few months and I'm just rising to the top. Maybe I should run for Hokage?" Mizujin joked, trying to make light of the grave situation. As he turned to leave and investigate the village he locked eyes with the former Tsuchikage and stopped for a moment as the man spoke. The Uchiha could relate to the ALchems situation. Both families were feared for their power, and had been exterminated to near extinction because of it. Syaoran had an admirable motive at least, so Mizujin wasn't too bothered by him being left free to do his duty as clan head. As the tired looking survivor from the grass arrived and explained his story Mizujin took his leave, perhaps there would be others left alive who could help solve the mystery.

[Azure]

The Hokage gave a light chuckle at Mizujin. Those who joked about the position weren’t really the ones pining for it anyway. For a moment, his eyes flicked towards Syaoran, who was still silent. “You mind putting on your bucket list to remove that seal? If the yokai are crawling around here, I don’t know if we can afford handicaps.” And then he switched back to the Kusagakure jounin. “Anything you need to discuss with him should wait a couple of hours…” Yatako admonished, knowing that those with a sound mind wanted to exchange information to find the common truth as soon as possible. The issue was, when temperaments were gnashed, blood would boil and emotion would over flow, as it should. This was a time for them, and especially for Raz to muck through their emotions and flood them out, so they didn’t arise in unwanted circumstances. Yatako inclined his head, out of respect and dignity for those lost and confused. “And I wouldn’t ask you to speak for anyone else. My offer will stand.” And that’s all he could do for now, even if it were only good intentions.

“Ahhh, hold on, it seems like we have a visitor coming. The chakra feels familiar.”

Yatako let out a high whistle and a small black bird, just a slight bigger than the average bird landed on his shoulder. He whispered something to the bird and it fluttered off into the wind.

Yuu, the black bird honed upon Mizujin and fluttered above him, almost like a pesky rat. “Yatako-sama wants you to sniff out the outsider and bring him back!” The bird flew closer and whispered the coordinates that Yatako picked up the chakra, not too far away. Luckily, the Hokage had assumed (or at least hoped for) Sato to be nonviolent.

[wolfnin]

The scenario stayed the same as Sato moved towards the center of the village; the entire place seeming like a ghost town from some kind of horror flick. It was a shame that such a peaceful village had to be the target of such a catastrophe, though hopefully this wouldn't happen to any other hidden village. His footsteps were quite as he snaked his way throughout the ruins of the village, using the occasional clap of thunder, from the clouds he had brought when he landed, to quickly dash through to avoid being detected through sound. He wondered if there were any survivors that remained in the village, though he figured by now, most of them would be outside of the village or scattered throughout the country.

Sato's speed decreased once he began to approach the area where the harakage's tree once stood. "Alright it's still in there." He thought as he slid his hand inside his pouch to ensure that his kumogakure head-band was on his possession. He had removed the head band earlier to avoid any conflict, if he came into contact with any survivors. Now, it seemed as that he was no longer the only outsider within the decimated village. The jounin crouched down near a decayed and burned tree, using the remains of its trunk as cover while he studied the figures in the distance. Immediately he recognized two of them, one being the Hokage, Yatako, and the other being the Tsuchikage, Syaoran. "Wonder what they're doing here?" Sato asked himself quietly before he noticed the other two remaining shinobi which were unidentified in his mind. The kumogakure jounin shifted his body slightly to give himself a better view of the group in order to observe. Once the next clap of thunder would hit, Sato decided he would move into earshot range, to get a better idea of what the group was discussing.

[Lemon]

The village was deathly still, not a thing was moving beneath his gaze. It almost seemed like time was standing still if not for the occasional gust of wind or clap of thunder from the nearby storm. Mizujin stood on top of a tall apartment building with his arms crossed over his flak jacket. He shut his eyes for a moment and breathed deeply, letting his breath escape in a quiet sigh. "Damn, what a day." Since his hurried arrival in Kusagakure his past views on the world were challenged, normally the prodigious Uchiha only believed what he saw. The Sharingan could decipher the inner workings of anything Mizujin laid eyes upon but these Yokai were thought to be mere fairy tails. He had never encountered a shred of hard evidence that these demons existed while in the MIst, the Leaf, or while studying the Uchiha's personal historical archives. "Theres so much out there we haven't even begun to explore." His thoughts were interrupted by a dark shape he noticed flying at him from the edge of of his peripherals. He turned to face the creature that had broken stillness of the deathly calm air. "Just a bird." His muscles relaxed once he identified Yuu, glad to see that it wasn't a Yokai flying at him.

"Sup?" He asked the fluttering creature as the thunder clapped overhead. "Glad to see I've got a job to do. Hokage-sama was a little vague earlier." The dark haired young man took a step off of the roof of the apartment, kicking off the edge with his back foot and disappearing into the air. Yatako's coordinated were right on the money, it was amazing how easily the Byagukan could hone in on a target by their chakra signature alone. Mizujin closed in on Sato quickly, immediatly recognizing him from the festivities in Iwagakure. He touched down on the street a few feet behind Sato with practiced stealth.

"Yo." He greeted the spectating man. "You're from Kumo, right? I think I saw you at the exams." Mizujin didn't just think it, he knew it. He was constantly observing the interactions of the people around him and the chuunin exams was the perfect opportunity to gather information on who was working with the major powers of each country. He had seen the other jounin speaking with the Raikage and though the nations were on friendly terms as of this moment if an enemy was to find out the fucking three tailed demon was in the commander in chief of Iwa all hell might break loose. "Weird, huh?" He cocked his head at the empty streets behind them, trying to start a little small talk with the outsider.

[wolfnin]

Sato arched his right eyebrow while he watched a bird hover over one of the shinobi on the outside member of the group. Within the following seconds the shinobi disappeared, to which Sato assumed that the shinobi was heading off to find something or somebody. The hair on his skin tingled slightly which added to the stomach-turning feeling of the worry that he had been spotted by the group below. Though, there was no hard evidence to support his claim, years of shinobi training just made certain things a valid option. Of course, his assumption was followed by a response as he heard a barely faint crunching of the dead grass followed by a voice. The tone seemed none-threatening and more of a casual "what are you doing?" tone, though one could not always be certain. Sato stood up as he stretched his body and allowed several of his joints to crack, releasing some pressure from them. His blue eyes gazed calmly upon the stranger as he flashed the shinobi a warm and friendly smile.

He had seen the shinobi before back in Metropolis in one of the bars, before the day the yokai had invaded. The memory of that night was vague, but upon a closer look of the shinobi, he was definitely among the group he hung out with that night. "Yea, I was at the exams, had to root for my country after all." Sato responded without confirming or denying the boy's claim about his origin, leaving it up to the shinobi to decide the answer to his question. "Though, I have to say, what happened to Kusagakure is unfortunate. Sucks that it had to occur in such a peaceful village, hopefully it'll be restored back to its old beauty." His voice trailed off with a somber tone while he gave another glance around the area they were in, taking in the depressing visuals once more. "So tell me, what's going on with Yatako and Syaoran over there? Any news on what happened here?" He cocked his head towards the location where the other three shinobi were and wondered if any new discovery had been made on the catastrophe that occurred here.

Edited September 12, 2012 by wolfnin

[Lemon]

The Uchiha was silent for a moment, his somber blue eyes locked with Sato's as he tried to discern the man's intentions. "Restored? Nah, theres no life for miles." He gestured casually at the blackened grass and dead foliage that surrounded them, the village was a skeleton of it's former glory. "Kusagakure is lost, I think. Hokage-sama has offered the survivors asylum in our village..." His voice trailed off at the end of his statement, as if he sounded unsure about Yatako's kindness. Whatever had happened to Kusa could very well happen to Konoha as well, it was obvious the shinobi had no chance fighting against whatever force had struck this village. Inviting foreign shinobi into the village opened a lot of holes in village security, and potentially letting an enemy in through the front gate seemed like a bad idea to him.

The dark haired Uchiha glanced over towards the kage's as Sato mentioned them. He referred to Yatako and Syaoran by name, indicating he had at least some knowledge about the world political climate. Rather than answer the man's question Mizujin turned and began walking towards the group in the center of the village. His mission was to bring the outsider to the Hokage, and so as ANBU he was obligated to complete the mission without question. "Yatako wants to talk to you. Come on." Mizujin gestured for Sato to follow, deciding he would just bring Sato in now rather than keep talking, he didn't want to give out more information to the foreigner about the recent events than he should.

[wolfnin]

Sato stayed silent for a moment as the uchiha responded to his statement, the harsh truth of that seemed to only add to the somber aura that lingered around the area. "I don't believe that Kusagakure is lost, though it'll take quite a while for this place to even begin to start the path to restoration. It's unfortunate."He took a gander at the dead black grass beneath them as he slid his foot across the ground. "You sound unsure about the Hokage's decision about letting survivors take refuge inside Konohagakure. Don't worry, I'm sure whatever concerns you have the Hokage probably has addressed them or will address and I'm sure he knows the consequences."Sato simply replied to the shinobi's second statement before he gave a nod to confirm he would follow the Uchiha towards Yatako. "Figures...Yatako must have already spotted me before I got here. He is the hokage though." Sato gave a slight chuckle at his thought before he took several steps forward. He would not wait for Mizujin to begin the way towards Yatako; instead the Senuskai took a leap forward and disappeared into the air.

He would land several feet away from the trio with a warm smile on his face. "Well, long time no see you guys. It's been a while Syaoran...Yatako." He glanced at both shinobi as he spoke with a friendly tone. Though, it truly wasn't that long since he had seen Yatako during the Yokai invasion. ”I didn't expect to see you guys around this area. So, what brings you two around here? Any news on what happened here in Kusagakure." Sato would have preferred for some casual conversations, but he did need to find out if there were any new discoveries on what occurred in Kusagakure. The looming threat of yokai around the border of Kusagakure that he had spotted upon his arrival in the village also plagued his mind.

Edited September 20, 2012 by wolfnin

[Azure]

Yatako watched the sight play out in the background between Sato and Mizujin all the while staying aware of Terrick and Syaoran. While he watched their figures move, he noted wisely that neither of them engaged hostility, which was good- Yatako had enough experience with Sato to know the man didn’t jump into fighting at the drop of a pin. Though, there was any number of orders he was probably here on. Regardless, he focused back on the Kusa-nin before him. “I’m afraid that the yokai won’t be received consistently. Some will be cautious, some will want to purge them and other might even try to…collect them.” The last words fell from his lips with disgust. They were sentient creatures and collection was nothing less than slavery.

“Hello Sato.” Yatako greeted, mostly warmly. He held a confident smile on his face when the man appeared before them. Ordinarily he probably would have gotten away with spying, but unfortunately for him the Byakugan made quick work of playing hide and seek. Then the Hokage crossed his arms and looked around at the empty village, as if that was answer enough for Sato. “Nothing but speculation. I didn’t know you could fly, you got here pretty fast.” Yatako had been running calculations through his mind and since he hadn’t sensed Sato on his tail as he departed Metropolis, he figured the man should have been at least a half a day behind them, even still. If ordinarily circumstances applied. “Unless Jishin applied some of his time ninjutsu somehow. He isn’t joining us as well, is he?” Yatako had a large respect for Jishin. He was a man the Hokage could sit down with over a cup of tea and discuss the imaginative side of life and philosophical meanings- but that didn’t mean a certain skepticism didn’t come along with being a Kage. There was probably some agenda here, even if innocent.